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I've personally always wondered what is the etymology of "Iquander"?
I was at Emerson college at a first-year student when I got my first personal email address (this would have been the fall of 1993), which eventually led to involvement with the Greytalk email list and a few other Greyhawk fan projects. At the time TSR had a vibrant but still relatively early presence on AOL, and through posts to Greytalk I learned that there was a Greyhawk discussion board on AOL, and some of the crossposted threads were really interesting. At the same time, I learned through my Dragon Magazine subscription that an unpublished Carl Sargent Greyhawk manuscript--Ivid the Undying--was to be made available exclusively on TSR's AOL site.
From there I found my way to a ubiquitous AOL trial disk, and I signed up for an account to participate more closely in the official online discussion forums for D&D and especially for Greyhawk. When it came time to select my AOL screen name, I tried to think of something fun and Greyhawk-related, but also obscure, which fit the sorts of minutiae and "canon" conversations I was most interested in having.
At the time I was reading and heavily annotating Gary Gygax's "Gord the Rogue" novels for additional insight into the Greyhawk campaign setting. It would be several years before Gygax himself emerged online, and well before he began to actively participate in fan Q&As and the like, so any ounce of "official" information you could squeeze out was extremely valuable.
About the same time I had to choose a screen name, I'd read and enjoyed a section of Gygax's second novel, "Artifact of Evil," that featured a sage called Savant Iquander, of the Society of Sages and Scholars of Nellix. I loved everything about that, so I decided to adopt "Savant Iquander" as my online name, and as the "voice" of a lot of the stuff I was writing at the time.
Incidentally, here's a series I wrote around that time called Beyond the Flanaess: Bounds of Oerth, which attempted to weave in the off-map regions described or implied in Gary Gygax's non-TSR Gord the Rogue books as well as his Hero's Challenge gamebooks, featuring Sagard the Barbarian.
I can't even comprehend the amount of free time I had back then!
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What are the odds of ever seeing you as an Adventure Path author again?
Extremely high. Honestly not in the short term, meaning at least a year or so, but I'd love to do it again some time.
I do have a few other ideas that I would _rather_ do, though. Like a setting book on Nex, outlining and orchestrating and co-writing a huge book on Absalom, adapting my "Kings of Absalom" campaign to a series of adventures, and writing my first novel.
I'd rather do all of those things than write another Adventure Path volume right now, but I'd like to do all of these things eventually.
Howl of the Carrion King and The Whispering Cairn especially are among my favorite adventures and I'd love to see what else you have in store.
Thanks! Both of those are among my favorite things that I have written! I really enjoy writing adventures more than anything else, but I also find them to be the most inter-disciplinary of the various RPG projects.
Also, what is the likelihood that we'll see a mega Absalom adventure or product?
See above.
High.
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1) If you were going to run an adventure somewhere in the Inner Sea Region, where would the first place that you, personally, would consider and why?
I do somewhat regularly run my "Kings of Absalom" campaign, which is (currently) set under the city of Absalom. It's been too long since I last ran the campaign as an ongoing for local friends and Paizo staff (I have three active groups I run through "chapters"), but I did get in a great session at PaizoCon.
So Absalom. I like how it brings everything together, letting you explore whatever aspect of the campaign setting you want to. My take on it is heavily influenced by Rome in the HBO series of the same name. It's an _ancient_ city, not a Medieval one. I really like that. Just how messed up and decadent would a place in continuous operation for 5000 years be? I dunno, but I really like exploring the idea in my writing about the setting and in play.
2) If you were going to run an adventure somewhere on Golarion that ISN'T in the Inner Sea Region, where would the first place that you, personally, would consider and why?
The ruins of Azlant. I came up with it and have done a lot of the development of it in the setting, so it's kind of one of my pet areas. I think there are lots of possibilities with ruined palaces, ancient horrors, environmental disasters, sea monsters, weird visitors from other places, and lots of other similar elements of a lost empire that lend themselves so well to adventuring.
3) How old where you when you played in your first d20 game?
I learned basic D&D (Erol Otus "purple" box) at an after-school class in third grade, about 1983. That would have made me 8. My first adventure was "Palace of the Silver Princess."
