It is still my favorite D&D setting even though it has received little support in 3e. It put the hook in me in 1980 and never really let go, even though I went on to create more homebrews in 3e in GH's absence. However, I really want to see the setting live again in 4e and I've been thinking lately about how I might approach revitalizing it to generate some fresh interest in it again.
First off I asked myself, "What are Greyhawk's most marketable strengths right now?"
#1 - Villains.
Greyhawk has, bar none, the most impressive array of powerful villains of any of WotC's settings.
Iggwilv, Graz'zt, Acererak, Iuz, Lord Robilar (sorta), Eclavdra, Lolth (remember, FR basically stole her), the Princes of Elemental Evil, Fraz'Urb'Luu, Vecna, Kas, Tuerny the Merciless, St. Kargoth, Kyuss, Tharizdun, the Queen of Chaos & Miska the Wolf-Spider. Even if you've never played Greyhawk, these names (at least most of them) are well-known to the D&D community.
I would argue that this is the biggest leg up Greyhawk currently has (in terms of marketabilty) over Forgotten Realms whose villains are (IMO) a pretty sad and unambitious lot, comparatively speaking. :D
So the first thing I'd do is leverage that strength - make these villains a part of and active again in the world, though some are best to have "waiting in the wings".
In all cases I assume that the timeline has moved forward a century as FR has. The beauty of the "premier" Greyhawk villains is that they are almost all immortal (or at least extremely long-lived), and therefore have no trouble appearing a century down the line. These a some ideas I've been toying around with:
First up - Iggwilv. She is the new marquee "Big Bad". Iuz is on the verge of losing his empire to a century of attrition from the forces of Furyondy, Veluna, resurgant Shield Lands, etc. before Iggwilv steps in and supplants him. She strips him of his divine power and now must serve his mother as a mere retainer. Backed by Grazz't in the Abyss, she strikes back with hordes of demons, monsters of her own design and her own god-like power (daughter Drelnza promoted to a General). The campaign starts with the war still going on, pushing the forces of good back. All children born inside the borders of this new nation are tieflings (but not automatically evil) due to Iggwilv's demonic influence.
I like the idea that of starting off the campaign with an ongoing war in one part of the world. It doesn't involve every nation, but a core of important ones that keep it on the forefront of adventure possibilities.
Next up - St. Kargoth. He needs to cut a swath of territory out for himself and his Death Knight retinue. While Igwillv is the great evil sorcerous power in the world, St. Kargoth is one of the great martial evils. While undead himself, he doesn't traffic with undead empires as he is a vassal of Demogorgon. He is the foil in a sense to Igwillv, playing up the Graz'zt / Demogorgon rivalry here on Oerth. I see him trying to position himself as the man who will bring glory back to the shattered Aerdy Empire and many disenfranchised former Great Kingdom Lords will begin flocking to his banner.
Next we have - Kas. I like the idea of Kas bringing Citadel Cavitus to Oerth and using it as a floating war-machine/city to carve out a new kingdom for himself and spit in Vecna's eye. Both Kargoth and Iggwillv are actively trying to get Kas to ally with them. I can see Iggwilv sending her daughter to try and smooth things over...
Finally we have Eclavdra. FR has basically stolen Lolth away and so I'm not eager to see her card played on Oerth (let's say she abandons GH wholesale). But Eclavdra is well-known for her shifty alliances and with her strength the drow's role in the world can change. As the great underwold power she can strike at any nation in the Flanaess and I can see a myriad number of underground races falling under her banner and we're in the process of seeing an empire being built.
Next up, Tharizdun, the Princes of Elemental Evil and an event to help bring Greyhawk to 4e and improve the landscape. ;)
Greyhawk's second most marketable feature (IMO) are it's widely recognized Artifacts & Relics.
The Sword of Kas, The Hand & Eye of Vecna, The Rod of Seven Parts, The Mighty Servant of Luek-O, The Machine of Lum the Mad, The Invulnerable Coat of Arnd, The Demonomicon of Iggwilv, The Codex of Infinite Planes, The Bringer of Doom, The Axe of the Dwarvish Lords, The Orbs of Dragonkind, The Iron Flask of Tuerny the Merciless, Daoud's Wondrous Lanthorn, Fragarach and the Swords of Answering, The Crook of Rao etc...
Many have been and could be again the focal point for a sprawling high level adventure.
The Main Event.
Greyhawk has always been under the shadow of Tharizdun's return and to bring Greyhawk into 4e (and lean more towards a "Points of Light" setting), a little taste of Tharizdun should be enough.
His potential "full" return would be best left to a 4e adventure in the future.The Elemental War: In trying to think of the most interesting (from a new player's perspective) landscape-altering event that really plays into both Greyhawk's history and some of the 4th edition changes - Elemental Evil feels like a good place to start.
It should occur very close to the current 3e timeline, but a century before the 4e timeline begins. The Princes of Elemental Evil, along with powerful Tharizdun cultists, utilize the Codex of Infinite Planes to tap into some of Tharizdun’s power (and unbeknownst to them, some of his influence leaks out from his prison). It culminates into a veritable elemental siege of Oerth that alters the very landscape.
Major forces of Good and Evil (both mortal & god) put aside their differences to drive off the army of evil elementals and their creations. Many powerful personages die during the war, but eventually they prevail, the Codex vanishing in the confusion.
Altering the Landscape:
Greyhawk has always had some great locales, but few on a grand scale. If I were to try to revitalize the setting, I'd want to be able to take one look at the Greyhawk Map and go - cool.
Right now we have the Land of Black Ice, the Rift Canyon and the Sea of Dust. All great regions with loads of potential, but there is not much else that stands out. So one thing I would do is spice up the landscape a little, and an Elemental War would certainly be a good catalyst. Apart from the various smaller changes that occur when elementals lay seige to a world (cities falling, forests burning, etc. there are a number of more significant changes. Here’s a few ideas I’ve been tossing around…
The Iron Desert (Ilbasan): The Elementals secure a rogue Acheron Cube, lost in the Elemental Chaos and transport it Greyhawk space to use as a staging ground. At the culmination of the war a band of heroes succeed in destroying the cube, which then falls to Oerth, striking primarily in the Great Kindom of Northern Aerdy, near the border with the Bone March, creating an immense crater with titanic fragments of solid metal scattered in the region, including one mountain-sized one (later named Khatun). A spiderweb network of rift-canyons spiral out across the landscape and the entire region is turned into an iron-sand desert. Ironstorms, strangely mutated creatures and small clans of riftrunners ply their way through the region. If you can get to a fragment, there are precious metals to be gleaned there. Khatun is the goldmine though, and several powerful clans of dwarves have banded together are slowly carving a home in it. However, unknown to all (even the Elementals who used it) the Acheron Cube was prison and deep in the heart of Khatun it waits for the greedy dwarves to reach it.
The Sundered Moon: Towards the end of the war the “Final Solution” of the Elemental Princes is to send a titanic comet of living elemental ice to destroy the world. The Gods themselves must act, combining their power to move the moon Celene into its path (pruning some of their number in the sacrifice of power?). The gambit is successful as the moon is struck by the comet, reducing it to a crumbling, tumbling ruin of stone and ice orbiting the planet. However, the fragments are not stable - as the remnants of the moon passes overhead every 91 days, meteor storms follow in its wake. Most of time they are relatively harmless, other times a more significant piece falls creating havoc.
Fire & Ice: A large piece of elemental ice from the original comet that struck the moon, tumbles to Oerth, impacting in southern Keoland. As a result the Hellfurnaces explode in a fury of activity which continues to this day, turning the skies in the region perpetually black with ash. Major lava flows are common, including a new large molten lake in the Yomanry, and a new nation emerges ruled by Fire Giants. As for the Icefall, it initially melts considerably, creating a great lake of it's own with broken ice mountains and islands scattered in the middle. The magic of the elemental ice eventually stabilizes and turns the region into an arctic zone in the heartlands of the Flanaess. A dim intelligence still remains in the elemental ice, slowly regathering it's strength…
Eye of the World: Deep in the jungles of Hepmonaland, an ancient Suloise site is discovered where they could practice their most dangerous magics far from civilized lands. Tharizdun cultists try to use the xxxx to discover his prison plane but unwittingly find the Far Realm. Unreality bleeds into the Prime plane and begins warping the landscape. A great eye, the size of large hill grows at the centre of the region and the cthuhlian fun begins. Villages and wildlife are slowly warped into squamous horrors that now roam the yellow-steaming alien jungle. Perhaps some inspired a la “The Mist”. The Scarlet Brotherhood begin to investigate. The Eye however is only the first appendage to grow…
Next up - new "attention gettting" monsters...
The Tarrasque has always been one of D&D’s most beloved uber-monsters. It is hinted that it's creation is linked to the Elemental Princes of Evil, which I always thought was interesting, and that opens the door for more of their... unique creations.
The Great Beasts: During the war, the Elemental Princes unleashed a number of monstrosities on Oerth the likes of which the world had never seen. Titanic, nearly unstoppable monstrosities that even the mightiest of dragons would soon learn to fear. With their aid, cities were crushed and armies scattered, but without their masters they are now directionless forces of nature who have retreated to uncivilized lands across Oerik. Each of the Great Beasts attracts a number of “like-minded” monsters who follow the Beast wherever it roams and will fight to defend it.
The Great Beasts are each "Tarrasque-class" monsters that require almost a siege mentality to defeat (or more likely, just drive off). Here's an example:
The Taunen – A titanic quadraped that appears as a monstrously proportioned beast vaguely similar to a landshark with a craggy, stony hide. It roams the Crystalmist Mountains with a retinue of landsharks (and possibly others?). In addition to being able to burrow into solid rock, it can hurl boulders the size of small houses, create earthquakes by jumping and earth “tidalwaves” by charging, then diving into the ground.
Oerth could handle 5 or 6 of these unique beasts wandering the Flanaess, and could be used at all levels in different capacities (at low levels as an epic backdrop, mid levels to steer some of their "followers" away nearby civilized lands and at high levels to drive off/redirect but requiring an epic level adventure to actually kill).
The Giants: Giants are also very much a part of the Greyhawk culture and deserve greater prominence in the setting. In addition to the growing Fire Giant threat from the Hellfurnaces, “The Grand Duchy of Geoff” is officially no more (if for no other reason than to strike the name from the GH map :P ), as it’s now firmly in the control several powerful clans of giants who have formed a loose coalition along with their humanoid minions.
Sterich has been bracing for the inevitable seige of Istivin, though it is only due to the brave guerilla war they've been waging that have held the giants off this long. With the Yomanry and the Sea Princes to the south fearing the rising threat from the Hellfurnaces and Keoland having never recovered from the Icefall, their allies are few and weak.
Dragons: Greyhawk has, rather surprisingly, never really had a strong dragon threat. Apart from a couple of prominent Greyhawk Dragons, who aren't a threat anyway, the only real ambitious evil dragon I can think of has been Torc. So, GH could use a strong draconic threat, one that could bring other dragons to it's banner. Here's a couple of ideas...
Demo-Dragon: It has a fairly well-known name that could be leveraged in the setting. With strong ties to Demogorgon and a unique appearance, he could be made into a credible threat on Oerth.
The Dragon in Glass: Talenauras: Another idea is one that I've used as a staple in my own GH games. A construct crafted by Boccob in ages past, it was stolen by a deposed devil prince (pick any that is out of favor at the moment). Fusing his essence into this new powerful construct, his ambition grew to the point where Asmodeus himself was forced to step in and banish him to Oerth (forced, or all part of the plan...?).
