I first started playing D&D after reading the Hobbit way back in the late '70s. OMG!!!! I have not played the game for over 25 years and now wish to return to my rpg roots.
For I have been running a Call of Cthulhu group for the last six years and the players are eager to play old school AD&D. I want to run them through Greyhawk and not sure were to begin.
I first started playing D&D after reading the Hobbit way back in the late '70s. OMG!!!! I have not played the game for over 25 years and now wish to return to my rpg roots.
-Welcome back, Mr H!
Before others jump on you, check out the "Introduce Yourself" sub-thread thread in the "Welcome to Greyhawk" threads.
MrHemlocks wrote:
...I want to run them through Greyhawk and not sure were to begin...I also bought the premium edition reprints of the 1st edition player/DM/Monster books...
-I haven't looked at the adventure, but I figure you can adapt just about anything to the Flaneass. You just have to find the right place. Name an module, an you'll get plenty of suggestions. Just be aware that if you want to use any older or newer stuff, you'll have to convert it to AD&D1.
Some of these locations are written in the adventure, others are guesses.
FWIW, I put Keep on the Borderlands (B2) at the juncture of the Jewel and Handmaiden rivers.
-First thing might be to decide when your campaign begins. Living Greyhawk Gazeteer starts at CY 591 (I think The Adventure Begins does, too). From the Ashes starts in CY 585, The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer in CY 576. FWIW, FWIW, I'm in the CY late 577-late 578 range, but I have all of them. They are good for background, and give me an idea of what might happen in the future (although the players' actions might change the shades of Greyhawk Future).
Everything in From the Ashes and The Adventure Begins is AD&D2, everything in the LGG is D&D 3.0 or 3.5.
Welcome back! Jamesdglick gave some excellent advice. I'll see if I can add anything.
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I first started playing D&D after reading the Hobbit way back in the late '70s. OMG!!!! I have not played the game for over 25 years and now wish to return to my rpg roots.
Though I prefer the Pathfinder system nowadays, it is probably a good idea for you to get back into the swing of things with a rules system you, at least, used to be familiar with, so AD&D works.
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For I have been running a Call of Cthulhu group for the last six years and the players are eager to play old school AD&D. I want to run them through Greyhawk and not sure were to begin.
As jamesdglick said, choose a time period first. Most of the original AD&D modules took place between 576 and 580 CY. If you want to skip ahead to the Greyhawk Wars, et. al., you will need to convert the adventures written for that Greyhawk time period.
Next, you'll need to (re)familiarize yourself with the Flanaess map. You'll need to decide with your players what part of the Flanaess your campaign will center on. Along with this decision, you'll need to consider what modules you want to adventure in. However, their official location isn't something you are legally liable not to violate. If you want to set G1-3 Against the Giants in the Rakers/Ratik or S2 White Plume Mountain in the middle of the Yeomanry, feel free to do so. That kind of conversion is easy.
You've got the right books. I am not familiar with that adventure either, but there are lots of old skool adventures for beginning PCs that you can easily place within the Flanaess: B1 In Search of the Unknown, B2 The Keep on the Borderlands (my personal favorite, which I locate in the northwestern Vesve Forest on the north bank of the Deepstil Rilver ), B3 Palace of the Silver Princess, B4 The Lost City, and B5 Horror on the Hill. These are all written for the Basic D&D rules, but are easily converted to AD&D. In fact, you can probably find free conversions online made by other people already. Oh, and don't forget T1 The Village of Hommlet followed by T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil.
Welcome aboard, 'old' new gamer. Yes, refamiliarize yourself with the rules you like, prefer, and formerly knew (I will attempt 2e conversion later ).
If you are starting a campaign with low level PCs (probably best for everyone considered), I suggest the following modules that have true Greyhawk locations. These are in no particular order of preference or rank:
1) Village of Hommlet (then can be followed up with Temple of Elemental Evil)
2) Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (first of a 3-part adventure series)
3) Against the Cult of the Reptile God
These 'old school' modules may bring fond memories to those of us who have been playing for a few decades...
