D&D: New D&D Show Helmed By Franchise Director Takes Us Back To 4th – Sorta
5th Edition Creative Director Mike Mearls takes us back to the setting of 4th Edition in an upcoming new D&D show. Details inside.
Say what you will about 4th Edition (that it was awesome, notably), but it had some interesting things to say about how we look at D&D. Its “default” setting was a nameless idea colloquially known as the Points of Light, which is a darker take on traditional fantasy worlds. Civilization exists mostly as points of light, bastions of safety in the middle of a vast, dangerous wilderness, where monsters dwell in the darkness between.
It was this idea that led to the Spellplague which, for want of a better word, plagued the Forgotten Realms–but it really hit home as its own setting. A new, unique thing that hadn’t felt like any of the other settings in other editions. It was one of my favorite things about 4th Edition–and a few names coalesced around the idea. The starting adventure Keep on the Shadowfell, one of the best adventures out there, took place in the Nentir Vale, which was home to the starting town of Fallcrest.
And it is into this twisted, sundered world that D&D Franchise Creative Director Mike Mearls wants to take us with a new streaming show debuting November 28th.
I’m personally excited to see more being done with this setting. It’s territory that D&D–with its high-fantasy trappings–doesn’t often tread. For those of you looking for a new take on traditional fantasy, this is a much darker world. One where in the distant past, Primordials ruled everything until a handful of mortals ascended to godhood and toppled them. But in the intervening years, the world has grown quiet, and their influence has waned…once great roads and empires have been swallowed by shadow. It’s a post-apocalyptic-ish delight that begins next week–so be sure to tune in. Who knows what 5th Edition surprises this 4th Edition setting will unearth?
Happy Adventuring!
