Alternate Oerths Archives - Greyhawk Online

Oerth Journal #33 is Released

2025-10-16T19:01:57-04:00June 30th, 2020|

Another issue of the Oerth Journal has now made it to press! It's been a long row to hoe, but not really any more so than usual. *<insert winking emoji of your choice>* This was a pretty big issue, as far as publishing things. There's always a lot going on behind the scenes, but that too, is normal. About the Issue We've got a whole bunch of articles again ... this month, there isn't a "theme", per se, like some of our more current issues have had. There's almost a cornucopia of topics that ought to find a way to please most everyone! There are several articles about Dwur of various regions which tie together nicely. There's an adventure by John Roy, too! It's a sequel to his Unwelcome Guests (a free PDF download) which he published in October of 2019. And it's straightforward enough that which edition it's written for is almost irrelevant. More of Gary Holian's Death Knights are making an appearance, this time alongside an NPC featured in one of the AD&D Greyhawk Trading Cards. There's a surprising number of magical items, too ... which we might have to look at data on that and see if that's something readers want more of. Speaking of which, be sure to tell us in the comment section below what it is you'd like to see!! About the Cover Art We're especially pleased to feature cover art by one of our most well-known community artists, "LadyLoth". You can find her on both Instagram and Twitter. She's a wonderful artist and has a unique style that looks very "painterly". The piece is called Nyrondese Soldiers. One ... read more!

6

The Chosen – A New Story

2020-01-07T16:11:14-05:00January 7th, 2020|

Brand new Greyhawk fiction?Is that a thing? The answer is "Yes. Yes, it is." Frequent contributor to the Oerth Journal, William "Giantstomp" Dvorak, has released a brand new novella. We definitely can't call it a "short story" … even though it's relative, there's nothing "short" about this story! Dvorak has written a 70-page tale, set in Greyhawk! It's very, very interesting, and we're going to be adding more here, discussing the story and elements and we hope to start a conversation about the story. … so we'll put spoiler tags below. And be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section below! The story is embedded below, and there's a link at the bottom right corner of the reader where you can directly download the PDF, too. … so, for now, read on, and enjoy! We'll look forward to talking about it with all of you in the comments! 'til the Starbreak! Don't forget that you can directly download the PDF of the novella.

1

Orbane Synod: OJ 31 Supplement

2020-01-02T23:50:05-05:00January 2nd, 2020|

The Orbane Synod An Extra Faction from Oerth Journal #31! by Dan Anderson, from BugbearBrothers Cover art by Shabazik From the Editor: Normally ... well, lately ( i.e. the most recent 4 issues), Greyhawk Online has published "extras" from the Oerth Journal as supplementary downloads. This time, however, we wanted to offer a very special article from the OJ as a page of it's own! Download your FREE copy of Oerth Journal #31 now!Dan Anderson is a new author with GreyhyawkOnline, having come to us through Instagram. Social Media is one of the things we've recently talked a good deal about in the "Letter from the Editor" in the last two issues of the Oerth Journal (Autumn and Winter 2019). Social Media allows us to connect with many more fans than Editors of the OJ ever have been able to before! We're really pleased with this Special Supplement to Oerth Journal #31. It offers a look at a faction (two of them, truth be told) which take a normal trope for wizards, and turn it on its head! Read on, Greyhawkers, and find out all about the Orbane Synod and the Blood Council! In the city of Dyvers, there is an ongoing feud between two competing schools of wizardry, the Orbane Synod, and the Blood Council. The Orbane Synod are known for their oral tradition and their peculiar practice of never recording spells on parchment but instead hiding it away in familiars and homunculi throughout Greyhawk. Before wizards are granted the title of alumni of the school, they are sent on a vision quest to capture their personal familiar and begin shaping the world under ... read more!

0

Oerth Journal #31 Released

2022-12-26T15:57:43-05:00January 2nd, 2020|

You ever get that feeling that something takes both forever and no time at all simultaneously? Oerth Journal #31 has only been in the works 12 weeks. … but, at the same time, it's been a year. And that year's gone by in no time! Greyhawk Online was the original webhost for the magazine in '95 and GHO started publishing the Oerth Journal again in March of last year (2019) as a supplement for a seminar at GaryCon XI. Similar to most issues, design of that issue, OJ28, really began about 60 to 90 days before that, around January. Gathering authors, doing layout, all that great publishing stuff. But, never before had the Oerth Journal actually been published quarterly before. That was often what was desired or striven for … but, for one reason or another, life always got in the way, and previous Editors weren't able to get content fast enough to publish that often.But, now, we've managed to publish a quarterly issue each season.That makes this kind of a benchmark. It's never been done - whether in a 365-day period or any calendar-year. So, now, Greyhawk Online has taken up the torch and has run with it. , and we're already beginning layout and answering article queries for issue #32 due out in Spring! Oerth Journal #31 As we discuss in the Librarian's Chronicle (Letter from the Editor) on the inside front cover, the fan authors, artists, and editors who make the magazine happen are the real life blood of the magazine. GHO couldn't produce it, if it weren't for them. And that's the part where social media comes in. We are in ... read more!