Hi and welcome MrHemlocks. I'm going to buck the trend here and suggest you try a few different modules:
- B1 In Search of the Unknown has an excellent first level, and will be a good and somewhat more-forgiving way to start off an AD&D campaign than B2 or T1, which are much more unforgiving modules for newbies/novices/folks who haven't played in a long time (T1 is one of my favorite modules, but it's designed for _veteran_ players with new PCs....)
- since you're a CoC fan, you may be interested N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God (I did a conversion of this that tilts it heavily toward the Mythos), but I also don't think that's a module I'd start out with either since it's too tough for starting PCs (I ran my conversion for PCs of levels 4-6 or so, and module's for 2-3rd level PCs)
Some other starting 1st level adventures you might consider:
- the sample dungeon in the DMG (which has a lot in common with T1 and B2, as you can read about in a blog @ http://unfrozencavemandicechucker.blogspot.com/search/label/sample%20dungeon ); for inspiration on that sample dungeon, you can read a 3rd edition D&D version by Jonathan Tweet in Dungeon Magazine #84 too
- "Trouble at Grog's" from Dungeon Magazine #4---one of my favorite starter adventures
- U1 is a good intro module too, with some horror themes/flavor, and it can be a great lead into the A1-4 Slavers modules as well!
DD1 and DD2 are "ostensibly" set in Greyhawk while WGH2-5 are 100% Greyhawk-based. WGH2 is a stand-alone adventure, 3-5 are a series for mid-level characters.
Hackmaster has been producing old skool style adventures for at least a decade now. You should be able to find print copies of their adventures at any store that sells role-playing games.
Eldritch Enterprises is a brand new company run by Frank Mentzer, Tim Kask, Christopher Clark, and Jim Ward. Their whole schtick is to produce new old skool style adventures. And, these guys are such awesome demi-gods of D&D that I don't mind promoting a competitor's products.
So, if you'd rather pick a less commonly known adventure, you might check out the products of one of those companies.
WoW...what a wealth of information sent my way. I and my group thank all of you.
A lot to take in, but that is part of the journey
Will start with the early Greyhawk 'stuff'. Was thinking around 576. That would mean I need to get the The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer which should cover most of the early adventures.
From there move on to Keep On the Borderlands than: 1) Village of Hommlet (then can be followed up with Temple of Elemental Evil)
2) Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (first of a 3-part adventure series)
3) Against the Cult of the Reptile God
Love the links you all sent and other information. With all read and saw, so far, my campaign will be set of on the right path.
Since I am trying to start my group in Greyhawk around 576 are any of the above what I would need? I am under the impression I need the The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer, but there seems to be many different ones/types sold. Sorry about the confusion, but I am a little lost as to which get for my early Greyhawk campaign. They look so much the same
...I have not played the game for over 25 years and now wish to return to my rpg roots.
For I have been running a Call of Cthulhu group for the last six years and the players are eager to play old school AD&D. I want to run them through Greyhawk and not sure were to begin...Any suggestions? Just want to start them off on the right path...fun
-The new startup is actually a common topic.
If you're trying to figure out where in the Flaneass to start, I'd suggest figuring out what type of characters your players want to play e.g., there aren't many barbarians or demi-humans in the Bakluni west, and not many paladins in the Rhizia penninsula. Then I'd figure out what sort of adventures the players would like to be in, then figure out where those sorts of adventurers are likley to start out and where those adventures are likely to be had.
MrHemlocks wrote:
...Will start with the early Greyhawk 'stuff'. Was thinking around 576. That would mean I need to get the The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer which should cover most of the early adventures.
From there move on to Keep On the Borderlands than:
1) Village of Hommlet (then can be followed up with Temple of Elemental Evil)
2) Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (first of a 3-part adventure series)
3) Against the Cult of the Reptile God
Love the links you all sent and other information. With all read and saw, so far, my campaign will be set of on the right path.
