Netheril's Fall - First Impressions

If Astarion's Book of Hungers is the player-facing add-on for Heroes of Faerun, than Netheril's Fall is the slightly more beefy add-on for Adventures in Faerun. The new digital "DLC" for the Forgotten Realms book is a gazetteer for the lost kingdom of Netheril, with an overview of the fallen kingdom, a look at two of its cities (one flying city, Eileanar, and the landbound city Conch), some magically-themed environmental hazards, and a short collection of mini-adventures in the style of the Dungeon Master's Guide. Netheril's Fall is functionally a mini-gazetteer, albeit not quite as beefy as the five gazetteers found in Adventures in Faerun that detail various regions.

At first glance, it's easy to see why Netheril's Fall wasn't included in Adventures in Faerun. Netheril is a fallen empire and having an adventure in Netheril will likely require the use of time gates (which are conveniently explained in the supplement, with two adventures dedicated to traveling and crossing through a Time Gate. I'll note that the adventures in this book feel much more specific than what we saw in Adventures in Faerun or the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide. While the adventures in other books could be "plugged" into any level-appropriate campaign, these adventures feel much more narrow in scope and cover specific locations or events found in the DLC. There's a few adventures in Adventures in Faerun that cover locales seen in the gazetteer, but there aren't very many that cover a specific event. I don't mind the "one page adventure" format, but I'm not sure it works with every adventure type. If an adventure sends players into a mad wizard's attempted ascent into godhood, I want a little more meat than a few encounters and a resolution of "well, the players will have time to explore the city before the ritual fails."

Another criticism I have of Netheril's Fall is that Netheril doesn't feel nearly as fantastical as an ancient high-magic society should. Given that Adventures in Faerun did a very find job of elevating the Forgotten Realms beyond its generic high fantasy trappings, I feel like a bit more care could have really sold Netheril as more fantastical in nature than what we got. If we could have gotten a few more pages about Netheril's culture, I feel like Netheril would have been more appealing as a place that DMs would want to incorporate into their campaigns. As presented, there are a few cool ideas, but even the phaerimm (one of my favorite D&D monsters) feel a bit flat compared to what we would have gotten.

I was critical of Astarion's Book of Hunger's price point, and while I feel that $15 is still too high for Netheril's Fall, there's a lot more "content" compared to that book. Generally speaking, some adventure content, a gazetteer, and some monster statblocks is probably a bit more valuable than one new species and a collection of feats, although I'm probably a bit biased towards DM content since I'm usually the one behind the DM screen. I personally would had preferred a $10 price point for this DLC, but others may feel that the price point of these are more fair.

All in all, I feel a bit underwhelmed by Netheril's Fall. Netheril seems like a very cool part of Forgotten Realms lore, but it's not given full justice here. I know there's some other Netheril content out there from past editions, and I encourage people to check those out on DMs Guild if they want a real deep dive into this lost empire.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I own that older material. Can you narrow it down......

It’s from Tolkien, and goes all the way back to 1st edition.

And it’s made it into the PJ movies. Elrond recalls his vivid memories of things that happened a couple of thousand years ago for example. Therefore it’s part of the broader cultural perception of elves.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

@Zardnaar, @Maxperson, this is a pointless argument because at the heart of the nature of rpgs in general and D&D is that both point of views are supported and valid. There is no correct way to build a world and if the people are writing the setting are doing their job it should be possible to build very different worlds from the same base of information.
Now, I also realize that you may be having a lore argument and enjoying it, and have at it but I wanted to add that point.

 

[Zardnaar]

It’s from Tolkien, and goes all the way back to 1st edition.

And it’s made it into the PJ movies. Elrond recalls his vivid memories of things that happened a couple of thousand years ago for example. Therefore it’s part of the broader cultural perception of elves.

Those movies are irrelevant.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Those movies are irrelevant.

No, they are very relevant for determining the baseline understanding of what "elf" means when people come in to D&D. A lot more people saw the movies than read the book (or read the D&D rules before playing).

 

[Maxperson]

Faeruns a big place.

Some elves would have that knowledge. But theres a decent sized gap until the fall.

You were describing more shivering. Elves directly effected sure. Elven scholars specializing in it would have done knowledge.

So would all the elves who have even a passing interest in history. They'd go to elven teachers and learn about history, including the detailed information the Moon Elves have on Netheril. And no, it would not take an elven scholar to specialize in Netheril to have common historical knowledge. Elves don't lose information and it was only a short time ago that Netheril fell in elven time.

