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!

Thankful For Greyhawk

Greetings fellow Greyhawkers! In the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving by saying what we are grateful to have. When it comes to the World of Greyhawk community we should all be thankful for the growth of our fandom. Indeed, the Greyhawk Channel's own DM Shane is among those leading the resurgence:

"My dear new friends...

Crazy to say that, but it’s the truth. Most of our community is made up of new friends - new to me and new to one another. But reality is that just one year ago, we’d only aired one show. And only a few of you were there to watch it live. There was no Greyhawk Channel - just a small group of friends taking the risk to share their regular Sunday night game.

One year later… we’ve had more than 100 people play on the channel, nearly 20 different DMs, and have streamed more than 700 hours in the process. And @everyone thats super cool.

But waaaaay more cool is that there’s now a community of people who hang out together - supporting each other, foodporning together, sharing snacks and alcohol and crude humor together. Its a big group of good friends. And this is something none of us had a year ago. Its something we all built together.

I’m a blessed man. But this year one of my greatest blessings is something I didn’t expect, didn’t plan, didn’t see coming. Its you. All of you. This year, I’m thankful as hell for every one of you who help me look forward to every morning. You have made The Greyhawk Channel home. A home I deeply love.

This was year one. I promise you all another year of adventure, laughter, and friendship. Who’s with me?"

Who is with him? The Greyhawk community is still active and alive and can be found all over the map. In addition to the many fine DMs and players at the Greyhawk Channel I'm thankful to have:

Anna Meyer for the unparalleled Atlas of the Flanaess.

Dave Guerreri and staff running 5E Greyhawk Reborn.

Joseph Bloch for his foresight and the long-running Greyhawk Grognard.

Scott Casper for co-producing the Castle Greyhawk Comic with me as artist.

The Greyhawk faithful on the forums for Canonfire, Dragonsfoot and the Piazza.

Denis Tetreault for maps, lore and hosting my old comics at Melkot.

My friends Carlos Lising and Allan Grohe for running and producing wonderful professionally made Greyhawk games at conventions like Garycon.

Of course, my game own group for the Gamerstable podcast and putting up with my Greyhawk obsession.

The amazing Facebook groups, Sages of Greyhawk, Flanaess Geographical Society and also Canonfire a Greyhawk Resource for re-releasing my old comics to a new audience.

Lord Gosumba for keeping the old school alive on new media.

Return to the Bandit Kingdoms for being there with the streaming Greyhawk fandom.

Bards of Greyhawk for doing what no one else is doing in D&D fandom. Original music.

And to so many other creators of Greyhawk content and online entertainment that I can't recall you all, Happy Thanksgiving all and let's have a great CY 2019.

Great Flanaess River Adventure

Well met Greyhawk fans! Today I'm doing a long overdue promotion of the Oliver Brothers new 1st Edition AD&D compatible "river campaign" titled the Great Flanaess River Adventure. The GRFA is a massive 15 chapter epic taking your heroes from humble beginnings in Blackmoor and taveling by various waterways to the City of Greyhawk. Each chapter is its own PDF download with new chapters added each Friday.

To hook your attention, the Olivers write: "The hardest (and most frustrating) part of any journey is the planning. And so it is with the new party of adventurers planning to journey down the Fler and Velverdyva Rivers to the Gem of the Flanaess – Greyhawk.

Chapter 1 of The Great Flanaess River Adventure begins in Blackmoor in the Village of Arneson located at the headwaters of the Fler River. The party needs provisions, the means for securing future provisions, and canoes. A number of opportunities arise for the party to secure all they need before departing. From hunting the winter wolf, to entering the Burneal Forest to obtain wood for dugout canoes, to watching the antics of the snow monkeys--the adventure and campaign of a life time begins."

For those who like old school D&D, the GFRA is done in the format of those old AD&D modules, from the stat blocks, to the font and even the blue tint maps. The campaign has already wound its way through the Burneal Forest and crossed the nomad lands and is now at Lake Quag. It's not too late to hop in a canoe and check out this lovingly written, original Greyhawk campaign.

Update 06/19/2021: Changed link to download. These modules are now hosted on Greyhawk Online.

GaryCon 2017 Recap

Well folks, I'm back and recovered from GaryCon and wow was it quite different than GenCon Indy. Different as in going back in time by 20 or 30 years. Here's a rundown on the weekend that I shared with my long time gaming best friend Jayson.

