D&D General [+] Tell me about Greyhawk

[MerricB]

Out of curiosity, was the GH boxed set really that different than the original FR one? I never owned GH, but I reacall FR coming out pretty bare bones, too, with just some maps and a couple thin pamphlets in the box.

The FR one had a lot more on key NPCs. That was the most striking thing about it - and I found them very evocative.

 

[Reynard]

The FR one had a lot more on key NPCs. That was the most striking thing about it - and I found them very evocative.

I do remember a few pages of portraits and one paragraph bios, now that you mention it. I assume that GH did not do that?

 

[Swanosaurus]

- but there are darker threats, such as the Land of Iuz, the evil cambion ruler of a land of orcs and mercenaries, all ready for conquest.

Iuz had been gone for a century - trapped by the Mad Archmage beneath Castle Zagyg - but he then returned after being freed by a foolish adventurer, and now he hungers for conquest once more. Of course, his land is no longer united - one faction, the Horned Society declared independence and now holds his eastern capital. He has to get it back! But once he does so, he'll be ready to take on the southern lands once more.

This part sounds cool - it probably wasn't part of the original Greyhawk (though I wouldn't know), but I really like the idea of Orcs and other traditionally "evil" ancestries traditionally having been the foot-soldiers of an evil power, but being fed up with it and setting out to do their own thing, which isn't necessarily evil. It can serve as a great critical reflection on the notion of "evil races" and it can also be a really fun adventure element: "Yeah, there's a nation of orcs right next to the evil empire; actually, they were once part of the evil empire, but now, they hate it more than anything in the world. And they're looking to help liberate their orc sisters and brothers there ..."

 

[Reynard]

This part sounds cool - it probably wasn't part of the original Greyhawk (though I wouldn't know), but I really like the idea of Orcs and other traditionally "evil" ancestries traditionally having been the foot-soldiers of an evil power, but being fed up with it and setting out to do their own thing, which isn't necessary evil. It can serve as a great critical reflection on the notion of "evil races" and it can also be a really fun adventure element: "Yeah, there's a nation of orcs right next to the evil empire; actually, they were once part of the evil empire, but now, they hate it more than anything in the world. And they're looking to help liberate their orc sisters and brothers there ..."

You can map it pretty well onto the vast "barbarian" mercenary armies various empires have used, only to have those "barbarians" come settle in the Empire and take over, forming their own civilized kingdoms.

 

[LordBP]

The Gord the Rogue series of books has a lot of information on Greyhawk and surrounding areas in the first few books.

 

[Lidgar]

If you ever read any of the Elric books, you'll find a lot of similarities between Greyhawk and the Young Kingdoms. Many small nations/city states that are constantly at war, all the while defending themselves from invading barbarians and extra-planer threats.

Powerful demons in particular are pretty prevalent, whether it be through powerful summoners or through their own volition(witness Iuz, Zuggtomy, Llolth). The gods opposed to these forces generally act through their followers rather than directly, and can be rather standoffish. In general this makes for a grittier, more deadly feel than the Realms (at least for me).

 

[Distracted DM]

I like Greyhawk because of some of the gonzo stuff in it- it's also the place that gave us St. Pelor Cuthbert, the guy from our earth.
But most importantly it gave us the black n white tv cowboy deity, Murlynd.

Greyhawk taught me that there's a home for very weird and strange stuff in D&D, and that occasionally dropping bits n pieces of it in your otherwise western fantasy game can make things interesting.

 

[Wolfpack48]

My sense of Greyhawk when we played in it, was that everything felt much more distant, silo'd, pocketed and dangerous. There were other lands and states and kingdoms out there, and you heard lots of rumors, but to adventure that far to see what was going on there was a big deal. Lots of wild open space with sights no one in your village would have ever imagined. What was beyond your small pocket of the world was a huge mystery.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I like Greyhawk because of some of the gonzo stuff in it- it's also the place that gave us St. Pelor, the guy from our earth.
But most importantly it gave us the black n white tv cowboy deity, Murlynd.

View attachment 363395

Greyhawk taught me that there's a home for very weird and strange stuff in D&D, and that occasionally dropping bits n pieces of it in your otherwise western fantasy game can make things interesting.

See, this is how you sell it!

I'm constantly confused by how people try to sell Greyhawk with how generic and boring it is and how it doesn't have any of the races people like when there's a cowboy god, a desert full of mutants and a wizard conspiracy going on.

 

[Reynard]

See, this is how you sell it!

I'm constantly confused by how people try to sell Greyhawk with how generic and boring it is and how it doesn't have any of the races people like when there's a cowboy god, a desert full of mutants and a wizard conspiracy going on.

Legitimately, if I had known any of that about Greyhawk I might have bothered to look at in sometime in the last 30 years or so. But it was always "Gary's setting with knights and castles."