Is there any possible chance that you have a forgotten copy of this issue lying about the office just waiting for me to pick it up? I would be eternally grateful if you do :)
that's what ebay is for. :-)
Yeah, I tried looking for 112 years ago, and found it very hard to get. You'd have to be prepared to spend a lot on it. For instance, someone's offering it for $16.95 here.
Anyone know how to pronounce Maure?
Yeah, I tried looking for 112 years ago, and found it very hard to get. You'd have to be prepared to spend a lot on it. For instance, someone's offering it for $16.95 here.
even for 16.95 it's worth it. :-)
Thanks James!
Okay, follow up questions:
1. How long is this adventure?
2. Is the whole thing contained within this one issue?
I'm thinking of grabbing the PDF and printing just the adventure.
Anyone know how to pronounce Maure?We say:
MOOR-e
around these parts.
Rhymes with "More Me"
whilst i dare not contradict the mighty mr. jacobs, i believe the equally mighty mr. kuntz is quoted as pronouncing it "maur" (the "e" is silent).
Creative Director
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Thanks James!
Okay, follow up questions:
1. How long is this adventure?
2. Is the whole thing contained within this one issue?
I'm thinking of grabbing the PDF and printing just the adventure.
The adventure fills the entire issue. It covers 4 levels of the castle dungeon, out of close to 20 or so total dungeon levels. We did additional dungeon levels in issue #124 and issue #139. But each issue more or less self-contains an entire "adventure" set in its respective dungeon levels.
And it all started with this. Good luck trying to locate that one.
Stefan
And it all started with this. Good luck trying to locate that one.
Stefan
That's not difficult. Noble Knight Games has two copies, one for $15 and one for $17, here.
And Troll and Toad has five copies here.
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Creative Director
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And it all started with this. Good luck trying to locate that one.
Stefan
And while that adventure is really cool (It's one of my all-time favorites, in fact), Dungeon #112 basically updates that adventure to 3rd edition and (hopefully) expands it in many areas in keeping with the original's theme and flavor.
You know, I always wondered about this. When I first got the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, one of the many things that intrigued me about it was the Circle of Eight. I wondered how the Circle went about manipulating political factions of the Flanaess, and to what end.
I wound up running an adventure in which Mordenkainen posed as a befuddled old wizard, in imitation of Fizban of Dragonlance, or of "Izek's Slumber" in Dungeon magazine #42. He "happened" to show up just in time teleport the PCs to an adventure location to rescue a Sunndi noble from the Scarlet Brotherhood, which ultimately led to the PCs busting the Brotherhood's spy ring in Pitchfield.
But I always wondered what "official" material what printed on the subject. Besides "Izek's Slumber," where else would I find examples of this manipulation?
That's why I was looking for Dungeon 112, or for Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure.
I actually wound up buying a download of "Vecna Lives!" in the hopes that it would shed some light on the matter. (That was back when you could get old TSR material downloads on this site for $4. Remember that?) I was disappointed to find that the Circle of Eight, far from "manipulating" anything, just stumbles into a trap like a pack of fools. I figured that Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure probably wouldn't help either. It would probably just present the Eight as PCs who do nothing but explore Maure Castle.
I wonder: can anyone shed some light on this? Was there any material which demonstrates the Circle's subtle manipulation?
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The adventure fills the entire issue. It covers 4 levels of the castle dungeon, out of close to 20 or so total dungeon levels. We did additional dungeon levels in issue #124 and issue #139. But each issue more or less self-contains an entire "adventure" set in its respective dungeon levels.Thanks James!
Okay, follow up questions:
1. How long is this adventure?
2. Is the whole thing contained within this one issue?
I'm thinking of grabbing the PDF and printing just the adventure.
Oerth Journal #23 adds the Warlock's Walk level. As far as I know, these seven levels comprise everything of Maure that has been released.
I have a spare copy, are you going to be at PaizoCon? If so I can bring it for you.Is there any possible chance that you have a forgotten copy of this issue lying about the office just waiting for me to pick it up? I would be eternally grateful if you do :)
No, unfortunately. It's a bit too expensive when going from Norway :)
Edit: Is there any chance I could persuade you to ship it overseas?
