D&D 5E Mearls on other settings
So Ravenloft was never meant to be a living setting in its own.? It's only visited from others? That's where my lack of history trips me upI thought it was a fully fledged setting that could host campaigns without needing outside support?
I think he means that Ravenloft consists of different lands that have essentially been stolen from their home planes - for example the Ravenloft mist comes down and takes Lord Soth from Dragonlance and creates a Domain for him that is the same as the area around his Castle in Dragonlance.
hawkeyefan
Legend
I disagree that it's WotC's responsibility to cater to the sensitivities of DMs and players. I think it's up to the DMs and players themselves to decide what material to use or not.
I mean, I get the appeal of rule books written exactly to my personal preference...but it's simply not a realistic expectation.
So Ravenloft was never meant to be a living setting in its own.? It's only visited from others? That's where my lack of history trips me up
As [MENTION=94143]Shasarak[/MENTION] said, the many realms that made up the Demiplane of Dread, the setting for the Ravenloft game, were each made for a particular dark lord. These realms were the domain of a dark lord, but also their prison as well. Each of these dark lords was taken from another world...Toril, Oerth, Krynn, or any number of unnamed worlds.
Typically, the PCs in Ravenloft adventures are drawn through the misty barriwrs from their world and into the demiplane of dread. So the setting was its own, but it was conmected to the other worlds and interacted with them.
MechaPilot
Explorer
Are you citing the co-opting of a setting into an FR supplement as an unreasonable complaint? I have to ask, because I can't be certain if you are from the text and tone of your post.
They should be avoided. The identity of a setting lies in its character and themes, its quirks, its flaws, all the things that make it unique. Stray from that and all you have is yet another FR supplement. Which, I suppose, there's nothing inherently wrong with. Just don't slap the name of a different beloved setting on it and try to sell it as something other than FR Supplement #47.
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MoonSong
Rules-lawyering drama queen but not a munchkin
It should be backwards. It is the wizard's power the one that is artificial. I'm growing more and more tired of portraying sorcerers as "the wrong way to do magic".
Should I point out that Dragonborn were originally the Dragonborn of Bahamut? Dragonborn were born on Greyhawk.
Link to the PRD in the credits and quote human verbatim. That version has bonus feat, +2 to any score and +1 skill point. Just add at the end "you can choose to split the bonus into +1 to two scores instead.
Yaarel
He Mage
I feel they should have made the Sorcerer and the Psion the same class. Call it ‘Scion’. Mystic is fine. This class is for natural innate magic. Different ‘bloodlines’ focus on different themes. A Human bloodline may well have psychics running in the family.
‘PRD in the credits’ ?
Hussar
Legend
Unreasonable? Perhaps not. Depends on how far you want to take it. Considering that the CoS was barely linked to FR, I'd say that co-opting the setting is perhaps a bit of a strong description. As was mentioned, what something like one page of material in the entire module talks about links to FR? Yet, we've seen more than a few posts, including ones in this thread, saying that they had lost interest in the module because of that.
So, is it "co-opting the setting" or is it a minor element of a much larger work that can be easily ignored?
But, what do you do when half the fans of the setting don't like something that came later in the setting? I mean, every setting has fans who will say, "Nothing past the Grey Box" or "Only this far and no further". How do you present an updated setting that will appeal to the broadest possible when you know that any choice you make is going to make some very vocal people very, very loudly angry?
doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
I think Action points do make a difference for Eberron, which is why I liked playing Eberron so much in 4e.
But most of those, you're right.
What each setting does need is the player and dm options, like races, subclasses, items, monsters, etc
Chaosmancer
Legend
One particular part of this discussion that confuses me centers around the idea of rewriting races for every setting.
I mean, yeah, you need to note the cultural differences and such but to take the cannibal halflings of darksun as an example... aren't the current halflings good enough mechanically? I mean, they are still halflings in Dark Sun, just wild and cannibals, nothing about their mechanics has to change to fit that.
And, to me, that seems to be true for a the vast majority of these instances. Sure, Kender were enough of a thing they might warrant their own sub-race, but have any of the major settings really changed elves so drastically that we couldn't just use one of the sub-races available? The Dark Sun elves were pretty radically different and I can still see Wood Elves being a perfect match for them
Though, I suppose elves are also a bad example, because elves are a bit notorious for their 101 different flavors in 3.X and 2e
I mean, yeah, you need to note the cultural differences and such but to take the cannibal halflings of darksun as an example... aren't the current halflings good enough mechanically? I mean, they are still halflings in Dark Sun, just wild and cannibals, nothing about their mechanics has to change to fit that.
And, to me, that seems to be true for a the vast majority of these instances. Sure, Kender were enough of a thing they might warrant their own sub-race, but have any of the major settings really changed elves so drastically that we couldn't just use one of the sub-races available? The Dark Sun elves were pretty radically different and I can still see Wood Elves being a perfect match for them
Though, I suppose elves are also a bad example, because elves are a bit notorious for their 101 different flavors in 3.X and 2e
Zardnaar
Legend
Its easy to have Athasian subraces though. I am using the phb races culturally refluffed. I don't use subraces though. Stouts are the jungle halflings, wood elves are athasian elves hill dwarves are athasian. Its close enough for now and saves me work.
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