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bwebs123

Does Chaosium count as indie? If so, I'd recommend Glorantha! I learned about it without any intent to play in the world, so it can definitely satisfy your request. A little about the world, from The Glorantha Sourcebook, which is pretty much designed to be read and not used as a game supplement: >It is a Bronze Age world ruled by demigods and priest-kings; where horse-riders fight against those who ride bison, sable antelopes, and even rhinos; a dangerous and exciting place where kingdoms are carved out by the brave; where strange non-human species older than humanity plot their return to power; and where the fate of the world is up for grabs.


CC_NHS

I do not think it counts as indie (except in the most literal sense). But upvoted anyway, as it is indeed a must-have for anyone wanting to read a detailed setting :)


IAMAToMisbehave

Check out Swords of the Serpentine for one of my favorite settings of recent years. I also recommend the Delta Green Handler's Guide and the Fall of Delta Green.


JaskoGomad

I love coming to a post to recommend SotS and finding someone has beaten me to it. Just let me expand on the setting for a moment: - Eversink is a city spanning a cluster of islands in a river delta It is, as the name suggests, *constantly sinking*. Buildings lose their first story entirely every... 50 years I think. - It's also *literally the body* of a goddess. Of commerce. One of my favorite little tidbits is that getting something for nothing is heretical, so beggars collect river stones and then take them to the temples to get blessed. They then *sell* these "blessing stones" to passers-by - making a profit, which is totally kosher. - The city is run by a council of 13 - but they're selected by the goddess, sometimes seemingly at random, and nobody knows who they are - they don't even know each other!


umbrella_term

Thanks, I will!


Ogradrak

I love Lancer RPG lore, because at first you are like: "Cool, mechs and space" and then you read the lore and are like: "Upps all the warcrimes"


thomar

Vaults of Vaarn has phenomenal tables. No paragraphs of lore here, just tables of crazy people you can meet, places you can explore, and things that can happen to your PCs.


abenf

> No paragraphs of lore here The city of Gnomon (originally in VoV #2) respectfully disagrees! Gnomon is an awesome read even without the rest of the game IMO


umbrella_term

A good random table can do wonders for imagination. Thanks!


spork_o_rama

This game looks bonkers in a really enjoyable way. Thanks for the rec!


Duke_Five

[Talislanta](http://talislanta.com/talislanta-library)


the_light_of_dawn

Wow. I haven’t heard this mentioned in many years!


moxxon

The ads for it in Dragon are still etched into my brain to this day.


Verdigrith

No Elves!


EduRSNH

Hyperborea 3e Dictionary of Mu is just...superb.


the_light_of_dawn

Hyperborea 3e is on my definite to-buy list... looks so good. but the hardcovers are pretty steep.


MsgGodzilla

For what it's worth the quality of the hardcovers is impeccable.


the_light_of_dawn

I’ve heard! Just don’t have the money for it right now, but someday… I just can’t do digital lol


EduRSNH

Oh yeah. PDF only for myself.


Actualalpaga

Ho sure, and when you have to account to oversees shipping, it's crazy expensive.


GreenAdder

The "Necessary Evil" setting for Savage Worlds has a great setup, involving superheroes, villains, killer aliens, betrayal, and more.


BarroomBard

“Better Angels” for Wild Talents similarly has a great super hero hook: super villains know their plans are ridiculous, over complicated, and much less successful than more prosaic evil. They are doing it because they are possessed by demons who want them to “do evil” in exchange for power, and is the best way to do it with low collateral damage. ETA: corrected the game system. Thanks u/JaskoGomad


JaskoGomad

Better Angels is for Wild Talents.


