I’m looking for a campaign setting for an upcoming game I’ll be running, and would appreciate some suggestions.
Things I’m looking for:
1. Easily digestible:
I would like something that isn’t overly detailed. I only need to know about stuff that happened 500 years ago if it’s relevant to the current state of the setting.
2. Reasonable land size:
I don’t want a land mass that is too big. The game I have envisioned has a good bit of travel, but I don’t want the party spending months getting from the human lands to the dwarf mountain, if that makes any sense?
3. Iconic:
Actually I might even go as far as to say a stereotypical fantasy world. My group doesn’t really go for the off the wall stuff, they like the classic fantasy tropes, like LotR. Plus I find it’s easier for them get immersed in a setting they are familiar with.
4. Environments:
I would like something that has a few different environments; forest, snowy, desert, etc.
5. Availability:
I would prefer to buy either a print or PDF version of it. so try to steer clear of really old hard to find stuff.
Obviously I’m not going to find exactly what I’m looking for, so there is wiggle room. Though, I would like to get as close to number 3 as possible. So if I have to sacrifice on the others, so be it.
Thank you for any help you offer.
1. All settings are pretty detailed.
It's kinda required of a good setting.
2. They are all pretty equal in size too, though Eberron seems smaller than other ones for some reason.
3. Typical D&D settings? Can't go wrong with Greyhawk, nor Forgotten Realms.
4. They all have. Though as mentioned earlier, Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms.
5. In that case, Golarion is your only option.
I’m looking for a campaign setting for an upcoming game I’ll be running, and would appreciate some suggestions.
Things I’m looking for:
1. Easily digestible:
I would like something that isn’t overly detailed. I only need to know about stuff that happened 500 years ago if it’s relevant to the current state of the setting.2. Reasonable land size:
I don’t want a land mass that is too big. The game I have envisioned has a good bit of travel, but I don’t want the party spending months getting from the human lands to the dwarf mountain, if that makes any sense?3. Iconic:
Actually I might even go as far as to say a stereotypical fantasy world. My group doesn’t really go for the off the wall stuff, they like the classic fantasy tropes, like LotR. Plus I find it’s easier for them get immersed in a setting they are familiar with.4. Environments:
I would like something that has a few different environments; forest, snowy, desert, etc.5. Availability:
I would prefer to buy either a print or PDF version of it. so try to steer clear of really old hard to find stuff.Obviously I’m not going to find exactly what I’m looking for, so there is wiggle room. Though, I would like to get as close to number 3 as possible. So if I have to sacrifice on the others, so be it.
Thank you for any help you offer.
Isger in Golarion! The parts that aren't that fleshed out by paizo are the best. Isger has not got a great deal of attention. It can be yours.
Okay, Isger is pretty desolate, with only a few towns. For a party it covers a wide are. It is real need of heroes. There are the goblins, the hobgoblins could come back. Widespread banditry, old ruins and potential for undead, ancient forests untraversed by humans for a very long time (not so many humans left), dusty hills, open planes, the hellknights are in the mountains in force. They can be great villains.
Ran a game there, added some zombies, gremlins, lizardfolk, hellknight and petty tyrants. It was damn good.
Wait, by setting he meant area?
Thanks for being too vague for me to figure out, OP :/
Yeah, at least, I think so. He has to run the game in some sort of place/area.
i agree with 3.5 Loyalist, I've been itching to do something in Isger and that place seems pretty classic fantasy style, maybe someday soon i'll scratch that itch. It is placed pretty close to the center of the inner sea map too, so alot of interesting locations are just a hop, skip, or jump away.
It is a vassal of cheliax who is interested in its value as part of important trade routes. They dont get much support though and must maintain its own armies and defenses. The place is crawling with goblins and undead and still recovering with a major war with the goblins, it is undermanned.
Quite alot of potential here...damn now i talked myself into writing up some adventures there haha.
Actually I did mean setting, but I am open to using an area from Golarion, if it fist some of my criteria. Is Isga the only one that would?
Also, which Greyhawk book should I look for? I know there's a Living Greyhawk Gazeteer for 3.0, is that what I should get if I wanted to run in Greyhawk?
im not as familiar with previous editions' settings but as far as Golarion lets see...
Varisia i think fits the more classic style, but alot of APs take place at least partly there. On one hand that means more information has been established. On the other hand theres less mystery, but you can always ignore that if you dont plan on running APs anyway.
Land of the Linnorm Kings is another area i like. full of viking types fighting dragons (think skyrim?)
River Kingdoms can be basically whatever you need i suppose, alot of small kingdoms held by warlords/bandit kings/former slaves. kind of a keep what you hold mentality
Nirmathas has possibilities as well, the overall theme seems to be keeping its independence from molthune to the south. its heavily forested and has a mountain range along its western border. with belkzen to the north im sure they have problems with orcs as well.
kyonin and five kings mountains are major elf and dwarf kingdoms respectively.
those are some of the kingdoms that strike me as classic fantasy, im sure there are others. alot of the southern continent seems arabic/egyptian in flavor to me. if you want a jungle type adventure though you cant go wrong with the mwangi expanse.
inner sea world guide is $10 for PDF so not too bad if you want to pick it up cheap and give it a look.
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Varisia, no, just no.
That region, sigh. They have put so much to it, they left other far more interesting areas near bare for so long. Varisia has the shoanti and varisian gimmick, plenty of adventure paths there but the land or region just doesn't speak to me. Elsewhere is darker, more exciting and filled with more terrors.
The Nirmathas and Molthune conflict area is great for robin hood or imperial agent type games.
Taldor and Qadira (perhaps from the angry Qadiran side) could be great for intrigue/politics games.
Tal Akaan, have you read through Rise of the Runelords?
It is technically a campaign, not a setting. But it includes everything in your list and is also a great introduction to places Paizo further develops in other published material.
In other words, after the party finishes that campaign they can say "Hey, we really liked the city of Magnimar" and then you can buy the book about Magnimar and set your next adventures there. Etc.
RotRL costs $60 hardcover but is beautiful and huge and worth every penny.
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Brevoy is another area of Golarion that would meet the OP's goals nicely. There is a little supplemental information on it in the Kingmaker AP, but you could also run with just the material in the ISWG. I would also suggest Midgard by Kobold Press. The campaign setting comes out next month, but the Zobeck Gazeteer and Tales of the Old Margreve could get you started right away. It has an Eastern European feel so familiar yet different.
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If you're looking for a truly generic setting with just enough detail to run a few games or so, then "Goodman Games" has a complete setting you might want to check out. It covers all 5 points of the criteria you listed.
It was originally published as a boxed set, and was the default setting they used for their "Dungeon Crawl Classics" line of adventure modules back in 3.5...
The whole setting, maps and all, is available here on Paizo on PDF for $40. Here's a link:
If you're looking for a truly generic setting with just enough detail to run a few games or so, then "Goodman Games" has a complete setting you might want to check out. It covers all 5 points of the criteria you listed.
It was originally published as a boxed set, and was the default setting they used for their "Dungeon Crawl Classics" line of adventure modules back in 3.5...
The whole setting, maps and all, is available here on Paizo on PDF for $40. Here's a link:
Gave this a look, and I'm very interested. I'm going to do a bit more research on it before I just hand over my money, but this looks good.