I've had time to think about it now, so I thought I'd put together a brief (yes, really!) post about my thoughts regarding Greyhawk in the DMG for 5e: 5e Harder.
Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a man of wealth and taste. I've been around for a long, long year. And I've stolen many of your hours to waste. Mainly about Greyhawk. At the bottom of the post, I'll link to some of my prior Greyhawk threads if you want to see my musings (including some evolution in my thoughts).
Let me start with this- obviously, we haven't seen what they are going to do yet. So any comments, ideas, and criticisms must be tempered by the simple fact that until we know what they actually release, we can't really make definitive statements.
With that in mind, I will offer the following observations-
1. On Full Reflection, I Am Happy With The Approach They Are Taking.
If you look through all of my past Greyhawk threads, you will see an evolution in my thoughts. I am an unabashed Greyhawk fan. I think that at the beginning, I wanted a Greyhawk that I remembered. In other words, the perfect Greyhawk would have been a deluxe set, setting everything back to the 1983 campaign setting timeline, with a deluxe "Darlene" map, and goodies. Oh, and also instructions in it that all issues and questions were to be resolved by Snarf. Who is your god, now? Muahahahahahaha!
Over time, I began to remember that what made Greyhawk special to me was that Greyhawk was a setting of hooks, but not answers. Were DMs were free to put their own material in. That every table had a different Greyhawk, and that was fine. Moreover, that Greyhawk not only was full of mysteries and unexplored areas in the Flanaess (the main map area), but the rest of Oerik was yours to fill in.
And that's what I want for the next generation of gamers. A setting to make their own. I don't want it to be encumbered by the cruft of too much lore, and too many strictures. Make Greyhawk the setting you want it to be.
So, in that way, I am incredibly happy that they are using it as a teaching example in the DMG. Because that's the setting that I fell in love with- a setting that provided a map, some hooks, and that I made my own. I want that for other people too. And I know that their Greyhawk won't be my Greyhawk, and that's okay! Because I want them to fall in love with what they create. That's the point, right?
2. Of Course, the Devil is in the Details.
We know that there will be a map (awesome!), but we don't know what, exactly, the DMG will have about Greyhawk. I will have to wait and see; implementation is always an issue.
More importantly, Greyhawk needs to be opened up on the DM's Guild. People should be sharing their creations. If they don't, I will have major issues.
And that's it. I thought I'd have more to say, but for once ... I don't. I'm happy with this approach, with the express reservation that I haven't seen it yet. I honestly think that this might be the best approach for them to take with Greyhawk as well. I hope that this sparks some interest in the old stuff, but more importantly, I hope that people find as much joy in creating their own campaigns in Greyhawk as I did.
Now, if you want to do a deeper dive .....
www.enworld.org
www.enworld.org
www.enworld.org
www.enworld.org
www.enworld.org
www.enworld.org
www.enworld.org
www.enworld.org
Finally, if you want a quick link to the sourcing for the debate about whether 1e Greyhawk is a "points of light, holding off the wild" campaign setting re: population, go to this post here.
Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a man of wealth and taste. I've been around for a long, long year. And I've stolen many of your hours to waste. Mainly about Greyhawk. At the bottom of the post, I'll link to some of my prior Greyhawk threads if you want to see my musings (including some evolution in my thoughts).
Let me start with this- obviously, we haven't seen what they are going to do yet. So any comments, ideas, and criticisms must be tempered by the simple fact that until we know what they actually release, we can't really make definitive statements.
With that in mind, I will offer the following observations-
1. On Full Reflection, I Am Happy With The Approach They Are Taking.
If you look through all of my past Greyhawk threads, you will see an evolution in my thoughts. I am an unabashed Greyhawk fan. I think that at the beginning, I wanted a Greyhawk that I remembered. In other words, the perfect Greyhawk would have been a deluxe set, setting everything back to the 1983 campaign setting timeline, with a deluxe "Darlene" map, and goodies. Oh, and also instructions in it that all issues and questions were to be resolved by Snarf. Who is your god, now? Muahahahahahaha!
Over time, I began to remember that what made Greyhawk special to me was that Greyhawk was a setting of hooks, but not answers. Were DMs were free to put their own material in. That every table had a different Greyhawk, and that was fine. Moreover, that Greyhawk not only was full of mysteries and unexplored areas in the Flanaess (the main map area), but the rest of Oerik was yours to fill in.
