D&D (2024) Greyhawk Confirmed. Tell Me Why.

[Nikosandros]

I'm a little bit of an oddball (on multiple levels, honestly), and I fell in a. Ery particular window with Harry Potter that I didn't read it as a kid, and when it came on my radar I was at the exact age that I was too cool to read a kid's book (before I reached the point of maturuof knowing a book is juat a book). So I have little to no nostalgia. Only read the first two, pretty mediocre IMO but by that time I was in college so it was competing with Paradise Lost and Chaucer in my brainspace.

Never thought they were that good, and that they were destined to fade as the warm feels faded. Didn't expect Rowling to actively attack the nostalgia, though.

I'm older than you. At first, when I heard of Potter, I ignored the books. Later, when the movies came out, one of my best friends was into them and so we went to see them together. She had also begun to read the books and I got them as well. I found the story nice enough and I read all of them in the end, but I've always found the writing to be average at best. Somewhat repetitive in the vocabulary and, often, overly verbose.

 

[TiQuinn]

why do YOU think they decided on Greyhawk for the example DMG setting?

Because they have a crap ton of named NPCs in their books who originated there. Add in some nostalgia and the fact that it’s a blank slate and presto.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

This pleases me a lot.

I could imagine many ways to have Greyhawk be inclusive of the many PHB species, and even the many others that 5E has added through the past 10 years.

In my own Greyhawk I would have had a time jump of a few decades, if not a full century. A time jump could give some flexibility for adding events like new migrations, invasions, wars, setbacks and advancements, new ruins, border changes.

A time leap could give room to establish greater ties to Hepmonaland, Amedio, and the Baklunish lands. But I’m not sure this sample setting would make such a time leap, even though a time jump would also give them the argument that they are not retroactively changing historical events.

 

[Kurotowa]

Let's also keep something clear. They're not making Greyhawk the default setting for the PHB. They're using it as a sample setting in the DMG to illustrate world building for DMs. The two are not the same.

In the article we got this from, it talks about how the PHB having a setting appendix that covers all the major D&D official settings. And that makes sense, because the currency of an IP is recognizable characters and places, and WotC doesn't want to discard anything valuable. So the PHB is likely to be full of art and references for all the various settings, not just one implied default one.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

From another thread:

Emphasis mine

So, I was very, very wrong. I was sure they would have created something new with appeal directed at GenZ players. Not the first time I have been wrong. Oh well.

But, I am curious why. Why Greyhawk? I mean, sure, 50th anniversary, but is that all? What does Greyhawk have about it that makes it a good fit for the vast majority of current and potential future players who have never known GH?

For the record, I am a GenXer who grew up with BECMI and 2E. I never played in Greyhawk, but I was aware of it because of Dragon Magazine mostly. Until Eberron appeared with 3.5, the only setting I used with an depth or regularity was Krynn/Dragonlance. We played in "The Known World" but never got more in depth than what was in the Expert book.

Anyway: why do YOU think they decided on Greyhawk for the example DMG setting?

You know appeals to Gen Z? 80s stuff, so this is kind of a two for one deal.

 

[DarkCrisis]

You know appeals to Gen Z? 80s stuff, so this is kind of a two for one deal.

Now we can play D&D just like on Stranger Things!

 

[Swanosaurus]

Now we can play D&D just like on Stranger Things!

You mean like finally rolling a d20 to cast a spell?

 

[Reynard]

You know appeals to Gen Z? 80s stuff, so this is kind of a two for one deal.

I have 2 of them and go to school with a lot of them and this is news to me.

 

[CleverNickName]

I snipped part of what you wrote because I also like Mystara, but it has some campaign secrets (what powers magic) and different cosmologies (the Immortals) that don't fit with what is expected as part of D&D. Not that they couldn't make it work, but I think they'd retcon enough so that you'd have a map and places, but not much of what makes Mystara unique.

Agree on all points. Like I said: I know the stuff I like isn't the sort of stuff that would sell to today's wider D&D-playing audience. WotC would do well to continue NOT listening to me about this stuff.

 

[AstroCat]

Greyhawk by a huge margin is my fav D&D setting, I'm sure wotc will butcher it. But if they don't it would be a d&d miracle! It's got everything like about D&D in the setting and it is the main setting we used as kids. I also run to this day as my go to setting when possible.