Quasquenton (forgive my spelling) the old home of Zelligar and Rohann was my first D&D adventure and got me hooked back in the 70's. Greyhawk was our first D&D world, circle of eight, etc. Love it all. Keep up the good work.
Want to say that I absolutely love your channel. Your videos have single-handedly convinced me to run a new Greyhawk campaign using the new DnD 2024 rules. Going to start with Temple of Elemental Evil.
I agree the Temple of Elemental Evil is definitely the best starting point in greyhawk. I started at least two or three campaigns there myself. The village of Hamlet is a great and easily fleshed out place for adventures to cut their bones.
The first POD I bought was.... Temple of Elemental Evil, I must have put put 5 or 6 parties through this. Even the PC game of it was not too bad, but made hard by 3.5 rules.
I appreciate your focus on story and setting, it's the heart and soul of the hobby. I've noticed that gamers who are interested in Greyhawk tend to focus on the setting itself in the same manner that Tolkien fans give respect to the Middle Earth setting; it's definitely the star of the show.
Thanks for the video. Have to get The Adventure Begins. I started DMing with Ghosts of Saltmarsh again after not playing for a decade. It was the start of a long campaign in the Vicecounty of Salinmoore and the northern Hold of the Seaprinces. We are playing for 3 years now and hopefully for many more years. I played many Greyhawk modules and campaigns, but the Saltmarsh trilogy has a special flair.
I've used Hommlet as a starting location... well... a lot. Almost embarrassingly I've never actually run the Temple proper - I've substituted other locations, most notably Tegel Manor, which I play off as a madman's playground, someone who may have discovered the same Elder Ick as what the original covered. I tend to play towards the Lovecraftian end, which Greyhawk does wonderfully. As it is the 50th anniversary this year, and (as I've mentioned elsewhere in blog and video posts) I almost treat Greyhawk as a sacred text that I study but never seem to get the testicular fortitude to run as 'proper'. Once I read the Gord series, I almost became scared of the level of depth that we never saw in AD&D material from Gygax - and I knew that some of that came from a dark point in his writing, having endured some - shall we say - fuckery. I can't help but think I need to start something in Greyhawk - and I know I've wondered how in the hell you organize Greyhawk/Oerth when you start to know 'too much'. Even just sticking with Gary's stuff, including Dragon and other written sources, I get caught up on how to communicate/organize/grow within this. Kalamar is a setting that I've dabbled in data correlation in, and eventually limited it down (which is much what you are doing here). But, I never found Dave Kenzer as being someone who published his 'home game notes' - only, after years of it, hearing that the team wants to strip it down - because they didn't pay enough attention to the world's growth outside a very long running Hackmaster campaign (born in 2e). I have a great deal of respect for the Forgotten Realms, with it's "everything is canon" attitude - how Ed keeps up with that, I'll never know. But, hell, no one is writing material for my homebrew nonsense, so that - in and of itself - must be a compulsion to follow it... Anyways, this is great, man - I feel like those of us who remember the Gold Box on shelves, and the maps... which were unlike anything before... It was something very special, which was followed rather closely by the Forgotten Realms - which, BTW, I actually wouldn't touch when I was a kid... As a kid, I really didn't get his Ecology articles in Dragon, I thought they were way too long winded for play value... and I grew up on Howard and Lovecraft and Moorcock as a wee tween. I hate my reverence that leads to never running games within the Greyhawk milieu. Is this the year I finally do it?
I think another fun way to start in Greyhawk is with the City of Greyhawk boxed set. There are lots of very short adventures geared to different levels. Although with this set, I suspect, there will need to be some adventure design. Cities can also be tough to run. But, they could work well for some DM's and players.
Hello Joe! My #1 favorite "introduction to the World of Greyhawk module" is Against The Cult of the Reptile God, and possibly also Tomb of the Lizard King. Fond memories of those. I think my all time favorite one overall is The Isle of Dread, even though it's only tangentially Greyhawk if you go by the Savage Tide article(s) in Dragon Magazine.
Exciting news - the DM of our Planescape campaign just announced that our next mission will be in Greyhawk! Something about a technological device terrorizing a village or some such. So excited!
I seem to have missed the Adventure Begins, it's currently in my DTRPG cart for when my payday hits. I seem to recall you not liking Living Greyhawk, but what do you make of the "Dungeons and Dragons Gazetteer"?