Wisconsin and Lake Geneva is gorgeous. I'm from southern Illinois so geographically Wisconsin isn't much different, but the city of Lake Geneva and the resort that GaryCon is held at is simply wonderful. I could do a whole blog just on the peripheral sights to see. Needless to say, if you go to GaryCon in the future, venture out to the Lake, explore, it's worth it.

Good friends, amazing artists. We had planned zero events for GaryCon and truly had zero idea what to expect. In two days though, we filled our entire schedule with invites to gaming, a panel and meals. We felt really appreciated being among a smaller, more intimate crowd. That said I definitely was there to meet some fellas from the Greyhawk community. My good friend and patron from the Canonfire! community, Kraftwerk was first to greet us (though our hockey rivalry would soon strain that relationship) and invite us to his game. Fellow Castle Greyhawk comic scribe, Scott Casper was there as well and we hung out for the game and then for a good part of the day in the Exhibition Hall and where we got to meet the legendary artist behind the World of Greyhawk map, Darlene herself. I don't need to tell any of you how great it was to meet her and have her sign one of my Greyhawk maps. It was even greater to spend the rest of the evening with her and Kraftwerk afterward! Not to be outdone, on Saturday we were invited by one of my favorite community friends, Allan Grohe of Blackblade Publishing to play in one of his "gygaxian" Castle Greyhawk dungeon crawls. More on the games in a bit.

One thing to note: when you walk into Gary Con there is a whole roster of gaming veterans and VIPs at every turn who freely mingle with the crowd. You can't get that as easily at a huge convention like GenCon. We sat in on a TSR panel which included Darlene and the likes of Larry Elmore, Bill Willingham, Jeff Easley, Jeff Dee, Steve Sullivan, Tom Wham, Diesel and Jeff Butler. The stories they told about working in the old offices at Lake Geneva, how they got hired, bagging on artists not present or honoring those passed away, was the highlight of the con. It was a different time for artists back then, they really taught each other a lot. Coming out of that I really felt like I was born in the wrong era.

Speaking of art. On the second floor in the historical gaming room (how this all got started), was an original art display of the likes you'll not see anywhere else. Among the best and most iconic pieces there was the paladin in hell illustration by Dave Sutherland from the 1E Players Handbook. Crazy good linework. This picture inspired me to run many encounters with demons of the lower planes.







Then there is Jeff Easley's sleeping vampire Drelzna from the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. Easley is usually known for his amazing full color cover paintings, but even his B&W interior art is inspiring. I had the privilege of seeing a new painting Mr. Easley did for the con, which I'm hoping you will all get to see in the coming year.

One more to show, is the full wrap-around painting for the cover of the 1E Dungeon Masters Guide also by Dave Sutherland. He wasn't the best artist of that era (my faves are Erol Otus and Dave Trampier) but this painting is among my favorite D&D works of art, so to see it in person was an honor if not eye opening on how art was done back in the day.




Greyhawk Gaming! So like I mentioned earlier me and Jayson (and his recurring female dwarf fighter) took part in three Greyhawk games over two days. We played in one Greyhawk in ten years of GenCon attendance. Just saying. Here's a quick overview of the adventures we had in Greyhawk:

Kill Markessa. Kraftwerk's mission was supposed to be simple. A powerful benefactor hires a fellowship of heroes to go into a lair and slay the infamous Slaver and vile surgeon Markessa. In two hours real time. A couple illusions and one orc room later, a chaotic melee broke out including misshapen trolls and guard dogs. We found and woke a Markessa duplicate only adding to the confusion. That we failed and the real Markessa got away is no surprise. There is always next time for Die Markessa, Die! I guess. What made this adventure extra special was our VIP guest, Luke Gygax! Now being able to say I gamed with a Gygax is definitely a feather in my cap for the rest of my life.

Diamonds in the Rough. Allan Grohe's Castle Greyhawk is heavily inspired by the original Gygax campaign and he runs it 1E style all the way. This scenario is a continuation of his larger ongoing convention exploration of the famous dungeon. It is a mapping nightmare too. It's been so long since I DMed a mega-dungeon that I forgot how careful and slow players go! After an hour of silent searching and geometry, our guards were down and no one saw the door shaped mimic coming! I love when I fall for D&D tropes. Needless to say things got intense when giant insects and demon Chasme started chasing our party. One intrepid player used a wish from his sword however and transported all into a room full of gems (and one certain artifact gem) belonging to a dazzling gem dragon. What ensued was much groveling and placating of the noble creature before we were allowed to leave (though my halfling sneaked a few gems out). Our wizard however bugged out too soon, escaping to an uncertain doom in the astral plane...

