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View Full Version : Blatant Speculation on Starting Town [4E]



Skjaldbakka
2008-02-26, 06:39 AM
So, I just read that they will be including a starting town in the 4E DMG, and that it is 'even more iconic than Saltmarsh, try and guess what it is'.

So, what town do you think it will be? Given the integration of other FR elements into fluff, I'm thinking something from there. Maybe Waterdeep?

Azerian Kelimon
2008-02-26, 06:55 AM
Sigil, if we are lucky, Athkatla if we get a good but less impressive one, and Neverwinter if our luck runs out.

Rad
2008-02-26, 07:15 AM
Actually putting Sigil in the DMG would make it the standard town and would cause it to lose whatever coolness it has. I hope we get a redshirt city in there.

Mr. Friendly
2008-02-26, 07:25 AM
So, I just read that they will be including a starting town in the 4E DMG, and that it is 'even more iconic than Saltmarsh, try and guess what it is'.

So, what town do you think it will be? Given the integration of other FR elements into fluff, I'm thinking something from there. Maybe Waterdeep?

Starting Town... Waterdeep.... these words don't go together...

My bet: Hommlet

Zincorium
2008-02-26, 08:43 AM
Athkatla or Silverymoon in FR would work fairly well, pretty much anything along the sword coast. That seems to be, if not the physical center of the forgotten realms, the hub game-wise.

If it's not FR, then somewhere in Eberron is the most likely choice, but the only two towns that are 'iconic' for Eberron are Stormreach or Sharn. And those lose far too much taken out of the context of the campaign setting.

Fhaolan
2008-02-26, 09:42 AM
Threshold, as it was the village mentioned in the first B series of modules way back when.

Darrin
2008-02-26, 10:10 AM
Threshold, as it was the village mentioned in the first B series of modules way back when.

Threshold = Mystara, which is dead as a product line, I believe.

I kind of doubt FR would be given "default campaign" status, but Neverwinter is probably the most recognizable "brand identity" in the target demographic WotC is trying to woo. Given the emphasis on the online community, they may go that route. But many players consider FR to be too old/well established/quirky to be a generic default campaign setting.

Then again, Greyhawk has never been all that distinctive and is even older, and has very little positive "brand identity" to go with it. No one *wants* to play Greyhawk because it's a compelling/interesting setting, they play it because it requires the least effort to start a campaign or because it's the setting that most players can agree on that aggravates them the least.

My guess would be a new village or small city that exists in some form in all the established campaign worlds, similar to how the location of "Springfield" on the Simpsons isn't entirely nailed down to any particular state (and yes, I'm ignoring the Vermont thing, which was just silly).

KIDS
2008-02-26, 10:19 AM
The only thing about it that I know of is that they mentioned it will be built on ruins of an old, ancient city. Which is in my mind exciting and great, opening up a lot of possibilities without forcing anything.

But for the name... no clue. I don't think it will be Saltmarsh or Hommlet, I predict something without cameos to old adventures...

Azerian Kelimon
2008-02-26, 10:21 AM
It's gonna be a spelljammer town.

Because nobody expects the spelljammer inquisition.

Sir_Leorik
2008-02-26, 10:22 AM
It may very well be Hommlet, since the Temple of Elemental Evil is mentioned in the Worlds and Monsters book.

Muyten
2008-02-26, 10:39 AM
I was under the impression that the town would be a completely new one as witnessed by this message posted by Rich Baker about the town he's creating for the DMG:

"The town is called Fallcrest, and I'm pretty proud of it. It's a trading town located at the falls of a big river, where folks stop and portage cargo around the falls. I've made sure to include several potential dungeons right in the town (Fallcrest is a small town built atop the ruins of a larger city). At the moment I've also got a good-sized area around the town included in the description, so that you know where the nearby towns are too, and half a dozen good potential dungeon sites and adventures within a couple days' travel."

