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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[Parmandur]

Oh, I absolutely think they will set it just beyond the previously published works.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh intentionally reset the tineline back to the Folio. They will probavly do that here, and un-blow-up the Setting.

 

[Parmandur]

I will never for the life of me understand Greyhawk fans.

You want the setting to come back, but you don't want ANY changes to the setting, NOTHING new. What do you want? Them to copy and paste the exact text from 2E books, same art of course since yall usually get mad over new art, and then put it into a new book with "5E" on the logo????????

I've never understood the inability to embrace change to an IP. Evolve the idea, play with it, and if you don't like it you have all the old stuff still remaining.

Hi, Greyhawk fan here! I am happy to see a fresh take on it that appeals to modern audiences, and think it can be done well.

 

[TwoSix]

I will never for the life of me understand Greyhawk fans.

You want the setting to come back, but you don't want ANY changes to the setting, NOTHING new. What do you want? Them to copy and paste the exact text from 2E books, same art of course since yall usually get mad over new art, and then put it into a new book with "5E" on the logo????????

I've never understood the inability to embrace change to an IP. Evolve the idea, play with it, and if you don't like it you have all the old stuff still remaining.

If you want to some something old republished unchanged, it's not because of your personal interest in the setting. It's because you want your preferences to be recognized in the zeitgeist and feel like they're still relevant.

 

[Nikosandros]

It would be great if they had a sidebar that not only addressed where the dragonborn live in Oerth but also make them NOT an option if the GM wishes.

Why do you need such a sidebar? I've ran a Ghost of Saltmarsh campaign and there were no dragonborns nor tieflings. Even without explicit authorization from WotC, is still went fine.

Well, there's a rumor that they sent the Pinkertons to have a word with me, but they got stuck in the 8 AM traffic in Rome and just gave up in frustration.

 

[Clint_L]

It would be great if they had a sidebar that not only addressed where the dragonborn live in Oerth but also make them NOT an option if the GM wishes.

I’m as huge a Greyhawk fan as they come - see my previous posts on the subject.

And this is a TERRIBLE suggestion. It’s the brand new DMG, for all players, but especially new ones. You don’t immediately muddy the waters by adding in confusing qualifications about a core species from the new PHB. Besides which, Greyhawk has been previously altered and updated to accommodate new game options many times. Including by Gygax.

The whole POINT of Greyhawk was to leave it intentionally open for DMs to have space for their own interpretation - that’s straight from Gygax. That’s one of the reasons I’ve always loved it. Putting in a sidebar as described above runs counter to the entire spirit and intent of the setting. Gygax wanted you to make Greyhawk your own.

If you want the original experience, WotC is republishing all of OD&D in a deluxe edition.

 

[Shardstone]

If you want to some something old republished unchanged, it's not because of your personal interest in the setting. It's because you want your preferences to be recognized in the zeitgeist and feel like they're still relevant.

AAaaah great way of putting it, thank you.

 

[Ringtail]

- Heraldry Pics -

Y'know, not every setting needs it, but I always liked Greyhawk having heraldry. It was a good way of showing right off the bat that this fantasy world is very medieval feeling, not like the very high fantasy Forgotten Realms.

 

[Queer Venger]

Greyhawk was the first D&D campaign I played in way back when I served in the USAF. I remember my DM was a C5 galaxy pilot, he used Greyhawk a lot (this was a couple years before FR launched). I remember fondly my Drow Fighter/Wizard...

But I would chuckle sometimes at the names of some of the nations and locations on the map...

Furyondy... LOL

 

[Yaarel]

For sure Dragonborn and Tiefling are part of the Greyhawk setting. How could they not be?

Greyhawk has "Cambion" − the Tiefling is canon!

Really, "dragon people" are a bridge too far?

 

[Ringtail]

I will never for the life of me understand Greyhawk fans.

You want the setting to come back, but you don't want ANY changes to the setting, NOTHING new. What do you want? Them to copy and paste the exact text from 2E books, same art of course since yall usually get mad over new art, and then put it into a new book with "5E" on the logo????????

I've never understood the inability to embrace change to an IP. Evolve the idea, play with it, and if you don't like it you have all the old stuff still remaining.

Well I mean, I kind of get it.

One of my favorite things a bout Eberron is there's been no meta-plot advancement (though sure, they added dragonborn and stuff.)

I prefer when books don't have these meta-plots, because I just end up ignoring them. Which then makes it more difficulty when I'm referencing 3 editions of lore books for my homebrew (Grrrrr, Forgotten Realms). Sure just homebrew and ignore but it doesn't mean its not a pain. So if you've been playing in Greyhawk for so many years, you've probably got your own continuity going and having to wrestle around any new changes is a pain. Plus, changes too drastic can change the feel, the vibe.

All that bit about same art feels a little bit hyperbolic though. But once again, art can convey theme and tone, and if the style changes dramatically it can have an effect.