D&D 5E Greyhawk: Why We Need Mo' Oerth by 2024

[Snarf Zagyg]

I mean, Matt Mercer exists, so thst is questionable.

Never let a little reality get in the way of a good joke!

 

[Oofta]

I mean, Matt Mercer exists, so thst is questionable.

That assumes Mercer is a Greyhawk fan.

 

[Parmandur]

That assumes Mercer is a Greyhawk fan.

He is, as I recall. He's an old school AD&D player and DM at heart.

The Exandria pantheon is just yhe 4E default pantheon, but that means it's mostly Greyhawk deities. And look at who his BVEG in the iriginal campaign was.

 

[Parmandur]

That assumes Mercer is a Greyhawk fan.

I swear I've heard Mercer gush about Greyhawk somewhere in the hundreds of hours of footage I've watched him in, buy a quick search did turn this up:

"The panel was done mostly in a question and answer format, and there were a ton of inside jokes that flew right over my head. But I do know Dungeons & Dragons, and Matt Mercer’s abilities as DM are legendary–as I’m sure you know. When asked what world he would like to dive his stories into, Gygax’s original land of Greyhawk was floated, but Mercer ultimately decided he’d want to poke around in Planescape, because of the possibilities it holds."

Critical Role, the Future of Games and more--C2E2 Day 2 Game Retrospective | Third Coast Review

Update: A previous version of this article mistakenly listed Shail Mehta’s project incorrectly. It has been changed to Gameboard-1–and you can find information on their Kickstarter page and website. Day […]

thirdcoastreview.com

 

[TwiceBorn2]

I swear I've heard Mercer gush about Greyhawk somewhere in the hundreds of hours of footage I've watched him in, buy a quick search did turn this up:

"The panel was done mostly in a question and answer format, and there were a ton of inside jokes that flew right over my head. But I do know Dungeons & Dragons, and Matt Mercer’s abilities as DM are legendary–as I’m sure you know. When asked what world he would like to dive his stories into, Gygax’s original land of Greyhawk was floated, but Mercer ultimately decided he’d want to poke around in Planescape, because of the possibilities it holds."

Critical Role, the Future of Games and more--C2E2 Day 2 Game Retrospective | Third Coast Review

Update: A previous version of this article mistakenly listed Shail Mehta’s project incorrectly. It has been changed to Gameboard-1–and you can find information on their Kickstarter page and website. Day […]

thirdcoastreview.com

Hmmm... I wonder if someone with Matt Mercer's cred among younger gamers could boost the popularity of a Greyhawk 50th anniversary product (assuming he would be willing to endorse it, or to incorporate parts of it into his own streams, of course).

 

[Staffan]

He is, as I recall. He's an old school AD&D player and DM at heart.

The Exandria pantheon is just yhe 4E default pantheon, but that means it's mostly Greyhawk deities. And look at who his BVEG in the iriginal campaign was.

It's a bit hard to separate Greyhawk deities from "general" D&D deities, but by my count the Dawn War pantheon has four of the former and eight of the latter, out of twenty.

I would not be surprised if he started out with the default Pathfinder pantheon and switched to the Dawn War when they went on screen, since one of the PCs in the original campaign was a cleric of Sarenrae.

 

[Parmandur]

It's a bit hard to separate Greyhawk deities from "general" D&D deities, but by my count the Dawn War pantheon has four of the former and eight of the latter, out of twenty.

I would not be surprised if he started out with the default Pathfinder pantheon and switched to the Dawn War when they went on screen, since one of the PCs in the original campaign was a cleric of Sarenrae.

No, they started with the default 4E pantheon because it started as a home 4E one shot, and he just kept the 4E gods in the Setting when they switched to Payhfinder, but let Ashkey take the default deity from the Pathfinder core rulebook when she made her character.

 

[Parmandur]

Hmmm... I wonder if someone with Matt Mercer's cred among younger gamers could boost the popularity of a Greyhawk 50th anniversary product (assuming he would be willing to endorse it, or to incorporate parts of it into his own streams, of course).

He quite cheerfully shows off every WotC book as the come out.

 

[TwiceBorn2]

He quite cheerfully shows off every WotC book as the come out.

And that confirms just how much Critical Role/Matt Mercer I watch.

 

[MichaelSomething]

What, you mean Youtube and Discord channels, Facebook groups, wikis and dedicated fan sites aren't enough???

Is that what this "progress" thing is all about?

You can never have enough promotion!!!!
Especially since the hip new app can change at a moment's notice.
But what are the Youtube/Discord/Facebook/areas for Greyhawk fans?? Is there a list I can look at???

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

And actual play show with Matt Spencer to promote the revival of Greyhawk?

 

[Carlsen Chris]

The Mystara Gazeteers were a really cool thing, I remember reading them cover to cover (even if Mystara's geography and cultures were...interestingly placed). While it wasn't exactly a supplement, "The Voyage of the Princess Ark" was one of the best ways to convey a setting I've ever encountered.

