Greyhawk – Adventure Awaits!

Greyhawk is the name for a wide variety of stories, involving creatures, villains and heroes set in the lands of Flanaess. Originally created by Gary Gygax, Greyhawk stories have been told and shared by thousands over the years.

Overview :

• The Flanaess is a continent with a variety of nations using middle ages technology. There are no guns or printing press, but plenty of steel weapons, silk clothes, stone forts, exotic spices and stained glass windows.
• Pantheon of Deities : Strange, curious and powerful entities with agents, minions and enemies.
• Climates ranging from tropical in southern Amedio Jungle to arctic in the northern Snow Barbarian lands.

Features :

• Rogues skulking in dark streets, Priests of Pelor exploring treacherous caverns, Warriors charging Ogres on their trained steeds, Sorcerers conjuring strange magics to battle fiends. It’s all here.
• Circle of Eight – A pact of arch mages who try to balance the forces of Good and Evil from taking over all the lands.
• Dozens of magical locations, ancient crypts, monster infested ruins and secret cabals are scattered all around Greyhawk.
• The Bloodwar, the eternal struggle between Devils and Demons has touched Greyhawk many times, with Iuz the Old being a demonic overlord and vanquishing the devil worshipping Horned Society from their lands (that they took by subversion). Archmage Mordekainen was the first sage to document the Bloodwar and warn others, both on Greyhawk and in other realms.
• Skilled knightly orders : Knights of Hart, brave cavaliers and agents defending Furyondy and Veluna. Knights of the Watch – protecting Keoland, Gran March and Bissel from all threats. Knights of Luna – Warriors of Celene have been making incursions into Sterich to retake it from the Giants.
• Scarlet Brotherhood – These covert fascists are trying to take over the world through intimidation, assassination and spying. They have agents in many lands and cities, trying to influence and coerce all to their tune. They serve as great foes for diplomacy and espionage stories.
• The evil deities of Lolth, Orcus, Tharizdun and Vecna were all created for Gary Gygax’s original campaign world and have since visited other realms to enact their nefarious plans. They are ongoing foes in Greyhawk, and their minions rarely rest for long…

Timeline (Brief) :

• 1978 – Tomb of Horrors, adventure for original D&D.
• 1980 – Greyhawk folio. First wide scale publication distribution.
• 1981 – Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, adventure for 1e AD&D.
• 1983 – Boxed Set World of Greyhawk came out. Two books, massive color hex maps. This is when things really got rolling.
• 1985-1987 – Novels – Gord the Rogue by Gary Gygax. Centered around the Free city of Greyhawk.
• 1985 – Temple of Elemental Evil, adventure series for 1e AD&D.
• 1986 – Novels – Wolf Nomad trilogy by Rose Estes. Sword and sorcery in the northlands of Greyhawk.
• 1988 – Castle Greyhawk, 1e AD&D. Zany and goofy in some parts, deadly in others.
• 1989 – City of Greyhawk boxed set. 2e AD&D. Tons of lore on Greyhawk city and the area around it, double sided adventure cards.
• 1990 – Ruins of Greyhawk, ruins of the former Castle Greyhawk for 2e AD&D. Megadungeon settings for foolish adventurers.
• 1990 – Vecna Lives! adventure. The dread lich is back and he’s not happy at all.
• 1992 – From the Ashes boxed set. 2e AD&D. Two books and maps. FtA had many nations at war, which changed much of Greyhawk. Iuz the old conquered much of the north with his fiends, Scarlet Brotherhood conquered much of the south with skulduggery.
• 1995-1999 – The Oerth Journal, collections of Greyhawk articles by fans.
• 1999 – Novels – White Plume Mountain and Descent into the Depths of the Earth by Paul Kidd. Audiobooks at audible.
• 2000 – Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Rules updated to D&D 3.5, one solid compendium of nations, places and deities.
• 2000-2008 : Living Greyhawk campaigns. 30 areas of Flanaess setup for a shared setting with thousands playing.
• 2001 – Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, D&D 3.5 – megadungeon campaign book.
• 2003-2007 – Shackled City adventure path in Dungeon magazine for D&D 3.5 – Available on Paizo website.
• 2004 – Shadow of the Abyss/Touch of the Abyss/Wrath of the Abyss series in Dungeon Magazine involving Iuz the Old.
• 2003 – Temple of Elemental Evil computer game for PCs.
• 2005 – Canonfire, Greyhawk discussion forum site starts. Hundreds of articles on Greyhawk.
• 2005-2006 – Age of Worms adventure path in Dungeon magazine for D&D 3.5 – Available on Paizo website.
• 2008-2012 – 4th edition D&D featured many creatures and deities created for Greyhawk, including Aboleth, Demogorgon, Gruumsh, Hook Horror, Kord, Kuo-toa, Pelor, Quickling, Vecna, Yuan-ti.
• 2018 onwards – Greyhawk channel on twitch and youtube. Led by the gallant DM Shane, this channel has dozens of 5E actual play sessions for a variety of GMs.

Past : I’ve run games on Greyhawk using Pathfinder, Rolemaster, Dungeon World, Palladium Fantasy RPG, and of course 2e AD&D, 3.5, 4E and 5e.

Future : In the coming weeks I shall be fleshing out details on many cities across the north of Greyhawk.

Want more Greyhawk?

• Greyhawk Gazetteer – https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/28492/Living-Greyhawk-Gazetteer-30
• Greyhawk set – https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17392/World-of-Greyhawk-Fantasy-Game-Setting-1e
• Twitch – https://www.twitch.tv/greyhawkchannel
• You tube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBR-a2i_-duuw-RUNztOmZw
• Map of Greyhawk – http://www.scruffygrognard.com/gh.htm