-Two points:
1) To have the same party play all four modules assumes a very slow level progression rate due to not completing the adventures or a very high casualty rate . I'm not against either, but just so you know...
Another possibility is that the later adventures are easy for the players. Again, I have no problem with that, but just so you know...
Another possibility might be that you have a lot fewer PCs than the module recommends. Sometimes, 2 6th level characters are not the same as 6 2nd level characters. Just so you know.
I will point out that the Cult module can be a lot tougher if the party has a hack 'n' slash mindset or is simply careless.
2) If the PCs do stay low level, the logistics of getting them from place to place would be a bit of a bugger if you keep track of that, although you could use the journeys to set up minor side adventures. The other issue might be the rationale for them travelling to such widely distant places. But I'm sure you can come up with something.
MrHemlocks wrote:
...Since I am trying to start my group in Greyhawk around 576 are any of the above what I would need? I am under the impression I need the The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer, but there seems to be many different ones/types sold. Sorry about the confusion, but I am a little lost as to which get for my early Greyhawk campaign. They look so much the same
-Maybe one consideration we've all overlooked is expense. If money is no problem, the simple answer is "get everything". I haven't quite done that, although I do have all the campaign stuff I mentioned in my first post.
Others will disagree on the following (wait for it...), but the priority would be...
1) The WOG Gazeteer and Glossography (you can still find them in a boxed set with maps) is probably the one neccessity for any GH campaign starting CY 576.
2) The Living Greyhawk Gazeteer takes the history of the Flanaess up to CY 591 and (I think) corrects the WOGG. I use the LGG as the "real" information (which is not for player use), and allow the players to use the WOGG. The PCs can even inherit, buy or capture copies. Remember that the info is all in D&D 3.0 terms, tho'.
3) From the Ashes does include details not in either of the above.
4) The Adventure Begins.
5) Greyhawk Wars has a lot of detail on what "will" happen in 582-585.
EG Gygax did a lot of stuff in the "Sorcerer's Scroll" articles in Dragon (issues mid-50s to mid-60s, I'd have to check what was what) of a military/diplomatic/political nature for the years 577-578. It was what actually decided me on Greyhawk instead of the various homebrews I kept attempting.
A neat set of modules is the Lendore series (L1-L2) including the villages of Restenford and Garrotten. The levels are supposed to be in the 2-5 range, but you could make some DIY scenarios to get the PCs there (note: If you follow the future timeline, and the players do nothing to change it, Lendore gets whacked in 583).
Will start with the early Greyhawk 'stuff'. Was thinking around 576. That would mean I need to get the The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer which should cover most of the early adventures.
The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer (which you linked to below) is an overview of the Flanaess beginning in 591 CY. That won't work if you plan to begin in 576 CY.
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From there move on to Keep On the Borderlands than: 1) Village of Hommlet (then can be followed up with Temple of Elemental Evil)
2) Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (first of a 3-part adventure series)
3) Against the Cult of the Reptile God
Again, some problems. The Keep on the Borderlands will take your PCs from 1st to 3rd level (maybe 4th). The village of Hommlet is also for PCs level 1-3 and the ToEE follows that directly advancing the PCs all the way to level 10. Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is another 1-3 level adventure. So is Against the Cult of the Reptile God.
So, if you want to run all those, you'll have to seriously change the power of the monsters as the PCs advance in level, or, as jamesdglick said, allow them only super-slow level advancement, perhaps by constantly killing them off and making them begin again at 1st level.
Alternatively, you may want to choose one of those modules to begin with and pick higher level modules to follow up. Good classic mid-level modules include, Ravenloft, White Plume Mountain, The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, The Isle of Dread, and Castle Greyhawk. That last begins at 2nd level and can take the PCs all the way to 15th if they continue to adventure in it. You can always make the first couple of levels a bit tougher if the party is 3rd or 4th level when they first enter it, though.
