D&D 5E Iggwilv/Tasha To Join Volo, Xanathar, and Mordenkainen? [UPDATED!]

Is WotC teasing a new announcement? There have been a few D&D books named after famous personalities from the game's extensive lore - Vole's Guide to Monsters, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. It looks possible that the next such personality might be Tasha of Tasha's Hideous Laughter fame -- which was an adventuring alias of the Greyhawk villain Iggwilv. UPDATE --...

Is WotC teasing a new announcement? There have been a few D&D books named after famous personalities from the game's extensive lore - Vole's Guide to Monsters, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. It looks possible that the next such personality might be Tasha of Tasha's Hideous Laughter fame -- which was an adventuring alias of the Greyhawk villain Iggwilv.

UPDATE -- A page has appeared on Amazon entitled Dungeons & Dragons November Title (Announced August 24). It's a hardcover, $49.95, November 17th release date.


IggwilvDungeonCover.jpg


On their Discord channel, WotC posted a short audio clip; it features some female-sounding voices laughing, and it is titled "Feather and Tart". It also has a metadata info which says August 24th, 2020, which is Monday. But in addition to that, a WoTC staff member on Reddit's avatar was changed to an image of Iggwilv.

Iggwilv was an evil magic-user, a villain created by Gary Gygax. When adventuring with the Company of Seven, she used the alias Tasha. The lore has it that the witch Baba Yaga adopted her as a child and named her Natasha, and she soon became Natasha the Dark (Baba Yaga also adopted Elena the Fair).

Iggwilv has two forms, one old and one young. You can read more about the character on Wikipedia.


What does seem clear is that WotC is teasing an impending announcement! I assume that the announcement they are teasing will be the announcement of an upcoming announcement, or I'll be disappointed.
 

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Is she though? Is she massively more evil than Xanthar? She is a crucial help to the PCs in Savage Tides after all. I'm not saying she isn't evil, but I don't think that would WotC from using here name to sell a book that is not a fiendish codex.

Pure, mustache-twisting evil. Though don't say that to her face; she's sensitive about those upper lip hairs. ;)

There's really only one answer here IMO that holds with the arc of D&D history: the new book is The Demonomicon of Iggwilv.
 

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I expect benevolent "Tasha" will be the name on the book, with the jokes in the side-boxes relating to her evil alter ego.

Unless the Xanathar's 2 book is postponed. In which case it could be Kate Welch's last book - the compendium of adventures written by famous authors. In which case there could be a revisit to the Lost Caverns.
 

Mirtek

Hero
So in Fourth Edition D&D, Dragon the Online Webpage, for arguably the least popular version of the game decided to equate the creator of Tasha's Hideous Laughter spell will Iggwiliv?

That seems to fit the definition of D&D apocrypha, rather then D&D canon.

Dragon Magazine, historically has always been a fringe product. Something appearing in Dragon, in no way guaranteed that you could play it, or that what was used even worked.

"Tasha, I knew Iggwiliv. Iggwiliv was a friend of mine. You, Tasha, are no Iggwiliv".
#Mic drop1988
Not just in 4th Edition. The link was already made official in 3rd Edition. It was during one of the last issues of printed dragon where they did a "big secrets of D&D history" article and among other stuff revealed that Tasha = Iggwilv was intended all along complete with showing all the little hints that they have planted all accross 1e-3e
 

dave2008

Legend
There's really only one answer here IMO that holds with the arc of D&D history: the new book is The Demonomicon of Iggwilv.
That doesn't hold with the arc of 5e publication though, which is more important IMO. We already had MToF which had a lot on fiends and the blood war, so I find it highly unlikely we will see the Demonomicon. I would love to be wrong as demons and dragons are my jam, but I think most of the evidence points away from that approach.
 


Chaosmancer

Legend
I don't care about Canon, I run my games and I make whatever changes I wish....but Iggwiliv=Tasha adds no Story value to Iggwiliv.

Indeed it obscures the story of how Tasha's Hideous Laughter spell actually got it's name.
The real story behind the spell name is sweet and touching.
Obscuring it is a shame.

Iggwiliv is probably a Warlock in 5e, and doesn't even have Tasha's Hideous Laughter on her spell list.

A note: I couldn't care less how the spell got it's name inside of the Greyhawk/DnD worlds.


But, someone mentioned it was named after a little girl? What is the real story because I'd be interested in hearing it, especially if it was a good story.
 


dave2008

Legend
Not just in 4th Edition. The link was already made official in 3rd Edition. It was during one of the last issues of printed dragon where they did a "big secrets of D&D history" article and among other stuff revealed that Tasha = Iggwilv was intended all along complete with showing all the little hints that they have planted all accross 1e-3e
It is Dragon #359, the article is "Unsolved Mysteries of D&D." However, the only connection it makes between Tasha and Iggwilv is the reveal of this connection in Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk and commenting that the description of Natasha in Dragon #58's adventure The Dancing Hut is very similar to Iggwilv. Suggesting Natasha = Tasha = Iggwilv all along.
 

Remathilis

Legend
This might be splitting hairs, but Iggwilv was called Tasha in a 4E Dragon Magazine article made by WotC after they took the title back from Paizo.

“Let us begin with our fair maiden. She has been known by many names over the years: Natasha, Hura, then Tasha, and finally Iggwilv." (Dragon Magazine 414, p. 2)​

I don't know that many players who started since 3.5E would have any idea who Tasha is if she wasn't associated with Iggwilv.
Grognard retort: 4e wasn't really D&D, doesn't count.

Ow! Ow! Quit throwing dice at me! Ow! Stop! Ok, ok, I take it back. Stop!
 

Remathilis

Legend
Actually, this thread is a good reminder that WotC has little to gain by ever publishing a full Greyhawk setting book for 5e. Every time they touch it (Mordenkainen's ToF, Saltmarsh) or even allude to it (Princes of the Apocalypse, Tomb of Annihilation) all they happens is the old guard comes out and whines about how everything after 1984 is not canon and disrespects Gygax's One True Vision.
 
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