Rating: 
Summary: A 'must have' for any serious Greyhawk DM!
Review: An excellent resource book on the World of Greyhawk setting -- A 'must have' for any serious Greyhawk DM! If you want to DM a Greyhawk campaign, don't waste your time with the smaller D&D Gazetteer -- it has many grossly misleading errors in it and is merely a botched abridgment of this book -- get this one. And don't let the RPGA logo turn you off, this is quality material. We are most fortunate that some of the most knowledgeable Greyhawk scholars put this thing together for us, people that really care about the Greyhawk setting; and their love of the world shows in the craftsmanship of this book. Erik, Gary, Fred, and Sean did a magnificent job given the time constraints and other challenges that they worked under! Pity they weren't given a greater word count allowance to pack even more in. This is a world book detailing the setting -- that's why it's called a Gazetteer! It is not a book filled with monsters, magic items, and spells. Nor is it a book for power mongering players looking for new ways to munchkin-max their PCs. It doesn't really deal with D&D game mechanics, instead it largely focuses on detailing the world itself so that it can be used with any roleplaying system (e.g., I myself prefer the HERO SYSTEM over D&D now, but this book's value is not diminished for me because of this). While it doesn't replace an entire library of old out-of-print Greyhawk books it does offer some new information and no other book gives so much information on the World of Greyhawk setting -- if that is what you're looking for, then this is definately the book for you! That said, I don't think that the book is perfect. I only give it 4.5 stars instead of 5 because I have some minor quibbles with the interpretations and extrapolations made by the authors in a few places (but these are only minor complaints between fellow scholars). And I further reduce that to 4 stars because it wasn't what it could have, and should have, been -- 256 page hardcover with a map equal to the old Darlene map from the Folio/Boxed Set in terms of size and paper quality. Still, I'm amazed that WotC let something this good get published without butchering it. I can only hope that a deluxe hardcover version with a greater page count, and text density will be published sometime in the future. If you also like what you see in this book, I'd strongly recommend joining the RPGA just so that you can get the bi-monthly LIVING GREYHAWK JOURNAL which continues to provide quality material. These and the LIVING GREYHAWK GAZETTEER are the only sources of information that you'll see published on Greyhawk for some time. In short, if you want to DM in Greyhawk, then do yourself, and your players, a favour: get this book and join the legions of Greyhawk fans..
Rating:
Summary: A 'must have' for any serious Greyhawk DM!
Review: An excellent resource book on the World of Greyhawk setting -- A 'must have' for any serious Greyhawk DM! If you want to DM a Greyhawk campaign, don't waste your time with the smaller D&D Gazetteer -- it has many grossly misleading errors in it and is merely a botched abridgment of this book -- get this one. And don't let the RPGA logo turn you off, this is quality material. We are most fortunate that some of the most knowledgeable Greyhawk scholars put this thing together for us, people that really care about the Greyhawk setting; and their love of the world shows in the craftsmanship of this book. Erik, Gary, Fred, and Sean did a magnificent job given the time constraints and other challenges that they worked under! Pity they weren't given a greater word count allowance to pack even more in. This is a world book detailing the setting -- that's why it's called a Gazetteer! It is not a book filled with monsters, magic items, and spells. Nor is it a book for power mongering players looking for new ways to munchkin-max their PCs. It doesn't really deal with D&D game mechanics, instead it largely focuses on detailing the world itself so that it can be used with any roleplaying system (e.g., I myself prefer the HERO SYSTEM over D&D now, but this book's value is not diminished for me because of this). While it doesn't replace an entire library of old out-of-print Greyhawk books it does offer some new information and no other book gives so much information on the World of Greyhawk setting -- if that is what you're looking for, then this is definately the book for you! That said, I don't think that the book is perfect. I only give it 4.5 stars instead of 5 because I have some minor quibbles with the interpretations and extrapolations made by the authors in a few places (but these are only minor complaints between fellow scholars). And I further reduce that to 4 stars because it wasn't what it could have, and should have, been -- 256 page hardcover with a map equal to the old Darlene map from the Folio/Boxed Set in terms of size and paper quality. Still, I'm amazed that WotC let something this good get published without butchering it. I can only hope that a deluxe hardcover version with a greater page count, and text density will be published sometime in the future. If you also like what you see in this book, I'd strongly recommend joining the RPGA just so that you can get the bi-monthly LIVING GREYHAWK JOURNAL which continues to provide quality material. These and the LIVING GREYHAWK GAZETTEER are the only sources of information that you'll see published on Greyhawk for some time. In short, if you want to DM in Greyhawk, then do yourself, and your players, a favour: get this book and join the legions of Greyhawk fans..
