- The World of Mystara proper (including the Known World, Red Steel/Savage Coast, Blackmoor, Hollow World, Thunder Rift, Ghyr, and Karawenn). Exists in two official Realities (so far): OD&D and 2E.
- Wilderlands of High Fantasy. Dave Arneson stated that Blackmoor is connected to the WoHF at the Valley of the Ancients.
- Wilderlands of High Adventure. A new officially licensed setting to be published by our own James Mishler, detailing his alternate version of the WoHF.
- Alternate Mystaras: Hackwurld of Mystaros (almost published), World of Urt (implicit in Masters Set world map and Gold Box cosmology), World of the D&D Movies (based on Alphatia).
- Garweeze Wurld of Hackmaster, theoretically containing all of the TSR worlds on one planet, including the Hackwurld of Mystaros.
- The Realm of the D&D Cartoon. Some characters from the Ghyr setting appear in The Realm.
- Spelljammer. There's a reference to a crashed Spelljamming ship in Karameikos from the First Quest boxed set, so it is connected to the 2E Mystara Reality.
- Planescape. There are references to Mystaran Immortals in Warriors of Heaven, a Shadowelf in the planar city of Sigil, and Carceri/Tarterus in a Red Steel monster description, so it is connected to the 2E Mystara Reality.
- Greyhawk (including Lenard Lakofka's Lenore Isle setting, and the 3E Chainmail setting of western Oerth). There were OD&D Mystara-1E Greyhawk crossover suggestions in the back of the Gazetteers. 2E GH is connected to 2E Mystara through the PS/SJ cosmology. Plus, Greyhawk has a version of Blackmoor, the Keep on the Borderlands, and the Isle of Dread. Oerth has parallel worlds of Aerth (of the Dangerous Journeys RPG and the Egyptian-style Khemit setting), Uerth, and Yarth. Frank Mentzer has stated that Urt (the original name of Mystara) is a part of this scheme of parallel worlds.
- Pelinore. The OD&D setting of the British TSR magazine IMAGINE. No official connection to Mystara, though it is possible that it lies on the flat world of Mystara's solar system.
- Islandia. This setting was almost was a part of Mystara.
- Aquaria. This is Frank Mentzer's home campaign set on a continent east of the Flanaess (the "known world" of Oerth). Aquaria exists in both Gary Gygax's and Frank Mentzer's personal Greyhawk campaigns, but not in WotC's official GH setting. In Mentzer's campaign, Oerth, known as "Terra", is located in the the Ceti Tau star system (perhaps this can be reached by space travel from Mystara). Aquaria shares many aspects of Mystara's Immortal hierarchy.
- Ravenloft. Officially connected to 2E Mystara Reality through the darklord from Norwold, and through its place in the 2E multiverse.
- Dark Sun and Birthright. Implicitly connected to 2E Mystara through their place in the 2E multiverse.
- Forgotten Realms (including the Kara-Tur, Hordelands, Al-Qadim, Maztica, and Malatra settings). Crossover suggestions in the back of the Gazetteers connect 1E FR to OD&D Mystara. 2E FR is explicitly connected to 2E Mystara through the PS/SJ scheme.
- Dragonlance. 2E Dragonlance connected to 2E Mystara through PS/SJ.
- 2E Historical Reference Earth + the Gothic Earth of the Masque of the Red Death. Connected to Mystara through their inclusion in the 2E "Chronomancy in the Multiverse" article which states that the Ambrevilles are from this Earth setting. There's also the Urban Arcana/d20 Modern version of planet Earth, where the ISS Beagle is known to have visited. Earth was also visited by Mystaran PCs in an Immortal-level adventure, and by the PCs in Up the Garden Path.
- Freeport. An Ambreville makes an appearance here.
- Averoigne of Clark Ashton Smith, plus his other settings such as Hyperborea and Xothique. Connected to Mystara through the Dimension of Myth.
- Cthulhu Mythos of Lovecraft and others. Connected to Mystara through the Dimension of Myth.
- Conan's Hyborian Age, Kull's Thurian Age, the Pictish Dark Ages of Bran Mak Morn, and the Puritan era of Solomon Kane (plus other Robert E. Howard story cycles). As part of the Cthulhu Mythos, connected to Mystara through the Dimension of Myth. The Hyborian Age is also a part of the Marvel Universe...which has had crossovers with the Star Trek Universe (which has an alternate official parallel version called the Star Fleet Universe), and the DC Universe, which has crossed with Predator, which has crossed with Alien and Terminator, and so on...
Then there are aspects of Mystara that are inspired by other settings: - Edgar Rice Burrough's Poloda (Tangor): Review and overview here:here.
- Brian Lumley's Cthonians, part of the Cthulhu Mythos (Thonia)
- Zelazny's Amber (Dorfin)
- Robert E. Howard's Hyboria (e.g. Hyperborea, the Serpent Peninsula)
- Arthur C. Clarke (diaboli)
- William Hope Hodgson's The House on the Borderland (devil swine). Free e-text here
Imagine playing through these worlds using only OD&D or a variant thereof?
Shane
Ravenloft. Officially connected to 2E Mystara Reality through the darklord from Norwold, and through its place in the 2E multiverse.
