Creative RPG settings

I was talking more of the surreal stuff, shock stuff is a dime a dozen.

A real shame there's not much stuff like it.

FotVH is probably worth a read, but it's not a setting and it's not worth the price.
DCO takes more prep than modules ought to, but is otherwise extremely good.
MotBM is well laid out, but has no other redeeming features. Don't run it.

I'm currently working on publishing a setting which draws heavily on the science-fantasy of Gene Wolfe and Abrahamic occult traditions
instead of the more classic D&D style fantasy. I can tell you a bit more about it if you are interested. Pic attached is one of the classes.

The Far Away Land RPG; rules light old school fun in a setting inspired in large part by Adventure Time.

None. Be non-generic and everybody complains that you're trying too hard to be weird. Be generic and they complain that it's all the same shit as Pathfinder and Forgotten Realms. All you can do is get high and take people's money while they think you're original.

I'd like to see you GM, mayne. I'm down with the weirdness.

I once ran a two-session story arc in which two gods, one male and one female, fought over the souls of the player characters. Male tried to "take them to heaven" as the world was ending, the female tried to hide them away.
Turns out they were twin siblings, still in the womb. Weirdest thing I've ever done, but my players loved it.

>Pathfinder and Forgotten Realms
>you're metric for generic
I'm so fucking sorry for you.

Veins of the Earth was childish shit though. Never understood the hype on this book at all. Is it because the author says “fuck”a lot?

>I can tell you a bit more about it if you are interested.
Go for it.

I would like to hear as well.

I've heard nothing but good things about MotBM so I'm curious what you didn't like about it.

Glorantha has some serious weird/surreal fantasy potential, especially if your party spends a lot of time heroquesting.

The premise behind the setting is that a bunch of influential technocrats got together and decided to create Nietzsche's Übermensch through genetic engineering. This went about as well as could be expected and soon humanity had it's very own set of superhuman overlords. War broke out and humans were getting their collective asses kicked by mechs and super-tech till in those hiding in remote places came across books on sorcery. A generation of mages later and humanity were back in the game. Crafting their own mechs they summoned 10 pieces of God incarnated as crystalline meteors each representing the Sefirot to power the largest of their own war-machines with angels serving to animate the smaller ones. Emerging victorious humans once again had control over the world. But driven by greed others summoned the ten aspects of the Qlippoth the inverse Sefirot and a host of demons to power more war machines. The once unified forces of humanity split into three factions and started to constantly war with each other. The arcane fallout from these battles began to attract various eldritch horrors as wells as hostile Gnostic entities. Players take the role of magically empowered knights whose goal is to attempt to unite humanity again and drive out the otherworldly invaders both on foot and in mech. Pic attached is of one of the Sefirot mechs and it's accompanying host of angel mecha.

There's no sense of connection between the rooms (in terms of contents AND interaction), the whole thing is overly busy, and in addition to not being helpful none of the descriptions let you come away with new ideas,
Patrick and Zak compensated for the worst of each other, but they also stamped out the best of each other.

>illustrator
That's giving far too much credit

>tfw no Kerberos Saga RPG

It's not really explicitly an RPG setting, but the Fallen London setting would make a great setting for a campaign

Sounds badass.
As long as it's not d20 rules, I'd play the shit out of that.

Planescape is pretty post-D&D as a setting, and the book Pages of Pain, a tie in novel, is decent and kind of gets that feeling across, though it's more coached in myth than anything else.

Honestly, I think the best thing to get that surreal, post D&D vibe across was the Bas-Lag books, but that's a bit of a stretch.

Imagica by Clive Barker
Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
Cluster series by Piers Anthony
World of Tiers by Phillip Jose Farmer

Whoops, I misread.You're looking for RPGs with good settings, not settings that would make good RPGs.
I suggest Alternity, it has a pretty good sci-fi setting.

I believe Amber IS a setting with an RPG.

Awesome - we are working on our own system for it. It's still in the early stages but one of the main goals is to avoid the bloat that comes with the massive amount of dice used in d20. When it's a bit more polished I'll probably post up a set of rules here so everyone can try it out / tell me how shit my game is and to stop shilling it.

You've got a crew working with you?
Jealous... I'm working on something too. It's a pain in the ass doing it alone, desu.

But to ask an important question... what is it "about"? Like, you have a setting, but what would you say it's theme is?

The trick is to stop caring about what other people think and just make what you want.

I think they're just playing with a bad crowd.

