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Editorial

by Francesco Defferrari from Threshold Magazine issue 29

The twenty-ninth issue of Mystara’s premier magazine focuses on horror themes, vampires, and other undead!


Previous Issues

Index



Vampires and Undead

This issue of Threshold magazine is dedicated to the undead, to horror and vampires, and to monsters and places with which to scare your players, especially if they must risk losing hard gained levels! Indeed, we'll start with Strange Types of Mystara Vampires by Cab, and proceed with The Many Different Ways to Kill Undead by Glenn. We'll then make a detour to Ravenloft, following Doctor Necrotic to Mystara in the Mists, where we'll get to know - and fear - the Darklords born in Mystara who are now rulers of a Dark Domain.
Returning to the Known World, Khuzd guides us through the Five Markets to Buy and Sell Undead, and two dark adventures converted to Mystara. The first one is the module 'Death, Frost, Doom', and its consequences described by Not a Decepticon, as a zombie apocalypse that might overwhelm the Known World. The second, by Agathokles, is the adaptation of the D&D 5th Edition module Tomb of Annihilation set in the Thyatian Hinterlands.

In the rest of the issue, our Master Cartographer Thorfinn Tait continues his series on Mystara Mappers with the works of James Mishler, an Old One among Mystara's fans! In the next article Fabrizio Nuzzaci (Fabriziohockey) continues his detailed series on Known World nations with Ylaruam economics, including updated Dominion and Trade rules. The last article is the second part of my Amazing Travels of goods and people which began in issue #28, this time detailing all other trade goods from beer to magic.

Our talented illustrators for this issue are Jeffrey Kosh (https://jeffreykosh.wixsite.com/jeffreykoshgraphics/home) and Linus Andersson:(https://www.artstation.com/nplillustration)!

The next issue of Threshold, to be published end 2022, will focus on The Isle of Dawn and Alphatian Sea, a theme in which we had already delved into issue #11, but it has been voted for in our recent poll (see https://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=251761). To contribute to the next issue as an author or illustrator, please send your proposal to the Threshold mail - check Submission guidelines and mail on the last page of the issue - or write in the proposals thread of The Piazza forum: http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=22287, soon to be updated with the call for issue #30.
Even if we have no shortage of articles, we always need help proofreading and editing submissions. As we currently have two main editors, Threshold magazine has been scaled down to two issues a year. Any help to the Threshold Editorial team is greatly appreciated. So please come forward and contact us through email or in The Piazza thread mentioned above. Helping Threshold magazine is certainly a time commitment, but is creative and rewarding work, and also a great way to keep up on fan created material that could be added to your campaign.

The Threshold Editorial Team, authors, and illustrators hope you'll enjoy this new issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together, and stay tuned for the next issue!

Francesco Defferrari (Sturm)

Editor, Threshold Issue 29



Editorial Credits



Threshold Editorial Team:

Allan Palmer (AllanP)

Francesco Defferrari (Sturm)


Editors Emeriti

Agathokles (Giampaolo Agosta)
Andrew Theisen (Cthulhudrew)

Ashtagon

Jesper Andersen (Spellweaver)

John Calvin (Chimpman)
Joseph Setorius (Julius Cleaver)

Leland (Argentmantle)
Shawn Stanley (stanles)

Thorfinn Tait (Thorf)


THRESHOLD logo designed by Thorf


Editors, Issue 29:

Francesco Defferrari (Sturm)
Allan Palmer (AllanP)

Layout:

Allan Palmer (AllanP)

Art:

David Revoy

George von Zarovich

Isabella Calvin

Jeffrey Kosh

Linus Andersson

Mariana Ruiz Villareal (LadyofHats)

Sean Meaney

V Shane
William McAusland

Cartography:

Fabrizio Nuzzacci
Francesco Defferrari (Sturm)

James Mishler
Thorfinn Tait

Additional Reviewers & Proofreaders:

Allan Palmer (AllanP)

Hervé Musseau

Joseph Setorius (Julius Cleaver)

Shawn Stanley
Simon Barns

Thorfinn Tait

Author Blurbs


Giampaolo Agosta (a.k.a. Agathokles) agrees with Schiller that “man is only completely a man when he plays". Therefore, he makes a point of taking gaming seriously, and real life casually. Besides Mystara, his gaming interests include (among others) Dark Sun, Planescape, Ravenloft, Birthright, Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars and Witchcraft RPG.

