Favorite Campaign Setting?

[Empedocles]

Just wondering what everyone's favorite campaign setting is to use with 3.5 :smallsmile: I'm including 3rd party here. Mine would be, in order...

1. Dragonlance.
2.DragonMech.
3.Dark Sun.
4. Eberron.
5. Forgotten Realms.

[Morph Bark]

0. Custom Homebrew setting (known amongst my group as "the pirate campaign setting")
1. Eberron
2. Iron Kingdoms
3. Planescape
4. Rokugan
5. Dark Sun
6. Spelljammer
.
.
.
.
.
X. Forgotten Realms (I prefer to use FR material in other settings)

[classy one]

Eberron, Planescape and Dark Sun in that order.

[JadePhoenix]

Eberron, Rokugan, Dark Sun, Golarion, FR, Dragonlance, Greyhawk, in that order.

[Tytalus]

0. Custom Homebrew setting (known amongst my group as "the pirate campaign setting")


Sounds interesting - do you have any more info on that?

[SotF]

Freeport, Rokugan, Dragonmech

[2xMachina]

Planescape, Eberron.

[AslanCross]

Eberron, Golarion.

[Sdonourg]

My favorite is a homebrew dragonstar-like campaign setting made by me and two of my friends with Dawn of Worlds system (it's awesome). It has everything - elves with nuclear weaponry, halflings-diabolists under control of aboleths, sentient mining rune robots made by dwarves a long time ago, vanara-goblin alliance, vampiric vanara half-golems, and a lot of psionics (was unintentional).

[Larkas]

1. Planescape
2. Greyhawk
3. Forgotten Realms
4. Eberron
5. Rokugan
6. Dragonlance
7. Spelljammer
8. Ravenloft
9. Mystara
10. Dark Sun

Yeah, I love a lot of "outdated" settings :smallbiggrin: I think I'd like Golarion, but I haven't really read about it too much.

[Craft (Cheese)]

0. Custom Homebrew setting (known amongst my group as "the pirate campaign setting")
1. Eberron
2. Iron Kingdoms
3. Dark Sun
.
.
.
.
.
X. Forgotten Realms (I prefer to use FR material in other settings)

I actually don't know much about the Realms, but I was under the impression that it was the most popular (well, aside from the DM just using their own homebrewed setting). Why do you rank it so low?

[Morph Bark]

Sounds interesting - do you have any more info on that?

I don't have a thread up in Homebrew with a lot of details regarding the setting, but I do have a campaign journal (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192028) about one of the two campaigns I've DM'd in the setting (the previous campaign featured the mother of one the PCs in this one and the mentor of another). There is quite a bit of info on the setting in that thread, including some big name NPCs, a map and a little bit of history, politics and races.


I actually don't know much about the Realms, but I was under the impression that it was the most popular (well, aside from the DM just using their own homebrewed setting). Why do you rank it so low?

While I like a lot of the PrCs, items, spells, monsters and some of the races from the Realms, I frankly find most of the setting rather bland, generic high fantasy, and the parts that aren't simply don't appeal to me as part of the setting (the orcs of Many-Arrows) or I blatantly dislike or hate (Elminster). Furthermore, most of the setting is very set-in-stone and feels rigid. While there are many places to put your campaign or many points in the timeline perhaps even (I figure at least, dunno about that part, but with so much info on everything, I figure playing somewhere in Faerun's past is taken into consideration), there isn't much left open for you to fill in, which is one of the things I like about DMing. For that same reason I like Eberron, where a lot of things are left open for the DM to fill in, yet with plenty-but-not-overwhelming amounts of information to work with; hence why I often feel like Eberron is Faerun's spiritual counterpart.

Don't get me wrong, I like some parts of the Realms, most notably the crunch in the books of course as said before, as well as some of the fluff of it like the orcs of Many-Arrows, but I just don't like those parts as being part of the Realms.


Dark Sun and Spelljammer I like for just being so plain out there and great in concept that I really want to congratulate the creators of those settings. For originality, I put them at the top, as well as perfect material for less serious campaigns in the case of Spelljammer, but I simply prefer to use settings that are a little less out there while still being unique. :smallsmile:

Also have to give a thumbs up for Rokugan, because oriental settings deserve some love. (In fact, I really want to play an oriental survivalist setting with focus on the non-vancian magic systems. Also, HONOUR! AND TAINT! AND SANITY! AND VANITY! GET IT ALL!)

[Tvtyrant]

Spelljammer
Planescape
Forgotten Realms

[Taelas]

Planescape, Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dragonlance. Forgotten Realms is a very well-detailed setting, but that can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. I tend to favor more details over less.

Eberron is at the very bottom. I don't like it one bit.

[CGforever!]

Forgotten Realms - I think Ed Greenwood and I could have been great friends.
Golarion - It's the closest to what I'd make if I made one.
Eberron - Modern-but-not. Very creative setting.

