Translating a fantasy setting at the table means presenting to the players those digestible bits — encounters, adventures and campaigns — that emphasize the major storytelling themes in the world.
Easy, right?
Of course, different worlds create different “feels” to different people. And to complicate things, companies large and small produce “kitchen-sink” style settings to accommodate many genres and historical analogs with the thought it broadens their appeal and utility.
As a consumer, it’s nice to have choice. As a dungeon master faced with the task of preparing a game, though, it would be nicer to have clearer lines of demarcation.
Finding the “setting within a setting” is part of the trick.
So, rather than reach into the kitchen sink and select the bit you want, I’m going to recommend you assign a storytelling element to the setting of your choice — and using that perspective as a lens — view the entirety of the campaign through it. And from that, present the setting to the players wholesale but set the main quest or story along the theme you identify.
So, let’s take the big daddy, Forgotten Realms, as an example. This one even tells you up front it’s a collection of subsettings all occupying this broad fantasy landscape. That’s one reason Wizards of the Coast has chosen for its fifth edition rollout to only use the Sword Coast version of the Realms; they’ve made a conscious choice to edit the setting’s scope. The Dales — which is not part of the Sword Coast — probably best represents the heart of the Realms. But it’s the Sword Coast that has Waterdeep, and that city is the setting’s gravitational center.
Recognizing that factor in Waterdeep should be the cue the DM needs to convey its most prevalent theme: the Realms are magic and magic is the Realms (and magic is what makes one rich — the setting is more serious about its underpinning economy than most). Set your course on the Weave and make it the centerpiece.
So, DM’s, pluck at the Weave with evil-doers and a bevy of ambitious casters and set your player characters on that course.
How others settings prominent among d20 fantasy players stack up:
Greyhawk (TSR/Wizards of the Coast): Since the destruction wrought by the Rain of Colorless Fire, the setting has been in a dark ages of post-apocalyptic despair greater than Europe in the aftermath of the fall of the Roman Empire (Cold War-era fears of a post-apocalyptic world are very evident). Lawlessness and evil have been allowed free rein; in fact, the Darkness has persisted so long the absence of Light has been taken for the status quo. Contrary to the aims of the wizard Mordenkainen and his cohorts, who are concerned with maintaining a philosophical “balance” in this landscape of tyranny and ruin, the setting demands of players that they help bring about a Renaissance. The long climb back will be difficult — despots and hereditary kings won’t willingly relent. But no setting needs saviors more than Greyhawk.
Midgard (Kobold Press): Intrusion and invasion are prevalent themes of this setting built on the bones of Dark Ages superstitions (and early 21st century concerns about the free movement of peoples in a security-obsessed world). Concern about “The Other” — in the form of faerie meddling, dwarven parochialism, elvish xenophobia, Viking-like raiders and even unchecked magic (in the form of ley lines that don’t respect recognized political boundaries — the Internet, anyone?) certainly sets it apart. The biggest invasion fear has already been realized — an area the size of France has been devastated by Lovecraftian alien horrors. PCs can be agents of change, embarking on missions of understanding and diplomacy and spreading new ideas from the engine of new technology, the metropolis at the crossroads, the free city of Zobeck.
Golarian (Paizo): The mythology of tyrannical and powerful Runelords, a society of “Pathfinders” devoted to exploration (an amplified and less selfish mashup of Greyhawk’s Seekers of the Arcane and its League of Boot and Trail) and its blend of modern progressivism are all designed to impel player characters to correct the sins of previous generations. This drawing of a line in the sand against the legacy of the past — old Thassilon fell because of its devotion to envy, sloth, lust, wrath, pride, gluttony and greed — is admirable, but one wonders if the do-gooders of Golarian’s present age will hold to their ideals and prevail. Other sins, arrogance and self-righteousness, always threaten to undo these gains.
Dragon Empire (Pelgrane): The setting is dominated by huge, powerful adversaries — iconic rulers and massive “living” dungeons. The individual — or even a small team — confronts adversaries that are immense in scope. Anyone who identifies with the little guy who feels lost in a world of overwhelming odds, but up who goes against a large corporation, corrupt organization or all-powerful boss will find themselves at home here.
THE DUNGEON DELVER 