A different kind of Greyhawk Campaign

[LoneWolf23]

I've been brainstorming a bit, and wanted to share some of the Greyhawk campaign ideas I've had over the past few days. Basically, if I want to play a Greyhawk game, I wanna do it my way. Here are some of the changes I was considering:

-Basically turn the Empire of Iuz and the surrounding lands into a real Demon-Corrupted, Chaos-blasted wasteland. I could have him secure an alliance with the Galchutt (from Monte Cook's "Chaositech") to acquire the secrets of their Chaositech and use them to reinforce his troops, along with bringing more Demons to Oerth.

-The creation of a "Kingdom of the Undead", a plague-wasted land ruled by a chaotic "alliance" of Deathgod Cults, Lichkings and Vampiric Lords, only united by a common goal of bringing Death and Destruction across Oerth, but otherwise feuding amongst themselves, especially due to the conflicting influence of different Death Cults vying for dominance (Nerull vs Orcus, mostly). Generally, an excuse for using nearly everything out of Libris Mortis. Dunno where I'd put it, though.

-This would lead to something of an arms race/Renaissance, with different kingdoms developping different "technologies" to try and match up against Iuz' Chaositech; Steampunk and Clockpunk devices swiped from DragonMech or Steam and Sorcery, or "Magipunk" devices from Eberron. That, and perhaps Doom Striders and Airships out of the books by Bastion Press.

-Also, something I'm wondering: In Greyhawk, is there a default "region" for the Yuan-Ti to come from, and do they have a clearly defined culture? Also, is there a known region from which Samurai, Ninjas and the likes could hail from, or should I make up my own "travelers/invaders from a distant land?"

Those are some basic, random ideas of mine... I'd like some feedback...

[Sundog]

I like the idea of the undead kingdom and I'd consider putting it in the sea of dust. Perhaps some Suel liches started this centuries ago, somewhere in a buried city. With no real competition, and no need for the typical requirements of society (food, shelter, etc.) they were able to multiply and diversify. Now that they've turned everything in the sea of dust to undead, they're starting to infringe on bordering lands a bit - Coming over or through the hellfurnaces or hiting the plains of the Paynims...

[Sfounder]

In the Flanaess proper there isn't any defualt place to put ninjas, samurais, etc. These things semi-canonically exist to the far west, past the Sea of Dust in Nippon, Zindia, and the Celestial Imperium.

It's a cool idea nevertheless!

[LoneWolf23]

Originally Posted by Sfounder

In the Flanaess proper there isn't any defualt place to put ninjas, samurais, etc. These things semi-canonically exist to the far west, past the Sea of Dust in Nippon, Zindia, and the Celestial Imperium.

It's a cool idea nevertheless!

Sounds interesting.. Know where I can find out more about those areas? Such as online resources or books I should track down?

[LoneWolf23]

Originally Posted by Sundog

I like the idea of the undead kingdom and I'd consider putting it in the sea of dust. Perhaps some Suel liches started this centuries ago, somewhere in a buried city. With no real competition, and no need for the typical requirements of society (food, shelter, etc.) they were able to multiply and diversify. Now that they've turned everything in the sea of dust to undead, they're starting to infringe on bordering lands a bit - Coming over or through the hellfurnaces or hiting the plains of the Paynims...

Oooh, I like this idea. Perhaps with a pseudo-egyptian architecture with lots of Pyramids and Ziggurats, along with mummies and the like...

[Davelozzi]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf23

Sounds interesting.. Know where I can find out more about those areas? Such as online resources or books I should track down?

They are shown on this map:

It originally appeared as an article called "Beyond the Flannaess" in Dragon Annual # 1 (1996), along with a page of brief notes about the various lands, supposedly made by the wizard Heward.

Two relevant examples follow:
Celestial Imperium: A vast nation people with a hard-working peasantry ruled by a complex bureaucracy.
Nippon: A densely populated island nation of fishermen, warriors, and poets. Unsure of the place's real name.

