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.

 

[Reynard]

Yeah, we do.

At least those of us who have been in the fandom since the 80s. Or who have read or listened to the various books and podcasts on the subject.

It's not rocket science.

So....

Are you going to tell us?

 

[mamba]

Yeah, we do.

we clearly do not, maybe you do, or maybe you just think you do

At least those of us who have been in the fandom since the 80s. Or who have read or listened to the various books and podcasts on the subject.

It's not rocket science.

so it is supposed to be about Gary’s ouster? That is not between Luke or WotC. If you want to argue it is between D&D and the Gygax family rather than an entrepreneur and a company (or even just some other people in that company), be my guest. Feels pretty pretentious, but go for it… I doubt D&D would still be around if Gary had remained in charge.

 

[Artamo]

Yeah, we do.

At least those of us who have been in the fandom since the 80s. Or who have read or listened to the various books and podcasts on the subject.

It's not rocket science.

Okay, great. I’m well aware of all of that. Card carrying kid of the 80s, read the Ambush at Sheridan Springs, listened to the When We Were Wizards podcast, bought the T-shirt.

I’m questioning the logic, and not simply taking the tribalism excuse at face value.

 

[Remathilis]

and that most likely is why this project exists, rift or not

Time Money heals all wounds.

 

[darjr]

After WotC bought TSR Peter reached out to Gary and Dave and mended fences. So I don’t think this goes back to then or before.

I think it’s just been a drift mostly. Also WotC not being a part of things at Gary Con recently while they used to be and D&D 5e still being a big deal there with off the books WotC involvement. Now they sponsored Gary Con and were there officially in force.

 

[Dire Bare]

Okay, great. I’m well aware of all of that. Card carrying kid of the 80s, read the Ambush at Sheridan Springs, listened to the When We Were Wizards podcast, bought the T-shirt.

I’m questioning the logic, and not simply taking the tribalism excuse at face value.

Tribalism? Nah.

I mean, some folks in the ENWorld threads are trying to make this "rift" between OSR fans and modern D&D fans.

But Ayoub is simply referring to the rift between the Gygax family and the D&D game. That impacts fans (at least the fans that care about such things), but it isn't really a rift between fans of different versions of D&D.

It's related . . . fans who care about the Gygax name being associated with D&D overlap with fans of older editions and OSR games . . . but this isn't an "edition wars" rift Ayoub is referring to.

 

[Artamo]

Tribalism? Nah.

I mean, some folks in the ENWorld threads are trying to make this "rift" between OSR fans and modern D&D fans.

But Ayoub is simply referring to the rift between the Gygax family and the D&D game. That impacts fans (at least the fans that care about such things), but it isn't really a rift between fans of different versions of D&D.

It's related . . . fans who care about the Gygax name being associated with D&D overlap with fans of older editions and OSR games . . . but this isn't an "edition wars" rift Ayoub is referring to.

I think I’d prefer to have Ayoub clarify his comment if asked rather than assume that take.

 

[Parmandur]

After WotC bought TSR Peter reached out to Gary and Dave and mended fences. So I don’t think this goes back to then or before.

I think it’s just been a drift mostly. Also WotC not being a part of things at Gary Con recently while they used to be and D&D 5e still being a big deal there with off the books WotC involvement. Now they sponsored Gary Con and were there officially in force.

Yeah, there might not have been anything more dramatic than personnel changes at WotC meant nobody had Gygax in their rolodeck anymore (how's thst for proving my 80s baby streetcar?), but there was at least some sort of drift fairly recently even if it wasn't melodramatic or calamitous.

 

[Azzy]

Yeah, there might not have been anything more dramatic than personnel changes at WotC meant nobody had Gygax in their rolodeck anymore (how's thst for proving my 80s baby streetcar?), but there was at least some sort of drift fairly recently even if it wasn't melodramatic or calamitous.

The only thing I can think of is Ernie getting attached to some douchey grifter whose name I can't remember in the NuTSR affair. Are you thinking of something else?

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

I maybe ignorant of some facts, but wasn‘t the rift between the Gygax family and D&D as a brand created by folks a TSR? At least that was my understanding so far. Please correct me if I am overlooking something.

Last I checked it was TSR that made the original rift

Didn't the rift making start with TSR?

Yeah, this is my bad. The header specifically refers to a rift between the Gygax family and Dungeons and Dragons.

I read this as the rift that Wizards of the Coast created in their own customers. From Thaco the Clown to the OGL Betrayal to product surveys that excluded customers based on their age.

Like I said, I don't trust this company.