Only the Lonely: Why We Demand Official Product

[Hussar]

The only reason they "aren't in" Greyhawk is because they didn't exist when Greyhawk was originally published.
/snip

BINGO!

Once upon a time, there were really only two settings for D&D - Greyhawk and The Known World. Now, The Known World was only for Basic/Expert D&D, and it was kept very separate from Greyhawk. But, anything else that was published for D&D was published FOR Greyhawk. Anything not set in the Known World, published before 1987, was meant to be set somewhere in Greyhawk. Pretty much anyway.

So, the notion that Greyhawk isn't a kitchen sink setting ignores pretty much the first 15 years or so of the game's history.

 

[Don Durito]

It is a kitchen sink, but it's an old one from a seventies house. The question is whether when you renovate, you rip out the old pannelling and replacing with slick shiny new modern surfaces, or you carefully restore it, updating behind the scences but retaining the original veneer.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

It is a kitchen sink, but it's an old one from a seventies house. The question is whether when you renovate, you rip out the old pannelling and replacing with slick shiny new modern surfaces, or you carefully restore it, updating behind the scences but retaining the original veneer.

But there's really nothing that needs restoring. You could pick the 3e Greyhawk Gazetteer and play right now without changing anything. If you want Greyhawk to be one of the official 5e settings, then you have to change it so that it fits a specific niche.

 

[Hussar]

It is a kitchen sink, but it's an old one from a seventies house. The question is whether when you renovate, you rip out the old pannelling and replacing with slick shiny new modern surfaces, or you carefully restore it, updating behind the scences but retaining the original veneer.

However, the analogy doesn't hold a lot of water. heh.

Like I said, it's not really a 70's kitchen sink. Or, at least, that's not the important bit. The fact that it is a setting that accepted all things D&D is the important part. The only reason that we don't have a lot of the newer bits in the setting is that the setting was largely put out to pasture in favor of Forgotten Realms and then a bunch of other settings.

Sure, we could reset the setting back to some earlier historical point. That can be done. But, it ignores the fact that Greyhawk wasn't meant to be that way. Greyhawk for the early years of D&D, was EVERYTHING D&D. Heck, even Kara-tur was originally advertised to be part of Greyhawk. The material apparently was cut from the book later on, mostly because TSR was, at that point in time, severing ties with all things Gygax.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

IMO, if you want a low magic low fantasy setting where pretty much everyone is human, then that isn't Greyhawk, and never was.

There is certainly room for such a setting, but it would be far better to start from scratch.

 

[Don Durito]

However, the analogy doesn't hold a lot of water. heh.

Like I said, it's not really a 70's kitchen sink. Or, at least, that's not the important bit. The fact that it is a setting that accepted all things D&D is the important part. The only reason that we don't have a lot of the newer bits in the setting is that the setting was largely put out to pasture in favor of Forgotten Realms and then a bunch of other settings.

Sure, we could reset the setting back to some earlier historical point. That can be done. But, it ignores the fact that Greyhawk wasn't meant to be that way. Greyhawk for the early years of D&D, was EVERYTHING D&D. Heck, even Kara-tur was originally advertised to be part of Greyhawk. The material apparently was cut from the book later on, mostly because TSR was, at that point in time, severing ties with all things Gygax.

Yes. This has already been said. Others in this thread seem to feel quite differently.

How shall we determine the TRUTH?

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Hussar]

/snip

Not true. To an extent that is hard to imagine, almost no material is "set" In Greyhawk. Where is, for example, the Desert of Desolation? Where is Barovia? The Hidden Shrine? The Tower of Inverness? Where is Dragonlance (heh)?
/snip

Heh. Dragonlance. Fair enough. Wasn't thinking of those.

However, Hidden Shrine of Tomoachan was set in Greyhawk. As was Ghost Tower of INverness.

This Post by @Merric Blackman details the settings pretty well:

1978:
G1-3, D1-3, S1: Greyhawk

1979:
S2, T1: Greyhawk;
B1: no setting (although notes for placing in Greyhawk)

1980:
A1, C1, C2, Q1, S3: Greyhawk

1981:
A2, A3, A4, I1, L1, U1: Greyhawk;
B2, B3, X1, X2: no setting.

1982:
N1, S4, WG4, U2: Greyhawk;
B4, X3: ?;
R1, R2, R3, I2, I3: no setting (*note, R series possibly on other side of Greyhawk, but never made canon)

1983:
L2, EX1*, EX2*, U3, UK1, UK2: Greyhawk; (*note: demiplane, not written as Greyhawk)
I4, I5, I6, R4: no setting
RPGA3, B5, X4, X5: ?

In 1984, the Dragonlance campaign came along.

Cheers!

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*