Are Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms being combined into one setting?

[GVDammerung]

Is Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk being combined in 4th Edition?

I'd plotz!

Actually, I'd laugh my head off. The reactions from both FR and GH fans would be precious.

I'd also have to give major props to Wotc for having the wontons to do it. It actually could work if sufficient thought were put into it, IMO. I recall when FR first came out I wondered if ultimately GH and FR would wind up on the same planet. Didn't happen, of course, but it could be done. The trick would be in the execution.

Oh. And speaking of execution. Elminister would have to die. Or be imprisoned like Tharizdun. Say, isn't Tharizdun the only thing Elmonster hasn't had sex with yet? ::insert prison joke HERE::

Yeah. Let's merge Oerth and Toril!

 

[an_idol_mind]

I'd plotz!

Actually, I'd laugh my head off. The reactions from both FR and GH fans would be precious.

I'd also have to give major props to Wotc for having the wontons to do it. It actually could work if sufficient thought were put into it, IMO. I recall when FR first came out I wondered if ultimately GH and FR would wind up on the same planet. Didn't happen, of course, but it could be done. The trick would be in the execution.

Oh. And speaking of execution. Elminister would have to die. Or be imprisoned like Tharizdun. Say, isn't Tharizdun the only thing Elmonster hasn't had sex with yet? ::insert prison joke HERE::

Yeah. Let's merge Oerth and Toril!

I used to do something like that when I first got into D&D. I started with Thunder Rift, and then started adding stuff as I picked up more campaign settings. Cerilia lay to the north, Athas to the far south, Al Qadim and the Realms got shoved in there somehow, Kara-Tur got tossed in, and then Greyhawk became the distant past of the setting.

Naturally, the whole thing became so much of a mess that I blew up the world just to get away from it all.

 

[thundershot]

Actually, it's pretty cool to combine worlds like that. My current world has a "standard" D&D setting, an Arabian, Oriental, etc. Of course, my favorite part are the islands where the Dinosaurs, Pirates, Ninjas, Robots (Warforged), & Monkeys (Vanara) reside.



Chris

 

[an_idol_mind]

Actually, it's pretty cool to combine worlds like that. My current world has a "standard" D&D setting, an Arabian, Oriental, etc. Of course, my favorite part are the islands where the Dinosaurs, Pirates, Ninjas, Robots (Warforged), & Monkeys (Vanara) reside.

It is fun to combine settings, but it gets unwieldly when you combine multiple published settings. I've found that the better approach is to take inspiration for a certain setting rather than dropping it wholesale into an established campaign world. Adding everything and anything can create a lot of burnout, which I discovered all too quickly.

Also, your setting sounds really cool.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Consider this excerpt by Ed Greenwood from the DM's Sourcebook of the Realms.

The "Forgotten Realms" derive their name from the fictitious fact upon which play in my campaign is based: that a multiverse exists, of countless parallel co-existing Prime Material Planes (including the world presented herein, our own modern "Earth," and any other fantasy settings a DM may wish to incorporate in play), all related to the Known Planes of Existence presented in the AD&D system. Travel betwixt these planes was once far more common that is the case now (when few know the means of reaching other worlds, or even the existence of such fanciful places); hence, the Realms have been "forgotten" by beings of Earth. Our legends of dragons, vampires, and of other fearsome creatures and magic are due to this formerly widespread contact between the worlds; most have of course become confused and distorted with the passage of time and many retellings. . . .​

So, precedent.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'd also have to give major props to Wotc for having the wontons to do it. It actually could work if sufficient thought were put into it, IMO. I recall when FR first came out I wondered if ultimately GH and FR would wind up on the same planet. Didn't happen, of course, but it could be done. The trick would be in the execution.

I don't see how it would be particularly complicated to do. Both Oerth and Toril have large portions of the globe unmapped. The faith of Zakhara doesn't show up in Faerun, so there's no reason the gods of the Flaeness would be worshipped there, either.

 

[SWBaxter]

I used to do something like that when I first got into D&D. I started with Thunder Rift, and then started adding stuff as I picked up more campaign settings. Cerilia lay to the north, Athas to the far south, Al Qadim and the Realms got shoved in there somehow, Kara-Tur got tossed in, and then Greyhawk became the distant past of the setting.

This kind of merging was pretty common way back when, too. In particular, take the Greyhawk folio or first box set, and you've got the eastern portion of a big continent with little to no info on the rest of the landmass. Take the first FR box set, and you've got the western portion of a big continent with little to no info on the rest of the landmass. Didn't take a big stretch to join the two together, and I'm sure I'm not the only person who played in a group that did just that.

But so far as WOTC's plans go, I'd be more than a little bit surprised if they were planning that kind of move. And not a good kind of surprised, either.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I think that a merger will not play well to either the 'hawkers' or the realms fans

Not a problem, since they decided to ignore the Realms fans so they can make FR hip with the big crowd or something.

 

[Nikosandros]

I would be very surprised if such were the case... I also see no evidence of this in the quotes provided.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Might as well stick Dragonlance in there too, then. It's got two continents and the rest of the world is unexplored.