Looking for Recommendations for a High Fantasy Campaign Setting

[Treebore]

If you want to ask more specific questions these are the setting books I own (edited from the link):


Codex of Erde (Troll Lord, 2001)
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (Wizards of the Coast, 2001)
Kingdoms of Kalamar (Kenzer & Company, 2001)
Oriental Adventures (Wizards of the Coast, 2001)
Ravenloft Campaign Setting (White Wolf, 2001)
Rokugan (Alderac Entertainment Group, 2001)
Wheel of Time (Wizards of the Coast, 2001)

Codex Arcanis (Paradigm Concepts, 2002)
Oathbound: Domains of the Forge (Basion, 2002)
Scarred Lands Campaign Setting (Sword and Sorcery Press, 2002)


Dragonlance Campaign Setting (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)
Mindshadows (Green Ronin Publishing, 2003)
Players Guide to the Wilderlands (Necromancer/Judges Guild, 2003)
Testament: Roleplaying in the Biblical Era (Green Ronin Publishing, 2003)
Warcraft (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)


Blackmoor (Goodman Games, 2004)
Egyptian Adventures - Hamunaptra (Green Ronin Publishing, 2004)
SpirosBlaak (Green Ronin Publishing/Bizarro Games, 2004)
Trojan War: Roleplaying in the Age of Homeric Adventure (Green Ronin Publishing, 2004)

Dawnforge: Crucible of Legend (Fantasy Flight Publishing, 2005)
Eternal Rome: Roleplaying in the Age of Gods and Emperors (Green Ronin Publishing, 2005)
Iron Kingdoms World Guide (Privateer Press, 2005)
Talislanta d20 (Morrigan, 2005)
Wilderlands of High Fantasy (Necromancer Games/Judges Guild, 2005)
World of Warcraft (White Wolf/Sword & Sorcery, 2005)


Thieves World Gazetteer (Green Ronin, 2006)

Gazetteer of the Known Realms (Goodman Games, 2007)

 

[Elf Witch]

I managed to borrow a copy of the Kalamar CS and it looks fairly interesting. My only concern is that is doesn't seem to cover anything non-human.

Kenzer has some excellent source books for non humans for the Kalamar setting.

Fury in the Wastelands is about the orc tribes. Strength and Honor the mighty hobogoblins of Tellene is one of the best books I have ever looked at dealing with hobgoblins. half hobgoblins is a player class.

Then there are the two friend and foe books the gnomes and kobolds and elves and bugbears. Blood and shadows deals with the elves and introduces the dark elves.

Now most of the lands are human controlled. Which can give some interesting ideas for games. In the country of Brandobia they often war with the elves and then in the mountains near Kalamar the dwarves fight the legions.

The setting talks about which countries accept demi humans better than others.

In the games of KOK I have played in we have never had an issue being able to include non humans in the party.

 

[dmccoy1693]

Part of the problem is that I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for either.

Bards and Sages have a setting called Neiyar. Has several new races and examples of how to include PHB races into the setting. Find more information at the link.

(Disclaimer, I am writing for Bards and Sages, different product line)

 

[Illadar]

I find it interesting that no one has mentioned Ptolus yet. It seems like the perfect setting to run a high fantasy campaign in.

 

[Treebore]

I find it interesting that no one has mentioned Ptolus yet. It seems like the perfect setting to run a high fantasy campaign in.

Too focused on just the City environs for me to consider it a "setting". I grant you that you can contain a whole campaign in Ptolus, but you would also have to have the other books to have a bigger setting. I have yet to buy the $120 Ptolus, but I make due with just the module.

I will buy the PDF one of these days though.

 

[Dark Mistress]

Paizo is coming out with

Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer
http://paizo.com/pathfinder/pathfinderChronicles/v5748btpy7zda

It comes out this month and

Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting
http://paizo.com/pathfinder/pathfinderChronicles/v5748btpy80ic

comes out in August. I know that might be longer than you want to wait, so far i have really liked what info they have up about it. Most of what is up is in their Pathfinder series Rise of the RuneLords books and the new series Curse of the Crimson Throne.

It is a traditional style fantasy but a little different. It might be what your looking for.

 

[S'mon]

Kalamar is the opposite of 'high fantasy', its focus is very mundane and I found it very dull. I suppose if you like A Song of Ice & Fire it could be used for that sort of game.

'Sovereign Stone' is Dragonlance-style high fantasy, a bit twee for my liking.

 

[cwhs01]

Dawnforge, Oathbound or Eberron.

Excellent suggestion for three different takes on high fantasy settings. All three settings ooze atmosphere.

