Hey all. I've been a longtime Greyhawk palyer, but I've been out of the D&D loop for about 10 years (since my last gaming group ended up spread out over hell's half-acre). I've been keeping up with 3rd ed.., but I just find it..... too much at times. It seems like there's a fair amount of things to "relearn", and I hate the new stat lines for monsters, but that's just me. Also, I have no group to playtest this in. I know 2nd ed. pretty well, as it's closer to the 1st ed. I grew up on.
Anyway, I have finally found a group for gaming. I have "drafted" some of my brighter/more creative high school students into a campaign, to start sometime next year. I am going to run it in Greyhawk, because I don't feel like building a new realm from scratch (although I *did* think about magical version of Earth..... but I digress 8). I think I am going to run it pre-Wars, because A) this is the Greyhawk I'm more familiar with, and B) although I have read some of the FtA stuff, and the idea of Ivid making everyone into animii sits better with me.... I still don't like it much. 8) I also think I am going to run it in 2nd Ed for now, because it means less mechanics to relearn.
I have also done some poking around, because I have.... ummm... "access" to a sizable number of Basic-Imoortal modules, and most of the stuff in print for 2nd Ed. (adventures, and sourcebooks... don't ask ;). I am going to try and "modify" a lot of the Basic and Expert adventures into Greyhawk. I have seen the ideas on the board about the Isle of Dread being put into Greyhawk, as well as the Keep in the Borderland. I have looked at a few of the other Basic/Expert modules (The Lost City, In Search of the Unknown, Rahasia, King's Festival/Queen's Harvest, Master of the Desert Nomads, etc.), as well as some of the more obscure AD&D modules (Lost Island of the Castanimir, Treasure Hunt, The Endless Stair, the collected Desert of Desolation, Bane of Llywelyn, ect) to see how they can be integrated. Some look like they should just be a matter of changing some locales.
Here's the questions I have for right now.....
A) I know there's a ton of excellent write-ups across a great many sites on histories of the Flaeness. I perused every page of the Forums recently (yes, EVERY page! 8) looking at stuff, but a lot of the links in older posts are out of date. What I am interested in is a little more cultural background on the various human cultures in Greyhawk. I've see some reference to a lot of cultures I have no idea about. I just want to be able to figure out what cultures are like, especially ideas about real-world equivalents, and some history. For instance, while I know about the Suel-Bakluni wars, I never for a second though of any of the races currently in the Flaeness to be Native in comparison. Anyone got some good, CURRENT sites?
B) I'd like to do some reading on some of the more historical personages that I see pop up, that I didn't know about. For instance, I had no clue about Acerak ruling realms, or Vecna for that matter (I always saw him as VERY old monster-under-the-bed type). I don't know that I plan on USING any of this, but I think it will get me motivated in my game.
C) I know there used to be sites for converting 2nd Ed to 3rd Ed.... how about sites that convert Basic/Expert to 2nd Ed? It should be easy, but if someone has already DONE it, why reinvent the wheel? 8)
D) None of my players have ever played D&D before. Most of them have never even HEARD of the game (that's what you get for living in the country 8). I want to write a little blurb to explain the whole concept of Greyhawk. Does anyone have a good blurb I could give them to explain the game in general, so they might actually start getting some ideas? Also, is there a good, short blurb that would give the "flavour" of Greyhawk somewhere? I have the Greyhawk Gazette, The Adventure Begins, and the Greyhawk and From The Ashes boxes, but haven't reread them in a while... if there's a nice, concise blurb in there, lemme know.
