What type of campaign do you like best?

[Desdichado]

This is based on a poll I saw over at Privateer Press's site -- here I think we'd probably get a less skewed answer. Just a private curiousity of mine.

Do you prefer straight up traditional D&D, ala Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms, standard fantasy "with a twist" ala Planescape, Iron Kingdoms, etc. (lots of twists I can imagine, so I won't get carried away trying to come up with lots of examples), flat out non-standard fantasy or non-fantasy?

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

With a twist, eg Sepulchrave's Story Hour or similar. Something that plays with expectations and changes the rules a little.

 

[Desdichado]

Me too, but since the original poll (can't remember the particulars)was on Privateer's page (and they publish fantasy "with a twist") I thought the results might be out of proportion to what the actual standard D&D gamer prefers. This probably is too, but at least it's a better bet at a more neutral audience.

 

[kengar]

I voted "with a twist" but that was to reflect my preference for "Dark Fantasy" like WHFRP & Moorcock over the more "mainstream" like Forgotten Realms.

 

[Desdichado]

Hey, that's a twist. It's certainly not the standard D&D trope, right?

 

[DanMcS]

With a twist, eg Sepulchrave's Story Hour or similar. Something that plays with expectations and changes the rules a little.

See, that's the thing, I think Sep's or PC's games, and many of the other quite good ones, ARE standard D&D. Those two are high powered, but not as non-europe-esque as, say, Planescape and Dark Sun.

I voted standard, btw, because I've seen so many good versions of it- Greyhawk, Birthright, Sep's game, innumerable homebrews; I'm not sure it really makes a difference. The story can be good in any genre. Right now I'm playing in a d20 modern game and it's lots of fun (so far, we've had two sessions, heh).

 

[Desdichado]

The story can be good in any genre. Right now I'm playing in a d20 modern game and it's lots of fun (so far, we've had two sessions, heh).

Sure, it only matters if you care, and any game can be good regardless of setting. But, IMO, an interesting setting facilitates an interesting game, at least. And as a DM who will only ever homebrew (because I enjoy it so much!) I think having that extra twist is vital to get players engaged in the setting right away. Now that I think about it, Ray Winninger wrote exactly that in his first Dungeoncraft series, I believe, didn't he? That was another interesting setting with a twist: that forest world he did.

 

[kenjib]

Low/rare magic is not considered a twist, correct?

 

[Darkness]

Heh. I'm not sure whether I even have a preference!

 

[Desdichado]

Everyone's gotta decide for themselves how much of a divergence they consider to be a twist! It's too hard to define, but if you prefer a "twist" then you probably know what you mean.