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View Full Version : What's your favourite published D&D campaign setting?



Axolotl
2010-06-09, 05:25 PM
Now over the years there's been a lot of DnD settings published by TSR, WotC and a lot of 3rd party publishers. But which do you like best? Not necessarily the one you pay in most but the one you most enjoy reading. Is it traditional settings like Greyhawk or Forgotton Realms? Or do you prefer the more bizarre settings such as Planescape or Spelljammer? Or the ones that are just fun like Mystara?

I'm counting 3rd party settings like XCrawl and Dragonstar by the way, as long as it was designed for DnD, it counts.

My personal favorite is City State of the Invincible Overlord. The first setting ever published and in my mind it perfectly captures everything DnD should be: it's wacky, eclectic, run on it's own logic, mirrors various parts of history and is overflowing with adventure.

arguskos
2010-06-09, 05:31 PM
Planescape, hands down. Giving the laugh to an uppity blood, hearing the jingle of the milk in the cutter's pouches, escaping the mazes and the Sword, poking at a duster, and trying the taps in the greatest city ever told, nothing like it berk, nothing like it.

Dusk Eclipse
2010-06-09, 05:33 PM
Eberron, first campaing setting I played in, the best metaplot (IMO) ever, and home of many of my favorite things about 3.5 (shifters, warforged, Orien dragonmark, revenant blade, etc)

Eloi
2010-06-09, 05:41 PM
Spelljammer for mixing Fantasy and Science Fiction almost flawlessly. One of the best things about AD&D, in my opinion.

Greenish
2010-06-09, 05:43 PM
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/eb_gallery/82081.jpg

Eloi
2010-06-09, 05:45 PM
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/eb_gallery/82081.jpg

http://gaygamer.net/images/spelljammer.jpg

Dusk Eclipse
2010-06-09, 05:46 PM
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/eb_gallery/82081.jpg

... how could I forget dinosaur-riding halflings

Random NPC
2010-06-09, 05:47 PM
http://aspiringsomething.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/eberron.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b382/Ehtiar/Eberron%20Motivational/EberronAnime.jpg

http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd153/Nerindil981/Halflings.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1363/1429018549_db53255a1e_o.jpg

:smallwink:

Gnaeus
2010-06-09, 05:49 PM
Golarion, the pathfinder chronicles campaign world. I really feel like they did a good job of capturing the essence of a D&D campaign setting.

Terraoblivion
2010-06-09, 05:50 PM
Since Eberron doesn't advance it doesn't really have a metaplot as the term is normally used, Dusk Eclipse. It has a history of course, but that history has many of the most important bits left intentionally vague, the cause of the Mourning of course being the most notable. Essentially it presents a snapshot of the world and then leaves it open for players to tell their own stories in. Unlike settings such as that of the Old World of Darkness, where there was a progressing plot told by the developers that you would increasingly have to comply with to gain any value from new sourcebooks.

In any case i cannot quite answer this question. It is a contest between two settings for me. Three if the custom setting for the one long running 4e game i am in gets taken into account. But since that was created as a vehicle for only one story i wouldn't really classify it as a setting, much less one that can reasonably be discussed for this.

The two settings i like the most are Eberron and the Kargatane version of Ravenloft. What they have in common is a much stronger design focus and attention to detail than any other D&D settings i have ever seen. Eberron is the only official D&D setting i have ever seen that spends significant amounts of energy on how religion is experienced from the point of view of the average believer. Similarly it has the most interesting, complex and morally charged politics of pretty much any D&D setting, choices just seem meaningful. And it does all of this while pushing its core theme of magipunk in the style of 20s pulp to the hilt while still managing to integrate pretty much every part of the D&D system in the setting and making it work.

The Kargatane version of Ravenloft is similar in many ways. It too focuses on making a coherent world based on a clear core assumption, while paying attention to the details. However, it goes much farther than any other setting in giving detail to the little details of everyday life creating an incredible texture of atmosphere, making a world as fundamentally bizarre as that of Ravenloft come alive and seem like a place really could live. This achievement keeps striking me whenever i read any of the sourcebooks for it. Despite how the setting was haphazardly created for over a decade this attention to detail and to the themes of every domain makes it come together as one of the most vivid and oddly realistic D&D settings ever.

Axolotl
2010-06-09, 05:54 PM
Actually since I guess alot of people are going to go with Eberron and Planescape (for good reason) perhaps it woud be best for people to say their top 5, just to avoid repetition.

gdiddy
2010-06-09, 05:58 PM
Planescape
Spelljammer
Rich's submission that Eberron beat.
Dark Sun
Greyhawk

arguskos
2010-06-09, 05:59 PM
If you want top 5s, here you go:

Planescape
Spelljammer
Pre-4e Forgotten Realms
Ravenloft
Dark Sun

Axolotl
2010-06-09, 05:59 PM
Rich's submission that Eberron beat.When was that published?

Dusk Eclipse
2010-06-09, 06:02 PM
@Terraoblivion: Thanks for correcting me on the term, and now that I have to select a top 5:
(Note I have been playing a REALLY short time, 4 years so I haven't played many of the setting you are mentioninn and as such most of my picks are based on stuff I have only read on)
1: Eberron
2: Forgotten Realms
3: Dark Sun
4: Planescape
5: Spelljamer

Another_Poet
2010-06-09, 06:03 PM
For 3.x: Iron Kingdoms.

Ever: Dark Sun

arguskos
2010-06-09, 06:05 PM
When was that published?
It never was.

DragoonWraith
2010-06-09, 06:06 PM
Eberron, followed closely by Dark Sun, without much interest of any kind in any other setting that I've read...

Nero24200
2010-06-09, 06:09 PM
Ebberon - Hands down. Ever since I started playing D'n'D, I always thought something was off...I kept thinking that if magica actually existed, it would influence how technology works, and even make it advacne faster than normal. Ebberon is the first setting I've seen that I personally feel addresses magic being common.

I'd probably list my top five, but I don't actually know that many D'n'D settings. The only ones I've really looked at closey were Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft and Ebberon.

ShadowsGrnEyes
2010-06-09, 06:10 PM
MIDNIGHT

Midnight a thousand times midnight. Best setting ever.

here's the description i was given by the dm when first introduced to it.

"It's like lord of the rings, but the bad guys won"

And that pales in comparison to it's awsomeness. . . also I'm biased because my husband and I met during that game.

Eloi
2010-06-09, 06:10 PM
Rich's submission that Eberron beat.

This, just this. I really want them to publish it or give up the license or something. I can't go my whole life not knowing what campaign setting he made (barring the New World campaign setting brewing in the Gaming section, but who knows if he'll continue it.

Mando Knight
2010-06-09, 06:14 PM
It never was.

However, that's not because Eberron was so much better than Rich's...

The judge's head exploded from the sheer awesome on paper that was the proposed campaign world, and WotC decided it would be bad for business if they published a book that would kill their customers by awesome-overload.

Eloi
2010-06-09, 06:17 PM
However, that's not because Eberron was so much better than Rich's...

The judge's head exploded from the sheer awesome on paper that was the proposed campaign world, and WotC decided it would be bad for business if they published a book that would kill their customers by awesome-overload.

Or, following the cynical theory proposed by some that WotC releases unbalanced stuff slowly to derail the system to become a new one, Rich's was so well balanced, that they feared that its positive influence might lengthen 3.5 edition too long, barring 4 edition. But Rich was not foiled, as he created a web-comic that still explicitly uses 3.5, thus, continuing interest in the system that would have been there had his campaign setting came out.

Kaiyanwang
2010-06-09, 06:22 PM
If forced to choose, Forgotten Realms, maybe.

But I love the fact that, say, Eberron and Dark Sun and Planescape and Ravenloft and Greyhawk and Mystara are so different and so differently awesome.