Not content to live in exile the "Devil-Dragon" settles into a region in the southern Rakers just north of the Flinty Hills and sets about bringing other dragons and summoned devils to his banner, opening defying both Tiamat and Asmosdeus. Indeed he has already slain a number of their followers here on Oerth. Talenauras appears as a dragon of unearthly construction - seemingly composed of stunningly vibrant, flame-hued glass with a skeleton, claws and scale edging of gleaming adamantine. His breath has left scars of flame-tinged glass across the land.
I like the Glass Dragon because it's signature appearance and that is solves the other problem GH has in that there is no strong devil presence in the world.
Next up... new organizations.
The Grey Lords / The Lords of Balance:
One thing I liked from the old Gord the Rogue novels was the idea of a powerful group dedicated to the Balance that wasn’t just an all-wizards club. Assuming the timeline has moved a century in the future, a group of demigods (demigods in 4e sound more like quasi-deities anyway) have come together to fill the role that the Circle of Eight once occupied.
Mordenkainen
Kelanen
The Cat Lord
Heward
Keoghtom
Zuoken
The Demi-urge
Greyhawk has always had some great locales, but few on a grand scale. If I were to try to revitalize the setting, I'd want to be able to take one look at the Greyhawk Map and go - cool.
Right now we have the Land of Black Ice, the Rift Canyon and the Sea of Dust. All great regions with loads of potential, but there is not much else that stands out.
The Sea of Dust has had my attention for a while now. It's the perfect place for me to start a new edition of D&D with the PoL feel without undoing the 20+ years of playing in Greyhawk. I wasn't ready to put away the old map that we've been marking up with new towns and new ruins and other new things that have become part of Our Greyhawk over the years of playing there, so I've started revamping the Sea of Dust to start off this new edition (check out my Gleemax blog [link in sig] if you're interested).
I like some of the ideas you've put forward here, and may borrow a bit to give the regrown SoD a dread feel (over and above the fear of the unknown that this regions holds over the new residents).
Great posts. Glad to see Greyhawk isn't being abandoned by all!
Be well in all things,
Rave
It's one of those things I think that if you've run Greyhawk long enough you eventually come up with an adventure to help bring life back to the Sea of Dust. I don't think I've ever gone so far as to actually succeed on the level your campaign is based on though. Some nice reworking of the geography/approach to the new races there - kudos. :D
Cheers!
There are entire swaths of land in the northern Flanaess that are fairly… blah. I look at the map and I saw a couple of ideal spots. One could be centred on the aptly named “Gibbering Gate” in the Rovers of the Barrens. Once a prison/asylum of Iuz’s, he could have easily imprisoned an alienist whom he should have kept a more watchful eye on. And I’m thinking a fairly significant incursion is necessary, and in a completely chaotic manner - stretching into the northern Fellreev Forest, the headwaters of the Coldrun River, towards the Bluff Hills but primarily snaking it’s way haphazardly into the Rovers towards the Sea. This will leave a nice, noticeable blight on the map in a remote, but not too remote region.
Another potential area is somewhere in the Wolf Nomad/Tiger Nomad/Lake Quag region. Big swaths of nothing there ripe for some new alien geography.
I was thinking of a HL adventure possibility where one of the Great Beasts wanders into the region and leaves as a Far Realm monstrosity that corrupts everything it walks over (a little nod to Princess Mononoke there).
Another thing I think should be addressed are the remote Barbarian Lands (which seriously need to be renamed) that are currently so isolated they really can’t interact easily with the rest of the world. So either something has to happen to those lands to make them so cool you’d make the arduous trek, or you could alter the landscape in such a way that it would make it easier for them to sail into the central Flanaess.
I had a thought, tying into some of the possible events I mentioned before - possibly during the Elemental War, of a catastrophy that splits the Eastern Continent from Relmor Bay to Grendep Bay, following roughly the river that cuts through the Adri Forest. Then that eastern region where the Kingdom of Ahlissa and North Kingdom are now become their own sub-continent and you have a broad (at least 2 or 3 hexes wide at it's narrowest) water access to the Barbarian Lands (and them to you).
That leaves the door open then to some good, clean viking-pillaging fun in the central Flanaess! :D Maybe throw in some Giant/Barbarian alliances, a fleet of Giant War-barges and a burning desire to sack Greyhawk City…
Your earlier comment (the one I quoted) also makes mention of the Land of Black Ice and Rift Canyon. These would make great places to start a PoL type campaign. I will (when I get a moment to look) find out if anyone in my area has redone Rift Canyon (we are/were in the Bandit Kingdoms in RPGA, so someone local may have been working on that!) I'll let you know if I find anything.
Thanks to you as well for your efforts in keeping this exciting setting alive. Even if it ends up not being supported by the company, Greyhawk will endure by the efforts of people like you. Who knows? There may soon come a time when the Greyhawk Forum becomes the "Official" source of new material for our favorite iconic setting!
Be well in all things,
Rave
Here’s some of the ideas I’ve been toying with for my own campaign..
In the wake of the devastation of Elemental War and subsequent rise of the threats of Iggwilv, St. Kargoth and Kas, many nations are coming apart at the seems. Borders are constantly contested and there is a greater sense of a “free-for-all”, it’s-yours-if-you-can-hold-it attitude in the Flanaess now.
The expansionistic Domain of Greyhawk
The Domain of Greyhawk is a prime example of this new mercenary philosophy at work. It’s long been the focal point for powerful adventurers, skilled artisans and craftsmen and it’s only natural that Greyhawk’s “orbit” would continue to expand. Policies would be put into place to encourage HL adventurers to build strongholds in the area with the promise of low taxes and little government interference. I see it expanding outward, forming a coalition of powerful, ex-adventurer lords, much like the Oligarchy, but whose purvue is the entire domain.
The crucial part of it’s expansion came with the annexation of the Duchy of Urnst in the aftermath of Duke Karll’s death in the war. It gained for them their vast tracts of fertile croplands as well as their rich mines of the Cairn Hills and Abbor-Alz. However, this earned them no shortage of enmity from Nyrond and the County of Urnst (now just Urnst) whose support from Greyhawk comes at an ever-increasing price.
In the current year, Greyhawk has strengthened its hold on the Wild Coast (though still in constant conflict with the Pomarj) and now fixes its sights firmly on Dyvers so that their control of the entire southern Nyr Dyv will be complete. Dyvers is caught between a rock and a hard place now, as Furyondy covets reclaiming the city just as much as their eastern neighbor. Furyondy fears that the Greyhawk Alliance will stage a bloodless coup by fixing the vote in the city’s next meritocratic election and so contemplates intervening militarily to secure the city “for its own good”.
A shattered Nyrond
Nyrond over the last century has fractured apart into several City-States and much of the nation has fallen to predations from bandits, minor mercenary lords and monsters. But a powerful group of patriotic Nyrondese adventurers have recently taken control of Rel Mord and is actively trying to unite the nation again. They are desperately trying to keep the Greyhawk Lords out of Nyrond, even going so far as to send what troops they could spare to the border garrisons. Greyhawk has been actively, if quietly, courting the Lady of Woodwych to join their consortium.
Next up, The Lords of Greyhawk
Greyhawk has long attracted both the powerful and the… eccentric. Like death and taxes, Greyhawk being run by someone who isn't playing with a full deck seems to be just one of those inevitabilities in life...
My Sea of Dust Campaign will kick off on March 8th, and I'll get a chance to playtest the setting before the release of 4th edition. Not much has happened in World Development, as I have been focusing on a very specific area (where the first adventure will take place) and I haven't posted information about the area yet (my player read the forums too! ACK!)
Your efforts here are very greatly appreciated.
Be well in all things,
Rave
I need to have a map (the bigger the better) that I can bring into photoshop/illustrator and move the boders around, alter the landscape... Any help in pointing me in the right direction would be mucho appreciated.
Seems like the only thing missing are the Dragonborn. As I believe posted elsewhere then can be introduced by making them a warrior culture from the west, draw to the Flanaess by promise of battle. Conversely, they could have ended up in the Flanaess after their realm was wiped out, crossing the Hellfurnaces to find a place to settle in a desert region (either newly formed after your "main event" or in an existing one.)
Hmm Why dotn make the Dragonborn and evolved form of the old Dragonewts( I think they first apeared in FF)?
WHat do you think about the Feywild?
Wow, great work here Akoss. I'll try and find a map that would fit your needs.
Thanks!
Seems like the only thing missing are the Dragonborn. As I believe posted elsewhere then can be introduced by making them a warrior culture from the west, draw to the Flanaess by promise of battle. Conversely, they could have ended up in the Flanaess after their realm was wiped out, crossing the Hellfurnaces to find a place to settle in a desert region (either newly formed after your "main event" or in an existing one.)
You've read my mind Barthalas... this is almost exactly the way I was envisioning incorporating them into the Flanaess.
IMG, they're driven out of their homelands by the Elemental War, the Dragonborn exodus being comprised of several great Houses. Some of the more ambitious Houses made their way into the Helfurnaces where they had learned of a new nation rising in the aftermath of the war. They formed and alliance with the Fire Giants, whose forces had grown in strength with addition of remnants of Elemental army.
Some of the Houses settled in Ket, while others pressed eastward and though initially relations with other races were rocky, they eventually settled in strength in places like the Shield Lands and eastern Furyondy. Others settled in the Bright Desert after Rary's disappearance and some houses sought to tame the iron sands of the Dirge and the borderlands of the new nation of Ilbasan.
I like your ideas for Greyhawk.
Hmm Why dotn make the Dragonborn and evolved form of the old Dragonewts( I think they first apeared in FF)?
Ahh, you mean the Firenewts! :D One of my old players used to sub in as DM every once in a while and he just loved the 1e FF (down to the last limping norker). That was "his" book and it's been a loooong time since I've seen a firenewt around (though I think they got a 3e writeup in an FR book). I could easily see them as a cousin or splinter race to the dragonborn (as they are just "fire-based" creatures). An interesting find in any case...
WHat do you think about the Feywild?
I've been toying with a couple ideas regarding the Feywild apart from from having strong ties to the Eladrin of Celene and naturally the Lendore Isles.
After the Elemental War, the world suffered under a plague of abberant planar activity. While the world has managed to correct most of the planar imbalance over the years, there is still pockets of activity here and there.
IMG is a large region of the Feywild (at least 60 miles across) that intersects our world in random areas and times (generally in the north), transposing whatever region is there (including everything and everyone in it) to the Feywild. However, this region of the Feywild is in the middle of a spectacular war between, actually a siege of an Eladrin city by the forces of the Raven Queen - the Shadar-Kai, the undead and various other dark fey creatures under her banner.
Even stranger, a band of adventurers who managed get into and out of this region while on Oerth learned that the Eladrin city under siege (Asalfar) doesn't exist in the Feywild, suggesting the battle being waged is either being waged many years into the future or the distant past. Very little else is known as it only remains on our plane for several hours before shifting away and it can be months between intersects.
Ahh, you mean the Firenewts! :D One of my old players used to sub in as DM every once in a while and he just loved the 1e FF (down to the last limping norker). That was "his" book and it's been a loooong time since I've seen a firenewt around (though I think they got a 3e writeup in an FR book). I could easily see them as a cousin or splinter race to the dragonborn (as they are just "fire-based" creatures). An interesting find in any case...
Yeah FIRENEWTS!!
Well you could tie them to the Elemental chaos and have them evolve into the Dragonborn. You could have whole tribes of them in the Hellfurnaces , some who have started trading with human settlements nearby. At least this is the aproach I would.
Some of the Houses settled in Ket, while others pressed eastward and though initially relations with other races were rocky, they eventually settled in strength in places like the Shield Lands and eastern Furyondy.
