Oerth is my real home. I live in the Wild Coast where in my campaign I defeated The Slave Lords and Turrosh Mak and conquered The Pomarge during the War. I am Jimisan of Dai Nippon. I came as a refugee and now am an emperor. Iuz is my mortal foe.The campaign started in 576 CY and now is in 623 CY.
I appreciate this video. 'Been reading about older D&D lore to find inspiration for a more classic Sword and Sorcery style campaign I feel has been underrepresented in my play group, didint think I'd care much for the setting but your ceaseless enthusiasm is very inviting, and a little infectious.
Back to Keyboard/PC after commenting on the OSR-Video ;) When I started playing D&D, there were games in the Realms, on Dragonlance and the Known World around. My first encounter with D&D was the Realms, in Cormyr, I don't know the module anymore... I had played Fighting Fantasy before and was a big fan of Conan, Elric and some german Scifi and Fantasy authors (I went to school with the daughter of one of Germanys most popular authors of that time...) I also enjoyed Sir Walter Scott, Greek and Roman mythology, german folk tales etc. D&D was my third game to be honest, the first one was The Dark Eye (Das Schwarze Auge), the second was Runequest. Funfact: The makers of The Dark Eye were the same people who did the german translation of BECMI and the 1e books (and Tunnels & Trolls, in German:Schwerter und Dämonen). Almost the same happened with 5e some decades later... The publisher of the Dark Eye also did D&D and Pathfinder in Germany (and Shadowrun, Earthdawn, Battletech, Harnmaster, Flashing Blades etc) After playing AD&D for a short while I wanted to DM myself because neither Toril, Krynn or the Known World met my expectations of how a fantasy world should be. I wanted fantastic realism, so the Known World was one choice, but those guys playing BECMI were of the exclusive sort and didn't allow their players other games. So not my cup of tea. I went to our local fantasy store and skimmed through the shelves, with the different boxed sets and I decided it would be Greyhawk. They didn't have the 1e World of Greyhawk box, but I bought City of Greyhawk and Fate of Istus (it was that time of transition between 1e and 2e... 1988/89) Not the best start, but I could prepare the adventure and I got some informations on the Flaness, though mostly from the adventures from Fate of Istus. I was a german junior high kid, my english was not thaaaat good, but it became better while reading TSR stuff and The Lord of the Rings... Fate of Istus is my campaign I still return to and I was really happy they used Greyhawk as a default setting in 3e. But I always preferred 1e, 2e and Whitebox + Greyhawk, this was my style of playing, and mostly in the Bandit Kingdoms, Nyrond, Irongate etc., so the eastern part of the continent was my home... What I like about WoG is the medieval like but low- to mid-level of magic setting. We call this "Fantelalter" in German, one could say "Fantieval" in English. Of course I also DMed the Giants (but we never got the the Decent, Vault and Queen modules), Temple of Elemental Evil (QUAK! *gulp*) and did much adventuring around the Nyr Dyv. In the 90s, when it was my turn to run an adventure, my group said, "Oh yes, today it is getting Old School, we are back to Greyhawk" So playing the Old School (OSR) way was a thing in the mid 90s already, and I never stopped playing that way. Today even my 17 year old daughter enjoys this style of game, while she is a 5e DM on her own (she got all my 5e stuff a few years ago...) Our campaign in the Bandit Kingdoms, near Rift Craig, the Canyon and Stoink is still running more or less regularly. When I return to D&D, I alway run Greyhawk campaigns. I tried Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance and even Dark Sun. But Greyhawk is home. Thank you for your videos, they made an old grognard happy :) Great Work!
I've been running a campaign set in and around Geoff in 575 CY. I like the setting of mountains and forests and the overall wilderness atmosphere. I like how the World of Greyhawk isn't overly detailed because that allows individual DMs to fill a region in as they wish. It's close to the G series and S3 and the mysterious Valley of the Mage, and not too far from the Sea of Dust... There is just enough Greyhawk Lore to be inspiring yet not feel constraining.
I've been meaning to look into the lore of Greyhawk for a while since AD&D 1e was built around it and I really need to learn more about the official settings past Forgotten Realms, so thanks for the video. :)
As a side note: Using the number of theoretical universes in multiverse theory it would take a level 24 cleric spell to effect everything that exists. 10^10^10^7 universes
I always found Greyhawk great for the OSR type games that were a little "grittier" and lower level action where FR was more the true "high fantasy" world. I still love Greyhawk and am trying to re=acquire my original source books for it. Saga of Old City is still one of my favorite reads to revisit every couple years.
FR feels more like something you read about. GH just gives you enough to want more, but makes you find it out for yourself, by creating (as a GM) or (as a player) adventuring in it. I firmly believe that Gary Gygax, after all he wrote about making the game your own, intended it exactly that way. 🙂
Great video! The world of Greyhawk at war showed Gary's history in tabletop wargaming. He still enjoyed fighting battles using miniatures and the rules for such miniature wargames. I remember him saying that some of the articles in early Dragon Magazines about wargame battles were things that he liked doing with some of his players to determine the fate of nations on Oerth. Perhaps the roll of even a single die on the wargame table could have determined that the Great Kingdom remained intact and stronger instead of fragmenting. It's fun to consider. 🙂
@@GreyhawkGrognard Nice! Lucky you! I was wasting all of my money on stupid things like rent and food and gas when those were out. I could have eaten less. 😀 Actually, looking at the excess padding around my waist, I probably should have eaten a lot less. 😀
@@GreyhawkGrognard They came out when I was in school too and I missed out on them, but the FLGS near the college where I went in '87 had a bunch of unopened packs they'd found in a mislabeled box in the company warehouse that had been forgotten on a high shelf. They got snapped up before I could get any, dangit. 😀
i have been playing dnd for over 40 years and experimented with other worlds, Greyhawk is I believe the best of all, encompassing all of the characteristics that makes this world mystical, nostalgic and infinitely exciting. Understanding the histories throughout the timelines as a DM will bring years of great fun for all players as I still enjoy.