In fact, I used something from each of them from my home setting.

@ShadowGrnEyes: special mention to midnight. The base idea, as you explained, is revolutionary, its implications heroic.

AtopTheMountain
2010-06-09, 06:27 PM
1. Eberron
2. Dragonlance
3. Forgotten Realms

Those are really the only ones I've looked at, though Rich's one in the Gaming section looks pretty fun.

I wonder what Rich thinks of most people having Eberron as their favorite...

Tequila Sunrise
2010-06-09, 06:27 PM
Planescape, hands down. Giving the laugh to an uppity blood, hearing the jingle of the milk in the cutter's pouches, escaping the mazes and the Sword, poking at a duster, and trying the taps in the greatest city ever told, nothing like it berk, nothing like it.
+1.

What faction war? Quit flapping yer bone-box, barmy!

Eloi
2010-06-09, 06:33 PM
1. Eberron
2. Dragonlance
3. Forgotten Realms

Those are really the only ones I've looked at, though Rich's one in the Gaming section looks pretty fun.

I wonder what Rich thinks of most people having Eberron as their favorite...

Well according to his Finalist interview on the Wizards site, he didn't have a favorite campaign setting outside of his own work, so I suppose he wouldn't even have a list.
But I do know, he helped contribute to Eberron books professionally (Explorer's Handbook), so I don't think he harbors that many ill feelings if he's willing to contribute to it.

PairO'Dice Lost
2010-06-09, 06:33 PM
Dark Sun for being the first to really get away from stereotypical fantasy (and doing it the best of the ones I've seen--yay cannibalistic halflings!); Eberron for logically integrating low-level magic instead of being the usual "Medieval Europe with magic added as an afterthought" cop-out; Planescape for the far-ranging, wide-scope, high-powered adventuring and philosophical overtones; not in that order.

Eldariel
2010-06-09, 07:36 PM
Dark Sun is my favorite. Too bad I haven't gotten to play any in 3e; looking forward to it. After that, Planescape, Spelljammer, Eberron, Ravenloft & finally Forgotten Realms. Never was a big fan of Greyhawk, among others.

AstralFire
2010-06-09, 07:38 PM
1. Eberron.
2. Spelljammer.
3. There is no three. I am neutral towards, dislike, or hate all of the other published D&D campaign settings.

Susano-wo
2010-06-09, 07:38 PM
MY list:
1.Dark Sun. A setting that in 2nd Ed told you to A: roll more dice for bigger stats, B: never start the chars at less than 3rd lvl, and C: suggests that you should probably have a backup just in case.
You have as much chance dying from exposure/dehydration as from actual enemies. Also, I love the turn everything on it's head goal. And I think it succeeded quite well.

2.3.0 Ravenloft. A lot of nice gothic horror elements, though its a bit hard to pull of, especially if you have people used to 'standard' dungeon crawl-esque game structure.

3. 3rd ed Forgotten Realms. I haven't played it too much, but it feels like a real world with real countries, and a Pantheon that (and contrast with Greyhawk deities) feels like a Pantheon, and not a group of random hooks that make sure all the character types have someone to worship.


And aside from that..most Campaigns I have been in have been custom worlds, so I don't have that much Dnd Campaign world exp.

A Question about Ebberon. I like a lot of things from it that I have seen(Love Shifters, and Warforgeds are weird, but I don't entirely *not* dig them. Oh and lets not forget Action Points! yes yes YES! ), btu the impression I always got was that the world was Stupid-High Magic. Like Cross Country Teleportation very common, Lightning Elemental Trains everywhere, etc. Is that accurate?

AstralFire
2010-06-09, 07:42 PM
Eberron is a world where magic and crafting doable from levels 1 to 6 is very common, and stuff past 10th-12th just does not happen at all.

So, through the civilized areas - yes, the Lightning Train exists. But they're hardly everywhere, and teleportation is an extremely pricey and rare service, it's just that Eberron actually acknowledges the effect of teleportation in the game world, unlike FR and Greyhawk.

All of the other D&D settings have more high magic than Eberron, Eberron just has them beat in availability of low magic.

Random NPC
2010-06-09, 07:49 PM
MY list:
A Question about Ebberon. I like a lot of things from it that I have seen(Love Shifters, and Warforgeds are weird, but I don't entirely *not* dig them. Oh and lets not forget Action Points! yes yes YES! ), btu the impression I always got was that the world was Stupid-High Magic. Like Cross Country Teleportation very common, Lightning Elemental Trains everywhere, etc. Is that accurate?

Kinda, but no.

Eberron: Low-Magic, High-Availability

Salbazier
2010-06-09, 07:56 PM
1. Eberron, I'm just crazy with Eberron.:smallsmile:

2. Midnight from fantasy flight games (Do I got that right?). ShadowsGrnEyes has said "Sauron wins" is exactly what it is.

3. Golarion. Full of classic elements yet everything feels new.

Susano-wo
2010-06-09, 08:38 PM
Well, I will have to look at Ebberon again. Cause that just put it up on the list, and maybe above FR. :P (but not U-FR, cause, y'know...BY Fire Be Purged and all ^ ^)


Got a question to all you Hate-ahs: What is it about Dark Sun that turns you off? I've always been attracted to the setting (though like Ravenloft, its not one for constant play...a Campaign every now and then in it would be *plenty*)

Eldariel
2010-06-09, 08:57 PM
Got a question to all you Hate-ahs: What is it about Dark Sun that turns you off? I've always been attracted to the setting (though like Ravenloft, its not one for constant play...a Campaign every now and then in it would be *plenty*)

Huh...I can't see a single negative thing about Dark Sun in the entire thread O.o

PId6
2010-06-09, 09:11 PM
1. Eberron
2. Dark Sun

Reasons have already been stated by others.

I do like Dragonlance, but not as a setting; the books were good, but it has much too much of the "Good vs Evil" mentality for me to like it in actual play. I hate Forgotten Realms with its "epic caster behind every rock" quirk. Greyhawk isn't really that much of a setting for 3.5; as "default" setting, it's just too generic for me to care about much. Not experienced enough with other settings to say anything about them.

AstralFire
2010-06-09, 09:26 PM
Greyhawk is anything but generic. As you delve into it, it's more like 70s/80s pop fantasy personified. This is why I hate it.

PId6
2010-06-09, 09:28 PM
Greyhawk is anything but generic. As you delve into it, it's more like 70s/80s pop fantasy personified. This is why I hate it.
Where is Greyhawk outlined? I always assumed since it's the default setting, everything in PHB and DMG is just assumed true. Is there an actual Greyhawk Campaign Setting for 3.5?

Oh wait, it's in Dragon isn't it?

AstralFire
2010-06-09, 09:39 PM
the PHB and DMG pretty much only talk about the parts of Greyhawk that are not Gygaxian guano.

Googling for Greyhawk information gets you a lot pieced out of the older editions of D&D + Living Greyhawk, which was the 3E usage of the setting. Plus, IIRC, Planescape and Spelljammer draw most heavily from Greyhawk of the major settings at that time.

Samb
2010-06-09, 09:42 PM
I just love Eberron. I love the pulp feel, the magic=tech but what I really love about it is: PCs matter. The fact that Eberron hasn't been destroyed yet is a miracle. You have a 100 year war, the lords of dust (lvl50-60 rakhasa rajas) twisting your waking thoughts, the Dreaming Dark invading your dreamings, the blood of Vol's subtle corruption, the dragon below and the dealyk just itching to turn the world mad. With so many omnicidial super beings bent on destroying the world there is just so much potential.

Planescape, I'm surprised it is so popular. This setting had "ahead of it time" written all over it. It's art was avant-grade, it atmosphere was revolutionary, and the smart philosophical bend to it made it the "smartest" setting I have ever played. And that is why it has always held a special place in my heart.

