Where Dreams and Nightmares Come True: Greyhawk Adventures: Saga of Old City by Gary Gygax
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Greyhawk Adventures: Saga of Old City (TSR, October 1985)
Greyhawk…
A cruel city.
A harsh, pitiless city for a young orphan boy with no money and no friends — but plenty of enemies!
Enter the Old City of Greyhawk, that marvelous place where dreams — and nightmares — come true. Travel through the world of Oerth along with Gord, the boy who becomes a man as he fights for his survival in a world of mysterious wizards, fearsome monsters, dour dwarves, and beautiful women.
[Click the images for Greyhawk-sized versions.]
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Interior art for Saga of Old City by Clyde Caldwell
For Oerth is a world where a man’s eyes always watch the shadows… and a man’s hand is always on the hilt of his dagger.
Here, at last, is adventure enough to last a lifetime — perhaps a very short lifetime!
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Gord the Rogue #1: Sea of Death (New Infinities Productions, June 1987). Cover by Jerry Tiritilli
Such fond memories of the Gord the Rogue series, by the incredible Gary Gygax. I think my favorite was Sea of Death. Gary was definitely inspired by his pal, Fritz Lieber, as Gord the Rogue was a lot like The Gray Mouser.
Jeffrey P. Talanian’s last article for Black Gate was a look at the Dragonslayer RPG by Greg Gillespie. Jeffrey is the creator and publisher of the Hyperborea sword-and-sorcery and weird science-fantasy RPG from North Wind Adventures. He was the co-author, with E. Gary Gygax, of the Castle Zagyg releases, including several Yggsburgh city supplements, Castle Zagyg: The East Mark Gazetteer, and Castle Zagyg: The Upper Works. Read Gabe Gybing’s interview with Jeffrey here, and follow his latest projects on Facebook and at www.hyperborea.tv.
I have all the Gord the Rogue books.
I have the first two Rose Estes books after they booted Gygax. I don’t know if there were more, but they weren’t that good. I gave up.
I’ve thought about a Gord re-read some day.
Oh. Face-palm. How did I miss that reference for so many years? This certainly gives an additional frame to the “Acts of Gord” website.
I also have fond memories of the Gord books, particularly Sea of Death, although Gygax’ reach for prose stylings sometimes exceeded his grasp, and Gord got increasingly Mary Sue-ish as the series progressed. Wish they’d release them as eBooks — the New Infinities books, at least; I assume the first two TSR books would be trickier to untangle the rights.