Hey, there... 40+ year DM... I started, like most Grognards, in Greyhawk. Recently, I have asked my son (whom I have introduced to Forgotten Realms, and the enormous world I've been building...) if he'd be interested in playing a campaign in the world where I started. I have Ghosts of Saltmarsh and decided to check out this video from you to see what you recommended. I still have some of my really old material - but, even though I did modules as a kid, I haven't touched a module in decades - and have no intention of doing so, again... so, I'm currently in prep for where to start them. I know the City of Greyhawk seems 'obvious' - but, I think I wanna keep that for the party to reach, not start at... I'll check out those Drive Thru RPG items - thanks and keep promoting Greyhawk. I'll be starting a channel, very soon, and I, too, will be promoting it. I'll send people your way to get more info :)
Great video, even if I disagree with you a bit. 🙂 I found much of the Temple to be fairly awful, a claptrap mess that felt halfway done. But the reason for that was because it was Frank Mentzer, a legend in his own right, working off the piecemeal notes of Gary's after Gary had been banished to Cali and, apparently, under orders to not communicate with Gary at all for any clarification or explanation. The module is mostly usable fresh off of the shelf for the first three to five character levels (the moathouse and then the upper works of the temple), but the deeper one delves the more and more work it required to make it passable (a foreshadowing to the many [not all] poorly done books in the 5e catalog? Perhaps.). That's no one's fault except the decision maker(s) who said "Here's some of the notes for one of Gary's pet projects. Get it print ready in three months using only what we've given you." Even a legend can only do so much. But I will say that for all its flaws and confusion it holds great potential for the creative DM who, like me, decided it wasn't much good as it was but that it held a lot of great ideas to adapt into vaguely related homebrew adventures. Unlike WG7, which just felt like an insult to Gary (by then banished completely from the company he helped found) and the older fans. One last eff you from Williams and her cronies who began trying to run the company into the ground, since she of her own admission knew nothing about the game, refused to learn, and basically said "Just make anything and slap the logo on it. The idiots will buy it up no matter what." A business plan seemingly in use by Hasbro/WotC for several of their product lines. Hm.
If one was going to run a 2nd edition Greyhawk campaign then the FROM THE ASHES box set is essential as it's the only resource that details the pantheon's specialty priests (along with The Scarlet Brotherhood book for more details on the Suloise pantheon).
I only play 1st and second edition. But that "Ghosts of Saltmash" looks like it might have good food for thought even to someone like me that doesn't play 5th edition? Since I have the old 1980s versions.
Great video. You should do a video on the WORST Greyhawk books (i.e. the joke Castle Greyhawk module; that is one I regret purchasing and was kind of pissed off once I realized what it was).
This was very helpful. Thanks a lot! I am preparing a 5e Greyhawk campaign but I decided to start with Keep on the Borderlands instead, as a “hub” module to which I’ll attach other adventures. I am placing the keep on the border between the Principality of Ulek and the Pomarj
Excellent location for the Keep - I remember Gary Gygax back in the day saying online that is where he would locate it if it was set in Greyhawk. Sets up nicely for a campaign against the Slavelords and/or the Orcish Empire later.
Ghosts of Saltmarsh is a GREAT resource for starting in the Sheldomar. In my last campaign I started with the Sinister Secrets of Saltmarsh and wend from there. While we play 2e, the detail of the village, its residents and the surrounding lands is very good.
Good to know... I've never actually played Saltmarsh, and I'm leery of buying the WotC version of it. Unless Goodman Games could resurrect the original version instead, I'd probably stick with the original 1e module if I ever tried to run it. I love running games in Sheldomar Valley.
In earlier videos you spoke more about Gygax's vision of Greyhawk vs. other versions -- as someone really mostly interested in Gygax's Greyhawk (both the OG one and the latter-day Zagyg stuff), I hope you bring back the dual focus on Gary and his stuff
I know you've said you are not a fan of Living Greyhawk, but why go gold box + 2e update to get new players to 591 vs. just using suggesting the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer? It has everything updated for 591 and the Living system stuff is a two page appendix at the back. It's a single source.