[Amphetryon]

1. Dark Sun
2. Kalamar
3. Forgotten Realms
4. Dragonlance
5. Eberron
6. Birthright
7. Whatever the DM is running

[navar100]

I prefer a DM's own gameworld. My character has more influence on how the campaign develops. In my group's gameworld, a previous character in a previous campaign became Duke of the Western Realm and was the First Cleric of a new god, establishing temples. Our current campaign, two campaigns after, takes place a thousand years later. Those temples are still there. The Church is strong. It's his legacy. Yes, I'm proud of that.

Now, if we were playing a published gameworld that could still happen, but there's a difference. If we were playing Forgotten Realms and my character became one of the Lords of Waterdeep, that would still be history for our gaming group in the next campaign, his legacy. However, our gameworld is not unique. In published adventure modules, my character was not a Lord of Waterdeep. He doesn't even exist. My character shouldn't exist in your group's Forgotten Realms game, but it breaks my verisimilitude to read of a Waterdeep where my character's accomplishments aren't there. With the campaignworld not being unique, it doesn't feel like it's the group's world.

[N. Jolly]

okay number one is golarion since its got everything. like freaking everything. second is gonna be eberron since its just full of sweet steam punky goodness and three is rokugan cause i love that samurai crap.

[Alleran]

1. My homebrew setting.
2. Planescape.
3. Forgotten Realms.
4. Golarion.
5. Eberron.

Anything past that tends to change depending on the time of day.

[CTrees]

Planescape!
Spelljammer!

Then, um... Eberron, Ravenloft, Dark Sun.

[Warpwolf16]

Blackmoor! That is all!

but all jokes aside I love the blackmoor setting and its science fantasy influence of future games that along with metamorphosis alpha lead to Expedition to Barrier Peaks as well as the two most well known adventures in blackmoor. City of the Gods and Temple of the Frog. The strange technology the players found and began to use over time is amazing as a new treasure and I often still do that to my players in my homebrewed settings or on Golarion often tossing alien tech in the form of treasure or plot devices.

[Tvtyrant]

Planescape!
Spelljammer!

Then, um... Eberron, Ravenloft, Dark Sun.

You...Have excellent taste sir!

[Kol Korran]

1. Eberron- i love ambiguity, the religions, the Renaissance/ steam punk culture, and the place of PCs in the campaign.
2. Planescape- for the sheer amount of possibilities and interactions, the "ultimate big city/ metropolis" feel, and the quick traveling to cool places.
3. Golarion- true, i don't know much about it, but the little i know makes me want to play it, and that is the mark of a good setting.
4. Dark sun- i know of it only from the books, (never played in it) but that seems like a bad ass setting to play in!

way at the bottom is Forgotten Realms. feels too constrained for me.

[Lonely Tylenol]

Of the official campaign settings, I've only played Eberron and Rokugan, and only Pathfinder among the third-party settings, mostly because every game I've played in or DM'd has had a custom, home-brewed world. Of those, I'd have to rank them in the order of Eberron, Pathfinder, and Rokugan, although I hold all three in pretty high regard.

The only other printed campaign setting that I've actually been interested in playing (and I'm surprised not one single person has posted it) is Ghostwalk. I find the "revolving door" mentality in Ghostwalk fascinating from a philosophical standpoint, and the mechanism itself is quite novel as well.

[Zaq]

I've never actually played in an official campaign setting. The closest I've come is that our 4e game has kinda ended up in PoLand/the Nentir Vale, since we're running a preprinted module, but we're not really doing much with the setting itself, and that's 4e anyway.

So, speaking strictly from what I've read, I have to say that I really like Eberron, and Planescape seems downright awesome. (I have one of the 2e boxed sets for Planescape, but I've never played 2e. Fascinating to read, though.) I could see myself enjoying Dark Sun. Forgotten Realms never tripped my trigger, though.

[russdm]

My favorites are:

1)Dark Sun. It was fun to play in. I like the liked the 2nd ed version.

2)Dragonlance. I liked the books, although i am less likely to play in there.

3)Forgotten Realms. I liked the drizzt books, and some of the elminister books, but i found the setting too restrictive. There are few areas not covered in a splatbook, and so few new areas to explore. Then it has mary sue creep, in that alot of book npcs are always around somewhere to hang out.

4)Eberron. This sounded like a fun setting but i haven't gotten around to ever playing in it yet.

[Togath]

Eberron,
Darksun,
Golaron,
Rokugan,
and Dragonlance
are my favorites

[Scots Dragon]

So, that would have to be, in occasionally varying order...

Planescape
Forgotten Realms
Dark Sun
Dragonlance
Spelljammer
Council of Wyrms
Birthright
Ravenloft
Greyhawk
Golarion

[dsmiles]

Okay, I'll play your game...


Iron Kingdoms
Spelljammer
Planescape
Dark Sun
Birthright
Mystara
Ravenloft
Greyhawk (The original, not the generic 3.5e setting)
Forgotten Realms
Al-Qadim


Eberron sounded like fun, with all its magitech. But then I saw warforged. :smallfurious:

[JadePhoenix]

Eberron sure looks like the playground's favorite.

