I am interested in doing a PBP using the OLD Greyhawk modules in a series. I would love to do a longterm Greyhawk AP. I have run and played in these modules several times.
U1 to U3 Saltmarsh (1 to 3 level)
A1 to A4 Slave Lords (3 to 6 level)
S4 Lost Caverns of Tsjocanth's (6 to 8 level)
WG4 Forgotten Temple of Thazirdun (8 to 10 level)
G1 to G3 Giants (10 to 14 level)
D1 to D2 Drow (14 to 16 level)
Q1/I6 Queen of the Demonweb Pit/Ravenloft (16 to 20 level)
I have never run these in unison like this but having run and played in each of them several times over the years I can see a very easy link to each. I plan on making some major changes in several areas and have already done the revision on U1, U2, and I am working on U3 at the moment as well as working on blending and setting up the A series portion. This will be a revised Greyhawk.
Some notes:
I plan on making some changes to each module as far as encounters and storyline so that it is cohesive throughout.
I use a set of house rules which I am currently revising for this campaign. I will post if there is interest in the campaign once I finish it up.
I prefer to go with six players compared to four. This has always been a preference of mine as it allows for a more robust and rounded party.
I have run two longterm PBP games and a few short run ones as well.
SD
I'd be interested, moreso if 5e.
I don't know much about Greyhawk (I always played Forgotten Realms or homebrew, so I didn't pay much attention to the setting information even in the 3e core book.)
However, I have heard of some of these modules and that they were good. So, yeah, count me as interested. :-) I can always do research on the setting before creating my character if this happens.
*ETA: I'm cool with either Pathfinder or 5E.
“I have run two longterm PBP games and a few short run ones as well.”
A GM proven not to abandon a campaign after a few months? Color me interested. Could make a dwur for this.
Can do either pathfinder or 5e. Whichever the GM is more comfortable with.
Sounds interesting. Like Fobok above, I often played FR or homebrew when it came to D&D 1E to 4E. I have not played 5E and don't even own the PhB for it. So I would be more interested with Pathfinder ruleset.
Always preferred 6 players myself. That was the way we played back in the 80's and 90's. I believe it was 3E that implemented the 4 player scenarios which I never liked. My old groups were always 6-8 players.
In person I find 4 person groups to be great. Plenty of ‘screen time’ for everyone. Plenty of danger. It goes quickly.
The biggest table I was in was 8 people. Hated it. Not enough RP, and it was a race to kill things. Just an unmanageable table size.
PbP is different. With 6 people and the lag time, there are enough people to keep things moving along. Just need to be willing to bot players so the games don’t come crashing to a halt.
If done as Pathfinder I'd probably be interested, depending on your house rules. Greyhawk was my first campaign world and I'm quite fond of it. I've played several of the modules listed, but not for 20+ years. I'll keep an eye on this thread for further recruitment info.
In person I find 4 person groups to be great. Plenty of ‘screen time’ for everyone. Plenty of danger. It goes quickly.
The biggest table I was in was 8 people. Hated it. Not enough RP, and it was a race to kill things. Just an unmanageable table size.
PbP is different. With 6 people and the lag time, there are enough people to keep things moving along. Just need to be willing to bot players so the games don’t come crashing to a halt.
Pretty much depends on the group. I've been in some that were combat heavy, others that were 50/50 combat/RP, and I have been in some where the RP was so heavy ( a lot in internal party RPing) that we didn't have a combat in 3 sessions because of it.
Still looking for a DM and would like to keep it pathfinder.
I'd be interested, moreso if 5e.
Pathfinder with House Rules.
SD
Sounds interesting. Like Fobok above, I often played FR or homebrew when it came to D&D 1E to 4E. I have not played 5E and don't even own the PhB for it. So I would be more interested in Pathfinder ruleset.
Always preferred 6 players myself. That was the way we played back in the 80's and 90's. I believe it was 3E that implemented the 4 player scenarios which I never liked. My old groups were always 6-8 players.
I grew up playing in a group of six as a kid in the late 70's and 80's. Was always fun; with kids, you tend to pair up into teams so it was never an issue then. I find that a group of six in PBP gives you a better team and as was stated previously it keeps things moving. I don't mind auto running a PC for a short amount of time to progress things forward.