E) I have access to all the books with kits (and I have Core Rules 2.0 and Expansion CDs 8). I haven't used kits before. Good / bad? The only two things I really like about 3rd Ed. are the level progression, and the feats, which I think the kits tried to address. I'm hoping to use every option available to me in 2nd Ed., which means I have lots of reading ahead of me. 8)
F) Lastly... advice? 8) I kind of have a campaign arc planned out (which I see looks remarkably similar to the old Immortal FIVE COINS FOR A KINGDOM module 8). I don't plan (at this point) to run the "classic" Greyhawk modules... I'd like to kind of write my own story. 8) I was thinking of an epic quest that starts with the first level characters simply assigned to bring back a runaway prince... only to have the story spiral out from there to encompass a plot to release Tharizdun that turns out to be a plot to keep big T in his place, and actually bring big C into the realm, along with lots of continent-hopping, adventure seeking, cult-tracing, seeking of magic coins which will return knowledge of elemental and wild magic to Greyhawk, and a culmination in a giant temple in the heart of the Hellfurnaces. If I want, I have lots of outs for both tying into the "classic" campaign, as well as crossing over into events leading up to the War (I already have a couple ideas of changing some Basic and Expert modules that could tie into efforts to thwart Iuz.... yes, I'll post updates 8).
I know this is a lot to ask, but this board seems to have the most learned group of Greyhawk sages around, so I have come to you. 8)
You can also take a non-D&D approach. Fudge is free, easy to teach, and easy to use. I don't advise going to d20 if you're not familiar with it. Regardless, keep it simple at first.
Definately agree with the keep it simple.
If your kids are not gamers, it will be easy to overwhelm and bewilder them with choices. Especially re: kits.
For the more analytical types, present a FEW choices of classes, with advantages and dissadvantages clearly described, and allow them to work out what they want.
For the more creative, have them DESCRIBE the kind of character they would like to play, and you can choose the class or kit for them - you work out the rules, then tell them what they can and can't do. _________________ My campaigns are multilayered tapestries upon which I texture themes and subject matter which, quite frankly, would simply be too strong for your hobbyist gamer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mp7Ikko8SI
Actually, that's not a bad idea. What I was thining is kind of describing the core classes to them a little, then letting them decide what kind of character they would want to be. Maybe I'll let them describe first, then give options afterwards. Might be a little easier. 8)
As an aside... I've been pouring through non-canonical sources for adventure ideas in my new campaign. So far, I have a found a LOT of modules that can be insertied into Greyhawk with only minor modifications/conversions required. I have already started developing a rather evil sidetrip in the Sea of Dust and neighboring areas, using the modules The Lost City, Master of the Desert Nomads, Temple of Death, Pharoah, Oasis of the White Palm and Lost Tomb of Martek. I also have found a way to integrate Rahasia that helps explain why Celene seems to hate outsiders so, and Lost Island of Castanimir as a means of reintroducing Wild Magic into the world. I will post more as I continue delving, and when I start to do the actual converting.
Lots of folks will probably hate this but the way I've been doing it the last five years or so is making up a pool of pre-rolled characters with basic backgrounds and equipment and then letting the players choose a character from the pool. Then we flesh out more detail on the backgrounds and let them get whatever further equipment with the cash they have left. That way the players have backgrounds and motivations that don't clash with the campaign setting plus they have plenty of material to build their own motivations upon. My players have been very happy with this setup and have never beefed about wanting to roll up their own characters. Most of them have been very experienced gamers too.
Of course 3e gives players more chances to customize their characters to fit their personalities as they go along, so this may not work as well with 2e. Just a thought.
Pre-gen characters were a staple in the early modules.
Many of these were tournemant modules, so the pre-gens leveled the playing field between competitors. But, IIRC, there were pre-gens in the B-series of Basic modules that were NOT tournenment modules.
As long as you add on enough background to make them relevant, I don't see why anyone would have a problem with this. Indeed, with a pre-gen you have the chance of making a character that meets your ideas of characterization and background, rather than just being the min/maxed stat block that some players would create. _________________ My campaigns are multilayered tapestries upon which I texture themes and subject matter which, quite frankly, would simply be too strong for your hobbyist gamer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mp7Ikko8SI
I hadn't really thought about using pre-gens, but maybe that is a good idea. Then, if they die, they can roll their own. What I might do is, instead of rolling, get them to decribe their character, and then come up with stats from that. Or, if they're down with it... maybe come up with "perfected' real worl equivalents of each person.
Some good ideas here.....
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