Campaign Suggestions? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Campaign Suggestions? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Tyveil
11-01-04, 12:29 PM I'm just getting back into DM'ing after about 5 years away from D&D (I even sold off my entire collection :weep: ) and am contemplating what campaign setting I should run for our small group. I am in the middle of reading Sovereign Stone book 1 (Weiss/Hickman) and it was my first choice. But the community is small so I'm not sure why this setting is receiving no love, I'm skeptical. Forgotten Realms was an old favorite which I may revisit. Eberron looks interesting as well but I'm not sure it would be best for a group with a few novice players.

What are some other good campaign settings people recommend? I don't really want anything too off-the-wall. I'd prefer a traditional fantasy setting, but one that has some unique mythos, creatures, lore, etc. I've created my own campaign settings from scratch in the past but I really would rather start with established lore/etc this time around so we can get started fairly quickly.

I'm also worried about buying older campaign books that don't easily convert to 3.5 rules. Thanks for any suggestions.
Seeker95
11-01-04, 12:35 PM With Greyhawk, there is no need to convert. Use your old books.
With Forgotten Realms, just about everything is done for you... in 3.5
With Eberron, there is only one book and one world all in 3.5. Less dogma than the Realms.
With DragonLance, there is nothing in 3.5
With Kalamar, there is no 3.5 conversion
With Scarred Lands, there is material in both 3.0 and 3.5 -- but it is ending.

I prefer Greyhawk, but am looking forward to being a player in Eberron.
Tyveil
11-01-04, 12:43 PM With Greyhawk, there is no need to convert. Use your old books.
With Forgotten Realms, just about everything is done for you... in 3.5
With Eberron, there is only one book and one world all in 3.5. Less dogma than the Realms.
With DragonLance, there is nothing in 3.5
With Kalamar, there is no 3.5 conversion
With Scarred Lands, there is material in both 3.0 and 3.5 -- but it is ending.

I prefer Greyhawk, but am looking forward to being a player in Eberron.

Thanks for the reply.
Greyhawk - I sold off my old books so I guess this one is out.
Forgotten Realms - Not sure what you mean here. Are you saying that the 3.5 books are based in a forgotten realms setting? So no need to buy any extra campaign material?
DragonLance and Kalamar - Guess I'll steer clear of these two for our first campaign.

So far it looks like Eberron is the best bet, I'll have to do some more looking into this one. Has anyone played SS? I have heard rumors that new material for it will be released in 2005 (up to date 3.5 sourcebooks maybe?), but anyways, that doesn't do me much good right now.
salamander
11-01-04, 01:52 PM There's always Midnight. Excellent d20 setting. Eberron is pretty good IMO, but since you're looking for something that's fairly traditional, it might not be your cup of tea.

The core rules are set in Greyhawk (insofar as they're set in anything, aside from the pantheon and some spell names there's nothing specific about it), not in the FR. There's a separate book with FR-specific material, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (in fact, there's a whole bunch of others too, focusing on a single aspect of the setting, like Magic of Faerūn and Monsters of Faerūn). That material is 3.0, but converting isn't really hard to do.
salamander
11-01-04, 01:53 PM With Forgotten Realms, just about everything is done for you... in 3.5
I'm pretty sure you meant that to be 'in 3.0'.
Seeker95
11-01-04, 03:19 PM I'm pretty sure you meant that to be 'in 3.0'.Nope.
Forgotten Realms was almost ocmpletely done in 3.0
and anything that needs updated to 3.5 is done.
All new FR material is in 3.5

The obstacle in choosing Forgotten Realms is that every little detail has already been made for you. And if your players are FR fans, you may have to do a lot of unlearning for them if you do not choose to use every facet already published.
Bob Gein
11-01-04, 03:20 PM With DragonLance, there is nothing in 3.5

The Dragonlance Campaign Setting book I have was printed in August of 2003 and appears to be fully 3.5. Also worthy of notice is the fact that there is a lengthy starter adventure already published for 3.5 dragonlance called Key of Destiny.

Forgotten Realms or Eberron would probably be the easiest to run and find material for. If you hadn't sold your books, greyhawk wouldn't be a bad choice either. My personal preference, and the campaign setting I'm DMing for is dragonlance. Although I'm having fun as a player in a 3.5 ravenloft game.
Seeker95
11-01-04, 03:29 PM Bob, thanks for the correction.

