The world of Nehwon is the creation of the famous fantasy author, Fritz Leiber.
In it are a vast variety of gods, goddesses, and heroes of the best && worst sort.
It is a world where magic is mixed with adventure to form a land that is very enjoyable to read about.

-
Striding through the pages of Leiber's books are two xtraordinary characters:
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.
The first is a huge barbarian from the cold north,
and the second is a swarthy man from the decadent depths of the city.
These two combine to create a set of stories that delight and thrill all those who read them.

These characters live and play in the city of Lankhmar,
the oldest center of civilization on the planet.
Within the walls of the city lie everything an AD&D player could ask for.

This material <> includes the concept of Godsland.
This is an AREA on the astral plane where most of the gods reside (irrespective of their alignment). <>
From this AREA <> they keep an eye on,
and are often called to help,
the respective cults.

NOTE: Before developing the creatures and deities of this series,
some attention should be given to a few of the organizations of the world of Nehwon.
 

Thieves Guild of Lankhmar	Slayers' Brotherhood	Snow Witches	Fire Sorcerers of the East	Gems
-	-	Cults of the Beast	-	-

All alignments	Death
Fighters	Kos
Eastern Warriors	Red God
LG	Issek of the Jug, Votishal
NG	-
CG	-
LN	Aarth
N	Kos, Red God
CN	-
LE	-
NE	Gods of Lankhmar
CE	Gods of Trouble, Hate, Nehwon Earth God, Rat God, Spider God, Tyaa
Citizens of Lankhmar	Gods of Lankhmar
Wererats	Rat God

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Though the works of the esteemed author Fritz Leiber are numerous, only
those referring to the gods, creatures, and heroes (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, in particular)
of Nehwon were used in compiling this section.
These are available in paperback editions from Ace books (New York),
and include the following titles:

    Swords Against Deviltry
    Swords Against Death
    Swords in the Mist
    Swords Against Wizardry
    The Swords of Lankhmar
    Swords and Ice Magic

<
The tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are chronicled by Fritz Leiber in six books, each of which has the word "Swords" in its name.
The books, and the stories therein, follow the career of these two swordsmen-heroes in chronological order, although short stories found in other collections may fit anywhere in the history.

Swords and Deviltry
    "The Snow Women"
    "The Unholy Grail"
    "Ill Met in Lankhmar"

Swords Against Death
    "The Circle Curse"
    "The Jewels in the Forest"
    "Thieves' House"
    "The Bleak Shore"

They Don't Exist?
To The Editor:
After reading Bert Calfee’s letter in TD #32, I
decided to throw in my two cents’ worth concerning
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser in your “Giants in
the Earth” column (TD #27). You report Graywand
as a +2 sword, and Scalpel and Cat’s Claw
as +1 weapons. Actually, there is no Graywand,
Scalpel, or Cat’s Claw. I refer to the quote in “The
Prince of Pain-Ease” (Swords Against Death):
“. . . they habitually stole their possessions, even
their swords and daggers, which they always
named Graywand and Heartseeker and Scalpel
and Cat’s Claw, no matter how often they lost them
and pilfered replacements. . .”

I do not mean to be picky or snobbish, but I am
certain that most DM’s would like to be accurate if
they use these two characters.

By the way, why wasn’t “Giants in the Earth”
in TD #32? It is my favorite column in your excellent
magazine.

Matt Lussenhop
—Minneapolis, MN
(The Dragon #36)
 

Mr. Lussenhop has a good point, but receives
an answer similar to Mr. Calfee’s. I called one of the
authors of Giants in the Earth, Lawrence Schick, <link>
for an opinion, and he explained that the plusses
were given to the weapons to represent their effectiveness
as they are used in the world of Nehwon.
Rationale? Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser could steal
magical weapons, couldn’t they? The point is, the
plusses were necessary to have Fafhrd and the
Mouser exhibit their superiority over “normal”
D&D and AD&D characters. The same effect could
have been obtained by giving the pair plusses to hit
with their normal weapons. But it is easier to rationalize
a benefit due to magic than an arbitrary “plus
to hit” given to one character and not to another of
the same level.

Mr. Schick also reminded me that Giants in the
Earth is subject to interpretation, just as are all the
variants/NPC’s for D&D and AD&D. That doesn’t
mean characteristics can be changed indiscriminately
without affecting play balance, but it does
mean if you don’t like one rationalization for a
given effect, you may interpret things differently, so
long as the effect is constant.

