Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk
D&D Adventure
Jason Bulmahn, James Jacobs, Erik Mona
A Dungeons & Dragons super-adventure for characters of levels 8–13
Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk is a 224-page D&D super-adventure that revisits Castle Greyhawk and the classic dungeon beneath. This adventure is usable as a mini-campaign on its own, a story arc in a Dungeon Master’s regular campaign, or as a series of small side adventures with a big payoff. Like other adventures in the “Expedition” series, this product takes a classic Dungeons & Dragons location, updates it for D&D v.3.5, and incorporates many new twists and surprises. This adventure also includes useful source material for the players and a combat encounter format designed to make the DM’s job easier.
Item Code 109257200
Release Date August 2007
Format Hardcover
Page Count 224
ISBN 978-0-7869-4358-6
Price $34.95; C$46.95
You mean people aren't talking about this already? I just saw it announced on ENWorld at midnight and this is all the chatter so far? I thought people would be excited that Greyhawk is finally coming back to print. I sure am.
This has been known since it was revealed as only a picture at GENCON. Those who carefully looked at the castle in the crystal ball figured it out quickly enough. The placement of Mordenkainen in the shot surely aided in the identification slightly.
It is assumed that this same picture(which was revelaed in a presentation by WotC at GENCON) is what the cover of the book will look like:
Also, while it is said that Mordy's new hairless look is based on the former staff artist Fred Fields(who presumedly shaved his head at the time for whatever reason), it eerily looks a bit more like Sean K. Reynolds, as evidenced by the accompanying pictures.
I look forward to seeing how well this obviously Greyhawk product sells for WotC.
I hope it sells like hot cakes. I am looking forward to it, as I was just using some Ruins stuff recently, and the party may want to go back. I have to scale it up, but I bet it includes a lot of things that many of us have seen around the net for years - like stats for the apprentices, and a final determination of the circle of 5.
Also, while it is said that Mordy's new hairless look is based on the former staff artist Fred Fields(who presumedly shaved his head at the time for whatever reason), it eerily looks a bit more like Sean K. Reynolds, as evidenced by the accompanying pictures.
No no no. Just as the Greyhawk Wars were the great metaphysical trauma that wrought AD&D2 on Greyhawk, so to did Mordy's shorning of his loks do so for D&D3.
Very possibly it could be, or maybe his hair just fell out due to "conversion trauma".
By the way, the "Mordy With Crystal Ball" pic was captured from a recording of the WotC presentation by Maldin. There ya go Maldin! You've been credited! Now, go do a map and quit messin' about with those squidships and such ya slacker!
I have two concerns about this. The first is, will it be up to par with what Greyhawk fans expect? If it isn't (and I wholeheartedly suspect that it will be), it will die on the vine and WotC will say, "See, they ask for stuff, we invest, we give it to them and they crap on us." The second is, if it's not the best work (and again, I suspect it will be great), will folks just not buy it. This item has to be bought and I mean they (WotC) have to see a serious spike in sales for this item. WotC is a ruthless business (the kind I like; goooo capitalism), and they won't endeavor to bring us more works if we don't buy, buy, buy and buy some more. I mean BUY! Did I menation Buying? Just my two coppers.
I agree that we should buy GH product. If we dont, then WOTC wont sell. However, as they have proven in the past, quality often lacks. I would rather they leave GH alone that put out bad work.
Long, long ago (say circa 1999), my group ventured in to Greyhawk Ruins, but certain mishaps in Greyhawk led to the PCs banishment from the city, and the campaign's never returned (at least, not on any extended basis).
This looks like it could be cool, and I'm conservatively optimistic -- hell, Erik's working on it, and I can't see him letting it fail.
This now presents a new problem for me (and others I suspect). I stated pretty plainly that WotC could bite my **** and die after they anounced they were pulling Paizo's licences. Now, do I, and those of you who are equally pissed about the death of Dragon and Dungeon buy the new Greyhawk to support the setting we love? Or just wait and snatch it off the net for free to continue to punish WotC for **** Paizo?
Added-I didn't know the text editor blanked out obsenities. I only ever use them when talking about WotC, so it hadn't come up before.
That depends on if you want to see any further Greyhawk material. If the adventure sells well, WotC will likely do more Greyhawk themed products. WotC obviously sees the worth of Greyhawk content as evidenced by the snippets we still see in the splat books. Also, unless WotC has no business acumen whatsoever, they have seen that Greyhawk material featured in Dungeon and Dragon magazines has caused those issues to sell better than those without it. The other consideration is that WotC obvious brought in authors who know Greyhawk rather than just do it themselves. That in itself shows a bit of intelligence, yes?
So the consideration should be, if you buy it WotC will probably publish more Greyhawk content likely written by those who are familiar with it.
On the other hand, if Greyhawk material tanks in sales (which I doubt it will) WotC might consider selling the Greyhawk license to somebody who would certainly publish such material. There is of course no guarantee as to who would get such license though.
The other thing I consider is that the end of the magazines, while it saddens the little kid in me that loves Dragon and Dungeon magazines for nostalgic reasons, comes as no surprise to me, and in fact doesn't affect my playing Greyhawk in any way. Why? Because I learned long ago to do without published Greyhawk content for my campaign. Plus, I'm a bit older now and I am not quite as prone to dramatically throwing myself to the ground and kicking and screaming every time something happens that *I* don't like.
At this point, the magazines served more as a pleasant read than dramatically altering how I choose to run events in my campaign. Also, due to the lack of specific Greyhawk content for so long I have been more prone to looking at 2nd and 3rd party products for ideas. Consequently, I am looking forward to Pathfinder, the expansion of Paizo’s Game Mastery line, and almost anything by Necromancer Games (my favorite 3rd party game company). I’ll look at Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk, and the Yggsburg stuff from Troll Lord Games as well. I may even buy one or both, but my decision to do so will be based on the relevance of those products as to what I want to do with my campaign, rather than based on some ill feeling about a business decision.
After seeing Jar Jar Binks, did you not go and see Episode 3? That’s probably not the best example, as Episode 3 was not all that great, but Lucas didn’t write Expedition to the ruins of Greyhawk. Let not your anger rule your actions young jedi, for that way leads to the Dark Side. _________________ - Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -
Twenty-seven years ago, a band of adventurers led by the great wizard Mordenkainen entered the dungeons below Castle Greyhawk and released the evil demigod Iuz, intending to slay him. Betrayal led to failure, Iuz escaped, and many lives were lost. Today, evil has returned to Castle Greyhawk, and Mordenkainen must place his trust in the hands of a new generation of heroes. Those who fail will be lost, and those who triumph will be legends.
Castle Greyhawk has become a grand fixture of the Cairn Hills, tempting the likes of Mordenkainen, Bigby, and Tenser with its dark mysteries. Today it lies in ruin, ravaged by years and countless assaults. However, many of its greatest treasures and secrets remain hidden in the sprawling dungeons beneath, where terrible monsters and fiendish traps defy new generations of heroes in search of fame and glory.
This campaign adventure revisits the legendary ruins of Castle Greyhawk and its dungeons, incorporating many new twists and surprises. It is designed for characters of levels 8-13 and features an easy-to-use combat encounter format. This book also presents several new monsters and magic items.
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