Does D&D have a setting? I don't mean the various official and unofficial settings, I mean just in the core rules. There is at least the core of a setting. The races and monsters are defined. The magic systems assumes a certain metaphysics. The inner and outer planes are assumed to be present. The names of a few archmages are mentioned in the spell list.
This is the approach I'm taking with Cursed World. It's not a fully realized setting, just the seed of one.
The backstory of the fallen empire can justify all sorts of classic tropes. Monsters are everywhere. The land is dotted with dangerous underground underground vaults, rich with treasure. Most of the world speaks a common language. The setting is a mish-mash of real-world cultures from various time periods, allowing plenty of options for players to pull ideas from.
Twelve races are detailed. All of them are taken from the d20 SRD, so should be quite familiar to fantasy gamers. Five of them are PC races, these are the nations that rebelled against the empire. The rest are humanoid "monster" races, that mostly fought for the empire until the end.
There is a pantheon of gods, worshiped all over the world. Seven benevolent gods, two uncaring, and five downright evil. There is also plenty of room for lesser gods, tied to specific cultures. Again, the intention is to give the player built in points of reference, while still allowing as much flexibility as possible.
Multiple types of magic are described. Mechanically they are very similar. Arcane magic is flashy and destructive. Divine magic tends towards healing and protection. Within these two categories, there are a multitude of options for magic-using characters. These imply the existence of wizard academies and clerical orders.
All these things provide a solid framework of fantasy cliches. Pardon me, time-tested genre tropes. But there's still plenty of room for players to make the world their own.
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