I'm not really sure how well the dragonborn would do in Furyondy; dragons are VERY strongly frowned there, especially in the anti-magic southeast and militant northeast. If you're willing to accept LG content, I think they'd be welcome in the Iron Wood of Verbobonc, though - Shannus is established there as a half-dragon (not sure about whether or not he is in canon).
I'm not really sure how well the dragonborn would do in Furyondy; dragons are VERY strongly frowned there, especially in the anti-magic southeast and militant northeast. If you're willing to accept LG content, I think they'd be welcome in the Iron Wood of Verbobonc, though - Shannus is established there as a half-dragon (not sure about whether or not he is in canon).
The reason why the Dragonborn are accepted in Furyondy is the Houses that settled there are "good", and that after the Elemental War Furyondy's own forces had been greatly weakened (read: they need their help). The Dragonborn are also a militant/warrior culture and fit in well with their heavily lawful culture.
IMG, the Dragonborn have the strongest presence in the Shield Lands in the current year (CY: 692), helping oppose the rise of Iggwilv (who had recently completed her apotheosis into a full-fledged goddess from the power she had stolen in the events of the Savage Tide).
To me, Greyhawk has always had the best villains, with the exception of perhaps the Red Wizards of Thay in Forgotten Realms. Not that the Red Wizards are any tougher or more dangerous than minions of Kas or Vecna; they're just... easier to hate.
However, with so much history to the world, i think an interesting place to base a campaign would be in its past. A few hundred years after the Rain of Colorless Fire has always seemed to me as a fantastic place to begin a campaign. It would also lend itself wonderfully to the new PoL concept that is part of the 4E perspective.
The campaign based in the past need not erase the history which came after. It would all exist 'on the ready' to be added as a campaign progressed, or altered as needed for a house campaign, just as published material already is today.
I also have always wanted to see the whole continent of Oerik fleshed out with the same detail of the Flanaess. Any campaign from any fantasy medieval'esque setting could have room w/in.
As I touched on in an earlier post, the expanding Domain of Greyhawk is currently controlled by powerful consortium of former adventurers. The six other Lords of Greyhawk were carefully chosen by the Lord-Mayor Rholn A'Talin to generate just the right mix of intelligence, ambition, fear and wonder. The Lords meet four times a year, each time at a different Lord's holding and each has an equal voice in the policies of the Domain itself.
The current Lords of Greyhawk are...
Rholn A’Talin
Title: Lord-Mayor of Greyhawk City
Class: Rogue / (Fighter)
Race: Male Human
Age: 44
Place of Birth: Sultanate of Zeif
Grenloke
Title: Warden of the Cairn Hills (Maure Castle)
Class: Fighter
Race: Formerly Male Human, now unknown Undead (M)
Age: 121
Place of Birth: Kingdom of (the) Cruski (Ice Barbarians)
Vhadt “Icescar’ Whitescale
Title: Lord Protector of the Eastern Gate (Leukish)
Class: Warlord
Race: Male Dragonborn
Age: 52
Place of Birth: Sea Princes
Eyriskel
Title: Lady Protector of the Southern Gate (Hardby)
Class: Wizard
Race: Female, Half-Eladrin
Age: 67
Place of Birth: Greyhawk City
Justicar & Escalla
Titles: Wardens of the Wild Coast (Varies)
Classes: Justicar – Ranger / (Fighter); Escalla - Wizard
Races: Justicar - Male Human; Escalla: Female Faerie
Ages: Justicar – 116 (appears: 42); Escalla - Unknown
Places of Birth: Justicar - Celadon Forest; Escalla - Feywild
Valiss Duskheart
Title: Warden of Celadon (Nellix)
Class: Warlock / (Rogue)
Race: Female Celestial-Tiefling
Age: 34
Place of Birth: Azzagrat (Abyss)
Next up, a little brief history on some of the Lords, starting with Grenloke.
Title: Warden of the Cairn Hills (Maure Castle)
Class: Fighter
Race: Formerly Male Human, now unknown Undead (M)
Age: 121
Place of Birth: Kingdom of (the) Cruski (Ice Barbarians)
Appearance: See picture above…
Brief History: No matter what the crowd, Grenloke stands apart... Being an undead entity composed entirely of ash and bone will do that.
Lord Grenloke was a Cruski warrior and planewalker of some renown even before the Elemental War almost a century ago. He was best known as one of the very few planar tradesman on Oerth, with businesses based in Sigil and Greyhawk City - however the Elemental War would change all that. Having distinguished himself in the war with his skill with a glaive and his knowledge of the planes, Grenloke joined the band of adventurers who spearheaded the assault on the Acheron Cube the Elemental Princes were using as a staging area to attack Oerth. The assault culminated in the destruction of the cube by the use of a powerful artifact called the Bringer of Doom in the very heart of the floating fortress. This was the turning point in the war which helped to finally drive the Princes back to the Elemental Chaos.
The cost was great however as many of the Flanaess’ greatest heroes perished to achieve that victory, including Grenloke who stood with his comrades to the very end. The Bringer of Doom created an explosion was so great it fractured the planar boundaries themselves and flung Grenloke’s blackened bones into an ashen void, deep in the Shadowfell.
For over fifty years Grenloke’s spirit was trapped in the void, unable to escape. But in that time he slowly, inexorably learned how to draw upon the power of the plane itself, willing his charred skeleton back together and binding it in “flesh” molded from the ash drawn from the plane. It took six more years before Grenloke learned to control this new body enough to make the arduous journey back to his home plane.
Finally finding a portal back to Oerth, he returned to a world still reeling in the fallout of the war. For years Grenloke lived in seclusion, working alone in the borderlands of the Pomarj, the Hellfurnaces and the Giant-held lands of Kaldr, until the day he rescued the sole survivor of an ill-fated assault on a Fire Giant fortress by the name of Rholn A’Talin.
It was he who convinced Grenloke to return with him to Greyhawk City and smoothed over his (re-)introduction into high society. Over the next fifteen years Grenloke learned to find a place in the world again, even re-establishing some of his old ties in Sigil. Since the Elemental War, stable planar portals were very difficult to come by, but eventually research led him to Maure Castle as one of the few “stable” regions left in the Flanaess. Rholn, now the Lord-Mayor of Greyhawk City, offered him the castle and jurisdiction over the Cairn Hills if he would take a place as one of the Greyhawk Lords.
Having found a place in the world again, he has become more sanguine with his current existence and with it, his old ambitions have returned. With the help of Arch-Wizard Eyriskel, he has established the first stable merchant gate to Sigil since the Elemental War (though only stable in the 5 days of the ruined Celene’s full moon), and in the years that followed a steady flow of goods began to pass through it. A small trading town has sprung up near the castle, largely populated by planar traders, adventurers, sages and curious races.
Personality: In social circles, Grenloke presents himself a very knowledgeable man with a dry, notherner’s wit. He knows how unsettling his presence can be to others and does not work to fully dispel those fears, knowing a little fear can go a long way in business. Only with the other Greyhawk Lords and his close friends in Sigil does he become less guarded and allow some of his compassionate side to show through.
As he presents himself as little more than a noble and merchant, few outside his immediate circle remember the warrior he was, though they would do well to. Even among the Greyhawk Lords, only Rholn, Jus and Escalla are aware that Grenloke is one of the greatest warriors “living” in the Flanaess today. And of them, only Escalla knows that the shape-shifting staff he carries is actually a powerful artifact fashioned from the Tree of Life called The Ysalfar, a powerful weapon which also serves to satiate and control his secret undead hunger for life.
Good work here Akoss, you really covered your bases.
To me, Greyhawk has always had the best villains, with the exception of perhaps the Red Wizards of Thay in Forgotten Realms. Not that the Red Wizards are any tougher or more dangerous than minions of Kas or Vecna; they're just... easier to hate.
I will agree tht Red Wizards started off a strong villain base, but the whole "magic item merchants" spin was, hmmm, ill-conceived IMO. I really found it difficult to believe any nation would be dumb enough to fall for such an obvious ploy. It would be like Iuz selling Dorakaa time-shares in Chendl. :D
Greyhawk was the first game world i truly got to know. It will always hold fond memories.
However, with so much history to the world, i think an interesting place to base a campaign would be in its past. A few hundred years after the Rain of Colorless Fire has always seemed to me as a fantastic place to begin a campaign. It would also lend itself wonderfully to the new PoL concept that is part of the 4E perspective.
Hmmm... the migration/exodus period would certainly be an interesting time. A couple of times I've run adventure arcs during the initial Suloise exodus, but never really thought of running a game during the initial resettlement years. Certainly an interesting idea.
I also have always wanted to see the whole continent of Oerik fleshed out with the same detail of the Flanaess. Any campaign from any fantasy medieval'esque setting could have room w/in.
In some ways I'd like to see it fleshed out too... but there's still a part of me that would like to keep the region largely mysterious, but perhaps dropping a few more tidbits here and there so we have a little better idea of what's out there. At the very least I think we should learn a little more of those nations immediately west of the mountains.
I haven't been able to find a Map that can remove the names. Have you had any luck?
Hey Akoss,
I haven't been able to find a Map that can remove the names. Have you had any luck?
Thanks for helping me try to track something down Barthalas, I've got one solid lead, but it'll cost me... Someone over at Canonfire pointed out that you can buy the four back issues of Dragon that have the big Greyhawk Map in layered PDF format and go from there. If nothing else turns up, this is probably my best bet.
I also ran across a very impressive fan-created Greyhawk Map project by Anna Bernemalm, tackling the Flanaess in small sections. You can find her work here. These are also available in layered PDF format but the satellite-style images would be more difficult to work with (on top of being a work-in-progress).
IMG, the Dragonborn have the strongest presence in the Shield Lands in the current year (CY: 692), helping oppose the rise of Iggwilv (who had recently completed her apotheosis into a full-fledged goddess from the power she had stolen in the events of the Savage Tide).
So if Iggwilv is now a full fledged Goddess, who is going to run her "empire" on Oerth? I would think that if she tried to run it herself, the other gods would take exception to such direct control happening and the take action (which would lead to quite a mess.)
If you are going to make her into a Greyhawk Goddess, I would consider bringing Iuz back to run the empire.
Thanks for helping me try to track something down Barthalas, I've got one solid lead, but it'll cost me... Someone over at Canonfire pointed out that you can buy the four back issues of Dragon that have the big Greyhawk Map in layered PDF format and go from there. If nothing else turns up, this is probably my best bet.
I also ran across a very impressive fan-created Greyhawk Map project by Anna Bernemalm, tackling the Flanaess in small sections. You can find her work here. These are also available in layered PDF format but the satellite-style images would be more difficult to work with (on top of being a work-in-progress).
Dragon or Dungeon. I knew thew did one in dungeon but I didn't think they did for Dragon.
So if Iggwilv is now a full fledged Goddess, who is going to run her "empire" on Oerth? I would think that if she tried to run it herself, the other gods would take exception to such direct control happening and the take action (which would lead to quite a mess.)
It would indeed... but Iggwilv is a clever little witch.
In the aftermath of the Elemental War there was a lot of planar instability on Oerth, some localized regions (generally fairly small) were transposed with other regions from different worlds, planes, even different times.
Iggwilv recovered the Codex of Infinite Planes and combined with her power and the planar instability she has circumvented the rule of divine interference on Oerth by intersecting a region of her realm in the Abyss with Oerth (centered in the Howling Hills). The more lands she is able to control (as Planescape says - "Belief is power."), the more of her realm she can transpose on Oerth. Conversely, lands that she loses, the territory transposes back.
