D&D 5E Greyhawk: Pitching the Reboot

[Scott Christian]

It wouldn't be as much of a hurdle as you would think. That was a major factor in games like Skyrim. The Dark elves had their own enclave which was a major plot point. The best time for them to release greyhawk to capture its theme would have been the height of game of thrones. Yes they have Demihumans in the various nations but they tend to live in their own areas. You could make the setting the more mature of the releases, just by presenting a grittier game world. There's an undeniable market for that, you could pitch it to people that want to play something like The Witcher or similar settings

I don't doubt there is a market for it, but is it the largest market? Also, while many video and Hollywood productions seem to get away with racial, political, and gritty fantasy worlds - it seems different for TTRPGs.

 

[Parmandur]

I don't doubt there is a market for it, but is it the largest market? Also, while many video and Hollywood productions seem to get away with racial, political, and gritty fantasy worlds - it seems different for TTRPGs.

Also, those examples are long in the tooth...this is the mid-20s, not the early Teens.

 

[Scott Christian]

Also, those examples are long in the tooth...this is the mid-20s, not the early Teens.

Maybe. But we the pendulum always swings.

 

[Parmandur]

Maybe. But we the pendulum always swings.

Right, but it is swinging the other way now.

 

[The Glen]

I don't doubt there is a market for it, but is it the largest market? Also, while many video and Hollywood productions seem to get away with racial, political, and gritty fantasy worlds - it seems different for TTRPGs.

You'd have to do it right of course, but adults seemed RPGs have been highly successful in the past. Vampire the masquerade when it hit rewrote the rules on what was allowed. I'm not saying go all r-rated but you can have mature themes. Despite the debacle that was the end of game of thrones House of the Dragon is still popular and currently relevant. There is a market for intrigue, and if they support it and advertise it well I believe people will buy

 

[Parmandur]

You'd have to do it right of course, but adults seemed RPGs have been highly successful in the past. Vampire the masquerade when it hit rewrote the rules on what was allowed. I'm not saying go all r-rated but you can have mature themes. Despite the debacle that was the end of game of thrones House of the Dragon is still popular and currently relevant. There is a market for intrigue, and if they support it and advertise it well I believe people will buy

D&D is not an "adult" game, it is aimed at 12+, has been since the rough draft in 1973 at least.

 

[Wolfpack48]

My sneaking suspicion will be we'll get these sorts of tools in the DMG with how they present Greyhawk in the DMG - so, it will be a light touch of canon stuff to get the ball rolling and then a bunch of "here's how you do this. This is what we've done in this location, now, you can do this in other locations" kind of stuff. Which I'm perfectly happy with.

After the DMG though, if they keep with the AP approach, we'll get more stuff like Ghosts of Saltmarsh, or, really, how Forgotten Realms has been presented in 5e so far - a big meaty adventure every year, set in and around a specific part of Greyhawk, with a few forays into other parts here and there.

Again, not a problem. I'm perfectly happy with the approach they took with FR in 5e. A very light touch setting book and then a bunch of adventures set in FR. Great.

Really, this is how Paizohawk was presented as well during 3e with the advent of the Adventure Paths. And theirs is nothing wrong with those adventures.

I don’t mind adventures set in Greyhawk, would actually love to see them. I just hope that if they do region books that they take the same sort approach they are taking as the DMG. Tools to get things rolling with perhaps some sample adventures in the region. And zero emphasis on canon.

 

[Scott Christian]

You'd have to do it right of course, but adults seemed RPGs have been highly successful in the past. Vampire the masquerade when it hit rewrote the rules on what was allowed. I'm not saying go all r-rated but you can have mature themes. Despite the debacle that was the end of game of thrones House of the Dragon is still popular and currently relevant. There is a market for intrigue, and if they support it and advertise it well I believe people will buy

This.

D&D is not an "adult" game, it is aimed at 12+, has been since the rough draft in 1973 at least.

Vampire hit a niche market. It sold probably 1/10000 of D&D. D&D is a general audience game, built for friends and families of almost all ages. And, like I said earlier, House of Dragons is a Hollywood production. Those, for whatever reason, seem to remain outside of the TTRPG social norms.

 

[The Glen]

D&D is not an "adult" game, it is aimed at 12+, has been since the rough draft in 1973 at least.

Adult as in mature. Dark Sun, Planescape and Ravenloft are some of the best written settings for the game and deal with some pretty heavy topics.

 

[jmartkdr2]

This.

Vampire hit a niche market. It sold probably 1/10000 of D&D. D&D is a general audience game, built for friends and families of almost all ages. And, like I said earlier, House of Dragons is a Hollywood production. Those, for whatever reason, seem to remain outside of the TTRPG social norms.

The World of Darkness line was outselling AD&D for a bit there, actually. Vampire hit the zeitgeist of the 90's just right and did very well commercially for a ttrpg.

Nowadays it just wouldn't - pop culture isn't into vampires in a big way anymore - but it did well in its day.

Based on the current pop culture landscape... I have no idea what, if anything, would be able to pull that off now. 10-15 years ago I would have said "a superheroes game" but that trend did not survive the pandemic.