D&D 4E D&D 4E settings descriptions

[buddhafrog]

good thread. I'm looking to buy my first setting and still can't decide which.

Which of these settings has the most detailed info on setting cities, NPC's, maps, etc? I know FR and Eberron are fairly saturated with early edition products. Is that the same for 4e? Would buying earlier edition settings but playing 4e be difficult - is there a lot of actual edition-specific info in the setting books?

 

[Mr. Wilson]

Each of their campaign settings does a good job of introducing the world to the DM and players.

I personally prefer Eberron, so I'm going to recommend that setting, but Dark Sun is getting glowing reviews as well.

The setting book for FR is well-written, but suffered because they were the first setting of 4E AND seriously messed with the setting's history. It is a fine setting in and of itself, but doesn't "feel" like the Realms to many people.* Neither of the other two settings is that much different from prior editions, IMHO, which means you can use a ton of the fluff from them as well.

*I lump myself into that group as well, for sake of honesty.

 

[Klaus]

Let me try!

Forgotten Realms: A sprawling, high-fantasy world with dozens of nations described. Evil rules many realms, and the good heroes have died a long time ago or fallen on harder times. Random, magical blue fire gives people deformities or magical powers. Two continents described, one normal (by D&D standards) and one where the Primordials are revered and dragons rule large swaths of territory.

Eberron: High-action and adventure, mixed with magic-as-technology. Adventures often crisscross the globe, thanks to airships. 12 hereditary birthmarks raise 12 lineages to the top of mercantile power. The main continent used to be a single nation, but a 100-year-war turned them into five realms in an uneasy truce since one of them was devastated in a magical cataclysm. If you want to see Indiana Jones riding dinosaurs while through a thick jungle to reach a dragon-made artifact before the undead soldiers of Cobra can unleash it on a New York-like city, this is the setting for you.

Dark Sun: The world is a blasted wasteland, a desert created by the ravages of magic in ages past. What little civilization exists huddles near the city-states ruled by the Sorcerer-Kings, immortal magicians that enslave thousands to toil in the fields, quarries and armies. The gods are absent, and lots of people develop psionic abilities in order to survive. This is D&D in a post-apocalyptic world populated with strange races (like half-giants and mantis-people) or twists on common races (thieving elven runners, cannibal halflings, bald dwarves).

 

[Vael]

good thread. I'm looking to buy my first setting and still can't decide which.

Which of these settings has the most detailed info on setting cities, NPC's, maps, etc? I know FR and Eberron are fairly saturated with early edition products. Is that the same for 4e? Would buying earlier edition settings but playing 4e be difficult - is there a lot of actual edition-specific info in the setting books?

I'll comment on Eberron specifically. Eberron is much younger than FR or Dark Sun, it started with 3.5. Its books are easier to find, and in the case of the fluffier books, easily usable in 4e. Books like "Magic of Eberron" are not as usable, but "Sharn: City of Towers" has a lot of really good material to mine for a 4e campaign. You will have to create 4e stat blocks for any detailed NPCs you want to use, but aside from that, the book is very good.

 

[Klaus]

I'll comment on Eberron specifically. Eberron is much younger than FR or Dark Sun, it started with 3.5. Its books are easier to find, and in the case of the fluffier books, easily usable in 4e. Books like "Magic of Eberron" are not as usable, but "Sharn: City of Towers" has a lot of really good material to mine for a 4e campaign. You will have to create 4e stat blocks for any detailed NPCs you want to use, but aside from that, the book is very good.

Correct.

Books like Sharn: City of Towers, City of Stormreach, Explorer's Handbook, Dragonmarked, Five Nations, Player's Guide to Eberron, Secrets of Xen'drik and Secrets of Sarlona are ripe for plundering.

 

[Dedekind]

good thread. I'm looking to buy my first setting and still can't decide which.

Which of these settings has the most detailed info on setting cities, NPC's, maps, etc? I know FR and Eberron are fairly saturated with early edition products. Is that the same for 4e? Would buying earlier edition settings but playing 4e be difficult - is there a lot of actual edition-specific info in the setting books?

For ideas, you could steal from older FR and Eberron material pretty easily. And most of the 3e stuff is still relatively available. Eberron probably would be the least daunting to wrap your mind around because there are fewer books. It certainly has plenty of maps and NPCs. The novels would be contemporaneous with the campaign setting, too, whereas the long list of FR's novels would match up to several older timelines.