rhialto wrote:

Given the erudite and eloquent text which is Hyperborea, I can only assume the WotC troglodytes will fail their SV vs. Sorcery...

WotC’s inability to understand their own licenses is not without precedent….

Allan.

Matteus wrote:

Hey folks. I've noticed a few Greyhawk fans are also Hyperborea fans. Has anyone done the work to attempt to place Hyperborea as Oerth's North Pole? Does doing that detract from the setting do you think? Has anyone done the mapping work? Does it fit?

I've incorporated Hyperborea into the nearby planar landscape of Oerth; some details at https://grodog.blogspot.com/2020/05/planar-architecture-for-grodog-greyhawk-campaigns.html

I'm using Hyperborea as-is and allowing it to remain in its "native" form, rather than re-attaching it to Greyhawk.  That said, I could easily see you doing so, up above the Land of Black Ice and the Icy Sea.  It could be a polar continent up there, or perhaps be a subterranean "lost world" below the north pole, too. 

Allan.

I playtested many of the published adventures at GaryCon and NTX over the years, and I’ve really enjoyed all of them. Favorites include:

- Beneath the Comet
- Forgotten Fane of the Coiled Goddess
- Ghost Ship of the Desert Dunes
- The Lost Treasure of Atlantis

Allan.

I’ve probably read more of Tierney’s poetry than his fiction, but it’s been quite some time since I cracked open one of his books. Will have to do so soon!

Allan.

Spider of Leng wrote:

I think you're the first person I've ever encountered who ranks The Hobbit above LOTR & The Silmarillion.

It's not as uncommon an opinion as you might think.  While I still enjoy Tolkien's works, after reading LOTR aloud twice to my wife and sons, I may never read it again ;)

Allan.

Some other excellent thievery-related resources you should check out:

- In addition to the Thieves World boxed set and it's TW Companion (both from Chaosium), FASA published several licensed adventures BITD; see https://web.archive.org/web/20071013014934/http://www.thievesworld.info/roleplay/supps.htm and https://web.archive.org/web/20070920002858/http://www.thievesworld.info/roleplay/sources.htm if you're looking for other TW-related RPG books (prior to GreenRonin's d20 stuff)
- Thieves Guild (and Haven) from Gamelords; now OOP but still owned/sold by Tadashi at Different Worlds:  http://diffworlds.com/gamelords.htm and http://diffworlds.com/haven.htm
- Gary's early-years Gord novels (Saga of Old City from TSR, City of Hawks and Night Arrant from New Infinities) offer a nice view into city life from a thiefly POV; some good resources were mentioned at K&KA in the GH board recently, but if you need pointers let me know
- Leiber's stories, of course, are wonderful, and I recently got a copy of the DCC Lankhmar boxed set which was quite good too; my favorite Lankhmar gaming books are the 1e book and the incomprable Nigel D. Findley's Thieves of Lankhmar (which details the guild), but you can salvage stuff from CA1-2 too:  https://www.tsrarchive.com/add/add.html#Lankhmar
- Oliver Dickinson's Griselda stories are also fun, and showcase the lowlifes of Pavis and The Big Rubble; see https://www.chaosium.com/the-complete-griselda-pdf/ (and I think that it was available for free on Kindle too at some point, or perhaps from Oliver's web site??)
- "Assassin's Run" by Ed Greenwood in Dragon #64 is a very-cool gauntlet that you can easily adapt as part of the cityscape and/or guild environs; "Barnacus: City in Peril" (Dragon Magazine #80) paired up nicely with "Can Seapoint be Saved?" (Dragon #75) if you want to mix some pirates/slavers in with your thieves (and could tie in nicely to the A-series or U1 if so inclined); Dragon #66 also had a series of articles on thieves, in

Ghul wrote:

I started sketching one last week in broad strokes, pulling from all the historical and fictional inspirations. I'm really gunning for City-State of Khromarium and Mount Vhuurmithadon (which I've tentatively entitled "The Black Crown of the North," but first I need to get the game back in print. I've also got two great adventure modules in my lap -- one by Johnathan Bingham, and one by Ben Ball.

That's all great news, Jeff!

Ghul wrote:

For now, I would advise that you draw inspiration from Commorium, Greyhawk City, Lankhmar, Sanctuary, and Imrryr (through the lens of the "Dreaming City" having fallen and been taken over by savages who centuries later became "civilized"). 

In addition to these, I recommend the following city sourcebooks/maps:
- Gabor Lux's work in his Beyond Fomalhaut zines
-  Free City of Haven (plus supplements) by Gamelords
- Tulan, Carse, Towns of the Outlands by Mikdemia Press
- Marienburg and Warharmmer City by Games Workshop
- "Barnacus: City in Peril" in Dragon Magazine #80
-  Pavis and Big Rubble (Chaosium)
- Irillian (White Dwarf 42-47)
- Tarracina Port (by Kent Krumvieda

All have good maps that can be lifted and repurposed as segments/portions for a larger city. 

You can also build your own tailored city/settlement maps using the tool at https://watabou.itch.io/medieval-fantasy-city-generator

Allan.

Love it, gizmo!

Allan.

De nada—happy to help, and Happy New Year!

Allan.

I’ve been planning to start reading these after my brother recommended them earlier in the year—you’ll tip me over the edge for the holidays, Del

Allan.