Since I am trying to start my group in Greyhawk around 576 are any of the above what I would need? I am under the impression I need the The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer, but there seems to be many different ones/types sold. Sorry about the confusion, but I am a little lost as to which get for my early Greyhawk campaign. They look so much the same
None of those are the ones you want. As I said above, the WoGG details the Flanaess after the Greyhawk Wars have ended, beginning in 591 Common Year. The Living Greyhawk Gazatteer follows that during the Living Greyhawk years (591-598? CY). Both of the above titles are great books, however, that can tell you what officially happens to Greyhawk in the future and are written by a tag-team of Greyhawk Hero-dieties, including the owner of this very website, Gary Holian (aka PSmedger). The artwork book isn't any kind of rules book. The Unofficial Living Greyhawk Bandit Kingdoms Summary is a wonderfully intertaining summary of the eight years of events in the Bandit Kingdoms during the years of Living Greyhawk. It was written by Canonfire's own Casey Brown (Aurdraco) and proofed by your's truly (SirXaris). However, it also covers that time period of 591-598 CY, so it won't do you much good if you begin in 576 CY. I'm not familiar with that last book, but it may offer some useful info, though it's certainly just information copied from other, official, sources. Plus, it's only half about Greyhawk and half Mystara.
Will start with the early Greyhawk 'stuff'. Was thinking around 576. That would mean I need to get the The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer which should cover most of the early adventures.
The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer (which you linked to below) is an overview of the Flanaess beginning in 591 CY. That won't work if you plan to begin in 576 CY...
-Oops. You're right. I think I confused Mr. H.
The Gazeteer I'm thinking of (I'll have to see what its actual name is) is the one in the boxed set by the Savant Sage of Greyhawk:
...it has the maps and the same info' as the Gazeteer, and includes level and alignment stats for the national leaders, which I consider to be DM only.
SirXaris wrote:
... The Unofficial Living Greyhawk Bandit Kingdoms Summary is a wonderfully intertaining summary of the eight years of events in the Bandit Kingdoms during the years of Living Greyhawk. It was written by Canonfire's own Casey Brown (Aurdraco) and proofed by your's truly (SirXaris)...
-By an intersting coincidence, I just bought it on Amazon today. I'm playing 577-578, but it's always good for background. Besides, I might actually get to 591 once of these days.
I think that I really have to agree with jamesdglick's suggestions about what to get to start off any Greyhawk campaign.
The original boxed set (golden with knight on horseback) is an utter necessity for its depth and breadth of material, not to mention that it is the starting point granting a good foundation. You will get a wealth of information: weather patterns, standards, random encounter tables, basic history, calendar, and national overviews, as well as some pantheonic data, too.
From the Ashes expands on that information and fleshes out the main clerical domains, critical for running priests in the Flanaess in my view. It also gives a wonderful overview of the regions surrounding Greyhawk City as well as parts of the Gnarleywood, Welkwood, and Wild Coast.
The Greyhawk Adventures hardback is nice to get, but I don't think crucial. Just my opinion.
If you are doing any amount of DMing in Greyhawk City itself, you MUST try to get your hands on The City of Greyhawk boxed set materials. Otherwise, it won't be very helpful if you are running adventures in other regions of the Flanaess.
There are other supplements that would be nice, if you can get access to them: The Adventure Begins and The Living Greyhawk Gazeteer are beneficial, mainly adding information here and there post-Wars.
I think that I really have to agree with jamesdglick's suggestions about what to get to start off any Greyhawk campaign.
The original boxed set (golden with knight on horseback) is an utter necessity for its depth and breadth of material, not to mention that it is the starting point granting a good foundation. You will get a wealth of information: weather patterns, standards, random encounter tables, basic history, calendar, and national overviews, as well as some pantheonic data, too.
