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Thoughts on Mystara post Gazetteers

by DJ Hartel

Lot's of good thoughts on this topic so far. My apologies if this post is long; I’ve been musing on this for a number of years now.

I’ve been slowly working on my own version of the setting. I even reached a point where I began mapping Immortals to different “Houses” of the spheres and started a history project to see which Immortals appeared during specific events. It may be overkill for most, but it seems like a good thought exercise. I have been playing using OSE Advanced rules for gameplay, though I’m not intending to mention any rule changes I would make here.

Race/Species Updates

• For the whole known world, I’d add Lupin and Rakasta as being present in some of the nations. I’m not sure I’d go as extreme as Bruce did with all the species (though I like them; it seems like too many). I wouldn’t have the species replace existing ones; they would simply be another community present. For instance, I think Thyatis should have Lupins of at least one type.
  Gnomes would be present in certain countries as well.
• I also like Lizard Men. I’d even include Dragonborn, though more in the half-dragon sense that existed in 2E (Human/Demihuman parent, dragon parent). I wouldn’t add Tortles or Chameleon Men to the known world, as they are not common there; they tend to stick to the Savage Coast.
• I like many of the PC* races (fairies, sea folk, lycanthropes), but as others have mentioned, the negative experience makes them unenjoyable in any version of the game. I’ve found some replacements that could be used in third-party supplements, which I would prefer.

Specific Known World Country Changes

• Gazetteer 2: I’d like more of the underworld fleshed out here. Create some kind of internal menace, not Barimoor, but more evil, vile serpent or reptilian cults—something that the Ylari struggle to keep under wraps. If I were to set the Desert of Desolation here, I’d either have to rewrite how the Ylari are or reset the culture to be much more insular, as depicted in the modules. I am partial to moving this to the west, next to Sind as Ramelin did, but I’m still considering the ramifications for history.
• Gazetteer 3: Glantri has some silliness that I would do away with or rename. I’d like to see Gulluvia more integrated into the setting. It could serve as Glantri’s version of the borderlands. I would modify the Adri Varma Plateau to resemble the Adirondacks or a similar area, not a desert. As it stands, I believe the height of the plateau as listed doesn’t create a desert, but rather Arctic tundra by Earth standards. Perhaps I could set Gulluvia and the Adri Varma Plateau north as its own Gazetteer. I like the Great Meteor impact from WoTI and its changes, and I would keep that. I appreciate Synn lurking about and subtly bringing chaos to parts of the country.
• Gazetteer 4: I think this book needs a decent amount of rewriting. I am not averse to silliness, but I prefer it to emerge as players engage with the game. I’d make the country more Polynesian/Hawaiian-based, incorporating more elements from the Polynesian Mythos, and adding or adapting Polynesian immortals (honestly, their pantheon isn’t that large, even across several cultures).
• Gazetteer 5: I kind of like the way the Elves are set up. I would NOT have the forest die as in WOTI, though there would still be conflict. I think after the conflict, some elven clans would relocate—not out of desperation but because they have quests to undertake, either for an Immortal or out of curiosity. I’d also want to expand the Elven pantheon (I like some of FR’s Elven Gods and think they would fit in certain places).
• Gazetteer 6: The major changes I’d want for the Dwarves include creating an Underdark for them, with caverns where they are beginning to explore new finds. This should bump into the Shadow Elves to the West, the Reptilians to the South, and Mordrigswerg tunnels. I think Mordrigswerg should have more presence. I would also add more Dwarven Immortals (converted from FR or original as needed). My last thought is that there should be other “Dwarves” rumored to exist outside the Known World who are not from Rockhome. These would be pockets of Dwarves that other Immortals may have saved (or who just survived the extinction event by chance).
• Gazetteer 7: I would probably want to add a few more countries on the eastern side of Ethengar. I’d want to move Ethengar somewhere else (discussed later). On the side bordering Glantri, it might just be a great plain, or I could incorporate some of the updates Robin has suggested to put a lake there and a forest north of the lake.
• Gazetteer 9: I’d have Minrothad eventually become absorbed by Thyatis, though over time, I think they’d gain more control than the Thyatians intended.
• Gazetteer 10: Orcs of Thar would need revision. I’d also place the area into a more anarchic state, especially after the meteor drops, with bandit kingdoms under attack from Shadow Elves and possibly other races. I would also redo Oenkmar as written, as I believe the artifact that powers the island didn’t originate as entropic; I think it is much older—possibly pre-Blackmoor—when this area was very cold above. I’d also have many of the humanoids move east into Northern Darokin and use that as their new base of operations.
• Gazetteer 11: One change I’d make here is that I think Darokin would be more of a puppet state for Alfheim. Not for totally selfish ends, but if one were to examine it closely, things that benefit Darokin also benefit Alfheim. Shadow Elves would be causing some disturbances here, creating a shadow world back and forth between the two groups.
• Gazetteer 12: I’d move that somewhere north, possibly where the Idris sphere is in fanon. While I like a lot of the Idris Sphere, I’d want to place them somewhere with room to roam. They’d come into conflict with Norwold, Wendar, Denagoth, Hule, and folks in Western Brun. I could add some of the Idris companies here.
• Gazetteer 13: One of my favorite Gazetteers—my only complaint is that I’d like the xenophobia of the Elves to wane, allowing other races to visit and adventure.
• Gazetteer 14: I’ve written about them before, but for my current campaign, I would implement some different changes. As others have suggested, I’d shift most of the cultures to the western half of Brun and expand them in size. On top of the Plateau, I would make it mostly forested with Native American-influenced humans (and possibly Wolven Lupin) who ride Giant Eagles and hunt the skies and lands around. These would be the Sky People. The Low Landers would be the children of the Tiger, though somewhat larger, as I don’t think I’d have the children of the Turtle.
• Dawn of the Emperors: WoTI would still happen. In the aftermath, no one would “win.” Alphatia would sink, but I’d redo the sinking to align with some of Bruce’s updated maps of Alphatia—more or less, more islands. The province of Floating Ar would resurface after 6-9 months due to the magic imbued in the land. There wouldn’t be any migration of the floating isles. I might have Ambur resurface with the eastern side of Frisland. Thyatia would transform from being warlike to more mercantile, incorporating the Guilds into the empire, which would create conflict with Darokin. The Western Defense League would still form. Karameikos may still leave as part of this. I would also use Ramelin’s maps for the Thyatian side of the Island of Dawn.
• Sind and the East: If I added in Ylaruam, I would also redo the map to accommodate the Desert of Desolation adventures.
• Wendar: I would like to incorporate the Northern Wildlands into the area, re-envisioning it as a fallen, powerful magical region (kind of like Cormanthyr). Wendar is a successor state, and the conflicts with Denagoth would continue.
• Heldan: I would have the Knights still invade. They would pose a threat to all of the neighbors to the north and south as they seek victory for Vanya.