Cormanthyr was a contemporary. It also collapsed. Elves have also buried their own history before.

Nothing has been Forgotten about Cormanthyr. It was just destroyed and abandoned because of the orcs and demons.

Netherils fairly well documented in Faerun. A typical elf probably knows very little about it and even with ancestral memories (which they don't have) most elves wouldn't know much more than typical human.

Humans are not nearly as learned a culture as elves are. The typical elf will have had history lessons and would know more about Netheril than the typical human. Any elven students with a true interest in Netheril would go on to have very detailed information about that country, as they lived there into the age of the floating cities and some towns continued trade with their neighbor elves until the fall.

Candlekeep types with an interest could probably find out a lot more obviously along with Elven equivalent. Main Elven nation contemporary with Netheril was destroyed as well just saying. Netherese survivor states were also destroyed.

Humans, yes. Elves wouldn't need anything nearly as grand as Candlekeep to get that information.

You were overestimating what the Elves would know imho. Theres living Netherese survivors as of 1374DR and 1482DR. Plus undead ones in communication with Candlekeep.

I'm not overestimating it. You are underestimating it. The elves were there inside of Netheril for centuries both before and after the Nether scrolls were found, and the elves don't forget the way humans do. Additionally, they record events in much greater detail.

Elves also extend life with magic, so there are living/undead elves from Netheril still alive as well, and because of their already long lived nature, there would be many more of them.

 

[Maxperson]

Humans might know more than the Elves

Of the Fall of Netheril

Of the Fall of Netheril was a book written by Rhaugilath the Ageless, also known as the Shackled Scribe of Larloch, a Netherese archlich dwelling at Warlock's Crypt.[1][2][3] The book detailed Netheril's complete history. However, Rhaugilath considered the Netherese Diaspora after Netheril's...

forgottenrealms.fandom.com

Not a chance. 99.99% of humans will never enter the keep to gain that knowledge. Any elf can just walk over to a historian down the block to get it.

 

[Zardnaar]

Not a chance. 99.99% of humans will never enter the keep to gain that knowledge. Any elf can just walk over to a historian down the block to get it.

Pure speculation. Humans basically have a direct line to the one of the last surviving Sorcerer Kings of Netheril.
I did say Netherils better documented than our Rome. They basically have an Emperor on speed dial

 

[Maxperson]

Pure speculation. Humans basically have a direct line to the one of the last surviving Sorcerer Kings of Netheril.
I did say Netherils better documented than our Rome. They basically have an Emperor on speed dial

It's not pure speculation. It's reasoning based on fact. It takes a rare book that they don't already have just to get inside the keep. That excludes 99.99% of the population from ever getting in, and that .01 might be an overestimation on how many get inside. Rare books that Candlekeep doesn't have aren't a dime a dozen.

 

[Zardnaar]

It's not pure speculation. It's reasoning based on fact. It takes a rare book that they don't already have just to get inside the keep. That excludes 99.99% of the population from ever getting in, and that .01 might be an overestimation on how many get inside. Rare books that Candlekeep doesn't have aren't a dime a dozen.

You were speculating using non D&D sources let alone FR sources. Elven libraries got destroyed as well.

And theres no surviving Elven state that was contemporary with Netheril in the vicinity. Everska maybe its not marked on Netherese maps. The main Elven realm fell with Myth Drannor 600+ years ago.

There's a few ancient elves or undead floating around. You cant exactly rock on up and talk to them easily like you can with Candlekeep. Cant get to Everska easily either and its a closed location.

Nether scrolls were in Myth Drannor. Once again not easy to access.

 

[Maxperson]

And theres no surviving Elven state that was contemporary with Netheril in the vicinity. Everska maybe its not marked on Netherese maps. The main Elven realm fell with Myth Drannor 600+ years ago.

There are elven towns and villages all over the place. Hell, there were elves living in Netheril up until the fall in multiple towns/cities. You're vastly overestimating the amount of lost knowledge. Elves lose cities, but the knowledge is much harder for them to lose.

You don't need a full elven country like you are implying.

There's a few ancient elves or undead floating around. You cant exactly rock on up and talk to them easily like you can with Candlekeep. Cant get to Everska easily either and its a closed location.

You are absolutely correct. It's easier to find them. There are a lot of elven ruins where Baelnorn dwell, and you don't need a 1 in a million book to get inside to see them. Just a bit of luck or skill.

Nether scrolls were in Myth Drannor. Once again not easy to access.

Why would you need to access the Nether Scrolls? We're talking history here, not uber magical spells.