#flanaess

[oldschoolfrp]

A mighty castle looms over a small settlement somewhere in the Flanaess (Jeff Easley with vine border by Dᴀʀʟᴇɴᴇ, The World of Greyhawk campaign boxed set by Gary Gygax, TSR, 1983)

[shaneplays]

Darlene's map (two 33" x 22" posters) for the 1980 World of Greyhawk fantasy setting. Still a beautiful work, in 1980 a hex overlaid, poster-sized, two-part RPG setting map with hand-scripted labels and full color was remarkably advanced for its time. The map is still held in high regard today, along with the artist. The map itself shows only the Flanaess region, as the scope of the entire continent (and the fantasy world of Oerth with more continents) was too large even for this size… a historic entry on Map Monday aka Dungeon Day!!

[vintagerpg]

A rare Saturday post! Warduke is just too awesome to contain in Monday to Friday, I guess.

Here’s Dungeon Magazine 105, from Decemember, 2003. That’s Mr. Duke on the cover, which touts his long awaited return to Dungeons & Dragons. Here, Warduke is placed in Greyhawk (XL1 and AC1 are both for red box D&D, and therefore the Mystara, or Known World campaign setting). In Flanaess, Warduke is a violent agent of the Horned Society (the diabolical nation that rose up in Iuz’s absence) who hunts enemies of the organization, explicitly specializing in single-handedly wiping out groups of heroic adventurers. I am a little rusty on my D&D 3E mechanics, but Warduke’s level 18 stats look beastly, easily making him a match for a party of 5-6 cocksure players. Four attacks at potentially 32 damage each? Eesh.

Warduke is visually redesigned here by the amazing Wayne Reynolds, one of the best things to happen to D&D 3E. Despite some nitpicks (he really ought to be left handed with that shield/armor combo) I’m here for it. My main complaint is how ‘roided out he looks, like a medieval Bane. But hey, I’ll take more Warduke however it comes – and 20 years later, this iteration is perhaps the one that matches my brutal expectations for the character the best.

Reynolds’ design was used as the basis for a miniature, which I’ve included here. Pretty much a direct sculpt of the interior illustration, it’s one of my faves from the modern miniatures line. Naturally.

[oldschoolfrp]

The party’s audience with the gnome laird Gwaylar, clan chief of the gnomes of the vale, possible allies or opponents hidden in the mountains northwest of The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (Jeff Easley, AD&D module S4, TSR, 1982).  The module devotes 3 pages to the gnome village, and 7-1/2 more pages to other wilderness encounters and dead-end trails in the Yatil Mountains before the party even finds the entrance to the Lost Caverns.

[oldschoolfrp]

Oerth, the Flanaess, in the eastern part of the continent of Oerik (Dᴀʀʟᴇɴᴇ’s complete 44"x34" two-sheet map from The World of Greyhawk boxed set by Gary Gygax, TSR, 1983.)

[oldschoolfrp]

Greyhawk Wars -- A stand-alone board game of war between the major states of the Flanaess by David “Zeb” Cook (Dungeon 33, Jan/Feb 1992; art of mounted knight is signed “Jeanne S” on the shield, while the box cover art was by Roger Raupp and originally appeared on the cover of Dragon 125 representing Arthur and Mordred at Camlan)

[oldschoolfrp]

“When the Invoked Devastation came upon the Baklunish, their own magi brought down the Rain of Colorless Fire in a last terrible curse, and this so affected the Suloise Empire as to cause it to become the Sea of Dust.”  The Twin Cataclysms ended the long Baklunish-Suloise Wars in mere moments, scattered the survivors of both empires, and reshaped the map of the Flanaess.  The exact nature of these magics have been debated for a thousand years.  (Erol Otus illus and quote from The World of Greyhawk by Gary Gygax, TSR, original folio version 1980)  Previously

[oldschoolfrp]

The World of Greyhawk, original 1980 folio edition with David Sutherland cover showing the Free City to the south of the great Nyr Dyv lake, and featuring some of the heraldry of the Flanaess