Iggwilv cannot personally attack any lands which does not fully control (and there is a lot of "transitional area"), otherwise (as you rightly point out) the rest of the gods will intervene. But the control of Oerth is key to her long-term plans, so she as personally involved as she can be. However, there is one very significant stumbling block to being able commit her full forces to this endeavor - Asmodeus's war upon the Abyss. In the aftermath of the Savage Tide, the forces of Hell have struck hard and fast in the Abyss and Iggwilv has had to bend most of her forces to keeping the Devils at bay.
If you are going to make her into a Greyhawk Goddess, I would consider bringing Iuz back to run the empire.
Iuz and Drelnza are still very much involved. Both are generals in her armies on Oerth. While she has stripped Iuz of his divine power as punishment for his failure, she has restored his youth and beauty that were taken from him so long ago. He is about the level of a minor demon lord now and his boundless rage has made him very dangerous... to everyone.
Dragon or Dungeon. I knew thew did one in dungeon but I didn't think they did for Dragon.
Whoops, I meant Dungeon. :D
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In the last installment of the Savage Tide, it give as a possible continuing adventure Iggwilv raising the Ruins of Thanaclan and setting up a her new empire on the material plane. Her new empire would also would be a perfect place for Tieflings (as you suggested.)
If you went this route, you can still have Iuz in the north and Iggwilv in the south. Both working together to overrun the Flanaess.
Iuz has been such an iconic part of Greyhawk and hate to lose him from the 4e landscape (or even relegate him to a back seat to his mother.)
Timeline
Also advance current timeline 100 years to cy.697
Dragonborn
Warrior culture that have come to the Flanaess from the west. Little is known of the homeland (or if it even exists still). Many have found work as mercenaries in the battle against the forces of Iuz, as they appear to have had extensive experience fighting against infernal creatures.
Halflings
Replace Rhenee with 4e Halflings (my one real piece of Reconting).
The Raven Queen
Is actually another name/aspect of Wee Jas
Iggwilv
After the events of the Savage Tide, Iggwilv uses Tuerny’s Iron Flas to gather the essence of Demogorgon and set her newest plat into motion, a plot to rebuild her empire on the Material Plane. The site for her plot, this time is the Isle of Dread. Using Demogorgon’s essence, Iggwilv travels to the ruins of Thanaclan, and in a single night of hideous power, resurrects the fallen city, raising ruins fomr the lake and erosion to build herself a new empire. She populates New Thanaclan with demons, cambions, apprentices and tieflings (cursed humans from another world who had made a pact with the witch queen in the distant past.) She quickly begins plans to create a series of portals through which she hopes to extend her rule to several bickering and unsuspecting regions to the north.
Iuz
After the events of the Expedition to Castle Greyhawk, Iuz was on the verge of losing his empire to the forces of Furyondy, Veluna, resurgent Shield Lands, etc. before Iggwilv stepped in to aid her son. Backed by demonic allies from his mothers newly founded empire to the south, he strikes back with hordes of demons and his own returned god-like power. The campaign starts with the war still going on, pushing the forces of good back.
St. Kargoth
St. Kargoth seizes the opportunity granted by the Elemental War conflict (see below) to cut a swath of territory out for himself and his Death Knight retinue. He positions himself as the man who will bring glory back to the shattered Aerdy Empire and many disenfranchised former Great Kingdom Lords flock to his banner.
Kas
Kas brings the Citadel Cavitus to Oerth, using it as a floating war-machine/city to carve out a new kingdom for himself. Both Kargoth and Iggwilv are actively trying to get Kas to ally with them (Iggwilv sending her daughter to try and smooth things over...)
The Elemental War
Embolden by the chaos unleashed on Oerth by Iuz and his mother Iggwilv, the Princes of Elemental Evil, along with powerful Tharizdun cultists, utilize the Codex of Infinite Planes to tap into some of Tharizdun’s power (and unbeknownst to them, some of his influence leaks out from his prison). It culminates into a veritable elemental siege of Oerth that alters the very landscape.
The Iron Desert (Ilbasan)
The Elementals secure a rogue Acheron Cube, lost in the Elemental Chaos and transport it Greyhawk space to use as a staging ground. At the culmination of the war a band of heroes succeed in destroying the cube, which then falls to Oerth, striking primarily south and west of the Lortmil Mountains (namely the three realms of Ulek; the Grand March and parts of Keoland), creating an immense crater with titanic fragments of solid metal scattered in the region, including one mountain-sized one (later named Khatun). A spiderweb network of rift-canyons spiral out across the landscape and the entire region is turned into an iron-sand desert. Ironstorms, strangely mutated creatures and small clans of riftrunners ply their way through the region. If you can get to a fragment, there are precious metals to be gleaned there. Khatun is the goldmine though, and several powerful clans of dwarves have banded together are slowly carving a home in it. However, unknown to all (even the Elementals who used it) the Acheron Cube was prison and deep in the heart of Khatun it waits for the greedy dwarves to reach it.
The Great Beasts
During the war, the Elemental Princes unleashed a number of monstrosities on Oerth the likes of which the world had never seen. Titanic, nearly unstoppable monstrosities that even the mightiest of dragons would soon learn to fear. With their aid, cities were crushed and armies scattered, but without their masters they are now directionless forces of nature that have retreated to uncivilized lands across Oerik. Each of the Great Beasts attracts a number of “like-minded” monsters who follow the Beast wherever it roams and will fight to defend it.The Great Beasts are each "Tarrasque-class" monsters that require almost a siege mentality to defeat (or more likely, just drive off). Here's an example: The Taunen: A titanic quadruped that appears as a monstrously proportioned beast vaguely similar to a landshark with a craggy, stony hide. It roams the Crystalmist Mountains with a retinue of landsharks (and possibly others?). In addition to being able to burrow into solid rock, it can hurl boulders the size of small houses, create earthquakes by jumping and earth “tidalwaves” by charging, then diving into the ground.
Greyhawk
Greyhawk, long the focal point for powerful adventurers becomes a “point of light” in the darkness that engulfs the Flanaess. As Greyhawk’s “orbit” expands to protect its neighbors’, policies are put into place to encourage adventurers to build strongholds in the area with the promise of low taxes and little government interference. This new Domain of Greyhawk is a coalition of powerful, ex-adventurer lords, much like the Oligarchy, but whose purview is the entire domain. The crucial part of its expansion comes with the annexation of the Duchy of Urnst in the aftermath of Duke Karll’s death fighting the forces of Iuz, gaining for them their vast tracts of fertile croplands as well as their rich mines of the Cairn Hills and Abbor-Alz. However, this earned them no shortage of enmity from Nyrond and the County of Urnst (now just Urnst) whose support from Greyhawk comes at an ever-increasing price. By the end of the Elemental War, Greyhawk has strengthened its hold on the Wild Coast (though still in constant conflict with the Pomarj) and now fixes its sights firmly on Dyvers so that their control of the entire southern Nyr Dyv will be complete. Dyvers is caught between a rock and a hard place, as Furyondy covets reclaiming the city just as much as their eastern neighbor. Furyondy fears that the Greyhawk Alliance will stage a bloodless coup by fixing the vote in the city’s next meritocratic election and so contemplates intervening militarily to secure the city “for its own good”.
I like the use of Tuerny's Iron Flask to contain Demogorgon's essence, I hadn't thought of that (and may have to borrow it...
). And I noticed you boldly went and made the one change I couldn't bring myself to do - turn the Rhennee into 4e halflings. I considered doing the very same thing many times, but just. couldn't. take. that last step. And regarding Iuz...
I know he's a staple of the setting, but I felt his stock had fallen quite a bit when the war began to turn against him, coming up short against Vecna and then imprisoned and nearly undone by a clone of his mother. He had become a kind of B-list villain despite being the major Big Bad in the Flanaess. Iuz also lacked that impressive appearance that some of the other major villains have in the setting.
So in the end I decided to take him down a peg and give him a bit of a makeover. I thought this would be a great opportunity to push some of Greyhawk's stellar villains who've always been on the perifery of the setting and never really had a place of their own. And because there are more uber-villains running around, I thought folding Iuz into his mother's camp the most logical outcome...
CY:669 – The Return of the Witch-Queen.
For nearly a year, the great city of Mitrik and surrounding territory has been beset by pestilence, increasing rage-driven crimes, ill-fortune and ill-omens. A great number of the city’s priests and paladins are called out to keep the peace and treat the ill in the countryside leaving the city’s watch stretched thin. But it is only when a tiefling child is born to the High Priestess Kiar Oenan that fear began to seep into the city. Soon after, fields and livestock begin to whither and die, stillbirths become increasingly common and whispers of strange creatures stalking the night.
On the holy “Night of Hopeful Judgment”, the High Priestess Kiar delivers a stirring oratory in the Great Temple of Rao to a packed house. The weary citizens find renewed hope in her words and Kiar finishes the evening prayer with a graceful bow, rising again with a wry smile… The screams from the temple resound across the city.
The blood-splattered congregation spill into the street and flee into the night sewing fear into the populace like a contagion. The sky begins to churn overhead, fear multiplying upon fear until Mitrik is suddenly and spectacularly hurled into the Abyss. Under a sickly green and storm-wracked sky, the streets run red as host of demons descend upon the city. The Witch-Queen Iggwilv walks through the city gates with a demonic procession, her daughter Drelnza and her cambion son Iuz, somehow restored to youth, at her side.
Iggwilv’s procession winds its way down the main street to the Temple of Rao, demons herding what citizens it can find behind them. Sacrifices are made before the Witch-Queen at the Temple gates, spilling their gore at her feet. Iggwilv is brought six children of powerful Rao priests whom she “blesses” by turning them into demons at her very touch. Making her way to the temple balcony, in full view of the herded citizens, the High Priestess Kiar, almost unrecognizable in her blood-soaked robes, kneels before Iggwilv with the Crook of Rao cradled in one arm and the Word of Incarnum held in the other.
Wordlessly, Iggwilv gently takes up the Crook in her hands, and with a snarl sunders it before the stunned gathering, its ashes borne away by a fierce wind. With that, Iggwilv and her demonic procession proceed to leave the city, now joined by Kiar, still cradling the Word of Incarnum and her daughter Valiss. As the final demon leaves the city, the dark skies break and Mitrik is once more restored to Veluna.
DM Notes: Iggwilv’s plan went perfectly. Unknown to the citizens of Mitrik, the Witch-Queen needed a “perfect storm” of events to have brought the entire city into the Abyss and even then, only for a brief period of time. Even with the perfect celestial alignment, the Codex of Infinite Planes in her possession and her own divine power (as mentioned before, Iggwilv completed her apotheosis into a goddess after stealing a portion of Demogorgon's power), she needed to weaken their faith – a task masterfully orchestrated by her new high priestess Kiar Duskheart. The sundering of the Crook was a brilliant slight-of-hand illusion on Iggwilv’s part, now no one will know she has it and few will question her power. With a deal she has struck with Vecna, she plans on learning how to destroy it for good in return for his Eye.
Finally, she has accomplished her primary goal – to sew fear into the heart of the greatest bastion of good in the Flanaess. Fear is like a poison and Veluna will spread it across the Flanaess…
Although I am only gonna skip the timeline in my game for about 30 years or so, I am going to make Iggwilv my new big bad. I am not gonna have Iuz as her general, but I am gonna have Tuerny maskerading as Iuz. Iuz is nowhere to be seen and even Igwilv have failed to find his whereabouts.
I will later post my full campaign outline, I plan to run the Age of Worms AP in 4th edition and mix the new Ruins of Greyhawk module ( with some changes). After they are done with AOW they will be in early epic levels ready to tackle the new menace to Greyhawk, Iggwilv.
While I agree with some of your ideas I just have to disgree with most of them. As a huge Greyhawk and avid Living Greyhawk player I think your ideas lead to something that has nothing at all in common with Greyhawk except being on the same planet (or what's left of it)
I am really liking your aproach to new Greyhawk.
