D&D 4E Default setting for 4E?

[Lord Rasputin]

Greyhawk is the least bad option. I would prefer Krynn, but that isn't in the cards.

Eberron has a different feel from normal D&D. The Forgotten Realms just suck IMNSHO, but from a more practical standpoint, the uber-crunchy-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mentality could overwhelm a newbie. And selling those extra crunchy bits, the parts of the setting that don't suck (well, other than Waterdeep) garners more cash for WotC.

What WotC absolutely, positively cannot do is NOT have a default setting, or at least some sort of nod to a default setting. D&D's biggest strength, aside from name and network, is the out-of-the-box creator support. Toss it, and you make D&D a less-flexible version of GURPS with prettier pictures.

 

[Gold Roger]

No default setting, but a strong, true to D&D, implied setting, including a example pantheon. Greyhawk is the logical basis implied setting.

So, I'd say, make it just how it was for 3rd edition.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I do not think there should be any default setting.

 

[Deadguy]

Ting is, there is more the implied setting than just deities. There is quite a lot of cultural material embedded in the races - are all elves really skilled with longswords and longbows? Of course, much of this implied culture comes from Greyhawk, so logically Greyhawk becomes the default setting. The alternative is to call out cultural elements from races and offer some example cultures. That's trickier than it sounds.

Non-setting specific D&D would take quite some development work...

 

[Knightfall]

Greyhawk. Even more so if I had my way.

As a long-time Greyhawk fan I vote Greyhawk, but with the caveat that WotC actually, oh, I don't know...support it.

As it stands right now the defualt setting is a very generic, whitewashed, anemic, pallid, wan, rasping, tottering, clutching, dying version of Greyhawk...but that's just my opinion.

QFT

 

[tek2way]

Voted "no implied setting," but my vote would actually be a tie between that and Greyhawk.

You know, like what they did for most other editions of D&D (everything except the Basic/Expert/etc. boxes that used the Known World of Mystara instead).

I generally agree with this. I remember reading the 2nd Edition PHB, and having all sorts of ideas pop into my head, simply because they touched on real world myth/legend. No default setting doesn't mean that there can't be examples of things to give a basic springboard.

Also, in every campaign I've seen run in 3e (aside from my one friend's uber-ambitious homebrew [he's worked on it for going on 20 years]), people grab a setting book to run the game, even if it's the Greyhawk maps from Dungeon and the D&D Gazetteer. Why not just make those separate entities?

Just my 2¢.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

No setting preferably. But comming in a close second for me is Greyhawk as long as they do it better than they did it in 3e.
If it's ebberon or FR (any other existing setting) I'd be very disappointed.

 

[William Ronald]

I voted for no-default, although I am about split between no-default and Greyhawk.

I would not mind if Greyhawk received some support officially, even if it was just based on the Living Greyhawk campaign that the RPGA runs. Of course, I have seen heated arguments on what should or should not be official canon for Greyhawk. Perhaps one question is what people might want out of a "core" setting, and how Greyhawk could accomplish it. At the same time, I don't think WoTC wants to undermine the profitability of the Realms or Eberron.

I think clerics benefit from having deities in the rule books, as it can help add flavor to a class that benefits from it. Like a paladin, a cleric serves a cause. Somehow, for Order or for Chaos does not cut it for me in terms of roleplaying. This might be hard for newbies, who might need something to help tie a character to for role playing purposes.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

To explain "Forgotten Kara-Hawkerron"...

I think that there are excellent elements in each of the settings TSR/WotC has produced...and also some clearly defined weak spots we all know.

As has been pointed out, a default setting gives a DM things to hook on to- gods with definite purposes, cultural contexts & lynchpins for races, a historical framework, etc.

I mean, how different would D&D be today if DarkSun had been the first setting for D&D? Those races and gods and so forth have almost ZERO link to the base game beyond some mechanical similarities...

Rules presented as a tabula rasa are fine for experienced DMS, but can prove inaccessible to new players- which affects sales. As I recall, both GURPS and HERO started off without actual settings, but both have since added not one but SEVERAL settings to their lines.

Amazing Engine also had several settings.

So, IMHO, 4E needs, if not a setting, either small splatbooks (a-la GURPS or Amazing Engine) detailing setting particulars and variant rules, or a large main book with campaign-specific sidebars ("In X setting, Elves have these particulars, in Z setting, these- you may wish to alter these as you see fit").

 

[Kae'Yoss]

No GreyHawk. It's so vanilla it makes me ill.

As the default setting, it has to be. GH has always been the default setting (or almost always).

If the default setting isn't vanilla, it will colour the corerules and change the tone of the game. And that would be very bad, as it would be more difficult to do other game worlds with it. Different game worlds was always one of D&D's greatest strengths. Without it, it might cease to be the most popular game

No default setting information in the PHB. None. Not GH, nothing.

In the DMG there should be chapters on how to design a home brew world, pantheons, and PrC's

Since the DMG is off limits for players (especially for newbloods), it wouldn't help them. A sample pantheon in the Player's Handbook, on the other hand, will show them what to expect from the cleric class, even if the pantheon is later changed. The same holds true for tons of other aspect of the game.

The lack of a 'default' setting would actually give WotC the ability to sell more product... 'primers' for a campaign that tell players about the setting and give a few details, more splatbooks... all that jazz. Whatever you don't put into the default books can become a stand alone book on its own.

And that will chase away customers: What they used to get for free they now have to pay for? Many will stick to the old edition then. And that's something what Wizards shouldn't encourage. Already they lose some customers with each new edition - bound to happen, can't be avoided, you can't please everyone, and however good your changes are, some will prefer the old better, and then there's the people who don't want to buy the stuff again.

But they should try to limit it whenever possible: Make sure not to drop any popular elements of the game, get rid of those rules most hate, try not to be too drastic with the changes (so the old books can still be used without too much work)... and not taking away stuff people liked.