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Yesterday, someone asked for more resources about the Hold of the Sea Princes in the GHO Discord server / channel. I compiled the links below when preparing for my Hold campaign in 2020. (Some are ann ...

Can anyone recall if "Chronos" from the Gord books was a New Infinities version of Cyndor or Lender or a completely separate being?
My (dim) recollection is that Chronos is one of a trio of greater g ...

First, I offer my condolences for your loss.

Regarding your idea of applying the twin motif to Hextor and Heironeous, it seems to resonate well, and making the brothers twins instead of half-broth ...

IIRC, Marklands was released just before Iuz the Evil, which was followed by City of Skulls. Vecna Lives! is earlier than all of them, and mostly focuses on its eponymous villain, but as mentioned, it ...

Your post reminds me that I just read this passage from the LGG, "The successful prosecution of the Hateful Wars brought Yolande even greater honor: she was invested by the Grand Court with the Mantle ...

I used Border Watch to good and similar effect in my FtA 2e campaign, which I believe started in late 582 CY.

I encourage you to consider in what era you want the PCs to adventure. Do you imagine ...

I like your ideas about the proto-Flan and parallel rise to prominence of what we call the Old Faith and Ur-Flan.

A recent Discord conversation (can't recall if it was in the Canonfire! or Greyhaw ...

That's my recollection. IIRC, the idea of sacred banders was bandied about on the old GreyTalk listserv circa 1998-2000. (I can't be more precise.)

I think that these articles are the "final versio ...

This is super helpful, as it analyzes something I hadn't cognized about the change from the WoG and FtA to the LGG population figures.

For the Hold of the Sea Princes, the WoG (folio and boxed set) ...

I like what you've described. In my view, however, the Old Faith would preceded, or perhaps be contemporary with the origins of the Ur-Flan.

Regarding your query about Flan star and moon deities, ...

Since Docjaques is French, I've assumed that they are Bien (Good) and Mal (Evil).

Your query reminds me of Dargarth's old idea of "sacred banders" of Hextor, in his article on the origins of Kelanen. See [url=http://www.canonfire.com/cf//modules.php?name=News&file=article&s ...

If anyone has any comments or questions about my articles in Visions of Greyhawk, please post them! I am also looking for suggestions on future articles here. It is great to be here!
Delighted that y ...

Thanks for sharing this Docjacques. I'm intrigued by your assertion that the Olman are another name for the Ur-Flan, which I don't think I've ever prior read.

I've been puzzling over the Olman and ...

Thanks for the time check about Spelljammer and the Far Realm!

I didn't know that Phlogiston was impassible and apparently forgot that about teleport without error, which I see also had that capaci ...

5th edition Spelljammer eliminated crystal spheres, for whatever that's worth.

From a practical perspective, if you're going to build a setting about traveling to other star systems in flying ships ...

Just last week I was reading an old Q&A with Gary where he talked about the Eye of Fire, and I cannot now find it! Very frustrating. According to him, the eye was always a triangle that was subd ...

I just downloaded it without a problem. Maybe deactivate your anti-virus program for a moment (since the source is trustworthy)?

Thanks edmundscott for posting your questions. I had missed this pub ...

These have been great reviews overall, but this latest focus has taken the cake. I identified a couple of Living Greyhawk modules that derive from the Slavelords, including COR7-05 City of Malice and ...

I've started reading (listening, really) to The Witcher anthologies and novels and recently completed Baptism of Fire, which featured an extended discussion about multi-generational machinations to b ...

They're interesting and provocative ideas, which risk misuse or misunderstanding, imo.

Nijineko mentioned the Life Shaping Handbookbelieves that it is replicating the ancient "magical breeding" pr ...

I like the idea of titans, perhaps with dwarfish dimensions(?), and perhaps iron golems (or of other metals?), including one sentient one. Cyclopes would work, but I don't like the dragon idea because ...

This is a solid overview of the Pathfinder aiudaras (elf gates), https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Elf_gate, with good references, including a recent PF 2e Adventure Path, [url=https://paizo.com/store/p ...

"Faerie" - in some form or other - the homeland of elves and fey; probably won't be an alternate Prime, but more like the Shadow Plane or Ethereal, in that it's accessible from many Primes (via regio- ...

That makes sense for PCs.

IMC, based in the Hold of the Sea Princes, I've been careful not to create too many high level cleric NPCs, which has made even the possibility of casting raise dead very ...

