Which Campaign Setting has the best fluff? Why?
- Thread starter Kai Lord
- Start date
In terms of mere 'published' settings...
For sheer D&D fun & playability, I have to say Mystara is #1.
For old school flavour and a nice sense of history combined with possibility, Gygax's 1983 World of Greyhawk Boxed Set. 2e-3e Greyhawl, not so much.
For weird pagan coolness and civilised Chaos vs barbaric Law, Stafford's Glorantha.
For its tragic atmosphere, compelling emotional sweep, and true heroism, Midnight - at least the way Stalkingblue GMs it.
For nicking bits to stick in my campaign, Tekumel.
For sheer D&D fun & playability, I have to say Mystara is #1.
For old school flavour and a nice sense of history combined with possibility, Gygax's 1983 World of Greyhawk Boxed Set. 2e-3e Greyhawl, not so much.
For weird pagan coolness and civilised Chaos vs barbaric Law, Stafford's Glorantha.
For its tragic atmosphere, compelling emotional sweep, and true heroism, Midnight - at least the way Stalkingblue GMs it.
For nicking bits to stick in my campaign, Tekumel.
Bobitron
Explorer
I just realized I didn't really answer the question in my previous post. 
I pick the Iron Kingdoms setting. It has incredible depth and hooks galore. There is room in the setting for adventures ranging from political intrigue to military campaigns, from crawling in ruins searching for relics to rebelling against oppressive invaders. The fluff and background information is inventive and well written, the setting has great support on the Privateer Press forums, the 'Full Metal' fantasy flavor is fantastic and unique without being too strange or alien.
I would characterize the IK as a low magic setting, but there is plenty of place for sorcery and magical hijinks. The mechanika imparts a great flavor to the game without seriously affecting balance.
I pick the Iron Kingdoms setting. It has incredible depth and hooks galore. There is room in the setting for adventures ranging from political intrigue to military campaigns, from crawling in ruins searching for relics to rebelling against oppressive invaders. The fluff and background information is inventive and well written, the setting has great support on the Privateer Press forums, the 'Full Metal' fantasy flavor is fantastic and unique without being too strange or alien.
I would characterize the IK as a low magic setting, but there is plenty of place for sorcery and magical hijinks. The mechanika imparts a great flavor to the game without seriously affecting balance.
PapersAndPaychecks
First Post
If the question was, "Which campaign setting has the second-best fluff" then I'd be struggling very hard for an answer.
You didn't specify a D&D-based campaign setting, and this means that the running includes Glorantha, JRRT's Middle Earth, Fritz Leiber's Nehwon, the assorted worlds of Michael Moorcock, and Gary Gygax's Greyhawk - all campaign settings which possess an enormous amount of fluff some of which is very well-written. Glorantha and JRRT's Middle Earth in particular have decades of work that went into them; many of these worlds have their own custom-written systems (MERP, RQ2, Stormbringer etc.) as well as a variety of novels and other creative fiction.
In my view, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Ravenloft, Kara-Tur, Mystara etc. simply don't have what it takes to compete with those settings. There's nothing wrong with them but they're a little too derivative of the real masterworks... basically, where they're good they aren't original, and where they're original, they aren't really all that good.
Fortunately this wasn't the question. You asked which had the best fluff, so there's a simple answer.
It was the first RPG world setting ever published (1975-76) from the days when D&D and RPG were vritually synonymous, and people are still working on it today. Visit the website at http://www.tekumel.com
EPT > *
You didn't specify a D&D-based campaign setting, and this means that the running includes Glorantha, JRRT's Middle Earth, Fritz Leiber's Nehwon, the assorted worlds of Michael Moorcock, and Gary Gygax's Greyhawk - all campaign settings which possess an enormous amount of fluff some of which is very well-written. Glorantha and JRRT's Middle Earth in particular have decades of work that went into them; many of these worlds have their own custom-written systems (MERP, RQ2, Stormbringer etc.) as well as a variety of novels and other creative fiction.
In my view, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Ravenloft, Kara-Tur, Mystara etc. simply don't have what it takes to compete with those settings. There's nothing wrong with them but they're a little too derivative of the real masterworks... basically, where they're good they aren't original, and where they're original, they aren't really all that good.
Fortunately this wasn't the question. You asked which had the best fluff, so there's a simple answer.
It was the first RPG world setting ever published (1975-76) from the days when D&D and RPG were vritually synonymous, and people are still working on it today. Visit the website at http://www.tekumel.com
EPT > *
MerakSpielman
First Post
I like Kalamar, but I have to admit bias. It's the setting with which I am most familiar.
I've scarcely read any FR stuff, and my knowledge of Dragonlance is limited to the original 3 novels. I had the Grayhawk boxed set when I was a kid. And all the other ones people have mentioned, I have no direct experience with at all.
I've scarcely read any FR stuff, and my knowledge of Dragonlance is limited to the original 3 novels. I had the Grayhawk boxed set when I was a kid. And all the other ones people have mentioned, I have no direct experience with at all.
diaglo
Adventurer
Kai Lord said:
my favorite setting and the one with the most fluff aren't the same.
i'd say the one with the most fluff at first was Dragonlance. they released the first novel. and then the modules.
but the Forgotten Realms took that and beat it like a dead horse. one novel after another until they were flogging dog food.
greyhawk has some fluff. with the intro of the Folio and the small Glossography. that was enough. and each module added just the bare bones to build on as the campaign needed.
my favorite setting is and always was homebrew. i can add the amount of fluff i need without having to contend with extraneous stuff. or players begging to meet big name NPCs at lvl 1. or play drizzt or tanis clones.
KaosDevice
Explorer
I'm a big fan of the Fading Suns universe, but then again I am a big Dune fan soooo...go figure. I'v got a serious like for the Mongoose Bab5 stuff as well. They are fleshing out JMS' universe awesomely.
Krypter
Explorer
Planescape: the most fantastical of all D&D worlds, where dreams spring into reality, belief shapes the landscape and everything is possible. Some of the best TSR writers worked on this setting and its shockingly free of crunch (by today's standards). It's so fluffy some of the books are like short stories. Very much a D&D fairy tale.
Talislanta: everything is focused on cultures, customs, exotic foods and drinks and wondrous landscapes. Better still, the introductory book (The Chronicles of Talislanta) is a beautifully-illustrated travelogue about a plane-hopping mage-explorer who describes Talislanta in a wonderful Vancian style.
Oathbound looks good too, but I've only glanced at it.
Talislanta: everything is focused on cultures, customs, exotic foods and drinks and wondrous landscapes. Better still, the introductory book (The Chronicles of Talislanta) is a beautifully-illustrated travelogue about a plane-hopping mage-explorer who describes Talislanta in a wonderful Vancian style.
Oathbound looks good too, but I've only glanced at it.
WayneLigon
Adventurer
Kai Lord said:
Er, wow. So many to choose from.
Glorantha probably wins hands down. Unique-yet-strangely-familiar settings, cultures, gods, and mythology.
Blue Rose, for having a world I might enjoy living in.
Mindshadows, for having one of the few Indian-inspired settings
Midnight, because of the hope-in-hopeless-times theme
The Known World, for throwing everything in the pot and making it work. Also, because it was the first D&D setting to have slender halflings.
Harn, for the detail.
Tekumel, for the detail and for being the very first game setting ever.
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