Rob Kuntz's page
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@Althen,
We even checked our spam folder and your messages are not there. ??
Just forward through grodog's mail for now and he will send them on to me. However, I cannot guarantee immediate movement on this beyond a preliminary outline stage as I am currently doing a lot of research/writing for a very involved non-fiction book. Probably best to discuss all in a Q&A by phone with you taking notes. There's also another chap--"Luz" at Canonfire who you should contact, as he has shown recent interest in this as well. Get his email from Grodog. Perhaps a prelim ordering of ideas between you two would partially guide the future Q&A??
@Gregos: Nice to know that the mystery bug is chewing at your own fringes! Sure, it's about making lemonade out of lemons at this point, but there's value via mental deduction in that as well. Everyone loves a mystery.
Hmm. I am not receiving your emails. Althen. Please contact Grodog again and make sure he gave you the correct address.
As for the hope that MC would be published professionally, I do wish that folks would read my prior posts and understand that the possibility of that is zero to none. WotC controls all trademarks and copyrights (WoG and MC) and I am 99.99% sure they would not grant me those licenses.
AA: Grodog got it but I have received no email from you. Did he give you my email address as I requested?
DB--
Not exactly. At first they were to be planar and WoG campaign extensions. With Greyhawk's demise as a viable product line during TSR-Days the idea was in hiatus because of little or no serious interest in promoting WoG products in any category, these in part or whole, included.
With my "revisiting" of WG5 via MC I speculated on different uses for them in the story line. Then again, these would have been "extra" special adventuring locales in keeping with the original idea and their advent would have occurred nearer to the end of the MC level run because of that.
RJK
Well, if you are serious about the matter, then this is the best way to coordinate. Emails are good--to a degree--but voice comms quickly expose major points and cut through the guess work immediately. EGG and I over our many years of DMing together or working on design projects rarely used written communication, even while at TSR.
There is another fellow Stuart Parr?? (a member of this Forum) from the UK. He translated the Warlock's Walk adv. to 3.5 stats and ran it at GENCON UK. Several months ago he pretty much queried me about the same thing you have. He's a great fan of MC and would want to help if he knew there was someone else involved with an equally high level of interest.
Make sure to contact Allan ("Grodog") and we will shift all discussion off-board where it belongs.
G'Night.
RJK
Althen--
Are you suggesting through this that you may/will start mapping the levels? If so any such commentary regarding this should be shifted to e-mail, or even a brief phone call, to set matters on a correct course from my end. I will not post such information here.
If interested, and if I understood it correctly, please contact grodog@gmail.com (the same grodog from these boards) for my email and include a link to this topic wherein I suggest you contact him to acquire my email.
Cheers!
Rob
Thanks Christian, very civil of you.
Recognizing that this is a dead product is the only way of dealing with the disappointment. I had no part in that, so too I take no blame for it.
I have volunteered my very limited time to advise those who would forward the project as a free offering to fans, and this, considering my bias for the story--absolutely one of my best to that point and not just an ABC model super-adventure, for sure--would undoubtedly include re-wrapping my head around it and making some solid contributions as well. Barring that, I cannot devote the time and effort needed to finish a 100,000+ word design and 15 more maps and not be compensated for it. Otherwise its death stopped my thinking and doing anything for it (Outside of Warlock's Walk that I gave freely to fans).
So it goes.
Game On. There's more besides Maure out there...
R.
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I am heartened to know that your decency extends to knowing, as well, what is simple for me.
This is why the human race disappoints me so. here to ere on the side of surmise once again and thus avoid the confrontation which humans are so good at arranging, especially selfish and seemingly always entitled Americans.
Let me put it bluntly: I do not "owe" you, nor anyone, the process or produce of my time, effort or thoughts.
Game on...
ooooh... you must have missed my reply----> "I just have little time left to me to expand on such a piece of EPIC proportions." "'Willing'" and "able" are 2 different things.
Cheers!
R.
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A--
*A passoff mention that Xaene is from another dimension.
