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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6210839" data-attributes="member: 42582">I am not talking simply about the fact that there is a default setting. I'm talking about the fact that it is tightly integrated into the elements from which PCs are constructed, and the MM creatures descriptions, and the default framing that the GM is provided with in the DMG.Given that the integration of setting, character, and backstory in yielding the conflicts that are the focus of play is pretty integral to "indie" style, this is not a trivial contribution to 4e's support for indie-style play.The absene of metaplot is another features that distinguishes default 4e from Forgotten Realms and (perhaps - I don't know it well enough) Eberron.It's not uniqute to 4e. HeroWars (now genericised as HeroQuest) is set in Glorantha. The Dying Earth is (naturally enough) set on the Dying Earth. It's distinctive for an edition of D&D, however, to (1) have a default mythic history at all, and (2) to have one that is designed to support the generation of thematic conflict as the focus of play, and to integrate that mythic history into the PC build elements to make sure that those conflicts will emerge.As I've already said, it's not total - you can play halfling worshippers of Avandra who do nothing but fight ankhegs, kruthiks and bulettes. But it's there, and it's very easy to leverage. And the comparison is this: look at an AD&D PC, generated from the PHB. What makes him/her tick? What conflict is s/he primed for. Unless it's a paladin, a druid or a thief (and even then perhaps not), you can't tell. Whereas a 4e PC is much more likely to have an answer to this question built into the character.I've already mentioned both Dark Sun and Neverwinter upthread. Both make significant changes to default 4e expctations. Neverwinter is deliberately set up to integrate PCs tightly into the conflicts of the setting, especially via themes. Dark Sun I don't entirely get, but I think it is less well-suited to indie-style play and better suited to some form of either exploration play or story-telling.Eberron I don't know enought about either in respect of 4e, or in general, to comment on.EDIT to add:These features of 4e's default setting and story elements are not accidental. They are deliberate. Worlds & Monsters - one of the better books released by WotC in my view - explains them in some detail. This is the stuff that many 4e critics deride when they talk about the whole world being turned into an adventuring site, and the corresponding rewriting of things like the elemental planes.</blockquote>

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