New Quiz: Greyhawk Deity Sudden Death

Welcome back Greyhawkers! Yup it's time for another one of my crazy quizzes! This one should super easy. If you'd like to tackle some of my past quizzes, follow the link. In the meantime, try out Greyhawk Deity Sudden Death. Select the wrong god's name and it's OVER! Enjoy!

GREYHAWK DEITY QUIZ

Greyhawkery Comic: Tasha's Cauldron #10

Welcome denizens of Greyhawk! By the time you read this I'll be at Garycon 2025 in Lake Geneva Wisconsin. Yes I know I did Tasha's last week. This extra edition of Tasha's is a special issue dedicated to the fan community, specifically an homage to Twitch streamers like LordGosumba and others. If you are new to Tasha's online content follow the links below. Until then, jump into Tasha's first "live stream" and enjoy!

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Coming Soon to Greyhawkery

 

Greyhawkery #1067

Happy Needfest! Good luck in 2024 Greyhawkers! I'll see you at Gary Con, on Legends & Lore or on Canonfire (mortellan) and Discord (greyhawkmike)

 

New Greyhawk Fanzine: The Grey Grimoire #1

Hail Greyhawk faithful. Today I'm quickly promoting the fantastic work behind the latest Greyhawk fanzine, The Grey Grimoire! This inaugural issue features a variety of articles for a diverse selection of game systems by many wonderful authors and artists from the Greyhawk community. In particular you will find history of Old Aerdy, some great player character options for Hextor and Dalt, monster and treasures of the seas, and some delicious new Circle of (Nine?) heresy. There is all that and much more, check this new publication out NOW. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD THE GREY GRIMOIRE ISSUE #1

Gen Con 2023: I'm Back!

Heya Greyhawkers! I'll be at Gen Con in Indianapolis this year, but only for one day on Saturday unfortunately. I haven't been to GenCon for seven years. I have no idea what I'll do there besides the dealer hall. So, if anyone wants to meet up and chat Greyhawk or con stuff for a while, hit me up on the comments or email me at mortellan@gmail.com

Until then, enjoy!

Virtual Greyhawk Con 2023

Greetings Greyhawkers! Be sure to keep an eye out for Virtual Greyhawk Con 4 this fall. Registration for the event and submissions for games started on June 30. Event registration will begin August 19th. Good luck everyone and have fun!

My GaryCon XV Recap

Greetings Greyhawk friends! I am back and with a quick report of my time at GaryCon XV at Lake Geneva, WI. This is my 5th time going in person, COVID notwithstanding. Last year we were still coming out of the pandemic, masks were a must, but now we've moved on and the con is stronger than ever. Let's get into it...

Me and my best buddies Jayson and Eric (who I've gamed with for nearly 40 years) headed upstate on Wednesday evening. We rolled in too late to hit the con proper and get badges though, so we slept early. Lesson #1 for those going for the first time, the con doesn't officially start until Thursday, but you can pick up badges the day before if you get there early. It saves some time standing in line. The weather was quite nice overall. 

On Thursday we got to our actual hotel and took the trolley to the Grand Geneva. Lesson #2 for those aspiring to go to Gary Con, pay for the gold badge because you get a week head start to get closer accommodations and sign up for games. Or you can do what a lot of my Greyhawk colleagues like Anna Meyer do, and volunteer to work the con, this will get you there early and better chance of closer hotel rooms. Anyhoo, as I am neither there to work on my vacation, nor worried about getting in exclusive games, I arrive later than normal. Kudos to all my friends who do put in the time to make Gary Con a wonderful time for all us slackers! We ran to the vendor hall for a bit, and first place I like to hit up is Black Blade Publishing and talk to Allan "Grodog" Grohe. I bought some new larger hex paper from him, so expect some wild maps from me in the coming months. (more on that later). I also got to give a shout out to this advertisement at Allan's booth. It is Hounds of Oerth by the inimitable Carlos Lising and various authors for his latest charity effort. Be sure to go to Casl Entertainment, download Hounds of Oerth and please donate to this worthy cause.

As a side note, Gary Con had a deal worked out to screen the new D&D Movie Honor Among Thieves, once a day. I did not take part in this exclusive event, because me and the guys already had an early showing of it back home. My short move review is that it is major fun, and worthy of a sequel. I had lowered my expectations after the last movie 20 years ago, but this time they made one with some heart. I can't wait to see it at home so I can try to hunt for movie easter eggs. Good times.

Another astounding thing about Gary Con XV was the number of celebrities keeps growing each year. This year, I either spoke to or saw Vince Vaughn, Todd Stashwick, Tom Morello, Paul White aka Big Show, and of course Joe Manganiello. Then there is all the author and artist celebs that I geek over, such as Jeff Easley, Larry Elmore, Margaret Weis, Zeb Cook, Darlene, and Erol Otus. I also made sure to get a picture with the legendary Ed Greenwood who has always been fun to interact with in the past and now is incredibly a regular among the Greyhawk community, often featuring on Lord Gosumba streams. I've been to several Gen Cons over the years and never saw this many cool celebs all at once and in such proximity. Gary Con is small and intimate, but not a place where it's overly mobbed with people. I can't wait to see who else shows next year!

Thursday afternoon I was fashionably late to the 2nd annual Legends & Lore stream from Gary Con. Anna, Jay Scott and myself showed off a lot of upcoming projects in the Greyhawk community. We took a wild variety of questions from the audience, many who were new to the show, but no less enthusiastic to banter about all things Greyhawk. Special shout out to Eric Menge and Roger Moore for attending and lending their expert commentary as well! At the end of the seminar, I handed out print copies of a new Sea Princes map I created for this con. It's a partially "burned" map that one might find in a chest or on a pirate ship. Download this map at this link for the full-size version and put it to good use!

On Thursday night me and my pals got invited to a pick-up game of 5E Ravenloft ran by the amazing DM Dave from the Twitch stream Guild Superior. This game was incredible in that he hosted over ten of us through his rendition of Curse of Strahd, starting as 0-level Barovian kids, to 5th level seasoned adventurers, and fast forwarding to 9th level heroes. It was quite the concept for a one-shot adventure and those of us who hung in there until 2am fighting Strahd did not leave disappointed (no help from me as I could not roll over a 10 to save my life). 

