Ring of Five Questions: Round 6

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

Let's get in the Ring and get started! This round I got two avid long time fans of the Greyhawk setting and community, Gaetano LeFavi and Brett Griffiths. How will they fare? Let's have a look...

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

Gaetano: SUNNDI – For me, it is a micro-Flanaess without heavy traveling. It is the underdog region with powerful enemies to the north and south, and the east and west can be dicey as well. It is all there, mountains, highland hills, forests, grasslands and the biggest swamp in the Flanaess. Natural barriers which provide some protection – I go by the gold box and scowl at the later tales of Sunndi suddenly being easily overtaken and everyone there was chased into the Vast Swamp. Really? C'mon! The later writers needed a fall guy and they chose Sunndi. I began developing the region in '79 and went in a few different directions from what later came out in FtA etc. I don't hate Sargent, but... well, I don't hate the guy.

Brett: Ratik, though never played anything set there. 

Brett is one of many people I know in the community who express their love of Ratik. For some reason, like Brett, I've never ran a campaign there. Is the appeal because of the Gygax novels? I really don't know. Sunndi on the other hand, wait no, I have never ran a campaign there either!!! Gaetano's reasoning is sound and I'm intrigued that he has developed it since '79. That land really does have everything you need, but is so misused! 

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

Gaetano: More of a Quasi-Deity, but it would be Murlynd. Always loved gunslingers in their various incarnations.

Brett: Dalt or Kelanen love the idea of hero deities, definitely a chance for high-level characters to interact or medium-level characters to become agents of change for the respective deity.

It seems quasi/hero/demigods is a popular choice for those who've been in the Ring. Must be because they are relatable unlike the true gods. Murlynd is hard not to choose because of his ready access to modern stuff, and Brett likewise favors these low-tier deities because they are still grounded in the prime and can interact rather than be a nebulous being. Fair choices! Dalt would be fun, there would be no place you couldn't enter. 

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

Gaetano: I have granted myself this wish already. It is also related to my development of Sunndi above. The module is S1 Tomb of Horrors. It was the first module I ever DM'd (at the request of my players actually). The module speaks for itself, but I took notice of a few interesting elements of it. The tomb exterior was 200 by 300 yards (600x900 feet) – the map is roughly 300 by 400 feet. There is a lot of empty room to be accounted for. The module speaks of Acererak living there before making his tomb and that now his old gloomy halls were magically locked away. To me it seemed this was an intention from Gygax for players to do something with the place. To me, it screamed MEGA-DUNGEON! Sure, the tomb was 'horrific' but these are his lesser halls, where he lived and worked and studied etc. There was even a one-line blurb in the WG glossography of Acererak having ruled the area going southward towards the Tilvanot Peninsula. A forgotten empire? Count me in! I even found a way to make those black pillars atop the tomb useful – they became my 'Skullhenge', the key to gaining entry into the deeper levels. I even developed a deeper story for the now demi-lich (what good is a villain without a darker backstory?). 

The Vast Swamp evolved into a place of lost cities and Acererak's forgotten kingdom. There is even an area of Prehistoria in there. It was the outlet for every pulp adventure I could ever want to delve into. Lovecraft, Howard, Burroughs, Rider, ...strange inhuman races and cultures hidden from the eyes of humankind. The place grew and grew for me over the decades. With later publications, TSR/WotC never ever delved beneath the Tomb of Horrors. They built things around it, but never have they ever gone further INTO the place. This meant I never really had to change my background and history for it. In fact, they even added another piece of mystery – if Acererak's skull at the end of S1 is a human skull, how could he be part-cambion in Return to the Tomb? I have an answer, but it's secret rests inside of Acererak's unhallowed halls.

Brett: Fate of Istus should be a mega campaign/story arc just felt like unconnected encounters and was pretty transparent in "championing" each class. Would have been better to ditch this aspect and tie the module together better.

Daaaang, well I asked for it. Gaetano builds on his love of the Sunndi/Vast Swamp region. I would've never thought of expanding on the tomb or swamp like he describes. Forty plus years of development though! Brett makes a good point on FoI. That module was so contrived. It was like a sourcebook on cities that was then retrofitted into a quest. I never tried to run this because it read so meh to me.

