Good "generic" campaign setting

[Thurbane]

Hi all,

One of the guys in my group is looking for a setting to DM in.

The problem he has with things like FR or Eberron is the proliferation of new PrCs, races, monsters etc.

What he is looking for is a basic world, with pretty much standard (core only?) races and classes, and that focuses more on the geography and population than on specific adventures or quirks.

He wants a living world to use a backdrop for his adventures without having the time to create one himself.

All input welcome - T

 

[smootrk]

Greyhawk... the classic. Just grab a gazetteer.

 

[Nyaricus]

Faerun does have it's share of KSO (Kitchen Sink Overload) but I personally find that it's a great backdrop for whatever sort of game you wish to playin or run (Nordic, AEgyptian, Arthurian England, Oriental, whatever!) and has a rich backstory to draw ideas from.

What your friend *could* do as DM is say "look, we are playing in this region here. You can have these classes and races (Core only would be an option, though there might eb an exception) and can have anything from the PHB. Anything else, whether it be a feat, an alternate use for a skill, a PrC, a spell, or whatever, must be DM approved at least a session before it's going to come into play. And, if anything is found to be broken, the DM reserves the right to remove it from his game, giving appropriate compensation for it (ie a feat is disallowed, the player gets to choose another feat).

I'm not saying that'll work for everyone, but it might help him regardless

cheers,
--N

 

[Aus_Snow]

Kalamar.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

What he is looking for is a basic world, with pretty much standard (core only?) races and classes, and that focuses more on the geography and population than on specific adventures or quirks.

He wants a living world to use a backdrop for his adventures without having the time to create one himself.

Mystara/Known World was a setting designed specifically to be a backdrop for adventures. Your want of focus on geography and population over specific adventures or quirks fits my understanding of the setting well.

Unfortunately, getting the source material is another matter. One could purchase the products as .pdfs now though. Also, conversion from BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia into D20 might be troublesome for a few, myself, I use the setting specifically for background material despite the rules and purely as a setting to put adventures, it's perfect. A world filled with nations strongly rooted in gaming archetypes and a diversity of cultures in a compact area.

 

[Glyfair]

What he is looking for is a basic world, with pretty much standard (core only?) races and classes, and that focuses more on the geography and population than on specific adventures or quirks.

I'd recommend Kalamar. It's very well supported. It's "generic D&D" in the sense that it focuses on standard races, classes, etc. with perhaps a bit of shakeup (hobgoblins are a bit more prominent).

Most of the resources I have picked up don't really focus much on new classes and the like, but there are a few in the player's guide. They aren't necessary to the setting though.

He can get by with just the main Kalamar book, with the player's guide being the only other real "core book" for the setting. That said, there are a lot of adventures and location books (Ed Greenwood produced one for an excellent merchant oriented city).

 

[SWBaxter]

What he is looking for is a basic world, with pretty much standard (core only?) races and classes, and that focuses more on the geography and population than on specific adventures or quirks.

Some settings that should work fine:

Greyhawk (assuming he's willing to say "no" to requests for weird PrCs and races, since technically they're all there)
Forgotten Realms (under the same conditions, probably harder to do)
Kalamar
the Scarred Lands
the Wilderlands (and/or the City State of the Invincible Overlord)
the setting in DCC 35
Harn

... or any number of homebrews accessible on the web. I'm sure I've missed lots, hope that helps.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Greyhawk.
Wilderlands.
Maybe the new Goodman Games setting?

 

[Wik]

What about the new Blackmoor d20 setting, released a few years ago? It only has limited support, which is great for your friend (no risk of something coming up that will upset setting), and it's pretty much the setting that inspired D&D anyways, so it has to be fairly generic.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Or DCC35, yeah.