D&D 4E Greyhawk 4e: Back to the Beginning...

[JeffB]

I would love such a Greyhawk to death.

Agreed. This sounds pretty danged great. Where do I pre-order?

Perhaps the only thing I have real issue with is the use of the "core" 4E cosmology and not GH's. Though it's not awful. Switch a few names I guess.

Not a fan of Dragonborn either, but that will be an easy fix if it goes down the way hinted at.

But there's some great "retro"changes" listed, def enough to counter the 2 negatives that stuck out to me.

 

[Grimstaff]

I'm amused by Canonfire's near-unanimous venom at the suggestion of abandoning the whole Greyhawk Wars theme. AFAIC, this ("From the Ashes", etc) was not Gygax's Greyhawk, but a deliberate post-Gygax change-up designed to protect their "acquisition" from future legal action from the setting's creator.

I love the Folio and '83 Box Step: if 4E brings Greyhawk back to this golden age, I'm totally onboard for it.

 

[RangerWickett]

Well if WotC wasn't planning this already, they ought to consider it now. I think it's a frakking brilliant idea.

 

[Knightfall]

This writeup reads like wishful thinking to me, so I'm skeptical, but there is one reason that Greyhawk could be rebooted while Dragonlance and the Realms never will be, as I alluded to on the 4E DL thread.

Novels.

The novels are big money-makers for WotC--I'd be willing to bet as big or bigger than the game lines--and there are enough novels that are kept perennially in print or regularly reprinted, and that hinge off of the setting's history, that reboots for those two lines would be seen as splitting or killing the cash cow.

True. I hadn't considered that but that's because I rarely read Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms novels anymore.

With no novel lines for Greyhawk, and only reprints for Dark Sun and Ravenloft (they've stripped out all the Ravenloft references from the marketing for the stillborn Dominion line novels like Heaven's Bones and Mithras' Court, but the former at least retains all the references in the text), reboots of those settings would seem more probable. An Athas just before the Prism Pentad, or concurrent with it but without any of the other strangeness I heard about, might actually attract more fans than picking up where they left off.

I could see a reboot of Dark Sun too but I think I'd enjoy that less, especially if they retcon the new 4e races into the setting. Dark Sun is unique because of its races. If they force Dragonborn and Tieflings (as well as gnomes and orcs) into the setting, I'll be pissed.

Greyhawk is the classic D&D setting that can go back to the beginning and start over without any difficulty. Mystara could be revised in such a way as well, IMO.

 

[Knightfall]

Well if WotC wasn't planning this already, they ought to consider it now. I think it's a frakking brilliant idea.

Well, here's another of GVDammerung's posts from the same thread. His info is "second hand," but it's too good to ignore, IMO.

So GVD, is this pure speculation on your part or are parts of what you stated from seminars @ GenCon, or from insider sources, etc., etc.? Just curious!

I did not attend Gencon. However, I have friends who did. So, up front, my "information" is second hand. That said, the information is derived from seminars and conversations had with individuals who ostensibly are in positions to know or hear things and my own reading of the resulting tea leaves. Like a weather forecast, there is an inevitable "bust" factor. If you asked me to put a percentage on my level of confidence I'd say:

70% chance there is a GH 4e as of today; and
75% chance it will look pretty much as described.

I feel very comfortable with my "forecast." In one forum or another, I called the year of 4e's launch. I called the Realms changes. I called the terms of the GSL Mk I. I called Paizo sticking with 3.5 (actually I publically advocated for it back last September on CF and the Paizo boards).

{snip}

More info should be forthcoming at the DDX and next Con Season. Like a hog looking for truffles, I will be keeping my nose to the ground.


I am definitely going to the Cons next year. Triple20 spoke of influence - putting on some type of GH seminar might be just what the doctor ordered. Word to the wise. It could also be fun. Rattle those bushes and see what comes out.

 

[Henry]

No offense to GVDammerung (he's a poster on these forums, also) but this seems awfully unlikely. I'd love to know the official mouth that uttered this stuff. It is DEFINITELY not WotC's style to retcon what has gone before, and never has been, to my recollection.

 

[Knightfall]

No offense to GVDammerung (he's a poster on these forums, also) but this seems awfully unlikely. I'd love to know the official mouth that uttered this stuff. It is DEFINITELY not WotC's style to retcon what has gone before, and never has been, to my recall.

That's a good point. Maybe we can get him to give us some more about this. Like, who did his friend talk to? Then again, his friend may not want to give up his source.

Perhaps someone from WotC would be willing to comment. Where's that Rouse guy?

 

[Henry]

Perhaps someone from WotC would be willing to comment. Where's that Rouse guy?

More likely, we won't get a peep. At this point in time, this, and the Dragonlance 4e stuff, is as likely idle chatter that was batted around the conference room shortly before the flight to Gencon, and then repeated to fans from some of the designers. That kind of stuff no one will touch with a ten foot pole, much less an official comment.

 

[Knightfall]

More likely, we won't get a peep. At this point in time, this, and the Dragonlance 4e stuff, is as likely idle chatter that was batted around the conference room shortly before the flight to Gencon, and then repeated to fans from some of the designers. That kind of stuff no one will touch with a ten foot pole, much less an official comment.

Yeah, I know. It will be a long time before WotC says anything but I can always hope. I'm not a fan of 4e at all, but I'd be willing to give the game a real try if WotC redoes Greyhawk from the beginning.

Of course, if they do Dark Sun first then I'll be getting every 4e book for the setting as long as they don't butcher it.

 

[ferratus]

I'm generally a fan of letting continuity run for 10-15 years, let the setting accumulate ideas good and bad, and restart and reimagine it. Incorporate the good ideas, discard the bad, maybe do something slightly different but keep it recognizable.

So all these things would be good selling points for me to take another at Greyhawk, even though I only ever really played it in the early days of the Living Campaign.