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!

D&D Movie, Vecna Merch and More

Hey Greyhawkers! So we all know there is going to be a D&D movie soon. Some rumors say late 2021, but IMDB seems to think 2022. Hard to tell in the COVID era. Could end up straight to Netflix. This is an early synopsis of the movie (which in 2020 we found will star Chris Pine which I have mixed feelings about): 

"The upcoming Dungeons & Dragons movie currently in development by Paramount will focus on a group of adventurers looking for the Eye of Vecna, a powerful artifact that dates back to the earliest days of the game. Our source indicates that Dungeons & Dragons will feature a group of adventurers led by Raven Hightower, a warrior with a magic flamesword that’s haunted by his sister’s death. Other characters include the “half-dragon” Hack Karroway, the gnome thief Olivan Trickfoot, and a masked warrior named Alyssa Steelsong who is set to take over Palarandusk’s role when the dragon dies. Additionally, the main villain of the movie is a male drow named Razer Horlbar who once kept Raven and his sister as slaves, along with a female tiefling named Damala and a brutish warrior known only as “The Beast.”"

This hits quite a few modern D&D hallmarks, tieflings, drow (Razer tho?), dragonborn (I assume) and sassy gnome thieves. Nevermind that this will be tentatively set in the Realms (the dragon Palarandusk is evidently from that setting), knowing Hollywood they will botch it. At any rate, I've lately been intrigued by two correlating things, one, the rumored plot involves the Eye of Vecna and two, the fact Wizards of the Coast (and Wizkids) is pushing Vecna merch suddenly. I'm not going to link to the march sites though, I'm just showing this stuff. You can easily find them on your own if you're interested. Check it out:

Posted on Twitter, coming soon, trophy Eye and Hand of Vecna by Wizkids. This will set you back quite a bit because of the anti-magic jar I assume. I definitely dig the Vecna cosplay, I'll give them an A for originality. Would've been an A+ if he had only one eye though!

In the Christmas issue of Dragon+ (the digital descendant of old print Dragon Magazine) Wizards showcased a bunch of stuff, among them this sweet shirt. Now this I can get behind. Vecna is going to get more merch soon, you watch. This movie might feature the eye, but you can't really do the item justice without the Hand, so plot device for D&D 2? Once you have both items, Vecna himself can't be far behind! In the meantime, here is some other Greyhawk-y merch from that Dragon+ issue (more of a product catalogue really):

    Warduke. There is a TON of D&D themed shirts out there on the interwebs. This one speaks to me as does anything D&D cartoon related. 

Sure you have dice, dice bags, dice towers, DM screens and all the rule books, but do you have a D&D backpack to carry them in? I bet you don't!

Lastly, courtesy of Joe Manganiello and Death Saves is a sweet St. Kargoth "Death Knight" jacket. I know a few Greyhawkers who would die to have this.

That's all for now. Let's hope the movie comes out sooner than later. Between comic book movies, LotR, Game of Thrones, and Star Wars, this has been a golden age of nerdom in my opinion. Fingers crossed that D&D becomes even more pop-culture. 

D&D Movie News & Eye of Vecna

Greetings Greyhawk enthusiasts! I'm here to share an article I saw on my Twitter feed today. Looks like more details of this Dungeons & Dragons movie is developing. The surprising part is the movie is rumored to include the Eye of Vecna! The not so surprising part is the rest of the movie seems much more tied to the Forgotten Realms. Now, don't get me wrong, this is a win-win concerning D&D movies; use your #1 setting and also use one of your most iconic artifacts to set up an inevitable confrontation with the arch-lich himself. I'll be optimistic and wager anything involving Vecna will be a trilogy.

The pessimist in me however, thinks this smart movie making decision will come at the cost of future Greyhawk development which I was just talking about a few weeks ago. The whole Vecna theme is one of Greyhawk's last great story lines left to revisit. Of course, Vecna and his various magical body parts were never totally just a Greyhawk thing, that is until the module Vecna Lives! brought him to Oerth and wove him into its rich history (the article acknowledges this gratefully). Traditionally in D&D lore the Eye (and Hand) of Vecna is a multiverse-level threat, even to the unsuspecting Forgotten Realms. So while I'm super jazzed to hear about the Eye as the objective of this movie, it's sort of my problem with this storyline as well.

You see, as a long-time D&D player, I'm disappointed to see the Forgotten Realms with all its hundreds of novels and sourcebooks, doesn't have anything unique worth making a movie about? Heck, it could only fill one slot in an anthology of classic D&D adventures published with the Yawning Portal on the cover. Now the article mentions an obscure Realms dragon and knights who follow some FR deities, which is great, but unless I see stuff like Waterdeep, Zhentarim or the Harpers in this flick, I'm worried it's going to just be a generic D&D movie like the rest of them. But hey at least the Eye of Vecna is here to save the story. I hope in the movie's opening exposition they can at least allude to Vecna and the origin of his Eye/Hand coming from "another plane".

End of rant! This post will likely require a lot of revision and retraction as the movie isn't due till mid-2021 after all...

Blackmoor and D&D History

Welcome Greyhawkers. If you are in the mood, check out these two items of old school nostalgia currently posted on ENWorld.

