Tell me about Greyhawk

[kaomera]

I find Greyhawk works best if there's a lot more Burroughs than Tolkien in how you present it.

Edward R. or William S.?

 

[Gentlegamer]

Edgar Rice . . . but I'm sure you knew that.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I find Greyhawk works best if there's a lot more Burroughs than Tolkien in how you present it.

Some of the elements, like the latter-day addition of a Circle of Eight, definitely skew more JRRT than ERB, though.

 

[Rothe]

I'd heard that the original homebrew Greyhawk campaign was run off a map of the US with Greyhawk being Chicago. Any truth to this? I'd love to see that map if it still exists.

 

[Moggthegob]

Im sure if you asked gygax in his thread he would be able to tell you.

Anyhow, this is great stuff. Especially this stuff regarding the Great Kingdom, Ratik expecially.

However, occupied Shield Lands still probably has the strongest appeal, along with Onnwal for the whole fighting against the odds and mostly losing thing.

Although, my players may really go for playing in Baklunish territory or Sea barons.

One of the things i have noticed with Greyhawk is thatalmost noone is acting with any part of their hand showing. The only exceptions I can really see to this are the Shield Lands, the barbarians, and Iuz. I think that is an aspect iam really going to play up, the duplicitousness and politics of the region.

 

[haakon1]

Onnwal for the whole fighting against the odds and mostly losing thing.

BTW, I asked Gygax about Onnwal once, and he confirmed my suspicion that he had Cornwall (in the United Kingdom) in mind with Onnwal. Some interesting aspects of Cornish history that could be ported in to D&D, perhaps:
-- Tradition of piracy. ("Pirates of Penzance", Penzance being in Cornwall)
-- Tradition of taking from ships that wreck or run aground on the rocky coast, against the royal rules (for royal, read Great Kingdom instead of United Kingdom). Alleged tradition of setting beacon fires in the wrong place to CAUSE wrecks.
-- Tradition of smuggling against royal rules.
-- Ancient center of tin mining. The ancient Greeks and Romans traded here for tin, to make bronze. In the Middle Ages, the Kings of England allowed the Cornish their own special parliament, the Stannary Parliament, with Stannary from the Latin word for tin, and the parliament representing tin mining guild interests.
-- Sheep. Beautiful rocky cliff shores -- Land's End is in Cornwall. Beautiful heather-covered moorlands. Beautiful sleepy little fishing villages. Stuff like the Sherlock Holmes story "The Hound of the Baskervilles" or the 1st Edition D&D adventure "The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh" fit the Cornish milleau.