Legends of Greyhawk: The Return No One Seems to Know About
With little fanfare and almost no marketing, Legends of Greyhawk has arrived and somehow, almost no one seems to know about it.
For a setting as important to Dungeons & Dragons as Greyhawk, that is more than a little frustrating.
I have seen a couple of Reddit posts, a few scattered mentions, and not much else. Even on D&D Beyond, finding information about Legends of Greyhawk has been strangely difficult. The search bar has not been much help, and I had to use Google just to track down the relevant page.
Let me save you the time...
Legends of Greyhawk
Needless to say, this feels like another missed opportunity from Wizards of the Coast, not in design, necessarily, but in marketing.
And that is a shame, because for Greyhawk fans, this should be exciting.
So What Is Legends of Greyhawk?
Legends of Greyhawk is an official Dungeons & Dragons organized play campaign set in the World of Greyhawk in the year 576 CY.
That immediately caught my attention.
If you have followed my blog or my work, you already know I am a huge fan of Greyhawk. My own Legends of Saltmarsh project has been expanding the village of Saltmarsh and the surrounding region, building out new adventures and campaign material in Greyhawk’s 576 CY era.
So when I first heard the name Legends of Greyhawk, I had two reactions.
- First: Great minds think alike.
- Second: Wait, why is almost no one talking about this?
Why Greyhawk Matters
Greyhawk is not just another D&D setting.
Greyhawk is, in many ways, the original D&D campaign setting. It was the world of Gary Gygax, and through the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, it became home to hundreds of adventures, supplements, regional articles, and organized play scenarios.
Many of D&D’s most iconic names, villains, and monsters are rooted in Greyhawk: Vecna, Mordenkainen, Iuz, the Temple of Elemental Evil, and many more.
Greyhawk has also existed across several major eras.
The first major era is 576 CY, the period associated with the original World of Greyhawk releases of the late 1970s and early 1980s. This was a world full of tension. Dark forces were rising. The Scarlet Brotherhood was spreading influence and chaos. Border skirmishes, political unrest, hidden cults, and ancient evils all simmered beneath the surface.
Then, in the 1990s, Greyhawk moved into the era of the Greyhawk Wars, around 580 CY. The world was set aflame. Kingdoms burned. Iuz and the Scarlet Brotherhood reshaped the political map. The setting became darker, more broken, and more war-torn.
In the early 2000s, Greyhawk advanced again into the post-war era of 591 CY and beyond, which became the backdrop for Living Greyhawk, one of the largest organized play campaigns D&D has ever seen.
Living Greyhawk ran from 2000 to 2008 and used the D&D 3rd Edition and 3.5 rules. It was a massive worldwide campaign, with players across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and beyond. Hundreds of regional adventures were created, and player actions could send ripples through the setting.
Sadly, with the arrival of 4th Edition, Living Greyhawk came to an end.
Today, many of those adventures are difficult to find. Some survive as PDFs scattered around the internet, and I have managed to collect a few, but much of that material feels like lost treasure.
The Tone of Greyhawk
One of the things that makes Greyhawk special is its tone.
Greyhawk leans more heavily into a grounded, medieval, low-fantasy world than many modern D&D settings. Depending on the region, the Flanaess is overwhelmingly human, with dwarves, elves, gnomes, and halflings existing as important but smaller populations.
In that sense, Greyhawk often feels closer to The Lord of the Rings than to the high-powered, anything-goes fantasy of modern D&D. Like Middle-earth, it is a world where humanity is politically dominant, ancient peoples are fading or isolated, and danger often feels rooted in old ruins, borderlands, cults, and corrupt rulers.
Greyhawk was not originally a world filled with tieflings, dragonborn, tortles, or dozens of exotic ancestries. It was grounded in a medieval, Tolkien-esque, sword-and-sorcery tradition. That was part of its appeal. If you had read Tolkien, Moorcock, Howard, Leiber, or the fantasy fiction that shaped early D&D, Greyhawk felt immediately familiar.
