Its a tough call, but I trust in this forum's ability to end up having a really spectacular flamewar about it, if nothing else.
RPGPundit
The Wilderlands.
I love Greyhawk, but I'm going to have to say The Wilderlands, also.
Quote from: RPGPundit;286337Its a tough call, but I trust in this forum's ability to end up having a really spectacular flamewar about it, if nothing else.
RPGPundit
Shouldn't the proper answer to this one be : "Whatever setting your character or your group of players had the most
FUN adventuring in" ??
- Ed C.
Dark Sun was mine (even the surfing cannibalistic halflings)
Quote from: broken-serenity;286341dark sun was mine (even the surfing cannibalistic halflings)
they surfed???
from what i remember they did (or somethingalong those lines)
The Wilderlands hands down.
For Basic/Classic D&D, the Known World, a.k.a. Mystara.
For 0e D&D and 1e AD&D, the Wilderlands.
The original JG Wilderlands.
If we're talking about a setting that can handle D&D best, it's a toss between Planescape or Spelljammer.
If it's a setting I like the most, it's a toss between the Wilderlands and Golarian.
Planescape or Dark Sun
Any homegrown setting that rose out of the implied setting hinted at between all the D&D rules texts.
So, for the Wilderlands authors it's clearly Wilderlands, but for me it was my first crazy hexcrawl setting that was heavily influenced by Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_New_Sun), the Palladium RPG world, the first two Dragonlance modules, the German fantasy pulp novel series Mythor (http://www.sf-hefte.homepage.t-online.de/MYTHOR.HTM), and the humour found in Tunnels & Trolls.
Of the published worlds I only played/DMed in Krynn and Greyhawk, though both were heavily altered (in fact, the DM I shared DM duties with and I only used the poster map of Greyhawk and nothing of the setting info because that was the way he had started the campaign two years before, and my Dragonlance campaign soon diverged from the official plotline because the modules came out slower than I needed them).
After starting those campaigns I grew more fond of Pelinore, Birthright, and later Iron Kingdoms, but never played in them.
Quote from: Koltar;286340Shouldn't the proper answer to this one be : "Whatever setting your character or your group of players had the most FUN adventuring in" ??
No.
As for the original question, I'd have to go for BECMI's Known World. Greyhawk seemed too sketchy and undefined (might as well have my own setting with no baggage), the Realms had too much detail (hard to make it my own), and Dragonlance's world never seemed like an actual place to me (into the trash bin with it then). The Known World had none of these issues.
(these are also the only three "official" D&D settings I've read material from... and that ended in 1992... otherwise, I've seen Carcosa and finally Wilderlands stuff just in the past year but wouldn't use them for my own play)
Quote from: The Shaman;286338The Wilderlands.
Yes.
If we have to stick to TSR/WotC, then Dark Sun 1st edition.
Midnight.
Seanchai
Wilderlands or Greyhawk. Blackmoor seems pretty cool, too, but I know little about it.
I've always been a fan of Greyhawk. I've had very little exposure to Wilderlands. But I understand other people prefer Wilderlands - and in many cases it's someone who generally has opinions I respect. Given that, and given that I'm going to be doing a 1e bit for my Wednesday night group, I'm going to look into it more into Wilderlands ( suggestions for the indispensable will be appreciated).
he Known World setting for me I guess. It's kind of cute.
Greyhawk, and also Freeport.
(Man, all these Wilderlands folks... I thought *I* was old but that's way before my time...)
Another voice for Dark Sun, here. It wasn't perfect, but there was just so much delicious flavor that it was easy to ignore some of the more egregious elements (mostly in the history).
Dark Sun.
While I admire the Wilderlands as a project, the actual content of it is a bit blah outside of City of the Invincible Overlord.
Quote from: James J Skach;286398IGiven that, and given that I'm going to be doing a 1e bit for my Wednesday night group, I'm going to look into it more into Wilderlands ( suggestions for the indispensable will be appreciated).
I would recommend downloading the free Lenap chapter from the Judges Guild (http://www.judgesguild.com) website; it's a good representative of what the boxed set offers, and since fairly few creatures are given full 3.5 stat blocks, the material is rather 1e-friendly. The old supplements are also available as PDFs from RPGNow - even leaner than NG's product, really just very brief ideas about wilderness sites, and of course the maps.
