Home
Creators
Search Recent Missing Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

Your Opinion is Solicited (Patreon)

Published:
2023-05-21 02:58:28
Imported:
2026-06
haven't archived this post yet. have a subscription? use the importer!

Content

I'm playing with some ideas for a new trade dress for the Castle of the Mad Archmage expansions, and this is one I'm thinking of. I'd like to get your overall impressions (it's a very rough draft, and I already know it's off-center), specifically on the idea of putting a snippet of the map on the front cover. It would be the VTT version, without the room numbers, trap doors, or other hidden info.

Whatcha think?

(Also, this is going to be the November adventure, and will be incorporated into the 10th anniversary edition, for those who were hoping to see Level 9W completed!)

Files

Previews only

Comments

Anonymous

I like this. Really has that good old school vibe!

Anonymous

I'm fine with this -- better than the old white with brown top line. However, my instinct would be to signal the "continuity" of the CotMA with EX1 and EX2, or WG4 or WG6. If I recall correctly, in the gold box locations of the official Greyhawk modules, Dungeonland and Land beyond the Magic Mirror were coded "GC-1" and "GC-2" -- presumably as they were parts of the Greyhawk Castle. For whatever reason, they were instead published as "Extension" modules that could extend any DM's dungeon.

Greyhawk_Grognard
>>108978576

An excellent point. There are two series that fall into this category. The DP series (for DemiPlane) includes DP1 Musicland and DP2 Bitterbark's Circus. They can easily be incorporated into any campaign. They use the same trade dress as the other regular modules. That change has already been made, and the web store on DriveThru reflects the change. The MA series (for Mad Archmage) will start with MA1 Castle of the Mad Archmage Core Levels, and then include MA2 The Museum and the Watery Caves, MA3 The Garden, and MA4 The Brumal Realm. These are straight expansions, and the trade dress is unique to the series (that's the example in the OP above). I'm hesitant to lean too too much into either the EX or WG series explicitly, for obvious copyright reasons.

Allen McNight

I do like the old school yellow stripe. Just at a glance you can tell where the motif came from. However, I'm not really a fan of the map in the "window", to be honest. I think a character or scenery picture in that window would be more appealing and therefore marketable. It would also keep all of the MA series (or any other series for that matter) from looking like a bunch of copies of the same thing.

Anonymous

Joe, I like the late '78 to '83 style trade dress you have been using for the new & updated module releases since the beginning of the year. Instead of a partial image of the map why don't you use a public domain image of a frost giant, yeti, ice cavern or etc...? Here's some examples : Thrym, King of the Frost-Giants by W. J. Wiegand https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_King_of_the_Frost-Giants.jpg Fafner and Fasolt by Arthur Rackham https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rhinegold_and_the_Valkyries_p_064.jpg Seated on a huge block of timber near the entrance to a dark cave by Arthur Rackham https://archive.org/details/englishfairytales00stee/page/94/mode/2up Other Norse giants https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J%C3%B6tnar Yeti by Pandy Corona https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yeti_by_Pandy_Corona.jpg Yeti by Philippe Semeria https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yeti_by_Philippe_Semeria.jpg High in the Thin Cold Air by Edwin Duesiester https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yeti-1979-pnf.png Cavern carved by the sea in an ice wall near Commonwealth Bay, 1911-1914 https://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryofnsw/2866522209/in/photostream/ People visiting the Mendenhall Glacier Ice Cave by Gillfoto https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:People_Ice_cave.jpg Micro-cave between the layers of snow and volcanic ash, with icicles, Telefon Bay, Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Telefon_Bay_8.jpg The ice cavern is one of the most agreed picturesque and iconic scenes from the Calico Mine Ride https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Calico_Mine_Ride_11.jpg

Anonymous
>>108978576

The current version of CotMA does make reference to, "transported to a demi-plane featuring a jungle island with" ... "an enormous ape which is worshipped by the natives as a god" and "teleported to Wonderland, made famous in the works of Lewis Carroll". Anyone familiar with EX1, EX2, & WG6 should know the significance of those quoted passages.

Jeremy COFFEY

I think color artwork would be more eye-catching (assuming that is an option), especially with all of the black. Alternately, white background and black line drawing art for the graphic could work as well with the black cover. A snippet of the map as you have but on the back cover might work better, but for the front cover, given how dark it is, only the yellow stripe really pops. If you want to keep with the map on the front, try some lighter colors (white, or other subdued colors) for the main cover background (the black area in this example, ie, not the map background). See what makes the map pop best. That may require the yellow stripe to change as well, because you want that to stand out/not wash out at the same time. You could also try a different hue of blue in the map, perhaps somethin brighter, and see how that works with the black, or other colors you try. I'd only bother if you find a cover color you really like (the current black, or some other color) and want to experiment some. I would also recommend increasing the font size some -- the title looks smaller than the below-map tag line -- I'd make them at least the same size, if not title bigger. But even the byline and the paragraph description can be a bit larger -- would help with readability, especially if you keep to the white text/black cover. In short, the 3 key elements are the stipe, the title, and the graphic, and a reader's eyes should sort of flow from one to the other with ease.

Earl Rumburg

I like the overall look of this. I love the classic look of the stripe and title. With regard to the map. I am not opposed to this, but maybe have it fill most of the snippet area. That being said, I really like seeing old school type artwork on a cover. My only dislike is the black background. It makes the map pop more, but I would suggest a different color. Something dark still, like a shade of red or orange and lighten the blue to make it stand out against it's opposite color.

Anonymous

I like the old school look. The black color is good for me too. I would prefer to have the map replaced by an illustration though.

Jose Perez (Bromos Sunstar)

I like this old Style for adventures, keep the rule books the same but I would use your old colors so that the books and adventures of your brand look good on the shelf together.

Anonymous
>>108978576

Valamir, it was when I saw those references, along with the adaptation of Gravestone, that this was the Castle Greyhawk homage for me. ;-)

Anonymous
>>108978576

Unfortunately, not enough people stuck with the Gord novels. He is one of Gary's best villains -- utterly evil & incredibly high-level but smart enough to know he doesn't want to attract the attention of gods & the like. Back when the novel came out, I wrote up my own emulation of the "prismatic monster" spell (making it take up two ninth-level spell slots) because it was so freakin' bad-ass. That, and wiping off someone's mouth with his finger -- not a guy you want your characters to cross!

Anonymous

I dig the old school layout that makes it consistent with the layout from the other adventures you've been doing :) That's the biggest (i.e., most important) thing to me. I'm ok with whatever for the cover image, whether it's the dungeon grid, or a public domain image, etc. (In other words, I don't have a good feel for which option is ideal. I can see the appeal of the dungeon grid, to make it stand out as dungeon levels for the castle, as distinct from all the other adventures. But I also see how cool art can have a more enduring appeal. Hard to choose.) I am also ok with whatever for the background color (whether black, or some other color – again, I don't have a clear feeling about what would be best). Hope the feedback helps!

Anonymous

Very classic - a yes from me