From: owner-mystara-digest@ (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #151 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@ Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@ Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Friday, September 26 1997 Volume 02 : Number 151 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 25 Sep 1997 08:42:07 -0500 From: Alan Shutko Subject: [Mystara] Re: Reviving Mystara (was: Some ? X10 advice) >>>>> "A" == Aleksei Andrievski writes: A> That's because there are hordes of Greyhawkers bugging them about A> restarting their favorite world. There probably aren't hordes of A> Mystarans doing the same (though it'd be good if there were). Then do so. When I did, Peter Adkinson said he thought Mystara was particularly well-designed, and that they'd continue with it if there was market demand. - -- Alan Shutko - By consent of the corrupted Learn to pause -- or nothing worthwhile can catch up to you. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 08:42:13 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Immortal's first manifestation form On Thu, 25 Sep 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > When a character becomes an Immortal, his master creates a manifestation > form for him. Does the master permanently spend 100 PPs on it, or is the > form completely free for everyone? I believe Bruce answered this in a Known World Grimoire once, and the reply was that the Immortal's sponsor creates the new Immortal's Manifestation form for him/her, and thus the 100 PPs do not come out of the new Immortal's PP pool. Essentially, then, it's free. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 22:53:43 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: [Mystara] Soul Crystals (was: Sheperd of Rad) At 10.16 25/09/97 +0200, you wrote: >I like the idea of the soul crystals getting more power when the chamber >of stars is completed. Fabrizio: your opinio here as the SE expert? > I always wondered what the Chamber of the Spheres would do when it will be completed. The idea of boosting the soul crystals power is a nice one. One of the ideas I was toying with is allowing shamans to cast spells on the surface too. Now I explain my idea better: Shamans cannot cast spells on the surface because they need Soul Crsytals and Soul Crsytal cannot be brought to the surface because they would be destroyed by sunrays. Soul Crystal are a receptacle of power and they're needed to focus magical energy, but if (or better: when) the Chamber of the Spheres will be completed Shadow Elves will have a lot more of magical energy available. Going to the point: shamans don't need Soul Crystals any more, so they can cast spell on the surface just like clerics do. But, in order to maintain game balance, Shamans still need Soul Crystals to cast Radiance spells, after all even the Glantrians (Brotherhood of the Radiance) need a receptacle of power. This means that Shamans won't be able to use powerful Radiance spells on the surface, and probably this will dissuade many high-level shamans from coming to the surface. A possible future development could be the production of new, sun-resistant soul crystals that will allow shamans to cast spell of the Radiance also above ground, but I've yet to devise some sort of penalty (like the ones for artifacts) for using this improved crystals. Just to keep the game balanced. Your opinion? - -------------- Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 - -------------- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 17:30:14 -0400 (EDT) From: Nuts4SQURL@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] WotI-Immortals I want off of this list. Please take me off!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 19:27:00 -0400 From: wjnowackl@MEM.po.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Another Rules Question - ------------------------- Begin Original ------------------------- Hi! >I haven't finished it completly yet, but if anybody is interested give m e >yell and I'll email it when I have finished. I'll currrently doing the >hard part: balancing it all. Yes, please, I´d be interested! ************************************************************ Peter Balazs Wurlitzerg. 37/12 1160 Wien 0222/4816030 a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ac.at http://radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs ************************************************************ - ------------------------- End Original ------------------------- I'm intrested as well. "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 19:31:21 -0400 From: wjnowackl@MEM.po.com Subject: [Mystara] Re: Reviving Mystara (was: Some ? X10 advice) - ------------------------- Begin Original ------------------------- >>>>> "A" == Aleksei Andrievski writes: A> That's because there are hordes of Greyhawkers bugging them about A> restarting their favorite world. There probably aren't hordes of A> Mystarans doing the same (though it'd be good if there were). Then do so. When I did, Peter Adkinson said he thought Mystara was particularly well-designed, and that they'd continue with it if there was market demand. - -- Alan Shutko - By consent of the corrupted Learn to pause -- or nothing worthwhile can catch up to you. - ------------------------- End Original ------------------------- Cool. What's the e-meil address that we can "bug" away at? Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 19:36:23 -0400 From: wjnowackl@MEM.po.com Subject: [Mystara] Soul Crystals (was: Sheperd of Rad) - ------------------------- Begin Original ------------------------- At 10.16 25/09/97 +0200, you wrote: >I like the idea of the soul crystals getting more power when the chamber >of stars is completed. Fabrizio: your opinio here as the SE expert? > I always wondered what the Chamber of the Spheres would do when it will be completed. The idea of boosting the soul crystals power is a nice one. One of the ideas I was toying with is allowing shamans to cast spells on the surface too. Now I explain my idea better: Shamans cannot cast spells on the surface because they need Soul Crsytals and Soul Crsytal cannot be brought to the surface because they would be destroyed by sunrays. Soul Crystal are a receptacle of power and they're needed to focus magical energy, but if (or better: when) the Chamber of the Spheres will be completed Shadow Elves will have a lot more of magical energy available. Going to the point: shamans don't need Soul Crystals any more, so they can cast spell on the surface just like clerics do. But, in order to maintain game balance, Shamans still need Soul Crystals to cast Radiance spells, after all even the Glantrians (Brotherhood of the Radiance) need a receptacle of power. This means that Shamans won't be able to use powerful Radiance spells on the surface, and probably this will dissuade many high-level shamans from coming to the surface. A possible future development could be the production of new, sun-resistant soul crystals that will allow shamans to cast spell of the Radiance also above ground, but I've yet to devise some sort of penalty (like the ones for artifacts) for using this improved crystals. Just to keep the game balanced. Your opinion? - -------------- Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 - -------------- - ------------------------- End Original ------------------------- Good idea. Also IMO, as the Chamber nears completion, the crystals will also gain "souls" and "levels"; long before radical chganges on this scale take place. Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 20:39:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Immortal campaign I have DMed for an immortal some, however it was a lone character who had accomplished this daunting task. He is still an initiate however. I am currently planning to allow him to use a mortal identity in a new campaign... specifically he will be taking the guise of the first cleric of a new immortal (himself of course). He has to recruit followers or disappear, so I think this may end up being the best played cleric I have ever had in my campaigns. Doing something many clerics don't seem to do much of - recruiting new followers. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 21:04:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Another Rules Question One thing I never was real satisfied with was the way new immortals all had 300 PP, even if they had twice that many in mortal life. So what I allowed/required my players to do was immediately spend any they had in excess of 300 on either their own abilities, their plane, an artifact, or whatever, so that when they were done they had 300 PP to start their immortal existence. This allowed those who had advanced to start reasonably even, but it gave those who had more XPs when they achieved immortality a little bit of a bonus. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 12:44:42 +1200 From: John Howell Subject: [Mystara] A newbie quesion Hi all. I just joined this list a few days ago and I'm amazed! First of all I was surprised to find that anybody even remembered the old D&D world. In New Zealand D&D never really got set up, and was soon whitewashed by AD&D. Only a few of us die hards ever really stuck to the original game. Then I found the Mystara mailing list and realized that not only did other people remember it, but were more luniciadial about it than even I was! But you will have to excuse me for a second. Since I am down here at the bottom of the world I have missed most of the last publications by T$R. To me, the KW was basically just a whole mass of countries developed by the GAZ series (and great trail maps). I have read the FAQ carefully, but I'm still confused as to the events that happened during WotI (did the old ones really put in an appearance and cart some of the immortals that were 'playing too rough' away?!?). Can somebody direct me to a decent history or explain what happened? No need to broadcast your reply over the whole list, a reply just to me would be great! Thanks for your time! Regards, John PS If some people at T$R really might be interested in bringing Mystara back to life, why arn't we hassling them more!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 20:58:47 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Shepherds of Rad My solution is kind of a cop out, but its based on the way I envision clerics on Mystara. I allow clerics (and only clerics) in my campaign to build their base abilities using the Skills & Powers book (with a modification to allow the cleric to purchase spell like powers). Other than their initial abilities and sphere access I then treat them as regular clerics for advancement purposes. So in my campaign a cleric of Rad would have the wizardly priests ability, and be able to cast wizard spells. As far as the Shepherds themselves I still don't see any reason for them to have to be clerics... Rad communicated to them through the use of the Radiance if I remember right. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 21:06:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Reviving Mystara (was: Some ? X10 advice) When I asked about Mystara I was referred to the Odyssey line, it was quite depressing. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 21:16:18 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Brotherhood of the Radiance Hmmm, you have a point. It could be a new noble, or possibly someone in line for nobility (remember that Angus McGregor isn't a ruler yet), or possibly with Rad not there to watch some non-nobles have discovered the secrets of the Radiance. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 18:19:17 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Another Rules Question On Thu, 25 Sep 1997 Magesmiley@aol.com wrote: > One thing I never was real satisfied with was the way new immortals all had > 300 PP, even if they had twice that many in mortal life. So what I > allowed/required my players to do was immediately spend any they had in > excess of 300 on either their own abilities, their plane, an artifact, or > whatever, so that when they were done they had 300 PP to start their immortal > existence. This allowed those who had advanced to start reasonably even, but > it gave those who had more XPs when they achieved immortality a little bit of > a bonus. In the Gold Box Immortals Set, this was in fact, the case. New Immortals started out with as many PPs as their former experience levels (what's the ratio it gives- 10,000 xp is equal to 1 PP?). By this rationale, characters who waited until the 36th level to become Immortal would have more PP than Immortals generated from 30th level characters (for example), and wizards who became Immortal (and elves, for that matter) tended to be the most powerful of Initiates. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 21:28:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Timeline question Another inconsistency I noted from the Hollow World boxed set was that the Hollow World's great equatorial mountain range was raised prior to the Spell of Preservation (cast in BC 5000). This was done prior to the explosion in Blackmoor which changed the axis of the planet (and means that whatever was on the equator prior to the destruction of Blackmoor wasn't on it afterwards). The best explanation I could come up with was that originally the range wasn't on the equator. As to why they are on the equator now... perhaps when the planet was thrown off its old axis maybe the inner mountain range helped determine where the new axis ended up. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 18:54:00 -0400 From: Aron Reif Subject: RE: Psionics in Alphatia (was Re: [Mystara] Undersea - ------ =_NextPart_000_01BCC9FA.B91E29E0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable >On the matter of magical items protecting against magical control: >I see no reason why there shouldn't be plenty of Magical items = protecting >people from psionics. If the old ones dont work, ther's no reason not = to >make up some new ones. well, you'd be right, except for one little thing...magic and psionics = are mutually exclusive. Psionics don't affect magic and magic doesn't = affect psionics. Like I said before: I'm sure that you could make a = psionically enchanted item that would protect against psionics, but = since psionics are so rare on Mystara that these should be extremely = rare. 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First off, the Powers of "Domination" or "Mass Domination" = are >much >more powerful and direct than any Charm spell. You don't have to >waste time >trying to convince the target of what you want him to do. = You >Dominate his >head and MAKE him do it, even if he doesn't want to. =20 > >Domination: Wis-4, 30 yards >Target has a ST and if he has to do something which is against his very >being he get=B4s another ST! >It is quite costly! > >But I think you are right, it is powerful! exactly. it IS quite costly, but if you only need to use it for short = periods of time, it works just fine. By the way, if any of you have the = Revised Dark Sun Box Set, there's a new version (much improved) of = Psionics mechanics. (I think it may also appear in the hardback "Skills = and Powers"). This system makes psionics much easier to use since it = uses THAC0s and ACs just like normal combat. No more tangents or Power = scores! >>(Sorry in advance for the attachment) >>Attachment Converted: c:\eudora\attach\RE Psionics in Alphatia (was R1 > >Thanks! But how do you do it? Can=B4t you stop it? I don't do it. At least I'm not trying to do it. No, I can't stop it = (at least I haven't figured out how yet). >>I think it's this Microsoft Exchange that's doing it. I'll look into >getting >another email reader this week. Until then, I'll try to keep = my >posts to a >minimum. > >Big Brother, huh? Or better Big Unrelieable But Powerhungry Brother? yup. These microsoft programs have gotten so newbie-friendly that it's = become almost impossible to get rid of some of their default settings. = Rather frustrating... >And please, although it is kind of annoying, don=B4t let it (or me) = stop you >sending your mails! Like I said, I'll try to keep all the un-necessary posts off (at least = until I find a better browser...anybody know how to get a (legal) free = copy of Eudora?). 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X10 advice) - ------ =_NextPart_000_01BCC9FA.BC3AAC20 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable >A> That's because there are hordes of Greyhawkers bugging them about >A> restarting their favorite world. There probably aren't hordes of >A> Mystarans doing the same (though it'd be good if there were). > >Then do so. When I did, Peter Adkinson said he thought Mystara was >particularly well-designed, and that they'd continue with it if there >was market demand. who should we contact? I imagine that TSR/WOTC has designated someone = to receive this type of customer feedback. Any idea who that would be? = (email address? snail mail address?) 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Psykers Aron Reif meandered fecklessly... > >On the matter of magical items protecting against magical control: > >I see no reason why there shouldn't be plenty of Magical items > protecting > >people from psionics. If the old ones dont work, ther's no reason not > to > >make up some new ones. > well, you'd be right, except for one little thing...magic and psionics > are mutually exclusive. Psionics don't affect magic and magic doesn't > affect psionics. Like I said before: I'm sure that you could make a > psionically enchanted item that would protect against psionics, but > since psionics are so rare on Mystara that these should be extremely > rare. Although there is nothing wrong with this as a house rule, it is certainly not AD&D cannon. There are a variety of magic items and spells that can effect psionics. Some examples include the mage spell Psychic Protection, which protects against several forms of psionic attack, and the psionic discipline Mind Bar, which protects against several different mind affecting mage spells (i.e. Charm, Feeblemind, etc.) There are a varity of items in the Encyclopedia Magica that indicate they protect against psi powers. As well, the Dark Sun setting seems to have a variety of magic items and spells that affect psykers and their powers. Leroy Van Camp III malacoda@lesbois.com owner-mystara-l@io.com "You know, not kneeing you in the groin is a constant struggle." MST3K ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 23:23:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Reviving Mystara > who should we contact? I imagine that TSR/WOTC has designated someone = > to receive this type of customer feedback. Any idea who that would be? = > (email address? snail mail address?) Perhaps we should make some noise on the DnD newsgroup. I think there are a few company people there. The newsgroup talks about bring back Grayhawk and Darksun alot, but not many talk about Mystara. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 00:05:23 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: Psionics in Alphatia (was Re: [Mystara] Undersea In a message dated 97-09-25 21:57:08 EDT, areif@erols.com writes: << well, you'd be right, except for one little thing...magic and psionics are mutually exclusive. Psionics don't affect magic and magic doesn't affect psionics. >> Can you cite a source for that one? I could have sworn that there were some magic items that protected against both some magical effects and any equivalent psionic effects. For example, the "Mind Blank" spell is supposed to provide protection against any mental attack, whether from a spell or from the use of a psychic power. According to _Skills and Powers_, there are a few spells that are quite effective against psionics. ------------------------------ Date: 26 Sep 1997 01:16:51 -0500 From: Alan Shutko Subject: [Mystara] Re: Re: Reviving Mystara (was: Some ? X10 advice) >>>>> "A" == Aron Reif writes: A> who should we contact? I imagine that TSR/WOTC has designated A> someone to receive this type of customer feedback. Any idea who A> that would be? (email address? snail mail address?) Well, if they have, I don't know what it is. I just emailed mavra@wizards.com (Peter Adkison) and got a response (which surprised me a lot). Actually, it says that Peter Adkison is acting brand manager, so he might actually be the one. - -- Alan Shutko - By consent of the corrupted Oxymorons: Liberal Thinktank, Political ethics, Politically Correct. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Sep 1997 10:21:13 -0700 From: Sebastian Quiles Subject: Re: [Mystara] Some ? X10 advice Dennis wrote: > > > >2.Has anyone had any sucess running X10 during Wrath, as I am thinking > > >of trying to find a copy to use in my upcoming campaign? > > > > Yup. It fit beautifully. > > There are a few things that need to be reworked, but it works very well > overall. However, if you plan to play in Western Brun in the future, I > advise you not to let the Master of Hule be defeated. > Your biggest problem, however, will probably be finding a copy of the > module. Make sure that it contains the counters and the map before you lay > down your money (although it is actually a pretty good module even without > these things). > > Patrick Obviously the version I've find in an old useds book shop in Paris, Haven't the counters, so I've make it with somes papers and a lot of boring... - -- Sebastian Quiles Universidad de Buenos Aires - ARGENTINA mailto:sq7s@dc.uba.ar ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 12:21:45 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] Rad's disappearance Hello, I was just thinking, Etienne d'Ambreville was the master of Brotherhood of Radiance, and he used the name "Rad" there as well. So when he disappeared in 1009, the other Brotherhood members suddenly notice that Rad no longer speaks to them (they meet 4 times a year). Would they be able to make the connection and deduce that Etienne and Rad are one and the same? This would especially put dangerous knowledge in the hands of Brannart McGregor, one of Etienne's bitter enemies. Any thoughts? ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 11:18:55 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Nightmare Lands and the Dreaming Haavard wrote: <> Yes, i agree with you when you say that most of the dreams are created by the dreamer himself. That's also what the Nightmare Court works on: they look for the most vivid and interesting nightmares, grab the dreamself having the nightmare and trap him into a dreamscape, where they then "feed" on him by making him experience his own nightmare many times, altering slightly the particulars and the characters to make it more and more unbearable for the dreamer. So, as you see, they are very similar to Oneiros, because they have to rely on dreamers' ability to dream, but once they catch them, they can affect the dream at their own will. You said however that Oneiros has the ability to "generate" dreams: does this mean that he can "plant" them into people's mind, or better that he can use the dreamselves of people as "actors" in his dreams? Or does he need somebody able to dream in order to influence his dreams (as i think the NC does)? <> Pardon me, but i really have a big hole here :( I know about Limbo, but i thought this was an Outer Plane where all the souls went if they were non believer or "unclean" according to the religious precepts they followed: is it not an Outer Plane? Well, if not, then i think it could be also placed in the Astral Plane: an island where the souls stop if they are not able (read: allowed to by the Higher Powers) to arrive at the Outer Planes where the heavens are. Being in the Astral, this means it has no ties to any Sphere, so this problem is solved. In this case, you could place the Dreaming in the Astral, a very secluded area much like Limbo where only dreamselves or very powerful people could access. Oneiros would still rule above it, but being in the Astral he would not really be an Immortal in the very sense of the D&D term: i mean, he could have (demi)immortality and powers that come with it, but no tie to any sphere (a truly unique being!). As for the Spirit World, well, there aren't much details about it, but i've always thought it was another Dimension entirely.. until somebody on the list (think it was you or Cthul) made me change my mind (amazing feat!) and see it as an Outer Plane. However, there's always my theory about the Dark Powers living in the Vortex dimension: in this case the Dreaming (as the NL) could be located inside it, and Oneiros would obviously be something more than a mere Immortal.. Just to clarify things a bit, here's what it's written in the Nightmare Lands set about the NL location (from Book 2: The Rules of Dreams and Nightmares, pages 5-6-7-8): NOTE: the following text is copyright material of TSR Inc. The use made here is only referential and not lucrous in any way, so please TSR guys don't sue me, ok? "Surrounding the Prime Material Plane are the mists of the Ethereal Plane. The Ethereal Plane consists of 3 distinct parts: the Border Ethereal, the Wall of Color and the Deep Ethereal. The Border Ethereal touches the Prime, but it's really a place of both dimensions. When someone is in the Border, he's here and there at the same time. [like Ghosts, for example -My Note] The Deep Ethereal is like a vast ocean, with islands of Matter called demiplanes floating in its endless mists. [this is where the Nightmare Lands are located. The concept of Deep Ethereal is absent in D&D Multiverse -My Note] Between the Border and the Deep, a shimmering wall of color stretches to separate one part from the other. It's a two dimensional boundary, having width and lentgh but no discernible depth. [this is the Wall of Color, also called the Dream Plane -My Note] The Dream Plane exists in the extradimensional, infinitesimal width of the Wall of Color. It is not a solid, travel-inhibiting barrier, but a translucent expanse of bright patterns of harmless energy. When a person dreams, a portion of his inner being interacts with this plane. This dream-self mantains a connection with the physical body but also passes into the dream plane in order to participate i normal dream scenes. The exterior of the Wall of Color, the true boundary between the waking world and the dream plane, is known as the Veil of Sleep. In common dreams, only a dream-self can cross it and enter the extradimensional space of the dream plane. (Planar travelers simply pass through the Wall of Color and enter the Deep Ethereal. They cannot get to the extradimensional space that exists between one side of the wall and the other.) [inside the dream plane, each dreamer has his own dream to experience, even though it can happen that two dreamers share the same dream, a rare occurrence -My Note] Ethereal travelers wandering near the Wall of Color can't see the multitude of dreams playing out within its shimmering surface. For one thing, those who are awake cannot cross or see through the Veil of Sleep. Individual dreamers provide the energy that keeps dreamscapes coherent. Once a dream ends and the dream-self returns to the waking world, the dreascape he occupied dissipates back into the mists. All of this usually occurs without any conscious knowledge or action on the part of the dreamer. While each sphere [dreamscapes occurs inside spheres -My Note] has a certain size when viewed from outside, the inside of a dreamscape is as large or as small as it needs to be to contain the dream scene. Time also flows differently within a dreamscape. Hours, months or years may pass over the course of a dream, but the dreamer only dreams for seconds or minutes." So that's it. The Dreaming should lie within this extradimensional Veil of Sleep inside the Ethereal Plane: a fascinating hypothesis that could hold also in the D&D Multiverse IMHO (just make the Veil of Sleep/Wall of Color lie between the Ethereal and the Astral et voilà!) > In the Nightmare Lands, the Dreamscapes lies in the coastal perimeter (the > Lands are an island) called the Ring of Dreams IIRC. If you venture inside > the isle, you can find the Forest of Everchange, home of Morpheus and the > Abber Nomads (true inhabitants of the Dreamlands!), or stumble in the city > of Nod, where the rest of the Nightmare Court resides <> Mmmhh.. I see. But the Ring of Dreams is actually an area dotted with Dreamscapes that come in the form of multicolored bubbles of different sizes: do you mean the Heartlands are the land OUT of the dreamscapes or that the dreamscapes are all united and the land THEY form is the Heartlands? <> From Companion set (i don't know if the name is right though): it grants the imbiber the power to talk to other sentient beings in their dreams. I figure it actually links the minds of the two characters and send the user of the potion into the dreamscape of the target, allowing him to materialize and to speak to the other into his own dream, leaving when he wants to (sort of Dreamwalk spell -see Nightmare Lands boxed set). <> Eager to know.. ;) <> I cannot really criticize this idea of yours, because i share it :) <> Then it's better not to use them at all, because in this case they would be greatly reduced in their potential and powers. Each one of the members of the Nightmare Court embodies one particular aspect of nightmares, and they exist only to feed on the nightmares of the livings and to promote them, creating insanity in the real world (cause that's what the dreamers become if they loose their battle against their fears: insane). They are inherently Evil, no doubts about this. I believe you are right when you say that Nightmares are not evil per se, but in the case of the Nightmare Lands we're talking about creatures that delights (and FEED) themselves in making others suffer from their worst fears: so even though the nightmares are not evil, they MAKE them become evil eerie parodies of real life. Don't u think they could be used this way? Mutated Dreammages addicted to Nightmares? DM ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #151 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@ (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #152 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@ Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@ Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Friday, September 26 1997 Volume 02 : Number 152 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 11:29:10 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Shepherds of Rad Kaviyd wrote: <<2) Shepherds of Rad would follow the Wizard spell progression but would interpret it slightly differently, as follows: Spell Level 1 = Wizard 1 Spell Level 2 = Priest 1 Spell Level 3 = Wizard 2 Spell Level 4 = Priest 2 Spell Level 5 = Wizard 3 Spell Level 6 = Priest 3 Spell Level 7 = Wizard 4 Spell Level 8 = Priest 4 Spell Level 9 = Wizard 5 I prefer this approach for a number of reasons: 1) The "Cure Light Wounds" spell is available to 3d level Shepherds -- a mere 5000 XP is required to reach that level. This compares favorably with the 1500 XP that an OD&D Cleric is required to earn to gain similar ability. Even in an AD&D campaign a Glantrian party with a Shepherd of sufficient level would be viable.>> I really like this idea, but IIRC in Glantri nobody has Healing powers equal to those of the clerics: that's why Glantri govt allows mystic monasteries to exist, to cure diseases, poisons and wounds, even though at a slow rate. GAZ3 doesn't mention Shepherds being able to cure anyone: they only meditate on higher matters and on the sense of universe (ohmm..). Do you plan to use this rules with Shepherds in Glantri or in other countries (for example Corunglain, as someone suggested)? Also, remember when somebody cast a Silence on the hammer of the Judge at the Glantrian Parliament (beginning of GAZ3, when Carlotina introduces the Alfheimer to the other Houses)? The whole parliament was in a shock: obviously they were not used to these kind of spells (clerical). But if the Shepherds can cast clerical spells, since the glantrian politicians frequently attend the Temple of Rad ceremonies (as we know they do), they should not have been so astonished seeing a clerical spell cast inside Glantri... do you see my point? I think your system is good, but i don't know if Glantri is "ready" for it... Or are you drawing your idea from something written about Shepherds powers in Glantri: KoM (a sourcebook i don't have... and will never buy, frankly...)? <<3) Shepherds cannot raise the dead, as they never gain access to 5th level Priests spells or 6th level Wizard spells. So in Glantri, the dead generally stay dead. They may be reincarnated by normal Mages, but of course reincarnated characters lose whatever social position they may have held previously.>> What do you mean when you say that "Reincarnated mages may lose their social position"? You mean if they don't return as Magic Users, don't you? DM ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 11:29:14 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] READ: List Survey Results (LONG) OK folks, this is the result of the list survey Jennifer began. I post it to the list to make each other know who's on. Also i would like the people who don't appear here to mail me personally to give me their stats fillin the form in blank at the end of this letter. Another thing: i kindly ask those people who appear but whose information are not exaustive (for example lack of birthdate, e-mail or even real name -Duff and Rich!) to mail me their missing stats so i can complete this list and put it in my webpage. Thanx for the attention. DM ***** Name: Aleksei Andrievski Email: k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi Web Site: none From: Russia (living in Finland) Birthdate: Marital Status: Profession: Started playing RPGs: 14 First played D&D: 14 Interests: I'm interested in Glantri and anything about magic/wizards. Name: Pasi Anias Email: a122286@students.cc.tut.fi Web Site: From: Finland Birthdate: Marital Status: engaged since 1994 Profession: studying automation and safety engineering in tampere university of technology and just beginning my masters thesis (also just ending a carreer as a student counsilor in my department) Started playing RPGs: 15 First played D&D: 15 Interests: DMing D&D, currently member of my schools roleplaying club, playing D&D once a week, and usually something else once a week too. DMing Top Secret, Boothill or second campaing of D&D, or playing Mage or Delta green (Cthulhu), though both are rather new things. Also played AD&D, Role, Gurps, Marvel, etc... Other Hobbies: Running a war in Harpoon (the original, not computer that is, currently USA is trying to invade Cuba), playing other boardgames, listening to music, watching TV/movies (favourite series currently on Finish tv: ST Deep Space Nine, Mr and Mrs Smith, Hill Street Blues. Name: Peter Balazs Email: a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at, pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ca.at Web Site: radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs From: Vienna, AUSTRIA Birthdate: December/11//1970 Marital Status: engaged Profession: Student Math & Physics Started playing RPGs: 1983 First played D&D: 1987 Interests: Shadow-Elves, Immortals, Thyatis & Hinterlands, Fairies, the Vortex (IMC the Otherworld). Other interests: Math, Computergaming (Nearly all sorts), E-Mail & Internet, Ballgames (Volleyball, Soccer, Football), StarTrek, Movies, RPG: some of our own devised games (StarTrek, etc..), AD&D:FR Name: Alex Benson Email: Alex295@aol.com Web Site: From: North Augusta, SC, U.S.A. Birthdate: October/8/1971 Marital Status: Profession: Quality inspector at a textile finishing plant Started playing RPGs: 1983 First played D&D: 1984 Interests: Alphatia (still ticked off about the sinking), Davania, and Karameikos. Working on: Davania, Alphatia in HW, Cadre (ancestors of Alphatians planning on migrating to Mystara), and present day links to Blackmoor Civilization. Rarely play D&D or AD&D anymore. Most of the old group has moved off. More interested in campaign and setting developement. Though my primary interests are in the Mystara Setting, I do enjoy the Ravenloft Setting. Non-gaming interests: Military history and machines (mainly WW2). Playing on the computer. 1/35th scale military models. Archery (since six years old), Hunting, Fishing (both casting and fly rod). Name: Alexander Simon Blum Email: Galeifel@aol.com Web Site: none From: Born in Oakland, California, U.S.A., now living in Freiburg, GERMANY Birthdate: January/05/1982 Marital Status: unmarried Profession: student Started playing RPGs: 1990 (bought D&D players guide from red basic box second hand) First played D&D: 1990 (when I discovered the DM guide a week later) Interests: Mystara, esp. Glantri. Other Intrests: soccer, history, computers Name: Ray Brooks Email: rabrooks@bg1.uwaterloo.ca Web Site: From: Birthdate: August/3/1972 Marital Status: Profession: copyright analyst for the Courseware Printing program at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. I've been studying English lit and philosophy for the last 5 years and have put my work on my Master's degree in phil on hold for the time being Started playing RPGs: 1981 First played D&D: 1981 Interests: I'm a bit of an OD&D purist. I would love to be involved in the MOrient project. I have been trying to put together a martial arts system for OD&D that would make the mystic a bit more than just another killing machine with no armor. Name: Robert Brunciak Email: brunciak@erols.com Web Site: none From: Clifton, New Jersey, U.S.A. Birthdate: Marital Status: single Profession: Student; going into Archaeology once out of high school Started playing RPGs: 7 First played D&D: 10 Interests: RPGs: Mystara (almost anything about it!), Generic OD&D, Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dragon Warrior, Phantasy Star, Final Fantasy, Middle Earth Role Playing Other: Strategy Games of all kind, reading, hiking, history (Byzantine Empire), Anime! Working on: Creating some new Thyatian fighting orders, developing some of Mystara's oceans, Karameikos (all for my campaign), Creating my own world Name: Davide Bucci Email: davidebucci@hotmail.com Web Site: none From: Solarolo, (RA), ITALY Birthdate: October/24/1979 Marital Status: single Profession: Student Started playing RPGs: 1992 First played D&D: 1992 Interests: Playing D&D, ruling a dominion, becoming a respected hero, and being a Paladin of the Fighter's rights... Other Interests: other RPGs (Call of Cthulhu,Cyberpunk 2020), reading sci-fi/fantasy/horror, computer games/programming/emulation, building a robot for my school final exam Name: Glenn Butcher Email: knight@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au, glennb@ichr.uwa.edu.au Web Site: http://www.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/~knight/ From: Perth, Western Australia, AUSTRALIA Birthdate: Marital Status: engaged (to a serious roleplayer!) Profession: Programmer, Support Droid, Student, Network consultant Started playing RPGs: 12 First played D&D: 12 Interests: Shadow-Elves, Immortals, The Hinterlands, Gnomes. Working on: Immortality rules, Glaive Name: Diego Calugi (aka Milla, Dieguito de Em-pòl) Email: scalugi@biuno.dada.it Web Site: none From: Empoli, Florence, ITALY Birthdate: May/28/1980 Marital Status: Engaged Profession: Student Started playing RPGs: 1989 First played D&D: OD&D red box in 1989 Interests: Karameikos, Multiverse and everything that is releted to Mystara. Non-gaming interests: soccer, tennis, billiards, computer games, X-Files, comics, science-fiction. Working on: Aligment Project with Thorfinn Tait and many others. Name: Dion Cautrell Email: cautrell@poetic.com, cautrelld@platte.unk.edu, Cantrell@digitalis.net, trouveur@geocities.com Web Site: none From: Birthdate: December/17/1972 Marital Status: Married (5/23/93) Profession: English Teacher, University of Nebraska at Kearney Started playing RPGs: Spring 1982 (9 years old) First played D&D: Fall 1982 (9 years old) Interests: the House d'Amberville and New Averoigne (AKA Sylaire), the DA series of modules, the five "color-coded" boxed sets (Basic through Immortal). Other Interests: Poetry of the Romantic Period, Black-and-white and/or Foreign Films, Writing (poetry), Music (a little of everything) Name: Marco Dalmonte (aka DM, Dek Shari, Alanik Ray) Email: dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it, rac0929@racine.ra.it, alanik@hotmail.com Web Site: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090; http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967 From: Barbiano (Ravenna), ITALY Birthdate: January/8/1975 Marital Status: single (ready and waiting) Profession: student of Communications Started playing RPGs: 1990 First played D&D: 1990 Interests: D&D (Mystara), Ravenloft, Spelljammer, Horror Literature, Sci-fi, Occult, Writing, Seeing the world, Improving my websites. I'm currently working for the Net Almanac detailing Wendar and Denagoth and something other in Norwold. I'm interested also in a Mystara-Spelljammer-Ravenloft crossover. I also like to convert novels and movies into D&D adventures. Name: Duff Email: Duffisgod@aol.com Web Site: From: Philadelphia, Pa, U.S.A. Birthdate: Marital Status: Profession: Started playing RPGs: First played D&D: Interests: Shadow elves, the empire of New Alphatia, Thyatis, and Glantri. I have several campaigns running at thae current moment: my primary interests are whats happening next. I also have an interest in the Atruaghin plateau but it gives me writers block when i try to integrate anything into a campaign. Name: Håvard Roenne Faanes Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no Web Site: www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc From: Trondheim, NORWAY Birthdate: Marital Status: Unmarried Profession: Student Started playing RPGs: about 11 First played D&D: about 11 Interests: Karameikos, Thyatis, Planes, Immortals Name: Jennifer Favia (aka Valerya) Email: valerya@hotmail.com Web Site: none From: Originally from Youngstown, Ohio; Living in McAllen, TX, U.S.A. Birthdate: October/21/1972 Marital Status: Kind of odd: we're married common law, but we're also engaged to do it legally as soon as we graduate next spring Profession: Full-Time Student. I'm a history major-psychology minor, specializing in peasant studies in medieval England Started playing RPGs: 1987 First played D&D: 1987 Interests: Anything Mystara. I both DM and play (no, I don't think it takes anything away from the experience for me). Currently playing a campaign in alternate (non-canon) Darokin in AC 1021. Current Projects: Hulean Development, Alphatian history on Mystara (dynasties), Traladaran gypsies, Krondaharan culture. Other Interests: Anything medieval, esp. England, Primate Behavioral Research (right now I'm trying desperately to prepare a paper for publication),Writing, Reading (just anout anything, but especially fantasy and horror) Name: Gabriele Ferri Email: fif3336@iperbole.bologna.it Web Site: none From: San Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna, ITALY Birthdate: October/19/1980 Marital Status: Profession: Student (and 2nd league waterpolo player) Started playing RPGs: 1990 First played D&D: 1994 Interests: I'm in the MOrient project Name: Geoff Gander Email: ganderg@tc.gc.ca Web Site: http://www.chat.carleton.ca/~mqualizz From: North Bay, Ontario, CANADA Birthdate: September/15/1974 Marital Status: Single Profession: Casual worker in the Public Service Started playing RPGs: 1984 - Friend introduced me to D&D. Never looked back since then, but I also play/GM Paranoia, Call of Cthulhu First played D&D: 1984. Been DMing since 1990 or so, always on Mystara Interests: Mystara - specifically Davania, the Heldannic Freeholds, the Savage Coast, IoD, Thyatis, Karameikos, and Darokin. Other Interests: Computer games, sci-fi/fantasy, history, and working on my own RPG Current Projects: In my spare time I work on a BIG colour hex map of Davania - - all composed of 8.5x11 sheets of hex paper, all terrain features fitting together just so. So far I've got the entire northern coast of Davania as far south as the Adakkian Sound and the Isle of Cestia mapped, as well as a large portion of the Izondian Desert. I am also working on "dead" nations. You may have read my Varellyan timeline - I am also working on details for the land of Lhomarr and Y'hegg-T'uhath - check out Shawn Stanley's site for details Name: Mischa E. Gelman Email: megst19+@pitt.edu Web Site: From: Birthdate: Marital Status: Single Profession: Working in Victoria Hall Library at Pitt/Student, Bachelor's of Arts in Social Work at Pitt (a demanding program) Started playing RPGs: First played D&D: Interests: Demihumans, Hollow World (which nicely overlapped in my Kogolor HWR :), Religion in Mystara. Other: Reading (fantasy or historical nonfiction),MUSHing (basically all the RPing I do anymore),Listening to classic rock or good piano or sax music (Billy Joel, Cannonball Adderly, Eagles, Coleman Hawkins, Thelonius Monk) Name: Christopher Gravuer Email: Esherdon@aol.com Web Site: http://members.aol.com/Esherdon/Es1.html From: Philadelphia, Pa, U.S.A. Birthdate: Marital Status: Profession: Shift manager and food service specialist Started playing RPGs: 1983 First played D&D: 1987 Interests: Name: Eric Guindon Email: 95390525@callisto.si.usherb.ca Web Site: none From: Sherbrooke, Quebec, CANADA Birthdate: June/4/1969 Marital Status: Unmarried Profession: Student in communication, I'm already a sociologist Started playing RPGs: 1983 First played D&D: 1983 Interests: Glantri, Thyatis, Immortals. I'm actually working on a RPG club at the Sherbrooke university. I'm also working on my campaing. Also played Call of Cthulhu and Stormbringer Name: Lars Herrmann (aka Wizzard) Email: wizzard@intcom.de Web Site: none From: Bamberg, (but I'm from Nürnberg), GERMANY Birthdate: Marital Status: Single Profession: Student Started playing RPGs: around 10 First played D&D: around 10 Interests: All of Mystara But most of all in Minrothad (and SC in secret). Working (thinking) on rules for EASY ruling a dominion, trade, mass combat, sea combat. Writing my campaign (inspired by Dragonlance and WotI) Name: Martin Johansen Email: m.johansen@aarslev.ou.dk Web Site: none From: Odense, DENMARK Birthdate: Marital Status: single Profession: Computer Technician doing Network Maintainance, User assistance and general computer tech stuff Started playing RPGs: 17 First played D&D: 17 Interests: RPG: Mainly Mystara AD&D, and especially Savage Coast and the Red Steel Campaign. Other: Writing, reading, chatting on the net, composing music (on the computer) and listening to music Name: Alan Jones (aka Trimus D'Alberon) Email: AlanDerekJones@msn.com Web Site: http:\\www.geocities.com\Area51\8306\index.html From: Greenford (a suburb west of London), U.K. Birthdate: Marital Status: Married since 1996 (sadly she does not play D&D) Profession: Technical Consultant for a large Pan Global IT Consultancy company Started playing RPGs: I found an old copy of the 1st edition Dungeon Masters Guide in a charity shop when I was about 15 and used this to write my first few computer games based on the D&D world but had no one to actually play with First played D&D: when the Rules Cyclopedia and the boxed sets came out (around 1992) Interests: Hollow World, Thyatis and the undead. I DM a campaign which is currently half way through the WotI, and play in several others both D&D Known World and others set in Greyhawk. Name: Liam Jones Email: liamj@iconz.co.nz Web Site: http://www2.southwind.net/~phoenyx/master/index.html (For my PBeM game using the OD&D modules X4,5 - You can join the list to lurk if interested there) From: Auckland, NEW ZEALAND Birthdate: Marital Status: Married Profession: Army Officer Started playing RPGs: 11 First played D&D: 11 Interests: GMing using original D&D rules, Norworld, "The War Machine" mass combat rules and developing mass combat and dominion running rules for PBeM, Mass Naval combat including underwater, magical and monster affects Name: Rick La Rue Email: RLaRue@aol.com Web Site: http://members.aol.com/rlarue/index.html From: New Hampshire, U.S.A Birthdate: September/16/1968 Marital Status: Profession: Computer Systems Specialist Started playing RPGs: 1980 First played D&D: 1981 Interests: Karameikos, converting D&D stuff to AD&D 2nd Ed. Hobbies: Camping, Hiking, Canoeing, Kayaking, Computers, Comics, RPGs and writing. Name: David Leland Email: dleland@cogsci.ucsd.edu Web Site: http://cogsci.ucsd.edu/~dleland From: originally Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.A.; now living in San Diego, California, U.S.A. Birthdate: Marital Status: unmarried Profession: PhD-track graduate student in cognitive science at UCSD Started playing RPGs: 1987 First played D&D: 1987 Interests: OD&D with modifications from AD&D and home rules; currently - incorporating Ravenloft material into Karameikos (esp. via connections to Traladaran gothic flavor), a Mystic cloister at the Karameikos/Darokin border, Benekander/Rheddrian and the Order of the Owl Name: Ivar B. Lien (aka Levandi) Email: levandi@hotmail.com, iblien@online.no Web Site: From: Oslo, NORWAY Birthdate: Marital Status: Profession: Student at the University of Oslo Started playing RPGs: 19 First played D&D: 20 Interests: : Mystara (Karameikos, Darokin, Planes.) Also a big fan of the dragonlord triology. I play Warhammer FRPG in addition Name: John W. Mangrum Email: iggy@capital.net Web Site: none From: Philadelphia, PA, (now live in Albany, NY), U.S.A Birthdate: Marital Status: single Profession: Started playing RPGs: First played D&D: Interests: I really discovered Mystara only as it changed over to AD&D, which is to say right before it was dropped. I'm a fan of Savage Coast in particular, especially Herath. My real passion is Ravenloft, however. Name: Andre Martins Email: acrmarti@fma.if.usp.br Web Site: none From: Sao Paulo, BRASIL Birthdate: July/25/1967 Marital Status: Married Profession: postdoctorate researcher, physics, aka almost unemployed Started playing RPGs: 1990 First played D&D: 1990 Interests: almost everything about Mystara, running campaigns currently in Karameikos and Glantri Other Interests: Physics, Writing, Karate, Computers Name: Jenni A. M. Merrifield (aka: strawberryJAMM) Email: strawberry@jamm.com Web Site: http://www.jamm.com/jenni/home.html From: Burnaby, BC (East of Vancouver, BC), CANADA Birthdate: March/15/1968 Marital Status: Happily Married since 1995 Profession: Computer Engineer doing User Interface Design & Programming Started playing RPGs: 1977 First played D&D: 1977 Interests: I'm currently involved with the MOrient Project, working on the development of "Oriental Dragons". I'm also helping Leroy (our esteemed mail-leader) by (slowly) setting up the official Archive web site. I'm also interested in Web Site Design, Things "Ocult" (Tarot, Runes, etc), and Creative Writing Name: Stephanie Miller (aka Lady Sarmanda) Email: sarmanda@geocities.com Web Site: Lady Sarmanda's Castle: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/2465 Family World: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/1457 From: Maryland, U.S.A. Birthdate: March/24/1971 Marital Status: Married since 1996 Profession: Curretly Stay at home mom of 2 daughters. Working on starting my own home based business. Started playing RPGs: 1987 First played D&D: 1987 Interests: Any AD&D and working on my Web Sites Name: James A. Mishler (aka Mystaros) Email: Mystaros@AOL.com Web Site: www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/1437/index.html From: Fort Wayne, IN, U.S.A. Birthdate: Marital Status: Married Profession: Telephony Clerk and budding programmer Started playing RPGs: Winter 1980 First played D&D: Summer 1981 Interests: Mystara as a whole Name: Sven Munther Email: smunther@wk06.Copenhagen.NCR.COM Web Site: From: Copenhagen, DENMARK Birthdate: Marital Status: married Profession: IT consultant Started playing RPGs: 1982 First played D&D: 1982 Interests: Glantri, future of the Alfheim people. DMed my Mystara/Ravenloft campaign in periods since 1988. Currently running Baba Yaga's hut (with some diskworld inspired additions) set in Glantri. I have not started the WotI world war yet, but I am setting one of my players up as a king in Alfheim (cruel - I know). Apart from the future king, most of my players are stationed in Glantri - even the cleric. I should also mention that I am one of the few who like and use the Ierendi setting. I also had my players through the Blood Brethren trilogy (Nightwail, Nightrage, Nightstorm) which I strongly recommend. Name: Hervé Musseau Email: herve@hotmail.com, hmusseau@compuserve.com Web Site: none From: Paris, FRANCE Birthdate: Marital Status: Single Profession: Computer engineer doing WWW (Java) programming Started playing RPGs: around age of 10 First played D&D: around age of 12 Interests: Anything about Mystara. Currently participating in the 1015 almanac : I'm in charge of the NACE area, and also participate in the SE and HW discussion groups; I also write some stuff about the SC and some HW- or Alphatia-related stuff. Name: Aaron Nowack Email: wjnowackl@mem.po.com Web Site: none From: Born in Topeka, Kansas; Now in Mobile, Alabama, U.S.A. Birthdate: September/29/1983 Marital Status: unmarried Profession: High School student and Assistant Hebrew School Teacher Started playing RPGs: bought Rules Cycolpedia in 1990 or so; first campaign should start in September (1997) First played D&D: 1997 Interests: Undersea, anything Mystara. Campaign playing: Wrath of the Immortals. Current Projects: Undersea Timeline AC 1010-1014, Undersea armies War Machine stats. Other Intrests: Magic: The Gathering, Storyteller RPGs, reading Name: Fabrizio Paoli Email: brizio@lunet.it, rafiel@geocities.com, s153349@studenti.ing.unipi.it Web Site: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 From: Lucca, ITALY Birthdate: October/5/1973 Marital Status: Single Profession: student of Aerospace Enginnering Started playing RPGs: 1986 First played D&D: 1986 Interests: Shadow Elves, Gnomes. I'm currently working on Shadow Elves stuff (and more) for the next Mystaran Net-Almanac. Name: Steve Parker Email: SteveParker@azorius.co.uk Web Site: Home Page 1: http://www.netmatters.co.uk/users/thesorceror/ Home Page 2: http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/square/gq95/ From: Birthdate: Marital Status: Profession: IT Consultant Started playing RPGs: 10 First played D&D: 10 Interests: Currently Playing OD&D and AD&D 2nd Edition. Current Projects: Mystara Character Generator in Visual Basic 5 Various DM/Player Utilities in VB 5. Interested in: Karameikos, Darokin, Military Settings, Campaigns and details Name: Cristiano Perani Email: Cristiano.Perani@spm.it, Krys@spm.it Web Site: none From: Albino, Bergamo, ITALY Birthdate: September/6/1971 Marital Status: engaged Profession: just graduated as doctor in medicine (MD) Started playing RPGs: 1985 First played D&D: 1985 Interests: Mystara as a whole. Currently playing WotI, 1007 with a group of PC from Karameikos Name: Bruce Pierpont Email: starhawk@menger.eecs.stevens-tech.edu Web Site: none From: New Jersey, U.S.A. Birthdate: Marital Status: Unmarried Profession: Student/ Multimedia Programmer/Producer Started playing RPGs: I got the Red Basic Set for my seventh birthday. First played D&D: around the age of 8-9 Interests: Still making specialty priests Name: Greg Pratt Email: Magesmiley@aol.com Web Site: none From: Everett, Wa, U.S.A. Birthdate: February/20/1973 Marital Status: single Profession: Assembly Mechanic Started playing RPGs: 1982 (friend introduced me to D&D) First played D&D: 1982, first started DMing in 1983 (have spent 99% of my time DMing on Mystara) Interests: Mystara in general, have some specific ideas for Glantri, Norwold, Soderfjord, the Immortal City of Pandius (I bet no one has taken up that one yet), Thyatis, Denagoth, the Hollow World, Attruaghin Clans, & ancient Blackmoor. Other Interests: Federation (game formerly on aol), assorted board & computer games, collecting comics, reading sci-fi/fantasy Campaign Playing: AD&D, set in Thyatis at start of WotI Current Projects: when I have spare time I work on upcoming adventures; also have been working on an overhaul of Norwold I have been working on for a while (including an 8 mile hex map which fixes that %@#!$! area where the maps come together and don't quite line up right). And trying to pick up the few OD&D products which I am missing Name: Sebastian Quiles Email: sq7s@dc.uba.ar Web Site: none From: Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA Birthdate: September/1/1974 Marital Status: Profession: Student of Computer Sciences Started playing RPGs: 1982 First played D&D: 1982 Interests: Improve D&D rules. Hobbies: Archery, Computers, Music (love Queen, Led Zep and Pink Floyd) Name: Aron Reif Email: areif@erols.com Web Site: none From: Centreville, VA, U.S.A. Birthdate: January/5/1974 Marital Status: engaged Profession: Civil Engineer (Government Peon) Started playing RPGs: 1984 First played D&D: 1984 Interests: AD&D (Mystara, Dark Sun), Shadowrun, Computers, Hiking Name: Rich Email: crlptonite@aol.com Web Site: none From: Boston area, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Birthdate: Marital Status: single Profession: Assistant Manager of a 3rd party medical billing company (7 years) and Stripper (1 week): guess where im making more money? Started playing RPGs: 17 First played D&D: 17 Interests: Immortals, Glantri and trying to get WotC to produce some new Mystara material. Campaigns: 1) in the thunder rift supplement placed north of the KW 2) in Karameikos 3) in SW Davania 4) in Glantri right after MoA Name: Rob Rickard Email: cmnwrld@mhtc.net Web Site: http://www.cmnwrld.com From: Wauzeka, Wisconsin, U.S.A. Birthdate: Marital Status: Unmarried Profession: Computer Consulant Started playing RPGs: christmas of 1985 when I was 11 years old First played D&D: the red box set of basic rules on christmas day of 1985 Interests: Travel, Anything outdoors... camping, hiking, explore Name: Tomás Sánchez Jr Email: deckard@encomix.es Web Site: From: Spain Birthdate: Marital Status: Profession: Started playing RPGs: First played D&D: Interests: Rules Review and Known World Development Name: Peter Scrivener Email: pas527@novell3.bham.ac.uk Web Site: From: Birmingham, ENGLAND Birthdate: February/17/1977 Marital Status: Profession: Student Started playing RPGs: First played D&D: Interests: Apart from OD&D, other rpg's and rugby. Started playing D&D at about 11 (9 years ago). Interested in Thyatis. Compiling a country index with references to the products they appeared in and listing all the different clans of the elves. Name: Patrick D. Sullivan Email: Dennis.Sullivan.Family@WorldNet.att.net, ScarletBlue@hotmail.com Web Site: From: Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A. Birthdate: December/14/1979 Marital Status: Profession: Student Started playing RPGs: 1987 First played D&D: 1988 Interests: Pretty much everything Mystara-related, particularly the activities of the immortals. I am currently running several campaigns scattered around Mystara. Name: Thorfinn Leonard Tait Email: Curufin@velvia.demon.co.uk Web Site: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/1413 From: Orkney, Scotland, U.K. Birthdate: June/13/1978 Marital Status: single Profession: student of English Lit. and Language at Edinburgh University here in Scotland Started playing RPGs: 1987 First played D&D: 1987 Interests: Shadow Elves, gnomes of all cultures and locations, all other Elves, especially Ilsundal-worshipping clans, Glantri, Karameikos, Alphatia, the Hollow World (Azca, Nithia, plus pretty much all the rest), the Savage Coast (Herath, Wallara, the Immortal's Arm specifically), Yavdlom. I am working on an Alignment Project dealing with NPCs' personalities, Almanac events for 1015 (throughout the Hollow World and help on Shadow Elves), updating my web pages with old and new D&D stuff, completing my overall Timeline (complete with ironed-out discrepancies and detailed footnotes). Other Interests: I love Tolkien and stuff to do with his works, numerous computer games (strategy mostly - hate Doom-type games, flight sims, platform games, shoot-em-ups and beat-em-ups), television programmes (unfortunately no good fantasy, just science-fiction) and films, as well as reading (fantasy especially but also some sci-fi, like Dune for example), history (Central and South American native cultures, Vikings (my ancestors), Classical period Romans and Greeks, Egyptians, etc.). Name: Luca Toni Email: NewSpell@HotMail.com Web Site: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/6744 From: Solarolo, (RA), ITALY Birthdate: January/25/1977 Marital Status: engaged Profession: Student Started playing RPGs: Winter 1990 First played D&D: 1990 Interests: Playing OD&D in a campaign stretching all over the known world, Inventing new spells for OD&D. Other Interests: Computer Games and Programming, Fantasy, Science. Name: Leroy Van Camp III Email: malacoda@lesbois.com Web Site: From: Boise, Idaho, U.S.A. Birthdate: Marital Status: Profession: Started playing RPGs: First played D&D: Interests: Right now I am starting up a non-Mystara game (Mage: the Ascension), but am fiddling with the basics for my own version of Mystaraspace, bringing Mystara fully into the Spelljammer setting Name: Bas van Doornspeek (aka Deathwatch) Email: deathw@xs4all.nl Web Site: http://www.xs4all.nl/~deathw/ (not Mystara/RPG related) From: Assendelft, NETHERLANDS Birthdate: January/30/1979 Marital Status: Profession: Started playing RPGs: 1992 First played D&D: Interests: Just anything, I'm trying to get as much Mystara stuff as possible Name: Laszko van Kessel (aka Swatantra) Email: laszko@freemail.nl Web Site: none From: Leiden, NETHERLANDS Birthdate: Marital Status: single Profession: Webdesigner Started playing RPGs: 1990 First played D&D: 1990 Interests: Karameikos, elves, Darokin all after the WotI Name: Jason Wassell Email: Wassellj@aol.com Web Site: From: Birthdate: Marital Status: Profession: Public Relations Officer with the National Health Service Started playing RPGs: 14 First played D&D: 14 Interests: Always the player never the DM. Have also dabbled in CoC, Warhammer, ran a mile from AD&D Favourite Player Moment: Watching as my Kalaar, my Avenger, pushed the Duke Stephen, down a flight of stairs. This was just before his country was incorporated into a new Empire of Peletain. Currently Playing: OD&D, with some of this new Mystara information. Also starting to mix in some Planescape adventures. Other Interests: Current affairs, active member of Scottish Labour Party, and Football, especially Dundee United Name: Steven B. Wilson Email: sbwilson@earthlink.net Web Site: none From: Renton, Wa (near Seattle), U.S.A. Birthdate: Marital Status: Married since 1996 Profession: Computer Tech Started playing RPGs: 19 First played D&D: 20 Interests: Mystara-wise - anything. I've been working on Central/Northern Brun on and off for awhile. Some of the areas I've messed with are Hyborea, the Barbarian Kingdoms (including the Kingdom of Ghyr from XL-1 "Quest for the Heartstone"), and a Draconic Council (taken from the "Dragonlord/Dragonking/Dragonmage books). Name: John Yu Email: scy2g@virginia.edu Web Site: none From: Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.A. (moved from Taiwan when I was 9) Birthdate: Marital Status: Single Profession: Grad student. Chemical Engineering in BS and working on master in Material Science Started playing RPGs: 13 First played D&D: started with Red Box at the age of 13 Interests: Currently working on MOrient. When I have more time, there are several other stuffs I want to work on (developing the Glantri's Secret Crafts, floor plans of castles/forts etc) Name: Email: Web Site: From: Birthdate: Marital Status: Profession: Started playing RPGs: First played D&D: Interests: ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 13:40:32 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Immortal's first manifestation form On Thu, 25 Sep 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > I believe Bruce answered this in a Known World Grimoire once, and the > reply was that the Immortal's sponsor creates the new Immortal's > Manifestation form for him/her, and thus the 100 PPs do not come out of > the new Immortal's PP pool. > But does the *sponsor* pay the 100 PP? ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 08:45:41 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] almanac In a message dated 97-09-24 18:07:09 EDT, you write in response to a Minrothad occupied by Thyatis: << Wouldn't their be some kind of resistance group that would sabatoge any works by the "Vichy Minothrad" goverment? Mystaran Example: the takeover of Aeria by Thyatis Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" >> Yes, there would (and is). As with any conquest and subsequent occupation, there is bound to be resistance. However, any partisian activities are minor and quickly put down by the Thyatian Cohorts acting as occupation/garrison troops. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 09:17:56 EDT From: Neal Daskal Subject: Re: [Mystara] A newbie quesion >Since I am down here at the bottom of the world I have missed most of >the last publications by T$R. To me, the KW was basically just a >whole mass of countries developed by the GAZ series (and great trail >maps). I have read the FAQ carefully, but I'm still confused as >to the events that happened during WotI (did the old ones really put >in an appearance and cart some of the immortals that were >'playing too rough' away?!?). Can somebody direct me to a decent >history or explain what happened? Yes (sort of). One of the possible endings of the Immortals Fury adventure from the WotI has a mysterious and ultra-powerful entity appear and haul Etienne d'Ambreville away. This entity is assumed to be an Old One. I suggest up contact an out-of-print dealer to get a copy of WotI if you don't already have it. It's a very useful product (IMHO). Let me know if you need URLs for some dealers. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 09:30:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad's disappearance > Hello, > I was just thinking, Etienne d'Ambreville was the master of > Brotherhood of Radiance, and he used the name "Rad" there as well. So when > he disappeared in 1009, the other Brotherhood members suddenly notice that > Rad no longer speaks to them (they meet 4 times a year). Would they be > able to make the connection and deduce that Etienne and Rad are one and > the same? This would especially put dangerous knowledge in the hands of > Brannart McGregor, one of Etienne's bitter enemies. Any thoughts? > Well, he is not the only one that was killed or disappeared that year. Those in the Brotherhood might have suspection, but that is not that strong a connection. BTW, after Rad got taken away, could he still have a few avatars running around doing stuff for a while or do they all stop functioning immediatly after Rad is gone. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 10:13:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Reviving Mystara (was: Some ? X10 a In a message dated 97-09-25 22:00:46 EDT, you write the following concerning the renewal of Mystara line: << who should we contact? I imagine that TSR/WOTC has designated someone to receive this type of customer feedback. Any idea who that would be? (email address? snail mail address?) >> When the "Big Buyout" first hit the wires, the Mystara posters on AOL's TSR Online discovered a WotC survey at their site concerning TSR products. Many of us (AOL posters) responded and expressed our support concerning Mystara. If the Mystara line is not revived, I would hope that WotC/TSR will see reason to reprint and reissue items such as the Gaz series. Should these reprints draw enough attention ($$$) then you might see an PWA once a year or maybe a new Gaz on Wendar or some of the Davania nations. WotC has its own web site. I think it is www. wizards. com. If that is not it, I think there is a Link to it on the TSR site at www.tsrinc.com. Alex ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 17:12:26 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Soul Crystals (was: Sheperd of Rad) At 22.53 25/09/97 +0200, Brizio wrote: >I always wondered what the Chamber of the Spheres would do when it will be >completed. >The idea of boosting the soul crystals power is a nice one. >Now I explain my idea better: >Shamans cannot cast spells on the surface because they need Soul Crsytals >and Soul Crsytal cannot be brought to the surface because they would be >destroyed by sunrays. >Soul Crystal are a receptacle of power and they're needed to focus magical >energy, but if (or better: when) the Chamber of the Spheres will be >completed Shadow Elves will have a lot more of magical energy available. >Going to the point: shamans don't need Soul Crystals any more, so they can >cast spell on the surface just like clerics do. >But, in order to maintain game balance, Shamans still need Soul Crystals to >cast Radiance spells, after all even the Glantrians (Brotherhood of the >Radiance) need a receptacle of power. >This means that Shamans won't be able to use powerful Radiance spells on >the surface, and probably this will dissuade many high-level shamans from >coming to the surface. Hrmpf.. Dunno really: i think this would be much limiting for SE shamans anyway. But what about nighttime? I mean, we know soul crystals can be damaged by sunrays: so what about using them only at nighttime? They still would be very powerful this way. And to mantain control of Aengmor/Alfheim i think SE will try to study a way of cloaking the forest in perpetual nighttime (that's to say: when u enter there, the sky becomes dark and no sunrays can penetrate this barrier... >A possible future development could be the production of new, sun-resistant >soul crystals that will allow shamans to cast spell of the Radiance also >above ground, but I've yet to devise some sort of penalty (like the ones >for artifacts) for using this improved crystals. Just to keep the game >balanced. Yes, this is much better. What about just bringing the old soul crystals to the Chamber of the Spheres, where a special receptacle will be built to upgrade the crystals put into it in order to resist sunrays? This way they won't have to replace their old crystals. Also as a penalty i suggest that the crystals' immunity being only temporary: for example they could resist the sunrays only for a number of rounds (or turns) equal to double the number of souls inside them per day. Could it work? DM ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #152 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@ (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #153 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@ Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@ Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Sunday, September 28 1997 Volume 02 : Number 153 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 11:35:46 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Campaign against Minrothad Okay folks. I hope to be able to start posting the details of the Thyatian assault on the Minrothad Guilds. I know I promised it a few days back. Unfortunately, most of my free time has been eaten up. I have an MRI scheduled to be performed Monday so I will try to get the opening details in this weekend. I will begin the detailing of the Invasion with an Order of Battle for the Minrothad and Thyatis Forces. This will include troop distribution and deployment. If time allows I will include an in character discussion of the planned offensive by Eusebius with his Commanders and several Senators. I hope this will be not only informative (concerning Eusebius's strategy and motivations) but also entertaining. I hope you all take notice of the Eusebius's original plans and the ones that actually occur during the execution of the invasion. Note -Some of the names that will appear in both the Order of Battle and Thyatian discussion will be unheard of by you. These names are of my own design and are used in my campaign. Units have to have commanders. Alex ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 08:31:01 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Immortal's first manifestation form On Fri, 26 Sep 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > On Thu, 25 Sep 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > > > I believe Bruce answered this in a Known World Grimoire once, and the > > reply was that the Immortal's sponsor creates the new Immortal's > > Manifestation form for him/her, and thus the 100 PPs do not come out of > > the new Immortal's PP pool. > > > But does the *sponsor* pay the 100 PP? I believe so, yes. Which is why one has to petition the Immortal and be tested exhaustively, and why not every Immortal will sponsor mortals. 100 PP is quite an investment to make; an Immortal had best be sure that he will end up with a loyal and dedicated follower otherwise he could be throwing away power and influence (as 100 PP is oft enough to drop an Immortal a level). ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 18:03:33 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Church of Darokin detailed At 14.49 24/09/97 +0200, Håvard wrote: Hi! Glad you liked my CoD description. :=) >Whatabout some metaphysics? I knew you would have asked.. 8) Anyway, i have not yet detailed it: you know, i have many pressing matters now, the first being an exam for October, so i've been a bit slow in putting out Mystara related materials (and my site has suffered for this..) But just to give you a sketch of my ideas, i think that CoD teaches his followers to worship all the Immortal Patrons, and each one has a heaven for the souls to go in the afterlife. However, since nobody can be perfect and worship equally all immortals as a real saint (like Patriarch Simon Stone), each believer will go to the heaven he mostly deserved basing on his actions in this life (for example: if he helped mantain or restore peace, he could go to Koryis, Valerias or Asterius' heaven -Asterius is patron of communication and this is a base for every peace talk). Here you have my heavens: Asterius (Patron of Trade and Communication): Crystal Halls Koryis (Patron of Peace and Prosperity): Fields of Dreams Ixion (Patron of Law and Honesty): Bright Kingdom The Twelve Watchers (Patrons of Crafts and Work): City of Perfection Valerias (Patroness of Love and Charity): Hall of Roses But what if they don't live up to the beliefs of the faith? CoD condemns more the false believers than the non-believers: in fact, the first ones have sworn to follow and believe in the Immortals but they didn't do it at all, whereas the second ones may not follow the immortals' ways, but at least they never pretended to. So there wil be punishment for those who trespass against immortal laws, be them believers or non-believers. Among non-believers, those who acted following the CoD principles even without worshipping Immortals will be given a second chance to recognize their error and to bow to the greater powers: they will be reborn on this land until they swear fealty to one immortal. Believers will be given another chance to prove themselves worthy of the heavens and will be reborn on the world (outer plane) where the heavens exist: there they will have to overcome adversities and find their way to the immortal heaven before the end of their life, or they will be condemned to wander forever outside of the heaven, being allowed to see what they lost but not to enter. They will then live in a state of non-life, which will be somewhat between life and undeath, free to act as they will until the time will come when the Immortal will forgive them all and open the doors of his heaven to these lost souls. Non-believers will instead be sent to Limbo, where they will linger forever trying to escape the fiends and demoniac beings that prowl that desolated world, without hope for a better tomorrow. PS: of course, what happens to non-believers is highly debatable, since this cathegory comprises all the atheists (and there are many). This is just what the clerics think, not necessarily what really happens. As for other religions, the CoD tolerates them as long as they don't preach beliefs or an ethic code that go against the church principles. Hope this helps... DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 19:08:09 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Timeline question At 21.28 25/09/97 -0400, you wrote: >Another inconsistency I noted from the Hollow World boxed set was that the >Hollow World's great equatorial mountain range was raised prior to the Spell >of Preservation (cast in BC 5000). This was done prior to the explosion in >Blackmoor which changed the axis of the planet (and means that whatever was >on the equator prior to the destruction of Blackmoor wasn't on it >afterwards). The best explanation I could come up with was that originally >the range wasn't on the equator. As to why they are on the equator now... >perhaps when the planet was thrown off its old axis maybe the inner mountain >range helped determine where the new axis ended up. What if the explosion of Blackmoor only affected the Outer World axis, but not the Hollow World one. Imagine OW and HW as 2 hollow spheres one inside the other and the worldshield in the middle acting as lubricant. You can easily move the outer one without affecting the inner one... but what about the holes? - -------------- Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 - -------------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 19:14:32 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Soul Crystals (was: Sheperd of Rad) At 17.12 26/09/97 +0200, you wrote: > >Hrmpf.. Dunno really: i think this would be much limiting for SE shamans >anyway. But what about nighttime? I mean, we know soul crystals can be >damaged by sunrays: so what about using them only at nighttime? They still >would be very powerful this way. And to mantain control of Aengmor/Alfheim i >think SE will try to study a way of cloaking the forest in perpetual >nighttime (that's to say: when u enter there, the sky becomes dark and no >sunrays can penetrate this barrier... Gaz13 states that soul crystals brought on the surface crumble to dust after a few seconds, no matter how tightly enclosed and even at nightime. I think it's not visible sunlight, but the other invisible light emitted by the sun (ultraviolet...). Second thing: I wouldn't like to have Shamans freely cast Radiance spell all over Mystara at no cost. > >Yes, this is much better. What about just bringing the old soul crystals to >the Chamber of the Spheres, where a special receptacle will be built to >upgrade the crystals put into it in order to resist sunrays? This way they >won't have to replace their old crystals. Also as a penalty i suggest that >the crystals' immunity being only temporary: for example they could resist >the sunrays only for a number of rounds (or turns) equal to double the >number of souls inside them per day. Could it work? You're reading my mind! What about some personal handicap for over usage of those crystals (loss of CON points or hp, mutations, deformities...)? ************** Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it rafiel@geocities.com DM in City Of The Stars - PC in the Forgotten Realms Leader of Privateers - Student of Aerospace Enginnering Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 23:11:03 +0200 (CEST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Campaign against Minrothad On Fri, 26 Sep 1997 Alex295@aol.com wrote: > Okay folks. I hope to be able to start posting the details of the Thyatian > assault on the Minrothad Guilds. I know I promised it a few days back. > Unfortunately, most of my free time has been eaten up. I have an MRI > scheduled to be performed Monday so I will try to get the opening details in > this weekend. I cant wait! :) > Note -Some of the names that will appear in both the Order of Battle and > Thyatian discussion will be unheard of by you. These names are of my own > design and are used in my campaign. Units have to have commanders. Cool! Those dualogues sound very intersting. Go for it :) Havard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 12:33:15 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Timeline question On Fri, 26 Sep 1997, Fabrizio Paoli wrote: > What if the explosion of Blackmoor only affected the Outer World axis, but > not the Hollow World one. > Imagine OW and HW as 2 hollow spheres one inside the other and the > worldshield in the middle acting as lubricant. You can easily move the > outer one without affecting the inner one... but what about the holes? Ooooh! I like it! I'd never really thought of them that way, but it could certainly work, given the nature of the Worldshield. Of course, as you mention, the polar openings present a bit of a problem with this theory... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 23:22:22 +0200 (CEST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Church of Darokin detailed On Fri, 26 Sep 1997, DM wrote: > At 14.49 24/09/97 +0200, Håvard wrote: > >Whatabout some metaphysics? > > I knew you would have asked.. 8) Sure. I love metaphysics :) sounds good. Hope for more later. > Non-believers will instead be sent to Limbo, where they will linger > forever trying to escape the fiends and demoniac beings that prowl that > desolated world, without hope for a better tomorrow. What does it look like? Rememer Limbo looks different to people of different faiths. > PS: of course, what happens to non-believers is highly debatable, since this > cathegory comprises all the atheists (and there are many). This is just what > the clerics think, not necessarily what really happens. As for other > religions, the CoD tolerates them as long as they don't preach beliefs or an > ethic code that go against the church principles. Ofcourse. This faith dowsn't strike me as too fanatic though. (ie: our faith is the truth, think as we do or die) even though it may contain such elements. keep up the good work. Its far too late for me to me to make any useful comments right now. I should get some sleep. See ya. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 00:04:55 +0000 From: wizzard@mail.intcom.de Subject: Re: [Mystara] WotI-Immortals I´m just wondering that there a REALLY no comments on my scheme of Immortals in WotI. No suggestions .... Wizzard ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 00:04:55 +0000 From: wizzard@mail.intcom.de Subject: Re: [Mystara] Campaign against Minrothad On Fri, 26 Sep 1997 11:35:46 -0400 (EDT) Alex wrote: > Okay folks. I hope to be able to start posting the details of the Thyatian > assault on the Minrothad Guilds. I know I promised it a few days back. > I will begin the detailing of the Invasion with an Order of Battle for the > Minrothad and Thyatis Forces. This will include troop distribution and > deployment. I have just read your (our) combined Minrothad discussion. Grats, it´s good. Don´t get me wrong, I don´t want to argue about YOUR plans with Minrothad. I just wanted to show that there can be very different ways of dealing with a "neutral" nation. Your ideas and comments are well founded and I have to admit that you made me think some of my points over. Well I guess that next time you can be my inspiration when I do have the time to post my ideas with Minrothad. Awaiting your next posting eagerly. Wizzard ;-) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 18:18:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Timeline question Fabrizio Paoli pontificated: > > What if the explosion of Blackmoor only affected the Outer World axis, but > not the Hollow World one. > Imagine OW and HW as 2 hollow spheres one inside the other and the > worldshield in the middle acting as lubricant. You can easily move the > outer one without affecting the inner one... but what about the holes? > Well, the current polar openings are created by Immortals after the explosion, and they sealed up the original openings. So the double sphere theory doesn't really change things that much. I don't remember I asked this question before, but how long have the original openings been around? If they were around for a while, how could the immortals not notice it and the hollow world inside. And why would the immortal want a polar opening anyway? Seems like they can transport people inside pretty easily, the polar openings just making the chance of 2 world intermix more likely. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 19:08:20 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad's disappearance >>> I was just thinking, Etienne d'Ambreville was the master of >>> Brotherhood of Radiance, and he used the name "Rad" there as well. So when >>> he disappeared in 1009, the other Brotherhood members suddenly notice that >>> Rad no longer speaks to them (they meet 4 times a year). Would they be >>> able to make the connection and deduce that Etienne and Rad are one and >>> the same? This would especially put dangerous knowledge in the hands of >>> Brannart McGregor, one of Etienne's bitter enemies. Any thoughts? >Well, he is not the only one that was killed or disappeared that >year. Those in the Brotherhood might have suspection, but that is >not that strong a connection. BTW, after Rad got taken away, could >he still have a few avatars running around doing stuff for a while >or do they all stop functioning immediatly after Rad is gone. I had considered these points too, I hadn't quite considered what Etienne's enemies might do with the information, but given the amount of power he has I suspect that his defenses should be adequate. As to the avatars idea, I don't think that its very likely, since if he had one running around it could have effectively kept Etienne running. My view of the whole matter is that the unity of the Brotherhood has probably broken down somewhat, and possibly anyone who even knows of its existence has a receptacle now, and is trying to use it. The old members of the Brotherhood (and possibly some of the new members as well) may be trying to silence/eliminate new users rather than share this source of power (Brannart comes to mind as one to eliminate other users of the Radiance). ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 19:18:06 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@AOL.COM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Timeline question >>worldshield in the middle acting as lubricant. You can easily move the >>outer one without affecting the inner one... but what about the holes? It did mention that the old holes were closed up and new larger ones opened at the new poles, thats why I already discarded the theory that they were two spheres, one inside the other. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 19:38:57 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad's disappearance In a message dated 97-09-26 05:26:18 EDT, k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi writes: << I was just thinking, Etienne d'Ambreville was the master of Brotherhood of Radiance, and he used the name "Rad" there as well. So when he disappeared in 1009, the other Brotherhood members suddenly notice that Rad no longer speaks to them (they meet 4 times a year). Would they be able to make the connection and deduce that Etienne and Rad are one and the same? This would especially put dangerous knowledge in the hands of Brannart McGregor, one of Etienne's bitter enemies. Any thoughts? >> Considering that other noble wizards probably died during that same three month interval, the Brotherhood of the Radiance would suspect that Etienne is Rad but not be sure. But what could anyone do with that knowledge? It would be of little use until Etienne returns -- and surely at that time he would be clever enough to delay rejoining the Brotherhood and/or come up with a new alias. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 22:35:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Shepherds of Rad In a message dated 97-09-26 05:38:03 EDT, dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it writes: << What do you mean when you say that "Reincarnated mages may lose their social position"? You mean if they don't return as Magic Users, don't you? >> The loss would be even greater then. In the event that they come back as Wizards, they would not be regarded as being the same person -- they would be eligible to regain noble status but would not do so automatically. As far as I know, there is no precedent in Glantrian history to cover this -- the only known case of a Prince being reincarnated had disastrous results, so determining his new place in society was never an issue. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 22:35:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Shepherds of Rad In a message dated 97-09-26 05:38:03 EDT, dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it writes: << Do you plan to use this rules with Shepherds in Glantri or in other countries (for example Corunglain, as someone suggested)?>> I would have used it in Glantri alone, and then only before and during _Wrath_. << Also, remember when somebody cast a Silence on the hammer of the Judge at the Glantrian Parliament (beginning of GAZ3, when Carlotina introduces the Alfheimer to the other Houses)? The whole parliament was in a shock: obviously they were not used to these kind of spells (clerical). But if the Shepherds can cast clerical spells, since the glantrian politicians frequently attend the Temple of Rad ceremonies (as we know they do), they should not have been so astonished seeing a clerical spell cast inside Glantri... do you see my point?>> The reaction indicated that they recognized the spell but were aghast that somebody would cast it in Parliament. A Shepherd of Rad of sufficient level would in theory have been capable of casting the spell, but because of his philosophical training he would not even consider doing so. << I think your system is good, but i don't know if Glantri is "ready" for it... Or are you drawing your idea from something written about Shepherds powers in Glantri: KoM (a sourcebook i don't have... and will never buy, frankly...)? >> No, these ideas predate the Glantri: KoM boxed set. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 00:06:15 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Soul Crystals (was: Sheperd of Rad) << A possible future development could be the production of new, sun-resistant soul crystals that will allow shamans to cast spell of the Radiance also above ground, but I've yet to devise some sort of penalty (like the ones for artifacts) for using this improved crystals. Just to keep the game balanced. Your opinion? >> The distance limits for Radiance spells might be sufficient to limit their effectiveness on the surface. If the Chamber of the Spheres or whatever you call the source of power for the Shadow Elves is located deep underground, most surface areas would be too far away to allow the Radiance spells to be particularly effective. Just make sure that Aengmor is too distant, and those Shamans will continue to have problems on the surface. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 22:49:16 +0100 From: "Leroy Van Camp III" Subject: [Mystara] TSR's News Net Policy Someone on the Realms list posted this URL, and I thought people might want to take a look. It is TSR's new policy on the Net and xD&D stuff published on it. Very nice, very liberal. The WotC buyout is looking better all the time. http://www.tsrinc.com/faq/online_policy.html Leroy Van Camp III malacoda@lesbois.com owner-mystara-l@io.com "You know, not kneeing you in the groin is a constant struggle." MST3K ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 09:52:04 +0200 From: Peter Balazs Subject: Re: [Mystara] WotI-Immortals hi! >I´m just wondering that there a REALLY no comments on my scheme of >Immortals in WotI. No suggestions .... 1.) I like it! 2.) Whom do you mean with "Entropy"? It seems that it should be an immortal, because there are soem dotted lines to it! 3.) There should be some relationship between Atzanteotl and Loki, else you couldn´t just borrow followers. 4.) Why are Halav, Ordana, Terra and Zirchev important for WotI? loki I think is clear! 5.) Where would you place Thor? ************************************************************ Peter Balazs Wurlitzerg. 37/12 1160 Wien 0222/4816030 a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ac.at http://radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs ************************************************************ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 07:17:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Brotherhood of the Radiance In einer eMail vom 26.09.97 08:12:15, schreiben Sie: << Hmmm, you have a point. It could be a new noble, or possibly someone in line for nobility (remember that Angus McGregor isn't a ruler yet), or possibly with Rad not there to watch some non-nobles have discovered the secrets of the Radiance. >> You know what, I never even tought about Angus not being a noble, but you're right, so the inconsistencies obviously stem from Gaz3 not G:KoM. The solution with Rad missing and non-nobles violating the order of the radiance is good, but I find it hard to believe that Danira Voshane could be able to cast Transcend Life Force only four years after having discovered the radiance, when others take decades or even centuries (she might be an old noble however, even predating Gaz3, which seems to be to be the only at least slightly logical solution). Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 15:27:47 +0000 From: wizzard@mail.intcom.de Subject: Re: [Mystara] WotI-Immortals Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, > >I´m just wondering that there a REALLY no comments on my scheme of > >Immortals in WotI. No suggestions .... > > 1.) I like it! Ah, that what I needed. OK, just kidding. > 2.) Whom do you mean with "Entropy"? It seems that it should be an immortal, > because there are soem dotted lines to it! The point is that some Immortals dislike no special Immortal from the Sphere of Entropy but the Sphere at all. Therefore I thought that it would be more wise to keep overview to extract those who don´t have a specific quarrel with Entropy but with Entropy at all. OK?? > 3.) There should be some relationship between Atzanteotl and Loki, else you > couldn´t just borrow followers. The relationship between Atzanteotl and Loki is Hel. Atr has no really allies since the formation of the Brotherhood of Shadows. There he gains e.g. Hel. The other side: Loki is getting well along with Hel. Loki is having his own ways and tries to get his best out of Hel´s new ally. > 4.) Why are Halav, Ordana, Terra and Zirchev important for WotI? loki I > think is clear! regarding Halav: he is like a "node" for several other Immortals and his dislike for Vanya causes several of his "friends & allies" to possibly act against Vanya and therefore the Fellowship of the Stars. regarding Ordana: She has close ties to both parties Rad and Ixion alike and only opposes Entropy. Due to that she a prize to be taken to possibly gain an edge over the "enemy". She is an Immortals who can tip the scales of balance if she is persuaded to act in one way. regarding Terra: She is the connection between my PCs´ Immortals Diamond and Nyx. But like Ordana she can have a big influence on "The Great One" and in my campaign the war from WotI is also a war of the dragons and a war of alignment. regarding Zirchev: In my opinion he is kind of a subordinate of Halav. But he has closer ties to the Fellowship although his sponsor was Ilsundal. Due to his ties to Ordana and my "plans" with her in the scheme he is like a "control point" to gain help and assistance on the Immortals side. I want to state that IMC the WotI is not only climaxing in a war all over the KW but as described in WotI(the Introduction in Pandius) a war of the Immortals. Due to that I wanted to create neutral parties that have to act to survive or not to be drawn into the conflict or to get the best ends out of that conflict (like Thanathos after the punishment of Hel and Atz). > 5.) Where would you place Thor? I think Thor as part of Odin. Therefore his position is against the Brotherhood of the Shadow but neutral to the other both parties. This "new party" could be one of those I mentioned in the end of question4. They could try to increase their influence by dealing with Vanya to gain more/new territory and followers or just the other way round could make a deal with Alphatia and battle against Eiryndal in Norwold (and gaining territory and possibly some followers in Alphatia (but I think only seafaring-related ones). * Famous last words: just joking * IMC the Brotherhood of the Shadow is far more active that described in WotI. They start earlier on and they are for territory. It is like the famous Hule-and Thyatis-Theme. But this time it is Entropy with Hule against the Savage Baronies (with Hule) and then striking against Darokin. And from the east it is Alphatia against the KW. (*OK, you see that I don´t like Alphatia that much, they have a bad attitude IMC*) This situation is creating a mixture of adventure possibilities. On one side there a scenarios like front-war and battle for land and on the other side the spy / ambush / guerrilla thing. This gives me the possibility to chance the difficulty of fights / armies / ... without disrupting a "logic thread" and to "RE-ACT" on the decisions of my PC giving them the freedom to decide where to go and where to strike / intervene. * they also only try to get the best end out of this conflict * Puh, never writen that much in the list. Wizzard ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 14:49:27 +0200 From: Peter Balazs Subject: Re: [Mystara] WotI-Immortals Hi! >> 2.) Whom do you mean with "Entropy"? It seems that it should be an immortal, >> because there are soem dotted lines to it! > >The point is that some Immortals dislike no special Immortal from the >Sphere of Entropy but the Sphere at all. Therefore I thought that it >would be more wise to keep overview to extract those who don´t have a >specific quarrel with Entropy but with Entropy at all. OK?? Hmm? And why do Thanatos, Hel, Atzanteotl and alphaks hate entropy, aber nicht Ilsundal oder Diualanna? ************************************************************ Peter Balazs Wurlitzerg. 37/12 1160 Wien 0222/4816030 a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ac.at http://radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs ************************************************************ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 14:59:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Mystaros@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Timeline question In a message dated 97-09-26 20:01:37 EDT, Magesmiley wrote: << >>worldshield in the middle acting as lubricant. You can easily move the >>outer one without affecting the inner one... but what about the holes? It did mention that the old holes were closed up and new larger ones opened at the new poles, thats why I already discarded the theory that they were two spheres, one inside the other. >> I myself subscribed to the two-sphere theory; the Immortals merely closed the holes in the outer sphere and opened new ones in the outer sphere corresponding with the position of the inner-sphere holes. As to another question asked, "Why are there holes in the first place", though the creation of the holes in the poles is mentioned on pg 6 of the HW DM Sourcebook, there is no reason given. I have conjectured that it is a simple, natural way to allow radiant energy from the HW sun to escape. Rather than devise a (perhaps costly) magical way to dissipate extra energies, the holes allow them to void into the Void, so to speak. Just look at the illustration on page 268 of the Cyclopedia; this is also the effect that apparently creates Mystara's "Aurora Borealis". During the Blackmoor era, the holes were rather smaller (pg. 11 of the HW DMSB). Also, IMC, the smaller polar openings were covered by the polar ice cap once the Blackmoorians achieved a higher level of technology; the energies were slowly dissipated through the cap, at a relatively slower rate than prior. The reasoning behind the larger holes post-GRoF is that as more human civilizations arrived in the HW, the ambient temperatures would need to be somewhat lower than that required before, as pre-GRoF the world was, as a whole, rather warmer than post-GRoF (again, IMC; devised to explain the "subtropical" nature of Blackmoor in "The North"). Thus, the temperatures of the HW went from a more Saurian sweltering, humid heat to a level more amenable to humans... after all, the only major (Canonical) occupants of the HW prior to the GRoF were the Dinos and the Brute-Men... Mystaros ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 23:09:32 +0000 From: wizzard@mail.intcom.de Subject: Re: [Mystara] WotI-Immortals regarding: > >The point is that some Immortals dislike no special Immortal from the > >Sphere of Entropy but the Sphere at all. Therefore I thought that it > >would be more wise to keep overview to extract those who don´t have a > >specific quarrel with Entropy but with Entropy at all. OK?? > > Hmm? And why do Thanatos, Hel, Atzanteotl and alphaks hate entropy, aber > nicht Ilsundal oder Diualanna? Sorry, my fault. The "enemy" relation is the .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- thread. There are two special relations: they are .......... lines. The first is Rad to Loki. --> Rad admires Loki and this is a kind of special to the whole plot. The other one is the one you mentioned. With this one I wanted to state that with the Symbol "Entropy" I summarize the Immortals marked with this .... line to one symbol. Sorry, but that´s why I asked for comments. Enjoying it all the way. Wizzard ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 14:23:40 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] TSR's News Net Policy On Fri, 26 Sep 1997, Leroy Van Camp III wrote: > Someone on the Realms list posted this URL, and I thought > people might want to take a look. It is TSR's new policy on > the Net and xD&D stuff published on it. Very nice, very liberal. > The WotC buyout is looking better all the time. > > http://www.tsrinc.com/faq/online_policy.html I noticed the new policies the other day, and started to wondering- Anyone out there think we should start making a "new" logo for Mystara? They're voting on one on the Planescape mailing list, and I noticed they've already got a Dark Sun one or two. Maybe we here on the Mystara list could come up with some ideas and vote on them, and have the TSR guys include them on the download page. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 18:00:41 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] TSR's News Net Policy Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One pontificated: > > I noticed the new policies the other day, and started to wondering- > > Anyone out there think we should start making a "new" logo for Mystara? > They're voting on one on the Planescape mailing list, and I noticed > they've already got a Dark Sun one or two. Maybe we here on the Mystara > list could come up with some ideas and vote on them, and have the TSR > guys include them on the download page. > I think that is a great idea. Note, however, that the new net logo will be public domained. I'm not much of an artist, but I do have access to a scanner if needed. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 19:23:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] TSR's News Net Policy I had an idea for a new logo... remember the faint "map" pictures which appeared on the cover of the Gazeteer series? What if the logo was the letters Mystara in large letters cut from the same style of map. (I never did like the logo which is currently in use). Unfortunately I don't have a scanner or I'd put something together to show what I mean. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 16:26:23 -0700 From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Subject: Re: [Mystara] TSR's News Net Policy At 02:23 PM 9/27/97 -0700, you wrote: >Anyone out there think we should start making a "new" logo for Mystara? Ooo, you beat me to the punch! I was going to make the same suggestion myself after checking out the new online policy. >They're voting on one on the Planescape mailing list, and I noticed >they've already got a Dark Sun one or two. Maybe we here on the Mystara >list could come up with some ideas and vote on them, and have the TSR >guys include them on the download page. Not a bad idea. I might even try my hand at it. :-) Jenni - -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield <==> strawberryJAMM Designs strawberry@jamm.com <==> http://www.jamm.com/ <------------------------------------------------------------------> God created Light. Then Earth, Vegetables, Animals, Man and Woman. Then God started to think: "I should create things *I* like!" And God said: "Let There Be Strawberries!" ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 19:53:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Brotherhood of the Radiance <<<>>> Actually, she could have been a noble for a decade... Gaz 3 was set in AC 1000 and G:KoM was 1013. The same could be said for Maximilian. Speaking of the Brotherhood, anyone know how many current members it has / the number of current rad force (for the current year). I thought I saw it in one of the almanacs, but I'm not sure. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 15:30:20 +0200 From: Peter Balazs Subject: Re: [Mystara] WotI-Immortals Hi! It seems that I´ve fallen into the pit of the mother tongue, the message should read: >> 2.) Whom do you mean with "Entropy"? It seems that it should be an immortal, >> because there are soem dotted lines to it! > >The point is that some Immortals dislike no special Immortal from the >Sphere of Entropy but the Sphere at all. Therefore I thought that it >would be more wise to keep overview to extract those who don´t have a >specific quarrel with Entropy but with Entropy at all. OK?? Hmm? And why do Thanatos, Hel, Atzanteotl and alphaks hate entropy, but not Ilsundal or0 Diualanna? ************************************************************ Peter Balazs Wurlitzerg. 37/12 1160 Wien 0222/4816030 a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ac.at http://radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs ************************************************************ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 05:05:19 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Brotherhood of the Radiance In einer eMail vom 28.09.97 01:00:42, schreiben Sie: << Actually, she could have been a noble for a decade... Gaz 3 was set in AC 1000 and G:KoM was 1013. The same could be said for Maximilian. Speaking of the Brotherhood, anyone know how many current members it has / the number of current rad force (for the current year). I thought I saw it in one of the almanacs, but I'm not sure. >> Well, but if the disappearance of Rad/entry of non-nobles theory is used, then she only had four years time as Rad disappeared in 1009. In G:KoM it says that the current rad force is 478, and 6 current members are mentioned. But what I'd like to know is, do all you have the Radiance draining from the sphere of energy (Glantri:KoM) or entropy (The Immortal's Fury)? Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 14:36:19 +0100 From: "Gabriel" Subject: Re: [Mystara] PBeM Greetings to all. I have newly subscribed to this list after being away from RPG's for a while now. I used to be part of an D&D adventure run in Mystara some years ago. I don't have the opportunity to join a regular 'sit-down' campaign and wanted to know if there is a Mystara PBeM game out there that needs a character or allows lurkers until they do. Any info to gabriel@btinternet.com Many thanks :-] ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #153 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@ (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #154 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@ Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@ Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Monday, September 29 1997 Volume 02 : Number 154 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 11:08:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Operation Hydra Composition and placement of Minrothad forces at the time of Operation Hydra 1st Home Guard Reg. 1: 90 (F1) Lt. Cav. positioned outside of Minrothad City Reg. 2: 180 (F2) Med. Cav. positioned outside of MinrothadCity Reg. 3: 180 (F2) Med. Cav. positioned outside of Harbortown Reg. 4: 180 (F2) Mount. Inf. positioned with Minrothad Garrison Reg. 5: 180 (F2) Mount. Inf. positioned with Harbortown Garrison 1st Home Guard is placed at Trader Island. Its mounted infantry regiments are attached to the two cities' garrisons to keep the peace with the opening of shipping season. Cavalry regiments are dispersed throughout the countryside and are considered to be refitting until the beginning rush of traffic from start of shipping season subsides. Then they will be rejoined by mounted infantry troops on garrison duty to begin wargames. 2nd Home Guard Reg. 1: 90 (F1) Lt. Cav. positioned outside of Malfton. Reg. 2: 180 (F2) Med. Cav. positioned at Malfton. Reg. 3: 180 (F2) Med. Cav. positioned at Gapton. Reg. 4: 180 (F2) Mount. Inf. positioned at Seahome Reg. 5: 180 (F2) Mount. Inf. positioned at Seahome 1st and 2nd regiments are training with 3rd H.G. on Open Island. 3rd regiment is on Gapton undergoing a refit of equipment and personnel. 4th and 5th regiments are encamped outside Seahome. They had been training with the Verdun elves while their transports were getting refitted. With training finished, they are awaiting the transports to be finished. 3rd Home Guard Reg. 1: 80 (F1) Lt. Cav. positioned at Blackrock Reg. 2: 100 (F1) Med. Cav. positioned outside Verdun Reg. 3: 180 (F1) Mount. Inf. positioned outside Harbortown Reg. 4: 100 (E1) Mount. Inf. positioned outside Malfton Reg. 5: 100 (F1) Infantry/Marines positioned outside Malfton Reg. 6: 100 (E1) Infantry/Marines positioned outside of Verdun 3rd H.G. is a newly formed division. It is actually a combination of recruits for the H.G. and Minrothad Fleet. 1st thru 4th regiments being slotted for HG while 5th and 6th are to be Marines in the Navy. Each regiment is deployed on various islands and are in training. Minrothad Naval Forces 1st Minrothad Fleet Squad. 1: 100 (F1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Gapton Harbor Squad. 2: 100 (F1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Gapton Harbor Squad. 3: 100 (F1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Gapton Harbor Squad. 4: 100 (F1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Blackrock Harbor Squad. 5: 100 (E1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Gapton Harbor Squad. 6: 100 (E1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Blackrock Harbor IMC the Mercenary Guild has taken Gapton and North Island as its base of operations. 1st Fleet primarily calls the port of Gapton Harbor its home port. Most of the Fleet can be found patrolling the waters around the island. All ships are on active patrol except Squadron 2 which is on shore leave from extended patrol duty. Squadrons 4 and 6 have been sent to Blackrock until a regular naval force is built up to operate out of the island's still under construction port facilities. 2nd Minrothad Fleet Squad. 1: 100 (F1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Harbortown Squad. 2: 100 (F1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Harbortown Squad. 3: 100 (F1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Open Island Squad. 4: 100 (F1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Fire Island Squad. 5: 100 (E1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Seahome Squad. 6: 100 (E1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Blackrock 2nd Fleet calls no specific port its home port. The Mercenary Guild opts to rotate several individual squadrons to a different port every few months. This is to give each port/city a portion of the Fleet. Squadron 1 is on patrol off the coast of Harbortown. Squadron 2 currently anchored in Harbortown and is preparing to begin patrols within a day or so. Squadron 3 patrols the waters off Open Island. Squadron 4 patrols the waters south of Fire Island. Squadron 5 patrols Alfheise Island, primarily off the coast of Seahome. Squadron 6 had been attached to a supply convoy bound for Blackrock. Supplies offloaded, the squadron is preparing to set a coarse for Seahome to be refitted. After refit and shore leave the squadron is supposed to escort the troops of 3rd HG/3rdReg. and 3rdHG/2ndReg. back to Gapton Harbor after training around Verdun is finished. 3rd Minrothad Fleet Squad. 1: 100 (F1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Minrothad City Squad. 2: 100 (F1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Minrothad City Squad. 3: 100 (F1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Fortress Island Squad. 4: 100 (F1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Fortress Island Squad. 5: 100 (E1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Verdun Squad. 6: 100 (E1) Marines aboard 6 sm.sail.ships stationed off Fire Island Like 2nd Fleet the ships and crews of 3rd Fleet rotate their home ports. Squadrons 1 and 2 are on patrol off Minrothad City's coast. Within five days Squadron 2 is to assume the role by itself as Squadron 1 sets sail for Gapton Harbor. Squadron 3 and 4 are on patrol off Fortress Island. Squadron 5 is on patrol off the coast of Verdun. Squadron 6 is off the coast of Fire Island and is enrout from Gapton Harbor to Minrothad City bearing the Mercenary Guild's requests for expansion of Fleet. Privateer Fleets- 1st Pirate Fleet Band 1: 30 (F1) Pirates aboard sm.sail.ship Band 2: 30 (F1) Pirates aboard sm.sail.ship Band 3: 30 (F1) Pirates aboard sm.sail.ship Band 4: 70 (F1) Pirates aboard lg.sail.ship 2nd Fleet- same as 1st 3rd Fleet- same as 1st 4th Fleet- same as 1st 5th Fleet- same as 1st 6th Fleet- same as 1st The majority of the pirates are prowling the waters of the Sea of Dread. The have concentraed their numbers along the sea lanes from Karameikos, Ierendi, Thyatis, and Darokin. Only 3rd and 5th Fleets are near Fire Island. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - -------------------------------------------- Garrison Defenses- Defense of the Minrothad cities is not just the duty of the Home Guard and Fleet. The Mercenary Guild enacted moves last year to bolster defenses from the cities' populace. It is hoped that this will inspire more of the youth to join the Mercenary Guild and give the HG and Fleet the basis for growth. Since these forces do not conform to the ones in PWA, weapons and arms are given - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - -------------------------------------------- Minrothad City Garrison- 1st Minrothad Defenders Reg. 1: 100 (F1) Inf. leather/crossbow/sword Reg. 2: 100 (F1) Inf. leather/spear/sword Reg. 3: 50 (F1) Inf. leather/sword/shield Reg. 4: 100 (F1) Inf. leather/crossbow/shortsword Reg. 5: 60 (F1) Inf. leather/sword/shield 2nd Minrothad Defenders- same as 1st Minrothad Defenders Minrothad Militia- Called up in case of emergency. Should really be considered 0-level humans, but I gave them a F1 ranking due to defensive nature 1st Minrothad Militia Reg. 1: 50 (F1) Inf. leather/spear Reg. 2: 50 (F1) Inf. leather/sword/shortbow Reg. 3: 100 (F1) Inf. no armor/spear Reg. 4: 100 (F1) Inf. no armor/shortsword Reg. 5: 100 (F1) Inf. no armor/crossbow 2nd Minrothad Militia- same as 1st 3rd Minrothad Militia- same as 1st 4th Minrothad Militia- same as 1st 5th Minrothad Militia- same as 1st Harbortown Defense Forces Harbortown- Hired foreign mercenaries to suppliment garrison force. Each 1st Regiment is a mercenary force. 1st Harbortown Defenders Reg. 1: 50 (F2) Mercenaries chain/spear/sword/shield Reg. 2: 100 (F1) Inf. leather/sword/shortbow Reg. 3: 50 (F1) Inf. leather/crossbow/sword Reg. 4: 50 (F1) Inf. leather/crossbow/sword 2nd Harbortown Defenders- same as 1st 3rd Harbortown Defenders- same as 1st 4th Harbortown Defenders- same as 1st Malfton Defense Forces 1st Malfton Defenders Division Banner 1: 120 (H1) Inf. leather/shortsword/slings Banner 2: 120 (H1) Inf. leather/shortsword/slings Banner 3: 50 (H1) Inf. leather/shortsword/crossbow Banner 4: 50 (H1) Inf. leather/shortsword/crossbow 2nd Malfton Defenders- same as 1st 3rd Malfton Defenders- same as 1st Cove Harbor Defenses- Primary defense is through the Privateer Fleet. These forces are drawn from the populace. Though population is a cross section of pirate life and business I categorized them as F1 Inf. for simplicity sake. Since pirate tactics are more hand to hand, the emphasis is on hand melee weapons. Besides defending the walls, the Daggers are the ones that man the other island defenses such as the barricade into Cove Harbor and small fort. This is usually done by the 4th Dagger of each division. 1st Bone Division Dagger 1: 50 (F1) Inf. leather/sword/crossbow Dagger 2: 40 (F1) Inf. leather/sword/spear Dagger 3: 60 (F1) Inf. leather/sword/crossbow Dagger 4: 50 (F1) Inf. chain/sword/spear 2nd Bone Division- same as 1st 3rd Bone Division- same as 1st 4th Bone Division- same as 1st Gapton Defense Network- IMC North Island is the headquarters for the Mercenary Guild. As such it is the official home port for 1st Minrothad Fleet. At least half of the 1st Fleet is kept in port or within a days sail of the Island to keep a ready supply of frontline troops nearby. It also is home to regular troops as well as retired troops. The regular defense is provided by a trained militia. Officially Gapton Harbor is the duty of the naval forces. Gapton itself is the duty of the militia. Gapton Shields Reg. 1: 50 (D1) Inf. chain/warhammer/crossbow Reg. 2: 100 (F1) Inf. leather/sword/crossbow Reg. 3: 100 (F1) Inf. leather/sword/crossbow Reg. 4: 100 (F1) Inf. leather/sword/shortbow Reg. 5: 150 (E1) Inf. chain/sword/longbow Stronghold 1st Blow Division Reg. 1: 50 (D1) Inf. leather/warhammer/crossbow Reg. 2: 50 (D1) Inf. leather/warhammer/crossbow Reg. 3: 50 (D1) Inf. leather/warhammer/crossbow Reg. 4: 50 (D1) Inf. chain/battleax/crossbow Reg. 5: 50 (D1) Inf. chain/battleax/crossbow 2nd Blow Division- same as 1st 3rd Blow Division- same as 1st 4th Blow Division- same as 1st 5th Blow Division- same as 1st 6th Blow Division- same as 1st 7th Blow Division- same as 1st 8th Blow Division- same as 1st Blackrock Harbor- Small fishing villiage retreats to fortress overlooking port facilities. A recent addition to the Minrothad Armed Forces, it is small and still in the process of being built up both in defenses and port facilities. Primary defense comes from the two squadrons of Minrothad navy vessels based here. Usually these naval units are off on patrol. Seeing a need, the Mercenary Guild dispatched troops from its militia force on Gapton. Troop rotation here is considered punishment and troop rotation is about every six months. Military base and naval port is not self sufficient. Supplies are brought in every other month. Blackrock Garrison- 1st Platoon Squad 1: 10 (F1) Inf. leather/sword/crossbow Squad 2: 10 (F1) Inf. leather/sword/crossbow Squad 3: 10 (F1) Inf. leather/spear/shield/sword Squad 4: 10 (E1) Inf. leather/sword/shortbow 2nd Platoon- same as 1st Seahome 1st Seahome Defenders Reg. 1: 150 (E1) Inf. leather/crossbow/sword Reg. 2: 150 (E1) Inf. leather/crossbow/sword Reg. 3: 100 (E1) Inf. leather/shortbow/sword Reg. 4: 50 (E1) Inf. chain/sword/shield Reg. 5: 50 (E1) Inf. chain/sword/shield 2nd Seahome Defenders- same as 1st 3rd Seahome Defenders- same as 1st 4th Seahome Defenders- same as 1st 5th Seahome Defenders- same as 1st 6th Seahome Defenders- same as 1st Verdun 1st Verdun Militia Reg. 1: 50 (E1) Inf. leather/sword/longbow Reg. 2: 50 (E1) Inf. leather/sword/longbow Reg. 3: 50 (E1) Inf. leather/sword/longbow Reg. 4: 50 (E1) Inf. chain/sword/shortbow Reg. 5: 50 (E1) Inf. chain/sword/shortbow 2nd Verdun Militia- same as 1st 3rd Verdun Militia- same as 1st 4th Verdun Militia- same as 1st 5th Verdun Militia- same as 1st 6th Verdun Militia- same as 1st ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 11:07:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Minrothad Campaign Discussion As recorded by Demetrion Imperial Magist in his personal journal- Eusebius...I mean the Emperor entered the Hall in the company of Admiral Helena Daphotarthius. This sight has become more frequent since the untimely death of the Empress while giving birth to Eusebius's daughter (from events IMC). Helena left his side and walked over to an empty seat among the ranks of military officers. Eusebius paced to and fro in front of the amassed group of Thyatian nobles and military officers. After several minutes of this, Eusebius suddenly stopped his pacing and sharply turned to face his audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have summoned you all here to put before you the first test for the new Thyatian War Machine. Our first objective will be the island nation of the Minrothad Guilds" There was a stirring of muffled comments from the officials and officers. Raising his hands, Eusebius brought them back to a state of silence. "Given the reverses experienced in the past, I know that you all may feel intimidated at the thought of assaulting the Guilds. But you must remember that the failings to take the Guilds are in the past. The troops that we will be sending are not the same that suffered so many years ago. We have had time to take the mistakes into account and learn from them." "But sire" came a voice from the group, Senator Tobius Deprado I beleive "Should not the Cohorts be sent to the Isle of Dawn?" "Though the notion of the complete occupation of the Isle of Dawn is quite appealing, I have focused my attention on Minrothad. We have been fighting over the surface of the Isle of Dawn for ages. And what have we gained? No the Minrothad Guilds is the best option. There is so much to gain by bringing it within the Imperial Fold. Think of the trade market alone. The revenue would do much for the Thyatian economy. Not to mention ease the tax burdens the citizens carry. The Minrothad government has made moves to expand the Home Guard. If we are to strike, we need to do so soon." "But how? The Minrothad defenses are quite good." asked another, Admiral Serpico I am sure. Eusebius grinned. Motioning towards the back of the Hall, he waved for three figures to come forward. I had not noticed these figures earlier. One was a dressed in robes, denoting him as a mage. Another had flaming red hair and looked to be of the Hinterlands. The final person was of Thyatian blood and was vaguely familiar to me. "Comrades, let me introduce to you the well known adventurers Dylan of the Hinterlands and Franco Varicos. The gentleman in the robes is Delmora and hails from the Protectorate of Sclavas. Gentlemen, would you be so kind as to elaborate on the Minrothad Guilds? Dylan let us begin with you." "Thank you Sire." began the gruff voiced Dylan. "I have ventured to the Guilds several times. I found the people more interested in their own particular trade pursuits than anything else. I felt that they only stuck together out of mutual trade benefits. Their army is well paid and well equipped. However, they are overconfident with the sea as their first line of defense. I also feel that the general populace do not feel that anyone would try to conquer them. The whole concept of someone actually attemtping to invade them is percieved as a joke by them." Dylan then motioned towards the adventurer Franco. "I have to agree with Dylan. The Minrothaders are overconfidant. They do have a well equipped army and navy, but I see them as being too small to properly guard the Guilds as a whole. I also want to point out that the Minrothad forces have not had to defend their islands for many years. Though the Thadders are well drilled, they are lacking experience. Their tactics are antiquated. I know this from several officers that I am acquainted with in the Home Guard. I will say this, as far as merchantile I would not want to go up against a Thadder. But when it comes to a fight, I'd have few reservations." "What about the Merchant Princes? It is said that their spellcasting ability is great." asked Senator Deter Ramius. "I shall oblige that question" interjected Delmora. "The Merchant Princes are concerned with their trade and merchantile. True their spells are great, but so are those of the Thyatians. They are in no way comparable to wizards such as the Alphatians. The Emperor has enlisted the services of the wizards of Sclavas to counter such problems. We will also deal with any other surprises the Minrothadians may display." "My Emperor" asked Admiral Horace Cardacius "What are your strategies for such a venture? And how do our forces counter the elemental defenses of the Guilds?" "Excellant questions. You will remember the previous year's patrols of Minrothad waters to guard against pirate raids. These patrols gave us inside information concerning the particularities of the Guild Islands. In the previous years I have also sent agents into the Gulids to collect information on the islands. These agents have done their jobs beyond all expectations" Eusebius motions to Helena who pins two large pictures upon the wall. The first is a map of the Minrothad Islands. The second is a drawing of a multiheaded dragon, a hydra. "As for the conquest of the Guilds, it will deviate from the standard Thyatian manner of warfare. Past attempts have centered around the taking of the Islands as a whole. This mentality works in most situations. However, the Guilds are an exception. Not only would an overall assault be costly, it would also destroy the Minrothad economy. We need to take the Guilds quickly and without any extensive damage. The key to Minrothad is Trader Island. We use Trader Island as a defense area to nullify the Minrothad Fleet. Hold Trader Island and remove the Fleet and the rest of the Islands will have to seek a peace. The Thadders are business men. We work on that aspect and make a deal. I tend to think of Minrothad like the Hydra. Both have many heads with which an opponent is faced with. Like the Hydra, you could spend much time and effort trying to meet each head and destroy them. Or you could take out the body which supports all of the heads. The body of Minrothad is Trader Island. Take it out and the other heads will have to submit or die." "But my liege, what about the Pirates?" asked Admiral Otto Gottian. "Good question. The Privateers will have to be eliminated. They are too much of a loose end. The Pirates have to have a hidden base somewhere. Since the Thadders have established a small naval base at Blackrock the only other reasonable island left is Fire Island. I took the liberty of dispatching some specialist to that island and giving it a look over. My suspicions were proven correct. Portions of the initial assault force will be sent to deal with the Pirate home base." "What about the Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings?" General Oran Nikkos. "The elves and dwarves are sensible peoples. They are used to dealing with humans. I feel that if we remove the defenses of the Minrothad Fleet and Home Guard they will cooperate. Also, I have no desire to wage a war against these people. They are an integral part of the Minrothad economy and are needed intact. The Halflings are a different matter. I am afraid that they will resist us with the same intensity that the Shires would. I feel that they will resist. Alone they are no match for a Cohort or two. However, as I mentioned earlier the Home Guard is in the process of expansion. As such there are several mounted and cavalry Home Guard Regiments on Open Island training. These will have to be liquidated. As such troops along with cavalry units from Kerendas will meet these forces." "But Sire, what about the reactions of the rest of the nations? The Alphatia, the Western Defense League nations, and Ierendi? How will such an offensive be justified to them?" asked Senator Pius Delasontian. "The offensive against Minrothad will be justified because I say so. The Guilds will be Thyatian property because Thyatian troops are all over it. Alphatia is in no position to attack Thyatis or intervene in Minrothad. Karameikos will waver in assaulting Thyatis. I doubt Stephan will attack us with his son ruling the Duchy of Machetos (events from MC). Darokin will not due to their own trouble with the humanoids and shadow elves (both IMC). Ylaruam is not likely to send troops outside of its own borders to give aid to "infidels" as they call outsiders. These nations need Minrothad for trade. Since Minrothad will be a Thyatian possession, they will have to deal with us. It would be easier for them to deal with Thyatis than go to war. The Western Defense League is more accustomed to defense. Withoutt their member nations threatened I see little reason for them to go on the offensive. Now Ierendi is a different matter. Its proximity to Minrothad is surely to give them reason to intervene militarily. Unlike the other nations, Ierendi does have the naval capacity to assault our forces on Minrothad. The real question is will they. I doubt it. The Empire is on good terms with Ierendi. I see little reason for them to risk this on the Minrothadders. Especially if the occupation is done quickly with little stoppage of trade." The group of officers and officials began talking among themselves. Each giving their personal views of the campaign to the other. All seemed encouraged by the Emperor's plans and reasoning. Eusebius let them converse for several minutes. Finally he cleared his throat and they came to a silent attention. "The Thyatian Forces have expanded greatly in the past four years. This expansion has placed a burden on the Citizens that must be made to pay off soon. If the taxes continue much longer I fear for the domestic situation. That is why I want the Minrothad Campaign to begin this year. I suggest the ships be deployed at the beginning of Shipping Season. This should mask the convoys somewhat. It should also enable our Galleys to engage the Minrothad ships while on patrols against pirates." "Sire, what if we wait another year? The Citizens could endure another year of taxes?" asked Admiral Julianna Kassar. "Yes, but let me remind you of the Minrothad expansion of her own armed forces. This is obviously a move to get our own naval patrols out of Minrothad waters. I have to admit that these patrols weigh heavily on the surprise factor of the assault. The Minrothadders have grown accostumed to seeing our vessels on patrol in their waters. As such, the assault forces should get some headway into Minrothad waters before an alarm is sounded." "Sire, are our forces to lay siege to both Minrothad City and Harbortown at the same time?" asked General Herca Borma. "Yes. But the landing forces that set up the seige will be small. Their real goal is to isolate the cities. The bulk of the forces allotted for Trader Island will land away from the cities and march onto the cities. This will done to eliminate the Home Guard units deployed outside of the cities. I would rather engage these forces outside of the walls than inside." This caused many of the Generals and Admirals to nod their heads in approval. They liked the planning and seemed impressed by the fore thought Eusebius had utilized. Eusebius called them all forward to discuss the matter on the map itself. As he and the others made little comments about this and that concerning the invasion, i was struck with awe. Not only had Eusebius showed great intellectual skill in planning, he had also convinced his commanders of it. His father would have given a command for it to be done and left the commanders to carry the planning out. Thincol tended to depend heavily on Thyatis's size and the advise of his commanders. Eusebius had taken the matter in hand himself. He would use strategies to minimize losses. Eusebius had surpassed his father once again. Feeling that my presense was no longer needed, I began to make my way out of the Hall. Glancing back at Eusebius, his eyes and mine met. I nodded my head in approval. He smiled. "Demetrion. What shall we call this campaign?" He called over to me. I pointed towards the other drawing. "Operation Hydra seems appropriate" "Operation Hydra it will be" responded Eusebius. I then left the Hall to leave the commanders to go over all of the invasion details. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 23:56:53 +0000 From: wizzard@mail.intcom.de Subject: Re: [Mystara] Minrothad Campaign Discussion First of all heads off. I like your two articles very much. I think it is like a "no, this mustn´t happenbecause I like Minrothad" thing. That´s the only reason for negating your ideas. Being honest your plan is well developed and has a lot of beef. It sounds promising. Only two reminders: 1st of all you tell the audience that the Thadders can only think of their profit. One of the fundaments of MInrothad´s huge success in trade is their installation of merchant traders in every major (and minor) port in the KW. Please don´t tell me that they will go for the bait that all those warships are only for better patroulling the Minrothaddean Waters. In my opinion they can tell a man-of-war from a sailing ship. Even if the Guilds negate the existance of a "thieves guild" they do have one and they are used to get an edge over the competitors in trading. I think that this source of information for the guilds is another point that can´t be neglected. It´s unimaginable that they won´t hear a word. Another thing is the Merchant Princes. They are no REALLY mages. they will lose every normal fight with a mage but on their vessels they are well protected and they are specialized to maximize damage on every enemy vessel, supported by marines trained on naval warfare. I admit every mage has spells to participate in a fight but they don´t have that potential a Merchant Prince has. Likewise a MP (Merchnat Prince) will accompany only threatened or very important convoys they are part of Minrothad´s militia. you try to give us a picture of the Thadders being so busy to gain the most profit that they will completely be caught off-guard. But IF they are that way they won´t fall for Eusebius´ plan!!!!!! (my opinion - they are no idiots) 2nd: your explanation for the absense of ANY action from the defensive alliance on Brun (Shires, Darokin, Karam, ...) is kind of weak. I can give you just the opposite scenario with the same back-thought. The alliance is intervening. No problem for Karameikos and the Shires. and IF they do THEY will get the better trading conditions, lesser taxes on their products, ... (and the like). Another point is Stefan Karameikos. Just a little history lesson: NOBODY expected DUKE Stefan Karameikos to switch sides to Alphatia in WotI. He IS a very cool type of Monarch. He knows what is best for him (and possibly his country). In a combined strike against Thyatis they can wipe away ANY invasion force. To go further I think that Gapton Isle is indeed a critical point in the activities of Minrothad, but it is also the first Isle to fall in a comflict. It was the last of the Islands to be annected by the Guilds and has been a stepson ever since. they want taht isle for being a base for raiding other ships because it´s very near to all existing shipping lanes, but it has military speaking no importance. Traders Isle is well fortified and normally has 1st AND 2nd Home Guard stationed there. Fortress Isle is rocky and in my opinion not for the taking (like Crete in WW-II). Open Isle is halfling territory. I agree your statements here. Alfe Isle is another thing. If Thyatis does not get the Elves on their side they have another *big* thorn in their side. The sea elves (southern part of the isle) have very good connections to the elves really living in the sea. this is another FORCE not to be underestimated. It is just like attacking a baby and EVERYBODY comes for the rescue. There is a meaning behind Minrothad´s efforts to everybody´s darling. You just can see it. 3rd: In your "Operation Hydra" (I really love that name and your texts) you describe EVERY army being spread across the nation. THIS IS NOT THE WAY Minrothad deals with such a problem. Knowing that they can´t afford a huge army they concentrate their forces. When they strike (IF they strike, this takes some time) it HAS TO hurt. No good leader would spread an army like this. This is kind of an invitation to invade the Guilds, nothing more nothing less. To your rescue: I think if a Thyatian invasion force lands on Gapton Isle (I think it´s Fire Isle) they can take it without heavy losses, but they will be cut off of supplies, because the Minrothad fleet will cut ANY line via sea. It takes some time to mobilize armies so there could be some time lag until Karameikos can help Minrothad (not to forget the negotiations for better trading conditions *evil grin*). another possibility could be that the Thyatian force lands on Alfe Isle and the Sea Elves start an open revolt against Oran Meditor and take this Isle with the Thyatian help, but this also is not as intended by Eusebius. Believe me, there is a cause why Minrothad has been neutral ever since and never been conquered throughout all these wars!!!! Til next time, awaiting your flames. No really, it´s ok. I think perhaps I can adopt some ideas into my own campaign. Wizzard ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 11:28:27 +1200 From: John Howell Subject: Re: [Mystara] please add me to your list Hi, I have just recently joined the mailing list, can you please add my details your survey results. Thanks. Regards, John Name: John Howell Email: jmh130@cad.canterbury.ac.nz Web Site: none From: New Zealand Birthdate: 03/04/76 Marital Status: Single Profession: Student Started playing RPGs: 15 First played D&D: 15 Interests: I have an interest in meshing good old fashioned dungeon crawling with the politics that are occurring in the campaign. I have a particular soft spot for Darokin - I think it is a great setting for starting PCs. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 09:36:01 CEST From: "Herve Musseau" Subject: Re: [Mystara] TSR's News Net Policy >> Someone on the Realms list posted this URL, and I thought >> people might want to take a look. It is TSR's new policy on >> the Net and xD&D stuff published on it. Very nice, very liberal. >> The WotC buyout is looking better all the time. >> >> http://www.tsrinc.com/faq/online_policy.html > >I noticed the new policies the other day, and started to wondering- > >Anyone out there think we should start making a "new" logo for Mystara? >They're voting on one on the Planescape mailing list, and I noticed >they've already got a Dark Sun one or two. Maybe we here on the Mystara >list could come up with some ideas and vote on them, and have the TSR >guys include them on the download page. When I had copyrights problems with TSR over the Mystara logo on my homepage, that's what I did. BTW, as some of had noticed my homepage was down since August (I'm no more a student now, real life..), so I just set it up at http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Lair/8932/ But I haven't updated it much to reflect its new location etc, will do that when I have more time. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 09:16:09 CEST From: "Herve Musseau" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad's disappearance >>>> I was just thinking, Etienne d'Ambreville was the master of >>>> Brotherhood of Radiance, and he used the name "Rad" there as well. So >when >>>> he disappeared in 1009, the other Brotherhood members suddenly notice >that >>>> Rad no longer speaks to them (they meet 4 times a year). Would they be >>>> able to make the connection and deduce that Etienne and Rad are one and >>>> the same? This would especially put dangerous knowledge in the hands of >>>> Brannart McGregor, one of Etienne's bitter enemies. Any thoughts? > >>Well, he is not the only one that was killed or disappeared that >>year. Those in the Brotherhood might have suspection, but that is >>not that strong a connection. BTW, after Rad got taken away, could >>he still have a few avatars running around doing stuff for a while >>or do they all stop functioning immediatly after Rad is gone. > >I had considered these points too, I hadn't quite considered what Etienne's >enemies might do with the information, but given the amount of power he has I >suspect that his defenses should be adequate. As to the avatars idea, I >don't think that its very likely, since if he had one running around it could >have effectively kept Etienne running. My view of the whole matter is that >the unity of the Brotherhood has probably broken down somewhat, and possibly >anyone who even knows of its existence has a receptacle now, and is trying to >use it. The old members of the Brotherhood (and possibly some of the new >members as well) may be trying to silence/eliminate new users rather than >share this source of power (Brannart comes to mind as one to eliminate other >users of the Radiance). Alternatively, maybe there has been no major change so far in the way the Brotherhood works. Remember that Immortals can (and generally do)cast a contingency spell that allows their clerics to get their spells even if the immortal is not available (imprisonned, killed, in another dimension...). Maybe Rad in his wisdom cast a modfied version of this spell so that the Brotherhood would not fall apart or suffer from internal struggle if he was away. That way "Rad" would continue to whisper to his brothers. In which case he could have programmed something really nice (a plan to help him cause if that contingency was ever activated he would probably be in trouble) or something really dull (cause it's only a temporary absence, so they should do nothing imortant while he's away). ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 11:28:27 +1200 From: John Howell Subject: Re: [Mystara] please add me to your list Hi, I have just recently joined the mailing list, can you please add my details your survey results. Thanks. Regards, John Name: John Howell Email: jmh130@cad.canterbury.ac.nz Web Site: none From: New Zealand Birthdate: 03/04/76 Marital Status: Single Profession: Student Started playing RPGs: 15 First played D&D: 15 Interests: I have an interest in meshing good old fashioned dungeon crawling with the politics that are occurring in the campaign. I have a particular soft spot for Darokin - I think it is a great setting for starting PCs. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 09:16:09 CEST From: "Herve Musseau" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad's disappearance >>>> I was just thinking, Etienne d'Ambreville was the master of >>>> Brotherhood of Radiance, and he used the name "Rad" there as well. So >when >>>> he disappeared in 1009, the other Brotherhood members suddenly notice >that >>>> Rad no longer speaks to them (they meet 4 times a year). Would they be >>>> able to make the connection and deduce that Etienne and Rad are one and >>>> the same? This would especially put dangerous knowledge in the hands of >>>> Brannart McGregor, one of Etienne's bitter enemies. Any thoughts? > >>Well, he is not the only one that was killed or disappeared that >>year. Those in the Brotherhood might have suspection, but that is >>not that strong a connection. BTW, after Rad got taken away, could >>he still have a few avatars running around doing stuff for a while >>or do they all stop functioning immediatly after Rad is gone. > >I had considered these points too, I hadn't quite considered what Etienne's >enemies might do with the information, but given the amount of power he has I >suspect that his defenses should be adequate. As to the avatars idea, I >don't think that its very likely, since if he had one running around it could >have effectively kept Etienne running. My view of the whole matter is that >the unity of the Brotherhood has probably broken down somewhat, and possibly >anyone who even knows of its existence has a receptacle now, and is trying to >use it. The old members of the Brotherhood (and possibly some of the new >members as well) may be trying to silence/eliminate new users rather than >share this source of power (Brannart comes to mind as one to eliminate other >users of the Radiance). Alternatively, maybe there has been no major change so far in the way the Brotherhood works. Remember that Immortals can (and generally do)cast a contingency spell that allows their clerics to get their spells even if the immortal is not available (imprisonned, killed, in another dimension...). Maybe Rad in his wisdom cast a modfied version of this spell so that the Brotherhood would not fall apart or suffer from internal struggle if he was away. That way "Rad" would continue to whisper to his brothers. In which case he could have programmed something really nice (a plan to help him cause if that contingency was ever activated he would probably be in trouble) or something really dull (cause it's only a temporary absence, so they should do nothing imortant while he's away). ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 10:31:20 EDT From: Neal Daskal Subject: Re: [Mystara] TSR's News Net Policy Hallelujah. Anyone who wants my X10 program, check my web site http://people.delphi.com/ndaskal/ and follow the links (it should be obvious). Now, how about some of you creative adventure-writing folks (like Mystaros huh? huh? huh?) sharing your stuff? > > Someone on the Realms list posted this URL, and I thought >people might want to take a look. It is TSR's new policy on >the Net and xD&D stuff published on it. Very nice, very liberal. > The WotC buyout is looking better all the time. > > http://www.tsrinc.com/faq/online_policy.html > > >Leroy Van Camp III >malacoda@lesbois.com >owner-mystara-l@io.com > >"You know, not kneeing you in the groin is a constant struggle." > MST3K > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 11:25:07 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] READ: List Survey Results (LONG) On Fri, 26 Sep 1997, DM wrote: > OK folks, this is the result of the list survey Jennifer began. I post it to > the list to make each other know who's on. Also i would like the people who > don't appear here to mail me personally to give me their stats fillin the > form in blank at the end of this letter. Another thing: i kindly ask those > people who appear but whose information are not exaustive (for example lack > of birthdate, e-mail or even real name -Duff and Rich!) to mail me their > missing stats so i can complete this list and put it in my webpage. Shouldn't this also be on Leroys page? If you covert it to html, that should be no problem should it? Håvard ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #154 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@ (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #155 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@ Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@ Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Tuesday, September 30 1997 Volume 02 : Number 155 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 17:42:51 +1300 From: Liam Jones Subject: Re: [Mystara] List Survey Results - Changes (DOB) > >Name: >Liam Jones >Email: >liamj@iconz.co.nz >Web Site: >http://www2.southwind.net/~phoenyx/master/index.html (For my PBeM game using >the OD&D modules X4,5 - You can join the list to lurk if interested there) >From: >Auckland, NEW ZEALAND >Birthdate: 1 May 1970 ********Changed********** >Marital Status: >Married >Profession: >Army Officer >Started playing RPGs: >11 >First played D&D: >11 >Interests: >GMing using original D&D rules, Norworld, "The War Machine" mass combat >rules and developing mass combat and dominion running rules for PBeM, Mass >Naval combat including underwater, magical and monster affects - -------------------------------------------------------- Liam Jones Auckland, New Zealand liamj@iconz.co.nz ICQ: 2272869 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 12:04:03 +0800 From: Glenn Butcher Subject: Re: [Mystara] Soul Crystals (was: Sheperd of Rad) Fabrizio Paoli rambled (brizio@lunet.it): > At 17.12 26/09/97 +0200, you wrote: > > > > Gaz13 states that soul crystals brought on the surface crumble to dust > after a few seconds, no matter how tightly enclosed and even at nightime. > I think it's not visible sunlight, but the other invisible light emitted by > the sun (ultraviolet...). ...except that UV light wouldn't be present at night from the sun. Glenn (feeling particularly pedantic today) - -- "For a copper!" [The battle cry of Lynard the fire elemaster] knight@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au | glennb@ichr.uwa.edu.au Home page: http://www.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/~knight/ finger -l for pgp public key ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 12:16:31 +0800 From: Glenn Butcher Subject: Re: [Mystara] Timeline question Fabrizio Paoli rambled (brizio@lunet.it): > > What if the explosion of Blackmoor only affected the Outer World axis, but > not the Hollow World one. > Imagine OW and HW as 2 hollow spheres one inside the other and the > worldshield in the middle acting as lubricant. You can easily move the > outer one without affecting the inner one... but what about the holes? > Hmm, this makes me think of a "great conjunction" of the holes, a time when they come together and grand things happen. Pity it dOesn't fit with everything else. GlenN - -- "Women. The best thing since the Nova spell" [Lynard the fire elemaster] knight@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au | glennb@ichr.uwa.edu.au Home page: http://www.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/~knight/ finger -l for pgp public key ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 22:16:39 -0400 From: Aron Reif Subject: RE: Psionics in Alphatia (was Re: [Mystara] Undersea - ------ =_NextPart_000_01BCCC5C.63598540 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable >In a message dated 97-09-25 21:57:08 EDT, areif@erols.com writes: > ><< well, you'd be right, except for one little thing...magic and = psionics are >mutually exclusive. Psionics don't affect magic and magic doesn't = affect >psionics. >> > >Can you cite a source for that one? I could have sworn that there were = >some=20 >magic items that protected against both some magical effects and any >equivalent psionic effects. For example, the "Mind Blank" spell is = supposed >to provide protection against any mental attack, whether from a spell = or from >the use of a psychic power. According to _Skills and Powers_, there = are a >few spells that are quite effective against psionics. > well, to be honest, it turns out that I was wrong. I didn't read enough = before I wrote that last bit. I was reading p. 109 of the Complete = Psionics Book, but I failed to see the next page where they list the = specific effects of certain spells on psionics. Sorry 'bout that. As for _Skills and Powers_, I don't have that book, so I really couldn't = have forseen any of those spells... 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So I'll send 'em along. :) >Name: Andrew Theisen >Email: jsmill@imap1.asu.edu >Web Site: http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill >From: Tempe, AZ (most recently) >Birthdate: 12/11/73 >Marital Status: Single >Profession: Recent Graduate from ASU (BA in Anthropology); currently Glorified Secretary, prospective writer. >Started playing RPGs: Eesh. I guess I was about 6 or 7 at the time. Started out playing a character named Black Dougal, based on the character of the same name from the first Basic D&D set (Erol Otus cover). >First played D&D: Same time. Haven't much stopped since. :) >Interests: Writing, reading, film. RPG related interests- currently involved with the 1015 almanac; working on the Patera Project; gradually working on a Mystara comic strip (it's plotted out, the actual artwork is slow going- I'm such a perfectionist). ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 10:49:03 -0700 From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Soul Crystals (was: Sheperd of Rad) At 12:04 PM 9/29/97 +0800, you wrote: >Fabrizio Paoli rambled (brizio@lunet.it): >> At 17.12 26/09/97 +0200, you wrote: >> > >> >> Gaz13 states that soul crystals brought on the surface crumble to dust >> after a few seconds, no matter how tightly enclosed and even at nightime. >> I think it's not visible sunlight, but the other invisible light emitted by >> the sun (ultraviolet...). > >...except that UV light wouldn't be present at night from the sun. No, but most of what we perceive as Moonlight is reflected UV (high end light waves -- that's why Moonlight has such a bluish cast to it...). Not to mention the pittiful bits of light (of whatever colour, UV or otherwise) coming in from distant stars. >Glenn >(feeling particularly pedantic today) Jenni (feeling just about as pendantic today too) ;-) - -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield http://www.jamm.com/jenni/home.html - -=> strawberryJAMM <=- strawberry@jamm.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 11:32:12 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: [Mystara] Mystara logo? I sent a message off to Sean Reynolds about a Mystara logo, just to clarify the new net policy for sure. Here's what he said. - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 11:14:16 -0700 From: Sean K "Veggie Boy" Reynolds To: ANDREW.THEISEN@asu.edu Subject: Re: ASK THE WEBMASTER >On the topic of the new TSR web policy, if my compatriots and I on the >Mystara list were interested in designing a Mystara logo for our sites >and to be put up here: >1) Would that be okay- Ie, would you post it up here for others to use? Yup. That's the whole point. :) >2) Is there a site online provided by TSR for judging logos, or would > that have to be provided by interested parties? You guys should set that up; that way, I can be fully impartial and it doesn't look like TSR is trying to claim any rights to the images. Good gaming! - -- Sean K Reynolds, TSR Online Coordinator skreyn@wizards.com | http://www.tsrinc.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 00:09:04 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Soul Crystals (was: Sheperd of Rad) At 12.04 29/09/97 +0800, Glenn wrote: >Fabrizio Paoli rambled (brizio@lunet.it): >> >> Gaz13 states that soul crystals brought on the surface crumble to dust >> after a few seconds, no matter how tightly enclosed and even at nightime. >> I think it's not visible sunlight, but the other invisible light emitted by >> the sun (ultraviolet...). > >...except that UV light wouldn't be present at night from the sun. Ehm... yes, I guess you're right, but I know there should be a reasonable explanation. Unfortunately I don't know very much about light waves, but I have a friend that studies lasers and microwaves. I'll ask him ASAP. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 18:36:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Brotherhood of the Radiance <<>> I definitely believe that the Radiance is still draining from energy, after all, it was only "recharged" (at least that was the way I read things). I assume that the 6 members was based on your count of the characters listed in Glantri:KoM, which may or may not be an accurate accounting, I will have to do some looking into the matter some more... (who is in charge of Glantri for the next almanac anyway). ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 18:54:58 -0400 From: wjnowackl@MEM.po.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] A newbie quesion - ------------------------- Begin Original ------------------------- >Since I am down here at the bottom of the world I have missed most of >the last publications by T$R. To me, the KW was basically just a >whole mass of countries developed by the GAZ series (and great trail >maps). I have read the FAQ carefully, but I'm still confused as >to the events that happened during WotI (did the old ones really put >in an appearance and cart some of the immortals that were >'playing too rough' away?!?). Can somebody direct me to a decent >history or explain what happened? Yes (sort of). One of the possible endings of the Immortals Fury adventure from the WotI has a mysterious and ultra-powerful entity appear and haul Etienne d'Ambreville away. This entity is assumed to be an Old One. I suggest up contact an out-of-print dealer to get a copy of WotI if you don't already have it. It's a very useful product (IMHO). Let me know if you need URLs for some dealers. - ------------------------- End Original ------------------------- Do you know of any dealers that have a copy of X10? Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 19:25:52 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Soul Crystals (was: Sheperd of Rad) In a message dated 97-09-29 19:07:41 EDT, you write: << > Gaz13 states that soul crystals brought on the surface crumble to dust >> after a few seconds, no matter how tightly enclosed and even at nightime. >> I think it's not visible sunlight, but the other invisible light emitted by >> the sun (ultraviolet...). > >...except that UV light wouldn't be present at night from the sun. Ehm... yes, I guess you're right, but I know there should be a reasonable explanation. Unfortunately I don't know very much about light waves, but I have a friend that studies lasers and microwaves. I'll ask him ASAP. >> I thought I'd butt my nose into this discussion too, and throw some random ideas out there. What if the decay wasn't caused by the light, but by something in Mystara's atmosphere? Maybe the shamans have been misled about the source of the problem. It could even be from something radiating from one of the moons (Patera comes to mind, with its unusual core)... if it was something radiating from Patera then perhaps it might explain why the Beagle crashed during the Blackmoor era (a malfunction in the main reactor when some similar crystals crumbled to dust). As to why the underground ones are ok... either the rock blocks the source of the problem or maybe the proximity of the world shield protects the crystals (or maybe even both). ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 20:39:56 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Soul Crystals (was: Sheperd of Rad) In a message dated 97-09-29 19:07:41 EDT, you write: << > Gaz13 states that soul crystals brought on the surface crumble to dust >> after a few seconds, no matter how tightly enclosed and even at nightime. >> I think it's not visible sunlight, but the other invisible light emitted by >> the sun (ultraviolet...). > >...except that UV light wouldn't be present at night from the sun. Ehm... yes, I guess you're right, but I know there should be a reasonable explanation. Unfortunately I don't know very much about light waves, but I have a friend that studies lasers and microwaves. I'll ask him ASAP. >> I thought I'd butt my nose into this discussion too, and throw some random ideas out there. What if the decay wasn't caused by the light, but by something in Mystara's atmosphere? Maybe the shamans have been misled about the source of the problem. It could even be from something radiating from one of the moons (Patera comes to mind, with its unusual core)... if it was something radiating from Patera then perhaps it might explain why the Beagle crashed during the Blackmoor era (a malfunction in the main reactor when some similar crystals crumbled to dust). As to why the underground ones are ok... either the rock blocks the source of the problem or maybe the proximity of the world shield protects the crystals (or maybe even both). ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 21:21:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Mischa E Gelman Subject: [Mystara] Malpheggi HWR Okay, just started work on a Malpheggi Hollow World Reference today using the same general format I used for the Kogolor one. I would like some volunteers, 2 or 3 would be fine, to just look over my rough draft when I finish it and critique it and offer suggestions and changes. Once I get the input of a few others, I'll post it to the list as a whole. Um, that's it. -Mischa I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills. -Mohandas Gandhi ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 16:28:38 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] A newbie quesion On Mon, 29 Sep 1997 wjnowackl@MEM.po.com wrote: > Do you know of any dealers that have a copy of X10? That's arguably the single most difficult module to find. I only recently managed to get one, and that only after spending months checking The Dragon's Trove (where I finally got it) and other mail order sites in order to find one. My suggestion is to keep checking the Dragon's Trove (http://www.dragontrove.com) periodically until one pops up, and then to nab it ASAP. Michael has the single best supply of products I've seen on any mail order site, and usually manages to get his hands on everything at one point or another. :) Andrew ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 23:09:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: Psionics in Alphatia (was Re: [Mystara] Undersea In a message dated 97-09-29 13:03:06 EDT, areif@erols.com writes: << well, to be honest, it turns out that I was wrong. I didn't read enough before I wrote that last bit. I was reading p. 109 of the Complete Psionics Book, but I failed to see the next page where they list the specific effects of certain spells on psionics. Sorry 'bout that. As for _Skills and Powers_, I don't have that book, so I really couldn't have forseen any of those spells... >> Don't worry -- I merely cited _Skills and Powers_ because it was more readily available than the Complete Psionics Handbook. I suspect that the two lists are virtually identical. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 13:35:08 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] TSR's News Net Policy On Mon, 29 Sep 1997, Neal Daskal wrote: > Hallelujah. Anyone who wants my X10 program, check my web site > > http://people.delphi.com/ndaskal/ > > and follow the links (it should be obvious). Now, how about some > of you creative adventure-writing folks (like Mystaros huh? huh? > huh?) sharing your stuff? > I tried to go there, but that page wasn't found. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 07:58:06 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Brotherhood of the Radiance In einer eMail vom 30.09.97 05:32:55, schreiben Sie: << I definitely believe that the Radiance is still draining from energy, after all, it was only "recharged" (at least that was the way I read things). I assume that the 6 members was based on your count of the characters listed in Glantri:KoM, which may or may not be an accurate accounting, I will have to do some looking into the matter some more... (who is in charge of Glantri for the next almanac anyway). >> Well, check The Immortal's Fury (WotI Book 2, p. 70, right column) : "Now that the Nucleus of the spheres is draining its power from entropy... I always assumed that the radiance was reprogrammed to punish the Brother'hood of the Shadow, but on the other hand also granting entropy-related powers. And, yes those six members were counted from G:KoM. They are: Brannart McGregor Fernando de Casanegra Harald Haaskinz Angus McGregor Maximilian Hiletier Alasdair McAllister (and perhaps Etienne after his return) Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 11:36:57 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Minrothad Campaign Discussion In a message dated 97-09-29 10:10:30 EDT, Wizzard writes: << First of all heads off. I like your two articles very much. I think it is like a "no, this mustn´t happenbecause I like Minrothad" thing. That´s the only reason for negating your ideas.>> Thanks. Makes me feel that all this keying in is good for something. <> There's actually a great deal of events that lead up to the actual invasion. Unfortunately, space is limited to bring all of these to light. Some events take place as far back as AC1000. <> Points well taken. However, Eusebius has taken means to study the Thadders. He has used this info to increase his chances of success. One such example is his getting the MPs to allow Thyatian Navy vessels to patrol Minrothad waters. This event happened after several pirate attacks (both real and staged) caused several outcries from other nations for Minrothad to secure their waters. Eusebius was leading the pack, going as far as stopping trade. The MPs relented and gave the Thyatians the permission to sail in their waters in limited numbers. The MPs did make arrangements to broaden the Fleet. This was to get those Thyatians out of their waters as quick as possible. The MPs have had a time doing this. Most of the Thadders would rather be merchants instead of soldiers. Therefore recruitment is slow. << 2nd: your explanation for the absense of ANY action from the defensive alliance on Brun (Shires, Darokin, Karam, ...) is kind of weak. I can give you just the opposite scenario with the same back-thought. The alliance is intervening. No problem for Karameikos and the Shires. and IF they do THEY will get the better trading conditions, lesser taxes on their products, ... (and the like). Another point is Stefan Karameikos. Just a little history lesson: NOBODY expected DUKE Stefan Karameikos to switch sides to Alphatia in WotI. He IS a very cool type of Monarch. He knows what is best for him (and possibly his country). In a combined strike against Thyatis they can wipe away ANY invasion force. To go further I think that Gapton Isle is indeed a critical point in the activities of Minrothad, but it is also the first Isle to fall in a comflict. It was the last of the Islands to be annected by the Guilds and has been a stepson ever since. they want taht isle for being a base for raiding other ships because it´s very near to all existing shipping lanes, but it has military speaking no importance. Traders Isle is well fortified and normally has 1st AND 2nd Home Guard stationed there. Fortress Isle is rocky and in my opinion not for the taking (like Crete in WW-II). Open Isle is halfling territory. I agree your statements here. Alfe Isle is another thing. If Thyatis does not get the Elves on their side they have another *big* thorn in their side. The sea elves (southern part of the isle) have very good connections to the elves really living in the sea. this is another FORCE not to be underestimated. It is just like attacking a baby and EVERYBODY comes for the rescue. There is a meaning behind Minrothad´s efforts to everybody´s darling. You just can see it.>> Again Points well taken. Minrothad's defenses are spread out to represent various stages of training, outfitting, and so on. As for basing both 1st and 2nd HomeGuard on Trader Island I disagree. That's asking alot to have the bulk of Minrothad's ground forces centered entirely on one island. I am sure the rest of the islands would want some of that protection since they are paying for it. The elves (as well as the other demihumans) are a key part of Hydra's success. Eusebius wishes to seperate the humans from the elves and dwrves and make a seperate peace with them. How he does this will be shown as the campaign unfolds. As for the Halflings, Thyatis is not taking any chances. They need to have a clear sea lane between Open Isle and Fire Island. Also, IMC Thyatians have a bit of animosity towards the Hin and vice versa. IMC the Mercenary Guild has began a system of reorganization and expansion. This centers on the use of North Island (Gapton) as a center of operations for the military. Blackrock Island's volcano went dormant and the Merc. Guild petitioned the MPs that a new seabase be established there to base patrols. Since it has little comercial value, it was granted. BTW-Precious ores are later discovered on Blackrock by Thyatian surveyors. Since you brought up Stephan Karameikos, let me ask if he can be trusted. In the past he abandonded Machetos for Traldara. He then abandoned Thyatis for independence. Can he be totally trusted by anyone. <<3rd: In your "Operation Hydra" (I really love that name and your texts) you describe EVERY army being spread across the nation. THIS IS NOT THE WAY Minrothad deals with such a problem. Knowing that they can´t afford a huge army they concentrate their forces. When they strike (IF they strike, this takes some time) it HAS TO hurt. No good leader would spread an army like this. This is kind of an invitation to invade the Guilds, nothing more nothing less. >> Once again, I stress that the HomeGuard (an expanded HomeGuard of three divisions) is deployed on various aspects of training, refitting, and so on. Minrothad Guilds are a conglomerate of business. Each island specializes in a certain expertise. As such they would have contracts set up to perform specific tasks for the military. The HG needs bows they deal with Verdun. They need leather for armor they deal with Malfton. They need their vessels scrapped of barnacles they go to Seahome. And so on. It all goes back to that "balance" mentality of the Thadders. IMO the key strategy to Minrothad is mobility. It disperses its troops to meet attackers to any of its islands. Those troops are to hold there ground while other units are transferred to that area to assist. I back this up with the HomeGuard's tendancy for mounted troops. The Fleet's responsibility in such an invasion is to ensure that the sea lanes are kept open for such troop movements. << To your rescue: I think if a Thyatian invasion force lands on Gapton Isle (I think it´s Fire Isle) they can take it without heavy losses, but they will be cut off of supplies, because the Minrothad fleet will cut ANY line via sea. It takes some time to mobilize armies so there could be some time lag until Karameikos can help Minrothad (not to forget the negotiations for better trading conditions *evil grin*). another possibility could be that the Thyatian force lands on Alfe Isle and the Sea Elves start an open revolt against Oran Meditor and take this Isle with the Thyatian help, but this also is not as intended by Eusebius. Believe me, there is a cause why Minrothad has been neutral ever since and never been conquered throughout all these wars!!!!>> First off. Gapton is a city/town on North Island. Fire Island is the base of operations for the Privateers. Gapton Harbor is a creation of mine that I felt needed to be added when the Merc Guild set up shop on North Island. An assault on Gapton is needed. However, Eusebius opted for using the naval forces in and around Fire Island and Open Island to blockade the forces there. The key to Operation Hydra is keeping the sea lane that runs through Fire Island and Open Island open. This sea lane is the one most familiar and charted by the Thyatians while they patrolled these waters. As such, they can more safely navigate it without worry. This is the reasons for the crushing blows to the Hin and Pirates. The time lag brought about by indescision and mobilization is a factor to the noninterferance of WDL nations. It takes time to assemble such a striking force. It took Eusebius years of planning to build up for Hydra. Then you have to ask if the WDL has the capability of mounting such a force. Darokin and Karameikos have Navies. The Five Shires do too. But are they sufficiant to perform such a task? Let's look at PWA 2: Darokin: 6 Naval Divisions of roughly 1000 troops and sailors each. FiveShires: 1 Naval Division of roughly 800 troops and sailors each Karameikos: 2 Naval Divisions of roughly 996 troops and sailors each Ylaruam: 10 Naval Divisions of 391 troops and sailors each. Originally wasn't going to include Ylaruam as I doubt that they would be sent to aid the Infidels. But I am a fair man. For a whopping total of 19 Divisions of roughly 12702 troops and sailors of qualities ranging from Average to primarily Fair. These are actually pretty good troop numbers. But, they constitute the WDL navies as a whole. I doubt WDL would commit all of its naval power if even one of its own member nations were invaded. These are the Standing numbers and I feel that these would be used to represent the amount available at the time of the invasion. Karameikos, Darokin and Five Shires are close together so they could embark together. Ylaruam Naval Forces would have to round the bulk of the Thyatian Mainland. Since this is the olden days, navigation was minimal and most sailing was done near coastlines. One of the keys to Minrothad's boon is their seafaring ability. IMO this skill does not extend to Ylaruam especially concerning Sea of Dawn and Minrothad waters. Those reefs and shallows would play havoc on these vessels that had little or no charts and/or sailing experience there. For the sake of argument I'll toss in NACE. NACE is a long way off, The closest Alphatian ports are on the southeastern side of IoD. That voyage alone would take some time. And all along the way there would be skirmishes with naval units from the various Thyatian lands along the way. They would then arrive to Minrothad to find Thyatian Cohorts dug in. Thyatian Fleets patrolling the Minrothad waters. Alex ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 11:49:20 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Thyatian Forces "Operation Hydra" Thyatian forces for Operation Hydra are divided into four assault units. In keeping with the Hydra theme, each force is nicknamed as a "Head" and given a name based on the "letter" given to the assault force. Due to the naval combat nature of Operation Hydra, Eusebius has had all transports and ships (large sailing ships) equipped with one ballista. To man this weapon, 5 additional crewmembers are allotted to the crew. As such, the will be considered nonfighting sailors as they will be occupied with firing the weapon. War galleys already have these and therefore recieve no such additional armaments Assault Force A "Head Assaria" 1st Imperial Fleet Reg. 1: 50 (F3) Marines aboard a lg.sail.ship w/25 nonfighting sailors & ballista Reg. 2: 50 (F3) Marines aboard a lg.sail.ship w/25 nonfighting sailors & ballista Reg. 3: 50 (F1) Marines aboard a lg.sail.ship w/25 nonfighting sailors & ballista Reg. 4: 50 (F1) Marines aboard a lg.sail.ship w/25 nonfighting sailors & ballista Reg: 5: 50 (F1) Marines aboard a lg.sail.ship w/25 nonfighting sailors & ballista Reg. 6: 50 (F1) Marines aboard a lg.sail.ship w/25 nonfighting sailors & ballista Reg. 7: 50 (F1) Marines aboard a lg.sail.ship w/25 nonfighting sailors & ballista Reg. 8: 50 (F1) Marines aboard a lg.sail.ship w/25 nonfighting sailors & ballista Reg. 9: 300 (F1) Marines aboard wargalley w/30 n.f.s. Reg. 10: 300 (F1) Marines aboard wargalley w/30 n.f.s. Reg. 11: 80 (F1) Marines aboard sm.wargalley w/10 n.f.s. Reg. 12: 80 (F1) Marines aboard sm.wargalley w/10 n.f.s. Reg. 13: 80 (F1) Marines aboard sm.wargalley w/10 n.f.s. Reg. 14: 80 (F1) Marines aboard sm.wargalley w/10 n.f.s. Reg. 15: 80 (F1) Marines aboard sm.wargalley w/10 n.f.s. Reg. 16: 80 (F1) Marines aboard sm.wargalley w/10 n.f.s. 3rd Imperial Fleet - same as 1st Fleet 14th Imperial Fleet - same as 1st Fleet Reg. 7 of 9th Fleet Reg. 8 of 9th Fleet Reg. 9 of 9th Fleet 6th Cohort Banner 1: 800 (F1) Heavy Inf. transported via 4 lg.sail.ships w/25 n.f.s. & ballista Banner 2: 800 (F1) Heavy Inf. transported via 4 lg.sail.ships w/25 n.f.s. & ballista Banner 3: 800 (F1) Heavy Inf. transported via 4 lg.sail.ships w/25 n.f.s. & ballista Banner 4: 800 (F1) Heavy Inf. transported via 4 lg.sail.ships w/25 n.f.s. & ballista 12th Cohort - same as 6th 27th Cohort "Assault Cohort" Banner 1: 400 (F1) Heavy Inf. scale/shield/spear/short sword transported via 2 lg.sail.ships w/20 n.f.s. Banner 2: 400 (F1) Heavy Inf. scale/spear/crossbow/shortsword transported via 2 lg.sail.ships w/20 n.f.s. Banner 3: 200 (F1) Art. leather/shortsword manning 20 heavy ballista (5 batteries) transported via 3 lg.sail.ships w/20 n.f.s. Banner 4: 200 (F1) Art. leather/shortsword manning 20 light catapults (5 batteries) transported via 2 lg.sail.ships w/20 n.f.s. Banner 5: 200 (F1) Art. leather/shortsword manning 12 heavy catapults (6 batteries) Assualt Force A is the center of command for the whole of Operation Hydra. The overall commander for Hydra is Admiral Helena Daphotarthius. She has placed her flag upon the 1st Fleet. Assault Force A is given the capital city of Minrothad as its objective. From its assembly area of Point Alto Talon, Head Assarius travels some 208 miles to its intended target. There it is to unload its ground troops (cohorts) just down the coast from the city. The troops will then march into position and prepare for the assault on the city and the expected Home Guard units. The naval units are to keep the Minrothad vessels in check and blockade the city from the sea. The Thyatian sea vessels will act in a defensive role in concern to the beachheads and not pursue Minrothad vessels into open water. This move will hopefully negate the advantages of speed and sea knowledge that the Minrothadders have. In short they are to position themselves so that the Thadders must come to them for any engagement. Assault Force A is one of the two Forces that have the newly developed Artillery Cohorts. This type of Cohort is designed with seige bombardment in mind. The 27th Cohort will assume a favorable position within range of the Minrothad walls and bombard the city's own artillery. The lighter pieces of the 4th Banner (light catapults) will be used to support the Cohorts against any attacks from Minrothad Forces. The land forces are to concentrate on destroying HomeGuard Units on Trader Island before committing itself to the seige of Minrothad. The 7th, 8th, and 9th Regiments of 9th Fleet are to break away from this force and sail down the coastline towards Harbortown. Its mission is to secure a landing zone for the 20th Cohort of Assault Force B and then return to Minrothad City. 20th Cohort's mission is to march inland and disrupt any HomeGuard forces that are assembling and/or are marching to either Harbortown or Minrothad. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ---- Assault Force B "Head Brutus" 16th Imperial Fleet - same as 1st 13th Imperial Fleet - same as 1st 9th Cohort - same as 1st 17th Cohort - same as 1st 20th Cohort - same as 1st 26th Cohort "Assault Cohort" - same as 27th Assault Force B is allotted the honor of assaulting the city of Harbortown. From an assembling area Point Nora Talon off the coast of Haittias, it is to sail some 336 miles to the city of Harbortown. It will pass through the strait between Open Island and Fire Island. There it is to offload its cargo of troops down the coast of Harbortown, much the same as the forces in Force A. However, Force B will position itself more inland and place itself in between Harbortown and the island's interior. The seaside of Harbortown will be turned over to the Thyatian Navy who will blockade it from aid from the sea. Once The 20th Cohort will break awy during the landings and meet up with the 7th, 8th, and 9th Regiments of 9th Fleet attached to Force A. Under the protection of these ships they will land roughly halfway between Harbortown and Minrothad and proceed inland to engage HomeGuard units there. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------- Assault Force C "Head Carius" 6th Fleet - same as 1st Reg. 1 of 9th Fleet Reg. 2 of 9th Fleet Reg. 3 of 9th Fleet Reg. 4 of 9th Fleet 4th Cohort 28th Cohort "Kerendas Cavalry" Banner 1: 300 (F2) Lt. Cav. scale/sword/shortbow transported via 5 lg.sail.ships w/25 n.f.s. & ballista Banner 2: 200 (F2) Med. Cav. scale/sword/shield/lightlance transported via 3 lg.sail.ships w/25 n.f.s. & ballista Banner 3: 200 (F2) Med. Cav. chain/sword/shield/lightlance transported via 3 lg.sail.ships w/25 n.f.s. & ballista Banner 4: 300 (F1) Mount. Inf. scale/sword/crossbow transported via 5 lg.sail.ships w/25 n.f.s. & ballista Banner 5: 300 (F1) Mount. Inf. leather/sword/crossbow transported via 5 lg.sail.ships w/25 n.f.s. & ballista Banner 6: 300 (F1) Mount. Inf. leather/sword/crossbow transported via 5 lg.sail.ships w/25 n.f.s. & ballista Assault Force C is given the task of assaulting Open Island. This landing has to significant purposes. First, secure the sealane that runs between Open Island and Fire Island. Second, eliminate the Minrothad Forces on the island thus preventing them from being a further threat in the near future. 6th Fleet along with Regiments 1, 2, 3, and 4 from 9th Fleet are to secure the waters while the 4th and 28th Cohorts land on the northern tip of Open Island. They are then to proceed south and engage the HomeGuard forces. Since the Home Guard has been using Open Island to train its mounted units, it is expected that some mounted and cavalry units will be present. As such, Eusebius has allotted the recently formed 28th Cohort (composed of Kerendas cavalry) to deal with these. Eusebius sees this as a needed test for his cavalry. Note- The 5th and 6th Banner of 28th Cohort was supposed to be provided chainmail for mounted infantry. Supply ran short. Leather armor was substituted. The heavy infantry of 4th Cohort are to be a security blanket for the landing force. It is expected that the Hin resistance will be minor. Still, Eusebius has given the two Cohorts explicit orders to "crush any and all Thadder resistance". Malfton is to be beseiged upon arrival. It is hoped that the remnants of any Minrothad Forces not destroyed will be pushed back to the Hin town. The seige should be fairly simple since the Halfling defense works are wood and in disrepair. Given the flamability of wood left to dry and rot under coastal conditions, the defense works are seen as fat lighter. Fire tipped arrows of the troops should quickly remove these barriors. Should the seige prove more difficult, a contengency plan of using the ballista aboard the cavalry transports to give the troops added impact. Also, the marines of the naval units are to be used should it become neccessary. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ----- Assault Force D "Head Demarius" 5th Fleet 20th Fleet 23th Fleet Reg. 5 of 9th Fleet Reg. 6 of 9th Fleet Reg. 10 of 9th Fleet Reg. 11 of 9th Fleet Reg. 12 of 9th Fleet Reg. 13 of 9th Fleet Reg. 14 of 9th Fleet Reg. 15 of 9th Fleet Reg. 16 of 9th Fleet 14th Cohort Assault Force D is given the task of removing the Privateer Fleet and base of operations from the offensive. This is for two reasons. First, secure the sea lane running between Open Island and Fire Island. Second, remove the threat the Privateers pose to Thyatian forces. Another, unofficial motive is to avenge the Thyatian losses experienced in the 8th century by the Thyatian Navy. Due to the task, Force D has a large contingent of naval ships. The Regiments from 9th Fleet have undergone training specifically designed to meet the pirate threat. Preceeding the initial naval assult, the Barricade at the inlet to Reedy River will be assaulted by NPC adventurers, elements of Retebius Air Fleet, and wizards from Protectorate of Sclaras. Once the Barricade and the fort overlooking the inlet is nullified, the Force is to enter and unload its cargo of 14th Cohort. The Navy is to destroy any and all pirate vessels encountered in the harbor. Eusebius's orders are specific in regards to the Privateers' home port. He has no visions as to occupying it. He wants it destroyed. However, he has given the commanders of Force D orders to confiscate any and all valuables and take as many prisoners as possible. The captured pirates Cove Harbor will be placed into slavery. He plans on returning any captured seamen and merchants (held by the pirates for ransom) to their native lands in a sign of friendship. The Navy Forces involved directly with the sacking of Cove Harbor will disperse along the coast straddling the inlet to Reedy River. Their mission is to repel any attempts by Privateers to enter. Eusebius has ordered that the Thyatian Ships are not to singularly engage the Privateers. He is well aware of their superior speed. Instead, they are to take on a defensive style of a picket line and use their numbers to overpower the pirates should they wish to engage. Due to time and pain constraints Fleets and Cohorts are detailed once. After that they are referred to as being composed the same as the one detailed. Two new Cohort configurations are detailed. Note the comment concerning the Kerendas Cavalry's armor. A subtle sign of the "growing pains" of the Thyatian war machine. ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #155 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@ (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #156 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@ Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@ Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Wednesday, October 1 1997 Volume 02 : Number 156 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 11:03:38 -0700 From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Subject: [Mystara] NickNames for Inhabitants of Different Regions Hi all. My question stems from the use of a 'nickname' in the current discussion about "Operation Hydra" (Thyatis vs. Minrothad). Several individuals have refered to the people of Minrothad as "Thadders". I'm wondering what names people on the list generally give to inhabitants of the different regions of Mystara, and whether they have more than one name -- a name used by the inhabitants themselves and one used by others. The reason I ask is because (and this may sound weird, but bear with me) I happen to have an PC who is an MU from Minrothad and when I read the term Thadders "she" (i.e. my mental image of her) went "How Rude! We're Minrothaddans!" It got me thinking about how, in real life, we often have different names for inhabitants, one or more of which is often meant to be rude or degrading. For example, calling someone a "Frenchie" vs. a "Frenchman/woman", calling someone a "Yank" vs an "American", or calling someone a "Canuck" vs. a "Canadian". Personally, I currently only use one 'nickname' per location, but I'm thinking that inventing 'rude' nicknames might be useful. A few of the "nicknames" for inhabitants I generally use now are: Minrothad - Minrothaddan Thyatis - Thyatian Alphatia - Alphatian Galantry - Galantrian Darokin - Darokinian Ylaraum - Ylari Ierendi - Ierendi Sind - Sindian Yavdlom - Yavish Northlands - Northman/woman Does anyone else have any other thoughts on this topic? Jenni - -=>strawberryJAMM<=- - -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield http://www.jamm.com/jenni/home.html - -=> strawberryJAMM <=- strawberry@jamm.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 14:47:54 -0400 (EDT) From: AndruVasil@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] NickNames for Inhabitants of Different Regions Jenni, I was curious as to what you thought the "rude" nicknames could be. Did you have any in mind? Gary ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 12:04:25 PDT From: "Jennifer Favia" Subject: Re: [Mystara] NickNames for Inhabitants of Different Regions > Minrothad - Minrothaddan > Thyatis - Thyatian > Alphatia - Alphatian > Galantry - Galantrian > Darokin - Darokinian > Ylaraum - Ylari > Ierendi - Ierendi > Sind - Sindian > Yavdlom - Yavish > Northlands - Northman/woman > > Does anyone else have any other thoughts on this topic? > I tend to agree with most of these, Jenni, although IMC my players seem to relate better to distant foreigners by their ethnicities (ie, someone might call me an Italian rather than an American). But that only really applies to a few (such as Espan for someone from the Baronies, Karimari for someone from Ulimwengu, etc.). As for the "standard" countries, I use: Minrothad--Minrothaddan, Thaddan (derogatory), or elven subrace (Verdier, etc.) Thyatis--Thyatian. As for rude terms, this is also an insult in my game! Darokin--Darokinian. Also Daro, said in a derogatory way, meaning a very "typical" materialistic Darokinian merchant. Karameikos--To my Traladarans, Traladaran. To foreigners, Karameikan. Ierendi--Ierendians, or Makai. Ylaruam--Ylari Sind--Sindhi Glantri--Collectively Glantrians, or by principality (ie, Averoignians) Northern Reaches--Antalian, Northmen, or by country or region Alphatia--Alphatian, or within Alphatia, by kingdom Hule--Hulean Elven Kingdoms--By clan or by kingdom, ie Wendarian, Vyalian Comments? Jennifer valerya@hotmail.com "The odor of haggling shysters; the greed; the tang of coin in sweaty palm: I love the smell of Darokin in the morning." --Valerya the Battlefury ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 15:43:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] NickNames for Inhabitants of Different Regions Interesting question. One thing I like to add is that most commoners probably don't really bother figuring out exactly where a foreigner is from, and just have one name for anyone who is not a native. Which, for a big country, might include people that are not from the same region. Or, might have general name for people from areas of the world, instead of a specific name for people of each country. For example, native of City of Thyatis might have a name for people in the city, one for Thyatian from the mainland, one for Thyatian from colonized area (which might include Karameiko), one for people of "known world" (Darokian, Glantrian, etc), and one for everyone else. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 21:24:20 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Minrothad Campaign Discussion At 23.56 28/09/97 +0000, wizzard wrote: >Only two reminders: Hey, you wrote There were 3 reminders! :-) >sailing ship. Even if the Guilds negate the existance of a "thieves >guild" they do have one and they are used to get an edge over the >competitors in trading. I think that this source of information for >the guilds is another point that can´t be neglected. It´s >unimaginable that they won´t hear a word. Expecially considering how easily you can bribe Thyatian senators... >2nd: your explanation for the absense of ANY action from the >defensive alliance on Brun (Shires, Darokin, Karam, ...) is kind of >weak. I can give you just the opposite scenario with the same >back-thought. The alliance is intervening. No problem for Karameikos >and the Shires. and IF they do THEY will get the better trading >conditions, lesser taxes on their products, ... (and the like). Good point. I agree. Alex, despite not agreeing with you I really liked your 2 posts. Can you post the order of battle for Thyatian forces too? - -------------- Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 - -------------- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 13:01:24 -0700 From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Subject: Re: [Mystara] NickNames for Inhabitants of Different Regions At 02:47 PM 9/30/97 -0400, AndruVasil@aol.com wrote: > I was curious as to what you thought the "rude" nicknames could be. Did you >have any in mind? Well, I hadn't given it any thought yet, but here's three: Region Proper Nickname "Rude" Nickname ----------- --------------- --------------- Minrothad Minrothaddan Thadder [from earlier posts] Alphatia Alphatian Alphie [just because it sounds rude] Darokin Darokinian Daro [because of their love of them] "Rude" nicknames don't always have to come directly from the real name. Take "Yank" or "Yankie" vs. "American", or "Chink" vs. "Chinese". I think that Galantry should have a 'rude' name which reflects the fact they are a Magocracy, but I can't think of one right now. I also think Thyatis needs some name that is distinct from "Thyatian". I did have an Iidea for the Ylari -- use something stemming from the name of their religious leader but I've gone an forgotten his name. Anyone else with ideas? Jenni - -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield http://www.jamm.com/jenni/home.html - -=> strawberryJAMM <=- strawberry@jamm.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 13:51:58 PDT From: "Jennifer Favia" Subject: Re: [Mystara] NickNames for Inhabitants of Different Regions >Jenni, > > > > I was curious as to what you thought the "rude" nicknames could be. Did you >have any in mind? > > >Gary > I think you might have misdirected this; Jenni was the one who began this discussion. I'm Jennifer :) > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 14:16:05 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] NickNames for Inhabitants of Different Regions On Tue, 30 Sep 1997, Jenni A. M. Merrifield wrote: > Region Proper Nickname "Rude" Nickname > ----------- --------------- --------------- > Alphatia Alphatian Alphie [just because it sounds rude] You could always call them "Alphans", which might be considered rude, implying they are common scum (based on the theory that Alphatians look down on Norwolders- capital city of Alpha- due to their general lack of magical aptitude). - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) Church of Jimmy Buffett "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 17:33:02 -0400 (EDT) From: Mystaros@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] NickNames for Inhabitants of Different Regions Here's my list: Karameikos: Karameikan, or Traladaran (if of Traladaran descent). Only Traladarans or Imperialist Thyatians call Karameikans of Thyatian descent or origin Thyatian. Ylaruam: Ylari or Alasiyani. Natives generally prefer to be called Ylari as a group, as Alasiyani actually refers to someone from the Emirate of Alasya. Glantri: Mixed bag, just like the nation. Generally Glantrian, though many prefer to be called by the name of their local culture, eg. Boldavian, Averoigne or Erewan. Archaic: Highlanders, esp. by those who are descended from expatriate non-magical nobility. Ierendi: People are Ierendi, goods are Ierendian. Alfheim: By clan preferrably, or Elvish in general. "Alfish" is derogatory, though most Elves ignore it... Rockhome: Rockheimer in the Norse lands, Dwarvish in other lands. Northern Reaches: Norse, general, though Ostlander and Vestlander coming more into use... never Soderfjorder, especially if the Norseman in question is not from Soderfjord itself... Five Shires: Hin, preferably, though Halfling is acceptable. Goods are said to be "of the Shires", though "Hinwrought" is an archaic form. Minrothad: Minrothian, as in "He is Minrothian", or "That is a Minrothian vessel". Broken Lands: Beastmen, Humanoids is more of a general term IMC. Darokin: The people are the Daro, though a person from Darokin is called Darokinian, as are any goods from that land. Ethengar: Ethengar or Ethengarian. Atruaghin Clans: As a member of the Clan ("of the Viper Clan", or "of the Bear Clan"), though they will acknowledge being called "Atruaghin". Heldann: Heldannic, a person is Heldann. Do not confuse with Norse... Sind: Sindhi, though the folk of the mountains also are called Khurishi. Yavdlom: Yavi. Alphatia: Alphatian, or by kingdom... (Bettelish, Eadrine, Friesian, etc). Redstone: Aran or Thyatian (colonists). Westrourke: Helskan, Norse, Aran, Daumancier or Dunael if native (as applicable); Westran if a colonist. Shadow Coast: Espan, Caerda, Amancerian or Thyatian, as applicable. Helskir: Helskan, or Helska (goods, archaic). Thothia: Thothian or Thothite (goods, archaic). Mystaros ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 18:44:04 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Malpheggi HWR Go ahead and send me a copy of it. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 16:00:31 -0700 From: "David 'Azure' Leland" Subject: [Mystara] Here's a linguistic stickler for you Greetings, I was hoping to get suggestions from some of you for a druid character's name in the campaign I'm DMing. Mystaros posted something about Traladaran language before and might have an idea here, but I'm asking anyone who has input. This character's name is going to mean wolfbane, as in the herb Aconitum napellus, also known as Aconite, Monkshood, and a variety of other names. I'm trying to come up with an appropriate name for wolfbane in the Traladaran language, first because the name should be Traladaran and not English, and second because I think the name sounds too cheesy in English (much like dragonbane, orcbane, etc.) where it might not in Traladaran, even though the intended association IS with the bane of (were)wolves. Any thoughts appreciated, / ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ \ : David "Azure" Leland ~|~ dleland@cogsci.ucsd.edu : | UCSD Cognitive Science ~|~ Phone/Fax: (619) 642-6709 | : Graduate Research Fellow ~|~ http://cogsci.ucsd.edu/~dleland : \ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ / ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 19:21:32 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] NickNames for Inhabitants of Different Regions In a message dated 97-09-30 14:33:11 EDT, strawberry@jamm.com writes: << Galantry - Galantrian >> To start with, that one should be "Glantri -- Glantrian". "Galantrian" would not even do for a rude nickname, as it would suggest more about the ignorance of the speaker than the speaker's contempt for Glantrians. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 03:24:19 -0400 From: Eric Guindon <95390525@callisto.si.usherb.ca> Subject: Re: [Mystara] Here's a linguistic stickler for you David 'Azure' Leland wrote: > Greetings, > > This character's name is going to mean wolfbane, as in the herb Aconitum > napellus, also known as Aconite, Monkshood, and a variety of other names. > I'm trying to come up with an appropriate name for wolfbane in the > Traladaran language, first because the name should be Traladaran and not > English, and second because I think the name sounds too cheesy in English > (much like dragonbane, orcbane, etc.) where it might not in Traladaran, > even though the intended association IS with the bane of (were)wolves. I think that the best thing to do is to name Wolfbane according to the latan origin of the world... the best thing I have found so far is "lupus victis" who mean something like "wolf vanquish"... On the same idea you could call it "Lupus Venctus"... Eric ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 09:37:33 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Church of Darokin detailed At 23.22 26/09/97 +0200, Håvard wrote: >> Non-believers will instead be sent to Limbo, where they will linger >> forever trying to escape the fiends and demoniac beings that prowl that >> desolated world, without hope for a better tomorrow. > >What does it look like? Rememer Limbo looks different to people of >different faiths. Yes, indeed this is why i described Limbo as Hell for them. Limbo is where people not faithful to their beliefs go, and CoD identifies this with Hell for non-believers because it's populated by those who didn't follow their moral and ethic beliefs and now are condemned to live as independent people, detached from the deities and from each other. There could be no worse place for a church that preaches communion, peace and friendliness among people. To CoD Limbo is basically a big representation of the real world clouded in a perpetual dusk by a cap of dust (imagine what's happening now in Indonesia... brrr..). The inhabitants cannot see each other clearly, thus they cannot distinguish clearly between other souls and demoniac spirits that haunts that wasteland, and so they live in constant fear. >> PS: of course, what happens to non-believers is highly debatable, since this >> cathegory comprises all the atheists (and there are many). This is just what >> the clerics think, not necessarily what really happens. As for other >> religions, the CoD tolerates them as long as they don't preach beliefs or an >> ethic code that go against the church principles. > >Ofcourse. This faith dowsn't strike me as too fanatic though. (ie: our >faith is the truth, think as we do or die) even though it may contain such >elements. In fact it should not be fanatic if its main pourpose is to unite people from different cultural background. It has the seeds for fanatism (as nearly every faith) but the current patriarchs are not inclined to follow the fanatic line of thought. DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 09:46:11 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Soul Crystals At 19.14 26/09/97 +0200, Fabrizio wrote: >At 17.12 26/09/97 +0200, DM wrote: > >>Yes, this is much better. What about just bringing the old soul crystals to >>the Chamber of the Spheres, where a special receptacle will be built to >>upgrade the crystals put into it in order to resist sunrays? This way they >>won't have to replace their old crystals. Also as a penalty i suggest that >>the crystals' immunity being only temporary: for example they could resist >>the sunrays only for a number of rounds (or turns) equal to double the >>number of souls inside them per day. Could it work? > >You're reading my mind! >What about some personal handicap for over usage of those crystals (loss of >CON points or hp, mutations, deformities...)? Mutations sounds good, but also temporary loss of Con points is applicable (in fact, one of the new PC classes i created looses Con points when the PC casts spells..). I would rule temporary loss of CON points for invoking Radiance spells (1 point each 2 level of the spell), which return at the rate of 1 per minute. If the caster looses more than half his CON points in a certain timespan (1 turn or so) he gains a deformity (blotches on skin, withered skin, cataratta, etc.. you should make a list and apply them in order)... Just some thoughts DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 09:51:48 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Timeline question At 14.59 27/09/97 -0400, Mystaros wrote: >I have conjectured that the holes at the poles are a simple, >natural way to allow radiant energy from the HW sun to escape. Rather than >devise a (perhaps costly) magical way to dissipate extra energies, the holes >allow them to void into the Void, so to speak. Just look at the illustration >on page 268 of the Cyclopedia; this is also the effect that apparently >creates Mystara's "Aurora Borealis". Very good explanation :) >During the Blackmoor era, the holes were rather smaller (pg. 11 of the HW >DMSB). Also, IMC, the smaller polar openings were covered by the polar ice >cap once the Blackmoorians achieved a higher level of technology; the >energies were slowly dissipated through the cap, at a relatively slower rate >than prior. The reasoning behind the larger holes post-GRoF is that as more >human civilizations arrived in the HW, the ambient temperatures would need to >be somewhat lower than that required before, as pre-GRoF the world was, as a >whole, rather warmer than post-GRoF (again, IMC; devised to explain the >"subtropical" nature of Blackmoor in "The North"). Thus, the temperatures of >the HW went from a more Saurian sweltering, humid heat to a level more >amenable to humans... after all, the only major (Canonical) occupants of the >HW prior to the GRoF were the Dinos and the Brute-Men... I think this hypothesis doesn't hold. Remember that in HW each culture gains its own "climatic bubble" (Nithian desert next to the Jennite steppes and the icy northlands!!) thanks to the Spell of Preservation and high immortal magics, so the holes don't really affect the HW weather. However i think your hypothesis on the radiant energy of the HW sun holds: it's just not linked to HW climate. DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 13:30:53 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Brotherhood of the Radiance On Tue, 30 Sep 1997 Galeifel@aol.com wrote: > In einer eMail vom 30.09.97 05:32:55, schreiben Sie: > > << I definitely believe that the Radiance is still draining from energy, > after > all, it was only "recharged" (at least that was the way I read things). I > assume that the 6 members was based on your count of the characters listed > in > Glantri:KoM, which may or may not be an accurate accounting, I will have to > do some looking into the matter some more... (who is in charge of Glantri > for > the next almanac anyway). >> > > Well, check The Immortal's Fury (WotI Book 2, p. 70, right column) : > > "Now that the Nucleus of the spheres is draining its power from entropy... > > I always assumed that the radiance was reprogrammed to punish the > Brother'hood of the Shadow, but on the other hand also granting > entropy-related powers. And, yes those six members were counted from G:KoM. > They are: > > Brannart McGregor > Fernando de Casanegra > Harald Haaskinz > Angus McGregor > Maximilian Hiletier > Alasdair McAllister > > (and perhaps Etienne after his return) Yep yep. A major flaw in G:KoM. The Radience is now linked with Entropy. However the Sphere will soon become immune to the draining effect. The Nucleus will now produce immortals to this sphere. All of this was clarified in an earlier posting by Bruce Heard. I think it is available somewhere on web... Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 16:26:02 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: [Mystara] Module Questions 1. I have a copy of B11 Kings Festival. However, one of the pullout sections are missing. I'm interested in the information on page 13-14 and 19-20. Especially the info on how to link this adventure with its sequel B12 Queens harvest 2.Some time age someone on this offered me some info on Dymrak Dread. I'd like a symmary of the plot ++ If anyone could help me out here, it would help me a lot :) Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 09:57:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] NickNames for Inhabitants of Different Regions Minrothad - Thadders, Guildsmen, Guilders, Minrothadians Thyatis - Thyatians pure and simple Alphatia - Alphatians [usually referring to human Alphatians] Shye-Lawre - Shye, Alphatian Elves Alfhiem - Alfim, Alfhime Shadow Elves - Dark Elves, Five Shires - Hin, Hinnish, Shire Hin Glantri - Glantrians when refering to them as a whole Flaems - Flems, Flamish, Flames Darokin - Darokinian Ylaraum - Ylari Ierendi - Ierendi, Ierendians Sind - Sindian Yavdlom - Yavish, Yav Northlands - Northmen Karameikos- Karameikan Traldara heritage - Traldar, Traldaran Rockhome - Dwarves Ethegar Khanates- Ethengar, Ethengarians, the people of the steepes Heldannic Territories- Heldan, the Knights [in referring to army or clerics] A few remarks about demihumans IMC- Most humans see the elves, dwarves, and halflings as one and the same. As such some refer to them as a single people. This is not out of any animosity. It is born out of the average Mystaran's lack of knowledge concerning the demihumans. The demihuman is seen as a member of that particular demihuman race and called that. Example- An Alfheim Elf and a Shye-Lawre Elf would be referred to as an elf. The addition is that the Shye might be referred to as an Alphatian elf. Most of these nicknames are not out of animosity. They are the simple way that various peoples refer to a particular nation of people. Some are born out of abbreviation. Others are alterred by slang. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 11:26:42 EST From: Neal Daskal Subject: Re: [Mystara] Module Questions > >1. I have a copy of B11 Kings Festival. >However, one of the pullout sections are missing. I'm interested in the >information on page 13-14 and 19-20. Especially the info on how to link >this adventure with its sequel B12 Queens harvest Without looking it up (so I may be off), the rescued cleric from B11 sends the party to his friend, Lord Penhaligon, to start B12. Let me know if you need a looked-up link if other list denizens don't come up with a confirmed story in a day or so. > >2.Some time age someone on this offered me some info on Dymrak Dread. I'd >like a symmary of the plot ++ If anyone could help me out here, it would >help me a lot :) The "Dymrak Dread" is a goblin chieftain whose band makes innocent Karameikans dread entering the Dymrak Forest. IIRC, the module starts at the entrance to the lair because the confident goblins make no effort to cover their tracks. It's a 2-stage dungeon crawl: goblin lair and ancient crypt (with wight). ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 13:31:32 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@AOL.COM Subject: Re: [Mystara]Armed Forces "Operation Hydra" One thing I omitted from my post on both the Thyatian and Minrothad Order of Battles. It is the further breakdown of troops into even smaller units based on officers and NCOs. Basically it is just breaking the Division down to Company and Platoon Units. I will demonstrate using the first Banner of a Thyatian Cohort. In Operation Hydra, there are instances where the Cohorts are broken down to units smaller than the Banner. I just want you to know what I mean if I say "2nd and 3rd Platoon of 2nd Company are moved to support the 4th and 5th Platoon of 3rd Company. Warfare causes such dispertions of troops to cover enemy attacks and troop losses. Composition of Thyatian Cohort Banner 1: 800 (F1) Heavy Inf. Commanded by one Capt. (F6), Company 1: 200 (F1) Heavy Inf. commanded by one Lt. (F4) and led by 5 Sgts.(F3) Platoon 1: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 2: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 3: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 4: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 5: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Company 2: 200 (F1) Heavy Inf. commanded by one Lt. (F4) and led by 5 Sgts. (F3) Platoon 1: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 2: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 3: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 4: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 5: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Company 3: 200 (F1) Heavy Inf. commanded by one Lt. (F4) and led by 5 Sgts. (F3) Platoon 1: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 2: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 3: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 4: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 5: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Company 4: 200 (F1) Heavy Inf. commanded by one Lt. (F4) and led by 5 Sgts. (F3) Platoon 1: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 2: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 3: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 4: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) Platoon 5: 40 (F1) Heavy Inf. led by one Sgt. (F3) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 17:31:05 -0400 (EDT) From: LSimoni@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Malpheggi HWR I volunteer. Notify me by email if you need my help. LMS ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 14:06:48 -0700 (PDT) From: Matthew Levy Subject: Re: [Mystara] Here's a linguistic stickler for you no, no, no, that's not right at all. If you want something Traladaran, you need to use a Slavic language from the real world as your basis, not Latin. I took a year of Russian in college and have a dictionary somewhere ... it seems to me that I remember that the word for wolf is "volk" or something similar, but "bane" is a little bit harder. I will look this up when I get the chance and post the answer. m@2 "You're not really in love with yourself - you're just in love with the idea of being in love with yourself" - said to me by one of the two little fellas who hang out on either of my shoulders ... I can't remember which ... On Wed, 1 Oct 1997, Eric Guindon wrote: > > > David 'Azure' Leland wrote: > > > Greetings, > > > > This character's name is going to mean wolfbane, as in the herb Aconitum > > napellus, also known as Aconite, Monkshood, and a variety of other names. > > I'm trying to come up with an appropriate name for wolfbane in the > > Traladaran language, first because the name should be Traladaran and not > > English, and second because I think the name sounds too cheesy in English > > (much like dragonbane, orcbane, etc.) where it might not in Traladaran, > > even though the intended association IS with the bane of (were)wolves. > > I think that the best thing to do is to name Wolfbane according to the latan origin > of the world... the best thing I have > found so far is "lupus victis" who mean something like "wolf vanquish"... On the > same idea you could call it "Lupus Venctus"... > > Eric > > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 18:57:49 -0400 From: Michael Ray Johnson Subject: Re: [Mystara] Here's a linguistic stickler for you Eric Guindon wrote: > > David 'Azure' Leland wrote: > > > Greetings, > > > > This character's name is going to mean wolfbane, as in the herb Aconitum > > napellus, also known as Aconite, Monkshood, and a variety of other names. > > I'm trying to come up with an appropriate name for wolfbane in the > > Traladaran language, first because the name should be Traladaran and not > > English, and second because I think the name sounds too cheesy in English > > (much like dragonbane, orcbane, etc.) where it might not in Traladaran, > > even though the intended association IS with the bane of (were)wolves. > > I think that the best thing to do is to name Wolfbane according to the latan origin > of the world... the best thing I have > found so far is "lupus victis" who mean something like "wolf vanquish"... On the > same idea you could call it "Lupus Venctus"... > > Eric On the same topic... it's always a good idea to check grammar, as well... otherwise, one ends up with names like "provincia septentriona," which should be "provincia septentrionalis" (at least in nom. sing.). Perhaps they thought it was too long a name? Frauke Jurgensen ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 21:09:39 -0400 From: Aron Reif Subject: Re: [Mystara] Module Questions At 04:26 PM 10/1/97 +0200, you wrote: > >1. I have a copy of B11 Kings Festival. >However, one of the pullout sections are missing. I'm interested in the >information on page 13-14 and 19-20. Especially the info on how to link >this adventure with its sequel B12 Queens harvest > p. 13: listing of general combat sequence, listing of damage done by different types of weapons, listing of general saving throws, listing of general armor class table p. 14: blank rectangular grid p. 19: blank character record sheet p. 20: an "adventure clock" (boxes that you're supposed to check off as rounds go by), map of Penhaligon region, handout #1 (a letter) in short, you're not really missing anything. In case you need it, the letter goes: To the wizard Kavorquian: Urgent and grave news! Peril stalks the land. A force grows not far from here, commanded by one who walks in shadow with wickedness and madness. Her mind is warped; she is exploited by one of cunning and evil among her followers. I was told by the mercenary who escaped her service that this "queen" determines daily to bring a harvest of death to the land... The map shows a gazetteer-style detail of the Penhaligon Region: the Wufwolde Hills are to the northeast of Penhaligon Stallanford is roughly 21 miles north of Penhaligon along the Duke's Road The "Entrance to Orc Caves" is roughly 9 miles northeast of Stallanford The Black Peak Mountains are west of Stallanford Those are the general landmarks. If you have B12, a modified version of the same map appears on p. 15 (the Orc Cave entrance is 3 hexes NE of Stallanford) Hope this helps. (I also hope TSR doesn't consider this plagerism...) Aron Reif areif@erols.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 21:45:39 -0500 From: brunciak Subject: Re: [Mystara] Here's a linguistic stickler for you Matthew Levy wrote: > > no, no, no, that's not right at all. If you want something > Traladaran, you need to use a Slavic language from the real world as > your basis, not Latin. I took a year of Russian in college and have > a dictionary somewhere ... it seems to me that I remember that the > word for wolf is > "volk" or something similar, but "bane" is a little bit harder. I > will look this up when I get the chance and post the answer. > m@2 I'm Slovak by heritage. Maybe that might be of some help. In Slovak wolf="vlk" which would be the same as "volk". There is no direct translation for bane, not at least that I know of, but you could use "bolest" for pain or "jed" for poison. You could also try "skoda" for harm. I myself would go for "Volkjed" as a name. Hope this helps! BOB ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 21:54:01 -0500 From: brunciak Subject: Re: [Mystara] NickNames for Inhabitants of Different Regions Alex295@aol.com wrote: > Most of these nicknames are not out of animosity. They are the > simple way that various peoples refer to a particular nation of > people. Some are born out of abbreviation. Others are alterred by > slang. I have to agree. Most nicknames are mostly for abbreviation and not derrogitory. "Yanks" is just a fast way to call Americans. I think, though, that certain cultures should have native words that are derogatory towards their enemies, such as an Ylari word that would address Thyatians as something other than Thyatians or a rude Jennite word for Alphatians. BOB ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 22:51:07 -0500 From: brunciak Subject: [Mystara] Aengmor&Battlesystem This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - --------------284865C81487 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Hello! I stated a while back that I was going to post the stats for the armies in Battlesystem™ format. I had some problems outside of D&D so this has taken a while. Anyway, I'm posting the first country, Aengmor, just to see your reactions (i.e.comments, improvements, etc.) before I move on to the rest. One last note: My commuter is a crippled Mac and the only way I can send it is by this arrangement. Sorry if there is any problem. COMMENTS ARE NEEDED! Thanks! 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Most of these have proven quite effective for provoking barroom brawls. Thyatis: Imperialist or Storm Soldier. The latter is especially effective with Thyatians who are NOT of Hattian origin. Alphatia: Airhead (from "Followers of the Air") -- this insult is probably popular in Glantri Ylaruam: Harem Guard. This one is particularly nasty and should not be used in the presence of an armed Ylari. Glantri: "Godless Wizard-Lover" should pretty well cover it for most foreigners. Most Glantrians will not be offended by this one -- if you wish for them to take them offense, call them by the name of their worst enemies among the Principalities. All who are not of Klantyre origin will surely take offense at being called "Highlanders". Alfheim: Tree Hugger or Fairy Aengmor: Tree Killer or Dark Elf Rockhome: Rockhead Northern Reaches: Hornhead Five Shires: Shorty Darokin: Dippy (short for "Diplomat") -- suggests stupidity and cowardice. Ethengar: Ethie Hule: Holy Wacko Yavdlom: Fortune Teller. ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #156 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@ (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #157 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@ Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@ Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Monday, October 6 1997 Volume 02 : Number 157 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 04:43:58 +0100 From: Peter Balazs Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aengmor&Battlesystem Hi! >Anyway, I'm posting the first country, Aengmor, just to >see your reactions (i.e.comments, improvements, etc.) >before I move on to the rest. 1.) Thank you! 2.) To really comment on the number is quite impossible, but I think that you "translated" it quite good. How does the BR of the War Machine get into your computation of Battlesystem scores? >One last note: My commuter is a crippled >Mac and the only way I can send it is by this arrangement. Sorry if >there is any problem. COMMENTS ARE NEEDED! Thanks! The attachment didn´t really work perfect, but it worked. ************************************************************ Peter Balazs Wurlitzerg. 37/12 1160 Wien 0222/4816030 a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ac.at http://radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs ************************************************************ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 10:28:37 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Module Questions On Wed, 1 Oct 1997, Neal Daskal wrote: > > > >1. I have a copy of B11 Kings Festival. > >However, one of the pullout sections are missing. I'm interested in the > >information on page 13-14 and 19-20. Especially the info on how to link > >this adventure with its sequel B12 Queens harvest > > Without looking it up (so I may be off), the rescued cleric from B11 > sends the party to his friend, Lord Penhaligon, to start B12. Let > me know if you need a looked-up link if other list denizens don't > come up with a confirmed story in a day or so. Yep. What you say is true, but I there should be an essential handout somewhere, which I am missing. Isn't there a letter or something sent by Alaric(the Cleric) presented in B11? > >2.Some time age someone on this offered me some info on Dymrak Dread. I'd > >like a symmary of the plot ++ If anyone could help me out here, it would > >help me a lot :) > > The "Dymrak Dread" is a goblin chieftain whose band makes innocent > Karameikans dread entering the Dymrak Forest. IIRC, the module > starts at the entrance to the lair because the confident goblins > make no effort to cover their tracks. It's a 2-stage dungeon crawl: > goblin lair and ancient crypt (with wight). Any detailed information about the goblin band and the chieftan? Is the wight interesting in any way? Any information about the forest which may be used as background material for other adventures? Is there a "further adventures" section or similar(anything of interest here?) IRC the Eye of Traldara was to be described further in this adventure. Could you give me a description? I know these are plenty of questions, but if you have the time it'd be great if you could help me out. Thanks. Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 08:42:09 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] NickNames for Inhabitants of Different Regions On Wed, 1 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > Ylaruam: Harem Guard. This one is particularly nasty and should not > be used in the presence of an armed Ylari. I like this one. Another nasty one (and quite-likely mortal insult) would be to call a Ylari a "non-believer" (referenced, of course, to their reverence of Al-Kalim). - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) Church of Jimmy Buffett "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 10:16:29 -0500 (EST) From: Mike Subject: Re: [Mystara] NickNames for Inhabitants of Different Regions Hello all! I've recently re-joined the mailing list after a quite relaxing summer vaction. I hope I may contribute a few worth while ideas or discussion's as well. Well not to tip-toe around like a hin thief, I shall come to my point...err.....question(s) that is. I've read the Dragonlord trilogy. The book mentioned a clan/group/species of elves that were called 'Eldar' (if I recall correctly). Would these elves be considered sylvan or high elves, as opposed to the Alfhiem elves, being possibly wood elves? I of course don't have access to any of the elven Gazzeteer's that might hold the answer. So anything would be appreciated. Now to place my own side onto the subject at hand. > Interesting question. One thing I like to add is that most commoners > probably don't really bother figuring out exactly where a foreigner > is from, and just have one name for anyone who is not a native. I would think that commoners might enjoy meeting a foreigner, and eventually find out where the person is from. "You know, your accent reminds me of a Glantrian wizard I once met. I don't suppose you've ever been there?" They'd probably want to catch up on news from other places. Maybe even express they don't like people from that area (which could lead to them using a demeaning tone of the nickname used. ie: 'Daro'). I hope I typed that so it makes sense. ; ) That's all for the moment. TTFN. Prodyn ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 17:22:17 -0400 (EDT) From: Mystaros@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Timeline question In a message dated 97-10-01 04:20:48 EDT, you write: << I think this hypothesis doesn't hold. Remember that in HW each culture gains its own "climatic bubble" (Nithian desert next to the Jennite steppes and the icy northlands!!) thanks to the Spell of Preservation and high immortal magics, so the holes don't really affect the HW weather. However i think your hypothesis on the radiant energy of the HW sun holds: it's just not linked to HW climate. DM >> While it is true that each cultural region has its own micro/mini climate, I would argue that there is a general climactic pattern that still needs must be maintained, and that is the general pattern that is supported/created by the energies from the HW "sun". The HW's climatic regions follow a general terrestial model, and this is I feel, supported by the energy radiated from the "sun". Tropical at the equator (except at the higher altitudes), temperate in the middle and arctic near the poles is tha general pattern for earth-like worlds. The problem therein is, if the HW's "sun" is actually a gate to the Elemental Plane of Fire ("Sphere of Energy" in the HWSB, surely an editorial mistake) positioned at the exact center of the HW, there would not naturally be *any* climatic zones, as the Earth'c climate is determined for the most part by the axial tilt of the planet in relation to the plane of the sun's rays (fewer rays at the poles, more at the equator). There are no natural season in the HW, only those artifically created by the Immortals. However, the history would lead one to believe that the climatic patterns predated the populating of the HW (pg 6, " The land turned much colder toward the poles"). Therefore, a reason other than axial tilt must esist for the climatic zones of the HW; this, I determined IMC, was the nature of the Gate that forms the HW's "sun". Rather than being a three-dimensional "spherical" Gate, IMC it is a two-dimensional Dual Gate (in other words, enters/emits from the EPoF from both sides of a circular Gate), a coin-shaped gate, in effect. This Gate was set spinning on an axis equivalent to that of the equators, with the "faces" of the gate toward the equator and the thin "sides" toward the poles (the gate spins fast enough that the spin is not noticable). Thus, the greatest amount of direct energies emitting from the Gate are directed to the eqautorial regions, while lesser amounts are directed toward the temperate zone, and mere minor energies toward the poles (also explaining why it's "darker" toward the poles, at least IMC). This creates a "natural" climate pattern in the HW, and allows the Immortals to use fewer energies to create and maintain appropriate micro and mini climates, as macro-climatic zones are already in place and would require only (relatively) minor energies to adjust... Mystaros ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 20:12:16 -0400 From: Aron Reif Subject: Re: [Mystara] NickNames for Inhabitants of Different Regions > >I've read the Dragonlord trilogy. The book mentioned a >clan/group/species of elves that were called 'Eldar' (if I recall >correctly). Would these elves be considered sylvan or high elves, >as opposed to the Alfhiem elves, being possibly wood elves? > >I of course don't have access to any of the elven Gazzeteer's >that might hold the answer. So anything would be appreciated. > well, if you're using the basic AD&D elven sub-species variations (such as found in the Complete Book of Elves--high, grey, sylvan, aquatic, dark) then I would probably say that Alfheim/Karameikan/Alphatian/Minrothaddan/Thyatian elves are all different versions of high elves. I would guess that the Wendarian elves are sylvan (I might be wrong, I don't know much about them). I think the Sylvan Realm elves would probably be considered grey elves. Mystara has no drow. The Sea elves are obviously Aquatic. What are the Eldar? Good question. I don't think they are any of the "generic" elven types. They are probably much more powerful than any of the "lesser" elves. By the way--I just finished the Dragonlord Trilogy myself. It was great! I would say that this was some of the best writing to come out of the TSR presses. The Dragonlord Trilogy was certainly better than anything else I've read from TSR (except for the Weis/Hickman Dragonlance stuff). I've read quite a bit of the Dragonlance stuff, an all the Dark Sun stuff, even a few Forgotten Realms books, and the Dragonlord Trilogy tops them all. Go out and get it! Aron Reif areif@erols.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 14:22:24 +0100 From: Peter Balazs Subject: Re: [Mystara] DotE hi! >Also, you can check for the various elven timelines that some fellow >list members have made out of the various official supplements. >And in addition to that, you can have a different view on the Shiye of >Norwold by reading my short story about Zoltan the Treekeeper, which >unfortunately you can't find anymore on my homepage since it's closed, >but it's in a digest and maybe somewhere else too. And which file shall I download? ************************************************************ Peter Balazs Wurlitzerg. 37/12 1160 Wien 0222/4816030 a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ac.at http://radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs ************************************************************ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 15:55:20 CEST From: "Herve Musseau" Subject: Re: [Mystara] DotE > hi! > >>Also, you can check for the various elven timelines that some fellow >>list members have made out of the various official supplements. >>And in addition to that, you can have a different view on the Shiye of >>Norwold by reading my short story about Zoltan the Treekeeper, which >>unfortunately you can't find anymore on my homepage since it's closed, >>but it's in a digest and maybe somewhere else too. > >And which file shall I download? Well, my homepage is back, follow the link in my sig. And on Shawn's page, you can find the timelines for Wendar/Daenagoth, and the Varellyan timeline, plus the compiled Timeline of Mystara (all compiled from the list). IIRC some people mentioned some time ago that they were working on an elven timeline, I don't know how their projects are going though. __________________________________________________________ Herve Musseau Primary Email: herve@hotmail.com Also: hmusseau@compuserve.com Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Lair/8932/ I'm a QSQWBEEEGGNFR Mystaran ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 14:50:42 +0300 (GMT) From: sq7s@dc.uba.ar (Sebastian Quiles) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Timeline question > > Rather than being a three-dimensional "spherical" Gate, IMC it is a > two-dimensional Dual Gate (in other words, enters/emits from the EPoF from > [...] > and maintain appropriate micro and mini climates, as macro-climatic zones are > already in place and would require only (relatively) minor energies to > adjust... > > Mystaros > That's the way? aha, aha... I like it! - -- Sebastian Quiles ================ Universidad de Buenos Aires ARGENTINA mailto:sq7s@dc.uba.ar ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 16:40:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Matthew Levy Subject: [Mystara] Elves in Mystara I think you're right that the various races of Elves in Mystara don't match up with the types listed in "stock" AD&D material, but then they probably shouldn't - other (AD&D) campaigns have variations on the standard version - in some cases extreme variations (e.g. Dark Sun) - so Mystara elves shouldn't depend on the standard books. The Skills and Powers book, however, has a variety of Elven Attributes that can be bought separately or in package deals for subgroups ... so if you like you can customize your own groups using the chart therein and have one set of abilities for Verdier elves, one for Shiye-Lawr, one for shadow elves, etc. m@2 "You're not really in love with yourself - you're just in love with the idea of being in love with yourself" - said to me by one of the two little fellas who hang out on either of my shoulders ... I can't remember which ... On Thu, 2 Oct 1997, Aron Reif wrote: > > > >I've read the Dragonlord trilogy. The book mentioned a > >clan/group/species of elves that were called 'Eldar' (if I recall > >correctly). Would these elves be considered sylvan or high elves, > >as opposed to the Alfhiem elves, being possibly wood elves? > > > >I of course don't have access to any of the elven Gazzeteer's > >that might hold the answer. So anything would be appreciated. > > > > well, if you're using the basic AD&D elven sub-species variations (such as > found in the Complete Book of Elves--high, grey, sylvan, aquatic, dark) > then I would probably say that > Alfheim/Karameikan/Alphatian/Minrothaddan/Thyatian elves are all different > versions of high elves. I would guess that the Wendarian elves are sylvan > (I might be wrong, I don't know much about them). I think the Sylvan Realm > elves would probably be considered grey elves. Mystara has no drow. The > Sea elves are obviously Aquatic. What are the Eldar? Good question. I > don't think they are any of the "generic" elven types. They are probably > much more powerful than any of the "lesser" elves. > > By the way--I just finished the Dragonlord Trilogy myself. It was great! > I would say that this was some of the best writing to come out of the TSR > presses. The Dragonlord Trilogy was certainly better than anything else > I've read from TSR (except for the Weis/Hickman Dragonlance stuff). I've > read quite a bit of the Dragonlance stuff, an all the Dark Sun stuff, even > a few Forgotten Realms books, and the Dragonlord Trilogy tops them all. Go > out and get it! > > Aron Reif > areif@erols.com > > ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Oct 1997 21:43:58 +0100 From: "Leroy Van Camp III" Subject: [Mystara] [ADMIN] Just A Test Haven't seen any thing from the list in a day or so, and thought I might give it a quick test. So, any list member on UO yet? Leroy Van Camp III malacoda@lesbois.com owner-mystara-l@io.com "You know, not kneeing you in the groin is a constant struggle." MST3K ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 00:52:46 -0400 (EDT) From: Mystaros@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] [ADMIN] Just A Test In a message dated 97-10-04 23:52:03 EDT, you write: << Haven't seen any thing from the list in a day or so, and thought I might give it a quick test. So, any list member on UO yet? Leroy Van Camp III malacoda@lesbois.com owner-mystara-l@io.com >> Still here on AOL, unfortunately... I was wondering what was up with the list myself... it's not like I had posted anything, after all... :) Mystaros ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 16:00:47 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta Okay then -- since things seem to be slowing down a tad... :) I had started a discussion elsewhere about rakasta which we can just as well resume here. I'm working on the rakasta follow-up article and an issue came up. It turns out rakasta are pretty powerful when you start adding up all the things they can do. I would think more so than the lupins. One way to balance out things was to require a larger than usual amount of sleep. Real World felines, from lions to domestic cats, require some 16 hours of sleep. It would seem logical to assume rakasta would be affected by that as well. The question is -- how much sleep? Right now, the amount of time seems to be between 12 and 16 hours, assuming the rakasta are humanoids and therefore require a bit less sleep than real felines (and assuming humans would need 8 hours). A rakasta that decides to keep going past its *naptime* would suffer some penalties until properly rested. It can also rest with episodic naps rather than one long, uninterrupted sleep. Any opinions? Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 15:33:26 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: [Mystara] General ramblings It's me again. Formerly know as wjnowackl@mem.po.com I am now anowack@juno.com In the past week, I have gotten copies of Domains of Dread and Dark Sun, and have been thinking about ways to incorparate Ravenloft into Mystara (this borrows some from DM's site) Long ago, the Old Ones were much more numerous and had a strict policy of non-interference. However, a group of old ones wanted to change this and war broke out. Hundreds were recruited on both sides of the conflict (the disapperance of the Elder Immortals). After long war, the dissenters were defeated and thrown into a prison plane. One of the dissenters, however, managed to create the Mists just before he was imprisoned. The Mists began to move portion of the Prime Material plane into the prison dimmension (Ravenloft). The dissenters bacame known as the dark powers... The Old Ones ignored this because they did not want another war. This begs the question: Why weren't many of the Entropic Immortals taken by the Mists on their quest for Immortality. Simply, the power of the Immortals repulses the Mists. No Immortal or cannidate for Immortality can be taken by the Mists! A "Mystaran Core" made up of Mystaran domains is in the early planning stages (The "Man, it woud be neat if I did this" stage) Though the inhabitants of the Core would probaly call it a large Cluster. Also, has anyone else wondered why Hule dosen't have a Hollow World presence? The Master must have known about the HW for a long time (I can't immagine him not). Any ideas? Aaron Nowack ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 18:28:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Master and Hollow World (was Re: [Mystara] General ramblings) In a message dated 97-10-05 16:50:09 EDT, anowack@juno.com writes: << Also, has anyone else wondered why Hule dosen't have a Hollow World presence? The Master must have known about the HW for a long time (I can't immagine him not). Any ideas? >> Three questions -- 1) How would he find out? My guess would be that he would have been one of the last rather than one of the first to find out. 2) How would he get there, given that there seem to be no openings to the Hollow World anywhere near Hule? 3) Given that the Master does know about the Hollow World, why would he bother with it? It is too remote to be of any strategic value to him. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 04 Oct 1997 15:58:48 +0100 From: Peter Balazs Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta Long time, no see! > One way to balance out things was to require a larger than usual amount of >sleep. Real World felines, from lions to domestic cats, require some 16 hours >of sleep. It would seem logical to assume rakasta would be affected by that >as well. Right! Nice idea! It certainly doesn´t feel catlike, if it doesn´t sleep all the time! So I´d say the rakasta prefers to sleep all the day, except when he is eating. But I´d say 12 hours would be the minimum. Below that there will be mali, BUt that brings me to another question: The question is -- how much sleep? Right now, the amount of time >seems to be between 12 and 16 hours, assuming the rakasta are humanoids and >therefore require a bit less sleep than real felines (and assuming humans >would need 8 hours). A rakasta that decides to keep going past its *naptime* >would suffer some penalties until properly rested. It can also rest with >episodic naps rather than one long, uninterrupted sleep. Which penalities? A player of mine insists on playing a human, who only sleeps 4 hours a day. What would be the minimum for humans? (Of course we are talking about mean values, I´m sure even a rakasta could be awake 24 hours, if it really is necessary. I´d propose 7 hours for humans, 12 for rakasta. Penalities? Hmm, how about loosing at first Intelligence and wisdom points plus some penalities on mental skills, than strength and dexterity and penalties on physical skills. My experience tells me that you first become slow at thinkng, then slow at hand, and than weak. I think letting it depend on constitution would also be a good idea. So: WHWS = Workable Hours Without Sleep. Yes, I know, it´s not the best term, but who cares? This is just the first version. Kon | WHWS | necesaary sleep period - ------------------------------------------ 3-5 | 20 hours +1 hour 6-9 | 24 hours 10-15| 30 hours -1 hour 16-18| 36 hours -2 hours So if the first WHWS have pasted, you loose -2 Int, -2 Wis, and get -3 on all mental skills.I´d say here you start on letting the PC roll against KON after every strenous activity, if he doesn´t fall asleep. If you are beyond the second WHWS you loose -2 Str, -2 Dex, and loose -3 on all physical skills, of course also on THAC0. Kon rolls with a -2. In the fourth period of WHWS (after 3xWHWS) he gets -5Int, -5 Wis and -10 on mental skills(!). Kon -5! And so on. If the PC (or NPC) only sleeps a fraction of the time, just use the same quotient with the WHWS. Example: A Pc with Kon 13 doesn´t sleep for 65 hours. He now has -2Int, -2 Wis, -2 Str, -2 Dex and -3 on all mental or hysical skills. He then sleeps for 4 hours, which is 2/3 of the time, he should sleep (7-1=6). So after he is awakened, he now has a WHWs of 43 (2/3 * 65 = 43.333), so he still has - -2Int and -2 Wis. This all sound quite complicated, probably too complicated, doesn´t it. It would also be a good idea to multiply the necessary amount of sleep, with the number, how often the Pc is over his WHWS. So the Pc in the example should have slept 12 hours. Hmm, let me hear your thoughts about that! P.S.: Bruce, first nice to hear from you again. Second I think everybody on the list would be quite eager to know what you are up to? What are you working on? ************************************************************ Peter Balazs Wurlitzerg. 37/12 1160 Wien 0222/4816030 a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ac.at http://radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs ************************************************************ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 18:13:55 -0500 From: "Tim Haney" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta Bruce, I would agree that they require sleep 12 to 16 hours from their feline origins. However, since they are humanoids they should suffer the same penalties humans do going without sleep. Also, rakasta being more humaniod than real felines, the benefits of a 'catnap' is greatly reduced. I would even go on to say that the use of illusion and magic makes a 'catnap' unbeneficial. All part of being intelligent ;) - ---------- > as well. The question is -- how much sleep? Right now, the amount of time > seems to be between 12 and 16 hours, assuming the rakasta are humanoids and > therefore require a bit less sleep than real felines (and assuming humans > would need 8 hours). A rakasta that decides to keep going past its *naptime* > would suffer some penalties until properly rested. It can also rest with > episodic naps rather than one long, uninterrupted sleep. > Any opinions? > > Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 21:07:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta << One way to balance out things was to require a larger than usual amount of sleep. Real World felines, from lions to domestic cats, require some 16 hours of sleep. It would seem logical to assume rakasta would be affected by that as well. The question is -- how much sleep? Right now, the amount of time seems to be between 12 and 16 hours, assuming the rakasta are humanoids and therefore require a bit less sleep than real felines (and assuming humans would need 8 hours). A rakasta that decides to keep going past its *naptime* would suffer some penalties until properly rested. It can also rest with episodic naps rather than one long, uninterrupted sleep. Any opinions?>> Being a cat owner I would tend to agree with the 12 to 16 hour rest period... How about this for each 24 hour period Length of main sleep (in hours) Frequency & Length of required catnaps 0-3 40 mins/hour 4-6 30 mins/hour 7-10 20 mins/hour 11-15 10 mins/hour 16+ can go rest of the day without extra nap Any rakasta which doesn't take the required extra catnaps (depending on how long his/her main rest period was) receives the same penalties as a human who didn't get a full night's sleep. The catnaps can be taken in 10 minute increments any time during each hour & don't have to be continuous (i.e. a rakasta required to get 20 mins of catnaps in an hour can be awake for 10 mins, sleep for 10, be awake for 20, sleep for another 10, then be up for the last 10 mins of the hour and have met his sleeping requirements for that hour). If it has been 24 hours since the start of the rakasta's last main sleep period treat it as being a new day for purposes of determining frequency of required catnaps. Also have you considered catnip as weapon used by enemies of rakastas? (Save vs poison or be confused like the M-U Confusion spell). Couldn't resist that question:) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 22:10:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Mystaros@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta In a message dated 97-10-05 16:18:57 EDT, you write: << A rakasta that decides to keep going past its *naptime* would suffer some penalties until properly rested. It can also rest with episodic naps rather than one long, uninterrupted sleep. Any opinions? Bruce Heard >> Sounds good! Also, you might want them to have a problem with short attention spans. Sort of like a madness type of thing, where they would have to roll against WIS to keep their concentration on a non-threatening matter for any extended length of time... Though if you put anything in about Goes Berserk in Presence of Balls of String, you *WILL* suffer an appropriate debilitating curse... Mystaros ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 21:26:46 -0500 From: "Tim Haney" Subject: [Mystara] Mighty Mages I was just wondering something that maybe has been discussed before (I'm new here). Toril has Elminster, Krynn has/had Raistlin and Dalamar, Oerth has Mordenkainen as masters of magic that most players see as that world's greatest mage. Mystara hasn't had a mage come out as a one true master of magic. I think Terari has a good start as the Master of the Karameikan School of Magecraft (and former Alphatian Emperor). Since he was a wandering mage before accepting the post at Karameikos, he should have seen and done quite abit not to mention being long-lived. I was just wondering what everyone else thought. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 05 Oct 1997 22:49:33 -0400 From: Aron Reif Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta At 03:58 PM 10/4/97 +0100, you wrote: > >Penalities? Hmm, how about loosing at first Intelligence and wisdom points >plus some penalities on mental skills, than strength and dexterity and >penalties on physical skills. > >My experience tells me that you first become slow at thinkng, then slow at >hand, and than weak. > heck, I'd change that all around. In my experience, first you'd loose charisma, dexterity, and strength, then intelligence and wisdom. I'm always grumpy when I don't get enough sleep, which means I'm not going to be very friendly (charismatic). If I'm tired enough, my reflexes and strength aren't what they usually are. Last to go is intelligence and wisdom. My proof is passing all those tests in college after staying up all night studying. My mind might have been a little slower, but I still knew what I was doing. Lastly, I think that if you don't get enough sleep on a continual basis, you start losing constitution. This may be in the rules somewhere already, but I wasn't sure (and didn't want to spend the next half-hour looking it up). Aron Reif areif@erols.com BTW-Bruce...I like the new name! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 04 Oct 1997 23:09:53 -0500 From: brunciak Subject: [Mystara]: DM with a Darokinian Dilemma (DDD) Hello All! I recently started a campaign based in Darokin. One of my PCs has made it clear that they are going to join the army soon. This presents me with a few problems. 1) I play using AD&D rules (for convenient use as everyone I know uses these rules). This PC has all of his Weapon Proficiency slots filled. However, in Gaz 11, it says that all recruits are trained in the use of the Pike and the Rapier. Being that this PC is proficient in neither, how do I go about this? I'm probably going to teach him both weapons but then won't allow him his next two slots. What do you think? 2) Upon his joining the army, some other PCs will most likely join also. However, these others include a dwarven cleric from Dengar and a mage. When I had PCs serve in Karameikos (after being falsely accused of murder) I had no problem as all of them were warriors in some aspect or another. What should I do? I have of few ideas (actually alot) but I want some outside opinions. Thanks You! Bob Brunciak P.S. What happened? Was it just that none of us posted anything or was there a problem? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 01:38:47 -0300 From: Victor Caminha Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages >I think Terari has a good start as the Master of the Karameikan School of >Magecraft (and former Alphatian Emperor). Since he was a wandering mage >before accepting the post at Karameikos, he should have seen and done quite >abit not to mention being long-lived. I was just wondering what everyone >else thought. Welll begin to Think about the 1000 magic users of Alphatia...and to think that Barimoor is only one of them...Who needs Ettiene D'ambreville ;-) ps: i did not say "Who needs Rad" []s Victor "Receive the bounty of your hero's deed Tainting thy life by the gift of the dead Eternally running from a priestly bead Unable to bear the Orb in your head You'll walk in the darkness so alluring Without Hope to cleanse your sin Away from the joy of the living Forever to serve your Twin" ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 23:45:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta I think 12 hours of sleep would be nice. Anything more it will be annoying to other characters in the party. The cat naps don't need any required length or frequency. Could be just that anytime when the rakasta is getting bored, he need to roll againest Wis or fall asleep. That could have pretty bad effects if that happened during a watch, a dipomatic banquet, or even at a "low" point of a dungeon crawl (after couple of hours of wondering around in a cave, the rakasta just yawn, drop the weapon, and fall asleep on the spot). If the rakasta is waken up from the nap before a certain length of time, he will have some penalty until he got proper sleep. But on the other hand, rakastas could be more alert during sleep, and be waken up easier, and operate for a short time without any penalty. Just tend to fall right back to sleep when the danger is gone. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 00:09:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara]: DM with a Darokinian Dilemma (DDD) In a message dated 97-10-06 00:00:17 EDT, brunciak@erols.com writes: << However, in Gaz 11, it says that all recruits are trained in the use of the Pike and the Rapier. Being that this PC is proficient in neither, how do I go about this? I'm probably going to teach him both weapons but then won't allow him his next two slots. What do you think?>> I would give him basic proficiency (not specialization or expertise) in these weapons and deny him any further weapon proficiencies until he has "paid" the slot cost for these two. <<2) Upon his joining the army, some other PCs will most likely join also. However, these others include a dwarven cleric from Dengar and a mage. When I had PCs serve in Karameikos (after being falsely accused of murder) I had no problem as all of them were warriors in some aspect or another. What should I do? I have of few ideas (actually alot) but I want some outside opinions. >> If they join the army, give them proficiency in either or both of the required weapons, provided that their classes allow it, using "future" slots to pay for it. If their class does not allow them to learn that weapon, too bad -- they are assumed to have "washed out" in training to use it and are retained in the army only because of their other skills (after all, a Cleric and a Mage are always welcome in any Known World army). ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 05 Oct 1997 23:55:13 -0500 From: Galwylin Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta I like that idea about becoming bored and falling asleep. Guess that's why I never heard of rakasta being great guards ;) Shin Chyang Yu wrote: > > I think 12 hours of sleep would be nice. Anything more it will be > annoying to other characters in the party. The cat naps don't need > any required length or frequency. Could be just that anytime when > the rakasta is getting bored, he need to roll againest Wis or fall > asleep. That could have pretty bad effects if that happened during > a watch, a dipomatic banquet, or even at a "low" point of a dungeon > crawl (after couple of hours of wondering around in a cave, the > rakasta just yawn, drop the weapon, and fall asleep on the spot). > If the rakasta is waken up from the nap before a certain length of > time, he will have some penalty until he got proper sleep. But > on the other hand, rakastas could be more alert during sleep, and > be waken up easier, and operate for a short time without any penalty. > Just tend to fall right back to sleep when the danger is gone. > > John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 01:49:38 -0400 From: Michael Ray Johnson Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages Tim Haney wrote: > > I was just wondering something that maybe has been discussed before (I'm > new here). > > Toril has Elminster, Krynn has/had Raistlin and Dalamar, Oerth has > Mordenkainen as masters of magic that most players see as that world's > greatest mage. Mystara hasn't had a mage come out as a one true master of > magic. > > I think Terari has a good start as the Master of the Karameikan School of > Magecraft (and former Alphatian Emperor). Since he was a wandering mage > before accepting the post at Karameikos, he should have seen and done quite > abit not to mention being long-lived. I was just wondering what everyone > else thought. There are a lot of very powerful mages on Mystara, with Terari being only one of them. However, I've always liked the fact that Mystara doesn't have one who sticks out ahead of all the others. One of the things that have always bothered me most about the Forgotten Realms setting is the presence of Elminster. Mystara has powerful mages, but it's possible for the PCs to reach those heights of power as well, or even surpass them. Elminster represents a completely unreachable point for the PCs in a Forgotten Realms campaign (unless, of course, the DM imports ascension to Immortality rules into it), with powers augmented by the gods. Not only that, Elminster always seems to be involved with just about everything that goes on in the Forgotten Realms, practically supplanting the PCs in importance. This sort of problem isn't quite as bad with characters like Raistlin and Mordenkainen, but it's not much better either. Like Elminster, Raistlin seems to be the focal point of most Dragonlance stories and adventures (of course, I'm just going from my own limited knowledge of these two worlds; there's a lot of stuff out there that I haven't read, but everything I have read mentions Elminster or Raistlin). I think that elevating Terari (or any other Mystaran mage) to an Elminster-like state would be a bad move. Michael Ray Johnson ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 01:08:45 -0500 From: Rob Rickard Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages Tim Haney wrote: > I was just wondering something that maybe has been discussed before > (I'm > new here). > > Toril has Elminster, Krynn has/had Raistlin and Dalamar, Oerth has > Mordenkainen as masters of magic that most players see as that world's > > greatest mage. Mystara hasn't had a mage come out as a one true > master of > magic. three leters R-A-D. Not to mention Half the Immortals, all the princes of Glantri (our beloved d'Amberville), the 1000 unnamed 36 level Wizards of the Council of Alphatia, Bargle, & Haldmar... im sure im missing some Mystara has so many powerful mages that its hard for one or two to stand out. Also, as I said many other times, Mystara does not have many great novels out to express just how great the world and it characters are. DragonLance novels like the Legends Trilogy with the twins put Raistlin and Dalamar in the spot light. The great authors of DragonLance, Realms & Dark Sun let readers know just how great a world is. Mystara has lacked in that department. If Hickman or Denning wrote a Trilogy for Mystara (about Mystara Gazs Characters & real info) I feel that Mystara would be more popular. ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #157 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@ (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #158 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@ Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@ Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Monday, October 6 1997 Volume 02 : Number 158 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 04:00:56 -0500 From: Galwylin Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages I agree about Elminster. You wonder if he knows the date of conception of everyone in the Realms. Though I wouldn't mind seeing Terari more like Mordenkainen. Someone very knowledgable but removed from day to day life of the inhabitans of Mystara. Just someone to seek out when you've tried everyone one else. That's a position that any character could reach. What I was thinking about mainly was a spokesman for Mystara (ex. The Wizard Three articles in Dragon Magazine) but know that I think of it, I guess Joshuan has taken that place. (I did leave out one other famous mage in my first post, Khelban Blackstaff. A powerful mage but with only Waterdeep as his focus and my favorite of the Forgotten Realms mages.) Michael Ray Johnson wrote: > > There are a lot of very powerful mages on Mystara, with Terari being > only one of them. However, I've always liked the fact that Mystara > doesn't have one who sticks out ahead of all the others. One of the > things that have always bothered me most about the Forgotten Realms > setting is the presence of Elminster. > Mystara has powerful mages, but it's possible for the PCs to reach those > heights of power as well, or even surpass them. Elminster represents a > completely unreachable point for the PCs in a Forgotten Realms campaign > (unless, of course, the DM imports ascension to Immortality rules into > it), with powers augmented by the gods. Not only that, Elminster always > seems to be involved with just about everything that goes on in the > Forgotten Realms, practically supplanting the PCs in importance. > This sort of problem isn't quite as bad with characters like Raistlin > and Mordenkainen, but it's not much better either. Like Elminster, > Raistlin seems to be the focal point of most Dragonlance stories and > adventures (of course, I'm just going from my own limited knowledge of > these two worlds; there's a lot of stuff out there that I haven't read, > but everything I have read mentions Elminster or Raistlin). > I think that elevating Terari (or any other Mystaran mage) to an > Elminster-like state would be a bad move. > > Michael Ray Johnson ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 11:26:06 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Mon, 6 Oct 1997, Rob Rickard wrote: > Tim Haney wrote: > > > I was just wondering something that maybe has been discussed before > > (I'm > > new here). > > > > Toril has Elminster, Krynn has/had Raistlin and Dalamar, Oerth has > > Mordenkainen as masters of magic that most players see as that world's > > > > greatest mage. Mystara hasn't had a mage come out as a one true > > master of > > magic. > > > three leters R-A-D. > Not to mention Half the Immortals, all the princes of Glantri (our > beloved d'Amberville), the 1000 unnamed 36 level Wizards of the Council > of Alphatia, Bargle, & Haldmar... im sure im missing some Yes! Bargle the Infamous. He is Mystaras greatsest mage even though he isn't all that powerful > > Mystara has so many powerful mages that its hard for one or two to stand > out. > Also, as I said many other times, Mystara does not have many great > novels out to express just how great the world and it characters are. > DragonLance novels like the Legends Trilogy with the twins put Raistlin > and Dalamar in the spot light. The great authors of DragonLance, Realms > & Dark Sun let readers know just how great a world is. Mystara has > lacked in that department. If Hickman or Denning wrote a Trilogy for > Mystara (about Mystara Gazs Characters & real info) I feel that Mystara > would be more popular. Yes. I'd like to see some mystara books, featuring mages or other characters. Voyage of the Princess Arc is the closest thing IMO. All those other books were unfortunately more or less in contradiction with canon. Uncanny? :) With the exception of the Black Vessel though. Mazrooth al Yedom (spl?) should also be counted among the Mystara Great ones. Bruce: Whatabout a Voyage of the princess arc novel? Håvard. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 12:07:42 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Here's a linguistic stickler for you On Wed, 1 Oct 1997, Matthew Levy wrote: > no, no, no, that's not right at all. If you want something Traladaran, > you need to use a Slavic language from the real world as your basis, not > Latin. I took a year of Russian in college and have a dictionary > somewhere ... it seems to me that I remember that the word for wolf is > "volk" or something similar, but "bane" is a little bit harder. I will > look this up when I get the chance and post the answer. > Actually, I'm Russian myself, and even I'm having trouble finding a suitable translation for "bane". Most of the words that come to my mind are way too long to be used in a name (like 'unichtozhitel' ;) However, "wolfbane" could be translated to "volkodav", which is an old Russian word meaning "wolf-hunter" (specifically one that *kills* wolves). Of course, I would certainly contest that Traladara has much resemblance to Russia... BTW, anyone wanting to know Traladaran/Russian words can address the question to me, and I'll gladly provide the answer. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 11:31:00 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Mon, 6 Oct 1997, Michael Ray Johnson wrote: > There are a lot of very powerful mages on Mystara, with Terari being > only one of them. However, I've always liked the fact that Mystara > doesn't have one who sticks out ahead of all the others. One of the > things that have always bothered me most about the Forgotten Realms > setting is the presence of Elminster. > Mystara has powerful mages, but it's possible for the PCs to reach those > heights of power as well, or even surpass them. Elminster represents a > completely unreachable point for the PCs in a Forgotten Realms campaign > (unless, of course, the DM imports ascension to Immortality rules into > it), with powers augmented by the gods. Not only that, Elminster always > seems to be involved with just about everything that goes on in the > Forgotten Realms, practically supplanting the PCs in importance. > This sort of problem isn't quite as bad with characters like Raistlin > and Mordenkainen, but it's not much better either. Like Elminster, > Raistlin seems to be the focal point of most Dragonlance stories and > adventures (of course, I'm just going from my own limited knowledge of > these two worlds; there's a lot of stuff out there that I haven't read, > but everything I have read mentions Elminster or Raistlin). > I think that elevating Terari (or any other Mystaran mage) to an > Elminster-like state would be a bad move. Well, no need to make them more powerful and godlike. We already have Rad. Ofcourse Terari was questing for immortality wasn't he? However making our mages and other characters a bit famous wouldn't hurt. I actually consider Aleena HAlaran the most famour character, to mystara-fans anyway. Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 17:31:49 +0800 From: Glenn Butcher Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages Tim Haney wrote: > > I was just wondering something that maybe has been discussed before (I'm > new here). > > Toril has Elminster, Krynn has/had Raistlin and Dalamar, Oerth has > Mordenkainen as masters of magic that most players see as that world's > greatest mage. Mystara hasn't had a mage come out as a one true master of > magic. > I think that most people on the list like it that way. No Elminster you can always be counted on to be on top of the situation. Even powerful mages have their off days. > I think Terari has a good start as the Master of the Karameikan School of > Magecraft (and former Alphatian Emperor). Since he was a wandering mage > before accepting the post at Karameikos, he should have seen and done quite > abit not to mention being long-lived. I was just wondering what everyone > else thought. Terai would be good person for the post, assuming that the post is needed. There are plenty of high level mages in Mystara tho. IMC I wrote up the names etc of every high level person of every class in the back of a lecture pad. I did this so that the players could hear about these people before they met them, and not just meet another high level character the DM made up for the occasion. The players dream of getting into the "back of the book" as it is known. Some random trivia. - -- knight@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au | "You're not very religious are you" glennb@ichr.uwa.edu.au | Spoken by the goddess Kylara to finger -l for pgp key | Lynard, her high priest http://www.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/~knight/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 05:02:41 -0500 From: "Tim Haney" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages I think that would be a great idea. A series of Princess Ark novels. BTW, what was up with that Black Knight of Karameikos novel. That had to be one of the worst I've read. It was even inconsistant with itself. - ---------- > From: Haavard Roenne Faanes > To: mystara-l@lists.io.com > Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages > Date: Monday, October 06, 1997 4:26 AM > > On Mon, 6 Oct 1997, Rob Rickard wrote: > > Yes. I'd like to see some mystara books, featuring mages or other > characters. Voyage of the Princess Arc is the closest thing IMO. All those > other books were unfortunately more or less in contradiction with canon. > Uncanny? :) With the exception of the Black Vessel though. Mazrooth al > Yedom (spl?) should also be counted among the Mystara Great ones. > > Bruce: Whatabout a Voyage of the princess arc novel? > > Håvard. > > Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves > Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: > or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, > http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll > > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 12:00:02 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta On Sun, 5 Oct 1997 Ambreville@aol.com wrote: > I had started a discussion elsewhere about rakasta which we can just as well > resume here. I'm working on the rakasta follow-up article and an issue came > up. It turns out rakasta are pretty powerful when you start adding up all the > things they can do. I would think more so than the lupins. > One way to balance out things was to require a larger than usual amount of > sleep. Real World felines, from lions to domestic cats, require some 16 hours > of sleep. It would seem logical to assume rakasta would be affected by that > as well. The question is -- how much sleep? Right now, the amount of time > seems to be between 12 and 16 hours, assuming the rakasta are humanoids and > therefore require a bit less sleep than real felines (and assuming humans > would need 8 hours). A rakasta that decides to keep going past its *naptime* > would suffer some penalties until properly rested. It can also rest with > episodic naps rather than one long, uninterrupted sleep. > Any opinions? 16 hours? it is a lot of time though. means the rakasta can only be active 8 hours a day and this would certainly limit their roleplaying potential. Unless you want to have a part of the campaing in the Dreaming World :) Ofcourse the most likely turnout of this, at least in a mixed races party would be that the rakasta character(s) would spand a lot of time with the penalties, which I suppose could work IMO those penalties should be the same as other characters suffer, although rakasta are more likely to suffer such penalties. It could work. BTW: Would you be making a Rakasta subrace related to the Ebony Tiger? (You know those extraplanar cats from the Mystara Monsterous Comp.) And displacerbeasts? Håvard - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 12:18:36 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: [Mystara] Knight of Karameikos (was:Mighty Mages) On Mon, 6 Oct 1997, Tim Haney wrote: > I think that would be a great idea. A series of Princess Ark novels. BTW, > what was up with that Black Knight of Karameikos novel. That had to be one > of the worst I've read. It was even inconsistant with itself. My main objection to that book was its attempt to connect Mystara with Planescape. It reminds me of those Marvel-DC crossovers like Superman vs the Hulk. They never come out quite right, do they? No disrespect to those who use Mystara with Planescape, but it can hardly be said to be canon. I'd love some canon Mystara novels though. Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 06:39:03 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord I heard some talk about a Ravenloft darklord from Mystara, who was supposed to have appeared in adventure and who was described in detail in Domains of dread. Does anyone know more? Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 06:48:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages In einer eMail vom 06.10.97 10:47:24, schreiben Sie: << Terai would be good person for the post, assuming that the post is needed. There are plenty of high level mages in Mystara tho. >> I believe that when TSR converted Mystara to AD&D they had Terari in mind as "Mystaran Elminster". That's why I don`'t like the idea of Terari as overpowerful mage on Mystara. In old OD&D times Etienne D'Ambeville was obvioulsy intended as overpowerful mage, an idea I like a lot better, after all he IS an immortal, and one of the very few with such an important mortal (and wizardly) identity. Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 13:44:16 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Mon, 6 Oct 1997 Galeifel@aol.com wrote: > In einer eMail vom 06.10.97 10:47:24, schreiben Sie: > > << Terai would be good person for the post, assuming that the post is > needed. There are plenty of high level mages in Mystara tho. > >> > > I believe that when TSR converted Mystara to AD&D they had Terari in mind as > "Mystaran Elminster". That's why I don`'t like the idea of Terari as > overpowerful mage on Mystara. In old OD&D times Etienne D'Ambeville was > obvioulsy intended as overpowerful mage, an idea I like a lot better, after > all he IS an immortal, and one of the very few with such an important mortal > (and wizardly) identity. Remember that Terari is from Dawn of the Emperors boxed set, not just a random addition to the Karameikos box. Btw, he is IRC 36th level in D&D so he should be way past 20th in AD&D... Håvard - ---- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 14:03:11 +0000 From: wizzard@mail.intcom.de Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages > << Terai would be good person for the post, assuming that the post is > needed. There are plenty of high level mages in Mystara tho. IMHO there is a "high level mage" and it is Etienne call him RAD. Remember, Raistlin searched for means tobecome immortal (and finally became a GOD OF MAGIC). Etienne already IS a kind of GOD of Magic. *please don´t discuss god and immortal again, let´s call him supernatural* But the interesting thing on Mystara is another "noname" party. The council of wizards at Alphatia. This gives every DM the possibility to involve those power facttions into present quarrels. This means a lot more interesting adventuring. And Mystara has enough space to develop "local" high-level-mages. IMC a NPC wizard was granted a wish *the PC just didn´t get the point and insisted on the NPC to do the job that granted the wish* he wished for wisdom and might. he got what he wanted but was bound to the island he lived on. so he became kind of an oracle-place to visit n times of need while his own ambitions started working to get off this cursed LITTLE island. so by chance the background of my own campaign was laid. want to hear more about it?? *evil grin* Wizzard ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 08:47:58 EST From: Neal Daskal Subject: Re[2]: [Mystara] Module Questions >Yep. What you say is true, but I there should be an essential handout >somewhere, which I am missing. Isn't there a letter or something sent by >Alaric(the Cleric) presented in B11? If the party finds an extremely unlikely secret door in B11, they discover a warning note to the wizard, Kavorquian Penhaligon. Alaric knows who Kavorquian is and sends the party to contact him, affecting the link to B12. IMHO, major plot points like this should not depend on secret doors. >Any detailed information about the goblin band and the chieftan? >Is the wight interesting in any way? Any information about the forest >which may be used as background material for other adventures? >Is there a "further adventures" section or similar(anything of interest >here?) >IRC the Eye of Traldara was to be described further in this adventure. >Could you give me a description? The goblin band and chieftan seem pretty wimpy to me. The wight has an interesting history and, in a nod to the problems of energy drains to low-level parties, John Nephew takes the unusual step of discussing in the module rationals for having the wight fight with a weapon so it won't use it's campaign-devastating touch attack. No info on the forest (see B10 Night's Dark Terror for my favorite treatment of eastern Karameikos). If there was a "further adventures" section, it slipped right by me. The module is only 16 pages long, but includes a detailed map and cardboard counters like the D&D boxed set which was extent at the time it was published. The hook from the Eye of Traldar is to say that the party might have traveled to the Dymrak Forest after their previous adventure. No mention of returning it to the Lake of Lost Dreams which would have been the obvious continuation. As usual, TSR didn't bother to tie their products together. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 14:54:04 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Mon, 6 Oct 1997 wizzard@mail.intcom.de wrote: > But the interesting thing on Mystara is another "noname" party. The > council of wizards at Alphatia. This gives every DM the possibility > to involve those power facttions into present quarrels. This means a > lot more interesting adventuring. And Mystara has enough space to > develop "local" high-level-mages. IMC a NPC wizard was granted a wish > *the PC just didn´t get the point and insisted on the NPC to do the > job that granted the wish* > he wished for wisdom and might. he got what he wanted but was bound > to the island he lived on. so he became kind of an oracle-place to > visit n times of need while his own ambitions started working to get > off this cursed LITTLE island. > so by chance the background of my own campaign was laid. > > want to hear more about it?? *evil grin* yep. sounds like a cool idea. håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 09:00:47 EST From: Neal Daskal Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages >I was just wondering something that maybe has been discussed before (I'm >new here). > >Toril has Elminster, Krynn has/had Raistlin and Dalamar, Oerth has >Mordenkainen as masters of magic that most players see as that world's >greatest mage. Mystara hasn't had a mage come out as a one true master of >magic. > >I think Terari has a good start as the Master of the Karameikan School of >Magecraft (and former Alphatian Emperor). Since he was a wandering mage >before accepting the post at Karameikos, he should have seen and done quite >abit not to mention being long-lived. I was just wondering what everyone >else thought. > I agree. I first noticed Terari in DotE and used him heavily in my campaign. Aaron Alston's further use of him as a "mighty mage" figure in WotI and PWA1 bore out my first impression. Other candidates that come to mind are Demetrion (Thyatian magist from DotE) and Porphyrial (spelling?) the Radiant Shaman of Rafiel, who is IIRC a very powerful mage. There was another elf-mage from GAZ5, Stargazer or something. But I don't fully like the idea of "mighty mage" elves in OD&D because the game mechanic for it is a late AD&Dish addition to the rules. Other candidates would be Princes of Glantri (Etienne, of course, in his Mortal Identity and Brannart who has great undeveloped potential) and Alphatians who were never fully developed, but whose background hinted at great power (Mylertendal?). ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 09:34:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages In a message dated 97-10-05 23:17:19 EDT, you write: << Toril has Elminster, Krynn has/had Raistlin and Dalamar, Oerth has Mordenkainen as masters of magic that most players see as that world's greatest mage. Mystara hasn't had a mage come out as a one true master of magic. I think Terari has a good start as the Master of the Karameikan School of Magecraft (and former Alphatian Emperor). Since he was a wandering mage before accepting the post at Karameikos, he should have seen and done quite abit not to mention being long-lived. I was just wondering what everyone else thought. >> You have to remember that this is Mystara we are talking about. High level magic users are fairly common. Look at the Alphatian Council of Wizards. How many worlds, much less a nation, can boast a thousand wizards of 36th level. The Council isn't even all of the big boys. It is made up of the thousand most powerful mages of the Empire. Terari is a good choice. Though a 36th lvl mage, he obviously is a tad more powerful than that. When the Council decided he should step down, none of them wanted to challenge him. They opted to get his daughter to ask him to step down. His role as tutor to aspiring mages also gives him a multitude of allies. I would be critical if I didn't offer Etienne d'Amberville and the Thyatian mage Demetrion. Both are as old as dirt and have the resources of their respective nations to provide funds and components for spell research and magic item construction. Oh yeah...and Etienne is an Immortal. I don't think there should be a singularly dominant mage on Mystara. Such a mage would upset the balance of power. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 17:01:59 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Sun, 5 Oct 1997, Tim Haney wrote: > I think Terari has a good start as the Master of the Karameikan School of > Magecraft (and former Alphatian Emperor). Since he was a wandering mage > before accepting the post at Karameikos, he should have seen and done quite > abit not to mention being long-lived. I was just wondering what everyone > else thought. > I think Etienne d'Ambreville would be the true master of magic on Mystara. He actually achieved Immortality by use of magic - how much more can you master the Art?! ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 09:57:22 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord In a message dated 97-10-06 06:47:57 EDT, you write: << I heard some talk about a Ravenloft darklord from Mystara, who was supposed to have appeared in adventure and who was described in detail in Domains of dread. Does anyone know more? Garafaele Galeifel >> ::flipping through the pages of Domains of Dread:: Meredoth was an Alphatian mage (necromancer to be exact). He was granted a barony in Norworld. He accepted with the hopes of being able to pursue his experiments in seclusion. Settling on an island off the coast of his territory, he left the actual running of the Barony to his retainers. The first winter killed off many of his retainers. Meredoth animated them and used them for menial tasks. When his chief retainer protested his handywork, Meredoth killed him. As immigrants began arriving to the the Barony, Meredoth's researches were constantly interrupted as these colonists requested audiences with their ruler. Eventually Meredoth used a famine and poison to kill off the colonists. He animated them into a new type of undead that retained their level of living intellect while still acting as slaves. This deed done, a violent storm struck the island. And Meredoth was sucked into Ravenloft. Meredoth is the Darklord of the Nocturnal Sea. He is detailed in the adventure module Ship of Horror. I would suggest getting DoD or at least some of the Van Richten Guides. I have found this line of info handy in creating more unique undead NPCs. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 11:33:35 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord In einer eMail vom 06.10.97 15:30:12, schreiben Sie: << Meredoth is the Darklord of the Nocturnal Sea. He is detailed in the adventure module Ship of Horror. >> Thanks. Garafale Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 11:09:08 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages Galeifel@aol.com pontificated: > > I believe that when TSR converted Mystara to AD&D they had Terari in mind as > "Mystaran Elminster". That's why I don`'t like the idea of Terari as > overpowerful mage on Mystara. In old OD&D times Etienne D'Ambeville was > obvioulsy intended as overpowerful mage, an idea I like a lot better, after > all he IS an immortal, and one of the very few with such an important mortal > (and wizardly) identity. > Probably true. In the D&D PC game, Fantasy Empire, Etienne is the most powerful NPC opponent in the game (but Alphatia is not in the game). For the "spoke person" role, I think Terari would be better. Etienne (if still immortal) seems to be a bit too powerful for that. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 11:14:55 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages Alex295@aol.com pontificated: > > You have to remember that this is Mystara we are talking about. High level > magic users are fairly common. Look at the Alphatian Council of Wizards. How > many worlds, much less a nation, can boast a thousand wizards of 36th level. > The Council isn't even all of the big boys. It is made up of the thousand > most powerful mages of the Empire. Is there anyone think the Council is a bit too big? Before the DoE box set, the most powerful mage described is Etienne (I think), and he was only level 35. I think 100 or so will be a more reasonable number. Perhaps Alphatia exagerate the number a bit, that the Council only have about 100 36 level, and rest of the Council is fill by somewaht lesser mages? > I would be critical if I didn't offer Etienne d'Amberville and the Thyatian > mage Demetrion. Both are as old as dirt and have the resources of their > respective nations to provide funds and components for spell research and > magic item construction. Oh yeah...and Etienne is an Immortal. > I don't think there should be a singularly dominant mage on Mystara. Such a > mage would upset the balance of power. > Agreed, but having one mage that is more popular or famous will help out in giving the world a bit more identity. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 15:50:15 +0200 From: Deathwatch Subject: Re: [Mystara]: DM with a Darokinian Dilemma (DDD) At 23:09 4-10-97 -0500, you wrote: >Hello All! > >I recently started a campaign based in Darokin. One of my PCs has made >it clear that they are going to join the army soon. This presents me >with a few problems. > >1) I play using AD&D rules (for convenient use as everyone I know uses >these rules). This PC has all of his Weapon Proficiency slots filled. >However, in Gaz 11, it says that all recruits are trained in the use of >the Pike and the Rapier. Being that this PC is proficient in neither, >how do I go about this? I'm probably going to teach him both weapons >but then won't allow him his next two slots. What do you think? I think those will be "Bonus Proficiencies" as in the kit system :) >2) Upon his joining the army, some other PCs will most likely join >also. However, these others include a dwarven cleric from Dengar and a >mage. When I had PCs serve in Karameikos (after being falsely accused >of murder) I had no problem as all of them were warriors in some aspect >or another. What should I do? I have of few ideas (actually alot) but >I want some outside opinions. Well, I don't know much about Darokin believes, but I think that a Cleric can always be used in an army. Bas van Doornspeek - deathw@xs4all.nl ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 09:04:26 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta On Sun, 5 Oct 1997 Ambreville@aol.com wrote: > I had started a discussion elsewhere about rakasta which we can just as > well resume here. I'm working on the rakasta follow-up article and an > issue came up. It turns out rakasta are pretty powerful when you start > adding up all the things they can do. I would think more so than the > lupins. Woohoo! The Rakasta article! Yes! (I knew that I'd never have gotten around to doing anything with the individual breeds of Rakasta myself). :) > One way to balance out things was to require a larger than usual amount of > sleep. Real World felines, from lions to domestic cats, require some 16 > hours of sleep. It would seem logical to assume rakasta would be affected > by that as well. The question is -- how much sleep? Right now, the > amount of time seems to be between 12 and 16 hours, assuming the > rakasta are humanoids and therefore require a bit less sleep than real > felines (and assuming humans would need 8 hours). A rakasta that > decides to keep going past its *naptime* would suffer some penalties > until properly rested. It can also rest with episodic naps rather than > one long, uninterrupted sleep. That sounds very likely, particularly as regards Rakasta from Patera (of course, if you're playing Pateran Rakasta against one another, the bonuses don't really make that significant a difference as if you are playing them on Mystara itself). Some other thoughts- While doing my work on Patera, I came to the conclusion that one of the main reasons for the Rakasta took the primary lead in the Pateran evolutionary tract (at least, over the primates) is that they are pretty much at the head of the food chain. Totally efficient hunters- their natural weapons and stealth make them far more efficient hunters than any primate would have been; even than early tool-using primates. Which is one reason technology levels on Patera are so much more behind (IMO) than they are on Mystara. The Rakasta simply didn't need to use tools like Humans, etc. (okay, so this wasn't so much of a point as it had originally started out to be...) Umm, other thoughts on game balance- 1) Low class level limits: Cats (at least domestic cats, and to a large extent all cats) have low attention spans. Perhaps this can be simulated by allowing them very low level limits in their many class options. Many Rakasta could be multi-classed, but the low levels should help balance things a bit? 2) Armor: I'd think most Rakasta would be uncomfortable wearing heavy armor for any lengths of time. Even the Myoshiman Rakasta would probably have very light armor, and that only for samurai. Perhaps this could be a limitation? - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 09:10:14 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] General ramblings On Sun, 5 Oct 1997, Aaron E Nowack wrote: > The Old Ones ignored this because they did not want another war. This > begs the question: Why weren't many of the Entropic Immortals taken by > the Mists on their quest for Immortality. Simply, the power of the > Immortals repulses the Mists. No Immortal or cannidate for Immortality > can be taken by the Mists! A "Mystaran Core" made up of Mystaran domains > is in the early planning stages (The "Man, it woud be neat if I did this" > stage) Though the inhabitants of the Core would probaly call it a large > Cluster. My only problem with this would be the presence of Vecna in the current Domains of Dread. Isn't he a demipower? And yet he was swept up by the Mists. If you equate the Gods (including Demipowers) with Immortality, then Vecna shouldn't have been able to be caught by the Mists. > Also, has anyone else wondered why Hule dosen't have a Hollow World > presence? The Master must have known about the HW for a long time (I > can't immagine him not). The Master is hardly all-knowing and all-seeing. There is absolutely no reason he should know about the Hollow World, save perhaps for some sort of Divine Revelation given him by Bozdogan (who, it doesn't seem to me, would bother with it. He obviously prefers to have the Master on the surface, running Hule). Recall that the only reason it has been discovered in the past was by accident- Haldemar and the Heldannic Knights both happened to stumble across it only by virtue of their Skyships, and the fortunate happenstance of breaking free of the Skyshield. Neither force, IMO, has any reason to tell the Master of Hule about it (While the Heldannic Knights on the SC are tentatively his allies, they wouldn't give him any more info than necessary, and certainly don't want any contest to their domination of the HW; the Alphatians have no diplomatic ties to Hule in any case). - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 12:17:35 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Operation Hydra Days 1 thru 6 Below is a detailed overview of the first six days of the Thyatian offensive against the Minrothad Guilds. Day one represents the official start time of the offensive as declared by the campaign commander Adm. Helena Daphotarthius. Note-Ship movement is based on a base movement of 40 miles per day. This slow pace is due to the large forces assembled and the heavily laden transports. The distance travelled is given the following day. Also given is the distance remaining. Each Day gives the status of the force as of dawn of that day. Day 1 Force A: Assault force converges at Assembly Point "Alto" outside of the port of Crossbones. After a lengthy period to get all the vessels in proper order, Adm. Helena orders them to proceed. This start occurs late in the day. Their destination is Minrothad City which lays some 208 miles away. Force B: Assault force converges at Assembly Point "Nora" off the coast of Hattias. Assembling quickly, they are able to depart around noon. Their destination is Harbortown which is about 315 miles away. Force C: Assault force converges at Assembly Point "Lance" off the Thyatian Coast. Assembly is rapid and force is quickly under way. Their destination is the northern tip of Open Island which lays about 88 miles away. Force D:Assault force converges at Assembly Point "Dagger" off the Thyatian Coast. Assembly is swift and the force is quickly under way. Their destination is Fire Island which is about 120 miles away. Day 2 Force A: Due to start time, force has only sailed 12 miles from Assembly Point the previous day. Leaving 196 miles to destination. Force B: Due to start time, force has only sailed 21 miles from Assembly Point the previous day. Leaving 315 miles to destination. Force C: Due to start time, force has only sailed 32 miles from Assembly Point the previous day. Leaving 56 miles to destination. Force D: Due to start time, force has only sailed 31 miles from Assembly Point the previous day. Leaving 89 miles to destination. Day 3 Force A: Travels 40 miles. Leaves 156 miles to destination. Late in the day, lookouts report ships trailing Force D's group. Suspecting they are pirates, Adm. Helena increases speed and dispatches messgae via crystal ball to commander of Force D. Force B: Travels 43 miles. Leaves 272 miles to destination. No contacts. Force C: Travels 42 miles. Leaves 14 miles to destination. No contacts. Does recieve message concerning pirates shadowing Force D. Told to proceed but keep a look out. With Landing Zone close, troops are readied for landing. Force D: Travels 41 miles. Leaves 33 miles to destination. After recieving message from Adm. Helena, lookouts spot shadowing pirates. Under the admiral's orders, troops make ready for the expected fight the following day. Day 4 Force A: Travels only 21 miles due to battle with Privateer Fleets. Leaves 135 miles to destination. See below Comments for battle details. Force B: Travels 47 miles. Leaves 225 miles to destination. No contacts. Force C: Travels 14 miles to take up a position off the northern tip of Open Island. Landings of 4th Cohort and 28th Kerendas Cohort. Naval units loiter in the landing area to guard against Minrothad Naval Forces. After the troops are landed, naval units prepare to proceed south to Malfton. Force D: Travels only 15 miles due to battle with Privateer Fleets. Leaves 33 miles to destination. See below Comments for details of battle. Comments: Using the cover of night, Adm. Helena moves her warships closer to the pirates following Force D. Several other pirate vessels are noticed to join the group. By dawn, the pirates are close to Force D. As instructed by Adm. Helena, Force D captains turn their warships about to meet the pirates. With Force A's warships approaching from their rear, the pirate ships are sandwiched in between the two Thyatian Forces. Using their numerous sailing ships to herd the pirates together, the Thyatian war galleys move in and systematically destroy the pirate vessels. Several pirate vessels do mange to break through the Thyatian picket lines. These are chased down and dispatched by teams of Thyatian sailing ships positioned outside the pickets for that specific reason. In particular, the ballista mounted aboard these vessels come heavily into play. At the battles end, both Privateers Fleets are destroyed. The majority of the ships are sunk. However, six pirate vessels are taken as prizes. There are also 42 pirates taken prisoner. Damage to the Thyatian ships is minimal. Several ships have recieved damage and will have to proceed slowly while repairs are made enrout. Day 5 Force A: Travels only 27 miles due to the general slowing for damaged ships. Leaves 108 miles left to destination. Damaged vessels recieve repairs. Force B: Travels 48 miles due to good weather and calm seas. Leaves 177 miles to destination. Force C: Naval force travels 20 miles. Leaves 38 miles to Hin capital. Troops march 10 miles inland in a southern direction. Leaves 30 miles to go. Force D: By nightfall, Force D is anchored off Fire Island. Assault operation commences. See Comments for details. Comments: 20 Marines of Force D row ashore to investigate the artillery emplacements at the Harbormasters town. Arriving they find the emplacements occupied by elements of Retebius Air Fleet and mages from Sclaras. The defenders are either dead or prisoners. The hyatian marines take control of the town and prisoners. The mages begin dispelling the enchantments of the Barricade. This done they remove it, freeing the passage into the inlet. The galleys accompany the troop transports up the Reedy River to Cove Harbor. The Forces other sailing ships remain outside the inlet on look out for pirate vessels. Using the harbor facilities, they begin unloading their cargo of troops. The Thyatian Marines focus their assaults on boarding the pirate vessels docked. The Cohort troops envelope the dock facilities and spread into the city itself. Cove Harbor's residents quickly organize their defenses. However, the small contingent of troops on duty quickly fall to the Thyatians. Still, they stubbornly resist fighting for every block before falling back. By morning, Thyatian forces occupy the docks and Privateer Guild Hall, along with the southern third of the city. Though surrounded and isolated from their pirate brethren, Shantytown is still resisting the Thyatian Troops. The Thyatian commanders opt to allocate Cohort troops along with Marines to thrust through the Shantytown section later in the day after the troops have gotten some rest. Day 6 Force A: Still slowed by damaged ships Force A has proceeded only 29 miles. Leaves 79 miles to destination. Force B: Travels a healthy 47 miles under clear skies and steady seas. Leaves 130 miles to destination. Force C: Naval forces sail 21 miles. Leaving 17 miles to Malfton. Land forces continue their march putting 18 miles behind them. Leaves 14 miles to Malfton. Force D: Sailing ships having taken up stations around inlet to Reedy River. Marines of war galleys and troops of the 14th Cohort smash through Shantytown. They then join in on the fight to take the rest of the city. Dividing their forces up into small box formations, they push through the pirate defenders. By dusk, the Thyatians control most of the city. The unoccupied area is the section referred to as the Guild Masters' Mansions. The Thyatian commanders place the remnants of 14th Cohort around this perimeter to prepare for an assault on the following day. The Marines are pulled off the line and spend the night stripping the occupied areas of their wealth. ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #158 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #159 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Tuesday, October 7 1997 Volume 02 : Number 159 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 09:26:07 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord On Mon, 6 Oct 1997 Galeifel@aol.com wrote: > I heard some talk about a Ravenloft darklord from Mystara, who was > supposed to have appeared in adventure and who was described in detail > in Domains of dread. Does anyone know more? He's... umm... He was the villain in Ship of Horrors, though in that module there is no Mystara info given about him (he was just a generic mage). Steve Miller (IIRC) was the one who decided to make him an Alphatian mage. His domain begins with an M... Mordent? - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 09:30:17 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord On Mon, 6 Oct 1997 Alex295@aol.com wrote: > Meredoth was an Alphatian mage (necromancer to be exact). He was granted a > barony in Norworld. He accepted with the hopes of being able to pursue his > experiments in seclusion. Does it happen to say when (Mystara time) he had his dominion there? I'd love to be able to include that into a timeline of Mystara (as I don't own DoD, nor have any immediate desire to get it). > Settling on an island off the coast of his territory, he left the actual > running of the Barony to his retainers. The first winter killed off many of > his retainers. Meredoth animated them and used them for menial tasks. When > his chief retainer protested his handywork, Meredoth killed him. Oohh... does it say where? I'm guessing one of the two islands off the coast- whale island or dog island. That would be cool. The Mists just leave behind ruins, right? - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 09:39:55 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Mon, 6 Oct 1997, Shin Chyang Yu wrote: > Is there anyone think the Council is a bit too big? Before the DoE box > set, the most powerful mage described is Etienne (I think), and he was > only level 35. I think 100 or so will be a more reasonable number. > Perhaps Alphatia exagerate the number a bit, that the Council only have > about 100 36 level, and rest of the Council is fill by somewaht lesser > mages? I personally don't think it's too large, given the size of Alphatia and it's long history. Also, bear in mind that the wizards don't work well together at all, so one needn't worry about them as one massively powerful force... just a bunch of individual, powerful forces. :) And if it helps any, the WotI should have reduced their numbers considerably. Many of them (the most militant) were likely killed when they staged their assault on Glantri in the final days of the war; many were probably killed during the Week of No Magic (They didn't get to those high levels, for the most part, without extending their lifespans somewhat) and the sinking of Alphatia. I'd say that the council is still 1000 wizards, though of a much more varied degree of levels. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 12:49:27 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta I'll try to answer to several responses in this post. << So I´d say the rakasta prefers to sleep all the day, except when he is eating. But I´d say 12 hours would be the minimum. Below that there will be mali, BUt that brings me to another question: >> <> Right now I'm thinking of requiring 12 hours of sleep minimum, while 16 would be *recommended* (the latter being only be relevant to roleplaying without additional penalty mechanics). Else, judging from the way I feel when I get up at 3 in the morning to feed the baby, I would temporarily halve DEX, STR, and INT until properly rested. WIS is already pretty lackluster with the rakasta so I did not include it. I'm trying to keep these mechanics as simple as possible. <> How about 8 for humans, 6 for elves? How about dwarves and halflings then? These are averages; especially when adventuring, characters can get pretty tired. << Also, rakasta being more humaniod than real felines, the benefits of a 'catnap' is greatly reduced. I would even go on to say that the use of illusion and magic makes a 'catnap' unbeneficial. All part of being intelligent ;)>> The catnap is more useful to non spellcasters. The others, unfortunately, have to take longer sleeps to recover their spells. That's not a bad thing, considering how tough spellcasting rakasta would be anyway. <> Of course! Many of the rakasta have two inherent problems. One has to do with water, which many don't like. The other has to do with catnip -- they do get a save tho! :) <> Now that you mention it, I guess I'll have to add something about the short attention span. Sounds like it could lead to hilarious situations... Great Balls of Wool! Hmmm, maybe I can do something about that too. (You *had* to bring it up!) Let's see -- how 'bout a wizard's 3rd level spell? :) <> Good point. Man, it really sucks being tired! :) <> Thanks! <> At this time the only mechanics I have for cat naps are the times when the rakasta has exceeded its time without sleep. At that point, its abilities are reduced. It's up to the player to decide to continue in that shape, or allow the rakasta to get some rest. The length of catnaps is up to the player, except in one case. I've given the rakasta the ability to have sudden bursts of energy. Aside from giving it some physical advantages, each breed can exploit the burst in different ways, giving them distinct special abilities. Of course, the burst of energy lasts several rounds (depending on the rakasta's CON). When it ends, the rakasta requires a catnap that should last as many turns as the burst of energy was kept up. Else, it's up to the players. <> So do I. On the one hand, rakasta make superb guards -- but on the other they do need to be relieved frequently. In this respect, lupins perform so much better! <<16 hours? it is a lot of time though. means the rakasta can only be active 8 hours a day and this would certainly limit their roleplaying potential. Unless you want to have a part of the campaing in the Dreaming World :) Ofcourse the most likely turnout of this, at least in a mixed races party would be that the rakasta character(s) would spand a lot of time with the penalties, which I suppose could work IMO those penalties should be the same as other characters suffer, although rakasta are more likely to suffer such penalties. It could work.>> That's one of the problems inherent to sleeping rakasta -- that led me to the curent solution -- 12 hours minimum else penalties kick in, and up to 16 hours but for roleplay only. 12 hours should make it more playable with miced parties (he, he, interesting typo -- I meant, *mixed* parties). :) <> No, but I plan to include blood lines linking them possibly to such creatures (see lupins article for an example of what I'm refering to). Possible lineage might include elves, sphinxes, dragonnes, displacer beasts, cath shees, feystags, lammasu, ebon tigers, etc. I'm still ambivalent about the sea lion though. BTW -- I remember seeing the description of a guardian familiar somewhere. Where was that located? <> Right now, I'm spending most of my time either playing Mr Mom at home, and looking for job. What's left goes into writing the article, and very rarely these days, answering email. I must admit, writing this stuff has been more of a break and fun recreation than anything else (just don't tell my wife!). :) Thanks for everyone's responses. They do help. (More later re. the Myoshiman connection). Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 11:36:39 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta On Mon, 6 Oct 1997 Ambreville@aol.com wrote: > No, but I plan to include blood lines linking them possibly to such > creatures (see lupins article for an example of what I'm refering to). > Possible lineage might include elves, sphinxes, dragonnes, displacer > beasts, cath shees, feystags, lammasu, ebon tigers, etc. I'm still > ambivalent about the sea lion though. How about the Tabi (Mystaran cat/monkeylike creatures)? Or... oh, you mentioned Dragonnes. :) - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 14:32:09 -0400 (EDT) From: Dleggend@aol.com Subject: [Mystara]Expedition Campaign I was wonder if anybody has made a campaign base upon the Karameikan expedition to the Hollow world. I was thinking of basing a campaign on the subject. Dleggend Just put up my page It only has some warcraft2 puds, but I'm working on it. http://members.aol.com/dleggend/intro.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 23:26:09 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta At 12.49 06/10/97 -0400, Ambreville@aol.com wrote: ><> > >How about 8 for humans, 6 for elves? How about dwarves and halflings then? >These are averages; especially when adventuring, characters can get pretty >tired. I thought elves slept more than humans, while dwarves need less hour of sleep. Just my opinion. - -------------- Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 - -------------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 18:27:16 -0400 From: Aron Reif Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta >Right now, I'm spending most of my time either playing Mr Mom at home, and >looking for job. I take it then that you didn't want to move to Seattle with the rest of TSR? Good luck with the job search! Aron Reif areif@erols.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 18:01:14 -0400 (EDT) From: Mystaros@aol.com Subject: [Mystara] I'm leaving AOL... I will be leaving AOL at the end of my current billing period (~25th of this month). I have put up with much from this stupid provider over the years, but I have been knocked offline for the last time! I don't know if I will be able to get a new provider by the time I leave (with a 486dx33 and no CD-ROM player, I have limited choices), but I will get back on the list, or in contact as soon as possible. If anyone has any good suggestions for a good provider (with local calls available in Fort Wayne, IN), please let me know! Until then! Mystaros ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 18:21:10 -0400 From: Aron Reif Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages > >Is there anyone think the Council is a bit too big? Before the DoE box >set, the most powerful mage described is Etienne (I think), and he was >only level 35. I think 100 or so will be a more reasonable number. >Perhaps Alphatia exagerate the number a bit, that the Council only have >about 100 36 level, and rest of the Council is fill by somewaht lesser >mages? > I've always thought that. I've always believed that it was a Council of 1000 wizards, but not all of them were 36th level. I don't think any of the Glantrian Princes are 36th level. How could Glantri possibly fight a war with Alphatia if they were up against 1000 36th level mages?? Can you imagine 1000 wishes cast against Glantri? Or before WOTI, how could Thyatis ever stand up to 1000 36th level mages? No, I've always believed that the council wasn't made up of only 36th level mages. I've decided that it was just a rumor purposefully spread by Alphatia to make them seem more powerful than they are. Obviously, they don't say "Council of 1000 36th level wizards" (levels are for players, not characters), so they'd have to use the term arch-mages or something. >> I don't think there should be a singularly dominant mage on Mystara. Such a >> mage would upset the balance of power. I agree. And who's to say...there's lots of Mystara that has been discussed only lightly (Davania and Skothar), so the "Most Powerful Mage on Mystara" might not have been seen yet. > >Agreed, but having one mage that is more popular or famous will help >out in giving the world a bit more identity. > I'd vote for Ettienne if he WASN'T an immortal, but having an immortal Ed's house might be _too_ much (after all, he's already scared silly from just the arch-mages...). Aron Reif areif@erols.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 19:37:22 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta In a message dated 97-10-06 17:43:15 EDT, brizio@lunet.it writes: << I thought elves slept more than humans, while dwarves need less hour of sleep. Just my opinion. >> By some interpretations, an Elvish "reverie" could almost completely replace sleep for Elves. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 19:36:25 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta Given that there are many nomadic tribes of Rakasta, any rules related to the amount of sleep that Rakasta require and the penalties for not getting enough should be set up so that their wanderings are not noticeably affected. For example, it would probably be safe to assume that Rakasta can sleep while riding. Also, like most carnivores, they are much more alert when hungry and/or hunting than after they have eaten, with no obvious threats in the vicinity. In the former case, a Rakasta should be quite alert -- but in the latter case, a Rakasta may have a hard time staying awake. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 20:08:05 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta In a message dated 97-10-06 12:44:09 EDT, ANDREW.THEISEN@ASU.Edu writes: << 1) Low class level limits: Cats (at least domestic cats, and to a large extent all cats) have low attention spans. Perhaps this can be simulated by allowing them very low level limits in their many class options. Many Rakasta could be multi-classed, but the low levels should help balance things a bit?>> The level limits were already established in the "Red Steel" boxed set, so it might not be a good idea to mess with them too much, but that idea could be kept in mind for any Rakasta breed that is significanly more powerful than a "standard" Rakasta. <<2) Armor: I'd think most Rakasta would be uncomfortable wearing heavy armor for any lengths of time. Even the Myoshiman Rakasta would probably have very light armor, and that only for samurai. Perhaps this could be a limitation? >> I definitely like that one. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 20:22:35 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] General ramblings On Mon, 06 Oct 1997 09:10:14 -0700 (MST) "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" writes: >On Sun, 5 Oct 1997, Aaron E Nowack wrote: > >> The Old Ones ignored this because they did not want another war. >This >> begs the question: Why weren't many of the Entropic Immortals taken >by >> the Mists on their quest for Immortality. Simply, the power of the >> Immortals repulses the Mists. No Immortal or cannidate for >Immortality >> can be taken by the Mists! A "Mystaran Core" made up of Mystaran >domains >> is in the early planning stages (The "Man, it woud be neat if I did >this" >> stage) Though the inhabitants of the Core would probaly call it a >large >> Cluster. > >My only problem with this would be the presence of Vecna in the >current >Domains of Dread. Isn't he a demipower? And yet he was swept up by the > >Mists. If you equate the Gods (including Demipowers) with Immortality, > >then Vecna shouldn't have been able to be caught by the Mists. I didn't really consider this. I don't know too much about the AD&D god system or Greyhawk. I was going to change Ravenloft to fit Mystara rather than the otherway around. However, sombody who knows more about Vecna than me can check this. Could Vecna be a mortal who was granted numerous powers by wishes and bestow spells? >> Also, has anyone else wondered why Hule dosen't have a Hollow World >> presence? The Master must have known about the HW for a long time (I > >> can't immagine him not). > >The Master is hardly all-knowing and all-seeing. There is absolutely >no >reason he should know about the Hollow World, save perhaps for some >sort >of Divine Revelation given him by Bozdogan (who, it doesn't seem to >me, >would bother with it. He obviously prefers to have the Master on the >surface, running Hule). > >Recall that the only reason it has been discovered in the past was by >accident- Haldemar and the Heldannic Knights both happened to stumble >across it only by virtue of their Skyships, and the fortunate >happenstance of breaking free of the Skyshield. Neither force, IMO, >has >any reason to tell the Master of Hule about it (While the Heldannic >Knights on the SC are tentatively his allies, they wouldn't give him >any >more info than necessary, and certainly don't want any contest to >their >domination of the HW; the Alphatians have no diplomatic ties to Hule >in >any case). I adressed this in my other post. Also, why can't Hule have skyships that its hiding from the world for a tactical advantage: "We don't need to watch the sky, they don't have skyships." "Then what's that?" >------------------------ >Cthuludrew, the Great Old One >(aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) >"Actions have consequences." >URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill > > "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 21:43:34 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara]: DM with a Darokinian Dilemma (DDD) How about having someone recognize his "obvious" talent and give him a special assignment of some sort (this would also make it easier to fit the other characters in). ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 19:19:30 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages >I actually consider Aleena HAlaran the most famour character, to >mystara-fans anyway. Aleena who? :) >Håvard > > >Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy >toves >Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the >wabe: >or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the >borogoves, >http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths >outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll > > > > "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 20:28:33 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] I'm leaving AOL... On Mon, 6 Oct 1997 18:01:14 -0400 (EDT) Mystaros@aol.com writes: >I will be leaving AOL at the end of my current billing period (~25th >of this >month). I have put up with much from this stupid provider over the >years, but >I have been knocked offline for the last time! I don't know if I will >be able >to get a new provider by the time I leave (with a 486dx33 and no >CD-ROM >player, I have limited choices), but I will get back on the list, or >in >contact as soon as possible. If anyone has any good suggestions for a >good >provider (with local calls available in Fort Wayne, IN), please let me >know! >Until then! > >Mystaros > Try Juno (www.juno.com). It only has E-mail, but it does have local numbers almost everywhere in the US. (and its FREE!!!) "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 20:06:51 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] General ramblings) On Sun, 5 Oct 1997 18:28:39 -0400 (EDT) Kaviyd@aol.com writes: >In a message dated 97-10-05 16:50:09 EDT, anowack@juno.com writes: > ><< Also, has anyone else wondered why Hule dosen't have a Hollow World > presence? > The Master must have known about the HW for a long time (I can't >immagine > him not). > Any ideas? >> > >Three questions -- > >1) How would he find out? My guess would be that he would have been >one >of the last rather than one of the first to find out. He has been meeting high-level Helddannic Knights, and I think its obvious he has powers of a mind reading nature (that scene where he looks at Haldemmar and instantly knows that he's a spy) >2) How would he get there, given that there seem to be no openings to >the >Hollow World anywhere near Hule? How do we know that? We've only seen the smallest part of Hule. If Alphatia can dig a hole... >3) Given that the Master does know about the Hollow World, why would >he >bother with it? It is too remote to be of any strategic value to him. I didn't say he had a large presence. A few agents to stir up trouble, because if he wants to rule the world why not rule both? "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 20:23:59 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Mon, 6 Oct 1997 14:03:11 +0000 wizzard@mail.intcom.de writes: >> << Terai would be good person for the post, assuming that the post >is >> needed. There are plenty of high level mages in Mystara tho. > >IMHO there is a "high level mage" and it is Etienne call him RAD. > >Remember, Raistlin searched for means tobecome immortal (and finally >became a GOD OF MAGIC). Etienne already IS a kind of GOD of Magic. >*please don´t discuss god and immortal again, >let´s call him supernatural* > >But the interesting thing on Mystara is another "noname" party. The >council of wizards at Alphatia. This gives every DM the possibility >to involve those power facttions into present quarrels. This means a >lot more interesting adventuring. And Mystara has enough space to >develop "local" high-level-mages. IMC a NPC wizard was granted a wish >*the PC just didn´t get the point and insisted on the NPC to do the >job that granted the wish* >he wished for wisdom and might. he got what he wanted but was bound >to the island he lived on. so he became kind of an oracle-place to >visit n times of need while his own ambitions started working to get >off this cursed LITTLE island. >so by chance the background of my own campaign was laid. > >want to hear more about it?? *evil grin* > >Wizzard > Sure. "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: 06 Oct 1997 21:21:58 -0500 From: Alan Shutko Subject: [Mystara] Re: Mighty Mages >>>>> "A" == Aron Reif writes: A> How could Glantri possibly fight a war with Alphatia if they were A> up against 1000 36th level mages?? Can you imagine 1000 wishes A> cast against Glantri? Or before WOTI, how could Thyatis ever stand A> up to 1000 36th level mages? DoE had a very good explanation of this, which I'd love to quote. (Damned copyright! 8^)) Basically, even though the Council has 1000 36th level mages, it doesn't have an army of x-thousand mages. Not even most of the council would be willing to carry out a war. Think about the US Congress. It can never completely agree on anything. Now imagine having a thousand people in Congress -- none of them career politicians, but scientists and artists far more interested in their own work than ruling a nation. After all, they have so much magic, nobody could withstand them... so why should _I_ do anything? And still, in DotI, Glantri would have lost eventually, were it not for the Nucleus of the Spheres. It just took a while for them to be annoying enough to Alphatia for the citizenry to come out in force. - -- Alan Shutko - By consent of the corrupted IBM - Making tomorrow's mistakes Today! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Jun 97 19:27:31 EST From: 19176812@mailexcite.com Subject: [Mystara] 101 Live Channels Free When U Join><.. Go Here - 209.14.198.122/comenow.htm View 6 Channels At Once!!!!!!! This is the newest and most comprehensive Adult Site Offer Available on the net.... 110 WILD XXX RATED LIVE CHANNELS - 2 ALL BLONDE CHANNELS 2 MULTIPLE GIRL CHANNELS 2 CHANNELS OF REDHEADS AND BRUNNETTES ALL BLACK CHANNEL - 1 INTERNATIONAL GIRLS FROM AROUND THE W0RLD 2 TEEN CHANNELS (18 AND 19 YR OLD BABES) - 4 CHANNELS REAL SEX SHOWS-MALE/FEMALE-LESBIAN) 209.14.198.122/comenow.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Jun 97 19:27:31 EST From: 19176812@mailexcite.com Subject: [Mystara] 101 Live Channels Free When U Join><.. Go Here - 209.14.198.122/comenow.htm View 6 Channels At Once!!!!!!! This is the newest and most comprehensive Adult Site Offer Available on the net.... 110 WILD XXX RATED LIVE CHANNELS - 2 ALL BLONDE CHANNELS 2 MULTIPLE GIRL CHANNELS 2 CHANNELS OF REDHEADS AND BRUNNETTES ALL BLACK CHANNEL - 1 INTERNATIONAL GIRLS FROM AROUND THE W0RLD 2 TEEN CHANNELS (18 AND 19 YR OLD BABES) - 4 CHANNELS REAL SEX SHOWS-MALE/FEMALE-LESBIAN) 209.14.198.122/comenow.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 22:08:38 -0700 (PDT) From: Matthew Levy Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Mighty Mages I just wanted to second a lot of what has been said about the Alphatian council so far ... though I think it is certainly possible that the council is so powerful they won't all mobilize for a war without good cause AND that the council is made up of a variety of levels ... and maybe even some clerics or even bards in there too. After all, how is membership to the council won? it is probably inherited, or maybe even bought for a fee ... if it was done strictly by talent, that would mean wizards would have to publicly display their skills in a contest for membership. And since the councilship gives little real advantage to its members (one vote in a thousand isn't important enough to be really useful), lower level wizards who want to show off and be famous are more likely to try for a seat than higher level wizards who would rather not have everyone KNOW precisely how powerful they are. I think congress is a good analogy ... who believes that the truly powerful political actors are sitting in the house of representatives? i think glantri is much more realistic in a way ... the powerful wizards there tend to send minions to take care of politics for them. but while we are on the subject of powerful or famous characters, how about a kind of Who's Who List? We can do better than the very cursory list in the almanacs ... perhaps even have a "fame ranking" of some sort (isn't there something like this in the High Level Campaigns book?). This would tend to include not just nominal political figures but also captains of industry and trade (esp. Darokin), sages, academics, entertainers, etc. ... by the way, Elminster is not necessarily the most powerful mage on Toril ... (what about Khelben Blackstaff, etc.?) but he is famous mostly as a sage ... in the same vein shouldn't people like Bensarian of Kevar be sought out frequently as reknowned experts? how about famous craftsmen? mages who specialize in particular areas of spellcraft? m@2 "You're not really in love with yourself - you're just in love with the idea of being in love with yourself" - said to me by one of the two little fellas who hang out on either of my shoulders ... I can't remember which ... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 09:23:09 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta At 22.10 05/10/97 -0400, Mystaros wrote: >Though if you put anything in about Goes Berserk in Presence of Balls of >String, you *WILL* suffer an appropriate debilitating curse... > Ohboy! I used to have a rakasta in my group and we actually used a Ball of String Check with him!!! :) It's just incredible: after the check to avoid going after a thrown stick for lupins, now the ball of strings! Heck, if this is not funny... :) DM (still laughing madly) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 09:30:39 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] GAZ11 error: number of Heartlands Ok, i was reading thru GAZ11 yesterday for the x-time, and i found something i never put to much attention on: the number of regions in the Heartlands. GAZ11 says that there are 37 regions (page 10), but counting on the small map (page 11) i found only 36. Also (and this is really strange) among the Heartlands are counted the Orclands, which are theoretically Darokin land but techincally humanoids' soil. So, if you think that every region elects a representative to the Outer Council (37 representatives), and if you agree with me that NO "people" living in the Orclands vote for these representatives, where do the heck these Orclands representatives come from? All in all, there are 4-5 representatives that should not be in the Darokin Outer Council. Any explanation? DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 09:43:07 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord At 09.26 06/10/97 -0700, Cthul wrote: >He's... umm... He was the villain in Ship of Horrors, though in that >module there is no Mystara info given about him (he was just a generic >mage). Steve Miller (IIRC) was the one who decided to make him an >Alphatian mage. > >His domain begins with an M... Mordent? Nope. His domain is Nebligtode, and his isle is Todstein (Death Rock). Mordent is one of the oldest core domains. Meredoth is currently a 20th level Necromancer, possibly (as Mr Miller put it) the most powerful necromancer of the Mists. DM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 10:28:59 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] General ramblings At 09.10 06/10/97 -0700, Cthul wrote: >On Sun, 5 Oct 1997, Aaron E Nowack wrote: > >> The Old Ones ignored this because they did not want another war. This >> begs the question: Why weren't many of the Entropic Immortals taken by >> the Mists on their quest for Immortality. Simply, the power of the >> Immortals repulses the Mists. No Immortal or cannidate for Immortality >> can be taken by the Mists! A "Mystaran Core" made up of Mystaran domains >> is in the early planning stages (The "Man, it woud be neat if I did this" >> stage) Though the inhabitants of the Core would probaly call it a large >> Cluster. > >My only problem with this would be the presence of Vecna in the current >Domains of Dread. Isn't he a demipower? And yet he was swept up by the >Mists. If you equate the Gods (including Demipowers) with Immortality, >then Vecna shouldn't have been able to be caught by the Mists. There is no such problem at all. The designers of DoD made it possible for all RL Masters to ignore Vecna altogether by placing him and his "friend" Kas the Destroyer in a Cluster of islands named the Burning Peaks. This means that these lands are not in the core nor are they easy to stumble upon (unless one is very unlucky). Also, yes, Vecna is a demigod, but this *"demi"* prefix probably allowed the DP to capture him and seclude him in RL. Currently there will be an adventure that deals with Vecna coming out next year: this way we'll know why and how the heck did he come into RL. DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 10:08:10 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord At 09.30 06/10/97 -0700, Cthul wrote: >On Mon, 6 Oct 1997 Alex295@aol.com wrote: > >> Meredoth was an Alphatian mage (necromancer to be exact). He was granted a >> barony in Norworld. He accepted with the hopes of being able to pursue his >> experiments in seclusion. > >Does it happen to say when (Mystara time) he had his dominion there? I'd >love to be able to include that into a timeline of Mystara (as I don't >own DoD, nor have any immediate desire to get it). No mention of the Mystaran timeline in DoD, AFAIK. He was just an Alphatian mage who was granted a dominion in Norwold, so maybe there are two solutions: 1. he could date back to when the first Cape Alpha was established; 2. he could have been one of the rulers who swayed fealty to Ericall when he became ruler of Norwold (was it AC 1000 or something?). However, given the fact that Ship of Horrors took place before the Grand Conjunction in RL (BC 730) and that RL timeline is now at BC 751, this timespan of 20+ years would put Meredoth back in AC 995 or so. Obviously IIRC the dates.. >> Settling on an island off the coast of his territory, he left the actual >> running of the Barony to his retainers. The first winter killed off many of >> his retainers. Meredoth animated them and used them for menial tasks. When >> his chief retainer protested his handywork, Meredoth killed him. > >Oohh... does it say where? I'm guessing one of the two islands off the >coast- whale island or dog island. That would be cool. The Mists just >leave behind ruins, right? It only says that they were small islands off the coast of Norwold. During a private talk with Mr Miller, however, he mentioned the Heldannic Freeholds, so yes, it could be Whale Island. I don't think it's Isle of Dogs because it is too big in comparison to Nebligtode and because it's still on the nautical charts. BTW, where's whale island? And about the Mists leaving behind ruins, well, it's not very clear about the fate of the lands in the Prime. I think that they simply vanish leaving a tabula rasa. PS: Check out Alanik Ray's homepage if u're interested in RL DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 10:24:28 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Mystara and Ravenloft (was: General ramblings) At 15.33 05/10/97 -0500, Aaron Nowack wrote: >In the past week, I have gotten copies of Domains of Dread and Dark Sun, >and have been thinking about ways to incorparate Ravenloft into Mystara >(this borrows some from DM's site) Gee, finally that thing has been read by at least somebody else! Glad you appreciated my effort. :) >Long ago, the Old Ones were much more numerous and had a strict policy of >non-interference. However, a group of old ones wanted to change this and >war broke out. Hundreds were recruited on both sides of the conflict >(the disapperance of the Elder Immortals). After long war, the >dissenters were defeated and thrown into a prison plane. One of the >dissenters, however, managed to create the Mists just before he was >imprisoned. The Mists began to move portion of the Prime Material plane >into the prison dimmension (Ravenloft). The dissenters bacame known as >the dark powers... More or less this is the way i imagined it too... However, PCs cannot really distinguish between Vortex and what's behind the Vortex, so the question on the nature of Old Ones remains open to them (if they come to know about their existence, that is): are they good or evil forces? >The Old Ones ignored this because they did not want another war. This >begs the question: Why weren't many of the Entropic Immortals taken by >the Mists on their quest for Immortality. Simply, the power of the >Immortals repulses the Mists. No Immortal or cannidate for Immortality >can be taken by the Mists! Yes, this goes with the official rule of the setting: no Deity or avatar can be imprisoned in RL. However, fiends from the lower planes can be caught into, but this raises a question: what about Entropic Fiends? Fiends of AD&D (Baatezu, Tanar'ri, etc) are different both in powers and nature from D&D demons, which are immortal: i would rule that no D&D demon could enter the Mists. However, demons from the Demon World (a world in the Astral Plane based on manga "mythoi" IMC) could be sucked into... > A "Mystaran Core" made up of Mystaran domains >is in the early planning stages (The "Man, it woud be neat if I did this" >stage) Though the inhabitants of the Core would probaly call it a large >Cluster. Wait: you're planning detailing a whole "core"? I remind you that there is so far only one Core, the original one. You'd probably better do a Cluster of isles or joint lands. But remember: DPs draw in the cursed ones, not the powerful ones. I also once hypothesizes about Ravenloft in the HW. The HW Immortals simply granted Thanatos and Nyx a small chunk of land to populate and rule inside HW, provided, they didn't interfere with the other part of it (they thought to keep Than at bay this way). So they created the Mists that isolates RL from the rest of the HW and inside it they secluded all those poor wrecked souls somewhere in Aerical. >Also, has anyone else wondered why Hule dosen't have a Hollow World >presence? >The Master must have known about the HW for a long time (I can't immagine >him not). >Any ideas? Not compulsory. Hule didn't have wizards to invent skyships, so it was impossible for the Master to know about the Polar Openings. Also, if he doesn't know about the world being hollow, why should he start digging? And again, the fact that he's powerful and could read into the Heldannic minds doesn't automatically mean that every heldannic he met knew of the HW (i suspect this was a very confidential project). And about reading Haldemar's mind: remember that the two only saw for a brief moment before the Master vanished, and they were not certainly thinking about the HW... All considered, it's not likely that Hosadus knows about it. DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #159 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #160 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Tuesday, October 7 1997 Volume 02 : Number 160 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 12:59:37 +0100 From: Peter Balazs Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages Hi! >I first noticed Terari in DotE and used him heavily in my >campaign. Aaron Alston's further use of him as a "mighty mage" figure >in WotI and PWA1 bore out my first impression. Other candidates that >come to mind are Demetrion (Thyatian magist from DotE) and Porphyrial >(spelling?) the Radiant Shaman of Rafiel, who is IIRC a very powerful >mage. As many before me, I have to say that there are THOUSANDS of powerful mages in Mystara. And I also dislike the idea of ONE big mage, who dominates the whole setting. It collidies with my theme of Mystara, which I will stress once more: There is nothing stereotypical in Mystara, there is not only a true evil vs. truu good fight, there is no BIGGEST mage, ... Nevertheless I would like more novels, of course! >There was another elf-mage from GAZ5, Stargazer or something. >But I don't fully like the idea of "mighty mage" elves in OD&D because >the game mechanic for it is a late AD&Dish addition to the rules. But aren´t elves THE magical race (besides Dragons)? So why should they be less able to cast spells than human? And you are right the rules in the Gazeteers for Elven Mages or Dwarven Clerics are kind of importing AD&D into Mystara. But on the other hand, are they not very logical? ************************************************************ Peter Balazs Wurlitzerg. 37/12 1160 Wien 0222/4816030 a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ac.at http://radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs ************************************************************ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 12:59:24 +0100 From: Peter Balazs Subject: [Mystara] Mystara & Ravenloft Hi! >... incorporating Ravenloft material into Karameikos (esp. via >connections to Traladaran gothic flavor), a Mystic cloister at the >Karameikos/Darokin border, Benekander/Rheddrian and the Order of the Owl I´m also using Ravenloft in conjunction with Mystara. IMC Barovia (Rulers: Zarovich) was a not very big country about 2500 years ago, where now is northern Glantri. It was a short time after the rain of fire, when the whole world was in chaso, when an abyssmal, etropic immortal (Baal) tried to conquer Mystara (or at least a part of it). After a year-long fight and search for information a adventuring party with a fighter named Strahd of Zarovich, the Dwarf Kaparesch, the thief Mykzor, the Thor-Paladin Tarek the Stubborn and a Chronomancer(?) managed to stop him, and even succeded to nearly destroy him. They managed to cast powerful spells (they learned from powerfull beings from an unknown plane) to divide Baal´s Power and Being into seven items, which they then sent away from Mystara. (They do not know where to, but they´ve sent it to the distant, distant past of Mystara, which is IMC our earth (with some alterations)). One of the last actions of Baal was a powerful curse he put on the surving group-members. Some 30 years later Strahd von Zarovich is an old, bitter general. He hates his age, and grows more bitter with every day that passes. He then falls in love with the young fiancee of his brother, who sees him only as an old man. With the help of a very powerful, intelligent dagger, which promises eternal youth, he transforms himself into a vampire. And after killing everyone in the castle besides his love, who kills herself, a strange fog surrounds Barovia. Ravenloft is founded. (see some RL items!) IMC the time in Ravenloft runs very much faster than elsehere, so while Strahd thinks that he is in RL for about 300 years, while in Mystara 2500 years passed. Now the Zarovichs still exists in Mystara, they rule a little, semi-autonomous barony, Barovia, in the north of Glantri. (see Roots of Evil) ************************************************************ Peter Balazs Wurlitzerg. 37/12 1160 Wien 0222/4816030 a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ac.at http://radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs ************************************************************ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 07:17:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages In einer eMail vom 07.10.97 11:12:11, schreiben Sie: << >I actually consider Aleena HAlaran the most famour character, to >mystara-fans anyway. Aleena who? :) >> Aleena Halaran, daughter of baron Sherlane Halaran of Threshold. She was the first mystaran personality ever to be mentioned in a D&D product (the red basic box) as far as I know. Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 08:59:23 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord In a message dated 97-10-06 12:59:58 EDT, you write: << > Meredoth was an Alphatian mage (necromancer to be exact). He was granted a > barony in Norworld. He accepted with the hopes of being able to pursue his > experiments in seclusion. Does it happen to say when (Mystara time) he had his dominion there? I'd love to be able to include that into a timeline of Mystara (as I don't own DoD, nor have any immediate desire to get it).>> No Mystaran date is given. Meredoth is given a domain in the RL year of 750; Nocturnal Sea appears then.I too wanted some way to bring the Mystara timeline into a picture of RL timeline. As far as time, I would not worry. The Mists of RL are weird. Time and locations are distorted. You could easily enter the mists at let's say RL year 600 and exit in year 605 or 580. <<> Settling on an island off the coast of his territory, he left the actual > running of the Barony to his retainers. The first winter killed off many of > his retainers. Meredoth animated them and used them for menial tasks. When > his chief retainer protested his handywork, Meredoth killed him. Oohh... does it say where? I'm guessing one of the two islands off the coast- whale island or dog island. That would be cool. The Mists just leave behind ruins, right? >> Once again no. No location is given beyond that originally posted. As far as what is left behind, I am unsure. From the text I assume that Meredoth's tower was drawn in with him. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 15:32:28 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Elves and Humans (was: Mighty Mages) At 12.59 07/10/97 +0100, Peter wrote: >>There was another elf-mage from GAZ5, Stargazer or something. Eh eh... it's Starwatcher. Stargazer was the first Spaceship commanded by Capt. Jean-Luc Picard... >But aren´t elves THE magical race (besides Dragons)? So why should they be >less able to cast spells than human? Let me just make an example: birds and humans. Birds are born to fly, it's their nature: so are elves towards magic -they're born to wield magic. However, humans can fly too, and as you can see, much faster than birds. So human wizards have mastered a way of "talking to" and mastering the arcane arts that far surpasses that of elves: that's all. Elves are limited by their very nature, whereas humans are not. DM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 06:21:41 -0800 From: Brant Subject: [none] Just to let everyone know, netMAG #8 has now been uploaded in .zip format. I finally got my zipit app working. You can find it all at: http://members.aol.com/b1bard/ Brant b1bard@concentric.net http://members.aol.com/b1bard/ "Their citizens (all of them counted as such) lost track of their duties... and glorified the mythology of 'rights.' No nation so constituted, can survive." Robert Heinlein "Starship Troopers" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 10:46:31 -0400 (EDT) From: AndruVasil@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] I'm leaving AOL... Please take me off the list for now....I have to go away for a while and maybe cancelling my AOL until I get back. I will back soon, I hope.....but for now, please take me off the mailing list. Thanks. GB ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 10:17:15 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages Galeifel@aol.com pontificated: > > Aleena Halaran, daughter of baron Sherlane Halaran of Threshold. She was the > first mystaran personality ever to be mentioned in a D&D product (the red > basic box) as far as I know. > > Garafaele Galeifel > Bargal was the first named I think. He is the reason that the adventurer went into the cave. Aleena was not met and named until the adventurer is in the cave. Also, the connection between her and the baron (and her last name) was not mentioned until Gaz. 1. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 08:22:32 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] GAZ11 error: number of Heartlands On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > Ok, i was reading thru GAZ11 yesterday for the x-time, and i found > something i never put to much attention on: the number of regions in the > Heartlands. GAZ11 says that there are 37 regions (page 10), but counting on > the small map (page 11) i found only 36. Also (and this is really strange) > among the Heartlands are counted the Orclands, which are theoretically > Darokin land but techincally humanoids' soil. So, if you think that every > region elects a representative to the Outer Council (37 representatives), > and if you agree with me that NO "people" living in the Orclands vote for > these representatives, where do the heck these Orclands representatives come > from? I thought the Orclands were in the Borderland territories? Or is that what you meant? Or am I misremembering? > All in all, there are 4-5 representatives that should not be in the > Darokin Outer Council. Any explanation? There may be some representatives on the council who 'represent' the Orclands territories but don't actually live there (they are 'owned' by Darokin, if only by default), and who try to institute policy for reclamation, etc, of those lands (but since no one lives there, and there are few of them, and the land is so poor, the policies have a low priority). The other suggestion I might give is to arbitrarily redefine some of the boundaries of the territories to match the number of representatives or to reduce the number of representatives. Possibly even consider annexing some of the Borderland territories to match. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 08:27:46 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] General ramblings On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > There is no such problem at all. The designers of DoD made it possible for > all RL Masters to ignore Vecna altogether by placing him and his "friend" > Kas the Destroyer in a Cluster of islands named the Burning Peaks. This > means that these lands are not in the core nor are they easy to stumble upon > (unless one is very unlucky). Also, yes, Vecna is a demigod, but this > *"demi"* prefix probably allowed the DP to capture him and seclude him in > RL. Currently there will be an adventure that deals with Vecna coming out > next year: this way we'll know why and how the heck did he come into RL. Vecna's coming out? I always knew that there was something screwy about his relationship with Kas... ;) On the other hand, though, I just read a few posts on the rgfd list on usenet, and there have been suggestions that Vecna's being caught by the Mists may have as much to do with the fact that he hasn't brought his full demipowers to bear on freeing himself as anything. Apparently his Hand and Eye are both still trapped elsewhere (either on Greyhawk or scattered throughout the planes, depending on whether you've run the Hand of Vecna module... and that module seems to be considered TSR canon for Greyhawk), and he is still able to grant spells to his followers. Kas' sword is still lost, also. I wouldn't be surprised if their explanation has to do with the module and Vecna's apparent banishment. But I'd also be surprised if he weren't somehow able to free himself, or if the Gods might not take some sort of interest in the Mists nabbing one of their own (even if it is just Vecna). - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 08:34:38 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > However, given the fact that Ship of Horrors took place before the Grand > Conjunction in RL (BC 730) and that RL timeline is now at BC 751, this > timespan of 20+ years would put Meredoth back in AC 995 or so. Obviously > IIRC the dates.. I think they have the dates posted somewhere, maybe the TSR site. I'll check. I think it would work to assume that all TSR worlds are in the same current time frame, though, so this is a good starting point. > It only says that they were small islands off the coast of Norwold. During a > private talk with Mr Miller, however, he mentioned the Heldannic Freeholds, > so yes, it could be Whale Island. I don't think it's Isle of Dogs because it > is too big in comparison to Nebligtode and because it's still on the > nautical charts. BTW, where's whale island? Whale island... isn't that the one near the Isle of Dogs? There's a big one and a small one there... hm. > And about the Mists leaving behind ruins, well, it's not very clear about > the fate of the lands in the Prime. I think that they simply vanish leaving > a tabula rasa. My understanding is that they just create a copy of the territory in RL- such that there is Nedragaard Keep, a copy of Lord Soth's home, whereas Dargaard Keep still exists on Krynn. Same with Citadel Cavitius in the Quasi-elemental Plane of Dust, which is now abandoned due to a copy of it being in RL (and home of Vecna). The only land I recall that appears to have been actually physically absorbed is Barovia, Strahd's domain, which by all accounts was actually transposed to RL by the Mists. But even that could be a copy. By that reasoning, Mordeth's former dominion of Nebligtode should still be present, if ruined and abandoned (quite likely haunted) on Mystara. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 16:39:35 +0100 (MET) From: "Oystein H. Lund" Subject: [Mystara] Hulean skyships. If the Master - and Hule - doesn't posess the knowledge to create skyships... what's that magical flying boat doing in X5 Temple of Death then ? And there's a further ten-fifteen flying about in X10. The players in my campaign wishes to extend their thanks to The Master for the five skyships they captured from him during those two modules - although two of those were destroyed in battle during X10, they still have three pretty big airships. Comes in handy now that they've moved to Norwold... _______________________________________________________________________ | Oeystein H. Lund ,kj160@lhg.hib.no | |"I still consider Southern California the best evidence we have that | | not only do aliens exist, but that they are here already. " | |_____________________________________________________________________| ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 12:25:22 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One pontificated: > > And if it helps any, the WotI should have reduced their numbers > considerably. Many of them (the most militant) were likely killed when > they staged their assault on Glantri in the final days of the war; many > were probably killed during the Week of No Magic (They didn't get to > those high levels, for the most part, without extending their lifespans > somewhat) and the sinking of Alphatia. Well, now you mentioned it, I thought the rule that people with extended life are killed during WoNM was pretty dumb. To me, effect from potion of longivity and other similar magical item is permanent and can't be dispelled. People that received magical healing don't have all the wounds pop back, why should the aging came back? And if indeed all the mages who extended their life beyond norm are killed during the WoNM, I don't think there would be enough powerful magic users left to cast the Wish to bring many of them back. Especially in my campaign, Wish is a special spell, can only be casted by the most powerful mages, at limited frequency (which is why rings of wish is more common than it's power would indicated, because many mages like to make a few of them, so they can cast multiple wishes in a short time span if necessary). While I'm at it, I will rant a little about aging and death in the game. I don't like the way potion of longavity can extend someone's life infinatly, or the optional penality that it have a chance of undo all the effects of previous potions. The way I'm working on is something like this. Assuming human, the potion will not work for anyone younger than 20 or remove age to less than 20. The potion also can't remove all the real aging. For every 10 years of real aging, the potion can only remove 9. A person can only take 1 potion every 10 years, so even if someone have constant supply of the potion, they will still age slowly, and have a maximum life of 600 or so. Magical aging from undeads and other are more like powerful curse, and can be removed through other ways than using the potion. Raise dead are also too easy at 5th level. I changed the Raise Dead spell to work on someone killed less than 30 minutes ago. It is more like preventing the soul from leaving and healed the body enough to hold the soul again than return someone from death. Raise dead fully works more like raise dead from the book, but only if the cleric's patron immortal agree to let the subject to live again. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 12:54:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Hulean skyships. In a message dated 97-10-07 12:20:01 EDT, you write: << f the Master - and Hule - doesn't posess the knowledge to create skyships... what's that magical flying boat doing in X5 Temple of Death then ? >> Module X5 is a fairly old release -- it came out way before this whole thing about skyships perked up with Alphatia. Perhaps the Master acquired these from another source and he does not have the means to reproduce or replace them. Others could be Heldannic ships secretely helping out the master for some reason (flying his colors for the occasion). The two are not above making quiet deals amongst themselves if that's to their advantage. Does this help? Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 13:11:38 -0400 From: Ray Brooks Subject: Re: [Mystara] Hulean skyships. Oystein H. Lund wrote: > > If the Master - and Hule - doesn't posess the knowledge to create > skyships... what's that magical flying boat doing in X5 Temple of Death > then ? And there's a further ten-fifteen flying about in X10. The > players in my campaign wishes to extend their thanks to The Master for > the five skyships they captured from him during those two modules - Not to mention the fact that one of the Sindhi rulers (the rajadhirajah maybe) has that monstrous flying barge of his that was detailed in Champions of Mystara. The Master would be a fool to not have an air fleet with all of his neighbours busily constructing air ships. ray ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 13:13:31 -0500 From: Rob Rickard Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) - --------------9229B025AD37FA19885AAF74 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Shin Chyang Yu wrote: > Well, now you mentioned it, I thought the rule that people with > extended life are killed during WoNM was pretty dumb. To me, effect > from potion of longivity and other similar magical item is permanent > and can't be dispelled. John Yu Yes I agree too and we have about the same "home Rules" to cure this prob. IMC I have two different ways for using magic to stop aging. First the Type that most Alphatians use (and other that died the week there was no magic) just holds the aging process. This way on simple command they can show the true age at anytime. It is a simple spell that wastes no time and costs little. IMC The Alphatians rely and trust magic for as they trust rely and and trust the air they breath. Mush like we rely on our kitchen appliances. So this type of magic for aging is accepted and they see little to know fault in it. The second is a type of magic IMC I have played up that it completes the process of turning back the aging . Permanent. It is costly and painful. It takes hours and sometimes fails. IMC I have had Taraie perfect it. I run Potions much like John Yu. Potions are permanent until they clean out of your system. I have some potion last longer than others. some only lasts months some years the rarest is over a decade. slowly you become you true age again. Your body also becomes immune to the potions you a character must search out obscure potions that their body will accept. Also it is a painful process after drinking and becoming younger. > ... changed the Raise Dead spell to work on someone killed > less than 30 minutes ago. It is more like preventing the soul > from leaving and healed the body enough to hold the soul again > than return someone from death. Raise dead fully works more like > raise dead from the book, but only if the cleric's patron > immortal agree to let the subject to live again. > John Yu > Especially in my campaign, Wish is a special spell, can only be casted by the most powerful mages, John Yu I agree too. IMC only the high priests can raise dead fully. Or an Immortal can grant it to a powerful cleric if he is worthy. - --------------9229B025AD37FA19885AAF74 Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Shin Chyang Yu wrote:
Well, now you mentioned it, I thought the rule that people with
extended life are killed during WoNM was pretty dumb. To me, effect
from potion of longivity and other similar magical item is permanent
and can't be dispelled. John Yu
Yes I agree too and we have about the same "home Rules" to cure this prob.
IMC I have two different ways for using magic to stop aging.
First the Type that most Alphatians use (and other that died the week there was no magic) just holds the aging process.  This way on simple command they can show the true age at anytime.  It is a simple spell that wastes no time and costs little.  IMC The Alphatians rely and trust magic for as they trust rely and and trust the air they breath.  Mush like we rely on our kitchen appliances.  So this type of magic for aging is accepted and they see little to know fault in it.
The second is a type of magic IMC I have played up that it completes the process of turning back the aging .  Permanent. It is costly and painful.  It takes hours and sometimes fails.  IMC I have had Taraie perfect it.
I run Potions much like John Yu.  Potions are permanent until they clean out of your system.  I have some potion last longer than others.  some only lasts months some years the rarest is over a decade.  slowly you become you true age again.  Your body also becomes immune to the potions you a character must search out obscure potions that their body will accept.  Also it is  a painful process after drinking and  becoming younger.
... changed the Raise Dead spell to work on someone killed
less than 30 minutes ago. It is more like preventing the soul
from leaving and healed the body enough to hold the soul again
than return someone from death. Raise dead fully works more like
raise dead from the book, but only if the cleric's patron
immortal agree to let the subject to live again.
John Yu
Especially in my campaign, Wish is a special spell, can only be
casted by the most powerful mages,        John Yu

I agree too.  IMC only the high priests can raise dead fully.  Or an Immortal can grant it to a powerful cleric if he is worthy.
 
  - --------------9229B025AD37FA19885AAF74-- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 14:12:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambyrus@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages In a message dated 97-10-06 11:46:43 EDT, you write: << > I don't think there should be a singularly dominant mage on Mystara. Such a > mage would upset the balance of power. > Agreed, but having one mage that is more popular or famous will help out in giving the world a bit more identity. John Yu >> true -Ambyrus ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 11:36:43 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Hulean skyships. On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, Oystein H. Lund wrote: > If the Master - and Hule - doesn't posess the knowledge to create > skyships... what's that magical flying boat doing in X5 Temple of Death > then ? And there's a further ten-fifteen flying about in X10. The > players in my campaign wishes to extend their thanks to The Master for > the five skyships they captured from him during those two modules - > although two of those were destroyed in battle during X10, they still > have three pretty big airships. Comes in handy now that they've moved to > Norwold... That's actually a good point. They even pop up in the Hulean forces entries mentioned in CoM. I wouldn't want to put them up against some of the more powerful skyships, such as the Heldannic Warbirds or the Princess Ark, though. They're little more than rowboats with levitate spells permanently enchanting them, driven by a bunch of skeletons with oars of air rowing of something, though. At least, that's the appearance they give in X5: Temple of Death. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 21:37:02 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages At 21.26 05/10/97 -0500, you wrote: >I was just wondering something that maybe has been discussed before (I'm >new here). > >Toril has Elminster, Krynn has/had Raistlin and Dalamar, Oerth has >Mordenkainen as masters of magic that most players see as that world's >greatest mage. Mystara hasn't had a mage come out as a one true master of >magic. > >I think Terari has a good start as the Master of the Karameikan School of >Magecraft (and former Alphatian Emperor). Since he was a wandering mage >before accepting the post at Karameikos, he should have seen and done quite >abit not to mention being long-lived. I was just wondering what everyone >else thought. Have you never heard of Etienne d'Ambreville, also known as Rad.... and recently as Bruce Heard ? :-) IIRC according to the Gazzeteers (i.e. before WotI) he's the only 36th level mage in the Known World, i.e. the only one who can cast a "wish"! - -------------- Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 - -------------- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 13:37:49 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambyrus@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord In a message dated 97-10-06 06:47:57 EDT, you write: << I heard some talk about a Ravenloft darklord from Mystara, who was supposed to have appeared in adventure and who was described in detail in Domains of dread. Does anyone know more? >> Yeah, I borrowed my friend's Domains of Dread book. It's some Necromancer from Norwold that makes a strange kind of zombie. He is cold to the touch...i forgot his name though - -Ambyrus ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 20:11:59 +0100 From: Peter Balazs Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord Hi! >The only land I recall that appears to have been actually physically >absorbed is Barovia, Strahd's domain, which by all accounts was actually >transposed to RL by the Mists. But even that could be a copy. It is! see Roots of Evil (I think!) ************************************************************ Peter Balazs Wurlitzerg. 37/12 1160 Wien 0222/4816030 a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ac.at http://radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs ************************************************************ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 11:47:49 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord On Tue, 7 Oct 1997 Alex295@aol.com wrote: > No Mystaran date is given. Meredoth is given a domain in the RL year of 750; > Nocturnal Sea appears then.I too wanted some way to bring the Mystara > timeline into a picture of RL timeline. I just checked out the homepage DM mentioned (the geocities one), and on the timeline compiled by one guy there, the date of Meredoth's gaining Nebligtode is 638. Following the rationale that 750 RL (Ravenloft) = 1996 RW (Real World); and 1014 AC = 1996 RW; then Meredoth was sucked into RL sometime in 892/893 AC, Mystara time (providing for a 336 day year Mystara to 365 day year Ravenloft conversion). I don't know how this works with any given information on the settling of Norwold. I couldn't find anything on Norwold on the timeline by Daniel Boese, and as I'm at work I can't check my own sources. Of course, the estimates of the timeline on the RL page may be wrong- the author admits to having problems trying to rationalize all the conflicting data- and Domains of Dread may have a different date than the one he gives (I gather it was written some time before DoD, and hasn't been updated). Unfortunately, I no longer own Ship of Horror (how was I to know that they would go back and retcon it to have Mystara ties?), so can't check dates in that book, and I'm also curious about one thing... Is Nebligtode the same place as the home of the Graben(sp?) family? Which might lead to further speculations on the history of Meredoth, et al in Mystara. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 19:40:28 +0100 From: Peter Balazs Subject: Re: [Mystara] Elves and Humans (was: Mighty Mages) Hi! >>But aren´t elves THE magical race (besides Dragons)? So why should they be >>less able to cast spells than human? > >Let me just make an example: birds and humans. Birds are born to fly, it's >their nature: so are elves towards magic -they're born to wield magic. >However, humans can fly too, and as you can see, much faster than birds. So >human wizards have mastered a way of "talking to" and mastering the arcane >arts that far surpasses that of elves: that's all. Elves are limited by >their very nature, whereas humans are not. To use your example, birds even now can fly more precisely, have better maneuverability IMO. All the flying machines humans have inveted got some ideas from nature, from the birds. And no human can fly by himself! At least birds can fly, where´s the big thing elves can do, if they are born to wield magic? Do you mean that every elf can cast spells? But I really don´t accept your example, because there is a big difference between a bird and humans: intelligence. So if birds would be intelligent, I´d think they have a much better understanding of flying, air currents and so on, so that they probably would invent better flying machines faster. Why are elves "limited by their very nature"? Why can´t elves, who should have a better understanding of magic, at least at an emotional or subconscious niveau, learn the same things humans can learn? IMC humans are, let´s say, more focused than most of the other races. So while it is possible for them to learn every class unlimited, it is still possible for the other races to learn everything a human can learn, but they need more time/experience. Exceptions are of course Dwarves and Magic. ************************************************************ Peter Balazs Wurlitzerg. 37/12 1160 Wien 0222/4816030 a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ac.at http://radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs ************************************************************ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 16:30:59 -0400 (EDT) From: Rotiss@aol.com Subject: [Mystara] New to Mystara... ... and wondering the best materials to buy to get started. I bought the Glantri set at KB Toys (for $4!!!) and thought it was pretty interesting. If there is a set which details the whole setting, I'd love to know what it is and where I might find it. Thanks again. Bill Hojecki (Former FR player, now Mystara DM) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 16:27:42 -0500 From: brunciak Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages Aron Reif wrote: > >Is there anyone think the Council is a bit too big? Before the DoE > >box set, the most powerful mage described is Etienne (I think), and > >he was only level 35. I think 100 or so will be a more reasonable > >number. Perhaps Alphatia exagerate the number a bit, that the > >Council only have about 100 36 level, and rest of the Council is > >fill by some what lesser mages? >I've always thought that. I've always believed that it was a >Council of 1000 wizards, but not all of them were 36th level. I >don't think any of the Glantrian Princes are 36th level. How could >Glantri possibly fight a war with Alphatia if they were up against >1000 36th level mages?? Can you imagine 1000 wishes cast against >Glantri? Or before WOTI, how could Thyatis ever stand up to 1000 >36th level mages? No, I've always believed that the council wasn't >made up of only 36th level mages. I've decided that it was just a >rumor purposefully spread by Alphatia to make them seem more powerful >than they are. Obviously, they don't say "Council of 1000 36th level >wizards" (levels are for players, not characters), so they'd have to >use the term arch-mages or something. I must agree. Here's why: Imagine the power of 1000 36th level wizards. Many people used the example of Congress:Fine. Let's say that 1/5 happen to agree on something (even rare in Congress). That's still 200 very angry and powerful mages, anyway you see it. Also, if you are in a total war with a sworn enemy (take the U.S. scientists in World War II developing the Bomb) duty to your country is paramount next to your own needs (meaning it would be possible to gather a large force of these council members). If I was a member I would try to find a way to combine my reasearch with duty to empire and try to find a better way to kill (or defeat) Glantrians and Thyatians. Also, in an empire as chaotic as Alphatia, it would appear that 1000 36th level mages would almost be inviting disater, if not civil war. Out of 1000 mages, there must be one that covets the throne and would be able to create a power struggle situation. (This may sound absurd but think what happens when a country has a large number of powerful people; they end up controlling the country whether they want to or not or whether the population knows or not). Lastly, if they REALLY wanted to, Alphatians could have taken over a large portion of the world, more than they have now, if they have 1000 wizards of 36th level (regardless of zzonga fruit or the chaotic and free-spirited nature of Alphatians) I believe that when the Council was thought up of they wanted to show that Alphatia was a very powerful, magical, island empire. What better way than to have 1000 36th level magic-users? However, I think that the council should really be 100 36th level mages or 1000 mages of varying levels with very few 36th level ones. It's just more realistic this way. I hope that the WotI has made this a reality. BOB ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 16:33:02 -0400 (EDT) From: Rotiss@aol.com Subject: [Mystara] New to Mystara... ... and wondering the best materials to buy to get started. I bought the Glantri set at KB Toys (for $4!!!) and thought it was pretty interesting. If there is a set which details the whole setting, I'd love to know what it is and where I might find it. Thanks again. Bill Hojecki (Former FR player, now Mystara DM) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 16:50:03 -0400 From: Ray Brooks Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages > Have you never heard of Etienne d'Ambreville, also known as Rad.... and > recently as Bruce Heard ? :-) > IIRC according to the Gazzeteers (i.e. before WotI) he's the only 36th > level mage in the Known World, i.e. the only one who can cast a "wish"! Huh? I guess that Dawn of the Emperors must have rewritten things more than I thought.... Where did you find the reference that Etienne is the only 36th lvl mage? puzzled ray ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 16:36:38 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Elves and Humans (was: Mighty Mages) DM pontificated: > > Let me just make an example: birds and humans. Birds are born to fly, it'= > s > their nature: so are elves towards magic -they're born to wield magic. > However, humans can fly too, and as you can see, much faster than birds. = > So > human wizards have mastered a way of "talking to" and mastering the arcan= > e > arts that far surpasses that of elves: that's all. Elves are limited by > their very nature, whereas humans are not. > If birds are as intelligent as human, I would guess they can build better aircrafts. Back to the elves, if I ever starts another campaign, I think I will change the rules so that elves would be the most powerful MU, dwarfs would be the best fighters, halfling would be the best thieves. Human, meanwhile, can multiclass easier, and have more freedom in what class they can be, but will be much more difficult for them to became as powerful as the demi-human in their respected class. This make more sense to me, and seem to follow classical fantasy writings better. Just IMO, of course. John Yu ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #160 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #161 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Wednesday, October 8 1997 Volume 02 : Number 161 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 16:47:15 -0500 From: brunciak Subject: Re: [Mystara]: Soldier Kits {Was (DDD)} Magesmiley@aol.com wrote: > How about having someone recognize his "obvious" talent and give him > a special assignment of some sort (this would also make it easier to > fit the other characters in). This sounds valid but my PC really wants to be in the common ranks. I've decided to combine these two by having him be among the troops but be in an elite unit (sort of special forces) after his superiors recognize his "talent". This brings me to another point mentioned in one of the earlier responses to my post. How about Kits for each type of soldier in the armies? For instance, a Darokinian soldier would gain use of a pike and rapier and perhaps a diplomacy or etiquette proficiency. A soldier of the Northern Reaches would have some sort of berzerking ability and so on. These kits would be used in military based campaigns to help make PCs more along the line of soldiers. Any comments? BOB ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 17:03:40 -0500 From: brunciak Subject: Re: [Mystara] Elves and Humans (was: Mighty Mages) Peter Balazs wrote: > At least birds can fly, where´s the big thing elves can do, if they > are born to wield magic? Do you mean that every elf can cast spells? I believe that every elf in OD&D was able to cast magic whether a PC or not. The thing that I didn't like was when elves were brought to AD&D. I believed that they should be granted some spell casting abilities (I mean a human ranger could cast spells but not an elven fighter? Why not?) In my campaigns in Mystara with AD&D rules, I grant all elves Cantrip because it is so basic and because Mystara is the most magical world in D&D. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 17:08:23 -0500 From: brunciak Subject: Re: [Mystara] Hulean skyships. Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > I wouldn't want to put them up against some of the more powerful > skyships, such as the Heldannic Warbirds or the Princess Ark, > though. They're little more than rowboats with levitate spells > permanently enchanting them, driven by a bunch of skeletons with > oars of air rowing of something, though. At least, that's the > appearance they give in X5: Temple of Death. Well then, if they are just undead-manned rowboats, I don't believe that they would be strong enough to help create a Hulean presence in the HW or be strong enough to even find the existence of it. (That was somewhat the original topic, wasn't it?) BOB ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 16:44:59 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] GAZ11 error: number of Heartlands Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One pontificated: > > There may be some representatives on the council who 'represent' the > Orclands territories but don't actually live there (they are 'owned' by > Darokin, if only by default), and who try to institute policy for > reclamation, etc, of those lands (but since no one lives there, and there > are few of them, and the land is so poor, the policies have a low priority). > This would be a nice explanation. A fun RW example. After the nationalist Chinese retreated to Taiwan, many of the congress members followed along, while the locality they represent are under "temperary rebel control" for the next 40 some years. And because reelection can't be held anymore, they basically have the office for life. My grand father was a representative of Hunan until he died a few years ago, even though he haven't be in that region since the 40's :). John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 17:14:21 -0400 (EDT) From: CRlPTONITE@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord >> However, given the fact that Ship of Horrors took place before the Grand >> Conjunction in RL (BC 730) and that RL timeline is now at BC 751, this >> timespan of 20+ years would put Meredoth back in AC 995 or so. Obviously >> IIRC the dates.. > I think they have the dates posted somewhere, maybe the TSR site. I'll > check. I think it would work to assume that all TSR worlds are in the > same current time frame, though, so this is a good starting point. i dont believe so ravenloft time goes much faster than the other worlds thats how they got lord soth back into krynn and thats why he can exist in both worlds at the same time ex. say RL time moves twice as fast as the other worlds and soth lives in RL for 100 years (escaping that final year) when he escapes and returns to krynn only 50 krynn years will have passed therefore for the next 50 years he'll be in RL and DL now relating it back to mystara youre going to need to find that time conversion and his RL date of arrival to see when he left mystara i dont know either offhand also working with this soth instance meredoth could be back here, in mystara, now! - --- -- --Crip ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 14:35:27 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: [Mystara] One last Ravenloft thought Not to keep harping on this topic, but now that it's come up- I noticed on one of the Ravenloft pages that in one of the upcoming supplements, it has been said by one of the TSR employees that it will be revealed that the former Drow of Arak are in fact Shadowelves, and that they now inhabit the Shadow Rift since the absorption of Arak into Darkon. Whether these are Mystaran Shadowelves or some other type, I don't know, but I'd assume that they are Mystaran SE, since I've never seen any SE on any other TSR world. Interesting, no? - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 17:39:01 EST From: Neal Daskal Subject: Re[2]: [Mystara] Elves and Humans (was: Mighty Mages) >If birds are as intelligent as human, I would guess they can build >better aircrafts. Back to the elves, if I ever starts another >campaign, I think I will change the rules so that elves would be >the most powerful MU, dwarfs would be the best fighters, halfling >would be the best thieves. Human, meanwhile, can multiclass easier, >and have more freedom in what class they can be, but will be much >more difficult for them to became as powerful as the demi-human in >their respected class. This make more sense to me, and seem to >follow classical fantasy writings better. Just IMO, of course. Why are people who want to "follow classical fantasy writings" playing D&D instead of MERP? Aren't there enough FRPGs out there so someone can find a rule system they like instead of modifying a systems's assumptions (modifying glaring omissions I won't dispute)? Just MHO. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 21:45:09 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta At 09.04 06/10/97 -0700, Cthuludrew wrote: >Woohoo! The Rakasta article! Yes! (I knew that I'd never have gotten >around to doing anything with the individual breeds of Rakasta myself). :) I hope we'll have Tortles next... :) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 20:07:20 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages At 18.21 06/10/97 -0400, Aron Reif wrote: >I've always thought that. I've always believed that it was a Council of >1000 wizards, but not all of them were 36th level. I don't think any of >the Glantrian Princes are 36th level. How could Glantri possibly fight a >war with Alphatia if they were up against 1000 36th level mages?? Can you >imagine 1000 wishes cast against Glantri? Just a note: according to the RC being of 36th level isn't enough to cast a wish. You also need Wisdom=18 IIRC (or was it Int?). ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 23:54:20 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages At 16.50 07/10/97 -0400, Ray Brooks wrote: >> Have you never heard of Etienne d'Ambreville, also known as Rad.... and >> recently as Bruce Heard ? :-) >> IIRC according to the Gazzeteers (i.e. before WotI) he's the only 36th >> level mage in the Known World, i.e. the only one who can cast a "wish"! > >Huh? I guess that Dawn of the Emperors must have rewritten things more >than I thought.... Where did you find the reference that Etienne is the >only 36th lvl mage? > I said "the only 36th level mage in the Known World", i.e. the area of Brun east of Sind and South of Wendar and Heldann. I didn't find the reference that Etienne is the only 36th level mage anywhere, I just checked the important NPC in the Gaz and the only 36th level mage I found was Etienne. Or is the Thyatian mage (Demetrios???) 36th level too? - -------------- Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 - -------------- ------------------------------ Date: 07 Oct 1997 17:23:38 -0500 From: Alan Shutko Subject: [Mystara] Re: Elves and Humans (was: Mighty Mages) >>>>> "P" == Peter Balazs writes: P> At least birds can fly, where´s the big thing elves can do, if they P> are born to wield magic? Do you mean that every elf can cast P> spells? Sure, in D&D! 8^) - -- Alan Shutko - By consent of the corrupted A day without sunshine is like a day in Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 15:33:51 -0700 From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) First John Yu Said: >> Shin Chyang Yu wrote: Well, now you mentioned it, I thought the rule that >>people with >>extended life are killed during WoNM was pretty dumb. To me, effect >>from potion of longivity and other similar magical item is permanent >>and can't be dispelled. Then Rob Rickard wrote: > > Yes I agree too and we have about the same "home Rules" to cure this prob. I think the ORIGINAL rule actually makes a lot of sense precisely BECAUSE the magic is lost but the aging isn't. Here's an example: Zepher the mage is chronologically five hundred and sixty four years old but appears and behaves as if he were only 60. He has used a number of potions to extend his life. Suddenly, magic stops, and the essence that maintains his vitality is gone -- he is still five hundred and sixty four, but the magic is no longer there to make him appear to be only 60. Thus, suddently and without warning Zepher begins to feel just like any five hundred and sixty four year old man would feel -- downright awful. Almost instantly, all the cells in his body go "OH MY GOD WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ME!!!!", his adrenaline skyrockets, and *poof* he dies of a massive heart attack becuase his now ancient body can't take the excitement. Seems perfectly reasonable to me.... Jenni - -=> strawberryJAMM <=- - -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield http://www.jamm.com/jenni/home.html - -=> strawberryJAMM <=- strawberry@jamm.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 19:20:55 -0400 From: Aron Reif Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta At 09:45 PM 10/6/97 +0200, you wrote: >At 09.04 06/10/97 -0700, Cthuludrew wrote: > >>Woohoo! The Rakasta article! Yes! (I knew that I'd never have gotten >>around to doing anything with the individual breeds of Rakasta myself). :) > >I hope we'll have Tortles next... :) > > Yeah, I vote for that one too! Tortles have always been my personal favorite humanoids. Aron Reif areif@erols.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 18:58:43 -0400 From: Aron Reif Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Mighty Mages At 09:21 PM 10/6/97 -0500, you wrote: >A> How could Glantri possibly fight a war with Alphatia if they were >A> up against 1000 36th level mages?? Can you imagine 1000 wishes >A> cast against Glantri? Or before WOTI, how could Thyatis ever stand >A> up to 1000 36th level mages? > >DoE had a very good explanation of this, which I'd love to quote. >(Damned copyright! 8^)) > go ahead and quote! just as long as you give credit to the author (Aaron Allston, I believe), that's what the "" characters were made for. >Basically, even though the Council has 1000 36th level mages, it >doesn't have an army of x-thousand mages. Not even most of the >council would be willing to carry out a war. > >Think about the US Congress. It can never completely agree on >anything. Now imagine having a thousand people in Congress -- none of >them career politicians, but scientists and artists far more >interested in their own work than ruling a nation. After all, they >have so much magic, nobody could withstand them... so why should _I_ >do anything? > agreed, they might not ALL decide to fight, but hell, what if just 5% fight? That's 50 36th level mages who could easily wreck havok on any nation (including Glantri and Thyatis). Aron Reif areif@erols.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 15:58:55 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, Fabrizio Paoli wrote: > I said "the only 36th level mage in the Known World", i.e. the area of Brun > east of Sind and South of Wendar and Heldann. > I didn't find the reference that Etienne is the only 36th level mage > anywhere, I just checked the important NPC in the Gaz and the only 36th > level mage I found was Etienne. > Or is the Thyatian mage (Demetrios???) 36th level too? I think Demetrion was 36th level, yes. And IIRC, Rad's Mortal Identity of Etienne D'Ambreville is only 31st or thereabouts- he wasn't described as 36th level. He may have been the most powerful Glantrian mage, but I believe it was a pretty close call between him and one or two others. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 01:09:08 +0100 From: Peter Balazs Subject: Re: Re[2]: [Mystara] Elves and Humans (was: Mighty Mages) Hi! >Why are people who want to "follow classical fantasy writings" >playing D&D instead of MERP? Aren't there enough FRPGs out >there so someone can find a rule system they like instead of >modifying a systems's assumptions (modifying glaring omissions I >won't dispute)? Just MHO. 1.) Are you not mixing the background with the rules? There are groups that play D&D and AD&D on Mystara, but there are also groups which use GURPS-rules to play on our favorite world! 2.) Do you think that Tolkien is the only "classical fantasy writings"? As a matter of fact i don´t think that MERP or Rolemaster is a set of rules that capture the spirit of Tolkien very well. 3.) You are right, that the many fantasy stories rely on the elves as Tolkien described them, with more or less differences. But if they are nothing like the elves of Tolkien, why call them elves? 4.) to really fit the rules with the gaming group, you really HAVE to temper with it. I´m also playing MERP (Rolemaster) and we have made many houserules, as we have with AD&D in Mystara. 5.) Sometimes the GM has to change the rules to fit with his own campaign background! ************************************************************ Peter Balazs Wurlitzerg. 37/12 1160 Wien 0222/4816030 a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ac.at http://radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs ************************************************************ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 19:16:58 -0400 From: Aron Reif Subject: Re: [Mystara] New to Mystara... At 04:30 PM 10/7/97 -0400, you wrote: >... and wondering the best materials to buy to get started. I bought the >Glantri set at KB Toys (for $4!!!) and thought it was pretty interesting. If >there is a set which details the whole setting, I'd love to know what it is >and where I might find it. > >Thanks again. >Bill Hojecki > >(Former FR player, now Mystara DM) > > well, if you can get anything else for $4, buy it!! If not, well, you have to be a bit more selective. If you like the CD type of adventure, then you'll like the others in the series (Mark of Amber, Hail the Heros, Night of the Vampires, Karameikos: Kindom of Adventure, Red Steel, Savage Baronies). If you don't think the CD's are worth an extra $10 (the average price increase for the products with CDs), then I'd stay away from them. You can order some of the Gazetteers from mail order shops (www.dragontrove.com is my personal favorite). They are similar to the "Grimoire" book that came with the Glantri Box set. Each book details one country on Mystara. My personal favorites: GAZ1: Grand Duchy of Karameikos (updated in Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure) GAZ3: Principalities of Glantri (updated in Glantri: Kingdom of Magic) GAZ5: Elves of Alfheim GAZ6: Dwarves of Rockhome GAZ8: The Five Shires (land of halflings) GAZ10: Orcs of Thar GAZ13: Shadow Elves (available for download for free on www.tsrinc.com) GAZ14: Atruaghin Clans The Dawn of the Emporers Box Set The Wrath of the Immortals Box Set If you're looking for adventures, I recommend most of the X-series (PC levels 4-14), especially X1, X4, X5, X6, X7, X9, X10, X11, and X12. If you can find it, B1-9: In Search of Adventure puts the first 9 B-series modules all in one book. Since these books are all out of print, you probably aren't going to get them cheap (unless you're lucky again). Aron Reif areif@erols.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 19:21:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] GAZ11 error: number of Heartlands In a message dated 97-10-07 03:54:54 EDT, you write: << Ok, i was reading thru GAZ11 yesterday for the x-time, and i found something i never put to much attention on: the number of regions in the Heartlands. GAZ11 says that there are 37 regions (page 10), but counting on the small map (page 11) i found only 36. Also (and this is really strange) among the Heartlands are counted the Orclands, which are theoretically Darokin land but techincally humanoids' soil. So, if you think that every region elects a representative to the Outer Council (37 representatives), and if you agree with me that NO "people" living in the Orclands vote for these representatives, where do the heck these Orclands representatives come from? All in all, there are 4-5 representatives that should not be in the Darokin Outer Council. Any explanation? >> First off, the rulers of the orclands could be of the reclusive type & live in a small tower somewhere in their area (maybe a wizard or something), and not really care what happens. Another possibility is that the ruler is a ruler in name only, and has little or no control over the bulk of their territory. As far as the number of Heartland territories on the map (the white unshaded ones), I count 32, which if you add 1 for each of the 5 major cities, ends up with 37 (one representative for each region plus one more for each major city). The Orclands are Borderlands territory and thus are not represented in the Outer Council. So I think that there isn't really a glitch there. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 19:37:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] New to Mystara... In a message dated 97-10-07 16:59:33 EDT, you write: << ... and wondering the best materials to buy to get started. I bought the Glantri set at KB Toys (for $4!!!) and thought it was pretty interesting. If there is a set which details the whole setting, I'd love to know what it is and where I might find it. >> There isn't really a best single source... but the Poor Wizard's / Joshuan's Almanacs aren't bad if you can get a copy of them (but the maps are less than adequate). Dawn of the Emperors details a couple of the larger empires, and the D&D Rules Cyclopedia has a reasonable atlas section. If its maps you're after try to find a copy of the Trail Maps which were released quite a while back (they're tough to find anymore though). Out of these, the almanacs be the easiest to find I think. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 18:48:13 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: [Mystara] Worldshields, Volcanoes, and Antimagic oh my In numerous diagrams show volcanoes drawing magma from the Worldshield. Wouldn't this mean that a volcanic eruption would cause a temporary a-m effect every where the lava lands? "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 19:47:24 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) I didn't really think about this point much, but if the week without magic was bad enough to make the Hollow World's sun go out for a bit (Immortal Magic was affected), so I don't think that the magical youth from a mere longevity potion is going to have much of a chance. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 19:52:53 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages Don't forget Barimoor living in Ylaruam, he's a 36th leveler too (Alphatian born too). ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 18:17:49 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Mon, 06 Oct 1997 21:37:02 +0200 Fabrizio Paoli writes: [snip] >Have you never heard of Etienne d'Ambreville, also known as Rad.... >and >recently as Bruce Heard ? :-) >IIRC according to the Gazzeteers (i.e. before WotI) he's the only 36th >level mage in the Known World, i.e. the only one who can cast a >"wish"! Uh, I think Erianda is 36th level, plus there's the thousand wizards (some most be 36th level) and then there's all those ex-PCs running around. :) >-------------- >Fabrizio Paoli >brizio@lunet.it >Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 >-------------- > "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 18:44:22 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord On Tue, 7 Oct 1997 09:43:07 +0200 DM writes: >At 09.26 06/10/97 -0700, Cthul wrote: >>He's... umm... He was the villain in Ship of Horrors, though in that >>module there is no Mystara info given about him (he was just a >generic >>mage). Steve Miller (IIRC) was the one who decided to make him an >>Alphatian mage. >> >>His domain begins with an M... Mordent? > >Nope. His domain is Nebligtode, and his isle is Todstein (Death Rock). >Mordent is one of the oldest core domains. Meredoth is currently a >20th >level Necromancer, possibly (as Mr Miller put it) the most powerful >necromancer of the Mists. That's funny, in DoD he's the Darklord of the Nocturnal Sea. >DM > > "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 18:25:23 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Tue, 07 Oct 1997 20:07:20 +0200 Fabrizio Paoli writes: >At 18.21 06/10/97 -0400, Aron Reif wrote: >>I've always thought that. I've always believed that it was a Council >of >>1000 wizards, but not all of them were 36th level. I don't think any >of >>the Glantrian Princes are 36th level. How could Glantri possibly >fight a >>war with Alphatia if they were up against 1000 36th level mages?? >Can you >>imagine 1000 wishes cast against Glantri? > >Just a note: according to the RC being of 36th level isn't enough to >cast a >wish. >You also need Wisdom=18 IIRC (or was it Int?). > > Yes. I've always wondered if this was just a misprint and they meant Int. Anybody know for sure? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 18:55:17 -0500 From: Rob Rickard Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) > First John Yu Said: > >> Shin Chyang Yu wrote: Well, now you mentioned it, I thought the > rule that > >>people with > >>extended life are killed during WoNM was pretty dumb. To me, effect > > >>from potion of longivity and other similar magical item is permanent > > >>and can't be dispelled. > > Then Rob Rickard wrote: > > > > Yes I agree too and we have about the same "home Rules" to cure > this > prob. > --Rob-- Jenni A. M. Merrifield wrote: > I think the ORIGINAL rule actually makes a lot of sense precisely > BECAUSE > the magic is lost but the aging isn't.... > ... Seems perfectly reasonable to me.... > > Jenni > Yes, but what about the 100+ year old characters that survived? - --Rob-- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 18:42:45 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mystara and Ravenloft (was: General ramblings) On Tue, 7 Oct 1997 10:24:28 +0200 DM writes: >At 15.33 05/10/97 -0500, Aaron Nowack wrote: >>In the past week, I have gotten copies of Domains of Dread and Dark >Sun, >>and have been thinking about ways to incorparate Ravenloft into >Mystara >>(this borrows some from DM's site) > >Gee, finally that thing has been read by at least somebody else! Glad >you >appreciated my effort. :) > >>Long ago, the Old Ones were much more numerous and had a strict >policy of >>non-interference. However, a group of old ones wanted to change this >and >>war broke out. Hundreds were recruited on both sides of the conflict >>(the disapperance of the Elder Immortals). After long war, the >>dissenters were defeated and thrown into a prison plane. One of the >>dissenters, however, managed to create the Mists just before he was >>imprisoned. The Mists began to move portion of the Prime Material >plane >>into the prison dimmension (Ravenloft). The dissenters bacame known >as >>the dark powers... > >More or less this is the way i imagined it too... However, PCs cannot >really >distinguish between Vortex and what's behind the Vortex, so the >question on >the nature of Old Ones remains open to them (if they come to know >about >their existence, that is): are they good or evil forces? > >>The Old Ones ignored this because they did not want another war. >This >>begs the question: Why weren't many of the Entropic Immortals taken >by >>the Mists on their quest for Immortality. Simply, the power of the >>Immortals repulses the Mists. No Immortal or cannidate for >Immortality >>can be taken by the Mists! >Yes, this goes with the official rule of the setting: no Deity or >avatar can >be imprisoned in RL. I didn't know this. Wow, what a coincidence. > However, fiends from the lower planes can be >caught >into, but this raises a question: what about Entropic Fiends? Fiends >of AD&D >(Baatezu, Tanar'ri, etc) are different both in powers and nature from >D&D >demons, which are immortal: i would rule that no D&D demon could enter >the >Mists. However, demons from the Demon World (a world in the Astral >Plane >based on manga "mythoi" IMC) could be sucked into... Sounds good. >> A "Mystaran Core" made up of Mystaran domains >>is in the early planning stages (The "Man, it woud be neat if I did >this" >>stage) Though the inhabitants of the Core would probaly call it a >large >>Cluster. > >Wait: you're planning detailing a whole "core"? I remind you that >there is >so far only one Core, the original one. You'd probably better do a >Cluster >of isles or joint lands. But remember: DPs draw in the cursed ones, >not the >powerful ones. The key word is so far. In DoD it says that some scholars believe that the clusters are new Cores forming. I'll probally never actually make the "core", but it probaly would be rather small. >I also once hypothesizes about Ravenloft in the HW. The HW Immortals >simply >granted Thanatos and Nyx a small chunk of land to populate and rule >inside >HW, provided, they didn't interfere with the other part of it (they >thought >to keep Than at bay this way). So they created the Mists that isolates >RL >from the rest of the HW and inside it they secluded all those poor >wrecked >souls somewhere in Aerical. Intresting idea. >>Also, has anyone else wondered why Hule dosen't have a Hollow World >>presence? >>The Master must have known about the HW for a long time (I can't >immagine >>him not). >>Any ideas? > >Not compulsory. Hule didn't have wizards to invent skyships, so it was >impossible for the Master to know about the Polar Openings. Also, if >he >doesn't know about the world being hollow, why should he start >digging? And >again, the fact that he's powerful and could read into the Heldannic >minds >doesn't automatically mean that every heldannic he met knew of the HW >(i >suspect this was a very confidential project). But woudn't an alliance with Hule also be an extremly confidential project, especially if it involved recieving red steel. They wouldn't want anybody find out about it except the hard way :) After all, there are probally only so many Knights who can be trusted. > And about reading >Haldemar's >mind: remember that the two only saw for a brief moment before the >Master >vanished, and they were not certainly thinking about the HW... That was just an example that he had mind-reading powers. >All considered, it's not likely that Hosadus knows about it. I beg to differ :) Really though in PWA 1, it says that any sages had picked up lots of clues that the HW existed and that because of these they believed Clarasa (sp). I mean somebody with anough power to have a good shot at conquering the KW, and most likely the High High High HIGH priest of an Immortal, probaly knows about its existance. And anyway, by AC 1010 he has to know about it (anybody who could imagine him missing Clarasa's book needs to see a therapist) >DM > >dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it > >http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 > > "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: 07 Oct 1997 19:16:20 -0500 From: Alan Shutko Subject: [Mystara] Re: Mighty Mages >>>>> "F" == Fabrizio Paoli writes: F> At 18.21 06/10/97 -0400, Aron Reif wrote: >> I've always thought that. I've always believed that it was a >> Council of 1000 wizards, but not all of them were 36th level. I >> don't think any of the Glantrian Princes are 36th level. How could >> Glantri possibly fight a war with Alphatia if they were up against >> 1000 36th level mages?? Can you imagine 1000 wishes cast against >> Glantri? F> Just a note: according to the RC being of 36th level isn't enough F> to cast a wish. You also need Wisdom=18 IIRC (or was it Int?). IMHO, that's a pretty glaring error in the Rules Cyclopedia, since it's a huge change from the old Master's set without cause. My thought is that they copied the cleric spell description for Wish (since most of it is identical), search/replaced cleric to mu, and messed up the requirements. In the RC, it says: Only magic-users of 36th level and with an 18 (or greater) Wisdom score may cast the /wish/ spell. In the Master's set: A /wish/ spell is usable only by a magic-user of 33rd-36th level who has an Intelligence of 18 or greater. Now, which makes more sense to you? I also count as support for my theory the fact that the Master's cleric wish referred one to the m-u description, so putting together complete descriptions in the RC would have involved cut-n-paste. - -- Alan Shutko - By consent of the corrupted Statistics means never having to say you're certain. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 20:29:35 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One pontificated: > > I think Demetrion was 36th level, yes. And IIRC, Rad's Mortal Identity of > Etienne D'Ambreville is only 31st or thereabouts- he wasn't described as > 36th level. He may have been the most powerful Glantrian mage, but I > believe it was a pretty close call between him and one or two others. Based on Gaz 3, Rad's mortal identity is 35th level. Most other Princes is between 20 and 30th level. Most minor nobles are in the teens in level. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 14:25:02 +1200 From: John Howell Subject: [Mystara] Aleena dead?- (was Mighty Mages) Hi, But hang on. In my adventure Aleena got killed and Bargle escaped! I assume that almost everybody else had this (unless you cheated... I think you needed a 17 or higher on a 20 sided die). Ahh. Brings back such memories. :) John > Galeifel@aol.com pontificated: > > > > Aleena Halaran, daughter of baron Sherlane Halaran of Threshold. She was the > > first mystaran personality ever to be mentioned in a D&D product (the red > > basic box) as far as I know. > > > > Garafaele Galeifel > > > Bargal was the first named I think. He is the reason that the > adventurer went into the cave. Aleena was not met and named until > the adventurer is in the cave. Also, the connection between her > and the baron (and her last name) was not mentioned until Gaz. 1. > > John Yu > ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 22:04:29 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) Wow, this list just exploded! I don't think I ever seen so many messages posted here in two days. Magesmiley@aol.com pontificated: > > I didn't really think about this point much, but if the week without magic > was bad enough to make the Hollow World's sun go out for a bit (Immortal > Magic was affected), so I don't think that the magical youth from a mere > longevity potion is going to have much of a chance. > Well, I guess we have slightly different view on the longevity potion. To me, once the potion done its job, the person is in every way just like someone who is 10 years younger, and is not sustained by the magic. As in my previous post, I see is as similar to healing spells, once healed, the magic is not there anymore. But I can see it the other way too. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 00:26:09 -0400 (EDT) From: Mystaros@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] One last Ravenloft thought In a message dated 97-10-07 18:22:46 EDT, you write: << I noticed on one of the Ravenloft pages that in one of the upcoming supplements, it has been said by one of the TSR employees that it will be revealed that the former Drow of Arak are in fact Shadowelves, and that they now inhabit the Shadow Rift since the absorption of Arak into Darkon. Whether these are Mystaran Shadowelves or some other type, I don't know, but I'd assume that they are Mystaran SE, since I've never seen any SE on any other TSR world. Interesting, no? ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One >> Considering the nature of the "Drow" of Arak, and of RL itself, one would hope that the designer was refering to Shattenalfen, not Shadow Elves... Mystaros ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 21:46:02 PDT From: "Jason Buchen" Subject: [Mystara] Re: Mighty Mages It is only possible for a 36 level mage or claric with an 18 (or greater) Wisdom to cast the wish spell ! "Rules Cyclopedia 1991 old D&D" ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 00:37:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@AOL.COM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) This brings up a little inconsistency that I noted from the PWAs -- they made a big deal of Zandor's refusal to Wish his mother back to life, but with his intelligence of 17 he seems to have lacked the ability to do so. On the other hand, his sister Eldrethila (spelling?) would have had the ability to Wish Eriadna back to life and would have done so regardless of any decrees by her demented brother. Did I miss something here, or did the authors of the PWAs? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 01:23:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] General ramblings) In a message dated 97-10-07 06:17:15 EDT, anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) writes: << I didn't say he had a large presence. A few agents to stir up trouble, because if he wants to rule the world why not rule both? >> That suggestion actually makes sense. While the Master would have little reason to invade the Hollow World in force, he would certainly want to send agents there to keep tabs on what is going on. So -- beyond gathering information, how would his agents have stirred up trouble? I am sure that the folks composing those future PWAs would love to know. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 02:05:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta In a message dated 97-10-08 01:42:28 EDT, areif@erols.com (Aron Reif) writes: << Yeah, I vote for that one too! Tortles have always been my personal favorite humanoids. >> Although I suspect that even Bruce won't have the nerve to depcit an order of stealthy Tortle warriors with strange powers who are 13-19 years old.... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 01:59:06 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambyrus@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] One last Ravenloft thought In a message dated 97-10-07 18:22:46 EDT, you write: << Whether these are Mystaran Shadowelves or some other type, I don't know, but I'd assume that they are Mystaran SE, since I've never seen any SE on any other TSR world. Interesting, no? >> I was wondering the same thing! Also, for the stats of one of the other lords it mentions that he(whoever he was) is a Nosferatu Vampire. I am really curious about these Mystara references. -Ambyrus ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 08:35:19 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages At 21.37 06/10/97 +0200, you wrote: >Have you never heard of Etienne d'Ambreville, also known as Rad.... and >recently as Bruce Heard ? :-) >IIRC according to the Gazzeteers (i.e. before WotI) he's the only 36th >level mage in the Known World, i.e. the only one who can cast a "wish"! Not necessarily: you must be 33rd level and have 18 points of Intelligence to cast a Wish... and besides you must have a Wish spell :) I think Barimoor and Demetrion Karagenteropulos (Thyatian Magist) could do it too, and maybe von Drachenfels (don't remember his Int, but i seem to recall he was 33rd in level...). Also, does anyone remember the fact that there are many 36 M-U in Thyatis too (remember Sclaras Isle)? DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #161 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #162 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Wednesday, October 8 1997 Volume 02 : Number 162 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 10:33:11 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, Shin Chyang Yu wrote: > Well, now you mentioned it, I thought the rule that people with > extended life are killed during WoNM was pretty dumb. To me, effect > from potion of longivity and other similar magical item is permanent > and can't be dispelled. People that received magical healing don't > have all the wounds pop back, why should the aging came back? And Actually, only those mages who extended their life with Wish died (like Eriadna). People who drank longevity potions are still alive (Demetrion, Thincol - although his longevity was dispelled by Vanya). ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 10:33:51 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals Can Exalted beings (fiends, titans, etc.) quest for Immortality? ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 08:57:55 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] One last Ravenloft thought At 14.35 07/10/97 -0700, Cthul wrote: >I noticed on one of the Ravenloft pages that in one of the upcoming >supplements, it has been said by one of the TSR employees that it will be >revealed that the former Drow of Arak are in fact Shadowelves, and that >they now inhabit the Shadow Rift since the absorption of Arak into Darkon. > >Whether these are Mystaran Shadowelves or some other type, I don't know, >but I'd assume that they are Mystaran SE, since I've never seen any SE on >any other TSR world. Nope. I can assure you (Cindi Rice's words) that the Shadowelves of the Shadow Rift are not connected to Mystara in any way. They are some sort of mythological elves of the dark (think about the norse mythoi of Svartalfheim): a decayed and evil (?) race much like (I suppose) the moulder dwarves of Vestland (Modrigswerg). No Mystaran Shadow Elves at all, i'm 100% sure. DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 09:09:07 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] GAZ11 error: number of Heartlands At 19.21 07/10/97 -0400, Magesmiley wrote: > >First off, the rulers of the orclands could be of the reclusive type & live >in a small tower somewhere in their area (maybe a wizard or something), and >not really care what happens. In Darokin? In the Republic of Trade and Politics? mmmhh seems unlikely >Another possibility is that the ruler is a >ruler in name only, and has little or no control over the bulk of their >territory. This could be, as Cthul already proposed. But then, who elects them (normally the people of the region do)? > As far as the number of Heartland territories on the map (the >white unshaded ones), I count 32, which if you add 1 for each of the 5 major >cities, ends up with 37 (one representative for each region plus one more for >each major city). The Orclands are Borderlands territory and thus are not >represented in the Outer Council. Well, the Orclands are NOT shaded in the map, so i considered them Heartlands. If i follow your hypothesis, then the numbers match, but may ask you where did you read that the major cities count as a single "Land" or "voting zone" for the Heartlands? DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 09:21:41 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals At 10.33 08/10/97 +0300, Alexei wrote: > >Can Exalted beings (fiends, titans, etc.) quest for Immortality? Certainly not Titans, cause according to their description in old gold set, they are usually mortals who attempted to reach immortality and failed or champions of the deity that the Immortal didn't want to loose. Since they didn't succeed in normal life, now that they're demigods (yes, they're demigods or demi-immortals) they have lost their chance and are stuck in their current form (which is not a bad one). As for fiends, they're already Immortal beings (ref. old Immortal set) DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 09:17:20 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) At 00.37 08/10/97 -0400, you wrote: >This brings up a little inconsistency that I noted from the PWAs -- they made >a big deal of Zandor's refusal to Wish his mother back to life, but with his >intelligence of 17 he seems to have lacked the ability to do so. On the >other hand, his sister Eldrethila (spelling?) would have had the ability to >Wish Eriadna back to life and would have done so regardless of any decrees >by her demented brother. Did I miss something here, or did the authors of >the PWAs? PWA states that: "he postponed any attempts to Wish her back" Maybe this means that he prevented ANYONE (maybe there are Imperial Clerics or Magist who have the only pourpose to cast Wishes on the Imperial Family) from using Wishes on her. Also, with all these Wishes available for Alphatian MU, i don't know why they have not used them to raise all their stats to 18 yet... Any ideas? :) DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 09:38:19 +0100 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Lord Soth and RL Timeline At 17.14 07/10/97 -0400, Criptonite wrote: >> I think they have the dates posted somewhere, maybe the TSR site. I'll >> check. I think it would work to assume that all TSR worlds are in the >> same current time frame, though, so this is a good starting point. > >i dont believe so >ravenloft time goes much faster than the other worlds >thats how they got lord soth back into krynn >and thats why he can exist in both worlds at the same time Nope. The only reason why Soth can exist both in RL and in DL is that Weis and Hickman ORDERED TSR to give their baby back to them in RL. There is no fictional explanation behind this fact: they simply wanted him back on Krynn and they took it. DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 09:28:07 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] General ramblings At 08.27 07/10/97 -0700, Cthul wrote: >Vecna's Hand & Eye are both still trapped elsewhere (either on Greyhawk or >scattered throughout the planes, depending on whether you've run the Hand >of Vecna module... and that module seems to be considered TSR canon for >Greyhawk), and he is still able to grant spells to his followers. Kas' >sword is still lost, also. Yes, this is true. However there's been a debate on the possibility that Kas' sword being in Tovag (Vecna's domain), or that Kas THINKS it's there: this would make him crazy tryin to regain the sword, the only thing that can give him the possibility to destroy his enemy Vecna... >I wouldn't be surprised if their explanation has to do with the module >and Vecna's apparent banishment. But I'd also be surprised if he weren't >somehow able to free himself, or if the Gods might not take some sort of >interest in the Mists nabbing one of their own (even if it is just Vecna). Actually, i don't know what will be the main plot of the adventure, but in the entry for Vecna in DoD it's hinted that he wants to "kick off the butts of the Dark Powers" to make them cry about their deeds (especially the fact they've trapped HIM!)... Not very Ravenloftian, if you ask me... (more FR...) DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 09:35:29 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord At 11.47 07/10/97 -0700, you wrote: >Of course, the estimates of the timeline on the RL page may be wrong- the >author admits to having problems trying to rationalize all the >conflicting data- and Domains of Dread may have a different date than the >one he gives (I gather it was written some time before DoD, and hasn't >been updated). The author of the article is John W. Mangrum, who happens to be on this list too (hello, John?), and i assure you he did a thorough work of research before writing the only one COMPLETE Ravenloft timeline existing. Even DoD hasn't got one so detailed probably (no, surely) because TSR didn't plan Ravenloft as a campaign world from the beginning, so the data and dates about the various products, novels and settings are sparse and often contrasting. He had to make choices when it came to put the timeline down, but i think he did a complete and trustworthy job. The real issue is not RL timeline per se, but : How does it link with the other worlds' timelines? It can very well be that when Mists transport domains and people to RL, a timeslip occurs, or that RL modern days don't match up with Mystara present... >Unfortunately, I no longer own Ship of Horror (how was I to know that >they would go back and retcon it to have Mystara ties?), so can't check >dates in that book, and I'm also curious about one thing... >Is Nebligtode the same place as the home of the Graben(sp?) family? Which >might lead to further speculations on the history of Meredoth, et al in >Mystara. AFAIK yes, it is... So what are the speculations? :) DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 09:44:57 +0100 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Nosferatu Vampire in RL At 01.59 08/10/97 -0400, Ambyrus wrote: > Also, for the stats of one of the other lords it mentions that he(whoever he was) >is a Nosferatu Vampire. I am really curious about these Mystara references. The Nosferatu Vampire you are referring to is probably Baron Urik von Kharkov, ruler of Valachan. He is a Nosferatu and drains Con points just like our Mystaran nosferatu, but there's no connection to Mystara. Apparently, every nosferatu in RL has the same abilities and statistics as Mystaran nosferatu (don't remember about the immunity to sunlight, though...). But as you may know, there are many other types of undead in RL, and even vampires are different and have different powers depending on the race they once belonged to (ex dwarves have the ability to pass thru rock). One last note about von Kharkov: he once was a black panther that was polymorphed by a wizard into a human. He learnt to live as a human and acquired vampirism (he turns into a panther, not a wolf) but his curse is to forever try to be human knowing he will remain a beast at the heart... PS: a nice creature that could also be inserted in Mystara (especially in Karameikos or Boldavia) is the dhampir, half-vampire son of a mortal woman and a vampire... (see Slavian mythology) DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 04:12:14 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) Yea... glad I didn't ask what everyone thought about Weis and Hickman doing a 'Dragons of Summer Flame' to Mystara };> - ---------- > From: Shin Chyang Yu > To: mystara-l@LISTS.IO.COM > Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) > Date: Tuesday, October 07, 1997 9:04 PM > > Wow, this list just exploded! I don't think I ever seen so many > messages posted here in two days. > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 03:59:46 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: Re: Re[2]: [Mystara] Elves and Humans (was: Mighty Mages) Well, in my opinion... Mystara should go like Dragonlance and have it's own set of rules. Wait... heh, deja vu ;> - ---------- > From: Neal Daskal > To: mystara-l@lists.io.com > Subject: Re[2]: [Mystara] Elves and Humans (was: Mighty Mages) > Date: Tuesday, October 07, 1997 5:39 PM > > Why are people who want to "follow classical fantasy writings" > playing D&D instead of MERP? Aren't there enough FRPGs out > there so someone can find a rule system they like instead of > modifying a systems's assumptions (modifying glaring omissions I > won't dispute)? Just MHO. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 04:04:18 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Worldshields, Volcanoes, and Antimagic oh my I've always thought of the Worldshield as a field of power not substance. But that would be interesting to have anti-magic kick in right when magic would be most helpful. - ---------- > From: Aaron E Nowack > To: mystara-l@lists.io.com > Subject: [Mystara] Worldshields, Volcanoes, and Antimagic oh my > Date: Tuesday, October 07, 1997 6:48 PM > > > In numerous diagrams show volcanoes drawing magma from the Worldshield. > Wouldn't this mean that a volcanic eruption would cause a temporary a-m > effect every where the lava lands? > > > "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 04:16:43 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals I can't think of an example that has so I would say no ;) - ---------- > From: Aleksei Andrievski > To: mystara-l@lists.io.com > Subject: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals > Date: Wednesday, October 08, 1997 2:33 AM > > > Can Exalted beings (fiends, titans, etc.) quest for Immortality? > > > > ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord > ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but > ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." > ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, > ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." > ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." > ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 04:07:52 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) But wasn't that just a one time occurence? The first week without magic cause total magical breakdown but the following ones haven't been as bad. I would say a longevity potion's effects are irreversable and once taken (except during the WWoM) aren't destroyed. Just think about all the magical sword, rings, etc that would have to be redone if that was the case. - ---------- > From: Magesmiley@aol.com > To: mystara-l@LISTS.IO.COM > Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) > Date: Tuesday, October 07, 1997 6:47 PM > > I didn't really think about this point much, but if the week without magic > was bad enough to make the Hollow World's sun go out for a bit (Immortal > Magic was affected), so I don't think that the magical youth from a mere > longevity potion is going to have much of a chance. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 03:57:55 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: Re: [Mystara] One last Ravenloft thought It would be good to see shadowelves get more exposure but I do hate to think they will become un-Mystarianized (hey, a new word!). But, I've always thought Shadowelves more interesting than Drow anyway. - ---------- > From: Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One > To: Mystara > Subject: [Mystara] One last Ravenloft thought > Date: Tuesday, October 07, 1997 4:35 PM > > Not to keep harping on this topic, but now that it's come up- > > I noticed on one of the Ravenloft pages that in one of the upcoming > supplements, it has been said by one of the TSR employees that it will be > revealed that the former Drow of Arak are in fact Shadowelves, and that > they now inhabit the Shadow Rift since the absorption of Arak into Darkon. > > Whether these are Mystaran Shadowelves or some other type, I don't know, > but I'd assume that they are Mystaran SE, since I've never seen any SE on > any other TSR world. > > Interesting, no? > > ------------------------ > Cthuludrew, the Great Old One > (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) > "Actions have consequences." > URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 04:10:11 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Mighty Mages A wish spell is too powerful not to have huge requirements. An 18 in intelligence to cast one doesn't seem that outlandish. - ---------- > From: Alan Shutko > To: mystara-l@lists.io.com > Subject: [Mystara] Re: Mighty Mages > Date: Tuesday, October 07, 1997 7:16 PM > > >>>>> "F" == Fabrizio Paoli writes: > > F> At 18.21 06/10/97 -0400, Aron Reif wrote: > >> I've always thought that. I've always believed that it was a > >> Council of 1000 wizards, but not all of them were 36th level. I > >> don't think any of the Glantrian Princes are 36th level. How could > >> Glantri possibly fight a war with Alphatia if they were up against > >> 1000 36th level mages?? Can you imagine 1000 wishes cast against > >> Glantri? > > F> Just a note: according to the RC being of 36th level isn't enough > F> to cast a wish. You also need Wisdom=18 IIRC (or was it Int?). > > IMHO, that's a pretty glaring error in the Rules Cyclopedia, since > it's a huge change from the old Master's set without cause. My > thought is that they copied the cleric spell description for Wish > (since most of it is identical), search/replaced cleric to mu, and > messed up the requirements. > > In the RC, it says: > > Only magic-users of 36th level and with an 18 (or greater) Wisdom > score may cast the /wish/ spell. > > In the Master's set: > > A /wish/ spell is usable only by a magic-user of 33rd-36th level who > has an Intelligence of 18 or greater. > > Now, which makes more sense to you? I also count as support for my > theory the fact that the Master's cleric wish referred one to the m-u > description, so putting together complete descriptions in the RC would > have involved cut-n-paste. > > -- > Alan Shutko - By consent of the corrupted > Statistics means never having to say you're certain. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 04:31:06 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: [Mystara] Fw: MYS/GH netlogo Is anybody interested in this? I'm willing to provide the space (as soon as I get this d*** FTP problem fixed. - ---------- > From: Sean K "Veggie Boy" Reynolds > To: Tim Haney > Subject: Re: MYS/GH netlogo > Date: Saturday, October 04, 1997 3:19 PM > > >How do you start a netlogo contest for Mystara and Greyhawk? > > Here's the blurb I send out to the mailing list in question. If you want > to be the webspace guy, or the vote-counter guy, speak now.... > > > > Now that our new, nice online policy is in effect, we have to address > the issue of people using TSR logos on their web sites. There is no > way we can allow people outside of TSR/WotC to use our game logos - > it is too much of a risk to our ownership of our trademarks. > > HOWEVER... > > We can definitely encourage y'all to come up with logos of your own > to identify specific game lines. What we're doing now is setting > up contests for people to submit their own ideas/creations for > the unofficial net-logo for each of our gameworlds. Whichever is > voted the winner will be the one that people can use on the net to > identify their stuff as being for that gameworld, without infringing > on TSR's trademarked logo. And whoever designs the winning logo gets a > cool prize and their logo will become the standard for net-fans of > that game line. > > It's time for the GGGGGAMEWORLDDDDD competition. > > Here are the requirements and rules for this little contest: > > 1. Someone has to volunteer some WWW space to hold the logos. That way, > the logos will be publically displayed so people can vote on them. > This person will be responsible for collecting the submitted logos (either > by email submission or direct uploading to the site. > > 2. Some impartial person has to be the vote-counter (not me). > > 3. We have to set a deadline for the competition. I would like this to be > no more than three weeks after the voting WWW site is opened. > > 4. Logos have to be original works, and can't be too similar to the existing > logo for this line (a color change won't do it, for instance). Any submission > that TSR deems too similar to the original will be disqualifed (with no penalty > to the submitter). > > 5. Limit of three submissions per person. > > 6. The winner is the logo with the greatest number of votes. This logo > does not need to have at least half of the total number votes, or any other > such proportion - just the greatest number of votes. > > 7. The creator of the winning submission _must_ release his/her submission > into the public domain so that anyone can use it without worrying about any > copyright infringements on the net-logo. If the winner refuses, that person's > submissions will be disqualified, and another vote will be taken. > > 8. I will be taking suggestions for what would be an appropriate prize for > the winner - please address them to me at TSRinc@aol.com with the subject of > GGGGGAMEWORLDDDDD Prize Suggestion. IMO, an appropriate prize would be a single > TSR product, probably from the game line in question, possibly signed by someone > involved on that project. > > 9. The winning submission will be placed on TSR's site in the /netlogos > directory so everyone will know where to find it; from that point on, > that will be the common identifying image for GGGGGAMEWORLDDDDD fan-pages online > (of course, you are in no way _required_ to use this image). > > 10. All nonwinning submissions remain the property of their creators > and cannot be used outside of this contest without the user's permission. > > 9. I am the final arbiter on any rules interpretations or questions that come > up about the contest. > > > Good gaming! > -- > Sean K Reynolds, TSR Online Coordinator > skreyn@wizards.com | http://www.tsrinc.com > > > Good gaming! > -- > Sean K Reynolds, TSR Online Coordinator > skreyn@wizards.com | http://www.tsrinc.com > > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 12:29:07 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, Aaron E Nowack wrote: > > On Tue, 07 Oct 1997 20:07:20 +0200 Fabrizio Paoli > writes: > >At 18.21 06/10/97 -0400, Aron Reif wrote: > >>I've always thought that. I've always believed that it was a Council > >of > >>1000 wizards, but not all of them were 36th level. I don't think any > >of > >>the Glantrian Princes are 36th level. How could Glantri possibly > >fight a > >>war with Alphatia if they were up against 1000 36th level mages?? > >Can you > >>imagine 1000 wishes cast against Glantri? > > > >Just a note: according to the RC being of 36th level isn't enough to > >cast a > >wish. > >You also need Wisdom=18 IIRC (or was it Int?). > > > > > > Yes. I've always wondered if this was just a misprint and they meant > Int. Anybody know for sure? > It is a misprint. Probably a result of a litle cutting and pasting between clerical and magical spells. To cast a wish spell you need 18 in Int if you're a mage and 18 in wis if you're a cleric. I think there are more of these errors in the Cyclopedia. Håvard - -- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 13:14:08 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta On Mon, 6 Oct 1997 Ambreville@aol.com wrote: > I'll try to answer to several responses in this post. > > <<16 hours? it is a lot of time though. means the rakasta can only be active > 8 hours a day and this would certainly limit their roleplaying potential. > Unless you want to have a part of the campaing in the Dreaming World :) > Ofcourse the most likely turnout of this, at least in a mixed races party > would be that the rakasta character(s) would spand a lot of time with the > penalties, which I suppose could work > IMO those penalties should be the same as other characters suffer, > although rakasta are more likely to suffer such penalties. It could work.>> > > That's one of the problems inherent to sleeping rakasta -- that led me to the > curent solution -- 12 hours minimum else penalties kick in, and up to 16 > hours but for roleplay only. 12 hours should make it more playable with > miced parties (he, he, interesting typo -- I meant, *mixed* parties). :) *grin* > > < (You know those extraplanar cats from the Mystara Monsterous Comp.) > And displacerbeasts? >> > > No, but I plan to include blood lines linking them possibly to such creatures > (see lupins article for an example of what I'm refering to). Possible lineage > might include elves, sphinxes, dragonnes, displacer beasts, cath shees, > feystags, lammasu, ebon tigers, etc. I'm still ambivalent about the sea lion > though. BTW -- I remember seeing the description of a guardian familiar > somewhere. Where was that located? You might be referring to the Hommuncoli(spl?) or Familliars as they were refferred to in the AD&D Mystara Monsterous Compenduim. The nice type (Ulquaz I think) can polymoph into a black cat or raven. One problem with these are that the description says they are actually immortals. While working on my material on the Church of Karameikos, I suggested that these were servants of the immortals rather than immortals themselves. (Possibly exaulted beings) > < the list would be quite eager to know what you are up to? What are you > working on?>> > > Right now, I'm spending most of my time either playing Mr Mom at home, and > looking for job. What's left goes into writing the article, and very rarely > these days, answering email. I must admit, writing this stuff has been more > of a break and fun recreation than anything else (just don't tell my wife!). Keep going. Do you still have that mail about Dragons that I sent your way? > Thanks for everyone's responses. They do help. (More later re. the Myoshiman > connection). Looking foreward to seeing how they work with what Chtul did on Patera. Håvard - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 13:55:48 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > At 09.30 06/10/97 -0700, Cthul wrote: > >On Mon, 6 Oct 1997 Alex295@aol.com wrote: > >Oohh... does it say where? I'm guessing one of the two islands off the > >coast- whale island or dog island. That would be cool. The Mists just > >leave behind ruins, right? > > It only says that they were small islands off the coast of Norwold. During a > private talk with Mr Miller, however, he mentioned the Heldannic Freeholds, > so yes, it could be Whale Island. I don't think it's Isle of Dogs because it > is too big in comparison to Nebligtode and because it's still on the > nautical charts. BTW, where's whale island? > And about the Mists leaving behind ruins, well, it's not very clear about > the fate of the lands in the Prime. I think that they simply vanish leaving > a tabula rasa. I dont know all that much about RL. However, there is an area in Darksun which was consumed by the mists. The area is described in the Dark Sun accessories as an area of ruins. Also in krynn, lord soths keep was never transpored into Ravenloft, but merely reconstructed. (and not quite right) Maybe only the people were transported into Ravenloft, geographical features and buldings were left. And maybe fringes of souls of the people who were abducted remain, haunting the isles. I dont know how this fits with RL metaphysics, but it sounds IMO way cooler than leaving behind nothing at all. > > PS: Check out Alanik Ray's homepage if u're interested in RL > okie. Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 13:58:33 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Tue, 7 Oct 1997 Galeifel@aol.com wrote: > In einer eMail vom 07.10.97 11:12:11, schreiben Sie: > > << >I actually consider Aleena HAlaran the most famour character, to > >mystara-fans anyway. > > Aleena who? :) > >> > > Aleena Halaran, daughter of baron Sherlane Halaran of Threshold. She was the > first mystaran personality ever to be mentioned in a D&D product (the red > basic box) as far as I know. Actually Sherlane is her uncle IRC. Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 14:02:58 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] One last Ravenloft thought On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > Not to keep harping on this topic, but now that it's come up- > > I noticed on one of the Ravenloft pages that in one of the upcoming > supplements, it has been said by one of the TSR employees that it will be > revealed that the former Drow of Arak are in fact Shadowelves, and that > they now inhabit the Shadow Rift since the absorption of Arak into Darkon. > > Whether these are Mystaran Shadowelves or some other type, I don't know, > but I'd assume that they are Mystaran SE, since I've never seen any SE on > any other TSR world. > > Interesting, no? Could, introducing mystaran stuff into other campaigns be an attempt from TSR to revive Mystara, or do they just want to steal our stuff? Håvard. - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 14:10:56 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aleena dead?- (was Mighty Mages) On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, John Howell wrote: > Hi, > > But hang on. In my adventure Aleena got killed and Bargle escaped! I > assume that almost everybody else had this (unless you cheated... I > think you needed a 17 or higher on a 20 sided die). > > Ahh. Brings back such memories. :) Gaz 1 mentiones this. What you do is replace Aleena with her sister. I dont remember her name right now, but its all in Gaz 1. This means that Aleena was not killed in those caves, her sister was. Håvard. - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 14:21:48 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Fw: MYS/GH netlogo On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Galwylin wrote: > Is anybody interested in this? I'm willing to provide the space (as soon > as I get this d*** FTP problem fixed. Go for it. I think Jenni said something about making a logo.. Jenni? Håvard - -- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 14:14:58 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > > Can Exalted beings (fiends, titans, etc.) quest for Immortality? > I think they should be able to. But only if their immortal master allows them to. I dont know if they are able to quest for immortality according to the rules, but..who needs rules? I think its a good idea. Håvard. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 14:20:04 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Worldshields, Volcanoes, and Antimagic oh my On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Galwylin wrote: > I've always thought of the Worldshield as a field of power not substance. > But that would be interesting to have anti-magic kick in right when magic > would be most helpful. According to the Blood Brethren Triology (HWA 1-3), ores from the core can be used to create items of antimagical properties IRC. The lava itself might not be antimagical, but it could certainly contain minerals of such properties. Håvard. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 14:16:25 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lord Soth and RL Timeline On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > At 17.14 07/10/97 -0400, Criptonite wrote: > >i dont believe so > >ravenloft time goes much faster than the other worlds > >thats how they got lord soth back into krynn > >and thats why he can exist in both worlds at the same time > > Nope. The only reason why Soth can exist both in RL and in DL is that Weis > and Hickman ORDERED TSR to give their baby back to them in RL. There is no > fictional explanation behind this fact: they simply wanted him back on > Krynn and they took it. No reason why we can't do the same... Håvard - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 08:54:21 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord In a message dated 97-10-07 15:30:06 EDT, you write: << >The only land I recall that appears to have been actually physically >absorbed is Barovia, Strahd's domain, which by all accounts was actually >transposed to RL by the Mists. But even that could be a copy. >> RL draws folks in in different ways. Strahd was pulled in along with Castle Ravenloft. Mordenhiem/Adam was drawn in with Schloss Mordenheim. Soth was drawn in and the Mists created a copy of his own fortress. Azalin was drawn in and after spending years as a tutor to Strahd was given a domain after he stepped into the mists. Vlad Drakov and his band of merry men rode into the mists and were drawn in. And so on and so on.... Some Darklords enter along with their homes. Others enter with only themselves. It really depends on the situation. The underlying rule with RL is that there are no set rules. Things are a bit kooky there. The standard rules that aid PCs are alterred to make te survival of RL's baddies more certain. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 09:01:01 EST From: Neal Daskal Subject: Re[2]: [Mystara] Mighty Mages >At 18.21 06/10/97 -0400, Aron Reif wrote: >>I've always thought that. I've always believed that it was a Council of >>1000 wizards, but not all of them were 36th level. I don't think any of >>the Glantrian Princes are 36th level. How could Glantri possibly fight a >>war with Alphatia if they were up against 1000 36th level mages?? Can you >>imagine 1000 wishes cast against Glantri? > >Just a note: according to the RC being of 36th level isn't enough to cast a >wish. >You also need Wisdom=18 IIRC (or was it Int?). > The RC has another of the famous word processor editting errors from the TSR folks (who so loved OD&D that they never cared to have someone who PLAYED the game proofread the rules books). In the Black Book, which introduced the Wish Spell to OD&D, a mage of Int 18 and Level 33+ or a cleric of Wis 18 and Level 36 could cast the spell (TOMH - mage may be okay down to level 30). Take a look at the Spell as detailed in the RC. Compare the write-up for the cleric to the mage. See if YOU think someone with a word processor just did a block copy and forgot to go back and check for substantive differences between the two. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 23:09:34 +1000 From: "Shane" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages I've noticed no-one has yet mentioned the mad wizard Gargantua, whose handiwork makes guest appearances in a few of the Companion level modules I have. While I've never seen the stats for the wizard - or for that matter seen the wizard himself make an appearance - any wizard who can create 51HD giant trolls (amongst other things) and also seems able to teleport them about at will should I say have much more than a bit of magical talent hidden under the ol' pointy hat.:) - --- Shane (sleep at tpgi.com.au) ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #162 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #163 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Wednesday, October 8 1997 Volume 02 : Number 163 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 15:17:58 +0000 From: wizzard@mail.intcom.de Subject: Re: [Mystara] Personal Minrothad Campaign Being fascinated of > Subject: Re: [Mystara] Minrothad Campaign Discussion I want to revive that topic. As I wrote earlier on, Alex I like your stuff. Next, one little reminder for Fabrizio: > 3rd: In your "Operation Hydra" (I really love that name and your > texts) you describe EVERY army being spread across the nation. THIS > IS NOT THE WAY Minrothad deals with such a problem. Knowing that they > can´t afford a huge army they concentrate their forces. When they > strike (IF they strike, this takes some time) it HAS TO hurt. No good > leader would spread an army like this. This is kind of an invitation > to invade the Guilds, nothing more nothing less. This point just got into my mind while writing the other two!! OK?? But now for something completely different. *love this sentence, it comes from Monty Python´s Flying Circus* After there has been at least SOME interest how my campaign got into motion I will try to take the time to give it to you. All started on a cold summer night. The heroes just had rescued Rhuna. After two weeks of feasting they called it quits and went once more on the road to Heroism. By chance they crossed Ylarum and in Karameikos they bought a ship tranfer to a small island. The heroes had heard of some trouble. So they first set their feet on this normally lovely island called Lendor (that´s her "old" name out of tales. Using an atlas it would be North Island in the Guilds. They visited the largest city on the island (Restenford / Gapton) and heard of the people being haunted by wicked undead. Being not that noble at all but short of money and fame they took the march up the Bone Hill passing through the Dead Woods. On the top of the hill was an old fort. It was ruined by an attack long ago. Part of its walls had crumbled to dust and old siege weapons were scattered across the battlefield. They made their way into the fort but not without being attacked by lightning and fire of magical nature. A wizard had set his lair in the abandoned fort. His minions were a small tribe of hyena-men (sorry, don´t know the english name - can just translate the german part into english). The inevitable fight ended by killing the wizard and sparing most of the hyena. The PC granted them free leave but the promise to leave the area. But what just started as a side track grew into someting really big. In the cause of exploring the underground of the old fort the paladin pretending to be a knight stumbled into a wraith. It was a late monarch of this island. His deads had been cruel and evil. So he was sentenced to stay there until initiating something new (good) for the tormented island. This wraith was the grand-grand-father of the actual ruler. But the actual ruler was a good man. Well, the paladin slew the wraith and the wrath of the wraith grew that strong within him that he got control over his grand-grand-son. After finishing the rest of the fort and the weak oponents surrendering the PCs believed to come back into town as heroes. *** to be continued later on. Any comments are welcome! *** The group consists of (characters based on AD&D / DL rules): Ellenor, an Alfheim Elf. He is the second-born of a member of the "ruling council" in Alfheim. Being granted no title he sets out for finding his own fortune (like in the late middle-ages). Actualy he is a paladin of a friendly pantheon of a god of War and a second one of Healing (but this will chance in the course of the following adventures!!). Unnatural for being an elven paladin he joined the army and pretended to be a knight ever since! Cyrol, a human mage. Although normally very intellectual sometimes the wrath gets the better side over him. Then he is aggressive and very inpulsive. But normally he is friend you can rely on. The only reason to sell his grandma is knowledge. And that´s his weak point I´m (DM) feasting upon. *evil grin* Hawk, a human cleric. His first choice is a goddess of healing. Little is known about him and the few is lost by the flow of time. He is naive but wholehearted. He is always first line and the one, always being cheated on. Normally by NPC but sometimes even by PC. But not in a direct way and never harmful. He just gets the short end. *DM-comment: but he is getting better every now and then* And worst of them all: Darion, a kender (halfling) thief. He is an old friend of Ellenor. The two know each other for years. Pretending he is not of this world he never got an evidence to proove his statement. He is actually the only one not believing into some superior being. He is into the Old Ones (or so he thinks). Actually he thinks of NO immortal at all but he is the focus of "new" Ones to arrive. In most respects he IS tasslehof (but that´s the choice of the player!) OK, so much for now, Wizzard ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 09:29:07 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages In a message dated 97-10-07 15:19:03 EDT, you write: << Have you never heard of Etienne d'Ambreville, also known as Rad.... and recently as Bruce Heard ? :-) IIRC according to the Gazzeteers (i.e. before WotI) he's the only 36th level mage in the Known World, i.e. the only one who can cast a "wish"! >> Etienne not able to cast Wish? Didn't he wish all his dead family members back to life in Castle Amber? He also does this in Mark of Amber. Just a thought- What if Etienne didn't really cast Wish spells? What if he as Rad granted the mortal identity Etienne Raise Dead spells? Can anyone say heresy? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 09:24:05 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] One last Ravenloft thought In a message dated 97-10-07 18:22:46 EDT, you write: << I noticed on one of the Ravenloft pages that in one of the upcoming supplements, it has been said by one of the TSR employees that it will be revealed that the former Drow of Arak are in fact Shadowelves, and that they now inhabit the Shadow Rift since the absorption of Arak into Darkon. Whether these are Mystaran Shadowelves or some other type, I don't know, but I'd assume that they are Mystaran SE, since I've never seen any SE on any other TSR world. Interesting, no?>> Before DoD came out, there was mention of Shadow Elves on the AOL RL Board. I, along with a few others, asked whether they were Mystaran SE. We were told no. Looking through the DoD, one Darklord is a shadow elf. However, this DL is a shadow elf by the name of Tristessa she is from Lolth. Her domain, Keening is east of the Shadow Rift. BTW she is also a banshee. The Shadow Rift is suppossed to be detailed in an upcoming RL suppliment accessory. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 15:45:16 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Shane wrote: > I've noticed no-one has yet mentioned the mad wizard Gargantua, whose > handiwork makes guest appearances in a few of the Companion level > modules I have. While I've never seen the stats for the wizard - or for > that matter seen the wizard himself make an appearance - any wizard who > can create 51HD giant trolls (amongst other things) and also seems able > to teleport them about at will should I say have much more than a bit > of magical talent hidden under the ol' pointy hat.:) Maybe he's dead. Anyway I definately think he should be developed more. If he isn't around anymore, when did he live? History gurus, are you out there? Håvard. - -- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 09:43:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord In a message dated 97-10-07 15:30:12 EDT, you write: << > No Mystaran date is given. Meredoth is given a domain in the RL year of 750; > Nocturnal Sea appears then.I too wanted some way to bring the Mystara > timeline into a picture of RL timeline. I just checked out the homepage DM mentioned (the geocities one), and on the timeline compiled by one guy there, the date of Meredoth's gaining Nebligtode is 638. Following the rationale that 750 RL (Ravenloft) = 1996 RW (Real World); and 1014 AC = 1996 RW; then Meredoth was sucked into RL sometime in 892/893 AC, Mystara time (providing for a 336 day year Mystara to 365 day year Ravenloft conversion). I don't know how this works with any given information on the settling of Norwold. I couldn't find anything on Norwold on the timeline by Daniel Boese, and as I'm at work I can't check my own sources. Of course, the estimates of the timeline on the RL page may be wrong- the author admits to having problems trying to rationalize all the conflicting data- and Domains of Dread may have a different date than the one he gives (I gather it was written some time before DoD, and hasn't been updated). Unfortunately, I no longer own Ship of Horror (how was I to know that they would go back and retcon it to have Mystara ties?), so can't check dates in that book, and I'm also curious about one thing... Is Nebligtode the same place as the home of the Graben(sp?) family? Which might lead to further speculations on the history of Meredoth, et al in Mystara. >> Thanks for the info. But I have to point out that time passes by much differently in RL than on Mystara. For that matter its different than any other world. We discussed this on the AOL RL Board. With some handy input from Steve and Cindi we deduced that (example) someone could enter RL in 1st Month of AC 1000 (Mystara date). After spending 10 years trying to get out they find that proverbial portal (described at the end of RL adventures). Back on Mystara they find that they have been gone only a few hours or days. The surviving PCs bear the effects of the 10 years in RL; xp lvl, curses, afflictions, etc. The same time lapses can be experienced in RL itself. The Mist breaks the rules of time and direction. A PC entering them may spend weeks in them without noticing. Only the Vistani (possibly Fiends too) can navigate the Mists freely with any reasonable sense of direction and passage of time. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 10:01:58 -0500 (EST) From: Prodyn Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) > Well, I guess we have slightly different view on the longevity potion. > To me, once the potion done its job, the person is in every way > just like someone who is 10 years younger, and is not sustained by > the magic. As in my previous post, I see is as similar to healing > spells, once healed, the magic is not there anymore. But I can see > it the other way too. Interesting notion. Although I would think that if magic does not sustain the person their bodies as well as minds would be reverted to being 10 years younger. This would mean that they lose all memories, skills, everything up to 10 years. So upon using the potion the person would have to make a decision, "Do I want to be younger, or do I want to keep what I have experienced in my life time?" Just a thought. Prodyn ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 09:57:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Ray Brooks Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aleena dead?- (was Mighty Mages) Or you just keep in mind that her father is a high level cleric. I'm sure he could have arranged to have her raised or even raised her himself.... ray On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Haavard Roenne Faanes wrote: > On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, John Howell wrote: > > > Hi, > > > > But hang on. In my adventure Aleena got killed and Bargle escaped! I > > assume that almost everybody else had this (unless you cheated... I > > think you needed a 17 or higher on a 20 sided die). > > > > Ahh. Brings back such memories. :) > > Gaz 1 mentiones this. > What you do is replace Aleena with her sister. I dont remember her name > right now, but its all in Gaz 1. This means that Aleena was not killed in > those caves, her sister was. > > Håvard. > > --- > > Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves > Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: > or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, > http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll > > > > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 10:51:49 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aleena dead?- (was Mighty Mages) In einer eMail vom 08.10.97 13:29:19, schreiben Sie: << Gaz 1 mentiones this. What you do is replace Aleena with her sister. I dont remember her name right now, but its all in Gaz 1. This means that Aleena was not killed in those caves, her sister was. Havard. >> No, its like this: If you've established that Aleena died while the playing the introductory adventure, you rename the "new" Aleena (i.e.: the one detailed in Gaz1) Anielle Halaran. Since the percentage chance of Aleena dying in the introductory adventure is so high, I always wondered why they didn't simply call the NPC in Gaz1 Anielle... Garafale Galeifel P.S.: And IIRC, if Aleena survived it was Bargle who died (no new name given for him in gaz1, though) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 08:29:44 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, Shin Chyang Yu wrote: > Based on Gaz 3, Rad's mortal identity is 35th level. Most other > Princes is between 20 and 30th level. Most minor nobles are in > the teens in level. Yeah, I just double checked last night. Still, even Rad's mortal id isn't 36th level, so technically speaking, Etienne isn't the most powerful mage of the Known World. Incidentally, I redid my estimates of the Glantrian Prince's levels (post-Wrath) a while back, calculating their experience earned for ruling a dominion as given in the RC, and a good proportion of the Princes should, in fact, be 36th level by now. Specifically, Jaggar, Brannart... those are the only two I can think of offhand. Morphail was close- if not 36th, he's 34th or 35th. Same goes for Virayana. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 12:09:47 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta In a message dated 97-10-07 18:17:07 EDT, Fabrizio writes: << I hope we'll have Tortles next... :) >> Oh no, here they go again. You're the second person to mention the idea. I'm just wondering if just a few people are interested in the tortles, or if the majority feels that way too. They could be fun I agree, but I still have to sell the idea to the magazine editor first! :) Bruce ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 08:33:59 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta On Wed, 8 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > Although I suspect that even Bruce won't have the nerve to depcit an order > of stealthy Tortle warriors with strange powers who are 13-19 years old.... Umm... he already did, kind of. Or am I the only one who thought that the Dunwickians in the Renardy article of the Princess Ark were, in fact, the "teenage mutant mystic Tortles"? :) - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 08:36:01 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] One last Ravenloft thought On Wed, 8 Oct 1997 Ambyrus@aol.com wrote: > I was wondering the same thing! Also, for the stats of one of the other > lords it mentions that he(whoever he was) is a Nosferatu Vampire. I am really > curious about these Mystara references. Not Meredoth, is it? If not, I'm very curious, as I thought Meredoth was the only RL Lord with Mystara connections. It could be the Nosferatu of AD&D, though. IIRC, in the first RL boxed set, there was a description of a Nosferatu Vampire, which was somewhat different from the D&D version- notably, it couldn't go abroad by daylight. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 12:17:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles In a message dated 97-10-08 02:30:48 EDT, Kavyid writes: << Although I suspect that even Bruce won't have the nerve to depcit an order of stealthy Tortle warriors with strange powers who are 13-19 years old.... >> Once was enough! I think that fits right there with the rakasta's Balls of Wool Swarm. I like the tongue in cheek stuff, but I think the tortles deserve a little better. I'm already on the lookout for books on turtles. Let's see what we can dig up on these tough fellahs! Was that vote #4, Kavyid? :) Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 08:56:28 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Fw: MYS/GH netlogo On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Galwylin wrote: > Is anybody interested in this? I'm willing to provide the space (as soon > as I get this d*** FTP problem fixed. I'm already working on my entry... and it looks almost nothing like the old logo. I really didn't like the AD&D Mystara logo; I don't recall offhand if D&D had it's own Mystara logo? - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 16:58:58 +0200 From: Deathwatch Subject: Re: [Mystara] New to Mystara... At 16:30 7-10-97 -0400, you wrote: >... and wondering the best materials to buy to get started. I bought the >Glantri set at KB Toys (for $4!!!) and thought it was pretty interesting. If >there is a set which details the whole setting, I'd love to know what it is >and where I might find it. > >Thanks again. >Bill Hojecki > >(Former FR player, now Mystara DM) Just get the D&D boxed sets, and the PC series. Those are real helpfull, even if you run an AD&D game (like me). Also, if you play AD&D, I suggest getting the Karameikos boxed set and those adventures. For those items, you could check www.dragonstrove.com They got a lot of the D&D stuff. Bas van Doornspeek - deathw@xs4all.nl ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 18:34:39 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta On Wed, 8 Oct 1997 Ambreville@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 97-10-07 18:17:07 EDT, Fabrizio writes: > > << I hope we'll have Tortles next... :) >> > Oh no, here they go again. You're the second person to mention the idea. I'm > just wondering if just a few people are interested in the tortles, or if the > majority feels that way too. They could be fun I agree, but I still have to > sell the idea to the magazine editor first! :) We're desperate for anything Mystara-ish you know. Glorantha has Ducks, Krynn has Kender and Tinker Gnomes, everyone has Haflings. The Tortle are just our silly race. Well actually if Tortles are to be honored with an article of their own, I'd like it to be a serious one rather than a humorous article. Would probably be a bit harder to find subraces for tortles... just my opinion.. Håvard. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: 08 Oct 1997 11:51:20 -0500 From: Alan Shutko Subject: [Mystara] Re: Re: Mighty Mages >>>>> "G" == Galwylin writes: G> A wish spell is too powerful not to have huge requirements. An 18 G> in intelligence to cast one doesn't seem that outlandish. An 18 intelligence, yes. An 18 _Wisdom_ after all previous books said intelligence? - -- Alan Shutko - By consent of the corrupted Silly wabbit, QWKs are for kids. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 13:14:25 -0400 (EDT) From: Ray Brooks Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta Personally, I think that a tortle article is a brilliant idea. It has my vote. It would probably work very well with the assorted lizard men articles and sources that have been done in the past. If you have the time, go for it! ray On Wed, 8 Oct 1997 Ambreville@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 97-10-07 18:17:07 EDT, Fabrizio writes: > > << I hope we'll have Tortles next... :) >> > > Oh no, here they go again. You're the second person to mention the idea. I'm > just wondering if just a few people are interested in the tortles, or if the > majority feels that way too. They could be fun I agree, but I still have to > sell the idea to the magazine editor first! :) > > Bruce > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 13:24:38 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles In a message dated 97-10-08 01:42:28 EDT, you write: << Yeah, I vote for that one too! Tortles have always been my personal favorite humanoids. >> Well, that's vote number three so far... :) Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 14:00:06 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta In a message dated 97-10-08 07:28:09 EDT, Haavard writes: << One problem with these are that the description says they are actually immortals. While working on my material on the Church of Karameikos, I suggested that these were servants of the immortals rather than immortals themselves. (Possibly exaulted beings) >> These bloodlines of course do not confer immortality, only a portion of the abilities of these creatures. For example, a strong elven lineage does not allow a rakasta to live several centuries, like an elf, but instead, it could double the rakasta's normal longevity. The bloodlines should remain entirely optional in a campaign. If anything, they do require a serious commitment on the part of the player who inherits a PC of this caliber -- being some sort of exalted character helps in this respect. They allow pretty amazing things and I think they might be better suited for NPCs who are central to an adventure plot. I'll list some in the article anyway (since space is limited in a magazine), just for fun, but take them with a grain of salt as always. :) <> Sure do! Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 16:07:15 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages At 15.58 07/10/97 -0700, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > >I think Demetrion was 36th level, yes. And IIRC, Rad's Mortal Identity of >Etienne D'Ambreville is only 31st or thereabouts- he wasn't described as >36th level. He may have been the most powerful Glantrian mage, but I >believe it was a pretty close call between him and one or two others. I checked it again. Demetrion is 36th level, I forgot about him, sorry. Etienne is 35th level in PC4, but 36th level in the (poor) italian translation of GAZ3! Barimoor is 36th level too. Anyone else? (Remember, I'm looking for 36th level mages outside Alphatia before WotI). - -------------- Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 - -------------- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 16:15:07 -0400 (EDT) From: CRlPTONITE@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages > Just a thought- What if Etienne didn't really cast Wish spells? What if he as > Rad granted the mortal identity Etienne Raise Dead spells? Can anyone say > heresy? in MoA under Etiennes memorized spells wish is listed plus as previously mentioned he has used the spell in multiple modules - --- -- --Crip ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 20:07:20 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] One last Ravenloft thought At 14.35 07/10/97 -0700, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: >I noticed on one of the Ravenloft pages that in one of the upcoming >supplements, it has been said by one of the TSR employees that it will be >revealed that the former Drow of Arak are in fact Shadowelves, and that >they now inhabit the Shadow Rift since the absorption of Arak into Darkon. > >Whether these are Mystaran Shadowelves or some other type, I don't know, >but I'd assume that they are Mystaran SE, since I've never seen any SE on >any other TSR world. > - --- Rafiel mode ON --- I didn't authorize my Shadow Elves to leave Mystara for any reason. This Ravenlot Shadow Elves aren't certainly the original ones, just illegal copies. Anyway now I'm too busy to sue Ravenloft Gods for copying my Shadow Elves. - --- Rafiel mode OFF --- rafiel@geocities.com He-who-decides-on-SE-events-for-the-net-almanac :-) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 15:48:58 -0400 From: Jason Taylor Subject: Re: [Mystara] Fw: MYS/GH netlogo This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - --------------304CF6EC79E3B20709196780 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Galwylin wrote: > Is anybody interested in this? I'm willing to provide the space (as soon > as I get this d*** FTP problem fixed. > > ---------- I would be willing to participate. Just give the word when everything is ready to begin and also where to do the uploads etc. Jason Taylor jtaylor@mgl.ca http://www.mgl.ca/~jtaylor/adnd/ - --------------304CF6EC79E3B20709196780 Content-Type: text/x-vcard; charset=us-ascii; name="vcard.vcf" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Description: Card for Taylor, Jason Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="vcard.vcf" begin: vcard fn: Jason Taylor n: Taylor;Jason org: Taylor Software Solutions adr: ;;;Guelph;ON;N1H 5E2;Canada email;internet: jtaylor@mgl.ca title: Web Site Developer x-mozilla-cpt: ;0 x-mozilla-html: TRUE version: 2.1 end: vcard - --------------304CF6EC79E3B20709196780-- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 16:11:08 -0400 (EDT) From: CRlPTONITE@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) >> Well, now you mentioned it, I thought the rule that people with >> extended life are killed during WoNM was pretty dumb. To me, effect >> from potion of longivity and other similar magical item is permanent >> and can't be dispelled. People that received magical healing don't >> have all the wounds pop back, why should the aging came back? exactly and what about undead? most are created by magic skeletons, zombies, ..... even liches is the post-WotI world free of these undead??? i think more pages in WotI were needed to clarify this whole WoNM > Actually, only those mages who extended their life with Wish died (like > Eriadna). People who drank longevity potions are still alive (Demetrion, > Thincol - although his longevity was dispelled by Vanya). i hadnt heard this where is this reference from? - --- -- --Crip ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 20:08:13 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: [Mystara] Wish (was "Mighty Mages") At 19.16 07/10/97 -0500, Alan Shutko wrote: >F> Just a note: according to the RC being of 36th level isn't enough >F> to cast a wish. You also need Wisdom=18 IIRC (or was it Int?). > >IMHO, that's a pretty glaring error in the Rules Cyclopedia, since >it's a huge change from the old Master's set without cause. My >thought is that they copied the cleric spell description for Wish >(since most of it is identical), search/replaced cleric to mu, and >messed up the requirements. Ok. So now we know that there's ws a misprint in the RC, but what's the correct version? What does a mage need to cast wish (except the spell :) ? 1) 36th level and Int=18 ? 2) 33-36th level and Int=18 ? I like #1 most, because IMO there should be very few people able to cast wish. BTW: were there any 36th level clerics in the Gaz? ************** Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it rafiel@geocities.com DM in City Of The Stars - PC in the Forgotten Realms Leader of Privateers - Student of Aerospace Enginnering Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 10:11:21 +1200 From: John Howell Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aleena dead?- (was Mighty Mages) > On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, John Howell wrote: > > > Hi, > > > > But hang on. In my adventure Aleena got killed and Bargle escaped! I > > assume that almost everybody else had this (unless you cheated... I > > think you needed a 17 or higher on a 20 sided die). > > > > Ahh. Brings back such memories. :) > > Gaz 1 mentiones this. > What you do is replace Aleena with her sister. I dont remember her name > right now, but its all in Gaz 1. This means that Aleena was not killed in > those caves, her sister was. > > Havard. yet another case of the TSR writers watching too much 'days of our lives'. "No, it wasn't me that died - it was my twin sister. Yes, thats right, she was called Aleena too. My Father REALLY liked that name and called us all Aleena - even the boys." Maybe her sister just went around calling herself Aleena because she had a real 'hero worship complex' of her sister. John ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 19:17:31 -0700 From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) At 06:55 PM 10/7/97 -0500, Rob Rickard wrote: >Jenni A. M. Merrifield wrote: >> I think the ORIGINAL rule actually makes a lot of sense precisely >> BECAUSE >> the magic is lost but the aging isn't.... >> ... Seems perfectly reasonable to me.... > >Yes, but what about the 100+ year old characters that survived? Well, maybe they would have lived to 100+ anyway, without the magic (it does happen...). Maybe they actually worked out on a regular basis so even when that adrenalin hit them at a running leap their sturdy "timex" heart took a licking and kept on ticking. Maybe they were just darn lucky. Who knows. Every rule was made to be bent. :-) Jenni - -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield http://www.jamm.com/jenni/home.html - -=> strawberryJAMM <=- strawberry@jamm.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 23:09:56 +0100 From: Peter Balazs Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta Hi! >Oh no, here they go again. You're the second person to mention the idea. I'm >just wondering if just a few people are interested in the tortles, or if the >majority feels that way too. They could be fun I agree, but I still have to >sell the idea to the magazine editor first! :) Take this as vote for such an article! I´m pretty sure that nearly all memebers of this list want to see articles on tortles! >Would probably be a bit harder to find subraces for tortles... I´m quite sure there are many subraces of turtles, but as there are many more households that have dogs than turtles, we know more dog-subraces. And dogs can be better distinquished IMO! Let´s see, there are the turtles, which swim most of the time, and only come on land to lay their eggs, then there are the ones, which live primarily on land, and yes, there are the ones with the strange, edgy armor...... Hmm, not much, it should be a good idea, if you read something on turtles, Bruce! ************************************************************ Peter Balazs Wurlitzerg. 37/12 1160 Wien 0222/4816030 a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ac.at http://radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs ************************************************************ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 18:41:46 -0500 From: Rob Rickard Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) Jenni A. M. Merrifield wrote: > At 06:55 PM 10/7/97 -0500, Rob Rickard wrote: > >Jenni A. M. Merrifield wrote: > >> I think the ORIGINAL rule actually makes a lot of sense precisely > > >> BECAUSE > >> the magic is lost but the aging isn't.... > >> ... Seems perfectly reasonable to me.... > > > >Yes, but what about the 100+ year old characters that survived? > > Well, maybe they would have lived to 100+ anyway, without the magic > (it > does happen...). Maybe they actually worked out on a regular basis so > even > when that adrenalin hit them at a running leap their sturdy "timex" > heart > took a licking and kept on ticking. Maybe they were just darn lucky. > Who > knows. > Every rule was made to be bent. :-) > > Jenni > -- > Jenni A. M. Merrifield http://www.jamm.com/jenni/home.html > -=> strawberryJAMM <=- strawberry@jamm.com spoken like a true gamer! :-) Yes we are in a great fantasy would, but I try to add as much logic as possible to make it realistic as possible Tylion IV was just under 130 when the wee w/o Magic happened ((old post)) I have two different ways for using magic to stop aging. First the Type that most Alphatians use (and other that died the week there was no magic) just holds the aging process. This way on simple command they can show the true age at anytime. It is a simple spell that wastes no time and costs little. IMC The Alphatians rely and trust magic for as they trust rely and and trust the air they breath. Mush like we rely on our kitchen appliances. So this type of magic for aging is accepted and they see little to know fault in it. The second is a type of magic IMC I have played up that it completes the process of turning back the aging . Permanent. It is costly and painful. It takes hours and sometimes fails. IMC I have had Taraie perfect it. I run Potions much like John Yu. Potions are permanent until they clean out of your system. I have some potion last longer than others. some only lasts months some years the rarest is over a decade. slowly you become you true age again. Your body also becomes immune to the potions you a character must search out obscure potions that their body will accept. Also it is a painful process after drinking and becoming younger. I do see that in the WwM that potions woudl not work becouse the potion in side tht keeps the youth would no longer work. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 20:08:56 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Mighty Mages In a message dated 97-10-08 05:42:42 EDT, galwylin@airnet.net writes: << A wish spell is too powerful not to have huge requirements. An 18 in intelligence to cast one doesn't seem that outlandish. >> Especially since the intelligence requirement is redundant in AD&D, where an intelligence of 18+ is required to cast any 9th level spell. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 20:08:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) In a message dated 97-10-08 04:28:58 EDT, dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it writes: << Also, with all these Wishes available for Alphatian MU, i don't know why they have not used them to raise all their stats to 18 yet... Any ideas? :) >> At the very least they could have conferred 18 intelligence on other high level Mages -- then they can let them cast their own Wish spells. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 20:07:41 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Worldshields, Volcanoes, and Antimagic oh my In a message dated 97-10-08 03:14:26 EDT, anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) writes: << In numerous diagrams show volcanoes drawing magma from the Worldshield. Wouldn't this mean that a volcanic eruption would cause a temporary a-m effect every where the lava lands? >> That depends on whether it is the magma itself or where it is located that causes the anti-magical effect. Okay, does anyone know of any "historical" volcanic eruptions on Mystara and their effects on magic in the vicinity? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 20:19:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta In a message dated 97-10-08 13:00:24 EDT, Håvard writes: << Well actually if Tortles are to be honored with an article of their own, I'd like it to be a serious one rather than a humorous article. Would probably be a bit harder to find subraces for tortles...>> Agreed. There may some humor yet -- but no more so than the articles on lupins and rakasta. Tortle subraces I think are not as hard to find as you may think. Good books on zoology go a long way to support this sort of design work. The TMNT are definitely out at this point. ...Pizza anyone? :) Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 19:23:51 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Fw: MYS/GH netlogo On Wed, 08 Oct 1997 08:56:28 -0700 (MST) "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" writes: >On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Galwylin wrote: > >> Is anybody interested in this? I'm willing to provide the space (as >soon >> as I get this d*** FTP problem fixed. > >I'm already working on my entry... and it looks almost nothing like >the >old logo. I really didn't like the AD&D Mystara logo; I don't recall >offhand if D&D had it's own Mystara logo? Nope. Just the OD&D logo, cause OD&D was Mystara >------------------------ >Cthuludrew, the Great Old One >(aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) >"Actions have consequences." >URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill > > > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 18:59:50 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] General ramblings) On Wed, 8 Oct 1997 01:23:37 -0400 (EDT) Kaviyd@aol.com writes: >In a message dated 97-10-07 06:17:15 EDT, anowack@juno.com (Aaron E >Nowack) >writes: > ><< I didn't say he had a large presence. A few agents to stir up >trouble, > because if he wants to rule the world why not rule both? >> > >That suggestion actually makes sense. While the Master would have >little reason to invade the Hollow World in force, he would certainly >want >to send agents there to keep tabs on what is going on. So -- beyond >gathering information, how would his agents have stirred up trouble? >I am sure that the folks composing those future PWAs would love to >know. Well, that thing about the Traldar artifact being stolen could possibly be an action of the agents. If Haldemar ever runs into some of them, interesting things may abound... :) Other than that, some may be trying to infiltrate the Lighthouse, a Hulean spy could be helping to keep the civil war in Nithia going, and other things like that. "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #163 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #164 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Thursday, October 9 1997 Volume 02 : Number 164 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 20:24:09 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta In a message dated 97-10-06 12:44:09 EDT, Cthludrew writes: << 1) Low class level limits: Cats (at least domestic cats, and to a large extent all cats) have low attention spans. Perhaps this can be simulated by allowing them very low level limits in their many class options. Many Rakasta could be multi-classed, but the low levels should help balance things a bit? >> That part is consistent with the kinds of level limitations given to lupins (see previous magazine article). more or less, every category of rakasta has one class where they have no level limitation, others that either aren't available or have limitations from level 6-15, and miscellaneous exceptions. <<2) Armor: I'd think most Rakasta would be uncomfortable wearing heavy armor for any lengths of time. Even the Myoshiman Rakasta would probably have very light armor, and that only for samurai. Perhaps this could be a limitation?>> Correct. Rakasta, by design, dislike armor. They can wear some, but that's limited according to their build and style. Again, that's consistent with what was done with lupins. <> Right. I hadn't thought of the tabi -- an accident of nature perhaps? Rakasta are part human part cat. Tabi are instead part monkey and cat, with wings. Hmmm. Why not. Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 20:41:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles Heres another vote for doing the tortles next... and follow it up with a phanaton article Phanatons became a favorite with a group of players I used to DM for after playing M5 Talons of Night, and I felt they got short changed during the Princess Ark series in Dragon. Speaking of which... the history there seemed to conflict somewhat with the material from M5. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 20:58:27 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] GAZ11 error: number of Heartlands In a message dated 97-10-08 04:18:35 EDT, DM wrote: << ell, the Orclands are NOT shaded in the map, so i considered them Heartlands. If i follow your hypothesis, then the numbers match, but may ask you where did you read that the major cities count as a single "Land" or "voting zone" for the Heartlands? >> Ahh I think I am remembering what I did now... I reached the same conclusions you did a few years ago and marked up my map on page 11 after figuring out an explanation which worked according to the rest of the numbers... which is why I seem to be in left field But here is what I did: 1. the regions which are in the hills/mountains which are north of Selenica & east of Corrunglain I treated as borderland territories (which made more sense anyway, and which is why my count is 4 off of DMs) 2. I assumed that the 5 major cities were counted as their own region... and the territory which surrounded them counted as a seperate region. If you make those 2 assumptions/changes, which aren't entirely unreasonable, then my explanation makes sense.... failing that I suppose the count of territories was a typo, and the rare miner elects the officials ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 21:23:15 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) In a message dated 97-10-08 05:39:58 EDT, galwylin writes: << But wasn't that just a one time occurence? The first week without magic cause total magical breakdown but the following ones haven't been as bad. I would say a longevity potion's effects are irreversable and once taken (except during the WWoM) aren't destroyed. Just think about all the magical sword, rings, etc that would have to be redone if that was the case. >> then John Yu continues <> I'll address both points at the same time since I felt they are somewhat related. First off, the effects I'm talking about is the Week Without Magic (and not the Day of Dread, which doesn't really affect permanent stuff). I see John Yu's side also, but I am more inclined to take the view that if a potion/magic does something the body can do naturally like healing a wound... or curing a disease its treated like healing magic... which is to say permanent. If on the other hand if it does something that the body can't do naturally, like growing to twice your height, gaining the ability to breath water, or reversing your age it is a magical effect (possibly a permanent one mind you but inherently magical at its core). The other point to consider is that since it is a permanent effect maybe its magic did return after the WWoM... but unlike a permanent magic item (which is still probably in one piece) the "vessel" of the longevity potion's effect wasn't still in good enough condition for the magic to help (if you died before the magic reasserted itself your still dead, maybe young and dead, but still dead). I suppose a good comparison would be an "indestructable" magic item. During the WWoM this indestructible item could be smashed and pulverized because the magic which protected it is gone. After the WWoM the enchantment would return... but since the item is already smashed and pulverized (and probably useless), the magic which protects it wont help. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 21:34:56 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord In a message dated 97-10-08 08:08:54 EDT, you write: << I dont know all that much about RL. However, there is an area in Darksun which was consumed by the mists. The area is described in the Dark Sun accessories as an area of ruins. Also in krynn, lord soths keep was never transpored into Ravenloft, but merely reconstructed. (and not quite right) Maybe only the people were transported into Ravenloft, geographical features and buldings were left. And maybe fringes of souls of the people who were abducted remain, haunting the isles. I dont know how this fits with RL metaphysics, but it sounds IMO way cooler than leaving behind nothing at all. >> AAARGGGH! I think I read an article in Dragon Magazine about what happens when someone enters RL a while back... but I don't remember which one (and I am not going to sift through my shelf of magazines to find it so don't ask). ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 21:57:57 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: [Mystara] Ice Gnomes Did anyone else notice on the migration map from the Hollow World boxed set the arrow marked Ice Gnomes coming up from the southern polar region? Only other references I could find about gnomes from that area where in CM4 (Earthshaker!) & the Invention Book (I want to say there was a brief reference in the Princess Ark series too, but I'm not sure of that, I'll have to look). Any thoughts? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 01:34:06 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages In a message dated 97-10-08 12:11:15 EDT, ANDREW.THEISEN@ASU.Edu writes: << Specifically, Jaggar, Brannart... those are the only two I can think of offhand. Morphail was close- if not 36th, he's 34th or 35th. Same goes for Virayana. >> Not to quibble, but I am not sure whether Brannart or Morphail can gain levels any more -- they are both undead, after all. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 01:33:56 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles In a message dated 97-10-08 12:44:48 EDT, Ambreville@aol.com writes: << I like the tongue in cheek stuff, but I think the tortles deserve a little better. I'm already on the lookout for books on turtles. Let's see what we can dig up on these tough fellahs! Was that vote #4, Kavyid? :) >> Yes, I would love to see something about them. Will you include their vicious cousins the Snappers in that article as well? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 10:18:37 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] To the makers of 1014 Almanac... Hello, I have a few questions to the makers of 1014 Almanac, as well as a few suggestions for future Almanacs. 1.Who is the new sultan of Ylaruam? 2.Do you consider the Archduchy of Westheath to belong to John Beaumarys-Moorkroft as implied in one of PWAs, or to Gerrid Rientha as said in G:KoM? And some suggestions: Some Gazetteers introduced situations that needed resolving. For example, the gradual poisoning of Aleksander Torensecu by his uncle Boris, as well as plans by Gherynid to take over Ierendi. Also, is the module B6 Veiled Society official, and when does it take place (since it basically destroys the Society)? ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 10:30:35 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > > Based on Gaz 3, Rad's mortal identity is 35th level. Most other > > Princes is between 20 and 30th level. Most minor nobles are in > > the teens in level. > > Yeah, I just double checked last night. Still, even Rad's mortal id > isn't 36th level, so technically speaking, Etienne isn't the most > powerful mage of the Known World. > Well, WotI box mentions in Rad's entry that his identity is 36th level mage. Certainly makes more sense to me (why would he want to be 35th level?). BTW, does anyone know what text was supposed to be in GAZ3 in Etienne's entry? There seems to be some missing where his portrait is. Also, if Jherek Virayana is descended from Ethengar, why on earth does he have an Indian name? ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 10:27:58 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aleena dead?- (was Mighty Mages) On Wed, 8 Oct 1997 Galeifel@aol.com wrote: > P.S.: And IIRC, if Aleena survived it was Bargle who died (no new name given > for him in gaz1, though) > A "new name" for Bargle could be Sverdlov, who is mentioned as Black Eagle's *court wizard* in the module Eye of Traldar. I always wondered where he came from and why Bargle didn't object to von Hendriks having another court wizard. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 10:48:54 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Fabrizio Paoli wrote: > Anyone else? (Remember, I'm looking for 36th level mages outside Alphatia > before WotI). > I'm *not* sure about these, since IDHTBIFOM, but check on Oberack and Jarita Maruti of Sind. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 10:54:33 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) On Wed, 8 Oct 1997 CRlPTONITE@aol.com wrote: > > Actually, only those mages who extended their life with Wish died (like > > Eriadna). People who drank longevity potions are still alive (Demetrion, > > Thincol - although his longevity was dispelled by Vanya). > i hadnt heard this > where is this reference from? > Nowhere. I just assumed this since Eriadna died (she used Wish to always appear 30 or so, regardless of age), while Tylion/Terari lived (he presumably used longevity potions to reduce his age by a round number - each potion reduces age by 10 years - and he continued to age. BTW, is it said anywhere how all those d'Ambrevilles (even the fighters) manage to live so long? Couldn't be magic, or they all would be dead after WotI... ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 11:08:35 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Re: Mighty Mages On 8 Oct 1997, Alan Shutko wrote: > >>>>> "G" == Galwylin writes: > > G> A wish spell is too powerful not to have huge requirements. An 18 > G> in intelligence to cast one doesn't seem that outlandish. > > An 18 intelligence, yes. An 18 _Wisdom_ after all previous books said > intelligence? 18 in intelligence for mages, 18 in wisdom for clerics. Wisdom has nothing to do with wizard magic and intelligence has nothing to do with clerical magic. (The above is for D&D, not AD&D) Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 11:15:57 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Worldshields, Volcanoes, and Antimagic oh my On Wed, 8 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 97-10-08 03:14:26 EDT, anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) > writes: > > << In numerous diagrams show volcanoes drawing magma from the Worldshield. > Wouldn't this mean that a volcanic eruption would cause a temporary a-m > effect every where the lava lands? >> > > That depends on whether it is the magma itself or where it is located that > causes the anti-magical effect. Okay, does anyone know of any "historical" > volcanic eruptions on Mystara and their effects on magic in the vicinity? As mentioned, HWA 1-3 includes extraxtion of ores from the 'core' of Mystara which have antimagical properties. Wonder what effects this has on the three volcanoes region in Glantri... Håvard - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 11:13:10 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Fabrizio Paoli wrote: > At 15.58 07/10/97 -0700, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > > > >I think Demetrion was 36th level, yes. And IIRC, Rad's Mortal Identity of > >Etienne D'Ambreville is only 31st or thereabouts- he wasn't described as > >36th level. He may have been the most powerful Glantrian mage, but I > >believe it was a pretty close call between him and one or two others. > > I checked it again. > Demetrion is 36th level, I forgot about him, sorry. > Etienne is 35th level in PC4, but 36th level in the (poor) italian > translation of GAZ3! > Barimoor is 36th level too. > Anyone else? (Remember, I'm looking for 36th level mages outside Alphatia > before WotI). There are several unnamed wizards in thyatis on that Island that DM mentioned, they are all 36th IRC. If Gargantua is still around he should be at least of that level, maybe he's still on his path for immortality? Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 11:26:36 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ice Gnomes On Wed, 8 Oct 1997 Magesmiley@aol.com wrote: > Did anyone else notice on the migration map from the Hollow World boxed set > the arrow marked Ice Gnomes coming up from the southern polar region? Only > other references I could find about gnomes from that area where in CM4 > (Earthshaker!) & the Invention Book (I want to say there was a brief > reference in the Princess Ark series too, but I'm not sure of that, I'll have > to look). Any thoughts? I posted a similar question about them about a year ago. I suggested that they were of a barbaric warlike gnomish culture, but I didn't know about Earthshaker at that point, and Earthshaker makes them look a bit more like your average gnome, doesn't it? "2900 BC: The Immortal named Garal Glitterlode creates the gnomish race, planting colonies of them in the land that will later become Rockhome and the mountains of the northern continent. (PC2) Ice Gnomes appear in the southern continent (HW migration map). * I didn't find more info about this Ice Gnomes, so I would be glad if someone can help me here. In particular I remember someone (Cthul?) saying that they were probably linked to the gnomes in the Earthshaker module, but since I haven't got that module...* " -Fabrizio's Gnomish timeline at http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560/igor.html I'm thinking it could be a large community of gnomes down there. There aren't all that many in the Known World, so maybe they preferred to Go South. After all, gnomes are one of the major races of Mystara (kinda). I think theirs is a culture worth developing. Håvard. - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 11:28:59 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Thu, 9 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 97-10-08 12:11:15 EDT, ANDREW.THEISEN@ASU.Edu writes: > > << Specifically, Jaggar, Brannart... > those are the only two I can think of offhand. Morphail was close- if not > 36th, he's 34th or 35th. Same goes for Virayana. >> > > Not to quibble, but I am not sure whether Brannart or Morphail can gain > levels any more -- they are both undead, after all. And? I see no really good reason why they can't still gain power. I had a Nosferatu Pc in my campaign at a time and I let her go about increasing her levels as a living person would. After all, it doesn't make much sense that intelligent Undead didn't learn from experience, right? Håvard. - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 11:31:44 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aleena dead?- (was Mighty Mages) On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > On Wed, 8 Oct 1997 Galeifel@aol.com wrote: > > > P.S.: And IIRC, if Aleena survived it was Bargle who died (no new name given > > for him in gaz1, though) > > > A "new name" for Bargle could be Sverdlov, who is mentioned as Black > Eagle's *court wizard* in the module Eye of Traldar. I always wondered > where he came from and why Bargle didn't object to von Hendriks having > another court wizard. Read about him recently, but we cant remove Bargle can we? He is IMO _the_ Mystaran villain. We could have both though. Maybe Sverdlov is Bargles pawn..or maybe his secret identity... Håvard. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 05:47:43 -0500 From: Galwylin Subject: Re: [Mystara] Fw: MYS/GH netlogo Well, I got a small web page built for the logos (think vanilla). So, unless someone else wants to host the site for the logos, I'll take them by email (I guess) since I haven't figured out how to enable uploading. Anyone want to count the votes are should I just put a link to email myself? Got to get with my ISP and see when I can expect it to be available. In case you couldn't tell I'm quite new at this ;x ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 14:00:28 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne Hello, A few days ago I posted a message saying that the Brotherhood of Radiance could deduce that Rad is Etienne d'Ambreville. Some people said that many other nobles died as well, so there is nothing to connect them. However: 1006: Meteor strikes. Houses of Silverston and Sirecchia, as well as allied nobles of Silverston and Erewan die. 1008: Vanserie and Wilhelmine Vlaardoen die from the plague. 1009: Etienne d'Ambreville disappears. 1009: Rad no longer speaks to the Brotherhood. AFAIK, no other nobles died. So, 1.Rad and Etienne disappear in the same year, 2.Rad has to be someone powerful like Etienne, and 3.Both Rad and Etienne have a French accent ;) So, Rad must be Etienne - pure logic. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 07:39:20 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne In einer eMail vom 09.10.97 12:11:48, schreiben Sie: << A few days ago I posted a message saying that the Brotherhood of Radiance could deduce that Rad is Etienne d'Ambreville. Some people said that many other nobles died as well, so there is nothing to connect them. However: 1006: Meteor strikes. Houses of Silverston and Sirecchia, as well as allied nobles of Silverston and Erewan die. 1008: Vanserie and Wilhelmine Vlaardoen die from the plague. 1009: Etienne d'Ambreville disappears. 1009: Rad no longer speaks to the Brotherhood. AFAIK, no other nobles died. So, 1.Rad and Etienne disappear in the same year, 2.Rad has to be someone powerful like Etienne, and 3.Both Rad and Etienne have a French accent ;) So, Rad must be Etienne - pure logic. >> Well, but I don't think the members of the brotherhood think of rad as just another member of the brotherhood (i.e. noble). After all Rad is the name of a supernatural being worshipped in Glantri, so it would be much more logical to assume that it was him speaking to the brotherhood (which is of course true, but...pretty complicated stuff). I don't think anybody would connect the disappearances of the two. Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 08:06:40 EST From: Neal Daskal Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne >3.Both Rad and Etienne have a French accent ;) > >So, Rad must be Etienne - pure logic. ROTFL ... As my seven-year-old says, "No duh!" :) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 14:35:10 +0000 From: wizzard@mail.intcom.de Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne > A few days ago I posted a message saying that the Brotherhood of Radiance > could deduce that Rad is Etienne d'Ambreville. Some people said that many > other nobles died as well, so there is nothing to connect them. However: > 1006: Meteor strikes. Houses of Silverston and Sirecchia, as well as > allied nobles of Silverston and Erewan die. > 1008: Vanserie and Wilhelmine Vlaardoen die from the plague. > 1009: Etienne d'Ambreville disappears. > 1009: Rad no longer speaks to the Brotherhood. > AFAIK, no other nobles died. > > 1.Rad and Etienne disappear in the same year, > 2.Rad has to be someone powerful like Etienne, and > 3.Both Rad and Etienne have a French accent ;) > So, Rad must be Etienne - pure logic. Only one thing. How much more wizards disappeared during this period ? Also remember that no mortal normally knows of the possibility of an immortal having mortal identities. You could also deduct that Etienne as a follower is carrying out a super secret plan /mission for his patron that even his comrades aren´t allowed to know. Remember it is 1009 and they are losing the war. It is time for heroes and Etienne could have died in an effort to throw off the fatal ending of the war?? Just some suggestins. Wizzard ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 16:08:49 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne On Thu, 9 Oct 1997 wizzard@mail.intcom.de wrote: > Only one thing. How much more wizards disappeared during this period > Yes, but Etienne was the only *noble* who disappeared in 1009. And only nobles can use the Radiance! ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 10:21:53 -0400 (EDT) From: StFlame@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles Who finds the idea of Teenage Mutant Ninja Tortles humourous? - -CowGod ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 10:29:34 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aleena dead?- (was Mighty Mages) Haavard Roenne Faanes pontificated: > > > A "new name" for Bargle could be Sverdlov, who is mentioned as Black > > Eagle's *court wizard* in the module Eye of Traldar. I always wondered > > where he came from and why Bargle didn't object to von Hendriks having > > another court wizard. > > Read about him recently, but we cant remove Bargle can we? He is IMO _the= > _ > Mystaran villain. We could have both though. Maybe Sverdlov is Bargles > pawn..or maybe his secret identity... > Perhaps Sverdlov is the court wizard, who does all the spell casting necessary around the holding, while Bargle is promoted, so he will have more time to do research and intelligence gathering. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 15:26:06 +0100 (MET) From: "Oystein H. Lund" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Hulean skyships. On Tue, 7 Oct 1997 Ambreville@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 97-10-07 12:20:01 EDT, you write: > > << f the Master - and Hule - doesn't posess the knowledge to create > skyships... what's that magical flying boat doing in X5 Temple of Death > then ? >> > > Module X5 is a fairly old release -- it came out way before this whole thing > about skyships perked up with Alphatia. Perhaps the Master acquired these > from another source and he does not have the means to reproduce or replace > them. Others could be Heldannic ships secretely helping out the master for > some reason (flying his colors for the occasion). The two are not above > making quiet deals amongst themselves if that's to their advantage. Does this > help? > > Bruce Heard Well, as others have mentioned, these things are fairly weak - essentially they are flying weapons platforms, for archers and/or catapults. Or, as the players in my campaign used them: as weapon platforms for their Blacmoorian devices... Now, that was a terrible thing. They had 40 survivng infantry on their side after the great battle with the Legion of Doom - and a handful of cavalry, plus the magical forces who retreated after tossing their magical missiles... those giants tossing boulders were frightfully effective. But there were NO survivors in the legion's regular units, only a handful of giants made it out. The carnage was pretty unbelievable. (That's when they lost a couple skyships, when they were blown up by the opposition.) So yeah, they're fairly weak - but they're also something the Master should be able to make on his own. And with the right people aboard... _______________________________________________________________________ | Oeystein H. Lund ,kj160@lhg.hib.no | |"I still consider Southern California the best evidence we have that | | not only do aliens exist, but that they are here already. " | |_____________________________________________________________________| ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 17:52:34 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aleena dead?- (was Mighty Mages) On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, John Yu writes: > Haavard Roenne Faanes pontificated: > > > > > A "new name" for Bargle could be Sverdlov, who is mentioned as Black > > > Eagle's *court wizard* in the module Eye of Traldar. I always wondered > > > where he came from and why Bargle didn't object to von Hendriks having > > > another court wizard. > > > > Read about him recently, but we cant remove Bargle can we? He is IMO _the= > > _ > > Mystaran villain. We could have both though. Maybe Sverdlov is Bargles > > pawn..or maybe his secret identity... > > > Perhaps Sverdlov is the court wizard, who does all the spell casting > necessary around the holding, while Bargle is promoted, so he will > have more time to do research and intelligence gathering. Sounds reasonable to me.. Håvard. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 17:55:20 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles On Thu, 9 Oct 1997 StFlame@aol.com wrote: > Who finds the idea of Teenage Mutant Ninja Tortles humourous? I like it, actually. I know I said I wanted Bruce to make a serious article, but I loved the Princess Arc story about the Tortles, which had quite a few such elements. Tortle Mystics...:D Håvard - -- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 08:46:56 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Peter Balazs wrote: > I´m quite sure there are many subraces of turtles, but as there are many > more households that have dogs than turtles, we know more dog-subraces. And > dogs can be better distinquished IMO! Let´s see, there are the turtles, > which swim most of the time, and only come on land to lay their eggs, then > there are the ones, which live primarily on land, and yes, there are the > ones with the strange, edgy armor...... Would the Snappers be considered a subspecies of Tortles, I'm wondering? I'd say so, myself, but they seem to be described (in AC9) as being a separate race. If so, they would probably be the sea turtle equivalent of the Tortle race. I don't really recall that many subspecies of turtles offhand, but then, I've never really thought much about it... - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 08:59:31 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] GAZ11 error: number of Heartlands Speaking of the Heartlands and Borderlands of Darokin, I must say I was slightly disappointed, upon finally getting CM9: Legacy of Blood, to find that the region set aside for the dominion in that module (a Borderland territory) isn't made allowance for in the map in GAZ11. The territory there is split up into part of a Heartland/part Borderland, IIRC. Unfortunate, for a couple of reasons- 1) CM9 is a really good module, IMO; certainly a good module about the trials and tribulations of running a dominion, and 2) it shows a lack of concern for module "continuity" that other products in the line showed- such as the discrepancies of X13 (the Vestland problems). Even if they hadn't acknowledged the area as explicitly having been part of a module, it would have been nice to see it set aside in case someone should later run it. At any rate, I altered the map in GAZ11 to accomodate that. Of course, I changed the location of X3: Curse of Xanathon to be run in the Borderland area of Port Tenobar, as well. :) Worked out surprisingly well. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 09:07:54 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Thu, 9 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > Not to quibble, but I am not sure whether Brannart or Morphail can gain > levels any more -- they are both undead, after all. The description of the D&D Nosferatu leads me to believe that they can still gain levels, though I suppose it's debatable. As for AD&D, they normally couldn't, I'd guess, but then again, there was a recent Ravenloft product (Darkness Ascending? Or was it Necropolis?) that gave rules for playing undead PCs. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 09:13:10 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] To the makers of 1014 Almanac... On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > 1.Who is the new sultan of Ylaruam? Good question. I don't recall if we've stated that yet or not... > 2.Do you consider the Archduchy of Westheath to belong to John > Beaumarys-Moorkroft as implied in one of PWAs, or to Gerrid Rientha as > said in G:KoM? I consider it to be Moorkroft- He should have been next in line (I don't hold by that giving it away stuff in G:KoM, myself), and Ann says in 1012 that he was. I don't really know the others' thoughts, though. As thus far I am actually making use of at least one change in G:KoM, to facilitate certain events in the Ethengarian invasion, it may seem a bit contradictory, though. :) > Some Gazetteers introduced situations that needed resolving. For example, > the gradual poisoning of Aleksander Torensecu by his uncle Boris, as well > as plans by Gherynid to take over Ierendi. Also, is the module B6 Veiled > Society official, and when does it take place (since it basically destroys > the Society)? Hmm... good question. I actually kind of like the thought of making B6 "official"- particularly now, in the aftermath of the Great War, and the "uniting" of Karameikos under the banner of a Kingdom. I didn't much care for the plot coming at an earlier date, but now might be a good time for it. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 09:05:46 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ice Gnomes On Wed, 8 Oct 1997 Magesmiley@aol.com wrote: > Did anyone else notice on the migration map from the Hollow World boxed set > the arrow marked Ice Gnomes coming up from the southern polar region? Only > other references I could find about gnomes from that area where in CM4 > (Earthshaker!) & the Invention Book (I want to say there was a brief > reference in the Princess Ark series too, but I'm not sure of that, I'll have > to look). Any thoughts? There was a brief one, though not one that explicitly mentions gnomes. In the article on the N'Djatwa (I forget which ish; #158?). When talking to the N'Djatwa, Haldemar learns that the lands to the east of Green Bay are inhabited by giant metal men who spend all day fighting. As the first mention of the land of the Earthshakers is in the entry for Jaggar's Transforming Gargantoid, and we know they are run by gnomes (CM3), and since the Princess Ark article and the Gargantoid entry were written by Bruce Heard, I think it's safe to assume that that is what he had in mind. He's never said one way or another, though. (Hint, hint. ;) Interestingly, the N'Djatwa mention seeing flying craft like Haldemar's in that region. As the Gargantoid entry mentions that the Alphatians were present in the Earthshaker territory with their flying ships, it would be easy to assume the ships are Alphatian. Of course, the events of the PA series led one to believe that the southern continent had never before been explored, so it is just as likely they are Heldannic ships... or perhaps someone elses? - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #164 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #165 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Friday, October 10 1997 Volume 02 : Number 165 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 09:17:34 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Worldshields, Volcanoes, and Antimagic oh my On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, Haavard Roenne Faanes wrote: > As mentioned, HWA 1-3 includes extraxtion of ores from the 'core' of > Mystara which have antimagical properties. > Wonder what effects this has on the three volcanoes region in Glantri... GAZ3 does mention an NPC (I forget who- one of the southern Barons, near Darokin) that discovered an ore with antimagical properties... - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 09:16:24 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > BTW, is it said anywhere how all those d'Ambrevilles (even the fighters) > manage to live so long? Couldn't be magic, or they all would be dead after > WotI... I believe it's mainly magic, but it could be in large part due to Immortal magic, as they all died once (X2: Castle Amber), and were resurrected by Etienne (then at least partially Immortal, according to MoA). Perhaps they were very debilitated during the Week of No Magic, as a result of their magical aging being suspended, but not their Immortal resurrection? - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 12:50:55 -0400 (EDT) From: CRlPTONITE@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lord Soth and RL Timeline >>ravenloft time goes much faster than the other worlds >>thats how they got lord soth back into krynn >>and thats why he can exist in both worlds at the same time >Nope. The only reason why Soth can exist both in RL and in DL is that Weis >and Hickman ORDERED TSR to give their baby back to them in RL. There is no >fictional explanation behind this fact: they simply wanted him back on >Krynn and they took it. it would be kind of foolish for TSR to return soth to DL without an explanation so of course they came up with a reason and the time difference is what they used iirc i know about the DL people demanding the return of soth so when it happened they figured out how it could be done i heard this time explanation from steve miller (i think) if not him it was another RL guy - --- -- --Crip ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 13:00:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles In a message dated 97-10-09 10:21:15 EDT, you write: << Speaking of which... the history there seemed to conflict somewhat with the material from M5. >> Whoops. Can you elaborate on this please? Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 13:01:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles In a message dated 97-10-09 02:20:36 EDT, Kavyid writes: << Yes, I would love to see something about them. Will you include their vicious cousins the Snappers in that article as well? >> Yes of course -- that would make sense. Conflict always makes for more interesting settings. So that would be a plus here. I guess all varieties (as many as I can treat) of chelonians would probably find their place in that article. Could become as colorful as the slaads, I'm hoping. Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 13:27:15 EST From: Neal Daskal Subject: Re[2]: [Mystara] Mighty Mages >The description of the D&D Nosferatu leads me to believe that they can >still gain levels, though I suppose it's debatable. The D&D Nosferatu is described (real-world chronologically) in GAZ1, GAZ3, and the updated Creature Catalog. There was also a Nosferatu NPC in the (IMHO) excellent Carl Sargeant adventure Heart of Darkness in the PC2 Top Ballista product. In GAZ1, where Aaron Alston introduced the monster, there was no mention of gaining levels. In GAZ3, where Bruce Heard applied the monster to Glantri and introduced Morphail, the monster description included experience level gaining at DM's discretion. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 12:24:56 -0500 From: Rob Rickard Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > So, > 1.Rad and Etienne disappear in the same year, > 2.Rad has to be someone powerful like Etienne, and > 3.Both Rad and Etienne have a French accent ;) > > So, Rad must be Etienne - pure logic. 1. It was at the end of WotI A "Rad"ical time period for Mystara. I am sure that some might think that Etienne could of been Rad but Rad is worshiped in Glantri. I think that most was pass over the idea that he is really Rad. Rad is an Immortal, Glantrians could believe that Rad is being punished for the war adn that Etienne perished some how. 2. Rad is an Immortal! Do the people of Glantri think that Etienne is as powerful as an immortal 3.the brother hood communicate mentally with each other. no accents ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 11:51:14 -0700 From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Fw: MYS/GH netlogo At 02:21 PM 10/8/97 +0200, Håvard wrote: >On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Galwylin wrote: >Go for it. I think Jenni said something about making a logo.. >Jenni? I've been working on it -- nothing has gone 'right' yet though. One question: How big an icon would be best? Or should there be a variety of sizes, with the same or variations on a theme? Jenni - -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield http://www.jamm.com/jenni/home.html - -=> strawberryJAMM <=- strawberry@jamm.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 11:53:26 -0700 From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) At 10:01 AM 10/8/97 -0500, Prodyn wrote: >So upon using the potion the person would have to make a decision, >"Do I want to be younger, or do I want to keep what I have >experienced in my life time?" I rather like that. A 'clasical' part of magic in all the stories is that you always get what you asked for, not always what you wanted. This effect would sort of fall into the same category -- yeah, you get to be 10 years younger, but you loose everything you gained in those same 10 years. >Just a thought. And a rather intriguing one at that... Jenni - -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield http://www.jamm.com/jenni/home.html - -=> strawberryJAMM <=- strawberry@jamm.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 21:31:21 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lord Soth and RL Timeline At 14.16 08/10/97 +0200, Håvard wrote: >On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, DM wrote: >> Nope. The only reason why Soth can exist both in RL and in DL is that Weis >> and Hickman ORDERED TSR to give their baby back to them in DL. There is no >> fictional explanation behind this fact: they simply wanted him back on >> Krynn and they took it. > >No reason why we can't do the same... Whom are you referring to? To Meredoth (the necromancer of Ship of Horror who lived in Norwold)? Basically we can't do it for two reasons: 1. we didn't create him 2. we don't work for TSR 3. we are not as renowned and famous as Weis & Hickman DM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 21:45:10 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages At 08.29 08/10/97 -0700, you wrote: >Incidentally, I redid my estimates of the Glantrian Prince's levels >(post-Wrath) a while back, calculating their experience earned for ruling >a dominion as given in the RC, and a good proportion of the Princes >should, in fact, be 36th level by now. Specifically, Jaggar, Brannart... >those are the only two I can think of offhand. Morphail was close- if not >36th, he's 34th or 35th. Same goes for Virayana. Glad you did it Andrew! Isn't it time to post em to the list? :) PS: as a sidenote, the last two days the Mystara list has had more messages than the RL list! What a feat!!!!! DM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 21:43:33 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Gargantua (was: Mighty Mages) At 15.45 08/10/97 +0200, you wrote: >Maybe he's dead. Anyway I definately think he should be developed more. If >he isn't around anymore, when did he live? History gurus, are you out >there? > >Håvard. Mr G. is the MOST powerful and cunning mage IMC and Diego Calugi and I are planning a two-parts campaign involving him. He's not dead IOC (in Our campaigns), but looking for a way to breach the gates of the Dark Tower, a tower left by the Old Ones on an isle at the edge of time and dimensions... Something hard to explain, but it has connections with HP Lovecraft's, S. King's and I. Asimov's works and mythoi. When we develop his stats and history a bit more, we'll post something (if you're interested). DM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 14:48:03 -0500 From: Rob Rickard Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) Jenni A. M. Merrifield wrote: > At 10:01 AM 10/8/97 -0500, Prodyn wrote: > >So upon using the potion the person would have to make a decision, > >"Do I want to be younger, or do I want to keep what I have > >experienced in my life time?" > > I rather like that. A 'clasical' part of magic in all the stories > is > that you always get what you asked for, not always what you wanted. > This > effect would sort of fall into the same category -- yeah, you get to > be 10 > years younger, but you loose everything you gained in those same 10 > years. > > >Just a thought. > > And a rather intriguing one at that... > > Jenni > -- I personly never would want to do it. Why live again if you wont remember it the first time? - --Rob-- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 21:59:53 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Gargantua (was: Mighty Mages) At 11.13 09/10/97 +0200, Håvard wrote: >There are several unnamed wizards in thyatis on that Island that DM >mentioned, they are all 36th IRC. If Gargantua is still around he should >be at least of that level, maybe he's still on his path for immortality? Shshht... don't tell anyone, especially my players (AND THIS MEANS YOU! TONI AND BOZZ, STOP READING) but.... S P O I L E R IMC Gargantua is trying to become an Old One without... passing from the start, shall we say... He doesn't want to become an Immortal cause he doesn't want to obey to somebody else than his ego, so he is desperately trying to find a shortcut to Old One status. NOte that Mr. G. in my campaign is NOT mad nor evil: he is just hungry for power and knowledge! DM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 22:14:04 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Phanatons (was: Tortles) At 13.00 09/10/97 -0400, you wrote: >In a message dated 97-10-09 10:21:15 EDT, you write: > ><< Speaking of which... the history > there seemed to conflict somewhat with the material from M5. >> > >Whoops. Can you elaborate on this please? > >Bruce Heard Maybe he was referring to the history of phanatons. The phanatons of M5 came from an outer world, while the Prime Plane Mystaran phanatons are original of this world IIRC (their history is detailed in Orc's Head accessory) DM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 22:18:14 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ice Gnomes and Meks At 09.05 09/10/97 -0700, you wrote: >There was a brief one, though not one that explicitly mentions gnomes. In >the article on the N'Djatwa (I forget which ish; #158?). When talking to >the N'Djatwa, Haldemar learns that the lands to the east of Green Bay are >inhabited by giant metal men who spend all day fighting. As the first >mention of the land of the Earthshakers is in the entry for Jaggar's >Transforming Gargantoid, and we know they are run by gnomes (CM4), and >since the Princess Ark article and the Gargantoid entry were written by >Bruce Heard, I think it's safe to assume that that is what he had in >mind. He's never said one way or another, though. (Hint, hint. ;) For some hypothesis on the topic (we've already discussed it, remeber Andrew?:)), i advice you to read the file you find in this page of mine: It's a nice funny adaptation of our ramblings, to anyone interested... :) DM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 22:10:44 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Ravenloft Requiem At 09.07 09/10/97 -0700, Cthul wrote: >The description of the D&D Nosferatu leads me to believe that they can >still gain levels, though I suppose it's debatable. Hope you have read my post on the RL Nosferatu. However, ref to RL, greater undead CAN advance trhu levels (lich, vampire, mummy!) >As for AD&D, they normally couldn't, I'd guess, but then again, there was >a recent Ravenloft product (Darkness Ascending? Or was it Necropolis?) >that gave rules for playing undead PCs. Requiem: the Grim Harvest. A bad campaign that nearly annihilated one of RL most interesteing dominions and his lord (Azalin). However, it contains an interesting system to use AD&D undead as PCs, easily convertible to OD&D rules. The system has some flaws (detailing the powers and weaknesses of the undead many are missed or forgotten), it needs a little work, but it's usable. However, in the long run the PCs will become NPCs if they do too many "dark acts" and don't resist their undead nature and drives... DM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 13:18:18 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > At 08.29 08/10/97 -0700, you wrote: > >Incidentally, I redid my estimates of the Glantrian Prince's levels > >(post-Wrath) a while back, calculating their experience earned for ruling > >a dominion as given in the RC, and a good proportion of the Princes > >should, in fact, be 36th level by now. Specifically, Jaggar, Brannart... > >those are the only two I can think of offhand. Morphail was close- if not > >36th, he's 34th or 35th. Same goes for Virayana. > > Glad you did it Andrew! Isn't it time to post em to the list? :) Sure, I'll post them. The main reason I hadn't done so before now is that the result was sort of disappointing to me. I thought that I recalled getting lower levels results the first time I did it, but this time, they all turned out to be higher than I thought. I even went back and rechecked the numbers more than once, and got the same result. Some of them were rather disappointing. And I wasn't entirely sure that the dominion economics worked right with a few... well, I'll post them this weekend and hopefully I'll be able to show you what I mean. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 16:58:17 -0400 From: Ray Brooks Subject: Re: [Mystara] Gargantua (was: Mighty Mages) DM wrote: > > At 11.13 09/10/97 +0200, Håvard wrote: > >There are several unnamed wizards in thyatis on that Island that DM > >mentioned, they are all 36th IRC. If Gargantua is still around he should > >be at least of that level, maybe he's still on his path for immortality? > > Shshht... don't tell anyone, especially my players (AND THIS MEANS YOU! TONI > AND BOZZ, STOP READING) but.... > > S > > P > > O > > I > > L > > E > > R (...section deleted for the sake of DM's campaign) I like it! How very Faustian of you.... ray ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 14:23:02 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: [Mystara] Ice Gnomes [In reply to DM's recent message on the Ice Gnomes] I had forgotten completely about the Meks/Earthshakers hypothesis of ours... that whole discussion, actually, though I did vaguely recall the discussion about that region. I just visited your page and reread your compilation of the discussion. That was great! I loved the presentation! A gold dragon, eh? Well, I suppose that you can live with that illusion for now... I'll keep my true nature hidden for the time being... ;) - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 00:18:42 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) In Dragon #194 I found an explanation on which magic fails during the Day of Dread. I hope Bruce won't sue me if I copy some of his words :) "Magically aged people come in two sorts (...) There're those who were permanently rejuvenatd (and thus were unaffected by teh day of no magic) and those whose apparent ages depend on continuos magical effect (and thus would succumb to total magical blackout). The former is the most common sort of magical aging." Hope this helps. ************** Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it rafiel@geocities.com DM in City Of The Stars - PC in the Forgotten Realms Leader of Privateers - Student of Aerospace Enginnering Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 19:35:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages In a message dated 97-10-09 05:39:24 EDT, hoc@nvg.ntnu.no writes: << And? I see no really good reason why they can't still gain power. I had a Nosferatu Pc in my campaign at a time and I let her go about increasing her levels as a living person would. After all, it doesn't make much sense that intelligent Undead didn't learn from experience, right? >> But the question is whether they can gain levels -- I am sure that they can still learn. After all, many non-human races have level limits, even in OD&D. I was simply suggesting that the level limits for undead were whatever level they had reached in life. Undead can learn new skills (proficiencies), research new spells, and so forth, but (in my campaigns) cannot gain levels. Such limits would certainly explain why Morphail has not yet reached maximum level for a Mage (level 30 or level 36, depending on your game system). ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 20:04:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Gargantua (was: Mighty Mages) Anyone know what is the earliest appearance of Gargantua? In what module that gargantuian monsters appear in is earliest in timeline? John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 19:59:29 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Gargantua (was: Mighty Mages) DM pontificated: > > > S > > P > > O > > I > > L > > E > > R > > > > > > IMC Gargantua is trying to become an Old One without... passing from the > start, shall we say... He doesn't want to become an Immortal cause he > doesn't want to obey to somebody else than his ego, so he is desperately > trying to find a shortcut to Old One status. NOte that Mr. G. in my campa= > ign > is NOT mad nor evil: he is just hungry for power and knowledge! > So, how did he learn about the Old Ones, consider that knowledge is scarce even among the immortals. And how can he be so sure that no one will be command over him after he became an old ones. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 19:36:32 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne In a message dated 97-10-09 07:11:48 EDT, k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi writes: << A few days ago I posted a message saying that the Brotherhood of Radiance could deduce that Rad is Etienne d'Ambreville. Some people said that many other nobles died as well, so there is nothing to connect them. However: 1006: Meteor strikes. Houses of Silverston and Sirecchia, as well as allied nobles of Silverston and Erewan die. 1008: Vanserie and Wilhelmine Vlaardoen die from the plague. 1009: Etienne d'Ambreville disappears. 1009: Rad no longer speaks to the Brotherhood. AFAIK, no other nobles died. So, 1.Rad and Etienne disappear in the same year, 2.Rad has to be someone powerful like Etienne, and 3.Both Rad and Etienne have a French accent ;) So, Rad must be Etienne - pure logic. >> I would go along with you so far as to say that, if Rad were known to be a land-holding noble, he would have to be Etienne -- but the case of Angus McGregor suggests that membership in the Brotherhood is not necessarily so limited. Remember that in AC 1009 the Alphatians launched their final magical assault on Glantri City and undoubtedly killed many of the high level wizards defending the city, including Prince Etienne (although his death was not confirmed as his body was never found). So, while Prince Etienne would be the most likely candidate for Rad, he is not the only one. Whether the rest of the Brotherhood even suspects that Etienne was Rad would depend on the actions of the Old One who took him away -- it would not be impossible, for example, for the Old One to have "Rad" communicate with the rest of the Brotherhood a few times so that the later disappearance of "Rad" is not connected with any specific individual. Unfortunately, no published material is particularly clear on this point, as the information would be of little use prior to the return of Etienne -- and very little official information post-dates that return. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 00:14:51 -0400 (EDT) From: Mystaros@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages In a message dated 97-10-09 03:42:23 EDT, you write: << Also, if Jherek Virayana is descended from Ethengar, why on earth does he have an Indian name? >> I always interpreted the Virayana's and the peoples of the Principality of Krondahar as having been inspired more by the Mongol/Turkish "Moguls" of the RW, who conquered much of northern India in the 16th century, than the nomadic Mongols/Turks of the northern steppes... and I have developed my own history to deal with this issue (which also has to do with the relationship between the timeline for Sind as found in the CoE vs. that of the HWA's). But Bruce Heard could fill us in more about the origins of the Glantrian Ethengars... Mystaros ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 23:40:36 -0500 From: Rob Rickard Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aging and death (Was: Mighty Mages) Fabrizio Paoli wrote: > In Dragon #194 I found an explanation on which magic fails during the > Day > of Dread. > I hope Bruce won't sue me if I copy some of his words :) > > "Magically aged people come in two sorts (...) There're those who were > > permanently rejuvenatd (and thus were unaffected by teh day of no > magic) > and those whose apparent ages depend on continuos magical effect (and > thus > would succumb to total magical blackout). The former is the most > common > sort of magical aging." > > Hope this helps. > > ************** > Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it rafiel@geocities.com YES!!!!!!!! I dont recall but I will go back and look it up. Maybe that is where I go the idea from in the first Place. I wonder if it explaned it in detail? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 16:51:03 +0800 From: Glenn Butcher Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals Haavard Roenne Faanes rambled (hoc@nvg.ntnu.no): > On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > > > > Can Exalted beings (fiends, titans, etc.) quest for Immortality? > > > I think they should be able to. But only if their immortal master allows > them to. > I dont know if they are able to quest for immortality according to the > rules, but..who needs rules? > > I think its a good idea. > The idea I am currently playing with (for my immortals system) is that immortals have the capability of gaining more power more easily. Immortals can gain power from absorbing artifacts, magic items, objects of value, "adventuring" (strokes etc) and worshippers. Exalted can gain power from absorbing artifacts, magic items and objects of power. Absorbing items isn't a very popular way of increasing power. This means that an exalted can use immortal abilities, but are severely limited by their beginning amount of power. They would seldom (if ever) expend permanent power, and seldom gain any permanent power. Making a creature exalted requires less power than full immortality, plus the extra power points they both start with (with exalted generally starting far lower than immortals). It would be possible for an exalted to make themselves an immortal, but it would require considerable effort, time, and magic items/artifacts. Note that this doesn't require a quest for exalted creatures, but that it is best to perform some great feat for an immortal so that they will raise the character to immortality. Better than spending a few thousand years scrabbling around for power. Hows this sound so far? Glenn - -- knight@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au | "You're not very religious are you" glennb@ichr.uwa.edu.au | Spoken by the goddess Kylara to finger -l for pgp key | Lynard, her high priest http://www.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/~knight/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 07:59:42 EST From: Neal Daskal Subject: Re[2]: [Mystara] Gargantua (was: Mighty Mages) IIRC, CM1 Test of the Warlords circa 1984. Gargantuan monsters (trolls?) invest a dwarven Forge of Power. >Anyone know what is the earliest appearance of Gargantua? In what >module that gargantuian monsters appear in is earliest in timeline? > > John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 14:42:05 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Fw: MYS/GH netlogo On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, Jenni A. M. Merrifield wrote: > > At 02:21 PM 10/8/97 +0200, Håvard wrote: > >On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Galwylin wrote: > >Go for it. I think Jenni said something about making a logo.. > >Jenni? > > I've been working on it -- nothing has gone 'right' yet though. One > question: > How big an icon would be best? Or should there be a variety of sizes, with > the same or variations on a theme? I'd prefer a variety of sizes, perhaps some would be best suited as link icons and others as headers. Håvard. - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 14:50:50 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lord Soth and RL Timeline On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > At 14.16 08/10/97 +0200, Håvard wrote: > >On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > >> Nope. The only reason why Soth can exist both in RL and in DL is that Weis > >> and Hickman ORDERED TSR to give their baby back to them in DL. There is no > >> fictional explanation behind this fact: they simply wanted him back on > >> Krynn and they took it. > > > >No reason why we can't do the same... > > Whom are you referring to? To Meredoth (the necromancer of Ship of Horror > who lived in Norwold)? Basically we can't do it for two reasons: > 1. we didn't create him > 2. we don't work for TSR > 3. we are not as renowned and famous as Weis & Hickman But 1. TSR has abandoned the Mystara-line 2. This is the only forum where Mystara, truly is alive. 3. We, or at least some of the people on the list create the Mystaran Almanac. We cant make 'em give us Meredoth back, but if we want to use him in Mystara we can, provided that we make up a plausible explaination why he sometimnes appears in RL and sometimes in Mystara... I thought about ending this mail with a "its our world" sentence, but I'll try not to.. See ya Håvard - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 14:54:05 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > At 08.29 08/10/97 -0700, you wrote: > >Incidentally, I redid my estimates of the Glantrian Prince's levels > >(post-Wrath) a while back, calculating their experience earned for ruling > >a dominion as given in the RC, and a good proportion of the Princes > >should, in fact, be 36th level by now. Specifically, Jaggar, Brannart... > >those are the only two I can think of offhand. Morphail was close- if not > >36th, he's 34th or 35th. Same goes for Virayana. > > Glad you did it Andrew! Isn't it time to post em to the list? :) > > PS: as a sidenote, the last two days the Mystara list has had more messages > than the RL list! What a feat!!!!! This calls for a celebration! Virtual Cake? Håvard - -- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 15:00:02 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Gargantua (was: Mighty Mages) On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, DM replied: > Mr G. is the MOST powerful and cunning mage IMC and Diego Calugi and I are > planning a two-parts campaign involving him. He's not dead IOC (in Our > campaigns), but looking for a way to breach the gates of the Dark Tower, a > tower left by the Old Ones on an isle at the edge of time and dimensions... > Something hard to explain, but it has connections with HP Lovecraft's, S. > King's and I. Asimov's works and mythoi. > When we develop his stats and history a bit more, we'll post something (if > you're interested). Sure. Though I am sceptical to involvement of the Old Ones in to great a scale. The other mail about Mr G. sounded slightly Raistlin-like. Not a copy, but it seemed to involve many of the same thematics. I'm intrigued. Give us what you've got :) Håvard PS: I saw your article on MEKS. Loved it. Alphatian Sage eh? :D - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 09:30:44 EST From: Neal Daskal Subject: Re[2]: [Mystara] Lord Soth and RL Timeline >But >1. TSR has abandoned the Mystara-line >2. This is the only forum where Mystara, truly is alive. >3. We, or at least some of the people on the list create the Mystaran >Almanac. > >We cant make 'em give us Meredoth back, but if we want to use him in >Mystara we can, provided that we make up a plausible explaination why he >sometimnes appears in RL and sometimes in Mystara... > >I thought about ending this mail with a "its our world" sentence, but I'l= >l >try not to.. Given the new, liberal TSR (notice I didn't use the $) on-line policy, now, more than ever, it is "our" world. Although I'm not personally actively creative, many of you are. And it is now legally safe to share that creativity on-line. What I'd like to see is some kind of "official" Mystara-list web site with copies and/or pointers to on-line resources all in one place. Since, as you say, this is the forum where Mystara is alive I think this hypothetical web site should be associated with the list, even if only by the awareness of list subscribers. Any volunteers to bell this cat? FWIW, I don't feel like I have the time to maintain the site but I can donate the space if the volunteer has a problem with access to an http server. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 08:19:59 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Gargantua (was: Mighty Mages) On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, Shin Chyang Yu wrote: > Anyone know what is the earliest appearance of Gargantua? In what > module that gargantuian monsters appear in is earliest in timeline? I believe the first mention of Gargantua is in the Companion DM's book. The first creature known as a "Gargantua" is a giant fish, and it appears in X7: War Rafts of Kron, but it appears to have no relationship with the sorceror Gargantua. Gargantua is mentioned explicitly in the entry on Gargantuan monsters in that entry in the DM's book in the Companions Boxed Set. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 13:52:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Personal Minrothad Campaign In a message dated 97-10-08 09:47:57 EDT, you write: << > 3rd: In your "Operation Hydra" (I really love that name and your > texts) you describe EVERY army being spread across the nation. THIS > IS NOT THE WAY Minrothad deals with such a problem. Knowing that they > can´t afford a huge army they concentrate their forces. When they > strike (IF they strike, this takes some time) it HAS TO hurt. No good > leader would spread an army like this. This is kind of an invitation > to invade the Guilds, nothing more nothing less. This point just got into my mind while writing the other two!! OK >> Thye spreading out of the Minrothad Armed Forces was out of their small size and necessity. Troop regiments were based as described in MG Gaz. I then took the liberty of spreading the rest of the Regiments out to offer a semblence of equal protection. I did not place troops at Fortress Island. I figured the dwarves had assembled ample defenses. Also, human sized troops would find the dwarven city a tad undersize. I did take measures to give the MG Home Guard and Fleet some size. I centralized its command; base at Gapton, North Island. I gave them another Home Guard Division. I created militia like forces to suppliment the towns and cities in conjunction with the HG. Heck, I even have the one ship of each Squadron equipped with a magical means to communicate with the Commanders at Gapton and Minrothad. I do not want to portray the MG military as a bunch of idiots. They are mainly doing the best with what they have. A Military's job is to afford protection to its populace. The Guilds is a scattering of islands. As such forces would have to be split. The only alternative would be to allot a division of HG to each island. These are divisions that MG does not have. And taking into account the mercantile nature, will never have. Who wants to be a soldier when there is much more money and fame to be gained in the trade? The MG just doesn't have the military history and mentality that nations such as Thyatis and Alphatia have. My question is not whether MG can be defeated by Thyatis. It is why hasn't MG been defeated by anyone? BTW the next Operation Hydra segment will be posted soon. It gets pretty busy as the battles are detailed. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 07:29:24 +1000 From: "Shane" Subject: [Mystara] Aleena dead? Bargle's level? On 8 Oct 97, Garafale Galeifel (Galeifel@aol.com) wrote: >P.S.: And IIRC, if Aleena survived it was Bargle who died (no new name >given for him in gaz1, though) Dragging out my aged and worn Basic books :), I re-read the adventure in the Player's Book and found that Aleena is killed in the scenario regardless of what you do, and Bargle only dies if the PC fighter makes the saving throw against Bargle's charm spell (17+) and then manages to hit Bargle (8+). Later modules, almanacs, etcetera have Bargle still alive, so in the canon timeline Bargle either successfully charmed the fighter or dodged the blow. On 8 Oct 97, Ray Brooks wrote: >Or you just keep in mind that her father is a high level cleric. I'm >sure he could have arranged to have her raised or even raised her >himself.... This sounds quite plausible, as whether the PC is charmed or not he eventually takes Aleena's body back to her church. The Basic DM's Book adventure describes Aleena as being a well-known cleric in the town, which would be in keeping with her being the Baron's daughter. Unless the Aleena still alive in later scenarious somehow happens to be yet another cleric from Threshold with the same name, which I suppose is possible. PS. We see Bargle cast at least two first-level spells and one second-level spell, the Magic Missile that strikes Aleena and the Charm Person used on the PC, plus the Invisibility on himself; he later casts a sleep spell if he manages to charm the PC and it appeared that his plan was to also cast Invisibility on the goblin. Unless he had some means of casting additional spells, such as a ring of spell storing, this means that at a minimum he was a 7th level mage (4th in AD&D, except this was Basic D&D) at the time of the adventure. Indeed, the later adventure in the DM's Book advises that Bargle is a Chaotic mage of 5th to 7th level. However, Bargle's magic missile spell only created one missile, placing him at 4th level or less. If we stick to the original D&D rules, I'd posit the following as my idea of what happened that can fit the canon (that I know about): Aleena is at least 3rd level, as she casts two spells during the adventure. Bargle is 4th level when he encounters Aleena and the PC fighter. He has Charm Person, Magic Missile and two Invisibility spells memorised, and a Ring of Spell Storing with (at least) one Sleep spell. Bargle uses the Invisibility spell on himself, but is interrupted before he can cast the second on his goblin servant. He uses Magic Missile to kill Aleena (he obviously rolled quite well to take out a 3rd level cleric with one d6+1 shot; perhaps Aleena had a weak Constitution or made some poor hp rolls), then uses the Charm Person on the PC fighter who just killed the goblin. Later Bargle takes down the fighter with the ring's Sleep spell and robs him of most of the treasure he was carrying, but hearing the ghouls in the cave making noises and knowing that he's low on spells, leaves in a hurry. The PC fighter awakens about two hours later, and goes back into the caves only long enough to grab Aleena's body before fleeing the ghouls. He takes her back to the town church, where he is thanked and rewarded with a potion of healing. Bargle advances to 5th level from the experience and treasure he gained during the adventure and he's most definitely not welcome in Threshold (not that he was before) as news of Aleena's death spreads. Aleena's father asks his patron Immortal to grant him a Raise Dead spell. Meanwhile a recently assembled party of adventurers prepare to explore some ruins near the town (the adventure in the DM's Book), where Bargle has a secret hideout. Sherlane is granted the spell and raises his daughter Aleena from the dead. Another possibility is that Bargle was indeed 7th level in the Player's Book adventure; his second and third magic missiles were simply in the same position as the first missile - quite plausible given they have no solid form - and thus it only looked like one missile hit Aleena when in fact all three did so simultaneously (which at 3d6+3 would've been much more likely to kill a 3rd level cleric than one 1d6+1 missile). Have any of the D&D supplements mentioned how the general public views the use of Raise Dead and similar spells? - --- Shane (sleep at tpgi.com.au) ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #165 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #166 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Monday, October 13 1997 Volume 02 : Number 166 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 18:24:44 -0400 From: Aron Reif Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lord Soth and RL Timeline At 09:31 PM 10/9/97 +0200, you wrote: >At 14.16 08/10/97 +0200, Håvard wrote: >>On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, DM wrote: >>> Nope. The only reason why Soth can exist both in RL and in DL is that Weis >>> and Hickman ORDERED TSR to give their baby back to them in DL. There is no >>> fictional explanation behind this fact: they simply wanted him back on >>> Krynn and they took it. >> >>No reason why we can't do the same... > >Whom are you referring to? To Meredoth (the necromancer of Ship of Horror >who lived in Norwold)? Basically we can't do it for two reasons: >1. we didn't create him >2. we don't work for TSR >3. we are not as renowned and famous as Weis & Hickman and 4. Why exactly do you want to?? Meredoth doesn't appear to have anything to do with Mystara until the guys from RL told us that he did, so what do you care if we lost him? He was never involved in Mystara before (like Soth was). I guess I would understand if, say, they put Bargle in RL. But they took a nobody. Why don't you just make up your own powerful necromancer without trying to steal it from Ravenloft? If you like, I'll start it: Mingar (level mid-20s) the necromancer occupied an island off the coast of Norwold. Lets call it the Isle of Sheep (near the Isles of Dogs and Whales). He killed all the locals and animated them to do his bidding. This seems like an easier method than trying to take a character from another world, especially since that world is still being actively produced. There is still a chance that Meredoth could show up in another RL book. Aron Reif areif@erols.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 23:39:36 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Phanaton & Aranea history (was Re: [Mystara] Tortles) The description of the aranea in the end of M5 indicated that the phanaton were enslaved and accompanied the planar spiders which arrived on Mystara (from Thorne I assume) & later became the aranea (and that the city of Aran on the Isle of Dawn was the planar spider/aranea's original home). If the phanatons came with the planar spiders which later became the aranea, then they are an older race than is indicated by Dragon 188. On a related note this kind of muddles the history of the aranea as presented in Dragon 183. So, since I opened this can of worms, I'll present this possible explanation for evaluation: Herath was the original home of the aranea, they arose from primitive origins in the Forest of the Magus as outlined in Dragon 183. At some point in the ancient past a group of these aranea left to colonize an outer plane (I'll assume it was Thorne) which had time proceeding at a faster rate (Thorne is 10 times than the Prime),, they took with them a number of creatures for use as food, one of which was the near sentient ancestors of what later became the Phanatons of Jibaru. During this period on Thorne, the aranea were cut off from their roots on Herath. Over the millenia which ensued the aranea eventually developed into the Planar Spiders, and the near sentient ancestors of the Phanatons became fully sentient. After an additional amount of time the Immortal creature known as the Night Spider came to rule over the Planar Spiders & their Phanaton slaves. After several attempts were made to destroy her and her followers she spent much of her power (in order to avoid detection where she was planning to go), and opened a gate back to the Prime and led her followers and their phanaton slaves back through to the Isle of Dawn where they built the city of Aran. During the ensuing time period the Planar Spiders interbred with lesser giant spiders and degenerated back to the aranea once again (although the Isle of Dawn Aranea no longer possessed the shapechanging abilities, which disappeared by the time the Planar Spiders had developed on Thorne). The Isle of Dawn aranea have a much older history (having spent millenia on Thorne while only centuries passed for the Herathians on Mystara) than that of the Herathians, but the Herathians have spent more of their history on Mystara than the IoD aranea. Likewise the IoD Phanatons are much more sophisticated than their Jibaru brethren, even though their race originated from the lands of Jibaru. So essentially there are at least two subraces of the aranea and three for the phanatons (some phanatons stayed on Thorne, and have had a lot of time since to change somewhat more, having allied with the planar spiders who remained). This also makes the Planar Spiders both the ancestors and the descendants of the aranea. Also this might explain how the Night Spider became so weak (as presented in M5). Comments or thoughts? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 23:44:24 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Phanatons (was: Tortles) <> hmmm I must have missed getting the Orc's Head acessory, if anything in my last post conflicts with that acessory let me know... I based it off what I had. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 16:30:07 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: Phanaton & Aranea history (was Re: [Mystara] Tortles) On Fri, 10 Oct 1997 Magesmiley@aol.com wrote: > Herath was the original home of the aranea, they arose from primitive > origins in the Forest of the Magus as outlined in Dragon 183. At some point > in the ancient past a group of these aranea left to colonize an outer plane > (I'll assume it was Thorne) which had time proceeding at a faster rate > (Thorne is 10 times than the Prime),, they took with them a number of > creatures for use as food, one of which was the near sentient ancestors of > what later became the Phanatons of Jibaru. Doesn't the Herath article mention that the Aranea came from somewhere else? ie, they are not a native Mystaran race? I seem to recall reading that, which would be somewhat consistent with M5. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 04:13:47 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Ravenloft Lord In a message dated 97-10-07 17:45:37 EDT, you write: << i dont believe so ravenloft time goes much faster than the other worlds thats how they got lord soth back into krynn and thats why he can exist in both worlds at the same time >> Soth's return obviously comes after a few years absense. Since RL time is different, he may have been gone a few years Krynn time. Few people would know of his absense. What idiot is going to venture to Soth's Fortress to see. You could also say that same idiot and his idiotic band (idiots by association) venture there and discovered that Soth is away. You could even have the idiots assume the role of Soth and his merry band. They would take up Soth's role of raiding and pillaging. Hmm...might even draw the attentions of Ravenloft's Dark Powers. I am sure the DPs would take offense at one of their prizes being impersonated and take action. Imagine if the fake Soth and his boys were drawn into RL themselves. They find themselves in Sithicus. Soth finds them and discovers their act of impersonation. He ticked. After he has had his Vampiric Kender pick their pockets and annoy them to the point of insanity, he dispatches them with a fury that only a DarkLord DeathKnight can muster. ::shudder:: Oops...got carried away. Beginning to scare myself. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 04:13:34 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages In a message dated 97-10-10 05:42:08 EDT, Kaviyd writes in response: << In a message dated 97-10-09 05:39:24 EDT, hoc@nvg.ntnu.no writes: << And? I see no really good reason why they can't still gain power. I had a Nosferatu Pc in my campaign at a time and I let her go about increasing her levels as a living person would. After all, it doesn't make much sense that intelligent Undead didn't learn from experience, right? >> But the question is whether they can gain levels -- I am sure that they can still learn. After all, many non-human races have level limits, even in OD&D. I was simply suggesting that the level limits for undead were whatever level they had reached in life. Undead can learn new skills (proficiencies), research new spells, and so forth, but (in my campaigns) cannot gain levels. Such limits would certainly explain why Morphail has not yet reached maximum level for a Mage (level 30 or level 36, depending on your game system). >> I agree with Kaviyd's assesment of undead spellcasters. I do feel that they should be handicapped to slow down level advancement. With an extended lifespan they have little reason to have a Vampires sleep during the day. Their nocturnal ventures consist of seeking victems. Even the most devoted vampire mage would find his research time hampered due to the particulars of being a vampire. Liches need no sleep nor do they need sustenance. IMC true liches are unable to advance any further level wise. I do allow nonconventional liches such as Brannart McGregor to advance at a slow pace. ArchLiches based on clerical classes can advance but under the guidance of their Immortal patron. Since most liches are pretty powerful mages they would use the research time to fill out their spellbooks and enchanted item arsenal. Instead of gaining more levels they fill their spell intentory with the spell with the greatest effect. Magic items would be particularly powerful given the time spent creating them. Throw in the lich's own power attacks (certain immunities and touch attack) and you have a formidable foe. Liches really don't need advancement. Nosfuratu are a different matter. Unhampered by the harmful affects of sunlight,they are much more active. More time can be given to spell research and level advancement. To say the least, IMC nosf. can advance in level. However, I would slow down their advancement somewhat. The RL Requiem rules are intended to give the formerly living inhabitants of IllAluk (Darkon) to advance in level. You see during the closing events in the Requiem Series, there is a great release of energy from the ArchLich Azalin's machine to turn him into a DemiLich so he can escape from RL. The energy burst kills the populace of Ill Alluk and turns them into undead. Naturally this abundance of undead needs attention. One path is to allow the option of PC Undead. From what I have seen of these rules, the level progression is limited and is set up so that the Undead PCs will eventually become NPCs. Then you have to take into account the particulars of RL. The Mists make the rules. As such, you can assume that the Mists have placed their influence on the futures of these newly undead creatures. I hardly recommend the Rules for any undead except for the Ravenloft Setting. What works there may not work everywhere. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 19:50:00 +0100 From: Thorfinn Tait Subject: [Mystara] Aleena dead? You know, this is funny. As some of you may have noticed I've been rather busy off-list of late, and haven't been reading much. Now I start to try and catch up and what do I see but a discussion about the very issue I was reading about only this morning! In any case, here are the facts about Aleena Halaran according to TSR. Red Basic Set In the solo adventure you meet a cleric called Aleena, who dies. Yes, that's right, she dies regardless of which ending you get - I thought she survived in one too, but unfortunately she doesn't. To make matters worse, the clerics at the church say in both endings that there is nothing they can do for her. Still, I think we can assume that Baron Sherlane was away or something, and that he then resurrects her when he returns. GAZ1 All this book says is that, if the Basic set events have already been established, then Aleena is renamed Anielle Halaran, and the Aleena in the Basic Set is considered a different character (ie not Aleena Halaran, but Aleena ). In any case, thanks to the K:KoA Adventure book, I think we can safely say that, officially, Aleena is still alive. This leaves us with some interesting possibilities for dealing with the discrepancy: 1. Aleena died in the Basic Set and was raised again by her uncle. 2. The Aleena in the Basic Set was simply a different Aleena - granted it is nice to have them the same character, but it doesn't really make much difference to the overall campaign world, does it? 3. The Aleena from the Basic Set is an unrelated character, as per GAZ1, and Baron Sherlane's niece is called Annielle. 4. The other way round from GAZ1 - Aleena is the Baron's niece, and Annielle becomes the name of the character in the Basic Set. Personally, I would go for number 1 for pure simplicity and the greatest flexibility and continuity. Anyone got any other preference? And by the way, this is not the last you will be hearing of Aleena (and Bargle, for that matter)... They will be back leading in a new project quite soon... :-) Thorf. PS - Sorry to anyone who has sent me a message in the last few weeks - I will reply to you soon, but please be patient in the meantime. ========================================= "All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost." - Bilbo Baggins, "The Lord of the Rings" Thorfinn Tait--Curufin@velvia.demon.co.uk Unofficial Keeper of the Offical Timeline ========================================= ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 15:40:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aleena dead? Thorfinn Tait pontificated: > > Personally, I would go for number 1 for pure simplicity and the greatest > flexibility and continuity. Anyone got any other preference? I like it just to change the ending of the solo adventure a bit, and say Aleena is seriesly wounded, but didn't die. It is basicly the same as option 1, except that I don't like raise dead to be too common. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 17:13:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: Phanaton & Aranea history (was Re: [Mystara] Tortles) << Doesn't the Herath article mention that the Aranea came from somewhere else? ie, they are not a native Mystaran race? I seem to recall reading that, which would be somewhat consistent with M5. >> The article in Dragon #183 (by Bruce Heard) says "No one knows for sure where the araneas came from." It later also states: "Beneath the citadel lies a huge network of caverns that saw aranean prehistory. There, primitive paintings and carvings remain a silent testimony to how long they've existed below the earth." I used the latter statement as the basis for the aranea originally evolving in Herath. Maybe Bruce could shed some light on the matter (hint hint). If I have not answered someones statements on this subject its because there seems to be some sort of problem with my email right now. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 12:11:21 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, Rob Rickard wrote: > 3.the brother hood communicate mentally with each other. no accents > GAZ3 has a description of a meeting, and there they talk normally - and Rad *is* mentioned to have a slight Averoignian accent... BTW, here are my propositions for secret names of the Brothers, based on GAZ3: Etienne - Rad Brannart McGregor - ? Angus McGregor - Morningsun Fernando de Casanegra - Estocada Harald of Haaskinz - Moonshadow Vanserie Vlaardoen - Nightfire Anyone got a good name for Brannart? ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 12:13:14 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > At 08.29 08/10/97 -0700, you wrote: > >Incidentally, I redid my estimates of the Glantrian Prince's levels > >(post-Wrath) a while back, calculating their experience earned for ruling > >a dominion as given in the RC, and a good proportion of the Princes > >should, in fact, be 36th level by now. Specifically, Jaggar, Brannart... > >those are the only two I can think of offhand. Morphail was close- if not > >36th, he's 34th or 35th. Same goes for Virayana. > > Glad you did it Andrew! Isn't it time to post em to the list? :) > I wish to note that G:KoM states that both Jaggar and Harald of Haaskinz are *over* level 20 (one is 24, the other 22). That would make them level 36 in D&D terms. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 12:06:59 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] To the makers of 1014 Almanac... On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > > 1.Who is the new sultan of Ylaruam? > > Good question. I don't recall if we've stated that yet or not... > Well, if I may make a suggestion, the Emir of Abbashan (can't remember the name) would be the logical choice. > > 2.Do you consider the Archduchy of Westheath to belong to John > > Beaumarys-Moorkroft as implied in one of PWAs, or to Gerrid Rientha as > > said in G:KoM? > > I consider it to be Moorkroft- He should have been next in line (I don't > hold by that giving it away stuff in G:KoM, myself), and Ann says in 1012 > that he was. I don't really know the others' thoughts, though. > Well, that would make Eachainn McDougal Duke of Hightower. Who would then "inherit" all those lesser dominions? > Hmm... good question. I actually kind of like the thought of making B6 > "official"- particularly now, in the aftermath of the Great War, and the > "uniting" of Karameikos under the banner of a Kingdom. I didn't much care > for the plot coming at an earlier date, but now might be a good time for it. > Oh, BTW, I just thought that the Society can always be re-established by Antonito Radu - since he survives the module... ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 13:59:56 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] Mighty Mages Since Fabrizio was looking for level 36 mages in Known World, here are two more: Triella Tien-Tang, Duchess of Mositius Black Rajah of Jaibul BTW, what happened to the island of Alphaks' Volcano after Alphatia sank? ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 07:39:53 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aleena dead? In a message dated 97-10-12 16:02:15 EDT, you write: << Thorfinn Tait pontificated: > > Personally, I would go for number 1 for pure simplicity and the greatest > flexibility and continuity. Anyone got any other preference? I like it just to change the ending of the solo adventure a bit, and say Aleena is seriesly wounded, but didn't die. It is basicly the same as option 1, except that I don't like raise dead to be too common. John Yu >> In the past I have used the adventure provided in the Red Box to introduce new players to the Game. With a bit of tweeking it can be expanded to accomidate a larger party. I have always stuck to the basic premise of the adventure. Aleena dies. I found this turn of events most impressionable to starting PCs. For Aleena heals them of their wounds only to perish. It serves to motivate them against evil and think about their actions. The death of the Cleric Aleena is one that all D&D players can relate to. And given that it is presented in the first adventure most of us ever participated in, it would be quite memorable. Looking at the passage dealing with the Fighter returning the slain girl to her Order, you can "read between the lines" and get these interpretations. 1) The Clerics are secretive in their ways to the outsider Fighter. He is obviously of low level and doesn't need to be informed as to power of the Following. 2) The Clerics do not trust the Fighter. For all they know he had somyething to do with the death of the daughter of their leader. They opt to wait and care for their sister after he has gone. 3) The Clerics on hand are telling the truth. They themselves can do nothing to help the young cleric. Perhaps another member of the Following (her father) can. Upon returning from some clerical activity, he discovers his daughter's death. Praying to his Immortal he is granted the spell to bring her back. Whatever interpretation you take will result in the same thing; Aleena being returned from the dead. This could come as quite a shock to the Fighter should he encounter the young cleric later on. Perhaps it could provide some interesting game material. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 07:58:19 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne In a message dated 97-10-13 05:21:08 EDT, you write: << BTW, here are my propositions for secret names of the Brothers, based on GAZ3: Etienne - Rad Brannart McGregor - ? Angus McGregor - Morningsun Fernando de Casanegra - Estocada Harald of Haaskinz - Moonshadow Vanserie Vlaardoen - Nightfire Anyone got a good name for Brannart? >> Why refer to Etienne as Rad? This hints that the other members know that Etienne is the Immortal. I would opt for Etienne having a nickname along the lines of the rest of the Brotherhood. As for the nicknames I am uncertain as I do not have the Glantri Gaz. I only have G:KoM. Still, the use of nicknames or codenames is understandable. The Brotherhood is a secret club. However, I doubt that each would refer to each other by such names during conversation on Brotherhood matters. IIRC this is done through the Radiance Receptacles and is telepathic. As such any false identity would be betrayed by the mental projection. In Etienne's case it would not betray his being Rad as Mortal Identities have a protection against such mental probes (false set of memories) such as ESP. IMO the Brotherhood members know who each of the other members are. As such there is no real need of code names. Though I have to admit, I like the notion. BTW how far did Vanserie rise in the Brotherhood? In G:KoM it doesn't say. Actually it hints that he had just about discovered the secret of the Radiance. I am uncertain if that means he was close to gaining knowledge to join or he almost had the knowledge to cast the Radiance Spell to attain Immortality. Alex ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 15:16:55 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne On Mon, 13 Oct 1997 Alex295@aol.com wrote: > Why refer to Etienne as Rad? This hints that the other members know that > Etienne is the Immortal. I would opt for Etienne having a nickname along the > lines of the rest of the Brotherhood. The Brothers don't know that Etienne is a part of their group. They only know that someone speaks to them and calls himself 'Rad'. > However, I doubt that each would refer to each other by such names during > conversation on Brotherhood matters. IIRC this is done through the Radiance > Receptacles and is telepathic. As such any false identity would be betrayed > by the mental projection. In Etienne's case it would not betray his being Rad > as Mortal Identities have a protection against such mental probes (false set > of memories) such as ESP. > IMO the Brotherhood members know who each of the other members are. As such > there is no real need of code names. Though I have to admit, I like the > notion. > Well, GAZ3 describes a Brotherhood meeting, and there the members talk to each other normally. No, they do not know who the others are, as they talk through their receptacles, but they still use their normal voices. > BTW how far did Vanserie rise in the Brotherhood? In G:KoM it doesn't say. > Actually it hints that he had just about discovered the secret of the > Radiance. I am uncertain if that means he was close to gaining knowledge to > join or he almost had the knowledge to cast the Radiance Spell to attain > Immortality. > He was a member already in GAZ3 (AC1000), so I would think he was close to discovering the Immortality spell. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 14:36:06 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mighty Mages On Mon, 13 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > BTW, what happened to the island of Alphaks' Volcano after Alphatia sank? Good question. I suggest that it sank. Alpahaks can rise it with an eruption if he needs it. However, Alpahks will have less interest in the outer world now that Alphatia has moved to Hollow World. He probably still has some agents in what now is known as NACE, though.. Håvard - -- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 14:50:49 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals On Fri, 10 Oct 1997, Glenn Butcher wrote: > > The idea I am currently playing with (for my immortals system) is that > immortals have the capability of gaining more power more easily. > > Immortals can gain power from absorbing artifacts, magic items, > objects of value, "adventuring" (strokes etc) and worshippers. > Exalted can gain power from absorbing artifacts, magic items and objects > of power. Absorbing items isn't a very popular way of increasing power. > > This means that an exalted can use immortal abilities, but are severely > limited by their beginning amount of power. They would seldom (if ever) > expend permanent power, and seldom gain any permanent power. > > Making a creature exalted requires less power than full immortality, plus > the extra power points they both start with (with > exalted generally starting far lower than immortals). It would be > possible for an exalted to make themselves an immortal, but it would require > considerable effort, time, and magic items/artifacts. > > Note that this doesn't require a quest for exalted creatures, but that it > is best to perform some great feat for an immortal so that they will raise > the character to immortality. Better than spending a few thousand years > scrabbling around for power. > > Hows this sound so far? Sounds good so far. Keep in mind that since most Exhaulted beings are considered servants of Immortals, it is not wise to try and gain true immortality without their masters approval.. IMO Exalted beings should be considered more important. BTW, are spirits exaulted? Why not? Håvard - -- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 08:59:04 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne In a message dated 97-10-13 08:40:38 EDT, you write: << > Why refer to Etienne as Rad? This hints that the other members know that > Etienne is the Immortal. I would opt for Etienne having a nickname along the > lines of the rest of the Brotherhood. The Brothers don't know that Etienne is a part of their group. They only know that someone speaks to them and calls himself 'Rad'.>> Okay. I had assumed that the Brotherhood members knew who else was a member. G:KoM mentions that when a mage begins messing with Radiance the Brotherhood seeks them out. Assumed that they were aware of the other member's identity. They just didn't converse much except for the meetings. I also assumed Rad was the guiding force and the mortal identity Etienne was considered as just a member. > However, I doubt that each would refer to each other by such names during > conversation on Brotherhood matters. IIRC this is done through the Radiance > Receptacles and is telepathic. As such any false identity would be betrayed > by the mental projection. In Etienne's case it would not betray his being Rad > as Mortal Identities have a protection against such mental probes (false set > of memories) such as ESP. > IMO the Brotherhood members know who each of the other members are. As such > there is no real need of code names. Though I have to admit, I like the > notion. > Well, GAZ3 describes a Brotherhood meeting, and there the members talk to each other normally. No, they do not know who the others are, as they talk through their receptacles, but they still use their normal voices.>> As mentioned I only have G:KoM to go on. The Brotherhood meeting sounds interesting. > BTW how far did Vanserie rise in the Brotherhood? In G:KoM it doesn't say. > Actually it hints that he had just about discovered the secret of the > Radiance. I am uncertain if that means he was close to gaining knowledge to > join or he almost had the knowledge to cast the Radiance Spell to attain > Immortality. > He was a member already in GAZ3 (AC1000), so I would think he was close to discovering the Immortality spell. >> Thanks. G:KoM is vague about it. Really have to get Glantri Gaz. On that note, let me check in at a couple of Online Catalogs. Couple of other Gaz I need to acquire. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 15:23:52 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: Phanaton & Aranea history (was Re: [Mystara] Tortles) On Fri, 10 Oct 1997 Magesmiley@aol.com wrote: > Comments or thoughts? I didn't like the way you solved the origin of the Planar spiders in just one senence. The Planar Spider theory is too Mystara-centric for my linking. That is: Why should all races originate from Mystara? Otherwise your theories sound alright. I'll have to check M5 for more details on various subraces of Phanatons and Aranea.. Håvard - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 15:04:00 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rakasta On Wed, 8 Oct 1997 Ambreville@aol.com wrote: > Agreed. There may some humor yet -- but no more so than the articles on > lupins and rakasta. Tortle subraces I think are not as hard to find as you > may think. Good books on zoology go a long way to support this sort of design > work. The TMNT are definitely out at this point. ...Pizza anyone? :) Just for the record. I'm not totally opposed to humor :) Pizza? Could you sent it as an attachment? sorry :P Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 08:45:01 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] To the makers of 1014 Almanac... On Mon, 13 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > Well, that would make Eachainn McDougal Duke of Hightower. Who would then > "inherit" all those lesser dominions? I actually came up with a list of the "bumped" nobles a long time ago, and my rationales on things seemed to fit with at least those given by Ann Dupuis in the 1012 Almanac. If anyone's interested, I'll pass it along. Heck, I'll probably send it with the "updated" levels of the Princes. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 18:13:33 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Alphaks Volcano At 13.59 13/10/97 +0300, Alexei wrote: > >BTW, what happened to the island of Alphaks' Volcano after Alphatia sank? Since it was detached from the mainland it could be still there (after all, if Aquas survived, then why not AV, which was nearly at the same distance from Alphatia's coast). However, Alphaks Volcano's fate is linked to M1, Into the Maelstrom (by Bruce & Beatrice Heard!), so if you played it well and defeated Alphaks, then it's no more; otherwise, it's still there, ruled by the Black King and the Black Queen (36 level Clerics of Alphaks IIRC). Just out of curiosity, i have developed this theory of mine about the real dates of some of the D&D modules related to Norwold: AC 1000: CM1 AC 1001: M2 AC 1002: M5 AC 1004: M1 What do you think? PS: i'm 100% sure about M5 because the description of Ramenhotep XXIV (current ruler of Thothia) says that he inherited the title in AC 1002 from his father (who was the ruling pharaoh during M5 and the events in M5 very likely cause his downfall) DM DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 18:27:01 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Raise Dead in Mystara (was: Aleena dead? Bargle's level?) At 07.29 11/10/97 +1000, Shane wrote: >Another possibility is that Bargle was indeed 7th level in the Player's >Book adventure; his second and third magic missiles were simply in the >same position as the first missile - quite plausible given they have no >solid form - and thus it only looked like one missile hit Aleena when >in fact all three did so simultaneously (which at 3d6+3 would've been >much more likely to kill a 3rd level cleric than one 1d6+1 missile). This is more likely IMHO, and i agree with you that Aleena could have been rescued by the PCs and raised by his father (if the Base set Aleena was Halaran's daughter, that is... which is not really so obvious, albeit the resemblance between the girl in the sketch in the Red box and the daughter of Halaran in Gaz1). >Have any of the D&D supplements mentioned how the general public >views the use of Raise Dead and similar spells? I've always ruled that it depends on the Immortal's teachings. for example, we do know that clerics of the Northern Pantheon view with suspicion (or even fear) raised people, and they must wait 1 week before attempting to raise somebody, to see if the Valkyries come to claim his soul. I also think that maybe Halav's priests won't raise someone who died while fighting bravely for his country or against humanoids, cause he died in the best possible way for them and raising him would be sacrilegous. Also, for the Church of Darokin raising a dead follower is not acceptable (the priests don't know if he earned Paradise or not, and don't want to interfere with the Immortals' final judgement. Also, they think people only get one chance in life...), but they could raise a non-believer (they could give him the chance to convert and earn paradise instead of Limbo)... DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 18:34:17 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] New PC class: Greater Gargoyle Hi everyone! This is the last PC class i invented. It's not finished yet, so i've posted it on the list to know what you think of it and if you've got suggestions especially about the margoyle's origins, society and reproduction cycle. Any comments will be welcome! ;) DM Greater Gargoyle (Margoyle) ABILITIES: +2 to STR, CON (max 19) - -4 DEX Hit Dice: Wizard, Priest, Thief (d6); Fighter (d8). Starts with 1 HD at Normal Monster level for a maximum of 10 HD at ninth level. Gains automatic HP from 10th level and beyond according to his class. OD&D rules: Margoyle starts with a -XP equal to the XP needed to advance to first level of his class. Armor Class: Level AC NM 7 1 6 3 5 5 4 7 3 9 1 Note: Dexterity bonus applies (if any). Margoyles cannot wear any armor bulkier than chain mail and they get the best AC provided either by the armor or by their skin. Size: L, from 6' to 10', 600 to 1200 lbs, with wings. Movement: 9 walk, 15 on fours, 24 (C) fly (only from higher ground, not true flight) Magic Resistance: 1%/lvl for priests and mages, 2%/lvl for thieves and fighters. MR affects ALL spells, good and bad, and they can't drop it. In other words, Cure Wounds have to get through the MR too. MR does affect their own spells, too. If the margoyle spellcasters (M-U and Clerics) want to drop their MR forever, they must undergo a special ritual before they reach 9th level: if they don't perform it and progress beyond 9th level, they won't ever get rid of their MR. Immunities: to natural cold, fire and normal diseases. Attacks: 2 claws, 1 tail which deal 1d8 damage, 1d4 for tail (non-fighters use only 2 claws which deal 1d4 damage). The Margoyle gets only one attack per round when using weapons: multiple attacks are possible only for Fighters who reach the 12th level (OD&D rules). Hit-As: Fighters natural attacks hit as +2 weapons; thieves, wizards and priests natural attacks hit as +1 weapons. Level limits (OD&D/AD&D): Cleric Fighter Thief Wizard 15/12 36/20 20/14 10/10 (No Druids, Bards, Paladins, Rangers, or Psionics allowed) Hindrances: * It turns to stone when the sun touches its skin and reverts to normal form only when the sun sets. Once it has turned to stone it cannot awake from the "Stone Sleep" until the sun sets: it can however avoid turning into stone during daytime if he avoids sunlight; * When the margoyle is petrified, it has AC 0 and all the damage done applies to the normal form when it turns at the sunset. Every item carried by the margoyle when he petrifies don't turn to stone as well. Also, during the Stone Sleep it is immune to mental attacks, it is not aware of what's happening near it and cannot save against physical attacks (such as Fireball or Lightning Bolt); * If the margoyle goes without the Stone Sleep for more than 48 hours, he starts losing Constitution points at the rate of 1 each 6 hours: when he reaches zero, he is forever petrified (no save -PC is lost; only a Wish can revive him). He can avoid the Stone Death by going into Stone Sleep before he loses all Con points: while in Stone Sleep he regains 1 Con point each 2 hours of sleep; * It needs food to sustain itself like every human being. However, the margoyles can eat much more substances than the normal humans or demi-humans, including food normally eaten only by animals. They are not scavengers however, and will never eat corpses. * It can be damaged by normal weapons; * It can be cured only using Magic. Also, a margoyle automatically heals 1 point of damage per experience level every time he falls into Stone Sleep; * If the margoyle dies (reaches -1 HP), it falls apart to pieces and can be raised only using a Wish; * The margoyle cleric can only be a follower of its Immortal creator, Kagyar (?). Alternatively, the margoyles could be creations of the Modrigswergs (moulder dwarves of the Northern Reaches) or of some mysterious wizard (a Runemaster of Glantri could be a good idea): in this case the margoyles should not be allowed to be clerics. DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #166 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #167 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Wednesday, October 15 1997 Volume 02 : Number 167 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 10:25:49 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] New PC class: Greater Gargoyle On Mon, 13 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > Greater Gargoyle (Margoyle) > > Hindrances: > * It needs food to sustain itself like every human being. However, the > margoyles can eat much more substances than the normal humans or > demi-humans, including food normally eaten only by animals. They are not > scavengers however, and will never eat corpses. > * It can be damaged by normal weapons; > * It can be cured only using Magic. Also, a margoyle automatically heals 1 > point of damage per experience level every time he falls into Stone Sleep; Are these constructs, like Lesser Gargoyles? Or are they actual, living beings? If the former, then they shouldn't need food to sustain them, nor should they be able to reproduce. If the latter, then this would all work out fine. I'm just curious as to their relationship with Lesser Gargoyles. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 21:36:30 +0200 From: Ezio Pignatelli Subject: [Mystara] A survey list fter a couple of really intense Rl month, i finally managed to read all the digests from the lists accumulated since the end of august. so, please excuse the _big_ delay. I am one of the very silent members of the list. In fact, I think my last posting is from about one year ago. Still, i am lurking -and listening, so I'll like to be added to the survey. :) Here it is: Name: Ezio Pignatelli E-mail: epignat@leda.pd.astro.it Country: Padova, Italy Birthdate: 26 June 1968 (age 29 at this very moment) Profession: Astronomer Website: leda.pd.astro.it/~epignat (still working on this) Marital Status: divorced Party Affiliation: Communist Religion: none Started Playing RPGs: I was 19. First playing D&D: The same. Working on: RL only, sorry. _Could_ consider patera's calendar, due to my profession and since noone seems to be able to do that. Interest(D&D): Karameikos, Glantri, Licantropy, Immortals. Interest(other): Reading a lot, almost every gender. Music: queen, Pink Floyd, Italian singers. That's all - for now. And thank you jenni, for the idea. Ezio ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 18:39:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne << Etienne - Rad Brannart McGregor - ? Angus McGregor - Morningsun Fernando de Casanegra - Estocada Harald of Haaskinz - Moonshadow Vanserie Vlaardoen - Nightfire Anyone got a good name for Brannart? >> The one I used in the past was Darkforce ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 18:47:18 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: Phanaton & Aranea history (was Re: [Mystara] Tortles) << I didn't like the way you solved the origin of the Planar spiders in just one senence. The Planar Spider theory is too Mystara-centric for my linking. That is: Why should all races originate from Mystara? >> I didn't really mean to do that deliberately... the evolution could have been the result of the tampering of the Night Spider after all. What I was after was an explanation for some of the differences between different sources, and this one fit more or less. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 19:00:30 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Alphaks Volcano << Just out of curiosity, i have developed this theory of mine about the real dates of some of the D&D modules related to Norwold: AC 1000: CM1 AC 1001: M2 AC 1002: M5 AC 1004: M1 What do you think? >> Biggest flaw is that Ericall isn't married yet... which would have occured in 1001 by your timeline. I've been somewhat working on a Norwold overhaul to take into account the changes incurred by WotI, as well as fixing that @#!#$@ southern map boundary. Other than that things support your view (I might quibble with putting M2 before M1). Also the fact that Ericall is listed as not yet 30 in CM1 & the PWA list him as born in 972, means that CM1 takes place in 1002 at the very latest. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 22:30:49 -0400 (EDT) From: StarHawk Subject: Re: [Mystara] Aleena dead? > thought she survived in one too, but unfortunately she doesn't. To make > matters worse, the clerics at the church say in both endings that there > is nothing they can do for her. > > Still, I think we can assume that Baron Sherlane was away or something, > and that he then resurrects her when he returns. > Or the clerics at the church just _tell_ you that they can do nothing. After all if everyone knew about Raise Dead spells then why worry about dying, why worry about the life hereafter, as long as there ar clerics around you can keep on living. Or if they Raise the Baron's daughter but none of the peasants relatives they might have another revolt on their hands. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 16:31:59 +0800 From: Glenn Butcher Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals Haavard Roenne Faanes rambled (hoc@nvg.ntnu.no): > On Fri, 10 Oct 1997, Glenn Butcher wrote: > > [Snip] > > > > Note that this doesn't require a quest for exalted creatures, but that it > > is best to perform some great feat for an immortal so that they will raise > > the character to immortality. Better than spending a few thousand years > > scrabbling around for power. > > > > Hows this sound so far? > > Sounds good so far. Keep in mind that since most Exhaulted beings are > considered servants of Immortals, it is not wise to try and gain true > immortality without their masters approval.. Certainly. I am assuming that an exalted has their masters approval. Of course, certain chaotics are likely to try anyway, but it is quite difficult. The best bet is to a) Adventure to find stuff. b) Trick/convince a group of mortals to make regular, long term sacrifices of money/power/etc. Such is the path that the lesser fiends of entropy take. > IMO Exalted beings should be considered more important. BTW, are spirits > exaulted? Why not? > I'm not sure what you mean by spirits. Do you mean dead people (as opposed to undead people)? Under the way I intend to handle it, they (either type) couldn't gain immortal power, but can still gain levels and skills. - -- Glenn Butcher mailto:knight@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au | "I take off all my magic, and finger -l for PGP public key | never, ever use any artifact http://www.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/~knight/ | again." ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 11:46:36 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] Glantrian nobles Hello, Does it seem to you that Glantri has basically said goodbye to Fenswick, one of its precious duchies? Since it seems unlikely that anyone other than the Prince(ss) of Fenswick can hold the title of Duke of Fenswick, this means that actually Hightower is the only real duchy left. As I see it, there are three solutions to this: 1.Indeed, Fenswick has become a principality. Time to create a new duchy. 2.If/when Synn is revealed, she could be dismissed from the title of a princess, and Fenswick will revert to being a normal duchy. Everyone is happy again (except Synn). 3.Fenswick remains a full duchy, but now it has a principality "attached" to it, so that the ruler has full powers of a prince. This would lead to interesting political considerations, as Fenswick would become infinitely more attractive than Hightower, leading to fierce competition to "inherit" the dominion. Especially since it is the only principality that is also a duchy (all the others are of lower rank). While we are on the subject, has anyone noticed that G:KoM completely left out any mention of Piotr-Grygory Timenko, Baron of Kutchevski? His tower is still on the map, but there is nothing on him in the Grimoire. This, of course, probably means that they just forgot to include him, but I thought of a different reason: Piotr-Grygory was one of the "other nobles" dining with Prince Innocenti when Alphaks and his merry band of assassins struck in 1004 AC (I've always wondered who those "other" guys were). The late Baron did not leave a direct descendant fit to inherit; however, he did leave a will naming Prince Morphail heir to his dominion (easy to accomplish with Morphail being Piotr's master). Morphail then promptly got this matter accepted by the Council (a wizard's will is sacred in Glantri), and joined Kutchevski to Boldavia (as he has been planning to do all along). What do you think? ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 11:54:18 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne On Mon, 13 Oct 1997 Magesmiley@aol.com wrote: > << Etienne - Rad > Brannart McGregor - ? > Angus McGregor - Morningsun > Fernando de Casanegra - Estocada > Harald of Haaskinz - Moonshadow > Vanserie Vlaardoen - Nightfire > > Anyone got a good name for Brannart? >> > > The one I used in the past was Darkforce > A good idea, thanks. I think I also missed one member - Alasdair McAllister. He doesn't have an established name either. What is this with those Klantyre nobles - they seem to know Radiance intimately ;) ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 08:52:23 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian nobles On Tue, 14 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > Does it seem to you that Glantri has basically said goodbye to Fenswick, > one of its precious duchies? Since it seems unlikely that anyone other > than the Prince(ss) of Fenswick can hold the title of Duke of Fenswick, > this means that actually Hightower is the only real duchy left. As I see > it, there are three solutions to this: My understanding is that the Princess of Fenswick is also the Duchess of Fenswick- as many other nobles hold other titles, this isn't really a problem. I've just expanded the boundaries of Fenswick to make it more of a Principality. > While we are on the subject, has anyone noticed that G:KoM completely left > out any mention of Piotr-Grygory Timenko, Baron of Kutchevski? His tower > is still on the map, but there is nothing on him in the Grimoire. Noticed it. It was a very conspicuous absence, as well. Note that they haven't adjusted Morphail's voting powers to compensate for a potential loss of one of his supporters. Stupid... *rassimfrassim*... > This, of course, probably means that they just forgot to include him, > but I thought of a different reason: Piotr-Grygory was one of the > "other nobles" dining with Prince Innocenti when Alphaks and his merry > band of assassins struck in 1004 AC (I've always wondered who those > "other" guys were). As Morphail is one of Alphaks' minions, and (be extension) any of Morphail's pawns would thus be Alphaks' minions, I tend to not see how this would be of benefit to Alphaks... Not that I necessarily credit Alphaks with any sort of foresight in the matter, mind. > The late Baron did not leave a direct descendant fit to inherit; > however, he did leave a will naming Prince Morphail heir to his > dominion (easy to accomplish with Morphail being Piotr's master). > Morphail then promptly got this matter accepted by the Council (a wizard's > will is sacred in Glantri), and joined Kutchevski to Boldavia (as he > has been planning to do all along). I could see this as a possible solution, though bear in mind that the lands would become part of the Principality, and no longer remain a Barony, and Morphail's voting powers would be reduced subsequently. A prospect which has always made me wonder why in hell he would want to annex those lands anyway, as no matter the size of his Principality, he isn't going to get any more sway in Parliament... See, in Glantri, it's not the size that counts... ;) - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 12:21:29 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals Glenn Butcher pontificated: > > > IMO Exalted beings should be considered more important. BTW, are spirits > > exaulted? Why not? > > > > I'm not sure what you mean by spirits. Do you mean dead people (as > opposed to undead people)? > I think he meant the fairy kind, which based on PC1 are "fallen immortals". I'm developing them a bit more for the MOrient. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 19:42:24 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Ravenloft Timeflow So, just to put the word end to this thread about RL timeline, this is the official explanation by Cindi Rice (line producer for RL): "Sure! Time definitely flows differently within the Land of the Mists. This is something the DM can use in several ways. It can allow characters that get pulled in from the prime material plane to return mere seconds or hundreds of years after they disappeared from their homelands. Also, it can allow characters to participate in major events in Ravenloft that occurred earlier on the timeline. Thus, if your characters are adventuring on Krynn in 34 SC, they can easily be pulled into Ravenloft at any point in Soth's existence in the Demiplane of Dread." DM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 10:34:32 -0700 From: "Patrick" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian nobles > > Does it seem to you that Glantri has basically said goodbye to Fenswick, > > one of its precious duchies? Since it seems unlikely that anyone other > > than the Prince(ss) of Fenswick can hold the title of Duke of Fenswick, > > this means that actually Hightower is the only real duchy left. As I see > > it, there are three solutions to this: > > My understanding is that the Princess of Fenswick is also the Duchess of > Fenswick- as many other nobles hold other titles, this isn't really a > problem. I've just expanded the boundaries of Fenswick to make it more > of a Principality. But Dolores' voting power is only 12 in G:KoM-- 10 votes for a princess and 2 for treasurer. If she were a duchess still as well, she would have more. Patrick ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 19:43:29 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Gargantua in time John Yu asked: <> Uhm.. very difficult to say.. I am sure there are gargatuan spiders in CM6 in the Isle of the Sorcerers adventure (Gargantuan monsters employed by the oards "implies" that either they are labeled as "gargantuan" but Mr G. didn't create them, or that Mr G. gave em to the oards in exchange for something -technology for magic?). The g. spiders on Aelos date back to 500 years in the past of that world IIRC, and if you rule that Aelos present time is Mystara's present, then the monsters should be 500 years old... but we're talking about oards, and we all know how they like to meddle with time, so this is not really a good source. Then there are those g. trolls and gargoyles in CM1 who try to abduct the Forge of Power of some Norwold dwarves. This place the monsters around 999-1000 AC. But i don't think they're so "young": after all Mr G. was already famous and renowned for his creations by that time (Companion was out before CM1 -eh eh;)). And then Cthul has mentioned the g. fishes in X7, an oddity that Diego Calugi had already brought to my attention. When does X7 takes place? No real timeline is mentioned, so it's a hard guess. AFAWK, the first appearence in a D&D book was in X7, but in real timeline.. AC 1000? However, i would think they're at least 1 century old. DM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 19:39:39 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] New PC class: Greater Gargoyle At 10.25 13/10/97 -0700, Cthul wrote: >Are these constructs, like Lesser Gargoyles? Or are they actual, living >beings? If the former, then they shouldn't need food to sustain them, >nor should they be able to reproduce. If the latter, then this would all >work out fine. I'm just curious as to their relationship with Lesser >Gargoyles. The problem is this: i have not yet figured out their background story. I know they're not constructs but living beings (thus they must eat and can reproduce), but probably something went wrong with their creation and they got this nasty drawback that they cannot live under the sun. I have three ideas at the moment: 1. they were created by Kagyar as the first experiment to design a durable and tough race about 100-200 years before the creation of dwarves (Kogolor). Then the Blackmoor catastrophe altered their DNA (or magical essence, whatever) and it turned out that the sunrays petrified them, so Kagyar transported most of them in the HW, where the Red Sun radiations didn't affect them. Those who remained on the surface eventually became the Margoyles, and learnt to live with their curse they call the Stone Sleep. Up to now, very few know of their existence, mostly Kagyar's devout followers (dwarves). Probably Margoyles live in Rockhome. 2. they were created by a sorcerer of Glantri who was the Runemaster 300 years ago. He altered the existing un-intelligent gargoyles to make them intelligent beings and use them as superb guards and retainers. He wanted to create a new race and indeed he succeeded, save for the fact that he didn't expect the sunrays could petrify them. However, since he most needed them to guard his tower, he employed them as nightguards, and they proved highly successful. One fateful day the Runemaster was defeated in a duel by another Cryptomancer and his tower nearly destroyed. Without their master, the margoyles left the tower and scattered to the four corners of Glantri, living in clans and hiding from the greedy eyes of the other wizards. (alternatively, they could have remained in the castle to guard it like the Gargoyles of the cartoons..) 3. they have been created by Kagyar but later cursed by Ixion or Rathanos for some unknown (at least to me now) misdeed... (this explains their petrification from sunrays) Either way, they are living beings with a strong resemblance to gargoyles, but they cannot really communicate with gargoyles. DM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 19:44:11 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Gargantua John Yu wrote: >DM wrote: > IMC Gargantua is trying to become an Old One without... passing from the > start, shall we say... He doesn't want to become an Immortal cause he > doesn't want to obey to somebody else than his ego, so he is desperately > trying to find a shortcut to Old One status. NOte that Mr. G. in my campa= > ign > is NOT mad nor evil: he is just hungry for power and knowledge! <> Have you ever read Clive Barker's "The Great and Secret Show"? Mr G. discovered the existence of the Old Ones in the same way Randolph Jaffe discovered the existence of the Art. Well, basically G. has amassed numerous little pieces of knowledge about immortality and immortal beings thru the use of magic and of his minions during the years (centuries) and putting all the pieces together he has finally realized the existence of the Old Ones. Think of it as if the information he gathered were pieces of a big puzzle: each one doesn't mean anything alone, but combined with the others scattered all over the planes they form a clear image. Gargantua had the resources AND above all the INTELLIGENCE to discover these "hidden" proofs of the Old Ones' existence (left by the Old Ones themselves), and he succeeded. He has found out that the Old Ones exist in a higher level of reality than mortals and Immortals, and he is trying to find out how to breach the barrier to come into contact with the Old Ones. At the moment, his only chance to attain Old One status is to find the location of the Dark Tower and to unlock its secrets... As for his desire of independence, well, he can only hope nobody will give him orders once he's an Old One. He dislikes the Immortals because of their haughtyness and the indifference towards mortals. He thinks Immortals are using mortals to increase their power, basically manipulating them for personal greed and thus they don't deserve to be worshipped. Immortals are powerful sure, but he is powerful as well: only he doesn't pretend to be omnipotent, because he knows he is not (and he knows Immortals are not!). So why should he consider Immortals higher beings to be imitated? Why should he want to become one of them? He would not change that much in power. But the Old Ones are a complete different lot, and after the Wrath of the Immortals and the mess caused by Rad and Ixion he is even more determined to trascend his mortality. DM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 19:47:07 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Hand Crossbow stats I don't own the issue of Dragon where Haldemar visits Cimmaron, so i was wondering if there or anywhere else are the stats for the use of hand crossbow (weapon mastery and the like) -the weapon used by boltman Ramissur. Also, to anyone who knows (Bruce Heard?), why was the hand crossbow changed with the wheellock pistol in Red Steel boxed set, knowing that the Savage Coast is still part of Mystara (where smoke powder and guns have never been used nor designed)? Thanx DM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 19:45:14 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Gargantua and Raist Håvard wrote: <> Mmhh.. i hadn't thought about this simile, really. Yes, G and Raist are very similar to each other, and as Raist needed Crysania to reach his goal, so Mr G. needs a very special person reach the Dark Tower.. And as Raist had to battle against a powerful wizard, Fistandantilus, to win his status, so will Mr G. have to defeat a real evil and cunning necromancer coming from HPL's Laterre: Joseph Curwen (the wizard featured in "The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward"). And the PCs will find themselves in the middle of the battle as pawns of one of the two archmages (or both) :) But this is only the first part of the adventure. The second one ("The Last Adventure") involves saving all the existing Multiverses, timetravelling and finally discovering the true nature of life and of the Old Ones (i cannot talk more about this, because i know my "disgusting" players are reading this letter right now -SHAME ON YOU!) <> Hey, who knows, maybe the Mystaran Mystic League will meet again to unveil some other important secret.. ;) DM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 19:46:29 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] History of Phanatons and Aranea Magesmiley wrote: <> I think we must make a specification: the aranea and phanatons you're talking about here are those living on the Isle of Dawn, which are completely different and not related to those of the Savage Coast according to canon material. In fact, these aranea and phanatons originated from the Outer Planes, while those living in the Savage Coast followed a natural evolutive process to achieve their current social and cultural background. But let's go on with the comments on your hypothesis.. According to M5 there are 2 theories: The Phanatons' legend (page 29): the phanatons and aranea of Aran came from Thorne (the first Outer Plane, where 10 hours equal 1 hour on earth): there the phanatons lived peacebly alongside the planar spiders. But one fateful day the Night Spider (a Temporal of Entropy who was a planar spider before attaining immortality) came and she began enslaving the planar spiders, teaching them entropic thoughts of evil: soon the planar spiders enslaved the phanatons and followed the Night Spider in the Prime Plane, serving her thru the centuries. The planar spiders interbred with the local giant spiders and created the race of araneas ("the spiders became weak"): the phanatons finally managed to escape their masters and started to fight the aranea, trying to recover the Peaceful Periapt of Pax. The Night Spider's story (page 43): the Night Spider was a Temporal of Entropy who was forced to flee to Mystara (in the Prime) to avoid death at the hands of a group of heroes who had discovered her truename and threatened to slay her in her Home Plane. She came to Mystara ("not knowing that it would eventually rise to prominence" -geez? I wonder WHEN did she come then?) with her Chaotic planar spiders ("who would become the ancestors of the aranea") and phanaton slaves. This theory doesn't mention Thorne (it is not her Home Plane from what it's written: "If she is destroyed on the Prime Plane, she goes to Thorne near the outer fringes of Death, -meaning Pyts- not to her Home Plane"), even though the Night Spider has a stronghold on it. I think that the aranea and phanatons of the Isle of Dawn (and of the Isle of Dread) originated in the Outer Planes, unlike the ones living in the Savage Coast, that maybe Arachne Prime stopped on Thorne to pick up planar spiders slaves who in turn brought with them phanatons as slaves and they all ended up in the Isle of Dawn (some of her retainers took the wrong exit and found themselves alone in the Isle of Dread). That's it. <> Nope, it cannot be mainly for one reason: the phanatons of Jibarù were the prime hunters and predators of the aranea race and the aranea of Herath discovered them only very late in time, becoming frightened of them and never succeeding in enslaving their race. <> Fascinating but unlikely: planar spiders rely on planar-traveling abilities and on techonology which have nothing to do with Mystaran araneas. Besides, as Haavard already noted, this is too Mystara-centric. <> If they have a much older history, why are they less advanced (culturally and technically speaking) and less powerful (see the stats in M5) than the Herathians? <> Sorry, but where do you get the impression that they are more sophisticated? They too live on trees, have a king and have primitive weapons. Can the IoD phanatons have wiccas as the ones of Jibarù?.. I suggest you to download from TSR site the Orc's Head gazetteer (code TSR2522): ther you'll find much more info on phanatons. One last question: any of you knows what the heck does the wonderful cover of M5 (by Daniel Horne) has to do with the real plot of M5? And another trivia question: do you know of any other module cover that is not apparently related to the story depicted in the adventure? DM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 15:30:27 -0500 (EST) From: Prodyn Subject: Re: [Mystara] New PC class: Greater Gargoyle > Hi everyone! This is the last PC class i invented. It's not finished > yet, so i've posted it on the list to know what you think of it and > if you've got suggestions especially about the margoyle's origins, > society and reproduction cycle. > Any comments will be welcome! ;) > DM > > Greater Gargoyle (Margoyle) {snip} Excellent idea. In fact I was just beginning to create something similar, after watching a Disney show called 'Gargoyles'. Were you, perhaps, inspired as well? Anyway, if you've never watched the show, you should attempt too. It may give you a few ideas on further developing your Margoyle. Prodyn ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 13:12:44 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian nobles On Tue, 14 Oct 1997, Patrick wrote: > But Dolores' voting power is only 12 in G:KoM-- 10 votes for a princess and > 2 for treasurer. If she were a duchess still as well, she would have more. But, IIRC, in Joshuan's Almanac, her titles are listed as Princess and Duchess (possibly Treasurer as well, I forget). It just depends on what you want to go by... - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 13:24:10 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Gargantua in time On Tue, 14 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > And then Cthul has mentioned the g. fishes in X7, an oddity that Diego > Calugi had already brought to my attention. When does X7 takes place? No > real timeline is mentioned, so it's a hard guess. This one's a toughie- If we wanted to try and place it canonically, I'd think it would have to be some time prior to AC1000, because in X7, the city of of Suthus (I think that's the name) is a Triton ruled city, but with the publication of the much later product PC3: Sea Creatures, the city is now considered to be a Shark-Kin ruled city. So either it is set prior to AC 1000 (setting for PC3), at a point when Tritons still ruled the city before being pushed north into Undersea by Shark-Kin invasions (and possibly Devilfish aggression), or else it is set at some unspecified point in the future when Tritons (for whatever reason) decide to stage an offensive against the Shark-Kin and drive them out of the southern waters of Undersea and settle the city of Suthus. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 22:49:40 +0200 From: Diego Calugi Subject: Re: [Mystara] Alphaks Volcano DM wrote: > Just out of curiosity, i have developed this theory of mine about the real > dates of some of the D&D modules related to Norwold: > AC 1000: CM1 > AC 1001: M2 > AC 1002: M5 > AC 1004: M1 > > What do you think? Why do you think M2 comes before M1? Isn't 'Vengeance of Alphaks' the sequel to 'Into the mealstrom' (see M2, page 2)? One last suggestion: IMO there should be more than one single year between CM1 and M2 because we have two major conflicts in both modules. - -Diego > DM > > dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it > > http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 00:33:08 +0000 From: wizzard@mail.intcom.de Subject: Re: [Mystara] New PC class: Greater Gargoyle > The problem is this: i have not yet figured out their background story. I > know they're not constructs but living beings (thus they must eat and can > reproduce), but probably something went wrong with their creation and they > got this nasty drawback that they cannot live under the sun. Well, I know it is kind of stealing ideas but what about that: These Gargoyles were created by powerful Magists. They have been living in an area tormented by vampires and other night-stalkers. After some time the mages experienced that their own constructs are far too weak to stand the ongoing attacks and raids by the undead. They caught some vampires and experimented with living and non-living material. Finally they crossed a vampire with a gargoyle. Life got into existance as this new life opened its eyes for the very first time. It had the body of a gargoyle but the strength of a vampire in rage!! But something went wrong and with the might came the weakness to sunlight. Shocked in the first moment the mages paid less attention to this draw-back because their new "comrades" could guard their homes as they were active just the same time the enemy was on the loose. Just an idea! Greetings, Wizzard ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 17:16:22 PDT From: "Jennifer Favia" Subject: [Mystara] Glantri Question Hey there folks :) There's been a lot of talk lately about Glantri. I was wondering: I have both Gaz 3 and G:KoM, and (inconsistencies aside) find them both very good, especially for NPCs. So here's the question: Has anyone else made use of Harald Haaskinz? In which setting? And did you preserve the intriguing, almost-shady side of him (Gaz 3), or did you rely more on the "dedicated scholar" aspect of G:KoM? Just wondering. You can either post or answer me directly... Jennifer valerya@hotmail.com "The odor of haggling shysters; the greed; the tang of coin in sweaty palm: I love the smell of Darokin in the morning." --Valerya the Battlefury ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 22:35:40 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantri Question Jennifer Favia pontificated: > > So here's the question: Has anyone else > made use of Harald Haaskinz? In which setting? And did you preserve > the intriguing, almost-shady side of him (Gaz 3), or did you rely more > on the "dedicated scholar" aspect of G:KoM? How is he almost shady in Gaz 3? Seems like in both he is described as almost a tragic hero type of character. A good person by nature, but is cursed by the radiance, and also force to play in the Glantri political game due to his position, even though he doesn't enjoy it that much. John Yu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 22:41:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Master of Glantri's secret crafts. More Glantri questions. Does anyone have a list of all the high master/mastress and all the wizards in 4th circle of the secret crafts before and after the WotI? I never quite got around to make a list. Also, is there at any time more than 1 4th circle wizard listed for each craft. Some of the passages seems to imply there are only one of them at a time too John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 00:21:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Hand Crossbow stats In a message dated 97-10-14 14:44:12 EDT, DM writes: << Also, to anyone who knows (Bruce Heard?), why was the hand crossbow changed with the wheellock pistol in Red Steel boxed set, knowing that the Savage Coast is still part of Mystara (where smoke powder and guns have never been used nor designed)? >> AD&D Developer Tim Beach felt this would be a good idea for the setting. I had very little say about what went into the AD&D adaptation of the original Princess Ark material (or for that matter any of the AD&D adaptations of Mystara products). Although in general I don't want to complain about the final result of Red Steel, there are these annoying things that cropped up here and there, such as the "nipponization" of Bellayne rakasta. They were originally designed as British-like -- Japanese-style rakasta hail from Myoshima of course. The large number of Savage Coast towns that were "razed" by the goblins (and still not rebuilt) is another aggravating issue. The rework of the cinnabryl rules seemed okay. I don't particularly mind the firearms -- they are a question of taste and can easily be removed from one's campaign. Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 01:23:49 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: [Mystara] Questions for Mr. Heard (was: Hand Crossbow stats) Ambreville@aol.com pontificated: > > AD&D Developer Tim Beach felt this would be a good idea for the setting. I > had very little say about what went into the AD&D adaptation of the original > Princess Ark material (or for that matter any of the AD&D adaptations of > Mystara products). Were you on another project at the time? Seems like you and Mr. Allston are the two person that know Mystara the best and be the most logical choice for the project. BTW, who first come up with the Known World setting (back at expert set/X1, I guess were the earlist mention of it?). Then who decided to flush out the campaign fully though the Gaz. series and who created most of the background material for it at that time? While I'm at it, I have another question for you. I just finish reading through CM7-The Tree of Life yesterday, and I'm wondering why did you decided to write that? It seems unlikly there will be any players actually have a party of high level elves all from the same clan that can use that module. Did you wrote that as a one shot module in mind, then just find it fit nicely to the Mystara world, or do you have the background story all thought out, and design the module to be use by play groups for campaign infomation? - -- John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu UVa, Material Science Dept. IPM Lab (804) 984-3789 ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #167 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #168 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Wednesday, October 15 1997 Volume 02 : Number 168 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 10:21:51 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian nobles On Tue, 14 Oct 1997, Patrick wrote: > But Dolores' voting power is only 12 in G:KoM-- 10 votes for a princess and > 2 for treasurer. If she were a duchess still as well, she would have more. > TSR authors don't seem to be able to count right ;) I noticed a few errors in voting power already in GAZ3. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 10:33:43 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement - LONG Hello, I have made a write-up about the various Glantrian nobles advancing in rank and gaining and losing titles. Don't you just *love* wading through the mire of Glantrian politics? ;) This is a write-up I did on the various Glantrian nobles advancing in rank. It is "semi-official", since some information comes out of official accessories, while other is made up by me. Note that I consider Glantri: Kingdom of Magic boxed set to be marginally correct at best. First, we need to make a few assumptions. We assume that the nobles of Blackhill and Erewan never competed, since they were content to stay at home and get killed by the 1006 meteor strike ;) Likewise, the Boldavian barons never try to move elsewhere because of their undead nature. I have tried to calculate the votes each contender would get, and based the outcomes on those results. Remember, you have to get 80+ votes at Council to win the election. The acronyms I use: B=Baron, V=Viscount, C=Count, M=Marquis, D=Duke, A=Archduke, P=Prince, CV=voting power at Council, PV=voting power at Parliament. So, here it is, chronologically: 1003 AC: Urmahid Krinagar, C. of Skullhorn, establishes Principality of Bramyra. Since it is in the same area as his county, there are no other changes. His CV and PV are 16, while P. Jherek's PV reduces by 6 to 33 (note that some voting points were calculated incorrectly in GAZ3). 1004 AC: Harald of Haaskinz, A. of Westheath, establishes Principality of Sablestone. This is where things get interesting. Barony of Kern is established for Harald. Westheath is up for grabs. There is an indication in one of the PWAs that John Beaumarys-Moorkroft is the new Archduke. We'll assume that Margaret of Hillsbury was content to stay in her tower and dream about Prince Volospin. PWA also indicates that Eachainn McDougal is the new D. of Hightower. Okay, let's say that the fraudulent M. of Berrym decided not to attract attention, while Fernando de Satolas opted to stay close to elven lands. Brannart McGregor loses Viceroyalty of Sablestone, making him an enemy of Harald. The above changes the voting points as follows: Sirecchia loses 9 points from PV, reducing it to 26; Singhabad gains 1 point, rising to PV of 34. McGregor loses 1 point from his CV, reducing it to 15. Now then, Dunvegan is up for grabs. Aliana of Soth-Kabree and Emeth of Wylon are out for reasons stated above. This leaves Genevieve of Touraine, Alasdair of Glenargyll, and Sinaria of High Sonden. Let's try to calculate the Council votes: Genevieve: 25 (Etienne), +21 (Carlotina), +17 (Jaggar) = 63 votes Alasdair: 15 (Brannart), +18 (Carnelia), +25 (Jherek), +16 (Urmahid), +22 (Volospin) = 96 votes Sinaria: 17 (Vanserie), +16 (Innocenti) = 33 votes Morphail abstains from voting. Why the above? Obviously, the rulers of each house vote for their own nobles. Carnelia votes for Alasdair simply because she does not like the other two. This causes Carlotina to vote for Genevieve. Jaggar votes for Genevieve because Etienne promised him to support a war against Alphatia. This causes Jherek, Urmahid, and Volospin to vote for Alasdair, and Innocenti to vote for Sinaria. Morphail abstains because he hates all three. So, Alasdair McAllister is now M. of Dunvegan, raising Crownguard's PV to 35. Next comes the County of Glenargyll. Ezechiel of Nathrat and Arbana of Redstone are out, as well as Diane of Malibois (she simply doesn't care). Rolf of Blofeld doesn't want to go that far away as transporting his precious constructs would be difficult. Gilles of Fausseflammes also does not want to move that far, besides his dominion is nice and larger than usual. We then have Bergen, Verazzano, and Castelbianco. The votes: Rowena: 17 (Vanserie), +17 (Jaggar), +25 (Etienne) = 59 Griseo: 14 (Harald), +15 (Morphail), +25 (Jherek), +16 (Urmahid), +18 (Carnelia) = 88 Antonio: 16 (Innocenti), +15 (Brannart) = 31 Carlotina abstains (no worthy candidate in her opinion); Volospin abstains (he dislikes all three). Note that Innocenti votes for Antonio because he wishes to keep good relations with the Thugs' Guild. Harald, on the other hand, likes Griseo better. So, Griseo Fulvina is the new Count of Glenargyll; he also starts liking Harald of Haaskinz a lot more than Prince Innocenti. He immediately betrays Innocenti and joins the House of Haaskinz, decreasing Innocenti's PV to 21 and raising Harald's PV to 20. The Houses of Haaskinz and Sirecchia hate each other forever more. Right, then the barons compete for viscounty of Verazzano. Obviously, all the undead barons of Boldavia and Myra of Uigmuir will not be competing. Malachie du Marais can also be left out. Pieter of Oxhill just had his hopes dashed, but there is still a chance, so he decides not to move out of the Sablestone area just yet. That leaves us with Franz of Adlerturm and Isabella of Egorn. Franz: 17 (Jaggar), +17 (Vanserie), +25 (Etienne) = 59 Isabella: 18 (Carnelia), +25 (Jherek), +16 (Urmahid), +22 (Volospin) = 81 Carlotina, Morphail, Brannart, Innocenti, and Harald abstain. Isabella is the narrow winner and the new V. of Verazzano. Alhambra now has a PV of 30. Okay, let's play along with TSR and say that Harald of Haaskinz excercised his influence and got the Barony of Egorn for his friend Gerrid Rientha. Or else you might award it to one of the PCs in your campaign. Additionally, Piotr-Grygory Timenko, B. of Kutchevski, is killed by Alphaks' assassination team dressed as Alphatians. Morphail absorbs his dominion into Boldavia. 1005 AC: Malachie du Marais marries Diane de Moriamis and becomes P. of Morlay-Malinbois. His CV and PV are 15 (10 from prince, 5 from viscount). Barony of Morlay ceases to exist. The PV of House Sylaire is reduced to 36. After the declaration of war, Carlotina Erewan loses the title of Chamberlain (reducing her CV to 17 and PV to 28), and Jaggar von Drachenfels gets the title (increasing his CV to 21 and PV to 37; note that he is also Viceroy of Nordling). 1006 AC: The meteor strikes! All the Silverston nobles die; Caurenze and allied dominions of Erewan (Nathrat and Soth-Kabree) are destroyed. Ouch. Antonio of Castelbianco joins House of Haaskinz, raising its PV to 29. Since there is a shortage of baronies, the Council decides to abolish the viceroyalty of Ylourgne (nobody attacks from that direction anyway) and establish a barony there. Vincienzo di Randazzi wins the dominion (or, you can give it to a PC). He joins the house of Marais, raising their PV to 19. Urmahid Krinagar is appointed the new Chancellor, raising his CV and PV to 22. Margaret of Fenswick does not join any house, preferring to mourn Prince Volospin. 1008 AC: Vanserie and Wilhelmine Vlaardoen die of the plague. Juliana inherits Bergdhoven. It is unclear as to who gets the title of Treasurer, since later Dolores Hillsbury apparently gets it. We'll assume that Juliana holds the title for the time being. 1009 AC: Etienne d'Ambreville disappears. Isidore inherits New Averoigne, but Harald of Haaskinz gets the Grand Master position. Isidore's new CV is 15 and PV is 26; Harald's are 24 and 39, respectively. There is also a brief struggle between Isidore and Henri. 1010 AC: Margaret Hillsbury dies and Dolores appears. Fenswick is made a principality. Since Juliana Vlaardoen is not very experienced yet, she loses the title of Treasurer and Dolores gets it to herself. Dolores's CV and PV are 20; Juliana's are 15 and 30. 1011 AC: Jaggar loses the title of Chamberlain to Isidore. Jaggar's CV and PV are 17 and 33, Isidore's are 19 and 30. Kol becomes P. of New Kolland. Dolores's influence is such that he gets to create a *viscounty* of Blackstone. His CV and PV are 15. 1012 AC: Etienne d'Ambreville reappears, although it is not widely known. In the future, he may reclaim his principality from Isidore, but it remains to be seen. As of 1012, Jherek of Krondahar has the most personal power (CV of 25), with Harald of Sablestone coming close (24). The House of Haaskinz is the most powerful overall (PV of 39), and Singhabad and Crownguard share the second place (34). Clearly, you want to have Haaskinz and Virayana on your good side... Unfortunately, they are usually the most neutral. So, here it is. What do you think? ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 10:32:57 +0200 From: Ezio Pignatelli Subject: [Mystara] patera calendar As I wrote in my previous mail, I am available to write down patera's calendar. I didn't follow so closely the discussion before; I seem to remember someone saying :"It is too much for me". If someone else is doing that, fine; otherwise, I could find it stimulating, since i am an astronomer. I need to be in touch with the patera staff. Who's in charge of it? I can't remember any name :)))) - -- #################################################################### Ezio Pignatelli email: epignat@leda.pd.astro.it Dipartimento di Astronomia Tel: +39-49-8293459 Universita' di Padova Fax: +39-49-8759840 #################################################################### ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 17:26:53 +0800 From: Glenn Butcher Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals Shin Chyang Yu rambled (scy2g@watt.seas.virginia.edu): > Glenn Butcher pontificated: > > > > I'm not sure what you mean by spirits. Do you mean dead people (as > > opposed to undead people)? > > > I think he meant the fairy kind, which based on PC1 are "fallen > immortals". I'm developing them a bit more for the MOrient. Ahh yes, of course. I would say they are exalted beings, perhaps with some changes. I'll wait for John Yu to finish that bit before I say more (so I can steal his ideas :) - -- Glenn Butcher mailto:knight@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au | "I take off all my magic, and finger -l for PGP public key | never, ever use any artifact http://www.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/~knight/ | again." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 07:28:46 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian nobles In einer eMail vom 14.10.97 21:31:46, schreiben Sie: << But, IIRC, in Joshuan's Almanac, her titles are listed as Princess and Duchess (possibly Treasurer as well, I forget). It just depends on what you want to go by... >> Not only in JA, but also in PWA3. I believe that Dolores is (was) a princess AND a duchess, which is only logical because titles don't just diappear, there always has to be 2 duches. Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 07:31:02 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian nobles In einer eMail vom 14.10.97 18:07:17, schreiben Sie: << I could see this as a possible solution, though bear in mind that the lands would become part of the Principality, and no longer remain a Barony, and Morphail's voting powers would be reduced subsequently. A prospect which has always made me wonder why in hell he would want to annex those lands anyway, as no matter the size of his Principality, he isn't going to get any more sway in Parliament... See, in Glantri, it's not the size that counts... ;) >> AFAIK, those titles wouldn't disappear, but would be inheited by Morphail along with the land. This means his power in parliament would stay the same, BUT his power in council would be increased dramatically. Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 14:01:55 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] patera calendar On Wed, 15 Oct 1997, Ezio Pignatelli wrote: > As I wrote in my previous mail, I am available to write down patera's > calendar. I didn't follow so closely the discussion before; I seem to > remember someone saying :"It is too much for me". If someone else is > doing that, fine; otherwise, I could find it stimulating, since i am an > astronomer. > > I need to be in touch with the patera staff. Who's in charge of it? I > can't remember any name :)))) You should probably contact Cthulhudrew Håvard. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 14:09:23 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals On Wed, 15 Oct 1997, Glenn Butcher wrote: > Shin Chyang Yu rambled (scy2g@watt.seas.virginia.edu): > > Glenn Butcher pontificated: > > > > > > I'm not sure what you mean by spirits. Do you mean dead people (as > > > opposed to undead people)? > > > > > I think he meant the fairy kind, which based on PC1 are "fallen > > immortals". I'm developing them a bit more for the MOrient. > > Ahh yes, of course. I would say they are exalted beings, perhaps with > some changes. I'll wait for John Yu to finish that bit before I say more > (so I can steal his ideas :) Actually I was referring mainly to the spirits described in Ethengar. The inhabitants of the Spirit World It has been suggested, by Mystaros and others that these spirits are of a nature similar to that of the Fairy folk. And whatabout Souls?`Are they different from spirits? Håvard. - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 14:58:53 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] New PC class: Greater Gargoyle At 15.30 14/10/97 -0500, Prodyn wrote: >Excellent idea. In fact I was just beginning to create something >similar, after watching a Disney show called 'Gargoyles'. >Were you, perhaps, inspired as well? Yes, indeed. However, i didn't want to copy the whole background story... i hoped to invent something more Mystara-related, and i see ideas are coming, so it's a good thing. And if u have other ideas, just let me know :) PS: thanx for the support DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 14:56:51 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] CM7 (was: Questions for Mr. Heard) At 01.23 15/10/97 -0400, John Yu wrote: >While I'm at it, I have another question for you. I just finish >reading through CM7-The Tree of Life yesterday, and I'm wondering >why did you decided to write that? It seems unlikly there will be >any players actually have a party of high level elves all from the >same clan that can use that module. Did you wrote that as a one >shot module in mind, then just find it fit nicely to the Mystara >world, or do you have the background story all thought out, and >design the module to be use by play groups for campaign infomation? If i may step in, i'd like to give you my view of CM7. I don't think you need a party of ALL high level elves to resolve the adventure. A party with one high level elf of clan Feadiel (or linked to clan Feadiel) is sufficient: the rest of the party should be composed of nature-lovers players and wizards (GAZ5 says that druids and wizards are allowed to roam into Alfheim to help Alfheimers study the Magic Points) renowned and respected by Alfheimers, and i think the Feadiels won't complain too much about giving them the last chance to save their trees. For example, i have a party with an Alfheimer whose mother is a feadiel, an elf from Karameikos, a wizard from Karameikos, a forester from Thyatis and a ranger from Alphatia and i will use them as the heroes of CM7. Don't think it's so unlikely. However, there is only one thing that CM7 doesn't have (and i expected it to have): a thorough description of the Sylvan Realm, good maps of it and its EXACT location!!! From what i've seen, it seems the Sylvan Realm is very tiny, but i thought it was home of many clans of elves.... DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 08:07:20 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: [Mystara] Netlogo Just thought I'd let everyone know I've got the spot for the logo contest entries available. If you want to enter just email the logo as an attachment. Guess I'll volunteer to count the votes too. Steve, what else do you need to know? - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Galwylin http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ Strange! That really should have worked! - Fizban ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 15:23:51 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Alphaks Volcano At 22.49 13/10/97 +0200, you wrote: >DM wrote: > >> Just out of curiosity, i have developed this theory of mine about the real >> dates of some of the D&D modules related to Norwold: >> AC 1000: CM1 >> AC 1001: M2 >> AC 1002: M5 >> AC 1004: M1 >> >> What do you think? > >Why do you think M2 comes before M1? Isn't 'Vengeance of Alphaks' the >sequel to 'Into the mealstrom' (see M2, page 2)? Premise: i don't have M2. I'm basing this judgement on some ideas that another list member gave me (was it Victor Caminha?). Basically since M2 deals with Alphatia invading Norwold IIRC, i thought this could take place after CM1 as a continuation of the war against thyatis: since Thyatis is winning, Alphatia decides to intervene and sends his troops commanded by a lich... However this is only a hypothesis, and since i don't have M2 it doesn't necessarily have to be a good one :( DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 15:28:49 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] New PC class: Greater Gargoyle At 00.33 15/10/97 +0000, Wizzard wrote: >Well, I know it is kind of stealing ideas but what about that: > >These Gargoyles were created by powerful Magists. A good idea indeed! i'll add it to the others i have had. I was beginning to think to let the Margoyle's past a mystery, with every clan having its own legend (thus we need different ideas). This way every clan will behave and live differently and each DM that wants to use the Margoyle can pick up whichever legend he likes most as HIS official explanation. Might be another good starting point, isn't it? :) Thanx for the feedback to everyone! ;) DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 15:47:22 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Vampires and their gets This summer I read two really well written and funny books about vampires, Anno Dracula and the Bloody Red Baron by Kim Newman. I was thinking about Mystara and the vampiric lineages, because in those books every vampire belongs to one specific "get" or "breed", and with each get comes different attributes and vulnerabilities. So this is my idea: have you maybe ever thought about who the "first" vampires should be. These vampires are called "Father (or Mother) in Darkness" by their "sons & daughers", and the fathers and mothers are those vampires who've not been created by other vampires (remember that there are many other ways to become a vampire). So far i've retraced only these lines: - -Morphail Gorewitch-Woszlany's get (he was turned into a vampire by Alphaks): very well mannered and haughty, respect a code of undead ethics. Use their charme powers to become powerful memebers of society. Many of them are wizards. - -Baron Necatus' get (he's a dead vampire from my campaign -attained vampiredom after a pact with Nyx): many darokin vampires are his get. Very charismatic and attracted by comforts and richness, they are respectable memebers of society. They can sustain sunrays for a limited period (1 turn to 1 hour). They usually try to meld with humans by wedding mortals and giving them their dark gift (this way they usually have a "harem") - -Baron Sulescu's get (the good hearted vampire -he attained vampiredom as the result of a curse laid upon him by a Traldaran gipsy): most of them are Nosferatu rather then simple vampires. Few of them exist and they are normally tolerant of the humans. They don't like their undead state but try to live like the old days, protecting humans and their friends. However, when they are discovered and rejected they tend to act violently towards those who scorn them, killing them to protect their secret. - -Jarl Wulf Haltford's get (from my campaign -he's the oldest vampire still living and was founder of Haltford Jarldom in Soderfjord; still lives in the ruins of his old castle. He embraced undeath after a pact with Death...): violent, eerie and almost sadic. The ultimate fighters, they often mistake victory for slaughter (no prisoners) and surviving for unforgiveness. They are out to prey the livings, and that's their fate. I was thinking about something oriental style and something for each demi-human race too, but so far nothing came to my mind. Any comments or ideas? DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 10:03:48 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Operation Hydra Day 7 Note: Since the next few days of Operation Hydra begin to get a bit busy, I have opted to break the events into seperate days. In using this format, I hope to keep the messages small. I had hoped to attach BMP files to show the battles. Some have prove to be quite busy in appearance. I will limit these BMP renderings to only the big battles. Day 7: Force A: Just 79 miles from Minrothad City, Admiral Helena sees that given their current slow rate of movement, the landings may be compromised. Reluctantly, she orders the Fleets and transports to halt. Placing the damaged vessels with the transports, she dispatches the undamaged warships out to patrol and secure the area. Thyatian ships of 8thReg/3rdFleet, 9thReg/3rdFleet, 5thReg/14th, 6thReg/14th, 9thReg/14thFleet, and 10thReg/14thFleet engage the six ships of 1stSquad/2nd Minrothad Fleet. The battle is a stalemate as the Thadder vessels simply outmanuever the Thyatians. It is only after the arrival of 1stReg/1stFleet, 2ndReg/1stFleet, and and 3rdReg/1stFleet that the Thyatians are able to box the Thadder ships in. The Thyatians use their superior numbers to concentrate assaults on the ships. After boarding two vessels and engaging the crews hand to hand, the Thyatians opt to sink the remaining vessels with their artillery. The boardings prove to take too much time and the Thyatians are wary that more Thad vessels might appear. At the battles end, only one of the Minrothad ships is able to sail away. Badly damaged she slips back towards her current port of call, Harbortown. Her escape is directly responsible to the magical abilities of the captain, a Merchant Prince of the Mercenary Guild. Adm. Helena sends word, via magical means, to commanders of Force B. She warns them of their losing the surprise factor. She relates that she suspects the Thadder vessels to be based out of Harbortown, but is unsure. Tells captains and commanders to be vigilant. Ships damaged in melee are placed with the other damaged ships to be repaired. Down time is extended and will last the rest of the day. No further movement. The lone surviving vessel of 1st Squad/2nd Minrothad Fleet moves into Harbortown waters around dusk. With no enemy ships in sight, the captain calls for the ship to drop anchor. The Merchant Prince captain has long since dispatched a report of the battle to Harbortown. His duty now is to insure that his ship does not sink. Force B: Sails without incident for most of the day. After receiving Adm. Helena's message, Force B Overall Commander Adm. Serpico slows pace down and assumes a defensive arrangement. HE places his lookouts on alert status and orders his troops to be ready. He hopes to come across the wounded Minrothad vessel before it can make its way to Harbortown to report the Thyatian assault force. To his relief, there are no contacts with Minrothad Forces. All in all, the group sails 38 miles, leaving 92 miles to Harbortown. Force C: Naval units sail into mouth of the Quickhand River and drop anchor. The Force Commander Adm. Tiberius, dispatches his sailing ships into a patrol arrangement. He has the empty transports anchor together. He has six of his small war galleys begin rowing up and down the Quickhand River to probe for embankment defenseworks. These galleys draw missile fire from Hin militia. Galleys use their ballista and catapults to give suppression fire. War galleys venture just short of town of Malfton. Tiberius rotates the groups of six small war galleys to keep crews rested. Minrothad Naval Forces spot the anchored and patrolling Thyatian vessels. The Commander of 3rdSquad/2ndMinrothad Fleet orders his ships to attemtp to break through the Thyatian vessels and run the blockade. Assuming the transports to be full of troops, he focuses his ships to attack these in passing. He hopes to damage these vessels and perhaps sink one or two. Though surprised by the Minrothad vessels, the Thyatians begin closing in to engage them. They are amazed to see the Minrothad vessels slow to launch attacks on the transports. They cheer as the ballista armed transports return fire from their ballista. One transport manages to sink one. Astonished, the Minrothad captains head for the Quickhand River and the safety of Malfton. They are confronted by the wargalleys there. At their rear, they see that other galleys including two large war galleys are approaching. They are boxed in. Unable to manuever, the Minrothad vessels await to be boarded. Instead, the Thyatian wargalleys stand off and uload volley after volley from their artillery into the sailing ships of the Guildsmen. The Thyatians halt this barrage to capture the flagship of the Squadron. The boarding is difficult as the wargalleys manuever into position. With a large war galley on each side, the Thyatians set grappling hooks and board the Thadder ship. The battle is fierce but brief. The Thadder crew and marines are no match for the mass of Thyatian marine available from the large galleys. The captain, his second mate, and five Minrothad marines surrender. The captured vessel is thrown lines and towed out to the naval units anchored at the Quickhand's mouth. Fifteen surviving crewmen are pulled from the Quickhand's waters and taken prisoner. Several others attempt to swim to the river bank but are shot down by Thyatian crossbowmen. All of this is witness by the inhabitants of Malfton from the town's defenseworks. Adm. Tiberius records the efforts of the transport that sank one of the Minrothad vessels. He recommends the crew of the #2 transport for 2ndCo/3rdBanner/4thCohort for a decoration for the heroic act. The Land Units of Force B march four miles toward Malfton. They halt after elements of 4thBanner/4thCohort skirmish with the mounted infantry of 4thReg/3rdHomeGuard. The Thyatians form up a tortoise box and send several volleys of crossbow bolts into the Minrothad troops. The Thadders lose almost a score of their fellows before retiring. They make haste to the 1stReg/2ndHG and 2ndReg/2ndHG base camp outside of Malfton to report the presence of Thyatian troops inland. The Commander of the 2ndHG units on Malfton is worried by this news. He had assu med that the troops would come from the transports down river. As such he had concentrated his forces at Malfton. Pondering the erratic reports of the mounted infantry of 4thReg/3rdHG and the sighted number of transports, he deduces that there are at least three Cohorts in the area. He is unsure how many are already landed and marching onto Malfton. He assumes that at least one is still aboard the transorts and is to be used for a sea front attack. The Minrothad Commander opts to take on the land forces first since they are so near the town. He dispatches messengers to the HG regiments telling them to prepare to march. He also informs the inhabitants of Malfton as to the situation. The halflings offer the HG two divisions of their militia to accompany the troops to engage the Thyatians. The HG commander accepts the offer but insists that portions remain in Malfton in the event that a seaborne assault is launched. They settle on sending the 1st Division of the Malfton Militia along with 1stReg/2ndMalfMil and 2ndReg/2ndMalf.Mil. The remaining regiments of 2ndMalftonMilitia will remain in Malfton along with the 3rd division of Hin Militia to man the defenses. The Hin move quickly to mobilize these forces. Though quickly done, it pushes the departure time back several hours. The HG and Hin units will march through the night towards the position that the Thyatians and 4thReg/3rdHG clashed. He is gratefull for the Hin units. He hopes to use their missile weapons to wear down the Thyatians to level the field. He is also aware of and counting on the halflings' hatred of the Thyatians to compensate for their lack of training. The Thyatian commander for the land forces, Gen. Nikkos, tells his troops to halt and prepare for battle. He hopes that the skirmish will draw the HG units to seek him out. Elven and human scouts from Vyalia have informed him of the mobilization of HG and Hin forces. He tells his officers to arrange their units in a broad clearing backed by hills that is nearby. He has his heavy infantry of 4th Cohort take up positions at the base of these hills. On their flanks he places the cavalry and mounted infantry of 28th Cohort. His planned strategy is simple. The 28th will encircle the HG units and force them into the reach of the 4th Cohort by assaulting their flanks. The mounted infantry and light cavalry will race to the Minrothad rear and cut off escape. The other cavalry will assault the right and left. Gen. Nikkos expects the Thadders cavalry to charge. As such, he has instructed the 4th Cohort to stand fast. The infantry of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Banners will use their shields and spears to form a sort of shield and pike wall. The 4th Banner will use their crossbows to fire upon the charging Thadders from behind this formation. He hopes that this will break up any charge. This plan meets with the disapproval of the officers of 28th Cohort who want to engage the Minrothad cavalry one on one. Gen. Nikkos reminds them of his authority in this operation granted by the Emperor himself. The cavalry commander, Gen. Trassis, grudgedly obliges. However, she does tell her officers to focus on the Minrothad cavalry in their flanking attacks. Force D: Troops of 14th Cohort assault the Guild Masters Mansions section of Cove Harbor. Splitting up into small box formations, they press on the attack through the streets of the upper class residences. The fighting is fierce as much of the fighting involves pirates holed up in the walled estates. The Thyatian commander of land forces, Gen. Delagro requests assistance so he can give the troops time to rest and get water. The overall commander, Adm. Pentalon, sends marines to suppliment 14th Cohort. Reports of pirates moving toward the Land Gate, give Gen. Delagro the impression that the pirates may attempt a break out in the coming darkness. He relays this information to his commander who in turn approaches the elements of the Retebius Air Fleet and the wizards of Sclaras to give aid. The wizards and RAF begin bombarding the Mansion area. Their focus of attack is around the Land Gate. The wizards' spells prove especially welcome at blasting gaps in the walls of several of the estates that prove difficult. One ingenius use of magic is in using a mansion fountain to summon a water elemental to assault the defenders. By nightfall the troops are fighting by the light provided by the burning buildings. Soon after midnight the fighting subsides as Thyatis controls all of Cove Harbor. Prisoners are turned over to the control of Thyatian marines that had not been used in fighting. The troops rest and tend to the wounded. Cleanup will be taken care of the following morning. Early in the day, ships of 4thSuad/2ndMinrothad Fleet came across the wreckage of the two Privateer Fleets. They quickly realized that a sizable Thyatian force was present, bigger than that allowed by the Minrothad government. The Mercenary Guild had long thought that the Privateer Guild had used Fire Island as a base of operations. The Mercenary Guild commanders suspect that the Thyatians will assault the pirates. The commanders at Gapton dispatched the 4thSquad/2ndMinFleet to investigate and take any action neccessary. Off the coast of Fire Island, 4thSquad/2ndMinrothadFleet has spotted the Thyatian vessels and are preparing to engage several outlying vessels. As they form up, word comes from Gapton for them to set a course for Harbortown. This change of orders is the result of the sea battle between the ships of 1stSquad/2ndMinFleet and the Thyatians earlier in the day. With news of the Thyatian presence on Open Island, there is little doubt that the Thyatians are assaulting Minrothad in earnest. The Mercenary Guildsmaster, Warheart Cleaver, in Gapton have recalled most of the patrolling Minrothad vessels to protect the primary islands; Trader Island, Alfeisle, and North Island. GM Cleaver has spoken with the HG commander on Open Island. He is reminded that the island is defended by a sizable force. The HG commander relates his confidence that his forces, aided by the Hin militia, will be able to hold off the Thyatian troops for some time. At least until, the situation is fully realized and relief forces can be spared. He also warns GM Cleaver of the strong Thyatian naval presense and their blockade of the Quickhand River. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Squadrons of 1st Fleet in and around North Island are put on alert. 6thSquad/3rd Fleet is enrout to Gapton anyway. It is told to make haste and be wary but not engage any Thyatian vessels. The Mercenary Guildmaster Cleaver has contacted the dwarves on Fortress Island. He attempt to send them HomeGuard troops. The dwarves are confident in their own defenses and urge the Guild to focus on the defense of other islands. Still the Merc. GM instructs the 3rd and 4th Squadrons of 3rd Fleet to remain on patrol off Fortress Island. They are to move to eastern side of island and be prepared to move if needed. Blackrock will be abandoned. 1stReg/3rd HG in training there are to load onto their transports and await for the arrival of 6thSquad/2ndFleet who is expected to arrive with the supply convoy with a day or so. They will then join with 4th and 6th Squadrons of 1st Minrothad Fleet and sail to Alfeisle Island. The forces already at Alfeisle Island are to remain there. They are to go on an alert status. The naval units will patrol the areas around Seahome and Verdun. The HG units will attach themselves to the garrisons of the two cities. The Mercenary GM Cleaver dispatches several messages to the Privateer Guild. There are no responses. This causes him to fear the worse for the pirate stronghold. He then turns his attentions to any pirate vessels out at sea. In this he is successful. Several of the ships receive the message and respond. The dwarven GM relates the situation, including the suspected fate of the Privateer's base of operations. The pirates want to sail to Fire Island to see for themselves. GM Cleaver orders them to Gapton to join up with regular Minrothad forces. The Privateers agree. However, as they decide that the order pertains to only the vessels that received the message. So they decide to seek out their brothers not equipped with the means to receive the message and send them to Fire Island. The rest of the night is spent searching the sealanes for other pirate vessels. By morning, the majority of the pirate naval forces have been contacted and informed of the situation. It is decided that these vessels will sail to Fire Island and investigate. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 10:17:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals Glenn Butcher pontificated: > > Ahh yes, of course. I would say they are exalted beings, perhaps with > some changes. I'll wait for John Yu to finish that bit before I say more > (so I can steal his ideas :) Sigh... You might have a long wait then. Need to finish up my master's thesis in the next few months... John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 10:41:59 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Questions for Mr. Heard (was: Hand Crossbow stats) In a message dated 97-10-15 02:19:13 EDT, JohYu writes: << Were you on another project at the time? Seems like you and Mr. Allston are the two person that know Mystara the best and be the most logical choice for the project. BTW, who first come up with the Known World setting (back at expert set/X1, I guess were the earlist mention of it?). Then who decided to flush out the campaign fully though the Gaz. series and who created most of the background material for it at that time? >> I had received a promotion just before substantial work started on the AD&D adaptations. So, my job was no longer related to creating and developing Mystara material. On the other hand, the responsibility was given to two successive managers within a short period of time, before it settled with a third one. By then, the team involved with Mystara decided that they would handle Mystara their own way without really making much of an effort to consult me or consider much of my suggestions. It was a very frustrating period of time where serious errors were made. To the credit of the people involved with Mystara at that time however, many (fatal) decisions had been dictated by upper management, which limited what they could do (I doubt I would have been able to deal with that issue any better than they did). On the other hand, none of the people on that team knew Mystara, which didn't help. Some let their egos get the best of their intelligence. All of that contributed to Mystara's discontinuation as a product line. I was the manager who launched and managed Gazetteer series and all subsequent (basic) D&D products. My responsibility stopped just before the attempt to adapt Mystara to the AD&D game. I don't want to blame anyone else for the project to adapt Mystara to the AD&D game. At the time, upper management wanted to streamline its D&D/AD&D lines, keeping the bigger selling product of the two, AD&D, and doing away with its basic line. That would have meant the outright cancellation of Mystara, thus my decision to adapt it to the AD&D game. What happened after that is a mess, with way too many people sticking their fingers into the pie and none to defend the desires of established customers of the original Mystara campaign. <> As long as you have a few elves in the party, especially one from the Feadiel clan who would lead the adventure, then you should be able to run the adventure. Part of the adventure came from material from my own campaign (without Mystara in mind), but the part about the elves, their spirit, the Tree of Life, and so on, were all created for Mystara. This was written at a time when I had been laid off by TSR, back in 1984. I was out of a job for three months while TSR teetered on the brink of bankruptcy (sounds like deja vu, right?). During that time I also wrote M1 Into the Maelstrohm, for which I only had incomplete and sketchy rules for the D&D Master Set which was being written then, and obviously was god-awfully late. So I had to make up a lot of what I though would eventually belong in the Master Set (anyone noticed anything?). Welcome to the world of game design in a very dark room! :) Three months later I was re-hired to handle TSR's Games Acquisitions. Nobody at TSR was interested in working on basic D&D stuff at all, so I ended up hiring freelance writers to cover that end. Effectively, that put me in charge of the D&D line, and later Mystara. A few years later when GAZ1 came out, I became the official product manager for Mystara and remained in that position until 1993 (if I remember correctly). Then I moved on to become director of planning at TSR until the company moved to Seattle last summer. I then decided to stay in the Chicago area to pursue other goals, which of course may include occasional freelance writing for TSR. I hope this answers a few questions! :) Bruce Heard ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #168 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #169 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Thursday, October 16 1997 Volume 02 : Number 169 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 16:47:43 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] New PC class: Greater Gargoyle On Wed, 15 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > At 00.33 15/10/97 +0000, Wizzard wrote: > >Well, I know it is kind of stealing ideas but what about that: > > > >These Gargoyles were created by powerful Magists. > > > A good idea indeed! i'll add it to the others i have had. I was beginning to > think to let the Margoyle's past a mystery, with every clan having its own > legend (thus we need different ideas). This way every clan will behave and > live differently and each DM that wants to use the Margoyle can pick up > whichever legend he likes most as HIS official explanation. > Might be another good starting point, isn't it? :) Good idea. I personally prefer the theory that they were created by Kagyar, but by leving it all a mystery it becomes way cooler. Are Margoyles in any way related to Gargoyles? Probably not. Unless they were gargoyles given life by magic or miracle. Maybe you should make up another name for them? Any margoyles created from the Iron Gargoyles? Håvard - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 22:57:02 +0800 From: Glenn Butcher Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals Shin Chyang Yu rambled (scy2g@watt.seas.virginia.edu): > Glenn Butcher pontificated: > > > > Ahh yes, of course. I would say they are exalted beings, perhaps with > > some changes. I'll wait for John Yu to finish that bit before I say more > > (so I can steal his ideas :) > > Sigh... You might have a long wait then. Need to finish up my master's > thesis in the next few months... > *grin* Good luck. Anyway, about spirits. By spirits I was assuming you meant the faerie spirits say, although the Ethengarian spirits will do the trick too. They would count as Exalted creatures. Not mortal, yet not fully mortal. Souls on the other hand are something completely different. They have no immortal power and no ability to gain any, unless someone gives that ability. In the afterlife, they may still gain skills, but thats it. I'll try and hustle with my immortality rules sometime, but I'm going tho a busy patch at the moment, so don't hold your breath. (It's 11pm and I'm still at work). Glenn - -- "Women. The best thing since the Nova spell" [Lynard the fire elemaster] knight@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au | glennb@ichr.uwa.edu.au Home page: http://www.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/~knight/ finger -l for pgp public key ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 17:09:18 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Hand Crossbow stats On Wed, 15 Oct 1997 Ambreville@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 97-10-14 14:44:12 EDT, DM writes: > > << Also, to anyone who knows (Bruce Heard?), why was the hand crossbow > changed > with the wheellock pistol in Red Steel boxed set, knowing that the Savage > Coast is still part of Mystara (where smoke powder and guns have never been > used nor designed)? >> > > AD&D Developer Tim Beach felt this would be a good idea for the setting. I > had very little say about what went into the AD&D adaptation of the original > Princess Ark material (or for that matter any of the AD&D adaptations of > Mystara products). Although in general I don't want to complain about the > final result of Red Steel, there are these annoying things that cropped up > here and there, such as the "nipponization" of Bellayne rakasta. They were > originally designed as British-like -- Japanese-style rakasta hail from > Myoshima of course. The large number of Savage Coast towns that were "razed" > by the goblins (and still not rebuilt) is another aggravating issue. The > rework of the cinnabryl rules seemed okay. I don't particularly mind the > firearms -- they are a question of taste and can easily be removed from one's > campaign. I'm personally quite happy with Red Steel, but I will incorporate your notes into my campaign if it should change center from the Known World and into the Savage Coast. I'm a bit curious though, how people feel about firearms. Should they at some point be developed in the Known World too? I know Bruce wrote a Dragon Article on this at one point and I was wondering how it could best be fit into the Mystara timeline? The article suggests introducing the firearms in AC1010 IRC, but postponing it might not be a bad idea. What's the general opinion on this matter? Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 17:41:28 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals On Wed, 15 Oct 1997, Glenn Butcher wrote: > Anyway, about spirits. By spirits I was assuming you meant the faerie > spirits say, although the Ethengarian spirits will do the trick too. They > would count as Exalted creatures. Not mortal, yet not fully mortal. Thoughts on Creatures of the Spirit World: Animal/Nature/Elemental spirits are of the same nature as faeries, though Fairy folk are closely connected to chaos as well as being reknown tricksters. These spirits are often neutral, though may be of any alignment. Ancestor/Hero spririts: Basically souls of the Dead, but they are supported by mortal worshippers in a similar manner to that of the immortals and are thus much more powerful than the average soul. > Souls on the other hand are something completely different. They have no > immortal power and no ability to gain any, unless someone gives that > ability. In the afterlife, they may still gain skills, but thats it. Sounds reasonable. Human worshippers can elevate a soul to Ancestor/hero spirit status. This is common in Ethengar, the Northern Reaches and in ancient traladara among other cultures.. > I'll try and hustle with my immortality rules sometime, but I'm going tho > a busy patch at the moment, so don't hold your breath. (It's 11pm and I'm > still at work). *yawn* See ya Håvard - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 23:28:22 +0200 From: Diego Calugi Subject: X7 (was: Re: [Mystara] Gargantua in time) Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > So either it is set prior to AC 1000 (setting for PC3), at a point when > Tritons still ruled the city before being pushed north into Undersea by > Shark-Kin invasions (and possibly Devilfish aggression), or else it is > set at some unspecified point in the future when Tritons (for whatever > reason) decide to stage an offensive against the Shark-Kin and drive them > out of the southern waters of Undersea and settle the city of Suthus. I'm not very expert with Undersea, but I'd exclude your second hypothesis. In fact, X7 states that Suthus was built by the Tritons themselves, so Shark-Kin have just conquered it later (before AC 1.000). However your first suggestion seems fine. BTW, playing X7 I found some errors in the text and in the maps. Maybe I'll write a short 'Errata' and post it to the MML if someone is interested. - -Diego ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 20:47:46 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Questions for Mr. Heard (was: Hand Crossbow stats) Seattle isn't too bad of a place Bruce, I live just a little north of it. Just a thought. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 21:39:52 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@AOL.COM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne In a message dated 97-10-14 04:59:15 EDT, you write: << A good idea, thanks. I think I also missed one member - Alasdair McAllister. He doesn't have an established name either. What is this with those Klantyre nobles - they seem to know Radiance intimately >> Had one for him too: Nightstar ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 21:50:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Master of Glantri's secret crafts. << Does anyone have a list of all the high master/mastress and all the wizards in 4th circle of the secret crafts before and after the WotI? I never quite got around to make a list. Also, is there at any time more than 1 4th circle wizard listed for each craft. Some of the passages seems to imply there are only one of them at a time too >> I made one awhile back, let me see if i can dig around and see what I did with it (it was based on GAZ3) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 00:05:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Rad/Etienne In a message dated 97-10-14 04:59:15 EDT, you write: << A good idea, thanks. I think I also missed one member - Alasdair McAllister. He doesn't have an established name either. What is this with those Klantyre nobles - they seem to know Radiance intimately >> Had one for him too: Nightstar ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 01:16:04 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian nobles In a message dated 97-10-15 02:38:58 EDT, k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi (Aleksei Andrievski) writes: << 1.Indeed, Fenswick has become a principality. Time to create a new duchy. >> Since noble ranks in Glantri are based on the "Order of Radiance", which in turn is based mostly on distance from Glantri City, I would say that the chance of creating any new duchies is virtually nil. If Glantri expands and any new dominions are created, they will almost certainly be baronies. If Hightower ever becomes a Principality, then we can say "bye-bye" to the title of Duke as a non-Princely title. Simlilar results will occur if Westheath is ever made into a Principality. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 02:43:07 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Master of Glantri's secret crafts. In a message dated 97-10-14 23:42:58 EDT, scy2g@watt.seas.virginia.edu writes: << Also, is there at any time more than 1 4th circle wizard listed for each craft. Some of the passages seems to imply there are only one of them at a time too >> Unless I am seriously mistaken, the only circle with any sort of limit is the 5th circle, which is limited to one individual at a time. Circles 1-4 should be available to an unlimited number of Glantrian wizards, unless you can cite some passage that I have seriously overlooked. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 10:56:21 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian nobles On Thu, 16 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 97-10-15 02:38:58 EDT, k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi (Aleksei > Andrievski) writes: > > Since noble ranks in Glantri are based on the "Order of Radiance", which in > turn is based mostly on distance from Glantri City, I would say that the > chance > of creating any new duchies is virtually nil. If Glantri expands and any new Why couldn't a new duchy be created close to Glantri City? There's plenty of space. > dominions are created, they will almost certainly be baronies. If Hightower > ever becomes a Principality, then we can say "bye-bye" to the title of Duke > as a non-Princely title. Simlilar results will occur if Westheath is ever > made > into a Principality. > So, let's say that there are no more duchies. What happens is Westheath becomes available. Do the marquises then compete for it? What if one of the Prince-Dukes decides that he wants it? Would he have to move out of his Principality/Duchy and relinquish his princely title? ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 10:24:24 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Master of Glantri's secret crafts. On Thu, 16 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > Unless I am seriously mistaken, the only circle with any sort of limit > is the 5th circle, which is limited to one individual at a time. Circles > 1-4 should be available to an unlimited number of Glantrian wizards, > unless you can cite some passage that I have seriously overlooked. AFAIK, you are correct. Håvard. - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 10:28:22 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: X7 (was: Re: [Mystara] Gargantua in time) On Tue, 14 Oct 1997, Diego Calugi wrote: > Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > > > So either it is set prior to AC 1000 (setting for PC3), at a point when > > Tritons still ruled the city before being pushed north into Undersea by > > Shark-Kin invasions (and possibly Devilfish aggression), or else it is > > set at some unspecified point in the future when Tritons (for whatever > > reason) decide to stage an offensive against the Shark-Kin and drive them > > out of the southern waters of Undersea and settle the city of Suthus. > > I'm not very expert with Undersea, but I'd exclude your second > hypothesis. In fact, X7 states that Suthus was built by the Tritons > themselves, so Shark-Kin have just conquered it later (before AC 1.000). > > However your first suggestion seems fine. With the recently posted Undersea timeline Shark-kin were sent to HW, so this could not have happened in the recent years, assuming that the said timeline is made 'canon.' Håvard. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 04:38:09 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian nobles In a message dated 97-10-14 14:30:26 EDT, Dennis.Sullivan.Family@worldnet.att.net writes: << But Dolores' voting power is only 12 in G:KoM-- 10 votes for a princess and 2 for treasurer. If she were a duchess still as well, she would have more. >> That is clearly an error -- since the Principality of Fenswick was formed from the Duchy of Fenswick, Dolores should definitely be a Duchess as well. Unfortunately, that is only one of many items in G:KoM that are suspect. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 05:51:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals In a message dated 97-10-14 13:27:08 EDT, scy2g@watt.seas.virginia.edu writes: << I think he meant the fairy kind, which based on PC1 are "fallen immortals". I'm developing them a bit more for the MOrient. >> I long ago worked out how fairies could quest for Immortality. Before they can do that, they must quest for Mortality. Once a fairy becomes Mortal, he can quest for Immortality but loses all of the benefits of his or her fairy heritage. And that quest for Immortality had better not take more than a few centuries, lest the quester die of old age.... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 17:53:17 +0800 From: Glenn Butcher Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals Haavard Roenne Faanes rambled (hoc@nvg.ntnu.no): > On Wed, 15 Oct 1997, Glenn Butcher wrote: > > Thoughts on Creatures of the Spirit World: [Animal spirits] These would count as exalted. Not full immortals (so they don't live in Pandius or whereever, but in the mortal world). It gives high level characters something which is still above them too. Don't offend the spirits, or they might spend some of that power they have and send you some where you won't like. No, you puny mortal spells won't protect you from it either. > Ancestor/Hero spririts: Basically souls of the Dead, but they are > supported by > mortal worshippers in a similar manner to that of the immortals and are > thus much more powerful than the average soul. [Snip] > Sounds reasonable. Human worshippers can elevate a soul to Ancestor/hero > spirit status. This is common in Ethengar, the Northern Reaches and in > ancient traladara among other cultures.. Hmm. The problem with this is: a) If normal souls can gain power from worshippers, what is different between them and the immortals? (Save that the immortals have more power. But if a soul gets enough power, they could do all the things that an immortal can do). b) If souls can gain power but exalted beings cannot...what is the point of being exalted? (Except that it gains you immediate power, whereas a soul will probably never gain power anyway, since most won't have worshippers). c) If exalted can thus gain power from worshippers, what is the difference between them and immortals? These can be solved by saying that beings of this power or less are mortal, between this and this are exalted, and beyond this are immortal, but it feels cludgy. I would feel that those souls which are worshipped would suit being exalted more. Kinda like saints, which can intervene but are not the boss guy/gal themselves. Perhaps the immortal would raise them to exalted because of this. After all, if the mortal did well enough to have worshippers, they probably deserve to be at least exalted. The idea of having exalted beings not gaining power from worshippers was to encourage a stereotype. The stereotype of the demon having his secret cult of followers which are promised all soughts of power if they just give their lord some whatever. The more powerful exalted might have priests, but since making someone a priest will cost permanent power, they would have to be assured that the priest would gain them more power than they will lose. Hmmm, any thoughts? Glenn - -- mailto:knight@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au | "We have plenty of time to finger -l for PGP public key | kill ourselves." http://www.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/~knight/ | ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 06:24:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian nobles In a message dated 97-10-14 13:07:17 EDT, ANDREW.THEISEN@ASU.Edu writes: << > While we are on the subject, has anyone noticed that G:KoM completely left > out any mention of Piotr-Grygory Timenko, Baron of Kutchevski? His tower > is still on the map, but there is nothing on him in the Grimoire. Noticed it. It was a very conspicuous absence, as well. Note that they haven't adjusted Morphail's voting powers to compensate for a potential loss of one of his supporters. Stupid... *rassimfrassim*... >> I would suggest that it was a mere "typo". Morphail is described as having three barons (at four votes each) as allies, yet his votes in Parliament exceed his votes in the Coucil by sixteen. Since the only named defection is by the baron of Mariksen, it would seem that the Baron of Kutchevski is still loyal and should have been listed. But if Morphail continues to lose his grip on his pawns, we now know who will be the next to break free.... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 10:49:15 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian nobles In einer eMail vom 16.10.97 10:40:41, schreiben Sie: << So, let's say that there are no more duchies. What happens is Westheath becomes available. Do the marquises then compete for it? What if one of the Prince-Dukes decides that he wants it? Would he have to move out of his Principality/Duchy and relinquish his princely title? >> I guess the prince-duke could become Archduke and then would have a duke ruling his internal duchie. However I don't think many marquises would want this duchy, since, though it would bring them more voting power in parliament, they would have no power in their duchy, as a prince can dow whatever he wants within his principality. I guess only a noble allied with the prince whose duchy he gets would be interested, as the prince might grant him some autonomy in exchange for his increase of voting power in parliament (or of course the noble who gets the duchy might then decide to ally with the resident prince for the above reasons). Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 17:49:14 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals On Thu, 16 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > I long ago worked out how fairies could quest for Immortality. > Before they can do that, they must quest for Mortality. Once > a fairy becomes Mortal, he can quest for Immortality but loses > all of the benefits of his or her fairy heritage. And that quest > for Immortality had better not take more than a few centuries, > lest the quester die of old age.... It seems like a good idea for fairies, but it doesn't feel right for spirirs and if we want to keep them of the same nature it wouldn't IMO work. But still, it is an interesting theory. If you perhaps could elaborate more..? Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 09:32:33 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: [Mystara] Glantri post #1 Okay- here is the first of a couple of posts on Glantri I'll be making today, as that nation seems once more to be the hotbed of intrigue. :) This one will deal with the levels of the Noble Princes(ses). Here's the method I used to figure their progression out: 1) Take the listed dominion income (from GAZ3) and divide it by .8 in order to get the amount of dominion income prior to giving the Council it's 20% cut. 2) Multiply that by 50 to get the amount of money (in Ducats, where 1 dc=1gp) the dominion generates. 3) Subract the Standard Income (Population/5 x 10) The result is the amount of dc/month of resource and tax income, as well as xp earned (where 1 gp= 1xp). In cases where this amounted to vast intakes of xp (which is most) I used the rule in the Dominion ruling section that says: 5) No more than 1 level should be earned per 12-18 months of rulership. That being said, let's get on with it: (Anything marked with an asterisk, see below) AALBAN Income: 1967 cr/mo (after calculations)- 51,977.5 dc/mo Total xp from AC1000-1010= 6,237,300!! Jaggar is M30 in AC1000- (max. gain of 10 levels) M36 by 1010 and from then on. BELCADIZ Income: 649 cr/mo (after calculations)- 15,466.5 dc/mo Total xp from AC1000-1010= 1,855,980!! *Carnelia is E10 (atk rnk H) in 1000- By 1010, she is E10 (atk rnk M) BLACKHILL Income: 1508 cr/mo (after calculations)- 39,470 dc/mo Total xp from AC1000-1005= 2,368,200!! Volospin is M22- (max. gain of 5 levels) M27 when he dies/disappears in 1005. BERGDHOVEN Income: 2535 cr/mo (after calculations)- 85,597.5 dc/mo Total xp from AC1000-1006= 6,163,020!! Total xp from AC1006-1014= 8,217,360!! Vanserie is M28- (max. gain of 6 levels) M34 when he dies in 1006. Juliana is M9?- (max. gain of 8 levels) M17? in 1014 AC. BOLDAVIA Income: 812 cr/mo (after calculations)- 20,782 dc/mo Total xp from AC1000-1010= 2,493,840!! Morphail is M28- (max. gain of 10 levels) M36 CAURENZE Income: 1756 cr/mo (after calculations)- 46,110 dc/mo Total xp from AC1000-1006= 3,319,920!! Innocenti is M17- (max. gain of 6 levels) M23 by the time his principality is destroyed in 1006 AC. EREWAN Income: 1415 cr/mo (after calculations)- 34,597.5 dc/mo Total xp from AC1000-1010= 4,151,700!! *Carlotina is E10(atk rnk H)- E10 (atk rnk M) by 1010. KLANTYRE Income: 1125 cr/mo (after calculations)- 14,192.5 dc/mo Total xp from AC1000-1010= 1,705,100!! Brannart is M33- (max. gain of 10 levels) M36 KRONDAHAR Income: 1477 cr/mo (after calculations)- 40,757.5 dc/mo Total xp from AC1000-1010= 4,707,900!! Virayana is M27- (max. gain of 10 levels) M36 NEW AVEROIGNE Income: 1591 cr/mo (after calculations)- 40,757.5 dc/mo Total xp from AC1000-1010= 4,890,900 (489PP)!! Etienne gains 489 PP by the time of his disappearance in 1009! His sister, Isidore, rises from M11 to M12 during her interim during 1010 AC (from Nuwmont to Klarmont). After regaining the reigns in 1011, she rises to M15 by 1014 AC. Notes: * Both of the elves are listed only as E10 in their descriptions, but a look at the rules for mastery of the secret crafts shows that each Attack rank counts as two levels. Both elves are the High Mistresses of their crafts, and thus must be at least Attack Rank H. BRAMYRA AND SABLESTONE (The figures for these two locations are based on measurements of the Principalities from my own campaign. I note that the P of Sablestone, according to G:KoM is much larger than I have made it; don't recall Bramyra, offhand, though I think my map and G:KoM match on this Principality). BRAMYRA Income: 6994.4 dc/mo Total xp from AC1003-1014= 1,007,193.6 Krinagar is M15? in 1003- M21 by 1014 AC SABLESTONE Income: 16,128 dc/mo Total xp from AC1004-1010= 1,161,216!! Harald is M25? in 1004- M31 in 1010- M35 in 1014 AC. THE END RESULTS BYE 1014AC: Jaggar Von Drachenfels: M36 Carnelia de Belcadiz y Fedorias: E10/M Volospin Aendyr: M27 (presumed dead) Vanserie Vlaardoen: M34 (dead) Juliana Vlaardoen: M17? Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany: M36 Innocenti di Malapietra: M23 (insane?) Carlotina Erewan: E10/M Brannart McGregor: M36 Jherek Virayana: M36 Isidore D'Ambreville: M15? Urmahid Krinagar: M21? Harald of Haaskinz: M35? 1) Those marked with a question mark aren't definite, as we don't know what level they were at the time of becoming Princes. 2) I note that I forgot to include Malachie du Marais... nerts. Which raises an interesting point- would he and Diane de Moriamis both earn xp? Or only him? Technically, she should be a Princess, I'd think... 3) I'd also recommend using the elf mage experience tables for Carlotina at least. I don't know offhand what level that her experience would make her as an elven mage, but I'd also make that xp progression retroactive, since the table takes over from level 10. IE, rather than have her attack rank H (see Notes), start her out at the equivalent elf/mage level- 20, I believe. Anyway, that's it. Any questions? My personal preference would probably be to use the revised dominion rules by Bruce from Dragon, but YMMV. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 09:53:57 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: [Mystara] Glantri Post #2 This one will tackle the issue of the Secret Crafts. From GAZ3, here's the breakdown: ELEMENTALISTS (AIR) - Volospin Aendyr* (5th) - Serena Aendyr* (3rd) - Gertrud Von Drachenfels* (2nd) - Margaret of Hillsbury* (3rd) - Arbana Jerbat* (2nd) - Emeth Urbaal* (3rd) ELEMENTALISTS (EARTH) - Innocenti di Malapietra (5th) - Lucrecia di Malapietra? (3rd) - Giovanni di Malapietra? (2nd) - Hildegard Von Drachenfelsx (4th) ELEMENTALISTS (FIRE) - Vanserie Vlaardoen* (5th) - Wilhelmine Vlaardoen? (4th) - Juliana Vlaardoen (1st) - Sinaria Verlien (4th) - Pieter Vandehaar (3rd) - Rowena Krollnar? (3rd) ELEMENTALISTS (WATER) - Harald of Haaskinz (5th) - Quentin McGregor (3rd) - Sean McGregor (1st) ALCHEMISTS - Genevieve de Sephora (5th) - Isabelle D'Ambreville (3rd) - Guillaume D'Ambreville (3rd) - Jakar Daron (3rd) - Rolf Von Graustein (3rd) - Malachie du Marais (3rd) - Diane de Moriamis (3rd) - Antonio di Tarento (3rd) WITCHCRAFT - Carnelia de Belcadiz (5th) - Carmina de Belcadiz (2nd) - Yolanda de Belcadiz (1st) - Victoria de Belcadiz (2nd) - Gilles Grenier (2nd) - Szasza Markovitch (3rd) - Isabella de Montebello (3rd) ILLUSION - Jherek Virayana (5th) - Lan-Syn Virayana (4th) - Rejladan Virayana (1st) - Ralindi Virayana (2nd) - Urmahid Krinagar (4th) DRACOLOGY - Jaggar Von Drachenfels (5th) - Galladin (1st) - Aliana Nyraviel* (2nd) - Ezechiel Naramis* (2nd) - Eachainn McDougall (3rd) - Helgar Von Drachenfels (2nd) CRYPTOMANCY - Carlotina Erewan (5th) - Eleesa Erewan (4th) - Norelia Erewan (4th) - Bethys Erewan (4th) - Franz Lowenroth (3rd) NECROMANCY - Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany (5th) - Brannart McGregor (4th) - Piotr-Gregory Timenko (2nd) - Angus McGregor (3rd) - Youri Ivanov (3rd) - Boris Gorevitch-Woszlany (3rd) - Laszlo Wutyla* (2nd) * Connotes someone dead or presumed dead. I note that the Air Elementalists, in particular, seem to have quite a few vacancies currently. ? Connotes someone of questionable status. In the case of the di Malapietras, I note that Giovanni and Lucrecia both are noted to have stayed at or near the Great School of Magic, and are thus likely not to have been in Caurenze when the meteor struck. I believe both Wilhelmine Vlaardoen and Rowena Krollnar are dead in G: KoM. x A bit of an error? Hildegarde Von D. is noted to be both a 5th circle Earth Elementalist as well as a F15!! I presume Bruce meant for her to be M15 and 4th circle, though. :) Again, note that this info is derived from GAZ3- I didn't bother to check G:KoM for changes, as that product is primarily a reprint of Bruce's original Gazetteer, and what bits aren't are are pretty darn well worth ignoring, IMO. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 10:06:24 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: [Mystara] Glantri Post #3 On the topic of Dominion bouncing, here is what my take on things was: Harald becomes Prince of Sablestone and Baron of Kern in 1004 AC. John Beaumarys-Moorkroft becomes Archduke of Westheath. Mariana Terlagand (Narda Shelyn) becomes Duchess of Hightower* Rowena Krollnar becomes Countess of Glenargyll Alasdair McAllister becomes Marquis of Berrym A PC in one of my games took over McAllister's Barony. * The rationale here was that certain nobles, notably Jaggar Von Drachenfels, determined it would be better to have Eachainn McDougall maintain his position as Count of Skullhorn Pass. They still don't trust Urmahid Krinagar with the other end, even now. :) The rest are all based on my estimates of the nobles involved, their influence and inclinations (for instance, no nobles of Boldavia would bother to compete for higher titles). - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 10:26:36 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement - LONG On Wed, 15 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > 1004 AC: > Harald of Haaskinz, A. of Westheath, establishes Principality of > Sablestone. > This is where things get interesting. Barony of Kern is established for > Harald. Westheath is up for grabs. There is an indication in one of the > PWAs that John Beaumarys-Moorkroft is the new Archduke. We'll assume that > Margaret of Hillsbury was content to stay in her tower and dream about > Prince Volospin. She must have, since Delores/Synn wouldn't have been able to gain Hillsbury as a Duchy otherwise. > PWA also indicates that Eachainn McDougal is the new D. of Hightower. Nerts. I forgot it was mentioned thusly. I still think it more likely that he would have been kept there to hold the other end of Skullhorn Pass... don't want those Ethies to get their hands on it! > Now then, Dunvegan is up for grabs. Aliana of Soth-Kabree and Emeth of > Wylon are out for reasons stated above. Don't forget that Aliana Nyraviel has already had her brain taken by a Neh-Thalggu at this point! :) Not that it apparently made any difference to her political compatriots. Maybe she has a Magistrate represent her in Parliament? ;) > So, Alasdair McAllister is now M. of Dunvegan, raising Crownguard's PV to > 35. Sounds fine and reasonable to me. I pushed him for Marquis of Berrym (see Glantri Post #3) for similar reasons. > Next comes the County of Glenargyll. > > So, Griseo Fulvina is the new Count of Glenargyll; he also starts liking > Harald of Haaskinz a lot more than Prince Innocenti. He immediately > betrays Innocenti and joins the House of Haaskinz, decreasing > Innocenti's PV to 21 and raising Harald's PV to 20. The Houses of > Haaskinz and Sirecchia hate each other forever more. Hmmm... I pushed Rowena Krollnar into this position... I'll have to recheck my reasoning for why, though... > Isabella is the narrow winner and the new V. of Verazzano. Alhambra now > has a PV of 30. I note I forgot to include a Viscounty, but I believe I did move Isabella. For the most part, we seem to agree on who gets moved, if not always where they get moved. :) > Okay, let's play along with TSR and say that Harald of Haaskinz excercised > his influence and got the Barony of Egorn for his friend Gerrid Rientha. > Or else you might award it to one of the PCs in your campaign. Which is what I did, though it was a different Barony. > 1006 AC: > The meteor strikes! All the Silverston nobles die; Caurenze and allied > dominions of Erewan (Nathrat and Soth-Kabree) are destroyed. Ouch. > Antonio of Castelbianco joins House of Haaskinz, raising its PV to 29. At this point, I had Innocenti ally with Haaskinz, at least temporarily, until Fenswick was created. He was still a Viscount, after all. Of course, TSR made him insane on me, so... ;) > As of 1012, Jherek of Krondahar has the most personal power (CV of 25), > with Harald of Sablestone coming close (24). The House of Haaskinz is > the most powerful overall (PV of 39), and Singhabad and Crownguard > share the second place (34). Clearly, you want to have Haaskinz and > Virayana on your good side... Unfortunately, they are usually the most > neutral. Don't forget that the House of Skullhorn (Bramyra, under Urmahid Krinagar) is very closely allied with House Singhabad, and IIRC, Krinagar isn't without his own influence. House Singhabad pretty well reigns, and it seems ever more appropriate to me that Jherek Virayana is the primary personality representing Glantri in X10: Red Arrow, Black Shield. > So, here it is. What do you think? Pretty darn good. That is pretty much the way I handled it, though I obviously had a few changes in my version, derived mainly from one change that isn't supported by canon. Note though, that many nobles may change Houses over time- you have noted a few changes, but I would think there might be even more. John Beaumarys-Moorkroft is particularly noted for switching allegiances (and is notoriously the worst offender), but certainly it might be even more notable. Also, you alluded to it, but I am curious if anyone else has noticed that there don't seem to be enough Baronies to go around in order to accomodate all the higher level nobles out there... - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 19:55:28 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Jaggar and Star Dragon I was just reading thru GAZ10 today and under the entry for Uruk Vaath (Jaggar) i found this line (page 17, bottom): "He is a 5th level Dracologist (see GAZ3) and happens to be also THE STAR DRAGON". Now, this means that Jaggar has all the abilities and powers of the Star Dragon (Diamond) cause he beat him up in a duel, that he can assume his form and that Diamond is forbidden to enter the Prime Plane! Is this correct Bruce??? Just a little curiosity.... DM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 20:07:58 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) At 17.09 15/10/97 +0200, Haavard wrote: >I'm personally quite happy with Red Steel, but I will incorporate your >notes into my campaign if it should change center from the Known World and >into the Savage Coast. So do i :) >I'm a bit curious though, how people feel about firearms. Should they at >some point be developed in the Known World too? >I know Bruce wrote a Dragon Article on this at one point and I was >wondering how it could best be fit into the Mystara timeline? The article >suggests introducing the firearms in AC1010 IRC, but postponing it might >not be a bad idea. What's the general opinion on this matter? Personally, i'd keep the firearms "confined" in the Savage Baronies, mainly for two reasons. 1. Campaign flavour: they suit fairly well in that setting (olè, Zorro!), but besides that region (and maybe Darokin) i don't see any other nation that would have the technology nor the need to develop and use them. They would destroy the balance of the Known World IMHO... 2. Magical explanation: IMC i have ruled that the firearms can work only in the Savage Baronies because of a strange magical reaction between cinnabar and the air of the Savage Baronies. Simply put, if you try to fire with a weapon outside the Savage Baronies, you simply fail (similar to Red Curse and Savage Coast if you want). So i use them, but only in the Savage Baronies... HOWEVER, i am still interested in those rule for the Hand Crossbow (the closer thing to a pistol that could be used in the KW), so if anybody has them, can he/she please send them to me? :) PS: do you think a hand crossbow could be used by M-U? DM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 20:00:56 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] New PC class: Greater Gargoyle At 16.47 15/10/97 +0200, Haavroen of Faanes ;) wrote: > >Good idea. I personally prefer the theory that they were created by >Kagyar, but by leving it all a mystery it becomes way cooler. > >Are Margoyles in any way related to Gargoyles? Probably not. Unless they >were gargoyles given life by magic or miracle. Well, the name is similar just because they themselves are simlar in appearence to gargoyles (like the TV Gargoyles, they come in many shapes).. As for a real link, it depends on the legend about their origins. There is however a strong similarity, but they don't feel kin to each other, surely... >Maybe you should make up another name for them? As you like. I gave them the name Margoyle because it's a mix between what they resemble most (gargoyle) and the name of their creator (that's me!;P)... >Any margoyles created from the Iron Gargoyles? Never heard of them... What are Iron Gargoyles?? DM ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #169 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #170 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Friday, October 17 1997 Volume 02 : Number 170 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 11:34:13 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > PS: do you think a hand crossbow could be used by M-U? Given that Ramissur, a lowly 2nd or 3rd? level Boltman, could use them (and in fact, became quite adept with them, twirling two on his fingers), I'd say that's a yes. I don't recall stats offhand, though damage is only 1d4. There were also a set of weapon skills that could be developed with the HC's. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 19:49:51 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement - LONG First of all let me tell you, Aleksei, that i really liked your writeup: this was something we all (well, at least I) needed to explain the changes occurred after WotI and update Glantri. I don't know how long did it take to you to compile it, but let me tell you that you spent your time really well. But before making just slight comments to your wonderful article, i'd like to ask you: all the changes you made in Glantri have been made to explain what was written in PWAs and in G:KoM or are just your assumptions with no real link to official info? (btw i don't consider G:KoM as an official source ;p) And now let's make some comments: (Remember, you have to get 80+ votes at Council to win the election. At the Parliament requests scoring two-thirds or more of the nobles votes are accepted) The acronyms used: B=Baron, V=Viscount, C=Count, M=Marquis, D=Duke, A=Archduke, P=Prince, CV=voting power at Council, PV=voting power at Parliament. Aleksei wrote: <> Agree in most of the cases. <> I agree about Ezechiel: he won't leave his Viscounty because of the anti-magic ore he has discovered in the Silver Sierras and he's now secretly exploiting. As for Diane of Malinbois and Arbana of Redstone, well, the first one could also have been convinced (read "charmed") by Malachie not to petition for the County, but i think Arbana could have competed. She's a spy and she wants more power to control and spy more efficiently over the House of Silverstone and the other Principalities. <> Probably you're right: he doesn't want to move from his lab. <> You're right, and i also think he's quite mad, so he doesn't really care about political life.. <> I would add Arbana of Redstone after all... <> If you read carefully in Signor Griseo Fulvina's background, you'll se that he's a follower of di Malapietra and a master spy for his Prince. I don't think he would betray him only because he voted against him, and for that matter, i don't think di Malapietra would vote against him. Being a supporter of both Antonio di Tarento and Griseo Fulvina, he would probably abstain from taking a position in favour of one or the other (a nice political move IMHO). Also, with the shady position Griseo Fulvina has, why should Haaskinz like him better than sweet Rowena, who is sponsored also by his friend Etienne? (remember that even though Harald belonged to the House of Sirecchia, he deeply distrusted Innocenti and his lackeys) I have another theory: Arbana: 22 (Volospin), +21 (Carlotina) = 43 Antonio: 15 (Brannart) = 15 Griseo: 15 (Morphail), +25 (Jherek), +16 (Urmahid), +18 (Carnelia) = 72 Rowena: 17 (Vanserie), +25 (Etienne) + 14 (Harald) +17 (Jaggar) = 73 Innocenti abstains (he doesn't want to upset one of the two thyatians if he votes for the other one); Volospin votes for Arbana cause he doesn't know that she's a spy and Carlotina backs him up because she doesn't want to vote like Carnelia nor Vanserie and doesn't like Antonio. Given the fact that Volospin also dislikes Vanserie like her, she supports him. In this case Rowena wins, BUT she doesn't reach the quorum (80 points), so the thing is passed to the Parliament. However, since i don't want the Parliament to handle this, the problem can be solved in another way. I think that given the importance of Fulvina's shady services for Innocenti, he will persuade him not to take part in the election (too much publicity), thus choosing to support only Antonio. So the elections could go like this: Arbana: 22 (Volospin) Antonio: 16 (Innocenti) Rowena: 17 (Vanserie), +25 (Etienne) + 14 (Harald) +17 (Jaggar) Now: - - Brannart won't ever vote like Morphail and Etienne, - - Morphail won't vote like Brannart, Etienne and Volospin - - Jherek and Urmahid won't vote like Vanserie and Jaggar - - Carnelia won't vote like Etienne and Carlotina - - Carlotina won't vote like Carnelia and Vanserie What to do now? Given the fact that Volospin dislikes Vanserie and Jaggar much like Jherek and Carlotina, then he'll get the votes of Singhabad, Bramyra and Ellerovyn. Carnelia will vote against Carlotina and Etienne (for Antonio). Morphail and Brannart will just oppose each other. So this will be the situation: Arbana: 22 (Volospin) +25 (Jherek), +16 (Urmahid) +15 (Brannart) +21 (Carlotina)= 99 Antonio: 16 (Innocenti) +15 (Morphail) +18 (Carnelia) = 49 Rowena: 17 (Vanserie), +25 (Etienne) + 14 (Harald) +17 (Jaggar)= 73 Arbana would become Countess of Glenargyll. Obviously, this is just theory, we cannot know for sure ;) Now we must find a new owner for Redstone, not for Verazzano <> i agree. <> What hopes? There is already a Principality owned by Harald of Haaskinz, so i think he will try another way to climb the social ladder in Glantri, and this election is just what he's been waiting for. << That leaves us with Franz of Adlerturm and Isabella of Egorn.>> And Pieter of Oxhill, who's also a bitter enemy of Isabella (he cannot just watch her ascend to Viscountess without trying to interfere). So you have: Franz: 17 (Jaggar), +25 (Etienne) +14 (Harald) = 56 Isabella: 18 (Carnelia), +25 (Jherek), +16 (Urmahid), +22 (Volospin) +15 (Brannart) = 96 Pieter: 17 (Vanserie), +21 (Carlotina) +15 (Morphail) +16 (Innocenti) = 69 As per your hypothesis, Isabella is the new Viscountess (of Redstone for me, of Verazzano for you). Alahambra PV is now 30. <> Pardon but who is Gerrid Rientha? I suppose he's from G:KoM. Could you give me more info about him and his political affiliation (and also some secrets)? <> I don't get it: why should Alphaks assassinate one of his pawn's undead pawns using fake Alphatians? I know Alphaks is a bit crazed and that he has a twisted sense of humor, but why this execution?? Obviously these two comments are not directed against your article: i'm just curious. <<1006 AC: The meteor strikes! All the Silverston nobles die; Caurenze and allied dominions of Erewan (Nathrat and Soth-Kabree) are destroyed. Ouch. Antonio of Castelbianco joins House of Haaskinz, raising its PV to 29.>> Why? Because of Caurenze's fate? Maybe he fears that since Innocenti's political power is diminishing he won't have the chance to climb up the social ladder and so attaches himself to Harald (who was a former supporter of Sirecchia)? <> Again, who's this Vincenzo di Randazzi (stats and secrets, please) and why does he side with du Marais, which is technically a friend of Sylaire, which in turn is a foe of Sirecchia (where he comes from, judging from the name)? Have all these defections to the House of Sirecchia anything to do with Innocenti's worse than ever paranoia and madness? ;p Also, what does Griseo Fulvina do? AFAIK from what you've written, he still a supporter of the House of Sirecchia (the one and only, that is). <> Acceptable <<1011 AC: Jaggar loses the title of Chamberlain to Isidore. Jaggar's CV and PV are 17 and 33, Isidore's are 19 and 30.