Kudos to Dave for putting on such a good game, and a shout out to my Barovian childhood friends, Anna, Scott, Jayson, Eric, Chris, Rob, Karl, Bob, Josh, and Chad. 

Friday morning, I played some Dungeon Crawl Classics and only lost 3 out of my 4 characters! I later caught Anna Meyer and Alysa Faden's mapping seminar. Jay as always was manning the controls so the two could regale us with their mapping projects past and present. I regret however that I didn't catch their party with Troll Lord Games to announce the Free City of Altimira Boxed Set project. There's just so much to do at Gary Con and so little time.

Friday evening me and my crew took part in our second Legends of Roleplaying D&D tourney. Last year we finished top 5 out of over a dozen tables, this year the theme was a return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, and well, we didn't do so hot finishing 9th overall. I was no help in that my elven thief got blown up by explosive runes. Timed games can make you do foolish things. This brings to mind lesson #3, crowded gaming halls are LOUD. So, get there early and sit close to the GM! At any rate, congrats to the winners of this tournament, I heard after the fact there is a trophy that is being passed on each, kinda like the Stanley Cup. I was dismayed after our game, but now I'm back on the horse! 

Saturday morning started out iffy for me. Up to this point Wisconsin weather was being pleasant but then BOOM we had six inches of snow overnight! I was up early and was cleaning the car off like I was in a hurry to get to work or something. Luckily my friends didn't panic like me, and we stayed long enough to see it melt down later that afternoon as we finished with a game of Mutant Crawl Classic by Goodman Games. Fun stuff, it reminds me of old school Gamma World. That was all we had scheduled for Gary Con however since we planned to leave afterward. We made one more run through the con, dealer room and halls, then the most important thing before heading back to Illinois, we got Wisconsin cheese! Accept no substitutes. So yes, I missed a good 1.5 days of convention time, but really it was the best con I ever attended. I did everything I set out to do. There were so many people I met from streams and the community, and I got to game with so many people for the first time. If I missed anyone, I will catch you in 2024!

Greyhawkery Pause

 

Welcome back Greyfolk, and thank you for continuing to read Greyhawkery. This post is a short announcement that I'm hitting the pause button for March leading into Gary Con 2023. Maybe interacting with some of my favorite people in the community will inspire me to do some new content. I'll still be chatting Greyhawk Wednesdays on Legends & Lore stream and gaming 1d3 times a week. While you are waiting for me to write something clever, please check out some of my friends' Greyhawk blogs:

David Leonard's Greyhawk Musings

Joe Bloch's Greyhawk Grognard

Thomas Kelly's Greyhawk Stories

Fantasy Maps by Anna Meyer

New Map: World of Greyhawk 2.0

Welcome Greyhawkers! I don't typically contribute to Virtual Greyhawk Con, but this year I did have an idea for a Greyhawk map that should drum up some interest in the community. If you've been playing Greyhawk as long as I have you might have the Darlene map labels memorized right? That's when I thought, for fun, can I reorder the nations of the Flanaess and still make it logical? What do you think of my first attempt? Am I completely out of line? How would you do it differently? Comment below or catch me on Discord. Enjoy!

Greyhawk Fans! Gary Con 2022 - See You There!

Psst! I will be at Gary Con 2022 in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin from March 24-26. There is two Greyhawk themed seminars on Thursday, March 24th. One is the 2nd Greyhawk Fandom Renaissance put on by Kristoph Nolen of Greyhawk Online, the other is a live show of Legends & Lore with me, Jay Scott and Anna Meyer. Exciting stuff. See you there! 

In Memory of Two Greyhawk Sages

Welcome back readers of Greyhawkery. Yes, this is my 1002nd post overall, and my second since going on hiatus last year. If you are new to the blog, well, thank you for joining in. You have a lot to catch up on! If you are reading this as it's posted, thank you for keeping on top of my activity in the Greyhawk community. I haven't gone anywhere, and I appreciate those who encourage me to get back to blogging. 

This post is special however, so no promises. As many in the Greyhawk community know, we lost two friends over December 2021. It took me a while to process the loss, to decide if I wanted to blog about them, or leave it at sharing kind words on Legends & Lore stream. Well folks, I'm finally in the frame of mind to do a post. 

Michael, or Leahcim the Learned, was a kind soul, witty and quick with a bit of Greyhawk lore. Michael was a fixture in the Greyhawk community and on streams. I remember first meeting him through the Greyhawk Channel, as he was quick to educate the new players in Greyhawk lore through the chat window, and later he got involved through Lord Gosumba channel and the community Discords. I was lucky enough to play some Greyhawk with Michael before he died, and I could tell he relished every session playing a Suel wizard. Michael was also a contributor to Canonfire, Oerth Journal, and I'm sure more if only he had more time. I wish I had got to know more about the man behind Leahcim, maybe at a convention, or guesting on a stream. Now he'll just have to remain a legend, along with the pantheon of other learned Greyhawk deities.

Jason Zavoda by contrast, needed no introduction in our community. Or if you didn't know him, one only had to point out his body of Greyhawk work. If I was to sum Jason up in on word I'd say "prolific". He is first and foremost known for his Zavoda Index a tool that has no equal in the D&D community. There is no one writing in fandom who hasn't used his index for reference. If that was all JZ did, he'd still be a legend to me. But no, he also started a blog Hall of the Mountain King which in his words, was inspired by Greyhawkery. That's an honor. Of course, Jason grew tired of Blogger. Yeah it's not the best, I agree. Well, he moved his posts to Canonfire Journal: Hall of the Mountain King where Jason had already been a long-time member of Canonfire. In fact, Jason used to post Greyhawk fiction there such as Nosnra's Saga

Speaking of fiction, I don't know anyone who loved Gary Gygax's Gord novels more than Jason Zavoda. Anytime Jason would guest on Legends & Lore or Gabbin' streams, he was ready to dispense sagely lore about these books. His love of these novels led him to another innovative idea: Jason Zavoda Presents: Reading and Annotating the Gord Novels, with Chris (Cthaeh). Audio readings of Greyhawk novels (or any D&D book for that matter), is an incredible idea, and with annotations makes it even more fun to experience. I hope Chris and someone else can take up where Jason left off and finish this project. And I think that's what drove Jason to be so prolific. We all knew his health wasn't the best (nor was Michael's) and he was posting blogs, reading books, and talking in streams and voice chats daily. He knew his time was limited and was making the most of it. Now, Jason can kick back and have a drink with Gygax, Arneson, and all the other legends of the game.

