What advice would you guys give me. I have never even read a novel set in the world. Are there any available books, i have looked but have been unsuccesfull in finding 2nd edition material on the world in my town, i cant even seem to find novels to read. So i know virtually NOTHING of the meta story behind greyhawk. I know it has psionics more commenly than most realms cept darksun and now eberron.
I know some of the major npcs since they are listed int he players under spell titles and some are statted in the epic level handbook and deities and demigods (which i dont have ) probably goes into some of the gods a bit.
What would be good advice for running a high end mid level game (7-10) in greyhawk. Is it possible to disclose some of the meta story here. Basically tell me about the realm organizations regions and some names.
WEre can i find if any third edition support for greyhawk.
What advice would you guys give me. I have never even read a novel set in the world. Are there any available books, i have looked but have been unsuccesfull in finding 2nd edition material on the world in my town, i cant even seem to find novels to read. So i know virtually NOTHING of the meta story behind greyhawk.
Don't worry about the novels. Contrary to other settings (DL & FR not to name them), GH doesn't 'depend' on the novels for its meta-plots. If anything, GH's novels are born of the setting rather than the other way around (except, maybe, for the E.G.G novels). Most 1E/2E material can be bought as .pdf files on various websites (legit websites at that). Here is an example:
(note: if links don't work, copy/paste them directly to your browser)
http://www.rpgnow.com/default.php?cPath=1_294_309&
Beyond that, I would advise looking at the various fan's websites dedicated to the setting. There are a few outstanding ones such as:
http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html
or
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/tamerlain/Greyhawk/GreyChrondex41.html
or
http://ulmo.mux.net/greyhawk/
Living Greyhawk has an online list of the gods at:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=lg/articles/lg20030521deitiessearch
I know it has psionics more commenly than most realms cept darksun and now eberron.
Nope. Sorry to disappoint you on that account but that simply is not true. Psionics were born in the 1E and since GH was the only official D&D setting at the time, they were considered as 'part of the setting' but - in truth - appeared rarely if ever in modules/accessories (one exception being module S4 IIRC). Most folks on Oerth consider psionics to be just another form of magic (99.9% of them don't even understand there is a difference).
The baklunish people might be the big exception since they have deities dedicated to (among other things) psionics but even there, they remain rare. However, it's your campaign. If you wish psionics to be all over the place, more power to you!
I know some of the major npcs since they are listed int he players under spell titles and some are statted in the epic level handbook and deities and demigods (which i dont have ) probably goes into some of the gods a bit.
Yes but one does have to be cautious about that. See, when WotC published D&D 3E, they decided to use 'some' of the GH gods as the 'default' deities for their core rules. While doing so, they sometimes had to.. ah.. tamper with them a bit. The end result is that the version of those gods found in the PHB doesn't exactly match the same gods as they exist in the 'true' GH setting (St-Cuthbert being the best known example)
What would be good advice for running a high end mid level game (7-10) in greyhawk. Is it possible to disclose some of the meta story here. Basically tell me about the realm organizations regions and some names. Were can i find if any third edition support for greyhawk.
This is the only 'official' 3.XE GH accessory available (till now):
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0786917431/qid=1112778337/sr=8-2/ref=pd_csp_2/103-8348146-9887054?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
It will update you nicely on everything that has happened till 591 CY. Events beyond those belong to the Living Greyhawk RPGA campaign and are difficult to come by if you don't play or don't have friends involved and willing to talk. Some folks have been good enough to update us from time to time on these boards but, by and large, the 'big picture' remains a mystery to most of us.
No matter though. As the DM, you can choose in which 'era' to set your campaign. There aren't any obligation to match the LG timeline.
Fact is, the GH fanbase is quite divided on this issue, with various people each having their favorite time/place.
Beyond that, please read the FAQ posted on this board for details (top sticky post)
Welcome to the setting, enjoy your stay!
For starters if you want to invest a bit of money, get the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (If you're lucky for less than $10 on ebay). It's the only 3E GH (aside from LGHJ) product and is well worth the price at more than 190 pages. Here's a link to a detailed review: http://66.34.111.89/eric/3eoldnews15.htm (scroll down)
The only other 3E source for GH material is Dungeon magazine and sometimes Dragon magazine.
