World of Greyhawk Adventures and Sourcebooks

Fifth Edition

Introductory Notes

What I’ve tried to do here is collect 5e Adventures and Sourcebooks that are set in the World of Greyhawk, and include copies of the classic adventures and sourcebooks upon which they were based. I have also tried to include 5e conversion guides for classic Greyhawk adventures that have not yet been otherwise reissued in the Fifth Edition. I have relied on several helpful Wikipedia pages to organize the adventures and sourcebooks by date of their original (classic) publishing.

The World of Greyhawk (WoG) was the setting for my entry into Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in the 1980s. For those unfamiliar with WoG, it’s a map of the world — continents, oceans, mountain ranges, cities and villages in which the game of AD&D was originally played. There were many pre-made adventures (which everyone called “modules”) placed in this world from which players and DMs could choose. Being an enthusiast I collected all the WoG adventure modules that were ever created over the decades.

A corporate decision was made over the years however that switched the setting for most of the new 4 and 5e adventure content to The Forgotten Realms, instead of Greyhawk. I was immensely unhappy with this decision as it seemed to segregate players by generation, with new players in one world and older players in another, and no bridge in cannon between the two worlds.

[One way to deal with this is to place the Forgotten Realms on Oerth (the planet of WoG) as a separate continent. It appears the more frequent solution is to use portals accessing the multiverse.]

With the return to the World of Greyhawk as the official setting for new DnD adventures, as mapped in the 2024 DM’s Guide, my excitement kindled to additionally identify the location of each adventure.

One issue that was challenging for this project is that there have been changes to the rules of DnD over the years such that the older pre-made adventure modules require updates that —in some cases— were never officially made, rendering these AD&D WoG locations/adventures on the map unsupported in the 5th edition (5e) rules.

There are several ways of dealing with unsupported modules: 1) don’t use them– only use 5e adventures that have been officially released; 2) search online for a 5e conversion guide for each classic adventure of interest— these can typically be found under $3 per module; or 3) just use the unsupported module’s art and descriptions, storyline and maps provided, and convert the rest of it yourself— by updating the NPC and monster stats using current sourcebooks.

For those with research interest I have included unconverted modules, along with links to converted versions (when these exist) alongside official 5e revisions, as these later versions sometimes substantially stray from the original source material. Also for those with research interest, I have provided publishing dates in italics, which are linked to further publishing details provided by wikipedia. Some historical details of personal interest have also been included, using the Greyhawk Wikipedia page.

Tools for Edition Conversion & Greyhawk Localization

CONVERSIONS. Wizards of the Coast has published a general 5e Conversion Guide (2015), to convert any non-5e D&D adventure for 5e play. An important part of the process involves insuring that the “Challenge Rating” (CR) is kept the same between the original and converted content. Page 82 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide (5e) “Creating Encounters” section explains CR and how it applies to gauging combat encounter difficulty. There is an article with videos about this as well. Thankfully, individual conversion guides have already been created for many classic adventures. I have included links to each specific conversion guide when available.

LOCATIONS. A high resolution Word of Greyhawk Map with 6 mile hexes was made at the end of 2021. There is also an online tool for locating 240+ modules in the World of Greyhawk. The page isn’t very user-friendly so I’ve included location information in the notes section of each adventure series.

FORMAT FOR PRESENTATION. The following details are provided for each listed item: 1) Original publishing date, linked to wikipedia page of module when available; 2) title of adventure or sourcebook linked to full .pdf download if available; 3) link to pdf of conversion guide if available, or link to marketplace for purchase if available; 4) notes on greyhawk location of adventure, and any other details.

Greyhawk Sourcebooks

(2024, 5e) Greyhawk Adventurer’s Guide. Notes: Sourcebook covering geography, politics, factions etc.

(1980) Original World of Greyhawk folio.

(1983) World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting Boxed Set.

(1970) Blackmoor. Notes: country added to northern region. Alternative Blackmoor/Greyhawk Map.

