A journey into the things we love: Podcast + blog! Get your geek on or discover your inner geek: games, video games, RPGs, comic books, movies, TV, books, oh so much more!
Star Trek Video Games: An Unofficial Guide to the Final Frontier with author Mat Bradley-Tschirgi. There are a LOT of Star Trek video games and Mat had some hard decisions and set boundaries on what games to cover in his book (by the way, a “notable” game doesn’t necessarily mean a good game). What is Mat’s favorite and least favorite Star Trek game? Star Trek has one of the saddest stories of vaporware in PC gaming. Mat had an unusual entry into Star Trek fandom, but it still grabbed him. What are Shane and Mat’s thoughts on some of the more recent Star Trek TV shows? What is one redeeming aspect of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier? Podcasting takes a lot of work and time.
RPG and tabletop gaming historian Jon Peterson returns for a fantastic conversation on D&D and RPG history, and his related current books and projects. A new edition of Playing at the World and Dungeons & Dragons – the Making of Original D&D: 1970-1977 are on the shelves. D&D 4E has its hardcore fans. Jon has a seriously impressive collection of documents related to RPG history. Jon’s first on-screen RPG game, ever. Does the role of the Caller in D&D get an unfair reputation (and what exactly does the Caller do)? DNA from non-RPGs like Outdoor Survival made it into early D&D. Be careful of the question “what is a role-playing game”, the debate can sideswipe an entire conversation. Plus much more.
Merle M. Rasmussen, the man in the tux himself, joins to talk about the Top Secret RPG and his game design career. What was his first (mistaken) understanding of what D&D was? Memories of working at TSR. A no-nonsense discussion about the financials of his agreement with TSR for Top Secret. Financial lessons he has learned in his career. The perils of lead poisoning in making miniatures (and accidental improvised bombs). Jon Peterson’s Quagmire! D&D module article and Merle’s involvement in making it happen. Top Secret set multiple RPG precedents. What existing RPG was used for Top Secret’s firearms rules? The FBI visited TSR because of Top Secret’s playtest. You’re not just paranoid, the HackNoia RPG is coming. I Choose To RISE, Merle’s card game that helps teach about Black heroes. Merle’s wife Jackie has often been his writing partner and sounding board. Moments of fan feedback Merle has had that will get you right in the feels (including, I kid you not, being asked to bless a gamer’s ashes). Bad James Bond jokes.
Shane, Chris Holmes, and Mike Stewart aka DM Mike (Save for Half podcast, Found in the Ruins podcast) shamble relentlessly through over 40 zombie and zombie-ish flicks in their inhuman hunger for horror. Plus a brief detour into the best on-screen Joker and multiple bad zombie jokes. True or false: Marcel Marceau starred in a zombie flick. What is Shane’s most annoying zombie movie? What would you do if you were the last person on Earth and could do whatever you want? Shane offers a rare trigger warning.
Preston Poulter of Pocket Jacks Comics joins to talk comic books, the current status of his Comicsgate trademark lawsuit, and his reasons for pursuing it. Plus the economics and challenges of self-publishing comics, some tabletop RPG chat and we learn what a pocket jack is. Shane gets upstaged during the bad joke of the week.
Wide-ranging geekout with David Finn of Signal of Doom!! Lots of comic book and MCU chat (like, a lot). Pi Day. Doctor Who, old and new. Google Gemini vs. ChatGPT. Judge Dredd satirizes fascism but can tell multi-layered stories. Godzilla finally wins an Oscar. Godzilla as a metaphor. The essence of the Punisher. It’s been a while, but Shane rants a bit (and David loves it). The Krakoan X-Men scare Shane and David’s ready for the era to move on. Current Beast makes David pine for Dark Beast. Three Jokers?? The 80s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles RPG and real-life urban ninja action. Shane’s defining Han Solo moments. David recommends Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre. A key to being an adult is being able to separate the creator from the creation in terms of enjoying entertainment. What D&D-related incident made a young Shane cry? Shane and David love the old-school CRPGs. The Asanti Series is a continuing series of fantasy books by David.
Despite what you might think from its famous box art, Greyhawk (the first D&D setting published by TSR) isn’t just knights and chivalry… so what is it then? Major Greyhawk fan Allan T. Grohe Jr. aka “grodog” joins to fill us in on all the setting’s fantastic details! Also: Greyhawk is a setting with plenty of room to homebrew within the established details. Why the name Greyhawk? Some discussion of the Greyhawk novels (Gary Gygax’s and others). The Moathouse vs. the Temple… which is remembered more fondly? Is Greyhawk “real” to Allan? Militant neutrality. Alignment and worldbuilding. Does Lawful Good have to be Lawful Stupid? Discovering The Hobbit.
