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

[Minigiant]

Work it out with the player.

Which the DMG should advise the DM

Gods and pantheons are far beyond what newbie DMs should be doing. Not to mention the possibility of offence if you happen to parody a player's real world beliefs

Yeah

But they do it anyway

So advise New DM how to do it or warn them of what not to do.

These a matters for individuals, not societies.

What weapon will the dwarf guards carry and dwarf blacksmith make?

Which people would be most invested in slaying the undead?

Which people would know where a druid who can cast the spell you need is?

There is an undercurrent of attitude against teaching DMs to move from published setting to their own setting. I suspect it is from fans not wanting practices written down and used against them because "I don't what I'm doing".

But I find from looking at young DMs I mentored that there are common errors and overlookings in world building and campaign framing that no one talks about because the experienced DMs assume everyone knows.


Yet there is a whole sub industry of podcasts and YouTube videos giving out this very info because many people never learn these things and aren't taught or advised about it

 

[Paul Farquhar]

What weapon will the dwarf guards carry and dwarf blacksmith make?

I'm sure the blacksmith, whatever their ancestry, will make whatever weapon the PC pays them to make.

Are the PCs going to fight the guards? Then look in the guard statblock.

Which people would be most invested in slaying the undead?

Player characters.

Which people would know where a druid who can cast the spell you need is?

What druid? Are they part of the adventure? Then the adventure tells you how to find them, not the setting.

 

[Minigiant]

I'm sure the blacksmith, whatever their ancestry, will make whatever weapon the PC pays them to make

Depends on your setting.

In one of my settings, dwarves don't make polearms because they don't use them. And they usually only make swords for commissioned trade so there are rarely any swords to buy. Because dwarves are traditionalist and rarely make anything not tied to dwarves culture.

Likewise elves think elven things are best and all old so you might struggle to find anything new in an even city

Player characters.

Player characters

"DM, where would we find anti-X items? Who is powerful and hates X?"

What druid? Are they part of the adventure? Then the adventure tells you how to find them, not the setting

They are just looking for a druid. Just Like how players randomly do things not on the prewritten plot.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Depends on your setting.

In one of my settings, dwarves don't make polearms because they don't use them.

And this is exactly the type of irrelevant fluff that newbies need to be dissuaded from messing around with.

"DM, where would we find anti-X items? Who is powerful and hates X?"

Why should PCs expect to find anti-X items anywhere, unless it's part of an adventure? Who is powerful? You are, that's why you are the heroes.

They are just looking for a druid. Just Like how players randomly do things not on the prewritten plot.

There is no druid. Or you can add them when the players ask. This sort of thing shouldn't be planned ahead, or you will end wasting time preparing a vast number of things that the players will never see.

 

[Minigiant]

And this is exactly the type of irrelevant fluff that newbies need to be dissuaded from messing around with.

Why should PCs expect to find anti-X items anywhere, unless it's part of an adventure? Who is powerful? You are, that's why you are the heroes.

There is no druid. Or you can add them when the players ask. This sort of thing shouldn't be planned ahead, or you will end wasting time preparing a vast number of things that the players will never see.

The point is that you don't place specifics but you have a general idea and vibe in your mind of how the world works so you can provide a consistent and engaging world to the players when they ask or interact with it.

You think about how dwarf Npcs acts or where druid might be or how the hobgoblin villains fight so both you and the players have a similar mindset of how the world works.

It's just like drawing a map of the continent.

You don't fill in everything. But if your players come with a elf fighter, dwarf cleric, Halfling sorcerer, and dragonborn paladin, you know where those 8 aspects are on the map or plot them after you get their sheets.

 

[RedSquirrel]

That's funny. My copies of all three don't say that. PHB will have to stand in for all three; I'm not scanning all of them.

That's funny, not everyone else is looking at the same printing of the book that you happen to own.
Look up the AD&D player's handbook "orange spine" printings published the very same year as the one you have. The ones with cover art by Easley.
ASFAIK, the MMII that I reference (1983) never even had the "old art" version, just the Easley one.

 

[nyvinter]

That answers “why Greyhawk”. It comes with a pre-made pantheon. Creating religion is difficult even for experienced adults. The advice for a young first time DM has to be “choose something off the peg”.

And in this case I'd go no. Better learn and talk about different ways how to handle religion in the games than put up most of the DnD pantheons as a teachable example — they're very Christian in how they approach a diversity of gods and they're could be a lot better. If you want a pantheon of gods, then lets do a pantheon rather than a selection of niched gods to pick one from.

No-one gets better at stuff if they don't try, so set a good foundation at these things rather than go "no, you shouldn't´make your own stuff yet as you're not good enough."

 

[Micah Sweet]

Out of curiosity, do you create a new world for every campaign? Or do you re-use worlds?

I've been fine-tuning the same world for years, and all my fantasy campaigns use one part of it or another. I've written a couple hundred pages about it so far in various drafts, with maps and charts. And that's just world detail, not my 500 page compendium of mechanical game elements that my players use as a character creation reference.

In short, I live by the principles I advocate for as much as I can.

 

[Micah Sweet]

It doesn’t matter if it’s historical, geographical, biological or theological, it’s still not interesting to the players.

Nice assumption. How did you get hired as the official representative of all the D&D players you're clearly speaking for?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Where in the DMG would you explain the meaning of all these government types to someone who hasn’t studied political science?

And why is your table built on the preconceived notion that nations must be racially segregated?

There are plenty of classic fantasy stories that are, more or less, but they don't have to be. I also don't want the alternative baked into the game, where all nations must be cosmopolitan. Perhaps both options can be discussed?