Settings you want to like
- Thread starter Ankh-Morpork Guard
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TheAuldGrump
First Post
Mark Plemmons said:Ah, the "generic" fantasy. That word seems to get tied to a lot of settings, and it means something slightly different to everyone.
Yes, the Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign setting is "generic fantasy" if you mean that it has elves, dragons, gnomes, etc in a world of medieval technology. Of course, there are plenty of differences as well, the most obvious being the hobgoblin kingdoms and their use as a standard PC race.
It also has geography, politics and such based on realism. This lets the DM determine exactly what feel he or she desires. Tellene features elements common to many popular fantasy works, including J.R.R Tolkien’s Middle-Earth from “the Lord of the Rings,” Robert E. Howard’s Hyboria from the Conan stories, and the land of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, among others.
The feel of the land depends mostly on what region the player characters are in. For example, the Reanaaria Bay region is standard fantasy common to most other settings, where the human and humanoid races trade among each other and the enemies are mostly bandits, pirates and monsters. Most other lands, however, do not share this view of life. In the Kingdom of Eldor far to the west of the Bay, humans are fiercely proud of their ancestry and strive to keep their bloodline pure, and visitors of other races are persecuted, while the military fights a skirmish war with the elves. In the Theocracy of Slen, to the north, the clerics of an evil god control all, and darkness lies across the land. The Isle of Svimohzia, too, is a study in contrasts. This ancient land of dark-skinned peoples holds cities of magnificent beauty, war-torn lands, and a great looming jungle that devours the foolhardy.
Now, I know your next question is:
"What does ‘based on realism’ mean? How does that make the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting different from other settings, like the Forgotten Realms?"
So my answer is: based on realism means that the geography, climate and political interactions follow logical patterns based on previous events. Kalamar is not as dramatically low on magic as Harn, but most inhabitants of the world aren’t exposed to magic on a routine basis. This lets the DM tailor the world to his or her own magic taste. It’s easy to sprinkle in more magic if that’s the way you like to play, but it can be more difficult to take magic out if an entire society or town is based on some magical element. Realism also means that the world was built from the bottom up. We considered plate tectonics, placed mountains based on that, set weather patters and bodies of water, defined migration patterns of early inhabitants and eventually developed the modern societies all in a logical progression. We can contrast this with Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk. My understanding of these settings is that they were based on D&D campaigns of Gary Gygax and Ed Greenwood. The players probably started somewhere and the world grew out from there as the DMs needed to fill in the details. This type of top down world is fine if that’s the way you want to play but it can lead to some logical inconsistencies. For example, Kalamar has six human races, each with their own language. Thus, each place that race populates should be named in the language of the people who live there. An exception to this would be if the place was conquered. The place name is often renamed by the victors.
Here's some more highlights, frequently asked questions and such below...
*REALLY LONG POST OF VERY GOOD REASONS TO LIKE KALAMAR SNIPPED*
Did that help? What else would you like to know?
There are a lot of reasons to like Kalamar, which is why I am sorry that I didn't. Like I said, I can't really put a finger on 'why'. It certainly wasn't because it was generic. It isn't dull, it has a great deal of history, the map is gorgeous... the list goes on. But it never ignited a fire in my soul.
The Auld Grump
shadow
First Post
Midnight! I really wanted to like the setting, I really did. A dark fantasy world where the true heroes were rebels. A world where people adventured to restore justice in a suffering land! Legendary heroes descended from ancient bloodlines! The premise really appealed to me. Unfortunately, the setting was way too depressing, dark and gritty even for me. I mean, the core book explicitly states that there is no hope of victory and the PCs can never triumph ! If there is no hope even for the smallest victory, what's the point?
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Its no different than a Call of Cthulhu game.shadow said:
wingsandsword
Legend
Ankh-Morpork Guard said:
Exactly, of course, I don't particularly like Cthuhlu for exactly that reason. A game where you're guaranteed to lose, and that nothing you do will change anything. Just too hopeless for me.
The alien, bizarre lovecraftian horror of strange incomprehensible creatures from impossibly far away and weird dimensions has a place in D&D (just notice all the Far Realm references that get thrown in), but there it's always implied that it's another set of deities and planes that can be fought like any other (i.e. insanely difficult, possibly Epic, but not impossible), saying up front that you'll lose, and lose badly just doesn't appeal to a lot of people.
In the theme of this thread, I wish I could like it since Cthuhlu is such a "classic" setting for gaming (heck, the college gaming club I'm part of is called the Miskatonic Student Union and has a distinct Cthuhlu/Lovecraft theme) but it's just too hopeless for anything more than a 1 shot in my eyes.
TheAuldGrump
First Post
Nightfall said:*puts Thulkas on top of Auld.* That should ignite you for Scarred Lands!
Heh, I've run Scarred Lands, so keep that Titan off of me!
The Auld Grump, more of a Golthian person meself...
MrFilthyIke
First Post
Ankh-Morpork Guard said:
One does not UNDERSTAND CoC til one has played in a game where the GM made a campaign with no hope, but we always strived and wanted to succeed, when a normal man would have sat back, and broken down. No, we fell to pieces opposing the Mythos at every turn.
)
Mark Plemmons
Explorer
wingsandsword said:
As someone else mentioned earlier in this thread (or on another thread I've read recently) I think Cthulu is one of those games that has a lot to do with the DM. A really good DM can make these kind of games great, but otherwise it does seem to end up a little boring or hopeless - at least, in my experience.
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