What Type Of Setting Do You Prefer?

[Scott]

Greyhawk is a very busy place, different political divisions all over the place. Although I never really gave it much thought early on, in hindsight it does fit a more Renaissance feel world.

Middle Earth is a lot different. One major civilized kingdom, lots of wilderness and Mordor.

Conan’s Hyborea: another busy setting, but with a more ancient feel.

Etc.

What kind of setting feel do you like?

[GRWelsh]

I have always imagined Greyhawk's World as being of the High Middle Ages, circa 1200 or 1300 AD. Just prior to the Renaissance, but without the Black Plague.

But I agree there is a lot of room left open for interpretation.

I think I prefer Dark Ages through High Middle Ages (400 AD to 1400 AD) in general, for a setting, with a few anachronistic locations here and there.

Conan's world is full of anachronism, too. It doesn't really have a 10,000 BC feel to it. It's a perfect example of what I've always thought of as being an "alternate Prime Material plane" for Earth, which is what Oerth was originally conceived of, as well.

[Scott]

I guess I prefer a more dark ages setting. More of the map is wilderness.A kingdom's borders are moe blurry than clear; they might claim all the land to the north sea, but the barbarians or humanoids in the north might say otherwise. Lately I've been getting even heavier into Middle Earth, and the different ages. POst Arnor 3rd Age seems ideal.

[Grash the Yewl]

I've also really been getting into Middle Earth again, mainly from playing Lord of the Rings Online. The game is a mindless grind, but it has beautiful landscapes and good music. It also partly fulfills my old day-dream of visualizing Middle Earth, and answering those questions of "I wonder what this area is like?" So, you can walk around in the North Downs, look at Lake Nenuial, wander around in Eregion, or the Misty Mountains, etc. And in my opinion, this is what the game does best. I think they are spot on, when it comes to visualizing Middle Earth. Unfortunately, it just isn't as engaging in terms of game-play. Too much "kill 10 these and return here to get the next part of the quest chain," way too much.

I think your preferred sort of setting could fit in Greyhawk's conception... Not the Gord novels so much, but as described in the Folio and Guide. I remember some comments about how the national borders are very sketchy, wild and sometimes dangerous. Also, when you look at the populations given, compared to the square mileage, the Flanaess simply has to be mostly wilderness, regardless of what technological or historical age you are assuming.

[Scott]

Very good points to consider.

[Scott]

I tried LotR online, but quit pretty quick. It did look good, but the play didn't grab me at all.
I think a witch king needs no conquer a few of the kingdoms of the Flanaess.

[GT]

I always thought that the WoG scenario had a very "Hyborian/Young Kingdoms" feel, with a dash of Tolkein for the Elvish lands and the Gnome and Dwarf hills/mountains. Consider: You have the Horned Kindom being similar to Pan Tang, in some ways the Great Kingdom is reminiscent of Menibone--decadent, dying empire with demonic forces active in it. You have the Scarlet Brotherhood--an analog of sorts with Stygia; a group of survivors from a destroyed ancient empire that would see itself rise again. You have the Barbarians and Nomads--very reminiscent of the northern realms of Hyboria, etc. Add in Frank's Aquaria realm, and Gary's "western realms" (Jahind, Behow, Changol, etc.) and the never-finished Gonduria (African analog) and Oriental realms, and you can pretty much find parallels for just about any fantasy adventure setting...

[Falconer]

Vanth (from Encounter Critical but using AD&D rules) as the region where all the main action takes place. Beyond its borders, Middle-earth and the Hyborian Age would both vaguely exist, so you can say Hobbits are from the Shire and Nazgûl are from Mordor (which they are).

[Scott]

I'm not familiar with Xanth.

[GT]

Piers Anthony (Pier-"Xanth"-ony?) series. I really enjoyed the first few books (6 - 8), but the gag kinda wore down, even for the Pun Demon! You should at least check out the early books, though! ^__^

[GRWelsh]

I've been meaning to read "A Spell for Chameleon" since the early 80's, but never got around to it. I'll check it out!

[Falconer]

Okay, I said Xanth, but I meant Vanth. Vanth is basically just a map stuffed with evocative names that surely the players can’t wait to explore (all derivative as hell, but that’s half the fun):

[ariochelruin]

I've always played Greyhawk as a high-middle ages civilization. Some of the more advanced features present in the late middle ages (letters of credit, insurance, multi-national banking and trade, international travel, etc.) are present in Greyhawk.

Of course the negatives of these "advances" are also present. Nothing like bankrupting players when their bank is destroyed due to a bank run started by malicious rumors fed by their arch-nemisis.

[amalric]

Horses for courses!

I always preferred GREYHAWK for D&D, it's the first (well, second, if you want to include Blackmoor!), the original, the best. I've played D&D games in the FR, and many homebrews, but nothing beats that GH feel.

I'm a huge CONAN/REH fan, but I've never adventured there. I think it'd make a great D&D setting, although there'd have to be some tweaking of the rules for such a campaign (Jason Vey's OD&D rules for Hyboria are pretty interesting).

And I've RP'd in MIDDLE EARTH countless times, and loved it, though not one bit of it involved dice-rolling. Which is perhaps why, after four years of being one of the powers-that-be on the website in my sig, I'm pretty tired of it!