With all of the 4E talk spurring comments on a Greyhawk "reboot", I've been thinking a lot lately about a reimaging of WoG. One that takes out what I don't like, and reorganizes what I do. A lot of gods will disappear, nations will be rearranged, and power/magic levels adjusted. I'm still going to run a 3.5 version (I may incorporate 4E material once I see it), but include much of that material as standard for the world instead of piecemealing it in. Some of my old campaign info will become WoG history, and some will disappear. Anyone else doing anything along these lines? Any one else willing to commit reboot heresy? _________________ Greyhawk is dead; long live Greyahwk! It is not heresy; I will not recant!
I'm going for simplicity and familiarity to a modern audience whenever possible. I hate playing in FR because I have to memorize all these new cultures, abilities, etc...
For instance: Races will bear a striking similarity to historic cultures. The Flan will be a merging of Native American and early Celtic cultures. The Suel will be Greco-Roman, with centuries of arrogance and decadence added in. The Baklunish will be proud middle-eastern (with flavors from Turkish to Indian). And the Oeridians are Germanic - logical, structured, distant. There's some similarity with "as written", but not too much. This approach may require me to change how some places got their names and such.
Gnomes will be related to Dwarves, and Halflings may be an early offshoot of Humans. Elves will be more woodland-related, and there will be no real Elven subraces (excepting Drow).
The deity structure will be hugely simplified. I'm not sure if I want racial pantheons, or universally-recognized deities, or both. I'm working on a "theory of divinity" still - basing it on belief (not necessarily worship). I like the Pratchett idea of "forgotten gods", and how much material that gives me.
For a GH afficionado, I don't like the idea of "active neutrality" much. It seems like too much of a "meddling with the world" approach to things. The pattern of "heroes saving the world only when it needs saving, and then almost always at the last second" fits better than "keeping the balance".
I'll keep the populations low, although some have made excellent arguments that GH is hugely underpopulated. But being somewhere other than "top of the food chain" has its consequences...
And I will keep the current Triumvirate of Big Baddies (Tharizdun, the Scarlet Brotherhood (as his generally-unwitting agents), and Iuz), but there will also be lesser-knowns like the Drow, Graz'zt, and other demons, devils, and evil divinities. Not to mention a near-endless procession of bandits, petty lordlings, Grand Viziers, eunuchs, and all versions of all editions of the Monster Manual...
Similarly, in my "re-imagining" of WoG, I've tied real-world cultures to Oerth cultures, although different from what you have. Flan have many slavic and central asian (caucasian; armenian, aryan, russian, finnish, lapplander, etc.) cultural styles (despite the physical disparity). The Oeridians are akin to the greeks, romans, etruscans, phonoecians, and carthaginians culturally, having migrated from Aquaria following a cataclysm there and landing on the shores of the eastern Flanaess. The Suel are a germanic/teutonic people that once occupied what is now the Dry Steppes, and settled the lands of the western Flanaess (what is the Baklunish west in the standard setting). The Empire of Baklun once flourished where the Sea of Dust is today; these arabic/egyptian/persian folk fled east to the Golden Valley (the Sheldomar Valley - aka Keoland, Ulek, etc.).
Elves are an ancient race of scholars and wizards. They appreciate nature for its beauty and vitality. Culturally, I draw inspiration from the mythologies celtic Britain, specifically of the Tuatha de Danan. "Sub-races" of elves are merely names given to elves that dwell in certain regions, save the dark elves and the valley elves. Of the former, there are several tribes of dark elves, each serving differing evil beings. Some serve Lolth. Some serve Iuz. Some serve Graz'zt. Some server darker powers still... Of valley elves, the less said the better. These strangers are not of Oerth...
The dwarves and gnomes of my WoG are certainly distant cousins, both born of the very Oerth itself. Gnomes have a closer tie to magic than their dwarf kin, and both have a love of stone, gems and precious metals. Their mythos and religious practices are very close and entwined. Norse and celtic myth and language influence my version of the dwarves and gnomes. As with elves, sub-races of these two races are merely place names, except for the duergar and the svirfneblin, both of which are so different as to be distant relatives.
Halflings of this WoG are largely unchanged from the Hobbits of Tolkien, save that they are more gregarious and open around others. They are mirthful, playful and cheerful in general, though also cautious and discerning. Like elves, these halflings draw much inspiration from celtic Britain, especially Ireland. Sub-races of halfling are again simply names.
