Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 31 Jan 2005 to 1 Feb 2005 (#2005-27) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 02/02/2005, 19:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 25 messages totalling 1376 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Shadow elf history problems (4) 2. Rakastas in Races of the Wild? 3. Newbie guide (10) 4. Greetings from an old friend 5. Shiye Relic 6. Campaign Cartographer (7) 7. Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The MMRPG Announced! ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.mystaranet.jamm.com/vaults/default.aspx To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 10:57:33 +0200 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Ville_V_L=E4hde?= Subject: Re: Shadow elf history problems On Mon, 31 Jan 2005, Andrew Theisen wrote: > I was up late, and had all my books handy I never have access to my books when I'm writing these mails. It's bloody frustrating. I guess I should just bite the bullet and start paying for a home connection... I'd never found the time&energy to read through the HW stuff. I only got the books last year. (Never bothering to buy them, as I disliked the concept of HW. I'm slowly turning around though... or maybe just sideways.) But from the little of what I'd read, I noticed some elements of this change. But It is good to know that the change was that abrupt. Explains a lot. > Yeah- early products (from the DA series through > Gaz13) had Blackmoor on Brun, in the Hyborea region. Well, the DA series didn't actually position it anywhere in Mystara, if I remember correctly. It was only with the Gazetteers that Blackmoor was really put into the official timeline. In the DA series it was just placed into the distant past, out there somewhere. I still maintain that right from the first Gazetteers Blackmoor was not exactly on Brun. It perhaps had been part of its (now) northernmost reaches. But main Blackmoor had lain in the area of the present northern polar cap - this "fact" is repeated over and over again in various early GAZs. So the whole land on which BM had situated had been destroyed/ covered with ice, with the axial shift. So originally Blackmoor was a lost land. It was only with the later products, mainly GAZ10 that the inconsistent location in Borea/Hyperborea was suggested - and again, with no explanation. Ville ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 14:51:33 +0100 From: Havard Faanes Subject: Re: Shadow elf history problems --- Andrew Theisen wrote: > Like you, I'd always stuck with the original > version, > but I've recently kind of come around to the > Blackmoor > on Skothar theory. Primarily due to Havard's cool > maps > of Skothar. :) I'm flattered :) Although I tend towards preferring Blackmoor being on Skothar, I am also interested in discussing ideas for using the original location on Brun. Currently though, I think locating Blackmoor on Brun is more problematic than having it on Skothar. I actually thought about making another map placing Blackmoor on Brun, but so far I havent found any good way of doing that and at the same time integrate the maps of Blackmoor the way I did with the Skothar map. Ville: > > One thing why I like having the SE derive from > > Blackmoor era and not the 1700 BC disaster is that > > they would have needed a LONG time underground to > > even start changing racially. Also, their culture > > gains the dimension of long isolation, that 1700 > BC > > --> 1104 BC just doesn't get. Elven live so > > bloody long that one person could remember this > > whole era. Good point. Note that the location of Blackmoor isn't really the problem here. If Blackmoor is on Skothar, then these elves would be living near Blackmoor's colony on Brun, rather than near Blackmoor itself. They may also be related to the elves described in D20-DAB which would give us some detail about what these elves were like. Andrew: > I totally agree, and definitely consider the elves > to > be of the 3000 BC explosion era. Bear in mind, > though, > that real-world geological/evolutionary time frames > seem to have little to no bearing on Mystara. The > world goes from proto-humans (Neanderthals) to > modern > humans in a period of thousands of years, where it > took millions here in the RW. It's something that > has > frustrated me a lot, but again, one of those things > that I've come to accept and work with. I chalk it > up > to magic. When it comes to elves, it is hard not to involve magic as an explaination, at least on some level since they are afterall magical beings. This could also help explain how they adapt so fast to the environment. Elves are very well tuned to their surroundings, and perhaps their magical nature causes them to physically change over even just one generation to adapt to new and completely different surroundings? This doesnt help with your Neanderthals problem though. Håvard ===== *** Håvard R. Faanes www.stud.ntnu.no/~havardfa ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 15:02:56 +0100 From: Havard Faanes Subject: Re: Rakastas in Races of the Wild? Has anyone bought this book yet? Is there any goodness on the Catfolk in it? I haven't heard much good about whats on the Catfolk in the Miniatures