Dig into the world of the D&D Greyhawk setting online and sooner or later you’ll run across mentions of an essay from 1996 called “Putting the Grey in the Hawk” by Nitescreed.
However, the essay no longer seems to have a home online, just several forum posts mentioning it and a couple of forums posting the text as a reply to ongoing discussions. Searching doesn’t always take one directly to it.
So, here it is in a hopefully SEO-friendly blog post. The credit for this essay is 100% Nitescreed’s. Shane Plays did not author it.
Greyhawk has a strong internal sense of history that is consistently applied in all Greyhawk” products or creations. However, not every product published under the name “Greyhawk” meets this criteria.
Greyhawk is a storied realm. It’s seminal figures, good and ill, are interwoven throughout the setting. It has a defined history that strongly influences the present and future of the setting. Greyhawk’s history is not a footnote but an integral part of the setting that must be understood to truly comprehend the relationships among men, nations and even gods. True “Greyhawk” products or creations build on this history, incorporate it and develop it. The best such products or creations leave enough open ends to allow for further such development. More mediocre attempt closure of every loose thread.
Criteria No. 2 Player Resolution of Critical Events
The seminal events in Greyhawk’s current history and development are all presented such that the players may not only take part but play a leading role.
Players could fight the Greyhawk Wars. Players defeated the hordes of the Temple of Elemental Evil. Players defeated Lolth. Players turned the tide as Iuz aced Vecna.
In the Forgotten Realms, for example, Ao decrees an event and the players get to clean up in the aftermath. Cyric destroys Zhentil Keep offstage and the players get to delve into the ruins. Gods die to be replaced by mortals and the players watch. Elminster sends players on a mission but ultimately keeps from them the greater goal the mission serves.
When you play in Greyhawk, you join in the weaving of a tapestry of which you are a vital part. Greyhawk is about your story in the context of Greyhawk’s story. Roleplaying in Greyhawk involves playing your part in the longest running AD&D campaign in existence. It is bigger than you are but you can become as great as it is. That is the essence of Greyhawk’s history. It enfolds, informs and connects every part of the setting and all who play there of any length of time.
Criteria No. 3 NPCs Reward More Often Than They Advise or Direct
NPC’s in Greyhawk are not godlike figures who direct the course of events upon which your character is washed like the tide. Neither do they persistently show up to advise you. They may do both but more often they serve as the measuring stick against which your character’s performance can be judged and serve to reward your character by recognizing their accomplishments or otherwise admitting your character into their august company.
The Circle of Eight are aloof. They do not want to be your buddy. Neither do they have a laundry list of chores for you to perform. Rather, in Greyhawk you will find adventure without such NPCs suggesting it.
In the Forgotten Realms, for example, Elminster is famous for sending characters on their way. The Harpers do the same. Ultimately, Elminster or the Harpers play the directing role and may indeed appear to steal the show or otherwise claim ultimate victory.
In Greyhawk, YOU are the hero. Without assistance from the likes of the Circle of Eight and without them acting as a safety net. You can go your own way, in fact, without them ever troubling you. This cannot be so simply said in settings such as the Forgotten Realms and has not a little to do with Criteria No. 2 (Player Resolution of Critical Events in Greyhawk vs. NPC Resolution of Critical Events in FR).
Criteria No. 4 Persistent Personified Evil
Evil in Greyhawk is persistent. It is halted, checked or imprisoned but it is not defeated with finality for all time. The triumph over evil is a relative thing, ultimately transitory.
Evil in Greyhawk is personified. Evil has faces and names attached to it that ring down through the setting’s history. It is not an evil that pops up purely to give the players something to strive against and defeat before moving on to the next evil that similarly appears out of relative nowhere.
Vecna, Iuz, Lolth, Tharzidun, the Scarlet Brotherhood, Aerdi, Kas, even Turrosh Mak, all met this criteria. They are highly personified forces that spring from the settings specific history. By comparison, evil in the Forgotten Realms is of the pop-up variety save for the Red Wizards and Zhentrim. Menaces appear from nowhere or with on the spot histories that never before appeared in the setting. Greyhawk allows for this type of toaster villainy but it also established from the first villains of a historic character that transcend the needs of the adventure of the moment.