Rating: 
Summary: Greyhawk!
Review: Despite some of the lukewarm receptions that some of the other reviewers give this product, I found the LGG fantastic! The world of Greyhawk is presented in all of its varying shades of "grey" glory. From Ahlissa to Zief; all of the political factions, organized lands, forests, rivers, lakes, mountains, and islands are incredibly detailed--while still allowing the DM ample room to manipulate/develop the game world to his/her hearts content. (Admittedly a difficult thing to balance, but the authors pull it off!) There are also mysteries and adventure ideas mentioned within each entry to help the game master generate ideas for their own campaigns. It is true that some of the information in the book may be repeated from older sources. However, it is also true that unless you care to spend tons of money on ebay buying up out-of-print titles, you'll never get this much solid Greyhawk information complied into such a well presented and organized package. Lastly, many of the authors of the book have been THE backbone to the Greyhawk community on the 'net over the years. They are in no small way responsible for helping to keep Greyhawk alive during the difficult TSR years. It's great to see their hard work and love for the Greyhawk setting (over the years) come to print media with such style and grace. M. Schroeder
Rating:
Summary: Greyhawk!
Review: Despite some of the lukewarm receptions that some of the other reviewers give this product, I found the LGG fantastic! The world of Greyhawk is presented in all of its varying shades of "grey" glory. From Ahlissa to Zief; all of the political factions, organized lands, forests, rivers, lakes, mountains, and islands are incredibly detailed--while still allowing the DM ample room to manipulate/develop the game world to his/her hearts content. (Admittedly a difficult thing to balance, but the authors pull it off!) There are also mysteries and adventure ideas mentioned within each entry to help the game master generate ideas for their own campaigns. It is true that some of the information in the book may be repeated from older sources. However, it is also true that unless you care to spend tons of money on ebay buying up out-of-print titles, you'll never get this much solid Greyhawk information complied into such a well presented and organized package. Lastly, many of the authors of the book have been THE backbone to the Greyhawk community on the 'net over the years. They are in no small way responsible for helping to keep Greyhawk alive during the difficult TSR years. It's great to see their hard work and love for the Greyhawk setting (over the years) come to print media with such style and grace. M. Schroeder
Rating:
Summary: Greyhawk!
