Using other D20 material with Mystara - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Using other D20 material with Mystara

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
havard
May 18, 2004 6:33:51 With the latest update on the Vaults I noticed the Mixing Worlds articles by Scott more which can be found here:
http://dnd.starflung.com/wrldmix.html
and here:
http://dnd.starflung.com/wrldmi2.html

I think it could be interesting to hear what others can recommend about using various D20 (and previous XD&D books) with Mystara to help enrich the setting.

I recall others having suggested using the African Adventures (Ilwambe?) setting for detailing Davania.

IMC I am also considering using Zakhara as an Arabian-type realm on that continent, being descendants of Nithian and Ylari settlers. Zakhara can also be used for detailing Ylaruam and other desert areas, as can material from Dark Sun.

The SpellJammer setting and Dragonstar are obvious sources for developing Mystara space, although some tweaking might be neccesary to get the proper Mystara feel to it.

Finally, the Freeport setting is ideal for placing in Mystara. In fact there seems almost to be a concensus among Mystara fans that the city is located somewhere on our world, although where exactly remains to be determined.

What other products can people recommend for using with Mystara?

Havard
#2
spellweaver
May 18, 2004 8:19:02 I rarely use accessories or locations from other game worlds IMC because they typically have too much "game world flavour" about them that would require adapting to Mystara. E.g. it takes a lot of work to convert Birthright stuff to Mystara with the bloodlines and the Awnsheighlign (or however it is spelled) unless you actually adopt their way of running dominions into your campaign.

I do, however, adopt and adapt a lot of adventure modules - not so much from other game worlds as from older game systems - 1st and 2nd Edition AD&D. There are a lot of really good adventures set i generic worlds that you can drop in your campaign with a little effort.

IMC the players are right now in the middle of the three-part Deserts of Desolation (1st E. AD&D). It features:
- a struggle between Thunes who follow the many old Egyptian gods and Symbyans who follow the One God Anu.
- lots of Arabian flavour; efreetis and djinnis, slave-trading nomads, dangerous deserts with quicksand and mirrages
- lots of old Egytian flavour; the old gods, pyramids, mazes, catacombs, mummies, curses etc.
- The Glass Sea, a unique setting and the Sand Sleds, ships capable of sailing across the deserts
- The Sandvoyagers' Guild, a union of slave-traders and merchants

I adapted it by turning the Thunes into Nithians who secretly still worship Ra (Ixion), Geb (Terra), Osiris, Set and Isis and turning the Symbians into Alaysians who follow the Eternal Truth of Al-kalim. I incorporated the ancient pyramids and the legends of the oasis in the modules into the fall of Nithia in 500 BC and placed the Sea of Glass in a remote norhtern part of the Great Salt Basin in Ylaruam. IMC the Sandvoyagers' Guild run caravans across the deserts connecting all the small oasises from Ylaruam City to Abbashan and the coast.

I am working on a complete conversion to 3E D&D, which will be posted in the Vault in due time.

:-) Jesper
#3
spellweaver
May 18, 2004 8:47:20 You should also check out this page at the Vault concerning adapting AD&D settings to Mystara:

http://www.dnd.starflung.com/addsites.html

:-) Jesper
#4
havard
May 18, 2004 9:11:19
Originally posted by Spellweaver
You should also check out this page at the Vault concerning adapting AD&D settings to Mystara:
http://www.dnd.starflung.com/addsites.html

Ah, that link is very useful Jesper, thanks!

Your adaptions of Desert of Desolation sound interesting aswell. Actually I think I might have that one laying around somewhere.

So whatabout D20 products? I think helping adapt D20 material to Mystara, yet preserving the Mystara feel, is a good way of keeping Mystara alive and giving ideas for Mystara fans to make use of products which are available in the stores today.

Havard
#5
byron-s_ghost
May 18, 2004 9:19:21 I just got a supplement called "Depths of Despair" from Pinnacle that details an underwater setting that'd work with Gaz 3 pretty well. In addition to the underwater creatures, there's also a hidden underwater pirate base in some air-filled caverns. Essentially a half-orc pirate ship got sucked down a whirlpool and found it. Once they figured out a way to get in and out, they decided it's make a great base for raiding.

There's also "The Deep" from Mystic Eye, though I haven't seen it most people seemed to like it. Goodman games has an Aeriel Adventure series that includes a Serraine-like city called "Sellaine". Again, haven't seen it, but I plan to get it eventually.

