Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 28 Sep 2009 to 29 Sep 2009 (#2009-59) From: MYSTARA-L automatic digest system Date: 30/09/2009, 17:00 To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 6 messages totalling 229 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Review (Segue) on Monte Cook's World of Darkness 2. Grand Duchy and Thyatian Empire Relationship (3) 3. My Projects 4. Karameikos d20 -- Werewolves ******************************************************************** 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: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:51:55 -0700 From: Joaquin Menchaca Subject: Re: Review (Segue) on Monte Cook's World of Darkness Scaevola, It is a good piece of work, definitely worth it, as well as most things Monte Cook does. What's great is that there's his thoughts on how to convert material in general from WW WoD, so it is great for idea. I like White Wolf material for the readings, the material for the meta-physics behind spirits, werewolves, fey, vampires, etc. Other stuff like Mage the Ascension was great in how it told of fabric tapestry of the universe gets woven, making breaking a the threads (defying laws of universe with magic) causes problems, but in the past, there was it was more loose and magic was common. This so fits in with Mystara, and IMHO think it is the same, just that it is well written. - Joaquin ******************************************************************** 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: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:16:48 -0700 From: Joaquin Menchaca Subject: Re: Grand Duchy and Thyatian Empire Relationship My comments weren't necessarily on the reading, interpretation, etc. I am confirming that it states Karameikos is autonomous. However, I am questioning the plausibility of this. I am not aware of such a situation in real world's history. I think it defies human nature, and how governments and notion of sovereignty works. Karameikos, with the title of "Grand Duchy" is by nature a subordinate territory. The the Emperor and Karameikos III could have some sort of arrangement to be the un-Duchy Duchy, but this wouldn't hold water... For one, if Karameikos stopped paying taxes, it could be disastrous for all the Empire. I think it would cause revolt and other areas to attempt to succeed, or not pay taxes. Thyatis would loose a lot of prestige and would have a hard time to maintain order. Also, Karameikos has official senatorial representation, at least alluded to in B6 Veiled Society in one encounter. It would be most unusual, because Karameikos would (1) have senatorial representation without being taxed, and (2) notion of having representation shows subordination. (PS - I am not sure if the books clearly define what rights a Duchy or Grand Duchy has vs. where the Empire overlaps. They did mention something about populations and some of this, but it was not very detailed) Even in the real world, where nations were completely autonomous with separate cultures, people, languages, lands, that have trade relationships or alliances, sometimes have suzerainty between a greater empire, such as Chinese Sinocentric system or Ottomon Empire. I would imagine the very least, at some point if/when Karameikos separates (note: my campaign is at GAZ1 before the war), it would have some sort of relationship like this, but it does not. Lastly, Thyatis has invested resources beyond just conquering Karameikos, to secure the western borders. It may be that Karameikos III did pay off the Emperor and more than compensated, but there needs to be more details, for this situation I am not sure existed in our world socio-economically in the past (I plead ignorance for Arabian, Indian, European, and also ancient Biblical histories, mostly specialize in East-Asian history for my GE at college :) Has there been any incident where Roman or Byzantine conquered a territory, and then gave one of its governors or nobles the new territory and let it stay a separate nation? Both the GAZ1 and DoE indicate that, but the situation doesn't look like it could work. I think also, beside this not being plausible (and I know, I know the books said it happened), it could lead to collapse of Empire to have a vassal state buy its way out of the Empire and then to have the Empire relinquish control or sovereignty of a piece of itself voluntarily. So let's not talk that the books documented it so it must be true, but think rationally about it. After that, I have some colorful ideas... ******************************************************************** 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: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:24:43 -0700 From: Joaquin Menchaca Subject: My Projects This is what I am working on in the background, research, local campaign in Korea, etc. o Karameikos d20 (Pathfinder) o Races - add distinction to ethnicity & race (DnD3e doesn't) - regional feats - paragon or race levels - my homegrown gypsie, elven clans (Linarii, Selenii, etc.), Spartan Calarii, Jedi Vyalia o Gothic Horror - fear, horror, madness/sanity rules o NPCs/Stories - detail colorful NPCs for use in campaign - some adventures in