No Mystara. Me also sad
Dragonlance is the worst "Let's stand over here and watch the metaplot go by" setting since the original World of Darkness.
Heh, that's exactly what made me quit L5R a year after it came out.
My whole gaming group in Albuquerque was way into that style, though. Earthdawn, Deadlands, Trinity , In Nomine... it probably says something that the game in which I felt the least plot-pressure during that period was d6 Star Wars.
On the flip side, after 3E came out (I was back in California by then) the rest of the industry has seemed to atrophe. I played one Aberrant game, and recently a local group started doing Mutants & Masterminds, but everything else has been D&D since.
Golarion already has a loose framework you could put Spelljammer into. That would be an awesome, swashbuckling game that would have a lot of Pathfinder style. I think it's the best option to grow the game.
On this, good sir, we are in resounding agreement. :D
Edit: Of course, the two primary nemesis factions in Spelljammer were illithids and beholderkin. That would demand revision...
I voted Dark Sun. Yeah, I know WotC is doing it next year but it's probably the most unique setting on the list. Apart from Planescape. And Oritenal Adventures. And Spelljammer. And...
...y'know what, THIS is why I shouldn't play favorites xD
I chose Al Qadim off the list for the Arabian Nights flavor and how well it fit with established "Eurocentric" games (like mine). One setting not on the list, and not mentioned, though is Blackmoor. I loved the Judges Guild printing of Arneson's First Fantasy Campaign and even the later TSR Blackmoor modules / setting. Familiar, yet off the wall and inventive. Of course mentioning Judges Guild brings up another old foggie favorite -- The Wilderlands of High Fantasy. The City State of the Invincible Overlord from Judges Guild was miles beyond any other fantasy city detailed back in the day. Easy to see it's influence in most of the city settings / modules since. Blackmoor, and The Wilderlands (including the City State of the Invincible Overlord) have seen 3E reincarnations. So who knows? PF versions could be done... and now I'm getting the urge to collect the various 3E versions. Something I've not done yet. Nostalgia. It can cost you :)
Would anyone actually dislike it if Paizo would get to use any of those settings? I guess they could make some good money out of it (as there seems to be quite some interest in them, helped by the nostalgia argument). Using one of those settings gives you a headstart in sales I'd say. There's plenty of downsides too though.
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You guys know that WotC will never, ever license any of those settings to any serious competitor, right?
At least, not until everybody forgets what happened to Ravenloft and Gamma World.
If we're going for a nostalgia setting, we should be wondering what would happen if they licensed Talislanta or Torg.
No Mystara, so no vote :(
You guys know that WotC will never, ever license any of those settings to any serious competitor, right?
At least, not until everybody forgets what happened to Ravenloft and Gamma World.
If we're going for a nostalgia setting, we should be wondering what would happen if they licensed Talislanta or Torg.
Just curious, what happened to Ravenloft and Gamma World?
Midnight.
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DRAGONLANCE WOOOOOOOO.............Dragonlance is the worst "Let's stand over here and watch the metaplot go by" setting since the original World of Darkness. Worse even than Deadlands and In Nomine. WotC was right to leave it behind in the 3e transition.
Woa, woa, woa, ever hear about Forgotten Realms there bucko. At least Dragonlance was original and extensively not generic to the point of stealing from every other setting.
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Just curious, what happened to Ravenloft and Gamma World?
They got a less than lackluster treatment by the licensees.
Sword and Sorcery Studios got the Gamma World license. It failed to capture the original feel, and Gamma World fans trashed it. Reviews were mostly negative. During the d20 crash, I saw the three core books going as a bundle for $8 on eBay.
Arthaus Studios licensed the Ravenloft setting. Fans were disappointed because anything that crossed over from other settings (Vecna from Greyhawk, Lord Soth from DL, etc.) was excised. Many found them boring to read. The line was dropped before the last book was released. No one mourned.
Rights for both settings reverted to WotC.
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Not sure about Vecna, which really didn't have all that much to do with Ravenloft as a whole (the events are still in the history), but Soth was taken to Ravenloft without permission. Weis (and maybe Hickman?) felt that Soth was theirs, and when asked to transport him, they said no, but someone at TSR (incorrectly) gave Ravenloft the ok.
Both lines essentually had plans for him, and most fans had no problem with him being in both places, though there was seemingly some sort of legal issue.
So basically, Soth was innactive in Ravenloft, and the nature of his realm (dealing with false memories and distorted reality), the details of him were lost with his demise (or escape or redemption, however you look at it).
From there, he returned to Dragonlance, literally in perfect time to die.
I don't know who told you that about White Wolf's Ravenloft. They had a rough start in 3.0, just like everyone not familiar with d20. However it did pretty well after that and had a lot of fans, and a decent amount of books.
Arthaus Studios licensed the Ravenloft setting. Fans were disappointed because anything that crossed over from other settings (Vecna from Greyhawk, Lord Soth from DL, etc.) was excised. Many found them boring to read. The line was dropped before the last book was released. No one mourned.
I beg to differ. Apparently you've never heard of the Fraternity of Shadows.
