Castle Zagyg backer kit is at Over 580 thousand and 2600 backers.
https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/troll-lord-games/castle-zagyg-galleries-of-the-arch-mage
As long as they get a $5 pledge it'll keep going. They are live streaming until it's done.
https://www.twitch.tv/trolllordgames
#d&d #ttrpg #castlezagyg #gygax #osr
Avec un peu de rtard certes, mais ça fait bizare je me prend un super coup de vieux.
Décès d'Ernest Gary Gygax Jr. - G&P Jeux de rôle et livres-jeux
https://guerre-plomb.fr/deces-dernest-gary-gygax-jr/
By taking the rooms and corridors of the caves of chaos from B2, and stripping it of details and specific layout, you can then let different layout algorithms rearrange the rooms.
Image 1 - original caves of chaos
Image 2 - circle algorithm
Image 3 - force direct graph algorithm
Image 4 - hierarchical algorithm
Going back nearly 15 years ago, I wrote down what the Caves of Chaos from B2 would look like if it were converted to a node edge graph. Back then, I wrote it in springy but it was not too much work to convert it to graphviz dot notation.
Here is the dot file.
Copy and paste that into
I made a node edge graph of the first three levels of WG7 Castle Greyhawk. Why? I was curious if it could be broken down into just the map and monsters so it could be reskinned as functional old school dungeon that made a little bit more sense than the zany adventures presented.
First image is a partial graph of what the dungeon looks likes as a graph.
Also, I would like to point out that the first level of the dungeon is named "Against the Little Guys" which is a play on words of the "Against the Giants" that Gary Gygax wrote.
I brought this up to Jon Peterson on twitter maybe 5 years ago? Hard to remember. Anyone know Wayne Chambliss (in Portland Oregon?) pictured on the right side of image 1.
The reason I ask is, Wayne and his friend Paul La Farge went and visited Gary Gygax around 2005 and played D&D with him. An article on coilhouse says they have hours and hours of tape of them playing with Gary. I never saw more information that they released the tapes. Would be interesting to know if he still has them. I believe Paul La Farge might have passed away.
I am probably going to post too much about ascii-map to svg tile.
I added the ability to change the background color on the tiles. It is not obvious, but it is the 4th argument. So you could have
X,wooden-crate,brown,gray
X is the symbol
wooden-crate is the image to use for the symbol
brown is what color to draw the image
gray is what color to draw the background
https://random-wizard.neocities.org/ascii-map-to-svg-tiles
I have been experimenting with different maps, like the hill giant fort from the giant series. Here is the latest ascii map version I came up with.
And image 1 is what it looks like when I pass it through the ascii-map converter. Note the green background for areas that are "outside".
Sometimes I post something just to keep a mental note of some factoid I stumbled across. Gary Gygax would have had schools of magic in 2nd edition AD&D.
"Yes, I did intend to have schools of magic based on the types of spells as you note above. The m-u would begin with one specialization, but at verious points along the level progression ladder he could opt to add a new field or intensify his capacity in the original one. "
"I did employ some of the thinking behind this concept in the DJ Mythus magic system."
https://www.enworld.org/threads/q-a-with-gary-gygax.22566/page-860#post-3928308
If you wanted a hint at what 2nd edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons would have been like if Gary Gygax stayed at TSR and spearheaded the initiative... You could get Troll Lord Games Castle & Crusades.