SD
One of the things I am doing with the house rules is making some adjustment to races. This is EPIC level campaign and my belief is the PC's are the centerpiece. For example, I allow for two additional racial traits as two campaign traits. Gnomes of Greyhawk are vastly different from the Golarion (PF) gnomes. I use both the Rock Gnomes and Tinker Gnomes (Deep Gnomes are an unknown race). Halflings use the classic Hairfoot, Tallfellow, and the Lightfoot but I dressed out the Halfling communities a bit more. Hairfoots are called Shirefolk, Tallfellows are called Wagonfolk, and Lightfoot are called Riverfolk. Elves are the classic Grey, High, and Wood but I have given them more back history as well as a Sea Elf (High Elf subrace) and the Valley Elf (Grey elf subrace). No aquatic elves... A note on races... this is classic Greyhawk so there are class restrictions on each race. For example; dwarves don't use arcane magic. Each race has some unique magical aspect to their race/subrace that each PC will have access to if they choose that additional racial trait. Dwarves have Forge Magic if they want to have that as an ART. It allows them to create weapons and armor with magical traits.
I reworked the back history as well. There is a creation backstory that will play into the campaign that is much older than the Greyhawk gods. This plays into the Elder Elemental Princes and the Elder Eye.
SD
Sounds quite nice. One of my best campaigns was played in greyhawk.
Quite interested, yeah.
I'm running a campaign set in Greyhawk right now. It's a setting I like a lot.
Let's see these house rules! ;)
Apart from I6 those are my favourite modules. I DM'ed all of them except I6 and WG 4 (still a favorite with its links to S4) but have no problem separating player knowledge from character knowledge and sounds like you are tweaking them.
Definitely interested as it is PF rules.
Greyhawk!
To quote a really bad, older movie . . .. "I'm going home."
Yeah, he doesn't really get to go home either, but, hey, you know what I mean, right?
Edit:
Valley Elves as PCs? VERY insular group. Basically a cult. Having one of them run away would be a pretty big deal.
Edit2:
Gygax's Greyhawk was a VERY prejudiced place, in far more ways than just what classes are available to different races. Things like no one in the Gnarly was willing to trust the Elves, whether from Selene or not. The Free City of Dyvers worked with the Pomarj to support the Yellow Sails, as long as they took slaves from the Free City of Greyhawk . . .. Advancing the plans of an evil Orcish empire in order to gain even a minor advantage over a trade rival.
Query: Does your classic World of Greyhawk include things from The Oerth Journal? Just a point of reference, really.
Edit3:
Tinker Gnomes? From Dragonlance/Realms? In Greyhawk?
The current time will be 571 CY and there is currently a plague that is ending in the entire region. Magic is not widespread and more often than not a person can be burned at the stake or drowned for witchcraft. Nobles and highborn are more accustom to magic but commoners are not due to the belief that the plague was in part to magic gone astray and the plague had more of an impact to commoners with little access to protection or healing magic. Divine and Nature (Druidic) magic have a stronger or more positive outlook from the commoners.
NOTE: Greyhawk powers and powerful outsiders (including native) can sense intermediate magic (4th, 5th, and 6th levels). Magic at higher levels (7th to 9th level spells) has physical consequences when cast.
Some of the background changes in the Creation myth is tied to the Valley Elves and the Valley of the Magi. This comes into effect in S4 and WG4 more than anything if the PC's track that way. But that is for later :).
Tinker Gnomes - sort of but not the same. It was a gnome subspecies that was added to a campaign of ours way back in the early 80's and I just like to have them in the campaign world. A little different from the common GH Gnome in that they are more tied to crafting and creating items and I think that ties well with Alchemist. Funny I forgot all about the DL Tinker Gnome and there is a good chance we actually pulled it from there. I had played in the old DL modules in 1st Edition.
I actually like the Greyhawk world because it is gritty, dirty, and tough. There is nothing pretty about Greyhawk...something I always liked about it.
Hoping I can get that feeling again in a longterm PBP.
SD
Apart from I6 those are my favourite modules. I DM'ed all of them except I6 and WG 4 (still a favorite with its links to S4) but have no problem separating player knowledge from character knowledge and sounds like you are tweaking them.
Definitely interested as it is PF rules.
So Q1 has some really neat things going on with it...especially the ability to travel into different worlds. One of those will be Ravenloft. If you have played the Q1 you know the vampire demiplane...well I am styling I6 for that realm (Strahd is more dangerous).
