D&D 4E Which 4e setting do you prefer?

[Siberys]

Wizards still has DL, and I doubt they'd sell unless it was part of the rest of D&D. Last time they didn't have it, it was licensed out to Margaret Weis Productions, and they ended that license in the leadup to 4e.

As I recall, there was some talk that if they did DL, they'd roll the setting back to the War of the Lance. The problem with DL, even considering its popularity, was how thematically similar it is to other settings - It's still pretty close to standard Fantasy, even with its unique elements. I mean, I'd've prefer it over FR, but they'd definitely gain more off of FR than DL.

As for new settings, they still have the runners-up to the setting search. If they were good enough to compete with Eberron, they must have been good.

 

[Kinneus]

As far as I'm concerned, Dark Sun is the single best thing about 4e. Of course, I'm a little biased. I love Dark Sun mostly because I've been playing at www.armageddon.org for the past 10+ years.

 

[Chris Knapp]

On the list, PoL for me, followed by DS. Eberron isn't my cup of tea and FR, while nice, has never appealed to me either.

The problem with DL, even considering its popularity, was how thematically similar it is to other settings - It's still pretty close to standard Fantasy, even with its unique elements. I mean, I'd've prefer it over FR, but they'd definitely gain more off of FR than DL.

I think the bigger issue with DL is that 99% of the gaming population identify DL with the War of the Lance. And the issue with that is it's an event that greatly overshadows the setting. As all of the fans on the dl forums know, the setting is rich and unique enough to stand on it's own, but IMHO, the actual original adventure path (in all its semi-railroady goodness) is just to much a barrier to entry, especially with the current vocal wishes of many gamers for sandbox adventures. Sure, there are many ages and continents in DL, but even TSR's own foray to another continent (Taladas) was never as popular as the original. Unfortunately, ENWorld's own War of the Burning Sky will likely fall into the same trap. Once players and DM's have experienced the campaign arc, that's it. I hope not, but with the upcoming release of both Zeitgeist and Santiago, hope for future supplements to expand the WotBS setting seems fleeting.

 

[malraux]

I kinda wish we'd see a reboot of the original adventure path in dungeon or a book at some point. I'm not convinced that the setting needs a full treatment, but recreating the original adventure would be awesome.

 

[Zaran]

I think the 4e version of the Forgotten Realms gets a really unfair negative rap from a lot of cry-babies who think their particular favourite version of the Realms is the best and that's how it should forever remain.

I think if people could divorce themselves from all the baggage of FR and view the 4e version as an entirely new and stand-alone setting, that it would be the most popular setting by a long-shot.

From a DM's perspective it has all the hallmarks of a really great setting. The regions all have bucket-loads of potential for adventure without dousing you in information overload or straight-jacketing you with setting lore. There is more adventure potential in just one paragraph of the FR DM's book, than there is in ten pages of other setting books.

Then there's the PoL nature of the 4e version. Step left and you could be in a floating city of air spirits, step right and you're in a land where magic is poisonous, and you better hope you can get to a point of light before you're consumed by the Warlock Knights that patrol the areas in-between.

Such a shame there's so many vocal douchebags who seem intent on destroying anything that doesn't fit their version of fun.

First of all, keep the insults out of your posts please. Secondly, Forgotten Realms has so much setting material that the GM could use except for the fact that it is now outdated either by being from a past edition or literally because it's 100+ years in the future. The 4e setting book barely touched on anything. Just the the rule system itself, 4e FR alienates itself from any past material and in that case it might as well have been the Nentir Vale with Forgotten Realms stuck on it for name recognition. I thought the excuse that they advanced the timeline so that the PCs could be the main heroes was a fallacy because all the superhero characters in FR are still around. It would still be up to the GM to shine the line on the PCs instead of having Eliminster or Drizzt come save the day every time. But now it's up to the GM to fabricate almost everything since there is very little info on any particular area.

