Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 30 Aug 2005 to 31 Aug 2005 (#2005-172) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 01/09/2005, 17:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 8 messages totalling 429 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Mystara d20: Vitality/Wound Points and Defense 2. Winter War 3. Winter War still? (5) 4. Mystara 3.5 version ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 04:13:28 -0700 From: Ray Allen Subject: Re: Mystara d20: Vitality/Wound Points and Defense I wouldn't change from HP/AC to VP/D. Perhaps just documenting an optional rule for it would be a better idea. --Ray. --- Joaquin Menchaca wrote: > Another thing I wanted to do is to not use the > familiar Hitpoint and Armor Class, but use a system > suited for both low-tech and more high-tech scenarios > with Vitality Points and Defense. (They can still be > called Hit Points and Armor Class). WAG, BFC, EBT..... Shortlines are the most interesting! ---------------------------------------------- If you have to choose between books and computers, there's no doubt which you should choose. You should choose books. --Bill Gates of Microsoft ---------------------------------------------- Geek Code: GLS$ d- s:+ a C++ UL++++ P? L++ E---- W++ N+ o-- K- w--- O? M- V-- PS+++ PE Y PGP- t+ 5-- X+++ R++ tv-- b++ DI- D---- G-- e+++ h--- r+++ y+++ ---------------------------------------------- Warriors and Wizards OGL Rules http://home.psknet.com/allenr/Dark_Coast.html ---------------------------------------------- __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 17:21:39 +0300 From: Ville V Lahde Subject: Re: Winter War Knud wrote: > You mention that after your experiences you would even more > changes. Would you care to share them, please? Certainly. 1) One change is simple yet challenging: I would rewrite the composition of the armies, as the battles are laughably small in historical comparison. Larger army especially for the nomads. And in connection to this I'd propably relax the stacking rule even more than I suggested. There is no rationale for it, and it makes the battles even smaller. --> This will make it possible to make the Darokin siege more dangerous, either creating a nice gaming session in breaking the siege, or creating a good reason to rush off to defeat the Master. 2) I'd also create some sort of limiting rules for reinforcements. Each side has limits as to how many troops it can use to rebuild or refresh units. IMC the losses on all sides were great, and the number of reinforcements would have been bigger that all the armies put together if I hadn't made some out- of-the-hat changes. The players would have become sarcastic with good reason :) 3) Rewritten the movement rules, as they didn't seem to work that well. I can't remember exactly, but the units seemed to move way too slow. But I may be wrong here. Suggestions, anybody?? 4) 24 mile hex is too unwieldy for this use. I'd consider printing out one of the Known World 8 mile/hes maps available and rewriting movement rules etc. accordingly. But this is a matter of taste. I can't remember any more now, but if I do I'll get back to you. Ville ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 17:40:31 +0300 From: Ville V Lahde Subject: Winter War still? An idea just came to me, Knud. You might want to consider the winter offensive still, but this would change the tone of the whole war and require a lot of work. 1) Nomads make a late autumn/early winter lightning strike against Akesoli, securing an important supply base for the spring offensive. This will make it possible for them to send in prepared supplies in great quantities, and the armies can be prepared for spring action. 2) With some magical assistance by the Master (the Maelstrom, the airships! - seving them as a surprise isn't necessary) the Nomad elite troops might even launch another spear attack on Akorros. The great lake is frozen (Depending on the climate you choose for Darokin. I don't use the trail map tables, as they don't seem logical. There has to be a real winter in Darokin/Shires/Karameikos in my opinion. Nothing compared to Glantri, Ethengar or the Reaches of course, but the east-west mountain range can't separate such extremities. Alfheim and Ylari are magical microclimates for a good storyline reason.) Picture it: the PCs flee burning Akesoli into the winter, unable to ride all of the time due to blizzards. They know that thousands of crack troops are close on their heels, on their way to the unsuspecting Akorros. Master's powers are scrambling magical ways of intelligence-gathering, so the Daros are unaware... 3) Akorros is besieged, or taken quickly, but the Nomads must halt their advancement due to winter. Their airships allow them to supply Akorros, and Daros cannot take back the city now. Master's allies in Broken lands, Thar's legions, take action. They are after all used to fighting in desperate situations, can eat the local populace instead of supplies - and most importantly, they are close to Corunglain. Thar's legion hits the city hard during the winter, making it very hard for Darokin to build up a concerted war effort. --> An added bounus: This would make it very hard for the PCs to reach Glantri, thus their diplomatic effort will not outrun the war too much. 4) Master's Agents are of course all around the world harming the Darokinian diplomatic effort. (BTW: make the Agents kill a lot of DDC employees in distant places. This makes it plausible why the Daros choose a ragtag group of adventurers