Quote from: Mxyzplk(Man, all these Wilderlands folks... I thought *I* was old but that's way before my time...)
It was way before my time as well, since I am younger than quite a lot of the original Wilderlands stuff. But when I discovered it around 2002 or so, it really clicked - both thematically and with the Campaign Hexagon System/briefly detailed entries/sandbox approach.
Dark Sun at the top of the heap.
I've got a love for a lot of the 3PP settings that came out, though. DragonMech, the Iron Kingdoms, the Scarred Lands, Freeport, and Pathfinder's Galorian all rock the house. Hell, I don't like the game play of the World of Warcraft MMORPG, but the setting that is described in the Warcraft RPG is great to play in.
Nice to see all the Dark Sun love. I put my vote in for 1st ed Dark Sun myself.
TGA
Ravenloft. Ravenloft is just awesome. Everyone is screwed, but heroes will arise even though they are hosed to fight the darkness before it swallows them whole. Dark lords with unimaginable power, yet tormented eternally.
The worst?
Greyhawk, the most generic WHO CARES setting in D&D. Some cool adventures but otherwise? ZZZZZZZ.
Birthright.
You have fewer monsters, more resources and yet a true Faux Medieval feel (which worked better for 1 or 2E AD&D of course.) Better yet you have conflict, and a lot of the monsters aren't just fodder. There is THE Hydra, THE Gorgon, and they're scaled up to be monsters, just not challenges.
Mind you, I think the setting would work even better for a 250 points GURPS game (or something similar.)
It's a tie between the Wilderlands and the Known World for me.
On the one hand, I have to go with Mystara/Known World, because hey: Threshold, Karameikos, the Isle of Dread, Glantri, the Hollow World, and Bargle.
On the other hand, I have to go with World of Greyhawk, because hey: Hommlet, Temple of Elemental Evil, Ghost Tower of Inverness, Giants-Drow-Queen Spider, Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, Iuz, and Castle Greyhawk.
Most creative is a toss-up between Dark Sun and Planescape, but for ease of entry and familiarity, Mystara/Greyhawk have your back.
Another vote for the Wilderlands.
I loved WW's Ravenloft setting. Really cool in the couple of games I played. I've never owned or read any of the books though.
I find DragonMech really interesting, although I've never played there :D
Ebberon was a lot of fun. Not interesting to read, but well designed from the point of play. It was super easy to get to where the action was at, which was everywhere.
Quote from: dsivis;286342they surfed???
Bilbo don't surf!
Birth Right. I only played it once, but it was by far the best.
Othewise, Kingdoms of Kalamar. Sure, it isn't D&D, but it was written for it.
If it hasn't got Tenser in it it's not an RPG etc.
Quote from: mxyzplk;286410(Man, all these Wilderlands folks... I thought *I* was old but that's way before my time...)
Valid for 2003 but since then we managed to pull in a few of the younger folks. (Thank You Necromancer)
Quote from: James J Skach;286398I'm going to look into it more into Wilderlands ( suggestions for the indispensable will be appreciated).
The Wilderland differs then other settings in that it focuses on the low level detail but has a very sketchy high level. The original 70s/80s material have virtually none. Because of this you can customize the setting very easily to do anything from swords & sorcery, high fantasy to gritty low fantasy.
The wealth of low level detail ease prep time considerably. You can rip out sections of a map and replace it with something else or original work of your own and the rest still will be useful.
The modern incarnation of the Wilderlands is found in these three products.
The Players Guide
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=31&products_id=756&it=1&filters=0_0_0&manufacturers_id=31
The Boxed Set
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=31&products_id=2745&it=1&filters=0_0_0&manufacturers_id=31
City-State of the Invincible Overlord.
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=31&products_id=1360&it=1&filters=0_0_0&manufacturers_id=31
The entire Judges Guild line can be found here. Many of the original PDFs are available at a very inexpensive price.
http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?filters=0_0_0&manufacturers_id=31
There are various freebies offered here. http://www.judgesguild.com/
Of them these give the best sense of what the wilderlands is about.