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

Gaetano: Ohh, tough one. I have made so many of my own but if I had to choose one it would be Robilar. 

Brett: The Cat lord

Rpbilar is a solid choice. Gaetano likes his tomb exploring, so why not go with one of the best? Meanwhile. Brett is certainly an old schooler, am I right about liking the Gygax novels? Cat Lord aka Rexfelis was not on my BINGO card, nice one sir.

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

Gaetano: Another tough one, so many choices both baneful and beneficial. Maybe a Deck of Many Things for a killer game of solitaire. :D 

Brett: Machine of Lum the Mad

Brett goes into the vault and comes up with a classic artifact that no one else has chosen so far. The Machine (which I've never used in a game) is one of those cool items you toy around with and then regret it later. Should I rename it the Machine of Brett the Mad? Speaking of regrets, Gaetano makes an even WORSE choice, the Deck of Many Things! I have used this item way too often. I even own a physical deck. Players just can't NOT pick a card. I've ended campaigns by introducing the deck. Now the deck has ended this round of the Ring too! Good job, Gaetano :P

Good stuff guys. I'll have two more people to show off their Greyhawk prowess in the Ring next time. Stay tuned, send your answers and keep playing Greyhawk!

Greyhawk Rebooted 576

Well met, Greyfolk! Today I'm boosting the signal for a new content creator in the Greyhawk community! The ambitious Greyhawk Rebooted 576 group (RVN Creative Studios) can be found on Facebook, spearheaded by Scott Agnew and his evocative maps, including his take on the continent of Oerik. Here is a blurb for what Greyhawk Rebooted is all about:

"Welcome to Greyhawk Rebooted, a revision and reimagining of Gary Gygax's classic campaign setting for the fifth edition of the world's greatest roleplaying game.

Two core books will be released under WotC's Fan Content policy and these will be followed by a series of adventure modules, monster ecologies, adventure locations, random encounters, NPC write ups, etc.

The core books will expand the original setting to cover all of Oerik and not simply the Flanaess. Also, Greyhawk Rebooted is set in the year 576CY which means we've reset the timeline from the published canon back to where it all began with the 1980 Folio. (i.e. no Greyhawk Wars, no Living Greyhawk, etc.)"

To drive this project, there is a Patreon for Greyhawk Rebooted 576. Go check that link for more information on RVN Creative Studios and its planned releases.

I am pleased to see even more content coming out in the fan community in any shape or form. Mr Agnew and this group seemingly came out nowhere to me. I am keen to see what they come up with in the near future. In the meantime, go join the Facebook group and check out the new maps and samples from the rebooted Greyhawk. Enjoy!

Ring of Five Questions: Round 5

Greeting Greyhawk faithful. If you've been following, this is the fifth round of my ongoing Return of the Ring of Five Questions column! If you're coming into this column for the first time this is a community participation feature of Greyhawkery. Go back and read the previous installments then email me at mortellan@gmail.com with your five responses. Remember, you can be as short or wordy as you like in these responses. Also, I will keep taking entries until the end of 2020 so hang in there, I will get to your answers eventually! 

Now, let's jump into the Ring, this round I am putting two of my very best Greyhawk friends up for your entertainment; Carlos Lising of Casl Entertainment is among many community contributions, a producer of amazing adventure modules and a Greyhawk streamer on Twitch. Then there is Jayson King who has been my best friend and brother since well, forever and he is my longest running player having been involved in every one of my Greyhawk campaigns. Jayson has contributed to Canonfire before, we were both on the podcast Gamerstable and he is best known on Greyhawkery as the player of the famous barbarian hero Valkaun Dain. All three of us have hung out, ate, drank and gamed together, and despite Carlos being a Blackhawks fan, Jayson and me still like him! But enough pleasantries, let's see how these two really match up! Enjoy.

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

Carlos: Fireland, outside of the Flanaess. Perrenland, within it.

Jayson: Rhizia, the whole Thillonrian Peninsula. I’ve sailed it’s fjords and climbed its mountains so many times in my imagination that I know it well. My DM, my good friend Mike Bridges aka Mortellan, let me put my stamp on it in our campaign. It was my own corner of the map.

