I hate Tolkien: suggest a fantasy setting.

[Philotomy Jurament]

Black Company Campaign Setting
Hyborea
Nehwon
Thieves World
Dying Earth

 

[Friadoc]

Well, given what you've said, I'd go with Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed/Evolved, as the setting has one dwarf in it, with no one really getting that it means something other than short human.

Seriously, though, I enjoy the system, especially the magic system, which is very versatile, and the races are inspiring as well.

Diamond Throne is the Official fansite for AU/AE and can help give youa taste of things if you do not have the books handy, also you can buy PDFs of the book here.

Now if you're looking for Conan-style grit, I'd love to suggest Iron Heroes, by Mike Mearls, which is a very low magic setting, ala Conan, with an interesting combat system. It's Official fan site is Iron League.

Also, via Guardians of Order, there is the Game of Thrones, the Book of Ice and Fire, RPG. Obviously it is based on the works of George RR Martin, set in an excellent world, and was a very enjoyable RPG, odds are it can still be found on the market, even if, unfortunately, GoO is out of business.

Anyhow, those are my suggestions, your mileage may vary.

 

[painandgreed]

No elves or dwarves but I recommend Glen Cook's Black Company books. Follows the travels of a mercenary company as they work for an empire ruled by evil wizards and then switch to the resistance, and then explore the origins of their mercenary company. It's about as grit and anti-hero as you could want.

 

[Ron]

Black Company Campaign Setting
Hyborea
Nehwon
Thieves World
Dying Earth

All good choices, you cannot go wrong with any of them. However, I recommend you to read the books first and then the game supplement so that you will be more in tune with the setting.

 

[00Machado]

Is it bogus to suggest creating your own setting? I don't mean on any vast scale, but rather the skeleton of a setting to use and then let it take on a life of its own from there. Essentially, start building different things to replace what you don't like, until you have something that gives you the feel you're looking for.

If build vs. buy isn't for you, then I think the recommendations for Hyboria are good ones. I find it definitely has a different feel than tradition D&D, or Tolkien.

Haven't used the rules, and if you're not interested in the rules, you could just pick up the Road of Kings Supplement, read some stories, and use your rule system of choice.

 

[Skyman]

I'll second A Game of Thrones, if you don't mind the 'low fantasy' and humans only aspects of the setting. The game's well designed, and the books it's based on (A Song of Ice and Fire) are my favorite fantasies. Time called the author, George RR Martin, 'The American Tolkien', but stylistically he's pretty much the opposite.

It's quite gritty, and although the setting has some 'supernatural evils' it mainly focuses on human conflict. There are very few 'true heroes', and pretty much every character is flawed, with some definite antiheroes involved. Oh - and those antiheroes aren't just good guys who act rough, they've done bad things for real. The setting is very detailed and has plenty of areas for fun roleplaying. I've had a lot of fun with the RPG. The only case I'd not recommend it is if you want a really combat focused game (it'd be hard for the players to survive fight after fight) or want lots of fantastical elements.

If you want high-octane adventure but without the Tolkienesque setting, I'll also second Iron Heroes.

 

[Twowolves]

Black Company.

It oozes grit.


In a non-disgusting-sounding kinda way.

 

[airwalkrr]

Not really. I loved LotR when I was a kid, and JRR made a great contribution to the fantasy genre. However, I feel like fantasy in general, and fantasy RPG's in particular, have been copying his work ever since. I want to get away from the Tolkienesque fantasy tropes and play something different. I want evil elves! I want dwarves who don't wear beards! I want grit, and anti-heroes! Suggest something to me? Is it Conan? Is it Midnight? Is it Dark Sun? Dark Legacies? Thieve's World? If you've played these games, tell me what you like, what you don't like, and why. If you have any other dark fantasy settings, tell me about those too.

Greyhawk.

Evil elf: Keak
Dwarvf who doesn't wear beard: Cobb Darg (according to some reports)
Grit: Iuz, Scarlet Brotherhood, Turrosh Mak, Great Kingdom of Northern Aerdi, United Kingdom of Ahlissa, Iggwilv, Fraz 'urb Lu
Anti-Heroes: Warduke, Evard

That's just off the top of my head. Greyhawk is a pretty non-Tolkienesque setting. The similarities end with the fact that it has goblins, dwarves, elves, halflings, and dragons. Orcs in Greyhawk are not irrevocably evil, they just tend to be savage. Dwarves are merchants, and greedy ones at that. Elves are reclusive and don't get involved in wars, especially wars against great evils like Iuz (see Celene). There are assassins everywhere (Scarlet Brotherhood). Iuz as a simile for Sauron is the closest thing I can think of, but Iuz is beyond Sauron. He is an actual god on his plane. And there is no one ring that can defeat him. In fact, the gods themselves don't know how to defeat him. Wizards are plentiful (although not necessarily common) and there are schools of magic in every major city whereas in Middle Earth they are basically all outsiders. Druids are all connected through the Old Faith.

I don't see how that resembles Tolkien much at all. But if you want to do away with pretty much EVERYTHING that is iconic to D&D except the actual dungeon and the dragon, then go with MC's Arcana Evolved. The only thing it retains is humans.

 

[Meloncov]

I second Ebberon.

 

[sword-dancer]

Glorantha, Tekumel, WFRP,