Gygax's Gord the Rogue series

[Memnoch]

I've read the first two, Saga of Old City and Artifact of Evil, but I haven't been able to find the rest (the ones he wrote after he left TSR). They're not literary gems in any sense, but they're quite interesting and definitely have that D&Dish feel to them. Has anyone read any of the other books? I think they are:

Sea of Death
Night Arrant
City of Hawks
Come Endless Darkness
Dance of Demons

Comments anyone?

[Ar-Cunin]

[img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img] Memnoch - This is REALLY wierd

I have

- Night Arrent (short stories)
- Sea of Death
- City of Hawks
- Come Endless Darkness
- Dance of Demons

and I lack Saga of Old City and Artifact of Evil!!!!! [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img]

We ought to find a way to trade [img]smile.gif[/img]

I can't remember the plots clearly - Sea of Death was the FIRST english fantasy book I bought (other than Tolkien) - because I recoqnised the name Gygax.

[Albromor]

Wow, talk about bringing back memories! I read the two you mention Memnoch, plus "Sea of Death" and "Night Arrant" but at the time I could never find the books that followed. Plus I lent the volumes I did have to my brother many years ago and haven't seen them since. He doesn't know what happened to them either. Oh, well. Like you said they weren't literary gems but I would have liked to have finished the series and find out Gord's true parentage.

[Memnoch]

Originally posted by Ar-Cunin: We ought to find a way to trade [img]smile.gif[/img]

I would, except that I just ordered the Gord the Rogue boxed set from Amazon's resellers for about $20.

[Albromor]

Wow! I got to go check out Amazon then and look this up! Thanks for sharing this Memnoch and... I'm jealous! Now if only they would do a series of CRPGs in the World of Greyhawk.

[Madriver]

Originally posted by Albromor: Wow, talk about bringing back memories! I read the two you mention Memnoch, plus "Sea of Death" and "Night Arrant" but at the time I could never find the books that followed. Plus I lent the volumes I did have to my brother many years ago and haven't seen them since. He doesn't know what happened to them either. Oh, well. Like you said they weren't literary gems but I would have liked to have finished the series and find out Gord's true parentage.

I had the same problem...I have and read the first 4 but couldn't find any others.

They weren't masterpieces but they were the first books to really try and interpret D&D to a novel format, and I thought he did a good job. I always liked these books, especially that siege of the castle with the wizards casting their mass destruction spells on the poor grunt troops and the monks deflecting arrows in the castle...nice.

[Albromor]

I'll bet somewhere across this nation you could find everyone of the Gord the Rogue books in flea markets. But who has the time???

[Memnoch]

Hmmm...I just read the last one (my Amazon shipment came in) which was called Dance of Demons and let me tell you...Gary Gygax definitely created the uber-munchkin concept. Elminster seriously looks like a shrimp compared to this guy. At this stage of the saga he's still human, but he's got about a zillion innate powers and godlike abilities.

In one sequence he kills about 2000 demons (I kid you NOT) by himself, while his partner (also human) kills another 2000. All this happens in one encounter. [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img]

In another one he faces off with Nerull, also known as Infestix, also known as the supreme leader of the yugoloths (daemons) and kicks his ass. [img]redface.gif[/img]

Did I say that Gord, at this stage, is not even thirty years old? [img]graemlins/laughsaywhat.gif[/img]

I think Gary might have run out of ideas towards the end...the earlier books were better, and much more believable. This last one is just hilarious. [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

[Albromor]

Man, Memnoch, that is one sad piece of writing by Mr. Gygax! As we have been saying, the Gord books aren't literary masterpieces BUT at least they had a semblance of balance early on and were good escapist fun. When I read those first 4 books I always had the sense that Gygax used them as a vehicle to let his readers know how he envisioned how AD&D was to be played out. By the time the Gord books came on the scene TSR had already released (more like kicked him out; many have said he was a narcissist with delusions of granduer) a few years earlier. What a bummer way to finish the series. It sounds like Gord is *gasp* of divine origin. Oh, so original (read sarcasm here). So, does Gygax ever tell us who/what Gord's parentage is and that whole concoction? Or, are we left in the balance traveling forever the Plane of Limbo? (Hey, its late!)

