Greyhawk Setting Ressurected? Sorta Kinda..

[Mark Plemmons]

Just a little FYI cause it annoys me...

HackMaster is not a "joke" setting.

Yes, it's written with a tongue-in-cheek humor (a lot of which comes from how seriously the game takes itself).

But just like any game or campaign setting, you get out of it what you put into it. Want to run a serious campaign? You can do it. Hack-and-slash? Yes, that too. Unless you're trying to run a really dark, gritty game, the touches of humor shouldn't affect your HM game in the least.

Otto's Irresistible Dance spell, anyone?

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Mark Plemmons
Kenzer and Company
www.kenzerco.com
===

 

[Regdar]

+12 Hackmaster isn't a joke?

Fourecks is correct though, Greyhawk fans are a rabid broken faction, of people who hold onto the old school setting and those who like what has come since. No one will ever get what they want with the world, the best bet is to take what you like, keep it and move on. WoTC won't support it, and no other game system creating it will work either, you'll have to convert any information beyond source, which seems everyone already has, and then people will bitch about that, and then bitch that conversions aren't right. Regdar isn't pleased by the thought that hackmaster got the world, since Regdar liked a lot of the changes that have been made over the years.

And in edition, if it comes out with the same style that a few of the members of that board prosper in, Regdar will thankfully pass.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

To be fair, the +12 Hackmaster sword, as well as the less powerful Hackmasters, are listed as unique artifacts.

 

[Darius101]

Not to make a long post this time.
My Greyhawk is different from your Greyhawk which is different from Gary's Greyhawk...which is different from ....ect....
Thanks for the input guys.....
I agree that ANY campaign world is what you make of it.
Nobody I know uses everything published for an adventure campaign nor do they use the material Verbatum.
A good DM will taylor it to their group, not just use it As IS.
Why is the Greyhawk Faction split? They take the rules too literally is one reason. Rules are a tool to making the game workable not an end all be all solve everything kinda tool. Sometimes you need to modify the rules. WOTC has seen that some of their rules are too general and are revising them. Hackmaster has many many rules but you don't need to follow every last one. It is up to the DM to determine what rules he/she wants in their campaign world.

This Greyhawk thing probably won't happen anyway because WOTC runs RPGA and they inturn are running the world as Living Greyhawk. This means that a License will have to be purchased first before anything goes forward at all.

Regdar and Fourdecks the reason Pied piper and others are so rabiid about the world of Greyhawk is that the have a long time commitment and many hours invested in the world. Forgotten Realms players and 2e fans can be the same at times. I say again it is a GAME play it the way you like it and fudge on the rest of the people who don't like it the way you like it. I for one value everyones opinions but will defend my self if cornered with the material to back it up.
Fourdecks I agree that WOTC should let out multiple license agreements but it is like the video game industry. The old arcade games like Space Invaders and Asteroids are not being produced right now but the holders of the programming will go after anyone that posts the ROM images online. Why? Cause they might publish it as a game in the future. They want to MAKE MONEY from their old product if at all possible. They can prove in court that they hold the license.
Would any 1e product sell right now?? Who knows...it might sell to a very select market. Bussiness are not so willing to take that chance. This whole bussiness is a niche market and what might sell now will not sell 5yrs down the road at all.
Thank you Grodog for the information man....
JeffB you are correct and I had forgotten that .....Dave also has that on his website as well. Memory is a funny thing when you get older....where are those keys again?
History is important it is just not all that much set in stone when you only look at published works and do not ask the creators of the hobby. This hobby is fairly new and most of the creaters are still around for us to ask questions.
Ok, that is enough of my rambling for today,
Darius

 

[grodog]

Regdar and Fourdecks the reason Pied piper and others are so rabiid about the world of Greyhawk is that the have a long time commitment and many hours invested in the world.

I have to say in response to this general criticism that you raise here, Darius, and others have commented on as well, that I haven't found MOST of the folks on the PPP boards to be so rabid. Some folks like Gene are, certainly, but Gene's rabid on all boards.

Not everyone on the PPP boards is an OD&D/AD&D/1e iconoclast

 

[Darius101]

I did not imply that all the fans are rabid at all....
That is why I left it somewhat ambiguous because those that are big fans of Greyhawk know who they are.
I merely enjoy the setting and will taylor it to my liking regardless of what is published. As a DM I have that option. My players also have a hand in the world by their actions in that world. What happens in your game will not effect my game especially if I do not know what you have done.
Greyhawk is like sliders ----we have thousands of the same world but they are all different in some way.
I must say that I also have not seen that rabid defending of Greyhawk myself on th ppp boards I was only commenting on what was in this post.

Saw a rumor that Gary Gygax may be consulted? That has not been mentions as far as I know perhaps the Col. himself can shed some light for us...
Have fun,
Darius

 

[Outlaw]

Greyhawk license

This Greyhawk thing probably won't happen anyway because WOTC runs RPGA and they inturn are running the world as Living Greyhawk. This means that a License will have to be purchased first before anything goes forward at all.

You're actually incorrect on this matter. When KenzerCo secured the license for the 1e/2e engine that is the rules basis for Hackmaster, it included older material such as the rogues galery of Mordenkeinen, Robilar, Tenser and the rest as well as modules (which they have been releasing their own versions of). Although they cannot use the name Greyhawk directly, they plan on using Oerth and GreyHack has become a common nomenclature as well. Additionally, WotC has already approved the project. It's a matter of finding writers and producing the project. This has moved out of the "that would be a cool idea" phase and into the "this is going to be a lot of work but hopefully will be cool" phase.

As it is a Hackmaster release and not a 3e release, it won't interfere or compete against Living Greyhawk.

 

[DDK]

Regdar and Fourdecks the reason Pied piper and others are so rabiid about the world of Greyhawk is that the have a long time commitment and many hours invested in the world.

Well so too do many of the fans that kept the fires burning when everyone else let it die.

I don't know the history. I didn't live it. I only became a GH fan a couple of years ago, despite being a regular player since I was 13 (14 years ago). But I really like a lot of Carl Sargent's material and a lot of the Canonfire! fan articles (including yours, grodog). And yet a lot of the people at Dragonsfoot and PPP would throw all that away on the principle that it's not stamped with Gary's or Rob's approval.

I think that's ridiculous. For one thing, at the end of the day, Carl and others are far better writers and game designers than EGG or RJK. For another, EGG and RJK did a very small amount of work in comparison to what others since have done. To call it theirs just because they did the original work and it was the 'original' setting is to be totally dismissive of all the efforts of thousands of people over the last twenty odd years.

Whenever someone writes something and publishes it, it ceases to be the writers work. I'm a great believer in that philosophy. Sure, copyright remains, but I'm talking metaphysically. Writing and publishing isn't just about making money, it's about sharing your work with the world. The sheer buzz of having someone genuinely say, "Hey, I like your work," is greater than any amount of cash. It's the fans who make ones work shine. Without them, ones work is just another scrap of paper with squiggly lines on it.

You'll also notice that Col Pladoh hasn't piped up yet. And I highly doubt he will...

 

[Outlaw]

PPP

Not everyone on the PPP boards is an OD&D/AD&D/1e iconoclast

Yeah, there's Merric and Sayburr and I was there for a handful of months.

 

[DDK]

HackMaster is not a "joke" setting.

Hackmaster.
Garweeze Wurld.
Gawds.
Groin Stomp.
Titan Gnomes.

and

Little Keep on the Borderlands.
Little Tomb of Horrors.
Annihilate the Giants.
Castle Greyhack.


Hrm... not a joke setting?

Like a good cook once told me. You can always add, but you can't subtract.