Greyhawk was my starting point. Best for modules in my opinion. Put tab "A" into slot "B" has been the best angle Gygax has invented. I love using very old Dungeon magazine modules and my players love it.
Sorry I'm late to the comments. I started back in 1999, Greyhawk is my father's campaign. Many great memories were made. We're still depopulating his campaign setting. Also the G series modules are amazing 👏
I'd like to be able to chat via email. I know I wouldn't want to do that over public forums. The last adventure I participated in included my uncle who hasn't played in almost 20 years. Fun times, just let me know how to link up to chat. I love the work you do and I know my father would love to chat with you too. Stay safe, and stay traditional, someone has to. 👍
I'd pitch it differently. Greyhawk is much about these fantasy cultures of the Baklunish, Suel, Flan and Oeridians. Describe those and people want to play them, thus they get interested in the setting. Also Druids have more influence here as "the old faith" as in other settings to my knowledge. Assassins are not easily cut out because they are an integral part due to guilds and the Scarlet Brotherhood. There are hilarious deities such as Zagyg or St. Cuthbert or Wastri or Murlynd ... Problem with Greyhawk is you can't find all the info in one place, as the world was developed in the modules... Feels rewarding though to find out new stuff.
Greyhawk was the first published campaign my group used when I started playing back in the 80s. We went through the whole G1-2-3, D1-2, D3, Q1 sequence at the time, before I shifted over to DragonLance. I missed the whole Greyhawk Wars era, but play tested Living Greyhawk adventures with the Verbobonc Triad and ran a lot of tournament games in that era. After many years, I've spun up Living Greyhawk again for my DragonLance players when we are missing too many to play the main campaign. We're well into DL14 at this point, so I can run more Greyhawk once we finish. I hope to get them high enough level to run through some of the c;lassic modules, even though I know they are set in the earlier time. My Keoland heroes are going to end up in Saltmarsh and when they are powerful enough, maybe the Caverns of Tsojcanth or the Barrier Peaks or the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. We'll see how it goes.
I miss LG sooooooo much. The Living Campaign was phenominal! At least I was able to collect a HUGE number of the LG modules to preserve and maybe even revisit one day!
Lets go Greyhawk, been running adventures in the setting ever since I played Return To Temple of Elemental Evil as a kid. Its a treasure keep it up my friend
For a 12 minute overview, it was pretty good intro. What I like best about Greyhawk is that it's both a small and large setting. You can pick a single hex and easily fit a small village, camp, trading post, or whatever you want to start with. You have nearly 600 square miles of adventure without having to worry about the wider world. Maybe read a page on that area/country for things happening. You also have your choice of 'themes'. A hex in the north east has a Viking theme. The far west, middle-eastern. Mongol-like nomads north. Water-born areas to the south. All great spots to start without needing to know a ton about everything. A players reached 4th or so, maybe the move onto the next few hexes (a few days journey). By 6th, maybe you expand the campaign to a larger city -- reading up more on the setting. When you get really experienced, you can read up on larger cities and countries, but you don't have to to start -- or even for many campaigns (which might not reach high levels). This is also great for new players since you can slowly get them into the setting -- one area at a time. Other settings like Forgotten Realms only seem to have a number of known cities and countries and it's hard not to end up on a road to one of them fairly quickly. Something like Arcanis is a wonderfully rich setting, but hard to play/get into without a ton of knowledge of history, races, countries, wars, etc. Greyhawk is both generic, unique, small-scale, and large scale as you need it.
Excellent video, as per usual. Greyhawk was my first campaign world, and is still the default setting, along with my own world, when we play. Your knowledge of the setting is impressive, as is your enthusiastic delivery when you're sharing your knowledge with us. Thanks for all you do to keep the Greyhawk universe alive!
The absolute best part of Greyhawk to my mind is that there is definite Lore for the setting, but there is not an absolute canon timeline, and because only certain areas are *deeply* described in the official lore (while most are just given enough information to peak the DM's interest) there is plenty of room to make the setting your own, and make your own take on the lore. This is especially true since the novelizations were much more limited and focused on the actions and stories of the characters in them and not trying to explicate every detail of the broader world.
Ok so that was really a refreshing video. It sometimes difficult to have a real grasp and simple view of the world and you did this perfectly. I'm throwing out an idea here, but it could be a great start of a (long) series of video where you give your imput in specific region, kingdoms or group of kingdoms (related to each others). That would be immensily cool and useful for dms and new greyhawk fans. Anyway keep up the good work brother !
Thanks so much! I am doing the read-through of the Guide to the World of Greyhawk, but that's alphabetical, and not regional. So that's definitely a thought.
Fantastic overview, and a really good exposition on how Gary integrated his home-brewed game world into the very fabric of the whole of the game, AD&D. Too bad the super-majority of DM's, from 1980 until today, can do little more than run with what Gary created as a setting. I created my own home-brewed game world, in 1983. I've been running with it ever since, across multiple player groups -- when one group ends, I eventually start up a new group of players, introducing them to my 1983 game world. It has a life of its own, after 40+ years. For my players, it is alive, and almost real... That is how it should be, IMO, and that is what Gary imagined others would do, as well, in the beginning of AD&D, circa 1979. World-building is an enormous amount of work, but it is so rewarding: I've run 2e BattleSystem games based on my RPG world's politics (I'm a dyed-in-the-wool, fantasy wargamer...); the PC's help write the world's history through their actions -- they also shape the future of the game world. It is amazingly fun, and they feel ownership of it, as much as I do. LOL! Cheers!
I heard your cat trying to give his two cents. I don't think you should be cutting him / her off when there's a valid point of view to be shared. Lover what you do. Wish I lived near you so we could game together. Keep it up. And feed your cat!
That was awesome. I loved it. I know you have a previous video about the Rain of Colorless fire and the Cataclysm. It seems more about the aftermath of that. Could you cover more on what they actually were?
Just stumbled across your content and Im sold. Greyhawk and Dragonlance have always been my best memories of D&D. I thought Greyhawk had been lost to time, Thank you for keeping it alive.
i have been playing in GH since yellow box. I prefer it for all the reasons given by all those who posted. I have spent years in FR, and played many settings. we are now playing 5e, toee, and we are IN greyhawk.
