D&D General Piecing together the official maps of the Mortal World of Nerath

[Yaarel]

The thing is, "ether" doesn't exist in the 4e cosmology. There is no Ethereal Plane in the World Axis. So, if you say to a sage in the Nentir Vale that there is some ethereal stuff doing "gravity" and whatnot, they are going to look at you and think you're nuts.

The ethereal exists in 4e, in the sense that the "fey" and "shadow" are positive and negative aspects of it.

Even the shallow ethereal exists in the sense of "force" effects like Wall of Force and Magic Missile, which utilize "magical force", which serves as an other term for ether.

Also, while the "insubstantial" condition can apply variously, it includes the sense of becoming ethereal and ghostlike. This 4e insubstantiality corresponds to entering the shallow ethereal in other editions.

I see the shallow ether as the ethereal objects that are actually inside the material plane, including magical force and natural force like gravity. 4e tends to refer to the material plane as nature, the natural world, or the mortal world in the wider sense.

I prefer the way that 5e pulls everything together into a fifth elemental plane called the ethereal plane. But it is worth clarifying that the shallow ether is the aspect of ether that is actually inside and part of the material plane. I also like the way that 4e spells like Wall of Force and Magic Missile have the "force" tag that explicitly connects them to each other. 5e might use spell tags too like "ether" as a tag for effects like Magic Missile, Wall of Force, Fly, Telekinesis, Unseen Servant, Etherealness, and so on.

 

[Zeromaru X]

The ethereal exists in 4e

I was reading my sources, and I can assure you the Ethereal Plane didn't existed in 4e. At least, conceptually. The authors purposefully left the Ethereal Plane out of the World Axis because they believed it was an unnecessary addition to the cosmology. There is a Dragon article about it, actually.

Stuff like "force" was considered elemental in 4e, and originated from the Elemental Chaos. While phrasing and insubstantiality was associated with the Shadowfell.

 

[Yaarel]

I was reading my sources, and I can assure you the Ethereal Plane didn't existed in 4e. At least, conceptually. The authors purposefully left the Ethereal Plane out of the World Axis because they believed it was an unnecessary addition to the cosmology. There is a Dragon article about it, actually.

In 4e, the 3e ethereal plane the 3e shadow plane merge with the mythic concept of a ghostly underworld to form the 4e shadowfell. So for example, creatures could observe and walk the material plane defacto ethereally while still in the shadowfell. (One cannot do this while in the 3e shadow plane.) For example, ghosts manifest materially from the 4e shadowfell rather than from the shallow ethereal of other editions.

5e separated the ethereal plane back out, which I like better, because ether is the 5th element that constitutes the other four elements. Moreover, it is more clear in 5e that both the shadowfell and the feywild are aspects of the ethereal spirit world. Not just the shadowfell.

In any case, in 4e the shadowfell and even the feywild together with it, correspond to and represent the ethereal plane of the other editions.

 

[Yaarel]

Stuff like "force" was considered elemental in 4e, and originated from the Elemental Chaos. While phrasing and insubstantiality was associated with the Shadowfell.

I never looked at it this way before, but the 4e elemental "force" is moreorless the elemental ether, namely the deep ethereal associating with the elemental planes.

 

[Guang]

Don’t know yet. Since we don’t yet know what latitudes the scale bars are located (on Nentir Vale, Elsir Vale, and Stonehome Mtns maps). Working on it.

How's it coming? The suspense is killing me!

 

[Dungeonosophy]

How's it coming? The suspense is killing me!

Thanks for your interest Guang. “Real life” is squelching my D&D research time. I did find a NASA mapping app which I’ve used to place the Known Regions map on a globe. Been a big help in seeing how to match up with the Mortal World globe. I’ve tried a couple different placements. Hope to post eventually—but I’m maxed out and out of town for the next couple weeks. Don’t die from suspense!

 

[Zeromaru X]

Just wanted to know the progress of this project. Sorry for bothering.

 

[Haplo781]

Thanks for your interest Guang. “Real life” is squelching my D&D research time. I did find a NASA mapping app which I’ve used to place the Known Regions map on a globe. Been a big help in seeing how to match up with the Mortal World globe. I’ve tried a couple different placements. Hope to post eventually—but I’m maxed out and out of town for the next couple weeks. Don’t die from suspense!

Hey! Don't want to be a bother but is there any chance you'll be returning to this any time soon? I'm very interested in this.

 

[Dungeonosophy]

Hey, not a bother. I'm glad someone is interested. Yeah, I'd like to see how it all lines up too.
I'm more settled into my new job and place. Yet right now I'm working on this:

D&D 5E - [Radiant Citadel] A chart of parallel Earth cultures and motifs across the D&D Multiverse

The Concord Worlds (marked in pink) in the context of the Earth-inspired cultures of the D&D Multiverse: ~Aboriginal Australian: In Ærth: the continent of Magmur (WotC reportedly owns the rights to Gygax's world of Ærth) In Mystara: the chameleon-men of the Land of Wallara In Toril: the Osse...

www.enworld.org

I'd like to get back to the Mortal World map, yet I can't say when.

 

[Hussar]

Fantastic work in any case bud. Well done you. I wonder if, in 20 years time, this might become the next sort of "Greyhawk" - a setting that is mostly developed by fans.