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

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.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

The day a D&D product selects an "easier to pronounce name" over a name that has a surplus of repeating consonants is the day the Dread Pentacle is broken, Death then dies, and Cthulhu eats the universe.

If you look at all the 5E releases, the titles have all had pretty pronounceable names. The most complicated is Mordenkainen (or maybe Xanathar) and although that is a long name its not difficult to pronounce.

Now I'll admit historically D&D hasn't cared much for pronunciation (looking at you Tsoljanth!) but even Matt Colville has complained about terrible pronunciation (and he's hugely nostalgic for old D&D).

Anyway, if the choice of the naming on the cover is Iggwilv or Tasha, I'm quite certain that everyone in marketing, and likely the editors, were all pushing for Tasha. That doesn't mean Iggwilv doesn't use the names interchangeably in the book itself, but the title I'm about 80% sure will use Tasha.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

If anyone, it should be Like Gygax: and he has an active relationship with WotC, so that is not implausible.

Does Luke actually publish material? He is active in keeping his father's legacy alive with things like GaryCon but I'm not aware of any material he's published himself. I'm not sure he'd do more than consulting.

 

[Parmandur]

Is there anything stopping them? I mean, I know there are sometimes limits on what can go up on DMs Guild, I have vague memories of some sort of Eberron embargo being lifted when Wayfinder's Guide came out or something. But do we actually know that you can't put up Greyhawk stuff there or is that just speculation?

Yes, DMsGuild material is limited to Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Ravenloft, Ravnica, Theros, and strictly generic. Anything else will be pulled. Include Greyhawk locations and gods? It will be pulled.

 

[Parmandur]

Does Luke actually publish material? He is active in keeping his father's legacy alive with things like GaryCon but I'm not aware of any material he's published himself. I'm not sure he'd do more than consulting.

Yes, he has even been involved in a couple Kickstarters:

The Lost City of Gaxmoor 5E, via @Kickstarter The Lost City of Gaxmoor 5E

 

[Hussar]

/snip
I actually own the issue..(picture bellow). So in the final issue of Paizo Dragon this little paragraph of Erik Mona, Editor in Chief of Dragon, is pointing out that Erik Mona, author of Expedition to the Ruins Greyhawk (awful title), got to add his Authorial Signature to Greyhawk.
This issue of Dragon and Exp to the Ruins are the last ties Paizo had to D&D I believe.

This little bit of Trivia from what essentially is Erik Mona's game table, was not even memorable to me. Especially not in the final issue of Paizo Dragon, which I was very saddened to see ending.
/snip

You are missing a considerable amount of context here. While Erik Mona is not the only reason that we still talk about Greyhawk, he is probably in the top three. Between the Oerth Journals Oerth Journal that he edited through the 90's, and the birth of adventure paths in Dungeon magazine, under his editorship, all set in Greyhawk, I don't think there is any single person more instrumental in the last twenty years of keeping Greyhawk alive.

There's far, FAR more to Erik Mona adding his "Authorial Signature to Greyhawk" than just Iggwilv.

 

[SkidAce]

I started playing AD&D in 1980. I started wargaming in 1981.
As I was told in no uncertain terms in 1981 by older, adult wargamers...true grognards:
The term grognard applies only to Table Top Wargamers, and "Only applies to people that started wargaming in the 1970s or earlier."

So, I don't think the term means what you think it means. Unless you mean to appropriate the culture of others, whom likely are not represented here.

How many ENworld-eras started playing Wargames in 1979 or earlier?🕹

I started about the same times. Calling us grognards when we are also rpg players is fine, words evolve.

Also, my pedigree...

Tactics (game) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[SkidAce]

Besides the term also applies to napoleon's crusty grumpy sgts.

 

[SkidAce]

Also, I know I bounce between a lot of Internet communities and sometimes lose track of the particular sub-cultural mores and traditions of a single particular forum, but is "grognard" a killing word or something on ENworld? Honestly, I meant it as a light rib on someone I thought was being a bit overblown, not a challenge to an honor duel.

You may call me a grognard anytime you like, if I grumble, its in a good natured way, and I dont mind being associated with the old guard at all, its cool!

 

[Todd Roybark]

but is "grognard" a killing word or something on ENworld?

LOL....the whole point was to be humorous ...hence the emoji's and the story about the older wargamer defining the term in a way that would never apply to me.
My serious posts rarely include Floppy Disc and Joystick emojis.
Yeah....that joke, or rather my Performance Roll was a Natural 1

I will admit, you were using the word grognard in a way like it was a "Killing Word"

I've never seen anyone profess interest in Greyhawk outside of the groggiest of Internet grognards

The dismissive intent is clear. Much clearer then my joke it seems.

Frankly, I’m getting a bit sick of the ad hominems directed as Erik Mona as if all his work with Greyhawk since the mid 1990s means nothing.

Who is directing ad hominem attacks towards Erik Mona?

 

[dave2008]

Is there anything stopping them? I mean, I know there are sometimes limits on what can go up on DMs Guild, I have vague memories of some sort of Eberron embargo being lifted when Wayfinder's Guide came out or something. But do we actually know that you can't put up Greyhawk stuff there or is that just speculation?

From the DMsGuild FAAW:

"I don’t see anything that would stop me from publishing a Greyhawk or Zendikar or Dark Sun product on DMs Guild. Can I do that?

For now, DMs Guild is limited to the Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, Ravnica, and Theros settings only, although you can also publish anything for 5th Edition that (i) is generic enough to be used in a permitted setting without effort and (ii) doesn’t explicitly use anything related to another official Wizards setting.

For example, you can mention Forgotten Realms deities such as Azuth or Mystra, but you can’t mention Boccob, Lunitari, or any other deity from another official D&D setting that hasn't been permitted here. Some deities or characters (such as Vecna or Lord Soth) appear in several settings; they can be mentioned only in the context of approved settings."