Mostly, I've been using D20 books to supplement and update the older materials. I haven't found much in the way of contemporary settings or modules that I use straight out of the pack. Especially modules, they're just way too dungeon-focused for my tastes. I do have most of the adventures from the Penumbra and Monkey God lines, I find they tend to have the most flavor.
#6
zombiegleemax
May 18, 2004 10:40:14 I've been using the Dark Sun stuff to fill the Izonda Desert.
#7
npc_dave
May 18, 2004 18:53:35 One d20 module I adapted back to RCycl was In the Belly of the Beast. Placed it in Kerendas, underneath the city streets. The Iron Ring remained the Iron Ring, with emphasis on it being the selling end of a slavery trade route from lands to the west. The orcs had entered the city from the northwestern mountains, and the necromancers were Thyatian.
#8
frankthedm
Jun 05, 2004 21:08:10 The wotc site where these critters debuted
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mm/20031018a

I am pleased to inform you, the Glantrian expansion council, that further training of the Praetorian troglodyte - lizard folk amalgamation is possible. Selective breeding supplemented with sufficient force has proven effective to keep the creatures in check. Their minds, while resistant on charms that affect normal humanoids can still be enspelled with sufficient potency, of which, in our great kingdom of magic, there is no short supply.

One recent development is that these creatures have been coaxed to use armor. As some of you may know, most of the scaled bipeds are not well disposed to wearing armor due to skin conditions they suffer from such accoutrements. However after a brief field study I found that crocodile leathers can be safely worn by this breed and that they can manufacture this armor given the need and materials. I submit to you Glantri city canal guard report #126 form the Month of Dragon’s Fire of last year. I won’t bore you with too many unfortunate details, but several of our canal cleansing scorpion-crocodile hybrids where found skinned among the lair of the escaped band of these creatures who were wearing the hides. Their penchant for slave taking was evidenced by the unfortunate apprentice found who had been worked to death by the rogue band.

The Troglizards should be used to take the Malpheggi swamp of Darokin and the marshlands of Karmekios at the soonest opportune time. Once they replace the indigenous lizard folk tribes, their accelerated metabolisms and increased aggression will ensure the Troglizards become a major military threat that will deplete the forces of those countries, easing our expansion goals.

I feel that it would be appropriate to allocate funds for the master warsmiths to fashion armor and weapons for the Units kept for our own shock troops. Should mundane crocodile supply be inefficient for this process, then I propose using our remaining stock of scorpadiles as raw materials.

Troglizard – Warrior 2
Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Reptilian)
Hit Dice: 3d8+2d8 +20 [42 hp]
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 1 handed weapon
22 (+2 Dex, +6 natural, +3 studded crocodile leather, +2 large turtle shell shield), touch 12, flat-footed 20
2 handed weapon
20 (+2 Dex, +6 natural, +3 studded crocodile leather, touch 12, flat-footed 20
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+8
Attack: Claw +8 melee (1d4+3) or +8 melee (weapon damage ) or javelin +6 ranged (1d6+3)
Full Attack: 2 claws +8 melee (1d4+3) and bite +6 melee (1d4+1) or +8 melee (weapon damage) and bite +6 melee (1d4+1), or javelin +6 ranged (1d6+3)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Stench dc15
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft.
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +2
Abilities [non elite NPC] Str 17, Dex 14, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 8
Skills: Balance +5, Climb +8, Hide +9, Swim +8 [pre armour penalty]
Feats: Multiattack, Power Attack
Environment: Temperate or warm marsh, underground
Organization: Solo, Commando unit; 2 to 5, sergeants; [1 per 10 combatant troglizards]
Challenge Rating: 3 or 4
Treasure: 50% coins, 50% goods, 50% items

