D&D General Greyhawk setting material

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[lkj]

That's the best solution (IMO). No one would argue with the inclusion of little snippets about how to customize the campaign.

Well, I might argue, but only because that's what I do. Not with any real feeling. ahem


Anyway, the thing I think they should try and pay attention to is making sure that however they decide to handle it, it ends up different than "just another generic fantasy setting." That would be the worst outcome; after all, if you just end up with Forgotten Realms, but with different country names, why bother? Just call Waterdeep the Free City of Greyhawk and be done with it.

Not too worried about that. Besides Mearls going on about how great Greyhawk was at presenting seeds for ideas without overburdening with detail, they've also more than once referred to Greyhawk as a 'sword and sorcery' setting. They want it to be the base for different kinds of stories, so they'll be going for that.

I actually think Saltmarsh was a test to see how using Greyhawk to tell a story played on the market. Therefore I suggest we all buy five more copies.

AD

 

[Parmandur]

Not too worried about that. Besides Mearls going on about how great Greyhawk was at presenting seeds for ideas without overburdening with detail, they've also more than once referred to Greyhawk as a 'sword and sorcery' setting. They want it to be the base for different kinds of stories, so they'll be going for that.

I actually think Saltmarsh was a test to see how using Greyhawk to tell a story played on the market. Therefore I suggest we all buy five more copies.

AD

It seems to have sold well, around these parts and on Amazon. And yes, I think Mearls was testing the waters for making Greyhawk the "Sword & Sorcery Weird Fantasy Sandbox" product.

 

[Zardnaar]

I might allow new stuff into Greyhawk but restrict it to 1 per party.

So you can play whatever you're just not going to end up with a whole party.

If you have a Dragonborn, Drow, Tiefling, and something from Volos Guide to Races IMHO you would be doing Greyhawk wrong and as a DM the old mob of Pitchfork wielding peasants would be appropriate.

The other thing is just because you can add something to a setting should you?

Tieflings and Drow for example at least make sense for the setting along with say Yuan Ti half-blood.

 

[Zardnaar]

The Paizo maps from Dragon or Dungeon are also nice.

 

[Azzy]

Ban everything after 1983 as player options.

Why would you do that? Gygax was adding stuff to GH past that. Hell, GH is where Gygax playtested anything that he created to be published in GH. Alice in Wonderland-style modules were part of GH. The Starship Warden (from Metamorphasis Alpha) was reachable via portal from GH. GH had froghemoths and not-King Kong. This puritanical approach to GH is not in keeping with what Gygax did or what the setting was designed to do. It's simply after the fact revisionism that has no basis in the setting's original design.

 

[Zardnaar]

Why would you do that? Gygax was adding stuff to GH past that. Hell, GH is where Gygax playtested anything that he created to be published in GH. Alice in Wonderland-style modules were part of GH. The Starship Warden (from Metamorphasis Alpha) was reachable via portal from GH. GH had froghemoths and not-King Kong. This puritanical approach to GH is not in keeping with what Gygax did or what the setting was designed to do. It's simply after the fact revisionism that has no basis in the setting's original design.

Adding some stuff is fine, but the more you add the more diluted it becomes.

Why play GH over FR if it's everything goes? I would almost bring back racial and alignment restrictions. No Dwarf Wizard for you!!!

 

[Azzy]

Adding some stuff is fine, but the more you add the more diluted it becomes.

Go back in time and tell Gygax that.

 

[Parmandur]

What I would expect from a 5E Greyhawk setting book:

1. Timeline reset to the 1983 box set, just to avoid metaplot shenanigans if nothing else, based on Mearls statements

2. Adventure material for Sword & Sorcery style stuff with a weird edge, specifically what the kids call "Appendix N": location maps, random tables, etc. similar to the Ravnica and Eberron books as genre booster sets for the DMG.

3. Monsters, particularly any 1E monsters that haven't made it into a book by this time, no matter how weird.

I can't think what player options Greyhawk might ask for...

 

[Hussar]

Gygax, who was quite open about his campaign being human-centric, with non-human PCs being a rare exception.

The actual campaign setting was quite vaguely defined though, so there is plenty of room to increase non-human representation, which is what GoS has done. The sea elf was in the original module, but that wasn't written by Gygax.

Well, to be fair, Greyhawk came about out of Blackmoor and the 70's. There simply weren't that many options other than human.

But, it's 2019 now. We've had thirty plus years of stuff adding to Greyhawk. I'd rather not eject all that development. Paizo, Oerth Journal, a decade or two of Living Greyhawk? Umpteen Dragon magazine articles? Why would I want to junk all that? What's it getting me? If you go right back to the original boxed set, you lose so much. No thanks. Sure, the meta-plot stuff was heavy handed, but, that's all in the past anyway. Going back to the original just leaves out so much fantastic material written by very talented people who LOVE Greyhawk. Either from the Canonfire! site (excellent resource) or all the fanzine stuff.

Nope, no intention of going back to those days. I love the fact that one of my PC's is a Firbolg from the Hool Marsh. That bridge in the center of Saltmarsh makes her throw up every time she tries to cross it. It's great.