One is a new article for James Wards' ENWorld column titled Origins of Monty Haul. If anyone isn't familiar with Monty Haul campaigns, well I'm sure Mr. Ward can educate you! I am definitely not a Monty Haul DM. Not usually. Check it out though, its a fun read into the early days of Greyhawk.

Lastly, this is not World of Greyhawk per se, but Secrets of Blackmoor : The True History of Dungeons & Dragons, is a new documentary about the creative origins of D&D:

"Blackmoor is the name of a fictional world created by David Arneson. It is also the prototype of Dungeons & Dragons, the first published role playing game. Unlike other fantasy worlds, such as J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, Blackmoor is a living world that is being explored to this day. Secrets of Blackmoor investigates the origins of the role playing game, through candid interviews, archival footage, and newly discovered artifacts.

In 1963, David Wesely becomes a founding member of a club that includes history buffs, model makers, and miniature collectors. Hiding within the group, however, are a bunch of college students who are interested in war gaming. Within a year, the gamers meet a high school kid named Dave Arneson who is playing war games with his friends in his parents' basement.

These gamers have no idea that they will change the face of this hobby forever. Their only concern for now, is how to simulate the reality of war, and above all, they just want to have fun. Their voracious hunt for new rules and knowledge leads them to the University of Minnesota Library where they discover an old manuscript, Strategos; the American Game of War. Within the dense pages are a few sentences that inspire them.

The influence of Strategos changes how they play their war games. But are they really following these old rules, or have they stumbled onto something truly unique by misinterpreting what it says? Should a game be constrained by rules, like Monopoly, or should there be no boundaries at all, like a game of make believe?

One thing is very clear--something magical was going on in the Twin Cities."

You will have to pay to watch this, but it is a top notch production. Here is a teaser. As D&D moves forward in the 21st century it's important for these types of documentaries to be made to chronicle our favorite hobby's history for future generations. Enjoy!

St. Louis Blues Win the Stanley Cup

Warning: Non-gaming related post ahead!

WOOOO! Greetings, my Greyhawk friends! If you've known me for any length of time, you'll know I have three obsessions. One is the World of Greyhawk (naturally) the other is the comic, Mighty Thor, and the other is hockey, namely the St. Louis Blues of the NHL. This week they won the Stanley Cup in a decisive game 7 over Boston Bruins. The same Boston Bruins who swept the Blues in four games 49 years ago. I'm almost 47, so that's how long this quest for redemption has been going on for our fan base. This is like the century-long struggle that was recently ended by Chicago Cubs fans in baseball.

Not only did they win 16 games to take the prize, they had to claw all the way from last place in the league in January, to get to the playoffs. How is that in D&D terms? Your character just got beat up going through a dungeon, then with one hit point left and a broken sword, you just rolled a bunch of nat-20's to slay a dragon. Okay that may be extreme, but it is definitely in the same realm as the 1980 U.S. Olympic team defeating the USSR.

At any rate, when it comes to my favorite three things, 2019 has been a damn fine year for me so far. I got to be on a Greyhawk panel with many of my friends at Gary Con, I got to see movie Thor kick ass one more time in Avengers: Infinity War, and now, my favorite hockey team finally lifted the most-difficult trophy to win in all of sports! I'm gushing with pride, my head is still in the clouds and I'm happy to shout it out on the internet: St. Louis Blues, Stanley Cup Champions!

Pirate Fleets of Greyhawk

Welcome Greyhawkers! Today I'm going to try extra hard and bring you some new content for your home game, especially if you are like me and are about to get the 5E nautical rules in Ghosts of Saltmarsh. Now for several years already, I've been running a multi-party Hold of the Sea Princes campaign set before the Greyhawk Wars. Alot of my themes throughout the campaign has been about sailing the high seas and swashbuckling action. Not surprisingly this all started by running the Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh! From there it spun out into treasure hunting, deadly curses, ocean pantheons and piratical politics inspired by movies like Pirates of the Caribbean.

One of my favorite things about our Sea Princes campaign has indeed been the use of factions, particularly pirate fleets which I became keen to expand upon when I saw the Crimson Fleet in the Dungeon Magazine AP, Savage Tide. Here is a survey of some known pirate fleets that ply the seas of the Flanaess. I leave much of the intricacies of these groups to each individual DM for now. Enjoy, mateys!

Prince's Fleet (large fleet)
Home Port: Monmurg (Sea Princes)
Rivals: Toli Armada, Blue Confederation
Enemies: Crimson Fleet, Keoish Navy, Ulek Navy
Overview: This fleet is comprised of those nobles and captains loyal to the Prince of Monmurg who is generally regarded as the ruler of the entire Hold of the Sea Princes. These captains adhere to the laws of the sea, showing mercy to foes and eschew slavery in principle though its practice is too widespread in the mainland Hold to stop presently. The Princes Fleet is the main bulwark against the Keoish Navy and the Lion Throne retaking their former province back. For this reason, their piracy is subdued, now more focused on economic diplomacy.

Toli Armada (large fleet)
Home Port: Port Toli (Sea Princes)
Rivals: Prince's Fleet, Sasserine Fleet, Crimson Fleet
Enemies: Keoish Navy, Ulek Navy
Overview: The pompous Prince of Port Toli commands the loyalty of many captains in the southern Hold who are more concerned with personal wealth and prestige. This fleet is mainly responsible for the nation's exploration and expansion into the jungles and islands farther south, as well as the slave trade so despised by Monmurg. The Toli Armada is a fearsome naval power in its own right, but is prone to alliances and defections to the Crimson Fleet much to the dismay of Monmurg.

