Help a returning DM pick a setting

[Elodan]

I’ll gladly take you up on that invitation to pimp my stuff! That being the Next Age Heroes setting.

Quick Overview:

The players start in a known world about the size of South Carolina. On all sides are threats and obstacles that civilization is only now to the point of being able to overcome. What lies beyond them – no one knows. That’s what the PCs, the heroes, are going to be doing – finding out.

Updates/Additions to the core PHB races and classes:

None. The Player’s Handbook classes and races are used as described. All classes are available, though there’s only a handful of quite a few. For example, between all the races in the starting region, there are less than twenty clerics and only three paladins. The races are segregated, so PCs electing to be Half-Elves or Half-Orcs may well be the only such in the entire region.

What I like about it:

Pretty much everything since I wrote it. However some particulars include
– It’s great for new players, since there’s a limited starting area there’s not an entire wide world to try and absorb.
– It’s great for pro-active players that would like to strike out and build an empire, since there’s a whole lot of world beyond the obstacles that surround civilization.
– There are no uber-NPCs, but there are villains and rivals of all power levels.
– There is a developed set up for political games if that’s your flavor.
– The pdf is extensively bookmarked, includes lots of stated friends, rivals, and foes, and has a glossary with links and pronunciation guides.
– There are a lot of secrets to be uncovered
– Two introductory adventures are available as soon as they flow through the RPGNow pipeline.

For other opinions, one with spoilers one without, follow the links at my sig. And I’m happy to answer any questions on it you might have.

This helps a lot as I was hoping to get some setting ideas outside of the well known ones. It looks interesting.

 

[teitan]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND...

The Scarred Lands is a wonderful setting teaming with life and a less intrusive metaplot than the Realms. The setting is evocative and the 3E rules don't seem tacked on as they do sometimes in the Realms (mostly class issues like Monks and Sorcerors). The Scarred Lands is almost the default 3E setting as it plays up the best of the rules and adds some elegant mechanics to the rules that are a real blast.

The setting is a nice mix of Howard meets Tolkien, which is very primal D&D. The world was recently torn apart by war with the Titans (primal gods) and is beginning to recover. Don't think Dark Sun though, very different.

The setting has a dark fantasy feel, very reminiscent of Carl Sargent's work on Greyhawk and Warhammer, but not so dark as to be a horror setting like Ravenloft. Many races have experienced changes that are too numerous, yet subtle in many ways, to go into in a post on the internet. Lets use the word Forsaken.

The books for the Scarred Lands are plentiful and provide a lot of nice detail to the setting, but the awkward approach to presenting the world is not very new user friendly. A lot of information is spread out willy nilly, having started as a monster manual, then a magic sourebooks and then a small campaign setting sourcebook with various city sourcebooks before we got a nice chunky hardcover of the first continent. The other difficulty is the referencing to other sourcebooks that reminds me of the TSR approach to campaign publishing. Not really all that bad though, you require Ghelspad (the hardcover), Creature Collection 1, Relics & Rituals and Divine & the Defeated. If you want another continent, Termana, then sub that for Ghelspad.

Overall the benefits of the Scarred Lands, de-emphasized metaplot and enormous adventuring oppurtunities OUTWEIGH these flaws. There are vastly more benefits than drawbacks to the setting, which, unlike the Realms, really allows your players to be the stars of the world (unless your an elf trying to bring back the dead elf god, Vladawen is cool) and make a difference.

Jason

 

[Elodan]

General thoughts:

* Midnight is different to run by which I mean it might be harder to run. The Challenge Ratings for Midnight are a little different from standard d20. This doesn't make it bad, but if you are just getting back into the swing of things it is certainly something to keep in mind. I happen to like Midnight, but I'm not going to say that DMing it is a walk in the park.

* I don't like Forgotten Realms, but I strongly reccomend it to new DMs. The patchwork nature of the FR makes it exceptionally difficult to truly screw up. Also, some of your players might be familiar with it from the CRPGs and that's not a bad thing.

* Kingdoms of Kalamar has never jazzed me. I'd play Forgotten Realms before KoK. I don't have a good reason why.

* I've also never really gotten into the Scarred Lands although I've liked what I've seen. Getting into the Scarrled Lands has struck me as being similar to eating an entire cheesecake by yourself. It might be very yummy at first, but there's a LOT to it and it's easy to overdose on it.

* Bluffside is unusual and cool, but it lacks a certain ammount of product support. Pity.

* Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed is also cool, but like Midnight you're taking a step away from traditional D&D. Again, not bad, but something you should keep your eyes open to before buying. The setting is a combination of Asian Indian and Western fantasy motifs. But the rules are a step to the left of standard d20.


If all of the above seems negative, please don't take it to mean I hate them or anything. All of the settings above have something to offer and you won't go wrong on any of them. For that matter, you might want to check out Ed Cha's Hamlet of Thumble. It's a module, not a setting, but it has a lot of setting content.

I have the Midnight Campaign book. I like what I see but I think it's more "advanced" then what I want to start back with.

I was leaning toward FR, but I wanted to see what other options are out there.

I like a lot of Kenzer's stuff but I have the same problem as you do with Kalamar, it just doesn't grab me.

Can I get more detail on Bluffside and the Hamlet of Thumble?

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Can I get more detail on Bluffside and the Hamlet of Thumble?

Bluffside is a citybook. There are many, many aspects to it, but the central idea is that it is an adamantium boomtown with some ancient ruins thrown into the mix.