Let these two guys be your motivation to contribute your fan work with the Greyhawk community (or any D&D community). You may start small, but if you are consistent and your body of work grows, people will be inspired by you in turn, and that's a fitting reward for being a part of this community.  

1000th Greyhawkery Post!

Cold iron avail you! Welcome Greyhawkery readers new and old. When I set out to do a Greyhawk themed blog 11 years ago, I was already nearing the end of a long 5-year run doing Greyhawk themed comic strips. The commentary on my comic strips had evolved into such long winded affairs, that I realized a full Greyhawk blog made more sense. In the decade or more of doing Greyhawkery, I've created more comics (Castle Greyhawk), as well as talked about D&D news, nostalgia, the fan community, and my own home campaigns set in places like the Sea Princes and the Greyhawk Wars. One thousand blog posts is a lot of words to pour out onto a screen. I've covered everything imaginable about the World of Greyhawk, from nations to geography to mysterious places, and everything in-between. I had a couple close calls along the way, where I despaired and contemplated ending the blog, but the community has always been there to push me, inspiring me to keep going and write more. I'm grateful for everyone that has read my blog. One thousand blog posts was a milestone I wanted to reach as a challenge to myself, because this time I really am putting the blog on hiatus. 

I am reluctant to say I am ending the blog because there is always more to write about, or new editions of D&D to come out, and perhaps someday when I'm 70, a newly published Greyhawk setting to meticulously pick over. For now though, I really have hit a wall creatively and it seems better to me to press the pause button than to stress myself trying to come up with content twice a week, in order to keep up an arbitrary pace I set a decade ago, back when my ideas were fresh and indeed I had more time and energy. The other dynamic at play, and this is not a bad thing, is that there is a lot more going on in the Greyhawk community. Indeed the most I've seen since the 2000s when Living Greyhawk hit the scene. When I started Greyhawkery, Paizo had already lost their Dragon/Dungeon magazine license, Living Greyhawk was done, and it was more or less just Greyhawk Grognard and me, plus the hold-out fan sites, fan forums and fanzines when it came to dedicated Greyhawk content. Fast forward to 2021 and there is SO MUCH MORE fan content being produced that I feel I can take a sabbatical! 

That's right folks, I'm doing fine and I'm not technically going anywhere. I'm still going to write and draw at my leisure (more Ull?). If something seems particularly good I might even post it on Greyhawkery, or submit it to one of our other excellent fan content outlets. I plan on reading more (I'm terrible at that), continuing to stream (or chat in streams), and hopefully run or play in more Greyhawk rather than just talk about it. I also need to go back through these 1000 posts and fix some dead links, organize my "best of" section, and finish some primer stuff on the home page. One more thing (since this post is written at the tail end of the COVID pandemic), ideally I'd love to get back to a physical convention someday to meet all the Greyhawk friends I've made. 

In the meantime, I'd like to acknowledge and direct you to all the fabulous content creators out there that I follow or collaborate with occasionally. These people will keep us all entertained in the years to come, and who knows someday maybe they'll inspire me to regularly blog again. Enjoy!

Joseph Bloch is my original inspiration to blog and write articles. At his blog Greyhawk Grognard, Joe continues to create content such as maps and gazetteers Beyond the Flanaess, and he even finds time to make fun YouTube videos revisiting classic D&D products. I met and hung out with Joe a couple times at Gary Con, and its been a pleasure. Please follow Greyhawk Grognard if you are new to this community, there is a wealth of content to be found on his blog.

Carlos Lising is always foremost on my mind when I discuss Greyhawk with people. Ever since those long Thursday night Greytalks, I could tell this guy was in a whole different league than me (not the NHL though). Now he runs CaslEntertainment where he has published dozens of modules with an old-school flair, all play tested at conventions so you know they are good (I can attest to his DM skill from meeting at Gary Con). To go with his publishing efforts, Carlos has a stream on Twitch, he does charity events, and he still finds time to collaborate on other Greyhawk projects. You must check out Carlos' work if you haven't already!

David Leonard has the blog Greyhawk Musings where he has been putting out the best deep dives on Greyhawk history. David also has an associated Facebook group, and is also a recurring guest on the Lord Gosumba Twitch streams. His research and commentary is always top-notch, which is why his blog posts are among my favorites.

Tommy Kelly also runs an inspired blog called Greyhawk Stories, where he showcases a variety of fiction for Greyhawk, and does author interviews. His serialized novel the Hateful Wars has been a saga unlike any told in the Greyhawk community. If you have fiction of any kind set in the World of Greyhawk that you want to share with a wider audience, Tommy is the person you should talk to!

Anna B. Meyer should need no introduction. She is of course the pre-eminent cartographer in the Greyhawk community, if not the entire RPG industry. Anna is definitely among the top people who have influenced me to create and share stuff for the community. I've been streaming and hanging out with Anna at conventions for quite a long time now, and she is always gaming, chatting, and developing new projects. Anna never rests. If you are aspiring to make custom maps, or do any sort of content for Greyhawk, talking to Anna will motivate you! Check out her website for downloads of the best maps on the internet, and for updates on her future work. She also has the Flanaess Geographical Society on Facebook.

 

Jay Scott is a relatively recent, but strong influence on me and the entire Greyhawk community. His time put into his campaign, his drive to stream, and his talent at community-building is truly awe-inspiring. Jay does old school 1e/2e AD&D, with elaborate miniature and terrain set-ups, all streamed on his LordGosumba channel on Twitch. Jay is always active online, running games for his home group, or mixing in guest players from the community like Anna. His organizational efforts have now given us an annual Virtual GreyhawkCon, and has lifted up Virtual GaryCon during the pandemic. Jay has an amazing "Gabbin" talk show on his channel with Anna every week where they bring on creative guests from our community and often from the D&D industry (past and present). Jay has incredible sponsors for his channel, and is always hosting prize giveaways to his viewers. That alone is worth looking into his channel if you haven't already. Oh yes, and every Wednesday you can watch Jay, Anna and myself on Legends & Lore yakking about Greyhawk topics until we drop. The content never ends at Lord Gosumba.