—Jake
(The Dragon #36)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

    "The Howling Tower"
    "The Sunken Land"
    "The Seven Black Priests"
    "Claws from the Night"
    "The Price of Pain-Ease"
    "Bazaar of the Bizarre"

Swords in the Mist
    "The Clouds of Hate"
    "Lean Times in Lankhmar"
    "Their Mistress, the Sea"
    "When the Sea-King's Away"
    "The Wrong Branch"
    "Adept's Gambit"

Swords Against Wizardry
    "In the Witch's Tent"
    "Stardock"
    "The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar"
    "The Lords of Quarmall"

Swords of Lankhmar
    A novel in seventeen chapters.

Swords and Ice Magic
    "The Sadness of the Executioner"
    "Beauty and the Beasts"
    "Trapped in the Shadowland"
    "The Bait"
    "Under the Thumbs of the Gods"
    "The Frost Monstreme"
    "Rime Isle"

from: CA0 Lankhmar, City of Adventure

>

<if a colour map can be found, reduce this one: include both>

 

<there is another placement in the magic items section of Dragon>

 

-
 

<CA0>

 

<rename image file to nehwon.grid>
 

LNA1 Thieves of Lankhmar (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons)

"Thieves of Lankhmar is the companion volume to the AD&D game accessory,
Lankhmar, City of Adventure and further enhances the exciting,
dark, and dangerous setting of that Nehwonian city."

An Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure/sourcebook.

LNA1 details the Thieves' Guild of the City of Lankhmar, most powerful of the many guilds of the city.
An essential reference if your campaign involves a thief from the Guild of Lankhmar.

Lankhmar, City of Adventure is required to fully understand/play LNA1.

* 96 pages

LNA2 Nehwon (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons)

"It is the year of the Zodac-no-Kara, the year of the wizard's champions."

An Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure, for character levels 7-12.

LNA2 is a quest from the god Aarth, himself!

Lankhmar, City of Adventure is required to fully understand/play LNA2.

* 96 pages + full color fold-out map

LNA3 Prince of Lankhmar (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons)

"Your party is sent on a relatively easy mission:
Escort the Prince of Lankhmar home from his school in Ilthmar."

An Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure, for character levels 10-14.

Lankhmar, City of Adventure is required to fully understand/play LNA3.

* 96 pages + full color fold-out map

This letter contains some thoughts on TSR's
LANKHMAR: City of Adventure supplement
and campaigns in general.  I find the supplement
interesting to simply to read, and as a fan of Fritz
Leiber, I'm pleased to see his work treated
generally well.

While reading the adventures of Fafhrd and
the Grey Mouser, I compared them to the
adventures into which a DM might throw his
players and to the way that magic and magical
items are controlled. I quickly came to the
conclusion that Mr. Leiber is a very good DM, as
well as a good writer. Nowhere is a sorcerer a
pushover, nor is a sorcerer too difficult to
defeat. The stories also show that reasonably
intelligent men and women wielding swords can
prove to be worthy adversaries for a magicuser.
The stories add up to a nicely balanced
campaign, and the Rime Isle stories are especially
interesting, since the Norse pantheon is so
popular with other DMs. Any of the stories
could be subtitled thus: ?A Discourse on How to
Adventure Against Mighty Foes, and How It Can
Be Satisfying Without Finding Gold as a
Reward!"

I also found that on at least one occasion,
Fafhrd possessed a magical blade. In ?The
Clouds of Hate," his sword Graywand hums a
warning! Obviously, that?s a sword +1 that
detects evil in a 2? radius. Well, maybe being a
superstitious barbarian (as opposed to a pragmatic
citizen of southern cities) enabled him to
be attuned to supernatural vibes, but I think of
the sword as a product of sorcerous crafts.

And now to my campaign in particular. Contradictions
appear within the stories; this was
inevitable, because they were written over a
number of years. Those contradictions allow
any DM a great deal of leeway to customize the
background for his own use. A specific example
is the Trollstep Mountains. Why are they called
that? Because trolls are said to live there. Yet, in
?Rime Isle,? trolls are mentioned and the Mouser
has not heard of the word! Elsewhere in the
series, giants and satyrs are mentioned, but as
though they were fairy tales. This might be a
liberty, but in my version of Nehwon, giants,
trolls, and ogres do exist (if there are trolls,
ogres cannot be too far behind!). Also, blue,
black, and white dragons are known to roam
far-off lands.

