Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Cthulhudrew 08-09-05, 04:40 AM	Section 1: The Basics What is Mystara? Mystara is a campaign setting for the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game. It is a high-fantasy, high-magic, expansive campaign setting. What do I need to play? The Mystara game world has existed for some time under a number of different rules systems - therefore this question is not easy to answer and is dependant upon which rules system you used; for third edition Dungeons and Dragons the three basic rulebooks- the Players Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual- are all that is needed. For basic campaign information there has been no single source officially collected. This site is producing a guide which should remedy this situation for new players. Under what rules is Mystara supported? Mystara products have been produced under a number of different rules systems over the years and this carries through to the present day with material being produced for each system. Therefore it is one goal of these pages to support all these systems even though 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons is the current system. Therefore the rules that Mystara is supported under include Dungeons and Dragons (known as D&D or OD&D), Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition (known as AD&D or 2E) and Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition (known as 3E). Many people also play under their own house rules and their files if made publicly available are also placed on this website although these rules are not supported. What is the current status of Mystara? The game world of Mystara was discontinued by TSR (now WotC) a number of years ago. There continues to be a strong online community supporting Mystara in all its forms. Additionally, there have been several recent articles in Dragon Magazine referring both directly and indirectly to Mystara. Section 2: Setting What is the Known World? The Mystara campaign setting evolved from an area called the Known World, this is the area of the setting where many of the initial products specifically took place and in which most of the subsequent products have been situated. What is Red Steel / the Savage Coast? The line of products known as 'Red Steel' were one of the last line of Mystara-based products made. It takes part in a region known as the Savage Coast, this area is located to the west of the Known World. The area is totally compatible with the rest of Mystara however the area is thematically distinct as noted in the following excerpt from the Savage Coast Campaign Book. The SAVAGE COAST campaign setting is unique in many ways. Though this fantasy setting has magic, heroes, and everything else one would expect, the new swashbuckling and panache rules add both individual flavour and style. The land also lends fantastic, magical powers to all types of player characters. Still, it is a savage frontier, suffering under a magical bane called the Red Curse. What is the Hollow World? The Mystara game world is a hollow sphere, and the inside of the planet is inhabited. It holds old civilisations that are now extinct on the surface, placed there by the Immortals to protect their cultures, there are strong magics in place preventing them from evolving much or dying away. The only entrances to the Hollow World are through underground passages between the two worlds, and through the holes that stand in place of the north and south poles. What is Voyage of the Princess Ark? The Voyage of the Princess Ark was a storyline in Dragon magazine written by Bruce Heard. It ran from issues 153 to 188 and it expanded upon the Heldannic Knights and the Savage Coast. It introduced characters such as Herr Wulf von Klagendorf, Haldemar of Haaken and Synn. What are immortals? The Mystara game world is not looked over by other-worldly deities, there are however immortals. Immortals are mortals who, through their deeds, have reached a higher status granting them more power than mere mortals. These immortals have extraordinary powers and take it upon themselves to look over Mystara. They also perform the functions of deities in other game worlds in that they are the source of clerical spells and powers. Now whilst immortals were once mortal some do not remember their mortal beings although there is nothing to suggest that they weren't mortal. It also should be noted that whilst a number of immortals share the same name as deities in other game worlds or real world deities that immortals are not deities, they are not all-powerful and have their own agendas and foibles like mortals. It is also possible for player characters to become immortal although this is a difficult task and could be the goal of a whole campaign, or series of campaigns, to allow one player to attain immortality. An all-immortal campaign is also a possibility of course. Who are the Immortals of Mystara? There are many more Immortals of Mystara than can be listed here, but Marco Dalmonte has been doing a good job of cataloguing them here on the Mystara Message Boards. Complete List of Mystara Immortals ( http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=319442&origin=) Who are the immortals of the Church of Karameikos? These are the immortals of the Church of Karameikos, as given by Bruce Heard in an old Dragon Magazine: Asterius (Eternal of Thought), Leader Kagyar (Eternal of Matter) Ilsundal (Hierarch of