Lore You Should Know - Mordenkainen

Chris Perkins joins Greg Tito to discuss the the great wizard Mordenkainen. (This is a re-upload from an earlier LYSK video, we will be working through those archives over the coming weeks and months.)
Lore You Should Know is a segment as part of the Dragon Talk Podcast, the official Dungeons & Dragons podcast. Find it anywhere you find Podcasts.
#DnD #LoreYouShouldKnow #DragonTalk

[@AleksandrStrizhevskiy]

That intro was hilarious and good on you guys for having the courage to leave that in that's hilarious

[@clarkside4493]

You might even say it's loads better!

[@romdog1818]

The word *courage* sure gets thrown around a lot now a days. Damn near lost its meaning.

[@AleksandrStrizhevskiy]

@@romdog1818 When your job and audience are on the line I think courage is applicable. Doing something in spite of risks because you think it's right is how courage should be used.

[@LS994]

Greg Tito: "We don't really have epic level stuff" Chris Perkins: "not in this edition, not yet." I'm like "Not yet? 🤨"

[@AleksandrStrizhevskiy]

I can almost feel them getting ready to release Spelljammer for 5th edition. That BD3 cinematic is a strong indicator of where they're going.

[@si2foo]

too be fair alot of characters never get high enough to need it and those that do will probably be getting to arround that level now

[@Winfiled04]

yeah, i was thinking the same thing.

[@artificerprime4154]

@@si2foo The rules allow you to start at higher levels. It isn't for beginners, but it is certainly possible.

[@clarkside4493]

I just ended a campaign where the party got to 20th level and then started getting a few boons. Most of them had two boons by the very end. The one for immortality was popular among them.

[@AEB1066]

Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms are real; Canada is a fantasy setting.

[@Galeigh]

Long story short: Mordenkainen will do as he pleases, laws of men and gods be damned.

[@Seabass0071]

Chris Perkins needs his own KZbin Channel!

[@chaance117]

I agree, I'm thinking this dude knows the stuff I want to know, keep him talking!

[@aarndal90]

"You shall carry Matt Ernset's load." xD Ah... Greg Tito, you brighten my day.

[@incitingariot9925]

Did anyone else hear Sam Riegel sing "Bigby's hand" at every mention of bigby?

[@marcusbryan8384]

In Rogues Gallery Mordenkainen was Neutral, in the Gord the Rogue books, written by Gygax he was into preserving 'Balance'. He does however have something of the agent of chaos about him.

[@CTSparky1]

I'm loving these lore segments. These are great for the old Grognard in me. Thank you for these. It also makes it easy to put these characters and areas in my own home world.

[@hambinger]

Confirmed in this episode: The Forgotten Realms *IS* Canada...

[@keiths81ca]

Viking colonies are the namesake

[@Restributordevill]

30th level. "Not in this edition. Not yet" Hmmmm? I'm interested!

[@Captainbigmike86]

14:20 “we don’t have epic level in this edition, NOT YET. Does that mean that we can expect epic levels to come out?

[@jamesorth8231]

Good catch! Hopefully they make epic levels part of the core game/rules and not limited to a singular campaign that has it as a specific feature.

[@TheUpperbutt]

Rest in the best of peace Gary Gygax!

[@ReadingDave]

In first edition, Mordikainen's stats were in the Rogues Gallery product TSR put out.

[@DocEonChannel]

Yes, but everything in that book was also "made up" stats, not the stats of the characters as played.

[@whitedwarf9090]

I would love to have a greyhawk campaign setting for 5e.

[@monswine]

I thought my speakers blew out when the sound cut off

[@omega311888]

ya. crappy editing there.

[@ardinhelme687]

Oof, that sad pause after the pronunciation question hit me harder than I expected...

[@MrJpreezy17]

I'm glad they kept in the first take xD

[@tturff]

Always love to hear the mind of Mr. Perkins.

[@thegreatmagus21]

All you need to survive is a bottle of buttermilk and a ten foot pool.

[@TheSkeletonVA]

Just so you know the sound cut out after a few seconds after the joke at the start. Stay safe out there Guys!

[@alexchen7729]

I thought I remember from all the first edition materials that Mordenkainen was True Neutral.

