Since I am not, and refuse to become, a D&D Insider at WotC, I can't see any of their "cool shuper shpecial awshumnesh!!1!!11!" (brilliant move, by the way). Up until tonight, I really haven't cared, but then I went looking for the new covers and came searching threads here. Now I've been reading up on all kinds of stuff. But one thing I haven't found a thread dedicated to (and am not willing to wade through everything else to find) is an explanation of this "points of light" thing. Can someone explicate this (my thanks go out to Sebastian for stealing, er, reposting those other WotC releases, though I never thought I'd actually be thanking the cantankerous fart :P ).
What is this? All the worlds are on one Prime Plane separated by gulfs of relative nothingness? So, if you can theoretically cleave your way through countless miles of uncharted wildness filled with deadly monsters with really no idea of where your going and no real motive of why you're going there, someone from Sharn can walk the streets of Waterdeep? Wow, that's soooo much easier than simply including the possibility of travel through the Plane of Shadow. And really, who uses that option anyway? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the sense that most people leave their settings quite independent, and simply play a FR campaign when they want FR and Eberron when they want Eberron (or whatever setting they prefer).
Saern,
As I understand, the whole 'points of light' thing is not a retread of Dubya Senior's (in)famous speech, but rather referring to the game world as small baronies/kingdoms/city-state communities sprinkled throughout a hostile wilderness chock full of experience points waiting to be culled, swag to be hauled in and eldritch tomes to be read that may or may not administer amoeba-brain transplants upon PC's foolish enough to read them.
I do believe each campaign world's suddenly-reemergent wilderness regions are NOT interconnected between each other without having to achieve some means of inter-Prime Material travel...
Altough I'm rather fond of the un-mastered Amulet of the Planes approach myself. " What's that squiggle do ? " *touch, bamf* ... " Oooohhh, look, new critters. "
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What is this? All the worlds are on one Prime Plane separated by gulfs of relative nothingness? So, if you can theoretically cleave your way through countless miles of uncharted wildness filled with deadly monsters with really no idea of where your going and no real motive of why you're going there, someone from Sharn can walk the streets of Waterdeep?
Whull, yeah, but it's really easier just to go down the third pipe in Pipeworld to come out in Cloudworld. You skip a lot of other levels that way.
There's some discussion of it in this thread, but it's basically like Turin said. There's little travel between towns (which are the points of light in the big dark dangerous world) and those who do travel stick to the roads. I think they mentioned adventurers being those ones who stray from the safety of the roads. They've said that some crazy cult or weird thing could be happening one town over and people wouldn't really know because they're so separated.
I like the idea (in some respects) but I hope it's not vital to the rules in any way, so GMs don't need to adopt it if they don't like it.
EDIT: As for not wanting to make an account, it was previously possible to log in just by using the username "guest" but it doesn't seem to work any more. If they kept that active, then people who don't want anything other than to see the articles would be able to do so with no commitment or effort. It's strange to me that they had the facility for that, then seemingly removed it.
Yeah, pretty much they're Dark Aging the baseline D&D universe so that rather than having it be mostly safe with a few trouble spots and adventuring sites it will now be MOSTLY adventuring sites with spots of relative safety scattered about the world in about the same frequency that trouble spots once were.
If the guys do this intelligently then it's going to just be a subtle darkening of the settings. So you still basically have Furyondy or Cormyr, but just with more action along the roads and less communication between the communities that make up these areas. Things will become wilder and more sinister when you step out of your door--a Peter Jacksonification of D&D if you will.
It would be difficult and dumb to go into established game settings and actually blow up all the kingdoms like the article suggests. New settings and unexplored parts of established worlds may begin to feel more remote and Dark Agey but I doubt the whole of the campaign settings will be completely reworked. Then again, dumber things have happened.
