Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 12 Nov 2001 to 13 Nov 2001 (#2001-312) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 14/11/2001, 19:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 21 messages totalling 780 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. VS: [MYSTARA] Secret Uber Vampire Variants (was: Flames) (2) 2. The Minotaur dilemma 3. Tipical doubts of my generation (6) 4. Secret Uber Vampire Variants (was: Flames) (2) 5. This must be my lucky day! (2) 6. IM1 The Immortal Storm 7. Green orcish blood? (4) 8. Canon Material 9. News servers down? 10. The Different Orcs Ala GAZ 10 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/ To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 10:28:53 +0200 From: Saarela Sami Subject: VS: [MYSTARA] Secret Uber Vampire Variants (was: Flames) > > > > > > > >Are these in the Vaults? If so, could someone guide me to them? I'd be > >interested in taking a look.>> > > > >Sorry. But that project is under construction and can only be found on my > >hard drive and my own mind. Like so many of my projects (past, present, > and > >future) time is a problem that hinders their completion. > > > >Sorry. One day it will be done, then the flames may begin. > > No there are info on Mystaran vampires on the vaults, tough not stats. Go > to > the Vaults , press the SEARCH button type in vampire. Im not going to do > that for you and email you the link tough, you can't be that lazy. > I prefer to use the term 'busy'. ;-) Seriously though, as G.Agosta said, I was interested specifically about the "Secret Uber Vampire Variants" that were brought up in the other thread. I'm running a campaing that will have some quite strong vampires coming up sometime in the future and I'm interested in any kind of Uber Vampire Variants that I could possibly use. (I love to mix'n'match stuff. It keeps players on their toes.) I had already gone through the Vaults looking info about vampires, but didn't remember finding anything about Secret Uber Vampire Variants. Anyway, tried the search now, too. It works very well. If you haven't tried it yet, I can recommend it. > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/ > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 01:14:02 -0800 From: Herve Musseau Subject: Re: The Minotaur dilemma > I like this one. But why restrict it to an immortal curse? One could have it a priest or mage spell. Maybe some immortals grant it in different ways, some as a permenant curse, and others that can be broken in some way but if they are not they could have minotaur children which were then not cureable. Perhaps there could be a highly advanced forms of this spell like sleep curse from DotE. One could turn a village into minotaurs and maybe one could turn large numbers temporarally into minotaurs (say part of an army). I restricted it to an Immortal curse because in the case of the Enduks of the SC it was an Immortal curse. But I hadn't thought about the Immortals who have the spell passing it on to their priests. I like that idea. Some curses would be strong, Immortal curses, while others could be mortal curses of various ranges (depending on the level of the priest and maybe on the Immortal who granted the spell). Since Immortals are restricted to cursing their own followers or to fulfill prophecies (or if they can get away with it), less strong, more localized curses could be used elsewhere. For exemple a priest might curse his whole flock (a village, for instance, as you suggest) into minotaurs for some bad deed they have done or for turning their back on their Immortal. Unlike with Immortal curses, that sort of curse can be lifted by the PCs, if they can right the wrong that is the origin of the curse. ===== ___________________________________________________________ Herve Musseau http://www.geocities.com/hmusseau/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Find the one for you at Yahoo! Personals http://personals.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2001 04:51:05 +0100 From: Eijerzz * Subject: Tipical doubts of my generation I've got some doubts about Mystara: 1.. What about the street that links Selenica to Ylaruam? 2.. Who is the Master of Sind? ( I can't find my X6!!! ) 3.. How we can put togheter the WrOI [1000 AI] and the war of Sind = [1200 AI] ? 4.. What about Heldann, Ethengar and Glantry rivality? 5.. What about use "Oriental Adventures" by Gygax in Ethengar = campaign? 6.. What is the Red Steel exatly ( I mean the metal, not the entire = set )? 7.. What about the other islands of Thanegioth ( apart from the Island = of Terror) ? 8.. What is the land on the N-W of Glantry? 