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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 794101" data-attributes="member: 2205">fusangite:  Kishkumen as one of the three Nephites!  <img src="http://jdyal.freezope.org/eek.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />That's playing him against type, alright!As much as I think fusangite's original post is a fascinating tangent, let me try to address the original question a bit.  I think for most folks, the resonances of having a familiar-ish setting is a good thing.  Some of my favorite fantasies are fairly standard in their set-up (Midkemia, for example comes to mind, and of course Tolkien himself) but it's the "twist" that makes it interesting.Ray Winninger, in his Dungeoncraft series of articles in Dragon Magazine (are those still archived on the web somewhere, BTW?) described creating homebrews that are D&D with a single twist to make the campaign memorable.  Personally, I think that's more interesting than vanilla worlds (ala Greyhawk, FR) but in many cases can be more interesting than something completely original as well.Right now, my campaign setting is somewhat different -- it utilizes rules that are a combination of d20 Modern and d20 Call of Cthulhu and has no humanoids other than humans themselves, orcs and tainted bloodlines of humans twisted by dark magical pockets that saturate portions of the earth.  Actually using magic in any more than an extremely limited way is very dangerous and drives you inexorably insane (as well as potentially calling forth demons from a spirit-world like plane known as the Realms of Magic to attack you, drag you into their world, or otherwise reek havoc).  The PCs are members of the Inquisition -- an organization dedicated to eliminating supernatural threats from the realm.Geography is somewhat loosely based on the prehistoric Lake Bonneville -- I like the idea of a giant freshwater lake nestled in the mountains of what is otherwise a fairly dry region (although I created a second great lake and connected them via a narrow strait).  I've also introduced a fauna of prehistoric animals -- sabertooths, mammoths, hunting hyenas, bone-cracking dogs, giant predatory flightless birds, etc.The region is also under the grip of a "cold war" -- tensions between the orc kingdoms and the various other kingdoms in the region make Cassant (the main city on the strait; a neutral party) a hotbed of intrigue and espionage.Technology has advanced somewhat; I have what are essentially steamjacks (ala Iron Kingdoms), flintlock firearms, steam-powered shipping and the like, although swords, armor and the like are also used by pretty much everyone as well.I don't want to claim it's completely original -- it actually bears some close similarities to Red Planet's homebrew world, although I arrived at those same ideas independently, but it's also certainly not very Tolkienesque.</blockquote>

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