Review: Despite some of the lukewarm receptions that some of the other reviewers give this product, I found the LGG fantastic! The world of Greyhawk is presented in all of its varying shades of "grey" glory. From Ahlissa to Zief; all of the political factions, organized lands, forests, rivers, lakes, mountains, and islands are incredibly detailed--while still allowing the DM ample room to manipulate/develop the game world to his/her hearts content. (Admittedly a difficult thing to balance, but the authors pull it off!) There are also mysteries and adventure ideas mentioned within each entry to help the game master generate ideas for their own campaigns. It is true that some of the information in the book may be repeated from older sources. However, it is also true that unless you care to spend tons of money on ebay buying up out-of-print titles, you'll never get this much solid Greyhawk information complied into such a well presented and organized package. Lastly, many of the authors of the book have been THE backbone to the Greyhawk community on the 'net over the years. They are in no small way responsible for helping to keep Greyhawk alive during the difficult TSR years. It's great to see their hard work and love for the Greyhawk setting (over the years) come to print media with such style and grace. M. Schroeder
Rating:
Summary: greatest DnD $ ever spent
Review: i bought this book on a closeout sale as my local card shop was closing. now after using and reading i wish i would have broke down earlier and paid the thirty bucks. this book has everything in-depth description of every nation and group under the sun. i found the section on gods especialy nice as my charectors were acting as personal servents for Hextor. i only wish they would have given more thought to racial gods. the map is good but not great it is somewhat small. overall i have made good use of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for new Greyhawkers, OK for old Greyhawkers
Review: I have been an avid fan of the greyhawk setting since I first got the boxed set back in the early 1980's. The setting always had a great feel to it, though detailed information on it was always hard to come by. With the release of the fantastic third edition of D and D, a great range of possibilities to more fully detail the world of Greyhawk, opened up for the authors of the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Unfortunately they have not seized upon these options, and instead we have a slightly more fleshed out version of the old bozed set. It has been brought more up to date, that is the date of the setting has moved forward slightly. The world has been changed by war etc., but the great bulk of the world remains as it was in the boxed set. Most of the leaders of the nations are the same as they used to be in the boxed set, and that brings me to my biggest gripe. Though intended to be used by RPGA members, I would have thought that this popular setting warranted good levels of detail on major personalities etc. Instead we have only bare minimum of information on these people. Class, alignment, level and race. That's it. Also, all of the things that make the third edition such an improvement have not been used to advantage. There are no prestige classes described. There is not one fully detailed character in the whole book. Essentially you get a slightly longer summary of each nation-state, a lot more deities briefly described and a brief overview of some organisations, and that's it. No magic items, no prestige classes, no new feats or skills. With all the wonderful new rules that the third edition game has, I had high expectations for this Gazetteer. Unfortunately, I feel it wasn't worth the price for me, as there was little new information for the experienced Greyhawker. That said, if you like Greyhawk, you probably have no choice other than to purchase yourself a copy so you have the basics (just dont expect any detail). If you are relatively new to Greyhawk then it is an acceptable buy. There is little chance that any Forgotten Realms fans will be lured away by this product - as it just cant match the level of detail.
Rating:
Summary: Mona and Holian are spot on.
Review: I love Greyhawk, I always have. This book compiles much of the material that appeared in earlier greyhawk works (World of Greyhawk Boxed set, 1983; From the Ashes, 1992... etc) and puts it all together in a wonderful 192 page book. The book talks about the different geographical regions of Greyhawk, greyhawk history, people, races, places, gods, etc... really everything you need or would want to know to run a campaign here (or just look through for the fun of it) My only complaint is with the artwork... while I enjoy black and white drawings more than color pictures, these images lack detail... a very minor issue to be sure. In any case, this book is a definite winner, I only wish it had been a hardcover. I highly recommend it to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: An awesome book you should buy
Review: I love Greyhawk, I always have. This book compiles much of the material that appeared in earlier greyhawk works (World of Greyhawk Boxed set, 1983; From the Ashes, 1992... etc) and puts it all together in a wonderful 192 page book. The book talks about the different geographical regions of Greyhawk, greyhawk history, people, races, places, gods, etc... really everything you need or would want to know to run a campaign here (or just look through for the fun of it) My only complaint is with the artwork... while I enjoy black and white drawings more than color pictures, these images lack detail... a very minor issue to be sure. In any case, this book is a definite winner, I only wish it had been a hardcover. I highly recommend it to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, but very little of it is new.
Review: I'd like to keep this blunt. Basically, any long-time Greyhawker will find nearly nothing new in this booklet, as it simply offers up old-knowledge with a few new minor details thrown in, which are generally unneeded. Any new Greyhawker should get this book for its detailing of the Gods of Oerth and the various countries, especially if they do not possess the From the Ashes boxed set.
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