Favorite Campaign Worlds/Settings?

[Kaihaku]

What are your favorite worlds/settings? Feel free to toss up established settings or homebrew, anything that you've played in.

One of my favorites is...

Phantasy Star
Why: Algol is, quite simply, the best fusion of fantasy and science fiction that I've ever come across. The background is epic, the worlds are diverse and unique but all fit properly into the greater whole. It's also the only setting in which I appreciate the combined presence of psionics and magic (generally, I prefer one or the other).
Notes: Please do not mistake this for Phantasy Star Online, I'm talking about classical Algol. I've run several Phantasy Star campaigns, mostly freeform, and I was working on a Phantasy Star d20 project there for awhile. 4e, being closer to a video game, is uniquely well suited for capturing the Phantasy Star 4 style so I might revive that project for 4e.

So, I'll toss up a few more that I've enjoyed as we go but I think that should start things off.

[AstralFire]

Eberron. I love how well-thought out it is, the ways in which both old races are used and new races are implemented, and how it explicitly leaves gaps for DMs by painting sketches rather than stories.

And just in general, I like technology, so some drift away from horses, horses, everywhere is good.

[Neon Knight]

4e, being closer to a video game

Wrong thing to say. We've had multiple mega threads full of heated arguments about this statement. For the love of Pelor, please retract it before someone hotheaded (like me) latches onto it in a berserk fury.

Ontopic:

Aside from homebrews, I like Iron Kingdoms, Ebberon, and... hm. Birthright and Darksun sound cool, although I haven't gotten to play in them.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I really only play homebrew...

[Thurbane]

Greyhawk!

Greyhawk!

Greyhawk!

Where roleplaying began...

[Nerd-o-rama]

I am avowed Eberron fanboy. Nonetheless, I would both be lying and remiss in my apparent responsibilities if I said my favorite setting was anything other than Sigil Prep.

[Raum]

What are your favorite worlds/settings?

Almost any alternate Earth. I enjoy taking the familiar and twisting it into my own mold...

[Prophaniti]

I do still enjoy the occasional Forgotten Realms game, but most of the stuff we play now is homebrewed.

Though, we've also been purging heretics and smiting the foes of Man in the Grim Darkness of the Far Future lately...

[kpenguin]

I do love Eberron. I'm sorry Rich, but Keith Baker's contest win was well deserved.

[SilentNight]

I'm a huge fan of Dragonlance despite its possibly overdone good-neutral-evil theme.

[Kaihaku]

Wrong thing to say. We've had multiple mega threads full of heated arguments about this statement. For the love of Pelor, please retract it before someone hotheaded (like me) latches onto it in a berserk fury.

Yes, I'm well aware and no, I'm not going to be cowed by threats of hotheads derailing this thread because they feel that "someone is wrong on the internet". I said what I believe and it was relevant to the topic of the thread, further discussion of that belief is not relevant to this thread and has been battled out ad nauseam elsewhere. Don't like my belief, go ahead and start a thread debating it; a thread I'll probably ignore because I've heard it before, I'm not convinced, and I don't want to waste the time and energy.


It's nice to say that you've enjoyed homebrewed worlds but how about some descriptions? What kind of homebrewed worlds? What made them so striking?

Seamless Blue
Why?: This was a homebrew setting created by a friend of mine. There were only two deities, a god of chaos and a god of law, each lesser parts of a divine being which split during creation. The most striking thing about this campaign was rich and diverse characters. Everyone NPC had a personality, history, and relationships. Every interaction was memorable. That level of detail was a big, I'm sure, but the results were grand.

[bosssmiley]

Eberron. I love how well-thought out it is...

Ah hahahahahahaha. Oh wow.

Wait, you were serious?

Planescape - haggle, bully and scam reality into the form you want.
Birthright - you are king, and you really do rule by divine right.
Dark Sun - because who doesn't like Barsoom?

*Those* are examples of thought-provoking and memorable settings that stretch what D&D is capable of: WOTC take note.

[Kaihaku]

I've never gotten to play in Athas, I've missed out. It definitely has a unique feel to it... Sigh, I want to play a Mule.

It always struck me as a great world to play a good character in. Probably one of the best, there's nothing to define a good character than a world where they don't fit and which they stand in stark contrast with...even when they eventually break and fall.

[nagora]

Greyhawk for homebrew - the 1e setting is a perfect balance between ideas to inspire and space to fill in what the DM wants. With a lovely map.

Otherwise, CSIO, which is where we're playing at the moment. The city is mad and fun, the countryside suitably untamed and the islands are fantastically Conanesque.

[AstralFire]

Ah hahahahahahaha. Oh wow.

Wait, you were serious?

...Yes. I personally enjoy that people took a lot of time considering the political, economic, etc rammifications of easy access to weak magical effects.

I've always liked Planescape and Dark Sun, but I've never considered the latter to have really pioneered much new in fantasy (and it's just too depressing for me to want to be there all the time) and I have small issues with the former that lessen my enjoyment of it.

[serok42]

Forgotten Realms (played in FR since 2nd edition)

Dragonlance

Never played in Eberron but from what I have read I think I would like it.

[Morty]

Forgotten Realms. It's a huge, diverse and rich setting that covers anything I'd want from a D&D game. It's also epic in a good way. The only real beef I have with it is that it clings too hard onto alignment system and utilizes "cannon fodder races" cliche to the full. But those are fairly minor.
Beside that, I love Planescape even though I've never played it; but I'd very much to. I'd never touch Eberron and Greyhawks has always seemed a bit bland to me; but admitedly I don't know much about it. I don't know enough about other settings to make judgements; FR has always been sufficient to me when playing D&D.

