Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 18 Dec 2001 to 19 Dec 2001 (#2001-346) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 20/12/2001, 19:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 17 messages totalling 1131 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. OT: One Film to Rule Them All (11) 2. Order of the White Drake? (2) 3. OT (sort of): Season's greetings 4. One Film to Rule Them All 5. One film to bind us.... 6. Artifacts for my campaign ******************************************************************** 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: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 12:50:12 +0100 From: Jacob Skytte Subject: Re: OT: One Film to Rule Them All The Stalker wrote: > - The Stalker, having just finished watching "Lord of the Rings: > Fellowship of the Ring" about an hour ago... You too? I had to grab some sleep before I could make coherent = sentences. Dreamt of elves and ringwraiths and demons from ancient times = and, of course, the lidless eye. I fully forgive the small changes made during dramatization, since the = entire length of the movie is soaked in an incredible atmosphere of doom = and despair, broken occasionally with small rays of hope that are = quickly quenched. An atmosphere that I bask in and love. It's amazing = how real everything seems to be, and how much you can feel on behalf of = the characters. Though the movie often seems like high drama (works well with the = brilliant actors, good choices all around), I love it that action = sequences are interspersed to set some pace once in a while, and this is = one of the "new" additions to the story that works great in the movie. = Also the amazing sceneries make the book come alive in a way that you = have never felt before. Quite simply it's the sheer scale that amazes = you, not just the scale of the locations, but the scale of the = opposition (I bet you never expected to see THAT many goblins or = uruk-hai). And while the ringwraiths are appropriately scary, it is the corruption = of the ring, personified in a certain scene involving Bilbo, that is = scariest of all. And I understand, far better than I ever did from = reading the book, why Frodo makes that important decision at the end. I can't wait to see it again tomorrow. :) And to wait another year for = the sequel, plus one more for the finale? I guess it beats waiting = forever between Star Wars episodes, but now that you fully know what to = expect, it's a very hard burden. Leaves you feeling thin...and = stretched... Jacob Skytte scythe@wanadoo.dk ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 14:06:03 +0200 From: Ville V Lahde Subject: Re: Order of the White Drake? On Tue, 18 Dec 2001, Geoff Gander wrote: > Thanks for the compliment! :-) I wrote that piece several years ago, and I > had set out to fill in some blanks in the official history (much as I > tried to do with Colhador). I used the officials sources as much as > possible, and then extrapolated and imagined the rest. Hope it serves you > well! Must say again, good work. Do you remember which official sources there were, altogether? I've never had the chance to follow the various journals, did they have some stuff dealing with the Order? I think your storyline will work quite well with me. The PCs, although three of them are from Karameikos, don't know much about the Thyatian invasion of Traladara, or the short Alphatian invasion of Thyatia, so filling some gaps in the Order story won't feel like rewriting in their eyes. In the present situation of my campaign I have decided that the remnants of the Order have been gathering in the valley of Haven, and that should work with the idea of the "renegade" members. I'm planning to use the valley of Haven as a last-minute relief in a coming climatic battle - the dragon-riders and the army of Haven (try to) save the day a bit like the armies of Gondolin in Tolkien's Silmarillion, in the battle of Uncounted Tears (not sure about the original name, rough translation from Finnish). Ville ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 14:52:24 +0200 From: Ville V Lahde Subject: OT (sort of): Season's greetings Happy Yuletide, Merry Christmas or whatever festival of the seasons' change you'll be celebrating. I joined the list just a few months ago, and I must say it's been cool. Both the MML and Shawn's site have been a veritable treasure mound, not to mention the return of a gaming community -feeling that I have felt returning after so many years. Our group doesn't get to play very often anymore, and it is nice to have some forum where one can keep the D&D-vibes up during the breaks. Thanks to you all. We'll be back in Mystara in January, when the Darokinian ambassadors are preparing to meet the Kin Faction Kalif Ali-Ben Faisal, after a bloody night-time assault of the assasins of Hosadus. Selenica is waiting the Ylaruamian assault, can the heroes convince the Kalif to refrain from the invasion? Cheerio, Ville ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 16:54:30 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: Order of the White Drake? Ah, finally lectures are over and I have some time for this list again! As Haven played an important role in my now completed campaign, I made a few thoughts about the Order of the White Drake. People play at different power levels I guess, but to me an entire order of