Wow, so many to choose from when it comes to game settings. I've spent a lot of time over the years in Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, the Third Imperium, Gamma Terra, Federation Space, and Golarion. I have various settings I have created myself as well but posting that I like my own setting best doesn't really tell anyone else a whole lot so I'll keep to published settings for this one.
It's hard to choose a favorite - they all tend to do something well. Can I say I've had more fun in Greyhawk than the Realms? One I tended to run and one I tended to play so I'm not sure that even makes sense.
The Big One:
If I focus on the last couple of years I'll say "Golarion", the Pathfinder campaign setting. I've been running and playing in it and it's good - really good. Made by some former Greyhawk proponents and by a team that was clearly making a world to be used in a game it strikes a really nice balance of information without over-detailing and history without overflowing with legendary NPCs. It's a very game-able world and I like it a lot. Reading through the main book there were a lot of areas where I said "I'd like to explore that" or "I'd like to run a game there" and that's really what I want from a game setting.
Runner Up:
For Supers I like Freedom City. It has a similar level of interesting details without overwhelming, and a decent level of history and other supers without going completely over the top, It's another setting built to be used specifically for an RPG and one that works very well. I'd consider using it with a completely different system and that should indicate just how much I like it. I almost used it for Necessary Evil the last time, and I've looked at it for ICONS too.
Honorable Mention:
Shadowrun has a really interesting setting, one that never bored me. It also includes more Native American cultural influences than most RPG's, alongside more Japanese influences than you will find in most RPGs, along with the dragons and cyberware too. It's more than just a mish-mash of game concepts like "cyberpunk meets fantasy" - there's a world in there that's pretty interesting on its own. I'm talking about more than just Seattle too - the whole world has been given some interesting twists over the years and I would happily spend more time there.
I'm finding it really interesting comparing all the responses from the people whose blogs I know, and like best. I think it's fantastic how different we are, and how those differences can clue us in to other ways of thinking.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a provided setting kind of guy, with the exception of certain well known, and long standing IPs (Star Trek, Star Wars, DC and Marvel, Ghostbusters - just to name a few). Basically, if yours if a game about giving me the tools to run a particular type of game, I will, and I'll great a setting for that game. Not to sound ungrateful, but I don't need yours.
You do bring up one I do like though, and that's Freedom City for Mutants & Masterminds. While I definitely changed a few things, and put my own spin on it, I have enjoyed using that city as the central locale for one, or two Supers campaigns.
Looking forward to whatever else you have to say my friend.
See, even though you're not as big on published settings we can still agree on Freedom City. There's just so much good stuff in it!
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