grodog's Top 10 Favorite Greyhawk Adventures

On tonight's Gabbin #353 "The Top Published Greyhawk Adventures!" show, Jay Scott, Anna Meyer, and Mike Bridges feature Erik Mona, Carlos Lising, and Joe Bloch as guests (with others to be announced during the show) to discuss their favorite Greyhawk modules of all time.*  

My favorites rankings have slowly evolved over time (two different links there), as I've revisited various classics and my assessments of them:  D3 and L1 rose through such reconsiderations, while G3, WG4, and S4 lost some ground when considered as adventures first and sine qua non, rather than for their introductions of seminal new monsters or magic items, etc.

For my top favorite Greyhawk modules lists below, I've limited myself to adventures set in Greyhawk (whether explicitly or with the serial numbers filed off), rather than those that can (or perhaps should) be adapted to Greyhawk:

grodog's 10 Favorite Gryehawk adventures, ranked, with some quick notes about what appeals to me about each:

1. D3 Vault of the Drow by Gary Gygax:  D3 has dethroned G3 as my favorite adventure of all time; it is the quintessential AD&D scenario---a high-level sandbox of doom that will snuff out your PCs if they're not as capable diplomatically as they are in combat; combining the best of dungeon play alongside factions and city play, D3 is the ultimate test of a DM and a play group!
   
   
2. WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure by Rob Kuntz:  WG5 continually remains a favorite, but it is difficult for me to choose between these three levels vs. others in Rob's Maure Castle (in my head, I group the three levels here with the three from Dungeon alongside "Warlock's Walk"), but for the moment it remains at the top among his designs, in my eye:  it's hard to beat the Kuntzian expansiveness of The Lost City of the Elders, the octych stars before the Unopenable Doors, the imaginative Eli Tomorast and his unique familiar Rel, Kerzit and his stewardship of The Tome of the Black Heart, and the fabulous set-pieces throughout the first level
   
   
3. MoZ4 The Eight Kings by Rob Kuntz:  like WG5 it's hard for me to rank MoZ4 vs. others in the series, but this one edges the others out since it presents a 32nd-level archmage's magical lab demi-plane, invaded and taken over by Xaene after Zydilec (its original proprietor) fell victim to one of his own experiments; it also offers a wonderful conclusion to the series, and the opportunity for the PCs to restore the good-and-just Ivid V to the throne of the Great Kingdom (as opposed to his evil clone, controlled by Xaene)
   
   
4. T1 The Village of Hommlet by Gary Gygax:  the quintessential challenge for expert players---new 1st level PCs thrown into a powderkeg of local politics and regional-spanning machinations that involve gods and demon princes!; the fact that Lareth is beloved by Lolth (or Zuggtmoy, or whoever you decide to replace his patron with) also demonstrates the importance of actively-engaged deities in the setting (St. Cuthbert and the Old Faith druids and bards, among others), something I have certainly taken to heart in our current campaign
   
   
5. L1 The Secret of Bone Hill by Lenard Lakofka:  another wonderful introductory sandbox, this one uniquely providing local wilderness exploration accessible to lower-level PCs (2nd to 4th), alongside fun dungeon exploration, and the introduction of local politics later exploited and developed further in L2 The Assassin's Knot
   
   
6. G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King by Gary Gygax:  While I've slipped my ranking of this adventure as I've reconsidered it over time (for many many years it was my #1 module), that's only because I've grown to appreciate the other scenarios above even more-deeply; I still love the drow, the interplay of the factions throughout the adventure (in particular when you consider any previously-surviving giant thanes from G1 and G2 making their last-stands here after fleeing the PCs earlier in the series!), the temple to the Elder Elemental Gods, the wall of tentacles and tentacle rods, and the subtly-suggestive interplays among the evil forces (Queen Frupy's occasional magical control of her husband, the suggestion of an affair between Eclavdra and the king, the illithid spying upon everyone, etc.)
   