Having begun with B/X we started in Mystara, which was a pretty awesome setting in itself. Then we switched over to AD&D, and I found the Greyhawk gold box at the game store (the only one in my part of the state) and had to have it. Wow... what a setting. We played in Greyhawk for quite some time.
There have always been discussions about D&D's "implied setting" as embedded in the rules, especially in AD&D, but I think the "implied setting" is more like the "negative space Greyhawk". I like it better than FR; Greyhawk has stronger ties to the OG game and leaves more room for a GM to make their own Greyhawk.
I am new to Greyhawk and have been struggling to get a good grasp on the setting. This has been the most concise video on Greyhawk I have found. Thanks
I played AD&D in the 90s in my younger years with friends. We spent most of our time in homebrew or Athas. I am very grateful to find your channel and find out about another fantastic world.
I am a DM just now starting to get into Greyhawk through Ghosts of Saltmarsh for the ships and sea fairing vibe. Ended up scraping that whole idea and going full Greyhawk. I am using Jeremy Bioch's fanbased update. Where he added and updated Greyhawk into 5th edition before the the license was closed.
I've been there since 1981. I never left it, despite a lot of homebrewing. I never needed anything post 1e, though I allow some elements of 2e in even if only to accommodate 2e players. Anyway, as long as it's TSR, it's the real deal, and Greyhawk is the place.
Really great overview! I spent most of my gaming in Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance. Always wanted to play in Greyhawk but knew very little of the world.
Thanks for doing this (I believe you were fulfilling my request)! Good job on the overview. Now, perhaps, a video on starting a campaign with the Gold Box starting in 576. How should we go about it!
Great overview! Loved the explanation of all the politics and geography. A milestone in rpg creativity and gaming. Made for the perfect rpg sandbox. But I do have to be honest on one point...I always thought the map was a bit of mess. But outside that small issue, it's a brilliant game world. Absolutely iconic settings and adventures.
I think anyone who DM’d in the 80s and is still DMing probably has greyhawk as the foundation of their home brew worlds. I know mine started as greyhawk - though it’s unrecognizable now 😊
I really enjoy large dungeons, mega-dungeon adventures and campaigns are my favorite to run & play. What's your favorite Greyhawk dungeon and what do you think is the best dungeon?
Best Dungeon is Temple of Elemental Evil. Setting aside my own Castle of the Mad Archmage, the best mega-dungeon is Greyhawk Ruins, but we'll see how that stands once Troll Lord Games starts publishing the rest of Castle Zagyg.
@@sketchasaurrex4087 The 5E and Pathfinder versions are available on DriveThruRPG. The OSR version has been redone and will be available for sale next month. Announcements will be made here.
Great overview. One of my critiques of the milieu is that it was just too big, I felt, for the PCs to have an appreciable effect. That said, you can't argue with the original...
Heh, we were in the first time period. After the Giants and Underdark adventures my fighter built his castle near the giants in what I think was the called the Dutchy of Geoff. Up in a valley along the mountains. Guess I probably got over run in the second time period.
I wish someone like you and major movie producers could work on a presentation like this theatrically and dramatically. It would mean a lot to OSR DnD fans. When was the last Greyhawk campaign settings based books and games published? Are current and future Greyhawk based publications supressed and sequested by WOTC & Hasboro? Or did Gary Gygax have some indy work outside of his former company? What's the roadblock (if any) of anymore commercial publications and stories and novels based on Greyhawk?
I wish I had the technical and artistic skill to do a proper "trailer" for Greyhawk. That would be amazing. WotC has put out some few Greyhawk bits and bobs in the last few years, but certainly nothing comprehensive. The rights question is complex. The vast majority of the rights are with WotC, and they (IMHO) don't want a setting that would compete with Forgotten Realms. Gygax's widow owns the rights to some of his stuff, including Gord the Rogue and the original Castle Greyhawk, but she seems to have no interest in letting anyone publish it. It's really inexplicable.
@Greyhawk Grognard someday perhaps she will have a change of heart. It may be too sad for her to dig into his old stuff. Maybe someday when it goes to their descendants it will finally be published.
If you were to present Greyhawk to people for the first time which edition would you use. Say you had 1e-5e and grew up with 2e and was a Realms player/dm for years. I love the sword and sorcery feel of Greyhawk. Never really got a chance to play in it much. I’ve been looking to possibly run some in Ad&d 1e or 2e in the fall.
What's really terrible about Greyhawk is that the more you visit it, the more things there are to discover. Sure, there's quite a bit of official material, but there's also so much wildness to explore that a lifetime of playing wouldn't be enough to see it all.
Is there a playlist somewhere that has a more detailed overview of Greyhawk? I'm gearing up for a multiverse adventure and one of my PCs is going to be from Greyhawk, which is the ONE DND SETTING I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT (Minus like Mordenkainen, Iggwilv, Vecna you know the really iconic stuff). I need help getting up to speed
I started a "Focus on the Flanaess" list that contains my more in-depth looks at different kingdoms, but it's just getting started. Your best bet is to get the Gold Box and read through the Guide to the World of Greyhawk.
@@GreyhawkGrognard Is your series reading through it sufficient? I'm a little strapped for cash at the moment, although I suppose I could just save up since this campaign isn't starting until my current two end (they both tie into how it starts)
@@RageMagikarp Probably not, as I don't linger on every detail. I do have a "DMs Guide to Greyhawk 576" on my blog in the Free Resources section. It's got 5E mechanics, but the background material is rules agnostic. I think that'll give you what you want. Enjoy! www.greyhawkgrognard.com
@@GreyhawkGrognard Very much appreciated! I would also like to say, your love for Greyhawk is very clear to see in your content, and honestly quite infectious. The more I learn, the more it becomes a contender for my favorite DND setting. I've always been partial to Eberron personally, but Greyhawk is really cool. There's some clear similarities especially post the Greyhawk Wars, but clear differences that give it that extra high fantasy flavor that I oh so enjoy.
Greyhawk was the first setting I played in, but the GM didn't have the talent to make the world a living, breathing place. As a consequence, I always considered Greyhawk to be boring. Moved on to other settings.
