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Epic History: Settings with Deep Backgrounds
Erich Vereen
United States
Leland
North Carolina
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Looking through my collection the other day, I started to think about the stories behind the games I was looking at. Background stories, histories, little details; I began to remember why I started in these games in the first place. Sometimes, the most interesting thing to do is sit down and read the setting information of the game you are playing. Depending on how long those settings have been in play, the history can be quite deep.
Here is a list of settings with with those epic histories. They may change from different editions, but these can be called evolutions instead of change in most cases.
Feel free to post settings that you think can be granted the title of having an 'Epic History'. Feel free to discuss and disagree with those items that have already been posted. Enjoy yourselves and enjoy the list!
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1.
RPG Item: RIFTS
[Average Rating:5.48 Overall Rank:5710]
Erich Vereen
United States
Leland
North Carolina
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This is the game that made me think about this list. Rifts has been moving forward for many years, evolving and expanding constantly, even through Palladium's dark days of near bankruptcy. Add Rifts: Chaos Earth and the Siege of Tolkeen series, Rift's history has been on constant evolution. And with the upcoming advancements in future releases, this game's history will be evolving even further.
This is definitely one of those games I just simply enjoy sitting down and reading.
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Erich Vereen
United States
Leland
North Carolina
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While the HERO system is a generic system, the splat books present an amazing history of an alternate Earth, starting when magic was real and moving through many time frames into a future where man has moved into the stars to find out what lies beyond his home. Each era is worked into the history, making for an interesting read if you can get hold of the books. Many are hard to find now, especially since 6th edition has been released. Hopefully, some of the original eras will be revisited to keep this epic history alive.
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Erich Vereen
United States
Leland
North Carolina
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One of the most evolved histories in the D&D settings, the Forgotten Realms have been developed both through years of gaming with the original gaming groups and through novels written by many great writers. With each new D&D edition released, the history of the game evolves, and not always as one would like. From the original release, gods have fallen, risen back to their place, mortals have joined them and usurped positions of power from others. Man and beast have culled empires that have risen and fallen, and sometimes risen again. and recently, gods have killed one another, causing unbelievable carnage to the world of Toril.
This is another of those histories that is enjoyable to just sit and read.
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4.
RPG: Conan
[Average Rating:6.23 Overall Rank:409]
Kevin H.
United States
Crescent City
California
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In general, I do not like games with complex histories and backstories, preferring instead to make up my own with the rest of the group, and/or discover it through play.
However for licensed properties with long histories, sometimes game books are a convenient way to collect a great of data about a setting in clear and concise chunks. So I enjoy reading those, not so much as a game, but as a commentary and interpretation on the source material.
Conan is probably the #1 choice here for me. I love Hyperborea in all of its visceral, rugged, pulpy glory. #2 would be the books for the Stormbringer RPG, as well as the other RPGs based on Moorcock's work.
Strangely, despite liking Tolkien as much as Howard and Moorcock, I have no interest in reading Tolkienesque RPGs. For whatever reason, in that setting I prefer not knowing what's off the maps.
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Art Gorski
United States
Prescott
Arizona
Get my Mac software for Classic Traveller at http://naasirka.weebly.com/
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I can't imagine any setting bigger than this one!
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Erich Vereen
United States
Leland
North Carolina
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Over many decades, the writings of HP Lovecraft have captured readers with its horror and search for the unknown. From the pulp days of the 40's and into the future where mecha and old ones fight for the human race, the Cthulhu series of RPGs and books have visited every era conceivable. While it is not confined to a single sorurce or even a single RPG Company, the Cthulhu mythos continues to be changed by our hobby.
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In the future there is only epic historic war.
I also seem to remember there is a fantasy version of this.
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