book, but if this one is better I might have to check it out for Mystara usable content. Doesnt sound like they are giving the Catfolk as much coverage as the Raptor-guys though. OTOH, from the preview of that race, they come off pretty close to the Faenare from PC3.... Håvard --- "Ohad Shaham (Morphail)" skrev: > Hello all! > > Has anyone else noticed the "news" section in > Wizards > website? > At the bottom of the page > (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/news/20050131news) > there seem to be a saying about "Catfolk" > It appears that "Races of the Wild" has some E3.5 > info > on a Rakasta-like creature... > Has anyone some insiders info? Or is it common > knowledge that there are "catfolk" in the new D&D? > > Curious as a cat > Ohad "Morphail" Shaham > > P.S Hey Marco, long time. > > > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced > search. > http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: > http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > The Mystara Homepage: > http://www.mystaranet.jamm.com/vaults/default.aspx > To unsubscribe, send email to > LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ===== *** Håvard R. Faanes www.stud.ntnu.no/~havardfa ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 15:38:35 +0100 From: Havard Faanes Subject: Re: Newbie guide --- la Volpe skrev: > Is there something left to be written or is > everything ok? I hadn't heard about this project untill very recently, but I think such a guide would be very useful to have around for getting new people to become interested in Mystara. What were the ideas for the project in the first place? Håvard ===== *** Håvard R. Faanes www.stud.ntnu.no/~havardfa ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 15:08:05 +0000 From: Gary Davies Subject: Re: Shadow elf history problems
 
>When it comes to elves, it is hard not to involve
>magic as an explaination, at least on some level since
>they are afterall magical beings. This could also help
>explain how they adapt so fast to the environment.
>Elves are very well tuned to their surroundings, and
>perhaps their magical nature causes them to physically
>change over even just one generation to adapt to new
>and completely different surroundings?
That and help/interference from Immortals or even Old Ones.
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 00:10:47 +0900 From: Thorfinn Tait Subject: Re: Greetings from an old friend Thanks for welcoming me back, everyone. (^_^) Marco wrote: > Gee, Khoronus knows how many times I tried to contact > you via MSN Messenger or via e-mail at > curufin.velvia.co.uk, but alas it seemed you had > vanished in the Mists of Ravenloft! ;) > I'm glad to see you're okay and back on track, so to > speak :) Sorry about that... When I moved to Japan, I stopped being able to check that account. It took a while for me to get settled in and set up with a local address, and in the meantime I kinda lost track of things. My new permanent address is thorf@thorf.co.uk - I will always have that address wherever I go. I also have hotmail and my Japanese IP e-mail, so you have tons of options for sending me mail nowadays. ^^;> > DoubleWOW! Well, I seriously wish you all the best for > your real life Thorf, that's the important thing! > I've just married after one year living together with > my fiancie and came back from one-week honeymoon in > Yucat`n (Mexico)... and I can't see the time to travel > somewhere else again (maybe Nihon!) :) Wow Marco, congratulations! (You beat me to it, but I'm hoping to catch up soon ;-) > Daniel Boese has long since disappeared as well as > Estlor, Jennifer Favia Guerra and Fabrizio "Brizio" > Paoli (he's an areonautic engineer working all around > Europe now, and when he's got time he helps organizing > the most important Gaming Con in his home town), while > Leroy van Camp left the MML to manage only the > Spelljammer list. Matthew Levy is likewise gone from a > long time and I don't know where, while last year (or > was it 2003?) James "First Thyatian Citizen" Ruhland > left the community after some quarrelling with those > pesky Alphatian troublemakers IIRC. > Also, Bruce Heard vanished from the gaming community > after giving us his last heritage: the XML spreadsheet > for dominion handling :) Thanks for the updates. It seems a fair few people have vanished, but there are also a lot of new faces around. (Well, as much as 4 or 5 years can be considered new... :-P ) I've seen various references to this Thyatian vs. Alphatian thing now. What exactly happened? Did our list turn all Imperialist or is my imagination running away with me? I've had a look at the somewhat mammoth spreadsheet, and I have to say I'm fascinated in its potential. It does seem pretty complex, though. Can someone give me a quick overview of its functions and uses? (And of course handicaps and penalties. ;-) If it's what I think it is, I might just have a use for it in my secret project. Talking of which, I'm trying to work out how far I want to get things along before I do my first release. The project seems to get bigger and more ambitious every day, and I don't want to keep you all in the dark for too long - especially when you could be helping me or providing criticism