Favourite RPG settings and why

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7) I find the main character more compelling and reasonable.
It's been decades since I've read the Venus books, but I also preferred Carson Napier to Carter. He comes across as more mortal and relatable, and isn't as cocky and arrogant as Carter could be (it should be noted that the gravity difference between Earth and Venus is fairly minor, only giving him a slight physical advantage), keenly aware that at any given moment the entire damned planet might try to kill him. He might wake up in a given day, realize that he hadn't been murdered in his sleep, and figured that he was doing pretty well for the day.

Also, Duare is a superior character to Dejah Thoris, in that she actually has a personality.
 
It's been decades since I've read the Venus books, but I also preferred Carson Napier to Carter. He comes across as more mortal and relatable, and isn't as cocky and arrogant as Carter could be, keenly aware that at any given moment the entire damned planet might try to kill him. He might wake up in a given day, realize that he hadn't been murdered in his sleep, and figured that he was doing pretty well for the day.

Also, Duare is a superior character to Dejah Thoris, in that she actually has a personality.
I actually meant to write "characters", but it seems I omitted the "s":grin:! Though I must say I don't really like Duare, at least in the first books...but I find she would be, probably, easier to portray for the average roleplayer (whereas Dejah Toris would be easier for someone used to roleplaying in L5R or another setting where duty and order should come above all:tongue:)!

Either way, I completely agree. Good catch!
 
That's a setting I've always wanted to check out, ever since I saw ads for the 2nd edition in Dragon Magazine back in my teens.
I've managed to check it. It's great, actually, though I'd still prefer Tekumel.
 
I've managed to check it. It's great, actually, though I'd still prefer Tekumel.
What do you find preferable about Tekumel? I own the pdf, but it never really clicked with me. Maybe it was the nature of the setting, or the practical requirement to learn a new language, but it didn't inspire me to immerse myself into it and run it.
 
Mythic Britain: A semi-historical take on Arthur and his knights. Definitely my favorite new setting. Plays with the myths and mythology. Includes rules for Celtic and Saxon magic using the Mythras rules.

Midnight: LotR with the serial numbers barely filed off. Frodo died somewhere before he got the ring to the volcano so Sauron didn't get a body, but his army of Orcs did crush the good peoples and now the world is ruled by evil overlords. Sadly it was written for D20, a system I don't think does the setting justice. Luckily it's easy to ignore the mechanical stuff and just use the world with a system that would work better for doing dark fantasy.
 
Midnight: LotR with the serial numbers barely filed off. Frodo died somewhere before he got the ring to the volcano so Sauron didn't get a body, but his army of Orcs did crush the good peoples and now the world is ruled by evil overlords. Sadly it was written for D20, a system I don't think does the setting justice. Luckily it's easy to ignore the mechanical stuff and just use the world with a system that would work better for doing dark fantasy.
What system would you use, or have you used, for Midnight?
 
Mythic Britain: A semi-historical take on Arthur and his knights. Definitely my favorite new setting. Plays with the myths and mythology. Includes rules for Celtic and Saxon magic using the Mythras rules.

Midnight: LotR with the serial numbers barely filed off. Frodo died somewhere before he got the ring to the volcano so Sauron didn't get a body, but his army of Orcs did crush the good peoples and now the world is ruled by evil overlords. Sadly it was written for D20, a system I don't think does the setting justice. Luckily it's easy to ignore the mechanical stuff and just use the world with a system that would work better for doing dark fantasy.
Love Midnight. I used it's take on 3e D&D and the characters got to level 10 so we had a lot of fun with it. It has echoes of Game of Thrones after winter has come as well - the newly dead rising again also gives us a bonus zombie apocalypse along with the dark lord ruling. I also enjoyed features like the White Mother, the Orc visionary that tries to protect some Orcs from Izrador's sendings.
 