Casey Brown incidentally is a huge asset to the Greyhawk community. His (Unofficial Living Greyhawk) Bandit Kingdoms Summary continues to be a legendary publication, the only one of its kind. If only we had more books like his. More recently, Casey has been the go-to contact for former Living Greyhawk writers to be interviewed on the Lord Gosumba channel, thus allowing more fans to reengage with the active Greyhawk fanbase.

Speaking of the community, here is a bunch more of my creative friends!

Bryan Blumklotz is a devoted loremaster and creator of the finest Greyhawk heraldry in the community. I've had the pleasure to meet Bryan at Garycon, and be on a panel with him. I hope to do so again someday. Besides his work on Canonfire! Bryan runs the Facebook group Greyhawk Resources where you can see some of the best discussion and content from the past and present posted on a near daily basis! 

Denis Tetreault is the mad mind behind Maldin's Greyhawk, which I'm positive is the longest running Greyhawk fan site on the internet. You might remember Maldin from his work on Melkot and Irongate, plus the amazing print revision of the City of Greyhawk maps in the pages of Living Greyhawk Journal. You can still find those digital maps, and much much more on his website. Denis is a very good friend of mine, going back to the late night Greytalk chats. More recently Denis has been on our Greyhawk streams, and he has been hosting my old Greyhawk Comic strip for several years now. Oh and he has a Facebook group, Greyhawk Adventures. I'm looking forward to whatever new stuff ol' Maldin will put on his website in the future.

Jason Zavoda of the blog Hall of the Mountain King has put out unique Greyhawk content at a prolific pace. Jason is a very knowledgeable guy that I have enjoyed talking to in chats and on stream, in fact you might know him best from his Greyhawk index.

Scott Casper is a self-published game designer and fiction writer. His Castle Greyhawk graphic novel and webcomic has been the best collaboration of my Greyhawk career. It's unreal to think that for several years I illustrated the adventures of Tenser, Yrag, and Robilar. Scott is above all things an old school gamer who is always involved in running or playing at conventions. To see what Scott is up to check out his blog Scottenkainenland.

Allan Grohe of the blog From Kuroth's Quill, also owns one of the oldest Greyhawk fansites on the web, Grodog's Greyhawk. For longer than I can remember, Allan has been a highly respected member of the Greyhawk community. You can usually find him at game conventions either working a booth or running old school games such as his long running Castle Greyhawk campaign based on Gygax's original maps.

Scott McMillan and his Aerdi History blog is one you need to add to your reading list. I've known Scott a long time from forums and chats. I put Scott's research and commentary on Greyhawk lore up there with the best in the community. 

Charles Akins has the blog Dragons Never Forget. (formerly Dyvers) He is a humorous guy that I've interacted with for several years now. Charles is also author of the annual Great Blog Roll Call, so he knows the gaming community quite well.

I haven't mentioned enough Greyhawk streaming and video creators yet, here are some favorites...

John Burchfield runs the incredible Twitch stream Blue Box RPG. John is a master of his DM craft, he runs live game sessions with a very talented squad of players. He also hosts a talk show on his channel called the Loremaster's Arcanum which can often be seen live ahead of my own Legends & Lore. John and the folks at BlueBox have an insanely devoted fan following (shout out Mad Chatters!), which have only added to the growing Greyhawk community. I hope to some day get on BlueBox now that I have the free time. If you haven't watched or heard of BlueBox yet then I only have one question for you, "What Are You Doing?!"

DMWill is one of the hardest working, most fun people in the gaming community. He has a blog called the Greyhawk Companion where he posts original game material for 5E. Of course Will also has a gaming stream WickedStudiosLLC where he does a variety of games. Be sure to follow Will!

WuTangPiglet carries on the tradition of Greyhawk Channel as he brings the action on Greyhawk Tales. Wu is a riveting DM, and has a fun group of players. They are always looking to add someone to the table too, so stop by and have a look!

WilyHobbit is running Greyhawk 5E with his Greyhawk Lives episodes. Wily has always been a devoted fan of the streaming community and now he is actively contributing with his own hosted games. Please give WilyHobbit a follow.

Oronir is all the way from Belgium and he is the creator of the Grey League a unique and educational Youtube series. Oronir really does his research and is only getting better with each episode on his channel. I say it a lot, but if you haven't seen the Grey League yet, go there now.

DMGalger has an up and coming stream on his channel, SorrowsTale. You should check out his ongoing game, it's a 5E Greyhawk campaign called "We of Oerik". 

There is so many people creating and sharing content online, I'm struggling to remember them all!

The folks at the fan site Dragonsfoot have always run with the old school Greyhawk crowd. This top-notch community is where the late Len Lakofka and other fans that I know continue to chat and work on projects such as the Footprints ezine. 

Big Mac is a superfan from the UK, and I know him best from The Piazza forums where one can interact with the Greyhawk, Spelljammer, or just about any D&D fanbase. Big Mac can be found on just about any stream or chat these days. I look forward to discussing more with him in the future.

Dave Guerreri and the Greyhawk Reborn staff have continued to write and DM new Greyhawk adventures at conventions since the end of LG. Check out their Facebook group and website for more info. This group knows their craft and always have a bunch of games offered at each event. I met Dave and some of his co-creators many years ago at Gen Con. They have been carrying the torch for a long time now, so give them some love.

Scott Agnew is an amazing entrant to the content creator club. He has a Patreon for a completely converted 5E Greyhawk Rebooted. Check out this stuff, it's quite amazing. If you see him on Facebook give him some feedback.

Last, but not least!

None, I repeat NONE of my Greyhawk contributions would've been possible without the fansite Canonfire! and the esteemed author Gary Holian. His site is where in 2002, I first started sharing articles, replying to forum posts, and taking part in late night Greytalks. It is here I made dozens and dozens of friends in the Greyhawk community. Time flies! I credit Gary "PluffetSmedger" for keeping Canonfire going for so long, even when it's seemed near dead, but now from what I've seen it's getting vibrant again with a new Post Fest and other popular fan projects. Gary has always been accessible to the community, including to collaborate on content (albeit at a glacial pace), but in the present he is way more active. You can find him on the Canonfire Discord, or on Lord Gosumba stream either trolling us from chat or participating as a guest.

