JRRNeiklot
First Post
Nightfall said:Yay!Someone mentioned Scarred Lands before I had to come in and say it!
Heh, I've been on the Scarred Lands bandwagon since day one.
What third-party d20 settings should I investigate?
- Thread starter Allandaros
- Start date
Heh, I've been on the Scarred Lands bandwagon since day one.
Michael_R_Proteau
First Post
You might also take a look at the Thieves World setting from Green Ronin. Sanctuary is pretty grim and gritty and there are enough areas throughout the land that are open for DM development. It also has some rules variants for magis and such.
I like the Wilderlands as well, grim and gritty as you want it to be and tons and tins of room for DMs to develop it to their own tastes. Not a lot on rules variants though ( afew in the Players Guide and the City State of the Invincible Overlord book but not much), however, it can fit well with rules from a system like Iron Heroes adding tot he level of grimness and danger.
I like Goodman's Aereth a lot. It may be a bit too classic fantasy for your tastes though, and lacks alternate rules, but has lots of undeveloped areas to work with, and some areas (the Scourge, the Lostlands, parts of the Southlands are very grim and can have that dangerous feel.
The classic Blackmoor setting might hold some interest for you as well. It has alternate magic rules for focus casting, and some other bits, danger abounds making like dangerous and lots of the settting can be fleshed out as little is described in any level of detail yet. Various threats from the Egg to the Afridhi make life dangerous, and life can be brutal in this frontier territory. The corebook was originally distributed by Goodman but was produced by Zeitgest games who now distribute it as well. It has the pedigree of being the orginal setting of D&D co-creator Dave Arneson as well.
The sofrementioned Midnight might be a good choice as well. I liked it, but your group really has to buy intto the core concept of life in a world where the Darklord has won for it to work. If they like the concept, it can be a great game, but if they chafe under the limitations of that, it might get ugly.
Along those lines, Troll Lord Games Codex of Erde detals a world that is just emerging form the yoke of a fallen Dark Lord. Lots of areas described but not in detail, so there is plenty of room to expand. Life is brutal and short in the aftermath of the war to defeat the Dark lord, and the setting is rife with mythic overtones. Originally released for 3.X D&D, it is currently being retooled for TLG's C&C system.
I like the locales for the Necromancer Games setting (Bard's Gate et. al) and there is a lot of room to detail what you want as well, but it is not a full settiing like you are looking for. That has some drawbacks, but also some benefits if you are trying to mold the setting into what you want, these can be a toolkit to build from, but there really isn't any alternate rules here, but again you can import those from an Iron Heroes or similar rulesset if you chose. I know I built on the framework of these locales when I wrote Shades of Gray for Necromancer to flesh out the setting as the backdrop for that series of adventures.
-M
-M
I like the Wilderlands as well, grim and gritty as you want it to be and tons and tins of room for DMs to develop it to their own tastes. Not a lot on rules variants though ( afew in the Players Guide and the City State of the Invincible Overlord book but not much), however, it can fit well with rules from a system like Iron Heroes adding tot he level of grimness and danger.
I like Goodman's Aereth a lot. It may be a bit too classic fantasy for your tastes though, and lacks alternate rules, but has lots of undeveloped areas to work with, and some areas (the Scourge, the Lostlands, parts of the Southlands are very grim and can have that dangerous feel.
The classic Blackmoor setting might hold some interest for you as well. It has alternate magic rules for focus casting, and some other bits, danger abounds making like dangerous and lots of the settting can be fleshed out as little is described in any level of detail yet. Various threats from the Egg to the Afridhi make life dangerous, and life can be brutal in this frontier territory. The corebook was originally distributed by Goodman but was produced by Zeitgest games who now distribute it as well. It has the pedigree of being the orginal setting of D&D co-creator Dave Arneson as well.
The sofrementioned Midnight might be a good choice as well. I liked it, but your group really has to buy intto the core concept of life in a world where the Darklord has won for it to work. If they like the concept, it can be a great game, but if they chafe under the limitations of that, it might get ugly.
