Shadowfell supplement confirmed.

[Kuulvheysoon]

So I was listening to the Dragon Talk that was dropped today (recorded mid-October), and Matt Sernett confirmed that they were working on a supplement that involved the Shadowfell. Now, see, I'm thinking that perhaps this is the long-awaited Manual of the Planes for 5E. Opinions?

[lunaticfringe]

Awesome. Shadowfell means Moar Undead. Still I'd rather have Far Realm/Abberations.

[Kuulvheysoon]

Awesome. Shadowfell means Moar Undead. Still I'd rather have Far Realm/Abberations.

Well, they also implied that Volo's had the Feywild as a secondary theme, so we may get a large variety of the "darker" side of D&D with this one.

[HolyDraconus]

I rather leave FR for awhile to be candid

[lunaticfringe]

Well, they also implied that Volo's had the Feywild as a secondary theme, so we may get a large variety of the "darker" side of D&D with this one.

10%ish of the monsters is hardly what I would call a secondary theme, but whatever. It also had Giants, Gnolls, and Dinosaurs.

[EvilAnagram]

I'm really happy that they're leaving Faerun. That said, I don't enjoy edgy, gothy grimderp. If this is just a Book of Vile Darkness, I probably won't be picking it up. Still glad that they're leaving the Forgotten Realms, but more glad on general principle than specifically happy to make a purchase.

If it's a Manual of the Planes, that would be cool. I never use the Great Wheel, but it would still have a ton of material to work into the planar system I do use.

[Millstone85]

I rather leave FR for awhile to be candid
I'm really happy that they're leaving Faerun.Would this really count as leaving the Realms?

The Shadowfell has a place in the setting's lore. Following the Spellplague, the dark goddess Shar merged the Plane of Shadow with what was left of the Negative Energy Plane, naming her new creation the Shadowfell.

Sure, the book might be about a "default" or "setting neutral" description of the Shadowfell. But I can already see the complaints that it feels too much like FR's take on it.

Unless, maybe, they put the Raven Queen front and center, in a pseudo-revival of Nentir Vale.

[EvilAnagram]

Would this really count as leaving the Realms?

The Shadowfell has a place in the setting's lore. Following the Spellplague, the dark goddess Shar merged the Plane of Shadow with what was left of the Negative Energy Plane, naming her new creation the Shadowfell.

Sure, the book might be about a "default" or "setting neutral" description of the Shadowfell. But I can already see the complaints that it feels too much like FR's take on it.

Unless, maybe, they put the Raven Queen front and center, in a pseudo-revival of Nentir Vale.
The Shadowfell was only adopted to the Realms because WotC feels this weird need to keep FR current with every principle setting in every edition. "The 4e setting is a world axis? Screw it, FR is too."

If they did turn full-tilt into [Insert Obscure Forgotten Realms Character]'s Manual of the Planes, then I would be annoyed, especially since they've been teasing the Raven Queen quite a bit lately.

[Millstone85]

Well now, I can quote Xanathar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpm85cZbyJI#t=5m2s) on the Raven Queen.

Because the Raven Queen is known to have forged the first of these weapons, many sages speculate that she and the force are one and that the weapons, along with hexblade warlocks, are tools she uses to manipulate events on the Material Plane to her inscrutable ends.

Looks like she is making that major comeback. That's good, as her Shadowfell is indeed much more interesting than Shar's.

[EvilAnagram]

Well now, I can quote Xanathar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpm85cZbyJI#t=5m2s) on the Raven Queen.


Looks like she is making that major comeback. That's good, as her Shadowfell is indeed much more interesting than Shar's.

We can probably thank Critical Role for her renewed popularity. I'm really glad Matt Mercer based a lot of his lore on the Nentir Vale.

[Nifft]

We can probably thank Critical Role for her renewed popularity. I'm really glad Matt Mercer based a lot of his lore on the Nentir Vale.

4e had a surprisingly robust implied setting.

I'm glad someone is keeping the better bits of lore relevant.

[jaappleton]

How long have I been saying Manual of the Planes?

How long?

