D&D 5E Hope for Nerath? (On D&D Next Campaign Settings and a Plea to WotC)

[HoolMarshes Dweller]

Uniting the community - if that's one of the goals to one degree or another - is yet another great reason to use Greyhawk. Everyone, regardless of which edition they support or play the most knows of, has played in or in some way interacted with Greyhawk over the years. There are whole websites dedicated to it today supporting the lore (both pre- and post-Wars and every time in between), the sandbox is big enough for everyone. Plus there's been efforts in some corners of the Interwebs to go beyond the continent of Oerik.

Now don't get me wrong, suggesting Greyhawk is in no way meant to denigrate the other worlds. I think the grognard community at large would welcome the return to Greyhawk as well as the number of newer players that would come to the community to continue the growing setting.

 

[Gargoyle]

Another approach they could take, which might make more financial sense, is to start out with the FR as the main setting and introduce a new setting once year. Sort of a reversal of the idea in the OP. Depending upon popularity, one or more of these settings could be more fully developed. Perhaps the first year they could not only publish the FR, but also a Nerath world book. If it is very popular, they can develop it with a new product each quarter, alongside the FR schedule; if not, they try something else a year later.

The only thing I don't like about the one setting per year approach is that I'd like to see more published adventures in the bookstores, and I'd hate to see resources taken away from that. 4e lacked a good adventure path, and I'd hate to see them make that mistake again.

I like the FR, but what depresses me is not that they're going to support it but the distinct possibility that they will only do classic settings. Of course it fits the cultural milieu of remaking sf/fantasy movies and not coming up with anything new.

Yeah, unfortunately it's so much safer to remake something popular than to create something original.

 

[haakon1]

Good post altogether. It seems especially strange to me to be talking about purity of source material when discussing a kitchen-sink setting like Greyhawk (not meant to be derogatory in any way). Random stuff in the setting is fine, so long as it was already there when I started playing.

To me, saying Greyhawk is "kitchen sink" or "random" is like saying D&D is "kitchen sink" and "random".

It's true, but what's the point?

I don't like seeing Greyhawk used as a setting that's not good enough to treat with respect, but is good enough to salvage pieces from as spare parts. Respect the work of the guy who invented industry, or leave his work alone. Don't make LOTR movies by Disney with singing tea pots, or redone Star Wars movies where Greedo shoots first -- like Marge Simpson's art teacher told her, "Walk away from it, it belongs to the ages now."

Of course, my tolerance for WOTC is close to zip, so I'm probably more sensitive to them messing with stuff than if anybody else did it . . . I could give you a long list of reasons for that, but we've all heard those rants before, no need for an encore. Edition wars, complaints about cancelling Dragon, they belong to the ages now.

 

[haakon1]

Haakon1 - this isn't so much aimed at you, but at this attitude in general, not trying to pick on you

Fair enough.

Perhaps I should point out, my being pissed about seeing "Kingdom of the Ghouls" published without Wolfgang Baur's name on it wasn't JUST fandom anger . . . I actually know Wolfgang from working with him for a couple of years (non-gaming related, on his former "day job").

If it had been Bruce Cordell or Gary Gygax or Erik Mona (all of whom I also respect a lot, but never personally met) that was being "ripped off", my reaction probably wouldn't have been "pissed off", and might even have been to buy it and find out how they'd reworked it.

But WOTC doing something "mean" to someone whose work I respect and who I actually know, that made it much more real for me. I was curious to see if the forward thanked him or even was written by him, but I couldn't bring myself to spend the money to find out.

The fact that "Kingdom of the Ghouls" was originally set in Greyhawk's Underdark was maybe 1% of the reason I was pissed off.

 

[HoolMarshes Dweller]

I agree Haakon, Greyhawk, if it is to be used should not be taken to the parts shop but grab it in its entirety (again, pre-, post- or during the Wars could work) and go from there.

Even a "reboot" (ug, that term makes me wince) that is nothing more than a reprint of World of Greyhawk with updated 5e stats set in the CY 570s would make a great start.

One thing I've always wondered about TSR's demise was if the splintering of their product lines into Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Spelljammer, Dark Sun, etc. was what hastened it or was it simply a case of just overall poor financial management. The point being that perhaps Wizbro can support multiple lines with of course Greyhawk being the "default".

 

[haakon1]

Uniting the community - if that's one of the goals to one degree or another - is yet another great reason to use Greyhawk. Everyone, regardless of which edition they support or play the most knows of, has played in or in some way interacted with Greyhawk over the years.

I love Greyhawk myself, but whenever it comes up, a fair number of people diss it.

I assume Forgotten Realms is the most popular setting, but I don't know for sure. I have no personal interest in/very little knowledge of FR, but my impression is it's the leading brand.

 

[Fifth Element]

I don't like seeing Greyhawk used as a setting that's not good enough to treat with respect, but is good enough to salvage pieces from as spare parts. Respect the work of the guy who invented industry, or leave his work alone.

I guess it comes down to what you mean by "respect".

 

[Obryn]

I was pretty surprised when FR gods turned up in the 4th edition Core tbh.

FWIW, Nerath Bane is a very different kind of god than FR Bane. They had a pretty cool write-up with him dressed like a Hoplite a ways back.

-O

 

[Dire Bare]

Who here wouldn't submit an entry if they had an open call for campaign settings? Didn't Eberron sell well enough to justify its existence?

I'm not sure what you're saying here, but it seems to me that Eberron did very well for WotC and was a "success". I certainly loved the setting and collected the entire line of books. However, publishing a campaign setting and having it be a "success" doesn't mean it will be published forever.

Eberron uses a lot of classic D&D tropes, but turns them at an oblique angle to deliver something new. Very cool. But Eberron is no longer "new" and it certainly doesn't have the staying power of the Realms. That's not an indicator of quality or worth, just the way publishing (and consumers) work. If WotC felt they could have made good money on a full Eberron line for 4E, they would have done so. Eberron was pretty much over before 3E was, as a published setting, because . . . well, what else would you put out for it that enough folks would buy?

New Eberron material is still being published through DDI, and we might just see an Eberron book for 5E . . . . but I doubt the setting will ever get the support it did when first published for 3E.

If WotC repeated the experiment and released another new setting to offer fans something different . . . we might see a repeat of the same success, followed by the eventual decline and end to the "new" setting's published life.

"Standard", "Core", "Classic", "Generic" fantasy settings like the Realms, Greyhawk, Mystara, and even Dragonlance are like comfort food. They may not be all that distinct from one another, may not be terribly innovative as a whole . . . but offer a satisfying, comfortable gaming experience that we keep coming back to after we've tried something more exotic like Eberron or Dark Sun. Nothing wrong with that, IMO.

 

[hbarsquared]

I respect Forgotten Realms, but it never really held my interest. I assume it's the most popular setting because WotC keeps going back to it, in terms of sourcebooks, video games, and novels. But I am personally not interested in FR as a default setting, at all.

Simply put, I think Nerath, and its conglomeration of past settings, Planescape, Greyhawk, and random adventures, is the ideal 5eNext setting. It encompasses all that is D&D (to me,, fwiw) while remaining open to interpretation without the detailed specificity of FR.