Hold Flotilla (small fleet)
Home Port: various (Sea Princes)
Rivals: Princes Fleet, Toli Armada, Sasserine Fleet
Enemies: Crimson Fleet, Keoish Navy
Overview: This is a loose association of captains who consider themselves above the petty squabbles of the Hold nobility and their fleets, preferring to seek independent ventures legitimate or otherwise. These captains tend to stay close to home waters however, until such time when the entire Hold is threatened. In these emergencies the Flotilla rallies and its squadrons sail with the flags of their kin.

Crimson Fleet (medium fleet)
Home Port: Scuttlecove (Pirate Isles)
Rivals: Toli Armada, Cousins of Tilva
Enemies: Keoish Navy, Prince's Fleet, Hold Flotilla, Iron League, Ulek Navy, Sasserine Fleet, Duxchan Armada
Overview: The dread Crimson Fleet carved out an island realm of their own in the seas south of the Olman Isles. The rulership of this fleet and their diabolical patrons is highly questionable. What is known is the Crimson Fleet attracts all manner of cutthroats, mutineers and disaffected captains who have no where else to call home. For this reason, the Fleet is a mish-mash of former pirates from nearly every known fleet in the Flanaess. Crimson Fleet pirates are accepted bounty in nearly any port in the south seas.

Cousins of Tilva (medium fleet)
Home Port: Kro Terlep, Ekul (Tilvanot Peninsula)
Rivals: Slave Lords, Blue Confederation, Crimson Fleet, Duxchan Armada
Enemies: South Provincial Navy, Iron League, Rel Astran Navy, Sea Barons, Sulward Blockade
Overview: This coalition of pirate captains seem to control all harbors, coves and islands surrounding the coast of the Tilvanot Peninsula and the horn of Hepmonaland. Their presence is both a bane to trade-fleets on the Azure and Aerdi Sea and a boon to the poor, defenseless villagers of this tropical region whom give the Cousins shelter. The captains of the Cousins are without exception always of Suloise descent though their crews are accepting of any ethnicity or race. They are considered more honorable than most of their rivals and have been known to sail far out of their normal sea-lanes on business for the mysterious plateau realm of Shar, rumored to be their true masters.

Slave Lords (medium fleet)
Home Port: Elredd, Highport (Wild Coast/ Pomarj)
Rivals: Blue Confederation, Cousins of Tilva
Enemies: Hardby Marines, Iron League, Nyrondal Navy, South Provincial Navy, Dyvers and Furyondy Navy.
Overview: The infamous yellow sails of the Slave Lords have long been feared in the central Flanaess, though their vicious captains rarely realize the identities of their true masters. The presence of these pirates is a constant concern for Wild Coast towns and merchant fleets crossing the Woolly Bay. Less obvious is this fleet runs a slaving network that has somehow spread inland to the Nyr Dyv incurring the wrath of the Dyvers and Furyondian Navies. The Slave Lords have also sought to expand their fleet by training Pomarj orcs and goblins the ways of sailing, to limited success.

Blue Confederation (medium fleet)
Home Port: Blue (Pomarj)
Rivals: Slave Lords, Iron League, Prince's Fleet
Enemies: South Provincial Navy, Hardby Marines, Ulek Navy, Nyrond Navy
Overview: The alliance of independent captains who mainly harbor in the coves of the southern Pomarj and Blue pre-date the rise of the Slave Lords and have managed to remain viable by working with them to harass all merchant activity passing through the Sea of Gearnat. Even so, the Blue Confederation is generally honorable compared to most pirates, and has also been known to smuggle for the Iron League if it means affecting the South Province.

Densac Squadrons (small fleet)
Home Port: Narisban (Olman Isles)
Rivals: Crimson Fleet, Prince's Fleet, Cousins of Tilva, Toli Armada
Enemies: None
Overview: The captains who call the Olman Isles their home are a mixed bunch of retired fleet captains, Olman-born sailors and Narisban freebooters. The Densac and the port of Narisban is traditionally considered neutral waters for all pirate society and the Densac Squadrons are merely an informal alliance to protect their routes. Foreign explorers and traders seeking riches to the south are not so safe.

Sulward Blockade (large fleet)
Home Port: Sulward (Lordship of the Isles)
Rivals: Rel Astran Navy, Duxchan Armada
Enemies: Sea Barons, North Provincial Navy, Spindrift Isles, Cousins of Tilva
Overview: The Sulward Blockade is formed by captains sworn to the Lord of the Isles who is nominally a member of the Iron League as well. The captains of Sulward, once part of the Great Kingdom, have changed from their piratical ways to extracting tribute on all Aerdian vessels passing south to the jungles or through the Tilva Strait (Iron League vessels pay none). In particular the Oerid population of this fleet has made them biased towards most Aerdian ships unlike their islander rivals the Duxchan Armada. The Sea Barons however, desire to crush the blockade someday and with it, retake the Isles.

