Bendris Noulg
First Post
Good luck holdin' him to it... I've been trying to get more input from him on mine for over a year.
Best D20 non-WotC Campaign Setting?
- Thread starter Bluemoon
- Start date
Eosin the Red
First Post
Here is my dibble...
Birthright
Midnight
Wheel of Time
Kalamar
My gaming life is getting schizophrenic with all the great choices.
Birthright
Midnight
Wheel of Time
Kalamar
My gaming life is getting schizophrenic with all the great choices.
Starman
Adventurer
I'll throw in another vote for Midnight. I have read the book a few times since I have purchased it and I am more and more inspired each time I read it. I will be starting a Midnight campaign in a few weeks and I am more excited about role-playing than I have been in a long time.
As for support, only the core book is out now, but there are several in the pipeline. Against the Shadow will offer more feats, p-classes, heroic path options, and a ton of other goodies. It should be out soon. June, I believe is when Crown of Shadow will be out. It is an adventure taking 1st level characters to 5th and is set up to introduce players to the many cool (and different than standard D&D setting) things in Midnight. There is a monster book (the name currently escapes me) slated for July, I think.
I can't stress enough how cool Midnight is. In fact, I would nominate it for BEST. CAMPAIGN. SETTING. EVAR!
Starman
As for support, only the core book is out now, but there are several in the pipeline. Against the Shadow will offer more feats, p-classes, heroic path options, and a ton of other goodies. It should be out soon. June, I believe is when Crown of Shadow will be out. It is an adventure taking 1st level characters to 5th and is set up to introduce players to the many cool (and different than standard D&D setting) things in Midnight. There is a monster book (the name currently escapes me) slated for July, I think.
I can't stress enough how cool Midnight is. In fact, I would nominate it for BEST. CAMPAIGN. SETTING. EVAR!
Starman
Last edited:
Impeesa
Explorer
The Warcraft world, all the way. I can't wait for the setting book to come out - finally, it's so close! 
I think it'd make a great rpg setting for the same reasons Robotech does - it has a number of major conflicts spanning a decent length of time, and plenty of detailed stuff in between. By the nature of the source material, the story and major conflicts focus as much on the common soldier as the major NPCs. I plan to run a campaign starting right from the opening of the dark portal and going (hopefully) all the way through the events of the Burning Legion invasion and its aftermath.
--Impeesa--
I think it'd make a great rpg setting for the same reasons Robotech does - it has a number of major conflicts spanning a decent length of time, and plenty of detailed stuff in between. By the nature of the source material, the story and major conflicts focus as much on the common soldier as the major NPCs. I plan to run a campaign starting right from the opening of the dark portal and going (hopefully) all the way through the events of the Burning Legion invasion and its aftermath. --Impeesa--
baseballfury
First Post
Whatever setting you choose, you should also pick up the Freeport hardback from Green Ronin. It's a city you can drop into any campaign world and it's really well done. Also has its own line of adventures and sourcebooks.
Midnight, Wheel of Time, and Arcana Unearthed are (or will be) all great, but they all diverge pretty far from the core D&D rules. They all use only a few classes from D&D, if any, and completely replace the magic system. I mention this because you said the following:
Of all the settings recommended so far, these three all take a similar approach to heavily modifying the rules to better capture the feel of the world. How important, really, is this criteria to you? Perhaps you should reconsider, as it would open up more great options.
Anyway, here's how Kalamar relates to your needs, as I think it is a close fit just based from what you say:
Kalamar has very good support, as do many of the other settings mentioned. I think that Scarred Lands and Kalamar probably have the most supplemental material available out of those mentioned so far, with Scarred Lands edging ahead here for add-on rules material and Kalamar leading for module support.
This is where Iron Kingdoms kind of falls flat. Unfortunately the publishers of this setting are very, very, very, very slow at getting stuff out. The main setting book isn't even out yet after several years of quasi-vaporware status. It's a shame, because this setting has a lot of great potential.
The Kalamar Campaign Setting has almost no rules in it at all. It puts a lot of emphasis on the various cultures and civilizations of the world and I think they really come alive well. If you want rules, you can get the Kalamar Player's Guide which has both more setting content, such as religious canons, and also rules material.
I would venture to say that only Greyhawk is easier to play with the straight core rules than Kalamar, but Greyhawk isn't really supported very well. As mentioned before, the Kalamar setting book is playable straight up with no extra rules at all -- you could even run it easily in a different game system if you wanted (several people do exactly that).
The six human races have similarities to various real world cultures, but are all unique and different so that you can't pigeon-hole them easily into real world counterparts. Of the cultural groups you mention, they are all represented except for Asian although there are a few rumors of another distant land across the ocean, so you could splice in Rokugan, Kara-Tur, or similar as a foreign land. One potential issue if you really like demi-humans is that demi-humans are pretty isolated in Kalamar. While all of the demi-humans are there and have their impact, humans are definitely in control of the world and take center stage.