Criteria No. 5 Villainous Variety
Villainy in Greyhawk runs the gambit from the cosmic menace of Tharzidun, to the planar peril of Lolth, to the cambion menace of Iuz, to the purely moral menace of Turrosh Mak. Their is variety in the villainy. Villainy in Greyhawk is like a box of chocolates from Hell; you never know for sure what you are going to get (Best Example: The Giant Series). Greyhawk’s villains do not announce themselves; you have to figure it out.
Compare villainy in the Forgotten Realms. The variety isn’t there. You have scads of godly villains. The Red Wizards. The Zhents. It is feast or famine. And FR villains have signature trademarks that all but announce who you are facing, unless of course it is an evil toaster pastry.
Villains in Greyhawk will also turn on each other. The Iuz/Vecna conflict being perhaps the most famous. In other settings, villains are villains, identified by their clearly visible placards, sandwich signs or more “subtly” their black attire. You can count on them to always do the wrong thing.
Greyhawk keeps you guessing. Like a good Call of Cthulthu adventure.
Criteria No. 6 Heroism With a Price
Greyhawk’s heros rarely slay the evil wizard, who will trouble the land no more, to the full voiced cheers of the crowd. Best Iuz and you are marked. He will be back but you will have to deal with a likely enraged Zuggotomy in the meanwhile. Greyhawk’s villains don’t exist in a vacuum and neither do Greyhwk’s heroes. Everything is linked.
Heroism has a meaning within the setting that makes it more than a solitary act echoing in the vastness. It attracts attention, good and ill. It is immediate and brings a notoriety that other settings can only talk about. Notables exist to recognize your accomplishments and to measure you against themselves and the foe you defeated. And, they will have likely played little or no role in your victory. Evil too takes your measure for darker reasons.
This criterion can best be seen in the breach. The interconnection of people and places and the loose ends creates this effect, though few published adventures use it to motivate future adventures. The revised supermodule series provides the greatest opportunity on this score.
Criteria No. 7 Militant Neutrality
On Oerth, the forces of neutrality are arguably at least as powerful as those of good and evil and certainly as active.
Iquander alone has accurately defined this characteristic of Greyhawk and I acknowledge his work. Greyhawk is not concerned with the triumph of good over evil. The very nature of the evils loose on Oerth makes such triumphs fleeting at best. Greyhawk endures evil and circumvents it. It does not defeat it.
Evil forces, of course, will attempt to conquer Oerth. And just as certainly they will be opposed by forces who will seek to banish evil from the world. Neither will succeed. Neither in the long history of Oerth has ever succeeded. Good and evil are well enough matched that outcomes are never certain and always close calls one way or the other.
Moreover, evil on Oerth is not monolithic. Various demon lords and ladies contend with each other. Iuz battles Vecna. Kas seeks Vecna’s destruction. Iuz feuds with his mother and father. Evil beings are true to no one save themselves.
Perhaps accounting for all of this, Oerth has strong and active neutrally aligned forces, working to preserve a balance between good and evil. While hardly organized, these forces nonetheless manage to be quite effective. The Circle of Eight, mighty wizards all, seeks a middle path. Istus, the divine Lady of Fate, tests all but favors none. Druids are a quiet but ever present presence. Indeed, many of Greyhawk’s deities reflect a distinct neutral bent.
Compare Toril. Evil is overmatched by Elminster, the Seven Sisters (good aligned minions of the goddess of magic), the Harpers, the Lords of Waterdeep and activist gods. Evil is on the run and kept that way. It has but few strong holds and is highly transient, rarely surviving long enough to present more than a temporary challenge. Good triumphs on Toril. The dragon is slain, never to rise. The horror you never heard of before yesterday is laid to rest. The bad gods are thrown down!
The differences could not be more striking. Greyhawk is about struggle against evenly matched and long standing opponents. FR is about victory over transient and overmatched opponents.
Criteria No. 8 Personal Magics
Greyhawk is not a low fantasy setting save by comparison to settings on magical overload. Birthright is a low fantasy setting. The Forgotten Realms is a high fantasy setting. Greyhawk falls in between.
What distinguishes magic in Greyhawk is that it is highly personalized. Look at the spells. Mordenkain’s this. Nystul’s that. Otiluke’s the other. Magic is personalized by any wizard not of the hedge variety. Look at the artifacts for still more proof. What Birthright strives to achieve sparingly, Greyhawk has already accomplished in fair profusion. Spells have a history as due magic items. While there are +1 swords of no certain fame, many are the items with specific histories. Look at the Greyhawk Adventures hardback.
