========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 03:28:36 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Alphatian Population Revision (was Bellissaria) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-14 3:13:13 PM Eastern Standard Time, Scarole@TIN.IT writes: << TOO MANY ALPHATIAN MESSAGES!!! SSSTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!!! I'M GETTING MAD! MAD! MAD! BRUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! >> But all of those messages admit of only one of two implications: 1) Alphatia is extremely chaotic and disorganized, to the point that they cannot accurately count their own people, or 2) Alphatia is a decadent empire in decline that as of 1000 AC would not have been able to hold on to its home territory much longer if events had not moved them to the "safer" Hollow World. Either one would imply that there is something seriously amiss in Alphatia. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 03:28:39 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Alphatian Population Revision (was Bellissaria) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-14 3:46:48 AM Eastern Standard Time, kinglosser@HOTMAIL.COM writes: << I have a small problem with David Knott's message. see, I think the Alphatians are to "cocky?" to let even the smallest Baron remain exempt from there own Imperial laws. Simply because this would show a weakness in there ruling class and military classes. If they were to let even petty rulers slip through there fingers, then no providence would ever remain under the iron fist of Alphatia. >> Certainly they would not tolerate open defiance from anybody -- but what about a village of mundaners who do nothing to draw attention to themselves? If there is no major imperial road going through a particular village, then it is quite likely that imperial authorities will completely forget about it, at least until some event brings the people of that village to official attention. So, if we go with the "high population" theory, then each Alphatian kingdom would have nominal control of its entire territory, but actual control of 20-35% of its population and perhaps even less of its territory. As long as the people not under direct control do nothing to draw attention to the fact that they are not controlled, they will be ignored -- but they would certainly be brutally suppressed if they made even the slightest nuisance of themselves. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 03:28:38 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] [Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Population Revision ... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-14 3:32:03 PM Eastern Standard Time, michaelmysteria@HOTMAIL.COM writes: << 5. Wizards disinterested in building a family, even when you grow to a thousand years of age, you want to grow a family sometime. And the slaves would certainly breed, after all the nobles are only 20% of the population. >> That is assuming that there are not other aspects of the social order that might discourage slaves and servants from breeding. The lack of recognition of marriage and thus of paternal responsibility could be one such factor, especially if it is possible for the women to evade pregnancy despite the whims of their husbands/lovers. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 09:38:14 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Sylvania? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I was reading the post from M III.Mysteria (by the way stop sending those phamtom mails) and i was puzzled by the Sylvania elven kingdom mentionned in western skothar? is it Calengaer once renamed? or is it just a coincidence.If it is a different kingdom then i think we could easily merge both of them right? -- Thibault Sarlat. ICQ 16622177. homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Join me at: mystara@com.bi or at tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 09:53:28 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: Sylvania? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Phantom Mails??? Is that me and what do you mean to imply? Sylvania is an elven kingdom I thought up a couple of years ago and has nothing to do with Calengaer. If you take out your Esterhold map......(scrambling for a map)...... Extend the eastern border of Verdan southward. Sylvania controls all the forest west of that border and south of Verdan is controlled by Sylvania (since 2016 AY or so, so it might be entered in the 1017 Almanac). I suggest the forest to the northeast then beinbg controlled by Calengaer. The Sylvanians are tall forest elves working together with the Alphatians, Calengaer might be their mother nation. (The way I invented it, they were descendants of an Eldar elven nation to the far east). U Like? Michael III Mysteria > I was reading the post from M III.Mysteria (by the way stop sending > those phamtom mails) and i was puzzled by the Sylvania elven kingdom > mentionned in western skothar? > is it Calengaer once renamed? or is it just a coincidence.If it is a > different kingdom then i think we could easily merge both of them right? > > -- > Thibault Sarlat. > ICQ 16622177. > homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi > Join me at: mystara@com.bi or at > tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 08:56:58 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >The section says that the Alphatians have a very practical sense about >military matters, they let the miliotary commanders do whatever is >necessary, not requiring them to carry out useless tasks. The army is >"adequate" for Alphatia, well you can interpret this in nearly every sense, >but adequate is apparently sufficient to defeat the Thyatians inWotI. >Adequate should, in my view, be seen regarding the size of the Alphatian >military which is tiny in proportion to their population, especially if the >population is increased (the military forces will NOT be increased), yet >sufficient to fulfill it's task. Apparently in two millenia no-one has ever >come even close to defeating the Alphatian military and invading the >mainland, yet they've occupied Thyatis for a long time and nearly defeated >them once (Spike assault) and succeeded a second time (WotI). So I don't >see why people insist the Alphatian military should be made up of whimps, >the Alphatian wizards aren't interested in foreign wars, but that doesn't >mean they want foreigners rampaging across their continent upsetting their >experiments. As I have said already, the only reason the Alphatians beat Thyatis in WotI was because of Immortal involvement. It took them four years in any case. Without mortal involvement the Alphatians probably would have been humiliated, as they were in the Spike Assault beforehand (which they won because Thincols predecessor was not a military man), when they were kicked out of Glantri, kicked out of Ylaraum, etc. etc. I'm not saying they are wimps, I am saying they are equals. I thought that was the whole basis of the 1000AC setting campaign. I've noticed that people seem to think mages on this list are the be all and end all of Life the Universe and Everything. Well, just from personal experience, last weekend I was playing an 18th level AD&D mage, and in a fight with relatively puny monsters I was dropped like a bad habit in round 1. While the 17th level fighter next to me beat the crap out of everybody with barely a scratch. While mages are hard they arent the be all and end all. Thyatis is a land of fighters. Hard fighters. Thincol hammered the Spike Assault practically singlehandedly. That hurt Alphatia. It could well have started a civil war there. It wasnt Alphatia not being bothered, it was Alphatia getting kicked, while victory was within their grasp. Just look at a few of the M and C modules. Alphatia is not an Ubernation there either, it is an equal to other nations. Cheers Rob ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 10:04:51 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Re: Sylvania? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit phantom mails are quite strange actually because they are posts with no adress to reply nor adress from which they came.They come sometime from members of the mml but it is the first time they seem to come from you.I was just saying that it was weird.I did not intended to hurt you in any manner. As for your Sylvania realm i am impatient to learn more about them.They seem great... Michael III Mysteria a �crit : > Phantom Mails??? Is that me and what do you mean to imply? > Sylvania is an elven kingdom I thought up a couple of years ago and has > nothing to do with Calengaer. > If you take out your Esterhold map......(scrambling for a map)...... > Extend the eastern border of Verdan southward. Sylvania controls all the > forest west of that border and south of Verdan is controlled by Sylvania > (since 2016 AY or so, so it might be entered in the 1017 Almanac). I suggest > the forest to the northeast then beinbg controlled by Calengaer. The > Sylvanians are tall forest elves working together with the Alphatians, > Calengaer might be their mother nation. (The way I invented it, they were > descendants of an Eldar elven nation to the far east). > > U Like? > Michael III Mysteria > > > I was reading the post from M III.Mysteria (by the way stop sending > > those phamtom mails) and i was puzzled by the Sylvania elven kingdom > > mentionned in western skothar? > > is it Calengaer once renamed? or is it just a coincidence.If it is a > > different kingdom then i think we could easily merge both of them right? > > > > -- > > Thibault Sarlat. > > ICQ 16622177. > > homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi > > Join me at: mystara@com.bi or at > > tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr > > > > ******************************************************************** > > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. -- Thibault Sarlat. ICQ 16622177. homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Join me at: mystara@com.bi or at tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 01:15:16 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Herve Musseau Subject: Mystaran Almanac events layout MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii From: ����_��� >>It also might be nice to split Outer World and HW events into two sections. It seems that the events rarely overlap (where they do, that's fine) and the OW/HW distinction just gets in the way. First I read something about NACE, then it's Nithia, then Minrothad, then Millenia...!!! My head is spinning! ;-) I think zooming through the world shield so often is detrimental to my mental health. >I have to seconed that opinion, John. Although I am a new member of the Almanac team, I was not when I read the Almanac. This is the way I did it- first I read all of the "Glantri" entries... Then I went thorugh all of the other OW entries. Then I skimmed through the HW entries as I never did care much for the Hollow World. I think lot of people are interested in either HW or OW. Only very few campaigns are played on both sides of the worldshield and very few events effect both of them. So I guess most people whould agree about the need to seperate the entries. Herve, what do you think about this subject? I understand the point, but how to divide it? The suggestion here is HW/OW division, but someone also suggested a further separation from SC. Already the almanac is subdivided into many such regions, for the atlas. Where would events for Hule conducting business in Sind, for example, fall into? I mean, we certainly could split up the events into regional threads. That'd be easy, editorial-wise, as they mostly arrive to me already sorted so. But I think that if we do that we'd lose one level; we'd lose the flow or stream of events, the intertwining and the sense of time passing and the global changes brought. Beleive me, the events for one area don't look as good when they're all stuck together, rather than made part of a larger timeline. The way it is done, is a multidimensional one. There is an extensive, world-spanning timeline, and within it there are threads that are noted as belonging to a region and cross-referenced. Thus, the timeline can easily be read or searched for particular events, yet it can also be read in a global timeline fashion. Though it would make somewhat easier to read regional threads, I believe we would lose something if we were to split the events and distribute/assign them to regions [I mean, to do that *only*, because it's already done, in a way]. That's just my opinion, anybody else has one on this issue? ===== ___________________________________________________________ Herve Musseau http://www.geocities.com/hmusseau/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 09:53:12 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Gordon McCormick Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Population Revision (was Bellissaria)] In-Reply-To: <20000214184628.28697.qmail@aw164.netaddress.usa.net>; from cthulhudrew@usa.net on Mon, Feb 14, 2000 at 01:46:28PM -0500 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Mon, Feb 14, 2000 at 01:46:28PM -0500, Andrew Theisen wrote: > > Absolutely. The northern realms, in particular (especially the woodlands as > you mention here) would seem to me to be the most likely areas for nations and > dominions that aren't part of Alphatia proper. "Your Majesty, we have just discovered another town hundreds of miles away from any other, we should Tax it and bring it into the fold of the Kingdom of Frissonia!" "And what is this town called, my loyal tax inspector?" "The locals call it Doughenning sire." "Pah, everyone knows it doesn't exist...." > "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he > didn't exist." - Keyser Soze OK, Whow *is* Doug Henning??!?!? :) gordon ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:31:38 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=E0=E9=EC=EF_=F9=E7=ED?= Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac events layout MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable >That's just my opinion, anybody else has one on this issue? OK, I agree about the regional division to be damaging to the feel of = the almanac. BUt dividing it to two parts- HW and OW, is logical for these reasons: 1. These are two different worlds. Although there are ways to travel = through the worlds, and thier proximety, thay are mostly two unatached = gameworlds, home to different campaigns.=20 2. Events on each world have a very small chanse to effect events on the = other world. 3. If you want to keep the Almanac "in charachter", keep in mind that = almost all charachters in each world are oblivious to the other one. Joe = of Mirros (Specularum, damn it!) doesn't know there is another world = benieth his feet, and would not learn about the events of that world. 4. The HW has a different feel and pace of change than the OW. Due to = the SoP and other "unnatural" charataristics, things move slower in the = HW. Political changes are rare, and cultural changes are a no-no. So the = rate of events is also different between the HW and OW. 5. I think (and this is totally IMHO) that a lot of gamers do not use = the HW, and ignore its existance (please people, do not make this a = canon-noncanon debate). For conviniance we can put the HW events in a = seperate part of the almanac. Just my 0.02$. Morphail (Ohad Shaham) "and crawling on the planet's face, some insects called the human race. Lost in time, lost in space and meaning..." Last words from the Rocky Horror Picture Show Visit the dark prince of Boldavia at- = http://www.geocities.com/morphail_o/ =20 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:41:04 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > >I really can't believe people think that Alphatia is too little populated or > not > >powerful enough. > > I can. It's 11 times the size of Medieval France with half the population. > It's 42 times the size of Thyatis with only about twice the population. > Yes, I know, but the confrontation should rather be made with Europe plus European Russia (and maybe something more) just for Mainland Alphatia, in the 12th century. I don't assume that all Alphatia has the same climate of France (a very good climate), and it isn't in large parts occupied by monsters, or demihumans (with a population growth rate much lower than the human one). But what I am trying to say is that if Thyatis and Alphatia were built with that population to be equal in power, then it could be better to find explanations for the low population rate than re-arrange it all. A re-arrangement of the Alphatian population could prove dangerous, because: 1) There are people who already depict Alphatia as immensely powerful; if you increase its population, things would worsen 2) If you want to create a good comparison to what Alphatia SHOULD be like in population, you should have to make Alphatia much more populated (at least 3-4 times, I think), and this would certainly influence the world. I know that the importance is mostly cultural...but I feel that the population density is not a so important problem, at least to me. Everyone is free, obviously, to think it their way, I just give my 2 cents! And although you might think it right to adjust Alphatia's pop., and that this wouldn't influence its power, well, look at my point 1 and read some of the mails sent to this list, and believe me: I'm bored of people who continuously post hyper powerful nations and tell Alphatia isn't conquering the world just because they don't want, when we all know that it isn't true even for the RW USA now, and they are, in relation to Alphatia, immensely more powerful. > Population does not equal power. If it did, canonical Alphatia should crush > Thyatis flat because it would have enough mages to kill everyone in Thyatis > several times over. The Council of a Thousand Mages could easily teleport to > Thyatis City and turn it into an ashpile in hours. The mere existence of such > a thing, if one considers sheerly population levels, SHOULD outclass Thyatis > to the point that they die horribly. > Got your point. But this is true until a certain point. And I think that, to change Alphatia's population significatively means to go over this certain point. > And yet, sometimes the numbers nag me, sometimes I find various things stretch > my 'suspension of disbelief'. To me, I need to have realistic population > levels (within the changes set by the fact that this is a fantasy world, of > course), or it gnaws at me. I don't consult those figures and say 'This > country can whip this country's butt because it has more people'. But they > make me better able to believe in the reality of the world, and that helps me > exercise my creativity in it. Yeah, I see your point. I hate logical flaws in RPG's. But what if we find good reasons for the fact that there is less people? Interesting ideas have been given in the posts, lately. > > Hardly. In a nation of people who prefer pleasure to work, population does > not equal military might. The population does not prefer pleasure to work. The mages are but a little part of it. Most Alphatians are slaves or servants. Giulio Caroletti ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:59:59 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > As I have said already, the only reason the Alphatians beat Thyatis in WotI > was because of Immortal involvement. It took them four years in any case. > Without mortal involvement the Alphatians probably would have been > humiliated, as they were in the Spike Assault beforehand (which they won > because Thincols predecessor was not a military man), when they were kicked > out of Glantri, kicked out of Ylaraum, etc. etc. How were the immortals involved in defeating the thyatians, the only direct involvement I can find is that Anya affair. > I'm not saying they are wimps, I am saying they are equals. I thought that > was the whole basis of the 1000AC setting campaign. > I've noticed that people seem to think mages on this list are the be all and > end all of Life the Universe and Everything. Well, just from personal > experience, last weekend I was playing an 18th level AD&D mage, and in a > fight with relatively puny monsters I was dropped like a bad habit in round > 1. While the 17th level fighter next to me beat the crap out of everybody > with barely a scratch. While mages are hard they arent the be all and end > all. How'd you manage that, the only time I see high level wizards getting killed in such circumstances is because they can't use their spells in feat of huting their allies. > Thyatis is a land of fighters. Hard fighters. Thincol hammered the Spike > Assault practically singlehandedly. That hurt Alphatia. It could well have > started a civil war there. It wasnt Alphatia not being bothered, it was > Alphatia getting kicked, while victory was within their grasp. Just look at > a few of the M and C modules. Alphatia is not an Ubernation there either, > it is an equal to other nations. Because Mages weren't interested in getting involved. Which is WHY Alphatia and Thyatis are equals, Alphatia doesn't live up to it's potential. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:01:10 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: Sylvania? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > phantom mails are quite strange actually because they are posts with no adress > to reply nor adress from which they came.They come sometime from members of the > mml but it is the first time they seem to come from you.I was just saying that > it was weird.I did not intended to hurt you in any manner. > > As for your Sylvania realm i am impatient to learn more about them.They seem > great... Can't remember doing that to you, maybe the mailinglist server fluked? Sometimes I get mail double so.... ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 09:06:44 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Jeremy Morris Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac events layout In-Reply-To: <20000215091516.19985.qmail@web1205.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Tue, 15 Feb 2000, Herve Musseau wrote: > I understand the point, but how to divide it? The suggestion here is HW/OW > division, but someone also suggested a further separation from SC. Already > the almanac is subdivided into many such regions, for the atlas. Where > would events for Hule conducting business in Sind, for example, fall into? I'll throw my hat in the ring and say that I'd also like to see the almanac subdivided. In fact, I'd like to see the events subdivided into the same regions that the atlas is divided up into. That way, if I'm looking for ideas for an "Old World" campaign, I know which section to turn to and start reading. As for events that take place in "both" regions, how difficult would it be to place the actual event in one region, with a "pointer" to it from the other region it affects. In the example above, there would have to be an editorial decision as to whether the event affects Hule or Sind more, and then in the other entry on the same date a note that say "See Sind, Flaurmont 14" or something? As an example of one of these crossovers from the current almanac, look at the ratling stuff. Most of the ratling stuff could be in the Old World section. Then, on Kaldmont 12 in the Savage Coast section, a reference that reads "See Old World, Kaldmont 7). Those references are already in place, but without the section heading, this would only require an extra few characters before the date. > I mean, we certainly could split up the events into regional threads. That'd > be easy, editorial-wise, as they mostly arrive to me already sorted so. But > I think that if we do that we'd lose one level; we'd lose the flow or stream > of events, the intertwining and the sense of time passing and the global > changes brought. Beleive me, the events for one area don't look as good when > they're all stuck together, rather than made part of a larger timeline. But they should, shouldn't they? And maybe if it was more obvious that one area didn't have as many events as another, you might get more suggestions for events for that area. (I suspect that Alphatia and the Old World get the most events, and that the Hollow World and Savage Coast look skimpy by comparison, but I haven't actually sat down and counted out the events in each section. > The way it is done, is a multidimensional one. There is an extensive, > world-spanning timeline, and within it there are threads that are noted as > belonging to a region and cross-referenced. Thus, the timeline can easily be > read or searched for particular events, yet it can also be read in a global > timeline fashion. Though it would make somewhat easier to read regional > threads, I believe we would lose something if we were to split the events > and distribute/assign them to regions [I mean, to do that *only*, because it's > already done, in a way]. I would disagree with this, if only because I think it would make the whole easier to read. Right now, if I want to find all of the threads for a particular nation, I have to read most of the timeline. If they were separated by region I would only have to read one section. (I would still read the whole timeline, if only for other ideas, but it would still make things easier). > That's just my opinion, anybody else has one on this issue? The above is also just my opinion, and I've often been known to be wrong. I just feel that the timeline entries could be better organized from a reference perspective. BTW: Great job on the almanac guys. The above minor rant is the only thing I could see in it that I would count as a "dislike," niggling little thing that it is. I especially like how the entries focus on one area of the nation instead of trying to do a broad overview. If this weren't a yearly project, the focus-on stuff wouldn't work. Since it is a yearly thing, I think it fits well (and some of the entries have given me some ideas...) Jeremy ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 09:21:02 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: Hollow World James wrote: >I'm unfortunately not familiar with Pellucidar - is that a book or >something? You piqued my curiousity 8-). Yep - Pellucidar was a series of novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs (of Tarzan and John Carter of Mars fame). Sharon Dornhoff used them to some extent in her Hollow Moon work, and I've been trying to find some copies of the Pellucidar series for well over a year now. None of the bookstores (new or used) seem to have any copies where I am. *sigh* Geoff -- Geoff Gander, BA 97 Cartographer/Game Designer/Government Peon Carnifex Loremaster au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:25:33 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Re: Sylvania? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Maybe this was the day of dread for the MML server... Michael III Mysteria a �crit : > > phantom mails are quite strange actually because they are posts with no > adress > > to reply nor adress from which they came.They come sometime from members > of the > > mml but it is the first time they seem to come from you.I was just saying > that > > it was weird.I did not intended to hurt you in any manner. > > > > As for your Sylvania realm i am impatient to learn more about them.They > seem > > great... > > Can't remember doing that to you, maybe the mailinglist server fluked? > Sometimes I get mail double so.... > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. -- Thibault Sarlat. ICQ 16622177. homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Join me at: mystara@com.bi or at tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:19:17 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: erewan laubgaenger Subject: Re: I need help MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Neal wrote: > Bill if you send your address to neal1@tecinfo.com > i will send you a copy of the war machine rules. could you send them to me too? IBON ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 06:46:31 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Kar Ess Subject: Re: Hollow World MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii If you just want to read them, go to http://promo.net/pg/ Project Gutenburg and download them and many other old books. Try Haggard for plots too. KS --- Geoff Gander wrote: > James wrote: > > >I'm unfortunately not familiar with Pellucidar - is that a book or > >something? You piqued my curiousity 8-). > > Yep - Pellucidar was a series of novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs > (of Tarzan and John Carter of Mars fame). Sharon Dornhoff used them to > some extent in her Hollow Moon work, and I've been trying to find some > copies of the Pellucidar series for well over a year now. None of the > bookstores (new or used) seem to have any copies where I am. *sigh* > > Geoff > > -- > Geoff Gander, BA 97 > Cartographer/Game Designer/Government Peon > Carnifex Loremaster > au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 08:56:10 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Aaron E Nowack Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:59:59 +0100 Michael III Mysteria writes: > > As I have said already, the only reason the Alphatians beat Thyatis > in > WotI > > was because of Immortal involvement. It took them four years in > any case. > > Without mortal involvement the Alphatians probably would have been > > humiliated, as they were in the Spike Assault beforehand (which > they won > > because Thincols predecessor was not a military man), when they > were > kicked > > out of Glantri, kicked out of Ylaraum, etc. etc. > How were the immortals involved in defeating the thyatians, the only > direct > involvement I can find is that Anya affair. Valerias was busy getting all the good officers to marry Alphatians, spreading zzongas abuse like it was going out of style, and generally making it so that Thyatis's army would be ineffective for the first years of the war. After that, Thyatis recovered, but by then it was too late b/c the Alphatians already had the initiative and the Thyatians were forced into a defensive war. That war is actually the best evidence for a weak Alphatian army actually. Despite the fact that Immortal intervention had inspired the Alphatians to start "living up to their potential", the Thyatians held them in a stalemate, by themselves, that could have easily gone either way. > Because Mages weren't interested in getting involved. Which is WHY > Alphatia > and Thyatis are equals, Alphatia doesn't live up to it's potential. But then they aren't equals! To those of us who are fond of Thyatis (or any other nation) and prefer the struggle to be a very balanced one, the idea the Alphatia could crush Thyatis in a milisecond if it wanted to, and that it is only the whims of the wizards that keeps it from ruling the entire world, just dosen't sit right. Or else how did Thyatis get independance? Canon shows that the Alphatians were _very_ interested in keeping in control of their little gold-speckled foothold on Brun. Yet not only did the Thyatians kick out the Alphers, they then sucessfully invaded Alphatian territory, and forced the Alphers to cede a _huge_ chunk of the Empire to them. All this, _before_ the Thyatians had a large well-trained, well-led army. Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis." http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/5930/ ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 11:25:02 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] [Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Population Revision (was Bellissaria)]] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Gordon McCormick wrote: > >"Your Majesty, we have just discovered another town hundreds of >miles away from any other, we should Tax it and bring it into >the fold of the Kingdom of Frissonia!" > >"And what is this town called, my loyal tax inspector?" > >"The locals call it Doughenning sire." > >"Pah, everyone knows it doesn't exist...." LMAO!!! I'm dropping this town on the map right now! I love this one! >> "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world = >>he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze > >OK, Whow *is* Doug Henning??!?!? :) *Sigh* No one remembers Doug Henning... :( Back in the late 70s/early 80s, Doug Henning was one of the big two in th= e field of magic/illusion (the other being David Copperfield). Doug Henning= had a ton of specials on tv and even had a Broadway show called "Magic" that = ran for something like four years. He was this lanky guy with long hair and a= beard, and was always saying "It's Illusion!" (pronounced EEl-OOsion). Sa= dly, he died last week from cancer at the age of 52. Maybe he was a great Glantrian illusionist who disappeared years ago and = is presumed dead...? Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 17:43:12 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] [Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Population Revision (was Bellissaria)]] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit You remember him? God (or Immortal Alphatia), I was wrong, you're not funny, your the O word (give me an O give me an L give me a D, give me O L D) LOL LOL LOL (Don't take this serious, just kidding around) >Back in the late 70s/early 80s, Doug Henning was one of the big two in the >field of magic/illusion (the other being David Copperfield). Doug Henning had >a ton of specials on tv and even had a Broadway show called "Magic" that ran >for something like four years. He was this lanky guy with long hair and a >beard, and was always saying "It's Illusion!" (pronounced EEl-OOsion). Sadly, >he died last week from cancer at the age of 52. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 17:58:00 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: The Legend of Zargon (extremely long) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Well, here's an article on Zargon, explaining a lot of B4: Lost City, and providing new dark worship in Mystara! I really woud like any comment (constructive criticism appreciated). Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis The Legend of ZARGON, the Great Lizard �A long time ago, long before the city of Thyatis was built on the shores of the Sea of Dread, when human race was still young, a great kingdom was born in the regions now known as �the Old World�. There, lizard like creatures built temples of a black metal that came from a place far from our Multiverse, in another Dimension where the physical laws are different from those we know, and celebrated dark rituals in the name of Beings whose names were Akh�All, Ub Eth, Yegh Shuta, and Yu Rgth Aahl. The High Priest of that race was a Blessed One, a being whose body and mind had been granted the blessing of the Beings, and that had risen to prominence to guide the Lizard Empire in the name of Yu Rgth Aahl above all others. He was rarely seen in public, but when he was, he appeared always to be the most beautiful and great specimen of those of his kind. The High Priest, named Ashz Zhargw, led his people to glory for more than 1'000 years. The lizards were long lived, but the Blessed One survived several of their generations, and eventually the lizards begun to notice a decline in the capacities of their High Priest, and heretical believes aroused among them when a mysterious plague spread through their population and no priest of the Beings was able to find a cure to it. Other beings known as �the Immortals� had tought some of the younger and more rebellious lizards that the Beings didn�t care anymore for their destiny, and thus the High Priest was losing its powers; but He was too old to notice, and if He had done He would never resign his millenary power for the benefit of his subjects. And, as to confirm these heresies, Ashz Zhargw ordered the building of an immense pyramid of black metal, where he begun to sacrifice the lizards themselves to obtain the attention of the Beings, pretending to propitiate them to himself to give him the power of cure his people. But in the following decades, nothing seemed to happen, and the Lizard Empire begun to crumble into itself, while small communities of humans who shared the name of Neathar, invaded and ransacked the half-empty towns of the borderlands. Ashz Zhargw retired inside the Pyramid, and left the Empire in the hands of the Priesthood of Yu Rgth Aahl, and told them that, to avoid the wrath of the Beings, they had to send, each year, ten lizards inside the Pyramid, as a sacrifice to them. While most of the Empire was more and more harassed by the primitive humans, the Lizard isolated themselves deeply in the region where their magnificent capital, was built. The Priests of the Beings had turned their worship from them to Ashz Zhargw, and increased the demand of sacrifices, while more and more lizards begun to follow the Immortal heresy. One day, Aklar, a young lizard worshipper of one of the Immortals, known as Kha, accused the Priests of lying to the entire population. The Beings had forgotten them, and Ashz Zhargw was not more than a declining monster that demanded their blood for his surviving through unnamable rites in the depths of the dark pyramid. The Immortal Kha had shown him the truth and given him a parchment with a powerful spell that would finally put an end to the unnatural life of the former High Priest. A long civil war exploded between the two factions, while Neathar tribes ransacked the country and the cities of the Empire, now reduced to a small area of what would, much time later, become Ylaruam, until a compromise was found: if Aklar managed to get into the Pyramid and slay Ashz Zhargw, then the power would have passed to the priestshood of Kha. So Aklar left for the Pyramid on a cold morning, while Neathars stormed through the gates of the capital city. He never returned from it, and the declining lizard race fell into savagery after some other decades, and ultimately it extinguished itself, leaving no trace on the Mystaran surface.� The lizard race came through dimensional portals from the Nightmare Dimension 10'000 years BC, already a fully developed society that searched for shelter from unknown persecutions they suffered on their Home Plane. They knew themselves as Ye�ench, and worshipped the Outer Beings, guided especially by the priesthood of Yur Gth Aahl (yurrgh Thaal), among whom was their leader and king, the High Priest Ashz Zhargw. Ashz Zhargw led the Ye�ench to the conquest of most of the Old World: they occupied the regions that now are mainland Thyatis, Ylaruam, Karameikos, Darokin, and freed their artic parts with fabulous climatic spells that they possessed in the Nightmare Dimension. The things then went like said: the Outer Beings forgot their worshippers, turning their attention more and more on the Carnifex race of Davania, to prepare them to the final war against the Selhomarrians, so the power of Ashz Zhargw declined, and he became utterly mad while he searched for new ways to mantain his power and immortality. In the end he found a way to preserve his body and soul, and had a pyramid built, in which he focused dark spells of unparalleled power, but he needed for it a small but constant amount of fresh blood, thus the sacrifices. With the departing of their former leader, and no attention given from the Outer Beings, the Ye�ench couldn�t stand the Neathar invasion, and ultimately extinguished themselves, and the ice, not kept at bay by the powerful spells of the lizard race, covered once again the region. �Years, decades, centuries passed, and new civilizations rose to power on the surface of Mystara, but nothing was known about Ashz Zhargw until a race of people known as the Cynidiceans built a new city on the long-dead site of what was once the capital of the mighty Lizard race. The city prospered and increased in power, beginning to expand and contact, to he east, the rising Nithian culture with their greatest king, Alexander. When king Alexander died, the Cynidiceans decided to build a Mausoleum in honor of him and his wife Zenobia. The work for the basement of the temple were conducted in the city�s park, that had been unsettled since the birth of Cynidicea. And there, not far below the surface, the workers found the top of a dark pyramid. The architect decided to bring it to the light again, open the Pyramid and use it as a tomb for the royal couple. The work of the architect was long, and everything seemed to go well. Ashz Zhargw had retired very deeply down the Pyramid , in a slumbering state. But among the workers, there was a servant of the Beings, and he managed to find the location of the former High Priest, and raised him again to life�at the expense of his own. Ashz Zhargw begun to spread panic among the Cynidiceans, and after afew years he grew in power enough to build a following for him, and be again worshipped as a God. But the domain of terror of Zargon, as the Great Lizard was known among the Cynidiceans, brought to the downfall of Cynidicea. Raided by Northmen first, and the Nithians later, the city fell, until a giantish sandstorm followed by an earthquake destroyed Cynidicea. Once again, Zargon fell into slumber.�� The report of the Sage is mostly right, but the truth is much worse. The escaping Cynidiceans survived by fleeing inside the Pyramid, where they still live, mostly under the control of the Priesthood of Zargon. Zargon himself still survives nurtured by the priests, that at fixed times make human sacrifices to please him. What is not known is that only the body of Zargon remains in the Pyramid. Aklar had in fact been able to enter the Pyramid and use the spells given to him by Ka, but unfortunately those spells were just enough to imprison the mind of the High Priest in a prison on the Nightmare Dimension, in the forgotten city of Ye�ench where he had come from thousand of years before. From there, Zargon is working like any other Outer Being to free himself and enter in possession of his body once and for all, and reconquest his rights in the country now known as Ylaruam. The fact that Zargon is not an Outer Being, but just an immensly powerful Servitor, is clear from the fact that a mortal, although at the cost of his own life and with the help of a powerful Immortal, was able to seal his mind away from the Prime. Zargon Cultists in Mystara The principal sect of Zargon cultists is the Claw of the Lizard, an organization that has its base in Selenica. The Claw of the Lizard is controlled by a Thyatian adventurer, Elian Ienoglinan, known as Iena. Elian Ienoglinan discovered the Black Pyramid of Cynidicea in 993, after a short sandstorm that dispersed the caravan that was travelling through the desert from Ylaruam toward Selenica. Iena was accompanied by two other adventurers from Karameikos, Jemb Lorray and Slyzaar Mantreikon, both of Thyatian ancestry, and reached deep in the Pyramid, encountering several priests of Zargon and the remnants of the Cynidicean society in the Pyramid. Out of it, the three vowed never to let such a secret escape to the Outer World, fearing that a new sect of Zargon could rise to torment once again Ylaruam and the Known World. Unfortunately, Iena was just faking. He informed himself on the creatures known as Outer Beings and read the Book of Voices, until he decided that, while the Outer Beings were too evil and powerful to control, maybe he could become the lieutenant of Zargon, that, from what the had learned of, was not thoroughly evil, just power hungry like he was. And probably he would have shown his favour to the person that had freed him after several millennias. Iena had Mantreikon killed shortly after, and convinced Jemb that a cult in Mystara was already acting on the behalf of Zargon. The two travelled far across the Known World to find informations on Zargon, and Iena used those to build up another sect that acted parallelly. When the sect grew too impatient to free Zargon, and Iena understood most were half madmen, he contacted a company of adventurers known as the Seven Stars and paid them to destroy them (999); then, he used a professional killer team to get rid of most of the Seven Stars (1006-7) , that had lost contact between each other in the following years, due to the War of Wrath. Now, Iena has created a more organized society, the Claw of the Lizard. The Claw of the Lizard is a highly secretive society composed of some killer and brigands in the Altan Tepes mountains of Karameikos, Darokin and Ylaruam; the Claw has built itself simply by substituting their members to the leaders of some groups of bandits. The Claw is in fact just the 9 chiefs, of whom just Iena and his lieutenant Jerome Agnis know what the real project is. The other members know, more or less, that they want to organize better the criminal activities in the Altan Tepes and gain the most possible of wealth from it. Some former members of the Iron Ring has joined the Claw, and it is possible that some are infiltrates. Iena is using a group of adventurers from Corunglain in the hope of finding the Parchment of Aklar, because he believes that more infromations on the way of freeing Zargon�s soul from the Nightmare Dimension, and thus allowing it to rejoin its mindless body in Cynidicea, can be found there. Rudolf Neuenberg The Hattian philosopher Rudolf Neuenberg was born in a small village in Hattias in AC 967. He became soon a scholar, his branch being the dark cults of Thyatis. Neuenberg worked with Alexander and Lorn Penhaligon on a tome about it, and it was in part released by the �Dark Star Press� of Julinius in AC 986. A part that was never published, though, dealt with an old Thyatian cult, known as the Sark�ohn�s worshipers. This group had been repelled during the early years of the 9th century by the Church of Solarios, although all actions were highly secretive. Rudolf Neuenberg discovered casually all this, and when the Prelate of Tel Akbir asked him to avoid to share the informations with the public and with his two companions, Neuenberg accepted and decided to leave for the Five Shires, where he remained since 985 to 997. In these years Neuenberg became famous because of some pondered philosophical essays. In these, Neuenberg stated that a man should free huimself of the common morality, and develop one for his own, no matter how wrong it can seem to the rest of the society and to other persons, at least until this morale is his own, and not one he has borrowed from external sources. Neuenberg then travelled through the Old World, and, upon his return from the Heldannic Territories he wrote a volume, �How to become stupid�, that detailed with irony and sarcasm as follies and faults most of the Heldannic rules and beliefs. The Heldannic Knights declared the book illegal in Heldann, and sentenced the philosopher to death if he was ever to return again in their territory. Neuenberg returned to the Shires in 1005, and refused to return to Thyatis when the war with Alphatia erupted, claiming that there were no reasons for Thyatis to support Glantri, and thus that if the Thyatians wanted to kill themselves, they could gladly do it alone. Sark�ohn�s statuettes But what had Neuenberg discovered of such an importance about the Sark Ohn/Zargon�s legend? Well, Neuenberg discovered that, as told before, at the beginning of the 9th century the Church of Solarios had repelled a small sect of cultists of Sark Ohn, obviously another name for the old Ashz Zhargw. During this, the Priests of Solarios spread the false news that to free Zargon from the Pyramid there was the need of 7 statuettes depicting Sark Ohm that acted as seals to his Nightmarish prison. The statuettes actually exist, and they are also magical and imbued with dark powers, maybe coming from the Outer Beings themselves, but what the Priests did was to tell that to free Zargon, the statuettes were to be destroyed. The Priesthood hoped that if the cultists of Zargon ever returned, they would waste their time trying first to find, then to destroy the statuettes, that could instead be used for their dark purposes. All this, to hide the truth that there ARE in fact seals that prevent Zargon to exit the Pyramid. Seven disks of electrum�but no one exactly knows where thay are, except, maybe, the Prelate of Tel Akbir, that is known to hide secrets of Thyatis� northern borderlandin his private chamber, carefully tramanded from a Prelate to another. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 18:00:17 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Aaron E Nowack ha scritto: > On Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:59:59 +0100 Michael III Mysteria > writes: > > > As I have said already, the only reason the Alphatians beat Thyatis > > in > > WotI > > > was because of Immortal involvement. It took them four years in > > any case. > > > Without mortal involvement the Alphatians probably would have been > > > humiliated, as they were in the Spike Assault beforehand (which > > they won > > > because Thincols predecessor was not a military man), when they > > were > > kicked > > > out of Glantri, kicked out of Ylaraum, etc. etc. > > How were the immortals involved in defeating the thyatians, the only > > direct > > involvement I can find is that Anya affair. > > Valerias was busy getting all the good officers to marry Alphatians, > spreading zzongas abuse like it was going out of style, and generally > making it so that Thyatis's army would be ineffective for the first years > of the war. After that, Thyatis recovered, but by then it was too late > b/c the Alphatians already had the initiative and the Thyatians were > forced into a defensive war. > > That war is actually the best evidence for a weak Alphatian army > actually. Despite the fact that Immortal intervention had inspired the > Alphatians to start "living up to their potential", the Thyatians held > them in a stalemate, by themselves, that could have easily gone either > way. > > > Because Mages weren't interested in getting involved. Which is WHY > > Alphatia > > and Thyatis are equals, Alphatia doesn't live up to it's potential. > > But then they aren't equals! To those of us who are fond of Thyatis (or > any other nation) and prefer the struggle to be a very balanced one, the > idea the Alphatia could crush Thyatis in a milisecond if it wanted to, > and that it is only the whims of the wizards that keeps it from ruling > the entire world, just dosen't sit right. > > Or else how did Thyatis get independance? Canon shows that the > Alphatians were _very_ interested in keeping in control of their little > gold-speckled foothold on Brun. Yet not only did the Thyatians kick out > the Alphers, they then sucessfully invaded Alphatian territory, and > forced the Alphers to cede a _huge_ chunk of the Empire to them. All > this, _before_ the Thyatians had a large well-trained, well-led army. > > I'm afraid Michael's assumption prove my theories right. Giulio Caroletti ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 12:38:54 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] [Re: [MYSTARA] [Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Population Revision (was Bellissaria)]]] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Michael III Mysteria wrote: >You remember him? >God (or Immortal Alphatia), I was wrong, you're not funny, your the O >w= ord (give me an O give me an L give me a D, give me O L D) LOL LOL LOL "I'm not old; I'm only thirty-seven!" (Actually, 26...) >(Don't take this serious, just kidding around) Yeah, you darn whippersnappers... In my day, we didn't joke around with o= ur elders... we'd just nod and smile and say "Yes'm" while they beat us with= rubber hoses and forced us to clean the septic tanks we slept in... If I had my walker, right now, I'd... Umm... what was I talking about? Da= rned Alzheimer's... Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 17:38:55 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Gordon McCormick Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy In-Reply-To: <200002141731.MAA02075@freenet10.carleton.ca>; from au998@FREENET.CARLETON.CA on Mon, Feb 14, 2000 at 12:31:59PM -0500 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Mon, Feb 14, 2000 at 12:31:59PM -0500, Geoff Gander wrote: > Rob wrote: > > >unconsciously I portray Thyatis as being very similar) but I did notice that > >the Glantrian civil service seemed very British to me. > > Really? Where do you think Sir Humphrey would fit into the picture (and > what level mage would he be)? :-) LOL! I love this, must use it somehow :) gordon (Hmmm, there's an invisible stalker called Humphrey...) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 17:43:59 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Gordon McCormick Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy In-Reply-To: ; from jruhlconob@SPRYNET.COM on Mon, Feb 14, 2000 at 03:10:56PM -0500 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Mon, Feb 14, 2000 at 03:10:56PM -0500, Emperor Porphyrogenitus wrote: > > Anyhow, self-evidently the only way to put these things to rest is to resolve them in ways you and I would disagree with, and which are indeed at diametrical odds with the Mystara we know, as described in the published accessories, but that's a small price to pay for peace of mind at this point. 8-) I like the modular design idea, allowing people to pick and choose the alternate bits of Alphatia that they like. I'd suggest that your history of Alphatia may be a useful addition to this project. Good luck! gordon ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 12:47:26 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: military matters Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed I said that Alphatia probably would not attack anyone because that is the commpn beleif of most comments on the re-design project. they say that Alphatia does not have intrest in expantion, and therefore an incress in thier military strength would be a moot point. I was trying to point out that if and when Alphatia attacks anyone, they will have an easy time doing it. in fact I was agreeing with you on the power of Alphatia. Also i take back my comment on dumping 10 million people in Alphatia, I didn't think we were going bask in time to alter reality. you asked for my refrencees to the quotes i used, WofI pg.91 year 1010 and afterwards, under the isle of dawn entery."he(thincol)does dispatch forces under the joint command of his duaghter, princess stephania, and her husband, general anaxibius, to re-take control of newkirk, redstone, and west portage." but he did go on to take dunadale, east portage, ekto, and trikielos. I said he "stole" these land because they belonged to Alphatia before the war,and now that Alphatia is gone, these lands are defenceless making it easy for Thyatis to take them(like taking candy from a baby,kind of like stealing isn't it?).Norwold is ruled by ericall a non-magic using king, it is my belief the Alphatian aristocrats will have nothing to do with norwold. and please inform me on what concuring norwold has done. King. >From: James Ruhland >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] military matters >Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 20:16:50 -0600 > > > > > If we dump 10 million people into Alphatia and incress the military > > strength they problably would not attack anyone. > > >Sez who? > > > > until their imperial > > doctrine changes(remember who started the wrath war?), > > >What is their Imperial doctrine? Their "Imperial Doctrine" is like every >other Imperial Doctrine - spread everywhere one can, until and unless >stopped. > >That's what they're doing in Norwold, right? > > > this change doesn't > > have to be immortale induced. Zandor was King for a day and he seemed >very > > agressive with the military. > > >Correct. See, that is their Imperial Doctrine. Agressive. Zandor was just >more enthusiastic (and insane) about it. > > > > Furthermore, the Glanrians could not stop the > > golden khan, that seemes like a scaled down war between Thyatis and > > Alphatia. > > >Yes, Ethengar now rules Glantri. > > > now that Alphatia sunk, Thyatis is the super-power of the OW, and > > imperialistic Thyatis quickly went on the offencive, their exuse-"to >reclaim > > lost lands duing the wrath war" > > >You used quotation marks. What are you quoting from. Source and page >number, please. > > > > I'm sorry but Thotia, Ekto, and the other > > Dawn nations they "stole"were not theirs before the war. > > >"Stole" from whom? The person who stole 'em first? ("HEY! That's not fair! >Alphatia stole those fair and square!) - Remember, Alphatians aren't even >FROM Mystara. Every foot of Mystara that they occupy is "stolen". Well, >really, all land is "stolen" - the land you're standing on right now IRL >was "stolen" from someone, who most likely "stole" it from someone before >them, etc etc ad infinatum. > >That's life. Deal with it like an adult. > >Also, one other note: some may whine that "Well, Thyatis broke the treaty >that they signed with Eriadna, ending the war." Actually, Thyatis >manifestly did not. Thincol was meticulous in following the letter (if not >entirely the spirit) of that treaty - He did not attack Helskir, or invade >Ochalea and the Pearl Islands. That is what Eriadna demanded of him. It >isn't Thincol's, or Thyatis's, fault if the "Wise" Empress of Alphatia did >not forsee what occured - she probably figured that having beaten Thyatis >it would be no threat to Alphatian territories. Thus the WotI event >describing the treaty makes *no* mention of any provisions that would >prevent Thyatis from attacking any Alphatian territory. Eriadna probably >assumed that her victorious troops were a better guarantee against future >Thyatian attack than any treaty. She was wrong - her mistake. > >Furthermore, at least IRL, treaty's signed with defunct states are >considered "dead letters" anyhow - void in international law. Thus, for >example, arms control treaties between the US and the USSR are only still >in force because the US and Russia signed supplimentary agreements, >agreeing to still follow them. Without such agreements, these treaties >would no longer be valid. By AC 1000, the "Alphatian Empire" is a dead >state (witness by the fact that Zandor had to try and re-conquer areas to >re-create one, and that a new state, analogous I suppose to the CIS - was >ultimately formed, under the banner of the "New Alphatian Empire" - in AC >1013). > >Now, some may say "well, this is Mystara, not Earth, so international law >regarding treaties might not be the same as Earth's" - fine and true. But >there is no good reason to think they are different (and the PWAs you point >to are very clear on the point of Thincol following the terms of the treaty >in any case - see the events related to Helskir) - and folks often toss >around Real World analogies, whether or not they are appropriate. In this >case there is no reason to believe that things regarding treaties differ on >Mystara from what they are on Earth. > > > Also we could not just dump 10 million people into Alphatia, they >would > > have to grow into the new population(to keep the game world consistant). > > >See, that's where you're deemed wrong. The proposal is that those people >were always there to begin with - the proposal is to modify/alter/change >DotE and create new, "revised" totals that people find more acceptable. It >will then be retroactively accepted that they were always there, and the >previous population figures will be slipped down the memory hole. > > > > Alphatia's enemies would see this military build up and respond in > > turn(their own military build up, sabotage, assinations ect.). This >entire > > rant is based after the wrath war, and some of it is from AC 1015. > > >Well, I believe the proposal is to change the populations related to the AC >1000 numbers. AC 1015 is somewhat irrelivant here - Alphatia has no real >"enemies" in AC 1015 (except in the Pogoesque sense, I suppose, though >again this is never emphasized), so there would be no response from anyone. > >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 17:48:04 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Gordon McCormick Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Population Revision (was In-Reply-To: <200002141956.OAA14578@freenet10.carleton.ca>; from au998@FREENET.CARLETON.CA on Mon, Feb 14, 2000 at 02:56:08PM -0500 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Mon, Feb 14, 2000 at 02:56:08PM -0500, Geoff Gander wrote: > > All this to say, and hopefully in a non-offensive manner, that I would > much rather fill in the atrociously long blanks in Alphatian history, and > make it more interesting in the process, to explain things as they stand > now. IMO, it takes a far shorter leap in logic to accept this, than to > just say, "okay, let's bump up the population because the density is to > low right now". It's also more fun! A different number of people noted somewhere in Alphatia doesn't really bother me, but a civil war amongst the elves, that's gonna generate some extra cool background! gordon ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 18:40:09 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: KoRneR Subject: newbie needing a hand MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII hi there all of you. i'm new to the mystara campaign setting so i need some info on where i can find maps (especially those of savage baronies and savage coast, towers, cities etc), adventures taking place in mystara, and i would like to know what are the effects of red curse on goblinoids. thanks in advance.. greetings, KoRneR ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 17:54:04 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Gordon McCormick Subject: Re: NPC's?? In-Reply-To: <14.f2bf71.25d9e01a@aol.com>; from Scoooman@aol.com on Mon, Feb 14, 2000 at 05:47:54PM -0500 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Mon, Feb 14, 2000 at 05:47:54PM -0500, Meltheim Shadowstalker wrote: > I was wondering if anyone on the list would allow me to use them as an NPC in > my campaign? I am looking for interesting, colorful characters if possible. You mean us, or our characters? Mind you I have used as NPC's in my campaigns: The Banditlord, Marco de la Monte The extra-planer wierd dude, Lord Thesien The Darokin Spy, Confiture de Fraise The Alphatian Fleshcrafter, Rotipher :) gordon ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 17:55:06 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Gordon McCormick Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac events layout In-Reply-To: <01BF77C9.F034FEC0@hrz-153-78.access.net.il>; from ohadshm@INTER.NET.IL on Tue, Feb 15, 2000 at 03:31:38PM +0200 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit On Tue, Feb 15, 2000 at 03:31:38PM +0200, ���� ��� wrote: > >That's just my opinion, anybody else has one on this issue? > > OK, I agree about the regional division to be damaging to the feel of the almanac. > BUt dividing it to two parts- HW and OW, is logical for these reasons: Adding a me too here, I don't think the Savage Coast should be seperate, but an outer world - hollow world sounds good to me. gordon ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 12:06:48 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] [Re: [MYSTARA] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > *Sigh* No one remembers Doug Henning... :( > I remember Doug Henning. I hadn't heard he died, though. Shoot, everyone's dying. > "I'm not old; I'm only thirty-seven!" (Actually, 26...) > I think that's "I'm 37. I'm not old." Ericall: "Well, I can't just call you 'man'." Peasant: "Well, you could call me Dennis."' ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 12:06:51 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > I'd suggest that your history of Alphatia may be a useful addition > to this project. > Well, yes - I had thought so, too. "Alphatian History (Revised)" would fit right in there. 8-) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 13:18:29 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: military matters Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed I regards to Norwold. Norwold was invaded by Aphatia a long time ago.this invation was stopped by dragons(it was in a noval I read called "The Dragonlord of Mystara" I would give you more info on the books but I lost them in the flood)that were angered by humans expanding in there lands. but this was back in Alphatia's youth on Mystara, a time when there doctrin was very much to expand.then they changed their doctrine when they felt their empire was large enough, the new doctrine was to strengthen the empire internally so the empire could hold the lands they have. King. >From: James Ruhland >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] military matters >Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 22:07:03 -0600 > > > > > "She was successful in coverting thousands ot her belief, and every city > > and kingdom in the Empire shows signs of this great Alphatian > > preoccupation with making toys and monuments and buildings of brilliant > > design and beauty--and in the continued Alphatian indifference to >military > > matters and questions of imperial expansion." (P7) > > > > Doesn't sound like an empire driven to expand at all costs. And King > > Ericall can't even get the halflings to take him seriously in Norwold. >If > > the Alphatians took it seriously as a dominion, it wouldn't have been > > fobbed off on two of Eriadna's non-aristocrat, not particularly >competent > > children. > > >That, however, is different from the "Imperial Doctrine" - the "Imperial >Doctrine" is definately aimed at expansion. The fact that Myrtendal's >(recent) philosophies undermine such a doctrine does not obviate it. The >difference isn't merely semantic - it in fact is one of the tensions you >yourself have emphasized elsewhere: an Empire, led by an Emperor or >Empress, holding a certain "Imperial Doctrine" - an Imperial Imperative. >This is supported by some aspects of Alphatian society/culture (the view >that others are mere barbarians who's main reason for existing is to >provide cheap slave labor for their Alphatian betters), but undermined by >other aspects of Alphatian society (the indifference of many of its people, >under the influence of Myrtendal and/or others, to military matters and >expantion, their indifference to maintaining their society at all - being >instead more pre-occupied with personal whims and the like - etc). > >The latter does not mean that their is no "Imperial Doctrine" or drive to >expand (Eriadna's "doctrine" includes laying new claim to an area larger >than the entire Thyatian Empire. But the things internal to Alphatia which >undermine that Doctrine means that this "claim" and "expansion" is weake in >reality.) > >It isn't as if Eriadna didn't *want* Norwold (she had it invaded several >years before appointing Ericall to govern it, IIRC) - and as a fringe area >her attitude towards it is certainly that it's a second-rate region >suitable to be governed by her non-spellcasting son. > >But if there was an attitude "indifferent" to large scale expansion, the >project would never have been initiated in 985 at all, nor to stake out >such an extensive and comprehensive claim (the claim indicates Imperial >desire. The reality indicates the strength, or lack theirof, of making this >desire tangible and successful). > >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 12:54:19 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac events layout MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Adding a me too here, I don't think the Savage Coast should be > seperate, but an outer world - hollow world sounds good to me. > Well, let me chime in to agree with what Herve' said: I think all the events should be bundled together. Certainly the surface events shouldn't be divided by region. But I don't think the HW events should be segregated out, either. First: All events are marked by region anyhow. Folks who want to can easily skip over the ones they have minimal interest in by simply scanning the "location" line. Secondly: It's much easier to see how events might relate to each other if they're all in one "group" - IMO, there's already too much of a tendancy to divide Mystara into discrete chunks - but then we really aren't talking about one gameworld, but several. I like having Mystara be one complete gameworld. Oft enough, no explicit connection/interaction occurs between events, but I personally like to see their temporal relationship, so that finding ways to integrate them and have them interact is easier. It'd be much harder for someone to put all the events in one group if they're segrigated by region than it is for people to simply skim over the ones that are of low interest to them. Thirdly, there is growing interaction between the HW and the surface world (heck, people from the HW now commute to boarding school on the surface) - sure, your average Karameikan peasant doesn't know diddly about the Hollow World, but the average Karameikan peasant isn't the target audience of Joshuan Gallidox Publishing anyhow - he can't read. And if he can, he probably doesn't have the time or interest to read the Mystaran Almanac. He probably has only a passing aquaintance with the existance of Ethengar, too - he knows the name "Ethengar," knows they are far away, and *might* know that they're horsemen, but the main thing he knows is that they've never trampled through his crops. That's good enough for him. But, again, he isn't the target audience for the MA. More cosmopolitan folk are: adventurers, travellers, scalliwags, etc. IMO, leave the events as is. We don't really need 24 or 36 or 48 new files separating all of them out by region. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 12:57:53 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Ranma Al'Thor Subject: Re: Solaria? (was Alphatian Population Revision (was Bellissaria)) In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Tue, 15 Feb 2000, David Knott wrote: > > Ah -- so the problem that would stop Asimov's Solaria from being a parallel > to Alphatia is that members of Alphatia's "robot" class are in fact human > and will breed normally unless some other factor intervenes. In fact, if the > Alphatian nobility is being so seriously outbred by the mundaners, it would > not only explain the declining proportion of spellcasters but would suggest > that at some point in the future there will be a violent revolution by those > mundaners when they realize that there are not enough arcaners left to > keep them under control. > Also, Alphatians have many large cities and don't mind seeing each other face to face; they're not pathological. John Walter Biles : MA-History, ABD, Ph.D Candidate at U. Kansas ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu rhea@tass.org http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html rhea@maison-otaku.net http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/ "The connection is so abstract, that we have people whose job it is to make sure the paperwork doesn't get totally disconnected from the world. Theoretically, I handle millions of dollars a day, but it is less real than this e-mail. I have never seen our product. I have never seen the sales people. I have never seen a customer." --Robert Lane describes his work as an accountant. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 12:58:01 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: military matters MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I regards to Norwold. > Norwold was invaded by Aphatia a long time ago.this invation was stopped by > dragons(it was in a noval I read called "The Dragonlord of Mystara" I would > give you more info on the books but I lost them in the flood)that were > angered by humans expanding in there lands. but this was back in Alphatia's > youth on Mystara, a time when there doctrin was very much to expand.then > they changed their doctrine when they felt their empire was large enough, > the new doctrine was to strengthen the empire internally so the empire could > hold the lands they have. > Au Contrare: Then they invaded again, in 985 (violating the treaty with the Dragons), laying new claim to the region and obviously planning on conquering it for their Empire. See DotE, DMSB, "DM's Historical Synopsis". ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 13:04:06 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: military matters MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > > Au Contrare: > Crap. I meant to send that to Bill Manley privately like I did my reply to his previous message on the same topic. My mistake. Broke my word. Sorry. Since the damage is done & I'm sending this as a result, I may as well send that reply to the list as well. And make a new promise, that hopefully I'll be better at keeping, to let this be the last one: Replying to you privately on this since I promised I wouldn't reply to it on the list anymore. > > I said that Alphatia probably would not attack anyone because that is > commpn beleif of most comments on the re-design project. they say that > Alphatia does not have intrest in expantion, and therefore an incress in > thier military strength would be a moot point. I was trying to point out > that if and when Alphatia attacks anyone, they will have an easy time > doing it. in fact I was agreeing with you on the power of Alphatia. > Ok. Well, I misunderstood that part, then. Sorry. > > dunadale, east portage, ekto, and trikielos. I said he "stole" these land > because they belonged to Alphatia before the war,and now that Alphatia is > gone, these lands are defenceless making it easy for Thyatis to take > them(like taking candy from a baby,kind of like stealing isn't it?). > Well, that's life in the pond, like I said. Sure, all these lands had previously been stolen fair and square by Alphatia, and before then by Nithia, and before then - who knows. They might have been a part of Blackmoor at one time, and before then the (original) Thonian Empire. And, as Empires become that way by expanding, they probably belonged to some poor dumb tribesmen before then. The Alphatians and Thyatians stole parts of Alaysia from the folk who lived there, who then later stole it back. That's just life. > Norwold > is ruled by ericall a non-magic using king, it is my belief the Alphatian > aristocrats will have nothing to do with norwold. and please inform me on > what concuring norwold has done. > Eriadna certainly had something to do with it, didn't she? And she's a spellcasting noble. As for what it's done (shocked, breathless look) - why, it's stolen land from the indigeinous tribes! (Man the barricades!) Again, that's life. But from an objective point of view there is no fundimental moral difference between the activities. Conquest is conquest. At least in Thincol's case, Alphatians and Thyatians are enemies - Alphatia had no trouble with the idea of invading Thyatis, so I can't see why people should then think it so shocking that the Thyatians returned the favor first chance they got. That's how enemies act towards each other. Suck it up. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 11:12:05 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Organization: strawberryJAMM Designs Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Gordon McCormick wrote: > On Mon, Feb 14, 2000 at 05:47:54PM -0500, Meltheim Shadowstalker wrote: > > I was wondering if anyone on the list would allow me to use them as an NPC in > > my campaign? I am looking for interesting, colorful characters if possible. > > You mean us, or our characters? Mind you I have used as NPC's in my > campaigns: > > The Banditlord, Marco de la Monte > The extra-planer wierd dude, Lord Thesien > The Darokin Spy, Confiture de Fraise > The Alphatian Fleshcrafter, Rotipher I'm so flattered, Gordon!!! ;-) You wouldn't, by any chance, be willing to spare some time to send me the details of "The Darokin Spy, Confiture de Fraise", would you? :-D Jenni A. M. Merrifield -=> strawberryJAMM <=- -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield <==> strawberryJAMM Designs strawberry@jamm.com <==> http://www.jamm.com/jamm/ <------------------------------------------------------------------> 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!" ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 19:12:37 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >> 1. While the 17th level fighter next to me beat the crap out of everybody >> with barely a scratch. While mages are hard they arent the be all and end >> all. >How'd you manage that, the only time I see high level wizards getting killed >in such circumstances is because they can't use their spells in feat of >huting their allies. Simple. We were ambushed, I was dispelled and had the crap kicked out of me. 46 hit points and armour class 7 does not cut it. (Shameless plug - the character is even on the Net for your perusal - http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/rmunch/estrin.htm ) I have to say that previously when the party fighter was dominated and went for us, we all very nearly died. He was unstoppable. Too many hit points to drop with invocation, and he was a dwarf which made him immune to direct attack spells. Sure, theres contingency and the ability to run away, but thats not a win, thats a tie at best. I do wonder what you play. A level 18 mage has 35 hit points, or thereabouts. If he gets caught out, he's dead, simple as that. >Because Mages weren't interested in getting involved. Which is WHY Alphatia >and Thyatis are equals, Alphatia doesn't live up to it's potential. No, as it is described it is a conflict of ideologies. Law versus Chaos, Fighters versus Mages. The magical Empire of Alphatia versus the militaristic Empire of Thyatis. Reading DoE will reveal that. Cheers Rob ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 19:14:42 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----->LOL! I love this, must use it somehow :) > >gordon > >(Hmmm, there's an invisible stalker called Humphrey...) Could be worse. In my game there was a guardian tanar 'ri called Jeeves who wore a suit and a bowler hat. Cheers Rob ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 13:13:02 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Various Short Responses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ---------- > From: Michael III Mysteria : > > I have my own ideas, but I'd like to hear the ideas of others too, and I > must say that they're influencing my thinking. > Ok. Fair enough. 8-) > > The section says that the Alphatians have a very practical sense about > military matters, they let the miliotary commanders do whatever is > necessary, not requiring them to carry out useless tasks. > See, then what you were saying wasn't a "quote" in any sense at all. What you're saying is speculative interpretation, which may or may not be valid, but it's far from being a "quote from DotE." Also, it *doesn't* say that "The Alphatians have a very practical sense about military matters," it says that the military forces are "very practical in the choice of weapons" - which isn't the same thing. Again, you might interpret it along those lines, but it's hard to read that section and be comforted in the knowlege that Alphatia's rulers are great military leaders (they just barely manage not to arm their troops with bagpipes and daggers, saved from such a fate because of the disinterest of their nobility in such matters. Bully for them!) > How'd you manage that, the only time I see high level wizards getting killed > in such circumstances is because they can't use their spells in feat of > huting their allies. > Mages, Mages, Uber Alles. . . Don't make me re-start my thread on Mages. You'll regret it. Maybie not today. Maybie not tommorrow. But soon, and for the rest of your life. (ok, you probably won't regret it, or at least not that much. I just wanted to use that Casablanca quote). ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:16:53 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: newbie needing a hand Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed The Poor Wizards Almanace(PWA),the box set Red Curse,these are just off the top of my head. King. "My Lord, How many people live in Alphatia?" -A question lots of Alphatian slaves ask their masters. >From: KoRneR >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: [MYSTARA] newbie needing a hand >Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 18:40:09 +0100 > >hi there all of you. i'm new to the mystara campaign setting so i need >some info on where i can find maps (especially those of savage baronies >and savage coast, towers, cities etc), adventures taking place in mystara, >and i would like to know what are the effects of red curse on >goblinoids. thanks in advance.. > > greetings, > KoRneR > >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:27:40 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: military matters Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Could anybody tell me were to get a copy of the DMSB, or at least the highlights? King. >From: James Ruhland >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] military matters >Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 12:58:01 -0600 > > > I regards to Norwold. > > Norwold was invaded by Aphatia a long time ago.this invation was stopped >by > > dragons(it was in a noval I read called "The Dragonlord of Mystara" I >would > > give you more info on the books but I lost them in the flood)that were > > angered by humans expanding in there lands. but this was back in >Alphatia's > > youth on Mystara, a time when there doctrin was very much to expand.then > > they changed their doctrine when they felt their empire was large >enough, > > the new doctrine was to strengthen the empire internally so the empire >could > > hold the lands they have. > > >Au Contrare: > Then they invaded again, in 985 (violating the treaty with the >Dragons), >laying new claim to the region and obviously planning on conquering it for >their Empire. See DotE, DMSB, "DM's Historical Synopsis". > >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 13:29:48 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Ranma Al'Thor Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy In-Reply-To: <20000215.085836.-131683.0.anowack@juno.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Tue, 15 Feb 2000, Aaron E Nowack wrote: > Or else how did Thyatis get independance? Canon shows that the > Alphatians were _very_ interested in keeping in control of their little > gold-speckled foothold on Brun. Yet not only did the Thyatians kick out > the Alphers, they then sucessfully invaded Alphatian territory, and > forced the Alphers to cede a _huge_ chunk of the Empire to them. All > this, _before_ the Thyatians had a large well-trained, well-led army. > It also shows that at that time the Alphatians were in a severe state of decline, that the Council of a Thousand Wizards was largely in a zzonga dulled haze, that the army was full of barbarian mercenaries who cared nothing for Alphatia, and that in general, the Alphatians were in a state of utter and total pathos. If Modern Thyatis had existed in 0 AC, it would have probably been able to crush the Alphatians entirely because they had reached a state of being total losers. Modern Alphatia and Modern Thyatis are both much stronger than either of them was in 0 AC. John Walter Biles : MA-History, ABD, Ph.D Candidate at U. Kansas ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu rhea@tass.org http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html rhea@maison-otaku.net http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/ "The connection is so abstract, that we have people whose job it is to make sure the paperwork doesn't get totally disconnected from the world. Theoretically, I handle millions of dollars a day, but it is less real than this e-mail. I have never seen our product. I have never seen the sales people. I have never seen a customer." --Robert Lane describes his work as an accountant. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:50:51 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: abbriviations Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed I don't know all the abb. that everybody are using some i'm starting a list of these abb. PWA:poor wizards almanace DofE:dawn of the emperors box set WotI:wrath of the immortals IMO:? Please add to this list(limit them to D&D and Mystara refrences only) thank you King. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 20:54:35 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: Various Short Responses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > See, then what you were saying wasn't a "quote" in any sense at all. What > you're saying is speculative interpretation, which may or may not be valid, > but it's far from being a "quote from DotE." > Also, it *doesn't* say that "The Alphatians have a very practical sense > about military matters," it says that the military forces are "very > practical in the choice of weapons" - which isn't the same thing. Again, > you might interpret it along those lines, but it's hard to read that > section and be comforted in the knowlege that Alphatia's rulers are great > military leaders (they just barely manage not to arm their troops with > bagpipes and daggers, saved from such a fate because of the disinterest of > their nobility in such matters. Bully for them!) > Don't make me re-start my thread on Mages. You'll regret it. Maybie not today. Maybie not tommorrow. But soon, and for the rest of your life. (ok, you probably won't regret it, or at least not that much. I just wanted to use that Casablanca quote). I don't think I would regret that so you can dispense with the bullying, but if you insist on creating a whimp empire in your campaign, that's fine by me, but canon material proves the contrary to be true Nore am I wizard or Alphatia "horny" so to speak, but I feel that too many people are insisting on protecting their "pet-empire" thyatis. Alphatia should be see as a sleeping giant, or better yet a comatose giant, harmless if left alone, but don't awaken their full potential by trying to attack the mainland. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 21:02:25 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Re: newbie needing a hand MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit for the maps you can find them on my site http://www.mystara.com.bi or on Ironwolf's http://users.ewa.net/ironwolf/ as for the ressources on the effects of the red curse my page can also help you out, under the rule section -- Thibault Sarlat ICQ 16622177. My other adress is tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr Homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Pour rejoindre la Mystara mailing liste francophone, rendez-vous sur ma page de garde en bas. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 21:07:37 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Re: abbriviations MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit there are also CoM = Champions of Mystara MoA = mark of Amber HW= Hollow world VotPA= Voyage of the Princess Ark (series of articles published in Dragon magazine). SC= Savage Coast AS= Alphatian Sea for the rest check out the list of acronyms at Shawn's site or find most of them in the PWA1016. -- Thibault Sarlat ICQ 16622177. My other adress is tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr Homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Pour rejoindre la Mystara mailing liste francophone, rendez-vous sur ma page de garde en bas. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 21:03:27 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Re: abbriviations MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In My Opinion IMHO (variation) = in my humble opinion. -- Thibault Sarlat ICQ 16622177. My other adress is tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr Homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Pour rejoindre la Mystara mailing liste francophone, rendez-vous sur ma page de garde en bas. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:12:30 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Various Short Responses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > I don't think I would regret that so you can dispense with the bullying, > Oh, pooh! That was said in fun - like I said in my own post, I just wanted to use that quote. Gimmie a break! > if you insist on creating a whimp empire in your campaign, that's fine by > me, but canon material proves the contrary to be true > It's not a "wimp" empire - but canon materiel, especially DotE, "proves" that Thyatis and Alphatia are more or less matched in might and that they tend to avoid major wars because it could devistate both Empires. It doesn't "prove" that Alphatia is peerless in power and everyone else vastly inferior, as some seem to claim. > Nore am I wizard or Alphatia "horny" so to speak, but I feel that too many > people are insisting on protecting their "pet-empire" thyatis. > *shrug* - Well, your website shows your interests & preferences just as mine shows mine. So much for that. Second - these threads are at least as much about people protecting their "pet-empire" Alphatia as the obverse; insisting on depicting it as unmatchably powerful, claiming that DotE "insists" that its army is of high quality, etc. So please don't throw stones through our windows if you also live in a glass house. Anyhow, the point of this isn't to get acrimonious about things - right now you're frustrated and venting, and I've done that before, too. We should all just relax a bit - the discussion has been interesting, has it not? If it hasn't, then it should end. If it's becoming frustrating, then it should end. If everything that can be said has been, then it should end for that reason. But no sense in getting all worked up - we might not all be friends here, but we're all gaming collegues with mutual interest in Mystara, sharing our points of view with everyone else. If anyone (and I'm not talking about Mysteria specifically here) expects people who disagree with their point of view to just stay silent and not express their own opinion, then their on the wrong list. Then, if I may say so, they shouldn't be on a mailing list to begin with, because mailing lists are about exchanges of ideas and points of views - some of which (in fact, many of which) will be different from yours. . .or from mine. That's something I try to remember, but have to keep reminding myself of as well. Anyhow, it's becoming apparent to me at least that some folks are starting to take this discussion personally (which is why I kept my previous post on the subject brief and didn't respond to every little thing), so perhaps it's time to wind it up and move on to new topics for awhile. I'm sure we'll get back to this (it always comes back), but a pause might be in order. 8-) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:15:57 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: abbriviations MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > PWA:poor wizards almanace > DofE:dawn of the emperors box set > WotI:wrath of the immortals > IMO:? > IMO is "In My Opinion" IMHO is "In My Humble Opinion" - but hardly anyone on this list has a "humble" opinion, which leads to the following: IMNSHO, which is "In My Not So Humble Opinion". ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 12:34:06 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: Hollow World MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yeah, I know how you feel, Geoff. I was lucky my dad has nearly the whole run of the 11th printing of Tarzan novels, and I actually found a used copy of "At the Earth's Core" at a used bookstore in town. Don't give up, though! Used books are a high turnover area in busy cities. IronWolf Geoff Gander wrote: > > James wrote: > > >I'm unfortunately not familiar with Pellucidar - is that a book or > >something? You piqued my curiousity 8-). > > Yep - Pellucidar was a series of novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs > (of Tarzan and John Carter of Mars fame). Sharon Dornhoff used them to > some extent in her Hollow Moon work, and I've been trying to find some > copies of the Pellucidar series for well over a year now. None of the > bookstores (new or used) seem to have any copies where I am. *sigh* > > Geoff > > -- > Geoff Gander, BA 97 > Cartographer/Game Designer/Government Peon > Carnifex Loremaster > au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 12:35:21 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: newbie needing a hand MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Well, as it happens, I've got several maps of the Savage Coast region on my site, as well as my campaign logs. Have a look! IronWolf http://users.ewa.net/ironwolf/ KoRneR wrote: > > hi there all of you. i'm new to the mystara campaign setting so i need > some info on where i can find maps (especially those of savage baronies > and savage coast, towers, cities etc), adventures taking place in mystara, > and i would like to know what are the effects of red curse on > goblinoids. thanks in advance.. > > greetings, > KoRneR > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 21:39:00 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Giovanni Porpora Subject: GPD site update MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi all, the GPD site has been updated. Here's what our webmonster has to tell us ;) "There are schedules including the neat slots hanging around in the university with a plenty of time to update the pages. And then there are schedules with not. And then there are updating intervals of three weeks. Added Wilhelmine Vlaardoen. Lost her spells on the way, though... Added Lucrezia di Malapietra and spells. Added the description of Viscounty of Verrazzano under Griseo Fulvina. There will be literacy, short stories and such, in the future. I'd appreciate feedback on how these pages work on your screen -- the quotes or the subtitles might be messy on a very low resolution." check these and more at http://sato.helsinki.fi/~montola.valt/mystara/index.htm Bye Giovanni ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:56:23 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Geoff Gander Subject: [GANDERG@tc.gc.ca: MML Working Groups (v 2.4)] ================= Begin forwarded message ================= From: GANDERG@tc.gc.ca ("Gander, Geoff") To: au998@freenet.carleton.ca ("'Me'") Subject: MML Working Groups (v 2.4) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 11:21:52 -0500 The Working Groups of the Mystara Mailing List (v 2.4) compiled by Geoff Gander, with help from Herv� Musseau, Fabrizio Paoli, and Marco Dalmonte Mystaran Net Almanac Continuing where the Poor Wizard's Almanacs and Joshuan's Almanac left off, a small group of dedicated Mystara fans has kept the idea of this publication alive. Each year an issue is released, detailling the various events that happen in Mystara for a given year, as well as providing details on new nations, and important developments. If you wish to take part in this production, feel free to contact the following people for more information: Alphatian Sea: Herv� Musseau (herve@hotmail.com) Hollow World: Thorfinn Tait (Rathanos@velvia,demon.co.uk), or Herv� Musseau (herve@hotmail.com) Isle of Dawn: Andrew Theisen (jsmill@imap1.asu.edu), or Herve Musseau (herve@hotmail.com) Davania: Geoff Gander (ganderg@tc.gc.ca) Norwold: Marco Dalmonte (mdalmonte@hotmail.com), or Herv� Musseau (herve@hotmail.com) Wendar/Denagoth: Marco Dalmonte (mdalmonte@hotmail.com) Old World: Michael Roy (mroy@cyberus.ca) (Heldannic Knights): Geoff Gander (ganderg@tc.gc.ca) (Shadow Elves): Fabrizio Paoli (brizio@lunet.it) (Goblinoids): Andrew Theisen (jsmill@imap1.asu.edu) (Atruaghin): Andrew Theisen (jsmill@imap1.asu.edu) Savage Coast: Michael Roy (mroy@cyberus.ca) (City-States): Fabrizio Paoli (brizio@lunet.it) (Hule): Fabrizio Paoli (brizio@lunet.it) (Yavdlom): Fabrizio Paoli (brizio@lunet.it) and Geoff Gander (ganderg@tc.gc.ca) (Gombar/Suma'a) Shawn Stanley (shawn@leme.anu.edu.au) Economica Fabrizio Paoli (brizio@lunet.it) Cynidicea Working Group B4 - The Lost City. This classic adventure details the lost, underground city of Cynidicea, a realm of bizarre inhabitants and fierce otherworldly beings. The members of this group feel that much more can be had from this scenario than what is already written, and they are working to both add extra details, and expand the adventure into a full-scale campaign setting for all levels of play. Interested? We're wrapping this project up, but email Geoff Gander (au998@freenet.carleton.ca) for more information. SaveMystara Working Group Although Mystara products are no longer produced by TSR, some members of this list are dedicated to bringing it back. Using petitions, home-written adventures to be published by the RPGA, and other means, these people are diligently trying to get our favourite campaign world published once again. Want to join in on the action? We can always use an extra hand! Contact Jeff Daly (jdaly@friend.ly.net) for more information. Alphatian Gazetteers Alphatia, empire of intrigue and mystery. In all of TSR's official products concerning this vast empire, very little information was actually given concerning what goes on in the various kingdoms that comprise this great empire, or even what these kingdoms are like. This group is trying to change this by writing up short gazetteers describing the various cities of each of these kingdoms, major political players, as well as a general feel for what each of these realms is like. There's plenty of room for your imagination here, and there is so much left to do! Contact Jeff Daly (jdaly@friend.ly.net) or Geoff Gander (au998@freenet.carleton.ca) for more information. Ancient Mystara Although "official" sources say the first great civilisation was Blackmoor, some sages realise that this is not so. Great empires and heroes flourished, and fell, in a time long before the men of Blackmoor placed stone upon stone. What remains of these ancient realms today? Do the obsidian spires of ancient Y'hog still rise high, somewhere beneath the seas, do the men of fabled Lhomarr still live upon this world, and what of the great artifacts of yore that were lost in those ancient times? If you are interested in adding more detail to a Mystara of long ago, or of creating remnants of that time for the present day, send an email to Geoff Gander (au998@freenet.carleton.ca), Matt Levy (mlevy@orion.oac.uci.edu), or James Mishler (mystaros@aol.com). Davania Team Davania, the forgotten continent. This phrase no longer applies, as year by year more explorers bravely head south, probing deeper into forgotten jungles and hellish deserts, uncovering remnants of empires long dead, and those still living. These are realms beyond the knowledge of even the brightest sages, different from those of the "Known World." We've already finished one DM's guidebook already, and another is in the works. If you are interested in developing new cultures or ideas for this fascinating continent, contact Geoff Gander (au998@freenet.carleton.ca) for more information. Underocean What lurks under the seas of Mystara? Far more than a realm of the deeps, Underocean is home to a vast range of interesting races and cultures. Witness the turmoil as the kingdoms of the merrow and the tritons fight off insidious hordes of devilfish, observe the aquatic elves fashion wonders only dreamed of by land dwellers. While the lands of Mystara are vast, those lying under the sea are still greater. Join Aaron Nowack (anowack@juno.com) as he plumbs the depths on the world. If you are interested in helping out, drop him an email... Mystaraspace Project Does Mystara have its own Green Men? This group of discussion is trying to find out! Join it to flesh out the planets and the secrets of Mystara's Voidspace, linking it with other canonical and new sources for both Mystara and other TSR settings. Knowledge of Spelljammer is good but not required: what you should bring here is Fantasy and Unlimited Imagination! Contact Marco Dalmonte (mdalmonte@hotmail.com). Cyclopaedia Mystara The goal is to develop a comprehensive encyclopaedia of the world, consisting of articles indexed alphabetically and topically. Topics will range from continents and empires down to villages, NPCs, and magic items. Hopefully much of the existing information created by the MML can be incorporated, and the encyclopaedia will also link to individual websites to provide contrasting viewpoints on various subjects. Finally, it will provide extensive references to canon material published by TSR, as well as fan-created articles, so will serve as a one-stop index for all information related to a given topic. We have also been discussing the possibility of "donating" the finished work to TSR for reference and possible inclusion in future Mystara products. We'd appreciate your discussion here on the list; we are still working out the format, content, and legal details. Also if anyone wants to volunteer to coordinate a particular topic, or wants to contribute articles, please contact Mike Harvey (bing@iccom.com). Hollow World References This group aims to provide additional detail on the various cultures of the Hollow World, in the form of gazetteer reference documents. Basic socio-cultural aspects of each people will be covered, as well as NPCs, and other interesting information to aid the DM in fleshing out these hitherto undetailled areas. If you are interested in contributing to this group as a writer, or just helping out, contact Mischa Gelman (megst19+@pitt.edu). The Immortal Project The Immortal Project is aiming to describe all Immortals of Mystara in the format of Faiths & Avatars - a detailled description which tells briefly about each Immortal's priesthood, granted spells and powers, dogma, rituals, church activities, worshipper bases, etc. Contact Aleksei Andrievski (solmyr@kolumbus.fi) for more information. The Ambassadors Project What the ambassador project is trying to do is to give a bank of Mystaran NPCs for that too often ignored archetype - the ambassador. What we started with, is listing the ambassadors known in canon, and then we started giving a general idea of common characteristics of ambassadors from different nations in the Known World (and that is to be the focus at the present time). Specific NPCs are still nonexistent. The idea is for people to read the guidelines and send in NPCs they wrote up themselves in order to fill in the blanks. Contact Ohad Shaham (ohadshm@inter.net.il) for more information. The Nightmare Project What dark secrets exist in the spaces between the stars, in forgotten tomes hidden far from the sight of mortals? Can it be that the Immortals themselves are not the ultimate powers in the multiverse? Half-forgotten legends, and suggestive glimpses of things rarely seen by most eyes, point to a more ominous, darker conclusion regarding the assumptions we have concerning the world of Mystara. Not all things are as they seem... Contact Guilio Caroletti (scarole@tin.it) for more information. -- Geoff Gander, BA 97 Cartographer/Game Designer/Government Peon Carnifex Loremaster au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 22:43:31 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Re: newbie needing a hand MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > King. > > "My Lord, How many people live in Alphatia?" > -A question lots of Alphatian slaves ask their masters. LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL Hey, haven't I seen you before in Port Lucinius? You're Thyatian, huh, aren't ya? Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis BTW: Did you vote for my Poll: Preferred NAtion? E-mail me personally with your vote!! ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 22:45:25 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" ha scritto: > > > > The Banditlord, Marco de la Monte > > The extra-planer wierd dude, Lord Thesien > > The Darokin Spy, Confiture de Fraise > > The Alphatian Fleshcrafter, Rotipher > > I'm so flattered, Gordon!!! ;-) > > You wouldn't, by any chance, be willing to spare some time to send me the > details of "The Darokin Spy, Confiture de Fraise", would you? :-D > Why not to us all? Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 23:00:37 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: Various Short Responses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Oh, pooh! That was said in fun - like I said in my own post, I just wanted > to use that quote. Gimmie a break! The response concerned this: See, then what you were saying wasn't a "quote" in any sense at all. What you're saying is speculative interpretation, which may or may not be valid, but it's far from being a "quote from DotE." But the discussion is starting to repeat itself and is losing relevance. So no hard feelings on my part. > It's not a "wimp" empire - but canon materiel, especially DotE, "proves" > that Thyatis and Alphatia are more or less matched in might and that they > tend to avoid major wars because it could devistate both Empires. It > doesn't "prove" that Alphatia is peerless in power and everyone else vastly > inferior, as some seem to claim. If we agree they're equal in power, then this implies that the Alphatian Military is far from trash. Since Thyatis is the leanest, meanest fighting machine in the KW. But anyway as long as everyone is happy with their own campaign. I'll just put up the WotI PWA I come up with, suggest a couple of things for High- Medium- and Low Power Alphatia campaigns and as long as everybody enjoys it, they can do with it what they want. > > Nore am I wizard or Alphatia "horny" so to speak, but I feel that too > many > > people are insisting on protecting their "pet-empire" thyatis. > > > *shrug* - Well, your website shows your interests & preferences just as > mine shows mine. So much for that. Shows my interest in Thyatis, Ylaruam, Elves, Magic etc then too. In fact my primary interest has always been elves (Tolkien's Silmarillion is my fave) I just happen to like warlike campaigns, so in my campaign not only is Alphatia very powerful potentially, Thyatis is more poweful too. > Second - these threads are at least as much about people protecting their > "pet-empire" Alphatia as the obverse; insisting on depicting it as > unmatchably powerful, claiming that DotE "insists" that its army is of hig h > quality, etc. So please don't throw stones through our windows if you also > live in a glass house. True, but I just wanted to make the point that many people accuse others of trying to make Alphatia too powerful, while the reverse is also true, many people try to marginalize Alphatia too. (You know, the pot and the kettle and stuff) > Anyhow, the point of this isn't to get acrimonious about things - right > now you're frustrated and venting, and I've done that before, too. No, I'm cool, (long bla bla story deleted on second thought).... >We > should all just relax a bit - the discussion has been interesting, has it > not? If it hasn't, then it should end. If it's becoming frustrating, then > it should end. If everything that can be said has been, then it should end > for that reason. I've proposed that before too, but e-mails still pop up that seem written so as do demand a response or otherwise claim some sort of victory, now I've already surpressed the desire to respond to some mails, but I can't do that for all. > But no sense in getting all worked up - we might not all be friends here, > but we're all gaming collegues with mutual interest in Mystara, sharing our > points of view with everyone else. No hard feelings on my account, I've found the discussion very interesting, no good discussion without a little passion behind it. And regarding the "no friends" thing, I certainly hope that a little heated discussion causes people to think of anyone, anyone at all, as an enemy on this list, we're all interested in the same goals, a lively and multi-faceted Mystara and the mailing list is a very good tool to achieve this. > If anyone (and I'm not talking about Mysteria specifically here) expects > people who disagree with their point of view to just stay silent and not > express their own opinion, then their on the wrong list. Then, if I may say > so, they shouldn't be on a mailing list to begin with, because mailing > lists are about exchanges of ideas and points of views - some of which (in > fact, many of which) will be different from yours. . .or from mine. That's > something I try to remember, but have to keep reminding myself of as well. That's why the discussion keeps going on, I feel. > Anyhow, it's becoming apparent to me at least that some folks are starting > to take this discussion personally (which is why I kept my previous post on > the subject brief and didn't respond to every little thing), so perhaps > it's time to wind it up and move on to new topics for awhile. I'm sure > we'll get back to this (it always comes back), but a pause might be in > order. That tends to happen when people feel strongly about something and so we all need to tread lightly. To many more fruitful discussions, Down the Hatch. Michael III Mysteria ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 23:02:42 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Why not let everyone submit an npc-charicature of themselves to be used in the PWA (possibly)? ----- Original Message ----- From: Caroletti To: Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2000 10:45 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] NPC's?? > "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" ha scritto: > > > > > > > The Banditlord, Marco de la Monte > > > The extra-planer wierd dude, Lord Thesien > > > The Darokin Spy, Confiture de Fraise > > > The Alphatian Fleshcrafter, Rotipher > > > > I'm so flattered, Gordon!!! ;-) > > > > You wouldn't, by any chance, be willing to spare some time to send me the > > details of "The Darokin Spy, Confiture de Fraise", would you? :-D > > > > Why not to us all? > > Iulius Sergius Scaevola > Captain of the XXth Cohort > Port Lucinius, Thyatis > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 23:33:53 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Solmyr of the Azure Star Subject: Re: Alphatia Re-Design Project MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit IronWolf wrote: > > I love Mystara. I love gaming in it. But ongoing arguments and discussions about > aspects that do not directly relate to gameplay I don't enjoy, because I like > PLAYING the game. Most players are not going to say "Hey! I just realized that > the population of this city/region is far lower given it's size ratio! I feel > gyped and I don't want to play anymore!" If you're working on something for war, > like the size of armies, number of conscriptions available, that's cool, but > most players are not going to care about such things. > Well, some of us like to tinker with details of our game world, even if those details don't directly come into gameplay. I for example am developing the cultural progression of my own campaign world (i.e. when was the first alphabet invented, who used cavalry for the first time, etc). To me, such details are what makes the world feel more real, living, and growing. -- ****************** Aleksei Andrievski aka Solmyr, Archmage of the Azure Star solmyr@kolumbus.fi http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/2198/index.html ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 16:38:46 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Short Response MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I've proposed that before too, but e-mails still pop up that seem written so > as do demand a response or otherwise claim some sort of victory, now I've > already surpressed the desire to respond to some mails, but I can't do that > for all. > Well, I can commiserate with you on that score - that's one reason I keep responding in threads that I tell myself, or the list, that I shouldn't or won't reply in any more - someone says something that "demands a response" or &tc, and I can't surpress my desire to respond all the time, either. 8-) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 00:38:12 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=E0=E9=EC=EF_=F9=E7=ED?= Subject: Re: [GANDERG@tc.gc.ca: MML Working Groups (v 2.4)] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Is there a particular reason for the lack of mention to the most active project in the list? The GPD???!!! Contact Marcus Montola for details. Morphail (Ohad Shaham) "and crawling on the planet's face, some insects called the human race. Lost in time, lost in space and meaning..." Last words from the Rocky Horror Picture Show Visit the dark prince of Boldavia at- http://www.geocities.com/morphail_o/ ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 18:11:45 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: newbie needing a hand Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed as a matter of fact yes, I an Thyatian. Karnarius Demitrian, Thyatian soldier inthe XIVth cohort. King. >From: Caroletti >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] newbie needing a hand >Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 22:43:31 +0100 > > > > > King. > > > > "My Lord, How many people live in Alphatia?" > > -A question lots of Alphatian slaves ask their masters. > >LOL >LOL >LOL >LOL >LOL >LOL >LOL >LOL >LOL >Hey, haven't I seen you before in Port Lucinius? You're Thyatian, huh, >aren't ya? > >Iulius Sergius Scaevola >Captain of the XXth Cohort >Port Lucinius, Thyatis > >BTW: Did you vote for my Poll: Preferred NAtion? E-mail me personally >with your vote!! > >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:11:36 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: New Artifact MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Here's a new artifact I intend to introduce in a future adventure. Thought I would share it. Enjoy! IronWolf The Pellucid Sphere Appearance: This artifact appears to be a solid sphere fashioned of a mirror-like metal, roughly 1' in diameter. The surface reflects all light and darkness perfectly. Along the circumference and axis are two narrow bands about 1" wide with slightly translucent symbols of unknown origin. These bands can be moved if a finger is moved along them, rotating the symbols around the circumference. The sphere is cool to the touch and pristine; no fingerprints or any foreign matter sticks to its surface. History: The Pellucid Sphere is one of the most powerful and least well-known artifacts of Mystara. It was constructed by the four Immortal Hierarchs Ka, Ixion, Ordana, and Korotiku long ago when the Hollow World was under construction. Although Immortal magic functioned without trouble between the outer and inner crusts, Korotiku had proposed that an artifact be fashioned so that the mortals who maintained the Lighthouse could travel quickly and easily between the two worlds. The result was the Pellucid Sphere. The Entropic Immortal Atzanteotl had other plans, though. He arranged for a Schattenalfen elf party to raid the Lighthouse to retrieve the artifact. The raid was successful, although only one elf escaped alive with the sphere. However, he never returned to his people, and the sphere has been lost since. Some rumors hold that a Heldannic warship found the sphere and brought it to the outer world, another says it was sold to one of the pirate captains of the Merry seas, and was lost overboard in a storm. All the Immortals are very interested in recovering the artifact for their own designs, although it is well known the Hierarchs will want it returned to the Lighthouse eventually. Alignment: Chaotic Neutral. Although the sphere is not evil or good, as sentients perceive it, its power represents the twisting of laws, the breaking of the World Shield itself. For this reason it is inherently chaotic in nature. Minor Powers: The sphere acts as a continual light spell unless it is recharging, so long as it reflects a location that is bright. It all has the following spell-like abilities that it can use three times a day: dimension door, teleport, passwall, phase door, and teleport without error. These abilities are usable anywhere, including the Hollow World. Major Powers: The greatest power of the Sphere is its ability to teleport to anywhere in the world of Mystara, either the outer or inner worlds. It can also teleport to either of Mystara's moons. This is accomplished by moving the two bands so that particular symbols align (There are far more symbols than the circumference suggests.) The two bands move automatically at an almost imperceptible rate as one moves with the sphere, the reflection upon its surface always mirroring it's location. If the bands are moved manually, the reflected surface changes to the location. It will shine even in absence of light. The two bands control the latitude and longitude of the sphere's location. The third control is not readily apparent; the two bands are also movable as a set, which will alter the location of the sphere to the Outer World, Hollow World, Matera, or Patera. (Although all of the last's locations will make the dome appear completely translucent, like a ball of glass.) The teleportation power is invoked through empathic thought, and will teleport all living creatures within 30' radius of the sphere in a blinding dome of light that grows out of the sphere. The dome takes three rounds to reach maximum size, and acts as total anti-magic and is impervious to physical blows. It is possible during this process to alter the bands and change the location, although it is dangerous to do so. Any and all living beings within the dome must make a system shock roll or pass out for 1d6 turns upon being teleported. This power can only be used once a week; the sphere will be cold and dark as obsidian until it recharges. Dangers: The sphere is a hated artifact of the Entropic Immortals, who had no part in its creation, as well as being coveted by many of the learned of both worlds. In addition, the Immortals of the other spheres all wish to return the sphere to the Lighthouse, where it originally was kept. Unless the owners hold the sphere with the permission and understanding of the Hierarchs, it is likely they will be facing many of their minions. Corrupting Effects: Any who use the sphere more than three times will begin suffering from a displacement effect. Constitution will drop by one point each further time the sphere is used, these lost attributes can only be restored through a wish. The chaos of movement over vast distances will corrupt the user's mind, rendering them chaotic neutral after a fourth use and irrevocably mad if they persist in usage. (Make saving throws vs. paralyzation after the fifth use, with a cumulative -1 penalty with each additional use. Failure means the user goes completely insane and becomes an NPC under the DM's control.) Another problem is the sphere's effect upon the World Shield. Each time it is used to travel between the outer and hollow world it punches a hole through the shield, which has a 1% chance, cumulative for every use, to cause a massive earthquake in the crust which will be devastating to those close to the shield. Every decade of disuse will reduce this chance by 1%. The sphere has been inactive for some time, and is standing at 4%. The severity of the quakes increases as the percentage rises, and could cause great damage to both the outer and inner worlds. The Immortals will not allow the sphere to be used frequently enough to cause this. If used to travel to Matera, the first immediate problem the user must deal with is the lack of air to breathe. If they are prepared, they can survive their initial trip, but Matera is also home to the city of Immortals, who will kindly but firmly relocate any errant mortals back to their own homelands. (Without the sphere.) Traveling to Patera is extremely risky. Because of the crust composition that renders it's surface area invisible, even the sphere cannot accurately show the precise locations. Players stand a good chance of being teleported into a mountain or worse. Suggested Means of Destruction: The sphere is one of the most powerful artifacts ever made, it is doubtful it could ever be destroyed on the Prime plane of Mystara. Some ideas include: � Enveloping the sphere in a crucible of blackflame. � Throwing the sphere into the heart of the Hollow World sun. � Shatter the sphere against the Nucleus of the Spheres. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 16:27:01 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Organization: strawberryJAMM Designs Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Michael III Mysteria wrote: > > Why not let everyone submit an npc-charicature of themselves to be used in > the PWA (possibly)? That's always possible, I suppose, but I think it would be more interesting to see what others have done to make use of the 'names' that appear on our list. I'm sure others have grabbed a name or two to apply to NPC's in their own campaigns. Besides, if I were going to submit an npc-charicature what would I do? I could try to use a PC I run in any of a number of current games or I could make something up. I could leave them at their current levels or try to extrapolate them to higher ones, but which would be more useful? And none of them use my "name" in any case, which would reduce the 'in joke' to some degree. And trying to create an NPC to actually 'reflect myself as a Mystaran NPC' would be difficult, since I don't live in a medieval fantasy society and what I do for a living probably wouldn't transfer over well (User Interaction Designer for software? What does /that/ correspond to? Someone who designs the 'look and feel' for new spells? Yeah whatever :-/ .) I think I'm more interested in seeing what Gordon has done -- and what anyone else who has made use of MML member's names for NPC's. :-) Jenni A. M. Merrifield -=> strawberryJAMM <=- -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield <==> strawberryJAMM Designs strawberry@jamm.com <==> http://www.jamm.com/jamm/ <------------------------------------------------------------------> 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!" ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 02:02:05 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac events layout Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- On Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:31:38 `ilo ygm wrote: >>That's just my opinion, anybody else has one on this issue? > >OK, I agree about the regional division to be damaging to the feel of the almanac. >BUt dividing it to two parts- HW and OW, is logical for these reasons: > >1. These are two different worlds. Although there are ways to travel through the worlds, and thier proximety, thay are mostly two unatached gameworlds, home to different campaigns. > Yes, but just a valid a case can be made for the distinction between the Known/old world and the Savage Coast IMO - they were released as completely separate by TSR. >2. Events on each world have a very small chanse to effect events on the other world. > Unlike the Huleans from the Savage Coast in Sind you mean? How about the Alphatians? Some are in the Hollow World and some are in the old world (the NACE), and I don't think the impact they have on each other are any more or less relevant than the Master's forces in Hule and Sind. >3. If you want to keep the Almanac "in charachter", keep in mind that almost all charachters in each world are oblivious to the other one. Joe of Mirros (Specularum, damn it!) doesn't know there is another world benieth his feet, and would not learn about the events of that world. > Pardon me?? IIRC the existence of the Hollow World was made public in AC 1010 by Claransa the Seer. Her findings were questioned and later disputed, but most people are probably just wondering. Actually, the fact that both Thyatis and the NACE were interested in claiming Aegos where the Pit was located according the Claransa's claims probably just serve to make people wonder even more. Either way, they are certainly aware of the concept of the Hollow World I think. Most probably just don't care too much, since it has little impact on their lives. >4. The HW has a different feel and pace of change than the OW. Due to the SoP and other "unnatural" charataristics, things move slower in the HW. Political changes are rare, and cultural changes are a no-no. So the rate of events is also different between the HW and OW. > Can't argue there. We've seen some changes in the Hollow World (Azcan Empire, most notably), but your point is still well taken (by me anyway) >5. I think (and this is totally IMHO) that a lot of gamers do not use the HW, and ignore its existance (please people, do not make this a canon-noncanon debate). For conviniance we can put the HW events in a seperate part of the almanac. > True, but some of us don't use the Savage Coast much either! I've used some Hollow World IMC (because I'm playing through WotI, in which the Hollow World is featured quite prominently in Phase II), and I plan to use more Hollow World stuff in the future, but not really Savage Coast. To me it's mostly source material so that I can tell the players about the lands where The Master and his Desert Nomads came from (might use Savage Coast more in the future, though). Still, I believe Herve Musseau made a really good point when he said that having a unified timeline makes for a more consistent and comprehensive world. While I may not use the Hollow World stuff much and the Savage Coast stuff not at all, I do see his point, and it was a good one IMHO. - The Stalker of Alphatia Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 07:35:11 +0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Francisco V. Navarro" Subject: Re: [GANDERG@tc.gc.ca: MML Working Groups (v 2.4)] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ooooh! Don't get the Dark Prince mad... But, yeah, why aren't the Glantrians mentioned? We just updated our site, btw. Wilhelmine Vlaardoen is great!!! Kit Navarro Paparazzi Glantri fanavarro@pacific.net.ph > Is there a particular reason for the lack of mention to the most active project in the list? > The GPD???!!! > Contact Marcus Montola for details. > > Morphail (Ohad Shaham) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 07:36:25 +0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Francisco V. Navarro" Subject: Re: newbie needing a hand MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ironwolf has the best of Savage Coast maps, IMNSHO. :) Kit Navarro Paparazzi Glantri fanavarro@pacific.net.ph ----- Original Message ----- From: KoRneR To: Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 1:40 AM Subject: [MYSTARA] newbie needing a hand > hi there all of you. i'm new to the mystara campaign setting so i need > some info on where i can find maps (especially those of savage baronies > and savage coast, towers, cities etc), adventures taking place in mystara, > and i would like to know what are the effects of red curse on > goblinoids. thanks in advance.. > > greetings, > KoRneR > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 03:27:27 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: The Immortals' Grasp Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit People who have read my messages doubtlessly know that I'm playing through WotI, and to strenghten the story I came up with several ideas. One was my 'Calamity Star' prophecies by Jarrot the Mad (part 2 to follow as soon as possible - promise) and this was another. Basically, I thought it would be interesting to have an adventuring party consisting only of priests of various Immortals. A while back James Ruhland mentioned that Thyatis' supposed knowledge of Priest magic had never been addressed and I vaguely mentioned this idea to him, after which he suggested I put it out as soon as possible (sorry James - I should have posted this ages ago!). I think I'll just let you read through the description and make up your own mind. The first is just a simple description of the idea behind the group and then there are a number of descriptions of its members over several years. Bear in mind though that as a consequence of my campaign starting before WOTI, the description is appropriate mostly to that time. You may also note that the group had already broken up by that due to 'internal disputes'. Naturally, these disputes were due to the priests' various Immortals being on opposite sides of the WotI war, and my plan was that the PCs might seek out a few of the former members in an attempt to discover which Immortals supported what (as Rheddrian suggested), but, alas, my players never took the bait - maybe someone on this list will though :) Ask me questions if you have any (I have a nagging feeling that I forgot to mention something important...). Hope it's useful to someone. ----------------------------------------------- THE IMMORTALS' GRASP - This was a group of adventuring priests of different Immortals in Thyatis. The group was founded by Varpasian the Elder and Decius Trikarius (and perhaps also Claudius Valodrakus), and the idea was that a group consisting of priests of different Immortals would ensure that the will of the Immortals was enforced, while the different abilities of the priests would make the group capable of most challenges. The group broke up a couple of years ago due to internal conflict, though the source of the conflict is uncertain. Hadrian Britannikos, Thyatian Priest of Ixion. Originally from the Kerendan Plains in Thyatis, Britannikos became a member of the Immortals' Grasp several years ago. He is said to have traveled in many deep dungeons to bring the wrath of Ixion to the undead that the immortal so hates. Britannikos was the junior member of the Immortals' Grasp when he joined the group only a year and a half before it disbanded, but he was very active during this period and quickly became a highly experienced priest of Ixion. After the group was destroyed, Britannikos is said to have remained an adventurering companion of Valeria Sosarius, a priestess of Valerias and fellow member of the Immortals' Grasp. His current whereabouts are unknown, though probably somewhere in Thyatis. Dieter Lowenroth, Thyatian High Priest of Vanja. Though Lowenroth is from Hattias and shares much of the intolerance of his people toward people of other backgrounds, he became a member of the Immortals' Grasp about a decade ago. As a priest of the warlike Vanja he served as the warrior in a group of priests, though his extreme views caused internal friction in the group on many occasions until in broke apart a few years ago. Some say that Lowenroth was the main reason for the dissention in the ranks of the group. Now that the group no longer exists, Lowenroth spends most of his time in his immortal's church in the city of Hattias, though he is still an occasional adventurer, and also spends much time in Thyatis City. Some say that he has strong connections to the Heldannic Knights, and that he will soon leave Thyatis for the Heldannic Territories to join their ranks. Valeria Sosarius, Thyatian Priestess of Valerias. Valeria hails from Thyatis City and replaced another priest of Valerias as a member of the Immortals' Grasp about half a decade ago. She is much like the immortal she serves in spirit, though not quite as impulsive and certainly more serious, since she must remain loyal to her duties as a priestess and the doctrines of her church. She is generally well-liked by most people she meets. Little is known of what became of her when the Immortals' Grasp disbanded a few years ago, though she is believed to have stayed together with Hadrian Britannikos, a priest of Ixion who was a fellow member of the Immortals' Grasp until it broke apart. Decius Trikarius, Thyatian High Priest of Korotiku: Trikarius was a member of the adventuring group of priests called the Immortals' Grasp until the group was disbanded a few years ago. He is rumored to have been one of the founding members of the group. Trikarius is now elderly, and is no longer active as an adventurer, but rather spends his time in the temple of his Immortal in Thyatis City. Claudius Valodrakus, Thyatian Priest of Diulanna. Valodrakus is from Thyatis and is a high priest of Diulanna, the patroness of will. He is getting old now, but he seems to have been one of the founders of the adventuring group known as the Immortals' Grasp, which he allegedly founded together with other clerics, such as Varpasian the Elder and Decius Trikarius. When the group disbanded a few years ago, Valodrakus founded a church near Port Lucinius, apparently retiring as an adventurer altogether. Varpasian the Elder, Thyatian High Priest of Asterius. Varpasian the Elder is a Kerendan from Thyatis and was one of the founding members of the Immortals' Grasp together with priests such as Decius Trikarius and perhaps also Claudius Valodrakus. The Immortals' Grasp was an adventuring group consisting exclusively of priests of different immortals. The concept behind the group was that cooperation between priests of different immortals would ensure a powerful combination of skills and also make certain that the will of the immortals would be heard. Despite the obvious differences of the priests and immortals involved, the group was remarkably successful until internal conflicts suddenly broke the group apart a few years ago. Saddened by the collapse of the group, Varpasian has retired completely as an adventurer. He is quite old now and only seeks to serve Asterius in his church in Thyatis City until he dies. However, some believe that Varpasian secretly hopes that the Immortals' Grasp will be revived some day, perhaps under the leadership of his son, Varpasian the Younger. Varpasian the Younger, Thyatian Priest of Asterius. Varpasian the Younger was a member of the Immortals' Grasp, the adventuring group of priests founded by his father, Varpasian the Elder. When the group broke up a few years ago and Varpasian the Elder retired, Varpasian the Younger decided to continue his career as an adventurer, and he is said to have traveled great distances in that time, though there are few stories of what he has actually done in that time. Though Varpasian is a young man, he is more serious than his father was at the same age. He is very dedicated to the doctrines of Asterius and is very serious in performing his duties, and although he is not yet a high priest of Asterius, he is still a highly experienced priest. ----------------------------------------------- Well, that's all folks :) Drop me a line if you feel the need. - The Stalker of Alphatia Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 21:32:50 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Meltheim Shadowstalker Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/15/2000 9:56:18 AM, gmcc@ESATCLEAR.IE writes: <> either the entity that is on the list, or the character played by the entity on the list is what i am asking permission to use! Meltheim the Shadowstalker Infiltrator to the Immortals Devotee of Fate Eyes of the Starwatcher ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 18:33:47 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Damon Alexander Brown Subject: Re: military matters MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- Bill Manley wrote: > If we dump 10 million people into Alphatia and > incress the military > strength they problably would not attack anyone. > until their imperial > doctrine changes(remember who started the wrath > war?) Ummm... Alphatia. WotI (Immortals' Fury, p.77): "Empress Eriadna, having sorted through the ruins of the city of Aasla and determined what has happened, issues a proclamation of war against Glantri." Did I miss the point here? -Damon ===== "He who laughs last... thinks slowest." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 21:45:11 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Meltheim Shadowstalker Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit you ruined the mood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and by the way, my string was supposed to be completely self centered by the way, i'm egocentric and narcissistic. If I was going to create an NPC about myself, which would be extremely easy because my PC is about myself . . . then I would just go to the Meltheim the Shadowstalker homepage at http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Park/6532, and then get the character background off of shawn's site, and TADAAAA we have a Meltheim for the whole family to play with. Meltheim the Shadowstalker Infiltrator to the Immortals Devotee of Fate Eyes of the Starwatcher ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 21:02:43 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Ranma Al'Thor Subject: Re: NPC's?? In-Reply-To: <38A9EED5.88069872@jamm.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Tue, 15 Feb 2000, Jenni A. M. Merrifield wrote: > degree. And trying to create an NPC to actually 'reflect myself as a Mystaran > NPC' would be difficult, since I don't live in a medieval fantasy society and > what I do for a living probably wouldn't transfer over well (User Interaction > Designer for software? What does /that/ correspond to? Someone who designs > the 'look and feel' for new spells? Yeah whatever :-/ .) > Alphatia needs HEX from the Discworld books. Then you'd have a job to do :) John Walter Biles : MA-History, ABD, Ph.D Candidate at U. Kansas ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu rhea@tass.org http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html rhea@maison-otaku.net http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/ "The connection is so abstract, that we have people whose job it is to make sure the paperwork doesn't get totally disconnected from the world. Theoretically, I handle millions of dollars a day, but it is less real than this e-mail. I have never seen our product. I have never seen the sales people. I have never seen a customer." --Robert Lane describes his work as an accountant. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 22:25:48 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: military matters Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: Damon Alexander Brown >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] military matters >Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 18:33:47 -0800 > >--- Bill Manley wrote: > > If we dump 10 million people into Alphatia and > > incress the military > > strength they problably would not attack anyone. > > until their imperial > > doctrine changes(remember who started the wrath > > war?) > > Ummm... Alphatia. WotI (Immortals' Fury, p.77): >"Empress Eriadna, having sorted through the ruins of >the city of Aasla and determined what has happened, >issues a proclamation of war against Glantri." > Did I miss the point here? the point is, lots of people said that Alphatia is not interested in conquest,but then why did they declared war on Glantri? see, Alphatia's doctrine is not expand all boundries, but even the sleeping giant(as someone once said of them)could be awoken,and war starts.I also understand that they declared war in responce to Aasla,but I cannot beleive that Thyatis never did anything like that,and Alphatia didn't declare war on them.Immortals were also at work there but as the CotI states,the mortal people are not aware that immortals accualy exsist, and so the immortal intervention is irrelivant. King (IMHO) >-Damon > >===== >"He who laughs last... thinks slowest." >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. >http://im.yahoo.com > >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 19:12:58 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] NPC's??] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" wrote: > > > > > The Banditlord, Marco de la Monte > > The extra-planer wierd dude, Lord Thesien > > The Darokin Spy, Confiture de Fraise > > The Alphatian Fleshcrafter, Rotipher > > You wouldn't, by any chance, be willing to spare some time to send me= > the details of "The Darokin Spy, Confiture de Fraise", would you? :-D Just to clarify- Lord Theisen is an Alphatian mage from Blackheart whose = brain is currently occupying the cranium of that "extra-planar weird dude" Cthulhudrew, a Neh-Thalggu. They have a very sympatico relationship. :) Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 19:19:29 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Website update Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Well, I've done a few updates here and there on my website. A few entries= that hadn't been there before (but appeared elsewhere, such as Shawn's site) a= nd cleaned up the code a bit. Nothing major, but I'm hopefully going to do a= major revision soon here. Anyway, feel free to stop by and check it out i= f you'd like. http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/cthulhudrew/mystara.html Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 00:26:25 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac events layout MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-15 4:15:51 AM Eastern Standard Time, hmusseau@YAHOO.COM writes: << That's just my opinion, anybody else has one on this issue? >> I would suggest that there is indeed an obvious boundary between the outer world and the Hollow World, but that all other distinctions are arbitrary, barring the introduction of events for Myoshima and other places not on or in the planet Mystara itself. Then again, the Red Curse does keep the folks of the Savage Coast apart from the rest of the world, so there might be some justification for keeping them separate. In regard to the question of Huleans acting in Sind: Unless you have spread the Red Curse into one or the other of these nations, I would count such an event as a "Known World" event and not a "Savage Coast" event if you make that distinction. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 00:56:23 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Alphatian Population Revision (was Bellissaria) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay, here is my third interpretation of the population discrepancies for Alphatia in known sources. I will call this one my "American/Australian" theory for reasons that should become obvious. Under this theory, Alphatia was originally populated by a group of Alphatians who were far less numerous than the current official population of Alphatia. As colonists of a "new world", the Alphatians pushed aside all of the "barbarians" who stood in their way (in much the same way that the Americans pushed aside the Native Americans or "Amerindians" and the Australians pushed aside the Aborigines) and expanded to fill as much territory as they could control despite the lack of obvious population pressure to do so. Over the years their population has expanded slowly but steadily, with the result that they could continue to fill their existing territories for centuries to come before they face any real crisis of resources. In regard to their conflict with Thyatis, the situation would be pretty much as depicted in DotE. The real world parallel that gives name to my theory is this: Despite the impressions that a foreigner visiting New York City, Montreal, or Sydney might receive, the nations of the USA, Canada, and Australia are far less densely populated than those of Europe and Asia. I would suggest that Alphatia (which strongly discourages immigrants, even as slaves) would have an even less dense population overall. The wide open spaces of Alphatia would be as incomprehensible to the Thyatians as the wide open spaces of the USA, Canada, and Australia are to most people of the real world "Old World". By this theory, we would be left with a lot fewer population discrepancies to explain. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 01:20:47 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: military matters MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-15 1:19:58 PM Eastern Standard Time, kinglosser@HOTMAIL.COM writes: << I regards to Norwold. Norwold was invaded by Aphatia a long time ago.this invation was stopped by dragons(it was in a noval I read called "The Dragonlord of Mystara" I would give you more info on the books but I lost them in the flood)that were angered by humans expanding in there lands. but this was back in Alphatia's youth on Mystara, a time when there doctrin was very much to expand.then they changed their doctrine when they felt their empire was large enough, the new doctrine was to strengthen the empire internally so the empire could hold the lands they have. >> On the other hand, if they had a general tendency to expand as far as they were able regardless of population, then in the face of any stiff resistance (such as they faced from the dragons of Norwold) the Alphatians would back off so as to conserve a population barely sufficient to control the territory that they already occupied. I think that there is no question but that Alphatia would prefer to dictate policy to the entire outer world of Mystara if they could -- but from their history it is obvious that while they could walk all over the barbarians and savages that they came across, any civilized nation with the slightest degree of military savvy could send them packing. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 01:20:46 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-15 9:55:37 AM Eastern Standard Time, anowack@JUNO.COM writes: << But then they aren't equals! To those of us who are fond of Thyatis (or any other nation) and prefer the struggle to be a very balanced one, the idea the Alphatia could crush Thyatis in a milisecond if it wanted to, and that it is only the whims of the wizards that keeps it from ruling the entire world, just dosen't sit right. Or else how did Thyatis get independance? Canon shows that the Alphatians were _very_ interested in keeping in control of their little gold-speckled foothold on Brun. Yet not only did the Thyatians kick out the Alphers, they then sucessfully invaded Alphatian territory, and forced the Alphers to cede a _huge_ chunk of the Empire to them. All this, _before_ the Thyatians had a large well-trained, well-led army. >> I would agree that a unified Alphatia could ultimately crush Thyatis, but it would take years rather than "milliseconds" to do so. Keep in mind that the original title of "Dawn of the Emperors" was going to be "Twilight of the Empires", which would suggest that both empires were in decline. If that is so, then for most of their history the situation would be that of a still dynamic Thyatis confronting a decadent Alphatia. It is only with the events of the Spike Assault and thereafter that the confrontation would be between two "decadent" empires. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 00:51:33 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: George Hrabovsky Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Why would you be running the bulk of your war fleet during peacetime? That costs money and takes a lot of effort. Ships in port are easier to take care of with fewer people. I would doubt that more than 10% of the fleet would be underway at any one time during peace. Even in wartime, it is unlikely that the big ships would be sent out on routine patrols. Remember, there are vast resources tied up in these ships; it does not seem reasonable to risk them for little gains. The only time these things would be let out would be for specific and well-defined operations. George ----- Original Message ----- From: Emperor Porphyrogenitus To: Sent: Monday, February 14, 2000 1:42 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project > First off, see one of my initial posts on the topic re the issue of having centuries or thousands of years to build Skyships - attrition would tend to keep pace (or *more* than keep pace) with construction, for the reason that they are devilishly difficult, expensive, and costly to construct but, various defences asside, comparatively easy to destroy or steal ("comparitively easy" doesn't mean "so simple a chimp could do it" - but if a band of Karameikans can, or Glantrian spies, then it can't be all that difficult). How many "Mage-Years" does it take to build just one Man-of-War? And how many Alphatian mages want to devote their lives to this task, when they could be cavorting or engaging in their own private experiments (this is an example of the disconect: on the one hand, it is argued that the Alphatian Mages don't bother themselves with Empire-oriented tasks or serving the Empire diligently, but on the other hand it is said that they do - producing all sorts of magic item! > ! > s for use by the Empire rather than for their own individual amusement & pleasure.) > > Secondly, official published materiels definately implys a much smaller skynavy than people are discussing at the moment. It also tends to obviate against extra-ordinarily large skyship squadrons in the hands of the various Kingdoms. The published materiels don't, fortunately or unfortunately, give specific totals and dispositions, but it definately doesn't imply a large skynavy. > > How can one reach this conclusion? > > (1) The larger the skyfleet, the less likely that a significant proportion of it would have been destroyed all in one place (Aasla in Haven). > > (2) The larger the skyfleet, and the more impervious it is to being affected by other nations (Thyatis, the HKs, whoever), then the logical conclusion would be that Alphatia would simply have flown to Glantri directly, and not bothered with that "intermediate" stuff (which forms the entire Wrath War). > > A large Skynavy with circa 100 Men-of-War (25,000 marines, if we go by Michael's figures, 40,000 if we go by the actual description of Man-of-War), and twice that many (give or take) "lesser" ships (capable of transporting anywhere from about 15,000 - 20,000, or more, troops), then they simply would have flown them to Glantri and conquered it without bothering with any of the intervening territory (Asside: people seem to have trouble making the connections between their proposals and the implications of those proposals). > > Now, we may pick at WotI for a variety of reasons, but WotI *is*. So the Skynavy couldn't be all that huge. . .not per the official world of Mystara. > > But it does seem like creating a huge, unmatchable Skynavy would form a natural part of the Alphatian Re-Design Project. We can do that right after finishing with Re-Designing the populations of the various Kingdoms (I'll have some work-ups on that tonight, perhaps. I'm away from home at the moment and don't have any of my gaming stuff with me.) > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 01:56:26 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: NPC: Kaviyd MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay, based on the way I have presented this alter ego to the "Unlimited Adventures" community, in Mystaran terms "Kaviyd" would be a rebellious Krugel Orc wokan of Lawful alignment who fled into the deep tunnels of the Mystaran "Underdark" with a small group of followers until he emerged somewhere near the caverns of the Shadow Elves (not "Schattenalfen"). Over the past several years he has accumulated many goblinoid followers from both the Known and Hollow Worlds and has managed to advance in wizardly skill well past the supposed level limits of an orkish wokan, but he does not yet feel ready to make his presence known on the surface or do more than harass the Shadow Elves. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 02:12:36 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Questing for Entropic Immortality MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In this message I will describe the general method of questing for Immortality in the Sphere of Entropy. In later messages I will try to outline the specifics of the four paths to Entropic Immortality. Note that while I am describing this quest from the point of view of the candidate, most DMs (including me!) would undoubtedly prefer to use this quest as an adventure hook for heroic PCs opposed to the candidate's quest. Before questing for Immortality, a character must learn of the existence of Entropic Immortals as well as the possibility of becoming such an Immortal himself. He must also reach level 30+ and discover certain specifics that are necessary for his quest: Selection of Sphere: The candidate must not only select his favored Sphere (Entropy in this case) but he must also select another Sphere that he is particularly opposed to, as the opposed Sphere will determine which of the four possible Entropic paths he is to follow. Selection of Sponsor/Finding of Site: These items are the same as for standard candidates for Immortality. Gift: Whereas the "gift" for candidates of the other Spheres is an inanimate object of great value, the gift for an Entropic candidate would be a sentient being of Lawful or Neutral alignment whose kidnapping and intended sacrifice would arouse a party of high level adventurers to chase the candidate in an attempt to rescue the intended victim before it is too late. At a minimum, the opposition should consist of two characters of level 25+, five characters of level 16+, or ten characters of level 9+. Add +1 to arrival/petition modifiers for each multiple of the required opposition that the candidate attracts. Solitude: Given that a party of heroic adventurers will be hot on the candidate's trail, he is not required to undergo his quest completely unassisted -- but all assistance must be from "lesser" beings. He may recruit followers whose hit dice total no more than the candidate's level to ambush and attack his foes before they reach the candidate. For example, a 30th level evil wizard might recruit a 20 HD huge dragon and a 10 HD ogre chieftain to slow down his foes -- and each of these followers may recruit whatever followers the standard rules entitle them to -- but neither of these followers may directly defend the candidate. In addition, since it is next to impossible to hold onto a struggling sacrificial victim while fighting off the good guys, he may also be accompanied by low level followers whose total hit points do not exceed his level. If any of these followers are killed, he may contact his monstrous allies for replacements. Petition: The journey to the place where the Entropic Immortal visits candidates for Immortality should be dangerous, with the candidate gaining one level or 120,000 XPs during the quest. His intended sacrifice must be kept alive during the entire journey and not sacrificed until his patron Immortal makes his appearance. Seven Tests: As he nears the site chosen by his Immortal, the candidate will have seven encounters, each testing the candidate's mettle in one specific trait: Dishonor and Treachery Hatred of opposed Sphere of Power Resourcefulness Bravery Persistence in Face of Adversity Cruelty and Coldness of Heart Cunning/Destructiveness The rules for Arrival, Meeting, and Petition are the same as for standard candidates for Immortality, with the modifiers for quality of opposition replacing those for value of gift. The patron Immortal will not arrive until all opponents seeking to save the intended sacrifice have been subdued or destroyed. Once the Immortal accepts the candidate's petition, the candidate sets out on the path corresponding to his hated Sphere. Details of the four Entropic Paths will follow in a few days. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 12:58:07 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Gordon McCormick Subject: Re: NPC's?? In-Reply-To: <38A9A505.63E8300D@jamm.com>; from strawberry@JAMM.COM on Tue, Feb 15, 2000 at 11:12:05AM -0800 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Tue, Feb 15, 2000 at 11:12:05AM -0800, Jenni A. M. Merrifield wrote: > > You wouldn't, by any chance, be willing to spare some time to send me the > details of "The Darokin Spy, Confiture de Fraise", would you? :-D Well, she's only been used in one adventure so far, a game I ran at Leprecon last year. (The only game I've ever run at a convention as well!). She was the contact for the Darokin PC's who were travelling to Glantri to 'steal, negotiate or in any way possible' bring back a captured Kobald and his Blue Knife... [The Darokinians needed the Blue Knife and Kobald to trade to the humanoids in exchange for a shield which would be used to fight the Dragon who had taken over Akorros. Phew :) ] Anyway, Confiture was a female thief with Strawberry Blonde hair, posing as an Avergoinese. She hung around the Court of Miracles (formerly the Beggars Court) where she picked up all the rumours around town. She reported directly to Corwyn Manteua and didn't particluarly like Scrutina, the Darokin ambassador... She had a French accent and would often say 'Listen very carefully, I shall say zis only once...'. Other than that she wasn't hugely developed, she was kind of arrogant, wasn't hugely fond of the Glantrians and her loyalty was to Corwyn rather than Darokin itself. Hmm, I might bring her back into Glantri now that it's being run by Emperor Kol who recently had 5000 Darokinian soldiers killed... OK, must actually use the characters whose names are stolen from the list :) gordon ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 09:13:25 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: NPC's?? > >In a message dated 2/15/2000 9:56:18 AM, gmcc@ESATCLEAR.IE writes: Well, for my own part, I've used Gerhard von Grauenberg (see Shawn's site) as one of my alter-egos (his initials match mine, and some of his personality traits are similar to my own). FOrtunately my players haven't caught on yet.. (eh heh heh) The NPC (whom my players have not yet met) who more closely matches myself is a travelling scholar, who goes by several names (depending on the country he happens to be in at the time): Galfridus of Julinius (Galfridus Julinianus), Thyatian scholar and specialist in ancient lore, particularly the cultures known to inhabit the Known World before the arrival of the Thyatian peoples. Doktor Gottfried von Ganderhoff, Professor of Anthropology and Genaeology at the Great School of Magic in Glantri (hats off to Matt Levy who created this persona in part originally, check it out at dnd.starflung.com/antalian.htm). Geoffrey Byrd, dealer and collector of antiquities and curios of all sorts, based in Athenos, Darokin. Current interest centres on newly-uncovered Milenian artifacts in Davania, as well as currently unidentifiable basaltic structures scattered about the northern portion of that continent. Needless to say, all three of these characters are away on field research frequently, allowing one person to assume all three roles (with the aid of a bit of magic and some disguises). I'll leave it up to anyone who's interested to imagine who the "real" persona is. Geoff PS - I wouldn't mind seeing some info on de la Monte, myself. Could be useful for an upcoming adventure.... :-) -- Geoff Gander, BA 97 Cartographer/Game Designer/Government Peon Carnifex Loremaster au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 09:20:19 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Ezio Pignatelli Organization: SISSA - Trieste - Italy Subject: Re: HW modules MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-2 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Well, I own the trilogy, and I am playing it right now (we are in the middle of the second module). Definitively worth your money. You already got the summary, so I am just giving my impression. It's a HUGE adventure, having its best if you have a party of surface characters which never heard about a 'Hollow World'... and will get some nasty surprise. :)) Everything is detailed in an excellent way, and there is no chance you could play more than one third of the many possibilities detailed. A plot with different routes, depending from what your party is doing. I am really enjoying Dming that. Only one (minor) problem: it's VERY demanding for your players. Compared with other modules, the fighting part is almost negligible. You can easily have a night session without one single fight. In the end, your players will likely get few money and magic objects at the end of each module (excluding the third one). Which basically means: my investigating players have been delighted up to now from the adventure, while the hack'n'slash type are kind of bored. Also, the plot is VERY complex and tricky, and a party "rushing" through it could easily die in the final confrontation of each module. Even if very lucky, the players won't enjoy it if they don't get a grasp of what's happening -and this can be not easy if they do not advance very carefully, talking to anyone, collecting information from anywhere. Very challenging - it is my impression that my party greatly improved its way of playing while advancing through it. Also: even if you don't play it, it was wonderful tor ead it (as a DM, of course). Hope this can help, -- Ezio Pignatelli --- SISSA -- Room 9 via Beirut 4 - 34014 Trieste - Italy Phone: +39-040-3787525 Fax:+39-040-3787528 mailto:pignatel@sissa.it http://www.sissa.it/ap/pignatel.html -- ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 16:58:57 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: Mad Bombers (was re. Skothar). MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: thibault sarlat > "And in the woods south of Verdan is a newly discovered elven kingdom > Sylvania, who recently trekked westward Skothar." > > about this, there was a very good work made on this subject on the > french MML and which only waits for translation Could you get me this stuff (translated prefarably, but I can perhaps freshen up my french and dig through it myself.) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 16:59:42 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: Thonia MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > James Ruhland ha scritto: > > > > > > > James i love your ideas. may i work with you on getting the war machine > > and > > > battle system stats for thonia's armed forces? > > > > > Sure. E-mail me at: jruhlconob@sprynet.com and we'll put something together. > > New forces to plot against Alphatia? Will this stuff be put up at the project site? I'm very interested. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 17:04:52 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Re: Mad Bombers (was re. Skothar). MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit as a matter of fact the stuff is Calengaer, but i believe i can send it to you in french and in english (revised version). Michael III Mysteria a �crit : > From: thibault sarlat > > "And in the woods south of Verdan is a newly discovered elven kingdom > > Sylvania, who recently trekked westward Skothar." > > > > about this, there was a very good work made on this subject on the > > french MML and which only waits for translation > > Could you get me this stuff (translated prefarably, but I can perhaps > freshen up my french and dig through it myself.) > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. -- Thibault Sarlat. ICQ 16622177. homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Join me at: mystara@com.bi or at tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 11:20:34 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Master's Pawn Subject: Re: Alphatian Population Revision (was Bellissaria) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The Ameri-Aussie theorum. I love this. IMHO, let's put a fork in this thread, it's done. My delete button is getting overworked. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 08:21:35 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Damon Alexander Brown Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- Meltheim Shadowstalker wrote: > I was wondering if anyone on the list would allow me > to use them as an NPC in > my campaign? I am looking for interesting, colorful > characters if possible. Well, I don't necessarily have a lot of details for you, but I do I have a clever idea for naming characters. Several of my friends (as well as myself to a certian degree) have names that are readily translated into others languages. Two of them of them are in a local band and their names are Michael Raven and Chris Groom. One of my players actually named his character after Michael... but in Russian(since he is Traladaran): Mikhail Voron. Chris's name would translate in Russian to Kristov Zhenik, so there's another moniker that's readily available for an NPC in Karameikos or Boldavia. Also, I have changed the name of the main villain in B10: Night's Dark Terror. Golthar(sp?) didn't seem to fit very well, so I decided to give him more of a Thyatian sounding name. Somehow it seemed appropriate to tweek my own name for that one... afterall, he *is* a pretty big villain for low-level types ;p. Anyway, Damien Kastanos takes a variation on my first name and adds the Greek translation(more or less) of my last name. And speaking of the Iron Ring, I have a Reaver in the Verge area named Christo Curare, a (somewhat) Latin version of Mr. Groom from above. There is also my naming convention for my special NPC, Brendan Corliss. His "real" last name, as well as his aliases, correspond to several streets in North Seattle: Corliss, Ashworth, Densmore, and Midvale. At the risk of babbling incessantly, I also want to share another source of names that I find particularly useful... strangers! In my line of work, I come across hundreds of customers per day where I need to be very concious of their names. Since Seattle is a relatively diverse city, we get a pretty good cross-section of names. I have a list of the more interesting ones and mix and match to find appropriate combinations. Some examples: Henryk Melcer, Ierendan captain of the ship that gets the PC's involved in the various 'X' modules on the Sea of Dread; Mara Tehari, Darokinian columnist for the weekly publication, The Gold Standard. Oh yeah, one last thing - I promise! The name of the player who has the Mikhail Voron PC is Jim Temple. Obviously, his last name can be readily translated into every language under the sun. However, I'm not sure what "James" might be in other languages. Any suggestions, folks? OK, OK, I'm done. :-) -Damon ===== "He who laughs last... thinks slowest." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 17:46:01 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Oh yeah, one last thing - I promise! The name of the > player who has the Mikhail Voron PC is Jim Temple. > Obviously, his last name can be readily translated > into every language under the sun. However, I'm not > sure what "James" might be in other languages. Any > suggestions, folks? Giacomo Tempio in Italian. Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 08:45:23 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Damon Alexander Brown Subject: Re: military matters MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- Bill Manley wrote: > > > > Ummm... Alphatia. WotI (Immortals' Fury, p.77): > >"Empress Eriadna, having sorted through the ruins > of > >the city of Aasla and determined what has happened, > >issues a proclamation of war against Glantri." > > Did I miss the point here? > > the point is, lots of people said that Alphatia is > not interested in > conquest,but then why did they declared war on > Glantri? Oops! Yes, I *did* miss the point (well at least 1/2 of it). Sorry, I misinterpreted the original statement as saying(more or less): Glantri (and/or Thyatis), not Alphatia, started the war because Alphatia doesn't have an expansionist policy. As I said, my mistake... carry on. :-) -Damon ===== "He who laughs last... thinks slowest." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 09:02:10 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: John Calvin Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac events layout MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii hmusseau@YAHOO.COM writes: << That's just my opinion, anybody else has one on this issue? >> I think the two points that were made are good ones. The first one, which I brought up, was that it gets confusing/tedious to move back and forth betwen the HW and the OW (and some say the SC as well). The second point which Herve made, is that we loose continuity if we split the events up. There are pro's and con's to both approaches, so perhaps it depends upon how we "use" the MA. I use it to get ideas for "My Mystara". I usually read through all entries, and then go back to the ones I think I might use in my version of Mystara and then either filch those ideas wholesale or expand upon them. It's the "re-useability" of the MA that necessitates splitting the events IMO. If I remember an event that occured in the HW that I would like to go back to, I now have to wade through all of the other events to get to it (and that's if I remember what month it occured in). Yea, I could be more tedious about the way I do things, and write down the dates for events that I like in some file somewhere, but I'm not going to do that. The MA should be a resource (read as easy to use resource). I don't want to have to scan through several files before I find the one event that held my interest. I realize that we will loose something in continuity by splitting these sections up. If it was in book form, I would say "leave it the way it is." Books are nice that way...you can just flip through the pages. Files are a little more cumbersome in that respect, and quite frankly I don't want to print up 500 some odd pages (and perhaps more for the next MA). Having said that, let me also say the Shawn's html version is a lot easier to handle. Hyperlinks are nice. Is there a reason that we publish the MA in rtf format as opposed to directly in html? After all if one can download the MA, then surely one can read html through their browser. It might be nice to have an html package that we can download (using the present event format) as opposed to splitting the events up. What do you think? Anyway, I like the MA, and the format is really a minor quible in the grand scheme of things. I'm going to use it no matter what. John __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 11:08:26 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Why would you be running the bulk of your war fleet during peacetime? > That costs money and takes a lot of effort. > Most nations that are serious about their navies and/or airforces run the bulk of it during peacetime. Yes, it costs money. It costs money to have a military. Also, I guess there are two impressions here - I always considered the skyship navy to be a rare, elite force, not a ragged militia. Others disagree, I suppose. Well, let's break it down by the numbers at long last. Why would you pay 5.6MegGPs + MageWages + Cost of Failed Enchantments, and then mothball it? Time to enchant is 7 + 5,600,000/1,000 days, or 5,607 "Mage-Days" - assuming a 0% failure rate (Obviously multiple mages will work on such a vessel, say 20). They have to be capable of casting Permanency, which in OD&D requires an 18th level caster - a caster capable of casting 32 spells. Of course, it's always better to have higher level casters because they succeed more often, but we'll go with the minimum as an "average" level, because there might be cases of "making do" with lower level casters for some things. Such casters cost 9,000 gp/week to employ in Alphatia (9,000 gp/month elsewhere). 801 weeks X 9,000gp = 7,209,000 gp. So we can fill in that part of the equation: 5,610,000 + 7,209,000 + X = 12,819,000 gp. It's very likely (extremely likely) that "Prepair Enchantment" would be used to cut down on failures. Still, with Enchanting Wizards of these levels, failure rate would be high: 18 (int) + 36 (levelx2) + 18 (Prepair Enchantment @ 18th level) = 72% Well, that's not bad, eh? Just increase the frame cost by a little over a quarter, and we're done, right? Wrong. Given the number & level of enchantments placed on each frame section, a base success chance of 72% actually means that a negligable proportion of frames will be successfully enchanted: 72% - Levitate (2x3) = 66 72% - Shield (1x3) = 69 72% - ProtN.M. (3x3) = 63 72% - CreAir (3x3) = 63 72% - Climate (3x3) = 63 72% - SpellTurn (5x3) = 57 72% - MindBar (8x3) = 48 72% - Invisibility (2x3) = 66 72% - DetInvis (2x3) = 66 72% - Teleport (2x5) = 57 Or: ..66 x .69 x .63 x .63 x .63 x .57 x .48 x .66 x .66 x .57 = 0.0077356 Less than 1%. Not good. Not good at all. Well, what we'll say is that the "Optional" rule can be used: beyond the first frame section successfully enchanted by a given mage, a simpler formula is used: (18 + 18) x2 - (8x3) + 18 (PrepEnch) = 66% But it'd be kind of a bumer, still, to go through perhaps 100 wasted attempts just to reach the point where you have a 2 out of 3 chance of being successful. And 20 wizards (per ship, though they'll possibly work on several during their lifetimes) means up to 2000 wasted frames getting the experience under one's belt in order to achieve the ability to get a 66% success rate on future attempts. Talk about "cost overuns" and "Hexagon Waste"! So, IMO, the wise and efficient thing to do (of course, we're talking Alphatians here - inefficient and flighty, but still) would be to use casters whos success chance either surpasses or comes close to 100% in that second formula. 29th level casters with 18 int would equal: (18 + 29) x2 - (8x3) + 29 = 99% 29th level casters cost 13,500gp/week to employ in Alphatia. 801 weeks x 13,500gp = 10,813,500 10,813,500 + 5,610,000 = 16,423,500gp. So, we're spending almost 16.5MegGPs on a ship we're going to mothball the next day? By comparison, btw, you could build over 270 War Galleys for the same price. Or almost 550 Troop Transports. NOTE: this does not include enchanting the 240 Wands used by the Boltmen (of course, the wands suggested on the Man-of-War card cry out for demanding the Boltmen be paid the usual wages for an Alphatian spellcaster of that level. If they were Wands of Magic Missiles, people could be more reasonable: more reasonable equipment should make for more reasonable wages. But grotesque munchkin equipment demands grotesquely high wages. . .but we'll be kind, and pretend they're all 1st level. That's 2,000gp/month for each, or 480,000gp/month for them all. On second thought, you'd want to mothball something like that, wouldn't you? But, again - getting to have something like this essentially for free except when you want to use it is Munchkin City. If you want to run with the bulls, you've gotta expect to be gored. If you want to play with the big dogs. . .etc. etc. Flexability goes to the reasonable. Munchkins get zero* breaks. That's the great chain of RPG being.) So, to crew the entire ship costs, at minimum, half a million gps per month. That's 6,000,000gp/Year - a bit over the cost of one Man of War. If we assume that the smaller ships, proportionately less expensive, have proportionately less costly crews, we can see that cost to build 1 ship aproximately equals the cost in upkeep per year. So that means Procuring 1 year's worth of ships then results in the treasury having to use those funds in subsiquent years on wages & maintinance. This then means that there isn't a constant stream of skyshipbuilding, because they quickly outrun the treasury's ability to finance them. So there you have it. It's simple when you break it down, really. Until next time, I'm Porphyrogenitus reminding you, the numbers never lie. 8-)~ *Well, actually they got greater than zero breaks: for one thing, the wages of higher level officers and NCOs have been ignored. Those would probably be significant, considering the sort of folks usually described as captaining these Great Ship Lollypops. In addition, a break was given in assuming the Boltmen are all 1st level, when they're usually *NOT* described as being 1st level in, for example, the Warmach type breakdowns for these vessals. No wonder the PWAs tended to just simply say things like "flying longship" or "flying war galley" or "Alphatian windriders (skyships)" rather than "Alphatian Man of War" - though some events mention at least one Man-of-War type ship. But anyhow, I did cut them a break. Consider me a easy DM. I didn't calculate the wages as if they were 3rd level (the "average" level of Alphatian mages in the PWA II armies) or 5th level (the level of the ones on the aforementioned "Alphatian windriders (skyships)" - and I ignored officer's wages. Consider me a softy 8-) (Btw, "The Hexagon" or "The Pentagram" is mine, all mine. Though I guess I can let you use it by permission if you insist. Or just don't tell me you're now using it to designate the Alphatian {or other nation}'s War/Defense Department.) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 11:13:38 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Thonia MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Will this stuff be put up at the project site? > I'm very interested. > Well, so far no work has been done, actually. :( But hopefully something will be put together this week (I'm also planning on sending out a somewhat edited version of the "Thonia Geographic Entry" I sent originally - to include some of the clarifications, corrections, and suggestions). Which project site? Well, it prolly doesn't matter - I'll be sending this stuff to the list, so you can grab it from the mail. 8-) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 09:13:28 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Herve Musseau Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac events layout MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii From: ����_��� >OK, I agree about the regional division to be damaging to the feel of the almanac. >BUt dividing it to two parts- HW and OW, is logical for these reasons: >1. These are two different worlds. Although there are ways to travel through the worlds, and thier proximety, thay are mostly two unatached gameworlds, home to different campaigns. >2. Events on each world have a very small chanse to effect events on the other world. They are mostly unaffected by each other, but not entirely. I'll take a concrete example to prove my point: If we had separate OW/HW events, wouldn't the events of the SA/SE war of 1015 been weird? You'd have a military buildup in SA in the HW section (complete with retreat from Azcan lands et al), and then no war since it's up there. And in the OW section, you'd have a SA army popping out of nowhere without warning. Of course, in both cases you can argue that the rest is in the other section and you just have to go read them there. But, you do have to read one of the sections first, don't you, and thus if you read the OW section first (which is what most people would likely do) then you'd wonder, with reason, where the hell do these SA come from and why. And reading the explanation in the HW later would ruin the reading of the HW section, as you already know what's going to happen *after*. >3. If you want to keep the Almanac "in charachter", keep in mind that almost all charachters in each world are oblivious to the other one. Joe of Mirros (Specularum, damn it!) doesn't know there is another world benieth his feet, and would not learn about the events of that world. The events are edited by the two co-editors out of correspondences sent by various correspondents from all over the world (those same correspondents that write in-character articles). The events are mostly in-character, if edited for mistakes and biases, except for some parts of the "What This Means" sections, if you accept the fact that the correspondents catch them all (and aren't disinformed). >4. The HW has a different feel and pace of change than the OW. Due to the SoP and other "unnatural" charataristics, things move slower in the HW. Political changes are rare, and cultural changes are a no-no. So the rate of events is also different between the HW and OW. Very true. So what? IMO it's a neutral statement that doesn't push one way or the other. >5. I think (and this is totally IMHO) that a lot of gamers do not use the HW, and ignore its existance (please people, do not make this a canon-noncanon debate). For conviniance we can put the HW events in a seperate part of the almanac. But some do; the Mystaran Almanac timeline (aka MA-canon) does include the HW. If you went by that, then since some people don't have Alphatia sink at the end of WotI, we should segregate Alphatia too. And since I'm sure there's at least one person that has nukes Karameikos, we should probably segragate it, too. And since in some campaigns Darokin exploded into several city-states, we shouldn't even segregate Darokin, but each of its city because in some campaigns they might be city-states... I'm purposefully sarcastic to show a point. No, the MA has its own timeline, and what's convenient to you may not be to someone else, so the common deniminator here is the MA-timeline. If you don't like it, or if your campaign differs greatly from it, then skip or modify parts as you wish for your own game, or even write another timeline concurrent to the MA (and share it with the list - the more ideas, the most inspiration we can get). ===== ___________________________________________________________ Herve Musseau http://www.geocities.com/hmusseau/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 11:20:30 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac events layout MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Yea, I could be more tedious about the way I do > things, > Well, the thing that people have to keep in mind is that it isn't adding 1 file for HW events vs having 1 file for surface events. There are 12 separate files for events now - one for each month. Breaking them down by region means adding 12 separate files for each region the world is divided into. IMO, it's far less confusing to look through 12 monthly files than 24 or 36 for that one event, especially since it's hard to remember exactly which month it took place in. I think they should be left as-is. All one has to do is scan the "location" line, since events are already designated by region that way - this is very helpful for looking for that one event, because (speaking for myself at least) usually remember where it took place. Dividing it into separately designated files however would just produce a plethora and surifit of more files, and the almanac is already divided into a great number of discrete documents. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 12:31:54 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Jeremy Morris Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac events layout In-Reply-To: <200002161723.MAA18810@smtp7.atl.mindspring.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Wed, 16 Feb 2000, James Ruhland wrote: > > > > Yea, I could be more tedious about the way I do > > things, > > > Well, the thing that people have to keep in mind is that it isn't adding 1 > file for HW events vs having 1 file for surface events. There are 12 > separate files for events now - one for each month. Just out of curiosity, is there a reason to keep them in a file for each month? If they were sufficiently broken down by region, there really wouldn't be a need to break the files down again by month, so the result would be fewer files altogether, not more. However, since I don't know how the administrative side of the Almanac functions, or if there is something other than "searchability" that necessitates the need for a monthly breakdown of the files, I'm not sure if this would work. If you can't keep all of the events for a region in one file, then I guess that might change my mind about how I'd (personally) like to see it organized. Thanks, Jeremy ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 12:40:01 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "dlegend@bellsouth.net" Subject: Re: HW modules MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks for your help. I have ordered the models and I'm looking forward to reading them. The Shadowlord Ezio Pignatelli wrote: > Well, I own the trilogy, and I am playing it right now (we are in the middle of the second module). > > Definitively worth your money. You already got the summary, so I am just giving my impression. It's > a HUGE adventure, > having its best if you have a party of surface characters which never heard about a 'Hollow > World'... and will get some nasty surprise. :)) Everything is detailed in an excellent way, and > there is no chance you could play more than one third of the many possibilities detailed. A plot > with different routes, depending from what your party is doing. I am really enjoying Dming that. > > Only one (minor) problem: it's VERY demanding for your players. Compared with other modules, the > fighting part is almost negligible. > You can easily have a night session without one single fight. In the end, your players will likely > get few money and magic objects at the end of each module (excluding the third one). Which basically > means: my investigating players have been delighted up to now from the adventure, while the > hack'n'slash type are kind of bored. Also, the plot is VERY complex and tricky, and a party > "rushing" through it could easily die in the final confrontation of each module. Even if very lucky, > the players won't enjoy it if they don't get a grasp of what's happening -and this can be not easy > if they do not advance very carefully, talking to anyone, collecting information from anywhere. Very > challenging - it is my impression that my party greatly improved its way of playing while advancing > through it. > > Also: even if you don't play it, it was wonderful tor ead it (as a DM, of course). > > Hope this can help, > > -- > Ezio Pignatelli --- SISSA -- Room 9 > via Beirut 4 - 34014 Trieste - Italy > Phone: +39-040-3787525 Fax:+39-040-3787528 > mailto:pignatel@sissa.it http://www.sissa.it/ap/pignatel.html > -- > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 11:58:52 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: George Hrabovsky Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit See below... ----- Original Message ----- From: James Ruhland To: Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 11:08 AM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project > > > > Why would you be running the bulk of your war fleet during peacetime? > > That costs money and takes a lot of effort. > > > Most nations that are serious about their navies and/or airforces run the > bulk of it during peacetime. Yes, it costs money. It costs money to have a > military. That is not true at all. Even the US Navy which has the highest percentage of its fleet at sea at any given time is only up to 55% strength (deployed, that is). There are only 4 CVBG at sea at one time. The Soviet Navy in the Cold War (by far the largest navy in the world at that time) only deployed 15% of its forces and that was in a time of crisis! Even at the height of the Cold War US Naval Deployments were less than 75% of the fleet at any time. It was only in time of war that fleet deployments rose to 90%. Yes, it costs money to maintain a military. Most countries choose not to risk such an expensive investment by unnecessarily deploying them. Any time you go to sea you risk a ship. This is even more true of skyships, since normal naval vessels are not subject to the whim of moderate air currents. It is utter madness to risk a 5,000,000+ gp investment without reason. Possible reasons for sorties are: 1) Periodic training cruises, probably for a month out every year to help new crewmen learn the ropes (no pun intended). 2) Showing the flag, porbably for a couple of months every other year going to foreign ports to show off and to show force. 3) Specifically planned naval exercises, every couple of years a major exercise invloving a quarter of the fleet or so, every year for a couple of weeks having a few ships. In any case these would be to test readiness. 4) For major warships a show of force during times of political tension. 5) For minor warships occasional missions involving the escort of very valuable cargoes. 6) For partrol vessels frequent deployment as escorts, sea-lane patrols, or coastal patrols. Of course, during wartime these rules change. The reason for a ship to be in port is because it is safe. Any deployment of naval or skyship forces will probably generate a large quantity of maintenance work. If you look at real life for every week of sea deployment you end up with something like two weeks of maintenance work in port. This is one reason why naval ports exist. > > Also, I guess there are two impressions here - I always considered the > skyship navy to be a rare, elite force, not a ragged militia. Others > disagree, I suppose. Well, let's break it down by the numbers at long last. Who said anything about a ragged militia? I certainly didn't. You every see what a modern destroyer or frigate is capable of? Even a small skyship can wreak all kinds of hell on their water-bound relatives. A skyship of any kind is a potentially lethal opponent. In real life a trebuchet can knock down a 5' thick castle wall in one shot with a 250 kilogram rock. How many of these rocks could a small skyship carry? Now you park over the enemy castle at about 5,000 feet. Drop a few sacks of sand to get the windage down. Then you begin to drop rocks... Not a pretty thought. These light ships would be deployed often. The larger, more valuable ships would only be deployed for a good reason. One doesn't see an aircraft carrier being used as a coastal patrol vessel. Though frigates are often employed in this role. > > Why would you pay 5.6MegGPs + MageWages + Cost of Failed Enchantments, and > then mothball it? Who said I was mothballing anything. It takes a long time to train a crew, and you significantly reduce the chances of catastrophic mistakes if you do a lot of training in port. Basic skills are honed before you actually head out. Only when a crew is ready are they sent to sea, or to sky. > [Much interesting material about costs snipped] This is exactly why they would not be risked without need. All it takes is a green helmsman to make a mistake and you can capsize a skyship. I suspect that keeping the trim of an airship is as difficult as keeping the trim of a submarine. Think about this at 10,000 feet... ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 12:31:31 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Agathokles Subject: Re: newbie needing a hand MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit KoRneR wrote: > ...and i would like to know what are the effects of red curse on > goblinoids. thanks in advance.. > Goblinoids suffer standard effects from the curse, if they spend enough time in a cursed area. However, you might see from the Curse map in the Savage Coast Campaign Setting that most goblinoids live outside the cursed area. Should goblinoids acquire the curse, they will probably become afflicted, as happened to the character Cisco del Carrascal (in the pregenerated PCs section of SCCS), who was raised by Gnolls. -- Giampaolo Agosta agathokles@libero.it http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles/index.htm ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 10:41:50 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Damon Alexander Brown Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- James Ruhland wrote: > > Also, I guess there are two impressions here - I > always considered the > skyship navy to be a rare, elite force, not a ragged > militia. Others > disagree, I suppose. Actually, I kind of see it as something of an inverse privateer fleet/militia. I would think that the ships would be used for non-military purposes (diplomatic, exploratory, etc.) in peacetime(perhaps even loaned-out), while in times of conflict, they would be recalled to military service for combat. In this way, I see the Alphatian Skynavy fleet as being like a hybrid of the Imperial Navy & the Imperial Scout Service from Traveller. Perhaps, it is a seperate "organization" that answers directly to the Council/Empress as opposed to the military heirarchy per se. Whether or not they are defined as military or civilian is a bit of a "gray area". Also, I would think the crew compliment would be somewhat different depending on the status... carrying marines would not be as much of a priority in peacetime, obviously. In some instances, I envision non-military wizards either trading their services for the opportunity to participate in the exploratory missions or possibly even paying outright for the privilige. In either case, I would think this would be a great chance for Alphatian wizards to do a little "field-research". Realistically, this would cut down on the cost to maintain the vehicles while in service (i.e. not in port). I can imagine the Princess Ark being more or less in this "mode" during non-WotI times. Anyway, just some thoughts... -Damon PS I tend to agree that the "fleet" would still be relatively small and somewhat rare. ===== "He who laughs last... thinks slowest." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 12:44:25 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > That is not true at all. Even the US Navy which has the highest percentage > of its fleet at sea at any given time is only up to 55% strength (deployed, > that is). > Ok - I misunderstood what you were saying. But the rest are not decomissioned and mothballed - they must be maintained, servicemen must be paid, etc. > > There are only 4 CVBG at sea at one time. The Soviet Navy in > the Cold War (by far the largest navy in the world at that time) only > deployed 15% of its forces and that was in a time of crisis! > And the effectiveness of the Soviet fleet was questionable at best - especially its surface components (it's Submarine arm was considered fairly good, however). Anyhow, I personally wasn't arguing that the Alphatians would deploy them on simple recon patrols - that was someone else. But the forces must be paid, whether they stay in port or not. And training runs must be made (though probably, considering the cost, like you say, these will be done in secure areas for the most part)> > > Possible reasons for sorties are: > > Right. My point is that the crews must still be paid, the ships still maintained, etc. They cannot stay completely under wraps, or their combat effectiveness will be minimal (and that is as much a waste of money as anything.) PLUS - IMO, mothball things too much and the tendancy for them to "fall of the back of a truck" becomes greater, not less. "no one will know" or "oh, it doesn't really matter anyhow - it's just sitting there." Of course, one would think the security around these ships would be VERY high (IMO, that could be what the crew does when the ship isn't in use - guard it to prevent theft. Theft still seems to occur on an all-too alarming basis, judging by recent Mystaran history). As such a high-value asset - say you're a greedy adventurer. Do you wanna spend the time & money to enchant something like this, or would you rather have it as a "five finger discount"? Of course, if you do that you'll be hounded to the ends of the earth by the Alphatians (or one would *think* you would be - no one has yet gone after the Karameikans who stole a skyship, and indeed Karameikos & Alphatia remain cozy friends dispite that). That's the main reason not too, but what the heck, that's adventure! (of course no party of adventurers could man a Man-of-War, but hostile nations might love to steal them. Thus the need to heavily guard them, even when in port). My concern is mainly the cost. Also, even with your notation, you're not really talking a difference between "standing" and "reserve" fleets - you're talking about "standing" forces spending time in port vs time at sea. They're still "standing" forces. The USN has a reserve component, it also has some reserve ships. And keeps other ships "in ordinary" as well (especially with the demobilization after the end of the Cold War). IMO, if one wants to do that with regular, seafaring navies of any country, as with their land forces, be my guest. But as I said I tend to see this (the Alphatian Skynavy) as a special force, not something that should be given gratus and maintinance costs negated until the day they're needed. > > Who said anything about a ragged militia? I certainly didn't. > Well, see above: I thought you were talking difference between "standing" and "reserve" forces, not "standing forces in port" and "standing forces at sea." > > Who said I was mothballing anything. > This is exactly why they would not be risked without need. > See, I misunderstood what you were saying. MORE ON BUDGETING THEM: Btw, further calculations show that after about 5-6 years of production/procurement, the funds available for that will have been all transfered into financing the ships in-service (payment of salaries etc). I'm not going to display the math for that for the simple reason that I haven't completely done the math, but it's a rough (and roughly accurate) guess, based upon 16.4MegGP ea ~ yearconstruction * @6MegGP wages. As more ships are completed they depleate the funds available for construction, since the money is then used for wages. About 1/3 the first year, 1/4 the second year, down the line until all the money is used up in wages etc by year 6. Of course, as the funds are transfered it takes longer to "fully budget" each ship. So it probably takes upwards of a decade to build all the ships that can be afforded. But that's about x3 what can be built the first year (I thought it would be BUDGETx10, since that's roughly what one gets with a TRAVELLER Trillion-Credit Squadron fleet: it costs 10% to maintain, so you can build ten times your annual budget in ships. But here it seems closer to x3 your annual budget in skyships. For sea fleets, it's probably closer to the x10 budget.) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Dec 1999 22:59:14 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: George Gardea Subject: City Maps MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi everyone. I'm thinking of starting to make improved versions of the maps in mystara. Starting with Threshold, Kelvin, Specularium, etc. Then following in the Gaz sequence from there for published maps. Is any one interested in something like this? geo ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 10:59:23 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Damon Alexander Brown Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- Caroletti wrote: > > However, I'm not sure what "James" might be in > > other languages. Any suggestions, folks? > > Giacomo Tempio in Italian. Thanks, Giulio! > Iulius Sergius Scaevola > Captain of the XXth Cohort > Port Lucinius, Thyatis Er, I mean, Captain Scaevola. :-) Anyone else? C'mon there's at least 6-7 other languages spoken by different folks out there... -Damon ===== "He who laughs last... thinks slowest." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 13:04:22 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Actually, I kind of see it as something of an > inverse privateer fleet/militia. > Well, there *is* that aspect - that's not the Imperial Alphatian Sky Navy with Men of War aspect. In my original post I included that force as the suplimentary/reserve component - commissioning ships like the (unique) Princess Ark, the Enchanting (Alphatian Yacht), the sky-sailing version of the Shark and perhaps even pressing the Airship of Love into military service (IIRC, the British commisioned certain private ships as troop transports in WWI & WWII, but I might be wrong). That's a whole nother kettle of fish, however - the type of ship even the most wealthy of private patrons can afford to build will be vastly different from what the Empire can (I'm not even sure they *can*) budget - the type of ship that will be most useful to them will have some weaponary and military aspects, like trading vessals in the renaissance - but they will not be warships as such. This, IMO, is one reason you see a differentiation in the PWAs, mentions of "flying longships" and the like, rather than "Men of War" - the privateer vessels are simply not going to have all the bells and whistles of a Man-of-War; their main purpose isn't warfare, but the personal uses of the owner - they can be pressed into battle, but are going to be proportionally less effective (in fact, about as effective as the original DotE materiel implied, not monsterous. Nice to have, definately a great asset, but a far cry from an invincible Teleportation platform). > I would think that > the ships would be used for non-military purposes > (diplomatic, exploratory, etc.) in peacetime(perhaps > even loaned-out), while in times of conflict, they > would be recalled to military service for combat. > Right, I'd agree with that. But peacetime vessels are not warships. > In > this way, I see the Alphatian Skynavy fleet as being > like a hybrid of the Imperial Navy & the Imperial > Scout Service from Traveller. > There's some of that, perhaps. But to emphasize the difference, the Scout Service doesn't field TIGRESS-Class Dreadnaughts. They field Scout & Exploration ships, and a few frontier cruisers (a very few in proportion to the total service. The Princess Ark would be the equivilent of Oberlindies' "EMISSARY" (Azhanti-High Lightning class) - unique, finagled by exeptional means, a one-of-a-kind vessel. Not even the Megacorps seem to have Cruisers of this type (most of their CorpWars being conducted with significantly smaller vessels, none of which have a Spinal Mount). > > Also, I would think the crew compliment would be > somewhat different depending on the status... carrying > marines would not be as much of a priority in > peacetime, obviously. > Not on peace-ships, but on warships? You bet. It'd be foolish not to, if only because then it'd be simpler for someone to steal a ship you just invested 16.5 million GPs into. When ships like this are used for "peaceful" purposes, they are usually in "show of force" mode - in which case you might "stand down" the artillery, but you're trying to display your strength. Anyhow, whether you carry your marines or leave 'em at home, they must still be paid. > In some instances, I envision non-military wizards > either trading their services for the opportunity to > participate in the exploratory missions or possibly > even paying outright for the privilige. > Well, in some people's campaigns the Empress might not only get to field these ships without paying squat in wages & maintinance but actually even make money off them, but I think that's "game balance right out the window" type of thing. OtoH, I'd agree with you that guys like Haldemar explore for the sheer joy of it as much as anything else (like getting told to "get lost for awhile or lose your head") - but he does that more or less on his own account, for himself. His ship didn't start out as some kind of super-killer-warship (that took FR-LMS9) - it was much more "yacht like" (large, but not exceptionally powerful. Had some good crewmen, but seemingly not nearly as much in the way of enchantments on the hull as a Man-of-War does). And he has to pay his crew, etc (how he managed that without ever returning home to his source of revenue in Haaken to pick up more money to pay his people is beyond me - but that's what makes it a story, not an excersise in bugetary accounting, so that's better off ignored I suppose for the purpose of the VotPA series, but not for our purposes). ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 13:18:52 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: George Hrabovsky Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Anyhow, I personally wasn't arguing that the Alphatians would deploy them > on simple recon patrols - that was someone else. But the forces must be > paid, whether they stay in port or not. And training runs must be made > (though probably, considering the cost, like you say, these will be done in > secure areas for the most part)> Also this would only apply to the larger and more expensive ships. Smaller patrol-type skyships would be likely to see much more action (sort of like coastguard cutters or coastal patrol craft; the US is weird in that its coast guard is part of the Transportation Dept., most nations have a coastal patrol element to their military). > Right. My point is that the crews must still be paid, the ships still > maintained, etc. They cannot stay completely under wraps, or their combat > effectiveness will be minimal (and that is as much a waste of money as > anything.) Sure, that is why the bulk of the activities, even in and near to the port will be training-oriented. > PLUS - IMO, mothball things too much and the tendancy for them > to "fall of the back of a truck" becomes greater, not less. "no one will > know" or "oh, it doesn't really matter anyhow - it's just sitting there." > Of course, one would think the security around these ships would be VERY > high (IMO, that could be what the crew does when the ship isn't in use - > guard it to prevent theft. Theft still seems to occur on an all-too > alarming basis, judging by recent Mystaran history). As such a high-value > asset - say you're a greedy adventurer. Do you wanna spend the time & money > to enchant something like this, or would you rather have it as a "five > finger discount"? Of course, if you do that you'll be hounded to the ends > of the earth by the Alphatians (or one would *think* you would be - no one > has yet gone after the Karameikans who stole a skyship, and indeed > Karameikos & Alphatia remain cozy friends dispite that). That's the main > reason not too, but what the heck, that's adventure! (of course no party of > adventurers could man a Man-of-War, but hostile nations might love to steal > them. Thus the need to heavily guard them, even when in port). > I agree. Something like this would be akin to someone stealing the USS Nimitz, or the Kirov, or something like that. > My concern is mainly the cost. Also, even with your notation, you're not > really talking a difference between "standing" and "reserve" fleets - > you're talking about "standing" forces spending time in port vs time at > sea. They're still "standing" forces. I suppose there would be a substantial reserve fleet, skyships that have been retired for one reason or another... Hadn't even thought abou that. If you figure they build one of these things every year or so. And you then assume that they have been doing it for a while, say a couple of hundred years. Then you assume the active "lifespan" of such a ship with occasional upgrades is about thirty years, then there might be as many as thirty big skyships in the active fleet (with as many as ten being in need of frequent upgrades). You might further assume that a ship will have a hull life of fifty or sixty years, so there could be as many as thirty ships in reserve; assuming that around half of the total will not be functional that means the Alphatians could muster about fifteen (though these would not be state-of-the-art). It might take a couple months to get such reserve ships ready for frontline duty, but they could be quickly deployed for home defense. > > The USN has a reserve component, it also has some reserve ships. And keeps > other ships "in ordinary" as well (especially with the demobilization after > the end of the Cold War). IMO, if one wants to do that with regular, > seafaring navies of any country, as with their land forces, be my guest. > But as I said I tend to see this (the Alphatian Skynavy) as a special > force, not something that should be given gratus and maintinance costs > negated until the day they're needed. Maintnenace is an on-going process. Navy SEALs are a special force too, and they stay close to home base until needed for specific things. They spend most of their time training and maintaining their equipment and readiness... George ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 12:58:49 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Damon Alexander Brown Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- James Ruhland wrote: > > That's a whole nother kettle of fish, however - the > type of ship even the > most wealthy of private patrons can afford to build > will be vastly > different from what the Empire can (I'm not even > sure they *can*) budget - That's what I meant by "inverse" privateer/milita. The vessels would always "officially" be part of the Skynavy, but would be used in civilian service when not needed for military crisis. Pretty much the opposite of a militia vessel which is privately owned but "loaned" out to the military in wartime. > > I would think that > > the ships would be used for non-military purposes > > (diplomatic, exploratory, etc.) in > peacetime(perhaps > > even loaned-out), while in times of conflict, they > > would be recalled to military service for combat. > > > Right, I'd agree with that. But peacetime vessels > are not warships. Correct. I'm not saying they are. I was talking about "warships" be used in peactime, not the other way around. Anyway, this certainly would be only a portion of the fleet at any given time. > > In > > this way, I see the Alphatian Skynavy fleet as > being > > like a hybrid of the Imperial Navy & the Imperial > > Scout Service from Traveller. > > > There's some of that, perhaps. But to emphasize the > difference, the Scout > Service doesn't field TIGRESS-Class Dreadnaughts. I was only using the Traveller analogy in referrence to the function of the "organization". IMO, sci-fi vessels (or modern vessels for that matter) are substanstianly more specialized than those of a historic or fantasy setting. I don't foresee a strictly "military" vessel being terribly feasible for the Alphatians... Thyatians, sure. But the Alphatians don't seem to have the efficient/militaristic society that the Thyatians do. I'd think they would want a vessel that has a Primary purpose but can be adapted to a secondary function if need be even if its primary effectiveness suffers because of it. I just don't see Alphatia as a nation that places a high-prioity on a professional military per se. > carrying > > marines would not be as much of a priority in > > peacetime, obviously. > > > Not on peace-ships, but on warships? You bet. I'm not saying they'd get rid of the troops altogether. But in peacetime, I would think that a full compliment of troops would not be a necessity when conducting missions such as exploration. This allows them to replace those crew members with others more qualified for the given type of excursion. Of course, your going to need troops to protect the mission in unfamiliar territory, but then if you've got a hold full of troops, you're not gonna be equipped to do much except conquer... > It'd be foolish not to, if > only because then it'd be simpler for someone to > steal a ship you just > invested 16.5 million GPs into. I can't imagine it being terribly likely that much of anyone is going to steal a skyship... even with a diminished contingency of marines aboard. It's not exactly like stealing a car. The average Alphatian wizard doesn't even have the expertise to fly one... Besides, I'm not saying to get rid of the troops. Just downsize to fit the needs of the situation. Heck, even in wartime, a vessel will likely make some modification (albeit minor) to peripheral(ie non-essential to operating the boat) crew based on mission requirements. > Anyhow, whether you carry your > marines or leave 'em at home, > they must still be paid. However, they can be used in other areas that may be a better use of their manpower in peacetime. > > In some instances, I envision non-military > wizards > > either trading their services for the opportunity > to > > participate in the exploratory missions or > possibly > > even paying outright for the privilige. > > > Well, in some people's campaigns the Empress might > not only get to field > these ships without paying squat in wages & > maintinance but actually even > make money off them, but I think that's "game > balance right out the window" > type of thing. Oh, I'm not talking about conscription or anything like that. My thought is that there would be lots of wizards who would voluntarily jump at the chance to be involved in such situations. And as far as physical maintenance(not to mention crew upkeep), the Empire would still be responsible (at least financially). I'm also talking about a situation that would actually create some gaming: PC's volunteering to be crew-members on a ship exploring exciting new territory. They receive free room and board but are obligated to try and keep things in line with the mission directives. It gives them a little bit more freedom than being swords for hire but still establishes some basic conduct guidelines. > OtoH, I'd agree with you that guys like Haldemar > explore for the sheer joy > of it as much as anything else (like getting told to > "get lost for awhile or lose your head") > - but he does that more or less > on his own account, for > himself. And even from a completely selfish perspective, a curious wizard has alot to gain by "seeing what's out there". Sure, most magic research involves books, librabries, and laboratories, but what about the opportunity to see some new creature first hand in its own environment! > His ship didn't start out as some kind of > super-killer-warship Once again, I don't foresee the Alphatians really building super-killer-warships that aren't adaptable to another purpose more inline with the national philosophy. > And he > has to pay his crew, etc Of course, Haldemar wasn't exactly on "official" Alphatian business (originally). So he doesn't exactly have the support of the Council when it comes to financial matters. Maybe I should have said that the military ships on on civilian duties would be acting similar to the Princess Ark, not the other way around. Hmmm... does that even make sense? Oh well, I'm just trying to find some plausible (or maybe not so plausible) peacetime uses for military vessels in a society not particularly interested in militaristic endeavors. -Damon ===== "He who laughs last... thinks slowest." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 15:03:36 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Thyatian Military Variant: Sacred Guard. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Sacred Guard (Palatine Guard Force) This force is one of the last pieces of the puzzle with respect to the active/standing Thyatian Imperial forces for my Thyatian Military Variant. There still remain a few reserve forces (transport fleets mainly, and the like), and the auxiliaries forces of the colonies, etc. I've been meaning to do this for some time, but have been somewhat reluctant to, for a couple reasons. In my opinion, one can (and perhaps should) just say that 200+ tough hombres and various defensive magics etc. guard the Imperial Palace in Thyatis City (or Sundsvall, or the Royal Palace in Vestland, or wherever). In my opinion, providing stats for these guards might make people think they can treat it like a dungeon � go through, fight and kill the guards, loot the treasure. While I think it's perfectly acceptable to go into the Imperial Palace and adventure there, these activities should either be diplomatic/non-combat encounters OR one should sneak around/infiltrate the palace. Folks shouldn't march through, killing the guards and looting the place. On the other hand, I'm reluctant to overly munchify the guards to make that impossible. So I'll strike what I hope is a good balance, and provide the following warning: IMO, one should do what is needed to insure that the protective guard force is Superior to that of an invading adventurer party (an invading army might be another matter). It should not be possible to wipe out the guards in combat and sack the place. The other thing that made me somewhat reluctant is the knowledge that there are various opinions regarding the use & presence of Psionics in Mystara. Some (even many) prefer a Mystara with no Psionicists whatsoever. However, I do use Psionics in my campaign, and in my opinion Psionics are a must for forces like this � use of Telepathic and other abilities, Psionically Empowered devices, Psionic "sweeps" of the Astral and Ethereal planes to prevent infiltration and/or eavesdropping from there etc. are sensible and necessary. However, I have converted (where possible) all Psionicists and Psionic devices into magical ones, though I will provide some notes as to that for people who do use Psionics in their campaigns. Also, my inclination is to not provide War Machine stats for this force � it is not a Field unit intended to battle other military forces. I might provide some War Machine stats at the end, because it is possible that an invading army might battle the Sacred Guard. Forces The Sacred Guard consists of 200 troops tasked with defending the Imperial Palace in the City of Thyatis. Uniform The uniform of the Sacred Guard consists of a white tunic with gold lacing and piping, gold buttons, and belted by a scarlet sash, over a Kilt of pure white. Boots are polished black. Helmet is of the "pith" type, also white, with a gold emblem in the front (if you've seen the movie Zulu the helmet resembles those worn by the British Soldiers of that era). The emblem consists of a two-headed eagle superimposed in a sunburst, with a "wreath" of six five-pointed stars under it in a semi-circle, and a eight-pointed star over it. All troops have had the spell Improved Armor cast on them along with Stoneskin, by a 20th (36th) level caster (Demetrion). The spell Improved Armor can be found in The Book of Magecraft (a Birthright accessory). A short description will be given below. If other, similarly long-duration spells are available in your campaign, the members of the Sacred Guard will likely benefit from them as well. Organization All persons in the Sacred Guard are members of the elite Order of the Golden Eagle (which see) � membership in that Order ends up providing them with various bonuses against magic, especially mental attack and influence. A description of that Order will be posted later. Forces are broken down as follows: There is a Command & Control Force of 20 persons. All can Detect Invisibility & Detect Evil as a Semi-permanent effect (see the spell Semi-Permanency). They are also Protected from Evil and from Normal Missiles. There are three Sections of 60 persons each, divided into ten Squads of 6 Guards each. One Section is on duty at any given time, another Section is sleeping (but can be called to muster quickly), and the third is on personal time (about half these will be somewhere in or near the Palace grounds at any given time, and can also be called up quickly. The other half will be elsewhere in The City, and take longer to arrive in case of emergency). Squads are stationed at the main entry points to the Palace, at the entrance to the Throne Room, and in moving patrols. Moving patrols usually have Blink Dogs accompanying them. Each Squad consists of the following personnel: 1 8th level Paladin Commander (Cavalier Kit) � AC 0 (Improved Armor, Dex, Single Weapon Fighting Style); Mv 12; HP 52; THAC0 12; #att 2 (Sword or Bow) or 1 (other weapons); Dmg 1d8 +5 (+2 longsword; specialization & strength bonus). +2 Longsword, +2 Short Composite Bow, Dagger. Will use sword in preference to other weapons, and avoid using bow (Cavalier). Is +5 to hit with sword (magical bonus, specialization, Cavalier bonus). Also has a Medallion of ESP, 90' radius. The Paladin is usually dedicated to Tarastia. 1 7th level Fighter/8th level Mage (Dual-classed) � AC 0 (Improved Armor, Dex, Single Weapon Fighting Style); Mv 12; HP 50; THAC0 12; #att 2 (Sword or Bow) or 1 (other weapons); Dmg 1d8 +5 (+2 longsword; specialization & strength bonus), or spells. +2 Longsword, +2 Short Composite Bow, Dagger. +4 to hit with sword (magical bonus, specialization). Will use spells to incapacitate foes. 1 8th level Priest of Vanya - AC 0 (Improved Armor, Dex, Single Weapon Fighting Style); Mv 12; HP 50; THAC0 12; #att 2 (Sword) or 1 (other weapons); Dmg 1d8 +2 (+2 longsword). +2 Longsword, Mace. Will use spells to aid Squad and incapacitate foes. Will Turn Undead. Can automatically Detect Lie as a permanent ability. 3 8th level Fighters (Myrmidon Kit) - AC 0 (Improved Armor, Dex, Single Weapon Fighting Style); Mv 12; HP 52; THAC0 12; #att 2 (Sword or Bow) or 1 (other weapons); Dmg 1d8 +5 (+2 longsword; specialization & strength bonus). +2 Longsword, +2 Short Composite Bow, Dagger. +5 to hit with sword (magical bonus, specialization). Also specialized in Short Composite Bow. NOTE: in campaigns that use Psionics, one of these three will be a Psionicist. In combat, the Paladin and one Myrmidon will engage the enemy in melee, the other fighter(s) will use his bow against enemy spellcasters, while the priest and mage use spells and/or missile weapons. The squads of the Sacred Guard function as an efficient combined-arms team. Goal will be to delay the enemy as long as possible while re-enforcements come. Each guard post has had a permanent Clairaudience, Clairvoyance, and Detect Invisibility affect placed over it, so that members of the Command & Control force can monitor what is going on, and dispatch re-enforcements to needed areas. These spells have also been put in place at key choke-points throughout the Imperial Palace itself (consider these akin to high-tech surveilance systems), to prevent infiltration. Throughout the Palace there are numerous statues, frescoes, and the like. Most of the statues are in actuality Living Statues, Golems of various types (though usually much smaller in size, but identical in statistics, to normal Golems), and other Constructs and Automatons used to defend the Palace. These are given limited instructions (IMC all have been Psionically Empowered, with various Telepathic abilities, which make them intelligent) and thus able to react to intruders. They can also be commanded at will by a member of the Sacred Guard. Alarm type spells affect various secure areas, with the alarm ringing back in the Command & Control Center. Shrieking Walls and/ or Crushing Walls spells affect off-limits areas. Note that the Palace & its grounds are also Warded with many effects. Also, many palace staff and residents will be skilled � some exceptionally skilled. Even many of the servants are retired gladiators, military, and the like. Djinii and other extra-planar creatures can also be found, bound by various pacts to help serve and defend the Palace and its residents. Some others are Polymorphed Dragons, such as Demetrion's friend Hytilaph. Command and Control Force This force consists of personnel who spend their duty time in a secure chamber (difficult to infiltrate), and of an elite "reaction force" of high level heroes (this should be a "party" of no less than six persons, who are at least 3 levels higher than that of an attacking party of adventurers, but not less than 20th level in any case. They should consist of 2 Fighters, 2 Foresters, and 2 Priests. If you have the old Judges Guild City State of the World Emperor accessory, consider them similar to the Black Adders team, except that they live in the Palace grounds. The Emperor does have a "secret service"/spy force � the Magistranoi, but it is different.) The monitoring personnel will likely be mages and/or clerics. They can cause Guards and Wards type effects to affect various portions (or all of) the Palace if needed, triggering various magical items enchanted to do this. Palace Wards The entire Palace grounds is protected by Invisibility Purge, Land of Stability, Preservation, and Forbiddance � like effect (this is somewhat different because it isn't keyed to alignment. Individuals are given passcodes that are specific to them � in tune with their personal "aura", what makes them unique. Thus others cannot use them even if they somehow acquire them. Polymorphing, Shapechanging, or even Impersonation is not sufficient to "fool" this Ward, because aspects of the caster's true personality remains in place. Only by actually becoming the person for whom the passcode is "keyed" would one be able to use it. Wishes have been used in advanced so that if someone tries to use a Wish to gain a passcode, acquire the ability to use a passcode, or simply to bypass the Ward, this will be known immediately, and the identity of the Wisher and/or the target/beneficiary of the Wish will be revealed. This allows them to enter the area via Teleportation, Plane Travel, and the like, bypassing the Forbiddance ward. These passcodes can be granted out and rescinded as needed. This version has no affect whatsoever on people walking in normally, it simply affects dimensional penetration as noted above). Other Warding-type spells, such as Weather Stasis or Grounding can be cast if needed. Improved Armor (Conjuration) Level: 4 Components: V, S, M Duration: Special Casting Time: 4 Area of Effect: 1 Creature Saving Throw: None Similar to the 1st level armor spell, this enchantment creates a faintly glowing magical field of energy around a target individual that serves as if it were field plate mail (AC 2). This spell has no effect on a person already armored or a creature with Armor Class 2 or better, but it is cumulative with Dexterity bonuses. Improved Armor does not affect a creature's movement or hinder spellcasting, and it has no weight. Improved Armor remains about the individual until dispelled or until the individual suffers damage equal to 10 points plus twice the caster's level (50 HP when cast by Demetrion). The armor does not prevent the spell recipient from suffering the damage. The materiel component for this spell is a polished steel cube. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 15:21:16 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I don't foresee a strictly "military" vessel being > terribly feasible for the Alphatians... Thyatians, > sure. But the Alphatians don't seem to have the > efficient/militaristic society that the Thyatians do. > Well, I wouldn't forsee that, either. Or at least I didn't. But then if we're going to cleave to "canon" we're sort of stuck with that Man-of-War thing - obviously a strictly "military" vessel. Re-designating it as a "scout" or "exploration vessel" doesn't change the substance, only the syntax. I always personally, at least from DotE, got the impression that most of their big magic items were of the "Air Ship of Love" variety, or the Shark variety - sure nice to have. And they'd be useful in warfare. But the "Man-of-War" is another kettle of fish entirely, as I said. It's hard to see folks making that kind of expenditure on something that's mainly meant for exploration (notably, the vessels in Champions that *are* designed with exploration in mind are significantly less elaborate, large, and expensive. Azlum Swith's Geodome Airship is probably the most potent example, and it's cost is about 1/5th of that of a Man-of-War - and is in part that expensive because it isn't just a ship, it's Azlum's entire mobile base, home, lab, etc.) The Man-of-War's utility as an exploration or even diplomatic ship can be seen in the fact that it doesn't have facilities for either: no labs like in the Geodome Airship to analyze samples of flora and fauna, quarters are mostly large bays to barracks troops and airmen, not staterooms for envoys or academics & other passengers, etc. Thus it isn't even an ENTERPRISE type vessel: armed for war but oriented around "going where no Alphatian has gone before" - it just isn't set up for that (the Princess Ark is, but it's unique). If I had absolute power, I *might* follow your concept, and simply scrap the entire idea of a Man-of-War or fleet of Alphatian Imperial Skyships oriented primarily around warfare, for the (good) reasons you give. But I don't have absolute power (and it's probably a good thing that I don't, wouldn't you agree?) 8-) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 15:24:20 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > and expensive. Azlum Swith's Geodome Airship is probably the most potent > example, and it's cost is about 1/5th of that of a Man-of-War - and is in > part that expensive because it isn't just a ship, it's Azlum's entire > mobile base, home, lab, etc.) > Oh, one clarification: that's the final cost compared to the "base" cost of a Man-of-War. The "base" cost of the Geodome Airship is 1/12th that of a Man-of-War (actually, 1/13.8th). ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 17:21:22 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed OK, why build skyships if your just going to mouthball them the next day? you wouldn't,that would be a wast of time.the Alphatians would build the skyships during war times, or to maintain a level of force(old out of date ships would be replaced by new ones)then when the threat was over,they would mouthball the excess number of ships(so you could use them the next time there was a threat)to keep the budget down.the men that manned those ships would then be used to give other crews leave time,or they would be laid off(witch I know all to well!).and i agree with you on the cost of the ships,wich is why IMO the numbers of ships would be lower than 100. >From: James Ruhland >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project >Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 11:08:26 -0600 > > > > > Why would you be running the bulk of your war fleet during peacetime? > > That costs money and takes a lot of effort. > > >Most nations that are serious about their navies and/or airforces run the >bulk of it during peacetime. Yes, it costs money. It costs money to have a >military. > >Also, I guess there are two impressions here - I always considered the >skyship navy to be a rare, elite force, not a ragged militia. Others >disagree, I suppose. Well, let's break it down by the numbers at long last. > >Why would you pay 5.6MegGPs + MageWages + Cost of Failed Enchantments, and >then mothball it? > >Time to enchant is 7 + 5,600,000/1,000 days, or 5,607 "Mage-Days" - >assuming a 0% failure rate (Obviously multiple mages will work on such a >vessel, say 20). They have to be capable of casting Permanency, which in >OD&D requires an 18th level caster - a caster capable of casting 32 spells. >Of course, it's always better to have higher level casters because they >succeed more often, but we'll go with the minimum as an "average" level, >because there might be cases of "making do" with lower level casters for >some things. > >Such casters cost 9,000 gp/week to employ in Alphatia (9,000 gp/month >elsewhere). > >801 weeks X 9,000gp = 7,209,000 gp. > >So we can fill in that part of the equation: > >5,610,000 + 7,209,000 + X = 12,819,000 gp. > >It's very likely (extremely likely) that "Prepair Enchantment" would be >used to cut down on failures. Still, with Enchanting Wizards of these >levels, failure rate would be high: > >18 (int) + 36 (levelx2) + 18 (Prepair Enchantment @ 18th level) = 72% > >Well, that's not bad, eh? Just increase the frame cost by a little over a >quarter, and we're done, right? > >Wrong. > >Given the number & level of enchantments placed on each frame section, a >base success chance of 72% actually means that a negligable proportion of >frames will be successfully enchanted: > > 72% - Levitate (2x3) = 66 > 72% - Shield (1x3) = 69 > 72% - ProtN.M. (3x3) = 63 > 72% - CreAir (3x3) = 63 > 72% - Climate (3x3) = 63 > 72% - SpellTurn (5x3) = 57 > 72% - MindBar (8x3) = 48 > 72% - Invisibility (2x3) = 66 > 72% - DetInvis (2x3) = 66 > 72% - Teleport (2x5) = 57 > >Or: > >..66 x .69 x .63 x .63 x .63 x .57 x .48 x .66 x .66 x .57 = 0.0077356 > > Less than 1%. Not good. Not good at all. > >Well, what we'll say is that the "Optional" rule can be used: beyond the >first frame section successfully enchanted by a given mage, a simpler >formula is used: > >(18 + 18) x2 - (8x3) + 18 (PrepEnch) = 66% > >But it'd be kind of a bumer, still, to go through perhaps 100 wasted >attempts just to reach the point where you have a 2 out of 3 chance of >being successful. And 20 wizards (per ship, though they'll possibly work on >several during their lifetimes) means up to 2000 wasted frames getting the >experience under one's belt in order to achieve the ability to get a 66% >success rate on future attempts. Talk about "cost overuns" and "Hexagon >Waste"! > >So, IMO, the wise and efficient thing to do (of course, we're talking >Alphatians here - inefficient and flighty, but still) would be to use >casters whos success chance either surpasses or comes close to 100% in that >second formula. > >29th level casters with 18 int would equal: > >(18 + 29) x2 - (8x3) + 29 = 99% > >29th level casters cost 13,500gp/week to employ in Alphatia. > >801 weeks x 13,500gp = 10,813,500 > >10,813,500 + 5,610,000 = 16,423,500gp. > >So, we're spending almost 16.5MegGPs on a ship we're going to mothball the >next day? > >By comparison, btw, you could build over 270 War Galleys for the same >price. Or almost 550 Troop Transports. > >NOTE: this does not include enchanting the 240 Wands used by the Boltmen >(of course, the wands suggested on the Man-of-War card cry out for >demanding the Boltmen be paid the usual wages for an Alphatian spellcaster >of that level. If they were Wands of Magic Missiles, people could be more >reasonable: more reasonable equipment should make for more reasonable >wages. But grotesque munchkin equipment demands grotesquely high wages. . >.but we'll be kind, and pretend they're all 1st level. That's 2,000gp/month >for each, or 480,000gp/month for them all. On second thought, you'd want to >mothball something like that, wouldn't you? But, again - getting to have >something like this essentially for free except when you want to use it is >Munchkin City. If you want to run with the bulls, you've gotta expect to be >gored. If you want to play with the big dogs. . .etc. etc. Flexability goes >to the reasonable. Munchkins get zero* breaks. That's the great chain of >RPG being.) > >So, to crew the entire ship costs, at minimum, half a million gps per >month. That's 6,000,000gp/Year - a bit over the cost of one Man of War. If >we assume that the smaller ships, proportionately less expensive, have >proportionately less costly crews, we can see that cost to build 1 ship >aproximately equals the cost in upkeep per year. > >So that means Procuring 1 year's worth of ships then results in the >treasury having to use those funds in subsiquent years on wages & >maintinance. This then means that there isn't a constant stream of >skyshipbuilding, because they quickly outrun the treasury's ability to >finance them. > >So there you have it. It's simple when you break it down, really. Until >next time, I'm Porphyrogenitus reminding you, the numbers never lie. 8-)~ > > >*Well, actually they got greater than zero breaks: for one thing, the wages >of higher level officers and NCOs have been ignored. Those would probably >be significant, considering the sort of folks usually described as >captaining these Great Ship Lollypops. In addition, a break was given in >assuming the Boltmen are all 1st level, when they're usually *NOT* >described as being 1st level in, for example, the Warmach type breakdowns >for these vessals. No wonder the PWAs tended to just simply say things like >"flying longship" or "flying war galley" or "Alphatian windriders >(skyships)" rather than "Alphatian Man of War" - though some events mention >at least one Man-of-War type ship. > But anyhow, I did cut them a break. Consider me a easy DM. I >didn't >calculate the wages as if they were 3rd level (the "average" level of >Alphatian mages in the PWA II armies) or 5th level (the level of the ones >on the aforementioned "Alphatian windriders (skyships)" - and I ignored >officer's wages. Consider me a softy 8-) > >(Btw, "The Hexagon" or "The Pentagram" is mine, all mine. Though I guess I >can let you use it by permission if you insist. Or just don't tell me >you're now using it to designate the Alphatian {or other nation}'s >War/Defense Department.) > >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 17:36:46 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: City Maps Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed yes very much, perticualy in the isle of dawn area. King. >From: George Gardea >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: [MYSTARA] City Maps >Date: Thu, 9 Dec 1999 22:59:14 -0800 > >Hi everyone. > > >I'm thinking of starting to make improved versions of the maps in >mystara. Starting with Threshold, Kelvin, Specularium, etc. Then >following in the Gaz sequence from there for published maps. Is any one >interested in something like this? > > >geo > >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 23:39:59 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Jakob or Jakobus in Dutch (James is a synonym of Jacob) Jacques in French Jakob in German Iacobus in Latin Jake in English We'll that exhuasts the languages I speak. Greetings, Michael (Michel, Micha�l, Mike, Michele, Mika�l) III Mysteria ----- Original Message ----- From: Damon Alexander Brown To: Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 7:59 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] NPC's?? > --- Caroletti wrote: > > > However, I'm not sure what "James" might be in > > > other languages. Any suggestions, folks? > > > > Giacomo Tempio in Italian. > > Thanks, Giulio! > > > Iulius Sergius Scaevola > > Captain of the XXth Cohort > > Port Lucinius, Thyatis > > Er, I mean, Captain Scaevola. :-) > > Anyone else? C'mon there's at least 6-7 other > languages spoken by different folks out there... > > -Damon > > ===== > "He who laughs last... thinks slowest." > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. > http://im.yahoo.com > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 23:42:16 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: City Maps MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I agree, very interested > yes very much, perticualy in the isle of dawn area. > > King. > > > >I'm thinking of starting to make improved versions of the maps in > >mystara. Starting with Threshold, Kelvin, Specularium, etc. Then > >following in the Gaz sequence from there for published maps. Is any one > >interested in something like this? ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 16:42:59 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > mouthball the excess number of ships(so you could use them the next time > there was a threat)to keep the budget down.the men that manned those ships > would then be used to give other crews leave time,or they would be laid > off(witch I know all to well!). > No -- they'll have to be paid to guard the ships to keep them from being stolen, and kept on staff to keep them trained for the next time. You can't just assemble 240 Boltmen armed with Wands of Death or Lightning at the drop of a hat, only having to pay them whenever you feel like it but not otherwise. Sorry. Their aint no such thing as a free lunch. The Gods of Game Balance So Decree it. 8-) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 17:06:48 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > > > mouthball the excess number of ships > No -- they'll have to be paid to guard the ships to keep them from being > stolen, and kept on staff to keep them trained for the next time. > Well, upon further review, mothballing them combined with demobilizing their contingents would explain something that's always irritated me. It would then make much more sense that many of the ships were gathered in one place and destroyed before the war. I'd imagine something like this takes place before every war the Alphatians are involved in. If the Glantrians hadn't done it by accident, someone else would have sabotaged them on purpose. Anyhow, that event in WotI where they get turned to cinder on the ground by an "oops" (along with destroying Aasla) has always bugged me. But this excuse *does* provide an explanation. As for the Wands, they just sort of disapear. Either they're stored on the ships to be handed out if/when remobilization occurs, or the RIF'd Boltmen just. . .sort of . . .wander off with them, and depleat them in private useage. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 18:58:32 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: jdaly Subject: Re: Thyatian Military Variant: Sacred Guard. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Man, this was cool! Its going right next to the Thyatian temple oils! ----- Original Message ----- From: James Ruhland To: Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 4:03 PM Subject: [MYSTARA] Thyatian Military Variant: Sacred Guard. > Sacred Guard > (Palatine Guard Force ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 19:48:22 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable James Ruhland wrote: > >As for the Wands, they just sort of disapear. Either they're stored on >= the ships to be handed out if/when remobilization occurs, or the RIF'd >Boltm= en just. . .sort of . . .wander off with them, and depleat them in >private useage. Bruce discussed the Boltmen in one of the earliest Princess Ark issues. I= IRC, he said something to the effect of the Boltmen's wands being personal possessions, perhaps family heirlooms or somesuch. = Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 17:04:53 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Kar Ess Subject: Re: City Maps MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Yes, please. More maps! KS --- George Gardea wrote: > Hi everyone. > > > I'm thinking of starting to make improved versions of the maps in > mystara. Starting with Threshold, Kelvin, Specularium, etc. Then > following in the Gaz sequence from there for published maps. Is any one > interested in something like this? > > > geo > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 20:24:29 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Skynavy - AlphatiaRe-Design Project] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Bruce discussed the Boltmen in one of the earliest Princess Ark issues. IIRC, > he said something to the effect of the Boltmen's wands being personal > possessions, perhaps family heirlooms or somesuch. > Ok. Well, I believe Bruce's own opinion regarding most troops, for most nations, (and he or someone can correct me if I'm wrong) is something as follows: If you hire mercenaries (which cost more per month), they come with their equipment - normal equipment (not Wands of Meteor Swarms, typically). If you raise a "standing army", the state provides the equipment (sword, bow, chain mail, war horse for cavalry, etc) and training. Anyhow, I doubt the general rule that Bruce, or anyone else, would apply is along the lines that you can hire troops and have them come equiped with whatever neato weapons you want, getting them for free, without having to pay for them, just declare that they are "heirlooms". That makes it somewhat. . .incongruous. . .to say the least that some guy will have a Wand of Death lying around in his sock drawer and donate it's use to the Alphatian state. Especially if we're talking Alphatia, where people are (supposedly) very self-indulgent, and not very public spirited. Note that this sort of "family heirloom" dispensation doesn't seem to apply to any other Mystaran country (one doesn't see soldiers in the Glantrian army armed with Wands of Fireballs, much less armed with ones that the Treasury doesn't have to procure and pay for to provide them to the War Wizards). What is emerging from this discussion is a sort of sureal picture, satirized in the below: Vessel: GOOD SHIP LOLLYPOP (Alphatian Man-of-War). Cost to Enchant: Enchanting time donated by public spirited wizards; ship donated by little old lady from Skyreach who only flew it on Majhurs. Net cost to Imperial Treasury: Nil CREW: 200 Airmen @ 2 gp/month ea. = 400 gp/month (selfishly demand pay). 240 Boltmen @ 0 gp/month ea. = Gratus/month (Donate services due to sense of public spirit). Equipment: 80 Wands of Fireballs 80 Wands of Lightning Bolts 40 Wands of Confusion 40 Wands of Death Cost to Imperial Treasury to Enchant: 0 gp (found in sock drawers, dusty crates up in attics, misplaced in empty wine bottle by cousin Mack and subsiquently discovered in basement under a pile of old rags, surprisingly uprooted by plow blade out in the fields by some huckleberry, who then turns it over to his master, or taken out of hope chest by spinster who suddenly remembers there is no marriage in Alphatia so no point in having a hope chest. Use then donated along with time by selfless Boltmen.) 160 Fighters @ -5 gp/month ea. = -800 gp/month (pay for privilege of going on missions) equipment: 21 Ballistae 20 Light Catapults Cost to Imperial Treasury: none (built by fighters and then given as part of their suplimentary fee and deposit to secure a position on the Lollypop). Net Cost to Imperial Treasury to Commission the Lollypop & equip its compliment: 0 gp Cost to Imperial Treasury for wages, per month: 400 gp Income to Imperial Treasury in fees paid, per month: 800 gp/month Net Profit to Imperial Treasury, per month: 400 gp/month Again, it's easy when you break it down. The Alphatian Empire can't *not* afford to field these ships: not only are they great assets, but they're a positive money-making machine! The numbers never lie. 8-)~~~ ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 21:36:25 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: James Ruhland >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project >Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 16:42:59 -0600 > > > > > mouthball the excess number of ships(so you could use them the next time > > there was a threat)to keep the budget down.the men that manned those >ships > > would then be used to give other crews leave time,or they would be laid > > off(witch I know all to well!). > > >No -- they'll have to be paid to guard the ships to keep them from being >stolen, and kept on staff to keep them trained for the next time. You can't >just assemble 240 Boltmen armed with Wands of Death or Lightning at the >drop of a hat, only having to pay them whenever you feel like it but not >otherwise. Sorry. the guard duty would fall on the heads of the army.and im not saying that all boltmen be fired,just the ones that the navy no longer needs.but anyway,most boltman would probly be finishing their tour of duty and be retiring anyway.or the boltman are to be put on inactive duty, they still get paid, but at a lower rate(because they are nolonger serving in a dangerous role). King. "So your going to pay me 9000 gp to guard this boat?....OK!" -Alphatia boltman after his tour was over. >Their aint no such thing as a free lunch. The Gods of Game Balance So >Decree it. 8-) > >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 21:40:01 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: James Ruhland >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Skynavy - Alphatia Re-Design Project >Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 17:06:48 -0600 > > > > > > > mouthball the excess number of ships > > No -- they'll have to be paid to guard the ships to keep them from being > > stolen, and kept on staff to keep them trained for the next time. > > >Well, upon further review, mothballing them combined with demobilizing >their contingents would explain something that's always irritated me. It >would then make much more sense that many of the ships were gathered in one >place and destroyed before the war. I'd imagine something like this takes >place before every war the Alphatians are involved in. If the Glantrians >hadn't done it by accident, someone else would have sabotaged them on >purpose. > >Anyhow, that event in WotI where they get turned to cinder on the ground by >an "oops" (along with destroying Aasla) has always bugged me. But this >excuse *does* provide an explanation. > >As for the Wands, they just sort of disapear. Either they're stored on the >ships to be handed out if/when remobilization occurs, or the RIF'd Boltmen >just. . .sort of . . .wander off with them, and depleat them in private >useage. I would like to believe that the wands would be stored in a naval wharehouse(IMHO). King. >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 21:54:08 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Neal Subject: Maps MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit the idea of more uptodate maps is great. i would like to help ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 20:01:34 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: Maps MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On the subject of maps, I've made some slight adjustments to my Savage Coast maps: 1) Some slight cosmetic changes that won't likely be noticed, closed up the ends of horizontal inner borders, changed the lighthouse yellow to something lighter, etc. 2) I changed the background color of forested hills, as well as some cosmetic changes. I did this because most of the maps presented in Dragon Magazine use the darker green for forested hills, which has a much more asthetically pleasing appearance than the greenish/brown I'd been using. I'd thought a mathmatically in-between color of the green of forests and the brown of hills would look good, and it does in it's own fashion, but not how I wanted it, so I changed it. All the maps should now reflect this change. I've been considering adding text data on each map as well, I didn't do so before since most of the material is canon and I wasn't sure if doing so would violate copyright. It occurs to me though that all the data IS freely available through the online documentation... I don't know, any opinions on this? I've not started on the next map yet, this week's been pretty busy, but hopefully it will be soon. Unlike the rest, I have to almost design all the maps at once to make sure the rivers line up correctly from map to map. (The originals were NOT lined up very well.) IronWolf ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 20:55:04 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Kar Ess Subject: Critical Hits/Misses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii The players in the game I am in, have requested critical hits/misses. I, personally thing it is a VERY stupid idea, but am willing to try. What I need some help with is creating a table for coma lengths. I don't want a suggest of a book to go out and buy. I don't want just keep making system shock every day. If they want this, they're going to have to take some major consequences. AND I want to show them a table of exactly what will happen to them. I'm sure they're just thinking about the critical hits, and don't realize that hits/misses apply to them TOO! Does someone use this, and have a logical means of determination? Thanks KS __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 00:10:28 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: Critical Hits/Misses Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed are you using od&d or ad&d? King. >From: Kar Ess >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: [MYSTARA] Critical Hits/Misses >Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 20:55:04 -0800 > >The players in the game I am in, have requested critical hits/misses. I, >personally thing it is a >VERY stupid idea, but am willing to try. > >What I need some help with is creating a table for coma lengths. >I don't want a suggest of a book to go out and buy. >I don't want just keep making system shock every day. > >If they want this, they're going to have to take some major consequences. >AND I want to show them a table of exactly what will happen to them. > >I'm sure they're just thinking about the critical hits, and don't realize >that hits/misses apply >to them TOO! > >Does someone use this, and have a logical means of determination? >Thanks >KS >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. >http://im.yahoo.com > >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 21:20:49 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Kar Ess Subject: Re: Critical Hits/Misses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii A mixture all my own. OD&D, AD&D 1 and 2, some Palladium, even a little Travellers, pinch of this, dab of that! --- Bill Manley wrote: > are you using od&d or ad&d? > > King. > > > >From: Kar Ess > >Reply-To: Mystara > >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > >Subject: [MYSTARA] Critical Hits/Misses > >Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 20:55:04 -0800 > > > >The players in the game I am in, have requested critical hits/misses. I, > >personally thing it is a > >VERY stupid idea, but am willing to try. > > > >What I need some help with is creating a table for coma lengths. > >I don't want a suggest of a book to go out and buy. > >I don't want just keep making system shock every day. > > > >If they want this, they're going to have to take some major consequences. > >AND I want to show them a table of exactly what will happen to them. > > > >I'm sure they're just thinking about the critical hits, and don't realize > >that hits/misses apply > >to them TOO! > > > >Does someone use this, and have a logical means of determination? > >Thanks > >KS > >__________________________________________________ > >Do You Yahoo!? > >Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. > >http://im.yahoo.com > > > >******************************************************************** > >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > ______________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 21:46:16 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: Critical Hits/Misses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Well myself, I use the 3E rules, which is if the player roles a natural 20, they have made a 'threat'. In order to critically hit, they have to roll again and hit again. If they miss, damage is normal. If they hit, then damage is doubled after the dice are rolled. (Or double-damage dice, if you prefer.) This is a well-balanced system which makes it so critical hits are easier on easier creatures, and much more difficult on hard creatures. It also means monsters don't hit much. As for critical hit tables, I don't use them myself not because I lack the sadism necessary, it's mostly I try to avoid the extra bookkeeping. :) If you want something truly downright nasty that will make your players curse you and take a screwdriver to the finish of your car on the way home, borrow the critical hit tables from GURPS. IronWolf Kar Ess wrote: > > A mixture all my own. OD&D, AD&D 1 and 2, some Palladium, even a little Travellers, pinch of this, > dab of that! > > --- Bill Manley wrote: > > are you using od&d or ad&d? > > > > King. > > > > > > >From: Kar Ess > > >Reply-To: Mystara > > >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > > >Subject: [MYSTARA] Critical Hits/Misses > > >Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 20:55:04 -0800 > > > > > >The players in the game I am in, have requested critical hits/misses. I, > > >personally thing it is a > > >VERY stupid idea, but am willing to try. > > > > > >What I need some help with is creating a table for coma lengths. > > >I don't want a suggest of a book to go out and buy. > > >I don't want just keep making system shock every day. > > > > > >If they want this, they're going to have to take some major consequences. > > >AND I want to show them a table of exactly what will happen to them. > > > > > >I'm sure they're just thinking about the critical hits, and don't realize > > >that hits/misses apply > > >to them TOO! > > > > > >Does someone use this, and have a logical means of determination? > > >Thanks > > >KS > > >__________________________________________________ > > >Do You Yahoo!? > > >Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. > > >http://im.yahoo.com > > > > > >******************************************************************** > > >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > > >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > > >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > > >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > > > ______________________________________________________ > > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com > > > > ******************************************************************** > > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. > http://im.yahoo.com > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 21:53:36 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: Critical Hits/Misses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oh, I almost forgot. If a player rolls a 1, he makes a dexterity check to keep a hold of his weapon. If he fails he drops it, requiring one round to pick up and ready (normal defenses during the round). Suceeds, no problem. If they're fighting unarmed, make up something like 'you pulled your groin muscle, -2 penalties to attacks until a cure spell is cast on you.' IronWolf IronWolf wrote: > > Well myself, I use the 3E rules, which is if the player roles a natural 20, they > have made a 'threat'. In order to critically hit, they have to roll again and > hit again. If they miss, damage is normal. If they hit, then damage is doubled > after the dice are rolled. (Or double-damage dice, if you prefer.) > > This is a well-balanced system which makes it so critical hits are easier on > easier creatures, and much more difficult on hard creatures. It also means > monsters don't hit much. > > As for critical hit tables, I don't use them myself not because I lack the > sadism necessary, it's mostly I try to avoid the extra bookkeeping. :) If you > want something truly downright nasty that will make your players curse you and > take a screwdriver to the finish of your car on the way home, borrow the > critical hit tables from GURPS. > > IronWolf > > Kar Ess wrote: > > > > A mixture all my own. OD&D, AD&D 1 and 2, some Palladium, even a little Travellers, pinch of this, > > dab of that! > > > > --- Bill Manley wrote: > > > are you using od&d or ad&d? > > > > > > King. > > > > > > > > > >From: Kar Ess > > > >Reply-To: Mystara > > > >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > > > >Subject: [MYSTARA] Critical Hits/Misses > > > >Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 20:55:04 -0800 > > > > > > > >The players in the game I am in, have requested critical hits/misses. I, > > > >personally thing it is a > > > >VERY stupid idea, but am willing to try. > > > > > > > >What I need some help with is creating a table for coma lengths. > > > >I don't want a suggest of a book to go out and buy. > > > >I don't want just keep making system shock every day. > > > > > > > >If they want this, they're going to have to take some major consequences. > > > >AND I want to show them a table of exactly what will happen to them. > > > > > > > >I'm sure they're just thinking about the critical hits, and don't realize > > > >that hits/misses apply > > > >to them TOO! > > > > > > > >Does someone use this, and have a logical means of determination? > > > >Thanks > > > >KS > > > >__________________________________________________ > > > >Do You Yahoo!? > > > >Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. > > > >http://im.yahoo.com > > > > > > > >******************************************************************** > > > >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > > > >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > > > >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > > > >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > > > > > ______________________________________________________ > > > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com > > > > > > ******************************************************************** > > > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > > > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > > > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > > > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. > > http://im.yahoo.com > > > > ******************************************************************** > > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 01:08:00 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Meltheim Shadowstalker Subject: Re: Critical Hits/Misses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/16/2000 9:46:48 PM, ironwolf@EWA.NET writes: <> I really like this method, and i fact want to switch over to this. It makes sense to me, much more sense than the "roll a 20 do double damage" method out there. Of course, there are many variations on the same set of rules out there, and i think there is actually a DM screen that has critical hits effects and such. On the critical misses, i think they shouldbe obliterated, simply because i always end up dropping that one flask of flammable oil on my foot! it is very tiring, but i think that the 3E rules work well in this case. Does anyone know how GURPS handles this, if in fact they handle it at all? Meltheim the Shadowstalker Infiltrator to the Immortals Devotee of Fate Eyes of theStarwatcher ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 01:08:52 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Meltheim Shadowstalker Subject: Re: Critical Hits/Misses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/16/2000 9:54:04 PM, ironwolf@EWA.NET writes: <> I love this man, ironwolf, you are a true genius worthy of praise! Meltheim the Shadowstalker Infiltrator to the Immortals Devotee of Fate Eyes of the Starwatcher ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 22:12:55 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Kar Ess Subject: Re: Critical Hits/Misses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I have a VERY good (and comprehensive) critical hit and miss table. That's not what I need. I need a COMA table. Length of comas based on the different types of wounds inflicted, and several logical ways of reviving someone in a coma. I have considered making it based upon con, but think there should be other ways of adjusting it. I don't want to buy a whole game system for one table, and I have done some research on the net for medical information, but it is sadly lacking and does not lend itself to table creation. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 08:51:18 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Skynavy - AlphatiaRe-Design Project] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Love it. Thoroughly researched Deftly analyzed Accurately documented Sharply concluded Your horoscope: Seek employment in a high government position, you can't miss, Majhur's are your lucky day, expect generosity from one of your elder family members. Look in those attics, valuable family heirlooms are bound to be stored there. :-) Greetings, Michele "the Omniscient" Mystara ----- Original Message ----- From: James Ruhland To: Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2000 3:24 AM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] [Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Skynavy - AlphatiaRe-Design Project] > > Bruce discussed the Boltmen in one of the earliest Princess Ark issues. > IIRC, > > he said something to the effect of the Boltmen's wands being personal > > possessions, perhaps family heirlooms or somesuch. > > > Ok. Well, I believe Bruce's own opinion regarding most troops, for most > nations, (and he or someone can correct me if I'm wrong) is something as > follows: > If you hire mercenaries (which cost more per month), they come with their > equipment - normal equipment (not Wands of Meteor Swarms, typically). > If you raise a "standing army", the state provides the equipment (sword, > bow, chain mail, war horse for cavalry, etc) and training. > Anyhow, I doubt the general rule that Bruce, or anyone else, would apply > is along the lines that you can hire troops and have them come equiped with > whatever neato weapons you want, getting them for free, without having to > pay for them, just declare that they are "heirlooms". > > That makes it somewhat. . .incongruous. . .to say the least that some guy > will have a Wand of Death lying around in his sock drawer and donate it's > use to the Alphatian state. Especially if we're talking Alphatia, where > people are (supposedly) very self-indulgent, and not very public spirited. > Note that this sort of "family heirloom" dispensation doesn't seem to apply > to any other Mystaran country (one doesn't see soldiers in the Glantrian > army armed with Wands of Fireballs, much less armed with ones that the > Treasury doesn't have to procure and pay for to provide them to the War > Wizards). > > What is emerging from this discussion is a sort of sureal picture, > satirized in the below: > > Vessel: GOOD SHIP LOLLYPOP (Alphatian Man-of-War). > Cost to Enchant: Enchanting time donated by public spirited wizards; ship > donated by little old lady from Skyreach who only flew it on Majhurs. > Net cost to Imperial Treasury: Nil > > CREW: > > 200 Airmen @ 2 gp/month ea. = 400 gp/month > (selfishly demand pay). > > 240 Boltmen @ 0 gp/month ea. = Gratus/month > (Donate services due to sense of public spirit). > > Equipment: > 80 Wands of Fireballs > 80 Wands of Lightning Bolts > 40 Wands of Confusion > 40 Wands of Death > Cost to Imperial Treasury to Enchant: 0 gp (found in sock drawers, dusty > crates up in attics, misplaced in empty wine bottle by cousin Mack and > subsiquently discovered in basement under a pile of old rags, surprisingly > uprooted by plow blade out in the fields by some huckleberry, who then > turns it over to his master, or taken out of hope chest by spinster who > suddenly remembers there is no marriage in Alphatia so no point in having a > hope chest. Use then donated along with time by selfless Boltmen.) > > 160 Fighters @ -5 gp/month ea. = -800 gp/month (pay for privilege of going > on missions) > > equipment: > 21 Ballistae > 20 Light Catapults > Cost to Imperial Treasury: none (built by fighters and then given as part > of their suplimentary fee and deposit to secure a position on the > Lollypop). > > Net Cost to Imperial Treasury to Commission the Lollypop & equip its > compliment: 0 gp > > Cost to Imperial Treasury for wages, per month: 400 gp > Income to Imperial Treasury in fees paid, per month: 800 gp/month > > Net Profit to Imperial Treasury, per month: 400 gp/month > > Again, it's easy when you break it down. The Alphatian Empire can't *not* > afford to field these ships: not only are they great assets, but they're a > positive money-making machine! The numbers never lie. 8-)~~~ > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 09:42:20 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Re: City Maps MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit i could be interested in any map project.How do you want to make those maps?