Can you comment?*
Yes and no. X is from my World of Kalibruhn. He fled that world--which exists in another part of time and space--to the World of Greyhawk via ultra-magic he'd discovered in the Jungle of Huhm. He was slowly driven insane in the interim and now is a full-fledged madman who saw "the other side" and paid the consequences for this. His first advent in WoG is in 1973 when I constructed his story for the campaign and placed him as a new arrival on the Wild Coast; I then expanded on his madness and quest for power by shuttling him to the Great Kingdom where he became the advisor to King Ivid (Ovar). There are connections to what he found and what separate Maure Family members have found in their own searches into the arcane other-world.
*Can you provide more detail on Lynn, the continent to the
SE?*
No, not much. This was to be based on the WOG map noted in the Dragon Annual (#??) and would have expanded on the Dragon Masters, but that was to be a product through Dungeon... No relation to Marcel's campaign.
*During the cataclysm that caused the downfall, did all
the fiends come from box o' hordlings in the Chamber
of Antiquities?*
One of the sources. But they were not hordlings, then. The box does not relate to a fixed point and has a magical formula for redirectng what it summons and from where. This formula would have been discovered in later installments...
*What language is Slerotin's writings in?*
I imagine Ancient Suel, but your guess is as good as mine...
*Is Power Magic different from Epic?*
I have no idea, as my concepts of archetypal magic vary from those published.
*Could you provide answers to what levels are
connected to what other levels/*
No. That would have been revealed in the mapping of such which I abandoned doing when the project was canceled.
Cheers,
R.
Althen.
I had a goodly run of BG designs 1976 onward:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/1188/robert-j-kuntz
Kings & Things was recently republished by Z-Man games and I am considering shopping MAGUS around while I am currently engaged in designing my 8th (3 others are working prototypes which I will probably never publish).
I also co-designed a working but unpublished card game copy-written in 1985 named "Word Rummy (alternate; "Word Run").
"Ill" was not related at all to old GH lore--that was in fact a send up to a character of a good friend of mine who died tragically in a car accident.
I have no idea how old Iggwilv is, but Grodog who keeps track of such minutia might help in the matter.
No doubt Grodog will inform me of threads here or elsewhere that might require my attention as I do not frequent the internet too much anymore and am officially semi-retired.
I can be coaxed out now and then to answer Q's, this depending upon mood and energy, of course. Both were + this time around... ;)
Happy Gaming, Althen Artren!
R.
@ Messy: I am glad you have enjoyed my short forays into the imaginative, Messy. Always wishing I could have offered more, but enough, as is, seems about right... ;)
@Althen, Simple questions are sometimes the toughest to return a comprehensive answer to; Yours in no exception.
It assumes quite a bit and requires me to be more introspective and demanding than these days have allowed as of recent. My concern is not so much classing others like me and then choosing from among the mounting totals of negatives and positives and thereby likening it to a store shopping experience based upon gradation. All of us are individuals, so too, each individual exercises free rein in the realm of creativity. There's no sourcing it. You can recognize it in others, and I have done that, for sure. Some come close to my philosophies on design and ethics regarding same. One in particular is Kyrinn S. Eis. But to say, even though we agree on myriad subjects between us, that I'd pass my torch to her would be presumptuous. She bears her own. The best that can be hoped for in such circumstances is that enough of these same (or close) philosophies survive to continue perpetuating them. That is becoming harder IMO due to a commercial driven need in (RPG) game design to supplant form with formula, and I have touched upon that in past articles and seminars and most recently during my long interview at the Hill Cantons Blog many months ago. I actually find RPG a backwater these days when comparing it to the innovations taking place in board game design, which is where I cut my teeth on design.
So it goes. Form vs. formula. I am about open, individualistic forms like the Original D&D we play-tested and then I later contributed to, but the industry, on the main that is, is about formula. Find someone like that and support them, that is, if you really see me as some sort of Master, which I do not. *I am* the master of my own individual form; and if you like that, then at least I have one vote out there for the latter. :)
RJK
Hey Althen.
Yes, cracking codes, as I noted, can be fun. I hadn't noted the last issue of Drgn's reference to this--not even sure if I still have the issue handy.