Dragon Riders seems extremely powerful, especially in a region such as Karameikos (where Haven is located IMC, anyway). I liked the fix that Bruce Heard did in his "World in Flames" Epic, where the Retebius Air Fleet ride Wyverns instead of Dragons. Maybe rather than being Dragon Riders, the Order of the White Drake was founded by a Dragon Rider. The Dragon could be the same one as featured in the Haven scenario. Or maybe the Dragon himself was the founder! Also, the order could have had a number of white wyverns available, but as legends about them grew, people believed that they were actually riding dragons. Just an idea to scale it down a bit. Makes more sense IMO. Ville, your campaign ideas sound very impressive though. Id love to watch the battle! :) Havard --- Ville V Lahde wrote: > On Tue, 18 Dec 2001, Geoff Gander wrote: > > > Thanks for the compliment! :-) I wrote that piece > several years ago, and I > > had set out to fill in some blanks in the official > history (much as I > > tried to do with Colhador). I used the officials > sources as much as > > possible, and then extrapolated and imagined the > rest. Hope it serves you > > well! > > Must say again, good work. Do you remember which > official sources there > were, altogether? I've never had the chance to > follow the various > journals, did they have some stuff dealing with the > Order? > > I think your storyline will work quite well with me. > The PCs, although > three of them are from Karameikos, don't know much > about the Thyatian > invasion of Traladara, or the short Alphatian > invasion of Thyatia, so > filling some gaps in the Order story won't feel like > rewriting in their > eyes. > > In the present situation of my campaign I have > decided that the > remnants of the Order have been gathering in the > valley of Haven, and that > should work with the idea of the "renegade" members. > I'm planning to use > the valley of Haven as a last-minute relief in a > coming climatic battle - > the dragon-riders and the army of Haven (try to) > save the day a bit like > the armies of Gondolin in Tolkien's Silmarillion, in > the battle of > Uncounted Tears (not sure about the original name, > rough translation from > Finnish). > > Ville ______________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Norge - no.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 18:39:34 +0100 From: thibault sarlat Subject: One Film to Rule Them All i gonna try to see it in english version (subtitled in french). I let you know my feeling when i got back at 12 PM, with my bike, and with -2 celcius degrees outside!!! (yes i can be called a freak!!!!) Thibault Sarlat. ICQ 16622177. homepage http://www.mystara.fr.st Join me at: thibsylv@club-internet.fr;thibault.sarlat@wanadoo.fr;clenarius@hotmail.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jacob Skytte" To: Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2001 12:50 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] OT: One Film to Rule Them All The Stalker wrote: > - The Stalker, having just finished watching "Lord of the Rings: > Fellowship of the Ring" about an hour ago... You too? I had to grab some sleep before I could make coherent sentences. Dreamt of elves and ringwraiths and demons from ancient times and, of course, the lidless eye. I fully forgive the small changes made during dramatization, since the entire length of the movie is soaked in an incredible atmosphere of doom and despair, broken occasionally with small rays of hope that are quickly quenched. An atmosphere that I bask in and love. It's amazing how real everything seems to be, and how much you can feel on behalf of the characters. Though the movie often seems like high drama (works well with the brilliant actors, good choices all around), I love it that action sequences are interspersed to set some pace once in a while, and this is one of the "new" additions to the story that works great in the movie. Also the amazing sceneries make the book come alive in a way that you have never felt before. Quite simply it's the sheer scale that amazes you, not just the scale of the locations, but the scale of the opposition (I bet you never expected to see THAT many goblins or uruk-hai). And while the ringwraiths are appropriately scary, it is the corruption of the ring, personified in a certain scene involving Bilbo, that is scariest of all. And I understand, far better than I ever did from reading the book, why Frodo makes that important decision at the end. I can't wait to see it again tomorrow. :) And to wait another year for the sequel, plus one more for the finale? I guess it beats waiting forever between Star Wars episodes, but now that you fully know what to expect, it's a very hard burden. Leaves you feeling thin...and stretched... Jacob Skytte scythe@wanadoo.dk ******************************************************************** 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: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 12:07:43 -0800 From: Chris Furneaux Subject: Re: OT: One Film to Rule Them All > You too? I had to grab some sleep before I could > make coherent sentences. Dreamt of elves and > ringwraiths and demons from ancient times and, of > course, the lidless eye. I too could no longer form coherent sentences at the early hour in the morning when it finished, ah sleep... spoiler..... - - - - - - > I fully forgive the small changes made