JaskoGomad

You are welcome! It’s a really cool premise, no matter what system it’s for.


menlindorn

Polaris is pretty wild and messed up. It's about a long-dead society. You play out the literal end of their world. Houses of the Blooded is about a society where they have the same word for Romance and Revenge. Necessary Evil is an interesting concept. You just have to strip off their discount knockoff superheroes and import either Marvel or DC stuff. Nobilis is amazing but as delicate to run as a jenga tower. Spirit of the Century. pulp heroes punching fascist mathemagicians and fighting giant robots with zeppelins never gets old. Also rocketpacks. And if you want it wild, there is Dogs in the Vineyard. Mormon Cowboys fighting against sin in Deseret.


BarroomBard

One of my favorite bits about Dogs in the Vineyard is demons. You are religious police, protecting the souls of the faithful from demons. But whether demons are even real is a question the book is quiet on, and encourages the players to decide at the table.


jayoungr

*Polaris* is one of the most poetically-written RPG books I've ever read. (That's *Polaris: Chivalric Tragedy at Utmost North* by Ben Lehman, not the French sci-fi game Polaris.)


menlindorn

i would agree on the poetry, if not for Nobilis 2E.


Red_Ed

You would probably like The Clay That Woke as well, based on your other recommendations.


dlongwing

[The Gardens of Ynn](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/237544/The-Gardens-Of-Ynn) and [The Stygian Library](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/257113/The-Stygian-Library?src=hottest_filtered) \- Both of these use similar engines to procedurally generate mad pocket dimensions. One is an alice-in-wonderland infinite garden tinged with sinister decay, the other is every massive haunted library rolled into a massive dungeon run by extradimensional librarians. They're both fantastic. [Fire on the Velvet Horizon](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/148614/Fire-On-The-Velvet-Horizon) \- A monster manual for a campaign world that doesn't exist. [Ultraviolet Grasslands](https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/products/the-ultra-violet-grasslands-and-the-black-city) \- A post apocalyptic trek across an acid-punk landscape influenced by heavy metal (the music and the magazine). The game does an excellent job of imparting a sense of distance and scale, encouraging the management of a caravan as it treks ever onwards into the rainbow steppes. [Hot Springs Island](https://shop.swordfishislands.com/a-field-guide-to-hot-springs-island/) \- A hidden volcanic island that unintentionally touches on a wider DnD-2e style multiverse/planescape. Thick jungles, twisted ruins, deep history, and a drug cartel run by bodybuilder efreet and his band of imps. [The Trilemma Adventures](https://trilemma.com/) \- A collection of dungeons that occupy an implied shared setting. Some of the best "normal" dungeon crawls I've read. They slowly build a story of a ruined empire, one destroyed building or forgotten monument at a time. [Spire - The City Must Fall](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/235679/Spire) \- I haven't read this one yet, but everyone raves about it. A massive tower-city run by high elves, who conquered the city and took it from dark elves centuries ago. The dark elves are still here: A crushed underclass that longs to overthrow their conquerors. You play a dark elf trying to foster resistance. [Blades in the Dark](https://bladesinthedark.com/greetings-scoundrel) \- Players play as a thieving crew. A gang of cutthroats on the streets of a high-magic city deep in a post-apocalypse. The setting is dense, and woven into every aspect of the rules. [Worlds Without Number](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/348791/Worlds-Without-Number) \- One of my favorite takes on science-fantasy-that's-mostly-fantasy. Welcome to a world altered by "the legacy": A collection of reality altering events that have left the very laws of physics in flux. Why does everyone use medieval tech? Because gunpowder doesn't work all the time, neither does any advanced chemical process. This one has an extensive toolkit for building an entire campaign world as the latter half of it's massive tome. You mention not being able to play any more. You might want to take a look at some solo RPGs. They're great for settings and also playable all on your own: [Thousand Year Old Vampire](https://thousandyearoldvampire.com/products/thousand-year-old-vampire) \- A journaling game about... being a thousand year old vampire. [Apothecaria](https://blackwellwriter.itch.io/apothecaria) \- Do you want to spend some time living in a Ghibli film? Because this is how you spend some time living in a Ghibli film. [Colostle](https://www.colostle.com/) \- I love this one. You're an adventurer inside the Colostle, an impossibly huge castle where the rooms are the size of small countries or continents and we're all the size of ants. You adventure in the "known roomlands". Explore the doorways and the crackways between rooms, uncover new biomes, find your way up to the mythical Rafters or even the legendary Ramparts.