[DonEsteban]

In no particular order:

* Planescape (although I never actually got to play a campaign here)
* Al-Qadim (ditto)
* Eberron (only a short one)

Special mention goes to Freeport, which is not a setting, just a city.

[Milo v3]

1. Blades of Keran
2. Forgotten Realms
3. Shards of Terna

Saddly those are the only ones I've played in...

[Larkas]

Just a question, isn't Al-Qadim a sub-setting of Forgotten Realms? If not, that certainly is in my list, as it's easily my favorite "desert setting". I don't like Dark Sun all that much, it's too gritty for my taste. But there's certainly gold to be had in those mountains dunes.

[J.Gellert]

From the replies I'm assuming WotC-published settings, not, for example, "Middle-Earth" or "My own setting".

In that case it's obviously the Forgotten Realms, but pre-Time of Troubles.

This means I love their rich history, cultures, and many of the characters, but dislike concepts such as too-meddlesome deities and the wall of the faithless.

Other settings I find enjoyable are Ravenloft and Birthright but they don't get close to the Forgotten Realms.

[Roguenewb]

Eberron, by many orders of magnitude. The lower-level atmosphere with high level options as well, the pervasivity of low-level magic, the tension between arcano-tech and divinity, and all the nice, "you can't just go say, hey pelor, how you doing?" feel to it.

My setting, which is Planescape inspired except that the Prime is much more primitive and lower tech and magic.

Dark Sun

Planescape itself

[Answerer]

Eberron, Planescape, and Hourglass of Zihaja. Chion and Hallow (Legend settings) sound interesting but we need more detail on them. I've never read any other setting that didn't strike me as completely awful. Forgotten Realms in particular; that setting is just terrible.

[Bloodgruve]

1. Eberron
2. Planescape
3. Home Campaign
4. Forgotten Realms

Eberron just seems different enough from the traditional fantasy settings to grab my interest. The world is well fleshed out but its not as packed as FR, just enough to do your own thing if you want. I'm also a big fan of steampunk/magepunk and grew up with the early Final Fantasy's which Eberron mirrors to a degree. Now if I could only find a good DM that liked the setting as much as I do...

Blood~

[Zaq]

I'd like to amend my list to include Ravenloft. I've read relatively little about Ravenloft, but what I have read intrigues me. I think I could enjoy a Ravenloft campaign. Point of fact, I just acquired an old 2nd ed Monstrous Compendium aimed at Ravenloft (specifically "Monstrous Compendium 3: Creatures of Darkness," if anyone's familiar with it), and I like what I see.

Once again, like my other answers, never actually played in it.

[Verte]

1. Greyhawk (AD&D 1 version converted to 3.5 rules)
2. Eberron
3. Planescape

I've always had a soft spot for Greyhawk, and I'd really like to use it for a more open-ended campaign. Conversely, I'd like to use Eberron for a campaign with more elements of mystery - sure, there are elements that are bright and shiny, but it seems like it has the capacity to be used for darker stories, too. Planescape just seems to have a really cool atmosphere; it also seems like it could be used for either style of game.

I've never gotten a chance to play in Eberron or Planescape, though, and I've only ran a few adventures in Greyhawk. Although, I played in the Shackled City campaign, which was supposed to mesh well with Greyhawk. However, it doesn't seem the same to me, since the rest of the setting wasn't really mentioned at all, and I really prefer AD&D Greyhawk.

[Palanan]

I guess I'll be one of the handful of votes for the Forgotten Realms. This is where my first 3.5 group started playing, and ever since then it's been a comfortable, familiar setting. It's also absurdly detailed, which can be useful for the rushed and harried DM.

That said, I have the utmost sympathy for this perspective:


Originally Posted by Morph Bark
Furthermore, most of the setting is very set-in-stone and feels rigid...there isn't much left open for you to fill in, which is one of the things I like about DMing.

My solution has been to drop small kingdoms of my own wherever it's convenient--or, in my current campaign, to create a whole new subcontinent. I dare Ed Greenwood to stop me.

Apart from FR, I confess Eberron is clever, inventive and just plain cool. Warforged rock.

[Kaje]

1. Dawnforge
2. Midnight
3. Eberron

[hamishspence]

My solution has been to drop small kingdoms of my own wherever it's convenient--or, in my current campaign, to create a whole new subcontinent. I dare Ed Greenwood to stop me.

I've done that on one occasion- in this case it was taking the large island near Icewind Dale (the Icepeak) and modifying it- basically making it home to a whaling town, sort of a FR Nantucket or New Bedford.