during > dramatization, since the entire length of the movie > is soaked in an incredible atmosphere of doom and > despair, broken occasionally with small rays of hope > that are quickly quenched. I'm still of two minds, one says good on him, great job and the other says agghhhh... you changed some of my favorate bits. It was not the big changes that really buged me but some of the smaller, dialog changes, as I was a fan of the animated version too: -The hobbit swords came out of nowhere... "oh I brought you some swords because I knew you would need them" does not cut it very well in my mind. But I guess if you do the barrow wright you have to include tom B. -I liked how time passed before he set off in the book, "you should not have waited so long" -When frodo wakes in the book I like how gandalf goes "but frodo, you haven't assked why I was late" -The pass was a bit strange, Glimli's good, emotional lines in the book were sadly missed "I will go to moria, my cousin balin went there..." paraphrased into balin will give us a warm welcome and frodos line: "I do not wish to go, but I will go if gandalf advises it" replaced with just Let the ring bearer decide. However with it was different from the book said, It was a FANTASTIC movie, stunning effects, and great vistas and visualiseations of the text. It was ADAPTED from the text not simply a movie of the text and in it's own right very good. I am definatly very prowd of my fellow wellingtonian Peter Jackson, and our own little armourer Stu whose armour rocks the house... damn I want him to finally make me my sword now that he's finished with that damn movie :) Also, I thought that was an excellent review Stalker, well done. Chris. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 23:39:53 +0100 From: Jacob Skytte Subject: Re: OT: One Film to Rule Them All Chris Furneaux wrote: > I am definatly very prowd of > my fellow wellingtonian Peter Jackson, and our own > little armourer Stu whose armour rocks the house... As I am proud of my fellow Dane (ok, half at least) Viggo Mortensen, who = got to play the part of the last heir of Isildur. And he was great! He = was here for the grand premiere, also attended by the Queen of Denmark, = who praised it as a fantastic movie. (Trivia note: She illustrated a = limited print run of the Danish version of the books. Sadly they're = impossible to come by.) But I guess this is getting waay OT... Jacob Skytte scythe@wanadoo.dk ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 15:48:06 -0800 From: The Stalker Subject: Re: OT: One Film to Rule Them All On Wed, 19 Dec 2001 12:07:43 -0800, Chris Furneaux wrote: >> You too? I had to grab some sleep before I could >> make coherent sentences. Dreamt of elves and >> ringwraiths and demons from ancient times and, of >> course, the lidless eye. > > I too could no longer form coherent sentences at the > early hour in the morning when it finished, ah > sleep... > I know just what both of you mean (it was finished at 3.30 during the night here, for crying out loud...), but once I got home, I was just so full of the movie's atmosphere that I simply *needed* to express that and share my experience. So while I was rather tired, I had little choice. Hard while you're at it, but this is an experience I *know* I will remember in ten years! > > spoiler..... > - > - > - > - > - > - >> I fully forgive the small changes made during >> dramatization, since the entire length of the movie >> is soaked in an incredible atmosphere of doom and >> despair, broken occasionally with small rays of hope >> that are quickly quenched. > > I'm still of two minds, one says good on him, great > job and the other says agghhhh... you changed some of > my favorate bits. It was not the big changes that > really buged me but some of the smaller, dialog > changes, as I was a fan of the animated version too: > -The hobbit swords came out of nowhere... "oh I > brought you some swords because I knew you would need > them" does not cut it very well in my mind. But I > guess if you do the barrow wright you have to include > tom B. Precisely. Some things had to change to move the overall plot along. I miss them too, but if they were there, the movie would have been twice as long! And while I wouldn't have minded six movies of three hours, one based on each book (remember how each novel contains two "books"?), I don't think it could have held the audience, let alone that I couldn't possibly have waited longer. I mean, the minute this movie was over, my first thought was, "What? They actually expect us to wait an entire YEAR for the continuation???". And I know how the story goes on! > -I liked how time passed before he set off in the > book, "you should not have waited so long" > -When frodo wakes in the book I like how gandalf goes > "but frodo, you haven't assked why I was late" > -The pass was a bit strange, Glimli's good, emotional > lines in the book were sadly missed "I will go to > moria, my cousin balin went there..." paraphrased into > balin will give us a warm welcome and frodos line: "I > do not wish to go, but I will go if gandalf advises > it" replaced with just Let the ring bearer decide. > Yes, I missed that too, but it seems to me it was changed because Gandalf's "fate" in Moria was foreshadowed. In the book he advices it, but in the film he doesn't because, as Saruman puts it, he is *afraid* of Moria! And when he falls, we see