Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 18 Nov 2002 to 19 Nov 2002 (#2002-301) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 20/11/2002, 19:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 10 messages totalling 483 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Norwold maps (3) 2. Taymora in canon (2) 3. New Map Uploaded (2) 4. NWN Mystara (long) 5. Cult of Balthac (oops) 6. MYSTARA-L Digest - 17 Nov 2002 to 18 Nov 2002 (#2002-300) ******************************************************************** 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, 19 Nov 2002 10:05:53 +0200 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: Norwold maps A couple of days ago I was clancing through my old D&D maps, and run across the map from X11 Saga of the Shadowlord. You know, the map that kind of complements the X1 Isle of Dread map of the Known World. The X11 map of Wendar, Denagoth, Heldann and southern Norwold is the first map of the northern lands. There is one marked difference to the later maps, namely Norwold. (Of course differences due to projection, and differences in terrain types are big, but...) In the X11 map one can see actually a VAST expanse of Norwold stretching northward from the borders of Heldann. There is only one name: "Landfall", which is pointing furhter north. (Landfall would be over 500 miles north of Freiburg, for example, not about 180-200 miles like in most later maps.) Now, I don't have the map of CM1 Test of the Warlord, which is as far as I know the first official map of Norwold. Presuming that someone of you has: Was Lanfall originally situated further to north? Or are the later maps of Norwold, like the Dawn of Emperors large map, based on the CM1 map? Another question: did Oceansend already exist in the CM1 map, or was it a latter creation? The reason I ask this is because - if I remember correctly - the Dawn of the Emperors book mentions that Landfall, not Oceansend, is the northernmost city before Alpha. (I may be mistaken) Was this just a simple error, or were the authors originally working on an earlier map version? Ville ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 09:32:31 +0100 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: Taymora in canon Ville V Lähde wrote: > I just stumbled upon Geoff's wonderful piece on the history of Colhador. > It mentions that Taymora was handled in PC the Sea People. Are there any > other Canon references on Taymora? in the HW box? AFAIK, there are references to Taymora in War Rafts of Kron and the Sea People, but not in the HW set. Colhador, in particular, first appeared in War Rafts of Kron. The Sea People (slightly) expanded over that material, but most Taymoran material does not belong to canon. -- Giampaolo Agosta http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 09:43:38 +0100 From: Thibault Sarlat Subject: Re: Norwold maps as for the differences (one could say discrepencies) between X11 maps and the rest of the maps, well , let's say that they blew it. i remember having big problems with these various sources whan i mapped Norwold. My opinion is the following. Take X11 as reference for Wendar and Denagoth but do not consider them for the region east of them. CM1 is the reference and later WotI was too. I made recently a big map of the region, you can check mys site for it. i gathered all the opinions i could (i remember at least Geoff's and Marco Dalmonte's). Now i hope my little word helps. Thibault Sarlat. ICQ 16622177. homepage http://www.mystara.fr.st Join me at:thibault.sarlat@wanadoo.fr;clenarius@hotmail.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ville V Lähde" To: Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2002 9:05 AM Subject: [MYSTARA] Norwold maps > A couple of days ago I was clancing through my old D&D maps, and run > across the map from X11 Saga of the Shadowlord. You know, the map that > kind of complements the X1 Isle of Dread map of the Known World. > > The X11 map of Wendar, Denagoth, Heldann and southern Norwold is the first > map of the northern lands. There is one marked difference to the later > maps, namely Norwold. (Of course differences due to projection, and > differences in terrain types are big, but...) In the X11 map one can see > actually a VAST expanse of Norwold stretching northward from the borders > of Heldann. There is only one name: "Landfall", which is pointing furhter > north. (Landfall would be over 500 miles north of Freiburg, for example, > not about 180-200 miles like in most later maps.) > > Now, I don't have the map of CM1 Test of the Warlord, which is as far as I > know the first official map of Norwold. Presuming that someone of you has: > Was Lanfall originally situated further to north? Or are the later maps of > Norwold, like the Dawn of Emperors large map, based on the CM1 map? > Another question: did Oceansend already exist in the CM1 map, or was it a > latter creation? > > The reason I ask this is because - if I remember correctly - the Dawn of > the Emperors book mentions that Landfall, not Oceansend, is the > northernmost city before Alpha. (I may be mistaken) Was this just a simple > error, or were the authors originally working on an earlier map version? > > Ville > > ******************************************************************** > 