[@beatleblev]

You are correct. In 1st-3.5 D&D Mordenkainen is Neutral. He is also actively trying to preserve the Balance in Oerth in those editions. His penchant for secrecy and manipulation won him no friends even among those with a similar outlook. He sees Neutrality as something to fight for or as a cause. This includes containing and repelling the forces of chaos and evil, and also thwarting the crusades of the zealots of Law and Good into Evil territory. He believed that there was a place for everyone in Oerth from the beacons of light, hope, and mercy to the level one commoner, to the homicidal sociopathic god-emperors. Oerth was welcome to all. The 5e retcon of Mordenkainen sounds more in line with the Grey Seer of Urnst or The Simbul from Toril.

[@clarkside4493]

15:03 I might not mind if that spell broke magic item attunement and consumables rather than straight up destroying all magic items in its area.

[@victorolson5663]

I find it funny how the sounds goes out.

[@TheeIronDuck]

As someone who has just gotten i to d&d 2 years ago, i love these lore videos and the history behind everything.

[@cafecaram4747]

Great topic! Thank you. Love this indepth background and history. Never heard about this before, especially that bigbe and mordenkainen were rivals. (it looks great ;D)

[@wilyhobbit6550]

another great video, thanks guys!

[@Maztermox]

I didn't think much of these videos when i saw the thumbnail but hell these are good!

[@VikingMale]

They should reprint Rogues Gallery that has all those characters like Mordenkainen and Otis stats.

[@mikkosimonen]

Bigby and Rigby weren't player characters, they were Mordenkainen's henchmen. Yrag was, I believe, also Gary's character. Tenser and Serten were played by the same person, Ernest Gygax. Early D&D was pretty wild.

[@antonymcewan9987]

Yep. Both Serten and Tenser were anagrams of Ernest. There was a lot of that at that table! Yrag, for example?! :)

[@mikekennedy5879]

Yrag was basically Gary backwards, a gimmick that was used a lot apparently. My favourite name was Erak's Cousin.

[@murdockberk8888]

6:30 Wasn't Rob, it was Frank Mentzer. Excellent adventure, have an original copy on my shelf

[@LordSathar]

so much he said was wrong, i can't even start

[@beatleblev]

Truth. Gary had promised a follow up to The Village of Hommlet and had too much on his plate. Thank you Frank, for my favorite way to start a Greyhawk campaign for many years.

[@arcadiandynasty8830]

Bro my brain exploded when I heard Bigby. I love his hand.

[@RobinMcBeth]

He probably never takes a mulligan.

[@ERWebster]

This was fun and interesting, thanks!

[@Daleksaresupreme1]

I'm one of the few new players who actually really likes diving into the old Settings lore so really appreciate these little nods to Greyhawk, hopefully it'll inspire more to read the old lore and set their adventures on the planet Oerth and in the Gem of the Flanaess.

[@samgunn12]

Cool lore drop. Thx.

[@claybmt]

Rob may have also had a hand in it, but it was Frank Mentzer who wrote Temple of Elemental Evil with Gygax.

[@LordSathar]

Rob was just a player in the Temple when Gary ran it for him, but this interview is riddled with errors.

[@LightOfHands]

Something tells me this was supposed to be scheduled for 12PM instead of 12AM.

[@mrsj2263]

But what's the deal with the buttermilk?

[@clintmcmahan3792]

Chris Perkins is like some kind of Arch-mage Professor of D&D Lore.

[@mattwilcoxuk]

Awesome content, thanks :) Please check your mic gains before though - clipping is painful and constant.

[@AAron-gr3jk]

Canada is a canon world for SpellJamming :)

[@cabalarcana6996]

It's too bad that Mordenkainen's Lucubration is kindof replaced by Arcane Recovery.

[@vogless]

Give us Greyhawk already!

[@jarnomikkola8438]

Funny that it tells when this was recorded.

[@spensirmclife6549]

I am gonna rework the intro of Tomb of Annhilation to make Mordenkainen and Bigby the guys that send the party on their mission.

[@CaptainHorn]

What an epic fail right at the beginning, that was so funny, I had to remember to breathe!

[@jnever9768]

luke gygax says 'kay'nen so thats what i will use

[@imperialadvisoraremheshvau3788]

I like Greg but I wish he did some research on his own about the subject. I have been playing D&D since 1980 and Chris P dropped so many cool and tantalizing answers that Greg should have a ton of follow up questions on and instead we got a D&D version of a Jimmy Fallon interview.