The value of human life and dignity. The setting really pushes the idea of the Imago Dei which is a pretty important concept in Christian -Kabbalistic mysticism. Each of the inhuman factions wish to either wipe out or distort humanity and the human political factions(while having some good points) want to turn them into mere tools.

It's also something of an antitheses to certian other settings which feature technocratic utopias populated by beings 'superior' to humanity. Sephira (the name of the game) very much pushes that a good society is not created through either technology or power alone but through coupling it with understanding and compassion.

Since the characters are knights this features heavily in their codes. I also didn't want the setting to be inherently nihilistic so while there are massive problems that the PCs have to face they do have the tools to deal with them (Mecha powered by God and the beings that serve him).

>a bunch of influential technocrats got together and decided to create Nietzsche's Übermensch through genetic engineering.

Does anyone, in any of these projects, ever bother to actually *read* Nietzsche?

Sounds great. Any way I can help?
Another thing I wonder about is if there's a standard by which characters are supposed to roleplay, and if there's a reward system for such roleplaying?

I was going to point that out, about how the Ubermensch isn't really a genetic or biological concept that he put forth, but I held back on it. There's been a lot of confusion over his "blonde beast" passage, for one thing.
Besides, it doesn't matter too much. You could just say it's a Nazi-oriented idea of the ubermensch... they WERE kinda the people that ruined Nietzsche's image.

>Nazis ruined Nietzsche

Of course not

I have a really, really hard time believing Nietzsche being associated with Nazis would improve his image with the general public.

They were way into his philosophy, but didn't really get it. Cartoon villains parading around and exalting a strawman of Nietzsche did not do his image well.

Oh part of the project dealt with the philosophy behind the idea as well. Each being was educated and trained to live in a post religious, post moral landscape. Certain parts of their makeup were altered to better accomadate this however. Far less propensity for fear and regret for example. The physical enhancements were added so that they could spread this ideology and dominate their predecessors.

Sure - having people to bounce ideas off is always a good thing. Do you have a favored method of contact?

Skype: flash.gitz.waagh

Hitler was hilariously fake deep. Like, name dropping Nietzsche all the time to seem smarter type shit. Though Nietzsche's sister purposefully and publicly misinterpreting her brother's work for political gain didn't help.

I'm curious, where does the Wolfe influence come into play here?

Has anyone?

Sounds like it might be cool. Got a name, or a website?

The fusion of Christian-Kabbalism and Sci-Fi was inspired by the Book of the new Sun. As far as actual themes go however it is a lot closer to the Book of the Long Sun and it's sequel the book of the Short Sun. Both emphasize the importance of people despite their flaws and failings and how they shouldn't be considered mere tools.

I don't possess a fraction of Wolfes talent or subtlety, but that's what inspired me.

The name of the game is Sephira. No website as of just yet but hopefully I'll get one up soon.

Can someone help me fine VotE in da archive?

Please make a mech out of pic related. I want there to be a Body Politic going against a giant Sephirot Knight.

I honestly hated a lot of the swearing and the more edgy stuff (OMG the knotsmen kill children so edgy !!!1) It's moreso that it fills a niche that I haven't seen filled before : underground horror. I loved the descent and that old ass caving creepypasta, caving horror is underutilised and this setting fills that niche.

OSR trove (in the OSR thread) under inbox

One of the people I talk with about DMing stuff but don't actually play with pitched this idea, and I think it's kinda cool, but I'm not sure if it's actually workable so I've never tried to run it.

Basically have a lost colony type scenario where the PC are born in to this tribe of techno-barbarian shaman spiritualists that worship their colony ship as the tree of life, and see how long you can keep the veneer of mystical and spiritual stuff going without them realizing it's sci-fi.

Jeff Vandermeer's Finch novel has plenty of surreal, hideous and creepy underground stuff.

Snowflake fantasy settings are all shit.

>Dark Sun
Edgy boring garbage, kinda cool concept, full of snowflake races and snowflake versions of already-existent races.

>Spelljammer
Just plane hopping with Weatherlight spaceships. Could just do steampunk shit or something.

>Eberron
Only good part was the existence of airships, and the warforged. Eh otherwise.

>Veins of the Earth
Why would I care about this? Give me one good reason why I should give a fuck about any of these settings? What does it add?

>Amber
Retarded acid-tripping game-of-thrones shit, was never any good, the 30s detective novel "ey ol boy chap" crap writing in the first book near the beginning was the only thing that made it nearly tolerable, if only to make fun of because it's hilarious how Zelazny thinks he si actually capable of writing.

