What makes a great campaign setting?
- Thread starter MerricB
- Start date
The_Gunslinger658
First Post
Testament said:
Well, when I see Faerun or shadowdale, I think fantasy, when I see Eberron or Khorvaire, I'm thinking Green Acres and an old klunker vehicle produced by chevy. That my opinion.
Scott
der_kluge
Adventurer
This is indeed a tough topic.
I don't think I can easily define what makes a good setting.
I think Al-Qadim had a lot of qualities to it that made it great. Even though there was very little actually setting information in the original book. It was mostly a map, and some sketchy information. But there was a flavor about it, a certain je ne sais quoi that I really liked.
So, it was just enough to get me started. I think what killed it for me were all the supplements that bored me to tears with custom, and law, and all the other stuff that stifled my creativity and imagination.
Ravenloft was the same way - a great setting with a great flavor that had a lot of room to explore, and it had a lot of idea generators - that is, with all the little domains you could start your characters in all kinds of different locations, and each of them was uniquely different.
So, for Ravenloft, the thing that sold me was the detail, and the consistency, and the huge potential for flavor, and gothicy goodness.
I love Masque of the Red Death because it was just a template of rules that I could apply to real world settings. So, it was fun to dig up Washington Posts from 1890 and read news stories - there was literally a ton of potential information available on the setting since it was real!
I also really loved Planescape. I think the thing that made Planescape was good was that it was just a menu of interesting places where you could go, and the setting was created so that it was *easy* to get from one to the next. So, DMs had this veritable shopping list of neat places where they could send their party, but rather than go into a quandry about how to get them from one neat place to the next, they had a convenient means of doing so. So, the pace could be as quick or as slow as the DM wanted. That was a real refreshing change. I think what I didn't like about it was all the politics of trying to get a group to work together. With all the Eastern-influenced faction stuff, it was easy for in-party conflicts to get created.
I've never really cared for Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Grayhawk, or even Birthright. They just don't really do anything for me.
Where we were headed with the Bluffside world was a world full of history and mystery, and alive with exploration and discovery. The world map would be basically a southern and a northern continent with the rest of the world left black, because it's unexplored. I still really like that concept, but I think for my own campaign world I'm building now, where I am nowadays is in a much lower-magic, lower-fantasy state of mind. It's hard to create a realistic, low-magic, low-fantasy world that's actually interesting.
I don't think I can easily define what makes a good setting.
I think Al-Qadim had a lot of qualities to it that made it great. Even though there was very little actually setting information in the original book. It was mostly a map, and some sketchy information. But there was a flavor about it, a certain je ne sais quoi that I really liked.
So, it was just enough to get me started. I think what killed it for me were all the supplements that bored me to tears with custom, and law, and all the other stuff that stifled my creativity and imagination.
Ravenloft was the same way - a great setting with a great flavor that had a lot of room to explore, and it had a lot of idea generators - that is, with all the little domains you could start your characters in all kinds of different locations, and each of them was uniquely different.
So, for Ravenloft, the thing that sold me was the detail, and the consistency, and the huge potential for flavor, and gothicy goodness.
I love Masque of the Red Death because it was just a template of rules that I could apply to real world settings. So, it was fun to dig up Washington Posts from 1890 and read news stories - there was literally a ton of potential information available on the setting since it was real!
I also really loved Planescape. I think the thing that made Planescape was good was that it was just a menu of interesting places where you could go, and the setting was created so that it was *easy* to get from one to the next. So, DMs had this veritable shopping list of neat places where they could send their party, but rather than go into a quandry about how to get them from one neat place to the next, they had a convenient means of doing so. So, the pace could be as quick or as slow as the DM wanted. That was a real refreshing change. I think what I didn't like about it was all the politics of trying to get a group to work together. With all the Eastern-influenced faction stuff, it was easy for in-party conflicts to get created.
I've never really cared for Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Grayhawk, or even Birthright. They just don't really do anything for me.
Where we were headed with the Bluffside world was a world full of history and mystery, and alive with exploration and discovery. The world map would be basically a southern and a northern continent with the rest of the world left black, because it's unexplored. I still really like that concept, but I think for my own campaign world I'm building now, where I am nowadays is in a much lower-magic, lower-fantasy state of mind. It's hard to create a realistic, low-magic, low-fantasy world that's actually interesting.
Dr. Strangemonkey
First Post
Great locales. Conflicts. And characters/roles. Cool stuff to find out.