9.. Where can I find some maps on Internet? Tnx Eij ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 11:54:26 -0500 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: Tipical doubts of my generation Eijerzz * wrote: > I've got some doubts about Mystara: Ok, most of your doubt can be solved by a visit at the Vaults of Pandius, http://dnd.starflung.com, which I will frequently make reference to in the answers here below. > 1.. What about the street that links Selenica to Ylaruam? What's the problem about it? (apart from the fact that it can't be a street, at most it will be a well-known caravan path) > 2.. Who is the Master of Sind? ( I can't find my X6!!! ) Hosadus? There is a non-canon version of him at the Vaults of Pandius (under the Resources -> NPCs section). I don't have X5, so I don't know how he is described there. > 3.. How we can put togheter the WrOI [1000 AI] and the war of Sind [1200 AI] ? Uhm, you could modify the 1200 AC war to fit the modified timeline of WotI, which would only require some modifications to the opening of X4. > 4.. What about Heldann, Ethengar and Glantry rivality? Well, Ethengarans have always been raiders, and their lands would make good homesteading terrain for Heldanner colonists; and the Heldannic Knights are a theocracy, which puts them at odds with anyone who doesn't worship Vanya. The wizards of Glantri are atheists, so they don't like neither the HK nor the Ethengarans. > 5.. What about use "Oriental Adventures" by Gygax in Ethengar campaign? Oriental Adventures is (AFAIK) more Japanese-oriented, while Ethengar is more about Gengis Khan and the like (especially considering what nations are found at the borders of Ethengar). > 6.. What is the Red Steel exatly ( I mean the metal, not the entire set )? An artificial, magical metal similar to steel, but lighter and magic-imbued. The SC campaign book explains its origin in detail. > 7.. What about the other islands of Thanegioth ( apart from the Island of Terror) ? Canon-wise, there isn't much. If you search for "Ispaniola" at the Vaults, you'll find a non-canon version with Ispan settlers by James Mishler. > 8.. What is the land on the N-W of Glantry? The Adri-Varma Plateau. There is some work at the Vaults of Pandius, just look under Atlas -> Brun -> Midlands or search for "Adri Varma" > 9.. Where can I find some maps on Internet? http://www.mystara.fr.st -- Giampaolo Agosta agathokles@libero.it agosta@elet.polimi.it http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 12:04:24 +0100 From: Wizards Shopper Subject: Re: Tipical doubts of my generation most answers can be found on my site www.mystara.fr.st there you'll find every map ever made about Mystara and most of the infos = you're seeking. As for the rest , check out my link section. Thibault Sarlat Thibault Sarlat ICQ 16622177 homepage www.mystara.fr.st join me at thibsylv=40club-internet.fr or at clenarius=40hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 12:15:39 -0500 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: VS: [MYSTARA] Secret Uber Vampire Variants (was: Flames) Saarela Sami wrote: > > Seriously though, as G.Agosta said, I was interested specifically about the > "Secret Uber Vampire Variants" that were brought up in the other thread. I'm > running a campaing that will have some quite strong vampires coming up > sometime in the future and I'm interested in any kind of Uber Vampire > Variants that I could possibly use. (I love to mix'n'match stuff. It keeps > players on their toes.) I had already gone through the Vaults looking info > about vampires, but didn't remember finding anything about Secret Uber > Vampire Variants. OTOH, you could be interested in this critter: Vampire, King, by Mischa Gelman, at http://dnd.starflung.com/kingvamp.html or, if you have Ravenloft's "Van Richten's Guide to the Vampires" or "VR's Monster Hunter's Compendium, vol. I", then my bloodlines are based on salient powers from those sources, which include rules for vampires more powerful than average (older vampires). -- Giampaolo Agosta agathokles@libero.it agosta@elet.polimi.it http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 13:28:36 +0000 From: Gilles Leblanc Subject: Re: Tipical doubts of my generation > I've got some doubts about Mystara: > 1.. What about the street that links Selenica to Ylaruam? ???? > 2.. Who is the Master of Sind? ( I can't find my X6!!! ) If you are refering to the master of the desert nomad, he is the Master of Hule, Hosadus, which conquered Sind later. > 3.. How we can put togheter the WrOI [1000 AI] and the war of Sind [1200 > AI] ? AI ? Don't you mean AC. You don't, in the WoTI boxed set, they suggest running the module X10 ( Red Arrow, Black Shield ) which details the war during AC 1006 if I remember correctly. > 4.. What about Heldann, Ethengar and Glantry rivality? What about it ? > 5.. What about use "Oriental Adventures" by Gygax in Ethengar campaign? Altough I dont have the rules, I think I would rather use them in Ochalea, Myoshima or other places. Ethangar is very nicely detailed if you have the GAZ. > 6.. What is the Red Steel exatly ( I mean the metal, not the entire set > )? It is a metal which when fashioned into a weapon can hit enemies which can only be hit by magical or special weapons ( +1, silver, etc. ). It