Paying me to produce something that would ultimately require me to either, 1) acquire short term copyrights from WotC in order to accomplish, or, 2) barring that, would require that I change all of the names, place names, etc,. etc and in which much of the already contributed creative matter would have to be rewritten (magic, monsters, etc)--well, neither is going to happen for apparent reasons. If WotC had been interested they would have contacted me, of course. And I cringe at the thought of dealing with their legal dept over one-time rights which would include using it as a TMed Greyhawk product. It would be a very short exchange, I assure you, and none too profitable at that. In writing for WoGreyhawk I knew that I was surrendering rights along the way--but just like Paizo I did not foresee the pulling of DUNGEON's license and then a redirect by WotC. It's their IP and if they are interested in doing whatever with it, it's their call, not mine. Plus, it was written for 3.5 and they're on a way different track these days, eh?
Well, you created this particular Soapbox so please take advantage of it. ;)
Sorry to hear about the wife's negativity regarding you creative pastime. I am lucky to be hooked in with an artist who values this sort of thing as it relates to so many things we both appreciate, the biggest being the sublime beauty of life and creativity in general. It helps that her father was a renowned illustrator for the Chicago Trib.
You are very welcome and thanks for spending the time to share your thoughts. Grodog informed me of your post here.
Stay Happy!
RJK
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Your wish is just a bit forestalled, but granted!! ;)
Althen, all I will say is that you have come the closest of all in your detective work regarding who or what Y is. Let me ask: Though it is fun to take this route of surmise, would it be as just for me to finally admit to it being so as you state? Is not the story kept alive in even its death throe (as it has been for many years now) even with these tidbits still dangling and enticing you? That MC has become an RPG archeological relic is for certain. All that is left is excavation of what i wrote, and in many cases these things must fail to coincide with each and every separate interpretation as all such history, left to guesswork and scientific inquiry, does. That is the price of partial history pieced together that archeologists seem willing to pay.
Not that I am an entombed king-- I speak and still live. I just have little time left to me to expand on such a piece of EPIC proportions--both in length and in thought due to that--nor would I conclude doing so without a commensurate audience for it or some compensation in return. Such a fatality for fans, I agree. Also think of it like this: for the artist, too, and doubly so. I vested my sweat and blood into the ordeal for it not to see fruition. Whats done is done.
The burden of an unfinished work falls upon those who would finish it (in this case) to advance it to the fandom. I could take an advisory role if that were to happen, if there was momentum among enough fans to finish the whole on their own in a concerted and serious effort. Barring this, the sands of time have won another bout with us.
Happy Gaming (and sleuthing).
Uncle RJK
"Thanks RJK(O.G.)Having you in this thread, is beyond words..Now the Praise and credit...
For those whom don't know* Author of Maure Castle(aka El Raja Key, 1972)
Robert J. Kuntz (born September 23, 1955) is a game designer and author of role-playing game publications. He is most famous for his contributions to various Dungeons & Dragons-related materials. He has authored or co-authored several iconic D&D publications, including the Maze of Zayene series, Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes, the first edition of Deities & Demigods, and Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure.
As a D&D player, Kuntz developed the famous (or perhaps infamous) character of Robilar, the first character to successfully complete Tomb of Horrors, among other exploits. Because of Kuntz' imaginative play of this character, Gary Gygax awarded him co-Dungeon Master status for Gygax's original Greyhawk home campaign.
As Gygax's friend and co-DM, Kuntz influenced the development of the Greyhawk milieu. For example, Gygax adapted Kuntz' dark god "Tharzduun" into the entity known today as Tharizdun. Kuntz also contributed two of the adventures published in Fate of Istus.
Kuntz originally hails from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
Kuntz is unhappy with Robilar's more... "
_____
Heh, properly lifted from the Wiki article, which I have seen.
Much more bio and works missing of course, but what's there is right.
Thanks for the send-up, btw. It's been an event-filled and joyful ride so far and I hope to be around for while longer to enjoy some more of it, this, our wondrous industry with so many fine folks in it.
