I'm thrilled that Greyhawk has returned to D&D official material, but only as a template and there probably won't be more material coming out beyond what's in the DMG. I was thinking I'd love to run a campaign like Greyhawk Wars, set in a crusade against Iuz and his allies. I need to mine the older books and build a campaign. Any more lore videos would be great!
This is perfect! My campaign was set in Faerun but the new party (2024 characters) are going to meet a maybe soon to be deity of Alchemy. He delayed his ascension by asking Ao to give him time to search for his children. He is a human Harper who married a Drow while on a misssion. It is a long story but she sold his children into slavery because they were just Half-Drow and utterly insignificant to the Drow. So, now he is searching Toril for his kids but he is hiring a party to send to Oerth (Greyhawk) to trace down a rumor that Iuz purchased them. Should make for some fun and it sets up the party to do some Spelljammer or Planescape to return from Oerth after they finish with Iuz. So half the campaign is them trying to get home.
Every few years I go through and try to figure out Greyhawk. The first time I read about Iuz, I immediately headcannoned that he is called "The Old" because he's obsessed with true immortality, and the first time he bargained for it he made the obvious mistake of not also bargaining for eternal youth. So, in my mind, Iuz is like Lo Pan in Big Trouble in Little China, stuck most of the time in this miserable useless ancient frail body that still can't die, and occasionally able to change himself into his Divine Form for a short while when he really needs it.
I'm not sure where you got the map of Iuz's lands in the late 400s CY (at 3:40), but he categorically did not conquer Perrenland, Ket, the Weigwur, Furyondy, most of Veluna, the Shield Lands and the Bandit Kingdoms and the Pomarj at that time (he would conquer some of those lands later, but not all). His lands prior to his disappearance were limited to the "land of Iuz" north of Whyestil Lake, and the lands later ruled by the Horned Society - and he may have pushed into the eastern lands of the Weigwur and the western lands of the Rovers, as well as the Vesve and Felreev.
Your history with the elves is still a bit off. To be clear, it is VERY complex, and compounded by the era, author, and general canon wars among Greyhawk setting fans, and compounded further by having to coordinate across product lines, so it is very easy to get is all confused. As it goes, while I think I have everything cited in proper order below, I would have to dig through a bunch of FR sources which I am not familiar with to be 100% sure. Corellon did appear in DDG but was not directly a power of the Greyhawk setting. Lolth did appear in D3 and Q1 but was primarily a demon lord. Of course, as per DDG, demon lords qualified as lesser powers. (Side Note: This status was eliminated in the 2E era, along with the purging of demons and devils for several years and contributed to some of the later revisions and retcons. It continues to complicate things to this day.) In Dragon Magazine 60, additional elven powers and the concept of the Seldarine were introduced by Roger Moore. They were not explicitly a part of the Greyhawk setting. Further, they noted the clear separation of evil elves serving demon lords and not members of the Seldarine. Most of the material from this series of articles was later incorporated into Unearthed Arcana. (Note: In no way should this be taken as marginalizing this material. It is excellent, just never labeled as Greyhawk specific until later.) In Dragon Magazine 64, in a regular column, Gygax noted that people could use the non-human powers from DDG for isolated communities in the Greyhawk setting - if they wanted to. They were still not fully and officially made part of the setting. It was not until Monster Mythology that Lolth became the near exclusive power of the drow, where previously she had just been one of the more notable demon lords they served. However, some additional powers of the drow were introduced at this time, though noted as subservient or overtly rebellious to Lolth, and rarely if ever dominant in any drow stronghold. Almost at the same time, From the Ashes was released, and it officially placed all of the additional elven and drow powers as part of Greyhawk. (It should be noted that Carl Sargent was the primary author of both of these.) At this point, development of the Forgotten Realms mythology was advanced, and as part of that, the concept of Lolth as formerly a part of the Seldarine, indeed the spouse of Corellon, was introduced. That structure was eventually made the standard expectation for all settings and was used in Planescape and other products.
The Darlene map of Greyhawk (such as at ua-cam.com/video/trkqluEOASg/v-deo.html) is worth a video unto itself - it really defined what campaign maps are suppose to look like
2:24 Although this is all technically correct, it's worth noting that the equivalence of Tasha with Iggwilv was NOT intended by Gary or anyone else in the formative years of GH. It's a MUCH later (and stupider) interpolation by WotC D&D. The merging of the two separate characters adds nothing to the story of either, and IMO actively detracts from the story of Iggwilv as a badass dark villain.