(i.e with what program?) George Gardea a �crit : > Hi everyone. > > I'm thinking of starting to make improved versions of the maps in > mystara. Starting with Threshold, Kelvin, Specularium, etc. Then > following in the Gaz sequence from there for published maps. Is any one > interested in something like this? > > geo > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. -- Thibault Sarlat. ICQ 16622177. homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Join me at: mystara@com.bi or at tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 09:45:55 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: thibault sarlat Subject: Re: Maps MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit if you make changes and corrections, if you add something that improve what was previously copirighted, then it is not infrigment.But your additions and changes must be significative. IronWolf a �crit : > On the subject of maps, I've made some slight adjustments to my Savage Coast > maps: > > 1) Some slight cosmetic changes that won't likely be noticed, closed up the ends > of horizontal inner borders, changed the lighthouse yellow to something lighter, > etc. > > 2) I changed the background color of forested hills, as well as some cosmetic > changes. I did this because most of the maps presented in Dragon Magazine use > the darker green for forested hills, which has a much more asthetically pleasing > appearance than the greenish/brown I'd been using. I'd thought a mathmatically > in-between color of the green of forests and the brown of hills would look good, > and it does in it's own fashion, but not how I wanted it, so I changed it. All > the maps should now reflect this change. > > I've been considering adding text data on each map as well, I didn't do so > before since most of the material is canon and I wasn't sure if doing so would > violate copyright. It occurs to me though that all the data IS freely available > through the online documentation... I don't know, any opinions on this? > > I've not started on the next map yet, this week's been pretty busy, but > hopefully it will be soon. Unlike the rest, I have to almost design all the maps > at once to make sure the rivers line up correctly from map to map. (The > originals were NOT lined up very well.) > > IronWolf > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. -- Thibault Sarlat. ICQ 16622177. homepage http://www.mystara.com.bi Join me at: mystara@com.bi or at tsarlat@etu.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 09:55:25 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Laszko van Kessel (BCN)" Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable >Jakob or Jakobus in Dutch (James is a synonym of Jacob) The people of my Dutch hometown however have a lot more fantasy and say = K=FC=EBb. Most other dutchies don't know how to pronounce it, but it = goes something like this: Kuu'yup Laszko "K=FC=EBb" van Kessel http://www.xs4all.nl/~enee ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 10:44:55 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Woon je in de Bijlmer ofzo :-) The people of my Dutch hometown however have a lot more fantasy and say K��b. Most other dutchies don't know how to pronounce it, but it goes something like this: Kuu'yup ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 04:06:02 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Antonio=20L=F3pez?= Subject: Re: City Maps MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I will apretiate your efforts improving maps. I like tiny, small, medium, compact, large and huge ones! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 12:27:49 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: jason o'brien Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Oh yeah, one last thing - I promise! The name of the > > player who has the Mikhail Voron PC is Jim Temple. > > Obviously, his last name can be readily translated > > into every language under the sun. However, I'm not > > sure what "James" might be in other languages. Any > > suggestions, folks? seamus teampeall in irish. mortus. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 07:55:52 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Albert Edward Capt 552 CSG/SCXX Subject: Re: Critical Hits/Misses I've always enjoyed critical hit and critical fumble tables and have always used them in my games. With my charts a goblin or kobold has a chance even if it is only 1 in 20 then 2 in 100 to kill even a very high level character. The disadvantage that the players usually don't think about however is that the DM usually makes more attacks than the players and thus the players have a higher chance of suffering a critical hit. This is also true for the critical fumbles as well so the creatures usually fumble more. I did my charts as excel files. 1 fumble chart with 100 different effects and 3 (slashing, blunt, piercing) crit hit charts. My charts also incorporate my house rules so they would take some adapting to introduce to another campaign. I don't have them with me now, but I could check at home and see if I still have them on disk if you would like. The other thing that you could do is what I did and sit down with my players and create the charts with them. This way you have buy in and can make sure your charts are fair to players and creatures. ASEO out -----Original Message----- From: Kar Ess [mailto:kar_ess@YAHOO.COM] Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 10:55 PM To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM Subject: [MYSTARA] Critical Hits/Misses The players in the game I am in, have requested critical hits/misses. I, personally thing it is a VERY stupid idea, but am willing to try. What I need some help with is creating a table for coma lengths. I don't want a suggest of a book to go out and buy. I don't want just keep making system shock every day. If they want this, they're going to have to take some major consequences. AND I want to show them a table of exactly what will happen to them. I'm sure they're just thinking about the critical hits, and don't realize that hits/misses apply to them TOO! Does someone use this, and have a logical means of determination? Thanks KS __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 06:01:16 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Kar Ess Subject: Re: Critical Hits/Misses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Yes, I would like to see your tables, especially if they have coma lengths in them. I am willing to use them for, ah, em, research (ala Tom Leher). When you have time, please send to my yahoo address, so as not to tie up the list. Thanks Karess --- Albert Edward Capt 552 CSG/SCXX wrote: > I've always enjoyed critical hit and critical fumble tables and have always > used them in my games. With my charts a goblin or kobold has a chance even > if it is only 1 in 20 then 2 in 100 to kill even a very high level > character. The disadvantage that the players usually don't think about > however is that the DM usually makes more attacks than the players and thus > the players have a higher chance of suffering a critical hit. This is also > true for the critical fumbles as well so the creatures usually fumble more. > I did my charts as excel files. 1 fumble chart with 100 different effects > and 3 (slashing, blunt, piercing) crit hit charts. My charts also > incorporate my house rules so they would take some adapting to introduce to > another campaign. I don't have them with me now, but I could check at home > and see if I still have them on disk if you would like. > > The other thing that you could do is what I did and sit down with my players > and create the charts with them. This way you have buy in and can make sure > your charts are fair to players and creatures. > > ASEO out > > -----Original Message----- > From: Kar Ess [mailto:kar_ess@YAHOO.COM] > Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 10:55 PM > To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > Subject: [MYSTARA] Critical Hits/Misses > > > The players in the game I am in, have requested critical hits/misses. I, > personally thing it is a > VERY stupid idea, but am willing to try. > > What I need some help with is creating a table for coma lengths. > I don't want a suggest of a book to go out and buy. > I don't want just keep making system shock every day. > > If they want this, they're going to have to take some major consequences. > AND I want to show them a table of exactly what will happen to them. > > I'm sure they're just thinking about the critical hits, and don't realize > that hits/misses apply > to them TOO! > > Does someone use this, and have a logical means of determination? > Thanks > KS > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. > http://im.yahoo.com > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 16:23:51 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Dragonfly Airships MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I heard there are some sort of airships called Dragonflies created by Volospin Aedyr. Could anyone get me the stats on those so I can include them in the Wrath of the Immortals PWA. Thanks, Michael III Mysteria ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 17:22:22 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=E0=E9=EC=EF_=F9=E7=ED?= Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable IN Hebrew: Jacob=3D Ya'akov Michael=3D is Mi-cha-El (the Ch is throughtal, like in french or duch). And that is were all the names come from, so there. -----Original Message----- From: Michael III Mysteria [SMTP:michaelmysteria@HOTMAIL.COM] Sent: =E4 =F4=E1=F8=E5=E0=F8 17 2000 0:40 To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] NPC's?? Jakob or Jakobus in Dutch (James is a synonym of Jacob) Jacques in French Jakob in German Iacobus in Latin Jake in English We'll that exhuasts the languages I speak. Greetings, Michael (Michel, Micha=EBl, Mike, Michele, Mika=EBl) III Mysteria ----- Original Message ----- From: Damon Alexander Brown To: Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 7:59 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] NPC's?? > --- Caroletti wrote: > > > However, I'm not sure what "James" might be in > > > other languages. Any suggestions, folks? > > > > Giacomo Tempio in Italian. > > Thanks, Giulio! > > > Iulius Sergius Scaevola > > Captain of the XXth Cohort > > Port Lucinius, Thyatis > > Er, I mean, Captain Scaevola. :-) > > Anyone else? C'mon there's at least 6-7 other > languages spoken by different folks out there... > > -Damon > > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D > "He who laughs last... thinks slowest." > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. > http://im.yahoo.com > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: = http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: = http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 17:16:07 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >IN Hebrew: >Jacob= Ya'akov >Michael= is Mi-cha-El (the Ch is throughtal, like in french or duch). >And that is were all the names come from, so there. Your point being? ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 16:28:34 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Gordon McCormick Subject: Re: Dragonfly Airships In-Reply-To: <20000217152512.13136.qmail@hotmail.com>; from michaelmysteria@HOTMAIL.COM on Thu, Feb 17, 2000 at 04:23:51PM +0100 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Thu, Feb 17, 2000 at 04:23:51PM +0100, Michael III Mysteria wrote: > I heard there are some sort of airships called Dragonflies created by > Volospin Aedyr. The statistics are in AC11 The Book of Wonderous Inventions (I think) Don't have it in front of me I'm afraid, but that's where to look... gordon, sending more useless mail... ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 11:42:35 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] [Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Skynavy - AlphatiaRe-Design Project]] Comments: To: jruhlconob@sprynet.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable "James Ruhland" wrote: > >First off, what would Bruce's opinion be of a nation hiring say, average= >troops. Would he say they come fully equiped with whatever neato weapons= >the ruler wants? Even if it's just a longsword, scale mail, and a short >bow? Good point, and probably very unlikely, I agree. IIRC, the "heirloom" thi= ng was a response to a reader's question about "Where do all these wands com= e from?" because the reader thought it a bit out of balance that all these = magic items were floating around Alphatia. There isn't any mention of this in t= he Boltmen entry (in CoM and Dragon #155?) >But then I'm irraciable, picky, cantankerous, and don't like most of thi= s >sort of "free agrandizement" that passes mustard for one, and only one, >Mystaran nation - the rules being much more relaxed for them to allow fo= r >that sort of thing, but you don't even see Glantri's guys armed with >Wa= nds of Fireballs, Lightning Bolts, Confusion, and Death, much less >arguments= to the effect that "well, the Glantrian treasury doesn't have >to pay for th= ose, because they're family heirlooms that the troops just, >in effect, donate= the use of on the nation's behalf." I agree with you here, actually. Admittedly, I don't think I ever thought= about it overly until the recent discussion here, but since you mentioned= it the other day, I looked into it... couldn't find *exactly* what Bruce sai= d, but from the original description of the Boltmen, I'm inclined to attribu= te his remark about "heirlooms" to the "flying fish" category of Heardisms- = not a likely scenario. >And here Alphatia is *supposedly* a nation where most of the ruling >cla= sses (which is what we're talking about, the mages) aren't so keen on >donatin= g their time, being more self-involved; but they show a greater >sense of d= uty and selflessness in this case than we'd accept if it was >said of any oth= er nation. That seems odd, to me. But I guess you should >consider the sourc= e (myself). What I would suggest is a variation of the Boltmen description. In that description, his "standard" Boltman was a 1st level mage or elf with a wa= nd of lightning bolts (6 charges). There are also specialists- Dispel Wardens, = and some others. There is also mention of the "rare" Heavy Boltman- fighters = who make up a small portion of the Boltman troop and who are available for cl= ose quarter fighting. = I'd suggest that either a) the Heavy Boltman is the standard troop, with actual magic-using Boltmen being the minority (but a powerful one), or el= se b) the Boltmen are simply not the standard skyship troops, but are a small complement to the standard non-spellcasting soldiers. Along those lines, I would suggest that the skyships do not form a naval attachment in and of themselves, but are complements to the standard non-skyship navy- perhaps one or two of them per naval division. Serving = as scouts, air cover, etc. They are just too damn costly to have entire nava= l divisions of them... As for the heirloom thingy, again, pretty unlikely, but here's a possible= scenario- the wands are legacies of a day and time when Alphatia *did* eq= uip its troops with wands as a standard practice, but since arriving on Mysta= ra, they no longer have the resources to do so. Nevertheless, many hundreds (perhaps thousands!) of these still exist, and have come to be passed dow= n through generations. Those troops that do join the army and are able to provide a wand for themselves are automatically relegated to Boltman stat= us, with all the rank and privileges that implies. With that, I'd suggest that perhaps a military career of some sort is sti= ll considered to be somewhat prestigious, even in Alphatia, and many of the = young wizards and magic-users aspire to (or are coerced into) joining the milit= ary- if only for a few years; it is probably rare for anyone of higher than ex= pert levels (4-9th) to remain with the army. Add to that the prestige of being= a Boltman rather than a "simple" soldier- and I'd argue that (based on the = info on Stonewall) magic-users that are not Boltmen are probably treated the s= ame as any other soldier (fighter, thief, etc.)- and you can see where it wou= ld be to one's advantage to join the military and use their "heirloom" to bette= r their station. The Boltmen should still form a very small portion of the military, thoug= h, IMO. Perhaps less than 5%, and would likely only be assigned to the skysh= ips. Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 17:48:06 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Michael III Mysteria Organization: Prince-Regent of Mysteria Subject: Re: Dragonfly Airships MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > On Thu, Feb 17, 2000 at 04:23:51PM +0100, Michael III Mysteria wrote: > > I heard there are some sort of airships called Dragonflies created by > > Volospin Aedyr. > > The statistics are in AC11 The Book of Wonderous Inventions (I think) > > Don't have it in front of me I'm afraid, but that's where to look... Don't have that, so if someone could mail me...... either on the MML or at: M.M.M.Grootenboer@student.tudelft.nl ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 08:56:04 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Damon Alexander Brown Subject: Multi-lingual "James" (was: NPC's??) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Thanks! I appreciate all the responses I got, folks. This will help tremendously! -Damon aka Damien Kastanos, Master of the Iron Ring ;>~ Ohad Shaman: > in Hebrew: > Jacob= Ya'akov > > Michael= is Mi-cha-El (the Ch is throughtal, like in > french or duch). Michael III Mysteria : > Jakob or Jakobus in Dutch (James is a synonym of > Jacob) Jacques in French Jakob in German Iacobus in > Latin Jake in English We'll that exhuasts the > languages I speak. Laszko van Kessel: > The people of my Dutch hometown however have a lot > more fantasy and say K��b. Most other dutchies don't > know how to pronounce it, but it goes something like > this: Kuu'yup Jason O�Brien: > Seamus Teampeall in irish. ===== "He who laughs last... thinks slowest." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 12:10:54 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: Critical Hits/Misses Alan Jones came up with crit tables for D&D (and critical misses) - they are on his website (can't remember offhand what the URL is - it's on Shawn's links page), but nothing comes close to the deadliness of Rolemaster crit tables (Warhammer FRP is bad, too, but those are just plain gross - and coming from me, that should say something 8-)~ **** GM: Let's see, the armless kobold bites you, and.... *clatter of dice* ...whoa! He scored an "E" critical against you! Player: Bugger! And I was wearing mithril plate armour, too! GM: Okay, so I'll roll your critical... *clatter* ...oooooh! A "99", well, Argoth the Inbred, looks like you'll be taking some nasty damage! Player: Groan! GM: Says here - "Foe gnaws on opponent's inner left thigh. Shock of unpleasant experience induces heart attack - opponent is stunned for 20 rounds, unable to parry - and surge of blood in veins from aforementioned heart attack creates blood clot in brain. Foe's brain implodes under pressure, and dies in two rounds in horrible agony." Hmm! Looks like it's time to make a new character. Geoff -- Geoff Gander, BA 97 Cartographer/Game Designer/Government Peon Carnifex Loremaster au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 21:58:28 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: George Gardea Subject: Critical Hits/Misses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I would like a copy if you find them... geo >I did my charts as excel files. 1 fumble chart with 100 different >effects >and 3 (slashing, blunt, piercing) crit hit charts. My charts also >incorporate my house rules so they would take some adapting to >introduce to >another campaign. I don't have them with me now, but I could check at >home >and see if I still have them on disk if you would like. > ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 12:06:19 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy -AlphatiaRe-Design Project]] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > What I would suggest is a variation of the Boltmen description. In that > description, his "standard" Boltman was a 1st level mage or elf with a > wand of lightning bolts (6 charges). > Yes, that theory sounds plausable & interesting. > Along those lines, I would suggest that the skyships do not form a naval > attachment in and of themselves, but are complements to the standard > non-skyship navy- perhaps one or two of them per naval division. Serving as > scouts, air cover, etc. They are just too damn costly to have entire naval > divisions of them... > Also interesting, though IMO they could be "attached" to ground forces (not just naval forces) as well when needed - to provide the same sorts of benifits. > As for the heirloom thingy, again, pretty unlikely, but here's a possible > scenario > Yes - that would be a way of explaining it. I myself do tend to think it's still too neat by half (if these were Wands of Magic Missiles, my objections wouldn't be as strong - it gives them a neat "magical" effect, but doesn't tend towards totally disrupting the balance of battlefields like handing out Wands of Lightning Bolts, Fireballs, Death, and the like; something like that would be appropriate in setting the right "magical atmosphere" without becoming grotesque) - also, given what tends to happen to Alpher magical troops in known battles in Mystaran history, one might think that by now some of these would be the "Heirlooms" of guys who fought beside Al-Kalim, et al. Even if they only fight on Skyships (and don't "dismount" or conduct "airdrops") - some of those would then tend to end up as "Heirlooms" of members of the Retebius Air Fleet, and the like. Of course, the wands have code words, but these can be discovered by the usual means (Speak with Dead if nothing else). Still, it is one explaination. > > The Boltmen should still form a very small portion of the military, though, > IMO. Perhaps less than 5%, and would likely only be assigned to the skyships. > Yep, I'd agree with that, too. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 12:17:36 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Thyatian Military Vairant: Sacred Guard. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A question came up about what the Helmets look like. I uploaded an image that will give some idea of what they look like: http://www.geocities.com/augustium/Thyatis/Images/Helmet.gif This particular style doesn't have a broad rim. Anyhow, protection value of the helmet isn't a big thing - the Improved Armor spell provides the protection (note however that many guardsmen wear Elven Chain, if they can afford it, under their uniforms, just in case. It's not strictly speaking regulation, but no one gets gigged on it. Note also that this becomes standard procedure following AC 1010, especially on Days of Dread, when magic doesn't function - and at that point the armor is issued by the Imperial State, procuring it from Vyalia by special order). If Elven Chain is inappropriate in your campaign, breastplates (slim and light, but providing AC5 protection not including bonuses) would be appropriate. They could either be worn under the uniform (my preference) or over it. Also, I forgot one aspect of the Palace's protections: I did leave out Scrying & Divinatory inqiries - basically, the entire palace & grounds is protected against *external* scrying & Divinations in the same way that it is protected against Teleportation &tc. Internal scrying does function (c.f. the Clairaudience/Clairvoyance effects - also there are Crystal Balls with ESP, most noitably used on people in audience with the Emperor. . .); this means that if you can get into the Palace, you can use Clairvoyant spells, Divinations, &tc - however, the use of any of that will sound an Alert in the C&C, along with the location of caster/user & type of spell - and the information it provides to the caster will be, in effect "cc'd" to the officers in the C&C - they'll know what you find out, and thus what the target was, etc. . .they'll probably come get you if you're not, for example, Demetrion using it for sound purposes. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 19:58:38 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Re: newbie needing a hand MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Bill Manley ha scritto: > as a matter of fact yes, I an Thyatian. Karnarius Demitrian, Thyatian > soldier inthe XIVth cohort. > > King. Gonna remember that name...man, I owe you a pint of beer at the best tavern of Port Lucinius, if you ever come here! Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 18:58:48 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: jason o'brien Subject: Re: Dragonfly Airships MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit volospins dragonfly of doom is from ac 11 the book of wonderous inventions and is also mentioned in the glantri gazeteer it was written by bruce heard so try him, that way you should'nt have any problems with copywrite hope this helps. mortus. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 13:43:35 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Skynavy -AlphatiaRe-Design Project]]] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable James Ruhland wrote: > >> Along those lines, I would suggest that the skyships do not form a = >> naval attachment in and of themselves, but are complements to the = >> standard non-skyship navy- perhaps one or two of them per naval = >> division. Serving as scouts, air cover, etc. They are just too damn = >> costly to have entire naval divisions of them... > >Also interesting, though IMO they could be "attached" to ground forces >= (not just naval forces) as well when needed - to provide the same sorts >of benifits. That's a good point. It would certainly fit with the skyships of SKyfyr a= nd the Jennite region. The main point I was trying to show is that, even if = you make the skyships just a small part of the military force, they still pro= ve a powerful addition to any army or navy- at least to those without airforce= s that can counter them (such as Thyatis). Which can be seen as one reason Thyatis has done so well against Alphatia in the past, whereas other nati= ons have not. >> As for the heirloom thingy, again, pretty unlikely, but here's a = >> possible scenario > > Yes - that would be a way of explaining it. I myself do tend to think = > it's still too neat by half (if these were Wands of Magic Missiles, my > objections wouldn't be as strong - it gives them a neat "magical" = > effect, but doesn't tend towards totally disrupting the balance of = > battlefields like handing out Wands of Lightning Bolts, Fireballs, = > Death, and the like; something like that would be appropriate in settin= g > the right "magical atmosphere" without becoming grotesque) Agreed here. Maybe the lightning bolts that are fired are smaller and les= s devastating than traditional lightning bolts? Something akin to "Melf's M= inute Meteors" ("Bardolph's Bitty 'Bolts"?) = > also, given what tends to happen to Alpher magical troops in known = > battles in Mystaran history, one might think that by now some of these = > would be the "Heirlooms" of guys who fought beside Al-Kalim, et al. Hmmm... hadn't thought about that. It could explain why the Ylari have th= e Order of the Spell (the mounted spellcasting division), and how they were= so quickly able to mount an effective stance against Thyatis. I bet all sort= s of illegal trades in those things can be around, too. Anyway, it was just a possible theory to explain it away. > Of course, the wands have code words, but these can be discovered by th= e > usual means (Speak with Dead if nothing else). Which raises another question: The Boltmen entry in CoM and that Dragon article mentions that the code w= ords are changed after each major battle. How is this accomplished? Also, how are they recharged so easily and quickly? Some mage must be get= ting paid a buttload of cash to sit around on a ship and recharge these things= =2E = I see a couple of options: 1) Downgrade the power of the boltwands to ease in recharging costs and t= imes. Either make the majority of them Magic Missile wands (like you suggest) o= r the Mini-bolt variation. 2) Someone cut corners when making these wands so that their recharge cos= ts and times are substantially lessened. What effect this would have on thei= r performance I'm not sure, but I'd imagine their utility must be quite les= s reliable than "normal" wands. 3) Some combination of the above. Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 19:54:47 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Paul Benfield Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Iago Teml or Si�m Teml in Welsh Paul Benfield > > > Oh yeah, one last thing - I promise! The name of the > > > player who has the Mikhail Voron PC is Jim Temple. > > > Obviously, his last name can be readily translated > > > into every language under the sun. However, I'm not > > > sure what "James" might be in other languages. Any > > > suggestions, folks? > > > seamus teampeall > > in irish. > > mortus. > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 14:19:52 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Alphatian Skynavy -AlphatiaRe-DesignProject] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > That's a good point. It would certainly fit with the skyships of SKyfyr > and the Jennite region. The main point I was trying to show is that, > even if you make the skyships just a small part of the military force, > they still prove a powerful addition to any army or navy- at least to > those without airforces that can counter them. > True, which is one reason I don't see the need for hundreds of them: a more "typical" fleet is powerful enough (they'd still have more skyships than many, if not most, Mystaran nations have ships in their regular seafaring naval forces). A reasonable sized fleet of such Sky-Warships (see below re. that) combined with the "private ships pressed into military service in wartime" option is plenty big enough. > Agreed here. Maybe the lightning bolts that are fired are smaller and > less devastating than traditional lightning bolts? Something akin to > "Melf's Minute Meteors" ("Bardolph's Bitty 'Bolts"?) > That's a fine idea. That'd give them snazzy effects without being too. . .you know. > I bet all sorts of illegal trades in those things can be around, too. > Which would be a fun thing for adventure, which is supposedly the main goal. Smuggling Boltmen wands. . .IMO, that'd be at least as lucrative as the Zzonga trade. Think about the illegal arms trade in todays world (folks like to make a lot of modern analogies, which I'm not sure are applicable, but if they are then this would be, too, so. . .) Anyway, it was just a possible theory to explain it away. > The Boltmen entry in CoM and that Dragon article mentions that the code > words are changed after each major battle. How is this accomplished? > Beats me. If it's too easy, then it defeats the purpose. If it's too hard, it probably can't be done right away anyhow. Plus, as folks who've delt with institutions that like to have you change your password all the time, it can be a real pain in the hoop - and to circumvent it, most people just use some easy-to-remember variant of their old password (old password: "Hoops13". New password: "Hoops14". Fumbling around in the heat *next* major battle trying to remember what the heck you changed it too after the last one is *not* recomended - you can do that at your desk at work, scratch your head and try and remember it, but you'll be a walking (well, falling) pincushion if you have to do that in the heat of battle. So even if they are changed, they're probably not changed all that much, otherwise it becomes harder to remember. > Also, how are they recharged so easily and quickly? > Beats me. IMO, this comes from the difficulties inherant in translating what was meant as a story into a generalized set of game rules as was done in CoM - it's akin to saying that the the "Adventure" on p.90 was successful and a new, improved version of the Thothian Enchantment became widely available. What "works" as an eliment of the story, to create interesting plot twists & sidestories (Berylith et al) works much less well as an eliment of the gameworld. The Wands/Boltmen were also intended, as far as I can tell, originally just to provide a sort of "atmospheric aura" around the journey (which has "Victorian Age" eliments) - the Wands are equivilent to Sidearms, or even to Muskets. Works ok in a series of episodic stories, but less well when translated into game terms (don't get me started about FR novels. . .) In that sense, they had to be easily rechargable in order to fit within the theme: ok, they aren't as easy to recharge as a Winchester rifle is to reload, but they're easier than "normal" wands (where you prolly wouldn't be able to recharge until the ship got back to port and someone had time to sit around and charge up wands "the hard way"). But I guess we're stuck with 'em at this point, thanks to CoM. > 1) Downgrade the power of the boltwands to ease in recharging costs and > times. Either make the majority of them Magic Missile wands (like you > suggest) or the Mini-bolt variation. > In which case I'd probably go with this variant, or #3. The Boltman's Wands don't seem that unreliable (plus, "blowback"/"misfire" - the most likely adverse effect re option #2, would be horrific. A "pure #2" would probably produce fairly high chances of that. A #3, "combo platter" might produce a comparitively low chance of that. Still, with, for example, a 1% chance of "blowback" per use, that means fireballs and whatnot will be hitting the decks of a Man-of-War fairly frequently, guys getting killed by their own or their buddies wands would be fairly common.) Interesting asside: If one assumes that about 5% of the Alphatian military is Boltmen, like you suggested, and an Alphatian military of roughly 200,000 men (which is about the midpoint between the # I arrived at in an earlier post & the # that appears on the Trail Map - btw, this would be Imperial & Kingdom forces combined, IMO), then one gets 10,000 boltmen (still quite alot - IMO virtually all of these would be in Imperial service, only token #s in the forces of some of the more militaristic Kingdoms). That would be enough to provide compliments for about 38 Men-of-War - assuming all the Boltmen were on Men-of-War and no Boltmen were on any other Skyship. Probably that isn't the case: Boltmen are probably some proportion of the complement of smaller ships. But if we have: 24 Men-of-War = 5,760* 30 Skybrigantines = 1,800** 80 Skyschooners & skysloops = 1,600*** (Men of War: 240 each; Skyfrigates: 60 each, like the Princess Ark; Skyshooners & skysloops: average of 20 each.) That comes to 9,160, leaving about 840 to divide up among the various Kingdoms or on private skyships (such as the P-Ark, which has an abnormally high number of them). (Conversely if one assumes an AlphMil of roughly 168,000, as I did, with roughly 65,000 in the "Imperial" forces, then there are slightly more than 5% Boltmen in the AlphMil overall - almost 6%, which isn't that huge a difference for our purposes). ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 19:22:31 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Agathokles Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Michael III Mysteria wrote: > > Jakob or Jakobus in Dutch (James is a synonym of Jacob) > Jacques in French > Jakob in German > Iacobus in Latin > Jake in English > > > --- Caroletti wrote: > Giacomo Tempio in Italian. In Italian there are also Iacopo (from the Latin form) and Giacobbe (from the original, Hebraic form) -- Giampaolo Agosta agathokles@libero.it http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles/index.htm ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 13:27:11 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: John Calvin Subject: Re: Mystaran Almanac events layout MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >Well, the thing that people have to keep in mind is that it isn't adding 1 file for HW events vs having 1 file for surface events. There are 12 separate files for events now - one for each month. Breaking them down by region means adding 12 separate files for each region the world is divided into. IMO, it's far less confusing to look through 12 monthly files than 24 or 36 for that one event, especially since it's hard to remember exactly which month it took place in.< Well, I don't know. The 24 files would all be indexed, so if you know the event is HW or OW (or SC) it really isn't any harder than looking through 12 files. Once you open the file, then it becomes even easier. I'm not sure that the number of files would be the problem. I do agree that we would lose continuity, and that may be more of a problem. (but see below) >I think they should be left as-is. All one has to do is scan the "location" line, since events are already designated by region that way - this is very helpful for looking for that one event, because (speaking for myself at least) usually remember where it took place. Dividing it into separately designated files however would just produce a plethora and surifit of more files, and the almanac is already divided into a great number of discrete documents.< (.rtf) Files are cumbersome period. Whay not get rid of them all together and produce this thing in html? Then it really wouldn't matter how many files there are, since the whole thing could be hyperlinked. IMO much easier to read that way. Shawn's done a great job on his site, but it would be nice to have an html downloadable. In that case I would agree that a continuous timeline would be the best way to go. Otherwise, I'm not so sure. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 14:45:36 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Bugging Me... Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Okay- this one's been bugging me for a while, so I'm going to see if anyo= ne here has some thoughts. How is it possible that John of the Wain can be the Earl/Duke of Cimarron= County in AC 1000 (per Voyage of the Princess Ark) and yet *not* be Earl/= Duke of Cimarron until AC 1008 (per Red Steel)?!?!?!?!?! The most obvious answer of course, is "D'OH! The Red Steel guys messed up= again!!", but I'm curious if anyone has a perhaps more creative response?= Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 15:58:50 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Bugging Me... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > How is it possible that John of the Wain can be the > Earl/Duke of Cimarron County in AC 1000 (per Voyage > of the Princess Ark) and yet *not* be Earl/Duke > of Cimarron until AC 1008 (per Red Steel)?!?!?!?!?! > The only sane answer would be that he wasn't the ruler in AC 1000. Or, rather, his father was, and the "current" (AC 1008) guy is the son & namesake of the old man. Or that Haldemar got it slightly wrong: John of the Wain was an important figure in AC 1000, who folks went to for advice & help, but he wasn't officially ruler until AC 1008. Perhaps then they refered to him as "The Duke" even back then because he was exiled nobility from somewhere else originally. That'll be the day. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 14:03:00 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: Bugging Me... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Andrew Theisen wrote: > > How is it possible that John of the Wain can be the Earl/Duke of Cimarron > County in AC 1000 (per Voyage of the Princess Ark) and yet *not* be Earl/Duke > of Cimarron until AC 1008 (per Red Steel)?!?!?!?!?! > > The most obvious answer of course, is "D'OH! The Red Steel guys messed up > again!!", but I'm curious if anyone has a perhaps more creative response? Well, my own take on that is that VotPA screwed up, not Red Steel. After studying the material as I've been doing while doing the maps, I've got to conclude that Red Steel was already in the works at the time of it's printing, the introduction in the PA series was simply to vanguard the later product. There's signs of this all over the Savage Coast, in his Goatmen workup Bruce mentioned he'd been contracted to work on a gazateer for the region only to have the project cancelled a few months later, which is why it probably showed up in VotPA. (Why throw away perfectly good work?) So, I'd say the Red Steel material is the corrected and definitive source. It's also typical to assume later revisions supercede old ones. IronWolf "It's Specularum, damn it!" (With some exceptions to the above rule. *grin*) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 17:16:54 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: Critical Hits/Misses Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: Kar Ess >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Critical Hits/Misses >Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 22:12:55 -0800 > >I have a VERY good (and comprehensive) critical hit and miss table. That's >not what I need. I need >a COMA table. Length of comas based on the different types of wounds >inflicted, and several >logical ways of reviving someone in a coma. I have considered making it >based upon con, but think >there should be other ways of adjusting it. > >I don't want to buy a whole game system for one table, and I have done some >research on the net >for medical information, but it is sadly lacking and does not lend itself >to table creation. > We use a system that I think is good(although not the best)it works like this: when a PC reaches 0 HP,he falls into a coma. the coma lasts 1 week/every -1 HP below 0 HP. if the PC reaches -10 HP,he is dead. the coma duration can be shortened by cure spells,subtracting 1 week with every cure spell cast.(regardless of the type of cure spell) if you want,you could make con checks to shorten the coma duration,but we don't do this. that is basicly how it works. King. > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. >http://im.yahoo.com > >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 17:27:16 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Meltheim Shadowstalker Subject: Re: Critical Hits/Misses MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The one in my campaign currently runs this way. If the PC reaches 0 hp, he is KO'd and cannot do anything except lie there. If he is not immediately healed, then in a set amount of rounds, he will fall into a coma (CON-10=rounds until coma) for a week. If he reaches-10HP, he is dead. Due to blood loss, the PC also loses 1 hp per round if they are not tended to, and can die or lapse into a coma because of it. Makes sense? Meltheim the Shadowstalker Infiltrator to the Immortals Devotee of Fate Eyes of the Starwatcher ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 17:34:48 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: newbie needing a hand Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: Caroletti >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] newbie needing a hand >Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 19:58:38 +0100 > >Bill Manley ha scritto: > > > as a matter of fact yes, I an Thyatian. Karnarius Demitrian, Thyatian > > soldier inthe XIVth cohort. > > > > King. > >Gonna remember that name...man, I owe you a pint of beer at the >best tavern of Port Lucinius, if you ever come here! > >Iulius Sergius Scaevola >Captain of the XXth Cohort >Port Lucinius, Thyatis I'm currently at redstone keep and preparing to go to the thothian escarpment, but when I return I'll gladly join you! King. >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 23:58:19 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Marco Fossati Subject: R: [MYSTARA] City Maps MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes. If you need help tell me ----- Original Message ----- From: George Gardea To: Sent: Friday, December 10, 1999 7:59 AM Subject: [MYSTARA] City Maps > Hi everyone. > > > I'm thinking of starting to make improved versions of the maps in > mystara. Starting with Threshold, Kelvin, Specularium, etc. Then > following in the Gaz sequence from there for published maps. Is any one > interested in something like this? > > > geo > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 17:59:00 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] Bugging Me...] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable IronWolf wrote: > >Well, my own take on that is that VotPA screwed up, not Red Steel. After= >studying the material as I've been doing while doing the maps, I've got = >to conclude that Red Steel was already in the works at the time of it's >printing, the introduction in the PA series was simply to vanguard the >= later product. There's signs of this all over the Savage Coast, in his >Goatmen= workup Bruce mentioned he'd been contracted to work on a gazateer >for th= e region only to have the project cancelled a few months later, >which is w= hy it probably showed up in VotPA. (Why throw away perfectly >good work?) Yet the Red Steel set (and the other products) didn't follow the VotPA se= ries for several years, and were almost verbatim reprintings of information provided in the VotPA series (obvious changes due to AD&D 2nd Edition and= some revamping for the 12 year gap aside). Whatever Bruce said about a gazette= er for the region was probably in reference to one that would have come *aft= er* the PA stuff- especially given that none of that area was developed befor= e VotPA and that any gazetteers of any region would (from all indications b= y TSR staff) and should have completed the Known World region before spreading anywhere else. Your point about TSR's policy of "later superseding earlier" is well note= d, however. Yet it nevertheless creates difficulties for continuity purposes= (for instance, people who were playing in the region following VotPA, and then= the Red Steel set coming out and saying- "Whoops. John ain't the sheriff in t= hem thar parts like ya'll thought.") Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 17:29:33 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Aaron E Nowack Subject: Re: Bugging Me... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Thu, 17 Feb 2000 14:45:36 EST Andrew Theisen writes: > Okay- this one's been bugging me for a while, so I'm going to see if > anyone > here has some thoughts. > > How is it possible that John of the Wain can be the Earl/Duke of > Cimarron > County in AC 1000 (per Voyage of the Princess Ark) and yet *not* be > Earl/Duke > of Cimarron until AC 1008 (per Red Steel)?!?!?!?!?! > > The most obvious answer of course, is "D'OH! The Red Steel guys > messed up > again!!", but I'm curious if anyone has a perhaps more creative > response? I prefer the second most obvious answer, "D'OH! Bruce Heard messed up again!!", :) Maybe I'll come up with a more creative idea later... Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis." http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/5930/ ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 15:48:15 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Red Steel [was: [MYSTARA] Bugging Me...] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Andrew Theisen wrote: > > Yet the Red Steel set (and the other products) didn't follow the VotPA series > for several years, and were almost verbatim reprintings of information > provided in the VotPA series (obvious changes due to AD&D 2nd Edition and some > revamping for the 12 year gap aside). Whatever Bruce said about a gazetteer > for the region was probably in reference to one that would have come *after* > the PA stuff- especially given that none of that area was developed before > VotPA and that any gazetteers of any region would (from all indications by TSR > staff) and should have completed the Known World region before spreading > anywhere else. True enough, although who knows how long stuff sits on shelves at TSR? I bought all my Dragon magazines with the PA series long after they were in print, so I don't know the exact time they showed up. Red Steel came out in the mid 90's (94 or 95? Somewhere in there...) What I noted though was that in issue 172 Bruce has a little "Special Thanks" aside, it seems to suggest to me that "Red Steel" was already a project, at least on paper. (Possibly they were planning it to be a D&D suppliment originally, and switched to AD&D later.) Of course, we could always ask Bruce to settle that one. :) > Your point about TSR's policy of "later superseding earlier" is well noted, > however. Yet it nevertheless creates difficulties for continuity purposes >(for instance, people who were playing in the region following VotPA, and then the Red Steel set coming out and saying- "Whoops. John ain't the sheriff in them thar parts like ya'll thought.") I suppose it would in an ongoing campaign, in which case you could likely just ignore it and make up new stuff or widget it in. This was never a problem for me, since I'm like one out of the SIX people in Washington state who even run Mystara. :) Plus I've only recently said "To heck with it, I'm using it!" and returned to tabletop gaming from online gaming. (Yeah, back from the endless vortex of oblivion and ignorance, known as massive-multiplayer online games.) IronWolf ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 00:51:36 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: DM Subject: Re: NPC's?? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" On Tue, 15 Feb 2000 17:54:04 +0000, Gordon McCormick wrote: On Mon, Feb 14, 2000 at 05:47:54PM -0500, Meltheim Shadowstalker wrote: > I was wondering if anyone on the list would allow me to use them as an NPC in > my campaign? I am looking for interesting, colorful characters if possible. <> I knew that and I'm most flattered Gordon. you know you can abuse my name whenever you want ;) I'm sure one of these days I'll fly up there in Dublin and stop by to attend one of your sessions, so your players will finally see the true face of their enemy.. this could give them quite a shock *you open the door announcing: "And you see he's back, the old hated Bandit de la Monte!" and I step in for a most dramatic effect* ;) I had a similar idea, but mine involved sending our personal bios using D&D rules and stats... that would be fun as well ;) Oh, and we could also make two version of ourselves: a good one and an evil one! ;) DM Senior Editor of the Mystaran Almanac First Officer of U.S.S. Unicorn Visit Marco's Mystara Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967 Join the Mystara Webring at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967/mystring.html Join the Starfleet Academy at: http://gilda.it/startrek (Italian RPG PBEM) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 00:52:19 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: DM Subject: Re: Mental Asylums in the Known World Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" In a message dated 2/10/00 9:00:54 PM Eastern Standard Time, fanavarro@PACIFIC.NET.PH writes: > Dear Mystarans: > I'd like to find out where the best mental institutions are in the Known > World? And Alex Benson replied: << not a bad idea. iirc there is an asylum or two in ravenloft...with some sinister attributes and plans for its wards. for mystara i think that more civilized nations would have asylums to take care of their deranged. less civilized would either lock them away in the basement, abandon them, or kill them for being possessed or something. i think that darokin, minrothad, thyatis, glantri, and alphatia would all have asylums of some form or another. i also think that some families would see the deranged as a family matter and have them safely secured away inside their own homes and estates.>> I agree with Alex's ideas here. Darokin, Thyatis, Glantri and Alphatia should have asylums, although I'm not that sure about Minrothad. I'd add also Ochalea and Sind, which are renowned for their mystic cloisters, so these may also treat mental illness, although using methods completely different from the Old World medicine. Hule may have asylums too, but these may be re-education centres instead of realy asylums for the mentally distressed. In the Savage Coast, I am sure asylums exist in Herath (as has been already pointed out) and maybe Bellayne as well. In the Hollow World, I'd say strange asylums may exist in Selhomarr (given the nature of their most hated enemies) and in Shajhapur. IMC, I have had one asylum at the centre of my PCs adventure: it's the Clinic for the Mentally Distressed, taken directly from Ravenloft and set near the most pleasant village in the OW, Dolos (according to GAZ11), between Selenica and Darokin city. <> This is the kind of asylums I think exist in Darokin and Ochalea/Sind. There are some in Thyatis and Alphatia as well. IMC the Clinic in question had no clerics treating the ill but only Doctors expert in the mental illnesses (a rather new branch of study in the University of Selenica, the most advanced in medicine and psychology IMC). <> most spread in Thyatis, Glantri and Alphatia, some in Darokin as well. <> Definitely good for Glantri and Alphatia. I think Thyatis would rather execute such kind of deranged fools or take them to a prison camp Borydos style. <> Pick up the Nightmare Lands Ravenloft boxed set. It is an invaluable chest of information about dreams, nightmares and dream-powers, and provides a detailed map and key for an asylum. And the good thing is you can use it in any campaign! DM Senior Editor of the Mystaran Almanac First Officer of U.S.S. Unicorn Visit Marco's Mystara Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967 Join the Mystara Webring at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967/mystring.html Join the Starfleet Academy at: http://gilda.it/startrek (Italian RPG PBEM) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 18:21:11 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] Bugging Me...] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable James Ruhland wrote: > >The only sane answer would be that he wasn't the ruler in AC 1000. Or, >rather, his father was, and the "current" (AC 1008) guy is the son & >namesake of the old man. Or that Haldemar got it slightly wrong: John of= >the Wain was an important figure in AC 1000, who folks went to for advic= e >& help, but he wasn't officially ruler until AC 1008. Perhaps then they >refered to him as "The Duke" even back then because he was exiled >nobil= ity from somewhere else originally. That's kind of how they put it- John's dad is Earl in 1000 AC, but John i= sn't until 1008. Which would have been fine if they had at least made John's d= ad have the same name as he does (John and John the II, respectively). But h= e has a completely different name, thus invalidating the Princess Ark entry. I suppose Haldemar & Co. could have gotten it wrong, though. Darn senile = Raman is starting to show his age!!!! (Think they could have done a more consistent job of things...) >That'll be the day. "The Searchers." Good movie. The phrase was the inspiration for Buddy Hol= ley's song of the same name, in case anyone was wondering and didn't know. Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 19:03:23 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Meltheim Shadowstalker Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/17/2000 3:54:48 PM, mdalmonte@PROVINCIA.RA.IT writes: <> sorry to say, but I think that my version of myself would be chaotic neutral, there goes your plan! hehe, but seriously folks, do any of you live in the San Francisco Bay Area? If so, maybe you could guest star in one of my sessions maybe? Meltheim the Shadowstalker Infiltrator to the Immortals Devotee of Fate Eyes of theStarwatcher ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 07:34:41 +0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Francisco V. Navarro" Subject: Re: newbie needing a hand MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Bill Manley ha scritto: > > > as a matter of fact yes, I an Thyatian. Karnarius Demitrian, Thyatian > > soldier inthe XIVth cohort. > > > > King. > > Gonna remember that name...man, I owe you a pint of beer at the > best tavern of Port Lucinius, if you ever come here! > > Iulius Sergius Scaevola > Captain of the XXth Cohort > Port Lucinius, Thyatis > Uggh! I must warn you that your friend is a persona non grata in Glantri. If ever you visit the Principalities with him, be ready to miss out on all the parties and social affairs... Kit Navarro Paparazzi Glantri ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 18:55:37 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: newbie needing a hand MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Uggh! I must warn you that your friend is a persona non grata in Glantri. If > ever you visit the Principalities with him, be ready to miss out on all the > parties and social affairs... > Well, considering who *does* show up for those, it's probably a sign of high honor and good breeding to be unwelcomed at them. 8-) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 20:07:44 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: RAF/Skynavy - Connections. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit While we're talking about stuff that bugs us. . . Well, one thing that often even slips my mind, but which I think is important, is that people often fail to see the connections between one proposal and its implications elsewhere. Let's talk about the Alphatian Skynavy and the implications the sizes that have been proposed would have for the size of the Retebius Air Fleet. Just to take one of the proposals, and break it down again by numbers: 24 Men of War: 400 marines, 200 airmen each. 9,600 marines, 4,800 airmen total. Total Crew: 14,400 30 SkyBrigantines: 75 marines, 75 airmen each on average 2,250 marines, 2,250 airmen total. Total Crew: 4,500 40 SkySchooners: 45 marines, 45 airmen each on average 1,800 marines, 1,800 airmen total. Total Crew: 3,600 40 SkySloops: 30 marines, 40 airmen each on average 1,200 marines, 1,600 airmen total. Total Crew: 2,800 Total Sky Navy: 14,850 marines, 10,450 airmen total. Sky Navy Personnel: 25,300. Now, we know that the Retebius Air Fleet is the Thyatian counterpart to the Alphatian Skyship Fleet. We also "know" (though now dispute) that Thyatis has about half the population of Alphatia. Per the trail maps, Alphatia has 215,000 troops under arms (70% of which are mercenaries), while Thyatis has 223,750 troops under arms (15% of which are mercenaries. Btw, they seem very precise with that total. Wonder how they arrived at it? Oh well). This might imply that the Thyatian RAF is approximately equal in strength to the Alphatian Skyship Fleet's strength, in personnel (anyone think the RAF has about 25,000 persons in it? Since no one raised their hands, I don't have to give you permission to lower them now). On the other hand, we can see from the 1st PWA that they calculate the full-strength Thyatian military (army & navy) at roughly 122,750 personnel (though no figures are given for the RAF anywhere in that). But comparable Alphatian figures simply aren't available, and there are flaws with the PWA armies for both nations that have been discussed at length already, so we won't go into that. Instead, we'll simply assume, for the sake of argument, that the Thyatian RAF is about half the size, in personnel, as the Alphatian Sky Navy is (and that the Order of the Knights of the Air is the Thyatian equivalent of the Alphatian "privately owned" skyships pressed into military service during wartime). If we include Airmen, this would imply a total of 12,650 persons in the RAF. But I'm going to set aside that number as well, and simply calculate the total based on the number of Marines in the Alphatian Sky Navy, ignoring the Airmen. Assume the RAF is half the size of the Sky Navy (even though the Thyatian army seems to be larger than half the size of the Alphatian army). This results in a total of ~7,500 personnel in the RAF - which is less than 30% of the size suggested for the Alphatian Skyship Navy (in one of the "smaller sized" suggestions, btw - not one with 90 Men-of-War). If we follow the % breakdown of mounts found on p.28 of the "Player's Guide to Thyatis", this results in a force composed of: 3,750 Pegasii riders 1,875 Hippogriff riders 750 Griffon riders 750 Sphinx riders 150 White Dragon riders 75 Roc riders 75 Blue Dragon riders 75 Gold Dragon riders By comparison, the RAF that I designed contains 2,658 personnel (+500 in Airships, for a grand total of less than 3,200. You can add in the Hetaereia Augustiana if you'd like, and that adds 1,000 personnel). And some see even that force as too large (which is, without the Hetaereia, less than half the size of the RAF above, and even with the Hetaereia is 56% of the above force. Which would be about 16% of the size of the Alphatian Skyship Navy). And there are "only" 50 Dragons in the force I designed, as opposed to 300 in the above force. To this some may reply "well, we have some figures in DotE upon which to base our assumption of the RAF's strength upon, the force stationed in Thyatis City." True - but in the same product we have some indication of what Skyships are like, but these implications are superseded by later materials (notably the CoM) - and thus this supercedes what is in DotE regarding the RAF strength as well; early materiel becomes dated and obsolete, displaced by later and more detailed materiel. Now, if larger Skyship fleet sizes are chosen, then the RAF should be proportionately increased in size as well. Now, if people believe that there are roughly 300 (or more - if the Skyship Fleet is larger) dragons in the Retebius Air Fleet, then some of my concerns about the multiplicity of Death Wands or Wands of Fireballs go away, I suppose - we end up with a very "high magic" setting, lots of wands, sphinxes, dragons &tc. But I'm pretty sure that no one is willing to argue for an RAF of this composition - in fact, I tend to expect a lot of rationalizations to the effect that the RAF size should be low and unrelated to the size of the Skyship Fleet. But in my mind, this would just show an unwillingness to face the consequences of a line of argument, and its implications. The RAF is described as having been specifically organized and developed over time to counteract the Alphatian Skyship Navy, so it should be strong enough to act in that role. But remember, even in the above I haven't described its size as comparable: this RAF is slightly under 30% of the size of the Skyship Force described above. Thus its size has already been adjusted downward and is not entirely the equivalent of the Skyship Navy. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 20:25:46 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Aaron E Nowack Subject: Houses of Darokin: Corun House MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit It's been a little while, but here it comes... the fourth part of The Houses of Darokin. BTW, once all the Grreat Houses have been detailed, I plan to do work on some adventure ideas involving them, as well as expanding Darokin's history, government, and detailing some of the minor houses. But now: Corun House. A Brief History of Corun House Generally, it is stated that the only Great House descended from the old nobility is Hallonica House. This is not quite true, as Corun House was the ruling family of Corunglain when it was first founded, and remained so for some time, as a nominaly independant city from the Kingdom of Darokin up till the sixth century AC. The "Free City" of Corunglain and the Kingdom of Darokin were closely allied, and had a unified military command. As such, when Corunglain was besiged by orcs during the Elvenwar, Darokin was forced to send forces to aid the city. Through the heroism of Theon Corun, the city held out long enough for forces from Darokin to break open a route to flee the city. However, Darokin was not willing reclaim or rebuild the city. Theon waged a brilliant political war, forcing Corwyn XIII to liberate the fallen city. When the city was rebuilt, however, it was rebuilt as the fifth Duchy of Darokin. The Free City was no more. To further spite Theon, it was not a Corun that was appointed as Duke, it was an Attleson. The Coruns eventually turned to buisness as a way to survive, though they were forced to base their operations out of Ardelphia rather than Corunglain (an attempt by the new Duke to rename the city Corwyn failed miserably). Eventually, the Coruns were once again powerful enough to return operations to Corunglain, and after the death of Santhral II,the Coruns seized control of the city in a relatively bloodless coup. However, the Coruns swiftly established themselves as one of the most ruthless and ambitious merchant dynasties in Darokin. It is generally believed that the bloody civil wars that caused the breakup of the Kingdom can be laid directly at Corun House's door. Indeed, the final war before the Great Merger was between the Darokin-Akesoli-Akkoras alliance and a Corunglain-Athenos alliance. Corun House was one of the strongest opponents of the merger, and after Charles's death, caused the crisis that forced Lydia Mauntea's bloody takeover. Unfortunatly for them, Corun House was hard hit by the takeover, with the entire family dying in a fire at their mansion outside of Corunglain. At first, it seemed as though the House would dissolve, but an obscure branch of the family was uncovered, and Vardon Kalimi became head of Corun House. Vardon was far less ruthless than his predecessors, and managed to keep the high popularity in Corunglain the Coruns had always enjoyed, but also gaining enough popularity nation-wide to be elected Chancellor in 949 AC. His widow, Nathalie Kalimi, now runs the family. House Corun Assets House Corun practically owns Corunglain outright. Corun House maintains extensiveoffices in Darokin City. Corun House's main trading takes place in Glantri and Ethengar. Unlike most other forgien trading Houses, Corun House manages its own domestic trade. Corun House has a large merchant river fleet, though only has one ship suitable for ocean trading, and that ship is only capable of coastal travel. House Corun Relations Al-Azrad: Neutral. Neither House has any real relations with the other. Franich: Neutral verging on friendly. Their slight friendship is not based on political of economic reasons, but is due to a personal friendship between Nathalie Kalimi and Arturo Franich. Rumors that those two guilder's relationship goes beyond mere friendship are denied by both Houses. Hallonica: Neutral. There are no major ties or enmities between these two Houses. Linton: Neutral verging on hostile. As an ally of Mauntea and for manipulated Linton after Charles Mauntea's death, Corun House has earned Linton's enmity. Mauntea: Friendly. The Kalimi's were good friends of the Mauntea's before being called to take charge of Corun House, and that relationship continues. Pennydown: Friendly. Both Houses are allies of Mauntea. In addition, Elissa Pennydown has been trying to become a personal friend of Nathalie Kalimi, an effort which has only recently begun to suceed. Toney House: Neutral. No political relations exist between Corun and Toney. Umbarth: Hostile. These two Houses are competing for the Ethengarian and glantrian markets. Corun is also trying to gain control of the Alfheim trade. House Corun Personalities Nathalie Kalimi (0/18th level normal woman/merchant, LG) At age 68, Nathalie Kalimi is the head of Courn House. She has never been a pretty woman, and age has not improved her looks. However, she has a sheer force of personality that often overwhelms new aquantinces. She is tall, with grey hair and blue eyes. She dotes on her son, and is considered by many too soft-hearted to be involved in Darokinian buisness and politics. Aldon Kalimi (4th/8th level fighter/merchant, CG) Nathalie's son, Aldon is the heir to Corun House. He is tall with brown hair and blue eyes. He could have claimed leadership of the House after Vardon's death, but chose not to, as he was not interested in the responsibility. He still dreads this responsibility, and is not looking forward to when he will have to takeover the House. Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis." http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/5930/ ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 21:25:43 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Ranma Al'Thor Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] [Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Skynavy - AlphatiaRe-Design Project]] In-Reply-To: <20000217164235.1753.qmail@aw162.netaddress.usa.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Thu, 17 Feb 2000, Andrew Theisen wrote: > "James Ruhland" wrote: > > > >First off, what would Bruce's opinion be of a nation hiring say, average > >troops. Would he say they come fully equiped with whatever neato weapons > >the ruler wants? Even if it's just a longsword, scale mail, and a short > >bow? > If they're mercenaries, yes, they would come equipped. Of course, mercenaries cost more and are in shorter supply than raw levies you have to train yourself. But certainly medieval armies, the members usually supplied their own weapons. Magic wands are another thing entirely, though :) > Along those lines, I would suggest that the skyships do not form a naval > attachment in and of themselves, but are complements to the standard > non-skyship navy- perhaps one or two of them per naval division. Serving as > scouts, air cover, etc. They are just too damn costly to have entire naval > divisions of them... > Yep. John Walter Biles : MA-History, ABD, Ph.D Candidate at U. Kansas ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu rhea@tass.org http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html rhea@maison-otaku.net http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/ "The connection is so abstract, that we have people whose job it is to make sure the paperwork doesn't get totally disconnected from the world. Theoretically, I handle millions of dollars a day, but it is less real than this e-mail. I have never seen our product. I have never seen the sales people. I have never seen a customer." --Robert Lane describes his work as an accountant. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 21:32:34 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Ranma Al'Thor Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] Alphatian Skynavy -AlphatiaRe-Design Project]]] In-Reply-To: <20000217184335.7226.qmail@aw164.netaddress.usa.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Thu, 17 Feb 2000, Andrew Theisen wrote: > The Boltmen entry in CoM and that Dragon article mentions that the code words > are changed after each major battle. How is this accomplished? > The wands are designed with that as a built in function. There's probably a Master Codeword, which is fixed, and knowledge of which allows one to change the Use Codeword. Only the higher officers know the Master Codewords. > Also, how are they recharged so easily and quickly? Some mage must be getting > paid a buttload of cash to sit around on a ship and recharge these things. > Probably they have to retreat to a base to get recharged; recharging in the field would be a pain in the butt. John Walter Biles : MA-History, ABD, Ph.D Candidate at U. Kansas ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu rhea@tass.org http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html rhea@maison-otaku.net http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/ "The connection is so abstract, that we have people whose job it is to make sure the paperwork doesn't get totally disconnected from the world. Theoretically, I handle millions of dollars a day, but it is less real than this e-mail. I have never seen our product. I have never seen the sales people. I have never seen a customer." --Robert Lane describes his work as an accountant. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 00:49:54 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=E0=E9=EC=EF_=F9=E7=ED?= Subject: Re: NPC's?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit No point, just rambling. >Your point being? ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 23:47:20 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: RadCon; State of Maps MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Greetings Listers! (Or do we have some alternate title?) Just thought I'd give everybody a hearty see-ya later, as tomorrow afternoon I shall be departing with brother and a few friends for RadCon for some gaming and wanton excess at gaming booths. (Never can have too much dice!) A pity nobody else on the list will be there, rest assured if anybody says anything detrimental about Mystara he'll be taking what's left of his nose home in a napkin. >:) (Just kidding of course.) I have been working on the next map, a COMPLETE map of Herath, something that was lacking on both the close scale Red Steel maps and the PA series. I've had to unfortunately also extend the drafting to the western half of the Peninsula so I have guidelines. I'm trying to make sure every map will line up evenly, should I later try and assemble a complete piece. (As a BMP? Not likely! I think it would crash my computer to even try.) So likely Herath, Nimmur, and Jibaru will all come out at once. (The Bayou area and Wallara will be pretty easy after that bit of work.) The Dark Jungle is the single most difficult piece since most of it has never been plotted 8mi/hex before. (Excepting Thibalt's work of course! I'm mostly referring to canon sources.) When that's all done, I'll be open to new commissions. Try not to clog up my mailbox too much! I think I got a 2mb limit on incoming... IronWolf President of the "It's Specularum, not Mirros damnit!" Club ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 08:15:12 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Connections. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Though I should perhaps point out that Man for Man the RAF is much more powerful than the Alphatian skyfleet, I understand they are all a minimum of level 5. You could probably half its size again, which is getting realistic. Individually they are around twice the level of the Alpher marines, so you could assume that each RAF airman is worth 2 Alphatian marines. And assume the skyships cancel out the flying steeds when comparing the total strength of the two forces. Though I maintain that the Alphatian Skynavy is not well equipped to deal with a swarm of flying fighters, its better equipped for ship to ship combat. The RAF would be a major problem to the Skynavy in battle even if it is much smaller in terms of personnel. Though presumably the RAF would have quite a limited radius of operations (how far can a pegasus fly without getting tired?). Cheers Rob >While we're talking about stuff that bugs us. . . > Well, one thing that often even slips my mind, but which I think is >important, is that people often fail to see the connections between one >proposal and its implications elsewhere. > >Let's talk about the Alphatian Skynavy and the implications the sizes that >have been proposed would have for the size of the Retebius Air Fleet. > >Just to take one of the proposals, and break it down again by numbers: > >24 Men of War: > 400 marines, 200 airmen each. > 9,600 marines, 4,800 airmen total. >Total Crew: 14,400 > >30 SkyBrigantines: > 75 marines, 75 airmen each on average > 2,250 marines, 2,250 airmen total. >Total Crew: 4,500 > >40 SkySchooners: > 45 marines, 45 airmen each on average > 1,800 marines, 1,800 airmen total. >Total Crew: 3,600 > >40 SkySloops: > 30 marines, 40 airmen each on average > 1,200 marines, 1,600 airmen total. >Total Crew: 2,800 > >Total Sky Navy: > 14,850 marines, 10,450 airmen total. > >Sky Navy Personnel: 25,300. > > Now, we know that the Retebius Air Fleet is the Thyatian counterpart to >the Alphatian Skyship Fleet. We also "know" (though now dispute) that >Thyatis has about half the population of Alphatia. Per the trail maps, >Alphatia has 215,000 troops under arms (70% of which are mercenaries), >while Thyatis has 223,750 troops under arms (15% of which are mercenaries. >Btw, they seem very precise with that total. Wonder how they arrived at it? >Oh well). This might imply that the Thyatian RAF is approximately equal in >strength to the Alphatian Skyship Fleet's strength, in personnel (anyone >think the RAF has about 25,000 persons in it? Since no one raised their >hands, I don't have to give you permission to lower them now). > On the other hand, we can see from the 1st PWA that they calculate the >full-strength Thyatian military (army & navy) at roughly 122,750 personnel >(though no figures are given for the RAF anywhere in that). But comparable >Alphatian figures simply aren't available, and there are flaws with the PWA >armies for both nations that have been discussed at length already, so we >won't go into that. > Instead, we'll simply assume, for the sake of argument, that the Thyatian >RAF is about half the size, in personnel, as the Alphatian Sky Navy is (and >that the Order of the Knights of the Air is the Thyatian equivalent of the >Alphatian "privately owned" skyships pressed into military service during >wartime). If we include Airmen, this would imply a total of 12,650 persons >in the RAF. > But I'm going to set aside that number as well, and simply calculate the >total based on the number of Marines in the Alphatian Sky Navy, ignoring >the Airmen. Assume the RAF is half the size of the Sky Navy (even though >the Thyatian army seems to be larger than half the size of the Alphatian >army). This results in a total of ~7,500 personnel in the RAF - which is >less than 30% of the size suggested for the Alphatian Skyship Navy (in one >of the "smaller sized" suggestions, btw - not one with 90 Men-of-War). > If we follow the % breakdown of mounts found on p.28 of the "Player's >Guide to Thyatis", this results in a force composed of: > 3,750 Pegasii riders > 1,875 Hippogriff riders > 750 Griffon riders > 750 Sphinx riders > 150 White Dragon riders > 75 Roc riders > 75 Blue Dragon riders > 75 Gold Dragon riders > > By comparison, the RAF that I designed contains 2,658 personnel (+500 in >Airships, for a grand total of less than 3,200. You can add in the >Hetaereia Augustiana if you'd like, and that adds 1,000 personnel). And >some see even that force as too large (which is, without the Hetaereia, >less than half the size of the RAF above, and even with the Hetaereia is >56% of the above force. Which would be about 16% of the size of the >Alphatian Skyship Navy). And there are "only" 50 Dragons in the force I >designed, as opposed to 300 in the above force. > To this some may reply "well, we have some figures in DotE upon which to >base our assumption of the RAF's strength upon, the force stationed in >Thyatis City." True - but in the same product we have some indication of >what Skyships are like, but these implications are superseded by later >materials (notably the CoM) - and thus this supercedes what is in DotE >regarding the RAF strength as well; early materiel becomes dated and >obsolete, displaced by later and more detailed materiel. > Now, if larger Skyship fleet sizes are chosen, then the RAF should be >proportionately increased in size as well. > Now, if people believe that there are roughly 300 (or more - if the >Skyship Fleet is larger) dragons in the Retebius Air Fleet, then some of my >concerns about the multiplicity of Death Wands or Wands of Fireballs go >away, I suppose - we end up with a very "high magic" setting, lots of >wands, sphinxes, dragons &tc. But I'm pretty sure that no one is willing to >argue for an RAF of this composition - in fact, I tend to expect a lot of >rationalizations to the effect that the RAF size should be low and >unrelated to the size of the Skyship Fleet. But in my mind, this would just >show an unwillingness to face the consequences of a line of argument, and >its implications. The RAF is described as having been specifically >organized and developed over time to counteract the Alphatian Skyship Navy, >so it should be strong enough to act in that role. But remember, even in >the above I haven't described its size as comparable: this RAF is slightly >under 30% of the size of the Skyship Force described above. Thus its size >has already been adjusted downward and is not entirely the equivalent of >the Skyship Navy. > >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 03:26:23 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Last (?) comment on Alphatian population MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit My preliminary analysis of the population figures reveals (as I think others have already pointed out) that the total figure of 5.8 million or so for Alphatia in 1000 AC is clearly on the low side -- I get a total in excess of 7 million by adding up the earliest available population figure for each Alphatian kingdom. So, if we assume that the 5.8 million figure is the official census count for 1000 AC or slightly earlier, then we confirm several points: 1) The population and resources of Alphatia far exceed what the Alphatian government was able to count officially. That means that Alphatia has resources far in excess of what they can actually make use of under any circumstances short of a foreign invasion of the Alphatian mainland -- an event that never happened in the entire history of Alphatia. 2) On the other hand, Alphatia never managed to fill either Alphatia or Bellissaria with a population density comparable to that of mainland Thyatis. Both of those islands conatin far more wilderness than most parts of the civilized "Known World" area of mainland Brun. In Alphatia it is easy to imagine an aristocrat saying, "Time to move on! Our nearest neighbor lives less than four miles away! We need elbow room!" ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 03:26:25 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Thyatian Military Variant: Sacred Guard. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable In a message dated 2000-02-16 4:10:02 PM Eastern Standard Time,=20 jruhlconob@SPRYNET.COM writes: << The other thing that made me somewhat reluctant is the knowledge that there are various opinions regarding the use & presence of Psionics in=20 Mystara. Some (even many) prefer a Mystara with no Psionicists whatsoever. However, I do use Psionics in my campaign, and in my opinion Psionics are a must for forces like this =E2=80=93 use of Telepathic and other abilities, Psionical= ly Empowered devices, Psionic "sweeps" of the Astral and Ethereal planes to prevent infiltration and/or eavesdropping from there etc. are sensible and necessary. However, I have converted (where possible) all Psionicists and Psionic devices into magical ones, though I will provide some notes as to that for people who do use Psionics in their campaigns. >> I am not aware of any basis for supporting psionic characters in Thyatis proper. As near as I can tell, psychic powers on Mystara are a side effect of the "Red Curse" that should be present only in the "cursed" regions as well as the surrounding "Haze". This would limit psychic characters to the region between the Arm of the Immortals and the City States of the Serpent Peninsula. Has anyone seriously proposed psionicists or wild talents out- side of this region? ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 09:28:08 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Laszko van Kessel (BCN)" Subject: Darokin map MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Hi all, I just put two maps of Darokin on my website. They can be found on Mercies Auction House website under the headers New galleries and Appraisal service. Laszko http://www.xs4all.nl/~enee ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 04:27:00 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Bugging me MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay, here is my interpretation of the discrepancy between the "Savage Baronies" boxed set and the "Voyage of the Princess Ark" article that mentioned "Sir John of the Wain": The cause was a simple mix-up in Prince Haldemar's papers. By this interpretation, Haldemar's logs of the Princess Ark voyages were not published until ca. 1020 AC or so, by which time the Known World and the Hollow World were in full contact and Eriadna no longer had any reason to keep Haldemar's explorations secret. Haldemar's visit to Cimarron occurred during the rule of General Cimarron, but Haldemar and his crew never met him or his famous son during their brief stay there. A subsequent Alphatian explorer informed Haldemar of the death in battle of General Cimarron and the succession of his second son Sir John of the Wain in 1009 AC, and Haldemar wrote that information down before he left on a voyage of exploration in Flaurmont of that year. When Haldemar's logs were published, the information about Sir John's accession and early reign was mistakenly inserted at the point of Prince Haldemar's visit to Cimarron even though those events did not occur until many years after Haldemar's visit to the region. Because Haldemar was busy exploring the Hollow World continent of Jomphur at the time, he was in no position to correct that error when the Empress Eriadna published his logs and other papers for all the world to see. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 02:40:10 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Herve Musseau Subject: MA layout MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >(.rtf) Files are cumbersome period. Whay not get rid of them all together and produce this thing in html? Then it really wouldn't matter how many files there are, since the whole thing could be hyperlinked. IMO much easier to read that way. Shawn's done a great job on his site, but it would be nice to have an html downloadable. In that case I would agree that a continuous timeline would be the best way to go. Otherwise, I'm not so sure. When making the almanac, I thought about various options for file formats that could be used. The main options were txt, rtf, pdf and html. They are not mutually exclusive BTW, but the almanac has to be made in one "master" format, and converted from there. I abandoned the text format because it's cumbersome and doesn't allow for text embellishment, and since it can be generated easily from rtf that was an easy decision. PDF is impractical to use as a master format (because the writer is not free), though it would be as a release format. Now I didn't because I don't have a converter... but if anyone has one, by all means convert the rtf files and put it up on a website (I would be glad to host a pdf version on the almanac site). HTML is interesting since everyone can read it, but it has two main drawbacks: first, editors/word processors for it aren't as easy to use / functional / widely available as standard word processors; secondly, the result is not book-like enough (ie, good for viewing but not for printing) and some people do want to print it. Thus, in the current state of HTML, it's not my first choice for a master format, though its plusses are so many that an html version is made out from the master (rtf) version by Shawn and posted on his website. Now if you want an html version in one big file, I guess it wouldn't be hard for Shawn to zip his html files and put up the zip filen would it Shawn? As for future almanacs, I'll go with what is state of the art at the time (considering the constraints above). Since xml is surely bound to become a standard soon, and since it would likely be open enough to be useful to us given said constraints, it is possible that we will use it as master format someday. Or something else. We'll see. For the moment, it's rtf. But if you know other formats that I don't that would seem better, by all means suggest them... I'd be glad to adopt a new format if it were better than rtf. ===== ___________________________________________________________ Herve Musseau http://www.geocities.com/hmusseau/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 10:58:23 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Gordon McCormick Subject: Re: Thyatian Military Variant: Sacred Guard. In-Reply-To: <54.17000ba.25de5c31@aol.com>; from Kaviyd@AOL.COM on Fri, Feb 18, 2000 at 03:26:25AM -0500 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On Fri, Feb 18, 2000 at 03:26:25AM -0500, David Knott wrote: > > This would limit psychic characters to the > region between the Arm of the Immortals and the City States of the Serpent > Peninsula. Has anyone seriously proposed psionicists or wild talents out- > side of this region? Well, I don't know about proposed, but I use psionic characters IMC. They only recently arrived to Mystara (and they're basically like Jedi from Star Wars) after their homeworld (Damocles, although I call it Aelos cos I like the name better) was destroyed by the Alphatians (creating the asteroid belt). The survivors came to Mystara to exact vengeance but have discovered that Alphatia has been destroyed and are now wondering what to do with themselves... [summary, not entirely the whole story...] But they're fun - and being new arrivals, not too balance messing. gordon ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 12:55:15 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: Thyatian Military Variant: Sacred Guard. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I am not aware of any basis for supporting psionic characters in Thyatis proper. As near as I can tell, psychic powers on Mystara are a side effect of the "Red Curse" that should be present only in the "cursed" regions as well as the surrounding "Haze". This would limit psychic characters to the region between the Arm of the Immortals and the City States of the Serpent Peninsula. Has anyone seriously proposed psionicists or wild talents out- side of this region? IMC psionics were discovered in that region, but a (very) small number of psionicists can be found outside it. In fact, the only psionicists around that I have detailed in the KW are the PC ones :) (who came from the Savage Coast). Psionics is well known and studied in Herath IMC, though its practice is minor when compared to magic. Psionic powers themselves were discovered IMC as a result of aranean studies into both the Red Curse and by accident when araneas developed their "split personality" disguises. The idea of psionics being dependent on an exterior force (ie, the Red Curse) goes against everything that psionics is, which is why I do not limit their effects to the Haze. Wild talents are a little different, IMC they are a potential manifestation of a Legacy or the result of mental dabbling (psychic surgery), they do not spontaneously arise in the Known World. Cheers Rob ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 07:39:59 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Last (?) comment on Alphatian population MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > My preliminary analysis of the population figures reveals (as I think > others have already pointed out) that the total figure of 5.8 million > or so for Alphatia in 1000 AC is clearly on the low side -- I get a total > in excess of 7 million by adding up the earliest available population > figure for each Alphatian kingdom. > I get 7,390,000 for AC 1000 by adding up the total for the Kingdoms in DotE, and for the ones that don't appear in DotE I "extrapolate" the pre-war population based on the figures from the PWAs (which in most cases means adding ~10%). There are another 1,165,000 in the colonies, for a total of 8,555,000: that per "official" figures, at least. > > 1) The population and resources of Alphatia far exceed what the Alphatian > government was able to count officially. > One more note on this, too: "uncounted" people wouldn't be a revenue source at any level - they are likely "uncounted" in no small part because they pay no taxes. Thus for the purposes with which most people use population figures (guessing aproximate bugets, amount of troops, and the like), the "official" figures are probably good enough, even for those who want to re-adjust the "actual" population figures. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 08:04:36 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Thyatian Military Variant: Sacred Guard. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=Default Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I am not aware of any basis for supporting psionic characters in Thyatis > proper. > I thought I was fairly clear the first time, then there was the response to your private mail wherin I clarified that the things you thought might be Psionic effects were simply spells (mostly Priest spells). I'll say this one more time, for clarity, then I'll get testy: There is no Psionics in the version of the Sacred Guard that I posted for the very reason that I know the presence of Psionics on Mystara is controvercial among some people, therefore I abstracted it out and replaced everything with magical affects. What remains are simply a few references to where and how Psionics can be incorporated for the (possibly very few) people who DO use Psionics in their campaigns (I'm not sure, though - they might need written permission from someone, perhaps yourself, to do that, I guess). Is that ok with you? Is it ok that I ALREADY took your concerns into consideration? I don't know why you're complaining about it since it was posted WITHOUT Psionics. . . I hope that's clear this time. On the other hand, if I ever *DO* post something that has Psionics in it without at least providing a "normal Mystaran" alternative, you have my express permission to complain about it at that time. Thank you. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 06:29:32 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Kar Ess Subject: SITE URL MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I have been referred to Shawn's site, but need the URL, please. I went to the webring, but that was not a choice. Thanks KS __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 08:37:46 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: SITE URL MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit www.dnd.starflung.com > > I have been referred to Shawn's site, but need the URL, please. I went to the webring, but that > was not a choice. > Thanks > KS > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. > http://im.yahoo.com > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 10:03:31 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Jeremy Morris Subject: Psionics in Mystara( was Re: [MYSTARA] Thyatian Military Variant: Sacred Guard.) In-Reply-To: <54.17000ba.25de5c31@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Fri, 18 Feb 2000, David Knott wrote: > In a message dated 2000-02-16 4:10:02 PM Eastern Standard Time, > jruhlconob@SPRYNET.COM writes: > > > I am not aware of any basis for supporting psionic characters in Thyatis > proper. As near as I can tell, psychic powers on Mystara are a side effect > of the "Red Curse" that should be present only in the "cursed" regions as > well as the surrounding "Haze". This would limit psychic characters to the > region between the Arm of the Immortals and the City States of the Serpent > Peninsula. Has anyone seriously proposed psionicists or wild talents out- > side of this region? I once ran a campaign where I replaced the hin denial ability from the Five Shires with inborn psionic abilities. The halfling "mind wizard" in the party was the butt of many jokes, but she managed to pull more than her own weight (no, that isn't a halfling joke, stop it). The campaign didn't last long (I think they only made it to 3rd level or so), but I had all of these ideas for a halfling "secret police" in the shires who used their psionic powers to root out potential bad seeds, and tracking down those with the gift who refuse to join themB. I even thought about turning the Shires into a much darker place and sending the PCs there for a few adventures, but the game broke up before they even got out of Karameikos. :( I still like the idea of hin psionicists, though. Perhaps they will show up again in my next game... Jeremy ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 15:04:45 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Gordon McCormick Subject: Re: SITE URL In-Reply-To: <200002181440.JAA19377@fb04.eng00.mindspring.net>; from jruhlconob@SPRYNET.COM on Fri, Feb 18, 2000 at 08:37:46AM -0600 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii While http://www.dnd.starflung.com does work it's formally http://dnd.starflung.com although both should keep working, I can't see any reason to remove the first one.... gordon On Fri, Feb 18, 2000 at 08:37:46AM -0600, James Ruhland wrote: > www.dnd.starflung.com > > > I have been referred to Shawn's site, but need the URL, please. I went to > the webring, but that > > was not a choice. > > Thanks > > KS > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. > > http://im.yahoo.com > > > > ******************************************************************** > > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 10:12:18 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Though I should perhaps point out that Man for Man the RAF is much more > powerful than the Alphatian skyfleet, I understand they are all a minimum > of level 5. > Well. . .true to a point. One then gets into the depths of defining what levels these guys are. Folks may note that in my version of the Thyatian military only a fraction of the Aerial Forces are level 5 or higher (the ones attached to Divisions, Land or Sea, which end up forming the bulk of the "RAF", are @3rd.) Also, it depends upon what level is imputed to the Alphatian forces - CoM says they're largely 1st & 2nd, with 3rd level squad leaders. PWA II would imply higher levels, though. It also depends upon what the troops are armed with. If the RAF guys can't get close enough to the Alphatians to fight them (see below re. more on that), then. . .so the question of relative armaments & defences used by both arises. Anyhow - one of the rationales behind me not proposing a RAF that is equal in personell to the Alphatian Skynavy was taking into account that the RAF might be qualitatively better "man for man" - having it 30% the size of the Skynavy while still being able to effectively counter it. > You could probably half its size again, which is getting > realistic. Individually they are around twice the level of the Alpher > marines, so you could assume that each RAF airman is worth 2 Alphatian > marines. > Well, assuming each RAF airman is worth 2 Alphatian marines means that at the size I proposed they are roughly equivilent. At the size you propose the RAF would be half as strong as the Skynavy. > And assume the skyships cancel out the flying steeds when > comparing the total strength of the two forces. > Well, I'm not sure about that, for the following reasons: The Pegasii and Hippogriffs provide little more than flight to their riders. They have negligable melee capabilities (you have to get really close, and they probably can't fly while using hooves and bites). That's three fourths of the force. Also, it hardly matters if the rider is 5th level: Wand of Magic Missles directed at either of these mounts means a quick decent. The Griffons are somewhat better - but still, no ranged attack. They stand up better against enemy fire, however, thus meaning the rider & mount are roughly equally survivable (one reason why my guys in flying-only units tend to be mounted on Griffons or better, with the Hippogriffs and Pegasii dispursed among other units, in effect acting primarily in a scouting/reconissance role rather than primarily an aerial battle role). They don't have Protection from Normal (or, rather, "Mornal", whatever that is) Missiles, Spell Turning, or Mind Bar effects, however, nor do they provide them to their riders (which is why, under the "old dispensation," DotE, it's arguably easier for the RAF to be truely equivilent to the Skynavy, but under the "new dispensation" we're all chanting the motto emblazoned on Alphatia's coinage). That leaves only 15% of the force remaining, mounted as follows: Rocs: used as bombers. Droping stuff on Skyships (especially the flamable liquids, as noted in PGtT p.28) would probably be effective, or at least somewhat effective. 1% of the force is Rocs. Sphinxes: I'll set asside the fact that IMO Sphinxes really aren't appropriately "Thyatian" - they're listed. If they were replaced with some other creature, probably an equivilent but "more Thyatian" type creature would be used anyhow. 10% of the force is Sphinx-mounted. Sphinxes can cast spells, but judging by the Man-of-War Card, Alphatian Airships are protected with Spell Turning effects. So much for that. Dragons: Normally when you raise Dragons in captivity they don't learn spells. However, IMO one of the possible benifits of having such a large, well-organized, long-lasting organization such as the RAF is that they are able to teach their Dragon mounts how to learn spells (in effect, new Dragons learn from old Dragons, if you prefer that explaination over any sort of special skill). Still, we've already noted the Spell Turning effect. However, the breath weapon can be devistating. 4% of the force is Dragons; White, Blue, and Gold (Neutral, Neutral, and Lawful) - the "normal" types excluded are the Chaotics, so one might (if one wanted more variation) change some of those to "Gemstone Dragons" - Ruby, Crystal, Sapphire, Jade, and Onyx would then be appropriate as well. Since the Skyships as described in CoM have Protection from "Mornal" Missiles, this means that for the bulk of the force, they'd only really be effective (IMO) if they were armed with enchanted bows. Similarly, since the Skyships as described in CoM have Spell Turning, this means that for the spellcasters among the RAF, they will only be effective (IMO) if they are armed similarly to the spellcasters among the Alphatian Marines (since OD&D Spell Turning affects only cast spells, not magic items such as Wands) - but we've already discussed at length the problems I see in doing that. However, if the campaign as a whole was "high magic", both sides being so armed, then I guess it would be less of a problem, though it still seems. . .Anyhow, some of the same arguments that were used as to why Alphatia might have so many Wands can be used for Thyatis as well (they've "only" had a thousand years to produce them, but the Thyatian wizards are more public-spirited, IMO) - but the same counter-arguments apply as well. What I'm saying here, I guess, is that I'm not trying to give a special excemption to *either* side - Alphatia or Thyatis - from the arguments made before. > > Though I maintain that the Alphatian Skynavy is not well equipped to deal > with a swarm of flying fighters, its better equipped for ship to ship > combat. > Probably true with respect to its artillery (Ballistas, Catapults) - but again it depends upon what you assume the Skynavy marines are armed with. > > The RAF would be a major problem to the Skynavy in battle even > if it is much smaller in terms of personnel. > Well, IMO it should be - since it was created to be, and DotE describes it as being such. But again it depends upon what each side is armed with and what their protections are. This, to me, means that there likely needs to be a post-VotPA "revision" of the RAF just as post-VotPA the Skynavy was enhanced - either that or the one needs to be toned back down and returned to form. Either way is ok by me, I'm in essence agnostic: the one method would be appropriate for "high magic" campaigns, while the other would be appropriate for more "down to earth" campaigns. > Though presumably the RAF would have quite a limited radius > of operations (how far can a pegasus fly without getting tired?). > They'd probably have to land & rest frequently; so their utility is mainly over land, or at sea close to a landing zone. Which is why in my version of a Thyatian Fleet there are "Aircraft Carriers" in effect (along the lines of the "Flat Tops" from M1). WotI might sort of support this since there is mention of the Retebius Air Fleet in the "Imperial Navies Clash" event (otoh, a case might be made that the battle was just fought near the Thyatian coast - either argument is possible). The event also tends to "strongly imply" that the RAF *is* effective against Skyships - they both take significant loses (in the past it has been argued by those who want to minimize Thyatis' strength that the RAF is more of a "propaganda" force, and that mainly ground-based weapons are used in actual battles - such as the ones protecting the Imperial Palace; but this battle was at sea, away from such emplacements). OtoH, the Dragons are described as the "long distance" fliers, and an adventure suggested in the DotE DMSB even has folks scouting Norwold with them. So I guess that implies that they can fly longer distances without needing to rest. All in all, though, I'd agree: the RAF is more of a defensive/limited offensive (operating in conjunction with other units - land or sea forces - able to secure landing sites) arm, while the Skynavy is more capable of independent offensive operations (since they don't need to land to rest - the crew can sleep on the ship, which can fly day and night if need be). Anyhow, it might be interesting to turn these musings into tangible descriptions of each force: a version of each for "high magic" campaigns and one for "lower* magic" campaigns (I didn't say "low" magic, because any campaign with skyships and guys mounted on dragons and griffons isn't "low magic"). Champions of Mystara-type Skyships & Boltmen would be used in the "High Magic" description, with equivilent RAF descriptions, but more toned down versions of both in the "Lower Magic" descriptions. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 08:41:50 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Organization: strawberryJAMM Designs Subject: Re: SITE URL MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Kar Ess wrote: > > I have been referred to Shawn's site, but need the URL, please. I went to the webring, but that > was not a choice. > Thanks I'm sure someone has posted the actual URL already, so I'll just add the comment that the link to "The Other Worlds Homepage" that is included at the bottom of every message to this list contains a link to "The official Mystara Home Page" which /is/ Shawn's web site. Jenni -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield <==> strawberryJAMM Designs strawberry@jamm.com <==> http://www.jamm.com/jamm/ <------------------------------------------------------------------> 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!" ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 11:06:30 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Thyatian Military Variant: Sacred Guard. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=Default Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I thought I was fairly clear the first time, then there was the response > to your private mail wherin I clarified that the things you thought might > be Psionic effects were simply spells (mostly Priest spells). > I take back the second part of that - it was a different Dave who I replied to in private mail. Still, the description was pretty clear that no Psionics was included, just remarks advising those who do use Psionics on where it might be appropriate. IMO, that should have been enough to satisfy everyone. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 12:16:18 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Master's Pawn Subject: OT: The searchers MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit "The Searchers." Good movie. Possibly one of the Duke's best, from an acting point of view. Also an amazing inspiration for an adventure for most gaming systems. BoBo II (who wishes he walked half that cool) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 12:25:47 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Ranma Al'Thor Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat In-Reply-To: <200002181615.LAA14749@fb01.eng00.mindspring.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Fri, 18 Feb 2000, James Ruhland wrote: > The Pegasii and Hippogriffs provide little more than flight to their > riders. They have negligable melee capabilities (you have to get really > close, and they probably can't fly while using hooves and bites). That's > three fourths of the force. Also, it hardly matters if the rider is 5th > level: Wand of Magic Missles directed at either of these mounts means a > quick decent. Not really. Magic Missile can only hit the flying critters once before they close to hand to hand (assuming they do so). Their max move is longer than its range. And since Wands of magic missiles only fire, what...1 or 2 missiles per round? Now massed magic missile fire could do it, but that won't hit enough pegasi before they're on your deck and start slaughtering your forces. > They'd probably have to land & rest frequently; so their utility is mainly > over land, or at sea close to a landing zone. Which is why in my version of > a Thyatian Fleet there are "Aircraft Carriers" in effect (along the lines Flying barges, basically? > (otoh, a case might be made that the battle was just fought near the > Thyatian coast - either argument is possible). The event also tends to > "strongly imply" that the RAF *is* effective against Skyships - they both I doubt the Thyatians would bother if it wasn't effective :) John Walter Biles : MA-History, ABD, Ph.D Candidate at U. Kansas ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu rhea@tass.org http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html rhea@maison-otaku.net http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/ "The connection is so abstract, that we have people whose job it is to make sure the paperwork doesn't get totally disconnected from the world. Theoretically, I handle millions of dollars a day, but it is less real than this e-mail. I have never seen our product. I have never seen the sales people. I have never seen a customer." --Robert Lane describes his work as an accountant. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 12:31:02 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Not really. Magic Missile can only hit the flying critters once before > they close to hand to hand (assuming they do so). Their max move is > longer than its range. And since Wands of magic missiles only fire, > what...1 or 2 missiles per round? > That's true; however, that would possibly/probably cause enough wounds to cause them to land anyhow (I'll have to re-read the rules on flight & wounded creatures). > Now massed magic missile fire could do > it, but that won't hit enough pegasi before they're on your deck and start > slaughtering your forces. > Possible - but again probably a bad way to risk 5th level guys, mounting them on "mere" Pegasii. > > > They'd probably have to land & rest frequently; so their utility is mainly > > over land, or at sea close to a landing zone. Which is why in my version of > > a Thyatian Fleet there are "Aircraft Carriers" in effect (along the lines > > Flying barges, basically? > No - most are regular, sailing ships/barges, not flying (I *do* have Airships, some, in my Thyatian forces - not many, depending upon if the Hetierata Augustiana is used or not. I also have proposed/posted Airships that allow for the transport of flying creatures, RAF components - but those are more post-AC1013 proposals, I.E. after the "canon" events wherin Thyatis starts building skyships). > > (otoh, a case might be made that the battle was just fought near the > > Thyatian coast - either argument is possible). The event also tends to > > "strongly imply" that the RAF *is* effective against Skyships - they both > > I doubt the Thyatians would bother if it wasn't effective :) > Me either. The problem is designing a force that is effective against "what we now know" as the Skynavy/Man-of-War. More on that later. Anyhow, would give us some further ideas about what to do. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 18:56:23 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Well, I'm not sure about that, for the following reasons: > The Pegasii and Hippogriffs provide little more than flight to their >riders. They have negligable melee capabilities (you have to get really >close, and they probably can't fly while using hooves and bites). That's >three fourths of the force. Also, it hardly matters if the rider is 5th >level: Wand of Magic Missles directed at either of these mounts means a >quick decent. There seems to be an obsession with the Almighty Firepower of a wand of magic missiles here... A wand of magic missiles is a rather short ranged popgun. Its not beyond possibility that a pegasus would survive a blast (if you have heavy war pegasi (!) then they definitely would). > The Griffons are somewhat better - but still, no ranged attack. They stand >up better against enemy fire, however, thus meaning the rider & mount are >roughly equally survivable (one reason why my guys in flying-only units >tend to be mounted on Griffons or better, with the Hippogriffs and Pegasii >dispursed among other units, in effect acting primarily in a >scouting/reconissance role rather than primarily an aerial battle role) Yeah, but in melee a Griffon is nasty. This is why I reckon the Skynavy is ill equipped to deal with swarm tactics and boarding actions. The ship will get one volley, which will drop a few riders, and next round the RAF will be on the decks and ripping apart wizards in melee. I refer you to Flash Gordon for ideas :) . > Since the Skyships as described in CoM have Protection from "Mornal" >Missiles, this means that for the bulk of the force, they'd only really be >effective (IMO) if they were armed with enchanted bows. Trading fire with a skyship - ie, the boltmen and the shipmounted weapons, is undoubtably a bad idea, especially given all the defences on an Alphatian skyship. Boarding is the way to go. >> Though I maintain that the Alphatian Skynavy is not well equipped to deal >> with a swarm of flying fighters, its better equipped for ship to ship >> combat. >> >Probably true with respect to its artillery (Ballistas, Catapults) - but >again it depends upon what you assume the Skynavy marines are armed with. Assuming mostly wands of magic missiles with a few wands of death, fire and lightning thrown in... The boltmen will get one round of fire before melee. They better make it a good one. Hmm, I'll have to design a Thyatian spell, like Dispel Magic, that disrupts the activation of magic items as well as spellcasting, just to get over that first round.... >Anyhow, it might be interesting to turn these musings into tangible >descriptions of each force: a version of each for "high magic" campaigns >and one for "lower* magic" campaigns (I didn't say "low" magic, because any >campaign with skyships and guys mounted on dragons and griffons isn't "low >magic"). Champions of Mystara-type Skyships & Boltmen would be used in the >"High Magic" description, with equivilent RAF descriptions, but more toned >down versions of both in the "Lower Magic" descriptions. Well, you have already done the RAF havn't you James? Cheers Rob ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 20:22:16 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: DM Subject: HW modules and WotI (Part 1) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" On Sun, 13 Feb 2000 12:56:41 -0800, "dlegend@bellsouth.net" wrote: <> Hi Dleggend! Welcome back. I know many have already answered this, so I won't add anything, only telling you they're really worth the money. What I wanted to do with this mail is to explain you and the other listmembers the way I have adapted the HW trilogy to fit in with Wrath of the Immortals. First of all, I don't have HWA2, Nightrage, so I had to change the things a little bit, but believe me it works well even without it. The whole story begins in AC1003, when Khoronus senses a strange anomaly in Temporal Prime. He goes investigating near the Blackmoor nexus and disappears. When the other Immortals discover he's missing, they obviously start looking for him and discover his last trip was through Temporal Prime. After detecting the same temporal anomaly he spotted, they organize a group of monitors to go and investigate the matter. Now, bear in mind that by now the two Immortals' groups (Ring of Fire and Fellowship of the Stars) have already began winding their plots to win over one another, and so they doubt of each other and especially Ixion thinks Rad's behind this trouble in Blackmoor. Rad on his part thinks the same, believing Ixion is prolly going to alter the timeframe to destroy the Nucleus of the Spheres and prevent war in the present (and given his power and status, he could try it). So the Immortals arrange to send the members of the Council of Intrusion back in time to see what's happening. The members of that period were: Ixion (Energy), Khoronus (Time, replaced by Ordana), Djaea (Matter), Thanatos (Entropy) and Noumena (Thought). Obviously the FotS wants one of their members inside the investigating team, and Rad proposed Korotiku. The proposal is voted, with Djaea and Ixion against it and Ordana (who wants to keep the balance) and Thanatos (who they think only wanted major mayhem) in favour. At the end, Noumena voluntarily renounces to do a favour to his fellow hierarch of Thought (trusting him and his wits) and to prevent further chaos. This way there is one representative for the Ring of Fire (Ixion) and one for the FotS (Korotiku), and the balance of power is safe. The Immortals venture through Temporal Prime... and never come back. After a couple of days, strange events happen in the Outer Planes. Never seen before radiant Angels come to the homeplanes of the vanished Immortals and seize the artifacts that grant spells to their clerics after killing many proxies and wardens that the Immortals left behind. Chaos ensues, when members of the RoF (led by Valerias) accuse Rad and his fellows of stealing the artifacts and abducting the Immortals. Rad dismisses the accusations and throws them back at the RoF, since they also lost Korotiku. Both groups start investigating on the matter. In the meantime, on the Prime some of the gods don't answer their clerics, and this creates mayhem in many of the nations when the word spreads. Since two of the major immortals involved represent Life and Time (the clerics of Thanatos surprisingly enough don't tell anything about their powers..), the common idea is that the Last Days of the world have come and that soon Doom will strike from the heavens because of men's misdeeds. Missionaries start to preach conversion to the faiths that still give powers, and the other clerics are left desperate and retreat into meditation or start a quest to find an answer. Soon three other Immortals vanish without explanations: Valerias, Noumena (Orisis) and Ka (Kalaktatla). These three Immortals were researching the possible reason of the artifacts' theft when they noticed something going awry in the Hollow World, particularly the opening of a gate in Shahjapur. Ka and Noumena went there to investigate but they disappeared, and were later followed by Valerias. The adventure starts here, with the Pcs who are obviously in the outer world and witness the crazy events that the disappearence of the Immortals have produced. IMC I had a cleric of Ixion, a cleric of Vanya and a ranger who preached Ordana in my company. When two of them started to lose their powers, they were deeply struck and started to find an answer to all this by going to the nearest sages, who unfortunately couldn't help much. The cleric of Vanya was obviously happy, since Vanya was sending her omens to mistrust the priestess of Ixion, and she believed Vanya had finally triumphed over the other deities, so she wasn't much distressed. When all hopes started to fall, an old acquaintance of the group popped in: Richard John Singleton, a faithful priest of Valerias, who helped them fighting against the mages of Honor Island during the civil war in Ierendi the year before (it's not important for your campaign to play this event, just introduce RJ in some way and make him seem a good hearted, handsome and heroic priest). He told them he had had visions and the visions told him he had to rally loyal friends (the PCs) and go westwards on the Atruaghin Plateau. So the group began to march towards the plateau, following Singleton's dreams, and in the meantime some of them too started having dreams and omens, both in favour and against the quest, dreams which sow the seeds of suspicion in the group (obviously sent by the mastermind behind the whole scheme). On the plateau, led by an Atruaghi guide they contacted in Fort Marny, the group found the man RJ was seeing in his visions, Hovar Duck Watcher, who had been warned of their coming by his patron Mahmatti. After passing the test of the spirits to see if they were worthy enough, he brought them to the City of the Dead and left them near Atruaghin's Mystic Conveyor. They finally managed to make it work and went down to the Hollow World (which they thought it was another world, Mictlan). [You can play the start of HWA1 either the way it is written in the adventure if u start in Glantri, or this way if you start anywhere else.] Down there they received other omens and descended the mountains to arrive to Titlapoca (not Huitlaktima as in HWA1; again, depends on how they get to HW). There they were captured by the guards, played a tlachtli game to save their lives and discovered some important clues about the Azcan empire by speaking with Titlapoca's governor (who also revealed them how things worked there -ie the faith of Atzanteotl and the history of Atruatzin and Atzanteotl and some other Azcan mysticism. The fact they had an Atruaghi guide with them was a boon since he was the only who could, albeit with many difficulties, translate from the Azcan). So they proceeded to Chitlacan, where mysterious sacrifices were being held, and there they allied with the Ometochtzin to discover the ceremony of the Smoking Mirror, braved the dungeons of the Great Pyramid and flew to the sun. There they confronted Simm after much troubles with the discorporates (and over an hour of talking with Simm during which I was nearly able to convince all of them Simmm was the good guy acting for the freedom of the people) and killed him, making the Smoking Mirror collapse. [end of HWA1] This first encounter with Simm should put the PCs on the track that some very powerful entity is behind all the vanishing and disorders, and they should recognize Simm's holy symbol (and scythe Barrier) as Thanatos's symbol, but still cannot figure out what is happening. Proceed to the next adventure (HWA2, or HWA3 as in my case). IMC, I decided to leave HWA2 out and went directly to HWA3, guiding the PCs to Shahjapur. Note that IMC Irila Kaze is possessed by Koresh Teyd, so there are not three villains but only two (the Blood Brethren). Now, after resisting Thanatos's dreams and recovering some of their friends who had succumbed to them, they headed towards Shajhapur, where they found Chatterjee as their omens had shown them. He instructed them to retrieve the components to draw the Yantra of the Emerald River, as he had been instructed by his dreams, even though nobody knew what the Emerald River was. And so, after recovering the white cobra's powder, the sweat of the beggar king and the mantra of the Emerald River, they procedeed to the Temple of the Eight Sweet Winds and confronted Dakka/Irila Kaze(/Koresh Teyd IMC). And here they discover that Koresh and Singleton know each other (as in some dreams they had, where they saw Singleton switch sides and attack them), that Singleton hails from Nithia and is over 300 years old (according to Koresh) and that he battled Koresh and his brother Simm and made them flee from Nithia long ago. [note: they can discover this in HWA2 if you play it.] Nevertheless, RJ Singleton refuses to tell more and throws himself in the battle against Dakka, killing her in the end. So Chatterjee completes the yantra and the PCs are transported to the Emerald River. And here's where the story really changes and I must explain you many things... but I'll do this in my next mail. ;) Stay tuned for the real plot behind the mystery and for a twist that will take the PCs to Blackmoor! DM Senior Editor of the Mystaran Almanac First Officer of U.S.S. Unicorn Visit Marco's Mystara Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967 Join the Mystara Webring at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967/mystring.html Join the Starfleet Academy at: http://gilda.it/startrek (Italian RPG PBEM) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 11:36:39 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: John Calvin Subject: Re: newbie needing a hand MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii James Ruhland wrote: > > Uggh! I must warn you that your friend is a persona non grata in Glantri. If > ever you visit the Principalities with him, be ready to miss out on all the > parties and social affairs... > >>Well, considering who *does* show up for those, it's probably a sign of high honor and good breeding to be unwelcomed at them. 8-)<< I rather think he means that they will be substituting their party going time for time spent floating face down in the canals... Just my impression ;) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 13:43:31 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > There seems to be an obsession with the Almighty Firepower of a wand of > magic missiles here... > Well, not an "obsession", but it's range isn't *that* bad (150', the same as a Short Bow), and it never misses. > A wand of magic missiles is a rather short ranged > popgun. Its not beyond possibility that a pegasus would survive a blast (if > you have heavy war pegasi (!) then they definitely would). > Tarzan ask: What be "heavy war pegasii"? Surviving isn't the question, like it is on the ground. The main question is: after taking damage from the hit, can the pegasii still stay in the air? IIRC, there's a certain % damage threshold after which you're forced to land (sometimes faster than you'd like). Of course, if the Wands are Wands of Lightning Bolts, then it's virtually moot anyhow. The range of those puppies are good (180' for Lightning Bolts, 240' for Fireball), and the damage is much heavier. That's what Haldemar's guys are armed with; Lightning & Fireball Wands (supposedly) account for 2/3 of the Wands used by Boltmen on Men-of-War. Again, the question mainly is: are we to assume CoM is accurate? How does one arm up each side's forces? Then we'll know better, IMO, how each force would match up in an actual fight. > > Yeah, but in melee a Griffon is nasty. > True. It's like making Rabbit Stew, I guess (Instructions: "first, catch the rabbit"). > This is why I reckon the Skynavy is ill equipped to deal with swarm tactics > and boarding actions. The ship will get one volley, which will drop a few > riders, and next round the RAF will be on the decks and ripping apart > wizards in melee. > Yes - once they get close, it's all over unless the fighter-Marines can keep the RAF guys occupied. Which means knowing a bit more about them, too (if they're too busy manning the Balistas below decks, then they won't be much use against guys landing on the main deck). > > Trading fire with a skyship - ie, the boltmen and the shipmounted weapons, > is undoubtably a bad idea, especially given all the defences on an Alphatian > skyship. Boarding is the way to go. > True. Which leads to a very nasty idea, re. only one magic item being enough by itself for the RAF to simply shred the Skynavy: an amulet enchanted with the D&D version of Anti-Magic Shell. Of course, something like Immunity would be nice as well (then even the artillery would be impotent) - Immunity is high cost, though (since high level), so probably only one or the other could be used. Still, have to see the ship to board it, which means Detect Invisibility. Teleportation would also be useful, possibly even more useful than it is for the Alphatian Skynavy (quickly re-deploying RAF units to threatened sectors). > > Assuming mostly wands of magic missiles with a few wands of death, fire and > lightning thrown in... > The boltmen will get one round of fire before melee. They better make it a > good one. > True. There's a *lot* on each ship (well, on the Men-of-War at least: the others are relatively less likely to be capable of a massed volley). Anyhow, this was in part why I emphasized a couple times in the earlier debate that it's probably much harder to build one of these Skyships than it is to destroy (or capture) it. > Hmm, I'll have to design a Thyatian spell, like Dispel Magic, that disrupts > the activation of magic items as well as spellcasting, just to get over that > first round.... > Right; that's another option, something that counters magic on a short term basis (one round, or a couple rounds, or whatever). > > Well, you have already done the RAF havn't you James? > I've done what I'd call "my version," which would probably be towards the "Lower Magic" end of the spectrum (I don't even keep to the percents outlined in the Player's Guide to Thyatis - for folks who think I'm Thyatis-happy, doing everything possible to build them up, note that there are far fewer dragons than one might "expect" in my version; the breakdown of my forces is as follows: Total "RAF" type personell: 2,658 (3,158/4,158) Total Dragons: 50 (less than 2%, rather than 4%) Total Griffons: 396 (~15%, yes - more than 10%) Total Sphinxes: 204 (~7.5%) Total Rocs: 0 The remainder are Pegasii and Hippogriffs. (In other words, the exess Griffons all come out of the proportion one would expect to see in Sphinxes, Dragons, and Rocs.) Most of the troopers are lower than 5th level (in fact, less than a third are 5th level or higher). So, that's perhaps the "Lower Magic" version, which lines up in opposition to the "Lower Magic" version of the Skynavy. Of course there's also a "Skyship Component" to what I have on my website, which adds in 500 men (it's true they also are 5th level or higher), the ships themselves not being described. There's also the "optional" Hetaereia Augustiana, likewise, but again without a description of the ships involved. Those are more "High Magic" components, I admit, though it's fungible because of the fact that the ships themselves are left very vague (in any case, if you can't tell by the tone, the Hetaereia Augustiana is virtually a spoof on the "Imperial Alphatian Guard" from PWA II - take it seriously if you want, or not if you don't). Actually I've been vaguely pondering re-designing that unit & the other one which uses skyships, but haven't gotten around to it because 1) it's not a real priority on my "to do" list and 2) I'm still debating with myself what the re-design should look like, and whether or not to eliminate entirely the skyships, describe them more fully, use versions of the "Thyatian Skyships" I've posted before, or what. And dispite a couple interesting suggestions provided by various folks, I still haven't really found a substitute for the JuJu Zombies (in the Hetaereia Augustiana) that really grabs me. Anyhow, the total Thyatian Skyships for the two units that have them come to 21, none of which are as large as a Man-of-War if you judge by the number of personell carried by them. For a "High Magic" version, well, I donno - I'm starting to work on some ideas (see above re Anti-Magic Shell - of course, that probably wouldn't be a good idea in the AD&D version, which is more of a "sphere" than a "shell" - affecting the inside, not just a protective shell; making the "Bumber-Chute" not work is probably a bad idea, same with the Breathing Gear to a lesser extent.) Making all the dudes 5th level instead of most of 'em about 3rd level & making the proportions of mounts "accurate" (more Dragons, Sphinxes, & Rocs, fewer Griffons) would be another bump up towards a "High Magic" version (and more true to the DotE version). ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 11:46:28 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: Bugging me MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit David Knott wrote: > > The cause was a simple mix-up in Prince Haldemar's papers. By this > interpretation, Haldemar's logs of the Princess Ark voyages were not > published until ca. 1020 AC or so, by which time the Known World and > the Hollow World were in full contact and Eriadna no longer had any > reason to keep Haldemar's explorations secret. Hollow World in full contact? That doesn't sound like any canon material I've read. > When Haldemar's logs were published, the information about Sir John's > accession and early reign was mistakenly inserted at the point of Prince > Haldemar's visit to Cimarron even though those events did not occur until > many years after Haldemar's visit to the region. Because Haldemar was > busy exploring the Hollow World continent of Jomphur at the time, he was > in no position to correct that error when the Empress Eriadna published > his logs and other papers for all the world to see. In what source was this exploration of Jomphur detailed? IronWolf ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 15:51:34 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: canon? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed What is "canon"material? please forgive my ignorance,but i've never heared of it. King. also,Karnarius Demitrian says: "The only reason I would ever go to Glantri would be to destroy the arrogant bastards.If I were King, I'd have all non-Thyatian wizards thrown into the pit in aegos,not to mention loser would be spelled losser.That's if I were King." "King, your an idiot." replise Karnarius's commander. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 16:17:24 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] RAF/Skynavy - Combat] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable James Ruhland wrote: > = >Of course, if the Wands are Wands of Lightning Bolts, then it's virtuall= y >moot anyhow. The range of those puppies are good (180' for Lightning >Bo= lts, 240' for Fireball), and the damage is much heavier. That's what >Haldemar= 's guys are armed with; Lightning & Fireball Wands (supposedly) >account for= 2/3 of the Wands used by Boltmen on Men-of-War. > >Again, the question mainly is: are we to assume CoM is accurate? = I'd say no, for reasons similiar to the ones you mention, as well as othe= r practical reasons (recharge, equippage) that I've mentioned elsewhere. I'd go for something mid-range- Wands of 'Bitty 'Bolts and 'Balls- maybe = doing 2d6 or 3d6 damage, with the range of their full strength counterparts (18= 0' and 240' respectively) as well as the other salient features of them (reb= ound effect for 'bolts; explosion radius for 'balls). That makes them a bit mo= re effective than Magic Missile wands, while not completely overpowering the= m (in fact, I lean more heavily towards the 2d6 range for damage). It also make= s it more likely to cause a flight check (as James mentions) while not complet= ely obliterating foes and overbalancing things. >Which leads to a very nasty idea, re. only one magic item being >enough by itself for the RAF to simply shred the Skynavy: an amulet >enchanted with the D&D version of Anti-Magic Shell. Of course, something= >like Immunity would be nice as well (then even the artillery would be >impotent) - Immunity is high cost, though (since high level), so probabl= y >only one or the other could be used. Another idea is one that comes up in the 3rd edition rules- that of Counterspelling. Doubtless some of the Skyships and certain RAF flyers (w= ith multiple passenger capability) will have mages whose sole purpose is to provide counterspells to the oppositions forces. For those unfamiliar with the concept, what it looks like thus far (from information about 3rd edition that has been leaked) is that a mage can le= ave a memorization slot open and in battle, if a spell is cast at the mage that= he knows and recognizes (through a spellcraft check) he can counter it. In o= ther words, if a mage leaves a 3rd level spell slot open (doesn't memorize/pre= pare a spell that day) and an opposition mage casts a Fireball at him, he can counter the Fireball (Dispel it, in effect). Provided, of course, that he= knows how to cast a Fireball himself. That would certainly be one reason for equipping the Boltwand wielders (o= ver and above the benefit of having magical long range attacks) they can use = the wands to attack, and leave open their spell slots for conterspells (admit= tedly of dubious benefit, since they are generally only 1st level. "Oh, he's ca= sting Sleep at us. I'll counter it." :) Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 15:40:36 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: canon? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > What is "canon"material? > please forgive my ignorance,but i've never heared of it. > "canon" is the quaint way we heretics refer to official, TSR-published materiels in shorthand (they are collectively "canon", the "sacred text" of Mystara. There are members of the list who go around punishing deviation. I suppose you could call them "inquisitors." But most of us are "heritics" of one sort or another.) 8-) "It's kind of like being a commie mutant traitor, and at least as fun." ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 16:17:39 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] RAF/Skynavy - Combat] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I'd go for something mid-range- Wands of 'Bitty 'Bolts and 'Balls- maybe > doing 2d6 or 3d6 damage, with the range of their full strength counterparts > (180' and 240' respectively) as well as the other salient features of them > (rebound effect for 'bolts; explosion radius for 'balls). > Yes - I personally liked the idea of "Bitty Bolt" Wands - it gives the forces the right cachet without being overly disruptive of the game. > Another idea is one that comes up in the 3rd edition rules- that > of Counterspelling. Doubtless some of the Skyships and certain RAF > flyers (with multiple passenger capability) will have mages whose sole > purpose is to provide counterspells to the oppositions forces. > That thought passed my mind, too, but since we don't have those rules yet I decided not to talk about them (in fact in this discussion I've been mainly talking in OD&D terms since that's the rules this stuff was published under, and thus it's easier to talk about it in OD&D terms). But you're right; that's sort of akin to what Rob was talking about, also, regarding a "mini-Dispel" option. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 14:22:00 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: canon? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit James Ruhland wrote: > > "canon" is the quaint way we heretics refer to official, TSR-published > materiels in shorthand (they are collectively "canon", the "sacred text" of > Mystara. There are members of the list who go around punishing deviation. I > suppose you could call them "inquisitors." But most of us are "heritics" of > one sort or another.) 8-) Hey hey, I'm not an inquisitor. What I object to is people using non-canon sources in arguments. If I make an argument, I don't use anything I've created for Mystara, because quite frankly, I know it's my material. Nobody else has to follow it or even like it. Interpretations of canon material is another argument altogether, and is fine, but if someone says "This happens because of this non-canon fact" then I have to say the argument has come to a screeching halt because I do not consider the NC fact as anything that can be used to support one. And as for canon materials possibly being declared on the official website, I wouldn't ascribe to those either. If it's not printed by the copyright holder in a commercial medium, it's not canonical, and nothing anyone says, not Bruce Heard, not Jim Butler, is going to change my mind on that. Mystara is out of print, and everything beyond canon is our own Mystara's to create. IronWolf (Who is now heading out of town all weekend, thus he will avoid all the rebuttals and flames that will occur.) "It's Specularum, damn it!" (So why do I argue against a canonical fact? Well, that's my own fight, and I reserve the right to be an unreasonable bastard so far as it goes. *grins*) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 17:28:20 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Meltheim Shadowstalker Subject: Re: canon? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dammit, someone started another string on canon! i hate when this happens, so please everybody, let's not have it resort to which is better or worse, or anything? i know that so far everyone's been on best behavior since the last flame war, but i'd love to keep it that way. my wisdom teeth are getting removed soon and i'd love to not have the added stress of another "canon" vs"non canon" debate ok? Thanks! Meltheim the Shadowstalker Infiltrator to the Immortals Devotee of Fate Eyes of the Starwatcher ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 17:35:43 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] canon?] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Meltheim Shadowstalker wrote: >Dammit, someone started another string on canon! i hate when this >happ= ens, so please everybody, let's not have it resort to which is better >or wors= e, or anything? i know that so far everyone's been on best >behavior since the= last flame war, but i'd love to keep it that way. my >wisdom teeth are gettin= g removed soon and i'd love to not have the added >stress of another "canon= " vs"non canon" debate ok? Personally, I don't see anything wrong with gunpowder on Mystara. I don't= think it's overbalancing, as long as you keep its development under contr= ol. Like a medieval level (large bombards, hand cannons at the most for perso= nal weaponry. Actually, IMO, I don't have a problem going all the way up to flintlocks, but YMMV). I say "Up with Gunpowder!" Oh... wait. You said "canon" not "cannon". My bad. Different sort of deba= te altogether... :) Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 16:55:38 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: canon? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=Default Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Hey hey, I'm not an inquisitor. What I object to is people using non-canon > sources in arguments. > Hey, I didn't call you (or anyone else specifically) an inquisitor. In fact, I was being tongue-in-cheek with that post (being informative while *hopefully* being humorous - others can judge how successful I was at either effort). > > If I make an argument, I don't use anything I've created > for Mystara, because quite frankly, I know it's my material. Nobody else has to > follow it or even like it. > Well, I'd agree with that with the codicil/caviat that sometimes it's helpful to say "well, here's how I handle it in my campaign. . ." - clearly designating that I'm talking about my own ideas. After all, we're here to exchange (hopefully exchange) ideas & help each other be creative and original. I agree with you that it isn't "kosher" to present one's own idea as if it came from one of the "holy texts," but I also agree with those who have the point that if *all* we do is talk about what was already published, then there isn't really much to say, nor much that is produced. Though the discussions (like the ones that have gone on recently) about "canon" and how to interpret it/incorporate it into one's campaign are interesting and lively, people probably get the most use out of stuff like "Corun House" (good job as usual, btw, Aaron) - and often (again like right now) ideas of how to apply "canon" turn to fresh ideas that end up "violating" it (like Andrew's ideas on the Boltman's Wands). IMO, these are still valid - and more than valid. > > Interpretations of canon material is another argument > altogether, and is fine, but if someone says "This happens because of this > non-canon fact" then I have to say the argument has come to a screeching halt > because I do not consider the NC fact as anything that can be used to support > one. > Well, again I agree to a point. But as much as discussions revolve around interpretations of this or that published document, they also turn around (sometimes good, sometimes less appropriate) IRL analogies, etc. Take at least two examples: Michael and myself. I know Michael plans on using what was talked about to guide his work on designing an Alphatian Skynavy for his campaign, and I'm probably (if I get around to it) going to use ideas that have been batted around for designing & re-designing the Skynavy & RAF for mine; "canon" can't really decide some of these things, because "canon" doesn't fully describe them (we donno what the Alphatian Skynavy's size was from "canon", we've got to muddle through on our own. Similar with the RAF. Furthermore, we don't really *know* whether the ships in the Skynavy resemble the Man-of-War in their magical enchantments - nor do we even really know for sure if all Men-of-War are like the one on that card - we can guess that they probably are, but that doesn't really help us decide what a Skybrigantine might be like: the enchantments *might* be identical, the marines *might* be similar, but they might as easily be different in both cases. We have to guess, even if we want to follow "canon" as closely as we can). What, to me, makes Mystara interesting is the room for creativity - creative interpretation, and creative addition. Everyone's got their own view of what things "should be", based upon how they read the sources - but those opinions are often very different. "Canon" can't really tell us who is difinitavely right and who is difinitively wrong - because "canon" is often vague, and almost as often self-contradictory (which is "canon"? The pathetic Thyatian units from the PWAs? Or the forces described at the end of "Legions of Thyatis"? Or what DotE might imply they are like but never actually describes? Or what B. Heard said about the bulk of the Thyatian army *not* resembling the Red Arrow/Black Shield units in one of the VotPA articles, "strongly implying" that those were substandard units and that the regular units were better? The answer is that all of these are "canon" but they aren't mutually compatable - one is then left chosing which of those options they prefer, the one that works best in their own campaign. No one can say you're "wrong" to make the choice you do). > > IronWolf (Who is now heading out of town all weekend, thus he will avoid all the > rebuttals and flames that will occur.) > No flame. No real rebuttal either - I agree with what you said, but just with the additional caviats noted above. "Canon" (published "canon") is what makes it possible for us to have a discussion at all - it forms the shared premises of the world of Mystara. Otherwise we'd be talking about wildly different worlds, and this would be more or less just a "generic fantasy world mailing list," not the Mystara Mailing List. My main "however" is that neither can we afford to completely straightjacket ourselves to "canon," because lets face it - just about all the interesting stuff that comes across this list is either an "addition to" or "one person's interpretation of" the published materiels - be it fleshing something out and adding new depth to it, describing undescribed areas, etc. Of course, no one has to use any of that stuff - and most folks probably use some of whatever someone's idea is but change it for their campaign. But the alternative is sterility and death, if we *only* restrict ourselves to what "canon" says, and if as a result of that no one posts "their version of this or that". Then we'd end up with not only an out-of-print world, but a dead one. I don't think anyone joined this list, yourself included, for a dead world. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 16:56:31 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: canon? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Dammit, someone started another string on canon! i hate when this happens, > so please everybody, let's not have it resort to which is better or worse, or > anything? i know that so far everyone's been on best behavior since the last > flame war, but i'd love to keep it that way. my wisdom teeth are getting > removed soon and i'd love to not have the added stress of another "canon" > vs"non canon" debate ok? > Oh - well, ok. Nothing more on this from me, then. Promise. 8-) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 23:01:07 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Tarzan ask: What be "heavy war pegasii"? Well, you can have a heavy war horse. Why not a heavy war pegasus? :) > Surviving isn't the question, like it is on the ground. The main question >is: after taking damage from the hit, can the pegasii still stay in the >air? IIRC, there's a certain % damage threshold after which you're forced >to land (sometimes faster than you'd like). 50% from memory... > Of course, if the Wands are Wands of Lightning Bolts, then it's virtually >moot anyhow. The range of those puppies are good (180' for Lightning Bolts, >240' for Fireball), and the damage is much heavier. That's what Haldemar's >guys are armed with; Lightning & Fireball Wands (supposedly) account for >2/3 of the Wands used by Boltmen on Men-of-War. That would be nastier. I assume Haldemars ship is somewhat exceptional in kit, however. Even so, we are still talking around 21 points of damage, save for half - still not a guaranteed kill. This is assuming that defensive magics (endure fire - level 1 spell, good duration, absorbs 10 hp damage - just right for that one round of exposure coming in. For stiff opposition there are higher level variants, of course) are not already cast. As the air riders are moving in 3 dimensions, they can spread out in 3d as well so the area of effect may not be as bad as you may think. Certainly you could design a formation that would make lightning bolts hit only one target max, and 20' blast radius for a fireball.... given the speed of flying creatures their formation could be even looser than ground troops. Hmm. Vic? Finger four? :) > True. Which leads to a very nasty idea, re. only one magic item being >enough by itself for the RAF to simply shred the Skynavy: an amulet >enchanted with the D&D version of Anti-Magic Shell. Of course, something >like Immunity would be nice as well (then even the artillery would be >impotent) - Immunity is high cost, though (since high level), so probably >only one or the other could be used. Or alternatively, scrolls of protection from magic. Usable by anyone. Temporary - but on the other hand, easy to make. Unfortunately, it has a small area of effect. Though if you used "shock troops" with heavier units (Griffons and such) warded with these things, with the lighter pegasi coming in only after the shock troops have engaged in melee, it would be good enough. > Still, have to see the ship to board it, which means Detect Invisibility. >Teleportation would also be useful, possibly even more useful than it is >for the Alphatian Skynavy (quickly re-deploying RAF units to threatened >sectors). Det Invis is a much overrated spell, as it covers only a tiny area each round. And as they discovered in WW2, the sky is a big place. On the other hand, invisibility is an illusion so it can be disbelieved. Also, high level individuals get a chance to see through invis anyway - given the high level nature of the RAF (or any other Super Elite force, for that matter) invisibility isnt so hot. Someone in the fleet is going to notice somethings up... >True. There's a *lot* on each ship (well, on the Men-of-War at least: the >others are relatively less likely to be capable of a massed volley). >Anyhow, this was in part why I emphasized a couple times in the earlier >debate that it's probably much harder to build one of these Skyships than >it is to destroy (or capture) it. As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy than to create... Cheers Rob ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 17:28:30 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > 50% from memory... > That's what I thought, too, but I couldn't remember for sure so didn't mention it. I talk out of my fundiment enough as it is 8-> Still haven't looked it up. I keep meaning to. > > That would be nastier. I assume Haldemars ship is somewhat exceptional in > kit, however. > Yes, me too - c.f. remarks earlier about translating stuff that make for good stories (which the VotPA definately was - while it ran, it was one of the first things I turned to when I got my new TD - and invariably the first article I turned to) directly into gaming rules. > > As the air riders are moving in 3 dimensions, they can spread out in 3d as > well so the area of effect may not be as bad as you may think. > Yes, that's true: the area doesn't bother me as much as the damage potential and sheer. . .well, it's aesthetically unsettling. But, again, it depends upon how "high magic" the general campaign is, I suppose - that has a big effect upon what is (or seems) appropriate. > > Or alternatively, scrolls of protection from magic. Usable by anyone. > True. Not sure how efficient "one shot" items are - it depends upon how often they're used and over what time period, and upon the relative duration-of-use of permanent items. In other words, which is more expensive in the long run? What is "the long run"? Probably a given war; OtoH, if you're stockpiling lots of scolls of PvsMagic during peacetime for use in the next major war, at what point does it become more efficient just to make a permanent item that provides the same effect? I guess it depends upon the cost in time & $$$ to make the scrolls vs what is spent on a similar permanent item. > > Temporary - but on the other hand, easy to make. Unfortunately, it has a > small area of effect. Though if you used "shock troops" with heavier units > (Griffons and such) warded with these things, with the lighter pegasi coming > in only after the shock troops have engaged in melee, it would be good > enough. > True; I was begining to ponder along semi-similar lines (use the heavies as the initial strike force. Also have an idea re. very-long-range missile forces to keep the guys pinned down while the main squadrons move in for melee. More on that in a later post when I get things worked out). > > Det Invis is a much overrated spell, as it covers only a tiny area each > round. And as they discovered in WW2, the sky is a big place. > Yes, I know. > On the other hand, invisibility is an illusion so it can be disbelieved. > Can it be? Well, assuming it can be, you still have to know to try. I'd find it hard to go around "I'm disbelieving everything in the hopes of seeing an invisible ship". That said, the Invisibility enchantment on the Man-of-War has always bugged me (which is why I largely through an SEP field around it for this discussion), for that very reason. it munches things up quite a bit to have them sneak around unseen until the moment in which they decide to lay waste to your city. So, yes - for that reason I'd give the enemy forces some means of negating that effect absolutely. In fact, I'd give just about every self-respecting Mystaran country the ability to negate that effect absolutely: the ships can fly to those areas with pretty much impunity as it is. It adds insult to injury to say that they can't even see it until it's too late to do anything but bend over and kiss one's {fundiment} goodbye. > > Also, high level individuals get a chance to see through invis anyway - > given the high level nature of the RAF (or any other Super Elite force, for > that matter) invisibility isnt so hot. Someone in the fleet is going to > notice somethings up... > That's true - and I suppose that would be the best "early warning system" for most Mystaran countries. Plus, it's free. 8-) > > As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy than to > create... > And at least as fun. 8-) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 15:42:16 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Greg Weatherup Subject: Re: Multilingual names-Hawaiian Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I noticed the thread on what peoples names would be in different languages and thought you might like the Hawaiian version, perhaps for use as Makai in Ierendi. When there is two names sepearted by a comma are the spellings first w/ Hawaiian letters, then with English letters Jim: Kimo James: Kimo; Iakopo, Iakobo Michael: Mika`ele, Mikala Jacob: Iakopa, Iakoba Bruce: Puluke, Buruse Jenni & Jenny: Kini (actually Kini is used for Jane, Jean, & Jennie also) Andrew: Analu, Anakelea, Anedera Frances: Palakika, Farakika Francis: Palakiko, Farakiko (we do have both a Frances & a Francis on the list right?) Stanley: Kanale, Sanale sorry to the Ohad's, Marco's, Jenny's, Aleksei's, Thibault's, Shawn's, Byron's, Jennifer's, Leroy's, & Geoff's: I couldn't find translations of yours, the closest I can guess would be: Ohad: Ohak (complete guess?) Marco: Maleko, Mareko (both actually mean Mark or Marc) Jennifer: you would probaly be the same as Jenni/Jenny = Kini Aleksei: Alex/Alec would be Alika. Alexander would be Alekanekelo, Alekanedero or Alika. And Alexis would be Aleki. you could probaly use one of those. Thibault: Kipaulk (complete guess?) Shawn: no clue, the 'Sh' doesn't translate consitently Byron: Pilon (complete guess?) Leroy: Lioleo or Leoleo (Leo can be either Roy or Leo and Lio can also mean Leo) Geoff: perhaps you could use Geoffrey = Keopele, Geofere If there's anybody else, just send me a private email. Keep in mind I am very far from an expert in the hawaiian language, I'm mainly using some dictonaries for this combined with a little bit of experience. Greg Weatherup Gecko GWxup@excite.com http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/spock/67/index.html _______________________________________________________ Get 100% FREE Internet Access powered by Excite Visit http://freeworld.excite.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 18:52:45 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: jdaly Subject: Re: canon? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I think canon's great. Unfortunately, Andrew already stole my cannon joke. ----- Original Message ----- From: Meltheim Shadowstalker To: Sent: Friday, February 18, 2000 5:28 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] canon? > Dammit, someone started another string on canon! i hate when this happens, > so please everybody, let's not have it resort to which is better or worse, or > anything? i know that so far everyone's been on best behavior since the last > flame war, but i'd love to keep it that way. my wisdom teeth are getting > removed soon and i'd love to not have the added stress of another "canon" > vs"non canon" debate ok? > Thanks! > > Meltheim the Shadowstalker > Infiltrator to the Immortals > Devotee of Fate > Eyes of the Starwatcher > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 23:53:32 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Yes, that's true: the area doesn't bother me as much as the damage >potential and sheer. . .well, it's aesthetically unsettling. But, again, it >depends upon how "high magic" the general campaign is, I suppose - that has >a big effect upon what is (or seems) appropriate. Well, having a huge flying ship put a broadside of, say, 30 lightning bolts, 30 fireballs and 240 magic missiles into a flying force 250 air riders is somewhat "high" immediately.... Be a good fireworks show though. >True. Not sure how efficient "one shot" items are - it depends upon how >often they're used and over what time period, and upon the relative >duration-of-use of permanent items. In other words, which is more expensive >in the long run? What is "the long run"? Probably a given war; OtoH, if >you're stockpiling lots of scolls of PvsMagic during peacetime for use in >the next major war, at what point does it become more efficient just to >make a permanent item that provides the same effect? I guess it depends >upon the cost in time & $$$ to make the scrolls vs what is spent on a >similar permanent item. Depends also how often they are going to be used. How many major fleet actions do you think there would be? In WotI there was one. Sure there would have been minor engagements as well, but this stuff really shines with large battles. (Adventurers probably handle the skirmishes - I remember that flying castle from Vengeance of Alphaks (I think it was that one :). Assuming major fleet actions dont happen very often, you might not need such a huge stockpile. The duration of these things would be good enough to tip a battle even with one use. I imagine a permanent item of Protection from Magic would be very powerful and difficult to make anyway. It would be on a par with a rod of absorption (better, in a lot of respects), and I find the concept of mass producing such items a bit Off to say the least... Magic manipulation items, the hardest items in the book to make. Mind you, I suppose the World Shield on Mystara may make a cheaper option than a conventional magical item, if you can get a supply of the stuff and protect it somehow. As a final point - permanent items can be removed from the still warm corpses of those issued them and then used by the enemy, while temporary items cannot. And a theft of a few scrolls is a slightly different ballgame from the theft of 100 amulets of antimagic, or whatever. One of the reasons I use a Boltman kit for the Alphatians is so that you need to be a Boltman to be able to use their wands. A good tactic from the Alphatian point of view (special training required) otherwise they could find themselves on the receiving end of their own weapons. And as a plus, it keeps Boltmen wands where they should be - in the hands of boltmen and not in the hands of the player character army :) >Yes, I know. I can always trust you to back me up on these points :) >> On the other hand, invisibility is an illusion so it can be disbelieved. >That said, the Invisibility enchantment on the Man-of-War has always bugged >me (which is why I largely through an SEP field around it for this >discussion), for that very reason. it munches things up quite a bit to have >them sneak around unseen until the moment in which they decide to lay waste >to your city. So, yes - for that reason I'd give the enemy forces some >means of negating that effect absolutely. In fact, I'd give just about >every self-respecting Mystaran country the ability to negate that effect >absolutely: the ships can fly to those areas with pretty much impunity as >it is. It adds insult to injury to say that they can't even see it until >it's too late to do anything but bend over and kiss one's {fundiment} >goodbye. Invisibility ships are as old as Star Trek. I remember using cloaking devices in Spelljammer :) Rig for silent running Number 1... >That's true - and I suppose that would be the best "early warning system" >for most Mystaran countries. Plus, it's free. 8-) And automatic, more importantly. I doubt having level 11+ people in your armed forces is "free" :) >> As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy than >to >> create... >> >And at least as fun. 8-) Whatever you think of Alphatians, its obvious that these guys know how to throw a party. Cheers Rob ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 18:55:40 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Andrew Theisen Subject: Re: [Re: [MYSTARA] canon?] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable jdaly wrote: >I think canon's great. Unfortunately, Andrew already stole my cannon >j= oke. I'm just fast on the draw. Andrew "Cthulhudrew" Theisen "The greatest trick Doug Henning ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Keyser Soze ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 01:02:50 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: Re: Houses of Darokin: Corun House Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- On Thu, 17 Feb 2000 20:25:46 Aaron E Nowack wrote: >It's been a little while, but here it comes... the fourth part of The >Houses of Darokin (rest snipped) Thanks Aaron, this is most enlightening. A character IMC is actually a Darokinian mage of the Corun family, only I don't have the gazetteer myself (although I have ordered it!) This will be extremely helpful toward 'fleshing out' the character's background, so thanks. I look forward to your next installment. I was going to mention the AC 1006 Siege of Darokin again, but I think I'll talk about it in another mail. Okay? - The Stalker Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 18:09:39 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Well, having a huge flying ship put a broadside of, say, 30 lightning bolts, > 30 fireballs and 240 magic missiles into a flying force 250 air riders is > somewhat "high" immediately.... > I imagine a permanent item of Protection from Magic would be very powerful > and difficult to make anyway. It would be on a par with a rod of absorption > (better, in a lot of respects), and I find the concept of mass producing > such items a bit Off to say the least... > That's what I mean, though - it's Off to give everyone (in effect) +5 Rings of Protection, Rings of Invisibility, Circlets of Mind Bar, Amulets of Spell Turning, and Bracers of Protection vs. Normal Missiles as a constant effect, too. Then add in the Wands on top of that. The whole thing is a bit Off - that's part of my point - but that's what we've got. . . > > As a final point - permanent items can be removed from the still warm > corpses of those issued them and then used by the enemy, while temporary > items cannot. And a theft of a few scrolls is a slightly different ballgame > from the theft of 100 amulets of antimagic, or whatever. > Very true. However more on that below. > > One of the reasons I use a Boltman kit for the Alphatians is so that you > need to be a Boltman to be able to use their wands. > See, that's also a bit Off in my book: provide one side with all the above, then eliminate the possible drawbacks (gear falling into enemy hands and being used against you) - that's not a bit Off? > > A good tactic from the > Alphatian point of view (special training required) otherwise they could > find themselves on the receiving end of their own weapons. > Which otherwise would be a "limiting factor" - one removes the limiting factors, then wonder where game balance went. I had it here, somewhere 8-) > > Invisibility ships are as old as Star Trek. I remember using cloaking > devices in Spelljammer :) > Rig for silent running Number 1... > Yes - they weakified that, too, once they figured out what the implications might be. It then became nothing, really. Plus, again: that's a differrence between stories and games (case in point, TNG: had they actually behaved as the show has them behaving in what passes for "battles", checking damage reports every time someon gets a hangnail as a result of a near miss and firing back only about once every other day, they'd have been roasted. The Captain should either allow Gunnery to fire at will, or let Engeneering & Medical handle the damage reports while he concentrates on winning the battle, and worries about how many "Crewman Jones" types recieved 1st degree burns after it's over. B5 was much better as far as battle sequences went. They had "Phase-Ship" types {Shadow Vessels} in that, but they always "Unphased" when needed for the plot, too.) > > And automatic, more importantly. I doubt having level 11+ people in your > armed forces is "free" :) > Well, IMO such folks would be more acting as "public spirited citizens of Ylaruam (or Vestland, or wherever)" if and when a skyship flew overhead into their nation. Otherwise things do become very grotesquely one-sided, as apready noted. The guys might not sign up immediately to help defend the nation, but at least they could give "heads up" so that Ylaruam City (or Glantri City, or wherever) isn't just destroyed with no prior warning. Again, the whole CoM skyship thing seems a bit Off to me if the "standard defence" requires stationing 11th level Troops around the perimiter of your country in order to detect an incursion. 