Happy Needfest! The Digital Darlene Greyhawk Map

Over on the Flanaess Geographical Society facebook group, I noticed that Zach Henderson started to post a clean up of the original Darlene Greyhawk map. One of the things he did was to go through the map with Photoshop and removed all the hexes. A monumental task. 

I realized that you could digitalize that version and make a crisp clean copy of Darlene's original Greyhawk map. I started talking with Zach and it turned out he broke up his work out into layers. We exchanged files and I started to digitalize the text, fills, and symbols.

Using a variety of tools managed to turn nearly everything on Darlene into a vector. This allow arbitrarily small or large maps to be made from the file. Plus you get a smaller file size for various resolutions.

I then added a few requested bells and whistles like 6 mile hexes, and a black and white version.

I was able to export as SVG file containing most of the map. The only thing that didn't come through are the forest and mountain drawings. The digitization of those layers did not translate well into a SVG  file. But I managed to export the rest and sort it into proper layers usable with the free Inkscape  illustration software and most other illustration and mapping programs.

This is released under the Wizards Fan Content Policy and the few original elements I have are released under the CC-BY-SA-NC 4.0 license.

The main file is a layered PDF. In testing this I found many PDF readers to be hit or miss on their ability to turn layers off and on. Adobe Reader definitely works. 

Digital Darlene Greyhawk Map (PDF and JPGs)

Rob's Note: I been received errata on the map. I uploaded the fixed PDF. It is Rev 12b. Appreciate everybody who sent me errata on Christmas Eve. 

Rob's Note #2: I applied more errata. Fixing up settlement symbols because of the lack of clarity in the original scan. Also restored the missing i in White Fang Bay. Finally I sorted out the issue with the mountain and forest fills in the SVG file. They are now present. The PDF and SVG are now Rev 12c. The JPGs been all updated.

Here is a jpg export of the full map.

Digital Darlene Greyhawk Map (JPG)

Everybody have a happy and safe holiday and Merry Christmas to one and all.

Original Darlene Style

Six Mile Hexes

Greyscale version

Vote Greyhawk! New D&D Survey up.

Wizards of the Coast has a new survey up and among the question it ask what DnD setting you are most interested in. While it not likely that there will be a Greyhawk revival in light of the Forgotten Realms juggernaut it is possible to get it listed as one of the approved settings on the DM's Guild. If that happen the fans can take it from there.

The classic World of Greyhawk is back!

In a nice bit of Christmas news for the OSR, the 1983 boxed set of the World of Greyhawk is avaliable on PDF again. You can get it here from DnD Classics website, RPGNow, or DrivethruRPG.

While I known for promoting the Wilderlands and hexcrawls, I started with the World of Greyhawk for the first couple of campaigns I ran after getting the DMG. As a fan of Tolkien appendices in the a Return of the King, I was impressed with the epic sweep of history in Greyhawk. The fact the Gygax had barbarian migrations as a major component alongside elves, dwarves, orcs, etc was impressive to me back then.

The only downside was that I never thought that religion got the same type of detail. Instead we got a hodgepodge focused on the deities not the religions. Well I fixed that for myself with this article on Greyhawk Gods.

I hope everybody had a Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a Happy New Year.

From the Attic: Greyhawk Gods

 In the early 90s I was reading the Greyhawk Boxed set for the Nth time and I was hit with an idea how to rationalize the Greyhawk Gods into religions (as to opposed to a list of powerful entities)

This is the result.
http://wilderlands.batintheattic.com/greyhawkgods.html

Playing at the World is released!

Playing at the World is written by Jon Peterson and is an exhaustive look at the origins of roleplaying games and wargames of all types. What makes this book valuable and useful is the author's reliance on primary sources. Thanks to the development of the internet, and rise of various collector's communities. (like the Acaeum) Jon had a wealth of material to use as the foundation of his research. The result is one of the first (and hopefully not last) serious and impartial look at the origins of our hobby. I am almost done with the first chapter and while written in dry academic tone it is highly readable and at no time I felt I was being drowned in minutiae.

