Greyhawk's Uncertain Future

What Wizards of the Coast Intends to do with Gary Gygax's original setting.

Author

Christopher Hutton
October 15, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

I had a chance to attend a press briefing with Wizard of the Coast’s team to discuss the Dungeon Master’s Guide, which will be released to the public on Nov. 12. While the briefing discussed some aspects of the book, one standout element to me was Greyhawk, Gary Gygax’s original setting that he published with the game. The setting was presented as a big part of the game’s future, leading some fans to speculate it might replace the Forgotten Realms as the defacto setting for the game.

This turned out to be false.

"In the short term, we want the Greyhawk content in the DMG to stand on its own. Basically we're saying 'hey DMs, we're giving you Greyhawk as a foundation upon which you can build your own setting.' Whether we get back to Greyhawk or not in some other capacity I can't say. But that's our intention now."

Chris Perkins to reporters.

Players can expect to see some content from Gary Gygax’s first setting in the coming weeks and months as it is used as a sort of sandbox for new DMs, but the Forgotten Realms remains the default setting.

You can read more about WOTC’s plans for Greyhawk in my report at The Fandomentals.

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What do you think of Greyhawk as a “sandbox setting?” Are you excited to potentially run campaigns in this iconic setting?