Excerpt: Fallcrest

[Aria Silverhands]

I like it. It's not a bad little town and will provide noob dm's good footing for creating their own world. I personally never go into that much detail when I write something. I just make up aspects of the towns and villages as needed.

 

[ferratus]

I think the town of Fallcrest is having the problems that many towns in the former Roman Empire had after biker gangs (barbarian tribes) took over the government and started ruling their pieces of turf. Simply put, maintaining monumental infrastructure is something that requires tax dollars, central planning, labour, and skilled technique. Economies of scale.

Without the larger tax base, the slave power, and the ability to move around master masons and builders, the local fiefdoms of the Germanic chieftains simply couldn't build or maintain anything on the level of the Roman Empire. As trade suffered due to the fragmenting of the economy, there became fewer number of skilled people were trained simply because there wasn't the means to pay for those skills. People didn't become ignorant, that's why monumental architecture and innovation continued, especially by the church which had many of the advantages of the Roman Empire. Namely, it had international contacts, a wide ranging source of income that didn't depend solely on the local tax base, central and stable leadership and volunteer labour (as cheap as slave labour, only with a better attitude while working).

The town of Fallcrest on the other hand has a population deficit, and largely doesn't seem to have much of a tax base outside of the city. It probably has to import food in fact, given that it is unable to completely defend its outlaying farms (which is why the population is largely inside the town). I would thus imagine that Fallcrest cannot afford to fix the walls, doesn't have the people that know how to fix the walls, and doesn't have the people to man the walls either.

So what do people do when they get a sudden orc attack? They run inside the keep. That they can defend and maintain.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

The map of Fallcrest looks like an expanded version of Dagger Falls from the Dalelands of the Forgotten Realms.

 

[gscholt]

Could someone explain the numbers behind the basic stats for me? In the Orest Naerumar stat block it lists:

Str 13 (+5) Dex 19 (+8) Wis 14 (+6)
Con 15 (+6) Int 15 (+6) Cha 20 (+9)

It seems to be (1/2) lvl + ability modifier, instead of just the ability modifier I'm used to seeing in 3e.
I'm speculating it's the modifier for ability checks (is that even in 4e?).

 

[hong]

Could someone explain the numbers behind the basic stats for me? In the Orest Naerumar stat block it lists:
It seems to be (1/2) lvl + ability modifier, instead of just the ability modifier I'm used to seeing in 3e.
I'm speculating it's the modifier for ability checks (is that even in 4e?).

Correct.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Could someone explain the numbers behind the basic stats for me? In the Orest Naerumar stat block it lists:
It seems to be (1/2) lvl + ability modifier, instead of just the ability modifier I'm used to seeing in 3e.
I'm speculating it's the modifier for ability checks (is that even in 4e?).

As hong said, that's correct.

There are still occasions where the old modifiers are used, but the level-based modifiers are given since they are required for all untrained skill checks. ("raw" ability modifiers usually matter for special effects from powers or for damage, and are already included in the stat-block)

 

[Dave Turner]

Too bad Fallcrest doesn't seem interesting or realistic. I suppose it serves the purpose of totally generic D&D town for beginners well enough though.

I agree that, based on the thin excerpt we've seen, there's not much flash in Fallcrest. But perhaps we should withold full judgment on Fallcrest until we've seen the full town?

 

[LostSoul]

Knowing that the town was already sacked by an invading army, I would expect them to do the exact opposite to try to prevent such a fate from happening again instead of rebuild in such a way as to invite it to happen a second time

That wouldn't leave much for the PCs to do, though.

 

[Ethalias]

Johan Fieldson is spending all his time over in Greenplains blessing crops that are converted into residuum thus raising food prices for everyone else! Go find Johan and convince him this hurts the poor people of Fallcrest with the higher prices and also harms the environment more than crafting magical items without residuum...

Convince Johan
Complexity: 3 (requires 8 successes before 4 failures).
Primary Skills: Arcana, Diplomacy, Insight, Nature

Topical win!

 

[Mort_Q]

So that's where all the druids are! Why risk your life adventuring when you can make a fine living out in the fields!