Favorite Non-Ravenloft Settings

[Lost and Damned]

Mystera gets my vote under other, then it's Pelinore (TSR's old Imagine Magazine's Campaign), then spelljammer.

Of course first is Ravenloft and Gothic Earth's Masque of the Red Death

[Arif Sayeed]

1) Forgotten Realms
2) Ravenloft
3) Dragonlance (War of the Lance Only)

[Jakob]

Greyhawk, with Planescape running closely.

I've read closely Eberron, and I must say I found it a really good setting...
I'm looking forward to RP in it (not DMing... Even a DM needs a vacation sometimes ).

[Bob the Efreet]

I'm a big Planescape fanboy. I've actually been lost in Sigil for the past year, and it's nice to have found my way back into the mists (you wouldn't believe how much I had to pay to find a way back in). It mainly has to do with the role of belief out on the planes. That, and all the exotic locales.

[AdamGarou]

I've never actually played D&D in any setting "tabletop-wise" other than Ravenloft and Greyhawk, and I only know Dragonlance from some of the earlier novels. I have the Planescape boxed set, but it's a LOT of material to wade through--same thing for the Dark Sun, although DS is a bit more manageable.

I had to vote for the Forgotten Realms, though, because I'm really getting into the backstories of Elminster, Khelben Arunsun, the Simbul, Sammaster First-Speaker, and the Godswar (with Cyric, Kelemvor, and Midnight/Mystra who begin life as mortals and ascend respectively to the positions of deity of strife/tyrrany/lies/deception/intrigue/madness, the dead, and magic). How "into it" am I, you ask? Well, enough that I've read 8 or 10 of the novels in the past month.

I like the Realms for the same reason many hardcore Ravenloft fans dislike it--because it's high-fantasy, moreso than Greyhawk or Dragonlance even (IMO). I'd get a little burned out on it if it was the only world in which I could play, but it's fascinating to read about the ways in which it has evolved, and all the details that have been added since TSR (or whoever) bought it from Ed Greenwood back in the 1970's.

I also found the portrayal of the gods as interesting and thought-provoking. Like Dragonlance, the FR gods strive to preserve the Balance between good and evil, and they do so through hatching of their own individual plots and intrigues. But, even though they're what humans would call omnipotent and more-or-less omniscient, they're also strikingly limited--Mystra, as Goddess of Magic, can only perceive the other gods as wizards and sorceresses, and their gathering places as mage laboratories. Oghma (the God of Knowledge), sees everyone as scholars and historians, and every place as a colossal library. In fact, Oghma puts this limitation into words in the best way (quite appropriate for the Lord of Bards):

"I know there are other ways to view the universe, and our place in it. I know that worlds exist outside my library... but I cannot perceive them. And that frightens me."

Anyway, probably more info than you wanted, just wanted to share some thoughts I've had as I've barreled through the books.

Second-favorite non-RL setting would probably be Greyhawk, third Dark Sun, and fourth Dragonlance. Again, I'm kinda overwhelmed by the amount of Planescape info... it's a little much for me to get my mind around.

[Snake]

I'd have to say Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms is just too magic heavy for me, and the new one has more magic as I've heard, and I've always been partial to Dragonlance's feel. I also really like the Kingdoms of Kalimar setting.

[Trevorfrost]

Ravenloft is of course my true favorite

#1 Al~Qadim, I am really surprised at how much this setting is the red headed step child of D&D there is just so much cool stuff in it. The whole Arabian Nights feel, Sha-ir's, and Genies. What's not to love?

#2 Planescape, I liked this setting a whole lot though I am upset at how much the whole Faction War adventure destroyed the setting

#3 Spelljammer, Its just plain fun... Sure there was some really silly stuff in it but I really really like the idea of magic ships in space.

#4 Dragonlance, the first D&D novels I ever read were from this setting so I have a special place in my heart for it (Kaz, the Minotuar was the first one I read if your curious) I have had a severe falling out with it since the begining of the Fifth Age though and its been real tough to get back into it even though I know the War of Souls changed a lot of it back but still, I have doubts..

#5 Birthright, I like this world, the idea needed to be executed a lot better but the world was cool and I always wanted to play the ruler of a D&D kingdom.

#6 Darksun, Psionics taking a front row seat has always made me like this setting(as I am a huge Psionic fan), the thing I don't like about it is the grittyness and harshness of the world.

#7 Forgotten Realms, It was tough for me to choose which of these last two would be the last because they are so similar. The Realms just won out because I personally think the gods in the Realms are cooler than the ones in Greyhawk. I find that I don't like either world to much because they are such standerd fantasy worlds.


