Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 17 Dec 2002 to 18 Dec 2002 (#2002-327) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 19/12/2002, 19:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 30 messages totalling 997 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Drums of Panic? 2. Need advice (2) 3. Creating powerful items 4. Teleporting Arch? why not (15) 5. Spell Personalizations (2) 6. Specularuam Plots 7. Karameikos, a Republic? (5) 8. Vorloi Clan Perspective (2) 9. Pool: The Old Rules & Immortals ******************************************************************** 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, 18 Dec 2002 11:55:18 +0200 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: Re: Drums of Panic? On Sun, 15 Dec 2002, DM wrote: Thanks for everybody for the sound advice. > It can be either a timeframe of 1-6 per turn, hour, day, week or year, as > you like. > OR They could be permanently enchanted that's to say producing the effect > every round at will. > I'd suggest once per hour. Until now I've been using the 1/day restriction, since the item is pretty powerful. It is just that our big battle with the Sind nomads is coming up, and I wanted to really think it through. The idea about the drums working once for every person who hears them is okay, but a bit more complicated. Walls blocking the sound, silence spells etc. I think I'll still consider widening the allowance a bit, perhaps 2 or 3 times/day. > As for the amulet, normally it's three times per day, but the same > applies as above said. Yes, this is the one I ended up with, modeled on the other amulets. First I thought about using the misfire possibility as the only restriction. But the fact remains that ESP is one of the most powerful magical effects in the game. > You make the rule when there's none written down, don't worry Ville ;) Yes, I know. It's just nice to have you people around when one feels unsure about one's decisions. Thanks, Ville ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 07:34:24 -0500 From: Castille Baromon de Preto Subject: Re: Need advice > From: Joe Kelly > > So how do you guys handle selling magical items? Any special table. > As I said, I spend over 140 bucks for this set, they're going to get used but I don't want it abused. Any suggestions? Thanks! > I am a big fan of the Darokin's Merchant class (Minrothad also). Only a specialized merchant would have the financial backing to sell such hard to get items, and only if he likes you. Usually this is the guy that appraises ancient artifacts found down in some forgotten tomb. Also, this is a guy that has very important contacts with thieves guilds, wizards, and other merchants. This merchant will sit behind the scenes at the players lower levels, then he will throw out a few bones to test them at the players mid levels. When the players start to get a name out for themselves, this merchant will start to "un-officially" sponsor players in their respected guilds or alliances, or make them for them. The merchant will never let the players know who he finally is untill the climatic end of a campaign. Sort of like Great Expectations, or the mafia. So if you are giving out high power magic, make it a catch or campaign hook like this one. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 14:33:14 +0200 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: Creating powerful items I agree that the creation of very powerful items should require quests for the ingredients. IMC the PC wizard created "telephones" to the castles/towers/hideouts of every PC. The idea was that they could make contact easily, for example if an opportunity for an adventure arose, or to coordinate their actions against a common threat, to keep in touch with their followers during long campaigns etc. I told the player that his wizard would need a special ingredient to making each individual "telephone". Luckily for him, he had collected interesting items through his career, so he had made the quests beforehand. He used one long-distance spying device from Drax Tallen (the X11 module), one looted item from the Rahasia module etc. The point was that each of the items should have some characteristics that fit his telephone-concept. But, as was discussed earlies on this list, I'd never allow him to make the telephone into a permanent teleport platform without years and years of further research, quests for even rarer items and ****loads of money. But on the other hand, the "telephones" allow him to teleport to the other locations with much better chance ("studied carefully"). By the way, the telephone system has become a very good plot tool in our campaign. It works very well after the PCs have separated, but still need to mobilise from time to time. Ville ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 22:40:46 -0200 From: JJJ Subject: Re: Need advice There is ANOTHER Magic Encyclopedia, which is only two volumes long and can be quite useful for your idea: it has only the prices of magical itens (which, believe me, are far higher than their XP value) and an weird idea about a fantastic magic shop run by a Mage/Cleric around 30/30 (to keep players quiet in the shop). the fantastic shop is explained as being multi-plane-dimensional, so getting to the itens is fairly easy. Paying is another matter, of course. If you truly want your characters so heavly magicked, i would advice that you do the same for their enemies, but with different itens, so that you can use it all more easily. I have only the first volume of the M.E.s and it already gives me a lot of work. Maybe because i am really stingy about magical itens, or so my players say. Nonsense... ;) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 14:08:50 +0100 From: Thibault Sarlat Subject: Teleporting Arch? why not What would it take to make a teleporting arch which could allow hundreds of people (troops) to go from one place on Mystara to another. Would it be some kind of minor Gate made permanent? What kind of drawbacks could it generate? i would very much have several opinions on the subject. Thibault Sarlat. Techniques de l'Ingénieur Port: 06 84 92 32 55 Fax: 05 56 96 85 24 www.techniques-ingenieur.fr ICQ 16622177. Personal homepage http://www.mystara.fr.st thibault.sarlat@wanadoo.fr ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 08:55:19 -0500 From: Castille Baromon de Preto Subject: Re: Teleporting Arch? why not > > From: Thibault Sarlat > > What would it take to make a teleporting arch which could allow hundreds of > people (troops) to go from one place on Mystara to another. > Would it be some kind of minor Gate made permanent? > What kind of drawbacks could it generate? > > i would very much have several opinions on the subject. > The fun part of just allowing a player to create such a thing, insert evil DM laugh, is the fun part... In a Birthright campaign, we had used teleporters along the use of the ley lines. This made some interesting mistakes. Any other wizards use of teleportation or summoning magic near my ley line would always end up in some catastrophy at my character's tower. My open use of ley lines for teleporting also allowed nefarious creatures from nightmarish dimensions access to my tower also. Other wizards using detection or lore spells near the ley lines were also able to spy on my comings and goings, and even perform a little research on my work. All of these events led to some very interesting adventures, and eventually I had to shut down my teleporters so I could go back to ruling my barony. B6, Rahasia, had some very interesting teleporters. Since this was a temple ground, located on the remains of a very powerful wizard, I would say that this location is the hub of some very interesting ley lines. The temple grounds were also made by the mutual works of elves and dwarves. In other modules, CM9?, the major teleportation device was the Rainbow Path, again done by an elf. The path also ends in a location in the Canolbarth that has some interesting magical effects with traveling spells. >> From these two examples, I would say "Why not, of course you can". Simple teleporters for going from point A to B and back will be expensive, and limited to yards (use B6 as a guide). But big teleporters or travelling portals are major feats, saving elven clans or conducting a mass exodus, would need a little immortal help. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 15:22:05 +0100 From: Thibault Sarlat Subject: Re: Teleporting Arch? why not i remember that in the novel serie dragonlord, there were such things. and also the septahenge in M4 twilight calling... this reminds me of another such thing , yet it's placed in Forgotten Realm...there is or are many portals there to go from one continent to another... maybe one good thing to prevent massive transportation is to require expensive fuel (such as asteries gems...) Thibault Sarlat. Techniques de l'Ingénieur Port: 06 84 92 32 55 Fax: 05 56 96 85 24 www.techniques-ingenieur.fr ICQ 16622177. Personal homepage http://www.mystara.fr.st thibault.sarlat@wanadoo.fr ----- Original Message ----- From: "Castille Baromon de Preto" To: Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 2:55 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Teleporting Arch? why not > > > > From: Thibault Sarlat > > > > What would it take to make a teleporting arch which could allow hundreds of > > people (troops) to go from one place on Mystara to another. > > Would it be some kind of minor Gate made permanent? > > What kind of drawbacks could it