Some day, shit taste will be banana-able.

Copypasta from the last setting thread
Here your (you)

What makes a setting a "Snowflake"?
What are some examples of non-snowflake settings?

Forgotten Realms (full of Mary Sue NPCs but it's not snowflake)
Greyhawk
Blackmoor
Talislanta
Dominari, in MTG

Yeah, but those settings are kinda boring.

I like "snowflake" settings, just because it's something different. Same reason I play sci-fi sometimes instead of fantasy, or I play tabletop sometimes instead of vidya.

>Yeah, but those settings are kinda boring.
So is Veins of the Earth. Just because it's different, doesn't mean it's good.

Never played it, don't know what it's about.

So basically only medieval European fantasy is non snowflake? Any time you do anything else it's "Snowflake"?

Veins of the earth has some pretty cool stuff. I like the civlopedes. and the anglerliche. The new drow are neat. I like the clay bear things and the gilgamesh monster that changes personality after you hit it.

I like roleplaying games

You still haven't explained what makes those settings non snowflake. Because their generic? Why can't I have fun and create a world? And how is Dark sun any less snowflakey than any of those settings, it's just a mad max - style fantasy with big ol bugs n wizorbs

I think one of the issues some people have with "Snowflake" settings is that sometimes they come off as trying too hard not to use common fantasy or sci-fi tropes just for the sake of being different without recognizing why those tropes are useful in the first place.

A good rpg setting in my opinion will use some tropeyness at first to sort of ease players in before introducing them to the weirder or more unique elements. Dark Sun is a pretty good example. If you want to play an elf or a dwarf you still can, and you can get away with acting stereotypically elf like or dwarfy, but the more you play the more you get introduced to what makes the world unique.

Contrast that with something like Numenera, which while a fascinating setting has pretty much no common tropes to latch onto. You pretty much have to do a full rundown of the setting before you even start playing or your players will get lost fast.

I like the ideas of both Dark Sun and Numenera, but I despise the d20 system.

The world isn't fair...

Couldn't you just play Dark Sun with something like Barbarians of Lemuria?

Leave me alone, user. I'm wallowing in my own self-pity.

>trying to force the most plebian opinions possible into becoming copypasta

I feel bad for you

That's completely true, which is why I also love Planescape and now Veins of the Earth. Honestly, I'm fine with completely new settings, as long as they put in the effort to make it understandable. One of the biggest problems I have with something like Numenera (or a lot of the white wolf games) is that they HAVE to come up with a new name for everything. What's that? dirt? NOPE IT DRIT? Magic? NAH ESOTERIES. Warrior? NOPE IT'S A GLAIVE. I'm okay with slang (In the case of planescape, espeacilly since the whole point of planar slang is to baffle you in the same way seeing a demon and a angel at a bar together is meant to baffle you), but if it's just a completely new alphabet for no goddamned good reason, it pisses me off.

Neither Numenera or Dark Sun are D20, unless you just mean that they USE D20's, which I still agree with.

or you could use gurps

So, 5 monsters. That's your "cool stuff"?
Okay.

>their
They're generic, yes. Being generic doesn't mean they are bad (even though Forgotten Realms is pretty bad), and being original doesn't mean they are good. Also, if you use published setting in general you are a worthless uncreative nu male shit, but that's an argument for another time.

That's a taste, I didn't even tell you about them.
Go and check the book out

Tell me what exactly is good about Greyhawk (Shittier Forgotten Realms made by the OG neckbeard), Ebberon (Airships, trains and robots m'lady) and Blackmoor (Just as, if not more generic than Greyhawk). I'll only concede with Talislanta, which I'm surprised you don't see as a "Snowflake" settings with its ridiculous fuckton of races, and I don't know enough about the MtG setting to comment.

The settings I brought up are unique, yes, but they're also well crafted genre pieces with their own unique flavor, allowing more specific games to be played. If you want to play horror, you go to raven loft. If you want to play D&D Mad Max, you go to Dark Sun. If you want to play edge lord Underdark, play Veins of the Earth

If you want to play Tolkein Fantasy, there's nothing wrong with playing Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk. But don't pretend it's "Superior to others"

And please tell me about your unique setting please oh creative alpha male.

Fuck me why am I arguing with a troll

I’ve only skimmed it a little, but Numenera seems oddly unfocused to me. The elements in it don’t mesh well enough to produce a recognizable whole.

