Melf's Guide to Greyhawk Cover by Jeff Easley Revealed at Gary Con

Luke Gygax revealed the cover to his upcoming collaboration with Wizards of the Coast at Gary Con over the weekend. During an annual auction at the convention, Gygax revealed a painting by Jeff Easley featuring his famed character Melf. According to GamingTrend, which posted the news on Saturday, the painting will be used as a cover for the upcoming Greyhawk compendium being developed by Gygax and Wizards of the Coast, which was unofficially called Melf's Guide to Greyhawk. The painting was won by actor Vince Vaughn, who paid $5,000. You can check out an image of the cover below, courtesy of GamingTrend. More photos of the artwork can be found on that site.

Gygax and D&D Head of Franchise Dan Ayoub announced their collaboration earlier at Gary Con, with Ayoub emphasizing a desire to "mend the rift" between the Gygax family and Dungeons & Dragons. No specifics have been revealed for what the book will entail, other than that it will be set within Greyhawk. Greyhawk is also featured in the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide, although at the time Wizards had no plans to further flesh out the setting beyond that book.

Wizards of the Coast also announced at Gary Gon that Gen Con would serve as an announcement hub for upcoming books starting this year, and that modules would be returning in some format tied to the new Seasons approach to promoting material.

 

[bedir than]

I can't participate in the other thread so maybe this has been answered already, but: Is this a special license where Gygax will publish it under his own company, or is this a official D&D product produced by a 3rd party (like Exandria)?

The hints so far are that it is something between Exandria and Eberron in the level of WotC participation. If it was being published by his own company on DMs Guild there'd be no need for senior D&D leadership to host multiple press conferences with Luke.

 

[Reynard]

The hints so far are that it is something between Exandria and Eberron in the level of WotC participation.

What?

If it was being published by his own company on DMs Guild there'd be no need for senior D&D leadership to host multiple press conferences with Luke.

How so?

 

[Parmandur]

I can't participate in the other thread so maybe this has been answered already, but: Is this a special license where Gygax will publish it under his own company, or is this a official D&D product produced by a 3rd party (like Exandria)?

We don't know the precise details, but more the latter than the former. WotC seems to be building a Season around this.

 

[Artamo]

I can't participate in the other thread so maybe this has been answered already, but: Is this a special license where Gygax will publish it under his own company, or is this a official D&D product produced by a 3rd party (like Exandria)?

It’s also apparently the first product with the intention that additional adventures and supplements will be created as well, though those are still unannounced.

 

[Parmandur]

What?

How so?

To add, there are some hints that this may have started as a DMsGuild product spearheaded by Gygax, that WotC got excited about when shown it and decided to throw their weight behind it?

 

[bedir than]

What?

How so?

Ed Greenwood's Realm's products don't get two hours worth of the Head of D&D with the Head of Franchise, the Director of Retail Partnerships and the Lead Designer to promote them. (titles may be slightly off, but those were the roles present).

Keith's Eberron doesn't get that either. Nor does the Critical Role Tal d'Orei material.

The massive presence of senior leadership is a strong indicator that this is a WotC product, as is their language around how there will be modules to support it, echoing their seasonal language. They also talked about physical and digital releases.

 

[Remathilis]

How so?

Neither Keith Baker's nor Ed Greenwood's DMGuild products need any WotC involvement other than what's already in the Guild and a promise they won't contradict what's in the WotC published setting books. Other than that, they can do what they want. Luke's book seems to be a more official version of that.

 

[Alzrius]

Gygax and D&D Head of Franchise Dan Ayoub announced their collaboration earlier at Gary Con, with Ayoub emphasizing a desire to "mend the rift" between the Gygax family and Dungeons & Dragons.

A laudable sentiment on Ayoub's part; here's hoping WotC continues with this particular direction.

 

[Nutation]

Gygax revealed a Jeff Easley painting by Jeff Easley featuring his famed character Melf.

Jeff Easley is definitely the best choice if you want a Jeff Easley painting.

 

[mamba]

Neither Keith Baker's nor Ed Greenwood's DMGuild products need any WotC involvement other than what's already in the Guild

and neither does Luke’s Greyhawk, but apparently it has WotC involved despite that. I doubt they would be if this were ‘just’ a DMsGuild release