Sounds like more attempts to do away with what came before and shove the new stuff, which previously would have been left to individual campaign settings, down everyone's throat. Although it could enhance the game by playing up the significance of adventurers and making adventures more accessable, and while the copied article in the link (thanks for that!) described something that I think would work very well in certain settings (I must admit it's even inspired me in regards to my own homebrew a bit), trying to make an overall tone for D&D in that vein strikes me as wrong. But, perhaps that's just substanceless fluff they've released to try and convince the general gaming populace that what's coming is cool and special (which they, that populace, have trouble reading due to WotC trying to keep it a state secret on their site unless you know the "Shuper Shecret Hanshake!"), while in truth it may pan out to be nothing.
Regardless, and this point may have already been made but I'll make it myself anyway, it sounds like something else as well: WoW. Yes, World of Warcraft, where between each town is a wide swath of relative nothingness, inhabited only by monster spawn zones, which, every 10 minutes, create carbon copies of things you've seen and killed 30 times before and wander in small, 10 yard circles over and over again. Not saying that WoW's bad; I rather like it. But it ain't D&D, and I don't want D&D to be WoW. Besides, I'm pretty sure Blizzard can pull off that type of thing better than WotC, anyway.
But that's all just wild speculation on my part.
Regardless, and this point may have already been made but I'll make it myself anyway, it sounds like something else as well: WoW. Yes, World of Warcraft, where between each town is a wide swath of relative nothingness, inhabited only by monster spawn zones, which, every 10 minutes, create carbon copies of things you've seen and killed 30 times before and wander in small, 10 yard circles over and over again. Not saying that WoW's bad; I rather like it. But it ain't D&D, and I don't want D&D to be WoW. Besides, I'm pretty sure Blizzard can pull off that type of thing better than WotC, anyway.But that's all just wild speculation on my part.
They have said over and over that they aren't making D&D into WoW, so I don't know how you can doubt them . . .
Unless you do things like listening to the podcast and hear them say that they want to set up different areas of the wilderness and planes so that if you are a certain level you shouldn't go there . . .
Yeah, pretty much they're Dark Aging the baseline D&D universe so that rather than having it be mostly safe with a few trouble spots and adventuring sites it will now be MOSTLY adventuring sites with spots of relative safety scattered about the world in about the same frequency that trouble spots once were.
it sounds like they decided to turn the theme more like ravenloft.
"The towns with lights are all that is safe, roads are dangerous. Don't, for the love of the gods, go in the woods!!"
Since I am not, and refuse to become, a D&D Insider at WotC,
just asking, had you signed up with the wotc site before? If you had, you are already signed up.
This is the kind of thing that kills my suspension of disbelief. It is one thing to say, "There are monsters there. No sane man would venture forth." It is quite another to say, "Goblins? They're only CR 1/3, you can take 'em. Just don't go over into area X. That is CR 9."
In my opinion, less metagame speak = teh good
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...it's basically like Turin said. There's little travel between towns (which are the points of light in the big dark dangerous world) and those who do travel stick to the roads. I think they mentioned adventurers being those ones who stray from the safety of the roads. They've said that some crazy cult or weird thing could be happening one town over and people wouldn't really know because they're so separated.
As a UK player, who grew up with Warhammer, this approach suits me far better. Maybe I'm just closer to the whole grim, gritty, Dark Ages (and the later centuries aren't much better...). I don't read much modern US fantasy, so I may be doing the authors a disservice, but I am very wary of wasting my money on 'twinkly-unicorns and pixie-dust' settings, and the overall marketing of many books implies that is what I'll get. Heroes and heroines who look like they just stepped out of the salon, with their dry-cleaned, designer threads, like little parasite Paris Hiltons, doing that whole 'adventure'-thing in their gap-year. The images I have in my head, when I think of 'fantasy' are disenfranchised peasants and war-refugees, in clothes they stole off a plague-victim, turning to violent banditry or tomb-robbing to survive.
But then, maybe I'm just wierd...
It makes adventure design easier if you can justify villains having no-go areas to flee to, where the law doesn't apply.
However, I agree that if this is the approach they wish to take, they should create a new setting to match, since trying to fit this model to the Realms means trashing the established campaigns.
...it was previously possible to log in just by using the username "guest" but it doesn't seem to work any more.
This is the part of the whole 4E marketing mess that I just cannot understand; the actual witholding of information. When you see the prices demanded for advertising space or airplay, you'd think any company exec with half a brain would be gnawing their own arms off to have a ready-made conduit to an existing, interested audience.