   
7. A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity by David Cook:  perhaps my only pick still on the list influenced in part by nostalgia (A1 was the first module I ever bought for myself, using monies saved up from paper routes and/or lining Little League baseball fields), I still find this scenario quite compelling---the introduction of the Slave Lords and their foul depredations throughout the communities of the Sea of Gernant, our first introduction to the ruined-but-still-living city of Highport, my first exposure to tribal shamans and witchdoctors in play, and the vision offered for how to flesh out a four-hour convention tournament (with scoring details, and now-iconic pregen PCs) into a campaign scenario; A1 inspired me to design other buildings in Highport, and to build out its sewer system that the dungeon level would naturally connect to, as well
   
   
8. "Chambers of Antiquities" by Rob Kuntz and Paizo in Dungeon Magazine #124 (July 2005):  my favorite of the three levels published in Dungeon, and only eclipsing #112's "The Statuary" because I still dislike the ideas of the Id Core and its minions (I haven't reimagined these concepts in my head yet for deployment at the table) enough that they outweigh my love of The Statuary's map (one of my favorite designs by Kuntz); that said, the set-piece encounters of "Chambers of Antiquities" are brilliant, and I love the concept of the Maure family maintaining vault of "stuff to dangerous for us to mess with yet," and the hints at the wider world of the setting (the Dragonmasters of Lynn, Arodnap/Pandora, and the many artifacts and relics Kuntz introduces).  
   
   
9. "COR1-03 River of Blood" by Erik Mona, an introductory and core Living Greyhawk scenario from the campaign's launch in 2000:  Mona's brilliant introductory scenario stands right up there with T1, L1, and T1 as an excellent introductory campaign starter; it leverages xvarts (an under-used goblinoid monster unique to Greyhawk), and as the first in his "Absolute Power" series of planned LG scenarios ties into the Maures, the octyches from Maure Castle, S2 White Plume Mountain, and the ancient powers of the Suloise archmages; Mona followed-up on this adventure in "COR2-01: As He Lay Dying" and I hope that he returns to the series in the future, as it's an excellent premise
   
   
10. Return of the Eight by Roger Moore:  Despite it's railroady introduction---which, in truth, is not much worse than others in classic modules; the advantage of such starting premises is that they can a) be easily jettisoned, and b) take up little space in the module's text---I love this module for its creation of Greyhawk lore (oerthblood and the Fortress of Unknown Depths itself), its exploration of a high-level wizard's demesne (only Kuntz's MoZ4 surpasses it as such!), and a continuation and homage to Iggwilv's ongoing machinations in the setting, building from S4, WG6, and later scenarios (like "The Ravage of Ghorkai" from the d20 freebie download for Slayers Guide to Dragons, and perhaps most-notably in Carlos Lising's use of the character in his C11 and G2 modules)

10 Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order by title, rather than ranked):

• "Fiend's Embrace" by Stephen S. Greer in Dungeon Magazine #121 (April 2005)
• G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief by Gary Gygax
• G2 The Witch Queen's Lament by Carlos A. S. Lising 
• LGCC-1 The Original Bottle City by Rob Kuntz
• "Kingdom of the Ghouls" by Wolfgang Baur in Dungeon Magazine #70 (September/October 1998)
• "Quest for the Golden Orb" tournament from Origins in 1984 by Elaine Walquist
• S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth by Gary Gygax
• "The Whispering Cairn" by Erik Mona in Dungeon Magazine #124 (July 2005)
• WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun by Gary Gygax 
• WGR6 City of Skulls by Carl Sargent

I'm sure the discussion tonight will be well-worthwhile, so check it out live on Twitch or as a rerun on YouTube!  (I'll update these links once it's posted).  

* The discussion piggybacks on "The 30 Greatest D&D Adventures of All Time" listing published in Dungeon Magazine #116 (compiled by Mona, James Jacobs, and the Dungeon Design Panel and published in November 2004).

For reference, here is that list, but note that a) it's not Greyhawk-specific, and b) it cheats by grouping multiple modules in a series as a single line item, which doesn't force hard choices like G1 vs. G3, for example ;)

1. GDQ1-7 Queen of Spiders 
2. I6 Ravenloft 
3. S1 Tomb of Horrors 
4. T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil 
5. S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks 
6. I3-5 The Desert of Desolation 
7. B2 The Keep on the Borderlands 
8. Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil 
9. S2 White Plume Mountain 
10. Return to the Tomb of Horrors 
11. The Gates of Firestorm Peak 
12. The Forge of Fury 
13. I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City 
14. Dead Gods 
15. X2 Castle Amber 
16. X1 The Isle of Dread 
17. The Ruins of Undermountain 
18. C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan 
19. N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God 
20. A1-4 Scourge of the Slave Lords 
21. Dark Tower 
22. S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth 
23. WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun 
24. City of the Spider Queen 
25. DL1 Dragons of Despair 
26. WGR6 City of Skulls 
27. U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh 
28. B4 The Lost City 
29. L2 The Assassin's Knot 
30. C2 The Ghost Tower of Inverness