to be their ambassadors! Of course your PC group might be DDC trainees, what do I know?:)) But the same time elite commando units are attacking supply depots, assassinating politicians and otherwise wreaking havoc in the Darokinian system. Thus there is a covert winter war going on all the time. 5) When spring finally comes, the Darokinians are of course ready for an attack, but already deep in trouble. This might make the war very interesting. And the Nomads have supplies and troops ready to charge in and relieve the Akorros garrison. If it seems that the PCs would gather all the allies too early on, send them first to Glantri, then after the saboteurs and assassins out of priority reasons. The next place they go is obviously Alfheim. Make that mission much more complicated (I didn't have the energy), involve them in clan politics and whatnot. That'll take time. Thoughts? Ville ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 07:18:57 -0700 From: Luca Toni Subject: Mystara 3.5 version While I was hearing from you in the last days discussions about Mystara converted in d20-game-system, I found on the net some italia material. you have to go to the page http://zaxarius.altervista.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=listarticles&secid=21 after you've registered on http://zaxarius.altervista.org/modules.php?name=Your_Account with a new personal account. So you can download and read (but it's italian only) the material on 3.5 version of Mystara rules. Hoping to be useful again best regards to all Mystaran Luca ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 10:41:22 -0500 From: George Hrabovsky Subject: Re: Winter War still? Why not have the Master open a gate to another plane, lead an army into it, then open another gate near their target (perhaps within the walls of a city in winter), then march the army into the middle of the city. George ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ville V Lahde" To: Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 9:40 AM Subject: [MYSTARA] Winter War still? > An idea just came to me, Knud. > > You might want to consider the winter offensive still, but this would > change > the tone of the whole war and require a lot of work. > > 1) Nomads make a late autumn/early winter lightning strike against > Akesoli, securing an important supply base for the spring offensive. > This will make it > possible for them to send in prepared supplies in great quantities, and > the > armies can be prepared for spring action. > 2) With some magical assistance by the Master (the Maelstrom, the > airships! - seving them as a surprise isn't necessary) the Nomad elite > troops might even > launch another spear attack on Akorros. The great lake is frozen > (Depending on the climate you choose for Darokin. I don't use the trail > map tables, as they don't seem logical. There has to be a real winter > in Darokin/Shires/Karameikos > in my opinion. Nothing compared to Glantri, Ethengar or the Reaches of > course, but the east-west mountain range can't separate such > extremities. Alfheim and Ylari are magical microclimates for a good > storyline reason.) > Picture it: the PCs flee burning Akesoli into the winter, unable to > ride all of the time due to blizzards. They know that thousands of > crack troops are close on their heels, on their way to the unsuspecting > Akorros. Master's powers are scrambling magical ways of > intelligence-gathering, so the Daros are unaware... > 3) Akorros is besieged, or taken quickly, but the Nomads must halt their > advancement due to winter. Their airships allow them to supply Akorros, > and > Daros cannot take back the city now. > Master's allies in Broken lands, Thar's legions, take action. They are > after > all used to fighting in desperate situations, can eat the local > populace instead of supplies - and most importantly, they are close to > Corunglain. > Thar's legion hits the city hard during the winter, making it very hard > for > Darokin to build up a concerted war effort. > --> An added bounus: This would make it very hard for the PCs to reach > Glantri, thus their diplomatic effort will not outrun the war too much. > 4) Master's Agents are of course all around the world harming the > Darokinian > diplomatic effort. (BTW: make the Agents kill a lot of DDC employees in > distant places. This makes it plausible why the Daros choose a ragtag > group > of adventurers to be their ambassadors! Of course your PC group might be > DDC trainees, what do I know?:)) But the same time elite commando units > are attacking supply depots, assassinating politicians and otherwise > wreaking havoc in the Darokinian system. Thus there is a covert winter > war going on > all the time. > 5) When spring finally comes, the Darokinians are of course ready for an > attack, but already deep in trouble. This might make the war very > interesting. > And the Nomads have supplies and troops ready to charge in and relieve > the Akorros garrison. > > If it seems that the PCs would gather all the allies too early on, send > them > first to Glantri, then after the saboteurs and assassins out of priority > reasons. The next place they go is obviously Alfheim. Make that mission > much > more complicated (I didn't have the energy), involve them in clan politics > and whatnot. That'll take time. > > Thoughts? > > Ville > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. > Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.10.17/85 - Release Date: 8/30/2005 > ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2005 