[@kelkamer630]

What Wizard subclass would he be i wonder 🤔

[@ryderma1]

Good stuff

[@AFTepes]

My favorite D&D character is Melf! I would like to know more about him pls

[@eldergoblinhobboblin]

I feel like they meant to edit that differently...

[@antonymcewan9987]

This is fascinating. A lot of this I was already aware of, but it's good to know a lot of this lore for my latest character, an Elven Wizard, who has a hero worship complex for Mordenkainen. He carries around notes and books of the Tales Of Mordenkainen, and constantly talks to people about him. Some of these snippets will now be used in-game! :)

[@kmoustakas]

I love Gary and Luke

[@eddieg7909]

I think the "Battle of Emridy Meadows" adventure that Chris refers to is something he actually wrote

[@vonbek8118]

Jon Leitheusser & Chris Perkins

[@KazemaruW]

Did not know about the Gary Gigax player character

[@UberBri]

Take two!

[@mr.berardine1694]

...or you could just ask his one of his sons who played with him during those days.

[@Onerouss]

Are we still doing phrasing? Anyone??

[@greglewinski2088]

That instant of realizing what Greg said is way wrong is great. Greg should have referenced something from Return of the King, between Sam and Frodo. But this works too.

[@WeAreCameron]

cannot believe you even CONSIDERED cutting that intro out

[@wailandkarisma4279]

Enemies getting unhinged by bigbys clenched fisting is gonna be a thing in bg3.

[@talscorner3696]

Khorne likes it, apparently

[@fighterofDL]

I will be personifying the mad mage tonight! What timing!

[@shobruno]

Mordekainen and the mad mage, are not the same

[@papatango5082]

Roll for a Strength Check.

[@pwnyboy9714]

Nailed it.

[@Maztermox]

Do Elminster Aumar please that would be awesome!

[@caspianbchalphy]

Was t there an old campaign booklet where the players play as the circle of 8 and one by one Vecna killed them? I’ve heard it was very railroady and people didn’t like it.

[@mikekennedy5879]

Yes. It was called "Vecna Lives." Keep in mind this adventure was written at a time when the adventures were written as if they were stories for the DM to read first and an adventure for players second. It was standard at the time for player freedom to be sacrificed for the sake of the story. As well, it was a set up adventure for the release of the Greyhawk Wars event which changed the setting's political status quo significantly, making the world more interlinked as opposed to a collage of countries, each independant of the other and stagnant. So, yes, it was railroady. But if you're a halfway decent DM you can make it not railroady and see where the players lead you.

[@Magemaster55]

Why're you re-upload this? What was wrong with OG video?

[@ironmaxwell804]

Murdy Curdy

[@RayMcNamaraMusic]

Hey D&D! I'm not tryna be an ass, but your audio should sound much better if you have gear that good. You just need to fix the settings of the gear.

[@misomiso8228]

9:11 what episode was that?

[@buckveazey3369]

Would you guys be gracious enough to say what episode of dice Camera Action Sam Whitworth was in?

[@DocEonChannel]

29 and 55 according to wikipedia.

[@ruben307]

episode 55

[@denniswalton1901]

repost from a while ago, interesting ;)

[@sanamin13]

Publish a book or even a series of books about D&D lore. Just like this video series. People would eat it up.

[@Walter-Anderson]

sanamin13 I think that’s what you the novels are for

[@icod.2076]

We don’t have epic levels in 5E, yet!

[@taylor65712]

So what i took away from this session is Mordenkainen is actually Chris Perkins💯 It All Makes Sense Now💥

[@dittmar104]

Taylor417 no no he’s Gary, Chris just inherited his spell book

[@joluoto]

Some Murdy kurdy lore.

[@melamber9823]

They should do one of these on epic level wizards of the multiverse and maybe make official who the most powerful wizard in the entire multiverse IS. is it Mordenkainen? or maybe Elminster?

