Help me find a campaign world, please!

[RangerWickett]

You could give Morningstar a look. It was one of the top 11 finalists in the WotC setting search, published by Goodman Games. It's a world where there have not yet been any dark ages. Things just keep going up.

Look at reviews here: http://www.enworld.org/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=currentprod&which=Morn

 

[Turjan]

Not to derail your thread or anything, but I have no idea what you just said right there.

Hehe, I'd just say to this that you're lucky !

I guess I just really want something that the players will find accessible. They need something they can digest easily. That's why I stressed the desire for some sort of primer. I certainly appreciate the suggestions I've heard so far. I'll go check'em out!

Dawnforge would mean changing the Chars, so I would rule that out. Morningstar isn't straight D&D, but I like it. It's definitely worth a look.
One other thing that came across my table recently is "The Player's Guide to the Wilderlands" from Necromancer. Maybe I'm just nostalgic, because it sports several aspects of today's no-no list. But it definitely possesses its own special charm .

 

[Crothian]

Here's a really good primer, but it might not be exactly what you want. They reworked the classes and it workd more like d20 modern as a Fantasy setting. But it's well done and well worth the look.

http://www.enworld.org/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=currentprod&which=DCP

 

[WARPED1]

GO GREYHAWK! Best setting anywhere!

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Not to derail your thread or anything, but I have no idea what you just said right there.

Me neither!

But I think I understand what he is looking for - The new ( upcoming ) players guide for Kalamar will probably fit the bill exactly, as most everything you have already done could be explained in this world if it is truly generic fantasy as you say.

I'd love to recommend Scarred Lands, but it's lack of a primer or absence of any cohesive single book for players it's main weakness.

Privateer's IK Primer is already out of date, and probably not vanilla enough for you anyway -

As mentioned above, many of the other cooler new settings like AU, or Midnight would mean possible pervasive rule changes.

Kalamar is a very flexible setting, and their books are very well done if you like the flavor vanilla...

 

[Treebore]

Use Necromancers new Lost City of Barakus. It is a pricey hardcover but in contains a nicely detailed starting city with a large neighboring Dungeon. The thing is designed to start characters off in the 1-5 level range but gives you plot threads that you can follow up to about 20th level.

For the campaign world i would also recommend the new Wilderlands being produced by Judges Guild with strong assistance/co-authorship by Necromancer.

The Lost City of Barakus is $35.00 at full retail, and the Wilderlands PHB is about $25.00, and has all the info for you to start a campaign in. They will soon be releasing two pricey but georgeous supplemements by April, I believe. One of which contains 18 large and full color maps of the Wilderlands, which in scale is about the size of the Mediterranean sea area. The other is a highly detailed City State of The Invincible Overlord, including sewer maps I believe. For more info go to Necromancergames.com message boards and judgesguild.com.

No, I am not an employee of either.

 

[Bagpuss]

I'ld have to say Scarred Lands as well.

You can give the Gazetteer to the player to read without fear of them learning any secrets but giving them enough information about the continent. Its only $8.95, so you can pick it up yourself to see if you like the setting without breaking the bank. It also comes with a excellent map. Then you buy the "Scarred Lands Campaign Setting: Ghelspad" hardback for yourself which has much more information.

There are some excellent city sourcebooks, monster books, npc books, you name it this setting has it (well except Gnomes, they live on a different continent).

 

[Calico_Jack73]

I'll plug Scarred Lands as well. Settingwise it is a land where only 500 years prior there was a war between the Titans and the Gods (kinda like in greek mythology). Keep in mind that 500 number... most adult elves would have lived through that. 500 years is also not so long that all traces of the war or the time before have been erased. Basically it is a land where things are just starting to really get running again as far as one land making war on another and so on. The best thing about Scarred Lands is the price of the books. White Wolf often sells their campaign books in bundles and even if you buy them individually the books are cheaper than WOTC's by FAR. The thing I like is that they have their own Monster Manuals which are called Creature Compendiums. I think every group has a player who has played since D&D first published and who also knows EVERY power and ability of EVERY monster. Wait till you sik a Wrack or Tar Dragon on them or they come face to face with the Dweller at the Crossroads. It is nice to have new enemies.

 

[Felon]

Thanks for all of the highly informative responses! The Scarred Lands sounds like a definite possibility, as the Gazetteer Bagpuss mentioned sounds lightweight and affordable. There's a good bit of Kalamar info just on their website, so I may be able to make use of that alone. I'll have to hit the LGS and check out the books. I'm thinking I need to see some nice black-and-white maps that I can hand out.

Btw, I run a mercenary campaign. Is it safe to say that's a workable theme in these worlds?

 

[Beale Knight]

Next Age Heroes

I'll recommend a nice pdf that is good, and I doubt anyone else will mention: Next Age Heroes. It has everything you need to start journeying outward. In the pdf is says the highest level NPCs are 7th level and they are few. Its a world ready for the new heroes to make a name forthemselves. Here's a link to the product on the REview Database:

http://www.enworld.org/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=currentprod&which=NAH

THere are many setting out there, I'm just trying to point out a good one that few know about. The others will cover the more well known ones.

Hoody Hoo! Thanks for plug Crothian.

Felon, Next Age Heroes will work for you very well if you haven’t drawn out extensive details on the region your PCs have adventured through to reach Level 4. If you’ve basically set up a base town and had them adventure through the nearby countryside it will be very easy to fit what you’ve already established into Next Age Heroes. Just take what the PCs have already seen and place it on the less populated areas of the map.
If you have a detailed region it’ll take a little more work, but it’s still quite doable.

Your theme of a mercenary campaign will fit very well with Next Age Heroes as well. Several of the suggested start ups included in the GM file involve the PCs being hired as part of an exploration expedition.


And as Crothian mentioned, the whole setting was written to give the PCs the chance to become the greatest and most influential folks around (although there are a few NPCs of levels 8-12, but they number less than twenty and they are indeed too old or saddled with responsibilities to go adventuring). It is very much designed for ambitious characters, and there’s a lot of interesting secrets to discover, along with just expanding the map.

[pimp mode full on] Next Age Heroes contains a Players General information file, a bundle of racial perspective file (which have details on the rulers and places and power players of each race’s region) and a big GM information file. And all this for just $6 U.S.! A preview is on-line at http://Next-Age-Heroes.4t.com (please excuse the pop-ups, I’m a poor company) and it contains virtually everything in the general players file, including the area map.[/pimp mode]

Beale Knight