is also lighter than steel thus pratical for armor and weapons. > 7.. What about the other islands of Thanegioth ( apart from the Island > of Terror) ? They aren't defined much in the canon material, tough their have been some stuff written on them in the vaults. > 8.. What is the land on the N-W of Glantry? That land was called the Adri-Varma plateau and was never detailed in canon. Me and others from the list have detailed it, you can find info in the Vaults under geography, Adri Varma. > 9.. Where can I find some maps on Internet? dnd.starflung.com ( Vaults of pandius ) but the best site for maps is Thibeault Sarlat`s site ( which you can find a link to it in the vaults ). > Tnx > Eij > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/ > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 09:00:09 EST From: Alex Benson Subject: Re: Secret Uber Vampire Variants (was: Flames) > Are these in the Vaults? If so, could someone guide me to them? I'd be > interested in taking a look.>> > > Sorry. But that project is under construction and can only be found on my > hard drive and my own mind. Like so many of my projects (past, present, and > future) time is a problem that hinders their completion. > > Sorry. One day it will be done, then the flames may begin. > No there are info on Mystaran vampires on the vaults, tough not stats. Go to the Vaults , press the SEARCH button type in vampire. Im not going to do that for you and email you the link tough, you can't be that lazy.>> Oops...wrong group of Uber Vampires...but not my group of Uber Vampires. My vamps are a seperate project. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 09:10:19 EST From: Alex Benson Subject: Re: Secret Uber Vampire Variants (was: Flames) > Sorry. But that project is under construction and can only be found on my > hard drive and my own mind. Like so many of my projects (past, present, and > future) time is a problem that hinders their completion. > > Sorry. One day it will be done, then the flames may begin. > But of course -- isn't fire one of the few effective ways to deal with vampires, uber or otherwise?=A0 Clearly any adventure involving vampires with unknown weaknesses should involve considerably flames!=A0 ;)>> Ah...but these uber vamps have a variety of trait attributes based on their=20 bloodlines and the peoples they feed upon. I don't see anyway to justify any= =20 superior resistances to fire in any of the blood strains. One attribute that= =20 some have...thta will draw flameage aplenty...is a psuedo ability to stand=20 the rays of direct sunlight. In short, they draw upon their blood pool to=20 heal the damage as it occurs. However, this ability is not infinite and onl= y=20 used in emergency situations. But more on that later when I am not wearing m= y=20 kerosene pants. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 09:17:09 EST From: Alex Benson Subject: Re: Tipical doubts of my generation <> Good point to point out. Had my campaign continued past Wrath I would have=20 had the Shadow Elves sieze or negotiate this land corridor. Selenica would=20 have been essentially cut off. Since it is heavily influence by Ylaruam it=20 would be annexed by the Ylari. Due to the Ylari civil war the city would=20 become a haven for the more open factions (cannot recall names right now).=20 Al-Kalim tends to use the two factions, assisting one's rise when the=20 situation needs them, while preserving the other for future use. Selenica=20 could be that safe haven until they are needed.=20 I'll let someone else address the other questions. They can do a better job. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 17:04:39 +0000 From: Gilles Leblanc Subject: Re: Tipical doubts of my generation > < 1.. What about the street that links Selenica to Ylaruam?>> > > Good point to point out. Had my campaign continued past Wrath I would have > had the Shadow Elves sieze or negotiate this land corridor. Selenica would > have been essentially cut off. Since it is heavily influence by Ylaruam it > would be annexed by the Ylari. Ah ! The word street had trown me off. He means roads, path or pass. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 21:49:35 +0100 From: Jacob Skytte Subject: This must be my lucky day! Strolling around in my local game shop, checking out the new Lord of the Rings collectible card game, I see some used stuff that I haven't gone through before. Checking it out, there's several old modules of the I-series and the UK-series, not bad stuff, but I've got most of it and the rest is overpriced. But right at the back of the whole stack, something catches my eye. Is that..? Palms sweaty I pull out the adventure module. Joy! It's X2: Castle Amber in good condition (hardly looks used), and priced at just around $10! I ask if everything's still in it, am allowed to check it out. Ah, a little rust damage from the metal clips, that's all. I dish out the cash, and leave, eyes wide in amazement. I just got X2 (one of