So I plan on purchasing the Living Greyhawk Gazetter but i'm worried that I wont have enough ideas or lore. See.....I like a level of lore in-between Greyhawk and FR. I like semi-realism in my games too so I think that I will enjoy it more than FR. I intend on running low-level to mid-level games also so Greyhawk probably fits.
Now for my main question, is their too little to work with in Greyhawk? Can I get other source material outside of the Gazetter?
Alas there is virtually no current material outside the pages of Dungeon magazine, but downloads of classic material can be found on various sites Eg. Here
Top of my list would be T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil and the World of Greyhawk boxed set (1983 I think). That should start the creative juices flowing. The campaign detail is light enough to offer plenty of skope for development and hence personal interpretation - what you want goes. No player is going to be able to dictate what happens in your version of the world.
You can also visit Here for a wealth of ideas and material
This is the first time I have tried to post links - hope they work.
I've played Greyhawk campaigns for 20+ years and still love the setting!
So I plan on purchasing the Living Greyhawk Gazetter but i'm worried that I wont have enough ideas or lore. See.....I like a level of lore in-between Greyhawk and FR. I like semi-realism in my games too so I think that I will enjoy it more than FR
It really depends on the era you wish to play in.
If it's the EGG period, get the original World of Greyhawk boxed set (available as .pdf).
If it's the Greyhawk Wars that catch your interest, get the From the Ashes boxed set (also available as a .pdf)
If it's the "modern" era, get the Gazetteer.
Personally, I would go with From the Ashes, the Gazetteer, and add a few accessories such as Scarlet Brotherhood, or Slavers (all available as .pdf)
CanonFire is an excellent source of GH lore, though not all of it is "canon".
Out of curiosity, why do you think FR offers more realism than GH? Not to bash on other settings but, frankly, the FR has an overabundance of high levels characters, portals and magic. Compared to that, GH has a grim & gritty feel that is refreshing. Especially when you know that - unlike Mystra's "boy scouts" - the Circle of Eight isn't going to teleport to rescue you whenever you face a crisis.
It is not an easy world and a ton of research is needed to adventure in it with sense, so if you seek a *default* world, as a setting for random stuff, I bet you won't have fun with it.
But if you want to use it with all the background that exists, it might be one of the most intriguing campaign grounds you will ever come to see!
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If you want something easy to start with check for the Ivid the Undying book at the wizards download section and see what you can do about it.
Also, the cannonfire! website has many good ideas to start with.
In the Oerth Journals (type that under google) you will find entire fan made adventure of high quality and most of the background information you need to be a DM!
Back in the 80s, Greyhawk was designed to be somewhat vague. As such, the DM was free to create the details as he preferred. Although it is currently more detailed than ever, Greyhawk is still pretty much vague in comparison to Forgotten Realms. As such, you will not need to read as much as dozen of books to get a good feeling of the world.
Considering the literature, I suggest you the The Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, and Dungeon Magazine to get the most of the current publications. Some worthy out of print books include The City of Greyhawk Boxed Set and The Scarlet Brotherhood, both for 2nd edition. Also, The Adventure Begins is pretty good, although it is outdated by the LGG and don't offer the flavor of the CoGBS. Finally, go to and download all issues of the Oerth Journal to get excellent fan made material.
Which era do you reccomend?
If you mean, post- or pre-war, then I recommend you to use pre-war, if you want you play with bought stuff, such as the original Temple of the Elemental Evil etc.
If you want to make up something for yourself, try out something of Ivid the Undying for as a adventure hook. (ItU is short after the Greyhawk Wars.)
http://www.canonfire.com/htmlnew/index.php
There is also the RPGA's Living Greyhawk campaign, HERE. You can get involved as a DM and a player in your local region and meta-region. Living Greyhawk got me fired up about the setting. And, you can learn about Greyhawk, past and present, fleece some ideas, and get different approaches to the setting.
Happy gaming.
Whichever setting you choose should make no real difference, the essence of the Greyhawk campaign is the same IMO.
Happy hunting. :D
Once you immerse yourself in the LGG tyhen you may find it useful to obtain the older sources of Greyhawk information such as:
FROM THE ASHES
CITY OF GREYAHWK BOX SET
WORLD OF GREYHAWK BOX SET
I also think that the PLAYERS GUIDE TO GREYHAWK and THE ADVENTURE BEGINS are useful with the current LGG.
Final Reccomendations for the best possible start to a Greyhawk Campaign
1.) LIVING GREYHAWK GAZETTER
2.) PLAYERS GUIDE TO GREYHAWK
3.) THE ADVENTURE BEGINS.
...................................Omote
FPQ