What flavor do you use to make your gameworld unique?

[el-remmen]

sauerkraut

 

[Psion]

Magocracy is the general rule for most parts of the world. However, there are several levels of "secret masters", who weave their plots. Bands of rakshasas, ogre magi death cultists, wandering troupes of shadowdancers, etc. The average commoner is pretty much living in servitude to one magic user or another.

That's pretty similar to a guiding principle in my game. IMC, I presume that no governing body would hold power for long without the assistance of some measure of magic or psionic power. This drives both plots and world design.

For my River of Worlds game, the river of world itself is a major distictive element. Essentially, the river of worlds is an infinite body of water on which you can travel to a variety of planes.

 

[Lord Ipplepop]

With our home-brew, we are designing the world around the history of the "real" world, complete with ancient Romans, and Turks, various barbarian races, and the Celts... American Indians, Vietnamese, and even a few pygmies make their appearances in various parts of the world.

 

[Jackelope King]

My setting is an all-psionic world which has just gone through a failed/stalled Age of Exploration. A world-wide cataclysm destroyed almost the entire planet, save one small continent (where the game takes place). The two colonizing powers (a European-esque empire and an oriental-esque empire) are coming to grips with their loss of political and military power over the natives (an east-coast American-Indian group, a hulking Inuit/north-central American-Indian group, and a Meso-American Indian group). At the same time, spirits from the Aether are coming over to the world of mortals in droves, creating a conflict between traditional psionic power and ancient, forbidden spirit magic.

I really play up the difference between reason, logic, science (psionics) and supersition, magic, the occult (spirit magic, modified incarnum). Most of the educated characters scoff at rumors about spirit magic ("Witchcraft? People still believe that nonsense in this day and age? It was likely a simple telekinetic power.")... until they see it themselves. Even spirit characters are skeptical of the occult until they see it for the first time, and spiritualists are generally covert and reclusive.

The spirit world provides plenty of opportunities for psychological horror, with betentacled Lovecraftian monsters and unreal landscapes. Psionics also plays up psychological horror, especially when you betray Cartesean logic ("I think, therefore, I am") and you cannot even trust that your thoughts are your own.

The key non-core books for my game have been Lords of Madness, Heroes of Horror, Expanded Psionics Handbook, and Magic of Incarnum. Tons of fun.

 

[BullMarkOne]

I have a tendancy to apply real world cultures to various in game races. Sometimes I go with stereotypical themes, norse or scottish dwarves for example. Sometimes I go for things that are a bit more out there, like medieval russian hobgoblins in my last game, or the north african gnomes/kobolds (same race, kobolds are gnomes who've been magically transformed by servitude to evil dragons) in my current world.

I've also been recently toying with the idea of a world built entirely using creatures from a monster book other than the 3.5 Monster Manual.

*EDIT* Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I often have Lovecraftian overtones in my games. I borrow gods and location names liberally. My current world features a Lake of Hali complete with a Carcosa, and a King in Yellow, all in fairly close proximity to where my players currently are.

 

[hellbender]

My setting is an all-psionic world which has just gone through a failed/stalled Age of Exploration. A world-wide cataclysm destroyed almost the entire planet, save one small continent (where the game takes place). The two colonizing powers (a European-esque empire and an oriental-esque empire) are coming to grips with their loss of political and military power over the natives (an east-coast American-Indian group, a hulking Inuit/north-central American-Indian group, and a Meso-American Indian group). At the same time, spirits from the Aether are coming over to the world of mortals in droves, creating a conflict between traditional psionic power and ancient, forbidden spirit magic.

The spirit world provides plenty of opportunities for psychological horror, with betentacled Lovecraftian monsters and unreal landscapes. Psionics also plays up psychological horror, especially when you betray Cartesean logic ("I think, therefore, I am") and you cannot even trust that your thoughts are your own.

The key non-core books for my game have been Lords of Madness, Heroes of Horror, Expanded Psionics Handbook, and Magic of Incarnum. Tons of fun.

Very light snipping there. The world sounds pretty neat and well thought out.

I think I will yoink this idea to incorporate into my gameworld as an alternate world that players must travel to ala Beyond Countless Doorways to try to find a way to stop the events that are unfolding. I didn't mention the self-fulfilling prophecy aspect of the world. I am also going to use the Incursion adventure from Dungeon as a mad human wizard makes a deal: the githyanki are free to attack any and all non-humans that are not allied to the major human powers, and, in return, the human wizard will help a gish leader in his attempt to destroy the Lich Queen and free the githyanki race and allow them to be unfettered by her madness. I am using the same non-core books as you with the exception of Magic of Incarnum, and adding Libris Mortis, the Dragonomicon, Beyond Countless Doorways and the Complete series.

edit: I also use a huge load of Ronin Arts .pdfs, I purchased a batch last spring and summer and then a few more just the other day and was incorporating a few this morning into my gameworld.

 

[LogicsFate]

To the players, in the beginning, it would seem like a completely generic D&D world. With the exection that the world seems to revolve around the adveturers. Slowly I make it clear that nothing comes easy. Then I let them uncover plots, go to less talked about places, meet races good or evil or high and mighty.

Overall it's still like a regular D&D world though, with just my sense of intrigue contained with-in

 

[arscott]

I'm in the process of starting a swashbucking pirate campaign set on earth circa 1667 plus magic and monsters, and the uniqueness comes at least partially from trying to blend real-life history, traditional mythology and folklore, and D&D specific tropes.

For instance:
The European spellcasting tradition manifests itself in sorcerers, who derive their power from their connection to the drakes--intensely powerful draconic sea-monsters.

Given his name and his occupation, it seems reasonable for Sir Francis Drake to have been a Sorcerer as well as an explorer and privateer. And in the alternate history of my campaign, Drake had a son shortly before his death.