I misread the title as "lulz the Evil | Greyhawk Explained" (i.e lol for the lulz) and thought this was gonna be a broad setting video making fun of Greyhawk. lol
Love your videos but Greyhawk is one of my least favorite settings 😅 the names given to many of the things are just so difficult for me pronounce or understand.
I know I won't win any friendships with longtime greyhawk fans, but I've been thinking about using gygax's last novel and having Oerth blown up and replaced with a new world. Which might explain why so many greyhawk wizards and liches bad been showing up in the forgotten realms recently.
Longtime Greyhawk fans don't care what other people choose to do in their home games. Other than enjoying hearing about them and perhaps finding interesting ideas to use in their own games. The whole point of Greyhawk was for DMs to use or not as choose.
@@Jorphdan Glad to hear! I'd be very wary of that one version of Iuz that you had, the cleaner old man pic with a similar pose to the one where he is carried by some folks (2:04), and the elven army marching (5:20) is pretty clearly AI.
I love these Greyhawk lore, by fare my favourite setting and a very important one. Thanks a lot !
I'm thrilled that Greyhawk has returned to D&D official material, but only as a template and there probably won't be more material coming out beyond what's in the DMG. I was thinking I'd love to run a campaign like Greyhawk Wars, set in a crusade against Iuz and his allies. I need to mine the older books and build a campaign. Any more lore videos would be great!
I hope you keep doing the Greyhawk series. This world is by far the most important.
This is perfect! My campaign was set in Faerun but the new party (2024 characters) are going to meet a maybe soon to be deity of Alchemy. He delayed his ascension by asking Ao to give him time to search for his children. He is a human Harper who married a Drow while on a misssion. It is a long story but she sold his children into slavery because they were just Half-Drow and utterly insignificant to the Drow. So, now he is searching Toril for his kids but he is hiring a party to send to Oerth (Greyhawk) to trace down a rumor that Iuz purchased them.
Should make for some fun and it sets up the party to do some Spelljammer or Planescape to return from Oerth after they finish with Iuz. So half the campaign is them trying to get home.
Every few years I go through and try to figure out Greyhawk. The first time I read about Iuz, I immediately headcannoned that he is called "The Old" because he's obsessed with true immortality, and the first time he bargained for it he made the obvious mistake of not also bargaining for eternal youth. So, in my mind, Iuz is like Lo Pan in Big Trouble in Little China, stuck most of the time in this miserable useless ancient frail body that still can't die, and occasionally able to change himself into his Divine Form for a short while when he really needs it.
THANK YOU for covering Greyhawk and the past lore. They decided to throw us a curve ball and reintroduce an old world from 50 years ago... Money magic
What great timing! I'm reading the Greyhawk series right now and I am on The Temple Of Elemental Evil.❤😊
Just coincidentally started a new campaign right when the new DMG dropped, and decided to put it in Greyhawk. Really appreciating these videos!
Loving these Greyhawk videos! 😊 Happy New Year, and thanks for all the great D&D lore vids.
Aka Natasha aka the dark haired adopted daughter of Baba Yaga…
I love you lore vids, it’s so nice learning about a new (to me) setting. Reminds me of when I was first delving into Realm’s lore
I'm not sure where you got the map of Iuz's lands in the late 400s CY (at 3:40), but he categorically did not conquer Perrenland, Ket, the Weigwur, Furyondy, most of Veluna, the Shield Lands and the Bandit Kingdoms and the Pomarj at that time (he would conquer some of those lands later, but not all). His lands prior to his disappearance were limited to the "land of Iuz" north of Whyestil Lake, and the lands later ruled by the Horned Society - and he may have pushed into the eastern lands of the Weigwur and the western lands of the Rovers, as well as the Vesve and Felreev.
Jorphdan, you should talk about the Immortals of the basic settings. Greetings from Argentina, and Happy New Year!
My cousin Vinny is such a charming movie! Didn't expect it to appear here, but thumbs up! 🙂
Amity: I am willing to be by your side even if you become an evil overlord.
Another great video. My only gripe is i wish you had longer videos.
Thanks, I am running a campaign with IUZ as the main villain so this is timely and helpful.
Loved it!
Imagine the figurehead of both your state and state religion just gets suddenly yoinked while you're in the middle of a war.
Yes! Very excited for this!
Loved this!
Yes my lore prayers were answered!
Best Outro music in the game, man.
Thanks a lot, a godd start of the year
In my campaign my PC half brother is Iuz and the son of Tasha
There was Greyhawk…. And Blackmoor. And Harn came along…
I got the ruins of greyhawk OG so nice. i bought twice in 40yrs
LORE!!!!
how about Turgalas, the Ebon Maw?
