Lordship of The Isles (Dungeons & Dragons) - Developmental History

Developmental History

In the 1970s, while helping to co-develop Dungeons and Dragons, Gary Gygax created a campaign setting which eventually became known as the World of Greyhawk. In 1980's The World of Greyhawk folio (TSR 9025), Gygax set the campaign in 576 CY, and included a brief paragraph about the Lordship of the Isles. The population was listed as 80,000+, the ruler was identified simply as the Prince of Duxchan, and the country’s natural resources were mainly transit fees charged to merchant ships plying their waters.

An almost identical paragraph appeared in Gygax’s World of Greyhawk boxed set in 1983 (TSR 1015); however, the ruler was now identified by name as Prince Latmac Ranold of Duxchan, and the country’s population was specifically given as 80,000.

TSR and Gygax parted company in 1985, and TSR took the Greyhawk storyline in a new direction via a boxed set called From the Ashes (TSR 1064). The storyline was advanced nine years to 585 CY; much of Gygax’s world was now splintered and in disorder due to a continent-wide war that had taken place 582-584 CY. However, how this affected the Lordship of the Isles was not clear since developments in regions surrounding the Aerdy Sea were not included in this edition. In any case, the overall departure of the Greyhawk campaign from Gygax's original setting to this darker vision of post-war Flanaess was not well received by the public, and TSR stopped publishing Greyhawk material in 1993.

In 1996, Wizards of the Coast took over TSR, and in 1998 revived the moribund Greyhawk setting for their new Third Edition of Dungeons and Dragons, advancing the storyline a further five years to 590 CY. The Greyhawk Wars had ended six years before, and the storyline now dealt with the new alliances and problems that had developed in the interim. Gygax's original description of the Lordship of the Isles was generously expanded to include a comprehensive history, as well as recent political developments in the area. Several changes were made to information about the Lord of the Isles, the most significant being that the Isles, formerly an independent kingdom, were now a puppet state of a semi-secret organization known as the Scarlet Brotherhood. In addition, the population in this edition was increased threefold to 266,000, and exotic woods, animals and shipbuilding supplies were now listed as the region’s resources.