i just bought the lgg and am dming a hawk game. i have a few ?s
is their psionics in greyhawk?
also whats the flavor of greyhawk?
any tips or anything else that could help me run a greyhawk game?
also what area is a good area to start in?
the pcs start at l4.
is thier any greyhawk books?
ive read the faq.
Also, take a look at this article regarding the Scarlet Brotherhood and the Splintered Mind.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20020623c
The shortest description I can offer for Greyhawk's flavor is cultural diversity, socio-political conflicts, ongoing wars against humanoid armies, magical events, mystical regions, and a lot of greyness in who really are the good guys and the bad guys. Even the good-aligned nations fight one another.
Amidst all of this, there is still the traditional adventuring party crawling through dungeons.
Greyhawk's feel is discussed in this thread.
Greyhawk novels include:
Quag Keep by Andre Norton
Saga of Old City by Gary Gygax
Artifact of Evil by Gary Gygax
Sea of Death by Gary Gygax
Night Arrant by Gary Gygax
City of Hawks by Gary Gygax
Come Endless Darkness by Gary Gygax
Dance of Demons by Gary Gygax
Nightwatch by Robin Wayne Bailey
King of the Dead by Gene Deweese
Against the Giants by Ru Emerson
White Plume Mountain by Paul Kidd
Descent into the Depths of the Earth by Paul Kidd
The Temple of Elemental Evil by Thomas M. Reid
Queen of the Demonweb Pits by Paul Kidd
Keep on the Borderlands by Ru Emerson
The Tomb of Horrors by Keith Francis Strohm
I think they're pretty much all out of print.
...is [there] psionics in greyhawk?
Is the Space Pope reptilian?
Yes, Greyhawk is the original home of psionics. (Among other things.) The githyanki, duergar and thri-kreen exist on Greyhawk (though none of those races have a great deal of influence on the setting as a whole). The general impression I get is that psionic talent is pretty rare outside that handful of exotic races. There are a couple of NPCs - Kermin Mindbender of Iuz's inner circle springs to mind - who I converted from 2nd edition 'mage' to 3rd edition 'psion' without a qualm, but they're quite rare.
That's the thing - psionic talent has always been pretty rare in Greyhawk (rarer than arcane magic, which isn't all that common itself). If you're using psionics in your Greyhawk campaign, it's probably more in keeping with the setting to make psion NPCs rare - rarer than wizards or druids... about as common as encountering an NPC barbarian (in a civilized land) or monk. I doubt that NPCs in Greyhawk regard psions as innately evil or weird - the difference between "I cast Bigby's battering gauntlet on the door" and "I manifest baleful teleport on the door" is unimportant to Joe Fighter, as long as it results in Joe getting through that door.
But it might even be that Oerth is the original Gith homeworld. There's mention of this in some chainmail booklet and the chainmail setting has been set in the far far west of Oerik.
Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil I play Yao Shen, a human monk/psychic warrior/psion.
For The Shackled City, I play Hosk, a human psychic warrior/fighter archer.
One of these days I'll expand it, put it up as a separate page, and include a map of the school, but for now you may wish to take a look at the entry on my main City of Greyhawk page there.
Denis, aka "Maldin"
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Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com
Duerger are fine, as said before.
Githyanki and githzerai however....Were a little different.
Both had Fighters, Mages and Rogues, Githyanki had antipaladins (usually they were considered high level fighers, or Fighters with some extras). Githzerai did not have as good fighters as Githyanki, who had something even better than better fighters, Anti-paladins, but Githzerai (and not Githyanki) had spell resistance, which evened to scores. They also had monks somehow (even though they were CN, I guess they were special CN monks, or they were LN).
Both gith races had a tyranical overlord that killed them when they got reasonably high level (so they never get to a level where they can challenge them), for the Githyanki it was a Lichqueen who devoured the essence of the potential challengers, and for the githzerai it's a Wizard King (Not just a wizard, also a fighter).
Half-Giants are from Dark Sun, not greyhawk.
Dromites, Elans, Xeph, Maedaeds are a totally new things (If you consider them original).
Thr-Kreen psionics is new, Thri Kreen weren't but they weren't psionic until 3rd.
Incorrect. Psionic Thri-Kreen were introduced in 2E Dark Sun. The accessory "Thri-Kreen of Athas" even had a section dealing with what subspecies inhabited which world (yes, GH included) and if those subspecies also had access to psionic powers.
Incorrect. Psionic Thri-Kreen were introduced in 2E Dark Sun. The accessory "Thri-Kreen of Athas" even had a section dealing with what subspecies inhabited which world (yes, GH included) and if those subspecies also had access to psionic powers.