the very few X-modules I was missing) at a price my wallet could meet! Joy!! Jacob Skytte scythe@wanadoo.dk ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 16:16:32 -0800 From: Chris Furneaux Subject: Re: This must be my lucky day! I managed to score myself Gaz5 The elves of alfheim for just NZ$15 the other day. It was the find of my year :) I've been wanting more of the gaz's but the shipping and conversion rates make it too expensive for me way down in New Zealand. Chris. P.S. I could be perswaded to part with it if someone not too far away had another gaz to offer. > Strolling around in my local game shop, checking out > the new Lord of the Rings collectible card game, I > see some used stuff that I haven't gone through > before. Checking it out, there's several old modules > of the I-series and the UK-series, not bad stuff, > but I've got most of it and the rest is overpriced. > But right at the back of the whole stack, something > catches my eye. Is that..? Palms sweaty I pull out > the adventure module. Joy! It's X2: Castle Amber in > good condition (hardly looks used), and priced at > just around $10! I ask if everything's still in it, > am allowed to check it out. Ah, a little rust damage > from the metal clips, that's all. I dish out the > cash, and leave, eyes wide in amazement. > > I just got X2 (one of the very few X-modules I was > missing) at a price my wallet could meet! Joy!! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Find the one for you at Yahoo! Personals http://personals.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 21:24:32 -0500 From: Mischa Gelman Subject: Re: IM1 The Immortal Storm On Tue, 23 Oct 2001, Jacob Skytte wrote: > That's funny, IM3 was the only one of them I actually enjoyed. I > thought the others were really boring. Particularly when you had to do > math puzzles to progress...Yech, what is this? An excuse for playing > D&D during math classes? :) None of the IM modules have much to do > with Mystara, though... That's partly why I enjoyed IM1 - math and word puzzles always intrigue me. IM2 is the only one that really expands on Mystara IMO and not to a great degree even in that case. - Mischa Steve Spurrier, Florida Gators coach, commenting on a fire in Auburn's football dorm that destroyed 20 books: "But the real tragedy was that 15 hadn't been colored yet." ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 17:25:42 -0800 From: Dave Keyser Subject: Re: Green orcish blood? The Stalker wrote: > Do orcs have green blood?? > > I wouldn't think so. I always had all blood red IMC, but reading the > beginning of the "Dark Knight of Karameikos" novel, it clearly states that > orcs have green blood. Hmmmm... > > Does this mean orcs have green blood in general? Or do they just have green > blood on Mystara? Or do they only have green blood in bad stories? ;) > Not necessarily. DKoK was written with 2nd Edition AD&D in mind, so the author drew the description of orcs(including green skin) from the 2E monster manual. However, the best source for humanoids on Mystara is GAZ10, where it describes the three types of orcs as red, yellow and brown. So the choice is up to you, but don't consider DKoK an authority on Mystaran orc biology. Dave Keyser ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 18:16:24 -0800 From: The Stalker Subject: Re: Green orcish blood? On Tue, 13 Nov 2001 17:25:42 -0800, Dave Keyser wrote: > The Stalker wrote: > >> Do orcs have green blood?? >> >> I wouldn't think so. I always had all blood red IMC, but reading the >> beginning of the "Dark Knight of Karameikos" novel, it clearly states that >> orcs have green blood. Hmmmm... >> >> Does this mean orcs have green blood in general? Or do they just have green >> blood on Mystara? Or do they only have green blood in bad stories? ;) >> > > Not necessarily. DKoK was written with 2nd Edition AD&D in mind, so the > author drew the description of orcs(including green skin) from the 2E monster > manual. > Yes, but I *do* play 2e, and I've never seen anything to make believe orcs have green blood... Doesn't mean it isn't there, but I never read that. Looking at the entry for orcs in the 2e MM, I see no reference to green blood, so I doubt that's where it came from... > However, the best source for humanoids on Mystara is GAZ10, where it describes > the three types of orcs as red, yellow and brown. > > So the choice is up to you, but don't consider DKoK an authority on Mystaran orc > biology. > Uh oh - CANON ALERT!! :D No, I always take especially the novels with a grain of salt (sometimes even two!). After all, if you take the Penhaligon trilogy as canon, you'll have to make several changes to Karameikos and Darokin (which is why some of those details were then disputed in the Hail the Heroes adventure, ironically a 2e Mystara adventure that "corrected" something from a OD&D line novel). Still, orcs having green blood might be a novelty, and since I don't have Gaz 10, it might indeed be that it