Fhaolan
2008-02-26, 11:59 AM
Threshold = Mystara, which is dead as a product line, I believe.

The statement 'try to guess' implies the town's been published before, so a completely new town is unlikely. The statement 'more iconic than Saltmarsh' implies it's old, while at the same time being a completely generic as a springboard into adventure. Previous statements indicate that anything in the PHB/DMG is going to be campaign-independant. Meaning it can't be FR, Greyhawk, or Eberron, the three big well-known campaigns. Which leaves the lesser-known campaign settings, or something from the 'generic' modules that weren't orginally tied to a campaign. Most of those other settings are... rather weird and have setting-specific rules that don't work as a generic setting. Dragonlance? Ravenloft? SpellJammer? Planescape? Dark Sun? Nah. The only thing left is the original generic setting. The one that didn't really exist until TSR decided that all the generic non-Greyhawk/non-Blackmoor Classic D&D modules needed to be put into one setting as a retrofit. The setting that eventually became known as Mystara.

Just because something's dead doesn't mean it can't be resurected. Look at Greyhawk. It basically died at the end of 1st edition, and it was brought back as the 'default' for 3rd. Mystara died when the Classic edition died, but was ressurected during 2nd edition as the Savage Coast.

Nothing stopping them from turning Mystara into the 'points of light' setting that's been bandied about. They don't even have to admit that they're doing it. Only real grognards are going to notice, or care. And it's unlikely that they'll care enough to make a fuss over it.

Kurald Galain
2008-02-26, 12:27 PM
Lanhkmar? :smallbiggrin:

Fhaolan
2008-02-26, 02:17 PM
Lanhkmar? :smallbiggrin:

*blink*

*blink*

You know, that would be fascinating.

Unfortunately (or not depending on your point of view :smalltongue:), Mongoose now has all the rights to do RPG stuff for Lanhkmar for their RuneQuest line.

Excellent speculation, though. It technically fits the criteria. :smallsmile:

AKA_Bait
2008-02-26, 02:26 PM
I was under the impression that the town would be a completely new one as witnessed by this message posted by Rich Baker about the town he's creating for the DMG:

"The town is called Fallcrest, and I'm pretty proud of it. It's a trading town located at the falls of a big river, where folks stop and portage cargo around the falls. I've made sure to include several potential dungeons right in the town (Fallcrest is a small town built atop the ruins of a larger city). At the moment I've also got a good-sized area around the town included in the description, so that you know where the nearby towns are too, and half a dozen good potential dungeon sites and adventures within a couple days' travel."

That sounds a whole lot like Feather Falls in FR.

Greenfaun
2008-02-26, 02:56 PM
Maybe I'm cynical, but I will be very surprised if the town isn't Hommlet, Shadowdale, or Neverwinter.

I hope I'm surprised though.

tresson
2008-02-26, 03:18 PM
I believe they've actual come out and said that they changed their minds and will be using a generic town instead of the one that already been down. It should be up on enworld.org's 4th edition page.

Lupy
2008-02-26, 05:05 PM
Wow, they say iconic and you all miss it. The greatest township in the multiverse, one not to difficlut to convert to generic, if you've ever heard of Raistlin or Tasslehoff you mustive guessed it....

Solace! C'mon the city in the trees is awesome, and not overly affected by Krynn's independence from the rest of the multiverse. So yep, Solace it is, eat that Drizzt...

Irreverent Fool
2008-02-27, 12:48 PM
Hobbiton, the Shire.

Baggins!

EvilElitest
2008-02-27, 10:22 PM
Sigil, if we are lucky, Athkatla if we get a good but less impressive one, and Neverwinter if our luck runs out.