8-) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 01:17:10 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: Siege of Darokin Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- On Mon, 7 Feb 2000 16:53:04 Aaron E Nowack wrote: >On Mon, 7 Feb 2000 22:03:16 +0100 The Stalker >writes: >> -- >> Well, I'm running a Mystara campaign using AD&D 2e and Player Option >> rules (modified heavily by my own house rules). I don't keep logs >> from it, but if I did it would probably be a bit boring, since we're >> playing through WotI, and we're doing all the typical things, like >> helping Darokin repel the Desert Nomads at the moment (they have to >> deal with the threat of the Manscorpions next time). > >Speaking of which, Stalker, let me know if the Siege of Darokin thingie I >posted was any use at all. I'd like to see how it worked in someone >else's campaign. > Well, a lot of time has passed since you asked me, but we *FINALLY* played again, so I thought I should drop a line about this since you asked me to mention if I used your 'Siege of Darokin' ideas - well, I used some of them. My problem was that although I really liked the ideas you posted, I had the PCs arrive along with the Karameikos forces, so they couldn't really be a part of the siege that preceded that, but I've stolen your ideas for background: IMC minotaurs now DID cross the Streel River and there were huge fights in the city just before the PCs arrived. The idea especially appeals to me because one of the PCs actually *IS* a minotaur! He recently acquired a Hat of Disguise, and against this background you can bet that he'll hold onto it like dear life, since people in Darokin probably have a particularly low opinion of minotaurs at this point! (Devious, aren't I?) However, I did go with the suggested Manscorpions idea from WOTI. We played some mass combat with the PCs controlling several parts of the 'allied' forces (player's option: Combat & Tactis mass combat - yuck! I like the player's option rules in general, but not these mass combat rules!) The PCs and their forces faced the Master's forces of humans and orcs, and the allied forces did well, but just as things seemed to turn against the Master's forces, Manscorpions started popping out of the ground all over! It spooked the PCs a bit, and they quickly decided to withdraw their troops (the fact that I made a few vague references to the movie 'Starship Troopers' might have had something to do with it - manscorpions outside the walls of the city, hitting at it and trying to climb up and stuff like that). So they had to do something about the manscorpion threat, and I had Jaggar von Drachenfels make an appearance and tell the Darokin leaders about the manscorpions (since he doesn't want the Master to conquer Darokin). Keeping with the strict hierarchy of manscorpions, it was determined that some adventuring groups (!) should try to infiltrate their forces and kill the leaders so that their society would collapse (as the DM I assume that manscorpion will fight each other for leadership if the king and queen are killed - thus neutralizing the threat they pose). So the PCs decided to sneak out and find their underground caverns. Currently they are slightly lost there, because I chose to challenge them with a truly huge dungeon system (losts and losts of forks and stairs - they'll never be able to explore it all!) Whew! This was long. We'll play again on Sunday, so someone tell me to stop my ramblings if you don't want to hear about this. - The Stalker Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 01:35:56 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: DM Subject: HW modules and WotI (Part 2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Ok, this is part two of the revised Blood Brethren Trilogy. I hope You all still remember what I've written in the first part... ;) What Happened to the Vanished Immortals? This is obviously Thanatos's plan to cause more mischief and suffering in both the hollow and the surface world. Originally he wanted to revive the Great Anellids and corrupt the Spell of Preservation, as described in the Blood Brethren Trilogy, but he reasoned that he couldn't suceed with all the Immortals around. So he planned to use the suspicion and rivalry caused by the Ixion-Rad conflict to get rid of some powerful Immortals without getting caught. First of all he needed a bait, and so he thought: what could keep the Immortals away from the world long enough for his plan to work? And the answer was in the timespace continuum! He would have used the cause which is at the heart of the dispute between the Immortals as bait: Blackmoor. So he staged the plan to disrupt the timeframe. This, he knew, would have attracted Father Time's attention, so he also needed to find a way to imprison Khoronus long enough. And then he discovered the Comeback Inn, the solution to all his problems! He went back in time, assumed a mortal identity and suggested to the Iron Duke the plan to abduct the most important figure in Blackmoor's future history, its founder: King Uther (as per DA1). This caused a temporal anomaly, and when Khoronus went to Blackmoor to investigate, assuming another mortal ID, Thanatos and his helpers ambushed him as well, taking him to the Future Comeback Inn (which is VEERY FAR in the future, contrary to DA1, say in AC 1250) and imprisoning his mortal ID. He knew the other Immortals would have followed soon after, that they would have arrived just moments later Khoronus's disappearence (since time has really no meaning to a person who can travel in time) and so he used his wits to trick them into believing he was going along. Before entering the Comeback Inn as the magician who teleports King Uther in the dungeon (forgot the name), he left in the present an avatar, who posed as the real Thanatos. Then the avatar traveled to the temporal anomaly with the other Immortals and pretended to go to Blackmoor timeframe, while Thanatos was already there assuming his mortal ID. Thanatos tricked the other immortals (Ixion, Korotiku, Ordana and Djaea) the same way he did with Khoronus, and brought them in the future. And there they were ALL stuck, since nobody can escape the Comeback Inn without help from a servant of the inn! But this was something Thanatos knew, and for this reason he remained in the past of Blackmoor, hoping to bribe some servant for a passage outside and return back to his present. Meantime, in the Present.. Still with me? Ok. Now, when the Immortals disappeared, Thanatos left instructions to his servants and fiends to start the second part of his plan. The Blood Brethren had already been freed when Khoronus disappeared (see below), and now the fiends, polymorphed as Angels of both Ixion and Vanya, traveled the outer planes to seize the artifacts that gave the faithful their powers in the Immortals' absence. This would have caused a turmoil both in the Upper Spheres and in the Prime, so his plan in the HW would maybe go unchecked. And indeed it nearly functioned. The Immortals started accusing one another, and with their leader vanished, the Ring of Fire was enraged to the top and blamed Rad and his fellows for this treachery. The remaining Hierarchs, Odin, Terra, Ilsundal, Protius and Hel, on Hel's proposal, decided to SEAL Temporal Prime so nobody could open a gate to it and tamper with it any more than what has already been done. This was supposed to be a temporary measure until the culprit of the situation had been found, the vanished Immortals located and the order restored. So the five Spheres united and Temporal Prime was closed: this means nobody could open a gate to Temporal Prime from any of the timeframe and realities (although it was possible for those already in Temporal Prime to go in any timeframe, but they remained trapped there). Valerias began to search all the planes to find her lover, but to no avail. So she began looking in the Prime and on Mystara. In the meantime, Ka and Hel were the only Immortals of the Hollow World council who remained vigilant on the HW, and when Hel sensed something strange going on in the HW crust she decided to omit this discovery. It was Ka and Noumena who later discovered some tampering with the HW energies and the Spell of Preservation both in Azca and Nithia, but just as they were beginning their researches, they were attracted by the opening of a gate to an outer plane in Shajhapur (something impossible to all but Immortals in the HW). So they went there investigating, discovered the Emerald River and its guardian, Dakka, and got trapped there (see below)! Valerias was warned by her agathinon on the Prime, Shineton-ka, that the Blood Brethren had escaped their prison, and she traced them in the HW. And she as well sensed the gate in the Temple of the Eight Sweet Winds and got trapped in the Emerald River! This way, no Immortal remained to vigil on the HW affairs, and the corruption of the Spell of Preservation continued unchecked.. or so Thanatos (who at this time was still in Blackmoor) thought. The Blood Brethren: Their True History. The Blood Brethren were not goblins, rather they were the sons of a powerful Nithian noble and wizard named Socaris. Socaris's only dream was to beget a lineage that could make his dinasty powerful and remembered, but alas he was sterile. When he discovered this, he nearly went mad, for despite his immense magical powers, he wasn't able to cure his disease. So clouded by anger and depression was his mind, that he invoked all of the powers of Nithia to get his spawn. Unfortunately for him, the first to answer was Thanatos. Thanatos made a pact with him: a life for a life. If he sacrified his wife, she would have sired his children. And so it came that Socaris's wife got pregnant when Socaris was already an old man, and all the people of Tarthys cheered at the news. But the good news soon turned bad when the young wife died for complications after childbirth, as Socaris explained. Yet, he was a happy man, since she had given him two twins! Socaris grew the twins, Koresh and Simm, with love and affection, as they were to him his most precious jewels. One chose the path of the father, while the other ascended the ranks of priesthood with great results. The two were incredibly keen and wise, and Socaris was proud of them every moment of his life. But Thanatos had not forgotten his pact: a life for a life, and the maths didn't match yet. Thanatos began sending omens, dreams to the two brethren and whispered them promises of power: and their ears, just like their father's, did listen to him. So they started dabbling in the dark arts, and Simm converted to the faith of Thanatos after making a secret pilgrimage to the Tower of Sekaba. The two started amassing large forbidden tomes, to research dark spells, and sacrificed many people to their deities' thirst for blood. But this didn't satisfy him. To complete their corruption he revealed them what their father had done to their mother, and then suggested to repay him with his own coin. And so it came that the two twins murdered their own father, who did nothing to avoid his death so great was the love he had for them. But it didn't pass to long for the Brethren's activities to be discovered. It was a young but resolute priest of Isiris, Shineton-ka, who discovered their grim practices and exposed their murders to the Pharaoh. Shineton-ka led the assault against their home and chased the two into the desert, together with his partner Nephra, a priestess of Horon, up to the Tower of Sekaba. There, resisting the tower's dark effects, they chased the Brethren inside the tunnels, deep in the earth, and finally got them in the Broken Lands, where they defeated them and trapped their souls with a spell in two urns. There they built the Barleycorn Monastery, and were later given the task to watch over the Brethren by Valerias and Ixion, after they ascended to the state of Agathinon (angels)! Indeed, time passed and Shineton-ka and Nephra took out many identities to travel among the mortals, spread the word of their deities and watch over the preferred heroes of their Immortals. Unfortunately, it happened that when Shineton-ka (now known as Richard John Singleton of Darokin in the Old World) was away, Irila Kaze and a couple of goblin servants came to Barleycorn following clues and thoughts Thanatos gave her. Irila thought she would have found a great magical treasure in the monastery, and so fiercely battled Nephra, using her goblin servants to ambush her, and killed her. Unfortunately, when she freed the two Blood Brethren, Simm took possession of the monkey familiar of Kano (one of the goblin) and Koresh took possession of her body (or of Udan, the other goblin, according to HWA2). Then the two contacted Thanatos (or maybe T had already given instructions to Irila, if u follow the Trilogy and want to play all the three modules) and received instructions. Using the old tunnel from which they came to the surface world, they returned to the Hollow World and went respectively to Azca (Simm and Kano) and Shahjapur (Irila/Koresh - or if u want to use HWA2, Koresh alone went to Nithia and Irila to Shahjapur), to start the plan to corrupt the HW sun and awaken the Great Anellids. In Shahjapur, Irila/Koresh's goal (now became the many-armed Dakka) was to open a gate to the Emerald River, lure there whatever Immortal came to investigate, and trap them there forever, and so they did. Until the PCs arrived... Shineton-ka/R.J. Singleton, the Fallen Angel Unfortunately for Thanatos, he hadn't predicted that Shineton-ka would have escaped the massacre at Barleycorn monastery, and when he informed Valerias, she immediately knew she had to look in the Hollow World. Shineton-ka wanted to follow her, but was prevented to do so by the fact that the Brethren had made the tunnel collapse behind them. So the agathinon waited for a sign of her Mistress in the surface world, consuming himself with the guilt for having failed his task as Guardian, failed his Mistress, but above all abandoned his lover Nephra in the moment of the need (these feelings were obviously a bit exaggerated by his nature). Valerias soon discovered the hideout of the Blood Brethren, and was attracted to the Temple of the Eight Sweet Winds in Dharsatra where the gate to the Emerald River had been opened. There she confronted Dakka, and forced her to open the gate, thinking her lover Ixion would have been imprisoned there. Unfortunately for her, she was proven wrong and got trapped as well by her own powers. But before being trapped there, she left out a call to Shineton-ka, with a vision to travel to the Hollow World and to save her. Shineton-ka rallied help (the PCs) and began his trek to the Atruaghin Plateau, where he knew there was a passage to the lands of Azca (although he had never used it). Atruaghin sensed something was wrong in Azca, and saw the intervention of Shineton-ka (who he had also known in the past) as a good way to investigate the matter without interfering personally, so he sent omens to him, to the PCs and to his shamani to guide them to Hovar Duck Watcher and to the Mystic Conveyor, the fastest way to Azca. [Or, you can have Shineton-ka guide the PCs to Barleycorn and use the tunnels like the Brethren did, making them still viable, as in HWA1.] The only goal of Shineton-ka was now to save his Mistress Isiris/Valerias, so to regain his status and his honor, helping the PCs without revealing them his true nature. The Emerald River: Key to the Timeflow And here we come to the most strange part of the campaign: the Emerald River. Forget what you've read in the Blood Brethren Trilogy: it is not Mystara's timestream. Instead, it is an outer plane discovered by Thanatos with two strange and unique features. Its appearance is that of a neverending field of rolling green hills, prairies and woods, with an emerald green sky above, no sun and no clouds, the light coming from the sky which bathes everything into an unnatural green aura. First of all, no magic works inside the Emerald River. No spells cast ever work, no magic abilities function, no magic items retain their properties, not even artifacts (Similar to Nightstorm plane of HWA3). But there is more: every spell cast by somebody is absorbed by the plane, and reflected to the caster as a strange form of black energy field that surrounds him. The more powerful the spell, the less possible is for the caster to escape the energy field (in game terms, the caster makes a ST vs Magic at -1 per level of the spell cast. If the save fails, the caster becomes entrapped in a black monolith like a statue). In our case, the immortal energy released by the Immortals as they tried to battle Dakka here (Irila/Dakka tricked them in using powerful spells while refraining from doing it herself, knowing the properties of the plane from Thanatos' instructions) was so powerful that they got trapped by it and turned into black monoliths, one for each Immortal trapped. And they could escape from their material body because of the plane's energies, so were trapped there virtually forever. Unfortunately, Thanatos didn't know that if magic doesn't work inside the Emerald River, another form of "craft" has a very special power inside it: music and songs. As a complicated song (the Yantra of the Emerald River) can open a gate to it without requiring magic, likewise a song could free the trapped Immortals. Chatterjee, the Shahjapuri samdu, was once again the key to the PCs goal. Once they battled Dakka and defeated her, Chatterjee opened the gate to the Emerald river and transported the PCs there. There Shineton-ka recongnized the symbols inscripted on the monoliths as being some of Valerias's truenames, and understood there were Immortals trapped here. When the PCs understood their weapons couldn't help much (and before anyone could use a spell), Chatterjee proposed them to chant the Mantra of the Disembodiement to Unity. This could have freed the soul of its corporeal chains (the body) and let the spirit become one with the heavens and the Immortals. All of the PCs led by Chatterjee began to chant and finally the monolith were destroyed, freeing the Immortals.. whose mortal bodies crumbled soon after, releasing the Immortal souls once and for all! And now we come to the other strange feature of the Emeral River. In fact, this plane's sky is a permanent rift to Temporal Prime! It cannot be sealed in any way, even by Immortals, and through this rift the newly freed Immortals and the PCs passed into Temporal Prime and went back to Blackmoor, to help the other Immortals, now that Thanatos's plan had been exposed. But near the exact point in the timeline they found the Avatar left behind by Thanatos guarding the timestream. So the Immortals (who had created a material form in a haste upon entering Temporal Prime) stood behind to attack him while they opened a gate for the PCs to pass into Blackmoor timeframe, discover what's wrong and recover the missing Immortals. DA1, Adventures in Blackmoor: the Last Part. Ok, if you've followed me so far, that's basically the end of the story. Play DA1 as written, with the PCs arriving from outside the Comeback Inn (not from the gate in the cellar) just a few minutes after the Immortals have been kidnapped/spirited on the other side of the temporal gate. Now, they enter the inn, got trapped inside, and the adventure plays on as written. Only thing is that Thanatos is the treacherous mage, and knows why the PCs are there, and knows HE CANNOT ESCAPE from the Inn in this timeframe. So he now hopes he will be able to escape from the Inn in the future, using the other spy (who's a servant of the Inn and who has got the medallion to activate the gate). He then suggests the PCs to come with him to trap them in the future and leave no trace of his deeds behind (not knowing the three immortals have been freed). Once in the future Comeback Inn, Thanatos will order his allies to kill the PCs and he himself will participate in the hunt, but only after extracting from them news of the situation in the "present". After that, he tries to leave the Inn but much to his amazement he cannot, since the spy maid is no longer considered a member of the inn's staff!! This will put Thanatos in a difficult situation: he has to kill all of the PCs to avoid them free the Immortals trapped there in the future, and will have to go back to the past to find another way to escape.. When everything seems to turn against the PCs, enter the good guys of Blackmoor led by the Fetch and the Inn's owner (and the three Immortals Valerias, Ka and Noumena as well, maybe), who come to the future to rescue their King and battle Thanatos along the PCs' side! They will finally prevail, (we hope) the Immortals will be taken out of their prison (a magical prison that prevents them from using their powers and leaving their mortal Ids), they'll go outside the Inn in the future using the help of the Inn's owner (who doesn't suspect anything on their true Ids..) and warn their future fellows to unseal Temporal Prime, so they'll be back in their own time! And they will live happily ever after.. or better, for a year or so, till the breakout of the Wrath of the Immortals. Main Result of the Plot: Thanatos will lose power and rank, giving prominence to Hel. The PCs will get the Immortals' gratitude (and a wish granted maybe) and Thanatos's eternal enmity. And they'll have the hook to return back to Blackmoor and the Comeback Inn for the future DA adventures!! Now, what do u think about it?? DM Senior Editor of the Mystaran Almanac First Officer of U.S.S. Unicorn Visit Marco's Mystara Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967 Join the Mystara Webring at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967/mystring.html Join the Starfleet Academy at: http://gilda.it/startrek (Italian RPG PBEM) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 19:05:18 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Aaron E Nowack Subject: Re: Houses of Darokin: Corun House MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Sat, 19 Feb 2000 01:02:50 +0100 The Stalker writes: > -- > > On Thu, 17 Feb 2000 20:25:46 Aaron E Nowack wrote: > >It's been a little while, but here it comes... the fourth part of > The > >Houses of Darokin > (rest snipped) > > Thanks Aaron, this is most enlightening. :) Praise is good... >A character IMC is actually > a Darokinian mage of the Corun family, only I don't have the > gazetteer myself (although I have ordered it!) Its a pretty good gazeteer. Quite vague on a great deal of things though, particuarly Darokinian history in between the Kingdom and the Republic. >This will be > extremely helpful toward 'fleshing out' the character's background, > so thanks. I look forward to your next installment. Nice to kno. Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis." http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/5930/ ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 19:11:33 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Aaron E Nowack Subject: Re: Siege of Darokin MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Sat, 19 Feb 2000 01:17:10 +0100 The Stalker writes: > -- > > Well, a lot of time has passed since you asked me, Not that long... :) >but we *FINALLY* > played again, so I thought I should drop a line about this since you > asked me to mention if I used your 'Siege of Darokin' ideas - well, > I used some of them. Good. >My problem was that although I really liked the > ideas you posted, I had the PCs arrive along with the Karameikos > forces, so they couldn't really be a part of the siege that preceded > that, but I've stolen your ideas for background: It's called "borrowing" not stealing, such a nasty word... :) >IMC minotaurs now > DID cross the Streel River and there were huge fights in the city > just before the PCs arrived. The idea especially appeals to me > because one of the PCs actually *IS* a minotaur! (There's no emoticon for open mouthed amazement...) Ha! You ought to be able to have some fun with that (evil DM's grin) >He recently > acquired a Hat of Disguise, and against this background you can bet > that he'll hold onto it like dear life, since people in Darokin > probably have a particularly low opinion of minotaurs at this point! > (Devious, aren't I?) Hehehe. I sense intersting times in this character's future. > However, I did go with the suggested Manscorpions idea from WOTI. We > played some mass combat with the PCs controlling several parts of > the 'allied' forces (player's option: Combat & Tactis mass combat - > yuck! I like the player's option rules in general, but not these > mass combat rules!) I just used my patent-pending "roll a bunch of dice and then make up whatever you want" method. :) >The PCs and their forces faced the Master's > forces of humans and orcs, and the allied forces did well, but just > as things seemed to turn against the Master's forces, Manscorpions > started popping out of the ground all over! It spooked the PCs a > bit, and they quickly decided to withdraw their troops (the fact > that I made a few vague references to the movie 'Starship Troopers' > might have had something to do with it - manscorpions outside the > walls of the city, hitting at it and trying to climb up and stuff > like that). Got to love that movie... not as good as the book though. > So they had to do something about the manscorpion threat, and I had > Jaggar von Drachenfels make an appearance and tell the Darokin > leaders about the manscorpions (since he doesn't want the Master to > conquer Darokin). Keeping with the strict hierarchy of manscorpions, > it was determined that some adventuring groups (!) should try to > infiltrate their forces and kill the leaders so that their society > would collapse (as the DM I assume that manscorpion will fight each > other for leadership if the king and queen are killed - thus > neutralizing the threat they pose). So the PCs decided to sneak out > and find their underground caverns. Currently they are slightly lost > there, because I chose to challenge them with a truly huge dungeon > system (losts and losts of forks and stairs - they'll never be able > to explore it all!) Gotta explore them all... I shouldn't have gone there/ > Whew! This was long. We'll play again on Sunday, so someone tell me > to stop my ramblings if you don't want to hear about this. This is pretty cool stuff! If it weren't for the fact that my campaign just abruptly came to a halt due to one of the two players flunking out of school I would have to "borrow" some of it in return. Oh well, at least it ended on a real great adventure (BTW, Callidus Assasians are great fun to throw at players... :) Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis." http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/5930/ ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 09:14:16 +0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Francisco V. Navarro" Subject: Glantrian Parliament Puzzle MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Here is a puzzle that came up with the story, "The Death of Lamberto Fulvina" by Giovanni Porpora and Giampaolo Agosta. In AC 963, in the matter of mundaner Alceo Beoro murdering Signor Lamberto Fulvina, Visconte di Verazzano, is presented before the Council of Princes. The Council does not make a decision, and passes it on to Parliament.In Parliament, Signor Vittorio Fulvina, son of Signor Lamberto and the new Visconte di Verazzano, presents a request to the House of Lords, that they accept his explanation of the death of his father and that the matter be closed. Lord Edelmiro Pieinants, the Flaemish Archduke of Westheath, rejects this request. A vote takes place. A vote of "yea" means the present explanation is acceptable and the matter is closed. A vote of "nay" means a full investigation takes place, and Vittorio's position as Viscount is put under question. Two-thirds majority of "yea" is needed (196 votes) for Vittorio's request to pass.The story ends with Vittorio's request passing. The question is: HOW DO THE NOBLES VOTE? -------------------- Nobles of AC 963 (according to Master Historian Harri Maki) Council of Princes Charan Erewan, Prince of Erewan, Grand Master of the Great School of Magic, Maqruis of Ellerovyn Alfonso de Belcadiz, Prince of Belcadiz, Supreme Judge of the Council, Marquez del Alhambra Cadwallon Aendyr, Prince of Blackhill, Chancellor of the Council, Count of Silverstone Francesco di Malapietra, Prince of Caurenze, Chamberlain of the Land, Visconte di Sirecchia Wilfrid Vlaardoen X, Prince of Bergdhoven, Treasurer of the Council, Viceory of Monteleone, Viscount of Linden Greorg von Drachenfels, Prince of Aalban, Viceroy of Nordling, Count of Ritterburg Jhreek Virayana, Prince of Krondahar, Viceroy of Ylourgne, Marquis of Singhabad Brannart McGregor, Prince of Klantyre, Viceroy of Sablestone, Viscount of Crownguard Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany, Prince of Boldavia, Viceroy of Tchernovodsk, Baron of Igorov (10 votes for being a Prince. 10 votes for Grand Master, 8 for Supreme Judge, 6 for Chancellor, 4 for Chamerlain, 2 for Treasurer, 1 for Viceroy.) House of Lords and their Allied House Edelmiro Pieinants, Archduke of Westheath, House Linden Karl von Taafnen, Duke of Hightower, House Ritterburg Konstantin Haaskinz, Duke of Fenswick, unaligned Corfitz Terlagand, Marquis of Berrym, House Ritterburg Constanza de Blanca, Marquesa de Satolas, Clan Alhambra William McDougall, Count of Glenargyll, House Crownguard Sinaria Verlien, Countess of High Sonden, House Linden Andrew Newbute, Count of Soth-Kabree, unaligned Seisyll Wittels, Count of Wylon, House Silverstone William McAllister, Viscount of Bergen, House Crownguard Wilhelm von Graustein, Viscount of Blofeld, House Ritterburg Edward Hillsbury, Viscount of Nathrat, House Silverstone Gabriel Bon, Viscount of Redstone, unaligned Vittorio Fulvina, Visconte di Verrazzano, House Sirecchia Fernando de Casanegra, Baron del Alderturm, Clan Alhambra Charlotte Aposan, Baroness of Egorn, unaligned Vlad Timenko, Baron of Kutchevski, House Igorov Matthias Wutyla, Baron of Mariksen, House Igorov Grigori Leon, Baron of Palatinsk, unaligned Salomon Wurt, Baron of Uigmuir, unaligned Boris Markovitch, Baron of Vladimirov, House Igorov (Archduke has 9 votes, Duke 8, Marquis 7, Count 6, Viscount 5, Baron 4) Important clues: 1. The death of Lamberto Fulvina involved Don Ricardo de Belcadiz and Count Seisyll Wittels. 2. Baron Grigori Leon is not a vampire. 3. In AC 979, Vaclav Wurt married Lucrezia di Malapietra. 4. The Haaskinz have Hattian blood. Many more implicit clues can be picked up from reading "The Death of Lamberto Fulvina", visitng the "Houses of Glantri" website by Harri Maki at http://sivut.koti.tpo.fi/wallemaki/ and visitng the "Glantrian Personnel Development" website at http://sato.helsinki.fi/~montola.valt/mystara/index.htm -------------------- Those who solve this puzzle correctly shall win a prize, a one-month holiday to the Principalities of Glantri, which includes one week of parties and nightlife in Glantri City, and three weeks of touring the different Principalities, including The Great Crater! -------------------- This challenge has been brought to you by the New Alliance of Glantrian Political Analysts (N.A.G.P.A.) "because we would rather count and calculate the votes of these bickering nobles over petty matters, than go out and enjoy life." Kit Navarro N.A.G.P.A. Member ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 20:26:20 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Thyatian Military Variant: Sacred Guard. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-18 9:07:40 AM Eastern Standard Time, jruhlconob@SPRYNET.COM writes: << > I am not aware of any basis for supporting psionic characters in Thyatis > proper. > I thought I was fairly clear the first time, then there was the response to your private mail wherin I clarified that the things you thought might be Psionic effects were simply spells (mostly Priest spells). >> What the heck are you talking about now? We never corresponded on this matter via private mail. I think you have me mixed up with somebody else. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 02:31:38 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: Re: Siege of Darokin Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- On Fri, 18 Feb 2000 19:11:33 Aaron E Nowack wrote (replying to me): >> However, I did go with the suggested Manscorpions idea from WOTI. We >> played some mass combat with the PCs controlling several parts of >> the 'allied' forces (player's option: Combat & Tactis mass combat - >> yuck! I like the player's option rules in general, but not these >> mass combat rules!) > >I just used my patent-pending "roll a bunch of dice and then make up >whatever you want" method. :) He-he. I usually do, but in this case one of the players (the guy playing the minotaur) specifically asked if we could run mass combat because he wanted to see what it was like. He also wanted to command troops in combat which would normally be out of the question for a minotaur except that his Hat of Disguise will let him get away with looking like a really big human, and also he very nearly lost his life saving Duke, now King, Stefan's life from assassins, so despite his nature he has some credit in Karameikos. Besides, he's not quite the beastly minotaur - basically he was a 'monster' in the Arena of Thyatis for many years and eventually became a really tough fighter as he learned from his various opponents (it's one mean PC I tell you...) > >This is pretty cool stuff! If it weren't for the fact that my campaign >just abruptly came to a halt due to one of the two players flunking out >of school I would have to "borrow" some of it in return. Oh well, at >least it ended on a real great adventure (BTW, Callidus Assasians are >great fun to throw at players... :) Assassins are always nice (!), except that the group just faced the great threat of keeping assassins from killing King Stefan (Buraiyas from Sind - I use them as a master 'assassins league' that can operate all over Mystara - the fact that they are fanatic worshippers of Hel doesn't exactly make me like them less as a DM, especially during the whole WotI affair). Oh, one question I forgot to mention: The wyvern-riding mage! Does he (and the wyvern) have a name? Does he have a feared nickname among his enemies (Darokin)? I don't like 'Dragonlord' or 'Dragonmaster' (too much Dragonlance), and 'Dragon-rider' doesn't sound very dangerous to me. Was there such a name for him in your campaign? - The Stalker Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 20:32:02 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Aaron E Nowack Subject: Re: Siege of Darokin MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Sat, 19 Feb 2000 02:31:38 +0100 The Stalker writes: > Assassins are always nice (!), except that the group just faced the > great threat of keeping assassins from killing King Stefan Callidus are really nice, b/c they're just like dopplegangers, except the standard methods of detection don't work on them. Got to love stealing stuff from entirely different games and genres. Plus, the look on one player's face when I said the assasians sword went through his plate +1 like a thermonuclear blast through vaporized butter was worth a thousand "I can't believe you stole a monster from a sci-fi minature game"s :) >(Buraiyas > from Sind - I use them as a master 'assassins league' that can > operate all over Mystara - the fact that they are fanatic > worshippers of Hel doesn't exactly make me like them less as a DM, > especially during the whole WotI affair). I use an order of Hulean assasians (including the Callidus-clone) that are practically undetectable. However, once they've completed their mission, they always leave behind one sign of what they have done... an iron coin that's blank on one side and has the cross-fingers symbol of Hule on the other. > Oh, one question I forgot to mention: The wyvern-riding mage! Does > he (and the wyvern) have a name? Does he have a feared nickname > among his enemies (Darokin)? I don't like 'Dragonlord' or > 'Dragonmaster' (too much Dragonlance), and 'Dragon-rider' doesn't > sound very dangerous to me. Was there such a name for him in your > campaign? The wizard's name is Zanzer Tem. (Hmm.. this seems like an opportune time to detail the NPC) Zanzer Tem was a two-bit evil wizard who set up shop in the Orclands and ran a slave-operated salt mine. (The adventure from the "black boxed set".) He was also allied with an orcish bandit, "Orc King Drakka" and the undead master of a ruined fighter's academy (the Hanted Tower adventure). Anyways, a band of adventures defeated his allies, and eventualy Zanzer Tem fell to his death from his wyvern after a battle on top of aforementioned fighter's academy. Or at least, so everyone thought... Zanzer Tem turned out to have been an advance scout for Hule (and much more powerful than he seemed), and a close personal friend of Ismet Atvadervish, commander of the invasion forces. He was raised, but was not seen again in Darokin until the invasion. He swiftly gained a reputation as one of the better invading generals. He gained the nickname "the Scorpion" for his skill at decieving his opponents, and his favorite tactic of luring the enemy into a charge and then attacking with a flanking manuver on both sides (a pincer attack). He was fond of flamboyant battle magic, particuarly the fireball spell, with which he was quite accopmplished at using to best effect. IMC, he died in the skys over Darokin City as the Karameikos/Five Shires/Alfheim/Selencia reinforcements arrived to break the siege. IYC, he can show up wherever needed, of course. BTW, the wyvern riding mage in X4 is Zanzer's brother... Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis." http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/5930/ ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 21:25:22 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: HW modules and WotI (Part 2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed EXCELLENT STORY!!!!!!!EVER CONSIDER WRITTING A BOOK? KING. >From: DM >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: [MYSTARA] HW modules and WotI (Part 2) >Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 01:35:56 +0100 > >Ok, this is part two of the revised Blood Brethren Trilogy. I hope You all >still remember what I've written in the first part... ;) > > >What Happened to the Vanished Immortals? > >This is obviously Thanatos's plan to cause more mischief and suffering in >both the hollow and the surface world. Originally he wanted to revive the >Great Anellids and corrupt the Spell of Preservation, as described in the >Blood Brethren Trilogy, but he reasoned that he couldn't suceed with all >the Immortals around. So he planned to use the suspicion and rivalry caused >by the Ixion-Rad conflict to get rid of some powerful Immortals without >getting caught. >First of all he needed a bait, and so he thought: what could keep the >Immortals away from the world long enough for his plan to work? And the >answer was in the timespace continuum! He would have used the cause which >is at the heart of the dispute between the Immortals as bait: Blackmoor. So >he staged the plan to disrupt the timeframe. This, he knew, would have >attracted Father Time's attention, so he also needed to find a way to >imprison Khoronus long enough. And then he discovered the Comeback Inn, the >solution to all his problems! >He went back in time, assumed a mortal identity and suggested to the Iron >Duke the plan to abduct the most important figure in Blackmoor's future >history, its founder: King Uther (as per DA1). This caused a temporal >anomaly, and when Khoronus went to Blackmoor to investigate, assuming >another mortal ID, Thanatos and his helpers ambushed him as well, taking >him to the Future Comeback Inn (which is VEERY FAR in the future, contrary >to DA1, say in AC 1250) and imprisoning his mortal ID. He knew the other >Immortals would have followed soon after, that they would have arrived just >moments later Khoronus's disappearence (since time has really no meaning to >a person who can travel in time) and so he used his wits to trick them into >believing he was going along. Before entering the Comeback Inn as the >magician who teleports King Uther in the dungeon (forgot the name), he left >in the present an avatar, who posed as the real Thanatos. Then the avatar >traveled to the temporal anomaly with the other Immortals and pretended to >go to Blackmoor timeframe, while Thanatos was already there assuming his >mortal ID. Thanatos tricked the other immortals (Ixion, Korotiku, Ordana >and Djaea) the same way he did with Khoronus, and brought them in the >future. And there they were ALL stuck, since nobody can escape the Comeback >Inn without help from a servant of the inn! But this was something Thanatos >knew, and for this reason he remained in the past of Blackmoor, hoping to >bribe some servant for a passage outside and return back to his present. > > >Meantime, in the Present.. > >Still with me? Ok. Now, when the Immortals disappeared, Thanatos left >instructions to his servants and fiends to start the second part of his >plan. The Blood Brethren had already been freed when Khoronus disappeared >(see below), and now the fiends, polymorphed as Angels of both Ixion and >Vanya, traveled the outer planes to seize the artifacts that gave the >faithful their powers in the Immortals' absence. This would have caused a >turmoil both in the Upper Spheres and in the Prime, so his plan in the HW >would maybe go unchecked. And indeed it nearly functioned. The Immortals >started accusing one another, and with their leader vanished, the Ring of >Fire was enraged to the top and blamed Rad and his fellows for this >treachery. The remaining Hierarchs, Odin, Terra, Ilsundal, Protius and Hel, >on Hel's proposal, decided to SEAL Temporal Prime so nobody could open a >gate to it and tamper with it any more than what has already been done. >This was supposed to be a temporary measure until the culprit of the >situation had been found, the vanished Immortals located and the order >restored. So the five Spheres united and Temporal Prime was closed: this >means nobody could open a gate to Temporal Prime from any of the timeframe >and realities (although it was possible for those already in Temporal Prime >to go in any timeframe, but they remained trapped there). >Valerias began to search all the planes to find her lover, but to no avail. >So she began looking in the Prime and on Mystara. In the meantime, Ka and >Hel were the only Immortals of the Hollow World council who remained >vigilant on the HW, and when Hel sensed something strange going on in the >HW crust she decided to omit this discovery. It was Ka and Noumena who >later discovered some tampering with the HW energies and the Spell of >Preservation both in Azca and Nithia, but just as they were beginning their >researches, they were attracted by the opening of a gate to an outer plane >in Shajhapur (something impossible to all but Immortals in the HW). So they >went there investigating, discovered the Emerald River and its guardian, >Dakka, and got trapped there (see below)! Valerias was warned by her >agathinon on the Prime, Shineton-ka, that the Blood Brethren had escaped >their prison, and she traced them in the HW. And she as well sensed the >gate in the Temple of the Eight Sweet Winds and got trapped in the Emerald >River! >This way, no Immortal remained to vigil on the HW affairs, and the >corruption of the Spell of Preservation continued unchecked.. or so >Thanatos (who at this time was still in Blackmoor) thought. > > >The Blood Brethren: Their True History. > >The Blood Brethren were not goblins, rather they were the sons of a >powerful Nithian noble and wizard named Socaris. Socaris's only dream was >to beget a lineage that could make his dinasty powerful and remembered, but >alas he was sterile. When he discovered this, he nearly went mad, for >despite his immense magical powers, he wasn't able to cure his disease. So >clouded by anger and depression was his mind, that he invoked all of the >powers of Nithia to get his spawn. Unfortunately for him, the first to >answer was Thanatos. Thanatos made a pact with him: a life for a life. If >he sacrified his wife, she would have sired his children. And so it came >that Socaris's wife got pregnant when Socaris was already an old man, and >all the people of Tarthys cheered at the news. But the good news soon >turned bad when the young wife died for complications after childbirth, as >Socaris explained. Yet, he was a happy man, since she had given him two >twins! >Socaris grew the twins, Koresh and Simm, with love and affection, as they >were to him his most precious jewels. One chose the path of the father, >while the other ascended the ranks of priesthood with great results. The >two were incredibly keen and wise, and Socaris was proud of them every >moment of his life. But Thanatos had not forgotten his pact: a life for a >life, and the maths didn't match yet. Thanatos began sending omens, dreams >to the two brethren and whispered them promises of power: and their ears, >just like their father's, did listen to him. So they started dabbling in >the dark arts, and Simm converted to the faith of Thanatos after making a >secret pilgrimage to the Tower of Sekaba. The two started amassing large >forbidden tomes, to research dark spells, and sacrificed many people to >their deities' thirst for blood. But this didn't satisfy him. To complete >their corruption he revealed them what their father had done to their >mother, and then suggested to repay him with his own coin. And so it came >that the two twins murdered their own father, who did nothing to avoid his >death so great was the love he had for them. >But it didn't pass to long for the Brethren's activities to be discovered. >It was a young but resolute priest of Isiris, Shineton-ka, who discovered >their grim practices and exposed their murders to the Pharaoh. Shineton-ka >led the assault against their home and chased the two into the desert, >together with his partner Nephra, a priestess of Horon, up to the Tower of >Sekaba. There, resisting the tower's dark effects, they chased the Brethren >inside the tunnels, deep in the earth, and finally got them in the Broken >Lands, where they defeated them and trapped their souls with a spell in two >urns. There they built the Barleycorn Monastery, and were later given the >task to watch over the Brethren by Valerias and Ixion, after they ascended >to the state of Agathinon (angels)! >Indeed, time passed and Shineton-ka and Nephra took out many identities to >travel among the mortals, spread the word of their deities and watch over >the preferred heroes of their Immortals. Unfortunately, it happened that >when Shineton-ka (now known as Richard John Singleton of Darokin in the Old >World) was away, Irila Kaze and a couple of goblin servants came to >Barleycorn following clues and thoughts Thanatos gave her. Irila thought >she would have found a great magical treasure in the monastery, and so >fiercely battled Nephra, using her goblin servants to ambush her, and >killed her. Unfortunately, when she freed the two Blood Brethren, Simm took >possession of the monkey familiar of Kano (one of the goblin) and Koresh >took possession of her body (or of Udan, the other goblin, according to >HWA2). Then the two contacted Thanatos (or maybe T had already given >instructions to Irila, if u follow the Trilogy and want to play all the >three modules) and received instructions. Using the old tunnel from which >they came to the surface world, they returned to the Hollow World and went >respectively to Azca (Simm and Kano) and Shahjapur (Irila/Koresh - or if u >want to use HWA2, Koresh alone went to Nithia and Irila to Shahjapur), to >start the plan to corrupt the HW sun and awaken the Great Anellids. >In Shahjapur, Irila/Koresh's goal (now became the many-armed Dakka) was to >open a gate to the Emerald River, lure there whatever Immortal came to >investigate, and trap them there forever, and so they did. Until the PCs >arrived... > > >Shineton-ka/R.J. Singleton, the Fallen Angel > >Unfortunately for Thanatos, he hadn't predicted that Shineton-ka would have >escaped the massacre at Barleycorn monastery, and when he informed >Valerias, she immediately knew she had to look in the Hollow World. >Shineton-ka wanted to follow her, but was prevented to do so by the fact >that the Brethren had made the tunnel collapse behind them. So the >agathinon waited for a sign of her Mistress in the surface world, consuming >himself with the guilt for having failed his task as Guardian, failed his >Mistress, but above all abandoned his lover Nephra in the moment of the >need (these feelings were obviously a bit exaggerated by his nature). >Valerias soon discovered the hideout of the Blood Brethren, and was >attracted to the Temple of the Eight Sweet Winds in Dharsatra where the >gate to the Emerald River had been opened. There she confronted Dakka, and >forced her to open the gate, thinking her lover Ixion would have been >imprisoned there. Unfortunately for her, she was proven wrong and got >trapped as well by her own powers. But before being trapped there, she left >out a call to Shineton-ka, with a vision to travel to the Hollow World and >to save her. Shineton-ka rallied help (the PCs) and began his trek to the >Atruaghin Plateau, where he knew there was a passage to the lands of Azca >(although he had never used it). Atruaghin sensed something was wrong in >Azca, and saw the intervention of Shineton-ka (who he had also known in the >past) as a good way to investigate the matter without interfering >personally, so he sent omens to him, to the PCs and to his shamani to guide >them to Hovar Duck Watcher and to the Mystic Conveyor, the fastest way to >Azca. [Or, you can have Shineton-ka guide the PCs to Barleycorn and use the >tunnels like the Brethren did, making them still viable, as in HWA1.] The >only goal of Shineton-ka was now to save his Mistress Isiris/Valerias, so >to regain his status and his honor, helping the PCs without revealing them >his true nature. > > >The Emerald River: Key to the Timeflow > >And here we come to the most strange part of the campaign: the Emerald >River. Forget what you've read in the Blood Brethren Trilogy: it is not >Mystara's timestream. Instead, it is an outer plane discovered by Thanatos >with two strange and unique features. Its appearance is that of a >neverending field of rolling green hills, prairies and woods, with an >emerald green sky above, no sun and no clouds, the light coming from the >sky which bathes everything into an unnatural green aura. >First of all, no magic works inside the Emerald River. No spells cast ever >work, no magic abilities function, no magic items retain their properties, >not even artifacts (Similar to Nightstorm plane of HWA3). But there is >more: every spell cast by somebody is absorbed by the plane, and reflected >to the caster as a strange form of black energy field that surrounds him. >The more powerful the spell, the less possible is for the caster to escape >the energy field (in game terms, the caster makes a ST vs Magic at -1 per >level of the spell cast. If the save fails, the caster becomes entrapped in >a black monolith like a statue). In our case, the immortal energy released >by the Immortals as they tried to battle Dakka here (Irila/Dakka tricked >them in using powerful spells while refraining from doing it herself, >knowing the properties of the plane from Thanatos' instructions) was so >powerful that they got trapped by it and turned into black monoliths, one >for each Immortal trapped. And they could escape from their material body >because of the plane's energies, so were trapped there virtually forever. >Unfortunately, Thanatos didn't know that if magic doesn't work inside the >Emerald River, another form of "craft" has a very special power inside it: >music and songs. As a complicated song (the Yantra of the Emerald River) >can open a gate to it without requiring magic, likewise a song could free >the trapped Immortals. Chatterjee, the Shahjapuri samdu, was once again the >key to the PCs goal. Once they battled Dakka and defeated her, Chatterjee >opened the gate to the Emerald river and transported the PCs there. There >Shineton-ka recongnized the symbols inscripted on the monoliths as being >some of Valerias's truenames, and understood there were Immortals trapped >here. When the PCs understood their weapons couldn't help much (and before >anyone could use a spell), Chatterjee proposed them to chant the Mantra of >the Disembodiement to Unity. This could have freed the soul of its >corporeal chains (the body) and let the spirit become one with the heavens >and the Immortals. All of the PCs led by Chatterjee began to chant and >finally the monolith were destroyed, freeing the Immortals.. whose mortal >bodies crumbled soon after, releasing the Immortal souls once and for all! >And now we come to the other strange feature of the Emeral River. In fact, >this plane's sky is a permanent rift to Temporal Prime! It cannot be sealed >in any way, even by Immortals, and through this rift the newly freed >Immortals and the PCs passed into Temporal Prime and went back to >Blackmoor, to help the other Immortals, now that Thanatos's plan had been >exposed. But near the exact point in the timeline they found the Avatar >left behind by Thanatos guarding the timestream. So the Immortals (who had >created a material form in a haste upon entering Temporal Prime) stood >behind to attack him while they opened a gate for the PCs to pass into >Blackmoor timeframe, discover what's wrong and recover the missing >Immortals. > > >DA1, Adventures in Blackmoor: the Last Part. > >Ok, if you've followed me so far, that's basically the end of the story. >Play DA1 as written, with the PCs arriving from outside the Comeback Inn >(not from the gate in the cellar) just a few minutes after the Immortals >have been kidnapped/spirited on the other side of the temporal gate. Now, >they enter the inn, got trapped inside, and the adventure plays on as >written. Only thing is that Thanatos is the treacherous mage, and knows why >the PCs are there, and knows HE CANNOT ESCAPE from the Inn in this >timeframe. So he now hopes he will be able to escape from the Inn in the >future, using the other spy (who's a servant of the Inn and who has got the >medallion to activate the gate). He then suggests the PCs to come with him >to trap them in the future and leave no trace of his deeds behind (not >knowing the three immortals have been freed). Once in the future Comeback >Inn, Thanatos will order his allies to kill the PCs and he himself will >participate in the hunt, but only after extracting from them news of the >situation in the "present". After that, he tries to leave the Inn but much >to his amazement he cannot, since the spy maid is no longer considered a >member of the inn's staff!! This will put Thanatos in a difficult >situation: he has to kill all of the PCs to avoid them free the Immortals >trapped there in the future, and will have to go back to the past to find >another way to escape.. >When everything seems to turn against the PCs, enter the good guys of >Blackmoor led by the Fetch and the Inn's owner (and the three Immortals >Valerias, Ka and Noumena as well, maybe), who come to the future to rescue >their King and battle Thanatos along the PCs' side! They will finally >prevail, (we hope) the Immortals will be taken out of their prison (a >magical prison that prevents them from using their powers and leaving their >mortal Ids), they'll go outside the Inn in the future using the help of the >Inn's owner (who doesn't suspect anything on their true Ids..) and warn >their future fellows to unseal Temporal Prime, so they'll be back in their >own time! >And they will live happily ever after.. or better, for a year or so, till >the breakout of the Wrath of the Immortals. > >Main Result of the Plot: >Thanatos will lose power and rank, giving prominence to Hel. The PCs will >get the Immortals' gratitude (and a wish granted maybe) and Thanatos's >eternal enmity. And they'll have the hook to return back to Blackmoor and >the Comeback Inn for the future DA adventures!! > >Now, what do u think about it?? > > >DM >Senior Editor of the Mystaran Almanac >First Officer of U.S.S. Unicorn > >Visit Marco's Mystara Homepage at: >http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967 > >Join the Mystara Webring at: >http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967/mystring.html > >Join the Starfleet Academy at: >http://gilda.it/startrek (Italian RPG PBEM) > >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 22:34:29 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Ranma Al'Thor Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat In-Reply-To: <01bf7a64$0a455f20$9240d4d4@rmunch> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Fri, 18 Feb 2000, Rob wrote: > >Tarzan ask: What be "heavy war pegasii"? > > Well, you can have a heavy war horse. Why not a heavy war pegasus? :) > Horse doesn't have to fly :) You'd have to somehow breed for stronger flight powers, which might or might not be possible, in order for it to bear more weight. > > Or alternatively, scrolls of protection from magic. Usable by anyone. > Temporary - but on the other hand, easy to make. Unfortunately, it has a > small area of effect. Though if you used "shock troops" with heavier units I'm not sure if it's mobile, either. John Walter Biles : MA-History, ABD, Ph.D Candidate at U. Kansas ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu rhea@tass.org http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html rhea@maison-otaku.net http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/ "The connection is so abstract, that we have people whose job it is to make sure the paperwork doesn't get totally disconnected from the world. Theoretically, I handle millions of dollars a day, but it is less real than this e-mail. I have never seen our product. I have never seen the sales people. I have never seen a customer." --Robert Lane describes his work as an accountant. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 12:58:00 +0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Francisco V. Navarro" Subject: Popular names MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dear Mystarans: I was reading through a baby name book (one that I often use when making up NPCs), and I was wondering: What are the most popular names in the different nations of Mystara? I think this will come in handy when making such NPCs. If your PCs ask you what that merchant's name is whom they bought the supplies from, or what that gondolier's name is who brought them to the party, it would be easy to come up with it. Darokin: Corwyn. Definitely the most popular name, as many important personages in Darokinian history are named Corwyn. Probably associated with wealth and good fortune. Thyatis: Thincol probably gained popularity since the turn of the First Millenium. Variants of it would be Thrainkell. I'm guessing Valerias (or Valeria or Valerya) would also be quite popular for girls. There might even be a good number of Valerio's or Valerius's going around. Karameikos: Stefan for boys, Stefania for girls (like Stefania Torion), and variants, such as Stefanius. Ludwig is not a popular name. Glantri: Would the Averoignians really name their children Etienne? Isidore, probably, but not Etienne. There are several Flaemish nobles named Pieter, although I think Wilhelmine (Wilhelmie, or Wilhelm for boys) and Vanserie would still be quite popular. I wonder if many Boldavians name their sons Morphail? Krondahars name their sons Jherek. Isle of Dawn: My guess, Astriela will become popular, symbolizing the mixing of Thyatian and Alphatian cultures. Well, this is just some of the names of some of the nations. I don't have any more ideas for the rest. Kit Navarro Paparazzi Glantri fanavarro@pacific.net.ph ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 23:24:38 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > > Horse doesn't have to fly :) You'd have to somehow breed for stronger > flight powers, which might or might not be possible, in order for it to > bear more weight. > I think (he'll correct me if I'm wrong) Rob was mainly refering to more damage absorbtion capability, not nessissarily more weight-bearing capability. > > > > Or alternatively, scrolls of protection from magic > > I'm not sure if it's mobile, either. > Well, the description does say that it moves with the person who read the scroll/invoker. It's not like I remembered, though. I had to look it up 8-). ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 01:42:26 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Bugging me MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-18 2:47:27 PM Eastern Standard Time, ironwolf@EWA.NET writes: << David Knott wrote: > > The cause was a simple mix-up in Prince Haldemar's papers. By this > interpretation, Haldemar's logs of the Princess Ark voyages were not > published until ca. 1020 AC or so, by which time the Known World and > the Hollow World were in full contact and Eriadna no longer had any > reason to keep Haldemar's explorations secret. Hollow World in full contact? That doesn't sound like any canon material I've read.>> I am basically suggesting that Haldemar's journals and other papers were published at some point later in time than the PWAs, Joshuan's Almanac, and the existing Net Almanacs, the last of which had some events that greatly increased contact between the outer world and the Hollow World in 1016 AC. I figured that I should allow a few more years for people to adjust to the revelation of this reality and thus for Haldemar's discoveries during his voyages to become less sensitive politically. At that point, the Empress Eriadna would approve publication of his writings and send people to gather up those writings from his home, edit them, and then publish them. If Haldemar is away exploring at the time, then he is not available to help out and some mistakes of the sort I suggest might be made. <<> When Haldemar's logs were published, the information about Sir John's > accession and early reign was mistakenly inserted at the point of Prince > Haldemar's visit to Cimarron even though those events did not occur until > many years after Haldemar's visit to the region. Because Haldemar was > busy exploring the Hollow World continent of Jomphur at the time, he was > in no position to correct that error when the Empress Eriadna published > his logs and other papers for all the world to see. In what source was this exploration of Jomphur detailed? >> Mystara Almanac for 1015 or 1016 AC. The arrival of the Princess Ark over the continent of Jomphur is the last mention of Haldemar in the Net Almanacs. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 01:42:27 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: canon? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-18 3:55:29 PM Eastern Standard Time, kinglosser@HOTMAIL.COM writes: << What is "canon"material? please forgive my ignorance,but i've never heared of it. >> Whatever the folks at Wizards say it is. In the absence of any direct statements to the contrary, it can be assumed that any- thing published by TSR is "canonical" (unless it is specifically contradicted by later published material) and that anything pub- lished by anyone else is not. So far no such statements of "canonicity" have been made -- but there has been talk of them approving certain fan material as "canonical", and we can never rule out the possibility that they may officially disown material produced by Wizards as "non-canonical". If Wizards ever does decide to declare any of their own material "non-canonical", then I submit for their consideration the references to Mystaran Immortals in "Warriors of Heaven". As for the relative quality of "canon" vs. "non-canon" material, I refer you to the excellent message posted on this thread by James Ruhland. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 01:42:28 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Multilingual names-Hawaiian MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-18 6:42:42 PM Eastern Standard Time, gwxup@EXCITE.COM writes: << sorry to the Ohad's, Marco's, Jenny's, Aleksei's, Thibault's, Shawn's, Byron's, Jennifer's, Leroy's, & Geoff's: I couldn't find translations of yours, the closest I can guess would be: Ohad: Ohak (complete guess?)>> The first name that I see a problem with.... << Marco: Maleko, Mareko (both actually mean Mark or Marc) Jennifer: you would probaly be the same as Jenni/Jenny = Kini Aleksei: Alex/Alec would be Alika. Alexander would be Alekanekelo, Alekanedero or Alika. And Alexis would be Aleki. you could probaly use one of those. Thibault: Kipaulk (complete guess?)>> Second problem name.... << Shawn: no clue, the 'Sh' doesn't translate consitently>> Try "Sean" or "John". I am sure that the shop I visited on Kauai with all of those keyrings and nametags took care of this one somehow. << Byron: Pilon (complete guess?)>> Third problem name.... << Leroy: Lioleo or Leoleo (Leo can be either Roy or Leo and Lio can also mean Leo) Geoff: perhaps you could use Geoffrey = Keopele, Geofere >> The "problem" names: From what little I recall of the Hawaiian language, they never end a syllable with a consonant -- every syllable consists of a consonant followed by a vowel or a vowel alone. As a result, none of the names I identified as "problem" names sound Hawaiian to me. Here are my attempts at rescuing the "problem" names: Byron: Pilona? Ohad: Ohaka? Thibault: Try finding a similar English name and translating it. "Theobald" is the closest equivalent that I can think of offhand, although it is rare enough in English that it may not help you much. But seriously, the best solution to these problems might be to take a look at the keyrings or other items with "Hawaiian" names in a "tourist trap" shop in Hawaii. Maybe there is a list member who actually lives in Hawaii who could take care of this? If not, then maybe the next person to go there could look up some names. I may be there in mid-July, if I elect to stop there on my way back from "Myoshima". If anyone is going there sooner, let us know in case you have the chance to do that research. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 09:44:42 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Poll: Need YOUR votes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Another bunch of MML'ers who still MUST vote! (or at least I think so) Arminath Wynter Beyowulf (Andrew Toth) Bill Manley Clay Postma (Froggy) Dave Keyser Eleonor Williams Jason O'Brien John R Hofman Lawrence Cabrera Magister Mystaros Matt Thomasson Matthew Wang Mike Harvey Mirko Pellicioni Oliver Patrick Sullivan Peter Balazs Tomas Sanchez Vote e-mailing me personally at scarole@tin.it Ave! Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis 'They say Thyatians want to catalogue everything. Is it true?' 'Oh, no. It's just a stupid prejudice. Instead of saying stupid things, help me: in this armory there should be 45 swords and 6 daggers, but I can count only 44 swords and 5 daggers...and what the * is an axe doing here??.' ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 09:45:25 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Glantrian Wizards vs King MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Karnarius Demitrian says: > "The only reason I would ever go to Glantri would be to destroy the arrogant > bastards.If I were King, I'd have all non-Thyatian wizards thrown into the > pit in aegos,not to mention loser would be spelled losser.That's if I were > King." > > "King, your an idiot." > replise Karnarius's commander. Oooh....now I begin to guess why Kit Navarro said that. Is there a better explanation why Karnarius is not welcome in Glantri, apart political considerations? Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis 'So you're from Glantri. We were allies in the war, weren't we?' (Iulius Sergius Scaevola to a Glantrian mage visiting Thyatis) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 09:06:42 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Ezio Pignatelli Organization: SISSA - Trieste - Italy Subject: Re: MA Layout MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-2 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit .rtf files can be cumbersome, but I am not really interested in the problem. For me, the real problem is that (as all Linux users out there) I cannot read them (apart if installing StarOffice, and that is so huge is going to fill most of my disk :) ). .pdf, .ps and .html are ok. .rtf is just a Windows standard, and so somehow internal to Windows users. Note that I am not blaming you. After all, you are doing a lot of work on this almanac, and you are free to distribute it in the format you wish. I am just saying that because I know that often Windows users do not realize there is a growing percentage of non-Windows out here, and may not evaluate this fact while chosing the format. My 0.02$ worth. Keep up the good work, Herve'! -- Ezio Pignatelli --- SISSA -- Room 9 via Beirut 4 - 34014 Trieste - Italy Phone: +39-040-3787525 Fax:+39-040-3787528 mailto:pignatel@sissa.it http://www.sissa.it/ap/pignatel.html -- ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 03:28:29 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: George Hrabovsky Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Everyone seems to be isolating segments of the RAF as though they would be fighting alone. I doubt that you would find a situation where you had massed Pegasi/Griffon riders without heavier forces to back them up. This develops a synergistic effect. The enemy can ignore the swarm of "lesser" (chuckle) troops and focus their attention on the dragons or sphinxes or rocs, only to have the other guys board and start ripping up your guys the next round. If the fire is split between the pegasi/griffon troops and the heavy guys then it becomes less effective against really bad ones. Here is how I handle the RAF IMC, there are levels of units: 1) There are fighting patrols consisting of a single unit of Pegasi-/Hippogriff-/Griffon-riders (about 40) backed up by 2-4 Sphinxes/Dragons/Rocs. Their mission is to patrol areas expected to be used by the enemy for the purposes of harrassment. 2) Interdiction Force: Mission is to land at a vital point and control it (at least temporarily) in order to deny passage by the enemy. Such forces would be employed to prevent reinforcements from reaching invasion areas, for example. These would generally consist of a unit of about 120 Pegasi-/Hippogriff-/Griffon-riders backed up by a squadron of 12 Sphinxes/Dragons/Rocs. Such units would be used only against high-value and dangerous targets. 3) Short-Range Raiding Force: Used to attack high-value targets just behind enemy lines (supply caravans, local headquarters, reserve forces that are trying to rest, etc.). These would be similar to an interdiction force. 4) Long-Range Raiding Force: Used to attack high-value targets deep in enemy territory that are of strategic importance (ports, supply bases, maufacturing facilities, etc.) These would employ 2 or more squadrons of Sphinxes/Dragons/Rocs. 5) Battle Force: Used to break a stalemate at a vital point. This force would employ 1-2 Regiments of the more normal Pegasi-/Hippogriff-/Griffon-riders backed up by 3-4 Squadrons of Sphinxes/Dragons/Rocs. BAD NEWS! Hope this is interesting... George ----- Original Message ----- From: Rob To: Sent: Friday, February 18, 2000 12:56 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] RAF/Skynavy - Combat > >Well, I'm not sure about that, for the following reasons: > > The Pegasii and Hippogriffs provide little more than flight to > their > >riders. They have negligable melee capabilities (you have to get really > >close, and they probably can't fly while using hooves and bites). That's > >three fourths of the force. Also, it hardly matters if the rider is 5th > >level: Wand of Magic Missles directed at either of these mounts means a > >quick decent. > > There seems to be an obsession with the Almighty Firepower of a wand of > magic missiles here... A wand of magic missiles is a rather short ranged > popgun. Its not beyond possibility that a pegasus would survive a blast (if > you have heavy war pegasi (!) then they definitely would). > > > The Griffons are somewhat better - but still, no ranged attack. > They stand > >up better against enemy fire, however, thus meaning the rider & mount are > >roughly equally survivable (one reason why my guys in flying-only units > >tend to be mounted on Griffons or better, with the Hippogriffs and Pegasii > >dispursed among other units, in effect acting primarily in a > >scouting/reconissance role rather than primarily an aerial battle role) > > Yeah, but in melee a Griffon is nasty. > > This is why I reckon the Skynavy is ill equipped to deal with swarm tactics > and boarding actions. The ship will get one volley, which will drop a few > riders, and next round the RAF will be on the decks and ripping apart > wizards in melee. > > I refer you to Flash Gordon for ideas :) > . > > > Since the Skyships as described in CoM have Protection from > "Mornal" > >Missiles, this means that for the bulk of the force, they'd only really be > >effective (IMO) if they were armed with enchanted bows. > > Trading fire with a skyship - ie, the boltmen and the shipmounted weapons, > is undoubtably a bad idea, especially given all the defences on an Alphatian > skyship. Boarding is the way to go. > > >> Though I maintain that the Alphatian Skynavy is not well equipped to deal > >> with a swarm of flying fighters, its better equipped for ship to ship > >> combat. > >> > >Probably true with respect to its artillery (Ballistas, Catapults) - but > >again it depends upon what you assume the Skynavy marines are armed with. > > Assuming mostly wands of magic missiles with a few wands of death, fire and > lightning thrown in... > The boltmen will get one round of fire before melee. They better make it a > good one. > > Hmm, I'll have to design a Thyatian spell, like Dispel Magic, that disrupts > the activation of magic items as well as spellcasting, just to get over that > first round.... > > > > >Anyhow, it might be interesting to turn these musings into tangible > >descriptions of each force: a version of each for "high magic" campaigns > >and one for "lower* magic" campaigns (I didn't say "low" magic, because any > >campaign with skyships and guys mounted on dragons and griffons isn't "low > >magic"). Champions of Mystara-type Skyships & Boltmen would be used in the > >"High Magic" description, with equivilent RAF descriptions, but more toned > >down versions of both in the "Lower Magic" descriptions. > > Well, you have already done the RAF havn't you James? > > Cheers > > Rob > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 03:33:12 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: George Hrabovsky Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit How about having a gate-like teleportal at the RAF HQ? This would allow a number of RAF forces to deploy to a threatened sector quickly and economically. The thing would have a duration of effect and a certain number of times it could be used each day... George ----- Original Message ----- From: James Ruhland To: Sent: Friday, February 18, 2000 1:43 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] RAF/Skynavy - Combat > > > > There seems to be an obsession with the Almighty Firepower of a wand of > > magic missiles here... > > > Well, not an "obsession", but it's range isn't *that* bad (150', the same > as a Short Bow), and it never misses. > > > A wand of magic missiles is a rather short ranged > > popgun. Its not beyond possibility that a pegasus would survive a blast > (if > > you have heavy war pegasi (!) then they definitely would). > > > Tarzan ask: What be "heavy war pegasii"? > Surviving isn't the question, like it is on the ground. The main question > is: after taking damage from the hit, can the pegasii still stay in the > air? IIRC, there's a certain % damage threshold after which you're forced > to land (sometimes faster than you'd like). > > Of course, if the Wands are Wands of Lightning Bolts, then it's virtually > moot anyhow. The range of those puppies are good (180' for Lightning Bolts, > 240' for Fireball), and the damage is much heavier. That's what Haldemar's > guys are armed with; Lightning & Fireball Wands (supposedly) account for > 2/3 of the Wands used by Boltmen on Men-of-War. > Again, the question mainly is: are we to assume CoM is accurate? How does > one arm up each side's forces? Then we'll know better, IMO, how each force > would match up in an actual fight. > > > > Yeah, but in melee a Griffon is nasty. > > > True. It's like making Rabbit Stew, I guess (Instructions: "first, catch > the rabbit"). > > > This is why I reckon the Skynavy is ill equipped to deal with swarm > tactics > > and boarding actions. The ship will get one volley, which will drop a > few > > riders, and next round the RAF will be on the decks and ripping apart > > wizards in melee. > > > Yes - once they get close, it's all over unless the fighter-Marines can > keep the RAF guys occupied. Which means knowing a bit more about them, too > (if they're too busy manning the Balistas below decks, then they won't be > much use against guys landing on the main deck). > > > > Trading fire with a skyship - ie, the boltmen and the shipmounted > weapons, > > is undoubtably a bad idea, especially given all the defences on an > Alphatian > > skyship. Boarding is the way to go. > > > True. Which leads to a very nasty idea, re. only one magic item being > enough by itself for the RAF to simply shred the Skynavy: an amulet > enchanted with the D&D version of Anti-Magic Shell. Of course, something > like Immunity would be nice as well (then even the artillery would be > impotent) - Immunity is high cost, though (since high level), so probably > only one or the other could be used. > Still, have to see the ship to board it, which means Detect Invisibility. > Teleportation would also be useful, possibly even more useful than it is > for the Alphatian Skynavy (quickly re-deploying RAF units to threatened > sectors). > > > > Assuming mostly wands of magic missiles with a few wands of death, fire > and > > lightning thrown in... > > The boltmen will get one round of fire before melee. They better make it > a > > good one. > > > True. There's a *lot* on each ship (well, on the Men-of-War at least: the > others are relatively less likely to be capable of a massed volley). > Anyhow, this was in part why I emphasized a couple times in the earlier > debate that it's probably much harder to build one of these Skyships than > it is to destroy (or capture) it. > > > Hmm, I'll have to design a Thyatian spell, like Dispel Magic, that > disrupts > > the activation of magic items as well as spellcasting, just to get over > that > > first round.... > > > Right; that's another option, something that counters magic on a short term > basis (one round, or a couple rounds, or whatever). > > > > Well, you have already done the RAF havn't you James? > > > I've done what I'd call "my version," which would probably be towards the > "Lower Magic" end of the spectrum (I don't even keep to the percents > outlined in the Player's Guide to Thyatis - for folks who think I'm > Thyatis-happy, doing everything possible to build them up, note that there > are far fewer dragons than one might "expect" in my version; the breakdown > of my forces is as follows: > > Total "RAF" type personell: 2,658 (3,158/4,158) > Total Dragons: 50 (less than 2%, rather than 4%) > Total Griffons: 396 (~15%, yes - more than 10%) > Total Sphinxes: 204 (~7.5%) > Total Rocs: 0 > > The remainder are Pegasii and Hippogriffs. > (In other words, the exess Griffons all come out of the proportion one > would expect to see in Sphinxes, Dragons, and Rocs.) Most of the troopers > are lower than 5th level (in fact, less than a third are 5th level or > higher). > So, that's perhaps the "Lower Magic" version, which lines up in opposition > to the "Lower Magic" version of the Skynavy. Of course there's also a > "Skyship Component" to what I have on my website, which adds in 500 men > (it's true they also are 5th level or higher), the ships themselves not > being described. There's also the "optional" Hetaereia Augustiana, > likewise, but again without a description of the ships involved. Those are > more "High Magic" components, I admit, though it's fungible because of the > fact that the ships themselves are left very vague (in any case, if you > can't tell by the tone, the Hetaereia Augustiana is virtually a spoof on > the "Imperial Alphatian Guard" from PWA II - take it seriously if you want, > or not if you don't). Actually I've been vaguely pondering re-designing > that unit & the other one which uses skyships, but haven't gotten around to > it because 1) it's not a real priority on my "to do" list and 2) I'm still > debating with myself what the re-design should look like, and whether or > not to eliminate entirely the skyships, describe them more fully, use > versions of the "Thyatian Skyships" I've posted before, or what. And > dispite a couple interesting suggestions provided by various folks, I still > haven't really found a substitute for the JuJu Zombies (in the Hetaereia > Augustiana) that really grabs me. Anyhow, the total Thyatian Skyships for > the two units that have them come to 21, none of which are as large as a > Man-of-War if you judge by the number of personell carried by them. > For a "High Magic" version, well, I donno - I'm starting to work on some > ideas (see above re Anti-Magic Shell - of course, that probably wouldn't be > a good idea in the AD&D version, which is more of a "sphere" than a "shell" > - affecting the inside, not just a protective shell; making the > "Bumber-Chute" not work is probably a bad idea, same with the Breathing > Gear to a lesser extent.) Making all the dudes 5th level instead of most of > 'em about 3rd level & making the proportions of mounts "accurate" (more > Dragons, Sphinxes, & Rocs, fewer Griffons) would be another bump up towards > a "High Magic" version (and more true to the DotE version). > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 03:57:27 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: George Hrabovsky Subject: The Song of Halav MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Here is the version of the Song of Halav that I give the Priests of the Church of Traladara IMC: The Song of Halav "Once there were, a long time ago, a people blessed by the Immortals. The Traldar were given the Great Forest." "The Traldar lived simply and were happy, they fished the sea and hunted the forest, mostly they were fair and worshipped the Immortals." "Unknown to men, a darkness had gathered, far to the west, the beastmen grew. They were coming for spoils, for land, and for slaves." "The Immortals of the beastment were matched by those of the Traldar, they battled much but neither side would yield, the battle was a draw." "As one, one both sides it became clear," to avoid annihilation there was only one way, the battle would be decided by mortals!" "To Lavv, a village of men, now lost, The Immortals came to find those to lead. They chose clever youths to teach their secrets." "Halav, Red-Hair, was the first to be chosen, a maker of stone knives he was clever. To make armor and arms of bronze he was taught." "Lovely Petra, Halav's lover, was next in the line, a maker of pottery and arts was she. To make bows, to weave, and to heal did she learn." "Wild Zirchev was last, the Immortals to see, a master hunter and trapper was he. The secrets of forests and beasts was he taught." "The three, gathered by the Immortals, were told, of the approach of the beastment. The three told their pwople, who refused to hear." "The King of Lavv had the three brought to him, he scoffed, and laughed, dishonoring all. Halav slew him with a stroke of his bronze sword." "King Halav, Queen Petra, and Zirchev the Hunter, taught the people their secrets. The villages joined and swelled into cities." "Halav became a great hero, a just and kind ruler, his fairness became widely known. To him came all cities, a mighty nation was born." "The tide of the beastment then broke over them, upon the bronze of their armor it broke. The numberless horde had arrived, the war went on." "As the eternal battle raged on, it was said, for every gleaming suit that was rent, a dozen of their dark foes had gone down." "Then it happened, as the fates had required. King Halav, in his bronze, found his great foe. He was wolf-headed and twice the height of a man." "The ax of the beast met the bronze sword of Halav, the echoes rang out and all stopped to watch. The two warriors danced, wove, and struck." "For hours they fought, to the cheers of their soldiers, both sides marvelled at the stamina shown. Neither would yeild and neither would fall." "When neither could raise their weapons or move, a halt was called and both rested and drank. Halav spoke well of his foe, who spoke well of Halav." "The two rose to fight, the tension was great, they battled again, would it end this time? The battle raged, then one final blow did they strike!" "The two armies looked on, both clearly stunned, the two leaders were dead, confusion reigned. The beastmen faltered, the Traldars barely held." "As the beastmen retired, Petra met Zirchev, together they bore Halav home to Lavv. In Lavv the pyre burned, the people wept." "The three were seen no more by men, Petra and Zirchev joined Halav. The Immortals bore them away, to return again, some day..." George ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 11:03:47 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >That's what I mean, though - it's Off to give everyone (in effect) +5 Rings >of Protection, Rings of Invisibility, Circlets of Mind Bar, Amulets of >Spell Turning, and Bracers of Protection vs. Normal Missiles as a constant >effect, too. Then add in the Wands on top of that. The whole thing is a bit >Off - that's part of my point - but that's what we've got. . . Well, I've explained away boltmen wands somewhat IMC. As for the Alphatian Imperial Guard or whatever they are called - they have been stripped right down. Rings of prot +4 for everybody? I think not. >> One of the reasons I use a Boltman kit for the Alphatians is so that you >> need to be a Boltman to be able to use their wands. >> >See, that's also a bit Off in my book: provide one side with all the above, >then eliminate the possible drawbacks (gear falling into enemy hands and >being used against you) - that's not a bit Off? Not really. The addition of a kit a) explains how they have got it b) allows me to weaken it a bit (miniwands, 6 charges max, kit penalties, that sort of thing) c) keeps every nation distinct in its style Its c) that gets me the most. I havnt really used the Thyatians that much except as a backdrop (allies of PCs dont normally get as much detail as the enemies of the PCs) but if I was looking at them in more detail they would get some of their own unstealable stuff. Technically nothing is not stealable - making a Boltman kit necessary to use their weapons is still duplicatable. You would just need to duplicate their training as well. That sits a bit more easily with my logical mind. I've done similar stuff with the priests of Vanya - I give them various magical weapons and armour as they go up levels (+1 armour/shield/sword at level 3, +2 armour/shield/sword at level 7, +3 armour/shield/sword at level 12, armour of command/sword of slicing/various shields at level 14) and I dont allow that to be stolen either. This stuff is Armour of the Faith, and used by a nonpriest it is merely a suit of normal plate. Its a little different as that is effectively part of their special priesthood abilities meaning they are limited on other aspects (few Spheres for example) but thats typical of what I do with different nations. Bit like in the Hollow World, where each nation has its little perk. In the Outer World they are big perks, however. >> A good tactic from the >> Alphatian point of view (special training required) otherwise they could >> find themselves on the receiving end of their own weapons. >> >Which otherwise would be a "limiting factor" - one removes the limiting >factors, then wonder where game balance went. I had it here, somewhere 8-) Well, you could keep game balance by allowing the bad guys to make off with them. But that just wrecks the style of the game in my view, Thyatian Boltmen just do not wash with me. Better to just improve the Thyatians to keep up - and conversely prevent anyone else from stealing the Thyatian perks. Then you have two equals with very different abilities. Bit like IMC a Flaemish fire wizard is quite different from a Herathian mage, not only in outlook but in abilities. >Yes - they weakified that, too, once they figured out what the implications >might be. It then became nothing, really. Plus, again: that's a differrence >between stories and games (case in point, TNG: had they actually behaved as >the show has them behaving in what passes for "battles", checking damage >reports every time someon gets a hangnail as a result of a near miss and >firing back only about once every other day, they'd have been roasted. The >Captain should either allow Gunnery to fire at will, or let Engeneering & >Medical handle the damage reports while he concentrates on winning the >battle, and worries about how many "Crewman Jones" types recieved 1st >degree burns after it's over. B5 was much better as far as battle sequences >went. They had "Phase-Ship" types {Shadow Vessels} in that, but they always >"Unphased" when needed for the plot, too.) Its so much easier when you control all aspects of the game :) Pity we have players really :) >> And automatic, more importantly. I doubt having level 11+ people in your >> armed forces is "free" :) >> >Well, IMO such folks would be more acting as "public spirited citizens of >Ylaruam (or Vestland, or wherever)" if and when a skyship flew overhead >into their nation. Otherwise things do become very grotesquely one-sided, >as apready noted. The guys might not sign up immediately to help defend the >nation, but at least they could give "heads up" so that Ylaruam City (or >Glantri City, or wherever) isn't just destroyed with no prior warning. >Again, the whole CoM skyship thing seems a bit Off to me if the "standard >defence" requires stationing 11th level Troops around the perimiter of your >country in order to detect an incursion. 8-) Well, yeah I spose. I was thinking of having 11+ guys in the armed forces. Didnt take into account the 11+ guys who abound in the countryside who could spot them. Mind you, Invis isnt such a huge deal, they could just fly above the cloud layer. They are Air Wizards as well, so you could presume that if there is no cloud layer they could make one... I'd use psionic detect invisibility from the Netbook, its got an unlimited detect range (Line of Sight) but I cant say that because I would be thrashed to death by the psih8ers :) Cheers Rob ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 11:04:59 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >> Or alternatively, scrolls of protection from magic. Usable by anyone. >> Temporary - but on the other hand, easy to make. Unfortunately, it has a >> small area of effect. Though if you used "shock troops" with heavier units > >I'm not sure if it's mobile, either. 5' radius centred on the reader, I believe - just like a small antimagic shell (a foul, overly powerful too low level spell if ever I saw one). Cheers Rob ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 05:46:11 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Greg Weatherup Subject: Re: Multilingual names-Hawaiian Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >> Ohad: Ohak (complete guess?)>> > > The first name that I see a problem with.... > >> Thibault: Kipaulk (complete guess?)>> > > Second problem name.... > > << Shawn: no clue, the 'Sh' doesn't translate consitently>> > > Try "Sean" or "John". I am sure that the shop I visited on Kauai with all > of those keyrings and nametags took care of this one somehow. well I tried another dictonary and found it: Kana for Shawn. for Sean: also Kana for John:Keoni or Ioane; Ione > > << Byron: Pilon (complete guess?)>> > > Third problem name.... I also found this one in that third dictionary. It would be Pailona > > The "problem" names: From what little I recall of the Hawaiian language, > they never end a syllable with a consonant -- every syllable consists of > a consonant followed by a vowel or a vowel alone. As a result, none of > the names I identified as "problem" names sound Hawaiian to me. your completely right, I didn't even catch that. I was in a hurry so I just transliterated those three and didn't then try sounding it out and just hit send. >Here > are my attempts at rescuing the "problem" names: > > Byron: Pilona? Pailona, see above > > Ohad: Ohaka? that would be my guess also, if a name ends in d they normally use an a. > > Thibault: Try finding a similar English name and translating it. "Theobald" > is the closest equivalent that I can think of offhand, although it is rare > enough in English that it may not help you much. Well I tried Theobald in all three, no luck (I even tried Thibault in that third dictionary.) The closest I could get was Theodore or Theophilus or Thaddeus, maybe you could use one of them? Theodore: Keokolo, Teodoro (catholic); Keokoa, Teodoa. Theophilus: Keopilo, Teopilo Thaddeus: Kakaio, Tadaio; Kaki > > But seriously, the best solution to these problems might be to take a look > at the keyrings or other items with "Hawaiian" names in a "tourist trap" shop > in Hawaii. Maybe there is a list member who actually lives in Hawaii who > could take care of this? If not, then maybe the next person to go there could > look up some names. I may be there in mid-July, if I elect to stop there on > my way back from "Myoshima". If anyone is going there sooner, let us know > in case you have the chance to do that research. Well, I unfortunately won't be going back home for a couple more years :( so you would be first, but let's actually find out if these people are even interested? If there's anybody else who wants there name translated, you'd probaly should email us two sepearatly so as not to clog the list. GWxup@excite.com & Kaviyd@AOL.COM btw, David is Kawika, Davida; Kewiki Greg Weatherup Gecko GWxup@excite.com http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/spock/67/index.html _______________________________________________________ Get 100% FREE Internet Access powered by Excite Visit http://freeworld.excite.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 09:29:03 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Aaron E Nowack Subject: Re: canon? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Sat, 19 Feb 2000 01:42:27 EST David Knott writes: > In a message dated 2000-02-18 3:55:29 PM Eastern Standard Time, > kinglosser@HOTMAIL.COM writes: > If Wizards ever does decide to declare any of their own material > "non-canonical", then I submit for their consideration the > references > to Mystaran Immortals in "Warriors of Heaven". Actually, back when stan's site was declared official Jim Butler said that all mentions of Mystara not published under the OD&D or Mystara logos don't take precedence over products that were. Specifically, he said the "canonically" WotI has precedence over Warrior of Heavan. Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis." http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/5930/ ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 11:44:48 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Clay Postma Subject: Re: Poll: Need YOUR votes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ok...how about Cynidicea? :) one of the projects that I am working on for the upcoming Gazetteer :) froggy ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 11:22:33 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Everyone seems to be isolating segments of the RAF as though they > would be fighting alone. I doubt that you would find a situation where > you had massed Pegasi/Griffon riders without heavier forces to back > them up. This develops a synergistic effect. > Well, haven't "ignored" that, but haven't discussed it as extensively. It was mentioned in several posts. > Here is how I handle the RAF IMC, there are levels of units: > > Hope this is interesting... > Yes, it was very interesting, at least to me. In fact, I'd be interested to see more details if you have them - if you think it'd bore the list as a whole, just send them to augustium@geocities.com. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 11:26:35 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > How about having a gate-like teleportal at the RAF HQ? This would allow > a number of RAF forces to deploy to a threatened sector quickly and > economically. The thing would have a duration of effect and a certain > number of times it could be used each day... > That's a possibility. A large "Mirror of Mental Prowess" like thing, in effect (mainly for moving things, not so much for divinatory stuff or Scrying, if I get your meaning). Would make it easier to re-deploy forces. Probably have to think of some limits, though (so they can't just be put anywhere on Mystara that Thyatis wants - mainly movement within their own territory). Therefore a variation on that theme might be gate-like teleportation networks, linking the RAF HQ to various cities & fortresses throughout the Thyatian Empire - that would allow them to move between threatened sectors, but not (for example) dump them off in the middle of Sundsvall. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 11:35:56 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Well, I've explained away boltmen wands somewhat IMC. As for the Alphatian > Imperial Guard or whatever they are called - they have been stripped right > down. Rings of prot +4 for everybody? I think not. > Well, what I was listing was the magical effects/equivilent magic items, that the crew of Men-of-War supposedly get. > > Technically nothing is not stealable - making a Boltman kit necessary to use > their weapons is still duplicatable. You would just need to duplicate their > training as well. That sits a bit more easily with my logical mind. > That's very true. Looked at it that way, it's more reasonable. I keep encouraging you via ICQ to post some of these Kits et al, which would make this thread somewhat more productive (look! Something folks can actually use in a campaign! Neato!) - so now I'll do it now 8-) > > I've done similar stuff with the priests of Vanya > Ditto that - post the description 8-) > > Well, you could keep game balance by allowing the bad guys to make off with > them. But that just wrecks the style of the game in my view, Thyatian > Boltmen just do not wash with me. > Well, yes - there is that. > Better to just improve the Thyatians to keep up - and conversely prevent > anyone else from stealing the Thyatian perks. Then you have two equals with > very different abilities. > Yes - and that was always sort of the point of DotE anyhow, IMO. Two Empires balanced in strength but getting that way by very different routes. > > Its so much easier when you control all aspects of the game :) Pity we have > players really :) > Quite 8-). ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 19:17:38 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Nightmare Site Demi-Update MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Well, I updated the Nightmare Project's Site, at www.geocities.com/Area51/Neptune/3107/ but in fact all the new articles are present also at Shawn's (mainly old Geoff creations- it takes some time to put them all on a single site!!!): Riders of the Wind Dark worship in Mystara: the Thanegioth Archipelago the Precepts of Akh'All Enjoy and tell me about them!!! (I have not received a single comment yet... Now I'm gonna switch off the light in my room, sit on my humble bed, take my head in my hands and cry). And if you wish to contribute...ask me. Maybe something could be done. Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis "Ol' Captain's getting senile, huh? T'say he cries alone in the dark...haha!" "Probably some damned Alphatian spell!!!!" ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 13:29:22 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Meltheim Shadowstalker Subject: Re: Popular names MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Alfheim=Meltheim!!!!! One of the great heroes of Mystara, he is long lived in the faces of children worldwide. Many wish to carry his tradition of bravery, honor, and creativity and name their children accordingly. He is revered by all of elvenkind! Meltheim the Shadowstalker Infiltrator to the Immortals Devotee of Fate Eyes of the Starwatcher ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 12:48:21 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: ranma Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >===== Original Message From Mystara ===== >> > >> Horse doesn't have to fly :) You'd have to somehow breed for stronger >> flight powers, which might or might not be possible, in order for it to >> bear more weight. >> >I think (he'll correct me if I'm wrong) Rob was mainly refering to more >damage absorbtion capability, not nessissarily more weight-bearing >capability. Heavy warhorses get tougher by being bigger and bulkier. That is, among other reasons, why they are called 'Heavy' warhorses, not 'Tough' warhorses. And since the horse itself would weigh more, it would need stronger magic to carry its own weight (I'm assuming Pegasi have to be using some degree of instinctive magic in order to fly). ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 19:02:07 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >That's very true. Looked at it that way, it's more reasonable. I keep >encouraging you via ICQ to post some of these Kits et al, which would make >this thread somewhat more productive (look! Something folks can actually >use in a campaign! Neato!) - so now I'll do it now 8-) OK OK... *digs around in a pile of paper* This is the stuff I was talking about over ICQ... priests of Vanya and Alphatian Boltmen. (I was going to do my kit for a Thyatian Legionary as well, but I am knackered and I need a bath - I'll do that later...) Specialty Priest of Vanya (Heldannic Knight variant) (Legends and Lore format) AB Min Strength/Wisdom 9; AL any non chaotic ;WP swords, daggers, lances, blunt weapons; AR a ;SP all, combat, guardian, law, protection, summoning, war, minor access to healing and divination ; TU none Special Abilities 1) Heldannic Knights use fighter THAC0 and can select any weapon style. At level 1 a Knight is only permitted to wear chainmail. 3) At level 3 a Knight is permitted to wear platemail. 5) At level 5 a Knight is blessed with +1 platemail, +1 shield and +1 sword. These gifts from the Church (ie Vanya) and so the Knight must use these items of the faith, even should he find superior arms and armour. 7) At level 7 the Knight gains +2 platemail, +2 shield and +2 sword. 9) At level 9 the Knight gains +2 field plate to replace the +2 platemail. 11) At level 11 the Knight gains +3 field plate, +3 shield and +3 sword. 14) At level 14 the Knight uses +1 field plate of command, a +4 shield and a "special" sword. The sword of a Preceptor of the Heldannic Knights is made just for him, and is not standardised like their other equipment. The DM is encouraged to be inventive. In all cases, the arms and armour of a Knight is not a conventional magic item. It truly is Arms and Armour of the Faith. Should a Knight lose one of these holy items he must atone and make amends for the loss. However, powered as it is in part by his own devotion, should his equipment be stolen by another, it will not grant the usual magical abilities - worn by a non priest his equipment is no better than normal weapons and armour. Some specialty spells for Heldannic Knights! Song of Battle (Enchantment) LEVEL 5 Sphere : Law, Combat Range : 10 yards/level Duration : 1 round / level Components : V,S Cast Time : 5 Area : 1 creature/level in range Save : Special This spell requires the priest to have the Singing proficiency, as it entails singing a hymn to Vanya at the top of his voice (the song itself is somewhat reminiscent of the Ride of the Valkyries). The priests companions who choose to be affected by the magic become mighty warriors, blessed by the power of Vanya. The priests allies all gain +2 to hit and damage, and gain an additional attack. They become immune to all enchantment and illusion spells or less than 5th level while under the effect of the Song. However, the affected creatures actions are dictated by the priest - in effect they lose their free will. The priest controls his warriors by altering the tune - the spell is immediately halted should the caster stop singing. The caster may thus not cast any spells that have a verbal component if he wishes to maintain this spell - however the Knight may still engage in melee combat while singing. Nemesis (Conjuration) LEVEL 6 Sphere : Combat Range : 10 yards/level Duration : 1 round / level Components : V,S Cast Time : 3 Area : 1 individual Save : Special The priest casting this spell selects a foe upon the battlefield, and then becomes his nemesis. When attacking that individual, the priest gains +3 to hit and damage, and an extra melee attack. The priest cannot be incapacitated by magic while under the influence of a Nemesis spell by any means, and should he slay his foe while the spell remains up he gains double the normal experience point value. However, if the target is still alive when the spell is dispelled or the duration expires, the priest immediately loses 15,000xp. Imperial Navy Boltman (kit) (Note - this is effectively a specialised version of the Artificer Wizard detailed in Spells and Magic) Character Class : Only mages can take the Boltman kit Races and Nationalities : Only certain high calibre individuals within the Alphatian armed forces (specifically, the Alphatian skynavy) are trained as Imperial Boltmen. The training itself is considered to be one of Alphatia's top military secrets. Most boltmen are humans, with some elves thrown in as well. Requirements: Boltmen cannot be Chaotic in alignment, fitting in as they do into a rigid command structure. Most are Lawful Neutral but there are exceptions. Boltmen require an Intelligence of at least 12 and a Constitution of at least 15. Role: The Imperial Navy Boltmen serve as the elite marines of the Alphatian skynavy Class Modifications: Boltmen memorise spells as normal mages, except they cannot cast spells from the schools of Enchantment or Necromancy. Boltmen learn the spells magic missile, lightning bolt, dispel magic and protection from normal missiles as soon as possible. Weapon Proficiencies: As normal mage. Nonweapon Proficiencies: Boltmen gain Airmanship and Tactics of Magic as bonus proficiencies. Equipment: A boltman uniform consists of knee high boots, white knickerbockers, a laced shirt, a red padded jacket with epaulettes, and a black velvet cloak. Boltmen wear leather headgear and carries his equipment on his belt in a leather case - normally his equipment includes a couple of daggers, some darts, his wand, food and other minor field equipment. Special Benefits: Note that all the abilities described below only work with specially made "Boltman wands" and will not work on the regular variety. A boltmans special benefits are dependent on level. 1) The Ordinary Boltmen wield a variety of wands. Standard boltmen use wands of lightning bolts with 6 charges apiece. Dispel wardens use wands with 6 charges of dispel magic. Protection wardens use wands with six charges of protection from normal missiles. Light marines use wands of magic missile with upto 20 charges. The wands used by boltmen are "half finished" by the normal standard of magical items, and require "energising" to use. Boltmen must "activate" them by casting a spell (any spell) into them each day. A wand remains activated for 24 hours. Activated wands may be fired by use of a special command word - anyone who knows the word can use the wand while it is active. After 24 hours the wand becomes inert again. Under normal conditions boltmen ensure that their wands are active at all times. Ordinary boltmen have the ability to change the command words for their wands, this requires one hour of work. While it may seem somewhat cumbersome, boltmen wands have two advantages. a) they can be produced much more rapidly than typical wands, "half finished" as they are b) this technique provides a measure of security if wands are lost to an enemy. The training required to energise one of these wands is probably the most secret part of boltman training - master boltmen (who make them) make every attempt when constructing them to make life difficult for those unauthorised mages who attempt to "crack the code" and energise captured wands. 2) An Able Bodied Boltman can also help recharge wands. Able boltmen can recharge magic missile wands as used by Light Marines by casting magic missile spells into them. This act requires four hours and the use of a special small laboratory worth 500gp - all skyships fielding boltmen have such a recharging point on board. Labs do require a certain amount of maintenance, 50gp per month. Each lab can accomodate the needs of six boltmen at once. 3) A Lead Boltman and above can recharge a magic missile wand at the rate of one charge per three hours. 5) A Chief Boltman can recharge wands with dispel magic, protection from normal missiles and lightning bolt, by casting the required spell into the wand. Recharging such a wand takes 6 hours per spell, again requiring the aforemention recharging lab. Chief Boltmen, as a valued resource, wear magical headgear that grant them +2 to their saving throws versus any magical attack. Chief Boltmen can amplify the damage that their lightning wands inflict by energising them with a 3rd level spell or above - such amplified wands inflict 8d6 damage instead of the usual 6d6. 7) A Master Boltman can now make the wands used by other boltmen. The construction of any wand takes one week of work in a special laboratory costing 2000gp. The larger skyships usually have such facilities (and the required master boltman) for such work. The wand itself requires 100gp worth of materials. The master boltman must make an Intelligence check upon completing the wand, a failure indicates that he has made a mistake while constructing it and the wand will not work. A roll of a 20 may indicate an accident, at the DMs discretion. Master boltman can recharge wands with dispel magic, protection from normal missiles and lightning bolt at the rate of one spell per 4 hours. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 14:47:32 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Meltheim Shadowstalker Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit what does this thread have to do with mystara? is someone thinking of creating a flying navy or something? Meltheim the Shadowstalker GM to the Monkeywrench ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 15:07:48 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=E0=E9=EC=EF_=F9=E7=ED?= Subject: Re: Popular names MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Glantri: Would the Averoignians really name their children Etienne? Isidore, probably, but not Etienne. Why not? >There are several Flaemish nobles named Pieter, I counted 4. >although I think Wilhelmine (Wilhelmie, or Wilhelm for boys) and Vanserie would still be quite popular. I wonder if many Boldavians name their sons Morphail? Probably not... that is bad luck to call your child after the dark lord of your homeland. What about Alexander? He is the most importent histrorcal figure in Glantri (Alexander plaza and all). Morphail (Ohad Shaham) "and crawling on the planet's face, some insects called the human race. Lost in time, lost in space and meaning..." Last words from the Rocky Horror Picture Show Visit the dark prince of Boldavia at- http://www.geocities.com/morphail_o/ ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 20:01:06 GMT Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: kevin wyton Subject: Re: Thyatian Military Variant: Sacred Guard. Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed > >I am not aware of any basis for supporting psionic characters in Thyatis >proper. As near as I can tell, psychic powers on Mystara are a side effect >of the "Red Curse" that should be present only in the "cursed" regions as >well as the surrounding "Haze". This would limit psychic characters to the >region between the Arm of the Immortals and the City States of the Serpent >Peninsula. Has anyone seriously proposed psionicists or wild talents out- >side of this region? >My DM is running a Night Below campaign which of course involves Illithids. > We are situated in Karameikos and from her description, as I remember it, >we are in the foothills of the Dread Peaks. We have run into some dwarven >illithid hunters who I believe would be classed as wild talents. They were >at Krakatos doing some research at the academy when we met them. The >dwarves were an idea from a not too recent Dragon issue. I don't remember >the issue off hand but could look it up if anyone is interested. >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 14:21:05 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Knights of Vanya & Boltmen Kit (was RAF/Skynavy). MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Looks cool. A couple questions. > > Specialty Priest of Vanya (Heldannic Knight variant) (Legends and Lore > format) > > In all cases, the arms and armour of a Knight is not a conventional magic > item. It truly is Arms and Armour of the Faith. Should a Knight lose one > of these holy items he must atone and make amends for the loss. > I assume then that if the Knight forsake Vanya (to follow another Immortal, or for whatever reason), the equipment looses its bonuses as well, right? > > Some specialty spells for Heldannic Knights! > Those were cool. > > Imperial Navy Boltman (kit) > > Class Modifications: > Boltmen memorise spells as normal mages, except they cannot cast spells from > the schools of Enchantment or Necromancy. Boltmen learn the spells magic > missile, lightning bolt, dispel magic and protection from normal missiles as > soon as possible. > I assume the Alphatian Skynavy will probably provide access to those spells (so the Boltman can scribe them in his spellbook) when the appropriate level is reached. > > Ordinary boltmen have the ability to change the command words for their > wands, this requires one hour of work. > Hmmmn. . .I thought it was only the Chief Boltdudes who could do that? > > such a recharging point on board. Labs do require a certain amount of > maintenance, 50gp per month. Each lab can accomodate the needs of six > boltmen at once. > These labs: does that mean (for example) that the Princess Ark would have to have 10 labs (since it has 60 Boltmen) - or can they use the labs in succession (I.E. only need one lab, only 6 boltmen can use it at any one time, but they can all use it in shifts)? > > 7) A Master Boltman can now make the wands used by other boltmen. The > construction of any wand takes one week of work in a special laboratory > costing 2000gp. The larger skyships usually have such facilities (and the > required master boltman) for such work. The wand itself requires 100gp > worth of materials. > Hmmmn. . .if I understand that right, it costs only 100gp to enchant one of these Wands. That seems very low to me. Anyhow, both looked really good overall. 8-) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 17:51:53 +0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Agathokles Subject: Re: MA Layout MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ezio Pignatelli wrote: > > .rtf files can be cumbersome, but I am not really interested in the problem. For me, the real > problem is that (as all Linux users out there) I cannot read them (apart if installing StarOffice, > and that is so huge is going to fill most of my disk :) ). > > .pdf, .ps and .html are ok. .rtf is just a Windows standard, and so somehow internal to Windows > users. > What about creating a .ps by the "print to file" option, then using standard unix compression (.tar.gz)? -- Giampaolo Agosta agathokles@libero.it http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles/index.htm ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 22:35:01 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rob Subject: Re: Knights of Vanya & Boltmen Kit (was RAF/Skynavy). MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >> In all cases, the arms and armour of a Knight is not a conventional magic >> item. It truly is Arms and Armour of the Faith. Should a Knight lose >one >> of these holy items he must atone and make amends for the loss. >> >I assume then that if the Knight forsake Vanya (to follow another Immortal, >or for whatever reason), the equipment looses its bonuses as well, right? Indeed. The pluses are essentially a bonus granted them as part of their specialty priesthood. If they become a different specialty priest, they lose the bonuses. >> the schools of Enchantment or Necromancy. Boltmen learn the spells magic >> missile, lightning bolt, dispel magic and protection from normal missiles >as >> soon as possible. >> >I assume the Alphatian Skynavy will probably provide access to those spells >(so the Boltman can scribe them in his spellbook) when the appropriate >level is reached. Indeed. I was also tempted to say they automatically succeed in learning those spells due to their training upon reflection, as a Chief Boltman without the required spells is somewhat useless. However, I am sure the Imperial Boltman Corps, or whatever the organisation may be called, has its fair share of dud soldiers, like every other unit. >> Ordinary boltmen have the ability to change the command words for their >> wands, this requires one hour of work. >> >Hmmmn. . .I thought it was only the Chief Boltdudes who could do that? Well, it says they "ensure they get changed". So, the chief boltdudes kick everybody and make sure they do it. Bit like changing the password to your comp at work. No one does it unless kicked :) >> such a recharging point on board. Labs do require a certain amount of >> maintenance, 50gp per month. Each lab can accomodate the needs of six >> boltmen at once. >> >These labs: does that mean (for example) that the Princess Ark would have >to have 10 labs (since it has 60 Boltmen) - or can they use the labs in >succession (I.E. only need one lab, only 6 boltmen can use it at any one >time, but they can all use it in shifts)? Big ships could well have multiple labs, but I envision boltmen working in shifts, yes. Given the nature of the skynavy (ie, not a garrison force) some time to recharge everything seems fair enough to me. >> 7) A Master Boltman can now make the wands used by other boltmen. The >> construction of any wand takes one week of work in a special laboratory >> costing 2000gp. The larger skyships usually have such facilities (and >the >> required master boltman) for such work. The wand itself requires 100gp >> worth of materials. >> >Hmmmn. . .if I understand that right, it costs only 100gp to enchant one of >these Wands. That seems very low to me. It is. However, if you examine the Artificer in Spells and Magic, you will find them to be very similar (100gp cost also). Boltmen are in fact significantly better than Artificers (who have a limit of 1 spell level per level stored in their items) but they can only enchant a very limited number of spells (ie 4 different wands). The kit is based upon that class. The attempt really was here to explain away the Boltmen without wrecking my campaign :). And provide some solid rules to attempt to explain away the situation as described in canon material. Cheers Rob ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 17:48:42 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: Glantrian Wizards vs King Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: Caroletti >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: [MYSTARA] Glantrian Wizards vs King >Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 09:45:25 +0100 > > > Karnarius Demitrian says: > > "The only reason I would ever go to Glantri would be to destroy the >arrogant > > bastards.If I were King, I'd have all non-Thyatian wizards thrown into >the > > pit in aegos,not to mention loser would be spelled losser.That's if I >were > > King." > > > > "King, your an idiot." > > replise Karnarius's commander. > >Oooh....now I begin to guess why Kit Navarro said that. >Is there a better explanation why Karnarius is not welcome in Glantri, >apart political considerations? our countries were allies,not me! and what excactly did the Glantrians contribute to the war?and it's not that I'm not welcome in Glantri,it's that I would never step foot in a country that lets goblins and such run their country(not to mention the rumers of the other princes not being all there,if you know what i mean!) King.(who is very Hattian when it comes to wizards that are not loyal to the empire) >Iulius Sergius Scaevola >Captain of the XXth Cohort >Port Lucinius, Thyatis > >'So you're from Glantri. We were allies in the war, weren't we?' >(Iulius Sergius Scaevola to a Glantrian mage visiting Thyatis) > >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 18:08:28 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: Popular names Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: Meltheim Shadowstalker >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Popular names >Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 13:29:22 EST > >Alfheim=Meltheim!!!!! One of the great heroes of Mystara, he is long lived >in the faces of children worldwide. Many wish to carry his tradition of >bravery, honor, and creativity and name their children accordingly. He is >revered by all of elvenkind! > >Meltheim the Shadowstalker > Infiltrator to the Immortals > Devotee of Fate > Eyes of the Starwatcher sounds like the egoes a little bigger than the name? King. >******************************************************************** >The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp >Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp >To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 20:42:02 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: DM Subject: Re: HW modules and WotI (Part 2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" On Fri, 18 Feb 2000 21:25:22 EST, Bill Manley wrote: <> eheh, well, thanks Bill for the comment. Glad you and Dleggend liked the rewrite of the Blood Brethren Trilogy. (two people are better than none!) I LOVE getting feedback, even from a single person: this means I haven't written for my ego only! ;) I have thought many times about writing a book, but all I have managed to do are short stories and the beginning of a novel (50 pages), but I prolly haven't got the time and the will to complete such a mammooth task. But I enjoy writing stories, and this is why I DM in the first place! ;) And to keep the ole good habits, I co-write fantasy and sci-fi stories with other friends on the net, so I can say I'm quite satisfied with this aspect :) Once in the past I had a cool idea to propose to the list, but I have always postponed it because I myself had no time to commit to it (and it would sound a bit silly if not outright hypocritical to propose smtgh without taking part in it). It deals with short stories set in Mystara, and I promise I'll tell you what it's all about when I find the time to begin this project.. ;) Back to the HWA revision, you see, what I really didn't like in the original adventure was the concept of the Emerald River and the time marker. I mean, who cares if T. puts the time marker forward in time? When the Immortals will return, they'll understand the trick and pop back in the appropriate timeframe, just a few mintues after they left, without nothing really having happened (since time is relative!). And besides, I liked the way Temporal Prime was presented in Chronomancer supplement. So I tried to concieve a way to imprison the Immortals in the past and the Comeback Inn and its magic came to my mind, and so puff! Here you have your tie-in with the old DA modules! Also I didn't like the final confrontation with Big T in Nightstorm. It sounded a bit too cheesy that Immortals could bestow part of their energy for a short time to mortals: after all, according to the rules every body not specially crafted to hold an Immortal soul or lifeforce is gonna consume itself in a matter of minutes, and I didn't like the idea of the PCs melting like snow in spring in front of Thanatos. (hey, I know what was written in HWA just called for a bit of dramatization on the DM's part, but I really couldn't stand the way it was done). So I imagined another kind of confrontation between Big T and the Pcs, with Big T coming to the PCs mortal level, and this was easier to accomplish, having him use the mortal ID of Dubonino Scatman from DA1 (obviously Dubonino/thanatos will not be a lowly 12th level mage, but prolly a 36th level mage masquerading as a lower level wizard). Throw in the powerful allies of King Uther the Black on the PCs part if they are a bit weak, and you've got the stage set perfectly! Up to now I've run the campaign till the end of HWA3. My PCs are now about to discover the whole truth and go back to Blackmoor to restore the timeflow by saving King Uther and the vanished Immortals. Hope everything will come out nice as it has been planned! ;) Oh, one last advice for those of you who wanna play the Trilogy. Languange is a big barrier in the HW. I have overcome this assigning to the party an Atruaghi guide, who could also talk and speak a bit of Azcan (since the tongues have the same origin - the comprehension improved after the first month of stay in Azca). Fortunately, one of the Pcs was a Sindhi mystic, so no problem in Shajhapur either. And finally Singleton knows Nithian well, since it's his mother tongue (just in case they had to go there to play HWA2). But what if the group splits (and it happens frequently)? For this reason, the best way to solve the language problem is either to have a mage in the party with Tongues spell OR to let the PCs find an Amulet of translation somewhere in their adventures. I have chosen the latter, substituting the Amulet of Water Breathing they get if they pass the tests in the Great Pyramid's dungeons with an Amulet of Translation, which allows the wearer to speak and understand every language. Ok, again I hope this will be useful to somebody! :) DM Senior Editor of the Mystaran Almanac First Officer of U.S.S. Unicorn Visit Marco's Mystara Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967 Join the Mystara Webring at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/2967/mystring.html Join the Starfleet Academy at: http://gilda.it/startrek (Italian RPG PBEM) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 00:59:35 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: Feedback (was: Re: HW modules and WotI (Part 2)) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- On Sat, 19 Feb 2000 20:42:02 DM wrote: >On Fri, 18 Feb 2000 21:25:22 EST, Bill Manley wrote: > ><> > >eheh, well, thanks Bill for the comment. Glad you and Dleggend liked the >rewrite of the Blood Brethren Trilogy. (two people are better than none!) I >LOVE getting feedback, even from a single person: this means I haven't >written for my ego only! ;) Well, I took the liberty of copying the entire thing to my harddisk for future reference, because I don't want to read it until I have all three parts of the Blood Brethren trilogy - I have only parts 1 and 2, but not the final part 3. Hrmph! :) Besides, you should count yourself lucky for getting any comments at all! We all appreciate feedback, but it would seem that nobody liked my "Immortals' Grasp" adventuring group idea, because there was not even the slightest comment on it - none :( >I have thought many times about writing a book, but all I have managed to >do are short stories and the beginning of a novel (50 pages), but I prolly >haven't got the time and the will to complete such a mammooth task. But I >enjoy writing stories, and this is why I DM in the first place! ;) (rest snipped) Amen to that. I'm right there with you! ;) Do we all dream about writing fantasy and science fiction some day? Just curious. - The Stalker of Alphatia Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 18:06:23 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Feedback (was: Re: HW modules and WotI (Part 2)) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Besides, you should count yourself lucky for getting any comments at all! We all appreciate feedback, but it would seem that nobody liked my "Immortals' Grasp" adventuring group idea, because there was not even the slightest comment on it - none :( > Oh, I liked it. I loved it, even. In fact, I was going to recomend to Caroletti that he encourage/prod you to provide more character info for the Priests that were mentioned in the "Immortals Grasp" group, for a site he's working on that will have Thyatian characters (here's the prod/encouragement) - it just kept slipping my mind. It is discouraging (I know) not to get feedback, but that doesn't mean no one liked your stuff (sad fact is people tend to post when they have something to pick at, or questions, or something bugs them. But when they don't see anything wrong, or have no questions, they just quietly save it, like with the HW/Blood Bretheren stuff). One has to admit that if everyone posted how much they loved this or that, with 200 persons on the list, that'd be a lot of mails saying "wow, great, good job". Of course, folks should get at least *some* of those. . . Anyhow: wow, great, good job on both the Immortals' Grasp & the revised Blood Bretheren stuff! 8-) (and no, I'm not being sarcastic - I loved both. In fact, also waiting for the next group of Prediction Quatrains, and for more of Rob's story of that Thyatian soldier dude, etc, etc. . .) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 01:26:16 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: Re: Feedback Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- On Sat, 19 Feb 2000 18:06:23 James Ruhland wrote (replying to me on my "Immortals' Grasp" adventuring group): >Oh, I liked it. I loved it, even. Thanks! I was really wondering what you in particular thought about it since you were the one who encouraged me to post it. > In fact, I was going to recomend to Caroletti that he encourage/prod you >to provide more character info for the Priests that were mentioned in the >"Immortals Grasp" group, for a site he's working on that will have Thyatian >characters (here's the prod/encouragement) - it just kept slipping my mind. I never developed the idea beyond that to begin with, because the players IMC never picked up on the clues that the breaking up of the group might reveal to them which Immortals supported what side of the WotI war. I could have provided more detail when I posted it, but with this sort of thing that would probably provide details that are constricting to people's ideas of how to use such material - once it's written down, people would feel compelled to use it (I say that because I know that I would feel that way!) Also, I'm the sort of DM who likes to throw wild ideas on the table all the time, and the making up the details as we get to the specific situations. Maybe you read my post on the 'Siege of Darokin' in which the PCs IMC had to infiltrate the manscorpions' underground lair to kill their king and queen. Well, I made those dungeons up as we played! I started only with a very vague idea of what I want in those caves, and then I keep making more dungeons until the players start to realize that it's really huge - THEN I'll let them get on with the real adventure! It's the way I often end up doing things... I also throw lots and lots of 'red herrings' into the game all the time, though sometimes they become something more because the players decide to explore those ideas (and IMC there is always adventure and conflict around the next corner) > >It is discouraging (I know) not to get feedback, but that doesn't mean no >one liked your stuff (sad fact is people tend to post when they have >something to pick at, or questions, or something bugs them. But when they >don't see anything wrong, or have no questions, they just quietly save it, >like with the HW/Blood Bretheren stuff). Sure! I've done that time and again myself. The problem for the person who wrote is just that he doesn't know why nobody responded. >One has to admit that if everyone posted how much they loved this or that, >with 200 persons on the list, that'd be a lot of mails saying "wow, great, >good job". Of course, folks should get at least *some* of those. . . > Perhaps you're right, I don't know. It hasn't been a problem so far, though, IMHO. - The Stalker Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 01:38:04 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: Re: Siege of Darokin Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- On Fri, 18 Feb 2000 20:32:02 Aaron E Nowack wrote (replying to me): (some snipping) >> Oh, one question I forgot to mention: The wyvern-riding mage! Does >> he (and the wyvern) have a name? Does he have a feared nickname >> among his enemies (Darokin)? I don't like 'Dragonlord' or >> 'Dragonmaster' (too much Dragonlance), and 'Dragon-rider' doesn't >> sound very dangerous to me. Was there such a name for him in your >> campaign? > >The wizard's name is Zanzer Tem. > >(Hmm.. this seems like an opportune time to detail the NPC) Yes it does, please ;) > >Zanzer Tem was a two-bit evil wizard who set up shop in the Orclands and >ran a slave-operated salt mine. (The adventure from the "black boxed >set".) He was also allied with an orcish bandit, "Orc King Drakka" and >the undead master of a ruined fighter's academy (the Hanted Tower >adventure). Anyways, a band of adventures defeated his allies, and >eventualy Zanzer Tem fell to his death from his wyvern after a battle on >top of aforementioned fighter's academy. > >Or at least, so everyone thought... > >Zanzer Tem turned out to have been an advance scout for Hule (and much >more powerful than he seemed), and a close personal friend of Ismet >Atvadervish, commander of the invasion forces. He was raised, but was >not seen again in Darokin until the invasion. He swiftly gained a >reputation as one of the better invading generals. He gained the >nickname "the Scorpion" for his skill at decieving his opponents, and his >favorite tactic of luring the enemy into a charge and then attacking with >a flanking manuver on both sides (a pincer attack). He was fond of >flamboyant battle magic, particuarly the fireball spell, with which he >was quite accopmplished at using to best effect. IMC, he died in the >skys over Darokin City as the Karameikos/Five Shires/Alfheim/Selencia >reinforcements arrived to break the siege. IYC, he can show up wherever >needed, of course. > >BTW, the wyvern riding mage in X4 is Zanzer's brother... > Wow! Thanks. Great background - I'll certainly use that. Actually I've already 'used' the wyvern-riding mage by having one of the PCs spot while on guard-duty as they were travelling toward the manscorpions' lair! (I do a lot of 'foreshadowing' IMC) BTW I have a plan to use your minotaurs after all - naturally they didn't all die attacking Darokin City. Some of them, including their leader, were driven back and are still with the masters forces. I plan to have a huge battle to drive the Master's forces back once the Manscorpion threat has been eliminated (if the PCs are up to it, that is). I'll then have the minotaur PC face the minotaur leader in an epic battle - he should either use a two-handed axe (in one hand since he's large) and a huge shield, or else an absolutely oversized axe! (The PC minotaur uses a two-hand sword in each hand! - I told you he was tough). I think I'll call the minotaur leader 'Korred' or something like that, but I've a feeling I've stolen the name from somewhere - does anybody know?? Comments? On the subject of Darokin, I plan to play the adventure "The Forgotten Man" (from Dungeon no. 75) and place it in Darokin, because it's the nation that best fits the historical background from that adventure. Has anybody read this adventure? I really like it! (I normally hate anti-paladins, but it's done well in this case, and thus I'll use it!) Well, enough about my ramblings! - The Stalker Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 02:26:57 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: Re: The Song of Halav Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- On Sat, 19 Feb 2000 03:57:27 George Hrabovsky wrote: >Here is the version of the Song of Halav that I give the Priests >of the Church of Traladara IMC: > Nice work! It's a good alternative to the Song of Halav found in the 'Hail the Heroes' adventure, although it's very similar (you are aware that there was a 'Song of Halav' in that adventure, aren't you?). Now you've really put me in a spot! Should I use this or the song from the 'Hail the Heroes' adventure. And, no, I refuse to argue what's canon and what is not :) Well, I'll probably still use the bit from Hail the Heroes, though only because I've already introduced it IMC. This might be extremely helpful to people who don't have that adventure, though. - The Stalker Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 02:34:13 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: Re: Siege of Darokin - Minotaurs! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I've never replied to myself before, but I guess there's a first time for everything... On Sun, 20 Feb 2000 01:38:04 The Stalker wrote (replying to Aaron E Nowack): (heavily snipped) > >BTW I have a plan to use your minotaurs after all - naturally they didn't all die attacking Darokin City. Some of them, including their leader, were driven back and are still with the masters forces. I plan to have a huge battle to drive the Master's forces back once the Manscorpion threat has been eliminated (if the PCs are up to it, that is). I'll then have the minotaur PC face the minotaur leader in an epic battle - he should either use a two-handed axe (in one hand since he's large) and a huge shield, or else an absolutely oversized axe! (The PC minotaur uses a two-hand sword in each hand! - I told you he was tough). I think I'll call the minotaur leader 'Korred' or something like that, but I've a feeling I've stolen the name from somewhere - does anybody know?? Comments? > Duh! Naturally, I plan to have the enemy minotaur leader knock off the PC minotaur's newly-acquired Hat of Disguise at a critical moment during their battle - suddenly seeing two minotaurs fight each other to the death on the field of battle outside Darokin City should be a spectable to remember I think (well, I hope anyway). Naturally, it should also be surprising to the enemy minotaur leader (thus giving the PC a break that he'll need a the time), and it should also be pretty bad for the attacking minotaurs' morale - particularly if their leader is slain by another minotaur fighting for Darokin! Does anyone disagree? - The Stalker Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 21:09:22 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Kevin Powers Subject: Archive of Digests MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Does anyone have an archive of the Mystara-Digests issued since switching over to the Wizards servers? I am trying to collect the remainder of them, and cannot find a compilation site anywhere. Does anyone know of where these would be? ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 20:57:25 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Aaron E Nowack Subject: Houses of Darokin: Darokinian Mottoes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Each of the Great Houses has a motto which expresses some philosophy the House embraces. These are: Al-Azrad: Gold has an eternal truth of its own. Corun: Power is our sword and shield. Franich: He who has the gold dosen't make the rules. The gold makes the rules. Hallonica: Justice can only be bought with blood. Linton: It is better to reap than to sow. Mauntea: Power corrupts. Never again. Pennydown: Do not look to the throne, look to the shadows behind it. Toney: When the mighty bestride the world like a collosus, they do not see the small ones. Umbarth: Violance is the last refuge of the incompetant... except when it works. As well, a student of Darokinian politics would do well to study the works "Lies", a treatsie on the Great Merger by Charles Mauntea, and "Small Truths", also by Charles Mauntea, which was written on his deathbed, but only recently published. [ Parts of the below are adapted from Way of the Scorpion, by John Wick.] Some excerpts from "Small Truths": Enemies you make are enemies you keep. Be more afraid of an army of sheep lead by a wolf than an army of wolves lead by a sheep. Everyone lies. Even me. Politics is not a game. That dosen't mean you can't win. Know where your friends are. Always. If you cannot defeat your enemy, make him impotent. Keep your friends close. Keep your enemies closer. Procrastination is the pastime of fools. The succesful do not share the secrets of success. This includes me. Always be ready to wait. The priests say, "Forgive and forget." Why? So you can fool me again? Need to defeat a Corun? Give him another to fight. Need to defeat a Linton? Have him fight you. Need to defeat a Hallonica? Leave him be. Need to defeat a Franich? Make him take a risk. (This comment is believed to have been added in between the book's writing and its publication, as Franich House did not exist as of Charles' death.) Do not listen to what your enemy says. Friends you lose are enemies you make. Never trust anyone. Not even me. Loyalty is a fine virtue in servants, not leaders. Need to defeat an Umbarth? Tell him you know his plan. Need to defeat an Al-Azrad? Take him to a social event. Need to defeat a Toney? Call him large. Need to defeat a Mauntea? Be his friend. The truth is the best lie. Only fools listen to fools. Only the wise know who is a fool. Never add insult to injury. The injury is a better insult than any you could devise. Good advice is hard to find. Don't look for it here. Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis." http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/5930/ ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 21:58:38 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: Siege of Darokin - Minotaurs! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: The Stalker >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] Siege of Darokin - Minotaurs! >Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 02:34:13 +0100 > >I've never replied to myself before, but I guess there's a first time for >everything... > >On Sun, 20 Feb 2000 01:38:04 The Stalker wrote (replying to Aaron E >Nowack): >(heavily snipped) > > > >BTW I have a plan to use your minotaurs after all - naturally they didn't >all die attacking Darokin City. Some of them, including their leader, were >driven back and are still with the masters forces. I plan to have a huge >battle to drive the Master's forces back once the Manscorpion threat has >been eliminated (if the PCs are up to it, that is). I'll then have the >minotaur PC face the minotaur leader in an epic battle - he should either >use a two-handed axe (in one hand since he's large) and a huge shield, or >else an absolutely oversized axe! (The PC minotaur uses a two-hand sword in >each hand! - I told you he was tough). I think I'll call the minotaur >leader 'Korred' or something like that, but I've a feeling I've stolen the >name from somewhere - does anybody know?? Comments? > > > >Duh! Naturally, I plan to have the enemy minotaur leader knock off the PC >minotaur's newly-acquired Hat of Disguise at a critical moment during their >battle - suddenly seeing two minotaurs fight each other to the death on the >field of battle outside Darokin City should be a spectable to remember I >think (well, I hope anyway). Naturally, it should also be surprising to the >enemy minotaur leader (thus giving the PC a break that he'll need a the >time), and it should also be pretty bad for the attacking minotaurs' morale >- particularly if their leader is slain by another minotaur fighting for >Darokin! Does anyone disagree? > > - The Stalker > yes it would be demoralizing to the minotaur army.they would also see the PC as their new leader(IMO).simply because the PC defeated the minotaur leader in fair combat.another possible idea is the PC's hat gets knocked off by a minotaur nobody and he cuts through the minotaur ranks like a hot knife through butter.that would demoralize the minotaur amy as well(that's our guy killing us!),or at least put a pause in their assault,allowing the other PC's to mount a desicive offencive forcing the minotaur army to retreat.that's just an idea,the choice is yours. King. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 22:17:34 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Aaron E Nowack Subject: Houses of Darokin: Pennydown House MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Here it is, the Houses of Darokin writeup you've all been waiting for! Well, at least James has... :) Anyway, up this time for your approval, the fifth largest House of Darokin... let's have a round of applause (Yes, James, you can boo and hiss... :) for Pennydown House! A Brief History of Pennydown House Pennydown House is the largest of the domestic trading families. It is the fifth richest house in Darokin. Its shops are on every corner. It is powerful politically, with many allies. All these are quite large accomplishments for a House founded only 70 years ago. Pennydown became a Great House in 964, replacing the failing Ardel House. It soon surpassed Toney, fellow new comer Franich, Umbarth, and Al-Azrad Houses to reach its current position. This was done mainly through its purchase of hundreds of small stores, an unprecedented scale for such operations. Indeed, Pennydown, along with Franich, are often used as classic Darokinian success stories. Spme feel that Pennydown and Franich represent the next generation of Great House, small and nimble, and will soon replace the lumbering dinosaurs of the larger Houses. Of vcourse, many others think theses ideas are ludicrous. Other than this, Pennydown's history has been relatively uneventful, and it shows no signs of slowing down in its remarkable growth. However, all this is not enough for Elissa Pennydown... Pennydown House Assets Pennydown probably has more assets inside Darokin than any other House. It does no trade with forgein nations. Pennydown acts as a distributor for many of the other Houses goods. Pennydown House Relations Al-Azrad: Friendly. Pennydown often sells Al-Azrad goods. Corun: Friendly. Both Houses are allies of Mauntea. Elissa is also trying to develop a personal friendship with Nathalie Kalimi. Franich: Friendly. the two Houses have much in common, and often coopoerate on matters of importance. Pennydown has betrayed important imformation about Franich's less reputable activities to Toney House... Hallonica: Friendly. Pennydown often sells Hallonica goods. Linton: (Secretly) Friendly. Pennydown has convinced Linton that it will turn on Mauntea soon. Of course, whether it will is another question... Mauntea: Friendly. Pennydown plays the part of a staunch ally of Mauntea. Toney: Friendly. Pennydown has given important information to Toney House. In addition, Elissa and Mendel Callister are discussing the possibility of her marrying one of Mendel's sons. Umbarth: Friendly. Elissa inherited this friendship from her father, who was a good friend of Greenleaf Vickers. She has strengthened this bond, but she is sure that Umbarth is hiding something, and she wants to know what... House Pennydown Personality Elissa Pennydown (2nd/17th level magic-user/merchant, LE) Elissa Pennydown, at 26, is the youngest member of the Inner Council. She is tall and beautiful, with blonde hair and green eyes. She is often considered the "Queen of Darokin City Society" and is well known for her friendly manner. She has dabbled in magic, and is a successful merchant. However, her true calling is not buisness, but politics. Specifically, the aquiring of power. Power at any price, be it blood, marriage, or bribery. She has carefully developed friendships with every House, and knows more about the dirty side of Darokinian politics than any other person alive. She controls the largest spy network in Darokin. She is cold-hearted, and willing to sacrifice any principle to gain power. Elissa believes in the plutocracy almost like a religion, and is a strong opponent of the proposals for democratic reforms that are occasionally made in the Outer Council. She believes in a manifest destiny of spreading Darokin's system of government throughout the world. For unknown reasons, she bears a strong hatred for Thyatis and Alphatia, which can drive her to irrational acts. All these traits make Elissa quite possibly the most dangerous person on the Inner Council. Aaron Nowack "Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis." http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/5930/ ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 10:11:46 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Giovanni Porpora Subject: R: [MYSTARA] Glantrian Parliament Puzzle MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Alfonso de Belcadiz, Prince of Belcadiz, Supreme Judge of the Council, > Marquez del Alhambra > Constanza de Blanca, Marquesa de Satolas, Clan Alhambra > Fernando de Casanegra, Baron del Adlerturm, Clan Alhambra 25 + 7 + 4 = 36 votes of "yea". > Cadwallon Aendyr, Prince of Blackhill, Chancellor of the Council, Count of > Silverstone > Seisyll Wittels, Count of Wylon, House Silverstone > Edward Hillsbury, Viscount of Nathrat, House Silverstone 22 + 6 + 5 = 33 votes of "yea" > Francesco di Malapietra, Prince of Caurenze, Chamberlain of the Land, > Visconte di Sirecchia > Vittorio Fulvina, Visconte di Verrazzano, House Sirecchia > Konstantin Haaskinz, Duke of Fenswick, unaligned votes as House Sirecchia 19 + 5 + 8 = 32 votes of "yea" > Georg von Drachenfels, Prince of Aalban, Viceroy of Nordling, Count of > Ritterburg > Karl von Taafnen, Duke of Hightower, House Ritterburg > Corfitz Terlagand, Marquis of Berrym, House Ritterburg > Wilhelm von Graustein, Viscount of Blofeld, House Ritterburg 17 + 8 + 7 + 5 = 37 votes of "yea" > Jhreek Virayana, Prince of Krondahar, Viceroy of Ylourgne, Marquis of > Singhabad 18 votes of "yea" > Gabriel Bon, Viscount of Redstone, unaligned > Andrew Newbute, Count of Soth-Kabree, unaligned 5 + 6 = 11 votes of "yea" : they sell their votes to House Silverstone > Salomon Wurt, Baron of Uigmuir, unaligned if his ties with di Malapietra as strong he'll vote as House Sirecchia, if not he'll run for the Viscounty thus votes "nay. Imho he'll probably vote as House Sirecchia, 4 votes of "yea" ------------------------171 > Wilfrid Vlaardoen X, Prince of Bergdhoven, Treasurer of the Council, > Viceroy of Monteleone, Viscount of Linden > Edelmiro Pieinants, Archduke of Westheath, House Linden > Sinaria Verlien, Countess of High Sonden, House Linden > Charlotte Aposan, Baroness of Egorn, unaligned She's Flaem, House Linden 18 + 9 + 6 + 4 = 37 votes of "nay" > Charan Erewan, Prince of Erewan, Grand Master of the Great School of > Magic, Marquis of Ellerovyn 27 votes either abstains (he has to choose between two foes, House Belcadiz and House Linden) or votes "nay". I'd choose the second option because his hatred towards Alhambra is stronger. ------------------------ 64 > Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany, Prince of Boldavia, Viceroy of Tchernovodsk, > Baron of Igorov > Vlad Timenko, Baron of Kutchevski, House Igorov > Matthias Wutyla, Baron of Mariksen, House Igorov > Boris Markovitch, Baron of Vladimirov, House Igorov 15 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 27 votes either abstain (Morphail doesn't wish to gain the enmity of none for such a futile reason) or votes "nay" (wishing to make other thinks his Barons care for an open Viscounty, then selling their votes) > Brannart McGregor, Prince of Klantyre, Viceroy of Sablestone, Viscount of > Crownguard > William McDougall, Count of Glenargyll, House Crownguard > William McAllister, Viscount of Bergen, House Crownguard 16 + 6 + 5 = 27 votes either abstain (they're not directly interested) or votes "yea" (to oppose House Igorov if Morphail votes "nay") > Grigori Leon, Baron of Palatinsk, unaligned if he's not a vampire he can vote against Morphail, thus like House Crownguard, but he might want to go away from Boldavia, running for the Viscounty. 50% yea 50% nay The solution is : House Igorov votes "nay" thus House Crownguard votes "yea". "yea" : 198 votes "nay" : 81 votes ? : 4 votes > This challenge has been brought to you by the New Alliance of Glantrian > Political Analysts (N.A.G.P.A.) "because we would rather count and alculate > the votes of these bickering nobles over petty matters, than go out and > enjoy life." The solution has been brought to you by a member of the P.R.I.G. : "Piero Recioto's Institute of Glantri", with the promise that next time they'll provide political details without causing you any political accounting annoyances. :) "Remember Pieter, even a poor politician can explain a voting session's outcome. There are at least 100 ways to do that, what you have to do is to choose the one you like most. But only a great politician knows a voting session's outcome BEFORE it takes place" (Maestro Piero Recioto, teaching politics to young Pieter Vandehaar). Bye Giovanni ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 12:32:43 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Re: Popular names MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Meltheim Shadowstalker ha scritto: > Alfheim=Meltheim!!!!! One of the great heroes of Mystara, he is long lived > in the faces of children worldwide. Many wish to carry his tradition of > bravery, honor, and creativity and name their children accordingly. He is > revered by all of elvenkind! > > Meltheim the Shadowstalker > Infiltrator to the Immortals > Devotee of Fate > Eyes of the Starwatcher He had one of his crises! Bind him to the chair!!! Where's the nearest Asylum...oh, damn! We don't know where they are...were there one in Thyatis???? Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 12:31:17 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Re: About Posting Names for Your Poll (was Poll: Need YOUR votes) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Hiya. Sorry to play List Ogre here, but while I understand that > you want as many list members as possible to respond to > your poll, making a habit out of posting names of those who > have not participated is not a good way to go. It was amusing > the first time, but to repeat it makes it look like public > chastisement. It is a purely optional poll, and if people don't > want to participate, they don't have to. > > > I _do_ understand you meant it only in a friendly manner. But, > still, I would appreciate it if you didn't list names. > > Thanks. Ok, don't worry. I'll never do it again. I apologize to all the mailers that I have bothered...I'm so ashamed...I'm going to lay down in bed and cry now. Just kidding. Sorry, Leroy, it won't repeat itself Iulius Sergius Scaevola et al ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 06:54:41 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: George Hrabovsky Subject: Re: RAF/Skynavy - Combat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The guidelines I set up are very general, of course. Each mission is extensively planned out as far in advance as possible. Also, if possible, the mission is rehearsed as much as can be. Such rehearsals are at least done using maps where intelligence experts anticipate the enemy reactions to whatever the mission commanders do. I am not sure what other details you are interested in. Most of the professional standing military forces in Mystara, at least in the Known World, are far more "modern" than any medieval army that existed. Most notably there is standardization of equipment and organizations. Also there is a prevalence of professional military leaders, not merely honorific titles given to nobility. To be honest, IMO the Alphatian army is closer in spirit to the traditional military than the others. They do not hold military people in high regard. The commanders are political appointments and are not chosen due to their military quality. After all, magic is the only really important thing... George ----- Original Message ----- From: James Ruhland To: Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2000 11:22 AM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] RAF/Skynavy - Combat > > > > Everyone seems to be isolating segments of the RAF as though they > > would be fighting alone. I doubt that you would find a situation where > > you had massed Pegasi/Griffon riders without heavier forces to back > > them up. This develops a synergistic effect. > > > Well, haven't "ignored" that, but haven't discussed it as extensively. It > was mentioned in several posts. > > > Here is how I handle the RAF IMC, there are levels of units: > > > > Hope this is interesting... > > > Yes, it was very interesting, at least to me. > In fact, I'd be interested to see more details if you have them - if you > think it'd bore the list as a whole, just send them to > augustium@geocities.com. > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 07:01:25 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: George Hrabovsky Subject: Re: The Song of Halav MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Where does one find the Hail the Heroes adventure? I suppose that its possible to have a couple of versions floating around... Thank you for pointing it out to me. George ----- Original Message ----- From: The Stalker To: Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2000 7:26 PM Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] The Song of Halav > -- > > On Sat, 19 Feb 2000 03:57:27 George Hrabovsky wrote: > >Here is the version of the Song of Halav that I give the Priests > >of the Church of Traladara IMC: > > > > Nice work! It's a good alternative to the Song of Halav found in the 'Hail the Heroes' adventure, although it's very similar (you are aware that there was a 'Song of Halav' in that adventure, aren't you?). > > Now you've really put me in a spot! Should I use this or the song from the 'Hail the Heroes' adventure. And, no, I refuse to argue what's canon and what is not :) > > Well, I'll probably still use the bit from Hail the Heroes, though only because I've already introduced it IMC. This might be extremely helpful to people who don't have that adventure, though. > > - The Stalker > > > > Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 07:04:11 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: George Hrabovsky Subject: Re: Houses of Darokin: Darokinian Mottoes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Here's one that is a quote from William Colby, from the opening of his computer game (co-written by Oleg Kalugin, no less), "Spycraft." "You want to win, remember on thing: Everything you know could be a lie." Cheers, George ----- Original Message ----- From: Aaron E Nowack To: Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2000 8:57 PM Subject: [MYSTARA] Houses of Darokin: Darokinian Mottoes > Each of the Great Houses has a motto which expresses some philosophy the > House embraces. These are: ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 14:06:25 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Jost Westenberg Subject: spell combiantion FLY and HAST hello, i�m from germany and have a question to some spell�s when a charater is under the following two spell�s first FLY and second HAST is his movement now 720e / phase and 240e / round or does the Hast spell not doubble the 360/120e move from the FLY spell ??? i hope anybody can answer the question jost.westenberg@gmx.de ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 15:33:33 +0200 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=E0=E9=EC=EF_=F9=E7=ED?= Subject: Re: spell combiantion FLY and HAST MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > hello, i=B4m from germany and have a question to some spell=B4s > Hey Jost, welcome aboard! Well, it is spesifically mentioned in the spell description that Haste = has no effect on other spells or spellcasting. So no, the flying speed remains the same. Hope this helps. Morphail (Ohad Shaham) "and crawling on the planet's face, some insects called the human race. Lost in time, lost in space and meaning..." Last words from the Rocky Horror Picture Show Visit the dark prince of Boldavia at- = http://www.geocities.com/morphail_o/ =20 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 10:17:33 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Mischa E Gelman Subject: New race/class: Mountain Giant In-Reply-To: <01BF7BB8.1084C9C0@hrz-153-100.access.net.il> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Let me what you folks think - Mountain Giant Height - 1" per Hit Die Weight (d6) - 1-2 thin 3-4 normal 5-6 fat Damage XP AC HP Weapon/Hand/Boulder MV Boulder Range Tyke -600,000 8 3d8 1d8/1d6 /1d4 90' (30') 30/60/ 120 Youth -598,000 6 5d8 1d10/1d8 /1d4 120' (40') 40/80/ 160 -580,000 5 7d8 1d10/1d8 /1d6 150' (50') 40/80/ 160 Teenager -540,000 4 8d8 2d10/3d6 /2d6 150' (50') 60/120/240 -460,000 3 9d8 3d10/2d10/2d8 150' (50') 60/120/240 Young Adult-320,000 2 10d8 4d10/4d6 /3d6 150' (50') 90/180/360 -180,000 1 11d8 4d10/4d6 /3d6 150' (50') 90/180/360 Normal 0 0 12d8 5d10/3d10/4d6 150' (50') 100/200/400 Monster Level 1 180,000 0 13d8 5d10/3d10/4d6 150' (50') 100/200/400 Level 2 360,000 0 14d8 5d10/3d10/4d6 150' (50') 100/200/400 Level 3 540,000 0 15d8 5d10/3d10/4d6 150' (50') 100/200/400 Level 4 720,000 0 16d8 5d10/3d10/4d6 150' (50') 100/200/400 Level 5 900,000 0 17d8 5d10/3d10/4d6 150' (50') 100/200/400 Level 6 1,100,000 0 18d8 5d10/3d10/4d6 150' (50') 100/200/400 Level 7 1,350,000 0 19d8 5d10/3d10/4d6 150' (50') 100/200/400 Level 8 1,600,000 0 20d8 5d10/3d10/4d6 150' (50') 100/200/400 Level 9 1,900,000 0 21d8 5d10/3d10/4d6 150' (50') 100/200/400 Level 10 2,200,000-1 22d8 5d10/3d10/4d6 150' (50') 100/200/400 Level 11 2,500,000-1 23d8 5d10/3d10/4d6 150' (50') 100/200/400 Level 12 3,000,000-2 23d8 5d10/3d10/4d6 150' (50') 100/200/400 Max level - 12 Damage assumes ownership of a sword or club - the cost for such weapons, non-magical, is 100 GP per d10 of damage, but every mountain giant can start with a normal-sized human sword and use it till they become a teen. Buying future weapons is his or her responsibility. Magical giant-sized weapons are fairly rare, and a giant's punch and boulder attacks cannot hurt creatures who are only damaged by silver or magical weapons. AC similarly is a base level, and giants (esp. younger) often wear armor. Cost is ten times that of human-sized armor, even for starting giants, as they are differently proportioned. Attack - as per monster of same HD Fight Options gained at level 9, with 2 attacks becoming available at level 10 and 3 attacks at level 12. Weapon Proficiencies - basic in all weapons as base, four additional skills at normal monster, one more at levels 3, 6, 9 and 12 and one more every 200,000 XP thereafter Giants generally live to the age of 400, and young giants enter the outside world to explore usually around age 35. As AC10 explains, males are much more common to become adventuers, but some female mountain giants also become adventurers. Mountain Giants get a +3 to starting STR and a -1 to DEX. They need a STR of at least 14 to start. A mountain giant's prime requisite is CON. Starting GP is 3d6 times 10. Most mountain giants adventurers are simply letting off their youthful aggression - if they enjoy the life though, they need not return the peaks and may keep on adventuring. Savings Throws - as fighter of same HD. Skills - every mountain giant begins with hunting skill (plus any INT-gained skills) . Upon becoming a teenager, they may take a second skill. At "normal monster" they get 2 more skills. After this, they gain skills at levels 4, 8 and 12, and an additional one with every 300,000 XP thereafter. Popular skills with giants are survival (mountain or forest), nature lore (mountain or forest), tracking, animal training and caving. Mountain giants suffer the same "scale-penalty" as sea giants, upon reaching teenager status (8 HD). See PC2 for more information on the risk posed by such large creatures in areas designed for smaller beings. Spell-casters - there are no shamans or wicca among the mountain giants. The magical arts simply foreign to them, given their dwarvish nature. The immortal who created them died off thousands of years ago, leaving them without access to clerical powers, though some still practice the ancient rituals and ceremonies, hoping for his return. Garal Glitterlode has taken pity on the mountain giants who are so closely knit to his people, so does grant shamanic skills to chiefs. Upon getting enough XP for 12th level, a mountain giant must defeat the reigning leader of the area in the biannual celebrations (see AC10, pg. 3) in a no-holds-barred, one-on-one conflict. Given the XP needed to reach such a level, the challenges are rare indeed - and tough. This is because the established leader has access to 10th level shamanic abilities (regardless of WIS). The loser (if still alive) is healed, but is set back to 2,500,000 XP and 11h level and can never attain 12th level. Relationships with other races - mountain giants do not face aggression from dwarves or gnomes, but neither greets them with familial affection - they would provide assistance in crisis times certainly though, and vice versa. Most other races view mountain giants with hesitant fear, at the least, if not outright aggression. Giants reside mostly in fairly unexplored regions, like Norworld, but no huge enclaves or societies exist on Mystara. Some live in almost any region of the world though. More information on mountain giant culture can be found in AC10 obviously. This class/race has been totally un-playtested. Any comments are very appreciated. Especially let me know if I left out key info needed to play this class/race or results from using it in games. - Mischa He puts the 'sin' in syndication - Weird Al Yankovic, "Jerry Springer" ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 14:58:48 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: jason o'brien Subject: Re: HW modules and WotI (Part 2) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit this was preety damn good! i especially like the way you worked in the blackmoor module. i don't have any of the blackmoor modules myself so i would have to either use a different one or play the three as they are. but anyway kudos on a job well done. mortus. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 16:15:18 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: jason o'brien Subject: Re: Multilingual names-Hawaiian MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Second problem name.... > > << Shawn: no clue, the 'Sh' doesn't translate consitently>> > > Try "Sean" or "John". I am sure that the shop I visited on Kauai with all > of those keyrings and nametags took care of this one somehow. > > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. sorry guy's sean is not john contrary to popular belief, it's jimmy a nickname, eoin is john in gaelic. mortus. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 16:18:14 -0000 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: jason o'brien Subject: Re: Poll: Need YOUR votes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit my favourite was the brokenlands i really enjoyed my time in thar's legion. next would be glantri you can cause a lot of mayhem there too. after that i think hule. mortus. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 12:26:49 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Mischa E Gelman Subject: Re: New race/class: Mountain Giant In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII > Level 12 3,000,000-2 23d8 5d10/3d10/4d6 150' (50') 100/200/400 > > Damage assumes ownership of a sword or club - the cost for such weapons, > non-magical, is 100 GP per d10 of damage, but every mountain giant can > start with a normal-sized human sword and use it till they become a teen. > Buying future weapons is his or her responsibility. Magical giant-sized > weapons are fairly rare, and a giant's punch and boulder attacks cannot > hurt creatures who are only damaged by silver or magical weapons. > > Weapon Proficiencies - basic in all weapons as base, four additional > skills at normal monster, one more at levels 3, 6, 9 and 12 and one more > every 200,000 XP thereafter Might as well correct my own error - Giant weapon damages do not correlate obviously with human WP charts. I thought of several ways to handle this: 1)Ignore Weapon Proficiencies. A max-level giant will get 3 attacks with an average damage per hit of 27, making them comparable to a max-level mystic or fighter (with GM in sword+5) who each get 4 attacks for 20 points per hit. 2)Give giants their own WP charts for different weapons, assuming a gain of 10-15 points for grand mastery. This now raises them from around 81 points of D per round to 111-126 - quite a bit, but giants are powerful beings. Since most giants won't reach 12th, this really amounts to 74-84 damage/rnd once they get multiple attacks, which again is fairly equivalent to other melee-oriented classes. 3)Give giants their own WP charts, assuming a tripling of damage for grand mastery. This would be way too powerful, but if we remove multiple attacks and return to the base 1/rnd of the canon, we now have a giant doing 7d20 or 8d20 per hit, one attack a round, an all-or-nothing affair really. Average damage would be 72-83, again fairly comparable. Giants inflict much more pain per hit, but aren't as agile as humans. Sounds fairly sensible. This of course is assuming that giants should be comparable. If one wanted to make them much tougher in melee, feel free to mix and match in the appropriate manner. - Mischa He puts the 'sin' in syndication - Weird Al Yankovic, "Jerry Springer" ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 11:01:57 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Richard Drozdik@Home" Subject: Re: The Song of Halav In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed At 02:26 AM 20/02/00 +0100, The Stalker wrote: >Now you've really put me in a spot! Should I use this or the song from the >'Hail the Heroes' adventure. And, no, I refuse to argue what's canon and >what is not :) You could use both. Depending on the differences, two versions of the Song could lead to some interesting theological "debates". ;-) Richard ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 13:25:17 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Jenni A. M. Merrifield" Organization: strawberryJAMM Designs Subject: Re: The Song of Halav MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit "Richard Drozdik@Home" wrote: > > At 02:26 AM 20/02/00 +0100, The Stalker wrote: > > > >Now you've really put me in a spot! Should I use this or the song from the > >'Hail the Heroes' adventure. And, no, I refuse to argue what's canon and > >what is not :) > > You could use both. Depending on the differences, two versions of the Song > could lead to some interesting theological "debates". ;-) Oh of course. Much in the same way that the many, many, /many/ different translations of the Bible have lead to incredibly tumultuous theological "debates" over the centuries. ;-) Jenni -- Jenni A. M. Merrifield <==> strawberryJAMM Designs strawberry@jamm.com <==> http://www.jamm.com/jamm/ <------------------------------------------------------------------> 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!" ________________________________________________________ 1stUp.com - Free the Web� Get your free Internet access at http://www.1stUp.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 16:51:05 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Oliver Subject: FAITHS: Hin Hero Gods Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed I just can't stop the need for info on Mystara Halfling immortals; they're so vaguely defined. I have nothing on these first three Hob Nob Coberham Shadowglint Brindorhin Usamigaras (most info on him I got from the Mystara Netbook v.2) OK, we all know most of the info on these figures are vaguely mentioned GAZ Five Shires and some module that takes place in Cynidicea- I don't have much of an OD&D library so I am not asking for product references. What I want is stats on these four. At the very least- aliases, symbol, area of interest, plane/realm. Hopefully there are people out there who have compiled or even composed info on these four- I even stumbled upon a site that lists Usamigaras as an aspect of Pflarr. Maybe some of you Hin lorekeepers have some decent fluff about these immortals that would flesh out these guys' characters and personalities. please feel free to reply directly with input -o ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 17:46:00 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Oliver Subject: FAITHS: Minotaurs immortal Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed OK, who is the Immortal patron of Mystaran minotaurs? Symbol, area of control, alignment, and any other info? -o ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 00:41:15 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: Re: Siege of Darokin - Minotaurs! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- On Sat, 19 Feb 2000 21:58:38 Bill Manley wrote (replying to me): >>... and it should also be pretty bad for the attacking minotaurs' morale >>- particularly if their leader is slain by another minotaur fighting for >>Darokin! Does anyone disagree? >> >> - The Stalker >> > yes it would be demoralizing to the minotaur army.they would also see the >PC as their new leader(IMO).simply because the PC defeated the minotaur >leader in fair combat. Oooh, sneaky! Good idea, I think I might actually use it. I can just see all those confused minotaurs looking at each other, pausing their combat - their opponents also pausing (fighting minotaurs is about as tough as it gets - they could probably use the break, and besides they probably don't want to fight them!). Then they look to the victor and acknowledge his victory and seek his orders (this should take a little time). Then he could tell them what to go do with themselves! (If he's really well-spoken, he might even get some of them to turn against the Master's forces!) Really cool, I think! Thanks. >another possible idea is the PC's hat gets knocked off >by a minotaur nobody and he cuts through the minotaur ranks like a hot knife >through butter.that would demoralize the minotaur amy as well(that's our guy >killing us!),or at least put a pause in their assault,allowing the other >PC's to mount a desicive offencive forcing the minotaur army to >retreat.that's just an idea,the choice is yours. Pretty much what I had in mind, but I really liked your suggestions - They go a long way toward turning the tide of battle in Darokin's favor, and they even make sense, which is rare in fantasy :) - The Stalker of Alphatia Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 00:55:18 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: Re: The Song of Halav Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- On Sun, 20 Feb 2000 07:01:25 George Hrabovsky wrote: >Where does one find the Hail the Heroes adventure? I guess you can probably pick it up on some of the online stores if you don't have a local store that sells out-of-print stuff (I usually check and the link Mischa Gelman gave me , but there are lots. If you get Herve's FAQ-file for Mystara, there are several online store listed toward the end of it). Besides, 'Hail the Heroes' is not really a bad adventure IMHO, though you might find the CD a bit corny (I must confess that I kind of like the CDs though!) > >I suppose that its possible to have a couple of versions floating >around... Easily! I actually compared yours to the one from 'Hail the Heroes' letter for letter and believe when I say that they are very similar. In fact, they are so similar that you can get away with saying that they are interpretations of the same ancient text! After all, the Traladaran language is not quite the same as the old Traldar language, so it stand to reason that it was translated into one or more modern versions at some point. You could even claim that one is the modern Traladaran translation, while the other is the modern Thyatian translation. > >Thank you for pointing it out to me. > My pleasure - any time! - The Stalker Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 01:04:11 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: Re: The Song of Halav Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- On Sun, 20 Feb 2000 11:01:57 Richard Drozdik@Home wrote: >At 02:26 AM 20/02/00 +0100, The Stalker wrote: > >>Now you've really put me in a spot! Should I use this or the song from the >>'Hail the Heroes' adventure. And, no, I refuse to argue what's canon and >>what is not :) > >You could use both. Depending on the differences, two versions of the Song >could lead to some interesting theological "debates". ;-) > Good idea, but I sort of doubt it, since the two version are *VERY* similar. It really is only a matter of which words are chosen, and I don't think there's much room for misinterpretation - sadly :) We would need a third version for that sort of debate I think. Let me just mention I forgot to say before: While I've already used the 'Hail the Heroes' version IMC, the reason I'm 'in a spot' here is because I actually like George's version better! I'm not quite sure why, but his version has certain something that I can't quite put my finger on and which I really like (and which the Hail the Heroes version lacks) IMHO. - The Stalker Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 01:32:47 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: erewan laubgaenger Subject: Re: FAITHS: Minotaurs immortal MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oliver wrote: > OK, who is the Immortal patron of Mystaran minotaurs? Symbol, area of > control, alignment, and any other info? arent minotaurs cursed humans? i know about minotaur gods on krynn (Dragon Lance) but not on mystara. but i don`t know anything there could also be gods of the Mystaran minotaurs. see you on list IBON ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 01:51:58 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: The Stalker Organization: Angelfire (http://email.angelfire.com:80) Subject: Re: Siege of Darokin: Manscorpions (long) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- On Fri, 18 Feb 2000 19:11:33 Aaron E Nowack wrote (replying to me): (much snipping) >> So they had to do something about the manscorpion threat, and I had >> Jaggar von Drachenfels make an appearance and tell the Darokin >> leaders about the manscorpions (since he doesn't want the Master to >> conquer Darokin). Keeping with the strict hierarchy of manscorpions, >> it was determined that some adventuring groups (!) should try to >> infiltrate their forces and kill the leaders so that their society >> would collapse (as the DM I assume that manscorpion will fight each >> other for leadership if the king and queen are killed - thus >> neutralizing the threat they pose). So the PCs decided to sneak out >> and find their underground caverns. Currently they are slightly lost >> there, because I chose to challenge them with a truly huge dungeon >> system (losts and losts of forks and stairs - they'll never be able >> to explore it all!) >> (some more snipping) > >This is pretty cool stuff! If it weren't for the fact that my campaign >just abruptly came to a halt due to one of the two players flunking out >of school I would have to "borrow" some of it in return. Oh well, at >least it ended on a real great adventure (BTW, Callidus Assasians are >great fun to throw at players... :) > Well, we played again, so allow me to babble on some more (this session was really exciting!). The PCs were in the Manscorpions' underground lair but couldn't find their way. Eventually, they ran into a patrol and killed them, but then an alarm was sounded and they had to escape before twenty or so manscorpions could catch them! This forced them down a one-way corridor down a lot of stairs. Along the way they could read on the wall, written in blood, "Beware the terror of the Deep", but they had to continue! (Most PCs were really freaked out at this point - ah the good life of a DM ). Their escape route brought them away from the manscorpions who seemed too afraid to enter the area they had escaped into (PCs really freaked out now!). They came to a room where they rested for eight hours or so in utter and alarming silence. As they moved on they found weapons lying on the floor with ashes next to them (disintegrated adventurers) and skeletons (not the undead variety). Eventually they ran into the Beholder I put down there, but they were bright enough to charge him and they got a few lucky punches and killed him, though not before he disintegrated one of their henchmen. Naturally they found some treasure here - dwarven platemail for the dwarf and a strange two-handed sword of some metal that looked just like silver, though it's weight suggested otherwise (oh, I have great plans with this sword - hehe). Following various other tunnels, they evenually found a way into a hatchery of the manscorpions and decided to wait and ambush the queen, since they assumed that she would turn up here. Before that happened a patrol arrived with some dwarven and human slaves and, being heroes (no joke!), they couldn't bear to watch them being tortured, so they attacked and killed the patrol though they were now revealed again and had to escape! They managed that, and then found their way into some really narrow tunnels (only the dwarf could fight here so he was in front, which was good when a giant spider appeared). The narrow tunnel led them to the bottom of the manscorpion city, basically an upside-down pyramid or chasm with lots of tunnels and so, much like an ant-hive (lucky that we'd all seen A Bug's Life :) although the comparison was a little macabre). Not wanting to come out in the middle of the city, the PCs crawled around some more in the narrow caverns and found their way into another hatchery! Here they waited until a patrol arrived, which they killed, but as they did so a really huge manscorpion charged them while screaming frantically (the queen - lots of vague references to 'Aliens' here). Using a Wall of Ice they managed to close the entrace and trap her so they could kill her off, but they had to kill the king too! Outside the wall of ice they could see 40+ manscorpions trying to get to them, but they also determined (correctly) that one of them was the king so they stayed and fought when the Wall of Ice came down! (Heroic IMO!) The minotaur tried to hold the manscorpions off while the archers and the mage tried to target the king - the PC ranger used several arrows enchanted with the Arrow of Bone spell (from Spells & Magic) but the king kept making his save vs. death (I rolled really well today!). Eventually the great damage he sustained from those arrows killed him though, and one of the PCs hurried to use a charge from their Ring of Wishes to wish them back to the surface! I didn't expect them to do that, but I guess it means that they took the threat of the manscorpions really seriously! Sorry about the length, but nobody stopped me ;) - The Stalker Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 08:42:00 +0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Francisco V. Navarro" Subject: Re: Glantrian Parliament Puzzle MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Congratulations to Signor Giovanni di Porpora, a.k.a. Giovanni Fulvina for solving the Glantrian Parliament Puzzle. As Signor Giovanni is a native of Glantri himself, instead of a one-month tour to the Principalities, we at the New Alliance of Glantrian Political Analaysts (N.A.G.P.A.) have decided to convert the prize to a one-month vacation at the Great Crater of Glantri. Signor Giovanni will be escorted by a complete entourage from New Kolland as befitting any Glantrian noble. A formal banquet and ball will also be held in his honor in the estate of Prince Kol XIV in Blackstone. There, he will be given the honor of being paraded to the fairest of New Kollander maidens, one of whom will be his escort on a romantic cruise down the Red River beneath the shimmering lights of the various alien minerals in the Great Crater. This cruise will end in the Marrow Lake where he and his charming escort will spend a week in luxury, repose--and not doubt, mating. Kit Navarro Founding Member, N.A.G.P.A. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 20:20:16 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: FAITHS: Minotaurs immortal Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: erewan laubgaenger >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] FAITHS: Minotaurs immortal >Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 01:32:47 +0100 > >Oliver wrote: > > > OK, who is the Immortal patron of Mystaran minotaurs? Symbol, area of > > control, alignment, and any other info? > >arent minotaurs cursed humans? >i know about minotaur gods on krynn (Dragon Lance) >but not on mystara. >but i don`t know anything there could also be gods of the Mystaran >minotaurs. > >see you on list >IBON I never thought of minotaurs as cursed humans!maybe the first minotaur to become immortal removes the curse?