Thanks Marc!—writing the bits and fragments of lore is one of my favorite aspects of designing for Greyhawk :)

Allan.
I agree. Evoking the world through the author's distinctive "voice" is quite f ...

These are amazing Allan. I especially like your epigraphs by Iggwilv.

That's one change of which I approve because Sybarate Island is supposed to have an area of about 20 square miles, or 4.48 miles square, and thus be so small that it shouldn't appear on a Darlene-scal ...

The Canonfire! Discord channel featured a lot of clowning on "Aeriaak" and critique of the elision of terms like the "Caliphate" of Ekbir and replacement by other terms derived from Earth's Islamic hi ...

It sounds like you've revised your sense of the olven history from how you presented it in 2006, "[url=http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=761]The Pre-Cataclysm Er ...

I didn't mind it. As best I can recall, at the time I thought the nuance was interesting, but I've read similar critiques to what you present and find them valid, particularly given the shift away fro ...

I'd say you just did! As the most used part of the CF! forums, this seems like as fine a place as any.

Consider describing your intended campaign a bit to entice interested players.

I'm finally starting to read Samwise's Glossography of the Flanaess – Peoples and Cultures and am going to post comments and questions here rather than only in the Greytalk Discord channel.

Page 5– ...

For your "Olve/Dwurrow (Me)" listings, have you any thoughts about UK1's "beautiful half-elven princess, Caerwyn," and "her human lover . . . the magic user Porpherio Profoundeus."

IMC, this has in ...

I just found the forum post that I had been looking for regarding [url=http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1575]my thoughts about Berghof in Oct. 2005. The pos ...

First, sorry for my delayed response: when I first read this, I wanted to respond thoughtfully but then got bogged down by grading exams . . .

Here are my thoughts on earning piety with Atroa . . ...

He wants to play a Forsaken from World of Warcraft. But I'll ask him about a damphir, or Almor, or even being a creation of the horned society.
I read a bit about the Forsaken at Dragon 252 and "The ...

Samwise answered this in Oerth Journal articles.

I just found another vital conversation on the Hold. In August 2006, Rurik started [url=http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=Forums&file ...

Two of my players are my cousins -- brother and sister (the brother goes by Soulcleave online). Soulcleave wants to play an undead. I asked him about this a couple of times, and he's set on playing a ...

Initial responses to Samwise’s Cosmogony 2.4

First, it’s a masterful synthesis, accounting for (I think) almost every deity that Gygax, Lakofka, Moore, Sargent, Holian, Mona, and others created in ...

I thought that our Glossography, I highlight that Monmurg is about latitude 23˚ North, which puts it around the same latitude as Havana, Cuba (23° 07' 58.87" N), and has proven substantially help ...

I join others who recommended Wizard's Amulet and Crucible of Freya. (I think the latter was the first Necromancer Games module that I bought back in the heyday of 3e / d20.)

Although formally set ...

Hi Skech. Never having heard of it, I looked to Gary Holian's article on and map of Keoland in Living Greyhawk Journal #1 and found no mention of it.

However, the Earldom of Linth is described as " ...

I've just downloaded these and want to read them immediately! However, I have to finish grading exams and submitting grades, so I'll not likely begin commenting until later in the week.

But thanks ...

Thanks for sharing this! I've not used Evard and look forward to learning more about your version of him and his network, and your version of Gradsul too.

As one of the most populous cities of the ...

Here's some some early 2005 discussion of the Hold vis-à-vis UK 2 The Sentinel, Samwise posted his first Grand Sheldomar Timeline article (in September 2004), and then again in 2014 to 2015.

In a ...

Taking a break from exam grading, I see lots of lovely posts. Here're a few resources that are relevant to Keoland and the Hold of the Sea Princes in general. Later, I will try to find and post past C ...

Grodog, thanks for recommending Adkison’s The Primal Order. (It's another of the publications that caught my interest shortly after its publication but which I didn't originally purchase.) Archie488, ...

Thanks for sharing your blog post discussing your drafting (and redrafting) of your map!

The heresy itself is varied, and I’ve sketched out several different options, which change the nature of the ...

Thanks for responding to Archie488's query Physcor_Whelm. (I didn't initially respond because I was unfamiliar with the Piety subsystem that Mythic Odysseys of Theros introduced several years ago.)
...

Can you share an overview of the Heretical Temple of Wee Jas?