Duxchan Armada (large fleet)
Home Port: Duxchan (Lordship of the Isles)
Rivals: Rel Astran Navy, Sulward Blockade, Cousins of Tilva
Enemies: Sea Barons, North Provincial Navy, Spindrift Isles, Crimson Fleet
Overview: This fleet is comprised of mostly Suel-born buccaneers from the southern isles of the Lordship. These captains are more free-wheeling and prone to adventure than the reformed Sulward Blockade, but are quick to rally in times of war. The Duxchaners have been in open conflict with the Sea Barons for a long time and chafe at contested sea traffic in the Tilva Strait with the rival Cousins. The Duxchan Armada is highly honorable and often take part in dangerous Iron League missions against the Aerdy for the riches and glory.

Thillonrian Raiders (various size fleet)
Home Port: Soull, Krakenheim, Glot (Snow, Frost, Ice Barbarians)
Rivals: Themselves
Enemies: Sea Barons, North Provincial Navy, Hold of Stonefist
Overview: The raiding captains (often chieftains) of the Thillonrian Peninsula are far flung from the cares of the south and central seas, but they share a generational hatred for the provincial navies of the Great Kingdom of Aerdy. When not raiding over the Icy Sea or venturing to places uncharted, these barbarian ships come into conflict with one another for plunder rights on the Solnor Ocean. Even so, the raider-kings of Rhizia can at times overcome these tribal differences to form a mighty invading fleet.

Added notes on national fleets for completion sake:

The Great Kingdom of Aerdy has a considerable presence on all the seas, being comprised of the North (medium) and South (large) Provincial Navies and in addition the formidable Sea Barons (large).

Rel Astran Navy (medium) protects the port and merchants of this free-city and have little love of the Aerdian Navy or the Sea Barons.

The Iron League Fleet (large) is comprised of ships from Irongate, Onnwal, Idee and Sunndi (the Lordship has its own fleet). Irongate and Idee have the strongest warships, while a majority of the fleet is tiny ships converted for war.

Keoish Navy (large) and Ulek Navy (small) are the allied fleets of the western kingdoms and principalities that trade on the Azure Sea.

Nyrondal Navy (medium) is mainly concerned with piracy across the Sea of Gearnat, but also in helping the Iron League vie against the Great Kingdom.

Hardby Marines (small) protect Greyhawk Domain interests on the Woolly Bay and along the Wild Coast.

Spindrift Isles (Lendore Isles) Navy is mainly composed of elven warships whose speed and skill have confounded all pirates and navies on the seas. Only the Duxchaners have been foolish enough to test their mettle and sail within their waters.

Sasserine Fleet (small) captains serve council-members of the free-city nestled on the Jeklea Bay coast near the Hellfurnaces. They maintain peaceful ties with their former rulers the Sea Princes, but often defend against Crimson Fleet raids.

Dyvers and Furyondy Navies (medium) control the western freshwaters of the Nyr Dyv. Their main concerns are the threat of Iuz, deep lake monsters and smuggling Rhennee. The infiltration of the Slave Lords has been an added thorn in their side.

Avengers Endgame Thoughts

Hello Greyhawkers. It's been a long, busy week, but I did manage to see Avengers: Endgame and I must say, after 10 years of amazing Marvel comic movies building up to this finale I got some thoughts to share in relation to running a D&D/RPG campaign (not just Greyhawk). Also, no don't worry, there won't be any spoilers in this post. If you haven't seen the movie do so NOW. If you haven't seen any Avengers movies, what's wrong with you? Okay let's start in no particular order...

1. Adventure Paths, much like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, are hard, but if you can finish it the memories and emotional pay off will be worth it. Be it the Against the Giants/Queen of Spiders, Age of Worms or your own series of adventures. If you intend to do the long-campaign, see it through!

2. A central uber-villain like Thanos is worth his weight in gold. This guy has to be untouchable, but so personally hated by the PCs that they will try to defeat him/her no matter the odds. I think of heavy villain types like Iggwilv, Iuz or Vecna.

3. Villains can win. Yeah they can and it only makes the players want to try harder to undo what victory the bad guy may achieve. In the module Vecna Lives! there is a scenario in which the arch-lich wins. Does he? Probably not in 99.9% of games played, but if he does, it ups the stakes for your entire campaign.

4. Call backs to old NPCs or locations or events is a great way to reward players. Referencing something a PC has done to change the world is a good way to acknowledge that the players have mattered and their time is not wasted. If such a place or person is revisited, the platers will want to defend it just that much more. It's also a good way for a DM to show that no minor detail or random NPC you may meet in a Greyhawk tavern is unimportant because they might matter some point in the future.

5. If you're going to have an epic finale, be sure there is plenty for every hero to do. Having a character be the "chosen one" is fine in many stories with only one central character, but RPGs are usually ensemble casts. Give them stuff to do and personal goals to tie up at the end. this is why I feel quests like Five Shall Be One's quest for the five Blades of Corusk is great, because it requires all the heroes to be invested in the story and lend a hand in victory.

6. Character death should be epic, not pointless. This is of course easier said than done. But if the PCs live as well, there should always be an opportunity to take one for the team. The struggle against Kyuss in Age of Worms was quite good at handling climatic situations in this fashion.

7. Sometimes a new player thinks outside the box better than veterans. If this ever happens it is a breath of fresh air for DMs and a shot in the arm for long time players. I've seen it happen occasionally over the years. Never discourage creative plans and ideas, no matter how silly or over the top they may seem at first.