To his credit the author clearly lays out what the book is and isn't. Notably the book doesn't have much in the way of personal stories about the individuals of the early days. He admits there is plenty of material but he felt it would get of the primary purpose of Playing at the World, which is to document and explain the origins of wargames and tabletop roleplaying. He feels with this book future authors will have a framework around to use when writing about other interesting aspects of the early days of the hobby.

Finally this books marks the public release of the mysterious map of the Great Kingdom of the Castles & Crusades Society. Greyhawk and Blackmoor fans will be surprised at what the map really looks like, I know I was.

Print Copy
Kindle Copy

For you Greyhawk Fans out there

A while ago I posted about Religions Not Deities. Much of my thinking on this topic originated when I wrote up a document treating the Gods of Greyhawk as religions. I took the list in the Gazetteer, analyzed the cultural groups and tried to put them in a coherent form.

Here is the first section about Istar and the other Baklunish Gods

BAKLUNISH GODS

       Istus       B    Fate, Destiny                N       F
       Zuoken      BC   Physical and Mental Mastery  N       M
       Xan_Yae     BC   Twilight,Shadows,Stealth,    N       F
       Geshtai     BC   Lakes, Rivers, Wells         N       F

The Baklunish religion revolves around the acceptance of fate. That no man may escape his fate. Fate is personified, by the Baklunish, as the goddess Istus, the lady of destiny and fate. This focus on Istus causes many Baklunish to be fatalistic about life. Many travellers will attest that most common phrase among Baklunish folks is, "It is the will of Istus". This fatalism often causes the Baklunish to take more risks and to be more militant than the other cultures in Flaness.

Istus became the dominant religion of the Baklunish after the Invoked Devastation. The destruction that was caused, and the struggle to rebuild against the magical chaos that persisted after the Invoked Devastation caused the Baklunish to embrace Istus.

Many of the Baklunish do not actively peruses worship or service with her. This is because many Baklunish view her often as a cruel and uncaring goddess. This also causes an attitude which makes many Baklunish appear not as religious to outsiders. However anyone born in Baklunish culture is always concerned with his fate and will work to ensure his fortune. Truly, to one born in Baklunish lands, no one escapes the will of Istus.

One of the other effects of Istus's influence on Baklunish society is the flourishing of scholarly arts. Those who study the scholarly arts and the ways of magic are in great demand. The rulers and merchants come to them seeking knowledge of what future that Istus has for them.

Istus does have clerics and 80% of these are female. Society in Baklunish lands is traditionally male dominated. This stems from the earliest days and was a part of Baklunish culture even before the Invoked Devastation. Women are regulated to a lower social class than their male counterparts and are given less rights. However Istus would accept any into her service and many women joined. Service to Istus became even more popular among women when it was discovered that Istus treated all who served equally and many women were in positions of power. Men feared Istus for her power over their fates and thus followed the dictates of her priests even if they were women.

Istus is not the only power worshiped in Baklunish society, other arose when men desired to follow others to gain control over their fates. Zuoken is a demi-power that preaches that if one controls his body and mind, then he will gain control over his fate. The followers of Zuoken are called the Followers of the Way. The Followers of the Way made their appearance about 200 years ago in Baklunish Society. They developed methods and techniques that lead to the development of the unarmed martial arts. Also there are rumors that their discipline of the mind is becoming so great that they are able to affect the world and others with the power of their mind alone.

Xan Yae is an older minor power that appeared over one thousand years ago. The followers of Xan Ye believe that all men are predestined by fate. She preaches that only way to deal with fate is to laugh at her face and take as much of life as one can. Xan Yae is the patron of thieves throughout Baklunish Society.

