Why I like Mystara - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Why I like Mystara

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Mar 03, 2005 21:45:22 I like Mystara for 2 reasons. First is that it was my first - my very first RPG was the Red Box D&D with the neat town name of "Threshold", and my second was the Expert Set with X1. But that doesn't really mean too much: my personal campaign actually used the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, but with completely different land as soon as you reached the border. (The Black Eagle Barony was a separate country - just change the "internal border" hexes to "external border", and it was surrounded by other baronies. Instead of a sea to the south it was a big straight, with the opposite side being magically sheer impossible cliffs that nobody had ever crossed.)

I was never a big fan of the way the layout of the Known World was such a mismash, and although I think the Gazeteers each have individual moments of greatness, I don't think they work together well as a whole world, and I couldn't see myself tying down my campaign to just one of them.

So you might even say I don't like Mystara. So why am I here?

Basically because I'm a bit of a completist, but I don't have the patience to be a hard-core collector. I like the fact that Mystara has little enough written about it that I could concievably get a copy of everything, but is still big enough and lasted long enough that it's a more complete setting than something like Birthright. I like the fact that collecting new Mystara info tends to reveal a whole new place on the map, or expand on a throwaway reference published much earlier, instead of having a worldbook with short but useful info and then extra books to fill in details. (This why I also really enjoy collecting 7th Sea books.) I like the fact that you have to dig around a bit to find all the sources describing a particular country, because it means more to look forward to when you finally figure out what's going on there.

So that's why I like to collect Mystara products, but I don't actually expect to be setting games there any time soon. Just thought I'd share.
#2
zombiegleemax
Mar 04, 2005 0:22:54 Interesting. I haven't played in Mystara (or in any other setting, for that matter) for many years - and I, too, have a problem with the "messy" layout.

And yet, Mystara is a sort of RPG "home" for me. Here my most beloved and complex character was created (well, "complex" in teenage terms, of course :embarrass ) - and returning here is always an exciting experience. Even if it is only through reading and imagining.
#3
zombiegleemax
Mar 04, 2005 1:06:42
Here my most beloved and complex character was created (well, "complex" in teenage terms, of course :embarrass ) - and returning here is always an exciting experience. Even if it is only through reading and imagining.

One of my most - or at least first - beloved and complex characters was created for Keep on the Borderlands, of all things. Sire Robinson, the Halfling who thought he was a paladin. The party fighter had a great time putting him down ("Ale for my friends! And milk for the boy!"), and of course he had no sense of humour so he got affronted every time. Finally they met the
Show
Chaotic Clerics who use cause fear
#4
Cthulhudrew
Mar 04, 2005 1:24:21
I suppose he was mainly only complex after a long string of fighters named Strider and wizards named Allanon, but it was a start.

Did these wizards have drinking problems? ;)
#5
zombiegleemax
Mar 05, 2005 17:31:01 I <3 the Mystara setting. It was the first i ever played. However I hate D&D. There are some stupid things I don't like about the world but the whole story, land masses, etc are solid. I am currently running a GURPS campaign on the Isle of Dawn with the PC's stuck between a brooding war between Thyatis and Alphatia and an evil Liche ready to unleash hordes of evil creatures. Yes, I like to torture my PC's

It's been a lot of work converting stuff over but really rewarding experience. I can use a lot of the info from the various Mystara sites and just either change it or expand on it. It's been a great basis for my campaign and so far after half a dozen sessions my friends are all really into their characters. They had better enjoy them while they're still alive! lol :P
#6
zombiegleemax
Mar 07, 2005 9:40:54 My character was a woodrake (surprise-surprise) that grew up as an halfling in Moon Hill - not knowing he was actually a drake. And then his parents mysteriously disappeared! (Now isn't THAT original?) - and only then did he found out truly who he was (through an old elf, who was also a woodrake etc. etc.). He traveled to the Dreamlands to learn more about the fey, and about his parents - but no-one at the court was willing to tell him anything about them. Until the drunken Papasilenus (love that guy!) blurted out the truth: His parents were very serious about the drakes' legacy of Chaos - and because of that, they worked as Shadow-Elf spies against Alfheim. When they discovered that Shadow-Elves were anything but Chaos - they turned themselves over to Oberon's court. The Ard Ri understood their mistake - but banished them from the court. So they moved to the Shires, and never told their son who they really were.

My character also kept his identity a secret - and so everyone thought him to be a rather unusual halfling: moody, "dark" etc.
And he had all these identity problems - only revealing who he and his parents were.
Very complex.

Well, I was 17 years old.

Forget it.