generate? > > > > i would very much have several opinions on the subject. > > > The fun part of just allowing a player to create such a thing, insert evil DM laugh, is the fun part... > In a Birthright campaign, we had used teleporters along the use of the ley lines. This made some interesting mistakes. Any other wizards use of teleportation or summoning magic near my ley line would always end up in some catastrophy at my character's tower. My open use of ley lines for teleporting also allowed nefarious creatures from nightmarish dimensions access to my tower also. Other wizards using detection or lore spells near the ley lines were also able to spy on my comings and goings, and even perform a little research on my work. All of these events led to some very interesting adventures, and eventually I had to shut down my teleporters so I could go back to ruling my barony. > B6, Rahasia, had some very interesting teleporters. Since this was a temple ground, located on the remains of a very powerful wizard, I would say that this location is the hub of some very interesting ley lines. The temple grounds were also made by the mutual works of elves and dwarves. > In other modules, CM9?, the major teleportation device was the Rainbow Path, again done by an elf. The path also ends in a location in the Canolbarth that has some interesting magical effects with traveling spells. > From these two examples, I would say "Why not, of course you can". Simple teleporters for going from point A to B and back will be expensive, and limited to yards (use B6 as a guide). But big teleporters or travelling portals are major feats, saving elven clans or conducting a mass exodus, would need a little immortal help. > > ******************************************************************** > 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, 18 Dec 2002 15:30:52 +0100 From: Thibault Sarlat Subject: Re: Teleporting Arch? why not what is a ley line? Thibault Sarlat. Techniques de l'Ingénieur Port: 06 84 92 32 55 Fax: 05 56 96 85 24 www.techniques-ingenieur.fr ICQ 16622177. Personal homepage http://www.mystara.fr.st thibault.sarlat@wanadoo.fr ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 06:55:02 -0800 From: Kar Ess Subject: Re: Teleporting Arch? why not I have a teleporter platform in my campaign. It takes a set of keys to use, well actually nine large rune-carved gems that the players had to find. However, it teleports from one platform to another and they had to figure out how to use the keys to get to the proper destination. And, of course, there are more than one set of keys, GRIN! The players have moved into an abandoned keep that has a teleporter in the basement, and for some reason there seems to be an unending supply of encounters for them. KS --- Thibault Sarlat wrote: > What would it take to make a teleporting arch which could allow hundreds > of > people (troops) to go from one place on Mystara to another. > Would it be some kind of minor Gate made permanent? > What kind of drawbacks could it generate? > > i would very much have several opinions on the subject. > > > Thibault Sarlat. > Techniques de l'Ingénieur > Port: 06 84 92 32 55 > Fax: 05 56 96 85 24 > www.techniques-ingenieur.fr > > ICQ 16622177. > Personal homepage http://www.mystara.fr.st > thibault.sarlat@wanadoo.fr > > ******************************************************************** > 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. > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 23:20:51 +0800 From: "Francisco V. Navarro V" Subject: Re: Teleporting Arch? why not Hail Mystarans and denizens from other worlds and dimensions! One such portal is featured in the Glantrian/Laterran legends--and a very powerful one, at that! During the exodus of the d'Ambrevilles from Averoigne in Laterre to the Highlands (future Glantri) in Mystara, the McGregor clan managed to tap to Etienne d'Ambreville's powerful transdimensional gate spell to transport his own Kaelic (L-Scottish) people to present day Klantyre. The McGregor necromancers however did not accomplish this feat alone, but had the help of the Kaelic druids of Fensland (L-England), and they required a focus for the magical portal, the mystical Stonehenge of the Kaelic Highlands. And, of course, there already was Etienne's gate powered by his own magic--which is why, when the McGregors tapped into the spell, it eventually collapsed and prevented the rest of the d'Ambreville retainers from arriving on Mystara, leading to the long-standing enmity between the d'Ambrevilles and the Kaelic people. There is also mention of a mysterious Stonehenge in the Fenswick countryside in Glantri, but its present powers or purpose (to reconnect to Fensland in Laterre?) remains a mystery (read=we haven't decided what to write about it). Kit