[WoG] R1-4 Modules

[johnsemlak]

Greyhawk Question:

The R1-4 Modules were supposed to be set in WoG in an alternate continent. Do they provide much setting info on that continent? Was the setting ever developed in other products?

Will this continent ever be developed?

I'm saying this in particular because R4's ESD was just released, and R1 & R3 are already available.

Wasn't I12 also loosely connected to R1-4?

Finally, I never owned any the modules, but am considering the ESDs. Does anyone have any thoughts on them?

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

I would like to give greetings from America to Russia.
Hey there!

R1 - R4 are what collectors here call Extraordinarily Rare items.
If you ever actually see one of these modules, it will probably be behind heavy glass in a collection, or at the auction at Gen Con, American's largest gaming convention.
R1, or any of the Rs, will fetch hundreds of dollars in such an auction, if it is in good shape.

And yes, the Rs dealt with a separate continent on the world of Oerth, where the Greyhawk Setting is.
There is a poster here named William. He is a good man, and a great poster, and a friend of mine. He knows a great deal about the Rs.
You can find William down in the In Character Forum. He often posts there.
If you were to ask William, I am sure he would be happy to help you, and give you all the information he has on the Rs and this new continent.
I know the Rs contain a map for the continent, although it is incomplete.

I12 was indeed related to the Rs. I think - I stress the think, I am not sure - that they took one of the R modules, expanded it, and re-released it as I12.

I do not know if they will develop this new continent.
Greyhawk is, according to what I know, in the hands of the RPGA, or Role Playing Gamer's Association.
However, the RPGA is a formal public gaming organization, not a company, and the RPGA does not have a lot of money (not at least, in the corporate sense of the words lots of money.) I do not think the RPGA can just decide to create large scale expansions and submit them to the printers for publication! But they do the best they can, with the resources they have.
Piratecat, is a member of the RPGA, and more In The Know than I am. Perhaps he can tell you more concerning the plans of the RPGA and how they will be working with WOTC to develop the world of Oerth.
Talk to Piratecat. I'm sure he will be glad to help you. He's been around on the ENBoards since the start, and he's pretty cool (although I must rebuke him for closing my Cannibalism Poll! )

 

[D'karr]

I12 is indeed a compilation of the R1-R4 modules.

It is set in a continent known as Aquaria. The modules were designed by Frank Mentzer of Temple of Elemental Evil fame.

 

[Voadam]

Are I12 or the Rs available as pdfs from svgames yet?

 

[Davelozzi]

Are I12 or the Rs available as pdfs from svgames yet?

According to the first post in this thread, yes. ESDs are the .PDF versions of the modules.

 

[Voadam]

Oops! And I read that first post too, but forgot that part as I got sucked into the replies.

OK is the combo I12 available then. I always get the supermodule compilations (B1-12, GDQ, etc.) in ESD as opposed to the individual component ones.

 

[johnsemlak]

Are I12 or the Rs available as pdfs from svgames yet?

I12, R1, R2, and r4 (not R3) are available at SVGame's 1e AD&D Adventures section.

 

[johnsemlak]

I didn't understand an above post about the RPGA controlling Greyhawk? Is the RPGA not contolled by WotC? Can't WotC still make WoG products (like RtoToEE)?

 

[grodog]

Your best bet on RGPA/Greyhawk/WotC info is to talk to Erik Mona, of course.

re: R1-4, as various folks have mentioned, there is GH content in them (primarily in R4). I12 is a re-compilation of R1-4, and isn't completely faithful to the originals (think S1-4 Realms of Horror vs. the GDQ or A1-4 super module books: I12 IIRC stripped out all of the GH content, and then mangled the modules together into a quest as R1-4 weren't originally related sequentially). For details on the R1-4/I12 relationship, see The Acaeum at http://www.acaeum.com/DDIndexes/ModPages/R.html and http://www.acaeum.com/DDIndexes/ModPages/I.html.

R4's Greyhawk content isn't huge (it's mostly background which was also available in the old AOL Greyhawk folders under "Aquaria"), but is there. Here's a relevant excerpt, from the AOL folder, (which is close to that of the R4 text):

Adventurous pioneers from Oerid traveled east from Greyhawk in 522 OR (Oerid Reckoning), traversing the great Solnor Ocean and founding the colony of Aqua-Oeridia, now the independent Kingdom of Aquaria. They triumphed over chaos and wilderness, and carved their foothold on the future. Demi-humankind was discovered and allied with the realm. Great constructions, including the 7 Ruling Castles and the Greatroads, were built by combining magic and technology (the very suggestion of which would, in Oerid, have been grounds for trials of heresy). By uniting the people and traveling a pragmatically broad avenue of progress, the Lawful (and generally Good) forces of the realm thrived. But some Evil retreated, to plot and plan its eventual return.

More than 3 centuries after the founding of Aquaria, the Age of Great Sorrow began, in the nearly forgotten homeland of Oerid, in 857 OR. Simultaneously, an ocean away in this promising new land of Aquaria, King John III suddenly fell ill. It is believed that the regrowth of Evil began at that point. In any event, a vast army was sighted in the southlands of Aquaria about 30 years later, and skirmishing began. All manner of Pressures came to bear on King John IV, and on the great capital city of Empyrea, which was besieged in 236 JR. The siege lasts to this day.

It is the spring of the year 240 JR (898 OR in the Old World). Despite the siege, many brave folk travel into and from Empyrea by tunnel. King John is mustering the powers of the realm, and is about to break the evil grip on his capital, hopefully to eradicate the enemy powers once and for all.

I hope that helps. The info in R4 has a bit more historical detail to it, but I don't have that in an electronic format. R1-3 didn't have as much GH-specific detail.

For those more curious, IIRC, there's some Aquarian info in the Greytalk Archives at http://www.greycitadel.com/greycitadel/greytalk.nsf and/or on Canonfire! (at www.canonfire.com).

Lastly, when I looked at SVGames, I saw only R1 and R3 there, at http://store.yahoo.com/svgames-store/tsrfalxesd.html and http://store.yahoo.com/svgames-store/tsrphoeesd.html. Bastion's web site confirms that they haven't found copies of R2 to scan yet, but it looks like R4 is overdue to be released.... If I've missed R4 there, blame the SVGames search engine, not me

 

[johnsemlak]

Thanks Grodog, that's very useful.

BTW, R4 is available here

I haven't tried tobuy it yet, but I plan on doing so.

Unfortuantely, I already bought I12 (not that big of a problem, but I really wanted greyhawk content). Some of it's maps are missing. I've sent a note to SVGames, hopefully it will be corrected.