Tags
Darlene, Fantasy, Greyhawk, Nerdscaping, TSR, World of Greyhawk
A few weeks ago I failed a Will save (or perhaps a Save Vs Spells) and bought a near-mint condition World of Greyhawk boxed set for $20 at my FLGS. (Have I mentioned how much my FLGS kicks ass? Seriously, read that first sentence again, I bought a World of Greyhawk boxed set published in 1983 off the shelf of my gaming store. It was sitting right beside a selection of James Bond 007 adventure module boxed sets, still in their shrink wrap. Also, when I say $20, I mean $20 Canadian, which at the time of purchase was $16.04 USD.)
1. I don’t play games or run games using the Greyhawk setting, and don’t intend to.
2. I never actually owned this before, my cousin owned the Folio version and made me run a few games with it as the setting. I wasn’t my cuppa tea because I prefer my fantasy worlds to feel a little more Melnibonean.
But there is a solid reason that I did buy the box…
3. Fucking gorgeous map by Darlene in near mint condition. I’ve been using a scan of the Greyhawk map as an inspiration piece when working on my hex maps because of the lovely way she mixes the use of hex symbols and general regional map styles into one style. It is LOVELY.
So, as of yesterday morning, the boxed set no longer has the maps, and will promptly begin it’s task of collecting dust for a few years before I pass it along to someone else who needs it. This makes the boxed set a little sad, I’m sure.
However, my wall now has two Darlene maps on it. This makes my wall both very happy, and VERY stylin’.
Dyson's Dodecahedron 
Wow. Never actually played in Greyhawk BITD but I got the folio as a kid — perhaps because of all the crazy heraldry on the cover. Anyway the maps eventually went up on my bedroom wall, but eventually fell apart. Tried to get them laminated in college but Kinko’s couldn’t do manage the size*. My brother got the boxed set when it came out, and while we still play in Greyhawk, we had another set of maps…which I think eventually got peed on by a cat. 😦 30 years later we ARE playing a game set in Greyhawk and the DM brought over his near-mint copies on the map, and they really are stunning. Can’t imagine why WOTC hasn’t reprinted them, if only as poster maps. I hope the originals weren’t among all the art the the lovely and talented head of TSR allegedly threw away…
http://paizo.com/dungeon/products/issues/greyhawkmap This is a link to where you can buy the 4 maps at $3.00 each. It’s a great deal.
Yeah, I have those also, but they really aren’t the same caliber of awesome as the original Darlene maps
I remember being in 5th grade, in 1985, and borrowing the boxed set from a friend. It was my 1st time seeing an RPG. My brother and I opened the map and laid it on my bed and were mesmerized. That map made me want to play, which I ended up doing later in high school and beyond for years.
Best campaign world ever. I very much approve of this post (and purchase!)
My brother loved Greyhawk back in the day, and it is totally the maps that made that campaign – nice find.
Greyhawk has always been my main setting. I’ve got that boxed set from way back and I still love the maps. I eventually got them laminated, but it would have been great to have them framed and hung on the wall. I did get A3 colour photocopies done (and laminated) that I still regularly use.
There WAS an almost exact reprint by Paizo/WotC in Dungeon magazine, done in 4 parts.
Which store is this? I must know for the next trip I make up there.
Reblogged this on DDOCentral.
I might try a bit of Strange now and again, but I always return to Greyhawk.
I have that boxed set and Greyhawk is still my go to setting. I am currently running two 5e campaigns set there. What a great find!