unfortunately. And a rather cruel one at that, I think.Roger
It's a shame, because I really enjoyed all of the Hollow World books. The base set, Sons of Azca and Kingdom of Nithia in particular were extremely nice products, and the Blood Brethren trilogy was rather good too.
I can understand how the initial concept could be off-putting, but there is a good reason why we have the proverb, "Never judge a book by its cover."
The idea of a Living Mystara should be taken seriously by the folks at WOTC. I would buy any and all new material published for the best campaign ever made!
I, for one, never cared for the hollow world. IMO the idea was silly. That being said, I own all of the hollow world Material :D I think they should have used it the same way they did Blackmoor, as a time traveling setting into the wonderful past of Mystara. This is just my opinion and should be taken as such.
Yep, the original idea for the world being hollow is definitely quite a leap. I don't know if this link predates the Hollow World set or not, but the image is extremely reminiscent on the Mystara cross-section maps.
And the rest of that site really shows what sort of league the idea of a Hollow World is in...
On the other hand, as I was saying, the actual material developed for the Hollow World was excellent. But it looks like most people didn't get that far...
This is a bit of a problem when it comes to "selling" Mystara, because the Hollow World has become quite an integral part of the setting.
The idea of a Living Mystara should be taken seriously by the folks at WOTC. I would buy any and all new material published for the best campaign ever made!
Yep, me too. ;)
I don't know if this link predates the Hollow World set or not, but the image is extremely reminiscent on the Mystara cross-section maps.
The Hollow World takes inspiration from similar ideas that have been around in fiction (and in pseudo-science) for quite some time:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/6696/pellucidar.html
Pellucidar (by E.R. Burroughs) seems the most direct source of inspiration.
The Hollow World takes inspiration from similar ideas that have been around in fiction (and in pseudo-science) for quite some time:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/6696/pellucidar.html
Pellucidar (by E.R. Burroughs) seems the most direct source of inspiration.
Thank you!! That's a very good link.
Of course before that there was Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth, though the world beneath the earth in it is apparently more just a big cave.
Incidentally, I notice that the first two books listed on that page were written by John Eric Holmes - none other than the first person to revise the original D&D rules.
It seems Dr. Holmes is an important figure in the Edgar Rice Burroughs fan community.
Thank you!! That's a very good link.
Of course before that there was Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth, though the world beneath the earth in it is apparently more just a big cave.
Incidentally, I notice that the first two books listed on that page were written by John Eric Holmes - none other than the first person to revise the original D&D rules.
It seems Dr. Holmes is an important figure in the Edgar Rice Burroughs fan community.
Thats an interesting piece of information Thorf! This could be taken as evidence that the Hollow World belongs in our old Classic D&D setting afterall, as a tribute to old masters.
I always suspected Bruce Heard, having grown up in France, was inspired by the french cartoon Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea (http://people.ucsc.edu/~jeremys/Spartakus.html), but AFAIK he has never confirmed this.
It featured a HW like world inside of earth with a Red Sun at the center. The main story arch in both seasons revolves around finding a "cure" for the dying sun. The world inside the Earth is populated with people from lost cultures from history and myth.
The heroes travel in a Sphinx-like flying ship and are often pursued by vicious flying pirates. I always thought the show could provide some ideas for some of the flying continents of the HW.
I have to second Thorf's statement about how wonderfully the HW was executed. Also, I don't find the concept of the HW silly at all. In fact it is one of the few elements that make Mystara dramatically different from the other settings, even though it probably doesnt come into play in most campaigns out there...
Håvard
I have to second Thorf's statement about how wonderfully the HW was executed. Also, I don't find the concept of the HW silly at all. In fact it is one of the few elements that make Mystara dramatically different from the other settings, even though it probably doesnt come into play in most campaigns out there...
I have to agree. I just used the HW for the first time ever in a campaign; the players loved it (although the godi of Odin kept choosing spells that don't work down there :evillaugh ).
One of the players (my brother in fact) read the Nithian gaz and loved it so much he created some characters from there just for fun! On the one hand it's a shame that it is so hard to go between surfaces but OTOH, it's one of the aspects that makes it that much more special.