4) What's your favorite thing about working at Paizo that doesn't involve paper?
The people I work with. They're the most intelligent, creative group I have ever had the honor to collaborate with.
I also like taking a personal hand in running the Pathfinder Battles line, which is plastic. So that's my favorite non-human, non-paper thing about working at Paizo.
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Since I'm going to beg you to make certain minis anyway, would this be a good place? Or should I grovel before you in the Preview Blog threads instead? :D
It's more likely to get lost here, so it probably is better to leave minis requests in the minis area.
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I don't mind requests for minis here (especially from you!), but they're less likely to get swept up when I re-read a thread explicitly about minis requests in an effort to see if I can grant them, if that makes sense.
By all means feel free to discuss minis here!
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Hi Erik.
Would you mind if I posted a link to this kickstarter for a 'tarrasque' mini in one of your weekly threads?
I realise it would be kind of off-topic, but probably of interest to some. The 238k stretch goal is a 6x6 mini of a certain 'walking hut'.
Although relative newcomers, the dungeoncrawler guys are pretty cool people and worth supporting, imo. I'd love to get the word out to some more fans of minis.
If you haven't already, you should back too, by the way. I'll personally reimburse you if you don't love what you get! :)
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Please do, Steve.
I backed both of Dungeoncrawler's previous Kickstarters (including the one that was not successful), and I was thrilled with their Kraken especially.
From a very close look at the "big time" prepainted minis business, I can say with confidence that this type of project is the most viable way to get items like the Tarrasque or Baba Yaga's hut produced.
It is not practical for a major company to take a risk on an item like this. I have proven this, after working hard with WizKids on trying to make Baba Yaga's Hut the case incentive for the Reign of Winter set of Pathfinder Battles.
WizKids also wanted this, and put considerable effort and consideration into the production of the figure, but they ultimately deemed it was not practical for them to make it.
With something like Kickstarter, the customers get to make the decision on whether or not they support the idea before production begins, so Dungeoncrawler takes a lot of the risk out of the idea.
I'll be backing this. I was buying their figures since before they were ever on Kickstarter (their black tentacles are a particular and oft-used favorite), and will keep buying them pretty much forever.
I think I have every mini they have made to date, honestly.
Go Dungeoncrawler!
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Cheers, Erik. Their tentacles were my first introduction to them and the kraken is one of my all-time favourite figures (it might even get used one day...).
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Are those figures ever available outside of the Kickstarters?
My funds are too low right now. :(
The Kraken isn't available yet (still in production as far as I know), but the black tentacles is part of a set of four: black tentacles, kraken tentacle, plant vine, otherworldly tentacle. It's for sale for $16 and comes with 1 of each of the models. The Kraken's estimated price is $105 when it becomes available.
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Are those figures ever available outside of the Kickstarters?
My funds are too low right now. :(
The Kraken isn't available yet (still in production as far as I know), but the black tentacles is part of a set of four: black tentacles, kraken tentacle, plant vine, otherworldly tentacle. It's for sale for $16 and comes with 1 of each of the models. The Kraken's estimated price is $105 when it becomes available.
Awesome! Thank you! ^_^
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So Erik. Are there going to be any more huge minis coming from the pathfinder Battles line?
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About the same time I had to choose a screen name, I'd read and enjoyed a section of Gygax's second novel, "Artifact of Evil," that featured a sage called Savant Iquander, of the Society of Sages and Scholars of Nellix. I loved everything about that, so I decided to adopt "Savant Iquander" as my online name, and as the "voice" of a lot of the stuff I was writing at the time.
It's been a very long time since I read Gygax's Gord series. I don't remember the Savant Iquander name from the book (or really much about the book at all anymore), but that makes sense that it would be a Greyhawk thing. ;)
I can't even comprehend the amount of free time I had back then!
I know that feeling well too.
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Are there still plans to replace the old Feiya and King Irovetti miniatures at some point? I like the original Feiya pose far more than the Iconic Heroes one.
(My Irovetti isn't that terrible... I'd have rather had a replacement for Queen Ileosa. Not a big deal though.)
