I was studying the article "Seltaren" in Oerth Journal #23 (pp. 13, 18-19) about that town sometime in in 590s and noticed the character of Valerius Tolaesur. Based on his description, I thought he reminded me of a character in Rogue's Gallery. Bingo! (Tolaesur = Erol Otus). I'd occasionally kept tracked of such things before. Of those characters appearing in Rogue's Gallery, there are the Lake Geneva gang PCs who you could say have been done to death: Bigby, Mordenkainen, Robilar, and Tenser. Riggby and Serten, not so much. Rogue's Gallery was published in 1980, so I guess that would roughly equate to 576, although I remember reading somewhere that some of the stat's aren't that accurate. Of the less well known characters featured in Rogue's Gallery:
-In 585, Grimsdale shows up in Tenser's Castle (Return of the Circle of Eight, p. 44);
-In 591, Gormadoc is in Hardby, an agent of the Slavers (Slavers, p. 85);
-~591, Luther is the head of a monastery of Heironeian monks (Bastion of Faith, p. 44);
-In 591, Phoebus is the mayor of Greatrock in the Hardby domains (Slavers, p. 47).
I don't remember where they were first mentioned, but Queg and Yrag ended up in Greyhawk City (Adventure Begins, IIRC).
Other works:
Pre-Generated PCs from Against the Giants: Around 594, Frush O'Suggill was the Captain-General of Istivin's City Watch ("Istivin: City of Shadows", Dungeon #117).
NPCs from Against the Giants: Obmi and Eclavdra became powerful, recurring NPCs.
Pre-Gen' PCs from Ghost Tower of Inverness: By 591, Hodar became the head of the Academy of Sorcery in Dyvers (Slavers, 14), and the deposed Seer became a recurring NPC.
Pre-Gen' PCs from Isle of the Ape: In the mid-580s, Rakehell Chert and Warnes Starcoat became major NPCs. Agath of Thrunch was later detailed as living in Ulek (based on GHWiki, Dungeon #130? I don't remember that).
Pre-Gen' PCs from Puppets: By 591, Larissa became Lord Mayor of Dyvers (Slavers, p. 6).
Greyhawk Adventures: Most of the figures were already powerful, canonical figures. Of the nobodies:
-Giuliana Mortidus became a recurring NPC;
-I thought I remembered Alesh Marin getting an update at some point, but maybe not: http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=6005&highlight=
-AFAIK, Tang the Horrific never made on on-screen appearance, but his final fate was frequently mentioned in histories of Iuz and the Rovers of the Barrens.
NPCs in "The Scarlet Masque", Fate of Istus:
-In 591, Hissek Sharn, Telek Senh, Ihilin Soron, Firuz Tesh, and of course, Korenth Zan were still in Hesuel Ilshar (Scarlet Brotherhood, p. 26). My notes say that Issor Ferh died between 580 and 591, but I don't have it endnoted...
Saga of Old City: Lady Evaleigh became Archbaroness of Ratik and a recurring character.
I'm sure I missed a few, but that's a start.
EDITED
Last edited by jamesdglick on Wed Aug 27, 2025 10:15 am; edited 1 time in total
Agath of Thrunch is mentioned in that Dungeon as spending much of his time at the Azure Arcaneum, a library-temple to Celestian, in Magepoint, the village near The Fortress of Unknown Depths on the southern shore of the Nyr Dyv. In the same article, I believe there's a mention that Thrunch is located in Principality Ulek, where his home shrine/temple is located.
Am DMing this adventure path right now and the party savant has insinuated herself into his good graces to gain free access to the Athenaeum's library and become an honorary librarian or such.
I was studying the article "Seltaren" in Oerth Journal #23 (pp. 13, 18-19) about that town sometime in in 590s and noticed the character of Valerius Tolaesur. Based on his description, I thought he reminded me of a character in Rogue's Gallery. Bingo! (Tolaesur = Erol Otus). I'd occasionally kept tracked of such things before. Of those characters appearing in Rogue's Gallery, there are the Lake Geneva gang PCs who you could say have been done to death: Bigby, Mordenkainen, Robilar, and Tenser. Riggby and Serten, not so much. RG was published in 1980, so I gues that would roughly equate to 576, although I remember reading somewhere that some of the stat's aren't that accurate. Of the less well known characters featured in Rogue's Gallery:
-In 585, Grimsdale shows up in Tenser's Castle (Return of the Circle of Eight, p. 44);
-In 591, Gormadoc is in Hardby, an agent of the Slavers (Slavers, p. 85);
-~591, Luther is the head of a monastery of Heironeian monks (Bastion of Faith, p. 44);
-In 591, Phoebus is the mayor of Greatrock in the Hardby domains (Slavers, p. 47).
I don't remember where they were first mentioned, but Queg and Yrag ended up in Greyhawk City (Adventure Begins, IIRC).
Other works:
Pre-Generated PCs from Against the Giants: Around 594, Frush O'Suggill was the Captain-General of Istivin's City Watch ("Istivin: City of Shadows", Dungeon #117).
