Greyhawk Timekeeping and Published Modules

I stumbled upon an interesting finding while trying to establish a timeline for the Hommlet/Temple of Elemental Evil backstory. Apparently, the timeline for Greyhawk back in the Folio days was set at 576 CY - this being the starting point for any campaigns set in the Flanaess. However, I take this point to reference the year 1976 A.D. when Gary Gygax ran his D&D campaigns in the world of Greyhawk. Further references in the module T1 seem to indicate that the year was now 579 CY, which coincides with the module's publication date of 1979 A.D. Future product releases in the Greyhawk campaign in 2nd edition and 3rd edition apparently kept this timeline advancement, so that the year in the "real world" advanced with the year in the fantasy world.

By this estimation, the timeline in Greyhawk should be 613 CY and Hommlet should have advanced by 34 years. A lot can happen in 30 years. In our lifetime we've gone from the invention of the personal computer to the ubiquitous social media devices. We've advanced travel and technology to undreamt levels. Look how far we advanced between the 1940s and the 1970s. In a world of magic, however, this may not be the case. Surely, the castle fortifications begun by Burne and Rufus in the module are completed by this time and the population of Hommlet has likely increased. The fate of this community is tied to the existence of the Temple of Elemental Evil and its growth is likely dependent upon when and if the place was finally shut down by adventurers.

Assuming that the Temple and its forces were wiped out the second time then the community is no doubt returning to a time of happiness and prosperity, growing stronger each day. If the adventure was never played through or the adventurers sent to deal with the demoness were unsuccessful, then a resurgence of evil in the region would likely cause delays and troubles and the village may have suffered worse attacks or been destroyed by the rise of evil. Assuming that the players moved on and did not return, then Hommlet might be an empty ghost town or worse, a suburb of evil Nulb - a hideout of villainy on the edge of a noble holding between several powers of Good in Greyhawk. Allowing such a blasphemy to continue unchecked may occur since the forces of Veluna and Furyondy have to deal with threats on multiple fronts, and a distraction such as the Temple may have to go unanswered for years. At some point, though, the cancerous evil needs to be addressed.

This got me thinking about other adventures in Greyhawk. Obviously the G and D modules occurred BEFORE Hommlet, in 578 (according to publishing dates), and they are referred to in the T1 Background section as the "sharp check dealt to Lolth." It has been established in conversations with Mr. Gygax that the ToEE was supposed to be organized around Lolth being the demon summoned in the Battle of Emridy Meadows, not Tzuggtmoy, who was later used since Q1 was already in production by another author as a sequel to the G and D Series (a project approved by Gary).

In my opinion, Q1 needs to be rewritten to better emulate the chaos and evil of the Abyss and demonkind. T2 needs to be reworked as well to better fit the paradigm of Elemental Evil. In my conversions, I've been reworking some of the creatures and encounters added to the Temple to showcase the new Monster Manual II, and removing some of the influence of other authors to the glory of Gygaxian Greyhawk. Not that these adventures are bad, but the writing style is very different.

I might be interested in starting another Greyhawk 3rd edition adventure set in a much different, 40 years older Flanaess, taking into account all the backstory that has affected the campaign world since the beginning. Its important to keep these modules as historical references, but the adventures of the modern age need to be more akin to the rules of the modern age. Progress is inevitable and nothing remains the same.