...with some analysis by Glyfair in 2004 ENWorld discussion:

• OD&D: 0 
• 1st Edition: 18 
• Basic D&D: 4 
• 2nd Edition: 5 
• 3rd Edition: 3
• Non-TSR/Wotc products: 1 

Allan.

virtual Greyhawk Con 4 - grodog's convention report

It has been a quiet summer for From Kuroth's Quill, and with good reason:  for those not already aware, I've been laid off by Amazon Web Services as part of their "return to office" (or RTO) policy, so I've been pretty distracted from Greyhawk and fun in general the past few months.  My last day shifted around a bit, but my time with AWS concluded on Wednesday, 27 September, so I've had a couple of weeks to destress and work some of that angst out of my system.  

And I'm happy to say that virtual Greyhawk Con #4 this past weekend played a good part in that process!

virtual Greyhawk Con logo and dates: 6-8 October 2023

I have not squeezed so much gaming into a three-day weekend since the early days of GaryCon and the North Texas RPG Con!---I played in three games, DM'd three games, and closed out the convention in the "Ask the Experts" roundtable once more, and my brain is very full!:

Image from Gary Larson's _The Far Side_.

Here's a quick rundown of my events and activities:

Friday - 6 October 2023:  a Great Start

I kicked off the convention DMing my "Halls of the Iron Golems" level from my version of Castle Greyhawk.  Here's the initial draft of the dungeon level map:

"Halls of the Iron Golems" dungeon level map,
by Allan Grohe (grodog)

An eight-PCs crew entered the level through the SW corner stairs, where they were soon ambushed by a trio of extortionistic ogre magi, led by a shaman with a giant amphisbaena snake familiar (who said snake charm was never useful, hmmmm?).  They also explored a strange astronomical/astrological chamber filled with many tempting gemstones embedded in the walls (but not so tempting that they got distracted from their mission and began prying them out!).  They also explored several of the adjacent chambers and halls.  Fun was had by all.

In my evening game, I played in Carlos Lising's casl Entertainment adventure, The Amphora Ekphrasis, a sequel to last year's "The 9" (I played a 1/1 female halfling druid/thief named Snow, which was a different PC from my 1st level human cleric last year).  We managed to secure for our down-on-its-luck-sounds-too-good-for-how-down-it-is home base named Bulkwark---a Great Depression-era Keep on the Borderlands.  

We invaded an old ruined site that had been claimed by orcs, seeking a decanter of endless water for our cohorts at Bulwark.  As it turns out, the site (and it's relic decanter) was originally sacred to Lirr, goddess of prose, poetry, literature, and art.  After a few battles and some well-played tactics from the group, we prevailed and accomplished our mission.  The quality and type of liquid produced by the decanter varied by the quality of the prose pages sacrificed by placing them within the decanter; solid workmanlike texts produce clear, clean water, while more esoteric and moving works could produce holy water and potions.  

As always, Carlos ran a great game, and the rest of the players were a joy to play with, as we explored Carlos' post-canon setting Great Kingdom during the early 600s CY.  If you'd like to watch the replay, Carlos has it on Twitch stream at https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1944576093:

The Amphora Ekphrasis crew in action!

Saturday - 7 October 2023:  Long-Haul Fun

I played or ran games from 9am to 11pm on Saturday, with a one-hour break for dinner from 6-7pm.  That's definitely the longest stretch of continuous gaming I've done in quite awhile.  Fortunately my voice didn't give out, and my brain wasn't fried by the time I began DMing in the evening :D

The day kicked off with my 9am to 2pm session DM'd by Mike "Von Molkew" Mossbarger's Mystery in Midmeadow event, during which our high-level party of agents of the Nyrondal King Lynwerd discovered that recent attacked in the area were precipitated by an hitherto-thought-mythical race of evil known as the drow!  Conspiring against the drow were the also unknown rockseer elves, who we were able to secure as allies against the drow.  

Much fun was had by all, and Mike does a great job handling the setting lore (we discovered the underworld source for the Franz River at Crystal Springs, too!), as well as presenting a very engaging game using maps and graphics on Owlbear Rodeo:

Collage of Mystery at Midmeadow maps,
 by Michael Mossbarger

 

During my next game, which ran from 2-6pm, Curtis Cable ran "Fell Tidings at Willow Blight Abbey"---a reskinning of the classic module B5 Horror on the Hill by Doug Niles.  We played 4-6th level PCs invading a humanoid-occupied ruined abbey located in the Jotens, to stop the destruction of a holy helm sacred to Heironeous.  