Thought) Valerias (Hierarch of Matter) Vanya (Empyreal of Time). Although Chardastes is a native Traladaran Immortal, he is venerated through the auspices of the Church of Karameikos, not the Church of Traladara. This is extrapolated from info in B1-9 In Search of Adventure. The Immortals of the Church of Traladara are: Halav Petra Zirchev Is Jaggar von Drachenfels the Star Dragon? No. According to Bruce Heard's article in Dragon #170 he became the Star Dragon for a brief period but relinquished the title for absolution. What is the Wrath of the Immortals? Wrath of the Immortals (or WotI) is an epic campaign that TSR published to update the Known World. It deals with the Great War that involves the major countries of Mystara and that was caused by the Immortals to obtain control of the Nucleus of the Spheres, a powerful artifact located under Glantri. At the end of the war, Alphatia sinks, Glantri and Thyatis have suffered dramatically from the conflict and three new powers enter the political scene of Mystara: the Heldannic Territories, the Hagiarchy of Hule and the "revamped" Kingdom of Karameikos. What has happened to Rad after Wrath of the Immortals? As a result of the events during WotI Rad was absorbed into the Radiance, and some of his life force was used to lessen the drain of the artifact on Mystara's magic: thus there is only a Day of Dread each year, and not a week as in Wrath. Rad is not dead though, but he has been put into a slumbering state to reflect on his deeds, and hopefully change. This is covered in detail in the module Mark of Amber. The outcome of the module vary from campaign to campaign, as the actions of the PCs in the module decide Rad's fate. The module's three outcomes are: 1. He returns as a mortal with no chance of being sponsored back to Immortality and no access to the Radiance; 2. He returns as a mortal but can become an Immortal again sometime (considered to be the most likely outcome); 3. He returns as a full Immortal. Later products avoid the issue, and the general consensus is that he should return but be left in the background, keeping a low profile for some time, either rebuilding his following (if an Immortal) or attempting to reach Immortality again (if mortal). Few favour him becoming a mere mortal with no chance of reattaining immortality. What has happened to the Radiance after Wrath of the Immortals? In WotI, the Radiance is altered to draw from the sphere of Entropy instead of the sphere of Energy. Yet in GKoM, the rules for the Radiance are exactly the same as in Gaz3, stating that it drains from Energy. This is a mistake in GKoM; the authors overlooked that event in Wrath and forgot to update the info from Gaz3. Thus the new rules for the Radiance are undefined, as are the effects of Entropy-draining. Various suggestion have been made on the MML, though. What happened to Specularum? Specularum was the name of the capital of the Grand Ducky of Karameikos. During the events of Wrath of the Immortals, in AC 1006, Duke Stefan of Karameikos seceded from the Empire of Thyatis becoming King of the Kingdom of Karameikos. On Nuwmont 1 AC 1012 Stefan renamed the capital Mirros. Where is Teldon? From Dragon Magazine #207 about Teldon's fate: "One of the attractions of the Magicians' Guild, its location in Karameikos' largest city, was its downfall. Such a collection of powerful (and often egotistical or secretive) mages in one location created great potential for conflict. The final straw was the creation of a mechanical beholder by one of the more advanced apprentices, powered by an Immortal's artifact. The resulting creation was turned loose in downtown Specularum, levelling a good section of the South End. The creation was defeated by the head of the Magicians' Guild, Teldon, but at great cost. Both mage and monster disappeared in a pure white ball of fire, and while they are assumed to have both been destroyed, they may instead have been teleported to some far-off location. The fact remained that the Magicians' Guild proved itself too dangerous to remain in Specularum, and lost one of its most valuable supporters." Where/who is Bargle? Bargle the Infamous is a dastardly villain who has been around since the revised edition of the Basic Set (1983). He is the court magist to the Black Eagle Baron, a villain in the nation of Karameikos. After the fall of the Black Eagle Barony, Bargle is an itinerant villain that pops up here and there. He can easily be used as a recurring villain who the PCs bump into. He has been spotted in various place, including Esterhold and Serraine (always helping the evil guys, of course), but can have business anywhere. He is even rumored to have started his own trade in magic items ( http://pandius.com/bargitem.html)- though these items are notoriously unreliable at best. Is Kol a shadowelf or a kobold? Most sources present Kol as a kobold who, using the rules from Gaz10: Orcs of Thar, could cast spells. In Glantri: Kingdom of Magic (one of the last printed Mystaran products), he is said to be one of the deformed shadowelf babies raised by the humanoids, thus explaining both his high intelligence and spellcasting abilities under the AD&D rules. It is both an interesting plot, and a disappointment to many, as it removes again from the humanoids any glint of chance that they can achieve something by themselves. Many people ignore references to Kol as a shadowelf while others prefer the intriguing possibilities it raises (for instance, given