hoplessness and defeat in his eyes! And that scene... It just stays with you somehow... > However with it was different from the book said, It > was a FANTASTIC movie, stunning effects, and great > vistas and visualiseations of the text. It was ADAPTED > from the text not simply a movie of the text and in > it's own right very good. I am definatly very prowd of > my fellow wellingtonian Peter Jackson, I think you have reason to be. > and our own > little armourer Stu whose armour rocks the house... > damn I want him to finally make me my sword now that > he's finished with that damn movie :) > LOL. > Also, I thought that was an excellent review Stalker, > well done. > Thanks. - The Stalker ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 20:16:36 -0500 From: Mike Donnelly Jr Subject: Re: OT: One Film to Rule Them All Chris Furneaux wrote: > spoiler..... > - > - > - > - > - > - > > I fully forgive the small changes made during > > dramatization, since the entire length of the movie > > is soaked in an incredible atmosphere of doom and > > despair, broken occasionally with small rays of hope > > that are quickly quenched. > > I'm still of two minds, one says good on him, great > job and the other says agghhhh... you changed some of > my favorate bits. It was not the big changes that > really buged me but some of the smaller, dialog > changes, as I was a fan of the animated version too: > -The hobbit swords came out of nowhere... "oh I > brought you some swords because I knew you would need > them" does not cut it very well in my mind. But I > guess if you do the barrow wright you have to include > tom B. > -I liked how time passed before he set off in the > book, "you should not have waited so long" > -When frodo wakes in the book I like how gandalf goes > "but frodo, you haven't assked why I was late" > -The pass was a bit strange, Glimli's good, emotional > lines in the book were sadly missed "I will go to > moria, my cousin balin went there..." paraphrased into > balin will give us a warm welcome and frodos line: "I > do not wish to go, but I will go if gandalf advises > it" replaced with just Let the ring bearer decide. > > However with it was different from the book said, It > was a FANTASTIC movie, stunning effects, and great > vistas and visualiseations of the text. It was ADAPTED > from the text not simply a movie of the text and in > it's own right very good. I am definatly very prowd of > my fellow wellingtonian Peter Jackson, and our own > little armourer Stu whose armour rocks the house... > damn I want him to finally make me my sword now that > he's finished with that damn movie :) > > Also, I thought that was an excellent review Stalker, > well done. I've just come from the afternoon matinee and thoroughly wish I'd gone to the noon show. Too many gabby high-schoolers in my showing. OTOH I had a lot of fun explaining things to them. The bit with the swords was a bit contrived. Sigh. Can't win them all. I thought the fight on Amon Sul could have been done a little better. My feeling was that the movie was a bit rushed. At nearly 3 hours it felt *rushed*!!! I must be way to patient... Seeing Glorfindel written out turned out to be no biggie. I would have liked to meet Gildor Inglorion at the appropriate time though. I think the film was darker than it needed to be, yet, at the end, everyone gave it a huge ovation. Pretty good for a formerly 'no-name' director. And the folks who put the guy who gave this the green light on probation will probably re-think their decision. That said, my patience will be tested waiting for the Two Towers to be released... :) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 22:54:24 EST From: Wizards Shopper Subject: Re: OT: One Film to Rule Them All In a message dated 12/19/2001 3:11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time, c_furneaux@YAHOO.COM writes: > I'm still of two minds, one says good on him, great > job and the other says agghhhh... you changed some of > my favorate bits. It was not the big changes that > really buged me but some of the smaller, dialog > changes, as I was a fan of the animated version too: > The thing with the swords bugged me, too, especially since Merry's blade is so instrumental in defeating the Lord of the Nazgul in Return of the King. I guess whoever plays Eowyn in the film version will kill him all by herself, Xena-style. The other plot change that I didn't like was what they did with Saruman. In the film he comes right out and asks Gandalf to join him in helping Sauron. He seems to be more of Sauron's lieutenant than someone chasing after the One Ring for himself. I'll be interested in seeing how this is handled in the next film. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 23:23:58 -0500 From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: OT: One Film to Rule Them All > > Well, it is here now - the movie a lot of us have been waiting for, so I > hope the list ogre will forgive me for rambling on a bit about it... The > question is naturally if it's any good. I think it goes without saying that, for a movie that many of us have eagerly awaited for several years now - ramble on! Feel free to discuss LOTR so long as no foul language is used, and nothing degenerates into a flame war. Maybe some of the ideas raised in the movie could be applied to Mystara...we'll see. Darnit! Now I can't wait to see it (Saturday.....Saturday) Geoff -- Geoff Gander, BA 97 Cartographer/Game Designer/Government Peon Carnifex Loremaster au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 00:05:51 -0500 From: SteelAngel Subject: Re: OT: One Film to Rule Them All On Wed, 19 Dec 2001, Geoff Gander wrote: > flame war. Maybe some of the ideas raised in the movie could be applied > to Mystara...we'll see. Every landscape in that movie was directly ripped from how I have always pictured Mystara, from the Five Shires to Alfheim to the Broken Lands. Even nitpickers aside, this move should be required viewing for any roleplayer. This is what the D&D movie should have been. Ethan -- Kinard 210 Linux Guru Webmaster www.steelangel.