Curtis also ran a fun game steeped in Greyhawk and AD&D lore---the abbey forces were led by a shaman of Maglubiyet, while the site was steeped in the trappings of Incabulos' worship.  

After Curtis' game concluded, I grabbed a quick dinner, and then DM'd my twice-monthly home campaign, where the 4th-5th level PCs are currently engaged in selling some sacred gemstone eyes chiseled out of a hidden temple to Nerull in Castle Greyhawk; they're selling them back to the temple of Nerull in Dyvers, and it seems to be going well so far....

Saturday - 7 October 2023:  Ending on High Notes

Sunday morning I slept in a bit, and jumped back into the saddle at 11am to run my second session of "Halls of the Iron Golems."  This time the PCs started in the lower-right quadrant of the map, and explored north and west and northward to within sight of their goal by the end of the session!  Quick thinking during various encounters (with a glassteel skeleton golem that resonated when struck with melee weapons and thereby damaged its attackers, and a giant slug) and a relentless focus on making progress in the proper direction paid off :D

At the end, the party was foiled by an insidious sliding stair trap which split the party and dumped them into two skeletons-filled chambers:  one submerged in 12 feet of water (alas, three of the four PCs wore magical armor and the one PC who was in normal armor---and therefore sank like a rock---had a ring of swimming! ;) ), while the second was submerged in caustic and poisonous gas!  This particular trap was inspired by Dave S. LaForce's classic DMG illustration:

 

The skeletons attempted to hold the PCs in place under the water and within the gas, but were defeated in the end....

The "Ask the Experts" session traditionally concludes the convention, and featured Jay Scott and Anna Meyer as recurring hosts, with Roger Moore joining for the first time this year, and Denis "Maldin" Tetreault, Joe "Greyhawk Grognard" Bloch, and me rounding out the participants.  

Our discussion ranged widely over the course of the 2+ hours, and touched on several interesting topics, including:

• variant AD&D classes 
• sites/scenarios that deserve Return To modules
• modules most-in-need of salvaging
• Flanaess cities that deserve the boxed set treatment
• how we can bring more new fans to Greyhawk
• places/times to consider running a pre-576 CY campaign
• planar and temporal adventure ideas
• 50th anniversary D&D ideas and plans

Tune into the discussion to explore these and other topics and ideas!:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTuw04FDdGo

grodog's 2024 Convention Schedule

I'm still currently planning to attend GaryCon XVI (21-24 March), NTX (5-9 June), and vGHC (4-6 October) next year.  

Since I'm currently unfettered by a limited number of vacation days, I may try to extend my GaryCon trip to include the pre-con Founders & Legends events running 16-18 March too, but that's still a long time away from my family, and the additional hotel and meals costs are not trivial, so we'll see....

I am also hoping to align a trip to visit my family in South Jersey with the brand new Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo con, which runs 5-7 January 2024.   

We'll see how all of that works out in practice soon :D 

50th Anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons

As part of the Q&A around D&D's 50th anniversary next year, I am working to complete the publication of one of my Castle Greyhawk levels.  It probably won't be done in time for GaryCon in March but may be ready for North Texas in June. 

I'm also working on a high-level adventure submission for the No Artpunk III adventure design contest, which remains open through the end of November.  

Thanks Yous!

I'd like to thank Jay Scott, Josh Popp, Anna Meyer, and the rest of the virtual Greyhawk Con crew for putting the vGHC convention together---each fall it's a wonderful way to close out my conventions for the year, and it's always a pleasure to meet new fans of the setting and to game together in their versions of Greyhawk.

And a sincere thank you to the players in my regular campaigns, and for those who participate in my events at vGHC and GaryCon and North Texas each year.  The playtesting that we do together makes my DMing better and my events more fun, and that is always appreciated! =)

Allan.

grodog's Virtual Greyhawk Con 3 Report!

Hola folks---

As usual, I had a wonderful time at Virtual Greyhawk Con again this year, the convention's third annual installment of Flan-flinging fun!  

I ran three games, played in two, and participated in the closing panel again, which made for a very fun, but also very full weekend (30 Sept to 2 Oct 2022).

Friday Night Only, Alas

I had registered to play in Jay Hafner's 5e version of the Dragon Magazine classic adventure "Citadel by the Sea" (designed by Sid Fisher, from issue #78):

 

"Citadel by the Sea"---
artwork by Roger Raupp

My thought had been that it would be cool to kick the tires on 5e for the first time in a scenario I knew pretty well, with a DM I kn0w from the days of Greytalk.  Unfortunately work conspired to keep me away from Jay's table on Friday morning, but my empty spot filled up quickly, so he still ran with a full table (which I'm thankful for!).  Perhaps next year, Jay!