that shadow elves and humanoids are explicitly said to be unable to bear offspring together, it raises questions about the parentage of Kol’s children from G:KoM.) As always use whatever version suits your campaign and your taste best. What happened to the continental map published in the Master DM's book? According to Bruce Heard in Dragon #153 the map in the Master set is "wrong, wrong, wrong!" The map was supposedly released by a very imaginative Thyatian, and wrongly accepted for the truth. There is no Empire of Dorfin IV, no Empire of the Great Khan, etc. Also, as you probably guessed, the size of the Thyatian Empire was largely exaggerated on this map. However since then people have used names and countries from this list to create things in their campaign, and of course in your own campaign you are free to use anything you want in your campaign. How do the Mystaran novels fit into things? Some of the Mystaran novels, particularly from memory the Dragonlord Chronicles, do not fit well into other established pieces of Mystaran continuity. Whilst for any given campaign you, the DM, is free to choose what you want to make up your campaign. Generally speaking however, the general Mystaran net-community does not consider the novels to supersede any other published information. Section 3: Products Is there a complete list of Mystaran products? David Keyser has compiled a complete list of products. The list was compiled 06 October 2000. Given the imminent release of new products David has a look over what has been published recently that has relations back to Mystara. The post was updated 03 July 2003. Have there been any Mystaran articles in Dragon / Dungeon magazine? The product list, above, contains much of the information on Mystaran articles in Dragon and Dungeon magazine. However, two supplementary files Dragon and Dungeon exist which contain information on those issues with Mystara related information and the nature of that information. With the recent inclusion of a number of Mystara related articles in Dragon issue 315, 318, 323, 325, and 327, a number of reviews have been written by Hervé Musseau, from the Mystara Mailing List posted 21-3 December 2003 for the articles. Section 4: Mystara on the Net Where can I find a map of area XYZ? Numerous maps of Mystara exist in the Vaults of Pandius in the maps section ( http://pandius.com/maps.html). Other pages exist on the net which contain many maps, which can be found on the links section (http://pandius.com/links.html) of the Vaults. Most notable among these are Thibault Sarlat’s site ( http://www.mystara.addr.com/) and The Mystara’s Map Navigator ( http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Keep/7983/) site. Please, however, do not ask for copies of published maps that have not been made freely available. There is also a recent thread on these very boards where Thorfinn Tait has been recreating the maps of Mystara using a system he created. It can be found here ( http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=379216&origin=). How do I join the Mystara Mailing List? Full information on joining the Mystara Mailing List is available in the Mystara Mailing List Guide ( http://pandius.com/mmlguide.html). How do I access old messages from the Mystara Message Boards or from old versions of the Mystara Message Boards)? With the current version of the Mystara Message Boards it should be possible to always access the older messages. This was claimed to be true for the old versions of the Mystara Message Boards but was never borne out, therefore messages from previous versions of the Mystara Message Boards have been lost. Articles of note have been retained on the Vaults of Pandius (http://pandius.com/index.html) but discussion, as it does, often ranged further than the articles of note that were produced. Are there Mystaran chat groups? There are a number of Mystaran chat groups: Travellers of Mystara; Mystara Worlds; and Alphatia Mystara. What are all these acronyms that are being used? There are many acronyms that are used within the Mystaran net-community. There is a thread of many commonly used acronyms here on the boards (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=841182). Please feel free to submit any corrections or additions as replies within that thread. Are there any Mystara related projects that I can join? There are numerous Mystara related projects ( http://pandius.com/links.html#diss) that occur that are not discussed on the more public mailing lists and message boards. You are free however to join the projects listed. Additionally, many of the threads here on the Mystara Message Boards are ongoing projects that welcome additional assistance. Among them are Known World Book of Baddies ( http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=439238&origin=), Monster Conversion and Creation Thread ( http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=459254&origin=), The ESD Project ( http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=424985&origin=), Gazetteer NPCs ( http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=415451&origin=), Mystara Project: Whole Realms’ Catalog ( http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=329732&origin=), and many others. Take a look around and hop on in! Are there any other Mystaran sites on the Internet? There is a full list of other Mystara sites on the Internet, found here (http://pandius.com/links.html) at the Vaults of