D&D (2024) WotC Invites You To Explore the World of Greyhawk

This week a new D&D Dungeon Master's Guide preview video was released. This one features the sample setting chapter in the book, which showcases the World of Greyhawk.

One of the earliest campaign settings, and created by D&D co-founder Gary Gygax, Greyhawk dates back to the early 1970s in Gygax's home games, receiving a short official setting book in 1980. Gyeyhawk was selected as the example setting because it is able to hit all the key notes of D&D while being concise and short. The setting has been largely absent from D&D--aside from a few shorter adventures--since 2008. Some key points from the video--

• Greyhawk deliberately leaves a lot for the DM to fill in, with a 30-page chapter.
• Greyhawk created many of the tropes of D&D, and feels very 'straight down the fairway' D&D.
• This is the world where many iconic D&D magic items, NPCs, etc. came from--Mordenkainen, Bigby, Tasha, Otiluke and so on.
• The DMG starts with the City of Greyhawk and its surroundings in some detail, and gets more vague as you get farther away.
• The city is an example of a 'campaign hub'.
• The sample adventures in Chapter 4 of the DMG are set there or nearby.
• The map is an updated version, mainly faithful to the original with some tweaks.
• The map has some added locations key to D&D's history--such as White Plume Mountain, the Tomb of Horrors, Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, Ghost Tower of Inverness.
• There's a map of the city, descriptions of places characters might visit--magic item shop, library, 3 taverns, temples, etc.
• The setting takes 'a few liberties while remaining faithful to the spirit of the setting'--it has been contemporized to make it resonate in all D&D campaigns with a balance of NPCs who showcase the diversity of D&D worlds.
• The backgrounds in the Player's Handbook map to locations in the city.
• Most areas in the setting have a name and brief description.
• They focus on three 'iconic' D&D/Greyhawk conflicts such as the Elemental Evil, a classic faceless adversary; Iuz the evil cambion demigod; and dragons.
• There's a list of gods, rulers, and 'big bads'.

 

[Parmandur]

Isn't that the Flanaess? The main ethnic group are called the Flan*, don't they?

*which is a funny name if you know Spanish...

Modt Humans aren't (mainly) Flan, though, and where did thr Flan come from originally? It's all pretty murky, ut the Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, and Halflings predate the Flan, at least. None of them are "from" somewhere in particular. Everyone all over.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Isn't that the Flanaess? The main ethnic group are called the Flan*, don't they?

*which is a funny name if you know Spanish...

They are called the Flan or the Flannae.

I wonder what they did for the Rhennee; they needed some updating.

 

[Parmandur]

They are called the Flan or the Flannae.

I wonder what they did for the Rhennee; they needed some updating.

I will take a look when I get a chance to sit down in a bit...first guess is, won't mention them. Second guess, if they get mentioned it will be in very different terms from the gold box Glossography I read last night...

Boy that was a ride. Dug out my secondhand 1E MM to verify what it had to say about Dervishes and Tribesmen...

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I will take a look when I get a chance to sit down in a bit...first guess is, won't mention them. Second guess, if they get mentioned it will be in very different terms from the gold box Glossography I read last night...

Boy that was a ride. Dug out my secondhand 1E MM to verify what it had to say about Dervishes and Tribesmen...

I am really curious now- I posted a question in Fitz's ask me anything.

Which I was just using to confirm that 5e: Seriously Dude, Where's My Car does, in fact, taste like strawberries.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Isn't that the Flanaess? The main ethnic group are called the Flan*, don't they?

*which is a funny name if you know Spanish...

It's a pain to run anything around the Forgotten Realms' Moonsea due to the city of Phlan there, when you live in Arizona and a lot of people immediately think "dessert!". Especially anything having to do with the old Gold Box CRPGs, which start and end there!

 

[Yaarel]

@ZeromaruX

Possibly, the Dragonborn emerge spontaneously, when Human children are born in an area under the influence of an ancient Dragon. This means, they tend to show up in any wilderness locale where an ancient Dragon is known to exist, and can be any family of Dragon, whether Metallic, Chromatic, or Gem.

 

[Umbran]

But every race needs a homeland.

Why?

Does something break if they don't? Does the universe fall apart if people mingle and mix and live together?

Is racial segregation somehow necessary to existence?

 

[Umbran]

I mean, I don’t agree with it, but “I want the 2024 version to be just like the 1980 version” isn’t an incoherent opinion.

Isn't it, though?

If you want it exactly the same, you don't want a "2024 version" - you just want a reprint.

 

[Yaarel]

Possibly, the Scarlet Order is no longer "racist" and no longer "N*zi" in 2024.

Generally, the original racist descriptions by Gygax (referring to Human "race" "purity", skin colors, etcetera) are mostly gone from everything in 2024 Greyhawk.

So we need to pay attention to what 2024 actually does say.


From what I have seen so far, the Scarlet Order is moreorless an assassins guild.

The Scarlet Order is a "fanatical" "Sueloise" "monastic order", whose goals are "shrouded in mystery".

If the order did have racist goals, this wouldnt be a mystery. It would be banal and obvious.

The order is intensely political, with spies and assassins everywhere.

Presumably, the order seeks to revive the ancient Sueloise Empire. But this actually isnt clear, and to what end is less obvious. It might be political intrigue to create something new for some new reason.

The leader of the order is reputed to be immortal, and to have lived during the Sueloise Empire and since. Some repute him to be an ancient Red Dragon trapped in a Human form, and to have been a consort of Tiamat. But all of the rumors are uncertain. (Heh, perhaps he is a Dragonborn with shapeshifting to appear Human.)


Baklunish is a language group. If I understand correctly, Sueloise is also a language group. Especially as an empire, ancient Suel probably comprised many ethnicities, all coming to speak the Sueloise language.

Compare the Roman Empire, merging many ethnicities, with many speaking Latin or a language influenced by Latin. People who seek to revive the ancient Roman Empire might not even be Italians themselves.

Racism is no longer an aspect of the Scarlet Order, as far as I can tell. And whatever it seeking to accomplish is secretive, conspiratorial, and probably Oerth-shaking.


Here is a description of the Scarlet Order, in the Greyhawk chapter in the Organizations and Factions section.

"
FACTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS

Scarlet Order. The Scarlet Order is a monastic order of Sueloise militarists whose spies and assassins have infiltrated many courts and castles throughout the Flanaess, ready to strike. The leader of the order is a seemingly immortal being known as the Father of Obedience, Korenth Zan. He is rumored to be a Sueloise monk who walked the lands of Suel long before the Rain of Colorless Fire destroyed the Suloise Empire. Others claim Korenth is a red dragon − a former consort of Tiamat who became trapped in human form. Whatever the truth was the Father of Obedience is revered by all who give their lives to the Scarlet Order. His goals − are shrouded in mystery and could one day tilt the balance of power across the whole of Eastern Oerik.

"

Honestly, if the racist flavor truly is gone, I feel deep relief.

 

[Parmandur]

I am really curious now- I posted a question in Fitz's ask me anything.

Answer: they are not directly mentioned...the chart O' nations and geographic features for the Cebtral flannaes lists the Nyr Dyv, and states "people live on it in barges".

That all.