Allan Palmer (a.k.a. AllanP) was first introduced to D&D a long time ago (but not quite in a galaxy far away) by a work colleague who set up a gaming group using the last version of the “blue book” rules. While dabbling with RuneQuest and Traveller along the way, he developed a liking for what would become the world of Mystara as the BECMI box sets were released. He has always been fascinated by maps. He is an IT professional and when not indulging in hobbies of panelology, retro tv watching and family history research, uses his various PC skills to consolidate the writings of others into the issues of Threshold.

Cab Davidson has been running his Mystara campaign since the 1980s, and while he has years of experience handling dangerous microorganisms, has not knowingly created a new form of vampirism.

Doctor Necrotic (Brian Rubinfeld): despite never being as intense of a fan as much of the fandom, Brian has had a fondness for Mystara stretching back as many eons as the stars! Whether coming up with zany ideas or diving into the earthiness of the setting's lore, he always finds something to love about the Known World and beyond. When not writing for Threshold, Brian is an amateur writer and game creator looking into freelance options, as well as currently working in a pharmacy.


Fabrizio Nuzzaci (Fabriziohockey) met D&D BECMI no later than 1988, which fascinated him until 2007 and, then, from 2018 to today. He lives in Italy and grew up wishing to read all the original information on Mystara, which has remained unpublished in his country. He likes the game setting and has dedicated much of his time to managing the domains of players and NPC; first with pencil and paper, then with spreadsheets and digital maps. After more than 30 years, he is happy to have been able to meet (virtually) Bruce Heard, Thorfinn Tait and know their works on fiefdoms and maps; and, today, to write here.


Galdor aka Glenn Tanner is a D'n'D player that has strange ideas and horrible plans. He hopes that his ideas have merit but for the most part they have no merit. He is trying to come up with 100 different weapon masteries though has not triumphed so far.


Jeffrey Kosh is the pen name of a writer and graphic artist specialized in book covers and movie posters. He collaborates with various publishing companies and authors. His covers range from dark horror to space opera, from thrillers to fantasy. Inspired by great fantasy artists, such as Clyde Caldwell, Larry Elmore, Keith Parkinson, and more, Kosh likes vibrant colors and heavy use of light and a dark contrast. His graphic tends to be moody and evocative. He also likes to work on ‘era-specific’ movie posters and book covers, trying to re-create the style used in those years, from the 1920s to the 1990s. As a writer he has been published various times.

(https://jeffreykosh.wixsite.com/jeffreykoshgraphics/home)


Not a Decepticon has been in love with RPGs since seeing a commercial for D&D in a comic book at the age of six. But an opportunity to DM and play regularly only revealed itself recently, with exception of a brief attempt in college. Now he combines a love for classic campaign settings and the latest edition of the game.


Pol Ginés, a.k.a. Khuzd, is Pablo J. Ginés, a journalist from Barcelona living in Madrid, who usually writes about religion, bioethics and society issues. He learned role playing games with BECMI, the Red Box in Spanish, in 1986, when he was 12 years old. Expert Rules were never translated to Spanish, so he had to work harder in improving his English. Although he has always been a hardcore fan of Tolkien's Middle-Earth (he founded the group of the Spanish Tolkien Society in Barcelona), he has always prefered Mystara and BECMI for role playing, even though this system was never popular in Spain as AD&D took his place soon. About 2005 Pol was amazed to discover the Mystara community on the Internet. Now he plays 3 campaigns in Mystara: two with his children -a classical one, and another with humanoid PCs- and a 36th level campaign for PCs on the way to Immortality.