1. Doubt it, they haven't made any interest in the old Planescape stuff
are the others still standing?
from
EE

Muyten
2008-02-28, 04:31 AM
1. Doubt it, they haven't made any interest in the old Planescape stuff
are the others still standing?
from
EE

Not quite true..they have actually hinted that Sigil will be mentioned in the DMG and this quote from Michele Carter look promising for its future:
"Sigil is still under development, as it were, and you'll see more about it in future projects. But it still exists, and the Lady of Pain still rules it, and it's still the City of Doors. Purely for my own amusement I've done some speculation about Sigil's place in the 4E cosmology, and I'm very, very excited to see where it goes. The soul of Planescape (near and dear to me) will remain very much alive."

Kurald Galain
2008-02-28, 05:58 AM
You know what I'd love as a base town?

Ankh-Morpork.

JBento
2008-02-28, 06:04 AM
I'm also (like AKA_BAit) under the impression that they scrapped the "iconic city" idea for a whole new lil' city - which makes sense, if they're aiming for a full generic setting in 4E. Muyten has already spoilered it, but I'll repost the spoiler here (if I can get the quote working properly, still new at this :smallwink: )



The town is called Fallcrest, and I'm pretty proud of it. It's a trading town located at the falls of a big river, where folks stop and portage cargo around the falls. I've made sure to include several potential dungeons right in the town (Fallcrest is a small town built atop the ruins of a larger city). At the moment I've also got a good-sized area around the town included in the description, so that you know where the nearby towns are too, and half a dozen good potential dungeon sites and adventures within a couple days' travel."


Edited for self-congratulating about getting it to work (ahem - WOOOT!!!!) and to show my support for good ol'e ANkh-Morpork!!!!! MOrporkia, Morporkia, Morporkiaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Kurald Galain
2008-02-28, 06:07 AM
MOrporkia, Morporkia, Morporkiaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Hner ner ner hner ner HNEEEER!

JBento
2008-02-28, 06:13 AM
Hner ner ner hner ner HNEEEER!

And of course, you'd have the levels 21-30 adventure site already prepared - The Shades. "Where the curiosity not only killed the cat, but it also tied a 50pnd weigth to its legs and threw it in the Ankh"... presumably to choke the remaining 8 lives out of it...

Zincorium
2008-02-28, 06:20 AM
You know what I'd love as a base town?

Ankh-Morpork.

You do realize 1st level adventurers would never survive starting out there, right?

The Discworld series in general would make an awesome setting, but you need a really, really good GM to keep it moving.

hewhosaysfish
2008-02-28, 06:21 AM
If I were a 4e designer, I would so rip-off a town from WoW, just to see the internets go up in flames...

JBento
2008-02-28, 06:26 AM
You do realize 1st level adventurers would never survive starting out there, right?

The Discworld series in general would make an awesome setting, but you need a really, really good GM to keep it moving.

I don't think "keep it moving" would be a problem. Getting it to stop WITHOUT turning it into a wagonwreck, however...

Kurald Galain
2008-02-28, 06:28 AM
You do realize 1st level adventurers would never survive starting out there, right?

Why not? It works for GURPS: Discworld. Just don't mess with Carrot, Ridcully, Cohen, Granny Weatherwax, or Vetinari - but the FR has way more people that will kick your ass if you mess with them.

Discworld allows you to start as a first-level deity, even, with a single follower :smallwink:

Azerian Kelimon
2008-02-28, 06:30 AM
Must...resist...urge...to...place Elan in discworld and watch Banjo become bigger than a multinational food chain!

Zincorium
2008-02-28, 06:56 AM
Why not? It works for GURPS: Discworld. Just don't mess with Carrot, Ridcully, Cohen, Granny Weatherwax, or Vetinari - but the FR has way more people that will kick your ass if you mess with them.

Discworld allows you to start as a first-level deity, even, with a single follower :smallwink:

I was thinking more places. The Mended Drum? The Shades? The freaking river?

These are double-plus ungood environs for overly curious people with little experience under their belt but a good bit of silver on top of it (read: adventurers).

We're not even going into the more obscure spots like the library of the unseen university.