One of Kalamar's greatest strengths is it's political depth. There is a delicate power balance and all kinds of intrigue happening. The whole world is kind of like Europe right before World War I, just waiting for a spark to set it off.
In many settings, politics are oversimplified by too much of a reliance on D&D's alignment system. I think that Forgotten Realms is an example of this. You know who most of the "good guys" and "bad guys" are. In Kalamar it's a lot more ambiguous, like in the real world. Nations struggle over conflicting interests, failed diplomacy, and to gain political and economic power. They don't usually oppose each other just because one of them is evil and one of them is good. Alignment is actually pretty much irrelevant at the political level.
Scarred Lands has a strong theme of gods intervening in affairs and great powerful magic shaping history. Kalamar takes a more low magic approach, with the primary things that shape history being more pragmatic matters, like economics, warfare, and politics. The gods of Kalamar are more likely to work through their agents than directly intervene (although there are definitely exceptions). One setting is shaped by magic, the other uses magic more as a seasoning.
You should just pick up the books and flip through them and see if you can get a feel for what the two worlds are like. In the end I think it will just be the one that reaches out, grabs you, and feels right that works best.
Of all the settings recommended so far, these three all take a similar approach to heavily modifying the rules to better capture the feel of the world. How important, really, is this criteria to you? Perhaps you should reconsider, as it would open up more great options.
Anyway, here's how Kalamar relates to your needs, as I think it is a close fit just based from what you say:
Kalamar has very good support, as do many of the other settings mentioned. I think that Scarred Lands and Kalamar probably have the most supplemental material available out of those mentioned so far, with Scarred Lands edging ahead here for add-on rules material and Kalamar leading for module support.
This is where Iron Kingdoms kind of falls flat. Unfortunately the publishers of this setting are very, very, very, very slow at getting stuff out. The main setting book isn't even out yet after several years of quasi-vaporware status. It's a shame, because this setting has a lot of great potential.
The Kalamar Campaign Setting has almost no rules in it at all. It puts a lot of emphasis on the various cultures and civilizations of the world and I think they really come alive well. If you want rules, you can get the Kalamar Player's Guide which has both more setting content, such as religious canons, and also rules material.
I would venture to say that only Greyhawk is easier to play with the straight core rules than Kalamar, but Greyhawk isn't really supported very well. As mentioned before, the Kalamar setting book is playable straight up with no extra rules at all -- you could even run it easily in a different game system if you wanted (several people do exactly that).
The six human races have similarities to various real world cultures, but are all unique and different so that you can't pigeon-hole them easily into real world counterparts. Of the cultural groups you mention, they are all represented except for Asian although there are a few rumors of another distant land across the ocean, so you could splice in Rokugan, Kara-Tur, or similar as a foreign land. One potential issue if you really like demi-humans is that demi-humans are pretty isolated in Kalamar. While all of the demi-humans are there and have their impact, humans are definitely in control of the world and take center stage.
One of Kalamar's greatest strengths is it's political depth. There is a delicate power balance and all kinds of intrigue happening. The whole world is kind of like Europe right before World War I, just waiting for a spark to set it off.
In many settings, politics are oversimplified by too much of a reliance on D&D's alignment system. I think that Forgotten Realms is an example of this. You know who most of the "good guys" and "bad guys" are. In Kalamar it's a lot more ambiguous, like in the real world. Nations struggle over conflicting interests, failed diplomacy, and to gain political and economic power. They don't usually oppose each other just because one of them is evil and one of them is good. Alignment is actually pretty much irrelevant at the political level.
Scarred Lands has a strong theme of gods intervening in affairs and great powerful magic shaping history. Kalamar takes a more low magic approach, with the primary things that shape history being more pragmatic matters, like economics, warfare, and politics. The gods of Kalamar are more likely to work through their agents than directly intervene (although there are definitely exceptions). One setting is shaped by magic, the other uses magic more as a seasoning.
You should just pick up the books and flip through them and see if you can get a feel for what the two worlds are like. In the end I think it will just be the one that reaches out, grabs you, and feels right that works best.
Gez
First Post
Fav non-WotC settings:
1° Homebrews.
2° Scarred Lands. While I don't play nor DM it, it's a good source of inspiration for taking ideas. Plus, it's the default D&D setting of D20 Mag (Terres Balafrées is the translation of Scarred Lands).
3° Dragonstar. I'd like to play it one day, it really seems fun.
I must admit my knowledge of Oathbound, the Hunt or Midnight, is limited; and I know only basics about Kalamar and Witchfire.