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Ok, Tobus asked me to post an anectdote from the past, so here's an encounterI DMed for EGG. I include this in my upcoming product, Castle El Raja Key.
****
You hear footsteps to the east.”
“We beat it north and stop to listen...”
“The footsteps recede to the south.”
“Huh? We go back to the four-way...”
“You hear footsteps to the west.”
“We run back north and stop to listen.”
“The footsteps move off to the east.”
“Heh? We go back to the four-way...”
“You hear footsteps to the south.”
“We run north and prepare for battle!”
“The footsteps enter the four-way and proceed north, right past your position.”
“What do we see!?”
“Nothing...”
EGG’s encounter with the Four-way Footsteps on Tier #1 of CERK, 1973.
***
Tobus Neth wrote: Uncle wrote: Tobus Neth wrote: Uncle, droppin the Grognard wisdom.! What's up RJK glad to see ya back! Hey Tobus. Well that "wisdom" could be refuted from many angles I suppose, but it contains enough past distillation of market fact to be of interest to some--especially to companies that are now stuck (or scrambling) in the "should we come or should we go" mode.
I am about recovered from some health issues and am very active again writing and in directing my company's future. PPP has taken a strong interest in the current D&D/RPG affairs, as discussed here and elswhere.
I also look forward to completing a large project for PAIZO, which until now has been on hold. I am sure that whatever edition of the game they eventually adopt that that project will be given the same attention to detail and loviing guidance that my previous Maure Castle installments in DUNGEON (rest its soul) received.
RJK I glad to hear your feeling better. I will remain a 3.5 player because I have everything I need.(Starting over with 3 books when I have them all right now, the system works for me, we got some history me and my players, I even play in a Original AD&D game(12th magic-user and we're about to explore Maure Castle (WG5)...
Oji wants to know if you ever named Robilar's Green Dragons!(We recently got married)From a old thread about Maure Castle...
Can I get you to here and share a tale, your a Legend(O.G.=Original Grognard)
[url=http://paizo/messageboards/community/offTopic/theRamblingsOfGrognardMadnessPostingsOfThingsIdeasAncientImaginations[/url]
Yes. I decided to use her names for them when these are published and reserve those previous as nicknames only. Please inform her of that and congrats to both of you on your recent marriage! I would love to share a tale, but must as of the moment depart to receive an overseas call, but will return, so "Bump" me on that later when I'm "hangin' out" (laughs, I've been creating 4 new monsters in between chatting here).
RJK
Snorter wrote: Uncle wrote: I think that it's important to note several things here: Uncle wrote: On whether "grognards/hold-outs" will eventually switch: The example of 1e/2e to 3e is not a firm one, as today's online resources and hedged product supply far outweigh what was available to players and DMs then. Welcome back, Sir Robilar!
Glad to hear you're recovering!
To add to the above; it's not just the increased volume of current online product that will keep older, or niche-interest games alive, but the ability of gamers to;-
- contact publishers direct (or sites like RPGNow.com), to place print-on-demand orders, thus allowing the publishers to more accurately read the demand for product, and not waste money on speculative print-runs,
- find second-hand copies of gaming materials, on sites like e-Bay, rather than being limited to whatever turns up in their FLGS or local yard sales,
- and most importantly of all, to find a like-minded group of players.
It is this last point that is the most significant, in my view.
I admit, I'm a Luddite, I came to this Interweb-malarkey fairly late, but how many forums like this one were around in 1990? Or in 2000?
Getting hold of a set of game rules is only the first step; you then have to find a group who wishes to play with them. In the past, many of the people who drifted to a new version of the game (or indeed, to D&D at all) did so grudgingly, because they were effectively being held hostage by the inertia of their current group. You were limited to finding players from the people you or your group physically met.
Nowadays, a potential player can visit a forum, and "Well I never! There's a game going down 10 miles from me! Who'd have thought?".
In the past, one might never have been aware of this other group, due to your paths never having crossed. Now, you can get in touch, sit in on a game, join in, and away you go. And your prescence in that group starts a self-perpetuating cycle; you never know,... Hey Snorter. Thanks for the welcome back! For my defense I had considered all of what you detail, and lazily typed "resources".