I actually like the early iterations of Forgotten Realms, before it became so bloated. I'm also a fan of Dragonlance and Ravenloft. I like some of the individual Spelljammer stuff, but as an accessory for Greyhawk, rather than a setting unto itself.
Drow usually rhymes with ‘cow’. Because 1. this is how Gary Gygax pronounced the word and he invented them 2. They are taken from the mythical trow (graveyard spirits) of Orkney and Shetland - which in the dialect of those islands is pronounced ‘t-rau’ to rhyme with ‘cow’. On the other hand, if you want to pronounce it Drow as in sow, that’s your choice.
@@GreyhawkGrognard agree, it doesn’t matter. Tomaeto, tomato. Still the Orcadian/Gygax/Greenwood pronounciation is more correct because it is the way I say it 😅
Also, to support the "kitchen sink theory": did you ever notice that pretty much every historical form of government or state organisation is present in GH? Look over the map, merely reading the names will give you everything from Empire via Caliphate right to Concatenated (?) Cantons. You want a political blueprint, it's somewhere on the map! 😊
The timeline section of this video (starting at 4:15) covers all of the main timelines from CY 576 through 591. There is no 5E era, because they haven't done a setting book for the newer edition.
I know this is an older video but it’s the second time I’ve listened to it Some things I have noticed about Greyhawk is its lack of a dominant hegemony, lots of wilderness and low populations, which are all good for expanding adventures However I was wondering what are your opinions on Carl Sargents work What confuses me is whether the 580’s was an inevitable likelihood or merely internal TSR hyperbole
I have no use for any material after CY 576. I don't like "metaplot"... just give me the setting and *I* will run with it, and take it in the direction it should go based on things that happened in my campaign.
@@RIVERSRPGChannel Correct; Vecna is from Greyhawk originally, and thus his famous Hand and Eye are found there as well. He featured prominently in several high-level adventure modules (Vecna Lives! and Die Vecna Die!) before he was canonically moved from Greyhawk to Ravenloft.
@@GreyhawkGrognard ...which is rather small and - correct me if I'm wrong - cannot really be viewed or zoomed. Thank you for the video, but if it is legally possible, showing the relevant spots on the map while you talk about them would _hugely_ improve orientation for your viewers. 🙂
I am interested in your pronunciations. Are you sure you are correctly saying these things? It differs quite a bit from how I've been saying these things for 40 years. For instance, I've been saying "Fur-yondy", but you called it "Fury-Ondy".
Most of us, who didn't have the benefit of playing in Gary's campaign, only encountered those words and names in written form, so for the vast majority there isn't a "correct" way of saying them. Frank M. did a pronunciation guide in Dragon 93, but it's spotty at best in terms of Greyhawk names, not including (for instance) your Furyondy example. (But, tellingly, it does say that either way of pronouncing "drow" is acceptable...).
OK after 2min, this is good information. But does not explain at all what exactly Greyhawk campaign setting is. Like where it came from. At one point mentions this is the location where the original campaign by Gygax took place. Yet what original campaign setting. There is no context to it. Just dumps a bunch of information out about geography. With no introduction of what it actually is.
The purpose of the video was to give a general overview of the (in-game) campaign setting itself, not its real-world history. But that's a good idea, too. I'll put it on the list.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
started in 1984 - never left - still playing 39+yrs later in AD&D -- thanks
Same here, but since 1981, by way of BX
Oerth is my real home. I live in the Wild Coast where in my campaign I defeated The Slave Lords and Turrosh Mak and conquered The Pomarge during the War. I am Jimisan of Dai Nippon. I came as a refugee and now am an emperor. Iuz is my mortal foe.The campaign started in 576 CY and now is in 623 CY.
I appreciate this video. 'Been reading about older D&D lore to find inspiration for a more classic Sword and Sorcery style campaign I feel has been underrepresented in my play group, didint think I'd care much for the setting but your ceaseless enthusiasm is very inviting, and a little infectious.
Back to Keyboard/PC after commenting on the OSR-Video ;) When I started playing D&D, there were games in the Realms, on Dragonlance and the Known World around. My first encounter with D&D was the Realms, in Cormyr, I don't know the module anymore... I had played Fighting Fantasy before and was a big fan of Conan, Elric and some german Scifi and Fantasy authors (I went to school with the daughter of one of Germanys most popular authors of that time...) I also enjoyed Sir Walter Scott, Greek and Roman mythology, german folk tales etc. D&D was my third game to be honest, the first one was The Dark Eye (Das Schwarze Auge), the second was Runequest.
Funfact: The makers of The Dark Eye were the same people who did the german translation of BECMI and the 1e books (and Tunnels & Trolls, in German:Schwerter und Dämonen). Almost the same happened with 5e some decades later... The publisher of the Dark Eye also did D&D and Pathfinder in Germany (and Shadowrun, Earthdawn, Battletech, Harnmaster, Flashing Blades etc)
After playing AD&D for a short while I wanted to DM myself because neither Toril, Krynn or the Known World met my expectations of how a fantasy world should be. I wanted fantastic realism, so the Known World was one choice, but those guys playing BECMI were of the exclusive sort and didn't allow their players other games. So not my cup of tea.
I went to our local fantasy store and skimmed through the shelves, with the different boxed sets and I decided it would be Greyhawk. They didn't have the 1e World of Greyhawk box, but I bought City of Greyhawk and Fate of Istus (it was that time of transition between 1e and 2e... 1988/89) Not the best start, but I could prepare the adventure and I got some informations on the Flaness, though mostly from the adventures from Fate of Istus. I was a german junior high kid, my english was not thaaaat good, but it became better while reading TSR stuff and The Lord of the Rings...
Fate of Istus is my campaign I still return to and I was really happy they used Greyhawk as a default setting in 3e. But I always preferred 1e, 2e and Whitebox + Greyhawk, this was my style of playing, and mostly in the Bandit Kingdoms, Nyrond, Irongate etc., so the eastern part of the continent was my home... What I like about WoG is the medieval like but low- to mid-level of magic setting. We call this "Fantelalter" in German, one could say "Fantieval" in English.
