D&D 4E What Kinds of Settings do You Want to See for 4E?

[Wyrmshadows]

What type of settings, from vanilla fantasy like Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk (pseudo-european with knights, maidens, Tolkien tropes and standard D&Disms), quite distinctive fantasy like Midnight, Conan D20 (referring to the Hyborian setting and not the variant rule set) and Dawnforge or really unique fantasy settings like Dark Sun Nyambe, Al Qadim or Oriental Adventures (L5R)?

Personally I am in favor of settings with a strong character and feel such as Midnight and Nyambe where I cannot mistake the game I running on these settings with a FR game. Personally, though it has taken me awhile, I have grown very tired of vanilla D&D fantasy. I am tired of settings I can hot swap with one another and with only slight modification not even notice the difference between them in regards to basic assumptions.

When I am DMing a published setting, I want to feel like I am not just DMing another FR, GH, rip off...I want it to have its own soul built in so that my players can notice "We're not in Kansas anymore Toto." Derivative is fine, I'm not looking for the alien of Tekumel (empire of the Petal Throne) which IMO can make things burdensome but instead 3rd party settings that take a familiar idea and turn it on its head. Good examples are Midnight's spin on a post Sauron middle earth type of setting, Conan's Hyboria with its grittiness and distinctness (there aren't inns run by beholders or demon-people walking around with no one really caring) or Dawnforge with its ancient world/age of heroes assumptions. Give me some non-european settings too where I feel like I am DMing in fantasy Asia (L5R), Tribal Africa (Nyambe), Egypt (Hamunaptra), the ancient Middle East (Testament), etc.

I want settings from 3rd party publishers with a heart and soul of their own. And I don't think that real flavor is merely taking D&D pseudo-europe and tossing in some weird races such as tieflings and dragonborn. A unique setting builds the rules around itself so that the rules serve the setting and the atmosphere and not the other way around.

I don't expect WoTC to create these kinds of settings because they are in the buisness of selling core books and it would be bad buisness sense to create setting that don't use all the core material but I know that 3rd party publishers have the freedom to create without core book sales as their overriding concern. I hope to see some innovative and unique settings for 4e.

Feel free to discuss.



Wyrmshadows

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I am hoping for much tighter, more thematic settings.

I grow tired sometimes of having settings where EVERYTHING is in existence and every, single-kind of magic, ability, etc. exists but have no relation to eachother or the rest of the world.

I would very much prefer worlds, where they give set reasons for various things, and a nice tight, flowing background as to why the world is this way. I don't really care if this means somethings are left out or changed.

 

[Wyrmshadows]

I am hoping for much tighter, more thematic settings.

I grow tired sometimes of having settings where EVERYTHING is in existence and every, single-kind of magic, ability, etc. exists but have no relation to eachother or the rest of the world.

I would very much prefer worlds, where they give set reasons for various things, and a nice tight, flowing background as to why the world is this way. I don't really care if this means somethings are left out or changed.

QFT

Thematic...that's what I was getting at. Thematic settings where things are integrated one with another so it all works as a believable whole.



Wyrmshadows

 

[Ruin Explorer]

really unique fantasy settings like Dark Sun Nyambe, Al Qadim or Oriental Adventures (L5R)?

To me, Nyambe, Al Qadim, and OA are the opposite of "really unique", because they're basically all just "take culture X and make it mythic". Whilst AQ was pretty superb, I think 99% of that stuff just bores me senseless and is absolutely not "unique" in my view.

Dark Sun, on the other hand, is a good example of a tight, original, unique setting. Indeed, it's extremely rare, because it excludes a large amount of "generic" D&D stuff, including most races, many classes, and a huge number of animals and monsters.

So, yeah, I'd like to see more of "really unique" settings like Dark Sun, rather than either "quasi-medieval" settings. I can't really describe them, because a big part of the thrill would be that they were new to me, and original and exciting.

I could stand to see ONE quasi-European-medieval setting, though - one, which rather like Artesia, was actually kind of medieval, y'know grim and unfortunate. No clearly "good" societies, evil not done so much by monsters as by men (the monsters should be rare and the "big bads" most likely to be powerful humans rather than demons, or evil gods or bad dragons or full-on liches or whatever), lots of internecine warfare between the nations, and so on. The focus would be on human evil (albeit perhaps empowered by the supernatural), rather than supernatural/monstrous evil. That's kind of how I run the FR anyway, but I'd love to see something more grim and gritty, and intelligent and well-developed. Preferably where cliches like "adventuring is a profession!" were NOT the case, and adventurers were seen as smelly vagabonds and dangerous hooligans, and magic items weren't on sale in the shops. Definately like to see Elves and Dwarves either extremely rare or gone from such a setting. Tieflings and other "quasi-human" races might fit, though.

A big crazy city campaign setting much like New Corbuzon in China Mieville's Perdido Street Station. I imagine Ptolus is a bit like this, but it's built on 3E's assumptions and Monte claims he's out of the industry. So something Ptolus like would get my wallet ready to empty, if of similar quality and level of crazy.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I would actually really like to see some city-settings as well, or atleast a good source-book to outline and give examples on how to run a city-campaign/setting properly.

The issue with city campaigns I think, is just like with other campaigns, you got the idea but where should you take it, for example for the city... It could be Eberron-esque magical technology, steampunkish, wholly medieval, etc.

 

[Gundark]

Like I said in the "too many settings" thread I DON'T want to see a ton of FR/Greyhawk clones.

Even Dawnforge is too close to vanilla.

Dark Sun, Midnight, Iron Kingdoms, even Spelljammer are examples of things I'd like to see more of.

There has to be a premise that grabs my attention and say "HEY playing in this world is where you want to be". I need to feel that the setting is giving me something that I couldn't get in boring setting #57.

 

[The Ubbergeek]

To me, Nyambe, Al Qadim, and OA are the opposite of "really unique", because they're basically all just "take culture X and make it mythic". Whilst AQ was pretty superb, I think 99% of that stuff just bores me senseless and is absolutely not "unique" in my view.

Perhaps, but it bring a sad bit on D&D.... That D&D is all too often associated with pseudo-european, faux medieval settings. It's always a pseudo europe or somewhat "white" fantasy, with popular 'exotic' locales added, like a faux arabia or japan.

D&D NEEDS such alternative settings based on otehr cultures - Nyambe was indeed cool, as it take ideas from the very rarely used world of 'black Africa'. If at least to take new inspirations, and maybe it will drag in 'non-white' gamers...

Personaly, I'd love a neo-Nyambe, or an Indian-like one.

 

[Incenjucar]

I'd like to see a series of "Setting Packages." Not actual campaigns so much as tools to create styles of campaign.

Dark Sun isn't the only way to do "Dying World," OA isn't the only way to bring in Asian influences, Planescape and Spelljammer aren't the only ways to do off-world adventures, etc.

 

[tombowings]

I'd like to see a series of "Setting Packages." Not actual campaigns so much as tools to create styles of campaign.

Dark Sun isn't the only way to do "Dying World," OA isn't the only way to bring in Asian influences, Planescape and Spelljammer aren't the only ways to do off-world adventures, etc.

I know I would buy those books. Sounds much more fun than a standard setting. That said, it won't be everyone's cup of tea.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

I want to see Dark Sun for 4E. I think the flavor, the psionics, and much of the setting's mechanics would meld really nicely with 4E.

And, no, I am not kidding. I don't know that I like either Dark Sun or 4E alone, but together? I would like to play in that!