Good ol Carlos and Fireland, his vision of that place far exceeds anything I've done with Ull. Someday you'll see what I mean! Now Perrenland I can get behind, knowing him like I do, he really likes the modules set in/around the Yatils. Speaking of Suel barbarian culture, Jayson and I have indeed used the peninsula, mainly through his PCs Vorlag and Valkaun, waging wars often, and he had creative license for that corner of the map. For example, check out Jayson's power group the Night Shadows.

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

Carlos: It's hard to relate to the gods from a mortal perspective. So I would probably pick a Demigod or Hero-God. Maybe Rudd?  I like her portfolio. Otherwise...Tharizdun. As bleak as it is, all things eventually bow to entropy.

Jayson: Kelanen, the Prince of Swords. Only a “Hero-God” but he’s so cool. Hangs with Zagig, Heward, Murlynd, Keoghtom, to capture Iuz? Sign me up!

Tharizdun How poetic. I'll pretend I didn't see that lol. I do find it fun that Carlos wants to be Rudd and Jayson picked Kelanen. I suddenly want to run a one-shot team-up with those two playing the hero-deities. It would have to be an epic level scenario of course. But who would be the villain, hmmm.

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

Carlos: Heh. Essentially, I AM doing them over!  ;) Gimme a crack at Q1. That's such a bad ending to a legendary series.

Jayson: I hated the intended ending of the Five Shall be One, but good ol Mike made it better. I’d love to play the Greyhawk Ruins (WGR1) again. We had a blast with it back in the day.

Ah yes WGR1, we played that cover to cover (minus a spelljammer). Jayson is definitely right that FSBO had a terrible payoff (nevermind the Greyhawk Wars). When I rebooted it for the Sea Princes I think that gave the Blades of Corusk a new purpose. If you're curious, find the links in my Best of Greyhawkery at the top. Carlos of course would know something about taking old material and making it his own. His take on Markessa is the stuff of legend. You can find her module series and more on his Casl Entertainment link at the top of the post. I never ran Q1 for Jayson so he probably doesn't relate to Carlos' disappointment. However, maybe a re-write by Carlos into a stand-alone module could make it palatable. 

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

Carlos: It's attractive to say Mordenkainen, but that's a sucker pick.  Far too unreliable.  Instead, give me Gwydiesin of the Cranes.  A 30th level Bard with a staggering array of magical items, aligned with the cause of good?  I can live with that.

Jayson: Knight Stalker - Mike’s nPC creation that was a badass. He used uzi’s and MAC-10’s, had a tri-bladed sword and, for a little while anyway, Excalibur. He was not a good guy, as the name implies, but he got the job done. He’d destroy Robilar, Quij and all of these other poseurs you other guys keep mentioning. I said what I said.

Carlos does appreciate the Sargent era and I'm sure he will be the only person to pick Gwydiesin a member of the obscure Johydee's Children. I wonder if Carlos' extended team would be the other Children? At any rate that's definitely an inspired choice for a #1 pick. 30th level Bard, not bad, but looks like Jayson's calling out my old PC/NPC Stalker, a fighter 35/ thief 5, you can read about this monty haul character from our youth here. Yeah our campaigns tended to get high level from 1E era all the way through 3rd edition. I'm guessing Jayson picked my guy because Valkaun would want KS on his side instead of against him! And yes, the tri-blade sword Jayson mentioned IS that sword.

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

Carlos: First: Let me go on record as saying I want NONE of them. Artifacts are far too dangerous and their side effects too onerous for my tastes. That said, if I had to choose...give me the Helm and Wand of Lynerden the Spinner (from Ivid the Undying). They came from a mage of goodly demeanor..so I'm hoping they won't wreck me TOO badly (plus, that Limited/Full Wish ability is awfully nice...).

Jayson: The Invulnerable Coat of Arnd. It would go well with Blackrazor, which a character of mine, Zholtan Bedlam, currently possesses. Can’t wait to get back to that campaign.  

