Campaign settings

[weckar]

Among the big published campaign settings, which do you like best to play and why? I'm trying to pick one for a group of newbies I'm running, you see.

Feel free to also suggest more obscure settings, but please find me a source. Nothing worse than knowing something cool exists without being able to get my hands on it.

[Sian]

My personal favorite is the more obscure corners of Faerun ... say Bloodstone Lands or Shining South ... just stay away from Cormyr and the Sword Coast (and Moonsea if playing evil campaign) and there is still a lot to explore

[G.Cube]

Is homebrew alright? If so, google Gramarie and feel the awe.

I'd post a link but I'm on a less-then-great phone.

[HammeredWharf]

Ravenloft is a personal favorite of mine. For a group of newbies, however, the standard Greyhawk or almost-as-standard Faerun are probably the best choices, because they don't contain any extra rules. Ravenloft in particular can be a bit confusing, because so much is changed.

[Sian]

Is homebrew alright?

Given that the question explicitly was about
big published campaign settings

I doubt so

[Deox]

Dark Sun is a fantastic setting, especially for low/new players. I believe there is no official publication for 3.5, but there are many conversions.

[G.Cube]

Given that the question explicitly was about

I doubt so

In my defence, Gramarie should, and most likely could, be published. I'm assuming he used those words to avoid shoddy, half-thought settings.

I conceed your point though, apologies OP!

[weckar]

Good suggestions, all around. I'll be sure to look into each of them.

Meanwhile, any thoughts on Eberron, one way or another? It looks interesting, but I'm not sure if it is suitable for new players..

[HammeredWharf]

Eberron is interesting and suited for new players well enough. The only problem is that it's a bit silly and sometimes clashes with players' ideas on what's good fantasy. I know a guy who hates it because of that.

I think you should just pick something you're interested in. Running a campaign in a setting you don't like will most likely affect the campaign's quality in a negative way.

[lytokk]

As for published settings, Eberron is my favorite. Everyone in the setting is relatively low level, as opposed to forgotten realms where there's always a higher level character somewhere, so it takes less time for the characters to feel really powerful. Also, it pretty much states in the first few chapters that everything is a playable race not restricted by alignment. "possible to run into a good vampire" was the sentence I think.

[Magesmiley]

I actually still run my 3.5 games set on Mystara. The setting has nearly everything available somewhere. It was never officially converted to 3.5 (with the existing books written for BECMI or 2nd edition), so I am free to put my own spin on things without the players complaining too much. And with lots of old modules available it works pretty well.

[incarnate236]

I prefer Eberron to Forgotten Realms by far. The design of the setting, particularly with some of the supplements, gives the feel of a plausible world in which governments and factions are well defined and have clear interaction with each other. The detail is impressive and allows for the development of realistic consequences for the player's actions that have meaningful ramifications in the world around them rather than adventuring in a vacuum as would be the case in a higher level setting. By level 5 or so the characters start to become remarkable within the context of the world and can have an impact on changing the course of local events. By level 10 they are stronger than most and can begin to shape the fates of nations as they see fit.

[ArendK]

Eberron is my personal favorite due to the diversity and the unique challenges (Vol and Kaius, a half-dragon lich and a peace-loving Vampire King, respectively, come to mind). The Valenar elves (think desert elves with a war-like tendency; very cool) were also a big selling point for me.

Also; Halflings riding dinosaurs? :D

lately, Golarion (Pathfinders core setting) mixes the sheer size of Faerun and the diversity of Eberron in a way I like.

[LordAsreil]

I have really enjoyed playing in the Judges Guild publications. The Wilderlands of High Fantasy is a fully mapped out world to explore and they have a bunch of books for specific places like Bards Gate and The City State of the Invincable Overlord (a very Ankh-Morpork place).

I'm playng in a campaign set there atm, I like that it has so much mapped out but isn't just there for one campaign its the whole world and you can easily run a game with all the world building work done for you.

[Zweisteine]

Eberron is my favorite campaign setting, though it is the only one I've read about in depth. Forgotten Realms is far too large and complex for my tastes, and the FRCS itself is too wordy-looking to read carefully.

Some people don't like Eberron because it isn't a "normal" fantasy setting, but I find that odd. Those people are trying to look at it as high fantasy, where it is, in fact, something more like urban or science fantasy. Eberron is what you might get if people start using low-level magic for utility in everyday life (similar to the Tippyverse, which does the same, but with high-level magic).

Eberron also allows for very much in-depth plots, and extraordinary amounts of intrigue, while still having plenty of room for adventure. My only problem with it is the scale of the maps, and the lack of information about additional towns (i.e. if you want a small village of the main roads, or a small forest near it, you'll have to make one up).

[Kol Korran]

I'm a big Eberron fan for several reasons:
1) It feels like a more mature world than most fantasy settings... It has a "shades of grey" morality, and very very few things are black and white. Though you can still have a classic fantasy game in it (Like in other settings), You can quite as easily deal with more subtle stuff (Which some settings can't do so well)

2) Urbanization: I like the idea of magic being implemented in the world, and having a "day to day" impact. This is mostly evident in the many inventions and services of the Dragonmarked houses, which are a lovely invention. Super corporations in a D&D setting.