RPG Superstar 2013
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Edit: Of course, the two primary nemesis factions in Spelljammer were illithids and beholderkin. That would demand revision...
But that's what gives it soo much potential. Add a coupleof new races to the Spelljammer-like setting to replace the illithids and beholders, and give people the familiar feel of magic-space-physics that made SPelljammer so unique, and then use your new monsters and Golarion cosmology and astronomy to publish a setting full of new material. Give us nostalgie, while giving us something different, while introducing something new.
Great cobination, and one that will bring in some old school DND players who haven't given Pathfinder a shot yet.
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Eberron is my first choice. I'm currently playing an Artificer in a Pathfinder campaign and I'm avoiding abusing the broken nature of the class. Aside from that point of personal relevance, It's just a great setting. Still high fantasy with out being as cliched as Dragonlance, Grey Hawk & Forgotten Realms (though I would like to see Faerun return to it's pre-4e state). The Wraith pretty much hit the nail on the head with his post.
Planescape is my second choice because of my fond memories of Torment & The Nameless One.
Dark Sun and Ravenloft come in third because I never got a chance to play either but they both sound very compelling from all the research I've done and would love viable post-apocalyptic fantasy & really excellent Gothic undead.
3 days left to vote.
Golarion.
The small crunch in the campaign setting is all 3.5e, as are the initial Chronicles books, and some things are incompatible with PFRPG!
2 Days left to vote.
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None.
I do this fine on my own. Blackmoor and Greyhawk will be the location of some upcoming Pathfinder RPG games I am running, and the news is: they are alive and well.
Any GM can easily use classic settings with Pathfinder RPG without the nasty political IP hubbub that the wotci have created. It is worth remembering that not only did they remove .pdfs of our 30+ year game history/legacy from the market, but in addition to the publisher-unfriendly GSL, they have now locked-down their own Web site legacy items. I don't even recognize our game any more.
Last day left to vote.
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I also wouldn't mind seeing something similar to GhostWalk. Not Ghostwalk mind you, which had more problems than it was worth, but somethin along those lines might be cool. Plus, it's not dreadfully generic or cliche as Eberron or Faerun, but if that is your thing, it can very easily fit into them, or Greyhawk, or Krynn or almost anything.
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Woa, woa, woa, ever hear about Forgotten Realms there bucko. At least Dragonlance was original and extensively not generic to the point of stealing from every other setting.DRAGONLANCE WOOOOOOOO.............Dragonlance is the worst "Let's stand over here and watch the metaplot go by" setting since the original World of Darkness. Worse even than Deadlands and In Nomine. WotC was right to leave it behind in the 3e transition.Realms never even came close the meta-plot driven setting of Dragonlance.
Many of the sweeping plots in Realms were around the North, Moonsea and Heartlands...did not have much impact on the Unapproachable East and Old Empires areas usually. Same as the Golden Horde did not really impact the North or Sword Coast much. The impact of the Return of Shade did not do much regarding Calimshan and Amn.
Overall, meta-plots in Realms were fairly regional.
-Weylin
Time of Troubles, War of the Spider Queen, Tearing of the Weave, and the Spell Plague of the top of my head. I'm sure there are 20 or so more (which also do not change the setting noticably and might as well have never even happened :) minus spellplague). Don't get me wrong, Dragonlance has had some "regional" things to, such as Ogre Titans, Dragon Overlords, and this or that, but I think Dragonlance has done it all so much better than FR, which has so little after effect, it leaves players (all that I've ever talked to anyway) feeling "what was the point".
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A lot of things, honestly. Being one of the earliest books (before the rules were really understood by even the new designers), it was filled with a lot of inconscistancies. Some things I didn't like in particular is that your "ghost" is an undead, except that it is actually an "outsider type", and it got really confussing. Just make it undead and immune to turning.
I felt like a lot of the fluff either didn't make sense, was not explained (why do these creatures kill ghosts on sight), or was heavily based on an individual writters notions that might not be universal, (I no longer have the book and haven't looked at it in over a year, so I can't recall specific examples). I kind of recall that for some reason, in Ghostwalk, aberrations hated and dispised all mortals, I guess because they had souls. Is that it?
I didn't like that, because there were only two ghost classes, some classes got shafted much more than others. For example, the ghost feats and the spell caster class really did nothing at all for the Cleric, little for Druids, and worked well for Wizards and Sorcerers. But left Bards a little cold as they really had to multiclass. I kind of wish that instead of two classes, each "ghost class" essentually had it's own "template".
I almost wish they would have left out a great deal of fluff, and most rules and things that did not deal with the ghost part of the game, and just focused on making the material usable in whatever setting you want. You could already, but I think it would have done better as an alternate gmae type rather than another setting.
I really love gritty settings. That's why I voted for Dark Sun, but I equally love Ravenloft and Ptolus. Easily in a close 4rd is Eberron for the sense of high adventure and compelling plot and flavor.
And people are right, Birthright had huge potential that never got tapped, and I wouldn't mind seeing it make a comeback for old time's sake.
Would anyone actually dislike it if Paizo would get to use any of those settings? I guess they could make some good money out of it (as there seems to be quite some interest in them, helped by the nostalgia argument). Using one of those settings gives you a headstart in sales I'd say. There's plenty of downsides too though.