The Rorystone Road a slice out of map surrounding the City-State.
http://www.judgesguild.com/pdf/rorystone.pdf
An entire map and chapter from the boxed - Lenap
http://www.judgesguild.com/pdf/lenap/lenap.pdf
http://www.judgesguild.com/pdf/lenap/lenap_map.jpg
Enjoy
Rob Conley
I have to vote for the 1st Edition of Dark Sun as it was the only setting product I ever bought for any incarnation of D&D.
It is a deeply flawed setting and mechanicaly the hardest to play I ever encountered (hence I never actualy ran it) but at the same time is original within the D&D frame and has an ancient age/sword & sorcery feel to it that no other D&D world ever came close to replicate.
However if we take "D&D setting" to encompass every fantasy world ever published under D20 my pick would immediately go to the Hyborean Age of Conan :D
Quote from: Cranewings;286477Othewise, Kingdoms of Kalamar. Sure, it isn't D&D, but it was written for it.
That's a legalism. We all know it's D&D, only that we have to pretend it isn't.
There are many and good. I would go first with my homebre stuff (I feel that's what D&D was for), followed by the Known World and Dark Sun. In D&D 3, probably Midnight is the best.
I'm tied up between Mystara (especially Red steel) and Planescape. They took the magic and weirdness of D&D and ran with it, rather than trying to tone it down or ignore it.
Do we have to pick one? 1e Greyhawk is great to modify for a homebrew campaign, but Planescape is incredibly fun to read. Birthright would be really cool as a boardgame, because it focuses more on the macro than the micro (entire kingdoms, resource management, etc), if you get my meaning....
2nd Edition, Cliched Ravenloft. I loved the whole monster movie ripoff thing they had going. It made the horror fan in me very happy.
Quote from: JimLotFP;286366No.
Please to elaborate.
A three-way tie between Greyhawk (1983 boxed set), Wilderlands and Dark Sun (original boxed set, before all the loopy shit).
Quote from: Drew;286546A three-way tie between Greyhawk (1983 boxed set), Wilderlands and Dark Sun (original boxed set, before all the loopy shit).
My favourites are Mystara/Known World, 1983 Greyhawk and Wilderlands. Of the three, Mystara is the most reliable, the one that always makes for a fun game. I ran an enormously fun 45-year epic centred on the Dawn of the Emperors boxed set.
The other two you have to get your head around. Greyhawk, I've found it works best as a lowish fantasy setting, a la the Saltmarsh trilogy which I am running in an online chat game that's going great. Wilderlands has not quite clicked with me yet, I think its secret lies in hexploration but I haven't worked out the best way to approach it.
Quote from: S'mon;286576My favourites are Mystara/Known World, 1983 Greyhawk and Wilderlands. Of the three, Mystara is the most reliable, the one that always makes for a fun game. I ran an enormously fun 45-year epic centred on the Dawn of the Emperors boxed set.
Sounds good. I still have a soft spot for Mystara, but was never that enthusiastic over it's jumbled up alt. historical tone. The increasingly parodic Gazeteers also turned me off somewhat.
QuoteThe other two you have to get your head around. Greyhawk, I've found it works best as a lowish fantasy setting, a la the Saltmarsh trilogy which I am running in an online chat game that's going great.
Agreed. 'Warhammer Fantasy Greyhawk' is one of my back burner projects that I keep meaning to get started on.
QuoteWilderlands has not quite clicked with me yet, I think its secret lies in hexploration but I haven't worked out the best way to approach it.
Yes. For me the key was finding a simple system. I ended up alternating between C&C and houseruled BD&D, which allowed me to assemble encounters with minimum prep as the PCs careened around the City-State and it's environs getting into scrapes. I made sure the players understood that the Wilderlands was a reactive environment that responded to strong proactivity. The story wouldn't come to them, rather they had to forge it from their own IC ambitions. A few sessions in and they were dealing with a Skandik blood feud, a pissed off assassin cult and the unmasking of an illusion-weaving Ogre Mage who had been devouring the scholarly patrons of his book shop in the heart of the city. I barely had to write a single plot hook; I just cracked open the books, familiarised myself with their immediate environment and remained ready to wing it at a moments notice.
I have fondness in my heart for Greyhawk from reading the Gord the Rogue books when I was younger and had never played any RPG.
