Dungeons & Dragons May Not Come Back to Greyhawk After 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide

greyhawk city.jpg


Wizards of the Coast does not appear to have future plans for the Greyhawk setting past the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide. Speaking at a press event earlier this month, Dungeons & Dragons game architect Chris Perkins explained that the inclusion of Greyhawk campaign setting material in the upcoming rulebook was meant to stand on its own. "Basically, we're saying 'Hey DMs, we're giving you Greyhawk as a foundation on which you can build your own setting stuff,'" Perkins said when asked about future Greyhawk setting material. "Whether we get back to Greyhawk or not in some capacity I cannot say, but that's our intention for now. This is the sandbox, it's Greyhawk. Go off and run Greyhawk or Greyhawk-like campaigns with this if you wish. We may not come to this version of Greyhawk for a while because we DMs to own it and play with it. This is not a campaign setting where I think we need to go in and start defining large sections of the world and adding more weight of content that DMs have to sit through in order to feel like they're running a proper Greyhawk campaign."

The 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide includes a campaign setting gazetteer focused on the Greyhawk setting, one of D&D's earliest campaign settings. The use of Greyhawk is intended to be an example for DMs on how to build a full-fledged campaign setting, with an overview of major conflicts and places to explore within the world. New maps of both Oerth and the city of Greyhawk are also included in the rulebook.

However, while it seems like Wizards isn't committing to future Greyhawk campaign setting material, Perkins admitted that the fans still have a say in the matter. "We're not so immutable with our plans that if the fans rose up and said 'Give us something Greyhawk,' that we would say 'No, never,'" Perkins said. "That won't happen."

Perkins also teased the appearance of more campaign settings in the future. "We absolutely will be exploring new D&D worlds and that door is always open," Perkins said.
 

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Christian Hoffer

Christian Hoffer


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That's what I was afraid of. I guess I won't be getting the new DMG after all.

This isn't too far removed from what happened in 3E. Sean Reynolds' comments in the other thread were illuminating to say the least, but WOTC went beyond not supporting Greyhawk in its own publications - Paizo, for instance, was more than happy to produce Greyhawk material (along with the other settings), but WOTC clamped down on them, to the point where the second Adventure Path they did they were forced to strip out the name "Greyhawk" for the name of the central city (and change Tenser's name) because they wanted it to be usable 'in all settings', something not requested for Forgotten Realms or Eberron material.
Ah, well. I was hoping for something different after publications like Ghosts of Saltmarsh.
 

One thing that occurred to me in light of this info. There has been rumours of a boxed set campaign setting coming early in the lifetime of the new (sub)edition. It was to be “a classic setting” already visited in 5e. Since we can now firmly rule out Greyhawk, it’s clearly Forgotten Realms.
 

One thing that occurred to me in light of this info. There has been rumours of a boxed set campaign setting coming early in the lifetime of the new (sub)edition. It was to be “a classic setting” already visited in 5e. Since we can now firmly rule out Greyhawk, it’s clearly Forgotten Realms.
Well, no, but also sort of.

The hint Ray Winninger gave back I'm the day, which was when they were outlining the DMG and product plan, was that 2024 would see a "return" to a Setting already in 5E. That hint seems clearly to be this Greyhawk Gazateer now. Bit they already announced next year's products, including two Forgotten Realms Setting books (Player's Guide and DM's Guide), so yes they are going back to FR big time next year (the format suggests to me that they may have considered a 3 book slipcase for the FR, but split it into 2 hardcovers instead).

They also announced a Dragon-themed Adventure anthology (10 Adventures for 10 Dragon types, in Dungeons) and a Starter Set box (Keep on the Borderlands revisited), if you missed that.
 

I have yet to see an adventure from WoTC that didn't need a lot of work to make it playable, I am very happy that they are leaving Greyhawk alone. DM's Guild tends to do things better. No shade on WoTC writers, they have many more restrictions on their writing I am sure.