What do you find preferable about Tekumel? I own the pdf, but it never really clicked with me. Maybe it was the nature of the setting, or the practical requirement to learn a new language, but it didn't inspire me to immerse myself into it and run it.
Which PDF? There's at least 3 games doing Tekumel...:smile:

I like the interplay of Stability and Change, the South Asia-inspired setting, and the reliance on Eyes sits better with me than the isho and blasters. I would also say that MAR Barker seems to have worked his setting material to more depth, but since I don't remember SoJ so well, I can't give specific examples.
And anyway, those are minor things - bottomline, SoJ is very close to Tekumel, I just have slight preferences, which other people might or might not share:wink:!
 
Several reasons, really:
1) More water and greenery. Banal, but feels good to the eyes, even if those are mind's eyes:grin:!
2) More disparate cultures between cities. Barsoom feels exactly like what it is, a world that was old, and unified, and now is getting some dissenting voices, but Red Martians overall live like Red Martians, and so on. Conversely, Amtor is a world that is now learning to spread its wings, unity is not even a pipe dream in most places, and so is cultural unity unheard of. This would also be better for gaming purposes!
3) A host of superstitions, mistaken knowledge, and no real understanding of what space is. It's always funny.
4) Chicks don't lay eggs there, AFAICT:tongue:. This always seemed kinda worrisome, and coupled with the telepathy and stuff present in Barsoom, and the general closeness between planetary romance and S&S, I can easily spin it into a premise for horror adventure. But such overtones are actually totally unsuitable for Sword and Planet, IMO.
5) It has the sterling advice of "never argue with anyone who can seriously advice you to multiply stuff by a square root of minus one":devil:!
6) The description of the rocket sent by Earth reminds me of Jules Verne's "From Earth to the Moon", which is another book I like. Conversely, Barsoom fliers seemingly fly on unobtainium. Not a major source of irritation, but it is one nonetheless.
7) I find the main character more compelling and reasonable.
8) There's less military engagements in the Amtor books I've read. Which I like.
9) There's no 2d20 version of Amtor:devil:.

And of course, keep in mind all of the above might contain traces of humour and/or be mistaken. I haven't read all ERB books yet!

That all makes sense. I tend to prefer desert landscapes to water and greenery, having been surfeited with the latter most of my life, but that's a matter of personal taste, of course. You're right about the cultural similarity of various Red Martian cities, of course, though to a considerable degree that is counterbalanced by all the different intelligent races in Barsoom. Personally, I found the main opponents on Venus, the Thorists, a little too direct a copying of Stalinists. I also like the imaginative feel of an old, dying world, with eons of history behind it, rather than the young world vibe that Amtor provides, but that's again a matter of personal preference.

It's been decades since I've read the Venus books, but I also preferred Carson Napier to Carter. He comes across as more mortal and relatable, and isn't as cocky and arrogant as Carter could be (it should be noted that the gravity difference between Earth and Venus is fairly minor, only giving him a slight physical advantage), keenly aware that at any given moment the entire damned planet might try to kill him. He might wake up in a given day, realize that he hadn't been murdered in his sleep, and figured that he was doing pretty well for the day.

Also, Duare is a superior character to Dejah Thoris, in that she actually has a personality.

Yeah; I actually prefer some of the later Barsoom novels for characterization and because their heroes don't have John Carter's super-powers.
 
Karameikos was our 'everything is bright and airy and everyone has good skin, great hair and gets showered at least twice a day just like in Elmore art'. I enjoyed running it and never gave too much thought to how bland and generic it was. Adventured for an age in Karameikos then expanded to the Expert set map (Darokin, Rockhome etc). When the Gazeteers came out I blinked at how much bigger the world seemed to be and cringed at how 'wrong' I'd gotten the various places. Minrothad is what? You mean it isn't populated by Minotaurs? Oh.

In contrast wherever the players went in Warhammer Fantasy RPG it was raining hard with shin deep mud and everyone had 1D3 random diseases plus they were miserable and as likely to stab you in the face if you said anything to them. Grim and perilous indeed.
 
Karameikos was our 'everything is bright and airy and everyone has good skin, great hair and gets showered at least twice a day just like in Elmore art'. I enjoyed running it and never gave too much thought to how bland and generic it was. Adventured for an age in Karameikos then expanded to the Expert set map (Darokin, Rockhome etc). When the Gazeteers came out I blinked at how much bigger the world seemed to be and cringed at how 'wrong' I'd gotten the various places. Minrothad is what? You mean it isn't populated by Minotaurs? Oh.

