I'm about to start up this Age of Worms campaign path and I thought it might be useful to start up a thread to discuss the running of the campaign as it pertains to Greyhawk.
First of all, I've noticed that Diamond Lake is as old as the City of Greyhawk boxed set. This means Diamond Lake is not simply a "generic" town developed only for this campaign. However, it may be that Diamond Lake simply has not been heavily developed before. Anyone recall reading about it before now?
Second of all, the module gives a lot of campaign hooks, but it essentially supposes the PCs have lived their lives in Diamond Lake and are seeking to escape the rigors of small town life (cue in Beall's song from Beauty and the Beast about how "there must be more than this provincial life"). That seems fine and dandy enough, but what about other possible character hooks. Suppose you have a character who wants to be associated with the Scarlet Brotherhood, or the Greyhawk Thieves Guild, or say you have someone who wants to take regional feats from Dungeon 315 or 319. Does anyone think it will be really necessary to presume the same basic background for every PC or doi you think it be a bit more flexible? Erik? Developers?
To my knowledge, the Diamond Lake region has never been thoroughly documented in any published material 9at least not in print anyway). Its probably why Erik chose it for the starting location of the AP. He could do what he wished with the location without treading on anybody's toes.
Being from overseas I've always wondered why Greyhawk is spelt with an e instead of an a. I thought the American spelling of grey was gray? When Gary came up with the name of the city did he use the other spelling of gray because he wanted an older (or "old world") spelling, because Greyhawk just looks better than Grayhawk, or because gray is an anagram of Gary, but grey isn't? Does anybody know, or has ever asked him? Erik?
Diamond Lake was an important location in the Doomgrinder, but saw little development there -- the mayor was a significant NPC, mentioned by name.
To my knowledge, there has been no other mention in GH literature.
As I've said elsewhere, I think AP2 is Greyhawk at its best -- an original plot with a location that is new for us, but is recognizably (an important) part of the World of Greyhawk.
Jack
An interesting note is that the map for Diamond Lake is copyrighted by Wizards of the Coast for 2005. But Paizo is a separate company, and I would have assumed the map was made by Paizo. So, if that's true, why does Wizards hold the copyright?
Squid
First of all, I've noticed that Diamond Lake is as old as the City of Greyhawk boxed set. This means Diamond Lake is not simply a "generic" town developed only for this campaign. However, it may be that Diamond Lake simply has not been heavily developed before. Anyone recall reading about it before now?
AFAIK, Diamond Lake has received minor treatment in the CoG boxed set & From the Ashes. The place was fleshed out a bit more in the Doomgrinder, featuring Lanod Neff & the Cult of the Green Lady, but nothing like what AoW is doing.
what about other possible character hooks. Suppose you have a character who wants to be associated with the Scarlet Brotherhood, or the Greyhawk Thieves Guild, or say you have someone who wants to take regional feats from Dungeon 315 or 319.
It's YOUR game, do what thou wilt. Your Scarlet Brotherhood character could be an undercover operative based in Diamond Lake. Your Thieves Guild character could've been caught in the midst of a crime early in his career & used as a fall guy, sentenced to work the mines for x number of years, finally finishing up as the campaign begins.
Other reasons for non-natives to be there:
Assigned to one of the backwater churches in Diamond Lake for some minor transgression;
Drafted to serve a stint at the Diamond Lake Garisson (this works best with natives of the Domain of Greyhawk);
Sent on assignment by relatives/mentors to work for Allustan, a mine manager, or some other personage of Diamond Lake;
Just passing through.
An interesting note is that the map for Diamond Lake is copyrighted by Wizards of the Coast for 2005. But Paizo is a separate company, and I would have assumed the map was made by Paizo. So, if that's true, why does Wizards hold the copyright?
Squid
I am only guessing here but if the map was based off the Adventure Begins map then it is probably considered WotC IP. Diamond Lake has existed in Greyhawk for quite some time.
OR: Wizards of the Coast owns all the content that we produce for either magazine.
You forgot to mention your souls... The creative artistic intent of said souls, and of course, your first born offspring. ;)
Just started up the campaign tonight. Here's how it went.
The first character is a human (rhenee) spellthief whose family is respectable and well-known among the river folk. She's spent most of her formative years up and down the Selintan River and more recently her grandmother settled in Diamond Lake. She developed her uncanny abilities while training as an odd-job errand girl for Purple Prose at the Midnight Salute. She's a habitual liar and something of a rascal, but she has an innate goodness about her and harbors no ill will towards anyone or anything in particular.
