Critical Role Tell me the selling points of Tal'Dorei / Wildemount, without mentioning Critical Role, Matt Mercer, etc.

[Paul Farquhar]

Right! That's the city in Call of the Netherdeep that had a gazetteer and hooks that were more interesting than the actual campaign plot, lol.

The thing about Ank’Harel is it’s actually a nice place where you want to spend time, and care if it’s threatened. Not one of your typical wretched hives of scum and villainy that most fantasy cities are.

CotN has a couple of other nice adventure base camps as well. It’s a shame the adventure itself is so ropey!

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

This bit of lore isn’t actually in the setting book. I assume they are getting it from the the Critical Role stream, and is therefore not relevant to the OP. The setting has to be taken only on material in the source books. Clearly it’s a meta reference to the deities being lifted from Netir Vale and Golarion.

Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount definitely refers to the gods as being outsiders that came to Exandria at some point. I think it’s in the sidebar about the Luxon.

 

[saviirkad]

This bit of lore isn’t actually in the setting book. I assume they are getting it from the the Critical Role stream, and is therefore not relevant to the OP. The setting has to be taken only on material in the source books. Clearly it’s a meta reference to the deities being lifted from Netir Vale and Golarion.

To be fair, the books do say the gods come from beyond Exandria. Critical Role streams have expanded upon the details of the "unknown realm" the gods originated from.

 

[Necropolitan]

like the faerûn pantheon which I personally find very generic

How?

So you've said before that the setting doesn't do anything unique that would make people want to play there, but when it actually does something unique and interesting, it's suddenly bad?

That's not unique or interesting and it is bad, there is no "suddenly."

all with their own diverse cultures and complications

Which never go beyond surface level. If the only difference is if people ride horses or camels then that's not cultural diversity.

The closest Exandria gets to something original is the reincarnation system.

And Exandria's villains are Vecna (Greyhawk), Tharizdun (Greyhawk), Asmodeus (multiple other settings and done better in them), Predathos (a generic doomsday monster that resulted in the absurd interloper plot twist), etc.

With every other D&D setting I can look at the lore and think of a character I could play that draws on the unique details. That doesn't happen with Exandria.

 

[zakael19]

To respond to OP in a wider scale, again as somebody who has watched/listened to (0) CR episodes:

Explorer's Guide to Wildemont specifically as one of the few published WOTC campaign settings for 5e does the following I really like:

• It's "new." The only pre-existing lore is what you see from the CR campaign, it doesn't have decades of existing stuff that can feel a little overwhelming (and leads to absurdly long timeline entries with little or no relevance to play).
• It has a nice set of 4 major civilizations/power groups, two of which have simmering conflicts going on internally; two of which are at active war with each other. To quote from the book's opening:

WAR!

The continent of Wildemount is a powder keg about to. explode. Tensions between the Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty have just erupted into open war, and everyone in Wildemount, including the adventurers, must contend with the fallout of the conflict between the continent's two imperial superpowers.

(It does have suggestions for how to prioritize/deprioritize or even drop the large scale war out of your campaign depending on what you and your players want to on-screen though)

• It has lots of suggestions on how to weave this conflict into your campaign.
• It's got the good "ancient magic flying cities flew too close to the sun gods and caused an empire-collapsing event." Always fun.
• It has lingering effects of that collapse and the God's War that followed in the very geography, as well as cultural elements.
• It brings in the excellent and concise 4e pantheon, updated for 5e.
• It has pretty strong Factions, each with Goals outlined, Relationships presented, and useful Figures of Interest to onscreen with their own sub-goals and personalities. Many of them are in conflict with each other, giving clear places for PCs to step in.
• It has a strong Gazetteer (honestly perhaps a little much! it goes and goes for a single continent), with adventure seeds and hooks liberally sprinkled throughout (this isn't unique, but is a bare minimum for a good setting guide). Most of those hooks tie back to regional factions. Here's an example:

DEASTOK ADVENTURES
Elements of intrigue, noble finery, and the Myriad define adventures in Deastok. Characters might have adventures centered around grand parties, social gatherings, and whispered rumors.
Kryn-Jiltration (Any Level). The Kryn Dynasty wants to infiltrate the nobility of Deastok to manipulate and steal information from wealthy Dwendalian citizens. The Kryn could hire the characters to accomplish this, or the characters could uncover the Kryn plot and try to find the spies. In either case, the Myriad's involvement in the city adds another dimension to the conflict between the Dwendalian Empire and Kryn Dynasty, making the characters wondering who-if anyone-they can trust.

• It has a mobile settlement on the backs of giant tortoises.
• It has a good remix of the classic tropes around species.
• It has suggestions for how to take the core backgrounds from the 2014 PHB and tie them into the factions here to give PCs goals and relationships to drive play.
• It's got 4 pretty alright adventures tied to the 4 major areas to help start campaigns off.

 

[zakael19]

Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount definitely refers to the gods as being outsiders that came to Exandria at some point. I think it’s in the sidebar about the Luxon.

"Through the ashen skies of Creation Primordial, the gods came from beyond the ether, new and formless. Looking on this roiling realm, they saw potential for great beauty, great strength, and the chance to learn their own place in creation."

 

[Paul Farquhar]

it is bad

Why?

Which never go beyond surface level.

There is a lot more depth than there was in Greyhawk at the same point. Things get fleshed out with time. And CotN adds a lot more depth to some adventure hubs.

And Exandria's villains are Vecna (Greyhawk), Tharizdun (Greyhawk), Asmodeus (multiple other settings and done better in them), Predathos (a generic doomsday monster that resulted in the absurd interloper plot twist), etc

Why would a villain have to be a god? There are shedloads of mortal villains to choose from, who are far less cliche than evil gods. And if you must have a divine villain, you can always import another one.

With every other D&D setting I can look at the lore and think of a character I could play that draws on the unique details. That doesn't happen with Exandria.

They could come from a city that doesn’t suck. That’s pretty unique.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

the gods came from beyond the ether, new and formless

Not having seen Critical Role, I just took that as meaning the gods are not Earthly beings. It does say they were “new”, suggesting they were, like the world, newly created.

Not that I see any problem with them being from somewhere else. Several FR gods are too. Not to mention Cthulhu and his mates.

 

[zakael19]

Not having seen Critical Role, I just took that as meaning the gods are not Earthly beings. It does say they were “new”, suggesting they were, like the world, newly created.

Not that I see any problem with them being from somewhere else. Several FR gods are too. Not to mention Cthulhu and his mates.

I generally dont really care about the backdrop of gods in a setting apart from what is relevant to the characters, and any themes that might help with using their agents or goals within play. Having a fairly concise pantheon that's got a reason to be somewhat distant is Good for Play imo. The factions aligned with Evil Gods as presented have interesting reasons for being Evil (eg: the Lolth worshippers are really mad about the cultural and religious change and want to try and roll that back, feels realistic).

 

[saviirkad]

Not having seen Critical Role, I just took that as meaning the gods are not Earthly beings. It does say they were “new”, suggesting they were, like the world, newly created.

Not that I see any problem with them being from somewhere else. Several FR gods are too. Not to mention Cthulhu and his mates.

Other mentions say they came from an unknown realm, but it's fair to assume what you did.