My apologies for mis-representing DragonLance.
Sign of age.
qstor
11-02-04, 01:33 PM I like Kalamar. Its a neat setting. Different PC races like 1/2 goblins and hobgoblins. Its more of a 'standard' fantasy setting than Eberron.

Dark Sun is one option too, there is a 3.5 conversion in Dungeon and Dragon magazines. I've never played or DM'd in Dark Sun, just making you aware of the 3.5 conversion.

Mike
Mark_Plemmons
11-14-04, 10:41 PM With Kalamar, there is no 3.5 conversion

No, that's incorrect. The campaign setting book is almost completely (99%) rules-free, so you can use it with any fantasy setting. Any of our older 3.0 products have 3.5 errata on our website. :)
Token
11-15-04, 02:45 AM Personally, my favorite campain setting is Brokken Realms that some people seem to think are "forgotten." Though I abuse the rediclous builds available from there all the time so I couldn't possibly forget it.

It's either that or play a kobold commonor bard and DIE when someone looks at me funny.
tec-9-7
11-15-04, 06:48 AM If you are an old-school player, Goodman Games/Zeitgeist has just released a 3.5 edition of Dave Arnson's Blackmoor that is pretty neat - there is also the updated for 3.5 Judges Guild Wilderlands material published by Necromancer Games.
Shemeska the Marauder
11-15-04, 09:29 AM My personal favorite is Planescape because it was made with the intention of allowing you to flawlessly combine other campaign settings such a Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun, Ravenloft, etc. Despite not playing DnD till 3e came out I've happily delved into the 2e material on the setting, though you could very easily play it with the 3e Manual of the Planes for the basic layout, and the material in the Planar Handbook on Sigil.

There's alsoPlanewalker.com (http://www.planewalker.com) that contains the 3e updates to much of the settings material that either hasn't been directly converted by WotC yet, or hasn't been converted in as high a level of detail.

Planescape can be summed up as a planar based campaign with a specific tone, atmosphere and focus. The 3e planar material is based almost wholly on it, so you could run it without the 2e material though those books offer more depth about the planes than the 3e counterparts. They're also largely flavor text rather than numbers and game mechanics so little conversion is needed.

