nittanytbone
First Post
Greyhawk in a "From the Ashes" post-Greyhawk Wars feel could fit nicely with Points of Light.
Campaign setting for 4e
- Thread starter daddystabz
- Start date
MadMaligor
First Post
Im actually getting into the PoL default and expanding a good bunch on it. The DMG map for Nentir Vale is a good starting point. Irontooth, an emmissary for the Kobold King, is giving his liege time to fortify his stronghold at Gardmore Abbey. His shammans are fanatical worshipers of Tiamat, defacing the existing shrines to Bahamut and twisting long lost relics of the Paladin stronghold into perverted versions of their former glory. The kings warlock, a devious witch bordering on the insane, is using her necromantic minions to craft obscene rituals in an attempt to create an artifact of evil worthy of their goddess. All the while the Kobold King is delving deeper with his troops (Kobolds, Drakes, and a few other enlisted nasties) into the mysteries of the Abbey and is finding both allies and enemies in the dungeons below.
Szartharrax, the white dragon who has set up shop in Kobold Hall has allyed himself with the Kobold King (havent come up with names yet...I wanted to create some good ones). Both are well aware of what Kalarel is doing at the Keep on the Shadowfell (H1). They will use that as a diversion (and subsequent adventures to follow as applicable) to divert the PC's attention and give them time to breed/build an army strong enough to destroy Fallcrest and take over the Vale.
When the PC's first start they are pointed to Kobold Hall, and in dealing with Szarth they find a note from Irontooth, giving them their first clue (Im going to give Szarth an escape route in his lair to allow for an opportunity to continue a plot line involving his evolution vs the PC's. If the PC's get lucky and kill him I might move that to a mother/sibling retaliation). Irontooth diverts the PC's attention to Winterhaven as does a PC mentor (tied to our Rogue explorer) Douven Stahl who goes missing. One of the PC's is a paladin of Bahamut, and another is a cleric of Pelor, both with ties that I have plans to eventually weave their backgrounds into the story. Our warrior, who already stated he wanted some basic farmer background and few ties, is going to have his family (whos farm the PCs are using as a starting point and fall back rest spot) whiped out by a Kobold raid after (I should say if hehehe) the threat is seemed to have been removed when they kill Irontooth and Kalarel (Im giving Irontooth a hard edge no retreat kind of personality who drives his soldiers hard and scares the hell out of them into submission, vs the lazy and fat Balgron who is despised by the King and sent to help Kalarel to keep him from causing disension and trouble, Balgron is kept out of the loop and has little information to give the PC's, and is more afraid of what the witch will do to him if he squeeled and lived anyway).
Gorefang, a grizzled old Kobold general in charge of the upper level and exterior defense of Gardmore Abbey, is also Irontooth's father. When word reaches him of his sons death at the hands of the PC's he sends a small flight of Kobold snipers on Wyvern mounts to dispatch the PC's (this is one of a few clues in place that happens later on in the campaign to let the PC's know that the Kobold problem is alive and well and not centered on Irontooth or Balgron).
I also have a subplot or two in the works for higher level play. One involving a war between a small hidden kingdom of Deep Gnomes in Cairngorm Peaks and a dangerous alliance crafted by the Bloodspear tribe of Orcs, Minotaur and Ogres (some linked possibly to Saruun Khel and H2). All sparked by the profitable mining efforts of the Orc tribes in the western slopes of Caringorm and a very rich iron deposit sprinkled with a few gem deposits, territory the Gnomes have long held claim too.
Another involving the appearance of some nasty and a few powerful undead in and around Fallcrest (using the Tower of Waiting and its DM tip I will expand on it to create a more urban mystery tied to some key NPC's and mysterious deaths, ending in the exploration of the tower and its dark history of rape, torture, and murder).
Please feel free to use any ideas
Szartharrax, the white dragon who has set up shop in Kobold Hall has allyed himself with the Kobold King (havent come up with names yet...I wanted to create some good ones). Both are well aware of what Kalarel is doing at the Keep on the Shadowfell (H1). They will use that as a diversion (and subsequent adventures to follow as applicable) to divert the PC's attention and give them time to breed/build an army strong enough to destroy Fallcrest and take over the Vale.
When the PC's first start they are pointed to Kobold Hall, and in dealing with Szarth they find a note from Irontooth, giving them their first clue (Im going to give Szarth an escape route in his lair to allow for an opportunity to continue a plot line involving his evolution vs the PC's. If the PC's get lucky and kill him I might move that to a mother/sibling retaliation). Irontooth diverts the PC's attention to Winterhaven as does a PC mentor (tied to our Rogue explorer) Douven Stahl who goes missing. One of the PC's is a paladin of Bahamut, and another is a cleric of Pelor, both with ties that I have plans to eventually weave their backgrounds into the story. Our warrior, who already stated he wanted some basic farmer background and few ties, is going to have his family (whos farm the PCs are using as a starting point and fall back rest spot) whiped out by a Kobold raid after (I should say if hehehe) the threat is seemed to have been removed when they kill Irontooth and Kalarel (Im giving Irontooth a hard edge no retreat kind of personality who drives his soldiers hard and scares the hell out of them into submission, vs the lazy and fat Balgron who is despised by the King and sent to help Kalarel to keep him from causing disension and trouble, Balgron is kept out of the loop and has little information to give the PC's, and is more afraid of what the witch will do to him if he squeeled and lived anyway).
Gorefang, a grizzled old Kobold general in charge of the upper level and exterior defense of Gardmore Abbey, is also Irontooth's father. When word reaches him of his sons death at the hands of the PC's he sends a small flight of Kobold snipers on Wyvern mounts to dispatch the PC's (this is one of a few clues in place that happens later on in the campaign to let the PC's know that the Kobold problem is alive and well and not centered on Irontooth or Balgron).
