So i'm going to be making my first ever Warlock (Hexblade) and i'm pretty new to D&D, only ever played a Barbarian and I know nothing about D&D lore, the worlds or backstory at all.
So basically I want to start reading the novels to get a good sense of the worlds and lore of D&D and wanted to start with whatever books included Shadowfell and the Raven Queen to really get my Hexblade an accurate backstory.
The campaign i'm in now doesn't really do story or lore, its more combat and joke related unfortunately but i'm looking for other groups around my area so wanted study up while I look.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated, it doesn't have to be novels I was just looking for a good book to read after finishing A Song of Ice and Fire for the 3rd time haha
The lore has changed from one edition to the next to the next, so it isn’t really consistent. Currently there is no Demiplane of Shadow, it got folded into the Plane of Negative Energy and is now the Sharowfell. Some other stuff has changed too. So while reading through the lore, if you find stuff that contradicts other stuff or doesn’t quite make sense that’s why. To stay consistent, just stick to the 5e lore and it’ll inevitably be less confusing. However, 5e is relatively light on lore to make it more inclusive, so there isn’t a ton of it out there compared to older editions. If you want to know more, then I suggest starting with the AD&D lore and moving forward so you will be able to see how things changed between editions and it’ll be less confusing. I say “less confusing” because it’s still gonna be a little confusing, I don’t know anyone who can keep it all 100% straight in their heads, 90% maybe… maybe…. But it’ll still be fun to read, even if it does get confuzzling. If you want a solid mix between the two, start with the 3e lore and move forward as you will have less to read and fewer changes to track than starting from AD&D, but more lore to delve into than just the 5e stuff and the changes will be easier to follow.
As best I'm aware the Raven Queen wasn't really a significant figure pre-5e (if she even existed at all). She's mentioned in passing or with small bits of lore here and there throughout official material but I'm unaware of any particular canon source of all such lore. A quick search brings up the most readily available and somewhat thourough sescription here:
Note that the outside link is not to pirated material; the site it refers to is hosted by Fandom (D&D Beyond's parent company) and while I'm not well read on legal specifics WotC is well aware of it and it's on the level.
Worth noting that, as with any lore, you'll want to check with your DM first to make sure that the Raven Queen even fits into and exists in their world and it's lore.
The lore has changed from one edition to the next to the next, so it isn’t really consistent. Currently there is no Demiplane of Shadow, it got folded into the Plane of Negative Energy and is now the Sharowfell. Some other stuff has changed too. So while reading through the lore, if you find stuff that contradicts other stuff or doesn’t quite make sense that’s why. To stay consistent, just stick to the 5e lore and it’ll inevitably be less confusing. However, 5e is relatively light on lore to make it more inclusive, so there isn’t a ton of it out there compared to older editions. If you want to know more, then I suggest starting with the AD&D lore and moving forward so you will be able to see how things changed between editions and it’ll be less confusing. I say “less confusing” because it’s still gonna be a little confusing, I don’t know anyone who can keep it all 100% straight in their heads, 90% maybe… maybe…. But it’ll still be fun to read, even if it does get confuzzling. If you want a solid mix between the two, start with the 3e lore and move forward as you will have less to read and fewer changes to track than starting from AD&D, but more lore to delve into than just the 5e stuff and the changes will be easier to follow.
Awesome thanks for the tip! Ya when I did a quick wiki look up on the Raven Queen and Shadowfell they mentioned difference with 4e vs 5e so i'd think it be best to stick around 5e as much as possible.
As best I'm aware the Raven Queen wasn't really a significant figure pre-5e (if she even existed at all). She's mentioned in passing or with small bits of lore here and there throughout official material but I'm unaware of any particular canon source of all such lore. A quick search brings up the most readily available and somewhat thourough sescription here:
Note that the outside link is not to pirated material; the site it refers to is hosted by Fandom (D&D Beyond's parent company) and while I'm not well read on legal specifics WotC is well aware of it and it's on the level.
Worth noting that, as with any lore, you'll want to check with your DM first to make sure that the Raven Queen even fits into and exists in their world and it's lore.
Ya thats a good point, doing all this research only to have my DM say "ya we're not in this world where the Raven Queen is known or exists" would be odd for my backstory, unless I somehow warped through worlds or something. I did check that out and found a decent page or two in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes which was a good start. I might just have to be creative for the rest.