The Son, Christopher Drake, leveraged his father's fame and his own sorcerous ability into a political career. During the English civil war, he earned his place in history by rallying England's sorcerers to the monarchist cause. Now he's the Cheif sorcerer of Great Britian.

He's also the current head of the Order of Dueling Serpents. This sorcerous organization draws its name from a prophecy made my Merlin Ambrosius, and is said to date back to the time of king arthur. Having been lost to time and legend, it was revived by Charles II following his restoration, as a way of officially recognizing and honoring the nation's sorcerers, as well as a means of keeping tabs on them. Now, some dueling serpent initiates busy themselves uncovering hidden remnants from previous incarnations of the order, while others deal with the consequences of the modern organization--more intertwining of sorcery and politics than has ever been seen in england's recorded history.

[plug]The game's still looking for players. If you're interested, check out the link in my sig below.[/plug]

 

[Tonguez]

I'm in the process of starting a swashbucking pirate campaign set on earth circa 1667 plus magic and monsters, and the uniqueness comes at least partially from trying to blend real-life history, traditional mythology and folklore, and D&D specific tropes.

This sounds awesome. One game I played (and helped design) a while ago was inspired by Solomon Kane and then expanded. In it Cromwell had recovered from his illness and was still Lord Protector of the Grand Protectorate of Britain and France. However he was having to contend with the rise of Lyonese (off the coast of wales) and the return of the Sidhe to Scotland and Ireland. Of course the rise of Lyonese had formed the landbridge linking England and France which had allowed the Protectorates conquest there.

To the South the Grand Inquisitor Torquemada has been made pope and so the Inquisition has greatly increased its power and scope and begun a terrible vendetta gainst all acts of Scorcery, Witchery and Diabolism. (It was this that had partly distablised France so that the Protectorate could take over). Torquemada is also having to contend with the influence of the Moors at Granada and their fell alchemies and consorting with spirits (genie)

As for the Spellcasters besides having allies amongst the Sidhe (if you can trust them) most have headed east and the College of Vienna is now the foremost school of magic in Europe (excluding the old apprentice system still operating in the Slavic lands)

My character in that campaign was apparently human but was really the half-mortal son of the Green Man (a powerful Nature spirit)

or instance:
The European spellcasting tradition manifests itself in sorcerers, who derive their power from their connection to the drakes--intensely powerful draconic sea-monsters.

Given his name and his occupation, it seems reasonable for Sir Francis Drake to have been a Sorcerer as well as an explorer and privateer. And in the alternate history of my campaign, Drake had a son shortly before his death.

The Son, Christopher Drake, leveraged his father's fame and his own sorcerous ability into a political career. During the English civil war, he earned his place in history by rallying England's sorcerers to the monarchist cause. Now he's the Cheif sorcerer of Great Britian.

He's also the current head of the Order of Dueling Serpents. This sorcerous organization draws its name from a prophecy made my Merlin Ambrosius, and is said to date back to the time of king arthur. Having been lost to time and legend, it was revived by Charles II following his restoration, as a way of officially recognizing and honoring the nation's sorcerers, as well as a means of keeping tabs on them. Now, some dueling serpent initiates busy themselves uncovering hidden remnants from previous incarnations of the order, while others deal with the consequences of the modern organization--more intertwining of sorcery and politics than has ever been seen in england's recorded history.

[plug]The game's still looking for players. If you're interested, check out the link in my sig below.[/plug]

 

[Lord Mhoram]

I've used different things for flavor and twists.

The most common is transworld fantasy. Generally my favorite fantasy books are of that type; The Covenant Series, the Legion of Videssos, Caramonde and when younger Spellsinger, Oz and Narnia. So I use that in roleplaying... and it something that is at least not uncommon in literature, but you never see it in gaming. I usually run such things in HERO just because it is easier to keep things balanced, but a d20 version would work almost as well no. When I ran my last game that way, which lasted about 5 years, the PCs (which came and went as the campaign progressed) were a number of natives, a cyberpunk character, and old west doctor, a Jedi-like character, a low powered superhero, a Mgyver/James Bond cross modern superspy, and a pulp Cthuliu investigator. The game worked very well and everyone had a blast.

I tend to like moral absolutes in my game. So I've run games that are a paladin's heaven. When I do so, I have two levels of evil ... first there is "everyday evil" with a small e.. thieves, con artists ect fall under this catagory. A paladin cannot do anything with such people that anyone else couldn't. There is also "supernatural Evil" - Evil outerplanar creatures, most Undead, any cleric with a spell with the [Evil] descriptor in any domain spell, and lycanthropes*. Those creatures a paladin can kill without mercy and with no warning and have no social or alignment problems. And in purposes of detecting the big E evil the paladin's detect evil cannot be fooled by magic or any other means. What this allows is the character to still be faced with a moral decision about what to do with helpless, or surrendered foes, but it also allows the palaidn to be the "kick butt holy warrior of god" who can mete out divine justice with no question of the rightness or morality of his actions; which face it, is one of the reasons paladins are played.

* I also run two competing types of creatures - mechanically identical, but you have Lycanthrope (who are evil from the first change) and also have the ability to spread the curse; and changers, who have the same mechanics, but it is passed down in bloodline. The two groups are bascially at war with each other.

I play with cutlures. I ran a game where each race's default cutlure was one from earth - the Halflings were Celtic, the Elves were "fantasy asian" and the Dwarves were vikings (culturally - no boats), orcs being classic sacrificing generic aztec like. I also used some other classes tied to such races - the bard being a major halfling class, samurai, shukenja, monks and ninja being elvish, barbarian and such being dwarvish. That left the game with a very different flavor than most; and because the basics of the cultures were familiar to most eveyone, it dind't take a lot to explain such things to the players.