Although I am only gonna skip the timeline in my game for about 30 years or so, I am going to make Iggwilv my new big bad. I am not gonna have Iuz as her general, but I am gonna have Tuerny maskerading as Iuz. Iuz is nowhere to be seen and even Igwilv have failed to find his whereabouts.
Interesting twist... is Tuerny posing as Iuz to deceive Iggwilv or to keep up appearances?
And speaking of Tuerny, does anyone remember if he has any prominant allies/servants of his own?
I will later post my full campaign outline, I plan to run the Age of Worms AP in 4th edition and mix the new Ruins of Greyhawk module ( with some changes). After they are done with AOW they will be in early epic levels ready to tackle the new menace to Greyhawk, Iggwilv.
@Akoss
While I agree with some of your ideas I just have to disgree with most of them. As a huge Greyhawk and avid Living Greyhawk player I think your ideas lead to something that has nothing at all in common with Greyhawk except being on the same planet (or what's left of it)
While I think that's a wee bit of an exaggeration ;), I can understand if what I'm doing isn't to everyone's liking. As we were discussing in the other thread, there's really no way anyone can produce a Greyhawk sourcebook that will appeal to everyone.
Cheers!
A few years back there was an interesting BBC miniseries called "Walking with Beasts", which showcased early mammals from in and around the Cenozoic Era. Some places to find inspiration - here, here, here, here and I'm sure you could google plenty of others... I thought that dinosaurs are a bit overused, but early mammals had a lot of interesting species that could make for a nice backdrop in some regions.
And, of course, there's nothing like running into a Therizinosaurus cheloniformis, a 40ft long, 7 ton ostritch with 2 1/2 ft long talons on it's wings or trying not to get crushed under a rampaging herd of 15 ton Indricothere. A lot of the northern Flanaess would make good homes for regions of these beasts as would large forests and unsettled plains areas.
Finally, I have one new critter whom I'm thinking of making a new staple pet in the Flanaess - the Lepic.
A curious animal, most likely displaced to Oerth during the planar chaos of the Shadow Years and migrated south, has been rapidly adopted into the homes of humans, elves, eladrin, even the dour dwarves.
A lepic appears as a cross between a thin-tailed kangaroo and a weasel, standing approximately 2 ½ ft. tall and moves with a graceful hopping-striding gait. With it’s prehensile fore-claws and high intelligence, they were found to be highly affectionate and trainable – capable of performing complex tasks as a small child might. Though absurdly useless as a guard animal (they are cowardly to the last), they have warmed the hearts of many owners by dutifully performing numerous minor menial tasks.
Lepics have been known to have been trained to pour drinks in taverns, comb & braid hair, polish armor, clean floors, pick pockets, fetch food, carry small parcels for their owners… Given time, they will even adopt some of their owner’s mannerisms, “the evil eye” being popular with children. There is one race the lepics steer well clear of though - the dragonborn, who find them rather tasty slow-roasted with a honey glaze... ;)
While I think that's a wee bit of an exaggeration ;),
Elemental war, crashing a cube from Acheron, fantastic locale here, armageddon beast there, ...
What's wrong with the good old down to earth landscape and realms? Why has everything has to be fantastic here and otherworldly there? Why can't a castle just stay a castle and a forest just stay a forest (even if the first one is ruled by an archmage and the latter is the home of a clan of green dragons - that's fantastic enough)?
IMO they should just leave it as it was, continue the last timeline a decade (maybe use the events from Living Greyhawk or make up there own "in the meantime" canon) and leave it at that.
With all these "going to eleven" events proposed in this thread it just creates an entirely new setting which happens to utilize a lot of Greyhawk names but has become so alien that it's not Greyhawk anymore.
Interesting twist... is Tuerny posing as Iuz to deceive Iggwilv or to keep up appearances?
SInce Iuz is nowhere to be seen, Tuerny is there to keep up appereances, but maybe he is working for someone else :P
And speaking of Tuerny, does anyone remember if he has any prominant allies/servants of his own?
Well the Return of the 8 write up puts him as:
Tuerny the Merciless
Nalfeshnee, true demon
17th wizard
Maybe he is working for Graazt to deliver the killing blow to Iggwilv? After all its his flask that Iggwilv is using to hold Juiblexm he should be resentful
Elemental war, crashing a cube from Acheron, fantastic locale here, armageddon beast there, ...
One of the strengths of Greyhawk is that it doesn't have weighty amount of hard "canon" material that say, FR has. The Flanaess is a pretty large playground and I think it has plenty of room to accomodate a few more interesting features. Part of what I'm trying to do is create some new features that draw attention to regions that tend to get neglected.
Of course, the stuff I'm posting about is "highlight reel" material (and keep in mind it's over a ~100 year span)... it's not as though the Flanaess is awash in crystal castles now and elemental powered airships. The core "feel" should still be the same, it's just that you now have more things to see and do outside the central nations. Yes, I used an Elemental War to help bring about certain changes, but I tried to make a plausible extrapolation of their effects on the nations. The war has been over for ~70 years so nations have had time to recover (some obviously better than others).
A lot of it is still very much "old Greyhawk" in feel, I certainly wasn't looking to re-design the entire setting. Furyondy is still Furyondy, though they are in need of a new king (an opportunity there for a paladin PC). The Shield Lands are back, bolstered by the dragonborn forces, Greyhawk is still Greyhawk, though the current rulers have grand ambitions. Nyrond and Geoff were already in trouble before I got to it, I just gave them a little nudge as it were... ;) Ahlissa is still around, though St. Kargoth is making inroads with his whispering dreams of raising a new Aerdy Empire. Keoland is also still around, though they now have an arctic zone in their southern lands to contend with. Celene has had a change in management, and is more pro-active now, but otherwise the same. The Scarlet Brotherhood is having to contend with more internal stryfe - I like the idea that a few good orders of monks have sprung up over the last 100 years and may one day lead an uprising against the current order. It's almost funny that being a monk in Greyhawk meant you were almost always a source of suspicion. :D
The northern region has probably changed the most, and that's because it was the least developed and arguably, the least interesting part of the Flanaess. A vast stretch of blah which I felt could use some spicing up. The other real major change was creating a waterway so that the Barbarian Lands were more accessable to the central Flanaess. Right now they are relagated to the far corner of the continent and I thought they should have the ability to impact the central nations more.
IMO they should just leave it as it was, continue the last timeline a decade (maybe use the events from Living Greyhawk or make up there own "in the meantime" canon) and leave it at that.
That is certainly an option, and one WotC might very well do.
But I think a straight repackaging approach squanders the potential it could have by really leveraging the setting's strengths - it's negeleted villains in particular, make it a little more POL, spice up the areas that are a little dull and give the setting enough time to incorporate the new races across the continent. I'd really like to see the setting advanced far enough so that we can have dragonborn & tiefling cities in the Flanaess and play up their own style of architecture, culture & government.
Well the Return of the 8 write up puts him as:
Tuerny the Merciless
Nalfeshnee, true demon
17th wizard
I almost certain Tuerny also got a 3e writeup in Dungeon or Dragon, anyone know what issue that might be?
Great find with the picture btw, it's been a long time since I've seen it.
Maybe he is working for Graazt to deliver the killing blow to Iggwilv? After all its his flask that Iggwilv is using to hold Juiblexm he should be resentful
Yeah, there could be a beautifully tangled web of shifty loyalties to be explored there. Tuerny also has strong ties with the old Aerdy Empire so in my game there could be some alliance potential there with St. Kargoth...
Another idea I had was to turn the world into an "age of empires" setting, with nations of the Flanaess and elsewhere colonizing remote lands, turning some of the focus on lands previously unexplored. The Scarlet Brotherhood (perhaps "reformed" and allied with the nations of "good," as far as the outside world knows), the Isles of Woe/Greyhawk, Ahlissa, Thalos, Ryuujin, Keoland, and other powers could be competing to bring back exotic goods from distant shores.
Iuz is a problem. He was a really terrifying villain as of Iuz the Evil, but since then, with the Flight of Fiends, Vecna absorbing him and spitting him out, and now his mother's simulacrum capturing him in Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk, it's been one humiliation after another, and I think he just isn't credible as a villain anymore. He's been ruined by one author after another. And what else are they supposed to do? If he's a credible threat, he needs to show progress, but too much progress and the Flanaess is swallowed up by evil and it doesn't look like the World of Greyhawk anymore. It's not so much a problem with Iuz as a problem with metaplots in general. After a century, Iuz should be either be imprisoned, triumphant, or dead. To get his credibility back, Iuz needs to do something big, and really nasty, but every state in the Flanaess that he seizes becomes a less diverse and interesting place to adventure in. Tenh was a pretty cool place before Iuz turned it into a bloodbath, and after that it kind of blended with the other places Iuz pooped on.
The answer is either to get rid of Iuz (it'd be best to let the PCs do it, in an adventure path that allowed him to briefly gain back his hordes of demons, reconquer the North and Furyondy and look ready to pull the whole of the world into the Abyss) or to change his focus, so perhaps he decides to concentrate on conquering the Abyss for a while (overthrowing and exiling his father, to establish his credibility) or ascends to the status of lesser deity (as GV Dammerung suggested). Or perhaps he won. If we're talking a century in the future and moving the focus to the larger world, perhaps Iuz has ruled most of the Flanaess virtually uncontested for decades until very recent events (the rising of the Isles of Woe, the Elemental War, whatever) forced him back, cracking things open wide enough for adventure to seep through again without making him look like a complete loser.
Oh, and anyone who tries to replace the Rhennee with lame boat-halflings will get murdered by the Scarlet Brotherhood, or possibly monk-assassins of Wastri, the Hammer of Dumb Ideas Inflicted on Demihumans Who Could Stand to be More Versatile. Not every world has to have the same ridiculously limited halfling culture. Maybe, just maybe, some of the halflings on some of the worlds may have discovered such a thing as the shore, and they don't need to be mini-Rhennee.
For that matter, not every setting needs tieflings and dragonborn just because they're in the PH. The point of having different settings is to make them different from one another. Leverage Greyhawk's strengths rather than trying to shoehorn generica into a setting not designed for it. Eberron's mix of major PC races is not the same as Spelljammer's is not the same as Dark Sun's is not the same as Planescape's is not the same as Greyhawk's is not the same as 4e core. A world is as much what you leave out as what you cram in. Diversity is a good thing, and anyone who catches themselves thinking "I've got an awesome idea to make dragonborn into a major race in Dark Sun/Birthright/Mystara/Greyhawk" needs to realize that not only are their ideas not awesome, but that they've dramatically missed the point of having more than one setting at all. Well, that and they need to consider that adding any of the 4e design team's cheesy fluff ideas to anything is just going make everything that much cheesier. I mean, really, dragon-furries with mammalian breasts? Show some taste and some basic discrimination, and maybe turn off your MMOs and crack a book open once in a while that isn't an RPG tie-in. Read (or reread) Gygax's inspirations: Lieber, Howard, Vance, Moorcock, Tolkien. Reread OD&D, 1e, 2e, and 3e sourcebooks, and if you don't enjoy them, turn the project over to someone who does, since I'm sick of seeing D&D being redesigned by people who hate D&D. You can look forward, but build on the past, celebrate the past, instead of splicing in random detritus that has nothing to do with the setting. Greyhawk doesn't need a nation of dragonborn, it doesn't need (a substantial number of) tieflings or warforged, and it doesn't need shadar-kai. Core and Forgotten Realms adventures supply plenty of that. One of Greyhawk's strengths is that it's the "old school" setting, as the successful 1998 marketing campaign made clear. So make it old school! Leverage the classic cosmology, the Tolkienesque mix of races, leverage the gnomes, which are so much more bad-ass and significant on Oerth than anywhere else. Greyhawk isn't the default 4e setting, and doesn't need to be a clone or simulacrum of the default 4e setting to be marketable. "Old school" is a valid niche, and Greyhawk's task is to show everyone why old school can be awesome.