Friday night, I DM'd Carlos Lising's adventure, G2 The Witch Queen's Lament, and it was quite fun.  It's always a pleasure to get to play a high-level villain, and Iggwilv is certainly one of my favorites! :D

We ran through Carlos' adventure tourney-style, and while the players were not able to complete the mission, they did plumb the depths of the vile wizard's lair that Iggwilv set them upon:

 

Your PCs are forcibly recruited by the Witch Queen of Perrenland and geased to perform a mission on her behalf. Will you succeed and find mercy as Iggwilv restores your freedom, or will you fail in your quest and and suffer eternal consequences beyond mere death? Set in the World of Greyhawk and its planes, AD&D 1e/OSRIC pregen PCs of levels 6-9 are provided.

==

Such is the notoriety of the dread Witch-Queen that mothers speak of her wicked deeds to frighten their unruly children into obedience. These legends are hardly tall tales. Indeed, the Witch-Queen is very real – the staggering bloodshed spilled as she led a demonic army to conquer a mighty nation a testimony to her existence. And yet, for all her power and vile deeds, the Witch-Queen grows pensive in her fell manor in Sarendathos, faced with a mystery whose subject has cut all too close to her dark heart. Can your PCs find a solution to that which vexes her...before the world again trembles beneath her wrath?

Written by Carlos Lising of casl Entertainment, this adventure module was the official tournament adventure for GrogCon 2021, and is written for the OSRIC™ rules (ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS 1st edition compliant).

Bring your graph paper, dice, and a healthy dose of paranoid courage! Game will be hosted in Webex, via Theatre of the Mind.

G2 The Witch Queen's Lament---
cover art by Daniel Govar

I changed-up the introduction and structure of the adventure a bit, but otherwise ran it using Carlos' baseline.  Carlos set the scenario in the tundra badlands north of the Burneal Forest and south of the Land of Black Ice.  Definitely makes we me want to revisit the region in the future, and to explore a bit more with Baba Yaga, Iggwilv, and the rest of the extended family.  Carlos ended up sitting in during session, which was a treat too.  

The players had fun, I had fun, and I bet you would too if you ran it!

 

Saturday

On Saturday morning and early afternoon, I played in Michael Mossbarger's "The Brokenstone Alliance" and that evening I DM'd WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure by Rob Kuntz. 

Michael "The Brokenstone Alliance" had an interesting premise, and was set in Ratik---an area of Greyhawk I've not explored much as a DM or as a player (although we did recently attend a trial there in Bill Silvey's Monday night Greyhawk campaign)---which is what drew me to his adventure:

What do an emissary from an ancient dwarven clan, an earthquake, and a dwarf who died of no apparent wounds have to do with each other? Lots if you’re trying to protect the northern borders of Nyrond. Travel to the Flinty Hills and The Rakers to solve this mystery with characters level 7-9. (Thanks to Wm. H. Dvorak and his Bone March Companion for the ideas that form the basis of this adventure). This will use mostly OSRIC rules with additional homebrew rules and "Lord Gosumba" character classes. Will be using my Discord channel set up / invites will be sent the week before.

I played Abratic Black, a Magic-User 9 with a wand of lightning and wand of illumination, a scroll of 3 spells (friends, haste, dimension door), a potion of water breathing, and a nice assortment of spells.  The PCs were on a mission for King Lyndwerd of Nyrond (and had previously served him in other scenarios) to act as ambassadorial explorers in the Nyrond's name.  

Michael ran his game online using Owlbear.Rodeo, which is not a platform I'd used previously.  It was pretty cool, but, alas, I didn't capture any screenshots from Michael's prepared materials, which were definitely good-looking! 

We were able to complete the mission, although we did run a bit long over time (perhaps 20 minutes or so?). 

WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure is one of my favorite D&D adventures of all time, and is one of Rob Kuntz's finest designs.

 

WG5 by Rob Kuntz---
cover art by Jeff Easley

 

For this adventure, I added two more player characters to the mix of pregens originally published in the module:  Otis (Ranger 9) and Lord Robilar (Fighter 12) joined Mordenkainen (Magic-User 12), Bigby (Magic-User 10), Yrag (Fighter 9), and Riggby (Cleric 9)

The PCs explored the first level of the dungeons (we didn't make it into any of the Maure Castle levels, alas), encountering various and sundry dungeon features and inhabitants throughout.  They did manage to meet and defeat the Terrible Iron Golem through some savvy play (although Bigby was turned to stone!), which is not a feat I've seen replicated most times I've run the adventure. 

