* * * Wizards Community Thread * * * -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Thread : I need some input why I should run a Mystara campaign???? Started at 05-09-06 09:25 PM by silversai Visit at http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=635044 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 1] Author : silversai Date : 05-09-06 09:25 PM Thread Title : I need some input why I should run a Mystara campaign???? Does any of the people on this thread play the world of Mystara in the 3.5 edition, and what type of events have some DM"s changed from the 2nd edition setting? I'm looking to start a new campaign and i always loved the Mystara setting, but I just wanted to get a few views why i should choose this setting versus for example Eberron or Forgotten Realms. SilverSai -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 2] Author : bleakcabal Date : 05-09-06 11:16 PM Just choose the setting you prefer. Don't let others tell you which to play. It's not my job to convince you and I don't get anything from you playing Mystara. If you want to know if it's playable in 3.5 it is, I'm using material from OD&D, 2E, and 3E in my campaign but I'm used to it since when I played 2E I used stuff from OD&D. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 3] Author : Agathokles Date : 05-10-06 03:22 AM Just choose the setting you prefer. Don't let others tell you which to play. It's not my job to convince you and I don't get anything from you playing Mystara. Bleakcabal is right. We set our games in Mystara because we like it better than, say, FR. But the reasons why I prefer Mystara to FR may not hold for you, and vice versa. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 4] Author : Cthulhudrew Date : 05-10-06 12:25 PM Some Pros and Cons for you: Pros: Mystara has nations that are based (in some cases very loosely) on Real World cultures/regions/time periods, so there is a lot of source material you can use as a basis for research. Mystara, while generally high-magic and high-fantasy, covers a gamut of settings and themes so that you can really place adventures wherever and whenever you want. Want a Roman/Byzantine type of setting with magic and mythology in evidence? You've got it. Want a setting based on Native American cultures and themes? It's there. More a fan of the Arabian Knights? Got it. And the various settings don't seem completely patchwork, because of the way they have been integrated together. A large fan based community with years of work and contributions at your fingertips. The Vaults of Pandius (http://pandius.com) literally contain years of work by the Mystara community; you could spend hours there, at least. The community is very active both here on the Wizards' boards as well as on the Mystara Mailing List. Cons: As a long out of print setting, information on Mystara is going to be much harder and less recent as on Eberron or the Forgotten Realms. Most of the product can be bought and downloaded for a nominal fee on sites such as rpgnow and similar sites. The other two settings, however, are both currently being written for and about, and are in the current format (3.5). There is also- for the Realms in particular- a wealth more information than one would find for Mystara. Both have very active communities online as well. Eberron is pretty strongly represented here on the Wizards' site boards (and I don't know if there are any fan sites or not), while the Realms also has numerous fan sites- such as Candlekeep (http://www.candlekeep.com)- that have been running for a long time. The Realms and Eberron make use of more traditional fantasy settings rather than Real World cultures, which can sometimes be a drawback. It can occasionally be easier to maintain the suspension of disbelief necessary to roleplay in a fantasy world with "non-real" settings. That being said, the Realms has on occasion made use of real world cultures (the Horde and that storyline; many of the Kara-Tur nations; Maztica), most of which don't seem to IMO blend quite as well into the rest of Faerun as they do on Mystara, which has always been based on such- they tend to stick out a lot more, and efforts to integrate them don't seem to have really taken advantage of all that fantasy and the setting had to offer (not necessarily the fault of the Realms- I know that Kara-Tur was tacked on to the setting after the fact; originally Kara-Tur was its own place, but later added.) Anyway, just some general thoughts. I'm sure others here have some additional suggestions. As for the other part of your question: Does any of the people on this thread play the world of Mystara in the 3.5 edition, and what type of events have some DM"s changed from the 2nd edition setting? I see this as taking two parts: Part 1 would be rules conversions- there are a lot of threads running here right now where people have been making changes between old editions and the new for just the reasons you state. In particular, the Monster Conversion and Creation Thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=459254) and 3.5e Character Traits for Mystara (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=624614) are two recent threads that deal with the topic. I can't think offhand of any changes that people have made to Mystara solely for 3.5e, but there are numerous variances from the last published timeline (1013) for the world that have taken place. Among them are alternate histories, such as: Geoff Gander's Alternate Timeline for Alphatian Events after the Wrath of the Immortals (http://pandius.com/alph1009.html), which provides setting information for an Alphatia that didn't sink from the years 1009-1015. Giampaolo Agosta's Dark Mystara (http://pandius.com/endknown.html)- a much bleaker and destructive version of events that might take place post-Wrath of the Immortals on Mystara. Bruce Heard's World in Flames (http://pandius.com/worldflm.html) history- another post-WotI alternate timeline, also rather dark. The Mystaran Almanacs (http://pandius.com/alm.html) are community created projects that progress the standard timeline from the last published Mystara product (Joshuan's Almanac) as well. There are also numerous other adventures and campaign ideas at the Vaults here (http://pandius.com/adv_camp.html) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 5] Author : silversai Date : 05-10-06 04:44 PM Thnx thread members for your input -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 6] Author : stanles Date : 05-11-06 06:41 AM Some Pros and Cons for you: Cthuludrew, how's that FAQ update going ;) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 7] Author : Cthulhudrew Date : 05-11-06 12:16 PM Cthuludrew, how's that FAQ update going ;) I know- between this, my response to Thorf in the 3x thread, and a couple of others I've done recently, I can probably just cut and paste a lot of that- or else would have saved myself a grip of time if I'd just completed the dang thing already. :) (Which reminds me, I noticed some of the links I put in the FAQ on the board are already out of date- probably more will be so when the new boards come up). Soon! I really hope- this week is commencement for our students, so I have a lot of work, but soon. :banghead: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 8] Author : silversai Date : 05-11-06 03:44 PM Thnx for all your responses i have used your advice to know what type of campaign im going to run!!!! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Downloaded from Wizards Community (http://forums.gleemax.com) at 05-10-08 09:23 AM.