D&D (2024) WotC Invites You To Explore the World of Greyhawk

This week a new D&D Dungeon Master's Guide preview video was released. This one features the sample setting chapter in the book, which showcases the World of Greyhawk.

One of the earliest campaign settings, and created by D&D co-founder Gary Gygax, Greyhawk dates back to the early 1970s in Gygax's home games, receiving a short official setting book in 1980. Gyeyhawk was selected as the example setting because it is able to hit all the key notes of D&D while being concise and short. The setting has been largely absent from D&D--aside from a few shorter adventures--since 2008. Some key points from the video--

• Greyhawk deliberately leaves a lot for the DM to fill in, with a 30-page chapter.
• Greyhawk created many of the tropes of D&D, and feels very 'straight down the fairway' D&D.
• This is the world where many iconic D&D magic items, NPCs, etc. came from--Mordenkainen, Bigby, Tasha, Otiluke and so on.
• The DMG starts with the City of Greyhawk and its surroundings in some detail, and gets more vague as you get farther away.
• The city is an example of a 'campaign hub'.
• The sample adventures in Chapter 4 of the DMG are set there or nearby.
• The map is an updated version, mainly faithful to the original with some tweaks.
• The map has some added locations key to D&D's history--such as White Plume Mountain, the Tomb of Horrors, Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, Ghost Tower of Inverness.
• There's a map of the city, descriptions of places characters might visit--magic item shop, library, 3 taverns, temples, etc.
• The setting takes 'a few liberties while remaining faithful to the spirit of the setting'--it has been contemporized to make it resonate in all D&D campaigns with a balance of NPCs who showcase the diversity of D&D worlds.
• The backgrounds in the Player's Handbook map to locations in the city.
• Most areas in the setting have a name and brief description.
• They focus on three 'iconic' D&D/Greyhawk conflicts such as the Elemental Evil, a classic faceless adversary; Iuz the evil cambion demigod; and dragons.
• There's a list of gods, rulers, and 'big bads'.

 

[Yaarel]

Sure. But if some dude with a lute starts explaining the finer points of musical scales, how do I know he's just got a musican background and isn't a bard? @Snarf Zagyg's methodology is to simply kill them all and let Nerull sort them out.

Not all Bards are "musicians". Some are sages, some are politicians, some are shamanic oracles. All are spellcasters.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

My brain connection was to Rising from the Last War, which was 320 pages and both Wyatt and Perkins worked on.

However, it frankly would not surprise me if both Forgotten Realms books next year end up being 320 pages, each. Lord knows they have the raw material to justify the page count.

Whether that is the case or not, it is true that Greyhawk was a perfect choice for this DMG exercise, wince 30 pages are more than adequate to fulfill the original Gygaxian vision, whereas 640 pages might be almost enough to give a good Greenwoodian vision a shot.

Yeah there is ton of FR lore, but Greenwoodian and otherwise.

PS I propose calling the mega continent Faerun, Zakhara, and Kara Tur is apart of Faezaktur! Thoughts?

 

[FitzTheRuke]

But but but but...where will I put my very innovative country of samurai, ninja and geisha fighting lung dragons overs the great stone wall separating them from the fur-wearing barbaric nomad riders coming from the steppes to flee the troops of the Kingdom of 1000 Pagodas coming from the southern marshland?

Lol - this is 2024, dude! You just... Don't!

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Not all Bards are "musicians". Some are sages, some are politicians, some are shamanic oracles. All are spellcasters.

And all fall to Snarf's knife!

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Lol - this is 2024, dude! You just... Don't!

I've just got a new book called Oriental Adventures! You tell me this isn't a book to make accurate historic campaigns?!

Now..who should I call for a refund?

 

[Kobold Avenger]

3e had the iconic characters of Ember the Monk and Hennet the Sorcerer who are Humans from Oerth, and do not resemble any of the typical ethnic groups that the Flan, Oeridians, Baklunish, Suel, Olman and Rhennee are often compared to.

 

[Zeromaru X]

I'm beginning to think I lost an important context about bards somewhere...

Yeah there is ton of FR lore, but Greenwoodian and otherwise.

PS I propose calling the mega continent Faerun, Zakhara, and Kara Tur is apart of Faezaktur! Thoughts?

An interesting name. However the super continent is named Bharyar. I mean, is a Greenwood setting, things are already named.

 

[Zeromaru X]

But those places need not be large. Halflings and gnomes lack any kingdoms or nation states; they live in small communities scattered throughout other people's lands. The new races can easily be the same.

I don't have problem with the size of places, more with the lack of places. For instance, in the Nentir Vale dragonborn are uncommon, they have no city or town of their own. However, the setting has a place for them: they are said to come from the far southern lands and to be nomadic folk, moving in small clan groups.

And that is what I want: a place for them in the lore, however small. Not the "it's up to the DM" answer.

 

[MGibster]

And all fall to Snarf's knife!

I've played one bard in the last thirty years and he died in the very first adventure. The next time I play, I'm going to create a bard and name him Snarf.

 

[Parmandur]

I think of the Oeridians as mainly "Mediterranean". So "angelic" Aasimar kinda does make sense for the folk beliefs of that region. Likewise some Aasimar would have Greekesque Olympian flavor. And so on.

Yeah, there is a mixed pseudo-Christendom/Greco-Roman vibe going on with the Oerfians. Fits the Aasamir, as maybe being described dedicated from Owrdian god-heros like Cuthbert or Pholtus.

For me, Baklunish=Siberia and strongly Shamanic.

The "current" Baklun nation's are very West/Central Asian coded: caliphate, sultans, Pasha, Emirates, Khans, etc. I would want to respect that, without making it too much of a sterotype...and making the Baklunish Empire Draconic with Dragonborn as part of the people gives a nice twist for my money.

I object to Suel being demonic, when it explicitly relates to "Germanic" speaking ethnicities, including Norway and England. It is important for WotC to avoid demonizing any reallife culture, even by implication.

I'm not saying the Suel people are demonic, but the Suel Imperium certainly was, so that is an ancient history element which would make the presence of Tieflings among Suel descended people normal enough. Tieflings are not themselves evil, they juat bear a historic memory of something in the past...perfect for the pseudo-Arlantian Suel. Also means, given the varieties of cultures with Suel people and influences across the continent, you can easily have a Tiefling of any Background or character concept.