[Memnoch]

OK, some spoilers coming, Albromor...they might save you from having to read this drivel. Dance of Demons has to be the WORST book I've ever read - Gary must've gone completely dry on ideas and penned this for the money. No suspense, no twists, nothing but Super-Gord cutting a swathe through every single thing.

If I could compare Gord to a BG2 character, he would be similar to a character with 100% immunities to everything and with 25 stats in everything. He is now the Champion of Balance (Good and Evil are BOTH undesirable) and is IMPERVIOUS to defeat and demon lords like Graz'zt, Demogorgon, Mandrillagon and Orcus, as well as daemonkings like Anthraxus and Infestix, and the Dukes Infernal (Asmodeus and Co.) quail before his relentless onslaught.

S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S

COMING...

Gord is a direct descendant of Rexfelis, the Lord of All Cats (who is his grandfather). Here are his (and Gellor's) powers at the start of Dance of Demons (the "ceremony" where the Heirophants, all the deities and demigods of Balance and Mordenkainen etc all "bestow" these gifts to make them innate abilities had me rolling on the floor in hysterics LOL!!). [img]graemlins/laugh2.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/laugh3.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

- can communicate by telepathy
- can move to any place with a thought
- can become mentally invisible (permanent mind shield)
- he wears shadow armor with zero encumbrance and AC -40
- also wears magic ring of 100% magic damage resistance and 100% physical damage resistance
- wears elven chain mail shirt giving 100% resistance to elements
- wears cats paws gloves, allowing wearer to fall any distance without injury, to deliver clawed blows (why bother when your sword does about 1000pts of damage anyway) and to climb like a cat
- wears girdle of planar shifting
- can transform into a massive panther at will
- regenerates about 20 hp per round (why bother when you are IMPERVIOUS to damage anyway)
- immunity to disease, poison, warding from foes, constant true sight
- PERMANENT 100% magic resistance
- he wields Courflamme, the Mighty Sword of Neutrality, which has the ability to kill thousands of demons with a thought

Here are some excerpts of one of his battles in the Abyss that will have you rolling on the floor.

"Gord raised the diamond-bright part of Courflamme, auming at the demon's outthrust head. The sword's tip suddenly spat forth a black bolt of force. The crackling ebon dart sheared off the top of the fiend's head, and the impact of it actually flipped the demon's massive body over in a somersault.

Without pausing to view his work, Gord turned and faced his next foe, now aiming the long blade as if it were a wand. Again the inky core of the weapon sent forth a blast of dark power, and another of the charging demons died. It became almost mechanical thereafter: Gord pointed the blade, willed destruction, and again another monstrous beast crashed down dead. Again, again, yet again. Soon a half-circle of twitching demon corpses formed a barrier in front of him, a wall so great that the young champion could see nothing but its stinking height." [img]graemlins/crazyeyes.gif[/img]

And if that's not enough for you, Gellor, his sidekick, has certainly grown from being that raspcallion guardian of Gord's from the first couple of books. Here's an example of what he's like in combat with demons:

"Gellor brought forth his ivory kanteel, adjusted one of the golden pegs, and gently stroked the silver strings of the little harp. A ripple of beautiful notes washed outward, and the demon-beasts reacted as if they had been struck by a tidal wave.

When the sounds from the enchanted strings of the instrument struck, fully a dozen of the massive monsters were bowled over, while a half-hundred of the lesser scavengers were blown away, some actually torn to pieces in the process." [img]graemlins/crazyeyes.gif[/img]

And here's a final excerpt to blow you away (literally):

"Side by side, the two heroes strode across the endless leagues of the foul layer that was the entry to the Abyss. In a short time, thanks to their innate force, they came to the towering bluffs that housed the gateways to the next twenty tiers of the agglomeration of planes that formed the depth of evil called demonrealm, the Abyss. A few hundred lesser demons were there to contest their entry, prevent them from going on, but those malign guards died in vain, swiftly and without great effort from the pair. A clear and bright melody from the kanteel, some dark and deadly lightnings from the rejoined sword, Courflamme, and none stood to oppose them." [img]graemlins/crazyeyes.gif[/img]

F##ken hysterical. [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

[ 07-02-2002, 11:03 AM: Message edited by: Memnoch ]