The internet doesn't impact thsoe not partcipating in combing said resources, but it's a good place to start for the die-hard (dare I say?) "older," "returning," and/or "fanatical" gamer. I belong to a large 1E Yahoo Group and I see mails of people returning to the hobby all the time, so I believe that the "oldies" are starting to re-blossom again, after the kids are off to college and things have settled down, and those fond memories kick in while perusing the boxes of old games in attic, basement or garage. Said "oldies," btw, possess on the average more disposable income than other age groups in our industry, another factor for game companies to seriously consider before they too quickly alienate that segment of their customer base.
Tobus Neth wrote: Uncle, droppin the Grognard wisdom.! What's up RJK glad to see ya back! Hey Tobus. Well that "wisdom" could be refuted from many angles I suppose, but it contains enough past distillation of market fact to be of interest to some--especially to companies that are now stuck (or scrambling) in the "should we come or should we go" mode.
I am about recovered from some health issues and am very active again writing and in directing my company's future. PPP has taken a strong interest in the current D&D/RPG affairs, as discussed here and elswhere.
I also look forward to completing a large project for PAIZO, which until now has been on hold. I am sure that whatever edition of the game they eventually adopt that that project will be given the same attention to detail and loviing guidance that my previous Maure Castle installments in DUNGEON (rest its soul) received.
RJK
I think that it's important to note several things here:
On whether "grognards/hold-outs" will eventually switch: The example of 1e/2e to 3e is not a firm one, as today's online resources and hedged product supply far outweigh what was available to players and DMs then.
The fear of being left in the dust: This is lessened by the above, as well as by some companies that will support the past fan base through new product offerings. Such is the case these days with 1E/2E gamers who are now receiving quality product after all these years, by use of the SRD/OGL.
I believe that PAIZO, IMHO, will be more likely to draw folks to the 4E route upon going that direction through their continued superb customer service and quality products. One of the main reasons, IMO, that they'd adopt it is that they'd deem it a worthy game system, and the rest of their reasons would gather positive force from that perspective. It is my belief that WotC would sincerely want PAIZO to adopt the 4E system for many reasons, some of which stray from this topic.
This fractionalization of the market has happened before and WotC expects a fall-out, btw, minimized by the fact that they have the new growth panacea in the long-term to alleviate loss on their end.
Rob Kuntz
Pied Piper Publishing
Hey everyone. *Waves to Erik*
I'm (in the young-fashioned sense) "geeked" by being able to bring future product to Paizo's "print initiative". Working with both Erik and James is a delight unequalled in my publishing history.
Note:
Castle El Raja Key's history is transient in relation to MC's/ There is only a scant relation betwixt them that is explained by CERK reappearing and disappearing within and throughout different locales and times.
MC's publishing future is now in WotC's hands. If they want to do the remaining levels sans myself they can; or they can work with me on this if there is indeed interest there. In between, and when time allows, I will post new levels and info on MC. Best I can do,
And no, 4th Addition does not bother me in the least, other than for the fact that it (once again) fractionalizes the already fractionalized fan base for D&D.
As an aside, sometime we just have to leave things which we like behind us and move on. Maure Castle cannot be remade or repackaged, and I can only write so much on it for free as I so have to live, and Paizo, forever in the past a champion of Greyhawk, now has to do the same.
It's interesting in retrospect: Greyhawk and D&D have been changing (or growing, depending on one's perspective) for many, many years. But we still pick up the pieces, find what's best for us as individuals and/or groups, and move on. That's the sweet part of this game: it is constantly changing and challenging us, somewhat like the industry which spawned it does... :)
RJK
Day Tripper informed us that he had a great time running the 3.5 WW at GENCON UK. Thanks Stuart for the conversion and DMing of this! We will be making this available in both 1E and 3.5 formats, with a scan of my original map, in about a week at: http://www.pied-piper-publishing.com/index.php/RobsWork/maure_casle
RJK
Erik, Janes and I had a nearly 3 hour discussion bout various projects slated for the future, including Castle El Raja Key, which I am working on completing (about 30,00 words and 7 out of the 13 maps finished), and the Bottle City, expanded and updated for Paizo to publish. These are long term projects, though the BC will most likely be released sooner and CERK. Nothing is definately set in stone time-wise as yet, and I have been very ill since returning from GENCON and am now just recovering, so I have yet to touch base with Erik on these and other projects. But, all is looking good for bringing some goodies from my pen to Paizo, which is a great thing, what?
