Goodman Games

so, what's everyone's favorite campaign setting?

i suppose i should say DragonMech or some other fine goodman games product... <_< ... >_> ... mine is actually the old Mystara campaign setting from TSR...

aside from making some really interesting kingdoms (the kingdoms were actually developed independantly and then merged into a single cohesive world) the setting came in campaign boxes for each kingdom i only managed to get two of them, but i really like the stuff thatis included

my favorite campaign boxes from 2nd edition is "Glantri: Kingdom of Magic" from the Mystara campaign setting, and it included a hex-grided kingdom map, a kingdom detail book, and an adventure for low level characters along with an audio CD of voice clips for certain situations that come up in the adventure(and some setting specific pre-made characters)

the other, the kingdom of Karameikos, has the same type of information (obviously, it's centered around the other kingdom)

of course, i am a little disapointed that WotC hasn't picked these setting for upgrade to 3rd ed. (darn you, greyhawk, dragonlance, forgotten realms, and that new-comer, eberron) but the setting boxes were about the neatest thing ever

(i'm surprised that the KB toys in my local mall actually carried them, considering that it's a small store and AD&D wasn't nearly as big when i got the settings six years ago... they had several coppies of each box, though, and those character kits for fighters and clerics that included minis and stat sheets and a few dice... but i ramble)

Like I can pick just one...

Of the current official D&D settings, Eberron's my favorite. It's not your standard elves-and-dwarves-fight-orcs-and-dragons garbage. It's got pulp novel action, film noir intrigue, and it's balanced so that your heroes really become The Big Heroes around 10th level. Plus it's written by former Goodman Games author Keith Baker.

Of the non-WOTC d20 settings, DragonMech is very cool. I have a bit of a bias there. Somebody (FFG?) is doing a setting whose name I forget, but the premise is basically that a Sauron-style baddie has already taken over the world, and you have to deal with the relentless tide of evil. Neat premise.

Of the retired D&D settings, al-Qadim/Arabian Adventures is my hands-down favorite. I'm a sucker for complete worlds with history, culture, and all the soft stuff. Plus it's a great setting for swashbuckling adventure with lots of snappy dialogue. Malevolent ghuls, enigmatic genies, doe-eyed harem women (or selamlik men, if that's your preference)...it had everything.

My fave is the Fogotten Realms. So many evil organizations, so little time to defeat them. But my players somehow find a way.

My fav used to be Dragonlance, but it's gotten alittle old and the story line is getting to complex. I don't like the way the D20 Dragonlance book came out.
I really love Dragonmech right now, and I'm going to be DMing Dragonmech next month.
I'm part of an Eberron game now. I really like the world, and the whole "atmosphere" of the game like walrusjester said.

Favorite has got to be Iron Kingdoms. We ran through the witchfire trilogy over the last two years. WHEW what fun. And the DM did a great job making the one city we had information for (cause the big book wasn’t out yet) seem like a real world into itself.

i dunno. i've never really liked using premade campaign settings for anything other than ideas for...i dunno, stuff. i hate trying to run a Forgotten Realms game, in particular, because there's -so much- stuff out there for it that players always try to second guess you or feel disappointed when you leave something out from whatever RA Awfultore novel they're currently enamored with.

that said, my favorites for ideas are Raveloft, Dragonmech, Forgotten Realms, and Spelljammer. god, Spelljammer was cool.

-c

DragonMech. Hands down, DragonMech.

I've looked at the rules in the Iron Kingdoms book, and while I enjoy the concepts, the whole world is much less exciting than DragonMech. Iron Kingdoms (for me) is one of those take-what-you-like books.

DragonMech is my personal favorite. And now, if only I could find someone to let me use my 5 prestige classes and 12 new weapons . . .

As a longtime fan of horror fiction and Hammer Films, I've always had a soft spot for Ravenloft. You can do so much stuff beneath the surface with character motivations, subplots, etc.

My group about 7 or 8 years ago had a really strong Birthright campaign, and that was a blast because of all the political conflicts. Very different from standard D&D games at that time.

Of the new games, I do love DragonMech (but yes, I'm biased). Excellent potential for a wide variety of campaigns, including horror from the skies, espionage, post-apocalyptic survival .... very cool.

I'd have to say Forgotten Realms or anything homebrew. I love FR simply because it is a traditional high magic, high fantasy type of world and the DnD setting I started playing with back in '94.

Homebrews, when done nicely and portrayed correctly (or at least creatively), are excellent. It pretty much is only limited by the group's imagination.

I'm a sucker for first edition Greyhawk, which is why I enjoy the Blackmoor setting so much. Big maps measured in leagues, dusty travelers, and *fairly* low magic.

I'd like to cite a list of reasons that make Greyhawk great, but a good bit of my nostalgia can be chalked up to something as simple as: "I was twelve when this came out, so I love it now."

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Chris! Nice to see you dropping in.

Greyhawk was something I could never get into. It's the "generic" setting for Dungeons and Dragons. It's status quo.

So, of course, I steer clear of it.