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Creative Director
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You know, I always wondered about this. When I first got the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, one of the many things that intrigued me about it was the Circle of Eight. I wondered how the Circle went about manipulating political factions of the Flanaess, and to what end.
I wound up running an adventure in which Mordenkainen posed as a befuddled old wizard, in imitation of Fizban of Dragonlance, or of "Izek's Slumber" in Dungeon magazine #42. He "happened" to show up just in time teleport the PCs to an adventure location to rescue a Sunndi noble from the Scarlet Brotherhood, which ultimately led to the PCs busting the Brotherhood's spy ring in Pitchfield.
But I always wondered what "official" material what printed on the subject. Besides "Izek's Slumber," where else would I find examples of this manipulation?
That's why I was looking for Dungeon 112, or for Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure.
I actually wound up buying a download of "Vecna Lives!" in the hopes that it would shed some light on the matter. (That was back when you could get old TSR material downloads on this site for $4. Remember that?) I was disappointed to find that the Circle of Eight, far from "manipulating" anything, just stumbles into a trap like a pack of fools. I figured that Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure probably wouldn't help either. It would probably just present the Eight as PCs who do nothing but explore Maure Castle.
I wonder: can anyone shed some light on this? Was there any material which demonstrates the Circle's subtle manipulation?
The degree of respect that the Circle of Eight has been given by game designers, alas, varies. "Vecna Lives!" disappointed a lot of gamers (me included) for the reasons you list.
In "Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure," there's actually not a lot about the Circle of Eight; Mordenkainen and Bigby are presented as two of the pre-made PCs, and there's some other stuff hidden elsewhere in the text. Erik and I planted a lot more info about them in a lot of the Dungeon adventrues we edited and developed, and PARTICULARLY in the hardcover adventure "Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk" for WotC, which has a LOT of info about the circle and had them manipulating some pretty key events. There's more info in Carl Sargent's late 2nd edition Greyhawk books, and there's a LOT of info about them in the LATE 2nd edition adventure "Return of the Eight." Polyhedron did a lot with them too.
Erik's a MUCH more informed scholar than I am about this topic, though; I'll see if I can't get him to post here later in the week.
Some information on the Circle of Eight was also found in the City of Greyhawk box, with some background on each member. A more recent writeup was in the first Living Greyhawk Journal (number 0, actually), which will probably hard to find these days. This writeup was authored by Gary Holian and Erik Mona.
Most of the CoE info will require patience and money these days to come by, as this info probably won´t be reprinted in the foreseeable future, if ever.
Stefan
Thanks, James and Stebehil, for that info!
(I should have asked the question two years ago, when I was still getting Greyhawk material. Alas, now I'm devoting most of my entertainment budget - and even more precious, my reading time - to Paizo products. Still, if I ever DO go back to Greyhawk, it would be nice to know what to look for.)
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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The resource with the most information about the Circle of Eight is Living Greyhawk Journal #0, which is dedicated exclusively to them and features a cover illustration in which all members of the Circle appear. This is the "canonical" version of the Circle that incorporates material from after Gary Gygax left TSR, so it's not the "true" circle in that it doesn't come direct from the Greyhawk campaign.
The differences between Gary's Greyhawk and published Greyhawk are manifold, and began even before the Gary/TSR split. It's clear that the published version of the setting (even when authored by him) was a polished version of what happened in his actual campaign.
LGJ #0 is the best resource on the Circle insofar as the published campaign is concerned. A slightly earlier overview of the group is presented in the City of Greyhawk boxed set, and the pre-generated characters in WG5: Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure represent the CITADEL of Eight, a precursor to the all-wizard group that also included characters of other classes (notably the cleric Riggby and the fighter Lord Robilar. Riggby's death is the catalyst for "Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk," which I wrote with James Jacobs and Jason Bulmahn. That resource includes a bit more information on the Citadel, and especially on Mordenkainen, the shadow leader of both groups.
Here's a decent Wiki on the subject that might shine a little more light on the Circle: The Circle of Eight.