RJK
" * WotC keeps on concentrating on miniatures: They are very successful according to what some people claim here. They appeal to young players who grow up with video games and might think "pure D&D" to be too abstract (?).
All in all things aren't so bad, though."
Seems to be a contradiction, IMHO, and of course only Americans seem to judge things by "how bad" they are. YMMV.
IMO this is the great change in progress, this initiative, and it poses a subtle threat to paper and pencil FRPGs as we have grown used to them over the years. 3E fostered a more "miniatures oriented" environment for play, coupling all so nicely with computer games, etc., all appealing to the young generation of gamers.
WotC is no doubt seeking higher ground (and revenues) from this initiative, and they claim not to be leaving P&P RP behind, which is a good thing. Proof is in the black pudding, however.
I am strictly of the wait and see camp. But being a veteran gamer with scads of material in my library, I am a person who likes a book and magazine before me. Go figure. Something with the smell of ink which I don't have to press a button to read, can carry anywhere in the house, wherever I go, etc., as many have noted in these forums before me.
I strongly support Paizo's great "Print Initiative" to bring quality material to the public, and was deeply saddened today upon reading DUNGEON #150, which I had forestalled reading for a week.
Thanks for the great ride with Dungeon and Dragon, Lisa, Erik and James (and staff). Let the presses continue to roll.
Rob Kuntz
Erik Said: "At some point I fully expect to work with Rob on publishing that mega-dungeon as a huge project, but that's a very work-intensive, very difficult task to write and to publish, so don't expect anything soon.
Rob and I plan to meet at Gen Con to discuss this and other opportunities, however, so the future may be very bright indeed."
Well, it seems that the Hellcat is out of the bag of holding! :)
See you at the CON Erik! :>)
RJK
James Jacobs wrote: Greyhawk's died and come back to life more than most campaigns. I'm not too worried about its future. And its primary campaign authors, EGG and yours truly, still live on, so the spirit of Greyhawk in those products we write I assume will never die.
In fact I will be running two Greyhawk-based events at GENCON this year: Warlock's Walk (Maure Castle) and Bottle City, which was an original level designed by me for the cmpaign all the way back in 1974.
Showing my age...
*Waves at James*
RJK
Well, there's also my primary notes, the correspondence between Erik and myself on the first project (over 100 emails!) and my memory bank... ;)
RJK
Day Tripper wrote: Cool! Which day is that..? I may need to take some time off to prepare... I'll be sending it the 14th.
Hasta!
Uncle
Day Tripper--
You'll prolly get everything to convert the day before I leave out for GENCON-Indy. :)
RJK
All good speculation. :) More to follow after GENCON! Busy as a bee now.
See those fans here who are coming to GENCON, btw, don't be shy and search me out. I'll be next to a dark vault somewhere talking with Y... ;)
RJK
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Savage_ScreenMonkey wrote: Tharizdun seems to be a reasonable assumption, however I think it might be a little more esoteric. The modules talk about the City of the Elders, which to me shouts out Cthulhu mythos. Granted Tharizdun is very Cthulhuiod. If we look deeper though in Lords of Madness chapter 2: The Deep Masters, page 28, written by James Jacobs we discover that the Elder Evils have a diety named Y'chack who could be either Nyarlathotep or Hastur. Could these Elder Evils be From the City of the Elders? Nyarlathotep in particualr would be an awsome patron to the Maure family. I suggest those interested in exposing this mystery read the Greater Halls again, and very carefully, especially all those entries dealing with Dalt.
