I will be playing it in Forgotten Realms once I complete the AP1.
What I find interesting about this thread is that Greyhawk, Eberron and Forgotten Realms are all out pacing the homebrew. We keep getting told that the homebrew campaign is the most popular out there, but this informal survey seems to contend against that.
Perhaps the fact is that while homebrew is most popular, those who are willing to use a pre-fab adventure such as those in Dungeon are also more likely to play in pre-fab worlds (makes sense, right?). If that is the case though, I wonder what that should mean about how Dungeon looks at its audience. Perhaps more conversion sidebars?
Sean Mahoney
I have some ideas for a homebrew, but between work and night classes, I have no time to invest in it right now. Plus, I really like what they've done in Greyhawk: TAB. Makes things alot easier now that I have a decent grasp of the environs around Greyhawk and Diamond Lake.
...What I find interesting about this thread is that Greyhawk, Eberron and Forgotten Realms are all out pacing the homebrew. We keep getting told that the homebrew campaign is the most popular out there, but this informal survey seems to contend against that...
I have no idea what others' perspectives are on this, but as I get older I have less and less time to create a campaign world -- it's a whole lot of work to do well.
Perhaps that contributes to the frequency of GH showing up here, too -- older players (with less free time) are more likely to remember and prefer the older campaign settings.
NPC generation is also no mean task with D&D 3.0+ -- even more work.
Later,
Jack
aging D&D player/DM :)
I have some ideas for a homebrew, but between work and night classes, I have no time to invest in it right now. Plus, I really like what they've done in Greyhawk: TAB. Makes things alot easier now that I have a decent grasp of the environs around Greyhawk and Diamond Lake.
Oh, I completely understand, and for very similar reasons I too play in a pre-made world (though FR instead of greyhawk). I guess my surprise was that after hearing from the WOTC and Paizo people so much that Homebrews are by far the most common for D&D players that this survey doesn't seem to bear that out.
So really you first have to look at the survey for skew to get anything really useful at it.
1) This is only Players/DMs who are online
2) This is only Players/DMs who are members or at least occasionally peruse these boards (for instance I would expect different responses to a question of what campaign setting you play in on WOTC boards)
3) It is only people who are already interested in Age of Worms
4) It is only people interested in a premade campaign
Given all of those things then this survey wouldn't be very useful as representative for WOTC to look at as its target audience. It may though be of value to Paizo.
So to me it would pose the question: do people who are interested in saving time or getting creative adventures from a premade source also find they are much more likely to play in a pre-made setting?
My guess to this would be yes. It would seem consistent that if you want to save time in adventure design or don't feel creative enough yourself (more likely the first) then you would be drawn to a pre-made campaign setting. But this survey isn't enough to make me say we have the answer, but it does make me think it is a good question to ask.
I also feel that there is a slant toward Greyhawk as the campaign is already designed for Greyhawk. I am not ragging on Greyhawk here, it was a toss up for me as to which to take when I was starting as a DM, but FR had more material so I went that way... I am sure both are great.
However, when I went to start AP1, which I follow with AP2 (likely with the same players), I seriously considered leaving it in Greyhawk. After all, I chose a premade setting and a premade campaign to save me time. If I have to translate to another setting than it takes away some of that saving. In the end I did settle on FR though as I just love the setting and I felt there would be more options for the players to choose from (unlike a lot of people I like all the prestige classes and such). The last thing I want to do in my game is limit my players.
Anyway... I guess I feel like it may be possible that Paizo is misunderstanding their core audience as it seems they are assuming their core audience is anyone who plays D&D. On the other hand, maybe they understand that very clearly and are purposely trying to market to people other than the pre-made folks in order to extend market share... who knows...
Sean Mahoney
Perhaps that contributes to the frequency of GH showing up here, too -- older players (with less free time) are more likely to remember and prefer the older campaign settings.
A fair point.
Not having been around for the dawn of the early campaign settings (played in home brews) I can only assume that the full version of Greyhawk was out before Forgotten Realms? From my point of view both are old... FR got its start in the old Dragon mags and Greyhawk was worked into the old adventure modules... anyway, neither here nor there I suppose...
Sean Mahoney
I played in Greyhawk with Advanced D&D back in the early to late 80's... Yeeeeowch! The setting wasn't as developed as it was with 2nd ed. AD&D. So it pretty much lost our interest.. Then the Realms came out and everybody was really excited, and then the gaming groups broke apart were scattered to the four winds.