says something about the color of orcish blood that the writer of that novel but which I didn't. Even so, I sort of like the idea of "green blood so dark it's almost black" as Havard suggested... On the other hand, that will make a real blood bath after a huge battle with orcs seem less dramatic somehow... - The Stalker ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 21:55:57 -0600 From: Aaron E Nowack Subject: Re: Green orcish blood? On Tue, 13 Nov 2001 18:16:24 -0800 The Stalker writes: > Uh oh - CANON ALERT!! :D CANON ALERT! Get the fire hoses! Quickly men! The whole MML could go up in flames any minute... :) Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis." http://www.geocities.com/anowack/ ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 22:14:28 -0600 From: Stone Marshall Subject: Canon Material The way I see it is if you don't want to use it...don't. IMC orc blood is red, but if I wanted to make it purple or pink who is going to tell me otherwise? Most of the D&D books I have read all say that the game is for fun. If something bothers you...change it! I never liked the Thyatian Empire and loved Alphatia, therefore IMC the former was destroyed and the latter never sunk. My point is that everything in the Dungeons and Dragons Multiverse is open to your own personal opinion. Use the canon material to spice up your own version of Mystara and not have carbon copies of the same world everywhere. Multizar the Mage _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 21:35:04 -0800 From: Chris Furneaux Subject: Re: Green orcish blood? > However, the best source for humanoids on Mystara is > GAZ10, where it describes > the three types of orcs as red, yellow and brown. So what, by gaz10 there are no green orcs? Are goblins still green then? Was Thar an orc, and if so then isn't that most likely him on the cover with the green skin sitting on the throne. Wouldn't that be typical. I personally have always concidered orcs to be often greenskins, but some differing kinds existing. Chris. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Find the one for you at Yahoo! Personals http://personals.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 21:41:27 -0800 From: Chris Furneaux Subject: Re: News servers down? Anybody else having trouble with the news.dnd.starflung.com server? I haven't been able to access it for a few days. Chris. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Find the one for you at Yahoo! Personals http://personals.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001 00:25:36 -0600 From: George Hrabovsky Subject: The Different Orcs Ala GAZ 10 I have been following the recent discussion about orc blood with some interest. Here are the facts as related in GAZ 10: There are three main types of orcs: Common, Red, and Yellow. Common orcs are subdivided into three families: Orcus Porcus, Orcus Hyborianus, and Orcus Imperator Rex. Orcus Porcus: The most common of all the orcs, they have definite procine features. Their coloring is of diverse types; pink, black, or gray-green skin sometimes with black splotches. Tribal members identify each other by scent (some would say by smell). Orcus Hyborianus: Northern-style orc. Their coloring is from sickly white to light gray. Orcus Imperator Rex: More human-looking style of orc, can pass for a really ugly human. They prefer darker colored clothes (allowing them to blend in at night). They have copper skin and a smaller snout. They are psychotic and megalomaniacal, believing other orcs to be inferior. Red orcs are subdivided into two families: Orcus Rubeus Vulgaris, and Orcus Simius Terribilis. Orcus Rubeus Vulgaris: Found mainly in the Broken Lands, these orcs tend to have simian features and red hair/fur. Orcus Simius Terribilis: Much more muscular than Vulgaris, these have orange or red fur. Yellow orcs are subdivided into two families: Orcus Facies Ratis, and Orcus Canis Oriensis. Orcus Facies Ratis: These are the nomads found in the hills north of Alfheim. They tend to have very short hair (tan to dull light brown). They have very long, pointed, snouts. Orcus Canis Oriensis: These are the natives of Yellow Orkia in the Broken Lands and of the Ethengarian Steppes. They have Pekingese faces with plumes of long yellor to brown hair on their heads. My Own Observations It seems from the varied descriptions that skin color is likely more of a familial trait for identification (similar to scent, perhaps there is a pigmentation gland in the skin that produces a pigment according to genetics). The color of the blood seems to be red, though this is not certain; though one must speculate about what sorts of meat the orcs would be required to digest to get nutrients for green blood (copper not being a mineral common to most livestock). No doubt the speculation will continue. George ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 12 Nov 2001 to 13 Nov 2001 (#2001-312) ****************************************************************