I'll also say I like Wyre from Sep's story hour (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, the cast).
1° Homebrews.
2° Scarred Lands. While I don't play nor DM it, it's a good source of inspiration for taking ideas. Plus, it's the default D&D setting of D20 Mag (Terres Balafrées is the translation of Scarred Lands).
3° Dragonstar. I'd like to play it one day, it really seems fun.
I must admit my knowledge of Oathbound, the Hunt or Midnight, is limited; and I know only basics about Kalamar and Witchfire.
I'll also say I like Wyre from Sep's story hour (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, the cast).
Darrin Drader
Explorer
Throw in yet another one for Oathbound. Yes, I've been working on it pretty much since the beginning. Well, close to the beginning anyway.
What's cool about Oathbound is that it has everything. Want a dingeon crawl? Go to the wrack. Want to recover lost civilization? Go to the ruin. Want politics? Oh yeah baby, we got politics - Bloodlords, warlords, the Black Flock. Heck, you can do all that without even leaving the city of Penance. Then there's all the races. Oathbound is all about the races. Sure, you can still be a human, elf, or dwarf, but you can also be a faust, a dover, a silver, or any one of over a dozen others. Oathbound is pretty much anything goes, and the setting is geared towards high level play. In addition to this, each book contains an adventure, each one of which ties in closely with the rest of the world. There is no such thing as a simple adventure in any of the Oathbound books. They all have some sort of signifficance with regards to the setting.
OK, so to give credit where credit is due, I also like the Scarred Lands. I have nearly all the books they've put out so far and they do an excellent job on them. It's also cool to know that the Creature Collection was one of the first D20 books out there on the market.
Midnight. As if I can say anything no one else has said. My copy showed up a week ago and I'm pretty impressed with it. In fact, were I not so busy working on Oathbound stuff, I would definitely contact FFG to see if there were any way for me to jump onboard and do some freelancing for it. Its just that cool.
So I hope that helps in some way, shape, or form [subliminal - buy Oathbound!].
What's cool about Oathbound is that it has everything. Want a dingeon crawl? Go to the wrack. Want to recover lost civilization? Go to the ruin. Want politics? Oh yeah baby, we got politics - Bloodlords, warlords, the Black Flock. Heck, you can do all that without even leaving the city of Penance. Then there's all the races. Oathbound is all about the races. Sure, you can still be a human, elf, or dwarf, but you can also be a faust, a dover, a silver, or any one of over a dozen others. Oathbound is pretty much anything goes, and the setting is geared towards high level play. In addition to this, each book contains an adventure, each one of which ties in closely with the rest of the world. There is no such thing as a simple adventure in any of the Oathbound books. They all have some sort of signifficance with regards to the setting.
OK, so to give credit where credit is due, I also like the Scarred Lands. I have nearly all the books they've put out so far and they do an excellent job on them. It's also cool to know that the Creature Collection was one of the first D20 books out there on the market.
Midnight. As if I can say anything no one else has said. My copy showed up a week ago and I'm pretty impressed with it. In fact, were I not so busy working on Oathbound stuff, I would definitely contact FFG to see if there were any way for me to jump onboard and do some freelancing for it. Its just that cool.
So I hope that helps in some way, shape, or form [subliminal - buy Oathbound!].
I own the core books from Kalamar, and while I do not currently DM a campaign there - I run two heavily modified FR campaigns - I have to add that I really like the static setting - you don't have to deal with an advancing timeline of events laid out by the publishers but can start your own plots and shapings without having to convert too much with each new book coming out. The quality of the products is also very high, I recommend the Villains Design Handbook for any setting.
As far as Scarred Lands are concenrend, I own two books from the setting, Shelzar - City of Sin and Secrets & Societies, and did use stuff from both in my current campaigns. Again the product quality is high, and while I don't care much for the world as I understand it, I pick and choose parts of it for my FR campaigns.
Wheel of Time I never played, but the book offers a low magic item spin on some classes with defense bonuses, which I find interesting. I am not yet decided on the magic system, it seems to be very powerful, and as of late I have come to be dissappointed with the novels, so my interest in the world has waned. Also there is no support right now for the setting apart from the core book and an adventure.
As far as Scarred Lands are concenrend, I own two books from the setting, Shelzar - City of Sin and Secrets & Societies, and did use stuff from both in my current campaigns. Again the product quality is high, and while I don't care much for the world as I understand it, I pick and choose parts of it for my FR campaigns.
Wheel of Time I never played, but the book offers a low magic item spin on some classes with defense bonuses, which I find interesting. I am not yet decided on the magic system, it seems to be very powerful, and as of late I have come to be dissappointed with the novels, so my interest in the world has waned. Also there is no support right now for the setting apart from the core book and an adventure.
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