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I loved meeting you at comic con, and that I had panties on my head while doing so.Yeah. Wow.
Panties? I thought you were Cos playing the arch villain Bane.
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Speaking of which, Erik, who is your all time favorite Comic book Villain? Please feel free to enumerate why.
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I loved meeting you at comic con, and that I had panties on my head while doing so.
Yeah. Wow.
An honor, sir.
:-D
The honor was all mine!
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Panties? I thought you were Cos playing the arch villain Bane.I loved meeting you at comic con, and that I had panties on my head while doing so.Yeah. Wow.
why does everyone keep saying that?!
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Because you won't take them off.
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I told you guys I was probably too busy to respond to this thread in a timely manner, and I like to think I've proven my point. However, I am on vacation today, so I thought I'd answer a few more questions!
Did you know, after hearing about Ostog's triumph of surviving his campaign unslain and unarmored, I built an NPC inspired by Ostog? I ended up going with the Invulnerable Rager archetype with Dragon Totem and Stalwart feats. As a side effect, he enjoys walking bare chested through mountain passes as he is all but immune to the blistering cold of winter.
I did not know that, but that's amazingly awesome. It's pretty crazy that my dumb character has inspired other people to do something similar! The legacy of Ostog the Unslain is his true immortality!
He also gets all of the ladies.
Well, duh.
Actually, the real Ostog never had too much luck with ladies he didn't... um... remunerate for their companionship.
He did have a brief fling with one of the baker's daughters in Sandpoint, but she left him for Velmarius (Jason Bulmahn's borderline evil sorcerer, and probably Ostog's best friend) and then was later killed by a ghoul.
He also made out with a fungus queen under the Devil's Platter, but that was more of a failed Will save thing...
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Erik, can you please write another Adventure Path opening installment?
Your low level adventures are always fantastic.
I really appreciate the sentiment!
I always enjoy writing opening installments of Adventure Paths, because it allows me to set the tone for the whole thing, start with a blank slate (rather than adapting ideas created by other writers), and I usually get to sneak in a fair amount of setting detail as I'm establishing "starter" locales like Diamond Lake or Kelmarane.
I did have a chance to contribute a big article on Aroden and a short piece on one of my Legacy of Fire adventure's NPCs to Pathfinder #100, but honestly it will probably be a long time before I do another Adventure Path installment, barring special circumstances.
My work schedule and the fact that I am a very deliberate, fairly slow writer means that it's not responsible for me to shackle the production of an entire AP to my sometimes slower-than-desired ability to churn out quality material, and I don't want that karma hanging over me, especially when part of my job involves taking other people to task for not hitting their deadlines.
I think it's FAR more likely to see me work on a really big stand-alone Pathfinder Module based off of my Kings of Absalom campaign. That would give me the space and time I'd want to do it right, and I think players would be more satisfied with the end result. I know I would.
But right now I'm putting most of my writing time into the Pathfinder comics from Dynamite. I'm currently working on the script to Hollow Mountain #4, a series I'm co-writing with James L. Sutter and Wes Schneider. (I also wrote #3.) And of course I wrote issues #1 and #6 of Pathfinder Origins, a series I conceived and helped to editorial direct.
I just received my next comic assignment from Dynamite's editors this week at New York Comic Con, and while I can't yet share any details, I can say that I will be handling the scripts for ALL SIX issues of the _next_ Pathfinder mini-series following Hollow Mountain, and I couldn't be more excited.
Writing comics is like a childhood dream come true for me. Given that I got a chance to launch the two largest RPG organized play campaigns in history, edit Polyhedron, Living Greyhawk Journal, Dungeon, and Dragon magazines, and that I run an RPG company, I've been lucky enough to achieve a lot of my childhood dreams, but this one is a biggie, and I'm thrilled about it! :)
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Erik, can you please write another Adventure Path opening installment?
Your low level adventures are always fantastic.
I really appreciate the sentiment!
I always enjoy writing opening installments of Adventure Paths, because it allows me to set the tone for the whole thing, start with a blank slate (rather than adapting ideas created by other writers), and I usually get to sneak in a fair amount of setting detail as I'm establishing "starter" locales like Diamond Lake or Kelmarane.
