The City of Greyhawk
![]() Front cover of The City of Greyhawk boxed set | |
Genre | Role-playing game |
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Publisher | TSR, Inc. |
Publication date | 1989 |
Media type | Boxed set |
The City of Greyhawk is a
Contents
The City of Greyhawk is a boxed set that details the most prominent city of the World of Greyhawk campaign setting.[1] The Free City of Greyhawk, Gem of the Flanaess, is the adventuring town that gives the World of Greyhawk setting its name.[2] The set includes a detailed fold-out bird's-eye-view of the town, which matches the diagrammatic, keyed-location street map. The map is cross-referenced with one of the booklets to describe the major features of the city. Also included are large maps of the sewers and underground passages, and a map of the surrounding region.[2]
The set describes a wide variety of NPCs, their fellowships and conspiracies, and their associated game mechanics, personalities, tactics, and loose narrative threads. Potential allies, patrons, informants, and enemies are available for any group of characters. External politics are intertwined in the city's internal affairs, and rival guilds compete for power and influence, while dark conspiracies are plotted beneath the streets.[2] One of the booklets includes four adventure scenarios that develop themes and elements already presented in the city background. Twenty-three short adventures are printed on the front and back of a single piece of card stock, and the 24th sheet of card stock summarizes the monster stats for these short adventures. Each adventure develops at least some element of plot, character, or theme presented in the city background material. Some are dungeon crawls, some wilderness expeditions, some city adventures, and some diplomatic intrigues.[2]
Publication history
The City of Greyhawk was designed by
Reception
Lisa Stevens reviewed The City of Greyhawk for White Wolf #20, rating it 4 out of 5 overall, and stated that "Overall, this product is the most exciting supplement to come out of the TSR stables since the original Player's Handbook took that first giant leap into role-playing. The quality of the writing and production gives the buyer more than his money's worth. The prose is interesting to read and stimulates the creative juices that so many other products leave stagnant."[3]
Game designer Rick Swan considered the Greyhawk setting "a mess", but called The City of Greyhawk "the most credible attempt at smoothing out the rough spots": "Wisely concentrating on a small section of the world, the set offered a host of intriguing personalities, adventure ideas galore, and best of all, a coherent background."[4]
Reviews
- Review in Games International
References
- ^ ISBN 0-87975-653-5.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rolston, Ken (April 1990). "Role-playing Reviews". Dragon (#156). Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR: 84–85.
- White Wolf Magazine. No. 20. pp. 54–55.
- ^ Swan, Rick (October 1993). "Role-playing Reviews". Dragon (#198). Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR: 49–51.