hbarsquared
Quantum Chronomancer
I would have liked to add a vote to MIDNIGHT, if you haven't gotten it, already.
-
The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Best D20/OGL Setting I SHOULD Own
- Thread starter DreadPirateMurphy
- Start date
Angel Tarragon
Dawn Dragon
Kalamar and Scarred Lands.
Kanegrundar
Explorer
I voted for Iron Kingdoms, Warcraft, Talislanta, and Oathbound. All three are well-done settings with enough variant crunch to make it feel from a mechanics stand-point that you're not just playing regular D&D with a different world.
IK is extremely well-done in the fluff department. Lots of detail, but plenty of room to carve out your own niche.
Warcraft is a bit wargamery, but the setting is great for epic storylines of war and the effect thereof.
Talislanta is strange. The mechanics are the worst out of the four I voted for, but it's such a great setting and the mechanics aren't so bad that they can't be houseruled away.
Oathbound has a strange, yet familiar feel to it that's worth every penny. It's high-power, but the setting is top notch and one that doesn't get enough credit.
Kane
IK is extremely well-done in the fluff department. Lots of detail, but plenty of room to carve out your own niche.
Warcraft is a bit wargamery, but the setting is great for epic storylines of war and the effect thereof.
Talislanta is strange. The mechanics are the worst out of the four I voted for, but it's such a great setting and the mechanics aren't so bad that they can't be houseruled away.
Oathbound has a strange, yet familiar feel to it that's worth every penny. It's high-power, but the setting is top notch and one that doesn't get enough credit.
Kane
Akrasia
Procrastinator
Castles and Crusades isn't a setting -- it is a separate OGL game.
So is Conan, of course, but since Conan also includes a setting -- Hyboria -- it kinda makes sense to include it in the poll. (Same goes for Blue Rose, Lone Wolf, Slaine, and a few others.)
But C&C? Not really. (I love the game, but it's no more a setting than 3e D&D is a setting.)
Anyhow, I quite like Yggsburgh right now. It's rather different than the other settings listed, as it focuses in great detail on a small region (50 miles by 32 miles) and city (Yggsburgh). Despite focusing on such a small area, though, it has enough adventures and adventure ideas to last an entire campaign.
So is Conan, of course, but since Conan also includes a setting -- Hyboria -- it kinda makes sense to include it in the poll. (Same goes for Blue Rose, Lone Wolf, Slaine, and a few others.)
But C&C? Not really. (I love the game, but it's no more a setting than 3e D&D is a setting.)
Anyhow, I quite like Yggsburgh right now. It's rather different than the other settings listed, as it focuses in great detail on a small region (50 miles by 32 miles) and city (Yggsburgh). Despite focusing on such a small area, though, it has enough adventures and adventure ideas to last an entire campaign.
Elder-Basilisk
First Post
I'd say Arcanis. It's a good setting with quite a few good mechanics to help the setting make sense mechanically. (Why do people take Sarishan oaths so seriously? Because a properly executed Sarishan Oath really really hurts if you break it). It's also got room to do pretty much whatever you want to do. A setting like Freeport is detailed, but if you don't want to play in a wretched hive of scum and villainy all the time, you'll need something more. A setting like Midnight is atmospheric, but if you don't want to always be struggling against the odds, there's not a lot of room for that. The odds are against you everywhere. (From what I read). Arcanis has enough well developed areas that you can do a the odds are against you campaign freeing the slaves from the overlords of Canceri and then follow it up (or take a brief respite in) the chivalric land of Milandir. Then you can delve into the byzantine politics of Grand Coryan, visit the wilderness of the blessed lands, and return to continue the long twilight struggle in Canceri. If you want to.
JustaPlayer
First Post
And all the while your arcane caster will be on the run from the harvesters of the wizard king who would be a god!Elder-Basilisk said:
Elder-Basilisk
First Post
Yeah, ain't it cool?
Though I haven't seen many Harvesters in the Living Arcanis modules recently. . . .
Though I haven't seen many Harvesters in the Living Arcanis modules recently. . . .