Years later, Eberron rekindled my interest in D&D, so I picked up 3.5.
I stumbled upon AOW by accident, I initially bought Dungeon issue #124 for the Eberron series of adventures. Unfortunately, Eberron isn't a big hit in my area. But once I read Age of Worms and the Diamond Lake backdrop I was amazed by the nice mix of puzzles, adventure, and combat in Whispering Cairn as well as the detail given to Diamond Lake. I've been hooked ever since. So far, it's been pretty enjoyable to DM. Diamond Lake is detailed enough to fuel DMs for sidequests. And thanks to Erik's plug for Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins in Overload as well as help from BDJames for the RPGnow link, it's been alot easier to DM. Although, I think Whispering Cairn needed more encounters so that the PCs could have a fighitng chance in the True Tomb. Let's face it, those Wind Warriors are tough as heck! But with Age of Worms Overload and Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins, I was able to come up with some sidequests.
Also, I have to say it's been pretty inspiring reading other DM's posts on AOW on these boards.
Thanks everybody!!
I'll probably use Greyhawk but not for a while - starting Shackled City (in GH too) in about a month first.
Two reasons:
1. I don't have enough time to worry about conversions.
2. I like the idea of using a setting my players don't know anything about (they regularly play FR). I'll give them enough info/background for young backwoods adventurers and let them learn the rest from there. Now I just hope they like the idea.
I've been running AoW in Eberron.
Been waiting to run an Eberron campaign, so AoW was the perfect choice!
So far it's working out just great!
NPC generation is also no mean task with D&D 3.0+ -- even more work.Later,
Jack
aging D&D player/DM :)
Check out PC Gen, you'll be glad you did. Code Monkey sells most of the expanded books as well for a reasonable price.
I almost never make my NPCs without it. Its just so much faster and they are simply more detailed - the program generates the NPCs ranks in things it can use unskilled so I rarely find myself trying to figure this stuff out on the fly. He'll its even fun to generate NPCs with PC Gen - something I'm not sure I can really say about making NPCs otherwise.
Definitely Greyhawk. I can't imagine running it in anything else. This adventure path, and the one before it, has Greyhawk etched deep into its soul. There are dozens of references, obscure and obvious, to the Greyhawk mythscape, and that's part of the fun for DMs and players who understand them.
This will sound odd for anyone that knows me, but when I started running this for my kids at home, I decided to run this in Greyhawk instead of my beloved Forgotten Realms. Why?
Kyuss seems so much a part of the obscure lore of Greyhawk, as it Dragotha, and the events so potentially cataclysmic for the world, that adapting this for the Realms (dispite Eric's great conversion notes, which I still really like just to read his take on various things related to the Realms) is almost like adapting the Time of Troubles or the War of Souls for Greyhawk.
You know, I'm a little surprised that no one has said Scarred Lands yet. It is a great setting, one that is actually quite well suited for this path. I would imagine that Kyuss would be a great minion of Chern, or perhaps it is Chern himself manipulating events in the background.
I would guess that since Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms and Eberron are WotC properties, those are naturally the most common settings used. Avandu, Scarred Lands and other third party settings have less exposure and may not be suited for the adventure path series. Or, perhaps, not even for Dungeon adventures.
I find my homebrew more interesting than published campaigns, mustly from the history that it has for me. I'm sure that for Joe Gamer GH or Eberron would have more detail, but I've been running this campaign off and on since 1983, about 10-12 years of total time at a game per week. Eberron really interested me, but my own creation is the closest to my heart.
You know, I'm a little surprised that no one has said Scarred Lands yet. It is a great setting, one that is actually quite well suited for this path. I would imagine that Kyuss would be a great minion of Chern, or perhaps it is Chern himself manipulating events in the background.
Well I am one (and it looks like the only one) who is running Age of Worms in the Scarred lands. Actually I've got the party (currently at 9th level) on a heavily modified Isle of Dread area and added in most of the elements from the first adventure there (it dovetailed nicely with a colony of Dark Elves who appeared to have created a replacement god for their old one currently trapped in the body of an iron golem). They will be leaving the Isle soon though and the adventure can get into full swing as they begin to encounter elements of the Ebon Triad (trying to combine Chardun (LE), Belsameth (NE) and Vangal (CE) into one god to overthrow the good-aligned gods)on Termana. With there being so few true gods (there are many demi gods around SL) this is an even more catostrophic event than normal. The Ebon Triad is going to be populated by true loonies :-).