Not saying Elminster is the way to go, cause noone can be or beat Elminster but him. A great darklord, on the other hand, is critical as are a bunch of cool positions that PCs can either work against, for, or attain at their discretion.
I am very impressed and pleased by the variety of responses I've read in this thread. The other DMs and I have been polling the locals to find out what's compelling so we can finally create a homebrew we can stick with, and it's been very cool seeing how different everyone's tastes are and challenging to find a happy meeting point.
I was particularly impressed with Wombat's take on the importance of flavorful detail, but the second point that was made really speaks to my current take on that taste.
See for me, at this point and particularly because of my experience on ENWorld, that last argument seems essentially impossible simply because making a world that achieves the goal of believability is impossible unless you know, essentially accept, and can implement the assumptions about history held by any given individual.
For me, for instance, the early middle ages are a time when it was much easier to move between clas
ses than it was in earlier or later periods and in which gender roles are far more open, particularly when you move into the arena of the legendary. Others have a very different understanding of the period and are perfectly willing to argue it.
So, theoretically you can't achieve believability save for an audience or two at a time. But I think you can do better either by making the historical processes of the world apparent or by providing a lot of variety in the accidents or assumptions of your world so that people can either replace your historical assumptions with the ones they like or read their favorite ones into at least two or three areas of the world and focus on them.
I, for instance, love the city surrounded by glaciers in the middle of the desert, but you had better have some explanation for how this happened or a preponderance of more intuitive desert settlements in the area. That way there is detail and choice.
For similar reasons I like settings that are very genre aware, though I prefer it when they offer you a choice of genres. Eberron is cool cause it says Pulp right out front, but Spycraft is better because it gives you genre as a tool for character creation.
So you like James Bond, well these are the people you should work for.
A-Team? Well this is for you.
I love that! I also have a special place in my heart for everything and your neighbor's kitchen sink stuff, but that's real hard to pull off. Forgotten Realms does a lot right, but I think that is not their actual strong point. Hackmaster does it well.
Hachmaster is also, perhaps, the best handbook for setting the tone.
Nearly every other setting really relies on the supplements or adventures. The basic book always has to cover way too much ground.
Not saying Elminster is the way to go, cause noone can be or beat Elminster but him. A great darklord, on the other hand, is critical as are a bunch of cool positions that PCs can either work against, for, or attain at their discretion.
I am very impressed and pleased by the variety of responses I've read in this thread. The other DMs and I have been polling the locals to find out what's compelling so we can finally create a homebrew we can stick with, and it's been very cool seeing how different everyone's tastes are and challenging to find a happy meeting point.
I was particularly impressed with Wombat's take on the importance of flavorful detail, but the second point that was made really speaks to my current take on that taste.
Wombat said:
See for me, at this point and particularly because of my experience on ENWorld, that last argument seems essentially impossible simply because making a world that achieves the goal of believability is impossible unless you know, essentially accept, and can implement the assumptions about history held by any given individual.
For me, for instance, the early middle ages are a time when it was much easier to move between clas
ses than it was in earlier or later periods and in which gender roles are far more open, particularly when you move into the arena of the legendary. Others have a very different understanding of the period and are perfectly willing to argue it.
So, theoretically you can't achieve believability save for an audience or two at a time. But I think you can do better either by making the historical processes of the world apparent or by providing a lot of variety in the accidents or assumptions of your world so that people can either replace your historical assumptions with the ones they like or read their favorite ones into at least two or three areas of the world and focus on them.
I, for instance, love the city surrounded by glaciers in the middle of the desert, but you had better have some explanation for how this happened or a preponderance of more intuitive desert settlements in the area. That way there is detail and choice.
For similar reasons I like settings that are very genre aware, though I prefer it when they offer you a choice of genres. Eberron is cool cause it says Pulp right out front, but Spycraft is better because it gives you genre as a tool for character creation.
So you like James Bond, well these are the people you should work for.
A-Team? Well this is for you.
I love that! I also have a special place in my heart for everything and your neighbor's kitchen sink stuff, but that's real hard to pull off. Forgotten Realms does a lot right, but I think that is not their actual strong point. Hackmaster does it well.
Hachmaster is also, perhaps, the best handbook for setting the tone.
Nearly every other setting really relies on the supplements or adventures. The basic book always has to cover way too much ground.
