Signup
Welcome to... Canonfire! World of GreyhawK
Features
Postcards from the Flanaess
Adventures
in Greyhawk
Cities of
Oerth
Deadly
Denizens
Jason Zavoda Presents
The Gord Novels
Greyhawk Wiki
#greytalk
JOIN THE CHAT
ON DISCORD
    Canonfire :: View topic - Shadowland Module
    Canonfire Forum Index -> World of Greyhawk Discussion
    Shadowland Module
    Author Message
    Grandmaster Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 07, 2004
    Posts: 1846
    From: Mt. Smolderac

    Send private message
    Sat Nov 19, 2011 5:07 pm  
    Shadowland Module

    I was just reading "Greyhawk: the Shape of the World" from Dragon # 37 and came across a reference to plans for producing a module called Shadowland, set in the Plane of Shadow (EGG corrects himself and says, "...perhaps that should be the Quasi-Plane of Shadow"). Looks like Skip Williams was writing it based on EGG's outline. Does anyone know if anything ever came of this? I know it wasn't released, but maybe it was a used as a tournament module or something. There's a wealth of could-have-beens in that article. There were plans for a line of minis and rules for using them in tabletop battles, so people could play out the battles taking place in the Flanaess. This is besides a planned revision of Chainmail by Jeff Perren.
    GreySage

    Joined: Jul 26, 2010
    Posts: 2695
    From: LG Dyvers

    Send private message
    Sat Nov 19, 2011 8:20 pm  

    I have no experience with either of these products, but Troll and Toad <www.trollandtoad.com> offers a Shadowlands D20 adventure for sale and <www.penandpapergames.com> has a Shadowlands miniatures scenario.

    SirXaris
    Paladin

    Joined: Sep 07, 2011
    Posts: 833
    From: Houston Texas

    Send private message
    Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:41 pm  

    Smilan,
    I recall that as well, and seems I also recall something to do with a cross reference with either Vecna and or the Ravenloft twist... wasn't there some tie to the Quasi-plane of shadow there?
    Forum Moderator

    Joined: Feb 26, 2004
    Posts: 2590
    From: Ullinois

    Send private message
    Sat Nov 19, 2011 10:22 pm  

    From the 1986 TSR Product catalogue:
    WG7: Shadowlords
    "A high-level module set in the WORLD OF GREYHAWK Fantasy World Setting. Journey to the perilous Plane of Shadow to rescue Princess Esterilla and confront the master of that plane... and then find yourself an unexpected guest at a wedding where the guests include a lizardman, a catlord, and a mistress of illusion!"

    The mod was scrapped when Gygax left the company, WG7 was later reassigned to you know it...the joke Castle Greyhawk.

    Read all about it in my favorite source, Greyhawk comic!
    http://melkot.com/wogcomic/title/wogstrip264d.htm
    Grandmaster Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 07, 2004
    Posts: 1846
    From: Mt. Smolderac

    Send private message
    Sat Nov 19, 2011 11:08 pm  

    Mort, I should have known you had done a comic on this. Smile Where did you get that art for Shadowlord? It does look like a boardgame. I know there are references to Shadowland in some of the Gord books also.

    Man, those Amazon cavalry'll put your eye out one way or the other.
    Forum Moderator

    Joined: Feb 26, 2004
    Posts: 2590
    From: Ullinois

    Send private message
    Sun Nov 20, 2011 2:29 am  

    smillan_31 wrote:
    Mort, I should have known you had done a comic on this. Smile Where did you get that art for Shadowlord? It does look like a boardgame. I know there are references to Shadowland in some of the Gord books also.

    Man, those Amazon cavalry'll put your eye out one way or the other.


    Smillan, that art IS from a boardgame named Shadowlord. I once owned it. But it was a science fiction game not anything close to GH.
    GreySage

    Joined: Aug 03, 2001
    Posts: 3310
    From: Michigan

    Send private message
    Sun Nov 20, 2011 3:40 pm  

    Gygax's original outline for Shadowland likely inspired the plot in his novel City of Hawks, in which Gord travels to the Plane of Shadow. Anyone curious about what he would have done with the module should look at that book.
    CF Admin

    Joined: Jun 29, 2001
    Posts: 1477
    From: Wichita, KS, USA

    Send private message
    Thu Nov 24, 2011 8:57 pm  

    Skip Williams wrote the original treatment for Shadowland, and presumably Gary's shadow planar details from City of Hawks were at least inspired by this module.

