The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Well, seeing as the World of Greyhawk, TSR's original setting for the AD&D game is being reactivated, and some of the old books have been mentioned, I thought it might be time to review the boxed set that was - in my eyes - the best suppliment for this setting, and also the best fantasy city description so far. I know it's out of print, and has been for many years, but you might find it somewhere second hand. If you do, and you want to start playing in this world, GET IT NOW!!! Why? Well, here's my opinion:

Contents:
First, we'll go through the stuff you'll find in this box. It's one of the thin boxes, but it's absolutly stuffed the the rim with goodies.
1: Greyhawk: Gem of the Flanaess - a 96 page book describing the City and surrounding territories. See below.
2: Greyhawk: Folk, Feuds and Factions - another 96 page book, describing the people who live here, and what they get up to. See below.
3: Three poster-maps - One of the area surrounding the City (For those who know the setting, it's the plain of Greyhawk), one of the City itself, one of the sewers and tunnels under the city, and one of an artistic impression of the City. The Maps are all very durable, and - apart from the artistic one - all very handy during games.
4: 24 sheets of cardboard - 23 of them describing possible adventures in and around Greyhawk, and one with a summery of the monster's stats. I've never used them, but I know a lot of people who enjoy this kind of thing.

Greyhawk: Gem of the Flanaess
-----------------------------

As mentioned above, this is the book that describes the city itself, and the enviroment, in 13 chapters. It begins with a quick summary of the setting, and some tips for DM's on how to run city adventures. I suppose this stuff is an old hat for most of you, but for new DM's (Like I was at the time) these tips come in quite handy. After these 2 chapters we finally get some description of the setting. Chapter three describes the area surounding the Free City of Greyhawk in some detail, complete with maps for some locations. This chapter is full of ideas for small adventures that could be run inbetween city scenarios. The only real problems I encountered here where that the location of Castle Greyhawk, though described in the book, is not marked on the Maps, and that the plots for the Lizardmen of the Mistmarch and the Humanoids of Blackthorn aren't well thought out. I ignored them in the end, but I suppose you could, with some work, make something work here.
Chapters 4 and 5 are rather useless. Chapter 4 describes - in some lenght - the city walls and gates, and chapter 5 the Grand Citadel, the HQ of the Guards. It would have been sufficient to bundle these two chapters together, and throw the fluff out.
Chapters 6 to 12 however are brilliant. They describe the various quarters of the city, one by one, in great detail. They give overviews over what kind of businesses can be found in the Quarters, and describe important - and some not-so-important - localities. All in all, very usefull.
Chatpter 13 describes the so-called Undercity - the Sewers, tunnels and secret passages. Quite handy if your PC's want to sneak out of the City, or rob the thieves Guild. The book is then finally rounded off by an appendix that contains a bundle of rumours that can - but don't have to be - true.

All in all, this book is well written, and actually fun to read. The major gripe I have here is the artwork - or lack of artwork. There are hardy any pictures in this book, and most of them are of so-so quality. But I suppose we bought this box for the city, not for a picasso, right?

Greyhawk: Folk, Feuds and Factions
----------------------------------

This book I found to be more interesting than GotF. It depicts bucketloads of NPC's, Groups and factions of the Free City, and even includes a short (very short: 10 pages) section with adventures. The book begins with a chapter on the economy and politics of Greyhawk, and who rules the city. The following chapters cover the Military, Law Enforcers, Willworkers, the Guilds, the Scum, and an asortment of NPC's for every occasion. A nice idea were the three NPC's that are given various stats showing various levels of developement that they gain while interacting with the PC's. All in all, a very interesting book, with realistic descriptions. You got the feeling that these NPC's aren't just there waiting for the PC's to interact with them, but really had a life. (I LOVED the description of Edwina, a Pseudodragon familiar...)
Problems? Well, yes. Like the first book, the artwork is neglectable. A further problem is, however, that we're requested to look into the "Greyhawk Adventures" book for further information on certain important NPC's. Sure, you can get by without it, but it's annoying. BTW, an italian company has brought out a wide selection of the 1st edition hardcover books as reprints, but in a pocket size. Amongst the available books is "Greyhawk Adventures". But I warn you, the printing is so small, you'll need a magnifing glass.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