Dark Sun, where I was first exposed to psionics. And has been a continuing obseession since.

Susano-wo
2010-06-09, 09:51 PM
Eldariel: I wasn't so much stating that people were hating on it in this thread, but I have heard people mention not liking it before, and AstralFire by Implication hates it. Her omission of it in her do not hate list got me thinking: why is it that people hate DS? is it just a matter of the grimness of the setting? Is desert too boring? DO peeps think they went too far with the whole turning everything on its head thing? I just don't know :P

Eloi
2010-06-09, 09:58 PM
Eldariel: I wasn't so much stating that people were hating on it in this thread, but I have heard people mention not liking it before, and AstralFire by Implication hates it. Her omission of it in her do not hate list got me thinking: why is it that people hate DS? is it just a matter of the grimness of the setting? Is desert too boring? DO peeps think they went too far with the whole turning everything on its head thing? I just don't know :P

I think it just feels like you aren't affecting the world when you do something because its in such a bad way. Like "Hooray, I beat the lich, but halflings are still cannibals, no one is getting enough water, and the world is still pretty bleak." Tho' people who are used to the GRIMDARK GRIM DARKNESS OF THE FUTURE, should have no problem adapting to it.

AstralFire
2010-06-09, 10:10 PM
Eldariel: I wasn't so much stating that people were hating on it in this thread, but I have heard people mention not liking it before, and AstralFire by Implication hates it. Her omission of it in her do not hate list got me thinking: why is it that people hate DS? is it just a matter of the grimness of the setting? Is desert too boring? DO peeps think they went too far with the whole turning everything on its head thing? I just don't know :P

Dark Sun is actually one of the ones in my neutral list. (I quickly amended that part of my post to neutral, dislike or hate from the original 'hate' statement.) I think it has some really cool ideas, but ultimately, it's not a setting I want to play in. The level of 'grit' in it is the sort of thing I can objectively appreciate but not personally enjoy. I would enjoy a good game in Athas, I would enjoy doing my best to bring a spark of light to such a dismal world, but I can't get excited about a setting without knowing that there are people within the setting who are working to make it a better place, even against impossible odds. I'm a fairy tale girl at heart.

Note the difference between want and enjoy.

PairO'Dice Lost
2010-06-09, 10:11 PM
I think it just feels like you aren't affecting the world when you do something because its in such a bad way. Like "Hooray, I beat the lich, but halflings are still cannibals, no one is getting enough water, and the world is still pretty bleak." Tho' people who are used to the GRIMDARK GRIM DARKNESS OF THE FUTURE, should have no problem adapting to it.

I don't get this point of view. Are Eberron adventurers going to permanently kill the Rajahs, Quori, and every other threat, reverse the Mourning, and live happily ever after? Are Realms adventurers going to wipe out every last archmage and evil deity ever, permanently? Are Ravenloft adventurers going to turn everything all nice and shiny and send Mist-ed people home after freeing the Darklords? Any given campaign you play in DS is one single campaign; you don't have to fix the entire world every time to have an impact--heck, bringing down a single Dragon King at the end of a campaign heading into low epic is a hugely memorably achievement in and of itself, much less fixing everything else.

Eloi
2010-06-09, 10:13 PM
I don't get this point of view. Are Eberron adventurers going to permanently kill the Rajahs, Quori, and every other threat, reverse the Mourning, and live happily ever after? Are Realms adventurers going to wipe out every last archmage and evil deity ever, permanently? Are Ravenloft adventurers going to turn everything all nice and shiny and send Mist-ed people home after freeing the Darklords? Any given campaign you play in DS is one single campaign; you don't have to fix the entire world every time to have an impact--heck, bringing down a single Dragon King at the end of a campaign heading into low epic is a hugely memorably achievement in and of itself, much less fixing everything else.

Well its less 'fixing everything' and more like 'feels like you're having an impact'. The more set in tone (whether optimistic or pessimistic) the less you feel like you're impacting it.

PairO'Dice Lost
2010-06-09, 10:19 PM
Well its less 'fixing everything' and more like 'feels like you're having an impact'. The more set in tone (whether optimistic or pessimistic) the less you feel like you're impacting it.

Oh, granted, DS is fairly grim and is more gritty than the norm, I just don't see it as any more "set in stone" (or set in obsidian :smallbiggrin:) than other settings. FR has many other powerful people, many in the high-level or low-epic range, to the point that anything you do can be reversed with a snap of the fingers if they really wanted it. Most of the Eberron threats are either invincible (Rajahs can only be imprisoned, Daelkyr keep coming back, Quori escape to Dal Quor) or are "popular" groups (if you shut down the Aurum, e.g., similarly-minded people can start it back up again). Planescape is full of beings that are Way Bigger Than You.

If you just look at things from the perspective of "Has my character actually made a lasting, irreversible impact on this setting?" pretty much every published setting answers with a rather depressing "Ha ha...nope." If you look at it from the perspective "We didn't fix everything, but we took down that one lich" or "that one Lord of Dust" or "that one defiler" or whatever, things work out a lot better, I find.

Froogleyboy
2010-06-09, 10:24 PM
I love Ravenloft oh-so-much.
That is all.
Go back to your fun.

Eloi
2010-06-09, 10:25 PM
Oh, granted, DS is fairly grim and is more gritty than the norm, I just don't see it as any more "set in stone" (or set in obsidian :smallbiggrin:) than other settings. FR has many other powerful people, many in the high-level or low-epic range, to the point that anything you do can be reversed with a snap of the fingers if they really wanted it. Most of the Eberron threats are either invincible (Rajahs can only be imprisoned, Daelkyr keep coming back, Quori escape to Dal Quor) or are "popular" groups (if you shut down the Aurum, e.g., similarly-minded people can start it back up again). Planescape is full of beings that are Way Bigger Than You.

If you just look at things from the perspective of "Has my character actually made a lasting, irreversible impact on this setting?" pretty much every published setting answers with a rather depressing "Ha ha...nope." If you look at it from the perspective "We didn't fix everything, but we took down that one lich" or "that one Lord of Dust" or "that one defiler" or whatever, things work out a lot better, I find.

Well, I'm making my setting have that answer be a resounding "Hell yes!". I shall be in my Homebrew Lab if you need me.

Susano-wo
2010-06-09, 10:27 PM
I can get how not having an impact on the world would be frustrating. I would definitely get tired of a DarkSun Campaign that was constricting and tried to prevent me from effecting change. :P (heck, that's what I hate when you get people who take the timelines in WoD to Star Wars geek levels...sheesh!)

Which looking at the setting, is pretty freakin difficult. So I can see where a lot of campaigns might devolve into "I screw around for a while and eventually die. "
::re-roll::

Also, AstralFire: I missed the neutral addendum, sorry :D

AstralFire
2010-06-09, 10:29 PM
I think feeling like you have an impact on the setting is entirely a function of the DM and quality of the book writers and not actually much to do with the setting. All the named high level NPCs in Forgotten Realms working together cannot actually fix everything - at most they fix the big threats, but the little ones will always be around as long as there are people. I still dislike FR's NPCs, but that's mostly because I-

[MULTI PAGE ESSAY REDACTED]

Samb
2010-06-09, 10:31 PM
I don't get this point of view. Are Eberron adventurers going to permanently kill the Rajahs, Quori, and every other threat, reverse the Mourning, and live happily ever after? Are Realms adventurers going to wipe out every last archmage and evil deity ever, permanently? Are Ravenloft adventurers going to turn everything all nice and shiny and send Mist-ed people home after freeing the Darklords? Any given campaign you play in DS is one single campaign; you don't have to fix the entire world every time to have an impact--heck, bringing down a single Dragon King at the end of a campaign heading into low epic is a hugely memorably achievement in and of itself, much less fixing everything else.
No need for hyperboles, that's not what I said. At all.
It has more to do with: OMG there's so much to do!!!! Rather than: I must save everything.
Eberron achieves that perfect balance where things are good, but just a little nudge (by a evil DM) and they could go terribly wrong. And that is a great starting ground. Most campaigns (mine at least), are not so much winning, but having a glimmer of hope down the road (way down).

