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]

Specific trumps general and there is zero reason to force the PHB into the setting. Certainly not a hill worth dying on. The PHB is meant to give an example, not as a carved in stone single canon that MUST BE ADHERED to in all settings.

Greyhawk might be the default setting for 2024 (unless the DM buys an other setting or knows how to homebrew one). Thus, the species descriptions in the Players Handbook are how Greyhawk does it.

I agree the Handbook descriptions arent "carved in stone", but do describe how Greyhawk does it.

 

[Nefermandias]

People who literally know better continuing to say this is the first time a campaign setting was included in a DMG. Both James Wyatt and Chris Perkins are credited in the 4E DMG. Le sigh.

"We've never included a campaign hub before. Here's one with maps."

Again, the 4E DMG would like a word.

Both of the 4e DMGs in fact. Fallcrest in the first and flipping Sigil in the second.

 

[Yaarel]

Both of the 4e DMGs in fact. Fallcrest in the first and flipping Sigil in the second.

These are "local settings", as opposed to a complete setting for an entire campaign.

 

[Nefermandias]

These are "local settings", as opposed to a complete setting for an entire campaign.

@overgeeked was specifically referring to adventure hubs / home bases, which those two clearly are.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Let's remember because those troubles caused in Sigil by Vecna in the last adventure of 2nd Ed then any retcon of all the settings can be explained easily.

 

[Azzy]

Cambions a half fiend they're in 5E.

Tueflings originating in Iuz domain is an obvious and organic way to add tieflings.

As is the Great Kingdom (where Ivid rules from the Fiend-Seeing Throne and House Naelax is known to cavort with devils).

 

[MonsterEnvy]

The 2024 Players Handbook specifies that Tieflings originate from the Astral Plane (Infernal Planes).

Albeit having a Fiend ancestor can initiate a Tiefling line. But then Iuz himself might be a Tiefling. In the 2014 Monster Manual, the Cambion is a Fiend, but I am unsure this will be true in the 2024 Monster Manual, which might make it a Humanoid or even identical with Tiefling.

I view "worked closely with fiendish magic" as the same thing as gaining Fiend parentage. It is a magical transmission, rather than a biological one.

The PHB says they are born in the Lower Planes (which is different from the Astral Plane) or have fiendish ancestors who originated from there. Iuz is a cambion which from the current MM is a half fiend. The children of cambions are teiflings.

 

[Zardnaar]

As is the Great Kingdom (where Ivid rules from the Fiend-Seeing Throne and House Naelax is known to cavort with devils).

I'm not a hardcore purist but lean into adding stuff that organically fits the world.

Adding everything means nothing becomes iconic. 2-5 races added or replacing the usual suspects and you'll have your breakouts.

Seeing a lot more interest in Gith for example.

 

[Zardnaar]

The PHB says they are born in the Lower Planes (which is different from the Astral Plane) or have fiendish ancestors who originated from there. Iuz is a cambion which from the current MM is a half fiend. The children of cambions are teiflings.

Ancestors of Cambions can be tieflings.

Not exactly consistent in the lore though.

 

[Yaarel]

The PHB says they are born in the Lower Planes (which is different from the Astral Plane) or have fiendish ancestors who originated from there.

The Lower Planes are part of the Astral Plane.

The Astral Plane is a realm of thoughts, concepts, symbols, paradigms, and ideals. The alignment planes are more specifically ethical thoughts and ideals.

Iuz is a cambion which from the current MM is a half fiend. The children of cambions are teiflings.

The 2014 Monster Manual stats the Cambion as a full "Fiend". It is hard to say what the children of a Cambion and a Human would be. They might be Humans, Cambions, or Tieflings, or possibly atavistically full Fiend Demons.