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 00:13:03 -0500 From: Mike Donnelly Jr Subject: Re: OT: One Film to Rule Them All SteelAngel wrote: > On Wed, 19 Dec 2001, Geoff Gander wrote: > > > flame war. Maybe some of the ideas raised in the movie could be applied > > to Mystara...we'll see. > > Every landscape in that movie was directly ripped from how I have always > pictured Mystara, from the Five Shires to Alfheim to the Broken Lands. Lol! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 00:18:15 -0500 From: Christopher M Cherrington Subject: Re: OT: One Film to Rule Them All Just got back from seeing the movie... I showed my kids the old cartoon version last week, so this week we "had" to go see it. Even my wife enjoyed the movie, and she is not a fan at all. I too agree with the other posts on the spoilers, and here is mine... > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Even though they took some flavor out of the lines, Gimli's line in Moria will be a new classic ;) I also loved Legolis' battle scenes, got to add some new elven archer feats. Loved the part when he stabbed one orc with an arrow and knocked it to fire at the next one in one move. (Guess he has some new point blank feat!) Also did you notice his walking ability on the snow? Merry and Pippin also had a makeover, they truly showed how to run a halfling theif. I don't want to spoil the whole thing, I was truly impressed with what they did, having read the stories hundreds of times, the movie still surprised me :) And to answer an earlier post, Elrond was at the battle with Sauron at the end of the Second Age. It was from the Silmarillion, Elrond was actually around since the First Age, and Elrond had kept one of the elven rings (Vilya, the Ring of Air). Way off topic, Elrond was the son of Earendil and Elwing and chose to stay of the first born, his brothers did not, and they became the kings of men and the forefathers of Aragorn (who in turn marries his aunt, Arwen ;) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 00:54:12 -0500 From: David Knott Subject: Re: OT: One Film to Rule Them All From: "Christopher M Cherrington" > Way off topic, Elrond was the son of Earendil and Elwing and chose to stay > of the first born, his brothers did not, and they became the kings of men > and the forefathers of Aragorn (who in turn marries his aunt, Arwen ;) Elrond had only one brother, Elros, who was the ancestor of all of the Numenoreans and Dunedain. Still, he must have been greatly grieved when he left Middle Earth, as all three of his children (his twin sons as well as Arwen) stayed behind, so he had only his wife to comfort him in the Undying Lands. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 06:57:43 +0100 From: thibault sarlat Subject: One film to bind us.... I've not seen it yet but i've read on the official movie site (those who have seen the movie can correct me, ( i know that eowyn only appear in book 2) but P Jakson said that he cut Eowyn too , and gave it's characteristics to Arwen. Virgin, warrior, participate to the drama. (so there would be not eowyn, i.e Merry kills the lord of the nazgul himself (Hobbits can have a real damaging rack of teeth you know...) In a way the fusion of the two female main characters can be understood (they both are in love with Aragorn). As for the future Faramir-Eowyn wedding and all , i have no idea how he 'll handle it... i realize that some aspect of the original story could have him lose a lot of time in the drama, but as a die hard and a purist , it bothers me a little bit. I'll see it tonight. I'll let you know my impressions. Thibault Sarlat. ICQ 16622177. homepage http://www.mystara.fr.st Join me at: thibsylv@club-internet.fr;thibault.sarlat@wanadoo.fr;clenarius@hotmail.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wizards Shopper" To: Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2001 4:54 AM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] OT: One Film to Rule Them All > In a message dated 12/19/2001 3:11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time, > c_furneaux@YAHOO.COM writes: > > > > I'm still of two minds, one says good on him, great > > job and the other says agghhhh... you changed some of > > my favorate bits. It was not the big changes that > > really buged me but some of the smaller, dialog > > changes, as I was a fan of the animated version too: > > > > The thing with the swords bugged me, too, especially since Merry's blade is > so instrumental in defeating the Lord of the Nazgul in Return of the King. I > guess whoever plays Eowyn in the film version will kill him all by herself, > Xena-style. > > The other plot change that I didn't like was what they did with Saruman. In > the film