The PCs came out of the HW with some Heldannic Knights (using WotI phase II) and the trip through the polar opening was very memorable.
I, for one, never cared for the hollow world. IMO the idea was silly. That being said, I own all of the hollow world Material :D
I agree and I too have a lot of the hollow world stuff.
I, for one, never cared for the hollow world. IMO the idea was silly. That being said, I own all of the hollow world Material
It was always sort of an odd fit, though I do like it for the most part. The thing that bugs me about it now is the Cultural Bias idea. I liked it at the time, but now I think it is just an artificial and unnecessary mechanical addition to the rules. It seems to me that it should be enough to simply say "the Spell of Preservation keeps all but the most determined individuals from using items/acting in ways that are not part of their culture" and leave it at that. No need to enforce (via xp penalties) the players to suffer for doing something different, and no need to artificially (again, via xp and roleplay penalties) explain why the Azcans don't use bronze despite being located next to a bronze-age culture.
If I were to do a modern-day version of it, I'd drop the cultural bias mechanic, and just play the game as is, with the Spell of Preservation being the explanation behind the static cultures in the HW, but without any artificial enforcement of the rules, and special compensations and penalties to reflect it.
I found it really really amousing. I was a true hardhead, I was wounded and my fellow PCs asked me to put on an IRON ring on regeneration... I refused and kept my wounds.
It was really amousing to play a superstitious guy. I played my hate of metal calling every metal weapon a "schattenhalfen weapon", calling it cursed, fearing it and so on...
I'm definitely very happy with HW rules, spell of preservation and cultural bias. I was also happy having 1d8 hit points more than normal!
If I were to do a modern-day version of it, I'd drop the cultural bias mechanic, and just play the game as is, with the Spell of Preservation being the explanation behind the static cultures in the HW, but without any artificial enforcement of the rules, and special compensations and penalties to reflect it.
I agree with you to some extent. I don't think I would ever enforce the XP penalties, but on the other hand I probably wouldn't drop the concept altogether. I'd rather have the character ostracised by his society, viewed as strange, crazy, heretical, or even treasonous, depending on the tolerance level of the society.
On the other hand, it could be argued that the spell of preservation allows individual adoption of things from other cultures, only stopping mass cultural changes. In this case, the PC would perhaps be viewed as a little eccentric rather than as a complete outcast, and as long as he didn't try to persuade his fellow countrymen to adopt new things he would not fall under the spell's influence.
I agree with you to some extent. I don't think I would ever enforce the XP penalties, but on the other hand I probably wouldn't drop the concept altogether. I'd rather have the character ostracised by his society, viewed as strange, crazy, heretical, or even treasonous, depending on the tolerance level of the society.
I dont like XP penalties in general, especially where roleplaying is involved. Rather I would give a bonus (say +1 attack/AC) to characters using weapons and armor of their own culture, and no other penalty for it being low-tech as long as it was from their culture. Using weapons and armor from a different culture would likewise incurr a -1 penalty as well as all disadvantages if it is of a lower than normal technology level. The first -1 penalty may be overcome by spending a feat (3E) or general skill: Culturally Independent (OD&D). These benefits/penalties will remain with the character even if he leaves the Hollow World since his mental conviction has been fused by the Spell of Preservation all of his life.
As with Thorf, I'd say someone making common use of forreign items will be treated as a forreigner by their own culture, incurring penalties to charisma while interracting with your own people untill you decide to go back to your own ways. If the character decides to leave his home culture for another part of the Hollow World or the Outer World permanently, he wont have to worry much about this.
Håvard
I agree with you to some extent. I don't think I would ever enforce the XP penalties, but on the other hand I probably wouldn't drop the concept altogether. I'd rather have the character ostracised by his society, viewed as strange, crazy, heretical, or even treasonous, depending on the tolerance level of the society.
Oh, certainly- I didn't mean to suggest that I would drop the concept, just that I would only use it as a roleplaying hook, and not implement the mechanics of it. I would definitely have roleplaying effects on PCs who decided to break the cultural restrictions, and have each society maintain their cultural bias.