Settings: Lost Lands

 

I like Frog God Games' Lost Lands setting for 5E. Since this was initially written for Swords & Wizardry, it has this distinct, old-school feeling that I can't find elsewhere. This feels like a world where magic is rare and special, but it is not a low-magic world. You can still have magic here, it just isn't all over and rubbed in your face as a technology replacement. Average people can still be amazed by magic, and that is fun and makes characters feel special.

The setting has maps, maps, and more maps! You mostly never go wanting for a town or city map here, since those are always included, and a thankful design choice they made. Many modern 5E adventures don't even include a town map, and I feel cheated out of the cartography I expect. The adventures also feature NPCs, as well as detailed area descriptions of all the places in the world.

This is also flexible enough to allow you to expand to other locations yourself and easily add your own. In some settings, I don't get that feeling, as if the designer would be angry if you started changing things. Lost Lands is more of a highly detailed blank canvas, ready for you to play the adventures published here, or make your own.

Evil is very evil here. Rappan Athuk is a mega-dungeon and home to a notorious old-school evil classic villain. I won't spoil it, but the influence and corruption this place spreads slowly creeps outward, causing chaos and evil to flock to this place, take hold in its underground temples and caverns, and bask in the wicked glow of fiendish power. It is one of the best classic mega-dungeons ever crafted, and they have a 5E version that would fit Tales of the Valiant nicely.

I like the gritty, realistic, medieval world setting. This is gritty, dirty, messy, and also at times, the locals are suspicious of outsiders. It is a vast world, but every place feels small and detailed enough to become a hub of adventure. The fantasy races here are more along the standard old-school mix (humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, etc.), which is also nice since there are not 101 mixed fantasy races running around, and nothing feels special. 

You can play a dragonborn or another exceptional heritage, but you will likely be one of the few here and always attract attention, sometimes suspicion, and questions. This is good roleplaying material, and I like my special backgrounds to feel special, giving players opportunities to immerse themselves in their culture and character.

Clockwork automations in this setting are optional, which is a plus for me. I don't like too much "steam tech" in my fantasy games, since it begins the slow slide into too many modern conveniences and gunpowder. Get too many robots running around, and you are playing science fiction.

They also have two of the best city settings, Bard's Gate and the Blight, with huge books dedicated to each. The Bard's Gate setting is a typical "good city" setting with plenty of interesting places. The Blight is more of a grimdark, evil city, perfect for backstabbing and evil campaigns, or even masked vigilantes fighting to protect the innocent. These are two of the best city settings in 5E right now, with Midgard's Zobek being up there, too.

Frog God Games has adventures and plenty of complications for sale, so you will never go without something to do here. They are all fantastic quality, but also written for the 2014 D&D standard, so you may need to up their challenge levels, toughen up the creatures a CR, or port in the ToV monsters to maintain challenge levels.

This is a solid, well-constructed, fun setting worth your time and interest. It is also not Wizards, yet remarkably detailed and filled with tons of adventures. This is worth your time, and is one of the best Open 5E settings out there.