0

Oerthly Equivalents

2019-11-27T16:00:22-05:00November 27th, 2019|

Greyhawk Online is pleased to bring you a submission from one of the greatest contributors to the Greyhawk Community - Jason Zavoda - creator of the Encyclopedia Greyhawkania. Jason gives us the comparative analogs he likes to use in his games to create the culture of various nations of the Flanaess. The nations listed are circa 576CY, from the WoG folio edition.Read on, dear Greyhawker, and don't forget to comment below about what you use for various countries and which parts of the list you like, or might use for your own game! 'Til the Starbreak! Here are the general sources I've used in the past (as far as I remember). For the most part these are based on movies and popular fiction rather than historical texts. Nothing is set in stone and over the past nearly 40 years of DMing the Greyhawk setting I've used so much material for three full scale multi-year Greyhawk campaigns that I've lost track of where it all comes from. I've found that tying down regions to real world locales helps incredibly with developing a consistent collection of names for NPCs. It is also a great deal of aid to be able to shoehorn cultures into the game and be able to say to someone "It's like Last Kingdom, Braveheart, Zulu but with arrows and orcs, etc..." Oerthly Equivalents Almor, Prelacy of Cromwellian England Bandit Kingdoms Various Bissel, March of Hungary Blackmoor Finland Bone MarchVarious FantasyCelene Lothlorien DyversAmsterdamEkbirDamascusFrost BarbariansVikingsFuryondyFranceGeoffWalesGran MarchTemplarsGreat KingdomOtto 1st Hold Roman EmpireGreyhawk, city of Gygax Gord the Rogue novels & Various FantasyHighfolk RivendellHorned SocietyVarious FantasyIce BarbariansVikingsIdeeRennaisance Italian City-stateIrongateRennaisance Italian City-stateIuzVarious FantasyKeolandEnglandKetRomania/Bulgaria/TransylvaniaLordship of the Isles Carribean British ... read more!

7

History of Oerth, Part 3

2019-11-22T15:10:48-05:00November 22nd, 2019|

History of Oerth, Part 3: Of Vecna And now, back to the history of the Ur-Flan. You can’t talk about the Ur-Flan without delving deeply into Vecna. -1746 to -1711 CY Vecna is said to have been born as a member of the Untouchable caste in the Flan city of Fleeth, in the Sheldomar Valley. He was initially trained by his mother, Mazell, in the arts of witchcraft before she was executed by the government of Fleeth for the crime of practicing unsanctioned magic, forbidden to the Untouchables. Vecna was devastated. He was enraged. He had nothing but the love of his mother and they had taken that away from him for harmless tinkering. Vowing revenge, Vecna eventually assumed a mastery of the dark arts achieved by no mortal before or since. Some say this achievement was due to direct tutelage by Mok'slyk the Serpent (I’m going on a limb and suggest that Mok’slyk might have been a Yuan-ti priest-magi), believed to be the personification of arcane magic itself. But I’m getting ahead of myself. He ran away. Or tried to. Young and inexperienced, he was easily apprehended. He was deemed harmless, but the government of Fleeth understood that young rage can become future vendetta, so they sold him to a caravan of settlers setting out for the North who needed hostages for the Glitter King. And he was used for just that. And Vecna was accepted as such, even though the Ur-Flan supposed deception of sending Untouchables in the place of their own was well known by the Grey Elven King Galitholian Glitterhelm. But Galithonian took no steps to let that be known; he ... read more!

0

History of the Oerth, Part 2

2019-11-18T21:31:20-05:00November 18th, 2019|

Here we present the second part of an ongoing series from new Greyhawk Online contributor, David Leonard, of Greyhawk Musings. David takes a look at more ancient goings-on and the beginnings of the infamous Ur-Flan necromancers and dark wizards.Not only does he discuss the timeline of events, but, he also discusses individual realms and regions where we know things about the Ur-Flan. Read on, dear Greyhawkers, and learn more and more about the ancient history of Oerth! History of Oerth, Part 2: Of The Ur-Flan Kingdoms Where did we leave off? The Se-Ul had allied with the Drow against the Grey Elves. The Grey elves had quit the Hellfurnaces after a costly defeat in their war with the Drow and giantkind. The Drow may have been victorious, but their victory over the Grey Elves had all but wiped them out. They retreated into the depths of Oerth to recover, leaving the Crystalmists and Hellfurnaces to giantkind. The Suloise slinked back within their borders, their army all but destroyed. This is where the Flan join the narrative: -2269 CY The Flan originally dwelt where all humankind did in times of yore, in the western shadow of the Southern Crystalmists. They traded with the Suloise and prospered by that trade. But as the Suel grew cruel and powerful, so too did they subjugate the peoples around them, and soon the Flan found themselves in thrall within a vast Suloise Empire. The Secrets of Magic were forbidden to them. Their faith was surpassed, and then banned outright. The Suloise were the Flan’s first glimpse of power. They chaffed to be free of it. But they learned from it, ... read more!

0

History of the Oerth: Part 1

2019-11-15T10:03:47-05:00November 15th, 2019|

Greetings, dear reader! Greyhawk Online is once again proud to bring you a new article series!! This month, we have a new author joining us on GHO. David Leonard has a blog called "Greyhawk Musings". David is a Canadian author who started playing D&D back in 1982. For him, this whole project started when he wanted to start researching a project, and it led to more and more information! He offers a particular PoV that is new and refreshing, without a lot of the baggage that often comes with a setting that's out of print. It's a fresh look at what makes Greyhawk so great. So, this is the beginning of an ongoing series by David, each part looking at the History of Greyhawk from a particular point of interest like the Elves, Suel, Flan, or a particular subject like Vecna! So, read on, dear Greyhawker, and enjoy a look at Greyhawk from fresh eyes and look forward to what comes next! (Once the next article in the series is posted, it will be linked at the bottom!) History of Oerth, Part 1: Of The Grey Elves and The Suloise Empire I thought I would be able to research the history of Ratik and its neighbours sequentially, beginning with the Greyhawk Folio, continuing on with the Gold Box, then to the Greyhawk Adventures hardcover, etc. That was incredibly naïve of me. The history of the Flanaess was not laid down in that manner; it evolved in leaps and bounds over decades, and not sequentially, either. Its lore grew in fractals, haphazardly through modules at first, then rather meticulously in sourcebooks. Let’s not forget the reams ... read more!

1

Thank You for Visiting!

About Greyhawk Online