he comes right out and asks Gandalf to join him in helping Sauron. > He seems to be more of Sauron's lieutenant than someone chasing after the One > Ring for himself. I'll be interested in seeing how this is handled in the > next film. > > ******************************************************************** > 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: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 04:51:52 -0200 From: Andre Martins Subject: Artifacts for my campaign Hi, I have just finished creating 4 artifacts for my campaign (three, actually, as the last one still needs to be detailed), so I decided to share them with the list. They are VERY, VERY powerful and will not come into play for long, many years, real time, but, eventually, either my players will need one or two of them to have a small chance of surviving impossible odds, or will have to find a way of destroying them, for the same amount of danger. Depends on which side they will choose to side with. Currently, at 3rd level, my players don't even have a +1 sword, so they are far, far away from this whole thing. Altough I might just give them the Armor soon, once they manage to stop the Kartoeba (B10), as it will be FAR more trouble to them than of any benefit, and they will start realizing what they will eventually be against. They have just discovered the valley, I hope to be able to send my own modifications to B10 in a day or two. The year in my campaign is 1003AC, so WotI, or my modified version of it, hasn't started yet. Eventually, I'll add my campaign notes and adventures and make a whole campaign available somewhere. Until then, I'd appreciate comments on the work I have done so far. Finally, as I am using 3ed rules, some parts are incomplete, as we still have no rules for Immortals there. Anyway, most of it is nor rules specific. The Artifacts of the Pharaoh These artifacts are collectively known in Pandius as the Artifacts of Pharaoh, because they used to belong to the last nithian pharaoh. Their main uses is in campaigns centered around quests for Immortality and the PCs' careers as Immortals. They all were gathered or created for the same purpose, waging war against the Immortals and their enforced rules, but they do not have a common origin, though. Note that the Claw of the Reptile is an extremely powerful artifact and should never be given to PCs, even Immortal PCs, except under the most exceptional circumstances and for a very short period of time. In any case, simply locating it should be almost impossible and even the most powerful mortal party would have no chance of surviving a confrontation with its current owner and her followers. If it appears at all, it should be at the hand of its current user, in an epic, battle, of continental, even planetary proportions. The artifacts can be controlled by mortals, eventually, but that is extremely unlikely. Whenever its owner has its level increased, he can try a Will check against DC 40 to overcome one handicap or penalty. Which one can not be chosen and must be determined randomly. A natural 20 on the roll won' t do it, the modified roll MUST be 40 or more. Glasses of Identification These glasses were created by the last Pharaoh of Nithia, Thanorisre (Taphose, for the Milenians) around 550 BC. After establishing a cult to himself as the Supreme God of the Nithians, the Pharaoh decided to take measures against the intervention by the Immortals, that was certain to follow. In order to monitor his subjects for signs of any immortal worship, he created these glasses. Their purpose is to identify powerful magics, as well as the followers of the Immortals. When Thanorisre quest brought him the other ancient items of powers needed to battle the Gods, he also made the glasses sensitive to them. He knew, in his last days, that his days were numbered and he prepared a way to recover his most important items, should he manage to escape and survive. When the Immortals striked, the Pharaoh used his powers to teleport his belongings to specially prepared temples, protected from the prying eyes of the Immortals by powerful spells he had researched. All of these temples are underground and protected by Exalted beings, among them, some Burrowers. These creatures were to form part of the Pharaoh army and would have allowed him to fight the Immortals, should he had more time to prepare. Their Exalted status was disguised by a previously prepared curse, so that they could go undetected by the Council of Intrusion. Today, these creatures are just shadows of their former selves, unable to use many of their powers, until the curse is lifted. However, their physical mighty and the powers they still have are enough to make them formidable opponents for all but the most powerful men and women in Mystara. The glasses were sent to the nithian colony in Karameikos, to a hutaakan servant of the Pharaoh. They remained in their valley ever since and are currently under the power of Raniel. Raniel is an elf who has been hiding in the valley for the last 100 years, since he found notes about powers that could make one Immortal, while breaking into the house of a glantrian noble. He was spotted and recognized and barely escaped alive. Already a little paranoid, he dreamt of the Gods gathering to hunt him and he traveled the Known World, looking for somewhere where neither the archmage nor the Immortals could find him. After a