For those who don't know, I'm Matt "Masque of Dreams" Conklin
Over on the Paizo boards there is a thread ("Is there a Black Hole {...}") where I occasionally post the working titles of adventures queries I have pending review. In the latest batch there are an even half-dozen Mystara-specific adventures (one is a collaboration). Obviously I can't give away more info about them until after (editor willing) they are in print. Currently the list includes the following adventures (You can infer what you like, but please don't ask for specifics.):
Blood and Ice
Spirit Dance
The Testement of Hosadus
Tiger, By the Tale
Trollheim
Valley of Gargantua
My queston here is: "What bits (people, places, things) of Mystara would you like to see?" I won't guarantee that I will attempt all the items posted, but someone else might. On that note, remember that this board while fun is still just a board with little impact in the grand scheme of things outside its boarders. Wouldn't it be cool if some of this stuff bled it's way into "mass market" print format? Perhaps enough to inform minds of people who have never known the Known Wolrd? I'm no Moldvay, Niles or Heard. I can't do it alone and nor would I want to, but I'm more than willing to give things a shove in the right direction. ;)
Today Paizo, tomorrow WotC,
G-to-the-Three (AKA Matt)
Needless to say, I was perplexed and disappointed when it never arrived in stores. In hindsight, the CM series already involved some epic adventures including grand scale wars so it would have been repetitive to include another War Machine sequence of battles. But I still think an opportunity was missed to reveal this villain which never appeared in a TSR publication, only his handiwork.
So on to your question, Valley of Gargantua strikes me as a perfect fit for a Dungeon magazine adventure. A WoTC produced module would be even better. Either way, an adventure featuring Gargantua let's you define what has never been touched before, and you appeal not just to Mystara fans, but any player who touched the old Companion box set and/or series.
Hule and Hosadus are another good choice, although here is covered ground, there is plenty of room for low and high level adventures, whether something in the country or at the Master's temple. It is more setting specific though, and I would prefer not to see the culture watered down to make it generic enough for greater mass appeal.
Trollheim...in the Northern Reaches? Here I would like to see a treatment suggested in the Gazeteer. Something along the lines of carving out a domain in hostile troll country. Maybe you have something else in mind, as long as it is not a generic troll bash I would get it. Norse elements to the adventure are a bonus, and thankfully Norse themed adventures do have wider appeal.
Blood and Ice and Tiger by the Tail are not enough for me to see a reference, although a visit to the Atruaghin lands and an adventure in the lands of the Children of the Tiger/Viper sounds interesting.
As for Spirit Dance, I first think of Ethengar, or maybe the Atruaghin lands. I would be interested in an adventure that explores the Spirit World as defined in the Ethengar gazeteer, but the concept may already overlap with other adventures already published elsewhere.
As for the Atruaghin lands, the conflict between Atzanteotl and Atruaghin, promised in the Wrath of the immortals but never shown, would be another area of interest.
So on to your question, Valley of Gargantua strikes me as a perfect fit for a Dungeon magazine adventure. A WoTC produced module would be even better.
Even though WotC is the big cheese I'm not really a fan of the current encounter format. Maybe someday but not right now.
Hule and Hosadus are another good choice, although here is covered ground, there is plenty of room for low and high level adventures, whether something in the country or at the Master's temple. It is more setting specific though, and I would prefer not to see the culture watered down to make it generic enough for greater mass appeal.
Currently I don't have anything set in Hule or Ethengar proper, but your other guesses and remarks are quite close to the mark. If Testament gets a greenlight something set in Hule is probably not far off. Atruaghin the land and Atzanteotl the immortal are covered above.
One thing I have thought of doing which modern D&D doesn't do well (in my opinion) is something dealing with rulership and having a domain. Also large scale war is almost unheard of in the 3.0+ version of the game (and curiously absent from most other versions of D&D except for the Classic version. Has anyone tinkered with Warmachine or Warmachine-like battle simulation rules the Hero's of Battle Victory Point deal seems a bit like a cheat to me just on its own.
