D&D General Podcast #392 Livestream: Schrodinger's Greyhawk Book Name, Lost Gygax Dungeons

Livestreaming as always Friday at 2pm UK time (9am Eastern)! In this week's show we discuss the latest D&D Greyhawk book revelations, and look at a couple of 'lost' Gygax dungeons which are currently crowdfunding.

Note that from May we will be moving the livestream to Mondays at 8pm UK time (3pm Eastern), starting on May 4th!

• Melf’s Guide to Greyhawk is called ‘The Shield Lands’ as actor Vince Vaughn gifts cover art to Luke Gygax
• Greyhawk book is NOT 'Shield Lands' but 'Borderlands of Iuz' according to team member
• There are TWO 'lost' Gygax castles crowdfunding right now
• There's a 4-part Ravenloft comic book series coming
• 1979 AD&D coloring album art sells for $57,500
• VHS: Very Horror Stories - Rule of Three
• Mega Dungeon Month

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[GothmogIV]

Excellent discussion point: what does 'gritty' mean? PJ (or perhaps Grouchy...I mean, Morrus) said it had to do with the mechanics vs. the setting. While AD&D mechanics are certainly less...forgiving, let's say, than 5.5e, I think there is more to it than that. Greyhawk was developed by wargamers, so the setting itself--especially in the older iterations --spends a lot of ink on things like troop types, troop dispositions, kingdom military readiness, etc. War is an important, pervasive theme in the world of Greyhawk.

Similarly, there is a dearth of cuddly creatures that you can play (tabaxi, turtles, birds). I'm not saying you can't be those things (you do you), but they have not been inherent in the setting thus far. There has not been a lot of the wildly varied heritages (races) available in a place like the Forgotten Realms, for example.

Those who wrote, and play(ed) in, this setting also did not wrestle with some of the more modern sensibilities as related to inherently evil beings and peoples--the drow, orc, etc. Good and bad are pretty clear cut.

So is that gritty? Compared to something like the Forgotten Realms, I'd say so. Can you play the full panoply of 5.5e characters in Greyhawk? I don't see why not. Can you use the modern D&D system in that setting? Sure can. Will these changes make the setting less 'gritty'? I'd say yes, but I'm curious about what others think.

Thank you for a thought-provoking discussion this AM, ENWorld folks!

 

[GothmogIV]

Pearls before swine, people, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE!

 

[Achan hiArusa]

There's already a Dragonborn NPC in the Greyhawk section of the DMG. A friend of mine called the Dragonborn the "Gateway to Furries".