Of course I also DMed the Giants (but we never got the the Decent, Vault and Queen modules), Temple of Elemental Evil (QUAK! *gulp*) and did much adventuring around the Nyr Dyv. In the 90s, when it was my turn to run an adventure, my group said, "Oh yes, today it is getting Old School, we are back to Greyhawk" So playing the Old School (OSR) way was a thing in the mid 90s already, and I never stopped playing that way.
Today even my 17 year old daughter enjoys this style of game, while she is a 5e DM on her own (she got all my 5e stuff a few years ago...) Our campaign in the Bandit Kingdoms, near Rift Craig, the Canyon and Stoink is still running more or less regularly. When I return to D&D, I alway run Greyhawk campaigns. I tried Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance and even Dark Sun. But Greyhawk is home.
Thank you for your videos, they made an old grognard happy :) Great Work!
Greyhawk is the original and the best setting! I love it to this day, 40+ years later.
I've been running a campaign set in and around Geoff in 575 CY. I like the setting of mountains and forests and the overall wilderness atmosphere. I like how the World of Greyhawk isn't overly detailed because that allows individual DMs to fill a region in as they wish. It's close to the G series and S3 and the mysterious Valley of the Mage, and not too far from the Sea of Dust... There is just enough Greyhawk Lore to be inspiring yet not feel constraining.
I've been meaning to look into the lore of Greyhawk for a while since AD&D 1e was built around it and I really need to learn more about the official settings past Forgotten Realms, so thanks for the video. :)
As a side note: Using the number of theoretical universes in multiverse theory it would take a level 24 cleric spell to effect everything that exists.
10^10^10^7 universes
Well I'm no beginner. Been playing in Greyhawk since 1983. But you always bring up some little tid bit I didn't know before.
Also love the curtains 👍
This video is perfect for new and experienced player's and game masters.
Thanks! That was my intention with this.
I always found Greyhawk great for the OSR type games that were a little "grittier" and lower level action where FR was more the true "high fantasy" world. I still love Greyhawk and am trying to re=acquire my original source books for it. Saga of Old City is still one of my favorite reads to revisit every couple years.
FR feels more like something you read about.
GH just gives you enough to want more, but makes you find it out for yourself, by creating (as a GM) or (as a player) adventuring in it.
I firmly believe that Gary Gygax, after all he wrote about making the game your own, intended it exactly that way. 🙂
Great video!
The world of Greyhawk at war showed Gary's history in tabletop wargaming. He still enjoyed fighting battles using miniatures and the rules for such miniature wargames. I remember him saying that some of the articles in early Dragon Magazines about wargame battles were things that he liked doing with some of his players to determine the fate of nations on Oerth. Perhaps the roll of even a single die on the wargame table could have determined that the Great Kingdom remained intact and stronger instead of fragmenting. It's fun to consider. 🙂
I still have some of those Minifigs miniatures for the Greyhawk armies.
@@GreyhawkGrognard Nice! Lucky you! I was wasting all of my money on stupid things like rent and food and gas when those were out. I could have eaten less. 😀 Actually, looking at the excess padding around my waist, I probably should have eaten a lot less. 😀
@@thatpatrickguy3446 Ha! At the time I was still in school, so I didn't have to worry about trifles like food and rent.
@@GreyhawkGrognard They came out when I was in school too and I missed out on them, but the FLGS near the college where I went in '87 had a bunch of unopened packs they'd found in a mislabeled box in the company warehouse that had been forgotten on a high shelf. They got snapped up before I could get any, dangit. 😀
Excellent overview, thank you!
i have been playing dnd for over 40 years and experimented with other worlds, Greyhawk is I believe the best of all, encompassing all of the characteristics that makes this world mystical, nostalgic and infinitely exciting. Understanding the histories throughout the timelines as a DM will bring years of great fun for all players as I still enjoy.
Greyhawk was my starting point. Best for modules in my opinion. Put tab "A" into slot "B" has been the best angle Gygax has invented. I love using very old Dungeon magazine modules and my players love it.
Sorry I'm late to the comments. I started back in 1999, Greyhawk is my father's campaign. Many great memories were made. We're still depopulating his campaign setting. Also the G series modules are amazing 👏
I'd like to be able to chat via email. I know I wouldn't want to do that over public forums. The last adventure I participated in included my uncle who hasn't played in almost 20 years. Fun times, just let me know how to link up to chat. I love the work you do and I know my father would love to chat with you too. Stay safe, and stay traditional, someone has to. 👍
Great video. About to DM a campaign in the setting and I need all the info I can get my hands on 🤟
I'd pitch it differently. Greyhawk is much about these fantasy cultures of the Baklunish, Suel, Flan and Oeridians. Describe those and people want to play them, thus they get interested in the setting. Also Druids have more influence here as "the old faith" as in other settings to my knowledge. Assassins are not easily cut out because they are an integral part due to guilds and the Scarlet Brotherhood. There are hilarious deities such as Zagyg or St. Cuthbert or Wastri or Murlynd ...
Problem with Greyhawk is you can't find all the info in one place, as the world was developed in the modules... Feels rewarding though to find out new stuff.
Greyhawk was the first published campaign my group used when I started playing back in the 80s. We went through the whole G1-2-3, D1-2, D3, Q1 sequence at the time, before I shifted over to DragonLance. I missed the whole Greyhawk Wars era, but play tested Living Greyhawk adventures with the Verbobonc Triad and ran a lot of tournament games in that era. After many years, I've spun up Living Greyhawk again for my DragonLance players when we are missing too many to play the main campaign. We're well into DL14 at this point, so I can run more Greyhawk once we finish. I hope to get them high enough level to run through some of the c;lassic modules, even though I know they are set in the earlier time. My Keoland heroes are going to end up in Saltmarsh and when they are powerful enough, maybe the Caverns of Tsojcanth or the Barrier Peaks or the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. We'll see how it goes.
I miss LG sooooooo much. The Living Campaign was phenominal! At least I was able to collect a HUGE number of the LG modules to preserve and maybe even revisit one day!
