Your ideal setting

[WayneLigon]

My idea of this changes every few months or years. Right now I want:

A large mostly-ruined, mostly-abandoned city on the edge of a dried-up sea. Humans and demi-humans (most of which are the remnants of slave races created by the humans -- this way I can also have pretty much any damn weird thing I want without having to wonder 'OK, where do the sentient Hook Horrors fit into the general ecology, etc etc'; there may only be a handful of said weird race) live in one part while the other parts are home to bandits, monsters, etc.

Some aspects of advanced technology, now totally misunderstood and mis-used. Very likely technology advanced to the point of 'magic'.

Limited magic that is really psionics of some kind. Or simply make the only 'non-martial' class one of the psionicist ones.

Some Dark Sun influences. OK, more accurately, 'Thundaar the Barbarian' I love the idea of giant insects in a desert environment. And immortal Sorcerer Kings.

 

[Invisible Stalker]

Old traditional cliched vanilla Tolkein/ Gygax European Medieval high fantasy

 

[Jorunkun]

In no particular order:

• low, somewhat dark and gritty fantasy (at least in the low levels)
• dark ages feel - lots of ruins, lost knowledge, mysteries and legends
• magic is rare and unreliable; mages outlawed, operate in secret societies
• undead are truly scary (like the Fell in Midnight)
• human-centric, a limited selection of races for PCs (no Muppet's Show)
• limited selection of monsters, esp. aberrations, "signature" species
• power level capped around level 12
• credible NPCs with developed personalities, conflicting allegiances etc.
• shades of grey wrt alignment
• distant gods, often monotheistic God vs Devil type setup
• sandbox campaign setup, multiple parallel plotlines, multiple endings and ways of dealing with obstacles
• PCs grow into hero role, but the world doesn't revolve around them
• an overall "theme" to the campaign (i.e. a morally charged dilemma)
• overland travel incl. application of outdoor rules, random encounter tables
• in-game timeframe spans decades / two to three generations

The published settings closest to my ideal are

• Midnight
• Dragonlance
• Warhammer

but so far I have been running homebrews exclusively for more than 20 years.

J.

 

[Gailbraithe]

My current campaign setting is my ideal setting. It's called Mythara, and is based on a blend of Mystara and the Iron Kingdoms. Essentially I've reduced the world to Darokin (Cygnar), the Minrothad Guilds (Pirates), a hobgoblin controlled Glantri (Skorne Empire) and the Isles of Dread (Cryx) with only passing mention of the rest of the world.

 

[Tonguez]

I've always wanted to play in a less corny version of Eternia

Sword & Scorcery and Ultra Hi-tech

 

[Silvercat Moonpaw]

Can I ask a question?

Why does there seem to be such a large proliferation of "low, dark, gritty" settings or setting elements? Especially gritty: it seems that every new setting I run across, published or otherwise, is trying to focus on the gritty elements.

 

[Desdichado]

Can I ask a question?

Why does there seem to be such a large proliferation of "low, dark, gritty" settings or setting elements? Especially gritty: it seems that every new setting I run across, published or otherwise, is trying to focus on the gritty elements.

I dunno. I like it, so I welcome the proliferation of them.

I guess it's kinda a grassroots movement. A fair number of customers are into that kinda thing.

It's happening in fantasy fiction, too.

 

[Silvercat Moonpaw]

What I'd really like to know is where are the non-gritty settings?

 

[Desdichado]

What I'd really like to know is where are the non-gritty settings?

 

[Gothmog]

In no particular order:

• low, somewhat dark and gritty fantasy (at least in the low levels)
• dark ages feel - lots of ruins, lost knowledge, mysteries and legends
• magic is rare and unreliable; mages outlawed, operate in secret societies
• undead are truly scary (like the Fell in Midnight)
• human-centric, a limited selection of races for PCs (no Muppet's Show)
• limited selection of monsters, esp. aberrations, "signature" species
• power level capped around level 12
• credible NPCs with developed personalities, conflicting allegiances etc.
• shades of grey wrt alignment
• distant gods, often monotheistic God vs Devil type setup
• sandbox campaign setup, multiple parallel plotlines, multiple endings and ways of dealing with obstacles
• PCs grow into hero role, but the world doesn't revolve around them
• an overall "theme" to the campaign (i.e. a morally charged dilemma)
• overland travel incl. application of outdoor rules, random encounter tables
• in-game timeframe spans decades / two to three generations

Pretty much everything you listed, with the additions of:

• Strong horror elements. I draw on medieval myths (which were there to pretty much scare the crap out of people), Lovecraft, and some Kult-like references.
• Pretty much no non-human PCs. My homebrew world has 15 cultures that are basically different races, and elves are more like completely amoral eladrin in 4e (think Pratchett's elves, but less funny), dwarves are semi-magical and very reclusive, etc.
• Some sort of Roman Empire-like culture or influence.
• Sword and sorcery, not high fantasy.
• Arcane magic is feared and shunned, because eventually even the best intentioned spellcasters WILL be corrupted by it.
• Distinct traditions of magic, with very different types of spells and thematic feel. For example, Cabalism is about rituals, divination, and long-term magical effects, while Witchcraft is more about nature (not in the happy "nature is so benign dude" kind of way), communing with nature spirits, and projection into the spirit world.
• Emphasis on investigation/exploration adventures. The world isn't gonna blow up or end due to the workings of one person or organization, so I tend to shy away from BBEGs or plots where the world must be saved.
• I mostly use a worldview that is semi-medieval/dark ages, but with some weird alterations due to the presence of magic and monsters. That said, I also have a love of pirates, vikings, seagoing adventures, lost/forgotten civilizations, serpent people/yaun-ti, the Far Realm, and secrets man was not meant to know.

Oddly enough, 4e fits a lot closer with what I'm looking for out of a game for this kind of world that almost any other version of D&D. I've toned down some aspects of magic (less reliable and natural 1s on spellcasting rolls can have some BAD consequences), but overall magic is less powerful in 4e, and the presence of rituals fits what I'm looking for very closely.

Published settings close to my heart are the Old World (Warhammer), Midnight, Freeport, and Arcanis (I dig the Roman-esque feel).