What's your favorite flavor?

[seaweedbrain]

Or in other words whats your favorite setting from an RPG? Mine would have to be Shadowrun, I love all of the details that went into it even if i don't like the mechanics .

[whswhs]

I'm not sure I have just one. Some that I like a lot:

° Transhuman Space, which I've actually used twice.
° Glorantha, as portrayed in RuneQuest II and especially Griffin Mountain.
° The World of Darkness, in the version of Mage: The Ascension.
° The Britain of King Arthur Pendragon (this is one I've never actually used).

[weby]

I do not fully like any settings as they are given, most such have too many inconsistencies. But some that I have liked pretty well:
Fantasy:
Shadow world: I like the essence storms, the isolation and difficulty of travel and the huge number of quirky powerful groups and quirky powerful magical items.
Eberron: Like the combination of magic and technology and the planar system and it's implications on eberron are also nice.

(So it is hardly surprising that my own fantasy setting has a lot borrowed from those two)

As not non fantasy: I have not really liked any ready settings as most do not have enough support material or are just too inconsistent with themselves.
There are two fairly nice settings in scifi:
The rim from star frontiers: The races and the basic setting is actually great, but the descriptions of things and such are way sub par.
Traveler Empire:fairly ok, though it has way too many annoying bits too.

[RyanW]

I very rarely use published settings, at least not without modifying them to be barely recognizable.

The setting I'd be most interested in playing/running would be Anglo-Saxon England, during the 7th century.

[simply Nathan]

My favorites so far are Cidri (The Fantasy Trip), Yrth (GURPS), Implied Setting (DF), Felltower (DF), Points of Light (modern D&D), and Mystara (old-timey D&D). I like pillaging, mixing, and matching elements from these as well as Dragonlance, Greyhawk, and other such "standard" fantasies as well as race and magic concepts from my other favorite works of fantasy and that can include videogames (Legend of Zelda, Dragon Quest, and Final Fantasy as well as literature (Prydain Chronicles, Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, Discworld, Deltora Quest, Gulliver's Travels).

I'm not fond of the science-fantasy/steampunk aesthetics or of guns. I think cyberpunk aesthetics are "cool", being an 80s/90s kid but don't like the idea of actual cyberware mixing with my magical fantasy world.

The thing most likely to rub me the wrong way in any work of fiction is how it handles religion and the runner-up is sex. I'm a lot happier with these being ignored than them being treated in a way that contradicts my personal beliefs on the matters, though when it's done with a clearly humorous intent (a la Discworld) that significantly softens my annoyance. Narnia is the fantasy setting where I most enjoyed the religious aspects so far, followed by Yrth and Cidri.

And one of the biggest selling points for me is talking and/or humanoid animals taking a prominent role. I could probably even play an entirely modern or futuristic game if I got to be some sort of cute, fluffy thing visually similar to any of my favorite real-world mammals.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by seaweedbrain

Or in other words whats your favorite setting from an RPG? Mine would have to be Shadowrun, I love all of the details that went into it even if i don't like the mechanics .

That's too complicated for a simple answer.

I love the old Shadowrun/Earthdawn world, too. I've drawn considerable inspiration from it.

I like several subsettings of Rifts, esp. Rifts England, Rifts Atlantis, and Rifts Vampire Kingdoms. I've also drawn inspiration from the old 'prequel' to Rifts, Beyond the Supernatural, particularly the early version.

GURPS Reign of Steel is a fascinating setting to me, another major source of inspiration.

I'm less enamored of the THS world, as such, but I've drawn enormous inspiration from some aspects of it.

I rather like some aspects of the Conspiracy X world/setting, and rather dislike some other parts. It's a real mixed bag.

A very creepy and interesting world is the now nearly-forgotten Dark Conspiracy setting. Most of the monsters are not terribly interesting, but the setting itself is another matter, and a few exceptions exist among the creatures. I never cared for the proto-dimensions as presented, but I draw a lot of inspiration from them when I repurposed the concept.

[vicky_molokh]

Among official RPG settings: I doubt I can name a worthy rival for Transhuman Space. It's pretty detailed, with setting-info books that actually provide meaningful information (I particularly admire Fifth Wave's approach to letting the players and GM know about most of the existing states). It is almost alien enough to be confirm 'the past is a foreign country' (the year is 2100). It deals with interesting topics. It has a quite wide offering of races, way better than most fantasy and space operah settings (where not only there are fewer races than in THS, but an overwhelming majority are funny suits, while everyone mentally is either a human, or a member of a Planet of Hats).

Of the settings not made specifically for tabletop RPGs (but were or can be adapted):

WarCraft deserves special mention from me for making me interested in (their version of) elves. Both of the major factions of them. I was quite tired of the myriad settings with mostly D&D-ish elves. Otherwise, the setting is quite rich, with ambiguous factions and characters, and something interesting almost for everyone.

Mass Effect seems neat. I would play in it, gladly, but only before the Reaper invasion. Mostly I like their aliens, which have a nice mix of starfish and humanoid.

Babylon 5 is nice too, though way less detailed than Mass Effect. I'd still play in it.

[Johnny1A.2]

Another one: I never really cared for the Ravenloft setting from TSR, but the related Gothic Earth setting is a true gem. Set in the 1890s, it transplants several aspects of D&D magic and monsters to Earth, with modifications to first a high-tech situation, and borrowing the Red Death from the old story as a unifying theme.

[Randyman]

1. FGUs Space Opera. Exactly what it says on the tin - a space opera setting that is part Star Trek, part Star Wars, part Lensman, part Niven's Known Space, part Heinlein's Starship Troopers... there were details that I might quibble with (the IRSOL), but overall, what a rush!

2. FASATrek. My favorite incarnation of Trek. Their original setting work is the equal of any Trek, any where, and better than most. Their Orions supplement is still one of my favorite treatments of a non-human race, ever.

3. Champions Universe (pre-Cryptic/Champions Online). A fully fleshed out superhero universe that pays homage to the Big Two without seeming slavish or deconstructionist, while containing unique elements of its own.

[GM Joe]

I admire many, many of the settings created over the years for RPGs. But there are only a few that I've actually used:

The Traveller universe. I don't enjoy every era ever published for it, but I do like most of it.

Gamma World's setting (at least the 1e/2e version; I haven't kept up). It was the setting of my nightmares as a kid, but it was hopeful at the same time.

Oerth, or at least the glimpses of it we got back in the late 70s/early 80s. It was the first well-developed setting I encountered. It was diverse, gonzo, and (at least for those of us not playing in games DMed by EGG) mysterious.

The Champions Universe. What Randyman said.