[Rogue Shadows]

1. Kingdom Hearts/Spelljammer crossover setting
2. The Night Below. No, not the old module; rather, a setting I made wherein the local planet had begun to drift away from the star it orbited until it stopped at the edge of the goldilocks zone. The surface was a frozen wasteland with barely any survivors, the only civilization survived in the underdark. The default player races were drow, duergar, svirfneblin, goblins, orcs, drokah (half drow/half orc) and kobolds.
3. Eberron
4. Forgotten Realms
5. Generic "East Asian" setting based off of Rokugan but with more stuff allowed.
6. Ardania
7. Points of Light, AKA the default 4E setting. I hate the edition overal, but there really are some interesting gems in 4E if you care to dig enough to find them.

[Eldan]

I have only ever played in Planescape and eberron. And while Eberron is not bad, Planescape is just so much more in every respect.

Apart from that: Forgotten REalms and Greyhawk never looked interesting enough to try. However, I would like to give Dark Sun, Spelljammer or Ravenloft a try, if I could get my hands on the books. (The 2E books, I mean. I did get the PDFs for Planescapes, and managed to get one of the original boxed sets on Ebay.)

[Illithilich]

Mine have to be:
1. Planescape
2. Ebberon
3. Spelljamer
4. Dark Sun
5. Ravenloft

[meto30]

1. Forgotten Realms - based homebrew (some elements changed, generally made darker, but still mostly the same old Toril!)
2. Forgotten Realms
3. Forgotten Realms based on the NWN and Baldur's Gate series
4. Forgotten Realms before the Time of Troubles
5. Greyhawk

...

7. Eberron (would never opt to play or DM in one, though)

...

666. Forgottern Realms after the Spellplague

[Answerer]

I forgot to mention Dark Sun. That's an excellent setting.

[Alleran]

My solution has been to drop small kingdoms of my own wherever it's convenient--or, in my current campaign, to create a whole new subcontinent.
The idea is that if you like something, it's there to use. If you don't, then you can ignore it. Granted, some things are harder to cut down than others (e.g. Waterdeep), but even Waterdeep can be substituted for just about any other city in FR (Neverwinter and Baldur's Gate are two good examples) as a place to set your campaign with minimal issues.

And if not, there's always the Border Kingdoms. Those are explicitly designed so that borders shift, entire "kingdoms" can be amputated to fit what you want, and so on and so forth. I quite like the Border Kingdoms, myself. The area actually makes for a good place to set the Pathfinder Kingmaker campaign.


Just a question, isn't Al-Qadim a sub-setting of Forgotten Realms?
Yes. It's the far south, I think. Zakhara. Either way, it's on Toril. A long way away from "Faerun" (which is a specific part of one of Toril's continents) or Kara-Tur, but on Toril all the same.

[Feytalist]

And if not, there's always the Border Kingdoms. Those are explicitly designed so that borders shift, entire "kingdoms" can be amputated to fit what you want, and so on and so forth. I quite like the Border Kingdoms, myself. The area actually makes for a good place to set the Pathfinder Kingmaker campaign.

Yeah, that's a good idea. There's also the Silver Marches which (as of the 3.5 timeline) is a new area being developed. It would be easy to build a little enclave there, and either have it join or ignore the confederation.

I understand that FR can be too well-defined for some, but that's exactly why I like it. Everything's there if you want to use it.

Planescape was also always a firm favourite. From what I've read of Dark Sun, that sounds intriguing as well.

[meto30]

I understand that FR can be too well-defined for some, but that's exactly why I like it. Everything's there if you want to use it.

Agreed, my love for FR stems from this same fact. Indeed, FR has many characteristics that people can be divided over.

[Rogue Shadows]

Agreed, my love for FR stems from this same fact. Indeed, FR has many characteristics that people can be divided over.

The other cool thing about the Realms is that you can have celebrity guest stars. You can't get that in a homebrewed campaign setting, not without a lot of work, anyway; whereas in the Realms your players could help Drizzt fight off some gnolls, get advice from Elminster, match wits with Szaz Tam, be employed by Khelben Blackstaff...

As long as you remember that "guest stars" part, it can be a pretty cool experience.

[Answerer]

I did not realize that there was anyone who actually liked those characters.

[Water_Bear]

I did not realize that there was anyone who actually liked those characters.

Of course. What's more fun than stabbing Elminster? :smallbiggrin:

But yeah, that is arguably the biggest weakness of settings that old. Its the same reason people have an issue with Star Wars RPGs, there is just way too much canon to avoid continuity errors/plot holes.

IMO, Faerun would be better than Eberron if it was a newer setting. There are at least a dozen in-continuity novels and three editions worth of source-books, and that is just way too much background for me to take in.

[Answerer]

Well, the Forgotten Realms make utterly no sense and are sort of like the epitome of an "informed" campaign setting – there is no way the world would exist the way it does when there are beings with as much power as they have by their official stats.

At least Dark Sun and Eberron keep just-about-everyone at very-low levels so they can maybe be believed.

Also, FR's rather strongly generic. And it's got a ton of straitjacket-esque rules, particularly when it comes to faith. Just... I really don't like the setting at all.

[meto30]

I did not realize that there was anyone who actually liked those characters.