Pandius. Can I download the "Mystaran" font? There was a true type font used in the Gazetteer range of products that some people have taken on board as being the "Mystaran" font. The name of the font was later revealed as Feinen Bold. This font does not appear to be freely available and has been exhibited for sale from a font sale site. Section 5: Mystara and Blackmoor What is Blackmoor? Blackmoor is an area that has some history in a number of TSR products, Mystara included. Blackmoor was, like Greyhawk, the campaign world of one of TSR's founder, Dave Arneson. It was later placed in both Greyhawk and the Known World. There is no further relation between the two Blackmoors of Mystara and Greyhawk. Where is Blackmoor located? According to longtime Mystara Product Manager and creator Bruce Heard: “Blackmoor - the travelling legend. If there were archaeologists on Mystara, they would have a devil of time figuring where the darn place was really located. Officially, it's supposed to be up there by the Thonian Marches. Unfortunately, conflicting info has crept into several products, getting in the way of the Thonian theory. The best thing is to assume evidence of Blackmoor's presence elsewhere is the result of later colonisations and outposts. Other communities were also magically displaced (such as a certain ancient tavern in the Broken Lands of the Known World). Definitely a messy development of the World of Mystara! :)” It should be noted that on the map in the Hollow World boxed set that the names of Blackmoor and Thonia have been reversed (Blackmoor was north of the Empire of Thonia according to all other sources) Section 6: Third Edition and the Future of Mystara Is there a conversion of Dungeons and Dragons / Mystara into 3rd Edition? There has already been a lot of activity in bringing the Mystara game world into 3E with most activity going on at the Mystara 3E Discussion Group ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mystara3E/ ), with the fruits of this project intended to be compiled at Mystara 3E Conversion Project pages at some stage. Fan 3E sites unrelated to this project also exist with the most notable being The Lighthouse ( http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/6011) and Twilight of the Dawn (http://www.geocities.com/isledawn/). Several threads on this message board also deal with conversions to and rules for 3E, among them Monster Conversion and Creation Thread ( http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=459254&origin=), Published Mystaran Critters in 3E ( http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=286108&origin=), The Horse Breeds of Mystara (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=345152), and Hollow World Magic, v3.5 ( http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=470019&origin=). What is the purpose of the Vaults of Pandius? When it was created the purpose of the site was to collect articles of interest created on the Mystara Mailing List, it was then expanded to collect articles of interest from the Mystara Message Boards. Because of these activities for the mailing list the site was chosen to be the official repository for such articles for the mailing list, the site was later chosen by Wizards of the Coast to be the official website for Mystara. This latest decision has allowed the site to canonise material which has not yet happened, the site is therefore still primarily a location of articles of interest created by fans of the Mystara game world. Why is it called the Vaults of Pandius? Pandius is a city it is the neutral meeting place of immortals on Patera, Mystara's invisible moon. Although no vaults of information have been described for the city it is not unreasonable that such a system might exist in Pandius. If it does then this site is it. Are the articles on this site official? Apart from the html representations of articles created by TSR (like the Savage Coast Monstrous Compendium, Alien Devices from Blackmoor, etc) no. Whilst it is within the power of this site to canonise new material that has not yet been done for various reasons. Are the articles on this site internally consistent? No, articles in the Vaults are not necessarily consistent with each other; most are created by separate authors from their own campaigns. That being said, however, most articles are not inconsistent with other articles; in other words most articles that weren't created in the same frame of mind can exist in the same consistent game world. In general, however articles created by the same author tend to be consistent with other works created by that author, also the almanacs are consistent with each other and many non-almanac works by almanac team members tend to be consistent with the almanac. Who looks after the Vaults of Pandius? Shawn Stanley is the sole host and compiler of information on the Vaults of Pandius, and has operated in this capacity since its inception, x years ago. His continued efforts allow fans new and old alike to experience the world of Mystara. Section 7: Credits Lastly, the FAQ manager would like to give credit to all involved in the process of assembling this FAQ, notably Herve Musseau, whose FAQ for the Vaults of Pandius formed the largest base of this compiled document. A special thanks also goes out to Shawn Stanley, both for his assistance in assembling this document, as well as his continued support and hosting of Mystaran works at the Vaults of Pandius over the years.
