together sought to balance the forces of good and evil. Mordenkainen is one of the famous mages whose spells were included in the 1988 Greyhawk Adventures hardbound. His name has been associated with various spells published in the Dungeons & Dragons system of magic. Publishing history Mordenkainen's AD&D statistics were first published in The Rogues Gallery (1980), although Gary Gygax was later emphatic that he never gave author Brian Blume any information about the wizard, and insisted that Blume had been forced to make up the published statistics. Variations on Mordenkainen's AD&D statistics were also published in Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure (1984), The City of Greyhawk (1989) and Epic Level Handbook (2002). He was also mentioned in the following publications: Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk (2007) "The Wizards Three" series of articles from Dragon Magazine Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium (2011) Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (2018) Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse (2022) Mordenkainen also figured prominently in the parody adventure Castle Greyhawk (1988), in which he runs a film studio, possibly a reference to Gary Gygax's work at the time as TSR's liaison to Hollywood while he was developing the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon and other projects. Mordenkainen appears in material for the fifth edition of D&D, including Curse of Strahd (2016), and Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (2019). Mordenkainen's name appeared in certain spells core rulebooks of the game's 3rd edition's as one of the few elements from Greyhawk, even though that was designated as the core setting. Spells named after Mordenkainen also appear in D&D-based computer games like Neverwinter Nights. Description Mordenkainen is described as tall, with a greyly streaked Van Dyke beard, wearing long boots and carrying a staff. He keeps his own council and does not tolerate fools. He operates according to a theory based on power balance and Neutrality, trying to keep neither Good nor Evil from getting the upper hand; he operates very much from the shadows. Reception Mordenkainen was #9 on Game Rant's 2020 "10 Must-Have NPCs In Dungeons & Dragons Lore To Make Your Campaigns Awesome" list — the article states that "As an NPC, players might search for Mordenkainen for his expertise in the magical arts. After all, Mordenkainen heads the Circle of Eight, a group of Wizards and prolific spell inventors. Campaigns planning on adapting Curse of Strahd may also include Mordenkainen as an NPC they need to save– or face,