I realize that need to bone up on some of my Greyhawk middle history stuff as I have jumped from 1983 box set to Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. I have played very little 2nd Edition and only have one module from that edition Vecna Lives. I have opportunity to pick some others and what to know which are the best to buy. So I am asking the forum for their opinions and recommendations. _________________ "Its a dangerous business going out your front door." JRR Tolkien
Unless you are a Greyhawk Heretic.
IMO the following particularly if playing over a campaign lasting years to decades: From the Ashes boxed set, Marklands, Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 9578 Greyhawk Player's Guide* by Anne Brown, Return to The Keep on the Border, Against the Giants Silver Edition, Return of the Circle of Eight, City of Skulls, Return to The Temple of Elemental Evil, The Village of Hommlett, The Temple of Elemental Evil, The Star Cairns, Crypt of Lyzandred The Mad, Vecna Lives, Die Vecna Die, Adventure Begins*, Tomb of Horrors, Return to Tomb of Horrors, Greyhawk Wars*.
There are others but some of my favorites that are available in PDF.
Some of the Living Greyhawk sites like Geoff, Verbobonc, Veluna, Perrenland, Furyondy and the Shield Lands have some interesting and useful information you can download for free.
IMO from surfing most of them it's rather hit or miss and here today gone in a few months. I have some nice pages I printed out but couldn't replace anymore as the information isn't available on the site. Some have interesting information like Nyrond that is hard to down load short of printing each page you find something you like. Most limit information to current Living Greyhawk gaming year and not all have IMO excellent and useful site gazetters like Verbobonc and Furyondy.
Hope that helps.
* For a $5 or less PDF can get a lot of information.
There may be others, but for $5 per module, you can probably get almost all of them. I take them, print them on the office printer in duplex, with the covers in color.
Best deal on old stuff. Unfortunately, when buying used on ebay or at game stores, i have often found pages missing. No blame, just 30 year old material.
The reason I asked is that I have read various opinions on what has been written. It seems, for example, From the Ashes was not well liked but the Axe of the Dwarvish Lord seems to be good from what I have read in various older (1996+) comments. I have or have had most if not all the 1st ed modules. The Greyhawk I had been campaigning in was/is pretty much based on those 1 st ed and my own touches. But since I have playing 3 ed and using the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer I feel there is a need to see how it got where it is. Further I want to develop Greyhawk more and I would like to read and delve into its history more. _________________ "Its a dangerous business going out your front door." JRR Tolkien
Unless you are a Greyhawk Heretic.
From the Ashes is, i think, essential. Someone with more knowledge should weigh in, but this is the supplement that changed everyones beloved '83 boxed set. (I was not so lucky, I had the folio and the earlier Greyhawk Supplement, and didnt get the boxed set for years).
This was the destruction and recrafting i believe, so FtA should rate above Axe of the Dwarvish Lords, though it is beloved.
If the unthinkable occured and I was somehow robbed of my cherished Greyhawk collection, I would immediately begin by replacing the volumes that contain the highest amount of "canonical" information, and which are hence more useful for research purposes. I would dearly miss my "Queen of the Spiders" super-adventure, for example, but despite its greatness it has relatively little "reference" material.
Here's a quick idea of what I would want to replace immediately.
1. From the Ashes. This is the second leg in Greyhawk's Tripod of Eras, detailing the Flanaess immediately following the Greyhawk Wars, circa 585 CY. When combined with the (absolutely essential) 1983 boxed set and the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, you've got a solid overview of the three eras that define the setting. They frame everything else. Plus, the underrated Campaign Book contains a staggering amount of information on the lands surrounding the City of Greyhawk.
2. The Marklands.
3. Iuz the Evil.
4. Ivid the Undying. These three sourcebooks are incredibly dense, and provide fairly deep portraits of the areas they cover (Nyrond, Highfolk and Furyondy, the Empire of Iuz, and the former Great Kingdom, respectively). Each of these is packed with so much information that you discover several new things each time you read it. Sargent was a true talent. Plus, Ivid is a free download, and you can't beat that. The fact that it's so poorly formatted makes getting through it one of the great challenges of Greyhawk fandom. It is our Mt. Everest. :)
5. Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins. Good overview of the Domain of Greyhawk in the 591 era.
