Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 14 May 2004 to 15 May 2004 (#2004-105) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 16/05/2004, 17:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 3 messages totalling 159 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. RW Holland/Netherlands 2. Glantri law and divine magic (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: Sat, 15 May 2004 09:16:09 +0200 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: RW Holland/Netherlands Asgor Ironfist wrote: > > this was the biggest dutch colony in America, managed by the West India > Company (in Mystara, LB Trade Company). The only thing missing is a excuse > for this conquiest... considering that Portos-Vilaverde-Texeiras left LB > Trade Company outside when they reestablished their trade monopoly in Bahia > de Yalu (Bay of Yalu), they already have an excuse. Yes, the LB had all reasons to establish Dunwick -- first as a missionary settlement and trading post, later as a company-operated independent city. -- Giampaolo Agosta http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 12:02:20 +0200 From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Matteo_Barnab=E8?= Subject: Glantri law and divine magic Greetings Mystarans! I am running a campaign in the Known World (presently Ambyrmont AC 1000, no Wrath of Immortals is in schedule, since I have rewritten several keypoints in the backstage and so IMC there are not any more the conditions to have _that_ war) and my PCs are marching from Corunglain to Trintan, in the Glantrian Principalities. I am using the rules of D&D 3rd edition, with minor adjustments. I have a very thorny (for me) question about the way Glantrians see divine magic. As we know, religion is a crime of high treason in the Principalities; also, according to Gaz. 3, "clericism and similar heresy is punishable by death by fire". So, it is clear that clerics and paladins in Glantri are outlaws and will be put to death if they are seized. And what about druids? I believe that druids (at least Mystaran ones) are a kind of "specialty priests" devoted to the Immortals of nature, such as Terra, Djaea, Ordana, Zirchev and the like, and so they are considered not unlike clerics by Glantrian authorities. And what instead about rangers? I think this is a very difficult point to solve, because (according to D&D 3E rules, see Player's Handbook p. 44-45) rangers, starting from 4th level (*), gain the ability of casting divine spells very similar to the druidic ones. So I'm asking: do the ranger worship Immortals (or perhaps simply "nature" in itself) to gain these spells? And how spellcasting rangers should be treated according to Glantrian laws? I do not think that the simple fact of being a ranger should be forbidden in the Principalities as being a cleric, a druid, or a paladine. I believe that among Erewan elves there are a lot of rangers (not unlikely they are often multiclass ranger/sorcerer or ranger/wizard)... and so? what does a (say) 8th level Erewan elf do? Can he cast cure light wounds, pass without trace, summon natural ally and the like or instead the glatrian law forbids him to use those "potentially heretic" divine spells? Let me know your opinion! Thank you very much! Matteo (*) provided he has enough Wisdom (12+) to get a bonus spell of 1th level; if he only has Wisdom 11 he must wait 6th level to begin casting spells ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 13:03:55 +0200 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: Glantri law and divine magic Matteo Barnabè wrote: > > So, it is clear that clerics and paladins in Glantri are outlaws and will be > put to death if they are seized. > > And what about druids? Same as for clerics. Remember that Druids _are_ clerics, in OD&D, so there was no reason to be more specific in the Gaz. > I believe that druids (at least Mystaran ones) are a kind of "specialty > priests" devoted to the Immortals of nature, such as Terra, Djaea, Ordana, > Zirchev and the like, and so they are considered not unlike clerics by > Glantrian authorities. Exactly. > And what instead about rangers? Well, consider that Rangers are something like Paladins, just with a different focus. > So I'm asking: do the ranger worship Immortals (or perhaps simply > "nature" in itself) to gain these spells? Obviously, there's no answer right out of the box, unless you consider OD&D Druidic Knights as the M-equivalent of Rangers. In this case, they're the same as Paladins. > And how spellcasting rangers > should be treated according to Glantrian laws? I do not think that the > simple fact of being a ranger should be forbidden in the Principalities as > being a cleric, a druid, or a paladine. Why not? BTW, "being a cleric" is an OOC statement, which translates, IC, to "worship Immortals and receive power from them", which applies equally to clerics, druids, paladins and high level rangers. > I believe that among Erewan elves > there are a lot of rangers (not unlikely they are often multiclass > ranger/sorcerer or ranger/wizard)... and so? what does a (say) 8th level > Erewan elf do? Can he cast cure light wounds, pass without trace, summon > natural ally and the like or instead the glatrian law forbids him to use > those "potentially heretic" divine spells? You have several choices for Ranger characters from Glantri who follow the Glantrian prohibition to worship Immortals: 1) There are no rangers in Glantri, since the Ranger class has a philosophy opposed to the Glantrian one. 2) You can be a ranger, but at some point you stop progressing, because you do not worship Immortals (this can go for Erewan multiclass characters, I suppose). 3) You can be a ranger, but you don't get any spell, since you don't worship Immortals. Also, not all Glantrians abide by the Glantrian laws, which may be bent in specific principalities by the local government -- you may then assume that Princess Carlotina secretly condones the worship of Ilsundal, and Erewan rangers receive spells from this Immortal. Of course, Erewan rangers outside their home principality will be burned at the stake if identified as Immortal worshippers. Hope this helps, GP -- Giampaolo Agosta http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 14 May 2004 to 15 May 2004 (#2004-105) ****************************************************************