Greyhawk

Template:Infobox RPG Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. The World of Greyhawk includes the Free City of Greyhawk, from which the name was taken. As one of the earliest of the D&D campaign settings, many of the rules for the game itself were developed in conjunction with game play by Gary Gygax and others in and around Castle Greyhawk and its dungeons. While constructing the milieu, Gygax also incorporated the campaign worlds of his fellow role-players, such as Blackmoor (Dave Arneson's campaign) and the Lendore Isles (a region created by long-time stalwart Len Lakofka).

Dungeons & Dragons has always had a tenuous connection between the core rules and any particular, well-defined setting. Through all editions of the game however, Greyhawk has had a strong influence over the core rules, including providing names for many well-known spells and magic items. The current rules contain deities and many other elements that define a general setting which is called the "Core Setting." The Core Setting is, in turn, largely based on Greyhawk, containing many of the same deities and geography. Indeed, a small map of the continent of Oerik, in relief as if sculpted out of a metal sphere, is in the center of the cover art for the Dungeon Master's Guide, 3.5th edition.

Geography and population

In the Greyhawk setting, the planet Oerth has four continents. Only one of these continents, Oerik, has been officially described in various D&D publications over the past 30+ years, and in fact detailed information is available only for its eastern end, known as the Flanaess.

Although home D&D campaigns can be set in or around the Free City of Greyhawk itself, there are no restrictions with respect to time period or location. The Flanaess can be broken down geographically as follows: the Baklunish Basin in the northwest, the Empire of Iuz in the north, the Thillonrian Peninsula in the northeast, the Sea of Dust in the far west, the Sheldomar Valley in the west, old Ferrond and its southern frontier (including the City of Greyhawk) at the center of the Flanaess, Old Sulm and the Aerdy frontier to the east, the old Great Kingdom to the far east, and the Amedio Jungle to the southwest.

Certain elements of Greyhawk's geography are fantastic in nature, such as the Sea of Dust and the Land of Black Ice. Other elements are more closely analogous to real-world Europe, such as the Thillonrian Peninsula's geographical resemblance to Scandinavia.

The Flanaess is home to Oerth's "enlightened humanity," and much of the flavor of the Greyhawk setting arises from the interplay of the various "sub-races" of humanity -- Baklunish, Flannae, Oeridians, Olman, Rhennee, Suloise, and Touv in particular -- as they have criss-crossed the Flanaess over the last millennium. The setting's fans have debated the exact nature of these sub-races (and their real world analogues, if any) over the years, but key distinguishing features include antagonism between the Bakluni and Suloise (and the ancient war that nearly annihilated them both), the relative primitiveness of the indigenous Flan, and the Oerdians' military conquest of much of the Flanaess.

Various fantasy races also populate the Flanaess, sometimes acting as allies to humanity in the same vein as J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Elves and dwarves of different sorts even have powerful strongholds and nations, with gnomes and halflings living in smaller pockets near friendly (and more powerful) neighbors. Even where these races are politically advanced, such as in Celene or the Ulek States, isolationist policies often limit their power to the regions they inhabit. Wicked drow elves often plot mischief against the free world, with other nefarious creatures such as orcs, ogres, giants, and dragons acting as all-purpose enemies. When viewed as a whole, however, the Flanaess appears anthropocentric (or more specifically, humanocentric) despite the presence of so many fantastic species.

Political powers

At the center of this game world stands the Free City of Greyhawk, a city-state once under the domination of the Great Kingdom of Aerdy. The Circle of Eight, a select group of wizards, monitor events across the Flanaess, intervening when the balance of power is threatened by extremes of good or evil. Several evil factions still prevail across the sub-continent, including the undead remnants of Aerdy, the wicked demi-god Iuz (who rules his expanding territory, the Empire of Iuz), and the mysterious Scarlet Brotherhood (whose racial purity doctrines and fanatical monasticism invite comparisons with both Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan). The orcs and other humanoids of the Pomarj, led by chieftain Turrosh Mak, threaten the Wild Coast and the Ulek states. Among the factions opposing these forces of evil are the major kingdoms of Nyrond, Furyondy, and Keoland as well as numerous smaller states, organizations and individuals.