underwhelmed with Neverwinter Campaign Setting

[Retreater]

I picked up the NWCS from the used bin at my FLGS last night for about $14. I'm not sure if it was a good buy. (I would've been really disappointed had I paid full price.) It seems mostly a collection of plot hooks with nothing immediately useful. There are a handful of stats for NPCs, but mostly it references you to the other monster resources. There are no dungeon maps, sample encounters, etc.

As a collection of adventure hooks, I find it a little bland compared to a setting like Dark Sun, which seems chock full of great ideas. Instead, NWCS seems vague and uninteresting. Such as "So and so may or may not be affiliated with group A. If the party is seeking a magic item that does blank, so and so may or may not have it. As DM you should decide the role that so and so may or may not play in your campaign. If he does or does not have a keep is up to you to develop it and all of its traps and guardians that may or may not be there. It's your campaign."

Theologically speaking it is the Limbo of gaming products, a lukewarm and neutered tome, that rare speciman of gaming book that apologizes in advance for wanting to suggest that the writers would like to contribute something to your game.

Did I miss the point? Was there a point?

 

[Matt James]

wow, you read it and honestly think it is just a book of plot hooks??

 

[Obryn]

I think you missed the point. And if you got it for $14, it was a steal!

Neverwinter is a big DM's sandbox. The key is figuring how to use the various factions in your game, familiarizing yourself with the city, and then DMing reactively to the players' choices in-game. You're right that there's no pre-set adventures; the idea is that this product makes either prepping adventures or sandboxing during play a breeze. It looks like it should succeed admirably at this. (It's missing one of the high points of Gloomwrought, which was the little drop-and-play encounters, but that's it.)

I think it's fantastic. I liked Gloomwrought a bit better, but I think Neverwinter is a top-tier product. WotC has been nailing DM content left and right for the past 2 years, and this is no exception.

I love the Dark Sun Campaign Setting, too, but these are different kinds of books.

-O

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I've looked at it twice so far, and I was pretty underwhelmed by it myself. $10 would be too pricey for me to get it.

But for fans of the setting, it may hit all the right notes. (I've never played it.)

 

[Obryn]

I've looked at it twice so far, and I was pretty underwhelmed by it myself. $10 would be too pricey for me to get it.

But for fans of the setting, it may hit all the right notes. (I've never played it.)

I am a devoted non-fan of the Realms.

But the book is more or less exactly what I want out of a self-contained sandbox setting.

-O

 

[Neverfate]

As far as points go, it's my belief from all that was advertised from this was it was a bit more than Vor Rukoth/Hammerfast and a little less than the DSCG.

Also it appeals to the "have you played the video game, but haven't played D&D?" demographic that WotC loves.

Those were the points in marketing. The set doesn't really go outside of heroic from what I hear, so that fits the bill too. It's sandboxy enough that it goes against 4E's original "on-a-rail RPG" stigma. All of this points to the kind of product that you'd be getting if you spent your money on it. So you can't say you were misinformed.

 

[S'mon]

I paid £27.50 or so, about $45, and I did feel pretty ripped off, for the reasons you give. I started off thinking "great flavour text/fluff intro stuff... Now where's the meat of the product?" Then as I kept flipping through the book the horrible realisation dawned that the whole book is fluff/flavour intro text...

Where are all the mini-adventures? The keyed floorplans?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Where are all the mini-adventures? The keyed floorplans?

Paragon Paths unique to the setting? Gear? Feats? Powers? Builds?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Where are all the mini-adventures? The keyed floorplans?

Paragon Paths unique to the setting? Gear? Feats? Powers? Builds?

 

[Kzach]

You're in the minority: http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-discussion/310633-rate-neverwinter-campaign-guide.html