What is your favorite non-traditional setting?

[Aus_Snow]

Some long-time fave ('non-traditional') settings:

Warhammer
Dark Sun
CP2020
Call of Cthulhu (various)


Currently investigating:

Oathbound

 

[BWP]

What are some other non-traditional, or high-fantasy, settings that you guys enjoy or would recommend?

Midnight.

I also hope to soon be enjoying Thieves' World, too. I've always enjoyed the books and the excellent Chaosium boxed set.

 

[Derren]

D20: Dragonstar

Non D20: Shadowrun!

As for the new edition, it is coming out in August.
I hope they don't screw up. I will miss Deckers. (According to Fanpro, dacks are a thing of the past, but according to some playtesters decks are still part of the game)

 

[Meadred]

Aargh, as usually just one choice isn't enough. I have to make a list, and on that list are:

- Dark Sun
- Rokugan
- Ravenloft
- Midnight

Cheers,
Meadred

 

[francisca]

Tekumel

Now, can someone explain to me how Al-Quadim is non-traditional, when many myths from the middle eastern world have been integrated into D&D, or inspired many of the trappings, for a long time? Take the original 1e AD&D DMG cover, for instance.

 

[scadgrad]

Tied for 3.X: Midnight and Iron Kingdoms, both exceptional works IMO.
Pre-3.X: Planescape and Ravenloft

 

[twofalls]

My favorite setting is Kingdoms of Kalamar, but that qualifies as a traditional setting, so I'd have to say Planescape and Midnight for non-traditional. Actually, Forgotten Realms is so power mad and in many cases just outright weird that it nearly qualifies too.

 

[Turanil]

I'd love to run a 3E Darksun game. I've read athas.org and I'm sure it would make much more sense if I had the source material!

What are you speaking about?? Go on RPGnow and get the Original Dark Sun in PDF right now!

 

[loki44]

Tekumel

Now, can someone explain to me how Al-Quadim is non-traditional, when many myths from the middle eastern world have been integrated into D&D, or inspired many of the trappings, for a long time? Take the original 1e AD&D DMG cover, for instance.

Tekumal is a great choice and one that I concur with. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out in the updated version. As far as Al-Qadim goes, I hear where you're coming from in terms of it SHOULDN'T be non-traditional, but IMO it wrongfully is. Al-Qadim is a very rich setting, and one that I love, but from the begining it seemed ephemeral. Any fantasy fan is familiar with djinn, flying carpets, 1,001 Arabian Nights, etc... but to implement a campaign in that setting is not so easy. It's hard to get a group of players to buy into the flavor wholesale. Of course, this is based on my personal experience but, by way of contrast, I think Oriental Adventures with a far-Eastern flavor are much more mainstream simply because that setting has been publicized more via film. For whatever reason it seems easier for most players to grasp playing a ninja or samurai than a sha'ir or barber.

 

[PhoenixDarkDirk]

Dragonstar is very nearly the setting I had always wanted to run. The only major problem with it, for my tastes, is that it has too much focus on alignment.