Susano-wo
2010-06-09, 10:36 PM
I think feeling like you have an impact on the setting is entirely a function of the DM and quality of the book writers and not actually much to do with the setting. All the named high level NPCs in Forgotten Realms working together cannot actually fix everything - at most they fix the big threats, but the little ones will always be around as long as there are people. I still dislike FR's NPCs, but that's mostly because I-

[MULTI PAGE ESSAY REDACTED]

awww, I like those :D

I agree that in the end it is up to the players and GMs, but I would say that setting has a lot to do with it. IF the setting gives you an incredibly bleak and intractable socio-economic state, with Demi-gods as the rulers, sacrificing citizens to the demonicish dragon that they created/used to be one of them to keep it satiated...it makes it much more challenging, and more likely for the GM/Players to assume that nothing *can* be done

Roland St. Jude
2010-06-09, 10:36 PM
1. Spelljammer
2. Ravenloft
3. Planescape

Though the order may vary day-by-day.

AstralFire
2010-06-09, 10:42 PM
awww, I like those :D

I agree that in the end it is up to the players and GMs, but I would say that setting has a lot to do with it. IF the setting gives you an incredibly bleak and intractable socio-economic state, with Demi-gods as the rulers, sacrificing citizens to the demonicish dragon that they created/used to be one of them to keep it satiated...it makes it much more challenging, and more likely for the GM/Players to assume that nothing *can* be done

Actually, as a setting creator who likes to buck trends and stereotypes, I find that most PCs are remarkably resilient to caring about things that are different. To evoke statistics out of my perineum, 80% of them aren't paying attention, and 10% of them (like me) roleplay with characters that tend to have a vendetta or drive to change something about the world.

I eventually gave up on any attempt to have 'Our ______ are different' and just made entirely new races from scratch and banned old races. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6659820)

PairO'Dice Lost
2010-06-09, 10:55 PM
No need for hyperboles, that's not what I said. At all.
It has more to do with: OMG there's so much to do!!!! Rather than: I must save everything.

I was responding to Eloi's "I think it just feels like you aren't affecting the world when you do something because its in such a bad way." My point was that, when it comes down to it, every setting is in such a bad way, with over-the-top threats and no way to permanently change the metasetting, so singling out DS for that complaint is being unfair. For instance (not picking on Susano-wo in particular, just happened to be a good example):


I agree that in the end it is up to the players and GMs, but I would say that setting has a lot to do with it. IF the setting gives you an incredibly bleak and intractable socio-economic state, with Demi-gods as the rulers, sacrificing citizens to the demonicish dragon that they created/used to be one of them to keep it satiated...it makes it much more challenging, and more likely for the GM/Players to assume that nothing *can* be done

This characterizes DS in a negative light, where it could just as easily be described as "IF the setting gives you an incredibly bleak world full of perpetually-warring city-states, with Demi-gods perched perilously at the top, crushing any resistance for fear of the people discovering the horrible truth that they caused the world to die and are imprisoning the demonicish dragon that they used to serve who could restore the world to how it used to be." That makes it sound as if the city-states are just waiting for one band of plucky heroes to send the whole thing tumbling down and save the world...and that's exactly what happened in the Prism Pentad, so it's not like it can't be done.

On the flip side, I could just as easily describe FR as "a setting where all the real movers and shakers are epic wizards and gods, meddling with mere mortals like adventurers as pawns in their ineffable schemes, and where two new threats rise as soon as one is vanquished." Sounds like a really sucky setting to adventure in, doesn't it? Yet as AstralFire said, it all depends on the DM and the group, so complaining that you can't accomplish anything in DS because of the Dragon Kings is like saying you can't accomplish anything in FR because of Elminster--yeah, it can be like that, but that's the sign of a bad DM, not a mark of the setting.

Just to reiterate, I'm not picking on any particular poster or point of view, just expressing that I think this kind of "everything is pointless" argument is unfairly used against DS (and sometimes Planescape) when it can apply to any setting when DMed badly and applies to none of them when DMed well.

arguskos
2010-06-09, 11:05 PM
On the flip side, I could just as easily describe FR as "a setting where all the real movers and shakers are epic wizards and gods, meddling with mere mortals like adventurers as pawns in their ineffable schemes, and where two new threats rise as soon as one is vanquished." Sounds like a really sucky setting to adventure in, doesn't it?
Sadly, this seems to be the prevailing opinion on how that setting is, which I violently disagree with and feel is a petulant and narrow-minded way of looking at the setting. Also, totally and utterly off-topic.


Just to reiterate, I'm not picking on any particular poster or point of view, just expressing that I think this kind of "everything is pointless" argument is unfairly used against DS (and sometimes Planescape) when it can apply to any setting when DMed badly and applies to none of them when DMed well.
Planescape draws MUCH more fire for it's archetypical NPC, which is funny, because honestly, I always thought the setting would draw ire for the fact that it's basically a philosophy thought experiment given form.

Oh, and btws? I totally agree with everything you've said thus far about settings and affecting them as a player.

Gametime
2010-06-09, 11:08 PM
Planescape, hands down. Giving the laugh to an uppity blood, hearing the jingle of the milk in the cutter's pouches, escaping the mazes and the Sword, poking at a duster, and trying the taps in the greatest city ever told, nothing like it berk, nothing like it.

I've never played Planescape, but it'll always have a special place in my heart for getting an entire generation of roleplayers to sling around words like "berk" willy-nilly. I do love rhyming slang.

Actually, I've never played in any published settings, but I've always loved Ravenloft (because who doesn't love a campaign setting that is actively trying to ruin your life?) and Eberron (because who doesn't love robots and dinosaurs?). I'm not sure I'd ever want to play in either, but as worlds that I can gaze down upon with a critical eye, they really appeal to me.

Eorran
2010-06-09, 11:20 PM
Has anyone played Al-Qadim? It's been gone since 2e, and I never got a chance, but I always thought that one looked really cool. It's 1001 Arabian Nights meets Prince of Persia, from what I remember.

One of the neat things is a lot of classic D&D monsters come from that mythology (genies being the most notable example).

Planescape looks interesing, but I'd rather try Spelljammer, probably in a pure sillyness campaign.

arguskos
2010-06-09, 11:33 PM
Has anyone played Al-Qadim? It's been gone since 2e, and I never got a chance, but I always thought that one looked really cool. It's 1001 Arabian Nights meets Prince of Persia, from what I remember.

One of the neat things is a lot of classic D&D monsters come from that mythology (genies being the most notable example).

Planescape looks interesing, but I'd rather try Spelljammer, probably in a pure sillyness campaign.
I've played a short Al-Qadim game, long ago. I recall it being very much what you said. I liked it, Arabia is a setting that isn't explored much in current gaming, and I for one want to see it come back.

AstralFire
2010-06-09, 11:37 PM
Sadly, this seems to be the prevailing opinion on how that setting is, which I violently disagree with and feel is a petulant and narrow-minded way of looking at the setting.

No. I dislike Forgotten Realms because the entire setting feels like a giant kitchen sink thrown together because 'it's cool' and not because it is anything resembling an attempt to weave together a coherent world. I dislike the setting because it has hundreds of gods, all of which are actually real, with very little concept of worshipping entire pantheons as opposed to kathenotheism, which shows a lack of understanding of some of the cultures ripped. (I'm aware it has pantheons - they are treated less like pantheons and more like alliances mostly, especially with Lolth expelled by Corellon.) Speaking of which, a giant 'what the hell' at Mulhorand.

