...I've tried a couple times to get into Greyhawk, but as a setting it never really grabbed me. I am thinking that maybe it has to do with me not coming at it from the right angle. With Ghosts of the Saltmarsh out, I'd like to get excited about Greyhawk.
So far, I understand that Greyhawk was 1) the original DnD setting,
Blackmoor has the better claim of being the "original" DnD setting (
http://www.secretsofblackmoor.com/blog).
2) has a little bit of everything,
Kinda. I would say it is more, "there is a place for a little bit of everything." The original Grey Hawk setting was more of an outline that the DM was expected to fill in. It did the work that many people find the most challenging, giving you a professional and evocative map and a bit of information about major realms and groups, and also tables for random encounters, determining population and weather, pantheon of gods, etc., but leaves most of the details for the DM to fill in. Mike Mearls is a fan of the setting and discusses why in a "Lore You Should Know" segment on the February 7th, 2019 episode of Dragon Talk (
http://dnd.wizards.com/podcast-category/dragon-talk?page=1).
But since the 80s, when I had the Greyhawk boxed set, there have been additional settings books published for Greyhawk, organized play (Living Greyhawk), and novels. Perhaps if you include all that when you say "Greyhawk setting" it is more of a kitchen-sink setting. I don't know. I'm only familiar with the original box set.
3) Somewhat low magic (though how you reconcile that with point 2 is interesting)
I've never seen it as low magic. Some of D&D's most iconic and powerful spell casters come from Greyhawk. But this impression may come from the fact that Gary Gygax was not a huge fan of wizards and purposefully made them very squishy at low levels. Wizards were weak...until they were not. Maybe you are not spamming firebolt all day at 1st level, but at high levels your wizards was quite powerful. Besides, that was mechanics. I don't recall the setting having much to say on magic levels, except that many of the groups discussed in the Overview of Political Divisions section are headed by powerful wizards and clerics. There are areas whose histories describe massive magical attacks in the past (e.g. the "Sea of Dust"). There are gods of magic. Encounter tables are rife with clerics, druids, illusionists, and magic users.
I really do not think it is accurate to call Greyhawk a "low magic" campaign setting.
and 4) has some science-fantasy elements kicking around the corners.
There are adventures that throw in some sci fi, but the settings books themselves really don't. If you are looking for a mix of fantasy chocolate and sci fi peanut butter, you'd be better off at looking at the Numenera setting that is being converted to 5e (
Arcana of the Ancients kickstarter).
Thats not enough to hang my hat on though, especially as I dont have nostalgia going for me.
If you are looking for a rich and highly detailed setting book for 5e, and are not nolstalgic for any setting from a prior edition, I think the best settings are published by 3rd parties. For high quality, very rich, settings that take a traditional fantasy approach, I would look at:
Kobold Press: Midgard Setting (
https://koboldpress.com/midgard/). Darker than Forgotten Realms and not as saddled by the expanded lore and canon arguments. Kobold Press materials are excellent. Well written with good mechanics that balanced for 5e, but leaning on the more difficult side. In addition to the setting book, there are character option books, cult books, and more. Pretty much everything you would want for a fleshed out D&D campaign. Also, much of this is available in digital tools like RealmWorks, Hero Labs, and various VTTs.
Frog God Games: Lost Lands. 40 years in the making. There is an old-school flavor to these materials, many of which were written for prior editions. Many of the best adventures and setting books have been updated to 5e, such as Bards Gate, Rappan Atthuk, and many of the adventure books. They are currently Kickstarting the first full campaign guide for the Lost Lands. Like Kobold Press, FGG has excellent production values (though not quite up to par with Kobold Press when it comes to editing). Also, they are doing some very cool things with this setting. First, it will be available on World Anvil, an online campaign-management system, if you want to have a digital version of the setting. Also, they will be opening much of it up with an open gaming license so you can not only use the setting for your personal campaign, but you can create your own adventures and other material for the setting and sell it.
Anyone willing to try a Greyhawk elevator pitch to sell the setting? What makes Greyhawk different and exciting?
If you have not read through Greyhawk, spend the $8 and get the PDFs from DMs Guild:
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/17...antasy-Game-Setting-1e?term=World+of+Greyhawk
It gives you a good sense of D&D's flavor in the 1st edition era. While many of the complicated tables do not match the preferences of modern-day players (e.g., pages of weather tables, discussion on frost bite and how wearing gloves effects casting spells with somatic components, migration patterns, a chapter on the trees found in the setting), the book still remains a trove of DM inspiration that is easy to browse and steal what you want. It was meant as a kit for DMs to kick-start their own world building.
And the map remains one of the most evocative and influential pieces of art in TTRPG history. See pages 108 and 109 in the book
Art and Arcana and
Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons and
Hope that helps.