D&D (2024) What older setting do you want to see next?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

At the risk of conjuring a scarecrow, I truly wonder how long cultists will be an acceptable villain origin

When the self-identified Cultists of Orcus complain, then it'll be an issue.

People choosing to do evil are always going to be acceptable enemies.

The notion that everything is being taken off the table because WotC has wisely decided that "hey, you look different than me, therefore it's OK to stick you in the face with a sword" is silly at best and intellectually dishonest at worst.

 

[Parmandur]

I don't think those are proof of anything. The original creator of Dark Sun hypothetizes that WotC wouldn't touch the setting for X, Y and Z reasons, but doesn't know, and WotC wouldn't say. (Compare to all the people who say Movie X "could never be made today," ignoring how many movies of that type are still being made.)

A website got some letters from an unknown number of people and said "people are made we didn't mention that there's slavery in the setting" could mean they got three angry letters. We have no idea how widespread the response was, nor how seriously to take them. (A website getting brigaded by angry partisans is not representative of anything, as countless movie review sites being brigaded amply illustrates.)

And Paizo deciding to not do content that includes slavery means that Paizo decided not to do content that includes slavery, not anything significant about the market as a whole.

Honestly, Radiant Citadel is a great rebuttal to all of this stuff. It is openly and enthusiastically an incredibly progressive, utopian setting that includes plenty of real world ills, with multiple of its adventures addressing the consequences of colonialism. WotC isn't scared to publish this stuff, as we've seen as recently as July.

After years of everyone trying to find Planescape and Spelljammer under every tea leaf, it's weird as hell to watch many of the same people try to conjure up a reason that Dark Sun hasn't happened yet, ignoring the very obvious reason that every time WotC has come up with psionics rules, a substantial number of Dark Sun fans are loudly furious that the rules aren't the same as they were in 2E.

WotC clearly wants to do this. They would not have kept screwing around with psionics rules -- publishing them in a book as recently as November 2020 -- if they didn't.

I think if the Mystic had made it into Xanathar's Luke WotC wanted, Dark Sun would have already happened.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Amazing the number of people on this poll that want a setting known for slavery and racism, its as if people want some societal ills to fight against in a fantasy setting.

And climate change!

For a setting that people are claiming couldn't be published today, it's weird how timely Dark Sun actually is.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Re: Birthright, it's a cool setting with a valid niche to fill. I don't know if it has sufficient brand recognition to convince WotC not to just use Eldraine to fill the same niche.

Eldraine is definitely the one with more recognition in 2022 and it also brings in chivalry and fairy tales as flavors 5E hasn't done much with, outside of Witchlight.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Orcs of Thar is still the best RPG product of its era

You are going to be very upset when you Google how people view it in 2022.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Thunder Rift is part of Mystara.

Retroactively. It was its own thing originally and it works fine as a standalone setting.

That said, WotC already has Phandelver as their (mostly) standalone starting setting and they're tripling down on it with next year's campaign book. I don't think there's a convincing pitch to make to WotC about Thunder Rift. (Again, just open it up on DMs Guild, WotC.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

So to loop this around to the main point again, is this something so ingrained in Oerth that it cannot be ignored or changed without irreparable harm to the setting? Do we get rid of the Scarlet Brotherhood, do we just never mention the ethnic origins of the Suel again, or is it so tainted by the past that Greyhawk itself is unsalvageable?

No, none of it is fundamental to the setting. That said, the people who are most interested in a Greyhawk revival are the least interested in even a pebble being changed. Erik Mona, who is as big of a Greyhawk superfan as you're likely to find, got a lot of crap during the pre-Paizo days for updating stuff in Dragon articles and Dungeon adventures.

Between the Greyhawk fans being fewer in number, older, and not particularly interested in anything being changed, along with the adventures there largely being the same sort that can already be played in the Forgotten Realms, it's hard to see what the argument for a 5E/1D&D Greyhawk is. As I said earlier in this thread, it'd be a 2024 nostalgia play or nothing.

It's not even likely to ever be licensed out, since WotC refused to let Paizo license it, as I recall.

 

[The Glen]

Is it though? I always though it seperate.

It's tied to Glantri in the adventure that came with the DM Screen.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's tied to Glantri in the adventure that came with the DM Screen.

Glantri as a standalone setting would be spectacular. Renaissance-era magocracy in a canal city? Yes, please.

 

[GuyBoy]

No, none of it is fundamental to the setting. That said, the people who are most interested in a Greyhawk revival are the least interested in even a pebble being changed. Erik Mona, who is as big of a Greyhawk superfan as you're likely to find, got a lot of crap during the pre-Paizo days for updating stuff in Dragon articles and Dungeon adventures.

Between the Greyhawk fans being fewer in number, older, and not particularly interested in anything being changed, along with the adventures there largely being the same sort that can already be played in the Forgotten Realms, it's hard to see what the argument for a 5E/1D&D Greyhawk is. As I said earlier in this thread, it'd be a 2024 nostalgia play or nothing.

It's not even likely to ever be licensed out, since WotC refused to let Paizo license it, as I recall.

Maybe, but speaking personally, I am older (59 and playing since 1976), keen to see Greyhawk revived for 2024 and TOTALLY happy to see as many pebbles moved as are necessary to meet modern standards of decency and inclusivity as necessary.