Guardians of Greyhawk Campaign
Guardians of Greyhawk
Core Concept
Players are members of the Guardians of Greyhawk, a semi-organized adventuring collective headquartered in the Free City of Greyhawk. The Guardians are infamous for taking on any job—dungeon delves, monster hunts, treasure retrieval, escort missions, or plain old chaos.
Unlike traditional campaigns, the purpose of these adventures is to revisit and showcase classic OSR modules, 3rd-party OPP adventures, and Dungeon Magazine side treks—proving their lasting value and usability—while deliberately avoiding feeding Wizards of the Coast’s current publishing cycle.
Each player maintains three characters, all part of the collective:
1st level (a green recruit, still proving themselves)
6th level (a seasoned adventurer with a reputation beginning to spread)
9th level (an established professional, feared or respected in their field)
For each game session, players select one of their characters to send out, matching the scale or tone of that week’s adventure.
Benefits of the Structure
Drop-In Friendly
Players never need to roll a new character on the spot. Their roster is always ready to go, allowing for spontaneous gaming.
DM Fluidity
Any DM can pick up and run a one-shot. Old TSR modules, Dungeon Magazine conversions, or homebrew material can be dropped in without worrying about long-term continuity.
Adventure Variety
A swamp crawl this week? Send the 1st-level rogue. A high-stakes planar incursion the next? Time to call on the 9th-level paladin.
Player Absence Resilience
If someone misses a week, their character is simply “on another job with the Guardians.”
Greyhawk Richness
The episodic format lets the Guardians explore the depth of the setting—Dyvers one week, the Pomarj the next—without stretching plausibility.
Base of Operations
The Guardians of Greyhawk operate out of a guildhall in Greyhawk City (though some tables might prefer a mobile fortress, like a grounded spelljammer hull outside the city walls).
Features include:
Job Board: Hooks and contracts posted by nobles, merchants, wizards, cults, or even rival adventurers.
Company Ledger: Tracks gold, favors, debts, and ongoing resources of the collective.
Teleportation Circle / Caravans: Justifies quick adventurer deployment to far-flung locations.
Company Tavern Room: A hub for roleplay, gossip, and storytelling between missions.
DM Guidance
Pick Your Tier
Before the session begins, the DM declares: “Tonight is a 6th-level adventure.” Players then bring in their 6th-level characters.
No Campaign Commitment
Each session is a standalone episode. DMs are welcome to weave in recurring villains, running gags, or long-term arcs, but it isn’t required.
Continuity Optional
Characters earn treasure, scars, and stories, but synchronization between tables isn’t necessary.
Example Play Flow
Players gather at the Guardians’ guildhall.
DM announces: “Tonight’s a 9th-level mission—rumors of a lich spotted in the Cairn Hills.”
Each player selects their 9th-level character.
Quick in-character banter as contracts are accepted.
The adventure plays through in a single session.
Survivors return to base, logging loot into the ledger and trading tales in the tavern.
Tone and Style
The Guardians of Greyhawk thrive on episodic, pulp-fantasy adventuring:
Laughing in the face of danger
Kicking down dungeon doors
Chasing gold, glory, and weird relics
Always grounded in Greyhawk’s politics, geography, and factions
By emphasizing classic content, this structure reminds players and DMs that decades of modules and Dungeon Magazine material remain rich, exciting, and independent of Wizards of the Coast’s corporate products.
