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''Greyhawk'' is a Campaign Setting for the '' Dungeons & Dragons '' Role-playing Game . Also known as the '''''World of Greyhawk''''', it is one of the game's oldest settings. Within the setting, the name is also shared by the Free City Of Greyhawk , Castle Greyhawk located outside of the city, and a race of Dragons known in other settings as Steel Dragons . As one of the earliest of the ''D&D'' campaign settings, much of the rules design occurred in conjunction with game play by Gary Gygax and others in and around Castle Greyhawk and its Dungeon s. While constructing the milieu, Gygax also incorporated the campaign worlds of his fellow role-players, such as Blackmoor ( Dave Arneson 's campaign) and the Lendore Isles (a region created by long-time stalwart Len Lakofka ). GEOGRAPHY AND POPULATION Gazetteer, published in 2000 by Wizards Of The Coast .]] In the Greyhawk setting, the planet Oerth has four Continents . Only one of these continents, Oerik , has been officially described in various D&D publications over the past 30+ years, and in fact detailed information is available only for its eastern end, known as the Flanaess . Although many home D&D campaigns are set in or around the in the northwest, the Empire Of Iuz in the north, the Thillonrian Peninsula in the northeast, the Sea Of Dust in the far west, the Sheldomar Valley in the west, old Ferrond and its southern frontier (including the City of Greyhawk) at the center of the Flanaess, old Sulm and the Aerdy frontier to the east, the old Great Kingdom to the far east, and the Amedio Jungle to the southwest. Certain elements of Greyhawk's geography are fantastic in nature, such as the Sea of Dust and the Land Of Black Ice . Other elements are more closely analogous to real-world Europe, such as the Thillonrian Peninsula 's geographical resemblance to Scandinavia . The Flanaess is home to Oerth's "enlightened Humanity ," and much of the flavor of the Greyhawk setting arises from the interplay of the various "sub-races" of humanity -- Oeridians , Flannae , Baklunish , and Suloise in particular -- as they have criss-crossed the Flanaess over the last millennium. The setting's fans have debated the exact nature of these sub-races (and their real world analogues, if any) over the years, but key distinguising features include antagonism between the Bakluni and Suloise (and the ancient war that nearly decimated them both), the relative primitiveness of the indigenous Flan, and the Oerdians' military conquest of much of the Flanaess. Various Fantasy Races also populate the Flanaess, sometimes acting as allies to humanity in the same vein as J.R.R. Tolkien 's Middle-earth . Elves and Dwarves of different sorts even have powerful strongholds and nations, with Gnomes and Halflings living in smaller pockets near friendly (and more powerful) neighbors. Even where these races are politically advanced, such as in Celene or the Ulek States , isolationist policies often limit their power to the regions they inhabit. Wicked Drow Elves often plot mischief against the free world, with other nefarious creatures such as Orcs , Ogres , Giants , and Dragons acting as all-purpose enemies. When viewed as a whole, however, the Flanaess appears humanocentric despite the presence of so many fantastic species. POLITICAL POWERS At the center of this game world, the Free City Of Greyhawk is a Free City of the Flanaess, originally under the domination of the Great Kingdom Of Aerdy . The Circle Of Eight , a select group of wizards headquartered in Greyhawk, monitor events across the Flanaess, intervening when the balance of power is threatened by extremes of good or evil. Several evil factions still prevail across the sub-continent, including the undead remnants of Aerdy, the wicked demi-god Iuz (who rules his expanding territory, the Empire Of Iuz ), and the mysterious Scarlet Brotherhood (whose racial purity doctrines and fanatical monasticism invite comparisons with both Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan ). Among the factions opposing these forces are the major kingdoms of Nyrond , Furyondy and Keoland as well as numerous smaller states, organisations and individuals. PUBLICATIONS booklet by Gygax and Kuntz .]] TSR, Inc. published the first Greyhawk product by Gary Gygax and and Robert J. Kuntz in 1975 as a supplement booklet to the original ''Dungeons & Dragons'' rules. There is no significant campaign setting information in this booklet, however. Instead, the supplement focused on game rules that were used in Gygax's ''Greyhawk'' campaign. Many of these new rules became standard parts of the ''AD&D'' game, including the assassin and paladin classes, 7th, 8th, and 9th level spells, classic monsters such as the Beholder, many of the standard magic items, etc. In 1980 the ''Greyhawk'' campaign setting was first publicly detailed in ''The World of Greyhawk'' folio, which was superseded by the ''World of Greyhawk'' boxed set in 1983 . Beginning in issue 30 of '' The Dragon '', Gygax began writing a periodic column called "From the Sorcerer's Scroll." This series provided additional background for the Greyhawk setting, focusing on the politics of various countries, the individuals who lived there, and other things which brought life to his world. Between 1978 and 1987 , TSR published approximately 30 adventure modules set in the ''World of Greyhawk''. These included three major ''Greyhawk'' campaigns, with the '' Temple Of Elemental Evil '' series (T 1-4) being the best known. '' T-1 The Village Of Hommlet '' began players at first level, with successive adventures of increasing difficulty eventually culminating within the temple itself. This campaign would later provide the inspiration for the 2003 Atari PC video game '' The Temple Of Elemental Evil ''. Another favorite campaign, ''A1-4 Scourge Of The Slave Lords '', developed out of Tournament role-playing games centering around the Slave Lords , a powerful band of pirates and slavers preying upon the Wild Coast . Gygax's own ''GDQ'' series brought high-level adventurers against bands of ruthless giants, vile