Ring of Five Questions: Round 9

Welcome again Greyhawk fanatics! If you've been following, this is the *checks notes* ninth round of my ongoing Return of the Ring of Five Questions column! If you're seeing this column for the first time this is a community participation feature of Greyhawkery. Search back and read the previous installments then email me at mortellan@gmail.com with your own five responses. Remember, you can be as short or wordy as you like in these responses. Also, I will keep taking entries until the end of 2020 so hang in there, I will get your answers posted in a timely manner!

Today is the curve ball I promised last round. When I first proposed the Five Questions there was an initial rush of answers online where I had instructed they be emailed to me, hoping for more thoughtful answers that way. One person who caught this and responded to me after I already posted his answers was David "Keolander" Farris. So, in the spirit of D&D with its revisions and editions, I present David Farris 2.0! For fun we will compare his first answers with his new ones. Enjoy!

Q1. What is your favorite realm or region in the World of Greyhawk setting?

David 1.0: Keoland

David 2.0: Hmmm, gotta go with the entirety of The Sheldomar Valley (or if you want a specific nation: Keoland)

David is in agreement here, which is good and consistent since he is "Keolander" after all! However, I like that 2.0 expands out to the entire Sheldomar Valley and why not? Keoland had its imperialistic phase, so you can't really enjoy Keoland unless you swipe up all the states adjacent to it.

Q2. If you could actually be one Greyhawk deity which one would it be?

David 1.0: Murlynd (it didn't say no Hero/Quasi deities)

David 2.0: Probably gonna go with Daern the Hero-Deity. She seemed like she likes her creature comforts while camping, what with the Instant Fortress.

David was one of the first to say he would be a quasi/hero-deity. Alot of people who have entered the Ring have followed suit, since these gods are more relatable. 1.0 started with Murlynd, but 2.0 decided on Daern. That's quite a switch, from paladin tech-magic cowboy to defensive, construction-minded engineer. Murlynd is obviously more popular, I applaud Daern for originality. Yes, I guess a fortress that instantly pops up on command is much cooler than anything Murlynd can do. 

Q3. You have one wish. Which Greyhawk module or accessory would you do over or fix?

David 1.0: Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits.

David 2.0: Ooooh, toss up between T1-4: Temple of Elemental Evil and Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits....and all for the same reason: the dropped plot threads of The Elder Elemental God! It's too bad Gary Gygax couldn't have gotten his original version of Q1 done (or at least merged it with David C. Sutherland's Demonweb portion).

- Lots of things in those modules that, in retrospect, just don't work (and I'm talking beyond the goofy 'fun-house dungeon crawl' Spidership that was completely out of place).

- The Sauron's Eye (Liddless Eye), based on bad art, should have been immediately corrected with the subsequent publishing to reflect The Elder Elemental God's symbol (and why is Lareth the Beautiful wearing one? He serves Lolth!)

- Yochlol only make sense if they're servants of The Elder Elemental God (being they're all tentacle-y Cthulhu Mythos-type "things"). Presumably there should have been an encounter with one at the bottom (the unpublished 5th lvl) of The Temple of Elemental Evil to help the tie-in.

- I would make Driders into Lolth's most fanatical servants: sub-demons. Or at least the "good merge" ones where they're half-spider/half-Drow and still look mostly human on their upper-torso. Something akin to The Witcher Tv series Kikkimora would be a "bad merge" Drider: one that failed Lolth's tests and is now more of a mindless, ravenous spider-like abomination. 

- The final encounter(?) with the EEG I think was supposed to take place in The Sunless Sea at his Temple. The D-series probably could have gone another whole trilogy, in fact, with adventures in Erelhei-Cinlu and The Sunless Sea.

The Davids are kinda back in agreement this time, focusing heavily on Q1. I can't say I love or hate that one, never ran it, but I can bet I would edit on the fly if I did. David 2.0 of course goes into elaborate detail on what he feels. Well, I asked for it, and he delivered! :P

Q4: You're putting together an all-star Greyhawk NPC group. Who is your number one pick?

David 1.0: Quij the Orc Hero.

David 2.0: I'm assuming we're gonna need a heavy dungeon-delving team of at least 9 and all the PCs are of at least comparable levels (or can survive with others around them higher level, some have had levels adjusted to reflect this)....

- Frush O'Suggil (from G1-3 Against the Giants), Fighter 14th lvl

- Beek Gwenders of Croodle (from G1-3 Against the Giants), Ranger 9th level

- Redmod Dumple (from G1-3 Against the Giants), Fighter 9th lvl

- Reynardia Yargrove (from WG6 Isle of the Ape), Druid 14th lvl (Probably the Team Leader when you consider her Charisma and levels)

- Roaky Swerked (from G1-3 Against the Giants), Cleric 12th lvl

- Tasha of the Hideous Laughter (who is NOT Natasha the Dark or Iggwilv), Mage 12th lvl (going by her spellbook in Dragon #83)

- Glede Wurp the Eyebiter (from G1-3 Against the Giants), Mage 12th lvl

- Phanstern (from A1-4 Scourge of the Slave Lord....cause I love Illusionists), Illusionist 9th lvl (gave him some levels)

- Keek Breedbate of Nithe (from D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth), Fighter/Thief 5/10th lvl

If we need 15 for ultra-heavy dungeoneering (like going into a crashed spaceship) add:

- Olaf Peacock (from I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City) Bard 9th lvl (Dragon Magazine #56 variant, gave him some levels)

- Philotomy Jurament (from D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth) Paladin 10th lvl

- Li Hon (from C2 Ghost Tower of Inverness) Monk 7th lvl (Dragon Magazine #53 variant)

- Alberich Delverson (from I7 Baltron's Beacon....I said I loved Illusionists) Fighter/Illusionist 5/7th

- Flerd Trantle (from G1-3 Against the Giants), 9th lvl Cleric

- Faffle Dwe'o-mercraeft (from G1-3 Against the Giants), 9th lvl Mage (just the name alone makes it)

Again, I said in my opening pitch, you can be as wordy as you want. For Q4, I only expected one pick, but a few Ring respondents took that as a whole group. Now at first, David 1.0 blurted out Quij, but 2.0 gave it more thought and in my mind he said, "Quij is not a hero, he's just an over-stuffed orc henchman!" So now looks like we got the ENTIRE classic AD&D pregen all-star lineup! When I asked David what his number-one pick out the bunch would be he said Reynardia Yargrove who he also makes the team leader. Wise choice selecting a druid, and what an amazing team!

Q5. If you could possess one artifact or relic from Greyhawk lore, which would it be?

David 1.0: The Invulnerable Coat of Arnd.

David 2.0: The Foreteeth of Gar! Just kidding. I think I'd take Johydee's Mask

The Davids differ again. The Invulnerable Coat has been a popular pick, since hey who wouldn't want to be bullet proof? Why 2.0 switched to Johydees Mask I wonder? Maybe he figures the coat doesn't protect your face, but the mask does, or perhaps the notoriety of getting a special second chance at the Ring of 5 has forced him into anonymity? Hard to say. Before we end this round of the Ring, let me throw out a new challenge to David 2.0...you got me intrigued, what are the Foreteeth of Gar? Give me a story or powers set, like is it biting damage? Whistling? Charming smile?

That was a blast. Mind you, I will not take anymore revised answers! Mr. Farris was blessed by Norebo (or was it Ralishaz) so he is the exception. Keep them coming friends. Until next time!