Dr. Strangemonkey
First Post
die_kluge said:
So very very true. The setting sets had some great moments, and some of the adventurers also added incredible flavor.
Mark Plemmons
Explorer
die_kluge said:
I suppose you heard me mention the Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign setting?
From the website: The Kingdoms of Kalamar setting describes the world of Tellene, a vibrant world alive with rich characters, imminent danger, complex intrigue and exciting adventure, all awaiting your shaping hand. This robust world consists of many detailed lands and cultures, both human and humanoid, that are rife with adventure possibilities. On Tellene, fantastic creatures roam the wilderness, evil clerics worship evil deities hell-bent on destruction and the dead rise again to spread terror throughout the world. Complex political alliances mix with marauding bands of humanoids and medieval technology and culture come face to face with magic and the fantastic. Tellene combines the best of a realistic medieval world with all the elements of fantasy you have come to enjoy. While nearly any campaign setting suffices for a single adventure, your characters will find the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting to be an engaging game world to explore long after the novelty of the "tourist bazaars" has worn thin.
The underlying strength of the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting comes from its geo-historical basis. The maps feel right because they are right, at least from a standpoint of verisimilitude. The continents, lakes, rivers, forests and other geographical features all follow examples from the real world. This attention to detail clearly shows a setting built from the ground up, from the direction of the prevailing winds to the plate tectonics. No glaciers lie in the middle of warm lakes nor huge jungles in temperate latitudes. The Kingdoms of Kalamar setting becomes the invisible backdrop for the real action: you.
The player character becomes the real hero of any D&D game. You rescue the princess and you recover the stolen Whatzit for Lord So-and-So. You shape the campaign world through your actions, not the other way around. Tellene, like few other campaign settings before it, offers you the opportunity to be a world-shaper. Life in Tellene grows from ordinary men and women with extraordinary courage and resolve. This setting gives you the information you need to allow your players to become one of those people. But fear not, for all the detail and background history that this setting provides add depth to your adventures without confining them. The Kingdoms of Kalamar setting allows you to be the author of your own destiny by providing the scenery but not the story.
Of course, player characters cannot be everywhere at once. The world continues moving even when they spend weeks exploring long forgotten ruins or dark forests somewhere. Evil cults spread their influence throughout a small town. A village succumbs to a mysterious disease. A band of humanoids halts merchant routes between two cities. Villains even kidnap princesses when heroes are not around to do anything about it. What happens then? Well, sometimes the princess escapes, but more often the Vicelord has his way with her. For the NPCs of Tellene are not inept, else they would not be worthy (or successful) villains. A world full of morons is no place to live. The good, the bad and even the so-so must transpire in the campaign in order to make the party's heroic deeds exceptional. After all, if every person on the block is a superhero, nobody stands out.
The Kingdoms of Kalamar setting is designed to enhance your D&D experience by providing a realistic backdrop for your character. Every type of person you could imagine lives somewhere on Tellene. In fact, that's one of the reasons the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting is such an enjoyable world to play in: it is tremendously versatile. No matter what type of character you choose to play, you should feel confident that he or she will have an important place in the world of Tellene.
The Kingdoms of Kalamar setting also provides a realistic, dynamic world for your character. Every sort of adventure can be found on the continent of Tellene. Whether you dream of finding great riches in the bellies of mountains or ridding the desert of undead abominations, the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting provides the where and the how, all the while maintaining a commitment to realism that lets you experience your character's adventures in the most satisfying ways.
der_kluge
Adventurer
Careful Mark, you're starting to sound like a used car salesman.
You know, I saw that you were the last poster in this thread, and I said to myself, "self, if that's Mark telling you that you should go pick up KoK, you should slap him." But, I'm not that cruel. A friend of mine here has that book, and maybe, just maybe I'll have an open mind and see if he'll let me borrow it for a week, and I'll form a better opinion of it. My current opinion is that it is bland and boring, but I admit that I haven't really read much of it.
You know, I saw that you were the last poster in this thread, and I said to myself, "self, if that's Mark telling you that you should go pick up KoK, you should slap him." But, I'm not that cruel. A friend of mine here has that book, and maybe, just maybe I'll have an open mind and see if he'll let me borrow it for a week, and I'll form a better opinion of it. My current opinion is that it is bland and boring, but I admit that I haven't really read much of it.
Glyfair
Explorer
Of course, a lot of this will vary from person to person. A great campaign setting (well, at least a great successful campaign setting) will appeal to a large number of people.