I did have a chance to contribute a big article on Aroden and a short piece on one of my Legacy of Fire adventure's NPCs to Pathfinder #100, but honestly it will probably be a long time before I do another Adventure Path installment, barring special circumstances.
My work schedule and the fact that I am a very deliberate, fairly slow writer means that it's not responsible for me to shackle the production of an entire AP to my sometimes slower-than-desired ability to churn out quality material, and I don't want that karma hanging over me, especially when part of my job involves taking other people to task for not hitting their deadlines.
I think it's FAR more likely to see me work on a really big stand-alone Pathfinder Module based off of my Kings of Absalom campaign. That would give me the space and time I'd want to do it right, and I think players would be more satisfied with the end result. I know I would.
But right now I'm putting most of my writing time into the Pathfinder comics from Dynamite. I'm currently working on the script to Hollow Mountain #4, a series I'm co-writing with James L. Sutter and Wes Schneider. (I also wrote #3.) And of course I wrote issues #1 and #6 of Pathfinder Origins, a series I conceived and helped to editorial direct.
I just received my next comic assignment from Dynamite's editors this week at New York Comic Con, and while I can't yet share any details, I can say that I will be handling the scripts for ALL SIX issues of the _next_...
WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO
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If the Akashic Record has a perfect psychic record of every moment in history, couldn't you just go there and find out how Aroden died?
Theoretically, yes.
In practice, it's much more difficult than that. Certain moments in history are likely "sealed off" from general access in the Akashic Record, probably because they contain secrets of such power or blasphemy that they could do damage to the multiverse.
I would put the death of Aroden in this sort of category.
No doubt so would the Lipika Aeons, the so-called "Lords of Karma" that are detailed in Bestiary 5. These unyielding gentlemen patrol the Akashic Record and protect secrets just like this one, regulating the use of the plane and generally being very conservative and aeon-like.
They have several arms and some really nasty powers. If they tell you the library is closed, you're probably better off moving on to somewhere else. :)
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What about a Laori Vaus mini?
Almost certainly not.
Art is subjective, and all, and I don't mean any offense to the folks involved, but the illustrations of this character we have published have been among my absolute least favorite renditions of any character in a Pathfinder book.
So unless we had some reason to re-illustrate her, and unless that illustration took a decidedly different approach than "cute girl in a razor-blade catsuit," there is a precisely 0% chance that I would want to make a mini of her.
Sorry!
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Thanks for all the insight on the Ghorans, little bits of informtion help form more unique PCs.
How would you feel about a Taldane PC that insisted on praying to Aroden because of centuries of family tradition?
I'm sure there are tons of people just like that. Check out my Aroden article in a few months (Pathfinder #100) for a lot of discussion on why anyone would worship a dead god. Your scenario is a very good one.
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Is there anything you do when you're sad and upset to shake those feelings?
Good question!
I don't tend to get depressed or mopey too often, but when I do, all of the stuff I've stored up in my Scandinavian way tends to come out and I get almost pathetically maudlin.
When that happens, honestly the best thing for me to do is to go to sleep and start over the next day. Some days you just have to write off as total losses.
I live with a girlfriend and a pug, both of which offer much love and warmth, and both certainly help.
I find it difficult to read and concentrate when I am moping about some BS, so one thing that tends to help is playing video games. If I concentrate on that I'm not thinking about whatever's getting me down, and it messes with my brain chemicals enough that I often come out the other side feeling better. Sometimes I just need peace and quiet while I'm nominally concentrating on something else so that my backup memory can work out whatever's bugging me.
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If the Akashic Record has a perfect psychic record of every moment in history, couldn't you just go there and find out how Aroden died?Theoretically, yes.
In practice, it's much more difficult than that. Certain moments in history are likely "sealed off" from general access in the Akashic Record, probably because they contain secrets of such power or blasphemy that they could do damage to the multiverse.
I would put the death of Aroden in this sort of category.
No doubt so would the Lipika Aeons, the so-called "Lords of Karma" that are detailed in Bestiary 5. These unyielding gentlemen patrol the Akashic Record and protect secrets just like this one, regulating the use of the plane and generally being very conservative and aeon-like.