Having ogres allows half-ogre PCs to exist. In
addition, ice gnome PCs can be found. These
last cannot be illusionists ? but they do receive
an extra hit die at 1st level; that is, fighters get
2d10, thieves receive 2d6, etc. I also allow the
ice gnomes to have bonuses of +1 per 4½
points of constitution to saving throws vs. ice
magic. Naturally, they have difficulty with
Lankhmar?s hot climate. Both races are infrequently
met, but it adds to our enjoyment.

So, we have an already fascinating background
courtesy of Mr. Leiber, with the house
rules all DMs indulge in.

Ron L. Newsome
Melbourne, Australia
(Dragon #136)
 
 

NOTES BY GARY GYGAX

GenCon X at the Playboy Club was a blast.
About 1,700 persons attended, filling the place to capacity.
The young gamers loved it as there was a balcony where they could look down on passing Bunnies with their "boobs on the half shell" costumes.

Lighting was not good, and many groups played in the hotel halls using candles for additional light.

Fritz Leiber (Fafhrd) and his mate Harry Fisher (Gray Mouser) were the GoHs.
Fritz was most interesting to talk to,
and Harry was a wild man despite beinbg around age 70 (which I will hit next year).
The night room parties were in Harry's quarters...
with much revelry,
quaffing,
and party favors supplied by him.

Cheers,
Gary
 
 

Here is the list of most of my short fiction that was published as individual storues. Sadly, I can not find the Fafhrd & Grat Mouser one that runs to about 30K words as I recall :\

...
“Swords of Eternity” (Fantasy short story based on Fritz Leiber’s “Lankhmar” universe, featuring Sheelba, Ningauble, Fafhrd, and the Gray Mouser—a tribute to Frits that is still unpublished.)
...

Cheerio,
Gary
 

I am hopeful that the ms. for the yarn will turn up on an old Mac+ disk that is misplaced somewhere in the incredible clutter of the basement here. If not, Ed Kramer might eventually be able to dig it up...if he is ever back in the antholigy business. Ed was the one that put me onto the then-planned antholigy in tribute to Fritz. I went with Sheelba and Ningauble as the main characters in deference to Fritz of course, as he was a friend.

Cheerio,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gentlegamer
I think that in many ways, the sci-fi/fantasy dichotomy is a false one. Many of the most influential stories in the "fantasy" genre have a healthy dose of "sci-fi" in them as well. In fact, it is this quality that serves as the primary difference between that genre that began in the 20th century that separated it from the "fairy tales" that preceded it.

I think Gary's preference, like mine, isn't necessarily for "sword and sorcery" but for "pulp adventure" and the "well wrought tale" genre. This view is comfortable with running a pseudo-medieval campaign setting that has crashed space ships, side treks to Barsoom, guargantuan carnivorous apes, and cowboys. 

Actually, REH's and Leiber's tales are amongst my very favorites, and they are pure pure S&S. OTOH, I enjoy fairy tales and fantasy yarns with some technology/scoience fantasy included, as noted above.

So yes, my taste in fantasy is surely eclecticm and includes MArgater St. Claire's The Secret People

Cheerio,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by grodog
I've run into similar issues with many of my old campaign articles: they're all on 5.25" floppies formatted to a Commodore 128 word processing program that I forget the name of. In my case, I have printouts of most of the content, probably, so I'm a bit less concerned, but I would still like to inventory and transfer the floppies sometime....

I'm glad to hear that Gary's found this ms., and hope you'll find other lost goodies as well. Is there a chance that there's anything interesting from NIPI on those CDs?

Nothing from New Infinities. All of the files are post that time IIRR. What I am anxious about is a complete Setne Inhetep novel that was the first of a new action-adventure trilogy I planned and the long short story JTR mentioned featuring Ning' and Sheelba I wrote for a Fritz Leiber-tribute anthology that Ed Kramer was overseeing and editing.

Cheers,
Gary

I surely liked Fritz very much, loved his writing, and the lost long short story I have not yet recovered us very much a tribute to Mr. Leiber. That is why I focused on thetwo wizards as the central figures in the tale.

Cheers,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by grodog
Sounds great, Gary: hopefully you'll rediscover the story, and it'll see print. If you're interested, I'll keep you in the loop on my discussions with Justin re: a new edition of his father's books.

I have met Justin and spolen and written to him a few times in the past. I would very much like to be kept informed about any arrangements for reprinting Fritz's stories.

Cheers,
Gary
 
 

Leiber, Fritz. "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" Series; et al.

is that the frost snake?
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j8/darkmattr/swords.jpg

White Wolf