instead! ;-) > All the other Auldies are still pretty much here: > Hervi le Fay, Andrew "Spawn of Cthulhu", Geoff the new > List Ogre, Aaron the Merman and Alex the Alphatian. I > think you may also remember Thibault the Cartographer, > right there in the corner scribbling, Ohad the Shady > lurking in the shadows and GP Agosta aka Agathokles > the Uncanny. So what are you, DM? You didn't mention your alter ego, hehe. I see you dubbed me a ninja, doubtless thanks to my new abode. But actually I think I'm probably the skygnome tinkering with half finished devices in the corner. Hmm, always working on new, insanely ambitious projects and trying them out before they're half finished, then moving on to the next one - yep, sounds like me. (^^)v Thorfinn ============================================ Thorfinn Tait --------- thorf @ chokai.ne.jp Land of the Rising Sun, 5 years and counting ============================================ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 16:15:35 +0100 From: Havard Faanes Subject: Re: Shiye Relic --- Andrew Theisen wrote: Well, it took me a while, but I always meant to comment on this one: > Every elvish clan in the kingdom of Shiye-Lawr has a > special grove at its heart that houses its clan > relic, > the Fount of Vitality. The Fount is a large magical > pool that is continually refreshing itself and > functions in all ways like a Decanter of Endless > Water. Often times artificial streams are built > leading from the Fount to other areas of the > clanhold, > providing running water for the clan. Cool idea! I always wondered if the Shyie elves had a different kind of relic, as with the Water Elves, the Aquarendi, and even the Shadowelves (kinda). Interestingly, this one does not contain "of Life" in it, like the other elven relics. I had this theory that all of the elven relics were connected by something called the "Essence of Life" which powered the relics and connected them at the same time, in spite of being created by different immortals. > In addition to its standard relic powers, the Fount > may be used to create the rare Dew of Flora and the > elvish Greenship. I like the Greenship idea! More in it further down... > The dew of flora can be applied to inanimate > objects, > providing them with the ability to move through > vegetation as easily as through air. Most often, the > collected dew is applied to specially prepared elven > ships to create the Shiye Greenship- which can move > at > the same rate as a small sailing ship as long as it > is > in contact with vegetation. It takes 100 ounces of > dew > to create each Greenship; each Greenship can carry > up > to 10 elves. Can the Greenships pass through plants aswell? It isnt stated, but it sounds like it. I really like that concept; I imagine some large green moss covered ship, with tree branches instead of sails...hmmm..very cool! :) Havard ===== ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 00:20:13 +0900 From: Thorfinn Tait Subject: Campaign Cartographer Has anyone on the list tried this program out? I'd be interested to hear how good it is, especially in regards to use with Mystara: - How does it handle hex maps? Can you make custom hexes? Do the maps look good? - How are the other map formats? - Can it help with converting scales or even map formats? - How powerful and efficient is it? - Is it hard to use? - Does it take hours upon hours just to make one small map? And the big question: - Is it worth the investment? Will it do what I want it to do if I put in a reasonable amount of time and effort? If you know anything at all about this program or any other like it, please let me know. Thanks! Thorfinn ============================================ Thorfinn Tait --------- thorf @ chokai.ne.jp Land of the Rising Sun, 5 years and counting ============================================ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 10:13:12 -0500 From: "john@johnhofmann.com" Subject: Re: Newbie guide Is the plan to have a Newbie guide that is divorced from game mechanics or= would that still be a part of it? Original Message: ----------------- From: Havard Faanes havardfaa@YAHOO=2ENO Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 15:38:35 +0100 To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE=2EWIZARDS=2ECOM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Newbie guide --- la Volpe skrev: > Is there something left to be written or is > everything ok? I hadn't heard about this project untill very recently, but I think such a guide would be very useful to have around for getting new people to become interested in Mystara=2E What were the ideas for the project in the first place? H=E5vard =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D *** H=E5vard R=2E Faanes www=2Estud=2Entnu=2Eno/~havardfa ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www=2Ewizards=2Ecom/dnd/OtherWorlds=2Eas= p The Mystara Homepage: http://www=2Emystaranet=2Ejamm=2Ecom/vaults/default=2E= aspx To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE=2EWIZARDS=2ECOM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message=2E -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web=2Ecom/ =2E ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 16:30:10 +0100 From: Havard Faanes Subject: Re: Shadow elf history problems --- Gary Davies wrote: <> Those are always an option. But in most cases I try not using Immortal/Old One intervention because it has been used so much already. Also, like "its magic", divine intervention is usually the kind of explaination you look to when you're out of other good ideas. Still, in a fantasy world, these things do happen from time to time... Håvard :) ===== ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 10:48:33 -0500 From: "john@johnhofmann.com" Subject: Re: Campaign Cartographer CC is extremely powerful and makes beautiful maps=2E The only problem is that there isn't a good way to do tiled hex maps=2E It can take some time= to make a map with it, but the instructions are pretty good=2E It's great for making attractive player handouts, and it's even better for= making DM maps =2E=2E=2E unless you're attached to the hex format in which= case you're SOL=2E Original Message: ----------------- From: Thorfinn Tait thorf@CHOKAI=2ENE=2EJP Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 00:20:13 +0900 To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE=2EWIZARDS=2ECOM Subject: [MYSTARA] Campaign Cartographer Has anyone on the list tried this program out? I'd be interested to hear how good it is, especially in regards to use with Mystara: - How does it handle hex maps? Can you make custom hexes? Do the maps lo= ok good? - How are the other map formats? - Can it help with converting scales or even map formats? - How powerful and efficient is it? - Is it hard to use? - Does it take hours upon hours just to make one small map? And the big question: - Is it worth the investment? Will it do what I want it to do if I put in= a reasonable amount of time and effort? If you know anything at all about this program or any other like it, pleas= e let me know=2E Thanks! Thorfinn =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Thorfinn Tait --------- thorf @ chokai=2Ene=2Ejp Land of the Rising Sun, 5 years and counting =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www=2Ewizards=2Ecom/dnd/OtherWorlds=2Eas= p The Mystara Homepage: http://www=2Emystaranet=2Ejamm=2Ecom/vaults/default=2E= aspx To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE=2EWIZARDS=2ECOM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message=2E -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web=2Ecom/ =2E ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 17:10:01 +0100 From: la Volpe Subject: Re: Newbie guide It should be all without mechanics, and it's over 90% complete, I believe. But we never put it together like we should, and now I wait for inputs from the team chief (and I don't even remember who it was...Shawn, maybe?). Giulio Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale! http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 17:12:29 +0100 From: Havard Faanes Subject: Re: Newbie guide --- "john@johnhofmann.com" wrote: > Is the plan to have a Newbie guide that is divorced > from game mechanics or > would that still be a part of it? I cant speak for the people involved in this project, but I think a rule-less newbie guide would be a good idea. I'd also like to see a quick and easy Mystara D20 guide, but perhaps that could be made into a separate document, possibly complementing the newbie guide? Håvard > Original Message: > ----------------- > From: Havard Faanes havardfaa@YAHOO.NO > Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 15:38:35 +0100 > To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Newbie guide > > > --- la Volpe skrev: > > Is there something left to be written or is > > everything ok? > > I hadn't heard about this project untill very > recently, but I think such a guide would be very > useful to have around for getting new people to > become > interested in Mystara. > > What were the ideas for the project in the first > place? > > Håvard > > ===== > *** > Håvard R. Faanes > www.stud.ntnu.no/~havardfa > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: > http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > The Mystara Homepage: > http://www.mystaranet.jamm.com/vaults/default.aspx > To unsubscribe, send email to > LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > mail2web - Check your email from the web at > http://mail2web.com/ . > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: > http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > The Mystara Homepage: > http://www.mystaranet.jamm.com/vaults/default.aspx > To unsubscribe, send email to > LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ===== ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 17:24:48 +0100 From: Havard Faanes Subject: Re: Newbie guide --- la Volpe skrev: > It should be all without mechanics, and it's over > 90% > complete, I believe. But we never put it together > like > we should, and now I wait for inputs from the team > chief (and I don't even remember who it was...Shawn, > maybe?). Wow, that is awesome! Looking forward to seeing the final results :) > Giulio > > Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale! Really? ;-P ===== ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 11:36:32 -0500 From: "john@johnhofmann.com" Subject: Re: Newbie guide Is it posted anywhere that we could see? If it's 90% done and the project= lost steam, maybe we could finish it up? Original Message: ----------------- From: la Volpe iuliusscaevola@YAHOO=2EIT Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 17:10:01 +0100 To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE=2EWIZARDS=2ECOM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Newbie guide It should be all without mechanics, and it's over 90% complete, I believe=2E But we never put it together like we should, and now I wait for inputs from the team chief (and I don't even remember who it was=2E=2E=2EShawn, maybe?)