They have several arms and some really nasty powers. If they tell you the library is closed, you're probably better off moving on to somewhere else. :)
We're getting new Aeons with Bestiary 5? Frikking awesome!
Fiendish Codex 1 is probably one of my favourite things you and James collaborated on, especially since it was chock full of Planescape goodness. If you had to join one of the factions, which would it be?
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What about a Laori Vaus mini?Almost certainly not.
Art is subjective, and all, and I don't mean any offense to the folks involved, but the illustrations of this character we have published have been among my absolute least favorite renditions of any character in a Pathfinder book.
So unless we had some reason to re-illustrate her, and unless that illustration took a decidedly different approach than "cute girl in a razor-blade catsuit," there is a precisely 0% chance that I would want to make a mini of her.
Sorry!
Actually another way to go about it would be to make a minature that could be used as Laori (Spiked chain weilder chainmail armour) without actually being Laori if you catch my meaning?
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A Zon-Kuthite focus in one of the mini sets would be awesome. Harder to justify, given the lamashtu cultists we've already got, but maybe one day..
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I would love to see more Kuthites. A version of Shadowcount Sial, based on the art from Faiths of Corruption, would be excellent. Of course, this feeds into my one true love...
Kytons.
An evangelist (using either the Bestiary art or Sial's companion from the aforementioned art), an ostiarius, and an interlocutor would all be fabulous to see (and useful to have).
How do you feel about kytons, anyway? I know that Mr. Schneider is behind most of Pathfinder's kyton content.
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Jumping out of order to answer that question immediately.
It's going really slowly, to be perfectly honest.
I think we all underestimated the work involved in relation to the summer convention season (our most brutal production period), so we haven't had a chance to make it a high priority. The con season ended with New York Comic Con about a week and a half ago, so it's about to become a priority.
Speaking personally, I'm currently about 6 pages away from finishing my comic script for Pathfinder: Hollow Mountain #4, which I hope to finish over this weekend. After that, my writing schedule is open, and I plan to design my rooms at that time. I'll be encouraging the others to do so as well on roughly the same schedule.
Thanks for your patience!
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What are your top three classes?
I don't know that I can really answer this question, because it's difficult for me to choose. Not in an "I love all our children equally" sort of way, but more in the sense that for the last several years, and especially once we started publishing the Pathfinder RPG, I tend to pick a different class every time I make a new character. That means that I don't tend to play certain classes more than once or maybe twice, which means I'm not particularly obsessed with any one over any other.
I played a barbarian in James Jacobs's office campaign since before the Core Rulebook came out, but honestly I wouldn't put barbarian at the top of the list. By the time I got up there in level, I had so many different rage power and feat options that I sort of stopped caring about getting new ones, and I usually leaned on only about 3-4 of them. I find the Pathfinder barbarian to be a little too "fiddly" for my mood when I'm playing a martial character. The Unchained version looks better to me, but I haven't had a chance to play it because Unchained came out right near the end of that campaign, and rebuilding my character from scratch for the last five or six sessions (out of about 70) seemed like a waste of time.
I'm currently playing a cleric in Jason Bulmahn's excellent Monday night campaign with some local Seattle friends, and I like it a lot. I really appreciate how channeling positive energy to heal allows Pathfinder clerics to use their spell selections in interesting ways that aren't just "help everybody else out." I tend to be a little too much of an attention-hogging diva at the table, and I want my guy to be in the spotlight at least every once in a while during combat.
In 3.5 I played in two of Monte Cook's Ptolus campaigns, where I was a paladin and a wizard. I think those ran for something like 8 years, all told, so I've got a lot of expertise and affinity for both of those classes.
So if I had to pick three, I'd probably go: cleric, wizard, paladin.
What are your top three races?
In play, I almost always choose humans. I tend to like more humanocentric fantasy (which comes through in a lot of the stuff I've designed for Golarion, including the wide brush strokes of the campaign setting in general as expressed in the original Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer). So humans are at the top of the list by a mile.
