[4e] Nevermore Campaign Setting Discussion/FAQ

[jaldaen]

Hello All,

I'm the author of the newly released Nevermore campaign setting from Expeditious Retreat Press. Some of you might recognize Nevermore as one of the campaign settings that won a spot in Green Ronin's Worlds of Adventure contest for the True20 system. I really enjoyed working with the True20 system, but after 4th edition was released and the GSL revised, I decided to ask Expeditious Retreat if they'd like to do a 4th edition version. They said, "Yes!" And after spending the earlier part of this year hammering out a 4th edition version of the setting/rules and I'm happy to announce that it's finally been released as a PDF and will be hitting store shelves sometime in Novemeber.

Nevermore has been a setting I've been working on from the early days of 3rd edition. I asked myself, "What if all of the fairytales, folklore, myths, legends, and classic tales in human history actually existed and had their origins in a world where imagination is the source of all magic." From this first setting seed, I spent the next two years researching stories from around the world and asking myself how they might all be woven into one world. The result of this work was the world of Nevermore.

So to celebrate the PDF release (and keep my private message box from overflowing with questions), I've decided to create a discussion thread/FAQ so that people can ask me questions about Nevermore and find all the information they need about the world and its rules.

So if you have any questions, then please feel free to ask them here and I'll try to get back to you ASAP.

PS: If this isn't the right place to post this discussion, then please move this thread to the proper forum. Thanks
PPS: Feel free to join the Nevermore Campaign Setting Fans facebook group.

 

[jaldaen]

Nevermore FAQ

Nevermore FAQ.

Is there a demo for the Nevermore Campaign setting?

Yes. You can find the demo at Your Games Now.

What's in the demo?

The demo includes the following:

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Nevermore Gazetteer (includes an overview of the setting and map)
Chapter 2: The Heartlands (includes the first portion of Nevermore's history and a couple examples of realms within the Heartlands)
Chapter 8: Aspects (includes a glimpse of the Angelic, Dark Hunter, and Draconic aspects. These may also be taken as paragon paths. In total there are 28 aspects to choose from, not including variants.)
Chapter 9: Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies (includes a peek at the Celestial Captain, Deacon of Healing, and Dreadhunter paragon paths).
Chapter 11: Flora, Fauna, and Foes (includes a couple pages about some of the unique flora that can be found in Nevermore, such as Hornblower Vines, Mab Poppies, etc.)
Chapter 12: Items (includes a look at three unique armors that are made in Nevermore. It also includes a history of them and adventure hooks to help work them into your campaigns.)

 

[darjr]

Magic. It sounds like a big change to how magic works is in order for this campaign. If so, what are they?

I'm very curious about the meshing of the tropes of D&D 4e and this setting.

Do you bend 4e rules and ideas or is the setting fitting for D&D 4e?

 

[tsadkiel]

I picked up the pdf, and I'll likely pick up the print version when available as well. This is probably going to be my 4E setting from now on; I like my fantasy fantastic, have always used fairy tale tropes when running D&D, and I like the fact that there's space for whatever character types my players want to play. (I'm especially amused by the fact that the obvious origin for a warforged character is "mechanical man form Oz.")

I don't think I'll be using the backgrounds or aspects, though - the aspects in particular are neat, but I don't think they're needed. If you want to play a character who's partially undead or angelic or a dude whose head is on fire, 4e has you covered. (And then there's the character builder issue.)

 

[darjr]

I'm especially amused by the fact that the obvious origin for a warforged character is "mechanical man form Oz."

That's freaking awesome!

 

[Crothian]

When are we seeing this in print?

 

[Jack99]

When are we seeing this in print?

Initial posts says November.

 

[Jack99]

Nevermore has been a setting I've been working on from the early days of 3rd edition. I asked myself, "What if all of the fairytales, folklore, myths, legends, and classic tales in human history actually existed and had their origins in a world where imagination is the source of all magic." From this first setting seed, I spent the next two years researching stories from around the world and asking myself how they might all be woven into one world. The result of this work was the world of Nevermore.

I am very intrigued by your campaign. I am wondering if you could give some more examples on how the setting "works", especially the "imagination is the source of all magic"-part. Because I am not quite grokking it.

 

[jaldaen]

Magic. It sounds like a big change to how magic works is in order for this campaign. If so, what are they?

Actually, it didn't involve a change to the core system, but rather an additional mechanic, which I called dream surges. Dream surges as you might guess from the name represent innate ability (essentially a character's imagination) to bend the dreamlands to his will and can be use to do anything from regaining used powers to creating temporary magical items. You spend them to regenerate powers, gain access to feats, even shape your surroundings.

I'm very curious about the meshing of the tropes of D&D 4e and this setting.

Anything in particular that you're interested in? I suppose one of the main assumptions of this campaign setting is that it is a world where creatures fall into one of five catagories Humans (both Awakened [classed humans from the material plane], Dreamborn [classed humans born out of someone's imagination, such as Achilles, Alice [from Wonderland], Conway [High Lama of Shangri-La, etc.]), Ethereals (classed non-human creatures who are creatures from legend who fall into three camps: Seelie, Unseelie, and Glaseelie), Mythics (non-classed creatures from folklore and myth), and Progeny (minions, who are born from the very essence of imagination).

Do you bend 4e rules and ideas or is the setting fitting for D&D 4e?

That depends upon what you want from your D&D setting. This campaign setting exaggerates and amplifies the rules and ideas behind 4e. Since this is a world where almost anything is possible (if you're willing to pay the price), it makes a great setting for a high adventure/epic campaign. It can also be a very grim and gritty place as well. I created five different "domains" within the world that lend themselves to different styles of campaigns.

The Eye is for quietier, more realistic adventures and a great place for urban/political campaigns.
The Heartlands are great for fairytale-based adventures.
The Wyrd is a wild and unpredictable land. This makes for a very surreal planescapes kind of feel.
The Dreadlands have a Ravenloft feel to them. The very land is your enemy.
The Hedge marks the boundry between these different domains. It resists teleportation through it forcing most creatures to make the journey from one domain to another by foot, which of course is more dangerous.

 

[jaldaen]

I picked up the pdf, and I'll likely pick up the print version when available as well. This is probably going to be my 4E setting from now on; I like my fantasy fantastic, have always used fairy tale tropes when running D&D, and I like the fact that there's space for whatever character types my players want to play. (I'm especially amused by the fact that the obvious origin for a warforged character is "mechanical man form Oz.")

I'm glad you like the book thus far. And your description of its elements is dead on... I like my fantasy fantastic, too.

I don't think I'll be using the backgrounds or aspects, though - the aspects in particular are neat, but I don't think they're needed. If you want to play a character who's partially undead or angelic or a dude whose head is on fire, 4e has you covered. (And then there's the character builder issue.)

That's okay, most of the rules are just add-ons, which are easily subtracted without much effect on the overall system. You might also want to drop the hit point kickers as well (everything gets a slight increase in hps due to the power increase from giving out aspect encounter powers at first level). Not to mention the ability to recharge powers.