@@GreyhawkGrognard I've got both in front of me and it isn't that much more information. More over, even the Gold Box is probably too much for any absolute beginner as 90% of either doesn't need to be read, remembered, or known. For my GH-based games... 1. I pick a starting location. 2. I make a document with house rules, campaign expectations, and the starting location. 3. I cut and paste the LGHG info for that one country -- and possibly neighboring ones, plus mountains, hills, forests, bodies of water, etc. You end up with maybe five or six pages for new players to read. 4. I refer them to web sites with lists of gods, Wikis, or the LGHG if they really want to read it all. This way they are focused on what they need to look at. Whether you use the Gold Box or LGHG, it's still too much info as most doesn't apply. Once you limit it to the starting region, whether its three pages from the gold box or five from the LGHG, both instantly become manageable. If you don't limit it... both are equally unmanageable and frustrating as most won't apply. Also, if you are really worried about absolute new beginners and want to use the Gold Box... IMO, just set it in the Gold Box era. It probably doesn't matter who the ruler is or what Iuz is doing.
@@GreyhawkGrognardand it can be challenging to find out detailed information about events across LG - a lot of materials to expand on events are pretty much inaccessible...
N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God is another great module to start playing in Greyhawk. It's a bit more on rails than T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil and not quite as connected to Greyhawk lore, but it's also a great module for a fledgling DM and a good starting point for a campaign set in the Sheldomar valley.
Over the years I've purchased everything I've come across, but I know I have holes in my collection. I'll always looking for the best that I missed. I have Ghosts of Saltmarsh but have not given it much time.
The Temple of Elemental Evil is a great place to start a campaign. I like Saltmarsh as well. I have never played the original adventure or the 5e one, but I did use the write up of Saltmarsh in 3.5 DMGII to run a few adventures from.
i Love all Greyhawk Grognard videos, T1 village of Homlet, U1 sinister secret of Saltmarsh and L1 Secret of Bonehill are my go to starting adventures especially with new players. On a side note I am looking for a Image of Krovis the sleeping Hero and thought you might know of one? I saw you were on the Bibliography. Thank You!
I like that the older stuff "didn't flood you with information" as it allowed you to make it your own for your table if you wanted. But I also see that same comment about the 5E releases, and people would complain that it didn't have xyz included.
Another excellent video! Thanks for sharing! I think that Quasqueton is a good starting place. Also, Keep on the Borderlands can be an amazing adventure for new players, if the DM fleshes it out and uses some creativity for why the humanoids are all in the same area. Neither of these may have started as "official" Greyhawk adventures, but they work well, and there are many areas they can be placed in. Of course, Hommlet is pretty good as well. 🙂
It's funny you should say neither of those were officially in Greyhawk. In Search of the Unknown was originally in Greyhawk. I don't know why, but the paragraph with suggested locations in Greyhawk was removed in later printings. And, of course, Keep on the Borderlands was retconned into Greyhawk in "Return to the Keep on the Borderlands".
@@GreyhawkGrognard Yeah, I guess I was remembering the time when In Search of the Unknown was removed. I've never played Return to the Keep on the Borderlands, so I never realized that Keep had been retconned. But, no worries. And we always played whichever module in whatever universe we wanted, whether Greyhawk, or our homebrew. They can fit into pretty much any world, although I guess Dragonlance would be difficult to do. (But, we never really got into DL, so there. 🙂).
Really digging this series and this was another fine entry into it. I had mentioned before I wasn't as familiar with Greyhawk. But I was looking at books on Amazon and I ran across The Demon's Hand. I had totally forgotten that was Greyhawk. I remember seeing that Clyde Caldwell illustration as a kid and thinking it was the coolest thing.
I just ordered S1-4 Dungeons of Dread from drivethrurpg which collects those 4 modules, hoping it is a good pickup as well! I launched our current campaign in Keoland with U1 Saltmarsh and should they head out exploring with the pirate ship, am ready to follow it up with Isle of Dread, which may pop up in the Azure Sea! Unfortunately U2-3 appear flawed for character motivation (are they really going to slaughter a lizard man village?)
Be warned that some parts of the modules in the S1-4 collection are edited down - e.g. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks omits the 'tween decks' levels (at least it does in the print version). Those are fluff levels and not necessary to the module, but TSR, in its wisdom, decided to omit them. On Saltmarsh, the moral dilemma viz the Lizard Men is intentionally the point of those modules - it was an early poke at the murder hobo power gamers that used be very common in AD&D games.
@@elliotvernon7971 That’s too bad about barrier peaks, was hoping to fill some holes in my collection by getting S1-4. That makes sense for U2, glad the intention is for the party to realize the lizard men have been set up.
The Goodman version has some additional material (in the wilderness around Hommlet), but it's out of print and commands steep prices in the after-market.