To me the following factors make a setting great.
1) They stir my imagination.
I want a campaign setting to suggest things to me. When I read a campaign setting I want scenes to jump out at me. I want adventure ideas to come out of the pages. I want campaign themes to suggest themselves to me.
The campaign setting that fits this the best is easily Glorantha. Just looking at the map in the RQ2 book was enough to suggest these things.
2) Strong Support
It doesn't have to be a lot of support, however, it should be quality. Sourcebooks that flesh out areas of the campaign, without creating a straightjacket. Adventures that are fun and get across the campaign world themes.
I actually like novels set in the campaign world. They help get across the feel of the world. Preferrably, they aren't campaign changing, but campaign enhancing. For example, I'm looking forward to the Eberron novels in order to get an idea of what it's like to adventure in Sharn. Novels can give a perspective that supplements can't.
3) Adaptability
I want to be able to take products and adventures from outside the campaign world and be able to fit them in the campaign world. The world can't be so different that I can't take most adventures and adapt them without completely rewriting the adventure. Everything doesn't have to fit, but most things should.
A good example of this working is Eberron. It's has elements specific to the campaign, but nothing so different that I can't take most of the adventure path adventures and fit them in. Only adventures that deal in the planes would be difficult to adapt.
Dark Sun, on the other hand, doesn't meet this criteria. There aren't a lot of outside support products that can be used in the world, without significant changes. Almost the only products that fit into the campaign are those that were created for the world. Dark Sun, however, does meet the first criteria, as it strongly stirs the imagination.
To me the following factors make a setting great.
1) They stir my imagination.
I want a campaign setting to suggest things to me. When I read a campaign setting I want scenes to jump out at me. I want adventure ideas to come out of the pages. I want campaign themes to suggest themselves to me.
The campaign setting that fits this the best is easily Glorantha. Just looking at the map in the RQ2 book was enough to suggest these things.
2) Strong Support
It doesn't have to be a lot of support, however, it should be quality. Sourcebooks that flesh out areas of the campaign, without creating a straightjacket. Adventures that are fun and get across the campaign world themes.
I actually like novels set in the campaign world. They help get across the feel of the world. Preferrably, they aren't campaign changing, but campaign enhancing. For example, I'm looking forward to the Eberron novels in order to get an idea of what it's like to adventure in Sharn. Novels can give a perspective that supplements can't.
3) Adaptability
I want to be able to take products and adventures from outside the campaign world and be able to fit them in the campaign world. The world can't be so different that I can't take most adventures and adapt them without completely rewriting the adventure. Everything doesn't have to fit, but most things should.
A good example of this working is Eberron. It's has elements specific to the campaign, but nothing so different that I can't take most of the adventure path adventures and fit them in. Only adventures that deal in the planes would be difficult to adapt.
Dark Sun, on the other hand, doesn't meet this criteria. There aren't a lot of outside support products that can be used in the world, without significant changes. Almost the only products that fit into the campaign are those that were created for the world. Dark Sun, however, does meet the first criteria, as it strongly stirs the imagination.
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Mark Plemmons
Explorer
die_kluge said:
That's okay. I don't mind a few slaps. At least when I do promote, I'm pretty up front about it, right?
There's just too many people who still don't know about Kalamar, so I have to make sure they at least know it's a choice. Especially when I see people who want realistic history, geography, politics, etc in their games.
From what I've seen, most of the people who classify it as boring are those who try to sit down and read the campaign setting sourcebook straight through, like a novel, when it's written more like a history or geography book you'd get in school. The Player's Guide is written with more obvious flavor, as are all the racial and smaller regional supplements, but the setting book is the one with all the "hard" world details.
If you do pick it up, I suggest flipping at random through it, reading short sections and follow its threads into other sections. There is a LOT of flavor and adventure buried there, but you have to do a little more work for it.
Watch - I'll give it a shot (random open and read). No, I swear, this is random.
Okay, here goes.... (closes eyes, flips pages)
All right, I ended up looking at the lower right hand section of page 119, which is part of the section detailing the city of Fymar, Gateway to the East, and says:
Interesting Sites: Fymar's gates might be weak, but the city's ornamentation is brilliant. New ideas taken from ruins in the Khydoban desert have inspired the local artists. New gates of bronze have been erected at the eastern entrance, covered in pictoglyphs that mimic the ancient writing of the Khydoban, and adorned with colorful drawings of humans and animals engaged in chores both mundane and magical.
