Which D&D Settings Do You Play In?

Over on the right of the news page is a new poll which asks which D&D setting you currently play in. Obviously WotC has its own survey data, and we know from that that 55% of people use home-brew settings, 35% play in the Realms, 5% in Greyhawk, and the remaining 5% is divided between the rest. I figured it would be fun to see how closely EN World's members track to that overall survey; how closely to we represent the official data? To that end, I've listed a number of settings. The question is what you PLAY in? It's not "what would you LIKE to play in", or "what would you like to see more support for?" -- it's what are you PLAYING in right now? I know some folks have more than one game going and they may be different settings. That's why I've allowed a choice of three in the poll. If you have four or more games in multiple settings -- well, I'm envious. I took the list from the Wikipedia page of 25 settings, so if you're mad and incensed about the list or its ordering or whatever (because Internet) blame Wikipedia! Some settings incorporate others (Kara-Tur is in the Realms, for example), but I"m keeping it simple with the top level list.

Here's what WotC's survey says we play (that data comes from Chris Perkin's panel at Gamehole Con). Let's see how closely we match it. The survey is on the right hand side of the news page, or it's at the top of the discussion thread, depending where/how you're viewing this.

 

[ZeshinX]

Kara Tur almost exclusively (with a few trips to Faerun)....so Forgotten Realms for me. Moderately customized.

 

[Shasarak]

I am playing in Greyhawk and Golarion does that count as a homebrew setting?

 

[Zaran]

My issue with both this poll and WotC's info is that I feel like the only reason Forgotten Realms is so high is because it's the ONLY setting that is supported. If every single module is for Forgotten Realms then that's what people are going to gravitate too. I am betting that it used to be far less Forgotten Realms when there was Eberron and Greyhawk support because people don't like rubbing elbows with Drizzt and Eliminster.

 

[Benji]

Man this would have been harder a couple of years ago. I was in like five games all in different worlds. Since my kid, I'm only playing my wife's homebrew (for D&D, we've managed to fit a few other games in, just)

 

[ad_hoc]

Quite frankly, I'm a little shocked that Ravenloft is a favorite in such high numbers. It makes me really wonder what people are thinking when they select it as a "campaign setting." Do they really mean that they like Ravenloft "the adventure?" Because that's not a campaign setting.

I like the adventure too, but the setting is really awful, in my opinion. It always struck me as a campaign where it doesn't really matter if your heroes win or lose. In the end, no matter what you accomplish, the "citizens" are still stuck in some weird, grim, patchwork realm. Big deal if they defeated the Dark Power ruling whatever realm they're in. It's still surrounded by six more Dark Powers, each ruling their own equally horrible realm. Yay.

If this many people really like playing in a depressing Cthulhu-esque campaign setting, I guess I stand corrected. But I really wonder if people aren't just voting on their favorite classic adventure when they click that button.

I think you misunderstand the realm and also seem to not grasp that not everyone wants to save the universe every game.

The Dark Lords are the ones who are truely trapped in each domain that they 'rule'.

It is a gothic horror setting which is not for everyone. It is not Lovecraftian at all, if you want to you can add those elements, but it is focused on villains who have relatable motivations. That is why the iconic monsters like vampires and werewolves were once human.

It is a great low fantasy setting and has some fantastic Victorian era domains. I actually got excited when I first heard about Eberron but was disappointed in how high fantasy they ended up going with it.

At any rate, I played my D&D campaigns in Ravenloft all throughout 3.x and we had a blast. Saving the day feels like it matters because things are small and grounded. The village needs your help and there isn't a kingdom of mighty heroes waiting around to do it. Just being a hero makes you stand out.

It's much closer to a Swords and Sorcery style than most D&D settings.

 

[Louis Brenton]

My "main" twice-a-month game is Realms, running through the published stuff. Phandelver, Tyranny of Dragons, Princes of the Apocalypse so far. Truth be told, however, I'd be very likely to still be running in the Realms, even if I weren't doing the published stuff.

My occasional side game is set in the Nentir Vale, but we're using the "Nentir Vale in the Forgotten Realms" articles from the old Dungeon magazine to set the Vale in the Realms.

My first hope for a non-Realms setting is Ravenloft, but we'll see what direction WotC goes in with that.

 

[Mark Kernow]

Apologies if anyone has said this already, but why isn't Primeval Thule 5e a choice? There's a bunch of us really excited by that Conan vs Cthulhu in Atlantis vibe.

 

[not-so-newguy]

Forgotten Realms via Adventurer's League and a homebrew at the same store.

I'll be dropping AL in the new year, because of (1) another commitment and (2) growing boredom with this style of play.

 

[JohnLynch]

I answered the question from the perspective of "What have I played in the last 12 months" which means homebrew and Forgotten Realms. Had I answered "What do I plan to play in the next 12 months" the answer would have been Forgotten Realms only.

 

[Slamm-O]

Wonder how this poll would compare to a " What setting do you WANT to play in?" one. I'm pretty sure there would be a noticable shift in the percentages.