It was dangerous, strange, political, and human.
That does not mean Greyhawk cannot evolve. It has evolved before. But Greyhawk has always had a particular flavor, and that flavor matters.
How D&D Changed
From OD&D to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, then into 2nd Edition and 3.5, Greyhawk changed over time. But modern D&D has changed even more dramatically.
If we skip 4th Edition as a gap in Greyhawk’s mainstream presence, 5th Edition brought D&D into a new era of epic heroic fantasy. The game became brighter, broader, more accessible, and more superheroic in tone. Character options exploded. Exotic ancestries became common. Player characters were no longer just adventurers scraping by in dangerous ruins; they were often epic heroes from the start.
That shift aligned with the broader pop-culture zeitgeist of the 2010s: superhero films, cinematic fantasy, and larger-than-life protagonists.
Many people talk about the mechanical differences between older D&D and modern 5th Edition, but I think the tonal shift is just as important.
Modern D&D does not just play differently.
It feels different.
And that raises an important question: What happens when you bring Greyhawk, a grounded, old-school, human-centered setting into modern D&D?
Greyhawk in 5th Edition
For most of 5th Edition, Greyhawk was barely present.
The major exception was Ghosts of Saltmarsh, a book that served as both an adventure anthology and a light setting treatment for the village of Saltmarsh. It anchored itself around the classic U-series adventures: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, Danger at Dunwater, and The Final Enemy.
Ghosts of Saltmarsh remains tied for my favorite 5th Edition campaign/setting book, alongside Curse of Strahd, another reimagining of an iconic classic module.
Saltmarsh worked because it felt like Greyhawk could still exist inside modern D&D. It had smugglers, fishing villages, lizardfolk politics, haunted houses, sea devils, pirates, and regional tension. It was grounded enough to feel old-school, but accessible enough for newer players.
For me, Ghosts of Saltmarsh showed that Greyhawk could work in 5th Edition.
It just needed care.
The 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide and the Return of Greyhawk
In 2024, I began working seriously on Legends of Saltmarsh. Around the same time, the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide brought Greyhawk back into the spotlight in a way we had not seen for years.
The book included a map of the Free City of Greyhawk, along with basic campaign and adventure material for the setting. For the first time in a long while, it felt like Wizards of the Coast might be preparing a serious reintroduction of Greyhawk.
Even better, the focus appeared to be on 576 CY, the pre-Greyhawk Wars era.
That mattered to me, because it aligned perfectly with the work I was already doing for Legends of Saltmarsh.
Then I heard about Legends of Greyhawk I was excited.
The Good and the Bad
Let us start with the good news.
We got something.
Wizards of the Coast has allowed new organized play material to exist in the setting, and Baldman Games is developing adventures for the campaign.
I do not know Baldman Games beyond their long history with D&D organized play and Adventurers League material, but they are clearly experienced in this space.
Elemental Evil Rising
The first major public release for Legends of Greyhawk is Elemental Evil Rising, a bundle of three adventures for levels 1–4:
- A Village Called Hommlet, a three-part adventure set in one of Greyhawk’s most iconic villages.
- Darkness in Nulb, a four-part adventure centered around the search for a spy.
- Ruins of the Moathouse, a three-part adventure investigating the infamous moathouse.
These are not random adventure sites. Hommlet, Nulb, and the Moathouse are foundational Greyhawk locations tied to The Temple of Elemental Evil, one of the most famous adventure sites in D&D history.
That alone should have been enough for a major marketing push. And yet, somehow, the launch feels nearly invisible.
You can pick up Elemental Evil Rising on D&D Beyond. While I have not played through it yet, I have read it, and at its core, it looks like a fun adventure. There are strong plot points, investigation, mystery, and combat. It has the ingredients you would want from an introductory Greyhawk adventure.
The maps, however? Well.
They are a bit blah.