Did I miss something about Mystara? Are we getting something official on it? That would be something I might be interested in, to make it my own.
 

Did I miss something about Mystara? Are we getting something official on it? That would be something I might be interested in, to make it my own.
There is a new official big coffee table artbook from the same line as Art & Arcana coming out in a couple weeks, focused on Settings, and Mystara is one of the 5 "Material Plane" worlds that gets a significant section, at least suggesting that WotC remembers the Setting:

LEE_Worlds_and_Realms_EDW_spreads__1__2_copy (1).jpg
 
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There is a new official big coffee table arrbook from the same line as Art & Arcana coming out in a couple weeks, focused on Settinfs, and Mystara is one of the 5 "Material Plane" worlds that gets a significant section, at least suggesting that WotC remembers the Setting:

The unKnown World is not worth playing.
-Socrates, big Mystara fan
 

Wizards of the Coast does not appear to have future plans for the Greyhawk setting past the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide. Speaking at a press event earlier this month, Dungeons & Dragons game architect Chris Perkins explained that the inclusion of Greyhawk campaign setting material in the upcoming rulebook was meant to stand on its own. "Basically, we're saying 'Hey DMs, we're giving you Greyhawk as a foundation on which you can build your own setting stuff,'" Perkins said when asked about future Greyhawk setting material. "Whether we get back to Greyhawk or not in some capacity I cannot say, but that's our intention for now. This is the sandbox, it's Greyhawk. Go off and run Greyhawk or Greyhawk-like campaigns with this if you wish. We may not come to this version of Greyhawk for a while because we DMs to own it and play with it. This is not a campaign setting where I think we need to go in and start defining large sections of the world and adding more weight of content that DMs have to sit through in order to feel like they're running a proper Greyhawk campaign."

The 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide includes a campaign setting gazetteer focused on the Greyhawk setting, one of D&D's earliest campaign settings. The use of Greyhawk is intended to be an example for DMs on how to build a full-fledged campaign setting, with an overview of major conflicts and places to explore within the world. New maps of both Oerth and the city of Greyhawk are also included in the rulebook.

However, while it seems like Wizards isn't committing to future Greyhawk campaign setting material, Perkins admitted that the fans still have a say in the matter. "We're not so immutable with our plans that if the fans rose up and said 'Give us something Greyhawk,' that we would say 'No, never,'" Perkins said. "That won't happen."

Perkins also teased the appearance of more campaign settings in the future. "We absolutely will be exploring new D&D worlds and that door is always open," Perkins said.
I am fine with this. The Greyhawk setting doesnt need more elaboration. It is a minimalist sandbox, and DMs can and should make it ones own. As Perkins wisely notes, "We DMs own it and play with it. This is not a campaign setting where we need to start defining large sections of the world."

Plus, the Greyhawk setting will inherently expand, detail, and evolve, depending on where the players explore, and where the DM plugs in adventures. Every official adventure will recommend locations on Flanaess, and fleshing out a campaign setting via the adventures in it, is exactly how the Greyhawk setting came into existence in the first place.

In the mean time, Greyhawk really is the "default" setting. Any newbie DM who only has the core books, and who doesnt purchase or homebrew a setting, will be referring to the Greyhawk setting.

The use of Greyhawk in this way, for the anniversary edition, is brilliant.
 

One thing that occurred to me in light of this info. There has been rumours of a boxed set campaign setting coming early in the lifetime of the new (sub)edition. It was to be “a classic setting” already visited in 5e. Since we can now firmly rule out Greyhawk, it’s clearly Forgotten Realms.

It wasn't specified to be a box set, but yes it was the Forgotten Realms, completely confirmed at this point as 2 big setting books for FR books are coming next year, indirectly hinted at by James Wyatt for at least one or both 320 pages.

The OG hint came from Ray Winninger who was a man of his word even if he doesn't work at WotC anymore, hope his name still get included in the credits.
 

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