(1988) Greyhawk Adventures Sourcebook. (1-2e) Includes Deities & Clerics of Greyhawk; Monsters of Greyhawk; Hall of Heroes (14 high level NPCs and descriptions of their regional influence); Magical Spells; Magical Items of Greyhawk; Geography of Oerth (descriptions of 1) The Pinnacles of Azor’alq (hidden island off the coast of the Dramidj Ocean); 2) The Sea of Dust; 3) Skrellingshald (mountain in the Griff range, home to citadel of Skrellingshald); 4) The Sinkin Isle (in region of the Asperd Isle, northmost holdings of the Sea Barrons); 5) The Twisted Forest (collection of Stony Pillars in the Pomarj hillsides); 6) The Burning Cliffs (The Wastes south of the Icy Sea, between the Cold Marshes and the Forlorn Forest); 7) Csipros Erd-The Geysers of Death (located in a valley passage in the Yatil mountains north of Ket); 8) Tovag Baragu- The Stone Circles (near the salt lake of Udrukankar in the Dry Steppes at the edge of the Flanaess); 9) Rigosdruok-the Rainbow Vale (Land beyond the Black Ice north of Blackmoor); 10) Esmerin (idyllic town hidden in the Lortmil Mountains); 11) Tirucambi (islands, reefs, lagoons and lakes of the eastern most Hepmonaland coast)); Adventures in Greyhawk (6 adventures loosely outlined); Zero level NPCs (Appendix I); and a Spell list for the Circle of Eight (Appendix II).

(1989) The City of Greyhawk Boxed Set. Notes: Contains three booklets– Greyhawk: Gem of the Flanaess; Greyhawk: Folk, Feuds, and Factions; and 23 Greyhawk adventures; as well as multiple maps. Not the city created by Gygax and Kuntz, but a new plan built from references made in previously-published material. The adventures are made for Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition.

  • (1992) From the Ashes Boxed Set. Notes: describes the Flanaess in the aftermath of the Greyhawk Wars. Contains a large 4-color hex map of the area around the city of Greyhawk, a number of quick adventure cards, and two 96-page books.

(1993) WGR4 The Marklands Sourcebook. Notes: Sourcebook provides information about the good realms of Furyondy, Highfolk, and Nyrond that opposed Iuz.

(1993) WGR5 luz the Evil Sourcebook. Notes: details information about the lands of Iuz, and emphasized the prominent new role that Iuz now played across the central Flanaess.

(1999) The Scarlet Brotherhood Sourcebook. Notes: details their powerful evil influence around the southern lands bordering the Azure Sea during this era.

(1995) Ivid the Undying Sourcebook. Notes: never officially published but leaked.

(1998) Greyhawk Player’s Guide. Notes: 64-pages moving the storyline ahead five years. Includes important non-player characters, and a list of world deities.

(1998) Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins Sourcebook. Notes: 128 page new campaign setting, less dark than From the Ashes, where the Flanaess was overrun by evil; back to Gygax’s world of adventure.

Additional Research Documents: Political

In the 1980 Dragon Magazine, Gygax gave a quick overview of the development of his new The World of Greyhawk folio. More information about political regions, deities, and nonplayer characters.

Regions of Greyhawk. The folio edition had thirty two pages, and information about each region was condensed into a short paragraph or two. Gygax decided to publish a much longer description of each region in Dragon Magazine. The first two articles, covering seventeen regions, appeared in the December 1981 Dragon Magazine and the January 1982 Dragon Magazine. Due to his involvement in many other TSR projects, Gygax handed responsibility for completion of this project to Rob Kuntz, who covered the remaining forty three regions in the March 1982 Dragon Magazine), the July 1982 Dragon Magazine and the September 1982 Dragon Magazine.

Deities of Greyhawk. In the August 1982 Dragon Magazine Gygax gave advice on how to adapt deities from the previously published Deities and Demigods for worship by non-human races in the Greyhawk world. A few months later, he published a five-part series of articles in the November 1982 Dragon Magazine, December 1982 Dragon Magazine, January 1983 Dragon Magazine, February 1983 Dragon Magazine, and the March 1983 Dragon Magazine, that outlined a pantheon of deities custom-made for humans in the world of Greyhawk.

Non-player characters of Greyhawk. The March 1983 Dragon Magazine detailed four unique Greyhawk characters. The first two quasi-deities—Heward and Keoghtom—had been created by Gygax as non-player characters (NPCs). The third, Murlynd, was a character that had been created by Gygax’s childhood friend Don Kaye before Kaye’s untimely death in 1975. The fourth, a hero-deity named Kelanen, was developed to illustrate the “principle of advancement of power”.

