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Kersus
Oracle of Dodona
Joined: 21 Dec 2008
Posts: 3771
Location: Palookaville, Iron City
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 Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 11:42 am Post subject: Old Greyhawk Castle (Europa-Diplomacy Zine) |
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Fid from Dragonsfoot posted this information:
"I have recently been skimming some of the old Diplomacy "zines" that are archived across the web. In 1975, one such "zine", Europa ran a two part article by Gary entitled: "How to Set Up Your Dungeons and Dragons Campaign - and Be Stuck Refereeing it Seven Days per Week Until the Wee Hours of the Morning!"
While the article itself will be of interest to grognards, of particular interest to me was this description of 'Old Greyhawk Castle.'"
| Gary_Gygax wrote: | | Before the rules for D&D were published 'Old Greyhawk Castle' was 13 levels deep. The first level was a simple maze of rooms and corridors, for none of the participants had ever played such a game before. The second level had two unusual items, a Nixie pool and a fountain of snakes. The third featured a torture chamber and many small cells and prison rooms. The fourth was a level of crypts and undead. The fifth was centered around a strange font of black fire and gargoyles. The sixth was a repeating maze with dozens of wild hogs (3 dice) in inconvenient spots, naturally backed up by appropriate numbers of Wereboars. The seventh was centered around a circular labyrinth and a street of masses of ogres. The eight through tenth levels were caves and caverns featuring Trolls, giant insects and a transporter nexus with an evil Wizard (with a number of tough associates) guarding it. The eleventh level was the home of the most powerful wizard in the castle. He had Balrogs as servants. The remainder of the level was populated by Martian White Apes, except the sub-passage system underneath the corridors which was full of poisonous creatures with no treasure. Level welve was filled with Dragons. The bottom level, number thirteen, contained an inescapable slide which took the players clear through to China, from where they had to return via 'Outdoor Adventure'. It was quite possible to journey downward to the bottom level by an insidious series of slanting passages which began on the second level, but the likelihood of following such a route unknowingly didn't become too great until the seventh or eight level. Of the dozen or so who played on a fairly regular basis, four made the lowest level and took the trip: Rob Kuntz, now a co-referee in the campaign went alone; and three of his fiends managed to trace part of his route and blunder along the rest, so they followed him quickly to the land of China. - Side levels included a barracks with Orcs, Hobgoblins anf Gnolls continually warring with each other, a museum, a huge arena, an underground lake, a Giant's home, and a garden of fungi. |
Source:
http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/oldzines/europa6-8.pdf
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Vegetarian: An Indian word for 'lousy hunter.' |
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Bobjester
Catkin
Joined: 09 May 2009
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 12:13 pm Post subject: |
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Very cool article. Thanks for posting it!  |
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grodog
Acorn
Joined: 20 Feb 2009
Posts: 51
Location: Wichita, Kansas, USA
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grodog
Acorn
Joined: 20 Feb 2009
Posts: 51
Location: Wichita, Kansas, USA
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grodog
Acorn
Joined: 20 Feb 2009
Posts: 51
Location: Wichita, Kansas, USA
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| Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 1:09 pm Post subject: |
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And a nice picture of one of the original CG levels, from the thread on DF about the Europa discovery:
| grodog on DF wrote: |
| TheDungeonDelver wrote: | | Given this information, one could easily construct their own mirror image of CG dungeons, yes? |
That's my hope, yes, Bill.
| TheDungeonDelver wrote: | | I think so! I mean, of course you'd have to come up with the maps yourself but still... |
There are some maps out there: the ENWorld Moderators' partial map from GenCon 2007, the map at RPGgeek, the one sold by Paul Stormberg several ago based on his game-play in the Castle at GenCon 1999/2000, etc. I'm sure there are others out there, too. |
_________________
grodog
---
Allan Grohe
grodog@gmail.com
http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html
Editor and Project Manager, Pied Piper Publishing
http://www.pied-piper-publishing.com/ |
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Kersus
Oracle of Dodona
Joined: 21 Dec 2008
Posts: 3771
Location: Palookaville, Iron City
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| Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 11:15 am Post subject: |
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Very cool!
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Grendelwulf
Catkin
Joined: 21 Feb 2009
Posts: 12
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| Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:45 am Post subject: |
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| grodog wrote: | And a nice picture of one of the original CG levels, from the thread on DF about the Europa discovery:
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Thanks for the link, grodog.
The RPGgeek pic is nice & clear enough to transcribe from.
So, how many have already done so? C'mon, you know you have...
Oh, the corresponding page in the photo indicates it is Level 3. 
Ciao,
Grendelwulf
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grodog
Acorn
Joined: 20 Feb 2009
Posts: 51
Location: Wichita, Kansas, USA
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| Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 12:42 am Post subject: |
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You're welcome guys. It was pointed out to me by another collector, in fact, so hat's off to David for the original find 
I'm not at all sure you can surmise that the facing page IDs this level as level 3, Grendelwulf, given the sparse info in the key. What made you decide that?
_________________
grodog
---
Allan Grohe
grodog@gmail.com
http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html
Editor and Project Manager, Pied Piper Publishing
http://www.pied-piper-publishing.com/ |
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Grendelwulf
Catkin
Joined: 21 Feb 2009
Posts: 12
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| Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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THANK YOU, DAVID!
@grodog: I know it may be a big leap, stemming from too much caffeine, sleepless nights, and staring at my computer screen enough for my eyes to melt. Yet, submitted for analysis...
Here is a close up of the top page of the key from another, lower-res photo:
 
To me, it says 'LEVEL 1'.
Here is a close-up of the key from the more recent photo:
 
To me , it says 'LEVEL 3'. The number is in the same place on both pages, just above the top ring of the binder, on the upper right hand top of the page.
Also, from the map page of this same photo:
To me, this says 'THE DUNGEONS'
hmm, or could it be part of 'HERE THERE BE DUNGEONS'...
There are at least 20 small cell-like rooms (10'x10') very close together surrounding a central hub which may read 'torture chamber' (I am trying to improve the clarity of this spot on the map)
Now, from a few alternate sources:
darkseraphim's posts in http://www.acaeum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7105 at Acaeum's forums;
Level 3 was possible called "the cells"
Europa, (Apr 1975); Level 3 had a torture chamber and many small cells & a prison room.
Dragon Annual #2 (1997); lists names of levels in succession starting with
barracks, storerooms, CELLS, etc... (it is the third one mentioned)
I could be completely wrong. I could be grasping at straws.
I could be seeing just what I want to see.
But, I think I am close to something. If not, it is still fun trying...
...and I obviously have too much time on my hands...
...which I am also using to sketch out the map page...
Ciao,
Grendelwulf
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grodog
Acorn
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Posts: 51
Location: Wichita, Kansas, USA
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