(BE ONLY IF THEY FOLLOW the new god)any comments? King. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 17:48:57 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: I'm back! 3E and an idea: Living Mystara MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Greetings! Well, I'm back from RadCon. Looks like I didn't quite throw enough kindling and gasoline on that canon post to get it aflame. :) (Har har, no I don't actually go out of my way to cause trouble. Honest.) Unfortunately I didn't get much gaming in, there were relatively few AD&D games going on, and those that did were RPGA Master Level games, in which my 1st level character lasted about 30 minutes. This burned me off any more gaming the whole weekend. *grimace* I did get to play in the "Chance Run-In" 3rd Edition D&D demo, though. I must say that I think most of the OD&D gamers here will find a lot to like. While it will probably share more simularities with AD&D, it actually simplifies in many areas, especially stat bonuses, which have returned to a similar system to OD&D, but you start getting bonuses at 12! (Please note that even the demo wasn't a final set of rules.) Even if you're a diehard OD&D gamer who doesn't want to change, at least take a look at the rules, I think you'll find them much friendlier than AD&D was. This leads up to a new idea I had. I think that one thing that could definitely get more attention from WotI is a Living campaign set in the world of Mystara. Myself, I think 3E would be the perfect bench system for it. In addition, we create a whole new setting set based upon the originals, possibly in the future. (Myself, I favor it starting with a new King in Karameikos, probably the first adventure!) This would be sort of an 'alternate' Mystara as opposed to 'classic', but it would also mean the designers of it (us) would have greater creative freedom. What does everyone thing of this? IronWolf "It's Specularum, damn it!" ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 20:44:46 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Rafilar Irithyl Subject: Re: New race/class: Mountain Giant MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/20/00 10:17:52 AM Eastern Standard Time, megst19+@PITT.EDU writes: > Mountain Giant > > Height - 1" per Hit Die I don't think that 1 inch per hit die qualifies as a giant. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 20:58:32 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Arminath Wynter Subject: Re: I'm back! 3E and an idea: Living Mystara MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Actually that sounds like a great idea...Living Mystara. Maybe let the Good King Stephan step down in favor of his Daughter and her husband. And while we're at it, rename the capitol Traladis, in honor of the joining of the native Traladarans and the settling peoples from Thyatis under an able man and good King, who has provided the most important thing to his subjects: a continued fair rule from his family line. Arminath Wynter, "Old Man" of the North ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 21:08:14 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: I'm back! 3E and an idea: Living Mystara Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Ironwolf wrote: >This leads up to a new idea I had. I think that one thing that could >definitely >get more attention from WotI is a Living campaign set in the world of >Mystara. >Myself, I think 3E would be the perfect bench system for it. In addition, >we >create a whole new setting set based upon the originals, possibly in the >future. >(Myself, I favor it starting with a new King in Karameikos, probably the >first >adventure!) This would be sort of an 'alternate' Mystara as opposed to >'classic', but it would also mean the designers of it (us) would have >greater >creative freedom. What does everyone thing of this? > I think it's a great idea.but why a new king in karameikos? King. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 20:18:08 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Neal Subject: Minotaurs MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I had minotaurs in my campainge many years. first they were pirates and allies of the Black Eagle. then like a fellow member i put them with Hule. But as where they are originally from: i put them from Skothar. north of the Tanagoro. i would like to work with someone on fleshing out the speacial characteristics of Mystaran minotaurs with someone. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 18:19:27 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: I'm back! 3E and an idea: Living Mystara MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Bill Manley wrote: > > I think it's a great idea.but why a new king in karameikos? Well eventually Stefan's going to die of old age. :) As far as adventuring ideas go I thought that it would be an interesting adventure where the heir to the throne is in dispute, some Glantrian mage shows up to claim lineage (a descendent of Von Hendriks) and the players fight to determine the new King. The amount of time ahead varies, now that I think of it, I think a far longer period of time would be cool, it would set Living Mystara apart from classic and allow us a lot of creative liberty with the setting. Like, say, the year 1200 thereabouts. (Ironically the same situation module X10 fell into.) IronWolf ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 22:16:42 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: I'm back! 3E and an idea: Living Mystara Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: IronWolf >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: Re: [MYSTARA] I'm back! 3E and an idea: Living Mystara >Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 18:19:27 -0800 > >Bill Manley wrote: > > > > I think it's a great idea.but why a new king in karameikos? > >Well eventually Stefan's going to die of old age. :) As far as adventuring >ideas >go I thought that it would be an interesting adventure where the heir to >the >throne is in dispute, some Glantrian mage shows up to claim lineage (a >descendent of Von Hendriks) and the players fight to determine the new >King. > >The amount of time ahead varies, now that I think of it, I think a far >longer >period of time would be cool, it would set Living Mystara apart from >classic and >allow us a lot of creative liberty with the setting. Like, say, the year >1200 >thereabouts. (Ironically the same situation module X10 fell into.) > OK,but say instead that the queen is pushing to have one of her sons put on the throne(I think that this was mentioned somewhere befor,PWA i think)but regardless,this is where the PC's come in,the queens son is the second hier to the throne,the first is her other son(a man that is more evil than the black eagle)the PC's have to fight to keep the evil son from the throne.the trick is,they can't kill him because that will put a price on their heads.they have to discredit the evil son.or somehow force a vote by the ruling barons.yada-yada-yada adventure over,the second son is now king.this of course can't take place in the year 1200,for all the direct childern of stefan would be dead,but it's an idea. King. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 22:31:33 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: Minotaurs Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Neal wrote: >I had minotaurs in my campainge many years. first they were pirates and >allies of the Black Eagle. then like a fellow member i put them with Hule. >But as where they are originally from: i put them from Skothar. north of >the Tanagoro. i would like to work with someone on fleshing out the >speacial characteristics of Mystaran minotaurs with someone. > I'd be happy to help you with this project.mianly becease I like minotaurs and I want to get involved in some projects.I was thinking of putting them somewhere south-east of the minaean coast on the OW,but i don't know where(i don't know that area that well)and i like the dragonlance idea of making them pirate like and militant.as for their gods,the only thing i have know is his name:Tothar.maybe he's chaotic evil,or neutral evil i don't know.we can continue this privatly if you like. King. kinglosser@hotmail.com ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 21:02:35 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Living Mystara MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Bill Manley wrote: > > OK,but say instead that the queen is pushing to have one of her sons put on > the throne(I think that this was mentioned somewhere befor,PWA i think)but > regardless,this is where the PC's come in,the queens son is the second hier > to the throne,the first is her other son(a man that is more evil than the > black eagle)the PC's have to fight to keep the evil son from the throne.the > trick is,they can't kill him because that will put a price on their > heads.they have to discredit the evil son.or somehow force a vote by the > ruling barons.yada-yada-yada adventure over,the second son is now king.this > of course can't take place in the year 1200,for all the direct childern of > stefan would be dead,but it's an idea. Right now, I'm steering pretty heavily towards the large figure, the year 1200, possibly later. This is for two reasons: 1) Lots and lots of time for changes and things. As part of this, the multi-century seperation can cover any perceived discrepencies caused by a change of rules systems, and 'shakeups'. (For example, Rockhome dwarves are not necessarily fighters and clerics only anymore, a lot has happened.) 2) Create a definite 'difference' between Living Mystara and Classical Mystara. I want to distance from the PWA's considerably because they are part of the original work of the last Mystara teams, and a lot of the fan work thus far has focused on classical work. I'm not out to overwrite everybody in one fell swoop. There's also too much overhead and hard to find materials to make classical Mystara a viable setting for new players. Argue all you like, but a large factor in any gameworld's popularity is it's availability. (Just try finding Rolemaster corebooks nowadays.) I want to create something new players can pick up an electronic (I sure don't have the money to print them) sourcebook and modules for that will tell them everything they need to know. 3) While Mystara, the modules, and a lot of the materials are copyrighted to TSR, a new world would be based upon those, and give us greater flexibility. Naturally I'll take this up with some WotI people before saying anything definite. It won't be the classical Mystara. In many ways it's a new campaign setting grown out of an old one. And I know there will be those of you who don't like that. That's okay. I'm not on some powertrip to 'take over', what I'd like to do is make a Mystara that we made ourselves, and can push as a gaming world in a legitimate medium, the RPGA. And if the gameworld is good, the sky's the limit. The start of this is getting information of course, which I am going to do. (Talking with RPGA guys, WotI guys, etc.) Anyone on the list who is interested in being involved in the creation process, let me know! I'm a fan of cinema and action-oriented backdrops, so the Mystara I have in mind may be darker, more Krynn-like, than some like. But a workgroup is definitely needed to hammer out the scope and setting, and write the background and modules. They should all be RPGA members, incidentally. (It's $20 a year for guild-level membership, not a big deal.) That's the limit of my thoughts on the subject for now, until I get information concerning the mechanics. And if the RPGA tell me 'we don't do dead campaign settings', I may just do it anyway. Commentary is welcome! IronWolf "It's Specularum damn it!" (Oh, yes, that. I was thinking actually of making a rebuilt and opulent Marlienev, a shadow of lost Sundevall, the capital of the Living Mystara Karameikos. Mirros was destroyed in a tidal wave/earthquake/attack/something, and a new port town called SPECULARUM is built upon it's ruins. But I'm not married to the idea... we're just dating.) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 00:17:43 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: FAITHS: Minotaurs immortal MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-20 7:33:48 PM Eastern Standard Time, IBON@GMX.DE writes: << arent minotaurs cursed humans? i know about minotaur gods on krynn (Dragon Lance) but not on mystara. but i don`t know anything there could also be gods of the Mystaran minotaurs. >> On Mystara, minotaurs are Enduks (winged minotaurs who live in the king- dom of Eshu in the Arm of the Immortals) who were cursed with the loss of their wings. The Enduks serve the Immortal Idu (Ixion) and were made by him to serve as followers of his servant Gildesh, who is priest-king of Eshu and Immortal ruler of the shedu (AD&D monster type). The wingless mino- taurs apparently serve various Entropic Immortals, as they lost their wings in consequence of their defection from Idu. The most likely Immortals for minotaurs to serve would be the patrons of the manscorpions (archenemies of the Enduks), namely Menlil (Atzanteotl) and Nin-Hurabi (Nyx). Reference: Known World Grimoire series, issues 192 and 200 of Dragon magazine. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 00:42:32 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Living Mystara MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-21 12:03:34 AM Eastern Standard Time, ironwolf@EWA.NET writes: << Naturally I'll take this up with some WotI people before saying anything definite. >> Just a note before you correspond with them: The company is "WotC" or "Wizards of the Coast". "WotI" or "Wrath of the Immortals" is the war that shook up Mystara in the first decade of the 11th century AC. Another note: Even if you set the time of your setting far in the future, you will be making certain assumptions about what will or will not happen in the meantime. For example, if we were to stick to the original idea of setting the module X10 in 1200 AC, here are some things that would have to happen between 1014 and 1200 AC given the events of the early 1000s in WotI and the PWAs: 1) A descendant of Ludwig von Hendriks must somehow regain his barony, and then be succeeded directly or indirectly by a villain as nasty as Ludwig. 2) The Alfheim elves must regain control of Alfheim/Aengmor, presumably by peaceful resettlement (since the shadow elves do not play a distinct role in this module). 3) The Erewan elves must either remain in or return to Glantri (or, alternatively, Princess Carnelia becomes Chamberlain by 1200 AC). 4) The situation in Norwold must somehow become similar to that of the late 10th century, when Ericall ruled it. This would mean that an Alphatian related to the ruler of NACE gains nominal control of all of Norwold, and the political situations in such places as Oceansend and Landfall must also change to match that depicted in the Companion level adventures set in Norwold. 5) (Important!) The Master of Hule must be alive in 1200 AC, not dead or Immortal. 6) Finally, any events that destroy whole nations in the affected region must be undone by 1200 AC. In addition, a few people specifically named in this module may need to be renamed or given numbers to distinguish them from ancestors who lived ca. 1000 AC. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 00:06:56 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Living Mystara MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Another note: Even if you set the time of your setting far in the future, > you will be making certain assumptions about what will or will not happen > in the meantime. For example, if we were to stick to the original idea of > setting the module X10 in 1200 AC, here are some things that would have > to happen between 1014 and 1200 AC given the events of the early 1000s > in WotI and the PWAs: > Actually, that wasn't the original idea for X10 - that "X10 happens in 1200 AC" was retrofited later, when they decided for whatever reason that it might not be a good idea to shake up the world with such an event while they were still publishing Gazeteers. Anyhow, X10 then ended up being re-retrofited and occured during WotI. There's really no point in moving forward nearly two centuries if all one is going to do is re-create the exact conditions of the early 11th century. I don't think that's what Ironwolf was recomending - if I read his post right, he wanted to move forward in time so that changes could be explained historically. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 22:24:40 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: Living Mystara MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit David Knott wrote: > > Another note: Even if you set the time of your setting far in the future, > you will be making certain assumptions about what will or will not happen > in the meantime. For example, if we were to stick to the original idea of > setting the module X10 in 1200 AC, here are some things that would have > to happen between 1014 and 1200 AC given the events of the early 1000s > in WotI and the PWAs: Actually, no I don't. I used X10 as an example that they set it ahead in time because they found the original module didn't really fit in the present timeline presented in the gazateer series. I have no intention whatsoever of ascribing to any future ideas from 'classical' material. To do so automatically is placing backfiction ahead of gaming potential, which is not my intent. I do not intend to blatantly write off everything in classical, though. My creative focus is to recreate the Known World's nations so they are the best possible settings for adventure, and have connections to classical be a secondary concern. Myself, I want to try and twist around a lot of original concepts to make it different but still the same. For example, I envision Karameikos as a powerful nation, nearly an empire, but made up of smaller dominions which vie for control. Borders and even geological features may not be the same as classical. And who knows what's going on with the Nucleus of the Spheres... The best way I can illustrate this is the CGI series Beast Wars, subtitled "Transformers". It is a completely new series with new characters, but with very subtle connections to the original Transformers cartoon. It hooks the old fans in as well as new ones. (My brother and his friends watch it quite fanatically.) As I said before, I figure I'll anger quite a few people who see nothing wrong with the old material, but I've got quite a few ideas bubbling in the caldroun, and I don't want to automatically dismiss any because "Oh wait, this fact from this old source invalidates that." I'll certainly be open to criticism, however. IronWolf ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 03:34:50 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: Living Mystara MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-21 1:10:14 AM Eastern Standard Time, jruhlconob@SPRYNET.COM writes: << Anyhow, X10 then ended up being re-retrofited and occured during WotI. There's really no point in moving forward nearly two centuries if all one is going to do is re-create the exact conditions of the early 11th century. I don't think that's what Ironwolf was recomending - if I read his post right, he wanted to move forward in time so that changes could be explained historically. >> But the point I was trying to bring up was that whatever he does he will be making assumptions or even direct statements about what happened between 1000-1013 AC and 1200 AC. The things that he leaves the same may prove to be more problematical than the things he changes. This effort would probably put you in a similar situation to the producers of "Star Trek: The Next Generation", as the movies based on the original series were continuing to develop that earlier era and a variety of minor discrepancies crept in between the two series. One suggestion: you may want to hit Alfheim/Aengmor with a major cataclysm that makes the events prior to 1200 AC mostly irrelevant. Otherwise, that nation will probably be run by elves who are already alive in 1000 AC. Ditto for any other nation ruled by elves -- 200 years is just not that long compared to elven lifetimes. For other races, how- ever, 200 years is plenty of time for massive changes. Another idea to consider might be to develop an area other than the Known World region, as it is certainly possible that a region that is currently primitive might become the center of civilization a century or two later. On the other hand, a relatively recent cataclysm whose causes are not fully understood by the players could be used to wipe out any civilizations of the early 11th century that might prevent the rise of the new civilization that you want to use. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 00:48:06 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: Living Mystara MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit David Knott wrote: > > But the point I was trying to bring up was that whatever he does he will be > making assumptions or even direct statements about what happened > between 1000-1013 AC and 1200 AC. The things that he leaves the same > may prove to be more problematical than the things he changes. This > effort would probably put you in a similar situation to the producers of > "Star Trek: The Next Generation", as the movies based on the original > series were continuing to develop that earlier era and a variety of minor > discrepancies crept in between the two series. This is true, and very close to what I have in mind. Mystara: The Next Generation if you will. > > One suggestion: you may want to hit Alfheim/Aengmor with a major > cataclysm that makes the events prior to 1200 AC mostly irrelevant. > Otherwise, that nation will probably be run by elves who are already > alive in 1000 AC. Ditto for any other nation ruled by elves -- 200 years > is just not that long compared to elven lifetimes. For other races, how- > ever, 200 years is plenty of time for massive changes. Yes, precisely my thoughts. And I've been thinking of upping the time frame even more. Multi-century at the least, maybe a 1,000 years. And before you bring it up, something WOULD be different to counteract the Nucleus of the Sphere's draining. > Another idea to consider might be to develop an area other than the > Known World region, as it is certainly possible that a region that is > currently primitive might become the center of civilization a century > or two later. On the other hand, a relatively recent cataclysm whose > causes are not fully understood by the players could be used to wipe > out any civilizations of the early 11th century that might prevent the > rise of the new civilization that you want to use. The problem with this though is that it wouldn't be Mystara anymore. There would be no landmarks or places that anyone would recognize as belonging to the old setting. A large part of what would attract older gamers would be the nostalgia of old settings renewed. (You of course can argue that changing them would render them no longer recognizable as well, but this is a matter of perspective. Glantri can still be a nation of mages and byzantine politics, but still be very different indeed.) IronWolf ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 01:18:33 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Living Mystara: Discussion (Very Long) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Greetings. It must be the caffeine, or the long weekend, but my head is full of ideas on this. I should start by explaining that what I have in mind is a definite departure from the classical Mystara setting. It involves not only changing to 3E, but almost a completely different world, very much like the difference between classic Star Trek and the Next Generation. (Thanks Dave for the comparision, very accurate!) So what's wrong with the old one, you ask? Well, besides the fact that all the material is out of print and hard to find, classical Mystara is vanilla fantasy. We all cut our teeth playing those old modules, and we are nostalgic about the places and settings. At the time, Mystara fit what TSR needed. So did Greyhawk, for that matter. But situations change. Fantasy is gearing up for what appears to be a major revival. 3rd Edition D&D is eagerly anticipated by a lot of people, some of the biggest diehard cynics of the D&D systems (all of them) are willing to give it a go. The D&D movie and the Lord of the Rings trilogy promise a potential return of fantasy to mainstream culture. (Of course they may suck and no such thing will occur, but I don't think it will dent the RPG industry much.) Anyway, expectations in gaming have changed considerably since the old days. Fantasy was never meant to be realistic, it's fantastic and open by nature. Newer roleplaying games slowly chipped away at the old model, and eventually toppled it. Greyhawk floundered and died a quiet death, Forgotten Realms replaced it, for a variety of reasons I won't go into, this post being long enough as is. Living Greyhawk promises to revitalize the setting, but beyond this WotC has no plans for official products. (If LG is a runaway hit they may do so, but in the meantime it's Forgotten Realms which pays the bills and gets the attention.) So why won't Mystara be given the same chance? Because fundamentally there's nothing really to differentiate it from the others. Okay, naturally you have the arguments of Immortals, different cosmology, different and additional creatures, the adoption of real-world cultures... but the trick is, these really are not huge things. Mortals have become gods in Faerun, the cosmology is so close to the AD&D counterpart that the differences seem exceptions rather than hard boundaries. The real world cultures are interesting indeed, but they are in some ways a problem as well. For example, most of the players I know locally would never let go of corny Swedish accents for someone from the Northern Reaches. It's hard for a lot of players to take seriously. Others take it too seriously, reacting badly to the former. (I knew a DM who based all his settings on real world stuff, he got really riled up when his players kept using horrific stereotypical Italian accents and Mario Bros. jokes.) This doesn't lead DM's to choose Mystara over other settings. Some of the best fantasy series and RPG settings have cultures that are akin to real world ones, but subdued and are thus ignored by hecklers. (Lankhmar and Conan are good examples of this.) I'm not suggesting to remove them from Mystara! But I am thinking to downplay them a bit in this alternate setting, and try and create less stereotypical cultures that retain a flavor of their old base but at the same time are unique. (I know this one's going to go over badly with a lot of you, all I can say is, if the former style worked, Mystara wouldn't have been cancelled.) Anyway, the point I'm making is that there's nothing to make WotC ever want to resurrect Mystara beyond a 'classic CD' stage. Forgotten Realms serves all the needs they have currently for a fantasy world, and is pretty malleable. In addition it's already got a large fanbase for it's novels, and a lot of good writers, so it will likely remain at the top of the hill. There is a minute chance that if the D&D movie IS successful and popular that they may consider developing a campaign setting for it. But will it be Mystara? Probably not. Likely it will be something similar but extremely commercial, designed for the movie audience. (Now THAT'S scary...) But perhaps if a viable setting already existed... So, the way I see things: In order for Mystara to survive, it has to be played in and enjoyed by gamers of today's market. In order for this to happen, it has to survive in a medium which spreads it in the RPG community. It would have to be a fairly low-maintenance medium, since fans would have to support it without company funding or resources. (Unless it was successful.) The Living campaign series is an excellent way for this to happen. But in order to be viable for a Living campaign series, it has to have available resources on the setting, has to follow the latest rules system, and be an exciting world that is unique enough that it is altogether different from Forgotten Realms. In addition, since most classic Mystara material is copyrighted and cannot be reproduced without express permission of the holder, writing new material based upon old ideas is far more viable for an electronic medium. So, for these reasons, Living Mystara has to be different from classic. So what kinds of ideas do I have? Well, for the moment, I'm still at the 'idea stage'. By setting Living Mystara long after events in the classical Mystara setting, you prevent it from interfering in any prior material. It can even be considered an 'alternate' future which could be avoided. This allows the two to co-exist. It also means a totally fresh start on material. New ideas and concepts can be written which simply wouldn't work or raises a lot of arguments in classic. The biggest thing Mystara lacks in terms of identity is an overriding theme. Dragonlance focuses on the war between dragons and the player races, as well as twisting the gods into the mix. Dark Sun focuses on psionics, a post-apocalyptic setting where the heroes are few and evil is great. Forgotten Realms is fairly vanilla but has a huge novel support system, and has a frontier feeling in many places. Ed Greenwood wrote it to favor the adventurer, note the lack of organized kingdoms and the general wilderness of most of it's area. So do I have any theme ideas for Mystara? Well, conflict is by far the best source of story and adventure. A particular aspect of Mystara is the overriding importance of Law and Chaos. This I think most everyone here can agree upon, especially since this was how the alignments worked. One thought I've had is that the Living Mystara world is a place where order and chaos have become far more visible forces, the cataclysms which were responsible for the changes to the setting were results of imbalance between the two. Order has become the bastion of civilization, whether a dictatorship or a democracy. Chaos has become dangerous but is fought for by the individualists and more anarchic peoples and nations. The neutrals strive to restore balance to the world, but number few. Magic itself has become divided between the ordered forms of the wizard and the chaotic freeform style of the sorcerer. (In 3e the sorcerer class is a special form of magic-user who can cast spells without memorization. His spell choices are more limited, but he can cast more spells and can choose them on the fly. Definitely the realm of chaos.) Consider also the dual nature of Mystara itself, the Hollow World a rigid form of unchanging law, the Outer World a chaotic mess. There's definite room here for development. (The Amber Chronicles and the Elric Saga have a good share of Law/Chaos stuff going on.) The Immortals, who SHOULD remain in the Mystara setting for certain, may also be polarized by this conflict. The creation of new Immortals is also a good idea, this helps in giving the setting a more unique feel. Anyway, I'd better get to bed here. I've probably said enough to rile everyone up and get myself flamed. :) (I'll be gone tomorrow until 5pm, so I'll have to read everybody's responses long after. Sorry about that.) If you're still doubtful on this, consider that if Mystara remains as it is, there's a good chance you'll be seeing the Isle of Dread on Faerun or Oerth. And THAT will really suck. All I want to do is see Mystara survive and thrive as a campaign setting. If it means changing it, then that's what I'll do. It's a rough job, but somebody had to bring it up. IronWolf ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 04:36:51 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: "Mystara 2000" (was Living Mystara) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-21 3:48:32 AM Eastern Standard Time, ironwolf@EWA.NET writes: << The problem with this though is that it wouldn't be Mystara anymore. There would be no landmarks or places that anyone would recognize as belonging to the old setting. A large part of what would attract older gamers would be the nostalgia of old settings renewed. (You of course can argue that changing them would render them no longer recognizable as well, but this is a matter of perspective. Glantri can still be a nation of mages and byzantine politics, but still be very different indeed.) >> You know, I think you have just inspired me to revisit my "Mystara 2000" idea of a few months back, which would definitely alter Mystara beyond recognition but would preserve most of the geography. The pivotal event for this setting would be the explosion of the Nucleus of the Spheres in 1700 AC, which would set the tone for the events that follow. All magic would be lost from the surface world (but psionics and Red Curse "legacies" would remain), while the Hollow World would become magically "normal". All races with natural magical talents would be removed to the Hollow World where they could survive. The Red Curse would become the "Red Plague" as it spreads unchecked throughout the world. 1800 AC: The "Red Hope" has allowed the region formerly known as the "Savage Coast" to recover first from the "Red Plague". In most of the world people are fully Afflicted because cinnabryl is no longer available. However, in the regions first affected by the Red Curse the rivers flow red, and people who drink the water from those rivers on a regular basis receive the benefits formerly granted by cinnabryl. The nations of the "Savage Coast" begin exploring and conquering other nations of Brun. Technology begins to surpass the Renaissance level. In the Hollow World, the Alphatians have long since fully adjusted to their new roles as "protectors" of the Hollow World. By 1800 AC they have fully integrated all of the magical creatures and civilizations that were moved to the Hollow World a century earlier into their own magical civilization to the extent permitted by the Spell of Preservation. However, they remain cut off from the outer world. 1900 AC: By this point Brun is fully within the effect of the "Red Hope", and the nations of the "Savage Coast" begin expanding to Skothar and Davania. Technology advances to a level equal to that of Victorian Earth. In the Hollow World, Alphatian explorers finally succeed in penetrating the polar openings and visiting the outer world for the first time since the great cataclysm of 1700 AC. However, they quickly retreat as they fall victim to the Red Plague. In the following decades they decide that the only solution to the Red Plague is to move Alphatia itself back to the outer world and begin working on doing just that. 2000 AC: By this year explorers from the "Savage Coast" have reached all parts of the outer world. In that region a combination of technology and psionic research has achieved a standard of living comparable to that of late 20th century Earth, with other regions at slightly lower tech levels. In the Hollow World, the Alphatians are nearly ready to move their floating continent through the north polar opening and thereby (they think) restore magic to the outer world. However, at that point debate arises over the desirability of their doing that, as the possibility exists that this maneuver will drain Alphatia of its magic without significantly affecting the outer world. As a further complication, the inhabitants of the outer world (especially the "Savage Coast") have gotten along fairly well without wizardly or priestly magic for the past 300 years and are definitely dubious about the effects of trying to restore it at this point. When they find out about the Alphatian plan, some adventurers from that region attempt to travel to Alphatia and thwart their plan. I am making no attempt to proceed past that point, as the outcome of the Alphatian plot will have a major effect on both the outer world and the Hollow World -- and any attempt to project later events would suggest a "proper" outcome for a something that I would rather leave as an open- ended problem. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 19:14:49 +0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: "Francisco V. Navarro" Subject: Re: I'm back! 3E and an idea: Living Mystara MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="x-user-defined" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > IronWolf wrote: > Well eventually Stefan's going to die of old age. :) As far as adventuring ideas > go I thought that it would be an interesting adventure where the heir to the > throne is in dispute, some Glantrian mage shows up to claim lineage (a > descendent of Von Hendriks) and the players fight to determine the new King. What?? But Princess Juliana isn't even pregnant yet... unless of course, this happens way into the future... and we have a little ol' Wilhelm von Hendriks, Prince of Bergdhoven, grandson of Juliana Vlaardoen, claiming the Karameikan throne... > The amount of time ahead varies, now that I think of it, I think a far longer > period of time would be cool, it would set Living Mystara apart from classic and > allow us a lot of creative liberty with the setting. Like, say, the year 1200 > thereabouts. (Ironically the same situation module X10 fell into.) Yep, little ol' Wilhelm will already be a grown man and then some by that time (one lifetime + a couple of longevity potions... pretty average for Glantrian noble actually). Kit Navarro Paparazzi Glantri fanavarr@pacific.net.ph "Oh, Malachie! Don't worry about the future! I've been there, remember? Things can get any worse than it is now..." --time-traveling Dame Dian de Moriamis, trying to assure her "husband" Prince Malachie du Marais about the future, but only making him feel worse about the present... ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 08:31:28 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: John Hofmann Subject: "Mystara 2000" Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I rarely see a discussion on this list that interests me this much. I like the idea of a "New Mystara" for the future. Both IronWolf and David have brought up many good points about this subject, and, if either of you begin a project, let me know, and I'd love to contribute. (If anyone's intention is to make the Living Mystara entirely 3E, then I would suggest waiting a bit before beginning the project. Third edition is still a ways away.) One question I have is: exactly what is meant by the term "Living Campaign?" I may be a backwards savage from the planent Xoomar, but I don't know exactly what that is. I've got a clue, but I'm not sure of the specifics. Thanks, John Hofmann ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 09:04:24 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Mischa E Gelman Subject: Re: New race/class: Mountain Giant In-Reply-To: <65.1d01a4e.25e1f28e@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII > > Height - 1" per Hit Die > I don't think that 1 inch per hit die qualifies as a giant. Eek! That should read 1'. Thanks for the correction. 5' upon gaining a couple thousand XP, 7'-8' by teenager status, 12' by normal monster and max of 23. Sounds much better, huh? - Mischa I have a dream that one day, in the ivory towers of right-wing think-tanks, even conservative scholars - their "lips dripping with interposition and nullification" - will stop using King's "content of our character" phrase to argue against affirmative action when they know good-and-damned well that months before King was killed he called for such a program in his last book - Sean Gonsalves, 1/18/00 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 09:26:25 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: New race/class: Mountain Giant Mischa wrote: >Height - 1" per Hit Die Very minor quibble here, but shouldn't this be 1' per Hit Die? >Buying future weapons is his or her responsibility. Magical giant-sized >weapons are fairly rare, and a giant's punch and boulder attacks cannot >hurt creatures who are only damaged by silver or magical weapons. Now I could be wrong here, but I seem to recall that in PC4, it was mentioned that incredibly large objects (ie: boulders, tank rounds, 10 ton weights, extra large pizzas, etc.) would do full damage to creatures who are only harmed by silver weapons (ie: lycanthropes). Seriously, I can't see a werewolf getting up right away, after being flattened by a huge boulder whipped by an enraged mountain giant - more than likely I'd see him/her as being the dimensions of a manhole cover. :-) Aside from that - well done! :-) Geoff -- Geoff Gander, BA 97 Cartographer/Game Designer/Government Peon Carnifex Loremaster au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 10:03:42 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: Living Mystara MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Another idea to consider might be to develop an area other than the > Known World region, > Well, there's a point to what you suggest, for sure. I for one would be less than enthusiastic about a Karameikocentric world, but that's me, and I'm odd. A "fresh start" has its merits. But the counterpoint is that if everything is *so* unfamiliar, it seems a lot less like Mystara - if it's an area previously undescribed, or a vastly altered world, then it is, in essence, a new gameworld just using some of the geographic features of the old. I think (again, correct me if I'm wrong) that the main reason for moving forward in time would be to explain rules-related changes nessessitated by 3E in a "historical"/backstory way, without resorting to the "one day everyone woke up and the gods were wandering the earth in a petulant haze and Bobby Ewing was still alive, and after this Time of Troubles a lot of changes occured" device. If shifted to 1200 such things could be explained by gradual dispensations (by the grace of Kagyar, his Dwarven followers were able to do this or that thing they couldn't do before in the year 1086). Of course there'd be changes in the political geography as well (and this or that nation considered "unlovely" for whatever reason might even cease to exist, I suppose, if enough people decided it was more or less irrelivant) - but that stuff should probably be minimized for whatever reason (perhaps some semi-major cataclysm does hit all of Mystara at some point, so that, for example, by 1200 the technologies &tc have simply recovered to their 1000 level). In other words, whatever changes *do* occur should happen because whoever works on this project wants them to occur, for the sake of the gameworld, not for the reason that things change in two hundred years (that will be the rationale for the desired changes - but the *reason* for things changing would be nessessitated by game design considerations. Rationales would then be found for why other changes didn't happen, when no or little change is desired). ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 18:58:14 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Caroletti Subject: Re: Minotaurs MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Don't leave me out of this project! I already have some developement for a minotaur city member of the confederated city states of Minaea!!! Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 13:20:05 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Clay Postma Subject: Re: Living Mystara: Discussion (Very Long) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/21/00 2:18:56 AM Mountain Standard Time, ironwolf@EWA.NET writes: << A particular aspect of Mystara is the overriding importance of Law and Chaos. This I think most everyone here can agree upon, especially since this was how the alignments worked. One thought I've had is that the Living Mystara world is a place where order and chaos have become far more visible forces, the cataclysms which were responsible for the changes to the setting were results of imbalance between the two. Order has become the bastion of civilization, whether a dictatorship or a democracy. Chaos has become dangerous but is fought for by the individualists and more anarchic peoples and nations. The neutrals strive to restore balance to the world, but number few. Magic itself has become divided between the ordered forms of the wizard and the chaotic freeform style of the sorcerer. >> I think that it is strange how people in different parts of the world come up with the same ideas at the same time. For the last 3 to 4 months I have been thinking along the same lines of Order vs. Chaos as a theme for my Mystara. I have been trying to come up with an overall Cosmology for Mystara that ignores good vs. evil and focuses only on the Order vs. Chaos model of the Universe. The Old Ones themselves are agents of a great Creator who has charged them with maintenance of Order, Chaos, and Balance in the universe. The Old Ones, in turn, have further divided the universe into the 5 spheres with Immortals model. Just some thoughts for you to chew on IronWolf :) Froggy ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 13:26:40 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Jon Morse Subject: Re: Living Mystara: Discussion (Very Long) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay. I've been lurking on this list for awhile now, but this discussion just begs for me to speak up. ("Hi, everybody." "Hi, Jon!") I'll be heavily snipping IronWolf's comments. > So what's wrong with the old one, you ask? Well, besides the fact that all > the material is out of print and hard to find... I honestly think this can be solved electronically. They've already made (most of) the Shadow Elves gazetteer available for download; some creative lobbying might very well get us the entire GAZ series on CD in the future. (Not a bad plan for at least Ravenloft, too, if not other dead settings, but I digress...) IronWolf addresses this in a later point, but I disagree with the conclusion; a "classic CD" revival could very well spur an actual campaign revival. I worked in the business during the GAZ years, running a store, then owning one, then working in distribution, and the GAZ series was consistently a good seller. The reasons for its eventual demise from my perception had far more to do with the decline in D&D sales overall (and perhaps in changing attitudes in Lake Geneva) than in any fault with Mystara. > So why won't Mystara be given the same chance? Because > fundamentally there's nothing really to differentiate it from the others. But there is something fundamentally different about Mystara, and I'd wager it's why all of us are here reading this mailing list - detail. Greyhawk was rich, but severely lacking in in-depth material concerning its populace and rulership. FR I can't speak to, as I avoided most of it. But Mystara had, and continues to have, detail like Kansas has wheat. The drawing card is that individual DMs can alter that detail to fit their campaign, rather than compose most of the detail themselves like we had to do in a Greyhawk campaign. It's got a long, rich history which has actually been explored rather than just alluded to. It doesn't just revolve mainly around one city. It IS, therefore, vastly different than Greyhawk, at least. > The biggest thing Mystara lacks in terms of identity is an overriding theme. > Dragonlance focuses on the war between dragons and the player races, as > well as twisting the gods into the mix. Dark Sun focuses on psionics, a post- > apocalyptic setting where the heroes are few and evil is great. Forgotten > Realms is fairly vanilla but has a huge novel support system, and has a frontier > feeling in many places. Ed Greenwood wrote it to favor the adventurer, note > the lack of organized kingdoms and the general wilderness of most of it's area. Mystara does have an overriding theme, though: politics, civilization, and the immortals. You have to remember that while perhaps it's true that today, we cling to Mystara due to nostalgia, when we initially enjoyed it, there was a reason. That reason was a difference between what if offered and what Greyhawk and later FR offered. None of this should be taken as an objection to a Living Mystara concept, though I'd note that we've got one going on right here in many ways. As of two days ago, it was easier to find Sean's website via the WotC homepage than it was to find the Living Greyhawk site (and, in fact, I only found that site by taking a wild stab at a URL); while not declaring what the contributors have been doing as official, WotC DOES apply at least tacit approval by providing the link. Jon Morse ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 23:47:35 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Marco Fossati Subject: Zandor and an alternate future for the New Alphatian Empire MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi to everyone. A couple of years ago I was DMing a campaign on Mystara and the party was operating in the Alphatian Sea region. The campaign started in AC 1010 and PC's had a lot of affair with emperor Zandor so I didn't appreciate the fact that he was imprisoned by Haldemar (first the NACE didn't fit well in that campaign, second I was beginning finding nice that mad wizard) so I had Zandor managed to avoid the emprisonement, regained his powers and perhaps imprisoned Haldemar, Zynnia and Favian...For my dipleasure the caimpaign ended abruptly, but my problem still remains... What would be the evolution of the New Alphatian Empire with Zandor still in his position? Cheers, Marco Fossati ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 16:51:25 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: "Mystara 2000" (was Living Mystara) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit David Knott wrote: > > > You know, I think you have just inspired me to revisit my "Mystara 2000" > idea of a few months back, which would definitely alter Mystara beyond > recognition but would preserve most of the geography. The pivotal event > for this setting would be the explosion of the Nucleus of the Spheres in > 1700 AC, which would set the tone for the events that follow. All magic > would be lost from the surface world (but psionics and Red Curse "legacies" > would remain), while the Hollow World would become magically "normal". > All races with natural magical talents would be removed to the Hollow > World where they could survive. The Red Curse would become the "Red > Plague" as it spreads unchecked throughout the world. Yeah, I think your suggestion from way back was a germinating seed in my thoughts over this weekend. What I have in mind isn't the exact same though. (Psionics won't be in 3E initially, so I wasn't looking to add them to Mystara.) But it's great to get some creative stuff going on, sometimes the best ideas come from the most unlikely sources. IronWolf ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 17:00:40 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: Living Mystara: Discussion (Very Long) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jon Morse wrote: > > I honestly think this can be solved electronically. They've already made > (most of) the Shadow Elves gazetteer available for download; some creative > lobbying might very well get us the entire GAZ series on CD in the future. > (Not a bad plan for at least Ravenloft, too, if not other dead settings, > but I digress...) IronWolf addresses this in a later point, but I disagree > with the conclusion; a "classic CD" revival could very well spur an actual > campaign revival. I worked in the business during the GAZ years, running a > store, then owning one, then working in distribution, and the GAZ series > was consistently a good seller. The reasons for its eventual demise from > my perception had far more to do with the decline in D&D sales overall (and > perhaps in changing attitudes in Lake Geneva) than in any fault with > Mystara. I'd agree, except that there's a huge difference between reprinted materials on a CD and new products. Most everyone here can agree that while a solid product line, the Gazateers got better as they went along. Gaz3 in particular was a horrific mess of organization (Sorry Bruce, but it's true.) Reprints of old materials aren't alone going to revive the setting. The easier it is for players to pick up sourcebooks and just play, the better. Most of the old Mystara products are OD&D, and would require effort on the part of any potential new player to convert, and that's something that most will not do. Obviously, as I said prior, we could always rewrite a revision of the old information, but the problem there is that the stuff is copyrighted. Writing a complete, concise, and accurate sourcebook is VERY hard. There's also an issue of originality. While I like the classic setting, characters, and whatnot, they are not products of our creation. Wouldn't it be nice to make a new Mystara with your own characters, something that's unique and a product of the fans, not the remnants of the last employees of TSR to be assigned to this world? Well, as I said before, I'm not really hard set on making a new Mystara from scratch. Living Mystara I want to see happen more. But on the way there I want to give it a shot. IronWolf ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 02:11:14 +0100 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Jost Westenberg Subject: FLY and HAST second time Hello, its me Jost from germany and i have the same question agian the first answer i became "no, HAST does not effect other spells" the second was "yes, FLY increse creaturs movment and HAST doubbles the increset creaturs movment" and now! what shoud i make with these answers i have a new idea to get the answer please write anybody the correct spell discribtion in/on the list then i can translate it into german and then i can see if there is a different to the translate in the germany-rule-book i hope anybody can write the correct spell discribtion in/on the list kind regards, Jost jost.westenberg@gmx.de ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 20:19:06 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Kevin Powers Subject: D&D On NBC's Twenty-One MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT I couldn't believe it when I saw this question, but here it is. From tonight's show of NBC's quiz show Twenty-One: Category: "Fads & Trends" In 1974, Gary Gygax co-created what fantasy adventure game? 9 points A. Nintendo B. Dungeons & Dragons C. Computer Space D. Magic: The Gathering ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 17:47:26 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: "Mystara 2000" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit John Hofmann wrote: > > One question I have is: exactly what is meant by the term "Living Campaign?" > I may be a backwards savage from the planent Xoomar, but I don't know > exactly what that is. I've got a clue, but I'm not sure of the specifics. Living Campaigns are what the RPGA runs. They basically operate under a specific set of rules and systems that operate all the same from game to game. RPGA games, either at tournaments or run by individual sanctioned DM's, apply regardless of location. It's like a total continuous ongoing campaign world, where EVERYBODY is there. For example, magic items are distributed as certificates that have the game number, the signature of the DM, and whatnot so that the player has proof of ownership. They can seem kind of stiff and rigid to the more casual gamer, like I tend to be. (I was a little annoyed at the con because all the RPGA games were tier 3 adventures... I didn't have a high level character so I was dead meat. But that's not the fault of the system, just the DM's running the adventures, which were last minute decisions anyway.) But they would provide something very important: exposure. A Living Mystara campaign would attract attention from gamers, and get more gamers involved. And this is what will get WotC's attention more than anything. Prove that the system is viable and enjoyed by gamers, and they may help it out. Without games and playing going on, Mystara will remain as it is, stagnant. I personally would like to turn this around, and I'll head this up if I must to make a change. IronWolf ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 20:50:29 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Neal Subject: minotuars MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Those who are interested my email is neal1@tecinfo.com. write and we'll get something together. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 23:24:29 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Bill Manley Subject: Re: D&D On NBC's Twenty-One Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >From: Kevin Powers >Reply-To: Mystara >To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM >Subject: [MYSTARA] D&D On NBC's Twenty-One >Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 20:19:06 -0500 > >I couldn't believe it when I saw this question, but here it is. From >tonight's show of NBC's quiz show Twenty-One: > >Category: "Fads & Trends" > >In 1974, Gary Gygax co-created what fantasy adventure game? > >9 points > >A. Nintendo >B. Dungeons & Dragons >C. Computer Space >D. Magic: The Gathering > Did the person answer the question right? a very interested King. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 00:26:46 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: "Mystara 2000" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-21 8:33:14 AM Eastern Standard Time, djemonk@JUNO.COM writes: << I rarely see a discussion on this list that interests me this much. I like the idea of a "New Mystara" for the future. Both IronWolf and David have brought up many good points about this subject, and, if either of you begin a project, let me know, and I'd love to contribute. (If anyone's intention is to make the Living Mystara entirely 3E, then I would suggest waiting a bit before beginning the project. Third edition is still a ways away.) >> I thought of an interesting idea for the "Mystara 2000" campaign that would leave more room for development of the earlier settings: The year of the cataclysm would be "Year Zero" of a new calendar, and with the complete collapse of civilization that followed nobody would have more than the vaguest idea how much time had elapsed since any known pre-cataclysm events. Of course, for this scheme to work Alphatia would have to remain out of contact for a while, as their ongoing calendar would precisely answer that question. Then again, I could take care of that little problem by creating a rock-filled crater somewhere in the Hollow World known only as the "Alphatian Crash Site". Needless to say, I now need to come up with a new name for the setting, and I will have to make some minor modifications to the "Alphatia Rising" part of the plot -- neither of which I see as a hopeless task. And certainly I would not recommend this setting for a "Living Mystara" for the very reason of the major disruption of history caused by the Glantrian cataclysm. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 00:40:15 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: SteelAngel Subject: Re: "Mystara 2000" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="x-user-defined" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > more than anything. Prove that the system is viable and enjoyed by gamers, and > they may help it out. Without games and playing going on, Mystara will remain as > it is, stagnant. I personally would like to turn this around, and I'll head this > up if I must to make a change. I like the idea of a living Mystara, and I definitely would prefer it not in the PWA era either! I'm already balled up with 3 different drafts of places as it is, and i really would hate to see that all invalidated :) On a happier note, if we made Mystara 2000 a living campaign, what would that do to the "classic" Mystara? Would it kill it? Would it get stronger? Hmm.. Ethan ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 21:40:23 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: "Mystara 2000" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit David Knott wrote: > > Needless to say, I now need to come up with a new name for the setting, > and I will have to make some minor modifications to the "Alphatia Rising" > part of the plot -- neither of which I see as a hopeless task. And certainly > I would not recommend this setting for a "Living Mystara" for the very > reason of the major disruption of history caused by the Glantrian cataclysm. No doubt on that. I really liked your magic escalating thing though, that would be a pretty cool post-apocalyptic world. Reading through the DA series (which I did complete over this weekend) it does appear that magic on Mystara is not completely tied into the Nucleus of the Spheres. It's not precisely a source, it seems more a catalyst, making magic stronger and more dynamic. Of course, all the Immortal tinkering was done to balance it's ability to give mortals Immortality by making it drain magic. So, it is possible that magic may return in a more subtle form even if the Nucleus exploded. The DA series does suggest that magic was 'unique' to Mystara. IronWolf ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 21:50:26 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: "Mystara 2000" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit SteelAngel wrote: > > I like the idea of a living Mystara, and I definitely would > prefer it not in the PWA era either! I'm already balled up > with 3 different drafts of places as it is, and i really > would hate to see that all invalidated :) Precisely my thoughts, any Living Mystara setting set close to the PWA era would basically not solve anything, it would become another 'who determines what is canon' argument. By starting from scratch you basically say "This is how it is because we wrote it that way." > On a happier note, if we made Mystara 2000 a living > campaign, what would that do to the "classic" Mystara? Would > it kill it? Would it get stronger? Well, there will always be fans of the classical setting. I certainly am still a fan! It's a pretty big uphill battle to anything approaching recognition, though. A Living Mystara campaign would need a lot of players to be successful, which means pushing it at conventions and tournaments, and trying to get new players into it. (Still waiting to get information from the RPGA on what's needed to even get a Living Campaign going, btw.) IronWolf ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 00:10:31 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: "Mystara 2000" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=Default Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Precisely my thoughts, any Living Mystara setting set close to the PWA > era would basically not solve anything, it would become another 'who > determines what is canon' argument. By starting from scratch you > basically say "This is how it is because we wrote it that way." > #1: You won't really circumvent that "canon conundrum" because no matter what if a "Living Mystara" gets some sort of tacit recognition (RPGA or whatever), it will invariably come to be viewed as a "sort of canon" - the same way some people view "net canon" (and I know you're not one, Ironwolf, but that doesn't mean there isn't the inclination among many). RPGA will in fact *definately* establish a "sort of canon" - because people who participate in an RPGA-sponsored "Living" campaign are expected to follow certain things in regards to the gameworld, indeed a "canon standard" stronger than that of the published Gazetters &tc (one can change whatever one dislikes in those in the privacy of one's home campaign, and goons from TSR aint going to come down through your roof like those guys in the movie BRAZIL. But if you play RPGA "Living Mystara", you play RPGA "Living Mystara" as per design.) So don't fool yourself - it will be a kind of "canon" - and you won't escape the fact that some people won't be happy if this or that pet nation of theirs gets "slighted" in your future or this or that unloved nation gets a lot of attention. However, ignore that: if you put in a lot of work to get this project going, then that alone gives you all the authority you need to make the choices you want. However: #2: *IF* you want to sort of sidestep (if only partially) the "canon conundrum", I'd call it something other than "Living Mystara." If you go with some of your earlier ideas (regarding a campaign focused on a future Karameikos), then go with "Living Karameikos" (this would have precedent: the "Living Forgotten Realm's" is termed "Living City" aka Raven's Bluff, not "Living Faerun" or "Living Toril") - if you go with some of the more Alphatiacentric ideas, then call it "Living Alphatia" (that might tie in well with getting new interest, because IIRC the D&D movie is supposedly placed in "Alphatia", though it might only vaguely resemble the Alphatia we know, it would draw in people who are familiar with the name because of having seen the movie - a new audience for the world/setting, which is one of the groups you hope to attract). Won't nessissarily make it any less "Mystara" than the "Living City" is less "Faerun," but might satisfy those who's reaction might be "Doesn't sound like the Mystara I know and love." ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 22:33:56 -0800 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: IronWolf Subject: Re: "Mystara 2000" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > James Ruhland wrote: > > #1: You won't really circumvent that "canon conundrum" because no matter > what if a "Living Mystara" gets some sort of tacit recognition (RPGA or > whatever), it will invariably come to be viewed as a "sort of canon" - the > same way some people view "net canon" (and I know you're not one, Ironwolf, > but that doesn't mean there isn't the inclination among many). RPGA will in > fact *definately* establish a "sort of canon" - because people who > participate in an RPGA-sponsored "Living" campaign are expected to follow > certain things in regards to the gameworld, indeed a "canon standard" > stronger than that of the published Gazetters &tc (one can change whatever > one dislikes in those in the privacy of one's home campaign, and goons from > TSR aint going to come down through your roof like those guys in the movie > BRAZIL. But if you play RPGA "Living Mystara", you play RPGA "Living > Mystara" as per design.) So don't fool yourself - it will be a kind of > "canon" - and you won't escape the fact that some people won't be happy if > this or that pet nation of theirs gets "slighted" in your future or this or > that unloved nation gets a lot of attention. However, ignore that: if you > put in a lot of work to get this project going, then that alone gives you > all the authority you need to make the choices you want. Oh darn, you've seen through my nefarious plot! Now you must be destroyed! *grins* Quite astute, though. But it's a long way to anything with the RPGA. Right now I'm keeping a realistic assessment of the situation and not trying to see any grandiose things happening. > #2: *IF* you want to sort of sidestep (if only partially) the "canon > conundrum", I'd call it something other than "Living Mystara." If you go > with some of your earlier ideas (regarding a campaign focused on a future > Karameikos), then go with "Living Karameikos" (this would have precedent: > the "Living Forgotten Realm's" is termed "Living City" aka Raven's Bluff, > not "Living Faerun" or "Living Toril") - if you go with some of the more > Alphatiacentric ideas, then call it "Living Alphatia" (that might tie in > well with getting new interest, because IIRC the D&D movie is supposedly > placed in "Alphatia", though it might only vaguely resemble the Alphatia we > know, it would draw in people who are familiar with the name because of > having seen the movie - a new audience for the world/setting, which is one > of the groups you hope to attract). Won't nessissarily make it any less > "Mystara" than the "Living City" is less "Faerun," but might satisfy those > who's reaction might be "Doesn't sound like the Mystara I know and love." I wouldn't count on the D&D movie doing much for Mystara, it's only a loose association at best. As for Living City, the reason they did only one city was that FR was the premiere setting but was divided among writers, Raven's Bluff was used because it was fairly small and wouldn't affect the novels and plans TSR already had for the setting. The fact the RPGA did an incredible job was noted and thus now we have "Living Greyhawk" in the works. I don't see any particular value to limiting a Living Campaign to a small area. When I mentioned Karameikos, that was merely one facet of the ideas I had. I had the whole Known World and beyond in mind. My main idea with Karameikos was that they're a definite power, rather than a rustic backwater. (Another idea I had was that Thyatis has crumbled into feuding city-states formed into a loose republic, Glantri is a darker and foreboding place, The Northern Reaches are one large kingdom, controlled by a hereditary monarchy descended from Vestland, etc. These are all just ideas right now, not certainties!) Another idea was that the setting itself would be developed through adventures, much like the original Known World was through it's multiple modules. This is far more interesting than source material, and puts players right smack in the middle of things. IronWolf ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 00:53:33 -0600 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: James Ruhland Subject: Re: "Mystara 2000" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=Default Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > I wouldn't count on the D&D movie doing much for Mystara, it's only a > loose association at best. > I'm not counting on it. I'd never say I "count on" anything. I'm just saying. . . > I don't see any particular value to limiting a Living Campaign to a small > area. When I mentioned Karameikos, that was merely one facet of the > ideas I had. I had the whole Known World and beyond in mind. > Yah, well it won't be built in a day, and you may as well tie a name to it regionally to give it some focus, at least early on. > My main idea with Karameikos was that they're a definite power, > rather than a rustic backwater. (Another idea I had was that Thyatis > has crumbled into feuding city-states formed into a loose republic, > Given the former and the inclinations regarding the latter, here's what I'd suggest, based upon what you said earlier (regarding Karameikos being a "near Empire" but with feuding regions) - cut the "gordian knot," simply sweep Thyatis into the dustbin of history (well, not entirely - see below), and give most of it to Karameikos and part to Ylaruam (mainly Tel Akbir). IMO, a number of nations in the KW should be swept away or unified (Northern Reaches can become one country, perhaps, as you suggest). As for the Thyatic territories, they then become part of the "near Empire of Karameikos" - Duchies of Kerendas, Thyatis (the region around what is presumably a ruined and depopulated Thyatis city, otherwise the tail would wag the Karameikan dog), &tc. Have that be part of Karameikos, the "feuding" part - only feuding feudal domains (hense the name "feud" in "feudal", which is often forgotten or brushed asside.) No need to leave a rump Thyatis at all - it'd be superfluous. Give the Thyatian territories on the IoD to NACE (or whatever other "now benign" Alphatian nation that occupies that zone). This goes hand in hand with the other general recomendation I was considering making, and that is consolodating some of the KW nations - leave the regions with their distinct flavor (Northern Reaches might be one "nation," but with lots of squabbling Jarls or Thanes or whatnot; Minrothad & Ierendi can become one seafaring nation with a strong navy, good tourism, great traders, but fewer of the hokie stuff folks don't like about the Ierendi Gaz, etc). IMO, if you want to reach the "wider word" of Mystara, beyond the KW, doing that makes sense (and then the KW nations that emerge are also significant, not smallish - hard, IMO, for Karameikos to become a "near Empire" if limited to its present size). But wadda I know - I like Thyatis and it's smoked either way in this deal 8-). But setting asside my own preferences in likes and dislikes, I do home some of what I've suggested might prove helpful to you. Have fun storming the castle! *_+ ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 01:56:48 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: "Mystara 2000" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-22 12:36:37 AM Eastern Standard Time, spymaster@PLANETFORTRESS.COM writes: << On a happier note, if we made Mystara 2000 a living campaign, what would that do to the "classic" Mystara? Would it kill it? Would it get stronger? >> I think it would have about as much relation to a "classic" Mystara campaign as a Blackmoor campaign would. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 01:56:47 EST Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: David Knott Subject: Re: "Mystara 2000" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2000-02-22 12:40:46 AM Eastern Standard Time, ironwolf@EWA.NET writes: << Reading through the DA series (which I did complete over this weekend) it does appear that magic on Mystara is not completely tied into the Nucleus of the Spheres. It's not precisely a source, it seems more a catalyst, making magic stronger and more dynamic. Of course, all the Immortal tinkering was done to balance it's ability to give mortals Immortality by making it drain magic. So, it is possible that magic may return in a more subtle form even if the Nucleus exploded. The DA series does suggest that magic was 'unique' to Mystara. >> Then again, my description of the post-holocaust Hollow World as "magically normal" was meant to suggest that magic in the Hollow World at least is not tied to the Nucleus of the Spheres. However, if we wish to create a historical discontinuity between the pre-cataclysm and post-cataclysm worlds, then it would probably be necessary for some form of cataclysm to strike the Hollow World as well. Thus, when Glantri, Herath, the City of the Stars, and other magical sites in the outer world were destroyed, the floating continent of Alphatia exploded as well. Large chunks of that floating continent landed in a region subsequently known as the "Alphatia Crash Site", which in later years became a location that adventurers explored for the sake of gaining powerful magic items and spells. Dust scattered at the top of the top of the atmosphere obscured the red sun, bringing a decade or so of gloomy twilight. The last vestiges of the Spell of Preservation fell apart, and the Burrowers were freed. After full daylight returned, heroic Hollow World adventurers eventually defeated the Burrowers, but by the time they do so their separate outer world origins were forgotten and new civilizations were formed. Over a century later it was discovered that a large, uninhabited chunk of rock from the old floating continent of Alphatia was still flying above the Hollow World atmosphere, and various people (including but not limited to descendants of the Alphatians) colonize it. They discover that this floating island has strong magical properties, and it is this chunk rather than the entire floating continent that they attempt to move to the outer world a couple of centuries later. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 02:23:51 -0500 Reply-To: Mystara Sender: Mystara From: Brad McMillan Subject: Re: Living Mystara: Discussion (Very Long) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I completely agree with you, Ironwolf. I'm better known as a list member who is quiet until something BIG appears on the list (or something philosophical). The last time I popped up was to oppose Bruce Heard's suggestion to format the list to a strictly 3E medium - NOT to oppose a 3E Mystara or medium, just to insure that -this- ML wasn't exclusively 3E Mystara (minus the Classical Mystara genre). I'm popping up now to lend support your BIG idea, which I also feel is necessary for the survival of Mystara...even if it is a futuristic or "alternative" Mystara. Note, I can certainly see the need for an exclusive, separate ML for 3E Mystara based upon your idea and would support that as well, though this Classical Mystara ML should also be maintained, IMO, because it is important for many reasons to us all here. Sidenote to Bruce: I'm sorry. I couldn't agree with your idea in the past, at that time. No hard feelings! I still hold a lot of respect for your contributions to the industry! I'm no one important in the industry, but I do have an opinion. ;) Anyways, on to your ideas, Ironwolf... :) >So what kinds of ideas do I have? Well, for the moment, I'm still at the 'idea >stage'. By setting Living Mystara long after events in the classical Mystara >setting, you prevent it from interfering in any prior material. It can even be >considered an 'alternate' future which could be avoided. This allows the two to >co-exist. It also means a totally fresh start on material. New ideas and >concepts can be written which simply wouldn't work or raises a lot of arguments >in classic. In the 6 year solo campaign I've been in with my DM, my DM brought up some very interesting ideas for the future that I thought might apply to the idea you've raised, Ironwolf. Let me explain...(a "little" story first) My character was seeking Immortality (the Path of the Dynast). A part of this 'seeking' delt with my character obtaining a significant immortal artefact that would help him travel through time. The artefact that I found and used was the 'Mirror of Dreams'. My character travelled to a number of different points in time, and one of the future engagements - to a time in the future I know not when - had my character appear in a bizarre setting; a Mystara in flux. Indeed, everything that corresponded with Time, Energy, Matter, Thought and Entropy were engaged in a struggle over reality. The Immortal Rad appeared, who my character had come to know, though only in the mortal guise of Stefan D'Ambreville. He was flying by and spotted my character just standing there, gocking at the warped surroundings. Rad apparently frustrated at what was happening around him, shouted at my character, "Don't just stand there, do something!", at which point Rad attempts to control the flux of a large river not far away...seemingly without actually casting any spells, but by will alone (my character didn't know he was an Immortal). With much confusion over what Rad had said and was doing, my character looks around and, spotting a mountain that was morphing before his eyes (an incredible thing indeed!), decides he really has to try something... following suit, my character attempts to slow the flux occuring around the mountain, trying to restore order to the chaos ensuing around him. Amazingly, he was partially successful! The Mountain seemed to slow in it's chaotic morphing and regained some integrity again...though not long afterwards it began it's ever changing dance, once more. The world seemed to be in a hopeless state of chaos, and there seemed to be nothing I, my character, could do about it. Not even Rad seemed to fair any better. My character then disappeared from that future reality, very confused with many questions, though he knew it was the future - a future he'd hope would NEVER happen for he loved the world and life (he was a 20th level Forester). (Note: My character was able to use his will because, unknowingly, he was his future Immortal self at the time; a Celestial of Time.) As I continued to game, I realized that that future scenario was in fact a war of the immortals...the flux upon reality caused by the Sphere's all losing their order and falling in to chaos. With no integrity to the universe, which would normally be maintained by the orderly presence of the immortals, the Mystara my character knew and loved -could- become a true Hell of chaotic, devestating change. Indeed, -this- was the "Wrath of the Immortals" that my DM had designed (he didn't have the WotI boxed set, and frankly didn't want it). The reality my character foresaw was the transitional state of Mystara during the War. Because my character only existed in that time frame for a little while before returning to the present (1012 AC or whatever) through the Mirror, the events of the future were profoundly prophetic in nature to him. Even after he achieved Immortality in Time, the events of the future haunted him. He saught to find out the causes for such a future, believing that there would be a way of changing it so that it never happened. Through his immortal investigations, he learned that in that future scenario... the immortals lost, and their own "self-destruction" was cause for a New Age to appear, in and 'around' the Prime. Story aside, this kind of idea brings up a possibility for such an "alternative" Mystara. What If...in "Wrath of the Immortals" the outcome -was- different, and -was- overall a losing battle? What would Mystara be then? In my games case, it was a whole new reality, and a Mystara that looked and felt much different, though one which certainly held ties to the 'Old World'. There was an Age before the current Classical Mystara and I believe it is mentioned somewhere in the Masters rule books, giving some very loose description to the previous Age. My DM took that and filled out what the previous Age was like. The 'Age of Immortals, possessed of 5 'Spheres', 1 opposing 4, which was Life vs. Void, Abyss, Chaos, and Death. My DM tells me that, apparently, if ever there were NO opposing Sphere(s) then reality was cease to exist; Thanatos would bring death to Ixion (arguably the two oldest Immortals), and by doing so destroy himself, thus ending life and death and leaving ...well, not much. So, too, is there a different setting in the future Age that my DM created, also with different 'Spheres'. In the future Age after the Classic Mystara Age (the Age of Heroes), we have 5 more Spheres and again this arrangement, like the previous ones, served a purpose by which the universe regains some sense of integrity or order. The 5 Spheres here are: Dominia vs. Wild, Law, Destruction, and Creation. This is a future "alternative" I would like to suggest for consideration, or at least as an example of what may be. I don't know the entire construction of this future Age since my DM likes to keep secrets from me (damn him! hehe), but I'm sure I can retrieve some other interesting tidbits from him to help flesh out this Age to you if you're interested. What I've learned through my own gaming experience about it so far is... Dominia is the 'Sphere' controlled by the Fae. When the new Age settled down after its transitional phase (after the Immortal War), the Fae who existed in Faerie AKA the Spirit Plane (which overlaps the Prime) used their abilities in unison to solidify the Ethereal Plane in to a kind of shell surrounding the Prime. The Spirit Plane then merged with the Prime Plane, and the Fae became the new 'immortals' of Mystara - though the planet looked much different than it did before. Speaking of the planet, Ur's inner immortal (not to be confused with Immortal) essence either fell asleep for some MUCH needed rest - it had been forced awake much longer than it should have, thanks in part to the Spell of Preservation - or it disappeared, or departed, leaving nothing more than a hollow planet; the crust of the bread, as it were. My DM won't tell me what happened..grrr! hehe! ;) The Ethereal Plane took on the Sphere of Wild, which acted as a Barrier to everything outside of this new Prime Plane. Only the oldest of beings, those who existed before the Immortals of the last Age, such as dragons, draedens, megaliths, etc...can pass through this Barrier since they are defined in this reality as being of the Sphere of Wild. Outside the Barrier, the Astral Plane was also affected, now becoming the Astral Sea. Within it, the reminents of the Outer Planes flow about it like celestial nebulae; their planar boundaries having lost all integrity and their 'insides' spilling out in to the Sea slowly. Still, they make for extremely large, countless bodies in the Sea which can still be entered and explored. Throughout the Astral Sea, the Spheres of Law, Creation, and Destruction dominate, the signature essence of these being detected in all forms of life and Astral 'matter'. Indeed, Immortals from the previous Age were trapped after the WotI outside in the Astral Sea, as well as inside in Dominia. Because of how reality changed (everywhere and in everything), Immortals don't function as they use to, and I suspect their purpose in the grand skeme of things is clearly much different as well. In effect, their condition parallels how the Fae were in the previous Age, while the Fae living in Dominia are now the 'Immortals' of the time. I believe there is a bit of prophetic writing somewhere in one of the books which says something like 'the fae would one day become immortals again, and inherit the world'...something to that effect. That may be one of my DMs creations, however. I think there was something about the 'Age of Immortals' (the Age before the classic Mystara Age) that forced all those Immortals who didn't participate in the War of that Age to become the Fae of the nexy Age, inheriting the Spirit Plane as their domain (yes, the Fae were once Immortals as well). Essentially, the Fae are only Fae in Classical Mystara because of how that Age took shape, that was the purpose of the existance as dictated by the then balanced universe, as it was the Immortals responsibility to maintain the order of each of their Spheres. Of course, as you've seen above in my campaign, that order was lost and the maintainence of the universe was neglected, forcing the next Age of reality. Some Immortals from the last Age - Primordeals - such as Ordana and Hel also merged to become the Sphere of Law (or the "Hierarch" of it technically). So some Immortals also exist in other forms, other than their traditional ones. Another "alternative" world to consider based upon the Ages mentioned, is to play in the Age before the Classic Mystara Age; when there Sphere's my DM created of Life vs. Void, Abyss, Chaos, and Death defined the universe. That would need a completely different cosmology than the 'Age of Heroes' (Classic Mystara) or the Age after that as seen above. >The Immortals, who SHOULD >remain in the Mystara setting for certain, may also be polarized by this >conflict. The creation of new Immortals is also a good idea, this helps in >giving the setting a more unique feel. Civilizations do exist in the future Age I mentioned. I experienced some of them. My DM, of course, has all the info. They exist both inside Dominia as well as outside in the Astral Sea (still, within the incohesive Outer Planes). Traditional Immortals, as mentioned, take on a different role in this future Age. That isn't to say there aren't new "Immortals" being a part of the bigger picture like they use to - there are. I just didn't get to run in to any of them in my game (again, an interrogation of my DM is in order!). Anyhow, that's enough to chew on for now...or spit out, depending on your preference. I just wanted to share an idea that my DM came up with to you all to consider, one in which I felt worked very well in my solo campaign! I apologise to my DM (who I know won't be reading this until I actually show him my copy) if I bastardized his ideas too much and/or misrepresented them. I apologize to you, the read, for making this such a LONG read and if I've done a poor job of informing you on the ideas of the future and past Age mentioned. Lastly, THANK YOU for being a good sport a reading this far! :) ...I hope I haven't been TOO confusing!!!! :P ;) Enough of my ramblings for now. If anyone is interested in any of what I wrote above, I can see about chatting with my DM for more details if you like. I spoke with him on the phone that I was writing this Email and to get a couple things straight with him, but I still don't know if I did his creativity justice. :) Anyways, hope you enjoy! Talk to you later! Brad McMillan "Armchair" Celtic Archae-Anthropologist & Historian bmcmillan@odyssey.on.ca --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brad McMillan/Brude Mac a'Mhaoilein "Armchair" Celtic Archae-Anthropologist & Historian Goderich, Ontario, Canada Email: bmcmillan@odyssey.on.ca ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp Find Local Players: http://nafsasp.wizards.com/Registries/TSR/Welcome.asp To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message.