D&D 5E Give Me Three Reasons To Play Greyhawk

[Gecko85]

This brings up an interesting question...

Can someone take the basic Greyhawk info and use it as just a loose basis for creating a heavily customized version of Greyhawk? I have a few setting details and mechanics I want to test out, and using a variation of an existing campaign is a lot easier than creating one entirely new.

Absolutely.

And if you don't already have the setting in one form or another, here you go...

Maps: http://paizo.com/products/btpy8fs1?Greyhawk-Poster-Map-All-Four-Quadrants

Campaign Setting: http://www.dndclassics.com/product/17392/World-of-Greyhawk-Fantasy-Game-Setting-1e?it=1

 

[Parmandur]

This is why I like Greyhawk, and how I like to run it. YMMV.



1. Greyhawk is a setting where a big, bad, evil demi-god rules half the land and wants the rest.

2. The biggest threat to him is probably the demon-haunted, decadent, and equally evil empire that dominates the half he doesn't yet rule.

2a. The "good" states don't trust each other owing to their history as vassal states of various other powers, including the now demon-haunted empire.

3. Your job as an adventurer is to turn this epic conflict into your personal path to vast wealth and unmatched power.



I always like Mordenkainen as the end-game goal for Greyhawk characters - powerful enough to do as you please, while always keeping the various power groups in the world that could threaten him off balance and bickering (the balance, my ass - the Circle of Eight's end game is "keep everyone else - good or evil - two steps behind us.")

Gee, sounds like a great idea for a published product!

 

[Bupp]

I went and did it. I'm officially moving my game from my fledgling homebrew into the World of Greyhawk, CY 576. Easy enough since the players are still around their first town.

I downloaded A Guide to the World of Greyhawk pdf, and have a print copy from ebay headed my way. I'll probably be picking up those Paizo poster maps as well.

Reading through the pdf feels like I'm headed back home. Give me a chance to play out the Greyhawk Wars again.

 

[Sadrik]

1. Blackrazer
2. Whelm
3. Wave

 

[pemerton]

Can someone take the basic Greyhawk info and use it as just a loose basis for creating a heavily customized version of Greyhawk?

I guess how loose you want to be.

When I use Greyhawk for my games, I mean first of all the maps, secondly some of the key personalities (as rulers, archmages, etc - a D&D setting generally needs these sorts of things, and it saves me having to make up my own), and third the basic outline of history (there was a war that ended with the Rain of Colourless Fire and the Invoked Devastation, leading to mass migrations).

But I don't tend to use any of the other details unless I want to. (Eg I have never treated the Greyhawk Vikings as Suel, which has always struck me as ridiculous in the extreme; and I use my own religion and metaphysics/theology.)

To answer [MENTION=2067]Kamikaze Midget[/MENTION]:

(1) Maps;
(2) Names for key personalities like rulers, archmages etc;
(3) A basic outline of history which sets up a reasonable default framework for a fantasy RPG;
(4) A bonus reason - by default the campaign includes insidious martial artists trying to take over the world!

 

[TarionzCousin]

1. Blackrazer
2. Whelm
3. Wave

Those are three reasons to play White Plume Mountain, which could really be placed anywhere. I ran it a year ago set in the Forgotten Realms.

 

[Klaus]

1 - It's not one sandbox, it's several!
Regions in Oerth can be divided into large sanbox-style settings, with very different approaches. The ancient Kingdom of Keoland and its surrounding states fighting against giants, the Mage in the Valley, the Dim Forest horrors and the ever-present threat of "paynims", depending on quasi-mystical knightly orders that could end up taking power. The lands surrounding Iuz have a "Gondor/Mordor ongoing war" vibe, with the "good" states close to disarray, while a supernatural warlord summons the forces of darkness to him. The region from the Free City down the Pomarj is the most "Lankhmarish" part, where adventurers seek fame and fortune. The Iron League, doing battle with the Great Kingdom, has an "Eberron's Last War" vibe (with magitech advances and the ongoing war). The whole Great Kingdom could be anything from a horror-based, Ravenloft-ish game to a full-on post-apocalyptic "Evil won" setting. And then there's the frontiers (cold in the North, jungle islands in the South).

2 - Scarlet Brotherhood. Who doesn't want evil, red-clad monk/assassins? Cooooobraaaaaa!

3 - Vecna. Forget the god, this is the stomping ground of the actual Vecna.

 

[Mercule]

I'd like to suggest, humbly, that Greyhawk be published for AD&D again instead of re-making it for 5th Edition.

How's this: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/17392/World-of-Greyhawk-Fantasy-Game-Setting-1e?it=1

My three reasons:
1) Evil-hating-neutrals: The "heroes" don't have to be (and probably aren't) of the highest moral standards. It's more akin to Conan, Fafhrd, or Mal Reynolds than l'Morte d'Arthur. That said, the shield lands provide an excellent place for both stick-up-butt paladins and paladins who've realized the world can't be made black and white. Greyhawk had moral ambiguity built in before it was cool.

2) It strikes the right balance between detail and openness. The original book (linked above) had things like major economic factors in each nation, as well as the way various human ethnic groups tended to dress. There was a sense of history and richness to the world, including thousands of years of migratory patterns. Sweeping campaign hooks were painted with very broad brush strokes, but could be immediate or deferred for years. There was also always the implication that something important was "just off the map" in any given direction (except, maybe, east).

3) Variety. You get access to all the following, in away that doesn't stretch suspension of disbelief unduly:

• Vikings
• Mongols
• Nazi Ninjas
• A decaying pseudo-Byzantium
• An incursion from the Abyss
• Italian-style city states
• A post-apocalyptc wasteland
• Dark jungles to explore
• Pirates
• An ancient land, now frozen in ice
• A bottomless great lake with who knows what lurking beneath

And that's after not looking at the setting for over a decade.

 

[carmachu]

For one, its not just good vs evil. There is also Law vs Chaos. Make for interesting dynamics of who will help who....but only so far.

Which leads to the second- Maintaining balance of neutrality. Unlike Realms, where Harpers, Elminster, seven sisters always seem to have good win over evil.......The circle of eight is more interested in maintaining a status quo, not upsetting the balance, letting good get to far, nor evil as well. There are no super NPC's running around saving the world, and with the balance, leads to interesting outcomes.

Last, its a sandbox. There is alot of detail out there, but there is plenty of room to create your own. Its not superdetailed like other settings.

 

[Sadrik]

Those are three reasons to play White Plume Mountain, which could really be placed anywhere. I ran it a year ago set in the Forgotten Realms.

1. Iuz
2. City of Greyhawk
3. Circle of Eight