|
Post by foxroe on Mar 8, 2017 23:20:12 GMT -6
Nice! Is it 8.5"x11" or digest? It's digest (half-letter)
(Edit: I cross-posted this for you over at the new S&W forums)
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 8, 2017 23:11:26 GMT -6
Unless there's something else Jack wants to see/do, Sharron and he will head to the clinic and meet up with the others to compare notes and plan our next move. In which case, she'll send a message to the others: "Janet hasn't been to apartment in a couple of days. She had appt. at Clinic 4 days ago. Heading to Clinic to meet up with Logan and Zeb."
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 7, 2017 18:29:30 GMT -6
The only difference between catalog numbers 9732 and 9733 looks like the size of the central tower - 9732 appears to have an extension added to the top of the tower to increase its height.
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 7, 2017 18:20:57 GMT -6
Or the Stone Crystallization Projector is a clairvoyance/clairaudience device. When focused on a stone surface, it will crystallize the face of the stone and create a video image of what is on the other side of the wall...
Or the Stone Crystallization Projector is a sling that magically transforms stones/bullets into crystals of random type. Each crystal type has a different effect upon impact...
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 7, 2017 0:02:37 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 6, 2017 20:04:51 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 6, 2017 19:47:59 GMT -6
Hmm, and I confused things... Henry must have used Logan's hand comp while still at the bar to trace the phone... And double oops... Henry does have a hand computer purchased for the ship's locker... I don't seem to have said much about the capability of the cell phones... I'll assume voice, text, pictures, and limited video, maybe a few minor apps, but pointedly NOT the computing power of the hand computer. So yes, you can share a picture of Janet. OK, Sharron will make sure everyone has a photo of her. Also, I assume that since Janet and Sharron are friends, Sharron can provide a quick bio/background on Janet to everyone as well?
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 6, 2017 19:45:33 GMT -6
Jack and Sharron enter the building and proceed to Janet's apartment, watching for any sign of being followed. When they reach the door, they knock, covering up Sharron's attempt to jimmy the lock... Jack and Sharron quickly enter Janet's quarters. The lock was easily picked (an old fashioned key lock - no card keys here...). The apartment has a sagging bed, a small dresser, a small table and two chairs, a fresher, and a small kitchenette. The room is barely larger than a starship stateroom and has one small dirty window. A Traveller's duffel is shoved under the bed, and a few articles of clothing are hanging over chair backs to dry. A few dishes are in the sink and the mini-fridge has some takeout food containers. A picture of an older couple (Janet's parents?) sits on the dresser. Without turning the place upside down, Jack and Sharron search about. We look in/under the furniture, cabinets and drawers in the fresher and kitchenette, and in the duffle*. Is there writing on the picture (or behind it)? What establishment is the takeout food from? Is it spoiled? Are the drying clothes still wet? Looking at the dishes in the sink, can we tell if they're from just one person, or maybe two? Does it look like the sagging bed has been hosting more than one person? And what can we see out the window? (* - looking for anything related to the University or the Clinic in particular.)
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 6, 2017 19:25:13 GMT -6
Candygram...
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 6, 2017 5:28:09 GMT -6
Found a low quality scan of the 1973 Elastolin catalog here. Can't make anything out in the text. Is anyone perchance a member of the Toy Soldier Gallery who has access to the high resolution scan?
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 6, 2017 5:05:36 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 6, 2017 4:51:21 GMT -6
I said: However, it occurs to me that the original rules are scanned and available in GIF format on the thortrains.net site, so downloading them and converting to PDF or similar is trivial. Also of note, if you look carefully at the photo of the castle on page 7, it appears to be lifted from an ad or catalog page. The number "9733" appears* and in small letters it says "The Bodenburg". So, perhaps there existed another Bodenburg castle in Germany other than this one? It was not uncommon for rulers and landed nobles to tear down and rebuild over existing fortifications, so maybe... *(Edit: I noticed it's also listed under equipment on page 1 as "Elastolin 9733")
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 5, 2017 20:21:51 GMT -6
OOC: Do we all know how Janet looks like? A photo would help those of us who've never met her. I'm sure Sharron has one. She can digitally distribute it to everyone if Frank is OK with it.
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 5, 2017 0:54:14 GMT -6
Jack and Sharron enter the building and proceed to Janet's apartment, watching for any sign of being followed. When they reach the door, they knock, covering up Sharron's attempt to jimmy the lock...
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 4, 2017 23:37:37 GMT -6
I would make a wandering monster check (loudly and obviously) as soon as the discussion starts. That should keep them on their toes. And for what it's worth, from the first edition AD&D Players Handbook (I know... technically not OD&D*), pg.106, under "ORGANIZATION": *(Although one can argue that AD&D = OD&D + Supplements)
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 4, 2017 0:09:03 GMT -6
I apologize for all of the nit-picky questions - "straining at gnats" and all that. I'm just trying to build a picture of early Greyhawk (pre-Folio) in my mind. I'd like to start a Greyhawk campaign for my group, but I want it to be based on a solid foundation of original concepts and lore. This way, I could let my Greyhawk organically evolve from there in true sand-box fashion, building up into something wholly unlike it did in publication. Well, we can dream at least.
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 3, 2017 23:45:26 GMT -6
In the published material, lots of little clues and taunts wee left around, but no real interaction for the dungeon explorers, but According to Luke, and this does match Zagyg's write up, Zagyg would occasionally interact with his followers and judge them. At one point Zagyg took an artifact off of Melf, who converted to Zagyg, because he didn't think he was acting Chaotic enough, so Melf went back to following Celestian. Scott - Which Zagyg write-up would you be referring to? From your comment, the implication was that Zagyg was indeed a demi-god in Gary's early campaign (as in later publications), and not just a powerful wizard. Is that true?
