D&D 4E "Point of Light" 4e, Is there a list of all relevant lore?

[zoggynog]

Hey folks,

I need a primer. I"m running a 4e campaign based on the vanilla "points of light" setting, with the staple deities. I have begun making the lore/cultures/religions a major part of my game.

I've been reading online for additional info on lore. Between the Vanilla vs Flavored (Forgotten Realms, Eberron, etc) versions of the Deities; the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd edition versions of the Deities; and all the 4e books/WotC articles with little snippets of info strewn about...I'm pulling my hair out.

Is there an easy way to browse all lore/history/deity info for vanilla 4e? Is there at least a reference list?

I guess what I"m really looking for is something like:

Shadowfell : Here's all the official info regarding the Shadowfell
Avandra: Here's all the official info regarding Avandra including religious customs, followers, etc.

All within a vanilla 4e context.

I have a feeling I'm asking too much...but I figured I'd run it by you all.

 

[TikkchikFenTikktikk]

No, there is not.

You are looking for too much and possibly misunderstanding what the "Points of Light" setting is and represents.

The PoL means it's up to you, as the DM, to decide what the PCs know and what they do not, what each deity's worshiper's dress looks like, etc. The PoL only give you the barest bones of what the deities' names are and what they represent.

The Nentir Vale geography and the default pantheon are very, very bare bones. If you don't want this bare of bones you should look to a different game or setting.

As the DM, do what you want to do. But there isn't much of a crutch if you can't or won't make all of this up as you go.

 

[SoulsFury]

Yeah, its 'vanilla' for a reason. Just make up what you want. There is lots of information on the Nentir Vale if you buy all the books and read them carefully. There are tons of assumptions made about the core setting. I just bought one of the Draconomicons today, and with that, the core setting gets a lot of stuff added, but you have no clue where it is at or how different things have to interact.

Let the setting unfold around you as you play. That is what we do. We started with Keep on the Shadowfell, and from there, a mostly homebrew campaign setting has evolved.

 

[ppaladin123]

If you are interested, check out the link in my signature. It is a list of every god (dead or otherwise) that has appeared in the 4e PoL setting, the astral domains they occupy/occupied, their divine portfolios, and the books/magazines they appear in. There is a lot of interesting lore that you can integrate into your game.

 

[ppaladin123]

double post. see below.

 

[ppaladin123]

]It may have started that way but there are reams of data about the default setting now: books on the astral plane, the elemental chaos, the underdark, undead, demons, devils, the feywild, etc. Even in the crunch books (i.e. primal power) there are tons of asides about the dawn war and the war of winter and the major primal spirits and organizations that inhabit the world. There are articles that actually do tell you what Bane's followers wear and what runes and hand gestures Moradin's priests use to identify each other. The maps are a bit sketchy but are getting filled in gradually too (and there is a book on threats to the Nentir Vale coming out shortly). If you wanted to, you could construct a richly detailed, fully fleshed out setting out of this information with little need to improvise.

I think points of light is a philosophy as well as a setting: don't be beholden to any of this information; use what you want; reveal what you want to players; feel free to improvise; discard stuff that doesn't feel right; throw in as much fog of war as is appropriate for the adventure. If you want a pre-fab detailed setting it is there for the taking though the pieces are scattered across multiple books. There is, after all, nothing logically inconsistent with having a well fleshed out world consisting of small, disparate colonies struggling to survive in the aftermath of imperial collapse. The people in that world
(or the PCs for that matter) might not know what lies 5-10 miles outside their village but the DM can certainly know!

Incidentally, I love systems. I take enormous pleasure in learning the intricacies of settings, the ordering of their planes, the forces that shape the world, the origin and nature of its magics. There is something quite satisfying about building and/or uncovering an internally consistent world and mastering its lore. So, I can understand the desire to gobble up information about the PoL setting. I devoured every fluff book they published!

 

[zoggynog]

Thank you all, especially ppaladin123

I tend to be a "long winded" person so I wrote my original post to get as straight to the point as I could. For those that care, I already have my own plot line worked out completely. It primarily involves The material plane, the Feywild, the Abysmal plane, and the Underdark. I've done things like moved the tiefling/dragonborn to another continent, so they don't interfere with previously set lore (this is a continuation of a storyline from an old 3.0 campaign).

It's just that when I ran this previous campaign, dieities weren't really fleshed out (no characters really followed them). So I see this as an opportunity to shoe horn in some great content already provided. In addition, I've started to hear little things about the old Planescape setting that I'm really digging...like Modrons.

I'm trying to blend in stock PoL info with my previously set story lines. The difficulty not being "how do I DM?" but "How can I introduce official PoL lore, in a knowledgeable manner."

An example: They have recently found an Eladrin spire where master wizards would experiment with various magics. The spire has been designed to shift between the material plane, feywild, and shadowfell. It was long abandoned, but still shifts planes/locations when activated...which occurred recently.

Amongst the things I wanted to include within the old library was a map of the planes. Something to kind of hint at the big picture they will interact with more as they hit 10-30. Many of my players are new, and this idea of planes needs some explanation, and will probably lead to questions. Having a list of books to read up on would be nice, to give me ideas for quickly answering questions asked of old wizards...who would know this stuff.

So...I'll start with that link. Thanks!

 

[Peraion Graufalke]

Check this out:
Points of Light Wiki

 

[SparqMan]

The number of posts across forums asking for maps, information and details about the Nentir / PoL setting must be indicative of a hunger for the content.

WotC may have intended for PoL to be generic, but ppaladin123's point is correct: as they've added more subtle hints, it's become more interesting.

Maybe it's the general lack of content that makes it more interesting and exotic. Is there a way to translate that hunger for information to players as a DM?

 

[zoggynog]

Peraion,

Thank you.

That link is awesome.