History TabletopGame / Greyhawk

* GoodIsNotNice, verging into LightIsNotGood: The church of ostensibly LawfulGood god Pholtus, who commonly start prayers with the worryingly appropriate "O Blinding Light"; they have a strong streak of intolerance towards any other religion, even other good and lawful ones, considering non-Pholtus worshipers to be misguided, heathens or heretics, and advance a form of proto-monotheism with Pholtus as the sole god worthy of worship; taken UpToEleven in the Theocracy of the Pale, where martial law and TheInquisition have been active for 200 years, who considers all other nations to be {{wretched hive}}s for not worshiping Pholtus exclusively, and which has territorial and religious imperialistic designs on all its neighbors. Their [[PlanetOfHats hat]] is pretty much being {{Knight Templar}}s. Consequently, they're considered LawfulNeutral as a whole rather than LawfulGood.

* MalevolentArchitecture: Castle Greyhawk is one big, mile-deep DeathTrap. The TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors, meanwhile, [[UpToEleven makes Castle Greyhawk look like one o' them bouncy castles]].

* WizardingSchool: Castle Greyhawk's Tower Of Magic was this in the backstory. Having classrooms, libraries, workshops and dormitories for the wizard Zagyg's apprentices.

* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: Although most people pronounce "Oerth" to rhyme with "north", [[WordOfGod according to Gygax himself]] he pronounced it "Oyth" [[UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents (as if with a Brooklyn accent)]].

* WhatMightHaveBeen: Gygax had planned to write a series of expansions covering the rest of the supercontinent Oerik (of which the Flanaess is only the northeastern portion), but his recurring absences from Lake Geneva to work on [[WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983 the animated series]] and [[DevelopmentHell potential movie deals]] in Hollywood forestalled that (and ultimately helped lead to his ouster from Creator/{{TSR}} at the end of 1985). [[http://greyhawkery.blogspot.com/2016/04/beyond-flanaess.html An official map]] of the entire continent was eventually released in ''Dragon Annual #1'' in 1996, and later publications such as the ''Chainmail'' relaunch in 2001 and the Canonfire! fan site added more details.

*** By 3rd edition, Vecna was so iconic that he became one of the gods of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' in general, typically holding the post of "God of Secrets, BlackMagic and/or [[TheNecromancer Necromancy]] and Forbidden Lore". So did his Hand and Eye.

* WhatMightHaveBeen: Gygax had planned to write a series of expansions covering the rest of the supercontinent Oerik (of which the Flanaess is only the northeastern portion), but his recurring absences from Lake Geneva to work on [[WesternAnimation/{{DungeonsAndDragons}} the animated series]] and [[DevelopmentHell potential movie deals]] in Hollywood forestalled that (and ultimately helped lead to his ouster from Creator/{{TSR}} at the end of 1985). [[http://greyhawkery.blogspot.com/2016/04/beyond-flanaess.html An official map]] of the entire continent was eventually released in ''Dragon Annual #1'' in 1996, and later publications such as the ''Chainmail'' relaunch in 2001 and the Canonfire! fan site added more details.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Basically every other country on the planet fears and hates the Empire Of Iuz

* FiveRaces: Humans, dwarves, elves, gnomes and halflings.

*** G1 ''Steading of the Hill Giant Chief''
*** G2 ''Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl''
*** G3 ''Hall of the Fire Giant King''

*** D1 ''Descent into the Depths of the Earth''
*** D2 ''Shrine of the Kuo-Toa''
*** D3 ''Vault of the Drow''

* ''The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror''
* ''Ghosts of Saltmarsh'' (5th edition remakes of classic adventures)

** Following Vecna's apotheosis, one of the most powerful mortal spellcasters on Oerth is the witch Iggwilv, who has enslaved genuine DemonLords and used one to produce an heir: Iuz.

''Greyhawk'' has not been the default setting since the 3rd edition of D&D, which borrowed much of Greyhawk's lore and its more prominent deities but otherwise presented itself as a generic setting. It did not appear at all in 4th edition, but the 5th edition still includes material that was once associated with ''Greyhawk'', such as a list of ''Greyhawk'' deities for the Cleric class. The setting seems to have inspired some of the fifth edition's "look and feel", such as its treatment of the Paladin class and the Beholder and [[OurElvesAreBetter Dark Elf]] races.

* OurElvesAreBetter: Actually, Our Elves Are Pretty Standard, all things considered.
** But on a related note, this setting was the TropeCodifier for D&D's ''dark'' elves. Though much rarer than in the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'', they even display the same tendency towards being redeemable, as proven by characters like [[CloningBlues Leda]] and several of the rebellious dark elves in the city of Erelhei-Cinlu. The ''Unearthed Arcana'' sourcebook even references the idea of drow being rebels due to their alignment, as well as making all elven sub-races, including drow, eligible for the Ranger character class. And all of this actually precedes the introduction of [[Literature/TheIcewindDaleTrilogy Drizzt Do'Urden]].

* ''Drow'' adventure series
** D1 ''Descent into the Depths of the Earth''
** D2 ''Shrine of the Kuo-Toa''
** D3 ''Vault of the Drow''

* ''Giants'' adventure series
** G1 ''Steading of the Hill Giant Chief''
** G2 ''Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl''
** G3 ''Hall of the Fire Giant King''

* ''TabletopGame/TheTempleOfElementalEvil''

** But on a related note, this setting was the TropeCodifier for D&D's ''dark'' elves. Though much rarer than in the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'', they even display the same tendency towards being redeemable, as proven by characters like [[CloningBlues Leda]] and several of the rebellious dark elves in the city of Erelhei-Cinlu. The ''Unearthed Arcana'' sourcebook even references the idea of drow being rebels due to their alignment. And all of this actually precedes the introduction of [[Literature/TheIcewindDaleTrilogy Drizzt Do'Urden]].