NPCs from Against the Giants: Obmi and Eclavdra became powerful, recurring NPCs.
Pre-Gen' PCs from Ghost Tower of Inverness: By 591, Hodar became the head of the Academy of Sorcery in Dyvers (Slavers, 14), and the deposed Seer became a recurring NPC.
Pre-Gen' PCs from Isle of the Ape: In the mid-580s, Rakehell Chert and Warnes Starcoat became major NPCs. Agath of Thrunch was later detailed as living in Ulek (based on GHWiki, Dungeon #130? I don't remember that).
crossword guru
Pre-Gen' PCs from Puppets: By 591, Larissa became Lord Mayor of Dyvers (Slavers, p. 6).
Greyhawk Adventures: Most of the figures were already powerful, canonical figures. Of the nobodies:
-Giuliana Mortidus became a recurring NPC;
-I thought I remembered Alesh Marin getting an update at some point, but maybe not: http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=6005&highlight=
-AFAIK, Tang the Horrific never made on on-screen appearance, but his final fate was frequently mentioned in histories of Iuz and the Rovers of the Barrens.
NPCs in "The Scarlet Masque", Fate of Istus:
-In 591, Hissek Sharn, Telek Senh, Ihilin Soron, Firuz Tesh, and of course, Korenth Zan were still in Hesuel Ilshar (Scarlet Brotherhood, p. 26). My notes say that Issor Ferh died between 580 and 591, but I don't have it endnoted...
Saga of Old City: Lady Evaleigh became Archbaroness of Ratik.
I'm surfe I missed a few, but that's a start.
Wow!! this is a fantastic compilation! Thanks for sharing your research and cross-referencing so many obscure sources. I’ve always found it fascinating how many pre-gen PCs and background characters from early modules eventually evolved into full-fledged NPCs in later Greyhawk materials. It's like watching the tapestry of the setting deepen with each passing publication.
Your observation about Valerius Tolaesur possibly being a nod to Erol Otus is particularly sharp. That kind of meta-detail often slips under the radar unless you're deeply familiar with the original Rogue’s Gallery. It’s cool to see how even characters who were initially just stat blocks are woven back into the lore decades later.
This is a fun thread! Let me toss out a couple more:
Two of the pregenerated NPC from the City of Skulls: Kendral and Carlenna got married after that adventure and are still hunting down the forces of Iuz in the Palace of Vecna (Die, Vecna, Die)
Pregen Gleep Wurp the Eyebiter from the G1-3 series is back with a different agenda in the Against the Giants - Liberation of Geoff module. Also making appearances is Faffle in some of the background information.
The scandalous drow artist Ool Eurts, whose drawing of demons are a possible treasure in A4, had his biography updated in Dragon Magazine 300.
Here is an obscure one - in Dragon Magazine Annual from 1999 there was an article on Volhom the Slime Wizard and his spells. In the Oerth Journal # 14, there is a whole article detailing Erelhei-Cinlu adding this character into the mix. Also from the same article are references to the pregenerated NPCs throughout the GDQ series, so that is a neat mine of call backs to the original series of adventures.
All these little cameos are fun easter egg type things, but also lends some more shared experiences to the game world.
...Two of the pregenerated NPC from the City of Skulls: Kendral and Carlenna got married after that adventure and are still hunting down the forces of Iuz in the Palace of Vecna (Die, Vecna, Die)
Pregen Gleep Wurp the Eyebiter from the G1-3 series is back with a different agenda in the Against the Giants - Liberation of Geoff module. Also making appearances is Faffle in some of the background information.
The scandalous drow artist Ool Eurts, whose drawing of demons are a possible treasure in A4, had his biography updated in Dragon Magazine 300.
Here is an obscure one - in Dragon Magazine Annual from 1999 there was an article on Volhom the Slime Wizard and his spells. In the Oerth Journal # 14, there is a whole article detailing Erelhei-Cinlu adding this character into the mix. Also from the same article are references to the pregenerated NPCs throughout the GDQ series, so that is a neat mine of call backs to the original series of adventures...
-I'll have to check those out.
Osmund-Davizid wrote:
...All these little cameos are fun easter egg type things, but also lends some more shared experiences to the game world...
-It somehow adds a little verisimilitude to the campaign, even if the players never catch on. They might never know, but YOU do.
2e Module Return of the Eight has a young wizard named Skye the Lioness as a student of Jallarzi of the Circle of Eight living in her tower. In Casl Entertainment's modules that follow up on the A series of adventures, the patron of the party sent to slay "Marquessa" happens to be a wizardess named Skye the Lioness with a bear familiar. Judging from the time setting, it seems clear that this is intentional, as the Casl A5-10 modules are set up to be a "next generation" of adventurers facing off against the last of the Slave Lords.
There are tons of other references to the pregenerated characters from the A1-4 modules in these adventures as well, usually with their names spelled backwards or as anagrams. I enjoy going through all the casl adventures to find references like these hat tips to the old materials on which they are based.
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