Tenser's Vassals

[Scott]

Mordenkainen had his Red Rampart Guard, which was made up of characters who were like his vassals, unlike the Circle of Eight, where he was more like the primary amongst equals.
I was thinking about creating a similar organization for Tenser to use for plot hooks and adventure instigation for good characters. Any suggestions for a name or composition of such a group?

[Falconer]

Serten (Poztif), Alton, and Timmil from the novels. Burne, Rufus, and Otis (and Elmo) from Hommlet. Although Burne may officially owe fealty to Hazen, I definitely view these characters as Tenser’s agents. The line between associate and vassal is a thin one. The way I run my campaigns, especially in Verbobonc at the height of the ToEE adventure, I like to downplay influence of the various neighboring nation-states as such, and play up the interests of the various ex-PC Barons—Mordenkainen, Tenser, Robilar, Erac’s Cousin, ultimately also the PCs themselves when they reach high levels.

[Scott]

Burne was one I had considered, but Rufus skipped my mind. Otis would be a natural fit too, isn't his association with Tenser mentioned in a Dragon article? Serten, Timmil, and Alton are also good calls.

[Falconer]

Yep, here is the passage from TD #37:

Tenser (MU of 19th level): Hidden somewhere along the southern shores of the Nyr Dyv is the fortress of Tenser. It is likely that the identity of the master of the place is kept secret. Reported troops are:

Heavy Cavalry: 50 (Guards)
Medium Cavalry: 100 (Elite)
Light Cavalry: 50 (Regulars)
Medium Horse Archers: 100 (Regulars)
Armored Infantry: 50 (Guards)
Heavy Infantry: 100 (Regulars)
Light Infantry: 100 (Levied)
Heavy Archers: 50 (Regulars)
Light Archers: 50 (Levied)

Tenser is accompanied by a high-level cleric and various other figures of relatively high level, some reported to be demi-human. Some say that the ranger, Otis, is with him. The force is Good in alignment, but its exact disposition is unknown. It is suspected that troops from the surrounding area will join Tenser in time of need.

[Falconer]

Just as an aside, I always wonder whether Gary had Chainmail or Swords & Spells or some other game in mind when he presented this sort of Order of Battle information. I know it could have been in some sense world-building for world-building’s sake, however, surely he was thinking in terms of a wargame. Maybe he was thinking of eventually writing a new one?

[amalric]

Cymria of Celadon, a sylvan elf Fighter 12/Mage 11 is listed as Tenser's henchman in two later TSR products, so I'm assuming she was a vassal at some point in the actual campaign.

[Falconer]

Looks like that character originates in Vecna Lives! (1990) by David “Zeb” Cook. Sorry, I definitely would not assume any connection to the Gygax campaign.

[Scott]

Ditto.

[doug18]

i think u should form this group and include maylin in it

[GRWelsh]

The obvious thing to do would be to have the organization named with a reference to the color blue, like Circle of Sapphire, or The Azure Guard, or something like that. Or, you could name it something a bit more obscure, like Order of the Disk, or the Black Scimitar, Dagger of Fury, etc.

[Scott]

The blue thing is the obvious option. Maybe I'll run is past Ernie.

[GRWelsh]

Yeah, and if you think of it -- ask him about Tenser's heraldry in the Greyhawk folio and boxed set. It appears to be a black scimitar or curved black sword on a gold field surrounded by a red border with a few symbols in white. I have always wondered if that was something Ernie came up with (or condoned), and if there was any meaning behind it.

I've always heard Tenser was very greedy, even though he was goodly aligned. The Tenser's Floating Disk spell seems to fit well with that character. But I have always wondered if the Tenser's Transformation spell was something he developed, or perhaps a comment on his character (such as being the sort to play his m-u as a fighter even when it didn't make sense?). Was Tenser considered somewhat of a hot-head?

I've imagined the Order of the (Blue) Disk might be henchmen/vassals of Tenser's charged with protecting the entry to his hidden valley where his castle is, but also are encouraged to go about and seek treasure on his behalf... Nothing too extensive, and possibly rolled up into the Circle(s) of Eight at such time when Tenser was invited to join the 'magical' Circle (whenever that was). But my idea was always vague/undeveloped, and a mishmash from the sources of WG6, the Gord novels, TD #37, etc.

[Scott]

Tenser was very greedy, even after he became good.
Before the Castle Zagyg thing got canned, I was talking to him about including Tenser in some supplemental Yggsburgh stuff I was writing, and Ernie was describing him as unabashedly greedy, especially for magic items.
The floating disc spell had Tenser's name added to it as a joke.
Ernie would often push Tenser into melee as if he were a fighter. But I don't know any details about the origin of the transformation spell.

[Falconer]

I wouldn’t have Tenser ever join the Co8. Even though that is canonical per WG6, it just doesn’t fit, for me. I like to keep it Mordenkainen’s group. The novels also have Tenser as a Lord of Balance; again, that doesn’t seem right to me. Though I admit I’m just not really crazy about the whole Lords of Balance thing, anyway.

[Scott]

Well, he has a neutral background, but I agree, it doesn't make a lot of sense. If it ever came up in my campaign, Tenser wouldn't be associated with balance or the C08.

[GRWelsh]

Mar 10, 2010 1:26:08 GMT -5 Falconer said:

Just as an aside, I always wonder whether Gary had Chainmail or Swords & Spells or some other game in mind when he presented this sort of Order of Battle information. I know it could have been in some sense world-building for world-building’s sake, however, surely he was thinking in terms of a wargame. Maybe he was thinking of eventually writing a new one?

Sorry to be digging up such an old thread and old quotes, but I've been wondering about this again, as well. The FTSS article in DRAGON #37, and the Minifigs for the WORLD OF GREYHAWK from around the same time, strongly implied some kind of tabletop tactical war game was in mind. I noticed the "Order of Battle" phrase came up again in CASTLE ZAGYG: YGGSBURGH, when describing troop structures.

Can you imagine how much money you would have to spend on Minifigs to assemble an actual army? I have maybe 20 packages that I bought on eBay about ten years ago, but they were fairly expensive even back in the day when they first came out.

[geneweigel]

Its wargamer talk and Gary and Rob bandied "order of battle" around to me quite a lot. Another GH/wargamer lingo is "trooping" as in "troop" as a verb.

They said OOB so many times that I of course queried being the aggressive fuckhead that I am.

Here is what I got from them.

Basically wargamers fought with sets. Egyptians, Spaniards, etc. and they said the brand "Air fix" about a million times before I realized it was a company.

"Air fix? What're they talkin' about? Some kind of lead miniature process? Huh?"