Speaking of Canonfire, there is so many contributors on that site I cannot list them all, you will just have to get involved in sharing Greyhawk content, meet these fellow creators on the forum or discord, then feel welcomed into the greater community. There are a few notable people active on the site that I can praise though. If I miss anyone don't worry I'll thank you in person eventually.

Rasgon aka Ripvanwormer is probably the smartest loremaster in the entire Greyhawk community, but modesty keeps him out of the spotlight. Rasgon can still be found on the forums though ready to answer your questions in extreme detail.

CruelSummerLord is one of the most prolific writers of articles and fiction on CF. CSL is the example for those who have a lot of content they want to share and how to serialize it over a long span. He's a legend.

 

Rich DiIoia has been a huge contributor to CF for a long time as well. Known as "Longetalos" he currently is very involved in the community, heading projects on Canonfire like Touring the Flanaess. He is a fixture in chats and on discords. Rich is also a helluva DM I hear. ;)

Cebrion has been an author, editor, and forum moderator on Canonfire for many years. Though I would say I'm not actively staff on CF anymore, I have always valued spending time with LordCeb the most on the Greyhawk forums and the old Thursday night chats. Waaaagh!

Brian Dougherty is another amazing author who has graced Canonfire and my blog. "Braggi" on the forums, Brian went as far as to do an insanely cool conversion of my Wonders of Ull: Old Skool Edition. He is also a master at heraldry and much more. I hope Brian keeps producing more Greyhawk content!

Finally, and just as important, much of our Greyhawk community is tied together and curated by the skillful dedication of Kristoph Nolen. He runs the resurgent Greyhawk Online. which has been around for years, but now it facilitates even more online Greyhawk content than ever. GHO hosts not only my first Greyhawk Comic, but many other classic fan websites, and archived Living Greyhawk websites. GHO also hosts a Discord, and has the BEST Greyhawk Wiki you'll ever find (kudos to the Wiki team, I know you guys and appreciate your work). Kristoph of course is the editor in chief Oerth Journal our longest running and most important fan project, now almost on its 35th issue as of this post. Under Kristoph he has brought the OJ to print with the help of Patreon. I was fortunate enough to have met him (and many other Greyhawkers mentioned above) and contributed to the first print issue ever, given out at GaryCon XI. The Oerth Journal team is always looking for more authors, artists, and editors. If you want to get involved in the Greyhawk community and make a name for yourself, this is your opportunity. Kudos to all those authors and artists, too many to name, that have been instrumental in creating the Oerth Journal.

That's enough I think. Now let me see what Greyhawk stuff you can create. I can't wait to read, comment and discuss more Greyhawk content in the future. Until next time!

Very Best of Greyhawkery

Welcome again Greyhawk lords and ladies! Today I'd like to point out some of my best posts from the past. I have a whole subpage dedicated to the Best of Greyhawkery though. So this post will be my picks for ten of the Very Best of Greyhawkery. Let's get this started, in no particular order. Enjoy!

Virtuosos of Villainy: Eli Tomorast is my love letter to this vile wizard of the Maure Castle fame. Few villains in my home games have been as hated as Tomorast. His distinctive demon claws kind of make him stand out as well. The art for Tomorast by Kalman Andrasofszky, James Ryman and Wayne Reynolds is the best. I also recently learned that Paizo publisher Erik Mona himself owns the original cover painting of Eli from Dungeon #112. Jealous! I wish I had done more Villainy articles like this, but really few ever stand the test of time as well as Eli.

New Greyhawk Map: South Seas is to date, my masterpiece in cartography. This map as far as I can tell is the most downloaded and talked about on my blog. No wonder why, there are few like it. I made the South Seas map for my long-running pirate-themed Sea Princes campaign, but the whole effort was mostly research over actual map making skill. I took what we knew of the inset map from the 1983 Glossography, and combined it with the extended Hepmonaland from the Scarlet Brotherhood sourcebook. Then I really tied it into current Greyhawk by adding all the new locations from the Savage Tide AP such as Sasserine, Scuttlecove, and yes, thanks to Gary Holian the Isle of Dread to the far southwest. Could have I done more with this map? Of course! Artistically its just a line drawing with some clever clip art and layers to give it an old nautical chart look. I encourage anyone to modify, improve, or expand upon this map.

Sword of Kas Through Editions is a short, but effective article that I researched back in 2015. Little was I to know it would end up being one of my top ten most viewed posts. The Sword of Kas is one of those iconic items from D&D so I'm sure people often come across this post in their searches. Magic swords is a popular subject anyways on this blog, but this one beat them all.

Greyhawk Wizards: The Pentad is a short, but inspired post that I did on a hypothetical all-female wizard group ala the Circle of Eight. Greyhawk is full of wizards (or lich-wizards), and besides Iggwilv, it's a male dominated world. I had fun piecing this team together, especially as an attempt to bring Ed Greenwood's creation from the Wizards Three articles, Rautheene, back into the setting since she bears no mention anywhere else.

5 Reasons to Visit the Bandit Kingdoms is the first in a series that I hit upon in 2015 as a way to introduce adventure ideas in the major areas of the Flanaess to new DMs who might otherwise have no idea what to use or where to find it. I'm happy to see this similar effort done to all the nations of the game setting through Canonfire's Touring the Flanaess postcard community project.

Rulers of Ull: Ulzhak the Golden and Kuchakar the Dragon Slayer is two of my favorite home-spun creations for Ull, but I'm counting this as one item. I had intended to do a story on all the rulers of Ull, but that is a tiring exercise I'll save for another day. Instead I did the two that to me, were the most action packed and heroic. These historical rulers were invented as a way to show even lowly Ull can develop some heroes, and that there is epic quests to be had there as well.

Pirate Fleets of Greyhawk is one of my best articles for Greyhawkery, and this has made an appearance in Oerth Journal as well. In my opinion, my Sea Princes material is significantly better than my Ull series, because I've actually ran my friends through this in multiple linked campaigns. The pirate fleets above most of my pirate articles informs best what the factions and political climate of the South Seas is like. Check it out!