I dislike the setting because I never liked the stereotypical D&D Drow, the bizarre and nonsensical matriarchy of evil people living evil lives, and this is pretty much where they come from and have a center stage. (I have nothing against matriarchies, I have everything against ones that read like they were written by people with a fetish for femdom BDSM.)

I dislike the setting because of how powerful the magic-casting NPCs are, and yet - particularly in 3E - how poorly they interact with their world. You get an entire cast of Reed Richards are Useless.

I dislike the setting because of Ao, and the entire deity set-up. There is a greater power than gods who seems to view this entire thing as a meaningless competition of 'who can win the beauty contest best'. No, I don't find that interesting. Especially not since he is actually supreme and not just a clever puppeteer. That would be a far more interesting way to do it.

The only thing I would ever use Forgotten Realms for is a massive topsy-turvy story where everything upside-down about its very conceits is brought into sharp relief.

Silly Wizard
2010-06-09, 11:45 PM
Eberron, followed by Iron Kingdoms

arguskos
2010-06-09, 11:50 PM
Astral, I never EVER mentioned anything about you nor did I direct my words at you, so please don't rip into me. :smallwink: My statement was directed at a long time of seeing many many MANY people rip into the setting because "lolElminsterjustdoeseverything" or whatever. That in mind, I'll actually respond to what you said, since it has much merit.


No. I dislike Forgotten Realms because the entire setting feels like a giant kitchen sink thrown together because 'it's cool' and not because it is anything resembling an attempt to weave together a coherent world.
I don't really get that feeling, but, I accept that your gut feeling is going to differ from mine, and that's fine. Differences are what make great conversation, after all.


Speaking of which, a giant 'what the hell' at Mulhorand.
Eh, that was never my favorite section. Always confused me somewhat as well.


I dislike the setting because I never liked the stereotypical D&D Drow, the bizarre and nonsensical matriarchy of evil people living evil lives, and this is pretty much where they come from and have a center stage. (I have nothing against matriarchies, I have everything against ones that read like they were written by people with a fetish for femdom BDSM.)
Blaming the setting for the sins of the stereotypical 3e Drow seems more than somewhat unfair.


I dislike the setting because of how powerful the magic-casting NPCs are, and yet - particularly in 3E - how poorly they interact with their world. You get an entire cast of Reed Richards are Useless.
This I don't understand. The NPCs have been stated on multiple occasions to be off fighting their own power struggles and adventures in the background, where they serve as flavor and a backdrop for the PCs to do their thing. Just because it's not spelled out doesn't mean you should assume nothing is happening.


I dislike the setting because of Ao, and the entire deity set-up. There is a greater power than gods who seems to view this entire thing as a meaningless competition of 'who can win the beauty contest best'.
Fair enough. Many folks dislike Ao as a character and as a setting component. This is much the same as the argument against the Lady of Pain in some ways, another argument I don't personally understand, but can extrapolate how they got there and accept as a valid criticism. Personally, I don't mind Ao's existence (I think he's amusing), but it IS a valid issue.


No, I don't find that interesting.
I'm legitimately sad about that. I know it's not your speed, but still, I am always saddened to see someone turn away from a rich setting. Of course, I did something similar with Eberron (though I gave it MORE than a fair shake), so I guess I'm not exactly the best judge of such things. :smallwink:

AstralFire
2010-06-09, 11:58 PM
Fair enough. I'm just a feisty one.

I will respond to this one though:

This I don't understand. The NPCs have been stated on multiple occasions to be off fighting their own power struggles and adventures in the background, where they serve as flavor and a backdrop for the PCs to do their thing. Just because it's not spelled out doesn't mean you should assume nothing is happening.

Essentially, what I'm saying is Elminister is statted out as Fighter 20/Wizard 20 IIRC. Yes, he is fighting his own battles - but you don't have to go into Tippyverse level to start looking at all the things a high level wizard could potentially do that he, and other high level characters, aren't. Why doesn't Forgotten Realms look more like Eberron's tech level? For that matter, why hasn't it blown ahead after the many years that have passed just within the playable eras of the game? Technological stasis in an era that is suffering from many things that we're well past, while availability of better technology (magic) is decent... that doesn't make sense to me.

This is one thing that really gets to me, and Eberron avoided it by not only keeping the general levels down, but also keeping the levels of the generic core spellcasters very down as well.

IMO - you need a much more coherently thoughtout world, and in particular a well-thoughtout set of supernatural physics, in order to achieve Medieval England with Magic and get it to stay in a technological stasis. D&D in general, FR in particular, does not have this.

arguskos
2010-06-10, 12:15 AM
Fair enough. I'm just a feisty one.
Really? I NEVER NOTICED. /enoughsarcasmtokillahorse :smalltongue:


IMO - you need a much more coherently thoughtout world, and in particular a well-thoughtout set of supernatural physics, in order to achieve Medieval England with Magic and get it to stay in a technological stasis. D&D in general, FR in particular, does not have this.
You didn't hit on Greyhawk for this, nor Mystara, Al-Qadim, Ravenloft, Kara-Tur, or any of the dozens of other settings where powerful mages are running around doing whatever. Why pick on the Realms? Because it's popular and comes up more (pretty fair)?

Oh, and even Eberron isn't immune to this. There are casters of level 15+ running around, if fewer, but they're STILL THERE. Why haven't they made more amazing tech leaps? They have the power, they have the resources, they have the reason.

It's because it's not a good story. In Eberron, a world that likes to pretend it's all low-level and high magical availability, such behavior from the high level casters that do exist would be directly damaging to the atmosphere desired, and so Mr. Baker wisely didn't do it. Same thing in the Realms. They WANTED a more medieval feel, and so they explain that the high-powered casters are off on other planes, or fighting one another, or researching yet more magic, and not bothering with silly things like physics abuse, because it's not a good story.

Note: I personally like Eberron, so let's not debate that, mmkay? The rulebooks contain more than a handful of powerful NPCs in the setting, enough to ask the same question there that you ask of the Realms.

PairO'Dice Lost
2010-06-10, 12:19 AM
Sadly, this seems to be the prevailing opinion on how that setting is, which I violently disagree with and feel is a petulant and narrow-minded way of looking at the setting. Also, totally and utterly off-topic.

That's exactly my point! People valiantly defend FR and Planescape when people start complaining about the Lady of Pain or Elminster, yet DS comes up and the Dragon Kings don't get the benefit of the doubt.


Blaming the setting for the sins of the stereotypical 3e Drow seems more than somewhat unfair.

Well, 3e drow are based largely on 1e/2e FR drow; the ridiculous and implausible characterizations of 3e drow in the novels are mostly the fault of individual authors, but the basic setup is there.

AstralFire
2010-06-10, 12:20 AM
Really? I NEVER NOTICED. /enoughsarcasmtokillahorse :smalltongue:

Now I feel like a bad person. S-sorry... >_<


You didn't hit on Greyhawk for this, nor Mystara, Al-Qadim, Ravenloft, Kara-Tur, or any of the dozens of other settings where powerful mages are running around doing whatever. Why pick on the Realms?

Because you brought it up, pretty much. I did in fact say earlier that there were a grand total of two published D&D settings I actually liked. I could (and would) go on at length about all of them.

I'm pretty sure the number of such individuals in Eberron, their power, their age, and choice of class are all significantly lower than their counterparts in other settings. If they're not, though, I'll just handwave them out - same as I do for any other time I was guilted into running one of the pre-existing settings - and say they don't really exist or are much weaker. It's just one of heaps of complaints I have, enough to where if I'm running an FR game, I might as well just be using the names and vague conceits and throw out a source book.