Consider
1. Steve and Davis Chenault consulted with Gary when putting together the rules.
2. Castle & Crusades was the name of the wargaming club Gary founded before D&D even existed.
3. Gary even mentioned his 2nd edition would have the skill system he came up with for C&C
"cranked in a much inproved skills section rather akin to what I did for the C&C game" -- Gary Gygax
https://www.enworld.org/threads/q-a-with-gary-gygax.22566/page-748#post-3494968
Grendel’s Sÿster – Katabasis into the Abaton [Things You Might Have Missed 2024]
By Angry Metal Guy
Grendel’s Sÿster’s Katabasis into the Abaton (out August 30th, 2024 from Sur Del Cruz Music [Bandcamp]) caught me off guard. Unlike other members of the Angry Metal Guy staff—such as the venerable, self-aware ape suit they call Druhm who’s just one death away from actually running this show if anything should happen to me—I am not a sucker for just anything that sounds old. Such things do not remind me of my wasted youth, and thus do not earn nostalgia points.1 I was, therefore, thoroughly surprised that, upon listening to Grendel’s Sÿster vicariously through an ill-fated n00b review, I fucking loved it. Billed as “epic metal”—a sound that ranges between “Man do we love Bathory” and, apparently, Grendel’s Sÿster—this German four-piece drops metal that reeks of patchouli and “Atomkraft? Nein, Danke!” to surprising effect. The core of Grendel’s Sÿster’s sound is the combination of fuzzy guitars, bubbly p-bass, and boxy drums into something that will undoubtedly call to mind the ’70s hard rock of your choice: Wishbone Ash, Jethro Tull, Thin Lizzy or nostalgia merchants like Gygax. You know the comps; blend guitar-driven rock with folksy vibes and you have Grendel’s Sÿster nailed down (pretty much).
What differentiates Grendel’s Sÿster from other nostalgiacore acts is twofold: first, unusually catchy hooks (“The Plight of the Sorcerer,” both the start-and-stop intro riff and the gorgeous outro or “Rose Arbor” in its classic gallop and simple melody), and second—and more importantly—is vocalist Caro’s unique voice and delivery. Rather than sounding like a classic metal vocalist, Caro’s approach feels like punk. This punky feel results from her unaffected—that is, forceful and clean with no vibrato—delivery, where she sometimes seems like she’s almost barking melodies in a clear Oxford-via-Stuttgart accent in English. Over catchy, short, and energetic songs, Caro gives Grendel’s Sÿster an edge that vocally evokes X-Ray Spex or Elastica and—when mixed with the folky tendencies in songs like the aforementioned “Rose Arbor”—Flogging Molly. Caro navigates folk (“Golden Key [Won’t Fit]”), metalesque vocal choirs (“Night Owl’s Beak”), and something more dour and ominous (“The Fire That Lights Itself”) with aplomb. But she is at her best when giving unexpected attitude over Grand Magus riffs (“Cosmogeny”).
Katabasis into the Abaton taken as a whole combines energetic performances with unique writing—and an old-school, live feel that works for some, but won’t work for others—but that got under my skin almost immediately. Crazily, I’ve been back to this album repeatedly and can’t seem to quit it. Check the Bandcamp and you’ll get both a German and English version. I can’t decide which I like better, but I do like this record a lot but can’t be trusted to write TYMHMs anymore. This is at least a very good record by my reckoning and should appeal to both folk metal dorks and classic rock/metal retrodorks.2 Give Grendel’s Sÿster its due, this is a damned fine debut album.
Tracks to Check Out: ”Cosmogeny,” “The Plight of the Sorcerer,” “The Fire That Lights Itself” – but really, there isn’t a weak track on here.
#2024 #Aug24 #CruzDelSurMusic #Elastica #FloggingMolly #GrandMagus #GrendelSSÿster #Gygax #HeavyMetal #JethroTull #KatabasisIntoTheAbaton #ThinLizzy #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2024 #TradMetal #WishboneAsh #XRaySpex
One of the things I liked about 2e when it came out, was it did away with various male versus female strength restrictions. Not that I ever used that anyways.
Curiously, in the preface to the PHB, Gary Gygax wrote, "You will find no pretentious dictums herein, no baseless limits arbitrarily placed on female strength or male charisma"
But then on page 9, the Strength table has pretentious baseless limits arbitrarily placed on female strength.
Maybe he did not feel like it was baseless. Maybe it was such a ponderous tome, he forgot his train of thought.