Cthulhudrew 08-09-05, 04:44 AM	Whew! All right, this is the first version of a proposed FAQ to be made Sticky here at the boards. It is mostly just a slightly modified version of the FAQ by Herve and Shawn available at the Vaults, but I have a lot of things that I hope to eventually add and modify here, such as some little historical tidbits that I might be able to glean from the Dragon articles by Bruce Heard, and a big one being a brief overview of the major nations of Mystara (little more than- Name, One Sentence Description, link to more information), which I hope will also help serve as a sort of newbie friendly intro to Mystara. In the meantime, let me know what you all think, and Shawn, let me know if a) this meets with your approval, and b) you can get it stickied, and what we have to know/do to keep it maintained and updated. Hope this works out! [EDIT- Apparently the code tags here on the boards are case sensitive, so the links weren't initially working. I've gone back and fixed them, so they should all work okay. I may have missed some, though.]
Gazza555 08-09-05, 05:03 AM	Oops -double post. :embarrass
Gazza555 08-09-05, 05:04 AM	looking good so far, but you may want to change 'here on the Vaults of Pandius' to a link or a mention of the boards. How do I access old messages from the Mystara Message Boards or from old versions of the Mystara Message Boards)? With the current version of the Mystara Message Boards it should be possible to always access the older messages. This was claimed to be true for the old versions of the Mystara Message Boards but was never borne out, therefore messages from previous versions of the Mystara Message Boards have been lost. Articles of note have been retained here on the Vaults of Pandius but discussion, as it does, often ranged further than the articles of note that were produced. Regards, Gary
Cthulhudrew 08-09-05, 05:43 AM	looking good so far, but you may want to change 'here on the Vaults of Pandius' to a link or a mention of the boards. Still working through the old FAQ and updating/changing, but I definitely missed that one! Thanks for the notice- fixed it up above.
Kheldren 08-09-05, 07:17 AM	Very nice work so far, however: What happened to Specularum? Specularum was the name of the capital of the Grand Ducky of Karameikos. During the events of Wrath of the Immortals, in AC 1006, Duke Stefan of Karameikos seceded from the Empire of Thyatis becoming King of the Kingdom of Karameikos. On Nuwmont 1 AC 1012 Stefan renamed the capital Mirros. No - he seceded in about (not got books to hand) AC980 when he swapped his ancestral lands for what became the Duchy of Karameikos. He kept the title Grand Duke to keep other nations guessing about his independence from Thyatis until he was established. All that happened in AC1006 was that he renamed the title 'King' instead of 'Grand Duke'.
tjedge1 08-09-05, 07:20 AM	Wow, this is really a good idea. I would love to add this to my Mystara mod and place in the Civilopedia (an info section of the game for players). A lot of people keep telling me they play D&D, but never heard of Mystara. :weep:
Thorf 08-09-05, 08:46 AM	I think it could do with a bit of reorganisation - the current form has total newbie questions giving basic information mixed with complex fan questions which give very detailed analyses and descriptions. Many of the questions are good, but perhaps we could benefit from branstorming our own set of questions that are specifically relevant to this message board as well as Mystara in general. Then we could cannibalise this set of questions to fill in most of the work on our new set, and reorganise everything a little more strictly. For example, one of the most important sections of the FAQ should be the index of useful threads. I would even argue that this should be as close to the top of the FAQ thread as possible, to facilitate its usefulness to us regular users - perhaps even at the very top. Also, I propose that we use this thread to build the FAQ, and when we have it finalised, we should start a new thread. Andrew seems to have volunteered himself for this job :D. It's important when making the final FAQ thread to post a number of consecutive (blank) posts in a row at the very top of the FAQ, to allow for later updates and additions.
Cthulhudrew 08-09-05, 05:15 PM	No - he seceded in about (not got books to hand) AC980 when he swapped his ancestral lands for what became the Duchy of Karameikos. He kept the title Grand Duke to keep other nations guessing about his independence from Thyatis until he was established. All that happened in AC1006 was that he renamed the title 'King' instead of 'Grand Duke'. True, true. I'll modify this part. I think a lot of the confusion over this comes from the fact that Aaron Allston, who wrote both WotI and Gaz1 makes the point of saying in Wrath that Karameikos secedes (IIRC) which is in stark contrast to what he says about its position in Gaz1. A good point which I will modify.
