D&D General Greyhawk setting material

[Parmandur]

As far as I know the culture on the sword coast doesn't really differentiate until you get Amn. I could be wrong but that's how I always saw it.

Ethnicity isn't as rigorously thought out in FR as in GH: largely because Greenwood's interest was in finding a way to "say yes" if his players wanted to play any given type of person they wanted to ("yes, there are black nobility in Cormyr, of Turkish descent, and you can play one!"): as such, the Sword Coast is actually a diverse melting pot of different cultures, like North America. This is actually one of the features that makes WotC happy with the Sword Coast as a default. The ethnicities described in the Player's Handbook are those who are common on the Sword Coast, and this is followed through on the adventure products.

Greyhawk has more of a grizzled history buff war gamer attempt to detail the lines of traditional conflict.

Different goals.

 

[David Howery]

a zillion years ago, when I was running a WoG campaign actually set in the city of Greyhawk, I wanted to use both Saltmarsh and Orlane (from the "Cult of the Reptile God" module), so I set Orlane on the edge of the Mistmarsh, and Saltmarsh down on the edge of Wooly Bay. Neither module really required them to be elsewhere, and it put them close to the campaign action...

 

[MockingBird]

For those that want a Greyhawk version.

Is the map in the book not correctly oriented?

 

[darjr]

I think it is, for Faerun... but it could have been the other way round?

 

[Parmandur]

Is the map in the book not correctly oriented?

There was a huge, protracted argument on the board about this:

The town map on page 15 it oriented with East on top, with North to the left.

The region map on page 23 is oriented with West on top, with North to the right.

This seems related to the maps originally provided with U1: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh being fleshed out, and page sizes

 

[Parmandur]

I think it is, for Faerun... but it could have been the other way round?

Nope, they are just for Greyhawk, but the maps have non-standard orientations, to the great delight of @Hussar ...

 

[David Howery]

I have a (non spoilery) question about GoS: Is it a 5E retelling of the original 1E trilogy, a completely new adventure involving the same area, a retelling with more stuff added in, or what?

 

[lkj]

I have a (non spoilery) question about GoS: Is it a 5E retelling of the original 1E trilogy, a completely new adventure involving the same area, a retelling with more stuff added in, or what?

At core, it's the trilogy converted to 5e. However, it includes a lot of extra stuff. They've fleshed out Saltmarsh and the surrounding environs (original module Saltmarsh was mostly left to the imagination). They've provided the seeds for running a whole campaign out of the area They've also added a few other converted nautical adventures from Dungeon magazine that fit the same theme. And they give guidelines for running the whole set as a campaign. Finally, they provide rules for running ships (a subset of their 'vehicle rules').

I've found it to be quite a nice value and very well done.

AD

 

[MockingBird]

I have a (non spoilery) question about GoS: Is it a 5E retelling of the original 1E trilogy, a completely new adventure involving the same area, a retelling with more stuff added in, or what?

I never played the original but it seems to be the same updated for 5e. The trilogy is included along with other adventures that share an aquatic theme. Theres a detailed write up of Saltmarsh itself with adventure hooks for quest that weren't in the original. Theres also rules for ships and some locations for the DM to use as they please.

Edit: Also to note theres a paragraph explaining how you can add the adventures from Tales from the Yawning Portal if you have that book. IMO I say the book is well worth the money for the adventures and tools it gives you.

 

[Shiroiken]

but there is no "One True Greyhawk", it's whatever you want to make of it.

This is how Gary intended it. He never wanted the books to move the plot forward, except by the use of adventures, and even then only to be self-referencing. His plan was to start with the Flannaess, then move to another section of the world, repeating as needed until the entire world was roughly mapped and described. Every campaign would start in 576 CY with the same basic concepts, but each campaign would then be customized and detailed by the DM for their specific needs.