In contrast wherever the players went in Warhammer Fantasy RPG it was raining hard with shin deep mud and everyone had 1D3 random diseases plus they were miserable and as likely to stab you in the face if you said anything to them. Grim and perilous indeed.

I never got that vibe from Karameikos but I took my cue for it from Night's Dark Terror where it was Slavic and wild.

I think Allston's later Gazeteer took it in a different direction, I can't recall the specifics but I did mine it for the excellent NPCs.
 
I almost always prefer to create my own settings; they may be basic and derivative, but they're mine. The closest I've come to using an established setting was for my Gamma World game, where the setting the players interacted with didn't contradict the sparse setting notes in the rulebook too much.

For fantasy, the one setting that tempts me is Arduin, using what us very minimally sketched out in the original books, along with the map that appeared in that one issue of Different Worlds, giving me just enough to spark my imagination, without constraining me in any meaningful way.
 
I almost always prefer to create my own settings; they may be basic and derivative, but they're mine. The closest I've come to using an established setting was for my Gamma World game, where the setting the players interacted with didn't contradict the sparse setting notes in the rulebook too much.

Yeah, I generally go that way myself. Even my Pendragon campaign ended up being my take on the Arthurian stories; I did not go through with the plot lines suggested by the rulebooks. Often I'll look for some setting in fiction or history that appeals to me and tweak it somewhat, rather than inventing something from whole cloth--at which I'm not very good, honestly.
 
Karameikos was our 'everything is bright and airy and everyone has good skin, great hair and gets showered at least twice a day just like in Elmore art'. I enjoyed running it and never gave too much thought to how bland and generic it was. Adventured for an age in Karameikos then expanded to the Expert set map (Darokin, Rockhome etc). When the Gazeteers came out I blinked at how much bigger the world seemed to be and cringed at how 'wrong' I'd gotten the various places. Minrothad is what? You mean it isn't populated by Minotaurs? Oh.

In contrast wherever the players went in Warhammer Fantasy RPG it was raining hard with shin deep mud and everyone had 1D3 random diseases plus they were miserable and as likely to stab you in the face if you said anything to them. Grim and perilous indeed.
I liked Karamekios when it was The Known World, in the Expert set. Once it got codified and locked down, it lost some charm for me.
 
I almost always prefer to create my own settings; they may be basic and derivative, but they're mine. The closest I've come to using an established setting was for my Gamma World game, where the setting the players interacted with didn't contradict the sparse setting notes in the rulebook too much.

For fantasy, the one setting that tempts me is Arduin, using what us very minimally sketched out in the original books, along with the map that appeared in that one issue of Different Worlds, giving me just enough to spark my imagination, without constraining me in any meaningful way.

I agree with this. When I run games, even if it would make it 100 times easier to use a published setting, I insist on making a homebrew. I've come to regret it on numerous occasions when my eyes are way bigger than my prep time, but at least it's unique! (just kidding, they're all totally divertive).
 
Dark Sun - Best D&D setting of all time. The original boxed set was the first RPG product I ever owned (got it as a surprise present from my mom). The cover alone just blew me away, and it had this weird sword & planet mixed with fantasy feel to it that hooked me immediately. It wasn't just traditional fantasy, but an original take featuring a brutal desolate alien land altered by cataclysmic events that shaped the very people in it, causing them to evolve to adapt to an inhospitable environment. Character races were different, and everyone had some level of latent psionic ability. Magic was destructive and largely outlawed, except for divine magic channeled from the elements, or a select few who worked on behalf of the Sorcerer Kings.

RIFTS - Loved the world, hated the system. It was just pure world-hopping gonzo fantasy sci-fi badassery, with creatures from other worlds classing onto Earth through dimensional portals, guys in power armor, mechs and wizards all mixed in.

Planescape - Love the idea of planar travel, and also the setting's emphasis on philosophy and different takes on the nature of reality and belief as one of its major driving forces.

Spelljammer - Honorary mention. Never played it 100% by the book, but had some awesome ideas, and flying boats in space!