There isn't really even much of a good reason why I do either. ~Shrugs~ I just find the Forgotten Realms to be so much more enriching. It's the history lover in me going berserk at all the Realms lore.

Not to mention the gods are just plain kick ass.

Oh, and thanks for the invite Harley. I think I'll like it here.

I gotta put my vote in for Dragonlance. I've been reading the books since the late 80's and gaming in the world since mid 90's. I'm obsessed really. I love the history, I love the struggle, I love the fact that the Gods know fear and have as many faults as the mortals. I was running a Morningstar campaign there for a while, but both the players in my group and myself started pulling away from some of the ideas in the world. We decided to stop that campaign for a while and go back to what we all knew and loved, which was Dragonlance for me and Forgotten realms for the other DM in my group.

Can I cheat and have three?
1) Mystara (TSR) - It's been the home to my OD&D campaign for the past 20+ years, so it shares the "my favorite" title with the next item. I would love to see a d20 version of this.
2) Dave Arneson's Blackmoor (Zeitgeist Games/Goodman Games) - Once reworked to be part of Mystara (...and Greyhawk, and the Wilderlands), the First Fantasy Campaign has had a major affect on the background lore of my Mystara campaign. My d20 fantasy campaign is/will be (it's kind of complex right now) based there.
3) DungeonWorld (Fast Forward Entertainment) - I have used this infinitely huge dungeon complex where dead characters end up as a bridge from older D&D campaigns to the d20 system. I had several people (who I hadn't played with before) approach me about running a d20 game, so I told them to ech bring me thier favorite dead character from any previous version of D&D. I updated the characters to d20, and we were off.
-Sheridan

My favorite is the Old (and recently revived) Judges Guild setting the Wilderlands, especially when connected with Dave Arneson's Blackmoor setting as it was in the First Fantasy Camapign. There ar eso many possibilities in the ocmbined setting, low magic sword and sorcery, high magic, science fantasy with lost or hidden and terrible technology, urban adventures in the City State or Blackmoor, or vast wilderness to explore and classic dungeon crawls around every corner.
-M

I would have to say that currently it is the Kingdoms of Kalamar....mostly because I love the Hobgoblins there. In the past it would have been Greyhawk (I am an old school player who started with it).... I also have a fondness for Spelljammer and Ravenloft.

I'd have to say that my favorite official campaign setting is easily the Forgotten Realms. For my favorite 3rd part campaign it really is a toss-up between the Diamond Throne and the Scarred Lands. Of course I'm going to have to re-evaluate this as soon as I purchas Blackmoor and give a good once rad over.

Of course Dragonmech, which I'll go ahead and skip, since we all know already just how immensely cool it is

There is another setting, however, that has really grabbed me by the throat, Dark Sun. I have no idea why I liked this setting so immediately when I saw it, but it is just the coolest thing since dice. It must have something to do with the post-apocalyptic, you might die on your way to the next town, endless tracts of wasteland that make up most of the setting. Anyone else noticing a pattern? I'm really sorry I only jumped on this bandwagon long after it went OOP, but at least I won't get suprised by a new book coming out and not being up to date.

Of the TSR settings I like Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms.

For third party stuff Blackmoor and Kalamar.

Mike

I've run a Greyhawk campaign since the mid-1980s. I also like Columbia Games' Harn for its gritty, feudal atmosphere but not many players seem to care for it's realism.

Regards,

V

I usually run Forgotten Realms, since a lot of gamers know it already, but my DCC campaign is set exclusive in Judges Guild's "Wilderlands of High Fantasy" setting. Nothing like a trip to the City State of the Invincible Overlord to sell off your loot from the Smuggler's Caves...

Oathbound for fantasy, Gamma World for sci-fantasy and Transhuman Space for sci-fi.

Why I like OB so much is the ability to use just about anything in it, d20 or otherwise (which is why I bought Brex, the CC guides and the WG books).

yeknom wrote:I would have to say that currently it is the Kingdoms of Kalamar....mostly because I love the Hobgoblins there.

Kalamar for me as well. I went for the realistic feel and stayed for the hoblgoblins.

I can't believe I signed up here, but with current changes . . .


I have to say Atlantis is my favorite setting. I don't mean GURPS Atlantis or Twilight of Atlantis, I mean Atlantis.

As for official D&D settings, I got over my feelings of being let down by Wizards of the Coast, and embraced Eberron. The fact that Keith treated me well helped as well. I figured I can't fight them, so I'll join them.

Traditionally, and for sheer instant playability: the Forgotten Realms.

For true, cult-like appreciation: Ravenloft!

Contemporary interest? Eberron. Though I have yet to actually play it, I sure do read up every sourcebook.

Elton Robb wrote:The fact that Keith treated me well helped as well.

Yeah, Keith is a super-friendly nice guy. But I still don't care much for Eberron. It just feels like Forgotten Realms with some new paint on it to me. I miss the old D&D settings that truly had some uniqueness to them, like Ravenloft, Spelljammer, and Birthright. Man, Birthright was cool.

As far as recent settings go, Dragonmech is The One.