Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 17 Jun 2003 to 18 Jun 2003 (#2003-159) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 19/06/2003, 17:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 2 messages totalling 128 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. X10 - Red Arrow, Black Shield - Miissing info! SPOILERS! 2. X10 - Red Arrow, Black Shield - Miissing info! SPOILERS! ******************************************************************** 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 Jun 2003 15:30:53 +0300 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: Re: X10 - Red Arrow, Black Shield - Miissing info! SPOILERS! Mark wrote: > I like this idea - it seems more "Lord of the Rings". When it comes down to > it, the "Known World" has never really had any Sauron type figure, and that > would fit the bill. > If you'd like some additional info on "my" Hosadus, check out the "Twin Campaigns" timelines in the Vaults. We've played out two campaigns in the same continuum: The main campaign started around 1000 AC. That's where we played out X10, which we just finished. It is a very epic-style campaign, however Hosadus isn't the main adversary - the original PCs, two of which are still alive after 14 years (RW and Mystaran), accidentally summoned a deity to the world, and the campaign has been building up to a confrontation against the said deity. Hosadus was still a major villain, as were Landryn Teriak (goner), "The Firelord" (goner, my own creation of whom you can read about in the Vaults" etc. The secondary campaign takes around 450 AC. The First Nomad Wars will take place after this, so the PCs are not involved. But one important NPC in the campaign will lead the struggle against Hosadus. And what's more, the PCs were responsible for the rise of the Hosadian cult - they defeated a demonic cult in Hule, and were aided by followers of Hosadus. (The players themselves knew, form the main campaign, that Hosadus is a follower of Thanatos. They showed great integrity in never using this info and in treating the Hosadians as viable allies.) Although my campaigns have been very epic-style, as can be seen from the timelines, I still agree with Bertrand. Mystara is at its best in its political aspects, and the microlevel of my campaigns has always held on to that. The "sauronian" figures are actually rare, and many times it is hard to define a villain in Mystara. My players have had to a lot of soul-searching for their PCs when it came to choosing sides and making alliances. The most satisfying example (for the GM at least) was, when during the X10 Nomad war the PCs got really angry towards the Ylari. They organised a coalition that stopped the Ylari occupation of Selenica and destroyed their coastal settlements (Norse raiders). Then when Thyatis invaded and occupies Ylaruam, the norsemen raided, looted and raped numerous villages and Al-Kalimian faith was finally outlawed, they started learning heavy political lessons. Ville ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 16:19:48 +0100 From: Mark Alexander Bertenshaw Subject: Re: X10 - Red Arrow, Black Shield - Miissing info! SPOILERS! Hi Ville - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ville V Lähde" To: Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2003 1:30 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] X10 - Red Arrow, Black Shield - Miissing info! SPOILERS! > Mark wrote: > > I like this idea - it seems more "Lord of the Rings". When it comes down to > > it, the "Known World" has never really had any Sauron type figure, and that > > would fit the bill. > > > If you'd like some additional info on "my" Hosadus, check out the "Twin > Campaigns" timelines in the Vaults. We've played out two campaigns in the > same continuum: ~various snippages~ Interesting. In the secondary campaign, did you go through all of the Gazetteers, and effectively rewrite the maps? ~but just one point~ > The players > themselves knew, form the main campaign, that Hosadus is a follower of > Thanatos. Am I right in saying that TSR later rewrote continuity and make Loki his patron? I never liked that idea. > Although my campaigns have been very epic-style, as can be seen from the > timelines, I still agree with Bertrand. Mystara is at its best in its > political aspects, and the microlevel of my campaigns has always held on > to that. Yes, you both have a point. Now, I can't say I am an expert in TSR campaign worlds, but my guess is this due to the hotchpotch nature of the D&D "Known World", there was never really an intention to do so; whilst worlds such as Krynn, Oerth, and Faerun were (at least by time of release) designed specifically to have an epic nature built into the heart of it. One of my criticisms of the Gazetteer series is that they don't seem to have united feel about them. My suspicions are that a lot of them were developed in isolation, although the credits seem to suggest that Bruce Heard was in charge of the entire project from the onset. It would be interesting to know whether he had written a "Known World Bible" before the gazetteers were written, or whether the authors were making up entirely original stuff as they went along. > The "sauronian" figures are actually rare, and many times it is > hard to define a villain in Mystara. My players have had to a lot of > soul-searching for their PCs when it came to choosing sides and making > alliances. Another good point. Even supposedly "Lawful" characters can fill the villain role. > Ville -- Mark Bertenshaw Dungeons & Dragons Reviews: http://freespace.virgin.net/mark.bertenshaw/mark/RPG/dnd.html ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 17 Jun 2003 to 18 Jun 2003 (#2003-159) ****************************************************************