GM's-Are you ever overwhelmed on which world to run?

[jhilahd]

So I haven't run a consistent campaign in almost 2 years now. Work, family... life in general have kept me from doing so.

But now my kids are getting older and may even play if I start running again.

I find myself overwhelmed with gaming options. There are so many worlds to choose from, I can't decide what to run.

Eberron
Greyhawk
Ptolus
Diamond Throne
Forgotten Realms
Pathfinder
War of the Burning Sky
Athas
Planescape
Home-grown stuff

Just to name things I WANT to play in/with. I've not played in Eberron, Ptolus or the newer stuff like Pathfinder(not out yet) or the War of the Burning Sky game, but I want to.
Pretty booksk and great Campaign handout/resources for players sink me in quicker than anything else.
Instead of having me lend my books out, I can print out a primer of sorts and send them to my players to check out. From there... it helps them generate ideas about their characters and the world they'll play in.

But I digress.

• Do you as a DM find that you have too many options and can't choose what to play?
• If you don't what keeps you as a DM positioned in only one game setting.

Thanks!


I've run Greyhawk

 

[Xyxox]

I've run all of the following in various incarnations:

Forgotten Realms
Maztica
Kara-Tur
Greyhawk
Dragonlance
Taladas
Spelljammer
Dark Sun
Ravenloft
Lankhmar

My faovrites have always been home spun, though, and that's all I will run any more.

 

[Faraer]

There are lots of settings that I'd enjoy GMing or playing in, but my GMing enthusiasms are usually for a particular setting and campaign idea.

 

[Voadam]

I empathize. Sometimes I want to start new games just to be active with more stuff at the moment.

I've got

Greyhawk
Forgotten Realms
Dragonlance
Ravenloft
Birthright
Spelljammer
Kara Tur
Al Qudim
Maztica
Planescape
Jakandor
Mystara
Hollow World
Viking Age
Celtic
Glory of Rome
Lankhmar
Wheel of Time
Oathbound
Valus
Various Avalanche Press Myth settings
Scarred Lands
Ptolus
World of Warhammer Encyclopedia
The Kyngdoms
Everquest RPG
War of the Burning Sky
Twin Crowns Campaign Setting
Dragonlords of Melnibone/Elric!
Ars Magica
Testament
HarnWorld
Various GURPS Settings
Pendragon
Some Roleaids stuff
and others

For adventures I have stuff from
War of the Burning Sky
Necromancer Games
Old D&D
Kenzer Co.
Dungeon Crawl Classics
Atlas Games
WotC
and many others

Currently I'm running two campaigns, one with Oathbound and one with a Greyhawk/Ptolus/Planescape mix. I'm using modules from WotC and Goodman games currently

 

[der_kluge]

It's simple, really. Run the Wilderlands. It's the best one, IMNSHO.

 

[Treebore]

I had a similiar problem, so I stuck all my favorite settings on the same world.

GH, Faerun, Wilderlands, Blackmoor, Ravenloft, Erde, and several others are all on the same planet.

I couldn't do it with Kalamar, Dawnforge, or Oathbound. But having all the settings on one world does help.

Its actually been kind of fun deciding on how to write up "rumors" and such and how to make all of the various "settings" work together. The most fun for me is to figure out how all the various Pantheons work and don't work together, which gods do or do not have "aspects" in various religions, etc...

Plus its been pretty cool to say what lands are known or rumored to be on the other side of that ocean or sea.

Not to mention the reaction of players when they hear of the huge body of roiling black clouds out on the ocean to the South, southwest, southeast (depending on where you are in the world), that don't move from their geographical location and are 100's of miles in diameter. (Ravenloft)

So thats how I have been having fun with most fo the settings I own. Plus the players really seem to like that I have an answer when they ask what lands are on the other side of that chain of mountains, and perk up when I use names that sound familiar.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

The choices really are vast. But lots of them have their own personalty and appeals that others don't have. Iron Kingdoms and Midnight really would appeal to some (like myself) but it could be a real turn off to others because of the specific things you can and cannot do. Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms are very standard but quite different from one another. If I were starting up a fantasy campaign, I would probably take Greyhawk and change some things or make my own from scratch.

 

[DaveMage]

• Do you as a DM find that you have too many options and can't choose what to play?

Thanks!

Yep.

But lately I haven't had much time to DM, so the last one I ran was in Aereth (Goodman Games DCC world) since I was running their modules.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Nope - I run home-brew only, the rest are somebody else's vision of the game.

 

[Vorput]

I had a similiar problem, so I stuck all my favorite settings on the same world.

GH, Faerun, Wilderlands, Blackmoor, Ravenloft, Erde, and several others are all on the same planet.

I couldn't do it with Kalamar, Dawnforge, or Oathbound. But having all the settings on one world does help.

Its actually been kind of fun deciding on how to write up "rumors" and such and how to make all of the various "settings" work together. The most fun for me is to figure out how all the various Pantheons work and don't work together, which gods do or do not have "aspects" in various religions, etc...

Plus its been pretty cool to say what lands are known or rumored to be on the other side of that ocean or sea.

Not to mention the reaction of players when they hear of the huge body of roiling black clouds out on the ocean to the South, southwest, southeast (depending on where you are in the world), that don't move from their geographical location and are 100's of miles in diameter. (Ravenloft)

So thats how I have been having fun with most fo the settings I own. Plus the players really seem to like that I have an answer when they ask what lands are on the other side of that chain of mountains, and perk up when I use names that sound familiar.

That's a pretty cool idea actually...