Well, there are actually people who like FR because of them. For instance, I find Eberron very... empty. Well, a thousand people, a million tastes. :smallcool:

By the way, my take on FR:
As I see it the fact that the FR world is inherently unstable at every corner due to the huge inflation of powerful beings... is rather quite realistic, in its own way. If the world is old enough, and persons determined enough, there are bound to be those who walked the paths of power before... and some are bound to be alive. What's to stop them from doing so? DM fiat? Of those who walked it, some are bound to be active as well, and when each and every power is aware that there are hundreds more out there just as powerful as he/she/it is, then it's better not to expose oneself too much.

Let's take Halaster, for example. He always hides in that super-dungeon of his, rarely coming out. He does that for a reason, as almost anyone would just love to take him out, or steal some of his knowledge (or posessions), and he wants to protect himself. Then, sometimes even the dungeon isn't enough and he gets into trouble. However, by making a move on Halaster the attacker tipped someone (Elminster, in this particular example) off the wrong way, and now he gets into trouble in turn. This sort of engagements are, as far as canon is concerned, actually happening all the time. There are just thousands upon thousands of troubles waiting around the corner!

That said, the huge pile of canon material piled up is not helpful in attracting new players, a big problem for me as a DM. I learned to overcome it the hard way, by butting my head against the wall teaching my players the ins and outs. A lot of trouble it was, for sure, but that still doesn't mean I'll be DMing in some other setting any time soon. Play, maybe. DM, no.

[Beer Bear]

Ravenloft, Planescape.

[J.Gellert]

Well, the Forgotten Realms make utterly no sense and are sort of like the epitome of an "informed" campaign setting – there is no way the world would exist the way it does when there are beings with as much power as they have by their official stats.

That's exactly what I don't like about it.

Coincidentally, much of this comes from or after the Time of Troubles, so if I every play FR I'm setting the stage well before that.

[Downysole]

I'd like to amend my list to include Ravenloft. I've read relatively little about Ravenloft, but what I have read intrigues me. I think I could enjoy a Ravenloft campaign. Point of fact, I just acquired an old 2nd ed Monstrous Compendium aimed at Ravenloft (specifically "Monstrous Compendium 3: Creatures of Darkness," if anyone's familiar with it), and I like what I see.

Once again, like my other answers, never actually played in it.

Ravenloft had its own monstrous compendium(s) in second edition. One was about monsters and such and the second was about darklord-level bad guys. I own them both.

And as such...my favorites
Ravenloft
Forgotten Realms
Dragonlance (dabbled in this as a DM for my players)

Which is funny because I've been running a Realms game for a while and actually pulled Ravenloft into it by having the mists pick up the players once or twice, even sending the players through a portal to Krynn as well.

I played Dark Sun a long time ago in 2nd edition and it was very different. Spelljammer too. Don't remember much about it though except our ship had ballistae and they were no match for that squid-ship.

The part that I like about the realms is that while it has all that material, it's all easily available in list format for you to use if you need it. My friend likes to run games as if they're in medieval europe and loves it because he's a history buff. Well, I didn't bleeping know that Metz was an enormous city 800 years ago and that casting magic missile would get me burned at the stake. Sheesh. But you get the idea. Planary indulgence? - you need to research what that means. Time of Troubles? - you can find that in any of 7 splatbooks plus novels.

Speaking of novels, definitely the best authors in FR. Baker, Greenwood, not to mention Salvatore.

[Rogue Shadows]

Well, the Forgotten Realms make utterly no sense and are sort of like the epitome of an "informed" campaign setting – there is no way the world would exist the way it does when there are beings with as much power as they have by their official stats.

I disagree. And the FR canon backlog is only a problem if you actually plan to follow it. Me, when I run it, I just hold out the FRCS to my players and say "only things actually mentioned in this book are canon. Maybe."

[Tvtyrant]

Anyone else notice that most people who mention Spelljammer also like Planescape and Eberron? I wonder if there is a connection...

[Larkas]

Eberron <=> Planescape : Both are pretty steampunky, though Planescape is somewhat more varied in nature.

Planescape <=> Spelljammer : Planescape kinda rely on Spelljammer to work. Well, not really, but it relies on the Phlogiston and the singular, if absurdly huge, Prime Material. Since spelljamming ships can travel the Phlogiston, it makes a lot of sense to integrate these settings, even if on the most basic level.

Spelljammer <=> Eberron : Wild technology! While thematically very different, both settings rely a lot on fantastic technology, so it makes sense for people who like one to also like the other.

I don't know if everyone agrees, but these are the connections I see between these settings :smallsmile:

[Scots Dragon]

Well, the Forgotten Realms make utterly no sense and are sort of like the epitome of an "informed" campaign setting – there is no way the world would exist the way it does when there are beings with as much power as they have by their official stats.

You have to remember that these official stats are a legacy issue.