Planning on running it with two groups in Eberron once my current homebrew campaigns are finished.
The count so far:
Greyhawk: 20
Eberron: 13
Forgotten Realms: 10
Other: 6
There were some vague answers, so the count is getting a little mushy.
What campaign setting are you using (or planning to use) for Age of Worms?
I think I'm going to use Eberron.
I´m running it on Rokugan, you need to see the face of the little samurais as they are forced to touch dead bodies, kill worms and drink tea in a dungeon.
What campaign setting are you using (or planning to use) for Age of Worms?
I am doing an alternate (jokingly called Ultimate) universe Greyhawk as the setting. The vast majority of the population is human, and the other races tend to stick to themselves. Half-Orcs are routinely enslaved or killed, even in civilized areas. Elves are mysterious and aloof, dwarves are somewhat xenophobic, gnomes and halflings are not commonly seen.
I am making all non-human races +1 ECL, with the exception of Half-Elves, which take a single trait. I am using my Iron Heroes/Elements of Magic spell system for magic (see below). The various churches are still quite powerful, with many in the priesthood being Thieves. Religious Arcanists also exist, providing "proof" that their deity grants power to the faithful.
The characters are: an amazon (Mighty Build) "Man"-at-Arms mercenary, who is looking for riches; a dark-skinned ex-slave Weapon Master from the gladiator pits, trying to get away from his past; a local Archer scout and ranger, who wants to see more of the world; a mysterious Executioner, whose goals and motivations are unknown; and a grey elven Arcanist, who has travelled to visit his fellow scholar and friend Allustan, but finds himself pulled into this adventure nonetheless...
Anyone else trying something like this out? I think the flavorful artifacts of Greyhawk match the Iron Heroes mindset on magic items quite well. So far, I have not had to do very much tweaking at all.
MI
My Iron Heroes/Elements of Magic spell system is here:
http://p222.ezboard.com/fokayyourturnfrm36.showMessage?topicID=268.topic
You can get Iron Heroes here:
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2371&a ffiliate_id=35432
...and Elements of Magic here:
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2554&a ffiliate_id=35432
I hope it finds its way to WotC. I know this dead horse has been (repeatedly) beaten, but perhaps serious consideration should be given to resurrecting Greyhawk as a supported campaign. I concede that the business decision might have been valid at the time, but there often comes a time to reevaluate such decisions.
As a consumer, I would buy anything they put out, provided it had decent quality. I think many others would do the same. I have always wondered why Greyhawk did not get the hardbound treament.
MI
Forgotten Realms.
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I actually have not played in Greyhawk that much. In fact my favorite setting was the Birthright setting.
It's largely due to the way dungeon and dragon magazines have treated Greyhawk over the past 10 months that has made me such a fan. I searched out Greyhawk: the adventure begins (and noticed the special thanks to Eric Mona)Then I bought a living greyhawk gazeteer (I also bought six of the old 3.0 gazeteers from my used bookstore to give to each of my players)
I tend to buy the book of the month from Wotc and I would foam at the mouth for a Greyhawk hardcover with Lockwood art inside!
I hope it finds its way to WotC. I know this dead horse has been (repeatedly) beaten, but perhaps serious consideration should be given to resurrecting Greyhawk as a supported campaign. I concede that the business decision might have been valid at the time, but there often comes a time to reevaluate such decisions.
I didn't write that. It was Tatterdemalion.
Does anyone know where I can get a good electronic copy of a map of the forgotten realms? I am running AOW near Waterdeep and I am putting Diamonf Lake in the mountains North of Waterdeep, but I don't have a map that I can edit.
I'm planning on running it in Scarred Lands, starting in about 2 months. I posted some ideas about a conversion in another thread, but I see the conversion being very easy. Heck, I think the plot fits Scarred Lands better than Greyhawk!
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As soon as I started reading the first installment, I thought it screamed Greyhawk. It mentions Diamond Lake and the empty mines around it. It mentions the Cairn Hills. And the only Free City that matters to this old boy is Greyhawk.
Not an Eberron hater. Not a Forgotten Realms hater. Love Keith Baker. Love Elmin...umm...Ed Greenwood. But the whole flavor of this adventure path thing fits best in Greyhawk to me.
And as I heard some WotC guy say at Winter Fantasy last year, "It's all Greyhawk."
Playing since '79.