The reliigions of the peoples of the Flanaess once reflected the isolation of many of the races, and areas of pure or nearly pure race still hold to the old racial mythos. Most areas, especially the Midlands, where religions and cultures have mixed and married, hold to a core of "common" deities.
Racial distribution and populations are varied; the Midlands of Veluna, Furyondy, Keoland, Nyrond, Urnst and the like are heavily populated with a diverse mix (55% human, 14% halfling, 10% elf, 8% dwarf, 5% gnome, 4% half-orc, 3% half-elf, 1% other; average population density 35 per sq. mi), while areas like the Golden Valley (94% bakluni human, 3% dwarf and gnome combined, 2% elf, 1% other; average population density 8 per sq. mi) or the Thillornian Pennisula (62% dwarf, 26% gnome, 8% flan human, 3% half-orc, 1% other; average population density 12 per sq. mi) or Celene (95% elf, 3% half-elf, 2% other; average population density 16 per sq. mi) are much more "purist". Unlike the standard WoG, racial tensions do exist, especially between the "sub-races" the various folk, and even many of the nations of the Flanaess; the more culturally mixed an area, the more acceptance people find among one another. _________________ Greyhawk is dead; long live Greyahwk! It is not heresy; I will not recant!
In this WoG re-imagined, The Scarlet Brotherhood and the Horned Society are not nations. Rather, they are powerful secret societies, both with dark agendas. In the case of the SB, a group of Suel long ago founded the Brotherhood of the Scarlet Sign to protect the ancient heritage of the Suel people. Many of the great works of literature, art, science and magic were kept by them. Over time, this mission has been twisted and perverted into an evil group of monks, assassins and wizards that seek to promote the Suel way of life, and cast down the "lesser" races of the world, crushing them beneath their heels. The Horned Society is a group of power-hungry arcanists who seek ever greater power through the serving, binding and cousel of fiends. Many demonologists and diabolists, as well as other sorts, are members of this highly secretive group. Most seek power only for themselves; a handful, the shadowed Hierarchs, have more dangerous agendas...
Mordenkainen and his Circle of Eight are here as well, but seek to maintain security of the Flanaess against outside influence. These powerful archmages and their agents scour the world for dangerous manifestations of planar atrocities, mad wizards, and extra-planar portals to ensure that Oerth remains a stable, material world. While Mordenkainen is neutral, and many members of the Circle (past and present) are as well, dedication to the protection of Oerth is of greatest importance. As secret societies go, the Co8 is a relative newcomer, and fairly open about their aims, goals and even membership (at least of their leaders).
Iuz is a powerful half-fiend who is on the verge of godhood. He has many worshippers, armies, and servants. He has been in existance for millenia, waxing and waning in power. Currently, he has massed his power and forces in the Land of Black Ice, north of forgotten Blackmoor, once under his power. Iuz is the "boogeyman" of the Flanaess; it is said that to speak his name is to draw his attention. He is thus referred to most often as "the Old One" or "the Dark One", by all save the bravest.
Vecna, Tuerny the Merciless, Lum the Mad, Acerak (shortened from Acererak), Iggwilv, and others are poweful wizards from the Flanaess' past, and have their own stories, of which their is some similarity to the "canon" WoG. Because of the depredations of the powerful arcanists, the people of Oerth have a general fear and distrust of the arcane. While few nations outlaw magic, most have laws governing the use of such, and folk generally give arcanists a wide berth.
Tharizdun... this dark monstrosity is but ONE of the Elder Gods, from long before the elves sang in words, before the dwarves clawed out of the stone, before men made tools and fire. Tharizdun and its ilk are best forgotten... _________________ Greyhawk is dead; long live Greyahwk! It is not heresy; I will not recant!
Also (for those interested), in this re-imagining of WoG, I'm incorporating many of the new classes, races and other options from WotC as having been around for a long time. Many themes, rules, options and such are also coming into the fold from 3rd party publishers, and especially material from Monte Cook (Eldritch Might, Arcana Unearthed) and the Scarred Lands (fits in interestingly with the Ecology of the Titan article in Dragon). The Fantasy Flight books have provided a lot of new options, and a smattering of info from Mongoose Quintessential and Encyclopedia Arcane/Divine. The race books from Green Ronin (half-orc as a template!), Goodman Games' "Into the..." series, some of the AEG books, even World of Warcraft, Everquest, Hackmaster, Warhammer Fantasy, Harn and Rolemaster have some bits here. From fiction, I have drawn heavily from Donaldson's Covenant books, Tad Williams' "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" trilogy and a little of Eddings' Belgeriad. Movie inspiration comes from Legend, Excalibur, Lord of the Rings (of course) and the 300.
