D&D General Greyhawk book is NOT 'Shield Lands' but 'Borderlands of Iuz' according to team member

Iuz, courtesy of greyhawk.fandom.com​

Last week, Luke Gygax referred to the upcoming Greyhawk book for Dungeons & Dragons as Melf's Guide to Greyhawk: The Shield Lands. However, it turns out that that might not be the actual title.

According to Jay Scott, who is on the writing team, the book is actually called 'Melf's Guide to Greyhawk: The Borderlands of Iuz'.

I came on to clarify as I believe Luke was mistaken when he was excitedly talking about the project and the Easley artwork of Melf. My real name is Jay Scott: I was directly mentioned in the press conference with Luke and Dan Ayoub .... We have a project meeting with Luke and the entire team this evening, and the project is on point to make all date goals. I will specifically ask Luke about his comments on the title. To my knowledge, Book 1 is still titled: Melf's Guide to Greyhawk: The Borderlands of Iuz. If a change has been made, I would be happy to let you know here.

Possibly more importantly, Scott also refers to the book as 'Book 1'--hinting that a series of books is on the table. Additionally, he refers to "the old, gritty Greyhawk while being written in current 5.5 2024 ruleset". Finally, he notes that no WotC personnel are involved with the project, although the book is 'Official Greyhawk D&D WotC.

Scott also mentioned that the team was small, including Stephen Radney-Macfarland and Les "Oblivion Seeker" Reno.

The title Borderlands of Iuz refers to an evil demigod in the Greyhawk setting. He lives on Oerth itself (the world of Greyhawk) ruling an empire, and is the son of Graz'zt, one of the demon lords of the Abyss, and Iggwilv, a human witch. The Shield Lands, by contrast, refer to a number of provinces, many of which are ruled by Iuz, with the exception of the 'New Shield Lands', which seeks to reclaim the areas lost to Iuz.

Shield Lands by Greyhawk cartographer Anna B Meyer​

 

[bedir than]

Well to be fair, Ayoub never mentioned the Shield Lands title. It was just Luke Gygax in that one Instagram post.

Dan and Luke gave the strong impression that this was a co-released product, physical and would have WotC support.

A writer insists that WotC isn't involved.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Dan and Luke gave the strong impression that this was a co-released product, physical and would have WotC support.

A writer insists that WotC isn't involved.

"Strong impressions" aren't details. Everyone's really excited about playing telephone on this one, but we actually know a small handful of bullet points on this and the rest is mostly vibes and theories.

I imagine the marketing team has a better explainer for what's planned working its way up and down the corporate ladder, waiting for everyone to sign off on it, since this level of hype (and confusion) was pretty predictable.

 

[mamba]

Dan and Luke gave the strong impression that this was a co-released product, physical and would have WotC support.

A writer insists that WotC isn't involved.

in the writing, they might very well be involved in the publishing

 

[bedir than]

"Strong impressions" aren't details. Everyone's really excited about playing telephone on this one, but we actually know a small handful of bullet points on this and the rest is mostly vibes and theories.

I imagine the marketing team has a better explainer for what's planned working its way up and down the corporate ladder, waiting for everyone to sign off on it, since this level of hype (and confusion) was pretty predictable.

Ok.

Exact quotes from Ayoub

"one of the biggest things I'm most excited about is Luke coming back into the franchise and we're going to be doing some stuff together."

"So, uh we're going to be releasing a bunch of Luke's stuff um specifically around Greyhawk uh to start."

Exact quotes from Luke

"we're looking to put that out, uh, officially through, uh, through Wizards of the Coast, which would be awesome."

"we're working on we're working on both things. And I remember uh Dan were spitballing some ideas of how to connect, you know, and support retailers" and then more about physical releases

"I'm going to get to publish official D&D products in Greyhawk. And the name Gyax is going to be on official D&D products again."

Summary of Justice
As Luke and Dan said, we're supporting modules now (a call back to those two talking about working together on physical modules via Encounters in Greyhawk).


All from Crit Hit The Giant

 

[Espadadelaaurora]

Well, the Shield Lands ended under Iuz control after the Greyhawk Wars.

 

[dudelsack]

Why Scott chose to comment BEFORE his meeting with Luke and the design team, later that day, to get clarification on the title . . . it just adds unnecessary confusion.

They're getting people to talk about it. Building up early hype.

 

[Dire Bare]

They're getting people to talk about it. Building up early hype.

With contradicting information about the project?

 

[dudelsack]

With contradicting information about the project?

Yes. It happens all the time.

 

[Dire Bare]

Yes. It happens all the time.

Not in my experience.

I mean, it's not the end of the world . . . but it doesn't inspire confidence about the quality of the project.

 

[dudelsack]

Not in my experience.

I mean, it's not the end of the world . . . but it doesn't inspire confidence about the quality of the project.

It's too early to have an idea on the quality of the project.. i honestly don't see how contradicting information on the title means it's low quality. Either way, stuff like this happens all the time across all unofficially announced/rumored media whether it's video games, movies, tv, etc and I think that just reaffirms my original argument that people are talking about it in relevant spaces.