Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 14 Jul 2002 to 15 Jul 2002 (#2002-182) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 16/07/2002, 17:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 19 messages totalling 1076 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Mystaran Almanac: AC1018 Events (a short review) (12) 2. The Daemon adventure V 3. Acroynms and the Almanacs (2) 4. New NWN Realms of Mystara Chat 5. More vampiric bloodlines 6. Halzunthram Alive? (2) ******************************************************************** 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: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 03:47:08 EDT From: Alex Benson Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac: AC1018 Events (a short review) <> You did ask and I did answer. I don't know what else I can add to explain it. Why do words evolve? When did amour become armor? Words change. Why does Thyatis use a Y instead of an I? Ierendi? Ylaruam? If you want more of an explanation, you'll have to await Herve's answer or you can look it up in previous MAs. The name's development is noted in the MAs. Regardless, it's a name and nitpiking upon it really is a waste of time IMHO. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 10:47:25 +0300 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: The Daemon adventure V TO THE RAINBOW CAVERN At this point everyone should be pretty desperate. A village meeting is held at the Hall, and everyone who is anybody is there. (Note: Unless the PCs used violence to get Gumhenel access to the Stone. In that case they are pretty much alone.) The villagers throw fruitless accusations at each other for defiling the Stone. The drawven smiths, mage and Ish-Jaillah are the most favoured suspects. House searches of their premises are called for. Ish-Jaillah will object to this strongly, since he doesn't want anyone to find his stash of narcotics. In any case, the piece of the Stone isn't found. Now things get a bit harder, since there were no obvious witnesses to the theft. The DM must decide her/himself how to give the PCs hints about the renegade wizard. One possibility is Halfara, whose people may have learned about the wizard and fear him. Stories tell that living shadows devour anyone approaching the cave. Maybe mage Damon has heard rumours of a Glantrian wizard who had to flee his country after certain scandals. If the DM wishes, the renegade wizard might also have a spy in the village, from whom the location of the cave may be obtained. The local kobolds could also provide not only information but also an interesting side-track to the adventure. Halfara could guide the PCs up to the river Fengela. Encounters with suspicious and even belligerent Boreans are possible at this stage. Halfara isn't liked either, since he has migled with the strangers. The rainbow cavern is a large naturally formed cave. The renegade wizard, who uses the name Prism Mage, has left it pretty much untouched. One can enter the cave via a narrow path that runs under a thundering waterfall. There it meets a tunnel opening. The tunnel runs 10 meters underground. Halfway through the tunnel the mage has left one or more LIVING CRYSTAL STATUEs as guards. One of them has been employed with speech ability - it will inquire the visitors' business and names and relay them to its master. The mage is a 6th level Magic-User, who has an extensive collection of spells and following items: POTION OF INVISIBILITY, WAND OF FEAR (6 charges, command word "Merde" - it was made by an Amberville). In addition to this he is aided by two SHADOWS, which he has used to scare the locals. The shadows lurk in translucent stalagmites and rush forward if the mage is attacked. The are a lot of stlactites and stalagmites in the cave. The floor is covered with nice rugs and carpets. In a small alcove the mage has a laboratory. All equipment has been made of crystal. On the lab table lies the piece of the Stone of Asterius. Other stuff: A small bookshelf with books on carving and working crystal, books on animation and construction. There are many ways of getting the stone back, from direct attack (note: the mage should be a dangerous, even lethal opponent) to theft and buying. The PCs can also convince the mage that he'll get the splinter back after Gumhenel has returned home. The priests of Asterius might have a problem with this, however. THE END If all goes well, the PCs get the piece of the Stone. Gumhenel can return home, as the rift to another dimension reopens. For a while the PCs are able to see to "the other side", where Gumhenel's family greets it. Finally the PCs are able to see the true form of the creature. Gumhenel signals them to remove the piece of the Stone again so the rift won't snatch any more of his people. The villagers reward the PCs with a suitable sum depending on the campaign policy of the DM, for example by a good warhorse and a couple of hundred gp:s. A party is held in their honor, and the Bagged Heldann arrives too. In the spur of the moment he sings "the Ballad of the Daemon with a Saddened Countenance". Of course things can very well end differently. What if the PCs join the Prism mage, who is interested in using the dimensional rift? In any case, the Wildlands offer great possibilities for future adventures. Good travels, and may your encounters with demons be sweet ones. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 01:02:09 -0700 From: Herve Musseau Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac: AC1018 Events (a short review) > < It's not out of a TSR product is it?