Just as an aside, the original proposed 2E AD&D (when Gygax was still with TSR) was going to have a Warrior-Monk (in this case, partly modeled on the Knights Templar) for the 'Eurocentric' portion of the PHB, while the Oriental Adventures part would have the traditional Shao-lin Monk. The reasoning for this was because The Scarlet Brotherhood in The World of Greyhawk was this shadowy monastic sect of Sueloise who were pulling the strings behind much of the intrigue built into the setting. The Warrior-Monk was going to be like a Fighter-Spy instead of the more Paladin-type (let alone like the Hospitaller-inspired Cleric). The idea was that the Flanaess was going to mostly be the "playground" of the European-types (Oeridians, Suel, Flannae) with the Baklunish sort of representing the Arab, Seljuq-Turks (the Paynims) and Persians of the late Crusades period (13th/14th century).
If you had a Shao-lin type Monk that had come all the way from Suhfang (Greyhawk's version of China), you could reasonably be assured the common people (a superstitious lot who generally don't like outsiders) would look at you askance, especially if you were somewhere that wasn't metropolitan like The City of Greyhawk itself. It wouldn't have been actually discouraged, after all, 3 of the original personages of Greyhawk went to Suhfang at one point after gaining entry to the last level of Castle Greyhawk: Lord Robilar, the Archmage Tenser and Terik the Fighter (all 3 members of the Citadel of Eight). Otherwise, you played your Samurai, Monks and Ninjas in the western half of the continent of Oerik. That's not to say there wasn't trade between the two areas (there probably would have been something analogous to The Silk Road).
Eh, what might have been....
Fascinating! So Greyhawk was the default world back then, not FR.
Fascinating! So Greyhawk was the default world back then, not FR.
Yep, at least for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (as Lyxen pointed out: The Known World/Mystara became the setting for BECMI D&D). And many of the early modules (which were almost all tournament modules) were placed in Greyhawk: Against the Giants, The Slavelords, The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth & The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun (which realy are a duology though they're in different sets), Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, etc. I mean, heck, you can even go back further than D&D to its utter roots with Blackmoor and Dave Arneson's players (which had its genesis in an even earlier Napoleonic miniatures "Braunstein" game).
Greyhawk is also very different from Forgotten Realms in terms of tone and story. Its far more like The Witcher tv series and A Song of Ice & Fire (Game of Thrones) in many ways, especially the political intrigue and continent on the edge of open warfare. Its sort of post-apocalyptic Swords & Sorcery meets early Feudal Europe (even if technology is closer to the late Crusades era/early High Medieval). Its also pretty much a "kitchen sink" and/or "do it yourself' setting (at least, in the Gygax era). No gunpowder, officially (at least, not canonically, but then again, originally Blackmoor had early guns like arquebuses). Its a setting that also lends itself to wargaming.
Just as an aside, the original proposed 2E AD&D (when Gygax was still with TSR) was going to have a Warrior-Monk (in this case, partly modeled on the Knights Templar) for the 'Eurocentric' portion of the PHB, while the Oriental Adventures part would have the traditional Shao-lin Monk. The reasoning for this was because The Scarlet Brotherhood in The World of Greyhawk was this shadowy monastic sect of Sueloise who were pulling the strings behind much of the intrigue built into the setting. The Warrior-Monk was going to be like a Fighter-Spy instead of the more Paladin-type (let alone like the Hospitaller-inspired Cleric). The idea was that the Flanaess was going to mostly be the "playground" of the European-types (Oeridians, Suel, Flannae) with the Baklunish sort of representing the Arab, Seljuq-Turks (the Paynims) and Persians of the late Crusades period (13th/14th century).
If you had a Shao-lin type Monk that had come all the way from Suhfang (Greyhawk's version of China), you could reasonably be assured the common people (a superstitious lot who generally don't like outsiders) would look at you askance, especially if you were somewhere that wasn't metropolitan like The City of Greyhawk itself. It wouldn't have been actually discouraged, after all, 3 of the original personages of Greyhawk went to Suhfang at one point after gaining entry to the last level of Castle Greyhawk: Lord Robilar, the Archmage Tenser and Terik the Fighter (all 3 members of the Citadel of Eight). Otherwise, you played your Samurai, Monks and Ninjas in the western half of the continent of Oerik. That's not to say there wasn't trade between the two areas (there probably would have been something analogous to The Silk Road).
Eh, what might have been....
Fascinating! So Greyhawk was the default world back then, not FR.
Nope, FR was not the first setting, nor was it always the default setting. I think it officially became the "default" setting in 5 (4e has Nerath/Nentir Vale). Forgotten Realms was a popular setting, but it wasn't always the default (which is why previous editions specifically had the Forgotten Realms logo on them. If they didn't, one could assume they weren't FR, though there was some crossover). It existed in AD&D (there were source books and such for it), but it wasn't the default. You can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgotten_Realms
Just as an aside, the original proposed 2E AD&D (when Gygax was still with TSR) was going to have a Warrior-Monk (in this case, partly modeled on the Knights Templar) for the 'Eurocentric' portion of the PHB, while the Oriental Adventures part would have the traditional Shao-lin Monk. The reasoning for this was because The Scarlet Brotherhood in The World of Greyhawk was this shadowy monastic sect of Sueloise who were pulling the strings behind much of the intrigue built into the setting. The Warrior-Monk was going to be like a Fighter-Spy instead of the more Paladin-type (let alone like the Hospitaller-inspired Cleric). The idea was that the Flanaess was going to mostly be the "playground" of the European-types (Oeridians, Suel, Flannae) with the Baklunish sort of representing the Arab, Seljuq-Turks (the Paynims) and Persians of the late Crusades period (13th/14th century).