To FR's credit, I'll at least use the names and vague conceits. Everything about Greyhawk just goes out the window.

arguskos
2010-06-10, 12:24 AM
Now I feel like a bad person. S-sorry... >_<
We expect nothing less from AstralFire than Fire. Preferably of the Astral variety. :smallbiggrin:


Because you brought it up, pretty much. I did in fact say earlier that there were a grand total of two published D&D settings I actually liked. I could (and would) go on at length about all of them.
See, the thing is, your complains can apply to basically EVERYTHING, making them somewhat unfair and base to use. Your opinions are of course your own, and I wouldn't presume to DARE to say they were wrong, but it seems a little odd when someone goes "high level magic rawr" and then plays in a setting with high level magic rawr, see what I'm saying?


I'm pretty sure the number of such individuals in Eberron, their power, their age, and choice of class are all significantly lower than their counterparts in other settings. If they're not, though, I'll just handwave them out - same as I do for any other time I was guilted into running one of the pre-existing settings - and say they don't really exist or are much weaker. It's just one of heaps of complaints I have.
Realllllly just more the number and maybe a step down the ladder in power. Doesn't matter much though. A level 17 mage and a level 20 mage both win at everything forever. *shrugs*

3.5 has never been a good physics engine. It's a story engine, and in that respect, it is sublime and excellent. I personally would like to see the community drift away from this hang-up we collectively seem to have about how important proper physics are and get back to the "having fun" part of gaming. That's just me being tired of seeing RAW debates though. :smallbiggrin:

EDIT: ...what's the issue with Greyhawk? Have you actually sat down and examined the setting entire and looked at it? It's not really, to use your phrasing from earlier, "Gygaxian guano" (which is a HILARIOUS phrase, by the by).

AstralFire
2010-06-10, 12:32 AM
See, the thing is, your complains can apply to basically EVERYTHING, making them somewhat unfair and base to use. Your opinions are of course your own, and I wouldn't presume to DARE to say they were wrong, but it seems a little odd when someone goes "high level magic rawr" and then plays in a setting with high level magic rawr, see what I'm saying?

I do see what you're saying with regards to it being an unfair base - I just accept that D&D has different ideas of how to build a world than I do, for the most part. I only opened up with why I dislike FR in particular because I saw a need to, ahem, vocally clarify why I don't like it.


3.5 has never been a good physics engine. It's a story engine, and in that respect, it is sublime and excellent. I personally would like to see the community drift away from this hang-up we collectively seem to have about how important proper physics are and get back to the "having fun" part of gaming. That's just me being tired of seeing RAW debates though. :smallbiggrin:

About high magic rawr - it's less about RAW debates, which I really do hate. I would slap someone silly if they tried half the stuff that gets talked about on a daily basis here. But I'm not talking about 'Create Food' traps, here, I am talking about how much Message could drastically change how wars are waged in this type of setting.

I am the type of player that has won a battle using the Forgery skill. On a Fighter. This is the type of thing I think about. No raw silliness, just taking what I know about how the real world works. Have party rogue infiltrate enemy camps, replace battle orders with new ones I forged. I want settings and campaigns that hold up at least reasonably well to, ahem, Fridge Logic.

arguskos
2010-06-10, 12:52 AM
I do see what you're saying with regards to it being an unfair base - I just accept that D&D has different ideas of how to build a world than I do, for the most part. I only opened up with why I dislike FR in particular because I saw a need to, ahem, vocally clarify why I don't like it.
AstralFire? Vocally clarify something? NEVER! :smalltongue: arguskos? Sarcastic? NEVER! :P


About high magic rawr - it's less about RAW debates, which I really do hate. I would slap someone silly if they tried half the stuff that gets talked about on a daily basis here. But I'm not talking about 'Create Food' traps, here, I am talking about how much Message could drastically change how wars are waged in this type of setting.

I am the type of player that has won a battle using the Forgery skill. On a Fighter. This is the type of thing I think about. No raw silliness, just taking what I know about how the real world works. Have party rogue infiltrate enemy camps, replace battle orders with new ones I forged. I want settings and campaigns that hold up at least reasonably well to, ahem, Fridge Logic.
These are good points, and 99% of every setting I've seen handle them effortlessly assuming the DM is AWAKE. However. You used Fridge Logic as a supporting point. I cannot talk to you anymore. :smalltongue:

AstralFire
2010-06-10, 12:54 AM
Heh. As for Greyhawk, another time, I think. I'm a sleepy girl right now.

Sorry again for being, er, aggressive. :smallredface:

arguskos
2010-06-10, 01:03 AM
Heh. As for Greyhawk, another time, I think. I'm a sleepy girl right now.

Sorry again for being, er, aggressive. :smallredface:
I'm tired my own self. It's 2 AM here after all.

As for aggression, did I look angry? 'salright. :smallwink:

Sindri
2010-06-10, 01:31 AM
I know this puts me in the slim minority here, but I've always been partial to the DragonLance setting. Preferably pre-Cataclysm.

This is not, however, by any means a claim that it is the best. I couldn't honestly say that about any setting without extensive experience with all of them, and I don't think that's possible in one human lifetime.

Zellic Solis
2010-06-10, 02:04 AM
I have always been a fan of Ravenloft simply because the rules are simple... you can not win. Every level you advance you are simply more screwed until eventually you are torn down or compromise and become what you fight against. Where courage and bravery really matter.

Next is Eberron for sheer variety. I've never encountered more diversity in a single setting. I love running it. I love playing in it.

But my favorite is planescapes. Second Edition Planescape was one of the first I ever played and I still remember my Tifeling Wizard of the Doomguard who was trying to invent a doomsday spell that would unmake the universe. Good times.

Eloi
2010-06-10, 02:16 AM
How come no one has mentioned Birthright yet? You can control big organizations or armies with a system of interesting new rules, race actually plays a big part outside of cheese and templates, new classes, feats, new uses of domains, an interesting backstory, what's not to like?

Free, 3.5 edition, new rules and backstory of campaign setting: http://www.birthright.net/brwiki/index.php/BRCS:Main_Page

Kaiyanwang
2010-06-10, 02:52 AM
Elminister is statted out as Fighter 20/Wizard 20 IIRC.

In the ELH, elminster is Fighter 1/ Rogue 2 / Cleric 3 /Wizard 24 /Archmage 5 with the chosen of mystra template.

I don't know where did you take the fighter 20 thing. Maybe a previous edition? :smallconfused:

Satyr
2010-06-10, 05:20 AM
Favorite Settings:

3: The Kingdoms of Kalamar. A bit like the generic standard of fantasy settings, but stated with enough understatement and voluntary forgoing of too much overkill, which makes the setting a little bit less EXTREME!!! and cluttered than both Eberon and the Forgotten Realms (it is my impression that both settings openly try or state that they include any official WOTC D&D material. This is pretty much the definition of a cluttered kitchen sink, at least for me).

2: Dark Sun. Yes, it is gritty. Yes, it is lethal. That's why it awesome. I know it's a bit over the top in its dark atmosphere, but hey, not every setting must be targeted at kids.

1: Midnight. Seriously. It is as horrific as Dark Sun or Ravenloft, includes typical high fantasy and sword and sorcery elements, including rebels and resitance fighters. A setting that can include the epic scope of the Lord of the Ring in one campaign, and covers something like the fantasy take on the Black Book in the next one.

A hundred years have passed since the Shadow fell…

When the Shadow attacked for the first time, the people of Eredane stood united against him and won in a glorious battle.
And so ended the First Age.

When the Shadow attacked for the second time, the people of Eredane bickered but were forced to join ranks. They won, but the price was bitter and high, and the few survivors returned full of grief.
And so ended the Second Age.

When the Shadow attacked for the third time, suspicion and greed has grown throughout Eredane and the people did not stand united. One by one, they faced the Shadow. And failed.
And so began the Age of Shadow.
The Age of Darkness.
The Last Age.

