D&D 4e Narrative books on Nentir Vale?

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Nobby Nobbs

Explorer

• Apr 19, 2024

• #1

Hello everyone,

I'd like suggestions from whoever may have read anything about Nentir Vale in a narrative book, the same way you may have explored the Forgotten Realms by reading about Drizzt.
There is lore material out there, I'm aware, but I'm unsure if there is any book worth reading with a decent story and a nice "painting" of the setting.
I'm quite a reader of fantasy novellas, but only recently I'm trying to go back to the 4th edition Nentir Vale and would like inputs on which books are good and which are not-so-good-really-skip-these.

Thanks in advance!

 

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Voadam

Legend

• Apr 19, 2024

• #2

It is tough as so much is scattered in little bits and pieces here and there. There was not a single campaign setting book but there is a netbook if you can find it collecting and referencing all the bits and pieces of lore so it is all in one place instead of scattered multiple sources. A lot was done in individual Dragon articles.

 

Dire Bare

Legend

• Apr 19, 2024

• #3

If you are asking about novels set in the Nentir Vale . . . I don't think there were any!

However, some of the comics were. The "Fell's Five" series is about an adventuring party in the Nentir Vale setting. And it was a banger too! There wasn't a lot of setting lore exposition, however.

 

overgeeked

B/X Known World

• Apr 19, 2024

• #4

There were a few novels set in the Nentir Vale. The first five entries of the Abyssal Plague series were set in Nentir Vale. I haven't read any of them so can't make a rec either way. I'm not sure if there were other Nentir Vale novels.

Abyssal Plague (novels)

The Abyssal Plague was a worlds spanning event created by Wizards of the Coast. The novels come from the Points of Light, Forgotten Realms, and Dark Sun campaign settings. Starting with a five-part novella (The Gates of Madness). The insidious plague also reaches into roleplaying products such...

pointsoflight.fandom.com

 

N

Nobby Nobbs

Explorer

• Apr 19, 2024

• #5

overgeeked said:

There were a few novels set in the Nentir Vale. The first five entries of the Abyssal Plague series were set in Nentir Vale. I haven't read any of them so can't make a rec either way. I'm not sure if there were other Nentir Vale novels.

Abyssal Plague (novels)

The Abyssal Plague was a worlds spanning event created by Wizards of the Coast. The novels come from the Points of Light, Forgotten Realms, and Dark Sun campaign settings. Starting with a five-part novella (The Gates of Madness). The insidious plague also reaches into roleplaying products such...

pointsoflight.fandom.com

Click to expand...

Exactly what I was looking for. I ordered one, hope it's good. Thank you!

 

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Wofano Wotanto

Hero

• Apr 20, 2024

• #6

Huh, I missed those novels completely when they were new. Not that I'm generally a big D&D fiction reader*, but for Nentir Vale I'd give it try. Off to order my own copy.

*As opposed to other TSR fiction, which I've got plenty of from Illegal Aliens (Foglio & Pollotta, and hilarious) to the Buck Rogers XXVC books (which were surprisingly okay for the most part) to Alternity (which were mostly not) to their Gamma World adventure books (more Nick Pollotta) to the Dragon Dice books (another case of surprisingly okay). Their lesser-known oddball stuff seems to have been my jam back in the day.

 

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Nakana

Explorer

• Apr 22, 2024

• #7

Also wanted to point out that as for gaming material goes Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale has a lot of great stuff. It’s part monster manual, but the description for each monster is not just about the monster (like the Monster Manual), it’s Nentir Vale lore.

 

kronovan

Adventurer

• Apr 24, 2024

• #8

I've read the Abysal Plague Trilogy and I'd recommend it to anyone who looking for a story that delves into and develops some of the lore of the Nentir Vale. The 1st (The Temple of Yellow Skulls) and 3rd (The Eye of the Chained God) novels are written by Don Bassingthwaite who's my favorite D&D author - same author that wrote the Dragon Below and Legacy of Dhakaan trilogies set in Eberron. The 2nd (Oath of Vigilance) novel in the series is written by James Wyatt - known for his work on the Eberron Campaign setting and the terrific novel, City of the Spider Queen.

I re-read parts of the trilogy when I was homebrewing my last Nentir Vale campaign. There's lots of good locations and events to draw some inspiration from.

 

Zeromaru X

Arkhosian scholar and coffee lover

• May 20, 2024

• #9

Wow, I missed this topic. The others have already recommended you the Abyssal Plague trilogy, but that trilogy has a prequel, The Mark of Nerath, that serves as a introduction to the characters and the Nentir Vale as well.

There are also other two novels, set in other regions of the world of the Nentir Vale. There is the The Last Garrison, that is set in the town of Haven, in a former Nerathian fortress. And there is The Seal of Karga Kul, set in the Dragondown Coast, and that has a lot of lore of the dragonborn empire of Arkhosia.

 

Last edited: May 20, 2024

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Nobby Nobbs

Explorer

• May 20, 2024

• #10

I read the Mark of Nerath, waiting for a copy of the first book to arrive. Thanks