Also, many others contributed to the writing of the PHB and DMG. Lawrence Schick wrote he was tasked with putting the DMG together and filling in missing pieces.
Informes: Origen de los videojuegos de Rol (II) #DungeonsAndDragons #Greyhawk #Gygax #Rol #StarTrek #Wargames
https://caad.club/origen-de-los-videojuegos-de-rol-ii
The third book is the #Weirdstone of Brisingamen by #AlanGarner which I have never read (though I listened to the #BBC #audio dramatisation once). Although published in 1960, this book didn't make it onto #Gygax 's list in #AppendixN . I'm not sure of the reason for this omission, the book was certainly known in USA (In 1970 it was given an award by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education).
Stuck in the Filter: August and September 2024
By Kenstrosity
I am a stubborn bitch. I work my underlings hard, and I won’t let up until they dig up shiny goodies for me to share with the general public. Share might be a generous term. Foist upon is probably more accurate…
In any case, despite some pretty intense setbacks on my end, I still managed to collect enough material for a two-month spread. HUZZAH! REJOICE! Now get the hell away from me and listen to some of our very cool and good tunes.
Kenstrosity’s Turgid Truncheons
Tenue // Arcos, bóvedas, pórticos [August 1st, 2024 – Self-Release]
Spanish post-black/crust/screamo quartet Tenue earned my favor with their debut record, Anábasis, back in 2018. Equal parts vicious, introspective, and strangely uplifting, that record changed what I thought I could expect from anything bearing the screamo tag. By integrating ascendant black metal tremolos within post-punk structures and crusty attitude, Tenue established a sound that not only opened horizons for me taste-wise but also brought me a great deal of emotional catharsis on its own merit. Follow-up Arcos, bóvedas, pórticos deepens that relationship. Utilizing a wider atmospheric palette (“Distracción”), a shift towards epic song lengths (“Inquietude, and a greater variety of instrumentation (observe the beautiful horns on long-form opener “Inquietude”), and a bluesier swagger than previous material exhibited (“Letargo”), Tenue’s second salvo showcases a musical versatility I wasn’t expecting to complement the bleeding-heart emotional depth I knew would return. This expansion of scale and skillset sets the record apart from almost anything else I’ve heard this year. Even though one or two moments struggle to stick long-term (“Enfoque”), Arcos, bóvedas, pórticos represents an affecting, creative, and ridiculously engaging addition to my listening schedule. And for the low low price of NYP, it ought to be a part of yours as well.
Open Flesh Wound // Vile Putrefaction [August 28th, 2024 – Inherited Suffering Records]
Thicc, muggy slam with a million pick scrapes. Who could ask for anything more? Not I, and so it is with great pleasure that I introduce to my AMG fam Pennsylvania’s very own Open Flesh Wound and their debut LP Vile Putrefaction. Essentially the result of Analepsy’s and Devourment‘s carnal lovemaking, Vile Putrefaction is a nasty, slammy, brutal expulsion of chunky upchuck. Only those with the most caved-in craniums will appreciate the scraping swamp-ass riffs showcased on such slammers as “Smashed in Liquids” and “Cinder Block to the Forehead,” or the groove-laden thuggery of death-focused tracks like the title track, “Fermented Intestinal Blockage” and “Body Baggie.” Vile Putrefaction’s molasses-like production is an absolute boon to this sound as well, with just enough gloss to provide a deliciously moist texture which imparts an unlikely clarity to especially gruesome details in “Stoma Necrosis” and “Skin Like Jelly.” It’s dumb as hell, and isn’t doing anything new, but is an overdose of good, dirty fun. Simple as.
