Do you want Greyhawk updated to 5e?

What does "update Greyhawk to 5E" actually mean?

What is stopping a GM from taking the Greyhawk supplements and just using them in a 5E game? After all, the edition of D&D doesn't affect the borders of Geoff or the ruler of The Scarlet Brotherhood or what year Furyondy was founded.

I voted Other.

My answer is yes, but only so I can stripmine it for ideas like every other setting they produce.

I currently have all the Greyhawk info I need, and its my alternate campaign, second t my homebrew main.

Bacon Bits said:

I will say that I'm more than a bit tired of everything taking place in FR. It's just tiresome that everything defaults to being not just in FR, but in the same region in FR especially when so many of the modules are apocalyptic in nature.

Like I seriously can't believe that the last two module books decided to focus on Waterdeep when everything we've already had has essentially started there. Even Curse of Strahd assumes that you're coming from FR around Waterdeep, as I recall.

There's a reason we took a break for a year to play pulpy sci-fi in Savage Worlds.

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Lucky for you then that the new book is set in Greyhawk!

It wouldn't make the slightest difference to my group what setting ti was placed in. Only my DM and I even know what the Forgotten Realms is. I don't know if even he knows what Greyhawk is.

Shiroiken said:

I wouldn't mind seeing some updates for Greyhawk, but it would have to be done carefully. On the PC side of things, I would limit races (and sub-races), possibly classes (or at least sub-classes) and have set multi-classing options. I would also provide a section on how the DM can incorporate removed races/sub-races/classes/sub-classes if they desire, but they are not considered standard. On the DM side of things, certain optional rules should be suggested, such as the slower healing rate. The timeline should be based on the original 576 CY (as Gygax intended), but with a section of "alternate futures" that could be drawn upon if desired. Oh, and most definitely the book should have adventure hooks out the wazhoo, all left open for the DM to complete.

A single DM's Guild product would be sufficient for me, but I would love to see a series of gazetteers that expand outward from the Flanaess to the rest of Oerth, especially if they can get permission to use Aquarius as the western coast of Oerik.

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I think we would need a specially-made slow healing module, the one in the DMG is not really that useful, as all it does is slowdown adventuring pace, sometimes in a way that breaks the plot. Also I would like a brief rundown on the different baronies and regions, with perhaps detailing a few important settlements, plus stats for important NPCs and unique artifacts.

Greenstone.Walker said:

What does "update Greyhawk to 5E" actually mean?

What is stopping a GM from taking the Greyhawk supplements and just using them in a 5E game? After all, the edition of D&D doesn't affect the borders of Geoff or the ruler of The Scarlet Brotherhood or what year Furyondy was founded.

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A big part is accessibility. Having to rely on decades old -and out of print- box sets, magazines, supplements and gazetteers is far from ideal. Even the pdfs onclassics can feel short, which ones should I get? How much do they contradict each other? What am I missing from classic magazines or boxed sets? It is not a streamlined experience, like at all. Maybe some old dudes have clung onto the material and know it by heart, or don't care and just staple the name on their personal homebrew setting, but a lot of new players weren't even born when the last major Greyhawk book was published! Heck that is about the only major Greyhawk book published within my lifetime -and I've never gotten to hold one in my hands or even see it personally.

Having a sort of setting concordance -even if only focused on the Flanaes and sketching other regions- with a few suggested rules modules and tons of hooks would spring life into the setting and bring some of the newer and younger players into it.

I have no interest in a modernized Greyhawk, but I would definitely buy a treatment with updated mechanics. Still, the main reason I voted "yes" in the poll is that I want Greyhawk to be opened up on the DMs Guild. I know there are folk like Greyhawk Grognard out there just waiting to drop content for sale that takes classic Greyhawk adventures and areas and polishes those gems using research into the deep dark archives of D&D history. A coherent adventure path from Hommlet through the Demonweb, reconciling all the inconsistencies and smoothing the rough edges would be nice, since I doubt I'll have time to do it myself. I might be inclined to write up a detailed supplement describing how to fit Curse of Strahd into the Flanaess in a way that makes coherent use of the history of the world to fix some of the narrative issues that adventure has.

dave2008 said:

Lucky for you then that the new book is set in Greyhawk!

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Unfortunately, nope.

Better than being in FR, but it's not in Greyhawk.

I'm going to vote... meh?

Imagine I'm a new DM, inspired by Critical Role or some other steaming game, and I'm looking for a setting to run my game in. I look through each of the published D&D settings so far...

Forgotten Realms is pretty much the bog standard, kitchen sink, anything goes setting the game defaults to. Eberron is magi-tech with a pulpy-explorer vibe to it. Dragonlance is epic fantasy with history lots non-standard elements. Ravenloft is horror in the vein of Hammer or Universal Monsters. Dark Sun is true Sword-and-Sandals pulp ala Conan. Ravnica is politics and intrigue in an impossible city full of nontraditional elements pulled from MTG.

Greyhawk is...

Old? Being the first D&D setting isn't much of a selling point on its own. Classic? Yeah, its the home many classic modules but those modules don't define the setting itself in any meaningful way. Its not like the Temple of Elemental Evil or Tomb of Horrors NEEDS Greyhawk to function, they worked just fine retrofitted to countless DM homebrews and settings. Shades-of-gray? That's more of a playstyle than a setting. Certainly, the 3e era Greyhawk seems a tad more black and white in its morality, so being a setting of morally gray heroes and villains doesn't again feel like much to hang on. Sword and sorcery? I hear this tossed around a lot, but there seems to be little in the various rules iterations that support that; PCs can be heroic wizards or virtuous paladins without the setting so much as batting an eye at them. Grim and gritty? That's more a reflection of its roots in AD&D than a defining element of the setting.

Therein lies the problem. It lacks a clear voice. It doesn't do anything better than any other setting. Looking for a kitchen-sink anything goes world? Realms is more than adequate. Looking for sword and sorcery? Dark Sun is far more in that vein. Looking for dark? How dark do you want: Ravenloft is bleak, Eberron is great for noir, and Ravnica good for politicking. Greyhawk needs something more than being where healing rules are slower and there are no dragonborn. It needs something to hook a new player in, one that doesn't have nostalgic memories of running Storm Crow the Half-elf fighter/magic-user/thief through the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief.

So what makes Greyhawk different than any of the settings I mentioned, and more importantly, why should I play in that setting over any other?

My opinion is yes, and no. I believe that anything they update just means more options for everyone. Those who don't want to use something can pretend it doesn't exist, others can harvest it for parts, and some will fall in love with it. Everyone wins. I say no as well because I am selfish, and would like other items to be prioritized. For example, I want updated material for Spelljammer, Plainscape, and more Eberron. My personal bias is that Grayhawk and Dragonlance are boring settings with little to offer outside of novels, but to those who would disagree with me I hope you get a grand update to these settings (right after Spelljammer

Bacon Bits said:

Unfortunately, nope.

Better than being in FR, but it's not in Greyhawk.

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No, I'm correct. Check out the official WotC product page: Ghosts of Saltmarsh

It is set in the Azure Sea, which is in which setting again?

To be fair it will be, like the U1-U3, basically setting neutral and provide suggestions about how to use it in other settings. But it is as much of a Greyhawk adventure as the originals where (or at least so I've been told in this very thread).