Cthulhudrew 08-09-05, 05:25 PM	I think it could do with a bit of reorganisation - the current form has total newbie questions giving basic information mixed with complex fan questions which give very detailed analyses and descriptions. Very definitely. I did a (very) little bit of reorganizing myself- moved the Blackmoor questions to their own section, for instance, because they were scattered around and I felt the issue was significant enough to have its own section. The other questions are ones that, IIRC, largely came from suggestions on the MML, which would naturally lead to more complex fan questions (given the interests of those involved), and I wasn't quite sure whether to keep them all or not, but I have seen some of them pop up here from time to time (Kol, for instance). I'll see if I can figure out a good way to rearrange things. Maybe two threads? One a FAQ for the basics, and one with a FAQ for more complex (but often asked) questions? Many of the questions are good, but perhaps we could benefit from branstorming our own set of questions that are specifically relevant to this message board as well as Mystara in general. Then we could cannibalise this set of questions to fill in most of the work on our new set, and reorganise everything a little more strictly. Definitely. I intend on going back through the threads here on the MML and seeing if there are recurring questions to include. One in particular that comes to mind is "Are the Shadow Elves and Drow Elves the same thing?" For example, one of the most important sections of the FAQ should be the index of useful threads. I would even argue that this should be as close to the top of the FAQ thread as possible, to facilitate its usefulness to us regular users - perhaps even at the very top. Or maybe in its own FAQ thread? Although that's probably getting too complicated, come to think of it. (I was just thinking of the maintenance issue, as threads come and go, but I suppose that's part and parcel of the FAQ maintainer job, and I should just suck it up. ;) Also, I propose that we use this thread to build the FAQ, and when we have it finalised, we should start a new thread. Andrew seems to have volunteered himself for this job :D. Been thinking of doing it for a while now, and since I have other things that I should actually be doing in my life, it seemed like a natural time to start. :) I like to find excuses not to do things that I need to do... It's important when making the final FAQ thread to post a number of consecutive (blank) posts in a row at the very top of the FAQ, to allow for later updates and additions. I'm not exactly sure what you mean here. Can't the original post simply be modified when updates/additions are made? (Then again, I'm not sure how things are stickied anyway, so...) Keeping note of all the suggestions and changes, and modifiying them as we go. Thanks for all the help so far guys!
stanles 08-09-05, 06:53 PM	For example, one of the most important sections of the FAQ should be the index of useful threads. I would even argue that this should be as close to the top of the FAQ thread as possible, to facilitate its usefulness to us regular users - perhaps even at the very top. I think that that's definitely a topic for a different thread rather than being related to the FAQ.
stanles 08-09-05, 06:56 PM	The other questions are ones that, IIRC, largely came from suggestions on the MML, which would naturally lead to more complex fan questions (given the interests of those involved), and I wasn't quite sure whether to keep them all or not, but I have seen some of them pop up here from time to time (Kol, for instance). I'll see if I can figure out a good way to rearrange things. Maybe two threads? One a FAQ for the basics, and one with a FAQ for more complex (but often asked) questions? I think that they can be part of the same thread, or at least they're both part of the FAQ, but in terms of creating the FAQ it might be easier to have them running in two separate threads. They can be consolidated later once things are closer to a level of stability perhaps.
Thorf 08-10-05, 08:36 AM	I think we need to consider what the purpose of our sticky threads is, and try to refine our ideas. Having two separate threads, one for the FAQ and one for the Index of Useful Threads, would be okay, but it would mean two threads rather than one permanently stuck to the top of the board. The thing is, the FAQ is essentially a resource for people who drop in here to read the first time they come, and then ignore forever more. The Index on the other hand is a reference resource which regular users will use to find old threads. What I am proposing is that we merge these into a single thread, thus keeping the top of the board free of clutter, while still including all the necessary info. It should be relatively easy to do, actually. The first post of the thread would contain a short welcome message, with links to the Index and the FAQ further down the page. The second post would be the Index, which presumably would be a collection of links, preferably keeping the descriptions within a single line for each link. The third post would then be the FAQ. As to the idea of posting multiple posts for later use, the idea is that since people will undoubtedly post questions, comments, etc. in the FAQ thread, it will become impossible to add new information other than by editing current posts. Editing is okay up to a point, but if we at any point should wish to add a whole new section, it's conceivable that we'd want to put it in a new post. For this reason, after the first three posts with the Welcome, Index and FAQ, the FAQ maintainer should post a few more times, marking them "reserved for later additions". (I'm trying to find an example of this on another forum - it's quite common, but I can't seem to find one right now.) If everyone wants to have the FAQ and Index in separate posts, I won't argue the point any further, but I'd like to try to keep the number of stickies to a minimum if we can.
