Campaigning In Greyhawk - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Campaigning In Greyhawk

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
aubri
Jul 15, 2005 22:26:49 I'm DMing a game in the Greyhawk/Oerth setting, centered in and around Rel Astra. This is my first journey outside module-land.
Now, I realize the "standard D&D world" is intended to be whatever you want, but I'm not good at inventing things whole-cloth. Being a particularly ancient setting (in real life terms) I'm sure Greyhawk has a huge mass of material I can draw on. Can anyone offer suggestions? I'm interested in information specific to Rel Astra and the Solnor Compact (in the pre-war period) and in the generalities of the world--at the moment, I have the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer which is helpful, but extremely general. Does Greyhawk have any established underdark, or is that left to the DM to design?

Anyway. I'm also looking for specific suggestions. As it stands, the PCs hail from the wilder areas surrounding the Sea Princes. They've been shipped to Rel Astra by a deposed Lord Drax to help him reclaim his city from the barbarian who took over with the help of a conspiracy of powerful merchants. So far so good, and that plot will hold for a while. The conspiracy ensures that the barbarian, King Roostam, can't do too much damage, meanwhile enriching themselves. Roostam is personally good aligned, but is also chaotic, and thus makes a lousy ruler without the support of wise advisors.

However, the conspiracy feels like it needs another motive behind it--for example, the Scarlet Brotherhood manipulating them to get rid of an intractable ruler. Anything from SB agents to tsochari pod-people is fine; the trouble is that SB or other human agencies just seem a little... bland to me. D&D is partly about the monsters, after all! What do you think would make a good ultimate foe?
#2
zombiegleemax
Jul 15, 2005 23:25:30
Does Greyhawk have any established underdark, or is that left to the DM to design?

I am not the Greyhawk expert by any means, but have been running Greyhawk games for a long time, so I will take a shot at this:

I think evidence definitely exists that would support Greyhawk having an "underdark" of sorts. From the 'D' series adventures, to Dungeon adventures, such as "Lord of the Scarlet Tide" and "The Harrowing" an underdark of sorts seems to be present.

For more Greyhawk info visit www.canonfire.com .

I have always wanted to do Yuan-Ti as my ultimate foe race. There seems to be so much room there. They could even originate very close to the lands of the Sea Princes (just a bit to the south).

DM
#3
Amaril
Jul 16, 2005 3:24:32 The concept of Underdark originated in Greyhawk and was ported to Forgotten Realms. However, there is no single expansive resource that illustrates or describes Underdark in Greyhawk.
#4
Elendur
Jul 16, 2005 11:12:31 Gah! This is the second poster asking about a 'Greyhawk Underdark'.

I fear the next post we'll see will be like this:

"So I'm thinking about writing up as NPCs those names that are on the spells in the Player's Handbook, like Bigby and Tenser. What campaign setting do you think would be appropriate?"
#5
Amaril
Jul 16, 2005 11:17:41
Gah! This is the second poster asking about a 'Greyhawk Underdark'.

I fear the next post we'll see will be like this:

"So I'm thinking about writing up as NPCs those names that are on the spells in the Player's Handbook, like Bigby and Tenser. What campaign setting do you think would be appropriate?"

Which is why WotC needs to give its "core" setting a small bit more attention. No i'm not trying to pitch a new campaign setting book; I just think their web site could feature a few articles that detail the core setting a bit more for those who barely know the world.

You know what's funny? I have some friends who still play D&D and have been playing for years more than I have, and they don't know anything about Greyhawk.
#6
aubri
Jul 18, 2005 16:09:04
The concept of Underdark originated in Greyhawk and was ported to Forgotten Realms. However, there is no single expansive resource that illustrates or describes Underdark in Greyhawk.

Yeah, I despise FR for a variety of reasons.
I see the idea on Canonfire that Greyhawk/Oerth has underdark areas but that they're not all connected into a single system. Sounds good to me. I see some reference to "The Sunless Sea" which drains in three massive waterfalls from Nyr Dyv (or however it's spelled), the Great Swamp in Sunndi, and someplace else. Does this come from one of the old modules?
#7
Amaril
Jul 18, 2005 16:42:15
Yeah, I despise FR for a variety of reasons.
I see the idea on Canonfire that Greyhawk/Oerth has underdark areas but that they're not all connected into a single system. Sounds good to me. I see some reference to "The Sunless Sea" which drains in three massive waterfalls from Nyr Dyv (or however it's spelled), the Great Swamp in Sunndi, and someplace else. Does this come from one of the old modules?

