D&D (2024) How Does Greyhawk Fit In To The New Edition?

According to Game Informer — “the surprising importance and inclusions of what is arguably the oldest D&D campaign setting of them all – Greyhawk.”

So how does Greyhawk fit in? According to GI, the new 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide contains a sample setting—and that setting is, indeed, Greyhawk. Not only that, but the book will come with a double-sided poster map with the City of Greyhawk on one side and the Flannaes on the other—the eastern part of one of Oerth’s four continents.

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Even as the multiverse of D&D worlds sees increased attention, the Dungeon Master's Guide also offers a more discrete setting to get gaming groups started. After very few official releases in the last couple of decades, the world of Greyhawk takes center stage. The book fleshes out Greyhawk to illustrate how to create campaign settings of your own. Greyhawk was the original D&D game world crafted by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax, and a worthy setting to revisit on the occassion of D&D's golden anniversary. It's a world bristling with classic sword and sorcery concepts, from an intrigue-laden central city to wide tracts of uncharted wilderness. Compared to many D&D campaign settings, it's smaller and less fleshed out, and that's sort of the point; it begs for DMs to make it their own. The book offers ample info to bring Greyhawk to life but leaves much undetailed. For those eager to take the plunge, an included poster map of the Greyhawk setting sets the tone, and its reverse reveals a map of the city of the same name. "A big draw to Greyhawk is it's the origin place for such heroes as Mordenkainen, Tasha, and others," Perkins says. "There's this idea that the players in your campaign can be the next great world-hopping, spell-crafting heroes of D&D. It is the campaign where heroes are born."

- Game Informer​

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[Remathilis]

Like I said, there were suggestions for how new things could fit in. But they weren't automatically assumed to be added- it was an option to add it to the established setting.

Because setting designers aren't clairvoyant nor can they sit and catalog everything and it's place in the setting. The goal of Eberron was to be a kitchen sink with a twist, not a curated experience like Dark Sun. If a DM wants to limit options they can, but they will get no support from the text in that regard. In Eberron, everything is a "yes" or a "yes, and" unless the DM steps in to say "no".

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I feel like someone with a 'fannish obsession' would like... try?

I guess we're thinking of different kinds of fan.

WotC, like TSR before them, made repeated efforts to make Greyhawk happen - not just with trying to make it the default setting 3.XE. I'm too lazy to dig up my old post where I went through them in extreme detail.

I think the issue that limits them is that it's impossible to justify financially. You can't make a financial or logical case that digging in to Greyhawk is in any way a good idea. You can't provide evidence to support that position. So despite the fannish-ness, they're limited in what they can actually do, but do constantly attempt to shoehorn Greyhawk into things.

As for "not seen the light of day for 25 years", sure, but I've been playing D&D for 35 years, and Greyhawk wasn't interesting or cool in 1989, or 1994, or 1999. It's a setting you could do something interesting with, by leaning into some of the trad elements in the way that Dark Souls, for example, leaned in to trad elements of D&D to create an amazing game (whilst also modernizing them, of course), but they're not going to do that.

 

[Parmandur]

It's a setting you could do something interesting with, by leaning into some of the trad elements in the way that Dark Souls, for example, leaned in to trad elements of D&D to create an amazing game (whilst also modernizing them, of course), but they're not going to do that.

Oh, so you have read the chapter...?

 

[Vaalingrade]

I mean at this point they're pretending they can't justify actually digging into ANY campaign setting so...

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Oh, so you have read the chapter...?

It's a chapter to teach beginners how to build a setting. They aren't going to mess with the core rules or do anything remotely radical.

 

[Mournblade94]

Greyhawk is very Human centric and also very much based on Medieval Fantasy. I don't think this is going to fly well with the current player base that prefers Tieflings, Tortles, and Top hats.

I don't think Greyhawk could survive the new player base and still keep the flavor people want from Greyhawk.

 

[Parmandur]

It's a chapter to teach beginners how to build a setting. They aren't going to mess with the core rules or do anything remotely radical.

Sure, absolutely. Doesn't mean they won't present an attractive basic Setting that people won't like (I mean, doesn’t mean they will either, time will tell).

 

[Remathilis]

Greyhawk is very Human centric and also very much based on Medieval Fantasy. I don't think this is going to fly well with the current player base that prefers Tieflings, Tortles, and Top hats.

I don't think Greyhawk could survive the new player base and still keep the flavor people want from Greyhawk.

Greyhawk survived 3e with gnomish Necromancers and halfling paladins. It will survive this.

 

[Swanosaurus]

Greyhawk is very Human centric and also very much based on Medieval Fantasy. I don't think this is going to fly well with the current player base that prefers Tieflings, Tortles, and Top hats.

I don't think Greyhawk could survive the new player base and still keep the flavor people want from Greyhawk.

I'm not the current player base, but I'm pretty sure that the notion that I can play a Tiefling and that this fact alone will make me something exotic and special in the game world has its appeal. Game of Thrones/House of Dragons are still things, and they come with the notion that stuff like magic, dragons ... they are WOW! Of course they can't got that far in D&D, but I think there still can be said a lot for having a baseline setting that allows you to be something special by simply picking options from the core rules that wouldn't be presented as part of everyday life in said setting.
I think it's at least worth a try; see what happens to Greyhawk when they confront it with current sensibilities. If they are ready to change stuff up, I'll remain curious!

 

[el-remmen]

I'm not the current player base, but I'm pretty sure that the notion that I can play a Tiefling and that this fact alone will make me something exotic and special in the game world has its appeal.

Exactly.

I technically had no tieflings or tabaxi as player options in my current setting, which is humanocentric. But I have one player who in our first game together wanted to play a tiefling! And in the second? A tabaxi.

Did I say no?

Nope. I said, "You can play those, but you have to understand that you will be an outlier or foreigner that many folks may find strange or curious or scary."

Clearly, this worked for her because not only did she agree to it again, but has complained to me more than once that I am not remembering to have people react to her as "a weird cat-person" as often anymore (and she is right - I told her, to assume she is getting strange looks and long stares from some people and that when the attitude matters to a scene, I will be sure to play it up - that way I don't have to always be taking spotlight away from other PCs and events just to mention it).