Help a returning DM pick a setting

[Teneb]

I greatly enjoy Oathbound by Bastion Press. Its geared towards higher levels (though there's honestly no concrete reason you couldn't start at lvl 1) and is decidedly high magic/power.

Essentially, its takes aspects from my fav 2e worlds (Ravenloft/Planescape/a touch of Dark Sun) and squishes them together.

In a nutshell, seven powerful beings are locked in the world, each with their own domain which they run as they see fit (reasons why could be considered spoilers, so I won't go there). They pull in people, monsters, plantlife, cities, etc. into the world as their whim dictates, meaning you can fit just about anything into the campaign setting. Also, its a "locked" world, meaning you can get in, but its darn hard to get out (hello Ravenloft).

There's a lot of self-exploration involved (characters can evolve into entirely new and unique races) and hundreds of thousands of years of history, which makes exploration really exciting; you never know what you're going to find! Two big thumbs up from me.

 

[BASHMAN]

Mystara or Redsteel. There are no other settings.

 

[Oscar carramiñana]

Forgotten Realms is a large, generic fantasy world with alot of history behind it. It has many books out with detailed information on smaller parts of the setting and also has tons info about each deity. It's probably the most detailed setting available

I vote for Forgotten Realms i'm in love of FR

 

[Ylis]

I really enjoy ElfClash: Realm of Lanai by Khan's Press. It's not as well-known as some of those mentioned before, but it offers a great setting. A bit of warning: it is a little more high-powered of a world than standard D&D and it's quite addictive (my players and I have been playing it non-stop since it came out in January).

Overview of the world:
The world is highly detailed. In a nutshell, the world is overrun with elves, though NOT the normal pansy type elves you're used to seeing. There are the main elf race, Gold Elves, which have taken over the world and have pretty much made it similar to Nazi Germany (with other races being the Jews). Magic and religion are banned, as are halfbreeds, though these things exist (they just earn you a death sentence if you're caught). There are winged elves, a floating continent, and an underground continent. There's a resistance to the Gold Elves building up that is there to eventually wage war with them, though they're too weak at the moment to attack them outright (they do make Gold Elves miserable, though). It's pretty much dangerous to do anything "out of the ordinary" in the world, so characters tend to always have a high level of fear in the game, and keep themselves in check.

How it differs from standard D&D:
Almost all the races and classes are different, and better. Halflings, for example, are no longer the roguish-Kender types they normally are in standard D&D (they're scholarly). There are different types of Elves, as stated before, no gnomes (though halflings are sort of like gnomes), humans, dwarves, etc. There are very few of certain races (such as dwarves), and many of others (such as Gold Elves).

For the classes, there are two new magic systems, one of which runs off of skills. The Cleric is the only one that keeps the old magic system. Many of the classes that used to have cheesy magic (bards, paladins, rangers) no longer do, but they are built up with much better abilities. The Druids are magic-less, but are kind of a cross between a monk and a druid, with some additional abilities. I think the Rogue is pretty much the only class untouched in the game.

So, if you want a game where stepping out of the safety of your home town equals an adventure, this is it.

I think you can find the PDF on sale on http://www.rpgnow.com under Khan's Press. I think it's down to $6 or so (from $10). It's definitely worth the money (over 200 pages).

 

[Ed Cha]

I currently own or have access to (in no particular order):

• Forgotten Realms CS
• Living Greyhawk Gazetteer
• Midnight CS
• Kingdoms of Kalamar
• Player’s Guide to the Wilderlands
• Arcana Unearthed
• Codex Arcanis

I’m currently browsing the FRCS and Wilderlands books. Both look good and I’m fairly impressed with the FRCS and how it seems to be placing the emphasis back on the PCs instead of NPCs.

Looks like you have more than enough campaign setting books! Perhaps you could mix them all up using whatever you like and then add some adventures as you go along. One thing you probably already know is that these setting books have very general information. At some point, you'll need more specific details like how does a typical village look like or how do I start this quest. Time to flesh things out now.

I think one thing to also consider is, "What is the philosophy of the world?" Does might make right? Who succeeds and who fails? Is it a world based on cruelty and despair? A time of great heroes and legendary quests? A gritty background of reality? A land of barons rivalling each other for power?

Please let us know what you decide to do and how things come along. Good luck!

 

[Treebore]

Hmm, I hadn't heard that it would be updated. That would be good. I agree the book has a lot of history that's good reading. A lot of the mechanics (the PrCs for example) were very poorly designed though and I hope they do that much better in the new edition.

Yeah, the PrC's could use some adjusting. the "revison" sounds like it is being done to be more generic, so it can also be used for Castles and Crusades, or any other D&D or similiar system, easily. Since I am primarily just using the world history I do not care about the revision. Even though the Elves as a class appeals to my old D&D part.

all the other tweaking I have decided to do has been pretty easy as well. Such as adapting their immortal eldritch goblins to be more to my liking.

 

[Crothian]

Thieves World if you can find it, it's onlky about 20 years OOP

 

[diaglo]

there is also Harn stuff still available from www.columbiagames.com