Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 31 Jan 2004 to 1 Feb 2004 (#2004-28) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 02/02/2004, 19:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 4 messages totalling 291 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Real Life campaign in Cynidicea 2. Paladins, and an interpretation of Mystara 3. Deserts of Desolution campaign 4. Query on Paladin in Mystara ******************************************************************** 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: Sun, 1 Feb 2004 11:13:25 +0100 From: Federico Kaftal Subject: Real Life campaign in Cynidicea Hello all! This is just to let you know that a Real Life Campaign held in Milano (Italy) based on "B4 The Lost City of Cynidicea" [home-converted under 3E rules] has just featured the involvement of Federico (me) as a DM, and Giampaolo Agosta (aka Agathokles) as the Hattian philosopher Rudolf Neuenberg, who was found lost (and drugged) by a pre-existing PC party, inside Darius' gambling hall... I wish to publicy thank all of the authors and contributors of the unofficial Cynidicea Gazetteer (Geoff Gander, Marco Dalmonte, Jeff Daly, Sharon Dornhoff, Mischa Gelman, Jamuga Khan, Fabrizio Paoli, Clay Postma, Tomas Sanchez, Andrew Theisen): I'm making use of their product, and I found the drug rules especially helpful (although I customized them a bit). I hope you all will want to send your best wishes to this campaign, as I firmly believe that RL conjunctions between fans and real table-playing are what can best of all help with reviving Mystara. Federico Kaftal _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2004 13:06:38 -0000 From: "N. M." Subject: Re: Paladins, and an interpretation of Mystara Alright, Mystarans, (You'll have to be patient with me here, since this is the first post I've ever made to /any/ mailing list. I've been a member of this list for a while though, and have been playing in The Known World since 1987.) I put together an online message game, based around Mongoose Publishing's Sands of Death d20 supplement. (FYI, it contains this mini-game where you play a gladiator stable master.) http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/detail.php?qsID=49&qsSeries=Other This game would be set in Mystara, but though my players were all familiar with AD&D, the campaign settings they were familiar with were Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk. None of them had ever downshifted (ahem) to the Basic Set, Expert Set, etc. And none of them were familiar with Mystara either. So I had to draw up a summary of the Mystara setting that would give it a unique angle (i.e., sell it to them), and point out the differences between Mystara and the other D&D settings. One thing I really struggled with was the unique angle. Mystara and Greyhawk both have obvious parallels, and Forgotten Realms was a pastiche of something from everything. I've included the introduction to the summary, sorry about the length. It contains my own little spin on the setting, but it's just my interpretation of Mystara for the 21st Century. ------------------ The Known World of Mystara Imagine a world not unlike our own, or at least a world that was not unlike own. This game is set in a world that began its life and evolved much like our own, until the Age of the Dinosaurs. It was during this time that one dinosaur, an omnivour, became self-aware, the first sentient being on the planet. As the only sentient being on the planet he found that the world around him was what he perceived it to be. He soon realised that he could alter his perception and the world would change, as if by magic. This dinosaur named himself Ka, after the calling sound that his race made. He became powerful and did not die. He was able to bend and shape anything to his will but such was his solitude and loneliness that he was thoughtful and never sought control over others or his environment. Then a time came when a shadow appeared on the far distant horizon and a huge meteorite blazed towards the earth. Ka stopped it and all time as he perceived it, and thought long about this meteorite. He knew not from where it had come, or why, but he knew that it could destroy him and most life on the planet. Maybe it had come to end him, end his lonely vigil. Maybe it had come only to destroy, or maybe for no reason at all. For the longest time Ka was sure he would end it all, he would die. This was his true wish. But then looking around him he perceived all the beauty and splendour in the world and could not let it be destroyed. But the meteorite had come from the dark reaches on a long and lonely journey, and Ka would not stop it at its journey's end. So he became Ka the Preserver and taking a swathe from amongst all living things he retreated into the centre of the world where it was safe. Time began again and the outside world was struck by a cataclysm. After the destruction there came new life and eventually more sentient beings in abundance. Their powers diluted by their numbers and sheer disbelief, most of these sentient beings never became as powerful as Ka the Preserver. But some did, and these are the Immortals. Ka the Preserver continued his work and never did a race or civilisation wholy disappear from the world. But the other Immortals, risen from a multitude of different peoples had never known the solitude and loneliness of Ka the Preserver. They quarrelled and argued, and fought for supremacy - for themselves and the race and civilisations from whence they came. The world became divided as Immortals struck their own claims; deserts were razed next to forests, swamps poured next to snowfields in confrontation, and magic powers were granted to their followers. Yet all the while, the Immortals tried to keep the lesser mortals in place, but as time went on mortals found ways of gaining the magic powers of the Immortals, without their aid. So began the divide of arcane and divine magic, and so began the widespread use of both throughout the lands. Both Immortals and mortals have made mistakes. There have been other cataclysms, the most recent of which was the Great Rain of Fire. As mortals gain in knowledge and power, ever