=2E Giulio Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale! http://it=2Eyahoo=2Ecom/mail_it/foot/*http://it=2Emessenger=2Eyahoo=2Ecom= ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www=2Ewizards=2Ecom/dnd/OtherWorlds=2Eas= p The Mystara Homepage: http://www=2Emystaranet=2Ejamm=2Ecom/vaults/default=2E= aspx To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE=2EWIZARDS=2ECOM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message=2E -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web=2Ecom/ =2E ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 02:32:55 +0900 From: Thorfinn Tait Subject: Re: Campaign Cartographer SOL, eh? I actually had to look that one up... :-P As it happens I am very far from SOL in this case, but I'm still considering Campaign Cartographer for my non-hex related mapping needs. But I have to justify spending the money to buy it, hence I'm looking for opinions of it. Thanks for sharing yours! To buy or to make do with what I have now... Decisions, decisions. For now I think I'll wait and see if anyone else responds. Thanks! Thorfinn ============================================ Thorfinn Tait --------- thorf @ chokai.ne.jp Land of the Rising Sun, 5 years and counting ============================================ > -----Original Message----- > CC is extremely powerful and makes beautiful maps. The only problem is > that there isn't a good way to do tiled hex maps. It can take > some time to > make a map with it, but the instructions are pretty good. > > It's great for making attractive player handouts, and it's even better for > making DM maps ... unless you're attached to the hex format in which case > you're SOL. > ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 19:31:24 +0100 From: Thibault Sarlat Subject: Re: Campaign Cartographer I do have the CC program, but even with the guide i have not spent the proper time to get it worked the way i want. i still think it's not as simple as an hexmapper, plus photoshop... plus i do have a preference for hex maps (at least for the campaign). I do agree however that CC is the absolute best for the handouts... but anyway, it's your call... Thibault Sarlat. ICQ 16622177. Personal homepage http://www.mystara.fr.st thibault-sarlat@wanadoo.fr clenariusfr@yahoo.fr ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thorfinn Tait" To: Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 6:32 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Campaign Cartographer > SOL, eh? I actually had to look that one up... :-P > > As it happens I am very far from SOL in this case, but I'm still considering > Campaign Cartographer for my non-hex related mapping needs. But I have to > justify spending the money to buy it, hence I'm looking for opinions of it. > Thanks for sharing yours! > > To buy or to make do with what I have now... Decisions, decisions. For now > I think I'll wait and see if anyone else responds. > > Thanks! > > Thorfinn > > ============================================ > Thorfinn Tait --------- thorf @ chokai.ne.jp > Land of the Rising Sun, 5 years and counting > ============================================ > > > -----Original Message----- > > CC is extremely powerful and makes beautiful maps. The only problem is > > that there isn't a good way to do tiled hex maps. It can take > > some time to > > make a map with it, but the instructions are pretty good. > > > > It's great for making attractive player handouts, and it's even better for > > making DM maps ... unless you're attached to the hex format in which case > > you're SOL. > > > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > The Mystara Homepage: http://www.mystaranet.jamm.com/vaults/default.aspx > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 10:50:29 -0800 From: Brendan Corliss Subject: Re: Campaign Cartographer Konnichiwa Teito-san, Hajimemashite! I use CC2-Pro extenseively. In fact, I own every product ProFantasy has released except their WWII Atlas (not much need for it). In fact, all of the artwork on my website was done with them (yeah, I know it desperately needs an update). Click around and have a look: http://www.geocities.com/brendan_corliss Then there's this (done with Perspectives Pro add-on) that has to be accessed directly: http://www.geocities.com/brendan_corliss/maps/sukiskyn.htm I love the whole line and have gotten alot of mileage out of each product. They are as powerful as it gets for making maps - bar none. However, they are not necessarily easy to use at first. They are certainly not ideal for the casual user. If you just want to make super simple maps that look cool, you're