It has also been stated by Ravenloft designer Tracy Hickman that the "Land of Grey Mists" from the Moldvay penned X2: Castle Amber was the inspiration for the creation of Ravenloft. FWIW.
There's also the Urban Arcana/d20 Modern version of planet Earth, where the ISS Beagle is known to have visited.
It has been pointed out that this Beagle is a different Beagle from the Blackmoor vessel, and that the similarity in names is a coincidence in this post by Mike McArtor
Heh. It's more coincidence than anything that I was channelling Blackmoor/Mystara with that one. My original homage was to Darwin's Beagle, but a little of that Mystara background history must have subconsiously seeped into my head when I named it the ISS Beagle. Too bad more didn't seep in, or else it would have been the FSS Beagle. Que sera.
However, as always, I shall plug the Known World whenever and however I can.
[*]Conan's Hyborian Age, Kull's Thurian Age, the Pictish Dark Ages of Bran Mak Morn, and the Puritan era of Solomon Kane (plus other Robert E. Howard story cycles). As part of the Cthulhu Mythos, connected to Mystara through the Dimension of Myth. The Hyborian Age is also a part of the Marvel Universe...which has had crossovers with the Star Trek Universe (which has an alternate official parallel version called the Star Fleet Universe), and the DC Universe, which has crossed with Predator, which has crossed with Alien and Terminator, and so on...
And Conan once met Elric of Melnibone (in a Marvel comic), so that's a connection to Michael Moorcock's whole multiverse. And Moorcock's hero Michael Kane exists in the universe of Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (and there was that Elric/Tom Strong crossover that Moorcock wrote, to cement the Alan Moore connection).
These NPC stats are repeated also in AC1 "Shady Dragon Inn" (and they are cited also in GAZ4 - Ierendi). Here we read that the warrior Strongheart has a nihrain horse - a magical stud typical of the Stormbringer setting. Moreover, two other NPCs have demonic weapons.
This suggests that this NPC party made at least an adventure in the Stormbringer's world.
[LIST]
[*]Wilderlands of High Adventure. A new officially licensed setting to be published by our own James Mishler, detailing his alternate version of the
W00t? Where can I find out more about this?
Håvard
Shane
Does that make the Nihrain Horse a Mystaran creature? If so, I say we add it to the Creature Conversion Index! A google search indicates this beast was included in the 1e Gods, Demigods, & Heroes book (wasn't that the one that TSR got in trouble over because of its Elric and Cthulhu inclusions?)
Shane
A google search indicates this beast was included in the 1e Gods, Demigods, & Heroes book (wasn't that the one that TSR got in trouble over because of its Elric and Cthulhu inclusions?)
They didn't get in trouble for it, they just were unable to use those statistics and creatures in their 2nd Edition Deities and Demigods because they no longer had the rights to use them.
The first printing of Deities & Demigods included the mythoi of Cthulhu and Melnibone. The ideas behind the Cthulhu mythos were in the public domain at that time, but copyright on the Cthulhu books in print was owned by Arkham House, who had licensed Chaosium to create a Cthulhu RPG based on those books. TSR thought the public domain status allowed them to create game representations of whatever Cthulhu creatures they desired, and so that mythos was added to Deities & Demigods. TSR then contacted Michael Moorcock, who gave permission for TSR to include the Melnibonean mythos in Deities & Demigods. However, again, Chaosium had already arranged for a license to create an Elric RPG. Chaosium became upset that TSR was apparently violating Chaosium's licenses, and the print run of Deities & Demigods was halted while the two companies sat down to talk. Eventually, they agreed that TSR could continue printing the books with the two mythoi as is, on the condition that a note be added to the preface: "Special thanks are given to Chaosium, Inc. for permission to use the material found in the Cthulhu Mythos and the Melnibonean Mythos." The printing plates were changed, and the first printing continued.
When the time for a second printing came, the Blume brothers decided that a TSR book should not contain such a prominent reference to one of their competitors. They decided to remove the two mythoi, and thus the need for the note. (Apparently, Gary Gygax offered to write up two new mythoi to fill the space, but the Blumes decided they could make more money charging the same price for a book with fewer pages.) Later, the book--still without the two mythoi and the note--was republished under the name "Legends & Lore."
When Legends & Lore was updated to 2nd ed. AD&D, several more mythoi were removed, namely the Babylonian, Finnish, Nonhuman, and Sumerian mythoi; the Central American mythos was renamed the Aztec mythos. Contrary to rumor, the Newhon mythos was never removed, and, in fact, was included in the 2nd ed. L&L, probably due to the simple fact that it is TSR who owns the license to produce Lankhmar materials. The deities of the nonhumans were reintroduced in Monster Mythology.
Nihrain horses were detailed in the Melnibonean pantheon chapter. They were 10 HD and 8' tall at their shoulders, with 25% magic resistance.
Here's their flavor text:
A horse of this type appears to be a great black stallion. It can shift into the Ethereal Plane at random times and thus there is a 25% chance that any successful hit will not inflict damage on a Nihrain horse. These creatures can gallop continuously for up to 48 hours, passing with equal ease over both water and land, and flying over chasms or other impediments when necessary. Members of this magical race of horses will only be lent to mortals who are in the direct service of the primary forces of neutrality.