more seek to become Immortals. But for the normal person, the world is unremarkable for all its magic. Forests are lush and green, moutains are tall and snowcapped. There are rolling hills and valleys. There are vast dry wastelands and shifting sands. There are swamps and jungles, and lakes and seas. There are villages, towns and cities. Civilisation amidst the wilderness, and this is the Known World. It has much in common with the world we live in, many of the animals, cultures and languages are similar if not the same. Some are based on myths, legends, folklore and fairy tales. (Some of the Immortals even have the same names as gods in our world.) It is a world where everything is preserved, one way or another. It is a world of unlimited possibility, and yet impossible. Maybe our world is what might what have happened, had Ka chosen death instead of life. ------------------ In relation to the Paladin class, I wrote the following: ------------------ Paladins Paladins are rare in the Known World. Some are members of a religious order; the Church of Karameikos has the Order of the Griffon, whilst the Eternal Truth has the Order of the Lance. However, most paladins are lone warriors, fighting against the forces of evil and answering the call of a single Immortal. Many are not even religious., in that they do not observe the faith or customs of any organised religion. As such, most paladins do not appear as the knight in shining armour, with full plate, a shield and a longsword. They'll wear traveller's outfits and medium armour, often the cheaper the better. Their weapons will be what they can afford. Peasants that get the calling might have nothing more than well-worn leather, with a shortsword, spear and bow. Rather like sorcerers, paladins are regarded as somehow special, the chosen ones. In most instances, the character class most likely to dislike a paladin is the cleric. ------------------ I just liked the idea of Paladins being lone crusaders, mysterious strangers, rougher and more edgy than the knight in shining armour archetype. Cheers, nemarsde ------------------ N. M. n.e.marsden@btinternet.com Web mail 101563.52@talk21.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2004 23:30:35 -0800 From: Joaquin Menchaca Subject: Deserts of Desolution campaign Hi, OK. I have no time, but I miss RPG. I wanted to run a campaign that is more epic. I thought of running B6, then B10. This gives them clues and a treasure map to a lost treasure in the desert wastes. The adventurers travel to Ylaruam, where they somehow get transported into Nithia inside HollowWorld. The module "Deserts of Desolution" essentially has this scenario, where the adventures leave an arabic-like world, and come into a egyptian-like world. Perfect! I also like the first two modules. B6 is a social/city type of adventure, and B10 is a wilderness adventure leading to the Lost Valley of Hutaaka. - Joaquin PS - I'll be doing a lot of conversion to Mystara and D&D3.5e. :-) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2004 08:41:55 +0100 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: Query on Paladin in Mystara Francisco V. Navarro V wrote: > > Question: > Where are paladins found in Mystara (what cultures, what nations?) > Which religions and/or Immortals would they serve? > > My answers (just off the top of my head): > Paladins would probably be found in the more Western European nations of at > least Medieval age culture. This would probably be Thaytis, Darokin, > Karameikos, and possibly Alphatia and Glantri (if it were legally possible). Of course, the Church of Karameikos' military order probably has at least some Paladins. Thyatian Immortals like Tarastia would have Paladins. Darokin is a bit too mercantilistic to have a large number of Paladins, though, and Alphatia probably has only few -- OD&D-wise, these would be non-spellcasting paladins, since people with spellcasting abilities become magic-users or clerics. > One Immortal they would surely follow would be Ixion/Solarios, particularly > where he is worshipped as a patron of law and good (as opposed to a > naturalist Immortal of the sun and life). Again, this would be in Darokin > and Thyatis. Of course. One of the main sources of Paladins would indeed be Narvaez, but Paladins could be found on the SC also in Bellayne and Eusdria. The HK, in their later law-oriented version, would have Paladins (see Bruce's article). Then, it mostly depends on what you mean by "Paladin" -- OD&D Paladin are quite different from AD&D Paladins. The Savage Coast has "Defenders", which are quite like OD&D Paladins (less powers and more spells then AD&D Paladins, more flexible ethos, allowed for any alignment). Basically, I see three possible definitions for "Paladin": 1) Arturian. This is Galahad, and it is a nearly unique character in a world. The requirements are extremely high, and the dangers many. I think it is not really appropriate for Mystara -- actually, it is not very D&D-ish. A Paladin in Ravenloft is probably the closest thing one would see in *D&D. 2) AD&D Paladin. This is the basic Paladin character class, any edition but OD&D. It's less culture-specific than (1), but still only appropriate for Western European Middle-Age. I don't see this one as terribly appropriate on Mystara, though it could be found in Karameikos, Narvaez, Eusdria and perhaps a modernized Vestland or Norwold. The Savage Coast book allows Savage Paladins as well, though. 3) Defender. This is an holy warrior, but very generic. It is basically an AD&D conversion of Paladin/Avenger/Druidic Knight of OD&D. This one can be found nearly everywhere on Mystara: any Immortal can have Defenders, and they are appropriate to savage cultures as well (e.g. Orcish Defenders of Kaarash in the Orc's Head, Druidic Defenders in Robrenn, Defenders of Ilsundal in Eusdria, etc.). The SC book allows, IIRC, Defender Paladins, but I don't think it's a good idea. Personally, I only allow version (3) in my Mystara -- i.e., using AD&D I don't use Paladins, only Defender Fighters. -- Giampaolo Agosta http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 31 Jan 2004 to 1 Feb 2004 (#2004-28) **************************************************************