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From: David Chmelik <dchmelik@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: best fantasy worlds?
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2024 11:09:50 -0000 (UTC)
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An Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) second edition (2nd ed., 2e) Dungeon 
Master (DM) whose game I was in (hadn't run play-by-email a while so had 
trouble running one with chat room) asked me my top five favourite fantasy 
worlds.  Besides my own, these are my top 20, though I'm unsure exact 
order.  Some didn't influence my D&D; which influenced yours (any others)?

1. Earth (some mythology is fantasy, AD&D 2e HR series)
2. James Tolkien's Arda (in original D&D)
4. Clive Lewis' Narnia (AD&D 2e Dungeon Masters Guide (DMG) appendix N)
5. Lloyd Alexander's Prydain (AD&D 2e DMG appendix N list)
6. Robert Howard's Hyborian Age (AD&D 2e DMG list)
5. Wendy & Richard Pini's Abode (influenced my D&D)
6. Dragonlance (broad appeal not just to gamers)
7. Terry Brooks' Shannara (seems D&D-like... most my friends have read)
8. Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising (Arthurian, pagan)
9. Roger Zelazny's Amber (AD&D 2e DMG list)
10. Highlander (film/television set ancient to modern age)
11. He-man And The Masters of The Universe (MoTU, also She-ra)
12. ThunderCats
13. Robert Aspirin's MythAdventures
14. Piers Anthony's Xanth
15. Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea
16. Mystara (with Blackmoor)
17. Greyhawk
18. Ravenloft
19. Toril (Forgotten Realms)
20. AD&D cosmology in general: /Manual of The Planes/ & Spelljammer

My D&D retains some original (Arda) D&D creature names, and might make 
Narnia's Aslan a god, and might be remade as alternative Earth including  
Prydain map, and has non-player character (NPC, Conan) from Hyborian Age, 
and elves similar to Abode (not short with four fingers, but have  
telepathically bonded pets/steeds), and when I made my own role-playing 
game (before could afford D&D) it had a 'dragonlance' (am converting 
setting to D&D).  Other worlds didn't influence me as much, except maybe 
unconsciously/subconsciously, though I might incorporate elements/
characters... of course, not modern like The Dark Is Rising, Amber, 
Highlander, MoTU, ThunderCats, Xanth, unless using D&D set modern age.  I 
forgot which others (if any) are in DMG appendix N, but haven't read many  
from that list, nor its earlier version in /The Dragon/ magazine.

Two I started reading were Michael Moorock's Elric and Fritz Leiber's  
Lankhmar, but not fan of some amoral/immoral characters; when a friend 
insisted bringing his Forgotten Realms evil monk to my D&D world, and 
praying to Cyric, I eventually had a deity say he can either go home or 
start over, so he started over as a druid.  It was different when basic 
D&D allowed chaotic alignment (not necessarily evil) but I really disliked 
evil characters.  Maybe DMG has a section on handling evil characters...?

I never read Greyhawk nor Ravenloft novels, but enjoyed reading much about 
settings/worlds.  I only read a few Mystara (Penhaligon, some Dragonlord) 
and Forgotten Realms (/Streams of Silver/, but not much fan of drow as 
much as Mystara shadow elves, though Drizzt's alignment is good) ones.