Even though Sturm (a.k.a. Francesco Defferrari) loves any alternate world, he believes Mystara is incomparably the best for its vibrant community endlessly delving into ethnography, linguistics and history just to make a little sense of it. Something like the real world, but with dragons.


Thorfinn Tait hails from the Orkney Islands in northern Scotland, though he has lived in Japan for many years now. Growing up with BECMI and the Known World, he learnt to type by compiling a database of Mystara’s timeline. He joined the Mystara online community in 1997, but his true contributions began with the Atlas of Mystara project starting in 2005. Recently he has made the jump to become a published fantasy cartographer, working on Bruce Heard’s Calidar series. You can follow his work on his cartography site (www.thorfmaps.com) and the Atlas site (mystara.thorfmaps.com).


Call for Contributors

The Threshold editorial team invites all fans of the Mystara setting to submit contributions to the magazine’s next issue.

We are especially looking for contributions fitting the following themes:

Issue 30 - Isle of Dawn and the Alphatian sea

The second 2022 issue will focus on the region at the very center of Mystara

Proposal Deadline: August 15th, 2022

Manuscript Deadline: November 1st, 2022

Issue Published: December 2022

Issue 31 - Undersea

The first 2023 issue will focus on the dominions and the people below the waves!

Proposal Deadline: February 15th, 2023

Manuscript Deadline: May 1st, 2023

Issue Published: June 2023

Articles about other topics are still welcome and the editorial team will evaluate their publication for any upcoming issue, taking into account available space and the issue’s theme.

Threshold accepts and invites submissions of extended or revised versions of works having appeared on The Piazza or Vaults of Pandius.

Contributions may include, but are not limited to: Articles — short stories, short adventure modules, NPCs, historical treatises and timelines, geographical entries, new monsters and monster ecologies, etc.; and Illustrations — portraits, maps, heraldry, illustrations, etc.

The Threshold editorial team strives for edition neutrality, but edition specific articles (e.g., conversions) are also accepted. Statistics for new monsters and NPCs may be included in articles (e.g., adventure modules, new monsters or NPCs) in any version of Dungeons & Dragons. The editorial team also offers help in providing conversions to some specific rules set, including BECMI/RC, 2nd Edition, 3rd edition/Pathfinder. However, they should be limited to a minimum — for most NPCs, it is sufficient to mention class, level, and alignment. For important NPCs, a one- or two-line stats block may be included.


Next Issue

Issue 30 - Isle of Dawn and Alphatian Sea

The second 2022 issue will focus on the region at the very center of Mystara


Anticipated contents include:

● Bellissaria the Unknown

● Islands of Death
● The Mystara Generator part 4

● One more Specularum’s District

● Mappers of Mystara

… and much, much more!


Back Cover

Vampires and the Undead

In this new issue of Threshold magazine we meet the terrifying dark powers of Mystara's undead.

We start with Strange Types of Mystara Vampires by Cab, then we arm ourselves with the Many Different Ways to Kill Undead by Glenn, but soon we are captured by the Mists of Ravenloft, to know the Dark Lords born in Mystara, with the guide of Doctor Necrotic. Khuzd illustrates the Five Markets to Sell and Buy Undead in the Known World, while Not a Deception guides us through a zombie apocalypse and Agathokles to the Tomb of Annihilation. Thorfinn Tait takes us to review the maps of James Mishler while Fabrizio Nuzzaci delves deep into the economics of Ylaruam. Finally the second part of the Amazing Travels of Goods and People by Sturm with more product categories from beer and wine to magic!

All this can be found only in the last issue of our favorite magazine!


1 Actually 'Isle of Dawn and the Alphatian Sea' later reached the same number of votes, but Vampires and Undead still arrived there first.