JustaPlayer said:
ColonelHardisson
What? Me Worry?
I picked Conan, Iron Kingdoms, Nyambe, Oathbound, and Talislanta in the poll.
There are some that I didn't pick that were fine products, but simply were not my cup of tea (Scarred Lands, Lone Wolf), and some that I want to recommend but which I don't actually own...yet (my copy of Blackmoor has yet to arrive, but if it's anything like the DA modules from the late 80s, then I'll recommend it wholeheartedly; and Thieves World is looking good).
Anyway, of the ones I picked, here are my thoughts, in ascending order of how much I liked them:
Talislanta I'm recommending on the strength of the original series of non-d20 game books of the 1980s. I don't know about the newest version. The original revealed a truly bizarre, wild 'n' wooly setting. There are none of the stock fantasy races we're used to, and it seems even the ecosystem is made up of critters different from what we have in the real world. It's a richly varied setting, but may not be to the taste of those looking for something a bit more like the baseline of D&D.
Oathbound is reminiscent of Talislanta, in that it is a very different type of setting. It skews a bit closer to the D&D paradigm, though, so it may evoke some familiarity.
Nyambe is one of the only attempts I've seen to do a fantasy Africa for a RPG. It's a fine supplement, and deserves a look for attempting to cover something not often examined by D&D or pretty much any fantasy RPG. It has a nice mix of the familiar and new paradigms.
Iron Kingdoms is a steampunk variant, which is deserving of the praise it has received. It's a fun concept, well-written and conceived, with many adventure possibilities.
Conan's setting, Hyboria, is my favorite of the ones noted above. It is gritty, violent, and has an air of dark mystery about it. It has a unique feel, as it depicts an antedeluvian world with precursors of much of what we're familiar with from history and legend - proto Vikings, grim barbarians, decadent cities, evil wizards, strange creatures from the Outer Dark...it's all there. While there is gazetteer info in the main Conan game book, the Road of Kings supplement goes in depth on the Hyborian world, and is worth having even if one doesn't have the Conan game, especially if one is a fan of Robert E. Howard's Conan.
There are some that I didn't pick that were fine products, but simply were not my cup of tea (Scarred Lands, Lone Wolf), and some that I want to recommend but which I don't actually own...yet (my copy of Blackmoor has yet to arrive, but if it's anything like the DA modules from the late 80s, then I'll recommend it wholeheartedly; and Thieves World is looking good).
Anyway, of the ones I picked, here are my thoughts, in ascending order of how much I liked them:
Talislanta I'm recommending on the strength of the original series of non-d20 game books of the 1980s. I don't know about the newest version. The original revealed a truly bizarre, wild 'n' wooly setting. There are none of the stock fantasy races we're used to, and it seems even the ecosystem is made up of critters different from what we have in the real world. It's a richly varied setting, but may not be to the taste of those looking for something a bit more like the baseline of D&D.
Oathbound is reminiscent of Talislanta, in that it is a very different type of setting. It skews a bit closer to the D&D paradigm, though, so it may evoke some familiarity.
Nyambe is one of the only attempts I've seen to do a fantasy Africa for a RPG. It's a fine supplement, and deserves a look for attempting to cover something not often examined by D&D or pretty much any fantasy RPG. It has a nice mix of the familiar and new paradigms.
Iron Kingdoms is a steampunk variant, which is deserving of the praise it has received. It's a fun concept, well-written and conceived, with many adventure possibilities.
Conan's setting, Hyboria, is my favorite of the ones noted above. It is gritty, violent, and has an air of dark mystery about it. It has a unique feel, as it depicts an antedeluvian world with precursors of much of what we're familiar with from history and legend - proto Vikings, grim barbarians, decadent cities, evil wizards, strange creatures from the Outer Dark...it's all there. While there is gazetteer info in the main Conan game book, the Road of Kings supplement goes in depth on the Hyborian world, and is worth having even if one doesn't have the Conan game, especially if one is a fan of Robert E. Howard's Conan.
Similar Threads
