D&D (2024) Greyhawk Confirmed. Tell Me Why.

[Parmandur]

Could be sort of a brief rundown of how the setting was created.

Well, Chris Pwrkins was pretty vague on how the "templates" for the Adventure and Campaign building (and, one would posit, Setting building) will look lile...it strikes me that there is one traditional tool from DM advice books that the 2014 book doesn't really do but would work great with Beyond: work sheets similar to player character sheets. So, maybe a "Setting building" work sheet, a discussion of how to fill it out and use it, then a detailed example of a built out Setting?

 

[MockingBird]

I'm pretty excited to get Greyhawk in the DMG. I only have the Greyhawk Gazetteer I picked up from a FLGS and it was missing all the maps.

I feel like there's a void that Mystara would fill perfectly. I'm not super knowledgeable about the setting. Learning where magic comes from and such felt pretty familiar if you ever watched Adventure Time with your head slightly tilted. Some of it is wacky but I feel there's a market for it.

 

[Parmandur]

I'm pretty excited to get Greyhawk in the DMG. I only have the Greyhawk Gazetteer I picked up from a FLGS and it was missing all the maps.

I feel like there's a void that Mystara would fill perfectly. I'm not super knowledgeable about the setting. Learning where magic comes from and such felt pretty familiar if you ever watched Adventure Time with your head slightly tilted. Some of it is wacky but I feel there's a market for it.

I have a gondness for Mystara, but to be frank it has some more deeply rooted problems that would require more severe editing for modern audiences (ethnic stereotypes, mainly).

 

[Micah Sweet]

From another thread:

Emphasis mine

So, I was very, very wrong. I was sure they would have created something new with appeal directed at GenZ players. Not the first time I have been wrong. Oh well.

But, I am curious why. Why Greyhawk? I mean, sure, 50th anniversary, but is that all? What does Greyhawk have about it that makes it a good fit for the vast majority of current and potential future players who have never known GH?

For the record, I am a GenXer who grew up with BECMI and 2E. I never played in Greyhawk, but I was aware of it because of Dragon Magazine mostly. Until Eberron appeared with 3.5, the only setting I used with an depth or regularity was Krynn/Dragonlance. We played in "The Known World" but never got more in depth than what was in the Expert book.

Anyway: why do YOU think they decided on Greyhawk for the example DMG setting?

Raw business. Nostalgia appeal to the grognards that might pass otherwise.

It's a good move from that perspective, and of course the real prize is that this should put Greyhawk on the Guild, where all the real setting material will appear.

My advice for Greyhawk fans is not to take the version in the DMG too seriously. WotC has a poor record on making fans of old settings happy. Use the Guild.

 

[MockingBird]

I have a gondness for Mystara, but to be frank it has some more deeply rooted problems that would require more severe editing for modern audiences (ethnic stereotypes, mainly).

Oh yeah, no doubt. I'm not very familiar with Mystara but you are right, it definitely has some problematic content.

 

[Gradine]

I have a gondness for Mystara,

I thought Gond was a Forgotten Realms deity

 

[Warpiglet-7]

I remember Mearls making the point that one of Greyhawk's best features was providing enough tantalizing lore to catch your attention but leaving the vast majority of details to the individual DM. I suspect they are using it in that light. A concrete way to give new DMs a taste of how to build a campaign world while also giving a nod to nostalgia as a bonus. Done properly, it can certainly serve a new generation, who will undoubtedly take it in directions different than was done in the '70s.

AD

I can only speak for me and my pals…

But initially we liked the gray box for forgotten realms. It was—wait for it—-wide open!

After it filled in and heroes seemed to be in every hamlet we lost the fascination. Well except for Thay which is just cool.

But Greyhawk seems less beholden to lore. There are cool ideas and stories u can riff on. If this continues, it’s perfect to build on and start with…

 

[Distracted DM]

I expect WotC to carefully vet and present each local regional settings within the world Oerth, one at at time, in a kind of "points of light" approach to building a world.

Can you elaborate on expecting WotC to carefully vet these settings?

 

[Parmandur]

Oh yeah, no doubt. I'm not very familiar with Mystara but you are right, it definitely has some problematic content.

It can be worked through, I'm sure, but Greyhawk is a touch easier.

 

[Yaarel]

Can you elaborate on expecting WotC to carefully vet these settings?

A main concern with regard to sensibility includes the descriptions about the Greyhawk Oerth ethnicities. These are fantasy versions of reallife ethnicities. The formula here is to take something from reallife and blend it with something unfamiliar. For example, I know exactly which ones are the Scandinavian ethnicities and am less than thrilled with their representation. Some of the legacy content comes across as racist. The term "race" sometimes means a separate species and sometimes means a human ethnic group. There is approving talk about "racial purity". There is cultural appropriation, where the fantasy Indigenous South Americans are actually white people who started looking darker. Oppositely, elsewhere, there is a nazification of white people, in its own way, equally problematic and offensive. There is stupidification of "uncivilized" "tribes", including the representations of nonwhite ethnicities. And so on.

Even tho all of this is in the "canon", none of it deserves to reawaken as-is.

By focusing on a local region, like Greyhawk City, 5e can vet it to make sure it doesnt entangle any of the known problems. Eventually, region by region, a 5e version can slowly piece together that authentically preserves the good and inspiring aspects of the legacy content.