Living Greyhawk modules as canon.

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

zombiegleemax

Jul 20, 2004 8:44:35
I didn't want to hijack the other Living Greyhawk thread on this board so I decided to create another thread, this one devoted to that fabled beast of Greyhawk lore: canon. I'm curious how the recent slew of LG modules affect individual people's campaigns and whether any of these works hold the same status as, say, Against the Giants, or Realms of Horror.

I really like some of these adventures (River of Blood, As he lay Dying, for example) and consider them worthy of canon status. Others, however, are less than spectacular, but I still think there are enough of quality to be placed alongside the greats.

What do you think?



P.S. I think of this as a cross-over question, one equally at home on both boards (LG and here) because it deals with the same world.
#2

zombiegleemax

Jul 20, 2004 9:09:05
Living Greyhawk is an RPGA Campaign.

I don't consider other peoples campaigns "canon," and that would include the RPGAs.

I treat all "living" materials as I do the content of Canonfire. Fan-made materials created for the masses.

The difference to me is that Canonfire content is made by fans for their home campaigns and Living Greyhawk content is made by the RPGA (or triads) for the Living Campaign, although some of it does find its way to home Greyhawk campaigns. (which I do think is a good thing)

Furthermore, (yes, give me a cookie) I get annoyed when "living" topics sprout up here. If I wanna learn or be exposed to "living" materials, I'll go to the RPGA Living Greyhawk boards or to a triad site to discuss their campaign.
#3

faraer

Jul 20, 2004 9:33:15
Well, which canon? They're part of Living Greyhawk canon, but not part of the others: Gygax-canon, Wizards-canon (which is on hiatus and doesn't really currently exist), TSR-canon (from 1998, the last time there was an official continuity), Greyhawk Light canon (the assumed world of the core books).

As to whether they're part of *my* WoG, I haven't seen them.
#4

zombiegleemax

Jul 20, 2004 9:39:51
I have to agree with Marvin, not all the modules are worthy of being considered as canon. Some of the LG Cores are somewhat dubious in their claim to be Greyhawk modules, much less modules.

Erik's pair are worthy of reprinting as a Greyhawk 'official canon, part of the timeline product', and occassionally a few more pop along I'd also consider for the same treatment. Personally I've been thinking it'd be really cool to reprint some of our Onnwal arc modules as a complete campaign, the "ON1-15" megamodule, like the old T1-4 or GDQ1-3 modules. But that's just wishful thinking on my part. ;)

----

As to whether this is the place for L-G discussions, I always view this board as more of a place to discuss the setting of Greyhawk, and that includes LG. The LG board is more taken over to the metagaming aspect of LG (i.e. discussions on rules, how best to min/max etc.) Like the Living_Greyhawk list I've yet to see any real discussion on plot threads, regional flavour etc.

Let's take a look at the Living Greyhawk Boards threads:-

The current 5 threads are:-

Sorcerer Feats
Grey Elf Wizard
Upgrade!?
Multi-Classing.
Best Wizard Feats

To be honest the Greyhawk content (as in discussing the setting, not the game system) in them is likely minimal as they look like threads you could find on any D&D 3.0 or 3.5 board.

On this board on the other hand we've discussed the LG situation in the Bright Desert, the best and worst modules and current events in Nyrond, Furyondy, Veluna and Onnwal in the LG campaign.

Maybe it's me, but LG may seem like another GH campaign, but it has a place on this board just like Joe's campaign down the road, or my home campaign and so on. On the other hand if this board were to degenerate into "What module has cool stuff?" "I want to max out my half-orc sorcerer, what feats do I take?" I'd cry havoc.

It's also worth pointing out no-one knows what the next generation of Greyhawk product is going to be (much less when). Will it use the LG timeline? Not all of it I personally hope, but I hope some of the material is adopted (the better material naturally). ;)

Most of the LG related threads have been pretty clearly labelled, if you don't like them, don't read them, much less reply to them.

On the other hand maybe that's a matter for the moderator to decide if any LG setting discussions belong here.

My 2 units of currency,

Stuart
#5

Greyson

Jul 20, 2004 15:13:28
Originally posted by skerrigan
... I always view this board as more of a place to discuss the setting of Greyhawk, and that includes LG... Maybe it's me, but LG may seem like another GH campaign, but it has a place on this board just like Joe's campaign down the road, or my home campaign and so on.

I share your sentiment, Stuart. The LG forum is so mechanical and it is more aptly named the LG Rules Forum.

This forum is perfectly fine for discussing Living Greyhawk. This forum is a much better place for ideas, creative expression, soliciting comments on content, history, tradition, geography, etc., in Greyhawk - even Living Greyhawk.

Canon? Just like every other piece of material that pertains to Greyhawk, you must pick and choose. Only a few of the scenarios are worthy of the canon appelation. And those few are not generally cores.
#6

bdunn91

Jul 20, 2004 15:19:36
This topic brings up a question. If I wanted to pour over some LG materials out there for possible inclusion in my home game, is there a legit source out there of adventure modules that have been in the LG campaign but are now retired? I'd like an opportunity to dig through some of those for ideas for my home game, but I wasn't involved in running LG events at the time they were active (and might not have even been in the metaregion).

Bill
#7

Brom_Blackforge

Jul 30, 2004 9:34:22
Originally posted by Faraer
Well, which canon? They're part of Living Greyhawk canon, but not part of the others: Gygax-canon, Wizards-canon (which is on hiatus and doesn't really currently exist), TSR-canon (from 1998, the last time there was an official continuity), Greyhawk Light canon (the assumed world of the core books).

As to whether they're part of *my* WoG, I haven't seen them.

Yes, one of the problems of using the term "canon" is that there seem to be multiple definitions floating around, and that doesn't help. It seems to me, though, that Faraer's examples are really just examples of different people's preferences. I think that what "canon" is intended to mean is the official continuity that official published products are not supposed to contradict. (Of course, some official, published products have been officially excised from "canon," so merely being published isn't enough; it's the official recognition that does it.) That's kind of tricky, of course, since the only official (meaning WotC) published Greyhawk products that we're seeing now are the articles in Dungeon, and I think they're all LG-approved. However, many of us are not playing Living Greyhawk, and have never seen any of the scenarios, so it's hard to see how the scenarios themselves could be considered canon, even if they are the things that the published articles can't conflict with (in order to be LG-approved, and thereby get published in the first place).