Shadow World

Emer Atlas and Eidolon City
A really enjoy discovering new worlds, therefore I read setting books. Shadow World is a setting that has been around for decades having its origins in the Rolemaster material released by Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.) as far back as the 1980s. Shadow World is still supported by Iron Crown and new products continue to be developed and released for the Shadow World setting.
Setting material can easily be adapted for any role-playing system because maps, descriptions and ideas transfer across system regardless. The fact that I like Rolemaster does not hurt the appeal of these products for me, however. I read and borrow from a lot of setting material which I never run as written. It's part of my enjoyment of the hobby.

Two of my recent Gencon purchases are Eidolon - City in the Sky, and Emer Atlas III - The Southeast. The Shadow World is a science-fantasy setting with a floating city and airships. Alien technology accounts for much of the more fantastical elements, but magic certainly abounds as well. The Eidolon location is actually a twin city, Sel-Kai, an earth bound settlement built on a number of islands and criss-crossed by water canals (similar to Venice, Italy). Sel-Kai is where the lower classes dwell and Eidolon, which is "the city above", was built using advanced technology and is floating in the sky above Sel-Kai. Eidolon is where the upper classes reside. Class politics as well as trade and exploration are integral to the Eidolon culture.
Eidolon is located to the northeast of a continent called Emer. The Southeast of that continent is the subject for the second of the Shadow World volumes I have added to my Shadow World collection this year. The Southeast is host to an ancient, mostly lost, civilization centered on elemental magic and demon summoning. It is home to secret societies, dragons who live as humans, a unique race with retractable talons, and an ancient artifact that could change the future of the planet. With lost ruins, tropical jungles and volcanoes to explore, this atlas presents a vast canvas on which many adventures (some starting in Eidolon?) may play out.
Setting can be more important than the rule system or characters in shaping the flavor of play. A setting is the stage and the assumptions about what is possible which allows the action to take place. Characters are the actors and without them there is nothing in the way of game play happening, but I have run various characters through the same adventure and noted that the setting places all the characters in a similar situation with similar options thereby playing a large part in what is likely to develop. Each session is a unique combination of characters, rules and setting which often produces something surprising and fun. Finding out what will happen and how is fun. For me creating the setting is also part of the fun. Books such as these are aids in that process.