Hollow World - Week of No Magic and Afterward

• The Burrowers would surface during that time. However, it’s not as easy as the Entropics originally intended. The Burrowers are severely weakened without access to magic. Their protections and illusions are not accessible, nor are their powerful area-of-effect mind controls. They can still control minds, but it takes more effort, and some species are resistant to it—specifically Dwarves and, oddly enough, Brutemen. Additionally, various groups associated with the Lighthouse would actively begin hunting the Burrowers, as it seems someone left plans on how to kill them. While not all of the Burrowers are killed, enough are that the threat they once posed diminishes when the magic returns. Some areas will still have Burrowers, but those regions would feature a warped version of the Spell of Preservation in effect—akin to wild magic.
• I’ve seen some pretty dark interpretations of the Blacklore Elves. My take on this would be simpler: when magic abruptly ceases, elves on life support would die. The elves would hear alarms and klaxons directing them to certain shelters beneath the earth. Those who listen will find themselves in fallout shelters powered by technology. It appears that an Immortal who still valued technology set this up as a failsafe in case of emergencies. Additionally, if the elves desired, they could learn more about technomagic. This last part isn’t widely known, even among many Immortals. What this would allow is for the Blacklore Elves to gradually regain some of their magical knowledge, although a lot of it wouldn’t be useful outside Blacklore—yet.
• The Gentlefolk would probably face extinction if nothing intervenes during the week. I suspect either Malpheggi or even Alphatian Neatharum could step in to protect them. Moreover, this week without the spell would awaken some of these beings, potentially sparking a small revolution—especially when they see the Spell of Preservation kick back in and their friends and family return to a state of nihilism.

For the future, I am considering that once Alphatia no longer exists, there should be other empire(s) to challenge Thyatis. I envision one of Alphatia’s successor states growing strong—most likely Thothia, with possible contenders like Hule in the West and the revamped Ethengar to the north. For bonus fun, I keep pondering: what if the Alphatians were deterring something else from outside the Known World/Mystara—like an invasion from outer space?