Stench: Like their troglodyte forebears, troglizards excrete an oily, noxious liquid when excited or agitated. This musklike scent is repellant to all creatures others than troglizards. All other living beings within 30 feet must make a DC 15 Fort save or be sickened for 10 rounds. Creatures that successfully save are not affected by the same troglizard's stench for 24 hours. A delay poison or neutralize poison spell removes the sickened effect. Those creatures that are immune to poison are unaffected, and those resistant to poison enjoy their normal bonuses on the saving throw against the stench. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Skills: Troglizards have a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks due to the troglizard's ability to alter its coloration somewhat. This ability functions like that of a chameleon although not to the same extent.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 havard May 18, 2004 6:33:51	With the latest update on the Vaults I noticed the Mixing Worlds articles by Scott more which can be found here: http://dnd.starflung.com/wrldmix.html and here: http://dnd.starflung.com/wrldmi2.html I think it could be interesting to hear what others can recommend about using various D20 (and previous XD&D books) with Mystara to help enrich the setting. I recall others having suggested using the African Adventures (Ilwambe?) setting for detailing Davania. IMC I am also considering using Zakhara as an Arabian-type realm on that continent, being descendants of Nithian and Ylari settlers. Zakhara can also be used for detailing Ylaruam and other desert areas, as can material from Dark Sun. The SpellJammer setting and Dragonstar are obvious sources for developing Mystara space, although some tweaking might be neccesary to get the proper Mystara feel to it. Finally, the Freeport setting is ideal for placing in Mystara. In fact there seems almost to be a concensus among Mystara fans that the city is located somewhere on our world, although where exactly remains to be determined. What other products can people recommend for using with Mystara? Havard
#2 spellweaver May 18, 2004 8:19:02	I rarely use accessories or locations from other game worlds IMC because they typically have too much "game world flavour" about them that would require adapting to Mystara. E.g. it takes a lot of work to convert Birthright stuff to Mystara with the bloodlines and the Awnsheighlign (or however it is spelled) unless you actually adopt their way of running dominions into your campaign. I do, however, adopt and adapt a lot of adventure modules - not so much from other game worlds as from older game systems - 1st and 2nd Edition AD&D. There are a lot of really good adventures set i generic worlds that you can drop in your campaign with a little effort. IMC the players are right now in the middle of the three-part Deserts of Desolation (1st E. AD&D). It features: - a struggle between Thunes who follow the many old Egyptian gods and Symbyans who follow the One God Anu. - lots of Arabian flavour; efreetis and djinnis, slave-trading nomads, dangerous deserts with quicksand and mirrages - lots of old Egytian flavour; the old gods, pyramids, mazes, catacombs, mummies, curses etc. - The Glass Sea, a unique setting and the Sand Sleds, ships capable of sailing across the deserts - The Sandvoyagers' Guild, a union of slave-traders and merchants I adapted it by turning the Thunes into Nithians who secretly still worship Ra (Ixion), Geb (Terra), Osiris, Set and Isis and turning the Symbians into Alaysians who follow the Eternal Truth of Al-kalim. I incorporated the ancient pyramids and the legends of the oasis in the modules into the fall of Nithia in 500 BC and placed the Sea of Glass in a remote norhtern part of the Great Salt Basin in Ylaruam. IMC the Sandvoyagers' Guild run caravans across the deserts connecting all the small oasises from Ylaruam City to Abbashan and the coast. I am working on a complete conversion to 3E D&D, which will be posted in the Vault in due time. :-) Jesper
#3 spellweaver May 18, 2004 8:47:20	You should also check out this page at the Vault concerning adapting AD&D settings to Mystara: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/addsites.html :-) Jesper
#4 havard May 18, 2004 9:11:19	Originally posted by Spellweaver You should also check out this page at the Vault concerning adapting AD&D settings to Mystara: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/addsites.html Ah, that link is very useful Jesper, thanks! Your adaptions of Desert of Desolation sound interesting aswell. Actually I think I might have that one laying around somewhere. So whatabout D20 products? I think helping adapt D20 material to Mystara, yet preserving the Mystara feel, is a good way of keeping Mystara alive and giving ideas for Mystara fans to make use of products which are available in the stores today. Havard
