D&D 4E Tropes of the Nentir Vale

[CapnZapp]

A review of the 4e setting by one who was less than enthused by the 4e rules:

4th edition's implied setting is Old School as f*ck

My OSR Blog about fantasy world building and rules analysis for D&D. Also home of the B/X inspired 5e-clone "Into the Unknown."

mythlands-erce.blogspot.com

Could you summarize the review or otherwise provide context, so that your post comes off more like a contribution and less as something drawing traffic off-site?

Thanks

 

[cavalier973]

Could you summarize the review or otherwise provide context, so that your post comes off more like a contribution and less as something drawing traffic off-site?

Thanks

Certainly.

The author argues that the "Points of Light" setting of 4th edition was a callback to old-school settings--especially Greyhawk; that its cosmology relied on a cultural awareness from our own, real-world mythology (Gods versus Titans/Giants and Law versus Chaos), and that, though he would not use the 4th edition rules for play, he would consider using the implied setting of 4th Edition for games he ran using other rulesets.

 

[Marandahir]

Here's a more complete map of the Vale, designed by some of us in collaboration back on the old WotC forums during 4e. Of course, you don't have to use all these points, and maybe even withhold this version as a DM only map and let the players fill in the gaps as they discover some of these points of interest. But they are drawn from each of the Nentir Vale related products that came out over the course of 4e:

 

[Marandahir]

There is a skeletal setting .... beyond that generic locale. .We can feel its bones in feats and paragon paths and backgrounds and god descriptions and the like in 4e.

Not only that, we also had a whole series of articles called "Nerathi Legends," which looked at the other nations that appear on the "Conquest of Nerath" map, and we also had some novels (not very good ones, from my experience, as D&D writing goes, but alas) set in the setting.

Of course, the point of the articles were to flesh how Rich Baker sees the broader world around the Nentir Vale. They are not required to use the Vale by any means.

Here's the Conquest Map for anyone who doesn't know it:

 

[Garthanos]

Certainly.

The author argues that the "Points of Light" setting of 4th edition was a callback to old-school settings--especially Greyhawk; that its cosmology relied on a cultural awareness from our own, real-world mythology (Gods versus Titans/Giants and Law versus Chaos), and that, though he would not use the 4th edition rules for play, he would consider using the implied setting of 4th Edition for games he ran using other rulesets.

I saw that too it very much invoked what was inspired by AD&D and fit very well with my ongoing game world from back then.

 

[cavalier973]

There's one place missing from that map: the Twisting Halls, from the Red Box adventure. It should be just to the right of Fallcrest.

 

[Marandahir]

There were zoomed in maps for most of the countries that got featured in Nerathi Legends before the end of the 4e line, as well as for the Harkenwold, Hammerfast, Vor Rukoth, and Trollhaunt Warren areas as they all got specific products dedicated to them (Note that the depiction of the Trollhaunt Warrens in P1 is incompatible in either orientation or direction with the Conquest of Nerath map).

And we can probably suppose that places like White Plume Mountain, Sunless Citadel, Tomb of Horrors, and Temple of Elemental Evil areas look rather similar to how such iconic locations were portrayed in past editions.

That said, anything setting content NOT labeled to be specifically take place in the Forgotten Realms, Eberron, or Dark Sun that appeared in a 4e book or magazine article was Points of Light/Nerath Setting content.

FYI, I always envisioned the two major continents shown on Conquest of Nerath as a Devil and a Dragon fighting one another, to reflect the old empires of Bael Turath and Arkhosia from whose ashes Nerath, the Iron Circle, Karkoth, and Vailin arose.

And the territory of Nera is made very clear in one of the novels to be the capital territory, where King Elidyr fought his last against the Gnoll hordes that destroyed Nerath. It's also one of the names in legend given to the Raven Queen, though only so much as the legend goes that she was at one point the consort of Nerull, before killing him and taking his portfolio (and thus is another pseudonym). But it gives insight into why the Raven Queen is so pivotol to the Nerath setting: she was likely the patron deity of the Nerathi Empire.

There's one place missing from that map: the Twisting Halls, from the Red Box adventure. It should be just to the right of Fallcrest.

GAH! See, we never finished working on it before the mass exodus to Enworld, and then I never found the continuation of the project, if anyone continued it at all. That's the latest version I had saved in my archive folder.

I can definitely add the Twisting Halls to the map in the same style as the rest, but if anyone else notices something missing, it would be great to know.

 

[Parmandur]

Certainly.

The author argues that the "Points of Light" setting of 4th edition was a callback to old-school settings--especially Greyhawk; that its cosmology relied on a cultural awareness from our own, real-world mythology (Gods versus Titans/Giants and Law versus Chaos), and that, though he would not use the 4th edition rules for play, he would consider using the implied setting of 4th Edition for games he ran using other rulesets.

That's exactly what Matt Mercer did,and now it's come full circle in a 5E product.

 

[Aldarc]

That's exactly what Matt Mercer did,and now it's come full circle in a 5E product.

I would still prefer getting the detailed Nentir Vale setting book We never got in 4e. No, Mercer’s world is NOT the Vale or Nerath.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I would still prefer getting the detailed Nentir Vale setting book We never got in 4e. No, Mercer’s world is NOT the Vale or Nerath.

Exactly. I love Exandria, but it isn't POLand/Nerath.