AmerginLiath
Adventurer
I think the question is as much WHY? as WHAT? in terms of settings. Since WotC isn't going to glut the market as they could in 2e, I think that part of the issue is looking at what each setting brings to the table besides just the contents of the world. Especially given how Forgotten Realms has basically finished its work of killing Greyhawk and taking its stuff (between having a lower-magic setting now and now importing Tiamat and the Elemental Evil & Princes over the first APs).
My favorite settings would be Dragonlance and Planescape (which I agree could have Spelljammer included within in with some deft thinking pretty easily). What strikes me is that both map well to sections of the game that the current campaigns of Forgotten Realms doesn't cover as much. While FR is heavily <Combat> in as much as one is either fighting or interacting at small scale with NPCs, Planescape is <Exploration> across the multiverse in each sense of the world (through every facet of space, time, and even philosophy). Meanwhile, reading the Dragonlance novels ("romances" in the classic sense of the word where character relationships affected actions and outcomes across nations) and playing long campaigns that were basically soap operas, I think that that setting runs best as an outlet for <Social> mechanics – even the Mass Battle elements that are so common to DL are as much about morale, leadership, and alliances as actual combat ability of the forces involved.
Other settings like Ravenloft, Eberron, even Mystara, strike me as likewise fodder for being "toolset settings" that feel different in their focuses within the same technical mechanics. And if Epic Levels come into play, I'd rather see it done in something like Birthright tied to the Domain System instead of BIGGER DUNGEONS AND BIGGER ELVES! like in 3.x...
...but that's just my thought, and how I think that settings become both a good tool for home brewers, "settings-hoppers," and dedicated fans of one setting who want to see the 'feel' of their world represented within the mechanics they know alike.
My favorite settings would be Dragonlance and Planescape (which I agree could have Spelljammer included within in with some deft thinking pretty easily). What strikes me is that both map well to sections of the game that the current campaigns of Forgotten Realms doesn't cover as much. While FR is heavily <Combat> in as much as one is either fighting or interacting at small scale with NPCs, Planescape is <Exploration> across the multiverse in each sense of the world (through every facet of space, time, and even philosophy). Meanwhile, reading the Dragonlance novels ("romances" in the classic sense of the word where character relationships affected actions and outcomes across nations) and playing long campaigns that were basically soap operas, I think that that setting runs best as an outlet for <Social> mechanics – even the Mass Battle elements that are so common to DL are as much about morale, leadership, and alliances as actual combat ability of the forces involved.
Other settings like Ravenloft, Eberron, even Mystara, strike me as likewise fodder for being "toolset settings" that feel different in their focuses within the same technical mechanics. And if Epic Levels come into play, I'd rather see it done in something like Birthright tied to the Domain System instead of BIGGER DUNGEONS AND BIGGER ELVES! like in 3.x...
...but that's just my thought, and how I think that settings become both a good tool for home brewers, "settings-hoppers," and dedicated fans of one setting who want to see the 'feel' of their world represented within the mechanics they know alike.