Presenting the players with lots of opportunities for their characters to die - what more could be asked of a referee? Seriously, either this statement makes sense to you or it doesn't and that's where I start players off with Greyhawk. Cheers!
Ghosts of Saltmarsh is what got me interested in Greyhawk. And it wasn't even the adventures, but the chapter on the town, which got me hungry to learn more about Keoland and then the larger Greyhawk.
Nice picks. Not that anyone asked but as a longtime DM of Greyhawk, I feel I have to mention one of my used sourcebooks, 'Living Greyhawk Gazetteer". Although made during third edition, it's very system neutral and has a wealth of information. also available on DriveThruRPG
I deliberately did not include it because this list is aimed at newcomers. The LGG has two flaws in that regard; it's position as canon is questionable, and it's a firehose of information that could easily overwhelm someone new to the setting. I'm thinking of doing a whole Living Greyhawk video when I hit 10,000 subscribers. :-)
@@GreyhawkGrognard Yes, I do agree. Not for beginners. I didn't take that into consideration, only that I consider it essesntial for my games. My timeline is currently 666 CY so I'm playing quite a bit in the future I guess.
Ghosts of Saltmarsh is a nice collection. However, it does try to rewrite a lot of Greyhawk content with some of the usual lazy swap outs that WotC is known for, as well as cramming in some Points of Light/Spellplague races and cosmology into things. A lot of that is easy to ignore though.
I've always thought of the 3 major time periods in Greyhawk as a kind of beginner, mid, and high level scenarios. This way, world events can change more like they would in an actual world, progressing with character levels, with the heroes fighting Iuz as an endgame BBEG.
Glad you included Ghosts of Saltmarsh, that's pretty solid for a 5e book, and those are classic British TSR adventures! I loved those as a kid when they came out. It might be worth mentioning that the adventure path in that book has some level gaps in it that can be filled in with the Greyhawk classics in "Tales from the Yawning Portal". I think there's also another WOTC book coming out that has more classic Greyhawk offerings collected in it and converted to 5e. I know how you feel about WOTC, but just thought I'd mention it!
Quasquenton (forgive my spelling) the old home of Zelligar and Rohann was my first D&D adventure and got me hooked back in the 70's. Greyhawk was our first D&D world, circle of eight, etc. Love it all. Keep up the good work.
Want to say that I absolutely love your channel. Your videos have single-handedly convinced me to run a new Greyhawk campaign using the new DnD 2024 rules. Going to start with Temple of Elemental Evil.
Thank you!
I agree the Temple of Elemental Evil is definitely the best starting point in greyhawk. I started at least two or three campaigns there myself. The village of Hamlet is a great and easily fleshed out place for adventures to cut their bones.
The first POD I bought was.... Temple of Elemental Evil, I must have put put 5 or 6 parties through this.
Even the PC game of it was not too bad, but made hard by 3.5 rules.
I enjoy 😉 all of Greyhawk Grognard videos
I appreciate your focus on story and setting, it's the heart and soul of the hobby. I've noticed that gamers who are interested in Greyhawk tend to focus on the setting itself in the same manner that Tolkien fans give respect to the Middle Earth setting; it's definitely the star of the show.
Thanks for the video. Have to get The Adventure Begins. I started DMing with Ghosts of Saltmarsh again after not playing for a decade. It was the start of a long campaign in the Vicecounty of Salinmoore and the northern Hold of the Seaprinces. We are playing for 3 years now and hopefully for many more years. I played many Greyhawk modules and campaigns, but the Saltmarsh trilogy has a special flair.
Please do a follow up with what additional Greyhawk lore and content we can find in other published modules from 1st and 2nd edition.
Some of my characters are not welcome in the city of Greyhawk. Guild association and mass destruction to the city and Iuz are to blame 😂
I've used Hommlet as a starting location... well... a lot. Almost embarrassingly I've never actually run the Temple proper - I've substituted other locations, most notably Tegel Manor, which I play off as a madman's playground, someone who may have discovered the same Elder Ick as what the original covered. I tend to play towards the Lovecraftian end, which Greyhawk does wonderfully.
As it is the 50th anniversary this year, and (as I've mentioned elsewhere in blog and video posts) I almost treat Greyhawk as a sacred text that I study but never seem to get the testicular fortitude to run as 'proper'. Once I read the Gord series, I almost became scared of the level of depth that we never saw in AD&D material from Gygax - and I knew that some of that came from a dark point in his writing, having endured some - shall we say - fuckery.
