D&D General Melf’s Guide to Greyhawk is called ‘The Shield Lands’ as actor Vince Vaughn gifts cover artwork to Luke Gygax

Luke Gygax said on social media earlier today that the full title of the upcoming Greyhawk book from WotC is Melf's Guide to Greyhawk: The Shield Lands:

"This beautiful rendering of Melf by Jeff Easley arrived at my home safely. This is the only painting of Melf that reflects my vision of him as played by me in my father's Greyhawk campaign. This will be the cover to Melf's Guide to Greyhawk: The Shield Lands. I am so thankful to Vince Vaughn for bidding on this at the Gary Con Charity Auction and gifted it to me. He is incredibly generous and a thoughtful friend. I am taking this to get framed and then it will go on the wall near my other 2 Easley originals."

The art, by Jeff Easley, was purchased by a fan at Gary Con, winning an auction with a bid of $5,000, and it appears that the fan in question—the actor Vince Vaughn—gifted the piece to Luke. The auction was a charity auction, benefiting the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

 

[Marc Radle]

Vince Vaughn, the Big Show, Tom Morello and D. B. Weiss actually came over to the Kobold Press table at GaryCon in 2023 and asked if they could get in one of our games!

They were all sold out so COO Alexander ran a private game for them

 

[SkidAce]

I called my wife from Gary Con to tell her I was having lunch with celebrities (I was eating lunch several tables over from vaugn….did not bother him of course).

I did however get Easley to sign my unearthed arcana though!

/grins proudly

 

[jhallum]

I called my wife from Gary Con to tell her I was having lunch with celebrities (I was eating lunch several tables over from vaugn….did not bother him of course).

I did however get Easley to sign my unearthed arcana though!

My brother was at his kids soccer game in NW Illinois Gary Con weekend last year and said he ran into him at the game. He had no idea who he was talking to until about 5 minutes after the conversation ended, as per usual when you run into someone you've seen on the big screen out of context.

 

[Lord_Gosumba]

So I have been unable to get on here previously due to a conflict with a deleted email account. As a member of the Luke writing team for this (no matter what speculated in previous threads here), that is not the correct title. The book and adventure within takes place mostly in The Shield Lands; unless a change was made, the current title is “Melf’s Guide to Greyhawk: The Borderlands of Iuz”. All contributors to this project (a small team) is very excited to bring you all this new content. We think it honors the old, gritty Greyhawk while being written in current 5.5 2024 ruleset. Beyond this, I cannot give details until future dates. Thank you.

 

[Morrus]

So I have been unable to get on here previously due to a conflict with a deleted email account. As a member of the Luke writing team for this (no matter what speculated in previous threads here), that is not the correct title. The book and adventure within takes place mostly in The Shield Lands; unless a change was made, the current title is “Melf’s Guide to Greyhawk: The Borderlands of Iuz”. All contributors to this project (a small team) is very excited to bring you all this new content. We think it honors the old, gritty Greyhawk while being written in current 5.5 2024 ruleset. Beyond this, I cannot give details until future dates. Thank you.

Well, Luke himself posted the quote in the article, and this is an anonymous account, so the best info we have available comes directly from the horse’s mouth. I’ll certainly update that should I get any verifiable information.

 

[EthanSental]

Vince Vaughn, the Big Show, Tom Morello and D. B. Weiss actually came over to the Kobold Press table at GaryCon in 2023 and asked if they could get in one of our games!

They were all sold out so COO Alexander ran a private game for them

View attachment 433733

Is that Amanda Harmon as well, in the pic?

 

[Lord_Gosumba]

Well, Luke himself posted the quote in the article, and this is an anonymous account, so the best info we have available comes directly from the horse’s mouth. I’ll certainly update that should I get any verifiable information.

Please feel free to check out my Twitch channel for a ton of information on Greyhawk (and my YouTube mirror).

 

[bedir than]

Please feel free to check out my Twitch channel for a ton of information on Greyhawk (and my YouTube mirror).

The question isn't about Greyhawk in general, but how are you associated with this project?
Running a campaign for more than four decades is wonderful.
People are confused why your word on this project is more official than Luke Gygax, the person running the project

 

[VashVet]

The question is about Greyhawk in general, but how are you associated with this project?
Running a campaign for more than four decades is wonderful.
People are confused why your word on this project is more official than Luke Gygax, the person running the project

Yeah, no names, no links? A little introduction is in order, particularly since they’re contradicting the lead writer (which is weird.)

 

[Madcutta]

Is this going to be 3-party product on D&D Beyond/Hard Cover or is it 1st-party product directly supported by Wizards?