Numenera - Never played it (except for the video game) and not sure about the system, but I love the surreal science fantasy feel, and the idea of world full of ancient technological secrets from bygone ages of a forgotten past, hidden away in ruins scattered across a strange land reshaped for eons by terraforming technology bordering on the fantastical.

Shadowrun - I know some people hate mixing elves with their cyberpunk, but Shadowrun always stood out to me as a world, more than any other cyberpunk RPG setting. Love me some urban shamans summoning spirits in the alleyway. Chummer!

Plus a bunch others, but those are probably the ones that have stood out most. Not sure in what order, but probably Dark Sun at the top.
 
Dark Sun - Best D&D setting of all time. The original boxed set was the first RPG product I ever owned (got it as a surprise present from my mom). The cover alone just blew me away, and it had this weird sword & planet mixed with fantasy feel to it that hooked me immediately. It wasn't just traditional fantasy, but an original take featuring a brutal desolate alien land altered by cataclysmic events that shaped the very people in it, causing them to evolve to adapt to an inhospitable environment. Character races were different, and everyone had some level of latent psionic ability. Magic was destructive and largely outlawed, except for divine magic channeled from the elements, or a select few who worked on behalf of the Sorcerer Kings.

RIFTS - Loved the world, hated the system. It was just pure world-hopping gonzo fantasy sci-fi badassery, with creatures from other worlds classing onto Earth through dimensional portals, guys in power armor, mechs and wizards all mixed in.

Planescape - Love the idea of planar travel, and also the setting's emphasis on philosophy and different takes on the nature of reality and belief as one of its major driving forces.

Spelljammer - Honorary mention. Never played it 100% by the book, but had some awesome ideas, and flying boats in space!

Numenera - Never played it (except for the video game) and not sure about the system, but I love the surreal science fantasy feel, and the idea of world full of ancient technological secrets from bygone ages of a forgotten past, hidden away in ruins scattered across a strange land reshaped for eons by terraforming technology bordering on the fantastical.

Shadowrun - I know some people hate mixing elves with their cyberpunk, but Shadowrun always stood out to me as a world, more than any other cyberpunk RPG setting. Love me some urban shamans summoning spirits in the alleyway. Chummer!

Plus a bunch others, but those are probably the ones that have stood out most. Not sure in what order, but probably Dark Sun at the top.
Our first setting love is hard to beat. I opened with mine (Glorantha). I was intrigued by Dark Sun but never played it (ditto Planescape & Rifts). I have played Shadowrun and Numenera and had a blast with both.
 
Alpha Complex. I think it's often missed how interesting a setting this actually is, because the game is so often played in a gonzo zap style.

But my favourite type of Alpha Complex is when it makes a weird kind of sense on its own terms. Paranoia XP is the edition that dug down deepest into this, which is why it's my favourite.
 
Banestorm for GURPS is a lovely medieval fantasy world. It's interesting because it's very much informed by all those questions D&D worlds raise and is quite progressive for it's time. So goblin merchant caravans and nearly extinct and somewhat oppressed orcs and dwarves who aren't very nice at times and dark elves as a hate group. Banestorm has had its share of controversy with its use of Christianity and Islam as the main religions crusades, jihads and all but it also strives for a balanced view and the big Christian nation is not a nice place.
 
Hyperborea: Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. It's a fantastic mashup of RE Howard's Hyboria and Clark Ashton Smith's Hyperboria, with a little of his Zothique as well, and then a lot of Lovecraft added on. The setting was broken off from our own prehistory Old Earth, and connections remain, so you get lost Centurions and Viking raiders and Amazonian matriarchs all running around in the same world. There's also a pretty heavy dose of sci-fi thrown in. My first time playing in Hyperborea we were fighting mi-go in a volcano laboratory complex using flamethrowers and lightsabers. It was one of the most memorable games I've ever been in.