I can't help but think I need to start something in Greyhawk - and I know I've wondered how in the hell you organize Greyhawk/Oerth when you start to know 'too much'. Even just sticking with Gary's stuff, including Dragon and other written sources, I get caught up on how to communicate/organize/grow within this.
Kalamar is a setting that I've dabbled in data correlation in, and eventually limited it down (which is much what you are doing here). But, I never found Dave Kenzer as being someone who published his 'home game notes' - only, after years of it, hearing that the team wants to strip it down - because they didn't pay enough attention to the world's growth outside a very long running Hackmaster campaign (born in 2e).
I have a great deal of respect for the Forgotten Realms, with it's "everything is canon" attitude - how Ed keeps up with that, I'll never know. But, hell, no one is writing material for my homebrew nonsense, so that - in and of itself - must be a compulsion to follow it...
Anyways, this is great, man - I feel like those of us who remember the Gold Box on shelves, and the maps... which were unlike anything before... It was something very special, which was followed rather closely by the Forgotten Realms - which, BTW, I actually wouldn't touch when I was a kid... As a kid, I really didn't get his Ecology articles in Dragon, I thought they were way too long winded for play value... and I grew up on Howard and Lovecraft and Moorcock as a wee tween.
I hate my reverence that leads to never running games within the Greyhawk milieu.
Is this the year I finally do it?
Do it! Just ask her out! ;)
I think another fun way to start in Greyhawk is with the City of Greyhawk boxed set. There are lots of very short adventures geared to different levels. Although with this set, I suspect, there will need to be some adventure design. Cities can also be tough to run. But, they could work well for some DM's and players.
That's a really good point. I ran a campaign a long time ago in Greyhawk City shortly after that boxed set came out. Loved it!
Back in the day we started in a village called Five Oaks.
I never liked starting in Hamlet. Started in Restenford has always been easy with the town being so well set, but also the surrounding area.
I prefer Restenford also.
Hello Joe! My #1 favorite "introduction to the World of Greyhawk module" is Against The Cult of the Reptile God, and possibly also Tomb of the Lizard King. Fond memories of those. I think my all time favorite one overall is The Isle of Dread, even though it's only tangentially Greyhawk if you go by the Savage Tide article(s) in Dragon Magazine.
Very good video for introducing new players to the world of Greyhawk.
Exciting news - the DM of our Planescape campaign just announced that our next mission will be in Greyhawk! Something about a technological device terrorizing a village or some such. So excited!
I seem to have missed the Adventure Begins, it's currently in my DTRPG cart for when my payday hits. I seem to recall you not liking Living Greyhawk, but what do you make of the "Dungeons and Dragons Gazetteer"?
Hey, there... 40+ year DM... I started, like most Grognards, in Greyhawk. Recently, I have asked my son (whom I have introduced to Forgotten Realms, and the enormous world I've been building...) if he'd be interested in playing a campaign in the world where I started. I have Ghosts of Saltmarsh and decided to check out this video from you to see what you recommended. I still have some of my really old material - but, even though I did modules as a kid, I haven't touched a module in decades - and have no intention of doing so, again... so, I'm currently in prep for where to start them.
I know the City of Greyhawk seems 'obvious' - but, I think I wanna keep that for the party to reach, not start at...
I'll check out those Drive Thru RPG items - thanks and keep promoting Greyhawk. I'll be starting a channel, very soon, and I, too, will be promoting it. I'll send people your way to get more info :)
The Adventure Begins was a great edition neutral intro book.
Great video, even if I disagree with you a bit. 🙂
I found much of the Temple to be fairly awful, a claptrap mess that felt halfway done. But the reason for that was because it was Frank Mentzer, a legend in his own right, working off the piecemeal notes of Gary's after Gary had been banished to Cali and, apparently, under orders to not communicate with Gary at all for any clarification or explanation. The module is mostly usable fresh off of the shelf for the first three to five character levels (the moathouse and then the upper works of the temple), but the deeper one delves the more and more work it required to make it passable (a foreshadowing to the many [not all] poorly done books in the 5e catalog? Perhaps.). That's no one's fault except the decision maker(s) who said "Here's some of the notes for one of Gary's pet projects. Get it print ready in three months using only what we've given you." Even a legend can only do so much.
