Castle Greyhawk.
The Original Dungeon.
This is the birthplace of Dungeons and Dragons. While Blackmoor may have, technically, preceded the lair of the Mad Arch mage, it is in the Greyhawk dungeons that the legends of Mordenkainen, Tenser, Bigby, Rary, and many others were spawned. Halaster, eat your heart out in Undermountain as Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk takes it back to the old school.
Make that “oldest school”.
Now on to the review of seven parts.
Part the first: Presentation
Visually, the book is attractive with good binding, glossy pages, and clear text. Well, the text is clear in the room and back ground description. In those, the text is nice black on white background, making it easy to read. The encounter descriptions are not so clear, with black writing on a brownish (or gray) background. This lack of contrast makes obfuscates the information in the encounters a bit.
The artwork is very well done, up to Wizards’s usual high standards. It is noteworthy that the art has a more traditional fantasy feel to it, as opposed to the “dungeonpunk” look of later years. This is fitting, thematically, and goes a long way to establish the classic feel of the setting.
Part the second: Encounters
This product uses the new encounter format of separating stat blocks from the main text.
I’ve already hit on the color scheme of the encounter writ-ups so I’ll focus on the mechanical information. Each encounter includes, obviously, the monsters statistics, but also its recommended tactics. This is a good tool for beginning Dungeon Masters, as well as those under a time crunch. Each encounter also has a map of the specific encounter areas. Most modules have full dungeon maps, and this is no exception, having the specific encounter map is a time saver. Nearly all the information need to run a given battle is given in each write up. Treasure, on the other hand, is buried in the room descriptions several pages away.
Several of the encounters are quite difficult, a beholder with a ring of invisibility worn on an eye stalk for example. There a re a few that we won’t detail to avoid spoilers, but the DM should be advised that there are several great opportunities for a total party kill. This is also an appropriate element given the reputation of the Ruins.
Part the Third: Overview of the City and Major Personalities
The writers give us a general overview of the history of the Flanaess, and both the Free City of Greyhawk and the sundering of the Circle of Eight. For those who have no idea what I’m talking about the book explains who the Circle of Eight is as well.
The description of The Free City includes several adventure tie-ins for nearly all of the locations described. Many of the city based encounters do a great job of conveying the feeling of scheming and mild paranoia that is a constant in Greyhawk. Things on Oerth are seldom as they seem and one should be wary of whom they trust. This adventure illustrated exactly that.
There is an expansive write up of relevant non-player characters that read like a who’s who of Greyhawk. A feature of this module is that the players get to meet several “celebrities” but do not get overshadowed by them.
Part the fourth: Back story and Campaign arc
Again, in the interest of avoiding spoilers, the set up for the campaign is that the repercussions of a major event in Greyhawk history, namely the freeing of Iuz from his magical prison will thrust the adventurers into the events of the Expedition. The explanation of how Iuz was captured and then subsequently freed is told at the beginning of the book. It’s told again a few pages later.
As the adventure unfolds players will learn that an important figure on Oerth has died and his funeral will be held in Greyhawk. This provides Iuz with the excuse to make good on his threat to destroy The Free City in retaliation for the events described in the back story. If you missed it the first couple of times, don’t worry the tale will be retold.
Repeatedly.
I realize that the premise of the adventure is important, but the continual repetition comes off as if the writer’s were trying to pad the book. As is, the Expedition clocks in at 222 pages. A good value for thirty five dollars, but I feel like part of that money is going for reruns of the Oerth History Channel.
It is a good story, though. The plot holds together well and provides ample opportunities for the characters to be heroes, which is what any RPG plot should do.
Part five: Crunch
Okay, now we’re down to the meat and potatoes. There’s not a lot of mechanical bits in this as it is an adventure. The two monsters are cool. The first is the Catabolinge, an evil, ugly outsider that has the alluring voice of a female human. Leaving that psychological minefield alone Expedition also features the return of the Aurumvorax, a gold sniffing, hyper dense, six legged badger. This monsters Challenge Level is more than a bit low given a few of its combat abilities.
We are also treated to five new magic items as well as the write-ups for three Greyhawkian Deities.
Sixth Part: Highs and Lows
Let’s start with the lows. The book is highly repetitive at times. The plot also tends to railroad. I found that several of the encounters have underrated challenge ratings which could lead to character building practice.
Now the high points. First off, its Castle Greyhawk, you can’t get more D&D than that. The book is attractive and well written. The plot(which they remind you of every few pages) is strong. The idea of simulating the vastness of the dungeons by treating it as wilderness adventuring is simple and inspired.
Seventh Part: Conclusion
If you’re an old school Greyhawk grognard then this product is like reuniting with a long lost friend. Familiar but changed enough that it is interesting. If you are new to Oerth then by all means dive in. There is a lot of tradition and great adventures to be had below the Mad Mage’s Castle.
The idea of the Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk as an adventure is a bit misleading, though. There is enough here to justify calling it a short campaign. Indeed that is what it is. I wholeheartedlr recommend this product, especially if you are a fan of big dungeons. This is, after all, the on that started it all.
Take that, Halaster.