On that note what would people think of an update of CM1 Test of the Warlords? Before folks go to crazy, let me say it would not be a word for word remake because really at that point you have to ask yourself what's the point? I personally have rarely liked straight remakes of stuff I enjoyed when I was 15 (hence Masque of Dreams features a lot transplanted elements in a new setting rather than just recreating what was already good enough to stand on its own).
Anyhow I am curious as to what you all think on the subject.
GGG
Even though WotC is the big cheese I'm not really a fan of the current encounter format. Maybe someday but not right now.
Mostly that is just me still wishing for that CM10.
Currently I don't have anything set in Hule or Ethengar proper, but your other guesses and remarks are quite close to the mark. If Testament gets a greenlight something set in Hule is probably not far off. Atruaghin the land and Atzanteotl the immortal are covered above.
One thing I have thought of doing which modern D&D doesn't do well (in my opinion) is something dealing with rulership and having a domain. Also large scale war is almost unheard of in the 3.0+ version of the game (and curiously absent from most other versions of D&D except for the Classic version. Has anyone tinkered with Warmachine or Warmachine-like battle simulation rules the Hero's of Battle Victory Point deal seems a bit like a cheat to me just on its own.
The best one I know of is here:
http://pandius.com/mymics.html
A revised war machine better balanced. I agree with you on mass combat and rulership. I still use Battlesystem for large-scale AD&D miniatures combat when my players are willing, and War Machine for "off-screen" battles. Birthright also had a decent skirmish system for battles a bit too small for Battlesystem.
I haven't liked any of the 3rd party attempts either, but I am a miniatures player.
Ditto on rulership and domains. The focus now is on the rewards you get for levelling. Rules Cyclopedia didn't have so many rewards for the levelling part, but provided rewards based on such intangibles as domains.
On that note what would people think of an update of CM1 Test of the Warlords? Before folks go to crazy, let me say it would not be a word for word remake because really at that point you have to ask yourself what's the point? I personally have rarely liked straight remakes of stuff I enjoyed when I was 15 (hence Masque of Dreams features a lot transplanted elements in a new setting rather than just recreating what was already good enough to stand on its own).
Anyhow I am curious as to what you all think on the subject.
GGG
An update for CM1 with a different take on things is a great idea IMO. The module covers two years of game time, and provides three major events(a wedding, frost giant invasion, and a Thyatian invasion), and five small encounters(three dungeon crawls, dealing with barbarians, and the crones). Alternate encounters and possibly one or two different events would give people more electives when running it. Or maybe you could focus on expanding one or more of the events beyond the material that was provided. I think CM1 has a lot of room for expansion.
One thing to mention, the longer adventures these days assume the default levelling pace of 3/3.5E, presumably a shorter Dungeon adventure wouldn't have this. But a CM1 these days would probably assume a 3-4 level jump during the whole module. I would prefer a slower pace, but I realize I am in the minority.
One thing I have thought of doing which modern D&D doesn't do well (in my opinion) is something dealing with rulership and having a domain. Also large scale war is almost unheard of in the 3.0+ version of the game (and curiously absent from most other versions of D&D except for the Classic version. Has anyone tinkered with Warmachine or Warmachine-like battle simulation rules the Hero's of Battle Victory Point deal seems a bit like a cheat to me just on its own.
GGG
I have tinkered some with revising War Machine for 3.5E. The base system actually translates fairly well, which I believe is due to the fact the base system was done pretty well. A few of my findings:
- Levels for PCs and NPCs are trickier. I think the NPC classes will have a slight penalty- afterall, in 3.5 it costs half as much to hire warriors as it does fighters. You can have twice as many warriors at the cost of effectiveness, or fewer more effective troops.
- The skill and feat system meshes nicely with War Machine. Leadership and Epic Leadership can get more use. I have a few Skill uses for Knowledge (War) and feats at Pandius. Players could get Knowledge (Siege Engineering). These two mechanics can really allow a character who wants to be a warlord tailor their character to it.