It was a mistake to do a single GM setting book and then pretty much ignore it afterwards. If they really wanted to do such drastic changes to the setting they should have made it into a storyline instead of just saying "....and this happened!" They could have done an adventure path. They could have had a line of novels over the change. Anything really that could give GMs some aid in being able to make a campaign in that setting work.

Perhaps the Neverwinter Nights setting will help some. But I feel this is more of a way to pull video gamers into dnd and so will probably be it's own world campaign in itself.

What I think would have helped so much is a line of modules that ties into the setting and this is true for all the settings they have put out. I either think that they do not have the talent to do such things or that they feel like modules do make them enough money. Either one of these reasons is such a shame because there is years of potential products there.

 

[S'mon]

First of all, keep the insults out of your posts please. Secondly, Forgotten Realms has so much setting material that the GM could use except for the fact that it is now outdated either by being from a past edition or literally because it's 100+ years in the future. The 4e setting book barely touched on anything. Just the the rule system itself, 4e FR alienates itself from any past material and in that case it might as well have been the Nentir Vale with Forgotten Realms stuck on it for name recognition. I thought the excuse that they advanced the timeline so that the PCs could be the main heroes was a fallacy because all the superhero characters in FR are still around. It would still be up to the GM to shine the line on the PCs instead of having Eliminster or Drizzt come save the day every time. But now it's up to the GM to fabricate almost everything since there is very little info on any particular area.

It was a mistake to do a single GM setting book and then pretty much ignore it afterwards. If they really wanted to do such drastic changes to the setting they should have made it into a storyline instead of just saying "....and this happened!" They could have done an adventure path. They could have had a line of novels over the change. Anything really that could give GMs some aid in being able to make a campaign in that setting work.

Perhaps the Neverwinter Nights setting will help some. But I feel this is more of a way to pull video gamers into dnd and so will probably be it's own world campaign in itself.

What I think would have helped so much is a line of modules that ties into the setting and this is true for all the settings they have put out. I either think that they do not have the talent to do such things or that they feel like modules do make them enough money. Either one of these reasons is such a shame because there is years of potential products there.

I don't want huge amounts of metaplot gunk clogging up my 4e FR campaign. It's up to me whether Driz'zt and Elminster have any significant power IMC or even survive. I did just order the Neverwinter CS setting though, I love that it's a contained area for Heroic Tier play. Should make a good follow-on from my Loudwater-area stuff once the PCs reach ca 6th level.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I thought the excuse that they advanced the [FR] timeline so that the PCs could be the main heroes was a fallacy because all the superhero characters in FR are still around. It would still be up to the GM to shine the line on the PCs instead of having Eliminster or Drizzt come save the day every time.

I disagree.

Most of the superheroes are gone. The Chosen of Mystra are far weaker - Mystra is dead (and I hope she stays that way), Khelben (who was more active than Elminster) is dead, Elminster is "afraid to use magic" and doesn't have the "Brainiac Sue Aura" going on anymore, and Drizzt was only a problem due to the horde of copycats. (His presence might mean you can't adventure in his area, but unless Drizzt picks up Teleport Without Error he's far less harmful to the setting than Elminster ever was.)

 

[Pseudonym]

A toss between Eberron and the PoL setting for me, with a lean towards Eberron.

Now if we could get a 4E Birthright then that would be tops.

 

[S'mon]

I disagree.

Most of the superheroes are gone. The Chosen of Mystra are far weaker - Mystra is dead (and I hope she stays that way), Khelben (who was more active than Elminster) is dead, Elminster is "afraid to use magic" and doesn't have the "Brainiac Sue Aura" going on anymore, and Drizzt was only a problem due to the horde of copycats. (His presence might mean you can't adventure in his area, but unless Drizzt picks up Teleport Without Error he's far less harmful to the setting than Elminster ever was.)

According to Dungeon Magazine, AIR Elminster is just a crazy old 19th level Solo, barely worth worrying about.

 

[OpsKT]

Eberron, with the Nentir Vale PoL 'default' as a very close second for my ability to do with it whatever I want.