But I will say that for all its flaws and confusion it holds great potential for the creative DM who, like me, decided it wasn't much good as it was but that it held a lot of great ideas to adapt into vaguely related homebrew adventures.
Unlike WG7, which just felt like an insult to Gary (by then banished completely from the company he helped found) and the older fans. One last eff you from Williams and her cronies who began trying to run the company into the ground, since she of her own admission knew nothing about the game, refused to learn, and basically said "Just make anything and slap the logo on it. The idiots will buy it up no matter what." A business plan seemingly in use by Hasbro/WotC for several of their product lines. Hm.
If one was going to run a 2nd edition Greyhawk campaign then the FROM THE ASHES box set is essential as it's the only resource that details the pantheon's specialty priests (along with The Scarlet Brotherhood book for more details on the Suloise pantheon).
There sure is a ton of stuff in 2e about Greyhawk, starting with the free city box set. Would love a video of the top 5 2e Greyhawk supplements.
I did do a top 3 video a while ago.
ruclips.net/video/kDusLyP5ihM/видео.html
@@GreyhawkGrognard oh cool, I’m sorry I missed this, thank you. I love your channel
@@coachlarry6773 Thanks!
I only play 1st and second edition. But that "Ghosts of Saltmash" looks like it might have good food for thought even to someone like me that doesn't play 5th edition? Since I have the old 1980s versions.
"it doesn't flood you with information" that's what I like with Greyhawk, it retains mysteries and potential for something new!
I still think the portfolio version of Greyhawk is the best. It doesn’t include the gods so you can insert your own.
Great video. You should do a video on the WORST Greyhawk books (i.e. the joke Castle Greyhawk module; that is one I regret purchasing and was kind of pissed off once I realized what it was).
As a rule, I like to keep things positive, but that could be a fun one to do.
This was very helpful. Thanks a lot! I am preparing a 5e Greyhawk campaign but I decided to start with Keep on the Borderlands instead, as a “hub” module to which I’ll attach other adventures. I am placing the keep on the border between the Principality of Ulek and the Pomarj
Excellent location for the Keep - I remember Gary Gygax back in the day saying online that is where he would locate it if it was set in Greyhawk. Sets up nicely for a campaign against the Slavelords and/or the Orcish Empire later.
Ghosts of Saltmarsh is a GREAT resource for starting in the Sheldomar. In my last campaign I started with the Sinister Secrets of Saltmarsh and wend from there. While we play 2e, the detail of the village, its residents and the surrounding lands is very good.
Good to know... I've never actually played Saltmarsh, and I'm leery of buying the WotC version of it. Unless Goodman Games could resurrect the original version instead, I'd probably stick with the original 1e module if I ever tried to run it. I love running games in Sheldomar Valley.
In earlier videos you spoke more about Gygax's vision of Greyhawk vs. other versions -- as someone really mostly interested in Gygax's Greyhawk (both the OG one and the latter-day Zagyg stuff), I hope you bring back the dual focus on Gary and his stuff
Remember, this series is for newcomers to the setting. I'm trying to make is as accessible as possible.
@@GreyhawkGrognard a fair point
I know you've said you are not a fan of Living Greyhawk, but why go gold box + 2e update to get new players to 591 vs. just using suggesting the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer? It has everything updated for 591 and the Living system stuff is a two page appendix at the back. It's a single source.
I'm thinking of absolute beginners. Setting my issues with LG aside, the Gazetteer is a firehose of information that could turn off newcomers.
@@GreyhawkGrognard I've got both in front of me and it isn't that much more information. More over, even the Gold Box is probably too much for any absolute beginner as 90% of either doesn't need to be read, remembered, or known. For my GH-based games...
1. I pick a starting location.
2. I make a document with house rules, campaign expectations, and the starting location.
3. I cut and paste the LGHG info for that one country -- and possibly neighboring ones, plus mountains, hills, forests, bodies of water, etc. You end up with maybe five or six pages for new players to read.
4. I refer them to web sites with lists of gods, Wikis, or the LGHG if they really want to read it all.
This way they are focused on what they need to look at.
Whether you use the Gold Box or LGHG, it's still too much info as most doesn't apply. Once you limit it to the starting region, whether its three pages from the gold box or five from the LGHG, both instantly become manageable. If you don't limit it... both are equally unmanageable and frustrating as most won't apply. Also, if you are really worried about absolute new beginners and want to use the Gold Box... IMO, just set it in the Gold Box era. It probably doesn't matter who the ruler is or what Iuz is doing.