Of course, I am also spoiled by DM Andy’s gorgeous maps, so perhaps my standards are unfairly high. Maybe when DM Andy comes up for air, we can convince him to revisit some of these iconic Greyhawk locations.
A person can dream.
Still, Greyhawk is back. Hommlet is back. The Temple of Elemental Evil is stirring again.
The frustrating part is that most D&D players seem to have no idea.
The Disappointing Part
Now for the bad or at least the disappointing.
The Legends of Greyhawk website is good, but the campaign seems heavily tied to specific locations and convention events. That makes sense for organized play, but it also creates a problem for people like me (living across the ocean in Portugal).
I would love to see these adventures made available for those of us who want to play them at our own tables, in our own time, with our own groups.
At the moment, many of the adventures do not seem to be broadly available. To be fair, if you reach out to the organizers, they may be able to help you set something up. But that is not really what I am looking for.
There is a list of adventures on the Legends of Greyhawk site:
- Brother of Mine
- Beyond the Delven Door
- Wrath of the Blighted Wood
- A Promising Voyage
- and more
I do not want to organize around someone else’s event schedule.
I just want to run Greyhawk adventures at my table.
That leaves me hoping we will see more D&D Beyond bundle releases like Elemental Evil Rising. Maybe that is the plan. Maybe more are coming.
One can hope.
Where Is the Marketing?
The second issue is the most frustrating one: There is almost no marketing.
No one knows about this.
D&D has no shortage of YouTubers, streamers, podcasters, and creators who talk about the game constantly. Bob World Builder, Ginny Di, Professor Dungeon Master, and many others regularly cover D&D news, adventures, products, and trends.
You would think Wizards of the Coast, Baldman Games, or the Legends of Greyhawk team would have reached out to at least a few of them.
- Sponsor a video.
- Send a review copy.
- Arrange an interview.
- Mention the convention play.
- Do something.
Because right now, Legends of Greyhawk feels like it launched in a dark room with the door closed. That is a serious problem!
Greyhawk is not just another setting. It is one of the pillars of D&D history. If you are bringing it back, especially through organized play, people need to know it exists.
My Concern
My fear is that, without marketing, Legends of Greyhawk might be dead before it really gets started.
Now, to be fair, I am an ocean away in Portugal. I do not know how much traction this is getting at conventions or local game stores in the United States. Maybe there are tables filling up. Maybe the convention scene is healthier than it looks from the outside.
But from where I am sitting, the online presence feels quiet.
I checked their online calendar, and it has been blank for months. That does not inspire confidence, especially for those of us outside the United States who would love to participate online.
If Legends of Greyhawk is meant to be organized play, then online play should be a major part of the strategy. Greyhawk has fans all over the world. Living Greyhawk proved that.
Do not leave us out.
Still, Greyhawk Is Back
Despite all of that, I remain mildly satisfied.
- Greyhawk is back.
- Content is being added.
- The year is 576 CY.
- Hommlet, Nulb, and the Moathouse are being revisited.
That matters.
I am also excited to see more third-party Greyhawk content appearing on DriveThruRPG now that the door seems more open for creators working with Greyhawk material in the 2024 rules era. That means we may start seeing more adventures, supplements, locations, and campaign material from independent creators.
And one thing you can count on: I will continue creating content for Greyhawk.
Visit My Village of Saltmarsh
If you are interested in Greyhawk, you can visit my free online Village of Saltmarsh project. As of this writing, it is about 75% complete, and I continue adding new content each week.
For those who would like access to the Foundry version, markdown files, JSON files, digital content, and other resources or if you simply want to support the project consider becoming a member.
Greyhawk still matters and I intend to keep building in it.
A Side Note
As a side note, I have also been working on my own version of D&D 5.5, one that harkens back to a more OSR style of play, specifically designed with Greyhawk and my own projects in mind.
Modern D&D has its strengths, but for Greyhawk, I want something a little grittier, stranger, and more dangerous. Something that feels closer to exploration, rulings, consequences, and the unknown.
More on that soon. Stay tuned.