Similarly magical instruction in Greyhawk is personal. Greyhawk does not know great guilds of wizards but flourishes with a developed system of apprenticeships. One need but look at the Circle of Eight to see this. They, with one, possibly two, exceptions, belong to no guild of mages, and they that do belong do so as patrons at best and more probably as figureheads. Neither can the Circle itself be considered a guild. This mighty example and the utter lack of a single magical guild of any note, fairly well makes the case.
I will at a later point post more directly on this subject as I found the article in the Oerth Journal about wizardly organizations purest fantasy, out of keeping with the available information on magic in Greyhawk, though the article was still interesting for all that.
These then are the eight traits that define the Greyhawk feel. Most critical are 1st (Applied Internal Historic Consistency), 4th (Persistent Personified Evil) and 7th (Militant Neutrality) points. At the barest minimum to be considered truly “Greyhawk” a product or creation must adhere to these three criteria. Better products or creations adhere to progressively more of these criteria.
Without doing a full dress analysis of From the Ashes, I think we can see that it utterly fails to adhere to the 7th criterion. FtA throws neutrality out the window in favor of paring off goods and evils in a Flaneass tilted wildly toward evil. Furondy/Nyrond is pared off with Iuz. Aerdi is pared off with Nyrond. Keoland is paired off with the Scarlet Brotherhood/Pomarj. While overall, evil is clearly ascendent. This sort of dark fantasy, whatever its merits otherwise, defies the tradition of active neutrality that defined Greyhawk beforehand. That about half all WoG players rejected FtA supports this hypothesis. FtA’s designers, to include the Greyhawk Wars, were ignorant, willfully or otherwise, of the setting in which they worked. The resulting products while technically proficient, even well done on their own merits, were sadly lacking in that Greyhawk feel. Of course, some would choose to ignore this, finding the change “bracing,” others with duller senses wouldn’t even notice.
In any event, now we have a list of what puts the Grey in the Hawk. This list is by no means exclusive. I may have overlooked something and I know some listed criteria are of lesser note than others or mere permutations. However, I think overall the list can stand up to close scrutiny. Have at it.
Recently while doing some research for a writing project for Planet X Games (it’s not my beans to spill on what the project is, so we’ll have to wait for Planet X’s Levi Combs to splatter those particular leguminous seeds) I did a deep dive on the various kinds of poison in the AD&D 1E Monster Manual entries.
After compiling the list, I found myself looking at it and thinking to myself, “Self, someone else could benefit from this list.”
If you’re that speculated someone, or like to look at lists of poisonous things, or maybe even just lists in general, here it is.
Some quick notes:
If you know of an entry I missed, please let me know in the comments.
If a monster has an attack that calls for a saving throw versus poison, but the actual source or effect doesn’t seem to be poison, they are not listed here. E.g., Sprite.
I have an allergy to discussions of poisonous versus venomous, so let’s just have fun and avoid all that distinction with this post, shall we?
Ant, Giant: it will also attempt to sting for 3-12 points of damage. If a sting hits, a saving throw versus poison must be made; if successful the victim takes only 1-4 hit points of damage.
Centipede, Giant: injecting poison into the wound, but in many cases this poison is weak and not fatal (add 4 to saving throw die roll).
Couatl: in melee they attack… by poisonous bite (saving throw applicable).
Orcus: additionally his tail has a virulent poison sting (-4 on all saving throws against its poison), and his tail strikes with an 18 dexterity which does 2-8 hit points each time it hits.
Baalzebul: DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-12 + poison.
Bone Devil: plus causing a loss of strength (1-4 points) unless a save versus poison is made; strength loss lasts for 10 melee rounds.
Erinyes: they are armed with a magical dagger which drips a caustic venom and causes terribly painful wounds (save versus poison or faint for 1-6 melee rounds).
Geryon: stabbing them with his terrible poisonous tail (save versus poison at -4 on die).
Chromatic Dragon (Tiamat): SPECIAL ATTACKS: Breath weapons, poison and magic use.
Green Dragon: a green dragon can attack by a claw/claw/bite routine or by breathing a cloud of poisonous chlorine gas. The gas cloud is 5” long, 4” wide, and 3” high.
Gold Dragon: the attack of a gold dragon can be a claw/claw/bite routine or one of two breath weapons—fire in a 9” x 3” cone, or chlorine gas in a 5” x 4” x 3” cloud.
Eel, Weed: their bite is poisonous, and unless a saving throw is made the creature bitten will die.
Frog, Giant Poisonous: it secretes a poison from its skin, so that its touch as well as its bite can prove fatal. However, as the poison is weak, all creatures gain a +4 on their saving throws.
Fungi, Violet: the excretion from these branches rots flesh in but one melee round unless a saving throw versus poison is made or a cure disease is used.