I'm sure many DM's don't expect their players to know the lore like they do so they might go easy on me and let me embellish or even create part of the backstory for me.
As best I'm aware the Raven Queen wasn't really a significant figure pre-5e (if she even existed at all). She's mentioned in passing or with small bits of lore here and there throughout official material but I'm unaware of any particular canon source of all such lore. A quick search brings up the most readily available and somewhat thourough sescription here:
Note that the outside link is not to pirated material; the site it refers to is hosted by Fandom (D&D Beyond's parent company) and while I'm not well read on legal specifics WotC is well aware of it and it's on the level.
Worth noting that, as with any lore, you'll want to check with your DM first to make sure that the Raven Queen even fits into and exists in their world and it's lore.
Ya thats a good point, doing all this research only to have my DM say "ya we're not in this world where the Raven Queen is known or exists" would be odd for my backstory, unless I somehow warped through worlds or something. I did check that out and found a decent page or two in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes which was a good start. I might just have to be creative for the rest.
I'm sure many DM's don't expect their players to know the lore like they do so they might go easy on me and let me embellish or even create part of the backstory for me.
As always, talk to the DM about their world lore before investing time in comporting or contorting a backstory. Maybe there isn't a RavenQueen, which would make a Hexblade difficult unless the DM works with you on a different rationale. The game is dialogic world building, not a trivia contest of whose picked up the most "facts" from fiction that's not even relevant to the present edition or particular game being played.
The Raven Queen does pull a lot of tropes into a neat archetype ... but those tropes can be easily redistributed into a given game world's mythos and pantheon.
If you show up with an "inaccurate" backstory the DM is not going to say 'WRONG" and slash a big red X through your backstory, at least a good DM won't. Rather they should be pretty adept at saying, "well, Ravenqueen isn't a thing or doesn't work this way in my game, so how about ..?"
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
When it comes to a backstory it shouldn’t really be too involved anyway. (You can make a solid enough backstory in as few as 3 sentences, I do it all the time.) In fact, many DMs won’t care one wit about any player’s backstory as it might not pertain to the Adventure the DM has planned. If you simply write that your character made a Pact with an emissary of the Raven Queen and leave it at that it’s pro’ly gonna be enough.
Thats a good point, I hope my DM will help create a good backstory, or I guess just say"yep that works" but not really use it at all so accurate or not doesn't matter. I guess I was worrying about a specific type if DM that would say "this patron doesn't work with the Raven Queen" or "i don't think that quite makes sense" but likely they'd go easy on me and try to work with what I create vs critique and make me change it.
As best I'm aware the Raven Queen wasn't really a significant figure pre-5e (if she even existed at all).
The Raven Queen is the 4th edition Goddess of Death; the whole Shadowfell/Feywild setup is largely a 4th edition legacy. Whose existence in 5e is kinda weird because 4th edition had a very different cosmology and history than 3.5e, and most of the 5th edition cosmology is lifted from 3.5e (the reason the forgottenrealms wiki doesn't care is that, well, 4th edition wasn't set in the forgotten realms and has nothing to say about it).
(If you're interested in the 4th edition timeline, it's a mess that was mostly introduced as throwaway lines in other books. Someone by the handle of Zeromaru X wrote a fan "History of the Nentir Vale" where he tried to make it all hang together, which is an impressive feat; the most readable version I've found is https://i.4pcdn.org/tg/1508152617543.pdf).
I wonder why the Raven Queen is supposed to be connected with hexblades. Something about Kas?
Random thing I noticed while I was poking at this: the Wand of Orcus can only be destroyed by taking it to the positive energy plane. Which no longer exists.
I will say that I found the 4e cosmology to be quite solid, and the lore around Shadowfell and the Raven Queen was very cool. I feel like 5e lore/cosmology is basically nonexistent in comparison, but I suppose that's because its relying on all the Forgotten Realms lore that came before which I never really cared for.
When it comes to a backstory it shouldn’t really be too involved anyway. (You can make a solid enough backstory in as few as 3 sentences, I do it all the time.) In fact, many DMs won’t care one wit about any player’s backstory as it might not pertain to the Adventure the DM has planned. If you simply write that your character made a Pact with an emissary of the Raven Queen and leave it at that it’s pro’ly gonna be enough.
lol ya you're probably right, I'm probably getting to involved and overthinking things. For some reason once I read the Hexblade had a more specific background then say Barbarian (which i'm currently playing) I thought oh crap I need to do research now lol.