+1 for Greyhawk Curtains... well done overview.
The more I learn about Greyhawk the more I love it and HOW it is designed
TSR knew what they were doing. Why try to improve on genius?
Lets go Greyhawk, been running adventures in the setting ever since I played Return To Temple of Elemental Evil as a kid. Its a treasure keep it up my friend
For a 12 minute overview, it was pretty good intro.
What I like best about Greyhawk is that it's both a small and large setting. You can pick a single hex and easily fit a small village, camp, trading post, or whatever you want to start with. You have nearly 600 square miles of adventure without having to worry about the wider world. Maybe read a page on that area/country for things happening. You also have your choice of 'themes'. A hex in the north east has a Viking theme. The far west, middle-eastern. Mongol-like nomads north. Water-born areas to the south. All great spots to start without needing to know a ton about everything.
A players reached 4th or so, maybe the move onto the next few hexes (a few days journey). By 6th, maybe you expand the campaign to a larger city -- reading up more on the setting. When you get really experienced, you can read up on larger cities and countries, but you don't have to to start -- or even for many campaigns (which might not reach high levels). This is also great for new players since you can slowly get them into the setting -- one area at a time.
Other settings like Forgotten Realms only seem to have a number of known cities and countries and it's hard not to end up on a road to one of them fairly quickly. Something like Arcanis is a wonderfully rich setting, but hard to play/get into without a ton of knowledge of history, races, countries, wars, etc. Greyhawk is both generic, unique, small-scale, and large scale as you need it.
Excellent video, as per usual. Greyhawk was my first campaign world, and is still the default setting, along with my own world, when we play. Your knowledge of the setting is impressive, as is your enthusiastic delivery when you're sharing your knowledge with us. Thanks for all you do to keep the Greyhawk universe alive!
The absolute best part of Greyhawk to my mind is that there is definite Lore for the setting, but there is not an absolute canon timeline, and because only certain areas are *deeply* described in the official lore (while most are just given enough information to peak the DM's interest) there is plenty of room to make the setting your own, and make your own take on the lore. This is especially true since the novelizations were much more limited and focused on the actions and stories of the characters in them and not trying to explicate every detail of the broader world.
Ok so that was really a refreshing video. It sometimes difficult to have a real grasp and simple view of the world and you did this perfectly. I'm throwing out an idea here, but it could be a great start of a (long) series of video where you give your imput in specific region, kingdoms or group of kingdoms (related to each others). That would be immensily cool and useful for dms and new greyhawk fans. Anyway keep up the good work brother !
Thanks so much! I am doing the read-through of the Guide to the World of Greyhawk, but that's alphabetical, and not regional. So that's definitely a thought.
I would watch them all and use them for reference.
Fantastic overview, and a really good exposition on how Gary integrated his home-brewed game world into the very fabric of the whole of the game, AD&D. Too bad the super-majority of DM's, from 1980 until today, can do little more than run with what Gary created as a setting. I created my own home-brewed game world, in 1983. I've been running with it ever since, across multiple player groups -- when one group ends, I eventually start up a new group of players, introducing them to my 1983 game world. It has a life of its own, after 40+ years. For my players, it is alive, and almost real... That is how it should be, IMO, and that is what Gary imagined others would do, as well, in the beginning of AD&D, circa 1979. World-building is an enormous amount of work, but it is so rewarding: I've run 2e BattleSystem games based on my RPG world's politics (I'm a dyed-in-the-wool, fantasy wargamer...); the PC's help write the world's history through their actions -- they also shape the future of the game world. It is amazingly fun, and they feel ownership of it, as much as I do. LOL! Cheers!
I've only recently started playing in Greyhawk! I've been enjoying it quite a bit.
I heard your cat trying to give his two cents. I don't think you should be cutting him / her off when there's a valid point of view to be shared.
Lover what you do. Wish I lived near you so we could game together. Keep it up.
And feed your cat!
miniature displacer beasts 12:42 (with its tentacles retracted)!
That was awesome. I loved it. I know you have a previous video about the Rain of Colorless fire and the Cataclysm. It seems more about the aftermath of that. Could you cover more on what they actually were?
Just stumbled across your content and Im sold. Greyhawk and Dragonlance have always been my best memories of D&D. I thought Greyhawk had been lost to time, Thank you for keeping it alive.
i have been playing in GH since yellow box. I prefer it for all the reasons given by all those who posted. I have spent years in FR, and played many settings.
we are now playing 5e, toee, and we are IN greyhawk.
You convinced me. I am going to give Greyhawk a shot.
Loved remembering all the details I used to DM in Greyhawk setting back in the 80’s totally love my Evel Iuz 💯😈
thanks for the video! Who says Old School games didn't have balance? 😛
Having begun with B/X we started in Mystara, which was a pretty awesome setting in itself. Then we switched over to AD&D, and I found the Greyhawk gold box at the game store (the only one in my part of the state) and had to have it. Wow... what a setting. We played in Greyhawk for quite some time.
There have always been discussions about D&D's "implied setting" as embedded in the rules, especially in AD&D, but I think the "implied setting" is more like the "negative space Greyhawk". I like it better than FR; Greyhawk has stronger ties to the OG game and leaves more room for a GM to make their own Greyhawk.
I am new to Greyhawk and have been struggling to get a good grasp on the setting. This has been the most concise video on Greyhawk I have found. Thanks
You're welcome! I'm glad you found it helpful.
I enjoyed the CY576 era and made my own campaigns for the most part.
I played AD&D in the 90s in my younger years with friends. We spent most of our time in homebrew or Athas. I am very grateful to find your channel and find out about another fantastic world.
I love the idea of Greyhawk and I didn't know much of this
Thinking about running a Rolemaster 2nd Edition campaign in Greyhawk. It has a great feel.
I am a DM just now starting to get into Greyhawk through Ghosts of Saltmarsh for the ships and sea fairing vibe.
Ended up scraping that whole idea and going full Greyhawk. I am using Jeremy Bioch's fanbased update. Where he added and updated Greyhawk into 5th edition before the the license was closed.
That was interesting, thx for making this video.
