Grey or kingdoms of kalamar?

Realmsbard · Post by **Realmsbard** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 10:05 pm

After years of not playing, I have been asked to run a game.

I want to go back to basics, So I have ordered CnC material.

Now for the setting. I have tons of Greyhawk and Kingdoms of Kalamar stuff.

But I never played ether. I have stacks of Forgotten Realms, But I want to start new. 3.5 beat me to death.

I would like to hear pros and cons of each.

Thanks for your time, Realmsbard

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 10:13 pm

Thats a tough question! There are reasons to like both. I suggest reading through the material for each again and see if one inspires you more than the other.

If I had to choose I would use Kingdoms of Kalamar because I haven't run it yet. I ran GH for 4 to 5 years.
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Omote · Post by **Omote** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 11:31 pm

Greyhawk is classic, goodness. Tried, true, diverse and demanding, Greyhawk has that sense of good old fashioned D&D dungeon crawl, but could easily become so much more. Regardless of your taste in Greyhawk, there is so much information out there that could be stripped and used for GH that it boggles the mind.

IMO, Greyhawk is everything that is good about a classic sword and sorcery setting.

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Dristram · Post by **Dristram** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 11:40 pm

I love both!

As far as original material, KoK has more to use. WoG has a lot if you include the material created post-EGG.

KoK has more of a realistic feel to it with fantasy thrown in for good measure. While WoG has a more magical-medieval feel to it.

KoK is set to a lower level of magic allowing for the CK to be more in control of the level of magic for the setting.

I'd rate the following settings as thus:

Kingdoms of Kalamar - low-magic/mid-fantasy

World of Greyhawk - mid-magic/mid fantasy

Forgotten Realms - high-magic/high-fantasy

But let's not forget Erde! I like Erde, or Aihrde, for a mid-magic/high-fantasy style campaign.

serleran · Post by **serleran** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 11:42 pm

Only try KoK if you're using the original non-d20 stuff.

Omote · Post by **Omote** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 11:44 pm

Other then the d20 CORE KoK book, I havn;t read much into the KoK setting. I guess I kind of assumed that the OPs question was based on original KoK material... but as to whether the d20 stuff is better or not, that's a good question.

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Dristram · Post by **Dristram** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 12:14 am

I found the d20 stuff to be just fine and very usable in C&C. What's neat about their modules is that they contain detailed information about the area surrounding the adventure which is game system neutral and adds to the Campaign Setting Sourcebook. Once the adventure is done, the module is still usable as a minor sourcebook.

Realmsbard · Post by **Realmsbard** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 2:08 am

But let's not forget Erde! I like Erde, or Aihrde, for a mid-magic/high-fantasy style campaign.[/quote]

Where can I find material on Erde/Aihrde?

Realmsbard

Dristram · Post by **Dristram** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 2:26 am

Realmsbard wrote:
Where can I find material on Erde/Aihrde?

Realmsbard

First call your FLGS. Then if they don't have it, go here

And then wait patiently for the After Winters Dark product which is the setting book for Aihrde.

DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 6:37 am

I'm a huge Greyhawk fan but have to say, KoK is awesome. Completely awesome.

The core "d20" book doesn't even count as a d20 book as far as I'm concerned. You could fit all of the crunch found in the book onto a single page, and still have room to doodle on it.

I'm hard pressed to recommend either over the other. Just pick one that gives you a good campaign idea. With either world you cant go wrong. Oh, and the KoK atlas kicks ass too.

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 6:48 am

DangerDwarf wrote:
...Oh, and the KoK atlas kicks ass too.

The KoK atlas is "the standard" that all other atlas' should strive to at least match, if not surpass.

I would so love to see every campaign setting I own, and am destined to own, done up as awesomely as the Kalamar Atlas.

"Kicks ass too." just doesn't cover my opinion of this atlas. It is the standard by which I wish all other setting atlas' were done by.

Out of everything Kenzer has done, I think this Atlas is the best. Considering how good much of the Kenzer product is, that is saying something.

As for "get the stuff prior to D20" why? Everything from prior to D20 is in D20 with a whole lot more cool stuff, higher production values, etc...

Shop around. Kalamar is so under appreciated you can often find it very cheap.
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DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 6:51 am

Treebore wrote:
As for "get the stuff prior to D20" why? Everything from prior to D20 is in D20 with a whole lot more cool stuff, higher production values, etc...

Without a doubt 100% true.

And yeah, kick ass is probably a major understatement about the atlas. I would kill to have something similar for every one of my favorite settings.

Realmsbard · Post by **Realmsbard** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 11:03 am

Thanks for all the input.

After talking with this group (5 to 7 players) they want a high fantasy / mid magic type of game. They dont want to kill a god, travel into the abyss to destroy the dark overlord, or bring down a kingdom.

They do want to kick some monster butt, solve some mysteries, find some treasure, right some wrongs, and so on. All the time being just to the left of the kings law.

I picked CnC because it looks like I can twist its tail into the kind of pig I want. At 69 Im a bit lazy, so I want to steal every thing I can. I need a setting I can import mods of all types into with minimum of work.

Realmsbard.

SavageRobby · Post by **SavageRobby** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 11:05 am

I'd go Greyhawk.

I'm kind of surprised at the love for Kalamar. It was one of the first non-WotC 3x products that I picked up, back in the early days of 3x (when it was still new, I was returning to gaming after a long hiatus and I didn't realize how much work 3x was to DM), and I have to say that it left me pretty flat. I was expecting the "kick ass" world advertised, and it was pretty generic and unremarkable. IIRC, the production values were nice, but I wasn't floored by the content.

Jyrdan Fairblade · Post by **Jyrdan Fairblade** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 1:44 pm

I'd be hard-pressed to choose between the two (which I may just end up having to do the next time I start a campaign)!

I'd say Greyhawk has slightly more room to build your own stuff in than Kalamar. So, if you want more room for importing stuff, I'd go with Greyhawk. Kalamar is a pretty rich setting, though, without being as crowded as the Realms have gotten.

Tadhg · Post by **Tadhg** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 2:20 pm

Welcome, Realmsbard!

That's great that you're retuning to gaming through C&C!

For my group/campaign, I'm using an Aihrde/Greyhawuk hybrid world, with bits of Ravenloft/Conan/Known World thrown in.

From what I've read around here, people are running C&C in so many different campaign worlds, all with great success and fun. It's nice that you have all that campaign stuff already, so then you don't have to go out and drop loads of cash on all the new stuff out there!!
Enjoy!
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Dristram · Post by **Dristram** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 2:38 pm

I agree with Jyrdan. If you want a setting you can more easily make your own, choose Greyhawk, and ignore most of the post-WoG box set information.