tjedge1 08-10-05, 06:36 PM	I agree with Thorf on reserving a few posts after the initial ones are add. I've done this with info threads before and it has come in handy as I add more topics into the thread without losing them in posts that are on other pages. I just post about them at the end of conversional posts (noting an update) and add the info to the front posts for new readers or current readers.
stanles 08-10-05, 07:55 PM	The thing is, the FAQ is essentially a resource for people who drop in here to read the first time they come, and then ignore forever more. The Index on the other hand is a reference resource which regular users will use to find old threads. Thorf you seem to be arguing that they _are_ two separate things, and by extrapolation two separate threads. What I am proposing is that we merge these into a single thread, thus keeping the top of the board free of clutter, while still including all the necessary info. Two stickied threads is hardly clutter.
stanles 08-10-05, 07:56 PM	I agree with Thorf on reserving a few posts after the initial ones are add. I've done this with info threads before and it has come in handy as I add more topics into the thread without losing them in posts that are on other pages. I just post about them at the end of conversional posts (noting an update) and add the info to the front posts for new readers or current readers. it might be better if it were possible to keep these two threads as being unrespondable, only editable by the author of the thread.
tjedge1 08-12-05, 07:02 AM	That would be better. Is there a way to do that in case someone who slips through reads and posts and moves on? That was the main worry I had. A random poster who doesn't read the intructions. If there's a way to remove thier posts or transfer them to a new thread that would be great! :)
Cthulhudrew 08-13-05, 05:11 AM	That would be better. Is there a way to do that in case someone who slips through reads and posts and moves on? I think that when you lock a thread that's what happens- you are no longer able to post in it. Don't know if you can later go back and edit it, then, though.
Thorf 08-14-05, 08:29 AM	I think that when you lock a thread that's what happens- you are no longer able to post in it. Don't know if you can later go back and edit it, then, though. I was assuming from pas experience that locking the thread would probably not be a viable solution, but then again I don't know how things work here. Maybe we should do a test? Shawn, do you have the ability to lock threads, or would be have to ask a moderator?
tjedge1 08-14-05, 11:27 AM	Actually a locked thread can still be posted in, but only by moderators or those granted a similiar status. That would be a viable solution if someone who has status to post regardless of a locked thread was the one running the thread or could open it when something needs to be added for a short time. This could work. I use this method in my previews thread at Evo-Games for my Mystara mod. Of course I am the moderator for that sub-forum so I can post there regardless of wether it's locked or not. I don't know how things are done here though. If Shawn can lock them, he can post or edit them I believe. I guess we need to wait to see if he can do that.
stanles 08-14-05, 03:42 PM	I was assuming from pas experience that locking the thread would probably not be a viable solution, but then again I don't know how things work here. Maybe we should do a test? Shawn, do you have the ability to lock threads, or would be have to ask a moderator? I'm in the process of asking a moderator at the moment. As far as I can tell the only thing that I can do on these boards as opposed to everyone else is to have access to a separate board to ask these sort of questions.
Patrick Sullivan 09-09-05, 02:41 PM	Any luck in making this thread sticky or locking it?
stanles 09-13-05, 12:24 AM	Any luck in making this thread sticky or locking it? I've found that I can sticky and do stuff to posts that I start. Can anyone else do this to their own posts, it's under the "Thread Tools" options near the top of the posts.
Cthulhudrew 09-13-05, 01:40 AM	I've found that I can sticky and do stuff to posts that I start. Can anyone else do this to their own posts, it's under the "Thread Tools" options near the top of the posts. Nope. :( (Probably just as well- people on the lists would be stickying everything they see. :)
havard 09-13-05, 10:25 AM	(Probably just as well- people on the lists would be stickying everything they see. :) Hehe, We probably would. OTOH, the good thing is, even if you make something sticky, you can unsticky it later when people are bored with it... Håvard :)
Gazza555 09-14-05, 09:44 AM	I've found that I can sticky and do stuff to posts that I start. Can anyone else do this to their own posts, it's under the "Thread Tools" options near the top of the posts. Shaun, I take it that you have to start the thread to 'sticky' it? Or can you 'sticky' someone else's thread? Regards, Gary
tjedge1 09-14-05, 07:03 PM	On the Mystara mod forums at Evo-Games, I can sticky any thread wether or not I started it, so I would think he could do the same, but I'm not sure.
stanles 09-14-05, 08:32 PM	Shaun, I take it that you have to start the thread to 'sticky' it? Or can you 'sticky' someone else's thread? Regards, Gary yes, I can't sticky threads started by someone else.