Fymar's largest statue is a massive bull of a type no longer living in the area. Herds of bright red bulls whose horns curled tightly in a vertical twist once roamed the plains. Whether disease, hunting, or disaster brought them low, no local knows. The eight foot gold statue near the flower gardens of the Parish of Love is life-sized, however, and the city's butchers often sigh and wish for their return.
Special Notes: Tethen also brought back a hacking cough that he attributes to dust from the ancient caves where he found his treasures. He is partially right. The dust did make him ill, but the illness has just begun. In a few months he will waste away and become a wight under the control of the undead emperor.
So, if I were a new reader, I'd probably want to go to the index and look up more about the Khydoban Desert, and the Parish of Love. From there, I might end up going somewhere else. Or I might read the rest of Fymar, or I might go to the maps and see where Fymar is, and look at other cities around it. Another reader might decide to try the flipping thing again, and find something else.
I really favor this method, since it avoids the reader feeling like they're back in school again.
Edit: Of course, I wonder how many people actually try to sit down and read the geography chapters of other settings straight through... Maybe ours just seems more intense because there's so much more detail, and it's pretty much the whole book. Crunchy stuff is reserved for the other books.
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here's hoping to reach more industry types...
For me, a camapign setting is a keeper if it has modules or adventures. The fewer crunchy bits like new classes, races, skills & feats--the better. I just want enough new stuff to make the game playable without being overwhelming. Here are some concrete examples.
Sure-fire hits:
1) I loved it when Greyhawk was made the default setting for 3.0. My D&D game was instantly set there, and I got the gazetteers to help me understand the setting. The best one for was The Adventure Begins for AD&D (2e) since it described the City in detail. The world-at-large was vague but the immediate adventuring area was detailed.
2) I like Judge Dredd because it has a lot history to draw on for the setting. Good art. Engaging past stories. Plus, the rules really just presented enough to let you play that game using 3.0 rules. All this on the foundation of 4 good adventures released soon after the core book. I even buy the supplelments (althoug I don't use them in play) and the publisher's magazine when they had an adventure (not just supplemental material). Cool downloads help, too.
3) Mesopotamia. Love it. It presents a core D&D campaign of adventures in the broze age. Short chapters of new options for human subraces and dieties. I won't use the optional Pestige classes or magic & feat options. ELEVEN (11!) chapters of adventure follow. Brilliant! Two appendices of new & revised foes. Minor dings for no table of contents or index, but I'll suffer the loss if it meant the inclusion of all the other great material.
4) Omega World is awesome. I would recommend a purchase of Dungeon #94 to get this gem from the Polyhedron side to anyone. I used to re-convert Rifts d20 (see #1 below). I loved running that game, but my players were lukewarm. It made a fine d20 version for the adventures in Alternity Gamma World. It only adds 4 new races, 1 new class, and a few skills & feats. The mutations & defects are very well done. The equipment is short & sweet, too. Classic Gamma World monsters & campaign setting info get a few pages, too. Most important are the pages of DM tips & tools. It gets it all done in about 40 pages. Just a brilliant piece of work.
5) The Shackled City adventures from multiple issues of Dungeon present a fine campaign setting. I'm running the 1st adventure now. Since I have few players, they each run 2 characters. Tier options include Judges, Jedi, Mutants. Teir 2 adds aasimar paladin or any standard D&D race & class combo. It's working great so far!
Close enough to get the job done:
1) DragonStar worked but only as a temporary rules set for a Rifts d20 conversion. Not enough adventure support, though.
2) Star Wars. Love to play it. If I were to run it, I would just use the core rulebook and download free adventures from Wizards.
3) Skull & Bones. I was hooked by the free adventure and information about the Caribbean downloads from the website. I used none of the optional rules from the book save some cannon damage. It was well-written in the fluffy bits, so it made a good read.
4) Spellslinger was good for a short-term D&D in The Wild West mini-campaign.
Not even played (even this partial list is long, so I will only elaborate big points):
1) Deadlands d20. No adventures.
2) Hell on Earth d20. No modules.
3) Sidewinder. A fun read. Well-written, but too many new options. Maybe the D20 Modern revision is better.
4) Broncosaurus Rex. Too different. No modules. (The same publisher has a great new line of Dungeon Crawl Classics, and I would love to run Mysteries of the Drow as a mini-campaign using the trounament characters included.)
