Looking for a new campaign setting

[bloodymage]

Kenjib gave an excellent, objective capsule of the pros and cons of each setting. I'm in the Kalamar camp myself.

I started long ago with homebrew exclusively. Left gaming and when I came back, I wanted something to jump right in to. FLGS recommended FR. Tried it and didn't like the overbearing feel. Did a serious searh for a setting. SL tempted me, but still had a bit of that overbearing flavor. KoK is wide open and just what I was looking for.

As to books, the only one you need is the CS. If you play d20, the KoKPHB would be my next choice. And the Atlas is just too kewl for skewl. There are plenty of modules, the "Orcs of Tellene" is out and the Hobgoblin book is due out soon. The DM screen is the second best screen on the market (after the HM screen, which it's modeled after).

Pick up the CS. You won't be sorry.

 

[Outlaw]

Ok if I were going to start a Kalamar Campaign what books would I need to start up?

Depends on how deep into the world you want to get. There are a number of products already out for the setting (and more still coming out this year).

As a DM the only book you HAVE to have is the campaign sourcebook. This describes the different human races, their major kingdoms and cities as well as the pantheon, languages and a timeline up to the current year.

The player's guide provides all the d20 system rules mechanics for kalamar, including the different demi-human races (elves: high, gray, wood, wild, shadow for example) and you can even play hobgoblins and half-hobgoblins (both are civilized races). This has feats, skills and new uses for old skills, prestige classes, spells, organizations, a more defined look at divine organizations and a lot of extras from WotC published material (as it's an offical 3e setting).

As for which you should run, take a look at Kenji's reply. That I think describes it as best as I could. It's just a matter of style.

There are a number of published modules that can help advance your campaign from 1st level to over 10th, there's also an atlas, a book on Orcs (my favorite 3e supplement of any campaign to date), the villain design handbook, and a book by Ed Greenwood that captures the talent he had before the Realms got blown into what they are now. Coming out this year is a book on the divine pantheon, a monster manual (3.5 compliant), a sourcebook on Hobgoblins and a few other items.

Kalamar also has a Living campaign to support the setting if you ever go to conventions.

 

[kenjib]

All you need is the Campaign Setting book. It was designed to be almost game system-independent, so there are very few rules in it. It pretty much sticks to detailing the setting in depth.

If you want more, the Kalamar Player's Guide would probably be the next book you'd want to get. It has all the rules stuff that the campaign setting book doesn't -- new classes, race descriptions, religious canons, and various new rules for use in the setting. It also has a really great selection of feats that really helps to put more of a focus on roleplay instead of combat compared to the core books.

After that, it depends on what kind of stuff you like. The Atlas is crack for map-lovers and a really fantastic tool. The Kalamar DM screen is the utterly uncontested king of the DM screen market (24 fold out panels). The Villain Design Handbook has really great advice on creating memorable and highly nuanced villains that defy stereotype but there are a couple of iffy rules in it. Geanavue is a great homebase type city filled with political intrigue but a pretty safe place to hang your hat (and adventure out into the surrounding lands from there). There's a sourcebook on orcs that is supposed to be really good from what I've heard. There are also a good number of really high quality modules.

Coming soon is a monster book, a book on Hobgoblins (hobgoblins are a playable race in Kalamar, and have two kingdoms), a book on Tellene's pirates, a regional book on the swamplands of the Empire, and hopefully soon, the Most Complete Guide to Arms and Equipment, which WotC is holding approval for (Kenzer and WotC have a special D&D licensing deal that requires Kenzer stuff to go through quality control both in-house and at WotC - not sure what's going on there with this book).

The campaign setting and player's guide are the big ones though.

EDIT: Hey! You guys ninja-posted me!!!

 

[Nightfall]

Not to dissuade you Mike or to say Kenjib is wrong, but it's far from just premade plots and "meta-plotting" for the Scarred Lands It's true that there is a kind of overall theme but that's not to say you can't run your stuff. I do, I know Lars does, and plenty of the SL fans. Heck we already had one in the Plots and Places had a slightly altered version of the Apocalypse Stone adventure. You can add or subtract as much as you want, without hurting the overall feel. Plus the fact it's not about good or evil, really. The titans aren't any more evil or good than some Cthulthuian gods. Heck I've contemplated several times running with a bunch of Golthainite druids and/or Slitheren characters. Or for that matter LE Charduni working with Paladins to defeat a potent evil. Now that's not to say you couldn't do that in Kalamar, but most people in the Scarred Lands don't look twice about having such combo work. The gods of all stripes worked together to forge a tenous but workable relationship.

Then there is the magic system. I mean how cool is to make a signature sorcerer? Easily if you got the right bloodline. Scion feats, one of the best ideas from the Scarred Lands, also plays an important role in this. Or perhaps you want more reason for a wizard to work with the gods. Cabalism might be to your speed. Plus the fact with a LOT of wilderness to cover, druids and rangers, even barbarians play a more significant role. This isn't to say the Scarred Lands has near the low level feel as Kalamar, but with true rituals, ritual magic system, few people walking around with lots of rings, wands and stuff, there are options. I know I use them.

As for where to start, if you're Dming, you best get SLCS:Ghelspad, as that's the core for most good Dms. You can follow it up with either the Divine or Defeated or Relics and Rituals. Either book will do.

I hope this will make you reconsider. (Also you got little ole me.)

 

[Desdichado]

It's not clear to me what you want in a campaign setting, so I don't know how I can recommend either one of them. I'm quite a fan of Kalamar and Scarred Lands both, but for different reasons.

And, I've never really understood the position that someone doesn't have time to homebrew, so they're going to go out and buy half a dozen books and read them well enough to run a book in that setting...

One of the reasons (although not the primary reason) I homebrew is that it's less time intensive than figgering out an all new setting like Kalamar or Scarred Lands. Although looking at your original post, you didn't say that's why you didn't want to homebrew, but I thought I read it somewhere in the thread there...

If you're looking for dark settings (looks like you are) I'd also recommend checking out Midnight when it comes out in a month or so. It looks to be one of the darker settings I've seen in a while. The Hunt seems like a dark setting as well, and Ravenloft is always available.

 

[Nightfall]

Kind of why I was saving my best stuff Josh. Wanted to asked...but figured I'd at least give some reasons.

As for home brew, can you HONESTLY see me, the Sage, doing a homebrew?

 

[Desdichado]

No, Nightfall, I honestly can't. Folks homebrew for a lot of different reasons. Time is one that I often hear for not homebrewing, which I honestly don't understand. I, at least, can certainly homebrew easier than run a published setting if time is limited.

 

[Nightfall]

Eh time I got. Just the fact though I'm an NPC kind of limits my choices don't you agree?

 

[aurin777]

Iron Kingdoms! Don't let out on iron kingdoms!
www.ironkingdoms.com

Read first before you decide! They even have a miniature game so you can get campaign specific models!
~~Brandon

 

[Desdichado]

Iron Kingdoms is shaking up to be probably my favorite published campaign setting -- if they'd ever publish the durned thing! Still, there's almost enough in print now to run the setting. They really need to publish the CS book before I can consider it a real option, though. Until then, all it is for me is stuff I can steal for my homebrew.