>> Why? Is it written in G:KoM? <> Where exactly is this Viscounty located? Are there any maps displaying it? Also, do you know if Camp Huledain was also destroyed by the meteor that crashed there in AC 1006? And what about Fort Lakeside in Darokin (the fort north of the Amsorak)? Is it still standing? <> I think House of Singhabad is the most powerful overall essentially because it can always count on the support of the House of Bramyra (Prince Krinagar is always on Jherek's side, and this gives him an impressive amount of power on the council.. which may seem suspicious, especially during the war with the Khan...) Last comment: i will gladly petition your article to be somehow introduced in the next almanac, provided we manage to understand how.. ;) Again, well done Aleksei! *pat on the shoulder* :) PS: just out of curiosity, since the votes in the Council are secret, how the heck do the Princes know how the other rivals will vote?? DM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 20:50:28 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Top 3 and Worst 3 (remember?) Many months ago i started this referendum, but it didn't last for long and i only got a dozen voting people, so i'll try to do it again. Basically you're asked to name the best three and the worst three products about Mystara published by TSR, and maybe a little explanation of why you chose them (at your discretion). Thanx for the cooperation. Just out of sheer curiosity, i list the final result of the last poll: TOP 3: 1. Wrath of the Immortals 2. GAZ3: Principalities of Glantri Hollow World boxed set 3. Champions of Mystara GAZ1: Grand Duchy of Karameikos GAZ10: Orcs of Thar CM1: Test of Warlords WORST 3: 1. GAZ4: Kingdom of Ierendi 2. Survival Kits (PLayer&DM) GAZ2: Emirates of Ylaruam Joshuan Almanac Dragon's Den 3. IM1: Immortal Storm X1: Isle of Dread OK that's all, thanks for the cooperation. PS: if you want to keep the other listmembers free of these votes, just send your list dierctly to my e-mail: dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it DM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 14:28:30 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) On Thu, 16 Oct 1997 20:07:58 +0200 DM writes: [snip] >Personally, i'd keep the firearms "confined" in the Savage Baronies, >mainly >for two reasons. >1. Campaign flavour: they suit fairly well in that setting (olè, >Zorro!), >but besides that region (and maybe Darokin) i don't see any other >nation >that would have the technology nor the need to develop and use them. >They >would destroy the balance of the Known World IMHO... Agreed. >2. Magical explanation: IMC i have ruled that the firearms can work >only in >the Savage Baronies because of a strange magical reaction between >cinnabar >and the air of the Savage Baronies. Simply put, if you try to fire >with a >weapon outside the Savage Baronies, you simply fail (similar to Red >Curse >and Savage Coast if you want). > >So i use them, but only in the Savage Baronies... This is actually stated in the Savage Coast product. They only work in the Cursed regions and in the Haze, IIRC. >DM > > "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 14:32:18 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Gargantua in time) On Thu, 16 Oct 1997 10:28:22 +0200 (MET DST) Haavard Roenne Faanes writes: >On Tue, 14 Oct 1997, Diego Calugi wrote: > >> Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: >> >> > So either it is set prior to AC 1000 (setting for PC3), at a point >when >> > Tritons still ruled the city before being pushed north into >Undersea by >> > Shark-Kin invasions (and possibly Devilfish aggression), or else >it is >> > set at some unspecified point in the future when Tritons (for >whatever >> > reason) decide to stage an offensive against the Shark-Kin and >drive them >> > out of the southern waters of Undersea and settle the city of >Suthus. >> >> I'm not very expert with Undersea, but I'd exclude your second >> hypothesis. In fact, X7 states that Suthus was built by the Tritons >> themselves, so Shark-Kin have just conquered it later (before AC >1.000). >> >> However your first suggestion seems fine. > >With the recently posted Undersea timeline Shark-kin were sent to HW, >so >this could not have happened in the recent years, assuming that the >said >timeline is made 'canon.' Wow, someone remembers that! I am still working on the 1010-1014 timeline, and the whole thing may be put into a future Net-Almanac. I might be able to post a ssort of overview in a bit, though an actual timeline is a while away. >Håvard. > > >Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy >toves >Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the >wabe: >or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the >borogoves, >http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths >outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 13:07:04 -0700 (PDT) From: Diego Subject: Re: [Mystara] Questions for Mr. Heard (was: Hand Crossbow stats) > Seattle isn't too bad of a place Bruce, I live just a little north of it. > Just a thought. Yeah, I agree, you just have to like rain and never want to see the sun. - -Diego ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 16:35:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Questions for Mr. Heard (was: Hand Crossbow stats) In a message dated 97-10-16 16:26:24 EDT, you write: << > Seattle isn't too bad of a place Bruce, I live just a little north of it. > Just a thought. >> Did I say something bad about Seattle itself? Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 13:49:28 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement - LONG On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > Arbana would become Countess of Glenargyll. Obviously, this is just theory, > we cannot know for sure ;) > > Now we must find a new owner for Redstone, not for Verazzano Hmm... and I still contend for the third choice, Rowena Krollnar. As I don't have my rationale with me, we'll have to wait until I get home to figure it out. ;) > Pardon but who is Gerrid Rientha? I suppose he's from G:KoM. Could you give > me more info about him and his political affiliation (and also some secrets)? He's this aging friend of Harald's who was given- *given*- the Archduchy of Westheath when Harald left. I suppose a case could be made for Harald appointing Gerrid as his heir, but I'd think the other nobles- particularly John Beaumarys-Moorkroft- would raise quite a fuss... > <<1006 AC: > The meteor strikes! All the Silverston nobles die; Caurenze and allied > dominions of Erewan (Nathrat and Soth-Kabree) are destroyed. Ouch. > Antonio of Castelbianco joins House of Haaskinz, raising its PV to 29.>> > > Why? Because of Caurenze's fate? Maybe he fears that since Innocenti's > political power is diminishing he won't have the chance to climb up the > social ladder and so attaches himself to Harald (who was a former supporter > of Sirecchia)? Innocenti's title of Prince was stripped, though, if you recall, when Caurenze was smashed. I could see the others switching allegiances at that point, as their primary backer (and means of attaining higher rank) is gone. I could very definitely see Innocenti switching allegiance as well... at least up until the point that he was turned into a raving madman (which doesn't occur, IMO, until some time after 1010/1011- the point at which he is still coherent enough to cooperate with Synn to poison Jaggar's wife). > Again, who's this Vincenzo di Randazzi (stats and secrets, please) and why > does he side with du Marais, which is technically a friend of Sylaire, which > in turn is a foe of Sirecchia (where he comes from, judging from the name)? > Have all these defections to the House of Sirecchia anything to do with > Innocenti's worse than ever paranoia and madness? ;p Vincienzo is another G: KoM dudes. > <<1011 AC: > Jaggar loses the title of Chamberlain to Isidore. Jaggar's CV and PV are 17 > and 33, Isidore's are 19 and 30.>> > > Why? Is it written in G:KoM? I think this happened during one of the PWA's, actually. > < create a *viscounty* of Blackstone. His CV and PV are 15.>> > > Where exactly is this Viscounty located? Are there any maps displaying it? Blackstone, coincidentally enough, is located directly on the remains of Redstone. :) > Also, do you know if Camp Huledain was also destroyed by the meteor that > crashed there in AC 1006? And what about Fort Lakeside in Darokin (the fort > north of the Amsorak)? Is it still standing? Huledain, I believe, was destroyed. Lakeside, I at first believed to be destroyed, but when writing the info on the Great Migration, I noted a reference to Lakeside (humanoid raids in the vicinity in Joshuan's Almanac). It is still standing, though I noted in the last almanac that it was still under repairs. Troops from the newly completed Fort Highlake act as support for Lakeside. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 17:09:15 -0400 (EDT) From: Mystaros@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Vampires and their gets In a message dated 97-10-15 10:29:55 EDT, you write: << So this is my idea: have you maybe ever thought about who the "first" vampires should be. >> Those of you who are familiar with my rendition of the Taymoran Empire may be aware of the Undead (Nosferatu/Vampiric) nature of that empire... IMC, most "Vampiric" lineages are descended from the Necromancer-Kings of that land... when I am back on the net I will (finally) post some info on it on my web site... until then, farewell! Mystara Lives! Mystaros ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 17:12:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Mystaros@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Questions for Mr. Heard (was: Hand Crossbow stats) In a message dated 97-10-15 11:31:23 EDT, John Yu wrote: << BTW, who first come up with the Known World setting (back at expert set/X1, I guess were the earlist mention of it?). >> I had the chance to get the tale "from the horses mouth", so to speak, at this last Gen Con. According to David Cook (Expert Set, X1, X4, X5, etc, etc), the "Continental Map" of module X1 (which became the Known World of Mystara) was made up specifically for the Expert set and subsequent adventures (the B, X, CM, M and I lines, among others)... so IIRC, it would be Cook and Moldvay... Mystaros ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 20:37:36 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@AOL.COM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian nobles I thought I'd throw an idea out there... what if a standing noble could found a new dominion of the next higher rank (requiring approval from the council/parliament just like a new barony would). ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 21:09:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] New PC class: Greater Gargoyle DM pontificated: > > As you like. I gave them the name Margoyle because it's a mix between what > they resemble most (gargoyle) and the name of their creator (that's me!;P)... > You came up that name yourself? Because I think there is a monster in AD&D call that is called margoyle. It is mentioned under Ring of Gargoyles in Encyclopedia Magica. But I don't have any of AD&D's monster manual, so I don't know where they are described. John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 21:25:36 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian nobles In a message dated 97-10-16 05:40:41 EDT, k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi (Aleksei Andrievski) writes: << So, let's say that there are no more duchies. What happens is Westheath becomes available. Do the marquises then compete for it? >> I would say yes, as the marquises would be the highest ranking nobles below the rank of Archduke. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 22:18:26 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals In a message dated 97-10-16 12:22:36 EDT, hoc@nvg.ntnu.no writes: << On Thu, 16 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > I long ago worked out how fairies could quest for Immortality. > Before they can do that, they must quest for Mortality. Once > a fairy becomes Mortal, he can quest for Immortality but loses > all of the benefits of his or her fairy heritage. And that quest > for Immortality had better not take more than a few centuries, > lest the quester die of old age.... It seems like a good idea for fairies, but it doesn't feel right for spirirs and if we want to keep them of the same nature it wouldn't IMO work. But still, it is an interesting theory. If you perhaps could elaborate more..? >> Since nobody ever got around to attempting this quest, I never fleshed it out, but you may want to check out the fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen for ideas. The mermaid in this tale was originally "soulless" but eventually acquired a soul -- fairies in D&D would presumably have to accomplish a similar feat to have a chance at Immortality and other things that are reserved for mortals only. As for spirits, I would be inclined to agree -- the method I described would not fit for them, as they are not alienated from the Immortals as fairies are. In fact, many of them have a close connection to a particular Immortal that actually interferes with their attainment of Immortality. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 01:58:08 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Jaggar and Star Dragon In a message dated 97-10-16 14:23:51 EDT, DM writes: << I was just reading thru GAZ10 today and under the entry for Uruk Vaath (Jaggar) i found this line (page 17, bottom): "He is a 5th level Dracologist (see GAZ3) and happens to be also THE STAR DRAGON". Now, this means that Jaggar has all the abilities and powers of the Star Dragon (Diamond) cause he beat him up in a duel, that he can assume his form and that Diamond is forbidden to enter the Prime Plane! Is this correct Bruce??? >> The one comment I can make on this is that the abilities of the 5th circle dracologist changed substantially between GAZ3 and GKoM. Also it was mentioned in an article in Dragon that Jaggar had given up this ability and was working to reform the dracologists because their abilities draw power from the spirits of dragons. (The article was either on dragon sublimation or the dragon's home planes. I don't remember which). ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 10:14:02 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement -short At 13.49 16/10/97 -0700, Cthul wrote: >On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, DM wrote: >> Pardon but who is Gerrid Rientha? I suppose he's from G:KoM. Could you give >> me more info about him and his political affiliation (and also some secrets)? > >He's this aging friend of Harald's who was given- *given*- the Archduchy >of Westheath when Harald left. I suppose a case could be made for Harald >appointing Gerrid as his heir, but I'd think the other nobles- >particularly John Beaumarys-Moorkroft- would raise quite a fuss... Indeed. I'd stick to Aleksei's hypothesis concerning Westheath (i'm against G:KoM, but this isn't any news, isn't it?:)) >Innocenti's title of Prince was stripped, though, if you recall, when >Caurenze was smashed. I could see the others switching allegiances at >that point, as their primary backer (and means of attaining higher rank) >is gone. I could very definitely see Innocenti switching allegiance as >well... at least up until the point that he was turned into a raving >madman So who does now signor Griseo Fulvina support if not Innocenti? DM ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 15:15:59 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement - LONG Oh, goody! A first reply to my long post! And I already thought that nobody bothered to read it ;) On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > > So, Alasdair McAllister is now M. of Dunvegan, raising Crownguard's PV to > > 35. > > Sounds fine and reasonable to me. I pushed him for Marquis of Berrym (see > Glantri Post #3) for similar reasons. > It seems to me that "Mariana Terlagand" should pretty much stay in her dominion, since movement might uncover her fraud. > Don't forget that the House of Skullhorn (Bramyra, under Urmahid > Krinagar) is very closely allied with House Singhabad, and IIRC, Krinagar > isn't without his own influence. House Singhabad pretty well reigns, and > it seems ever more appropriate to me that Jherek Virayana is the primary > personality representing Glantri in X10: Red Arrow, Black Shield. > I don't have X10 :( , but I did notice that Singhabad/Krinagar make a powerful combo. To think, Glantri under Ethengarian rule ;) Maybe it's time for Synn to start doing something... > Note though, that many nobles may change Houses over time- you have noted > a few changes, but I would think there might be even more. John > Beaumarys-Moorkroft is particularly noted for switching allegiances (and > is notoriously the worst offender), but certainly it might be even more > notable. > Yes, well, Moorkroft is said to have betrayed most other houses except Singhabad, so it's unlikely that he'll join any of the older houses. As it is, he probably will stay with Singhabad, since at the moment it is the house with the most power, but if it shows any sign of weakening, he'd probably defect to Haaskinz or even Fenswick. > Also, you alluded to it, but I am curious if anyone else has noticed that > there don't seem to be enough Baronies to go around in order to > accomodate all the higher level nobles out there... > They probably advanced at different times, and some higher level dominions might have been established in the good old days without their rulers passing through lower stages. Especially, this would probably be the cause with lands like Bergdhoven, New Averoigne, and Klantyre, which were founded before the current dominion rules came into effect. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 15:55:39 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement - LONG On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > to ask you: all the changes you made in Glantri have been made to explain > what was written in PWAs and in G:KoM or are just your assumptions with no > real link to official info? (btw i don't consider G:KoM as an official > source ;p) > What I did was to try to tie together the info in PWAs and G:KoM to explain the current situation. Obviously, all the info doesn't fit together, so I has to change it somewhat (and I gave G:KoM the least consideration). I tried to make this article as official as I could, obviously, you may decide differently IYC... > anti-magic ore he has discovered in the Silver Sierras and he's now secretly > exploiting. As for Diane of Malinbois and Arbana of Redstone, well, the > first one could also have been convinced (read "charmed") by Malachie not to > petition for the County, but i think Arbana could have competed. She's a spy > and she wants more power to control and spy more efficiently over the House > of Silverstone and the other Principalities. > Yes, but remember that Glenargyll is *far* away, on the other side of Colossus Mtns., which would make it rather difficult for Arbana to spy on Volospin. > If you read carefully in Signor Griseo Fulvina's background, you'll se that > he's a follower of di Malapietra and a master spy for his Prince. I don't > think he would betray him only because he voted against him, and for that > matter, i don't think di Malapietra would vote against him. Being a > supporter of both Antonio di Tarento and Griseo Fulvina, he would probably > abstain from taking a position in favour of one or the other (a nice Well, I reasoned that Innocenti would rather keep good relations with the Thugs - something which he might have lost if he simply abstained. Then again, Innocenti isn't exactly known for his loyalty to his followers ;) > political move IMHO). Also, with the shady position Griseo Fulvina has, why > should Haaskinz like him better than sweet Rowena, who is sponsored also by > his friend Etienne? (remember that even though Harald belonged to the House > of Sirecchia, he deeply distrusted Innocenti and his lackeys) Hmmm... I thought that he would like him better than Antonio; or perhaps he just disagreed with Innocenti's vote for Antonio and decided to lure Griseo away to his side (always useful, more power for his newly founded principality). As for Rowena, Harald wouldn't want to put too much power into the hands of house Linden, since he has no love for them (not to mention they are Fire Elementalists and he's Water). Where did you read that Etienne is a friend of Harald? Not that I oppose the idea, mind you... ;) > Arbana would become Countess of Glenargyll. Obviously, this is just theory, > we cannot know for sure ;) > Interesting theory, and quite possible. Officially, however, Arbana couldn't have been the Countess of Glenargyll, since she was killed by the meteor. > < so he decides not to move out of the Sablestone area just yet.>> > > What hopes? There is already a Principality owned by Harald of Haaskinz, so > i think he will try another way to climb the social ladder in Glantri, and > this election is just what he's been waiting for. > Principalities can fall, my friend... > << That leaves us with Franz of Adlerturm and Isabella of Egorn.>> > > And Pieter of Oxhill, who's also a bitter enemy of Isabella (he cannot just > watch her ascend to Viscountess without trying to interfere). > ... and move elsewhere so that he has less competition in the area. > < his influence and got the Barony of Egorn for his friend Gerrid Rientha. > Or else you might award it to one of the PCs in your campaign.>> > > Pardon but who is Gerrid Rientha? I suppose he's from G:KoM. Could you give > me more info about him and his political affiliation (and also some secrets)? > Oh, he's a hitherto unknown chap whom TSR made the ARCHDUKE OF WESTHEATH in G:KoM. By their rationale, his friend Harald just *gave* him the Archduchy once he himself moved out. ;) His stats are something like NG W?? (level in the upper teens, AD&D-style), and that's basically all the info we have on him. BTW, G:KoM also describes Harald's wife and son. (Well, 'describe' is used loosely here ;) > < assassination team dressed as Alphatians. Morphail absorbs his dominion into > Boldavia.>> > > I don't get it: why should Alphaks assassinate one of his pawn's undead > pawns using fake Alphatians? I know Alphaks is a bit crazed and that he has > a twisted sense of humor, but why this execution?? > Obviously these two comments are not directed against your article: i'm just > curious. > The reason I had this happen is that TSR left Piotr out of G:KoM for no apparent reason. As to why Alphaks would slaughter him, maybe Timenko just happened to be on that dinner with Innocenti (gathering information for Morphail, perhaps), and Alphaks didn't really bother to check whom he killed. > < viceroyalty of Ylourgne (nobody attacks from that direction anyway) and > establish a barony there. Vincienzo di Randazzi wins the dominion (or, you > can give it to a PC). He joins the house of Marais, raising their PV to 19.>> > > Again, who's this Vincenzo di Randazzi (stats and secrets, please) and why > does he side with du Marais, which is technically a friend of Sylaire, which > in turn is a foe of Sirecchia (where he comes from, judging from the name)? > Have all these defections to the House of Sirecchia anything to do with > Innocenti's worse than ever paranoia and madness? ;p Vincenzo is a totally new noble who is listed as Baron of Ylourgne and allied to House Marais in G:KoM. There is little explanation of where he came from, so I just made this part up. His stats are something like NG W10 or thereabouts. No secrets here, either ;) > Also, what does Griseo Fulvina do? AFAIK from what you've written, he still > a supporter of the House of Sirecchia (the one and only, that is). > In my article, I had him join Haaskinz immediately after Harald voted for him and he became Count of Glenargyll. Note that this probably leads to some interesting political repercussions, as Harald is an enemy of Crownguard. > <<1011 AC: > Jaggar loses the title of Chamberlain to Isidore. Jaggar's CV and PV are 17 > and 33, Isidore's are 19 and 30.>> > > Why? Is it written in G:KoM? > No, actually it's listed in Joshuan's Almanac, under Isidore's and Jaggar's entries. > < create a *viscounty* of Blackstone. His CV and PV are 15.>> > > Where exactly is this Viscounty located? Are there any maps displaying it? It's not on the map, but it's mentioned in Kol's entry in G:KoM that he built Blackstone tower on the site of former Redstone, and that he's a viscount. > Also, do you know if Camp Huledain was also destroyed by the meteor that > crashed there in AC 1006? And what about Fort Lakeside in Darokin (the fort > north of the Amsorak)? Is it still standing? > I think yes, Huledain was destroyed. That's why Qenildor Erewan is now using guerrilla warfare in the Great Crater. As for Ft.Lakeside, I can't say, but since the meteor even caused Amsorak's northern shore to shift a few miles south, I'd think the fort would be quite ruined - especially since it was quite close to Corran Keep, the center of the impact. BTW, one thing that I found useful in G:KoM is the map. It shows nicely exactly where the meteor struck and what's been destroyed. > Last comment: i will gladly petition your article to be somehow introduced > in the next almanac, provided we manage to understand how.. ;) > Again, well done Aleksei! *pat on the shoulder* :) > Thanks for the support ;) I think that since the next almanac is being made by members of this list, if they read my article and find it acceptable, they can include it in the almanac by all means. > PS: just out of curiosity, since the votes in the Council are secret, how > the heck do the Princes know how the other rivals will vote?? > Ouch ;) Well, let's see... Most princes can probably predict for whom the others will vote, since there are quite clear alliances and rivalries. Then there's always ESP, Clairvoyance into the voting box, etc. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #170 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #171 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Saturday, October 18 1997 Volume 02 : Number 171 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 15:22:38 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] New PC class: Greater Gargoyle On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > As you like. I gave them the name Margoyle because it's a mix between what > they resemble most (gargoyle) and the name of their creator (that's me!;P)... > > >Any margoyles created from the Iron Gargoyles? > > Never heard of them... What are Iron Gargoyles?? Ìron Gargoyles are Mystara(TM) monsters described in AC9 Creature Catalog, the new creature catalog and IRC the AD&D MM Mystara appendix. basically big iron statues with wings and spikes and horns. They are alive and they can breathe fire. I'll have to check their statistics, but I believe, thats basically it. They are constructs, did I mention that? Håvard aka Haavroen of Faanes, Alphatian Sage (And thats just my Mortal form :) Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 15:25:07 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > > > PS: do you think a hand crossbow could be used by M-U? > > Given that Ramissur, a lowly 2nd or 3rd? level Boltman, could use them > (and in fact, became quite adept with them, twirling two on his fingers), > I'd say that's a yes. > > I don't recall stats offhand, though damage is only 1d4. There were also > a set of weapon skills that could be developed with the HC's. Hmmm..We should really get those Dragon Mag articles on web... Håvard... Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 15:31:03 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, Aaron E Nowack wrote: > > > On Thu, 16 Oct 1997 20:07:58 +0200 DM writes: > [snip] > >Personally, i'd keep the firearms "confined" in the Savage Baronies, > >mainly > >for two reasons. > >1. Campaign flavour: they suit fairly well in that setting (olè, > >Zorro!), > >but besides that region (and maybe Darokin) i don't see any other > >nation > >that would have the technology nor the need to develop and use them. > >They > >would destroy the balance of the Known World IMHO... > > Agreed. But, assuming that technology works the same in mystara as in the Real World(TM?) they could develope gunpowder in the future. Would anyone be willing to set a date when gunpowder should be introduced to the known world? if ever? > >2. Magical explanation: > This is actually stated in the Savage Coast product. They only work in > the Cursed regions and in the Haze, IIRC. Yes I recall something like that too. But this is the magical variant smokepowder. True gunpowder (a mix of chemicals) could still be developed, and probably could be used effectlively by studying the weapons of the savage coast. What do you think? Should this stay out of the Mystara Campaig forever? Håvard. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 16:00:21 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantri post #1 On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > THE END RESULTS BYE 1014AC: > > Jaggar Von Drachenfels: M36 > Carnelia de Belcadiz y Fedorias: E10/M > Volospin Aendyr: M27 (presumed dead) > Vanserie Vlaardoen: M34 (dead) > Juliana Vlaardoen: M17? > Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany: M36 > Innocenti di Malapietra: M23 (insane?) > Carlotina Erewan: E10/M > Brannart McGregor: M36 > Jherek Virayana: M36 > Isidore D'Ambreville: M15? > Urmahid Krinagar: M21? > Harald of Haaskinz: M35? I think it would be better to ignore any SP gained from taxes. I dont allow it IMC, or rewrite the whole thing wioth bruce's new rules, which would decrease their xp gained dramatically as well as taking a whole lot of time and effort. I agree with you that these levels are way too high for my liking. 36th level characters should be _rare_ in the known world IMO. (which means that eliminating Alphatia is a good thing) I now realize that a maximum level is generally a bad thing, since eventually all these people will end up 36th level. One way of changing this in D&D is to expand the levels this way: It is stated that characters above level 36 gain new skill slots by gaining a certain amount of XP. I dont remember the exact number, but lets say we keep adding a level to the NPCs beyond 36th for X*(number of xp to gain skill). This is the only effect from levels above 36th. It would mean that certain people might eventually end up as level 50 or more. Sounds impressive doesn't it? Anyway, I should get away from the computer now..more later. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: 17 Oct 1997 10:34:29 -0500 From: Alan Shutko Subject: [Mystara] Re: Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) >>>>> "H" == Haavard Roenne Faanes writes: H> But, assuming that technology works the same in mystara as in the H> Real World(TM?) they could develope gunpowder in the future. Bad assumption. Wasn't that why Blackmoor went boom? (Ie, that tech _didn't_ work the way it does in the real world, because Mystara is too magical.) - -- Alan Shutko - By consent of the corrupted The meek shall inherit the Earth. (But they're gonna have to fight for it.) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 08:53:04 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement - LONG On Fri, 17 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > It seems to me that "Mariana Terlagand" should pretty much stay in her > dominion, since movement might uncover her fraud. My reasoning at the time (I did this before PWA 1012 came out, hoping to clarify issues not covered in PWA 1010), was that Eachainn McDougall, the old war-horse that he is, wouldn't want to move from Dunvegan, because there isn't much to do, militarily speaking, at Hightower. Of the others, the fraudulent Marchioness seemed the most likely (to me) to move, both to further her own ambition as well as the Magistrate's. She has a lot of powerful friends (the leader of the House of Magistrates, as I recall) who I reasoned could help her make the move. One move periodically, it seems to me, shouldn't compromise her any more than sitting in place would. As long as she isn't bouncing from title to title all the time. > They probably advanced at different times, and some higher level dominions > might have been established in the good old days without their rulers > passing through lower stages. Especially, this would probably be the cause > with lands like Bergdhoven, New Averoigne, and Klantyre, which were > founded before the current dominion rules came into effect. I did make note of a number of nobles who likely inherited their dominions, and needn't have advanced through the ranks, as it were- Herr Rolf von Graustein, for one, who seems to unconcerned with politics to bother to advance. My rationale is that he must have inherited his dominion. There are still a number of folk who seem not to have had enough Baronies to go around, though. Not to mention how quickly some advance through the ranks- Urmahid Krinagar, for one. born c. 968, IIRC, and yet by 1000AC he has become a Count? And then a Prince? That's 3 ranks (Baron- Viscount- Count) within little over a 30 year span. I suppose it's possible he also inherited Skullhorn Pass, but I think it is mentioned that he earned his ranks. Maybe he started out as a Baron or Viscount, though... Or Arbana Jerbat, who came to Glantri only 20 years before, and yet is currently a Viscounty? Baron- Viscount, in twenty years, plus she must have attended the Great School for some period during that time? Hmmm... - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 12:20:05 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) Haavard Roenne Faanes pontificated: > > But, assuming that technology works the same in mystara as in the Real > World(TM?) they could develope gunpowder in the future. Would anyone be > willing to set a date when gunpowder should be introduced to the known > world? if ever?=20 Well, the thing is consider how much magic is availible in Mystara, there are not much of a reason to develop technology. Why spend time and effort to develop a gun, when a wand of lightning bolt is so much more powerful and its method of making is pretty common knowledge. Unless, of course, if the gun can be made cheap enough to be mass produced. But that would require the world to go through an industrial revolution, which is not likely to happen due to the high amount of magical availible. IMC, some clans of gnomes have discovered firepowder, and be playing around with it (I got that idea from the Lone Wolf series of adventure book). Mostly because research and develop those toys are fun to them. John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 18:26:47 CEST From: "Herve Musseau" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantri post #1 >On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > >> THE END RESULTS BYE 1014AC: >> >> Jaggar Von Drachenfels: M36 >> Carnelia de Belcadiz y Fedorias: E10/M >> Volospin Aendyr: M27 (presumed dead) >> Vanserie Vlaardoen: M34 (dead) >> Juliana Vlaardoen: M17? >> Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany: M36 >> Innocenti di Malapietra: M23 (insane?) >> Carlotina Erewan: E10/M >> Brannart McGregor: M36 >> Jherek Virayana: M36 >> Isidore D'Ambreville: M15? >> Urmahid Krinagar: M21? >> Harald of Haaskinz: M35? > >I think it would be better to ignore any SP gained from taxes. I dont >allow it IMC, or rewrite the whole thing wioth bruce's new rules, which >would decrease their xp gained dramatically as well as taking a whole lot >of time and effort. I agree with you that Bruce's new dominion rules should be used instead, as it would lead to more reasonable levels. On the other hand, xp are not gained only by dominion ruling, so that xp earned can be ajusted each year according to what they did (like PCs). I'm especially thinking to Jaggar who is very active as a warleader during WotI, or to people who manage to become princes (like Malachie) or otherwise gain more political power (ie voting power). >I agree with you that these levels are way too high for my liking. 36th >level characters should be _rare_ in the known world IMO. (which means >that eliminating Alphatia is a good thing) > >I now realize that a maximum level is generally a bad thing, since >eventually all these people will end up 36th level. > >One way of changing this in D&D is to expand the levels this way: > >It is stated that characters above level 36 gain new skill slots by >gaining a certain amount of XP. >I dont remember the exact number, but lets say we keep adding a level to >the NPCs beyond 36th for X*(number of xp to gain skill). This is the only >effect from levels above 36th. It would mean that certain people might >eventually end up as level 50 or more. Sounds impressive doesn't it? > >Anyway, I should get away from the computer now..more later. > > > > >Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves >Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: >or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, >http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll > > > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 18:13:43 CEST From: "Herve Musseau" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement - LONG >Oh, goody! A first reply to my long post! And I already thought that >nobody bothered to read it ;) Well, I'm sure many people did read it... If you can end up with a complete list that everyone that took part in the discussion agree on, it can certainly be included in the next almanac. We can certainly make a chapter about Glantri and its politics, which would include this and Chtul's level advancements (I'm sure you already had that in mind Chtul didn't you?) and maybe more. >On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > >> > So, Alasdair McAllister is now M. of Dunvegan, raising Crownguard's PV to >> > 35. >> >> Sounds fine and reasonable to me. I pushed him for Marquis of Berrym (see >> Glantri Post #3) for similar reasons. >> >It seems to me that "Mariana Terlagand" should pretty much stay in her >dominion, since movement might uncover her fraud. > >> Don't forget that the House of Skullhorn (Bramyra, under Urmahid >> Krinagar) is very closely allied with House Singhabad, and IIRC, Krinagar >> isn't without his own influence. House Singhabad pretty well reigns, and >> it seems ever more appropriate to me that Jherek Virayana is the primary >> personality representing Glantri in X10: Red Arrow, Black Shield. >> >I don't have X10 :( , but I did notice that Singhabad/Krinagar make a >powerful combo. To think, Glantri under Ethengarian rule ;) Maybe it's >time for Synn to start doing something... That's exactly what Jaggar and others fear, Glantri under Ethangarian rule, and that's why they don't trust Jerek etc. But in fact Jerek and co are very loyal to Glantri... even moreso than some old Glantrian families... This may be a powerful combo for the time being, but this will certainly change when Ethengar invades Glantri, since they are likely to be on the first line both because of their geographical position and because they are labelled traitors by the Ethangarians. >> Note though, that many nobles may change Houses over time- you have noted >> a few changes, but I would think there might be even more. John >> Beaumarys-Moorkroft is particularly noted for switching allegiances (and >> is notoriously the worst offender), but certainly it might be even more >> notable. >> >Yes, well, Moorkroft is said to have betrayed most other houses except >Singhabad, so it's unlikely that he'll join any of the older houses. As it >is, he probably will stay with Singhabad, since at the moment it is the >house with the most power, but if it shows any sign of weakening, he'd >probably defect to Haaskinz or even Fenswick. Oh well, see what I've written above about Singhabad possible loss of power... When this happens he'll switch allegiance, probably to Haaskinz as it will be the most powerful house then (it's already powerful and will suffer little from a war with Ethengar). >> Also, you alluded to it, but I am curious if anyone else has noticed that >> there don't seem to be enough Baronies to go around in order to >> accomodate all the higher level nobles out there... >> >They probably advanced at different times, and some higher level dominions >might have been established in the good old days without their rulers >passing through lower stages. Especially, this would probably be the cause >with lands like Bergdhoven, New Averoigne, and Klantyre, which were >founded before the current dominion rules came into effect. > > >***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord >** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but >** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." >** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, >** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." >** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." >***************************** > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 09:51:03 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles- My take Okay- figured out my rationales last night: John Beaumarys-Moorkroft: We all seem to be agreed that he becomes the new Archduke of Westheath. New Duke of Hightower: My rationale at the time (before 1012PWA), which I still hold to be sound, is that Eachainn McDougall (described as an old warhorse) would maintain his position on the other side of Skullhorn Pass, in order to provide a non-Ethengarian (or Glantrian/Ethengarian) counter to Urmahid Krinagar. Most of the nobles- including Jaggar- would likely have supported his stay here, either by voting against any attempts of him to move, or by encouraging him to stay. That being said, it seems to be at least acceptable canon (PWA1012) that Eachainn McDougall has moved. In that case, he is the New Duke of Hightower. New Marquis of Dunvegan The only ones I can think of that would want to move are: Alasdair McAllister, Sinaria Verlien, Emeth Urbaal, and Aliana Nyraviel. That being the case, here's my rationale of their backing: Alasdair: 16 (Crownguard) + 25 (Sylaire) Sinaria: 17 (Linden) Emeth: 22 (Silverston) Aliana: 21 (Ellerovyn) + 16 (Ritterburg) + 25 (Singhabad) + 16 (Bramyra) Notes: Igorov abstains. Sylaire backs McAllister (a fellow member of the Brotherhood of the Radiance). Sirecchia abstains, though I could see him backing McAllister. Ritterburg, Singhabad, and Bramyra (if allowed, he's the new Prince), would all (IMO) back the most militarily qualified person- that being Aliana Nyraviel and her militia of Griffon mounted knights. Alhambra wouldn't back Aliana, and if they didn't abstain, their vote still wouldn't be enough to reach the 80 required. The issue goes to Parliament, and I don't see any of the contenders getting a 2/3 majority. Looks like it's a duel between McAllister (M13 and Radiance user) and Nyraviel (E9 and 2nd circle Blue Dracologist). I don't know who I'd bet on, personally. For argument's sake, let's assume for some reason Nyraviel didn't want the position. Then McAllister is the likely new Marquis of Dunvegan. Virayana is surrounded by Klantyrians... he'd better watch his step. :) New Count of Glenargyll This is where it gets interesting. :) Candidates: Rowena Krollnar, Arbana Jerbat (though a good point is made about her being too far away to spy on Volospin, though I note that she is also here to spy on Glantrian secrets, not just the Aendyrs, though that is a primary goal), Griseo Fulvina, and Antonio di Tarento. Voting: Rowena: 17 (Linden) + 25 (Sylaire) + 15 (Igorov) + 16 (Ritterburg) + ? Arbana: 22 (Silverston) Griseo: ? Antonio: 16 (Sirecchia) Notes: Sirecchia votes for Tarento, IMO. Fulvina is described as a "follower" of Innocenti's, whereas Innocenti has a "favored customer status" with Tarento. Since these are secret ballots, I say Innocenti backs Tarento- though of course he'll tell both that they had his sole support. ;) Sylaire and Igorov, IMO, back Rowena. Primarily because both Etienne and Morphail are the types to be influenced by a charming lady such as she- not just because she's described as beautiful, but because they are charming, socialite types themselves, and would have more reason to interact with her and be won over by her. IMO. I don't see Alhambra as being terribly concerned, though I could see Carnelia voting for someone other than Rowena (probably Arbana) just because she is catty and doesn't care for the competition of a beautiful lady. Ritterburg backs Rowena for a twofold reason- none of the candidates is suitably militarily qualified, but she is neither Alphatian nor Thyatian, and doesn't have any particular enmities therein. Also, her leaving would vacate Berrym, which opens that for Herr Lowenroth, and opens the barony of Adlerturm- which can then be filled with a new Baron who is (hopefully) Loyal to House Ritterburg, giving Jaggar nearly complete control over the territories around Aalban. At any rate, that leaves Rowena only 7 votes short of the required 80, with many Houses still left to cast a vote. IMO, then, Rowena Krollnar becomes the New Countess of Glenargyll. New Viscount of Berrym The candidates: Franz Lowenroth. Both Pieter Vandehaar and Isabella de Montebello decline to run, as the Principality of Sablestone (which isn't enfieffed until next year) is still being considered by the Council. It isn't a complete victory until the votes come in, but: Franz: 16 (Ritterburg) + 15 (Igorov) + 16 (Klantyre) + 17 (Linden) + ? Notes: Klantyre and Linden toss their votes in with Lowenroth, as that opens up a vacant Barony that they can hopefully instill their supporters into (in prime territory; near their dominions). Igorov... I forget what their rationale was, exactly, but I know I had one. At any rate, even if he doesn't win at Council, I believe Lowenroth could take it in Parliament. Therefore, Franz Lowenroth is the New Viscount of Berrym. Which leaves the Vacant Barony of Adlerturm for prospective newcomers to take. And they will likely be heavily petitioned by Houses Ritterburg, Linden, and Klantyre at the least. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 14:43:11 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Top 3 and Worst 3 (remember?) Here's my votes. There not very informed (I have very few Mystara products) BEST 1.Wrath of the Immortals 2.Hollow World boxed set 3. Any of the PWA's WORST 1.Thunder Rift 2.JA 3.? ?= With my limited selection, I don't have a product to put here. "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 14:37:49 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) On Fri, 17 Oct 1997 12:20:05 -0400 (EDT) Shin Chyang Yu writes: >Haavard Roenne Faanes pontificated: >> >> But, assuming that technology works the same in mystara as in the >Real >> World(TM?) they could develope gunpowder in the future. Would anyone >be >> willing to set a date when gunpowder should be introduced to the >known >> world? if ever?=20 > >Well, the thing is consider how much magic is availible in Mystara, >there are not much of a reason to develop technology. Why spend >time and effort to develop a gun, when a wand of lightning bolt >is so much more powerful and its method of making is pretty >common knowledge. Unless, of course, if the gun can be made >cheap enough to be mass produced. But that would require the >world to go through an industrial revolution, which is not likely >to happen due to the high amount of magical availible. IMC, some >clans of gnomes have discovered firepowder, and be playing around >with it (I got that idea from the Lone Wolf series of adventure >book). Mostly because research and develop those toys are fun >to them. Wow, someone else reads those books! So tell me, do you know if book 21 is released in the US yet? I'm about to order it from England, if its not released here soon. You should probaly reply off the list to avoid cluttering it up with non-Mystara discussion. >John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu > > "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 14:34:57 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) On Fri, 17 Oct 1997 15:31:03 +0200 (MET DST) Haavard Roenne Faanes writes: >On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, Aaron E Nowack wrote: > >> >> >> On Thu, 16 Oct 1997 20:07:58 +0200 DM >writes: >> [snip] >> >Personally, i'd keep the firearms "confined" in the Savage >Baronies, >> >mainly >> >for two reasons. >> >1. Campaign flavour: they suit fairly well in that setting (olè, >> >Zorro!), >> >but besides that region (and maybe Darokin) i don't see any other >> >nation >> >that would have the technology nor the need to develop and use >them. >> >They >> >would destroy the balance of the Known World IMHO... >> >> Agreed. > >But, assuming that technology works the same in mystara as in the Real >World(TM?) they could develope gunpowder in the future. Would anyone >be >willing to set a date when gunpowder should be introduced to the known >world? if ever? If we assume that gunpowder will sometime be developed, probally in 1500 years or so. No really. It took ~500 years to go from Mystara's current tech level to the age where guns became the weapons of choice, and China had been using gunpowder for ages, so add ~500 years. Then remember that most of Mystara's best resarchers are studing magic not science. >> >2. Magical explanation: > >> This is actually stated in the Savage Coast product. They only work >in >> the Cursed regions and in the Haze, IIRC. > >Yes I recall something like that too. But this is the magical variant >smokepowder. True gunpowder (a mix of chemicals) could still be >developed, >and probably could be used effectlively by studying the weapons of the >savage coast. > > >What do you think? Should this stay out of the Mystara Campaig >forever? Yes. >Håvard. > > >Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy >toves >Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the >wabe: >or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the >borogoves, >http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths >outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll > > > > "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 18:09:01 +0300 (GMT) From: sq7s@dc.uba.ar (Sebastian Quiles) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) > > On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, Aaron E Nowack wrote: > > > But, assuming that technology works the same in mystara as in the Real > World(TM?) they could develope gunpowder in the future. Would anyone be > willing to set a date when gunpowder should be introduced to the known > world? if ever?=20 > > > > Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves > Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: > or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, > http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll I think than the Phisics and Chemistry work like the RW but there are a GREAT difference, they have Magic... so they can do the thinks magicaly, so they don't need Scientists and Researches.... -- Sebastian Quiles ================ Universidad de Buenos Aires ARGENTINA mailto:sq7s@dc.uba.ar ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 01:09:39 +0200 From: Pasi Anias Subject: [Mystara] Mages > >hmm... I dont think I got thru last time... Sorry if I did, and this is a Copy. Hello everyone. I'm sorry I am a bit late parttaking into this conversation (and changing the subject too :), but I've been hold up by my work lately... Anyways, I'll just thought to send you all the list of the powerful mages as told by the cazetteers and the DoE box. I made it a few Years back, and its dated to 1000 A.C. Also the order, which I have claimed to be by the Power of the mages, is of course quoestionable. I wont claim that the order is right, it's just how I arranged them anyway. Included in the consideration was the personal Power of the mage, his Personality and the Status or Position he had in the Society. Also included are a couple of characters from my Campaign, marked with asterisk, so just Ignore them. And if neccessary, I do have the list in doc and wp formats too, and can send them as attacment (ask via personal mail please) And to take part into the conversation: - -Terari Terari is a powerful mage (Or at least Tylion is, as shown in the list), but by no means THE Mage. He dont have enough style. Etienne is much better, and so are a score of others ( Brennart and Harald of Haazkins at the top IMHO). - -The 1000 Mages of Alphatia This was discussed in some detail at the early times of the list, and I believe I made my opinion wery clear back then. But as There are so many new members I'll repeat: IMC: There are no 1000 mages of 36th level existing anywhere in my Mystara. It was an error made by the Team that mafe DoE (Aaron Aalston?). There isn't even 1000 characters of 36th level. Its just Ridiculous. Just calculate: !000 mages of level 36 in a Realm of some 10 million peoples... Each one lives maybe a 100 Years. That is, there Dies 10 Mages of level 36 each Year, just to be replaced by 10 new ones... There would be 1 in 10000. These statistics ARE not believable. Maybe there was such a council in their homeword, but not here. Rather, I have allways Read this part as: Any Alphatian Mage of level 36 is entitled to a Seat in the Counsil. The rest of them are lesser mages, even some clerics and Fighters (Representatives from the less magical areas). IMC there is I think 10 Mages of level 36 in the council: Eriadna Tylion IV (Ex Emperor, also Known as Terari) Zyndryl (King of Aquas) Hugorth (King of Shraek) Aiklin the Adler (Master of the School in Aeria) Mylertendal Hastalan the Fair (King of Ekto) 2 old Relics (ages a bit ower, and a bit under 2000, Rather... Ummm... Senile) Cool Breeze (A character of a player of mine,,, Though not played anymore) All of them are entitled to a First Row Seat in the council. So there. Pasi Mages of Mystara By the 'real' Power, Year 1000 A.C. Collected by Pasi Anias (a122286@cc.tut.fi) Name Lvl Alig Interests/Specialities Prinssi Etienne d'Ambreville M35 L RAD,School Empress Eriadna the Wise M36 N Politics (Alphatia) Prinssi Brannart McGregor M33 C Necromancy,RAD,Lich,Army The Shadow Lord M36 C Necromancy Tylion IV M36 N Teaching, Politics (Alphatia) Demetrion Karagenteropolus M36 L Politics (Thyatia),AirWar Prinssi Morphail Woslany M28 C Necromancy,Nosferatu,Army The Black King of Alphaks M36 C Alphaks Prinz Jaggar von Drachenfels M30 L Dracology,Army,Monsters The Black Rajah of Jaibul M36 C Politics(Jaibul,Sind) Prince Vanserie Vlaardoen XI M28 C Fire,RAD,Economy King Zyndryl of Aquas M36 N Water,Sea King Heldebaran No-Man's-Fool M36 N Monsters,Politics(Aegos,Alphatia) Lord Harald of Haaskinz M25 L RAD,Water Prince Jherek Viryana M27 N Illusions,Law Prince Zandor of Alphatia M30 C Flying, Plane of Air King Hugorth of Shraek M36 C Sentient Monsters Terari M36 N School,Monsters Master Aiklin the Addler M36 L Air,School *Master Tribeth M24 C Planes,Time,Lich Prince Volospin Aendyr M22 C Air,rad Prince Innocenti diMalapietra M17 C Earth,Army Princess Carnelia de Belcadiz E10 N Witchcraft,Army Princess Carlotina Erewan E10 L Runes,rad Queen Eldrethila M30 L Politics (Theranderol) Duchess Triella Tien-Tang M36 N Politics (Mositius/Thyatia) Mylertendal M36 L Art Gherynid M25 C Fire,Politics(Ierendi),School Bargle the Infamous M28 C Politics (Karameikos) King Hastalan the Fair M36 N Politics (Ekto,Alphatia),Metals Sabak M28 C Politics (Ethengar),Weapons Queen Drulivia M20 L Politics (Meriander),Alchemy Queen Stillian of Trikelios M24 L Politics (Trikelios) Akmad Ibn Yussef M28 N Politics (Ethengar) Bakalgu the Destroyer M26 N Ethengar,Kaeruts *Count Drovlux M18 C Air,Plane of Air *Emir Urabi M18 C Politics (Jaibul,Ylaruam) King Lodrig II M16 L Politics (Notrion),Trade Queen Gratia of Surshield M16 L Politics (Surshield),Army *Spring of Spruce M12 N Alchemy Queen Siaron Lagrius M13 N Politics (Lagrius) * From my Campaign ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 21:52:49 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) << a set of weapon skills that could be developed with the HC's. Hmmm..We should really get those Dragon Mag articles on web...>>> Stats for the Cimarron Six-Shooter (Dragon 176, Bruce Heard) 80gp, 25 cn, 18 darts are 5gp, ranges 50/100/150, 1d4 damage (can use one in each hand, but - -2 to hit with both), holds 6 darts. Takes 1 turn to reload 6 darts into weapon's handle. Hit roll of 1 causes a jam which takes 1 round to clear. If you want more i recommend trying to find Dragon 176 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 22:05:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Top 3 and Worst 3 (remember?) My votes: Best 1.WotI 2. X2 Castle Amber (this is based off my player's reactions... I think every one of them felt this was one of their favorite modules) 3. quite a few tie for this slot... but I'll list these four: Hollow World set, CM1 Test of the Warlords, B6 The veiled Society, & GAZ3 Principalities of Glantri Worst 1. Joshuan's Almanac 2. GAZ4 Kingdom of Ierendi 3. Just about everything with those stupid CDs... whoever came up with that idea and figured gamers would pay extra money for them killed the Mystara setting. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 23:02:14 +0100 From: "Leroy Van Camp III" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Top 3 and Worst 3 (remember?) DM meandered fecklessly... > Many months ago i started this referendum, but it didn't last for long and > i only got a dozen voting people, so i'll try to do it again. > Basically you're asked to name the best three and the worst three products > about Mystara published by TSR, and maybe a little explanation of why you > chose them (at your discretion). Thanx for the cooperation. OK, I'll bite... Based strictly off of the Mystara stuff I own ( a substantial amount, but not complete.) Best 3 1) GAZ9 The Minorthad Guilds I love this Gazetteer. Jam packed full of stuff, with new twists on old ideas (A whole race of swashbukling elves!) Good solid information, it balances the descriptions of people, politics, society and locations. Good stuff. 2) Poor Wizards Akmanac, AC1010 edition A cool concept, the PWA's were some fo the best money to information ratioed products I have ever seen. Even though I do not run my Mystara games in a post-Wrath setting, the book is full of handy info. Every Mystara GM should have it (or one of the two followups). Heck, a person could GM Mystara with this book alone! 3) GAZ4 The Elves of Alfheim A well written product that really gave the Mystaran elves character. Although they are not substantially different from other xD&D elves, this product brought them to life for me. Honorable Mentions... GAZ1 Karameikos - The first, and one of the better. Wrath of the Immortals - Not for the adventure (which I can live without), but for the copius info on the Immortals of the Known World. GAZ13 The Shadow Elves - Fresh, original ideas on subteranean elves. These guys are definitely not drow clones. GAZ3 Glantri - My first Gazetteer, still a favorite. Arcane gothic intrigue, what could be more interesting? Hollow Word - I like it when designers aren't afraid to take risks with weird concepts, especially when they work. Worst 1 [1] 1) GAZ4 Kingdom of Ierendi IMHO, just plain awful. Silly concepts and poor humour. [1] Yes, I only list one. I have a hard time listing things in a "Worst" category unless I really dislike them. Some products I had problems with... GAZ2 Emirates of Ylaruam - What was here was good, but this GAZ had virtually no solid info on places and locations. This makes it hard on the DM. GAZ10 Orcs of Thar - Althougth the humor was better than Ierendi, it was a bit silly for me. GAZ8 The Five Shires - Except for the Master (silly), I really like everything in this book, information wise. Lots of good stuff, and well written. Why is it here? The word "Hin." For some reason I can NOT stand it. I don't know why. Completey irrational. It just BUGS me. AD&D Mystara Boxed Sets - These two boxed sets were actually well written and produced. What irritated me is that they contained virtually no solid new info. Heck, except for the new spells, the Glantri one seemed to have less info. Yet these were both $30 boxed sets! Give me the Gazetteers any day. > PS: if you want to keep the other listmembers free of these votes, just send > your list dierctly to my e-mail: dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it Heck, half the fun of these polls is touting one's own opinion. :) Leroy Van Camp III malacoda@lesbois.com owner-mystara-l@io.com "You know, not kneeing you in the groin is a constant struggle." MST3K ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 07:18:06 +0100 From: Peter Balazs Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mages Hi! >IMC: There are no 1000 mages of 36th level existing anywhere in my Mystara. >It was an error made by the Team that mafe DoE (Aaron Aalston?). There >isn't even 1000 characters of 36th level. Its just Ridiculous. Just calculate: >!000 mages of level 36 in a Realm of some 10 million peoples... Each one >lives maybe a 100 Years. That is, there Dies 10 Mages of level 36 each >Year, just to be replaced by 10 new ones... There would be 1 in 10000. >These statistics ARE not believable. > Cool Breeze (A character of a player of mine,,, Though not played anymore) My argument for the reason why there could be 1000 mages of very high level: The PCs manage to gain many levels in quite a short time (IMC: 15 lvl in 5 years). Why should NPCs be unable to do that? So: How long did "Cool Breeze" need to become 36th level? ************************************************************ Peter Balazs Wurlitzerg. 37/12 1160 Wien 0222/4816030 a9003307@unet.univie.ac.at pbalazs@radon.mat.univie.ac.at http://radon.mat.univie.ac.at/~pbalazs ************************************************************ ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #171 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #172 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Monday, October 20 1997 Volume 02 : Number 172 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 01:16:20 -0500 From: Rob Rickard Subject: [Mystara] Orcs of Thar & WotI With Uruk Vaath (Jaggar Von Drachfels) trying to get Thar to attack Rockhome. Then why durning WotI did they attack glantri and then Darokin instead of Rockhome. At the time that Thar attacked Glantri Rockhome was Abandoned adn would be an easy kill. What do you think?? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 10:13:35 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) In einer eMail vom 18.10.97 07:47:04, schreiben Sie: << Bad assumption. Wasn't that why Blackmoor went boom? (Ie, that tech _didn't_ work the way it does in the real world, because Mystara is too magical.) >> Nah, those Blackmoor devices blew up, because the Blackmoorians forgot how to use them properly, without the guidance of the "Aliens". Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 10:10:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Top 3 and Worst 3 (remember?) Here are my top 3: 1.GAZ 13 The shadow elves- just look at my screen name 2.The Blood Brethren Trilogy (HWA1-3)- These were the best adventures I ever DMed on Mystara 3.GAZ 3 The principalities of Galntri- I loved the incredible amount of political intrigue And my worst 3: 1.Glantri: Kingdom of Magic- This was SO full of errors. The only good stuff in this was came from GAZ3 2.GAZ2/GAZ11- These two share a spot because both were missing the same thing- details on important NPCs, one of the most important things for a campaign setting 3.GAZ5 The Elves of Alfheim- This actually wasn't bad, but I just could not stand those elves (I guess I was biased by first reading GAZ13) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 10:03:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Orcs of Thar & WotI In einer eMail vom 18.10.97 08:01:56, schreiben Sie: << With Uruk Vaath (Jaggar Von Drachfels) trying to get Thar to attack Rockhome. Then why durning WotI did they attack glantri and then Darokin instead of Rockhome. At the time that Thar attacked Glantri Rockhome was Abandoned adn would be an easy kill. What do you think?? >> Well yes, surface Rockhome was abandoned, but I assume the dwarves took all their valuables underground with them, so even though Jaggar might have liked them to burn down the dwarves' abandoned nation, Glantri and Darokin definitely offered a lot more. Anyway, I believe that during the war with Alphatia Jaggar had so much to do, that he didn't have the time to keep his alias alive. Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 18:19:54 +0200 (EET DST) From: Anias Pasi Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mages > My argument for the reason why there could be 1000 mages of very high level: > The PCs manage to gain many levels in quite a short time (IMC: 15 lvl in 5 > years). Why should NPCs be unable to do that? > So: How long did "Cool Breeze" need to become 36th level? Something like 15 Years Mystaratime (plus some in other planes :) and about 90 times ap. 7 hours Real time. But You must remember, that the PC:s arent what one would call normal for the society. Most peoples are not adventures, not even in Alphatia. Just think what the effects woud be, if there would be a 1000 adventuring mages of wery high levels in one county, even as big as Alphatia... But of cource You are right. There Could be so many of them. And If there is in Your campaign, thats all right. I just dont think it wery realistic, when compared to other countries in Mystara. Where are the characters of 36th level elsewhere? Nowhere, at least before DoE. Pasi - -- X Pasi Anias X p.03 - 2533536 X \\|// X X Sammonkatu 28 A 18 X a122286@proffa X (o o) X X 33540 Tampere X .cc.tut.fi X o000--(_)--000o X ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 11:55:01 -0400 From: Michael Ray Johnson Subject: Re: [Mystara] Top 3 and Worst 3 (remember?) Okay, here are my picks: Top 3 1. The Poor Wizards Almanacs (all of them) - these are wonderful reference books, packed full of information. 2. GAZ 13 The Shadow Elves - at last, subterranean elves that aren't drow clones 3. Wrath of the Immortals - I much prefer these revised rules to the old Immortals Rules. As for the adventure, despite my initial horror at the destructions of Alfheim and Alphatia, I've grown to consider this one of the best adventures produced by TSR. It took over 2 years of real time to play out in my campaign, but boy did we have a lot of fun with it. Honorable mention: There are many great supplements, but here are a few others that I think are particularly worthy of mention. GAZ 3 The Principalities of Glantri GAZ 5 The Elves of Alfheim Champions of Mystara Worst 3: 1. Player/DM Survival Kits - I don't think it's possible to come up with products more useless. 2. GAZ 14 The Atruaghin Clans - I was extremely disappointed with this Gazetteer. The larger font size (and therefore smaller word-count) and massive margins meant that it had substantially less information than any other Gazetteer. While the players book is pretty good, the DM's book has hardly anything in it, and the NPC section is pitifull. What about leaders of the clans and such? Luckily, the PWAs fixed that point. 3. The Adventure in Karameikos: Kingdom of Magic - The CD adventures were a really dumb idea (only Mark of Amber actually managed to be any good), and this one is the worst of the bunch. The CDs just don't allow for full interaction between PCs and NPCs. Worst of all, in this one, the CD actually speaks for the PCs, and they call themselves Fighter, Cleric, Thief, and Wizard. Gee, that's really teaching good role-playing. I've had to play with players before who refuse to name their characters because they don't think it's important (they just prefer to say "My fighter does this" or "My cleric does that" etc.), and this CD almost seemed to promote that. Unclassifiable: Joshuan's Almanac - There were certain aspects of this that I really like, but others that just didn't work. Like GAZ 14, the substantially larger font size meant far less material than the PWAs had, and this really hurt the final result. Michael Ray Johnson ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 16:35:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantri Post #2 In a message dated 97-10-17 11:33:57 EDT, ANDREW.THEISEN@ASU.Edu (Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One) writes: << ? Connotes someone of questionable status. In the case of the di Malapietras, I note that Giovanni and Lucrecia both are noted to have stayed at or near the Great School of Magic, and are thus likely not to have been in Caurenze when the meteor struck.>> But then would not one of them have been proclaimed the new Prince of Caurenze? I got the impression that it was the presumed death of the di Malapietra family more than the devastation of Caurenze itself that led to the abolition of the Principality. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 16:36:40 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement - LONG In a message dated 97-10-17 12:40:42 EDT, ANDREW.THEISEN@ASU.Edu writes: << Not to mention how quickly some advance through the ranks- Urmahid Krinagar, for one. born c. 968, IIRC, and yet by 1000AC he has become a Count? And then a Prince? That's 3 ranks (Baron- Viscount- Count) within little over a 30 year span. I suppose it's possible he also inherited Skullhorn Pass, but I think it is mentioned that he earned his ranks. Maybe he started out as a Baron or Viscount, though...>> Given the time involved, Urmahid must have inherited his title, I would agree. <> I think she may have inherited her domain as well, possibly from an unnamed late husband (whom she may have bumped off herself -- it would not be out of character). Of course, arranging for this "inheritance" would have taken considerable skill and luck. Or, if "Arbana Jerbat" is not the character's real name (quite possible, given that she was an Alphatian spy), then perhaps she replaced an original noble by that name who would have inherited that title legitimately. The scenario is easily imagined -- the original Arbana Jerbat is a child prodigy and graduates from the Great School of Magic while in her early teens. Her parents send her off to the Alphatian Empire for more advanced training (possible in the late 10th century AC). While she is away she is murdered and replaced -- the new Arbana comes back years later, after hearing of her parents' death, and explains any differences in her appearance and mannerisms by the fact that she matured in the years while she was away. There is one piece of indirect evidence that should be considered -- the fact that she had a last name. Alphatians from the Alphatian Empire generally do not have last names, so she could have acquired one only by (1) assuming a cover identity, or (2) marrying somebody with the last name "Jerbat". As can be seen from the preceding, either possibility makes it possible for her to inherit her title. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 17:35:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) In a message dated 97-10-17 20:04:54 EDT, scy2g@watt.seas.virginia.edu writes: << Well, the thing is consider how much magic is availible in Mystara, there are not much of a reason to develop technology. Why spend time and effort to develop a gun, when a wand of lightning bolt is so much more powerful and its method of making is pretty common knowledge. Unless, of course, if the gun can be made cheap enough to be mass produced. >> I can think of a couple of reasons for developing guns: 1) Magic wands are expensive to make -- guns become worthwhile if they are cheaper to make than wands. 2) Only Mages can use most wands -- guns can be used by anyone. This consideration makes guns more cost-effective -- the fact that anyone can use them compensates for their (possibly) higher cost. Given these considerations, I would think it likely that guns would be developed in a nation like Rockhome -- as soon as the Dwarves there realize that guns are possible, they will be quick to grasp their usefulness to a people who have virtually no Mages among them. Even before they develop practical firearms, the Dwarves will certainly develop cannons -- very useful for discouraging invaders. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 18:07:30 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) In a message dated 97-10-18 00:58:26 EDT, sq7s@dc.uba.ar (Sebastian Quiles) writes: << I think than the Phisics and Chemistry work like the RW but there are a GREAT difference, they have Magic... so they can do the thinks magicaly, so they don't need Scientists and Researches.... >> Actually, I would imagine that there are some very basic differences in chemistry and physics between the real world and nearly any AD&D fantasy world. In most AD&D fantasy worlds, the building blocks of matter are the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water -- positive and negative energy are also involved, I am sure. The real world, of course, has a totally different structure. Under the circumstances, it is actually rather amazing that you would be unable to tell which world you were in until you either (1) looked into an electron microscope in the real world, or (2) saw a spell cast in a fantasy world. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 01:16:04 -0400 (EDT) From: AMALDIS@aol.com Subject: [Mystara] 3 Favorite&Least Favorite Favorites: 1)Tree of Life-My first D&D product 2)Wrath of the Immortals-I loved the info, the adventure, and the changes to Mystara. 3)Isle of Dread-The origin of the Known World Honorable Mentions: Mark of Amber-Finally a CD adventure that was not pathetic Poor Wizard's Almanacs-Packed with information and current events Golden Khan of Ethengar-Best Mystara product regarding a non-European culture Least Favorites: 1)Joshuan's Almanac-No more haggis for me laddie. 2)The Republic of Darokin-A chore to read, little useful info, ugly and distracting interior art(those gold coins were terrible), and a complete lack of creativity(best stuff taken from Minrothad gazeteer). 3)Glantri:Kingdom of Magic-I don't own Principalities of Glantri, and I can still tell that this product is riddled with errors. Dishonorable Mentions: Karameikos:Kingdom of Adventure-Overpriced for a mere rehash. Kingdom of Ierendi-Has a couple really interesting ideas, but the bulk of it is terrible. Atruaghin Clans-Seems skimpy too me, nothing definite. - -Amaldis ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 05:39:40 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) In einer eMail vom 18.10.97 22:52:40, schreiben Sie: << Given these considerations, I would think it likely that guns would be developed in a nation like Rockhome -- as soon as the Dwarves there realize that guns are possible, they will be quick to grasp their usefulness to a people who have virtually no Mages among them. Even before they develop practical firearms, the Dwarves will certainly develop cannons -- very useful for discouraging invaders. >> Well, according to the article in Dragon #199 gun powder was/is/would be officialy developed in Heldann, while popping up all around the world at about the same time. Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 14:18:11 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Top 3 and Worst 3 (remember?) I've already answered your poll a few months ago, but here I'll go again. Top 3: 1) GAZ 13: The Shadow Elves (should I explain why ? :) 2) GAZ 3: Glantri - Lot of useful info about magic and NPC, though not much info about the various cities and dominions. Secret Crafts and Radiance are really a great idea. Note: I don't like spellcasters, but GAZ 3 is really great. 3) The PWA as a concept. Lot of useful info in a nice format. Honourable mentions: GAZ 1 Karameikos, GAZ 11 Darokin, GAZ 12 Ethengar, GAZ 14 Atruaghin, GAZ 10 Orcs of Thar, Champions of Mystara, Bruce's articles in Dragon Mag., PC2 Top Ballista, PC4 Night Howlers, Trail Maps... (I could go on for a long time...) Worst 3: 1) Player and DM Survival Guides. - Completely useless. 2) GAZ 4: Ierendi - It's not the GAZ itself, but it doesn't really fit with the other 9 GAZs. 3) GAZ 2: Ylaruam - Lack of info about places and locations. Dishonourable mentions: Joshuan Almanac, Dawn of the Emperors (a too big area in a single product), PC1 Tall Tales of the Wee Folk. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 11:18:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) << Well, according to the article in Dragon #199 gun powder was/is/would be officialy developed in Heldann, while popping up all around the world at about the same time. >> Only comment I can make about this was that the Heldannic Knights have had some contact with the Savage Coast in the past. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 13:29:25 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) In einer eMail vom 19.10.97 17:08:05, schreiben Sie: << Only comment I can make about this was that the Heldannic Knights have had some contact with the Savage Coast in the past. >> Well, yeah, it is possible that Brother Berthold Schwarz (name of mystaran AND real-world inventor of gunpowder) based his researches on smoke powder Heldannic Knights brought home from the SC. Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 13:37:43 -0700 (PDT) From: Matthew Levy Subject: Re: [Mystara] Vampires and their gets Three questions: 1) Has anybody thought about how Velyas (from X7: War Rafts of Kron) relate to other vampires/nosferatu? 2) Where precisely is the Taymoran Empire again? 3) I am in and out of touch with what goes on on the list ... has anybody suggested or implemented a general collection of important NPC's or area developments by individual Mystaran DM's? It would be useful to me in my campaign (if I ever get the time to get it rolling again) to be able to include NPC's developed by others (such as the vampires mentioned) ... and I know I've got plenty of stuff (some fairly easy to integrate with canon Mystara, some less so) that I could post if there is interest. peace, m@2 "You're not really in love with yourself - you're just in love with the idea of being in love with yourself" - said to me by one of the two little fellas who hang out on either of my shoulders ... I can't remember which ... On Thu, 16 Oct 1997 Mystaros@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 97-10-15 10:29:55 EDT, you write: > > << So this is my idea: have you maybe ever > thought about who the "first" vampires should be. >> > > Those of you who are familiar with my rendition of the Taymoran Empire may be > aware of the Undead (Nosferatu/Vampiric) nature of that empire... IMC, most > "Vampiric" lineages are descended from the Necromancer-Kings of that land... > when I am back on the net I will (finally) post some info on it on my web > site... until then, farewell! > > Mystara Lives! > > Mystaros > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 14:37:03 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Vampires and their gets On Sun, 19 Oct 1997, Matthew Levy wrote: > 1) Has anybody thought about how Velyas (from X7: War Rafts of Kron) > relate to other vampires/nosferatu? They're the underwater versions of Vampires/Nosferatu? ;) If you mean origin-wise... I haven't thought much about it, myself. I'd be willing to bet Mystaros (if he's not quite gone just yet) has a few ideas. > 2) Where precisely is the Taymoran Empire again? It was the area of land right around the Karameikos/Thyatis region that fell into the sea during the Great Rain of Fire. > 3) I am in and out of touch with what goes on on the list ... has anybody > suggested or implemented a general collection of important NPC's or area > developments by individual Mystaran DM's? It would be useful to me in my > campaign (if I ever get the time to get it rolling again) to be able to > include NPC's developed by others (such as the vampires mentioned) ... and > I know I've got plenty of stuff (some fairly easy to integrate with canon > Mystara, some less so) that I could post if there is interest. I'm getting ready to start posting a bunch of stuff like that on my homepage, so feel free to check it out if you'd like. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 19:14:00 -0500 From: Rob Rickard Subject: Re: [Mystara] Orcs of Thar & WotI Rob Rickard wrote: > > > << With Uruk Vaath (Jaggar Von Drachfels) trying to get Thar to attack > > Rockhome. Then why durning WotI did they attack glantri and then > Darokin instead of Rockhome. At the time that Thar attacked Glantri > Rockhome was Abandoned adn would be an easy kill. > What do you think?? > -Rob->> > Then Galeifel@aol.com wrote: > Well yes, surface Rockhome was abandoned, but I assume the dwarves > took all > their valuables underground with them, so even though Jaggar might > have liked > them to burn down the dwarves' abandoned nation, Glantri and Darokin > definitely offered a lot more. Anyway, I believe that during the war > with > Alphatia Jaggar had so much to do, > that he didn't have the time to keep his alias alive. > > Garafaele Galeifel I would think that Jaggar would make the time and try to use Thar to Glantri's advantage. Uruk Vaath (Jaggar) would at the least try to divert Thar from Glantri if he could or didnt have the time to get Thar to attack Rockhome. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 17:46:22 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantri Post #2 On Sat, 18 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > But then would not one of them have been proclaimed the new Prince > of Caurenze? I got the impression that it was the presumed death of > the di Malapietra family more than the devastation of Caurenze itself > that led to the abolition of the Principality. That wasn't really my understanding. The Principalities exist in order to provide some sense of organization and leadership to the scattered peoples of the regions, plain and simple. As shown in GAZ3, those areas that exist outside of the Principalities (yet still fall under the dominion of the Council of Princes), are far less orderly and more difficult to bring into line, not to mention collect taxes, etc. But they exist, and one assumes that they exist because they *are* still part of Glantri, just not very important parts. It seems to me that the devastation of Caurenze by the meteor strike, virtually obliterating the entire populace of that region (near enough, at any rate) would serve to lessen the importance of that area, and as such, a Principality would no longer be necessary- particularly in Glantri where a) with the WotI there is already an overabundance of Principalities, and b) reducing the number of Principalities will only serve to increase the influence of those Princes/Princesses that remain. Innocenti's loss is the others' gain, in other words. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 17:49:39 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement - LONG On Sat, 18 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > I think she may have inherited her domain as well, possibly from an > unnamed late husband (whom she may have bumped off herself -- it > would not be out of character). Of course, arranging for this "inheritance" > would have taken considerable skill and luck. You know, that possibility occurred to me just as I was originally writing this. Funny that it had never struck me before... :) > Or, if "Arbana Jerbat" is not the character's real name (quite possible, > given that she was an Alphatian spy), then perhaps she replaced an > original noble by that name who would have inherited that title > legitimately. The scenario is easily imagined -- the original Arbana > Jerbat is a child prodigy and graduates from the Great School of > Magic while in her early teens. Her parents send her off to the > Alphatian Empire for more advanced training (possible in the late > 10th century AC). While she is away she is murdered and > replaced -- the new Arbana comes back years later, after hearing > of her parents' death, and explains any differences in her appearance > and mannerisms by the fact that she matured in the years while she > was away. I like this bit. Certainly interesting. Except that Arbana Jerbat is described in GAZ3 as being somewhat older- I think 80ish?- so she would have to have been "gone" for a while. Perhaps the "true" Arbana was the next in line for that particular dominion, went overseas, and shortly before her return, her parent "mysteriously" died, thus requiring "Arbana" to return from Alphatia to retake the dominion? - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 21:18:22 -0400 (EDT) From: AMALDIS@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Vampires and their gets > 1) Has anybody thought about how Velyas (from X7: War Rafts of Kron) > relate to other vampires/nosferatu? They are probably just another strain of vampirism created by the Alphatians. >> 2) Where precisely is the Taymoran Empire again? >It was the area of land right around the Karameikos/Thyatis region that >fell into the sea during the Great Rain of Fire. It was on land that is now the northern Sea of Dread and stretched about as far south as the southern tip of Hattias. The Taymora didn't settle in the area until 2500 BC and their civilization was destroyed in 2000 BC(1000 years after the Great Rain of Fire) when the area had some severe natural disasters and the Ierendi and Minrothad islands were created. The Taymora that survived fled to the north and were eventually absorbed by the Traldar in Karameikos(leading to the much lighter skin color of the Traldar in comparison to the Nithians). - -Amaldis ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 22:27:21 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: [Mystara] Non-Mystarian Magic I'm wondering what's everyone's opinion of the named spells of AD&D (ex. Tenser's Floating Disc). Do you use them as it, change the name to a Mystarian mage or just don't allow them. I probably say not to allow them but if a player knows of them and wants to have them in the campaign then they must research them and then the spell will be called whatever the researching mage decides. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Galwylin http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ Strange! That really should have worked! - Fizban ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 00:07:57 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement - LONG In a message dated 97-10-19 23:03:03 EDT, ANDREW.THEISEN@ASU.Edu writes: << I like this bit. Certainly interesting. Except that Arbana Jerbat is described in GAZ3 as being somewhat older- I think 80ish?- so she would have to have been "gone" for a while. Perhaps the "true" Arbana was the next in line for that particular dominion, went overseas, and shortly before her return, her parent "mysteriously" died, thus requiring "Arbana" to return from Alphatia to retake the dominion? >> That would actually work even better, then. The original Arbana Jerbat would not then have to be a child prodigy -- she could have traveled to Alphatia at any point during her long life and remained there for many years. When her parents died, a quick thinking Alphatian agent could have bumped her off and replaced her with a double, who would return to Alphatia pretending to be her. As an old woman, her disguise would be more secure -- after all, how many people look carefully at old women to be sure that they are who they say they are? Of course, given her great age it is also possible that the time she spent in Alphatia turned her loyalties and that she was in fact the heiress of the previous lord of her domain. That would be the simplest (albeit least interesting) explanation. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 01:35:38 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Non-Mystarian Magic In a message dated 97-10-20 00:30:20 EDT, galwylin@airnet.net writes: << I'm wondering what's everyone's opinion of the named spells of AD&D (ex. Tenser's Floating Disc). Do you use them as it, change the name to a Mystarian mage or just don't allow them. I probably say not to allow them but if a player knows of them and wants to have them in the campaign then they must research them and then the spell will be called whatever the researching mage decides. >> If we use the D&D rules sets as precedent, most of these spells should be allowed minus the Mage names. Thus, "Tenser's Floating Disc" would be simply "Floating Disc" in a Mystaran campaign. On the other hand, there would be many spells (notably Bigby's "Hand" spells) that are probably unknown. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 12:56:40 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Non-Mystarian Magic On Mon, 20 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 97-10-20 00:30:20 EDT, galwylin@airnet.net writes: > > << I'm wondering what's everyone's opinion of the named spells of AD&D (ex. > Tenser's Floating Disc). Do you use them as it, change the name to a > Mystarian mage or just don't allow them. I probably say not to allow them > but if a player knows of them and wants to have them in the campaign then > they must research them and then the spell will be called whatever the > researching mage decides. >> > > If we use the D&D rules sets as precedent, most of these spells should be > allowed minus the Mage names. Thus, "Tenser's Floating Disc" would be > simply "Floating Disc" in a Mystaran campaign. On the other hand, there > would be many spells (notably Bigby's "Hand" spells) that are probably > unknown. This sounds reasonable, but I wouldn't think including the "hand spells" and others should change all that much in the campaign, so why not include them. I think this was a very good idea (One of the few from G:KoM) and I'd use it if I ran a Mystara campaign with AD&D. Tales of the Lance uses a differen't approach. No spell with a Name in front of it exists in Krynn, unless the GM makes up a Dragonlance equivalent of the spell. I.e Dalamar's Grasping Hand or whatever. That seems like less fun and more work. BTW: Wonder why AD&D still uses those names from the Greyhawk campaign. Especially since Geryhawk is discontinued. Håvard. - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 14:06:13 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement v2 - LONG OK, I've read the comments on my first post about Glantrian nobles, and made some revisions. Here's version 2. As always, I eagerly await comments. This is a write-up I did on the various Glantrian nobles advancing in rank. It is "semi-official", since some information comes out of official accessories, while other is made up by me. Note that I consider Glantri: Kingdom of Magic boxed set to be marginally correct at best. First, we need to make a few assumptions. We assume that the nobles of Blackhill and Erewan never competed, since they were content to stay at home and get killed by the 1006 meteor strike ;) Likewise, the Boldavian barons never try to move elsewhere because of their undead nature. I have tried to calculate the votes each contender would get, and based the outcomes on those results. Remember, you have to get 80+ votes at Council to win the election. The acronyms I use: B=Baron, V=Viscount, C=Count, M=Marquis, D=Duke, A=Archduke, P=Prince, CV=voting power at Council, PV=voting power at Parliament So, here it is, chronologically: 1003 AC: Urmahid Krinagar, C. of Skullhorn, establishes Principality of Bramyra. Since it is in the same area as his county, there are no other changes. His CV and PV are 16, while P. Jherek's PV reduces by 6 to 33 (note that some voting points were calculated incorrectly in GAZ3). 1004 AC: Harald of Haaskinz, A. of Westheath, establishes Principality of Sablestone. This is where things get interesting. Barony of Kern is established for Harald. Westheath is up for grabs. There is an indication in one of the PWAs that John Beaumarys-Moorkroft is the new Archduke. We'll assume that Margaret of Hillsbury was content to stay in her tower and dream about Prince Volospin. PWA also indicates that Eachainn McDougal is the new D. of Hightower. Okay, let's say that the fraudulent M. of Berrym decided not to attract attention, while M. Fernando de Satolas opted to stay close to elven lands. Brannart McGregor loses Viceroyalty of Sablestone, making him an enemy of Harald. The above changes the voting points as follows: Sirecchia loses 9 points from PV, reducing it to 26; Singhabad gains 1 point, rising to PV of 34. McGregor loses 1 point from his CV, reducing it to 15. Now then, Dunvegan is up for grabs. Aliana of Soth-Kabree and Emeth of Wylon are out for reasons stated above. This leaves Genevieve of Touraine, Alasdair of Glenargyll, and Sinaria of High Sonden. Let's try to calculate the Council votes: Genevieve: 25 (Etienne), +21 (Carlotina), +17 (Jaggar) = 63 votes Alasdair: 15 (Brannart), +18 (Carnelia), +25 (Jherek), +16 (Urmahid), +22 (Volospin) = 96 votes Sinaria: 17 (Vanserie), +16 (Innocenti) = 33 votes Morphail abstains from voting. Why the above? Obviously, the rulers of each house vote for their own nobles. Carnelia votes for Alasdair simply because she does not like the other two. This causes Carlotina to vote for Genevieve. Jaggar votes for Genevieve because Etienne promised him to support war against Ethengar and Alphatia. This causes Jherek, Urmahid, and Volospin to vote for Alasdair, and Innocenti to vote for Sinaria. Morphail abstains because he hates all three. So, Alasdair McAllister is now M. of Dunvegan, raising Crownguard's PV to 35. Next comes County of Glenargyll. Ezechiel of Nathrat and Arbana of Redstone are out (they get killed by the meteor, and they have special interests in their current dominions), as well as Diane of Malibois (she simply doesn't care). Rolf of Blofeld doesn't want to go that far away as transporting his precious constructs would be difficult. Gilles of Fausseflammes also does not want to move that far, besides his dominion is nice and larger than usual. Griseo Fulvina won't compete because his assignment is to spy on Agostino diMalapietra in Ylourgne, and Verazzano is closer to the fortress than Glenargyll. We then have Bergen and Castelbianco. The votes: Rowena: 17 (Vanserie) +25 (Etienne) +17 (Jaggar) = 59 Antonio: 16 (Innocenti) +15 (Morphail) +25 (Jherek) +16 (Urmahid) +18 (Carnelia) = 90 Carlotina abstains (no worthy candidate in her opinion); Volospin abstains (he dislikes both); Brannart abstains (he's not interested); Harald abstains (not wishing to involve himself in these intrigues - he'd vote for Rowena, but he's still more or less grateful to House Sirecchia for backing his princely appointment). The reasons: Etienne hates Sirecchia, so he votes for Rowena (he always had good relations with Flaems); so, Morphail votes for Antonio because he hates both Linden and Sylaire; Jaggar dislikes Sirecchia, and he's still more or less friendly with Etienne and Vanserie, so he votes for Rowena; this, of course, leads to Jherek and Urmahid voting for Antonio; Carnelia votes for Antonio in opposition to Linden and Sylaire. So, Antonio di Tarento is the new Count of Glenargyll. Sirecchia's PV rises to 27. Right, then the barons compete for viscounty of Castelbianco. Obviously, all the undead barons of Boldavia and Klantyre will not be competing. Malachie du Marais can also be left out. That leaves us with Franz of Adlerturm, Isabella of Egorn, and Pieter of Oxhill. Franz: 17 (Jaggar), +15 (Morphail), +21 (Carlotina) = 53 Isabella: 18 (Carnelia), +25 (Jherek), +16 (Urmahid), +22 (Volospin) = 81 Pieter: 17 (Vanserie), +16 (Innocenti), +14 (Harald) = 47 Etienne abstains (he dislikes Pieter, but does not wish to alienate Linden by voting against him); Brannart abstains (again, not interested - none of these candidates immediately benefit Morphail or Etienne). Jherek and Urmahid, obviously, vote against Jaggar and Vanserie. Same goes for Volospin. Morphail votes against Vanserie and Volospin. Carlotina votes against Vanserie and Carnelia. Innocenti votes against Jaggar and Volospin. Harald votes for Pieter just to get him out of his face (Pieter has been hiring bandits to terrorize Kern). Isabella is the narrow winner and the new V. of Castelbianco. Alhambra now has a PV of 30. Okay, let's play along with TSR and say that Harald of Haaskinz excercised his influence and got the Barony of Egorn for his friend Gerrid Rientha. Or else you might award it to one of the PCs in your campaign. Additionally, Piotr-Grygory Timenko, B. of Kutchevski, is accidentally killed by Alphaks' assassination team dressed as Alphatians. Morphail absorbs his dominion into Boldavia, rather than see someone potentially troublesome gain control of it. (The above paragraph is purely optional; it is an attempt to explain the absence of Timenko from G:KoM. You can safely ignore it, as it won't have any effect on the rest of this article.) 1005 AC: Malachie du Marais marries Diane de Moriamis and becomes P. of Morlay-Malinbois. His CV and PV are 15 (10 from prince, 5 from viscount). Barony of Morlay ceases to exist. The PV of House Sylaire is reduced to 36. After the declaration of war, Carlotina Erewan loses the title of Chamberlain (reducing her CV to 17 and PV to 28), and Jaggar von Drachenfels gets the title (increasing his CV to 21 and PV to 37; note that he is also Viceroy of Nordling). 1006 AC: The meteor strikes! All the Silverston nobles die; Caurenze and allied dominions of Erewan (Nathrat and Soth-Kabree) are destroyed. Ouch. Ellerovyn's PV is reduced to 17. Antonio of Glenargyll and Griseo of Verazzano join House of Haaskinz, raising its PV to 29. Since there is a shortage of baronies, the Council decides to abolish the viceroyalty of Ylourgne (nobody attacks from that direction anyway) and establish a barony there. Vincienzo di Randazzi wins the dominion (or, you can give it to a PC). He joins the house of Marais, raising their PV to 19. Urmahid Krinagar is appointed the new Chancellor, raising his CV and PV to 22. Margaret of Fenswick does not join any house, preferring to mourn Prince Volospin. 1008 AC: Vanserie and Wilhelmine Vlaardoen die of the plague. Juliana inherits Bergdhoven. It is unclear as to who gets the title of Treasurer, since later Dolores Hillsbury apparently gets it. We'll assume that Juliana holds the title for the time being. 1009 AC: Etienne d'Ambreville disappears. Isidore inherits New Averoigne, but Harald of Haaskinz gets the Grand Master position. Isidore's new CV is 15 and PV is 26; Harald's are 24 and 39, respectively. There is also a brief struggle between Isidore and Henri. 1010 AC: Margaret Hillsbury dies and Dolores appears. Fenswick is made a principality. Since Juliana Vlaardoen is not very experienced yet, she loses the title of Treasurer and Dolores gets it to herself. Dolores's CV and PV are 20; Juliana's are 15 and 30. 1011 AC: Jaggar loses the title of Chamberlain to Isidore. Jaggar's CV and PV are 17 and 33, Isidore's are 19 and 30. Kol becomes P. of New Kolland. Dolores's influence is such that he gets to create a *viscounty* of Blackstone. His CV and PV are 15. 1012 AC: Mirn Krollnar replaces his mother Rowena as Viscount of Bergen. Sergei Wutyla inherits his brother Laszlo's Barony of Mariksen and breaks with House Igorov. Etienne d'Ambreville reappears, although it is not widely known. In the future, he may reclaim his principality from Isidore, but it remains to be seen. Council voting power as of 1012 AC: Jherek 25 Harald 24 Urmahid 22 Dolores 20 Isidore 19 Carnelia 18 Jaggar 17 Carlotina 15 Brannart 15 Morphail 15 Juliana 15 Malachie 15 Kol 15 Parliament voting power as of 1012 AC: Haaskinz 39 Singhabad 34 Crownguard 34 Ritterburg 33 Igorov 31 (with Kutchevski)/27 (without) Linden 30 Sylaire 30 Alhambra 30 Krinagar 22 Fenswick 20 Marais 19 Ellerovyn 17 Kol 15 For comparison, Singhabad+Krinagar=56, Sylaire+Marais=49, and Fenswick+Kol=35. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #172 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #173 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Monday, October 20 1997 Volume 02 : Number 173 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 13:11:12 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: [Mystara] Almanac Website? Shouldn't you guys make a website devoted to the Net Almanac? A page devoted to the sole purpose of distributing the Almanac would be an advantage. Håvard. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 14:09:22 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] Deaths of Glantrian nobles Here's a third article about Glantri - didn't I tell you I love that country? ;) This is a small article containing thoughts on possible surviving members of Aendyr and Di Malapietra families. Just to illustrate the possibilities for future events. Volospin and Thylera Aendyr are dead because they stayed at Silverston. Uthar Aendyr is probably dead because he stayed at Volnay. Lathan Aendyr studied at the Magic School, but we can suppose that he graduated before 1006 AC (he was M5 in 1000 AC) and stayed at Silverston as well. Serena Aendyr spent her time voting at the Parliament, so there is a possibility that she is alive. But even then, she cannot claim Blackhill as the principality itself was completely destroyed. Well, the ruins of Silverston are still there, but half of former Blackhill now belongs to New Kolland, so at least Kol and Dolores would oppose revival of Blackhill. Innocenti di Malapietra is, of course still alive. Giovanni di Malapietra is probably dead since he lived in Lizzieni. Letizia di Malapietra is probably dead unless she went to Juliana Vlaardoen. If so, she would be living at Linden, but would not be considered a noble since she is a fighter. Agostino di Malapietra could very well be alive, since he was the Castellan of Ylourgne. After Ylourgne became a barony, he would find himself without a post. However, since Giovanni is now dead, Agostino might campaign for re-establishment of Caurenze (with himself as the Prince of course) if/when someone finally kills Innocenti. Bartolomeo di Malapietra studied at the Magic School and so might be alive. If he is, Agostino will certainly try to kill him. If Bartolomeo graduated before 1006 AC (likely, since he was M7 in 1000 AC), then he would likely be staying in Sirecchia and die. Lucrecia di Malapietra is likely to be alive since she stayed in the capital. As she is a mage, she could also be a possible heiress to Caurenze, leading to a conflict with Agostino. Oh yes, just to be complete, the other nobles who died at some point in WotI: Emeth Urbaal Arbana Jerbat Ezechiel Naramis Aliana Nyraviel Hippolito de Belcadiz (killed by Henri d'Ambreville) Mikhail Gorevitch-Woszlany (killed himself) Rowena Krollnar (killed by a summoned fiend - or, as I prefer, by the one that gave her the scar - and inherited by her son Mirn) The Vlaardoen couple Laszlo Wutyla ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 14:07:42 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] Seven Secret Crafts of Glantri member lists I saw Cthulhudrew's post about the membership of the seven secret crafts of Glantri. Good job and a handy list, but he did miss a few ;) Here are the (to my knowledge) complete lists for 1000 and 1012 AC: 1000 AC ALCHEMY Genevieve de Sephora High Mistress Isabelle d'Ambreville 3 Guillaume d'Ambreville 3 Jakar Daron 3 Rolf Graustein 3 Malachie du Marais 3 Diane de Moriamis 3 Antonio di Tarento 3 DRACOLOGY Jaggar von Drachenfels High Master (star) Eachainn McDougall 3 (gold) Erik Helsing (from Serraine) 3 (red) Helgar von Drachenfels 2 (white) Ezechiel Naramis 2 (black) Aliana Nyraviel 2 (blue) Galladin 1 (jade) AIR ELEMENTALISM Volospin Aendyr High Master Serena Aendyr 3 Margaret Hillsbury 3 Emeth Urbaal 3 Arbana Jerbat 2 Gertrud von Drachenfels 2 EARTH ELEMENTALISM Innocenti di Malapietra High Master Hildegarde von Drachenfels 4 Giovanni di Malapietra 3 Lucrecia di Malapietra 3 FIRE ELEMENTALISM Vanserie Vlaardoen High Master Wilhelmine Vlaardoen 4 Sinaria Verlien 4 Gherynid (from Ierendi) 4 Pieter Vandehaar 3 Rowena Krollnar 3 Juliana Vlaardoen 1 WATER ELEMENTALISM Harald of Haaskinz High Master Quentin McGregor 3 Sean McGregor 1 ILLUSION Jherek Virayana High Master Lan-Syn Virayana 4 Urmahid Krinagar 4 Ralindi Virayana 2 Rejladan Virayana 1 NECROMANCY Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany High Master Brannart McGregor 4 Boris Gorevitch-Woszlany 3 Youri Ivanov 3 Angus McGregor 3 Piotr-Grygory Timenko 2 Laszlo Wutyla 2 CRYPTOMANCY Carlotina Erewan High Mistress Eleesea Erewan 4 Norelia Erewan 4 Bethys Erewan 4 Franz Lowenroth 3 WITCHCRAFT Carnelia de Belcadiz High Mistress Isabella de Montebello 3 Szasza Markovitch 3 Carmina de Belcadiz 2 Victoria de Belcadiz 2 Gilles Grenier 2 Esmeralda Erewan 2 Yolanda de Belcadiz 1 And 1012 AC ALCHEMY Genevieve de Sephora High Mistress Isabelle d'Ambreville 3 Guillaume d'Ambreville 3 Jakar Daron 3 Rolf Graustein 4! Malachie du Marais 3 Diane de Moriamis 3 Antonio di Tarento 3 Jissel de Gheyn (p.79 in G:KoM) 4! DRACOLOGY Jaggar von Drachenfels High Master (star) Eachainn McDougall 3 (gold) Erik Helsing (from Serraine) 3 (red) Helgar von Drachenfels 2 (white) Ezechiel Naramis 2 (black) Aliana Nyraviel 2 (blue) Galladin 1 (jade) Miguelito de Belcadiz 2! (I suggest green or blue) AIR ELEMENTALISM Serena Aendyr 3? Tereis Haaskinz 4! Natacha Datchenka 2! EARTH ELEMENTALISM Innocenti di Malapietra High Master Hildegarde von Drachenfels 5* Lucrecia di Malapietra 3? Tresh Barukta (p.111 in G:KoM) at least 2! FIRE ELEMENTALISM Sinaria Verlien 4 Gherynid (from Ierendi) 4 Pieter Vandehaar 3 Juliana Vlaardoen 2! WATER ELEMENTALISM Harald of Haaskinz High Master Dominick Haaskinz 3! Gerrid Rientha 3! Quentin McGregor 3 Sean McGregor 3! ILLUSION Jherek Virayana High Master Lan-Syn Virayana 4 Urmahid Krinagar 4 Ralindi Virayana 3! Rejladan Virayana 1 NECROMANCY Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany High Master Brannart McGregor 4 Boris Gorevitch-Woszlany 3 Youri Ivanov 3 Angus McGregor 3 Piotr-Grygory Timenko 2 Laszlo Wutyla 2 CRYPTOMANCY Carlotina Erewan High Mistress Eleesea Erewan 4 Norelia Erewan 4 Bethys Erewan 4 Franz Lowenroth 3 WITCHCRAFT Carnelia de Belcadiz High Mistress Isabella de Montebello 3 Szasza Markovitch 3 Carmina de Belcadiz 2 Victoria de Belcadiz 3! Gilles Grenier 2 Esmeralda Erewan 3! Yolanda de Belcadiz 1 *Hildegarde von Drachenfels is once again listed as being at 5th Circle. While this is probably just a typo copied from GAZ3, you could decide that she's just about ready to venture into ruined tower of Sirecchia and challenge Innocenti for the mastery of Earth Elementalism. This should not be too hard for her, since Innocenti lost a lot of levels to his wraith relatives. ? As Drew said, it's uncertain whether Lucrecia and Giovanni are alive. However, I think Giovanni is most likely dead since he was the Constable of Lizzieni which was destroyed. Serena Aendyr also stayed at the capital, so she might be alive - and in fact, she *might* be the new High Mistress of Air Elementalism. ! This denotes a change from GAZ3 - either a rise in level or a new member. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 14:28:37 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles- My take On Fri, 17 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > New Marquis of Dunvegan > The only ones I can think of that would want to move are: > Alasdair McAllister, Sinaria Verlien, Emeth Urbaal, and Aliana Nyraviel. > That being the case, here's my rationale of their backing: > > Alasdair: 16 (Crownguard) + 25 (Sylaire) > Sinaria: 17 (Linden) > Emeth: 22 (Silverston) > Aliana: 21 (Ellerovyn) + 16 (Ritterburg) + 25 (Singhabad) + 16 > (Bramyra) > Notes: > Igorov abstains. Sylaire backs McAllister (a fellow member of the > Brotherhood of the Radiance). Sirecchia abstains, though I could see him Brothers of Radiance don't necessarily love each other. Remember, Sylaire and Crownguard are bitter enemies, so IMO Etienne would probably vote for Sinaria, as he's one of the few princes not hostile to Linden. > backing McAllister. Ritterburg, Singhabad, and Bramyra (if allowed, he's > the new Prince), would all (IMO) back the most militarily qualified Er, I think you mixed things up a bit. Krinagar became prince the year before (1003). This vote takes place in 1004, when Harald becomes prince and vacates Westheath. As it is, this is the most problematic year, since all the others are pretty straightforward. > New Count of Glenargyll > > Candidates: Rowena Krollnar, Arbana Jerbat (though a good point > is made about her being too far away to spy on Volospin, though I note > that she is also here to spy on Glantrian secrets, not just the Aendyrs, > though that is a primary goal), Griseo Fulvina, and Antonio di Tarento. > > Voting: > > Rowena: 17 (Linden) + 25 (Sylaire) + 15 (Igorov) + 16 > (Ritterburg) + ? > Arbana: 22 (Silverston) > Griseo: ? > Antonio: 16 (Sirecchia) > > Sylaire and Igorov, IMO, back Rowena. Primarily because both > Etienne and Morphail are the types to be influenced by a charming lady > such as she- not just because she's described as beautiful, but because > they are charming, socialite types themselves, and would have more reason > to interact with her and be won over by her. IMO. Right, but remember that Igorov and Linden are enemies. > At any rate, that leaves Rowena only 7 votes short of the required > 80, with many Houses still left to cast a vote. IMO, then, Rowena > Krollnar becomes the New Countess of Glenargyll. > I had Antonio di Tarento become the Count, since he was backed by both Singhabad and Bramyra, who voted against Ritterburg (they do often have the decisive vote). > New Viscount of Berrym > > The candidates: Franz Lowenroth. Both Pieter Vandehaar and > Isabella de Montebello decline to run, as the Principality of Sablestone > (which isn't enfieffed until next year) is still being considered by the > Council. > Actually, as I pointed out above, this *is* the vote which is caused by Sablestone's creation. So both Pieter and Isabella will likely compete. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 07:33:43 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Non-Mystarian Magic Well... in case you haven't heard, TSR is bring Greyhawk back in '98. Dark Sun is also scheduled to make a come back. Think it's time I asked about Mystara ;) - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Galwylin http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ Strange! That really should have worked! - Fizban - -----Original Message----- From: Haavard Roenne Faanes To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Date: Monday, October 20, 1997 6:37 AM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Non-Mystarian Magic BTW: Wonder why AD&D still uses those names from the Greyhawk campaign. Especially since Geryhawk is discontinued. Håvard. - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 07:40:00 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Almanac Website? I've been thinking of doing just that (well, in fact I'm putting it in html format at the moment since I have the text version). I'd also like to start putting the next one together but I haven't gotten Joshuan's Almanac to see what changes have already happened. Any ideas are appreciated. Also, how much info should be supplied on the Known World countries without copyright infrigment? - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Galwylin http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ Strange! That really should have worked! - Fizban - -----Original Message----- From: Haavard Roenne Faanes To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Date: Monday, October 20, 1997 7:15 AM Subject: [Mystara] Almanac Website? Shouldn't you guys make a website devoted to the Net Almanac? A page devoted to the sole purpose of distributing the Almanac would be an advantage. Håvard. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 16:44:15 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] Mystaran Politics template Hello, I've made a file in .DOC format that lists the various nations of the Known World as well as various political info pertinent to them. It is in a format like this: Empire of Thyatis Government: Monarchy Ruler: Thincol I Torion, emperor Friendly: Glantri, Heldann, ... Neutral: Karameikos, Minrothad, ... Hostile: Alphatia, ... Dominions Baronies: Biazzan, ... Counties: Actius, ... Duchies: Retebius, ... Archduchies: Terentias, ... Other Territories: Hinterlands, ... Some other countries have other info listed, such as a detailed information on Glantrian houses' voting power and relations. You can use this template to keep track of the political situation IYC. If you want to get it, mail me *privately*. (I can't post it to the list, right?) ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari..hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 11:31:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Non-Mystarian Magic In a message dated 97-10-20 08:54:35 EDT, you write: << Well... in case you haven't heard, TSR is bring Greyhawk back in '98. Dark Sun is also scheduled to make a come back. Think it's time I asked about Mystara ;) >> At least they could reissue some products or put out an Almanac. Original PWA format of course. Would be nice if they used the List developed material. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 11:10:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Non-Mystarian Magic In a message dated 97-10-20 00:30:20 EDT, you write: << I'm wondering what's everyone's opinion of the named spells of AD&D (ex. Tenser's Floating Disc). Do you use them as it, change the name to a Mystarian mage or just don't allow them. I probably say not to allow them but if a player knows of them and wants to have them in the campaign then they must research them and then the spell will be called whatever the researching mage decides. >> I myself utilize all sources of spells; D&D and AD&D. It adds a bit of flare to the game. I do take the liberty of dropping the name prefix. And when you bring in Immortals, this added spell inventory comes in particularly helpful to them as they have the capability to know all spells. I would guess that a spell named after an unknown and foreign wizard might be a good adventuring hook. Still a "new" spell could be claimed by the mage that discovers a scroll or spell book that records it. For that matter, I usually have the spell names deviate (even the low level D&D spells). I also have the effects differ somewhat from mage to mage. IMO this gives a bit of uniqueness to the mage. Example- Magic Missile- One of my NPCs (former PC) calls this spell "Arkron's Arrow" after a fallen friend who favored the bow. He knows it is the Magic Missile spell but opts to use a name to honor his lost comrade. When cast, Akron's Arrow looks like the standard Magic Missile spell. I do have the projectile appearing as glowing green. Another calls it "True Flight" and "Mage's Arrow". He discovered the two Magic Missile spells seperately and has jotted them down in his spellbook. The two have the same effect but appear different when cast. As such, the mage thinks them two different spells. When it hits its intended target, it disappears as it enters the person. When cast, True Flight causes a noncorporal dull gray dart to appear beside the caster. The Mage's Arrow spell causes a realistic looking arrow to hover beside caster. When it hits, it appears to protrude from the target as a real arrow would. It does fade away after a few seconds. This comes in handy for gameplay. The target reaches down to grasp at the arrow. His hands pass through the arrow. Then suddenly the projectile fades from sight. On their sheets they have the spells named as they call them. On the DM sheet, they are also listed like that, but I have the true name beside them in parenthesis. Usually jot down a few notes about the spell's appearance on the back of the sheet or in the columns. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 09:28:43 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Deaths of Glantrian nobles On Mon, 20 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > Volospin and Thylera Aendyr are dead because they stayed at Silverston. IMC, Volospin (the High Master of Air Elementals) had more than enough time to get away from the encroaching comet. Of course, he had the misfortune of drawing an Elemental Ruler's attention (it just wasn't his day), and is currently entrapped on the Plane of Air. > Lathan Aendyr studied at the Magic School, but we can suppose that > he graduated before 1006 AC (he was M5 in 1000 AC) and stayed at > Silverston as well. I could maybe see this, though I had assumed he was still at the Great School, myself. > Serena Aendyr spent her time voting at the Parliament, so there is > a possibility that she is alive. But even then, she cannot claim > Blackhill as the principality itself was completely destroyed. Well, > the ruins of Silverston are still there, but half of former Blackhill > now belongs to New Kolland, so at least Kol and Dolores would oppose > revival of Blackhill. She's probably still alive. > Bartolomeo di Malapietra studied at the Magic School and so might be > alive. If he is, Agostino will certainly try to kill him. If Bartolomeo > graduated before 1006 AC (likely, since he was M7 in 1000 AC), then he > would likely be staying in Sirecchia and die. > > Lucrecia di Malapietra is likely to be alive since she stayed in the > capital. As she is a mage, she could also be a possible heiress to > Caurenze, leading to a conflict with Agostino. I think they're probably alive, myself. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 09:23:45 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement v2 - LONG On Mon, 20 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > 1003 AC: > Urmahid Krinagar, C. of Skullhorn, establishes Principality of Bramyra. > Since it is in the same area as his county, there are no other changes. > His CV and PV are 16, while P. Jherek's PV reduces by 6 to 33 (note > that some voting points were calculated incorrectly in GAZ3). I just realized that when I did my "picks", as it were, I completely forgot that bumps didn't begin to take place until 1004, when Harald leaves Westheath. I'm such a moron... :( The only real change would be with Pieter Vandehaar, but... > 1004 AC: > M. Fernando de Satolas opted to stay close to elven lands. Why assume this? He is a member of the Brotherhood of the Radiance, and in theory, aren't they more able to make use of the Radiance the closer they are to it? (IIRC, I may not be). > Brannart McGregor loses Viceroyalty of Sablestone, making him an enemy of > Harald. G:KoM disregards the whole Viceroyalty thing, but for myself, I think the Fort of Sablestone should still exist- it is a necessary home for Glantrian troops, if nothing else. Either that, or else a new fort (one outside any Principality) should be constructed. Maybe it's just me... > Now then, Dunvegan is up for grabs. Aliana of Soth-Kabree and Emeth of > Wylon are out for reasons stated above. This leaves Genevieve of > Touraine, Alasdair of Glenargyll, and Sinaria of High Sonden. I'm not convinced Genevieve de Sephora would compete, but that's academic. > Carnelia votes for Alasdair simply because she does not like the other > two. This causes Carlotina to vote for Genevieve. Jaggar votes for > Genevieve because Etienne promised him to support war against Ethengar > and Alphatia. This causes Jherek, Urmahid, and Volospin to vote for > Alasdair, and Innocenti to vote for Sinaria. Morphail abstains > because he hates all three. I don't really see the reasoning, here. As has been pointed out, the votes are anonymous, and all are cast at the same time. This being the case, I don't see how, for example, Carnelia's voting for Alasdair would have any direct influence on Carlotina's vote. I can see where Carlotina would try to vote against Carnelia in some case (particularly those most clear-cut cases, where there is an obvious supporter), but not in cases like this, where no obvious interest lay. I agree that Alasdair McAllister should be the new Marquis of Dunvegan, but my assessment would be more along the lines of his recieving House Crownguard, House Ritterburg, House Singhabad, House Bramyra, and House Igorov's votes, as well as possibly Clan of Alhambra, given the interest all of the above have in the defense of the nation. Choosing a ruler to hold the other end of Skullhorn Pass is not a matter lightly settled. > Rowena: 17 (Vanserie) +25 (Etienne) +17 (Jaggar) = 59 > Antonio: 16 (Innocenti) +15 (Morphail) +25 (Jherek) +16 (Urmahid) > +18 (Carnelia) = 90 > Carlotina abstains (no worthy candidate in her opinion); Volospin abstains > (he dislikes both); Brannart abstains (he's not interested); Harald > abstains (not wishing to involve himself in these intrigues - he'd > vote for Rowena, but he's still more or less grateful to House Sirecchia > for backing his princely appointment). Hmm... I still go for Rowena Krollnar here... > The reasons: Etienne hates Sirecchia, so he votes for Rowena (he always > had good relations with Flaems); so, Morphail votes for Antonio because > he hates both Linden and Sylaire; Jaggar dislikes Sirecchia, and he's > still more or less friendly with Etienne and Vanserie, so he votes for > Rowena; this, of course, leads to Jherek and Urmahid voting for > Antonio; Carnelia votes for Antonio in opposition to Linden and Sylaire. > So, Antonio di Tarento is the new Count of Glenargyll. Sirecchia's PV > rises to 27. Again, I'm not too keen on this- "He voted this way, therefore He votes this way" business. In cases of obvious support for a candidate- one who quite publically and vocally supports and is in turn supported by a particular House, I could definitely see that sort of thing going on, if only out of principle. In other, less cut and dried, cases, though- other events should (IMO) factor into the voting process. And you aren't going to try and tell me that Morphail used magic to figure out *Etienne's* vote, are you? ;) - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 18:49:43 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Subject: Undead Control Rules In the Master set the rules concerning Controlling Undead state that an undead can control a number of HD of lesser undead equal to its HD doubled. (ex: a 9HD vampire could control up to 18 HD of undead of up to 9 HD each). However, in the case of undead who were spellcasters (liches, Vampires, mummies), their spellcasting level counts not their HD. (ex: a 27th wizard lich could control up to 54HD of undead of up to 27 HD each) Also the range of this control is 15 miles (24 km) PER HD of the Liege, but since for spellcasters the level counts, then it's 15 miles PER LEVEL (max. 36th level = 240 miles range of control!!!!). Now, this range seems a bit TOO wide to me, so i was wondering if it was only a mistake of my copy of the Master set or if it's the canon rule. Also consider that Undead Control range for AD&D (in the case of liches) is only 1,000 feet (300 meters) per HD (or spellcasting level is you want) of the Liege, which is VERY different from 15 miles per HD! Any ideas about this issue? DM ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 09:48:45 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Seven Secret Crafts of Glantri member lists On Mon, 20 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > DRACOLOGY > Erik Helsing (from Serraine) 3 (red) AKA, Igor Gorevitch-Woszlany, a cousin of Morphail. He is also credited with betraying a number of Morphail's vampire pawns to a pair of Paladins (one of which he got his current surname from). PC2 also mentions a Nosferatu Baron that comes to hunt Erik Helsing, but of course, he couldn't possibly be a Baron, could he? Any thoughts on this? Perhaps Morphail forced him to renounce his Baronial title in order to hunt Erik Helsing, at which point one of the other current vampire nobles took over? Also, you forgot to mention the Earth Elementalist (forgot his name) from GAZ9: The Minrothad Guilds- the assassin guy. And I forget if that Klantyrian guy (from PC3: The Sea People) is a member of a Secret Craft or not... - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 18:49:05 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Subject: Glantri Posts #1 #2 & #3 Cthul wrote: <> Good! Agree on all of the 5 points :) <> All the calculations are fine and you did a thorough work, Andrew, but i do have a question, which is not in ANY ways directed against your work. Since we all agree on the numbers, what most upsets and bothers me is this: why was the ruler of each dominion not yet a 36th level magic user in AC1000? Let's see once again those xps: AALBAN Total xp from AC1000-1010= 6,237,300!! 1st thru 36th level (wizards) in about 8 years BELCADIZ Total xp from AC1000-1010= 1,855,980!! 1st thru 36th level in about 22 years (but since its an elven dominion, from 1st level to Attack Rank M in about 15 years) BLACKHILL Total xp from AC1000-1005= 2,368,200!! 1st thru 36th level in 15 years BERGDHOVEN Total xp from AC1000-1006= 6,163,020!! 1st thru 36th level in only 4 years!! BOLDAVIA Total xp from AC1000-1010= 2,493,840!! 1st thru 36th level in about 18 years CAURENZE Total xp from AC1000-1006= 3,319,920!! 1st thru 36th level in about 8 years! EREWAN Total xp from AC1000-1010= 4,151,700!! 1st level thru Attack Rank M in 8 years! KLANTYRE Total xp from AC1000-1010= 1,705,100!! 1st level thru 36th in 25 years (now that's realistic..) KRONDAHAR Total xp from AC1000-1010= 4,707,900!! 1st thru 36th level in 10 years NEW AVEROIGNE Total xp from AC1000-1010= 4,890,900 (489PP)!! 1st thru 36th level in 9 years!! <> I don't think he gets PP for this kinda things... otherwise he could build up thousands of kingdoms in the outer planes and get the XPs ruling all of them using avantars... (that's what my players would do at least) Now, i know that you used the rule "no more than 1 level a year!", BUT consider the foundation time of the dominions! If you accept the hypothesis that population didn't rise significantly in the last decade, then this could apply to the period between 980 and 1000 AC, ok? This means 20 years of ruling and getting XPs. Now, if you also count that many of the Rulers are the same person who founded the dominion (Brannart, Morphail, the elves), then WHY ARE NOT THEY AT THEIR MAXIMUM LEVEL in AC1000??????? Morphail has ruled for over 140 years and the same goes for the elves, so they should already have been at their peak!! UNLESS... unless you count that each year they won't always be ruling their dominion: they're wizard after all, so they will also take their time to research new spells and craft magical items. BUT this gives them XPs too, so they're not completely deprived this waY!! Maybe if you also consider this, giving them about 2 months away from ruling, the numbers could lower.. But this still doesn't explain Morphail, Brannart and the elves!!!!! There is something wrong about GAZ3 or Companion rules: probably it's the Companion rules.. :) <<2) I note that I forgot to include Malachie du Marais... nerts. Which raises an interesting point- would he and Diane de Moriamis both earn xp? Or only him? Technically, she should be a Princess, I'd think...>> I'd split the Xps between them instead of giving them both the entire amount. <<3) I'd also recommend using the elf mage experience tables for Carlotina at least. I don't know offhand what level that her experience would make her as an elven mage, but I'd also make that xp progression retroactive, since the table takes over from level 10. IE, rather than have her attack rank H (see Notes), start her out at the equivalent elf/mage level- 20, I believe.>> The XP progression table is basically the same, so she should be 16th in level (At Rnk H). I think this is a good solution, but there is one major hindrance: GAZ5 states that in order to advance as a Elf-Mage one must train and live inside a nation populated by a majority of elves, like Alfheim and the Sylvan Realm. Glantri does not qualify in this case, because the elves are a minority (it is specifically mentioned as an example IIRC). However i would bend the rules in case of my players, allowing them to earn XPs as Elf-Mages as long as they remain inside an Elven Principality. PS: Also, speaking of this GAZ5 restriction about Elf-Mages, i've always thought it was too heavy for the player characters, so i allowed the Elf Mage in my group to earn Xps thru adventuring outside Alfheim, only to return there when he had passed his level to spend there 1 month per level training with a Treekeeper or Elf-mage to increase his magic level (ex. An elf Mage of level 16 would have to spend 16 months training in Alfheim). Still a demanding task, but not so much as spending there his whole lifetime.. <> Ahem, excuse me, but if they are all dead, then the Circle of Air Elementalists is no more, since one could learn its magic effects only from another higher memeber.. And if Volospin is dead, then nobody could achieve High Mastery of Air Elemental anymore (i do back up you in the thought he's still alive, Andrew ;)). Bruce, help! Note also that the issue of who gained the County of Glenargyll (see my previous reply to Aleksei) could technically save Arbana Jerbat from death. In fact, if she had acquired that title, then she would have moved to Glenargyll from Redstone (later smashed by the Meteor in AC1006 and now site of Blackstone). But this would have killed the new Viscountess of Redstone, in my hypothesis Isabella de Montebello. Pity... ;) <> Agree with you: let's have the kids alive :) <> Wilhelmine is sure dead: it's stated in the PWA as well that she died together with her husband during the Monster Conjuration Attacks of the alphatians. As for Rowena, it depends on the location of Bergen and the width of the Crater (which escapes me now).. <> She has been "de-brained" by the neh-thalgghu (see Princess Ark series), so she's dead. And since Nathrat (Ezechiel's dominion) has been destroyed by the Meteor, then he's dead too IMO. DM ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 13:34:32 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Exalted becoming Immortals Glenn Butcher pontificated: > > > Sounds reasonable. Human worshippers can elevate a soul to Ancestor/hero > > spirit status. This is common in Ethengar, the Northern Reaches and in > > ancient traladara among other cultures.. > > Hmm. The problem with this is: > a) If normal souls can gain power from worshippers, what is different > between them and the immortals? (Save that the immortals have more power. > But if a soul gets enough power, they could do all the things that an > immortal can do). One difference could be that a soul can only use their power to affect their direct decendent. > b) If souls can gain power but exalted beings cannot...what is the point > of being exalted? (Except that it gains you immediate power, whereas a > soul will probably never gain power anyway, since most won't have > worshippers). I think even a powerful soul should still be weaker than a exalted being. John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 10:44:40 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: [Mystara] Machetos: Duchy of Intrige? Okay, so it's a cheesy title to the post. :) Anyway, while working on my Complete Mystara Timeline last night (the foundations of which are Daniel Boese's timeline, and to see what I've done thus far, you can check it out on my homepage), I noted that, in Dawn of the Emperors, Anaxibius (the Gladiator) is noted to have a desire to purchase ownership of the old homestead. Recalling the discussion on Jowdynites giving away the dominion to the Karameikos kid, I thought, maybe, instead, Anaxibius finally does acquire the rights to Machetos, and allows his father to rule it. (Of course, I'd imagine his father is around 60 or so, so maybe he's getting a bit too old, but...) At any rate, Anaxibius could finally get the rights to his homeland, and install either himself (with a proxy to represent him in the Senate) or his family as the rulers. Whattaya think? - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 14:06:06 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mages Pasi Anias pontificated: > > -Terari > Terari is a powerful mage (Or at least Tylion is, as shown in the list), > but by no means THE Mage. He dont have enough style. Etienne is much > better, and so are a score of others ( Brennart and Harald of Haazkins at > the top IMHO). I always think him as the subtle but powerful sort. IIRC, no one on the Council want to challenge him when they want him to step down. I think that says alot about alot about his power. > > -The 1000 Mages of Alphatia > > IMC: There are no 1000 mages of 36th level existing anywhere in my Mystara. > It was an error made by the Team that mafe DoE (Aaron Aalston?). There > isn't even 1000 characters of 36th level. Its just Ridiculous. Just calculate: > !000 mages of level 36 in a Realm of some 10 million peoples... Each one > lives maybe a 100 Years. That is, there Dies 10 Mages of level 36 each > Year, just to be replaced by 10 new ones... There would be 1 in 10000. > These statistics ARE not believable. Maybe there was such a council in > their homeword, but not here. Actually, I believe the council is first mentioned in CM1-Tests of the Warlords. Also, I would think that powerful mages have life span much greater than 100. But I also think 1000 36th level mages is a bit much. I probably will change to about 100 36th level with rest from 20 and up. > entitled to a Seat in the Counsil. The rest of them are lesser mages, even > some clerics and Fighters (Representatives from the less magical areas). I don't think fighters should be in the Council. They can't even be nobles in Alphatia, right? Clerics maybe, but I think I prefer the council to stay all mages. > Eriadna Should the current emperor be in the Council. I always thought the Council as an independ group that act as a balance againest the emperor. > Tylion IV (Ex Emperor, also Known as Terari) Consider he was forced off the throne, I don't think he would be that interested in setting on the Council. I thought of something when I first read this post, but I can't remember now. I'll post it when I remember. - -- John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #173 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #174 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Tuesday, October 21 1997 Volume 02 : Number 174 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 14:22:57 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) Galeifel@aol.com pontificated: > > Well, according to the article in Dragon #199 gun powder was/is/would be > officialy developed in Heldann, while popping up all around the world at > about the same time. What is it with Heldann and technology. Based on the book Wonderous Inventions, they also invented springs. - -- John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 14:30:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Deaths of Glantrian nobles Aleksei Andrievski pontificated: > > Rowena Krollnar (killed by a summoned fiend - or, as I prefer, by the > one that gave her the scar - and inherited by her son Mirn) Based on Gaz 3, she promised her hand to whomever killed the fiend that give her the scar, and since she have a son now, it seems most likely that fiend has been killed and she got married. The husband appreantly is not a mage so unable to inherit the title, which goes to the young son, who probably can't assume official responsibility until 16. But I like her too much to kill her off IMC. - -- John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 14:21:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) Kaviyd@aol.com pontificated: > > I can think of a couple of reasons for developing guns: > > 1) Magic wands are expensive to make -- guns become worthwhile if they > are cheaper to make than wands. I don't know much about early gun manufacturing process. But I assume the early on guns are pretty difficult to make. Might not be as difficult as wands, but not that easy either. And since they are not as powerful and reliable, there would not be that much incentive to improve it. And as I said, with Mystara being so magic rich, it is not likely they going to have a industrial revolution so they can mass produce guns. > 2) Only Mages can use most wands -- guns can be used by anyone. This > consideration makes guns more cost-effective -- the fact that anyone can > use them compensates for their (possibly) higher cost. But in most places, it is probably not that difficult to find couple dozens of mages or elves. > Given these considerations, I would think it likely that guns would be > developed in a nation like Rockhome -- as soon as the Dwarves there > realize that guns are possible, they will be quick to grasp their usefulness > to a people who have virtually no Mages among them. Even before they > develop practical firearms, the Dwarves will certainly develop cannons -- > very useful for discouraging invaders. Yes, IMC dwarves are the only one that have put firearms into practical uses. Gnomes invented first then pass it to the dwarves, who are one of the few cultures that lack the magical ability, but have enough technology to make use of it. But even them haven't put them into mass use yet. I haven't thought about cannons, though. One of the campaign idea I had is a world that one hemisphere developed magic, while the other side for one reason or other didn't it, so developed their civilizations based on technology. I have thought about inserting that into Mystara. Somewhere in the undescribed area are people with no magic, but have technology equivlent about late 1800 earth, and about to make contact with the KW. - -- John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 12:09:33 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mages On Mon, 20 Oct 1997, Shin Chyang Yu wrote: > Should the current emperor be in the Council. I always thought > the Council as an independ group that act as a balance againest > the emperor. Current Emperor *cannot* have a seat on the Council, no. See Tylion IV, below. > > Tylion IV (Ex Emperor, also Known as Terari) > > Consider he was forced off the throne, I don't think he would be > that interested in setting on the Council. He actually was a council member, according to Dawn of the Emperors. He couldn't sit on the Council while he was Emperor, but after he vacated the post, he was petitioned to join. He only recently (c.1000 AC) acquiesced- primarily due to lack of interest beforehand- and joined the Council. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 14:52:49 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mages I agree with all your points... I picture Terari as not showing too much of his power so you don't really know the extent of it. Non-mages shouldn't be able to tell the difference between 1st level mages and 36th level mages. While Terari might not have *style* he has experienced most of the Known World and been involved in two of the greatest nations (Karameikos has been set up to become a major power since WotI). Fighters wouldn't be allowed on the council at all, without some form of magic use. Clerics, maybe since Alphatia wasn't as bad as Glantri in their regard. While the Emperor maybe on the Council, he would probably have the same power on it as the VP in Congress... only to break ties but for the most part a non-participate. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Galwylin http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ Strange! That really should have worked! - Fizban - -----Original Message----- From: Shin Chyang Yu To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Date: Monday, October 20, 1997 2:28 PM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mages >Pasi Anias pontificated: >> >> -Terari >I always think him as the subtle but powerful sort. IIRC, no one >on the Council want to challenge him when they want him to step >down. I think that says alot about alot about his power. > >I don't think fighters should be in the Council. They can't even >be nobles in Alphatia, right? Clerics maybe, but I think I prefer >the council to stay all mages. > >Should the current emperor be in the Council. I always thought >the Council as an independ group that act as a balance againest >the emperor. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 22:53:52 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Subject: Undead Control Rules At 18.49 20/10/97 +0200, DM wrote: > > In the Master set the rules concerning Controlling Undead state that an >undead can control a number of HD of lesser undead equal to its HD doubled. >(ex: a 9HD vampire could control up to 18 HD of undead of up to 9 HD each). >However, in the case of undead who were spellcasters (liches, Vampires, >mummies), their spellcasting level counts not their HD. (ex: a 27th wizard >lich could control up to 54HD of undead of up to 27 HD each) Also the range >of this control is 15 miles (24 km) PER HD of the Liege, but since for >spellcasters the level counts, then it's 15 miles PER LEVEL (max. 36th level >= 240 miles range of control!!!!). > Now, this range seems a bit TOO wide to me, so i was wondering if it was >only a mistake of my copy of the Master set or if it's the canon rule. Also >consider that Undead Control range for AD&D (in the case of liches) is only >1,000 feet (300 meters) per HD (or spellcasting level is you want) of the >Liege, which is VERY different from 15 miles per HD! > Any ideas about this issue? I remember we already discussed this issue several months ago when talking about Morphail. According to the RC "a liege may control a number of undead whose totale HD is less than or equal to twice the liege's HD" "The maximum range of control is 24 miles per HD of the liege". <------!!! "When a lich or other undead spellcaster seeks to control other undead, its spellcaster level is used instead of his HD." This means that Morphail (M28 Nosferatu in Gaz3 (italian version)) can control up to 56 HD of undead in a range of 672 miles (little more than 1000 Km). Yes, Morphail is very powerful and he can control almost any undead in the KW! But Brannart, being a M33 Lich, is even better! On the other hand Morphail is High Master of necromancy, so he's Brannart's "boss" in a certain way. Bye. ************** Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it rafiel@geocities.com DM in City Of The Stars - Mystaran Almanac Assistant Leader of Privateers - Student of Aerospace Enginnering Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 20:05:06 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Almanac Website? At 13.11 20/10/97 +0200, you wrote: >Shouldn't you guys make a website devoted to the Net Almanac? >A page devoted to the sole purpose of distributing the Almanac would be an >advantage. Don't know if that's a good idea. I don't think that creating a website solely devoted to the distribution of the Net Almanac would be a good idea. The Almanac is already available at MPGN and in various homepages (mine, Herve's and maybe also DM's one). On the other hand it would be a good idea to advertise the existence of the Almanac out of this list, so that even unsubscribed mystarans may have it. I'm probably going to do something about that in a local convention that will be held in my homewtown in a few weeks. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 12:32:18 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Deaths of Glantrian nobles On Mon, 20 Oct 1997, Shin Chyang Yu wrote: > Based on Gaz 3, she promised her hand to whomever killed the fiend > that give her the scar, and since she have a son now, it seems most > likely that fiend has been killed and she got married. The husband > appreantly is not a mage so unable to inherit the title, which goes > to the young son, who probably can't assume official responsibility > until 16. But I like her too much to kill her off IMC. Me too. That's why I insist on giving her a higher title and leaving her alive, IMC. :) - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 21:49:43 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Almanac Website? I didn't know of it's availiablity on other sites. I just happened to stumble on it looking for the achives of this list. But I don't think devoting a couple of pages is too much to make it accessable to the more people. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Galwylin http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ Strange! That really should have worked! - Fizban - -----Original Message----- From: Fabrizio Paoli To: mystara-l@LISTS.IO.COM Date: Monday, October 20, 1997 6:19 PM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Almanac Website? >Don't know if that's a good idea. >I don't think that creating a website solely devoted to the distribution of >the Net Almanac would be a good idea. >The Almanac is already available at MPGN and in various homepages (mine, >Herve's and maybe also DM's one). >On the other hand it would be a good idea to advertise the existence of the >Almanac out of this list, so that even unsubscribed mystarans may have it. >I'm probably going to do something about that in a local convention that >will be held in my homewtown in a few weeks. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 00:37:53 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Subject: Glantri Posts #1 #2 & #3 In a message dated 97-10-20 13:22:28 EDT, dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it writes: << Ahem, excuse me, but if they are all dead, then the Circle of Air Elementalists is no more, since one could learn its magic effects only from another higher memeber.. And if Volospin is dead, then nobody could achieve High Mastery of Air Elemental anymore (i do back up you in the thought he's still alive, Andrew ;)). Bruce, help! >> Here is one of the rare few cases where G:KoM seems to be clearer than Gaz 3. To gain first circle abilities, a new student to a secret craft must be trained by an adept of the third circle or higher. Nothing in G:KoM or Gaz 3 seems to preclude a Mage from attaining the second through fifth circles by one's own research, although I would imagine that it would be more difficult to learn without a teacher. But the school of Air Elementalism does survive, even though its ranks were severely depleted by the meteor. Harald's sister Tereis is a fourth circle Air Elementalist and should be able to claim High Mastery of that craft eventually. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 08:34:41 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Machetos: Duchy of Intrige? At 10.44 20/10/97 -0700, Cthul wrote: >Recalling the discussion on Jowdynites giving away the dominion to the >Karameikos kid, I thought, maybe, instead, Anaxibius finally does acquire >the rights to Machetos, and allows his father to rule it. (Of course, I'd >imagine his father is around 60 or so, so maybe he's getting a bit too >old, but...) >At any rate, Anaxibius could finally get the rights to his homeland, and >install either himself (with a proxy to represent him in the Senate) or >his family as the rulers. Pardon, but IIRC Anaxibius married Stefania Torion and he's now Count of Redstone on the Isle of Dawn, so why should he "purchase" another dominion to move to? I'd think if he wants to do a present to his father he could found a barony in his own dominion without purchasing the rights to Machetos (a veery difficult thing IMHO). Don't think he's interested anymore (think also about the fact that he's now Stefania's husband and she's not a remissive wife that goes wherever and does whatever her husband wants). Just my opinion.. DM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 08:41:52 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Subject: Undead Control Rules At 22.53 20/10/97 +0200, Brizio wrote: >According to the RC "a liege may control a number of undead whose totale HD >is less than or equal to twice the liege's HD" >"The maximum range of control is 24 miles per HD of the liege". <------!!! >"When a lich or other undead spellcaster seeks to control other undead, its >spellcaster level is used instead of his HD." >This means that Morphail (M28 Nosferatu in Gaz3 (italian version)) can >control up to 56 HD of undead in a range of 672 miles (little more than >1000 Km). Man, this is just crazy!!!! Don't any of you think that it's too much powerful for undead lieges??? I think it's better the AD&D rule (the only time in my life i've said i prefer AD&D to OD&D!! Ohboy, where's the world going?): 1,000 feet per HD or LEvel... Thanx for the info Brizio, anyway.. DM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 08:54:26 +0100 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Deaths of Glantrian nobles At 14.09 20/10/97 +0300, Aleksei wrote: >Oh yes, just to be complete, the other nobles who died at some point >in WotI: >Emeth Urbaal >Arbana Jerbat >Ezechiel Naramis killed by the asteroid (if they didn't win other titles and moved first)? >Aliana Nyraviel She's been killed by the Neh-Thalgghu!!! Read the issue of the Princess Ark where Haldemar talks with the Brain Collector in Gator!!!! >Rowena Krollnar (killed by a summoned fiend - or, as I prefer, by the > one that gave her the scar - and inherited by her son Mirn) WHY??? If she had a baby then she married, and in this case it means the husband won her hand by killing the Thing from the Abyss. No need to kill her just because G:KoM says it!! >The Vlaardoen couple Killed by the plague >Laszlo Wutyla Killed by G:KoM, so IMO he's still alive. DM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 08:59:52 +0100 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Air Elementalists (was: Glantri Posts #1 #2 & #3) At 00.37 21/10/97 -0400, Aleksei wrote: >In a message dated 97-10-20 13:22:28 EDT, dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it writes: > ><< Ahem, excuse me, but if they are all dead, then the Circle of Air > Elementalists is no more, since one could learn its magic effects only from > another higher memeber.. And if Volospin is dead, then nobody could achieve > High Mastery of Air Elemental anymore (i do back up you in the thought he's > still alive, Andrew ;)). Bruce, help! >> > >Here is one of the rare few cases where G:KoM seems to be clearer than >Gaz 3. To gain first circle abilities, a new student to a secret craft must >be trained by an adept of the third circle or higher. Nothing in G:KoM or >Gaz 3 seems to preclude a Mage from attaining the second through fifth >circles by one's own research, although I would imagine that it would be >more difficult to learn without a teacher. >But the school of Air Elementalism does survive, even though its ranks >were severely depleted by the meteor. Harald's sister Tereis is a fourth >circle Air Elementalist and should be able to claim High Mastery of >that craft eventually. Yes, OK, it survives only because G:KoM introduces a completely new character who reached 4th level in 10 years!! BUT i thought that to learn secrets of the upper circles you need someone who teaches them to you AND who therefore belongs to that UPPER circle. In this case, IF Volospin he's dead, he cannot teach this Tereis the secret crafts that would make her a High Mistress of the Air elementalists. UNLESS... unless the cratfs are not taught by word of mouth but are somehow inscribed in secret scrolls that are passed from member to memeber... But then why do they need a (VERY LONG) training period with another master of the craft if they already know how to master those powers????? This puzzles me... DM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 04:57:18 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Deaths of Glantrian nobles In a message dated 97-10-20 15:17:54 EDT, scy2g@watt.seas.virginia.edu writes: << Based on Gaz 3, she promised her hand to whomever killed the fiend that give her the scar, and since she have a son now, it seems most likely that fiend has been killed and she got married. The husband appreantly is not a mage so unable to inherit the title, which goes to the young son, who probably can't assume official responsibility until 16. But I like her too much to kill her off IMC. >> Given that her son seems to be ruling in her place in G:KoM, I would have to assume that he is at least 16 years old by 1012 AC and thus was born before 1000 AC. That would mean that Rowena was a widow in 1000 AC, and she may or may not have married later. The simplest explanation is that she never did remarry. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 11:56:27 -0200 (EDT) From: Andre Martins Subject: Re: [Mystara] Air Elementalists (was: Glantri Posts #1 #2 & #3) On Tue, 21 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > Yes, OK, it survives only because G:KoM introduces a completely new > character who reached 4th level in 10 years!! BUT i thought that to learn > secrets of the upper circles you need someone who teaches them to you AND > who therefore belongs to that UPPER circle. In this case, IF Volospin he's > dead, he cannot teach this Tereis the secret crafts that would make her a > High Mistress of the Air elementalists. UNLESS... unless the cratfs are not > taught by word of mouth but are somehow inscribed in secret scrolls that > are passed from member to memeber... But then why do they need a (VERY > LONG) training period with another master of the craft if they already know > how to master those powers????? > > This puzzles me... I don't remember where, but I do remember reading Jaggar found his father library full with dracology information. He studied it by himself and then went to challenge the High Master of Dracology. When they found out he knew much more than them, he was given the position. Or something like that. Does anybody knows where it is? Maybe those Dragon articles about dragons in Mystara? Anyway, this means you can learn the secrets by yourself. And there is always the matter of who developed them first place, so they have to be researchable, VERY difficult, but researchable. Specially when you already know about them and have already started the elementalist path. Andre Martins ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 10:09:31 EDT From: Alex295 Subject: Re: [Mystara] Machetos: Duchy of Intrige? In a message dated 97-10-20 14:54:54 EDT, you write: << Okay, so it's a cheesy title to the post. :) Anyway, while working on my Complete Mystara Timeline last night (the foundations of which are Daniel Boese's timeline, and to see what I've done thus far, you can check it out on my homepage), I noted that, in Dawn of the Emperors, Anaxibius (the Gladiator) is noted to have a desire to purchase ownership of the old homestead. Recalling the discussion on Jowdynites giving away the dominion to the Karameikos kid, I thought, maybe, instead, Anaxibius finally does acquire the rights to Machetos, and allows his father to rule it. (Of course, I'd imagine his father is around 60 or so, so maybe he's getting a bit too old, but...) At any rate, Anaxibius could finally get the rights to his homeland, and install either himself (with a proxy to represent him in the Senate) or his family as the rulers. Whattaya think? >> Anaxibius marries Stefania. So unless she wants to relocate back to the mainland, it is doubtful. Given the hints of her and hubby Anaxibius leaning towards a more indepenent role from the Empire, I doubt that such a move would happen. Instead of Anaxibius having his father placed in a ruling role (even if little more than a figurehead) in Machetos, it is my opinion that he would just bring him to the IoD to live out the rest of his years in their kingdom. Now, that leaves Machetos still needing a ruler capable of developing it back to the level it was back in the old days. I myself like the thought of Justin Karameikos assuming the role. As previously discussed it holds some logic and would make for good gaming.You could even have him hired to act as an advisor to some Thyatian noble. That may be more palatible to some of the List members. You still need a ruler. I wouldn't mind seeing one of Eusebius's sons assume the role. But given their personalities, it may be even more unlikely. You could give the Duchy to Tredorian. He's a well liked personality in the Emperor's court. He certainly can find little space in Alphatia. He would need someone to help him in his administration. Someone who is savy in regards to economics and trade (Justin Karameikos). ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 10:23:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Mischa E Gelman Subject: Re: [Mystara] Top 3 and Worst 3 (remember?) Okay, a bit slow to respond but here goes: Top 3 Mystara products: 1)DA1-not a great adventure at all, but a great introduction to the Blackmoor setting. 2)Hollow World boxed set-enough detail in a few pages to give you a feel for each culture, yet not too much detail that it is unneccesary 3)B10-Night's Dark Terror-definitely the best pre-written adventure, and with enough interesting elements that you could branch off for several more long ones (ex. Iron Ring, Hutaakans-Traldar, Black Peak Gnolls..) Honorable Mention:B4(Lost City),AC10(?)(The Giant-Dragon one),HWR3(Milenian Empire),M1(Into The Maelstrom) and CM1 (Test of the Warlords) Worst 3: 1)HWR2-Kingdom of Nithia-inconsistent with the ODND system, with the Hollow World boxed set and oftentimes with itself. Poorly written and edited. 2)CM6/DA2-the same flaw with each I believe. Both had a good storyline, but were far too combat-heavy for my tastes. Maybe with major revision to all the fireball-tossing weapons would fix it but as is they were largely unworkable 3)CM4-Earthshaker-The plot was very thin and also gave you little room to improvise. Plus it was a bit too pre-planned for my tastes. Dishonorable Mention:X6(Quagmire),DA3 (City of gds), XL1 In between: B1,B2,B6,X1,X3,X8,O1,O2,M2,M3,IM1,IM2,CM8,Dawn of the Emporers and all the rule book boxed sets I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills. -Mohandas Gandhi ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 08:33:05 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Subject: Glantri Posts #1 #2 & #3 On Tue, 21 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > Here is one of the rare few cases where G:KoM seems to be clearer than > Gaz 3. To gain first circle abilities, a new student to a secret craft must > be trained by an adept of the third circle or higher. Nothing in G:KoM or > Gaz 3 seems to preclude a Mage from attaining the second through fifth > circles by one's own research, although I would imagine that it would be > more difficult to learn without a teacher. In point of fact, along the lines you mention, Jaggar von Drachenfels (according to G:KoM) appears to have done just this very thing, learning the secrets of his craft from his father's notes. I don't see a problem with this myself, particularly when you consider that, at least as regards the Fire and Air Elementalists, they would appear to have initially gotten their crafts from their Alphatian ancestors offworld. Which leads me to the proposition that Air Elementalists, if not Earth and Water Elementalists, exist(ed) in Alphatia proper. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 08:38:48 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Machetos: Duchy of Intrige? On Tue, 21 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > Pardon, but IIRC Anaxibius married Stefania Torion and he's now Count of > Redstone on the Isle of Dawn, so why should he "purchase" another dominion > to move to? I'd think if he wants to do a present to his father he could > found a barony in his own dominion without purchasing the rights to > Machetos (a veery difficult thing IMHO). Don't think he's interested > anymore (think also about the fact that he's now Stefania's husband and > she's not a remissive wife that goes wherever and does whatever her husband > wants). Sure, and I expected someone to point this out. ;) But Machetos isn't just *any* dominion, it's his home dominion, and the home of his family, and their friends, etc. And, at last check, it was in pretty poor condition. I could see him perhaps following through on his old pledge to purchase the place and give it to his father to administer, if only to try to remedy the situation the poor people of Machetos find themeselves in, and to help strengthen the Empire (of which he is very much a part). Just a possible situation, though. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 12:54:11 EST From: Neal Daskal Subject: Re[2]: [Mystara] Top 3 and Worst 3 (remember?) >Worst 3: >2)CM6/DA2-the same flaw with each I believe. Both had a good storyline, >but were far too combat-heavy for my tastes. Maybe with major revision to >all the fireball-tossing weapons would fix it but as is they were largely >unworkable (Laughing) Gotta answer this one, 'cuz although I don't usually get into religious discussions like this one, DA2 is my favorite of all time. (I like CM6, too, but since I never DM'ed it I won't defend it.) I agree that the laser pistols (face it - that's what they are) can't work as described (like wands of fireballs). In particular there is an encounter on the lowest level where one of the high Froggies is disturbed in his lab surgically turning humans into frog-folk. His only weapon is the pistol. The room is so small he would HAVE to kill himself if he used it. I ran this problem by Dave Arneson a number of years back. IIRC, he agreed that the pistols' effect should be played as creature-size, not 20' radius. There may even be a hint or two to that effect somewhere in DA2 or DA3. That said, what else do you have against DA2 to offset the delightful complexity and the Star Trek/evil cult/Dr. Moreau theme? FWIW I DMed it twice. Once worked like a charm. Second time the party blew themselves out of the adventure by insisting on bullying the Frogtowners and never establishing an outside base of operations from which to enter the Temple. Combat-heaviness did not come into play (cf. DA3 on the ship) "Intruder alert ... Intruder alert ... Main Concourse South" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 20:33:01 +0200 From: Diego Calugi Subject: Re: [Mystara] Subject: Undead Control Rules DM wrote: > > At 22.53 20/10/97 +0200, Brizio wrote: > >According to the RC "a liege may control a number of undead whose totale HD > >is less than or equal to twice the liege's HD" > >"The maximum range of control is 24 miles per HD of the liege". <------!!! > >"When a lich or other undead spellcaster seeks to control other undead, its > >spellcaster level is used instead of his HD." > >This means that Morphail (M28 Nosferatu in Gaz3 (italian version)) can > >control up to 56 HD of undead in a range of 672 miles (little more than > >1000 Km). > > Man, this is just crazy!!!! Don't any of you think that it's too much > powerful for undead lieges??? I think it's better the AD&D rule (the only > time in my life i've said i prefer AD&D to OD&D!! Ohboy, where's the world > going?): 1,000 feet per HD or LEvel... IMO there is nothing strange in it, as long as the liege must see the undead he wants to control, before gaining any power over it. This means that Morphail can not control a vampire of Karameikos unless he goes there and he discover where it is. - -Diego ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 22:11:51 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Subject: Undead Control Rules At 20.33 20/10/97 +0200, you wrote: >> Man, this is just crazy!!!! Don't any of you think that it's too much >> powerful for undead lieges??? I think it's better the AD&D rule (the only >> time in my life i've said i prefer AD&D to OD&D!! Ohboy, where's the world >> going?): 1,000 feet per HD or LEvel... > >IMO there is nothing strange in it, as long as the liege must see the >undead he wants to control, before gaining any power over it. >This means that Morphail can not control a vampire of Karameikos unless >he goes there and he discover where it is. Exactly. I forgot to mention this in my previous mail. Moreover I would say that there're few powerful spellcasting undead on Mystara: Morphail and Brannart in the KW, a lich in the Savage Coast, someone in pre-WotI Alphatia (Shraek ?).... ************** Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it rafiel@geocities.com DM in City Of The Stars - Mystaran Almanac Assistant Leader of Privateers - Student of Aerospace Enginnering Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 13:07:21 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: Re[2]: [Mystara] Top 3 and Worst 3 (remember?) On Tue, 21 Oct 1997, Neal Daskal wrote: > I agree that the laser pistols (face it - that's what they are) can't > work as described (like wands of fireballs). In particular there is > an encounter on the lowest level where one of the high Froggies is > disturbed in his lab surgically turning humans into frog-folk. His > only weapon is the pistol. The room is so small he would HAVE to > kill himself if he used it. I ran this problem by Dave Arneson a > number of years back. IIRC, he agreed that the pistols' effect should > be played as creature-size, not 20' radius. There may even be a hint > or two to that effect somewhere in DA2 or DA3. I play them like Wands of Lightning Bolts, instead (like the Blackmoorian Artifact that Jaggar Von Drachenfels owns), shooting laser beams. They work out better that way, IMO. Of course, the Heavy Blasters still function like a Wand of Fireballs, IMO. :) As for the DA modules themselves, I loved all 4 of them, and laud them highly as some of the best modules put out by TSR, if only for the wealth of background information on Blackmoor that saturates the modules (I was a bit disappointed that DA2 didn't have as much info as the others). - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 21:05:26 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Almanac Website? At 21.49 20/10/97 -0500, you wrote: >I didn't know of it's availiablity on other sites. I just happened to >stumble on it looking for the achives of this list. But I don't think >devoting a couple of pages is too much to make it accessable to the more >people. Maybe we could edit a couple of pages that everyone who puts the almanac in his/her site may (should ?) use. On a similar issue. What about a Mystara web-ring? I don't know how web-rings work, but I've seen many such rings on the net: Geo Ring, Star Wars Ring, VGA Planet Ring... just to name a few. ************** Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it rafiel@geocities.com DM in City Of The Stars - Mystaran Almanac Assistant Leader of Privateers - Student of Aerospace Enginnering Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 17:23:52 EST From: Neal Daskal Subject: Re[4]: [Mystara] Top 3 and Worst 3 (remember?) >As for the DA modules themselves, I loved all 4 of them, and laud them >highly as some of the best modules put out by TSR, if only for the wealth >of background information on Blackmoor that saturates the modules (I was >a bit disappointed that DA2 didn't have as much info as the others). The adventure presented in DA2, Temple of the Frog, is one of the Greybeards of TSR. Only modules in the class of Temple of Elemental Evil MIGHT have a similar pedigree. Temple of the Frog had so much detail already established that it took up too much space in the module to leave room for background information - recall that TSR always published those items with a power of 2 number of pages. Also, much of the background info in the DA series was repetitive - Jalapierie's stats and history might have appeared in all three of the others for example. (Sigh) I would have loved to see Dave Arneson develope the adventure ideas suggested in the NPC descriptions in DA1. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 14:26:04 -0700 From: "David 'Azure' Leland" Subject: [Mystara] Blackmoor blasters At 01:07 PM 10/21/97 -0700, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: >I play them like Wands of Lightning Bolts, instead (like the Blackmoorian >Artifact that Jaggar Von Drachenfels owns), shooting laser beams. They >work out better that way, IMO. > >Of course, the Heavy Blasters still function like a Wand of Fireballs, >IMO. :) I recognized the same problems others have mentioned with respect to the area of effect, etc. I thought it would be TOO cliche to make them just regular lasers, though, and I wanted to keep the players guessing by not having all the tech work like that you find in most sci-fi. I thought fire-based blasters would be cool, so I had it work this way. Hand blaster: fires a red ray that upon hitting a target envelops it a burst of flames of short duration. no danger of affecting anyone nearby, unless they are actually in contact with the target Heavy blaster: almost exactly like fireball. fires a flaming missle (not a modern day type missle, but instead just like fireball spell) that hits its target and explodes, filling an area with flames. whereas fireball explodes in a radius around the point of impact, however, blaster explosions have 'inertia' or 'momentum', and so expand to fill space in the direction in which it was fired. this makes it harder to get caught in your own blast since it only backs up and reaches you if there isn't enough space in the direction you fired to contain the entire area of effect. so, firing it right up against a wall is a bad idea, but firing it at someone 10 feet in front of you in a corridor that stretches far in front of you and behind your target is fine Just another workaround, / ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ \ : David "Azure" Leland ~|~ dleland@cogsci.ucsd.edu : | UCSD Cognitive Science ~|~ Phone/Fax: (619) 642-6709 | : Graduate Research Fellow ~|~ http://cogsci.ucsd.edu/~dleland : \ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ / ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 17:34:39 -0700 From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Almanac Website? At 09:05 PM 10/21/97 +0200, Fabrizio Paoli wrote: >On a similar issue. What about a Mystara web-ring? >I don't know how web-rings work, but I've seen many such rings on the net: >Geo Ring, Star Wars Ring, VGA Planet Ring... just to name a few. Hey, what a great idea! Web rings are fairly easy to set up an maintain - -- I have one already dedicated to Strawberries. The place to go to set one up is http://www.webring.org/ -- everything you need to know is there. You just need to get an image or two (preferably not too large) to use as the indicator and you're off. (Once we have some 'official' mystara image that would be an ideal solution for that end of things.) As for the webring itself, if no one else sets one up, after I finally get my act in gear and pull together the MML Archive site I'll set one up. No guarantees on when that will be though -- work is currently in super overdrive. *sigh* I hate it when real life gets in the way of fun stuff..... Jenni - -=> strawberryJAMM <=- - -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield http://www.jamm.com/jenni/home.html - -=> strawberryJAMM <=- strawberry@jamm.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 22:37:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Subject: Glantri Posts #1 #2 & #3 In a message dated 97-10-21 12:02:54 EDT, ANDREW.THEISEN@ASU.Edu writes: << Which leads me to the proposition that Air Elementalists, if not Earth and Water Elementalists, exist(ed) in Alphatia proper. >> I would go a bit further. I would suggest that none of the Secret Crafts are confined to Glantri -- Alphatia would certainly have its share of Air Elementalists, at least. And given that they have an even higher population of powerful Wizards, shouldn't Alphatia have a few "Secret Crafts" of its own? ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #174 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #175 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Wednesday, October 22 1997 Volume 02 : Number 175 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 22:46:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Subject: Glantri Posts #1 #2 & #3 In a message dated 97-10-21 12:02:54 EDT, ANDREW.THEISEN@ASU.Edu writes: << Which leads me to the proposition that Air Elementalists, if not Earth and Water Elementalists, exist(ed) in Alphatia proper. >> I would go a bit further. I would suggest that none of the Secret Crafts are confined to Glantri -- Alphatia would certainly have its share of Air Elementalists, at least. And given that they have an even higher population of powerful Wizards, shouldn't Alphatia have a few "Secret Crafts" of its own? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 00:25:04 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Seven Secret Crafts of Glantri member lists Aleksei Andrievski pontificated: > > And 1012 AC > > CRYPTOMANCY > Eleesea Erewan 4 > Norelia Erewan 4 > Bethys Erewan 4 For some reason, they are dropped to 3rd circle in G:KoM. John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 00:15:29 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Master of Glantri's secret crafts. Kaviyd@aol.com pontificated: > > Unless I am seriously mistaken, the only circle with any sort of limit > is the 5th circle, which is limited to one individual at a time. Circles > 1-4 should be available to an unlimited number of Glantrian wizards, > unless you can cite some passage that I have seriously overlooked. > No, I just didn't realize there are so many 4th circle wizard described. I got the impression that there are only one 4th circle wizard from the passage under Prince Urmahid Krinagar in G:KoM. But upon re-reading it, I don't know what give me that thought. John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 00:42:41 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Subject: Undead Control Rules DM pontificated: > > Man, this is just crazy!!!! Don't any of you think that it's too much > powerful for undead lieges??? I think it's better the AD&D rule (the only > time in my life i've said i prefer AD&D to OD&D!! Ohboy, where's the world > going?): 1,000 feet per HD or LEvel... Wouldn't 1000 feet per level be a bit low. A 36 level liege could only control undead within about 7 miles around him. - -- John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 00:47:32 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Subject: Glantri Posts #1 #2 & #3 Kaviyd@aol.com pontificated: > > I would go a bit further. I would suggest that none of the Secret Crafts > are confined to Glantri -- Alphatia would certainly have its share of Air > Elementalists, at least. And given that they have an even higher > population of powerful Wizards, shouldn't Alphatia have a few "Secret > Crafts" of its own? > I would say those secret crafts are Glantri's own. They are basically the Glantri's School of Magic's "trade secret". But Alphatia probably will have some secret crafts of their own. John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 10:07:52 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) Håvard wrote: <> Frankly, i think that one of the major differences between Mystara and any other TSR world is that we don't have gunpowder. Technology is not unknown in Mystara, but it's used primarly by gnomes and dwarves (a dwarf and a halfling invented the guns in SC!), so it's viewed as something not really "human" by the majority of Mystarans. Mystara is a world of magic and fantasy, and i wouldn't want to introduce a major industrial revolution just to bring smokepowder and guns into it. Crossbows, bows and the normal weapons used as "thrown or missile" weapons would disappear in a matter of decades, and i don't want this IMC. Also i agree with Alan Shutko's comment: Mystara is not made for technology and Blackmoor proved it. It's not just "the Blackmoorians didn't know how to use it": the very fabric of our (Mystara) world abhors technology and it reacts wildly when confronted with it. As for the guns in SC, well, the smokepowder is a magical one and ignites only there. If you try to combine any other two elements to make smokepowder outside the SC, you simply fail: the magic involved is not there, that's the rule IMC. This is why i really liked the idea of hand crossbows as revolvers: gee, they've got the flavour of the western epopea without renouncing to a fantasy medieval setting! This way i think the hand crossbow could be very much exploited outside the SC (where only the poor peones use them), where guns are unknown (i was thinking about Darokin or the Shires, which are both very open to new fashions and inventions). My last word is: no guns IMC, the rest of you can do whatever he wants. PS: Haavard, are you sure you're not working undercover for the Oards??? Technology in Mystara? This sounds like something that happened on a faraway world long ago... what was it, Aelos? ;) DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 10:10:30 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Maximum Level Haavard wrote: <> Pardon, but why do you feel this need for exceeding 36th level? I don't like AD&D mainly for the powergamer system it allows (10th level spells and up to 30th level -over 8 million XPs!!),so why should we do the same with D&D? I think that reaching 36th level is a major feat for a player (and a PC), the goal of a whole life: but if we take the limit to 50th level or worse if we don't limit the levels we could frustrate AND give too much power to the players, which is not what I PERSONALLY want. I'd say 36th level is good. The way i see it the only problem is XPs earned by ruling a dominion, not reaching maximum level! DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 10:09:47 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement Aleksei Andrievski wrote: < i think Arbana could have competed. She's a spy and she wants more power to > control and spy more efficiently over the House of Silverstone and the other > Principalities. Yes, but remember that Glenargyll is *far* away, on the other side of Colossus Mtns., which would make it rather difficult for Arbana to spy on Volospin.>> I don't think that with "spying on Volospin" Bruce meant that she personally went to Eriadna (city) to overhear his secret meetings. She probably hired thieves and spies to do the job and this requires political power and money, which comes both with a higher rank in Glantrian society and politics. Also, she must spy upone the other glantrians as well, so the more political power the better... ;) > Arbana would become Countess of Glenargyll. Obviously, this is just theory, > we cannot know for sure ;) > <> Aha! This is indeed true... BUT ONLY IF she was still Viscountess of Redstone at the moment of the disaster. IF we allow her to be promoted to Countess of Glenargyll as i hypothesized, then she would have not been killed, living miles and miles away from that location in AC 1006 (she would have moved to Glenargyll in AC 1004). This means that the dead one would be the new Count(ess) of Redstone, Isabella de Montebello in my theory... > < so he decides not to move out of the Sablestone area just yet.>> > > What hopes? There is already a Principality owned by Harald of Haaskinz, so > i think he will try another way to climb the social ladder in Glantri, and > this election is just what he's been waiting for. > <> AFAWK, the only two principalities that fell in Glantri's history were destroyed after a meteor smashed them. Do you think Piotr has the opportunity to do the same? Frankly, he hasn't a chance against Harald, both politically and magically.. > < assassination team dressed as Alphatians. Morphail absorbs his dominion into > Boldavia.>> <> Since i don't give G:KoM much importance, i would leave Lord Timenko alive DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 10:13:16 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Mages Pasi Anias wrote: <<-The 1000 Mages of Alphatia IMC: There are no 1000 mages of 36th level existing anywhere in my Mystara. It was an error made by the Team that mafe DoE (Aaron Aalston?). There isn't even 1000 characters of 36th level. Its just Ridiculous. Just calculate: !000 mages of level 36 in a Realm of some 10 million peoples... Each one lives maybe a 100 Years. That is, there Dies 10 Mages of level 36 each Year, just to be replaced by 10 new ones... There would be 1 in 10000. These statistics ARE not believable. Maybe there was such a council in their homeword, but not here.>> Well, you know, IMHO your mistake is that you're thinking in RW terms. Remember that 36th level mages are able to live for a looong timespan, assuming potions of longevity, using Wishes, experimenting with other long-lived races and dwelling in outer planes where time flows more slowly (so that when they spend one day there ten days passed on Mystara). Hence, i don't think the mortality rate for 36 MU is 10 per day, but maybe 1 each decade: this seems likely IMO. And rememeber that Alphatians have a higher chance of becoming a wizard in comparison with other populations. PS: your writeup about the famous mages is a good source, but i spotted a few gaps (i.e. Barimoor!!). I'll update and repost it in the following weeks if you don't mind (or if anybody else want to do it, you're welcome!!) ;) DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 10:14:35 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Arbana Jerbat Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: <> I have a hypothesis about the double name of most Alphatians. AFAIK, only the Alphatians living outside of Alphatian Empire have two names, and i think this is because they have been "corrupted" by the ways of the foreign countries. So for example, the Aendyrs were normally referred only as Volospin, Uthar, etc. of Aendyr (the name of their household or city, like for Haldemar) when they lived in Alphatia, but when they moved to Glantri the other nobles started referring to them as the "Aendyrs", omitting the fact that this was not their actual name but only the place where they hailed from. Likewise, Harald of Haaskinz (not an alphatian) is often referred as Harald Haaskinz, and so on. So, in the case of Arbana, she could have either: * be Arbana of Jerbat (a place in Alphatia), and thus she became Arbana Jerbat when she moved to Glantri * have wed an unknown mage named X Jerbat, Viscount of Redstone, and succeeding him after his premature death, as you said. DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 10:19:44 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Aliana Nyraviel Now the problem is this: if the Countess has been killed by the neh-thalgghu, she will be obviously replaced by another lesser noble (Viscount/ess). However, since i don't want to start another discussion on succession rights and hypothesis, i offer you this explanation: Aliana died in AC 1001 killed (de-brained) by the Neh-Thalgghu. His spokesman noticed it and informed Meister Rannigard Budulug, the Guildmaster, who prevented immediately anyone from knowing this and replaced the Countess with an imposter like he did with Mariana Terlagand (using Narda Shelyn). Problem is that the "new" Aliana couldn't ride a gryphon, so she actually "borrowed" solemnly his elite troops to Qenildor Erewan to help him better defend the Glantrian borders, a fact that earned her a good reputation in Camp Huledain and among the other Glantrian nobles (and prevented her from being discovered). Also, the imposter will die after the meteor crash, so the problem will be forever solved in AC1006. So, what do you think: does it sounds good? DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 10:16:44 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] More Background information about some races I was just reading today thru DMR2 Creature Catalog (I FOUND IT AFTER 2 YEARS!!) and there are some monsters that i've really never heard from any previous supplement (including adventure modules), so i wanted to know if any of you could place them in a proper location (region, realm or continent) on Mystara basing on the info he/she has and if you could also name the supplement where they appear (if possible). Well, this is the list: Baldandar (there was a mention in Joshuan Alm... -you know the thing- of a Glantrian wizard that is a Baldandar. Where do they originate however?) Bargda Bhut Crone of Chaos Cryon (suspect it's from the generic "northern lands") Desert Ghost Dragon, Pocket Dragonfly Dragonne Fungoid Fyrsnaka Gakarak Gyerian (the most useless and poor designed creature IMHO) Herex Hivebrood (gee, these are really tough!) Hook Horror Hulker Kal-Muru Kara-Kara (suspect they're from Tekia-Nura-Ria "Drums on Fire Mountain") Killer Tree Lamara Man, Qauriks Mesmer Pachydermion (i thought they inhabited only Patera, but the description syays that they can be found in temperate regions, tropical jungles and savannah, so there must be a small number also on Mystara IMO) Polymar (i know they're from X2, but i don't know if there is any known Polymar community on Mystara -they would be our Odos..) Rockman Scamille Sis'thik (sort of lizardmen of the desert) Sollux (again from X2, but where are they on Mystara?) Surtaki Topi Xytar PS: great interior work by Dave Simons!! My favourite is the picture of the Sollux against the Efreet: AWESOME!! PPS: Could somebody tell me what type of terrain are the first three tables for wilderness encounters in DMR2 referred to (page 118)? Many thanx. DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 10:18:27 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles: another theory So, we all seem (for one reason or another) to agree about these names and positions: New Archduke of Westheath: John Beaumarys-Moorkroft New Duke of Hightower: Eachainn McDougall New Marquis of Dunvegan: Alasdair McAllister The problem comes with the last two titles, Count of Glenargyll and subsequent Viscount of XX. Cthul wrote: <> For the same reason, i think that Innocenti would try to convince Griseo not to run: he has the political power to do it, cause Griseo is more a lackey than a real ally. He will sponsor only Antonio leaving Griseo in his position: better to control him and to use him this way. ;) So, if you accept my opinion (i said IF), we would have to remove Griseo from the competition, thus ignoring Aleksei's hypothesis that actually had Griseo as winner of the polls and new Count of Glenargyll. This way we have only three candidates: Rowena, Arbana and Antonio. << Sylaire and Igorov, IMO, back Rowena. Primarily because both Etienne and Morphail are the types to be influenced by a charming lady such as she- not just because she's described as beautiful, but because they are charming, socialite types themselves, and would have more reason to interact with her and be won over by her. IMO.>> Hmm.. I could believe the way you put it for Etienne, but as for Morphail, the socialite he's his brother Boris: he's rather eerie and does not conduct social life really. And also he prefers to USE and INLFUENCE charming ladies than being charmed by them IMHO. I think he would back Antonio, a more shady and useful ally, and the same would do Brannart (after all the votes are secret and even if the two are enemies, there aren't any true candidates clearly supported by one of the two houses, so they will vote judging the personality of the petitioner and their future advantages -this applies also to Jherek, Urmahid and Carnelia). So, let's make a summary: Arbana: 22 (Volospin) Antonio: 16 (Innocenti) Rowena: 17 (Vanserie) Now: - - Jaggar won't vote for Sirecchia or Silverston, and this makes him a supporter of Rowena - - Etienne won't vote for Sirecchia, and since he's more inclined to favour the young charming Rowena than the old suspicious Arbana, he'll go for Rowena - - Carlotina won't vote for Vanserie, but since there's no other good choice, she'll abstain - - Jherek and Urmahid are biased towards Vanserie and Jaggar, and they know Jaggar won't vote for Arbana nor Antonio, so they'll probably choose Arbana (it doesn't escape Jherek that Antonio is a shady figure with connections to the Thugs -even though he doesn't know he's the Master of the Guild- and since Jherek is the High Constable...) - - Carnelia doesn't like Rowena cause she's catty as Cthul said, so she either votes for one of the other two or for none of the above mentioned (very likely she abstains) - - Brannart and Morphail will go for the shady Antonio to use him in the future (Morphail also cannot vote for Volospin!) - - Harald could either vote for Antonio to gain his favours (but i think he despises him as much as Innocenti himself) OR (more likely) back up sweet Rowena and obtain her (as well as Vanserie's) gratitude. So the Votes: Arbana: 22 (Volospin) +25 (Jherek), +16 (Urmahid) = 73 Antonio: 16 (Innocenti) +15 (Morphail) +15 (Brannart) = 46 Rowena: 17 (Vanserie), +25 (Etienne) + 14 (Harald) +17 (Jaggar)= 73 Now, we've got a tie and neither Arbana nor Rowena are able to get at least 80 votes to be elected, so EITHER Carlotina or (more probably) Carnelia resolves the tie (Carnelia voting for Arbana), OR the thing is passed to the Parliament, and in this case the Houses of Linden and Silverstone start trying to get the others' votes. In any case, i think the game is between Rowena and Arbana. What do you think? Who wins and why? I think the winner will be Arbana, cause Morpahil or Brannart (or both) could vote for her when they discover that Etienne is sponsoring Rowena. <> or Viscount of Redstone in case Arbana is chosen << The candidates: Franz Lowenroth. Both Pieter Vandehaar and Isabella de Montebello decline to run, as the Principality of Sablestone (which isn't enfieffed until next year) is still being considered by the Council.>> Nope Andrew, sorry to contradict you, but you misremember. The whole issue started when Harald left the Archduchy of Westheath vacant because he moved to Sablestone where he had created a new Principality with an act of enfieffment at the beginning of the year (AC 1004)!! So i think both Pieter and Isabella would compete for the title, DEFINITELY! Hence it's not automatic that Franz becomes the new Viscount as you put it. So we have for the title of Viscount: Franz of Adlerturm, Isabella of Egorn and Pieter of Oxhill, who's also a bitter enemy of Isabella (he cannot just watch her ascend to Viscountess without trying to interfere). Starting situation: Franz: 17 (Jaggar) Isabella: 18 (Carnelia) Pieter: 17 (Vanserie) Situation: - - Etienne won't vote for Isabella, so he'll probably support again House of Linden as he did with Rowena. - - Jherek and Urmahid will vote for Isabella (since they both hate House Linden and Ritterburg) - - Carlotina will vote for Franz, cause she dislikes both Isabella and Pieter - - Volospin will vote for Isabella, cause he hates both Franz and Pieter - - Morphail and Brannart will abstain, cause there are no worthy candidates (no allies nor enemies to oppose) for them. - - Innocenti hates Franz and since his ally Antonio was previously opposed by Rowena of Linden, he'll probably back up Isabella (also knowing that Alhambra is a bitter enemy of his foe Etienne!) - - Harald will abstain since there are no worthy candidates Final Votes: Franz: 17 (Jaggar), +21 (Carlotina) = 38 Isabella: 18 (Carnelia), +25 (Jherek), +16 (Urmahid), +22 (Volospin) +16 Innocenti = 97 Pieter: 17 (Vanserie), +25 (Etienne) = 42 As per Aleksei's hypothesis, Isabella is clearly the new Viscountess (of Redstone or Berrym). DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 12:54:56 +0200 (EET DST) From: Anias Pasi Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mages > Well, you know, IMHO your mistake is that you're thinking in RW terms. > Remember that 36th level mages are able to live for a looong timespan, Well, yes. i thought someone might take this up. Back then, the last time the subject was up, I made a small study. If You look up the names and numbers of the rulers in Alphatia, Youl find out, that there seems to have been quite a many rulers in the Empire in the past 2000 years. Even though there must be some political kills made, the Emperors still should be among the most longliving Alphatians, At least I would think so. So, if their lifepans aren so great, why should the others? And anyway. I think the ability of long lives is overexaggerated. At least considering Mystara. There are not wery many known (alive) really long living characters. (There are of cource some, for ex. in Glnatri Gaz. But even they are not Really old compared to other some other Fantasy worlds). And this is why I calculated with only 100 Years as an average lifespan. Of cource this is all speculation, based mostly on the impressions... > PS: your writeup about the famous mages is a good source, but i spotted a > few gaps (i.e. Barimoor!!). I'll update and repost it in the following > weeks if you don't mind (or if anybody else want to do it, you're > welcome!!) ;) There must be more than few gaps, as it contains only the Gazzetteers, as I dont own/use too many modules. And also it is Year 1000. And I'd be delighted, if You would. Pasi - -- X Pasi Anias X p.03 - 2533536 X \\|// X X Sammonkatu 28 A 18 X a122286@proffa X (o o) X X 33540 Tampere X .cc.tut.fi X o000--(_)--000o X ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 13:20:44 +0200 (EET DST) From: Anias Pasi Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mages > On Mon, 20 Oct 1997, Shin Chyang Yu wrote: > > Should the current emperor be in the Council. I always thought > > the Council as an independ group that act as a balance againest > > the emperor. Cthuludrew wrote: > Current Emperor *cannot* have a seat on the Council, no. See Tylion IV, > below. Thank You both for noting this. Is was an error I wrote. I didn't have my papers with me... Of cource, Eriadna is not a Member of the Council. Though IMC She sometimes attends to it (unless the council throws Her out :) And as to the fighters. I still have to disagree with You all on this subject. If one plays with the council of 1000 36th level mages the subject is of cource clear. But IMC I was forced to take some fighters into the council too for one reason. I wanted there to be at least one or two representatives from each country in the Empire. And I desided that it would be quite difficult for those countries, ruled by fighters to find suitable mages to represent them. (Ofcource they could do that, but this is also a question of pride). So the representatives of those realms would sometimes be fighters. And that is why IMC there are a few fighters (Though scorned by the mages) in the Counsil. Furthermore IMC the situation changed even more after WotI. The sinking continent took so many counsilors and other mages with it, that afterwards there just werent enough mage counsilors to have (most of the mages were too busy with others tasks), so the council had to take more non-magical councilors in. Note: the mages previously include some clerics and elves too. Altough the clerics wont automatically get seats at the 36th level. Pasi - -- X Pasi Anias X p.03 - 2533536 X \\|// X X Sammonkatu 28 A 18 X a122286@proffa X (o o) X X 33540 Tampere X .cc.tut.fi X o000--(_)--000o X ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 06:52:48 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Air Elementalists (was: Glantri Posts #1 #2 & #3) Actually, it would seem clear that anyone going from the 4th circle to the 5th circle of a secret craft would have to be self taught -- after all, if you were a high master, would you train somebody who is intent on deposing you? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 07:33:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] More Background information about some races Here are a few I know of: The Bhut is from X4, they've got some kind of secret monastery in the black mountains, IIRC Pocket Dragons and Killer trees are from X6 Quagmire Kara-Karas are, as you said, from X8 as are Topis and Kal-Murus And IIRC Mesmers ar from X7 War Rafts of Kron, but I'm nost sure, cause I lost that one Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 14:57:20 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] More Background information about some races On Wed, 22 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > I was just reading today thru DMR2 Creature Catalog (I FOUND IT AFTER 2 > YEARS!!) and there are some monsters that i've really never heard from any > previous supplement (including adventure modules), so i wanted to know if > any of you could place them in a proper location (region, realm or > continent) on Mystara basing on the info he/she has and if you could also > name the supplement where they appear (if possible). Well, this is the list: > > Baldandar (there was a mention in Joshuan Alm... -you know the thing- of a > Glantrian wizard that is a Baldandar. Where do they originate however?) > Bargda I ran a bargda oriented campaign in Karameikos. However haveing recently downloeaded the Savage Coast stuff from TSR´s generous site i´d say this is the region from where they originate. They may be related to minotaurs, or the Goatmen described in the SC Monsterous Comp Appendix. > Bhut > Crone of Chaos > Cryon (suspect it's from the generic "northern lands") > Desert Ghost > Dragon, Pocket These were described in a dragoin article as reincarnated dragons who didn@t act according to their nature. They could be all over mystara. Anias described the others that I know of. ofcourse, most of the monsters appeared in AC9 Creature catalogue. Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 16:02:29 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Almanac Website? On Tue, 21 Oct 1997, Jenni A. M. Merrifield wrote: > > At 09:05 PM 10/21/97 +0200, Fabrizio Paoli wrote: > >On a similar issue. What about a Mystara web-ring? > >I don't know how web-rings work, but I've seen many such rings on the net: > >Geo Ring, Star Wars Ring, VGA Planet Ring... just to name a few. > > Hey, what a great idea! Web rings are fairly easy to set up an maintain > -- I have one already dedicated to Strawberries. The place to go to set > one up is http://www.webring.org/ -- everything you need to know is there. > You just need to get an image or two (preferably not too large) to use as > the indicator and you're off. (Once we have some 'official' mystara image > that would be an ideal solution for that end of things.) > > As for the webring itself, if no one else sets one up, after I finally > get my act in gear and pull together the MML Archive site I'll set one up. > No guarantees on when that will be though -- work is currently in super > overdrive. *sigh* I hate it when real life gets in the way of fun stuff..... A Webring sounds like a cool idea. We should probably wait for the art though. I´m in. What is the netiquette on webrings? Does anyone mind if I place several webring links on my site? (There was one TSR Worlds ring that I considered placing on my site at a time) A few web pages for the almanac would be useful too. People might want to know what it is before they download it. If anyone wants me to put any kind of mystara stuff on my site, webring-link, articles or whatever, just let me know. Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 16:11:02 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] TSRINC... hello?? Today (Sept 22nd) at 15 Greenwich time i tried ten times to reach TSR site but the comp kept telling me that there was a socket error and the site didn't exist. Is it just a problem with the server of TSR, major works in the site or the TSR moved away to another location? In this latter case, I'd like to know the new URL... thanx! DM "Aehm... Sundsvall: we've got a problem..." Ixion XIII on its first mission to Matera ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 10:17:23 EST From: Neal Daskal Subject: Re: [Mystara] More Background information about some races Appeared in Module >Bhut X4 >Crone of Chaos B8 >Dragonfly XL1 >Dragonne XL1 >Hook Horror XL1 >Kal-Muru X8 >Kara-Kara X8 ) >Sollux X2,DA4 >Topi X8 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 12:20:09 -0200 (EDT) From: Andre Martins Subject: Re: [Mystara] Norwold size: remember? On Tue, 16 Sep 1997, DM wrote: > Ok, i checked out too the problem spotted by Shane and what i found is > that the mistake has been made by the PWA designers. The other maps have the > same scale, the only one different (smaller) is the PWA map of Norwold. To > solve the problem just double the scale, making 1 square = 60 miles (instead > of 30). This way the problem is resolved. > As a side note, the map of Wendar in PWA1 needs also to be a bit bigger: 1 > square = 37 miles (not 32) I know it was a long ago, but I had no time to answer then. Anyway, this is not the only problem with Norwold. If you look at the hexes maps in the WotI or DotE, the hexes are supposed to mean the same distance (72 miles) in the Hinterlands and in Qeodar. However one is near the Equator and the other in the Article Circle. If you try to draw a flat map of such a huge region, the scale is bound to change with latitude (just compare how Greenland seems much bigger in flat maps than it appears on a globe). One could resize things to keep the distances right, but then what's right above a region in the map wouldn't be exactly in the north (and I never seen it done before, so I don't think it was the case). I guess I am not making myself very clear, so I'll have to ask the cartographers in the list to explain it better. Anyway, the net effect of this is that Norwold seems much bigger in those maps than it would really be. Andre Martins ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 16:20:17 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Maximum Level On Wed, 22 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > Haavard wrote: > < eventually all these people will end up 36th level. > One way of changing this in D&D is to expand the levels this way: > It is stated that characters above level 36 gain new skill slots by > gaining a certain amount of XP. > I dont remember the exact number, but lets say we keep adding a level to > the NPCs beyond 36th for X*(number of xp to gain skill). This is the only > effect from levels above 36th. It would mean that certain people might > eventually end up as level 50 or more. Sounds impressive doesn't it?>> > > Pardon, but why do you feel this need for exceeding 36th level? I don't > like AD&D mainly for the powergamer system it allows (10th level spells and > up to 30th level -over 8 million XPs!!),so why should we do the same with > D&D? I think that reaching 36th level is a major feat for a player (and a > PC), the goal of a whole life: but if we take the limit to 50th level or > worse if we don't limit the levels we could frustrate AND give too much > power to the players, which is not what I PERSONALLY want. I'd say 36th > level is good. The way i see it the only problem is XPs earned by ruling a > dominion, not reaching maximum level! My main objection to max levels is that suddenly we´ll have a whole lot of 36th level mages. Yes, experience for dominion rule is a problem, but it only speeds up the process of a total world accumulation of max level NPCs. It´s not like they´re gonna die any time soon is it? Håvard. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 11:09:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: [Mystara] Chat Room Anybody every meets at the Mystara Chat room? Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 11:08:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] TSRINC... hello?? In a message dated 97-10-22 10:40:44 EDT, DM writes: << Today (Sept 22nd) at 15 Greenwich time i tried ten times to reach TSR site but the comp kept telling me that there was a socket error and the site didn't exist. Is it just a problem with the server of TSR, major works in the site or the TSR moved away to another location? In this latter case, I'd like to know the new URL.. >> I emailed Sean reynolds at TSR/Wizards about the various woes of TSRInc.com. They are still apparently working on fixing/expanding the site. I think I remember a promise that was made to have this site completed by the end of August. Uh-huh. :) Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 08:20:38 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Seven Secret Crafts of Glantri member lists On Wed, 22 Oct 1997, Shin Chyang Yu wrote: > Aleksei Andrievski pontificated: > > > > And 1012 AC > > > > CRYPTOMANCY > > Eleesea Erewan 4 > > Norelia Erewan 4 > > Bethys Erewan 4 > > For some reason, they are dropped to 3rd circle in G:KoM. Probably the level conversions to AD&D. No attack ranks were given for them in GAZ3, though looking through the Secret Crafts section would tell you that they must be at least E10/Atk Rnk F. The designer of the G:KoM boxed set probably only saw that they were 10th level elves, and dropped their ranks accordingly. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 11:10:36 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles Hi folks. Looks like there is a good chance for a tortle article in DRAGON sometime next year. The rakasta material is now with the magazine, but no publishing date has yet been decided. I'll probably now in a few weeks. I looked at the stuff currently available on tortles, especially in the Savage Coast campaign book. One thing I had some problem with was the part about tortles mating only once in their lives and then dying within the following year (or is it just me?). RW turtles mate usually once a year without any ill effect. Others can store spermatozoa for up to three years before actually laying eggs. Hmmm. I guess I'll have to come up with some reason for their premature deaths. The resulting background is fine, but I think it lacks a rationale. Generally speaking, I'm following a central theme for tortles, one that can be summed up with the following motto: "Tortles of World...UNITE!" The idea is that Immortals once used ancient tortles as "cheap labor" to complete terraforming work on Mystara, eons ago. This means that a congregation of many tortles might be able to harness the natural energy of Mystara, and focus it to control and shape the elements, as directed by Immortals. This would mean that tortles have a particular talent as elementalists (wizards or priests). Alone, they are just the usual tortles that you already know, but when gathering around a monolith, under the guidance of priests, they could unearth amazing powers! The idea came from North American Indian legends about turtles, where the latter were the creator of the earth's foundation. The Indians also held the turtle as friendly, sharp-witted counselor of infinite wisdom. There seems to be an interesting match here! Anyone knows of other turtle legends (European, African, Asian)? Anyone interested? Bruce Heard ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #175 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #176 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Wednesday, October 22 1997 Volume 02 : Number 176 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 17:57:25 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room On Wed, 22 Oct 1997 Ambreville@aol.com wrote: > Anybody every meets at the Mystara Chat room? > > Bruce Heard You mean on WWW? Whats the URL? Anyone thought about creating a #Mystara Channel on IRC? IRC works better than the chatrooms really, quicker conversations.. Håvard- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 08:55:23 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] More Background information about some races On Wed, 22 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > Bhut X4: Master of the Desert Nomads. They run a monastery on the border of the Black Mountains. There is also an adventure in a Dungeon magazine involving them, though I don't recall which issue. I'd say they were mutant lycanthropes of some sort. Why? Who knows. > Crone of Chaos B7: Journey to the Rock. (Or was that B8?) Not much info other than a monster description and an encounter. Perhaps they are an evil type of Fairy race? > Cryon (suspect it's from the generic "northern lands") I've always had them up towards Hyboria, myself. Sort of another humanoid race. I think the first place they showed up was in the Creature Catalog. > Desert Ghost They're elementals, it describes that in the monster description. I don't recall where they first showed up, though... > Dragon, Pocket In a couple of Dragon articles, it gives a possible origin for Pocket Dragons as reincarnated evil dragon spirits (IIRC). > Dragonfly First showed up in XL1: Quest for the Heartstone. They are described as being a magical crossbreed between dragons and insects. > Dragonne Showed up in XL1: Quest for the Heartstone. Magical crossbreed (IIRC) of dragons and lions. Personally, I'd put their origins on Myoshima. Dragons live there (as implied by the dragons in the architecture Haldemar describes), and we know that cat-people and cats live there. Ergo... > Fungoid Just some strange magical anomaly, I believe. They first show up in AC6: Revenge of Rusak. > Fyrsnaka I think they're related to purple worms, or perhaps Burrowers. They first show up in XS2: Thunderdelve Mountain. > Gakarak They've shown up in the DA series of modules, and in a Dungeon adventure. I personally think of them as very ancient Treants (their abilities can quite easily be attained by extending the xp charts for Treants in PC1). > Gyerian (the most useless and poor designed creature IMHO) They show up in CM5- the Shadowpearl adventure. It's a solo elf adventure that I ran a character of mine in shortly after he had completed CM7: Tree of Life. As a consequence, IMC, the Gyerians are near neighbors of the Sylvan Elves. Given their resemblance, I'd say they could easily be related to the Faenare of PC2. > Herex I think the Creature Catalog is their first appearance. I figure they're mainly just insects. > Hivebrood (gee, these are really tough!) There's a pretty good adventure with them in a Dungeon magazine, set in Karameikos. I had been hoping it would be a bit more of a political thriller than it was, but with a bit of tweaking it could be, if that's your taste. They first appeared in the Creature Catalog. Don't know what their origins may be... > Hook Horror First appeared in XL1: Quest for the Heartstone. In AD&D they are primarily underground creatures that, I believe, evolved naturally. Since they were pulled directly from AD&D, I'd say they are pretty similar to their "off-world" cousins. > Hulker An Umber Hulk. :) > Kal-Muru The Ship-bane, as described, are creatures from the Elemental Plane of Air. They first show up in X8: Drums on Fire Mountain. > Kara-Kara (suspect they're from Tekia-Nura-Ria "Drums on Fire Mountain") Yep. That's them. Basic inbred orc stock. > Killer Tree Don't know. Their first appearance is in X2: Castle Amber, in the indoor garden. Nasty things. > Lamara Don't know their origin, but they first showed up in the CC. > Man, Qauriks These guys sounded too well-developed *not* to have had an adventure designed around them, but near as I can tell, their first appearance was in the CC. I'd place them in or around Hyboria, possibly the Thonian Marches in Skothar. > Mesmer First appeared in CC. > Pachydermion (i thought they inhabited only Patera, but the description > syays that they can be found in temperate regions, tropical jungles and > savannah, so there must be a small number also on Mystara IMO) The bit about them being on Myoshima was an invention of mine. They first appeared in the original CC, but they never really seemed to fit in anywhere. I thought that, since elephants can be found in the India/SE Asian areas that Myoshima were modeled after, why couldn't Pachydermions live there? Besides, I wanted another intelligent race to show up on the moon. > Polymar (i know they're from X2, but i don't know if there is any known > Polymar community on Mystara -they would be our Odos..) I don't think they were in X2. They showed up in a couple of Basic modules, though. Either Palace of the Silver Princess or perhaps Castle Caldwell and Beyond. > Rockman B7: Journey to the Rock (or was that B8?) > Scamille Creature Catalog, to the best of my knowledge. > Sis'thik (sort of lizardmen of the desert) CC, I think. I place them on the southern continent, in the Aryptian Desert, as a general rule. > Sollux (again from X2, but where are they on Mystara?) I'd say a great deal of them live in Ylaruam (famed for it's connections to the Plane of Fire) and in Norwold (around the Two Volcanoes region), combatting evil denizens of the Plane of Fire. If a large group of them got together and ever found out about the Gate to the Plane of Fire on Honor Island in Ierendi, there might be trouble. > Surtaki I think they first showed up in the CC. > Topi They show up in AC?: the DM's shield accessory. There's a little side adventure in there (that can be set in Karameikos, IIRC) where adventurers seek out a lost treasure. It's guarded by a Vampire, a bunch of Cay-Men, and some Topi show up, I'm pretty sure. They're just zombies that have been created from shrunken corpses. I'd see them in strong "voodoo" type places. Perhaps not an unfamiliar sight in the backwoods villages of Yavdlom, or among the islands of the Thanegioth Archipelago, or Ierendi- some Makai might have an affinity for the things. > Xytar CC. > PPS: Could somebody tell me what type of terrain are the first three tables > for wilderness encounters in DMR2 referred to (page 118)? Many thanx. Just check out the different types of terrain in the Cyclopedia, and fill in the ones that are missing, in alphabetic order. IIRC, the first one should be Air. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 18:05:58 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] TSRINC... hello?? On Wed, 22 Oct 1997 Ambreville@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 97-10-22 10:40:44 EDT, DM writes: > > << Today (Sept 22nd) at 15 Greenwich time i tried ten times to reach TSR site > but the comp kept telling me that there was a socket error and the site > didn't exist. Is it just a problem with the server of TSR, major works in > the site or the TSR moved away to another location? In this latter case, I'd > like to know the new URL.. >> > > I emailed Sean reynolds at TSR/Wizards about the various woes of TSRInc.com. > They are still apparently working on fixing/expanding the site. I think I > remember a promise that was made to have this site completed by the end of > August. Uh-huh. :) I had some problems accessing it yesterday, but I discovered that the URLs for the Mystara and Red Steel sites had changed slightly..the mainpage should be the same though. My links have been updated. Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 18:18:28 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room At 11.09 22/10/97 -0400, Bruce Heard wrote: >Anybody every meets at the Mystara Chat room? That is located...? Let me guess: TSR site? DRAT! (still unable to reach it) DM "Ahem... Sundsvall: we've got a problem..." Ixion XIII on its first trip to Matera ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 11:26:10 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room Well.. um, where is this chatroom, Bruce? (Hoping I'm not the only one clueless.) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Galwylin Email: galwylin@airnet.net Home Page: http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ Strange! That really should have worked! - Fizban - -----Original Message----- From: Ambreville@aol.com To: mystara-l@LISTS.IO.COM Date: Wednesday, October 22, 1997 11:23 AM Subject: [Mystara] Chat Room >Anybody every meets at the Mystara Chat room? > >Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 09:05:52 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mages On Wed, 22 Oct 1997, Anias Pasi wrote: > There must be more than few gaps, as it contains only the Gazzetteers, > as I dont own/use too many modules. And also it is Year 1000. > And I'd be delighted, if You would. Don't forget to include Reginald, the reclusive mage of Crowlerd (in Darokin). He may only be 17th level, but he's probably the oldest mage in the lot (born 314 years ago, IIRC). - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 18:30:19 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles Howdy Bruce! Glad to hear that the Rakasta article is finnished. Might take some time for me to get it though since my local gaming store has had some problems with the delivery of late. I am nevertheless eager to see what you have come uo with this time. I like the idea of the tortles role in the terraforming of Mystara. I didn´t really think about that part of Mystara´s history. The Myth seems to fit well into mystara. Maybe this natural energy thingie could explain why they are so great mystics too ;) And Druids perhaps. IMC Druids are usually clerics of Ordana/Terra/Djaea. Actually I stole that idea from someone on this list but I cant remember who. I dont know any myths concerning turtles. My knowledge is mainly about Norse myths and there aren´t many turtles this far north. However, a few things I started thinking about. I remember reading the novel "the Neverending Story" by Michael Ende, when I waws younger. (Yeah the movie was never as good as the book)It includes a giant turtle who knows just about everything. But it speaks in riddles ofcourse. And it makes sneeze´s that can throw a man several yards... Other sources: Terry Practhet´s discworld novels includes a turtle carrying the world on its back..I dont know much more about that really.. And if you´re including bloodlines, how about dragonturtle bloodlines? But you´ve probably already thought about that.. Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 18:23:48 +0200 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Almanac Website? At 16.02 22/10/97 +0200, you wrote: >On Tue, 21 Oct 1997, Jenni A. M. Merrifield wrote: > >> >> Hey, what a great idea! Web rings are fairly easy to set up an maintain >> -- I have one already dedicated to Strawberries. The place to go to set >> one up is http://www.webring.org/ -- everything you need to know is there. >> You just need to get an image or two (preferably not too large) to use as >> the indicator and you're off. (Once we have some 'official' mystara image >> that would be an ideal solution for that end of things.) Ahem, that's what i found when i looked in Webring for a way to create one: Joining The Webring is a quickly growing community of homepages from all over the World who are committed to creating a new kind of Web community. If you run a homepage and would like to become part of this movement, there are two ways to do so: Join an existing Webring The easiest way to become part of the system is to join one of the thousands of existing rings. To find a ring that you might be interested, visit RingWorld, our directory of Webrings on the system. If you don't see anything there, you might also look at the complete index of all rings on the system. To join a ring, visit that ring's homepage. The process for joining varies from ring to ring, so you'll need to pay attention to the instructions found there. Create your own Webring While the Webring operates literally thousands of different rings, it is possible that you won't find one that suits your needs, or that you have a great idea for a new ring. If you are interested, you can create a new ring right now! End AND THAT's ALL!! Now: have you understood how the heck you can create a Ring?? If so, please explain it to me! >A Webring sounds like a cool idea. We should probably wait for the art >though. I´m in. >What is the netiquette on webrings? Does anyone mind if I place several >webring links on my site? (There was one TSR Worlds ring that I considered >placing on my site at a time) I have subscribed to more than 4 webrings: no problem at all as long as they deal with your site's stuff DM "Ahem... Sundsvall: we've got a problem..." Ixion XIII on its first trip to Matera ------------------------------ Date: 22 Oct 1997 11:36:46 -0500 From: Alan Shutko Subject: [Mystara] Re: Mages >>>>> "A" == Anias Pasi writes: A> Well, yes. i thought someone might take this up. Back then, the A> last time the subject was up, I made a small study. If You look up A> the names and numbers of the rulers in Alphatia, Youl find out, A> that there seems to have been quite a many rulers in the Empire in A> the past 2000 years. They might have been, like Terari, asked to step down. - -- Alan Shutko - By consent of the corrupted But, officer, he's not drunk, I just saw his fingers twitch! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 18:32:23 +0200 From: Deathwatch Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room At 17:57 22-10-97 +0200, Haavard Roenne Faanes wrote: >On Wed, 22 Oct 1997 Ambreville@aol.com wrote: > >> Anybody every meets at the Mystara Chat room? >> >> Bruce Heard > >You mean on WWW? Whats the URL? > >Anyone thought about creating a #Mystara Channel on IRC? >IRC works better than the chatrooms really, quicker conversations.. > >Håvard- There is a #Mystara on DalNet, but noone comes there. On Undernet (where I usually am), I dunno if there is a #Mystara. Bas van Doornspeek - deathw@xs4all.nl ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 13:22:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Ray Brooks Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room > Anybody every meets at the Mystara Chat room? > > Bruce Heard There's a Mystara Chat room? Cool. Where would I find such a thing or is this an AOL feature? ray ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 10:33:36 -0700 From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room At 11:09 AM 10/22/97 -0400, you wrote: >Anybody every meets at the Mystara Chat room? There's a Mystara Chat Room???? Where! Jenni - -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield http://www.jamm.com/jenni/home.html - -=> strawberryJAMM <=- strawberry@jamm.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 19:40:39 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room On Wed, 22 Oct 1997, Deathwatch wrote: > There is a #Mystara on DalNet, but noone comes there. On Undernet (where I > usually am), I dunno if there is a #Mystara. I think it would be best if we put up something on EF/EUNet.. American servers would work best.. I dont know any servers on DalNet, so I'm never there Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 10:50:16 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Mages On 22 Oct 1997, Alan Shutko wrote: > >>>>> "A" == Anias Pasi writes: > > A> Well, yes. i thought someone might take this up. Back then, the > A> last time the subject was up, I made a small study. If You look up > A> the names and numbers of the rulers in Alphatia, Youl find out, > A> that there seems to have been quite a many rulers in the Empire in > A> the past 2000 years. > > They might have been, like Terari, asked to step down. Or abdicated (for one reason or another), like Terari's mother, who went off to quest for Immortality. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 01:51:18 +0800 From: Glenn Butcher Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles Haavard Roenne Faanes rambled (hoc@nvg.ntnu.no): > Howdy Bruce! > Glad to hear that the Rakasta article is finnished. Might take some time > for me to get it though since my local gaming store has had some problems > with the delivery of late. I am nevertheless eager to see what you have > come uo with this time. As am I! > And Druids perhaps. IMC Druids are usually clerics of Ordana/Terra/Djaea. > Actually I stole that idea from someone on this list but I cant remember > who. Could be me, I have said it before. On the other hand, I'm sure that's a common idea. Some other things... It's my birthday coming up soon, and my girlfriend asked me what I wanted. My answer was any of the (3) gaz's that I don't have. They are Glantri, the Minthrothad guilds and Rockhome. Due to the amount of traffic about Glantri lately, I'm especially interested in that one. Anybody know of any 'net gaming stores? (Or maybe even foolish people willing to sell these). I've already tried Dragontrove. Lastly, I'm restarting an oldish campaign. The main character is the son of the current Sultan of Ylaruam. It seems like a perfect time for Al-Kalim to show up and save his hide, as they wander around Ylaruam. A new character who joined in a while ago, told me of the character he wanted to play. Someone from a Egyptian-like setting, who was in stasis for far longer than he wanted to be. It fitted Nithia so well that I just had to suspect him of reading something about Nithia somewhere. Glenn (Hmm, I'm the one who rambles on about things which I have already mentioned to the list before) - -- "For a copper!" [The battle cry of Lynard the fire elemaster] mailto:knight@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au mailto:glennb@ichr.uwa.edu.au Home page: http://www.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/~knight/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 11:05:00 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: [Mystara] Netlogo and TSR web site Just checked out the TSR web site, which seems to be working fine... at least using the text browser I checked it out on. Anyway, I noted that Sean has posted the link to Galwylin's Mystara Netlogo contest page up there. Woohoo! - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 14:23:22 -0400 (EDT) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Alteration of the engines In GAZ3, page 2 or 3, it says that the nucleus of the spheres was altered by disciple of energy to strengthen their sphere, in The Immortal's Fury (WotI, book 2) it says it was some unknown force, probably an old one (a theory I never understood, cause I don't know why an Old One should interfere with mortals in such a way). What do you think, who made the Nucleus into what it is today? Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 20:22:14 +0200 From: Deathwatch Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room At 19:40 22-10-97 +0200, you wrote: >On Wed, 22 Oct 1997, Deathwatch wrote: > >> There is a #Mystara on DalNet, but noone comes there. On Undernet (where I >> usually am), I dunno if there is a #Mystara. > >I think it would be best if we put up something on EF/EUNet.. >American servers would work best.. >I dont know any servers on DalNet, so I'm never there Well, I hardly leave Undernet, so... Dalnet servers are irc.dal.net , spider.dal.net (both at port 7000) Bas van Doornspeek - deathw@xs4all.nl ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 20:45:15 +0200 From: Diego Calugi Subject: Re: [Mystara] More Background information about some races Galeifel@aol.com wrote: > And IIRC Mesmers ar from X7 War Rafts of Kron, but I'm nost sure, cause I > lost that one There is nothing about Mesmers in X7. Maybe you mean Mermen? :) - -Diego ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 20:58:34 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room On Wed, 22 Oct 1997, Deathwatch wrote: > Well, I hardly leave Undernet, so... > > Dalnet servers are irc.dal.net , spider.dal.net (both at port 7000)> I'm there, nick Haavroen Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 12:16:39 -0700 From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Almanac Website? At 06:23 PM 10/22/97 +0200, DM wrote: > Create your own Webring > > While the Webring operates literally thousands of different rings, it is >possible that you won't find one that suits your needs, or that you have a >great idea for a new ring. If you are interested, you can create a new ring >right now! > >End > > >AND THAT's ALL!! Now: have you understood how the heck you can create a >Ring?? If so, please explain it to me! Seeing as I started and run a Web Ring, yes, I did figure out how to create a new ring. Did it quite a while ago actually. I think the problem you have stems from the fact that you didn't follow the link that the phrase "create a new ring" is linked to (Go back and check -- on my screen that phrase doesn't have the correct colouring for a link but it DOES have an underline -- the main reason why I leave underlining on for links) If you follow that link it takes you to the URL: http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/wrnewring where the beginning of the process is explained and started. :-) Jenni - -=> strawberryJAMM <=- - -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield http://www.jamm.com/jenni/home.html - -=> strawberryJAMM <=- strawberry@jamm.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 14:21:19 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room Well... it looks like if there isn't a Mystara Chat Room, there sure orta be ;) My guess is Bruce is talking about one on AOL. Since I know about as much about IRC as I do brain-surgery (hey, my rates are cheap though) how about someone setting something up. BTW, Bruce... if there's one on AOL you're talking about, let me know when and where. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Galwylin Email: galwylin@airnet.net Home Page: http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ Strange! That really should have worked! - Fizban ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 14:59:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Sam Wilson Subject: Re: [Mystara] TSRINC... hello?? > Today (Sept 22nd) at 15 Greenwich time i tried ten times to reach TSR site > but the comp kept telling me that there was a socket error and the site > didn't exist. Is it just a problem with the server of TSR, major works in > the site or the TSR moved away to another location? In this latter case, I'd > like to know the new URL... The URL is the same always http://www.tsrinc.com ...depending on your net connection the speed will vary. From work we go through PSI net, and I get failures all the time, and at school and home I basically go through VoiceNet and I can get some unbelievably fast connection speeds... or their server might have just been down for servicing or something... sw ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 15:59:51 -0400 (EDT) From: Mischa E Gelman Subject: [Mystara] Blackmoor > Also, much of the background info in the DA series was repetitive - > Jalapierie's stats and history might have appeared in all three of the > others for example. (Sigh) I would have loved to see Dave Arneson > develope the adventure ideas suggested in the NPC descriptions in > DA1. Not really arguing here, just explaining why I personally didn't see these two things as negatives: Remember that each module could be used separate from the others, hence the need for repitition of stats and history, as well as suggested hooks to draw in new arrivals to Blackmoor. As to the latter point, I think it nice that Dave introduced new information and ideas about Blackmoor in DA2 and 3 (never got a copy of 4 :( ) instead of simply expounding on the ideas set forward in DA1. If the other Blackmoor modules had focused on The Green Man and The Duchy of the Peaks, for instance, we would've wound up with less info on the setting and been never introduced to the Froggies, Saint Stephen, Sgt. Rocklin or any of the other interesting additions. Not saying a Duchy of the Peaks module would've been unwanted, just that it wouldn't have given us all this extra information. I doubt TSR would've welcomed Dave back in such a large capacity though, one that he could fully develop Blackmoor in for the Mystara fans out there. Anyways, since we'll never have a Duchy of the Peaks or Egg of Coot reference book, how about a list project to expand on some of this? I assume there's alot of Blackmoor fans on the list, as well as DMs who have run a Blackmoor campaign and could use more info. My major concern would be that the setting is Mr. Arneson's and as one of the original RPG campaign settings, I think alot of us may be hesitant to change it at all...anyways, what do you all think of some Blackmoor-oriented list projects? I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills. -Mohandas Gandhi ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 22:37:26 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles At 11.10 22/10/97 -0400, you wrote: >Hi folks. > >Looks like there is a good chance for a tortle article in DRAGON sometime >next year. April issue maybe ? ;-) - -------------- Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 - -------------- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 22:36:33 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Almanac Website? At 16.02 22/10/97 +0200, Haavard Roenne Faanes wrote: > >A Webring sounds like a cool idea. We should probably wait for the art >though. I´m in. Good. >What is the netiquette on webrings? Does anyone mind if I place several >webring links on my site? (There was one TSR Worlds ring that I considered >placing on my site at a time) If they're somehow related to the stuff in your page I guess you can place as many webrings as you want in your home page. >A few web pages for the almanac would be useful too. People might want to >know what it is before they download it. Good. I'll see what I can do in my little spare time. Herve, you're the html expert, can you do create something nice for us? ************** Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it rafiel@geocities.com DM in City Of The Stars - Mystaran Almanac Assistant Leader of Privateers - Student of Aerospace Enginnering Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 22:32:12 +0200 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] More Background information about some races At 10.16 22/10/97 +0200, you wrote: >I was just reading today thru DMR2 Creature Catalog (I FOUND IT AFTER 2 >YEARS!!) Congratulations :) >Fyrsnaka Fyrsnakas and Red Worms are mentioned in Gaz13, but no stats are given there. >Gyerian (the most useless and poor designed creature IMHO) You haven't read "Son of Dawn" yet, have you? ;-) >PS: great interior work by Dave Simons!! My favourite is the picture of the >Sollux against the Efreet: AWESOME!! I like the Geonid one most. > >PPS: Could somebody tell me what type of terrain are the first three tables >for wilderness encounters in DMR2 referred to (page 118)? Many thanx. Of course. First is Air, then Cavern, then Cold/Artic. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 17:20:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room Hi ho. This is a chat room that was created on AOL. It's still there and no one seems to be using it. Try entering this command: aol://2719:2-2-Mystara ((from the Control K feature)). I don't think this is available to non-AOL member. Those who are interested, why net take a peek once in a while (say around lunch time -- whatever that might be, or evenings)? Good luck! :) Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 17:17:41 -0400 (EDT) From: AMALDIS@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles <> I am interested in a tortle article, however I would like to see it with a slightly different format(which seems to be where you a leaning anyways). Rather than have the tortles have breeds I think classifying the tortles by some spiritual factor would be more appropriate(cats and dogs fit with breeds, but I don't think of breeds when it comes to turtles). Also I am really interested in an explanation of that marker on the third Red Steel map which pointed towards a mythical Tortle homeland to the northwest of the Savage Coast(isn't too cold for them up there?). <> I don't remember where I read this, but I think that some culture(I forget which) believes that the world rests on the backs of some elephants who stand upon a gigantic turtle(which for Mystara could be translated into meaning tortles are the foundation of Mystara, with guidance from the Pachyderms). I know of a story told by the Brule Sioux that relates to turtles: There was a world before this world where people did not know how to behave themselves or even act human. The creator was not pleased with this world so he said to himself "I will make a new world." He took four dry buffalo chips, placed three under sticks, and saved the fourth to light his pipe. The creator sang four songs. When he sang the first it started to rain. The second song made it pour. With the third song all the rivers flooded. Finally, he sang the fourth song and stomped on the earth. The earth split open and water covered everything. The creator floated on his pipe and his pipe bag, and only Kangi the crow survived out of all the people and animals of the world. Kangi asked the creator three times for a place to rest, and finally the creator sang four songs and brought out four animals to retreive mud from the bottom of the water. The first three failed, but the fourth was the turtle. The turtle was strong and represents long life and endurance. The turtle's heart keeps beating a long time after the turtle is dead. The turtle went down to get mud for a long time, and the three other animals thought it was dead. Finally the turtle came back with the mud. The creator decided water without earth was not good, and he created land everywhere. Feeling pity for the lonely land, he cried and created oceans and streams and lakes. Out of his bag he took plants and animals and spread them everywhere. Finally, he took some earth and made men and women. He took red earth, and white earth, black earth and yellow earth. He told man that the first world he made was no good so he burned it up. The second he made was no good so he flooded it. Now he gave them a sign, the rainbow, to tell them when rain ends. He warned them that if they made this world bad and ugly then he would destroy it again. He gave the people a pipe and told them to live by it. He named the land Turtle Continent in honor of the turtle. Finally, he sat back and rested and thought that he might end up making a fourth world. The Brule Sioux are part of the Oceti Shakowin, or the seven western Sioux tribes. They are very traditional and maintain their customs of the sun dance, flesh offerings, the sweat lodge, and the vision quest. Currently they live in a reservation called Rosebud in South Dakota. - -Amaldis ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 14:25:43 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Blackmoor On Wed, 22 Oct 1997, Mischa E Gelman wrote: > Anyways, since we'll never have a Duchy of the Peaks or Egg of > Coot reference book, how about a list project to expand on some of this? > I assume there's alot of Blackmoor fans on the list, as well as DMs who > have run a Blackmoor campaign and could use more info. My major concern > would be that the setting is Mr. Arneson's and as one of the original RPG > campaign settings, I think alot of us may be hesitant to change it at > all...anyways, what do you all think of some Blackmoor-oriented list > projects? I'm going to put up some of my Blackmoor stuff on my page pretty soon here, primarily a Blackmoor "Atlas", in a manner similar to that used in the Almanacs, but utilizing info on Blackmoor from the modules. Aside from the fact that I use the "original" concept of placing the locations on Brun, rather than the later versions of Blackmoor in Skothar, the information should still be fairly accurate. :) - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 14:31:02 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Non-Mystarian Magic On Mon, 20 Oct 1997 Alex295@aol.com wrote: > For that matter, I usually have the spell names deviate (even the low level > D&D spells). I also have the effects differ somewhat from mage to mage. IMO > this gives a bit of uniqueness to the mage. I've often done this as well, in the vein of a Dragon article (for D&D) on the subject. In fact, I often encourage my players to add their own idiosyncracies to their characters' spell lists. One example that springs to mind is from my (regretfully) short-lived PBeM- I didn't have time to run it, though hopefully, now that I'm not dependent on the university computers alone... Anyway, one notable mention was Shelby Michlin's Belcadizan elf, who had a couple of different spells- off the top of my head, he had a sleep spell variant called Statue, that froze those affected and made them take on the appearance of stone. Not a major variant from the actual effect of the spell (which causes incapacitation), but one that provides a different flavor to it. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 00:06:49 +0200 From: Deathwatch Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room At 17:20 22-10-97 -0400, you wrote: >Hi ho. > >This is a chat room that was created on AOL. It's still there and no one >seems to be using it. Try entering this command: > >aol://2719:2-2-Mystara ((from the Control K feature)). > >I don't think this is available to non-AOL member. Those who are interested, >why net take a peek once in a while (say around lunch time -- whatever that >might be, or evenings)? > >Good luck! :) > >Bruce Heard Yeah, thats AOL only :( I still prefer IRC to web chat and the like. Bas van Doornspeek - deathw@xs4all.nl ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 17:45:43 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] Alteration of the engines On Wed, 22 Oct 1997 14:23:22 -0400 (EDT) Galeifel@aol.com writes: >In GAZ3, page 2 or 3, it says that the nucleus of the spheres was >altered by >disciple of energy to strengthen their sphere, in The Immortal's Fury >(WotI, >book 2) it says it was some unknown force, probably an old one (a >theory I >never understood, cause I don't know why an Old One should interfere >with >mortals in such a way). What do you think, who made the Nucleus into >what it >is today? I like the Old One idea better. I like to think of the Radiance as a force that can be used by the Immortals, but not comprehended or changed ( I believe that its power level is greater than the average Old One) >Garafaele Galeifel > > "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 17:32:09 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: Re: [Mystara] More Background information about some races On Wed, 22 Oct 1997 08:55:23 -0700 (MST) "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" writes: >On Wed, 22 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > >> Sis'thik (sort of lizardmen of the desert) > >CC, I think. I place them on the southern continent, in the Aryptian >Desert, as a general rule. Perhaps in the Sind desert. >> Sollux (again from X2, but where are they on Mystara?) > >I'd say a great deal of them live in Ylaruam (famed for it's >connections >to the Plane of Fire) and in Norwold (around the Two Volcanoes >region), >combatting evil denizens of the Plane of Fire. If a large group of >them >got together and ever found out about the Gate to the Plane of Fire on > >Honor Island in Ierendi, there might be trouble. You know, wouldn't they not like the efreet city in the Two Volcanoes region. I wonder if something dealing about this will be in the next almanac. >------------------------ >Cthuludrew, the Great Old One >(aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) >"Actions have consequences." >URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill > > "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #176 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #177 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Thursday, October 23 1997 Volume 02 : Number 177 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 16:24:06 PDT From: "Jason Buchen" Subject: [Mystara] Mystara Lookie what i found in one of thoe misinformed Mystara Forums, His Darkening has nothing to do with Myystara Subject: "My Version of Mystara" Mystara, The Darkening Posted by: Vacithius Date: 10/21/1997 15:37:13 Without going into a lot of detail, this is the version of Mystara I made out of the old, it's pretty radical:An evil god from another dimension appeared in Mystara. Yes, that's right,an evil god. Being much more powerful than the immortals, he opened a portal to his own dimension and summoned his entire army of demons, etc.,to take over Mystara. The evil god was a sort of king of the undead and evil of many natures.Basically, he's a gothic god ruling an army of satanic vampires and mindless werewolves and undead creatures which worship him and fear his wrath. He often grants those wanting power a form of dark magic in enchange for their service, which is, not surprisingly, eternal in most cases. He has no form per say, but an infinite number of avatars. Anyways, he unleashed his army, with werewolves and vampires transforming those who they didn't kill. The dead he raized to his survice's, although their souls are freed once they're slain, unless they surrender their will to him. Unstoppable, he swept the world, those who survived running ahead of the slowly advancing undead and haunted at night by vampires and werewovles on the prowl. The immortals, seeing no other escape for them and their creation, led the survivors to the underworld and sealed all passages behind them with magic, leaving the surface world a nightmare land somewhat like Ravenloft. Hoping to return to find the vampires dieing for lack of nurishment, the undead armies decomposed, and only werewolves to deal with after centuries of waiting, hoping to find the surface world abandoned, one of the immortals made a journey to the surface world (doesn't really matter which) but never returned. Now, still centuries latter, the underworld is the only home for the world and the surface world is remembered, but only as a legend to many. Finally, vampires have been found in increasing numbers in the world, graves are found empty, and werewolves have been seen. It is believed a breach in the world's shell has occured and doom rests for all in the near future. I called it Mystara, The Darkening, and it was great fun. We played eitherthe time of the evil god's arrival, the war to save the underworld, or the discovery of the breach before the war. What do ya' think "This guy just dosn't understand." ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 10:12:33 +0800 From: "Jason Murphy" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room - ---------- Well i have recently registered a mystara channel in the austnet irc server if anyone is interested. :) The austnet group may be accessed under au.austnet.org port 6668,7000 irc.austnet.org port 6668,7000 umm not sure whatb the US server is ca.us.austnet.org port 6668,7000 and the channel is #Mystara. The channel is registered under my name so feel free to discuss any D&D, Ad&d, Mystara related topics there....or even just general chat. Oh and i guess i will be looking for some regualr ops there to :) Hope to see you there. Jason ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 22:27:15 -0400 (EDT) From: Ben3181@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) In a message dated 97-10-22 04:21:15 EDT, you write: << Frankly, i think that one of the major differences between Mystara and any other TSR world is that we don't have gunpowder. Technology is not unknown in Mystara, but it's used primarly by gnomes and dwarves (a dwarf and a halfling invented the guns in SC!), so it's viewed as something not really "human" by the majority of Mystarans. Mystara is a world of magic and fantasy, and i wouldn't want to introduce a major industrial revolution just to bring smokepowder and guns into it. Crossbows, bows and the normal weapons used as "thrown or missile" weapons would disappear in a matter of decades, and i don't want this IMC. Also i agree with Alan Shutko's comment: Mystara is not made for technology and Blackmoor proved it. It's not just "the Blackmoorians didn't know how to use it": the very fabric of our (Mystara) world abhors technology and it reacts wildly when confronted with it. >> Actually, the only world that has been ruled as able to use gun powder is the Forgotten Realms. Every other world has something officialy, or otherwise that says gun powder doesn't work. In both Kyrnn, and Greyhawk gun powder cannot be made int he first place. Ravenloft, Dark Sun, and Planescape just plain don't have them (nor the type of campaign that would use guns). Personally, I think that I would be okay to introduce guns into the know world. In the real world, even after guns were introduced, they were far too primitive to do much good for what 200, 300 or more years? On Mystara, this could take 1,000 years before guns would be commonly used. And even then, it would be more like the rennisance (sp) style, where they are used, but sword fighting, and thrown weapons would still be fairly common. By the time it got to the Neapolionic era type of warfare (where guns were the weapon that was used in war) Mystara could have gone through a long period of time: 3,000 years. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 08:07:16 +0200 (EET DST) From: Anias Pasi Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Mages > Alan Shutko wrote: > > They might have been, like Terari, asked to step down. Cthulhudrew wrote: > Or abdicated (for one reason or another), like Terari's mother, who went > off to quest for Immortality. :) Well, maybe. But still, even if we would count the _average Lifespan_ to be say 200 Years, It would still be some 5 mages dead each Year. And also. We must think of those too, that leave the council without dieing. Some propably abdicate (for one reason or another) or are even asked to step down... And so maybe my original speculation/calculation was right, 10 Mages Departuring each year...? And to those of You Who have the council as 36th level Mages, this gives a nice question: How many Mages of 36 is there in Alphatia that does not belong to the council? Pasi - -- X Pasi Anias X p.03 - 2533536 X \\|// X X Sammonkatu 28 A 18 X a122286@proffa X (o o) X X 33540 Tampere X .cc.tut.fi X o000--(_)--000o X ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 03:50:35 -0200 (EDT) From: Andre Martins Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Mages On Thu, 23 Oct 1997, Anias Pasi wrote: > Well, maybe. But still, even if we would count the _average Lifespan_ to > be say 200 Years, It would still be some 5 mages dead each Year. > > And also. We must think of those too, that leave the council without > dieing. Some propably abdicate (for one reason or another) or are > even asked to step down... > And so maybe my original speculation/calculation was right, 10 Mages > Departuring each year...? > > And to those of You Who have the council as 36th level Mages, this > gives a nice question: How many Mages of 36 is there in Alphatia that > does not belong to the council? It just occurred to me that alphatians might have adopted a different approach. I mean, if you are a 36th-level wizard, you could easily play your death and get back many years later. It must have happened many times in the history of Alphatia. This way, the seat in the council would be not permanent, but eternal. They have the name of each of their archmages in the walls of the council building and they reached the 1000th about a cebtury ago, when they coined the term. This still means they have 1 mage reaching this level each other year in average (2,000 years of history, 1,000 mages), but it is more reasonable. And each dm could decide the exact number of archmages in his campaign by adjusting their lifespan. Andre Martins ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 02:24:51 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mystara On the subject of Mystara: The Darkening... Ick! I must admit that I had wondered about a true god entering Mystara when it was converted to AD&D but my ideas were in no way similar to this _____ (Mom always said if you can't say anything nice don't say anything ;) The only thoughts that I had on the idea was that the conflict involved mainly the Immortals but a few adventures could be gotten out of the conflict (or war). Mainly my idea was to reduce some Immortals in power (or death) and bring less heard of ones to the fore. BTW, what forum is this? - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Galwylin Email: galwylin@airnet.net Home Page: http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ Strange! That really should have worked! - Fizban - -----Original Message----- From: Jason Buchen To: mystara-l@LISTS.IO.COM Date: Wednesday, October 22, 1997 7:13 PM Subject: [Mystara] Mystara > Lookie what i found in one of thoe misinformed Mystara Forums, His >Darkening has nothing to do with Myystara > >Subject: "My Version of Mystara" Mystara, The Darkening Ick! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 10:38:23 +0200 (EET DST) From: Anias Pasi Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Mages Andre Martins wrote: > It just occurred to me that alphatians might have adopted a different > approach. I mean, if you are a 36th-level wizard, you could easily play > your death and get back many years later. It must have happened many times > in the history of Alphatia. This way, the seat in the council would be > not permanent, but eternal. They have the name of each of their archmages > in the walls of the council building and they reached the 1000th about a > cebtury ago, when they coined the term. This still means they have 1 mage > reaching this level each other year in average (2,000 years of history, > 1,000 mages), but it is more reasonable. And each dm could decide the > exact number of archmages in his campaign by adjusting their lifespan. :) This is a Wery Nice, even Grat approach! I Think I'll take it on use... And A note: The Average of 1 mage ewery second Year might be misleading: 1. There must have been some allready when they reached Mystara (And besides one could have started the counting even before). 2. The number of Magic-able Alphatians is going down from what it used to be. So propably the number of mages 36 has dropped dramatically too during the 2000 years. Pasi - -- X Pasi Anias X p.03 - 2533536 X \\|// X X Sammonkatu 28 A 18 X a122286@proffa X (o o) X X 33540 Tampere X .cc.tut.fi X o000--(_)--000o X ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 11:42:03 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room On Thu, 23 Oct 1997, Deathwatch wrote: > Yeah, thats AOL only :( > I still prefer IRC to web chat and the like. So, what nick do you use? I'll try and drop by undernet one of these days. What time are you on? you're from the netherlands right? no time difference from Norway, right? right? Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 11:38:29 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Blackmoor On Wed, 22 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > I'm going to put up some of my Blackmoor stuff on my page pretty soon > here, primarily a Blackmoor "Atlas", in a manner similar to that used in > the Almanacs, but utilizing info on Blackmoor from the modules. Aside > from the fact that I use the "original" concept of placing the locations > on Brun, rather than the later versions of Blackmoor in Skothar, the > information should still be fairly accurate. :) Goodie goodie! (One of my professors' favourite expressions) I'm looking forward to seeing it. Will you put out that post on the Egg of Coot from way back too? (silly me deleted it) The stuff Misca Gelman mentioned was not too familiar to me, so more info would be appreciated. I'll surf by in the near future... Håvard - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 10:51:34 +0100 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Mystara Webring At 12.16 22/10/97 -0700, you wrote: > Seeing as I started and run a Web Ring, yes, I did figure out how to >create a new ring. Did it quite a while ago actually. > > I think the problem you have stems from the fact that you didn't follow >the link that the phrase "create a new ring" is linked to (Go back and >check -- on my screen that phrase doesn't have the correct colouring for a >link but it DOES have an underline -- the main reason why I leave >underlining on for links) If you follow that link it takes you to the URL: > > http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/wrnewring > >where the beginning of the process is explained and started. :-) > > Jenni Many thanks Jenni, your help has been invaluable :) To everyone who cares, i've.. ahem... i've been caught in a fit of madness and created a Mystara Webring... However it's not yet ready and i've seen it's a tremendous task to build up one, so don't expect any news before middle of November. As for the Ring logo, i eagerly wait to see which one will be the new Mystara netlogo and i'll use it. IF anyone is willing to sumbit to my phantomatic Mystara Ring, please e-mail me directly at: dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it Final Thought: IF i am not able to edit and mantain the ring in the following months, i'll gladly give it to anyone else who volvounteers as the new Ringmaster/mistress (i hope not to be forced to undertake this action, however) Bye DM (the hypothetical Ringmaster) "Ahem... Sundsvall: we've got a problem..." Ixion XIII on its first trip to Matera ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 14:22:21 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement v2 - LONG On Mon, 20 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > > 1004 AC: > > M. Fernando de Satolas opted to stay close to elven lands. > > Why assume this? He is a member of the Brotherhood of the Radiance, and > in theory, aren't they more able to make use of the Radiance the closer > they are to it? (IIRC, I may not be). > Well, IIRC GAZ3 does mention that lower-rank nobles must be farther away from the capital, but it doesn't mention any game mechanics relating to use of Radiance at various distances (except one spell whose power depended on the noble rank - I wonder how Angus McGregor uses it). Anyway, since officially McDougall becomes the Duke of Hightower, you can assume whatever you like; the above is just my suggestion (bad as it may be ;) > > Brannart McGregor loses Viceroyalty of Sablestone, making him an enemy of > > Harald. > > G:KoM disregards the whole Viceroyalty thing, but for myself, I think the > Fort of Sablestone should still exist- it is a necessary home for > Glantrian troops, if nothing else. Either that, or else a new fort (one > outside any Principality) should be constructed. Maybe it's just me... > Well, I just noticed that G:KoM says that Haaskinz is an enemy of Crownguard, so I thought that this might be one possible reason... Of course, all this abolishing of western forts (Sablestone and Ylourgne) might lead to interesting consequences as soon as Hule decides that it wants Glantri... > > Carnelia votes for Alasdair simply because she does not like the other > > two. This causes Carlotina to vote for Genevieve. Jaggar votes for > > Genevieve because Etienne promised him to support war against Ethengar > > and Alphatia. This causes Jherek, Urmahid, and Volospin to vote for > > Alasdair, and Innocenti to vote for Sinaria. Morphail abstains > > because he hates all three. > > I don't really see the reasoning, here. As has been pointed out, the > votes are anonymous, and all are cast at the same time. This being the > case, I don't see how, for example, Carnelia's voting for Alasdair would > have any direct influence on Carlotina's vote. I can see where Carlotina > would try to vote against Carnelia in some case (particularly those most > clear-cut cases, where there is an obvious supporter), but not in cases > like this, where no obvious interest lay. > I realize that the votes are anonymous, but then again, since there are so few candidates, it's pretty easy to predict who will vote for whom. > Again, I'm not too keen on this- "He voted this way, therefore He votes > this way" business. In cases of obvious support for a candidate- one who > quite publically and vocally supports and is in turn supported by a > particular House, I could definitely see that sort of thing going on, if > only out of principle. In other, less cut and dried, cases, though- other > events should (IMO) factor into the voting process. > > And you aren't going to try and tell me that Morphail used magic to > figure out *Etienne's* vote, are you? ;) > No, but Morphail knows that Etienne is a friend of Linded and an enemy of Sirecchia, so he can be pretty sure which way his vote will go. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 14:24:57 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Seven Secret Crafts of Glantri member lists On Mon, 20 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > Also, you forgot to mention the Earth Elementalist (forgot his name) from > GAZ9: The Minrothad Guilds- the assassin guy. > Ah, that's the problem... I don't have GAZ9 :( Could you give the guy's name and stats? > And I forget if that Klantyrian guy (from PC3: The Sea People) is a > member of a Secret Craft or not... > No, he isn't. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 14:31:27 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Subject: Glantri Posts #1 #2 & #3 On Mon, 20 Oct 1997, DM wrote: There is also an interesting rule in GAZ3 which states that mages gain 10% of their total XPs (!) every time they gain a higher title. > <<2) I note that I forgot to include Malachie du Marais... nerts. Which > raises an interesting point- would he and Diane de Moriamis both earn xp? > Or only him? Technically, she should be a Princess, I'd think...>> > > I'd split the Xps between them instead of giving them both the entire amount. > But Diane isn't really ruling the dominion, having little interest in doing so, why should she get XPs? > Wilhelmine is sure dead: it's stated in the PWA as well that she died > together with her husband during the Monster Conjuration Attacks of the > alphatians. As for Rowena, it depends on the location of Bergen and the > width of the Crater (which escapes me now).. > Nope, Rowena is dead because a summoned fiend slew her. So it has nothing to do with the meteor. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 13:55:57 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Subject: Glantri Posts #1 #2 & #3 At 14.31 23/10/97 +0300, you wrote: >> <<2) I note that I forgot to include Malachie du Marais... nerts. Which >> raises an interesting point- would he and Diane de Moriamis both earn xp? >> Or only him? Technically, she should be a Princess, I'd think...>> >> >> I'd split the Xps between them instead of giving them both the entire amount. >But Diane isn't really ruling the dominion, having little interest in >doing so, why should she get XPs? Of course i'd split if THEY BOTH ruled at the same time. If only Malachie has an active part then all XPs are his >Rowena is dead because a summoned fiend slew her. Seems she never learnt from previous mistakes, uh? ;) Anyway, i don't trust G:KoM: she's still alive IMC DM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 14:46:21 CEST From: "Herve Musseau" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Almanac Website? >>A few web pages for the almanac would be useful too. People might want t= >o >>know what it is before they download it. > >Good. I'll see what I can do in my little spare time. >Herve, you're the html expert, can you do create something nice for us? > And a nice Java applet too? ;) Heck, I'm already so busy... My homepage isn't even completely uptodate.. I finally finished writing events for the NACE for the next almanac (I'll post them soon to the almanac team), but I haven't finished the article about the Concordia, and haven't started writing countries descriptions... Hmmm. Okay, I'll see what I can do. It's something I wanted to do long ago, but never went to it. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 16:17:39 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] I'm starting a campaign! Yes! I finally get to start DMing a campaign in Mystara. Since I had a severe player problem lately (having only one friend to play with), we decided to start a solo campaign in Mystara (I'm the DM, and he will make probably two characters). There promises to be lots of roleplaying opportunities. I'm starting the campaign in 1000 AC, and of course, I plan on running all the interesting events :) Ahh, it's almost like a birthday present (and right on time, too)! ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 17:09:31 +0300 (EET DST) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles v3 Once again, here's the 3rd version of Glantrian nobles' advancement. I'm trying to find a result that would be acceptable to all (or most ;) list members and would make it into the Almanac. Of course, everyone does what he wants in his campaign... 1003 AC: Urmahid Krinagar, C. of Skullhorn, establishes Principality of Bramyra. Since it is in the same area as his county, there are no other changes. His CV and PV are 16, while P. Jherek's PV reduces by 6 to 33 (note that some voting points were calculated incorrectly in GAZ3). 1004 AC: Harald of Haaskinz, A. of Westheath, establishes Principality of Sablestone. This is where things get interesting. Barony of Kern is established for Harald. Westheath is up for grabs. People generally agree that John Moorkroft is the new Archduke, Eachainn McDougall becomes the Duke of Hightower, and Alasdair Mcallister becomes the Marquis of Dunvegan. The above changes the voting points as follows: Sirecchia loses 9 points from PV, reducing it to 26; Singhabad gains 1 point, rising to PV of 34. McGregor loses 1 point from his CV, reducing it to 15. Crownguard's PV rises to 35. Next comes County of Glenargyll. Ezechiel of Nathrat is out (he has special interests in his current dominion), as well as Diane of Malibois (she simply doesn't care). Rolf of Blofeld doesn't want to go that far away as transporting his precious constructs would be difficult. Gilles of Fausseflammes also does not want to move that far, besides his dominion is nice and larger than usual. Griseo Fulvina won't compete because his assignment is to spy on Agostino diMalapietra in Ylourgne, and Verazzano is closer to the fortress than Glenargyll. We then have Redstone, Bergen and Castelbianco. The votes: Arbana: 22 (Volospin) Rowena: 17 (Vanserie) +25 (Etienne) +17 (Jaggar) = 59 Antonio: 16 (Innocenti) +15 (Morphail) +25 (Jherek) +16 (Urmahid) = 72 * Etienne hates Sirecchia, so he votes for Rowena (he always had good relations with Flaems). * Jaggar votes against Sirecchia and Silverston. * Morphail votes for Antonio because he hates Linden and Silverston, and hopes to use Antonio in the future. * Jherek and Urmahid would vote against Linden, but Jherek has this philosophy of female inferiority, so the Ethengarians vote for Antonio. I don't think they know that Antonio is the head of the thugs, and his shadiness is not proof alone, after all, how many Glantrian nobles are *not* shady? * Carlotina abstains as she does not consider any of the three worthy. * Harald abstains as he does not want to support Antonio, but neither does he want to alienate Sirecchia (to whom he's still grateful); and generally, he prefers to stay pretty much out of the treacherous politics IMO. None is the clear winner, but Antonio would need only one vote to win, so if you don't want to deal with the Parliament mess, have either Brannart or Carnelia vote for him. Right, then the barons compete for viscounty of Castelbianco. Obviously, all the undead barons of Boldavia and Klantyre will not be competing. Malachie du Marais can also be left out. That leaves us with Franz of Adlerturm, Isabella of Egorn, and Pieter of Oxhill. Franz: 17 (Jaggar), +21 (Carlotina) = 38 Isabella: 18 (Carnelia), +25 (Jherek), +16 (Urmahid), +22 (Volospin) +16 (Innocenti) = 97 Pieter: 17 (Vanserie) * Jherek and Urmahid, obviously, vote against Ritterburg and Linden. * Same goes for Volospin. * Carlotina votes against Linden and Alhambra. * Innocenti votes against Ritterburg and likely for Alhambra, to oppose Sylaire. * Etienne abstains (he dislikes Pieter because of his violent methods, but does not wish to alienate Linden by voting against him). Even if he votes for Pieter, there is no affect of the outcome. * Brannart abstains (he's not interested - none of these candidates immediately benefit his enemies Morphail or Etienne). * Both Morphail and Harald also abstain since they have no interest in this case. Isabella is the winner and the new V. of Castelbianco. Alhambra now has a PV of 30. The Barony of Egorn is now available to a new noble. Either use Gerrid Rientha from G:KoM, or give it to a PC/NPC of your campaign. 1005 AC: Malachie du Marais marries Diane de Moriamis and becomes P. of Morlay-Malinbois. His CV and PV are 15 (10 from prince, 5 from viscount). Barony of Morlay ceases to exist. The PV of House Sylaire is reduced to 36. After the declaration of war, Carlotina Erewan loses the title of Chamberlain (reducing her CV to 17 and PV to 28), and Jaggar von Drachenfels gets the title (increasing his CV to 21 and PV to 37; note that he is also Viceroy of Nordling). 1006 AC: The meteor strikes! All the Silverston nobles die; Caurenze and allied dominions of Erewan (Nathrat and Soth-Kabree) are destroyed. Ouch. Ellerovyn's PV is reduced to 17. Antonio of Glenargyll and Griseo of Verazzano join House of Haaskinz, raising its PV to 29. Since there is a shortage of baronies, the Council decides to abolish the viceroyalty of Ylourgne (nobody attacks from that direction anyway) and establish a barony there. Vincienzo di Randazzi wins the dominion (or, you can give it to a PC). He joins the house of Marais, raising their PV to 19. Urmahid Krinagar is appointed the new Chancellor, raising his CV and PV to 22. Margaret of Fenswick does not join any house, preferring to mourn Prince Volospin. 1008 AC: Vanserie and Wilhelmine Vlaardoen die of the plague. Juliana inherits Bergdhoven. It is unclear as to who gets the title of Treasurer, since later Dolores Hillsbury apparently gets it. We'll assume that Juliana holds the title for the time being. 1009 AC: Etienne d'Ambreville disappears. Isidore inherits New Averoigne, but Harald of Haaskinz gets the Grand Master position. Isidore's new CV is 15 and PV is 26; Harald's are 24 and 39, respectively. There is also a brief struggle between Isidore and Henri. 1010 AC: Margaret Hillsbury dies and Dolores appears. Fenswick is made a principality. Since Juliana Vlaardoen is not very experienced yet, she loses the title of Treasurer and Dolores gets it to herself. Dolores's CV and PV are 20; Juliana's are 15 and 30. 1011 AC: Jaggar loses the title of Chamberlain to Isidore. Jaggar's CV and PV are 17 and 33, Isidore's are 19 and 30. Kol becomes P. of New Kolland. Dolores's influence is such that he gets to create a *viscounty* of Blackstone. His CV and PV are 15. 1012 AC: Mirn Krollnar replaces his mother Rowena as Viscount of Bergen (G:KoM). Sergei Wutyla inherits his brother Laszlo's Barony of Mariksen and breaks off from House Igorov (G:KoM). Etienne d'Ambreville reappears, although it is not widely known. In the future, he may reclaim his principality from Isidore, but it remains to be seen. Council voting power as of 1012 AC: Jherek 25 Harald 24 Urmahid 22 Dolores 20 Isidore 19 Carnelia 18 Jaggar 17 Carlotina 15 Brannart 15 Morphail 15 Juliana 15 Malachie 15 Kol 15 Parliament voting power as of 1012 AC: Haaskinz 39 Singhabad 34 Crownguard 34 Ritterburg 33 Igorov 35 (with Mariksen)/31 (without) Linden 30 Sylaire 30 Alhambra 30 Krinagar 22 Fenswick 20 Marais 19 Ellerovyn 17 Kol 15 For comparison, Singhabad+Krinagar=56, Sylaire+Marais=49, and Fenswick+Kol=35. Anyway, we also seem to be in agreement that Isabella de Montebello will become a Viscountess. The only argument here is of which Viscounty (Bergen, Castelbianco, or Redstone). ;) Also remember that whoever is the ruler of Redstone dies, and I'd rather kill off ugly old hag Arbana than beautiful young Isabella. ;) Ah, anyway, since I'm starting my campaign, I have to stop fooling around with the Glantrian nobles and establish something definite... ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 11:44:09 -0400 (EDT) From: Dleggend@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room In a message dated 97-10-23 02:42:09 EDT, you write: << Hi ho. This is a chat room that was created on AOL. It's still there and no one seems to be using it. Try entering this command: aol://2719:2-2-Mystara ((from the Control K feature)). >> This is a private room not a public room. In other words you can make a private room by calling it what ever you want. To enter the room click on Private room botton in the List Chats menu and type MYSTARA. ~(=Dleggend=> http://members.aol.com/Dleggend/Intro.html - -under construction- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 08:38:01 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) On Wed, 22 Oct 1997 Ben3181@aol.com wrote: > Actually, the only world that has been ruled as able to use gun powder > is the Forgotten Realms. Every other world has something officialy, or > otherwise that says gun powder doesn't work. In both Kyrnn, and Greyhawk gun > powder cannot be made int he first place. Ravenloft, Dark Sun, and > Planescape just plain don't have them (nor the type of campaign that would > use guns). Ravenloft has gunpowder- check out the new Domains of Dread campaign sourcebook. Mystara has variously had gunpowder- in the Savage Coast, and rules allowances in an article by Bruce Heard (not to mention IM1: Into the Maelstrom- though the ruling on gunpowder in a Quatraspace like Mystara's Prime, is that it explodes on a certain roll of the dice- not unlike the Forgotten Realms' smoke powder.) I wasn't aware that any other world had introduced specific rules against it, though. Interesting. > Personally, I think that I would be okay to introduce guns into the know > world. In the real world, even after guns were introduced, they were far too > primitive to do much good for what 200, 300 or more years? Some of the first cannon were used way back when, in the 13th century, as I recall. They weren't very reliable. Guns didn't really begin to replace the more accurate and easy to use crossbows until much later, towards the 16th century and later. > On Mystara, this could take 1,000 years before guns would be commonly > used. And even then, it would be more like the rennisance (sp) style, where > they are used, but sword fighting, and thrown weapons would still be fairly > common. Not to mention that people are still going to be making mass use of magic. If magic existed in the RW (and some might argue it does), and had as many practical and evident applications as it does on Mystara, I'm sure that guns wouldn't have been quite so revolutionary an item as they became. Sure, the advantages of guns allow non-magic users abilities comparable to mages (long distance fire, massive damage), and in a few hundred years, the number of mages would probably be substantially reduced, but magic wouldn't, I think, be totally replaced for a long time, if ever. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 08:59:35 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles v3 On Thu, 23 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > Franz: 17 (Jaggar), +21 (Carlotina) = 38 > Isabella: 18 (Carnelia), +25 (Jherek), +16 (Urmahid), +22 (Volospin) > +16 (Innocenti) = 97 > Pieter: 17 (Vanserie) > > * Jherek and Urmahid, obviously, vote against Ritterburg and Linden. > * Same goes for Volospin. > * Carlotina votes against Linden and Alhambra. > * Innocenti votes against Ritterburg and likely for Alhambra, to oppose > Sylaire. > * Etienne abstains (he dislikes Pieter because of his violent methods, > but does not wish to alienate Linden by voting against him). Even if > he votes for Pieter, there is no affect of the outcome. > * Brannart abstains (he's not interested - none of these candidates > immediately benefit his enemies Morphail or Etienne). > * Both Morphail and Harald also abstain since they have no interest in > this case. > > Isabella is the winner and the new V. of Castelbianco. Alhambra now > has a PV of 30. Okay, I like these calculations better than some of the others (I think the bit about Jherek's attitude towards females was a good touch, building on what we actually know to be true.) I just noticed something interesting, though. Even though there is voting by "blackball" as Bruce called it in GAZ3, the fact is that each House *does* have different voting powers, and so- 1) Nobles might be able to, after the fact, deduce approximately who voted for whom, just by virtue of trying to piece together why someone did or didn't make the levels required (80 to win, less than 50 to not get any consideration). They'd never know for sure, but it certainly lends more credence to your theory of Princes isolating one another after the fact, by way of their vote. 2) Whoever counts the votes has a tremendous advantage, politically speaking. I'd imagine it would have to be an unaffiliated third-party, but could it possibly be the Chancellor of the Princes? Or the Supreme Judge of the Council? Makes having one of those posts more attractive than ever before... - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 12:12:20 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room In a message dated 97-10-23 12:04:33 EDT, Dleggend writes: << This is a private room not a public room. In other words you can make a private room by calling it what ever you want. To enter the room click on Private room botton in the List Chats menu and type MYSTARA. >> You can also append that to your favorite places folder. Good thing this exists, since I keep losing my email addresses. Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 18:26:36 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) On Thu, 23 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > On Wed, 22 Oct 1997 Ben3181@aol.com wrote: > > > On Mystara, this could take 1,000 years before guns would be commonly > > used. And even then, it would be more like the rennisance (sp) style, where > > they are used, but sword fighting, and thrown weapons would still be fairly > > common. > > Not to mention that people are still going to be making mass use of > magic. If magic existed in the RW (and some might argue it does), and had > as many practical and evident applications as it does on Mystara, I'm sure > that guns wouldn't have been quite so revolutionary an item as they > became. > > Sure, the advantages of guns allow non-magic users abilities comparable > to mages (long distance fire, massive damage), and in a few hundred > years, the number of mages would probably be substantially reduced, but > magic wouldn't, I think, be totally replaced for a long time, if ever. I dont think technology should replace magic. If the Nucleus still'd been draining energy it could happen, but not now. I was just wondering when it would be likely for guns to become common enough to make musketeer guards etc.. AC 1120? Isn't that the time of the great War? Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #177 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #178 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Saturday, October 25 1997 Volume 02 : Number 178 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 11:44:06 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) On Thu, 23 Oct 1997, Haavard Roenne Faanes wrote: > I was just wondering when it would be likely for guns to become common > enough to make musketeer guards etc.. > > AC 1120? > > Isn't that the time of the great War? 1200 AC, actually. 1020 is the date of the joint Thyatian/Darokin war against the humanoids. I don't recall what 1120 is if anything. 1150, in GAZ7, is the date of the loss of the Sorona and the death of High King Maramet, but that's all sketchy info, contradicted in many places. I like the connection, though. That would be a Great War, too... - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 21:58:15 -0200 (EDT) From: Andre Martins Subject: [Mystara] Playing by Irc Hi, I have a group of players playing in Karameikos using Irc and I have a fe openings, so I decided to let you all know it. Right now you'd have to pick one of the missing players character until the party goes to a place where new characters could be accepted. The campaign is in 1003 AC and I will run most of the official events (with twists), so don't apply if you think that could spoil the fun (the other players don't even know it is a Mystara campaign, or what that would be). I use AD&D rules. Anything else, email me. You can see the game homepage at http://www.fma.if.usp.br/~acrmarti/ga/irc/irc.html Andre Martins acrmarti@fma.if.usp.br ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 19:54:24 -0700 From: "David 'Azure' Leland" Subject: Re: [Mystara] More Background information about some races At 08:55 AM 10/22/97 -0700, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: >> Hivebrood (gee, these are really tough!) > >There's a pretty good adventure with them in a Dungeon magazine, set in >Karameikos. I had been hoping it would be a bit more of a political >thriller than it was, but with a bit of tweaking it could be, if that's >your taste. They first appeared in the Creature Catalog. Don't know what >their origins may be... Do you know which issue? Thanks, / ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ \ : David "Azure" Leland ~|~ dleland@cogsci.ucsd.edu : | UCSD Cognitive Science ~|~ Phone/Fax: (619) 642-6709 | : Graduate Research Fellow ~|~ http://cogsci.ucsd.edu/~dleland : \ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ / ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 09:58:53 +0100 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Qauriks I agree with Andrew's idea that the Qauriks are too well developed to have been designed only for the AC. So, since their description mentions cold and icy lands and since also Drew's hypothesized Hyborea as the appropriate location, i'd go with this idea. IIRC, Steven B. Wilson is the Hyborea expert here, so if you're listening (hello, Steve?:)), are there any references to Qauriks in Hyborea related supplements (or at least, those supplements you staged in Hyborea)? that's all for now! bye! DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 "Ahem... Sundsvall: we've got a problem..." Ixion XIII on its first trip to Matera ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 10:11:32 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles v3 At 17.09 23/10/97 +0300, Aleksei wrote: > >Anyway, we also seem to be in agreement that Isabella de Montebello >will become a Viscountess. The only argument here is of which >Viscounty (Bergen, Castelbianco, or Redstone). ;) >Also remember that whoever is the ruler of Redstone dies, and I'd >rather kill off ugly old hag Arbana than beautiful young Isabella. ;) Oh, i see... Seems reasonable to me... (you old trickester...) :) >Ah, anyway, since I'm starting my campaign, I have to stop fooling >around with the Glantrian nobles and establish something definite... You can choose the best option for your campaign: we're not OBLIGING anyone to accept our ideas. Anyway, this last post seems ok to me. :) PS: what about my hypothesis on Aliana Nyraviel (previous post)? DM dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/3090 "Ahem... Sundsvall: we've got a problem..." Ixion XIII on its first trip to Matera ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 14:41:52 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Qauriks On Fri, 24 Oct 1997, DM wrote: > I agree with Andrew's idea that the Qauriks are too well developed to have > been designed only for the AC. So, since their description mentions cold > and icy lands and since also Drew's hypothesized Hyborea as the appropriate > location, i'd go with this idea. > IIRC, Steven B. Wilson is the Hyborea expert here, so if you're listening > (hello, Steve?:)), are there any references to Qauriks in Hyborea related > supplements (or at least, those supplements you staged in Hyborea)? If not, I suppose Vulcania could be appropriate for these guys... Håvard. - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 14:46:34 +0200 (MET DST) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Playing by Irc On Thu, 23 Oct 1997, Andre Martins wrote: > > Hi, > else, email me. You can see the game homepage at > http://www.fma.if.usp.br/~acrmarti/ga/irc/irc.html You have some nice maps there. How about making a few more for distrubution on web? I would be interested in some for my homepage, if you have time.. Håvard. - --- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 09:41:52 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room In a message dated 97-10-23 02:42:09 EDT, you write: << Hi ho. This is a chat room that was created on AOL. It's still there and no one seems to be using it. Try entering this command: aol://2719:2-2-Mystara ((from the Control K feature)). I don't think this is available to non-AOL member. Those who are interested, why net take a peek once in a while (say around lunch time -- whatever that might be, or evenings)? Good luck! :) >> Glad someone else knows about it. The Mystara ChatRoom was referred to me by one of the players in a Glantri PBEM. It has been used several times for discussion on that particular PBEM. Easier than an Instant Message and better for a crowd. The Room is usually empty and I have though of deleting it from my Favorite Places List. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 09:39:21 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mystara In a message dated 97-10-23 13:56:16 EDT, you write: << Lookie what i found in one of thoe misinformed Mystara Forums, His Darkening has nothing to do with Myystara Subject: "My Version of Mystara" Mystara, The Darkening Posted by: Vacithius Date: 10/21/1997 15:37:13 Without going into a lot of detail, this is the version of Mystara I made out of the old, it's pretty radical:An evil god from another dimension appeared in Mystara. Yes, that's right,an evil god. Being much more powerful than the immortals, he opened a portal to his own dimension and summoned his entire army of demons, etc.,to take over Mystara. The evil god was a sort of king of the undead and evil of many natures.Basically, he's a gothic god ruling an army of satanic vampires and mindless werewolves and undead creatures which worship him and fear his wrath. He often grants those wanting power a form of dark magic in enchange for their service, which is, not surprisingly, eternal in most cases. He has no form per say, but an infinite number of avatars. Anyways, he unleashed his army, with werewolves and vampires transforming those who they didn't kill. The dead he raized to his survice's, although their souls are freed once they're slain, unless they surrender their will to him. Unstoppable, he swept the world, those who survived running ahead of the slowly advancing undead and haunted at night by vampires and werewovles on the prowl. The immortals, seeing no other escape for them and their creation, led the survivors to the underworld and sealed all passages behind them with magic, leaving the surface world a nightmare land somewhat like Ravenloft. Hoping to return to find the vampires dieing for lack of nurishment, the undead armies decomposed, and only werewolves to deal with after centuries of waiting, hoping to find the surface world abandoned, one of the immortals made a journey to the surface world (doesn't really matter which) but never returned. Now, still centuries latter, the underworld is the only home for the world and the surface world is remembered, but only as a legend to many. Finally, vampires have been found in increasing numbers in the world, graves are found empty, and werewolves have been seen. It is believed a breach in the world's shell has occured and doom rests for all in the near future. I called it Mystara, The Darkening, and it was great fun. We played eitherthe time of the evil god's arrival, the war to save the underworld, or the discovery of the breach before the war. What do ya' think "This guy just dosn't understand.">> Hmmm....mass destruction, major alterations to Mystara proper, unprecidented chaos, and an all out global war. And you guys said some of my ideas were too dramatic.Geez!!! Alex ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 15:10:48 +0100 (MET) From: "Oystein H. Lund" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) On Sat, 18 Oct 1997 Galeifel@aol.com wrote: > In einer eMail vom 18.10.97 07:47:04, schreiben Sie: > > << Bad assumption. Wasn't that why Blackmoor went boom? (Ie, that tech > _didn't_ work the way it does in the real world, because Mystara is > too magical.) > >> > > Nah, those Blackmoor devices blew up, because the Blackmoorians forgot how to > use them properly, without the guidance of the "Aliens". > > Garafaele Galeifel Umm, nah. At least, not IMC. The Blackmoorian devices blew up because Thanatos used one of his mortal identities to get a job as design engineer on the safety/control systems group working on the largest type of fusion reactors. Oh, and another mortal identity of his worked in maintenance of the central one in Blackmoor proper. Easy to lose a wrench in the cooling system, when you're the guy who seigned the safety hole in the first place... _______________________________________________________________________ | Oeystein H. Lund ,kj160@lhg.hib.no | |"I still consider Southern California the best evidence we have that | | not only do aliens exist, but that they are here already. " | |_____________________________________________________________________| ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 10:46:32 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Operation Hydra Day 8 LONG Note- Someone brought up the complications that may be experienced by my attaching the BMP graphic of the battle plans. I had hoped to attach such a BMP file of the battle on Open Island. Since there may be problems with this, I will do as best as I can with text to describe the battle. If anyone wants to see the BMPs e-mail me personally and I'll send them. I have yet to find a program to convert the BMP images to a more easily handled format (JPG). Force A- Repairs are completed on the damaged vessels. Adm. Helena orders the Force to sail on. They only make about 27 miles during the day. This leaves about 52 miles to Minrothad City. Force B- Sails for 48 miles, leaving about 44 miles to Harbortown. Lookouts report sighting of Minrothad vessels on the horizon. However, these vessels do not engage. They seem to be headed toward Harbortown. Careful, Adm. Serpico tells his officers to have the troops ready for combat. He knows that they are in enemy waters and doesn't want to be caught off guard. The Minrothad vessels are 4th Squad/2nd Fleet. They are on a scouting mission to seek out the Thyatian vessels that destroyed 1stSquad/2nd Fleet the previous day. Instead it has spotted Force B. The Thadders assume that this is the same group of Thyatian vessels. Reporting the vessels via magical means, the 4thSquad/2ndFleet is ordered back to Harbortown. Harbortown in turn reports the information to Mercenary Guild HQ at Gapton. Force C- Shortly after dawn, the Thyatian 6th and 28th Cohorts engage the HG and Hin units of Malfton. Gen. Nikkos has deviated from his original plan due to his scouts reports concerning the approaching Thad forces. Gen. Nikkos places 1st thru 3rd Banners of 6th Cohort at the base of a hill. He has the 4th Banner behind these troops up hill a few feet so they can fire their crossbows over the heads of their comrades. Behind the hill, out of sight, are the cavalry units of 28th Cohort. The Thad forces focus their cavalry and mounted infantry to the front. HG infantry and Hin militia are placed toward the rear. The med cav will charge the wall of Thyatian troops. The light cav and mounted infantry will follow the charge and provide cover. In particular, the mounted infantry are to exploit any breaches in the Thyatian line until the HG and Hin foot infantry can catch up. The infantry launch a barrage of missile weapons to soften up the Thyatian line for the med cav. As the HG cavalry sounds their charge, the cavalry of 28th Cohort emerge from their hiding place. The medium cavalry attacks the flanks of the HG and Hin infantry. The light cav covers their charge and opens lanes for the mounted infantry. The mounted infantry rides to the rear of the infantry to assault it from the rear and cut off any retreat. As the HG cav closes in on the formations of 6th Cohort, the heavy infantry lock shields and brace their spears. The crossbow armed troops of 4th Banner take aim on the charging Thadders from behind their propped up shields. The missile weapons of the Thadders do little as they reign down upon the raised shields. Many fall short of the Thyatian lines (they are out of range). Gen. The Thyatian crossbowmen of the 4th Banner unleash their bolts at an almost point blank range. In view of the crossbow volleys and Thyatian wall of spears, the charge falters. The 28th Cohort's charge and encirclement cause the Thad forces to panic. This panic is made worse as the Minrothad HQ area is assaulted and destroyed. The Thadders become a disorganized mob, where as the Thyatians are a well organized and disciplined fighting machine. To their credit the Thadder forces, especially the Hin, fight stubbornly. Seeing the situation worsening, the surviving Thadder officers opt to attempt a break out. This succeeds somewhat. However, many of the Thadders that manage to breach the Thyatian encirclement are struck down by pursuing light cavalry. By mid afternoon, the battle is over. The majority of the Minrothad Forces lay dead or wounded. Gen. Nikkos orders his troops to rest and take care of their dead and wounded. He also assigns units of walking wounded to take charge of the Thadder prisoners. He then sends his subordinate officers to tally up casualties. They will stay here for the rest of the day to rest and regroup. They will march onto Malfton the next day. Thyatian and Minrothad Casualties - --------------------------------Wounded-------Dead------------Total/% 6th Cohort 1st Banner 187 42 229/ 28% 2nd Banner 88 37 125/ 15% 3rd Banner 98 48 146/ 18% 4th Banner 21 17 38/ 4% 28th Cohort---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Banner 130 48 178/ 59% 2nd Banner 43 52 95/ 47% 3rd Banner 61 22 83/ 41% 4th Banner 120 61 181/ 60% 5th Banner 63 44 107/ 35% 6th Banner 77 29 106/ 35% HomeGuard--------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Reg/2nd HG 35 50 85/ 94% 5 get away 2nd Reg/2nd HG 43 126 169/ 93% 11 get away 4th Reg/3rd HG 47 38 85/ 85% 15 get away 5th Reg/3rd HG 33 61 94/ 94% 6 get away 1st Division Hin Militia----------------------------------------------------------------------- - ------ 1st Banner 42 71 113/ 94% 7 get away 2nd Banner 24 67 91/ 75% 29 get away 2nd Division Hin Militia----------------------------------------------------------------------- - ----- 1st Banner 19 98 117/ 97% 3 get away 2nd Banner 22 86 108/ 90% 12 get away 3rd Banner 12 37 49/ 98% 1 gets away 4th Banner 8 34 42/ 84% 8 get away Note- In the Thadder units case, wounded stats include prisoners taken by Thyatians. The numbers said to "get away" denote troops of that unit that managed to break out of the encirclement and avoid the Thyatian light cav and med cav in pursuit. These survivors make their way back to Malfton. Force D- Gen. Delagro and Adm. Pentalon give the troops the day to rest. They do take the precaution of keeping some troops and ships alert. They also begin tallying up the cost in manpower for Cove Harbor. Of the 7,000 residents of Cove Harbor- 3100 dead 850 wounded (taken prisoner) 2000 surrendering The Thyatian commanders rightly assume a portion of the population is out to sea as pirates. Among those taken prisoner are several high ranking members of the Privateers Guild. These are seperated from the rest of the prisoners and taken aboard Adm. Pentalon's flagship and placed in irons. Also discovered are several captives held by the pirates awaiting ransom from friends and family. They include Ahmahd Azrud and Torril Jenteau of Darokin. Andre Sakic, Pavlo Karavev, and Milena Kolven of Karameikos. Delgreco Demonico and Hectavius Devarius of Thyatis. Salmar and Oasaria of NACE nations. Trista Delgro of Ierendi. Ian MacDurvis of Glantri. These freed captives are brought aboard the Admiral's flagship and made welcome. Thyatian casualties are as follows- 14th Cohort 1st Banner 120 dead and 234 wounded 2nd Banner 82 dead and 108 wounded 3rd Banner 154 dead and 301 wounded 4th Banner 67 dead and 22 wounded Fleet Marines 67 dead and 125 wounded. From the looting, an estimated 180,000 gp worth of currency is recovered. An additional booty of goods and other cargo items are obtained. Once they are appraised the value is expected to triple and possibly quadruple. An interesting discovery are Privateer Guild documents. Most deal with records concerning the pirate activities; invoices of captured goods, contacts on the mainland, captured vessels, etc. There are some noting a conspiracy against Oran Meditor by Guilds Verier, Corser, and Kasan. There are also several pirate vessels captured. Six small sailing ships. Three small galleys used as tugs. Two large sailing ships. Two Darokin merchant ships. One Ierendi merchant ship. One Minrothad merchant ship (of Guild Meditor). Two Thyatian merchantmen. One Ierendi pirate ship. One Karameikan merchant ship. Adm. Pentalon sends a message to the Emperor in Thyatis City informing him of the capture of Cove Harbor and the items and prisoners taken. Eusebius is pleased. He orders Adm. Pentalon to sail immediately for Thyatis City with the Guildsmen prisoners and the liberated ransom captives. Pentalon follows his orders and assembles a convoy to sail to the capital. He takes the 5th Fleet and the Regiment ships of 9th Feet. Besides the captured Guildsmen and the freed ransom captives, Pentalon also has the monetary loot and Privateer papers loaded aboard the ships. Pentalon also scrapes up "skeleton crews" from his naval forces to man the captured vessels. These ships will also accompany them back to Thyatis City. The Minrothad Mercenary Guild Master, Warheart Cleaver, studies the information that he has on the Thyatian forces. Open Island is under assault as is Fire Island. There are Thyatians off the coast of Trader Island. He has heard of no reports of Thyatian forces around Afeisle or Fortress Island. Still, he suspects strikes on the elves' home island. The dwarf opts to wait till morning for any knew data to come in. Guildmaster Warheart sends a message to Ruling Guildmaster Oran Meditor informing him of the overall situation as he knows it. He informs him of his moves so far. Oran is not pleased by Warheart's wanting to wait but concedes that it their only choice. Oran summons the Thyatian ambassedor. The Thyatian claims to know nothing of the invasion. Though he claims not to be surprised. He tells the Ruling Guildmaster that the matter is in the hands of the Emperor and he can do nothing. In a moment of rage, Oran has the Thyatian imprisoned. As a side note, the Thyatian embassy in Minrothad City is assaulted by angry and scared Thadders. By the time the HG units in the capital can disperse the mob, the embassy is burned to the ground and its personnel killed. The only survivor is the ambassador himself as he is a prisoner. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 11:12:36 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] I'm starting a campaign! Aleksei Andrievski pontificated: > > Yes! > I finally get to start DMing a campaign in Mystara. Since I had a severe > player problem lately (having only one friend to play with), we decided to > start a solo campaign in Mystara (I'm the DM, and he will make probably > two characters). There promises to be lots of roleplaying opportunities. > I'm starting the campaign in 1000 AC, and of course, I plan on running all > the interesting events :) You might want to consider starting the campaign a little bit before 1000 AC. That would give you a little time to set things up (meeting NPCs, introducing plot points, etc) before everything described in Gaz. start to happen. Have fun. - -- John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 08:21:07 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] More Background information about some races On Thu, 23 Oct 1997, David 'Azure' Leland wrote: > >There's a pretty good adventure with them in a Dungeon magazine, set in > >Karameikos. I had been hoping it would be a bit more of a political > >thriller than it was, but with a bit of tweaking it could be, if that's > >your taste. They first appeared in the Creature Catalog. Don't know what > >their origins may be... > > Do you know which issue? Issue #13. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 11:13:30 -0500 From: Rob Rickard Subject: Re: [Mystara] Mystara (The Darkening) Alex295@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 97-10-23 13:56:16 EDT, you write: > > << Lookie what i found in one of thoe misinformed Mystara Forums, His > Darkening has nothing to do with Myystara > > Subject: "My Version of Mystara" Mystara, The Darkening > > Posted by: Vacithius > Date: 10/21/1997 15:37:13 > > Without going into a lot of detail, this is the version of Mystara I > made out of the old, it's pretty radical:An evil god from another > dimension appeared in Mystara. Yes, that's right,an evil god. Being > much > more powerful than the immortals, he opened a portal to his own > dimension and summoned his entire army of demons, etc.,to take over > Mystara... > ...What do ya' think > > "This guy just dosn't understand.">> > > Hmmm....mass destruction, major alterations to Mystara proper, > unprecidented > chaos, and an all out global war. > > And you guys said some of my ideas were too dramatic.Geez!!! > > Alex Well I say this post lst week and I could not believe that anyone would want to do this to Mystara. But after thinking about it, I changed my mind. I have a few players who are sometimes out trying to destroy anything in there path. They call them fun loving adventures just out to have some minor damage. Fun like ... " hey how hard do you think it would be burn down Alfheim?" or "I bet it is not so difficult to assassinate Duke Karameikos." What If some Immortals or even their Immortals decided to show them what it would be like if Mystara did go to "hell"; adn send them to this Mystara The Darkening. They would have to fight ttheir way out. Maybe help the underwould fight back to regain the surface. It could be a great lesson from the Immortals to love the world you live in. "the world is a wonderful place and worth fighting for" H- - --Rob-- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 12:21:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room In a message dated 97-10-24 10:07:14 EDT, you write: << Glad someone else knows about it. The Mystara ChatRoom was referred to me by one of the players in a Glantri PBEM. It has been used several times for discussion on that particular PBEM. Easier than an Instant Message and better for a crowd. The Room is usually empty and I have though of deleting it from my Favorite Places List. >> Shall we set up a day & time for some informal chat then? Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 09:10:20 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: [Mystara] Princess Ark question Say, Bruce, I've been rereading the Princess Ark articles in Dragon recently, and I'm curious. Why did you suddenly move Haldemar from the past (1964 AY) to the present (2000 AY)? Was this always your intention, or were there editorial considerations involved? - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 15:42:55 -0400 (EDT) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Princess Ark question In a message dated 97-10-24 12:56:30 EDT, Cthuldrew writes: << Say, Bruce, I've been rereading the Princess Ark articles in Dragon recently, and I'm curious. Why did you suddenly move Haldemar from the past (1964 AY) to the present (2000 AY)? Was this always your intention, or were there editorial considerations involved? >> Geez, this goes back... what, four or five years ago right? I remember at the time I felt the story would work better with the current Mystara timeframe. All of the good political/military situations were balanced to teeter one way of the other around that period. It also made the series fit more readily with the Gazetteers. Bruce Heard PS -- I heard no opinions on the issue of the tortles' early deaths after mating. Anybody cares at all one way or the other? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 17:22:02 -0500 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: [Mystara] Undersea Timeline AC 1010-1014 SUMMARY Okay, I'm working on the timeline for 1010-1014, and I am posting my ideas and plans for this timeline. Anyone w/ ideas or comments _please_ post. BTW, If anyone wants to put my timelines on their webpage feel free. I can E-mail you copies if you need them. AC 1010: Underocean begins to be settled, King Juliast is formaly kinged, Devilfish attack alternate explanation for Waveleaper incident (p. 171), Triton could rescue crewmembers from Naval Revenge--Nearly (p.180), possible devilfish involvement with the Master's Sea-Reavers? (p.194), Triton save faller from The Air-Bridge is finished? (p. 223) AC 1011: Juliast marries, some Triton agitate for a check to the new king's power, Zandor nearly discovers Underocean, Juliast cretes a Council to take the place of the Barons as checks on his power (members will be elected next year),capitol of Underocean built (name*), AC 1012: Council members elected (winners*), new underwater species discovered* AC 1013: Juliast begins plans to retake Undersea AC 1014: Undersea invasion plans progress ?= possibly *=I need help with this Hope you like. And please comment, supply ideas, or help with * items. Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 21:46:46 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles For an example of a tortle character (wizard) you might use Clothahump from the Spellsinger books by Alan Dean Foster. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 11:45:26 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Bhut's background Subject: Bhuts I was thinking about Bhuts last night and i had this strange idea: what if they are were-undead? That is, Bhuts are normal people that were probably cursed by a very powerful being to assume an unholy state closely resempling undeath during the night. They are not true undead nor true werewolves, only cursed beings. But many questions arise: 1. who cursed them and above all why? 2. is their curse passed from generation to generation, much like lycanthropy, so that they have become a brand new race of beings? Or are they the same beings cursed at the beginning, living thru the ages until somebody doesn't slay them or they find a cure to their state? 3. are they aware of what happens to them during the night? From the monster description i would say so: in this case, how do they consider themselves? 4. is there a cure to this terrible curse? And more important: do they want to find it (in case they know about their metamorphosis)? 5. do normal people know about their existence and if so how are they viewed (mythological creatures to frighten kids or real threat)? [i suspect X4 sheds some light on this subject.. does it?] 6. what's the attitude of the werefolk and of the intelligent undead towards bhuts? DM ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 11:46:42 +0200 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Tortles and mating I suddenly thought about Bruce's post on the tortles this afternoon during one of my lessons at the university and i came up with this hypothesis. WHAT IF the tortle females are not much fertile and they have only two periods each years during which they can mate to reproduce. During these periods (which are no longer than a week) they are highly fertile and thus they try to mate with a male tortle to reproduce the species. Unfortunately, during the mating the female secretes a particular acid that is highly poisonous and it usually enters the male tortle via the reproductive organs (much like HIV). The male tortles know of this risk, but they cannot avoid mating, first because they must keep their species alive (they have a strong sense of duty) and also because they feel an urge to mate in certain periods of the year that is difficult to resist. Maybe the females change their smell when they are ready and the males sense (and smell) it so that they are driven to them. Anyway, the mating USUALLY (and this is the keyword) results in the death of the male tortles. How to handle the thing in game mechanics? I'd say that each tortle has a certain number of probabilities of dying of this acid that relates to his constitution (physical resistance): the more the tortle is tough, the lesser the chances he will die (level of experience is not involved). The chances are calculated according to this table: CON Chance (d8) 6-8 1 9-10 2 11-12 3 13-15 4 16-17 5 18 6 PS: minimum CON for a tortle is 6 and maximum 18 (Red Steel rules) To know if the tortle has survived, simply roll 1d8 after the mating has occurred: if the result is lower or equal the number given above, the tortle has survived. Note that most of the tortles -those with average CON- will not survive statistically the mating -about 68% chance of dying- yet this doesn't mean they ALL will automatically die, otherwise i don't see how the species could moltiplicate. Yes, the females normally lay 4-24 eggs after each mating, but the eggs and the females have to be protected during the hatching time, and if all the males die after mating, then how can the rest of the female survive? Thus i think a small amount of tougher males can survive a mating.. Also bear in mind that the females are poisonous only twice a year (and they obviously cannot use their poison in melee.. i think.. ;)), so they can have "safe sex" during the rest of the year. However, i don't know how their society could view the practice of mating without the pourpose of reproducing. I think the tortle society should encourage poligamy and view suspiciously monogamy ("ehi, are you trying to threat our presence on this world? Are you sure you're a male tortle?!"), certainly defending the role of females as birthgivers but also viewing them under an eerie light -very mantis like. However, Red Steel under the entry for Tortles doesn't specify that ONLY MALES die afte the mating, so i presume the sentence includes females too. This can be easily explained by the troubles that come with egg-laying: maybe the effort drains a great amount of the female's strengths and she has a good chance not to survive her youngs. Again, refer to the above mentioned table. Also, both males and females FEEL the URGE to mate to reproduce about twice a year after they pass the 40th year of age. They can resist it (but normally they don't do it as they feel it's part of their duty to the tortle society to mate), but those who live on without mating inevitably are viewed with suspicion and even hatred sometimes by the other members of the tribe, and often exiled as outcasts. These outcasts can live to become extremely old, with little loss of vitality. To resist the urge to mate i'd say the tortle must make a Wisdom check: if it fails then it cannot resist the "temptation", otherwise it's just plain meaningless if they reproduce or not. Once they enter Maturity (50 years), they only feel once a year the need to mate (but the females are fertile twice a year nevertheless), and after the 70th year of age (Old Age) the urge subsides (they can still mate, but they are not FORCED TO do it by their nature). Since the average lifespan for a tortle is 50 years, not many individuals arrive to Old Age and those who do having mated at least once are highly regarded by the other memebers of their tribe. I think that normally the ethic codex of the tortles requires the individuals to mate at least once in their life: if they do it and survive they CAN abstain from further mating, but since they have a strong stamina they are normally sought out by many females to be inseminated. As a result of all this, the tortle family is a very strange one, because usually the youngs lack the parents and are raised by relatives (brothers and sisters of the couple) or by friends of one of the parents. They also never refers to anyone but the Immortals as "fathers" or "mothers", using instead "tutor". They also have "companion", "brother", "uncle", "aunt" and "grandtutor" for elder tortles who happen to be the tutors of their tutors. FINAL NOTE: i don't know if the acid of the females is poisonous only to tortle males or to other creatures: it certainly is not posisonous to themselves. DM ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 09:36:19 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] More Background information about some races In a message dated 97-10-22 04:41:06 EDT, dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it writes: << Gyerian (the most useless and poor designed creature IMHO) >> These creatures appear in that Companion level solo adventure (title says something about "Snow Pearls") designed for a very high level Elf. Unfortunately, I don't recall a specific Mystaran location for this adventure. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 11:09:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Magesmiley@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Princess Ark question Another oddity I noticed in the Princess Ark series I meant to ask about awhile back... in Dragon 179 Haldemar & company celebrated the end of the year on Burymir 28, which is all fine, except that its the last day of the year on the Thyatian calendar; Amphimir 28 is the last day of the year going by the Alphatian calendar. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 11:36:14 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) In a message dated 97-10-23 12:53:49 EDT, hoc@nvg.ntnu.no writes: << AC 1120? Isn't that the time of the great War? >> Originally it was supposed to occur around AC 1200, but the events of "Wrath of the Immortals" made it impossible -- the politics and indeed the geography of southeastern Brun have changed too much. If this war occurs at all, it would have to be fit into the timeline of "Wrath" as indicated in that product. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 11:36:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Seven Secret Crafts of Glantri member lists In a message dated 97-10-23 13:26:34 EDT, k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi (Aleksei Andrievski) writes: << Ah, that's the problem... I don't have GAZ9 :( Could you give the guy's name and stats? >> He is Murl of Vlaardoen, a "Human Glantri Earth Elementalist", called a "master of earth elementals". No circle is specifically mentioned. He is a 26th level Mage (OD&D) and is in his late 30s. He is related to the Vlaardoen family of Glantri. ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #178 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #179 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Monday, October 27 1997 Volume 02 : Number 179 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 11:35:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room In a message dated 97-10-24 12:53:59 EDT, you write: << < Glad someone else knows about it. The Mystara ChatRoom was referred to me > Shall we set up a day & time for some informal chat then? Bruce Heard>> Fellow AOL folks you heard the man. Can't speak for the rest, but I'll place your name on Buddy List and drop you a IM if your name pops up while I'm on. Alex ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 11:36:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) There is another world besides the Forgotten Realms that specifically allows firearms -- Gothic Earth, from "Masque of the Red Death". It may well be considered as the same world as the "HR" supplements -- some of them such as "A Mighty Fortress" also allow firearms. As for Mystara, it seems likely that such weapons are currently found only along the Savage Coast, and they exist there only because of special magical conditions. It is possible that firearms using mundane gunpowder will be developed at some point in the future -- but when? I, for one, would not be in a hurry for this particular development. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 11:30:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Bhut's background In a message dated 97-10-25 06:21:08 EDT, you inquired about Bhuts: I looked into my copy of Mystara Monstrous Compendium. << I was thinking about Bhuts last night and i had this strange idea: what if they are were-undead? >> Accordind to MMC they are not undead. They are often mistaken for them. They cannot be turned but do benefit from the immunities undead gain. Bhuts also repruduce with each other. Female Bhuts can mate with human males with the offspring always being a Bhut. Bhuts cannot pass on their condition like were creatures do. So the were aspect is somewhat dispelled. <> According to MCC, legends mention a villiage that was cursed by an Immortal after they had defiled her temple. <<1. who cursed them and above all why?>> No name is given for the Immortal, though the description does specify that it was a she. The curse is for defiling her temple. << 2. is their curse passed from generation to generation, much like lycanthropy, so that they have become a brand new race of beings? >> Bhuts reproduce within their own clan or have a she-Bhut mate with a human male in which the offspring are always bhuts. They do not spread their condition like lyncanthropes through their bite. <> No age limit for Bhuts is given. Since they are cursed humans, I would feel safe to assume that they would have lifespans mirroring that of humans. <<3. are they aware of what happens to them during the night? From the monster description i would say so: in this case, how do they consider themselves?>> I assume they do know what is going on with themselves when night comes. They seem to be well organized to develope and exploit any daytime identity. << 4. is there a cure to this terrible curse? And more important: do they want to find it (in case they know about their metamorphosis)?>> Well its an Immortal level curse. As such an Immortal woud have to lift it. But given the generations of the condition being passed on, I doubt that the Bhuts desire a cure. Probably they have accepted their fate and its accompanying abilities. << 5. do normal people know about their existence and if so how are they viewed (mythological creatures to frighten kids or real threat)? [i suspect X4 sheds some light on this subject.. does it?]>> I would think that some folks know of Bhuts. The description does make a mention of the origin being based on legend. A Bhut Clan works covertly living as humans during the day and preying on humans at night. As such they would try to keep their activities secret, possibly by even downplaying and disproving Bhut reports. I like to think that common folk may see the Bhut as a legend. Those that beleive or know them to be real rarely suspect them to be working in their own towns. But then again the average townsperson doesn't know the difference between a wyvern and a dragon. <<6. what's the attitude of the werefolk and of the intelligent undead towards bhuts?>> Depends on each type of creature. But for arguement's sake, I'll suggest they stereotypically see them as competition for a share of a the human food source. Smart undead, werebeasts, and Bhuts are pretty secretive about their dietary habits. No sense ruining a good thing by dipping into the locale human population too often. Too many of these creatures in one area would draw suspition. Hope this helps. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 11:39:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Operation Hydra Day 8 Long I tried to send this the other day but I see it didn't make it. Oh well here I go again. Sorry if it pops up twice. Note- Someone brought up the complications that may be experienced by my attaching the BMP graphic of the battle plans. I had hoped to attach such a BMP file of the battle on Open Island. Since there may be problems with this, I will do as best as I can with text to describe the battle. If anyone wants to see the BMPs e-mail me personally and I'll send them. I have yet to find a program to convert the BMP images to a more easily handled format (JPG). Force A- Repairs are completed on the damaged vessels. Adm. Helena orders the Force to sail on. They only make about 27 miles during the day. This leaves about 52 miles to Minrothad City. Force B- Sails for 48 miles, leaving about 44 miles to Harbortown. Lookouts report sighting of Minrothad vessels on the horizon. However, these vessels do not engage. They seem to be headed toward Harbortown. Careful, Adm. Serpico tells his officers to have the troops ready for combat. He knows that they are in enemy waters and doesn't want to be caught off guard. The Minrothad vessels are 4th Squad/2nd Fleet. They are on a scouting mission to seek out the Thyatian vessels that destroyed 1stSquad/2nd Fleet the previous day. Instead it has spotted Force B. The Thadders assume that this is the same group of Thyatian vessels. Reporting the vessels via magical means, the 4thSquad/2ndFleet is ordered back to Harbortown. Harbortown in turn reports the information to Mercenary Guild HQ at Gapton. Force C- Shortly after dawn, the Thyatian 6th and 28th Cohorts engage the HG and Hin units of Malfton. Gen. Nikkos has deviated from his original plan due to his scouts reports concerning the approaching Thad forces. Gen. Nikkos places 1st thru 3rd Banners of 6th Cohort at the base of a hill. He has the 4th Banner behind these troops up hill a few feet so they can fire their crossbows over the heads of their comrades. Behind the hill, out of sight, are the cavalry units of 28th Cohort. The Thad forces focus their cavalry and mounted infantry to the front. HG infantry and Hin militia are placed toward the rear. The med cav will charge the wall of Thyatian troops. The light cav and mounted infantry will follow the charge and provide cover. In particular, the mounted infantry are to exploit any breaches in the Thyatian line until the HG and Hin foot infantry can catch up. The infantry launch a barrage of missile weapons to soften up the Thyatian line for the med cav. As the HG cavalry sounds their charge, the cavalry of 28th Cohort emerge from their hiding place. The medium cavalry attacks the flanks of the HG and Hin infantry. The light cav covers their charge and opens lanes for the mounted infantry. The mounted infantry rides to the rear of the infantry to assault it from the rear and cut off any retreat. As the HG cav closes in on the formations of 6th Cohort, the heavy infantry lock shields and brace their spears. The crossbow armed troops of 4th Banner take aim on the charging Thadders from behind their propped up shields. The missile weapons of the Thadders do little as they reign down upon the raised shields. Many fall short of the Thyatian lines (they are out of range). Gen. The Thyatian crossbowmen of the 4th Banner unleash their bolts at an almost point blank range. In view of the crossbow volleys and Thyatian wall of spears, the charge falters. The 28th Cohort's charge and encirclement cause the Thad forces to panic. This panic is made worse as the Minrothad HQ area is assaulted and destroyed. The Thadders become a disorganized mob, where as the Thyatians are a well organized and disciplined fighting machine. To their credit the Thadder forces, especially the Hin, fight stubbornly. Seeing the situation worsening, the surviving Thadder officers opt to attempt a break out. This succeeds somewhat. However, many of the Thadders that manage to breach the Thyatian encirclement are struck down by pursuing light cavalry. By mid afternoon, the battle is over. The majority of the Minrothad Forces lay dead or wounded. Gen. Nikkos orders his troops to rest and take care of their dead and wounded. He also assigns units of walking wounded to take charge of the Thadder prisoners. He then sends his subordinate officers to tally up casualties. They will stay here for the rest of the day to rest and regroup. They will march onto Malfton the next day. Thyatian and Minrothad Casualties - --------------------------------Wounded-------Dead------------Total/% 6th Cohort 1st Banner 187 42 229/ 28% 2nd Banner 88 37 125/ 15% 3rd Banner 98 48 146/ 18% 4th Banner 21 17 38/ 4% 28th Cohort---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Banner 130 48 178/ 59% 2nd Banner 43 52 95/ 47% 3rd Banner 61 22 83/ 41% 4th Banner 120 61 181/ 60% 5th Banner 63 44 107/ 35% 6th Banner 77 29 106/ 35% HomeGuard--------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Reg/2nd HG 35 50 85/ 94% 5 get away 2nd Reg/2nd HG 43 126 169/ 93% 11 get away 4th Reg/3rd HG 47 38 85/ 85% 15 get away 5th Reg/3rd HG 33 61 94/ 94% 6 get away 1st Division Hin Militia----------------------------------------------------------------------- - ------ 1st Banner 42 71 113/ 94% 7 get away 2nd Banner 24 67 91/ 75% 29 get away 2nd Division Hin Militia----------------------------------------------------------------------- - ----- 1st Banner 19 98 117/ 97% 3 get away 2nd Banner 22 86 108/ 90% 12 get away 3rd Banner 12 37 49/ 98% 1 gets away 4th Banner 8 34 42/ 84% 8 get away Note- In the Thadder units case, wounded stats include prisoners taken by Thyatians. The numbers said to "get away" denote troops of that unit that managed to break out of the encirclement and avoid the Thyatian light cav and med cav in pursuit. These survivors make their way back to Malfton. Force D- Gen. Delagro and Adm. Pentalon give the troops the day to rest. They do take the precaution of keeping some troops and ships alert. They also begin tallying up the cost in manpower for Cove Harbor. Of the 7,000 residents of Cove Harbor- 3100 dead 850 wounded (taken prisoner) 2000 surrendering The Thyatian commanders rightly assume a portion of the population is out to sea as pirates. Among those taken prisoner are several high ranking members of the Privateers Guild. These are seperated from the rest of the prisoners and taken aboard Adm. Pentalon's flagship and placed in irons. Also discovered are several captives held by the pirates awaiting ransom from friends and family. They include Ahmahd Azrud and Torril Jenteau of Darokin. Andre Sakic, Pavlo Karavev, and Milena Kolven of Karameikos. Delgreco Demonico and Hectavius Devarius of Thyatis. Salmar and Oasaria of NACE nations. Trista Delgro of Ierendi. Ian MacDurvis of Glantri. These freed captives are brought aboard the Admiral's flagship and made welcome. Thyatian casualties are as follows- 14th Cohort 1st Banner 120 dead and 234 wounded 2nd Banner 82 dead and 108 wounded 3rd Banner 154 dead and 301 wounded 4th Banner 67 dead and 22 wounded Fleet Marines 67 dead and 125 wounded. From the looting, an estimated 180,000 gp worth of currency is recovered. An additional booty of goods and other cargo items are obtained. Once they are appraised the value is expected to triple and possibly quadruple. An interesting discovery are Privateer Guild documents. Most deal with records concerning the pirate activities; invoices of captured goods, contacts on the mainland, captured vessels, etc. There are some noting a conspiracy against Oran Meditor by Guilds Verier, Corser, and Kasan. There are also several pirate vessels captured. Six small sailing ships. Three small galleys used as tugs. Two large sailing ships. Two Darokin merchant ships. One Ierendi merchant ship. One Minrothad merchant ship (of Guild Meditor). Two Thyatian merchantmen. One Ierendi pirate ship. One Karameikan merchant ship. Adm. Pentalon sends a message to the Emperor in Thyatis City informing him of the capture of Cove Harbor and the items and prisoners taken. Eusebius is pleased. He orders Adm. Pentalon to sail immediately for Thyatis City with the Guildsmen prisoners and the liberated ransom captives. Pentalon follows his orders and assembles a convoy to sail to the capital. He takes the 5th Fleet and the Regiment ships of 9th Feet. Besides the captured Guildsmen and the freed ransom captives, Pentalon also has the monetary loot and Privateer papers loaded aboard the ships. Pentalon also scrapes up "skeleton crews" from his naval forces to man the captured vessels. These ships will also accompany them back to Thyatis City. The Minrothad Mercenary Guild Master, Warheart Cleaver, studies the information that he has on the Thyatian forces. Open Island is under assault as is Fire Island. There are Thyatians off the coast of Trader Island. He has heard of no reports of Thyatian forces around Afeisle or Fortress Island. Still, he suspects strikes on the elves' home island. The dwarf opts to wait till morning for any knew data to come in. Guildmaster Warheart sends a message to Ruling Guildmaster Oran Meditor informing him of the overall situation as he knows it. He informs him of his moves so far. Oran is not pleased by Warheart's wanting to wait but concedes that it their only choice. Oran summons the Thyatian ambassedor. The Thyatian claims to know nothing of the invasion. Though he claims not to be surprised. He tells the Ruling Guildmaster that the matter is in the hands of the Emperor and he can do nothing. In a moment of rage, Oran has the Thyatian imprisoned. As a side note, the Thyatian embassy in Minrothad City is assaulted by angry and scared Thadders. By the time the HG units in the capital can disperse the mob, the embassy is burned to the ground and its personnel killed. The only survivor is the ambassador himself as he is a prisoner. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 13:03:19 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement v2 - LONG In a message dated 97-10-24 08:55:56 EDT, k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi (Aleksei Andrievski) writes: << Well, IIRC GAZ3 does mention that lower-rank nobles must be farther away from the capital, but it doesn't mention any game mechanics relating to use of Radiance at various distances (except one spell whose power depended on the noble rank - I wonder how Angus McGregor uses it). >> And that one spell is the most basic of the Radiance related spells. Here is another case where G:KoM contradicts Gaz3 -- in G:KoM the increase in power is based on the Mage's level, not his noble title. But if we assume that the Gaz 3 rules are in effect, then the rule would be that nobody other than a Prince would be allowed to remove his receptable from his own dominion -- thus, a Prince could move his receptacle to Glantri City for maximum Radiance power. As for Angus, his membership in the Brotherhood is highly irregular and would be considered "illegal" if the others figured out who he was. But it is fairly easy to figure out his level of power, as his receptacle is clearly located in the Principality of Klantyre, which would be a viscounty if it were not a Principality. So Angus would have the equivalent Radiance power of a viscount. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 14:37:53 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles and mating In a message dated 97-10-25 06:26:37 EDT, dalmonte@dsc.unibo.it writes: << Yes, the females normally lay 4-24 eggs after each mating, but the eggs and the females have to be protected during the hatching time, and if all the males die after mating, then how can the rest of the female survive? Thus i think a small amount of tougher males can survive a mating.. >> I think that the "official" explanation would be that not all Tortles mate at once. Thus, even though the parents are dead by the time their offspring hatch, there is a whole community of Tortles guarding the eggs and raising the young. As for why the male would die after mating -- no acidic chemical is needed, nor is any predatory behavior on the part of the female as is the case with real world mantises. The stings of many bees cannot be withdrawn after they sting but must be left behind, leaving the bee mortally wounded by its attempt to defend its hivemates -- unfortunately for male bees or drones, the same applies to certain other body parts.... ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 15:03:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] More Background information about some races Kaviyd@aol.com pontificated: > > << Gyerian (the most useless and poor designed creature IMHO) >> > > These creatures appear in that Companion level solo adventure (title > says something about "Snow Pearls") designed for a very high level > Elf. Unfortunately, I don't recall a specific Mystaran location for this > adventure. > Ahh, now I remember, they are the weird bird-like people, right? The module is Mystry of the Snow Pearls, CM8, I think. It uses a red viewer to see the passages, which gives me a head ache :( So I never finished the module. I don't think a location was given in the module. - -- John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 21:41:07 -0400 (EDT) From: AMALDIS@aol.com Subject: [Mystara] Re: Tortles In a message dated 97-10-25 21:17:14 EDT, you write: << PS -- I heard no opinions on the issue of the tortles' early deaths after mating. Anybody cares at all one way or the other? >> I think that although the physical forms of the tortles should die upon mating, they should have a spiritual form that survives long after their body is dead. This spirit would watch after the children(especially when they are eggs) and put them in touch with the greater spiritual world beyond the material world. Therefore tortles would not consider themselves orphans since they can communicate with their parents and are protected by them. - -Amaldis ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 20:36:54 -0500 From: "Galwylin" Subject: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals I was hoping someone could send some information on some lesser known Immortals. Arik (B3) Brissard (IM2) Chardastes (B1-9) Liena (IM3) Maat (Original Immortals Set) Marwdyn (IM3) Ssu-Ma (Original Immortals Set) Tiresias (IM3) Tyche (Original Immortals Set) Verthandi (Original Immortals Set) Wayland (Original Immortals Set) Yav (Dragon #170) Thanks all. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Galwylin Email: galwylin@airnet.net Home Page: http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ Strange! That really should have worked! - Fizban ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 23:54:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Princess Ark question In a message dated 97-10-25 21:17:14 EDT, Ambreville@aol.com writes: << PS -- I heard no opinions on the issue of the tortles' early deaths after mating. Anybody cares at all one way or the other? >> I like the idea if only because it makes them different from humans and demi-humans -- although my proposed rationale for the death of male Tortles should cause you, me, and all other male subscribers to this list to at least wince in pain.... ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 23:54:25 -0400 (EDT) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Princess Ark question In a message dated 97-10-25 21:17:14 EDT, Ambreville@aol.com writes: << Geez, this goes back... what, four or five years ago right? I remember at the time I felt the story would work better with the current Mystara timeframe. All of the good political/military situations were balanced to teeter one way of the other around that period. It also made the series fit more readily with the Gazetteers. >> Okay, let me help out here -- after that time shift, you dropped a lot of hints of events that would occur in "Wrath of the Immortals". For that reason alone, if for no others, your time shift was justified. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 09:06:17 -0500 (EST) From: Ambreville@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Tortles In a message dated 97-10-25 21:52:07 EDT, Amaldis writes: << I think that although the physical forms of the tortles should die upon mating, they should have a spiritual form that survives long after their body is dead. This spirit would watch after the children(especially when they are eggs) and put them in touch with the greater spiritual world beyond the material world. Therefore tortles would not consider themselves orphans since they can communicate with their parents and are protected by them. >> That's a neat idea. It goes in the same general direction as what I'm thinking of doing with the tortles -- sort of an uber-wise race. They're slow and they're (generally) peaceful earth-loving folks. Probably more than many other races, they could maintain a spiritual bond with the living and their native land (sounds like this could lead to a Chinese-style cult of the ancestors). In our hot-blooded, mammal minds, the idea of the guardian spirit helps accepting the thought of both parents dying before their offspring come to life. If you use the stuff I wrote about life after death in Mystara, then all creatures become some form of incorporeal entity after their death, but tortles might be more able than others to visit and interact with the living if need be. I'm not thinking about corny ghost stories, but something connected to the natural forces of their native land. (Does this connect with Mystara's elemental forces too? Why not.) BTW -- the official description of the tortles mention thats uncles and aunts look over their siblings' eggs and hatchlings since both parents eventually die out. There really isn't a critical need for anything more -- although the theme of the spiritual guardian is always a neat one. This also implies that not all tortles mate, else there would not be any uncles or aunts either. This means that, for whatever reason, a relevant segment of the tortle population does not mate (what proportion?), and therefore can reach very old age -- at least in chelonian terms -- 200+ years old for certain breeds. The latter are the ones that eventually become the elders and priests of upper levels. For tortle adventurers on the other hand, this obviously means: "Keep your shell on if you want to live long!" :) Perhaps only the ones who die as a result of their mating can retain the special ability to interact with the prime plane after their death. That's a possible motivation for tortles to mate, while helping to prevent a situation where dead PCs would interfere with their DM's on-going campaigns. :) I would conclude this by saying that everyone here seems to like the idea that tortles die after mating, which is what I wanted to know. I'll preserve that part and build around it then. Thanks for your opinions! Bruce Heard ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 10:17:14 -0500 (EST) From: Galeifel@AOL.COM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals What do you think will happen with Sinaria Verlien's domain (High Sonden if she didn't move in your campaign) now that she is trapped on the Nightmare Dimension? Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 10:13:11 -0500 (EST) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals In einer eMail vom 26.10.97 03:05:42, schreiben Sie: << I was hoping someone could send some information on some lesser known Immortals. >> Do you Wrath of the Immortals, or should I post the information from that box? Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 09:13:46 -0600 From: Galwylin Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Tortles Bruce, Where did you write this up? > If you use the stuff I wrote about life after death in Mystara, then all > creatures become some form of incorporeal entity after their death - -- Galwylin Email: galwylin@airnet.net Home Page: http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 12:40:43 -0600 From: Galwylin Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals Yes, I do. That's where most of the list came from but the details on them were to sketchy for my use. What I'm looking for is sphere and area of concern with possibly allies/foes. Galeifel@aol.com wrote: > > In einer eMail vom 26.10.97 03:05:42, schreiben Sie: > > << I was hoping someone could send some information on some lesser known > Immortals. >> > > Do you Wrath of the Immortals, or should I post the information from that > box? > > Garafaele Galeifel - -- Galwylin Email: galwylin@airnet.net Home Page: http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 97 09:02:51 EST From: 2sexyteen4u@10129.com Subject: [Mystara] Free!!! 125 sex channels when u join WE HAVE THE WIDEST SELECTION AT ROCK BOTTOM PRICES Go Here - http://151.201.64.39 STOP PAYING BY THE MINUTE!! .......FOR ONLY 5 BUCKS YOU GET 110 WILD XXX RATED LIVE CHANNELS 12 MULTIPLE GIRL CHANNELS - 2 CHANNELS OF REDHEADS AND BRUNNETTES 2 ALL BLACK CHANNEL - 1 INTERNATIONAL GIRLS FROM AROUND THE W0RLD 2 TEEN CHANNELS (18 AND 19 YR OLD BABES) - 4 CHANNELS 3 REAL SEX SHOWS-MALE/FEMALE-LESBIAN) 2 BLONDE CHANNELS 2 TEEN CHANNELS 1 TRANSVESTITE 2 LATIN CHANNELS 2 AMATURE.........AND MUCH MUCH MORE http://151.201.64.39 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 18:44:46 -0500 (EST) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Firearms in Mystara (was: Hand Crossbow stats) In a message dated 97-10-26 16:43:45 EST, Ben3181@aol.com writes: << Actually, the only world that has been ruled as able to use gun powder is the Forgotten Realms. Every other world has something officialy, or otherwise that says gun powder doesn't work. In both Kyrnn, and Greyhawk gun powder cannot be made int he first place. Ravenloft, Dark Sun, and Planescape just plain don't have them (nor the type of campaign that would use guns). >> Ravenloft does have firearms (see "Domains of Dread"), as does Gothic Earth (from "Masque of the Red Death" and the "HR" series). Mystaran firearms are limited to the magical variety found along the Savage Coast; it is unknown if or when more conventional firearms may be developed. As for other worlds -- Athas (the "Dark Sun" world) has insufficient metal for firearms to be practical. Firearms may or may not work in the Planescape setting -- it probably depends on exactly which plane you are located. It is quite likely that firearms work perfectly on some planes, are inert on others, and may even explode violently if brought onto others. Who knows? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 19:01:00 -0800 (PST) From: Matthew Levy Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals On Sat, 25 Oct 1997, Galwylin wrote: > I was hoping someone could send some information on some lesser known > Immortals. > > Arik (B3) Arik of the One Hundred Eyes is a Chaotic (Evil) demonic entity who was banished by powerful (probably immortal) magic to a small demi-plane from which he can escape only when all hundred of his "eyes" (large enchanted red rubies) are gathered together in one place and used to form a gate through which he can pass to the Prime Material Plane ... until then he can use each of his eyes to manifest minor avatars and cause havoc here and there in the Known World ... the community of Haven is located in the woods of eastern Karameikos, and it is here that adventurers find one of his eyes in B3. By the module background, I would surmise that Arik's interest in the area is very old, and is related to the Vyalia Elvish clan in some way. It is unlikely that Arik has many active worshippers on Mystara. > Brissard (IM2) > Chardastes (B1-9) > Liena (IM3) > Maat (Original Immortals Set) Maat is the Egyptian Goddess of Justice and Truth, and as such her Mystaran incarnation is probably part of the original pantheon of Nithian immortals whose worship declined when Thanatos took control of the ancient empire ... > Marwdyn (IM3) Marwdyn is a Celtic deity, related to Odin and often known as "the Hanged Man" ... he is a trickster who sacrifices himself to gain hidden knowledge, and as such could potentially be worshipped by spellcasters and others of the Dunadale/Westrourke area, or maybe in the Hinterlands or even in Klantyre. > Ssu-Ma (Original Immortals Set) All I know about Ssu-Ma is that he is an important Chinese deity ... thus Ochalea would be a good place for his Mystaran adherents. > Tiresias (IM3) > Tyche (Original Immortals Set) Tyche is the Greek goddess of luck, the basis for the medieval Lady Fortuna ... a patron of gamblers and adventurers of all sorts ... probably she would be popular among the cosmopolitan and seafaring nations of the southern KW, and by urban rogues and wanderers all over the place. > Verthandi (Original Immortals Set) > Wayland (Original Immortals Set) Wayland is the English name of Volund, the Norse equivalent of Vulcan/Hephaestus ... the Smith of the Gods. His worship in Mystara should be prevalent throughout the Northern Reaches, Heldann (among the native population), Westrourke/Dunadale, Helskir, and possibly even Norwold. He should of course also be a big favorite of Dwarves. > Yav (Dragon #170) > Yav lived as a mortal among the ancestors of the present-day people of Yavdlom (which is named after him). He was a prophet who figures prominently in the synthesis of ancient Tanagoro and Elvish cultures which the Yavi represent. more info can be had in CoM and the PWA series. > Thanks all. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Galwylin > Email: galwylin@airnet.net > Home Page: http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ > Strange! That really should have worked! - Fizban > > > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 20:45:58 -0000 From: "Leroy Van Camp III" Subject: [Mystara] [ADMIN] The SPAM has been taken care of... As I am sure everyone noticed, the list was spammed. Fear not, your (somewhat) intrepid admin has taken steps to get the offenders booted from thier ISP. Thanks you. Leroy Van Camp III malacoda@lesbois.com owner-mystara-l@io.com "You know, not kneeing you in the groin is a constant struggle." MST3K ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 23:08:02 -0500 (EST) From: Shin Chyang Yu Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals Assuming I'm thinking of the right person, Ssu-Ma is is a scholar in Han (I think) dynasty. He angered the Emperor, so was catstrated and prisoned. While in the prison, he finished The Book of History. Since then, after a new dynasty is formed, it would write the events of the last dynasty, and added to the Book of History. So in some way, he is the father of history for Chinese. All immortals listed in the old master box set are based on real world myth and legend, so you could find them in various references. I believe someone on the list have made more detailed write up on Arik and Chardastes. Could check old digests to find them. - -- John Yu, scy2g@virginia.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 05:47:43 -0500 (EST) From: Galeifel@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals Tiresias (IM3) is an immortal whose history as a mortal is shrouded in mystery. he is from the sphere of thought and his alignment is neutral. His manifestation form is a venerable human with long white hair and flowing beard. His eyes are ound by a piece of white cloth tied behind his head. In one hand he has a small harp, in the other a twisted walking staff of ironwood. He is a liar and an entertainer. All he really cares for is music, poetry, beuatiful languag and storytelling, and sympathizes with mortals who value these things. Marwydn/The Hanged Man (IM3) was in life a wizard who was hanged and resurrected, later achieving immortality. He is from the sphere of energy and his alignment is chaotic. His maifestation form is a pale, gaunt-featured man with a grim smile. He often wears trousers, shirt and topcoat of black linen and around his head dangles a hangman's noose. he is pretty strange, often talking to himself. he loves schocking and horrifying mortals and genteel immortals. Hope this helps, Garafaele Galeifel ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 11:45:11 +0100 (MET) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals On Sun, 26 Oct 1997, Shin Chyang Yu wrote: > Assuming I'm thinking of the right person, Ssu-Ma is is a scholar in > Han (I think) dynasty. He angered the Emperor, so was catstrated > and prisoned. While in the prison, he finished The Book of History. > Since then, after a new dynasty is formed, it would write the events > of the last dynasty, and added to the Book of History. So in some > way, he is the father of history for Chinese. Sounds like he could be another identity of Khoronus? > I believe someone on the list have made more detailed write up > on Arik and Chardastes. Could check old digests to find them. There has been IRC two writeups on Arik. The latter one by Mystaros. Patric did some work on Chardastes. Most of this should be available on Shawn Stanleys website. Håvard. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 13:03:53 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals At 20.36 25/10/97 -0500, Galwlyn wrote: >I was hoping someone could send some information on some lesser known >Immortals. > >Arik (B3) >Brissard (IM2) >Chardastes (B1-9) >Liena (IM3) >Maat (Original Immortals Set) >Marwdyn (IM3) >Ssu-Ma (Original Immortals Set) >Tiresias (IM3) >Tyche (Original Immortals Set) >Verthandi (Original Immortals Set) >Wayland (Original Immortals Set) >Yav (Dragon #170) Many of these are briefly described in WotI. However, i have a complete list by Shawn Stanley in my site, and this includes also Arik by Mystaros. Just follow the link and pick up the Immortals related info: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967/info.html Hope to be of some help... DM ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 13:11:04 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Tortles and mating At 14.37 25/10/97 -0400, Kaviyd wrote: > >As for why the male would die after mating -- no acidic chemical is needed, >nor is any predatory behavior on the part of the female as is the case with >real world mantises. The stings of many bees cannot be withdrawn after >they sting but must be left behind, leaving the bee mortally wounded by >its attempt to defend its hivemates -- unfortunately for male bees or drones, >the same applies to certain other body parts.... You see, the problem is that the tortles' description doesn't indicate which sex dies after the mating, so i presumed both, and in the case of stings, only males die. Also, the tortles die 1 year after the mating (and this also implies the hatching is longer...) and i don't think the removal of the sting could let a being survive for so long. My idea was that the acid numbs the tortle at the beginning, rendering him sterile and weak. At the beginning of the third month the male begins to loose pieces from its shell and its view and senses become dull: these are the symptoms of death. One year after the tortle cannot walk nor speak nor see nor hear anymore and he simply dies of "exhaustion". Also, i haven't said females tortle are mantis, only that they could be viewed like mantis by some chauvinist male tortles.. ;) DM ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 13:19:45 +0200 (EET) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] Two questions. 1.In GAZ6, the description of Bofin states that he's likely to be crowned as Bofin I. However, now he's become Everast XVI. Why? 2.Does it seem odd to you that Heldannic Knights, a fanatically religious order, should ally with Glantri, which burns clerics at the stake? ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #179 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #180 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Tuesday, October 28 1997 Volume 02 : Number 180 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 13:24:36 +0200 (EET) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles Advancement v2 - LONG On Sat, 25 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > As for Angus, his membership in the Brotherhood is highly irregular and > would be considered "illegal" if the others figured out who he was. But > But Rad knows all the members, so why hasn't he kicked Angus out? ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 13:18:02 +0100 (MET) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Two questions. On Mon, 27 Oct 1997, Aleksei Andrievski wrote: > > 1.In GAZ6, the description of Bofin states that he's likely to be crowned > as Bofin I. However, now he's become Everast XVI. Why? dunno. > 2.Does it seem odd to you that Heldannic Knights, a fanatically religious > order, should ally with Glantri, which burns clerics at the stake? to quote Winston Churchhill: "War makes strange bedfellows..." Though the knights are fanatical, their leaders might be intelligent enough to make a few deals, the breaking them.. You don't have to be honorable to dishonest people anyway... Just my thoughts.. Håvard. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 14:44:18 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] Two questions. At 13.19 27/10/97 +0200, you wrote: > >1.In GAZ6, the description of Bofin states that he's likely to be crowned >as Bofin I. However, now he's become Everast XVI. Why? Duh? He wanted not to break with traditions i suppose (every Rockhome king is named Everast) >2.Does it seem odd to you that Heldannic Knights, a fanatically religious >order, should ally with Glantri, which burns clerics at the stake? Yes, this sounded strange to me too at the beginning. But then if you look at the events that brought to the war and to the war itself, it's not that silly. First Alphatia declares war to Glantri. Then Glantri declares war to Alphatia. Then Thyatis join in, to protect Brun from the Alphatian menace, and declares war to Alphatia. Then Thyatis sides with Glantri IIRC. At this point, Heldann joins the Protectors of the Known World League against the Alphatian Menace and declares war to Alphatians. They've got two reasons for doing it: 1. Vanya is their patron and is Thyatis' patron, so she's siding against Alphatia and she needs all the military strength of her followers to crush the enemy. This doesn't really mean she supports the cause of Glantri or of Rad, but that she's ALWAYS AGAINST Alphatia (remember the old saying: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend"? That's why she's allying with Rad and Glantri) 2. von Klagendorf is the High Priest and has an old grudge against the Alphatians: this is the best time to exact his revenge AND affirm the military power of the Heldannic Knights. that's the reason mainly (IMHO) DM ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 14:51:04 +0200 (EET) From: Harri M{ki Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles v3 I wonder if anyone have thought about the history of different Glantrian principalities. I meen when principalities are founded, which are the original pricipalities and have there been any other extinct one besides Aendyrs and Malapietras principalities. In Gaz3 there was some clues not very much. t:Harri Mäki ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 14:59:28 +0100 From: DM Subject: [Mystara] Angus At 13.24 27/10/97 +0200, Aleksei wrote: >On Sat, 25 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > >> As for Angus, his membership in the Brotherhood is highly irregular and >> would be considered "illegal" if the others figured out who he was. But >> >But Rad knows all the members, so why hasn't he kicked Angus out? Well, i would guess that since he's trying to sponsor new immortals through the use of Radiance and that Angus is a promising and intelligent child, he will want to keep him in his cadre, maybe with future plans of aiding him to replace his uncle Brannart as the head of Crownguard... DM ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 09:06:14 -0500 (EST) From: Prodyn Subject: Re: [Mystara] Chat Room > Anybody every meets at the Mystara Chat room? > Bruce Heard Yes. I've been there. But I do not think that I've met any fellow Mystarans as of yet. I have met other people though. Of course I've not been to it lately, on the count that the TSR/Wizard site has gone down. What about you Mr. Heard? (or shall I call you Bruce?) Have you gone to the room? Prodyn ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 09:36:39 -0500 (EST) From: Mike Subject: Re: [Mystara] Non-Mystarian Magic > I'm wondering what's everyone's opinion of the named spells of AD&D (ex. > Tenser's Floating Disc). Do you use them as it, change the name to a > Mystarian mage or just don't allow them. I probably say not to allow them > but if a player knows of them and wants to have them in the campaign then > they must research them and then the spell will be called whatever the > researching mage decides. - -------- In the campaign that I run, I have gone with the option of not allowing spells that are named after their creator. The only reason being; the person who invented the self named spells never existed in or on Mystara. But as you have said, I give the PC's the research method if they want. Prodyn ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 15:47:01 +0100 (MET) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals On Sun, 26 Oct 1997, Matthew Levy wrote: > > Marwdyn (IM3) > > Marwdyn is a Celtic deity, related to Odin and often known as "the Hanged > Man" ... he is a trickster who sacrifices himself to gain hidden > knowledge, and as such could potentially be worshipped by spellcasters and > others of the Dunadale/Westrourke area, or maybe in the Hinterlands or > even in Klantyre. He sounds a lot like Odin. If he is to be developed further, I suggest that it is emphasised on features which makes him different from the immortal of Wisdom Håvard. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 08:31:32 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals On Mon, 27 Oct 1997 Galeifel@aol.com wrote: > Tiresias (IM3) is an immortal whose history as a mortal is shrouded in > mystery. he is from the sphere of thought and his alignment is neutral. His > manifestation form is a venerable human with long white hair and flowing > beard. His eyes are ound by a piece of white cloth tied behind his head. In > one hand he has a small harp, in the other a twisted walking staff of > ironwood. He is a liar and an entertainer. All he really cares for is music, > poetry, beuatiful languag and storytelling, and sympathizes with mortals who > value these things. Given that Tiresias, the blind prophet, is a mainstay of Greek mythology, I'd say that Tiresias, the Immortal, was probably from either the Milenian or Traladaran cultures (in order of preference) before he became Immortal. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 08:40:15 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles v3 On Mon, 27 Oct 1997, Harri M{ki wrote: > I wonder if anyone have thought about the history of different Glantrian > principalities. I meen when principalities are founded, which are the > original pricipalities and have there been any other extinct one besides > Aendyrs and Malapietras principalities. In Gaz3 there was some clues not > very much. I've thought a bit about the histories of the dominions of Glantri in general, and overall Glantri history and the history of individual dominions in particular. In my Complete Glantrian Timeline, I believe I note that most of the Principalities were initially Baronies, back in the olden days of the Flaems, and only became Principalities after the booting out of Halzunthram. A lot of that is straightforward from the products given; some is from the series of novels (Dragonlord, Dragonking, Dragonmage of Mystara) which, although not particularly interesting, are the most well wrtten and historically accurate novels set in Mystara that I've read, and have some interesting tidbits about pre-Principalities Glantri. As a side note, CM8: the Endless Stair, is set in Glantri, and makes note of a few nobles that are not mentioned in any other product, a Baron and some others (ostensibly due to the fact that CM8 isn't considered, I guess, entirely canonical, like most modules). I tend to use them in my own timelines of the area, if only for added flavor. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 18:02:50 +0100 (MET) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Re: Tortles On Sun, 26 Oct 1997 Ambreville@aol.com wrote: > That's a neat idea. It goes in the same general direction as what I'm > thinking of doing with the tortles -- sort of an uber-wise race. They're slow > and they're (generally) peaceful earth-loving folks. Probably more than many > other races, they could maintain a spiritual bond with the living and their > native land (sounds like this could lead to a Chinese-style cult of the > ancestors). In our hot-blooded, mammal minds, the idea of the guardian spirit > helps accepting the thought of both parents dying before their offspring come > to life. > If you use the stuff I wrote about life after death in Mystara, then all > creatures become some form of incorporeal entity after their death, but > tortles might be more able than others to visit and interact with the living > if need be. I'm not thinking about corny ghost stories, but something > connected to the natural forces of their native land. (Does this connect with > Mystara's elemental forces too? Why not.) Maybe this could be something like Ancestor worship. The Tortle Guardians are honored through religious ceremonies allowing them to leave Limbo and enter the Spirit World. There are no official Mystara products describing Ancestor Worship, but IRC it is described in the Shamans Handbook. I think it fits nicely with both Ethengar and the Northern Reaches. The RuneQuest Game has more information on this practice. I had a discussion with Glenn Butcher Knight on spirist a few weeks back, maybe he will comment on this? The Savage Coast Monsterous Manual mentions some other critters (Ktaala?) who protect the Tortle. Where would they fit in? Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 11:31:14 -0600 From: Galwylin Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals I'd like to say thanks to everyone who has provided information and look forward to more. I love reading about the mythology behind these. What I've been trying to do is to find why each Immortal would be worshipped. There have been refences about such-n-such Immortals being patron of whatever in the materials I have. I find that some have the same interest so I'm looking for a trait or characterist that individualizes the Immortal without it depending on what country the worshipper is from. I think if you go that route, you'd end up with conflict as one travels from country to country. The Known World is advanced enough (especially with Thyatis' help) that the Immortals wouldn't be limited to one country. This in turn would mean as some Immortals are seen as the patron of war (for example) others would lose worshippers who also patron war. Is'nt there a passage in WotI that if Immortals are no longer worship they sort of fade away? - -- Galwylin Email: galwylin@airnet.net Home Page: http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 21:44:53 +0100 (MET) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals On Mon, 27 Oct 1997, Galwylin wrote: > I'd like to say thanks to everyone who has provided information and look > forward to more. I love reading about the mythology behind these. > > What I've been trying to do is to find why each Immortal would be > worshipped. There have been refences about such-n-such Immortals being > patron of whatever in the materials I have. I find that some have the > Is'nt there a passage in WotI that if Immortals are no longer worship > they sort of fade away? I have always believed that Immortals gain power from their worshippers. Possibly the number of worshippers are limits the power of the worshippers. It is stated as you mention, that when an immortals has no followers he starts fading. Its from the WotI, though I can't remember the page. I suggested last year IRC that only followers in the Prime Plane counts. Maybe We should include all the inner planes. (After all, the Elemasters dont fade) This is because the Prime is in a complete balance of the Spheres of Power. The reason for using this theory is that it makes Prime more important. Other reasons for wanting worship political power. The followers build a powerful organization, which can easily influence events on Prime. Also, the more followers the greater choice on whom to elevate to clerical or Paladin Status. oh. its late, see ya folks Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 22:28:40 +0100 From: Fabrizio Paoli Subject: Re: [Mystara] Two questions. At 13.19 27/10/97 +0200, you wrote: > >1.In GAZ6, the description of Bofin states that he's likely to be crowned >as Bofin I. However, now he's become Everast XVI. Why? Perhaps he changed his mind :) > >2.Does it seem odd to you that Heldannic Knights, a fanatically religious >order, should ally with Glantri, which burns clerics at the stake? Yes and no. DM gave good reasons about that. My opinion is that the ally with Glantri just because they're "fanatically religious", so they follow their patron's advice (Vanya) even if this means to ally with an apparently godless country. Bye. - -------------- Fabrizio Paoli brizio@lunet.it Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/4560 - -------------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 17:50:28 -0800 (PST) From: Matthew Levy Subject: Syncretism in Mystara (Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals) Something Haavard said (about it being important to distinguish immortals from each other so they don't overlap) made me think ... in the real world, the pantheons of neighboring cultures often are very similar in the sense that the characteristics of several individuals deities will correspond quite closely between the two pantheons (they have the same "division of labor" between the gods, you might say) ... if we were to make Mystara like the real world in this respect, why shouldn't we have the same immortal go by different names in neighboring countries, with the followers in each country never aware that they share the same deity with their neighbors or perhaps even enemies? this is already apparently the case with several deities like Loki/Bozdogan, etc. ... perhaps the immortal could even differ in certain aspects in the different areas where they are worshipped (because they choose to reveal different aspects or avatars in these different countries, for instance). Even better, if it is true that immortals get their power from being worshipped, then perhaps the aspect in which they are worshipped can even slowly modify personality! perhaps it was the corruption of nithia which led to the corruption of its immortals, rather than the other way round ... etc. ... just some thoughts. m@2 "You're not really in love with yourself - you're just in love with the idea of being in love with yourself" - said to me by one of the two little fellas who hang out on either of my shoulders ... I can't remember which ... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 21:09:00 -0600 From: Galwylin Subject: Re: Syncretism in Mystara (Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals) What made me think of the Immortals shifting to one (or more) main area of focus is because the Known World is developing many alliances and the sharing of culture. If you take the real world example of Rome (with I think Thyatis is modeled on), individual gods were incorporated into Roman beliefs. With the many conquests of Thyatis, those Immortals have been incorporated into Thyatian belief then spread out amoung the conquered territories. As Thyatian trade increased with other countries, culture was also exchanged. Halav had been incorporated from Traladara, probably given a Thyatian slant and then carried back into Traladara (Karameikos). His original aspect is maintained but now is probably seen more as an Immortal of warfare in general than opposing humanoids. In this regard, Halav hasn't changed but his worship is made more general. The effect would accomadate more worshippers with this generalized aspect. Another patron of warfare would see his/her worship decrease as Halav's increased. This could possibly lead to conflict between the individual churches. Any thoughts anyone? Matthew Levy wrote: > > Something Haavard said (about it being important to distinguish immortals > from each other so they don't overlap) made me think ... in the real > world, the pantheons of neighboring cultures often are very similar in the > sense that the characteristics of several individuals deities will > correspond quite closely between the two pantheons (they have the same > "division of labor" between the gods, you might say) ... if we were to > make Mystara like the real world in this respect, why shouldn't we have > the same immortal go by different names in neighboring countries, with the > followers in each country never aware that they share the same deity with > their neighbors or perhaps even enemies? this is already apparently the > case with several deities like Loki/Bozdogan, etc. ... perhaps the > immortal could even differ in certain aspects in the different areas where > they are worshipped (because they choose to reveal different aspects or > avatars in these different countries, for instance). Even better, if it > is true that immortals get their power from being worshipped, then perhaps > the aspect in which they are worshipped can even slowly modify > personality! perhaps it was the corruption of nithia which led to the > corruption of its immortals, rather than the other way round ... etc. ... > > just some thoughts. > > m@2 > > "You're not really in love with yourself - you're just in love with the > idea of being in love with yourself" > > - said to me by one of the two little fellas who hang out on > either of my shoulders ... I can't remember which ... - -- Galwylin Email: galwylin@airnet.net Home Page: http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 20:46:05 PST From: "Mauricio Pena" Subject: [Mystara] Psionics in Mystara? I began a campaign in Mystara, and one of my players wanted to be psionic, I agreed but, is my player the only psionic in Mystara? I don't think so but Somebody can tell me who is psionic too. And, if somebody knows where can i find information about the Hollow World and its nations, plese tell me. Thanks a lot Vassago ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 20:44:46 PST From: "Mauricio Pena" Subject: [Mystara] Psionics in Mystara? I'm began a campaign in Mystara, and one of my players wanted to be psionic, I agreed but, is my player the only psionic in Mystara? I don't think so but Somebody can tell me who is psionic too. And, if somebody knows where can i find information about the Hollow World and its nations, plese tell me. Thanks a lot Vassago ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 03:16:33 -0200 (EDT) From: Andre Martins Subject: Re: [Mystara] Psionics in Mystara? On Mon, 27 Oct 1997, Mauricio Pena wrote: > I'm began a campaign in Mystara, and one of my players wanted to be > psionic, I agreed but, is my player the only psionic in Mystara? I don't > think so but Somebody can tell me who is psionic too. > > And, if somebody knows where can i find information about the Hollow > World and its nations, plese tell me. Most people in this list will tell you there is no psionics in Mystara. The Savage Coast acessories mention them, but I don't remember one single psionicist there and I am sure there aren't any described in any other mystaran module. If you allow it in your campaign, you will have to create it. You can find info about the Hollow World in the Hollow World boxed set or in any of the Poor Wizard Almanacs (PWA). Andre Martins ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 12:46:44 +0200 (EET) From: Harri M{ki Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles v3 On Mon, 27 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > I've thought a bit about the histories of the dominions of Glantri in > general, and overall Glantri history and the history of individual > dominions in particular. > > In my Complete Glantrian Timeline, I believe I note that most of the > Principalities were initially Baronies, back in the olden days of the > Flaems, and only became Principalities after the booting out of Halzunthram. > A lot of that is straightforward from the products given; some is from > the series of novels (Dragonlord, Dragonking, Dragonmage of Mystara) > which, although not particularly interesting, are the most well wrtten > and historically accurate novels set in Mystara that I've read, and have > some interesting tidbits about pre-Principalities Glantri. > > As a side note, CM8: the Endless Stair, is set in Glantri, and makes note > of a few nobles that are not mentioned in any other product, a Baron and > some others (ostensibly due to the fact that CM8 isn't considered, I > guess, entirely canonical, like most modules). I tend to use them in my > own timelines of the area, if only for added flavor. > > ------------------------ > Cthuludrew, the Great Old One > (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) > "Actions have consequences." > URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill > > I'm interested in individual dominions, f.e. was New Averoigne among the original pricipalities and what about Klantyre or Boldavia. When Etienne became prince. Who was prince before him if he wasn't prince from the beginning and so on. An other question that has occurred to me. What is the origin of Immortal Masauwu. In WotI is said that he was from Minrothad Islands, on the other hand he is said to sponsored Bagni to Immortality. IIRC Bagni gain Immortality sometimes near 300 BC. Was there anybody else islands before that besides Meditor and Verdier elves. Or was Masauwu from ancient Taymora people? Any ideas? Harri Mäki ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 05:48:57 -0600 From: Galwylin Subject: Re: [Mystara] Psionics in Mystara? My first reaction is to say there are no psionics on Mystara but I suppose it is possible. Since Mystara has never seen psionics, I'd keep that character as the only one. I've never played a psionic but do they need the same support as wizards have to learn new spells? If not, I'd make the character unique. Mauricio Pena wrote: > > I'm began a campaign in Mystara, and one of my players wanted to be > psionic, I agreed but, is my player the only psionic in Mystara? I don't > think so but Somebody can tell me who is psionic too. > > And, if somebody knows where can i find information about the Hollow > World and its nations, plese tell me. > > Thanks a lot > Vassago > > ______________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com - -- Galwylin Email: galwylin@airnet.net Home Page: http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 13:55:09 +0200 (EET) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles v3 On Tue, 28 Oct 1997, Harri M{ki wrote: > I'm interested in individual dominions, f.e. was New Averoigne among the > original pricipalities and what about Klantyre or Boldavia. When Etienne > became prince. Who was prince before him if he wasn't prince from the > beginning and so on. > There is a nice history of the d'Ambrevilles and New Averoigne in Mark of Amber adventure (great stuff IMO). Yes, Etienne was the first prince, because his father was killed back on Laterre and his older brother Richard couldn't be ruler in Glantri as he's a fighter. ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 06:37:23 -0600 From: Galwylin Subject: [Mystara] Netlogo Contest Greetings all ;> Just a reminder that the contest for the Mystara netlogo is open. So far, only two entries. Deadline is November 30th with voting starting Dec. 1st. The page is located at http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/mystara/netlogo.htm Any comments on length of contest appreciated as I'm not sure this is long enough. - -- Galwylin Email: galwylin@airnet.net Home Page: http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 08:16:33 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Psionics in Mystara? On Mon, 27 Oct 1997, Mauricio Pena wrote: > I began a campaign in Mystara, and one of my players wanted to be > psionic, I agreed but, is my player the only psionic in Mystara? I don't > think so but Somebody can tell me who is psionic too. There aren't really any psionics on Mystara, though I understand that Red Steel gives some psionic-type abilities to characters... there are also some creatures that could be seen to be psionic, such as the Kopru, and the Hypnos Magen is telepathic. > And, if somebody knows where can i find information about the Hollow > World and its nations, plese tell me. The Hollow World boxed set, natch. :) The PWAs also give a good general overview of many of the Hollow World nations. And then there's Shahjahpur, in HWA3: NightStorm. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 08:56:49 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: [Mystara] Elf stuff A couple of things (I was just looking through the two elf gazetteers last night) 1) In GAZ5, the Good Magic Point of Algorn's Last Stand is repeatedly described as housing a Tree of Life (presumably made from the body of Algorn the elf; possibly housing his consciousness?) What happened to him during the WotI, and is it possible that other Trees of Life have been made from it's branches? 2) GAZ13- Porphyriel is described as being a 21st level elf-wizard, and 21st level Shaman. 20th level is the highest an elf can progress as a wizard; what gives? And how can she be 21st level as a shaman, if her level as a shaman cannot exceed her elven level (the designers probably meant this stipulation to go away once maximum level was reached, but...) 3) GAZ13- Since Shamans continue to progress as both elf class and shaman class, why couldn't they (conceivably) continue to progess as either an elf-lord or an elf-mage? The rules about them not gaining fighter abilities (combat options and extra attacks) seem to imply that they cannot continue to progress as elf-lords (at least not very effectively). 4) GAZ13- What do the notations on the elf progression table for a) equal to fighter level 22-24 and b) equal to fighter level 25-27 mean? Elves are not the equivalent of those fighter levels for a lot longer than indicated on the table, at least not combat wise, nor do they get the fighter options at those levels? Typo? 4) GAZ13- Does anyone else dislike the shaman rules? I think that a triple classed character (which, essentially, they are- fighter/mage/cleric) is a bit too overbalanced... maybe it's just me. Myself, I'd prefer to have them progress as either normal elves from 1st level (choosing either elf-lord or elf-mage at 600,000 xp), or else progressing as an elf-shaman from level one. The shaman would attack as a cleric, have no fighter options, and would get only the 1/2 damage vs. Dragon Breath at the appropriate experience, but would benefit from all the powerful shamanic spells (the spell lists would need to be expanded somewhat, though). They could also progress all the way to 36th level, unlike normal elves (necessary, apparently, to use the Transcend Immortality spell... though I might alter that). Thoughts? - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 09:28:16 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: Syncretism in Mystara (Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals) On Mon, 27 Oct 1997, Galwylin wrote: > In this regard, Halav hasn't changed but his worship is made more > general. The effect would accomadate more worshippers with this > generalized aspect. Another patron of warfare would see his/her worship > decrease as Halav's increased. This could possibly lead to conflict > between the individual churches. > > Any thoughts anyone? I agree wholeheartedly. This is exactly what my point was in an earlier post (though probably stated more eloquently here). :) - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 09:26:41 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: Syncretism in Mystara (Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals) On Mon, 27 Oct 1997, Matthew Levy wrote: > Something Haavard said (about it being important to distinguish immortals > from each other so they don't overlap) made me think ... in the real > world, the pantheons of neighboring cultures often are very similar in the > sense that the characteristics of several individuals deities will > correspond quite closely between the two pantheons (they have the same > "division of labor" between the gods, you might say) ... if we were to > make Mystara like the real world in this respect, why shouldn't we have > the same immortal go by different names in neighboring countries, with the > followers in each country never aware that they share the same deity with > their neighbors or perhaps even enemies? Or why not take a different approach? Wrath of the Immortals attempts (IMO) to make the differences of various Immortals apparent, trying to ensure that their portfolios don't overlap. But as Matthew points out, this isn't the case in the Real World. Why not make the most of this? Have the overlap between various Immortals' portfolios? Sure, the Twelve Watchers are the Immortal patrons of crafts/arts in Darokin, but try telling that to those darned Northmen, who daily espouse the virtues of Wayland, or the hardheaded dwarves, who pay homage to Kagyar. We already see that Vanya, oft acclaimed as *the* patroness of war, is sometimes at odds with Valerias, who, though primarily the goddess of love, is sometimes known as the Girder on of Weapons. I would think that, as an Immortal gains in power, his/her/its portfolio would likely expand as well, many times moving over into the areas normally associated with other Immortals (in order to reach a wider base of followers; sort of like diversifying an economy). This, naturally, would lead to conflict between Immortal and worshipper alike. But not always, though- it could just as easily lend to collaboration between Immortals whose portfolios are complementary (or even in some cases exactly the same). For instance, as Forsetta's influence expands beyond the Northern Reaches, who might be a likely ally for the patron of Law and Order? Well, if you said Tarastia, patroness of Justice, you might not be far wrong. And I'd be mighty surprised if Alphaks and Orcus, both patrons of Mass Destruction, weren't old drinking buddies. I'm sure they've been tossed out of bars in Pandius many a time. At any rate, I'm rather keen on the idea of Immortal's portfolios crossing over and duplicating one another. If nothing else, it helps keep Mystarans on their toes. :) - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 10:10:25 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Glantrian Nobles v3 On Tue, 28 Oct 1997, Harri M{ki wrote: > I'm interested in individual dominions, f.e. was New Averoigne among the > original pricipalities and what about Klantyre or Boldavia. When Etienne > became prince. Who was prince before him if he wasn't prince from the > beginning and so on. According to Mark of Amber, Etienne was the first Prince of New Averoigne. Interestingly, though, in his very first appearance (X2: Castle Amber), he is noted as being the *seventh* Prince of his house. In light of MoA, I take this to mean that he was probably the seventh leader of the House of Amber (including his ancestors on LaTerre), but first Prince of New Averoigne. As for dominions... In the beginning, there were (IIRC) 7 Flaemish Duchies, under the jurisdiction of an Archduke in Braejr and his council of Mages. Their alliance was loose, though, and they rarely came together under common action (from the Dragonlord of Mystara). Later, c. 490 AC or so, the Archduke declared himself King and united the lands under Flaemish rule. There were also definite elvish dominions at the time, but not under direct rule of the Flaems. Before Halzunthram's arrival, many peoples were migrating to Glantri- Thyatians (many of whom, I feel, were displaced/expatriate Hattians), Traladarans, Ethengarians, and others. This led to conflicts, in which the land was divided up between them- the Thyatians got a Duchy; the Ethengarians got one; the elves; the Traladarans; and the Flaems. (IIRC- though it is never explicitly mentioned what sort of dominions are created for them). The arrival of Halzunthram skewed all this, and eventually led to the creation of the Uber-dominions- the Principalities. Of these, I'd argue that Boldavia, Krondahar, Belcadiz, Aalban, Blackhill, Caurenze and whatever the name of the Flaemish principality is. Blackhill was founded by Alphatians left in the wake of Halzunthram's departure, likely by "good" Alphatians (those in opposition of Halzunthram, who came to Glantri for legitimate reasons). The Hattians split off from the Thyatian main body at this time- when new dominions were being settled in the wake of Halzunthram and they ended up in the only location left (present day Aalban) where they bumped into the Alphatian refugees (the ones who backed Halzunthram). Both being expatriates of their people, they reluctantly agreed to ally themselves, and formed the Principality of Aalban (a union that would have wide reaching consequences- Hattian military might combined with Alphatian mastery of magic; a powerful combination; a true "super-race"). *Note- this isn't entirely canonical, but it seems logical to me.* The lands that would become New Averoigne were already well established in the central areas of Glantri, but didn't become enfoeffed under Etienne until sometime later. Presumably the same would go for the Klantyrian lands, which were likely being established around the same time, though the canon isn't entirely clear (IIRC). I'd say that both Klantyre and New Averoigne were established sometime before 800 AC, though, likely shortly after the Light of Rad decision in 758. Erewan split from Belcadiz in the early 800s (I forget exactly when), and we all know about the later Principalities. I've done some workups on a couple of individual "lesser" dominions, too, if anyone's interested in seeing them. > An other question that has occurred to me. What is the origin of Immortal > Masauwu. In WotI is said that he was from Minrothad Islands, on the other > hand he is said to sponsored Bagni to Immortality. IIRC Bagni gain > Immortality sometimes near 300 BC. Was there anybody else islands before > that besides Meditor and Verdier elves. Or was Masauwu from ancient > Taymora people? Any ideas? I noticed that myself. I'd have to say that Masauwu was probably from the islands that would become Minrothad, in the early days of Nithian colonization, but wasn't actually a Minrothaddan. It depends on what you prefer. The newest information is usually considered canon over old (TSR policy), but as *both* entries are from Wrath of the Immortals, the theory I'd use is- a) Masauwu is listed as Bagni's patron, b) in older products, Bagni attains Immortality c. 300BC. Whereas, only in one place (WotI) is it mentioned where Masauwu is from. Combining old plus new, I'd say that Masauwu was Bagni's sponsor, and was Immortal by 300 BC, and disregard the Minrothad bit. - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #180 ***************************** From: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com (mystara-digest) To: mystara-digest@lists.io.com Subject: mystara-digest V2 #181 Reply-To: mystara-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-mystara-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk mystara-digest Wednesday, October 29 1997 Volume 02 : Number 181 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 14:54:16 -0500 (EST) From: Prodyn Subject: Re: [Mystara] Psionics in Mystara? > I'm began a campaign in Mystara, and one of my players wanted to be > psionic, I agreed but, is my player the only psionic in Mystara? - ------------ As far as I am aware, Mystara is a psionic free campaign. This is not to say that people can not incorporate psionics into their world, only that no information has been given to show that psionic abilities exist on Mystara. I personally do not allow psionics in my campaign, much to the dismay of the PC's which use those mental abilities in other campaign worlds. > And, if somebody knows where can i find information about the Hollow > World and its nations, please tell me. - ------------- You can find the Hollow World information you need from the boxed set titled: Hollow World campaign setting. Prodyn ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 21:24:31 +0100 (MET) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: [Mystara] The Dreaming v1.0(longish) The Dreaming World The Dreaming World is the place where souls venture when the bodies of mortals sleep. It can also be visited by physically travelling there through the use of gate spells or similar means. The Dreaming is Primariliy divided into two areas: The Slumbering lands and the Nightmare lands. Dreamers are people who's bodies are sleeping. They exist only in their own landscape called a dreamscape, primarily constructed by their own subconciousness. A dreamer cannot normally leave his own dreamscape. Dreamcreatures, the creations and servants of the Dreamlord can enter other people's dreamscapes at will. Dreamers in the Slumbering lands perceive their dremscape as a friendly and happy place, depending on their personality ofcourse. Memories of their journey will be that of a good dream. However, during sleep a dreamer can suddenly be transported into the Nightmare lands. This transportation is not detedtable by the dreamer, but the nature of his dreamscape is changed into a twisted and apparently evil place. Heartlands. These are places that exist outside the dreamscape. They are sometimes referred to as True Places. Visitors entering the Dreaming World Physically enter one of these places. Dreamers dont normally enter the heartlands, but it happens from time to time. Certain Wizards and other strongwilled people have learned to leave their dreamscapes at will. The Dreamlord is a being shrouded with mystery. It is believed that he is a concience formed by the collective minds of sleeping people. Others suspect that he is the Dreaming itself, an intelligent Plane if there is such a thing. In any case he is powerful enough to be ranked among the immortals. In fact he is a very powerful immortal, but he has very litle to do with the immortal community. To communicate with others, the dreamlord uses avatars. His prime avatar is called Oneiros. Although it is unclear whether that is the name of the avatar or the Dreamlord himself. He uses the form of Oneiros to appear on the prime plane as well, to hunt dreams who've escaped or fix problems with dreamers. It is Oneiros who manages the dreaming on a daily basis with the help of dreamcreatures. There are rumours that there are other avatars of the Dreamlord as well who are living in the Nightmare Lands. (See more on this in the Ravenloft Accessory; The Nightmare lands.) The Wallaran Dreamworld is a special case of Heartland. This place exists both in the Dreaming World and in the Spirit World. There are many other links between these worlds. For more information on the inhabitants of this area, see the Savage Coast Monsterous Compendium. (Available from TSR's Red Steel Website.) Inhabitants: Dreamcreatures, Malfera, Dreamspirits, Dreamshades, Dreamers. The Nightmare Dimension: Some Nightmare Dreamcreatures have found a gate into the the Nightmare Dimension where they have gained true existance, beyond harm from Oneiros. The Malfera is one example of such creature. Marco Dalmonte on creation of Nightmares: How Nightmares Were Created Oneiros once was the Ruler of the Heartlands and of the Slumbering Lands, while the Nightmare Lands didn't exist. But one fateful day the worst thing happened to him: he fell asleep and dreamt. And in his dreaming he generated a nightmare. When he awoke, he discovered he had created the Nightmare Lands and that he had also created Nightmares that polluted the dreams of every sleeping creature. He tried to gain control of this land and to destroy it, but he found out he could not, for the lord of the NL was his dream-self that had come to life: the Nightmare Man. He then started fighting a battle he could not won, a battle against himself. The Dreamwar raged for many centuries (millennia?) and finally came to an end when the Nightmare Lands vanished from the Dreaming... almost. They became surrounded by a strange opaque mist, and from then on, nothing ever came out of that land.. but many were drawn into. The Nightmare Man had been noticed by the Dark Powers and trapped halfway between Ravenloft and the Dreaming, still able to influence the sleeping creatures but unable to enter again the Dreaming. Only the dream-selves of the sleepers can strangely come back and forth from the two lands, but given the fact that none of the Nightmare Court memebers can dream and that Oneiros doesn't want to risk another rift of his realm, they cannot interact anymore. Marco Dalmonte on the location of the Dreaming: Just to clarify things a bit, here's what it's written in the Nightmare Lands set about the NL location (from Book 2: The Rules of Dreams and Nightmares, pages 5-6-7-8): NOTE: the following text is copyright material of TSR Inc. The use made here is only referential and not lucrous in any way, so please TSR guys don't sue me, ok? "Surrounding the Prime Material Plane are the mists of the Ethereal Plane. The Ethereal Plane consists of 3 distinct parts: the Border Ethereal, the Wall of Color and the Deep Ethereal. The Border Ethereal touches the Prime, but it's really a place of both dimensions. When someone is in the Border, he's here and there at the same time. [like Ghosts, for example -My Note] The Deep Ethereal is like a vast ocean, with islands of Matter called demiplanes floating in its endless mists. [this is where the Nightmare Lands are located. The concept of Deep Ethereal is absent in D&D Multiverse -My Note] Between the Border and the Deep, a shimmering wall of color stretches to separate one part from the other. It's a two dimensional boundary, having width and lentgh but no discernible depth. [this is the Wall of Color, also called the Dream Plane -My Note] The Dream Plane exists in the extradimensional, infinitesimal width of the Wall of Color. It is not a solid, travel-inhibiting barrier, but a translucent expanse of bright patterns of harmless energy. When a person dreams, a portion of his inner being interacts with this plane. This dream-self mantains a connection with the physical body but also passes into the dream plane in order to participate i normal dream scenes. The exterior of the Wall of Color, the true boundary between the waking world and the dream plane, is known as the Veil of Sleep. In common dreams, only a dream-self can cross it and enter the extradimensional space of the dream plane. (Planar travelers simply pass through the Wall of Color and enter the Deep Ethereal. They cannot get to the extradimensional space that exists between one side of the wall and the other.) [inside the dream plane, each dreamer has his own dream to experience, even though it can happen that two dreamers share the same dream, a rare occurrence -My Note] Ethereal travelers wandering near the Wall of Color can't see the multitude of dreams playing out within its shimmering surface. For one thing, those who are awake cannot cross or see through the Veil of Sleep. Individual dreamers provide the energy that keeps dreamscapes coherent. Once a dream ends and the dream-self returns to the waking world, the dreascape he occupied dissipates back into the mists. All of this usually occurs without any conscious knowledge or action on the part of the dreamer. While each sphere [dreamscapes occurs inside spheres -My Note] has a certain size when viewed from outside, the inside of a dreamscape is as large or as small as it needs to be to contain the dream scene. Time also flows differently within a dreamscape. Hours, months or years may pass over the course of a dream, but the dreamer only dreams for seconds or minutes." So that's it. The Dreaming should lie within this extradimensional Veil of Sleep inside the Ethereal Plane: a fascinating hypothesis that could hold also in the D&D Multiverse IMHO (just make the Veil of Sleep/Wall of Color lie between the Ethereal and the Astral et voilà!) Questions: Marco Dalmonte writes: <> In this scenario, how would you use a Potion of Dreams then? Which could be its potential for let's say Dream Mages? A: The potion you refer to is probably Potion of Dreamspeech which allows free communication with dreamers. If a dream mage uses such a potion, I'd say he could get meaningful answers from the dreamer, but, would not be able to lead a meaningful conversation. DM: You said however that Oneiros has the ability to "generate" dreams: does this mean that he can "plant" them into people's mind, or better that he can use the dreamselves of people as "actors" in his dreams? Or does he need somebody able to dream in order to influence his dreams (as i think the NC does)? A: The person myst be dreamingo be affected by the dreamlord. Ofcours, Oneiros can appear on the Prime and cast a sleep spell on the person. Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 22:12:40 +0100 (MET) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Psionics in Mystara? Another Psionics debate? Im in! On Tue, 28 Oct 1997, Prodyn wrote: > > I'm began a campaign in Mystara, and one of my players wanted to be > > psionic, I agreed but, is my player the only psionic in Mystara? > ------------ > As far as I am aware, Mystara is a psionic free campaign. This is not > to say that people can not incorporate psionics into their world, > only that no information has been given to show that psionic > abilities exist on Mystara. Yep. Mystara was created for the D&D game. There are no rules for psionics in that book. Ways of including psionics is up to you: Some options: 1) Your PC is the only psionic is the world. Or at least psionics are too rare to make any impact on any society. 2) Replace Mystics from D&D with Psionicist warrior monks. This is they way I did it. Mystics can be found on the Isle of Dawn and in Glantri. There may be some of them in Alphatia. (There was a debate on whether Alphatians would allow psionicists to be counted among the nobility, but we couldn't come to any agreement. Its a DMs call) Also there could be Psionics on the Savage Coast. There are rules for including them, but there are no Psionicist NPCs AFAIK. The Tortles would certainly have some Psionicists. I hate the idea of Savage Psionicists though. It should take a certain level of culture to develope such arts. I suggested that Psionics was similar to magic, only that magic draws upon Energy while Psionicd draw upon Thought. > > I personally do not allow psionics in my campaign, much to the dismay > of the PC's which use those mental abilities in other campaign > worlds. The rules aren't too good IMO. enough for now... Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 22:34:52 +0100 (MET) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Netlogo Contest On Tue, 28 Oct 1997, Galwylin wrote: > Greetings all ;> > > Just a reminder that the contest for the Mystara netlogo is open. So > far, only two entries. Deadline is November 30th with voting starting > Dec. 1st. The page is located at > http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/mystara/netlogo.htm > > Any comments on length of contest appreciated as I'm not sure this is > long enough. We should have more than two logos before we vote, shouldn't we? Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 22:46:05 +0100 (MET) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Princess Ark question On Sat, 25 Oct 1997 Kaviyd@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 97-10-25 21:17:14 EDT, Ambreville@aol.com writes: > > << PS -- I heard no opinions on the issue of the tortles' early deaths after > mating. Anybody cares at all one way or the other? >> > > I like the idea if only because it makes them different from humans and > demi-humans -- although my proposed rationale for the death of male > Tortles should cause you, me, and all other male subscribers to this > list to at least wince in pain.... I was wondering how fast the Tortles mature.. Dying after you mate, does have an impact on roleplaying, but not neccesary a bad one. The Pendragon RPG assumes that you will play your characters' son when your character dies. The Campaign can go on forewer, linked through the generations..It could be an option for an all tortle campaign. Otherwise, if you've had a Pc for a long while, mating can be a nice way to pass away.. Not all PC's have to die in combat... I can wince in pain though..just a litle.. ;) Håvard Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 22:31:32 +0100 (MET) From: Haavard Roenne Faanes Subject: Re: [Mystara] Elf stuff On Tue, 28 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > A couple of things (I was just looking through the two elf gazetteers > last night) > > 1) In GAZ5, the Good Magic Point of Algorn's Last Stand is repeatedly > described as housing a Tree of Life (presumably made from the body of > Algorn the elf; possibly housing his consciousness?) What happened to him > during the WotI, and is it possible that other Trees of Life have been > made from it's branches? I'll have to check this...sounds interesting.. > > 2) GAZ13- Porphyriel is described as being a 21st level elf-wizard, and > 21st level Shaman. 20th level is the highest an elf can progress as a > wizard; what gives? And how can she be 21st level as a shaman, if her > level as a shaman cannot exceed her elven level (the designers probably > meant this stipulation to go away once maximum level was reached, but...) kill her! maim destroy! > 3) GAZ13- Since Shamans continue to progress as both elf class and shaman > class, why couldn't they (conceivably) continue to progess as either an > elf-lord or an elf-mage? The rules about them not gaining fighter > abilities (combat options and extra attacks) seem to imply that they > cannot continue to progress as elf-lords (at least not very effectively). Seems to make sense, se below.. > > 4) GAZ13- What do the notations on the elf progression table for a) equal > to fighter level 22-24 and b) equal to fighter level 25-27 mean? Elves > are not the equivalent of those fighter levels for a lot longer than > indicated on the table, at least not combat wise, nor do they get the > fighter options at those levels? Typo? *shrug* > > 4) GAZ13- Does anyone else dislike the shaman rules? I think that a > triple classed character (which, essentially, they are- > fighter/mage/cleric) is a bit too overbalanced... maybe it's just me. > Myself, I'd prefer to have them progress as either normal elves from 1st > level (choosing either elf-lord or elf-mage at 600,000 xp), or else > progressing as an elf-shaman from level one. The shaman would attack as a > cleric, have no fighter options, and would get only the 1/2 damage vs. > Dragon Breath at the appropriate experience, but would benefit from all > the powerful shamanic spells (the spell lists would need to be expanded > somewhat, though). They could also progress all the way to 36th level, > unlike normal elves (necessary, apparently, to use the Transcend > Immortality spell... though I might alter that). > > Thoughts? I dont like those shamans at all. I think they should be treated as regular elves. If they want to be shamans thy must drop their elf spells and replace them with shaman spells. Note: I allow all characters to rise to level 36 as per the rules cyclopedia optional rules with one modification. Elves and Dwarves can never gain spell-abilities beyond level 20. Sorry about this being so brief, I might cough up some more later.. Håvard. PS: any progress with the blackmoor stuff you were gonna put on your home page? - -- Haavard R. Faanes | "Twas brillig and the slithy toves Email: hoc@nvg.ntnu.no | Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: or hoc@nuts.edu | All mimsy were the borogoves, http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/~hoc | And the mome raths outgrabe."-Lewis Caroll ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 16:21:12 -0700 (MST) From: "Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Elf stuff On Tue, 28 Oct 1997, Haavard Roenne Faanes wrote: > PS: any progress with the blackmoor stuff you were gonna put on your home > page? I've got it all on my word processor at home (I didn't have a computer at the time I did it originally), and the disks for that can't be read by my computer, so I'm going to have to type it all back up on my homepage. I just haven't gotten to it yet. :( - ------------------------ Cthuludrew, the Great Old One (aka Andrew Theisen, mild mannered college student) "Actions have consequences." URL- http://www.public.asu.edu/~jsmill ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 18:51:49 -0500 (EST) From: LordVaken@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Psionics in Mystara? Only one psinocist in the whole of Mystara is a pretty powerful character, especially at higher levels. If you're going to have one, you'd better allow others for the sake of balance, or at least either handicap the ONE psionicist or give NPCs psionic inherent psionic defenses. After all, that would rationalize the fact that psionics have never been integrated into Mystara, the same way Dwarves just DON'T like magic. And while we're on that subject, why wouldn't psionics exist, when they are simply powers of the mind? Maybe they'd have be gained genetically, developed from latent abilities, or maybe even granted (though I don't really like this idea, as no Immortal should be able to control a mortal's mind at will), but once there, I suspect they'd be permanent, AND inheritable. Just my thoughts. Lord Valen ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 18:52:46 -0600 From: anowack@juno.com (Aaron E Nowack) Subject: [Mystara] Undersea Timeline contest Enter Today!!! The Challange: Dig up some undetailed setinent sea race from some module or Gazzeter OR Make up your own!! NOTE: If the monster is from a module, the module must be a Mystara or OD&D module. To Enter: Send the monster descr. to anowack@juno.com The Prize: If your suggestion is used you'll get: Mentioned in the Undersea timeline credits!!! Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 20:56:51 -0500 (EST) From: LSimoni@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] New PC class: Greater Gargoyle In a message dated 97-10-14 14:36:40 EDT, you write: << Either way, they are living beings with a strong resemblance to gargoyles, but they cannot really communicate with gargoyles. >> Seems kind of silly to have a Gargoyle Character Class that can't communicate with gargoyles, isn't it? Just imagine the Margoyle PC when he discovers he can't "talk" his way out of a confrontation with a couple of gargoyles guarding the soon-to-be-infiltrated castle/tower/cache/whatever... LordVaken ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 02:06:21 -0500 (EST) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Elf stuff In a message dated 97-10-28 11:23:45 EST, ANDREW.THEISEN@ASU.Edu writes: << 4) GAZ13- What do the notations on the elf progression table for a) equal to fighter level 22-24 and b) equal to fighter level 25-27 mean? Elves are not the equivalent of those fighter levels for a lot longer than indicated on the table, at least not combat wise, nor do they get the fighter options at those levels? Typo? >> An Elf who reaches attack rank M (the maximum possible for an Elf) has the same THAC0 as a Human Fighter of level 25-27. That means that an Elf of attack rank K should have the same THAC0 as a Human Fighter of level 22-24. If the notations are at those ranks, then they are correct for OD&D rules; otherwise, they are indeed typos. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 02:37:47 -0500 (EST) From: Kaviyd@aol.com Subject: Re: Syncretism in Mystara (Re: [Mystara] Lesser Known Immortals) On the other hand, there seem to be a few "lackey" Immortals who survive only as followers of greater Immortals. Case in point: Mealiden. As near as I can tell, he has no followers of his own -- but he does seem to draw a share of sustenance from the followers of Ilsundal. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 12:06:25 +0200 (EET) From: Aleksei Andrievski Subject: [Mystara] Holy Slayers of Al-Kalim This is a letter and a package of documents sent by Hajisa Mabharat, a Glantrian spy in the Emirates of Ylaruam, to Prince Urmahid Krinagar of Bramyra. Hajisa has not been heard from again. "To my noble lord Krinagar, I, his most humble servant, send greetings. I have progressed well with your last assignment, inflitrating deep into Ylari society and discovering secrets untold. One such secret I present onto you now, my lord. It is a collection of writings set on parchment, which detail a society so secret, so sinister, that even most Ylari wise men are unaware of its existence. My lord shall, of course, judge for himself the usefulness of such knowledge. The author of these documents is one Mahmud al-Nusri, a sage who mysteriously disappeared a few years ago. The information herein should be perused with caution, my lord, for al-Nusri was known to supply fiction where he could not explain the facts." On the nature of the Khinjar al-Sahraa In my researches I have discovered a society by the name of Khinjar al-Sahraa, or the Desert Dagger Brotherhood. The Brotherhood is a highly secretive society of men and women who fanatically follow the teachings of holy Al-Kalim. These hashishin strike from the shadows to slay those who would speak or act against the will of Al-Kalim or his clerics. It is important to note that these slayers are not the same as assassins of infidel lands, for they do not work for money, nor do they necessarily strike quietly. Indeed, these people work motivated only by their religious beliefs, and they oft perform their deeds in broad daylight, before a crowd of people. As they slay only those daring to oppose the Eternal Truth, their wrath is most often targeted at foreigners who somehow offend Al-Kalim. However, they are extremely fanatical, and it is often enough to utter a wrong word to earn the hashishin's anger. On the Brotherhood's methods and techniques The Desert Dagger is ever watchful for blashphemers all over the Emirates, and once such a one is detected, their punushment is swift and merciless. From the lowly beggar, to the mightiest emir, none are safe from their far-reaching hands. The hashishin, as said above, often perform their slayings in public, as this not only dissuades others from repeating the target's mistakes, but also ensures the slayer's place in Paradise through martyrdom (for the slayer is most likely captured and kills himself). The slayers often wear white caftans, sometimes also a red sash and turban (this attire is common enough so that a person wearing those clothes doesn't necessarily belong to the Brotherhood). Female slayers (and even some males) often wear veils, out of devoutness and for concealing their features. Some more skillful and high-ranking hashishin can also slay in secret, for they are judged too valuable to the Brotherhood to be captured. Of course, the most skillful ones can slay in public and still get away. Sometimes it is also necessary to slay covertly if the target is otherwise well guarded. Slayers' preferred assassination weapon is the jambiya, a curving dagger. If they intend to challenge a foe to honorable combat, they carry a scimitar (yes, they sometimes challenge an enemy openly, if he is a native Ylari who has demonstrated honor in the past). The Brotherhood generally frowns on the use of poison, as it is considered cowardly and dishonorable. The slayers also use some unique magical items, especially those aiding in disguise and stealth. The slayers greatly rely on achieving surprise in performing the slaying. This is another reason why they often kill in public, for it is easier to creep up on a victim in a throng of people than on an empty street. The hashishin are quite skillful in concealing their weapons, so the target has no clue of anything until the dagger is in his guts. As has been said before, the holy slayers are fanatical in their pursuit of their target, and they never give up until either they or their target is dead. If the need arises, the slayer may infiltrate the target's organization or circle of friends, sometimes spending months or even years trying to get into the victim's confidence. It may come as a great surprise to the target when a long-time friend plunges a dagger into his heart. The slayer will relentlessly pursue his victim into foreign lands, if need be. The slayers' targets are quite varied. They are the people who for some reason have spoken or acted against the teachings of Al-Kalim. This most often means foreigners, especially clerics of other Immortals who come to Ylaruam as missionaries seeking to spread the word of their faith. The slayers do not usually kill insignificant offenders such as lowly peasants who merely utter a subconscious curse. However, should such a peasant start bad-mouthing Al-Kalim at every turn, he is sure to be marked for death. The Brotherhood also reserves a particular hatred for mages, whom they consider greatest infidels, and will sometimes try to slay them even without any offense. Magian Fire Worshippers are the Brotherhood's mortal enemies. On the organization of the Desert Dagger The leader of the Desert Dagger is a mysterious figure known as the Grandfather and the Shadow Sultan. Little is known about him, except that his power over the hashishin is absolute. Below the Grandfather are the da'is, who are among the most powerful slayers. They seldom kill, for their job is to control and co-ordinate the actions of lesser Brothers. The next layer are the rafiqs, who are skillful slayers overseeing a particular city. They may take a job if success is vital. The fedayeen (sing. fidai) are the active members, who actually perform most slayings. The lowest members are the lasiqs, or novices, who have just joined and are still "on probation". All slayers are required to take a vow of secrecy upon joining the Brotherhood. They never reveal anything about their organization, which adds to the terror of their targets since there is little information available. After taking the vow, the slayer is magically marked by the Grandfather's efreeti to signify his membership. Every slayer wears a special ring which further ensures the silence: should any slayer try to reveal any information about the Brotherhood, or attempt to remove the ring (even under magical influence), it will teleport the wearer into the dungeons of the Brotherhood's fortress, where the efreeti will be waiting to torture the traitor (the ring works only for marked members). The Brotherhood's fortress is located somewhere in a secluded valley in Altan Tepes (on Ylaruam's side). It is heavily protected by magic and illusions (cast by the efreeti), and many slayers guard it. There are also some allied clerics of Al-Kalim, but no mages, of course. The Grandfather lives here and never leaves. His da'is are also found here for the most part. When time comes to slay, the Grandfather passes on the command to the appropriate rafiq through his da'is. The rafiq then either does the job himself or selects a lesser slayer who is fit for it. For less important slayings, the Grandfather's command is not required, and it may originate with a da'is or a rafiq. Fedayeen may even act on their own if they are absolutely sure of their cause. When a slayer receives "the call", it comes from his rafiq, usually at night. The rafiq speaks a code phrase and tells the time and place for a meeting (the phrase is different in different cities and at different times, but the slayer always knows it beforehand). At the meeting, when he is sure of privacy, the rafiq explains the assignment to the slayer, and usually changes the code phrase for the next assignment. The slayer is then free to plan and execute the assassination however he sees fit. As it is, the holy slayers are disliked in Ylaruam, since most normal people consider murder in the name of Al-Kalim to be contrary to the Immortal's teachings. Should the Kin Faction come into power, I fear for the Emirates, as surely the hashishin would be praised as heroes. Game notes 1.Jambiya's stats are the same as a daggers, except it does 1d4+1 damage, weighs 20 cn and cannot be thrown. A scimitar's stats are the same as a normal sword's. 2.The DM should penalize the target's surprise roll depending on how well the slayer has concealed himself and his weapon. 3.A slayer has the same chance to conceal a small weapon as the Pick Pockets skill of a thief of the same level. Normal men have the same chance as a 1st-level thief. 4.The Grandfather's name is Hasan i-Sabbah, though this and his appearance are known only to a circle of most trusted lieutenants. Hasan is a level 36 thief of Lawful (LE) alignment. He is about 60 years old, and is so far the first Grandfather (since the Brotherhood existed only since about year 995 AC). Hasan's pet efreeti, Mahraban, is a cruel being who enjoys bullying and torture. He is fanatically loyal to the Brotherhood. I have based this on the Everlasting, a holy slayer group in Al-Qadim campaign. For more information on the slayers, see Assassin Mountain, a wonderful supplement to that campaign. What do you think? ***************************** "We are the Harpers. We are the Lord ** ** Protectors of the Realms. Fools, all - but ** Aleksei Andrievski ** the Gods look down and smile glory upon us." ** k24023@kyyppari.hkkk.fi ** "Never cross spells with gods, archmages, ** aka Solmyr the Archmage ** liches - or Harpers." ** ** "Harpers rush in where fools fear to tread." ***************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 12:53:17 +0000 From: wizzard@mail.intcom.de Subject: Re: [Mystara] Elf stuff Hi folks, being busy lately I had to drop in to comment on: > On Tue, 28 Oct 1997, Cthulhudrew, The Great Old One wrote: > A couple of things (I was just looking through the two elf gazetteers > last night) > 1) In GAZ5, the Good Magic Point of Algorn's Last Stand is repeatedly > described as housing a Tree of Life (presumably made from the body of > Algorn the elf; possibly housing his consciousness?) What happened to him > during the WotI, and is it possible that other Trees of Life have been > made from it's branches? As far as I can recall from WotI the refugees from Alfheim took parts of the dying Tree of Life with them to plant it anew after reaching a new and save region. I´m sure that the elves settling in Karameikos had one. I don´t know if the ones going to Wendar had one too (would be an offense against the Wendar-Elves). Another point concerning your Elven-Interest. Ever looked into the Elven section of the Minrothad-Gazetter?? Having fun, Wizzard ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 09:32:44 -0500 (EST) From: Alex295@aol.com Subject: Re: [Mystara] Holy Slayers of Al-Kalim Not bad. In fact, well done. The one thing that I would suggest deals with the issue of Mages. You see, mages aren't stupid. Once they get wind of an organization that sees mages as mortal enemies, they will take measures to oppose the Brotherhood. A few may even join forces to halt this threat. Here are a few ideas on the mage issue 1) Hatred of mages derives from harsh treatment recieved by the Grandfather by one; preferably a foreign mage. 2) Do not exclude mages from Brotherhood. Have some as members. Have a few devout followers as mages. Due to events beyond their control they found themselves more adept at mage spells instead of clerical spells. Might want to keep them secret from the rest of Brotherhood. And any mages that are known are to veiwed with suspition. 3) For a bit of intrigue, have the Grandfather be a mage in secret. You could have him be one of two types. a) Uses Brotherhood to eliminate any potential rivals so he can be the supreme mage in Ylaruam. b)Sees self as a defiler. Takes out his fanatism on other mages as a form of "divine purification". When the Grandfather feels his task is complete, he will commit suicide himself thus ridding Ylaruam of all mages. 4) Have a relative or two of the Grandfather be a mage. The game potential alone would justify it. 5) Have a few "charmed" or blackmailed mages on retainer. Once their use is exhausted, the Brotherhood disposes of them. Even if they have dealt in good faith, they know too much to keep breathing. Alex ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 13:32:58 -0200 (EDT) From: Andre Martins Subject: Re: [Mystara] Holy Slayers of Al-Kalim On Wed, 29 Oct 1997 Alex295@aol.com wrote: > 3) For a bit of intrigue, have the Grandfather be a mage in secret. You could > have him be one of two types. a) Uses Brotherhood to eliminate any potential > rivals so he can be the supreme mage in Ylaruam. b)Sees self as a defiler. > Takes out his fanatism on other mages as a form of "divine purification". > When the Grandfather feels his task is complete, he will commit suicide > himself thus ridding Ylaruam of all mages. What if he was a Barimor pawn, aware of that or not? Maybe even a secret identity for him as alphatian wizards like to do? He has been preparing to challenge the wizards in his neighborhood for his immortality tests and what would be better than having his strongest oponents slayed by some fanatical religious order? Andre Martins ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 16:53:04 CET From: "Herve Musseau" Subject: Re: [Mystara] Holy Slayers of Al-Kalim >3) For a bit of intrigue, have the Grandfather be a mage in secret. You could >have him be one of two types. a) Uses Brotherhood to eliminate any potential >rivals so he can be the supreme mage in Ylaruam. This sentence immediately made me think to Barimoor. What if Barimoor was at the head of the brotherhood? That way he could eliminate potential rivals before he declares himself (part of his path to immortality). In that case, the assassins could have Barimoor's dagger as a weapon of choice (can't remember the exact name, but it stole the soul of the victims IIRC, maybe Soul Daggers). ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 18:16:15 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] The Dreaming v1.0(longish) At 21.24 28/10/97 +0100, you wrote: >The Dreaming World Thanks thanks thanks and thanks again for this work Haavard. You spared me a couple or more of hours to do it myself! ;) You can be sure you'll se this on my NEW IMPROVED Webpage asap! (out on November 1st -or October 30th, it depends how fast i am!) Again: THANX, this was marvelous! :) DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 18:16:17 +0100 From: DM Subject: Re: [Mystara] New PC class: Greater Gargoyle At 20.56 28/10/97 -0500, Lord Vaken wrote: >Seems kind of silly to have a Gargoyle Character Class that can't communicate >with gargoyles, isn't it? Just imagine the Margoyle PC when he discovers he >can't "talk" his way out of a confrontation with a couple of gargoyles >guarding the soon-to-be-infiltrated castle/tower/cache/whatever... IIRC gargoyles cannot communicate with any other being but their creator and then they always obey their words and do nothing else. I don't think the GARGOYLES themselves are able to communicate, that's why the Margoyles cannot talk with them. Hope to have been clear... DM ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 12:11:33 -0600 From: Rob Rickard Subject: Re: [Mystara] Netlogo Contest I know that a friend of mine wants to touch up his LOGO before he submits it. I was thinking about trying something but just cant find the time. maybe we should wait till the new year before we decide. There could be others that want to, but just dont have the time. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 14:02:37 -0600 From: Galwylin Subject: Re: [Mystara] Netlogo Contest How about we take submissions till the end of December and start voting after the New Year? Since I can't enter, it's up to what everyone else wants as I didn't really get alot of guidelines on this ;> Rob Rickard wrote: > > I know that a friend of mine wants to touch up his LOGO before he > submits it. I was thinking about trying something but just cant find > the time. maybe we should wait till the new year before we decide. > There could be others that want to, but just dont have the time. - -- Galwylin Email: galwylin@airnet.net Home Page: http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/ ------------------------------ End of mystara-digest V2 #181 *****************************