Far too many people see the Forgotten Realms as being a 3rd edition setting, when it's more accurately a 1st and 2nd edition setting. Incidentally, as far as altering the Forgotten Realms goes, it's actually stated in the back of the book itself that not only can you do that, but it's recommended because the world should suit your campaign, and not the other way around.

Which is one of the things I like about it. It's got 'unreliable narrator' as a major setting fixture, with several different interpretations of its geography, major people, and major places. And some of them are quite contradictory at times, which offers up two simultaneous advantages.

The first is that the setting is well-established, has a lot of lore and fun ideas to draw upon, and has a lot of various people and places that happen to be quite interesting.

But at the same time, the second advantage is that the setting is open enough for multiple different and strongly varying interpretations of those people and places to have merit.

[Acidic]

1) Forgotten Realms
2) Eberron
3) Ravenloft
4, 5, ... x-1) Anything else
X) Anything steampunk

[Tvtyrant]

Eberron <=> Planescape : Both are pretty steampunky, though Planescape is somewhat more varied in nature.

Planescape <=> Spelljammer : Planescape kinda rely on Spelljammer to work. Well, not really, but it relies on the Phlogiston and the singular, if absurdly huge, Prime Material. Since spelljamming ships can travel the Phlogiston, it makes a lot of sense to integrate these settings, even if on the most basic level.

Spelljammer <=> Eberron : Wild technology! While thematically very different, both settings rely a lot on fantastic technology, so it makes sense for people who like one to also like the other.

I don't know if everyone agrees, but these are the connections I see between these settings :smallsmile:

I like the way you think! Though now I want to watch a bombard equipped jammer fly down on an Eberroni city.

[Larkas]

I like the way you think! Though now I want to watch a bombard equipped jammer fly down on an Eberroni city.

Just between you and me, I always imagined jammers soaring in Khorvaire's skies! Too bad I never got the chance to DM in Eberron... At least, not yet :smallcool:

[2xMachina]

Eberron <=> Planescape : Both are pretty steampunky, though Planescape is somewhat more varied in nature.

Planescape <=> Spelljammer : Planescape kinda rely on Spelljammer to work. Well, not really, but it relies on the Phlogiston and the singular, if absurdly huge, Prime Material. Since spelljamming ships can travel the Phlogiston, it makes a lot of sense to integrate these settings, even if on the most basic level.

Spelljammer <=> Eberron : Wild technology! While thematically very different, both settings rely a lot on fantastic technology, so it makes sense for people who like one to also like the other.

I don't know if everyone agrees, but these are the connections I see between these settings :smallsmile:

Are you sure Planescape rely on Spelljammer? Planescape is about Sigil, the city of doors, and multiple planes right? You use the portals there to go anywhere. Spelljammer and Planescape is like the train and cars IMO. Both can be used to get somewhere, by different means.

[Larkas]

Are you sure Planescape rely on Spelljammer? Planescape is about Sigil, the city of doors, and multiple planes right? You use the portals there to go anywhere. Spelljammer and Planescape is like the train and cars IMO. Both can be used to get somewhere, by different means.

It's like I explained, Planescape doesn't rely on Spelljammer per se, but it depends on the existance of Phlogiston, Spelljammer's "hyperspace", to work. This Phlogiston links all the worlds, or "crystal spheres", and is part of the Material Plane, so you only have one Material. Of course, you could easily adapt the setting to have multiple Materials linked solely by Sigil, but that would weaken the Rule of Threes, which is never a good thing. Of course, you could have the Phlogiston without having ships crisscrossing it, but the simple fact that it is there means that the settings are more easily compatible.

Of course, you could always say that all the worlds are simply suspended on a great nothingness, along with their moons and suns, but who would believe in that sillyness?:smalltongue:

[Eldan]

I'm curious.

Why do you think Planescape would need the Phlogiston to work?

As far as I'm aware, Planescape makes only a few vague and anecdotal references to Spelljammer, and I don't think I ever saw the Phlogiston mentioned by name. It certainly has many prime worlds, and it mentions crystal spheres, I think, but it would in all likelihood work even better if Sigil was the only way of easily getting from one prime to another.

I don't even really see how it makes a difference to Planescape whether you have many adjacent prime materials or one prime materials with many worlds in it.

[willpell]

I know very little about any of them and have never played in anything but a generic 3.5iverse (not even Greyhawk as far as I could tell), but based on what I've seen of them so far, my speculation as to the amount I would like them looks like this.

