I just purchased AC1 Shady Dragon Inn. I was wondering if it had an official location or not?
Y'know, it seems to me that somewhere there was a location given for it... I'm tempted to say that the video game "Tower of Doom" placed it in Corunglain, but I'm not sure...
Edit: Here it is, I found it here. Looks like the game did place it in Corunglain.
Based on Tower of Doom, the actual town is Nemiston, you start off on the Westron Road, in south Darokin, and you can enter Nemiston where the Shady Dragon Inn resides, or the nearby Fort.
Yep- you're right. I thought for some reason it was Corunglain, but I guess the party doesn't go to Corunglain until after Nemiston and Darokin City.
That's too bad, actually. Based on what is written about Nemiston in Gaz11, I wouldn't expect it to be a big haven for adventurers, and the Shady Dragon deserves to be in a larger adventurer haven, IMO.
You can read about my Mystara version of the ol' Shady Dragon in number 10 post of this thread:
http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=319083
At first I was thinking about placing it in Selenica but I had already created an inn called "The Adventurers' Rest" as the local Adventurers' Guild HQ in Selenica so I didn't want to place the Shady Dragon there as well. So, it ended up in Darokin City, another of my favourite metropolises :D
:-) Jesper
I have the Shady Dragon Inn supplement as well and have always really liked it. Over time I have used it in an old Greyhawk campaign and now I have relocated it in a slightly altered version to my Mystara campaign.
Uhm..what exactly did you like about it?
Dont take this as a trolling attempt, but I was just really disappointed that so much of the book was spent covering NPC stats and so little information about the Inn itself. I would have loved to see it be developed further. Blackmoor has the Comeback Inn. I guess the Shady Dragon is Mystara's equivalent. The map is cool tho
Did you ever use any of the NPCs?
Interesting that the Inn was used in the Computer game(s). I didnt know that. It sort of helps make the Inn more official, if you know what I mean. I agree that Nemiston doesn't quite feel right as a location for the Inn, but I suppose it can be located anywhere.
The Heartstone characters were later included in the Ierendi Gaz, so maybe that is where the Shady Dragon should be found too?
Håvard
Or maybe it moves between the places , appearing in a new city each day. That would be a nice surprise for some unwary players ;)
Uhm..what exactly did you like about it?
I guess I just got "a feeling" or a touch of inspiration from reading about it. I loved the idea of an inn that is the home of dozens of different adventurers. So perhaps it became more of a source of inspiration than a "ready-to-use" feature in my campaign.
Did you ever use any of the NPCs?
Some of them inspired me to make NPCs of my own. That is what I use most RPG material for - inspiration.
The Heartstone characters were later included in the Ierendi Gaz, so maybe that is where the Shady Dragon should be found too?
Well, the Quest for the Heartstone adventure took place in Ghyr, which was never fully canon Mystara, although I know there is a Ghyr gazetteer at the Vault which places it north of Wendar and west of Denagoth.
I never found the characters in the Gaz 4, I'll have to take another look...
:-) Jesper
Having finished reading it I can say that I wasn't very impressed (although it did come out in '83(?) so it can't compare to todays supplement standards) It does have a couple of good ideas I can steal and it does have a really cool name.
Very true. It is easy to forget how long ago these products were made. Which only makes the quality of the Gazeteers more impressive.
I know about Andrew's project about making Ghyr a kingdom in the north. When I first read about it, I wasnt familiar with the Hearstone modules, so I didnt really know what it was all about, but lately I have become much more interested in that kingdom. Since the Heartstone characters appear in several Mystara products, including Shady Dragon AND Ieriendi, I think we have a pretty strong case for making Ghyr part of Mystara.
Håvard
Very true. It is easy to forget how long ago these products were made. Which only makes the quality of the Gazeteers more impressive.
Could you imagine what products would be like today if they contained the same quality as the gazetteers and with modern print methods? What a product that would be!
I know about Andrew's project about making Ghyr a kingdom in the north. When I first read about it, I wasnt familiar with the Hearstone modules, so I didnt really know what it was all about, but lately I have become much more interested in that kingdom. Since the Heartstone characters appear in several Mystara products, including Shady Dragon AND Ieriendi, I think we have a pretty strong case for making Ghyr part of Mystara.
I'm not familar with Ghyr and Heartstone. I guess there's stuff on the Vaults about them, eh?
I'm not familar with Ghyr and Heartstone. I guess there's stuff on the Vaults about them, eh?
There is! Not a lot- as I never got around to developing all the information I started on it (got a lot of half-finished things on my hard-drive), but there is a little bit.
The History of Ghyr
Denagoth Brutes - I created this version of Brute-Men/Neanderthals for Mystara, but I should note that I've since gotten Frostburn by WotC and the Neanderthals there are pretty good, too. Frostburn in general would be an excellent product for Ghyr campaigns (as I've placed it in the Northlands- otherwise, maybe not.)
The Kingdom of Ghyr- This is where I one day plan to post more Ghyr material, but there is a map-in-progress there (I think it's different from the one on the Vaults; a newer version).
What I'd really like to find someday are the Heartstone coloring books- Characters, Crown of Rulership, Lost Wand, and the Rescue of Ringlerun. From what I understand, there is more information in them (at least some new characters). Even if they are written/made for children, there might be some good info to glean from within.
The Heartstone characters were later included in the Ierendi Gaz, so maybe that is where the Shady Dragon should be found too?
I found a reference to Figgen and Strongheart on page 23 of the Ierendi gaz, where it says Figgen has a summer residence in the City of Ierendi. Are there any other references to the Heartstone characters that I have missed?
And speaking of the Heartstone characters, I'd like to include them as NPCs in my campaign. Can anyone tell me what the "Quest for the Heartstone" module is all about? As far as I understand, the Heartstone characters from the Shady Dragon Inn went on a quest and found the stone and some turned to evil and others to good and now they are mortal enemies. Can anyone elaborate on that?
Does anyone have any good suggestions as to where this struggle between the evil party and the good party should take place? It is mentioned that the good wizard Ringlerun protects some townsfolk from the evil mage Kellek.
:-) Jesper
I know about Andrew's project about making Ghyr a kingdom in the north. When I first read about it, I wasnt familiar with the Hearstone modules, so I didnt really know what it was all about, but lately I have become much more interested in that kingdom. Since the Heartstone characters appear in several Mystara products, including Shady Dragon AND Ieriendi, I think we have a pretty strong case for making Ghyr part of Mystara.
Strongheart (and at least another one or 2 characters) are also mentioned in X10, Red Arrow, Black Shield; I believe Strongheart is mentioned at the "King" of Ierendi during the war with the nomads (this is AC 1200 at the time of the publishing of the module, but, of course, that has changed now with WoI). That may be one of the other products that sparked your memory.