If there’s a thing I love it’s a campaign setting and this marks a first for DnD with it being a whole “world in a box”. In this case we get Greyhawk, which was never a personal favorite of mine, at least when compared to future settings like Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance.

My main issue with Greyhawk is the fact that it doesn’t really feel very “fantastic” and that is borne out in this volume. Non-human races are clearly a rarity, there is little hint of the supernatural except in the nation of Iuz, it all feels very solidly medieval. There is a clear focus on geography and ruling systems/military prowess of each state here in a way that really feels like an outgrowth from wargaming. It’s all about armies and relative power with little attention to lore, religion or cultural diversity in the world. Those things will come later with articles in Dragon Magazine and future releases fleshing out the world, but here we have a very barebones thing.

This is not to say that it isn’t a fun, useful or original book. In fact this would have been an invaluable help for DMs trying to create a campaign without having to be bogged down in the minutiae of political and military detail as it was ready-made here for your use. Pick a nation out of the nearly 40 described here, pick a forest, mountain or body of water of those detailed in the volume and you are ready to go, you have a notion of what nations are your allies and enemies, what you can expect from the authorities and what beasties you might find in the wilderness. All that’s lacking is the specific plot and dungeon for your adventure. A really important mark in the history of DnD, even if there was still plenty of room to perfect the formula.