I also have a subplot or two in the works for higher level play. One involving a war between a small hidden kingdom of Deep Gnomes in Cairngorm Peaks and a dangerous alliance crafted by the Bloodspear tribe of Orcs, Minotaur and Ogres (some linked possibly to Saruun Khel and H2). All sparked by the profitable mining efforts of the Orc tribes in the western slopes of Caringorm and a very rich iron deposit sprinkled with a few gem deposits, territory the Gnomes have long held claim too.
Another involving the appearance of some nasty and a few powerful undead in and around Fallcrest (using the Tower of Waiting and its DM tip I will expand on it to create a more urban mystery tied to some key NPC's and mysterious deaths, ending in the exploration of the tower and its dark history of rape, torture, and murder).
Please feel free to use any ideas
daddystabz
Explorer
Where are you all finding the geography for the default PoL setting? Are these being made up by you all or is there somewhere in the 4e books that details some of the setting?
There's basically very little information on the implied setting. There's a single map on the back of the DMG that lists some places and a town.daddystabz said:
It's very, very bare bones, just some names and implications (Eladrin come from the Feywild, Tieflings and Dragonborn had an empire, etc).
Last edited:
Sanzuo
First Post
Honestly I believe the best campaign settings are your own. You don't have to come up with a world map and a whole bunch of npcs and factions right away (although you can). Instead you should just come up with your own brief history of creation and some general lore about your world. Then, session by session you can simply expand on those and even your players can help define your world by their backgrounds and actions. Most fun I've ever had with campaign worlds is ones I've built with my friends.
Or if I had to pick I'd say Planescape.
Or if I had to pick I'd say Planescape.
I agree with DerekSTheRed: 4E made me want to straight back to Birthright. It is a very cool setting, even if you don´t use the Regents & Domain rules. It has a low magic flavor easily acomplished now, plus tons of fun stuff.
Also, the guys at Birthright.net are already working in a conversion.
Also, the guys at Birthright.net are already working in a conversion.
Worlds and Magic and the other book had a fair bit of flavour.
I've based my campaign, for the moment, on Lyon, in france, with a 400km/side border. The town of Lyon itself is ruined, and nobody goes near it. (It is partly subsumed into the Far Realm now, and will be the major focus of the paragon level of my campaign)
There are 5 human city states, basically outposts of the old empire, 3 of which patrol a wall on the southern side, which has been built to keep out the orcs. Orcish hordes will be the focus of the Heroic campaign.
In the mean time, I'm going to use Ari's Ashen ideas to be the epic threat, and present through out the rest of the campaign.
Dwarves will be in the alps, the south-western sides and mountains will be elvish, with feywild portals, and the halflings have a marsh-city, and otherwise ply the Seine and the other river I can't remember.
I've based my campaign, for the moment, on Lyon, in france, with a 400km/side border. The town of Lyon itself is ruined, and nobody goes near it. (It is partly subsumed into the Far Realm now, and will be the major focus of the paragon level of my campaign)
There are 5 human city states, basically outposts of the old empire, 3 of which patrol a wall on the southern side, which has been built to keep out the orcs. Orcish hordes will be the focus of the Heroic campaign.
In the mean time, I'm going to use Ari's Ashen ideas to be the epic threat, and present through out the rest of the campaign.
Dwarves will be in the alps, the south-western sides and mountains will be elvish, with feywild portals, and the halflings have a marsh-city, and otherwise ply the Seine and the other river I can't remember.
daddystabz said:
I can highly recommend the world of Nevermore. It is a very POL setting and the Gazetteer for it is free!. It is currently True20-based, but since there aren't any 4e settings out yet that shouldn't matter. Just to peak your interest here are the opening two paragraphs of the Big Book (which comes out for Gen Con):
Nevermore is an ever-changing world where reason fades into the mists of slumber, and imagination emerges into a land of fanciful dreams and dreadful nightmares. It is a world where exotic and unpredictable encounters are as common as eddies swirling along a rocky shore. It is a realm of surreal landscapes awash with dramatic deeds and teeming with creatures both beautiful and bizarre.
Nevermore offers a plethora of possible and even improbable adventures for those who traverse its strange domains. It pushes its inhabitants and visitors beyond the mundane and into a fantastic realm of near boundless potential for both good and evil. Nevermore amplifies and accentuates, twists and skews and is a place where nothing remains the same for long.
In addition to being perfect for cinematic high fantasy, it has a built in POL mechanic because it is set in the dreamlands of the fey (Feywild??) and only particular areas ruled by dreamlords have any real stability outside of the domain of the Eye (which is the most stable/earth-like area of the dreamlands).
If you or anyone else is interested, you can find the Free Gazetteer here.
Last but not least, feel free to email me at joseph.dm.miller@gmail.com. I'm more than willing to chat and I'm also always on the look out for good playtesters/readers for upcoming products (which will probably be 4e).
daddystabz
Explorer
Thanks! I will check that out!
Dormain1
Explorer
Dragonlance 
come on they stole Kender, Draconians, flying Citadels .....
just add a curse of the Magi, fix the dragonborn so they can fly and explode upon death
actually Cam Banks is working on an unofficial 4e conversion which with the help he is going to get over at the Dragonlance Forums
it looks like it will be the first campaign setting out
no pressure Cam
come on they stole Kender, Draconians, flying Citadels .....
just add a curse of the Magi, fix the dragonborn so they can fly and explode upon death
actually Cam Banks is working on an unofficial 4e conversion which with the help he is going to get over at the Dragonlance Forums
it looks like it will be the first campaign setting out
no pressure Cam
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