There is actually a pretty decent lore book that was designed for 4e that I have for the Shadowfell, which includes the Raven Queen. You can get it from DriveThru RPG at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/148010. The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond (4e). Just be aware that the lore for the Shadar-Kai in 4e is way different than 5e, but is easily adaptable just by changing the race and a few details.
When it comes to a backstory it shouldn’t really be too involved anyway. (You can make a solid enough backstory in as few as 3 sentences, I do it all the time.) In fact, many DMs won’t care one wit about any player’s backstory as it might not pertain to the Adventure the DM has planned. If you simply write that your character made a Pact with an emissary of the Raven Queen and leave it at that it’s pro’ly gonna be enough.
lol ya you're probably right, I'm probably getting to involved and overthinking things. For some reason once I read the Hexblade had a more specific background then say Barbarian (which i'm currently playing) I thought oh crap I need to do research now lol.
Here is my general guideline when creating a backstory. I find out what level we are starting at, and look at the Proficiency bonus for the character at that level. Then I write a backstory that has 3-5 sentences per paragraph and a number of paragraphs equal to that Proficiency bonus + 1 paragraph. For a 1st level PC, that’s between 1 and 3 paragraphs, each 3-5 sentences long. So the maximum length of the backstory would be 15 sentences, and the minimum is 3 sentences. One piece of information about home life, one about something significant in the character’s past and one reason they became an adventurer is all I ask for as a DM. You might be surprised how compelling three sentence backstories can be. 😉
So i'm going to be making my first ever Warlock (Hexblade) and i'm pretty new to D&D, only ever played a Barbarian and I know nothing about D&D lore, the worlds or backstory at all.
So basically I want to start reading the novels to get a good sense of the worlds and lore of D&D and wanted to start with whatever books included Shadowfell and the Raven Queen to really get my Hexblade an accurate backstory.
The campaign i'm in now doesn't really do story or lore, its more combat and joke related unfortunately but i'm looking for other groups around my area so wanted study up while I look.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated, it doesn't have to be novels I was just looking for a good book to read after finishing A Song of Ice and Fire for the 3rd time haha
Cheers
The lore has changed from one edition to the next to the next, so it isn’t really consistent. Currently there is no Demiplane of Shadow, it got folded into the Plane of Negative Energy and is now the Sharowfell. Some other stuff has changed too. So while reading through the lore, if you find stuff that contradicts other stuff or doesn’t quite make sense that’s why. To stay consistent, just stick to the 5e lore and it’ll inevitably be less confusing. However, 5e is relatively light on lore to make it more inclusive, so there isn’t a ton of it out there compared to older editions. If you want to know more, then I suggest starting with the AD&D lore and moving forward so you will be able to see how things changed between editions and it’ll be less confusing. I say “less confusing” because it’s still gonna be a little confusing, I don’t know anyone who can keep it all 100% straight in their heads, 90% maybe… maybe…. But it’ll still be fun to read, even if it does get confuzzling. If you want a solid mix between the two, start with the 3e lore and move forward as you will have less to read and fewer changes to track than starting from AD&D, but more lore to delve into than just the 5e stuff and the changes will be easier to follow.
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As best I'm aware the Raven Queen wasn't really a significant figure pre-5e (if she even existed at all). She's mentioned in passing or with small bits of lore here and there throughout official material but I'm unaware of any particular canon source of all such lore. A quick search brings up the most readily available and somewhat thourough sescription here:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Raven_Queen
Note that the outside link is not to pirated material; the site it refers to is hosted by Fandom (D&D Beyond's parent company) and while I'm not well read on legal specifics WotC is well aware of it and it's on the level.
Worth noting that, as with any lore, you'll want to check with your DM first to make sure that the Raven Queen even fits into and exists in their world and it's lore.
Awesome thanks for the tip! Ya when I did a quick wiki look up on the Raven Queen and Shadowfell they mentioned difference with 4e vs 5e so i'd think it be best to stick around 5e as much as possible.
Ya thats a good point, doing all this research only to have my DM say "ya we're not in this world where the Raven Queen is known or exists" would be odd for my backstory, unless I somehow warped through worlds or something. I did check that out and found a decent page or two in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes which was a good start. I might just have to be creative for the rest.
