About (Shard Ne'Vaal Supplement)
Just some notes and sort of a mission statement of this setting and its existence.
Author's Note[edit]
Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition was regrettably passed over by many and mocked as the black sheep of the editions. But it still is chock-full of an amazing amount of content, and the battle designs are solid, with good writing and epic power proportions. I started with playing 5e, which focused a lot more on the role-play pillar, and I figured this is what 4e was lacking a bit in. 4e, as people explained to me many times, is essentially a video game trapped in paper format. It is hard to enjoy this kind of cybertext when the medium plays such a big part in it. So, why not take away from the combat a bit to tell a story some more instead?
The Concept and Theme[edit]
Shard Ne'Vaal was inspired definitely by the Dark Sun setting, with post-apocalyptic terrains and a bleak, if not bleaker, worldview. There might be some obvious projections from my own experiences if any English Lit-major is to try and pick it apart.
As an artist, the story is supposed to showcase the world and its ideas, with less focus on the people. I won't deny it is a chance to shamelessly plug in my own works. But it is also a homage to games like Final Fantasy VI, XIII and XV, which deal with the death and rebirth of worlds.
Of course, it still has the classic elements of races, class, and the monsters we all know and love. I also really enjoyed the Oriental Adventures from 3.5e, which were sadly not adopted into 4e. As part of my world, I wanted as many cultures and nations I could jam in there that still felt unique, kind of like when you eat and you want a lot of taste and texture mixing in your mouth.
The Edition[edit]
Yeah, there's probably someone out there saying this about settings in general: "Why make it for X campaign anyway?"
Well, since "4e plays like a video game, more than conventional DnD," then let's have it as a video game!
I started in 5e but the power levels and detail of combat really stand out in 4th edition. Even if it isn't like "traditional DnD", the construction of the said missing pillars are easy to insert with well built worlds and flexible DMing.
And! Last of All...[edit]
Be sure to have fun as you play. Don't be a stick in the mud with the adventures I give as samples, since they mainly only fit my tastes anyway.
| Shard Ne'Vaal Campaign Settingv | ||||||||
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Players' Handbook | Races, Languages, Classes, Backgrounds, Themes, Magic, Psionics, Religion, Literature, Legends and Lore | ||||||
| Shard Ne'Vaal Crash Course | History, Geography, Climate, and the World, Bestiary, Flora, Factions, Calendar and Holidays, Cosmology and the Planes, Politics and Law | |||||||
| Dungeon Master's Guide | About, Items of Legend, Campaign Ideas, Consumables, Sample Places, NPCS, Variant Rules | |||||||
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