Most of all, I hate the stupid names. How the fuck are you supposed to pronounce Furyondy or Nyr Dyv? That’s not counting the places that are actual puns. Many of the places are named after people Gygax knew in real life, like Perrenland, the Duchy of Urnst, the Duchy of Geoff, or the County of Sunndi. These names add texture to the place, it’s true, but it also makes the setting feel very personal, full of in-jokes and self-referential humor, like it’s actually Gygax and his friends’ campaign, and not really a place for other players. Playing in Greyhawk feels like squatting in someone else’s home.
The actual playable content of Greyhawk, however, is pretty great. I highly recommend the 128 page box set over the 64 page folio, if only because the box set actually includes the original folio with no alterations as well. Only the crabbiest, highest self-aggrandizing grognard would recommend otherwise. The second booklet comes with actual, concrete game content in the form of weather statistics and random encounters, which make the prep just that much easier. Be warned though, as a Gary Gygax product it still requires a lot of prep.
The 2e and 3e eras of Greyhawk content are heavily focused on meta plot, so I tend to ignore them completely, but they do flesh out the world and mitigate the tongue-in-cheek aspects of it, so there’s that.
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