The Malachite Throne of the Great Kingdom is one of the legendary artifacts of Greyhawk. The seat of power of the corrupt and collapsing kingdom of Aerdy (aka The Great Kingdom), the Fiend-Seeing Throne sets the tone for the entire region.
It’s also a campaign I’ve long wanted to run. Back in the day, TSR commissioned the Ivid the Undying sourcebook for Greyhawk. Written by Carl Sargent, it never saw an official print release. Instead, a rich text format version was released on America Online sans maps after Wizards of the Coast purchased TSR. Years later, fans turned it into a proper PDF with a layout that matches other products of the time.
The book details the madness of the great kingdom and its descent into civil war. It details the overking and the creation of his animus royal minions who led many of its provinces. It set up dozens of potential storylines, and tremendously expanded the setting’s lore.
My gaming group’s Blackrazor campaign began in the Northern Province of Aerdy, but left after they inadvertently burned down a good portion of Innspa and earned the ire of the Cantor Guild (a thieves guild) for various slights.
I’d love to return to the setting someday. I’m not sure what campaign I’d want to run, but there are Lots of options: desperate freedom fighters trying to defeat an evil overlord, retainers of a house engaged in a house war, adventurers trying to survive the eventual collapse of the capital Rauxes (eventually overrun by fiends and other horrors), thieves guild members eking out a living amidst the corruption of the dying realm … there are so many options.
I don’t know that I’d want to run a multi-year campaign here, but a 12-episode campaign could be a lot of fun.
This post is part of RPG a Day 2021, a month-long celebration of role-playing games. Join the Facebook community to learn more or read other Nuketown posts in this series.
Ivid the Undying Resources
- Ivid the Undying [PDF]
- Greyhawk Wiki: Ivid the Undying
- Map of the Great Kingdom for Ivid the Undying
- Designers and Dragons: Ivid the Undying
Other RPG a Day: Throne posts
- Gaming with the Gnomies: Thrones of Feraso
- The Watch House: Who sits on the throne in your setting?
- Intelligence Mod: Throne [Youtube]
- The OG GM’s Adventures: Community [YouTube] (variant keyword)
Featured Image Meta
A fan-created map of the Great Kingdom by Kent Matthewson based on copyrighted content by TSR. Credit Kent Matthewson (image), TSR (content)