IMO Dragon has very little to be considered even relevant to Mystara. I was a little disappointed that no true Mystara villain made it to the 1d20 Villains article. At least Orcus is in there, so we can claim a little part of that if we really want to. I was delighted to note that the description of Orcus says he started out as mortal...
Dungeon OTOH did have the "Kill Bargle" scenario. The scenario itself doesnt seem to be very exceptional though. The best part is that it is true to the spirit of Mentzer Basic and Expert in terms of style, monsters used etc. Frank Mentzer is also mentioned in the article. Bargle apppears as a 7th level wizard though. I would have preferred to see a "Return to" module which could be set after the Black Eagle has been ousted from Karameikos with a more powerful Bargle. Still, it has a nice illustration of Bargle, mentions of Aleena, Mistamere etc...
Anyone have other thoughts on the final issues from Paizo?
Havard
I finally got my hands on these mags last weekend. A little sad, even though the support given to Mystara was minimal. Or maybe we should be happy for the attention we did get?
IMO Dragon has very little to be considered even relevant to Mystara. I was a little disappointed that no true Mystara villain made it to the 1d20 Villains article. At least Orcus is in there, so we can claim a little part of that if we really want to. I was delighted to note that the description of Orcus says he started out as mortal...
Dungeon OTOH did have the "Kill Bargle" scenario. The scenario itself doesnt seem to be very exceptional though. The best part is that it is true to the spirit of Mentzer Basic and Expert in terms of style, monsters used etc. Frank Mentzer is also mentioned in the article. Bargle apppears as a 7th level wizard though. I would have preferred to see a "Return to" module which could be set after the Black Eagle has been ousted from Karameikos with a more powerful Bargle. Still, it has a nice illustration of Bargle, mentions of Aleena, Mistamere etc...
Anyone have other thoughts on the final issues from Paizo?
Havard
Well yeah for Dragon apart from the picture on page 26 there was nothing I could see in the magazine directly Known World or Mystaran. It was a little disappointing.
As you note, it's not a terribly exciting or innovative scenario, but I was really impressed with how accurate the 1st level was to the Basic DM's Guide scenario (even managing to make a couple of the encounters to work well for the level of the adventure, despite the ofttimes wonky CR rules of 3rd Edition). I also enjoyed finally having a "complete" version of that adventure to play. It really had a nice nostalgic "first character" sort of feel to it.
Well yeah for Dragon apart from the picture on page 26 there was nothing I could see in the magazine directly Known World or Mystaran. It was a little disappointing.
Yeah. I gues you could count the Savage Tide article, but it is only remotely connected to Mystara. I would have loved to see another episode of VotPA in the final issue like they did with Wizard's Three.
Havard
As you note, it's not a terribly exciting or innovative scenario, but I was really impressed with how accurate the 1st level was to the Basic DM's Guide scenario (even managing to make a couple of the encounters to work well for the level of the adventure, despite the ofttimes wonky CR rules of 3rd Edition). I also enjoyed finally having a "complete" version of that adventure to play. It really had a nice nostalgic "first character" sort of feel to it.
Good points. I also liked the picture of the Oil Beetle. The adventure made me think about Gygar and Castle Mistamere again. Who was Gygar? What role did he play in Karameikos "a few centuries ago"? Was he a Thyatian? What was Bargle doing there? Was he searching for the old arcane secrets Gygar may have hidden in the secret dungeon level below the castle? What was Aleena doing there? Was she simply out to kill Bargle?
I asked Frank Menzter about these things over at Dragonsfoot, but beyond revealing that Gygar is a homage to Gygax, he was quite mysterious about the rest...
Oh yeah, and my vote goes to naming the "Unnamed Warrior" Mentzor... ;)
Havard
Bought both mags myself after years of having no time to play and no reason to continue buying them. Brought back some good memories though I'd have preferred that the Kill Bargle adventure was a higher level though understand why it wasn't. I too remember playing the adventure from the Red Box.:P
A return to the Princess Ark would have been fun too.
Ok so if you were Editor of Dragon mag and doing the D20 list of bad guys who would you have included from the Mystara universe and what would you have said? Restricting yourself to the published stuff rather than include the Online Fan created material.
Bargle is the first and primary villain that comes to mind; alternatively, the Master of Hule (he of the epic adventure trilogy of X4, X5 ,and X10).
Actually, just from a general D&D point of view, I don't think there are that many villains that have appeared as often in adventures as the Master has (Strahd being the only notable exception I can think of).
I wouldn't have minded seeing Warduke on there, either.
Ludvig Von Hendriks, the Black Eagle is also a good candidate...
Havard
Good points. I also liked the picture of the Oil Beetle. The adventure made me think about Gygar and Castle Mistamere again. Who was Gygar? What role did he play in Karameikos "a few centuries ago"? Was he a Thyatian? What was Bargle doing there? Was he searching for the old arcane secrets Gygar may have hidden in the secret dungeon level below the castle? What was Aleena doing there? Was she simply out to kill Bargle?
I'm really surprised more people around here haven't done anything with Gygar. I'm surprised GAZ 1 didn't mention him, either.
I guess I'll give it a try.