disastrous expedition on the Altan Tepes, where his two guides were killed during a snowstorm, he wandered in the mountains for 2 weeks before finding the valley. The traldars tried to convince him to join them on their war against the hutaakans, but he was not interested in making new enemies. The ruins in the Lake Wykita, in the hutaakan area of the valley, attracted his attention and he has spent all his efforts to turn them into a good hideout. It was there where he found the glasses and he has been studying them since. He hasn't gone very far, away from any libraries and not willing to leave his haven to research and gather extra evidence. He knows how to operate the artifact perfectly well, but has manage to collect only small bits of its history. >> From times to times, he leaves the island to investigate the caverns in the valley, but an early encounter with the Kartoeba he almost didn't survive has convinced him not to be very bold. Lesser Artifact, 250PP Detect Magic (20 minutes, 60', 15 TP) - it detects all kinds of magics, revealing their true nature and source. Mundane sources cause a colorful aura to appear around the object, the color depending on the kind of magic. Artifacts also have a color aura, but their colors seem somehow stolen by a dark light, one that attracts and captures all the light originated by the magic. Detect Flock (4 hours, 60', 20TP) - works as a Know Alignment spell, but, instead, it detects whether there are followers of some Immortal around (clerics, paladins and devout followers are detected). The wearer sees a dark aura around them, as if there were a treatening presence about to take them over. Locate Object (20 minutes, 1200', 20TP) - by concentrating, the wearer can feels if any of a number of magical items tuned to it are within range and the general direction to them.. Among the objects it can detect are the Claws of the Reptile, the Helm of Undetection and the Ring of Forbidden Knowledge. It works for no objects it wasn't tuned to find. Gaseous Form (40 minutes, wearer only, 30 TP) - the wearer becomes insubstantial, as in the spell, with all the equipment he is carrying. Penalties: Anytime the Detect Flock power is activated and a Immortal follower is detected, the wearer has a 10% chance of undergoing an involuntary transformation to Gaseous Form. When that happens, only the wearer and The Glass change, all the equipment is left behind. The Pharaoh had this as a contingency that would allow him to escape. The wearer can avoid the transformation by succeeding a Will save against DC 30. When detecting any follower of the Immortals, even if the penalty is not activated, the wearer must also succeed on a Will save against DC 20 or lose control. If it is clear the wearer is more powerful than the follower and his companions, he will attack them at the best of his abilities. Otherwise, he will flee, as if affected by a fear spell. Handicap: The user become paranoid, sure the Immortals are after him. After having the artifact for more than a month, the owner must find a place where no Immortal has followers or leave in permanent seclusion, locked away from the world. Somehow, the sighting of nithian ruins can decrease the problem, but not eliminate it. Claws of the Reptile These barbed gloves adjust perfectly to the hands of anyone who tries them, automatically changing their size to fit whomever is currently holding them, be it a pixie, a man or an ancient dragon. They were fashioned long ago, by the Carnifex, to help in their war against the Immortals and are an effective weapon against them, as well as against any other creature. Thanorisre found them at the end of his reign and was still researching its functions when he was deposed. Some Immortals fear what he might have been able to do, should he had mastered this artifact completely. The news of the uncovering of the Claws were what made the Immortals act immediately and Ixion spent a lot of time and effort trying to track it down after Nithia was destroyed. The artifact is ever since in a secluded cloister in Thothia, in the heart of the Great Escarpment. The place is under 1 mile of solid rock and can be reached only by tunnels that wind down for about 30 miles, in the shortest path. The temple, dedicated to Thanorisre and Thanatos, is protected by a Great Wyrm Shadow Dragon (Exalted status) and her followers, a small but strong community of stone giant mystics (monks) and dwarves. These dwarves are the remnants of the original race of dwarves (the modrisdwerg?), before they were altered by Kagyar. They disccuss to this day what right had Kagyar to alter their relatives and consider that episody an insult to them as a race. The tunnels leading down are filled with all sorts of stone traps, prepared by these dwarves to protect the underground kingdom and all passages could be sealed whithin minutes, if needed. Greater Artifact: 500PP Weapon Artifact: The artifact allows for rake attacks for a base damage of 1d10. It is also a +5 weapon/+10 against Immortals in their Manifestation Form. Disrupt Mortal Identity (instantaneous, touch, 100PP): If used against an Immortal in a Mortal Identity and the Mortal Identity is hit, it must pass a Fortitude Save or be killed, banning the Immortal back to his Home Plane. This feature is not known by the artifact current owner and it is debatable if it was planned by the Carnifex or added by other powers. In any case, it is perfectly possible that it will never be discovered, as the only visible effect is that the weapon inflicted a mortal wound and the victim died from that. The only measurable effect is the expenditure of TPs. The power is automatic and needs not to be invoked. Death Strike (4 minutes, touch, 500PP): if fully charged, the artifact can be ordered to kill an Immortal in his Manifestation Form when hit. If in his Home Plane, the Immortal is completely destroyed, unless.