probably better off with something like Fractal Mapper. And of course, if you are *only* doing hex-mapping, CC2 is overkill. You may want to ask Thib what program he uses for his extensive collection of hex maps. That said, if you really want to get into computer map making, CC2-Pro is a 911 compared to the others being Yugos. The initially steep learning curve is worth the reward once you get used to the unique interface (it's based on AutoCAD). The possiblities of what you can do with it are literally endless. I would also respectfully disagree with Mr. Hoffman concerning doing hex-maps. I created a set of tiles in about half an hour using on CC2 (no add-ons). Now I can do all kinds of hex maps - easily scalable (8/24/48/72 miles per hex). There is also a new add-on called Cosmographer, aimed primarily at Sci-Fi gamers, that has some pre-generated hex symbols as well as templates for using them. Of course this is an additional expense and, as I said before, if you're only doing hex-mapping, save some $£¥€ and just get a basic program. Hope this helps. And, no, I don't work for ProFantasy - but they're some pretty cool folks (great customer service). -Damon (Deimen-kun) aka Brendan Corliss Corliss Enterprises, Ltd. Darokin City ===== May all your endeavors be Gold! __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The all-new My Yahoo! - Get yours free! http://my.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 11:19:31 -0800 From: Ray Allen Subject: Re: Newbie guide Havard, Are you refering to Campaign World source information or a PHB? I have made a OGL D20-based PHB that we're using for our campaign on Mystara. Take a look..... http://home.psknet.com/allenr/Dark_Coast.html I used Open Office to create it so if anyone wants to edit it for their own campaign, download OOo at http://www.openoffice.org/ (65 mb) and have at it! :) I would like to do an OGL D20-based DMG for my campaign but I don't know what I would put into it other than the Treasure Tables. :( Soon to come.....A full-text version of all Spells! --Ray. --- Havard Faanes wrote: > I'd also like to see a quick and easy Mystara D20 > guide, but perhaps that could be made into a separate > document, possibly complementing the newbie guide? ===== If you have to choose between books and computers, there's no doubt which you should choose. You should choose books. --Bill Gates of Microsoft ---------------------------------------------- Geek Code: GLS$ 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+++ ---------------------------------------------- Don't tell me the RIAA are a bunch of hypocritical, dishonest bastards! Now I have nothing left to believe in. (www.slashdot.org) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The all-new My Yahoo! - Get yours free! http://my.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 08:32:53 +1300 From: Chris Furneaux Subject: Re: Newbie guide /lurk off Hi all, I believe we are just waiting on shawn to proof it. it's been sitting around gathering dust for a while. essentially it has a one page summary of all the nations of the known world AC1000. We may need an entry for the broken lands but other then that... I think it is written. We are waiting on proofing/editing and then formating/art needs to be finalised (final decisions on alphabetical, or geographical or gaz order of nations etc.) All the files for it so far are on the yahoo group for it. I'm not sure if it is an open group or not, but shawn is the owner of the group if you want to see if there is anything you can contribute. There has been some discussion about an expantion to it covering beyond the Known World that could be released at a later date. Anyway on another topic for those of you that are interested I am now working full time at an architects office. So a bit of a change from the student lifestyle... although I havent decided if I will go back somestage. It's nice to see some prople returning to the list as of late tho. Chris. -----Original Message----- From: "john@johnhofmann.com" Sent: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 11:36:32 -0500 To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Newbie guide Is it posted anywhere that we could see? If it's 90% done and the project lost steam, maybe we could finish it up? Original Message: ----------------- From: la Volpe iuliusscaevola@YAHOO.IT Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 17:10:01 +0100 To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Newbie guide It should be all without mechanics, and it's over 90% complete, I believe. But we never put it together like we should, and now I wait for inputs from the team chief (and I don't even remember who it was...Shawn, maybe?). Giulio Chiacchiera con i tuoi amici in tempo reale! http://it.yahoo.com/mail_it/foot/*http://it.messenger.