- Expanding some optional rules can allow the battles to take on different flavors- targeting specific troops, targeting mounts, field artillery, etc...
Dominion rules can likely be used as is, or with very little modification.
On of these days I'll get back to War Machine 3.5 and the Dominion Rules 3.5, but those pesky monsters just never end...
GGG
I'm in the market for a major metropolis with a lot of tall buildings in it set somewhere in Mystara suggestions? If the city had a built in airborne cavalry that would be a bonus.
GGG
I seem to remember Sundsvall had a large number of tall buildings, but given I’m assuming post WotI, that may not be appropriate (unless they have been rebuilt in the Hollow World). Having said that, Thyatis City may well have a number of tall(ish) buildings. I seem to remember that Roman tenements could reach to five or six storeys (I tend to use Imperial Rome as my base for Thyatis), and with some minor magical input, this could well be more. And I’ pretty sure there would be an airborne cavalry unit situated somewhere around.
I'm in the market for a major metropolis with a lot of tall buildings in it set somewhere in Mystara suggestions? If the city had a built in airborne cavalry that would be a bonus.
Don't know about the tall buildings but Thyatis City should fit the bill - it certainly has airborne cavalry and is one of the largest cities of the Known World (c.500,000 pop).
Another canidate would be the Sundsvall - capital of the Alphatian Empire (assuming you set it before WotI).
An off beat suggestion would be Serraine the flying city.
beaten to the punch by a slow internet connection and work!
Regards
Gary
Don't know about the tall buildings but Thyatis City should fit the bill - it certainly has airborne cavalry and is one of the largest cities of the Known World (c.500,000 pop).
Another canidate would be the Sundsvall - capital of the Alphatian Empire (assuming you set it before WotI).
An off beat suggestion would be Serraine the flying city.
beaten to the punch by a slow internet connection and work!
Regards
Gary
Serraine would be awesome! You'd get Nagpas, Gremlins and for your "cavalry", the Gnomish warplanes. PC2 may be one of the silliest things ever produced, but it was a heck of a lot fun visiting in a campaign.
Serraine would be awesome! You'd get Nagpas, Gremlins and for your "cavalry", the Gnomish warplanes. PC2 may be one of the silliest things ever produced, but it was a heck of a lot fun visiting in a campaign.
My vote is on this one too! Although Thyatis would still be a good choice too. One of my players has a gnome rogue character from Serraine and I definitely have plans for the party to visit that city. The 'silliness' level can always be easily adjusted in any campaign.
It looks like I'll have to give some future thought to setting something around Serraine.
GGG
PS I don't mind being silly every once in a while.
Wish it luck,
GGG
Oh also I sent in to Dungeon a proposal for an adventure called The Lords of Norwold built upon earlier discussion.
Ooooooooh! I hope that one makes it! I would love to see a backdrop article on Alpha and/or Norwold.
--Ray.
Without giving away too much I need a stationary metropolis. Which (if any) of Alphatia's many major port cities survived the Wrath of the Immortals?
It looks like I'll have to give some future thought to setting something around Serraine.
GGG
PS I don't mind being silly every once in a while.
The whole of metropolitan Alphatia (all the large cities) went down in WotI. Probably the largest 2 left would be Alchemos on Belisaria and Edairo (there's always floating Ar, but as you said you preferred a stationary city).
From my old notes (from the Gazeteers only), there are only six cities at AC1000 with populations over 100000, four in metropolitan Alphatia (Sundsvall, Eagret, Aalsa and Draco), and two in Thyatis (Thyatis City and Kerendas).
Between 50000 and 100000, we also have Bluenose (went down with Alphatia), Seashield (underwater anyway), Darokin (enough space to expand outwards instead of up, and I think the merchants guild hall at 5 storeys was the highest there anyway), Specularum (again not noted for high rise buildings, but could possibly have some form of aerial cavalry after WotI), Dengar (inside a mountain) and Beitung on Ochalea.
Edit: Forgot Alpha (pop 30000), and Spearpoint (pop 30000), but I'm not sure there would be too many tall buildings in either of these places.
beaten to the punch by a slow internet connection and work!
