Herein I give some overviews of the games and settings I’ve been considering (usually taken from the setting’s web site) along with what I consider to be the pros and cons of each. Please leave a comment to add your input and thoughts!

Settings/Games

Kingdoms of Kalamar

Overview (taken from the Kingdoms of Kalamar home page)

Imagine an empire where humans rule, oppressed dwarven slaves struggle under man’s tyranny, and elves wage losing guerilla wars from the forests. This is the Vast - the Kalamaran Empire. But time weighs heavily upon all, and the empire’s reach is not what it once was. Provinces declare independence, hobgoblin kingdoms thrive and foreign empires expand, while the monsters of the land grow stronger than ever. Will your heroes save the empire - or destroy it?

The Kingdoms of Kalamar setting is medieval fantasy at its finest! While filled with all the fantastical elements roleplayers have grown to love, the setting is fundamentally based on realism - within the context of the game, everything makes sense! Language, topography, political divisions - all follow real-world patterns, so the longer you adventure on Tellene, the more it feels like a real world!

Its recent history encompasses the proliferation of six human races throughout the world of Tellene, but it also includes most standard fantasy races, like elves and dwarves. However, you can expect to find a few new ones unique to Tellene - like half-hobgoblins. In fact, full-blooded hobgoblins are also a prevalent civilized race with their own independent kingdoms.

The most advanced societies use steel, including plate armor, and can fashion complex siege weapons. Less advanced groups may still be using bronze or even stone tools. There is no gunpowder. But then again, who needs gun powder when you’ve got magic?

Yes, magic exists and has certainly influenced the history of the world. However, wizards and sorcerers are not overly common. In fact, Tellene’s inhabitants accept most unusual and seemingly inexplicable events as a sign from a god, rather than arcane magic. In smaller communities, the townsfolk easily confuse wizards and especially sorcerers with clerics, and arcane spells may be misconstrued as miracles or portents of the gods.

The pantheon of deities is another aspect of that makes the Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign setting so unique. Merely reading through the pantheon of Kalamaran deities will give players and Dungeon Masters alike inspiration for untold gaming sessions and adventures.

Pros

A very “realistic” fantasy world produced by Kenzer and Company for D&D 3.5 edition. Magic is scarce in everyday life, but it’s not exactly rare overall, and the majority of the world lives like most of us envision medieval humans living in Earth’s past. There’s no shortage of detailed content and information about this setting despite it not being a Wizards of the Coast line, and K&Co. prides itself on the world’s longevity and verisimilitude. It presents a very solid, believable, predictable world that I expect would make a solid base for adventure and intrigue regardless of the source — Kalamar being more an overview of the world of Tellene as it exists at one specific point in time, rather than giving accounts of an ongoing saga as is common in the other settings, would make it easy for me to drop in what plots and stories I wanted regardless of source. I do already have the major books in my possession, as well.

Cons

The drawbacks, as I see them, are that it’s somewhat of a bland world, not being particularly full of wonder or majesty as one might expect in a fantasy RPG. I’m sure once we got started I’d be able to keep it interesting and moving forward, but getting started has been a bit of a bear. There’s also more content for me to read with both the overall Campaign Setting — relatively devoid of rules, providing more “fluff” than “crunch” — and the Player’s Guide — which is almost entirely “crunch.” It also has some rather goofy names for things (P’Bapar Pass? WTF?) but that’s not really uncommon in most game settings. The other problem is that K&Co. seems to resent Wizards and D&D in general. They produce their own game system called HackMaster, and they’ve had some contractual falling-out with Wizards, and the founder of the company makes no attempt to hide his disdain for both Wizards and D&D in his forum posts. It’s not that big a deal, but it is rather annoying and disheartening. This leads me to wonder how long Kalamar will continue to be supported as a D&D setting into the future, not that this would “break” any existing content and information.

Forgotten Realms

Overview (taken from the What Is the Realms? page)

The Realms encompasses both one fantasy world and all fantasy worlds. Whatever you look for in fantasy can be found on Faerûn, the setting of the Forgotten Realms game. Dragons fly the night skies, valiant heroes seek fame and fortune, the gods themselves speak through their pious servants, and mysterious wizards hunt the secrets of magics lost in time.