Greyhawk: Reimagined is a world of shadows, dark conspiracies, secrets and political manoeuvering. Sword and sorcery, against a backdrop of gritty realism. Tension amongst the races of the world, against an rich tapestry of history. Creatures of the Planes, who seek Oerth for their own machinations, against which a stalwart few hold the glaive against dissolution. This is my World of Greyhawk! _________________ Greyhawk is dead; long live Greyahwk! It is not heresy; I will not recant!
I'm doing a few things differently, but I really like your approach. I may borrow your Valley Elves entirely...
I don't want to get too deep into the details (I like things being hidden from my players), but I have a few definite ideas on the SB, Big T, and some of the other GH icons.
I'm rewritting Greyhawk right now. I am sort of staying close to cannon in some ways, but I have answered a lot of the "big" questions in ways that stay close to the overall metaplot I am developing. This Greyhawk is for more mature role-playing and will not be for the faint of heart. I'm calling it Dark Oerth currently and will be posting parts of it once my work meets my satisfaction.
Nice work gargoyle. I like alot of plotlines and the ways you related much of how each race is represented Telas I used a similar approch to the human races as you have here. The Renee are a Romanian/Germanic type people which original migrations where land based caravans and later developed into the water barges so common inlands today. Because of simlarities in appearance to Oeridians I think the two human races may be linked more than anyone knows. The land they knew as Rhop may have been located close to Aquaria or once part of its continent.
Some type of earthquake or other event caused a separation of the two. When the lands separated the Renee took to the water ways. Because of the separation of the continent the Lands know as Rhop slowly desended into the water. Eventually the few remaining Renee left made there way to the Flanaess. They took to the waterways naturally and because of their dwindled numbers the only thing they could not lose was the water they became so familar with. Thus many Renee believe this to be a new world and that Rhop exists else where. Many Renee now believe Rhop is a land of the dead and all Renee who pass are sent on a floating vessel with food stuffs and gifts to take back home. Yes they are burned believing the waters of Rhop will revive the fallen Renee when he/she arrives in Rhop.
In my WoG their are no subrace of Drow instead a Drow is an elf cast out of his/her society not just or because of immense evil acts but it could also be because of an elves complete disrepect for Elvin ways.
I like the Duergar as a subrace but not the svirfneblin I use that as a place name meaning Gnome of the Deep . Derro came to be when Dwarves first used the runes of magic stolen from their former Giant masters. Later The SB found a way to duplicate the effect and have their own off shoot of the original Derro.
In my campaign SB where never a nation but merely a part of the Shar Empire. Now their are promenient members of the SB with much influence in the lands of Shar but they are not a nation of their own but a large secret society with a big following.
The Horned Society is currently Fractured and must now operate as a secret society inorder to still exist. It is believed some members of the old HS have agents supporting the Sheild Lands hoping to build an army strong enough to reclaim the lands lost in the Greyhawk wars.
The Theocracy of the Pale is seen as much a threat as the Lands of Iuz spreading the Faith of the one true God this Monotheistic spreading people have proved formidable and pockets of the church of Pholtus have either gained influence in surrounding lands or been razed in retaliation for The Theocracy's machinations of Dominance in the Flanaess.
Surprisingly HS agents have actually encouraged The Shield Lands to adopt this policy of one True Faith perhaps distanceing them as a Land with ties to the Church of Heironeous and weaken Furyondy influence in the Sheid Lands.
Just a few changes I have more maybe I can post them later.
Pholtus and the Horned Society: IMC, as I have the HS a secret society of devil-worshippers, I had them infiltrate the church of Pholtus in the Pale, and didn't even hide their evil. "Pholtus is the Law, and the Law shall be whole of the truth", is their credo, and thus act as lawful evil priests of Pholtus. They infect the clergy with evil, and draw promising clerics to the truth of the HS. So I like some of your ideas on the Pale, Pholtus, the HS and the Shield Lands.
Similarly, I had the rhenee as being an offshoot of the oeridians, basically a slavic-germanic romany. And I'd had a major earthquake that sunk much of the continent of Aquaria which sent the oeridians and rhenee sailing for new lands... _________________ Greyhawk is dead; long live Greyahwk! It is not heresy; I will not recant!
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