6. The Player's Guide to Greyhawk. Good general resource on the modern era.
7. Greyhawk Wars booklet. Surprisingly compelling and very interesting account of the single most "controversial" topic in Greyhawk fandom. Dave Cook is underrated, and this thing is full of tidbits worthy of expansion.
8. Fate of Istus. Imperfect to be sure, but intriguing for its scatter-shot approach to the cities of the Flanaess. Kuntz chapters provide glimpse at "Ur" Gygax/Kuntz campaign. The only novelty act in the top 8.
Other stuff to get eventually: The Scarlet Brotherhood, Greyhawk Adventures hardcover, Dragon Magazine Archive CD-ROM, Temple of Elemental Evil, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, Slavers, Return of the Eight, City of Greyhawk boxed set, the stand-alone Living Greyhawk Journals (0-5), Rary the Traitor, and a couple of others I'm probably forgetting.
Stuff you can safely skip: Vale of the Mage, Five Shall Be One, Howl from the North, The Star Cairns, Tomb of Lyzandred the Mad, Doomgrinder, Border Watch. . . pretty much all the modules, honestly. It's worth having all but a very few of them for pleasure, but if you're more interested in the "big picture," this stuff can be saved for much later.
Iquander that is exactly what I was looking for Thank you. Good to know I have two of the three main era documents. I'll need to get the From the Ashes set.
Anced _Math I played 1st edition until 1995. I friend invited me to play 2nd ed campaign he was starting but life got in the way and I only got as far as creating a character. I bought some 2 ed stuff but never did anything with it. I did not play again until 3rd edition came out. I have more time now and I am rediscover my earlier fervour for the game.
I still have all my first edition books T1-4, Scourage of the Slave lords 1st ed, Queen of the Spiders, S1-4, N1, N2, L1 and L2 ( I have never seen L3 though). I bought UK1-3 when I was in England as well as UK5 and I have a 2nd ed Player handbook. I use to have almost all the first edition modules including a number of originals and the White Box version of D&D but unfortunately lost to friends and moving too much. _________________ "Its a dangerous business going out your front door." JRR Tolkien
Unless you are a Greyhawk Heretic.
I would pretty much agree with Eriks list, except I pretty much dispise the Fate of Istus, so would take it out of the top 8, replacing it with the City of Greyhawk Boxed Set.
on a side note Axe of the Dwarvish Lords techenicaly isn't even a greyhawk product... :)
4. Ivid the Undying
<snip>
Plus, Ivid is a free download, and you can't beat that. The fact that it's so poorly formatted makes getting through it one of the great challenges of Greyhawk fandom. It is our Mt. Everest. :)
<snip>
--Erik Mona
Do you guys know about the pdf version of wgr 7 that`s available on the acaeum (scroll down) It`s gorgeous. Complete with the WGR layout, embedded maps and back cover. All that`s missing is the graphics sidebars, a nice cover and the module code wgr7. (Edit: revised version is now available with sidebars on http://www.io.com/~wmallman/ivid.html)
Good luck getting From the Ashes! I've seen it selling for $150 or so! Strangely enough, I managed to get the 1983 boxed set for $30, and a Greyhawk Adventures hardbound in excellent condition for less than its original price at an FLGS. I've gotten the PDFs, but I still want to collect the originals for posterity
I have to agree with Iquander on the list of books. I'm a newbie to GH, and I've found those products are the ones with the best info.
In the spirit of National Treasure, any rogues out there want to join me in a heist for GH books from the Library of Congress?...Just kidding _________________ "Quos deus vult perdere prius dementat (Those whom a god wishes to destroy he first drives mad)"
I think I can pick it up for $ 45 Canadian but I will verify that. _________________ "Its a dangerous business going out your front door." JRR Tolkien
Unless you are a Greyhawk Heretic.
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