For those who don't generally like to use Campaign Settings, what's your favorite one?

[WitchyD]

When I'm running, I tend to make a setting using re-skinned bits and pieces from other settings and modules. I might have a city that is inspired by Baldur's Gate here, then a port town inspired by this or that (I'm a shameless thief!).


Outside of this, though, there are two settings I'd love to run a game in sometime: Magic the Gathering's Multiverse, and the world described in the Spice and Wolf novels. The former needs no introduction here. The latter features a low magic world with a focus on the intrigue of merchants and trading guilds and similar organizations, in which everyone is motivated by wealth and power (especially to the detriment of others).

 

[1of3]

Heluso and Milonda, the standard setting for Reign. Special about it is the way magic works. Magic schools are very limited and integral part of their home culture. For example, in the Empire there is a group of mages who can form smoke into objects by waving their hands, called the Smoke Formers. Effects will dissipate after some minutes, if waving stops. What would such people do with their gifts?

Spoiler

Work as engineers in the army. You don't need wooden siege towers or ladders that can be broken. Make a camp fire and wave away.

Also the cavalry is usually women, because people believe that riding turns males impotent. And pretty much everyone is black, except for those barbarians living where the sun don't shine (literally).

 

[Mercurius]

I'm a bit of a setting junky but always run my own homebrew setting (I love world-building at least as much as actually playing). My favorite RPG settings for reading pleasure and inspiration are the triumvirate of Talislanta, Earthdawn, and Shadow World/Kulthea. Some others that I enjoy: Tekumel, Harn, Jorune, Tribe 8, Numenera/Ninth World, various others that I'm not remembering, and of course the various D&D and Pathfinder settings.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

I'm still blown-minded from reading Planescape all those years ago. It's my favorite setting of all time even if I was never DM enough to play it.

AR

 

[Tia Nadiezja]

Among RPGs as a whole, I'd say In Nomine takes the cake for settings - it's brilliant. The game itself is a horrible mess of terribly assembled mechanics and terrible organization of the books, but the setting is great. Tribe8 is also quite interesting, and Anima piques my interest.

For D&D... Mystara does the D&D fantasy genre best. But Spelljammer is just build out of awesome bricks mortared together with totally sweet and has a roof made of slate shingles and wow what's coming next.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I'm definitely not into published settings, so I guess I'm your target demographic.

I suppose the oWoD would be my favorite setting, especially taking the cosmology from the M:tA PoV. With the Umbra containing any conceivable Realm of myth/imagination, combined with Mage paradigm-based magic, it conceptually encompasses any setting or story.

For fantasy, Glorantha is possibly the most compelling FRPG setting I've seen. For D&D, specifically, none of the individual worlds have much appealed to me, but the Moorcock-esque infinite prime material planes of the classic cosmology always did, that and the Feywild of the World Axis cosomology, maybe because the Feywild/Shadowfell explored some of the same themes and potentials as the WoD Umbra/Shadowlands. And Tekumel, though not strictly fantasy. Oh, and the original Gamma World - definitely sci-fi, but with such a D&D-ish system - still a cool setting.

 

[BrockBallingdark]

Eberron and now I have Primeval Thule in my head!

 

[Winterthorn]

My favorite for D&D is Mystara.

I'm with you. I always found myself becoming immersed in the maps, regions, and cultural backgrounds -- and potential adventures! The colourful hex maps may seem unrealistic, but somehow they always drew me in.

Second was the early years of Forgotten Realms, pre-3E.

And third for me is a tie with the lands of the Sword of Shannara (T. Brooks), and the Belgariad (D. Eddings). Both novels inspired much of earliest ideas in map and culture making for my own campaigns.

 

[Nytmare]

For 3e D&D there was a setting called Ghelspad that was pretty neat. Had "post Gods vs Titans War apocalyptic" feel to it with tons of unique monsters.

You're thinking of the Scarred Lands setting. Ghelspad was the main continent.

I've been a one or two shot rpger (if I'm lucky) for the last 6 or 7 years, but if I could play or run in a fantasy campaign, the Scarred Lands would be my setting of choice.

 

[Iron Sky]

You're thinking of the Scarred Lands setting. Ghelspad was the main continent.

I've been a one or two shot rpger (if I'm lucky) for the last 6 or 7 years, but if I could play or run in a fantasy campaign, the Scarred Lands would be my setting of choice.

Ah, right! We just played Ghelspad, hence my error.