[Kol Korran]

i also enjoy Eberron quite a bit. it has enough environments but is still very cohesive as a setting, giving the feel of a whole world instead of different regions pieced together like Forgotten Realms.

another setting i liked though never got to play is the Starfall Isles by "the six elements" spin off version of D&D. cool magic system, cultures, and basic concept of the ripped apart continent. it;s also fairly easy to run as a DM, and has quite a lot of place for player's creativity.

all i got to say i guess...

[Saph]

I've found Forgotten Realms to be the best, just because of how huge and detailed it is. Works great with just about any group.

I'm also going to go with the OP in recommending Phantasy Star. :) I ran a D&D 3.5 Phantasy Star 4 campaign a while back, following the game's plot closely, and it worked great. The only problem is trying to find a decent map . . .

- Saph

[Tormsskull]

*stuff*

I hate to be pedantic, but:

Its Algo, not Algol (and I definitely agree with you that Phantasy Star would make an excellent campaign setting).

Also, in Darksun, half human/half dwarves are calleds 'Muls', not 'Mules'.


Ok, the editor in me is subsiding. My favorite campaigns:

Birthright
Ravenloft
Dark Sun
Elderain (my homebrew campaign world)

[Thant]

The Nearly Ultimate TOP 8 for le moi:

1 Fallout Universe (kicks some serious @$$ to any d20 setting/game; not d20)
2 Homebrew Campaign - End of Niira (armageddon-type postapoc/arcane/tech/noir/psionic megamix; d20)
3 Dark Sun: the Burnt World of Athas (what can I do, I love the wastelands)
4 Planescape (A++ material for psychotic role play; d20)
5 Homebrew Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magic Obscure (love steampunk/ noir; not d20)
6 Homebrew Master of Orion (Battle at Antares time line; not d20)
7 Homebrew Ur-Quan Masters (SCII time line; definitly not d20)
8 Cyberpunk 2k20 (old school)
...

nuff said.

[DigoDragon]

I always prefer my own homebrew world. Post apocalyptic fantasy where technology will not work for reasons no one can figure out. Except for an occasional malfunctioning artifact.

[potatocubed]

Planescape - haggle, bully and scam reality into the form you want.
Birthright - you are king, and you really do rule by divine right.
Dark Sun - because who doesn't like Barsoom?

*Those* are examples of thought-provoking and memorable settings that stretch what D&D is capable of: WOTC take note.

You're right about stretching what AD&D was capable of. I think that's basically what sets old settings apart from the newer ones - consider also Spelljammer and Ravenloft (not to my liking, but man were they unique).

Eberron, much as I like it, is 'just another fantasy setting'.

Anyway, more topically, my favourite D&D setting is Planescape. I also really like Creation, the setting for Exalted.

[AstralFire]

Spelljammer is pretty cool and one of these days I'm going to do a conversion project for it, since I think it makes for a better inter-setting travel method than Planescape does. Using a spell and poof you're there isn't very exciting, no matter how dangerous the spell, expensive the reagents, and low the chance of success.

[hamlet]

Greyhawk the folio edition. Maybe that first boxed World of Greyhawk set too, in combination maybe. This is the first and best incarnation of Greyhawk ever. EVER.

Kingdoms of Kalamar is, in some ways, Greyhawk's spritual successor. In some ways, I'm sure Gary would have gone apopleptic over it. In all ways, I really love it and find it to be a very VERY close 2nd to Greyhawk for "real world" style gaming.

Dark Sun. It was more than just "D&D in the sand." It was a very good campaign in that it was something entirely different than yet another version of Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms. It threw out the psuedo-medieval European vibe which, though I love it to death, can get old after its 20th incarnation.

Planescape is awsome. That is all.

ETA: Birthright was a very nifty campaign set. Not so much in that it was an innovative setting, but that it was an innovative way of approaching "the same old" type of setting.

[jcsw]

+1 For eberron. Because I like steampunk and Eberron is quite thematically close to it.

Sorta like steampunk... with Elves and Magic!

[Santiago]

Forgotten Realms, Warhammer Fantasy, Everquest, and the Diablo setting.

(Not sure if video game settings count )

[Maxymiuk]

Fading Suns hands down. The sheer number of possibilities that jump out at you from every page in the core book alone...

oWoD for all my grim&angsty cravings.

When running D&D I do homebrew worlds exclusively.

[Comet]

Here's another vote for Planescape. It just feels new and different. Ok, less so today than during it's initial release, but still.
Also, sentient alleyways are awesome. As are marketplaces with demons and angels going about buying groceries like there wasn't anything weird at all going on.
And in Planescape:torment, I thought that a bar with an eternally burning man as it's main entertainment/ambient light was a really cool idea.

[Adlan]

Serenity, Cowboy's in Space with Chinese Cussin' and Big Dam Hero's just trying to get buy.

The Serenity Setting has a real feeling to me, it could really happen (just, assuming psychic's, new law's of physic's ect.), I like the fact Humanity is Alone, I like the Poverty, I like the Alliance (Bunch of Hun Dhan's), I like the Browncoat's, I like the Mix of technology, I like the Lack of Alien's, I like Being in the setting and exploring it my self.

I just love the whole 'Verse.

Also, 4th Age LOTR, Aragorn is Crowned King, but there are still lot's of goblin's and evil things to be fought, and treasure to be found.