If you are subscribers, go onto the forums and make some noise - preferably not a load of noise about how rubbish the article is. If we want them to start churning out some Greyhawk related stuff we should probably let them know any positive feedback.
I wish there was a "like" button on Canonfire. I am definitely thinking about becoming a subscriber ... $70 a year is a little pricy, but, it's not any different really than two magazine subscriptions were previously, and there's a lot of extras online. I think I may only get a 1 or 3 month subscription. That's nice and affordable, and about the same as cover prce for a magazine.
I'm not interested in purchasing a subscription to D&D Insider at the moment, but I am curious about who authored the Hochoch article. I'd also like to hear a detailed review, if you'd care to write one up. You can post it in this thread or in the Published Material Reviews and Discussion forum.
Thanks!
SirXaris
Edit: Well, I found the author and he seems to be qualified, so I really want to know why you didn't like the article, PaulN6.
The new article in Dragon #418 is Backdrop: Hochoch by Claudio Pozas. This one was well worth the wait and if it ends up being the only Greyhawk content for the next year, I am glad I stuck with my D&D Insider subscription to read it. Claudio covers all the material you'd expect and more, including various Flan translations and citing previous Greyhawk publication history. At eight pages, I doubt anyone has seen a more comprehensive write up of this area since The Liberation of Geoff. The article paints Hochoch and the rich surrounding geography of Geoff as the perfect place to launch a campaign. After reading all this article has to offer I'm troubled as to why I've never used this region before! If you can get your hands on this issue I highly reccomend it.
The article first covers the extensive history and demographics of Hochoch then moves on to give a coloful overview of the geography, climate and peoples of the land. There is a decent section on important locations in the town of Hochoch like Hochoch Keep followed by power groups of the town such as the Red Griffons and the Knights of the Dispatch. Beyond Hochoch the backdrop features an array of useful info on the shadow dragon haunted Dim Forest, the ancient Otywood, the Midwood Vale and the Rushmoors where lies the setting for N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God.
Backdrop: Hochoch also has a sublime bird's-eye-view illustration of the town by Zoltan Boros (I think he was the former ruler of Ket) and a splendidly old school style map of Hochoch with an inset showing Geoff done by Wizard's Mike Schley. Lastly, the best part of the backdrop article is that it's editonless material. Kudos to Mr. Pozas and the rest for putting this together. I hope some other overlooked parts of Greyhawk can get a fresh write-up like this someday.
There was a good discussion on the article over on the Canonfire! Facebook page a couple of weeks ago. Claudio showed up and gave a little background on writing the article. I was just as pleased as Mort was, and gave Claudio the extra thumbs-up for making it editionless.
Not trying to thread-jack, but while we're on the subject of "new" GH content, has anyone had a chance to read through the 4e update of Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan in Dungeon # 209? One thing new in the introduction that I thought was interesting was how Stephen Radney-MacFarland, who updated it, characterized Olman religions as worshiping not only gods, but "... primal spirits, fey creatures, vampires, and even monstrosities of the Far Realm." Besides that, it looks like a good conversion to 4e, staying very true to the spirit of the original.
Hmm - looks good! While I won't get my money's worth and I could easily obtain a copy off one of my co-players, I am prepared to subscribe just to get the article and I will tell them that's why I've done it too.
The article is good fun. Similar to the articles they did on Hardby and Spinecastle way back. It's a fairly basic background with some information on city locations and the surrounding area including Orlane. Some good fodder for adventure ideas. It builds on the GDQ Silver age supplement and LG Gazeteer but offers none of the background from any of the LG mods.
I think I would have like a bit more information on some npcs but it looks like they kept it edition neutral, which is nice.
As an opening article it is nice but it will be shame if they stop here.
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