>> > > This question comes up every MA release. I am wondering if Herve has a > pre-typed response ready to be pasted into a mail to respond. LOL. Actually > the name stems from New Alphatian Empire as cited in the PWAs. It became New > Alphatian Confederate Empire....N.A.C.E for short. A "Y" was later added to > display Alphatian extravagance. Hence N.A.C.E. became Nayce. Yes, it is the remnants of Alphatia that on the outer world after Alphatia sank in the Alphatian Sea. It's more or less the old colonies. Some of them had been brought together by Zandor in a New Alphatian Empire in the PWAs, until Zandor was deposed in the last PWA and replaced by a council. The council abandoned Zandor's New Alphatian Empire name, going with New Alphatian Confederate Empire, while most people probably knew it simply as Alphatia. The military used the acronym N.A.C.E. for it, or NACE. The acronym was somewhat picked up by the populace, when they wanted to refer to the council and government and such rather than to themselves (they still call themselves Alphatian, or using local names like Meriander; there is no "Naycer" word). Minrothaddan merchantmen picked up the acronym and transformed it into their patois as Nayce, which was brought back to the Old World and made its way into Thyatian common unchanged. (the reason behind this change is that no one in the RW liked the acronym NACE, so an in-game way out was found.) Later, the word came back to Nayce, so that the Minrothaddan word is now used there as well, and an adjective was derived from it (Naycese, which avoids always writting "Nayce's" or using Nayce as a pseudo-adjective), though still no inhabitant name (offical name thus still Alphatians). That was today's piece of trivia, which I don't think was ever explained in so many words and detail. Only bits and pieces of the explanation appear in a diffuse way in the almanacs. ===== ___________________________________________________________ Herve Musseau http://www.geocities.com/hmusseau/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Autos - Get free new car price quotes http://autos.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 23:52:27 +1000 From: Alfred O'Meagher Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac: AC1018 Events (a short review) Acronyms really don't fit fantasy game worlds. They are just another isolationist symptom of clique thinking. Why wouldn't it just still be Alphatia? The politics have changed, not the people. Mystara has all these other realms with normal enough names, fantasy setting nomenclature and so on, and then a late-1990s ugly American style acronym. Yuck. It won't attract new fans who have recently purchased the original works. In fact the users of the original stuff are going to pretty much outnumber the online almanack users 10 to 1 based on sales and the way their own websites are going (I found 200+ Mystara websites through using the AD&D web rings and website links pages. The OD&D and AD&D Mystara home campaigns of these pages number at least 4-5 players each, the one I play in numbers 12 plus many more online who play in the DM's PBeM.) This list is very cool, but I am already sick of the clique-ish almanack. It's twaddle. Any DM worth the name has a cartload of their own stuff, they don't need an almanack unless it is inspirational and full of useful details and maps. Otherwise it's just an attempt at being elitist and forcing one person's view of a fantasy world on to everybody else. Also, it's odd how canon is "canon" but nevertheless is changed on a whim when it suits the online almanack creators. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 11:36:57 EDT From: Alex Benson Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac: AC1018 Events (a short review) <> It's human nature to shorten the names for things, even official names. Whether acronyms belong in a fantasy setting is up for debate and really dependant upon the individual gamer and his campaign. And acronyms are canon, I offer the DDC to name but one. The DM regulates the flow of information in a game. If you don't want acronyms don't use them in in-character dialogue. For example, refer to the DDC as the Darokin Diplomatic Corp. <> Actually an American did not pen the acronym NACE or the resulting Nayce. Likewise, I see no problem with either. Herve did a very good job at implementing this terminology into the MA. Anyway, I do not see why there is the need to make this an anti-US matter by blaming acronyms upon the American people. This is an international forum and generalizing and flaming an entire people is not cool. <> Mystara is a dead setting. There is no new official material. There hasn't been for years. Finding these works gets more difficult and more expensive every year. Campaigns are supplemented by these online non-canon works. Many have some degree of deviation to their campaigns, either resulting from personal tastes or from the timeline altering actions of their gaming group. Mystara is prone to deviation and expansion. Look at all the undetailed land regions on the surface world. Or look at all of the empty regions in Hollow World. Filling these empty spaces is even encouraged by the official products. <> You must be new to the MML. I am unsure. I have been in and out of lurker mode for about a year. The history of the almanac is very friendly and intent upon providing a continuing timeline after Mystara's canon timeline ended. . As for elitism, I would say that that is not true. I use to be heavily involved with the almanac. The majority of the active members of the MML are involved with the almanac. So it's not like there are a handful of folks dictating all this almanac material. And the Almanac is not mandatory. If you don't want to use it, in part or in its entirety, then don't use it. Look at it as entertainment. If it causes so much anguish to read, don't download it. <> Canon is canon. And even canon is subject to change by the individual gamer. If you have a gripe with the almanac, post your concerns. Heck, I'll probably agree with you on some of them. The people that wrote the thing are on this List. I made some comments about the newest MA. I regretably let loose some possible spoilers. I also sent Herve a more specific mail concerning some MA events and plots. He answered that mail and I appreciate it. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 17:37:36 +0200 From: Thibault Sarlat Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac: AC1018 Events (a short review) i believe that this discussion is going nowhere...except relaunch the never-ending Canon debate I have seen many flaming discussion for the time i belong to that list and the final aswer is always, THIS IS YOUR CAMPAIGN, SO DO AS YOU LIKE !!! There is no need to doubt any DM working on the almanach project. It is a great deal of work to contribute, mainly for the love of the Mystara setting. If you want to lurk, well lurk , enjoy the result and if doesn't fit your taste or your campaign orientation , then drop the almanch and do your own adaptation. I do agree with you regarding the use of acronyms , it quite odd in a fantasy world. Yet i think your going too far when talking about the "DM worth it", or the clique. Of course the almanach reflect the taste of it's creators, if you want your taste to be represented, then join the clique, they are very welcoming and open minded, you'll see. Wether you participate or not is irrelevant as long as you don't critisize the results afterwards. Most active members have a life of their own, and the amount of time they dedicate to us (it means you and me and all the others) deserve respect. I also think that the PWA is going far from where it used to go. But i keep waiting for the next issue every year. I hope you'll be in a more indulgent and respectful mood in the future. quote: " > This list is very cool, but I am already sick of the clique-ish almanack. > It's twaddle. Any DM worth the name has a cartload of their own stuff, they > don't need an almanack unless it is inspirational and full of useful details > and maps. Otherwise it's just an attempt at being elitist and forcing one > person's view of a fantasy world on to everybody else. > > Also, it's odd how canon is "canon" but nevertheless is changed on a whim > when it suits the online almanack creators any personnal answer to this, should go to mystara@fr.st Thibault Sarlat. ICQ 16622177. homepage http://www.mystara.fr.st Join me at:thibault.sarlat@wanadoo.fr;clenarius@hotmail.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alfred O'Meagher" To: Sent: Monday, July 15, 2002 3:52 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Mystaran Almanac: AC1018 Events (a short review) > Acronyms really don't fit fantasy game worlds. They are just another > isolationist symptom of clique thinking. Why wouldn't it just still be > Alphatia? The politics have changed, not the people. > Mystara has all these other realms with normal enough names, fantasy setting > nomenclature and so on, and then a late-1990s ugly American style acronym. > Yuck. It won't attract new fans who have recently purchased the original > works. In fact the users of the original stuff are going to pretty much > outnumber the online almanack users 10 to 1 based on sales and the way their > own websites are going (I found 200+ Mystara websites through using the AD&D > web rings and website links pages. The OD&D and AD&D Mystara home campaigns > of these pages number at least 4-5 players each, the one I play in numbers > 12 plus many more online who play in the DM's PBeM.) > > This list is very cool, but I am already sick of the clique-ish almanack. > It's twaddle. Any DM worth the name has a cartload of their own stuff, they > don't need an almanack unless it is inspirational and full of useful details > and maps. Otherwise it's just an attempt at being elitist and forcing one > person's view of a fantasy world on to everybody else. > > Also, it's odd how canon is "canon" but nevertheless is changed on a whim > when it suits the online almanack creators. > > ******************************************************************** > 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, 16 Jul 2002 02:11:24 +1000 From: Alfred O'Meagher Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac: AC1018 Events (a short review) "Mystara is a dead setting. There is no new official material. There hasn't been for years. Finding these works gets more difficult and more expensive every year." This isn't really true any more -- the original Blackmoor stuff is all available and all the D&D stuff is available for pay-for-use download. Also, quite a lot of d20 stuff has a Known World flavour. I think that this is attributable to the influences on the current crop of game designers out there. Plus there are the Mystara items that have turned up in 3e, including, really, the whole approach to the fighting men and women of 3e with their streamed skills and abilities. Isolating yourself from this is guaranteeing obsolescence. I guess some online fans of things - comics, games, whatever - sort of like the obsolescence angle, as it allows them to sort of be all misty and nostalgic, but it is never necessary. I was looking at Shannara sites the other day and I noticed the same thing with some of those fans. They didn't really want to genuinely expand on anything, just endlessly replay the dead issues of the books. On the other hand