8. It's okay to move up the timeline. RPGs these days work in at accelerated pace. It's easy to do an Adventure Path like Savage Tide, that takes less than a game year to finish but takes the PC from 1-20th level. So your PC may be ultra powerful and rich now, but has he really developed? As a DM, adding incremental timeline changes gives the players an opportunity to change not just their stats but their character's personal story moving forward.

9. Cross-overs can work. Are you a DM that runs more than one game group? Do they play in a shared world like the World of Greyhawk? If you ever get to mix these game groups up and let them cross over the teams, it can make for some interesting relationships and new group dynamics. I used to run games like this frequently and we still proudly talk about those games decades later.

10. Have an easily defined villain plot or quest. If you're playing an RPG involving intrigue, investigation or horror then sure, it can be good to slowly dish out information and build to a reveal. In an epic fantasy quest, sometimes it's good to know the danger up front and what will happen if they fail. All the stuff in between is the meat of the story and for a DM can be fluid at this point. Iuz's demons will overrun the Flanaess unless you get the Crook of Rao, And....GO!

11. A good villain or hero never stays gone for long. It's more true for comic books, but in a game like D&D it's easy for recurring villains or even heroes to be brought back into the story if needed, such as clones, simulacrum, resurrection, raise dead, reincarnation, undeath, etc. If done right this can span a wide timeline gap like in Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure and the sequel Maure Castle which was also written 20 real years apart.

12. Sometimes villains can make great allies or can even be redeemed. If you haven't tried to have a villain team up with the PCs to take down a greater threat, you are missing out on some great roleplay opportunities. Imagine the possibility of a romantic storyline with a villain like in the movie Willow, or something familial like Thor and Loki or Raistlin and Caramon from Dragonlance.

13. The story goes on. And when you finish your epically long campaign, sometimes it is nice for your heroes to lay the ground work for your next campaign. Pass the torch so to say. This could be like a legacy game where the Circle of Eight loses and adds new members, or maybe the timeline changes and you carry on the name of a previous PC. Or maybe your PC becomes a ruler of a nation that your next character hails from and is sent on the next quest by this mentor. There's many ways to tie up the end of a campaign and let your PC leave a permanent mark on the world.

RIP Stan Lee and Carl Sargent

Sad news today Greyhawkers. First and foremost is the passing of the man, Stan Lee at age 95. No link is needed here, his death was immediately felt around the world. As a fan of all things Marvel, especially the Mighty Thor, I am saddened. I will miss his charming voice and his funny cameos in movies. It gives me a warm feeling to know all the characters he created or co-created are now house-hold names anywhere on the planet. That is a man whose legacy is secure. RIP Stan, Excelsior!

In lesser news, but by no means less unimportant to me or the Greyhawk community is the passing of Carl Sargent. For those who don't know who he is, let's just say he developed the World of Greyhawk during 2nd edition in ways no one else could. As fast as Carl appeared on the D&D scene and ushered Greyhawk through devastating wars and its aftermath, he was GONE. Carl left the RPG industry and as far as I know, never returned or felt he needed to during the RPG resurgence started by Wizards of the Coast.

Now not everyone likes "Sargent-hawk" but it is in my opinion second only to Gygax in importance. Sargent merely took the frame work of wars that Gygax had already assembled and pursued them to their most logical conclusion. What Carl brought extra was this "grimdark" tone to Greyhawk that was surely an import from his days working on Warhammer. Another thing, it's a travesty that to this day there is no official print version of Ivid the Undying, a masterpiece of world-building, involving the Great Kingdom. People who struggled to differentiate between Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance fantasy need only read Ivid or any other book with Carl Sargent's name on it. Thank you Carl, for your prolific work!

Infinity War and Greyhawk

Hey Greyhawkers, it's your gleefully lazy friend here. Today I'm musing on the hottest movie in the world (right now) Avengers: Infinity War. If you haven't seen the last ten years worth of Marvel movies then what is wrong with you? This particular movie is based on the Infinity Gauntlet era of comics from the 90's; a series that I am proud to say I own and followed to a point. The main thrust of Thanos lore was in Silver Surfer comics sad to say because the Surfer cannot appear in the movie versions. At any rate, the topic here is how a "macguffin" (or macguffins) like the Gauntlet or the Infinity Stones can be a compelling save the Oerth type story arc for your Greyhawk campaign. No spoilers here!

D&D is full of numinous objects to collect or destroy, we call them artifacts and relics. Everyone has heard of these type objects (you can see a list of them in my primers on the front page) and for the most part they are objects like swords, orbs or even a hand. While dangerous in their own right, few are world-shattering. Now there is such a thing (2E is the last I heard of it) as resonating effects. If two or more artifacts are brought together they give more power than the individual parts. One infinity stone is powerful in the hands of a character, but two sets you on a path toward being an epic figure, perhaps god-like eventually.

There is a few good examples of this Infinity Stone-like resonating powers in Greyhawk such as the Five Blades of Corusk or the Regalia of Might (evil, good and neutral). The Rod of Seven Parts is the best one however, since it's a singular object once assembled (much like the Gauntlet). Collecting all seven pieces of the rod is a long term quest which if it fell into the hands of a big bad like say, Iuz or Iggwilv, would make them even more ridiculously powerful than before and require an assemblage of heroes to help take the villain down. Defeating a near deity/demigod isn't easy, but it's not unheard of in D&D.

