Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrap?

[roch]

Looks like we're playing Fantasy HERO for the first time with a mixed bunch of people, all of whom have at least played D&D before.

 

None of us has ever played HERO before. It had better be awesome or I think I'll get beaten up in the supermarket using 500-page blunt instruments, but that's another story...

 

I'd like to bootstrap an existing setting which is reasonably familiar to D&Ders (possibly a D&D setting), and fairly lightweight in tone as I don't see how anyone can take anything D&D seriously ("Open door! Kill monster! Take treasure! Get xp!").

 

The additional less-D&Dish elements I'd like to feature are :

- the impact of a recent war on the world, as I think that's a good hook for adventures

- more social interaction gameplay along with some politics and devious, manipualtive NPCs

 

I could just use Forgotten Realms, I guess. Dark Sun is too heavy, and Earthdawn too unfamiliar. Spelljammer is a possibility. Birthright is too serious. Greyhawk is another possibility.

 

So...anyone got any nifty ideas?

 

Now's your chance to unleash that creativity upon the hapless algorithms of this forum... go for it!

 

Thanks in advance!

 

(_8(0)

[arcady]

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrap?

 

Well, I've called Hero's own Turakian Age "DnD fantasy done better than DnD" for a reason. Here's my review of Turiakian Age: http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10598.phtml

 

It will look and feel like DnD, it just won't have the problem of not making any sense.

 

I'd recommend that. If you must use a WotC published setting, then your choices are all bad, but of them Greyhawk is better in the same way that getting shot in the leg is not as bad as getting shot in the head...

[CourtFool]

Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrip?

 

Eberron

[Eosin]

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrap?

 

I was gonna say Birthright

 

PS - There are a ton of fantasy worlds with pre-existing work done on them here. Compiled with loving care by The Question Man.

[MitchellS]

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrap?

 

When I read The Turakian Age I actually thought I was reading part of Greyhawk. I'd recommend that over anything from WotC. It also has the added advantage of all the spells in the two Grimoires being written, more or less, for the setting.

[John Desmarais]

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrap?

 

I'd like to bootstrap an existing setting which is reasonably familiar to D&Ders (possibly a D&D setting)' date=' and fairly lightweight in tone as I don't see how anyone can take anything D&D seriously ("Open door! Kill monster! Take treasure! Get xp!").[/quote']

 

Even though I've run a lot of Fantasy Hero games using Forgotten Realms as the setting, I'm not sure that I can whole-heartedly recommend using a D&D setting for Fantasy Hero. There's a tendancy in system specific settings to build thing into the setting that are, well, system specific. In the case of D&D settings - particularly a high-magic one like Forgotten Realms - there is an expectation of D&D-type magic. Now, you can do D&D-type magic with Fantasy Hero, but I wouldn't call it the "best use" of the system (I really hate getting into "why can't my Magic Missile spell alway hit" discussions with players who are expecting a game to be "just like D&D").

 

Then there's the whole "races" question. In a co-opted D&D setting, you run the risk of your players expecting the non-human races to be just like their D&D equivalents. As presented in the Fantasy Hero book, they are not "just like D&D races". There are, of course, obvious similarities - but there are also many diffrences (and not just for copyright reasons) because different game systems lead designers down different paths.

 

As was mentioned in earlier in this thread, Turakian Age has a lot of D&D-feeling elements - but is very much built around the Hero System (you would also want to get the Fantasy Hero Grimoire as it is the magic system and spell list for Turakian Age).

 

Another (cheaper) alternative, but one that would require a little more work, is to create custom setting that "borrows" enough key elements from whatever D&D setting you like to provide a thin veneer of familiarty for the players, but does not try to "be" that setting. (As an example, I dropped a couple of Greyhawk towns into one of my worlds - including using Hommlet as a campign starting point - even though the world itself didn't really resemble Greyhawk overly much. It gave the players a familiar hook to start with while they explored the country).

 

Hmmm... I seem to be rambling - time to stop.

 

Anyway, there's my two cents worth. I'd vote for either avoiding D&D settings entirely, or at least partially sidestepping them. However, if you are completely attached to the idea of using an existing setting, I would recommend that you at least look at Kingdom of Kalamar (published by Kenzer). It's appeal, for me, was how little game-mechanic information was presented in the books and how little it seemed to be dependent on the D&D rules.

