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

[Maxperson]

Greyhawk, per Gygax, had (among other things)-

1. A crashed spaceship, complete with laser guns.
2. A pocket plane that put you in Alice in Wonderland.
3. Multiple ways to get to other prime material planes, including but not limited to apocalyptic and western settings.
4. Mechanical devices, robots, and ancient computers.
5. Had villains (in his home game) that included Dr. Who and Colonel Sanders.
6. Created the Odd Alley and Weird Way in the City of Greyhawk (look it up).


I could keep going, but the 70s ... they were different.

Sure, but everyone knew that even though Colonel Sanders could talk a good evil monologue, he was really chicken.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Sure, but everyone knew that even though Colonel Sanders could talk a good evil monologue, he was really chicken.

Sorry, I gave you a wow, because that does not deserve a laugh. Shame. Shame, maxperson!

 

[Maxperson]

Sorry, I gave you a wow, because that does not deserve a laugh. Shame. Shame, maxperson!

Maxperson, not afraid to go there! Wherever "there" is.

Edit: And believe me, my wife gives me the "wow" face all the time! She laughed at my jokes before we got married, and then suspiciously stopped!

 

[billd91]

The original tieflings were just folks who had lower planar blood in their veins. Could be a demon, devil or some other evil lower planar creature in their past. 3e continued that lore. 5e's limitation to devils is really the non-standard version.

The limitation to infernal bloodline came from 4e. And as Snarf pointed out, it is trivial to just ignore that.

 

[Maxperson]

The limitation to infernal bloodline came from 4e. And as Snarf pointed out, it is trivial to just ignore that.

Oh, yeah. I have ignored it when I run 5e. Hell, I even use the old 2e Tiefling trait chart to give them variety again.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Greyhawk, per Gygax, had (among other things)-

1. A crashed spaceship, complete with laser guns.
2. A pocket plane that put you in Alice in Wonderland.
3. Multiple ways to get to other prime material planes, including but not limited to apocalyptic and western settings.
4. Mechanical devices, robots, and ancient computers.
5. Had villains (in his home game) that included Dr. Who and Colonel Sanders.
6. Created the Odd Alley and Weird Way in the City of Greyhawk (look it up).


I could keep going, but the 70s ... they were different.

At that time people were adding new things…was there even a push for setting purity? It looks to me like people just had a new idea and added it vs. “this is not thematically appropriate.”

I am not against curated campaigns if people want them. I don’t like guns much in my world but Gygax had Murlynd…

Greyhawk of all places had weirdness here or there with a baseline I like. I think the solution for those that object is to either rationalize the existence of tieflings in a way they like or leave them out?

Panic and anger were not choices I considered…but…internet…

 

[Micah Sweet]

The original tieflings were just folks who had lower planar blood in their veins. Could be a demon, devil or some other evil lower planar creature in their past. 3e continued that lore. 5e's limitation to devils is really the non-standard version.

I would also argue that 4e's standardization of appearance was also a big change.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

At that time people were adding new things…was there even a push for setting purity? It looks to me like people just had a new idea and added it vs. “this is not thematically appropriate.”

I am not against curated campaigns if people want them. I don’t like guns much in my world but Gygax had Murlynd…

Greyhawk of all places had weirdness here or there with a baseline I like. I think the solution for those that object is to either rationalize the existence of tieflings in a way they like or leave them out?

Panic and anger were not choices I considered…but…internet…

To be honest, I think that the primary issue (and I will eventually get to a longer post about this) with people trying to enforce some kind of "Greyhawk purity code" is that it goes against the entire ethos of what Greyhawk was.

Famously, Gygax did not include many elements from his home campaign into the setting (folio and boxed set) because he didn't want everyone just playing his campaign. The reason it is sparse is because Greyhawk was supposed to be a setting that every table made their own.

If you go back and look at the material, you'll see tons of hooks in there- but importantly, these hooks were meant for individual tables to decide what, if anything, they would do with them. There was very little in the way of established lore and canon. Even the lore and canon that was there (such as the invoked devastation and rain of colorless fire) was more of a tantalizing hint for tables to use - not some edict to follow.

 

[Faolyn]

And as I noted upthread, the author explicitly created the new Valachan as an evolution of the old, not a reboot from scratch. These goals - continuing from the previous version of a world and updating it for modern sensibilities - aren't mutually exclusive.

Fair enough, although to my mind, it is a reboot.

But since I like the new version, it doesn't matter to me.

 

[Maxperson]

At that time people were adding new things…was there even a push for setting purity? It looks to me like people just had a new idea and added it vs. “this is not thematically appropriate.”

That's what all the DMs I knew back then that ran Greyhawk(or any other setting) did. Nobody I played with was concerned with keeping it pure to Gary's written version.