D&D 5E With the release of each new setting book, the SCAG looks worse and worse...

[QuentinGeorge]

It's all for the Swordcoast or Chult, that isn't enough.

The "Ravenloft" setting for 5E consists of a single core domain, and not even its entire territory. And it really doesn't use much of any of the material developed during 2nd or 3rd edition at all. From about 2007 onwards, WoTC decided "Ravenloft" was "the original module, with a bit of other stuff".

So Forgotten Realms fans really got off easy.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Similar to how Eberron has a decent level of support, and its biggest advocate is Keith Baker, still very much active and creating content.

The closest thing I've seen to Greyhawk having an advocate is Mike Mearls, who I've heard say that he loves GH but still doesn't want a book because he loves how vague the setting is...

I honestly think the real problem is the inter-fandom jihad where you have people who would countenance the changes in From the Ashes, people who want to play in that era, and people who want to play in the 3rd edition era.

There's not a lot of market if most of them are "I don't want it to have any post 1980s material.". They already have those products.

 

[Parmandur]

Well I don't think that's quite true. Carl Sargent ran it for most of 2nd edition (and had played in it long before that), and Peter Adkinson of WoTC was such a Greyhawk fan that reviving the setting was once of the first things he did when he bought the ailing TSR. Greyhawks failure may have been because of unrelated company troubles, or mismanagement of the line, but I honestly believe there were more passionate Greyhawkers working in TSR/WoTC than there was playing the game.

In all fairness to Sargent and Adkinson, neither of their contributions are Ed Greenwood levels: Greenwood just published a new FR book this month, and has never stopped providing material.

 

[Parmandur]

Similar to how Eberron has a decent level of support, and its biggest advocate is Keith Baker, still very much active and creating content.

The closest thing I've seen to Greyhawk having an advocate is Mike Mearls, who I've heard say that he loves GH but still doesn't want a book because he loves how vague the setting is...

Well, Greyhawk did get a book, though a stealthy experiment. Mearls said at the Gameholecon panel late last year that it was a successful experiment. Based on how Ghosts of Saltmarsh positioned Greyhawk in genre terms, and how WotC has cozyed up with Luke Gygax, a 5E Greyhawk Setting book seems more likely, even if FR is a more popular Setting.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Well, Greyhawk did get a book, though a stealthy experiment. Mearls said at the Gameholecon panel late last year that it was a successful experiment. Based on how Ghosts of Saltmarsh positioned Greyhawk in genre terms, and how WotC has cozyed up with Luke Gygax, a 5E Greyhawk Setting book seems more likely, even if FR is a more popular Setting.

You know it's going to be "Melf's Guide to the Flanaess ".

edit: One day I'll learn how to spell

 

[Paul Farquhar]

it was actually made by a smaller company

I did not know it was made by a 3rd party. That suggests that even back then WotC staffers had no interest in rewriting a FR setting book.

Which is not to say they didn't like the setting - they are quite happy to set most of their adventures there.

And they are happy to endorse what others do with the setting.

You really are projecting your dislike of the Forgotten Realms hard on these writers.

I don't dislike FR. I use it for most of my adventures myself. And the reason I do that is there is a vast amount of setting material already available, much of it free.

What I do dislike is rewriting things that have already been written. I'm a creative person and I like to be creative. I don't think I'm unreasonable in projecting that onto WotC writers, especially given the data we have by looking at their output.

 

[teitan]

Lo, and behold:

Dungeon Masters Guild

www.dmsguild.com

In general, it serves WotC commercial interests to tempt people into buying the big books for a portion of the total: get enough slivers of the market per book, it pays off.

Again I don't buy PDFs or POD. Lo and BEHOLD.

 

[teitan]

Seems to me that most writers loved working with Ed on the Realms by the outpouring of support when Silver Marches came out and bean counters were trying to force WOTC to only publish crunch.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Seems to me that most writers loved working with Ed on the Realms by the outpouring of support when Silver Marches came out and bean counters were trying to force WOTC to only publish crunch.

I'm sure writers love getting into expansive and fulfilling creative endeavours. Beancounters are actually worried about "will anyone buy this". And the amount of stuff churned out clearly created fatigue.

 

[Parmandur]

Again I don't buy PDFs or POD. Lo and BEHOLD.

Well, it is available in a hardcover book as well, one chock full of other material: there are over 20 low level dungeons detailed in Dragon Heist, including many with alternate keys for different scenarios. It's very inexpensive to procure, and not a PDF