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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Argyle King" data-source="post: 8125779" data-attributes="member: 58416">My assumptions depend upon which setting I'm running. I didn't spell everything out in these responses; these are more just general descriptions.1) My default preferences are a world which is more influenced by Arthurian fantasy, R. Howard, Lloyd Alexander, and some of the grittier parts of Chronicles of Narnia than Tolkien but still with touches of fantasy races and such. D&D 4th Edition's Points of Light concept was something I liked, but I prefer taking that in more of a sword & sorcery or slightly low-fantasy direction rather than the high-fantasy mythic super hero style of 4E. Despite my earlier statement, my idealized version of what a powerful dragon is like is based upon Smaug.2) For the Dungeon Fantasy-inspired game I run in GURPS, I went with something similar to the Ptolus concept of a town built on a dungeon complex. The easiest way to describe it is as the 1850s San Francisco Gold Rush, but with Dungeon Delving as the main industry around which the town's economy is based. The rest of the world has been slowly fleshed out as earlier players had character backgrounds to color in blank parts of the map. So, the setting is a mish-mash of inspiration from various things popular with the group, the bare bones background I had the start a campaign around a location, and editorial changes (I) deemed necessary to make various pieces fit together in a somewhat coherent manner. Common races include humans from cliche fantasy cultures (i.e. barbaric north, backwater medieval-ish kingdoms at war, and vaguely Egyptian-inspired desert place); semi-Nomadic minotaurs loosely based on Mass Effect Krogan culture; 2 types of dwarves: Jade (with a mix of real-world Asian culture and D&D dwarf mythology) and Stone (based upon Grecco-Roman culture and Dragon Age Dwarven ancestor worship); wood-Elves; and Woem (halfling-sized catfolk).Commonly known divine beings and religions involve Thor, Santa, Cthulu, Aslan, Aphrodite (Dwarven Goddess/Ancestor of Beauty,) Tarrasque, Tlaloc, Lich (undead, but not the lord of undead,) and Aganju.Despite changes to lore and racial assumptions, this game would likely be the most similar to what people would (I assume) expect from a default kitchen sink D&D setting. The main differences would be that vampires have a weakness to peppermint, humans aren't the dominant culture in many areas of the world, and large parts of the world are still unexplored & wild.The climate is temperate. The commonality of adventurers inside the main city is high (with guilds and businesses being specifically geared toward delving into the dungeons below the city). Technology is late medieval, but with advanced medical knowledge (bolstered by magic). The Stone Dwarves have advanced transportation technology, pushed by their love of chariot races.3) For the next D&D 5E game, I would categorize the setting as science-fantasy because a lot of the setting mimics sci-fi tropes, but with fantasy trappings. The starting location is a city built on top of a gargantuan mushroom. The mushroom was grown (at some point before the start of the campaign) by a group of powerful druids to escape a cataclysm which made most of the ground level world polluted and uninhabited. Inspirations include He-Man, Fallout, Thundarr the Barbarian, and Star Wars.Communication between different settlements (on other mushrooms) is possible but slow -usually relying on word-of-mouth from travelers arriving on flying ships. I haven't yet sketched out much else about the setting. The rough vision in my head is analogous to idealized visions of Mediterranean island towns during the Golden Age of Sail, but with the water being replaced by a hazardous cloud of pollution and death. Then, dump a little bit of a Star Wars cantina vibe (but with fantasy races and magic rather than aliens and tech) over the whole thing.</blockquote>

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