And that's what I want for the next generation of gamers. A setting to make their own. I don't want it to be encumbered by the cruft of too much lore, and too many strictures. Make Greyhawk the setting you want it to be.
So, in that way, I am incredibly happy that they are using it as a teaching example in the DMG. Because that's the setting that I fell in love with- a setting that provided a map, some hooks, and that I made my own. I want that for other people too. And I know that their Greyhawk won't be my Greyhawk, and that's okay! Because I want them to fall in love with what they create. That's the point, right?
2. Of Course, the Devil is in the Details.
We know that there will be a map (awesome!), but we don't know what, exactly, the DMG will have about Greyhawk. I will have to wait and see; implementation is always an issue.
More importantly, Greyhawk needs to be opened up on the DM's Guild. People should be sharing their creations. If they don't, I will have major issues.
And that's it. I thought I'd have more to say, but for once ... I don't. I'm happy with this approach, with the express reservation that I haven't seen it yet. I honestly think that this might be the best approach for them to take with Greyhawk as well. I hope that this sparks some interest in the old stuff, but more importantly, I hope that people find as much joy in creating their own campaigns in Greyhawk as I did.
Now, if you want to do a deeper dive .....
D&D General - For the Love of Greyhawk: Why People Still Fight to Preserve Greyhawk
On the recent thread regarding the upcoming hardcover book and a discussion regarding Iggwilv and Tasha- https://www.enworld.org/threads/iggwilv-tasha-to-join-volo-xanathar-and-mordenkainen-updated.674231/ .... a discussion broke out about Greyhawk, and canon, and what is good, and bad, so on...
www.enworld.org
D&D General - Moar Greyhawk: Anthropocentrism and Humanity in Greyhawk
This post is related to another post I just wrote, about Greyhawk, here: https://www.enworld.org/threads/for-the-love-of-greyhawk-why-people-still-fight-to-preserve-greyhawk.674292/ After some time in the comments, a poster responded to a list of non-exclusive factors I wrote about Greyhawk...
www.enworld.org
D&D General - Greyhawk did what? A partial list of Greyhawk Personalities
After looking at the two threads involving Greyhawk, I realized that there are many people who don't realize certain things are Greyhawk; either they think it's just "general D&D," or it's something that the Realms has tried to swallow up, or something else. So I thought I'd do a short post to...
www.enworld.org
D&D General - Greyhawk and "Low Magic" : Why Low Magic is in the Eyes of Beholder
I guess we are on the Fourth Greyhawk-adjacent thread now! To paraphrase the great Knight, Sir Ron of Burgundy, "You're writing another long Greyhawk thread? And you ate the whole wheel of cheese? How are you doing this? Heck, I'm not even mad, that's amazing!"...
www.enworld.org
D&D General - What if God was One of Us? Divinity in Early D&D & Greyhawk
Some days, you feel like the Count in Sesame Street. Five! Five Greyhawk-adjacent threads! Muahahahahahahahaha! I was asked very nicely in another thread to post about the mythos of Greyhawk. Which is a fascinating topic that deserves a lot of interest! But in my opinion, the most...
www.enworld.org
D&D 5E - Greyhawk: Pitching the Reboot
It's been a while since I've posted about Greyhawk ... AND I HAVE COME BACK FOR MORE! I was inspired by this recent post by @The Glen: Marketing is the biggest issue. How do you make a setting sound fun? Greyhawk is a complete mess politically. The entire region is a powder keg waiting to...
www.enworld.org
D&D 5E - Greyhawk: Why We Need Mo' Oerth by 2024
Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in! One of the things I have often written about, albeit not recently, is Greyhawk. It is, for various reasons, my all-time favorite campaign setting, and one that I continue to return to. Recently, the tail end of another thread turned into...
www.enworld.org
D&D 5E - Greyhawk: Player Options for a Campaign Setting
Greyhawk is D&D before people thought they needed to color within the lines. Greyhawk is D&D your way. It's the infinite multiverse and crashed spaceships, it's ninja nazi monks and demon-possessed emperors, it's endless black ice and dead civilizations blasted by colorless fire. It's a...
www.enworld.org
Finally, if you want a quick link to the sourcing for the debate about whether 1e Greyhawk is a "points of light, holding off the wild" campaign setting re: population, go to this post here.
