Suggestions for vanilla campaign setting?

[harmyn]

I vote Greyhawk. It's the default setting, the book is full of history and tidbits of knowledge springled all about it, it was made with and for the "core" classes and races. Everything is designed to be run as is right from the go and there have been many different articles in Dragon Magazine over the years on it and many are the fans of the setting you can find to quiz if need be.

Just my random thoughts on it.

 

[DarrenGMiller]

I vote Greyhawk. It's the default setting, the book is full of history and tidbits of knowledge springled all about it, it was made with and for the "core" classes and races. Everything is designed to be run as is right from the go and there have been many different articles in Dragon Magazine over the years on it and many are the fans of the setting you can find to quiz if need be.

Just my random thoughts on it.

I would like to second the choice of Greyhawk. Some of the best maps available are the set of four for Greyhawk that were printed as poster maps and packaged with Dungeon recently.

DM

 

[DragonLancer]

Greyhawk, as others have said, would be a good choice. And I'd also suggest Scarred Lands if you avoid some of the later supplements.

 

[jdrakeh]

Greyhawk, as others have said, would be a good choice. And I'd also suggest Scarred Lands if you avoid some of the later supplements.

Scarred Lands isn't really 'vanilla', though - it's pretty far removed from settings like Greyhawk and Kalamar in terms of tone and subject matter (it is, after all a post-apocalypse fantasy setting for all intents and purposes).

 

[DragonLancer]

Scarred Lands isn't really 'vanilla', though - it's pretty far removed from settings like Greyhawk and Kalamar in terms of tone and subject matter (it is, after all a post-apocalypse fantasy setting for all intents and purposes).

Yes it is, but it was never taken to the extreme that it should have been. If you take the Ghelspad gaz you have a pretty basic setting that can be used with the core books alone.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

There is also Murchad's Legacy. http://www.parentsbasementgames.com/
It's written by a board member Biggus Geekus. He always has well thought out, or at least entertaining, comments on this board. He may even see this post and comment on the setting himself.

Ceresco, I love you.


Droopy,

Vanillia - Yeah, we got that. If you ignore the metaplot you can chuck pretty much anything into ML.
Maps - Check the site out, our maps are free as a gift to the children of the world. The cartography was done by Dr. Kulander who has a PhD in geophysics. Basically, our main map pwns.
Background - we got that too. There's about 10 cultures we go into. However we deliberately designed it so that two of them can be played by people who know nothing about the setting. Remeria is a huge empire, so the player can pretty much make up whatever he wants about it and it won't affect the game. Desolati is a barbaric place and that's where you start the guy who wants to play a half-orc with a dire flail that rides a giant lizard. So if you have players who really dig the setting, you start them in one of the other eight nations, if you have players that just want to roll dice and kill things, you say they are from one of those two places.

About the game:

PROS:
* Player driven metaplot. To my knowledge this is the only setting that does this (I welcome correction if I'm wrong). If you use the metaplot it advances as the players level and as game time passes. There's a couple of dozen things the players can do to push it back and they get to choose. Build castles, make alliances, kill orcs, recover magic items, it's their call.
* Integrated cultures. If nations are right next to each other, they have an effect on each other.
* Mechanics integrated into roleplay. There are starting cultural feats that are optional but a little overpowered to make them yummy. They all have associated penalties with them that showcase the rivalries between nations. So if you have a powergamer in your group who takes the Launhym feat because it's the most powerful, he'll still have that penalty when dealing with the rival nation of Calisia and that will remind the player to roleplay accordingly.

CONS
* Crappy layout. I'll be honest, this was my first time doing it and it shows.
* No support. You can email me at any time, but there are no support products. You see, while other game companies have writers who produce at the rate of 2,000 or even 4,000 words a day, at Parent's Basement Games, we handcraft every single letter! That's the quality we demand. As a result, our next product won't be out until next year.

Hope that helps!

 

[IronWolf]

I will cast another vote for Erde. I recently picked this setting up from Troll Lord's as a place to use instead of the Forgotten Realms. The world has a fantastic history and is very well detailed in the Codex of Erde book. But from that point forward it lets the DM figure out how to take it. The material is 3.0 based, but the focus of the book is on the campaign world and not the rules that it doesn't matter. Troll Lord is still running the promotion on their site, so you can get the main campaign book for $10 and the supporting modules if you are interested for a very good deal as well.

 

[rbrt_spade]

Go with Greyhawk. It was the first ever setting made for dnd. Its a grand world from evil Iuz to grand Greyhawk itself. Its your typicial wizards of the coast setting. The rules are written for it to. The Living Greyhawk Gazzetter is the book you need.

 

[Keith Robinson]

I am looking for suggestions on a campaign setting for new players that has the following characteristics:

1. Vanilla: I would like the setting to introduce as few new classes, races, spells, and monsters as possible. I think that getting the new players acclimated to 3.5 and the PHB may be tough enough without having to "unlearn" the core classes and races of standard 3.5

2. Good Maps: IMO excellent maps are a strong draw to new players.

3. Excellent -- but not too heavy -- history and backdrop: A simple and logical setting is best for newer players.

Feel free to add other characteristics you think would be useful to serve as ways to evaluate settings best for newer players.

Thanks for your help!

Hi Droopy,

You might want to consider taking a look at The Kyngdoms campaign setting. It seems to fit very nicely into your requirements and, what's more, you can check out the whole thing on our website for free (you can also purchase the book or pdf, should you wish to).

Of course, I'm biased, so go check out what people have been saying about it at our forums. Crothian also gave a good account of it in his 5 star review.

If you want any more information on the setting, just ask! I'd be happy to help where I can

Good luck!

 

[Nightfall]

Hey now! *takes up the shield and sword* Don't you go making it out that just because we STILL have humaniods it's a vanilla setting. We have PLENTY of monstrous humaniods rampaging around, magic that may or may not work, sorcerers on the lame along side some of their heretical cousins, the druids, being chased by clerics and paladins of ALL stripes (Good and evil clerics too!) because they don't want those stinking titans running around. And hello!! Blood Sea It's actuallly MADE of blood not just colored that way.

In any case I don't mind people suggesting SL. I just mind when they say "hey this is vanilla!" It's not. It's rocky road.