there were loads of sites where people HAVE genuinely expanded on material and also found out what the underlying themes and components of the genre were. Terming a setting for a RPG "dead" means but little. The rules and fiction don't wear out and they don't have irreplaceable batteries to go flat... ;-) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 15:20:23 EDT From: Alex Benson Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac: AC1018 Events (a short review) Alfred, if the "dead" or "living" status of Mystara is the only remaining point in contention, then I will digress further continuing this debate. Mystara officially died back in the mid-90s when TSR discontinued its publication of Mystaran products. That is where I draw Mystara's deathly status from. The online pay for play service is a godsend, however I feel that it focuses its attentions to filling holes instead of expanding interests. I am really surprised that the Mystara following has remained as strong as it has, so maybe there is hope. NWN is rolling ahead. Maybe that 3e platform will aid in spreading the setting. In my opinion it is the setting in which we all play that is the tie that binds no matter what rules are used. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 18:59:00 +0000 From: Agathokles Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac: AC1018 Events (a short review) Alfred O'Meagher wrote: > > Acronyms really don't fit fantasy game worlds. They are just another > isolationist symptom of clique thinking. Why wouldn't it just still be > Alphatia? The politics have changed, not the people. > Mystara has all these other realms with normal enough names, fantasy setting > nomenclature and so on, and then a late-1990s ugly American style acronym. I'm not especially fond of the NACE myself (either as a name or as a concept), but I can't really see why acronyms should not be fine for a fantasy world. The Americans did not invent acronyms, BTW: have a look at the acronyms in any Latin dictionary, for example. > Yuck. It won't attract new fans who have recently purchased the original > works. Ahem, how many people have really recently purchased the original works, without having a previous knowledge of Mystara? I fear it's a very, very limited number. > In fact the users of the original stuff are going to pretty much > outnumber the online almanack users 10 to 1 based on sales Sales of what? The ESDs? I'd actually be interested in having a look at the sales figures of those, but even the "best sellers" listing in the online store doesn't seem very accurate. > and the way their > own websites are going (I found 200+ Mystara websites through using the AD&D > web rings and website links pages. The OD&D and AD&D Mystara home campaigns > of these pages number at least 4-5 players each, the one I play in numbers > 12 plus many more online who play in the DM's PBeM.) Ok, but how many of those website owners discovered Mystara in the last 2 years? I'd bet less than 10%. Fact is, as far as WotC is concerned, Mystara _is_ dead--at most, it's a set of monsters or other items to be presented as "new" to the 3e market. The only new fans are those we are able to bring in in our own games. > This list is very cool, but I am already sick of the clique-ish almanack. You don't need to use it, or even read it... and if you think that the online community would benefit from a different kind of fan products, well, no one's going to prevent you from writing them. I myself prefer other kinds of projects, so I've never been involved in the Almanac, but I've took part in a number of other works, and I've written other stuff on my own. > Also, it's odd how canon is "canon" but nevertheless is changed on a whim > when it suits the online almanack creators. Canon it's canon. The Almanacs are not (though they might be compatible with canon, if the Almanac Team decides to keep it so). There was even a discussion, back when the official fan sites were created, on whether someone (Shawn, Bruce Heard, a small council, the whole list) should have started "promoting" high quality, canon-compatible works to actual canon status. As far as I remember, it ended with the decision to keep all fan material non canon. So, canon cannot be changed. The Almanac Team can certainly modify events, description or any other item /in their own/ works, but this won't change canon. Of course, no one is constrained by canon in their writings as well, so they are perfectly entitled to insert whatever non-canon-compatible item they want. -- Giampaolo Agosta agathokles@libero.it agosta@elet.polimi.it http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 22:07:47 +0100 From: Peter Scrivener Subject: Acroynms and the Almanacs I havent posted on the mailing list for awhile (about two years) so forgive me if I do something wrong. As for acroynms I find myself that I believe it is more of a modern invention and not something i would find suitable in my campaign. NACE is a good example where in my campaign the terrotories of NACE are still called Alphatia. Onto the almanacs I must say that the first one I find interesting as they continued many of the ideas found in the orginal material but the further they went on the more they seem to be a write up of someone elses campaign. Not that it isnt useful and interesting to see how other peoples Mystara is developing. Also the websites such as Vaults of Pandius is useful for the sections such as listing the immortals and country write ups but I agree with some previous people who say it feels like a clique. I think any website or community like Mystara would seem to be a closed group and could be looked at as trying to push their view of Mystara forward now that Vaults is the official Mystara website. As for m as I tend to skip large sections of the web site it doesnt really matter to me, however I would think it worthwhile of the people who put together stuff sent out emails just asking for ideas to make it feel more like a community. I remember a few years ago when I was first on the list that it always seemed somone was asking for help to write a net book or contribute ideas. Just a quick note does any else post on the Wizards message board, I went there recently (as pedroscriv) and not much activity seems to be going on. Sorry again if the mailing list wasnt the best rplace for this rant. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Autos - Get free new car price quotes http://autos.yahoo.comm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 16:23:26 -0500 From: John Polacek Subject: New NWN Realms of Mystara Chat Hi everybody, The Neverwinter Nights game has been out for a few weeks now, and we've been busy over at Realms of Mystara working towards creating a game server set in Mystara. Work has already begun on areas in Karameikos and some of the old adventures that we all know and love (and some brand new ones too). We're hosting a chat this Wednesday at 7PM CST to discuss many various things. Whether you're interested in finding out what we're doing, or if you're already actively participating, I hope you can make it! You can get to it at http://www.mystaranet.com/chatmain.htm Or on IRC: server: chat.planetz.net port: 6667 channel: #realms_of_mystara Hope to see you there! - Ashlander (John) _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 17:08:27 -0700 From: Bleakcabal Subject: More vampiric bloodlines This goes with my vampires in mystara and vampiric bloodlines articles whic= h can be found here : http://dnd.starflung.com/races.html#vamp You should look up vampires in Mystara for explanation of the vampires powe= rs and weakness : http://dnd.starflung.com/vamp_pow.html and http://dnd.starflung.com/bldlines.html for more bloodlines. I am using these two bloodlines in a mini campaign I am writing for a new g= roup, I plan on releasing at least one adventure or some info on the campai= gn scheme. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Thonian Bloodline : The Thonian bloodline originated in Thonia prior to BC 2000. A vampire crea= ted near the blackmoor's cataclysm and suffering from radiation was altered= . This vampire's name was Serge. Serge killed his progenitor and later vent= ured back to his homeland Thonia. Proud of his heritage he was revolted whe= n Mystara's newest arrivals, the Alphatian prevented the Thonian's empire r= enewed expension. The new arrivals were too strong for the Thonians. Serge = infected with vampirism a general of the Thonian army sent in the first ski= rmishes the Thonian army sent to Alphatia. Believing this could lead to a w= ar Serge and his newly infected general, Mistrel, could then with their awe= some power tip the balance on the Thonian's side. The big war never came an= d Serge was destroyed by sunlight in an accident caused by Thonian's soldie= rs. Today the bloodline is strongly controlled by its eldest surviving memb= er Mistrel who still after 2000 years loathes Alphatians. The vampires of t= he Thonian's bloodline are mostly Thonian's and surprisingly some Alphatian= s, commonly serving as secret agents, potential candidates are chosen from = the ranks of Alphaks worshiper's, which guarantee that these new recruits f= eel strongly about the destruction of the Alphatian Empire. The Thonian blo= odline consist of about 40 vampires, most living in Thonia, Skothar, Bellis= aria and the surrounding lands. Normal Vampire:=20 OD&D Powers:=20 Vampiric Stealth=20 Regeneration outside coffin=20 Illusionist=20 Pass Without Traces=20 Dimensional Movement=20 OD&D Weaknesses:=20 Repulsed by lawful good holy symbol=20 Need an invitation to enter a residence=20 Repelled by garlic=20 Offended by mirrors AD&D 2E Powers:=20 Vampiric Stealth=20 Regeneration outside coffin=20 Illusionist=20 Dimensional Movement Vampiric Familiar=20 Summon Creatures=20 Fire Magic Create servitors Pass Without Traces=20 AD&D 2E Weaknesses:=20 Repulsed by lawful good holy symbol=20 Need an invitation to enter a residence=20 Repelled by garlic=20 Offended by mirrors Minions : Do not have access to vampiric familiar and create servitors Disciple : Do not have access to create servitors Elder : Also possess vampiric speed Master : Also possess vampiric speed and flight Venerable : Also possess vampiric speed, flight and extra sensory powers=20 General Mistrel General Mistrel is the oldest surviving member of the Thonian bloodline and= is the only one which was created directly by Serge, the line's progenitor= . Mistrel, although not a part of the Thonian army anymore likes to be addr= essed as a general. He controls the line with an iron grip and goes to grea= t length to destroy any vampire of is line which defy him or his order. Few= Thonian vampires are beyond his reach and control and most of these are in= hiding. He still loathes the Aphidian and eventually wishes kill them or d= rive them off Mystery. This has no longer anything to do with Thonian expan= sion has he as lost interest in the realms of the living and is now only mo= tivated by millennia old hatred. Mistrel works with care and takes great pa= ins not to let people learn of his existence or motives for he knows Alphat= ians are very powerful sorcerers and that he could not stand against severa= l of them. He is currently residing in Bellisaria where he is plotting to w= reak havoc on the Alphatians. Mistrel=20 Master Thonian