The Stern Lady's church has featured substantially in my Hold of the Sea Princes campaign, particularly the temple in Monmurg. Although ...

Has anyone had success integrating Dragonborn, Goblins, Tieflings, and/or Warforged into the Greyhawk setting? Were any drawbacks discovered?
The closest I've come is a couple of 2e campaigns. In one ...

Thank you Allan! What a trove!

I've read the Grognardia review of White Dwarf #35 and downloaded your class. I'll try to watch / listen to your interview though it will likely take me a while to fi ...

Thanks for the tips about articles in Dragon #89 and 106. (I think that those were issues I didn't originally collect although the covers are familiar.) Thanks too for the tip about White Wolf #9. I w ...

Yes, I loved this, especially how you braided Greyhawk lore, including GVDammerung's "Roll of the Viceroys of Ferrond and the Kings of Furyondy" from his article, [url=http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modu ...

To mtg:

As far as what I actually have used in my campaigns, I only used the Mageholm in Rel Deven and the School of Fire to any large degree.

For Mageholm, I had my party immediately followin ...

I loved this one even more than the first and appreciate the multiple links that you included.

I'm particularly intrigued by your "Abyssal Rift" adventure . . . Do you plan to publish it? If not, ...

NPCs/Critical Threats sounds like an excellent topic for a postfest. I would gladly go along with that and contribute too.

I'm putting the final touches on Visions #3, which should come out before ...

Great idea Phalastar. grodog, it's neat seeing who's in the mix presently.

DMPrata, I love your PCs' names and related details (e.g., titles, homelands, religions, ethnic/racial heritage)! CruelSu ...

Thanks for your sharing your thoughtful reflections Allan. I hope you'll share whatever you develop vis-à-vis an “Arcane Age”-style Greyhawk campaign wherein the PCs are apprentices and initiates to " ...

Congratulations! I'm grateful that you've engaged with and contributed so much to the online Greyhawk community. Your comics brought lovely irony and whimsy to the setting, and your collaboration with ...

Osmund-Davizid's recent post prompts me to ask a related (in my mind question): which D&D edition, or other RPG system, in your opinion, "best" represents / structures magic in your Greyhawk campa ...

Thank Allan! The prior discussion sent me to Postfest III and made me wonder about Postfest XIX, but now I'll look through Postfest XIII and Postfest XIV to learn / remember what we've prior done.

...

Whether to stat out a character or not should be up to the individual poster, imo. Some might present full stats. Others might just suggest a level and noteworthy abilities. Also, it will be interesti ...

A postfest sounds grand. It's been so long since I've seen one, how do you call for it nowadays?

Also, I can't recall which OJ issue featured it, but I'm recalling an article that presented several ...

Thanks for sharing this Allan. I loved reading about your experience and musing about the origins of our hobby vis-à-vis its co-founder.

I like the idea and have thought about submitting NPCs from my Hold of the Sea Princes campaign. Many of the NPC antagonists would fit well with the Critical Threats theme, and a couple of them derive ...

While replying to another post, I came across Mortellan's World of Greyhawk Primer and thought to link it here to help collect various folks' introductions, overviews, primers, etc. for Greyhawk.

Thanks again for creating this Osmund-Davizid. Not only have I read your latest article, but I also read GVDammerung's "Dragon issue 123 and recalled how much I enjoyed that issue, particularly James ...

pickwick, one reference to inform your decisions as DM is the Glossography of the 1983 World of Greyhawk boxed set, which on page 17 lists "Rulers of Greyhawk," providing their names, classes, and le ...

Thanks for sharing this Sam. Below is a slightly revised version of what I provided to the three people with whom I've been exploring / co-creating my current Hold of the Sea Princes campaign (which s ...

I can't wait to read your article Osmund-Davizid (and the series to which you linked by GVDammerung)! Thanks for sharing it. He was prolific.

Recently I was looking for a listing of Greyhawk tomes, ...

Tieflings especially, as they are fiend-blooded, wouldn't be tolerated in almost any civilized area when you consider they were so destructive and prominent in the GH wars that it took the Flight of t ...

Thanks to CF!'s homepage featuring David Leonard's Greyhawk Musings (Dec. 15, 2023)The Silmarillion. For a time, I was also somewhat taken with the argument that Philidor might be a future Tenser from ...

I have written a cosmogony with several pages on all of that. Hopefully it will show up sometime next year.
I look forward to it! I've not been in the Discord for many a moon, so I missed your return ...

