Greyhawk Going on at Gary Con XI

Greetings Greyhawkers! It's been a wonderful weekend as I just had a small dose of Gary Con XI. Yeah I was only there for barely half of it with my best friend Jayson "Valkaun" King, but I do have a lot to report on the Greyhawk front! Let's go!

Getting the big news out of the way first, me and Jayson walked by D&D super-celebrity Joe Manganiello in the hall. I got to give him a shout out and he said "hey man". That was my mere brush with the new D&D fandom. Joe aside, I was IN a panel on Friday called Celebrating the World of Greyhawk, A Fandom Renaissance.  My co-panelists were Allan Grohe, Bryan Blumklotz, Carlos Lising, Anna Meyer and Kristoph Nolen. Those who have been in the Greyhawk community for a ling time probably know most of us, but if not...

•  Allan Grohe owns Grodog's Greyhawk and is part of Black Blade Publishing. 
•  Bryan Blumklotz is known for his heraldry pieces and runs the Canonfire Facebook group.
•  Carlos Lising writes amazing old school adventures and runs Casl Entertainment.
•  Anna Meyer does incredible maps at annabmeyer and co-hosts Legends & Lore.
•  Kristoph Nolen is an artist who manages Greyhawk Online and co-edits the Oerth Journal.

The panel covered a wide range of topics, mainly concerning promotion of Greyhawk fan-works across many platforms, such as blogging, publishing and streaming shows like DMShane's ever-growing Greyhawk Channel, and Jay "Lord Gosumba" Scott's old school channel. The ultimate goal is uniting the community once again in order to let WotC know that there is still a strong call for published Greyhawk products in the future.

The turn out for the panel was incredible, mind you Gary Con is a small venue, so the smaller conference room crowds allow you to interact with the audience much easier. Everyone present was a long time fan. I found many in attendance have read my blogs, comics and seen my streaming shows with Anna. It was very gratifying to put new faces to names and talk about shared memories. Those who made it to the panel were also treated with a collection of handouts including the first print version of the newly resurrected Oerth Journal #28 produced not only by the six of us, but many contributors from the Greyhawk Community such as Joe Bloch, Denis Tetreault, Jay Scott, The Oliver Brothers, Len Lakofka,  Jeffrey Garrison, Will Dvorak, Rick Miller and Dave Guerrieri.

Be sure to keep checking for the download of Oerth Journal #28 at Greyhawk Online! Also, for those wanting the info on my Gary Con handout the Ulakand Mesa map, go HERE to get the map and keyed information. Enjoy.


Special thanks to Tony Milani for bringing a gigantic printing of Anna's Flanaess map to the seminar for every to see! Also a huge shout out to Amanda and Linda for their support!

What else was happening at Gary Con? Carlos Lising ran some more Greyhawk adventures such as When Comes the Witching Hour:

"In 586CY, Lady Ariana Silverfox disappeared while exploring the depths of Castle Greyhawk. Now, almost fifteen years later, divinations have revealed that the adventuress yet lives somewhere in the remote hinterlands of Perrenland. Will your band of heroes prove capable of finding the explorer and returning her to her family? An adventure set in the World of Greyhawk for character levels 9-12."

And the latest in his Markessa series, Markessa, Thy Name is Evil:

"One by one, a brave fellowship of heroes have infiltrated the strongholds of the villainess, Markessa. Still, despite their best efforts, the enchantress yet draws breath and continues to work her experiments upon the flesh and souls of the innocent folk of the Wild Coast. Can your heroes put an end at last to Markessa's evil? An adventure set in the World of Greyhawk for character levels 9-12."

Be sure to join his Patreon for Casl Entertainment.


Could there be more? Why yes, our panel got to have a sit down with Gary Gygax's son Ernie, whose original character Tenser is the protagonist of Scott Casper's novella and web comic Castle Greyhawk. It was an honor to present Ernie copies of some art prints from the comic's climatic last page. He sat and talked with us for a while about things from his dad's campaign and what it's like living in Lake Geneva where it all started. Our Greyhawk panel just happened to follow the Gygax family panel as well. Kristoph Nolan had the honor there to give the family early copies of our seminar handout. It was a good day.

I also saw some cool banners about the con, showing classic mods:

Something interesting is coming next month from Harold Johnson... 

I got my newly acquired AD&D Manual of the Planes signed by cover artist Jeff Easley.

Lastly, there is also news that Goodman Games will be doing a 5E adaptation of Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, the third in their series starting with Keep on the Borderlands and Isle of Dread.

Well that is all I can recall. I'm sure there was more newsworthy stuff that happened on Saturday and Sunday that I missed, but for now, Gary Con is the place for Greyhawk. Thanks and hopefully I will see you there next year!