I'm sure many DM's don't expect their players to know the lore like they do so they might go easy on me and let me embellish or even create part of the backstory for me.
Many DMs don’t know the lore themselves. For example, I don’t use the Forgotten Realms, so I know very little of the lore of Toril.
Yeah, stick to the 5e lore for now and you should be fine, like I said you might end up knowing it better than your DM.
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As always, talk to the DM about their world lore before investing time in comporting or contorting a backstory. Maybe there isn't a RavenQueen, which would make a Hexblade difficult unless the DM works with you on a different rationale. The game is dialogic world building, not a trivia contest of whose picked up the most "facts" from fiction that's not even relevant to the present edition or particular game being played.
The Raven Queen does pull a lot of tropes into a neat archetype ... but those tropes can be easily redistributed into a given game world's mythos and pantheon.
If you show up with an "inaccurate" backstory the DM is not going to say 'WRONG" and slash a big red X through your backstory, at least a good DM won't. Rather they should be pretty adept at saying, "well, Ravenqueen isn't a thing or doesn't work this way in my game, so how about ..?"
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
When it comes to a backstory it shouldn’t really be too involved anyway. (You can make a solid enough backstory in as few as 3 sentences, I do it all the time.) In fact, many DMs won’t care one wit about any player’s backstory as it might not pertain to the Adventure the DM has planned. If you simply write that your character made a Pact with an emissary of the Raven Queen and leave it at that it’s pro’ly gonna be enough.
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Thats a good point, I hope my DM will help create a good backstory, or I guess just say"yep that works" but not really use it at all so accurate or not doesn't matter. I guess I was worrying about a specific type if DM that would say "this patron doesn't work with the Raven Queen" or "i don't think that quite makes sense" but likely they'd go easy on me and try to work with what I create vs critique and make me change it.
The Raven Queen is the 4th edition Goddess of Death; the whole Shadowfell/Feywild setup is largely a 4th edition legacy. Whose existence in 5e is kinda weird because 4th edition had a very different cosmology and history than 3.5e, and most of the 5th edition cosmology is lifted from 3.5e (the reason the forgottenrealms wiki doesn't care is that, well, 4th edition wasn't set in the forgotten realms and has nothing to say about it).
(If you're interested in the 4th edition timeline, it's a mess that was mostly introduced as throwaway lines in other books. Someone by the handle of Zeromaru X wrote a fan "History of the Nentir Vale" where he tried to make it all hang together, which is an impressive feat; the most readable version I've found is https://i.4pcdn.org/tg/1508152617543.pdf).
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes and the Forgotten Realms wiki.
The shadowfell is an overlay on top of the material plane, like the ethereal plane is.
Also, hexblade warlocks do not necessarily get their abilities via the Raven Queen, she is just known to have forged one of them.
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I wonder why the Raven Queen is supposed to be connected with hexblades. Something about Kas?
Random thing I noticed while I was poking at this: the Wand of Orcus can only be destroyed by taking it to the positive energy plane. Which no longer exists.
I will say that I found the 4e cosmology to be quite solid, and the lore around Shadowfell and the Raven Queen was very cool. I feel like 5e lore/cosmology is basically nonexistent in comparison, but I suppose that's because its relying on all the Forgotten Realms lore that came before which I never really cared for.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
lol ya you're probably right, I'm probably getting to involved and overthinking things. For some reason once I read the Hexblade had a more specific background then say Barbarian (which i'm currently playing) I thought oh crap I need to do research now lol.
There is actually a pretty decent lore book that was designed for 4e that I have for the Shadowfell, which includes the Raven Queen. You can get it from DriveThru RPG at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/148010. The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond (4e). Just be aware that the lore for the Shadar-Kai in 4e is way different than 5e, but is easily adaptable just by changing the race and a few details.
Here is my general guideline when creating a backstory. I find out what level we are starting at, and look at the Proficiency bonus for the character at that level. Then I write a backstory that has 3-5 sentences per paragraph and a number of paragraphs equal to that Proficiency bonus + 1 paragraph. For a 1st level PC, that’s between 1 and 3 paragraphs, each 3-5 sentences long. So the maximum length of the backstory would be 15 sentences, and the minimum is 3 sentences. One piece of information about home life, one about something significant in the character’s past and one reason they became an adventurer is all I ask for as a DM. You might be surprised how compelling three sentence backstories can be. 😉
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