The Flaying // Ni dieu, ni maître [September 5th, 2024 – Self Release]
I’ve been singing Canadian melodic death metal quartet The Flaying’s praises for almost six years now. And still to this day not enough people choose to sing with me. Why? Because they wouldn’t know sickeningly fun death metal if it hacked their faces right off. That’s okay, because The Flaying do hack faces right off regardless, and it feels so good to watch the faces of those who don’t heed my call get hacked right off. Third onslaught Ni dieu, ni maître proves that once again, The Flaying are an unstoppable force of bass wizardry, riff mastery, and hook-laden songwriting. Opener “Le nécrologiste” perfectly encapsulates The Flaying’s particularly addicting brew of Cannibal Corpse, The Black Dahlia Murder, and De Profundis influences, shaken and stirred until the resulting cocktail blooms with a flavor all its own. Technical and brutally fast, follow-up track “L’enclave” continues the deadly rampage, featuring noodly bass lines guaranteed to elicit stank face in the even most prim and proper elite. A trim twenty nine minutes, spread over ten tightly trained tracks, Ni dieu, ni maître boasts unbeatable replay value. Highlights “Ni dieu, ni maître,” “Les Frondes” “La forge,” and “Noyau sombre” seal the deal by providing sharp hard points and memorable landmarks to which any listener would look forward. Simply put, this record rocks my socks and further proves that I am right about The Flaying, and those who ignore my recommendation are wrong.
Dolphin Whisperer’s All-Seeing Affirmations
Eye Eater // Alienate [August 1st, 2024 – Self Release]
In a post-Ulcerate world, the modern output of atmosphere-minded death metal has grown exponentially. With ringing dissonant chords and slow post-informed builds taking center stage, bands like New Zealand’s unheralded Eye Eater borrow plenty from the Destroyers of All sound. However, while many acts would be content to dial in the space or ramp up the dissonance to try and put their own twist on this growing post-death movement, Eye Eater looks to the laser-precise melodic tones of progressive, core-borrowing names like Fallujah and Vildhjarta to carve an identity into each of Alienate’s album eight sprawling tracks. Swinging sustained brightness in one hand about the grizzly chug-crush of the other, burly bangers like “Other Planets” and “Failure Artifacts” find churning, djentrified grooves that amplify the swell of the blaring melodies that swirl above the low-end clamor. And though the main refrains of “Alienate” and “Everything You Fear and Hope For” sound like loving odes to their Kiwi Forebears, the growth into sonorous and lush-chorded peaks lands much closer to the attraction of turn of the 10s progressive death/metalcore luminaries The Contortionist had they stayed closer to their heavy-toned, hefty-voiced roots. As an anonymous act with little social presence, it’s hard to say whether Eye Eater has more cooking for the future. With their ears tuned to the recent past for inspiration, it’s easy to see how a band with this kind of melodic immediacy—still wrapped in the weight of a brooding, death metal identity—could easily play for the tops of underground charts. To those who have been following the twists and turns of both underground and accessible over the past decade or so, Eye Eater may not sound entirely novel. But Alienate’s familiarity in presence against its quality of execution and fullness of sound makes it easy to ensnare all the same.