Nero24200
2010-06-10, 05:40 AM
Don't suppose theres a list of all the offical D'n'D settings anywhere? Gotta say that reading this thread is getting me curious about them.

Eloi
2010-06-10, 05:44 AM
Don't suppose theres a list of all the offical D'n'D settings anywhere? Gotta say that reading this thread is getting me curious about them.

Here you go good buddy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_&_Dragons_campaign_settings

Hendel
2010-06-10, 05:47 AM
Call me boring but I always liked Greyhawk.

It had enough history so that you could build epic quests and such around it. However, it was vanilla enough so that you could do whatever you wanted and it worked.

I was upset with WotC because when 3e came out they announced Greyhawk would be the default setting. I thought great, more cool Greyhawk stuff like we got during the early and mid 90's with TSR. They immediately went away from that and launched into Eberron and other worlds without really any Greyhawk specific stuff. I felt a little deceived.

Satyr
2010-06-10, 05:49 AM
These are only the official ones; as it is usual with D20, the third party publisher's settings were often better than those of WOTC.

Remarkable ones include Iron Kingdoms, Kalamar, Conan: The Hyborian Age, Midnight, Dawnforge, Arkanis, Ravenloft (at least somewhat), Arcana Unearthed, Ptolus, ad probably a dozens of others I can't think of at the moment.

Bayar
2010-06-10, 05:52 AM
1. Eberron
2. Ptolus - City by the Spire
3. World's Largest Dungeon (it is a micro campaign setting...sort of)

Axolotl
2010-06-10, 06:16 AM
These are only the official ones; as it is usual with D20, the third party publisher's settings were often better than those of WOTC.

Remarkable ones include Iron Kingdoms, Kalamar, Conan: The Hyborian Age, Midnight, Dawnforge, Arkanis, Ravenloft (at least somewhat), Arcana Unearthed, Ptolus, ad probably a dozens of others I can't think of at the moment.There's also the more obscure and bizarre one that take the standard DnD setting and twist it into something totally different yet still recognisable. Like XCrawl, Dragonstar and Dragonmech. They're all really cool.

Necromancer Games did a bunch of mini-settings that were good, like a remake of City State of the Invincible Overlord, a really good City of Brass supplement and one on Mesopotamia.

Critical
2010-06-10, 06:59 AM
Planescape, because it's freaking awesome.

Morty
2010-06-10, 07:03 AM
My favorite ones are ex aqueo Forgotten Realms and Planescape. FR is good for typical D&D play becaue of its richness and variety and Planescape is good for less standard play because, well, it's awesome. Dark Sun and Ravenloft also look fairly interesting for a more original experience. I've never been very interested in Dragonlance or Greyhawk and I dislike Eberron for a variety of reasons.

AstralFire
2010-06-10, 09:40 AM
In the ELH, elminster is Fighter 1/ Rogue 2 / Cleric 3 /Wizard 24 /Archmage 5 with the chosen of mystra template.

I don't know where did you take the fighter 20 thing. Maybe a previous edition? :smallconfused:

FRCS, which predates the ELH.

hamlet
2010-06-10, 10:38 AM
In no particular order:

1. Kingdoms of Kalamar - this is what campaign settings should strive for IMO.

2. Greyhawk - inspiring and open enough that I can do with it as I want.

3. Dark Sun - took 2nd edition and gave it the legs it needed to shine.

4. Forgotten Realms - assuming I can strip out all of the uber-NPC's entirely and tune back the magic and stupidity (i.e., everything from the Time of Troubles on), then I can make it work for me.

Morty
2010-06-10, 10:39 AM
FRCS, which predates the ELH.

He has the exact same levels in FRCS. With the difference that he has "epic levels" in place of some of the class levels because that's how it worked there.

AstralFire
2010-06-10, 10:44 AM
Ah, I couldn't check, could only guess; I ditched my copy of FRCS a long time ago.

Yora
2010-06-10, 10:50 AM
I'd say my favorite setting is Planescape. Even though I never played any planescape game ever.
I played FR a lot, but even though it has some very good aspects, its not as brilliant as Planescape.

Uin
2010-06-10, 01:28 PM
I read the Eberron books and they instantly made me think: "I want to create a game in that world."

This lead me to create my bestest BBEG and a character I would play as a PC in a heartbeat.



Steph Cosgrove
Female Changeling Wizard 12//Rogue 2
CN Medium Humanoid (Shapechanger)
Init +8; Sense Regular; Action Points 3
Languages Common, Giant, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Orc
-------------------------------------
AC 23 Touch 17 FF 19
(10 + 4Dex + 3Nat + 3Deflect + 3Armour)
HP 76
Resist Evasion
Fort 10 Ref 12 Will 11 (+2 charm/sleep)
-------------------------------------
Speed 30ft
Melee +6
Ranged +10 RTA
Base +6; Grp +6

Special Abilities
Abrupt Jaunt (Immediate Port 10ft)
Minor Shapechange
+1d6 Sneak Attack
-------------------------------------
Abilities
Str10 Con16 Dex18 Int23 Wis10 Cha10

Spells CL 12 DC 16+level (Spec Conj; Ban Evoc, Enchant)
0 4+1 Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Read Magic (Acid Splash)
1 6+1 Detect Dragonmark, Hail of Stone, Lesser Orb of Electricity, Nerve Skitter, Mask Dragonmark, Silent Image (Grease)
2 6+1 Invisibility, Lesser Orb of Fire(Inv), Ray of Retaliation, Resist Energy, Shield(Ext), Summon Swarm(Inv) (Glitterdust)
3 5+1 Arcane Sight, Dispel Magic, Haste, Mestil's Acid Breath, Vampiric Touch (Stinking Cloud)
4 4+1 Dimension Door, Enervation, Greater Mirror Image, Orb of Cold (Black Tentacles)
5 4+1 Silent Image(Qui), Overland Flight, Teleport, Vitriolic Sphere (Wall of Stone[Inv])
6 3+1 Disintegrate, Flesh to Stone, Greater Dispel Magic (Acid Fog)

Feats
1 3 5 6 9 10 12
Improved Initiative, Quick Change, Extend Spell(B), Craft(Wonderous), Quicken Spell, Invisible Spell(B), Aberrant Dragonmark(DSDoors)
Skills
Bluff12, Disguise10, Concentration18, Intimidate2, Know(Arcana)21, Know(Local)21, Sense Motive12, Spellcraft21, UMD7
Items
Tiara of Intellect +4, Gloves of Dexterity +4, Pink Ioun Stone +2, Bracers of Armour +3, Ring of Protection +3, Amulet of Natural Armour +3, Cloak of Resistance +3, Glamoured Robe of Useful Items, Ring of Sustenance, Slippers of Spider Climb, Belt of Storing (2 slots)
Consumables
Gold Leafed Ace of Spades, 2xPotion of Cure Critical (4d8+7), Wand of Shadow Conjuration, Manifest Sizing Rod, Throwing Gem of Greater Shout

While I've read books for various other settings I've never played or run in them, but none tugged on my brain the same way as Eberron

Renchard
2010-06-10, 02:35 PM
How come no one has mentioned Birthright yet? You can control big organizations or armies with a system of interesting new rules, race actually plays a big part outside of cheese and templates, new classes, feats, new uses of domains, an interesting backstory, what's not to like?

Free, 3.5 edition, new rules and backstory of campaign setting: http://www.birthright.net/brwiki/index.php/BRCS:Main_Page

Quoted for good taste and agreement.

AstralFire
2010-06-10, 02:37 PM
I read the Eberron books and they instantly made me think: "I want to create a game in that world."

This lead me to create my bestest BBEG and a character I would play as a PC in a heartbeat.