I'm not losing much sleep worrying about it, however I would be disappointed if Paizo branched out into other campaign settings. I want more stuff for Golarion than they can comfortably produce (or even uncomfortably produce, I daresay) - adding another product line would no doubt impinge on me ever getting monthly modules/companions/chronicles.
Personally, I think they should continue to use what's been learnt in the last thirty years about creating campaign settings to make Golarion as good as they can without having to accomodate player expectations based on "the way things were".
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Would anyone actually dislike it if Paizo would get to use any of those settings?
I wouldn't like Paizo to get my favourite setting Eberron, at least I wouldn't if they planned to put out loads of sourcebooks for it like they do with Golarion. I am a completionist when it comes to RPGs, but now I at least am focussing on being a setting completionist (i.e. I don't necessarily buy all rulebooks, but anything that inlcudes setting info).
I have all the 3.5 Eberron books and am reading through them slowly - when I get done with them I will buy the 4e Eberron books (luckily there are only 3). That is plenty for me. I am sticking to GMing 3.5 purely because that is what Eberron uses and I know that system - I have at least read the 4e system as well. Pathfinder is not on my list of rules systems to learn as anything more than a player.
I missed the cut off on the poll but voice my choices here .
Wishful fantasies :
1)Kara Tur - I'll have to wait for the Tian supplement.
2)Al-Qadim - I'll have to wait for the appropriate PFC supplements.
3)Greyhawk - Closest we came was Troll Lord's GG's Castle Yasyg (Sp?).
4)Eberron - Being used by WotC & I hope they don't butcher it like they did with FR.
Loved to see Paizo liscence & update for PFRPG :
1)Talaslanta a favorite.. I'd even go for Paizo just updating the default system or reprint 4th ot 5th ed.
2)Iron Kingdoms in co-operation with Privateer Press , but revise it so you don't need to purchase two $45+ books. One $50 CS book with rules specific to the setting & solid info on the world , including a basic gazateer to the lands.Then produce smaller $20 gazateers focusing on indevidual lands in more detail.
3)Scarredlands. Great setting & a great fit for PFRPG.
I'll vote for one of my own campaign settings... and Paizo can throw me a little cash to develop the books and modules. And the bennie is that none of them have been licensed by WoTC. :) cha-ching!
I see some merit in the posters who wanted a "none of the above" option. From skimming some of the main D&D boards - there are a lot of [pick-your-milieu] fans who spend most of their time talking up the greatness of their favorite world and/or deriding other worlds, or getting upset when another player or DM who violates what they perceive as the 'spirit' of the milieu or, god forbid, aren't totally up-to-date with all the 'historical' happenings in that world.
Having said that... I think the Paizo folks could do justice to some of the establised worlds if they used the original ideas as a jumping off point but not limiting themselves to the canon of materials already created. Case in point - I think Ravenloft had and has great potential for unique gaming and world creation possibilities.
~r
Scarred Lands
My Great Great Great Grand Father Tramora Skullcrusher came to life in the Scarred Lands. To this day the Scarred Lands campaign setting is my favorite. I started reading the books back in 2002 or 3. I think the first book I read was Relics & Rituals. I was hooked (No S#+%) I collected every book and read and reread them all. No other setting came close to the sense of utter defeat and despair that this one had. Where does one turn when the whole world is wrecked and most of the major civilizations have fallen. Yes for the love of the Gods convert this setting to Pathfinder. I must say that the Paizo setting is awesome. I'm going to run a game in this setting. The people that play with me will probable make me pay for all the bull crap Ive put them through but that's OK with me. Ill be the Galactic Over Lord and Kill them all.
Off with Their Heads!!!!!!!!!!
South Cenral LA. Huh? Oh? Then Greyhawk.
Holy thread necromancy, Batman.
To weigh in on the topic, Forgotten Realms, retconned back to 1375 DR with the spellplague to never take place, or rebooted to the Old Grey Box. Also Planescape, nuff said.
No love for Dragonstar?
:(
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Holy thread necromancy, Batman.
To weigh in on the topic, Forgotten Realms, retconned back to 1375 DR with the spellplague to never take place, or rebooted to the Old Grey Box.
Heck, take it all the way back to DR 1358 - none of this newfangled 2nd edition stuff :-)
It's reasonably easy to lift whole chunks of the Realms and drop then into Golarion in the Inner Sea area (and it's not that difficult to relocate a lot of the Al Qadim setting, either).
Thread necromancy indeed!
Putting Al Qadim into Golarion would be great - I never played in that setting, but collected all the stuff printed for it, and even saved some 3.0e conversion from the net, which is long gone by now. I just loved it. (I would just cut out elves and dwarves from it, if I ever were to DM it. If you need something not human, take some genie-blooded races - fits the tone much better IMO)
And Greyhawk, of course.
Personally, I rather liked Eberron. But Scarred Lands, Planescape, or Iron Kingdoms would also be very awesome.
Eberron and Dark Sun are probably my two favorites of all time.
Much love for Dark Sun here.
It'll never happen, but i can dream :)
-S