"Go to the sign of Marvel's Axe, a dubious inn on the edge of the Thieves Quarter, in the City of Greyhawk, and look to your own wrist. If you perceive a bracelet and dangling dice, watch for the next throw in the war between Law and Chaos and be prepared to follow the compelling geas." -Signal

Friday, October 28, 2016

Gamescience - Revised Tegel Manor


In 1989, Gamescience republished the Judges Guild module Tegel Manor in a "universal" format to be used with any role-playing system.

From the back of the book:

"TEGEL MANOR is one of the best known and most challenging adventure classics ever created by Judges Guild author Bob Bledsaw. It has now been comprehensively revised, expanded and improved by Wizards Realm author Niels Erickson, and modified to work with all roll-playing systems. Designed for medium to highly skilled characters, this volume will provide well over a hundred hours of gaming, particularly for adventurers who seek to penetrate every secret connected with the foreboding old fortress.


Parties will encounter numerous adventure situations as they make their way through Tegel Village and the grounds surrounding the manor. Once inside that ancient edifice. they can explore its more than 200 rooms and hallways -- libraries, temples, galleries and much more -- as well as its four underground-level dungeons. This infamous haunted manse is fraught with deadly perils! In its labyrinth passageways lurk menaces, monstrosities and magicks fell and loud? A moderately experienced Gamemaster will find that the extensively detailed room descriptions quickly set the scene and mood for the excitement to follow. In addition to the usual quests for wealth, powerful magicks or glory. GMs will easily find more than 50 compelling reasons for sending heroic adventurers into TEGEL MANOR:
  • Can they find the accursed gem, the Heart of Darkness?
  • Can they root out the evil which emanates from the fortress to threaten the surrounding countryside?
  • Can they locate the Cauldron of Regeneration or the other potent wizardry hidden here-flying carpets, magical statues and more?
  • Can they liberate a most unique prisoner and complete a quest for justice? Or close the portal to Hell itself?
In addition to werewolves, vampires and lichen, evil spirits and sinister secrets, one may encounter wry humor or fiendish puns-and perhaps the rare tome or important alchemist's aid to be found therein.

TEGEL MANOR can provide many sessions of mesmerizing mystery and frantic action for your campaign, with whatever fantasy role-playing game system you favor. Included are a Gamemaster's and players' versions of the map of the manse itself, as well as maps of the levels below, and of the surrounding countryside. Area background and notable NPCs are described in detail, while a separate section enumerates the diabolical denizens who make the fortress their home. Other play-aids include tables for dire magics and optional additions to the perils already present, along with Universal Format information. (Tegel Village is also located on the maps of The City State of the Invincible Overlord, now published by Mayfair Games, which could provide many other possible tie-ins for your campaign.)

Evil lives in TEGEL MANOR-but can your adventurers?"

2 comments:

gmkeros said...

This is one of these cases when something gets expanded by all those nift new things that should be good, and somehow loses whatever made the original so great. I procured one for an email game I wanted to run in Tegel manor, but somehow the old edition just seemed to be better. I still might look into the newer edition for clarification at one point, but it somehow just doesn't get the same feeling as the original edition.

gmkeros said...

This is one of theses cases when the older, more bare bones version just is better. I got myself both for an email game I am running, and I might even once in a while look into the Gamescience one, but the older version just feels better and more interesting.

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