One of the ideas I was playing with for "Greyhawk 691 CY" was the risen Isles of Woe, returned from temporal stasis the Ethereal Plane (using the Codex of the Infinite Planes) to the Nyr Dyv, Greyhawk reduced to a semi-dependent satellite, carefully playing their mysterious cloaked colonial rulers against other factions in order to maintain some amount of independence. The Empire of Woe needs Greyhawk, to some degree, as its natives know little of the modern world and need the the merchants and adventurers of the City of Hawks to be their voice and hands in the outside world. Greyhawk would be a frontier town of a sort, but also a wealthy metropolis grown rich with trade between the strange extraplanar people of Woe and the rest of the world, prime to turn the tables on its conquerers.
Another idea I had was to turn the world into an "age of empires" setting, with nations of the Flanaess and elsewhere colonizing remote lands, turning some of the focus on lands previously unexplored. The Scarlet Brotherhood (perhaps "reformed" and allied with the nations of "good," as far as the outside world knows), the Isles of Woe/Greyhawk, Ahlissa, Thalos, Ryuujin, Keoland, and other powers could be competing to bring back exotic goods from distant shores.
Iuz is a problem. He was a really terrifying villain as of Iuz the Evil, but since then, with the Flight of Fiends, Vecna absorbing him and spitting him out, and now his mother's simulacrum capturing him in Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk, it's been one humiliation after another, and I think he just isn't credible as a villain anymore. He's been ruined by one author after another. And what else are they supposed to do? If he's a credible threat, he needs to show progress, but too much progress and the Flanaess is swallowed up by evil and it doesn't look like the World of Greyhawk anymore. It's not so much a problem with Iuz as a problem with metaplots in general. After a century, Iuz should be either be imprisoned, triumphant, or dead. To get his credibility back, Iuz needs to do something big, and really nasty, but every state in the Flanaess that he seizes becomes a less diverse and interesting place to adventure in. Tenh was a pretty cool place before Iuz turned it into a bloodbath, and after that it kind of blended with the other places Iuz pooped on.
The answer is either to get rid of Iuz (it'd be best to let the PCs do it, in an adventure path that allowed him to briefly gain back his hordes of demons, reconquer the North and Furyondy and look ready to pull the whole of the world into the Abyss) or to change his focus, so perhaps he decides to concentrate on conquering the Abyss for a while (overthrowing and exiling his father, to establish his credibility) or ascends to the status of lesser deity (as GV Dammerung suggested). Or perhaps he won. If we're talking a century in the future and moving the focus to the larger world, perhaps Iuz has ruled most of the Flanaess virtually uncontested for decades until very recent events (the rising of the Isles of Woe, the Elemental War, whatever) forced him back, cracking things open wide enough for adventure to seep through again without making him look like a complete loser.
Oh, and anyone who tries to replace the Rhennee with lame boat-halflings will get murdered by the Scarlet Brotherhood, or possibly monk-assassins of Wastri, the Hammer of Dumb Ideas Inflicted on Demihumans Who Could Stand to be More Versatile. Not every world has to have the same ridiculously limited halfling culture. Maybe, just maybe, some of the halflings on some of the worlds may have discovered such a thing as the shore, and they don't need to be mini-Rhennee.
For that matter, not every setting needs tieflings and dragonborn just because they're in the PH. The point of having different settings is to make them different from one another. Leverage Greyhawk's strengths rather than trying to shoehorn generica into a setting not designed for it. Eberron's mix of major PC races is not the same as Spelljammer's is not the same as Dark Sun's is not the same as Planescape's is not the same as Greyhawk's is not the same as 4e core. A world is as much what you leave out as what you cram in. Diversity is a good thing, and anyone who catches themselves thinking "I've got an awesome idea to make dragonborn into a major race in Dark Sun/Birthright/Mystara/Greyhawk" needs to realize that not only are their ideas not awesome, but that they've dramatically missed the point of having more than one setting at all. Well, that and they need to consider that adding any of the 4e design team's cheesy fluff ideas to anything is just going make everything that much cheesier. I mean, really, dragon-furries with mammalian breasts? Show some taste and some basic discrimination, and maybe turn off your MMOs and crack a book open once in a while that isn't an RPG tie-in. Read (or reread) Gygax's inspirations: Lieber, Howard, Vance, Moorcock, Tolkien. Reread OD&D, 1e, 2e, and 3e sourcebooks, and if you don't enjoy them, turn the project over to someone who does, since I'm sick of seeing D&D being redesigned by people who hate D&D. You can look forward, but build on the past, celebrate the past, instead of splicing in random detritus that has nothing to do with the setting. Greyhawk doesn't need a nation of dragonborn, it doesn't need (a substantial number of) tieflings or warforged, and it doesn't need shadar-kai. Core and Forgotten Realms adventures supply plenty of that. One of Greyhawk's strengths is that it's the "old school" setting, as the successful 1998 marketing campaign made clear. So make it old school! Leverage the classic cosmology, the Tolkienesque mix of races, leverage the gnomes, which are so much more bad-ass and significant on Oerth than anywhere else. Greyhawk isn't the default 4e setting, and doesn't need to be a clone or simulacrum of the default 4e setting to be marketable. "Old school" is a valid niche, and Greyhawk's task is to show everyone why old school can be awesome.
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18D
One of the ideas I was playing with for "Greyhawk 691 CY" was the risen Isles of Woe, returned from temporal stasis the Ethereal Plane (using the Codex of the Infinite Planes) to the Nyr Dyv, Greyhawk reduced to a semi-dependent satellite, carefully playing their mysterious cloaked colonial rulers against other factions in order to maintain some amount of independence.
The Isles of Woe... nice.
This is another tidbit I think I'm going to steal but work it in a different way. One direction might be to work it into Iggwilv's plans (who is also the current owner of the Codex). This could be a good impetuous as to why she is working hard on conquering the realms south of her. If she can control the Nyr Dyv she can raise the Isles of Woe. That, or perhaps run an adventure where the PCs have the opportunity steal the Codex in order to raise the Isles themselves in order to find another artifact and/or allies in their fight against her. Yes indeedy, there are plenty of campaign directions it can go from there.
Iuz is a problem. He was a really terrifying villain as of Iuz the Evil, but since then, with the Flight of Fiends, Vecna absorbing him and spitting him out, and now his mother's simulacrum capturing him in Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk, it's been one humiliation after another, and I think he just isn't credible as a villain anymore.
As I touched on before, this is pretty much the reason why I've also felt that he needed to be demoted. His stock has been going down for some time now while his mother's has been going up. And GH has a number of "cooler" villains more deserving some time in the spotlight. But I like to leave Iuz in a position where he has the opportunity to "redeem" himself, or remain a low-epic level threat, or face his final end at the hands of the PCs.
Oh, and anyone who tries to replace the Rhennee with lame boat-halflings will get murdered by the Scarlet Brotherhood, or possibly monk-assassins of Wastri, the Hammer of Dumb Ideas Inflicted on Demihumans Who Could Stand to be More Versatile.
:D
Heh, I came very close to doing this, but in the end I couldn't do it. I won't disparage anyone who wants to go in this direction though to give halflings a little more prominance in the settting. I've played a few Rhennee over the years and I hope they get their own racial entry in the 4e sourcebook.
For that matter, not every setting needs tieflings and dragonborn just because they're in the PH.
I would argue that dragonborn and tieflings, despite the fact it's all but a given they'll be in GH, are infact desirable additions to the setting. With the heavy demonic presence in GH, tieflings seem a very natural fit. A great tiefling built city in the Howling Hills would be very appropo. And with knighthoods having a longstanding prominance in the game, dragonborn knights, paladins, warlords charging into battle in the Shield Lands and Furyondy seems to me like a very cool fit. Dragonborn barbarians & vikings in the northeast and villainous/sorcerous types in the Helfurnaces are also very plausible fits.
Worship of the Shield Maiden has grown considerably over the last hundred years, though perhaps down a little in numbers in the years following the Elemental War and the after the planar chaos finally subsided. Her clergy has gained an increasing foothold in beleaguered Nyrond, helping rebuild fortifications and sheltering the weak. Being a demigod and once a mortal, her clergy often extol her virtues of being a more grounded, relatable goddess.
Mayaheine is very interesting in that she has gained significant prominence in a short amount of time and yet is the youngest and least experienced of the Greyhawk pantheon. And at ~150 years of age, there are mortals older than she. She very much wants to be an active part in the world, but for the most part is content to lead by inspiration rather than direct intervention.
For the most part…
Valiss Duskheart, the tiefling daughter of the high priestess to Iggwilv - Kiar Duskheart (from the Mitrik betrayal), grew up in the Howling Hills with ambitions every bit as great as her mother’s. In time, she became an exceptionally powerful warlock and an increasingly powerful voice in Iggwilv’s court. Her rise to power was not met unchallenged however, though most rivals did not last long against her with her mother’s backing. But even with her powerful mother behind her, she could not uproot her true nemesis – Drelnza.
The daughter of Iggwilv seemed to take great amusement in unraveling her schemes moments from their fruition and belittling her at every turn. The final humiliation coming when Iuz spurned her advances for an illicit tryst with Drelnza. Her opportunity for revenge came when Drelnza returned from a successful raid into Nyrond, capturing Tyrjon Kjellman, the highest ranking priest of Mayaheine in the Flanaess. Parading the priest in chains through the city, it was announced in the square she would sacrifice the priest to her mother in the great temple the following night and would personally assure his welcome would be as warm as possible until then.
Valiss immediately seized upon a scheme to humiliate her rival. While Iuz and Drelnza “entertained” their new guest, Valiss made advances towards Iuz only to have Drelnza lure him away once more to spite her, just as she knew she would. While they retired to an adjoining chamber, Valiss very cleverly had one of her demonic servants impersonate her and keep up appearances while she freed the priest (in a disguise of her own) under the pretense that she was trapped in a life she never asked for and felt if she could do this one good thing... If there was one thing Valiss had a true talent for, it was in lying so convincingly it was said she could convince a demon it was deva.
With her powerful sorcery, they quickly made their escape from the city (leaving an illusion in his place) and through Iggwilv’s lands. Taking him to a cave that they could hide in, she bade him to wait until she could make sure the way ahead was clear. Valiss had arranged so that after an hour had passed another servant would notify Iggwilv of the escape and she in turn would discover Iuz and Drelnza together and the priest gone right under their noses. She would be back by then and in turn re-capture the priest herself. Or so went the theory.
No sooner had Valiss begun to leave the cave that a war party of demons stumbled across the pair. Knowing that her plans would come undone if the priest were captured or killed here, she unleashed her power against the horde in the hopes of destroying them all and salvaging her plans. And though grievously wounded himself, the high priest Tyrjon stood at her side, fighting back-to-back against the horde. Unfortunately, just as victory drew near, a second warparty began cresting the hill and Valiss cursed her luck.
Just as she began forming a plan of escape, the night sky tore open overhead and the goddess Mayaheine soared down from the skies in streams of silver with a flight of angles in her wake. Valiss stood stupefied as the demons began to scatter and flee into the four winds.
As Mayaheine landed gracefully before her, she found her illusionary disguise unravel in her presence… but the goddess only smiled. Bolding announcing before angel and demon alike that there is no evil that cannot be redeemed, she reached down and gently touched the cheek of the dark warlock… A great light enveloped her as her raven hair turned to gleaming silver, her crimson eyes became emerald green, her dusky skin to warm and golden. And in a final explosion of light, great angelic wings burst forth from her back, white a snow.
