D&D 5E First World: Possibly One of the New D&D setting?

Rogerd1

Adventurer
There is btw, a fun homebrew project made (and available for free I believe) to play pre-historic D&D. There is a similar concept here to the First World, that it is a setting that exists before the planes have become distinct places (like how Panegea was one continent). A big theme is that the world is ruled over by empires run by the different giant types. Something similar could exist in the First World, as a war between giants and dragons is a common theme in D&D settings.

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Is there a link for the above? NVM - found it.

It seems the same as the below on KS, and written by the same guy too.


 
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Parmandur

Book-Friend
I missed this thread the first time around. But the First World topic came up in a more recent thread so I am necro'ing this one to discuss it further.

WOTC likes their inside jokes. The First World, meaning the first full setting as opposed to the first location (which was Blackmoor), was Greyhawk.

We know Mearls was exploring ways to use Greyhawk for 5e before he left for another area of the company and we also know Greyhawk ranked fairly high in the list of settings people wanted to see. Not as high as some others, but I believe all the others which ranked higher have already seen some level of development.

I think Greyhawk is First World. It's the source of so many spell names, magic item and artifact names, key villain names, deity names, it's the origin story of so many things currently used in other settings supported by 5e. I think that's the hook they will use to tie into Greyhawk. That it's the origin setting.
No, the interpretation of the Elegy of the First World includes a discussion of how it underlies the divergent mythos of several worlds st length, including Greyhawk.
 

Parmandur

Book-Friend
Is there anything in the Elegy of the First World or the rest of Fizban's that even hints as this? Because, to me, the lore about gods coming in and invading the world created by Tiamat and Bahamut sounds more like Nerath/Nentir Vale than Greyhawk/Oerth.
No, the First World is specifically called out as a metaphysical background for Greyhawk among other worlds.

Of course, the metaphysical discussion is why I doubt they will ever define the First World and nail it down.
 

Mistwell

Crusty Old Meatwad (he/him)
No, the interpretation of the Elegy of the First World includes a discussion of how it underlies the divergent mythos of several worlds st length, including Greyhawk.
Not sure how the thing which underlies Greyhawk can't be...Greyhawk or introduced as part of the Greyhawk setting.
 

Levistus's_Leviathan

5e Freelancer
Not sure how the thing which underlies Greyhawk can't be...Greyhawk or introduced as part of the Greyhawk setting.
. . . The First World can't be Greyhawk because Greyhawk still exists (according to Fizban's), and the First World was destroyed, creating the Multiverse. That's kind of the whole thing with the First World. It was a thing, but then it got destroyed, and every other world started being a thing. Greyhawk can't be the First World if it still exists, and Fizban's says it does.
 

Mistwell

Crusty Old Meatwad (he/him)
. . . The First World can't be Greyhawk because Greyhawk still exists (according to Fizban's), and the First World was destroyed, creating the Multiverse. That's kind of the whole thing with the First World. It was a thing, but then it got destroyed, and every other world started being a thing. Greyhawk can't be the First World if it still exists, and Fizban's says it does.
You still need a setting to introduce the First World concept beyond just a couple of setences, maybe some everlasting artifacts from the First World as well and maybe even an escaped deity or other powerful entities or something (like Vecna, Iuz and Kas), and I don't see why that introduction wouldn't come from a Greyhawk setting book.
 

Parmandur

Book-Friend
You still need a setting to introduce the First World concept beyond just a couple of setences, maybe some everlasting artifacts from the First World as well and maybe even an escaped deity or something, and I don't see why that introduction wouldn't come from a Greyhawk setting book.
Not really, no, since thr First World as a concept is a couple of sentences thst provide a fig leaf to conformity between official D&D Settings and homebrew. It isn't a "Setting."
 

Mistwell

Crusty Old Meatwad (he/him)
Not really, no, since thr First World as a concept is a couple of sentences thst provide a fig leaf to conformity between official D&D Settings and homebrew. It isn't a "Setting."
Not yet it isn't.

I think it's funny you guys are so adamant about what can't be done about a concept explored with only a couple of vague sentences.
 

Levistus's_Leviathan

5e Freelancer
You still need a setting to introduce the First World concept beyond just a couple of setences, maybe some everlasting artifacts from the First World as well and maybe even an escaped deity or other powerful entities or something (like Vecna, Iuz and Kas), and I don't see why that introduction wouldn't come from a Greyhawk setting book.
Well, in Fizban's, it's framed as a myth that the Dragons believe which may or may not actually be true (like the Progenitor Dragon Myth from Eberron). It doesn't have to be literally true. And even if it was, it really doesn't need that much setting description to get the overall point across.

I do think that they could make a First World setting book taking heavy inspiration from the Dawn War in D&D 4e, which I would love (especially if it doubled as D&D 5e's first official Prehistoric setting book). But even I'll admit that it's not necessary, and casting a previous setting that's already present in D&D 5e (from Ghosts of Saltmarsh) is absolutely not something that I think is plausible or a good idea. Imagine the outcry that fans of Greyhawk would have if they learned that their favorite setting, the one created by Gary Gygax himself, was canonically destroyed in 5e's lore. People got upset about a joke character in The Wild Beyond the Witchlight being named Thaco and when a couple Dark Lords in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft were gender-swapped. If Greyhawk was canonically listed as the First World the outcry would be widespread, loud, and probably deserved.
 

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