If you had a Shao-lin type Monk that had come all the way from Suhfang (Greyhawk's version of China), you could reasonably be assured the common people (a superstitious lot who generally don't like outsiders) would look at you askance, especially if you were somewhere that wasn't metropolitan like The City of Greyhawk itself. It wouldn't have been actually discouraged, after all, 3 of the original personages of Greyhawk went to Suhfang at one point after gaining entry to the last level of Castle Greyhawk: Lord Robilar, the Archmage Tenser and Terik the Fighter (all 3 members of the Citadel of Eight). Otherwise, you played your Samurai, Monks and Ninjas in the western half of the continent of Oerik. That's not to say there wasn't trade between the two areas (there probably would have been something analogous to The Silk Road).
Eh, what might have been....
Fascinating! So Greyhawk was the default world back then, not FR.
Nope, FR was not the first setting, nor was it always the default setting. I think it officially became the "default" setting in 5 (4e has Nerath/Nentir Vale). Forgotten Realms was a popular setting, but it wasn't always the default (which is why previous editions specifically had the Forgotten Realms logo on them. If they didn't, one could assume they weren't FR, though there was some crossover). It existed in AD&D (there were source books and such for it), but it wasn't the default. You can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgotten_Realms
Arcadio Huang is a Chinese guy that visited the Court of Louis the Sun King -> so in theory you could in theory have a martial artist meet the Three Musketeers. I once tried to write a story on this premise, it died somewhere in between a computer crash and boredom.
Rabban_Bar_Sauma at the same time Marco Polo went to China, some Chinese guy met Edward Longshanks. Edward Longshanks has been connected at least one time towards the histories of Robin Hood. So you could in theory have a martial artist meet your ranger.
The default changed at almost every edition, actually:
OD&D: Blackmoor
Just a quibble, but technically speaking OD&D's Campaign World was just the Avalon Hill Survival Board since Blackmoor wasn't really published until First Fantasy Campaign came out from Judges Guild in 1977, and then was just part of the Castles & Crusades Society Great Kingdom & Environs (which was proto-Flanaess/Greyhawk).
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Fascinating! So Greyhawk was the default world back then, not FR.
Yep, at least for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (as Lyxen pointed out: The Known World/Mystara became the setting for BECMI D&D). And many of the early modules (which were almost all tournament modules) were placed in Greyhawk: Against the Giants, The Slavelords, The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth & The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun (which realy are a duology though they're in different sets), Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, etc. I mean, heck, you can even go back further than D&D to its utter roots with Blackmoor and Dave Arneson's players (which had its genesis in an even earlier Napoleonic miniatures "Braunstein" game).
Greyhawk is also very different from Forgotten Realms in terms of tone and story. Its far more like The Witcher tv series and A Song of Ice & Fire (Game of Thrones) in many ways, especially the political intrigue and continent on the edge of open warfare. Its sort of post-apocalyptic Swords & Sorcery meets early Feudal Europe (even if technology is closer to the late Crusades era/early High Medieval). Its also pretty much a "kitchen sink" and/or "do it yourself' setting (at least, in the Gygax era). No gunpowder, officially (at least, not canonically, but then again, originally Blackmoor had early guns like arquebuses). Its a setting that also lends itself to wargaming.
Nope, FR was not the first setting, nor was it always the default setting. I think it officially became the "default" setting in 5 (4e has Nerath/Nentir Vale). Forgotten Realms was a popular setting, but it wasn't always the default (which is why previous editions specifically had the Forgotten Realms logo on them. If they didn't, one could assume they weren't FR, though there was some crossover). It existed in AD&D (there were source books and such for it), but it wasn't the default. You can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgotten_Realms
Cool. Thanks.
https://enhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadio_Huang.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadio_Huang
Arcadio Huang is a Chinese guy that visited the Court of Louis the Sun King -> so in theory you could in theory have a martial artist meet the Three Musketeers. I once tried to write a story on this premise, it died somewhere in between a computer crash and boredom.
Rabban_Bar_Sauma at the same time Marco Polo went to China, some Chinese guy met Edward Longshanks. Edward Longshanks has been connected at least one time towards the histories of Robin Hood. So you could in theory have a martial artist meet your ranger.
Just a quibble, but technically speaking OD&D's Campaign World was just the Avalon Hill Survival Board since Blackmoor wasn't really published until First Fantasy Campaign came out from Judges Guild in 1977, and then was just part of the Castles & Crusades Society Great Kingdom & Environs (which was proto-Flanaess/Greyhawk).