So what would I need to start a Greyhawk game?

[Wolfix]

I've always been a player, but recently I've thought about trying my hand at DM'ing. I've never had the chance to play in a classic fantasy setting, usually my DM's had a good number of houserules and played in homebrew settings. From what I have gathered from reading this board, Greyhawk would be an excellent 'standard' setting to play such a game. Only problem is, I don't know where to start.

I'm looking to play 3.5 rules and use the 3 core books plus some supplements like the XPH and the Complete series. I have the core books, the supplements I can borrow from friends. (Is it true btw that a lot of the fluff (right word?) in these supplements is written with Greyhawk in mind?)

So, assuming a limited budget, which books should I try to get?

 

[MerricB]

Only one other: the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. (Oh, and the four recent issues of Dungeon mag which have a great map of the setting).

Greyhawk isn't really directly supported by Wizards - although you'll get a lot of support from Dungeon magazine...

Cheers!

 

[Eremite]

As Merric mentioned, the LGG is invaluable and pretty much all you need for "fluff". I would also suggest downloading the information on the deities from the RPGA website and, depending on where you want to set your campaign, some of the older 1E and 2E PDFs from RPGNow.com.

My own personal recommendation, based on a plan I have for a campaign, is to combine 2E's Against the Giants with 3.5E's Istivin series from Dungeon issues 117-119 and run a campaign based on giants, fiends and drow. Sounds like classic Greyhawk to me....

 

[DarrenGMiller]

As Merric mentioned, the LGG is invaluable and pretty much all you need for "fluff". I would also suggest downloading the information on the deities from the RPGA website and, depending on where you want to set your campaign, some of the older 1E and 2E PDFs from RPGNow.com.

My own personal recommendation, based on a plan I have for a campaign, is to combine 2E's Against the Giants with 3.5E's Istivin series from Dungeon issues 117-119 and run a campaign based on giants, fiends and drow. Sounds like classic Greyhawk to me....

Similar to what I am doing. The plan is to use some Necro mods, some Dungeon adventures and some other D20 products for a drow, demon based campaign with Orcus, Demogorgon, Jubilex, etc. all entering the mix at high levels.

DM

 

[Wolfix]

Awesome, the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer sounds exactly like the book I need, and it's only 1 book which is really nice as well .

Though from reading your posts it sounds like I could find a lot of interesting adventure information from Dungeon magazine too, perhaps my FLGS will have some of those. Or perhaps an archived set on pdf or something?

 

[Eremite]

Similar to what I am doing. The plan is to use some Necro mods, some Dungeon adventures and some other D20 products for a drow, demon based campaign with Orcus, Demogorgon, Jubilex, etc. all entering the mix at high levels.

Hmmm, I may have to swap notes with you in due course....

Awesome, the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer sounds exactly like the book I need, and it's only 1 book which is really nice as well .

Though from reading your posts it sounds like I could find a lot of interesting adventure information from Dungeon magazine too, perhaps my FLGS will have some of those. Or perhaps an archived set on pdf or something?

Unfortunately Dungeon is not (yet?) available on PDF but it really is an invaluable resource for most DMs (unless you have unlimited time to prepare). A lot of adventures have a little bit of Greyhawk flavour, not enough to satify the purists, but sufficient for most campaigns.

I also can't stress enough how much I enjoyed the Istivin series I mentioned in my earlier post. Those three issues have inspired two campaigns, one in Greyhawk and one in FR!

 

[qstor]

Another option for more adventure ideas is picking up the '83 boxed set or From the Ashes boxed set from Ebay or download it them from svgames.com. They should give you some other ideas as well. Temple of Elemental Evil would be a good tie in too for more material. Return to the ToEE 3.0 is good too. Then you can have other adventures around Verbobonc.

Mike

 

[dreaded_beast]

I plan to go very "bare-bones":

The core 3.5 books (PHB, DMG, MM) and the Greyhawk Gazeteer (the really thin one that originally sold for $10). It is very thin, running at 32 pages.

I like the thin Greyhawk Gazeteer because it gives me enough bare-bones info about the histroy of the world as well the people and places, but leaves the exact specifics up to me, to change as needed for the campaign.

Although I know there is much material out there for the Greyhawk seeting, I like the minimalist approach of the thin Gazeteer, since I don't feel compelled to use every bit of information out there that is available. With the thin Gazeteer, I'm given a good framework to use, it's up to me put in the rest.

 

[grodog]

I also recommend the Necromancer Games modules in Greyhawk, in particular Wizards Amulet/Crucible of Freya, Tomb of Abysthor, Demons & Devils, and last but certainly not least, the Maze of Zayene series (written by Rob Kuntz, co-DM of GH with Gygax; first three by NG, last by Different Worlds).. CoF has a wonderful set of wilderness encounter downloads on the NG web site (along with many other web freebies for their modules), and it's well-worth downloading and incorporating into your campaign.

The other essential in-print resources for Greyhawk is the 4-part poster map from Dungeon magazines 117-120, Dungeon 112 (Maure Castle), and the upcoming Castle Zagyg setting (written by Gygax and Kuntz, published by Troll Lord Games).

There are also many excellent online resources availble for Greyhawk. For my favorites, see http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_links.html

 

[TerraDave]

A general question: how does the LG gazeteer compare to the 83 boxed set?

The necro modules are a good suggestion, Morrick Mansion and Hall of the Rainbow Mage could also easily be set in a 1st edition style Greyhawk. You can also get conversion notes for some 1st edition modules on the conversion forum on EnWorld. This includes the Temple of Elemental Evil, which would be a natural way to start a Greyhawk campaign.

A more obscure reference would be the Dragon CD-ROM: those old dragons had a lot of stuff, and while some of it founds its way into the 83 boxed set, it was never quite the same...and of course you should start reading through Col Pladohs question and answer thread here, just for the attitude.