5) Weird War(s) II. Too many new options to try to master.
6) Afghanistan d20. Great read about the region's history, but that's it for me.
7) Somalia d20. Ditto.
8) Darwin's World should have been more like Omega World (see above).
9) The rest of the Horizons line except Spellslinger. Interesting to read, but seem difficult to play.
10) Trojan War. Should have been more like Mesopotamia. Unfortunately, attempting to read it probably turns me off that publisher.
11) Conan (d20). Too many new rules for no good enough reasons. Only a couple of pdf adventues. Disapponting.
12) Omega World d20. Words cannot express my disappointment.
For me, a camapign setting is a keeper if it has modules or adventures. The fewer crunchy bits like new classes, races, skills & feats--the better. I just want enough new stuff to make the game playable without being overwhelming. Here are some concrete examples.
Sure-fire hits:
1) I loved it when Greyhawk was made the default setting for 3.0. My D&D game was instantly set there, and I got the gazetteers to help me understand the setting. The best one for was The Adventure Begins for AD&D (2e) since it described the City in detail. The world-at-large was vague but the immediate adventuring area was detailed.
2) I like Judge Dredd because it has a lot history to draw on for the setting. Good art. Engaging past stories. Plus, the rules really just presented enough to let you play that game using 3.0 rules. All this on the foundation of 4 good adventures released soon after the core book. I even buy the supplelments (althoug I don't use them in play) and the publisher's magazine when they had an adventure (not just supplemental material). Cool downloads help, too.
3) Mesopotamia. Love it. It presents a core D&D campaign of adventures in the broze age. Short chapters of new options for human subraces and dieties. I won't use the optional Pestige classes or magic & feat options. ELEVEN (11!) chapters of adventure follow. Brilliant! Two appendices of new & revised foes. Minor dings for no table of contents or index, but I'll suffer the loss if it meant the inclusion of all the other great material.
4) Omega World is awesome. I would recommend a purchase of Dungeon #94 to get this gem from the Polyhedron side to anyone. I used to re-convert Rifts d20 (see #1 below). I loved running that game, but my players were lukewarm. It made a fine d20 version for the adventures in Alternity Gamma World. It only adds 4 new races, 1 new class, and a few skills & feats. The mutations & defects are very well done. The equipment is short & sweet, too. Classic Gamma World monsters & campaign setting info get a few pages, too. Most important are the pages of DM tips & tools. It gets it all done in about 40 pages. Just a brilliant piece of work.
5) The Shackled City adventures from multiple issues of Dungeon present a fine campaign setting. I'm running the 1st adventure now. Since I have few players, they each run 2 characters. Tier options include Judges, Jedi, Mutants. Teir 2 adds aasimar paladin or any standard D&D race & class combo. It's working great so far!
Close enough to get the job done:
1) DragonStar worked but only as a temporary rules set for a Rifts d20 conversion. Not enough adventure support, though.
2) Star Wars. Love to play it. If I were to run it, I would just use the core rulebook and download free adventures from Wizards.
3) Skull & Bones. I was hooked by the free adventure and information about the Caribbean downloads from the website. I used none of the optional rules from the book save some cannon damage. It was well-written in the fluffy bits, so it made a good read.
4) Spellslinger was good for a short-term D&D in The Wild West mini-campaign.
Not even played (even this partial list is long, so I will only elaborate big points):
1) Deadlands d20. No adventures.
2) Hell on Earth d20. No modules.
3) Sidewinder. A fun read. Well-written, but too many new options. Maybe the D20 Modern revision is better.
4) Broncosaurus Rex. Too different. No modules. (The same publisher has a great new line of Dungeon Crawl Classics, and I would love to run Mysteries of the Drow as a mini-campaign using the trounament characters included.)
5) Weird War(s) II. Too many new options to try to master.
6) Afghanistan d20. Great read about the region's history, but that's it for me.
7) Somalia d20. Ditto.
8) Darwin's World should have been more like Omega World (see above).
9) The rest of the Horizons line except Spellslinger. Interesting to read, but seem difficult to play.
10) Trojan War. Should have been more like Mesopotamia. Unfortunately, attempting to read it probably turns me off that publisher.
11) Conan (d20). Too many new rules for no good enough reasons. Only a couple of pdf adventues. Disapponting.
12) Omega World d20. Words cannot express my disappointment.
