Nentir Vale Coming to Dungeons and Dragons

[Raith5]

This is a personal preference thing. To you (and many others), the setting felt lacking in terms of specific detail, whereas to a lot of the setting’s fans it’s a key selling point. Personally, I prefer that From Software approach to lore, where everything is implied rather than directly stated, and there’s lots of room for speculation. It’s definitely not for everyone though.

My preferences are for about a further 20% detail I like 4e and POL (despite not playing in Nentir vale - we played in POL version of Mystara). But I have two slight issues with POL and Nentir vale as written. One is a question of realism - where do the people in Fallcrest get their food and survive if kobold colonies are 10 miles away? Another is the the stakes in POL - I think the 'lights' have to really shine and be worth the PCs frighting for. I am not sure they do in Nentir vale setting. Would anybody miss Fallcrest if it fell?

So yeah I think a good campaign in a POL mind set is great - but I think Mearls takes pushes it away from what I prefer form POL setting.

 

[Charlaquin]

My preferences are for about a further 20% detail

Is that a 20% cooler reference?

Another is the the stakes in POL - I think the 'lights' have to really shine and be worth the PCs frighting for. I am not sure they do in Nentir vale setting. Would anybody miss Fallcrest if it fell?

I think Nentir Vale works better for campaigns that are more about surviving in a harsh environment than for campaigns about saving the realm. Which could seem like a strange fit for 4th Edition, what with its focus on playing Big Damn Hroes and its 10 epic levels baked right into the core. But the thing is, Nentir Vale was conceived as an introductory setting. The game fully expected you to move on past the Vale after you’d gotten a few levels under your belt. It didn’t matter that no one would miss Fallcrest, because by the time you were powerful enough to be saving a town, you probably weren’t bumming around Fallcrest any more.

So yeah I think a good campaign in a POL mind set is great - but I think Mearls takes pushes it away from what I prefer form POL setting.

Oh, for sure!

 

[Aldarc]

Another is the the stakes in POL - I think the 'lights' have to really shine and be worth the PCs frighting for. I am not sure they do in Nentir vale setting. Would anybody miss Fallcrest if it fell?

You would. You were born there. You grew up there. You have family and loved ones there. Who else will save your home town on the frontier borders of a dead, back-broken empire if not you?

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

Edit: found the answers by reading more of the thread.

I really, really recommend you to go to http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewforum.php?f=72 and check out [MENTION=4239]ZeromaruX[/MENTION]'s amazing compilations of all the NV lore. It's a litteral treasure trove.

 

[Raith5]

You would. You were born there. You grew up there. You have family and loved ones there. Who else will save your home town on the frontier borders of a dead, back-broken empire if not you?

Fair point. I just mean that I would like for Fallcrest to be a touch more noteworthy and distinct - which means fleshing it out a touch more - it just feels too generic to me.

 

[Aldarc]

Fair point. I just mean that I would like for Fallcrest to be a touch more noteworthy and distinct - which means fleshing it out a touch more - it just feels too generic to me.

Perhaps. But so did Sandpoint in Golarion, and yet it is considered one of the classic starting towns in Pathfinder. So is the iconic Village of Hommlet or Phandalin for that matter. Or Tristram in the Diablo series. Not every starting location needs to be as catchy as Sigil, Sharn, or Waterdeep.

 

[KahlessNestor]

I think another thing Mearls is undoing about the Dawn Cosmology is the Primal Spirit. Kord can't run around challenging mortals to arm wrestling in traditional NV because he is kept out by the Primal Spirit. I always like the "Primal" path idea, for druids, especially.

 

[Aldarc]

I think another thing Mearls is undoing about the Dawn Cosmology is the Primal Spirit. Kord can't run around challenging mortals to arm wrestling in traditional NV because he is kept out by the Primal Spirit. I always like the "Primal" path idea, for druids, especially.

I found the notion of the Primal Spirit (and associated power source) a nice touch in 4e's implied setting that distinguished the nature magic of druids from both clerics and wizards. It made druids more than nature priests or nature wizards. They were dealing with the spiritual and primal forces of a heterogeneously created world that resulted from a mix of divine power and the primordial elements. And it also led to Devas, which I found to be a more interesting spin on the typical Aasimar, while also being highly Tolkienesque.

 

[CrimsonCarcharodon]

Edit: found the answers by reading more of the thread.

I really, really recommend you to go to http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewforum.php?f=72 and check out [MENTION=4239]ZeromaruX[/MENTION]'s amazing compilations of all the NV lore. It's a litteral treasure trove.

Holy crap. Bookmarked and saved.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

I think another thing Mearls is undoing about the Dawn Cosmology is the Primal Spirit. Kord can't run around challenging mortals to arm wrestling in traditional NV because he is kept out by the Primal Spirit. I always like the "Primal" path idea, for druids, especially.

I thought he was a proponent of the primal spirit power source. I recall he talked at one point about making a 4e warden-like subclass for the barbarian (in fact, this is one of the things I am hoping for out of this homebrew). Of course, support for the power source doesn't necessarily mean support for "primal spirits are keeping gods, primordial, and demon lords out of the surface of the world."

If it was me, I would keep that, but suggest the primal spirits needed followers to complete some kind of difficult ritual to keep the Powers out, and suggest that the ritual didn't work so well last time so the followers might need to hire adventures to get some magguffins that would let them do some kind of super-ritual to repair the damage.

There could be some interesting politics that come out of that. Some gods (and some devils) might find the current situation acceptable, since it creates a (largely) protected "garden of souls" for them to harvest without having to invest any resources to defend, so their followers would support the adventurers. Other gods (and demon lords and primordial), on the other hand, want a new playground to play in.....