Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 8 Jun 2006 to 9 Jun 2006 (#2006-114) From: MYSTARA-L automatic digest system Date: 10/06/2006, 17:00 To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 6 messages totalling 346 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Norwold climate (4) 2. Land of Karawenn 3. Who is making money on Mystara? ******************************************************************** 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: Fri, 9 Jun 2006 00:49:37 -0700 From: Herve Musseau Subject: Norwold climate > From: Giampaolo Agosta > Havard Faanes ha scritto: > >>> Draken > >> Well, one could say that it should be Draken's > >> author to tell why the > >> climate is so mild there :) > > Yes, I notice that none of the almanac material fits > > the concept of the northern part of Norwold being > > arctic... > That's one of the problems of the MA coverage of Norwold. > Kaarjala does have its reason for being not-so-arctic, but the rest should be mostly Taiga (below the large river) or Tundra (above it). As it was described in the MA and elsewhere, I think the area north of the river has indeed been described as artic-like, with only Karjaala (M-Suomi) as any major population centers. To the south of the river, there is indeed taiga (largely uninhabited) and then the forest, where elves dwell. Then again more to the south, around the somewhat warmer clime brought about by the Great Bay, are located Alpha and other settlements (including Draken). They are not warm places, and the Great Bay is known to freeze over, but it is definetely not arctic. Then more to the south the climate is closer to that of Heldann, so still cold but mild enough especially on the coast, although it quickly turns continental inland, especially with the high mountain ranges. Overall, the climate of Norwold is to be compared to that of Canada, not Siberia or Scandinavia (Norwold has cold water currents, like Canada, not the warm ones of the Gulf Stream). While the northern regions have been indeed made appropriately arctic (with Suomi variation), and the elven forest somewhat like the Siberian forests, the Great Bay aera is more like Quebec (which definetely is not arctic!). Yes, it can be quite cold in the winter, but the summer is warm, too. And the southern region is similar to the US/Canadian east. With higher mountain ranges inland. Does this description sound correct to you? How do you see the climate of Norwold? IMO Norwold was designed to be playable, and although it is colder than a typical setting it is not arctic, except for its northern portion. I believe Canada is a good comparison. Any opinion? From a Canadian, maybe? ___________________________________________________________ Herve Musseau http://www.geocities.com/hmusseau/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** 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: Fri, 9 Jun 2006 10:40:43 +0200 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: Norwold climate Herve Musseau ha scritto: > Overall, the climate of Norwold is to be compared to that of Canada, not > Siberia or Scandinavia (Norwold has cold water currents, like Canada, not the > warm ones of the Gulf Stream). While the northern regions have been indeed made > appropriately arctic (with Suomi variation), and the elven forest somewhat like > the Siberian forests, the Great Bay aera is more like Quebec (which definetely > is not arctic!). Yes, it can be quite cold in the winter, but the summer is > warm, too. Yes, Canada is a good comparison -- and most of Canada indeed falls into the Taiga biome: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Taiga.png Southern Norwold (Heldland, Landfall) could compare to the area of Boston (which in my experience is could even in summer ;) ), but there's a large area in the middle which should colder, due to the high mountains (much higher than the Eastern US mountains). GP ******************************************************************** 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: Fri, 9 Jun 2006 11:03:50 +0200 From: Havard Faanes Subject: Re: Norwold climate Here is an excerpt from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiga << Taiga (IPA pronunciation: /'taɪgə/ or /taɪ 'ga/, from Mongolian) is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, and northern Russia (especially Siberia), the taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome and a major source of oxygen. In Canada, boreal forest is the term used to refer to the southern part of this biome, while "taiga" is used to describe the more barren northern areas south of the Arctic tree-line.