Iuz got his fingers chopped off!
I wonder how I could hint at Iuz in my Witchlight campaign.
Your history with the elves is still a bit off. To be clear, it is VERY complex, and compounded by the era, author, and general canon wars among Greyhawk setting fans, and compounded further by having to coordinate across product lines, so it is very easy to get is all confused. As it goes, while I think I have everything cited in proper order below, I would have to dig through a bunch of FR sources which I am not familiar with to be 100% sure.
Corellon did appear in DDG but was not directly a power of the Greyhawk setting.
Lolth did appear in D3 and Q1 but was primarily a demon lord. Of course, as per DDG, demon lords qualified as lesser powers. (Side Note: This status was eliminated in the 2E era, along with the purging of demons and devils for several years and contributed to some of the later revisions and retcons. It continues to complicate things to this day.)
In Dragon Magazine 60, additional elven powers and the concept of the Seldarine were introduced by Roger Moore. They were not explicitly a part of the Greyhawk setting. Further, they noted the clear separation of evil elves serving demon lords and not members of the Seldarine. Most of the material from this series of articles was later incorporated into Unearthed Arcana. (Note: In no way should this be taken as marginalizing this material. It is excellent, just never labeled as Greyhawk specific until later.)
In Dragon Magazine 64, in a regular column, Gygax noted that people could use the non-human powers from DDG for isolated communities in the Greyhawk setting - if they wanted to. They were still not fully and officially made part of the setting.
It was not until Monster Mythology that Lolth became the near exclusive power of the drow, where previously she had just been one of the more notable demon lords they served. However, some additional powers of the drow were introduced at this time, though noted as subservient or overtly rebellious to Lolth, and rarely if ever dominant in any drow stronghold.
Almost at the same time, From the Ashes was released, and it officially placed all of the additional elven and drow powers as part of Greyhawk. (It should be noted that Carl Sargent was the primary author of both of these.)
At this point, development of the Forgotten Realms mythology was advanced, and as part of that, the concept of Lolth as formerly a part of the Seldarine, indeed the spouse of Corellon, was introduced. That structure was eventually made the standard expectation for all settings and was used in Planescape and other products.
Thought vecna drained Iuz dry?
That came later.
@@jonathancampbell5231 yeah but was wondering how they tied it in.
Lolth was also in the 1e FF. Her image there is... well, just say that she got back.
FAncy thinking elves were added to Greyhawk! I'm disappointed in you Jorphdan!
The Darlene map of Greyhawk (such as at ua-cam.com/video/trkqluEOASg/v-deo.html) is worth a video unto itself - it really defined what campaign maps are suppose to look like
2:24 Although this is all technically correct, it's worth noting that the equivalence of Tasha with Iggwilv was NOT intended by Gary or anyone else in the formative years of GH. It's a MUCH later (and stupider) interpolation by WotC D&D. The merging of the two separate characters adds nothing to the story of either, and IMO actively detracts from the story of Iggwilv as a badass dark villain.
When I read the title of this video, I thought was luz with an L.
Same, was getting ready to make a joke about the Owl House before I heard it spoken aloud
Zorquan
I misread the title as "lulz the Evil | Greyhawk Explained" (i.e lol for the lulz) and thought this was gonna be a broad setting video making fun of Greyhawk. lol
Love your videos but Greyhawk is one of my least favorite settings 😅 the names given to many of the things are just so difficult for me pronounce or understand.
Greyhawk Explained: Iuz The Evil-
it's pretty simple.
There's the guy, named Iuz.
He's evil.
Seriously though, he's HELLA evil.
I know I won't win any friendships with longtime greyhawk fans, but I've been thinking about using gygax's last novel and having Oerth blown up and replaced with a new world. Which might explain why so many greyhawk wizards and liches bad been showing up in the forgotten realms recently.
Longtime Greyhawk fans don't care what other people choose to do in their home games. Other than enjoying hearing about them and perhaps finding interesting ideas to use in their own games. The whole point of Greyhawk was for DMs to use or not as choose.
Love Greyhawk content, but please reconsider using AI-generated imagery.
I don't usually, unless some stock art I found was AI generated and I didn't realize.
@@Jorphdan Glad to hear! I'd be very wary of that one version of Iuz that you had, the cleaner old man pic with a similar pose to the one where he is carried by some folks (2:04), and the elven army marching (5:20) is pretty clearly AI.