Upon Thy Head a Crown. I hope I got this title right. Our last game was ran by Kraftwerk again, involved several deceased, chosen proxies (yes the female dwarf, Marya was there again) of a variety of deities being sent into a series of rooms to test who is most worthy to gain the object at the end, with the prize being you are resurrected, thus lifting the station of their patron deity. It was a game of the gods. Each room had an elemental theme and required more than combat to cross, indeed it took a marvelous amount of thinking to get by the wind and water and icy environments when we all started with nothing but clothes and a signature weapon. Literally everything we came across or took from a slain foe was used in some way to get past the traps and hazards. It was fun and the end wrap up was nicely done leaving everyone happy and applauding our DM.

That's the run of it all. I could go into my haul or other stuff but we'll leave that to your imagination. I am so glad to have met a host of new gamers, many of which are Greyhawk fans, and many which I got to hang around multiple times. I hope to see you guys online, just drop me a line if you read this! Maybe I'll see you at another GaryCon soon!

Two Module Adaptations

Tireless Greyhawk fanatic, David Prata of Deitybase fame, has recently made this great post over at Dragonsfoot and Canonfire:

"For those who may be interested, I've uploaded to Dropbox my adaptation of B3 Palace of the Silver Princess that I ran at Gary Con this year. Titled B3.5 Palace of Queen Ehlissa, this AD&D® adventure combines both versions of the original module with the WORLD OF GREYHAWK® legend of Queen Ehlissa and her Marvelous Nightingale.

I've also uploaded S2 White Plume Mountain Reconciled, which I ran at TotalCon in February. With this adventure, I simply wanted to collate and reconcile the information presented in four different incarnations of White Plume Mountain across three editions. This one is more bare-bones than Queen Ehlissa and only includes the adventure text; the map from the original module is required for play.

Months of labor went into both of these, but of course neither is an original work, so I'm happy to share them freely. I hope my fellow gamers get some enjoyment out of them. Happy gaming!"

The ancient backstory on Queen Ehlissa and her realm in B3.5 is simply amazing; it's my favorite fan work of the year. For anyone wanting to run an old school module set in the Flanaess, or if you're like me, a Greyhawk fan who wants to collect anything and everything about Greyhawk lore there are MUST HAVE downloads. Enjoy!

Update 05/31/2021: Changed broken links to Davaid's work, now on the internet archive.

The Kroten Campaign

New, over at Dragonsfoot, is a marvelous set of downloads by classic AD&D author Len Lakofka. Set in the World of Greyhawk, the Kroten Campaign is another part of Len's famous Lendore Isles series of publications.

These books consist of:

L5A: The Kroten Campaign Guide
This is the Kroten Campaign Guide for the L5 module, providing information on the town of Kroten and the surrounding area.

L5B: The Kroten Adventures
This is the Kroten Adventures manual for the L5 module, providing five adventures in an around the town of Kroten on the Lendore Isles.

L5C: The Kroten Campaign Companion
This is the Kroten Campaign Companion for the L5 module, providing new rules, weapons, armour, gods, clerical abilities, magic items, spells and monsters.

L5 Map Pack
This is the Kroten Map Pack for the L5 module, containing the maps required for use with the L5 series of books.

Already familiar with the Lendore Isles, or looking for a localized campaign to start? Well, DMs, have a look at the Kroten Campaign, Len and the fine folks at Dragonsfoot know how to make good old school publications.

A Few Greyhawk Things

Welcome Greyfriends. Just checking in quickly to link a few items of note related to Greyhawk that you may have missed or likely already know.

First up is Anna Meyer. She is currently working on the Tilvanot Peninsula, home to a certain group of monks. Follow the link to see her progress on this vastly underused location.

Next up is a special adventure published over at old school fansite Dragonsfoot by author David Prata titled The Tower of Azal'Lan. This module is set in the Adri Forest region of the World of Greyhawk setting. If the name sounds familiar it's for good reason. Mr. Prata writes:

"The lich Azal'Lan ruled his people with an iron fist, that is until his enemies marched against him and he was forced to flee and was never heard of again. An AD&D adventure for 5-9 characters of level 4-6."