1. Eberron (rather close to my aesthetic, though I don't love the kitchen-sinkness)
2. Council of Wyrms (I love dragons, that's really all there is to it - I wish they'd given the planet a name though)
3. Ravenloft (can't believe I almost forgot this one; while it's "a little" dark for my preference, at least it's awesome in its evilness rather than just grittily miserable, and the philosophical underpinnings are woooonderful to me)
4. Planescape (the cosmology has more than a little residual Gygaxian stupidity that it'd be better off without, but the general concept of a game focusing on interdimensional politics is glorious)

Welp, that's about it. Four settings I think I'd be closer to liking than disliking. I have at least as many dislikes:

W: Greyhawk (the long footprint of EGG has made rather too many awkward-shaped indentations; its strongest point is the ease with which I can take a scalpel to it and exterminate things I don't like)
X: Forgotten Realms (very in love with itself and with way too much required reading; there's a lot I like and a lot I don't like, but overall it comes across as not very accessible and better pillaged for a few good details than run out of the box)
Y: Dark Sun (I hate Crapsack Worlds, and low-magic is the exact opposite of my idea of a good time, though I do like the races and a few other details)
Z: Dragonlance (I haven't examined it in detail but things like the Kender hurt my brain enough to make me extremely leery)

The remaining settings I know little if anything about. Except Rokugan, which I knew from the card game long ago but have no idea how well it survived the translation to D&D. Of course, the real #1 on my list is Whiteleaf, my own campaign setting, which I designed specifically to appeal to myself, so it's victory is hardly worth mentioning.

Oh, and an honorable mention for the Magic: the Gathering multiverse, which would make an amazing D&D setting if anyone ever went to the absurd amount of work necessary to convert it. The card game finally lost the last bit of my interest this season, but the backstory (where it's not stomped on by the game's marketing mandate) is still pure gold.

[Larkas]

@Eldan: I'm sorry if I'm not being clear. Planescape has an underlying assumption called the "Rule of Threes". According to this rule, everything in the multiverse come in threes: Chaos, Neutrality and Law; Evil, Neutrality and Good; the levels of existance, that is, Elemental, Material and Spiritual; the three types of planes, that is, Inner, Material and Outer... I could go on all day (if I remembered more examples, that is :smallbiggrin: ). Anyways, one of the main assumptions of the setting is that the Material Plane is a single plane, that is, the Prime Material. Now, when they go on about the Prime Material, they explain that all the worlds, including Toril, Oerth, Krynn (and yes, Athas) are part of this singular plane, and that they are encased in Crystal Spheres, and that all the Crystal Spheres are suspended in the Phlogiston. Planescape intends to be an all encompassing setting, but this is where the reference to Spelljammer stops. It's like I said, it doesn't need Spelljammer to work, but they can work together "out of the box".

Now, each DM must decide for himself how to bring the setting to the table. You could have the Phlogiston and no jammers to cross it, with Sigil being the only way between worlds, and it would work perfectly, with no adaptation required. You could also say that all the worlds are suspended in an universe like ours, with worlds light-year apart from one another, maybe even in different galaxies, which would ignore some minor assumptions, but which would also work alright. You could say that each world is in its own Material Plane, completely separate from one another; this would break some major assumptions, but I'm sure anyone can make that work. But you could also say that jamming does exist and that you could sail from one world to the other by using flying ships, and that would also work perfectly.

Myself, I never really DMed in Planescape while using Spelljammer as a secondary setting, and always went with the first alternative. But I must say I never put myself into the position of that making any difference. Bottomline, what I wanted to say is that both Planescape and Spelljammer rely on a few common, general and minor assumptions, and so I can see why people connect one to the other, and even use them simultaneously.

...But I must say that a jammer full of Githyanki jumping from the Astral to the Material and back, raiding everything they set their eyes on and then retreating to the safety of their home plane, is as good an adventure hook for Planescape as any :smallwink:

[Alleran]

@Eldan: I'm sorry if I'm not being clear. Planescape has an underlying assumption called the "Rule of Threes". According to this rule, everything in the multiverse come in threes: Chaos, Neutrality and Law; Evil, Neutrality and Good; the levels of existance, that is, Elemental, Material and Spiritual; the three types of planes, that is, Inner, Material and Outer... I could go on all day (if I remembered more examples, that is :smallbiggrin: ).
Astral Plane, Ethereal Plane... what's the third? I seem to remember reading about the hypothetical third plane, but Google is failing me tonight.

[Larkas]

Astral Plane, Ethereal Plane... what's the third? I seem to remember reading about the hypothetical third plane, but Google is failing me tonight.

Yep, that is one of the great mysteries of the setting :smallamused:

If you're interested, you might want to read this (http://www.planewalker.com/encyclopedia/ordial-plane), this (http://www.mimir.net/mapinfinity/ordial.html), and maybe this (http://www.planewalker.com/080722/planar-geometry-and-ordial-plane).

If something completing that Three (and also fulfilling the Unity of Rings) does indeed exist, it is completely Terra Incognita to all mortals and pretty much all immortals.

[Eldan]

Interestingly, the guide to the inner planes also mentions that the rule of threes doesn't always seem to apply outside the outer planes. As in, no matter how you look at it, the Inner Planes don't seem to show a triple symetry. (4 elements. Or elements, quasi-elements, para-elements and energies (also four), or five levels (positive, positive-touched, neutral, negative touched, negative). But never really a clear three).

