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]

The Oriental stuff

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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