@@GreyhawkGrognardand it can be challenging to find out detailed information about events across LG - a lot of materials to expand on events are pretty much inaccessible...
Still a fan of playing in 576 Greyhawk.
The two modules are absolute classics.
Tales From The Yawning Portal is also adventures largely from Greyhawk originally, less one from Forgotten Realms... 🙂
Really want the Goodman Games Temple book... 😍
LET’S KEEP GREYHAWK ALIVE!
N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God is another great module to start playing in Greyhawk. It's a bit more on rails than T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil and not quite as connected to Greyhawk lore, but it's also a great module for a fledgling DM and a good starting point for a campaign set in the Sheldomar valley.
🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉
I was kind of hoping you were going to highlight something I don't have yet.
The audience for this one is newcomers to the setting, so I'm going with the most accessible material.
Over the years I've purchased everything I've come across, but I know I have holes in my collection. I'll always looking for the best that I missed. I have Ghosts of Saltmarsh but have not given it much time.
Ghosts of Saltmarsh is such a classical-sounding name for an adventure.
The Temple of Elemental Evil is a great place to start a campaign. I like Saltmarsh as well. I have never played the original adventure or the 5e one, but I did use the write up of Saltmarsh in 3.5 DMGII to run a few adventures from.
Nauseating detail… Forgotten Realms?? 😂
Gold box is PDF only, I had to get the original.
You lost me at "5e"
That's what most newcomers to the setting are playing, and that's who the video is aimed at.
5e, yuck.
I don't have the gold box World of Greyhawk, I have the older Greyhawk folio.
It's available on DriveThruRPG as a pdf
i Love all Greyhawk Grognard videos, T1 village of Homlet, U1 sinister secret of Saltmarsh and L1 Secret of Bonehill are my go to starting adventures especially with new players. On a side note I am looking for a Image of Krovis the sleeping Hero and thought you might know of one? I saw you were on the Bibliography. Thank You!
I invented Krovis, as a matter of fact. 🙂 There's never been an image of him, as far as I'm aware. Would be neat to commission one, though...
I will start with T0( yes, is very cool) T1-4 and Adventures Dark & Deep!! I think is the best choice!!
Obviously a man of fine taste.
I like that the older stuff "didn't flood you with information" as it allowed you to make it your own for your table if you wanted. But I also see that same comment about the 5E releases, and people would complain that it didn't have xyz included.
There's always a line between not enough and too much information, and that line is different for each person.
What would it take to get me to play in Greyhawk again, finding people to play with and being able to play online with foundry.
Is that a rhetorical question?
Love your channel. Just became a Patreon backer. Keep it up!
Awesome, thank you!
Another excellent video! Thanks for sharing! I think that Quasqueton is a good starting place. Also, Keep on the Borderlands can be an amazing adventure for new players, if the DM fleshes it out and uses some creativity for why the humanoids are all in the same area. Neither of these may have started as "official" Greyhawk adventures, but they work well, and there are many areas they can be placed in. Of course, Hommlet is pretty good as well. 🙂
It's funny you should say neither of those were officially in Greyhawk. In Search of the Unknown was originally in Greyhawk. I don't know why, but the paragraph with suggested locations in Greyhawk was removed in later printings.
And, of course, Keep on the Borderlands was retconned into Greyhawk in "Return to the Keep on the Borderlands".
@@GreyhawkGrognard Yeah, I guess I was remembering the time when In Search of the Unknown was removed. I've never played Return to the Keep on the Borderlands, so I never realized that Keep had been retconned. But, no worries. And we always played whichever module in whatever universe we wanted, whether Greyhawk, or our homebrew. They can fit into pretty much any world, although I guess Dragonlance would be difficult to do. (But, we never really got into DL, so there. 🙂).
Really digging this series and this was another fine entry into it.
I had mentioned before I wasn't as familiar with Greyhawk. But I was looking at books on Amazon and I ran across The Demon's Hand. I had totally forgotten that was Greyhawk. I remember seeing that Clyde Caldwell illustration as a kid and thinking it was the coolest thing.
So glad you're enjoying the series! With Wizards of the Coast putting Greyhawk in the new DM's Guide, I thought it might be helpful to new folks.
@@GreyhawkGrognard Have you done a video about any monsters or creatures that are completely unique to the setting? If any such thing exists.