RJK
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Allen Stewart wrote: Uncle, out of curiousity, roughly how many additional dungeon levels are there of Maure Castle, yet to be chronicled by your distinguished self? Hi Allen.
Without looking I'd say 9-10 to finish the work, plus maybe some specials I had in mind, but the latter would be side adventures/planar extensions leading from the Castle and not part of the internal dungeon structure.
But let me recount and get back with a real number. :)
We know we'll be over the hill when 3.5 grognards start showing up! ;)
RJK
Eveyone is more than welcome.
And yes the addies, as well as ancillary material, will be posted in both editions. :)
RJK
GregH wrote: Uncle wrote: "Y" does everyone keep wondering about this mystery? ;) I say let it unfold and be pleased in the end whether single guesses were right or wrong. I do intend to reveal all in the end (or near that point), so all is not lost, but a DM's secrets are his own until he coughs them up, heh? ;)
Y is not Yeenoghu, btw...
RJK
Uncle, any clues as to when the next installment of Maure will be posted? I'm about to start a party through in the very near future (within weeks) and would like to have an idea of how far they will get before I run out of material. :-)
Greg Warlock's Walk should be posted soon after GENCON UK. I can only assign so much free material to be designed at a time as I have my company, Pied Piper Publishing, to run in between and I am not a rich man. Unfortunate but true, but I will not give up on posting new material, ever, and do hope to have all posted to finish the adventure, and with some extra goodies, within 18 months, which would outdo the pace that the material was being developed for the DUNGEON. Being a one-man-show with PPP makes it hard for me to figure this plan out to a tee, however.
ikki wrote: heh, he should own the stories, unless they were significantly rewritten.
Republishing adventures require the authors agreement, and new royalties.. so tie the evidence together ;)
You merely give the magazine the right to publish the adventure once for a established royalty, the magazine doesn't end up owning the story any more than a publisher ends up owning the books...
Now if the writer was hired by the company and recived a continous pay for writing stories, then they fold to the company... just like say code a microsoft programmers writes while employed.
Unfortunately this is not true. The rights to such material became WotC's property upon being published in DUNGEON as WotC owns the Greyhawk trademark and thus any material being used within the magazine which relates to it.
Gurubabaramalamaswami wrote: Uncle, is WotC allowing you to publish Maure levels under the name Maure or are you having to disguise it with another name? Just as OJ uses common Greyhawk names and lore, so too can I keep the ongoing story consistent in such a manner by offering it free and using proper disclaimers. I have had no contact with WotC and so I assume, at least at this point, that they have no interest in developing the story further with my assistance. Things can change, however, and I am willing to talk with them regarding completing it if that came to pass.
infomatic wrote: Day Tripper wrote: Lilith wrote:
Uncle is Robert J. Kuntz's name on the Paizo boards. You miss my point - Uncle is the name of the elder Maure, but just who is he really and how did he get imprisoned in the depths of the Castle? The second part was answered to some degree in #112. He was mortally wounded by Malcanthet and is in stasis in the Family Crypts. This is true, but remember that the diary entries that are now being found are VERY old, and things current then could have changed...
"Y" does everyone keep wondering about this mystery? ;) I say let it unfold and be pleased in the end whether single guesses were right or wrong. I do intend to reveal all in the end (or near that point), so all is not lost, but a DM's secrets are his own until he coughs them up, heh? ;)
Y is not Yeenoghu, btw...
RJK
The person running this, Stuart, will be registering the event soon. You can subscribe to the event online, though I am not familiar with the process. There will be 6 players per 4 hour event and I believe he wll be running it twice, but that's his call, not mine.
RJK
Jeez Allen. :)
I mean, yes, we knew there would be inquiries from folks, but that wasn't the original intention. Most of the major boards already knew about us anyway. One of our biggest worries right now is whether we can handle the additional site traffic as there have been over 400 additional visits since we posted the page. But we are increasing our size/space soon anyway so that is just another reason added to do that. As I noted on our forums I am very pleased that we found folks to help convert the material to 3.5. That IMO will make for every fan being happy, and quite honestly, as I also noted, we all deal with too many disappointments in life to begin with. And to top it off, I've really received some encouraging mail from fans of MC, my work and DUNGEON's, been brought into contact with some very fine folks and will be running the "Warlock's Walk" adventure twice at GENCON and then a fine fellow will be running the 3.5 version of it at GENCON UK. I've had a blast with this, though I am a bit tired now. Whine.... :)
He Who Has Seen wrote: Uncle,
Thank you for your swift and detailed reply (not to mention the excellent "Mysterious Maure" article).