Additional Research Documents: Theological

From 1983–1985, the only notable supplement for the Greyhawk world was a five-part article by Len Lakofka in the June–October (June 1984 Dragon) (July 1984 Dragon) (August 1984 Dragon) (September 1984 Dragon) (October 1984 Dragon) and December (December 1984 Dragon) issues that detailed the Suel gods who had been briefly mentioned in the boxed set. In the December 1984 issue, Gygax mentioned clerics of non-human races and indicated that the twenty four demi-human and humanoid deities that had been published in the February–June (February 1982 Dragon) (March 1982 Dragon) (April 1982 Dragon) (May 1982 Dragon) (June 1982 Dragon) issues were now permitted in Greyhawk; this increased the number of Greyhawk deities from fifty to seventy four.

Research Tools

TSR Archive of D&D Adventures and Sourcebooks, publication details only.

Free Classic Adventure Downloads, hosted by Dragonsfoot.

Greyhawk Adventures

Classic Adventures (TSR 1976-1979) and Subsequent Revisions

Lost Caverns

Tomb of Horrors

Giants Series

Drow Series, Odyssey into the Underdark (Supplemental Greyhawk Underdark Map)

Temple of Elemental Evil

Mountain Adventures

Classic Adventures Post Folio (1980-1983) and Subsequent Revisions

  • (1980) Dark Tower. Notes: Re-released in 2021 as 3 Volume Set, Volume I is the original 1980 classic adventure. Location: often placed in a remote mountain pass within the Lortmil Mountains, northeast of the Shield Lands, sometimes near the Yeomanry, though its exact official placement varied, with some suggesting it was near the Keep on the Borderlands area. 
  • (2021) Dark Tower 5e. Notes: Volume II of Dark Tower 5e version.
  • (2021) The Chosen Sons of Set 5e Volume III of Dark Tower 5e Supplemental Adventures.

Classic Adventures Post Boxed Set (1983-1987) and Subsequent Revisions

TSR published eight adventures set in Greyhawk. Five were written or co-written by Gygax, and the other three were from TSR’s United Kingdom division:

2nd Edition Adventures (1988-1990) and Subsequent Revisions

(1988) WG7 Castle Greyhawk. Notes: Unrelated to Gygax’s original Castle Greyhawk, instead, a compilation of twelve humorous dungeon levels, each one written by a freelance author.

  • (1990) WGA1 Falcon’s Revenge. Location: Takes place in City of Greyhawk. 
  • (1990) DWGA2 Falconmaster, and
  • WGA3 Flames of the Falcon. Notes: All set in the City of Greyhawk, and centered on a mysterious villain called The Falcon.
  • (1990) WGA4 Vecna Lives! Notes: featured the first appearance by Vecna. Location: Starts in the Akron hills west of Greyhawk, then picks up in the city of Greyhawk, at a student tavern. 
  • (1998) Vecna Reborn. Vecna Reborn 5e Conversion. Location: Since it’s a demiplane, you just need a remote spot on the Flanaess map where the mists can envelop and isolate it from normal travel routes. Common placements include: Yatil Mountains: A mountainous, isolated area, fitting for Barovia’s gothic feel. Flinty Hills/Rakers: Between Nyrond and the Bone March, offering a wild, feudal borderland. Vesve Forest: In forested hills near the Vesve, linking to a known Greyhawk region. Sea of Dust: Some place it as a magically warped area within this desolate region. 
  • (2000) Die Vecna Die. Notes: 3-part adventure tying Greyhawk to the Ravenloft and Planescape campaign settings. Last adventure to be written for 2nd edition rules.
  • (2022) 5e Fall of Vecna. Location: Forgotten Realms/Ravenloft.
  • (2024) 5e Vecna: Eve of Ruin. Note: 403MB pdf also available but too big to put on server. Available on DnD Beyond. Location: multidimensional, Greyhawk part is on the Isle of Serpents, an island located off the eastern coast of the Flanaess continent, near the northern province of Aerdiaak, often associated with the Sea Barons or Vasharans.

Greyhawk Wars & From the Ashes (1991-1997) Adventures and Subsequent Revisions

The Greyhawk Wars. In an attempt to create a central vision for Greyhawk material, TSR planned a trilogy of modules that would familiarize players with events and conditions leading up to the coming war, and then take them through the war itself. Once players completed the war via the three modules, a new boxed set would be published to introduce the new storyline and the new Flanaess.