Ghast: they exude a carrion stench in a 10’ radius which causes retching and nausea unless a saving throw versus poison is made. Those failing to make this save will attack at a penalty of -2 on “to hit” dice rolls
Iron Golem: in addition to striking, an iron golem will breathe out a cloud of poisonous gas, 1” = 1” = 1”, directly before it, once every 7 melee rounds.
Imp: the imp attacks with its tail, and any creature struck by it must save versus poison or die.
Masher: the masher is able to jut these spines so as to prevent attack or be stuck with a spine (save versus poison or be killed).
Medusa: the range of such attacks is but 1’, and the victim bitten must save versus poison or die.
Mold, Yellow: any creature which is within this cloud will die, its lungs filled with yellow mold growth, unless it makes a saving throw versus poison.
Naga: all naga types have a poisonous bite. A guardian naga can also spit poison at an individual creature at up to 3” range; and if the victim fails to make its saving throw versus poison the spittle will kill.
Giant Portuguese Man-O-War, Giant: any creature which touches these appendages takes damage from their poison, and if a saving throw versus paralyzation is not made the victim is paralyzed and will be drawn up by the Portuguese man-o-war’s tentacles and devoured in 3-12 turns.
Pseudo-Dragon: any creature struck must save versus poison or go into a state of catalepsy which lasts for 1-6 days. During this time the victim appears dead and there is a 25% chance the creature will actually die.
Purple Worm: the sting causes 2-8 hit points of damage when it hits, and if the victim fails its poison saving throw it is killed by the purple worm’s poison.
Quasit: the wounds caused by its claws cause a burning itch which drain 1 from its opponent’s dexterity each time it is wounded unless a saving throw versus poison is made. Dexterity loss remains for 2-12 melee rounds.
Ray, Punji: any creature landing on a spine must save versus poison or be killed instantly.
Ray, Sting: also, any such hit necessitates a saving throw versus poison, and if the victim fails its saving throw it is paralyzed for 5-20 turns and takes a like number of hit points of additional damage.
Roper: a hit causes weakness (50% from strength in 1 -3 melee rounds), and the roper then draws its prey into its toothy maw where it is quickly devoured.
Scorpion, Giant: while its segmented tail lashes forward to sting its victim to death with poison. This latter attack inflicts 1-4 points of damage per hit and, if a poison saving throw fails, the victim dies immediately.
Giant Skunk: the skunk will loose a spray of vile musk quickly in a cloud 2” wide by 2” high by 6” long. If the opponent fails to save versus poison it will be blinded for 1-8 hours, and in any event the musk will cause the creature to retreat a full move and lose 50% of both strength and dexterity due to nausea for 2-8 turns.
Snake, Giant Amphisbaena: and victims failing to save versus poison when bitten die instantly.
Snake, Giant Poisonous: their poison is so strong that even if a saving throw is made the victim takes up to 3-18 hit points damage.
Snake, GiantSea: have a poisonous bite.
Snake, GiantSpitting: can emit a poisonous spittle, spraying it up to 3” at any single creature. The victim must save versus poison. Naturally, the bite of these snakes is likewise poisonous.
Spider, Giant: the bite of a giant spider is poisonous. A victim must save versus poison or be killed.
Spider, Huge: all saving throws versus the poison of huge spiders are at +1 on the dice.
Spider, Large: their poison is relatively weak in most cases, so saving throws are at +2.
Spider, Phase: victims must save at -2 on their poison saving throw.
Spider, Water, Giant: they snatch passing prey, deliver a poisonous bite, and bring the victim to their lair to be drained at leisure.
Toad, Giant, Poisonous: their bite necessitates a saving throw versus poison, or the victim will die immediately.
Wasp, Giant: any victim of a sting must save versus poison or become paralyzed permanently, with death occurring in 2-5 days unless a neutralize poison spell or antidote is applied.
Wyvern: any creature struck by this tail must save versus poison or die. Even if the victim makes its saving throw, it takes 1-6 points of damage.
Strat-O-Matic Baseball might be one of the biggest games you’ve never heard of, and three-time champion William “Bill” Meinhardt joins to share his passion for playing it! How long has the game been around, and how many people play it? What’s the one mechanic Bill wishes was in this beloved game? Is there a link between Strat-O-Matic Baseball and Fantasy (Rotisserie) Baseball? Is there a link between Strat-O-Matic and tabletop roleplaying games? At its heart, what is the game of baseball? And for the really hard-hitting question, does Bill do the Chicken Dance??
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