On Day 2 of the RPG Campaign Tour Challenge, we get to meet our guide to Greyhawk ’76.
The prompt:
- Day 2 – About your Tour Guide
- Introduce us to a character who can serve as our guide through your campaign and its setting.
Meet your Tour Guide
Say hello to Alain the Wanderer. Guide. Cleric. Ranger. Gunslinger.
Yep, gunslinger.
When the campaign took its fantasy-western tact after the death of Tiberius, I knew I wanted to introduce gunslingers.
There was a problem, though: traditionally (and arcanely), gunpowder does not work in Greyhawk, and firearms do not exist.
The solution? Murlynd, hero-god of magical technology. Followers of Murlynd can use firearms thanks to the magical aura given to them by their deity. It’s a fun quirk of Greyhawk. Given the increased prominence of guns in D&D 2024, it made sense to try them out in this limited way.
Alain is a non-player character whom the party teamed up with at Blackwall Keep on the edge of the Mistmarsh. They needed a guide who could take them to Swamp’s Fork, a criminal meet-up deep in the Mistmarsh. There, they expected to find a faction of the Burrow Boys and use them to get to the gang’s leader.
Since Alain’s the players’ guide, it makes sense for him to be your guide as well.
Alain’s Campaign Notes
From my campaign notes for Alain:
A Ranger-Knight of the Murlynd. Alain is an expert tracker and a tremendous shot with the blessed guns of Muryland. He’s one of the hero-god’s most faithful followers. He’s calm and collected, always choosing his words carefully and taking in a scene completely before speaking.
He wears an odd cloak that covers his entire upper body, rather than just hanging down his back. It seems to blend with his surroundings if he pauses for more than a few moments. He’s habitually rolling cigarettes using papers and tobacco he keeps secreted away in one of his many pouches.
Most striking is the “fire rod” he carries on his back. Although it appears as a strangely crafted staff, in combat he uses it to generate thunderclaps that strike down his enemies from afar. He has a second, smaller wand that he carries on his hip and uses to similar effect.
Alain and his fellow Knights of Murlynd operate on the Plain of Greyhawk. There, they seek to help the small folk and maintain order in the region. The Knights are comprised of:
- Alain the Wanderer, Ranger-Knight
- Jacob the Wise, Paladin-Knight
- Thomas the Quick, Thief-Knight
- Theodore the Strong, Warrior-Knight
The Knights are inspired by all those great westerns I watched while prepping for the campaign’s new direction. As you can guess from his name, there’s a healthy dose of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series thrown in.
Playing Alain is fun. His firearms specialty works well, and his smattering of spells let him help the party without stealing the spotlight. As a patrolling Knight, Alain knows the Plain of Greyhawk very well. While the PCs are largely natives to the region, Alain’s knowledge lets me drop clues or reminders when they’re needed.
About Murlynd
Adding the Knights of Murlynd reinforces the old school feel of the campaign. Murlynd originated in Gary Gygax’s original campaign. The Great Library of Greyhawk has the details:
Murlynd began as a player character created by Gary Gygax‘s closest friend Don Kaye in 1972 for the second-ever session of the game that would become D&D. Kaye continued to play Murlynd in Gygax’s nascent Greyhawk campaign, developing him as a crossover between “swords & sorcery” D&D and the Old West. After Kaye’s unexpected death in 1975, Gygax subsequently created a tribute to his friend by highlighting Murlynd as one of the unique characters of the world of Greyhawk. In later editions of D&D, Murlynd was elevated to deityhood, becoming the Oeridian deity of Magical Technology.
I’ve known about Murlynd for decades but didn’t realize the sad backstory that went with it. I love that this piece of D&D history has been carried forward by fandom, and that – in some small way – my campaign can help folks learn about (and remember Don Kaye).
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A screenshot of Alain’s character sheet.