How many times do we get bombarded by spam or junk mail, for products we have no interest in (and have never even implied an interest in)? Yet when we actually seek out information on a forthcoming product, from a company we have purchased from in the past, we are given the finger!
Since I am not, and refuse to become, a D&D Insider at WotC,just asking, had you signed up with the wotc site before? If you had, you are already signed up.
No, I have never registered on Wackos of the Coast.
Regardless, and this point may have already been made but I'll make it myself anyway, it sounds like something else as well: WoW. Yes, World of Warcraft, where between each town is a wide swath of relative nothingness, inhabited only by monster spawn zones, which, every 10 minutes, create carbon copies of things you've seen and killed 30 times before and wander in small, 10 yard circles over and over again. Not saying that WoW's bad; I rather like it. But it ain't D&D, and I don't want D&D to be WoW. Besides, I'm pretty sure Blizzard can pull off that type of thing better than WotC, anyway.But that's all just wild speculation on my part.
They have said over and over that they aren't making D&D into WoW, so I don't know how you can doubt them . . .
Unless you do things like listening to the podcast and hear them say that they want to set up different areas of the wilderness and planes so that if you are a certain level you shouldn't go there . . .
The Tomb of Horrors? Aw, man, you're gonna need at least 20 level 30 players to take on that thing! Make sure all your clerics are healing specced. And no sword and shield fighters; nah, you'll just get slaughtered if you don't have a power attack barbarian. And they're all gonna need fuscha gear, too, although you might be able to do it with aquamarine. But forget topaz! Acererak's drop is , though!
The Tomb of Horrors? Aw, man, you're gonna need at least 20 level 30 players to take on that thing! Make sure all your clerics are healing specced. And no sword and shield fighters; nah, you'll just get slaughtered if you don't have a power attack barbarian. And they're all gonna need fuscha gear, too, although you might be able to do it with aquamarine. But forget topaz! Acererak's drop is , though!
And I thank you for that kindness.
Yeah, pretty much they're Dark Aging the baseline D&D universe so that rather than having it be mostly safe with a few trouble spots and adventuring sites it will now be MOSTLY adventuring sites with spots of relative safety scattered about the world in about the same frequency that trouble spots once were.it sounds like they decided to turn the theme more like ravenloft.
"The towns with lights are all that is safe, roads are dangerous. Don't, for the love of the gods, go in the woods!!"
To me it sounds like D&D 1e. Back before all the fancy campaign setting books and forgotten realms. that the world is a dangerous place, the roads a danger to travel, the woods spooky and forboding, the landscape littered with ancient and not so ancient ruins. to me thats old school. Quite the opposite of Ebberon.
P>S> no dis on Ebberon I like the setting, but its new school, hyper fantasy.
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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it sounds like they decided to turn the theme more like ravenloft.
"The towns with lights are all that is safe, roads are dangerous. Don't, for the love of the gods, go in the woods!!"
I love Ravenloft. I hope they publish Ravenloft for 4th Ed since I only got to run the 3e version of it once.
Yeah, pretty much they're Dark Aging the baseline D&D universe so that rather than having it be mostly safe with a few trouble spots and adventuring sites it will now be MOSTLY adventuring sites with spots of relative safety scattered about the world in about the same frequency that trouble spots once were.it sounds like they decided to turn the theme more like ravenloft.
"The towns with lights are all that is safe, roads are dangerous. Don't, for the love of the gods, go in the woods!!"
... or read how they have reworked the elves into one group which lives in the woods and live in happy, fluffy coexistence with all the forces of nature, and another group which lives in the cities and is all shiny brightness and light.
Every major change I have seen has, to me, screamed "WoW!"
... or read how they have reworked the elves into one group which lives in the woods and live in happy, fluffy coexistence with all the forces of nature, and another group which lives in the cities and is all shiny brightness and light.
Every major change I have seen has, to me, screamed "WoW!"
I assume that you are refering to World of Warcaft not WOW this is awesome!!! [/joke]