Replacement: Settings that made a difference.

[John Q. Mayhem]

I really have no way of knowing which settings have had the biggest influence on the hobby, but the ones that have made a big impression on me personally are IK, Eberron, and Diamond Throne (although that one's mostly for the mechanics).

Another one that's very recent, but very cool, and has great mechanics, is Mythic Earth.

 

[Zimbel]

Eberron

Voting the WotC settings for influence is kind of a no-brainer, I guess. Eberron is the first to hit 70 votes.

Actually, I'm puzzled why Eberron has so many votes; I'd think that Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk are both much more influential, having been published for far longer. Perhaps it's just because it is the newest major campaign setting by WOTC?

If you voted for Eberron, why do you feel it made a difference?

 

[drothgery]

Actually, I'm puzzled why Eberron has so many votes; I'd think that Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk are both much more influential, having been published for far longer. Perhaps it's just because it is the newest major campaign setting by WOTC?

WotC put out a new D&D setting (and not just a core-book only one shot), which they haven't done since acquiring TSR. They put out something for D&D that wasn't traditional fantasy, which they haven't done in just as long. And there's finally somethng out there that's built around the core assumptions of 3.5e. That's a really big deal.

The other setting that got my vote was Blue Rose, for being the setting that came with True20.

 

[CronoDekar]

I voted for Eberron, and I did so because for me, it was the first setting I was really and truely interested in. It's hard to really say what I like about Eberron... I suppose I mainly like its spin on fantasy, the "wide-magic" element of it, and the new takes on the races, the planes, the gods, and everything. I voted for the Forgotten Realms too because parts of it like the cosmology and certain cultures are interesting, though I could never get into it as a setting.

 

[jdrakeh]

Scarred Lands was the first D&D setting to enjoy really thorough support. It made all the difference for me when I went to the FLGS in Topeka and had a choice between a whopping three books for FR or a stack of books for Scarred Lands. I bought into the latter setting.

Arcanis is, to date, the only d20 setting I've seen which manages to do 'baroque' right. It has a real Vancian feel to it where the actual setting elements are concerned. In fact, Arcanis probably tops my list of favorite d20 fantasy settings.

Dungeonworld, while chock full of typographical errors, is singulalrly unique amongst all published RPG setting ever written (to my knowledge). The idea of an entire world that consists of nothing but dungeon is pretty neat. I wish it had been done up a bit better.

Oathbound was, for me, the closest thing to Planescape that I ever saw get any kind of real support for D&D 3x. It is a well-written, artistically stunning, product line - that apprently a lot of people just plain dislike for varying reasons (I admit that the 'only for higher level characters' bit turned me off).

 

[tek2way]

This last posting is a more general question. Which D&D/D20/OGL game has made the most difference to you or to the hobby? You may like a specific set of mechanics, or some aspect of the setting, or maybe it was just your first setting.

Well, for me, four settings really stood out. Dragonlance, Eberron, Kingdoms of Kalamar, and Iron Heroes.

Dragonlance reminded me of why I began gaming in the first place. The 3.x treatment is flawed, but evocative of that feeling anyway.
Eberron presented a set of rules that made the setting truly unique. I love the setting, but some element of the setting keeps me from being happy enough with it to run it. Still, it made me rethink the way I've done things in-game.
Kingdoms of Kalamar has a level of detail that still amazes me, and which I still want to get a chance to use.
Finally, Iron Heroes had the greatest impact on my gaming. My current Dragonlance game is all-but an Iron Heroes game without the setting and classes (running a heavily modified version of D&D, but one that my entire group thanks me for setting up, as it addressed their concerns regarding core D&D).

 

[Stormborn]

Still the case. Admittedly, high fantasy is subject to interpretation. There is no real reason why you couldn't add in some additional ones, but I think the 41 I have listed are a fairly good selection.

You could also argue that Conan or Grimm don't qualify, etc., based on different criteria. Oh well.

I was going to argue that the definition of high fantasy was not subject to interpretation, that it always refers to a genre with fantastic elements set in a nonhistoricla world. While technically correct, apparently the common usage to describe relative levels of the fantastic prevelant in the setting has corrupted the definition in several online sources. Although, I still think that technically Low Fantasy is a historical setting with fantasitc elements while High Fantasy is a nonhistorical settign with fantastic elements, and that the two terms have nothing to do with the amount of magic in the setting. Oh well.


Having said that, I voted for Eberron, mainly because of the Setting Search Event itself spawned so much creativity within the community. It has obviously changed the output of WotC, but how many other settings, homebrew or published, are because of that search?

Tons. Thus the biggest impact on the hobby.

 

[danbuter]

Conan - Because I read all the books when I was 12, and I loved the movie.
Eberron - Tech and magic, and it makes sense. And shifters and war-forged are awesome as hell.
Forgotten Realms - The first setting I dove into, feet-first. Many, many hours were spent reading and many games were done here.
Greyhawk - I love the description of the migrations of the various people. No one else has ever repeated it, that I'm aware of.
Iron Kingdoms - Steam tech, with DnD. I LOVE the mechs.
Ravenloft - The atmosphere in the first boxed set was incredible. I ran many an adventure here.
Wilderlands of High Fantasy - I'm a newbie to this setting, but it is just so utilitarian, I can't not love it.

And one you forgot:
Mystara - The very first DnD setting I ever got into. I spent a year just using the little bit of info included in Isle of Dread for my world.

 

[DMH]

As for me, there are 3: Oathbound was the first fantasy setting I have owned since 1st ed GH. I am still more of a sci-fi person so my second vote goes to Broncosaurus Rex (which is not on the poll). The 3rd is Morningstar as it has as much very cool high fantasy as Oathbound.

As for the hobby, Midnight, IK, FR, Eberron, GH, and Diamond Throne are the heavies that have changed it. Blue Rose should be there, but I don't see a large number of people adopting it.

 

[Clueless]

Planescape did it for me, for some fairly obvious reasons - style and substance.