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, 19 Nov 2002 07:08:45 -0500 From: Mischa Gelman Subject: Re: Norwold maps On Tue, 19 Nov 2002, [ISO-8859-1] Ville V L=E4hde wrote: > Now, I don't have the map of CM1 Test of the Warlord, which is as far as = I > know the first official map of Norwold. Presuming that someone of you has= : > Was Lanfall originally situated further to north? Or are the later maps o= f > Norwold, like the Dawn of Emperors large map, based on the CM1 map? > Another question: did Oceansend already exist in the CM1 map, or was it a > latter creation? Oceansend was on the CM1 map. Landfall's location on the CM1 map is the same as on the DoTE map. =20 > The reason I ask this is because - if I remember correctly - the Dawn of > the Emperors book mentions that Landfall, not Oceansend, is the > northernmost city before Alpha. (I may be mistaken) Was this just a simpl= e > error, or were the authors originally working on an earlier map version? Sounds like a typo to me. - Mischa [I]t may or may not be foolishness to pray to the G-ds, but there is certainly being no wisdom in cursing them. - Binabik in "Stone of Farewell" by Tad Williams=20 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 15:01:43 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: New Map Uploaded Nice map Geoff! I always wanted to see more of Mystara's past. Perhaps we can make a Mystaran Historican Atlas? :) Håvard --- Geoff Gander skrev: > Hi all, > > I have recently uploaded a new map to my website, > under the ancient > history section. It depicts the southern Known > World region circa BC > 2000, during the height of Mystaros' Taymoran > Empire. I realise that he > has long since released a map of the region (which > Agathokles has used) to > further develop the campaign setting (again, which > Agathokles has fleshed > out considerably), but I simply wanted to share my > conception of > pre-cataclysmic southern Brun. The was a project > long in the making, > which was then put on the back-burner because, well, > these maps take quite > a while to complete. > > I used PC3 and the WotI boxed set as a base for the > map, and I think > you'll find that the locations marked on it should > correspond to the > official maps. Anyhow, the map has been left blank > for people to use as > they wish in their campaigns - so enjoy! > > Geoff > > -- > Geoff Gander, BA 97, MPA 02 > Carnifex Loremaster/Mad Roleplayer > Master of the Elemental Plane of Bureaucracy > au998@freenet.carleton.ca : > www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 > > ******************************************************************** > 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. > ______________________________________________________ Se den nye Yahoo! Mail på http://no.yahoo.com/ Nytt design, enklere å bruke, alltid tilgang til Adressebok, Kalender og Notisbok ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 16:17:11 +0000 From: Ricardo Matheus Subject: Re: New Map Uploaded > > I have recently uploaded a new map to my website, > Sorry, what´s the URL again? :) Ricardo Matheus a.k.a. Darkblood MML Lurker Owner of the Mystara Map Navigator (www.geocities.com/darkblood18) _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 11:31:35 -0500 From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: Taymora in canon Agathokles wrote: > AFAIK, there are references to Taymora in War Rafts of Kron and the Sea > People, but not in the HW set. > Colhador, in particular, first appeared in War Rafts of Kron. The Sea > People (slightly) expanded over that material, but most Taymoran > material does not belong to canon. IIRC, there may have been a mention somewhere of the early Traldar coming across the remaining Taymorans in what is now Karameikos, and absorbing them. I can't remember *where* I read it, only that I'm sure it's printed somewhere. Geoff -- Geoff Gander, BA 97, MPA 02 Carnifex Loremaster/Mad Roleplayer Master of the Elemental Plane of Bureaucracy au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 13:31:37 EST From: Alex Benson Subject: Re: NWN Mystara (long) >> A dedicated NWN Group sounds good. As you might notice, I am often in lurker mode. I have NWN and have been playing around with various Mystara Modules. One thing that I would like to see is a dedicated Mystara hak pack. That way the Imperial Boltman in my module will look the same as the one in anyone else's. Likewise, certain customized items would be accessable to all. *cough* skyships *cough*. << We really wouldn't need a hak for this (unless the boltmen are built using custom models.=A0 Just an erf file will do (this is what I'm doing for my cultural packs).=A0 The end result is the same however, and I agree that thi= s should be done. The Mystic Nexus is working on a Spelljammer mod... its very nice... complet= e with starfields and playable ships.=A0 I think that they also have an=20 atmospheric reskin.=A0 This is something that could definately be used for an Alpher sky= ship mod.>> Using .erf files will work just as well. That's what I am using to maintain=20 consistency with the modules I am doing. Then again, I am really keeping the= =20 modules as simple as possible. I am glad to see possible models for skyships= .=20 One of the modules could really use them, though more for the decor than=20 actual use.