Bloodline Vampire Full HP per hit die Vampire Familiar : Stinger a very old looking stirge but powerful stirge Mistrel always dresses in deep blue and wears loose fitting silk garment wi= th a suede cape. He wears a broad hat with a purple feather. He has a silve= r rapier +1, +3 against vampires which he calls Redemption. He has used Red= emption to kill many rogue Thonian vampires. He knows no magic apart from t= he one his vampiric powers fire magic and illusionist gives him. He was a f= ighter in life. Brutes Bloodline : The "brutes" bloodline was created by Mistrel, leader of the Thonian vampir= e to provide shock troops to his organization. The "brutes" are defanged up= on "birth" to prevent them from creating other brutes on their own and must= drink blood like one drinks wine. Brutes were created to be strong and doc= ile servants and nothing more. Because of their strength brutes who rebel o= r those who pass a certain age ( and thus get stronger ) are killed before = they get out of hand. No brutes are created from spell-casting humans for t= he same reasons. Brutes are typically killed when they achieve normal vampi= re status or slightly before that. They are either killed but groups of eld= er Thonian vampires or Mistrel arranges for some of his henchmen to hire el= ite vampire hunters to hunt them down. Most brutes do not know of this fate= . Brutes appear as strongly built humans with deformed ugly faces. Their mu= scles seem disproportionate compared to one another. Their eyes project a l= ook of ignorance and their heads sport long unclean hair and many bald spot= s. They also tend to grunt allot. Normal Vampire:=20 OD&D Powers:=20 Exceptional Strength=20 Regeneration outside coffin=20 Terrible Might=20 +1 or better weapon to hit=20 Exceptional Resistance=20 OD&D Weaknesses:=20 Cannot drain level Weak Faith=20 Unnatural Creature=20 Repulsing=20 AD&D 2E Powers:=20 Exceptional Strength=20 Regeneration outside coffin=20 Terrible Might=20 +1 or better weapon to hit=20 Exceptional Resistance=20 Extreme Resistance=20 Poisonous Claws Fury of the Beast=20 Vampiric Speed=20 AD&D 2E Weaknesses:=20 Cannot drain level Weak Faith=20 Unnatural Creature=20 Repulsing=20 Minions : Do not have access to vampiric speed and poisonous claws Disciple : Do not have access to vampiric speed=20 *Elder : Also possess Energy Drain Touch=20 *Master : Also possess Energy Drain Touch and fast regeneration *Venerable :Also possess Energy Drain Touch, fast regeneration and corrupti= ng influence *Although no brutes has attained this level yet as they are killed by Thoni= an vampires before they do, this would be the progression of a brute who as= not been killed by Thonians. _____________________________________________________________ GameDev.net Email Service - "Plenty = of 1's and 0's" _____________________________________________________________ Promote your group and strengthen ties to your members with email@yourgroup= .org by Everyone.net http://www.everyone.net/?btn=3Dtag ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 21:32:13 -0400 From: SteelAngel Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac: AC1018 Events (a short review) On Tue, 16 Jul 2002, Alfred O'Meagher wrote: > This isn't really true any more -- the original Blackmoor stuff is all > available and all the D&D stuff is available for pay-for-use download. Only if you're in the US. Unfortunately, our European friends get a bit screwed over. I, myself prefer to have the original copies anyway. Digital copies are ephemeral - availible only while Microsoft allows them, pretty much. Ethan -- Kinard 210 Linux Guru Webmaster www.steelangel.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 09:38:30 +0800 From: "Francisco V. Navarro V" Subject: Halzunthram Alive? Hail Mystarans! One comment on my initial reading of the Almanac. Halzunthram is alive? Is this the same Halzunthram in Glantrian history centuries ago, who betrayed all the colonists and claimed the Highlands as Alphatian territory, sparking the Forty Years War? Isn't he supposed to be dead, and recently returned to the living by Entropic Immortals in the form of a rakshasa, to prevent the return of Etienne d'Ambreville/Rad in the "Mark of Amber" adventure? Or is he some decendant who bears the name? Kit Navarro Concerned Glantrian ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 19:26:50 -0700 From: The Stalker Subject: Re: Halzunthram Alive? On Tue, 16 Jul 2002 09:38:30 +0800, Francisco V. Navarro V wrote: > Hail Mystarans! > > One comment on my initial reading of the Almanac. Halzunthram is alive? Is > this the same Halzunthram in Glantrian history centuries ago, who betrayed > all the colonists and claimed the Highlands as Alphatian territory, sparking > the Forty Years War? Isn't he supposed to be dead, and recently returned to > the living by Entropic Immortals in the form of a rakshasa, to prevent the > return of Etienne d'Ambreville/Rad in the "Mark of Amber" adventure? > > Or is he some decendant who bears the name? > > Kit Navarro > Concerned Glantrian > First of all, no, it is not the same Halzunthram. He is completely unrelated. In fact, he isn't even a wizard. He was introduced last year (MA 1017) in the "A Sailor Gets a Royal Audience" on Vatermont 14. He is a paladin of Protius according to that reference. Second, the Halzunthram you mention is *not* supposed to be dead! He might be, but we don't know. Look in the 'Grimoire' of the GKoM boxed set (yes, I know we all hate it, but it's still canon, and we might as well use it where it actually tells us something) on page 14 under the picture of Alexander Glantri. It says: "Alphatian commander Halzunthram quails before the