At least six minutes, that's how long, and you ALL know it! :smallbiggrin:

[DracoKnight]

At least six minutes months, that's how long, and you ALL know it! :smallbiggrin:

Fixed that for you. You and I've been saying this for six months.

[Potato_Priest]

It'd be great if they did a manual of the planes. I could finally persuade the DM to let us invade hell, and it'd help a lot doing my (currently just hypothetical-stage) campaign in the swamp of oblivion.

[Millstone85]

A few things that a book or MotP chapter on the Shadowfell would have to address:

Material Echoes

"Where a volcano stands in the Material Plane, a mountain topped with skyscraper-sized crystals that glow with internal fire towers in the Feywild, and a jagged rock outcropping resembling a skull marks the spot on the Shadowfell."

My first and preferred reading is that there is effectively a shadow planet. If a story were to include several worlds, like the Spelljammer Triad of Krynn, Oerth and Toril, there would be a corresponding number of planets in the Shadowfell.

On the other hand, it is said that Evernight is the shadow of Neverwinter but also "mirrors one city on every world". I find that quite a bit harder to picture. That or it makes the Shadowfell like every other plane where geography is just a state of mind.

So it would be nice if they developed on this, or discussed the different interpretations.

The... erm... "Shadowdark"

That has got to be one of the stupidest names in the game. But the concept is fascinating.

The typical D&D world is assumed to have this vast subterranean expanse. And like other geographical features, it is echoed. So yeah, there is an Underdark of the Shadowfell. Hope you brought some awesome magical torches, because there is precious little light or heat down there.

Domains of Dread

And other places that exist only on the Shadowfell, or as demiplanes that bleed into it.

Going again with the shadow planet, I like the idea that it is actually bigger than its model, with whole realms inserted between the shadows of material locations.

In any case, there is room for a greater variety of dark lands than in classic Ravenloft.

Ecology of the Dead

If the lore of the Raven Queen is back in full motion, then there is much to talk about.

The Shadowfell is an afterlife, but one where the dead are met in forms usually associated with undeath, such as disembodied spirits or walking corpses. Reaching the Outer Planes means being reborn in an exalted or damned form, which could in theory plane shift back to the Material as a living being.

I find that to be quite a change of perspective regarding undeath. It makes it a natural part of existence, a transitory, purgatorial, state that everyone must go through. The Raven Queen just doesn't want to see it happen outside of the Shadowfell, or for some to get too comfortable in it like vampires.

Far Shadows

Since the subject of aberrations, great old ones and the Far Realm was brought up, there is the possibility of those showing up in the Shadowfell.

Funny story... I am playing a goolock whose backstory involves the kaortis. The group also has a cleric of Kelemvor. So now we are fighting Shadowfell kaortis. I am not sure either of us is happy with that turn of events. It is like, you got your zombies into my aliens / you got your aliens into my zombies. Also, the DM was disappointed to discover that his creation works pretty much like a spawn of Kyuss from VGtM.

Anyway, I see the Dark Powers as great old ones. They even do a better job than most on the unfathomable side of things.

[pdegan2814]

Well, they also implied that Volo's had the Feywild as a secondary theme, so we may get a large variety of the "darker" side of D&D with this one.

Not sure how they justify *that* claim, the Feywild didn't seem to play a significant role, at least not more than anything else in the book. None of the major monster types that got big lore/variant chapters were Fey-related that I can remember. Aberrations seemed much more prevalent.

[Kuulvheysoon]

10%ish of the monsters is hardly what I would call a secondary theme, but whatever. It also had Giants, Gnolls, and Dinosaurs.


Not sure how they justify *that* claim, the Feywild didn't seem to play a significant role, at least not more than anything else in the book. None of the major monster types that got big lore/variant chapters were Fey-related that I can remember. Aberrations seemed much more prevalent.

Honestly, that was Matt Sernatt and/or Chris Perkins who claimed that. I have no idea why they said that, but I figured that I may as well include it. I don't agree with it, personally, but they clearly do.

[Millstone85]

None of the major monster types that got big lore/variant chapters were Fey-related that I can remember.Well, there was a chapter on hags.

[damascoplay]

I only know of two things:

I want it,and that's it.