>> Actually this doesnt seem so bad. I guess my understanding of the distinction between taiga and tundra was a bit unclear. A taiga landscape should very much be playable as a fantasy setting. The climate would ofcourse have a big impact on the cultures there, but a more or less agricultural/feudal-based society, could easily exist. If we still assume Karawenn to be located west of Draken, I don't see any problems with the climate causing contradicitons with the fiction material. Would this be a problem for already existing MA material? Draken also should fit well with the taiga climate, though the lack of mention of this in the Almanac entry should be fixed IMO. Håvard --- Giampaolo Agosta skrev: > Herve Musseau ha scritto: > > Overall, the climate of Norwold is to be compared > to that of Canada, not > > Siberia or Scandinavia (Norwold has cold water > currents, like Canada, not the > > warm ones of the Gulf Stream). While the northern > regions have been indeed made > > appropriately arctic (with Suomi variation), and > the elven forest somewhat like > > the Siberian forests, the Great Bay aera is more > like Quebec (which definetely > > is not arctic!). Yes, it can be quite cold in the > winter, but the summer is > > warm, too. > > Yes, Canada is a good comparison -- and most of > Canada indeed falls into the Taiga biome: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Taiga.png > > Southern Norwold (Heldland, Landfall) could compare > to the area of Boston (which in my experience is could even in > summer ;) ), but there's a large area in the middle which should colder, due > to the high mountains (much higher than the Eastern US > mountains). > > GP > > ******************************************************************** > 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. > ******************************************************************** 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: Fri, 9 Jun 2006 11:21:19 +0200 From: Havard Faanes Subject: Re: Land of Karawenn --- Giampaolo Agosta skrev: > > *****SPOILER WARNING For Pawns Prevail Novel****** > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Basically, the thing in question is what is called > > "The End of the World", which appears to be > exactly > > that. > So a flatworld? Pelinore would fit, for example. Or > Damocles. Its a possibility. My other theory around this is that the End of the World is in fact not the end of the world at all, but a huge gate to another plane. It is most likely a one-way gate since not much has been known to come out of it, although falling into the gorge has been known to happen. The map in the second novel (which I just started reading) also seems to suggest that the End of the World does not go on forever, which could be used to support this idea. I suspect I will learn more of this as I read on... :D Håvard ******************************************************************** 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: Fri, 9 Jun 2006 12:19:38 -0400 From: Angelo Bertolli Subject: Re: Who is making money on Mystara? Havard Faanes wrote: > It occurred to me that paizo is actually making money > on Mystara material from their OOP pdf section. I > guess they arent running Classic Worlds articles in > Dragon just out of charity afterall. Is there any way > we can use this to our advantage? > > What kind of advantage are you thinking about? ******************************************************************** 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: Fri, 9 Jun 2006 18:23:49 -0400 From: Dan Eustace Subject: Re: Norwold climate I agree w. Herve that eastern Canada is a good fit. NW is mostly between 45-60 degrees North, which correspons to RW Quebec, Newfoundland, and the Maritimes. Boston is ~40 deg. N. Lattitude, and also where I live - the summers aren't all that cold. The avg. July temp is ~80 F, and there are heat waves of 90-95+ F. Throw in the coastal humidity that summer brings and it's not too comfy. But New England weather is really unpredictable and there can be wide variations, with storm fronts bringing in 30+ degree temp changes in < 1 hour. Dan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Giampaolo Agosta" To: Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 4:40 AM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Norwold climate > Herve Musseau ha scritto: > > Overall, the climate of Norwold is to be compared to that of Canada, not > > Siberia or Scandinavia (Norwold has cold water currents, like Canada, not the > > warm ones of the Gulf Stream). While the northern regions have been indeed made > > appropriately arctic (with Suomi variation), and the elven forest somewhat like > > the Siberian forests, the Great Bay aera is more like Quebec (which definetely > > is not arctic!). Yes, it can be quite cold in the winter, but the summer is > > warm, too. > > Yes, Canada is a good comparison -- and most of Canada indeed falls into > the Taiga biome: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Taiga.png > > Southern Norwold (Heldland, Landfall) could compare to the area of > Boston (which in my experience is could even in summer ;) ), but there's > a large area in the middle which should colder, due to the high > mountains (much higher than the Eastern US mountains). > > GP > > ******************************************************************** > 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. ******************************************************************** 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. ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 8 Jun 2006 to 9 Jun 2006 (#2006-114) **************************************************************