Greyhawk Questions for Eric / James / Uncle


Age of Worms Adventure Path


Okay, a couple of questions for Eric or James here, and then one for Rob, should he find this thread:

Are any of the NPCs in Diamond Lake meant to be pure blooded (meaning Baklunish, Flan, etc.), and if so does the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (or any other official source) have different traits listed for the human subgroups?

Uncle: I'd like for my PCs to have the chance to meet lots of big name NPCs in Greyhawk at some point. Where would they have to go to meet Lord Robilar, and what would his disposition on the Age of Worms be?

Also, if anyone has any notes to add about running the AoW in Greyhawk that come to mind at this point, feel free to add those in, too.

Thanks!

TK


Oh, and before you ask, Robilar will be a dragon rider in my game - no metal ponies. :-)


My group set up a "mining" business shipping the iron balls from the Cairn to Minaryn Castle near Harby - that was an adventure in itself finding somewhere to take them (one PC is from Hardby). I'm luring them back to Hardby tonight, on the premise that their shipments have been held up somewhere - turns out the political climate in Hardby is uch that the eisting ruler is nearly dead and everyone wants their faction to provide the next ruler. As such, the PC's will "conveniently" be in town when Robilar is too, and get wrapped up in the politics of the succession (Robilar is there working for Rary). It's part of the overall Living Greyhawk plot arc about the Bright Sands, which I've stolen and transposed into Age of Worms as a side-trek or two. Specifically, this piece is the plot from "Rallying Point for the Bright Sands".

So I guess Robiliar is one you could add, somewhere near Hardby. Also, Tasha could return to the region (I'm using her as a messenger to get the PC's to Hardby). If you realy want to go for broke, why not have your group meet Otto in the Green Dragon Inn of the Free City... not sure why though.


Issue 0, Volume 1 of the Living Greyhawk Journal explains how neither Tenser nor Robilar really "fit in" in with what is now the Circle of Eight, and both left the group. Here is how I used Robilar in my campaign.

Eventually, after Tenser receives part seven of the Rod of Seven Parts from the players in a trade, he decides to go on a quest for the sixth piece. He forms a group of epic level adventurers to seek out the piece, which is held by a powerful pit fiend named Visciannix (see dungeon issues #130 and #135.) I described to the players a scene where they witness these incredibly powerful individuals outfitting themselves for an excursion into Hell, one of them being Lord Robilar, amongst others. It gave them a chance to interact with some of the flavor of Greyhawk, and forshadowed what they would soon become: power players in the realm of Oerth.

Ultimately, Tenser and Robilar will return in the final chapter of the Age of Worms to loan the combined pieces to the group as aid against Kyuss.

Sovereign Court

Things I want to add to my upcoming Age of Worms campaign to make it more Greyhawkish:

- Diamond Lake: You'd think a mining town in Greyhawk would have a shrine to Bleredd, or even Ulaa. A concerned cleric of Bleredd could be used to get the PC's involved in Three Faces of Evil if Smenk doesn't work. Other gods that could use some presence in Diamond Lake: Zagyg, Zilchus, Celestian (Observatory), Norebo (Zalamandra's), Beory (Bronzewood Lodge), Mayaheine (Garrison), Xan Yae & Zuoken (Twilight Monastery).

- Hall of Harsh Reflections & The Champion's Belt: Much of this will depend on the type of characters my players will have. If there's a rogue in the group, what kind of Greyhawk campaign would it be if the players go to Greyhawk and don't encounter its Thieves' Guild? A wizard would do well to visit the University of Magical Arts and possibly gain an audience with Kieren Jalucian. I was thinking of using the Golden Scimitar mercenaries to enforce the peace in Midnight Muddle, since it's located in Greyhawk's Foreign Quarter. Another possibility includes using the Horned Society, who have a presence in the Free City and, through their affiliation with Nerull, would make good allies for the cult of Kyuss. Andrade Mirrius and Guiliana Mortidus could make great behind-the-scenes villains.

