J is for Jinxland

jinxland is in oz

I is for Imagination

There is no
Life I know
To compare with
Pure imagination
--Willie Wonka
Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Imagination is more important than knowledge
-- Albert Einstein

Imagination has brought mankind through the Dark Ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity. Imagination has given us the steam engine, the telephone, the talking-machine and the automobile, for these things had to be dreamed of before they became realities. So I believe that dreams—day dreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain-machinery whizzing—are likely to lead to the betterment of the world.
-- L. Frank Baum
The Lost Princess of Oz

H is for H.M. Wogglebug, T.E.

The Highly Magnified and Thoroughly Educated Wogglebug is one of the most famous characters to appear in the Oz stories.

What? You've never heard of him? Okay, so he didn't make it into MGM's big movie, or Return to Oz, which featured a number of other characters and incidents from The Marvelous Land of Oz (the book in which he made his first appearance).

But back in the day, he was big news. In 1904-05, people all over the country were asked "What did the Wogglebug say?" via their newspapers. In 1905, he appeared on stage in a play called (appropriately enough) The Wogglebug and also got his own Wogglebug Book.

G is for Gillikin

The Gillikin Country of Oz occupies the northern quadrant of the map of Oz. It is looked after by the Good Witch of the North, whose name is not revealed in the stories. This is not Glinda, who is the Good Witch of the South. When MGM made the movie version, they simply put the two Good Witches into the same actress. For those of you who have read Wicked, Gregrory Maguire tries to split the difference here by having Glinda come from the Gillikin Country even though she assumes power in the Quadling Country (So she's from the North, but of the South).

There was also a Wicked Witch of the North, who was named Mombi. Although she was replaced by a Good Witch, she managed to hold on to a very powerful secret. The Princess Ozma, rightful ruler of Oz, was held by Mombi, magically disguised as a boy named Tippetarius (making Ozma the only transgendered character in Oz that I'm aware of). After the enchantment was lifted and Ozma ascended to the throne of Oz, Mombi was stripped of her magic. Where she is now is anyone's guess (unless they've read The Lost King of Oz).

Other notable features of the Gillikin Country include:

The Forest of Gugu: The largest forest of the Gillikin Country is ruled over by King Gugu, an immense Leopard.

Flathead Mountain: A mountain with a large flat headland at its peak. The Flatheads live here and carry their brains in cans, since their heads are flat where everyone else has brains. They've had a long-running feud with their neighbors, the Skeezers.

F is for Fuddlecumjig

Fuddlecumjig is one of the more interesting bits of the land of Oz. A small town in the Quadling Country, Dorothy visits during the story The Emerald City of Oz. The people who live there are called Fuddles and have a rather special talent: When startled or surprised, they break down into puzzle pieces and scatter themselves.

The Fuddles also make an appearance in the adventure The Jaded City of Oz in the back of Adventures in Oz: Fantasy Roleplaying Beyond the Yellow Brick Road. In the adventure, the characters meet a mismatched Fuddle called Horbull. He got some of his pieces mixed up with another Fuddle and wound up getting the short end of the stick in the exchange.

This is one of my favorite sections of the Jaded City adventure. Mostly because I have some props. It's always cool when you can put a piece of the game world in your players' hands. As an added bonus, these puzzles give players something to play with.

E is for Emerald City

The Emerald City is not only at the heart of Oz (being right in the middle of the four major countries of Oz), but it is also the heart of most of the Oz stories. Quite a few of the stories begin there and nearly all of them end there.

A few months ago, I spent a couple of posts looking at the Emerald City as a place for your characters to hang out and have adventures in. Rather than simply regurgitate that material, I think I'll just provide some links.

The Emerald Sandbox

This is the (Emerald) City

And if you are interested in purchasing Adventures in Oz: Fantasy Roleplaying Beyond the Yellow Brick Road, you can buy it at DriveThruRPG in print and PDF!

D is for Dorothy

It's almost not an Oz story if it doesn't have Dorothy. L. Frank Baum learned that lesson rather quickly. His second Oz novel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, is the only one to not feature Dorothy. Every other Oz novel he wrote featured her in some capacity. In most of the stories, she is one of the main protagonists. In some others, she appears in some other capacity, such as to welcome the story's hero or heroine to the Emerald City or to rescue an imprisoned protagonist (such as in Rinkitink in Oz). But Dorothy is always there.

For Adventures in Oz game stats on Dorothy and info on the Adventures in Oz Characters Pack, click here.