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Campaign Settings 5e- Why I want to Forget the Realms
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<blockquote data-quote="Mad Zagyg" data-source="post: 6684073" data-attributes="member: 47680"><p>The Forgotten Realms and the World of Greyhawk are essentially the same thing. The differences that exist between their geography and the names of the nations and the powerful NPCs are really not at all that significant. Converting adventures is also not that big of a deal.</p><p></p><p>People are deeply affected by their first positive experiences. My initial introductions to D&D were back when Greyhawk was really the only game in town. It was the best option in the early 80s. I remember how cool it was locating the hex on the map where this or that adventure module was located.</p><p></p><p>That brings me to one of the things that defines Greyhawk in a way that the Realms just doesn't really have. Classic adventures. Arguably the best adventures ever written. Say what you want about Gygax's novels; the man knew how to write an adventure. Against the Giants, Queen of Spiders, Temple of Elemental Evil, Tomb of Horrors, Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, Keep on the Borderlands are just some of the best, most original adventures ever written. Other classics written by other authors were also set in the World of Greyhawk. Possibly the best adventure ever made, White Plume Mountain, was set in Greyhawk. They still inspire the adventures that are being written by Wizards' present writers. They know, as I do, that Greyhawk is the greatest source to mine for the best of the best adventures.</p><p></p><p>Forgotten Realms doesn't have this. As I sit here, I can call to mind no classic adventures set in the Realms. The closest I can get is the terrible Ruins of Undermountain, which could have been great but instead has repeatedly been released as a giant map with hundreds of empty rooms and tiny sections detailed. "Feel free to fill in the empty rooms yourself!" Lazy and uninspired.</p><p></p><p>So what's my point?</p><p></p><p>I get why people love the Forgotten Realms. They either had their initial experiences of D&D set there, and so have developed a special connection to it. Or perhaps they loved reading the enormous amount of sourcebook material that has been released on it over the years. It's the most popular setting by far, so why not focus on it as your default? I get it.</p><p></p><p>It's just irritating to see things you love bastardized and/or ignored. That's all. For a sense of what I mean, it would be a lot like if the next adventure path features a villain called Sauron, who sets up shop in a new realm that appears in Faerun called Mordor. It's the hero's job to journey into the land of the Enemy himself and cast the One Finger-Sized Golden Loop into the fires of Mount Bad Fate. "At least one party member should play a halfling."</p><p></p><p>Greyhawk fans can convert, sure. That's what I've been doing. No problem.</p><p></p><p>But for context, imagine handing a vegetarian a bowl of beef stew and telling him to just pick out the parts of the stew he doesn't like. No matter how much he picks out the meat he's still going to taste the residue of what he doesn't like.</p><p></p><p>Every once in a while it would be nice to just get a big bowl of vegetable soup, if you know what I mean. I'd love to see them license out Greyhawk if they aren't going to use it. Of course, I can think of a hundred reasons why they wouldn't want to do that.</p><p></p><p>It is what it is, I guess. It's just a bummer.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mad Zagyg, post: 6684073, member: 47680"] The Forgotten Realms and the World of Greyhawk are essentially the same thing. The differences that exist between their geography and the names of the nations and the powerful NPCs are really not at all that significant. Converting adventures is also not that big of a deal. People are deeply affected by their first positive experiences. My initial introductions to D&D were back when Greyhawk was really the only game in town. It was the best option in the early 80s. I remember how cool it was locating the hex on the map where this or that adventure module was located. That brings me to one of the things that defines Greyhawk in a way that the Realms just doesn't really have. Classic adventures. Arguably the best adventures ever written. Say what you want about Gygax's novels; the man knew how to write an adventure. Against the Giants, Queen of Spiders, Temple of Elemental Evil, Tomb of Horrors, Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, Keep on the Borderlands are just some of the best, most original adventures ever written. Other classics written by other authors were also set in the World of Greyhawk. Possibly the best adventure ever made, White Plume Mountain, was set in Greyhawk. They still inspire the adventures that are being written by Wizards' present writers. They know, as I do, that Greyhawk is the greatest source to mine for the best of the best adventures. Forgotten Realms doesn't have this. As I sit here, I can call to mind no classic adventures set in the Realms. The closest I can get is the terrible Ruins of Undermountain, which could have been great but instead has repeatedly been released as a giant map with hundreds of empty rooms and tiny sections detailed. "Feel free to fill in the empty rooms yourself!" Lazy and uninspired. So what's my point? I get why people love the Forgotten Realms. They either had their initial experiences of D&D set there, and so have developed a special connection to it. Or perhaps they loved reading the enormous amount of sourcebook material that has been released on it over the years. It's the most popular setting by far, so why not focus on it as your default? I get it. It's just irritating to see things you love bastardized and/or ignored. That's all. For a sense of what I mean, it would be a lot like if the next adventure path features a villain called Sauron, who sets up shop in a new realm that appears in Faerun called Mordor. It's the hero's job to journey into the land of the Enemy himself and cast the One Finger-Sized Golden Loop into the fires of Mount Bad Fate. "At least one party member should play a halfling." Greyhawk fans can convert, sure. That's what I've been doing. No problem. But for context, imagine handing a vegetarian a bowl of beef stew and telling him to just pick out the parts of the stew he doesn't like. No matter how much he picks out the meat he's still going to taste the residue of what he doesn't like. Every once in a while it would be nice to just get a big bowl of vegetable soup, if you know what I mean. I'd love to see them license out Greyhawk if they aren't going to use it. Of course, I can think of a hundred reasons why they wouldn't want to do that. It is what it is, I guess. It's just a bummer. [/QUOTE]
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