Valiss’ world came undone.
It has been four years since that night and the events of which still gnaw her to the marrow. Valiss “Blessed of Mayaheine” Duskheart, surrounded by her paladin guard, sermonizing priests and fawning children has never felt so empty or alone… or so afraid. She can only imagine the price Iggwilv put on her head once the news of her “betrayal” reached them. Drelnza has publicly sworn an oath to see her head on pike - personally. No doubt fueled the discovery of her and Iuz’s tryst and the escape under her nose.
Knowing she needed powerful allies to have any hope of survival, she went along with Tyrjon back to Nyrond for a time, but knowing that she would not be safe there, eventually ended up in Greyhawk City (she could not bear to stay in Furyondy or another good-held land) and became an instant celebrity. In time she accepted the invitation by the Lord-Mayor of Greyhawk to become one of the Greyhawk Lords and in turn one of Nyrond’s great hopes to keep the Lords in check. Valiss plays the role convincingly, seeing no way out her predicament.
And somewhere, high in the heavens, Mayaheine looks down with a smile… her plans slowly beginning to bear fruit.
P.S.- The Rhennee must stay.
Don't forget about the Horned Society!
Indeed! A hundred years is plenty of time for a new group of Heirarchs to re-establish themselves.
I'd like to see them come back in a big way- but subtle, unlike the demonic inspired hordes everywhere, the Horned Society- now directly controlled by worshippers of Asmodeus- is everywhere, but they're cultured, suave, manipulators. They're every willing to offer aid to do-gooders confronting the forces of St. Kargoth, and Iggwilv- but always at a hidden price- a favor to be done later, slowly corrupting the foolish and turing the tide back in favor of the devils...
Nice.
Initially I was going to keep them strongly associated with Nerull, but you make a good point and Asmodeus might even be a better choice. I can see the shift from Nerull to Asmodeus happening in the wake of Nerull's "failure" to shield the original Heriarchs from Iuz in the Greyhawk Wars. And with Hell's invasion of the Abyss, it makes even more sense to have Asmodeus and co. taking as active a roll as possible in thwarting the Iggwilv and Kargoth.To start off, my first thought was that there were some obvious choices, such as…
Paragon Paths
Knight of the Hart
Knight of the Holy Shielding
Knight of Luna
Knight of the Watch
Hierarch of the Horned Society
Mouqollad Blade
Disciple of the Old Faith
Magi of the Silent Ones
etc…
Then I began thinking about Paragon Paths for champions of specific gods but then began to wonder if a flood of deific paths was such a good idea (I believe 4e has a number of deity-specific powers tied to the cleric already). I think a few broader “divine agent” paths might be a better bet.
However, on further thinking, the core 4e paths seem to all be very general in nature and I half wonder if specific organizations as Paragon Paths aren’t really in keeping with the spirit of the idea. Not to mention you could make a strong argument that you don’t really need to be that high a level to be a part of many of those organizations. At the very least it’d probably be a good idea to clarify the role better to convey a more prominent rank in the organization: Knight-Commander of the Holy Shielding for example.
So now I’m faced with a couple of choices – do you use specific organizations as a way into a paragon path or do you try and create something more general-yet-Greyhawk-flavored?
Then there are Greyhawk specific Epic Destinies. It sounds like the core Destinies should all be fine choices, but off the top of my head I can think of a few more that might be worth exploring. Keep in mind this is just throwing ideas at a wall here:
Greylord – An epic destiny that culminates in becoming one of the Lords of the Balance.
Abyssal Lord - An epic destiny that culminates in becoming a minor demon lord, possibly in the service of a more powerful Demon Prince/God (like Iggwilv, Orcus, etc.)
Duke of Hell - An epic destiny that culminates in becoming a Duke of Hell, but very likely to be in the service of a more powerful Hell Lord/God like Asmodeus, Dispater, etc.
Elemental Lord - An epic destiny that culminates in becoming a unique elemental being and domain in the Elemental Chaos (possibly in the service of one of the Elemental Princes or Primordial).
Disciple of Oblivion – Tharizdun-based epic destiny.
I have some other ideas kicking around, but not surprisingly it’s a whole lot easier coming up with neutral/evil-based destinies in Greyhawk unless you’re willing to go the god-specific route (which again, I’m not sure is a good idea). It may not be possible to really talk intelligently about this until the core books are out but I wanted to get some of the board’s thoughts on what direction it should go…
There is so much to do with Oerth, and I'd love to see some detail of the other continents as well. I think there should be a larger Touv and Olman presence on the continent at least in pockets. The Cat Lord definitely needs to be a bigger player- he was always fantastic in the Gord the Rogue novels- Tenser's nascent organization- the Good version of the circle of eight should be mature at this point (maybe call it the "Cerrulean Circle").
Selene has become so isolationistic that perhaps that could be the natural dividing line for the Eladrin/Elf split. The Selene elves and the Lendore Island elves, for the most part forsake Oerth altogther for the Feywild, and become "Eladrin". The elves left- the Highfolk elves, and others, remain "elves", dedicated to defending the woodlands of Oerth and thus developing an even closer bond with Ehlonna.
Just my 2 cents.
After the assasination of King Hazendel of Sunndi, and the death of Melf Brightflame, Queen Yolande of Celene weeps tears of great pain and grief, and desired to leave this plane to protect what is left of her kin- seeing the evil that man has allowed to inflict the Flanaess. She contacts the similarly isolationistic High Priests of Sehanine of the Lendore Isles and, with the People of the Testing, they craft a gate into the Feywild, and close it behind them abandoning Oerth for 100 years. There, they are infused with the magic of the Feywild and are transformed into Eladrin.
Many elves refuse Yolande's plan, and stay behind. They lose some of their timelessness- becoming more separate from the magic of the Feywild, but in exchange become even more bonded with Ehlonna the spirit of Oerth's woodlands. They are the elves who fight the evil and protect the woods.
Among the Eladrin, especially the youths, there is a growing faction becoming curious about the world they left behind. Further, some remember Prince Melf Brightflame's call to arms, and seek to return to aide their kin. These rebels go against Yolande's wishes, but ultimately she realized that to keep her rebellious kin in the Feywild she might have to use violence- which she absolutely would not do to her own people. Some Eladrin return, and they fight against the evils with their kin- who look upon them with mixed feelings. After all, they left, and the evil of Oerth has done nothing but grow within the past century. (This can be the inspiration a Knight of Luna paragon tier for Eladrin)
The recent arrival of the Eladrin could be a big part of the 4e campaign! And looked upon with much controversy- especially by the people of Sunndi- whose elven leadership left them after the assassination of their king, and by the lands bordering Selene.
The Eladrin are not as connected to the woodlands as the "elves"- most Eladrin were once Grey Elves, and as such, lacked the easy bond with the woodlands and were more in tune with the arcane. Most "Elves" were once wood elves, and joined with Ehlonna- the living spirit of Oerth's woodlands. High elves were divided as a race- some left for the feywild, other stayed behind. As such this racial distinction is no longer important- they are now either Elves or Eladrin. The elves of the feywild became Eladrin, and the others are Elves. The wild elves have become embraced by their Oerthbound kin, as all were needed against the fight against the evils of Iggwilv and St. Kargoth so this racial distinction is also unnecessary. Some bands of elves are wilder and more xenophobic than others- a minor distinction at best.
Valley elves... hmm, apparently the Shadar-Kai are going to be important adversaries in 4e. And the Mage of the Valley will have become a Shade at this point, deeply connected to the plain of shadow. I think he will have infused his people with Shadow stuff to empower them against the foes arrayed around them and also enhance his dominion over them, creating the Shadar-kai on Oerth. 4e will bring the biggest split in the elven race since the elf/drow divide. Pretty epic stuff.
Also, I'd like to see Rel Astra and that town's undead leader (Drax? Have to look it up) become a major player. That was always a cool town.
Those old DMG descriptions really made the items feel mysterious and enticing. I can't say that I had the same feel for any other setting.
To this day I'm still very impressed by the creativity and sheer variety of the original artifacts. From those you would expect to see like Orbs of Dragonkind, Axe of the Dwarvish Lords, Codex of the Infinite Planes... to those which are downright bizzare - Hand of Vecna, Mighty Servant of Leuk-O, Queen Ehlissa's Marvelous Nightingale, Heward's Mystic Organ, Machine of Lum the Mad...
The Cat Lord definitely needs to be a bigger player- he was always fantastic in the Gord the Rogue novels
Definitely, the Cat Lord is far too awesome to sit on the sidelines.
He was my #1 pick behind Mordy for the new "Lords of the Balance".Tenser's nascent organization- the Good version of the circle of eight should be mature at this point (maybe call it the "Cerrulean Circle").
Maybe, but I would be leary about making a powerful "good" organization in the vein of the Circle in Greyhawk. I think one of the setting's strengths is that the PCs are that good organization. It could invite some unfavorable comparisons to the scene-stealing Chosen, Seven Sisters, etc...
Celene has become so isolationistic that perhaps that could be the natural dividing line for the Eladrin/Elf split.
Yeah, that's certainly a plausible direction to go in...
Oh, and scratch that idea about the Valley Elves becoming Shadar-Kai. Too many elf transformations. Grey Elves into Eladrin is plenty. Valley Elves, Wild Elves, Snow Elves and Wood Elves would simply become cultural differences among elves rather than have any statistical meaning. Just like Oeridian and Suel are both humans but there are no meaningful statistical differences.
However, the Mage of the Valley could become another player in the conflicts. He was always paranoid that the Overking was out to get him, with the overking dead in the Greyhawk wars, he could be brewing something big.
Btw, Akoss, I really like the idea of Kas' return. He's a vampire, IIRC. I think he perhaps has a legion of vampires serving under him and may have conquered some land creating a necropolis- not a unique idea, but still.
Yeah, Kas is a vampire lord now but with the Citadel Cavitus he has a city-sized, highly mobile floating necropolis already full of both the living and the undead that were once prisoners of Vecna.
I kinda like the idea of Kas being a threat to any place in the Flanaess and while a giant floating skull-city is a bit ostentatious... what the hell. :D Largely living human population, but many ASPIRE to become vampires- to be chosen to become the elite servants of Kas. Plus, let's not forget the immortality.
True. There are already advantages to becoming undead in the Citadel (you don't need to return to a coffin, the energy of the city feeds you so that you don't need to feed on the living, shadowy light) that could be expounded upon, drawing in those desperate for immortality to fill their ranks...
Also, I'd like to see Rel Astra and that town's undead leader (Drax? Have to look it up) become a major player. That was always a cool town.
Drax the Invulnerable (now an animus) and the Fiend-Sage of Rel Astra are just another pair of the Greyhawk greats that have been sitting on the sidelines. Because they are immortal though, there's no reason why they still can't be around...
I’ve been toying with the idea that the Pale saw the rise of a new charismatic prophet of Pholtus who was replaced in recent years by one of the Hierarchs (perhaps even a powerful devil). Drawing more and more followers to him (through various “prophesies” coming true), he gains an ever-increasing amount of political power.
More importantly, he has decided to take his show on the road, with thousands of followers and no small amount of soldiers in tow. I mean, what good is zealotry if you can’t go out and impose it upon others?
It’s played up as a giant pilgrimage across many nations, various “miracles” occurring along the way and slowly bending their intolerance towards true evil. In a few years he hopes to return to the Pale at the head of a significant army and convince the ruling class the he would make a fine candidate for the Pale’s new Supreme Prelate. If all goes well, in less than a decades time the Hierarchs will have a new nation to call their own and a powerful base from which to carry out Asmodeus’ will...