The second character is a goliath barbarian who originally hailed from the Abbor Alz mountains. He came from a very respectable family, however when he became of marriageable age, he clashed with his parents over his choice of mate. They had selected a goliath girl from another tribe for him in interests of peace whereas he favored a girl from his own tribe. The altercation eventually resulted in schism, with "Stone" leaving his family in willing exile. He was poorly equipped to deal with the world and upon arriving in Diamond Lake others quickly capitalized on his simple and trusting nature. He was coerced into an unfavorable contract at Zalamandra's (the present day Emporium) and only after many years of work as a "strong man" did he manage to worm his way out of that contract. Once he did however, he was destitute and turned to the other thing in town he could to sustain himself, work the mines. By that time Smenk had arrived in town and due to his vicious business acumen, the poor goliath found it hard to find employment with anyone else. So for the last 10 years he has slogged away in the mines, hoping that one day an opportunity will arise to improve his lot in life.
The third character is a gray elf wizard who until very recently was apprenticed to Allustan. The elf harkens from Celene, the majestic land of the elves where his family thought it would be good for him to learn magic not only from elves but humans as well. He was enrolled in the University of Magical Arts in the Free City of Greyhawk and there excelled in his studies. Around the time he was ready to find a master wizard to take him on as an apprentice, Allustan had grown sick of the politics of Greyhawk and a chance encounter between the two took them to Diamond Lake, where they have lived since, Allustan slowly sharing with the elf the things he knows until such time that the elf is ready to set out on his own.
The fourth character is a human druid from Bronzewood Lodge. He has heard the stories in the lodge of strange unkillable undead and odd green worms that appear seemingly from nowhere. He has even seen a worm or two himself, though they were quite tiny and harmless at the time he did. He grew quite distraught at the unnaturalness of it all and sought counsel from Nogwier. Nogwier decided to send the human with another acolyte to the city of Diamond Lake to see if the people of that township have had similar problems and whether they know of any solutions.
The fifth character is a raptoran cleric of Obad-Hai, also from Bronzewood Lodge. His story is a tragic one. Having been captured in battle by goblins and taken from his home in the Abbor Alz mountains when he was but a youngling, he has never known much of his people's heritage. As a cruel twist of fate, the goblins mocked him and cut off his wings to humiliate him before selling him to crooked merchants passing through the area. The crooked merchants brought him to Diamond Lake where he was sold into slavery to the mine manager, Tilgast. Not seeing slavery as completely appropriate, Tilgast told the raptoran that he would allow him indentured servitude for ten years, during which he could work for Tilgast to purchase his freedom. He was still very young when he finally earned his freedom, and he was longing for spiritual fulfillment in his life. Using the small stipend Tilgast had given him, the raptoran made his way to the Bronzewood Lodge community where he met with Nogwier and began to grow in his understanding of the soul and its symmetry with nature. His devout and earnest nature worked to persuade Nogwier to take him on as an acolyte and teach him the ways of the Shalm. Now he is a member of the cloth and has been sent by Nogwier with a human druid to the town of Diamond Lake to see if they can insinuate themselves into the affairs of the locals and learn about the recent troubling events.
By working closely with the players, I managed not only to work in a lot of character hooks, but also tie them in closely with the town and its characters. Not to mention the party came together seemlessly, almost like it was natural and fated. Granted the guys in my group have all been gaming with each other for a few years and we know each other pretty well, but the story tonight coalesced in a way I've never seen before. It was remarkable to say the least.
It began with the druid and the cleric arriving at the Able Carter Coaching Inn, where they began to inquire about the happenings in the town. They noticed a reclusive ranger named Fester Trollump had taken up rather permanent residence at the inn and sought to press him for information, hoping him to be somewhat sympathetic to their thinking. After tracking him down one evening to the Feral Dog, the two approached him with questions about the region, undead, and the worms. Though the ranger knew little of the worms, he did mention Smenk had recently put up a new visitor in the old observatory just outside of town, a necromancer. Fester didn't know if it was a coincedence or not but thought it may be worth checking out.
During this exchange, a goliath sitting a few tables over with his chums from the mines overheard mention of Smenk (who he had grown to hate over the years) and something about a necromancer. It seemed the conversation came from a strangely garbed human, dressed in leaf-covered garments and hides, most assuredly one of those druids from Bronzewood Lodge, and a rather strange creature resembling an elf, but with feathers and down atop his head, both of them talking with the old ranger, Fester. Well, this was too much for the goliath's curiosity to bear, and he decided to approach the group. After explaining how he worked for Smenk and had an interest in seeing just what the old coot was up to, he offered his services as hired muscle to the Bronzewood Lodgers.