Ring of Five Questions: Creighton Broadhurst is the first of an amazing run of interviews that I did from 2011-2012. Creighton is one of my favorite LG authors back in the day (he made Rary the Traitor cool again) and he was an occasional visitor to our nightly Greyhawk chats. He was kind enough to be my first "industry" person involved in the blog. I would go on to pose my custom set of 5 Greyhawk questions to other authors and artists. More recently I resurrected the Ring of Five for all Greyhawk fandom to share their favorite answers regarding our shared hobby.

Furyondy-Iuz War Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3 is part of my epic 2E "Greyhawk Wars" campaign that spanned 24 in-game years. Back in the 90's I kept quite good notes and wrote battle reports on our campaign and such. It all culminated in the final war against Iuz which was probably inspired by Tolkien's the War of the Rings. Check out these battle reports, perhaps they will inspire other DMs to wage war on the Flanaess like good old Gygax probably intended!

Greyhawk A-Z: Spells is not the even close to the first in my A-Z series, but its the most impressive in my opinion. Anyone who is well read on published Greyhawk could easily put together an A-Z list of names, places, or items, but Greyhawk specific spells? That was such an undertaking that I spent hours researching books and magazines to fill the list, and I still had to cheat a few times. Then I did a second A-Z list cause I had so much left over. 

That's all folks! Be sure to check out the Best of Greyhawkery page link at the top where I will hopefully someday have everything categorized for your convenience. Until the Star Break!

Ethereal GaryCon 2021

Howdy Greyhawk faithful! Just a quick post to remind that next week is Gary Con 2021. Unfortunately it's virtual yet again due to the pandemic, but the Ethereal version goes on! Registration has already begun, so if you haven't got your tickets for these virtual games, hurry up before they are all taken. Mind you if your favorite games are all taken, many Greyhawk games will still be streamed live on the conventions dedicated Greyhawk channel. Look for the schedule of events on the Con website. Way to represent! Check out the streams here:

GaryCon Greyhawk

I had intended to go to the physical version of Gary Con this year, and so by converting my badge to the virtual con, I got some nice swag out of the deal. Look here.

The dice are oversized and printed bold for old eyes like mine. There is no d20 though, the 20-sider is actually a double d10. Weird, but okay! The Gary Con tin has a nice set of d6's. You can never have too many of those. The book Cyclopean Deeps was the bonus item. Every swag box has a different book from what I've seen. This one is Cthulhuian, so good to have. The best part is the Dungeoneers Survival Quill. It does it all, writes, stylus, measures, has a built in level, and more I'm sure. Okay that's for all. Have fun at Ethereal Gary Con, and I'll chat with you all then!

Greyhawk Books: James Ward & Rose Estes

Hail Greyhawkers! I love going back through old Dragon Magazine issues and reading stuff that I may have overlooked back then. I don't know about you, but my Dragon reading was sporadic if not targeted. If it wasn't the Comics section, Forum/Letters, a Greyhawk article like Suel deities by Len Lakofka or some new D&D content like spells by Ed Greenwood, then I was skimming by it. What did I miss in 1988's Dragon #135? Well, with the benefit of 33 years of hindsight I missed some quite interesting stuff. James Ward, Rose Estes, and R.A. Salvatore. Check this out:

The Game Wizards by James Ward

Readers speak out on GREYHAWK® Adventures 

"I asked for feedback in The Game Wizards column in DRAGON® issue #129. So, what happens when 511 letters come to my office, all filled with great and not-so great ideas on what should get into the GREYHAWK® Adventures hardbound book? I read every one of them. Let me tell you, most of the handwritten ones, especially the ones with horrible penmanship, were a real chore, but every one was read and some of them had ideas that are being put into the design of the book. Let me fill you in on the best of these."

Okay, gotta interrupt here. Anna Meyer and Jay Scott had James Ward on stream several months ago and his insights on the creation of Greyhawk Adventures were fun. I don't believe he mentioned Dragon Magazine feedback in the book's creation. 511 letters from fans? I don't think I've ever heard anyone in the community tell me "yeah I wrote a letter to TSR on what should go in GHA and my specific idea got picked!" It sounds like mostly generalizations here, but clearly some people got rewarded for their effort. Back to the article...

"Many people wanted zero-level PCs. Adventurers are not hatched ready to go; they undergo a bit of training in several areas before they find their niches. The rules on this character-creation system will cover experimenting with different classes and even keeping some powers from other classes (at a penalty of losing experience points on adventures).

A good many people wanted to know about some of the more unusual geographic features of the planet Oerth. There is now going to be an entire section in the book on this topic. Oerth has islands that float with the currents of the sea. Each of these places has become the lair of fierce monsters that need the islands traveling ability to enter new feeding grounds during the year. These monsters also have unusually large treasure hoards. Imagine, too, a strange magical pillar that greatly heightens the powers of any magic-user who touches it but the more spellcasters who touch the pillar, the less power the artifact gives to each. Naturally, one person seeks to have all the power; rivals must be eliminated!"

This I can believe. My favorite stuff in that book is the mysterious geographical locations. I'm having a hard time recalling what pillar he is referring to though, anyone else?

"I was very surprised to see that hundreds of you wanted adventures in the book. Several sections will now have adventures patterned after REF3 The Book of Lairs; these adventures range from zero-level, easy-looking things like loading a hay wagon to high-level adventures for only the toughest of heroes. Each one is designed to provide hours of fun for PCs and DMs alike. Some letters confirmed my suspicion that several sections scheduled to be put into the hardbound would indeed be popular. There was a clear majority in favor of putting in new monsters from the WORLD OF GREYHAWK fantasy setting; the same went for characters and spells. I would be in trouble, too, if I didn't put in magic items especially designed for the WORLD OF GREYHAWK setting."

I never owned the Book of Lairs. I'd like to compare this now. Monsters, spells and magic items of course are faves of the book today. James wraps it up...

"I'll close out this section by saying that I appreciated the thought and effort that went into all those letters from you, the readers. My eyes especially appreciated the typed letters that came in. Yes, I will send out free copies of the book to those whose ideas I liked and used. No, I don't need any more ideas on this project, but I will still read your letters not because I can use the ideas, but because I think your effort merits a little work on my part."

James had told us on stream, this book had a VERY fast product time. And there you have it, somewhere out there Greyhawk fans have free copies of GHA. Jealous! Let's move on now to another section of issue #135. This one blew my mind. I almost NEVER read the novel reviews and video game reviews. In this issue we are treated to a head-to-head review of a Greyhawk novel and a relatively new author's humble Forgotten Realms novel.