  • (1991) DWGS1 Five Shall Be One and 
  • (1991) WGS2 Howl from the North. Notes: These described events leading up to the war. Location: in the frozen the northeastern part of the continent, off the coast of the Icy Sea, Northeast of continent. Key locations include the Forlorn Forest, the Griff Mountains, the areas around white fanged bay, and the City of Rookroost where the mission starts. 
  •  (1991) Greyhawk Wars. Note: released as a strategy war game, leading players through the events, strategies, and alliances of the actual war. Summary: 6 years after Gygax’s original setting, a regional conflict started by Iuz gradually widened to affect almost every nation in the Flanaess. A peace treaty was signed in the city of Greyhawk two years later, which is why the conflict became known as the Greyhawk Wars. On the day of treaty-signing, Rary—of the Circle of Eight—attacked his fellow Circle members, aided and abetted by Robilar. Tenser and Otiluke were killed, while Robilar and Rary fled to the deserts of the Bright Lands. Rob Kuntz, original creator of Robilar, suggested an alternate storyline that Robilar had been visiting another plane and in his absence, a clone or evil twin of Robilar was responsible for the attack.

In addition, a number of adventures were also published, as much to provide more source material as for adventure:

  • (1992) WGQ1 Patriots of Ulek. Notes: was first module published after From the Ashes, and advanced the storyline of the province and city of Prinzfeld (upper triangle ) of the Principality of Ulek, threatened by invasion from Turrosh Mak of the Pomarj.
    The only module to be focused on the Principality of Ulek, province and city of Prinzfeld (upper triangle of the principality). 
  • (1992) WGR2 Treasures of Greyhawk. Notes: a loosely connected series of mini-adventures—for instance, exploring Bigby’s home, travelling to the demiplane called The Great Maze of Zagyg, and trading riddles with a sphinx. Each mini-adventure focusses on a unique treasure in the Flanaess.
  • (1992) WGR3 Rary the Traitor. Notes: an adventure module and source book about the Bright Lands, the new home of Rary and Robilar following their murder of Tenser and Otiluke.
  • (1993) WGR6 The City of Skulls. Location: The city of skulls, known by its proper name Dorakaa, is located on the northern shore of Wyestil Lake within the Empire of Iuz. 
  • (1993) WGM1 Border Watch. Notes: Both this one and City of Skulls highlight the struggle between Furyondy and the lands of Iuz. Location: Kingdom of Furyondy.

Greyhawk (1998–2000) Adventures

(1998) Return of the Eight. Notes: the players meet the surviving members of the Circle of Eight, which is called the Circle of Five because it is missing Tenser, Otiluke and Rary. If the players successfully finish the adventure, Tenser is rescued from death, though he refuses to rejoin the Circle, and the Circle is reconstituted as Eight with the addition of three new wizards: Alhamazad the Wise, Theodain Eriason and Warnes Starcoat. Location: outside Greyhawk City, in tenser’s castle (not on map) near the Nyr Dyv lake. 

The Lost Tombs trilogy of modules—

Third edition Greyhawk (2000-2008) Adventures

(2003) 3.5 Edition of D&D, defined Greyhawk as default setting for the game for the first time. Under third edition rules, unless a Dungeon Master specifically chose to use a different campaign setting, his or her D&D game would be set in the world of Greyhawk.

(2000) Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Notes: an updated sourcebook for the campaign setting.

  • (2007) The Shackled City Adventure Path. Notes: Collected works of previously published adventures found in Dungeon Magazine between 2003-2004. Collection number 1. Too big for my cybercm server. Location: in the Hellfurnaces region, near the coast of the Amedio Jungle, southeast of the Azure Sea and southwest of Jeklea Bay. It’s a major city featured in the Shackled City Adventure Path, situated south of Sasserine on the Amedio Peninsula, with connections to the Underdark through its extensive caverns. 
  • (2007) The Age of Worms Adventure Path. Notes Collected works of previously published adventures found in Dungeon Magazine between 2005-2006. Collection number 2. To big for my cybercm server.
  • (2007) Savage Tide Adventure Path. Notes: Collected works of previously published adventures found in Dungeon Magazine between 2006-2007. Collection number 3. Too big for my cybercm server.

2014 was release of 5th Edition: (2017) Tales from the Yawning Portal, (2019) Ghosts of Salt Marsh.