What D&D Setting Was the Least Popular?

Christopher Brady · May 29, 2015, 11:03:42 PM

Quote from: Omega;833941Then you write magic out of the setting or at least vastly curb its usefulness and work out classes appropriate to the setting that do not get so overpowered.

IE: You end up with Call of Cthulhu.

That just masks the issue, simply because depending on the edition, we may end up with a long, slow attrition fight, for the minions.

APN · May 30, 2015, 05:55:15 AM

Least popular setting?

Maybe Buck Rogers XXVC?

used AD&D 2e with a percentile skill system, had starship combat, robots and rayguns... but came at a time when computers were coming (slowly) to the fore and players my age (born late sixties/early seventies) would have been discovering other stuff. Like having to work for a living, booze, women, cars etc.

Plus of course it's always associated with the Williams woman and all that entails with (mis?) management of TSR and all that.

I can imagine the neckbeards not touching it with a bargepole just for that reason.

I Loved the computer games though.

Bunch · May 30, 2015, 09:37:46 AM

Quote from: tzunder;833381I always regret not buying the Hollow World boxed set when I saw it on a stall in the Amsterdam book market.

I just picked up a complete copy of Hollow World and HWR1-3 at HPB. It shows Allstons roots as a comic/pulp lover. It feels like the the TV series The Lost World. Lower magic so for folks who complain about the balance of wizards vs fighters this setting should be an improvement.
overall I'm glad i picked it up.

S'mon · May 31, 2015, 11:09:43 AM

Quote from: Bunch;834003I just picked up a complete copy of Hollow World and HWR1-3 at HPB. It shows Allstons roots as a comic/pulp lover. It feels like the the TV series The Lost World. Lower magic so for folks who complain about the balance of wizards vs fighters this setting should be an improvement.
overall I'm glad i picked it up.

Yeah, lower magic but outer-world MUs can bring in a bunch of spells unknown to the natives, so you get a cool Colonialist vibe where the outer-world Conquistadores get superior spells as well as armour/weapons - while at the same time some other spells just don't work. It seemed very well done to me.

(BTW I only just realised running Mentzer recently that he already deliberately toned down a lot of spells from AD&D level, creating a far more balanced high-level game, and one where you can't eg easily scry/buff/teleport your enemies to death).

Omega · June 01, 2015, 05:05:09 AM

Quote from: APN;833978Least popular setting?

Maybe Buck Rogers XXVC?

Plus of course it's always associated with the Williams woman and all that entails with (mis?) management of TSR and all that.

I can imagine the neckbeards not touching it with a bargepole just for that reason.

I Loved the computer games though.

There were two great SSI gold box versions of Buck Rogers made.

One of the reasons it got come dislike was that it seemed to needlessly kill off and replace Star Frontiers. It got alot of support. But unfortunately that was so Williams could line her pockets with the royalties.

Then it got cancelled and replaced with a new game that got even less attention.

RPGPundit · June 03, 2015, 03:01:36 PM

Quote from: S'mon;833019Wow, I loved Hollow World! It was really well done & I'm looking at using it in my Classic D&D Karameikos campaign once the PCs are higher level and won't be scared at large scale exploration. Sending them to the Land of Ancient Traldarans seems like a great fit, but almost everything is great (the Merry Pirates are a bit much maybe).

Yeah, Hollow World was spectacular!

Shipyard Locked · June 03, 2015, 03:27:10 PM

Quote from: Omega;834309One of the reasons it got come dislike was that it seemed to needlessly kill off and replace Star Frontiers.

That was a crime right there. By all rights Star Frontiers should have become one of the great scifi tabletop rpgs.

(I just noticed I write 'scifi' differently every time. Sometimes with a space, sometimes with a hyphen, sometimes as one word. Gotta get my act together.)

David Johansen · June 04, 2015, 09:56:11 AM

Quote from: APN;833978Least popular setting?

Maybe Buck Rogers XXVC?

I loved XXVc it was such a direct port of D&D 2we and yet it's one of my favorite versions (and I generally hate 2e). It's the integration of the thief's skills with proficiencies and the addition of flat stat values to those that make it so great.

But there was a lot of good design work and thinking in there. The best weapon for a fighter is not the rocket pistol or the rocket launcher but a needle pistol with its three shots per round.

And vehicles are on a different scale but the damage values for heavy weapons are the same against characters because movie physics.

And the setting is a nice transhuman solar system where Mars is ascendant and earth is largely an economic backwater.

RPGPundit · June 04, 2015, 05:35:15 PM

Quote from: Gabriel2;833074I'd say Birthright or Red Steel.

But red steel was never marketed as a setting on its own, it was an area supplement for Mystara. It's like saying "The Duchy of Urnst was the least popular fantasy setting".

Anyways, they might not know "red steel", but I bet when you say "voyage of the princess ark" you have a lot more people remembering it.

Skywalker · June 04, 2015, 05:43:02 PM

Quote from: Pat;832974Jakandor comes to mind. Three books, but now it's almost completely forgotten.

That was my guess too.

Christopher Brady · June 04, 2015, 05:45:37 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;835080Anyways, they might not know "red steel", but I bet when you say "voyage of the princess ark" you have a lot more people remembering it.

I loved reading that in the Dragon Magazines.

Gabriel2 · June 04, 2015, 10:50:14 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;835080But red steel was never marketed as a setting on its own, it was an area supplement for Mystara. It's like saying "The Duchy of Urnst was the least popular fantasy setting".

Anyways, they might not know "red steel", but I bet when you say "voyage of the princess ark" you have a lot more people remembering it.

I thought there was a Red Steel setting box set. The one person I know of who remembers it talks about it like it's a full standalone setting.

Regardless, I'm admittedly very confused about the B/X and BECMI settings. So, I don't doubt that I've got it wrong.

Bedrockbrendan · June 04, 2015, 11:59:44 PM

Quote from: Gabriel2;835119I thought there was a Red Steel setting box set. The one person I know of who remembers it talks about it like it's a full standalone setting.

Regardless, I'm admittedly very confused about the B/X and BECMI settings. So, I don't doubt that I've got it wrong.

There was a boxed set and it was pretty good from what I recall. I think they may have presented it so you didn't need the other mystara stuff if you didn't want, but they definitely mentioned it. There were a few Mystara boxed sets at the time. They had a Glantri one too.

Omega · June 05, 2015, 12:40:18 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;835080But red steel was never marketed as a setting on its own, it was an area supplement for Mystara. It's like saying "The Duchy of Urnst was the least popular fantasy setting".

Anyways, they might not know "red steel", but I bet when you say "voyage of the princess ark" you have a lot more people remembering it.

My copy touts it as a self contained setting. Which it pretty much is as the cynnabar effectively keeps the users within the boundaries. When I first got it I did not even realize it was set in Mystara until looking closer and reading the Princess Ark stories that tie in loosely. Though as noted below. It says Savage Coast on the box. But it is self contained.

Omega · June 05, 2015, 12:53:57 AM

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;835133There was a boxed set and it was pretty good from what I recall. I think they may have presented it so you didn't need the other mystara stuff if you didn't want, but they definitely mentioned it. There were a few Mystara boxed sets at the time. They had a Glantri one too.

Red Steel got at least one more boxed set. Savage Baronies. But I have never seen it so cannot say what was in it. The Red Steel box itself was presented like a standard setting box. Though it lists itself as part of the Savage Coast. Definitly not a gazeteer.
Hollow world says "Campaign Set" on the box.