Aihrde: Castles & Crusades. You know how people complain about a bunch of useless history and tiresome prose and Tolkien-wanna-be levels of world-building? Aihrde is all that, and delivers a very vanilla setting, but I love it. Look at some of these chapter titles:
Fourth Oration - The Dwarven Laments
Chronicles of the Winter Dark Wars
First Narrative - The Ordering of the Cosmos
Who writes a setting book like that?
Still, Aihrde feels like the D&D I grew up with. Ruins of a dark empire, fallen now, but with enough remnants to feel like a threat that could emerge again if the world isn't vigilant. Unlikely plots between petty rulers inciting most of the trouble. Goblins as the most ubiquitous antagonist. When I want to play vanilla D&D, Aihrde is just perfect for it.
 
The original. I'm familiar with that one, and the Guardians of Order version. Didn't know there was a third.
You've never heard of Bethorm:shock:?
Let me remedy that mistake:

There is also Swords and Glory and Gardásiyal: Deeds of Glory, though neither was a complete system. Swords and Glory is still available on DriveThru, but I don't think Gardásiyal is. Bethorm seems to be part of the current SF sale at DriveThru.
 
There is also Swords and Glory and Gardásiyal: Deeds of Glory, though neither was a complete system. Swords and Glory is still available on DriveThru, but I don't think Gardásiyal is. Bethorm seems to be part of the current SF sale at DriveThru.
I don't know what's still around but other systems for Tekumel include:

Tirikelu
GURPS
FUDGE
The Petal Hack
 
I don't know what's still around but other systems for Tekumel include:

Tirikelu
GURPS
FUDGE R
The Petal Hack

Good point. The GURPs and FUDGE versions are unpublished, but easily available, as is Sandy Petersen's EPT Runequest (links available https://www.tekumel.com/gaming_unofficialrules.html) along with some D20 variants.

Tirikelu and The Petal Hack are both published and available in more recent editions (for free!) than I have, so thanks for the reminder.

Brett Slocum also published in beta version a Heroic Age of Tekumel quickstart (free on DriveThru) and Warriors of the Lost Planet, which is a Tekumel sourcebook for Warriors of the Red Planet.

Kevin Crawford did some work on a game to be titled Swords of the Petal Throne, but it is only available in a fragmentary beta form.

There is also Humanspace Empires, a Space Opera game set before Tekumel was lost in its pocket dimension: http://ixians.blogspot.com/p/humanspace-resources.html
 
So what would people recommend as the best primer/introduction to tekumel?
 
Tell us more of this. Intrigued!
Bethorm is based on the Pocket Universe game by the same author...and indeed, Bethorm means "pocket universe" in Tsolyani. It's a 2d10 skill-based game that is minimalistic and old-school, but I quite like it. Weapon damage is similar to Advanced Fighting Fantasy, and the list of spells is the biggest part of the rules...also, which temples can teach you which spells. No, you don't get to teach any spells, and the penalties for teaching your spells to members of another faith would be...severe, in true Tekumelani fashion:devil:!
Anyway, the system isn't trying to be interesting. What it's trying to do, is to fade into the background, like what you'd expect of a d100 game. IMO, it achieves it quite nicely.
Consequently, most of the book is not about mechanics, but the setting, and the random tables. If you're interested in Tekumel, I recommend it above EPT, personally:shade:!
 
So what would people recommend as the best primer/introduction to tekumel?
If you are just interested in learning more about the setting, one place to start is Brett Slocum's 2-page summary that he hands out at cons, available at Google Docs here. Don Kaiser wrote a 40+ page Introduction to Tekumel also available at Google Docs here.

Slocum's blog The Eye of Joyful Sitting Among Friends has some good background information, as does the Tekumel: World of the Petal Throne site.
 
I love Tekumel, but I never played it, and the actual game documents are so fucking dense. It's a lot of reading. I tend to occasionally digest a little bit, because its great, and then put it back on the shelf, because it's a lot like work.
 
I love Tekumel, but I never played it, and the actual game documents are so fucking dense. It's a lot of reading. I tend to occasionally digest a little bit, because its great, and then put it back on the shelf, because it's a lot like work.

That's true, some of it (particularly Swords and Glory, which is mainly a detailed sourcebook) is very dense. Another, maybe more fun, route into the setting is to read the two original novels, Barker's Man of Gold and Flamesong. He was a better scholar and world-creator than novelist, but they're quite readable and can help ease one into the world.
 