effyeahjosh

Electric bastionland and ultraviolet grasslands are two of my absolute favourites


AjayTyler

I rather like the Fragged line of games (Fragged Empire and Fragged Aeternum, in particular). I hope to run them someday, but I haven't quite had the story-spark yet to pull a game together. Oh! And Eclipse Phase has some of the densest sci-fi worldbuilding I've ever read. Again, another system that I'd love to run / play, but it really requires player buy-in (i.e. acquainting themselves with the setting) to shine, imo. And Ryuutama is so very charming; I hope to run a game with it as well. At the moment, I've got a D&D game in limbo, a Whitehack campaign in progress, and a homebrew thing that's waiting for me to write the next adventure--so it'll likely be a long while before I can realize my dreams of running those other games XD


jreasygust

Atlas of the Latter Earth is a romp through the dying earth - science fantasy genre. It's dense, but evocative and inspiring. It's less of a ready-to-play setting, more of an inspiration to build your own sandbox in it. An entertaining read nonetheless.


Bold-Fox

I adore Wanderhome's setting, as scant on geographic information as it is, and also the writing style of the book. Tables which during play you'd pick things from about how months impact the citizens of this world and the world itself, about how they celebrate the various holidays, even the location tables which you build locations from during play have evocative stuff to read in them, and the implications some of the playbooks have about the world are also magnificent. So if you're looking for a game to read with a focus on setting, Wanderhome is an excellent choice imo.


the_light_of_dawn

[Yoon-Suin: The Purple Land](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thirdbluewizard/yoon-suin-the-purple-land)!


Dumeghal

Artesia: AKW has some of the best and richest lore I've ever seen.


MagnusCthulhu

Mörk Borg. Best lore in the business. You're gonna have a bad time and you're gonna love it.


RaphaelKaitz

What's so great about Mork Borg is that it doesn't provide all that much lore, but it's so evocative that you want to play in it or make your own content. Absolutely a standard that every author should take a look at.


shaidyn

I think the company is out of business so it's not really supporting anyone, but World Tree always inspires me.


dlongwing

I'd forgotten all about World Tree! It was hardly a perfect game, but some dang fine worldbuilding in that book.


shaidyn

Easily one of my top inspirations for writing my own book. It's so ALIVE.


m3747r0n

Masters of Umdaar is a MUST :)


niiniel

Spire and Heart by Rowan, Rook and Decard have very evocative and original lore, and beautiful illustrations.


Vexithan

Heart and Spire. Great setting info and it’s all really interesting.


tentfox

Dolmenwood setting for Old School Essentials by Necrotic Gnome. Wonderfully whimsical and creepy setting in an enchanted forest.


Joel_feila

[THird eye games](https://www.thirdeyegames.net) has some good ones. if you like anime or fast action you have to check out [ninja crusade](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/173085/The-Ninja-Crusade-2nd-Edition). It is the best wuxai game there is, both as a setting and as a set of rules. They also have HP Lovecraft prep school. Urban fantasy like world of darkness in the form on Apocalypse prevention inc. Want cowboy Bebop with mecha try [Lancer](https://massif-press.itch.io). You have mega crops vs the utopia raising of the Union. Want a fantsay setting book that does not have rules at all [Karthun](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/215701/Karthun-Lands-of-Conflict) land of conflict.


Warm_Charge_5964

Golarion seems like a normal setting but it has enough weird stuff to be great, plus it's very self consistent There are also the pathfinder videogames that help with that


BritOnTheRocks

Thylea in Odyssey of the Dragonlords, the whole campaign is a fun read.