3) Mysteries: The setting gives out tons of mysteries and hooks, from small ones to big ones, and though it may offer theories, it doesn't give any concrete answers, leaving that for the DM. And the mysteries are excellent and appealing!

4) Power levels: The PCs MATTER from the start! At level 5 they are already known, at level 10 they rival leaders of nations and such. And yet, the setting offers quite a lot of challenge unto the epic levels. But you are SOMEONE all the way through!

5) Great Opponents: The opponents are really well made, and provide a serious challenge- The Lords of Dust? The Daelkyr? The Dreaming Dark? The dragons of Argonnesen? And even "lower" opponents, such as the Lord of Blades, The Drooam hags or The Emerald Claw... Each is quite unique, compelling, and arouses the imagination. Plus, there is plenty of info to make your own stuff here.

6) Religions: What I hate about many other fantasy worlds, is the sheer fact of existence of gods, and their meddling in the world. Eberron treats religions as in our world- as beliefs, philosophies, and ideas, but without any concrete proofs. Also, it treats them realistically- You don't have a god of a very small and specific portfolio, but rather a religion and belief system that really tries to answer pivotal questions of existence and such. I think it enriches the world greatly. (I HIGHLY suggest the supplement "Faiths of Eberron")

7) The races: I love it how the different races have long standing histories and each has their special place in the world. It has already been mentioned that some races don't hold to their traditional place, but I think this is done well, in a believable and fun way. I also very much love the special races of the setting: Warforged, Shifters, Changelings and Kalashtar- They all pose a very rich and interesting roleplay experience.

8) Playability: One of the core ideas behind the setting is that you can run ANYTHING in it. And while I don't think it is quite the case, it comes a lot closer to it than many other settings. Which makes it quite versatile.

I think this covers most of the issues. I ran an "Eberron light" campaign for my group some years ago (See "Many facets of darkness" campaign log in my link if you're interested), and it went spectacular. It was very light, yet touched on some core places in Eberron, and was quite fun.

Enough chatter. I suggest play it! :smallbiggrin:
Good luck with your game!

[weckar]

Welp, I'm convinced. Eberron it is. Is there a map folio available anywhere, outside the books?

[Arparrabiosa]

Castlemourn! It feels like Forgotten Realms without the complexity and Eberron without the pseudo-steampunk tone.

[Clistenes]

No love for Greyhawk around here...:smallfrown:

I started playing Forgotten Realms, but once I got to learn a bit about the setting, I stopped liking it. Greyhawk gives more importance to the PCs, who can damn or save the world with their actions (hell, in 2nd edition you could kill freaking Lolth!).

Also, I like the old-school feeling of the setting.

[Ravens_cry]

I've always wanted to try Eberron. I like the idea of a world where magic is used, instead of "Hey, all these spells and such that would change the world forever? Well, it doesn't because . . . hey look over there, a waving hand!"
Spelljammer, with all its quirkiness, also appeals.

[BWR]

I actually still run my 3.5 games set on Mystara. The setting has nearly everything available somewhere. It was never officially converted to 3.5 (with the existing books written for BECMI or 2nd edition), so I am free to put my own spin on things without the players complaining too much. And with lots of old modules available it works pretty well.

I run Mystara with Pathfinder, and the wealth of published adventures means that after 2 years of weekly games I still have tons left to use. And the Gazetteers are almost uniformly wonderful, with a wealth of information to build and run entire campaigns in a single small nation as well as give a good look at history and culture and politics.
If you want something a bit standard-y, along the lines of Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms but less known and a bit more over the top, Mystara works well. It's weird and shouldn't really work the way it does when you look at the extreme variation of cultures and climates in the Known World (basically the eastern third of the US) but I love it to bits.
And Mystara also has the Hollow World.

I'm also very fond of Planescape, Dark Sun and Ravenloft.

[Terraoblivion]

I don't usually poke my head into this subboard, given how I don't really play D&D, but I wanted to voice my support for Eberron as my favorite published D&D setting. Kol Korran largely gave the reasons why, though I will also add that as a historian it's very pleasant to read a setting that really gets how historical events shape what happens later. The history, especially surrounding the war, reads as very thoughtful when coming from a professional background in history. I'll also support Faiths of Eberron as quite possibly the single best book about made-up religions I've ever read and would recommend it to anybody homebrewing a setting for an example of how to do religion well in a fictional setting.

I also quite like the third party version of Ravenloft published for 3.0 and 3.5. It abandoned some of the sillier, campier elements of earlier versions and took a keen eye to both how to develop the tone of the setting and to make it a living breathing place that you'd want to protect from the darkness surrounding it. It really succeeds in making the natural vistas seem breathtakingly beautiful and the people seem largely goodhearted victims of the monsters and the dark powers, even as they had plenty of misguided and potential harmful beliefs. That version very much gives the impression of being a dark place where heroism is tested and will shine all the brighter if it passes, rather than the meatgrinder it's stereotyped as.

Both are also settings I'd love to play in using a system that suits my personal tastes better than D&D 3.5.

[Thurbane]

I still love Greyhawk, despite how little love that it got in 3.X.

The Living Greyhawk RPGA setting was supposed to be pretty sweet, but I didn't get on board in time.