Dawnforge is closest to a vanillasetting, but very cool and detailed. Roleplaying in the age of legends. There are a few changes to character creation rules (extra races etc.) as well as an additional legendpoint mechanic (i think its called?), and extra legendary paths (superduper archetype-esque prestige classes). The different races also become more archetypical as they increase in level (eg. minotaurs become larger and more brutal, medusas become more medusaic..medusaesque. thingy).

Oathbound is probably the most highpowered of the three. A dark and brutal setting, with a darwinian twist. It might actually be thought of as seven distinct settings collected into one book (a city built out of the hijacked ruins of cities from other places in the multiverse, a massive plain of eternal warfare. An endless forest where everything will eventually try to kill you and eat you... etc.). Very, very good though not of as high production quality as Dawnforge and Eberron i guess (artwork quality ranges from bad to beautiful).

Eberron is the lowest in powerlevel, but availability and abundance of magic is probably higher. Very well supported. Its premise is actually (i think) one of pulp-action fantasy. It also works (ime) as a setting for more classic dnd type adventures. The adventure path (or a short series of linked adventures) published for the setting, requires a lot of gm work to become even remotely interesting. But what i've seen of the settingbooks is very good.

 

[SavageRobby]

Here are my recommendations, based on settings/worlds I own:


Pathfinder - this is my favorite (currently) of the settings, replacing the Wilderlands (which replaced the Scarred Lands). I love the feel of it and the stories. Its Greyhawkesque, similar enough that it seems somewhat familiar, yet different enough that it feels completely new and different. I'm looking forward to the Gazetteer.


The Scarred Lands is a great setting. Very rich. Think of it in terms of Greek Gods and you're good to go. (And its even more fun if you flip the cosmologoy and consider the Titans as the good guys and the Gods as the bad guy upstarts, but that's another story.) There is a lot of material, but no new material (at least for now) - so you know that it won't get ruined like some WotC settings.


The Wilderlands is another great setting, but I wouldn't call it High Fantasy - definitely more Sword and Sorcery. If you want a Conanish game, lots of wilderness travel and no real kingdoms to speak of, it would be the perfect set.


I don't like Kalamar, sadly. I got it when it first came out, hoping for the "kick ass" campaign world it purported to be ... and it wasn't. Mundane is a good word.


Aereth (Goodman Games) was just ... eh. Its one of those settings I consider great to plunder from, but I don't think I'd use it as is. (I have thought about combining elements of the Wilderlands and Aereth, though.)


I wasn't overawed with Erde (or Aihdre). I can't really explain this one. Its one that seems like it should be really cool, but I just didn't get the "wow" vibe from it. And the maps are really bad (compared to everything else).


City of Brass is REALLY nifty, and I'm looking to run a game there at some point, in some fashion. I don't know how well it would translate to an entire campaign world, and I don't know if it qualifies as "high fantasy", but it is very well done, and sparks my creative juices when I read it (which is one of my criteria for a good campaign world).


Wheel of Time has an interesting magic system (and I'd venture to guess that other third-parties companies have released similar and probably better systems). Other than that, well, its a novel-based campaign world, and not a great adaptation (and I really like the books). But definitely High Fantasy.


I'm playing in a (Savaged) Midnight game, and I've read through some of the campaign books, and its interesting - but you have to want that particular tone. It is definitely dark.


Also, if you like Greyhawk there is Castle Zagyg and its multitude of materials being put out. I have the CZ book (but none of the other supporting materials), and its very, very Gary. If you like that, it might be worth checking out.




Also, some non-d20 choices maybe worth pondering:


There is always Mystara. 'Nuff said.


Runepunk is a Savage Worlds setting, and its similar (at least on the surface) to Eberron, but not quite as gimmicky. It would be an interesting fantasy world, although I'm not sure it qualifies as High Fantasy (but you could modify some of the stock world pretty easily).


50 Fathoms is another Savage Worlds setting, a seafaring setting that you could easily make a campaign out of. It also has a Plot Point campaign built in, so you could run an end to end campaign with it. And Plot Points are similar to APs, but different in that they not at all linear and far more flexible. Like Runepunk, you'd have to do some conversion work.

 

[Desdichado]

Um, I did read the linked definition and his response. So I am answering within my understanding of what he is looking for. I own, and have read, all 23 of all the settings previously linked. There is no way for me to know exactly what it is he wants without some solid conversation, but based on what is said here I stand by what I said.

Ah, my bad then. I understood your post to be saying that the "highness" of the fantasy was just a measurement of how prevalent magic was.

That's actually at best tangential, at worst completely unrelated to the parameters of what sets apart High Fantasy from other fantasy subgenres, which is why Kingdoms of Kalamar, despite being a somewhat "mundane" setting, as S'mon calls is, actually completely qualifies as high fantasy in every sense.