Greyhawk's doomgrinder

[Duo Maxwell]

I was less-impressed with Doomgrinder in execution, than I was in concept/inspiration. The "Greyhawk '98" products detailed many of the adventure hooks from FtA and earlier sources, and I wasn't as keen on some of them as others. (FWIW, I liked Return of the Eight and The Star Cairns quite a bit, Crypt of Lyzenrad the Mad less so, and Doomgrinder least).

I always envisioned the Doomgrinder as more of a mechanical omen, slowly counting down to some-now-lost-prophetic doom, and that the PCs would need to find some way to discover what that doom was before they would be able to halt it's doomgrinding. (FWIW, I also pictured something mill-like, since that just seemed to fit, given the site's name). Anyway, the derro engine of destruction was fine, just not as cool as what I'd hoped for, given my expectations (damn TSR for not reading my mind and building Greyhawk in my own image! ).

I have to agree with grodog here. When I ran the Lost Tomb series for my group, I really hyped up the end-of-the-world plot with the Doomgrinder. My friends loved the mystery behind the Star Cairns and most of the puzzles in the Crypt of Lyzandred the Mad. Months later, when the Doomgrinder module was finally released, I too, found that it wasn't as cool as the hype I dumped on my players. Still, I was still able to make the destruction of the Doomgrinder a great campaign finale for my gaming group.

 

[GlassJaw]

Dude, From the Ashes was awesome. My Favourite Greyhawk period. I loved the Dark Fantasy feel. Wish I could find it cheap.

+1

From the Ashes is one of my favorite boxed sets of all time. I was able to grab a second copy on ebay - just have to be persistent.

Star Cairns was definitely the best of the 3 modules. The Crypt was awful. It wasn't even a dungeon. The PC's basically teleported randomly from one "room" to the next. The DM just rolled. Lame.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I only caught up with those Greyhawk products late, and they weren't good. Before the LGG, the previous Greyhawk product I thought was good was Five Shall Be One, and its sequel was terrible.

What, you didnt like being a spectator in the final act? Come on, that's what Greyhawk was all about in that era (particularly Vecna Lives).

 

[Cthulhudrew]

If I were you, I'd try to find the Slavers (a redux/return to the 1st Edition A Series) and the Scarlet Brotherhood. Both products came out around the same time as the adventures previously mentioned, and they give a great amount of source material and have numerous plot hooks that could drive numerous campaigns.

I liked the parts of Scarlet Brotherhood dealing with the SB, but too much of the rest of the supplement, IMO, was just rehashed RW Aztec mythology/anthropology. No real effort made to "Greyhawk-ize" it, either. One of the things that bugged me about a lot of the "cultural adaptation" material put out by TSR during that period (and in particular during the Mesoamerican phase they seemed to be going through- Maztica, Azcans, Hepmonaland/Amedio Jungles).

 

[James Jacobs]

We put a picture of the Doomgrinder in a picture in issue #130 of Dungeon, page 64. Just over Tenser... ahem... MANZORIAN'S shoulder.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

We put a picture of the Doomgrinder in a picture in issue #130 of Dungeon, page 64. Just over Tenser... ahem... MANZORIAN'S shoulder.

FEAR HIS FLOATING DISK!!!

 

[Dykstrav]

From the Ashes is indeed a really cool supplement in general. I use the Campaign Guide constantly in my own Greyhawk games. That one big poster map and enough places for members of the standard PC races to come from alone makes it awesome for a basic Greyhawk game. Now throw in all those dungeons in the Cairn Hills, the map of the Free City published in the Living Greyhawk journal several years back, and Greyhawk: the Adventure Begins (for a good writeup to go with that map). Greyhawk all the way baby!

The only thing that could make all this gameitude more awesome would be if it were collected in a 3.5-compliant hardcover that was on par with the Eberron or Forgotten Realms hardcovers. I'm already entertaining myself with updating this sort of stuff to 3.5 for my own campaigns.

 

[grodog]

I have to agree with Grodog (imagine that).

Thanks, I think, GwydapLlew

 

[grodog]

I am a huge fan of Greyhawk, both new and old material, and I unfortunately have little praise for the so-called GH-98. The Return of the Eight was a rather rail roaded affair.

Quite true, but

Spoiler

I love Tenser's castle in all of it's cool secret nooks and crannies, and the Luna materials too

. For that stuff, I'm more than willing to forgive the railroady plot (which I'd toss anyway).

If I were you, I'd try to find the Slavers (a redux/return to the 1st Edition A Series) and the Scarlet Brotherhood.

I liked Slavers quite a bit, especially for the details on the Wild Coast and Dyvers, but FWIW SB never floated my boat. Since my campaigns rarely involved the SB directly, that's likely a reason why....

I'd also look for the free download of Ivid the Undying on WotC's site. Its a huge, detailed look at what was left of the Great Kingdom, post GH Wars.

And it's full of interesting, fun hooks you can exploit further for Great Kingdom campaigns!

 

[Mycanid]

From the Ashes is indeed a really cool supplement in general. I use the Campaign Guide constantly in my own Greyhawk games. That one big poster map and enough places for members of the standard PC races to come from alone makes it awesome for a basic Greyhawk game. Now throw in all those dungeons in the Cairn Hills, the map of the Free City published in the Living Greyhawk journal several years back, and Greyhawk: the Adventure Begins (for a good writeup to go with that map). Greyhawk all the way baby!

Well, I definitely agree with you on THAT! I vastly prefer Greyhawk to the other settings.