IOh, and scratch that idea about the Valley Elves becoming Shadar-Kai. Too many elf transformations. Grey Elves into Eladrin is plenty. Valley Elves, Wild Elves, Snow Elves and Wood Elves would simply become cultural differences among elves rather than have any statistical meaning. Just like Oeridian and Suel are both humans but there are no meaningful statistical differences.
Agreed. But I think that using Jaran Krimeeah the Shade as a way to introduce the Shadar-Kai to the Flanaess is well worth exploring...
Really, the Eladrin and Elves are just mechanical descriptions for most any elf that D&D has ever kicked out, with Drow being the major exceptions. The previous Elf stats in 3rd edition at least attempted to fit both major archtypes into the same statblock and it never really worked.
You don't even have to call the Grey Elves eladrin. Just keep on calling them Grey Elves and use the new Eladrin racial statistics.
On the other hand, if someone finds the transformation story to be appealing enough to pull it off anyway, that's just great. I just don't think that any explanation for the Eladrin/Elf split is required.
I’ve been tinkering on and off about how might the city look in a hundred years, especially if guided by someone who had a vision for the city. Not necessarily an entirely sane vision, but it’s Greyhawk after all and it has a solid reputation of attracting those who aren’t altogether 'there'… There’s quite a bit to cover so I’ll break this down into a few different posts.
Part I:
Rholn A’Talin is the current Lord Mayor and has been now going on near 20 years. A renowned adventurer and a highly charismatic rogue in the truest sense, Rholn used his celebrity status in the city to get himself elected to the Oligarchy and strong-armed his way to Lord-Mayor a few years later.
Originally from Ket, little is known of his childhood – even his 6 volume autobiography (available at all fine bookstores) is rather light on the topic. He’s been a member of no fewer than 11 adventuring parties (most of whom have met with rather impresive demises) and seems to have an almost supernatural knack for talking (though some have been a little less flattering) his way out of trouble. It’s clear though that after his last real adventure, which took him to underworld city of Erelhei Cinlu – one of the few surface-worlders to see the burgeoning metropolis in modern times, that his ambition and vision for the city has grown tremendously.
When he became Lord-Mayor, some part of the city has been under construction ever since. The Elemental War was hard on the city and even in the years immediately following its end, repairs were patchwork at best. When Rholn took over he poured a great deal of his own wealth into the city as well as inviting wealthy adventurers and merchants to do likewise in return for titles and favorable contracts (offending no small number of existing merchants). With the promise of low taxes, a strong local army and lands that were ruined in the Elemental War up for grabs, several prominent adventurers settled in the domain adding to the region’s stability.
To support the growing population, mostly for the well-to-do, the eastern wall from the Grand Citadel to Lord Wainwright’s Manor has been extended out nearly 800 ft. This extension allowed for the expansion of the High Quarter and the Garden Quarter, as well as Clerkberg and the Artisan’s Quarter. The Grey College Observatory was naturally furious over the fact that the city walls were now a hundred feet from their doorstep and the light thrown up by the city interfered with their work.
Further, the western wall from the Cargo Gate to the Marsh Gate has expanded outward to form a nice, smooth curve expanding the notorious River Quarter (knowing that this is a popular haven for adventurers). It also meant that the infamous cemetery is now within the city walls...
Perhaps Rholn’s most lucrative coup was in the purchase, restoration and expansion of the Free City Arena and holding his ‘Champion’s Games’ there. The idea is that the games represent and often re-create deadly dungeons and feats of daring that the common would never otherwise see or experience. Over the years it has become one of the signature draws to the city, games being held every fortnight now and more elaborate every year. Adventurers of all levels can sign up for any of the champion’s games and are paid according to their level of skill and fame in the arena (and sign the waver). “Win” the game and there is additional prize money and so on.
Participation in the arena has become popular with unemployed adventuring types and has proven to be a good alternative for many from to turning to larceny. Legalized gambling and the expanded seating help fill the Oligarchy’s coffers. Here are some of the games, with new ones being added in and less popular ones phased out over time…
Wizard’s Challenge: Four wizards and/or warlocks compete in a series of challenges to test their skill and flair with magic. For some types of competition the spellcasters are told in advance what the challenges are and so can prepare for them adequately, but not for others. Sometimes it can be as simple as an illusion competition, with the cheering crowd deciding who wins. Other challenges have included magically navigating through a series of diverse hazards, negating a particular obstacle magically earns you points. In the end the points are tallied together the most at the end wins. The University of Magical Arts has come down in solid opposition to the use of magic for public entertainment, regrettably to the deaf ears and well-lined pockets of the Oligarchy.
The Gauntlet: Essentially a hazardous obstacle course. Wall partitions rise up from the arena floor to form an oval “dungeon” maze with 4 entrances equally spaced around it. 4 fleet-of-foot competitors have to navigate their way through a number of classic dungeon hazards to reach the centre of the maze and be the first to seize some small golden trinket trophy in a pyrotechnic finale. The hazards are quite real though (but most are there to hinder, trap or lightly wound, than deadly lethal) but those that are clearly wounded, trapped or wish to withdraw are taken through a trap door in arena floor. The maze is ever-changing and new traps are introduced all the time keeping the games fresh.
The Tomb of Horrors: The most popular of the games, it is similar to the Gauntlet in that an ever-shifting “dungeon” is created on the arena floor, but this one is designed for a full adventuring party. The maze is complete with rooms, traps, illusions… and monsters. The idea again is to navigate to the end of the tomb, defeat the tomb guardian and win the prize to the cheer of over 30,000 spectators in overhanging stands.
The arena employs a number of adventurers to “acquire” its gladiatorial monsters and will happily pay anyone else who will bring them beasts for the dungeon. Naturally, the monsters have to meet certain criteria so they’re not potentially a hazard to the audience and possibly the city beyond. One of the big draws is the monstrous ‘zoo’ in the grand entrance to the arena which has attracted visitors from the length and breadth of the Flanaess. While the games themselves are more expensive to watch, the zoo is open for a much smaller fee.
Of course these “blood games” have drawn no shortage of outrage from certain segments of the city and earned Rholn no shortage of enemies, particularly from a number of good-aligned churches and the Grey College.
You don't even have to call the Grey Elves eladrin. Just keep on calling them Grey Elves and use the new Eladrin racial statistics.
I seem to recall WotC mentioning that Grey/Gold Elves will simply become Eladrin in 4e. It is a completely different race now however with a different feel, I don't think I can call them elves anymore. I can only imagine what a city of the Eladrin would be like with the entire species teleporting around every few minutes.
I seem to recall WotC mentioning that Grey/Gold Elves will simply become Eladrin in 4e. It is a completely different race now however with a different feel, I don't think I can call them elves anymore. I can only imagine what a city of the Eladrin would be like with the entire species teleporting around every few minutes.
The Grey Elf societies were packed full of wizardly types before though...how different is it to have them teleporting around? (This assumes that non-PC and non-main-character Eladrin even can teleport...)
The Horned Society, IMO, needs to stay secret. Shadowy manipulators. I love the idea of adventurers given their contact- the kindly wizard looking to hire adventurers in a bar, being secretly a devil worshipper. The wizard (or whomever) would send them first to destroy a demon inspired adversary (of which there are many- Kargoth and Iggwilv's forces in your treatment) and then later give the players- after earning their trust- a far more ambiguous assignment. I think I just gave myself a campaign idea!
The Asmodeus angle for me came when WotC announced that he would be given full deity status in 4e- and I figured this was the best way to integrate him fully. The Horned ones always honored devils and Nerull, and like you pointed out, it would make sense for Asmodeus to come to the fore after Nerull failed them. Asmodeus devotees would be far slicker adversaries, and far more suited to manipulation, than Nerull worshipers, I think. Besides, Asmodeus is just plain cool and he deserves more of the spotlight- especially in light of all the demonic havoc going on in the Flanaess.
Any ideas for the Scarlet Brotherhood? You may have mentioned it above already- I'll double check.
Akoss- re: Theocracy of the Pale- I like them the way they are, actually. Maybe more urgent, and more powerseeking- 100 years hence using the chaos of the Flanaess to recruit the desperate looking for a rigid belief system to cling to, and aquiring more territory. I like that they can be foes, who aren't entirely evil- giving Greyhawk more needed shades of grey! After all, many of the foes are out and out evil, the Pale was always this irksome foe- but not entirely bad, just misguided. Hey- this is your project, different strokes!
Indeed.
Just to be clear though, the Pale isn't likely to actually become the new Horned Society - it's just another problem on the PC's plate. ;) I mostly liked the idea of a segment of the radical Pale "on the move", creating all kinds of turmoil in the central Flanaess during this pilgrimage.
The Horned Society, IMO, needs to stay secret. Shadowy manipulators. I love the idea of adventurers given their contact- the kindly wizard looking to hire adventurers in a bar, being secretly a devil worshipper. The wizard (or whomever) would send them first to destroy a demon inspired adversary (of which there are many- Kargoth and Iggwilv's forces in your treatment) and then later give the players- after earning their trust- a far more ambiguous assignment. I think I just gave myself a campaign idea!
Sounds like a plan.
I personally love moral ambiguity in my games and thought I'd share a potential NPC idea... In my last PbP game I had a 'sorceress' who revealed herself to the PCs as a member of an organization known to be "evil" but one whose ultimate goal was to safeguard the world against an even greater evil. Basically it was once a more laudible organization who continued to justify any means towards achieving their ends. At the time this organization was in the midst of putting members into key political positions (whatever it took) and after rescuing the PCs, convinced them to help her maintain her cover in a strategically important city in my game.
The current ruler, though good, wasn't up to the task of dealing with problems on the scale that they were facing and was prone to making poor decisions under pressure and reacting rashly when a cool head was required.
The sorceress however was very capable in her advisory position and was honest, knowledgeable and helpful with the PCs. Though never fully trusted by all, she managed to gain the trust of enough of them to secure her position. She herself was under a rather unpleasant and undying curse which managed to garner some sympathy from the gang (if you can get the PCs to both pity and admire an NPC - that pesky evil alignment becomes much more easy to turn a blind eye to :D ). However, she was not infallible (and that's very important in an NPC) and occassionally made mistakes or found old wrongs catching up with her and the PCs would be forced to intervene (often very delicately) to handle the situation. She was in turn indebted to the PCs and that further engenders trust...
Anyway, when I think of how to use the Horned Society, I think of casting someone like her. The trick is not to use a cleric or some other class that obviously derives it's power from Fiend worship so that it becomes easier to play the grey...
The Asmodeus angle for me came when WotC announced that he would be given full deity status in 4e- and I figured this was the best way to integrate him fully. The Horned ones always honored devils and Nerull, and like you pointed out, it would make sense for Asmodeus to come to the fore after Nerull failed them. Asmodeus devotees would be far slicker adversaries, and far more suited to manipulation, than Nerull worshipers, I think. Besides, Asmodeus is just plain cool and he deserves more of the spotlight- especially in light of all the demonic havoc going on in the Flanaess.
Very true... there's certainly room for more flavors of evil in the world. But I think at the end of the day GH will always be seen as the demon's playground. :D
Any ideas for the Scarlet Brotherhood? You may have mentioned it above already- I'll double check.
I haven't really gotten to the Brotherhood yet other than having some thoughts of some increasing civil stryfe and more opportunities for the PCs to step in and help the oppressed. I thought about fracturing the Brotherhood with one province rising up and declaring it's independence. This province would be actively trying to gain support from the central nations while dealing with border skirmishes and assassination attempts which will inevitably lead up to a full civil war.