Fun in the World of Greyhawk at Canonfire!
Lots of hustle and bustle in the Flanaess of late, so we'll jump right into the latest Greyhawk News you can use:
- In the Canonfire! site's discussion forums, Marc-Tizoc Gonzalez (mtg as we know him) began an excellent thread "Names Derived from Deities," in which he puts some much-needed thought into how common names in the Flanaess would be influenced by the names of the various gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines of the land.
- Marc riffed on many of the existing names of the gods to create variations that could be the equivalent of modern-day names like Mary, Joseph, Mark, Luke, Michael, et al., and his work inspired several others (including me) to add to the growing list. Check it out, and add your own ideas!
- David Prata's "The Amazons of Hardby" attempts to reconcile the warrior-women of Hardby (as championed by Deirdre in Gygax's Artifact of Evil novel---she appears on the cover which I included in my recent Why Greyhawk? post) with the Amazons entry dropped from the 1983 Monster Manual 2 and published in the Polyhedron #22 (January 1985). The discussion aligns quite nicely with my own campaign's focus in the vicinity Hardby via my Random Encounter Table for Hardby---although I treat Amazons a bit differently than EGG's versions---with some related discussion on Facebook.
Charity Events Abound
Jay Scott's 5th Annual Greyhawk Megastream Fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital began on Thursday this week:
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| LordGosumba's 5th Annual charity fundraiser for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital |
Donations can be made at https://tiltify.com/+greyhawk-community-streamers/5th-annual-greyhawk-megastream-fundraiser-event-legends and see https://www.facebook.com/groups/40230212669/posts/10159706400557670/ for additional details.
In addition, Carlos Lising's caslEntertainment will soon be announcing a new charity adventure module, which will provide donations to the ASPCA.
I've participated in two of Carlos's charity streaming adventures in the past, and fully endorse his giving back to the community. The Tears that Forever Stain supports the Cheetah Conservation Fund, while Lost Dog supports Red Rover. (Both links take you to his adventure books, which support the charities themselves through purchases of the modules).
And last, but not least, GaryCon's charity auction is helmed by the indomitable Jim Kitchen, and Jim is seeking donations for the GaryCon 2023 charity auction:
Please think about donating things for the auction. Gary Con attendees have always been generous beyond measure with their donations and the proceeds from auctioning them has made a difference in lives far beyond Lake Geneva.
The Charity auction at Gary Con is bigger than any single one of us. It's the people who make it happen, who donate and who bid that are the three equal parts of what is one of the best parts of the show.
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| Jim Kitchen, auctioneering for charity at GaryCon 2022 |
This year's auction will support Extra Life and Children's Wisconsin (formerly Milwaukee Children's Hospital), and you can read a summary about the 2022 Charity Auction too.
Rob Kuntz - Two New Releases Celebrate D&D's 50th!
On 1 February 2023, Rob Kuntz announced the publication of two new titles from his Three Line Studios company, as well as a 30 page free fan update newsletter!
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| Rob Kuntz's newest adventure, Pryce's Price |
The two new books---one an adventure, the other a collection of magic items and essays---celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation and playtesting of the game, which began in 1973. (D&D wasn't published until January 1974 or thereabouts).
- Pryce's Price: a new 57 page AD&D 1e adventure for PCs of levels 9-11 in which they delve a wizard's haunted basement to recover various and sundry items lost within its depths. The module is also a tribute to the 1963 Roger Corman film "The Raven" starring Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, and Peter Loree---an obviously inspired by Poe's poem of the same name. $12 from the TLS web site.
- Gargax's Glorious Gewgaws: a new 36 page collection of AD&D 1e magic items and essays that pay tribute to Gary Gygax. (For reference, a gewgaw---which I'm more familiar with as a geegaw, but they are several variants for the term---is "a flashy, useless ornament; a bauble" according to my Funk & Wagnalls dictionary). In this collection of 17 new magic items (including one new spell), none are trinkets and 5 are artifacts! Rob concludes Gargax's Glorious Gewgaws with the essay "Some Influences Related to E.G.G. in Creating (and Play-Testing) D&D"---an eight-page discussion about the inspirational origins for various elements of Original Dungeons & Dragons and the Greyhawk and Kalibruhn campaigns. $8 from the TLS web site.
Notably, both books can be ordered in a bundle at 25% off---quite the bargain!
Rob mentions that he will release additional books throughout 2023 to continue his celebration for D&D. You can keep up on additional Three Line Studio releases by signing up for the TLS mailing list: email mailinglist@threelinestudio.com with "Subscribe" in the subject line.
grodog on "L&L" Discussing Greyhawk's Planes
I recently appeared on Lord Gosumba's "Legends & Lore" episode about "Extra-Planar Influences" (in Greyhawk, of course). Jay Scott, Anna Meyer, and Mike Bridges, steered the conversationa and I joined in after a late dinner an hour-in or so.
We had a fun and widely-ranging discussion about the planes in general, planar architecture, planar incursions/invasions, gods and the source for divine powers, among many inter-related topics.
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| Extra-Planar Influences in Greyhawk, with Jay, Anna, Mike, and Allan |
You can watch the replays on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6Z_5c5QDTU or on Twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1732534574.
GaryCon Events Registration Open!
GaryCon events registration is open this weekend on Saturday, 18 February 2023 for Gold badge holders, and the following weekend on Saturday, 25 February 2023 for Silver badge holders. Additional timeline details for other badge types are at https://tabletop.events/conventions/gary-con-xv.
My two personal events have registrants in them already, but more than half of the seats are still open. Here are the entries if you'd like to register:
- LEGIO V—Gary Gygax's Castle Greyhawk Level Keyed by grodog - Thursday @ 7pm
- LEGIO V—Gary Gygax's Castle Greyhawk Level Keyed by grodog - Saturday @ 7pm
On Friday night I'm helping Paul Stormberg by DMing a table of the Legends of Roleplaying tourney, along with Allen Hammack, Steve Winter, Harold Johnson, Victor Raymond, Doug Behringer, and several other volunteer DMs.
If you'd like to register, Legends of Roleplaying Tournament: Ruins of Elder Evil runs on Friday night at 6pm.
Allan.