I found the map posted online at http://my.voyager.net/~marck/Greyhawk.html.

[LoneWolf23]

Originally Posted by Davelozzi

They are shown on this map:

It originally appeared as an article called "Beyond the Flannaess" in Dragon Annual # 1 (1996), along with a page of brief notes about the various lands, supposedly made by the wizard Heward.

Two relevant examples follow:
Celestial Imperium: A vast nation people with a hard-working peasantry ruled by a complex bureaucracy.
Nippon: A densely populated island nation of fishermen, warriors, and poets. Unsure of the place's real name.

I found the map posted online at http://my.voyager.net/~marck/Greyhawk.html.

Thanks! This is a very cool website with quite a bit of ideas for expanding the types of cultures on Oerth, using other sourcebooks for background information. Definetly worth book-marking.

[David Howery]

to answer your last question, the Yuan ti 'officially' come from Hepmonaland. They were a prominent enemy in "Dwellers of the Forbidden City" which was set in Hepmonaland. Plus, the Scarlet Brotherhood accessory from several years back had a description of Hepmonaland, and described the yuan ti/Olman conflicts in the jungles there. The yuan ti are some kind of aberration who can turn humans into yuanti... the SB book noted that they had subverted several Olman cities....

[jesseghfan]

By the way, the names on the map like Nippon Dominion, Erypt, etc., are "place holder names"- no actual name exists. The place holder names were a mnemonic (sp?) device to remind the creator (Gygax) what he intended to be there when he got around to future development. So don't feel restrained by/ forced into using a goofy name like Zindia.

[Matrix Sorcica]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf23

I've been brainstorming a bit, and wanted to share some of the Greyhawk campaign ideas I've had over the past few days. Basically, if I want to play a Greyhawk game, I wanna do it my way. Here are some of the changes I was considering:

-Basically turn the Empire of Iuz and the surrounding lands into a real Demon-Corrupted, Chaos-blasted wasteland. I could have him secure an alliance with the Galchutt (from Monte Cook's "Chaositech") to acquire the secrets of their Chaositech and use them to reinforce his troops, along with bringing more Demons to Oerth.

-The creation of a "Kingdom of the Undead", a plague-wasted land ruled by a chaotic "alliance" of Deathgod Cults, Lichkings and Vampiric Lords, only united by a common goal of bringing Death and Destruction across Oerth, but otherwise feuding amongst themselves, especially due to the conflicting influence of different Death Cults vying for dominance (Nerull vs Orcus, mostly). Generally, an excuse for using nearly everything out of Libris Mortis. Dunno where I'd put it, though.

-This would lead to something of an arms race/Renaissance, with different kingdoms developping different "technologies" to try and match up against Iuz' Chaositech; Steampunk and Clockpunk devices swiped from DragonMech or Steam and Sorcery, or "Magipunk" devices from Eberron. That, and perhaps Doom Striders and Airships out of the books by Bastion Press.

-Also, something I'm wondering: In Greyhawk, is there a default "region" for the Yuan-Ti to come from, and do they have a clearly defined culture? Also, is there a known region from which Samurai, Ninjas and the likes could hail from, or should I make up my own "travelers/invaders from a distant land?"

Those are some basic, random ideas of mine... I'd like some feedback...

This sounds awfully a lot like the world of Warhammer ported to Greyhawk. Not that this is a bad thing

[rounser]

-The creation of a "Kingdom of the Undead", a plague-wasted land ruled by a chaotic "alliance" of Deathgod Cults, Lichkings and Vampiric Lords, only united by a common goal of bringing Death and Destruction across Oerth, but otherwise feuding amongst themselves, especially due to the conflicting influence of different Death Cults vying for dominance (Nerull vs Orcus, mostly). Generally, an excuse for using nearly everything out of Libris Mortis. Dunno where I'd put it, though.

It sounds like a more extreme version of what happened to the Great Kingdom (and provinces) after the Greyhawk Wars. What are those aristocrat undead of Aerdy called? Animus or something. Anyway, I reckon that's an appropriate horse to back for such a kingdom if you're setting it post-wars.

