D&D General trying to come up with a decent setting idea.

[Imaculata]

but I do not want all Norse I want other stuff as well.

You can. But sometimes it helps to focus on a central theme, and see if you can build everything else around it.

 

[prabe]

but I do not want all Norse I want other stuff as well.

"Arctic" doesn't need to be limited to "Norse," or the other way around.

But that wasn't really the thought I was having. The thought I was having was more along the lines of pick a theme/idea, or maybe two, for the whole world (such as, on my world, the Gods are gone), then pick one or two for where you want to start the campaign (again, using my own campaigns, Embernook is run by an exiled noble Fey). It might be a way to keep things more manageable as you put setting ideas together.

 

[Imaculata]

A friend of mine build his setting around the Tales of Arabian Nights. Everything was desert/middle eastern themed, with the player characters all being legendary heroes of some sort, trying to find a mythical city swallowed by the sand. He played arabian music, had the players deal with heat, thirst, mirages, and of course desert creatures and monsters of an arabian flavor.

A good setting can be described in just a few sentences, and should immediately evoke a feeling, images and a mood in my opinion.

 

[Mind of tempest]

A good setting can be described in just a few sentences, and should immediately evoke a feeling, images and a mood in my opinion.

I have never encountered such a phenomenon I do not see how it is possible?

 

[prabe]

Paragraphs are probably a more achievable goal than sentences:

Erkonin is a world that is recovering slowly and fitfully from its most recent calamities, the Severance and the Fiendwars (sometimes Fiend Wars, see Emerson on consistency and small minds). The planar borders are porous, and lots of things come through on vacation or maybe snack runs; many of the things are on the malevolent side, or at least very hungry.

The Severance ... well, severed Erkonin from the gods. The Fiendwars were a few centuries of unpleasantness that followed the Severance (it's unclear whether there's causality there, or merely correlation (and if it's causality, which way the arrow points)) during which armies of demons and devils fought their way across the world, attempting to make some sort of strategic flanking maneuver in the Blood War. Eventually the fiends were driven off the world, but there are scars.​

 

[Voadam]

wait has there ever been a d&d race truly associated with the monk?

Very little.

Githzerai are probably the strongest. Particularly when they switched from CN in Limbo to LN with their monasteries being strongholds of law in the most Chaotic of planes (a proving ground for their lawfulness).

Zenythri (Law planetouched) from Monster Manual II also had favored class monk.

 

[Imaculata]

I have never encountered such a phenomenon I do not see how it is possible?

Well, I think I just gave you two examples. If your setting has a strong unique theme, then it doesn't need a whole of explaining. A mere outline could be enough to conjure images in the head of your players.

You don't want them to picture lord of the rings or default bland Eberron. You want them to picture YOUR setting.

To give another example:

For the last few years I have ran a setting that is pirates with firearms and mostly humans. The players are all heroic (good) pirates of any class, who travel from island to island, seeking out adventure and treasure. The setting is mostly aquatic, taking place in and around the water, with many aquatic foes.

 

[turnip_farmer]

I have never encountered such a phenomenon I do not see how it is possible?

"This game's set in Fantasy Arabia."

 

[Mind of tempest]

some of you may have wondered if I had any bits of the setting already built I do here it is.

the half sunken city of za-ha-mor

the half-sunken city of za ha mor has always been.

The half-sunken city of za ha mor never was.

Sitting in a shallow area of the southeastern ocean at its most northern point is at 9°15'00.7"N 63°47'44.3"E

it is the largest city ever known it is 261 km long and 138 km wide

the partly submerged structures are covered in slit and mangroves making traversal by boat or foot difficult the fact the many of the broken buildings flat out flout in midair makes the sky’s difficult to move through but house eclipse embraces has been able to make it through the narrow spaces because of this it has made a fortune in salvage and their sky fleet is willing to let other explores in for a cut of the profit assuming you mad enough to try exploring this magitek hell.

Its tallest towers are snow capped and stand 4,810m moving around here with outfight or climbing ability is death and not just by falling, drowning or being crushed.

Not including the bizarre wildlife, the abominable constructs or the arcana-trophic mobile vegetation, the most common dangers are the Stealers of Life legions their webs which are as thick as a human arm, bright purple and smell of lavender for some reason. The other largest threat is the others a collection of strange aberrations who work together for unknown reason their territory is littered with image traps which the more you look at the more they damage you copies of which do not harm views.

Fortunately, the others and the Stealers of Life spend most of their time trying to kill each other than explores and salvagers.

Stealers of Life look like a ten limbed ettercap crossed with an arcane construct they have six legions known to be found all over za ha mor they are universally aggressive, hate, sadistic but seemingly incapable of turning on each other. S.o.L do not seem to need food or water but can eat if they wish and are most active around the evenings or early mornings with mild activity throughout the night. Six types are known corresponding to six of the seven elemental planes.

The others are telepathic with most types capable of floating in mid-air and seem to always contain a crystal organ which is highly prized by scholars, wizards and mystics. Some have abilities that let them attack with the poisons light.
Nearly nothing is know of them.

Why do people brave za-ha-mor?

Almost any part of it when salvaged is worth more money than most human leaders make in a lifetime and Lavos-la will pay twice your literal weight in gold for the information that comes out of za-ha-mor plus it has more magic weapons and magitek than almost anywhere else and it is more or less free past giving a cut to the house eclipse embraces which is not hard to do.