LRGCB: The Elements of a Story

I mentioned last week that everyone should read Chapter 2: DM's Guide to the City Campaign because it provides a ton of advice for game masters of all stripes and today I wanted to focus on the six elements of a story that Douglas Niles identified. These elements are: VillainForeshadowingMysteryChallengeTimingReward Let's talk a little bit…

Everyone Should Read Chapter 2 of Gem of the Flanaess

Shut up. I realized that I just posted yesterday that the City of Greyhawk stuff will all be on Mondays, but I just finished Chapter 2 of the first booklet: Gem of the Flanaess and everyone should read this chapter. DM's Guide to the City Campaign is a love letter to game masters everywhere as…

Why Did the City of Greyhawk Slow Down?

I got a DM on twitter the other day that asked why I had stopped writing down my thoughts on the City of Greyhawk and I thought I would take a moment to explain. I had been working with an old copy I bought in a Used Book store a couple of years ago. It…

Greyhawk: If We Can Keep Rary from Blowing it Up

One of the defining moments in the Greyhawk lore occurs when Rary goes from being a trusted member of the Circle into a traitor. Rary was an interesting choice for this turn as prior to the event his character was described as: . . . quiet, dignified, and a skilled mediator and peacemaker . .…

LRCGB: Greyhawk and Higher Learning

The City of Greyhawk Boxed set often provides its readers with tantalizing bits of information that are thrown out without any additional connections beyond what it assumes are the most obvious to its readers. Here the book focus on three schools: the University of Magic Arts, Grey College, and the School of Clerkship. These schools…

LRCGB: In Defense of Greyhawk They Stand, Sort of

The defense of the City of Greyhawk is a bit of a question mark. So the first defense is the New City Wall[1]. This has been tested by a few bandits and "bands of ruffians"[2] but has never encountered any serious efforts to overcome it. This is coupled by the Old City Wall which serves…

Money and Power, Part 2: Guilds and Unions

One of the things that I think many of us struggle with is whether to use "guilds" or "unions" in our games. So as we're dealing with the financial juggernaut that is the City of Greyhawk we need to take a minute to talk about the difference between the two and to explain when one…

Let’s Read the City of Greyhawk Boxed Set: When You Talk About Money, You’re Talking About Power

The text states: The exact amount of financial dealings going on in Greyhawk is impossible to calculate, for it passes through many hands, leaving its mark in countless ways. Suffice to say that no place on the Flanaess sees as much value pass through its gates during the course of a year . . ."Niles,…

It’s All About the Trade, Part 2: Factories

I was thinking a bit more about factories in the City of Greyhawk last night and it occurred to me that some people might not understand the significance of having factories in the city as they've never worked in a factory, and might not know anyone who has, so they may not understand the sort…

Let’s Read the City of Greyhawk Boxed Set: It’s All About the Trade

Greyhawk began it existence like many towns located along a river, as a trading town. For the City of Greyhawk their proximity to the great lake, the Nyr Dyv, made them a prime location for goods traveling from what would become the independent nations of Furyondy, Urnst, and Nyrond back to the heart of the…

Let’s Read The City of Greyhawk, Part 2: Climate

The text states: The city is not subject to the extremes of the weather across the Flanaess. This fact is important to the poorer denizens of the Slum Quarter, who often must sleep without a roof over their heads . . ."Niles, 3 This seems to imply that the City of Greyhawk is home to…

Let’s Read: City of Greyhawk, Part 1: Demographics

The most interesting thing about the first few pages of the City of Greyhawk comes from its demographics: The city contains all sorts of people, and a few other sorts of individuals. About 80% of the city's population are native Greyhawkers, with another 14% humans from about the Nyr Dyv, Rhennee, barbarians from the north…

Let’s Read The City of Greyhawk Boxed Set: Introduction

This month I've been finding myself thinking more and more about the Greyhawk Wars, to the point where it has practically taken over the second series of Greyhawk Posters, and I've decided that any time I get this fixated on an idea that the only way to deal with it is to actually do it.…

Organizing My Thoughts on the Greyhawk Wars

In order to cover the event in any reasonable manner I'm going to have to divide it up into segments. All of these will have the Greyhawk Wars Research category if you're looking to follow just this category. Order of Research 1.) The City of Greyhawk Boxed Set: An exploration of the boxed set to…

An Incomplete Chronology of the Greyhawk Wars

One of the things about a complex cannon of events in a world like Greyhawk is that you quickly find yourself confused about what happened when, to whom, and how it all got there to begin with. The Greyhawk Wars, which I'm clearly preoccupied with of late, are just such an event. What complicates the…