Behind a growing set of modular shelves on a wall in my flat is slowly being hidden the ultra-massive multi-piece
poster of Greyhawk, which came included in parts in Dungeon magazine - in the final year of it's printed form. I also own a battered second-hand
mid-80's Greyhawk boxed atlas, so I have a bit of a soft spot for this most "official" and "original" of all D&D settings. It doesn't take me long, however, to acknowledge why, on the most basic level I find Faerun and Krynn, and perhaps even the unpronounceable campaign area of the Expert Set preferable to Greyhawk. It's silly really- I just couldn't justify a world which has a "Grand Duchy of
Geoff". I'm one of these pretentious fools who likes their places to sound half-old English, or archaic. I think I can cope with the Empire of Iuz (for a while I was snobby-phobic about "Z"s and "X"s), but Inverness and desert locked Kanak* are real places on Earth - perhaps these are the portaled bridges to Oerth? (*Or did I dream this, it's there, right?) I suspect, without properly researching, that the early modules which used these places as settings, in our world, but in a
time of legends. Perhaps the Knights of King Arthur live somewhere in the Greyhawk world as well? Is this a good thing? Quibbles aside, and let's face it, it feels like an evolved "game" world -perhaps Geoff was once a PC and thank-the-pantheon that he wasn't named "Doug" of "Brad".
The Grand Duchy of Brad (Duke of Babes-appreciation)
The really nice thing about looking at any maps of Greyhawk is finding the location of 1st edition modules. I felt a strange sense of completeness when I was able to locate the area in which Village of Homlet dwelt (I never got to that famous Temple...) - although in my own campaign world Hommlet was a on a road not far from the capital city - a distraction and base between freeze-frame-room-encounters "dungeon-crawl" dungeons. Anyhow ...
(I've just seen a friend of a friend "like" this on Facebook...)
Greyhawk maps - Atlas of the Flanaess
(
Facebook Page)
The quality of the maps is impressive, readable labelling, and modern textures, Anne B Meyer's tribute to Gygax is made with respect, flair and dedication.
The maps can be viewed as PDFs and JPGs, which might be indispensable to a DM, especially those of us who have an old printed copy which pencils and heavy dice must not mark!
Nice one, A.B.M!
If you hunger for more maps of Greyhawk or would like to see some earlier art,
mapsofgreyhawk.blogspot.com is also worth a browse.
Travel well!
Did I forget to mention "Woolly Bay"?
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