Legends and faerie tales come alive here, whether in the noble kingdom of Cormyr, the desolate wastes of Anauroch, or the mysterious forested glades of Cormanthor, home to elves and freedom-loving folk alike. Learn of lost magical kingdoms like fallen Netheril and long-buried dwarven realms like Ammarindar, or discover the wonders of living realms such as Evermeet, the fabled haven of elves, or Waterdeep, the City of Splendors.

All told, the world of the Realms provides all the wonder, awe, magic, and majesty that D&D promises for fantasy games and so much more!

Pros

The Realms have been the flagship D&D campaign setting for almost 20 years, and it shows. There’s more content available for FR than any other setting for any other game, though not all of it utilizes the current rules set. There’s no end of plots, people, and environments to explore, and it’s a really beautiful, high-fantasy setting, putting even Lord of the Rings’ Middle Earth to shame. If you can think of it or imagine it, it can be found in the Realms. Magic is abundant and the gods have literally walked around amongst mortals (for a time being stripped of their powers), and wonder and majesty aren’t hard to find. It can be dynamic, exciting, and beautiful, all at once. It’s very well supported by Wizards, and is in no danger of going away any time soon. I also already have the main campaign setting book.

Cons

FR’s primary weaknesses also stem from its strengths: It’s been around a long time, has a lot of content, and can be overwhelming. There are lots of aspects of it that don’t make sense, due to its creation over time as a hodge-podge of things by an assortment of people, and oftentimes quirks are explained away with “it’s magic” which doesn’t always sit right with everyone, myself included.

Eberron

Overview (taken from the What Is Eberron page)

Eberron is Intrigue and Mystery

The world of Eberron is ravaged by centuries of war that have only recently ended. Enemy nations that fought each other to a standstill over countless, bloody battlefields now turn to subtler methods of conflict. The assassin’s dagger replaces the warrior’s sword, and the conspirator’s whisper speaks more loudly than the general’s bellow.

While nations scheme and merchants bicker, priceless secrets from the past lie buried and lost in the devastation, waiting to be tracked down by intrepid scholars and rediscovered by audacious adventurers.

Eberron is Ancient, Widespread Magic

Magic pervades the world of Eberron. It creates wonders of engineering and architecture that rival the boldest dreamscapes. Magic transforms life into bizarre shapes and creates artifacts in intricate patterns for purposes that are lost in time.

It also leaves its mark — the coveted Dragonmark — on members of a gifted aristocracy. Some use their gifts to rule wisely and well, but too many rule with ruthless greed, seeking only to expand their own dominance.

Eberron is Swashbuckling Adventure

The heroes of Eberron are bold champions. Cinematic action and dark legends fill their quests with danger and excitement while careening from one heart-pounding thrill to the next. Eberron is no place for the meek or hesitant. Courage, strength, and quick thinking are needed to survive and prosper in this land of peril and high adventure.

Eberron is Attitude

The heroes of Eberron come in every size and shape. They are set apart by boldness and a drive to succeed. Power in Eberron comes in many forms beyond swords and spells. Money and influence are as mighty as armies. In a world teetering on an upturned blade separating war and peace, anyone can become great who possesses the strength and courage to walk that knife’s edge.

Pros

Eberron is Wizards of the Coast’s newest D&D campaign setting, having been created only about 4 years ago. It’s very different from everything I’ve seen before, and that has a lot of appeal to it. The world of Eberron is somewhat dark, almost with a film noir feel to it, and this carries over into the types of adventures and plots one is likely to become involved with when playing. Good guys aren’t always 100% good, bad guys might have some morals about them, and things aren’t always what they seem. With the 12 Dragonmarked houses leveraging a great deal of political and financial power, there’s a great deal of social intrigue to be played out, along with the very high level of action the world brings. It implements a new system called Action Points, which allow players to spend points on very important rolls to add a bonus die to the roll in the hopes of getting a higher score on the attempt — this is actually one of my favorite things about Eberron. Content is also abundant from Wizards, both in terms of standard books and monthly additions in Dragon and Dungeon magazines. While high-level magic is very, very rare, low-level magic permeates the world and often serves in lieu of technology for the citizenry — cities are lit with magic lamps, some of the elevators in Sharn, City of Towers, are powered by magic, and there’s a global network of teleportation devices which can get goods and people from place to place.