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.mystaranet.jamm.com/vaults/default.aspx To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.mystaranet.jamm.com/vaults/default.aspx To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 23:05:56 +0100 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: Newbie guide Chris Furneaux ha scritto: > > Hi all, Hi Chris, > I believe we are just waiting on shawn to proof it. it's been sitting > around gathering dust for a while. Yes, though most proofing was actually done -- Shawn sent a message about it last year, IIRC, but at that time I was too busy finishing my PhD. > essentially it has a one page summary of all the nations of the known > world AC1000. We may need an entry for the broken lands but other > then that... I think it is written. We are waiting on > proofing/editing and then formating/art needs to be finalised (final > decisions on alphabetical, or geographical or gaz order of nations > etc.) Exactly. The idea was to be sort-of Almanac-style, but with more objective description and less in-character stuff. What is missing is, AFAIK, bundling everything together in a nice format. We also thought of some one-page descriptions of other continents (especially Alphatia and Davania), but they're not really required. IIRC, we already had a map and a cover sketch to go with the guide. Bye, GP ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 12:26:44 +1300 From: Chris Furneaux Subject: Re: Newbie guide > Exactly. The idea was to be sort-of Almanac-style, but with more > objective description and less in-character stuff. > What is missing is, AFAIK, bundling everything together in a nice > format. We also thought of some one-page descriptions of other > continents (especially Alphatia and Davania), but they're not really > required. I thought we were still waiting for the final nod on everything from shawn (as appointed project head). And we have done Alphatia. I know, I wrote it. But yes your right I think we may have been missing some of the brief beyond the known world entries > IIRC, we already had a map and a cover sketch to go with the guide. There is a cover there, but I might revise it. I had some ideas about it today. and I think someone did a map. I'm also surprised Havard didn't know about the guide tho. I should really have a read through it all anyway so I'll see if there is anything I can do about compileing it in the next few days. This is turning into more of a discussion to have on the Newbie group tho so I'll continue it there later. Chris. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 21:41:36 -0500 From: Dustin Clingman Subject: Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The MMRPG Announced! For Immediate Release Zeitgeist Games, Inc. Announces the Launch of Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The MMRPG Oviedo, Florida - February 1, 2005 - Zeitgeist Games, Inc. announced today that the launch of the brand new Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The MMRPG campaign will take place at MEGACON (www.megaconvention.com) in Orlando, Florida on February 25th -27th. Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The MMRPG is designed to allow players to participate alongside each other in the rich fantasy world of Blackmoor that Dave Arneson created over 30 years ago. The campaign allows players to travel all over the world attending conventions and gamedays that are running Dave Arneson's Blackmoor events. Since the rules for the campaign are the same everywhere in the world, players can quickly jump right into the action just about anywhere people are playing without having to worry about house rules. MMRPG stands for Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game and was created to elicit connections to some shared design and play styles inspired by online computer games as well as distinguish Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The MMRPG from other campaigns with similar structures. Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The MMRPG holds player input and enjoyment as the critical components of a successful campaign. "Since the beginning of fantasy role playing games, it was the players who fleshed out characters, bringing them to life." said Dungeons & Dragon co-creator Dave Arneson. "Even to this day, my original players are still adding and contributing to the world of Blackmoor. The MMRPG campaign will continue that tradition. Blackmoor is and always has been for the players." Players who begin play at MEGACON will be able to participate in the premier of the first four events created for the MMRPG campaign as well as attend a meet and greet session with the Zeitgeist Games Crew including the venerable Dave Arneson himself. Additional events will be premiered at a wide range of conventions and gamedays including Origins, GenCon: Indy, DragonCon and many more! The MMRPG will be organized and administered by an experienced group of coordinators and advisors that draw from a wide range of backgrounds. The campaign is currently organized and produced by the following individuals: Dave Arneson and Dustin Clingman, Executive Producers Daniel S. Donnelly, Campaign Ambassador Brad Ruby, Campaign Coordinator Dawn Coakley, Plotline Coordinator Stewart Larsen, Convention Coordinator Joe Cirillo, Metagaming Organization Coordinator Richard Iorio, Background Coordinator For more information: visit www.dablackmoor.com or www.zeitgeistgames.com Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The MMRPG is C2005 Zeitgeist Games, Inc. Based on the original Blackmoor setting, associated character and places owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Used with permission, all rights reserved C1975 Wizards. Zeitgeist Games is a trademark of Zeitgeist Games, Inc. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 12:30:53 +0900 From: Thorfinn Tait Subject: Re: Campaign Cartographer Thanks for the great write-ups guys! It does sound as if CC2-Pro is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm not afraid of the learning curve. At the moment I've been using another very powerful CAD program, Adobe Illustrator, for my mapping needs. It certainly has the capability to do almost anything I want it to, but of course it's not specifically designed for mapping. That's why I've been considering getting Campaign Cartographer. My interests lie in hex mapping, but also in continental maps, city maps, etc., which don't generally use hexes. I'd like to try to reproduce some of the Gazetteer city maps, for example. I've spotted a few things like this that seem to be made using CC2-Pro online (on Thibault's treasure trove of a site and elsewhere too). A question in that regard: how do you go about copying a map into CC2? The method I use with Illustrator is to import a scan of the original map and simply trace over the top, thus ensuring maximum accuracy and also efficiency. Is it possible to do such a thing in CC2? If not, how would you go about copying a map? By eye alone? Also, what sort of import/export capabilities does it have? Does it only deal with its own file formats, or can you import from/export to other file formats? How about output - both printing and images for web use and distribution. In actual fact, I too have a preference for hex maps, but I'm trying to explore all my options. And thus far I'm not entirely satisfied with the results I've seen of other people's work using Grid. Thorfinn PS - Deimen-san, nihongo hanaseru n desu ka? Konna tokoro de hanaseru hito to au no wa omowanakatta ^^;> ============================================ Thorfinn Tait --------- thorf @ chokai.ne.jp Land of the Rising Sun, 5 years and counting ============================================ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 23:08:44 -0500 From: Dan Eustace Subject: Re: Campaign Cartographer Yeah, I like hexmapper, too. Started playing around with it the other day for the 1st time in quite a while. I have 1/2 finished maps of Norwold (IMC) and Wendar. But I did 1/2 a map of the Merry Pirate Seas at the large HW map scale, that eventually I could use to make a 8 mile/hex version. Starting to get a bit more free time again. Maybe I can actually get to some of those M-almanac plots that I left hanging... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thibault Sarlat" To: Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 1:31 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Campaign Cartographer > I do have the CC program, but even with the guide i have not spent the > proper time to get it worked the way i want. > i still think it's not as simple as an hexmapper, plus photoshop... > > plus i do have a preference for hex maps (at least for the campaign). I do > agree however that CC is the absolute best for the handouts... > > but anyway, it's your call... > > Thibault Sarlat. > > ICQ 16622177. > Personal homepage http://www.mystara.fr.st > thibault-sarlat@wanadoo.fr > clenariusfr@yahoo.fr > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Thorfinn Tait" > To: > Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 6:32 PM > Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Campaign Cartographer > > > > SOL, eh? I actually had to look that one up... :-P > > > > As it happens I am very far from SOL in this case, but I'm still > considering > > Campaign Cartographer for my non-hex related mapping needs. But I have to > > justify spending the money to buy it, hence I'm looking for opinions of > it. > > Thanks for sharing yours! > > > > To buy or to make do with what I have now... Decisions, decisions. For > now > > I think I'll wait and see if anyone else responds. > > > > Thanks! > > > > Thorfinn > > > > ============================================ > > Thorfinn Tait --------- thorf @ chokai.ne.jp > > Land of the Rising Sun, 5 years and counting > > ============================================ > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > CC is extremely powerful and makes beautiful maps. The only problem is > > > that there isn't a good way to do tiled hex maps. It can take > > > some time to > > > make a map with it, but the instructions are pretty good. > > > > > > It's great for making attractive player handouts, and it's even better > for > > > making DM maps ... unless you're attached to the hex format in which > case > > > you're SOL. > > > > > > > ******************************************************************** > > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > > The Mystara Homepage: http://www.mystaranet.jamm.com/vaults/default.aspx > > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > > > > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > The Mystara Homepage: http://www.mystaranet.jamm.com/vaults/default.aspx > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 31 Jan 2005 to 1 Feb 2005 (#2005-27) **************************************************************