For the other GH products it depends how deep you want to go into it.
Metastory, can be found in the LGG and the 1E/2E material. Depends largely in which time you want to play.
See these lists for what 1E/2E products are Greyhawk specific or related.
http://ulmo.mux.net/greyhawk (old material, some advice on what's essential)
http://www.cmc.net/~rtaylor/greyhawk/product_chron.html (all)
As for what stuff to get from 1E and 2E check out this thread on canonfire:
http://www.canonfire.com/htmlnew/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=819&&sid=fb5348bf0ea393f9ce4198808f107da8
(copy/paste the link or it won't work...)
Some posts down Iquander himself recommends what material to get first for the most canon/fluff/material. At the end I give some more links...
Many of the old stuff should be available on ebay quite cheap, though there are some collector pieces which fetch quite high prices.
For descriptions check out the TSR Archive:
http://home.flash.net/~brenfrow/gh/gh.htm
http://home.flash.net/~brenfrow/ (many 1E modules are GH!)
pdf-Downloads for $$$: http://www.svgames.com/downloads-wotc.html
Of course you can get much material for free on the internet. There's loads of material on the web, as when GH was discontinued the web community held it alive with some real quality material.
First and foremost download the great Ivid the Undying. This product is a fullblown Greyhawk supplement about the Great Kingdom available for free as it never got printed.
Download it from WoTC: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads
or as pdf available from the Acaeum site's Library: http://www.acaeum.com/Library/IvidUndying.pdf
More official WotC Greyhawk downloads: http://ulmo.mux.net/greyhawk/wizards.html
Other GH modules available for free from WotC:
Ex1, Ex2: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20020121x8
L1 Secret of Bone Hill: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads
more 1E modules download links (scroll down): http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_links.html
Also I found this on the net: http://members.fortunecity.com/noldrek/modules/index.html
(has scourge of the slave lords, queen of demonweb pits, expedition to barrier
peaks)
some stuff from Greyhawk Adventures HC:
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/dreadwood/greyhawk/magical.htm
http://www.dracheninsel.de/insel/add/greyhawk/
Then there's of course lots of quality original fan created material available including many fanzines and great websites.Here are soem nice sites about GH:
Canonfire!: http://www.canonfire.com (check out the forums there, canonfire also hosts the greytalk mailing list, subscribe there or search the archives for much info..)
The Oerth Journal: http://www.canonfire.com/htmlnew/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=2
Best of Greyhawk folders: http://www.canonfire.com/htmlnew/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=113
World of Greyhawk Fanclub: http://members.aol.com/WoGFanClub/woghome.html
The Council of Greyhawk: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~monax002/Council/index.html
Chris Siren's Gord's Greyhawk Page: http://home.comcast.net/~chris.s/gordmain.html
Duicarthan's Page has some 3E updates on items and NPCS: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/5497/
Greyhawk txt's: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/5878/
R.Taylor's site: http://www.cmc.net/~rtaylor/greyhawk/
Maldin's Greyhawk http://www.timebomb.on.ca/denist/greyhawk/
Talmeta: http://talmeta.net/runequest/greyhawk/rqgods.htm
Grodog: http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html
Sheldomar valley: http://freespace.virgin.net/scott.rennie/sheldoma.htm
more gh links:
http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_links.html
http://www.nuketown.com/griff/links/
http://homepages.ius.edu/rvest/Greyhawk/GHLinks.html
Also for newer 3E camaign material you can check out the different Living Greyhawk Region sites...
------------------------------------------------
As for novels the only ones with any large metaplot are the Gord Novels by Gygax. They are non-canon though, but give a great Greyhawk feel!
Gord novels descriptions:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~monax002/Council/resources/novels/novels.html
http://www.stud.uni-hannover.de/~dyck/GHBooks.txt
Here's a short description of the recent Greyhawk Wars. (second paragraph)
There was also a WotC document on the Wars available for download which is reproduced here (with clickable footnotes) and here (with a slightly better layout).