SD
...gritty, dirty, and tough.
Yep that sums up what I like about it/interests me as well, sword and sorcery. I would be the slightly insane arcane caster.
I would be game. Love the world of greyhawk.
I do like some old school Greyhawk. I'd definitely be interested in 5E or Pathfinder. Even in any of the number of OSR games too!
I love those old modules.
Interested and awaiting the actual recruitment and character generation rules.
Apart from I6 those are my favourite modules. I DM'ed all of them except I6 and WG 4 (still a favorite with its links to S4) but have no problem separating player knowledge from character knowledge and sounds like you are tweaking them.
Definitely interested as it is PF rules.
So Q1 has some really neat things going on with it...especially the ability to travel into different worlds. One of those will be Ravenloft. If you have played the Q1 you know the vampire demiplane...well I am styling I6 for that realm (Strahd is more dangerous).
SD
I remember the demi-planes - what I especially liked was the
perceived uses, alliances and machinations Lolth had for, with and about the various denizens of each plane. Not exacltly spelt out in the modules any great depth, but palpable nonetheless.
Really, though I'm pumped to play U1, Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, (and on to the rest) instead of running it for the nth time!!! Especially with some tweaks to make for some surprises...
You will have no shortage of volunteers, including me.
How MUCH of Pathfinder are you going to use? Some of the traditional racial (2 class) multiclasses are implemented within Pathfinder as classes.
Fighter/Mage is a Magus as the obvious example, with the archery archetype being custom built for the traditional magical Elven archer.
Fighter/Druid is a Shifter (at least one version of the multiclass would be).
Hunter is Druid/Ranger.
Warpriest is Fighter/Cleric.
(Interestingly enough, none of the other Hybrid classes fit the classic discussion!)
Just thinking out loud. I would have to actually go to the garage and dig books out to work through the list, because I don't pretend to remember what the racial options were.
If you are going to include racial class restrictions, are you going to include racial class LIMITS? That was an aspect that always bothered me, until I realized that we almost never played far enough for it to matter. But you intend to . . ..
No level restrictions. Never cared for that rule in 1st AD&D. Greyhawk races differ from Golorion in many ways; magic use being one of them and I like that wrinkle.
Personally, I like the core classes far more than the other but every player is different in what appeals to them as a PC. There are additions that have been added to the Rogue, Cleric, Druid, and Sorcerer classes as well as even some additions to the Wizard class. There is a reason for this and that is because I believe the CORE classes should be the focal point classes... Yes you can run the Hybrid classes but a fighter or a rogue is going to bring more to the table...even if they are multiclassed. This is really preference on my part as a DM and it probably goes back to how long I have played and simply my apprecition for those classes :)
CORE Classes - all intact with some modifications (improvements). Fighter is house rule version we have played with for several years. Cleric and Rogue have several additions to them. Rogue, Barbarian, Monk are replaced with UNCHAINED versions.
BASE Classes - no Shifter, no Gunslinger, no Vigilante.
No Alternate classes.
All Hybrid classes are allowed.
Unchained classes replace core classes.
I am not a big fan of archatypes and with the addition of two additional alternate racial traits and two campaign traits I feel that will be enough for every PC to create a quality charater.
SD
How long are you planning to run the recruitment for?
I am finishing up the docs now and cleaning up the House rules doc. As soon as I do I will open recruitment. I didn't know what to expect on interest so it is nice to see there is interest.
I am also going to do a Character Creation doc so that expectations are clear for everyone.
I figure I will open recruitment for two weeks. I figure that is more than enough time for anyone interested to post a potential character. Once the two weeks are completed I will decide on party members.
I want this to be a longterm campaign. I just finished up a six-year tabletop campaign and we are taking a six-month break. This is normal for our group as we have been playing together since the 90's...well the core group of us have been. So we take time off after we play for long periods. I also just finished up a short run PBP about a month ago so my table is clear and that gives me time to focus on this campaign. I would like to have players that are not running a bunch of PBP games and/or more than one Tabletop game. With real-life having a major impact on gaming; especially PBP games I want to lessen that effect with players that have time on their hands. I am pretty open about when I am taking a day off or traveling/vacationing for work/family. Also, I have found with PBP if we are cranking out quality posts and moving along at a good pace at points in a long-term game it is good to take a few days off to a week off to refresh our gaming juices and take a break :) That all depends on our group but that is for later.
