I have just had near mint copies of the following 1st Ed UK series modules come into my clutches. Given they were published in 1984-85 I'd expect them to be set in Greyhawk, however there is no obvious Greyhawk content in them and it looks like they have a generic setting. Does anyone know if there is any Greyhawk background behind any of these modules?
While some of the UK series were very specifically Greyhawk (UK1 was set on an island off the coast of the Sea Princes, while the Gauntlet and Sentinel were in the lands of the Sea Princes), most of the rest were set in generic places.
Having said that, UK7 was one of my favorite modules. I retrofit it into Greyhawk by placing it in the east. Specifically, I made Lurneslye a village in the Pale, and Melmond being in Ratik, with a pass connecting the two. There is typically very little trade done between these two nations, as the religious extremism of the Pale typically frowns on recieving aid from Ratik.
The Cloudscape mountains is merely a local name for the Rakers. The religious zeal of the villiagers makes them perfect Palites. And the retreat of the wizard Devral is appropriately placed high in these mountains.
For further adventures, see my article Hell on Oerth, for more possible interaction with the ba'atun in Oerth.
I've always thought UK6 was obviously designed for Greyhawk, but then made more generic prior to release. I mean, c'mon...you start in a jungle, travel through mountains to reach the "Ash Waste"?
Personally, I'm definitely using UK6 in my next campaign. I still haven't done anything with it, but I plan to develop an ancient Suel city in the southern Amedio at the terminus to the tunnel in UK6. It'll be pretty far south (and quite overgrown), to explain why the Scarlet Brotherhood haven't yet discovered it.
Lotsa plot twists there that I haven't worked out yet...
But to answer your original question (sorry about my tangent), I don't think any of the other UK modules have anything specifically Hawk about them. IMHO, some of them are still great despite that. _________________ ~basiliv
I didn't design the world,
I merely facilitated its creation
In my campaign, UK 6 fits well in a location in the Hellfurnaces, east of the Amedio and bordering the Sea of Dust. I based that location on information gleaned from the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer in the Sea of dust entry. (See the bottom two paragraphs of page 155 in the Gazetteer for the reference I mean.)
Rob Vest, the DM and chronicler of the "Bastard Greyhawk" campaign placed UK 4 in the westernmost edge of the Drachensgrabs for his game, a location which works well. Rob's web site and contact information is here:
homepages.ius.edu/rvest/Greyhawk.html
He was quite willing to explain to me how he fit the module in, including some excellent background information. You might want to look over his site and drop him a line if you are curious. _________________ <div>Braggi, Swain and Varlet at Large<br /></div>
I took a look at "Adventures in Greyhawk" and "Greyhawk Modules Locations", but didn't see anything for UK5 Eye of the Serpent. Reviews put in the "OK" category, and the "Roc drops you and a bunch of other travelers off on a mountaintop" looks a little contrived, but 1st level modules are rare, so...
It seems to require:
1) A decent-sized mountain range next to a dry area with a large stream or small river leading to a wooded area;
2) The dry area is populated by horsemen called the Kharg;
3) There are duegar in the area. Not surprising for a mountain range.
I assume the Crystalmists and the Dry Steppe, although the Kharge name places "Rushmede" (very Anglo-Saxon). Maybe "Rushmede" is a translation of what the Kharg call it?
"Eye of the Serpent" is accused of being railroady, which is not necessarily the end of the world, but the initial set-up is rather contrived. I could see a pair of rocs capturing four people and depositing them in their nest, but then leaving them alone for several hours, letting them escape? And why deposit them in the nest so gently? Why not drop them from 40' or 50' up? The scenario is more plausible if the characters are MEANT to escape their predicament. In the three different scenarios (druid, ranger, or monk PC), the one NPC common to all three is a cleric. What if a deity set this up as a test? The NPC cleric could even get a premonition of the test, and announce to the others that they would be tested today. That way, when the rocs grab them, the cleric could shout that this must be test, ensuring that the PC(s) don't resist, which would likely result in getting themselves killed and ruing the test (and the adventure). So, which deity, and why?
Whimsy: I immediately thought of Zagyg as a deity who would do something like that on a whimsy, but you could argue that he's a little overused in that vein. Other possibilities could be Erevan Ilesere or Garl Glittergold. The recommended cleric NPC is a human, but the DM could either modify that, or maybe assume that the cleric is a very odd (and whimsical?) human.
Destiny/Fate: Istus has already been used (Fate of Istus) for this. Other possibilities are Labelas Enoreth, Lendor, or Ralishaz, doing something similar to what Istus did in Fate of Istus, only on a much smaller scale, effecting four people, and in a much more direct fashion. Maybe Beory, if a druid adherent of hers is one of the tested.
Rigorous Outdoor Adventurousness: Aerdrie Fenya, Atroa, Fharlanghn, Ehlonna, Llerg, Kord, Obad-Hai, Phaulkon, Rudd, Solonor Therandira, Velnius, Xan Yae, and Zuoken could all fit the bill. Aerdrie Fenya, Ehlonna, Fharlanghn, Phaulkon, Rudd or Solonor Therandira could be particularly appropriate if one of the tested is a ranger, Obad-Hai or Velnius if one of tested is a druid (particularly if the druid is one of the faithful), or Xan Yae or Zuoken (for a monk). An additional consideration is that Aerdrie Fenya and Phaulkon are both closely connected to rocs, able typically summon them to do their bidding. A minor point is that the NPC cleric is described as wearing red and white. Kord's colors are red, white and blue.
One issue is whether a demi-deity would have the power and time on their hands to control rocs to kidnap people, or cause cave-ins and rock slides just to arrange a test. As a comparison, Iuz had the Boneheart and the Boneshadow, but they're not necessarily that powerful, and least not in a timely fashion, to engineer this, so maybe not Rudd or Zuoken?
Another issue is whether a Good-aligned deity would endanger three other people for a test like this. Might rule out some of the deities that are fully Good.
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