True facts, Jayson's character has been unstoppable with Blackrazor. Now he wants an Invulnerable Coat too? Bahahaha. Zholtan Bedlam eh? I think I found a villain for my Rudd-Kelanen game! A lot of people however do seem to want Arnd's Coat IRL. Count me in. Finishing off this enjoyable round of the Ring, Carlos goes to Ivid once again for an obscure set of artifacts I'm sure few have used (including me). He would be aghast if Jayson was an unkillable machine with a soul-sucking sword, so I hope he could put his Good artifacts to use and wish the Invulnerable Coat and Blackrazor away! ;)  

Well folks, I'm exhausted and embarrassed. Carlos has seen how over the top I run my games, and Jayson now has some new ideas. Greaaaat. Stop in again folks, as two more people will enter the Ring!

Ring of Five Questions: Round 4

Welcome back again Greyhawkers. If you've been following, this is the fourth round of my ongoing Return of the Ring of Five Questions column! If you're coming into this column for the first time this is a community participation feature of Greyhawkery. Go back and read the previous installments then email me at mortellan@gmail.com with your five responses. Remember, you can be as short or wordy as you like in these responses. Also, I will keep taking entries until the end of 2020 so hang in there, I will get to your answers eventually! Now, let's enter the Ring once again, this round we pit two of my favorite Greyhawk fans together, Joseph Bloch author of the gaming blog Greyhawk Grognard as well as RPG designer for BRW Games, and Skip "Sir Xaris" Twitchell RPG writer and editor for among many things Total Party Kill Games and the fan site Canonfire! I have met both of these men at conventions and appreciate their comradery, now let's get to the answers!

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

Joseph: For roleplaying, the central Flanaess; Greyhawk, the Kron Hills, Wild Coast. For wargaming, the Iron League; in fact I'm painting some armies to do exactly that.

Skip: Boy! Where to begin? Every hex on the World of Greyhawk map is an exciting place for adventure. However, I would have to admit that my favorite spot is where I begin most of my campaigns – in the northwestern Vesve on the north bank of the Deepstil River where exists (in my campaign) The Keep on the Borderlands. That area of the map has a diverse racial mixture in the nearby geography which does two important things for me as a DM. First, it is easy for a player of any character race to find a nearby location for his or her new PC to originate from. Second, it allows me to present a wide variety of interesting NPCs to the players while maintaining a sense of reality and believability to the campaign story. Human woodsmen, peasants, soldiers, and merchants live in and around the Keep. The Wood Elven realm is on the south side of the Deepstil. Chakyik and Wegwiur raiders come from the north. Dwarves are in the nearby Clatspurs. Gnomes and halflings live in the Sepia Uplands, especially the portion that is within the Vesve itself. Itinerant merchants and mercenaries allow even more opportunity for diversity.

Skip dives in and makes a splash with the NW Vesve for KotB. I know I've seen people place this classic module all over the map, and I still think Skip's campaign makes a very good case. Sadly, I have not used this area much besides in my 2E wars. Speaking of wars, nobody knows more about old school Greyhawk armies and wargaming than Joe. You can't go wrong with a good Aerdy war as I can attest. Much like him, I have also done a majority of my campaigns in the central Flanaess. Moving on...  

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

Joseph: Fharlanghn. No one else has the potential to know more about Oerth and all of its secrets and byways.

Skip: I think I would be Pelor. Neutral Good, smiting evil, and bringing hope to the downtrodden.

Mr. Bloch makes a good point, Fharlanghn has a magic disk that projects a map of Oerth. He has been everywhere, man. On the other hand, Pelor is more popular and loved, cause sun god and healing and stuff. Then again, being the god of travel means more time to yourself...

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

Joseph: Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits. But then again, I actually am doing it over and fixing it. :-)

Skip: Well, I adjust every module I run to fit my image of the World of Greyhawk, so I would use my wish for something else. I would wish for Wizards of the Coast to open Greyhawk up for 3rd party publication in the DM’s Guild.

Jospeh is always doing deep dives on these AD&D mods on his blog. In doing so he surely knows every hex and square that Gygax put down on paper. If anyone can fix a module, it is him! Speaking of fan authors, Skip speaks for so many of us in the Greyhawk community (especially Joe Bloch!) who just want people who have played in and love the setting to be the ones who pass down this knowledge in future publication to a new audience. For now a Wish spell is our best chance. 