Two adventures described the events that led to the Wars:Five Shall Be One and WGS2 Howl From The North. R. Taylor's synopsis on completed GH adventures notes about these two:
The Blades of Corusk and the Greyhawk Wars
Modules: WGS1-2
Location: Corusk Mountains
Date Completed: CY 582
Consequences: Iuz masqueraded as Vatun (the lost god of the North) in order to unify the Barbarian tribes of the North, they were used to his benefit in the Greyhawk Wars. The consequence of the Wars are detailed in the Greyhawk Wars boxed set, as well as future products (From the Ashes, Player's Guide to Greyhawk, the Adventure Begins)
References: Howl from the North, pp. 7, 42; The Adventure Begins, p. 3
from: http://www.cmc.net/~rtaylor/greyhawk/modules.html
you'll fin more info on the Wars in these roducts:
WARS and From the Ashes. (and in some old Dragon magazines..)
Check out this site for a reproduction of A Brief History of the Flanaess from the Player's Guide to Greyhawk, which includes a very short rundown of the History from CY 584 to 591. (From the Greyhawk Wars to the Present)
The Adventure Begins expands on this greatly.
[i]You'll have to right-click all the links, copy the link,paste it into your browser and remove that damnable WOTC part of it, or else they'll mostly not work. Sorry for that i originally wrote this on another board, where they don't mess with hyperlinks...[/i]
edit: what sort of content does the gazeteer have? maps, npcs? histories?
what sort of content does the gazeteer have? maps, npcs? histories?
One pull-out map of Greyhawk--quite handy. My copy is 192 pages, and the bulk (120+ pages) is a summary by nation. Each nation/area is treated is treated Gazetteer style: information on economics, population, politics, culture, etc. There are sections covering major geographic features, deities, races, power groups, etc. I hope that quick summary is of some use.
Shawn
Go to Paizo.com and you will find the back issues of Dungeon that feature this four part poster map.
This link list is really impressive!
I didn't know that there was even SO much free material on the web!
You should at your posts to the FAQ section!
If you want some free PDFs of some background stuff that I've found on the web, just email me at [email]hughsonj@yahoo.com[/email] and I'll give you what I can.
I may even be able to scan and send you a panel-by-panel map that is up to date, if I ever get the time to do it. I want to get a full version of Adobe Acrobat and do it up right, but it will be a chore.
The 2E Player's Guide to Greyhawk by Anne Brown is a good source of info and you can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786912480/qid=1112939518/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/103-1207726-0934242
A lot of it was reproduced in the Gazeteer, but it fills in the spaces that the LGG forgot. I've also got most of the 1E boxed set, and it has some mundane things that you might not think about, like the Trees of Oerth section.
If you don't want to wrestle with a four-sheet fold out map, then the Gazeteer is the way to go. I hear there are 2 different versions, mine is the first printing and it has a larger map than the last printing (apparently).
That's about everything I can think of off of the cuff.
Is it possible to disclose some of the meta story here. Basically tell me about the realm organizations regions and some names.
Mmm... metaplot.
- Attempt by Iuz/the Lords of the Abyss to conquer the world.
- Attempt by the Scarlet Brotherhood/remnants of Suel Imperium to conquer the world.
- Attempt by the Great Kingdom of Aerdy/their diabolic allies to conquer the world.
- Attempt by the drow to conquer the nations of the Crystalmist Mountains.
- Attempt by Tharizdun cultists to awaken their master and destroy the world/slow loss of magic and fey lands.
- Attempt by Saint Cuthbert cultists to bring wisdom, common sense, zeal, and head-knocking to the world.
- Attempt by Furyondy to reconquer the Shield Lands.
- The liberation of Tenh/Geoff/Sterich.
- Elven conquest of Lendore.
- Rary's plans.
- Attempts by Druids/Balance/Circle of Eight to fight good/evil/law/chaos in order to restore equilibrium to the world.
And general D&D things: yuan-ti, derro, illithids, sahuagins, insert big bad monster here.
But you don't have to play it that way. There's a lot of Oerth that's barely explored: the Baklunish lands, Hepmonaland, the Sheldomar basin, the Sea of Dust, the lands to the West. The sky's the limit. Not even that.