Download it HERE

Last up is from Wizards. The reprint of Against the Slave Lords is now released and to celebrate this, amazing comic artist Jason Thompson has put out another of his incredible module walkthrough maps. This time he covers Slave Pits of the Undercity. Check it out.

Update 05/21/2021: Anna Meyer site link changed. Jason Thompson's entire collection of walk-thru maps are linked compliments of Rended Press.

New: Footprints #18

Over at the AD&D fansite Dragonsfoot.org they have the newest issue of their fanzine Footprints available for download. While it's not Greyhawk-centric zine like Oerth Journal I've always admired this one for its old school content and feel. Issue 18 has a few useful articles in it too:

The Cult of the Devourer by Andrew Hamilton details the machinations, magic and monsters for the cult of Juiblex, demon-lord of slimes and oozes. What's not to like there?

The Mired Cathedral by C. Wesley Clough is a short 4th-6th level site-based adventure (bring a cleric). I know well Wesley's previous work from Canonfire so I'm glad to see him still writing for Dragonsfoot.

Looking for a good weapon for your paladin character? The Holy Sword by Atiq Shafi is just what you need to read then! This article has several unique swords that should liven up a game.

If you're like me, fond of offbeat modules such as Dungeonland or Land Beyond the Magic Mirror, then the article Creatures of Tulgey Wood by Stuart Marshall should catch your eye. Stuart stats out some recognizable and rare critters based on Lewis Carroll's classic novels.

Stuart also provides my favorite article of the issue, An Unhealthy Obsession with Equipment. This is what it sounds like, nine awesome pages of both mundane and rare equipment with g.p. cost and weight (in AD&D coin weight). I'm looking forward to using these exhaustive lists to trick my players into spending their loot.

There is much more in issue 18 of Footprints. Check it out.

A Few Greyhawk Items

It's the middle of the week and time for me to catch up on a few Greyhawk related items on the net. First up is some more fiction from prolific Canonfire writer Mystic Scholar. Last time up, Mystic debuted a new story titled The Making of a Paladin. Now his main protagonist, Sir Ivon is back in a new installment called No Rest for the Wicked. If you haven't already checked out his story now's your chance to get in while it's still brewing. Enjoy!

READ THE STORY HERE

Next up is a new old school adventure from Canonfire's own baronzemo titled Lost Treasures. Baronzemo writes:

Years have passed since the crown jewels of the gnome King Warren ap'Hiller was stolen. Rumors are abundant of who did the job and why. The thieves were never caught. As fate would have it, a clue to the jewels whereabouts has landed in your hands!

This 1st edition mini adventure set in the Flinty Hills is for character levels 5-7.

DOWNLOAD LOST TREASURES HERE

My last piece of news is an article, this time from the old school fansite Dragonsfoot. The Stout Point of View by D.A. Howard develops this subrace of halflings in new and interesting ways. For Greyhawkian dungeonmasters and players who love hobniz, I highly recommend the cultural information and random tables presented in Mr. Howard's article. Download it and good gaming!

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

Half-Dwarves: And Why Not?

Over at the old school AD&D fansite Dragonsfoot, there is an amusingly useful new article by S. J. McKenzie entitled Half-Dwarves: and why not? As the title implies this is a clever look into crossbreeds across all standard D&D races with a focus on dwarven mixing. The article even includes game rules for a few of these like the "Half-Dwarf", "Dwelf", "Wild-dog Dwarf" and my favorite the "Gnarf". The information is not setting specific so that makes it perfectly suitable for anyone who would like to drop some non-standard dwarf races into their World of Greyhawk campaign. And why not? Greyhawk is a setting that already has a myriad of subraces and crossbreeds to speak of, but not much for fans of dwarf characters. Now you can spice up the dour dwarven race. Check it out!

DOWNLOAD THE ARTICLE HERE

New Module: The Howling Hills

The folks over at Dragonsfoot have been putting out top quality material for AD&D longer than I've been kicking around in the online Greyhawk community. This week I'm spotlighting a new adventure available there for free download entitled The Howling Hills. The adventure for levels 10-14, is written by Charley Phipps with cover art by Brian "Glad" Thomas. 

This looks to be an excellent addition to the on-going mythos of the ancient wizard-lich Acererak and his infamously horrific tombs. I highly recommend this module even for those who don't necessarily play AD&D but want to add a new twist to their land of Iuz campaign.

Update 4/8/2021: I had to remove a broken link to Glad's art.