Greyhawk

I do love Greyhawk. While we started in the Mystara setting, we revisited Greyhawk during the 3E era and rediscovered a wonderful and fantastic place.

Part of me wonders if a lot of the inspiration for the Forgotten Realms was to somehow "erase" Greyhawk after Gygax was forced out of the company. You see many of the same sorts of "but we do it better" things in the Realms and much more annoying godlike GMNPCs. And we still see the classic Greyhawk modules pushed hard as IP, with no love or recognition for the place from which they came.

All the great modules started here:

• A1-A4
• C1-C2
• D1-D3
• The incredible GDQ Series
• The S series, including Tomb of Horrors
• The T series, including Temple of Elemental Evil
• ...and many more

And then we have the really sloppy "borrowing" of the classic Greyhawk adventures for the 4E non-setting, some "place floating out in space" valley map that was never really intended to matter beyond "level 1-10 MMO starting zone" before planar adventures began. There were 4E versions of the significant campaign settings, minus Greyhawk, which was one we wanted to see. Most of the 4E settings were not as great as the originals, and the Forgotten Realms one all but destroyed the world we loved.

It is frustrating and sad since these are the great IP settings of fantasy. Every bit as significant as Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, or Star Trek.

You look at the above list of adventures, which are as great as "the battle of the death star" or other iconic moments in cinema history but played out on people's kitchen tabletops. And the setting from which they came feels like it sits ignored.

I swear Wizards does not know what they own at times.

And I get the feeling that modern D&D is more about the planes, with the 4E cosmology still present and influential in the setting and all of the Magic the Gathering settings being used as substitutes for the great works of art that were the original campaign worlds. We also see micro-settings tied to a single adventure, which is okay, but I don't feel they compare to an entire world.

Those who revived Greyhawk for 3E knew how important a world was. Funny how a lot of those creators moved on and became Paizo, and created a strong world of their own which continues to this day.

I would love new novels and books for all of the classic D&D settings. I would love new takes and new heroes. I love new adventures in these worlds as good as the GDQ adventure series or the Tomb of Horrors. I would love to see "the new classics." I would love to see the original creators consulted and brought in, along with an A-list group of writers to craft new stories.

But I know better.

...

These settings are likely abandoned and shall live on cherished in our memories.

And it is for the better.