We don't worry about the Circle of Eight, Circle of Five or Circle of One or whatever. We leave that to the Living Greyhawk and RPGA folks. To us, they're all old wizaeds long since gone.
Last, Cuthbert's not really a god. He's a phony and his "followers" are tricked by charlatans that are like modern day televangelists.
Also, during the Greyhawk Wars, I restarted the Hatefull Wars. Humanoids were driven off the Pomarj Pennisula. Turosh Mok took about a fourth of his troops with him and has set up on the Amedio Pennisula where he plots his revenge. Some of his troops are now serving Rary and others were saved by the Brotherhood. The rest, wiped out by war and poor seamanship.
Dwarven, Elvish (Celene insisted on sole administration of Highport), Orc, Sea Prince and Brotherhood ships all prey on each other in the Azure Sea.
The Pomarj is "officially" ruled by a triumvirate, a dwarf from Ulek, an elf from Celene and a human from Greyhawk, who hate and work against each other. It is pretty much like the Wild Coast was pre-war, with the exception of NO tolerance for humanoids. Recently, in fact, bands of Elvish and Dwarven humanoid hunters have even lynched ugly humans by mistake.
A lot of political roleplaying and gray "Good/Evil" situtions for my mixed race PC pary to be involved in.
I don't know what it is about the little buggers but I just can't stand 'em. It's like a bloody dwarf raped a halfling and gnomes were the result!
I have gnomes as malicious fey, who play tricks on travellers and 'teach' moral lessons. They're NOT a PC race.
I've also thought about introducing Terry Pratchettesque gnomes... but my players would lynch me :D
Originally posted by rostoff
The Pomarj is "officially" ruled by a triumvirate, a dwarf from Ulek, an elf from Celene and a human from Greyhawk, who hate and work against each other.
Ooh... I really like that idea, although not in the Pomarj... I might have to use something similar elsewhere
Aftter some revolution the much more organized hob-goblin sent orcs away from Pomarj, to build their own kingdom. The hob-goblin's illuminated leaders ar looking for trading agreements with Greyhawk and Keoland, even if they have a big trouble with the dwarven Kingdoms of Ulek and the orcs of Blackthorn.
Ulek is the land of Dwarves, they rule from their stone kingdoms over the hill and the plains where few free humans live as farmers and hunters. Each Dwarven Clan have a King, and all of them (The council of Kings) choose an "High King" to rule them in time of troubles.
The Scarlet Brotherhood is just a secret pure-blood(arian) society, of some of the most noble suloise from the colonialist Scarlet Empire, that is expanding his ruling in the south of the Flanaess.
I also try to use Oerthmagic and Oerthblood.
St Cuthbert, like Mayaheine, is just a Saint and not a God. His followers are the Order of St. Cuthbert (something like teutonics knights).
Wee Jas is the Keeper of the Deads, much more LN than LE. In my game she was the LG goddess of magic before the Rain of Colorless Fire, and turned LN when she heard cries of her followers and was asked to bring their sould in the Afterlife.
I didn't make any detail of it yet, but i imagine a Kara-Tur like area in the far west of Oerik.
and some more...
The Circle knew that they had to change and that was part of the story as well.
Otiluke has a secret identity and mission to this date.
Tenser has a secret identity and mission to this date.
Rary has a secret identity and mission to this date.
Each was replaced with a new recruit.
Otiluke's mission has taken him to Nyrond.
Tenser's mission has taken him to Furyondy.
Rary's mission has taken him to the Bright Desert.
So far, the ruse has worked. The Fiends have been banished and Iuz is weaker. The Scarlet Brotherhood have also been terribly weakened. All of the other foes of The Circle have been trying to work against them, but they have failed in the above nations....
Out of that we've got a group of lowbie good adventurers running around the old horned lands which have become a county of Furyondy, run by the dwarf cleric who was part of the group that killed the old fella.
Furyondy and Veluna have become a single kingdom.
My epic level character is devoting some time and money to help Nyrond become stronger from the ground up by helping out the peasents and easing the tax burden somewhat. The king didnt like it, (but its kinda hard to say no to a 30th level wizzo when she asked nicely
) so that part of the world isnt as forsaken as it once was and I was thinking of running a game or two in that part of the world as hired adventurers who are commissioned to go do-gooding up that way.What else... oh yeah, they robbed the Scarlet Bro's blind, so theyre kinda reeling, now lacking the bribery monies to retain control over a lot of their networks.
Also as another spin off group we've got some lowbie evil characters running around Stoink being the little evil sh*ts they are and making trouble.
The shar kingdom controls the Hold of the Sea princes. I simply change Turrosh Mak into a hobgoblin leader instead of an half-orcish one. Though it may not be apparent to most commoners you believe he is of human-blood mixed with tainted orcish blood.
The Spriggan are actually a race which can assume gnomish or trollish form. The Derro are the main race of the underdark. Blackmoor is home to large bands of gnolls and flinds, which fight the grung and grippli who worship the frog-faced god. Blackmoor may have humans. But their is no human kingdom in all of Blackmoor.
Norkers are a crossbreed of orcs and hobgoblins. Hobgoblins gain reaction adjustment bonuses when dealing with goblins and bugbears. Norkers and hobgoblins do not see the other hobgoblins in the same light. The Shar kingdom controls the majority of trade on the Densac Gulf, and the Sea of Gearnat.