victorious Alexander Glantri, following a surprise attack. Glantri held him captive in the Tower of Sighs for several years before allowing the disgraced commander to return to his country in shame". So yes, you can start worrying now... ;) - The Stalker ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 23:05:03 -0400 From: Dan Eustace Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac: AC1018 Events (a short review) > Acronyms really don't fit fantasy game worlds. They are just another > isolationist symptom of clique thinking. Why wouldn't it just still be > Alphatia? The politics have changed, not the people. Whether or not acronyms fit is a mattter of opinion. There are plenty of examples in published materials. Some are useful, and others are silly. "another isolationist symptom of clique thinking"? Where'd you come up with this one? I guess you figured it out - the secret Mystaran Almanac Council retires every year to the stronghold in their ivory tower, plotting how they can convert the un-initiated to accept their version of things as the one truth. Give us a break, dude. > Mystara has all these other realms with normal enough names, fantasy setting > nomenclature and so on, and then a late-1990s ugly American style acronym. > Yuck. It won't attract new fans who have recently purchased the original > works. If people choose another setting for a game world due to a (gasp) acronym in a fan based work than that's their own perogative. However, dismissing all of the ideas, creativity, and other useful info in the almanacs, and using that as the basis for rejecting Mystara as a campaign world seems pretty absurd. In fact the users of the original stuff are going to pretty much > outnumber the online almanack users 10 to 1 based on sales and the way their > own websites are going (I found 200+ Mystara websites through using the AD&D > web rings and website links pages. The OD&D and AD&D Mystara home campaigns > of these pages number at least 4-5 players each, the one I play in numbers > 12 plus many more online who play in the DM's PBeM.) Yeah, you're right. Most people will use the original stuff over the almanacs. Same goes for me. The almanac's are not intended to replace the original material. My campaign doesn't even come close to following the MA timeline, although I am using stuff from WotI. But, I've used plenty of stuff in the MA's the same way DMs use any other resource - by taking bits and pieces of things and tweaking them to fit my campaign. Isolated dominions have fit into regions of Norwold, or sparked adventure ideas, or provided a bit more depth to an interesting NPC. > This list is very cool, but I am already sick of the clique-ish almanack. > It's twaddle. Any DM worth the name has a cartload of their own stuff, they > don't need an almanack unless it is inspirational and full of useful details > and maps. Otherwise it's just an attempt at being elitist and forcing one > person's view of a fantasy world on to everybody else. > > Also, it's odd how canon is "canon" but nevertheless is changed on a whim > when it suits the online almanack creators. You're already sick of the clique-ish almanac? The thing was just released a short while ago, and for the most part has not been a primary feature on this list at all. So how can you be sick of it? The release of the events actually woke the list up somewhat. How is that bad? Many people on this list participate in the MA *voluntarily*. It takes alot of dedicated people alot of time to produce a volume of that size and quality. Is everything in it good? No, but everyone should be able to find something to there liking. Every year a call has gone out for interested people to contribute to the MA, so it is not some exclusive club. Most DMs do produce their own material, but sometimes there just is not the time to detail everything. For this, the MA comes in handy. Who ever said that it is the future of Mystara handed down from on high? The writers put in all their time in effort as fans out of a love for the game. It's fun to continue the plot lines started in the PWA's and to script events that shape nations and NPCs. No one is forcing anything on anyone. The material that is produced in the final product is the culmination of countless discussions, compromise, and collaboration. It is not from some "almanac" campaign that is attempting to dictate how things go to the rest of us. Maybe I've responded too harshly, but I know that alot of people busted their asses, without getting a cent, to produce the MA, purely for others to get enjoyment from it. For you to dismiss it as "twaddle" is an insult to them. I don't like all of the plot lines, new nations, or ideas, either, but some of them I do. I bet more people have found it useful than not. And if the MML in general perceives the MA writers as a clique, than perhaps we (the writers - yes, I am one) could do a better job in dispelling that notion. Sincerely, Dan Eustace ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 20:00:19 -0700 From: The Stalker Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac: AC1018 Events (a short review) On Mon, 15 Jul 2002 23:52:27 +1000, Alfred O'Meagher wrote: > Acronyms really don't fit fantasy game worlds. They are just another > isolationist symptom of clique thinking. Why wouldn't it just still be > Alphatia? The politics have changed, not the people. > I disagree. If anything I think it's the other way around. The people are not the same because those who were at the center of the empire, the "movers and shakers", are now gone. They're on the Floating Continent of Alphatia in the Hollow World now (or FCA in HW for short). The people left are