I don't much care for beer, but I do want to protect my shower, so I decided to post a thread to placate Delegath. :D
I recently downloaded the Ivid the Undying information from the DnD website, and I am finding it pretty interesting. I'm thinking about starting a campaign set in this time, and I want some opinions/comments/praises/rants/ideas from the folks here on the boards.
Unfortunately, this is the only information I have on the world of Greyhawk at the moment (and I haven't had much time to read it lately
), so if the more experienced Greyhawkers could "dumb-down" their responses for me, I'd appreciate it. 
-wn
Seriously though, what do you want to know about? I can't really help if I don't know what you want to know.
The Ivid accessory is a fantastic resource and by far my favourite (even though I haven't read it entirely). One thing to be cautious of, if setting a game in that area and being true to the book, is that it's a very high-powered area. Unless the PC's are very smart and cunning and keep under the radar until they're powerful enough to stand on their own against significant enemies, or you pace them, then the area is a TPK zone.
But it's not like you have to be exact to the book, it's just a reference after all.
If you're looking for books to purchase, the best to go for is the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Don't be put off by the 'Living' title as the only thing that has to do with the RPGA in the book is an entry form in the back. It's a complete reference that, although not glossy and colourful like the Forgotten Realms Core Setting book, is more than enough to run a game in Greyhawk.
About the only other thing I can say is that in discussions about the Great Kingdom with others online, it has been generally agreed that it has a very old world, germanic feel to it. Imagine the Roman Empire at it's height, having both advanced (technologically and thus at about the medieval period) and degraded (the empire having all but collapsed and is going into an almost dark ages period) over three hundred years to be much like Prussia.
In other words, areas are very developed and yet many are abanodoned or destroyed in all the conflicts. Morale is low as there is a dismal pall over the entire kingdom (that remains) due to the horror of the Ivid's and all the evils they brought to the fore. It's a very dynamic area that has LOADS of adventure possibilities. A paladin with a good party would be interesting to play here simply due to the sheer amount of evil. They would very much be the underdogs, always running, always hiding, always on the lookout but trying to effect good wherever possible... but then, show kindess to a begger by giving them a gold piece and not only do you expose yourself as a good-hearted soul, and thus provoke possible attention by all the evil people, but you also possibly kill the begger, since a gold piece would make her a target for everyone else...
What I like most about this area is that in contrast to the lands of Iuz, the area is very much ruled and occupied by humans, with the standard admixture of other races (although most elves have retreated into their forests and kill anyone who ventures near, having long ago learned the humans of the area are mostly unstrustworthy), and so wandering around without some sort of disguise is possible, whereas in Iuz's domain, half the area is non-human so it's kinda nasty to travel in.
Also, I'm trying to find a good or neutral town or fief to start PC's in. I've just finished reading the section on Rauxes, and that is definitly NOT the place to put level 1 PC's!
DM: "You begin in the Undercity. You are attacked by ten wererats and a two-headed lich. You all die. So, who's up for a movie?"
I'm thinking a better place would be one of the smaller communities that's been pretty much unnoticed or left alone.
Oh, and one more thing: what are the Companion Guards? Are they baatezu, or humans, or some mixture of both?
thanks again.
-wn
Originally posted by WightNight
Also, I'm trying to find a good or neutral town or fief to start PC's in. . . . I'm thinking a better place would be one of the smaller communities that's been pretty much unnoticed or left alone.
You need to look to the border areas or even the surrounding countries. The Great Kingdom at the time of Ivid the Undying has very few areas where a party of good characters would be unnoticed or left alone. IIRC there is one keep with a Paladin in charge in the whole supplement, and they are extremely careful. Maybe Ahlissa would have the kind of community you are looking for, but that would be about it.
A minor princeling with enough wealth to buy his own small manor in the North Provence. He's a mid-level priest of Pholus (Align: LN) who is left alone because he grows some luxury cash crop that the Herzog favors. In exchange for his existence, his son is being fostered by the Herzog.
His main ambition is to re-establish the priesthood of Pholus in the North Provence, and bring some level of balance back to the land. Of course, he also wants his son back, and he hates the Herzog passionately. He has a few magic items that shield him from spies/scrying and the like.
Comments/criticism?
-wn
Your idea of having a Pholtan lord is somewhat similar to what I want to do in a campaign. My idea, though, was to have an upstart paladin of Pholtus from the Pale discover that he is a direct descendant of the Rax throne, before the Ivid takeover, and as such he wants to reclaim the kingdom under the aegis and guidance of the One True Way.
His first mission is to establish a base from which to draw followers, but to do that he needs to do several other things first, of which he needs the assistance of the PC's. In effect, they can opt to side with him or against him, having him as their patron or enemy. As events unfold, however, he begins to assert himself in Almor and starts to directly threaten the sovreignity of Grenell and Xavener.
Obviously this is a meta-plot of which the PC's can involve themselves in at any level they wish. They can be agents of Xavener, Grenell, the Pholtan paladin, any number of occult, political or other organizations seeking power in that realm, or free agents.
Eventually I'd like it to come to skirmishes of large forces and then whole mass battles for the final word on just who will govern the new Great Kingdom, or even whether the Great Kingdom will exist anymore beyond it. This is mainly because I've now got hundreds of the new D&D minis and so need to justify my purchases :D
Wow. That's definitely a huge campaign in the making. Sounds like fun. Almor is in the Southern Province, right? I'm not terribly secure on my geography yet. :embarrass I think your pally is going to have some very powerful enemies right off the bat, so he'd better hope the PC's side with him! :D
I think I'll make my campaign a series of adventures that stay in the North Province/Twin Cities for a while. If the PC's live long enough...er I mean garner enough power, then I might entice them to head to Rauxes with a juicey plot hook, like a rumor of Ivid's death or some such.
That's what I like about this campaign: you can pull the PC's in so many different directions. Plus, you never have to worry about finding a BBEG.
-wn