Mystara in JumpChain
by Daniel BoeseH'lo, all; it's been a while since I've actively participated in the fan community, but I've recently started a small project that might be of interest here.
For the past half-decade, there's been an online thing-a-ma-bob called "JumpChain", which is somewhere between a game, a writing prompt, and a series of choose-your-own-adventures. The basic premise is that the protagonist, the Jumper, spends a decade apiece in various universes, collecting whatever gear, powers, companions, and so forth that they choose before moving on to the next; eventually passing through an "endjump" and acquiring a final prize, an "Oldwalker Spark", which is functionally near-omnipotence. People have written somewhere north of a thousand different "jumpdocs", describing various settings and a particular list of menu options and prices for the Jumper to buy in each. There are communities on the SpaceBattles forum (and its NSFW sibling, Questionable Questing), Reddit, Discord, and that mysterious part of the 'Chans known only as /tg. (More than one person has described JumpChain as "Self-Insert: The Power Fantasy", and they're not entirely wrong.)
I was recently inspired to write my very first jumpdoc, and given the forum we're in, you've probably already guessed that I picked Mystara as my subject. A PDF of my current draft version, v0.2, can be read here ; the 'live' Google Docs version, where suggestions and comments can be added, is here. I've been trying to come up with every way I can to evoke the feelings and state of mind I remember from playing in and with Mystara in the past, while providing enough explanations for people who'll never engage with the setting through more than the jumpdoc itself, and enough "goodies" to tempt authors to want to include a jump to Mystara in their chains... all while maintaining a reasonably nice appearance, succinct descriptions, and general good quality. I'm not sure how well I've been able to accomplish any or all of that, but if nothing else, I've been enjoying myself while making the attempt.
Feel free to consider this post my request for all the constructive criticism, suggestions for improvement, and other feedback that you can offer; I expect that there are all number of improvements that can be made, that I simply haven't been able to think of. (I just got my first dose of the vaccine today, so I may be achy and out of it tomorrow, but even if so, I should be up for proper conversation by the weekend.)
Here's hoping to hear from you-all soon.