Geshtei is the only power to survive the coming of Istus. Geshtei was one of the myriad powers that the Baklunish worshiped before the Invoked Devastation. These powers were associated with places and elemental forces. Geshtei is the patron of Lakes, Rivers, and Wells, and his clerics protect oasis wells, local lakes, and rivers from those who wish to possess or pollute them. Geshtei survived because much of the southern Baklunish lands are in areas where there is very little water. To this day Baklunish caravan masters and the Paynim nomads give thanks to Geshtei when they reach an Oasis.

The Tiger and Wolf Nomads the old Baklunish survived. The shamans among the nomads protect the tribe from the spirits and try to enlist their aid when the tribe needs help. During their migration the shamans of the Tiger Nomads made a great sacrifice to the spirit of the Tigers to protect their people for all times. The shamans of Wolf Nomads also performed a great sacrifice, but to the spirit of the Wolves. Today both tribes greatly honor their guardian spirit.

The rest you can read here. Warning this is not well edited I wrote this around 1989. This was written before I was aware of the later Greyhawk products like Fate of Istus.

From the Attic: Greyhawk, Harn and Demographics

Tavis in the comments about my handdrawn map of Greyhawk asks an interesting question.

Hand-drawn beauty notwithstanding, the thing I find most interesting is the density of settlements; almost one every other hex at this scale. Some I think I recognize, like Elredd and Fax on the Wild Coast. Were you mostly mapping things that'd already been established in the Flanaess, or were you deducing settlements based on population density?

When I drew the Greyhawk map it was before the internet. My college library was pretty good but nothing like we have now. My main source for medieval demographics was Harn by N. Robin Crossby and Columbia Games. From what I could find it look like Harn was in the ballpark so it was the foundation of how placed settlements in the later maps.

Harn didn't really determine the density I used for Greyhawk. I had a local area map of the Selintan (sp?) River area around the City of Greyhawk that showed the different settlements. This showed that Greyhawk settlements were somewhat more spread out than Harn is.

However the map you see doesn't show everything. In actuality the yellow areas are densely settled areas of culivated land. All that is shown is the main castle/keep/settlement. So what does it really looks like when you zoom in?

Note the only worked examples I have are from my Majestic Wilderlands and I use a 12.5 mile hex for that.

The inset to the right is 12.5 miles (5 leagues) The yellow area are larger because of the smaller hex size. Note a league is an hour's walk.

The bigger hex map show how the culivated land is divided into manor villages and hamlets. Basically the manors are within a 1/2 days walk of the main settlements (Caer Anselford, Caer Dunslad). There are a few mines in the wilderness. Also this map was drawn for a region that was heavily druidic in faith so all the "Circles" in the middle of nowhere.

The main settlements of a country typically are spread from a 1/2 day (densely settled area) to a hard days walk (10 hours) apart.


This map show the larger region the above is taken from.

The rule of thumb I use is that every major settlement town/keep/castle. Has 10 to 15 manor villages in the surrounding region.

Between Kestizag and Antil is densely settled. Daltia in the south is also intensely cultivated along the coast and river valley.

The rest of the major settlements are spread out in then again placed a day or so walk apart.

This results from the King or Central Authority trying to defend his land and vassals.

In my Majestic Wilderlands this region was the focus of an active colonization effort several hundred years ago. So I drew the pattern of settlement slightly different than normal. The original frontier ended at Tenoch. To the east and south were the domain of various Orc Tribes.

The initial focus of colonization was Antil followed by Daltia. This is the reason why the population is so dense in those two areas. The remaining areas were the result of the kings trying to link Antil back to the old frontier and Daltia linking to Antil. Anselford and Dunslad are examples of settlements founded to connect other settlements.

So what is a normal pattern? I will get to that in a later post.

An accurate and easy source for gaming Medieval Demographics is by S. John Ross. You can find it here. I also recommend the Magical Society line by Expeditous Retreat Press. Fief by Cumberland Games. And Harn Manor by Columbia Games as well as Harn itself.