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Greyhawk is one of the most famous settings in Dungeons & Dragons. Known for being the invention of D&D creator Gary Gygax, Greyhawk is a richly imaginative campaign setting that includes the free city of Greyhawk and the surrounding lands. These storied locales can lay the stage for many grand adventures.
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But, with a setting as rich as Greyhawk, it can be hard to know where to start. Without a solid entry point into the world, it’s easy to get lost in pages and pages of lore and rules. If you’re interested in running a campaign in Greyhawk, here’s what you need to know.
What Is Greyhawk?
Greyhawk is a free city located on the fantastical continent of Oerik, which is one of four continents in the world of Oerth, all invented by Gygax. The city itself is a dense metropolis full of adventurers and common folk alike.
However, the world of Greyhawk is constantly in danger of succumbing to those who would seek to enforce their will over the free city and its surrounding territory.
Despite the magical threats that lurk just outside the city’s gates, Greyhawk itself boats a thriving populace full of arcane wonders, intriguing mysteries, and many factions and guilds.
From knights and mages to wealthy aristocrats and merchants, the city is a flexible backdrop that can host any type of adventure, from palace intrigue to dungeon delving. Here are some of the highlights the city has to offer. And, believe it or not, this is just an overview of the vast and storied history of Greyhawk.
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City Highlight |
Examples |
Details |
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Diverse Neighborhoods |
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Overview – The neighborhoods and boroughs of Greyhawk are unique and varied in nature. From the university district known as Clerkburg, to the dangerous Thieves’ Quarter, urban-sprawl style adventures are perfectly at home in the Greyhawk setting. |
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Example – For a quick and easy way to introduce your players to the world of Greyhawk, have a knowledgeable NPC invite the party to the Great Library in Clerkburg. From there, players can ask questions about intriguing locations in the city walls, and about the city itself surrounded by the very history of Greyhawk. |
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Notable Locations |
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Overview – Shops, inns, taverns, and more all call Greyhawk home. The cozy and quaint Black Dragon Inn can offer cheap rooms to weary travelers, and the magic shop known as Unearthed Arcana boasts a hefty haul of unique and rare items. |
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Example – Chaotically-aligned parties visiting Greyhawk may be tempted by an alluring quest to break into the Grand Citadel and its treasury, retrieving a hidden valuable inside. |
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Storied Factions & Organizations |
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Overview – Greyhawk is home to numerous factions and organizations. The Circle of Eight comprises some of the most powerful mages in the land, while the Knights of the Watch protect the western mountains from giants and dragons. |
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Example – A rogue character within the party might find the mysterious Scarlet Order of particular interest. This shady organization of spies and assassins are well known for their infiltration skills, and can serve as an excellent introduction to factions for the party. |
Offering players a map of Greyhawk that they can refer to is a great way to easily engage your party. You can find a printer-friendly one in Chapter Five of the 2024 DM’s Guide.
How To Start Your Campaign In Greyhawk
With a full picture of Greyhawk in your mind, the next step toward launching a campaign in this setting is twofold.
First, it’s imperative that you get your players invested in the welfare of Greyhawk as a locale, particularly if you’re starting the campaign in the free city itself rather than the surrounding lands. Second, you need to select a starting conflict for your party to contend with.
How Do You Get Your Party Invested?
Getting players interested in a setting or plot hook is always one of the hardest parts of starting a new campaign. For Greyhawk, it’s imperative that you not only get your party interested in the world but also emotionally invested in defending the city when the time comes.
Many of the conflicts posed in the Greyhawk setting feature existential threats to the free city’s existence.
Luckily, Greyhawk offers some shorthand in terms of getting the party invested.
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Point of Interest |
Details |
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Bastions |
Giving players a bastion early on in their time in Greyhawk can get them invested in defending the city since they now have a personal stake in making sure their property stays safe as well. In addition, advancing their own personal bastion allows for a wonderful sense of progression as the campaign continues. |
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Faction Membership |
Having an NPC give players membership in a local faction is a great shorthand for laying down roots in Greyhawk. This is also a fantastic way to introduce key NPCs and other allies to the party, which will give players a sense of connection to the locale. |
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Mysteries |
The surrounding lands in Greyhawk hold many mysteries, like the Bat-Folk of Hepmonaland or the Land of Black Ice. Introducing these mysterious locales can get players invested in exploring Greyhawk and its surrounding territory quickly. |
What Conflicts Plauge Greyhawk?
Once your party is invested in the city, it’s time to choose some starting adventure hooks. Additionally, when plotting your campaign structure in Greyhawk, you should consider if you want to use one of Gygax’s key conflicts that threaten the existence of the city and surrounding lands.
You can always homebrew your own as well, and many pre-written adventures offered in the 2024 DM’s guide also fit in with the world of Greyhawk.
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Key Conflicts |
Summary |
Antagonist Goals |
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Chromatic Dragons |
It is well known that bands of evil chromatic dragons call the lands beyond Greyhawk their home. As time has passed, these dragons have grown more bold, and now have their eyes set on Greyhawk and the surrounding territory. Only the bravest of adventurers can stand in their way. |
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Elemental Evil |
Elemental Evil forces draw in around Greyhawk. Over the years, demon lords and other extraplanar entities ran amok in Greyhawk. Now, many of these entities are trapped or imprisoned in dungeons underneath or near Greyhawk. Their servants seek to free them and claim the powers of Greyhawk for themselves. |
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Iuz the Evil |
Iuz the Evil is a demigod recently freed from his prison beneath the city of Greyhawk. Now, he bides his time in the northern regions of the continent, amassing power and followers. It’s not clear how he intends to exact revenge on Greyhawk, but his return to the continent has even the most powerful of mages concerned for the welfare of the city. |
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How To Tie It All Together
Once you have a firm understanding of the city of Greyhawk itself, have successfully gotten your party invested, and have tantalized them with an adventure hook that leads into one of Greyhawk’s central conflicts, your campaign will be ready to take off in earnest.
The last thing to do is to tie all these elements together. Running a campaign in Greyhawk and keeping the excitement of your players up is reliant on a few key things.
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Steps |
Description |
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Introducing Greyhawk & Key NPCs |
First, you want to make sure you’re introducing key NPCs and continuing to connect the players to the city itself. Keeping this investment up through the introduction of friendly NPCs or even giving the players bastions to call their own within the city walls will help keep players engaged. |
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Setting Up Key Conflicts |
Then, as the conflict of the campaign escalates and the players progress in levels, you want to set up the threat to Greyhawk. This places the players’ love of the city of Greyhawk in direct conflict with the antagonists of your campaign (whichever conflict you choose) setting the stage for epic confrontations between good and evil, and a climactic fight for the city of Greyhawk itself. |
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Resolving Arcs & Expanding The World |
With a key conflict resolved, the Greyhawk setting can expand beyond the city’s gates and the nearby lands into the entire world of Oerth. This world, also created by Gygax, can play host to a variety of different adventures and can carry adventuring parties into higher levels of play. Beyond the free city of Greyhawk, this campaign setting can lay the groundwork for epic, long-spanning campaigns that can last months if not years. |
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