The City of Greyhawk
Author: Douglas Niles, Carl Sargent and Rik Rose Category: game Company/Publisher: TSR Line: Greyhawk Adventures/AD&D Cost: was 18$ Page count: 192 and some more... ISBN: 0-88038-731-9 SKU: TSR 1043 Capsule Review by The Allamistako on 12/07/00. Genre tags: Fantasy	Well, seeing as the World of Greyhawk, TSR's original setting for the AD&D game is being reactivated, and some of the old books have been mentioned, I thought it might be time to review the boxed set that was - in my eyes - the best suppliment for this setting, and also the best fantasy city description so far. I know it's out of print, and has been for many years, but you might find it somewhere second hand. If you do, and you want to start playing in this world, GET IT NOW!!! Why? Well, here's my opinion: Contents: First, we'll go through the stuff you'll find in this box. It's one of the thin boxes, but it's absolutly stuffed the the rim with goodies. 1: Greyhawk: Gem of the Flanaess - a 96 page book describing the City and surrounding territories. See below. 2: Greyhawk: Folk, Feuds and Factions - another 96 page book, describing the people who live here, and what they get up to. See below. 3: Three poster-maps - One of the area surrounding the City (For those who know the setting, it's the plain of Greyhawk), one of the City itself, one of the sewers and tunnels under the city, and one of an artistic impression of the City. The Maps are all very durable, and - apart from the artistic one - all very handy during games. 4: 24 sheets of cardboard - 23 of them describing possible adventures in and around Greyhawk, and one with a summery of the monster's stats. I've never used them, but I know a lot of people who enjoy this kind of thing. Greyhawk: Gem of the Flanaess ----------------------------- As mentioned above, this is the book that describes the city itself, and the enviroment, in 13 chapters. It begins with a quick summary of the setting, and some tips for DM's on how to run city adventures. I suppose this stuff is an old hat for most of you, but for new DM's (Like I was at the time) these tips come in quite handy. After these 2 chapters we finally get some description of the setting. Chapter three describes the area surounding the Free City of Greyhawk in some detail, complete with maps for some locations. This chapter is full of ideas for small adventures that could be run inbetween city scenarios. The only real problems I encountered here where that the location of Castle Greyhawk, though described in the book, is not marked on the Maps, and that the plots for the Lizardmen of the Mistmarch and the Humanoids of Blackthorn aren't well thought out. I ignored them in the end, but I suppose you could, with some work, make something work here. Chapters 4 and 5 are rather useless. Chapter 4 describes - in some lenght - the city walls and gates, and chapter 5 the Grand Citadel, the HQ of the Guards. It would have been sufficient to bundle these two chapters together, and throw the fluff out. Chapters 6 to 12 however are brilliant. They describe the various quarters of the city, one by one, in great detail. They give overviews over what kind of businesses can be found in the Quarters, and describe important - and some not-so-important - localities. All in all, very usefull. Chatpter 13 describes the so-called Undercity - the Sewers, tunnels and secret passages. Quite handy if your PC's want to sneak out of the City, or rob the thieves Guild. The book is then finally rounded off by an appendix that contains a bundle of rumours that can - but don't have to be - true. All in all, this book is well written, and actually fun to read. The major gripe I have here is the artwork - or lack of artwork. There are hardy any pictures in this book, and most of them are of so-so quality. But I suppose we bought this box for the city, not for a picasso, right? Greyhawk: Folk, Feuds and Factions ---------------------------------- This book I found to be more interesting than GotF. It depicts bucketloads of NPC's, Groups and factions of the Free City, and even includes a short (very short: 10 pages) section with adventures. The book begins with a chapter on the economy and politics of Greyhawk, and who rules the city. The following chapters cover the Military, Law Enforcers, Willworkers, the Guilds, the Scum, and an asortment of NPC's for every occasion. A nice idea were the three NPC's that are given various stats showing various levels of developement that they gain while interacting with the PC's. All in all, a very interesting book, with realistic descriptions. You got the feeling that these NPC's aren't just there waiting for the PC's to interact with them, but really had a life. (I LOVED the description of Edwina, a Pseudodragon familiar...) Problems? Well, yes. Like the first book, the artwork is neglectable. A further problem is, however, that we're requested to look into the "Greyhawk Adventures" book for further information on certain important NPC's. Sure, you can get by without it, but it's annoying. BTW, an italian company has brought out a wide selection of the 1st edition hardcover books as reprints, but in a pocket size. Amongst the available books is "Greyhawk Adventures". But I warn you, the printing is so small, you'll need a magnifing glass. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

The City of Greyhawk