What is your LEAST favorite setting?

[Stormprince]

I completely agree. I'd like to add that Kender and Gully Dwarves were the most game-disrupting character types ever concieved, and if I ever meet Hickman and/or Weiss, they can expect a some major disgruntlement on my part.

Okay, granted I'm completely and utterly biased considering I work for Sovereign Press and we're working on the Dragonlance license currently, but I don't think the problem with Dragonlance stems from the "races," such as kender, or gully dwarves, or even the gnomes, dubbed the "Three Comic Relief Races of Krynn." The problem with Dragonlance is the perception that everything has to revolve around the novels, with no other room for maneuvering. I never had that problem when I played Dragonlance campaigns years ago... I never forced my players to follow the modules, heck, I didn't even use adventure modules for the adventures, but for background details. My players had a blast participating in a Krynn they had seen and loved from the novels, without feeling constrained to play the novels.

Knowing that many people, however, dislike Dragonlance because they feel that it's only about playing the novels, and epic stories that seem to change the world every time, we're paying particular attention to reinforcing the fact that Dragonlance is much, much more than just the Heroes of the Lance.

If I've noticed any one thing since starting to work for Sovereign Press, it's that people either LOVE Dragonlance, or HATE it-it seems to evoke extremely powerful emotions one way or the other, with few people truly in the middle. I actually think that's a good thing... if its a powerful enough setting that it sticks in your mind, that it evokes such strong feelings, then its been done well.

Oh, and P.S., Margaret is one of the nicest people you could ever meet... and laying the blame for how you feel about Dragonlance upon her and Tracy I feel is a bit silly. A lot of people have put their own unique touches upon Dragonlance as a labor of love, and if nothing else, they at least deserve some respect for creating one of the most enduring fantasy worlds in our generation.

Tell you what... a year from now, when the new Dragonlance Campaign Setting comes out, give it a look-see. Then, if you still don't like it, I'll gracefully concede the point that we can't please all the people, all the time. ;-)

Sincerely,

Christopher Coyle

 

[Conservative Cow]

I voted Scarred Lands. That's one setting that gets on my nerves.

 

[Numion]

My vote went to Grayhawk , for several reasons:

1) Stupid Name Syndrome - The names are just too stupid to use. Lortmill mountains.. eh, no thanks.

2) Gygax

But the most important reason is:

3) Rabid Grayhawk Fanboys. These guys make many messageboards worse places for me.

There ya go.

 

[Conservative Cow]

My vote went to Grayhawk , for several reasons:

1) Stupid Name Syndrome - The names are just too stupid to use. Lortmill mountains.. eh, no thanks.

2) Gygax

But the most important reason is:

3) Rabid Grayhawk Fanboys. These guys make many messageboards worse places for me.

There ya go.

Whats wrong with "Gygax" ?

 

[Oracular Vision]

Re: I gotta say it...

Ya know I checked Forgotten Realms as a kind of knee-jerk vote... but I think on reflection I would probably be less excited to play in a Dark Sun campaign than any of the others.

I thought the basic premise of the setting was good enough, but a lot of the ideas were were just way too 'out there' (i.e., transforming into a 'good' or a 'bad' dragon if you were a wizard, IIRC).

The worst part for me was the munchkinity of it all. First time we ever saw 10th level spells, I believe. I'm sure it would have put FR to shame, if it had ever become as popular.

There are no good dragons, they require human sacrifice by the stadium to maintain, don't see how you could be a good one on Athas. Good high level players become Avangions, foes of the Defilers.

There is a 3rd edition Dark Sun coming out sometime this year, free rules and so on. I am working on the monster manual for it right now...

 

[johnnygolastly]

It was tough choice for me between Dragonlance, Planescape, and Forgotten Relams, but I had to go with Realms in the end.

1. Too many dag-blasted powerful NPCs (esp Drizzt and Elminster) who too many DMs use to show up and save the day at the end.

problem with DM's, not the setting.

2. Too much magic- its pretty bad when every 1st level FR adventure I have played in has the characters getting multiple permanent magic items. Its a powergamers paradise!

If the players get them, so do NPC's, this is effectively balanced out.

3. The lands, cultures, and geography make no sense- its too much of a melting pot with no thought as to how all of these wildly divergent places came about in the first place.

read the campaign setting and it will make sense.

4. The horrible novels that inundated the market a few years ago. For all its faults, FR was still mostly playable if the DM re-worked it heavily, but with the novels, too many players took them as canon, and if a DM didn't incorporate everything in those books, players got offended, or told the DM he was running the Realms wrong! Of course the DM could tell his players he wasn't running the Realms according to the books, but I have seen that attitude make some players VERY angry, to the point of walking out of the game and/or intentionally causing trouble during the session.

problem with DM and players, not the setting.

i am not ripping you on purpose, it is just that a lot of you are voting because you dont like drizzt or elminster, that isnt anything to do with the campaign setting, look at the geography, as you did with point 3, which game feel you prefer(high magic, low magic).......people who say that FR is bad because NPC's are too powerful.......DONT INCLUDE THEM IN YOUR GAME.....ffs, the FRCS says change anything you dont like itself. rant over.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

I think Psion you should let everyone know your rather heavy bias. I have seen you give reviews for products with horrible rule gaffs but is light on setting info better ratings than you give books with heavy campaign info and few if anyrule gaffs.

You are most definately 100% in the homebrew campaign seat and have a major habit of slamming setting heavy items which good or bad DL was 100%.

Gotta be Dragonlance. Bitter memories of the most railroaded modules in the history of the *D&D game and Kender, and continual confusion by DL fanboys that Orbs of Dragonkind and Death Knights originated in Krynn combine to make it the most disdained setting ever for me.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Puke!!

The comments made, not the setting.

I voted Kalamar, simply because at the moment I have no interest in it whatsoever, as anotehr of the 'generic fantasy game worlds'. I like things a bit more quirky or unique.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

You dislike a product because of an aspect of its adverts?

What a mental midget, marketting people wish more of the world was like you.

WAAAAHHH Kalamar sucks. It seems too "I-Wanna-Be-The-Realms". That, plus the advert for it in Dragon was a little too hypey. (Hype kills, look what it does to Palladium...) The advert for FRCS had Aznar Thrul's pic with the phrase "Evil is Everywhere.". That screams cool. Judging by adverts? Maybe I don't know what I'm saying.

(besides, I'd buy Spelljammer regardless of hype...)

 

[Randolpho]

I voted FR, and the reasons are accurately described by visiting this link:

http://www.enworld.org/nutkinland/gens/fr01.htm