what if L4W goes Core?

[fireinthedust]

here's my theory about 4e: all the settings books are considered core, so we have Planescape elements (sigil as the DMG2 setting), we have Ravenloft Domains, Spelljammer ships, Eberron races, FR swordmages, etc. These and many NPCs are all considered core in various manuals (Dragonomicon has Dragotha, who is Greyhawk; Open Grave has Strahd *and* Kyuss *and* Vecna; etc.).

My theory is that this means that eventually the Core books will encompass everything that comes out, with multiple settings as the Prime Material plane. One Big Setting.

As such: I doubt L4W would shift to being part of it rules-wise... but would it accept characters built using the L4W rules who happen to come from, say, Eberron? Or Waterdeep? Or, heck, Barovia?

If it math-crunch-wise doesn't give an advantage, would there be room for that in L4W?

 

[stonegod]

So far, "setting neutral" material is the only things being imported in L4W: No FR-god specific feats or PPs for the most part (though some have been adapted). Some of the other things (monsters and their lore, ala Kyuss) are DM issues, not player issues, so they do not affect L4W. Thus, I don't see L4W being a place where everyone comes from everywhere... they'll come from the Near or Far Isles.

That being said, folks can and have added Far Isles that are farther away from "standard" L4W setting definitions.

 

[JoeNotCharles]

Huh? All the FR-god specific feats are allowed, and at least one person's taken the Tempus one. A bunch of us have pseudo-spellscars. The PP's are all allowed, the only reasons nobody's taken any of them are that nobody's high enough level. The only thing we banned from the FR book were the regional backgrounds.

As for actually saying, "My character is from Waterdeep," I'd have no problem with a character whose background says they grew up there and recently fell through a portal and found themself in Daunton.

 

[fireinthedust]

Would the same go for someone saying they fell through a portal from Sigil?

One thing that I'd like to do is get Emral (a Genasi aiming towards the Elemental Tempest PP) high enough level that I can use all the stuff that's out there. I wonder how long it'll take to get that XP, though. Not that it isn't fun, but the goal of going up in level (ever) is on the back burner.

 

[renau1g]

you can DM to add some DM credits to your PC to bump it up. I believe garyh did this?

 

[H.M.Gimlord]

Here's where things get complicated. Background-specific feats, like dragonmarks, are really cool constructs of the Eberron campaign setting, but they don't mesh with the L4W story. I suppose that dragonmarks are out for L4W. Additionally, the whole house background thing would likely not be advisable, though there's always the portal option. I tried this with Mikara, importing her from Avenroc, and I'm almost wishing I hadn't.

Come on, let's admit it, how often does a character have to fall through a portal before it starts sounding kind of cheesey.

 

[TwoHeadsBarking]

Come on, let's admit it, how often does a character have to fall through a portal before it starts sounding kind of cheesey.

Yeah, this. If L4W was set in Sigil, this would be fine. But it's not, and while the "dimensional barriers" or whatever around the Transitive Isles seem to be somewhat porous, I think allowing characters from different campaign settings would be going to far. To me, even the Far Lands don't seem that far removed from Daunton, sort of a "same planet, different continent" deal. It feels more like this places are very far away physically, so that the only practical way of traveling from one to another is by portal. This may not be accurate, but that's how it feels.

 

[garyh]

you can DM to add some DM credits to your PC to bump it up. I believe garyh did this?

Indeed. I used DM credits to bump Hrav from 3rd to 4th level, and Phoenix8008 did the same with Kama'zer. That's why we're the most powerful beings in the Transitive Isles.

 

[renau1g]

I humbly bow before your magnificience