Best Campaign Setting for Character Building

[BowStreetRunner]

Of all of the official published campaign settings (Forgotten Realms, Eberron, etc.) for 3.5, which do you feel has the best options for character building (classes, prestige classes, feats, etc.)? What options does that campaign setting include that you like most?

[Dread_Head]

Ebberon for the Warforged, Changelings, Shifters and their associated feats, ACFs and prestige classes. Also has the Manifest Spellshaper feats which I'm quite fond of.

[Palanan]

I've done most of my 3.5 gaming in the Forgotten Realms, so I'm most familiar with those options, which are spread out across quite a few supplements.

Off the top of my head, one of my favorite feats is Tattoo Magic, on p. 170 of Races of Faerûn. Essentially you scribe a spell-storing tattoo onto someone, who can activate it with a touch. One of my first 3.5 characters had this feat (which is absurdly easy to qualify for) and used it to great effect.

Is it optimized? Certainly not. Did I love it anyway? Oh yes.

[Forrestfire]

Planescape :smallwink:

[Extra Anchovies]

Planescape and Eberron. Both focus on the conflicts between factions and ideologies - conflicts which tend to create stories that I can throw myself into and build a character around much more easily than in the relatively clear-cut morality of other settings. I am particularly drawn to the distant and enigmatic nature of the divine in Eberron, and the moral ambiguities it can present. My favorite aspect of Planescape is that many of the factions have room for a great deal of variety among their members' alignments and methods - a paladin who refuses to forgive evildoers and a wizard who responds with brutal vengeance against even the least of slights would find themselves equally at home among the Mercykillers. There are some exceptions (it's difficult to envision a chaotic member of the Harmonium or a lawful Xaositect), but the focus of the factions around philosophical concepts rather than traditional alignments can make for some very interesting characters.

[BowStreetRunner]

I'm surprised. Given the optimization focus of most of the Giant in the Playground forum, I was really expecting a bunch of responses about which settings include the best options for OP character builds. Maybe a list of which settings had the most broken character options.

[ComaVision]

I think it's because most of the people on the boards don't restrict character options based on campaign settings. I can never remember what's FR or Ebberon because I never cared to differentiate in the first place.

[mostholycerebus]

Ebberon. Great setting too.

[Eldan]

Eberron for interesting.

If you want power, it's pretty certainly FR. Dweomerkeeper, Incantatrix, Circle Magic, tons of spells...

[sovin_ndore]

I really like Faerun, it seems so much more expansive than Eberron. And I always though the steamtech aspects of Eberron had no business in my fantasy games.

Although games I have played in have generally been very open on setting specific material they have also generally required that you have an interally consistant setting identity. So, no mix-and-matching Faerun with Eberron. Things like regional feats are available but will preclude you from PrCs the same way as if you were playing straight setting material, etc.

[Extra Anchovies]

I'm surprised. Given the optimization focus of most of the Giant in the Playground forum, I was really expecting a bunch of responses about which settings include the best options for OP character builds. Maybe a list of which settings had the most broken character options.

Forgotten Realms has the most published material, and it's also some of the best caster PrCs (Hathran, Incantatrix, Halruuan Elder). So it's probably the most powerful.

[Honest Tiefling]

I'm surprised. Given the optimization focus of most of the Giant in the Playground forum, I was really expecting a bunch of responses about which settings include the best options for OP character builds. Maybe a list of which settings had the most broken character options.

I would imagine FR wins simply by having the most stuff available for it. This means it probably also has some of the worst options available, simply due to size. I mean, Faerun is the one that gave us the Almighty Pun-Pun. They even show up in the darn videogames!

Through I wonder how a DM can make a homebrew or published setting appealing to build a character in, but that might be off topic.

[Deadline]

3.5 AND has a published setting book? Eberron. If it doesn't have to have a published setting book and you could cobble it together from various sources (including Dragon Magazine)? Planescape/Spelljammer, hands down.

[BowStreetRunner]

Through I wonder how a DM can make a homebrew or published setting appealing to build a character in, but that might be off topic.
Actually not off-topic at all. My primary reason for asking is that I rarely use published settings when I DM, preferring to cherry-pick from other sources whenever possible. So I always try to keep an eye on what the most popular parts of other settings are that might appeal to my players if I were to include them. (Of course, I also try to keep all the most unbalanced and overpowered stuff out as well - I'm not looking to give any of my players the tools to create Pun Pun after all. :smallwink:)

[DrKerosene]

Eberron's economy seems to actually be somewhat equiped to handle switching to high-level magic. It has epic level rules and threats (expanded with Magazine Content), and expectations of Player Behavior all taken into consideration, kinda. It makes for a good base to get really sci-fi too.

It also has a lot of player options that are much more roleplay-focused than I've normally seen. So that can mean plenty of new options for a DM, even if most are too specialized for the average player to regularly use.