I've read some good Forgotten Realms books that I like too, but they didn't have the sheer impact of Greyhawk. Through the GtR books, Greyhawk felt like a universe.
Forgotten Realms feels like a world - A world that has more detail, but less richness - Although that may just be . I'd have to read the books again.
...That would be such a horrible choir! :D
Playing, only one short game in FR (3.5, then Risus) that ended too soon.
Objectively, 'The best' would be whichever has improved the overall quality of life the most. :D
Subjectively, asking for 'the best' generally means you're asking 'Which did you like the most' - And that's not something you can answer for someone else. :)
Planescape was by far the most interesting cutter...
Quote from: Drew;286601Yes. For me the key was finding a simple system. I ended up alternating between C&C and houseruled BD&D, which allowed me to assemble encounters with minimum prep as the PCs careened around the City-State and it's environs getting into scrapes. I made sure the players understood that the Wilderlands was a reactive environment that responded to strong proactivity. The story wouldn't come to them, rather they had to forge it from their own IC ambitions. A few sessions in and they were dealing with a Skandik blood feud, a pissed off assassin cult and the unmasking of an illusion-weaving Ogre Mage who had been devouring the scholarly patrons of his book shop in the heart of the city. I barely had to write a single plot hook; I just cracked open the books, familiarised myself with their immediate environment and remained ready to wing it at a moments notice.
Thanks - yes: Proactive players, an easy to run system, and GM ready and willing to riff off the area descriptions and player actions look like the way to do it.
In theory I love the Wilderlands, but I have had several PBEM Wilderlands campaigns die on me, so I know I'm not getting it right yet. Longer adventures tend to fizzle out. The most successful campaign went well for months, but fizzled when the PCs decided to turtle in a wizard's wilderness tower by Council Lake after killing the wizard. They eventually got wiped out by a Viridistani patrol investigating why their wizard friend hadn't been seen recently.... In the Wilderlands, moving on frequently is usually key to survival! :)
I have recently started a new Wilderlands campaign (online chat on Dragonsfoot Classic D&D forum, Tuesdays 11:30 am GMT, new players welcome). I'm nervous it will fizzle like the prior games did, and looking for ways to avoid that.
Quote from: S'mon;286670I have recently started a new Wilderlands campaign (online chat on Dragonsfoot Classic D&D forum, Tuesdays 11:30 am GMT, new players welcome). I'm nervous it will fizzle like the prior games did, and looking for ways to avoid that.
Sounds good. Unfortunately my uni timetable prohibits me from joining. Good luck with it anyway.
i can't decide. i love greyhawk, dark sun, and spelljammer equally - just for different reasons.
For me it would be Birthright hands down. I loved the legendary feel of it, like Camelot meets ancient Greece. For me Forgotten Realms felt too contrived, Dark Sun was too "Mad Max" (if I wanted to play Mad Max, I wouldn't be playing DnD). Greyhawk was good, but too "patchwork" for me. Birthright allowed us to play at the common adventurer level, or play as rulers (with rules that made sense to us). The cultures are different, yet familiar, which was comfortable and conducive to a cultural "feel" for us. Birthright came across as the most consistent, the most versatile, and contained the most potential for adventure.
make mine Dark Sun.
I suspect i would've enjoyed Lankhamar as well, but never bought it when it was available. :(
Damn...yeah, Lankhmar was pretty awesome, now that you mention it. At least the core book and the district gazetteers were (even when they were adding non-canonical stuff it fit the spirit of the stories IMO); I didn't care for many of the adventures or the Nehwon book.
Eberron. Only setting I've ever bought that non-generic enough that I was willing to deal with the overhead of running a pre-existing setting.
The Wilderlands never engaged me as much as the City State of the Invincible Overlord. THAT was the coolest capital city ever!
Planescape is certainly the most creative and challenging setting. It was so different than anything that came before...or since. However, it was tough for one-shots.
Ravenloft was a dream come true. Fantasy + Horror...sign me up! The setting was very open and added a very cool dimension to our roleplay.
Iron Kingdoms kicks Eberron's ass. Certainly my favorite Steampunk setting.
I never got to play much Dark Sun. It's on my future games list for sure.