What do you think the new setting will be, from Ampersand?

[JPL]

Well, I'd like to see a fresh attempt at Oriental Adventures.

Seems like some of the old properties are just too similar to what's been done already. I can't see a 4th edition Greyhawk game session as playing much differently than a 4th edition Realms session.

Planescape will be adequately addressed by the Manual of the Planes + DMGII. Not ideally, but adequately.

Were I a betting man, I'd bet on Dark Sun. Very different vibe, works with Points of Light, and it's been dormant for many a year.

 

[Verys Arkon]

I'll echo the prediction that Dark Sun is the next setting released.

Rather than try and deal with the later releases in the 2e version, I'd suggest rewinding the clock a few years, or centuries, before the original boxed set, with a page or two describing a different era of play for those interested.

In Star War Saga Edition, there are distinct eras of play - it works there, it could here too though more limited in scope. That way, the canon purists and those that want to incorporate all the 2e material can get along and we can avoid the FR debates.

Second choice would be to design a new setting from scratch, but really push the boundaries. Skip vanilla fantasy - you've got FR already.

 

[Shadowsong666]

Why not Greyhawk as token of WoTCs esteem for the passed away Gygax? Ok, he wasn't a fan of 4e, right? But that wouldn't be the point.

Well here are some facts then:

In the Manual of the Planes Oerth and Krynn get mentioned unter "The World" (page 7) and "The World Axis Cosmology" (page 12).
Athas has just an entry on page 12.

If thats not really telling you whats coming i don't know what to say.

 

[JPL]

I think they'll just straight-up reboot Dark Sun rather than continue the previous timeline. Not sure where I'm getting that hunch. My sense is that Dark Sun was more about the feel than the specific people / places /events. Better to just reimagine, and build it to better fit the new rules. Get the dragonborn in there from Day 1, that sort of thing.

 

[Wolfwood2]

I think they'll just straight-up reboot Dark Sun rather than continue the previous timeline. Not sure where I'm getting that hunch. My sense is that Dark Sun was more about the feel than the specific people / places /events. Better to just reimagine, and build it to better fit the new rules. Get the dragonborn in there from Day 1, that sort of thing.

I agree. Other than a few magazine articles, Dark Sun has been out of print for a long time now. Coming back and starting fresh seems like a good idea.


I think the important things to keep are:

• A harsh world of city-states ruled by Dragon Kings (epic level tyrants) separated by nearly unliveable wilderness
• A world where slavery, murder, and betrayal of anyone who is not part of your people are the accepted way of doing things
• A sense that the world has faded from a green past to harsh deserts, with accompanying old ruins buried in the sands of time

I would do away with:

• The whole Preserver/Defiler business; wizards arent special anymore, and there are plenty of classes that manipulate magic in some way or another [1]
• The detailed backstory on how things got to be the way they are; all you need to know is that the world used to be Awesome and now it's Messed Up

[1] Alternately you could make Preservers and Defilers still exist, but completely independent of class. Anyone can choose to Defile for power if they know the trick.

 

[Nymrohd]

I see a lot of people want Dark Sun. Don't get me wrong it is a great setting and you can have a lot of fun with it, but I don't think it is a good choice of a setting to release until near the end of 4E. Dark Sun will either have to be mutilated or will simply not support the vast majority of 4E concepts. All the races are drastically redefined there, very few of the classic monsters exist there, the concept of dragon is entirely different. Greyhawk, Dragonlance, heck even Spelljammer, fit far better with 4E concepts.

And I'd rather not have a setting that is named Dark Sun yet shares little of the original lore, even if it keeps some of the setting concepts intact.

 

[TheWyrd]

I feel like DarkSun would be a great opportunity to really play with the power sources of 4e. Psionics would go in as is and Elemental would likely replace Divine. Rather than arcane, you could do Preserver and Defiler power sources.. and of course include a mechanic for switching back and forth. Maybe Preserver/Defiler is the same power source and the defining portion of the source's classes (like all divine have the channel divinity) involves switching back and forth.

 

[Dedekind]

Psionics would go in as is and Elemental would likely replace Divine. Rather than arcane, you could do Preserver and Defiler power sources.. and of course include a mechanic for switching back and forth.

Probably not a bad idea, but it seems they are committed to making everything that is core also fit in their settings. I know that was the philosophy on Eberron and I think it was the case for FR. So, Divine would have to be included with these parameters.

 

[Vayden]

Oriental Adventure! Oriental Adventure! Oriental Adventure!

(By which I mean an original and good Asian themed setting. If they do Rokugan again I may have to disembowel myself with a spoon.)

Samurai! Monk! Ninja! Owlbear! (huh?)

 

[TwinBahamut]

I think we are likely to see Dark Sun, Oriental Adventures, or something totally new. I think I would be happy with any of those three.

I really don't know much about Dark Sun at all, other than the fact that it is popular and different, and I think those are strong qualities for anything coming after the Realms and Eberron. Any form of well-known, "vanilla" fantasy will be a hard sell for the next few years after those two giants, so something that stands out is most likely next. As such, I doubt we will see Dragonlance for a few years yet.

As for Oriental Adventures, I am hoping that when we get such a thing it will be a totally new version of such a setting, not a remake of Kara-Tur and certainly not Rokugan.

Most of all, though, I really want to see the other two finalists of the Setting Search.