A GURPS Fantasy setting

[Refplace]

Ok so we hear it all the time. "I wish GURPS would have a setting".
Really GURPS has had quite a few settings over the years and many are still available. What people really mean is they dont see a setting they really like.
Keeping in mind there is no "Right answer" and that no setting can possibly meet everyone's goals what do people think makes a good setting that people will want to play in enough to get multiple books published for it? That includes Locations, Adventures, and background material.

[sir_pudding]

I'd like an expanded Seas of Dread, Seas of Daring from GURPS Horror.

[Kalzazz]

I really enjoyed Shining Force, so a Shining Force seeming setting would be cool

What I would really like is a setting with 'heft', most settings in GURPS other than Banestorm are varying degrees of quite scrawny, and Banestorm isn't that hefty

Roma Arcana is pretty cool, I think were it expanded to be a setting with some actual heft to it then I might actually consider giving it a shot

Also, Faux Fantasy Asia is pretty cool, a GURPS version of Not Lo5R or such could be pretty cool

I pretty much just make up my own, but my own suffer from a definite lack of heft . . . most of my settings could be summed up in 1 pg

[kracht]

I am in the minority who has always liked Yrth and think that the setting could use more books. Detailed gazetteers for each nation seem the obvious choice, but the old city book for Tredroy is also an excellent example of what could be done.

[(E)]

When it comes to what I like in a setting the most important thing is probably an absence of things I don't like. There are just things that put me right off some settings. It is a bit hard to nail down exactly what these things are though.

American Fantasy seems to have a strong tradition of having modern characters visit fantasy worlds. This is by no means universal or limited to just American Fantasy it just seems to be more common. I don't have the same cultural(?) background so this makes any setting with this feature slightly grating. I like my fantasy worlds distinct and separated.

As for existing worlds that would do well in GURPS, The Gentleman Bastard books, the Tales of the Bard books and the Monster Blood Tattoo books all leap to mind as excellent fantasy worlds with sufficient twists on the standard themes to stand out.
The Gentleman Bastard books are more Renaissance fantasy, while The tales of the Bard covers Gods and Planes. The Monster Blood Tattoo books are something else when it comes to world-building, they are set in an incredibly well thought out world, that is hard to describe easily. A TL4-5 Necro-Georgian-franken-cyber-punk with alchemy, super powers and wonderful illustrations.

When it comes to things I look for in a setting, depth is the big thing. It doesn't matter to me where the depth comes from be it history, language, societal interaction, detailed locations or well described characters.

My current fantasy game world was built from the ground up with a number of clearly stated goals like "For every character archetype there should be a nation that produces said archetype better than other nations" This means if a player goes "I want to play a big guy in heavy armour" I can go "Knight, soldier or warrior, Magical, demonic or manaphobic?"

Another feature of the world is six playable time periods, each one lined up at a different style of play. Mythic, Epic, DF, regular, low fantasy etc.

A bit of a ramble, but the topic is one I find very interesting.

Edit
Other random thoughts
- GURPS Nation stats to compliment City stats
- Individual nation write ups, made with the thought they might get cannibalized by GMs

[The Cardinal]

I would kill for a GURPS line of

Midnight
Dragonstar
or
Scarred Lands

[Frost]

Originally Posted by (E)

When it comes to what I like in a setting the most important thing is probably an absence of things I don't like. There are just things that put me right off some settings. It is a bit hard to nail down exactly what these things are though.

I know where you are coming from, I have as profound and growing dislike for 'conventional' fantasy I.e. most D&D worlds, Banestorm etc. I am not saying that they are bad wrong fun but that they hold no interest for me.

What I want out of a fantasy setting is probably closer to a lot of modern fantasy literature basicly lower magic renaissance low fantasy with occasional shutouts to other genre particularly sword and sorcery, lovecraftian horror, gothic horror amongst others.

You mentioned Scott Lynch's 'Gentleman Bastard' series and I would add things like K J Parker's 'Fencer' series, Paul Kearney's 'Hawkwood' books and even out and out new weird peices such as China Melville's 'Bas-Lag' stories as possible inspiration.

The thing is SJ Games will not (as far as we can tell) licence 'Gentleman Bastard' or 'Bas-Lag'. Licences are expensive the style(s) the books are written in have relatively little penetration (as far as I can tell) into gaming circles and the company is invested in a model of providing tools and frameworks rather than detailed settings.

For exactly the same reasons we are not going to see an in house setting that even makes more of a nod in that direction than Alchemical Baroque did. Given the way SJ Games works I think that as long as the tools and the support are out there I can live with rolling my own.

Rather than just saying that we want SJ Games to come up with a detailed setting like x isn't there more mileage in working out how we get what we want with the resources to hand?

[demonsbane]

Originally Posted by (E)

I don't have the same cultural(?) background so this makes any setting with this feature slightly grating. I like my fantasy worlds distinct and separated.

Me too.

Originally Posted by Frost

I have as profound and growing dislike for 'conventional' fantasy I.e. most D&D worlds, Banestorm etc.

I won't judge your perception but to me, Banestorm is mostly "weird", hardly "conventional" and very different to "D&D worlds", if only because its strong degree of weirdness coming from its frame of contemporary science and sci-fi for harboring a sort of fantasy setting with historical, real world themes and tropes mixed in a shambolic way (and I'm talking about the basic foundation of this setting, not specifically about the work done for its later edition).

[CraigM]

Originally Posted by kracht

I am in the minority who has always liked Yrth and think that the setting could use more books. Detailed gazetteers for each nation seem the obvious choice, but the old city book for Tredroy is also an excellent example of what could be done.

Another Banestorm fan here; I've got an Yrth online game running publicly at the moment on https://bbs.boingboing.net/t/gurps-b...e-thread/83574

For me, the real-world religions are a valuable feature. As well as adding depth and verisimilitude to the culture, it also makes it possible to play an atheist character without the world-building making that into a ridiculous thing. Done right, it can be run without being offensive to religious players; I've had serious Christians in my Yrth games without any problem.

I certainly wouldn't complain about getting some more published detail, though. Abydos was fantastic; I'd love to see a similar treatment given to some of the other locations. Detail on the city of Megalos would be particularly appreciated.

[The Cardinal]

Regarding a DF setting: it might be a good idea to follow the example of Pathfinder & Golarion here, i.e. publish a few adventures, including a mini-campaign, which all contain tidbits of setting information which can later be combined to create parts of a larger fantasy setting.