Xerbo is a Dragon, specifically a dragon turtle, as per his symbol. While not inherently hostile to the Titans and Giants, he has no particular consideration for them either, and treats them as any ot ...

Glad to hear it's helpful. I'd forgotten that Ghosts of Saltmarsh made that NPC a tiefling and agree with your decision to change it: although later editions made them "uncommon," my sense of Greyhawk ...

Thanks for your responses, Docjacques.

Your explanations regarding Tiamat made me think of the other deific dragons and Samwise's Visions of Greyhawk article, "Giants of the Flanaess."

If I und ...

Congratulations on another volume! It looks great.

Late to the game, I downloaded it a couple days ago, just started reading it, and plan to pose questions here as I read through the articles.

...

Thanks for sharing your updates. I avoided reading them when I was still actively playing to avoid risking reading a spoiler but feel that enough time has passed to make it reasonable for me to glimps ...

All right, I see that the articles are now posted. Let me explain a few things about my thought process.

. . .

I encourage you to revisit the original post anyway, there was a lot of good disc ...

SirXaris, thanks for the comment and comparison to your Sister Aspinet from your Agnosco Adventum. After your comment, I reviewed her again and see the resemblance.

IMC, the PCs confronted Lady Æl ...

Docjacques, I join tarelton in thanking you for sharing this tremendous effort. I've read the whole post once and just reviewed its first part, on which I now comment now. (I plan to comment on other ...

Transferred from the From the Ashes setting - the geomancy of the Walker, the appearance of Philidor in the mortal world, the foretold release of Tharizdun. In Carl Sargent's Monster Mythology, anothe ...

Oronir asked the following on Discord:
Question to all and <Samwise> <Pluffet> why was Tavish III Rhola called The Boy King?
Samwise entered stage left, stroked his beard thoughtfully a ...

Hopefully this isn't too late: I'm just returning to the forums after a multi-month break.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh features an ambassador of Iuz within the town. I disliked this idea upon first readin ...

O-D, thanks for sharing Mantor. (I've enjoyed your sahuagin article and Keoish Intelligence Reports.)

Where do you place Mantor on the Darlene map, or if not fixed, what selection of hexes do you ...

How much can we glean of the culture of SURFACE elves by the description of the dark elves in Vault of the Drow? . . .

For instance, is it possible surface elves are matriachal in some way? Celene ...

Reviewing the responses, I increasingly favor the use of a geas by Eritai on a contrite Pappy, who must deal with incredulous Thieves' Guild colleagues (and possibly an attempted assassination).

Re ...

Thanks all for sharing your thoughts. Below, I apply my synthesis of what you shared to my campaign.

As noted in my original post, I am focused on two successions / dispositions, the Commodoreships ...

Whether Pappy is technically guilty of burglary, I'm not sure. What he did was enter Eritai's private chambers and magically copy her personal notes, without actually removing any object from the pre ...

In canon sources, or your campaign, which kingdoms practice primogeniture? I've started searching the canon sources but have yet to find anything directly on point.

Presently, I'm thinking that the ...

First, your campaign sounds like great fun. Thanks for sharing your questions.

A month has passed and I determined that Eritai was eventually able to determine what happened, via commune and old-fa ...

Originally the plan was to publish both together, which would have been more synergistic. But we wanted to get the issue out on time. Port Toli will have a lot more lore about the god and the rake. ...

A couple initial comments:

The examples in Samwise's Appendix N: Kingdom Rules are hilarious. (I still can't decide if I best like his depictions of Thrommel or Tenser.)

Also, I greatly enjoyed ...

So exciting! Can't wait to start reading it!

I love this question, and thanks for the detailed reply tarelton.

First, a brief comment about a few demi-human languages. For dwarves and gnomes, I've assumed something akin to Norse runes provide ...

Goodnight all
I can't imagine a Fraternity welcoming women. Have you considered a Scarlet Sisterhood, auxiliary to the Brotherhood but with an independent organization chart.
Sean K. Reynolds's The ...

I came across this discussion while searching for "Scarlet Brotherhood." Thanks for the thoughtful discussion. Here's my contribution.

In England after the Norman conquest of 1066, the king's grant ...

SirXaris, this provides me an opportunity to share that I enjoyed Sister Aspinet, Jongleur, and the Carnelian of Carnage (a.k.a., Stone of Unhinging), particularly their scene at the Salty Serpent.
...