I've had my players everywhere from Sigil, to the Gray Waste, to Toril, to Athas, and to the Quasielemental Plane of Ash and Vecna's ruined domain of Citadel Cavitius therein. Possibilities are limited only by your breadth of imagination.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tyveil 11-01-04, 12:29 PM	I'm just getting back into DM'ing after about 5 years away from D&D (I even sold off my entire collection :weep: ) and am contemplating what campaign setting I should run for our small group. I am in the middle of reading Sovereign Stone book 1 (Weiss/Hickman) and it was my first choice. But the community is small so I'm not sure why this setting is receiving no love, I'm skeptical. Forgotten Realms was an old favorite which I may revisit. Eberron looks interesting as well but I'm not sure it would be best for a group with a few novice players. What are some other good campaign settings people recommend? I don't really want anything too off-the-wall. I'd prefer a traditional fantasy setting, but one that has some unique mythos, creatures, lore, etc. I've created my own campaign settings from scratch in the past but I really would rather start with established lore/etc this time around so we can get started fairly quickly. I'm also worried about buying older campaign books that don't easily convert to 3.5 rules. Thanks for any suggestions.
Seeker95 11-01-04, 12:35 PM	With Greyhawk, there is no need to convert. Use your old books. With Forgotten Realms, just about everything is done for you... in 3.5 With Eberron, there is only one book and one world all in 3.5. Less dogma than the Realms. With DragonLance, there is nothing in 3.5 With Kalamar, there is no 3.5 conversion With Scarred Lands, there is material in both 3.0 and 3.5 -- but it is ending. I prefer Greyhawk, but am looking forward to being a player in Eberron.
Tyveil 11-01-04, 12:43 PM	With Greyhawk, there is no need to convert. Use your old books. With Forgotten Realms, just about everything is done for you... in 3.5 With Eberron, there is only one book and one world all in 3.5. Less dogma than the Realms. With DragonLance, there is nothing in 3.5 With Kalamar, there is no 3.5 conversion With Scarred Lands, there is material in both 3.0 and 3.5 -- but it is ending. I prefer Greyhawk, but am looking forward to being a player in Eberron. Thanks for the reply. Greyhawk - I sold off my old books so I guess this one is out. Forgotten Realms - Not sure what you mean here. Are you saying that the 3.5 books are based in a forgotten realms setting? So no need to buy any extra campaign material? DragonLance and Kalamar - Guess I'll steer clear of these two for our first campaign. So far it looks like Eberron is the best bet, I'll have to do some more looking into this one. Has anyone played SS? I have heard rumors that new material for it will be released in 2005 (up to date 3.5 sourcebooks maybe?), but anyways, that doesn't do me much good right now.
salamander 11-01-04, 01:52 PM	There's always Midnight. Excellent d20 setting. Eberron is pretty good IMO, but since you're looking for something that's fairly traditional, it might not be your cup of tea. The core rules are set in Greyhawk (insofar as they're set in anything, aside from the pantheon and some spell names there's nothing specific about it), not in the FR. There's a separate book with FR-specific material, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (in fact, there's a whole bunch of others too, focusing on a single aspect of the setting, like Magic of Faerūn and Monsters of Faerūn). That material is 3.0, but converting isn't really hard to do.
salamander 11-01-04, 01:53 PM	With Forgotten Realms, just about everything is done for you... in 3.5 I'm pretty sure you meant that to be 'in 3.0'.
Seeker95 11-01-04, 03:19 PM	I'm pretty sure you meant that to be 'in 3.0'.Nope. Forgotten Realms was almost ocmpletely done in 3.0 and anything that needs updated to 3.5 is done. All new FR material is in 3.5 The obstacle in choosing Forgotten Realms is that every little detail has already been made for you. And if your players are FR fans, you may have to do a lot of unlearning for them if you do not choose to use every facet already published.
Bob Gein 11-01-04, 03:20 PM	With DragonLance, there is nothing in 3.5 The Dragonlance Campaign Setting book I have was printed in August of 2003 and appears to be fully 3.5. Also worthy of notice is the fact that there is a lengthy starter adventure already published for 3.5 dragonlance called Key of Destiny. Forgotten Realms or Eberron would probably be the easiest to run and find material for. If you hadn't sold your books, greyhawk wouldn't be a bad choice either. My personal preference, and the campaign setting I'm DMing for is dragonlance. Although I'm having fun as a player in a 3.5 ravenloft game.
Seeker95 11-01-04, 03:29 PM	Bob, thanks for the correction. My apologies for mis-representing DragonLance. Sign of age.
qstor 11-02-04, 01:33 PM	I like Kalamar. Its a neat setting. Different PC races like 1/2 goblins and hobgoblins. Its more of a 'standard' fantasy setting than Eberron. Dark Sun is one option too, there is a 3.5 conversion in Dungeon and Dragon magazines. I've never played or DM'd in Dark Sun, just making you aware of the 3.5 conversion. Mike
Mark_Plemmons 11-14-04, 10:41 PM	With Kalamar, there is no 3.5 conversion No, that's incorrect. The campaign setting book is almost completely (99%) rules-free, so you can use it with any fantasy setting. Any of our older 3.0 products have 3.5 errata on our website. :)
Token 11-15-04, 02:45 AM	Personally, my favorite campain setting is Brokken Realms that some people seem to think are "forgotten." Though I abuse the rediclous builds available from there all the time so I couldn't possibly forget it. It's either that or play a kobold commonor bard and DIE when someone looks at me funny.
tec-9-7 11-15-04, 06:48 AM	If you are an old-school player, Goodman Games/Zeitgeist has just released a 3.5 edition of Dave Arnson's Blackmoor that is pretty neat - there is also the updated for 3.5 Judges Guild Wilderlands material published by Necromancer Games.
Shemeska the Marauder 11-15-04, 09:29 AM	My personal favorite is Planescape because it was made with the intention of allowing you to flawlessly combine other campaign settings such a Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun, Ravenloft, etc. Despite not playing DnD till 3e came out I've happily delved into the 2e material on the setting, though you could very easily play it with the 3e Manual of the Planes for the basic layout, and the material in the Planar Handbook on Sigil. There's alsoPlanewalker.com (http://www.planewalker.com) that contains the 3e updates to much of the settings material that either hasn't been directly converted by WotC yet, or hasn't been converted in as high a level of detail. Planescape can be summed up as a planar based campaign with a specific tone, atmosphere and focus. The 3e planar material is based almost wholly on it, so you could run it without the 2e material though those books offer more depth about the planes than the 3e counterparts. They're also largely flavor text rather than numbers and game mechanics so little conversion is needed. I've had my players everywhere from Sigil, to the Gray Waste, to Toril, to Athas, and to the Quasielemental Plane of Ash and Vecna's ruined domain of Citadel Cavitius therein. Possibilities are limited only by your breadth of imagination.