I've been there since 1981. I never left it, despite a lot of homebrewing. I never needed anything post 1e, though I allow some elements of 2e in even if only to accommodate 2e players. Anyway, as long as it's TSR, it's the real deal, and Greyhawk is the place.
Really great overview! I spent most of my gaming in Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance. Always wanted to play in Greyhawk but knew very little of the world.
Outstanding Summary! Great Job as always , You really represent the setting so well. Thank You so much!!!
Amazing snapshot! Much appreciated!
Thanks for doing this (I believe you were fulfilling my request)! Good job on the overview. Now, perhaps, a video on starting a campaign with the Gold Box starting in 576. How should we go about it!
Great overview! Loved the explanation of all the politics and geography. A milestone in rpg creativity and gaming. Made for the perfect rpg sandbox. But I do have to be honest on one point...I always thought the map was a bit of mess. But outside that small issue, it's a brilliant game world. Absolutely iconic settings and adventures.
Very interesting, I'm going to read up about this world!
I think anyone who DM’d in the 80s and is still DMing probably has greyhawk as the foundation of their home brew worlds. I know mine started as greyhawk - though it’s unrecognizable now 😊
good summary
I really enjoy large dungeons, mega-dungeon adventures and campaigns are my favorite to run & play. What's your favorite Greyhawk dungeon and what do you think is the best dungeon?
Best Dungeon is Temple of Elemental Evil. Setting aside my own Castle of the Mad Archmage, the best mega-dungeon is Greyhawk Ruins, but we'll see how that stands once Troll Lord Games starts publishing the rest of Castle Zagyg.
@GreyhawkGrognard I'll check them out. I have a copy of Temple of Elemental Evil, I think it's ad&d.
@@GreyhawkGrognard do you have your book for sale? Or is it just on drive-thru?
@@sketchasaurrex4087 The 5E and Pathfinder versions are available on DriveThruRPG. The OSR version has been redone and will be available for sale next month. Announcements will be made here.
@@GreyhawkGrognard is that Pathfinder 1e or 2e?
Where in Greyhawk are there a bunch miniature displacer beasts like this one12:42 (with its tentacles retracted)?
Great overview. One of my critiques of the milieu is that it was just too big, I felt, for the PCs to have an appreciable effect. That said, you can't argue with the original...
You're the Professor of Greyhawk. Great video. Nice cat, too!
and with the work of anna meyer it has the best map of any setting. even with two versions befitting the timelines
Heh, we were in the first time period. After the Giants and Underdark adventures my fighter built his castle near the giants in what I think was the called the Dutchy of Geoff. Up in a valley along the mountains. Guess I probably got over run in the second time period.
I am learning Greyhawk because the next edition of dnd will focus on Greyhaws as the default setting. So far the setting sounds great!
Hope my latest series of videos is helpful.
@@GreyhawkGrognard it is, thank you for your work!!
I wish someone like you and major movie producers could work on a presentation like this theatrically and dramatically. It would mean a lot to OSR DnD fans. When was the last Greyhawk campaign settings based books and games published? Are current and future Greyhawk based publications supressed and sequested by WOTC & Hasboro? Or did Gary Gygax have some indy work outside of his former company? What's the roadblock (if any) of anymore commercial publications and stories and novels based on Greyhawk?
I wish I had the technical and artistic skill to do a proper "trailer" for Greyhawk. That would be amazing.
WotC has put out some few Greyhawk bits and bobs in the last few years, but certainly nothing comprehensive. The rights question is complex. The vast majority of the rights are with WotC, and they (IMHO) don't want a setting that would compete with Forgotten Realms. Gygax's widow owns the rights to some of his stuff, including Gord the Rogue and the original Castle Greyhawk, but she seems to have no interest in letting anyone publish it. It's really inexplicable.
@@GreyhawkGrognard Unforgivable as well.
@Greyhawk Grognard someday perhaps she will have a change of heart. It may be too sad for her to dig into his old stuff. Maybe someday when it goes to their descendants it will finally be published.
Great introduction!
If you were to present Greyhawk to people for the first time which edition would you use. Say you had 1e-5e and grew up with 2e and was a Realms player/dm for years. I love the sword and sorcery feel of Greyhawk. Never really got a chance to play in it much. I’ve been looking to possibly run some in Ad&d 1e or 2e in the fall.
I'd say 1E AD&D for Greyhawk. 2E I'd use for the Realms.
What's really terrible about Greyhawk is that the more you visit it, the more things there are to discover.
Sure, there's quite a bit of official material, but there's also so much wildness to explore that a lifetime of playing wouldn't be enough to see it all.
Well in the new 5.5e dmg greyhawk is featured. I'm going to run a campaign in greyhawk next. Thanks for the lore info!
That's why I have a "New to Greyhawk" playlist. :-)
YAY.... Greyhawk is awesome
9:37 cat
Is there a playlist somewhere that has a more detailed overview of Greyhawk? I'm gearing up for a multiverse adventure and one of my PCs is going to be from Greyhawk, which is the ONE DND SETTING I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT (Minus like Mordenkainen, Iggwilv, Vecna you know the really iconic stuff). I need help getting up to speed
I started a "Focus on the Flanaess" list that contains my more in-depth looks at different kingdoms, but it's just getting started. Your best bet is to get the Gold Box and read through the Guide to the World of Greyhawk.
@@GreyhawkGrognard Is your series reading through it sufficient? I'm a little strapped for cash at the moment, although I suppose I could just save up since this campaign isn't starting until my current two end (they both tie into how it starts)
@@RageMagikarp Probably not, as I don't linger on every detail. I do have a "DMs Guide to Greyhawk 576" on my blog in the Free Resources section. It's got 5E mechanics, but the background material is rules agnostic. I think that'll give you what you want. Enjoy!
www.greyhawkgrognard.com
@@GreyhawkGrognard Very much appreciated! I would also like to say, your love for Greyhawk is very clear to see in your content, and honestly quite infectious. The more I learn, the more it becomes a contender for my favorite DND setting. I've always been partial to Eberron personally, but Greyhawk is really cool. There's some clear similarities especially post the Greyhawk Wars, but clear differences that give it that extra high fantasy flavor that I oh so enjoy.
would be nice to have some maps and visuals while you talk about all this geography... something you can point out while you explain....
