DCC RPG Default Campaign World

[Sizzaxe]

Am I right in assuming that Aereth will be the default campaign setting for DCC RPG?

I am still collecting the older DCC modules and am not too familiar with Aereth as a setting beyond the 3x modules I have thus far. So this may be an ignorant question, but I was just wondering if there would be any retooling of Aereth to make it's tone resonate with the flavor and Appendix N style of the DCC RPG? Or is this not really needed as it already resonates at that level?

[Mike_Ferguson]

Speaking as someone who worked on the original, my guess is that there would have to be some significant retooling, or some re-imagining. Some of the names might remain the same, but the details and the vibe would be distinctly new and different.

When we were creating the original DCC world, we were really trying to catch the flavor of the "classic" D&D settings - Greyhawk, Mystara, Blackmoor, and the like. Those certainly have "Appendix N" elements, but it's all heavily steeped in other things as well.

A world built more specifically for the DCC RPG - at least what I've seen of it - would be a much weirder and fantastic (and slightly more forbidding) place.

[finarvyn]

I wonder what it would cost to acquire the rights to Leiber's Nehwon world (i.e. Lankhmar). Can you imagine that as the "offiical" DCC world?

[reverenddak]

I've been reading through AD&D Lankhmar-City of Adventure, and Zak S's Vornheim... and boy does it want me to run a city based campaign.

[finarvyn]

City adventures can be a lot of fun, and a great change of pace if players are used to constant dungeon crawls and wilderness treks. The neat thing is that you can bring in some politics and intrigue -- thieves guilds, nobles, and the like -- and if the players tick off an NPC they have to deal with him later on.

The AD&D Lankhmar city book is decent, but my all-time favorite city is the City-State of the Invincible Overlord by Judges' Guild in the 1970's. It's not as "realistic" as some but is quirky enough to keep players on their toes. For example, you might have a bar-keep who is a retired 8th level fighter, so players can't always just swagger in and own the place.

As far as reading material goes, Leiber's Lankhmar is an excellent city. Second favorite Haven from Simon Green's Hawk & Fisher series. Another classic is Santuary from the Thieves World anthologies. (Conan does stuff in cities sometimes, too, but I don't count that because his campaigns usually don't center around them.)