World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting
| World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting | |
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| The cover of the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983). | |
| Type: | Campaign setting (boxed set) |
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| Edition: | AD&D 1e |
| Author(s): | Gary Gygax |
| Editor(s): | Steve Winter |
| Publisher: | TSR |
| Pages: | 48 (Glossography) 80 (Catalogue) |
| ISBN: | ISBN 0-88038-344-5 |
| Class: | Canon |
The World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting is a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting boxed set released by TSR in 1983.
It consists primarily of two sourcebooks:
- A Guide to the World of Greyhawk: Volume III; A Catalogue of the Land Flanaess, Being the Eastern Portion of the Continent Oerik, of Oerth, an 80-page sourcebook generally referred to by fans as the Catalogue or the Guide.
- A Glossography for the Guide to the World of Greyhawk, a 48-page referred to by fans as the Glossography
It is a revised and expanded version of Gygax's original The World of Greyhawk Fantasy World Setting (1980), also called the Folio.
Content
Catalogue
The Catalogue or Guide is largely an expanded and revised version of the 1980 Folio, increased from 32 to 80 pages.
The calendar has been expanded from 360 to 364 days by extending each of the four festivals from six to seven days, allowing the days of the week to fall on the same numeric days each year. New information is given on trees of the Flanaess. The major human ethnic groups are described in terms of skin, hair, and eye color and traditional colors and styles of dress. Uncommon languages are described.
The list of runes and glyphs is reduced from four pages to one, and the runes themselves have changed. Various small changes are made to the list of realms, with the notable addition of names of rulers. As with the original Folio, the list of geographic locations appears.
A notable addition is Deities of the World of Greyhawk, introducing numerous gods of the Flanaess. The deities listed are the greater gods Beory, Boccob, Incabulos, Istus, Kord, Lendor, Nerull, Pelor, Procan, Rao, Tharizdun, Ulaa, Wee Jas, and Zilchus; Cyndor (listed as both greater or lesser); the lesser deities Allitur, Atroa, Beltar, Berei, Bleredd, Bralm, Celestian, Delleb, Ehlonna, Erythnul, Fharlanghn, Fortubo, Geshtai, Heironeous, Hextor, Joramy, Kurell, Lirr, Llerg, Lydia, Myhriss, Norebo, Obad-hai, Olidammara, Phaulkon, Pholtus, Pyremius, Ralishaz, Raxivort, St. Cuthbert, Sotillion, Syrul, Telchur, Trithereon, Velnius, Wenta, Xan Yae, Xerbo, and Zodal; and the demi-gods Iuz, Rudd, Wastri, Zagyg and Zuoken. Of these 59 deities, 22 are described in more detail.
Glossography
The Glossography is a 48-page work framed as the work of Pluffet Smedger, the Elder, of the Royal University at Rel Mord. It bears an in-world publication date of the year 998 CY, or 422 years after the "current day" of 576 CY.
A foreword describes that the other book in the 1983 box set, the Guide, was actually written by a character called the Savant-Sage who lived circa 576 CY, and is an incomplete copy of the third volume of his seven-volume Catalogue. The Glossography is in turn described as a supplement to the Guide, containing among other things mathematical models and games invented by Smedger to recreate historical events.
The Glossography describes travel rates across various terrain, settlement population and map keys, random encounter tables for various regions and types of terrain, and the distribution of high-level NPCs. The names, class and level of the rulers of the realms of the Flanaess are listed (although they are also named in the Guide).
Tables and rules to determine weather are listed, along with the effects of inclement weather on player characters, position of latitude of the Flanaess and the mapping of 2D hexes considering that the world should be spherical.
Suggested scenarios are given, including ideas for adventures and the locations of prewritten adventure modules within the World of Greyhawk. There is a random table to determine a character's place of birth.
Rules for the "Comeliness" stat are included, which represents physical attractiveness. It appears in a chapter describing the quasi-deities Heward, Keoghtom, and Murlynd, and the hero-deity Kelanen. Rules for divine abilities of gods are given, as are statistics for several important deities and special rules for clerics of certain deities.
Darlene map
Like the 1980 Folio, a copy of the Darlene map is included.
Development and release
Development
Release
The World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting was released in 1983 for the cover price of US$15.00
Reception and influence
See also
- Greyhawk Adventures (1988)
- From the Ashes (1992)
- Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins (1998)
- Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000)
Bibliography
- Gygax, Gary. World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1983 (ISBN 0-88038-344-5). TSR1015
- Johnson, Forrest. "Review: World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting." The Space Gamer # 33. November, 1980.
External links
- World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting at Wikipedia
- World of Greyhawk at the Acaceum
- World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting at the Dungeon Master's Guild.
References
Citations
Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index
The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.
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