D&D General A Chart of D&D Campaign Worlds (v 3.0)

[Lanefan]

There was a minute or two when I deleted the old one and added the new one. Check again and let me know - I think it is there.

Yep, it's there - trust me to look for it at the one moment it wasn't.

 

[Parmandur]

Oh, just in case, which are the licensed settings. I'm assuming Conan/Red Sonja, Lankhmar, Rokugan, Diablo, Wheel of Time, and Exandria? What about Pelinore?

Yes, all of those for sure. Pelinore is weird, and I'm unclear whether anybody anywhere actually owns it anymore, or is it in abandonware Limbo...?

I also originally had the Plane Shift PDFs in the Magic row, but got rid of them when I separated them. I don't want to have a single row for each of the planeshifts, but maybe I'll add one for "Misc. Magic planes."

Well, the DMsGuild divides them into four categories:

• Ravnica
• Theros
• Arcavios (Strixhaven)
• Plane Shift

The Planeshift one combines all the Setting documents and at least one Adventure, from those miscellaneous worlds.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

You could argue that Hollow World and much more so Red Steel/Savage Coast are separate. In fact I bought Red Steel not knowing it was part of Mystara’s Known World at the time I bought it. The tie in to Mystara in the original box was left nebulous.

 

[Mercurius]

You could argue that Hollow World and much more so Red Steel/Savage Coast are separate. In fact I bought Red Steel not knowing it was part of Mystara’s Known World at the time I bought it. The tie in to Mystara in the original box was left nebulous.

I hear you, but...

The Hollow World box set said "The Known World, it is not flat but it is hollow..." on the cover.

And wasn't the Savage Coast (and thus Red Steel) always part of the Known World, going back to the original 1985 module? Seems like a clear case of expansion rather than separate setting, even from the beginning.

 

[Parmandur]

I hear you, but...

The Hollow World box set said "The Known World, it is not flat but it is hollow..." on the cover.

And wasn't the Savage Coast (and thus Red Steel) always part of the Known World, going back to the original 1985 module? Seems like a clear case of expansion rather than separate setting, even from the beginning.

It's kind of like Kara-Tur or Al'Qadim, I would think: the same world, but treated as seperate product lines. Somewhat fuzzy...

 

[Mercurius]

It's kind of like Kara-Tur or Al'Qadim, I would think: the same world, but treated as seperate product lines. Somewhat fuzzy...

But remember the rule I'm employing: It depends upon how it was presented when it came out. Savage Coast and Hollow World were, from the beginning, presented as part of the Known World/Mystara; Al-Qadim and Kara-Tur were initially presented as autonomous settings and later ret-conned to the Realms, unlike the Horde and Maztica, which were always considered part of the Realms.

 

[Parmandur]

But remember the rule I'm employing: It depends upon how it was presented when it came out. Savage Coast and Hollow World were, from the beginning, presented as part of the Known World/Mystara; Al-Qadim and Kara-Tur were initially presented as autonomous settings and later ret-conned to the Realms, unlike the Horde and Maztica, which were always considered part of the Realms.

But by that standard, Al'Qadim wouldn't count, because it was originally a part of the Forgotten Realms...?

 

[Mercurius]

But by that standard, Al'Qadim wouldn't count, because it was originally a part of the Forgotten Realms...?

Are you sure? I don't have the book anymore - does it actually say that Zakhara is on Toril? It doesn't have the Realms logo, and my impression is that was designed as an autonomous setting that could be in the FR if you want it. AFAIR, it was only made officially part of Toril later on, but I could be wrong.

EDIT: I just checked, an the first Kara-Tur box set, Maztica, and Horde all had the Forgotten Realms logo (though Kara-Tur started as autonomous in the 1E Oriental Adventures a few years before), while Al-Qadim was branded as autonomous. I think that is enough to push it over the edge, at least for the purpose of this chart.

 

[Parmandur]

Are you sure? I don't have the book anymore - does it actually say that Zakhara is on Toril? It doesn't have the Realms logo, and my impression is that was designed as an autonomous setting that could be in the FR if you want it. AFAIR, it was only made officially part of Toril later on, but I could be wrong.

EDIT: I just checked, an the first Kara-Tur box set, Maztica, and Horde all had the Forgotten Realms logo (though Kara-Tur started as autonomous in the 1E Oriental Adventures a few years before), while Al-Qadim was branded as autonomous. I think that is enough to push it over the edge, at least for the purpose of this chart.

From chapter 1 of the first product, Arabian Adventures:

"Zakhara can exist virtually anywhere that a fantasy “Arabia” might be. Its official location is the uncharted territory south of Faerun and southwest of Kara-Tur in the FORGOTTEN REALMS® campaign setting, enabling players to expand their adventures in the Realms."

So, having their cake and eating it, too. But it's the Realms from day one, same ad the Hollow World and the Savage Coast.

I would think for maximum utility in understanding the history of Setting support in D&D breaking out the Hollow World and Savage Coast product lines would be fruitful.

 

[Mercurius]

From chapter 1 of the first product, Arabian Adventures:

"Zakhara can exist virtually anywhere that a fantasy “Arabia” might be. Its official location is the uncharted territory south of Faerun and southwest of Kara-Tur in the FORGOTTEN REALMS® campaign setting, enabling players to expand their adventures in the Realms."

So, having their cake and eating it, too. But it's the Realms from day one, same ad the Hollow World and the Savage Coast.

I would think for maximum utility in understanding the history of Setting support in D&D breaking out the Hollow World and Savage Coast product lines would be fruitful.

Let me think on it. Unfortunately there's no clear demarcation, a line which we can say all settings on this side are sub-settings and all on the other side are separate. I mean, what separates Al-Qadim from Maztica? Pretty much only the FR logo.

It makes just as much sense to fold all the sub-settings into their parent setting, with the lone exception of Kara-Tur, because it is the only one that started fully autonomously. On the other hand, the end result is that Kara-Tur is no different than Al-Qadim or Maztica or Savage Coast or Hollow World, and if all of those should have a separate row, why not the Horde? And so on.