From Kuroth's Quill - grodog's AD&D blog

CZ Act 1 "Alpha Preview" Map TLG published a Castle Zagyg "Alpha Preview" to CZ1 backers on 2 April 2026, showing one-quarter of The Cellars, level 2 of Castle Zagyg: Castle Zagyg Preview Map of Level 2, The Cellars Included along with the map were 12 pag…

Black Blade Publishing logo This is a modified version of the announcement that we sent to our OSR publishing friends and partners earlier this month: 9 March 2026 We have unfortunate news to share: we are cancelling the Black Blade Publishing exhibitor b…

...or, a Meditation and Reflection on What grodog Likes Best about Playing in AD&D Mega-Dungeons Sean Bean on the futility of finishing Castle Greyhawk If you've not read it, you may want to visit part one in this series first: grodog's Approach to Design…

...or, a Meditation and Reflection on What grodog Likes Best about Playing in AD&D Mega-Dungeons Introduction This post is my response to a recent discussion of my mapping style and inspirations over on reddit, begun by user SydLonreiro, who asked For my…

In the original version of the Castle Greyhawk dungeons designed by Gary Gygax, he placed a set of runes that provided hidden guidance for the PCs in why they should delve deeper--- the raison d'etre in the call to adventure.

Over in /r/osr/, user acathiadm asked a question about the Egg of Coot: I am doing a take on the Egg of Coot, in Blackmore, Northern Greyhawk.

I’m well-overdue for another Greyhawk news roundup, and a recent post by /u/talktoh in /r/Greyhawk prompted me to complete catchup on Greyhawk news for the past several months!

On Friday, 27 June 2025, my copy of Return to Perinthos: A Memorial Dungeon for Jennell Jaquays arrived on my doorstep, the output from the Return to Perinthos: A Memorial Book Fundraiser in the Memory of Jennell Jaquays crowdfundr campaign.

...or, Why Does Black Blade Publishing Still Exist?

On tonight's Gabbin #353 "The Top Published Greyhawk Adventures!"

I was reading a good discussion a couple of months ago (in February 2025) about the nomenclature for the power levels of different types of demons over on Dragonsfoot, when the topic veered a bit more planar in focus.

While the blog and I have languished together in torpid stupor for quite some time now, the blog's silence did not originate in or from wordslessness, but for good reasons that I will delve into soon.

I am pleased to report that Tony "Wheggi" Rosten has rejoined our Castle Greyhawk campaign, as he's a good friend.

I've been busily working away on various projects since the end of April, including attending the North Texas RPG Con in Dallas from 5-10 June 2024 (and for which I will draft a recap soon!).

GaryCon XVI – Thank YOUs and Swag Continued from Part 1 – Arrival through Founders & Legends and Interregnum Tuesday and from Part 2 - GaryCon XVI – 20-25 March 2024.

This is a presently-unfinished map that I designed primarily during the pre-COVID era: The Recessive Gallery Level - map by Allan Grohe (grodog) The map is drawn on 8 spi graph paper, so it represents a fairly large level environment---880' east-west by 6…

Maw of the Beholder is my new magic item inspired by John Popson's wonderful commemorative GaryCon XVI ring.

GaryCon XVI – 20-25 March 2024 Continued from Part 1 – Arrival through Founders & Legends and Interregnum Tuesday.

I don’t use my Oriental Adventures book super-regularly, but I was very surprised on Saturday to rediscover that the bookmark I had in it was a New Infinities Productions business card from Gary (likely from when I wrote a few letters with Qs about Necrop…

Part 1 – Arrival through Founders & Legends and Interregnum Tuesday The blog has been quiet of late, in part because I'm still job hunting, and in part because I've simply been busy, both writing/designing and planning for the two conventions, as well as…

With the No Artpunk 3 contest having just closed submissions, Prince of Nothing outlined his judging principles for some of what distinguishes good high-level adventure designs---and by implication, good high-level play---in his blog post at https://princ…

Kron Hills, Gnarley Forest, and Dyvers environs - map by grodog Since my last Haruspications in Hardby campaign update in July, the PCs have wrapped up their business in Dyvers (selling some poison-smeared gems liberated from a hidden temple to Nerull in…

It has been a quiet summer for From Kuroth's Quill, and with good reason: for those not already aware, I've been laid off by Amazon Web Services as part of their "return to office" (or RTO) policy, so I've been pretty distracted from Greyhawk and fun in g…

Good news too hot to wait for a curated update!

Today marks Gary Gygax Day, and what better way to honor Gary and the game he and Dave Arneson, Rob Kuntz, Lenard Lakofka, and so many others created and shaped, than to play AD&D.