    None of the content from the original module has ever surfaced, although some folks (myself included) had pre-ordered the module at the time, and eventually received refunds from TSR for it.

    Some additional details/context from the Acaeum @ http://www.acaeum.com/library/research.html

    Quote:

    WG7 Shadowlands. From the Summer 1986 Mail Order Hobby Shop catalog: "A high-level module set in the World of Greyhawk. Journey to the perilous Plane of Shadow to rescue Princess Esterilla and confront the master of the plane... where you find yourself an unexpected guest at a wedding where the guests include a lizardman, a catlord, and a mistress of illusion!". Assigned TSR stock #9184. Gary Gygax and Skip Williams were collaborating on the project, but it was shelved due to Gygax's lawsuit with TSR. Gygax has since stated that while Wizards of the Coast has given permission to have the module published, the fact that it will be produced "on spec" (no contract nor advance payment), makes it unlikely that he or Skip will be undertaking the project anytime soon. The original mention of it is in Dragon Magazine #37, page 10, where it's called "Shadowland". The mock-up cover scan of this module, featuring the cover artwork from Dragon #58, is here. Thanks to Christian R. for the scan. This research item is closed, but will remain here for trivia purposes.


    Paul Stormberg auctioned some materials from the Gygax estate back in June which included a letter about the Shadowlands module (along with a copy of M2 Vengeance of Alphaks (sp?), also written by Skip). The lot sold for at least $160, which is where I dropped out. The auction isn't available on eBay any longer, and I apparently didn't save this one for the pics/details, unfortunately.

    I'll email Paul to see if he can poke in here to add some details from the auction.
    _________________
    Allan Grohe (grodog@gmail.com)
    http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html
    Journeyman Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 14, 2008
    Posts: 222
    From: Modena, Italy

    Send private message
    Fri Nov 25, 2011 3:38 am  

    Maye Skip recalls something more.
    Do someone know him already? http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=730216532
    Grandmaster Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 07, 2004
    Posts: 1846
    From: Mt. Smolderac

    Send private message
    Fri Nov 25, 2011 11:11 am  

    Allan, just noticed you mentioned this in the Ring of Five Questions interview. Thanks for the background info.
    CF Admin

    Joined: Jun 29, 2001
    Posts: 1477
    From: Wichita, KS, USA

    Send private message
    Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:12 am  

    MToscan wrote:
    Maye Skip recalls something more.
    Do someone know him already? http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=730216532


    I sent him a message there.

    smillan_31 wrote:
    Allan, just noticed you mentioned this in the Ring of Five Questions interview. Thanks for the background info.


    No worries. Over the years, I've slowly been working up research info on some of these obscure and abandoned projects, and would like to get them up on my site eventually. This was a good prod :D
    _________________
    Allan Grohe (grodog@gmail.com)
    http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html
    CF Admin

    Joined: Jun 29, 2001
    Posts: 1477
    From: Wichita, KS, USA

    Send private message
    Wed Jan 28, 2015 11:09 pm  

    grodog wrote:
    Paul Stormberg auctioned some materials from the Gygax estate back in June which included a letter about the Shadowlands module (along with a copy of M2 Vengeance of Alphaks (sp?), also written by Skip). The lot sold for at least $160, which is where I dropped out. The auction isn't available on eBay any longer, and I apparently didn't save this one for the pics/details, unfortunately.


    See also http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=64639&#64639
    _________________
    Allan Grohe (grodog@gmail.com)
    http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html
    Display posts from previous:   
       Canonfire Forum Index -> World of Greyhawk Discussion All times are GMT - 8 Hours
    Page 1 of 1

    Jump to:  

    You cannot post new topics in this forum
    You cannot reply to topics in this forum
    You cannot edit your posts in this forum
    You cannot delete your posts in this forum
    You cannot vote in polls in this forum




    Canonfire! is a production of the Thursday Group in assocation with GREYtalk and Canonfire! Enterprises

    Contact the Webmaster.  Long Live Spidasa!


    Greyhawk Gothic Font by Darlene Pekul is used under the Creative Commons License.

    PHP-Nuke Copyright © 2005 by Francisco Burzi. This is free software, and you may redistribute it under the GPL. PHP-Nuke comes with absolutely no warranty, for details, see the license.
    Page Generation: 0.45 Seconds