SD
I will adjust when you get the final build stats up.
I'd be interested in trying the house-ruled Fighter. Will keep an eye out for the recruitment thread.
I'm cooking up an idea for a druid hailing from the northern reaches of Greyhawk. I'll keep an eye out for the character creation guidelines and the recruitment thread before I move too much further though.
I'd be interested. I have a character I used for Greyhawk based campaign that I would love to use. Dwarf Fighter/Thief (shout out to AD&D!).
Will keep on the lookout for your recruitment thread.
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How about a 1e AD&D Bard!! To be a bard, you had to start as a human or half-elf fighter with a 15 in Strength, Wisdom, Dex, and Charisma, a 12 Int and a 10 Con. You went as a normal fighter until 5-7th level (7th level is best, for the extra half-attack), then switched over to thief until 5th-9th level thief. At that point, you switched over to Bard, proper, gaining 6-sided HD, druid spells, bonus languages, a chance to charm with your music and a chance to legend lore with your knowledge... as well as all the standard druid powers.
That was hardcore! Only knew one person to even attempt it, and they joined us during our attack on the Fire Giant Hall (having finally made it to 7 Level Fighter and 7 level thief). By the time we got to D1-2, he was a level 1 Bard!!
Chiming in for my interest as well. No idea what I'd play until we get more info, but my total sum of experience with Greyhawk is a PbP years ago that lasted about two posts before it died so I'm excited to try it again lol.
Grew up with the Greyhawk. Many fond memories of gaming sessions in that world. Some of my favorite characters came from those games as well.
Jesse Heinig and I were in a game based on the old modules from greyhawk. Sadly it died out a few months ago. Our group worked well together and it is a shame it did not last.
Looking forward to the recruitment thread to appear.
How about a 1e AD&D Bard!! To be a bard, you had to start as a human or half-elf fighter with a 15 in Strength, Wisdom, Dex, and Charisma, a 12 Int and a 10 Con. You went as a normal fighter until 5-7th level (7th level is best, for the extra half-attack), then switched over to thief until 5th-9th level thief. At that point, you switched over to Bard, proper, gaining 6-sided HD, druid spells, bonus languages, a chance to charm with your music and a chance to legend lore with your knowledge... as well as all the standard druid powers.
That was hardcore! Only knew one person to even attempt it, and they joined us during our attack on the Fire Giant Hall (having finally made it to 7 Level Fighter and 7 level thief). By the time we got to D1-2, he was a level 1 Bard!!
Monks were a joy to run as well. To advance past 7th level and every level thereafter you had to defeat a monk of that level in open combat without the aid of weapons or magic. Top that off that the number of monks at each level above 7th was limited..3 or less. Had to love that...
Bards were a pain to run. I only knew two people that ran one and it was a beating from what I remember. One died in Tomb of Horrors after getting to level 1 as a Bard...was not a great moment :) The Mouth...was over quickly.. My character didn't do much better... no one does well in the ToH :) It is s DM's dream; not so much for the players.
SD
Bard - the original Prestige Class!
My brother and I played through S1 with a big party. Whittled down fairly quick, but they did make it to Acererak. A few folk did not survive the gem-capture, and one character came out of the tomb with a new gender...
Would the deities be allowed from the non-human pantheons?
I would Definitely be interested in playing through these old modules!
Would the deities be allowed from the non-human pantheons?
No non-human deities. I am more of a traditionalist with Greyhawk.
The old faith, the classic Greyhawk deities, the Olman deities, the Touv deities and the Creator deity. Humanoids worship the same pantheon as the PC's do as well as demonic/diabolic/outside entities including elder gods.
The only accessible deities for players is going to be the Old Faith, Classic Greyhawk, and Logos.
I am working on a Google Drive folder for potential players to review all material. Will have it up shortly.
SD
So...is this still happening??
Daniel,
Yes it is. Still a work in progress. Once I complete all the info players will need I will update U1 to U3 with some changes I want to make and we can get started. I can work on the remaining mods as we progress through Saltmarsh. I already have working notes on S4 and WGR4 as well G1 to G3.
I am going to post a Google Drive link on here shortly and then post a recruitment thread (probably this thread) when I am ready to go.
SD
Thanks for the heads up ALLENDM.