Favorite Third-Party Settings

[Technomancer]

I'm looking for some different settings, just for kicks. None of the standard D&D settings* like Greyhawk or the Forgotten Realms. Share your favorite lesser known non-WotC settings. Vanilla fantasy is fine (actually my favorite), just want something new. Even a website only setting is ok.



*not that there's anything wrong with these settings, just looking for something different to read.

 

[Turanil]

Even a website only setting is ok.

See the link in my sig. below: plenty of homebrew settings, some of them extensively detailed, several vanilla fantasy, some more different.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Midnight: Essentially Middle Earth where Sauron won the War of the Ring. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the basic gist. PCs are refugees and heroes of the (probably doomed) resistance.

Iron Kingdoms: A war-torn setting with higher than usual tech level - think of the industrial revolution. Lots of setting detail.

 

[diaglo]

Greyhawk by E.Gary Gygax
Blackmoor by Dave Arneson
Wilderlands from Judges Guild
Harn from Columbia Games

 

[Aus_Snow]

A Game of Thrones, Avadnu, Conan and Thieves' World are all worth a look, I think.

Also, you might want to check out the 3e conversions of Birthright and/or Dark Sun online. I think they both have their merits, but I might be biased there, spending some of my time playing each of them, as I do.

None of the above is really vanilla fantasy though, sorry. :\ I've heard good things of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy, DCC35 and Ptolus as far as that goes, though.


And I agree with Diaglo - Harn is definitely worth investigating.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Greyhawk by E.Gary Gygax

How different is that from "standard" D&D, really?

 

[Nellisir]

Dawnforge, from FFG.

This thread is eerily familiar.

Also, Wilderlands & Oathbound.

 

[diaglo]

How different is that from "standard" D&D, really?

it is a whole other setting.

the stuff other writers did to it makes it not even worth using in my opinion

 

[Odhanan]

Expedition to Castle Ravenloft may be a nice change for your group, even if it's WotC.

The Diamond Throne featured in the volume Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved is a departure from straight D&D but one that is coherent and rich in its own right.

Wilderlands of High Fantasy and Dungeon Crawl Classics #35 are more old school settings. Perhaps that's the kind of stuff you're searching for.

Thieves' World is more about gritty role-play that straight D&D, though it uses D&D mechanics as a base. The flavor of the setting's very good.

Ptolus is the ultimate D&D setting. It marries Dungeon Crawling, Investigation, NPC interactions, conspirations, and urban adventures into a mammoth setting that embraces the premises of the game to raise them at a whole new level. You can play almost any playstyles and will find Ptolus to fit your needs. That's a beauty.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Dawnforge, from AEG.

Wasn't that FFG. . .?