[greymankle]

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrap?

 

I would have to go with Kingdoms of Kalmaar from KenzercoGames. Lot's of intrigue but not as well known as some of the others. Thus you can suit it to your needs without players throwing a fit.

[Tae Kwon Dan]

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrip?

 

Eberron

 

Definitley fits a lot of your criteria. Especially the recent war idea and it does try very hard to have some versmilitude about a world where magic has always existed.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrip?

 

I would say that Hero Games's Turakian Age setting would be very appropriate to your purposes. It was designed to be a HERO take on the common conventions of D&D, and most of the other books in the Fantasy HERO line - FH itself, the Grimoire spellbooks, the Monsters, Minions and Marauders race and creature bestiary, the Fantasy HERO Battlegrounds adventure pack - are fully compatible with it. Here are a couple of very informative reviews of it, in addition to arcady's above:

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10309.phtml

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10354.phtml

 

If you want to convert an existing setting to HERO, there is a great deal available for D&D, particularly the Forgotten Realms and Eberron settings. I'd suggest following the link in my signature at the bottom of this post - it's more focussed on RPG settings than TheQuestionMan's list linked to above. There's also a lot of conversion stuff for Warhammer FRPG, Runequest/Heroquest and some more exotic settings.

 

For something reasonably similar to D&D, but more original (and free), I recommend Mark Doherty's excellent Gothik Empires campaign webpages, which you'll find here:

http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/markdoc/gothick_empires/ge_introduction.html

 

You should check out the rest of Mark's website. It has tons of cool HERO gaming stuff, for fantasy and other genres.

[Lethosos]

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrap?

 

Well, theoretically Turkadian Age is the easiest to work with, but you can reasonably shoehorn an existing world into the system if you take the time to write out the parts that matter.

 

I'd suggest Blackmoor, though--it's primarily a resource setting, and you can toss the rules out of the window, as there's not that much overall except for what's in the D&D book. Just some setting-appropriate favoring, and the addition of two elements--Wood and Metal.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrap?

 

I ran several Greyhawk campaigns using the HERO System for many many years.

 

Some of the fruits of that effort can be found here on my website:

 

http://www.FantasyHERO.com

[Citizen Keen]

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrap?

 

I'll agree - if I ever used preconstructed settings, I'd use Turakian Age in a heart-beat. It's a great world. All your favorite races, organizations and spells, but with enough fresh flavor and crazy religion to keep everyone happy. And the maps are SEX-Y! Also, you've got two Grimoires, and a Villain book. Go for it!

[Old Man]

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrap?

 

My only issue with Turakian Age is that it was too big. But otherwise it is excellent.

[roch]

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrap?

 

Thanks for the input guys - yesterday I bought both grimoires, both ages, the ultimate mystic and another copy of FH (for someone else in the group); I might actually tone down the magic from D&D slightly (hence Valdorian) as this will be our first HERO bash.

 

I'll probably take Elweir, stick it in Ambrethel somewhere and fiddle around with magic a bit.

 

I'm already thinking of more specific questions, so roll up your sleeves and get ready to make use of all that HERO knowledge that's locked up in your heads...

 

 

(_8(0)

[badger3k]

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrap?

 

I am currently using the Forgotten Realms setting (and have templates and such made up for races on my gaming site) - especially since I have a ton of books on the world just sitting collecting dust until I go back to run D&D campaign. I am thinking of adapting more of the Hackmaster game material and running my campaign in Garweeze World for a bit. Following the KODT comic material, if you want a place to "Hack! Hack! Hack!" in a lighthearted way, that can be a good place.

 

For me, the crossover from D&D to FH was easy on the players, since some of the things they knew were the same - it only took a little shift of thinking rather than a bigger effort learning a new setting and a new system. That doesn't mean everyone would react the same - some people do better if they learn a new system and world at the same time. YMMV.

[Yesman]

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrap?

 

If you can find the old "known world" setting material for D&D, it was pretty neat. I don't think much was changed when they revamped the setting and started calling it Mystara.