Steph Cosgrove
Female Changeling Wizard 12//Rogue 2
CN Medium Humanoid (Shapechanger)
Init +8; Sense Regular; Action Points 3
Languages Common, Giant, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Orc
-------------------------------------
AC 23 Touch 17 FF 19
(10 + 4Dex + 3Nat + 3Deflect + 3Armour)
HP 76
Resist Evasion
Fort 10 Ref 12 Will 11 (+2 charm/sleep)
-------------------------------------
Speed 30ft
Melee +6
Ranged +10 RTA
Base +6; Grp +6

Special Abilities
Abrupt Jaunt (Immediate Port 10ft)
Minor Shapechange
+1d6 Sneak Attack
-------------------------------------
Abilities
Str10 Con16 Dex18 Int23 Wis10 Cha10

Spells CL 12 DC 16+level (Spec Conj; Ban Evoc, Enchant)
0 4+1 Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Read Magic (Acid Splash)
1 6+1 Detect Dragonmark, Hail of Stone, Lesser Orb of Electricity, Nerve Skitter, Mask Dragonmark, Silent Image (Grease)
2 6+1 Invisibility, Lesser Orb of Fire(Inv), Ray of Retaliation, Resist Energy, Shield(Ext), Summon Swarm(Inv) (Glitterdust)
3 5+1 Arcane Sight, Dispel Magic, Haste, Mestil's Acid Breath, Vampiric Touch (Stinking Cloud)
4 4+1 Dimension Door, Enervation, Greater Mirror Image, Orb of Cold (Black Tentacles)
5 4+1 Silent Image(Qui), Overland Flight, Teleport, Vitriolic Sphere (Wall of Stone[Inv])
6 3+1 Disintegrate, Flesh to Stone, Greater Dispel Magic (Acid Fog)

Feats
1 3 5 6 9 10 12
Improved Initiative, Quick Change, Extend Spell(B), Craft(Wonderous), Quicken Spell, Invisible Spell(B), Aberrant Dragonmark(DSDoors)
Skills
Bluff12, Disguise10, Concentration18, Intimidate2, Know(Arcana)21, Know(Local)21, Sense Motive12, Spellcraft21, UMD7
Items
Tiara of Intellect +4, Gloves of Dexterity +4, Pink Ioun Stone +2, Bracers of Armour +3, Ring of Protection +3, Amulet of Natural Armour +3, Cloak of Resistance +3, Glamoured Robe of Useful Items, Ring of Sustenance, Slippers of Spider Climb, Belt of Storing (2 slots)
Consumables
Gold Leafed Ace of Spades, 2xPotion of Cure Critical (4d8+7), Wand of Shadow Conjuration, Manifest Sizing Rod, Throwing Gem of Greater Shout

While I've read books for various other settings I've never played or run in them, but none tugged on my brain the same way as Eberron

Someone liked Freakazoid.

Optimystik
2010-06-10, 02:50 PM
In order:

1. Eberron
2. Dark Sun
3. Planescape
4. Rokugan
5. Greyhawk/Forgotten Realms

As much as I dislike FR now... I can't hate it completely, because it was the reason I got into D&D at all.

Greenish
2010-06-10, 03:19 PM
I read the Eberron books and they instantly made me think: "I want to create a game in that world."

This lead me to create my bestest BBEG and a character I would play as a PC in a heartbeat.



Steph Cosgrove
Female Changeling Wizard 12//Rogue 2
CN Medium Humanoid (Shapechanger)
Init +8; Sense Regular; Action Points 3
Languages Common, Giant, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Orc
-------------------------------------
AC 23 Touch 17 FF 19
(10 + 4Dex + 3Nat + 3Deflect + 3Armour)
HP 76
Resist Evasion
Fort 10 Ref 12 Will 11 (+2 charm/sleep)
-------------------------------------
Speed 30ft
Melee +6
Ranged +10 RTA
Base +6; Grp +6

Special Abilities
Abrupt Jaunt (Immediate Port 10ft)
Minor Shapechange
+1d6 Sneak Attack
-------------------------------------
Abilities
Str10 Con16 Dex18 Int23 Wis10 Cha10

Spells CL 12 DC 16+level (Spec Conj; Ban Evoc, Enchant)
0 4+1 Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Read Magic (Acid Splash)
1 6+1 Detect Dragonmark, Hail of Stone, Lesser Orb of Electricity, Nerve Skitter, Mask Dragonmark, Silent Image (Grease)
2 6+1 Invisibility, Lesser Orb of Fire(Inv), Ray of Retaliation, Resist Energy, Shield(Ext), Summon Swarm(Inv) (Glitterdust)
3 5+1 Arcane Sight, Dispel Magic, Haste, Mestil's Acid Breath, Vampiric Touch (Stinking Cloud)
4 4+1 Dimension Door, Enervation, Greater Mirror Image, Orb of Cold (Black Tentacles)
5 4+1 Silent Image(Qui), Overland Flight, Teleport, Vitriolic Sphere (Wall of Stone[Inv])
6 3+1 Disintegrate, Flesh to Stone, Greater Dispel Magic (Acid Fog)

Feats
1 3 5 6 9 10 12
Improved Initiative, Quick Change, Extend Spell(B), Craft(Wonderous), Quicken Spell, Invisible Spell(B), Aberrant Dragonmark(DSDoors)
Skills
Bluff12, Disguise10, Concentration18, Intimidate2, Know(Arcana)21, Know(Local)21, Sense Motive12, Spellcraft21, UMD7
Items
Tiara of Intellect +4, Gloves of Dexterity +4, Pink Ioun Stone +2, Bracers of Armour +3, Ring of Protection +3, Amulet of Natural Armour +3, Cloak of Resistance +3, Glamoured Robe of Useful Items, Ring of Sustenance, Slippers of Spider Climb, Belt of Storing (2 slots)
Consumables
Gold Leafed Ace of Spades, 2xPotion of Cure Critical (4d8+7), Wand of Shadow Conjuration, Manifest Sizing Rod, Throwing Gem of Greater Shout

While I've read books for various other settings I've never played or run in them, but none tugged on my brain the same way as EberronRemember to use Changeling substitution levels, especially the rogue 1 is fun. You should also consider Unseen Seer.

JohnnyCancer
2010-06-10, 06:32 PM
I pretty much like them all. I never got to try Birthright though, is it any good?

monkey3
2010-06-11, 12:45 PM
MIDNIGHT

Midnight a thousand times midnight. Best setting ever.

here's the description i was given by the dm when first introduced to it.

"It's like lord of the rings, but the bad guys won"

And that pales in comparison to it's awsomeness. . . also I'm biased because my husband and I met during that game.

This.

I am currently running this, and the people like it. I added a bunch of house-rules that basically use current classes, but with limitations. I think they add a lot of flavor.

Yora
2010-06-11, 01:02 PM
In order:

1. Eberron
2. Dark Sun
3. Planescape
4. Rokugan
5. Greyhawk/Forgotten Realms

As much as I dislike FR now... I can't hate it completely, because it was the reason I got into D&D at all.

It's not bad. I'd say it's actually really good. It is just lacking a unique element that distinguishes it from standard High Fantasy. Eberron, Dark Sun, Planescape, Ravenloft, and Midnight all have their own niche with unique themes, but just like Greyhawk (and I assume Dragonlance) it is mostly a setting where generic fantasy adventures can take place. Or to say it in more prosaic words: The Realms lack a vision. :smallwink:

And I think the setting has been kind of over-explored. The 2nd and 3rd Edition realms have a firmly established status quo. Every faction has its place and conflicts are occasional skirmishes, that don't bring any actual change. The big bads are firmly entrenched in their lairs and are both far too powerful to confront, but don't attempt to take any influence in the world anyway. All the legendary dungeons have been conpletely explored, and there are no more white spots on the map. We have completed this game.
This kind of makes the rewrite for 4th Edition understandable, but now it's too different to rouse any feeling of nostalgia.