(introduce proper rules for Immortal save here). On other planes, the Immortal is simply banished back to his Home Plane where he/she loses 100PP and is trapped, by the usual WotI rules. Penalty: Whenever the Death Strike power is activated, the wearer of the claw loses half of its maximum hit points, no save allowed. Handicaps: Obsession: The owner of the Claws will gradually start to hate the Immortals with passion. He will not do anything obviously stupid, but will plot to overthrow them and will attack any Immortal he finds, if she thinks she has a good chance of winning the fight and that will further the destructive purposes of the Claw. The owner becomes machiavelic and will ally with Immortals in order to further her purposes. That usually means Thanatos, as he is the only one willing to destroy all Immortals. Aura: every cleric or paladin of every deity, except Thanatos will feel unsettled on the presence of the wearer of this artifact. A detect evil/good,etc. will reveal its owner as the most vile creature, an enemy to be utterly destroyed, regardless of the faith of the cleric. This effect can be turned off if the owner is also wearing the Helm of Undetection. Armor of Undetection It is currently in the Lost Valley of the Hutaakans, lost inside the caves where the Kartoeba lives. It was crafted in Blackmoor, as a personal cloaking device and it looks, when not worn, like a spacesuit, not like any type armor. Once worn, it is absorbed by the wearer clothing, changing its appearance and becoming completely invisible, even with the use of True Seeing. Exalted beings specifically casting True Seeing because they suspect the wearer will see it for what it is, otherwise will be subject to the Going Unnoticed power of the Armor and will simply ignore and not check the wearer, whenever it is reasonable (it is reasonable to miss someone in a crowd, not in a small room with half a dozen creatures around you). Greater Artifact, 500PP Mind Blank (permanent, while worn, 100TP per hour (the artifacts recharges at a slower rate while worn)) - as per the spell, protects from all forms of detection, influence or reading of emotions or thoughts Blend with Surroundings (2 hours, 90TP) (see WotI, Book One, p.95) Going Unnoticed (permanent, while worn, TP cost included in the Mind Blank description) - the wearer is seens as a common, unimportant person and ignored, as well as those with him, unless they do something to attract attention as shouting, attacking, etc. Therefore, the owner can easily disappear in a crowd, leaving no traces. If an Immortal knows the wearer is near and is actively checking people after him, he must succeed on a save against .. in order to not be fooled by the artifact. Create Double (3 hours, 50 TP) - The wearer can create an illusionary double of himself, who will seem, by all standards, to be himself, behaving like he were. The double can be instructed to flee, to deliver messages and to enter combat and will obey the instructions as well as possible, being no more than a projection of the will of the wearer. However, it can not cast any spells and any damage dealt by it, disappears when the Double disappears. Killed people, however, remain dead. Handicaps: Clerics who wear this armor lose contact with their patron, they can not gain their daily spells or commune with their gods. This effect lasts for a whole week after the last time the cleric donned the armor. Even if the cleric is not wearing the armor or its owner, but if he is within 20 yards of it, his prayers for spells will fail and he will not be able to establish a link with his Immortal. The effect of Immortal blessings on the wearer are weaker. Whenever a spell is cast on him that will be beneficial to the wearer, he gets the minimum possible benefit. Cure spells cure the minimum amount possible, if the duration has a random component, it will last the minimum possible and so on. While wearing this armor, familiars can't be contacted, followers become less loyal and the wearer can not command army units, as it is as if he had no leadership at all. The armor also causes a -4 penalty to its wearer charisma, for effects of interactions with other people, as he is seeing as someone dull. Ring of Forbidden Knowledge The wearer of this ring automatically gains the knowledge of the old Immortal history, as only the most ancient Immortals know it (see the Ancient Secrets of Mystara article in the last volume of the Tome of Mystara http://www.geocities.com/mystaratome/ ). He gets a version close to the one Thanatos would tell. It is believed that a fifth artifact was placed in Glantri, where currently is Nouvelle Averoigne, one tied to detection and mastering of Immortal level magics, and it is possible that a sixth artifact exists. ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 18 Dec 2001 to 19 Dec 2001 (#2001-346) ****************************************************************