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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9489506" data-attributes="member: 42582">It depends what is meant by "canon", I guess.But as far as the core products are concerned - the Folio, Boxed Set, From the Ashes, The Adventure Begins, the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer - they all cover the same area, present the same geography, the same history, similar politics (allowing for the fact that the Greyhawk Wars play a role in this respect), etc.You can take any of those products and get a map with geographic features, town names, evil empires in the past (Suel, Baklun) from which ancient enemies, ruins etc can be derived, current evil empires (the Great Kindgom, Iuz, the Pomarj), etc.They provide core setting elements for standard FRPGing: places for PCs to come from, places for antagonists to come from, places for adventures to take place, for wizards' towers or evil temples to be located, etc. Where did the lich come from? Ancient Suel. Where can we go and hide and find help? Among the tribes of the Bright Desert, or the hardy folk of the Gnarley Forest, or the Elves of the Welkwood, or whatever else fits the current location and trajectory of a group of PCs.It's all pretty standard stuff - but those maps and the commentary will give you the places, names, and historical context that you need to make a game go.The maps of the other parts of Oerth are completely different in this respect. You can't just lay them down on the table, grab names and places, and make your game go. They don't serve the basic purpose that the core GH products do. That's why I don't regard them as having much significance.</blockquote>

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