From whence the mage-king Gygar came, no one knew. He simply arrived one day - perhaps from a distant land, or even, as some whispered, another world or plane. He informed his neighbors of his needs, and they provided them. Perhaps he had bespelled them somehow, or, more likely, they simply craved someone to protect them from monsters and rival tribes. Soon enough, there were those hailing Gygar as the reincarnation of King Halav. There are always those who will jump to that conclusion, no matter how petty the king.
This was centuries before King Stefan came to us, centuries before the Thyatians began colonizing our land. Traladara was lawless and wild outside of the tiny villages that we called our civilization.
Gygar did not crave temporal power. If he wished, I'm certain, he could have conquered all of Traladara and beyond. He could have made the dwarves of Rockhome bow to him, and humbled the emperors of Thyatis. Such were the wonders he showed us, I would not have been surprised if he were one of the Immortals themselves descended to the world of men. Rather than conquer, he was content to remain within the castle he caused to rise up from the old ruins, engrossed in his unknowable experiments. He would deign, once a week, to hear our complaints and adjudicate our disputes, and in exchange we would bring him food and other supplies he needed. If he required the heart of an orc or a mandragora plant, we would not rest until we had provided him with one. We were his people, and he was our king. His presence, and the intimidating fortress he had created, had made us feared among the Traladarans. The raids from other villages had stopped, and many petitioned to join us as part of the mage-king's protectorate. Gygar would, when it suited him, hear the ambassadors from other tribes out, and politely decline their requests. The tiny kingdom he had was as much as he required, and any more would be more trouble than it was worth.
Then one day Gygar had a visitor who would not take no for an answer. Wrapped as he was in voluminous gray robes and a cowl, we never saw his face - indeed, we did not know if he were male or female, or even human. We did not know by what art the stranger made the guards of Castle Mistamere die. We only know that not a single warrior stationed at Gygar's castle lived. Only the servants - the maids and cooks and stablehands - survived to tell the story to the rest of us. Apparently they were beneath the stranger's notice.
They told us that the cowled stranger forced his way into Gygar's private quarters. The servants waited for hours, hidden within cupboards and storage closets, until they were sure it was safe. When they timorously entered Gygar's chambers, they found their master dead with not a single wound on his body.
Opinions were cheaply had in the tragedy's aftermath; some believed that Gygar had died a natural death (he was old, after all, at least to our eyes and as we measure years) and the stranger was simply an old acquaintance who had come to see him one last time. Perhaps he was overly impatient with our suspicious guards, but surely Gygar must have summoned him, and perhaps imparted some crucial information before he passed on to the next world. Others, with more confidence, claimed the stranger was Death personified - the Immortal Thanatos come to personally claim the soul that had been so long denied him. Still others said privately that they suspected the stranger was a mortal assassin from Gygar's native land (wherever that was). Perhaps Gygar was a refugee who had come to Traladara to escape his murderers, at least temporarily.
Yet there were no marks and no signs of poison, not on Gygar and not on his dead guards. They were simply dead, and nothing our clerics could do would call them back.
Castle Mistamere was abandoned. No human would go back to it after what had happened, even with the prestige ruling from the castle would bring. The castle decayed, only monsters daring to camp within its moldering walls. That is, until a few years ago, when Bargle the Infamous made the castle his own.
What Bargle hoped to discover after all time he has not chosen to reveal, not even to his patron, Baron Von Hendricks. Perhaps he found it after all, for he is known to have jumped suddenly in power shortly thereafter. None of those who have explored the ruins afterwards have discovered anything unusual, save the few magics Bargle himself left behind.
As far as the unnamed warrior, does anyone know if Mentzer had a warrior character, such as in Aquaria?
Travis
Murlynd of Oerth is known in Earth as Merlin
That sounds unlikely, unless Merlin is known for wearing a cowboy hat and carrying six-shooters, or for combining magic with technology, or for being a paladin.
Murlynd of Oerth is actually known on Earth as Dr. D.R. Murlynd, according to EX2. I've never seen "Merlin" as one of his aliases.
I was very happy with the Bargle adventure and the Savage Tide adventure though. As far as I am concerned, that is two adventures with Mystara roots in the last issue.
That sounds unlikely, unless Merlin is known for wearing a cowboy hat and carrying six-shooters, or for combining magic with technology, or for being a paladin.
Murlynd of Oerth is actually known on Earth as Dr. D.R. Murlynd, according to EX2. I've never seen "Merlin" as one of his aliases.
Ha! Yep, that is unlikely. Though the PC's name was originally spelled "Merlin", he still doesn't fit as the Merlin of Earth (even "D&D Earth"). I was mistaken.
Travis
Havard
Roger
How about Merddyn? It's a non-anglicized welsh form of "merlin", but is not easily recognizable. It's pronounced (roughly, i'm not a native speaker) "MEER-thin".
Roger
You know what is neat about this? It was a deep interest in language and pronunciation that lead to us having the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings! ;) :D
How about Merddyn? It's a non-anglicized welsh form of "merlin", but is not easily recognizable. It's pronounced (roughly, i'm not a native speaker) "MEER-thin".
Roger
I prefer the the modern spelling of Myrddin.
It's pronounced roughly Murrth-in (don't forget to roll the r, if you can, and put a slight stress on the N).