The FR all the way. My players just finished an adventure in Daggerford/Lizard Marsh, so I've got some 'splaining to do, but that's half the fun...
The impressive part of running AoW in Rokugan its that its very easy transfer the whole campaign to the Oriental flavor of Rokugan.
I let Diamond Lake North of Toshi Ranbo (the new imperial city) and its incredible that even a mine of diamonds was recentlly discovered there (this is canon info of l5r).
Great work guys, and Erick untill now your adventure its the better of all.
Does anyone know where I can get a good electronic copy of a map of the forgotten realms? I am running AOW near Waterdeep and I am putting Diamonf Lake in the mountains North of Waterdeep, but I don't have a map that I can edit.
Well, if you don't mind the 2e map (3e changed the maps), you can use the maps that are included in "The North" boxed set, available for free on the WoTC website.
--Eric
My age of worms is all Greyhawk, all the time.
I am tempted to throw in a few blasts from the pasts, such as a large hulking fighter with low intelligence and his sleazy Balunki monk campanion. They will be at the Green Dragon Inn in the Free city and their funds are down to 12 gp, 40 sp and 5 cp and something must be done soon says Turko.
Does anyone know where I can get a good electronic copy of a map of the forgotten realms? I am running AOW near Waterdeep and I am putting Diamonf Lake in the mountains North of Waterdeep, but I don't have a map that I can edit.
Google is your friend !:D
http://neverwinter-nights.net/Frames.htm (Neverwinter Nights)
http://www.nwncityofarabel.com/faerunmap/pages/frMap_01.htm (3rd edition)
http://www.geocities.com/masdrg/Realmsmaps.html (2nd edition)
http://myth-drannor.net/DlabraddathNet/z-Dlabraddath/Maproom.htm#Regions%20 of%20Faerun (3rd edition)
You can find some more sites here :
http://www.wizards.com/leaving.asp?url=http://boards1.wizards.com/showthrea d.php?p=2644632#post2644632&origin=
Good luck,
The count so far:
Greyhawk: 22
Eberron: 13
Forgotten Realms: 12
Other: 9
Thanks for the 'grats Steel_Wind! >:-)
I finally get to start my AOW campaign this Sunday and can’t wait. Spending the last few months reading the message boards, listening to everyone’s ideas, opinions and experiences has been an absolute pleasure. There are many of you out there with wonderful ideas and concepts and I tip my hat to you all. And thanks to all who have added information to help foster my campaign. Anyway, I’m running GH, it’s all I’ve ever used (take that back, did FR once, but it just didn’t feel like home), and since my players did Return of the Eight and Doomgrinder a few years back, this should be fun for them. Same players, different characters have already met Tenser, and run a campaign out of Greyhawk.
Playing since 7 in 78’ and proud of it!
This thread is fascinating.
Which part are you finding fascinating? That homebrews are a pitance of the response or that Greyhawk is so popular a response (or that the upstart Eberron is daring to challenge the Forgotten realms!?!?! just kidding)
Sean Mahoney
I'm playing in another setting at the moment, but when I get around to running AoW I'm going to set it in Greyhawk.
I'm looking forward to my players visiting the legendary Free City of Greyhawk and encountering other classic Greyhawk bad guys and locations.
Thanks, Paizo, for this great Adventure Path!
The count so far:
Greyhawk: 22
Eberron: 13
Forgotten Realms: 12
Other: 9Thanks for the 'grats Steel_Wind! >:-)
Well, despite the fact that I'm running it in Eberron (maybe even on the continent of Xen'drik, but that's for another thread), I'm glad that there are so many playing it in Greyhawk. As a matter of fact, I'm glad so many give Greyhawk the love that it deserves. I've only played in the setting once, but I understand it's significance to D&D. Go Mordenkainen!
P.S. One of my favorite spell of all time is Tasha's Uncontrollable Hideous Laughter. Does someone actually know who Tasha is? Inquiring minds want to know.
Does anyone know where I can get a good electronic copy of a map of the forgotten realms? I am running AOW near Waterdeep and I am putting Diamonf Lake in the mountains North of Waterdeep, but I don't have a map that I can edit.
I have been collecting Forgotten Realms (and others as well) maps for a few years now and have quite a good collection of them. If you want me to email them just let me know where.
Also...
I am running AoW in The Forgotten Realms. My group and I have been playing there for 10+ years and it is just easier to play in a world where you and everyong at the table understands. I do think that Greyhawk would have been good choice as well, but that would lead to lots of research on the world and I just don't have the time available. I have thought about creating a homebrew campaign, but I always get hung up on the creation mythos and pantheons...
