I hate Tolkien: suggest a fantasy setting.

[mmadsen]

If you're simply looking for a change of pace, perhaps you should consider a game that it more Tolkienesque, because there are plenty of not-so-Middle Earth elements to strip out of D&D.

 

[CaptainChaos]

Thieves' World
Black Company
Game of Thrones

Of them Thieves' World has the best resources. Green Ronin has a nice line of TW d20 books.

 

[Kafkonia]

I don't believe that there are RPG supplements for it, but you might want to spend some time in The Land from Stephen R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever series -- he wrote it without having ever read any fantasy, and IIRC he was living in India at the time. It's got elements of traditional fantasy, but it's also a truly horrific series from an emotional standpoint. Very disturbing, and kind of leaves you feeling dirty.

The problem in translating it to a game setting is that most of the tension comes from the hero resolutely refusing to believe that this fantasy world he finds himself in is real, and that can be hard to pull off at the table.

 

[DMH]

SpirosBlaak- no elves or gnomes, therianthropes are important to the setting, divine offspring wander around (but are not super powerful), firearms, different strains of goblins (traders, technologists and aquatics), not a planet or continent but rather a number of city states.

Oathbound- PCs are thrown into a world and must strive to dominate or die. A kitchen sink setting that draws people and monsters from the rest of the multiverse.

Dreadmire- a massive swamp populated by, among other things, cursed animals and people.

 

[Deekin]

I third Eberron. The Benefits have been summed up above, plus, magic is common enough to be used to light streets. It was designed to attract people who don't want to do Tolken stuff.

 

[AbeTheGnome]

Wow! That was a lot of responses in a short time. I think I'll just clarify a little bit:

I want to keep the standard fantasy races intact, but get rid of the stereotypes. I like Eberron for this, though I'm not so sure that I'd like to try and fit in all the new races they offer. I suppose I could just leave them out, and as long as I had players that were new to the setting, it shouldn't offend anyone.

I want low magic, and rare magic. I like Hyborea for this, but that's a humans-only setting.

I want true grit, and an abandonment of the alignment system. Black Company seems to fit the bill there.

I am in the process of creating my own setting, but I don't want it bare-bones. I want it to have flesh, and blood, and meat! I'm actually asking about settings on these boards so I can get a variety of sources to pilfer material from. I'm already planning on using Eberron's gnomes and orcs. The rest of it, I'm not sure about.

 

[Khairn]

Iron Kingdoms





'nuff said

 

[Vigilance]

Conan is the anti-Tolkien.

Heroes are about sex and money and fame. No demihumans but plenty of icky evil races.

 

[cildarith]

Minaria?

 

[Storyteller01]

Not really. I loved LotR when I was a kid, and JRR made a great contribution to the fantasy genre. However, I feel like fantasy in general, and fantasy RPG's in particular, have been copying his work ever since. I want to get away from the Tolkienesque fantasy tropes and play something different. I want evil elves! I want dwarves who don't wear beards! I want grit, and anti-heroes! Suggest something to me? Is it Conan? Is it Midnight? Is it Dark Sun? Dark Legacies? Thieve's World? If you've played these games, tell me what you like, what you don't like, and why. If you have any other dark fantasy settings, tell me about those too.

Does it have to be d20? Warhammer 40k is coming out with an RPG fairly soon. Doesn't get much grittier.