Dissolve // Polymorphic Ways of Unconsciousness [September 20th, 2024 – Self Release]
From the sand-blasted, monochrome human escaping the floor of Polymorphic Ways’ cover to the tags of technical, progressive, death that adorn the Bandcamp tags, it’s easy to put a band like Dissolve in a box, mentally. But with the first bent guitar run that sets off “Efficiency Defiled” in a run like Judas Priest more than Spawn of Possession, it’s clear that Dissolve plays by a different set of rules than your average chug and run tech death band. Yet true to their French nature, the riffs that litter Polymorphic Ways of Unconsciousness possess a tangible groove following the footsteps of lesser-known tricksters Trepalium and Olympic titans of metal Gojira (“The Great Pessimistic,”1 “Polymorphic Ways of Unconsciousness,” “Vultures”). And while too Dissolve finds a base in the low-end trem assault of Morbid Angel (“Ignorance Will Prevail”), there’s a thrash and bark energy at play that nets a rambunctious and experimental sound recalling the warped Hetfield-ian (Metallica) scrawl of Destroy Erase Improve Meshuggah, right down to the monstrous bass tone that defines Sonny Bellonie’s (Sanctuary, ODC) growling, extended range performance. As a trio it’d be easy for guitarist Briac Turquety (Smerter, ex-Sideburn) to rely on overdubs for saturation of sound and complexity of layers—and for solo cut-ins he definitely does—but equally as often his choice to let certain chords and notes escape a thrashy muting to ring in distorted harmony against snaking bass lines. And speaking of solos, Turquety’s prowess ranges from bluesy shred (“The Great Pessimistic,” “Ropes of Madness”) to noisy, jazzy explorations (“Polymorphic…,” “Shattered Minds of Evolution”) to Satriani on Slayer whammy abuse (“Bonfire of the Vanities”)—a true treat to lovers of tasteful shred. Turquety, Bellonie, and Quentin Feron (on drums, also of Smerter) sound as if they’ve been playing together for much longer than the year that Dissolve has existed. With a debut this polished, it’s anyone’s guess as to what kind of monster will emerge from the talent that appears so effortless in assembly.
Obsidian Mantra // As We All Will [September 27th, 2024 – Self Release]
Sometimes, a tangled and foreboding cover sits as the biggest draw amongst a crowd of death metal albums alight with splattered zombie remains, illegible logos, and alarm-colored palettes. And in the case of Obsidian Mantra, it doesn’t hurt that lead single “Cult of Depression” possesses a devastating, hypnotic groove that recalls the once captivating technical whiplash of an early Decapitated. However, rather than wrestle with tones that incite a pure and raw violence like that cornerstone act (or similar Poldeath that has followed in its legacy like Dormant Ordeal), Obsidian Mantra uses aggressive and bass-loaded rhythmic forms to erupt in spacious and glass-toned guitar chimes to create an engrossing neck-snapping (“Slave Without a Master,” “Condemned to Oppression”). Whether we call these downcast refrains a dissonant melody or slowly resolving phrase, they grow throughout each track in a manner that calls continual reinforcement from a rhythm section that can drop into hammering blasts at a dime and a vocal presence that oscillates between vicious snarl and reverberating howl. In its most accessible numbers (“Chaos Will Consume Us All,” “Weavers of Misery”), Obsidian Mantra finds an oppressive warmth that grows to border anthemic, much in the way like beloved blackened/progressive acts like Hath do with their biggest moments. As We All Will still never quite reaches that full mountainous peak, though, opting to pursue the continual call of the groove to keep the listener coming back. Having come a long way from the Meshuggah-centered roots where Obsidian Mantra first sowed their deathly seeds, As We All Will provides 30 minutes of modern, pulsating, and venomous kick-driven pieces that will flare easy motivation for either a brutalizing pit or a mightily-thrusted iron on leg day.
Thus Spoke’s Cursed Collection
Esoctrilihum // Döth-Derniàlh [September 20th, 2024 – I, Voidhanger Records]
We complete another orbit around the Sun, and Esoctrilihum completes another album; such are the inalterable laws governing each 365.25 Earth day period in our Solar System. Possessed by some mad, restless spirit, it seems they cannot be stopped. Ever the experimenter, sole member Asthâghul now picks up an acoustic guitar, a nickelharpa, and warms up his throat for more clean vocals to further bizarre-ify his avant-garde black metal. As we travel into the cosmos for Döth-Derniàlh, Esoctrilihumisms abound in the see-sawing strings and echoes of chanted singing and throaty snarls. The addition of more acoustic elements does bring some weird delicacy to moments here and there (“Zilthuryth (Void of Zeraphaël),” “Murzaithas (Celestial Voices)”), and it adds layers of beauty in addition to those already harmonious passages. it’s striking how well these new instruments blend with the overall sound: so well, in fact, that it almost feels like Esoctrilihum hasn’t evolved at all. This isn’t even a bad thing, because Döth-Derniàlh still feels like an improvement. Past albums have always had at least sections of perfection, where the scattered clouds of self-interfering chaos or repetition blow away and the brilliant light of the moon shines strongly. Döth-Derniàlh has more of these than ever, some extending to whole, 16-minute songs (“Dy’th Eternalhys (The Mortuary Renewal),”).2 If you have it in you to listen to one (more) album over an hour long, and you don’t already know you hate Esoctrilihum, sit down with a drink, and maybe a joint, and go where Döth-Derniàlh takes you.