Along those lines, Troll Lord Games Codex of Erde detals a world that is just emerging form the yoke of a fallen Dark Lord. Lots of areas described but not in detail, so there is plenty of room to expand. Life is brutal and short in the aftermath of the war to defeat the Dark lord, and the setting is rife with mythic overtones. Originally released for 3.X D&D, it is currently being retooled for TLG's C&C system.
I like the locales for the Necromancer Games setting (Bard's Gate et. al) and there is a lot of room to detail what you want as well, but it is not a full settiing like you are looking for. That has some drawbacks, but also some benefits if you are trying to mold the setting into what you want, these can be a toolkit to build from, but there really isn't any alternate rules here, but again you can import those from an Iron Heroes or similar rulesset if you chose. I know I built on the framework of these locales when I wrote Shades of Gray for Necromancer to flesh out the setting as the backdrop for that series of adventures.
-M
-M
Steel_Wind
Legend
If you like the core setting of D&D - (Greyhawk) why not stick with that?
The Adventure Paths in Dungeon default to Greyhawk. As a consequence, there is no shortage of material (to say nothing of Living Greyhawk mods).
If you like Greyhawk - I expect you will enjoy the Wilderlands of High Fantasy - Judge's Guild's OD&D/1st ed setting now in 3.5 via Necromancer Games.
The Adventure Paths in Dungeon default to Greyhawk. As a consequence, there is no shortage of material (to say nothing of Living Greyhawk mods).
If you like Greyhawk - I expect you will enjoy the Wilderlands of High Fantasy - Judge's Guild's OD&D/1st ed setting now in 3.5 via Necromancer Games.
The Human Target
Adventurer
Midnight- Dark Epic DnD Fantasy where the heroes have little chance of making any huge changes to the state of the world, but fit on for the little victories.
Thieves World- Gritty, non-DnD based fantasy. Grey morals, cut purses, and dark adventure.
Black Company- Like Thieves World, but not.
Freeport- Elves, dwarves, cultists, and a heaping of swashbuckly goodness.
A Game of Thrones- Semi-historical fantasy. Knights, warring nobles, a high death count, and mysterious threats from the far North.
Thieves World- Gritty, non-DnD based fantasy. Grey morals, cut purses, and dark adventure.
Black Company- Like Thieves World, but not.
Freeport- Elves, dwarves, cultists, and a heaping of swashbuckly goodness.
A Game of Thrones- Semi-historical fantasy. Knights, warring nobles, a high death count, and mysterious threats from the far North.
The_Gunslinger658
First Post
Hi-
Or what you can do is pick out your favorite settings and just mash them together. I have combined Greyhawk with IK, Thieves world (Harby is now sanctuary), a bit of FR I really like the Magic of fearun book and it it can still be used with D&D V3.5.
So many good settings and so little money to buy therm all
Scott
Or what you can do is pick out your favorite settings and just mash them together. I have combined Greyhawk with IK, Thieves world (Harby is now sanctuary), a bit of FR I really like the Magic of fearun book and it it can still be used with D&D V3.5.
So many good settings and so little money to buy therm all
Scott
Big Bucket
First Post
Another vote for Thieves World and Black Company here. I think Thieves World is coming out with a packaged set of the three or four books or may have already done so. If you've seen Black Company and liked it you should like TW.
The Cardinal
First Post
JRRNeiklot said:
QFT - and the DCC setting (from DCC#35) is called Áereth.
P.S.: Dawnforge (also from FFG) is also very nice - and cheap
Imaro
Legend
For dark(and I mean really DARK!) and grim check out the Dark Legacies Campaign Setting from Red spire Press. It has variant rules, races, classes, etc. and is one of the darkest and grimmest settings I've run across for Dungeons and Dragons.
My second choice, if you want something a little more traditional, would definitely be Iron Kingdoms.
My second choice, if you want something a little more traditional, would definitely be Iron Kingdoms.
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