[@beatleblev]

That's a good question. When you are able to Wish calamity on your foes the difference in level is somewhat minimized. However, the ultimate non-deity magic user that I can think of is Rajaat the Warbringer from Athas in the Dark Sun campaign. He has not been stated out as far as I know, but his jailer Borys, has. Mind you, it took Boyrs of Ebe and several other enhanced epic level wizards to imprison their master, Rajaat in a prison in the Black (plane of Shadow). Here are the 3.5 D&D stats for: Boyrs of Ebe, The Dragon of Tyr: (LE Male Champion of Rajaat stage X dragon Psychic Warrior 12/Wizard (defiler) 5/Arch Defiler 10/Cerebremancer 7/Athasian Dragon 10) (Ur-Draxa/Athas/Dark Sun) My other non-Athas contenders would be: Elminster (CG male human (chosen of Mystra) Fighter 1/Rogue 2/Cleric [Mystra] 3/Wizard 24/Archmage 5) (Shadowdale, Toril/Forgotten Realms) Iggwiliv (CE female human Wizard 26/Archmage 4) (formerly Perrinland, Oerth/currently Hades/Greyhawk) Mordenkainen (N male human Wizard 27) (Yatil Mountains and City of Greyhawk/Oerth/Greyhawk) Raistlin Majere (NE male human Wizard 7/Wizard of High Sorcery (Black) 7/Loremaster 8/Archmage 5, Master of Past and Present) (Palanthus/Krynn/Dragonlance) The Simbul (CN female human (chosen of Mystra) Sorcerer 20/Wizard 10/Archmage 1) (Aglarond/Toril/Forgotten Realms) Szass Tam, Zulkir of Necromancy, Red Wizard of Thay (LE male human (lich) Necromancer 10/Red Wizard 17/Archmage 2) (Thay/Toril/Forgotten Realms)

[@Deris87]

I don't know if they've been updated more recently, but in 3.X Elminster Was a Fighter 1/Rogue 2/Cleric 3/Wizard 24/Archmage 5, vs Mordenkainen's Wizard 27. Tasha/Iggwilv was Wizard 26/Archmage 4.

[@whatsupdate]

Sam Witwer stoke the show as Mordenkainen

[@DrakeFoulZeff]

Chris come back to Acq. Inc. Please!

[@tristanpanke2468]

Never understood why Mordenkainen is in CoS. I mean sure, it's a name drop and some people will drool all over it, but it doesn't make sense according to the most recent lore concerning him.

[@grannyweatherwax4917]

I'm going to create a version of Mordenkainens' Disjunction for my drow wizard, if my DM will allow :D

[@dragonballtalk8527]

Look up a.j pickett channel on youtube after don't you think he should be in the company as a employee

[@omega311888]

thank you for pronouncing his name correctly

[@EditorOrion]

New Mordenkainen book to accommodate the new UA classes?

[@neshannockfez]

You left take 1 on

[@improvementTime10.3.17]

7:50 chars from dnd can get to Canada

[@improvementTime10.3.17]

U2 17:00

[@PalleRasmussen]

First it seems. SPURT! Thanks for the Lore. We all know their spells. I remember those Greenwood series. Coming from Tolkien's works and playing MERP, I found it sort of weird, but to each their own I thought. But then in Tolkien's world, we know the Lore, which is prehistoric of our world because Aelfwine the Anglo-Saxon, sailed to The West and learned it from the Elves. Chris seems like such a pleasant chap.

[@BrooklynRedLeg]

Mordenkainen's alignment was True Neutral, not Chaotic Neutral. That's the reason for The Circle of 8 was to keep the balance in The Flanaess, where Evil is ascendant (Iuz, Zuggtmoy, Lolth, Iggwilv). As for his age, he'd be in his 60's at most, not really needing Potions of Longevity (yet). The timeline only advanced by 20 years (CY 576 to 596) and the events that Mordenkainen and the rest participated in was less than 20 years before that.....

[@MaxCBPCenter]

Lower the lvl of the mics please

[@Kalleosini]

no like/dislike bar. suspicious.

[@isaacalien]

Team MordenkEYEnen represent!

[@mikekennedy5879]

BOOOOOOOO!

[@Mokey_MokeyLordofPuns]

Bring back Dice, Camera, Action

[@lucieeatssnekkers2756]

Mordenkainen? More like Nerd-enkainen!

[@stevestumpy6873]

The Rogues Gallery 1980 level 16 magicuser human male AL-N str 19 dex 17 con 17 int 18 wis 12 cha 18 hp 61

[@sassywombat1189]

Mordenkainen literally died in my game last night.

[@LordCyler]

You mean a Simulacrum of Mordenkainen died.

[@nicolaricottone8377]

WE WANT DISJUNCTION BACK. PLEASE

[@JSTaylor556]

I love that you guys do these lore videos, but your audio quality is absolutely terrible and far below what should reasonably be expected as a moderatley professional podcast.