those who used to be colonies. Bellisaria is probably the greatest influence now, which is odd if you read about their "we just want to be left alone" attitude in DotE... There are certainly others willing to take charge, but then they can't agree on that either... No, I don't particularly like the terms "NACE" or "Nayce" either, but you're jumping to conclusions. > Mystara has all these other realms with normal enough names, fantasy setting > nomenclature and so on, and then a late-1990s ugly American style acronym. > Yuck. Well, Alex already mentioned there is the DDC (Darokin Diplomatic Corps) in Darokin. I don't have the Glantri gazetteer, but I know there are several in there as well - E.L.F. and F.A.I.R.Y. (or is that F.A.E.R.Y.) come readily to mind. > It won't attract new fans who have recently purchased the original > works. In fact the users of the original stuff are going to pretty much > outnumber the online almanack users 10 to 1 based on sales and the way their > own websites are going (I found 200+ Mystara websites through using the AD&D > web rings and website links pages. The OD&D and AD&D Mystara home campaigns > of these pages number at least 4-5 players each, the one I play in numbers > 12 plus many more online who play in the DM's PBeM.) > > This list is very cool, but I am already sick of the clique-ish almanack. > It's twaddle. Any DM worth the name has a cartload of their own stuff, they > don't need an almanack unless it is inspirational and full of useful details > and maps. Otherwise it's just an attempt at being elitist and forcing one > person's view of a fantasy world on to everybody else. > > Also, it's odd how canon is "canon" but nevertheless is changed on a whim > when it suits the online almanack creators. > As one of the contributors I must say I think you're being incredibly harsh. Maybe you don't read all the mail you get (which I can understand), but if you bothered to check what Herve wrote recently, you'll note how he begs and begs for more contributors. And then you proceed to knock him and others over the head based on one thing you don't like? I think I'll let people figure that one out on their own, but it looks like most already have... As for 'elitist almanac', I don't think that's very fair. But even if I agreed with you, what would the alternative be? There should be no almanac because it's 'elitist' for people to presume to write one? If you're a good DM, then you don't need the almanac. We don't send MA hit squads out to knock people over the head when they don't use or even rewrite our stuff. In fact, each almanac consistently calls for people to twist and change things as they like. However, the contributors won't know what you do in your campaign, and a new almanac will be written next year, so they'll have to assume on how the plots should progress. Yes, that will conflict with what some people do, but the alternative is that there is no almanac for people to steal ideas from and so. Is it better for Mystara if there isn't an almanac project? Well, if that is true then I won't bother writing stuff for the almanac anymore... Herve spends large amounts of free time working on the almanac and I know I wasted entirely too much time on it this year. And the only thing we or other contributors will ever get for our trouble is the possible feedback. It's not much, but then beggars can't be choosers. I'm not involved with all the Mystara areas, but I wrote for several because nobody wrote stuff for them this year. Am I being 'elitist' or trying to monopolize Mystara because of that? - The Stalker ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 23:12:37 -0400 From: Dan Eustace Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac: AC1018 Events (a short review) Oops. In the midst of my rant, I forgot something. Why wouldn't it just still be > Alphatia? The politics have changed, not the people. Exactly. When politics change, the names of nations change. USSR becomes the Commonwealth of Independent States, and then becomes Russia plus Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakstan, etc. The people stay the same, but the political leaders change the name of the nation. The people are still Alphatians, or Qeodhaians, or Bellissarrian, or whatever. Alphatia was destroyed when it sank. A catastrophe of that magnitude, would more than likely lead to poltical change. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 08:49:26 +0200 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: Acroynms and the Almanacs Peter Scrivener wrote: > > Also the websites such as Vaults of Pandius is useful for the sections such > as listing the immortals and country write ups but I agree with some > previous people who say it feels like a clique. Uhm... but the Vaults act just as an archive of the material produced here (or on the Wizard's message board, or on news server, etc.), exactly what it did before becoming the official site. > I remember a few years ago when I > was first on the list that it always seemed somone was asking for help to > write a net book or contribute ideas. That's a problem, indeed. Blame it on real life taking too much of our time. Many of the projects listed at the Vaults are still active, though. > Just a quick note does any else post on the Wizards message board, I went > there recently (as pedroscriv) and not much activity seems to be going on. Yes, I do post there, though almost only in answer to specific questions. -- Giampaolo Agosta agathokles@libero.it agosta@elet.polimi.it http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 14 Jul 2002 to 15 Jul 2002 (#2002-182) ****************************************************************