The real players that shaped D&D - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

The real players that shaped D&D

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Jun 10, 2004 23:31:49 I was just reading on the 'Who is Mordenkainen, really??' thread that the player behind the character mask of Mordenkainen was none other than Gygax himself.

Anyone have any other information regarding those 'real life players' that shaped the world of Greyhawk and of D&D in general?

Who was the player behind Otto for example?
#2
zombiegleemax
Jun 11, 2004 1:52:25 Otto was originally an NPC henchman of Rob Kuntz's Lord Robilar. So he would have been played by Gary Gygax or Rob Kuntz, depending on how henchman were handled in that basement 30 years ago. Yea for Dragon #112.
#3
zombiegleemax
Jun 11, 2004 3:51:36 A bit more on Otto:
He was first encountered on the 2nd level of the Greyhak Castle dungeons. He was subdued by Tenser and worked as Tenser's henchman for a while. If I remember correctly it was around the time Tenser switched from neutral to lawful good that Otto decided to go work for Robilar instead.
Other character's:
Tenser was played by Ernie Gygax.
Ernie's other main PCs were Serten, Erac's Cousin, and Burne from the Village of Hommlet.
Robilar was Rob Kuntz.
Rary was Brian Blume's character in name only. The PC Rary never made it to the higher levels.
Luke Gygax played Otis, the ranger from Nulb, and Melf.
Gary had a bunch of characters, but most of them aren't that popular. Next to Mordenkainen, there was Bigby, but the rest are's as well known: Riggby, Yrag, the dwarf Zigby (aka Zig), Vin and Vram the twin elven brothers, Felnorith, Sigby Grigbyson, Curly Greenleaf, Bigby's former apprentice Nigby, Louhi Sharpnose the gnome illusionist thief, there was a barbarian and a half-orc cleric/assassin too, but I can't remember their names.
Don Kaye played Murlynd, and Terry Kuntz played Terrik.
The Greyhawk characters that played the biggest parts in shaping the game were Tenser, Robilar, Terrik, and Murlynd. Those were the PCs EGG was primarily DMing for while he was writing. Many of the famous names were never really characters, just names Gygax made up using friends/relatives etc. for inspiration, Drawmij and Otiluke for example.
Scott
#4
zombiegleemax
Jun 11, 2004 6:14:35 Good infos to remember ScottyG. But, on the same way, do you also know (or anybody else) who was Dming in the original campaign apart from EGG?. I am nearly sure EGG wasn't the Dm everytime( i would like also... )
THe name origins of the pc/npc are also a real pleasure to learn about. 50% are EGG friends' and family' name anagram, palindrom (not sure this word exists in english..) and so on.
There's a lot about this topic on Canonfire if i remember well.

IT makes me think about 1st ed bad guys i liked very much, Lord Obmi and Keak, does anybody know if i can find their 3.5 stats somewhere?
Thanks.
#5
zombiegleemax
Jun 11, 2004 8:48:20 Gary Gygax was the sole DM of the Greyhawk campaign until Robilar became the first character to reach the bottom of the Greyhawk dungeon. The next day Gary asked Rob Kuntz to be co-DM of the Greyhawk campaign. Up to that point, Rob had been running his own Kalibruhn campaign, which is where Mordenkainen, and the rest of Gary's PCs did most of their adventuring. When Rob became co-DM, much of his Kalibruhn material became part of the Greyhawk campaign.
There were other campaign going on, Dave Arneson was running Blackmoor, Brian Blume was running a campaign, etc. but that's how the DMing for Greyhawk went.
Scott

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Jun 10, 2004 23:31:49	I was just reading on the 'Who is Mordenkainen, really??' thread that the player behind the character mask of Mordenkainen was none other than Gygax himself. Anyone have any other information regarding those 'real life players' that shaped the world of Greyhawk and of D&D in general? Who was the player behind Otto for example?
#2 zombiegleemax Jun 11, 2004 1:52:25	Otto was originally an NPC henchman of Rob Kuntz's Lord Robilar. So he would have been played by Gary Gygax or Rob Kuntz, depending on how henchman were handled in that basement 30 years ago. Yea for Dragon #112.
#3 zombiegleemax Jun 11, 2004 3:51:36	A bit more on Otto: He was first encountered on the 2nd level of the Greyhak Castle dungeons. He was subdued by Tenser and worked as Tenser's henchman for a while. If I remember correctly it was around the time Tenser switched from neutral to lawful good that Otto decided to go work for Robilar instead. Other character's: Tenser was played by Ernie Gygax. Ernie's other main PCs were Serten, Erac's Cousin, and Burne from the Village of Hommlet. Robilar was Rob Kuntz. Rary was Brian Blume's character in name only. The PC Rary never made it to the higher levels. Luke Gygax played Otis, the ranger from Nulb, and Melf. Gary had a bunch of characters, but most of them aren't that popular. Next to Mordenkainen, there was Bigby, but the rest are's as well known: Riggby, Yrag, the dwarf Zigby (aka Zig), Vin and Vram the twin elven brothers, Felnorith, Sigby Grigbyson, Curly Greenleaf, Bigby's former apprentice Nigby, Louhi Sharpnose the gnome illusionist thief, there was a barbarian and a half-orc cleric/assassin too, but I can't remember their names. Don Kaye played Murlynd, and Terry Kuntz played Terrik. The Greyhawk characters that played the biggest parts in shaping the game were Tenser, Robilar, Terrik, and Murlynd. Those were the PCs EGG was primarily DMing for while he was writing. Many of the famous names were never really characters, just names Gygax made up using friends/relatives etc. for inspiration, Drawmij and Otiluke for example. Scott
#4 zombiegleemax Jun 11, 2004 6:14:35	Good infos to remember ScottyG. But, on the same way, do you also know (or anybody else) who was Dming in the original campaign apart from EGG?. I am nearly sure EGG wasn't the Dm everytime( i would like also... ) THe name origins of the pc/npc are also a real pleasure to learn about. 50% are EGG friends' and family' name anagram, palindrom (not sure this word exists in english..) and so on. There's a lot about this topic on Canonfire if i remember well. IT makes me think about 1st ed bad guys i liked very much, Lord Obmi and Keak, does anybody know if i can find their 3.5 stats somewhere? Thanks.
#5 zombiegleemax Jun 11, 2004 8:48:20	Gary Gygax was the sole DM of the Greyhawk campaign until Robilar became the first character to reach the bottom of the Greyhawk dungeon. The next day Gary asked Rob Kuntz to be co-DM of the Greyhawk campaign. Up to that point, Rob had been running his own Kalibruhn campaign, which is where Mordenkainen, and the rest of Gary's PCs did most of their adventuring. When Rob became co-DM, much of his Kalibruhn material became part of the Greyhawk campaign. There were other campaign going on, Dave Arneson was running Blackmoor, Brian Blume was running a campaign, etc. but that's how the DMing for Greyhawk went. Scott