Navarro ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thibault Sarlat" To: Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 9:08 PM Subject: [MYSTARA] Teleporting Arch? why not > What would it take to make a teleporting arch which could allow hundreds of > people (troops) to go from one place on Mystara to another. > Would it be some kind of minor Gate made permanent? > What kind of drawbacks could it generate? > > i would very much have several opinions on the subject. > > > Thibault Sarlat. > Techniques de l'Ingénieur > Port: 06 84 92 32 55 > Fax: 05 56 96 85 24 > www.techniques-ingenieur.fr > > ICQ 16622177. > Personal homepage http://www.mystara.fr.st > thibault.sarlat@wanadoo.fr > > ******************************************************************** > 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, 18 Dec 2002 23:26:39 +0800 From: "Francisco V. Navarro V" Subject: Re: Teleporting Arch? why not A ley line is a line of magical energy on the earth, connecting points of concentrations of powerful, mystical places, such as say, Stonehenge to Canterbury Cathedral. They used this in the Birthright campaign. I think that historically, it was from this that the idea of meridians of longitude and latitude evolved. A related idea is the "dragon lines" of the Chinese, which is connected to geomancy or feng shui. Geomancers determine the dragon lines of the earth, where the mystical qi energy flows, to bring good harmonious energy to a place or a structure (translating to good luck and prosperity). It is not that far from acupuncture meridians and acupuncture points, where the vital qi energy of the body flows. Kit Navarro Hack Geomancer ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thibault Sarlat" To: Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 10:30 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Teleporting Arch? why not > what is a ley line? > > > Thibault Sarlat. > Techniques de l'Ingénieur > Port: 06 84 92 32 55 > Fax: 05 56 96 85 24 > www.techniques-ingenieur.fr > > ICQ 16622177. > Personal homepage http://www.mystara.fr.st > thibault.sarlat@wanadoo.fr > > ******************************************************************** > 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, 18 Dec 2002 10:30:21 -0500 From: Castille Baromon de Preto Subject: Re: Teleporting Arch? why not > > From: Thibault Sarlat > > what is a ley line? > Lines of magical power that connect magical hubs of one form or another. ie: The Cannolbarth has good and bad magical points, these are intersections of magical lines that connect magic. You could say that the Radiance in Glantri has a type of Ley line from the Radius of the Spheres to the wizards recepticle. If a wizard could tap the power of a Ley line, they would increase their power of a specific type related to the ley line. In the Hollow World, the Nithians use a type of Ley line, with the use of magic points for braiding hair etc. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 10:47:03 -0500 From: Castille Baromon de Preto Subject: Re: Teleporting Arch? why not > > From: Kar Ess > > And, of course, there are more than one set of keys, GRIN! The players > have moved into an abandoned keep that has a teleporter in the basement, > and for some reason there seems to be an unending supply of encounters for > them. > This seems to be a pattern, most teleporters found in Mystara are old, forgotten, and not being currently used. I wonder if this has to deal with the reason that most players find in owning a teleporter, you never know what is going to come through next! I also wonder if all the teleporters are old because when the last generation of wizards made them, those darn Alphatians kept popping through them and taking over! Claiming they were refugees, all they did was find a pinhole in space and climb on through all the Mystaran teleporters. Another theory of disused teleporters, is the first wizard in succesfuly creating one did not forsee a fatal flaw in his design. The flaw being the unnatural randomness in strange creatures or strange messages coming through, or even a leak in entropy. Other wizards seeing the original copy the magic, and recreate the same mistake. Soon a whole generation of wizards start going insane, or end up as some puddle of goo, leaving their teleporters behind for some hapless adventurer to either recreate the same magic, and flaw, or to start using the teleporter over and over again, only to re-awaken the same demise the original creator met. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 10:57:27 -0500 From: "Michael B. Schaefer" Subject: Re: Teleporting Arch? why not PiBBbm90aGVyIHRoZW9yeSBvZiBkaXN1c2VkIHRlbGVwb3J0ZXJzLCBpcyB0aGUgZmlyc3Qgd2l6 YXJkIGluDQpzdWNjZXNmdWx5IGNyZWF0aW5nIG9uZSBkaWQgbm90IGZvcnNlZSBhIGZhdGFsIGZs YXcgaW4gaGlzIGRlc2lnbi4gIFRoZQ0KZmxhdyBiZWluZyB0aGUgdW5uYXR1cmFsIHJhbmRvbW5l c3MgaW4gc3RyYW5nZSBjcmVhdHVyZXMgb3Igc3RyYW5nZQ0KbWVzc2FnZXMgY29taW5nIHRocm91 Z2gsIG9yIGV2ZW4gYSBsZWFrIGluIGVudHJvcHkuICBPdGhlciB3aXphcmRzDQpzZWVpbmcgdGhl IG9yaWdpbmFsIGNvcHkgdGhlIG1hZ2ljLCBhbmQgcmVjcmVhdGUgdGhlIHNhbWUgbWlzdGFrZS4g IFNvb24NCmEgd2hvbGUgZ2VuZXJhdGlvbiBvZiANCiANClRoZXJlIGlzIGEgU2NpZW5jZSBGaWN0 aW9uIHN0b3J5IHdpdGggYSBzaW1pbGFyIGlkZWEsIGJ1dCB0aGUgb3Bwb3NpdGUNCmVmZmVjdC4N CiANClRoZXJlIHdhcyBhIHdvcmxkIHdoZXJlIHBvcnRhbHMgY2lyY3VpdGVkIHRoZSBnbG9iZSwg eW91IGNvdWxkIGdvDQphbnl3aGVyZSBhbmQgZXZlcnl3aGVyZSB5b3Ugd2FudGVkIGluc3RhbnRs eS4gQnV0IHRoZSBwcm9ibGVtIHdhcyB0aGF0DQp3aGVuIHlvdSBzdGVwcGVkIHRocm91Z2gsIHNv bWV0aW1lcyBkZXRhaWxzIHdvdWxkIGdldCBsb3N0LiBUaGUgcG9ydGFscw0KYXQgdGhlIG90aGVy IHNpZGUgd291bGQgdHJ5IHRvIG1ha2UgdXAgZm9yIGl0LiBUaGUgbmV0IGVmZmVjdCBpcyB0aGF0 IGENCmhlYXZ5IHBvcnRhbCB1c2VyIHdvdWxkIGJlIGF2ZXJhZ2VkIG91dCwgYW5kIGxvc2UgaGlz IGlkZW50aXR5Lg0KIA0KTWF5YmUgYSA1JSBjaGFuY2Ugb2YgYSByYW5kb20gZGljZSByb2xsLCB3 aGVyZSBvbmUgb2YgdGhlIG9wdGlvbnMgd291bGQNCmJlIGxvc2luZyBhbiBhdHRyaWJ1dGUgcG9p bnQ/DQogDQpIYXZlIGZ1biENCiANCg== ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 13:22:12 -0500 From: Castille Baromon de Preto Subject: Spell Personalizations IMC I used several systems to handle magic. One system involved the use of mana points to produce motes and rotes in spell research and applications. A mote is a small cantrip that gives the spell a unique flavor or personalization, like a magic missle not being a glowing arrow, but a fiery eyeball. A rote is a small spell that empowers another spell when combined together with another rote or rotes. Example: The wizard learns the spell Magic Missle. The wizard can now research the rote of Magic Missle. Now he can personalize it with a researched mote to create fiery eyeballs that work the same as magic missle. He also studies Detect Invisible as a spell. He then can research Detect Invisible as a rote, and combine the rotes of Detect Invisble and Magic Missle with another combining rote, and his personal mote to create a new spell of flaming eyeballs that attack invisible creatures as a magic missle spell. He can perform further research to create a MU spell of Faerie Fire and its associate rote to add that into his new spell. Thus his new spell will create flaming eyeballs that attack and do damage to invisible targets, then making them visible with greenish flames (or create a new mote of pink flames). The formula to follow is this way: Each spell level is 4 mana points, a rote is 1 mana less per spell level. So a first level spell is 4 mana points, and a first level rote is 3 mana points. A wizard cannot cast a rote that has less mana than an equivalent spell or combination of spells. Every mote is worth 1 mana, and each mote is one simple personalization, so to change Magic Missle from glowing arrow to flaming eyeball is worth 2 mana points, or 2 motes. So to cast the new spell it will cost 5 mana, instead of the 4 mana to cast Magic Missle. Detect Invisible is a 2nd level spell so it is worth 8 mana, the rote is worth 6 mana. To cast this spell as a rote the wizard would need to add 2 motes of personalization, like a glowing disc (that only the wizard sees) above the invisible object and a flashy spell presentation (sparks between the wizards ears when casting). Or the wizard can opt to research a combining rote (a new combining rote must be studied for each spell being combined above the first 2) and combine the Detect Invisible spell with another. Combining rotes have no mana and so are just used for research costs and difiiculties. The Magic Missle combined with Detect Invisible would have a mana value of 9, while the spells mana would be worth 12, so the wizard needs to add a few more motes. Green, Flaming, Eyballs is well worth 3 motes. This system can get long and calculated, but after running a campaign in Glantri with 8 and 9 year old spell casters, I thought this was the best way to learn new spells and adventure in the Great School of Magic. Etienne's way flashy finger pointing, disintigrating illusion, teleport other by looking, spell was my insperation. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 19:18:23 -0000 From: jason o'brien Subject: Re: Teleporting Arch? why not > I have a teleporter platform in my campaign. It takes a set of keys to > use, well actually nine large rune-carved gems that the players had to > find. > > However, it teleports from one platform to another and they had to figure > out how to use the keys to get to the proper destination. > > And, of course, there are more than one set of keys, GRIN! The players > have moved into an abandoned keep that has a teleporter in the basement, > and for some reason there seems to be an unending supply of encounters for > them. > KS > sounds like the system in Stargate?, A character in my campaign, the one who wants to conquer northern Davania, wants to set up a system like this, one in each city he takes, so that he can move troops to any city quickly. Mortus. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 08:57:07 +1300 From: Chris Furneaux Subject: Re: Teleporting Arch? why not > but had the help of the Kaelic druids of Fensland (L-England), and they > required a focus for the magical portal, the mystical Stonehenge of the > Kaelic Highlands. This gives me a good idea to solve my problem. Stone circles of Teleportation. A stone circle of teleportation is designed to allow safe teleportation between two locations. For two stone circles to function togeather they must be constructed so that they can be activated at exactly the same time. To create the portals a stone circle must be constructed to provide accurate times. Each circle must be constructed so that it's counterpart will read the same time at exactly the same moment. On particular days when the right planets/stars line up and at a particular solar time at both gates, and a large specally cut and enchanted gem is placed at the center of each circle, and the gate is fully opened. While it is fully open as many people as are desired may pass through it to the other gate with no chance of error (provided both circles are constructed correctly). However the gate does not stay open for long and can only be opened at a particular time. The complexity of the stone circle dictates how often it can be used. A simple stone circle may be designed to only open fully once every millenia or even longer. The more complex the stone circle the more frequently it can be used, but exponentially greater cost, knowledge and research are needed to create it. Almost always the creation of such a device will require the assistance of a high level druid, as there are only very few magic users that have the required knowledge to construct such a device and to start from scratch would take many, many, years of research. Additionally, although not commonally known, it is possible to use the gate at most times provided you know the right place to stand and the right incantation. This allows error free teleport to any other known gate. This skill however is only generally known by high level druids and anyone else attempting this is likly to do so with disasterous consequences. Most gates of this kind are tend to be constructed to be able to be fully opened to any one other gate no more then four times a year on key celestial days at particular times. Different times and dates tend to correlate to opening portals to different gates, although a crystal is required at each gate for the portal to open. If more then two gates are open at the same time travel can have some unpredicted effects and similtanious bi-directional travel is not recomended. Seem like a reasonable idea? Chris. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 12:04:54 -0800 From: Joe Kelly Subject: Re: Teleporting Arch? why not One way to set up a Teleporting System is to use Jharmeil Riversedge from = the Wizards of the coast site. He is a Portal Master. Here is the addy: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=3Dfr/fx20020717rp ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 12:06:31 -0800 From: Joe Kelly Subject: Re: Teleporting Arch? why not Also the Strongholds book I recently purchased says a one way portal cost = is 150,000 gp and a two way portal is 250,000gp. JK Wolf ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 15:12:39 -0500 From: Castille Baromon de Preto Subject: Re: Spell Personalizations > Or the wizard can opt to research a combining rote (a new combining rote must be studied for each spell being combined above the first 2) and combine the Detect Invisible spell with another. Combining rotes have no mana and so are just used for research costs and difiiculties. <<>> Big fix and clarification: Each Combining Rote does cost 2 mana in the spell total, they just don't count against the spell total to cast. ie: You can't use combining rotes mana against the rule for having enough mana to cast a spell. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 12:43:00 -0800 From: Darth Darknerd Subject: Specularuam Plots I know some out there have run mini-adventures within Specularuam. Does anyone have any ideas, good adventures that they have run in that city? - Joaquin __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 12:49:09 -0800 From: Darth Darknerd Subject: Karameikos, a Republic? I was just going through module B6: The Veiled Society (TSR9096), and I came across something interesting. In the section of "EMPLOYMENT", it mentions that the party must escort Simion Tornescu, a statesman, to Senator Eipistlo's house. This is interesting. Since when did the Grand Duchy of Karameikos (and later a Kingdom) become a republic? How does Karameikos have a senate? - Joaquin __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 13:03:32 -0800 From: Darth Darknerd Subject: Vorloi Clan Perspective I am not sure if I covered this (some emails were missing as my account got stuffed up), but I wanted to cover this. Vorloi in GAZ1 and Kingdom of Karmeikos, is noted as a Thyatian family, but they have obvious Traladaran-like names. I was going through B6: The Veiled Sociey, and nowhere does it mention that Vorloi is from Thyatis. It does mention indirectly and directly that they are new, and have supported the Duke, and used that influence to put themselves in power against the established Traladaran political mold. I thought of a simple fix: The Vorloi clan is indeed Traladaran. They were pushed out by presiding Traladaran nobility, and thus went to Thyatis to establish their trading business, which became quite succesful. After many generations and during the time the Duke came to power, the Vorloi assisted the Duke and established themselves there. Thus now they are Thyatian (thinking, education, culture) for all intents and purposes, but their lineage and history stem from Traladara. They have always used Traladaran names out of respect and pride for their heritage. I see the Vorloi as some of the most tolerant Thyatians towards Traldarans and their customs, but they are definately intolerant toward any established Traladaran nobility, as they see them as cogs in the gears for success and progress of the nation. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! News - Today's headlines http://news.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 16:04:52 -0500 From: SteelAngel Subject: Re: Karameikos, a Republic? On Wed, 18 Dec 2002, Darth Darknerd wrote: > How does Karameikos have a senate? It may not be a Karameikan senator, the senator in question may be from Thyatis, who happens to hold a home in Karameikos, or possibly is the senator from Karameikos to Thyatis. (IIRC, the Duchy was only partially autonomous until 1010 AC) Ethan -- Kinard 210 Linux Guru Webmaster www.steelangel.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 16:48:57 -0500 From: Castille Baromon de Preto Subject: Re: Karameikos, a Republic? > > From: Darth Darknerd > In the section of "EMPLOYMENT", it mentions that the > party must escort Simion Tornescu, a statesman, to > Senator Eipistlo's house. > > This is interesting. Since when did the Grand Duchy > of Karameikos (and later a Kingdom) become a republic? > How does Karameikos have a senate? > Very clever, I never noticed that one. A good explenation would be the Senator is vacationing at his Summer home in an old friend's Duchy. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 01:35:29 +0100 From: Francesco Defferrari Subject: Re: Vorloi Clan Perspective ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darth Darknerd" > The Vorloi clan is indeed Traladaran. They were > pushed out by presiding Traladaran nobility, and thus > went to Thyatis to establish their trading business, > which became quite succesful. After many generations > and during the time the Duke came to power, the Vorloi > assisted the Duke and established themselves there. I wrote quite the same thing in my history of Traladara. It's in the vault http://dnd.starflung.com/tralhist.html bye Francesco ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 02:38:35 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Andr=E9s_Piquer_Otero?= Subject: Re: Pool: The Old Rules & Immortals Began playing in 84, Red Box (Spanish translation) after discovering quasi-RPG world in those Fighting Fantasy and Lone Wolf gamebooks... nevertheless, I had no idea of what Mystara was (though we played B2-B4) till I got the RC in 94 or so; the Blue box never made its way into Spanish and me and my friends moved around 87 to AD&D 1st ed. In the 90s we moved back to Basic D&D... I really agree with those who feel that a campaign world has a "feel" for a campaign system... I feel odd playing Mystara with something other than D&D or Greyhawk with something not 1st ed!! I've played 2nd ed too, but it don't feel that "link" between it and any gaming system (I never played Dark Sun, or a Planescape campaign -though PS source material is great for usage in other settings- and I've played DL and FR here and there in both 1st ed, 2nd ed and even 3rd ed). As per Immortal campaigns, well, the only try at it we had was, funnily enough, during the 80s (we got to carry an ongoing party from 1st to 20something lvl wow!), but using 1st ed. AD&D... It was somewhat munchkinistic, with high level characters first beating