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=1119

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 aubri Jul 15, 2005 22:26:49	I'm DMing a game in the Greyhawk/Oerth setting, centered in and around Rel Astra. This is my first journey outside module-land. Now, I realize the "standard D&D world" is intended to be whatever you want, but I'm not good at inventing things whole-cloth. Being a particularly ancient setting (in real life terms) I'm sure Greyhawk has a huge mass of material I can draw on. Can anyone offer suggestions? I'm interested in information specific to Rel Astra and the Solnor Compact (in the pre-war period) and in the generalities of the world--at the moment, I have the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer which is helpful, but extremely general. Does Greyhawk have any established underdark, or is that left to the DM to design? Anyway. I'm also looking for specific suggestions. As it stands, the PCs hail from the wilder areas surrounding the Sea Princes. They've been shipped to Rel Astra by a deposed Lord Drax to help him reclaim his city from the barbarian who took over with the help of a conspiracy of powerful merchants. So far so good, and that plot will hold for a while. The conspiracy ensures that the barbarian, King Roostam, can't do too much damage, meanwhile enriching themselves. Roostam is personally good aligned, but is also chaotic, and thus makes a lousy ruler without the support of wise advisors. However, the conspiracy feels like it needs another motive behind it--for example, the Scarlet Brotherhood manipulating them to get rid of an intractable ruler. Anything from SB agents to tsochari pod-people is fine; the trouble is that SB or other human agencies just seem a little... bland to me. D&D is partly about the monsters, after all! What do you think would make a good ultimate foe?
#2 zombiegleemax Jul 15, 2005 23:25:30	Does Greyhawk have any established underdark, or is that left to the DM to design? I am not the Greyhawk expert by any means, but have been running Greyhawk games for a long time, so I will take a shot at this: I think evidence definitely exists that would support Greyhawk having an "underdark" of sorts. From the 'D' series adventures, to Dungeon adventures, such as "Lord of the Scarlet Tide" and "The Harrowing" an underdark of sorts seems to be present. For more Greyhawk info visit www.canonfire.com . I have always wanted to do Yuan-Ti as my ultimate foe race. There seems to be so much room there. They could even originate very close to the lands of the Sea Princes (just a bit to the south). DM
#3 Amaril Jul 16, 2005 3:24:32	The concept of Underdark originated in Greyhawk and was ported to Forgotten Realms. However, there is no single expansive resource that illustrates or describes Underdark in Greyhawk.
#4 Elendur Jul 16, 2005 11:12:31	Gah! This is the second poster asking about a 'Greyhawk Underdark'. I fear the next post we'll see will be like this: "So I'm thinking about writing up as NPCs those names that are on the spells in the Player's Handbook, like Bigby and Tenser. What campaign setting do you think would be appropriate?"
#5 Amaril Jul 16, 2005 11:17:41	Gah! This is the second poster asking about a 'Greyhawk Underdark'. I fear the next post we'll see will be like this: "So I'm thinking about writing up as NPCs those names that are on the spells in the Player's Handbook, like Bigby and Tenser. What campaign setting do you think would be appropriate?" Which is why WotC needs to give its "core" setting a small bit more attention. No i'm not trying to pitch a new campaign setting book; I just think their web site could feature a few articles that detail the core setting a bit more for those who barely know the world. You know what's funny? I have some friends who still play D&D and have been playing for years more than I have, and they don't know anything about Greyhawk.
#6 aubri Jul 18, 2005 16:09:04	The concept of Underdark originated in Greyhawk and was ported to Forgotten Realms. However, there is no single expansive resource that illustrates or describes Underdark in Greyhawk. Yeah, I despise FR for a variety of reasons. I see the idea on Canonfire that Greyhawk/Oerth has underdark areas but that they're not all connected into a single system. Sounds good to me. I see some reference to "The Sunless Sea" which drains in three massive waterfalls from Nyr Dyv (or however it's spelled), the Great Swamp in Sunndi, and someplace else. Does this come from one of the old modules?
#7 Amaril Jul 18, 2005 16:42:15	Yeah, I despise FR for a variety of reasons. I see the idea on Canonfire that Greyhawk/Oerth has underdark areas but that they're not all connected into a single system. Sounds good to me. I see some reference to "The Sunless Sea" which drains in three massive waterfalls from Nyr Dyv (or however it's spelled), the Great Swamp in Sunndi, and someplace else. Does this come from one of the old modules? http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=1119