The Role of Books by John C. Bunnell

THE DEMON HAND (Rose Estes)

THE CRYSTAL SHARD (R.A. Salvatore) 

"Rose Estes' third GREYHAWK® Adventures novel and R.A. Salvatore's first tale of the FORGOTTEN REALMS setting share more than common ancestry in the worlds of gaming. Both focus on multiple rather than single protagonists, and comparing the two authors' craftsmanship offers practical insight into the process of developing successful characters."

I'm already cringing that they are being compared. No, like most Greyhawk fans, I'm not a fan of Estes' novels. It's scary to think she was on her third book before FR really got going. Back to the review...

"The Demon Hand is the third book in a trilogy about Mika, a Wolf Nomad drawn by accident into an intricate web of demonic intrigue. That's fine except that Mika is out of action for most of the book, caught in a snare he cannot bypass. Estes instead builds the body of her tale around his harpy daughter, Chewppa, and TamSen, the son of TamTur, Mika's wolf companion. (The mind boggles at the genetic possibilities for the next generation.) Unfortunately, none of these would-be heroes will win much sympathy from readers. Mika, as in earlier books, is too much a victim of fate to be heroic. Chewppa suffers from a comparatively small role in the plot and a serious language barrier. And TamSen, who is really the star of this book, must compete for center stage with Mika and Chewppa as well as with his twin sister, TamLis, who abruptly changes roles at the novel's close. Estes has written this tale with a strong narrative presence. Description generally prevails over dialogue, and the texture of the writing is that of a historian, not a poet. The result is a sense of distance between the story and the audience a real problem in the absence of a strong central figure."

Brutal. How about Mr. Salvatore?

"R.A. Salvatore takes a different approach with The Crystal Shard, a novel with an equally generous cast. His narration stays closer to the events it describes, rather than stepping backward to comment on larger contexts. More significantly, Salvatore deals with his characters in twos and threes rather than by themselves, so that dialogue and action, not description, convey the heroes' personalities. Though the barbarian Wulfgar is initially a reluctant captive in the relative civilization of Ten-Towns, hard work and maturation forge him into a warrior strong enough to slay a legendary dragon (in a nicely crafted scenario, at that) and restore his own tribe's honor. Regis the halfling owes more to the AD&D game than to Tolkien, but his slightly unsavory sense of larceny makes his eventual part in saving Ten-Towns all the more entertaining. And Drizzt, the exiled drow, is handled with uncommon finesse and care. (Salvatore may be the first novelist to find a practical use for the traditional AD&D game alignment system.) These are individuals that readers will enjoy meeting and getting to know."

Yup, I definitely want to read Crystal Shard more than Demon Hand now. Note the part about Salvatore being innovative with Drizzt and alignment. Yes indeed, readers will get to know Drizzt. Alot.

"One other comparison is worth making. Both novels rely on demons from the Abyss for much of their villainy, and in this regard, Salvatore's Errtu is a much deadlier adversary. Errtu is diabolical in action as well as origin, where the blustering Maelfesh of The Demon Hand is little more than a major-league killing machine. (It's also unsettling that Maelfesh is supposed to be several times more powerful than the semi-legendary Iuz, whom Estes casually swept aside a couple of books back.)"

GROAN! Why Rose? Why?

"The Crystal Shard occasionally has rough qualities typical of a first novel (which it is), notably where the shard itself is concerned. Salvatore's writing loses confidence as he tries to get inside his villains' minds, but it is more absorbing by far than Estes' latest work. Estes is capable of better writing (see DRAGON® issue #105 concerning her Children of the Dragon); the Mika trilogy suffers more from carelessness than from true lack of skill. As the AD&D game's original homeworld, the world of Greyhawk deserves more consideration."

Well said sir! If only R.A. Salvatore had been moved over to save the Greyhawk novel line. But no, Drizzt took off and 33 years later, he is still writing. I'll leave you all with this ad from the same issue #135 for Rose's next Greyhawk novel The Name of the Game. Cringe. Oh boy, I need to dig this book review up next! Until then, thanks for going down memory lane with me!

Greyhawk: Rare Lords & Legends

Greetings denizens of Greyhawk! Digging back into the pages of Dragon Magazine in the 80's, you will always find nuggets of Greyhawk lore that have gone on to greater things, or have been lost to time. One such column to go looking at is Lords & Legends. In this column, an open call was made for authors to submit heroic PCs and NPCs, with stats and extensive backgrounds ideally from TSR branded worlds (unlike Giants in the Earth which was about figures from literature). The resulting column was short lived, but yielded some nice surprises, in particular in issue #134 William Simpson gave us our first lore on the draco-lich, Dragotha from White Plume Mountain fame (though I think there would be retcons following). And in issue #139 Neil Brandt gave us Elayne Mystica for the first time. She would continue on in Greyhawk lore as an important NPC wizard. But before either of these titans of the Flanaess, the creative minds behind Lords & Legends gave us the heroes Gnarly Bones and Kordan Badaxe. Who are they??? Good question. I can show you, but it may create more questions than answers. Let's have a look at issue #131:

Kordan Badaxe, created by Steve Seguin, is a 9th-level mountain dwarf fighter who wields TWO axes of hurling +4. Only 62-years old, Kordan is special among mountain dwarves for having blue eyes.

"Born of common parents, Kordan learned to use his strength and fighting skills to earn a living. He joined a dwarven army but soon grew bored with the endless routine that came with military life. Instead, he longed for excitement and adventure. When guards were being recruited to protect an advance mining settlement, Kordan quickly volunteered. A vein of precious metals had been discovered at the point where the Jotens meet the Little Hills (see the WORLD OF GREYHAWK fantasy setting map, hex H5-159). The small group of miners, along with accompanying guards, were to begin mining and to set up the foundations of a larger operation if the vein proved lucrative. 