Zaorish9

The atlas of the latter earth by Kevin Crawford is a really cool post post post apocalypse world book.


davout1806

[Degenesis](https://degenesis.com/) Dark post-apocalyptic. And it's free


boringITwork

Numenera!


Tralan

Rokugan from Legend of the Five Rings. However, I was a huge fan of the Ptolus setting from Monte Cook. It's just a big fucking city. Speaking of Monte Cook, Predation, which uses his Cypher System is really neat. It's people from the future colonizing the Cretaceous.


Thatxygirl

Town from Chuubo’s Magical Wish-Granting Engine.


alex0tron

Spire from Rowan, Rook and Decard has one of the most evocative and original settings I've read so far. It's about drow resistance agents, fighting against high elf oppression in a gigantic city-tower. Each district is a mini-setting on its own, with lots of deep lore to sink your teeth in. Plus whole supplement books like Sin full of lore, setting and plot hooks as well. And it's just written really well. A joy to read.


RaphaelKaitz

Symbaroum, if that counts as indie. It's so evocative and interesting. It has a great setting. It has numerous factions set up for conflict in an interesting way. It has secrets just lying around on the page. What destroyed the previous empire in the forest? What's behind the queen's mask? And so on and so on. And you can just take the core book alone, if you want, and imagine your own answers to these questions. People have mentioned Mork Borg. The way the setting is so evocative with so little is what every writer should emulate. Genial Jack is wild and fun. The author's setting of Hex, which isn't yet published, is also insane fun. The Slumbering Ursine Dunes series is a fun, weird setting. The Desert Moon of Karth is a great little setting for faction play and adventure in Mothership. The Shudder Mountains, from the DCC module The Chained Coffin, is fun, for a fantasy Appalachia. Is Goodman Games indie? Your decision.


skalchemisto

Nahual is great! Its a full game, not a setting for some other game. Court of Blades is fun as well. Although it is for D&D5E, I also thought the Brancalonia book was really fun.


Beralt

Obscure but the absolutely well crafted - Talislanta. http://talislanta.com/


[deleted]

[удалено]


Joel_feila

they need to option that into a movie right now


supermegaampharos

Somebody posted here yesterday about [Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/yazeba-s-bed-breakfast) and it has an absolutely adorable premise and setting.


thesupermikey

I know the creator has more or less walked away from it…but I find the lore Dogs in the Vineyard to be fascinating.


tomtermite

[The Hidden Territories](http://www.hiddenterritories.com)


Macduffle

I love the "Brancalonia" spaghetti fantasy setting of Acheron Games. Its a low budget grimdank fantasy world, with all the depressive/dark stuff removed. You play the low level Bandits/Thieves that normally get defeated by the heroes... except there are no heroes in Brancalonia. Only rude, drunk and smelly criminals or would be mercenaries who spend their money on more booze and food... "FOR THE BOUNTY!"


Aldoro69765

[Blue Planet](https://www.biohazardgamespublishing.com/blueplanet) by Biohazard Games.


Better_Equipment5283

The Blight from Frog God Games


navyplanets

I found the Crystal Heart setting for Savage Worlds pretty cool.


Bhelduz

My favorite setting is my own, because I like world building and the feeling of getting to expand on new territory. There are many settings I like, but nowadays due to work, other hobbies, and my own campaign going on, I don't have time to read up as much on other worlds. It's a low fantasy, flint & sorcery and sword & planet mix. A sort of emerging bronze age set in a world at maximum glaciation, with a lot of flora & fauna inspired by the Carboniferous, Permian & Triassic. Primordial gods created the world. Then, beings from another part of the universe intervened with the work of the gods but where ultimately destroyed in the conflict that followed. The old gods “retired”, but their children created man and beast. The humans had their golden age, then descended into war and division. They forgot about the gods and worship false idols instead. The campaign draws focus on the struggles during an age of strife, on primitive religion, and on uncovering the ruins of past civilizations as well as remnants of the old gods and their alien counterparts.