I came up with the Pathfinder "take" on gnomes, which were previously depicted as either redundant dwarf types or annoying "tinker" types in the Dragonlance mold. It took me a long time to crack a "take" that brought them somewhere new and interesting. I think our gnomes are distinctive and interesting, and the tie to the fey/First World (another idea I contributed to the setting) gives them a lot of additional interest. I also enjoy putting on a funny voice from time to time, and gnomes are perfect for that.
After that I'll probably say goblin. I love what James did with them in "Burnt Offerings," and I consider our goblins a mascot not just for the Pathfinder brand in a business sense, but as a mascot for the overall creative "goals" of Pathfinder in general: new and interesting takes on familiar tropes and creatures. Our goblins aren't just colorless speedbump monsters like they've almost always been in gaming, but rather something fun and interesting. I'm proud of them, and because they're also a hell of a lot of fun to play, I'm gonna include them in my top three.
Sorry, elves!
What are three of the strangest things you're likely to see walking the streets of Nex that the natives take for granted?
An oozemaster of Oenopion using a magic rod to control an ochre jelly as it winds its way through a crowded market street.
A cyclops mercenary.
A procession of Vudrani dancers preceding a sumptuous palanquin carried by oread slaves, a vanara prince seated upon a lush throne atop it, all on their way to a private conference with the Council of Three and Nine.
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About Janira Gavix -
Almost every PFS group plays "The confirmation", and some GMs love to have the actual minis for each encounter and NPC.
Sooo. . . as a VL, what are the possibilities of a PFS themed set of pathfinder miniatures with characters like the VCs, major creatures from games like wounded wisp, confirmation, etc. that are heavily played?
I think that's a good idea for a minis set, honestly.
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It would have to be "generic" enough to appeal to the general customer, and I don't really want to do an "NPC-heavy" set for a while after The Rusty Dragon Inn, but I do like the idea in general and I suspect there are some monsters that would be really fun to include.
Like the giant ape from Mists of Mwangi.
I could do a faction of Aspis Consortium agents, maybe.
It'd be fun to make the case incentive the phoenix from "Requiem for the Red Raven," but that might be a little self-indulgent. :)
I welcome other suggestions for figures for a set loosely based on the Pathfinder Society.
Pretty please with sugar on top....will we ever see a return of Greyhawk?
Its been my favorite campaign for more than 20 years. I've made it my own. Found own answers to mysteries...ZagYg Y. is the "mystery" god of Castle Maure. Anihilated Iuz ( He thore Kyuss apart in Alhaster, but was "sneakattacked" by a Spherewielding drow ). Wished away Aliens and firearms. And kept it Grey.
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Would you say that Ostog The Unslain iiiiis DUNGEONPROOOOOF?!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Well, since he survived the entire campaign it certainly looks that way! He survived dungeons created by Gary Gygax and James Jacobs, so I'd say that's a pretty effective test!
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Hey, Erik Mona. I'm a big fan of the Lands of the Linnorm Kingdoms, unless I'm mistaken I think you were quite instrumental in the form and shape it took.
That is correct. I made them up. The Lands of the Linnorm Kings, Chelax, Andoran, and Galt all predate Golarion as they were part of an interplanetary fantasy colonization miniatures game I was dreaming about and jotting notes for in my notebooks about the time we decided to create a campaign setting for our adventure line.
Others have developed it much further from my original writings, but I like to think that much of the heart and soul of that region comes from my work, and I'm very partial to the region. I'm very glad you enjoy it!
I've been wondering for a while whether the islands depicted in the World Map ( this map http://pathfinderwiki.com/mediawiki/images/a/a3/Golarion_world_map.jpg ), in the Steaming Sea that crosses between Northeastern Arcadia and the Lands of the Linnorm Kingdoms actually exist? And if so, do they have any connection with the Ulfen or other cultures? Perhaps they serve as a bridge between the colony of Valenhall and the Linnorm Kingdoms?
Yes, those islands definitely do exist. They are based on the real-world colonization of North America in the historical Viking age, particularly L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland and, to a lesser extent, the colonization by Vikings of Greenland. Many historians speculate that these early migrants were able to travel so far less by open ocean voyages and more by "island-hopping" across the northern seas.