 

Sunday

In the morning, Josh Popp ran an unpublished adventure designed by Lenard Lakofka---"The Ravages of the Mind":

 

Lenard Lakofka's final adventure. Journey into Ratik's Timberway to root out a growing malignancy. An AD&D adventure for characters level 3-5, pregens provided. Content Warning: kidnapping.

Lenard Lakofka's unpublished
"Ravages of the Mind"---
non-final cover art by Syedafarrwa (Farva)

 

I played Oben, a Cleric 5 of Phaulkon, as we explored the remains of a Temple to Llerg still manned by its high priest after it was ransacked by orcs 30 years back.  The high priest had been slowly growing more strange over the years, and kidnapped a local woman and her little girl who looked like his wife and daughter slain when the temple was sacked.  Things went from bad to worse as we explored deeper into the environs and temple!

Josh also DM'd using Owlbear.Rodeo, and I did remember to capture some highlights during the adventure:

 

Marner region of Ratik--
Cartography by Anna Meyer

and

Temple of Llerg Wilderness Environs

and

 

Temple Compound

We explored about half of the temple compound, slew of bunch of orcs, but were not able to find and rescue the missing townsfolk from Layakeel before the session ended.   We also never discovered the dungeon level, either, but had a great time playing through the adventure!

After Josh's scenario, I had an hour to eat lunch before running Erik Mona's "River of Blood"---one of the earliest Living Greyhawk scenarios published BITD:

 

The Millstream runs red with the blood of the abducted children of Greyhawk's lower class, triggering memories of a crisis thought averted long ago.

Create your own 1st level AD&D PC to play in this classic Living Greyhawk scenario designed by Erik Mona.

 

Eric's adventure was in part inspired by the NPC description of Sir Bluto Sans Pite from Lawrence Schick's S2 White Plume Mountain:  

S2 White Plume Mountain---
by Lawrence Schick

 

The background information is a bit more extensive in the adventure, and paints a chilling picture of the hellish nightmare that the PCs stumble into:

 

The River of Blood

26 years ago a noble of the city was implicated in a series of crimes so horrendous that news of the foul event spread as far as Ratik*, confirming provincial wisdom that the city of Greyhawk was good for two things alone:  corruption and death.

The scandal began with teh dispppearance of eight children, scions of nobles and wealthy merchants....

The criminal behind the abductions made himself known in a hideously violent act of confession. Merchants travelling east on High Street from the High Market to the Duke's Gate noticed it first.  The waters of the Millstream, the thin creek that runs throughout nearly the entire city, ran red with blood.

 

(*And there it is again!  Apparently it was a Ratik-themed convention for me!).

"River of Blood" was the first of two Living Greyhawk scenarios that Erik published in his "Absolute Power" series (the second was "As He Lay Dying"), but the rest of the adventures remain locked behind Erik's eyes (for the moment---he did state later that he was itching to DM some Greyhawk again, so if we're lucky perhaps he might consider working on the series some more as part of his new campaign!). 

The six PCs were brand-new first level AD&D characters, with a good mix of martial classes (three human fighters, one dwarf fighter, one human thief, and one human cleric of Heironeous), but not an MU among them!   They were able to rescue the missing child (although they didn't solve the larger mystery of her disappearance and capture) and save the day, which is as good an outcome as any level 1 character could hope for!

 

The convention concluded with the Greyhawk "Ask the Experts" Panel, hosted by Jay Scott, with Joe Bloch, Eric Boyd, Anna Meyer, Erik "Iquander" Mona, Denis Tetreault, and me as the panel guests: 

 

 

The recording is available on YouTube, as are all of the streamed games from the convention:

 

"A room full of liches, other than Anna"
quipped some wag in the chat ;)

We had a great chat that ranged through a number of fun topics, including:

• Castle Greyhawk and the City of Greyhawk
• Stoink
• Elminster being mentioned in passing in Ivid the Undying
• L6 and other unpublished Lenard Lakofka materials
• Favorite non-TSR scenarios to use in Greyhawk
• How to change-up the Greyhawk Wars
• Favorite Dragon Magazine ad products
• and more!
  

It was a fun discussion, and a great way to round out the convention weekend!

Allan.