underground Kuo-toa , and the Drow themselves, ending with a confrontation with the Spider Queen, Lolth . All three series have been repackaged as super-modules, while the original folders are prized among Collectors . Other notable offerings include the 1988 '' Greyhawk Adventures '' hardback book and ''The City of Greyhawk'' boxed set from 1989 , which expanded on the detail available for the city for the second edition ''D&D'' rules. While the World of Greyhawk is primarily serious in its scope, one "joke" module, ''WG7: Castle Greyhawk'' includes many references to 20th-century culture, such as characters named "King Burger" and "General Public," as well as "B-Men" monsters that are half-hornet and half-government agent. Other ''Greyhawk'' modules such as '' Dungeonland '' and '' Expedition To The Barrier Peaks '' borrow themes from Lewis Carroll and Science Fiction respectively. The Greyhawk Wars period In 1987 , TSR began to emphasize the '' Forgotten Realms '' campaign world, with progressively fewer modules and sourcebooks for ''Greyhawk''. In 1991 , however, TSR published the ''Greyhawk Wars'' Boxed Set , followed up by ''From The Ashes'' in 1992 . These boxed sets detailed the epic '' Greyhawk Wars '' between the forces of good and evil in the Flanaess and have a darker tone than previous publications for the setting. These were followed by a series of sourcebooks and adventures by Carl Sargent including ''The Marklands'' (detailing the beleaguered Kingdoms of Furyondy and Nyrond ), ''Iuz the Evil'' and ''City of Skulls'' (the latter two dealing with the Empire of Iuz). This series was soon halted, however, when in 1993 TSR cancelled Sargent's sourcebook on the Great Kingdom , ''Ivid the Undying'', prior to publication. ''Greyhawk'' would not return to publication thereafter until 1998 (see "Wizards of the Coast" below). Fiction (TSR, 1985); Cover art by Clyde Caldwell ]] Spurred on by the success of the '' Dragonlance '' novels during the mid 1980s, two separate ''Greyhawk'' series appeared, penned by Rose Estes and Gary Gygax himself. The latter author's more popular series, beginning with ''Saga of Old City'' and ''The Artifact of Evil'', focuses on Gord , a rogue from ''Greyhawk''. After leaving TSR, Inc. for personal reasons in 1986 , Gary Gygax continued the Gord series with an independent publisher for a number of years. Estes took over the TSR series at this point, introducing new characters and going in a different direction than Gygax's independent series. Estes' novels were not completely consistent with the game rules in force at the time, featuring such disallowed combinations as Dwarven wizards. The Estes novels also diverged from the setting storyline presented in adventure modules and game sourcebooks. For example, Iuz is slain early on in the Estes series of novels, whereas he remains a primary political force in other TSR products from the period such as ''Howl From the North'' and ''Greyhawk Wars''. Fiction set in the World of Greyhawk
WIZARDS OF THE COAST ; Cover art by Doug Beekman]] Since Wizards Of The Coast (WotC) purchased TSR and the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' franchise, they have focused mainly on the Forgotten Realms and Eberron campaign settings. In 1998 , however, an attempt was made to revive the ''World of Greyhawk'' with the release of ''The Adventure Begins'' sourcebook. This publication advanced the timeline of the World of Greyhawk by six years. ''The Adventure Begins'' was followed up by a series of modules and sourcebooks that included ''The Player's Guide to Greyhawk'', '' The Scarlet Brotherhood '' and others that detailed sites close to the Free City of Greyhawk. In addition, between 1998 and 2002 WotC released several adventures and novels linked to some of the earliest and most popular Greyhawk modules. The new adventures included ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors'', '' Slavers '' (linked to the original Slave Lords series), ''Return to the Keep on the Borderlands'', ''Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff'', ''Return to White Plume Mountain'', and ''Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil''. (See above for a list of the novels of this period). The relaunch failed to sufficiently revive the ''World of Greyhawk'' From 2001 to the present, the primary sources of ''Greyhawk''-specific materials therefore have been Fan Fiction and a limited number of third-party licensed publications. The latter category includes the aforementioned Atari PC computer game as well as comic books from Kenzer & Company and Iron Hammer Graphics. Currently, the ''World of Greyhawk'' is the "default" campaign setting for all WotC published ''Dungeons & Dragons'' adventures. In theory, this means that any 3rd Edition ''D&D'' adventure that does not specifically indicate it belongs in another setting is considered to be set in the ''World of Greyhawk'' by default. In practice, however, these modules contain little or no information specific to the setting. MODERN GREYHAWK AND THE RPGA Today, ''Greyhawk'' remains popular with hardcore gamers, despite the fact other ''D&D'' campaign worlds have borrowed numerous ideas from ''Greyhawk''. The ever-popular Drow elves first appeared as villains in several modules set on Oerth, whilst the Deities Of ''Greyhawk'' have become default gods and goddesses in Wizards Of The Coast 's 3E (or third edition) version of '' Dungeons And Dragons ''. Furthermore, '' Neverwinter Nights '' features many fan-designed modules set in ''Greyhawk'' and modules originally created for the first '' Dungeons & Dragons '' world. Wizards of the Coast's RPGA organization also features ''Greyhawk'' as its most popular Living Campaign setting, known as '' Living Greyhawk ''. The ''Living Greyhawk'' campaign is far more popular than the current '' Mark Of Heroes '' campaign set in the world of Eberron , the '' Legacy Of The Green Regent '' campaign set in the '' Forgotten Realms '' or the '' Living Force '' campaign run with D20 -edition '' Star Wars '' rules and characters. MAJOR PERSONAGES
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