From the Ashes expands on that information and fleshes out the main clerical domains, critical for running priests in the Flanaess in my view. It also gives a wonderful overview of the regions surrounding Greyhawk City as well as parts of the Gnarleywood, Welkwood, and Wild Coast.
The Greyhawk Adventures hardback is nice to get, but I don't think crucial. Just my opinion.
If you are doing any amount of DMing in Greyhawk City itself, you MUST try to get your hands on The City of Greyhawk boxed set materials. Otherwise, it won't be very helpful if you are running adventures in other regions of the Flanaess.
There are other supplements that would be nice, if you can get access to them: The Adventure Begins and The Living Greyhawk Gazeteer are beneficial, mainly adding information here and there post-Wars.
From the Ashes is good, but bare in mind that the events in that module take place after the Greyhawk Wars, which took place from 582 - 584 CY -- some eight years later.
The World of Greyhawk folio and the World of Greyhawk boxed set (which is the item linked to by MrHemlocks) present events taking place in 576 CY.
The 1998 Moore publication Greyhawk - The Adventure Begins is also a good publication to have, but bare in mind that the events in that publication take place beginning in 591 CY -- 16 years after the time in which MrHemlocks wishes to game. _________________ Mystic's web page: http://melkot.com/mysticscholar/index.html
Mystic's blog page: http://mysticscholar.blogspot.com/
My main reason for advising towards the purchase of FtA has more to do with the priestly information than anything else, especially since it goes into depth with respect to armor, weapons, turning ability, basic ethos descriptions, and spell spheres.
It also has good information about the regions (of course, after the Wars have occurred, but still useful) and areas around Greyhawk City.
I am not Lawful Evil and thus do NOT fear to be cast into the Nine Hells with the baatezu. Therefore, I am fully prepared to enjoy my afterlife existence in what I can only hope is Elysium. A successful Know Alignment cast on Lanthorn would find an aura of positive energy (glowing) with flickering mottes of light, steady and constant at one time, then random at others.
Secondary options could also include the Happy Hunting Grounds or Twin Paradises, depending...
Unfortunately Lanthorn, in the world of make-believe, your alignment doesn't, necessarily, guarantee that your soul will make it safely to its eternal reward.
It could be eaten by a demi-lich or Blackrazor, trapped within an Iron Flask or the tower of an arcanodaemon, ensorcelled forever via Imprisonment or Sepia Snake Sigil, or simply forgotten to be retrieved by your god from the planar train station... Oops! This isn't the Forgotten Realms! Forget that last one.
Will start with the early Greyhawk 'stuff'. Was thinking around 576. That would mean I need to get the The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer which should cover most of the early adventures.
The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer (which you linked to below) is an overview of the Flanaess beginning in 591 CY. That won't work if you plan to begin in 576 CY...
-Oops. You're right. I think I confused Mr. H.
The Gazeteer I'm thinking of (I'll have to see what its actual name is) ...
-The proper title is A Guide to the World of Greyhawk. Its mate is the Glossography (DM stuff, which you'll need). It also has the Darlene maps. That's your basic start. Everyone seems to agree on that, so start there. Once you're finished with that, you can worry about the other stuff.
Lanthorn wrote:
My main reason for advising towards the purchase of FtA has more to do with the priestly information than anything else, especially since it goes into depth with respect to armor, weapons, turning ability, basic ethos descriptions, and spell spheres.
It also has good information about the regions (of course, after the Wars have occurred, but still useful) and areas around Greyhawk City.
-Lanthorn
-The Living Greyhawk Gazeteer has more political/military background, and includes info' on all the Greater, Lesser, and Dem-Powers, and their clerics, as well. You'd just have to convert from D&D 3.5, while From the Ashes is AD&D2.
Have you decided to start in Hommlet with T1?
SirXaris wrote:
Unfortunately Lanthorn, in the world of make-believe, your alignment doesn't, necessarily, guarantee that your soul will make it safely to its eternal reward.
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