Editorial
by Francesco Defferrari from Threshold Magazine issue 33Image:
Cover of issue 33 by Jeffrey Kosh
http://pandius.com/GelatinousCube.png
The thirty-third issue of Mystara’s premier magazine delves deeply into dangerous Dungeons!
Previous Issues
Index
THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine is a non-commercial, fan-produced magazine. There is no intent to infringe upon anyone’s rights, in particular those of Wizards of the Coast, which holds all rights to the original material on which the magazine is based.
The dungeon is obviously a fundamental part of the D&D game, and we celebrate it in this issue with some particular dungeon settings for the world of Mystara. This year, 2023, is also the 40th since the birth of our favorite D&D edition, the Basic, Expert, Companion, Master and Immortal boxed sets by Frank Mentzer which started their publication history back in 1983. Our editor and layout master Allan Palmer celebrates this important anniversary in the first article of the issue, The Birth of BECMI.
Then we start the articles dedicated to this issue’s theme with a new contributor, Andreas, and his Remembrance Day, a very interesting holiday adventure which makes great use of the Blackmoor and 2300 BC material developed over the years by many Mystara fans. This article and almost all the others in the issue are also beautifully illustrated with some drawings by Jeffrey Kosh and Senarch, who indeed have provided so many great illustrations that we had to keep some for next issues.
The following article is mine and describes Ancient Dungeons, using as blueprint my megadungeon of Koskatep, which was published on Threshold Magazine issues #1 to #15. Dungeons indeed are supposed to be lost and old locations and in the article I try to provide some guidelines on how to use the rich history of Mystara to make them more interesting. King Everast then leads us to the exploration of the Islands of Death, a second installment after the previous article in Threshold Magazine issue #30. Islands indeed can be versatile dungeon settings as proven by their glorious history on Mystara starting from X1 The Isle of Dread. The next dungeon of the issue by Not A Decepticon; Against the Wizards: Moving Mountain Menagerie of Morkhulan Minister is quite original as well as it’s set in a flying mountain over Sind and can be connected to another dungeon by the same author published in Threshold Magazine issue #31, set under the sea.
The next three articles are not dungeons but certainly contain some interesting material to populate them with challenges: first Terrors in the Mists: Monsters of Mystaran Ravenloft by Doc Necrotic, continuing his crossover articles from issue #29, then our prolific Cab who returns with two more articles, In Cold Blood – Reptilian Races of Mystara and Fists of the Five Elements – Revised Mystic Class. Finally we have another Mystara Mapper’s showcase by Thorf in Mappers of Mystara: Eric Anondson, and Irving Galvez who closes the issue with Legends of the Known World Volume II, with some more scary creatures to meet in the wilds or, obviously, in dungeons.
Soon we’ll begin working on issue #34, dedicated to Future and Alternate Mystaras, a theme I am really looking forward to and which on The Piazza Mystara forum prompted many interesting conversations, so I hope it will give us several very interesting articles too. The other issue of 2024 will be dedicated to Glantri and Magic, so start thinking about it! Certainly Micky, Aoz, Robin and others already created a lot of material about it on The Piazza Mystara forum1 so it could also be a popular theme for contributors.
To join the next issues as
authors or illustrators please send your proposal
to the THRESHOLD
mail (check Submission guidelines and mail on the last page of the
issue) or write in the Call for Contributors thread for issues #34
which will soon appear in The Piazza forum.
Even though we
usually have no shortage of articles, we always need help for
proofreading
and editing
the submissions. So anyone willing to help the THRESHOLD
Editorial Team please come forward and let us know through the mail
or in the Call for Contributors for issue #34 thread at The Piazza.
Helping THRESHOLD
Magazine certainly needs some time commitment, but is creative and
rewarding work.
The THRESHOLD
Editorial Team and the authors hope you will enjoy reading this new
issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together, and stay tuned for
the next issue!
Francesco Defferrari (Sturm)
Editor, THRESHOLD Issue #33
Editorial Credits
THRESHOLD Editorial Team
Allan Palmer (AllanP)
Francesco
Defferrari (Sturm)
Hervé Musseau (Andaire)
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
Editing, Issue #33
Francesco
Defferrari (Sturm)
Allan Palmer (AllanP)
Hervé Musseau
(Andaire)
Layout
Allan Palmer (AllanP)
Art
Allan
Palmer – AI and Commons
Andreas Michaelides – AI
Cab
Davidson – AI
Francesco Defferrari (Sturm) – AI and
Commons
I.
