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It was noted not so long ago that Erik Mona, Editor of Dragon and Dungeon, might use his “bully pulpit” to express a unique vision of Greyhawk.  Something new, interesting and different, a vision of his own in more than the breach.

Some time before, it was commented upon that a revived Greyhawk would need a “hook.”  Something to make the setting appealing to a new audience, not just a core audience which would be happy enough with a warmed over, rehash (as long as it had footnotes).  ;)

I would like to suggest a very specific idea.

As a setting, Greyhawk has one huge, gaping hole (leaving aside that the Flanaess is just one small portion of an unexplored globe) - there is no described Deep Oerth or “Underdark.”  It is a D&D trope that Greyhawk is entirely missing.

Yes.  Vault of the Drow.  It is tiny and hardly comprehensive.

Yes.  Nightbelow.  It is not Greyhawk, however much wishing and invocations of Sargent’s name would see it so.

No.  Oerth needs an subterranean addition all its own.  Or nearly so.

First, to the chief advantage of a comprehensive Deep Oerth.  It is everywhere.  From the lands of the Ice Barbarians to the Hold of the Sea Princes.  From Sunndi to Blackmoor.  And all points in between.  Deep Oerth has the capacity to touch and effect every corner of the Flanaess.  Yet, it is tucked away down there, out of sight.  This means no great disruptions to affairs on the surface are mandatory.  Such could be had but the influence of Deep Oerth could be far more subtle, but no less telling.  You can have your cake and eat it too.

Of exactly - what’s down there?  And - what is its impact on the setting?  I am not going to speculate.  The important point, IMO, is to illustrate how a single idea can energize a new look at and for the World of Greyhawk, specifically the Flanaess.

And, as it turns out, Deep Oerth is very much in easy reach.  Two developments touch upon this idea.

First - Stealing Mystara.

Greyhawk stole the Isle of Dread from the Mystara setting.  It is done.  So, why stop there?  Mystara in The Shadow Elves (D&D GAZ13) and The Orcs of Thar (D&D GAZ10) has a very nice underground environment all mapped out.  Only the scale and some specifics need to be changed/adjusted to fit Greyhawk.  That takes care of the physical environment.

Second - The Rift Canyon

Here is your Greyhawk jump off point into Deep Oerth.  It is sitting right there in the middle of the map waiting to be developed.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone were not already developing it for print.  :D  If ever there was a perfect entre to Deep Oerth, here it is.  That would take care of an initial Greyhawk tie in.

All that remains would be to decide -

(1) What is down there in Deep Oerth; and
(2) How does that impact the surface of the Flanaess?

For those who want the Flanaess frozen in amber, the surface is left substantially alone.

For those who want to see substantial development beyond the established confines of the Flanaess, get a shovel.

And Greyhawk’s great hole will be plugged.

Something to think about.

GVD

I've been wanting this sort of resource for a long while now.

I think in all fairness, new source books could easily be made with a collection of LGJ content and Dragon/Dungeon content. One of the things I hate about not having HC books for Greyhawk is that I have to literally hunt sources down across miscellaneous magazines, some of which are out of print. Why not repurpose that material into a 3.5 updated source book? For example, each chapter of the LGG could be expanded with their own books and include a bunch of crunch from Dungeon and Dragon Magazines and the LGJ.

Some possibilities:

Cities (similar to Sharn: City of Towers and and the upcoming City of Splendors: Waterdeep)

Regions (such as Shining South, Unnapproachable East, and the upcoming Five Nations)

Organizations (good or evil, similar to Lords of Darkness)

I really get frustrated when potentially generic books, such as Champions of Ruin, are written specifically for FR blatantly exlcuding other settings.

After wishing for a hardbound campaign setting book for Greyhawk for many years, I think I've changed my my mind after seeing Sharn: City of Towers. That format would be perfect for a Greyhawk city book.

As for the Underdark, it originated in Greyhawk so most material put out for it already fits in nicely. Still, I love underground settings, so the more the better.

I don't think we should make WoG a second FR inserting Drow vaults everywhere - I personally believe that the Drow would only have survived in the coldest north, the black ice and Hyboria, far away from the elven kin that hated them and hunted them to extinction.

IMO, if you want to do such thing, what do you think of connecting the Chainmail setting and the Flannaess? - The Drow presence in the west is greater than in the East, as far as I remember.

For a GH Underdark Guide, I think the 1E Dungeoneers Survival Guide could be considered such. There`s a rundown of the different races living there (Illithid, Aboleth, Derro, kuo-toa, etc...) and the overall ecology. I believe the Night Below (which is Greyhawk, really!) draws on this, as does a great Dungeon adventure by Wolfgang Baur:
Dungeon #70 (September/ October 1998)
Kingdom of the Ghouls Wolfgang Baur AD&D2, levels 9-15


And for hunting down those magazines, check out this WIP index to all Greyhawk articles in periodicals on canonfire:
http://www.canonfire.com/htmlnew/module … 9c999fd9e8