Of course, all this had not gone unnoticed by some of the younger patrons at the Feral Dog. Violet, a young rhenee girl with a penchant for drawing magic from others, was enjoying the dog fights with her friends when she noticed the old goliath (being the only one of his kind in town) talking to a couple of strange out-of-towners, likely Bronzewood Lodge folk as they certainly appeared too "wild" to be from the Free City. Curiosity definitely got the best of her as she decided to tail the group and see what they were up to.
Meanwhile, the wizard Throrethan had just been given the rest of the night off by Allustan to go and enjoy himself a bit. The wizard had recently been hinting that Thror's work as an apprentice was nearly complete and that it may soon be time for him to seek his fortune in the world. Allustan mentioned that a group of adventurers from the Free City had arrived in town last week and had been making no mystery of their intentions to raid the Stirgenest Cairn southeast of Diamond Lake. He suggested that if adventurers had reason to believe there was treasure to be found in a cleaned out tomb like Stirgenest, perhaps there were other nearby tombs that were also being overlooked. Allustan told Thror that he had heard on the grapevine of a tomb where local youngsters liked to go to spook each other and suggested that perhaps Thror could test his meddle therein, once he had found ample companions of course. In fact, Allustan said, there was a group of out-of-towners staying at the Able Carter Coaching Inn who had just arrived and were rumored to be looking for clues to strange events nearby. Perhaps they could prove beneficial companions. Thror nodded and took his things. Perhaps tonight may hold some wonders, he thought.
Just as Thror managed to track down the Bronzewood Lodgers to the Feral Dog, they emerged with their new-found goliath companion, followed in the shadows by a curious rhenee girl. After introducing himself and stating his purpose, Thror inquired if they group would be interested in his proposal. But before they could agree, the raptoran noticed Violet, who had crept up quite close to hear what they group was talking about. All this talk of adventure, raiding a tomb, and lost lore was exciting to her. Having been discovered, she decided to offer her services as a guide. As a matter of fact, she knew just how to find the Whispering Cairn, likely the tomb the elf had been referring to, since she and her friends had long used the place as a proving grounds for bravery by spending the night in it's hallowed halls. The group agreed to gather their equipment and meet in an abandoned mine manager's office just outside of town. The rest, as you know, is history.
If you play Living Greyhawk, it's the starting location for one of the modules. I'm pretty sure it was 'That Which was not meant to be Known' (also known as the module with the really long title) and it detailed an extra 2 or 3 locations. I plan on incorporating the Brendigund Trading House, but I can't remember what else was in there. I'll see if I can find it.
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As a DM who's had probably too many adventures in the Cairn Hills...
The Breningund series runs...
COR1-02 The Reckoning
COR1-05 Breningund's Bride
COR1-07 Breningund's Blood
COR2-02 Breningund's Brood
COR2-09 The Final Reckoning
I've only run The Reckoning. There's an encounter at The Last Chance Inn which is noteworthy. I've had this as a long time as a common stop for PCs on their way to the Cairn Hills, so it's developed a bit of legendary status.
Dugneon #114 Mad God's Key is a great adventure, featuring some great parts of Greyhawk (such as Barge End). It also has the players heading into the Cairn Hills to go 'cairn-delving'.
Dungeon #87 Cradle of Madness is another great adventure giving you some Greyhawk/Cairn Hill goodness to work with.
There's also always the trilogy of Star Cairns, Doomgrinder and Lyzandred. There's a handful of references in here too.
The players really ate up the adventures in #87 and #114 though, and have been a pair of my favorites since adulthood returning to the game.
If you play Living Greyhawk, it's the starting location for one of the modules.
Home now, found it. COR4-19 - That Which Was Not Meant To Be Known.
But I don't see it adding a lot to your campaign. The feel of the town is slightly different all though it does quote two different cannon sources that mention Diamond Lake.
City of Greyhawk Boxed Set
Greyhawk, Gem of the Flaness page 22
2 paragraphs - no new information
The Adventure Begins, Page 3
2 short paragraphs
Only thing of interest not covered in the AoW is occasional bandit problems with teh wagon trains heading to Greyhawk, a nest of Cockatrices, and Several miners and explorers disappearing in 590CY south of the lake.
Finally the module itself describes 5 locations
The Old Wharf Inn - No real information, and the players should have enough inns without it. If you want to use it, I'd put it SW of 21 as it's described as being by the waterside.
The Well - Center of town. Social place to gather as the lake water is polluted and it's the only place to get fresh water. I may include this in my game.
Brendigund Trading House - Brendigund was a notoriously corrupt (but not a bad guy) merchant who gets redeemed in a series of LG mods. I'll probably include this also as most of my players know him.
The Docks - Nothing to add from AoW
The Cairns - Nothing to add from AoW