- Spire of Long Shadows: Instead of teleporting directly to Kuluth-Mar, I would teleport my PC's to Gradsul, whereupon they can hire the Olman guide, Rhialle, to lead them to Lake Matreyus and the Spire of Long Shadows. Along the way, they encounter a Scarlet Brotherhood blockade and their [i]dominated[i] sea monster. The journey continues through Sasserine, Cauldron, and finally Elatalhuihle/Kuluth-Mar. Perhaps I'll include a Scarlet Brotherhood rival party (a monk, an assassin, a necromancer, and a cleric of Syrul) attempting to race the PC's to the Spire.

- The Prince of Redhand: Assuming that Iuz would somehow react to the going-ons in Alhaster, an assassination attempt on Prince Zeech by a member of the Boneheart could add some spice to that dinner party, especially if the PC's save Zeech! Miszen Mitchwillow's role could be enhanced.

- Library of Last Resort: I would like to include some sort of encounter with the Rhennee. Perhaps as spies working for Iuz or as victims of Darl Quethos.

- Kings of the Rift: I would love to have my PC's go to Riftcrag and the Rift Canyon before Kongen-Thulnir. Cranzer, Durand Grossman, and Menfri Rauveen would be interesting to meet.

- Into the Wormcrawl Fissure: A meeting with a lone paladin of Mayaheine, dying from her wounds. I want to show my players that they are not the only agents of Good trying to prevent the Age of Worms.

- Anytime between LoLR and DoaNA: Warduke. Sent by the Horned Society to avenge their operations in Greyhawk, Warduke finally catches up to the PC's. A good way of prompting my PC's into action if they spend too much time resting in between adventures.

- Dawn of a New Age: If Tenser and his allies can help the PC's, why can't Iuz? The adventure could start with the forces of Iuz besieging Alhaster. A good way of keeping Zeech busy while the cult of Kyuss does their thing. Once the adventure is done, the tired PC's have to deal with an invading army.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

The different human races do not get different traits; in game turms, a Flan is the same as a Suel. Erik can probably give a better answer regarding the actual race representation in Diamond Lake, but for the most part they're all mixed races.


James Jacobs wrote:
The different human races do not get different traits; in game turms, a Flan is the same as a Suel. Erik can probably give a better answer regarding the actual race representation in Diamond Lake, but for the most part they're all mixed races.

IIRC the Greyhawk region is generally mixed Oeridian/Flan/Suel, but the presence of the Old Faith (Obad-hai/Bronzewood Lodge) indicates some longstanding cultural ties that at least some elements of the local society have to Flan culture. I think of the peasantry in the Cairn Hills as having a strong Flan element. The presence of the Wee Jas temple in turn might indicate some fairly strong Suel elements. Urnstmen, next door to the Cairn Hills, are supposed to be of largely Suel heritage, according to the old Greyhawk guides. Most people in the region probably no longer think of themselves in terms of these ancient races, though.

On incorporating Greyhawk flavor and NPCs, getting rid of Tenser's teleport paintings will go a long way toward pushing PCs to travel by surface routes instead of teleporting around. Even with Greater Teleport you need some kind of description, so as long as you make the locations of the key sites somewhat obscure you can force them to travel to Kuluth-Mar via Hardby, Gradsul, and Sasserine/Cauldron and introduce Rhialle and Robilar on the way. Likewise, you can force them to go through Riftcrag to get to Kuluth-Mar, and introduce a couple of members of the Boneheart. Etc.

The key to this is doing some research. Besides Canonfire, which has an excellent map of the Rift region, I'd recommend Greyhawk: the Adventure begins (good info on Greyhawk city and domain), the Scarlet Brotherhood (map of the whole Amedio Jungle and background on that region), and Iuz the Evil (?I can't recall the exact title, it's on my computer at home), which details the bandit kingdoms (although this source's portrayal of Alhaster is somewhat out of sync with the way it has been developed in AoW materials)--all these are available on this site as downloads for a low price. If it's still in stock, an earlier issue of Dungeon (112?) has a nice do up of Hardby, which is a great jump-off point for a sea journey to Kuluth-Mar, perhaps by way of Gradsul.

I'm going to have Bucknard's journal fragments in Tenser's possession point to him having visited the Matreyus Manor outside Gradsul, which is the repository for the Matreyus expedition's records of exploration in the Amedio, including Tamoachan. (One of the issues of Oerth Journal linked on the Canonfire website has more info on the Matreyus exped., IIRC). (IMC they sent a scouting party that reached Kuluth-Mar, their remains, transformed into Kyuss spawn, were found on the way back). This stopover will in turn lead them to Kuluth-Mar, perhaps with Rhialle as a guide.)