#5 byron-s_ghost May 18, 2004 9:19:21	I just got a supplement called "Depths of Despair" from Pinnacle that details an underwater setting that'd work with Gaz 3 pretty well. In addition to the underwater creatures, there's also a hidden underwater pirate base in some air-filled caverns. Essentially a half-orc pirate ship got sucked down a whirlpool and found it. Once they figured out a way to get in and out, they decided it's make a great base for raiding. There's also "The Deep" from Mystic Eye, though I haven't seen it most people seemed to like it. Goodman games has an Aeriel Adventure series that includes a Serraine-like city called "Sellaine". Again, haven't seen it, but I plan to get it eventually. Mostly, I've been using D20 books to supplement and update the older materials. I haven't found much in the way of contemporary settings or modules that I use straight out of the pack. Especially modules, they're just way too dungeon-focused for my tastes. I do have most of the adventures from the Penumbra and Monkey God lines, I find they tend to have the most flavor.
#6 zombiegleemax May 18, 2004 10:40:14	I've been using the Dark Sun stuff to fill the Izonda Desert.
#7 npc_dave May 18, 2004 18:53:35	One d20 module I adapted back to RCycl was In the Belly of the Beast. Placed it in Kerendas, underneath the city streets. The Iron Ring remained the Iron Ring, with emphasis on it being the selling end of a slavery trade route from lands to the west. The orcs had entered the city from the northwestern mountains, and the necromancers were Thyatian.
#8 frankthedm Jun 05, 2004 21:08:10	The wotc site where these critters debuted http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mm/20031018a I am pleased to inform you, the Glantrian expansion council, that further training of the Praetorian troglodyte - lizard folk amalgamation is possible. Selective breeding supplemented with sufficient force has proven effective to keep the creatures in check. Their minds, while resistant on charms that affect normal humanoids can still be enspelled with sufficient potency, of which, in our great kingdom of magic, there is no short supply. One recent development is that these creatures have been coaxed to use armor. As some of you may know, most of the scaled bipeds are not well disposed to wearing armor due to skin conditions they suffer from such accoutrements. However after a brief field study I found that crocodile leathers can be safely worn by this breed and that they can manufacture this armor given the need and materials. I submit to you Glantri city canal guard report #126 form the Month of Dragon’s Fire of last year. I won’t bore you with too many unfortunate details, but several of our canal cleansing scorpion-crocodile hybrids where found skinned among the lair of the escaped band of these creatures who were wearing the hides. Their penchant for slave taking was evidenced by the unfortunate apprentice found who had been worked to death by the rogue band. The Troglizards should be used to take the Malpheggi swamp of Darokin and the marshlands of Karmekios at the soonest opportune time. Once they replace the indigenous lizard folk tribes, their accelerated metabolisms and increased aggression will ensure the Troglizards become a major military threat that will deplete the forces of those countries, easing our expansion goals. I feel that it would be appropriate to allocate funds for the master warsmiths to fashion armor and weapons for the Units kept for our own shock troops. Should mundane crocodile supply be inefficient for this process, then I propose using our remaining stock of scorpadiles as raw materials. Troglizard – Warrior 2 Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Reptilian) Hit Dice: 3d8+2d8 +20 [42 hp] Initiative: +2 Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares) Armor Class: 1 handed weapon 22 (+2 Dex, +6 natural, +3 studded crocodile leather, +2 large turtle shell shield), touch 12, flat-footed 20 2 handed weapon 20 (+2 Dex, +6 natural, +3 studded crocodile leather, touch 12, flat-footed 20 Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+8 Attack: Claw +8 melee (1d4+3) or +8 melee (weapon damage ) or javelin +6 ranged (1d6+3) Full Attack: 2 claws +8 melee (1d4+3) and bite +6 melee (1d4+1) or +8 melee (weapon damage) and bite +6 melee (1d4+1), or javelin +6 ranged (1d6+3) Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: Stench dc15 Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft. Saves: Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +2 Abilities [non elite NPC] Str 17, Dex 14, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 8 Skills: Balance +5, Climb +8, Hide +9, Swim +8 [pre armour penalty] Feats: Multiattack, Power Attack Environment: Temperate or warm marsh, underground Organization: Solo, Commando unit; 2 to 5, sergeants; [1 per 10 combatant troglizards] Challenge Rating: 3 or 4 Treasure: 50% coins, 50% goods, 50% items Stench: Like their troglodyte forebears, troglizards excrete an oily, noxious liquid when excited or agitated. This musklike scent is repellant to all creatures others than troglizards. All other living beings within 30 feet must make a DC 15 Fort save or be sickened for 10 rounds. Creatures that successfully save are not affected by the same troglizard's stench for 24 hours. A delay poison or neutralize poison spell removes the sickened effect. Those creatures that are immune to poison are unaffected, and those resistant to poison enjoy their normal bonuses on the saving throw against the stench. The save DC is Constitution-based. Skills: Troglizards have a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks due to the troglizard's ability to alter its coloration somewhat. This ability functions like that of a chameleon although not to the same extent.