[grodog]

Originally Posted by David Howery

to answer your last question, the Yuan ti 'officially' come from Hepmonaland. They were a prominent enemy in "Dwellers of the Forbidden City" which was set in Hepmonaland. Plus, the Scarlet Brotherhood accessory from several years back had a description of Hepmonaland, and described the yuan ti/Olman conflicts in the jungles there. The yuan ti are some kind of aberration who can turn humans into yuanti... the SB book noted that they had subverted several Olman cities....

David---Please email me, I'd love to pick your brain about some of your Greyhawk modules from Dungeon. Thanks

[grodog]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf23

-Basically turn the Empire of Iuz and the surrounding lands into a real Demon-Corrupted, Chaos-blasted wasteland. I could have him secure an alliance with the Galchutt (from Monte Cook's "Chaositech") to acquire the secrets of their Chaositech and use them to reinforce his troops, along with bringing more Demons to Oerth.

Sounds good

-The creation of a "Kingdom of the Undead", a plague-wasted land ruled by a chaotic "alliance" of Deathgod Cults, Lichkings and Vampiric Lords, only united by a common goal of bringing Death and Destruction across Oerth, but otherwise feuding amongst themselves, especially due to the conflicting influence of different Death Cults vying for dominance (Nerull vs Orcus, mostly). Generally, an excuse for using nearly everything out of Libris Mortis. Dunno where I'd put it, though.

I've never really like the idea of the animuses of the Great Kingdom, but you could certainly place your kingdom of undead there without too much effort. The freebie Ivid the Undying should help you get details: it's available at http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Greyhawk/Ividform.zip

-Also, something I'm wondering: In Greyhawk, is there a default "region" for the Yuan-Ti to come from, and do they have a clearly defined culture? Also, is there a known region from which Samurai, Ninjas and the likes could hail from, or should I make up my own "travelers/invaders from a distant land?"

If you're looking for some additional southern areas of Greyhawk to explore and/or to make the homeland of the yuan-ti (David cites I1 properly as their origin), check out TalMeta's articles about the Sunelan coast: http://talmeta.net/maps/sunela.htm is the map, while Canonfire! hosts the maps and articles at http://www.canonfire.com/htmlnew/mod...ername=TalMeta

[LoneWolf23]

Thanks. Although for the life of me, I can't find anything on the Animuses.. What kind of undead creatures are they? Skeletal, Zombie-like, spectral? Could I simulate them using the stats for the Necropolitan from Libris Mortis?

[David Howery]

Originally Posted by grodog

David---Please email me, I'd love to pick your brain about some of your Greyhawk modules from Dungeon. Thanks

that'd be cool... just as soon as I get my new MSN email system figured out.... right now, I've got something goofy going on with it.... the security level is so high, it won't let me open my own email inbox
Rather aggravating, but it sure is secure...

[grodog]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf23

Thanks. Although for the life of me, I can't find anything on the Animuses.. What kind of undead creatures are they? Skeletal, Zombie-like, spectral? Could I simulate them using the stats for the Necropolitan from Libris Mortis?

http://www.canonfire.com/htmlnew/mod...ownload&cid=11
has the 2e writeup that used to be on the WotC site. A 3.0 coversion was published in the Living Greyhawk Journal #2, but I'm not sure if there are any 3.5 conversions around (BOZ?).

[LoneWolf23]

Originally Posted by grodog

http://www.canonfire.com/htmlnew/mod...ownload&cid=11
has the 2e writeup that used to be on the WotC site. A 3.0 coversion was published in the Living Greyhawk Journal #2, but I'm not sure if there are any 3.5 conversions around (BOZ?).

Was that with an issue of Dragon or with an issue of Dungeon?

[grodog]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf23

Was that with an issue of Dragon or with an issue of Dungeon?

That was actually when LGJ was published as a stand-alone magazine by the RPGA.