Canonfire! Forums-viewtopic-Living Greyhawk Gazeteer

Wed Sep 01, 2004 4:48 am Living Greyhawk Gazeteer - What Gives?

More than a couple people have mentioned or implied that the Living Greyhawk Gazateer (LGG) is something that should be accorded less than "canon" status. I am wondering why. The LGG is distinct from the LG and its activities in that the LGG is fully published to a large audience, is well-enough researched and can hardly be said to "revolutionize" any aspect of the setting. So what is the problem with according it as much "canon" status as From the Ashes or the Adventure Begins that I am not seeing?

GVD

Wed Sep 01, 2004 9:34 am

Hey GVD,

For me, it is selfish interest. I've paid over 1,000$ in product and I have a strong 2e campain. I'll be damned if I completely overhaul my system to encorporate unnessessary rules and geographic situations. Some of my players play outside 3e or 3.5e games but they keeep coming back.

I have a serious gripe with the buisness practices of the various companies. I have enjoyed 2 outside campains 1e and 2e that used only the 82 boxed set and imagination. I will encorporate new Ideas but not spend another dime to get a marginal product line or 3/4 rehash. As I've posted before, all my monies will be spent on graph paper and pencils and my share of the pizza and beer.

Muscles

Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:54 am

Just a note, the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer has about zero content that is specifically Third Edition. It is almost totally devoid of rules-related material.

Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:54 am

Wed Sep 01, 2004 12:26 pm

Fri Sep 03, 2004 1:36 am

Indeed, i enjoyed the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer imensely and the fact that it didnt have any extra rules in it made it lighter reading for me . Apart from that fact though i very much enjoy books that are mostly fluff from time to time becuase it provides a straight down the line interesting read. I'm also glad that they brought out the LGG to bring the world of greyhawk to a new generation of gamers after the setting was apparently dead for a 5 year stretch.

Keep up the good work folks.

Happy

Sun Sep 05, 2004 6:35 am

LGG is actually quite useful for any edition palyer, it has lots of world info and almost no new rules.

One of the good things in the GH campaign is that it evolves, and it goes on in interesting ways. The basic set was very good, but the greyhawk wars did got the plot going and made things even more interesting as it showed the world was not static!

when the 'adventure begins' appeared it had plenty of references to the famous modules and its effects on the worls, 'a group of adventures did this', 'a party of heroes did that' was very comon on this book, it got the plot rolling too! It showed the harsh times of reconstruction.

The LGG is just the evolution of the many plots and the effect of the new modules, added with plenty of new intrigues and adventure possibilities, it is just fantastic. If you read it careful you'll notice that many of the plot lines presented in the marklands and other products of the GH wars and foward were solved here - so baron bastrayne fled with Nyronds gold... it was presented in marklands and solved more than a few years later in the new world books.

I agree with 'muscles' about his home campaign. If you're playing and having fun with your own plot why use the official plot advancement? I'd just try to make things fall on the right places to make the home campaign and the official books more in line so you can use anything interesting they manage to publish for GH in the future, but that's a personal choice.

Tue Sep 07, 2004 11:53 pm

GVD,

Are you sure folks were disparaging the LGG? There is a lot of folks who will make sure that no one mistakes Living Greyhawk website and other such materials for canon. But it is pretty hard to say the Gazeteer is not canonical.

There are a lot of folks who play earlier editions or timeframes, like Muscles does. But that's a different issue than saying the LGG is uncanonical. No one is required to be canonical in their home campaigns.

Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:25 pm

Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:58 pm

Abysslin,

I understand and do not disagree with your point that the LGG was designed to facilitate LG.

I think, however, that the LGG is distinct from LG for all that. IMO, the LGG may be where LG started but LG has long departed from the confines of the LGG. Yet, the LGG remains what it was when it was published.

Taken then on its own terms, I think the LGG is a fine statement of Greyhawk developing from The Adventure Begins era. I see in LGG no great outrages or even departures from what had come before. It strikes me as a very conservative and mostly organic document.

If the LGG perpetrated some outrage on Greyhawk. Say, raising the Isles of Woe. Wink

Or killing Iuz! Happy

Or starting a continent wide war. Cool

I could see a claim that the LGG must be rejected as Greyhawk in name only. I don't see this, however.

The link between the LGG and the LG, that we all know and love, is to me attenuated and not enough to condemn the LGG on that basis alone. I see the LGG, on its own merits and its four corners, as very much in the line of "core" GH products with the WoG box, FtA and tAB.

But mileage will necessarily vary. Or it wouldn't be Greyhawk. Laughing

GVD

Wed Sep 08, 2004 2:10 pm