Rule of Three 6/13/2011: "semi-obscure but flavorful setting" in Dungeon and Dragon

[AbdulAlhazred]

Well, you could make a setting that was based on a map of the actual Earth. Just put the different civilizations in their respective locations. Make it a sort of fantasy 13th century. PCs can adventure anywhere, sailing to the Indian Ocean on 'Portuguese' ships, going to China, whatever. Maybe because of magic all the different civilizations have been linked for all of history and they're all near the same level of advancement. That would be a fun world. See, not everything has been done

 

[FireLance]

That would be a daily Utility. Or, it could work as a Skill Power based off the appropriate monster knowledge skill.

A utility power would indeed be more in line with the Sentinel druid's all-day buff spells, but I wanted it to be an option available to 1st-level rangers.

I think it would be less useful and too limiting if it was as a skill power tied to specific monster knowledge skills.

 

[Danzauker]

I'd sure like Spelljammer, Planescape, or Mystara, but I would't define them as "semi-obscure".

Besides the real big ones like FR, Ravenloft and DL, I always thought of these 3 settings (plus Dark Sun) as the major league.

Birthright I think is just a little less famous. I'd like to see it come back.

Al Qadim, would probably be my guess.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Al Qadim might work now that there will be Sha'irs, and there's the Assassin and Avenger classes in the mix. The rest can be handled by themes. And it's also another setting they can probably dump Genasi into, even if they didn't have much to do with the published setting before.

While some will argue the obscurity level of Planescape to qualify, don't you think that eventually they'd try to explore more of the factions in Dragon after that Mercykiller article?

 

[Incenjucar]

Planescape will no doubt continue to get a slow trickle of inclusion in many products. Something with a hint of PS in it has been in just about every book.

 

[wrecan]

My guess is Kara Tur this year in Dragon and, if well-received, Al Qadim next year in Dragon, and then Maztica, and then Anchorome.

And if Neverwinter Nights takes off, and they see it as a green light for more Forgotten Realms sub-settings, these might get moved to a hardback release.

That's my speculation anyway.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

My guess is Kara Tur this year in Dragon and, if well-received, Al Qadim next year in Dragon, and then Maztica, and then Anchorome.

And if Neverwinter Nights takes off, and they see it as a green light for more Forgotten Realms sub-settings, these might get moved to a hardback release.

That's my speculation anyway.

No offense intended, but I seriously hope you're wrong on your prediction.

Been there, done that. It was called 2nd Edition

Kitchen sink settings were boring and derivative then, and they are now. They should have stopped at Greyhawk - you really only need one setting like that.

 

[Jhaelen]

Al Qadim might work now that there will be Sha'irs, and there's the Assassin and Avenger classes in the mix.

It could also be Kara-Tur, since the elemental book also includes the Shugenja. The elementalist could well be used as a basis for the Wu-Jen.

What else do we need? ninjas, samurai, kensai (?), shaman, ...

I guess the first two could easily be implemented using themes, kensai is a paragon path, and we also already have shamans.

 

[Zaran]

I can see Kara-Tur just because it is a bit obscure and can be a stepping zone into a larger Oriental Adventures type setting. Plus, that type of setting is popular to alot of fans and it wouldn't cost alot in licensing. Everything seems to be a business decision these days with them trying to give us something at least some of us want, while not spending alot of money to do it.

 

[Shroomy]

According to Greg Bilsands twitter feed, the DDI magazines will feature an upcoming Kara-Tur themed month. I can't wait for more reasons than one!