EDIT: Oh, and I forgot. The parents were actually kidnapped by the Shadow-Elves - since they knew too much. They were taken to that place where foreigners are kept (the Enclave?). I always wanted my character to finally reach the Shadow Elves Territories, travel there in Elven form, have a child with Tanadaleyo... Never happened.
#7
kengar
Mar 07, 2005 9:47:34 I enjoy using the Mystara setting for ideas. I own several of the GAZ's on pdf and am currently GM-ing a Savage Worlds game set in Karameikos. I don't run straight out the book though. I like to start with the "broad strokes" of the setting and customize it for my purposes. I never really played the setting when I was younger (we played in my brother's homebrew world), but I like having the "little bit of everything" that the Known World offers to help flesh things out for my games.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Mar 03, 2005 21:45:22	I like Mystara for 2 reasons. First is that it was my first - my very first RPG was the Red Box D&D with the neat town name of "Threshold", and my second was the Expert Set with X1. But that doesn't really mean too much: my personal campaign actually used the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, but with completely different land as soon as you reached the border. (The Black Eagle Barony was a separate country - just change the "internal border" hexes to "external border", and it was surrounded by other baronies. Instead of a sea to the south it was a big straight, with the opposite side being magically sheer impossible cliffs that nobody had ever crossed.) I was never a big fan of the way the layout of the Known World was such a mismash, and although I think the Gazeteers each have individual moments of greatness, I don't think they work together well as a whole world, and I couldn't see myself tying down my campaign to just one of them. So you might even say I don't like Mystara. So why am I here? Basically because I'm a bit of a completist, but I don't have the patience to be a hard-core collector. I like the fact that Mystara has little enough written about it that I could concievably get a copy of everything, but is still big enough and lasted long enough that it's a more complete setting than something like Birthright. I like the fact that collecting new Mystara info tends to reveal a whole new place on the map, or expand on a throwaway reference published much earlier, instead of having a worldbook with short but useful info and then extra books to fill in details. (This why I also really enjoy collecting 7th Sea books.) I like the fact that you have to dig around a bit to find all the sources describing a particular country, because it means more to look forward to when you finally figure out what's going on there. So that's why I like to collect Mystara products, but I don't actually expect to be setting games there any time soon. Just thought I'd share.
#2 zombiegleemax Mar 04, 2005 0:22:54	Interesting. I haven't played in Mystara (or in any other setting, for that matter) for many years - and I, too, have a problem with the "messy" layout. And yet, Mystara is a sort of RPG "home" for me. Here my most beloved and complex character was created (well, "complex" in teenage terms, of course :embarrass ) - and returning here is always an exciting experience. Even if it is only through reading and imagining.
#3 zombiegleemax Mar 04, 2005 1:06:42	Here my most beloved and complex character was created (well, "complex" in teenage terms, of course :embarrass ) - and returning here is always an exciting experience. Even if it is only through reading and imagining. One of my most - or at least first - beloved and complex characters was created for Keep on the Borderlands, of all things. Sire Robinson, the Halfling who thought he was a paladin. The party fighter had a great time putting him down ("Ale for my friends! And milk for the boy!"), and of course he had no sense of humour so he got affronted every time. Finally they met the Show Chaotic Clerics who use cause fear
#4 Cthulhudrew Mar 04, 2005 1:24:21	I suppose he was mainly only complex after a long string of fighters named Strider and wizards named Allanon, but it was a start. Did these wizards have drinking problems? ;)
#5 zombiegleemax Mar 05, 2005 17:31:01	I <3 the Mystara setting. It was the first i ever played. However I hate D&D. There are some stupid things I don't like about the world but the whole story, land masses, etc are solid. I am currently running a GURPS campaign on the Isle of Dawn with the PC's stuck between a brooding war between Thyatis and Alphatia and an evil Liche ready to unleash hordes of evil creatures. Yes, I like to torture my PC's It's been a lot of work converting stuff over but really rewarding experience. I can use a lot of the info from the various Mystara sites and just either change it or expand on it. It's been a great basis for my campaign and so far after half a dozen sessions my friends are all really into their characters. They had better enjoy them while they're still alive! lol :P
#6 zombiegleemax Mar 07, 2005 9:40:54	My character was a woodrake (surprise-surprise) that grew up as an halfling in Moon Hill - not knowing he was actually a drake. And then his parents mysteriously disappeared! (Now isn't THAT original?) - and only then did he found out truly who he was (through an old elf, who was also a woodrake etc. etc.). He traveled to the Dreamlands to learn more about the fey, and about his parents - but no-one at the court was willing to tell him anything about them. Until the drunken Papasilenus (love that guy!) blurted out the truth: His parents were very serious about the drakes' legacy of Chaos - and because of that, they worked as Shadow-Elf spies against Alfheim. When they discovered that Shadow-Elves were anything but Chaos - they turned themselves over to Oberon's court. The Ard Ri understood their mistake - but banished them from the court. So they moved to the Shires, and never told their son who they really were. My character also kept his identity a secret - and so everyone thought him to be a rather unusual halfling: moody, "dark" etc. And he had all these identity problems - only revealing who he and his parents were. Very complex. Well, I was 17 years old. Forget it. EDIT: Oh, and I forgot. The parents were actually kidnapped by the Shadow-Elves - since they knew too much. They were taken to that place where foreigners are kept (the Enclave?). I always wanted my character to finally reach the Shadow Elves Territories, travel there in Elven form, have a child with Tanadaleyo... Never happened.
#7 kengar Mar 07, 2005 9:47:34	I enjoy using the Mystara setting for ideas. I own several of the GAZ's on pdf and am currently GM-ing a Savage Worlds game set in Karameikos. I don't run straight out the book though. I like to start with the "broad strokes" of the setting and customize it for my purposes. I never really played the setting when I was younger (we played in my brother's homebrew world), but I like having the "little bit of everything" that the Known World offers to help flesh things out for my games.