''Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins'' is a 1998 sourcebook for the ''

World of Greyhawk Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for ''Dungeons & Dragons''— Dave Arnes ...

campaign setting A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A '' campaign'' is a series of individual adventures, and a ''campaign setting'' is the world in which such adventures and c ...

for the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...

roleplaying game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...

. The 128 page book was written by Roger E. Moore and published by

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidia ...

under the TSR imprint it had recently acquired.

''The Adventure Begins'' contains a general overview of the world of

Oerth Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for ''Dungeons & Dragons''— Dave Arneso ...

, including updates on the world's history, notable calendar events, and descriptions of the cultural and geographical divisions of the area. The book provides much specific information on the City of Greyhawk, the largest and most populous city of Oerth, including details on everything from its ruling council to its criminal codes, and descriptions of notable locations and characters within the city.

Publication history

''The Adventure Begins'' was intended as a "bridge" between previous Greyhawk products, and the relaunch of the new product line. The book updates material from the earlier '' From the Ashes''. The book was the first in a series of publications designed to re-launch the ''Greyhawk'' campaign setting, followed by other sourcebooks and adventure modules set in ''Greyhawk'' such as ''

Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil ''Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil'' is an adventure module written by Monte Cook for the 3rd edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game, set in the game's ''World of Greyhawk'' campaign setting. It was originally pub ...

'' and ''

Return to the Tomb of Horrors ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors'' is a boxed set adventure module for the '' Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game released in 1998 by TSR, Inc. Plot summary This module expanded significantly upon the plot of the original '' Tomb of ...

''.

Reception

James MacDuff reviewed ''The Adventure Begins'' in 1998, in ''

Shadis ''Shadis'' is an independent gaming magazine that was published in 1990–1998 by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG). It initially focused on role-playing games. Publication history Shadis was conceived and started by Jolly Blackburn as an indepe ...

'' #50. Comparing it to the first release for the relaunch, ''

Return of the Eight ''Return of the Eight'' is an adventure module for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game, set in the game's ''World of Greyhawk'' campaign setting. The module was published by Wizards of the Coast in 1998 under its recently acquired ...

'', MacDuff found this book contained more solid material about the setting. He found that the book offered little new information about Greyhawk City, and much of the material reiterates information from the old '' City of Greyhawk'' boxed set: "Anyone who owns ''CoG'' will likely feel cheated by the rehashed material, and while the timeline updates are welcome, they don't justify the overall cost of the product." MacDuff felt that older players would be likely to purchase the book just to keep up with the changes, but that new players would fare better as they would avoid the frustration of hunting down out of print material because the new book is both concise and complete. He noted that the thoroughness with which Roger E. Moore covers Oerth makes for a fast start to a Greyhawk campaign, making ''The Adventure Begins'' indispensable. MacDuff concluded the review by saying, "As an outline of the world and a way to quickly start things, it gets the information aspiring GMs need. If ''Return of the Eight'' caters solely to old players, this one more than makes up for the difference." ''Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins'' won the 1998

Origins Award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 a ...

for ''Best Roleplaying Supplement''.

References

External links

''The Adventure Begins''
at the Pen & Paper RPG database *http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/reviews/rev_818.html {{D&D topics Greyhawk books Origins Award winners Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1998

Contents

Publication history

Reception

See also

References

Further reading

External links