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Thevail wrote:

I think this has mostly been put out there for all the DM's who just shrieked.."AAARGH! 4.0! Already?"

It sounds to me like a nice, fairly interesting jumping off point for building a whole new world without having to get seriously specific about anything "setting". Sparsely populated, simple governments, etc. No crunchy to worry about..yet. So that DM's can have a 3/4ths of the way completed world to start 4.0 in when it comes out.

Just my opinion.

I also agree that it makes an interesting jump off point.

Also that it makes some of the world design easier. Take a map of the US. In a PoL design I draw a big circle around New England. Label it "here are scores of baronies, with a few days travel in between, that share a common culture / language." Draw the same around Virgina / North Carolia.

In PoL don't have to figure out the politics between two large kingdoms (New England & Mid-Atlantic). I just have to look at a potentially simpler set of politics that are more local. Sure, I can make it very complex, but I can add that in later with few inconsistancies.

I think the flavor may go back even farther than just Middle/Dark ages.
Say for example, the ancient, early Hellenistic world.

Khemt (Ancient Egypt) has been an empire for hundreds, perhaps a thousand years. It is a vibrant civilization, centered around the Nile and a number of cities built there. They've developed writing, a complex religion, politics, trade, libraries, etc. They have a professional army, led by their own citizens, but including conscripts from conquered lands and mercenaries from other lands. They've used this army to conquer nearby lands, mostly to enforce tribute or establish puppet regime, aquire slaves or conscripts, reduce competion for markets or resources, etc.
Despite this level of civilization, travel is still time consuming and occasionally dangerous even within the empire. Bandits, monsters (crocodiles and hippos, but add some humanoid tribes, dragons and other similar monsters) and even spies/rivals may attack you. Occasionally, there are various types of civil strife, from rebellions led by royal pretenders, to religious conflicts, riots due to drought & famine, etc.

Over in Mesopotamia, another long term civilization exists. known now as Persia. It has undergone many changes, from early city-states to various empires or Kingdoms, and either rules or influences lands from the coast of the Middle Sea north into Asia Minor, east into the rugged mountainous lands of the near east, and into contact with the early civilizations of present day India. The Persian Empire is large and sprwaling, less "civilized" perhaps overall than Khemt, but more than most places in this early world. They fight wars with the early Egyptians, the early Indians, the city0states forming in Asia Minor and early Greece, but still have lots of internal conflict as well. Spies, raiders and of course, monsters, all are potential hazards.

Over in the Hellenistic lands, city-states are forming, some of which are experimenting with this thing called democracy, but most still have Kings or such. They rule the land around their city but not as far as in Khemt or Persia. Each city-state has a flavor all its own, but they share some cultural features. Trade and economics is a growing practice but many areas are still self-sufficient. To the west are the arising cultures of Etruscea and even less so, the Romans, a city founded by something akin to natural lycanthropes or shifters.

To the north lay lands of the Keltoi, a culture with a rich oral history and tradition but not yet doing much with writing. Their settlements are smaller, more scattered, perhaps a hill-fort commanding a small area of farms and villages. There is very little central authority, occasional war-chiefs band together several tribes but they rarely last past the lifespan of the war-chief.

Past the Indian lands is perhaps the most advanced empire in the world, that of China. Still much smaller than the China we know today, they've had writing, court politics and the like for generations. But, again, in between the large cities (most of which are clustered around rivers), the land is dangerous, although small farming villages and such do exist. lately the Royal Court has been planning on extending several walls built in some areas to repel invaders and raiders from the north, perhaps joining them into on, great wall.

The folks up to the north & northwest of China are another widely scattered, tribal peoples, Mongols, Huns, Goths, etc. Not yet the barbaric forces they will become, they're still dangerous raiders and warriors.

This still leaves the early civilizations of Africa and the Americas. Too long to go into, you get the idea.

Each of these cultures are "Points of Light", but how far their light shines varies, not only between them, but from time to time in their own areas. The lands in between are vast, much larger than the lands of true civilizations, peopled by tribal folks, herds of animals, and monsters and creatures of legend and story. Many folk live out there, making their own way, but enduring the raiders, passing armies, vicious creatures, plagues, etc.

Add monsters, magic, change some names, enliven the various pantheons, maybe mix up some geography. Make Khemt a land of Hobgoblins, and the Greeks into Eladrin. Maybe the Keltoi are Elves, and the Indian princes are Rakasha. between India and China, lies Tibet, where the Yak Folk have their domain. Up int he Alps live some dwarves, colonists from Scandavia, where they still have strongholds.

I think this is the kind of opportunities Points of Light offers. Room for some fairly advanced cultures, but with issues of their own, and ruled by various races and cultures. . Lots of land in between to traverse or adventure in, which is where most campaigns may start or at least pass through. If you want more "city-type" adventures, or political intrigue, there are places to do that.

I still see it as I said earlier, Points of Light offers a better opportunity as a default setting than GH, FR, etc. I think it is easier to take the PoL type setting, and add onto it, than to take a High Magic or Magic-as-tech society and reduce it.

Mad_Olin wrote:

Sure would be nice. Anyone want to place a bet on WotC doing something useful like this in the core books when they know damn well a slice of us will pony up for a World Builder's Guide?

Well, if they were to discuss and provide tables for a variety of power levels (for lack of a better word) it would be worth. I doubt they would do that either though. Can't sell a book without a bunch of new PrC and Feats.

I feel that the points of light article was actually just trying to further explain how they veiw the greyhawk setting. Where there's a few big cities, and everything else is pretty much disconnected.

I always viewed greyhawk like that, and i personally didn't like it.

That's why I created my own setting, as we all have the option to do :D