Your favourite RPG/Video game/book settings, and why?

[Vanity Evolved]

Got a couple here, meself.

Harry Potter - Haha, yeah. I'm twenty two, and love losing myself in Hogwarts... so pointlessly fantastic, magical sentient frog chocolates, wands and half-nymphs. I'm always a sucker for blossoming schoolkid romance <3

Shadowrun - So, in the year, 2012, the Mayans had it right - our world died. Only to be replaced with magic. Elves. Orcs. Zombies. Weeaboo katana wuxia heroes. Native American Mage Rangers. Oni Yakuza. Robotic cocks with lasers in them. What's not to love? Also, the HMHVV (Human Meta-Human Vampiric Virus)... with different effects on races. Infected Trolls becoming Wendigo. Humans becoming Ghouls. Elves becoming Banshees. <3

Scion - The Titanspawn (anything supernatural from history that isn't divine - Gorgons, Kenku, etc.) threaten the world, and you, as a son of one of the five major pantheons (Japanese, Greek, Norse, Voodoun and Aztec) gods/goddesses are tasked with the power to fight them on Earth. Have fun going into the Underworld or Jingoku to fight Hades or Tsukiyomi with a lightning magnum twice the side of your hand, with the hammer made from a piece of Mjolnir, given to you by your father Thor? Fuck. Yes.

Cthulhutech - When you thought that Call of Cthulhu needed more giant mecha, Elves, and sci-fi Evangelion alien robots.

Exalted - See Scion. Greek tragedy with the trappings of anime, wuxia, heroin pissing dinosaurs and playing demigod humans with your soul superceded by that of a divine god-king rapist dead hundreds of years like a parasite? Yum.

Hunter: The Vigil - nWoD already has superior mechanics to oWoD. Now, have fun playing groups of mortals with the weapons and tactics to fight the Darkness; be it your super-sonic pistol which causes mages to lose spells by making them void their bowels, summoning your own demonic blood to fight fire with fire, or using the ancient artifacts scattered about the world.

Eberron - Dungeons and Dragons done right. Elves as ultra mages, Orcs as just savages and Halflings as Rogues is -boring-. Now, Elves as voodoo ancestor worshippers, and Halflings as dinosaur riding barbarians with scythes, in a world where magic airships are powered by a pissed off elemental who wants to kill you trapped in a crystal, and 'steering' it involves mentally being beaten into submission to make it do what you want? Yes please.

 

[ArcturusV]

In no particular order...

Final Fantasy IV. There is a nostalgia factor here of course. It's an old game, but it wasn't my first RPG or anything. It was the first game that made me realize just how EPIC a video game really could be. It had a very expansive world for its time, a lot of twists and turns. It was the first game that really sparked a fire for Side Stories in my mind. What happened to Kain after the game? Did he become a paladin, or was Cecil's father no longer responsive to the world? Did he ever get to put his darkness behind him? I've bought every release of this game so far, and continually go back to it as a great story and setting.

Spearwielder Trilogy. Classic fantasy setting. Story takes place in a world which is attached to our world through various spots of natural magic, and the main character who is dragged into that world merely for the reason that he is tall and bulky (Seriously). It has a rich enough tapestry, with a lot of classical elements. Unlike a lot of classical fantasy worlds not everything is sunshine and rainbows, even after the hero wins the day. Nice tie ins with the mundane world. Things such as one of the characters, Mickey, who does things like reads Tolkien as though it's a historical tale (Complete with correcting comments on the trolls turning to stone, which is so not true, it's trolls that carve those statues so suckers will fall for it), comments about "The Bard McVie" and such. Manages to combine the light-hearted moments with the heavier stuff almost flawlessly.

Phillip Jose Farmer's The Dungeon. Just... read it. READ IT.

Ancient Serenia from AD2S. I can't say why...

Warhammer 40K. Grim, dark, future. You have a setting defined by savage conflict and a reliance upon something that continually seeks to consume you. Mankind's greatest strength being its greatest weakness, always good fodder for the creative juices. And unlike a lot of RPG settings, its large enough that your players can never "Break" the setting.

 

[Trouble]

I tend to lean more towards original settings, to be honest. Still, I've got a few fandoms I just love.

Harry Potter because there's so much that can be done here. Also, I sort of adore SiriusxRemus. Shut up. They're a couple and it's totally canon. :<

Star Trek. Original series, please, or the reboot one. I don't actually know a whole lot about the universe, but I try. It has a lot of room to work with, so I don't feel too trapped. Plus, I love playing crotchety and grumpy doctors with good hearts. I'm good at that.

Dragonriders of Pern. I'm pretty sure these were my first rps. To be completely honest, I sort of hate the characters in the books. They always struck me as... as BORING and like McCaffrey decided one day, "You know what? Fuck writing original characters. I'll just start reusing the same female character. It's not like anyone will notice".

But, I love the world. It's very wide-open and there's lots to do. Besides, what kid didn't want to ride a giant telepathic fire-breathing dragon?

 

[NaoChan]

Dark-Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Set mostly in New Orleans. It was this series that made me really want to visit that place. Even though most of the places mentioned in the series aren't real, Sherrilyn did use a lot of places that is actually there. I can't wait! I may got in August.

Harry Potter: Well, duh! This place is just fantastic! Who wouldn't want to live in a huge castle for most of the year and learn magic! Seriously. lol

 

[Raziel99]

I... must... respond here. o.o

Dune: The spice must flow! Desert world, giant sandworms, civil war-strung galaxy, and all the workings of the Guild, 'witches', and the spice itself. No matter the setting, so much fun.

Harry potter: Yeah, me too.

Carpathians: Dark series by Christine Feehan. Yum.

 

[Ivy Walker]

Favorite settings from books and video games are

Post-Blaze Neuro Tower: the twisted post apocalyptic world of Baroque, where everyone is tainted and warped physically by their inner turmoils and sorrows. Something poetic and beautifully dark about that world that is stagnating on the verge of destruction.

The Organization of North American Nations(O.N.A.N.): The future world of Infinite Jest where Quebec seperatist terrorists try to destroy what is left of the United States and every year is purchased by corporations. The Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment ftw! :-D