Wasn't Mystara's unique geography one of the main design features of the setting?

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Let's remember WotC has to sell something enoughly new, because today the fans can created a updated and recycled version of old things. And the new sourcebooks are designed with the strategy to be an introduction letter among the newest fandom. And each line has to allow space for future potential spin-offs, for example Kara-Tur, Maztica and al-Quadim. And Greyhawk is not only the known lands, but the unexplored regions, and other planets from the same solar system/crystel sphere, and the "twin worlds".

Yarth is low-magic-level version of Oerth. I wonder the "cultural impact" of "isekai" alternate spellcasters (vestige binders, ki martial adepts, truenamers, shadowcasters, incarnum soulmelders...). Aerth+Phaeree(Feywild) could be a "middle age" D&D version of White-Wolf's "World of Darkness+Chronicles of Darkness" with some little touch of "Witcher". Uerth would be like the Hyborean age (Conan the barbarian) with a crazy touch of "7th Sea" and magictek. Those "alternate" worlds can be the battlefield of factions from a future new wargame, digital or tabletop version. Maybe the arcane magic is possible, but with a potential secondary effect as the defilers from Dark Sun setting, with the difference the local flora and plants aren't killed, but there are more possibilities of strange things, as mutations, or accidental planar gates toward the Far Realm. Uerth may be the place with lots of secret cells of Thazridum, the elder elemental eye, but the magic is too weak for summoning rituals. Aerth(+Phaeree) also could be the "home" of mash-up version of Hasbro's franchises(My Little Pony, M.A.S.K, Transformers, G.I.Joe, Rom the spaceknight, micronauts,, Power Rangers, Zoids, PJ Masks..).

 

[TwiceBorn2]

You can never have enough promotion!!!!
Especially since the hip new app can change at a moment's notice.
But what are the Youtube/Discord/Facebook/areas for Greyhawk fans?? Is there a list I can look at???

"Ask, and you shall receive!" <Poof> D&D General - Campaign Setting Resources Online

The Discord channel can be accessed via the Canonfire! website (see the above resource list).

Additionally, here are some groups doing actual plays online:

.

Looks like they have several seasons worth of Greyhawk, Dragonlance, and Eberron: https://www.youtube.com/c/AtomicPeanutButterGroup/videos)


.


Just search for 'Greyhawk' on YouTube and you'll find a lot of great content/lore.

 

[James Gasik]

Wasn't Mystara's unique geography one of the main design features of the setting?

Oh I don't really know. It always just struck me as odd, I never considered that it was intentional (with the exception of the Hollow World).

 

[Jmarso]

Greyhawk has moved beyond WOTC.

There is so much material available for GH online that nothing WOTC could make would even come close to what fans have done themselves over the past 30 years, coupled with digital versions of previously produced official material.

Fortunate old Grogs like me still have the original Darlene map and various gazetteers; some are available online at high cost and in varying conditions. Digital versions of all of it are out there. There is also Canonfire, the Oerth Journal series, and countless other GH resources for anyone interested in using the setting.

Frankly, my vast preference would be for them to keep their mitts off GH and just let it lie. I don't see them improving on the setting- only dumbing it down or trying to turn it into another FR.

And get off my lawn, you young punks!

 

[Faolyn]

The Exandria pantheon is just yhe 4E default pantheon, but that means it's mostly Greyhawk deities. And look at who his BVEG in the iriginal campaign was.

I was always upset they didn't bother to include Yondalla. I know she's not particularly exciting, as gods go, but they could have made her home, protection, agriculture, fertility, and everything else not including in the otherwise very game-y pantheon.

 

[Parmandur]

I was always upset they didn't bother to include Yondalla. I know she's not particularly exciting, as gods go, but they could have made her home, protection, agriculture, fertility, and everything else not including in the otherwise very game-y pantheon.

"Redundant" with both Melora and Erarhis, in terms of the logic at play when they made the sample pantheon.

 

[Faolyn]

Greyhawk has moved beyond WOTC.

There is so much material available for GH online that nothing WOTC could make would even come close to what fans have done themselves over the past 30 years, coupled with digital versions of previously produced official material.

To be fair, you can probably say that about most settings. There's like a dozen netbooks for Ravenloft, as well as the Quoth the Raven netzine, which is up to issue 27. I've seen, but not read, similar things for Dragonlance, Dark Sun, the Realms, etc. Sure, a lot of it's for AD&D and some of it requires archive.org to see, but.

I dunno. Maybe Greyhawk enthusiasts need to go through all the fan material and try to compile it into one, fully-updated sourcebook.

 

[Faolyn]

"Redundant" with both Melora and Erarhis, in terms of the logic at play when they made the sample pantheon.

I wouldn't call that too Redundant. IIRC, Melora is wild nature, and Erathis is cities. There's still no healing/protection/fertility god that I'm aware of, and it'd be nice to give halflings (and gnomes) some representation.