Karameikos - my spreadsheets i created automates some of this o Campaign - once I finished, might put out guide how to string up a bunch of published classics and place them in Mystara o Werewolves - major undertaking to define kick-ass scary customized werewolves - other were creatures o Fey - DnD3e Mystara Fey, and how to play Fey as PCs o Sylvan/Monstrous Races - Descriptions to play other races in Karameikos ******************************************************************** 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: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:41:10 -0700 From: Joaquin Menchaca Subject: Karameikos d20 -- Werewolves Here's some thoughts on this: There are at least 3 ways to become a Werewolf: (1) natural birth, (2) afflicted, (3) magical creation. In the later, I was going to bunch Alphatian and magical created ones (as they were based off of Alphatian variety) in one category, and nickname them lupina (Lupinus-Alphatius). The magically created ones have the ability to curse others with an affliction. This is an experiment gone bad, and this was not the case in the original stock ages ago. These Werewolves follow the cycle of the visible moon Matera and are vulnerable to silver. A native lycanthropey developed naturally on Mystara, and they are tied to Mystara's invisible moon. These ones are not vulnerable to silver, but rather gold, and express different abilities based on the cycle of Patera. These were creatures do not able to inflict a curse upon others. These particular creatures are tied to nature, and commune with spirits of nature. Now this is just alpha material sketch draft of ideas, to see what people think. - Joaquin Menchaca ******************************************************************** 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: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:03:29 +0200 From: Giampaolo Agosta Subject: Re: Grand Duchy and Thyatian Empire Relationship 2009/9/29 Joaquin Menchaca : > My comments weren't necessarily on the reading, interpretation, etc. =A0I= am confirming that it states Karameikos is autonomous. =A0However, I am qu= estioning the plausibility of this. > > I am not aware of such a situation in real world's history. =A0I think it= defies human nature, and how governments and notion of sovereignty works. = =A0Karameikos, with the title of "Grand Duchy" is by nature a subordinate t= erritory. Well, for example the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a sovereign Grand Duchy in the real world since the Congress of Vienna, detached from the Empire. Earlier on, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in central Italy had a similar position, and most of Italy detached from the Holy Roman Empire piecewise during the late Middle Ages. Obviously, a strong Empire would not leave seceding states alone, but a weak one (as Thyatis after the Spike Assault) could do so (e.g., the Romans retired from Britain, leaving a Roman-British noble class in charge). Note thought that the Roman Empire was never feudal, which is not the case for Thyatis. The Holy Roman Empire survived many secessions from regional states (see the cases of small Italian states above). 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: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:52:16 +0800 From: Jason Murphy Subject: Re: Grand Duchy and Thyatian Empire Relationship Nice work guys. I love this kinda historical discussion. Always good to learn new stuff :-) On Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 8:03 PM, Giampaolo Agosta wrote: > 2009/9/29 Joaquin Menchaca : > > My comments weren't necessarily on the reading, interpretation, etc. I > am confirming that it states Karameikos is autonomous. However, I am > questioning the plausibility of this. > > > > I am not aware of such a situation in real world's history. I think it > defies human nature, and how governments and notion of sovereignty works. > Karameikos, with the title of "Grand Duchy" is by nature a subordinate > territory. > > Well, for example the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a sovereign Grand > Duchy in the real world since the Congress of Vienna, detached from > the Empire. Earlier on, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in central Italy > had a similar position, and most of Italy detached from the Holy Roman > Empire piecewise during the late Middle Ages. > > Obviously, a strong Empire would not leave seceding states alone, but > a weak one (as Thyatis after the Spike Assault) could do so (e.g., the > Romans retired from Britain, leaving a Roman-British noble class in > charge). Note thought that the Roman Empire was never feudal, which is > not the case for Thyatis. The Holy Roman Empire survived many > secessions from regional states (see the cases of small Italian states > above). > > 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. > -- "I hope to set an example, you know, for children and stuff" - Captain Hammer ******************************************************************** 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 - 28 Sep 2009 to 29 Sep 2009 (#2009-59) ***************************************************************