grodog's Top 10 Favorite Greyhawk Adventures

[grodog]

For your consideration: https://grodog.blogspot.com/2025/05/grodog-top-10-favorite-greyhawk-adventures.html.html

The list, sans commentary (which I have on the blog page, along with honorable mentions):

1. D3 Vault of the Drow by Gary Gygax
2. WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure by Rob Kuntz
3. MoZ4 The Eight Kings by Rob Kuntz
4. T1 The Village of Hommlet by Gary Gygax
5. L1 The Secret of Bone Hill by Lenard Lakofka
6. G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King by Gary Gygax
7. A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity by David Cook
8. "Chambers of Antiquities" by Rob Kuntz and Paizo in Dungeon Magazine #124
9. "COR1-03 River of Blood" by Erik Mona, a Living Greyhawk scenario
10. Return of the Eight by Roger Moore

Enjoy!

Allan.

 

[The1True]

Cool article, man! Thanks!

My question is (and sorry, maybe this is answered in the YouTube discussion which I didn't have time to view) what are the rating criteria? Like are these the best adventures SET in Greyhawk, or are they the best GREYHAWK adventures; that is, are these Excellent adventures that just happen to be set in Greyhawk, or are they adventures that have something that further advances the Living Greyhawk, with adventure design being the secondary criteria?

For your consideration, I would like to submit UK6 All That Glitters which takes a solid stab at the mysterious Amedio Jungle and Sea of Dust (obviously stripped of trademarks by TSR US for reasons?)

 

[grodog]

Cool article, man! Thanks!

Danke!

My question is (and sorry, maybe this is answered in the YouTube discussion which I didn't have time to view) what are the rating criteria?

I think it’s clear that we weren’t all using the same standards for our selections—I selected individual titles, rather than blurring them through collected titles (G3 vs. G1-3 vs. GDQ1-7), for example. Similarly, Jay didn’t consistently group all of the titles either—T1 and T1-4 appear separately in the winners list. So, we could have been a little more rigorous in defining our ground rules for ratings (as well as perhaps disaggregating the winners list more by using a wider range of scores for the top 5 selections)

Like are these the best adventures SET in Greyhawk, or are they the best GREYHAWK adventures; that is, are these Excellent adventures that just happen to be set in Greyhawk, or are they adventures that have something that further advances the Living Greyhawk, with adventure design being the secondary criteria?

I think most of the judges were going by set in Greyhawk, but I think some adventures that made the list also significantly added to the setting and its lore without being as strong an adventure—this is why S4 and WG4 just made my HM list, for example, rather than landing a top 10 ranking.

For your consideration, I would like to submit UK6 All That Glitters which takes a solid stab at the mysterious Amedio Jungle and Sea of Dust (obviously stripped of trademarks by TSR US for reasons?)

I pondered adding UK6, I7, Night Below, I1, S1, U1, Castle Zagyg, Dark Druids, Star Cairns, A3, the Istvin trilogy from Dungeon, some additional scenarios in Age of Worms and Savage Tide, and B1 too, but hard choices need to be made in these lists, and good modules certainly don’t make the cut sometimes, alas.

Allan.

 

[The1True]

I appreciate the addition of non-TSR titles. Does that mean you consider them Greyhawk canon? I've read a lot about Rob Kuntz' stuff, but have been put off by that whole 'buy my DVD-rom full of stuff' thing. I'd like to see him publish something...

Not a Top 10 pick, but I notice a lot of Castle Greyhawk related titles on the list and am curious; people love to dunk on WG7 "Castle Greyhawk" (which, though it was seemingly an intentional slap in the face to EGG, did have one or two semi-decent one-shots and some hilarious art from the estimable Jim Holloway), but no one ever seems to want to talk about the 2e WGR1 "Greyhawk Ruins" which took an earnest stab at the megadungeon, and has some pretty cool maps...

 

[DangerousPuhson]

I think it’s clear that we weren’t all using the same standards for our selections—I selected individual titles, rather than blurring them through collected titles (G3 vs. G1-3 vs. GDQ1-7), for example. Similarly, Jay didn’t consistently group all of the titles either—T1 and T1-4 appear separately in the winners list. So, we could have been a little more rigorous in defining our ground rules for ratings (as well as perhaps disaggregating the winners list more by using a wider range of scores for the top 5 selections)

I think 1True (and I) are a bit more curious as to the actual criterion of the rankings. Layout, maps, artwork, encounters, roleplaying, difficulty, imagination, usability, etc. Like, what elements were being judged, and by what standards/metrics? Or is it just based on which ones are the most fun?

Related note: are you considering ranking your favorite non-Greyhawk adventures at any point in the future (or perhaps you already have)?