Lolth in module Q1 and then getting involved in the politics of the Nine Hells... My PC got to defeat Geryon and take his place as ruler of the 5th Circle... but it was not really Immortal campaigning as much as Outer Planes affairs (I tend to define an Immortals campaign as one in which the destinies of worshippers and countries in the Prime are at stake), though there was a lot of intrigue and devil-bashing (and cool abilities from Deities & Demigods). I am from Madrid, Spain. Andrés ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 17:07:07 +1300 From: Chris Furneaux Subject: Re: Karameikos, a Republic? > This is interesting. Since when did the Grand Duchy > of Karameikos (and later a Kingdom) become a republic? > How does Karameikos have a senate? I would assume that (as I have always assumed that B6 takes place in early pre- gaz karameikos) it means that the grand duchy while semi-autonomus still at this time maintains some of the ties to the thyatian senate and as such has some representation there. By keeping this in place till the duchy is standing on it's own it acts as a measure to keep the facarde that karameikos is still beholden to thyatis, and therefore under it's protection. It would be reasonable and sensible that Stefan would start with the thyatian laws and then add his own changes and additions over the top of it. This could potentially mean that there is some representation in the senate, or maybe there is some kind of reporting required to the senate from Karameikos that is required with it's position in the empire as a grand duchy. Of course it might just be that he is a thyatian senator with a holiday home but the other options offer more hooks IMO. Chris. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 23:17:08 -0600 From: Ron Rogers Subject: Re: Karameikos, a Republic? On Wed, 18 Dec 2002, Ethan wrote: > On Wed, 18 Dec 2002, Darth Darknerd wrote: > > > How does Karameikos have a senate? > > It may not be a Karameikan senator, the senator in question may be from > Thyatis, who happens to hold a home in Karameikos, or possibly is the > senator from Karameikos to Thyatis. (IIRC, the Duchy was only partially > autonomous until 1010 AC) > > > Ethan Although normally, Grand Duchies are part of a larger kingdom or empire, the Grand Duchy of Karameikos has been fully autonomous since AC 970. >> From Gaz 1, The Grand Duchy of Karameikos by Aaron Allston, page 13: "It may seem peculiar to today's students that Karameikos took the title of Duke instead of King, but he had compelling reasons for his course of action." "Foremost among them was the fact that, by defining Karameikos as a duchy, Duke Stefan created the inpression in surrounding nations that the ducky was beholden to, and protected by the empire of Thyatis. This was of critical importance in forestalling invasion by outside nations. In spite of the public announcement of the Grand Duchy's autonomy and the signing of all documents to that effect, in spite of the fact that Thyatis sent an ambassador with Duke Stefan and recalled his tax collectors, the common impression in the region's early years was that it was just another duchy belonging to Thyatis." The senator mentioned was either on visiting/on vacation from Thyatis or the B6 scenario takes place before AC 970. Ron Rogers ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 22:11:05 -0800 From: Kar Ess Subject: Re: Teleporting Arch? why not Well, I guess it would be close to Stargate at that, but it preceeded the show by quite a few years. It does not go to other worlds, but a group of my main bad guys also have a set of keys and are using them to try to take out the pcs. KS --- jason o'brien wrote: > > I have a teleporter platform in my campaign. It takes a set of keys to > > use, well actually nine large rune-carved gems that the players had to > > find. > > > > However, it teleports from one platform to another and they had to > figure > > out how to use the keys to get to the proper destination. > > > > And, of course, there are more than one set of keys, GRIN! The players > > have moved into an abandoned keep that has a teleporter in the > basement, > > and for some reason there seems to be an unending supply of encounters > for > > them. > > KS > > > sounds like the system in Stargate?, A character in my campaign, the one > who > wants to conquer northern Davania, wants to set up a system like this, > one > in each city he takes, so that he can move troops to any city quickly. > > Mortus. > > ******************************************************************** > 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. > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 17 Dec 2002 to 18 Dec 2002 (#2002-327) ****************************************************************