Official Settings

Serious Paul · May 30, 2008, 06:23:01 PM

I know we once had a thread about who used what setting around here, but Hackmastergeneral and Ceasar Slaad's posts in another thread got me thinking. How many people use the settings? Is it a lot? Or is a minority of the players? Some of you have entirely different games than I have, or have experienced-which is why I ask this.

From my own POV, I can't imagine using an established setting unless it was really, really, really good. Shadowrun is the only game I've ever used the official setting for, and even then I didn't always use the official time lines or settings the way the developers did.

So what do you think? What other systems have settings besides D&D?

Aos · May 30, 2008, 06:33:12 PM

I have used them. I wont again.

Serious Paul · May 30, 2008, 06:38:09 PM

I admit I prefer my own setting. If nothing else it's just fin for me to make stuff. Now I get people like J Arcane, who stated in another thread he comes to the table only for the game not the extras, comes to the table for his own reasons. I'm just wondering how many people are happy with the brand labels, and how many make their own?

Hackmaster · May 30, 2008, 06:39:59 PM

L5R, Serenity, Shadowrun - yes, I use the settings.

D&D - about half of the time. I use either the Forgotten Realms or my Homebrew.

Savage Worlds, D20 Modern - I've run homebrew urban fantasy games.

When I use an established setting, it's mostly just to save time in fleshing out some of the details. I take it all with a grain of salt and add a lot of my own stuff. I never use iconic FR NPCs, for example.

J Arcane · May 30, 2008, 07:59:55 PM

I have never played in a D&D game that wasn't a homebrew setting, and I like it that way. There's more enthusiasm in one lone DM's cliche scribbles than reams of Forgotten Realms crapola. I'd even prefer the GM's own pet NPCs to Mary Sue bullshit like Elminster.

Same goes for DMing. If I'm gonna DM, it's gonna be in my own setting.

The only exception I've ever found was Wilderlands, because it really seems presented in a way that just isn't like anything else out there, and the approach is intriguing to me. And were it not for the crooked fuckers at RPGshop, I'd have it now.

droog · May 30, 2008, 08:02:33 PM

I've played in Glorantha a lot.

Jackalope · May 30, 2008, 09:05:02 PM

I mostly run my campaigns in Mystara, because I've never seen a homebrew that was any better than Mystara (including my own attempts), and I can fit just about anything in there somewhere.

David R · May 30, 2008, 09:08:33 PM

I have used the following settings :

Jorune
Pendragon
Tales of Gargenthir
D&D Gazetteers
Castle Falkenstein

Edit: John Morrow reminds me that the Old World from WFRP should be on this list.
Edit 2: Damn it. Add Tribe 8 to the list.

I have stolen from the following:

Dark Sun
Planescape
Taladas
Spelljammer
Earthdawn

Regards,
David R

beejazz · May 30, 2008, 09:15:03 PM

I gut settings and use the parts. I don't have the patience to run something true to source.

That said, I'm a fan of Eberron and what I've read of Dark Sun, and love me this and that from Forgotten Realms' Underdark.

ColonelHardisson · May 30, 2008, 09:32:29 PM

Even after decades, I still tinker with my old homebrew settings. That said, I like a lot of official settings for games. I ignore what's considered "canon" for them, though, and like to rework them quite a bit to suit my own taste, often by incorporating homebrew stuff into them, or importing them into my homebrew world. They all end up being my own, regardless of who wrote them in the first place.

Blackleaf · May 30, 2008, 09:46:05 PM

I used Forgotten Realms, Macross, Shadowrun, Inner Sphere, and World of Darkness. I'd rather not use an established setting now.

John Morrow · May 30, 2008, 09:46:45 PM

The only two commercial settings that my group has used that I can remember, with some modifications, are Warhammer FRP's Old World and the Hudson City for Champions. Oh, and the early Battletech setting via Mechwarrior. Long ago, I also played Traveller and a few sessions of Palladium Fantasy. And a few sessions of Tribe 8 while I was in Japan. The rest of the campaigns I've played in have all been homebrew settings. I think I'd like to play Dark Sun, if given the chance.

beejazz · May 30, 2008, 10:20:24 PM

How the hell did I forget Ghostwalk? That shit was cool as hell.

Zachary The First · May 30, 2008, 10:21:22 PM

Well, there's Palladium's World, there's Bill Coffin's Century Station, and there's Greyhawk. Aside from that and some forays into the world of Roma Imperious, the Shattered Imperium, and a few more, I've been pretty much doing the homebrew setting thing for a while.

Blackleaf · May 30, 2008, 10:51:27 PM

How could I forget -- Marvel Superheroes! (Does that count?)