[Larkas]

Interestingly, the guide to the inner planes also mentions that the rule of threes doesn't always seem to apply outside the outer planes. As in, no matter how you look at it, the Inner Planes don't seem to show a triple symetry. (4 elements. Or elements, quasi-elements, para-elements and energies (also four), or five levels (positive, positive-touched, neutral, negative touched, negative). But never really a clear three).

I know what you mean. I've read something about there being 27 (!!!) elemental planes that, if true, would suddenly make them conform to the Rule of Threes. Myself, I realized that you can look at it from the "energy perspective", that is, you can separate them between "positive-charged", neutral and "negative-charged" planes. If you put all the main planes together, you also have a multiple of 3, that is, 6. But if you consider only the elemental planes proper, there's no way around it: there are four, and only four, elements. The same happens if you use any of the perspectives you mentioned. I usually use one of the aforementioned ways to maintain the Rule of Threes, though, since it is a nice plot and setting element; if you can find a way to reinforce it, all the better. Some players will start going crazy looking for "the third" if it is presented enough to them :smallsmile: Of course, I also realize some DMs would rather ignore that completely, and that's just fine too.

[Morph Bark]

Astral Plane, Ethereal Plane... what's the third? I seem to remember reading about the hypothetical third plane, but Google is failing me tonight.

Whenever I hear those two together, I mentally add the Plane of Shadows, but I guess that's not the one meant here? I dunno enough of Planescape for it.

[Larkas]

Whenever I hear those two together, I mentally add the Plane of Shadows, but I guess that's not the one meant here? I dunno enough of Planescape for it.

That is the rational understanding, but alas, the Plane of Shadows was only a Demiplane back in AD&D, not a full-blown Transitive Plane.

[Eldan]

Shadow wasn't a plane back in 2E, just mentioned as one of many demiplanes. There was the theoretical ordial, which would connect the elemental to the outer planes, but no one has ever found it.



I know what you mean. I've read something about there being 27 (!!!) elemental planes that, if true, would suddenly make them conform to the Rule of Threes. Myself, I realized that you can look at it from the "energy perspective", that is, you can separate them between "positive-charged", neutral and "negative-charged" planes. If you put all the main planes together, you also have a multiple of 3, that is, 6. But if you consider only the elemental planes proper, there's no way around it: there are four, and only four, elements. The same happens if you use any of the perspectives you mentioned. I usually use one of the aforementioned ways to maintain the Rule of Threes, though, since it is a nice plot and setting element; if you can find a way to reinforce it, all the better. Some players will start going crazy looking for "the third" if it is presented enough to them :smallsmile: Of course, I also realize some DMs would rather ignore that completely, and that's just fine too.

Sort of. The problem is, by the end of this analysis, you end up sounding like one of those people who count the letter E in "thatfamousbook" to predict dates in the future. Also, unless I'm mistaken, there are (4 elemental, 4 para, 8 quasi, 2 energy) 18 elemental planes, actually.

[Larkas]

Sort of. The problem is, by the end of this analysis, you end up sounding like one of those people who count the letter E in "thatfamousbook" to predict dates in the future. Also, unless I'm mistaken, there are (4 elemental, 4 para, 8 quasi, 2 energy) 18 elemental planes, actually.

Indeed. Like I said, it is just a nice plot device, but at the end of the day, you shouldn't overdo it.* I like hinting at the Ordial, since it fulfills both the Rule of Threes and the Unity of Rings, but the single Prime Material, for example, isn't really needed. But I must confess I have no idea what famous book you're talking about :smallbiggrin:

* Unless, of course, you'd like a Paranoia-like setting.

On the Elemental, IIRC it was a theory (just an in-game way of presenting an idea) about there being 8 "quasiparaelemental" planes. That leaves us at 26, right? The 27th was hinted to be something like the Elemental Plane of Quintessence, a plane that would take traits from all the others. Myself, I interpreted that as a "proto-material plane", but you could easily go about it in a different way, such as the Elemental Chaos from 4E, or something else entirely. Of course, none of this is canon, it was just something the author brewed to add mystery to the setting: How do you get to the quasiparaelemental planes? What can be found there? Is there a 27th plane, thus fulfilling the Rule of Threes (3³!)? It is something that I felt really resonated with the tone of the setting, but, ultimately, is not important, and I would never force this on a fellow DM.

[dsmiles]

I just had an idea for my next campaign.
mwahahahahamwahahahahaMwaHaHaHaMWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAAAAA!!!!!

I'm sorry, did I get any of that evil on you? :smallredface:

[Hiro Protagonest]

Eberron.

Modern world. But with superheroes. Like Marvel.

Eon Kid/Iron Kid. Think "post-apocalypse desert with non-crapshoot AI robots". Except it's eastern based, with quite a few martial artists. Both robots and humans can achieve mystical abilities by controlling their chi. There are some odd things for the robots, though, like getting tired from physical exertion. It's sorta justified as a "more exertion=more electricity to do, but they can build up strength and stamina by working out, and they pant when tired.