Let me just say this:
You've gotta make the setting your own. That might include changes.

If anyone tells you you need to learn Tsolyanu language, laugh at him. It's no more required than you need to learn Chinese to watch "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

Bethorm is probably a better intro to Tekumel than most others, but remember: none of the 20 main gods and goddeses is anything we might call "good". Even if you like Stability or Change as concepts. It's not Stability, it's Stasis. It's not Change, it's Enthropy.
Unless you decide you don't like that, and make the setting your own, that is.
 
Based on the amount of supporting novels that I have bought, Shadowrun wins hands down as the setting that I got into the most. It was the first Sci-Fi setting that I got into how it works and where the adventures are as well as loving the mix of high life and low life in close proximity. It is also the setting that I have run most games in excluding BX D&D Karameikos and friends.

Two other settings for which I bought books just to read about setting info are the old world of WFRP and Rokugan of L5R. Both of them have character development that is intrinsically linked to the character's place in the world, which I really like as a player.
 
I've never been much of a boxed setting guy, usually preferring to roll my own (especially when I was younger and had nothing but free time), but I've really grown to like a handful in the past few years for one reason or another.

Dolmenwood: There's something about this weird fairytale micro-setting that perfectly captures what I love about fantasy. It sort of feels like Ralph Bakshi and the Brother's Grimm had a baby, midwifed by Tim Curry's "Darkness" from the movie Legend (The setting's creator Gavin Norman cites Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell as an influence, which really shows up in the way the fey are depicted in the setting). It's statted up for B/X D&D (Old-School Essentials) but I was able to pretty easily adapt it to BRP Magic World.

Thennla: An early-iron age sword & sorcery setting by Jonathan Drake published by The Design Mechanism. It sort of feels like an approachable Glorantha-esque setting that really shows off the strengths of Mythras' various magical traditions, cults and character options. The basic premise revolves around a mighty empire ruled, by a recently apotheosized ruler who has retreated from the world to pursue full godhood and has left an autonomous scion construct, called the Iron Simulacrum, to rule in his stead as regent. The empire is opposed by a confederation of independent city-states called the Korantine Empire which has a vaguely Grecian feel. It's on my short list of settings I want to run for my next campaign.

Lyonesse: My favorite novels, by one of my favorite authors (Jack Vance) masterfully adapted by The Design Mechanism. The magic systems in this game capture the tone of the novels perfectly: Fairie magic being whimsical and full of evocative names, and the sandestin-based magic of wizards a very powerful and flexible system of creating effects, based one's ability to summon and negotiate with fickle, tricky extradimensional beings (very similar to the magic described in the Dying Earth stories about Rhialto). This is all paired with the rock solid Mythras core rules, tuned for its medieval setting.

Honorable mention to Plansescape, mostly because of Tony DiTerlizzi's amazing illustrations, but I also really loved the faction write-ups and the portrayal of D&D's weird cosmology.
 
Thennla: An early-iron age sword & sorcery setting by Jonathan Drake published by The Design Mechanism. It sort of feels like an approachable Glorantha-esque setting that really shows off the strengths of Mythras' various magical traditions, cults and character options. The basic premise revolves around a mighty empire ruled, by a recently apotheosized ruler who has retreated from the world to pursue full godhood and has left an autonomous scion construct, called the Iron Simulacrum, to rule in his stead as regent. The empire is opposed by a confederation of independent city-states called the Korantine Empire which has a vaguely Grecian feel. It's on my short list of settings I want to run for my next campaign.
I really need to look at Thennla more closely; it sounds really interesting!
 
Probably too many to list.

Here's a few:
Kult - Just because the cosmology is so cool and horrific.
Delta Green - Agents battling against cosmic horrors!
Sla 1e - I love the whole vibe, and the ideas were just so ahead of their time. Plus, it resonated with on a Punk level. ;)
Ravenloft - more just because of the vibe rather then the dungeon crawl.
WFRP 1e - The lore was great, but the adventures were amazing and also had that dark British humour (which is very similar to ours). Basically this was LotF princess in the 80s
Vtm (Sabbat only). Because the Sab are just true vampires. :smile:
 
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