For example, the old 3.5E Dungeon adventure path: Age of Worms was a high-level quest to stop a nigh invincible demigod from emerging on Oerth. This series also included the Ro7P to a small degree. The 2E module, Vecna Lives! was also a quest to defeat an ascendant arch-lich from completing his master plan to become a greater god. Very Thanos-y. The more recent Rise of Tiamat story-arc in 5E also involves a plot to prevent world catastrophe with the mother of all dragon's return.

You say you're tired of the same old Iuz and Vecna? What other Greyhawk villains are crafty and devious enough to spark a macguffin quest on this scale? I got a few. Eli Tomorast is definitely fills that niche as a power seeking madman with resources and a stable base of operations. Rary the Traitor is another no-brainer. He is a very high level wizard with many enemies and also a remote base to work out from in the Bright Desert. He already seeks the Scorpion Crown, but what if that is just his "gauntlet" and there is some stones it requires to really unlock it's power? Too many wizards messing around in Greyhawk? Okay, might I suggest then Warduke. Warduke is originally from generic D&D action figure fame, but came to Greyhawk lore in the Paizo era, featured in Dungeon Magazine #105. He is an ominously evil, high-level fighter who is also a Hierarch of the mysterious Horned Society. Few warriors in Greyhawk except Warduke can command the gravitas of Thanos and basically slash and burn his way to ultimate power.

I'm sure there are many other candidates, those are the first few that popped in my head. In summary, if you are floating the prospect of running a high-level, epic campaign then it's perhaps it's time to try saving the world by gathering the "Infinity Gauntlet" or stopping evil from doing so first.

Greyhawk Meets Game of Thrones

Greetings Greyhawk mavens. Today I'm going to muse on the medieval fantasy comparison of GRR Martin's popular "Game of Thrones" series and how it could enhance your Greyhawk campaign. You don't need to run an actual GoT RPG when you have Greyhawk after all. This setting was set up with a war backdrop with all the political intrigue one could want. This was because, as we know, Gygax was a wargamer first. It just so happened that dungeoncrawling then became all the rage back in D&D and thus Greyhawk's heyday. When they did try to push the Greyhawk Wars meta-plot it seemed to fall on deaf ears. Then came the era of storyteller games and adventure-paths that people enjoy today. Is it any wonder then why Game of Thrones is so popular now and not when it first came out?

Back in 2003, Dragon #307 dedicated an entire issue (back when it was still in print) to Martin's books and how to turn Westeros into a D&D setting. I remember barely reading that issue cause well, I'm a Greyhawk guy(wish I hadn't got rid of it). I don't think it captured the hearts and minds of many D&D players back then (this was 3.5e) but today it seems VERY relevant. Enough rambling, here is some ways to make your Greyhawk campaign more Game of Thrones-y:

Dragons. Let's start with the monster in the room. GoT went from popular to super popular thanks to HBO and the fact their CGI dragons look better than 90% of movie dragons (yes even Smaug). Now in D&D, dragons have historically been dungeon dwellers waiting to get slain. No one actually controls dragons either (that's a Dragonlance thing typically). A lot of D&D dragons are VERY intelligent is why. How to bring dragons out of the dark and become a major plot point of your Greyhawk campaign? Alliances.

For example, Rary has Volte (blue) in the Bright Lands. Brazzemal the Bright (red) treats with giants. Dragotha lives within Iuz's realm. There is many dragons in Greyhawk canon. If one ruler in the Flanaess has dragon/s on their side it immediately changes a war and has heroes on their toes because while awake, they could be anywhere.

Noble Houses. For me the main feature of Thrones is the squabbling warring noble houses like Lannister, Stark or Targaryen. Each house has their own style. Colors, mottos, hair colors! Pitting heroes in the middle of the Houses of Greyhawk is as easy as making a fighter the third son of a duke, or a cleric the bastard offspring of a baron. Instant faction association! Greyhawk is full of houses in canon. The Great Kingdom alone has many you can read about in Ivid the Undying, such as Darmen, Naelax and Garasteth. The Kingdoms of Nyrond and Furyondy's nobles are detailed in the Marklands sourcebook. Every minor nation in between has lineages, claims and rivalries that extend back a thousands years. Just peruse the 1983 Greyhawk Guide or the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer for a wealth of intrigue ideas.

Foreign Conflict. One of the big themes in Westeros is the rumored, but impending return of Daenerys Targaryen from across the sea to retake her empire. The foreign threat brings a new faction into the already warring atmosphere. In the World of Greyhawk this foreign aggressor could come in the form of the Baklunish West. Perhaps someone charismatic enough (with dragons or a relic of somekind) could unite the Paynims, Zeif, Ekbir, etc. to then march east in conquest for whatever perceived noble cause.

The Greyhawk Wars already had something close to this with the Scarlet Brotherhood's invasions. Here we had a secret society of monks and assassins who was already infiltrating all the courts in the land for decades, then suddenly, using foreign-born soldiers from the jungles went on a small run of successful conquests. The effort in canon kind of fizzled however. If the Brotherhood had fully used their potential (and used some unconventional weapons), then no country would've ignored them. Time for a second try!