I envision these islands as mist-shrouded escarpments populated by all manner of trolls, savage human tribes descended from ancient shipwreck victims, arctic marine menaces, linnorms, brine dragons, winter wights, draugrs, and similar creatures.
Using this route to get from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings to Acradia is extremely dangerous, and given the time and rigors required, it is usually only a one-way expedition. The Ulfen "afterlife" of Vallenhall is both a place where they think their spirits go after death, but also a literal Ulfen colony in Arcadia. When a valorous old Ulfen warrior knows his death is coming near, he sets off with his crew upon this mist-cloaked route to join his fellow warriors in the feasthalls across the water. Whether he physically gets there or whether he dies a glorious death on the journey, his destination is clear.
I think if they do, speaking as a fan I would love to see it maybe as a kind of wild pirate infested frontier, basically a Northern Subarctic "Shackles" type of archipelago, perhaps too anarchic and wild to be subjected to the rule of the Linnorm Kings, which attracts political exiles long for new fortune in a new world, vicious outlaws, strange occultists and desperate adventurers from those kingdoms.
That's a cool idea. In my view most of these islands are either too small or too desolate to sustain a renegade "kingdom" in the River Kingdoms mold, but there are likely a few dangerous exiles gathering like-minded bandits up there for one reason or another, and piracy is as good a reason as any. Of course, when a lot of the ships are commanded with 11th-level barbarians it pays to be very careful which victims you choose. Things are also complicated by the fact that there is not a significant trade route along these isles, so they'd have to venture more toward the northwestern coast of Avistan to find fruitful raiding lands, and most of those are already populated by Viking warriors.
Maybe it could have volcanic islands, which makes the environment more temperate and hospitable for large populations, yet at the same time attracts more dangerous monsters like dragons and aboleths. And perhaps there could be notable ruins of northern Azlant civilization, and perhaps the island's native inhabitants are strange humanoid people whom are thought to be distantly related to humans (perhaps maybe Neanderthals?) who worship the builders of the Azlanti as gods? It would be cool if there were bands of sea-faring dwarves there too, or snowcaster elves or maybe frost orc barbarians. But yeah just...
I think volcanic islands are a must. Think Svalbard or Jan Mayen islands. For influence I mostly turn to the Norse and Icelandic sagas of Vinland. There would definitely be room for Azlanti ruins and aboleth cults and stuff, but unless you're mostly interested in Viking themes and want to mix them, my personal preference would be to tell those kinds of stories in the ruins of Azlant proper, which are already islands and which are not too terribly far away.
I also like the idea of remnant populations of prehumans up there.
I'd also recommend the creepy sea-going stories of William Hope Hodgson for anyone interested in incorporating oceanic travel into their campaigns. He captures a great atmosphere in his seafaring tales, and was a big influence on H.P. Lovecraft.
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Are there still plans to replace the old Feiya and King Irovetti miniatures at some point? I like the original Feiya pose far more than the Iconic Heroes one.
They are going to be inserted into The Rusty Dragon Inn, which is now set for a January release.
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Speaking of which, Erik, who is your all time favorite Comic book Villain? Please feel free to enumerate why.
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The one that springs immediately to mind is a time-traveling DC scientist named Per Degaton who was always getting into scrapes with the Justice Society of America and (especially) the WW2-era All-Star Squadron (which had a great comic in the 80s).
The thing I like about him, other than his fashion sense and overall character design, is that he's really just a P.O.S. lab assistant who gets caught in a sort of time loop. So every time he is defeated, he gets zapped back to the moment of the accident, with his overbearing scientist boss saying "Stop mumbling, Degaton, and wash these tubes like a good fellow."
My favorite villains are the simpering, XXXX-eating self-serving kind, and Degaton is a great example. Others include Starscream, Cobra Commander, Grima Wyrmtongue, to some extent Veris or Littlefinger from Game of Thrones, etc. I like the way Degaton goes from world dominator to lowly lab assistant every time he's defeated. I dunno. I just like him a lot.
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Pretty please with sugar on top....will we ever see a return of Greyhawk?
That's not up to me, of course. I think at some point it's probably inevitable that the world will return in some official form in the future, but I would't expect it to happen any time soon.