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

Joseph: Gord

Skip: As a DM, I would pick an evil NPC group to challenge my PCs, and my favorite BBEG is Iggwilv. So, Iggwilv would gather together a few of her fellow baddies to hunt the party down. These might include her daughter, Drelnza, the inimitable Warduke, her son’s servant, the dwarf Obmi, her former lover, the clerical lich, Lerrek, and a fellow mage, say, Evard.

Sir Xaris does not disappoint with this question, Iggwilv being the #1 pick I assume, but then he lays out her entire Evil Entourage. What always amazes me about Greyhawk is how I know all these NPCs he casts, but then realize I've only used Iggwilv (and maybe Warduke) on my players. Damn! Now, don't excuse Joe's brevity for dismissal of question #4. Gord is an excellent pick and totally in character for a grognard such as him. Picking Gord among just Greyhawk NPCs is like saying pick your favorite hero from fantasy movies/literature. Greyhawk doesn't have a lot of iconic NPCs outside wizards in my opinion, so Gord is basically the Conan of Greyhawk. He does it all.

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

Joseph: Assuming you're talking about in-game, then the Mace of St. Cuthbert. In real life? The Crystal of the Ebon Flame.

Skip: I am uncertain if any of them would be of particular usefulness in the real world, but I would enjoy owning Baba Yaga’s Dancing Hut. I would have to hide it away from prying eyes, but it would lead to a world of adventure within. 

Joseph wisely goes for a major relic that will protect his character and not corrupt him (assuming he likes to play good PCs, right Joe? haha) Now he really throws me with the Crystal of the Ebon Flame. Here is an item I've never used and also don't know much about. Since he wants it IRL, I had to consult the tomes and well, the powers are random through editions, and it may very well be tied to Tharizdun. Maybe joe doesn't play Good after all...

Skip finishes this round of the Ring of Five off with the only pick that beats all of them, the Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga. I love love LOVE this item because like Skip says it's a whole world inside. I've used it multiple times in game, but to have the Hut IRL would be like having the TARDIS in a modern sense. It would be fantastic, well, until Baba Yaga comes looking to take it back...

That one was a lot of fun! I got two more epic entries to share with you all next time. Stay tuned!

Ring of Five Questions: Round 3

Welcome back Greyhawkers. If you've been following, it's time for another installment of the Return of the Ring of Five Questions. If you're coming into this column for the first time this is a community participation feature of Greyhawkery. Go back and read the previous installments then email me at mortellan@gmail.com with your five responses. Remember, you can be as short or wordy as you like in these responses. I think I will keep taking entries until the end of 2020. Now, let's enter the Ring once again, this round we will muse along with two avid Greyhawk fans, Jay Stypinski of Greyhawk Reborn and Rodney Hart (former TSRO/WizO_Rexx from the old TSR/WotC Online forums) This should be good...enjoy!

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

Jay: The Grand Duchy of Berghof in the HotSP (Hold of the Sea Princes)

Rodney: The Gnarley Forest has been the start of many a game through the years as it neighbours all kinds of fun spots, be it the Free City of Greyhawk, Dyvers, Verbobonc, or the Wild Coast.  The realm that fascinates me from an anthropological perspective is Shar, though my one attempt at running a "Scarlet Cell" game was derailed by the natural tendency of 30-something D&D players to act like 12-year old kids at the game table.

Berghof of course is the setting of the UK series mods, The Gauntlet and the Sentinel. I love the Sea Princes too, but I still have not ran these modules. Take Jay's advice. Rodney goes with a classic location, the Gnarley is the central region where the TOEE, Greyhawk and so much more happens. You can't go wrong here.

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

Jay: Murlynd

Rodney: Specific to Greyhawk (sorry Garl)?  Obad-hai.  I am a forester by vocation, so a nature power is the obvious choice.  Besides, I love the Green Man imagery.

Rodney is smart to go with his skill set on this but now I'm intrigued by Garl Glittergold as a choice...Jay on the other hand, Murlynd the hero-god is a deity to aspire to, former adventurer, planar traveler, wields modern tech in a medieval setting. What's not to love?

