Favorite AD&D Campaign Setting

Solamnus · Post by **Solamnus** » 2003-08-08 07:56pm

What is your favorite AD&D campaign setting and why? I would have to say my all time favorite is Dragonlance...it seems to fit the "truer" sense of fantasy...Dragons, Spells, knights etc. Then SpellJammer, but that was kinda hard if you actually tried using the ships.

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2003-08-08 07:59pm

Gimmie some o' dat FR action. Screw all the FR-hatas. Don't hate the campaign setting - hate the game. Yo.

Solamnus · Post by **Solamnus** » 2003-08-08 08:01pm

I forgot to put Dragonlance on my own damn Poll!

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2003-08-08 08:04pm

Solamnus wrote:I forgot to put Dragonlance on my own damn Poll!

You should be able to edit it by editing your original post, but polls do have a tendency to screw up after being edited.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2003-08-08 08:14pm

For gaming... FR

For books... Dragonlance. Raistlin kicks so much ass, and I cant wait to aquire the 3e campaign setting.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-08-08 10:59pm

Strange Arduin isn't THERE!!!!

The Dark · Post by **The Dark** » 2003-08-09 03:34pm

SpellJammer...it allows me to use each and every campaing setting I own.

(BTW...you forgot Birthright, and it's spelled Al-Qadim, not Al Qudim).

Edit: (And there's a Ravenloft variant campaign setting called Masque of the Red Death).

Solamnus · Post by **Solamnus** » 2003-08-09 03:39pm

Thanks for the spelling correction, I knew it was wrong, but I was too lazy to check it. I am not familiar with Birthright though.

Kelly Antilles · Post by **Kelly Antilles** » 2003-08-09 05:19pm

Ravenloft, hands down. Of course, it helps that I had one of the best GMs for the setting.

Although, FR is a close, VERY close second.

The Dark · Post by **The Dark** » 2003-08-09 07:01pm

Solamnus wrote:Thanks for the spelling correction, I knew it was wrong, but I was too lazy to check it. I am not familiar with Birthright though.

Time for an education

.

Birthright was published by TSR in 1995. The history starts with the flight of human tribes from a southern continent attacked by "the shadow" to the main campaign continent, Cerilia. The original inhabitants, the elves, are slowly losing their last bastions to humanity. Some are allying with the humans, others are fighting back. In the distant past, a war in Cerilia between the gods killed all of them. Their essences were dispersed among the surviving mortals at the battle, called Deismaar. Those who gained the most essence of the gods became new gods. Others gained abilities from the divine birthright, from being strong-willed to seeing through the eyes of cats to teleporting. However, some of those who absorbed the essence of Azrai, Lord of Evil, became immortal creatures called awnsheighlien, meaning "blood of darkness." One of these creatures, the Gorgon, killed the last human emperor roughly 500 years ago. Since then, the lesser nobles have formed their own realms, and are each attempting to gain the Iron Throne for themselves. The castellans of the capital have refused each claimant, however, feeling that none have the combination of authority and compassion needed to guide the Empire. The awnsheighlien, five tribes of humans, elves, dwarves, and goblins each control various realms, and their divine blood connects them to the land. Only the Blooded can cast true spell magic (unblooded can only become illusionists), and mages and priests of the Blood can use the power of the land to cast spells beyond what a normal caster can. One spell is capable of killing tens of thousands of people, and others can cause crop failures in entire provinces, raise armies of the undead, or make it virtually impossible to tell a lie in a province.

It was fairly well supported, with many of the small realms gaining "Secrets of the Realm" books. One very odd thing about the setting is that there are only 6 dragons known to exist, though Cerilian dragons were very tough (Great Wyrm 23 HD, AC -4, Attack +12, Breath Weapon 20d6+20 fire/acid damage, 60% magic resist).

The Gorgon was a Fighter 25/Wizard 16, with Str 20, Dex 15, Con 21, Int 19, Wis 18, and Cha 18, back when it took ten wishes to raise an ability from 18 to 19. Armor Class -10, specialized in most weapons (THAC0 -8, damage equal to weapon damage +8), and a 40% magic resistance. He rules a kingdom and roughly once every 40 years sends an army sweeping through the human lands.

Solamnus · Post by **Solamnus** » 2003-08-09 07:09pm

That sounds like a good campaign setting IMHO. Has it been revamped in the 3rd Edition?

Oh, and I hate Ravenloft. My buddy's first DM experience was when we gave him Ravenloft as a birthday gift and I hated him ever since. It is also why I hate vampires too.

The Dark · Post by **The Dark** » 2003-08-09 07:19pm

Solamnus wrote:That sounds like a good campaign setting IMHO. Has it been revamped in the 3rd Edition?

Not as far as I know. Polyhedron may have tried it (and probably made a hash out of it like they did with Spelljammer), but I don't think WotC has done anything for it. It's a shame, too, 'cause it was a nice setting with a huge world (32 nations got at least one page of description in the main boxed set), and rulers are every alignment except Chaotic Neutral. The fun things was that PCs could be rulers also. Fighters got the most benefit from controlling Law holdings (which also allowed them to take control of provinces), Rogues ran Guilds, Priests could run Temples, and Wizards held Sources (places of magic). Get a full party together and completely trusting in each other, and they could provide enough political clout to rule a small nation quite securely.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-08-10 02:17am

The closest to that would be that the SSI Birthright game used the Bastard 3rd edition rules