Existential Threats. Speaking of invasions there is some threats that can't be reasoned with. Much like the Night King's undead army beyond the wall, Paizo's Age of Worms AP did just that with Kyuss' return and an undead plague right in the heart of the Flanaess. Zombie-plagues not your thing? Well other world wide threats can be imagined that could create opportunities for diplomacy among rivals and put a pause to ongoing conflicts. How about giants emerging out of ALL of the major mountain ranges at once? (Against the Giants on steroids) Or weird automaton armies marching out of Land of Black Ice? Whatever the threat, it can change the mood of the setting and turn the focus of play in a different direction than what PCs expect.

That's the four areas I'd emphasize, though anything in this genre can easily be ported into Greyhawk. One other note, if you want to do the humdrum of running a nation or several, look into the out of print Birthright Campaign. A D&D setting ahead of its time. What other aspects of Game of Thrones did I miss?

TSR 1992 Fall-Winter Catalog

Hello Greyhawk and D&D enthusiasts! Today I was digging around in my collection and found this gem, the TSR 1992 Fall/Winter Catalog! In light of D&D's much hyped products and story events, I'd like to tell you millennial gamers that 1992 was a very good era for the D&D. It was the height of 2nd Edition and there was new stuff coming out every month. I remember anxiously going to the nearest game shop (for me sometimes half an hour away) to see what would be on the shelves next (especially Greyhawk). Let's have a look and see what TSR had in store for us 25 years ago!

Dragon Quest. Never owned it, however I did have Hero Quest which I suppose was a knock off of one or vice versa. No idea. This set gets you a free t-shirt though! Take note WotC.

Hollow World and regular D&D products. I did like the Known World and the BECMI sets. After that I didn't collect them anymore. I do wish I had got The Poor Wizard's Almanac though, that looks cool.

This was a good year for Darksun. Seven products including a computer game for you IBM users. I never got into Darksun, probably because I was too busy collecting the next page...

Yes, the 90's was good for Ravenloft setting fans as well. I didn't read the novels, but the source books like Forbidden Lore were my favorite. Ravenloft was always fun to break out on a dark rainy day and I like those books so much I keep them on my shelf rather than stored away. I also admired Al-Qadim. This was a time before it got shoe-horned into Faerun. While I never ran the rules, those books were great inspiration for my own Greyhawk adventures set in the Baklunish West.

TSR Collector Cards. Good idea, poor execution. They were printed on terrible cardstock, had no custom art (it was all pulled from cropped images out of other D&D books) and in lots of cases had useless information. Sometimes you could find a diamond in the rough, but for canon lore, the cards aren't reliable. 

Now, the Complete Book of Elves (Elvis) is the best of that 2E series. It's the book that gave us Bladesingers. Enough said! Lankhmar always made an appearance once in a while. Love the novels, not interested in the setting.

Here we are finally, the Forgotten Realms section. Yes, the 90's was also the ascendancy of FR one needs look no further than The Legacy by Salvatore, Menzoberranzan boxed set and Volo's Guide to Waterdeep. Not to be outdone, FR also had three video games that season (for IBM and Amiga, take that Darksun fans). Enough of that...

Silly me, Forgotten Realms' novels spill over into the next page belonging to Dragonlance. FR had so many novels that I gave up. I don't know how R.A. Salvatore does it, he writes as much as Stephen King! Meanwhile, Dragonlance still had D&D adventures surprisingly. If any world had MORE novels than FR it was DL.

Spelljammer had a good Fall. Source books (Greyspace, woo), a novel AND a computer game. A computer game folks! Below that lineup we then have two sorrowful products for Greyhawk. Just two. No video games for Oerth. What gives? From the Ashes was a nice boxed set, I always liked Carl Sargent's post-war timeline. Rary the Traitor however was garbage. I didn't like the premise of his treachery or the follow up. The book had errors which were later fixed online, it had a terrible cover which was probably intended for something else and just got slapped on Rary last minute, and it had below-average interior art. Rary's only saving grace was that the lore inside on Sulm and the Bright Desert was new to us fans. Later writers would polish this turd to a shine and make Rary's land more interesting.

Lastly we have the oddities. TSR's Marvel Super Heroes was the best. Anyone who knows what FASERIP is had fun times in the 90's gaming. I never owned many MSH books, but I always got excited when new heroes were statted out in Dragon Magazine. Back in the 90's we DREAMED of Marvel movies. Nowadays every C-list hero is getting a movie or show. Back then we had to create our own epic stories.

Never got into Buck Rogers as an RPG, but us 80's kids remember the TV show. Then lastly we have Gamma World. This is another game I fondly remember. All we ever had was the base boxed set, none of these supplements, but we enjoyed it alot. It was so weird a setting and the post-apocalyptic genre was fresh in our mind with movies like Road Warrior or toons like Thundarr the Barbarian. Plus, given that we lived during the Cold War, GW seemed like a very possible future to us at the time. Sadly I never bought into the later reincarnations of Gamma World. I guess it's better left in 1992 for me. Thanks for reading.

Guardians of the Galaxy Thoughts

Hey Greyhawkers! Tonight I am still basking in the afterglow of watching Guardians of the Galaxy vol.2. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a Marvel guy, and specifically a Thor fan. However, Thor comes second to (and maybe third to Cap) my love of the GotG movies. I cannot give an accurate or spoiler free review of the movie, so instead I will tell you why these two movies are important to me in a Greyhawk/D&D context.