A year later, the mine was producing more silver and mithral ore than was originally foreseen. By this time, Kordan had worked himself up the ranks to the position of sergeant of his squad. During a routine patrol, Kordan's squad was attacked by a large group of vicious giant type creatures. The raiders, mostly ogres and ettins led by a dozen hill giants, were lured to the area by the dwarven ore strikes. With their brute strength and large numbers, the giants destroyed the patrol before word could be sent back to the mine. Kordan was hit by a boulder thrown during the fighting and was knocked down the side of a canyon into a swift mountain stream. The attackers then surprised the mine and enslaved the dwarves in order to continue tapping the mountain's wealth. 

Kordan washed up a few miles from Datmil, a small trading town at the foot of the mountains. After he recovered, the dwarf rounded up a group of adventurers to return to the mine and free his people. Kordan and the five adventurers made it to the mine safely and entered undetected through one of the many ventilation shafts. After a few skirmishes, they located the slave pens. Once the dwarves were freed, they armed themselves as best they could. Under Kordan's command, the miners forced the giants to retreat deep into the mine; the miners then destroyed the supports and collapsed the section of the mine in which the giants were trapped. 

It was during this fierce fighting that Kordan earned the nickname Badaxe as he wreaked havoc amongst the enemy. Kordan would hurl one of his axes with deadly accuracy, strike a second opponent with the axe in his hand, then whirl to catch the thrown axe as it returned. He did this with a frightening efficiency that allowed him to kill six of the hill giants and a score of ogres in his first major battle. Additionally, his intense hatred of giant related races now overrides his feelings about humanoid races like orcs and goblins, and he gains a bonus to hit giants in combat (but not against the humanoids). 

Kordan was made a dwarven lord for his heroism. Shortly thereafter, he constructed a great fortified stronghold in the Jotens as a bastion against further attacks by the giants. Kordan may presently be found in this area, where he patrols his holdings. Despite his serious nature, Kordan is good company (in a dwarven sort of way). He warms up quickly to parties containing dwarves or rangers, a class he respects due to his hatred of giants."

This is a tight story, and an amazing backstory for any dwarven hero in any setting. I dare say there is no officially published dwarven NPC with this much backstory. Kordan should be well known in Sheldomar Valley lore. Also, Mr. Seguin stealthily created the town of Datmil! I don't think I see it on Anna Meyer's Flanaess map, but she will be placing this soon! Good stuff. What about Gnarly Bones though...

Gnarly Bones, created by Christopher Jones, is also a 9th-level mountain dwarf fighter, but he wears plate armor and carries a hand axe +2. Gnarley i distinctive for not having a beard (not by choice).

"Little is known of the early years of Gnarly Bones. His father was a prominent dwarven lord of his clan, and Gnarly was his first-born child. Gnarly stood to inherit his father's position and influence, but for some reason fell into disfavor with his father and left his homeland. Several speculations have been made regarding this event. Some believe Gnarly may have dishonored his father by refusing to join the dwarven army; still others believe Gnarly killed a member of the clan and was banished from dwarven society as fitting punishment. For whatever reason, Gnarly never returned to the kingdom.

Gnarly proceeded to travel throughout Oerth, his primary concern at this time being one of self-indulgence. Gnarly handled his activities with great levity, and became involved in a number of misadventures. Sometime later, he met Sir Sarvairius of Andairfels. Despite their radically different personalities, the two became steadfast friends. 

After adventuring together for a short period of time, Gnarly and Sarvairius joined a group involved in a quest to capture a demon-witch. During this quest, Gnarly was severely wounded by a fire-based trap. He was saved by the group's cleric, but his beard (a dwarfs badge of honor) was completely burned off and could not grow back. During the remainder of the quest, and throughout subsequent adventures, Gnarly proceeded to build a name for himself. Though he did not become as famous as the demon's slayer, the legends of the bare-faced dwarf are told in many cities and towns. Gnarly journeyed with Sarvairius until the latter received his title and barony. At that time, Gnarly settled down in Andair City (Sarvairius's capital). There, he became well-acquainted with local law enforcement officials. Gnarly's quest for pleasure led him into every kind of trouble; only his friendship with Sarvairius kept him from punishment more severe than a few days in jail. 

About this time, Andair City was attacked by sorcery and transferred into an other-dimensional area called the DemonRealm (possibly a part of the Abyss). With the city under constant siege, Gnarly's fighting skills were greatly taxed. Gnarly rose to the occasion by providing untiring assistance during the siege. Because of his unyielding resolve, Gnarly earned the love and respect of the citizens of Andair City. He became a patron hero of that city, his popularity second only to that of Sarvairius.

When the city was later sent to the alternate Prime Material world of Wireld, Gnarly helped Sarvairius carve out the realm of Andairia. Through these trials, Gnarly's personality underwent a change and he matured greatly. He gave up his epicurean pursuits and assumed a number of local responsibilities. In time, Gnarly built a vast mansion under the mountains of north Andairia. In gratitude for the aid he had given Sarvairius and Andairia, Gnarly was given the title of Earl. He was also given dominion over the mountains in which he settled, which Sarvairius later named the Gnarly Peaks. 

While a vassal of Sarvairius, Gnarly is the Earl of the Gnarly Peaks; he holds dominion over thousands of dwarves who live in those mountains. If encountered, Gnarly does not reveal his true position or skill at arms. Likewise, he provides little assistance to gray elves (unless they are in extreme danger) due to his hatred for that race. If asked for assistance, Gnarly gives aid or advice in areas in which he has knowledge. Gnarly is quick to anger and slow to forgive. At times he reverts to his former, troublesome personality, which can cause problems."

So we don't know what clan or realm Gnarly originally hailed from, or exactly why he was exiled. He wandered Oerth so much that he came upon a knight from a land called Andairia, but we probably haven't heard of this place because it was whisked away to the Abyss (sorry Anna), then returned to a whole different prime plane where Gnarly is now the earl of a mountain range named after him! Fantastic stuff. Take that dad!

I hope you enjoyed these two NPCs, if you want to get the full info, check out Dragon #131. The article stated that only two dwarves were ever submitted to Lords & Legends, and both were from Greyhawk. I find that intriguing since Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance were definitely in play for this series. While I loved Kordan, but was merely amused by Gnarly, that is the joy of fan submissions. Today we have many outlets for submitting our own Greyhawk campaign creations such as Oerth Journal, Canonfire, Dragonsfoot or blogs like mine! If only back then, Dragon Magazine had kept L&L going longer, imagine what characters might have been added to our collective lore today.