Regards
Gary
:embarrass
Roger
But a CM1 these days would probably assume a 3-4 level jump during the whole module. I would prefer a slower pace, but I realize I am in the minority.
Actually the scaling sidebar handles this problem quite nicely. I like slow progression too (and for that matter levels up to 10 or so are quite fine with me - the current system and its sourcebook arms race gets confusing beyond that). I'm sure there will be some folks who would run such an adventure straight out of the box. I was pretty darn close to script the first time I ran it way back when.
GGG
From my old notes (from the Gazeteers only), there are only six cities at AC1000 with populations over 100000, four in metropolitan Alphatia (Sundsvall, Eagret, Aalsa and Draco), and two in Thyatis (Thyatis City and Kerendas).
Looking at my big ole double-sided map Kendras looks quite good. It's near the sea which is nice, aswell as some partially unexplored mountains forests, also it seems to have generally warm clime, something else I was looking for. With access to Reterius' flying cavalry and their own horsemen it looks quite hopeful. Even the fact the Empire might be reelling a bit works to my favor. Any guesses on what the population/culture/outlook might look like after Wrath of the Immortals? I'm affraid I dropped out of D&D when Mystara went and added the "A" in front so I never got to see the big shake up.
-Matt
Alchemos on Bellissaria could be a nice idea. Bellissaria doesn't get alot of attention and has plenty of room to be developed and expanded upon.
Where's this place at?
-Matt
Any guesses on what the population/culture/outlook might look like after Wrath of the Immortals?
Well the Poor Wizard's Almanacs and Josuhas Almanacs should help as could the Net Almanacs which you can find here.
For Kerendas specifically this is the earliest entry I could find link
Regards
Gary
Where's this place at?
Check this out, specifically the Kingdom of Meriander.
Regards
Gary
So on to your question, Valley of Gargantua strikes me as a perfect fit for a Dungeon magazine adventure. A WoTC produced module would be even better. Either way, an adventure featuring Gargantua let's you define what has never been touched before, and you appeal not just to Mystara fans, but any player who touched the old Companion box set and/or series.
In the Style of the Savage Tide Campaign super-arc, i would suggest that The Rise of The Wizard Gargantua to Immortality shadowing such events as the emergence of the Burrowing tower in the Broken lands-Great Crater causing an entire humanoid population to evolve into Gargantuan Variants, the "Relocation of the Valley of Gargantua" as a nexus of commonality in other worlds such as Faerun, and Greyhawk might be the ultimate Adventure Path. A new immortal common to all the realities...
Gargantuan Kobold HDx8, Sizex2..."COR, I CAN LOOK HIM STRAIGHT IN THE EYES."
In the Style of the Savage Tide Campaign super-arc, i would suggest that The Rise of The Wizard Gargantua to Immortality shadowing such events as the emergence of the Burrowing tower in the Broken lands-Great Crater causing an entire humanoid population to evolve into Gargantuan Variants, the "Relocation of the Valley of Gargantua" as a nexus of commonality in other worlds such as Faerun, and Greyhawk might be the ultimate Adventure Path. A new immortal common to all the realities...
Gargantuan Kobold HDx8, Sizex2..."COR, I CAN LOOK HIM STRAIGHT IN THE EYES."
My problem with crossovers, yellowdingo, is that I find most of them to be overlycomplicated while at the same time watering down the constituent pieces. Plus setting crossovers assume a lot on the part of the respective DM's game. I'm not saying I wouldn't do it, but unless the right story was there I doubt I would.
So as to head off any possible disappointments (see the various blurbs attached to The Masque of Dreams i.e. "Return to the Lost City!") later "Gargantua's Valley" (which is still just a proposal in someone's email) does not actually feature Gargantua himself - though his voice might be heard if I have my way. The focus of the adventure is rather larger.
Now "Testament of Hosadus" (also still a query) I hope to build into something bigger, eventually featuring the "man" himself.
GGG