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

Jay: Rose Estes novelization of Against the Giants

Rodney: Three Faces of Evil, by Mike Mearls. The second installment of the Age of Worms adventure path could have used some tweaks to tie it to the bigger picture, allude to future plans, and add some red herrings of an Aqaa nature.  I offered some fixes back in the days of Paizo's Community Boards, Mike liked the suggestions and would have implemented some of them had a rewrite like The Shackled City hardcover been done.  I still offer the advice to people that are running AoW to this day. Tirapheg!

I know I ran Three Faces of Evil, but I don't recall what the wonky parts would be. I am definitely inspired by ol' WizO_Rexx's love of Wind Duke lore though. Jay, you had me at Rose Estes, lol.

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

Jay: The Slave Lords

Rodney: Tenser

Jay drafts the entire Wu Tang Clan, er, Slave Lords. He is the second person who has chosen this entire power group, so I may have worded this question poorly. At any rate good choice! Now Rodney has Tenser, owing to his central Flanaess love. Tenser is the heart and soul of much Greyhawk goings-on. Perfect pick!

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

Jay: Blackrazor

Rodney: The Rod of the Seven Parts, just so I can say Wind Dukes of Aqaa a lot. Still think that is an awesome name for a prog-rock band.

Rodney does the Wind Dukes proud, he must be a servant of Law! After all, he was a D&D forum moderator! Jay finishes off this round of the Ring with the nastiest blade in the game. So if you're ever in Berghof and run into Murlynd, don't test this old west paladin, he might draw a hog-leg or Blackrazor!

That was a fun set. I will try to pair more posts going forward. I'm eager to hear from more fans in the Greyhawk community new and old! 

Virtual Greyhawk Con Experience

Hey hey heroes of Greyhawk! On the last day of Virtual Greyhawk Con, I'm here to write about my experience in gaming and streaming with this new community event. If you didn't take part, let me tell you first, it was a resounding success in attendance. So many games and DMs and players pitched in, and I hear tell that VGC 2021 is already planned for early October, so start setting aside time now!

My two favorite parts of the convention that I took part in was Casey Brown's Living Greyhawk Bandit Kingdom tournament module. He ran and scored three tables Friday-Sunday in a module written by former LG author Chris Gorsuch. I was in the initial Friday party, playing Gariveena the Pure, cleric of Pholtus (Ebongleam). My teammates at the virtual table were Jon Dawes, Steve Fridsma, Matt Shephard and Matt Robertson. Just our luck, Chris Gorsuch was also on hand to watch us speed run our way through his creation, a nasty insane asylum in the city of Rookroost. Fortunately for us, Pholtus shined the way through this darkness and got us to the final boss, and thus scored enough points along the way to win this tournament!!!! As the winning table we each acquired a PDF copy of Casey's Unofficial Living Greyhawk Bandit Kingdoms Summary. The tournament MVP, Jon Dawes got a hardcopy of the book for his charming portrayal of halfling rogue Tammy Gonegan. 10/10 would do this again.

Then on Saturday I filled in for my good friend Gary Holian at the Greyhawk All-Stars RPG ran by Jay Scott. This table drew the largest crowd and included other RPG luminaries like Luke Gygax, Erik Mona, Anna Meyer, Stephen Chenault and Chuck Cumbow. I was definitely the low man on this esteemed group! In this 1e/2e scenario set in the Cairn Hills, I played Gary's unique creation, Sir Gareth Lundern, cleric of St. Benedor the Ashen Hand, hero-god patron of the Knights Protector. We were on the hunt of Nazim Bin Kalifa, a former elementalist apprentice of Alhamazad the Wise who was corrupted by Abi-Dalzim into also being a necromancer and was about to use an artifact called the Tongue of Rugero Bloodmoon! Fun fact, I helped Jay create this villain before I was called on to play in the game. It did not help because this wizard was deadly and nearly broke Sir Gareth's neck!