If I sit back and try to think up ideas that would fit with the Numenera setting, it’s very easy to come up with a lot of ideas that could happen in Numenera, but relatively difficult to come up with one that’s definitely, indisputably a Numenera idea. Contrast this with the Mad City from Don’t Rest Your Head: it’s an unrelatable and non-“tropey” setting— unless you define “trope” loosely— but it’s instantly recognizable. You can get a sense of it from some names alone: Officer Tock, Mother When, the Wax King. It’s easy to look at an idea and say “That works with Don’t Rest Your Head” or “That would never fit with Don’t Rest Your Head.”

...

I've actually been looking for this, couldn't find it in Da Archive, thank you

I'm a big fan of Reign's default setting, though it leaves a lot of stuff open for GM and player interpretation. The three (well, kind of four or five, depending) major countries are fun, the magic is cool, I adore the weird superstitions that it makes, and then has impact actual worldbuilding (i.e. It is believed that riding astride a horse causes impotency in men. Whether this is actually true or not is up to GM fiat, but because of it armies are either co-ed, or often ineffectual), and its got some cool art to it.

Also demons. Reign demons are fucking great.

I just checked because I didn't remember it swearing much at all, he uses "fuck" or some variant 18 times in the 375 pages of the book, that's about 1 fuck every 21 pages. There were 14 "shit" variants, or approximately 1 every 27 pages.

To me, the appeal is that it does an excellent job of making the underdark feel like a properly alien and hostile environment.

>not one mention of Tekumel
You are ALL FAGGOTS! All of you. Yes, you too.

What's a Tekumel?

Tell us about the Reign demons.

>open PDF
>scroll to table of contents
>all the headings are words the author sounded cool with no indication of what the chapter is about
Yeah I'll pass.

So Reign demons are creatures that come from deep under the earth, seeping up through the ground.

They start off as blackish gooey blobs probably about the size of a cat, and while barely sentient, are still dangerous since they can possess other small creatures. They're fire resistant, and once they consume enough mass, they crawl underground to form a cocoon and metamorphose into their second stage.
In their second stage, they're closer to the size of a large dog or wolf, and are significantly more intelligent. While they can't speak, they can learn, and it makes them a lot more dangerous once you realize that the pile of goo possessing the wolf not only understands what you're saying but has sufficient intelligence to use the counterspell skill (which requires no magic, just the understanding of how to fuck up a caster doing magic.) They can also possess multiple things at this stage.

Stage three is where it starts to fun. Now the demon is at least car sized and can possess humans, and is getting progressively more intelligent. I can disguise its possessed, plan complex actions, and start to push a proper agenda. Once it ascends to what is usually the most dangerous demons get.
The fourth stage is where demons start to become less singular monsters and more environments. The demon at this point is gigantic, but more intelligent by far. Instead of conglomerating its mass, it spreads itself into the environment. Drinking water, eating fruit and animal, and anything else in its domain comes with a chance of becoming possessed by it. It also can command and possess far more creatures.

The fifth form is one that's only happened a couple times in history, and is where a demon stops being statted like a creature and starts being statted like a country. At this point, the demon is for all intents and purposes. Just being in its territory brings chance of possession, and it has real and tangible political and military influence.

Reign demons are cool.

Alpha Omega's interesting.

*all intents and purposes a landscape unto itself.

Interestingly enough, this scales super great when considering how Reign is designed around the players eventually becoming at the very least commanders of an army, all the way up to emperors and conquerors. You can have a demon that mirrors their journey and continues being an antagonist all the way from the beginning to the world stage.

Dark Sun was published for AD&D and 4e.
Neither are d20 System.

Numenera is d20 System, and anything Monte Cook says the the contrary is hogwash.

Veins is basically The Descent by Jeff Long as an RPG sourcebook.

Okay, that does sound pretty cool. Why haven't I heard of this game before?

Where can I find a pdf of Veins of the Earth?

OSRG Trove

I can't find it. What folders do I look under?

Usually because when Reign's setting comes up, people only focus on some of the dumb stuff, like the superstition that men will go sterile if they ride horses or something like that. So women tend to do cavalry. Then /pol/ cucks get butthurt about some fluff that most DMs probably wouldn't use anyway.

I mean hell, the book even has an aside on that superstition telling the GM to just roll with whatever they want in regards to that superstition actually being real. It's really not that big a deal.