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Let's Forget the Forgotten Realms

Invisible Stalker

First Post
I'm 42 and also a Greyhawk fan from back in the day. I've only tolerated the Realms in video games. I might have ran a campaign in the setting for 4E, but the Realms lovers in the group naturally hated the changes.
 

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Stormonu

Legend
I have a special love for all three of the older worlds of Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance. Each appeals to a different desire in my gaming.

Greyhawk is the world that most feels like I can make it my own. While over the years there's been a good bit written for it, for me nothing beats just having either the World of Greyhawk Boxed set or the Greyhawk Gazetter, and going whatever direction you want from there.

Forgotten Realms is the world I turn to when I want a world that feels alive. It's been so detailed over the years I feel like, with the information available for it, I could get into the mind of any Realmian and know them.

Dragonlance is the world of the epic saga. It is the classic war of good and evil, of self-doubt and heroism and of bigotry and acceptance - in both the small scale and the large scale. Where Greyhawk has the feel of Terra Incognito and Realms is the Lands Revealed, Dragonlance is the place of story.

I feel there's plenty place for each in D&D Next, and I hope to see all three return.

However, of all the three, if one is going to be tied to the rules, I would rather it goes to Greyhawk - to Terra Incognito.
 

AdmundfortGeographer

Getting lost in fantasy maps
Where Greyhawk has the feel of Terra Incognito and Realms is the Lands Revealed, Dragonlance is the place of story.
I like this, I'd go as far as finding a place at the table for Mystara as the world where everything goes.

Mystara has a fantasy analog for every Earth culture, from nearly every era. Mystara has a place for grim and gritty, wahoo, high fantasy, low fantasy, comedy, dungeon crawling, wilderness exploring, age of exploration, domain building, urban drama, empires at war, sky ships, hollow worlds with floating islands, time travel, paths to immortality . . . and all at the same time in the same campaign, or just pick one and focus there.

There is already a lot of similarity to Mystara cosmology in the 4e cosmology. Nentyr Vale has so many similarities with northern Karameikos it is eerie.
 

Aoric

First Post
Some of you may know me better under my other moniker Argon alas it was not available when I signed up for ENworld.

However with all due respect to everyone else who loves their particular setting for whatever reason. Dungeons and Dragons begins and ends with Greyhawk. Though if it where to come to light again the western continent has to be explored as well. This does not mean no more Flanaess. I see it as adding some frosting to a cake, a steak and potatoes, a beer and wings maybe even some pizza.

I'm 39 and have been playing for over 20 years. Whose to say if I will or won't but the fifth edition remains to be seen. One thing that has kept the setting alive is its fans. I like many members of canonfire have submitted material to keep the setting alive. I will continue to do so but to me that is the main pull of the setting fans made it a reality and fans continue to make it so today. I think the main reason many of us would like to see a resurgence of Greyhawk as a setting. Is not so much for ourselves as much as we would like to share such an experience with the next generation of roleplayers out there.

Here's hoping this next rendition of dungeons and dragons is an improvement upon the game we all know and love.

Later

Aoric
 

Mark CMG

Creative Mountain Games
My solution? Default genre not default setting. That way they can follow up with the settings they want to support and, even moreso if they OGL 5E, license out the settings they don't want to support in-house, allowing OGC customization to a more open DDI, of course.
 

Jeff Carlsen

Adventurer
I've played in Forgotten Realms and didn't have a problem with it, but also had no special love for it. Still, it's a decent enough setting.

But Greyhawk is the D&D setting. It was the setting I was introduced to when I was a kid, and it was the default setting when Third Edition brought me back to the game.

I would like to see it be the default setting again, and I'd like it to get a solid set of products. Something akin to the original boxed set, but built with modern production values. It doesn't need a full line, leave that to Forgotten Realms. Just make it something special.
 

Noumenon

First Post
Did I mention I ran the biggest independent RPG news site in the world? Yet I haven't the faintest clue about the biggest mine of WotC's intellectual property. I bet you'd fire me now if you could.

You do know Drizz't and Elminster. I've been playing D&D for four years and I only just learned the reason there are spells called Mordenkainen's X. This is despite having read about a hundred back issues of Dragon magazine and having 30 D&D blogs in my RSS feed. (I finally learned it from Justin Alexander's 10-year-old review of Greyhawk: Return of the Eight.)
 

Frylock

Explorer
My Perspective

I played D&D from 1977 to 1981 (AD&D), then returned to the game 24 years later (2005) for the tail end of 3e. The only D&D in between was a brief fling with the Eye of the Beholder I PC video game, which is where I was introduced to the Forgotten Realms. I love the Realms and prefer it over Greyhawk, yet I agree that Greyhawk should be the default setting for DnDNext simply because FR has been the default setting for 4e. Do something different. Shake up things a bit. That's my philosophy. You should try it sometime, Morrus. It makes things more interesting. :)

Side note: I've never played in Dragonlance or any of the 2e settings except, of course, Dark Sun, which has support in 4e.
 

The Halfling

Explorer
If they made Planescape/The Great Wheel the default cosmology in any capacity and made planar material for it... I'd mortgage my soul to be in on it. Just saying.

Please?
shemmysmile.gif




Hey, I more or less said the same thing and it got me in on Paizo's BotD III, so it can't hurt to try the same here. I can happily be invested in more than one cosmology and enjoy both.

Since this in a way is connected with GH, I'm going to comment on this.

For all of the complaints against 4e for it's gamist attitude, why on earth would you want to bring back the biggest gamist element from 1e/2e. The Great Wheel is one huge conceit to support the alignment grid. It was too cold, too calculated...too PRECISE. It had no mystery. It was too easily understood. If anything, 4e's cosmology injected a mystery and mystic sensibility to the planes.

Greyhawk and the Great Wheel are not synonymous. In fact I would put forth the premise that the cosmology envisioned by 4e would fit the sword and sorcery feel of Classic Greyhawk more than the Great Wheel. The titanic battles between Chaos and Order, capricious faerie realms, and creatures from the shadows.

The only thing missing would be a 3rd coterminous plane...a Spirit World. Something to replace the old ethereal plane, but intended more as the Spirit world of China or Japan, coupled with the Hunting Grounds of Native America and Purgatory. A place of nature spirits and lost souls unable to either ascend or descend into the afterlife.

That and have the the astral domain/dominion/plane of Hell fall from the heavens/astral plane to reside over the maw of the Abyss, only held aloft from complete oblivion by the will of Asmodeus.

I would rather WotC build something new with regards to a core campaign world. Something along the lines of the PoL setting "detailed" in 4e. Adjusted for what ever rules changes that may occur in 5e, and with a better designed map.

Failing that, my preference would be Greyhawk, especially the synopsis detailed by Mearls, and the original Blackmoor utilized. But only because my preferred world is Eberron, and even I agree that that should not be core. It's too divisive.

The Forgotten Realms/Mystara/Golarion all suffer from the kitchen sink syndrome. I look at Golarion and all I see is 2e Forgotten Realms with great art direction. All are too generic. To be honest, a reimaged Mystara that attempted a more sensible placement of the various cultures and countries would be a better than yet another take on the FR.

It must be the Blackmoor Theory. Everything is better with Arneson's Blackmoor. :)
 

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