The scarlet brotherhood is not well known but has influences in many places under the guise of a Shar kingdom representative. The Lordship of the Isles in under the Kingdom of Shar's control as well. But is contested often with Sunndi, Lendore and the North Kingdom.
Bissel is still in the hands of Ket and the Sheildlands are still contested to this day.
The god Murlyind is getting very popular amoung the population
. I just like this god, and will use him in a future adventure. So far, their clerics (and hospitaliers) created a large, very modern (for the medieval era, sure) hospital in Willip, Furyondy, who seems to handle any healtly (sp?) problem at all. With the Baron of Willip resources, they created the first steam engines of the flanaess, and used them on military ships.Orcs and Hobgoblins are fighting for Pomarj. The humans there are with the Hobgoblin, and soon will start a new, LE kingdom (looking for a cool name ); Celene and dwarves from Ulek will gather their troops to fight them, but the forces of the ToEE will then multiply (my PC´s are taking too long in the RttToEE; 4 mounths (IC) and they didnt even reach the Stalagos yet), small armies where already seen in the Lortmil.
Ekbir supplies most of the central flanaess with gunpownder, and its getting very rich with this; a war will start soon in the ancient desert lands.
Drows where overrun by Derros in the Yatil underground. They went to the surface, and now are being hunted by every nearby nation, burned in public places much like witches in our middle ages. A mature adult Copper dragon seems to be gathering those leaderless elves into a surface kingdom.
Oh, and the most important of all: General Osson of the Almorian Army is still alive, at Sunndi, (before, he was tortured during years in the Rauxes, and managed to escape before the recent strange magical 'think' in the area) and his most loyal followers are spreading rumors and causing trouble in the Ahlissa and North Kingdom noble houses; notthing much serious, but at least a dozen nobles or high ranked soldiers where already arrested or killed each other by false rumors of corruption and the like. Osson history is so dramatic, it cant be ended like that in Ivid the Undying! (an entire half page about those farmer and fisher knights crushing the Great Kingdom hordes, and then, they where ambushed, died, and Almor was destroyed in one day; period. Cmon!).
Sure, theres much more changes. But they are not exactly ... changes. I mean, for me, Greyhawk is dead (no RPGA in Brazil). I have to keep thinks moving, right?
Originally posted by Souza
Sure, theres much more changes. But they are not exactly ... changes. I mean, for me, Greyhawk is dead (no RPGA in Brazil). I have to keep thinks moving, right?
Although I'm not too keen on gunpowder and steam engines, your campaign sounds like it rocks. If you're going to introduce stuff like that, it's better to do it dynamically like you have and make it interesting and engaging.
And I love what you're doing with Osson, he rules! It also gave me an idea about my own campaign which I'm trying to start (slow group) where an heir to the original Aerdi throne (before the Twin Crowns and the usurption) arises... Osson would make a great heir!
My game is set shortly before the beginning of the Greyhawk Wars so most changes reflected in the LGG haven't happened yet.
I have left St. Cuthbert as the level of god in the sources, but I have turned the demigods into a level of saints, capable of more direct intervention in the lives of mortals than the more powerful gods. St. Cuthbert was once one of that rank of deities, but has ascended since then, though he still acts and intervenes as if he were still of that 'saint' level (something getting him into trouble as he continues to do so).
Iuz is an older entity than his ascendance into power implies. I don't like the idea of him being the spawn of Iggwilv... unless it's her birthing that gives him corporal form. I may have to look into that implication.
I've pushed the sacking of the Temple of Elemental Evil a bit further into the past, by a few decades to fit my idea of how long it should have taken it to start rebuilding better and so that there are fewer living witnesses of its depravity.
Queen Yolande of Celene is a very young queen, totally absorbed in her relationship with her consort (kind of Victoria and Albert-like), and easily manipulated into isolationism by more reactionary grey elven factions.
In Verbobonc, the main cathedral is dedicated to Rao because Verbobonc was part of Veluna, but with more recently extended autonomy and a growing following of St. Cuthbert, the Cuthbertines are building the new cathedral in town.
Drow are believed extinct, as are the Gold Elves (now the valley elves), both having 'perished' in the great kin slaying of ages past.
-The Underdark is now ruled by a minotaur overlord (known to many as "The Great Grunt"). He has recovered a vile artifact which gives him immeasurable political power, in addition to the dark eldritch powers it possesses. The drow are now given to only a few small clusters of guerilla fighters. The Great Grunt has allied himself with the Yuan-Ti, although they are by and large subservient to him. He has also managed to take control of the Myconids and enslave the Svirfneblin. The only people on the surface world who know of this are Mordenkainen, Eclavadra (and consequently Iuz), and Canon Hazen (including a couple of his informants).
-The Githyanki (Dungen #100) began their infiltration of Oerth in CY 589, and have planned a full-scale invasion beginning in CY 593. They already have their agents stationed throughout the Flanaess. They've also found it useful to infiltrate the Scarlet Brotherhood, since their spy network provides them with much information about the rest of the continent.
-Unbeknowest to all, Vecna has masterminded the previous two events. His priests and followers were the ones who gave the minotaur the resources he needed to find the artifact. They were also the ones to incite the Lich-Queen of the Githyanki to invade the Material Plane, giving her cause to believe that it possessed the means to defeat the illithids once and for all.
For an intriuging short narrative about the Old One, see
The Birth and Childhood of Iuz by Rasgon.