Cons

Eberron has its share of problems, though, most notably some of the things come across as being a bit ridiculous: The Lightning Rail, which is a magic train crossing a continent, and the dinosaur-riding Halflings of the Talenta Plains come immediately to mind; this may be a side effect of my approaching the world from the outside, and it may be that these and other things make more sense within the bigger picture. The commonality of magic is also a bit of a mixed blessing, and it bugs me here as it does in Forgotten Realms. It’s not so much that I think magic should be this rare and awe-inspiring art, or that I don’t firmly believe that a culture which has magic would use it to enhance their lives the way we use technology to enhance ours, but it’s still something that feels like a bit of a cop-out to me. I’d also need to purchase the book(s) for Eberron, which could delay our start somewhat.

Exalted

Overview (taken from the What is Exalted page)

Exalted is a game of epic fantasy set during the Second Age of Man, a time before our own. It is an age of magic and adventure, when heroes of legend are reborn into a time of woe.

At the dawn of the First Age, the gods gave power to men that they might slay the gods’ Primordial enemies. Anointed by the gods, these beings were thereafter known as the Exalted.

The greatest of the Exalted were the Solars, the Chosen of the Unconquered Sun, the mightiest of the gods. So great was their power that, when a Solar died, his power was quickly made manifest in a new individual - a reincarnation of sorts, but into a mature adult rather than a newborn.

The Exalted triumphed over the enemies of the gods, and in reward, the gods gave the Exalted dominion over the Earth. For a timeless age, the Exalted ruled justly over Creation, and their kingdom was invincible.

But the enemies of the gods had pronounced a terrible curse against the Exalted. This dark magic ate away at the hearts of the Chosen. The benevolence of the Solars turned to tyranny, and peace turned to civil war. It was prophesied that the madness of the Solars would bring about the destruction of the world. Seeing no other alternative, the lowliest of Exalted, the Dragon-Blooded, murdered the decadent Solar Exalted and locked their souls away.

And so, a Second Age descended upon Creation.

The greatest of the gods’ servants no longer walked the earth, and the Realm of the Dragon-Blooded was but a shadow of the lost old Realm. Solar Exalted whose power escaped to be reborn were slain by Dragon-Blooded inquisitors known as the Wyld Hunt, and the Realm claimed dominion over Creation. For more than a thousand years the Solar Exalted remained imprisoned and defeated - until now.

The Scarlet Empress, the Dragon-Blooded ruler of the Realm and controller of the Wyld Hunt, vanished five years ago. Without her might to enforce order in the Realm, the Great Houses of her Scarlet Dynasty have fallen to squabbling over the reins of power. And in this time of crisis, the Solar Exalted have returned. It is as if a gate was opened and the heroes of old rushed through it and returned to the world.

Your character is among those individuals who have become Solar Exalted. You are a being of legend, as mighty as a demigod and as cunning as an asp. Will you be the savior of Creation or one of the terrible menaces that beset your world?

Pros

Exalted uses the Storyteller System and not D&D. This is really neither a pro or a con, but I’m listing it here just so it’s said. I recall from my days of playing Vampire: The Masquerade that the Storyteller System was quite easy to use and was much lighter in rules than other systems of the time, but having been reading through the Exalted book it appears to be a bit more complicated here. I’m sure it flows much more smoothly in use than it sounds in the book, but it caught me somewhat off guard. What I really like about Exalted is the world and the concept — I think it would be an immense amount of fun, and I’ve always been impressed by White Wolf’s games. I believe they’ve found a way to codify and make playable the sort of combat you see in movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Kung Fu Hustle and combined it with a world in which the characters are changing the face of history with their actions. This all appeals to me and it cites as inspiration material some of mine and other player’s favorite video games and films.

Cons

It’s not D&D so some of the players would have to learn something new, but I have total faith in our ability to pick it up quickly. It’s also very different from the more typical western fantasy of the three settings detailed above — I have no problem picturing someone in a medieval setting, but I’m less familiar with how life might carry on in the world of Exalted. It’s not as versatile as D&D, either, heavily tying characters into their roles through Castes (like D&D’s classes, only without any multiclassing or other diversification). Finally, while I do have the first edition book, I’d need to purchase the second edition one as they’ve fixed several issues and clarified things significantly to make it worth having.

Version 1.1, last updated 2006/07/25