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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Azzy" data-source="post: 8345528" data-attributes="member: 6563">In 1e, there wasn't so much as a default setting as there were default assumption—much of which came from Gary, Rob, and Jim's campaigns (with holdovers from Dave's Blackmoor campaign). Hence the named spells, magic items, artifact lore, and such (with occasion direct mention of Gary's Greyhawk campaign—not the published version, that came later). Another of these default assumptions was a barely sketched cosmology in the back of the 1e PHB. This cosmoloy, the Great Wheel, evolved over the course of 1e—from the PHB to to various modules to D&DG to various articles from Dragon magazine to MotP.It was assumed (I guess) that players and DMs would use this cosmology in their own campaigns (before 1980, Gary and Co. assumed that people would create their own settings). Of course, not everybody did. Then, (a version of) Greyhawk was published and it assumed the Great Wheel cosmology. Ed Greenwood, writing in Dragon magazine, assumed the GW for his setting (you know the one). Around '85, Dragonlance happened. DL inferred its own cosmology (but never really detailed it). Meanwhile, the only the other published setting, the Known World (later Mystara) developed its own cosmology distinct from the GW. Then the Forgotten Realms were published in '87. So, two of the four settings used the GW and the other two had their own thing going.At some point during 2e, it was mandated that all settings (in the AD&D line) would use the GW. Some of DMs still ignored it, though, for their homebrewed settings. Then 3e came and gave everyone their own cosmology like some Oprah giveaway (seriously, the 3e Manual of the Planes was a great book). 4e created a new cosmology. And now we've arrived in 5e, which, like 2e, wants to assimilate all the settings under into the GW like some cosmology Borg.Needless to say, I prefer having each setting having its own cosmology that make sense to it. Sure, have the GW be the "default assumption" like it was foe 1e, and let Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms keep it as their cosmology because that's what the started with. Let other published settings have their own cosmologies (with, like Eberron, a caveat that allows for making the setting part of the GW). And give us a mechanical toolkit, like 3e's MotP, for DMs to create their own cosmolgies for their homebrewed settings./rant</blockquote>

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