#8 Greyhawk, Standard fantasy world, whats that mean to me... I will play in it if I have no other choice but I really do think its kind of boring and dry in many spots.

[Van Owen]

I have to go with Forgotten Realms. Granted, it is high magic, but the overall culture appeals to me far more than Dragonlance ever did. I always found Dragonlance far too melodramatic, stylized, and it just did not capture my imagination the way the Realms did. Like the previous poster, I have to agree about the deities; Forgotten Realms wins hands down over Greyhawk or any other settings when it comes to deities. Even when the Deities are almost the same in function, like Lathander and Pelor, or Helm and St. Cuthbert, the Forgotten Realms deities have far more personality.

My main exposure to Dragonlance was the Second Edition boxed set, I think it was Fourth Age. The whole thing seemed to be geared towards epic quests, and lots of monster hacking. Though one would expect it, I felt there was far too much emphasis on dragons, and draconic creatures. On the whole, ravaged by war and intrigue, Krynn seemed an unpleasent place to live, making it hard to want to fight for it.

The Realms seemed to have far more breathing room, and things seemed on an all together more upbeat note. As opposed to the grand epic quest type of adventuring, Faerun seemed to be a better place for smaller, more RP types of adventuring, where the goals were more modest, and the stakes lower.

[Jason of the Fraternity]

Al~Qadim, I am really surprised at how much this setting is the red headed step child of D&D there is just so much cool stuff in it. The whole Arabian Nights feel, Sha-ir's, and Genies. What's not to love?

I really enjoyed this as well, Trevorfrost, but it never seemed to catch on with most people. There was a unqiue feel and flavor to it, and I would have liked to see it do better than what it ever did.

Planescape, I liked this setting a whole lot though I am upset at how much the whole Faction War adventure destroyed the setting

Ditto on the setting, and ditto on the Faction War adventure...

Darksun, Psionics taking a front row seat has always made me like this setting(as I am a huge Psionic fan), the thing I don't like about it is the grittyness and harshness of the world.

Actually, the gritty and harsh aspects of the world were what drew me into this setting. Oh, those and psionics. I love psionics!

[Desmond LaRouche]

Probably Dragonlance, mainly because of Lord Soth, and the creation impetus for Vlad Drakov (and also Baron Evensong).

I've never played the setting officially, but I really like certain aspects of it.

A minor note. I recently bought the newest Dragonlance setting, my first in the series, and nothing is mentioned about Taladas except brief details. Considering Drakov hails from that continent (or did at least in Ravenloft's 1st & 2nd Editions), I looked forward to learning more about the place. No such luck.

Has the main focus on Krynn always been Ansalon-centric?

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

Probably Dragonlance, mainly because of Lord Soth, and the creation impetus for Vlad Drakov (and also Baron Evensong).

I've never played the setting officially, but I really like certain aspects of it.

A minor note. I recently bought the newest Dragonlance setting, my first in the series, and nothing is mentioned about Taladas except brief details. Considering Drakov hails from that continent (or did at least in Ravenloft's 1st & 2nd Editions), I looked forward to learning more about the place. No such luck.

Has the main focus on Krynn always been Ansalon-centric?

There's a new Taladas book due out soon.

[Snake]

Hey, has anyone ever done a game in the outer planes like Heaven, Hell, etc?

[Guest]

Actually, the gritty and harsh aspects of the world were what drew me into this setting. Oh, those and psionics. I love psionics!

I know that sounds weird I guess for a person who likes Ravenloft, Its a fine distinction in flavors. Dark Sun has got too much of a Post Apocolyptic feel I guess.. I hate Post Apocolyptic though some of the things in it were pretty cool. I also don't like the power gamer feel it gave off with all characters starting out at higher levels. However it did have some interesting stuff as well, I really liked the stuff on the Last Sea in the revised box. Have been looking for copies of the sourcebook for that at a decent price for a while now .

[Trevorfrost]

Whoops I forgot to log in ..

[Jason of the Fraternity]

I know that sounds weird I guess for a person who likes Ravenloft, Its a fine distinction in flavors. Dark Sun has got too much of a Post Apocolyptic feel I guess...

No, I definitely can understand and respect what you mean about the distinction in flavors between the two settings. I prefer playing out the harsh lives of Ravenloft characters moreso than the Athasian charcters, but Darksun was still a fun setting to play. I guess that I didn't really view it being Post-Apocolyptic, due to the high fantasy levels in it (versus a more sci-fi feel).

Having said all of that, I was never a big fan of the powergamer aspect of it. It was to balance out the low-magic and harsh environements, but I still felt it was a bit much at times.