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Crawford On Lots Of Stuff! Release Tempo, Video Games, OGL, Conventions, Unearthed Arcana, 2018, Tia
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<blockquote data-quote="Wik" data-source="post: 7678136" data-attributes="member: 40177"><p>Hm. </p><p></p><p>Regarding the multiverse issue which seems to be the crux of this discussion:</p><p></p><p>As a general rule, it's been a part of D&D for a long time. I think it really got ramped up around the time that RIFTS hit the market, and showed what a strong multiverse would do. For TSR, it meant that a strong multiverse concept would allow people that only bought Greyhawk products to dip their toes into Forgotten Realms (or Birthright! or Dragonlance! Or Jakandor! Or whatever else!)</p><p></p><p>They even went so far as to make not one, but two settings centred around travelling between settings (Spelljammer and Planescape, and if you want to be loosey-goosey, you could argue that 2e Ravenloft was a multiverse-spanning setting as well). What's interesting to me is that Spelljammer got tied into the core of several settings (I believe a Dragonlance product mentioned spelljamming vessels, and there was mention of one somewhere in a Dark Sun book if memory serves), while Planescape got less mention.... despite being a much more successful setting. </p><p></p><p>Dark Sun, for example, explicitly cut itself off from the Multiverse in a planar context. It had different planes. </p><p></p><p>Anyways, what this means is that multiverse stuff is not new to 5e. It's a pretty standard move, and what's good about it is, if you don't like it, nothing's forcing you to follow it. I seriously doubt we'll see Dalamar in the Realms, or Dark Sun's Athas invading the Realms (although there's an old Dragon article about precisely that! And it sounded awesome!). What we will probably see are old "Greyhawk" modules being ported over to the Realms, with conversion notes in the back, as we've seen with PotA. </p><p></p><p>Personally, I'm fine with this approach, so long as WotC avoids its 4e policy of "include everything". So, don't find a way to put Orcs and gold pieces into Dragonlance, goblins into Dark Sun, tieflings into Birthright, and all that. WotC should recognize that settings are as much about what's NOT in them as in what's in them, and that including every designed product into every setting just muddies things up and makes them bland. </p><p></p><p>I really wasn't a fan, for example, of much of the 4e treatment of Dark Sun. There was some lovely work on the product, and it was the first 4e product I had purchased in around a year when it came out (and until recently, the last). But this drive that WotC had at the time to make it include everything really took off some of the lustre. The intro adventure had goblins! There were tieflings! (Despite the no-planar rule of Dark Sun!) Eladrin and the Feywild! Strangely, though, they also axed the entire Divine Domain, so clerics were no longer in... which, actually, was pretty cool, and my favourite part of the 4e conversion. </p><p></p><p>If, going forward, WotC recognizes that the individual settings are, in fact, INDIVIDUAL, and respects what they contain and do not contain, I have absolutely no problem with their establishing weak canonical connections between the worlds. I mean, I'll absolutely ignore them, but I'm all for other guys that get into canon having those bonds. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Also, "The Wizards Three" are Canonical? Does that mean a stat conversion of Ed Greenwood is in our future?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wik, post: 7678136, member: 40177"] Hm. Regarding the multiverse issue which seems to be the crux of this discussion: As a general rule, it's been a part of D&D for a long time. I think it really got ramped up around the time that RIFTS hit the market, and showed what a strong multiverse would do. For TSR, it meant that a strong multiverse concept would allow people that only bought Greyhawk products to dip their toes into Forgotten Realms (or Birthright! or Dragonlance! Or Jakandor! Or whatever else!) They even went so far as to make not one, but two settings centred around travelling between settings (Spelljammer and Planescape, and if you want to be loosey-goosey, you could argue that 2e Ravenloft was a multiverse-spanning setting as well). What's interesting to me is that Spelljammer got tied into the core of several settings (I believe a Dragonlance product mentioned spelljamming vessels, and there was mention of one somewhere in a Dark Sun book if memory serves), while Planescape got less mention.... despite being a much more successful setting. Dark Sun, for example, explicitly cut itself off from the Multiverse in a planar context. It had different planes. Anyways, what this means is that multiverse stuff is not new to 5e. It's a pretty standard move, and what's good about it is, if you don't like it, nothing's forcing you to follow it. I seriously doubt we'll see Dalamar in the Realms, or Dark Sun's Athas invading the Realms (although there's an old Dragon article about precisely that! And it sounded awesome!). What we will probably see are old "Greyhawk" modules being ported over to the Realms, with conversion notes in the back, as we've seen with PotA. Personally, I'm fine with this approach, so long as WotC avoids its 4e policy of "include everything". So, don't find a way to put Orcs and gold pieces into Dragonlance, goblins into Dark Sun, tieflings into Birthright, and all that. WotC should recognize that settings are as much about what's NOT in them as in what's in them, and that including every designed product into every setting just muddies things up and makes them bland. I really wasn't a fan, for example, of much of the 4e treatment of Dark Sun. There was some lovely work on the product, and it was the first 4e product I had purchased in around a year when it came out (and until recently, the last). But this drive that WotC had at the time to make it include everything really took off some of the lustre. The intro adventure had goblins! There were tieflings! (Despite the no-planar rule of Dark Sun!) Eladrin and the Feywild! Strangely, though, they also axed the entire Divine Domain, so clerics were no longer in... which, actually, was pretty cool, and my favourite part of the 4e conversion. If, going forward, WotC recognizes that the individual settings are, in fact, INDIVIDUAL, and respects what they contain and do not contain, I have absolutely no problem with their establishing weak canonical connections between the worlds. I mean, I'll absolutely ignore them, but I'm all for other guys that get into canon having those bonds. *** Also, "The Wizards Three" are Canonical? Does that mean a stat conversion of Ed Greenwood is in our future? [/QUOTE]
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