08:04:55 +1200 From: Chris Furneaux Subject: Re: Winter War still? Also if they take Akesoli & Akorros during winter it would be harder for any refugees to escape, allowing the masters forces to more effectivly enslave the population where required and convert some of the populace to the master perhaps. As it will be a while until any oposition can be raised to retake these cities, by the time Darokinian forces can liberate it it might be quite a different looking city. This as opposed to a summer war where the occupying forces have to be looking out for the next target/enemy. In winter they can take some time to turn the city into what they need to support a more drawn out campaign perhaps? -----Original Message----- From: Ville V Lahde An idea just came to me, Knud. You might want to consider the winter offensive still, but this would change the tone of the whole war and require a lot of work. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 16:46:40 -0400 From: John Hofmann Subject: Re: Winter War still? I would think that, without having a map of Darokin in front of me, that the nomads' supply lines would still be extremely vulnerable and that Darokinian "special forces" could probably wage a pretty effect campaign of trapping the nomads in western Darokin and then laying some "scorched earth" smack down. It would seem to me that targets such as logicistal experts would be the ones selected for neutralization missions. This would either starve the nomads or force them to try to push east during the winter. The downside is that most darokinians left in the area would probably not last through the winter. I would imagine that holing up for the winter in hostile territory would be a recipie for disaster, especially for desert nomads. I doubt that they would have developed winter fighting techniques, nor would they be skilled in rooting out and squashing guerilla resistance. Especially in that area. It might even be so devastating a situation that the Darokinian tactics might be to try to lure the nomads east and then trap them there for the winter. During WW2, Korean guerillas lived in the mountains of North Korea fighting the Japanese for 20-30 years, and the Japanese were used to fighting in that climate. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Furneaux" To: Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 4:04 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Winter War still? > Also if they take Akesoli & Akorros during winter it would be harder for any refugees to escape, allowing the masters forces to more effectivly enslave the population where required and convert some of the populace to the master perhaps. > > As it will be a while until any oposition can be raised to retake these cities, by the time Darokinian forces can liberate it it might be quite a different looking city. > > This as opposed to a summer war where the occupying forces have to be looking out for the next target/enemy. In winter they can take some time to turn the city into what they need to support a more drawn out campaign perhaps? > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ville V Lahde > > An idea just came to me, Knud. > > You might want to consider the winter offensive still, but this would change > the tone of the whole war and require a lot of work. > > > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2005 09:14:40 +0300 From: Ville V Lahde Subject: Re: Winter War still? John Hofmann wrote: > "I would think that, without having a map of Darokin in front of me, that the > nomads' supply lines would still be extremely vulnerable and that Darokinian > "special forces" could probably wage a pretty effect campaign of trapping > the nomads in western Darokin and then laying some "scorched earth" smack > down." Well, the whole idea was based precisely on the Darokin Map. Akesoli, being on the western edge of lake Amsorak, is actually closer to Sind than main Darokin. It is a frontier city. The whole Nomad offensive is built on the notion that they have already taken Sind and can use it as a base. If you look at the maps of Sind, for example at: http://pandius.com/dragon169-sind-24.png you can see that the Sindian delta forms the main supply area for the nomads. So taking Akesoli before the winter is viable. Continuing to look at the map of Darokin: http://pandius.com/darokin-8.png One can see now lake Amsorak forms a "Bulge" in Darokin. There is little or no habitation on the northern and southern edges of the lake, and Akorros is a border town also in a sense. If the nomads took both of the cities, their advance forces wouldn't be smack in the middle of Daro territory, but in a contested area. Actually their land-based supply lines would be shorter and easier now (on ice). Controlling those areas would be possible. Also: if you look at the constitution of Hulean forces in X10, you'll notice that a lot of them are made up by orcs and things. These must come from Hule, but also neighbouring mountainous areas like Black peaks etc. They are a resilient bunch. Especially wolfriders woulf be ideal winter troops... This would fo course be a risky move, but it could pay off. And let's not remember that the whole idea is to offer Knud ideas on how he can make the war campaings plausible & exciting during winter or during spring. If a winter scenario is found, he doesn't have to artificially extend his campaing. Ville ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 30 Aug 2005 to 31 Aug 2005 (#2005-172) ****************************************************************