With the 1985 coup d’etat that toppled Gary Gygax from the helm of TSR, his legacy campaign setting was left in limbo for a few years.
Greyhawk returned to print in 1988 with the parody adventure Castle Greyhawk (WG7), not exactly an auspicious relaunch.
More dignified titles would follow however, and post-Gygax Greyhawk continued the gritty, human-centric elements that distinguished the setting from the Forgotten Realms.
The WARS boardgame box (1991) set the Flanaess aflame as rivalries burst into open conflict.
While the great war left the region changed, Greyhawk remained familiar, not altered to the extent that the Time of Troubles reshaped the Forgotten Realms with the advent of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition rules. TSR learned a lesson perhaps from the event’s mixed reception.
Through these years, the classic World of Greyhawk box set soldiered on. It remained available in TSR Product Catalogs through 1991… an impressive 8-year run.
But with the resurgence of the Greyhawk setting, TSR felt it was time for a new core set: From The Ashes.
The Wars were over (mostly), and it was time for Greyhawk to simply be an AD&D campaign setting.
It was only now that I realized that Jeff Easley painted an homage to his own earlier cover art on the Gold Box!
From The Ashes [BOX SET]
1992 … Carl Sargent & Anne Brown … TSR 1064 … ISBN 1560763418
CONTENTS:
- Atlas of the Flanaess (1064XXX1402, 96 pages)
- Campaign Book (1064XXX1403, 96 pages)
- 20 cardsheets of encounters and information [First 14 are numbered. Subjects include weather, nation data, map info, symbols of the powers (deities), priest spells, encounter tables, NPCs of Greyhawk. Last 6 cards are encounter set-ups: Brainstorm, Dark Heart of Oak, Honest Bandits, Slavers by Midnight, Tamara Belongs to Me, The Beckoner in the Dark).]
- 5 Monstrous Compendium sheets (Varrangoin [Abyss Bat], Thassaloss, Losel, Lyrannikin [Black Treant], Dwarf [Derro], Animus)
- 3 color fold-out maps:
- 1064XXX0701 Postwar Flanaess West
- 1064XXX0702 Postwar Flanaess East
- 1064XXX0703 From the Ashes Campaign Map
Noble Knight | Amazon | DriveThruRPG (PDF)
Where To Play?
I’ll profile the box parts photos in the next section. Here, let’s explore the revised Greyhawk a bit.
By the 1990s, Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms were more familiar to DMs and players than Greyhawk.
In Dragon Magazine 191 (March 1993), designer Carl Sargent discussed the From The Ashes set. He profiled various regions and what campaign style they’d appeal to. I’ll post excerpts here, along with inset maps from the new poster maps.
City of Greyhawk and Environs: “Largely untouched by the Wars”
Outside the City: “For dungeon delvers, try the star cairns of the Cairn Hills or the dangerous, magical ruins of the Abbor-Alz (lamia, derro, liches, brass and copper dragons and much else lair there). For wilderness adventures, the Mistmarsh, the foothills, and the Gnarley Forest are perfect locales. For spying or skirmishing, the Gnarley Forest rangers are always watchful of the Wild Coast’s orcs and a skilled ranger or thief with suitable talents will find employ in Hardby or the Wild Coast cities now under Greyhawks control.”
The City: “It’s the perfect place to gamble, spy, spy on other spies, investigate mysteries, and get embroiled in other peoples conflicts, and it is also a good place to draw in the theme of the Scarlet Brotherhood. This groups interest in the Free City can threaten PCs when they are ready to be drawn into truly dangerous political intrigue. For PCs with a desire to see some action, a career in the Hardby Marines or the Cairn Hills garrisons are recommended.”
The City of Greyhawk (1989) box set would be indispensible for this campaign.
Also a fun Easter Egg is found in this section
Maure Castle is the creation of Robert J. Kuntz (profiled earlier here: THE LAST FOUNDER). This location dates to the earliest days, but got in-depth treatment in 2004, occupying an entire(!) issue of Dungeon Magazine (#112).
Furyondy: Make “post-war Greyhawk the central focus of the campaign”
“For more accomplished PCs, involvement in the politics of Furyondy is almost certain. The divisions of the Seven Families, the major landholders and militia-raisers, are fully recounted in WGR4 The Marklands sourcebook, and King Belvor IV has a very tough time keeping his kingdom together. In addition, he has to act as liaison with his banker to the west, Veluna, and deal with hotheads who want to go to war again (including some of the nobles and the vengeful priesthood of Trithereon) while also keeping his alliance with the Highfolk intact and cordial.”
“This border zone isn’t one of major battles (if the PCs want these, the Vesve Forest is the place to go, and it’s just west of Furyondy). It’s one of tactical skirmishing and hit-and-run raiding, perfect for aggressive mid-level PCs.”
“High-level PCs can try heroic acts like those in WGR6 City of Skulls, penetrating Iuz’s capital to free the imprisoned leader of the Shield Lander exiles.”
Nyrond: “a terrific setting for PCs who like a great deal of freedom”
“Bankrupted by its war with the Great Kingdom and the cost of fending off Stonefist men and even humanoids from the Bone March, Nyrond commends itself to players and DMs who enjoy role-playing in a land of strife and struggle. Nyrond is far more factionalized than Furyondy; its king is weak and is poorly advised by toadying sycophants. Corruption and rebellion rot this once-great nation. Ordinary people starve or riot at the ruinous taxes the king forces upon them, and Nyrond is beset with divisions. A handful of local rulers are still wise and kindly, trying to do their best by their subjects in such harsh times.”
The Great Kingdom: “for mid- to high-level PCs who enjoy guerilla warfare, building and protecting their own strongholds” and facing a mighty evil
“Shattered into a score of petty fiefdoms, some larger domains (North Province, for example) still remain largely intact while elsewhere the Overking’s bizarre treatment of his most powerful nobles has generated an entirely new type of ruler: the animus. Slaughtered by the Overking and resurrected by Hextor’s priests as undead monstrosities, these very powerful creatures rule huge swathes of the old Aerdi (and are detailed in the boxed set). Motivated by cold fury, their own self-loathing, and topped up with fanatical hatred of the Overking, these monsters spare no one and nothing to prosecute their goals of revenge.”
Keoland and Ulek: For PCs of all levels
“Keoland and the lands surrounding it (Gran March, Yeomanry, and Ulek) is a fine setting for PCs of all levels. To the west, the Lost Lands (Geoff and Sterich) offer mid- to high-level PCs the chance to adventure in a liberation struggle against the giantish and humanoid invaders of those lands. For chaotic PCs with a desire to bash great lumps out of worthy enemies, this is perfect.”
In my house campaign, we’ve been adventuring here. The Barrier Peaks border Geoff to the west, and my table has been on an “Expedition” for some time now. Also the Giants modules are set in the area.
For a post-Wars Greyhawk campaign, these WGR series adventures/sourcebooks are indispensable: Rary the Traitor, The Marklands, Iuz the Evil, and City of Skulls. See all these, and the rest, at my classic RPG reference site.
From The Ashes photos
The Box
The Books
Cards
The first 14 cardsheets are numbered, with the calendar, weather, deities, encounter charts, etc. The last 6 cards are adventure seeds, very similar in format to those in City of Greyhawk.
Monstrous Compendium sheets
MAPS
The first two poster maps are Darlene’s famous World of Greyhawk map set. The graphics have been updated, but I don’t see any substantive changes. Here they are, the From The Ashes maps paperclipped above my original WoG wall map.
The third poster map depicts the Free City of Greyhawk region.
See Also:
Fantastic writeup!
Thank ye kindly!