=20 >> So far, my subjects center upon Alphatia and are based on the premise of running the adventure modules with the same character. Each module is designed to introduce aspects of Alphatia. The campaign is set just prior to Wrath, extends through the war, and concludes after the war. << How far along have you gotten?=A0 This seems like a pretty big project.>> It is a big project. Size is one of the reasons that I am breaking it all up= =20 into a series of smaller adventures. The campaign is set to be as much of an= =20 introduction to Mystara for beginners as it is for use by Mystara fans.=20 That's alot of information to present. This configuration helps without bein= g=20 overly heavy in the dialog department. Broken up like this also makes work o= n=20 it easy and more relaxed.=20 >> Peace- Nace and Thyatian envoys meet to discuss a peace treaty. Intrigue insues as elements try to reignite the flames of war. The PC must discover and weed out these malcontents without making matters worse. The Heldannic Knights make an appearance. << This sounds very Star Trek VI.=A0 I love it.>> More like Talons of Night. Though alot of this campaign is set during=20 prominent events, the actual PC participation in these big events is limited= =20 to the behind the scenes activities. This campaign is definitly Alphatian=20 based. Strangely, the majority of the PC's adversaries are of Alphatian=20 origins. As I have said in the past, Alphatia is its own worst enemy and a=20 boon for adventure fodder. <> Okay. I'll have to check it out. Perhaps we should have a wish list set up.=20 NWNVault is great for alot of things, but some Mystara specific placables an= d=20 templates would be nice.=20 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 13:56:42 EST From: Alex Benson Subject: Re: Cult of Balthac (oops) <> Thanks Felix. I thought it was Terra but needed to be sure. Admitedly, Terra is a bit odd of an Immortal to sponsor Balthac. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 13:44:14 -0800 From: Darth Darknerd Subject: Re: MYSTARA-L Digest - 17 Nov 2002 to 18 Nov 2002 (#2002-300) Makes sense. Steering the topic a little bit and focusing on the koldbold, here's some questions: 1. How would the kolbold get money? 2. Who would he trade the money with? The kolbold could generally rob other humans, much like human bandits and highwaymen, but who would the kolbold trade with? The bandit or highwayman can go into a village and spend his/her money, but the kolbold couldn't just walk into a city and do the same thing. If I might be so bold as to say that to have a setting where monsters are there to be slayed and have a random number of coins of a given treasure type, makes the game like a video game, such as Diablo. However, if a group of criminals, let's say the Iron Ring, supplied the monsters with metal weapons or other desirable items in exchange for the gold coins that the humans carry... I'm sure you can guess the results. The humanoids now have a driving incentive to get coins, as someone will give them things they want. The players might not be able to slay all of the tribes of humanoids in the region, but if they snuff out the suplier, e.g. Iron Ring, the humanoids loose their opportunity to buy things. Note that my reasoning applies to humanoids living on the fringes of civilized society where there are limited opportunties for commerce, e.g. being slayed on the spot discourages trade. Massive organized humanoids, such as those under the Broken Lands, can have a whole internal infastructure, crafts, goods, etc. and so, raiding becomes an important career. - Joaquin > Date: Mon, 18 Nov 2002 07:48:01 EST > From: Alex Benson > Subject: Re: Gold > > Once again...I appologize for the delay since the > original thread was posted. > The common nature of gold is addressed in the ADnD > DM's Guide. From what I > remember, it is explained that real world economics > be ignored when dealing > with gold. In real world terms, a simple gold coin > would be quite a sum of > money, feeding a family for months. But in a fantasy > setting, that same gold > piece may buy a stout of ale. It really goes down to > supply and demand. With > more gold available, the value is decreased. > > A possible solution to an overkill in gold and gems > could be substituting > copper coins and items that that creature would have > and would be carrying. > Make that loot horde equal to the financial gold > equivilent as given in > official sources. A kobold may be carrying a pouch > of copper coins of various > mintings, a small lump of gold (because it's > pretty), an uncut gem, etc. > Other items may include usefull items like beads, a > piece of hide, items that > a kobold may find a delicacy, items to make arrows, > etc. A good model is no > further away than an actual person. Look in your > deskdrawer. Look in the > console of your car. Look in your wallet. What items > do you find? Now back > date them to the middle-ages and put them in a > creature's mindset. > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! News - Today's headlines http://news.yahoo.com ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 18 Nov 2002 to 19 Nov 2002 (#2002-301) ****************************************************************