Sages' Guild

One of the greatest attractions of Dungeons & Dragons has to be the fantastical settings for the myriad adventures. These worlds manage to be fully sketched out with backstories and magical rules while still leaving the potential for users to add their own personal flair. Players can further elaborate on their adventures by writing fan-fiction and posting it online. With wireless internet, this is a great way to pass the time while stuck at the airport.Before you get started, though, you’ll need to know the basics of the world that you’ll be exploring. Therefore, we’ve prepared a handy guide to some of D&D‘s most iconic settings.Blackmoor: Blackmoor holds the honor of being the first campaign setting for D&D, predating the development of the game itself. The setting itself has gone through a number of changes. It first appeared as a supplement to the original D&D game, containing the first published adventure, “Temple of the Frog.” Later, Blackmoor referred to an area of black ice in the northwest of the world of Greyhawk. With the development of the later Mystara world, however, it was revealed that Blackmoor was actually the ancient version of that world. The technologically advanced culture of Blackmoor ultimately destroyed itself, paving the way for the development of Mystara many years later.Greyhawk: Greyhawk was the second setting developed for D&D, originally developed by Gary Gygax as a simple dungeon that later grew into a labyrinthine multi-layered maze. Gygax later added a city and then an entire world around it. The insane architect of the dungeon was known as Zagyg, a reverse homophone of “Gygax”only three players during the home campaign in Gygax’s basement ever made it to the bottom floor where Gygax presided. Over time, a complex mythology and geography developed.Mystara: Originally developed as a generic setting for early D&D adventures, Mystara eventually became as well-defined as Blackmoor and Greyhawk. The planet of Mystara contains three landmasses: Brun, Skothar, and Davania. In addition, there was an island continent called Alphatia in the planet’s past. Mystara’s continents resemble those of Earth around 135 million years ago, although the culture of the Known World has a technological knowledge resembling that of the 15^th century (sans gunpowder). The planet is also hollow, although few of its inhabitants know this. A red sun sits at the center of the planet.Dragonlance: Dragonlance originated as a shared universe for a series of novels, with a campaign setting later developed for the D&D game. The setting takes place on the world of Krynn, usually on the continents of Ansalon or Taladas. A series of dragon wars occurred in the planet’s past, leading to a great Cataclysm and then a 300-year-long depression. Over 190 novels have been written within the Dragonlance universe.This is just a glimpse of some of the earliest D&D settings. Other well-known worlds include the Forgotten Realms, Spelljammer, Ravenloft, Eberron, Planescape, Birthright, and Dark Sun, but they will have to wait for a later article (or for your own research).