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

[Kurotowa]

As to Greyhawk...it is perfect. The actual Setting itself, at core, is a 32 page 1E booklet worth of information, which is the ideal size for a chapter in the DMG (we know now that Greyhawk and "how to build out your Setting" is Chapter 9 of the new DMG). It follows all the core assumptions of D&D, everything in the new PHB and MM will fit in without issues.

Yeah, being concise is a selling point. And I really suspect this version of Greyhawk is going to be quietly updated to be a bit more cosmopolitan, a bit less 70's style dirty hovels and fantasy racism. I doubt it will be hard.

 

[overgeeked]

Where was Greyhawk confirmed?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

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

The same reason Geoff Johns brought back all the pre-Crisis stuff he grew up with when he was running the show at DC. It's what the folks in charge grew up liking and, to them, it's what's classic and great.

The 7th Edition DMG has a good chance of including Eberron in it, once Millennials and Gen Z folks are fully in charge over at WotC.

I do think WotC's weird indifference to creating a setting laser-focused on their young audience is a mistake, although third party productions like Obojima are definitely benefitting from it. Hopefully one of their new settings coming in the next few years is more in keeping with Avatar and Studio Ghibli, etc.

 

[Reynard]

Where was Greyhawk confirmed?

There is a link to a Game Informer article in the quote in the OP.

ETA: Here is a link to the digital article.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Where was Greyhawk confirmed?

Game Informer.

 

[Cadence]

Greyhawk is a world inspired by Gygax's love of sword and sorcery pulp fantasy and hard coded medievalism. I just don't understand how that is going to appeal to generations raised on Avatar, Harry Potter and Steven Universe.

Harry Potter was already out almost a decade before today's freshmen in high school were born. Avatar the Last Airbender's original run ended about the time they were born.

I've got nothing for Steven Universe. (Confess to needing to go look it up).

If they put the anthropomorphic animals in as a species they could have at least gotten Kung-Fu Panda. And I assume whatever they get will work with How to Train Your Dragon.

(Ok I also confess I have no idea when the How to Drain Your Dragon ones came out - who can tell with Netflix. So my Airbender comment above could be unfair/irrelevant).

 

[Vaalingrade]

Maybe they will at least finally address that it is okay to limit options for the purpose of setting coherence. "Dwarves in Greyhawk can't use arcane magic, so they may not be Wizards."

Lol. No. That is NEVER going to happen.

Yeah... let's never do that.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Avatar, etc., is huge in the streaming era. When it debuted on cable television (my kids can't ever remember a time when we had cable) is irrelevant to today's kids.

 

[Parmandur]

How did they justify it then? I am just curious. Greyhawk never grabbed my attention enough to read more than a few Dragon articles.

Not sure they felt the need to? 3E was my first exposure to D&D, so 3E Greyhawk is just my assumed baseline for the game.

 

[payn]

Legacy. You may think a new direction is necessary to attract and keep newer players, but legacy is a strong attraction. I know when I started D&D I didnt want it to fit my perception of what was hip, I wanted to know its history.