Best D20 non-WotC Campaign Setting?

[Jay Berg]

Since I've been DMing since the dawn of time (yes I am that old!) and since I have always used a wide variety of settings I have to throw in my two cents -

First lets take a look at the current D20 settings as far as I know them:

Scarred Lands - my favourite fantasy setting at this time since it has a different, dark flavour. If you're into a setting that has a lot of melancholy and bitterness in it, Ghelspad is your continent. Termana is more of a wild bizarre ride (can't wait for the Blood Bayoo source book). Overall it is very well supported and has a lot to offer. If you're into moral ambiguity in a setting SL won't dissapoint.

Kalamar - incredibly well done setting with a very very good product support. Flavour wise it isn't to my taste as it really has nothing new to offer. But if you don't own a lot of the old gaming worlds (see below) you can't miss with KoK.

Outhbound - since I am an old Cutter I can only say that Outhbound has really impressed me with its ingenuity. Very colorful, very special. But it is really way off your usual fantasy setting. If you like Planescape this is a winner though.

Rogukan - Simply the best damn pseudo-asian setting ever done. If you want to run an asian-flavoured campaign this is where to look. Incredible.

Since I am sitting in the german diaspora I haven't seen the rest mentioned here.

Lets go to the old settings:

Harn - was there ever a setting that was as unsuccessful and still as good as Harn? If you want a low magic mediaeval setting this is where to look. I have all he modules and can only say that every serious DM should own this. This is the best!

Al Quadim - I own everything and still believe it is bad. Too much high magic and flashy stuff but internally inconsistent. If you're looking for something with an arab flavour go seek the old GURPS city book Tredroy by Wolfgang Baur. Very good city book with a lot of useful backround information.

Shadow World - anybody remember that? It is actually pretty good and Iron Wind is one of my favourite adventures of all time. A lot of useful stuff that you can simply use and drop into another campaign world since this world is so vast and fragmented.

I could go on but since you asked for D20 I'll stop here. My vote goes out to the Scarred Lands and Outhbound since they're really something different flavour wise. Kalamar is very well done but it's just an improvement on older settings.

 

[ced1106]

I take a "bottom-up" approach to campaigns. Rather than start with a conventional campaign book (hey, I want to use MY ideas and let someone else flesh them out! I start with an adventure and let elements from them or something a player suggests (eg. a deity) trickle up into the world.

So, instead of dry textbooks -- er, convention campaign books I prefer **specifics**. And Scarred Land's "Wilderness and Wastelands" give **specific** encounters and terrain hazards that spell out the Scarred Lands to the players in no uncertain terms!

I have a review of it on RPGnet. If anyone know of books written similarly, start a new thread!


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

 

[KingOfChaos]

Dragonstar and Midnight, both by FFG

 

[ruemere]

Scarred Lands.

Necromancers with good public relations? Check.
City founded at the feet of a gigantic mithril golem (an artifact of apocalyptic war) and on the coast of the sea polluted with divine (sort-of) blood? Check.
A prestige class for Aragorn look alikes? Check.
Postapocalyptic landscapes and beatufil countryside? Check.

Anything else? Yes, a lot more. Check http://www.swordsorcery.com/ for more.

Regards,
Ruemere

 

[bschoner]

Campaign settings

Here's another vote for Arcanis. It is a very intrigue-laden setting, and contains some really interesting takes on the standard D&D races (plus a few new ones). As someone mentioned above, the gods of Arcanis have no alignment, which makes religion in the game fascinating...and religion is a key component of the setting. The initial book (the Codex Arcanis) has a number of editorial problems, but the intent is still clear and the ideas are brilliant. Highly recommended.

I've also just recently picked up Midnight, and am very impressed and inspired by it. The mechanics do wander a bit farther from the core rules, but they fit the low-magic feel of the setting extremely well.

Finally, I haven't read a lot of Scarred Lands material, but I've enjoyed what I have read.

 

[Nightfall]

Anyone for a Bump?

 

[JohnNephew]

I'll step up and plug NYAMBE: AFRICAN ADVENTURES. It works as a world unto itself, or as a continent to insert into your favorite world. Plus, you can download an early draft for free from http://www.nyambe.com.

 

[johnnype]

I was also profoundly bored by KoK. I found the differences between it and Greyhawk and FR to be insufficient to justify a change. From the responses so far it seems like I'm in the minority. YMMV. From your requirements it does seem like a good fit though although to be honest, I'd stay with FR or probably go with SL first.

You mention "new lands, races, peoples, cultures, and civilizations" and to me that means a significant change. I think you should go with one of the following:

1) Rokugan - Gorgeous setting. Wonderful supplements. Great storyline. provides new lands, races (ashalan, naga and ratlings), cultures, and civilizations.

2) Iron Kingdoms - provides you with everything you are looking for. If only the writers would get off their miniatures kick and publish the &*% damned campaign guide already!

3) MindShadows - Green Ronin has not released it yet but it's due out in a couple of months. Think southeast asia with psionics. You can learn a bit more here:
http://www.greenronin.com/cgi-bin/product.cgi?prodid=1402

 

[Kanegrundar]

The best settings out there IMO are:

Rokugan: The setting is great. This beats the old Oriental Adventures without a contest.

Iron Kingdoms: I never cared much for "Steampunk" until I picked up the Monsternomicon, now I'm hooked!

Scarred Lands: While some of it is just plain goofy, it give me that old Dark Sun feel without being uber as hell.

Call of Cthulhu: The best modern-day setting out there. I've ran several one-off adventures in this setting use D20 Modern.

Kane

 

[Voneth]

The one that intrigues me this year is Freedom City by Green Ronin.

It's got tons of detail and most of the personalities are not only interlinked with each other, the good guys of the setting have a with a "Villian Option" where they give you ideas on how to make them bad guys as well. Oddly enough the real villians of the setting didn't come with a "Heroic Option," that could have let me turn the who campaign upside down for my PCs.

Before that, it was Arcanis, which was the darkest setting out there for a while. No one is your friend in that world.