Not entirely correct you should have said, "Thri-Kreen of Arthas" being Dark Sun material isn't greyhawk material (even if it does have a special sectrion for greyhawk), All I say is choose carefully.
Thr-Kreen psionics is new, Thri Kreen weren't but they weren't psionic until 3rd.
I think my remark was justified. As you can see for yourself, I don't see any mention of GH in your statement. Given the Thri-Kreen isn't a monster specific to the GH setting, it sounded like a generalization.
...it might even be that Oerth is the original Gith homeworld...
That's the line I took in my home campaign. I considered mentioning it in my first post, but I didn't want people to confuse 'Greyhawk canon' with my own personal fillips.
That still leaves the question of which human sub-race were the ancestors of the people of Gith. Any DMs out there want to venture an opinion? I think my campaign will link them with the ancestors of the Oeridians.
This also brings up the question, "Are there hybrids of githzerai and human? Githyanki and human?" - My particular answer was, "Yes, but all you get is a human with unusual coloration and a greater-than-usual inclination toward psionics." No special template. Opinions? - or should this be over on the Planes or Psionics board?
That still leaves the question of which human sub-race were the ancestors of the people of Gith. Any DMs out there want to venture an opinion? I think my campaign will link them with the ancestors of the Oeridians.
It's tempting to suggest Maenads prior to being "terribly wronged by a higher power." Their current, naturally psionic state could be attributed to whatever happened that turned some of their people into Giths.
This also brings up the question, "Are there hybrids of githzerai and human? Githyanki and human?" - My particular answer was, "Yes, but all you get is a human with unusual coloration and a greater-than-usual inclination toward psionics." No special template. Opinions?
That works. You could always say that psions have gith blood, just as sorcerers supposedly have dragon blood.
That still leaves the question of which human sub-race were the ancestors of the people of Gith. Any DMs out there want to venture an opinion? I think my campaign will link them with the ancestors of the Oeridians.
I've mentioned my fondness for the idea of Githsueli before. The long period of imprisonment by the illithids underground left the Suel without much skin pigmentation, despite the southern climate in which they lived. The Suel also display an affinity toward magic and psionics similar to that of the races of Gith.
This also brings up the question, "Are there hybrids of githzerai and human? Githyanki and human?"
I tend toward the Planewalker answer of, "No; those who followed Gith to other planes were altered far too drastically, and they're no longer anatomically compatible with their human cousins." This wouldn't be true for the Suel, of course.
Baklunish Psionics - Xan Yae/Zuoken (Feels monkish/mystical-religious)
Suel Psionics - Scarlet Brotherhood/Splintered Mind (Feels analytical/scientific)
Western Psioinics - Chainmail's Oerthly home of the Gith theory (Feels wild/gonzo)
Eastern Psionics - The Yellow Tome in Greyhawk's Library, pursued by illithids (Feels Lovecraftian)
And this April, Wotc releases the Complete Psionic that may have default GH goodness within its covers.
That works. You could always say that psions have gith blood, just as sorcerers supposedly have dragon blood.
I'm a little late on this one, but having gith blood is tough due to gith laying eggs. Yeah, strange as it is, but its something that they did when they coverted them over from 2e to 3e. Its kind of odd if you ask me.
I'm a little late on this one, but having gith blood is tough due to gith laying eggs.
Perhaps they have Gith yolk then?
:D
Perhaps they have Gith yolk then?
I'm a little late on this one, but having gith blood is tough due to gith laying eggs. Yeah, strange as it is, but its something that they did when they coverted them over from 2e to 3e. Its kind of odd if you ask me.
Githyanki lay eggs; we don't know for sure that githzerai do. If the oviparous nature of githyanki is due to interbreeding with red dragons, githzerai might still be ordinary mammals.
Interestingly enough, the preview for Complete Psionic gives us a new way to incorporate psionics into a campaign via "hidden houses." The description of the hidden houses reminds me of kalashtar, dragonmark houses, and rhennee all rolled into one. Very cool, and very easily adaptable to Greyhawk.
Of particular interest was this blurb:
Because of the difficulties endured by the Talaire in their transition from their old homeworld to the new, many members now live sundered from the Six Hidden Houses. They don't know the source of their strange powers of the mind or the meaning of the birthmark that seems oddly like a symbol. Sometimes, the psionic talent and symbol reappear only every few generations.
Perhaps they have Gith yolk then?
:D
My thoughts on gith egg-layers exactly: lame.