Luke Gygax got to play Eliador (Smelf) the son of his original PC, Melf, from his dad Gary Gygax's home game. The highlight was when Eliador cast his "Dad's Acid Arrow" spell! Anna was her regular ranger-magic-user Imrie from Jay's home game and so was defacto our representative to the Order of Ulek who hired our characters. Chuck was the roguish follower of Ralishaz, Fritz Winchester who sneaked around and stabbed everything. Steve was Angrim the dwarven fighter (who probably did most of the killing). Jay also gave Sir Gareth a squire named Joseph Kocur (yes that Kocur) who would've been my PC if Holian had been able to show. Finally, Erik Mona was the breakout star of the show with his well-role played one-eyed cleric of Ralishaz Vanarium. He charmed us, he fought with us and in the end after Kalifa was beaten to a pulp by Smelf, he double-crossed us, taking the Tongue of Rugero after drinking his potion of gaseous form and LEFT! I hope this plot gets resolved in the future! Damn you Mona!

In the end, we all survived and had a good time. Plenty of people watched and threw cheer points our way to help out (big time). Again, there was many other amazing games and panels this weekend. I can't cover them all, but check around the community and there will be plenty of stories for us to tell from this convention for the rest of our lives!

Ring of Five Questions: Round 2

Greetings Greyhawk mavens. As you may have seen in the previous post, I am bringing back my fun, community driven Ring of Five Questions column. I've had some initial interest on the blog and on Facebook. Unlike my original Ring of Five interviews, in round one I enjoyed riffing on the respondent's answers. I'm going to keep it going this week since I like interacting with Greyhawk fans from all over.

If you're coming into this column for the first time, go back and check out this link to the previous Return of the Ring of Five Questions post and then email me at mortellan@gmail.com with your responses, I am still taking more entries! Now let's enter the Ring and see how this next group fares. This round is three Greyhawk enthusiasts, Darrell Rasdall, David Farris and Stefanos "netlich" Patelis. Enjoy!

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

Darrell: Nyrond, good nation on the brink of annihilation.

David: Keoland

Stefanos: Bone March

Darrell must be a fan of the Marklands. Such a good source, especially paired with Iuz the Evil. David can't go wrong with Keoland. I hope he uses the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Stefanos though likes to play rough, Spinecastle and Bone March is not for the weak.

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

Darrell: Olidammara, because he's fun.

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

Stefanos: Vecna

I mentioned in the last installment that Olid would be fun to have a drink with, but Murlynd would be great to travel with! Old West style of course, on horseback. Yes, I DO accept deities of any level. Lastly, I must explain to you readers, that Stefanos is the Netlich, so OF COURSE he emulates Vecna the god of secrets!

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

Darrell: The Scarlet Brotherhood, it just never felt right with me.

David: Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits.

Stefanos: I would flood the market with infinite "return to the/ the return of the/return to/ Hommlet and ToEE (Temple of Elemental Evil)" (I can't get enough of that module/supermodule)

I never ran Q1, but I can imagine a revision would make it even better than it's generally considered by fans. Yes the Scarlet Brotherhood as a nation needs a mulligan on the Greyhawk Wars in my opinion, whereas the accessory by Sean Reynolds was remarkable in its treatment of the jungles, but the secret org itself felt "off" to me. Stefanos again cracks me up with his insatiable need for TOEE. How about less vampire Thrommels though?

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

Darrell: Gord, of course.

David: Quij the Orc Hero.

Stefanos: It's a tie between Tenser and Melf.

Melf is an elf who uses acid arrows. Easy choice right? David picks Quij, oh my. I used to draw him AND Tenser in the Castle Greyhawk web comic series written by Scott Casper. Check it out. Gord on the other hand, it's a TRAVESTY Gygax's novel hero was not seen in the game setting. It is nice to see some non-wizard choices so far in these questionnaires.

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

Darrell: Invulnerable Coat of Arnd.

David: The Invulnerable Coat of Arnd.

Stefanos: The Cup and/or Talisman of Al Akbar.

LOL wow, Arnd's coat seems very popular. It's like picking a super power, who wouldn't want to be invulnerable to damage? Add a Ring of Regeneration and the Razor Claws of Chakyik (Greyhawk Adventures) and you'd be Wolverine! Stefanos finishes off this Ring of Five with a sensible answer, one of the artifacts of al'Akbar. Though if he was Vecna in real life, I'm sure that artifact would reject him! Can't trust those netliches!

That's all for now. More next time!