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

[Mecheon]

Frankenstein and Dracula. I've read the original Frankenstein, and it is a very good work with very powerful theme... and the vast majority of people don't even realize the "monster's" name isn't Frankenstein, but Adam. What has survived and endured is only "Frankenstein by Mary Shelley" in the most shallow of senses.

Adam isn't his name. The Monster goes nameless, but he compares himself to Adam

The quote in question is “I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel”

 

[Reynard]

Frankenstein is groundbreaking. It is also boring, and not very good from a narrative standpoint.

 

[Kurotowa]

Frankenstein is groundbreaking. It is also boring, and not very good from a narrative standpoint.

To be fair, it's something Mary Shelley cooked up quickly for a writing contest because a vacation got rained in. And it was mostly a metaphor for what a terrible father Lord Byron (of the Byronic hero) was. But out of such humble roots, new genres are born.

 

[Azzy]

What product? "Like a history book" really works for me!

The Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. It's very dry, but extremely packed with information.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. It's very dry, but extremely packed with information.

Sounds awesome. I'll have to look into it.

 

[Redwizard007]

Updated Greyhawk is a great excuse for me to dig through old Dungeon Magazines. My wife and kids are not going to be happy.

 

[MGibster]

I've read a decent amount of Shakespeare, most notably Romeo and Juliet "the greatest love story ever told" and frankly the original is... not a good love story. It isn't a badly written comedy, but it certainly isn't a love story.

"These kids are idiots!" -- My freshman high school English teacher. I think R&J is much better appreciated when you come at in from the point of view that these are stupid teenagers doing stupid teenager things.

But then I suppose there are a lot of great works of art that are sometimes misinterpreted. How many people play the Police's "Every Breath you Take" at their wedding?

This isn't to say that the original works are badly done, but they are not the pinnacle I think. We tend to have this habit of looking to the things that culture has told us are "the greatest" and just... accepting that. Tolkien is good, but I don't think he was the pinnacle of all fantasy forever.

If they're the pinnacle then what's the point of ever writing in that genre again? That would be a terrible thought. I don't know if it's so much about these works being the pinnacle so much as it is these are seminal works whose DNA is still all over the place and we don't even need a black light to see it. (That last sentence made me a little sick.) I imagine we'll get to a point where only scholars and die hard fantasy fans read Tolkien, but it'll probably be a while.

 

[MGibster]

I'm actually somewhat enthusiastic for D&D in a way I haven't been for a number of years now. I might just kick things off by running a campaign in Greyhawk. I don't care what species the players choose for their characters or their class, but I think I'm going to require to tell me a little something about how their characters fit into the setting. I don't want to just hear "I'm a monk," I want to hear "Flin is dragonborn monk of the Mystical Order of the Golden Fist. He's completed his training at the monastery and is on a quest to solve the riddle of flesh."

 

[Reynard]

I'm actually somewhat enthusiastic for D&D in a way I haven't been for a number of years now. I might just kick things off by running a campaign in Greyhawk. I don't care what species the players choose for their characters or their class, but I think I'm going to require to tell me a little something about how their characters fit into the setting. I don't want to just hear "I'm a monk," I want to hear "Flin is dragonborn monk of the Mystical Order of the Golden Fist. He's completed his training at the monastery and is on a quest to solve the riddle of flesh."

Are your players as well versed and interested in GH as you are?

 

[Remathilis]

To be fair, it's something Mary Shelley cooked up quickly for a writing contest because a vacation got rained in. And it was mostly a metaphor for what a terrible father Lord Byron (of the Byronic hero) was. But out of such humble roots, new genres are born.

It should be noted that competition got us the first vampire novella (the Vampyre) which itself was an influence for Stoker. Ironic that rainy summer birthed two of the biggest monster archetypes of modern history.