TSR TSR's Lawrence Schick on the Development of The Known World

D&D historians may be interested in this fascinating article by TSR's head of design and development in the 1980s, Lawrence Schick. It deals with the creation of the Known World (which later became Mystara), one of the earliest D&D campaign settings (first officially mentioned in Module X1: The Isle of Dread). "We decided to plot out a single giant Pangea-type continent on which there would be fantasy-fictionalized versions of each of the above cultures. We also added homelands for the nonhuman races: Orcs, Goblins, Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Lizard-Men, Deep Ones, Kzinti Catfolk, and Barsoomian Tharks, as well as a pirate kingdom, and areas where prehistoric creatures were the norm. Plus in every land there would be hidden cults that worshiped Lovecraftian Elder Gods... We dubbed this setting the “Known World,” to imply there was more out there yet to be discovered..."

The article is well worth a read if D&D history is even slightly your thing.

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[Dungeonosophy]

composite map of Schick and Moldvay's Known World

I pasted the two halves of the map together and threw on the labels, as best as I could discern from Schick's write-up:

View attachment 66734

 

[Zarithar]

Kzinti and Thark as iconic races? Now that would have been interesting....

 

[tomservo999]

I started to dabble in the known world around the mid 90s. It always looked like a cool setting. Unfortunately by the time I got interested the Gazeteers were out of print and near impossible to find. Unless you wanted to spend a ton of money on eBay.

 

[mxyzplk]

The thing I liked about the Known World when I was playing BECMI was that it wasn't like these other settings - "here's an entire world memorize it!" You started just knowing about your town, then you found out you were in the Grand Duchy, then you started to find out about some neighboring places - the scope stayed to what really you as a character could reasonably consume. You don't need more square miles to have more adventure! Heading "way off the map" to the Isle of Dread really gave you the sense of venturing into terra incognita.

Heck, I thought it jumped the shark when they had the contest to name it Mystara - first, who cares, in real life people don't refer to their planet much, and two, who the hell names their planet "Mystara...." It's still the Known World to me.

 

[painted_klown]

Very cool article. I am highly fascinated by the history of D&D (not havaing "lived through it") and this article is a nice peek at a classic setting, and how it came to be.

 

[M.L. Martin]

Kzinti and Thark as iconic races? Now that would have been interesting....

I'm not familiar enough with Barsoom to find a good analogue to Tharks, but aren't rakasta essentially D&D-ified Kzinti?

 

[Zarithar]

Yep, the rakasta sort of fit the bill, though they were never much seen to my knowledge outside of the Isle of Dread. I can't really think of anything close to my visualization of Tharks.

 

[havard]

It is an awesome article. Mystara is one of my favorite settings. Kzinti are basically catfolk. There are plenty of catfolk in Mystara, although they are called Rakasta as Mathew L Martin points out. The Rakasta appeared in X1 Isle of Dread which marked the first published form of the Known World/Mystara. X1 was authored by Moldvay of course. Thark-like creatures also appear in the setting, although they are called Sandfolk. The same is true for some other elements. I go more into detail on this here: http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13132

-Havard

 

[TBeholder]

As to the process - well, figures.
But it's cool thing to see.

I'm not familiar enough with Barsoom to find a good analogue to Tharks, but aren't rakasta essentially D&D-ified Kzinti?

...and this opened the furry floodgate. I mean, they didn't stop until Tortles, at least.
Oh, and Dragondex says there was an article "Rakasta of Mystara" from Bruce Heard that introduced 16 specific breeds. Talk about copycats...

No, really - did any other setting have so many varieties of beast-folk or "easily-recognized essences" countries?
That they managed to pull this without getting downright ludicrous was an achievement in itself, IMHO.

 

[Zarithar]

Tharks aren't beastfolk though. Four armed Martians, which are even less fitting arguably than a catfolk race
Also... Golarian takes the Known World concept to a whole new level as far as transplanting Earth cultures