The sea journeys will give me a chance to showcase some privateer/slavers from the Pomarj, a sea monster or two, and the Scarlet Brotherhood, as well as tying into the classic Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (indirectly). Depending on how things go, I might add some intrigue in Hardby along the lines suggested above.


Oh, and in answer to TK's original question, I don't think there are any game stat related racial traits listed anywhere for Greyhawk human races. The older edition gazetteers did have brief discussions of their dress, culture, appearance, etc.--a bit more extensive than the current LGG does.


Peruhain of Brithondy wrote:
Oh, and in answer to TK's original question, I don't think there are any game stat related racial traits listed anywhere for Greyhawk human races. The older edition gazetteers did have brief discussions of their dress, culture, appearance, etc.--a bit more extensive than the current LGG does.

I'd need to check, but the Player's Guide to Greyhawk (or whatever it was called, a 2e piece) may have had minor differences in sub-races. That said, I wouldn't use them.


Peruhain of Brithondy wrote:


Besides Canonfire, which has an excellent map of the Rift region, I'd recommend Greyhawk: the Adventure begins (good info on Greyhawk city and domain), the Scarlet Brotherhood (map of the whole Amedio Jungle and background on that region), and Iuz the Evil

Greyhawk The Adventure Begins has served as my "bible" for introducing Greyhawkian elements to my AoW campaign, especially in regards to these elements:

-- Wee Jasian flavor/background for the PC who is a Wee Jas cleric
-- All the PCs have a City of Greyhawk background, so names of associated npcs were pulled from there, especially the two with connection to the Thieves' Guild.
-- Giving Theldrick a more detailed background, although that hasn't yet proved necessary to reveal to the PCs.

As for religion, I've used Beory worship at the menhir north of Diamond Lake to draw some "interesting" npcs to the region.

Overall, it's an EXCELLENT resource, and it's chock-ful of adventuring ideas. Nearly every page has something that can be developed into a side quest or an alternate approach to the campaign.


VanDeBeast wrote:
I'd need to check, but the Player's Guide to Greyhawk (or whatever it was called, a 2e piece) may have had minor differences in sub-races. That said, I wouldn't use them.

Yeah, that's the one I've got. It listed ability score adjustments for the human subgroups - I don't want to do that, humans should be the baseline as far as that's concerned. But I thought it might be kind of neat to have extra racial traits if the character is pureblood. For instance, Flan characters might take a -2 penalty on skill checks regarding arcane magic, but get a +2 bonus on Survival checks and Bardic Knowledge checks, with perhaps additional traits if the character follows one of the traditions (Child of Water, Child of Sun, etc). Oeridians might take a -2 penalty on Sense Motive checks and Will saves against mind-affecting effects, but gain a Martial Weapon Proficiency feat and +2 on Craft (armorsmithing) or Craft (weaponsmithing).

Perhaps pureblood feats would fit the bill better, though...

TK

Sovereign Court

Check out the Greyhawk regional feats in Dragons #315 & 319.


I remember some idea that made using the four "free" skill points humans recieve at first for race-specific skills mandatory, to enhance the flavour of the race in question. But it might also have been more specific to the area of origin.
I would recommend checking out the Greyhawk feats in Dragon 315 & 319 as well, there were several race-specific feats, IIRC.

Stefan


Hagen wrote:
Check out the Greyhawk regional feats in Dragons #315 & 319.

Oh wow, how did I miss THAT article. Thanks, guys! And thanks, Eric, for coming up with so many cool feats!

TK

Sovereign Court

Another option is using traits. Introduced in Unearthed Arcana, the Shackled City Adventure Path hardcover had some traits for natives of Cauldron.


Stebehil wrote:

I remember some idea that made using the four "free" skill points humans recieve at first for race-specific skills mandatory, to enhance the flavour of the race in question. But it might also have been more specific to the area of origin.

There was something like this in the Wheel of Time RPG, where humans had to spend thier bonus skill points and bonus feat on a short list of skills and feats dependant upon thier starting region.

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