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 3, 2017 23:36:47 GMT -6
When I started playing, our group was ten strong. We mapped and we discussed; we didn't have a Caller... or so I thought. In retrospect, we actually did have a "caller". There was always one player directing the group - usually the one with the most charismatic character (so lots of Paladins in charge ). That role would shift session to session, and campaign to campaign, but there was always a party "leader" in our games.
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 3, 2017 23:14:04 GMT -6
I stand corrected! I knew those cacophonous club gatherings were all wrong!
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 3, 2017 10:15:17 GMT -6
Something that always bugged me: In the description, the Castle is about a league east of the city, but in all published material, it's well to the west. It doesn't make much sense to me.
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 3, 2017 10:04:43 GMT -6
As always Allan, you are the man! I've trawled your site many a time (it's in my favorites list); always something cool to find there. Hah! Didn't realize that was you! Yeah, I've checked out that site. The only SoB rules I can find so far are original prints (presumably from Henry) on eBay and the like.
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 3, 2017 9:57:55 GMT -6
There could be a good bit of subjectivity in that second question. If you build a huge castle dungeon and stock it with monsters, and then fill it with treasure to lure people in to get killed there, at what point is that past eccentric and just plain (lower case) evil? Very true! It seems that Zagig is portrayed (in product at least) as just plain zany, but the impression I've always formed is that he was thoroughly and chaotically evil. When you look at him through that lens, Old Castle Greyhawk becomes a very dark and unforgiving place...
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 3, 2017 1:54:55 GMT -6
I can't help slipping into a sort of Monty Python and the Holy Grail paradigm - not sure how justified that is :-D As long as there are no coconuts being banged together and you're serving Spam, why the heck not?
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 3, 2017 1:25:03 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 3, 2017 0:53:53 GMT -6
Interesting. Started digging into the link to Zenopus' blog above and found out some new things (well, new to me at least). The "Siege of Bodenburg" wargame was a major influence on Gary. He refers to it as "Castle Bodenstedt" (after the author - from an interview at Gamebanshee), but perhaps there is a little more to that. The Elastolin/Hausser castle model used in the Siege was catalog number 9732. Nowhere can I find an original description of the product. As far as I can tell, it was simply referred to as "Burg" (castle). The real Bodenburg Castle looks nothing like the model. Bodenburg is a more modern "romantic" manor-style castle, whereas the Elastolin model is that of an older, early Medieval castle. Does anyone happen to know if this model was based on a real castle? The SoB website mentions that all of Elastolin's castles were modeled after German castles. I also came across a couple of remarks that the moathouse in T1 was modeled after this kit, but there was actually another castle made by Elastolin that looked closer to the moathouse, catalog number 9747.
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 2, 2017 23:21:54 GMT -6
Maybe an off-topic question, but is there a standard party size assumed for OD&D? I know MM mentions 4-50, with at least 1 DM per 20 players. That seems insane to me. Is there a context there that I don't know about? We almost always have between 4-7 players. It's likely an artifact of who was playing D&D then. It was introduced to wargamers and the like, who typically congregated in clubs/associations in larger numbers than you would see today (I believe). I'm sure folks were clambering to play, necessitating the 1:20 DM/Player ratio. I remember when I started playing, it was just exploding on the pop-culture scene. My Junior High School had a "D&D Club" that had dozens of members... every group of ten or so players had a "caller" and the games were insanely chaotic. Not my cup of tea; I prefer small groups, regardless of what I'm playing. I'm sure Mike, Paul, et al would have better answers. This would actually be a nice topic for a separate thread.
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 2, 2017 23:00:02 GMT -6
Did Zagyg/Zagig ever directly interact with the player characters during the course of exploring the Castle, or was it just if they "reached the end" as Rob and friends had?
Was the Mad Wizard actually just eccentric (possibly implying a "good" tendency to alignment), or was he rather evil in disposition?
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 2, 2017 22:55:18 GMT -6
Scott - Great! You answered my next question: Were the upper works modeled after a real castle, as Castle Blackmoor was modeled after Castle Branzoll in Italy(Austria?) Thanks for the link!
Paul - Thanks for the info! When you say "Zagyg only appears in one place", I assume you are referring to the 13th level?
Z - Thanks! I had forgotten about that reference.
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 2, 2017 22:38:49 GMT -6
Great question!
I agree with Geoffrey. When I was a wee lad first introduced to D&D (Holmes + AD&D), video arcades and Atari/Intellivision were all the rage. My friends and I thought they were cool and all, but we were completely hooked on D&D. How powerful and influential that simple set of rules was!
So, yes, I care. I think that everyone who decides to give D&D a try should experience OD&D/AD&D at least once, even if it is to only appreciate the roots of the hobby and form an opinion of the Olde Wayes. The more "popular" (or at least "present" and available) the original game is, then the more likely that this will come to pass.
When the pasty Adepts of XstationOne become disillusioned with their gilded Temples of Rules, the OSR should always be there to save their souls. << sorry, couldn't help myself... very tired >>
|
|
|
Post by foxroe on Mar 1, 2017 20:11:49 GMT -6
As far as I know, the first published description of the original Castle Greyhawk appeared in Europa magazine (issue 6-8, April '75):
Questions for the Greyhawk erudite among us: - Did the "upper works" consist of three towers as it is traditionally portrayed now, or was it some other structure? - Was the Wizard on level 11 Zagig, or someone else? An apprentice?
|
|