Furnok of Ferd

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

Has anyone added more back story for Furnok of Ferd? Where is Ferd in WOG? Is it a reputable place or disreputable - does Furnok refer to himself from there with pride, or is he a notorious/fatherless person from this origin? Large village or small town? A place known for rogues and gambling - looked down upon by followers of the old faith and/or by St. Cuthberites? Would it mean anything to the PCs once they discover that Furnok is from Ferd?

[foster1941]

I've never done anything with "Ferd." I assume it's an unassuming village probably somewhere on the Wild Coast - distant enough from Hommlet that being from there is mildly noteworthy, but near enough that people have heard of it. I'd resist the temptation to devote too much attention to this throwaway reference. The way that every single name got loaded down with a detailed backstory and the amount of mostly-game-irrelevant "canonical" detail exploded exponentially is one of my least favorite aspects of the "Erik Mona era" of the setting. We don't need to exhaustively contextualize every person, place, and thing. Less is very often more, and plenty of things can remain undetailed unless and until it becomes specifically relevant. If you find that, during play, Furnok of Ferd is becoming an important character to the point that it matters where he's from because the party might want to go there, then you can work out all the details, but doing so before then is both probably wasted effort and will serve, counterintuitively, to make the setting feel smaller rather than larger. When everything has been defined and detailed and buttoned down, then there's no more mystery, no more room for organic growth and expansion.

[GRWelsh]

You ask a lot of the same questions that I ask myself, Dave... Not that I have good answers, but I did make notes on Ferd as being a village in the Wild Coast similar to a "Wild West" town with a lot of gamblers. It was just supposed to be a rough, tavern-brawl sort of place for the players to pass through or re-equip at, with the name simply being a little "Easter Egg" for old Greyhawkers who might get the reference. And yes, it would be looked down upon by the followers of St Cuthbert, guild-held towns and more lawful sorts nearby as a sort of bandit town.

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

Thanks for the comments and ideas, Trent and Gary!

I'm thinking to start the campaign with the PCs gathered to the village of Ferd in the Wild Coast west of Narwell to investigate the abandoned DMG monastery.

Then when they later likely run into Furnok at the VOH, it will provide some ambiguous curious context.

[geneweigel]

I'll just pile on more vagueness.

Ferd being an archaic military term for a company (which is probably spot on here), I'd be assuming some place that is contested perhaps legitimately so I'd say not in this region (Iuz versus Furyondy doesn't seem "civilized". Nyrond versus the Great Kingdom seems the most likely but this is just a feeling that is worthless. It could be anything a group/person, a small thorp or fort, or even a geographical area. Or it could be a gaming buddy who needs a nod...

Somewhere in the darkness of the web, a New Age D&D fan start typing away at a blog

GYGAX'S HIDDEN "TRIBUTES": TIP OF THE HAT OR TIP OF THE SWORD? Gaming Disparities Before Post-Gygax Social Justice Perfection in Gaming

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

I like the allusion angle of Ferd as a military company - that's interesting stuff!

So Furnok's notoriety as a former (disbanded?) or currently off-duty militia member, perhaps he was in a for hire independent militia company during the war against elemental evil, or else he is discharged (due to fleecing of troops) from a local fort or town garrison?

Brings to mind the typical Virginia Regiment recruits disparaged by Washington...

[grodog]

In Poplollies & Bellibones, a "Flerd" is a Deceit, Fraud. Perhaps Gary dropped the L?

Allan.

[GRWelsh]

Possibly, although he used Flerd elsewhere and seemingly unrelated to its old meaning. Flerd Trantle was the name of a pregenerated cleric character in G1-3.

[grodog]

Oh I think he was well aware of their original meanings when he wrote the G1-3/D1-3 PCs up, Gary

Allan.

[GRWelsh]

I'm sure he did, but what I meant was that their original meanings don't necessarily have any relevance to how they are used in the game materials, i.e., EGG may have just liked the sound of them. And he may have liked making use of these archaic names playfully as "Easter Eggs" (similar to his anagrams) for the sorts of players who might notice such things years later -- like us!

When I look at the word meanings in POPLOLLIES & BELLIBONES, they don't always seem like a good match for the pre-generated characters in G1-3 and/or D1-2:

Flerd: Fraud, deceit.
Trantles: Articles of little value.

Flerd Trantle [sic] is a LG human cleric. Wouldn't that have been a better name for a thief, illusionist or magic-user who can cast a fool's gold spell?

Beek: To bask in the sun or before a fire.
Gwenders: A disagreeable tingling from the cold.
Croodle: To creep close; a faint humming, the low music of birds.

Beek Gwenders of Croodle is a CG half-elf ranger. I don't see anything about him that ties in to these meanings, and indeed they even seem to contradict each other.

Fonkin: A little fool.
Hoddypeak: A simpleton, a blockhead.

Fonkin Hoddypeak is CG high elf fighter/magic-user with INT 15 and WIS 9... Certainly not a simpleton, and not particularly foolish with average wisdom.

Philotomy: Love of honor.
Juvament: Aid!, Help!

Philotomy Jurament [sic] is a human LG paladin, and with this one the name seems like a good fit!

Faffle: To blow in sudden gusts; to stammer or fumble. From the echoing sound of faff: 'gust of wind'.
Dweomercraeft (accent on the o): Juggling, the magic arts.

Faffle Dwe'o-mercraeft [sic] is human N magic-user, and this one is also a pretty good fit, although he does have a DEX 17. If you did want to have the word meaning tie in, maybe he has a turbulent personality or blusters a lot, and/or sometimes stammers when he talks. Notice how the module spelling encourages a proper pronunciation of the surname?

Maybe the best example is with Keak:

Keak: To cackle.
Breedbate: A person or something that creates strife; a mischief maker.
Nithe: Envy, hatred.

Keak Breedbate of Nithe is a N gnome fighter/thief in the list of pregenerated characters in D1-2, and doesn't seem to fit the meanings of the words very well. But in the Gord novels, he is an evil elf who cackles and seems a much better fit for these words! Some of the names of the pregenerated characters were 'repurposed' by EGG for other uses in the World of Greyhawk and the Gord novels.

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

Since Furnok has both a short sword and a magic dagger, and also has 18 dexterity, have you played this NPC as a dual wielding weapon attacker, or does he keep his magical dagger hidden in his boot as a last ditch weapon, like in case he is caught thieving? The same for his ring of invisibility, not used unless he gets caught stealing and has to make a quick getaway?

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

I decided to make Furnok of Ferd a chaotic neutral follower of Norebo. The original VOH module does not specify his alignment, and I'm not in agreement with the neutral alignment ascribed to him in the TOEE publication.

[geneweigel]

Jan 25, 2018 10:39:14 GMT -5 davegibsongreyhawkdm said:

I decided to make Furnok of Ferd a chaotic neutral follower of Norebo. The original VOH module does not specify his alignment, and I'm not in agreement with the neutral alignment ascribed to him in the TOEE publication.

Just reiterating, even though he is leaning towards chaos (or evil) and that might be appropriate to have him Neutral to Chaos to Evil in range, he can still be a follower of Norebo even if he is Good in alignment. Only clerics have to be the same alignment as deities.

From DEITIES AND DEMIGODS (1980) page 6:

WORSHIPPER'S ALIGNMENT: This refers to the general alignment of those who worship , adore or propitiate the deity. This does not necessarily apply to the alignment of the deity's clerics, which must be identical with their patron's.

Also in World of Greyhawk some characters and deities follow the alignment graphing system with some reading where their leanings are towards. I've had really wild players that I had to keep track of at one point but I'm very reluctant to play with the glib these days.