Rambling Now....
Does anyone remember the 2nd Edition product that came out that was all about creating your own world? It came with graph paper and tables for land masses and weather and creation myths and even information on creating a "non-standard" world... like a cube or ring or something....
I would love to see another product like that again....
If I ever find time to start it, I'll either use the Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk. It really depends on the players.
Even though my current campaign (going on 5+ years) is set in the Forgotten Realms, I'm one of those folks who prefers GH or generic setting adventures. I think the reason is twofold:
1.) I really dislike the feel of Eberron, and if an adventure is written in a way to make it "Eberronic" I probably won't want to use it. I'm sure there are Eberron fans out there who feel the same way about Realms adventures.
2.) Although I play in the Realms, I play "my version" of the Realms. I find it easier to adapt a Greyhawk/generic adventure than an actual Realms adventure, since I don't use things like the silence of Lolth, for example. I also tend to prefer the less popular regions of the Realms, whereas most adventures seem to be set in Waterdeep, the North, the Dales, or Calimport.
3.) Regardless of what campaign setting I'm using, my planar cosmology will always be the Great Wheel. I don't like the new Realms cosmology, but Greyhawk uses the Great Wheel.
Does anyone know where I can get a good electronic copy of a map of the forgotten realms? I am running AOW near Waterdeep and I am putting Diamonf Lake in the mountains North of Waterdeep, but I don't have a map that I can edit.I have been collecting Forgotten Realms (and others as well) maps for a few years now and have quite a good collection of them. If you want me to email them just let me know where.
Also...
I am running AoW in The Forgotten Realms. My group and I have been playing there for 10+ years and it is just easier to play in a world where you and everyong at the table understands. I do think that Greyhawk would have been good choice as well, but that would lead to lots of research on the world and I just don't have the time available. I have thought about creating a homebrew campaign, but I always get hung up on the creation mythos and pantheons...Rambling Now....
Does anyone remember the 2nd Edition product that came out that was all about creating your own world? It came with graph paper and tables for land masses and weather and creation myths and even information on creating a "non-standard" world... like a cube or ring or something....
I would love to see another product like that again....
My email address is jctooley@yahoo.com
and i think that book was called the world builder's guidebook
P.S. One of my favorite spell of all time is Tasha's Uncontrollable Hideous Laughter. Does someone actually know who Tasha is? Inquiring minds want to know.
IIRC, Tasha is the name of a little girl who wrote to Gary Gygax suggesting the spell.
The count so far:
Greyhawk: 24
Eberron: 13
Forgotten Realms: 13
Other: 10
You thread hijackers are incorrigible.
FR or Eberron. Normally, I'd choose Eberron, but I guess I am in need of a change from some much Eberron. (At least 5 months DMing in it, I think more). Theres so much "off-topic discussion" at all of the sessions, I've lost track!!
WaterdhavianFlapjack
I'll be running it in a home-brew that has existed for 20 years and is largely based on Greyhawk (it even contains the Free City and the Cairn Hills already).
I'm not a big one for pre-packaged campaigns but a person has to start somewhere ... so I started with Greyhawk and just adjusted some populations/politics to my own liking. The pantheon and powerful NPCs, along with the bulk of the countries and geography are included (though most are at least partially modified).
Greyhawk rocks! and should be given more attention and support by the powers that be, IMO.
The only reason I don't use it "as is" is because it mildly insults my intelligence as a DM to have to fully rely on someone else's ideas and imagination (even if that person is brilliant), so I personalize every single aspect of the game. From soup to nuts, I've put a little of my own flavor in everything.
So major kudos to Paizo for adding the conversion notes (though with Greyhawk, conversion is minimal) so every DM can adjust every adventure. I believe that's how it really should be.
I'm Running Age of Worms in the Realms. On a group consisting of My Siter(Drow, Ftr/Soc), Brother in law(Human Mnk) and thier two Sons(Human Ftr And 1/2Elf Rng/Drd).
The count so far:
Greyhawk: 24
Forgotten Realms: 15.5
Eberron: 13.5
Other: 11
The Realms pulls ahead.
The .5 entries are for WaterdhavianFlapjack, who can't make up his mind.
I plan on running the whole thing in GH. As for the various individual parts that I'm playtesting, I've set them in my own world.
ASEO out
Forgotten Realms - Silver Marches