Greyhawk Online is proud to bring you our newest contributor – John Roy. John is a lot of things, but, perhaps the most significant to the Greyhawk reader here, is that he’s a published author for Wizards of the Coast in Dragon magazine (see his “About the Author” section, below). Specifically, a recent article introducing the World of Greyhawk to new players. So, Greyhawk Online asked John to come write for us, and he happily came onboard!!
One of the other things that John is, is a fantastic comedian (whose credits; include being on shows like the Tonight Show, Conan, etc.). So, rest assured, he’s likely going to bring a light-hearted style and easy-reading style to this new article series.
Lastly, John is also a really big fan of the World of Greyhawk. So, John’s addressing a topic that is often difficult for a lot of groups with new players … how to introduce Greyhawk to players without having to get inundated with a zillion facts to have to memorize. In this first article, Jon talks about how Greyhawk can be anything to anyone, there’s no one single way to to play in Greyhawk … and characters can be all kinds of things!
Look for John’s new ongoing series each week!
A Fifth of Greyhawk – Part One
When I began my Fifth Edition Dungeons and Dragons campaign, there was never any question which setting I would use. My favorite has always been Greyhawk. None of my players had ever played in The Flanaess and knew nothing except the list of gods in the back of the Players Handbook. I wanted to give them an authentic Oerthly experience that would show off everything I love about the setting, but not let that get in the way of playing a fun campaign. I gave myself a goal. Without bogging them down with character restrictions, reading assignments or expository speeches, I would immerse them in The World of Greyhawk from their first act as players.
Creating your ideal character exactly as you see them is one of the central pleasures of a role playing game. I told my players to come up with whatever they wanted and together we would fit them into The Flanaess. If it was in the official Fifth Edition books, it was fair game. Gary Gygax’s world was vast enough to encompass gun-slinging demigods and crashed starships. It would be able to handle whatever Jeremy Crawford threw at it.
My first player wanted to play a African woman cleric in “Egyptian style armor.” They selected Boccob as their god and Knowledge as their Domain. I remembered Gygax saying he originally envisioned the Flan as Africans so we decided that his cleric was a Flan nomad from the Bright Desert. The nomadic tribes had limited roles for women so in my campaign the Church of Boccob would recruit talented tribal girls at an early age so their potential would not be wasted. This cleric was raised in their Egyptian-style temple in a Bright Desert oasis in a nod to my player’s original concept. Now she repaid her educators by adventuring on their behalf.
My next player wanted to play a Lawful Good half-orc paladin. I explained that in the Flanaess, half-orcs were social outcasts, living among the orcs or in human slums. He suggested that a human soldier found a half-orc baby after a battle with an orc tribe, and took the child back to his village to raise him in the faith of St. Cuthbert. The half-orc paladin would have to constantly prove his worth to a world that shunned and distrusted him. The player loved the idea. I placed his home village in Furyondy, and we had another character with ties to the Flanaess.
My next player wanted to play a Neutral drow ranger who had escaped from the Underdark. I explained that drow were even more despised on the surface than half-orcs, but the drow librarian at the Guild of Wizardry showed that with effort, they could fit in to society. My player was up for the challenge and decided that his ranger had been
anonymously helping a human village from his forest hideout until he earned their trust.
Finally my fourth player created a warlock of The Great Old One named Baba Manya. Off her Russian-style name, I suggested the Rhennee as her ethnicity. We decided her Patron was an entity from the Rhennee home world, greatly feared by Baba’s superstitious people. Before we played a single encounter, my players had a glimpse of the world of Greyhawk and where their character fit into it, without having to sacrifice their creative vision, or read a bunch of lore.
Love this. I like how you incorporated their wants and wove them into the fabric of the Flanaess. In my Greyhawk game I’ve modernized it a bit with some of the hopes of equality we hope for today. Tolerance is higher so as to allow my players to play what races they want without to much hassle. That being said, there still exist those that aren’t accepting and the players have to deal with, only to bring light to the modern problems we face. I keep it light though. I so look forward to seeing how someone else is doing… Read more »
Ps. Your comedy act had me in tears.
Thank you! I have increased the tolerance of Drow SLIGHTLY, so people don’t just attack the party on sight. But regular elves say nasty things and spit when they see him, and kids will blurt out stuff like “Is it true you come when kids are bad and turn them into spiders?” Of course, some people are attracted and intrigued by his exotic bad boy background. Also on the flip side, Lolth-loyal Drow have tried to assassinate him for leaving. But the half-orc has to deal with ignorant humans calling him “pig-blood” and the half-orc neighborhood in the Thieves’ Quarter… Read more »
I did a very similar thing with my campaign, I worked with my players on what they wanted to play and then wove their backgrounds into Greyhawk. The Eladrin Elf Bard came through a portal that closed behind her in the Axewood. She grifted her way across Keoland before meeting up with the party. The Changling Rogue was a breeding magical experiment marrying Doppelganger with Human DNA by the Scarlet Brotherhood designed to be the ultimate loyal infiltrator… Norebo however gave his “children” free will and the former spy escaped into the world and is now hunted by her former… Read more »
I run a game for my sons and their friends and I chose Greyhawk for their first experience too. Four of them decided to play dragonborn. I decided that they had been welcomed into the Ulek states like other demihumans had and placed Dragontown in the Principality of Ulek near the Pomarj.