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.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Glad to see Luke doing some gaming and Greyhawk stuff but I don't see myself as a customer despite it being my favorite setting. Too much baggage from later game versions and whatnot to probably have to remove. I'd rather not support WoTC in any event.

But who knows until something is released.

 

[MockingBird]

Luke has said there will be variant rules to increase the lethality of 5.5

Luke did say he felt 5.5 was to easy. Hopefully we get some gritty goodness and a return to form.

 

[MockingBird]

I figured the "rift" was those questionable forwards by WotC put in those coffee table books. You know the ones that disparaged the old timers.

"Luke says that the new head of D&D apologized to him twice for how his family was treated by WOTC" sounds like WotC has some remorse. That qoute was taken from X from Kevin Lambs post. Ill link it below. Luke also says 5.5 is to easy. Here's hoping we get a tonal shift in 5.5 and point back to the direction 5e was at in the beginning.

https://x.com/i/status/2035875917998809263

 

[bedir than]

I figured the "rift" was those questionable forwards by WotC put in those coffee table books. You know the ones that disparaged the old timers.

"Luke says that the new head of D&D apologized to him twice for how his family was treated by WOTC" sounds like WotC has some remorse. That qoute was taken from X from Kevin Lambs post. Ill link it below. Luke also says 5.5 is to easy. Here's hoping we get a tonal shift in 5.5 and point back to the direction 5e was at in the beginning.

https://x.com/i/status/2035875917998809263

Those books weren't written by WotC and weren't published by WotC

The supposedly offensive content were weaker than the real words written by Gary towards real-world populaces. How soft must someone be to read an apology for treating women and minorities like lesser people as an insult.

 

[bedir than]

Luke did say he felt 5.5 was to easy. Hopefully we get some gritty goodness and a return to form.

For one setting, that's it.
The Greyhawk book and modules aren't being put forth as a referendum on a well-selling product.

 

[Dire Bare]

I figured the "rift" was those questionable forwards by WotC put in those coffee table books. You know the ones that disparaged the old timers.

Nope, that's not it.

Especially that's not even remotely true, there was nothing "questionable" in the coffee table books put out in recent years, no disparagement of old timers. Apologies for past racism and sexism in older products, sure, but . . . that was all that was there, in those older products.

Certainly, there were some fans who found disparagement in those coffee table books . . . that wasn't actually there. When you get upset about a company apologizing for past examples of sexism and racism in their products, that says more about you than it does about the company.

 

[mamba]

For one setting, that's it.
The Greyhawk book and modules aren't being put forth as a referendum on a well-selling product.

better than for no setting, esp. since rules are transferrable. I have my doubts about how gritty you can make 5e with some optional rules though, I believe it needs a bigger change than that

 

[mamba]

Nope, that's not it.

are you ready to concede that we do not know what the rift is supposed to be?

 

[Remathilis]

better than for no setting, esp. since rules are transferrable. I have my doubts about how gritty you can make 5e with some optional rules though, I believe it needs a bigger change than that

Do keep in mind that what Luke and WotC will consider gritty will absolutely not be recreating the "Your PC dies before you even name them" style of OSR people claim was the norm. If nothing else, they may tinker with the rest mechanics or dying rules, but I don't imagine they are going to waste space removing cantrips from casters.

 

[mamba]

Do keep in mind that what Luke and WotC will consider gritty will absolutely not be recreating the "Your PC dies before you even name them" style of OSR people claim was the norm. If nothing else, they may tinker with the rest mechanics or dying rules, but I don't imagine they are going to waste space removing cantrips from casters.

I agree, I am not expecting much more than tweaks to short / long rests, which obviously has its limits, which was my point