And thanks still for years of inspirational work!
Thanks! It's been a chore to do in between other things happening, but I really love the Poesque-like Maure Family. When I first started detailing them and their ancient woes it reminded me of Poe's, "The Fall of the House of Usher," if anyone's familiar. Such evil and insanity lurks within that Castle that I got wrapped up in it and am now as big a fan of it as the fans are! :)
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Though I have already posted the url for the new MC page/material in another thread in these forums, as this was the original thread where it was first anoounced I am also cross-poting it here. The page is ready, I have the Cavalier stats for Nasht (just sent by a fan) for 1E so these no doubt will be posted tommorow. We will clean up any mistakes and add content as time permits, but in between please enjoy. :)
RJK
http://www.pied-piper-publishing.com/index.php/RobsWork/maure_casle
Here's the rul for the page, and do enjoy! RJK
http://www.pied-piper-publishing.com/index.php/RobsWork/maure_casle
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He Who Has Seen wrote: That is good news! As always, the Oerth Journal steps up to do their part in keeping Greyhawk alive!
Just out of curiousity, I've long assumed that the Editorial staff at Dungeon always did the lion's share of the work when it came to the 3.5 game mechanics in the Maure Castle adventures, while Mr. Kuntz provided the bulk of everything else. Does anyone know if this is the case?
I'd like to emphasize the fact that Rick Miller was kind enough to also
offer OJ as an outlet for the Maure Castle material I will continue crafting. The majority of such material will be posted for free download at our company's website and select pieces, as agreed upon between OJ and myself, will also be published in their fine quarterly online magazine.
There are currently 4 stupendous folks and/or organizations doing the 3.5 conversions of my 1E AD&D mss for it, so there should be no problem with rules continuity. I am admittedly not conversant with the 3.5 rules system. Dungeon did the conversion work for my previously submitted mss, with an eye to maintaining the flavor of the originals whenever possible, and James Jacobs actually did a fine job on that score, for sure.
We are just about ready to launch the new MC page at Pied Piper, late today or possibly tomorrow. The first installment will be the 6,000 word article, "The Mysterious Maure," which I wrote in 1999. It has been updated with 3.5/1e stats for a really nasty NPC who is mentioned therein, and we have had the fine artist Eric Bergeron (his work is known through Mongoose and Silven as well) render an illustration of him.
In all I look forward to continuing the Maure Castle storyline which we brought to the fans back in 2004. It's a great story I don't want to let go and feel that I can continue expanding on until the cows come home. And the encouragement and support of the fandom for MC as here represented (and elsewhere) is where I will draw my energy and creativity from for crafting it. So I thank you all in advance for that! :)
RJK
I second the "emotion," M. A good restarting point if there ever was one.
In fact they will be posted in both versions of the rules, so everyone wins without having to resort to converting. I write these in 1E AD&D.
We should be on target to post the link by the 7th (8th at the latest I assume), and it will be posted on all major boards and Maure Castle fan-oriented sites (Canon Fire, DF, WotC, etc) and wherever else we can think of posting it.
Stay tuned. Maure Castle is not dead! And Long live Paizo who made it happen!
RJK
OK, the need for folks to convert my MC material to 3.5 is no longer a need, as three separate folks came forward to help. Good news, what?
RJK
BTW: The adventure for GENCON will be the unpublished "Warlock's Walk" from Maure Castle. I will be DMing it twice. After the con I will post it for free download/c&p on our site: pied-piper-publishing.com, but will post the instant connect url here and elsewhere before then. The Maure Castle page is near being finished as I provided our web-man all of the content for its construction and the MM article for it as of yesterday.
RJK
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