Greyhawk uses some older words that don’t mean what the 2024 rules mean by them. This page is how the people of the Flanaess talk, and how we’ll use the words at the table.
The big one: “humanoid”
In the rulebooks, Humanoid is a creature type that covers humans, elves, dwarves and orcs alike.
In Greyhawk, and on this site, the word means something narrower and less polite. Flanaess folk sort the speaking peoples into three groups:
| Word | Means | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Humans | the human peoples (see below) | Oeridians, Suel, Flan, Baklunish |
| Demi-humans | the old peoples who usually live alongside humans in peace | elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings |
| Humanoids | the peoples generally at war with humans, or assumed to be | orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, gnolls, kobolds |
These are social labels, not biology or rules. When a Greyhawker says “humanoids,” they mean “the orc and goblin tribes,” and they usually mean it as a threat. Individuals don’t always fit their label, and most people don’t care.
In-between peoples:
- Half-elves are usually counted with demi-humans.
- Half-orcs sit uneasily between the groups. Many cities tolerate them; some places and guilds won’t.
Where it matters
- The central Flanaess, from Urnst to Geoff and including Greyhawk, pays little attention to race. A mixed party draws no comment in the Free City.
- The Great Kingdom’s nobles prize pale skin and pure Aerdi blood.
- Elves of Celene consider humans their inferiors.
- Lands the humanoids have overrun, such as the Pomarj, the Bone March and the Horned Society’s armies, are why “humanoid” is a frightening word in the north and south.
The human peoples
Four old peoples, now mostly mixed. Ancestry shows in looks and in family pride, but rarely decides anything in Greyhawk itself.
- Oeridians: tan to olive skin, hair from honey-blond to black. The founding people of the Great Kingdom and most of the central kingdoms.
- Suel (Suloise): very fair, light-haired and pale-eyed. Scattered across the Flanaess after their empire’s ancient destruction. Wee Jas and many other gods are theirs.
- Flan: bronze to deep-brown skin, dark wavy hair. The oldest people of the Flanaess, who were here before the others arrived.
- Baklunish: golden-hued skin, grey-green eyes. The peoples of the west: Ket, Ekbir, Zeif, and the nomad tribes.
- Rhennee: river and lake bargefolk with their own customs and secrets, often distrusted on land.
Greyhawk itself is mostly Oeridian and Suel, with some Flan and Baklunish blood.
Rare and strange peoples
These peoples are in the rulebooks but barely appear in old Greyhawk. This is how ordinary residents of Greyhawk react to them:
- Dragonborn: almost unheard of. People stare and ask questions, and some assume sorcery.
- Tieflings: fiend-touched. People are wary, and the rumours about the Great Kingdom’s fiend-bargaining royal house don’t help.
- Aasimar: celestial-touched. People find them admirable but unsettling, and expect them to be holier than they are.
- Astral elves: elves from beyond the sky. Sages say there are worlds past Oerth’s, but most people have never heard of them.
- Goliaths, genasi and the like: rare enough that most people have never met one. They draw curiosity more than fear.
Other terms you’ll hear
- Oerth: the world.
- The Flanaess: the eastern part of the continent of Oerik, where the campaign takes place.
- CY (Common Year): the calendar. It’s 576 CY.
- The Directors / the Directing Oligarchy: the council that rules the Free City. See The City and the World.
- Old City / New City: the lower and upper halves of Greyhawk.
- People’s Constables: licensed daytime fine-collectors, mostly small-time thieves with a badge.