D&D 5E Greyhawk: Pitching the Reboot

[jmartkdr2]

Emphasize the PCs are the heroes of this game?
There are no high level characters who can step in when things get bad.
But would that be enough to encourage interest?

That's something you can already just sort of do. I don't think you'll sell a book without providing a new option.

Which is where Greyhawk struggles - it is fairly similar to FR in terms of possibility space.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Greyhawk or Oerth is not low magic. It is the most magical of earth, urth, yrth, and Aerth as described by Gygax.

You know Earth has no magic at all right?

Back to my point, compared to Forgotten Realms or Eberron, Oerth is very much low-magic. Yes there are some powerful wizards, but not very many, and the typical village would have only seen the most basic of spellcasting.

 

[Rob Kuntz]

You know Earth has no magic at all right?

Back to my point, compared to Forgotten Realms or Eberron, Oerth is very much low-magic. Yes there are some powerful wizards, but not very many, and the typical village would have only seen the most basic of spellcasting.

Respectfully, whether a village has or does not have access to magic, and thus by means of some "magic accrual abacus" outweighs, in comparison, Greyhawk's villages or not, has no standing with High or Low Magic, IME. The PCs are the story that as a group act out their play in a Fantasy world backdrop; and it is certain, whether villages have access to such arcana, like a commoner having access to candy from a candy shop, that they will continue to have that at their disposal, for the game is sculpted for that very reason and outcome, to further their engagement in a magical Fantasy realm. The gods to commoners are feared and respected and entreated rarely or with uncertainty at the very least; and for heroes they are patrons and their champions, or at some point their adversaries. This is Heroic Fantasy, so even if you limit the magic, limit the heroes, you just have less--but still being every player character group--which is still 100% of the players having that access. That villagers do not have it is inconsequential, as they are part of the backdrop the PCs are navigating through in their story.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Respectfully, whether a village has or does not have access to magic, and thus by means of some "magic accrual abacus" outweighs, in comparison, Greyhawk's villages or not, has no standing with High or Low Magic, IME. The PCs are the story that as a group act out their play in a Fantasy world backdrop; and it is certain, whether villages have access to such arcana, like a commoner having access to candy from a candy shop, that they will continue to have that at their disposal, for the game is sculpted for that very reason and outcome, to further their engagement in a magical Fantasy realm. The gods to commoners are feared and respected and entreated rarely or with uncertainty at the very least; and for heroes they are patrons and their champions, or at some point their adversaries. This is Heroic Fantasy, so even if you limit the magic, limit the heroes, you just have less--but still being every player character group--which is still 100% of the players having that access. That villagers do not have it is inconsequential, as they are part of the backdrop the PCs are navigating through in their story.

I don't really disagree with anything here, although this does mean that any D&D setting can't be low-magic without putting hard limits on character capability. I disagree with the semantics (I think if the PCs are powerful heroes, but 90% of the world is non-magical, it's still a low-fantasy setting).

That said, I don't really want to disagree strongly with one of Greyhawk's founders, so I will humbly bow out .

 

[hopeless]

Need to explain why its that way.
Was there a war and the world is just barely recovering from the devastation that happened as a result?
And where did all the magic go?
Did the bad guys release some dramatic wave of power that negated magical items perhaps permanently and the world is slowly recovering.
Perhaps the divine gates has sealed away most of the power available before they were created and its a long gradual process to regain what was lost?
How would you handle this?
Is Iuz behind this even or was he freed as a result of it and his rise to power is because he ahs access to that power whilst the locals don't?

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Is Iuz behind this ....

You know, Iuz is always running his mouth, claiming the responsibility.

Tharizdun is the one you need to worry about.

 

[Faolyn]

Emphasize the PCs are the heroes of this game?
There are no high level characters who can step in when things get bad.
But would that be enough to encourage interest?

That's already a thing in Eberron, so no--in and of itself, I don't think it would be enough.

 

[Rob Kuntz]

I don't really disagree with anything here, although this does mean that any D&D setting can't be low-magic without putting hard limits on character capability. I disagree with the semantics (I think if the PCs are powerful heroes, but 90% of the world is non-magical, it's still a low-fantasy setting).

That said, I don't really want to disagree strongly with one of Greyhawk's founders, so I will humbly bow out .

I have no standing in this other than my own views. They are either meritorious or not, whether I'm King Tut or Joe at the end of the bar. So disagree away, I have +3 Hagar armor.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Again very true! Methinks (as Gary would have said) that people should re-read Gary's run of "Up on a Soapbox" articles from Dragon Magazine wherein he recounts Mordenkainen's and crew adventures into my own Castle El Raja Key and environs; then his foray against the Iron Golem (1973) recounted in his "Swords & Sorcery in Wargaming" (1975) wherein he retells that adventure (which would move on to be WG5 > Maure Castle); during that adventure in 1973 he discovered a link to my Lost City of the Elders I had started creating (that place was built and eventually lost by a God, no less). That's in 1973-1974; and it only carried forward from that point with demonic invasions (two adventures into my 9 page map-area of Demon World, 1974) and what not. Low magic? <snicker>.

I know this is off-topic, but have you considered reaching out to Goodman Games for licensing some of your content like Castle El Raja Key?

They've recently shown a willingness of updating non-WotC owned modules like The Dark Tower by Jennel Jacquays. They have updated a few famous modules as well (Castle Amber, Isle of Dread, etc) for 5E with updated maps and art. I'm sure they would love the opportunity to work with you to bring some of your projects to a new audience.

Just my 2 cents, feel free to ignore... I know from experience that unsolicited business advice is usually bad advice!

 

[Rob Kuntz]

I know this is off-topic, but have you considered reaching out to Goodman Games for licensing some of your content like Castle El Raja Key?

They've recently shown a willingness of updating non-WotC owned modules like The Dark Tower by Jennel Jacquays. They have updated a few famous modules as well (Castle Amber, Isle of Dread, etc) for 5E with updated maps and art. I'm sure they would love the opportunity to work with you to bring some of your projects to a new audience.

Just my 2 cents, feel free to ignore... I know from experience that unsolicited business advice is usually bad advice!

I know Joe and might well do that. There's a few options cooking. Not to thread-jack, so I'll do the short version: I have some offers I'm considering, but one would involve me setting aside for 6 months a novel that I'm currently sailing along on and that I'm contracted to complete.. El Raja Key is my baby and I'll finish it (flesh it) in 1E and not license it before that's done; it's a stickler, for sure, finding the time to wrap it. The fact is I have too much happening and one of these happenings will likely see me traveling back to the USA in the next 2 months and that's for something other than the novel. The old humorous saying that "I am busier than a one-armed paper hanger with an itch," applies here.