Arcanis or Scarred Lands - Help me decide

[Leatherfut]

Hi All,
I'm in the market for a new fantasy setting and these two really interest me. I've read reviews and forum threads, downloaded free stuff that I could find and they both sound really cool, but I can't decide which I like more.

Here's where I'm coming from:
- I won't be using d20 so rules aren't a concern (unless a book has so many rules that it won't be worth it to get)
- I'm not much into dungeon crawls. I want character development, intrigue, investigation, roleplaying, politics, and of course, ass-kicking
- I want my game to be humanocentric, not devoid of the other races but they should have there own homes away from the human settlements and should be an uncommon sight
- Setting that I either have already read or have rejected for whatever reason include: Glorantha, Ebberron, Kalamar, Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk

ARCANIS
pros: -seems to be easier to make humanocentric
-I like the Rome-like country
-Freeport is built into the setting
-All those free adventures on line
cons: - I'm still not getting a good enough sense of the setting and what sets it apart

SCARRED LANDS
pros: - The central theme concerning the aftermath of the war against the titans and gods seems really cool
- I know that it is no longer supported but the supps that exist seem to be very strong
cons: - I get the sense that the fantasy races are more ubiquitous in this setting and may be harder for me to tweak into human dominated society.

So let me know what you think of the main setting books and the lines in general. Any help is greatly appreciated

happy gaming,
frank

 

[Sunaj2k3]

Arcanis--Points to ponder....

As someone who has played Living Arcanis, I would strongly recommend the system.

You say you "want character development, intrigue, investigation, roleplaying, politics, and of course, ass-kicking". I would say Arcanis delivers on all of those fronts. The countries, such as Coryan or Canceri, definitely have a flavor to them and an inhabitant of one is not a cookie cutter cutout of another. The intrigues and struggles of the countries and groups of the setting drive most of the conflict and storylines.

Take magic. Magic of Arcanis not only gives you hundreds of new spells, but introduces the "cold war" between the wielders of the art and the foul Harvesters of Ymandragore with prestige classes and a simple rule system that will cause your casters to think twice about flashy displays of magic in public.

Arcanis is one of the few settings where I actually thought about the consequences of what my character did after playing mods within it.
Pick up Year of Ill Harvest. It contains an arc of adventures designed to take characters from 1st to 5th level. One of the adventures within is called Bargains of Spirit and Flesh. Even if you don't like to run canned stuff, Bargains is one of the better adventures I've been in--if it fails to move you, then I don't know what good adventure writing is.

As for distinctive places for different races, check out Ssethregore. Not only does the book enable you to turn lizardmen from ho-hum to something to be feared, it provides a setting that can be used in any campaign and gives the the lizardmen a mindset that makes for some unusual roleplaying.

As for flavor, that's something that's hard to put into words. Arcanis is different--not Eberron, lets mix steampunk and dnd different, but a different mindset and approach to design different. If you like hack and slash, but want something that can really make you think on occasion, try Arcanis out.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I never tried out Arcanis


I liked the Scarred Lands books I got. My one and only problem with them is that they had material referenced across several books. So you'd read about a monster in book A and the stats for it would be in book B.

A solid game setting though.

 

[Crothian]

Arcanis books are easier to use. They have better layout and I can find things in them.

 

[Leatherfut]

Pick up Year of Ill Harvest. It contains an arc of adventures designed to take characters from 1st to 5th level. One of the adventures within is called Bargains of Spirit and Flesh. Even if you don't like to run canned stuff, Bargains is one of the better adventures I've been in--if it fails to move you, then I don't know what good adventure writing is.

Does the book exist? I've heard mention of it, but I don't see it for sale on any of the on-line stores. That's another item in the con box for Arcanis, Paradigm Concepts has one of the most frustrating websites evar.

 

[TavernBrawler]

I enjoyed the Titan mythology and theme of the Scarred Lands.

I agree it would be tough to make them human-centric unless
you focused on Calastia (sp?) or maybe Shelzar (sp?).

 

[SavageRobby]

I'm a big Scarred Lands fan. I have most of the supplements for it, and its a kick-ass, gritty, grimy setting. Its got a lot of politics and overland travel potential (most of our first SL campaign was overland travel), and can be as light on the dungeon crawling as you care to make it. If you like that kind of thing, it might be for you.

I don't think it would be that hard to translate the non-humans out. You can minimize most of them, and the more dominant ones (like the Charduni) you could simply substitute a human sub-race.



I don't know anything about Arcanis. However, based on the description of what you like and are looking for, you might also check out the Wilderlands, especially the newer version.

 

[Leatherfut]

However, based on the description of what you like and are looking for, you might also check out the Wilderlands, especially the newer version.

Hmm, from the reviews and discussion of the Wilderlands I get an old school, hack-n-slash, monster in every hex of the map, kind of feel. Am I missing something there?

Thanks for your opinions everyone


Frank

 

[jdrakeh]

SCARRED LANDS

- I know that it is no longer supported but the supps that exist seem to be very strong

And Noble Night Games is selling nearly every product in the line, new, at a rediculous discount.

cons: - I get the sense that the fantasy races are more ubiquitous in this setting and may be harder for me to tweak into human dominated society.

This shouldn't be an issue at all, really. Though fantasy races are commonplace, scaling them back should be easy enough (it's worth noting that the fantasy races in Scarred Lands are slightly different than those in the PHB, as well -- the CC Revised contains an appendix with the 3.5 stats for these races).

 

[Voadam]

I am familiar with the Scarred Lands but not so much with Arcanis.

For Scarred Lands I would suggest the Ghelspad Gazeteer, the 40 page guide to the base campaign continent. It has no rule mechanics but a great intro to the kingdoms and history. It is evocative and enough to run a campaign IMO.

As far as the races, the kingdoms are mostly human dominated, though there are large areas of "titanspawn" hostiles. Dwarves have one major kingdom (embattled on two fronts), elves were devastated by the loss of their god, halflings have been mostly conquered by an evil empire, and gnomes are nonexistent on the mainland as far as I can tell. There is an orc barbarian land and opportunities for half-orcs. Most places are human dominated (Mithril, Hollowfaust, Virduk's empire, etc.)

The god book, the Divine and the Defeated, is great, as are the monster books. The magic books might not be useful if not using 3e, but they ooze campaign flavor and lore. I haven't read the class books but the prestige classes look to be strongly tied things to the setting, useful for info on organizations and world philosophies if nothing else.