#2024 #Alienate #AmericanMetal #ArcosBóvedasPórticos #AsWeAllWill #AtmosphericDeathMetal #Aug24 #AvantGarde #BlackMetal #BrutalDeathMetal #CanadianMetal #CannibalCorpse #DeProfundis #DeathMetal #Decapitated #Dissolve #DormantOrdeal #DöthDerniàlh #Esoctrilihum #EyeEater #Fallujah #FrenchMetal #Gojira #GrandMagus #GrendelSSÿster #Gygax #HarcorePunk #IVoidhangerRecords #InheritedSufferingRecords #JethroTull #JudasPriest #MelodicDeathMetal #Meshuggah #Metallica #MorbidAngel #NewZealandMetal #NiDieuNiMaîTre #ObsidianMantra #ODC #OpenFleshWound #PolishMetal #PolymorphicWaysOfUnconsciousness #PostDeathMetal #PostMetal #postPunk #ProgressiveDeathMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Punk #Sanctuary #Screamo #SelfRelease #Sep24 #Sideburn #Slam #Slayer #Smerter #SpanishMetal #SpawnOfPossession #StuckInTheFilter #StuckInTheFilter2024 #TechnicalDeathMetal #Tenue #TheBlackDahliaMurder #TheContortionist #TheFlaying #ThinLizzy #Trepalium #Vildhjarta #VilePutrefaction #WishboneAsh
For my money, one of the funniest things about #TTRPG history is the way that TSR wanted #Gygax out of the office and so bankrolled his failed attempt to bring D&D to Hollywood. Then he returned, tried to assert dominance, and got almost immediately voted off the Island.
Then, about a decade or so later, almost the exact same thing happened to White Wold and Mark Rein-Hagen.
Rein-Hagen talked about expecting a warm welcome upon returning to the WW offices and getting ignored by everyone 😆
While mElon #Musk is slamming #WotC and #DungeonsandDragons on TwiX over the #sexism that was and the #Gygax that wasn't - https://www.enworld.org/threads/elon-musk-calls-for-wizards-of-the-coast-to-burn-in-hell-over-making-of-original-d-d-passages.708087/ - in my house I celebrate @KoboldPress and the arrival of the #TalesOfTheValiant Gamemasters Guide. :dice_d20:
Look, Gary wants you to charge 4500gp to have a character get to level 2. He said so in Dragon Magazine #26
Because D&D allowed such freedom, because the work itself said so, because the initial batch of DMs were so imaginative and creative, because the rules wre incomplete, vague and often ambiguous, D&D has turned into a non-game. That is, there is so much variation between the way the game is played from region to region, state to state, area to area, and even from group to group within a metropolitan district, there is no continuity and little agreement as to just what the game is and how best to play it. Without destroying the imagination and individual creativity which go into a campaign, AD&D rectifies the shortcomings of D&D. There are few grey areas in AD&D, and there will be no question in the mind of participants as to what the game is and is all about. There is form and structure to AD&D, and any variation of these integral portions of the game will obviously make it something else.
...
The advantages of such a game are obvious. Because the integral features are known and immutable, there can be no debate as to what is correct.
...
With D&D, arguments regarding some rule are lost due the differences in play and the wide variety of solutions proposed.
No mention of David Arneson or anyone else on the programme page, but who knows? maybe the actual episode will be less biased…
