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63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Inferior to what has gone before, September 25, 2000
This review is from: Gazetteer (Dungeons & Dragons) (Paperback)
As an avid devotee of the Greyhawk campaign setting since 1980, I wanted to love this. At last, a panoramic overview of our favorite fantasy world, for the first time since 1983! Regrettably, most of my enthusiasm evaporated once I cracked the cover. The map on the cover of this booklet is deceptively alluring - lush colors, painted seas with names in delicate script, colored and definitive borders; the inside map is horridly drab. If you don't know what you're missing, it is perfectly serviceable and adequate; but if you've collected the 1980 or 1983 edition of the World of Greyhawk (which I strongly recommend), you'll be sharply disappointed. Remember the colossal maps of days gone by? This one is a measly 17"x22", about 25% of the size of the original. The "colors" are uniformly brown and gray. The gorgeous (and useful!) colors of the old maps, noting such things as ocean depth, are totally absent. Worst of all, there are some features missing! What's gone? Spindrift Isles are re-designated Lendore Isles of L module fame (not entirely accurate), Hepmonaland isn't named (OOOPS!), Ahlissa is not named South Province, Idee, Almor, Fax, Badwall, Elredd, and the Forgotten City and ALL of the ruins in the Sea of Dust! Did I like anything about the map? Yes. It's very easy to read, there's an enticing map of the western hemisphere of Oerth beyond the Flanaess, and cities are well-marked for calculating distance. Best of all, a few "secret" names (like Bonewood and Dunhead Bay) are revealed that weren't before. The 32-page booklet is woefully inadequate if you own the boxed set from 1983; but, it does provide excellent historical overviews, clear and concise descriptions of the major kingdoms and features, and a very clean generalization of the world and its epics. This makes this product an excellent primer for people new to Greyhawk, or people totally new to D&D in general, which is probably the Wizards' intention. And now, the good news... a LIVING GREYHAWK Gazetteer is coming, a 192-page work that should fix ALL of my gripes! Rejoice, but it makes me wonder how useful this book is going to be in a few months. :)
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52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Greyhawk returns as THE Dungeons and Dragons world., September 3, 2000
This review is from: Gazetteer (Dungeons & Dragons) (Paperback)
The world of Greyhawk is almost as old as Dungeons and Dragons itself. It was the first published setting for Dungeons and Dragons and has endured the test of time. For a long time it was the default realm for the adventure modules such as "The Village of Hommlet," the original "Against the Giants," "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks," and others. Throughout the era of the first edition if an adventure did not have a particular world name stamped on it (like Dragonlance, or Forgotten Relms) the players were to assume that the adventure took place on the planet called "Oerth," the world containing the city called "Greyhawk." This assumption was done away with for the second edition. With the advent of the new edition, Wizards of the coast has brought Greyhawk back to its role as the assumed default world. It is now known as "The Dungeons and Dragons world." Any adventure that does not take place in a DMs own world, or in a separate world published by Wizards of the Coast is assumed to take place in this setting. The purpose of the book is to give the Dungeon Master a quick and easy campaign world with plenty of room to work his own developments plots into the world. The reader is given a map, a brief history, short descriptions of the different nations, city states and cities, short descriptions of the assorted geography, and general descriptions of the groups whose powers trancend political boundries. The map is flimsy but well drawn. (It is fragile enough that I suggest lamination) The Dungeon Master is given the option to change political situations, rulers, or anything else in order to fit his plots and adventures into the world. This is the last piece of the world described by the PHB, and DMG. (Each of these have some info on the various aspects of the world, such as gods, races, etc.) The only real problem with this product is the flimsy map and the history. The problem that I had with the history is that it is difficult to follow if you do not know the geography of the world. However, if you study the map as you go this ceases to be a problem when you finish reading the book. All in all this product does what it sets out to do. It gives the Dungeon Master the basic workings of the world of Greyhawk without getting so specific as to make it impossible to customize. I would say that this product is a good buy for the Dungeon Master that does not want to be bothered with the details of creating a campaign world or playing in one that has many special cases and rules.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Greyhawk - Return of an absent favorite, September 13, 2000
This review is from: Gazetteer (Dungeons & Dragons) (Paperback)
The Grehawk Gazetteer is an excellent purchase for any DM who wants to start a campaign in a pre-existing game world. It provides a ready made world which has a proven track record as a great "place" to play D & D. It is well worth the purchase price for any DM who wants to play in the Greyhawk world, or is looking for inspiration to create his/her own campaign world. It is also great to for players, as it gives them a taste of how a game world operates. Greyhawk was the original world for the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Campaign. Originally created by Gary Gygax and crew, this campaign area was largely abandoned after Gygax left TSR. The Greyhawk campaign has always been a popular and vibrant world, a world where all races had areas where they were dominant. Indeed, speculation on the abandonment of this campaign world was not because of any problems with the campaign world itself, but because the the management who replaced Gygax wanted to distance themselves from anything Gygax had personally created within D & D. But Greyhawk would not die. After a long absence, several new modules and accessories were developed, just prior to the financial problems which resulted in Wizards of the Coast's purchase of TSR. The new Gazetteer is heavily derivative, and quite faithful to the previous Greyhawk Gazetteer and other Greyhawk supplements (which is not a bad thing). DMs have been given a world with plenty of room for expansion, and adventure. The only quibbles with this Gazetteer are that it doesn't contain much in the way of new information, and is on the brief side. It will be interesting to see what will be contained in the forthcoming Living Greyhawk book, which will purportedly contain more detailed information on the Greyhawk world.
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