Help me pick out a setting book to purchase

[Arkhandus]

DawnForge sounds a lot like MorningStar in essence, which, like Eberron, is on the OP's list of stuff he owns and is ambivalent towards. Difference being, I think, that MorningStar takes place during the golden age of its world, rather than at the beginning of a golden age.

Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved could be a good book for the OP. It's available in print through Sword & Sorcery Studios, or you can order it from Monte Cook's own website for Malhavoc Press I think.

Arcana Evolved contains the info and rules material from both Arcana Unearthed and The Diamond Throne, if I recall correctly, so it's both setting introduction and a set of alternate classes, races (humans are the same, but the other races differ, and aren't too different from the norm, but some are neat; I like his take on Giants and I like the Verrik), and spells (using the same basic spellcasting system as in D&D, but significantly modified and more flexible). Rituals, ceremonies, oaths, and truenames play a significant part in much of the AE material. The Runethane class is kinda neat too.

There are no sentient ducks that I'm aware of, although there are a few other animal-humanoid races, like Litorians and Sibeccai (lion-folk plains nomads, and jackal-folk warrior-servants of the giants, respectively). Mojh and Dracha are both slightly draconic races, the former through sorcery (humans undergoing a transformation to gain some semblence of draconic talent with magic) and the latter through being servants of dragonkind.


Unfortunately, I have few setting books myself, so I can't offer an informed opinion of any other good ones that you haven't already listed in your original post.

 

[Jorunkun]

I'd recommend Midnight, for a dark, mature take on Tolkien and an excellent read in its own right. Just the thing a (judging from your list of past faves) settings connoisseur would enjoy.

 

[WereSteve]

I've got the Thieves World Gazetteer and Player's Guide to the Wilderlands coming to me in the mail, so those are covered (if I like the latter book I'll probably splurge on the box set, which might give me incentive to run a 4ed campaign at some point).

The box set for Wilderlands of High Fantasy is well worth the money as is the City State of the Invincible Overlord and Caverns of Thracia. The box set is sufficiently system neutral enough to be used in just about any system you choose ... in case you decide to move forward with 4th edition. If you decide to stick with 3.5e, then the additional modules released through Goodman Games would be worth looking into when your party reaches mid level. Some of the early (3e) Necromancer modules and Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classics also work nicely in the Wilderlands setting and placement of these modules within the Wilderlands has been discussed on their respective forums.

New material beyond what has already been released through both Necromancer Games and Goodman Games may be some time in coming. This is largely in part due to the new 4e GSL and its restrictions coupled with some serious health issues plaguing the current owner of Judges Guild. Until the dust settles so to speak and new releases are able to be produced, if you truly like the setting I would suggest doing a little research on the Acaeum forums to find out what OOP material piques your interest, then go after it on eBay ...

 

[Pat]

Based on the list of qualities you're looking for, you might like Valus. The cosmology is well done, and merciless. The tone is dark and relatively mature, with uncaring gods, racism, intolerance, and xenophobia. The new races are adaptations of old races (the outcast half-troll trulls, the nomadic half-gnoll roven, etc), and the traditional races are well done with a few interesting twists (the gnomes or pems are magically strange, for instance). The human cultures are also strong (a Rhelmsman, a Larren, a Rorn, a Peshian are very different). While you can certainly draw analogs with real world cultures, it's not just Earth with new names. It's not quite sword and sorcery, though. I get less the sandled well-muscled hero trodding through prehistory, and more a medieval dark ages feel — though the history has demon-ridden empires, witchkings, and other excuses for ancient magics and lost tombs. And it's not a well-supported line. The corebook, and one adventure.

The Story Hour is probably the best preview. It's very well written:

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=51797

 

[Sitara]

I would recomend Dark Sun. You can the original box set immediately from Drivethrurpg.com for only $4.95/- its got just enough fluff to give you an idea and places to be in and what to expect, the rest isa canvas you can fill in yourself. You can also use the bestiary to get an idea for th ekinds of creatures, which you can then convert to you rfave system.

 

[Turjan]

I would recomend Dark Sun.

Which the OP already owns, as some of the other suggested products further above .


I guess the question is a bit difficult, because there's not much left, given the list in the first post. But I would also suggest a closer look at Scarred Lands, because I think they deserve it. You must not be offended by all this "Blood this" and "Blood that", and I would stay away from much of the later material, but the original setting is quite a nice twist on some vanilla fantasy tropes. Except a few regions, like Calastia, it has these "points of light" qualities WotC is now touting as the new big thing. The Ghelspad Gazetteer mentioned further above is the ideal starting point. And it's cheap .

Btw, Murchad's Legacy that I mentioned in the other post was not meant as a joke. It's a pretty traditional setting. You just would have to ask Biggus himself for a copy, I guess, because it's not in distribution anymore. But you can also look at the contents in the wiki.

 

[Geoffrey]

Here is my suggestion for a LOT of systemless reading material for an old-school (from the 1970s) fantasy world that has all the D&D tropes with extras mixed in:

The World Book of Khaas: Legendary Lands of Arduin

link: http://empcho.bizhosting.com/worldguide.html
another link: http://www.worldofkhaas.com/Contents.htm
table of contents: http://www.worldofkhaas.com/docs/WOKTOC.pdf

 

[Mercurius]

Here is my suggestion for a LOT of systemless reading material for an old-school (from the 1970s) fantasy world that has all the D&D tropes with extras mixed in:

The World Book of Khaas: Legendary Lands of Arduin

link: http://empcho.bizhosting.com/worldguide.html
another link: http://www.worldofkhaas.com/Contents.htm
table of contents: http://www.worldofkhaas.com/docs/WOKTOC.pdf

Looks pretty good, and I've been around long enough to know the name "Arduin", but $70?!

 

[jdrakeh]

Looks pretty good, and I've been around long enough to know the name "Arduin", but $70?!

It's a really good, totally systemless, setting book. It's also over-priced for a softcover book, IMHO. If you have that kind of money to throw around, you should snag it -- if (like many of us) you have bills to pay, you may want to track down a used copy or one of the earlier hardcover prints (they surface here and at Amazon every now and again).

 

[Geoffrey]

Looks pretty good, and I've been around long enough to know the name "Arduin", but $70?!

The book is a massive 800+ pages thick. One way to look at it is that the book is less than 9 cents per page. I own one of the old black hardback copies, and that thing can double as a wizard's tome. I think it's the heaviest book I own.