Misfit Groups. I am normally humano-centric when it comes to characters and my story focus. Misfit races bug me. This is a byproduct of working with Greyhawk. But the option to have a multi-racial mix of characters is there, it's D&D after all. GotG is not set on earth either so aliens of all kinds are normal, thus it shows misfit groups can work, with some growing pains of course. After a while you stop thinking about their differences and the group gels into a dysfunctional but strong family just like you'd want your D&D players to do.

Opportunistic Heroes. Much like typical D&D adventurers, the GotG are rogues. They are stealing something for some rich guy or turning someone in for a bounty, etc. They might not be lawful, but as a group they are definitely good. Despite all their own motivations they end up doing the right thing in the end. And hey, if they find some loot along the way, it's well deserved!

Over the top villains and monsters. Another thing the movies has an abundance of baddies. Most are weird humanoids or slimy creatures that you'd swear jumped out of a Monster Manual. The Big Bad Evil Guys are definitely on par with most Greyhawk uber-villains like Iuz. Many are also silly in nature, and that levity keeps the story relaxed, which I think is important to an RPG when you get to the end and want a heavy serious finale. No other super hero movies have this kind of dynamic.

Exotic Locations. GotG is set in space on alien planets of course, so the comparison to a fantasy world is easy. Greyhawk might be human-like culturally. but there are many exotic locations in the setting where the true adventure waits like the Land of Black Ice, the Sea of Dust or the Burning Cliffs. Yes, even a dungeon crawl is considered an exotic location in theory. How the heroes get there isn't always important (unless its a 9 hour Tolkien epic), indeed the destination is what grabs players.

Numinous Objects. Guardians also reminds me that questing for valuable magical objects or even trying to keep the ones you already have out of the hands of villains is always a worthy plot. It' one thing to find the Hand of Vecna. But can you keep the lich and his minions from recovering it later? Sometimes even a mundane object presented at the beginning can have story implications later on. Keep stock of your items!

Saving the World. Lastly, Guardians of the Galaxy moreso than any hero movie so far, shows that a ragtag group of misfits can be coerced by circumstances, into saving the world (or galaxy) on more than one occasion. I used to routinely have my players save the Oerth from some mega-villain-demigod plot then after a while it seemed overdone so I stopped. Now years later, in the age of hero movies, I see that it's not a tired plot after all. Saving the world (or the kingdom at least) is what players will remember the most! That's all for now. What did you think of the movie?

80's Nostalgia

Let's talk nostalgia. For many of us who enjoy Greyhawk and D&D, we grew up in the 80's. For this reason I can be awfully sentimental when I read or listen to anything relating to that decade. I have a feeling the 80's is hitting a nostalgic high mark currently.

Who hasn't already read a blog post or new article about the popularity of the show Stranger Things? It touched on a lot of people's nostalgic heart strings and has inspired a new generation or two to go back and see what was so great about "back in the day". Building on this most recent development and working backward, we have long been in an 80's renaissance era with movie franchises like G.I. Joe and Transformers, not to mention innumerable cartoon remakes like Voltron. The list goes on and there is no way I can even touch on it all.

Back to gaming, WotC has been enjoying ever increasing popularity with 5E D&D largely, in my opinion, by catering to the nostalgic fun of older editions and material rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. This effort bleeds into the 90's of course since it concerns the Forgotten Realms, but Ed Greenwood's world does have roots farther back as we all know. With adventures based on Castle Ravenloft and notably Tiamat it would not surprise me one bit to see a remake of the 80's D&D Cartoon.

One last thing, for the last ten plus years, I've closely followed the goings on of D&D and Greyhawk. So imagine my surprise that I just now found out about the 2011 novel, Ready Player One because it has a VERY strong 80's nostalgic vibe. Not to give away the plot, but it references AD&D, Gygax, and Dragon Magazine quite liberally. It also specifically mentions and uses Greyhawk material in its plot more times than all of 4th edition! Author Ernest Cline has to be an old Greyhawk fan! As of writing this I haven't finished the book, but I hear Steven Spielberg the director of my favorite 80's movie of all time, Raiders of the Lost Ark, is making the movie version. Seems fitting.

Castle Greyhawk: Ice Breaker

Welcome again fans of Greyhawk! Today I'm happy to plug the latest episode of our ongoing Castle Greyhawk graphic novel. Check out page thirty-four to see some breath-taking battles conjured up by Scott Casper. On our site you can also check the archives and follow the entire Castle Greyhawk story from the very beginning.

Artist's Commentary: The more I draw this dragon, the better it seems to get. The chapter has got to end soon though, so I can't get too attached to this ol' ice wyrm. He doesn't even have a name! 

I think a lot of the artistic weight to these panels comes from the fact I've been watching The Hobbit extended edition movies and at the same time finished playing WotC's Rise of Tiamat. Any dragon worth his salt, like Smaug, just bully their way around a movie screen or comic page for that matter. 

It's fun then to see how Scott manages to squeeze our heroes into the scene while the white dragon is flailing about in all directions. 

With that in mind, it's also good to have dungeonmaster experience in composing these types of comic scenes. Positioning is good to know. Terik is on the left, Robilar to the right, Serten behind and well, Tenser was up front but bailed. Speaking of bailing, where did Murylnd go?

More next time.