So what would I need to start a Greyhawk game?

[seankreynolds]

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.

That's the D&D Gazetteer, actually. The Living Greyhawk Gazetteer is 128 pages. The D&D Gaz is basically a stripped-down version of the LGG.

 

[seankreynolds]

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

Good question.
Large areas of WoG remained undeveloped except for a paragraph or two all through 1st and 2nd edition AD&D. Ditto for many of the deities (at least half of them got no official support material other than the one-line entry in the 83 box that gave name, alignment, portfolio, and race). It wasn't until the LGG that we (yes, I worked on that book) tried to give a comprehensive treatment to every part of the Flanaess, its people, and the gods that influence it.

83 box set: one 64-page book, one 32-page book (I think, mine is on a moving truck right now) for a total of 96 pages
LGG: 128 page book.

 

[TerraDave]

Good question.
Large areas of WoG remained undeveloped except for a paragraph or two all through 1st and 2nd edition AD&D. Ditto for many of the deities (at least half of them got no official support material other than the one-line entry in the 83 box that gave name, alignment, portfolio, and race). It wasn't until the LGG that we (yes, I worked on that book) tried to give a comprehensive treatment to every part of the Flanaess, its people, and the gods that influence it.

83 box set: one 64-page book, one 32-page book (I think, mine is on a moving truck right now) for a total of 96 pages
LGG: 128 page book.

Thanks Sean!! (and you did key campaign work on both Greyhawk and FR (and Ghostwalk and your new Achean-Agean project)--you are a world building man!)

The real question: which does more for your vocabulary: the 83 boxed set or LG gazeteer?

 

[Omote]

The LGG is really worth the price of admission. It's by far the definitive Greyhawk book to own (IMO). Lots, and LOTS of "fluff" to keep a campaign going for many years. Throw in the 4 recent GH maps from Dungeon magazine, and you have a full blown, fleshed out campaign setting.

..................................Omote
FPQ

 

[Telas]

First, get some time to build your setting. <-- Very Important in GH

Get the LGG, it's really not that detailed (sorry Sean, but I'm comparing it to the FR encyclicals). Each country gets maybe 2-3 pages. The 32-page Gazetteer is more of a player's resource. Have the players chip in on one for the table.

Go to Canonfire.com, get all the Oerth Journals and whatever else you can get from there.

Find the area you want to adventure in (I picked the Yeomanry, since I have a thing for militaristic democratic republics). Find the Living Greyhawk website for it, and any others, like Yahoo groups. Get everything you can off of those resources.

Look for house rule documents from other games set in Greyhawk. Borrow liberally.

Start writing. At first, your adventurers need little more than a town or village, or a neighborhood in a city. Have a general idea of what's around them, but you can fill in the details later.

You should know that the original GH was probably what we'd consider low-magic, very dangerous, and somewhat gritty. You may run into some friction between old-school GH and the 3.5 default setting. Use your best judgement; that's the fun (and responsibility) of being a DM.

Telas