Hamlet of Thrumble is more a non-linear module. The author, Ed Cha, replied in this thread. You might want to check out some of the links in his .sig to learn more.

Between the two: Bluffside is more unique and different, but Thrumble contains more adventure material. Bluffside is out of print and available as a pdf, Thrumble is a lowish priced softback. I'm pretty sure you could pick up both and still come under US$25, but I'm not positive.

 

[Nightfall]

Scarred Lands experience, at least for me, has mostly been online. I will say I've had some very memorable acheivements and the players I've used, enjoy the place tremendously. (Clerics might feel otherwise but hey! )

In any case, Pros:

1) No freaking Epic level NPCs to carve into your campaign or at least they have more concerns with other things than "saving the world from your PCs."

2) Unique cosmology, nice intergration of the existing core classes (sorcerer, druid, paladin, monk and ranger especially.) Plus unique races or slight alterations of existing ones.

3) The Divine War. It's cool. It's very cool.

4) A goddess of Shadows that isn't evil or twisted. But she might be hiding something sinister indeed!

5) Chardun, Vangal and Belsameth. They might be archtypes, but they sure are a hell of lot better (I believe) than the weighty panethons of other places in D&D worlds. 18 gods, that's all you need.

 

[Lord_Anthrax]

I have to chime in for the Forgotten Realms. It's a very large and richly detailed world, with more plot threads than you can shake a stick at for all levels of play to get involved in, numerous organizations good and bad for your players to interact with, and dozens of regions with just about any kind of fantastic flavor you could want. High Seas adventure? Got it. Jungle exploration? Got it. European-based fantasy inspired by the myth and legend of several cultures? Got it. City-based intrigue? Got it. Another factor is familiarity. More players know something of the workings of the Realms than any other setting, so there's far less work for you as a DM integrating them into the world.

A lot of people have complaints about the Realms. Most fall into two camps, those being:

1)The setting is too canonized, too detailed, there's no room for me to be creative or shake things up.
2)The setting is too clogged with "Golden Goose" uber-NPC's that everyone hates/tries to emulate.

These are easily overcome. Number 1 is fine example of good ole Rule 0. It's YOUR game. The Setting is just a guidebook. Change it however you like, include, add and remove freely. And if a player starts whining that you're "Not running the Realms right!" simply step aside and tell him the game is his to run, since you obviously aren't equipped for it.

As for number 2, it's real simple. Just because they're part of the world doesn't mean you have to have them appear in the game. Ever. The Realms are VAST. The likelihood of someone like Drizzt showing up in a game set in, say, Sembia is slim to none. Even if you set your game in Shadowdale, it's highly unlikely they'll ever see Elminster if there's not a REALLY good reason for it. And even if they do, it's also unlikely they'll know it was him. My point is, as long as the PC's are the stars of the show, what does it matter if these NPC's exist? They're there for spice, and like in cooking, spice is good if used correctly, and horrible if not.

My suggestion is to give the Realms a once-over. If you don't like it, fine. If you do, also fine. It's just one man's opinion.

 

[Beale Knight]

This helps a lot as I was hoping to get some setting ideas outside of the well known ones. It looks interesting.

Most of what's in the Next Age Heroes general Players' Information file is available for your purusal on-line at

http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-blackdrinkcreations

if you want to take a closer look at the players' perspective of things.

 

[johnsemlak]

Not really all that bad though, you require Ghelspad (the hardcover), Creature Collection 1, Relics & Rituals and Divine & the Defeated. If you want another continent, Termana, then sub that for Ghelspad.

Note that for beginning a campaing in SL now, you should get Creature Collection Revised, not Creature collection I. Among other reasons, it has full race-write ups for several races in the Scarred Lands (such as the Charduni dwarves).

I personally think a good DM could get by with just the Creature Collection book, either the SL gazatteer (which has a pull out map) or the Scarred Lands Gelsphad hardcover (which does not have pull out map), & maybe Relics and Rituals. At least one regional sourcebook for the region you're playing in would be recommended. However, many of those books do refer to things in other books, so you'd have to adapt if you don't have them (the best thing is to come to EN World and and ask Nightfall what to do).

 

[Derulbaskul]

OK, while I still stand by my earlier recommendations for Midnight and Dawnforge, I also have to recommend FR.

The FRCS is really very good, as are most of the products that have been released (IMO, CotSQ was not a particularly good module). The problem will always be that the novels are, by virtue of Murphy's Law, likely to be set in the precise area you have chosen to play in... which is one of the reasons I'm "converting" to Dawnforge and Midnight.

 

[DragonLancer]

I recommend the Dragonlance campaign setting.

• Heroic Fantasy. Dragonlance is full of epic (not Epic) stories, from wars through to political struggles. DL is more about roleplaying than hack and slash these days.
• Dragons. The setting uses Dragons as its backdrop and its not unusual for inhabitants of Krynn to see dragons. It has Draconians (now a playable race for 2 breeds of them in the DLCS), a race of creatures created by corrupted dragon eggs. Dragons hold this world together rather than being the next target for gold hungry adventurers.
• Fairly low-magic. It has powerful artefacts and wizards, but magic items don't show up all the time. The magic level is less than PHB norm but still present.
• No old heroes. At the current time of the setting (Age of Mortals, post War of Souls) all the heroes that everyoen moans about are either dead or old. If you feel that way, now is the time for your players to take centre stage.