Nentir Vale Coming to Dungeons and Dragons

[Aldarc]

The stores of Dragonborn and Tieflings, as well, though those are now "generic D&D." The whole Dawn War is central to the mythology, and Mercer uses the World Axis: these seem to be the key things one would want in a NV book. The Exandria book had to be obtuse about the gods, because they are the NV gods. If they release a book about the NV, with Mercer writing the gods, and then market it as a Critical Role tie in...

Plus one random Golarion deity...

 

[Parmandur]

Plus one random Golarion deity...

Spare Sun deity? Check.

 

[dave2008]

However, I do like Mike's take on the environment, as that is something that is hinted in the 4e materials as well.

What is his take on the environment - I missed that.

 

[dave2008]

However, in-universe, the Nentir Vale world used to have more gods. The others were killed, either during the Dawn War or later, in other conflicts. The current pantheon are just the survivors plus a few nrecomers (like Vecna and the Raven Queen). I have a comprehensive list of deities over here.

I always thought of the exarchs (at least some of them) as minor gods or demigods. Heck Maglubiyet was nearly as strong as the "gods" and was "the" god of goblinoids. I really saw him as a lesser god in the setting. Then I feel like there was mention of more lesser gods under Corellon as well. I guess I looked at as the Dawn War "gods" were the greater gods of the pantheon and there are lesser and minor gods galore below them.

 

[Jester David]

I’d go the other way, and say that they needed more creativity, and in the case of Thor 2, more characterization of the villain. What a waste of Christopher Eccleston.

The problem there was trying to invent an entirely new story for classic characters and reimagining the "elves" as basically being aliens rather than doing Simonson's cask of eternal winter story.
When you do a tighter adaptation, you can pull the best bits of 2 or 3 stories and throw out the bad bits and really focus on the iconic scenes and moments. Scenes and shots that have become iconic and held up for years and years. You have a framework. When you get more "creative" and invent your own story, you have to invent so much more and invent your own iconic beats and scenes.

 

[Jester David]

What is his take on the environment - I missed that.

The environment isn't wild but actively trying to kill you. It's dangerous and full of horrible monsters and environments. Leaving the city and entering the woods is very dangerous.
It's really making the Vale much more like Dark Sun but without the desert.

 

[Zeromaru X]

What is his take on the environment - I missed that.

That the Points of Light's world is somehow warped by the influence of the inner/outer planes. So, for instance, his version of the Moon Hills have places changed by the Plane of Earth, with portals to that plane and the like.

This is something that is hinted at in 4e as well. According to some Dragon articles, the world was so damaged by the Dawn War that the other planes "bleed" into the mortal world in some regions, warping them and everything within.

Also, his take on the Cloak Wood is that Torog pulled this forest into the Underdark and then pushed it back to the surface, and so the forest was changed by this. That is something Torog did in 4e: he pulled places into the Underdark at whims. For instance, the Underdark sourcebook states Torog pulled a few Bael Turath cities to the Underdark.

So, it's not a change, but highlighting in something that 4e hinted to make the setting feel different than the FR.

 

[Zeromaru X]

I always thought of the exarchs (at least some of them) as minor gods or demigods. Heck Maglubiyet was nearly as strong as the "gods" and was "the" god of goblinoids. I really saw him as a lesser god in the setting. Then I feel like there was mention of more lesser gods under Corellon as well. I guess I looked at as the Dawn War "gods" were the greater gods of the pantheon and there are lesser and minor gods galore below them.

I thougt the same. I described exarchs as such to my players, as well.

In fact, my personal theory is that the current Dawn War pantheon are the gods that made up Nerath's official religion, back when this nation ruled the world. But that there must be other religions that may worship other gods in other places of the world. Every time I find a new god mentioned in some source, it seems to confirm this.

 

[dave2008]

That the Points of Light's world is somehow warped by the influence of the inner/outer planes. So, for instance, his version of the Moon Hills have places changed by the Plane of Earth, with portals to that plane and the like.

This is something that is hinted at in 4e as well. According to some Dragon articles, the world was so damaged by the Dawn War that the other planes "bleed" into the mortal world in some regions, warping them and everything within.

Also, his take on the Cloak Wood is that Torog pulled this forest into the Underdark and then pushed it back to the surface, and so the forest was changed by this. That is something Torog did in 4e: he pulled places into the Underdark at whims. For instance, the Underdark sourcebook states Torog pulled a few Bael Turath cities to the Underdark.

So, it's not a change, but highlighting in something that 4e hinted to make the setting feel different than the FR.

Thank you for the clarification!

 

[Aldarc]

While I liked the Nentir Vale material, the one part that rang a bit hollow was the concise, controlled pantheon.

I would also argue that this made the Nentir Vale excellent for newcomers to D&D. The Greyhawk pantheon, for example, can be Byzantine for someone new to the setting. There is a reason why the 3e PHB presented a more concise list instead of redundant sun gods. It seemed fairly clear that 4e sought to follow the 3e PHB in this vein of approach.

Greyhawk having two different Sun God's felt more like an actual pantheon: the NV mythos was a bit too logical.

That criticism is definitely valid. IME Greyhawk's multi-ethnic pantheons were part of its desire to develop a sense of pseudo-realistic history, such as its waves of human migrations into the Flanaess. (I also think that Gygax enjoyed a bit of whimsical incoherence.) I don't think, however, that NV necessarily desires to evoke that sort of pseudo-realism by creating multiple cultural pantheons. Instead, Nentir Vale seemed to prefer taking a more intersectional approach that drew on the Chaoskampf motif from multiple cultural pantheons to create a singular mythic pantheon for its setting. The setting placed greater emphasis on the mythic over the historic. It's not interested in telling you that this region's populace represents a mix of 1/2 native Flan with 1/4 Oeridians and 1/4 Sueloise. It wants to tell you which divine entity or primordial died during the Dawn War on that spot (and is buried there) and why that region is weird.