@@AtomicSnackBar Not yet, but it's definitely a worthy topic.
I just ordered S1-4 Dungeons of Dread from drivethrurpg which collects those 4 modules, hoping it is a good pickup as well! I launched our current campaign in Keoland with U1 Saltmarsh and should they head out exploring with the pirate ship, am ready to follow it up with Isle of Dread, which may pop up in the Azure Sea! Unfortunately U2-3 appear flawed for character motivation (are they really going to slaughter a lizard man village?)
You will be happy I got mine not long ago.
Be warned that some parts of the modules in the S1-4 collection are edited down - e.g. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks omits the 'tween decks' levels (at least it does in the print version). Those are fluff levels and not necessary to the module, but TSR, in its wisdom, decided to omit them. On Saltmarsh, the moral dilemma viz the Lizard Men is intentionally the point of those modules - it was an early poke at the murder hobo power gamers that used be very common in AD&D games.
@@elliotvernon7971 That’s too bad about barrier peaks, was hoping to fill some holes in my collection by getting S1-4. That makes sense for U2, glad the intention is for the party to realize the lizard men have been set up.
So for OSR game players; any reason to go w/classic temple vs goodman's 5e version (converting is not an issue)?
Price? Goodman Games stuff here in Australia is SHOCKINGLY expensive.
The Goodman version has some additional material (in the wilderness around Hommlet), but it's out of print and commands steep prices in the after-market.
@@GreyhawkGrognard Thank you. The classic in print was more expensive so i pulled the trigger on it.
Ah hoo! Werewolves of London!!
Hehe
Presenting the players with lots of opportunities for their characters to die - what more could be asked of a referee? Seriously, either this statement makes sense to you or it doesn't and that's where I start players off with Greyhawk.
Cheers!
Great video. Glad I found the channel. Brings back so many memories. So. ... Who's gonna start a PbP Greyhawk campaign?
Ghosts of Saltmarsh is what got me interested in Greyhawk. And it wasn't even the adventures, but the chapter on the town, which got me hungry to learn more about Keoland and then the larger Greyhawk.
If I wanted to read some novels in the Greyhawk setting, do you have any recommendations?
As a matter of fact, I do. :-)
ruclips.net/video/Su8umi4x9wE/видео.html
Nice picks. Not that anyone asked but as a longtime DM of Greyhawk, I feel I have to mention one of my used sourcebooks, 'Living Greyhawk Gazetteer". Although made during third edition, it's very system neutral and has a wealth of information. also available on DriveThruRPG
I deliberately did not include it because this list is aimed at newcomers. The LGG has two flaws in that regard; it's position as canon is questionable, and it's a firehose of information that could easily overwhelm someone new to the setting. I'm thinking of doing a whole Living Greyhawk video when I hit 10,000 subscribers. :-)
@@GreyhawkGrognard Yes, I do agree. Not for beginners. I didn't take that into consideration, only that I consider it essesntial for my games. My timeline is currently 666 CY so I'm playing quite a bit in the future I guess.
@@deadlyDM There better be plenty of demons in that game.
@@GreyhawkGrognard you know it
Ghosts of Saltmarsh is a nice collection. However, it does try to rewrite a lot of Greyhawk content with some of the usual lazy swap outs that WotC is known for, as well as cramming in some Points of Light/Spellplague races and cosmology into things. A lot of that is easy to ignore though.
I love Ghosts of Saltmmarsh! It is probably my favorite 5e book by wotc
I've always thought of the 3 major time periods in Greyhawk as a kind of beginner, mid, and high level scenarios. This way, world events can change more like they would in an actual world, progressing with character levels, with the heroes fighting Iuz as an endgame BBEG.
An interesting way to look at it!
@@GreyhawkGrognard - It's the only legitimate reason I can think of to mess with a timeline.
How do you convert from 1st to 5th
That's way outside the scope of this video. There's no set methodology of which I'm aware; it's very much a subjective thing.
Glad you included Ghosts of Saltmarsh, that's pretty solid for a 5e book, and those are classic British TSR adventures! I loved those as a kid when they came out. It might be worth mentioning that the adventure path in that book has some level gaps in it that can be filled in with the Greyhawk classics in "Tales from the Yawning Portal". I think there's also another WOTC book coming out that has more classic Greyhawk offerings collected in it and converted to 5e. I know how you feel about WOTC, but just thought I'd mention it!