The thumbnail on the video has the map, but I see what you mean.
Greyhawk was the first setting I played in, but the GM didn't have the talent to make the world a living, breathing place. As a consequence, I always considered Greyhawk to be boring. Moved on to other settings.
I've only played Homebrew and forgotten realms so now that I'm trying to learn grayhawk it's rough lol
Do you like any other D&D campaign setting outside of Greyhawk?
I actually like the early iterations of Forgotten Realms, before it became so bloated. I'm also a fan of Dragonlance and Ravenloft. I like some of the individual Spelljammer stuff, but as an accessory for Greyhawk, rather than a setting unto itself.
great job
Your cat had something to say about Lum the Mad.
My favorite way to describe how to pronounce "Oerth" is to say "Earth" but pretend your a trucker from south Jersey.
Wait, I thought 'drow' rhymed with 'bow' and 'row' and 'sow.'
Drow usually rhymes with ‘cow’. Because 1. this is how Gary Gygax pronounced the word and he invented them 2. They are taken from the mythical trow (graveyard spirits) of Orkney and Shetland - which in the dialect of those islands is pronounced ‘t-rau’ to rhyme with ‘cow’. On the other hand, if you want to pronounce it Drow as in sow, that’s your choice.
@@elliotvernon7971 Okay, but is that 'sow' as in planting seeds or 'sow' as in a female pig? 🤔
@@elliotvernon7971 According to the pronunciation guide in Dragon, either one is correct.
@@GreyhawkGrognard agree, it doesn’t matter. Tomaeto, tomato. Still the Orcadian/Gygax/Greenwood pronounciation is more correct because it is the way I say it 😅
Also, to support the "kitchen sink theory": did you ever notice that pretty much every historical form of government or state organisation is present in GH? Look over the map, merely reading the names will give you everything from Empire via Caliphate right to Concatenated (?) Cantons.
You want a political blueprint, it's somewhere on the map! 😊
Awesome!
GreyHawk is best world.
Could you do the modern timeline of Greyhawk like now, during 5e?
The timeline section of this video (starting at 4:15) covers all of the main timelines from CY 576 through 591. There is no 5E era, because they haven't done a setting book for the newer edition.
@@GreyhawkGrognardalright. Will set it in 591.
@notreallyalec Check out The Adventure Begins.
www.drivethrurpg.com/product/234843/Greyhawk-The-Adventure-Begins&affiliate_id=203434
I know this is an older video but it’s the second time I’ve listened to it
Some things I have noticed about Greyhawk is its lack of a dominant hegemony, lots of wilderness and low populations, which are all good for expanding adventures
However I was wondering what are your opinions on Carl Sargents work
What confuses me is whether the 580’s was an inevitable likelihood or merely internal TSR hyperbole
Stay tuned...
It seems kinda generic honestly, but im still interested to see if there is more, ill keep watching.
Can you do an in-depth video of keoland
I already did!
ua-cam.com/video/lc4d633TTrc/v-deo.html
Do you want to see a 5E Greyhawk reboot?
I have no use for any material after CY 576. I don't like "metaplot"... just give me the setting and *I* will run with it, and take it in the direction it should go based on things that happened in my campaign.
Nice overview
Can you tell me about Vecna or the eye of Vecna in Greyhawk?
What about him?
@@GreyhawkGrognard I’ve looked and apparently Vecna is from Greyhawk? So the hand and eye would be there too?
@@RIVERSRPGChannel Correct; Vecna is from Greyhawk originally, and thus his famous Hand and Eye are found there as well. He featured prominently in several high-level adventure modules (Vecna Lives! and Die Vecna Die!) before he was canonically moved from Greyhawk to Ravenloft.
@@GreyhawkGrognard thanks
Could you do this again but next time show a map and walk through the map as you explain it.
The map's in the thumbnail
@@GreyhawkGrognard ...which is rather small and - correct me if I'm wrong - cannot really be viewed or zoomed.
Thank you for the video, but if it is legally possible, showing the relevant spots on the map while you talk about them would _hugely_ improve orientation for your viewers. 🙂
what book do I start with?
The Gold Box set, available on DriveThruRPG.
I've also got a DMs Guide to Greyhawk on my blog, in the Free Resources section (link in the video description).
I subbed! :D
I am interested in your pronunciations. Are you sure you are correctly saying these things? It differs quite a bit from how I've been saying these things for 40 years. For instance, I've been saying "Fur-yondy", but you called it "Fury-Ondy".
Most of us, who didn't have the benefit of playing in Gary's campaign, only encountered those words and names in written form, so for the vast majority there isn't a "correct" way of saying them. Frank M. did a pronunciation guide in Dragon 93, but it's spotty at best in terms of Greyhawk names, not including (for instance) your Furyondy example. (But, tellingly, it does say that either way of pronouncing "drow" is acceptable...).
Hi Grognard. Looks like drivethrurpg has a sale. Any grey hawk books you recommend?
Gold Box, definitely. Also look into Lost Laboratory of Kwalish. It's a new (5E) module that a lot of people overlook.
@@GreyhawkGrognard thanks for the response!!
❤❤❤
That cat. 😆
It would be great if you could redo this video and point to the map as you describe everything. Kind of a "tour through Greyhawk".
OK after 2min, this is good information. But does not explain at all what exactly Greyhawk campaign setting is. Like where it came from. At one point mentions this is the location where the original campaign by Gygax took place. Yet what original campaign setting. There is no context to it. Just dumps a bunch of information out about geography. With no introduction of what it actually is.
The purpose of the video was to give a general overview of the (in-game) campaign setting itself, not its real-world history. But that's a good idea, too. I'll put it on the list.
kitty
Im playing ghost of saltmarsh and i m a cleric but i dont know the gods, i want to know them
I'm going through them one by one. There's a "Gods, Demigods, and Heroes" playlist here on the channel.
I certainly preferred 'From the Ashes'. 👍