Calvin – Original
Irving Galvez – AI
Jeffrey Kosh
– Original
Sebastien (Senarch) – AI and Original
V
Shane – Stock, Original
William McAusland – Stock,
Original
Cartography
Andreas
Michaelides
Eric Anondson
King
Everast
Not A Decepticon
Porg the Horse
Thorfinn Tait
Additional Reviewing & Proofreading
Allan Palmer (AllanP)
Cab
Davidson
Hervé Musseau (Andaire)
Shawn Stanley (stanles)
Simon
Barns
Troy Terrell (CmdrCorsiken)
Author Blurbs
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.
Andreas
Michaelides
feels he has finally aged enough to proudly wear the badge of
grognard. He first ventured into the Dales in 1997 and was then
claimed by the siren call of Ravenloft and Planescape. The further he
became disgruntled with new editions, the further back in D&D’s
history he sought what it once had, that
now felt
irretrievably lost: the true wanderer’s wonderment, the
unlikely hero’s journey, the place where story remained an
unchallenged king. Much like the proverbial dwarves, he dug too deep
and ended up in Blackmoor by way of Mystara. Both were old and
weathered indeed, but far, far from forgotten, with a vibrant
community still toiling away, not merely at the story, but at the
world’s very architecture. It felt like home. Long-standing
companions were called upon, and a new campaign began in D&D’s
far past that was Blackmoor’s future. Andreas is 40% of the
newly minted 2.5 Trolls.
Cab Davidson is a mad inventor living in Cambridge, United Kingdom, and is very sorry for having accidentally dyed a whole cryogenic lab blue. This Christmas he is celebrating the 40th birthday of his Dungeons and Dragons basic set, with the players who have been in his campaign for over 20 of the 40 years it has been running.
Doctor Necrotic (Brian Rubinfeld) is a freelance and hobbyist writer. He has been a fan of Dungeons & Dragons since early youth. The earthiness of Mystara and its pulpy lore have long since been a draw for him as well. Within Threshold, his major projects have been Returned Blackmoor as well as a look into Ravenloft through Mystaran eyes.
Hervé Musseau, a former editor of the Mystaran Almanac, is now helping shape THRESHOLD Magazine.
Irving Galvez (a.k.a. Oleck): Mexican player since the early 80s, amateur Mystara writer since 1996. The time passes and when the days of fantasy have flown away with age and you reach the stage of responsibilities, work, family and everyday problems, you look back and take those dusty books of D&D, and escape a moment to your childhood. Keep on playing!!!
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 recreate 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)
King Everast hails from his dwarven kingdom of South Africa. A fanatical fan of everything
dwarven, he is mainly based in Mystara viewing all that happens from beneath his mountain. His
many other interests include reading every Dragonlance novel he can lay his hands on, playing all
the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks existing, and thinking up new and devious ways to destroy the
players of his next D&D adventure.
Not a Decepticon has been in love with RPGs since seeing an advert 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 the exception of a brief attempt in college. Now he combines a love for classic campaign settings and the latest edition of the game.
Sebastien Martineau (Senarch) started playing D&D again in early 2022, and dusted off his prized GAZ1, promptly falling in love with Mystara again. He combines Daz, Ai and digital painting in his artworks, and has started drawing again. Some of his work can be found here: https://www.deviantart.com/senarch/gallery and he can be contacted here: senarchpublishing@gmail.com
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 #34—Future and Alternate Mystaras
The first issue of 2024 will focus on other versions of your favorite campaign world!
Proposal Deadline: February 15th, 2024
Manuscript Deadline: May 1st, 2024
Issue Published: June 2024
Issue #35—Glantri and Magic
The
second issue of 2024 will focus on the most magical nation of the
Known World.
Proposal Deadline: August 15th, 2024
Manuscript Deadline: November 1st, 2024
Issue Published: December 2024
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 #34—Future and Alternate Mystaras
The
first issue of 2024 will focus on different Mystaras, changed in the
past or in the future.
Anticipated
contents include:
● Mystara Mirrors of Past and Future
● More Returned Blackmoor
●
Against the Wizards part
III
● Guns for Classic D&D
… and much, much more!
Back Cover
Image:
Back Cover of issue 33 by
Senarch
http://pandius.com/Dungeon1_Senarch.png
Dungeons
In this new issue of THRESHOLD Magazine we face the dangers and mysteries of dungeons, a cornerstone of Classic D&D, of which we also celebrate the 40th anniversary with an article by Allan. Dungeons under post-cataclysm Mystara, in the past, on islands, and above the clouds, in the first four articles of this issue, then some creatures to populate your own dungeons in the other articles, and another installment of the Mappers of Mystara by Thorf. Wonderful illustrator Jeffrey Kosh provided again some great images for this issue, starting from the cover, and some more great ones were made by Senarch, as the one you can see just above!
All this can be found only in this latest issue of our favorite magazine!
1Check
this thread on The Piazza
https://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?t=26767