OD&D What is Mystara?

[Urriak Uruk]

Hi all! So I have been playing D&D and digging around this forum for a year or two now, and seem to have gotten my mind wrapped around most of the settings and there particular "niche" in the game. (Obviously some will disagree with the below but this is IMO).

• Forgotten Realms is the go-to High Fantasy setting, driven by individual characters actions with recognizable fantasy elements, leaning on the optimistic worldview.
• Greyhawk is the flipside of Forgotten Realms, still mostly High Fantasy but set in a much more gritty, dark world where heroes are more likely to be struggling to survive.
• Eberron is the noire, borderline steampunk/magic-tech setting that is more nuanced culturally and racially than the typical fantasy setting.
• Dark Sun is the post-apocalyptic sword-and-sorcery setting, where the world is already ruled by the villains and the heroes are always underdogs.
• Dragonlance is the Epic Fantasy setting, where the heroes are caught between a titanic struggle between the forces of good and evil and the fate of the world.
• Ravenloft is the gothic horror setting (or the horror in general setting) filled with every Goosebumps villain and monster, designed to scare and terrify the PCs.

But there is one world I can't put my finger one, one with perhaps as much influence in modules and video games as some of the others above... and that world is Mystara.

For all of you Mystara players (past and present), what is it that makes Mystara unique and fun to you? What sets it apart from other settings, and perhaps makes it better in your eyes? I know little of it beyond what is detailed in famous modules and of course the famous "Shadows of Mystara" game, but what would you like to see emphasized in a Mystara setting if it was ever published in an official book?

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Parmandur]

Well, to be honest, it doesn't have a niche, or a "hat" to define it. It is High Fantasy, not terribly different in major ways from Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms. The details are where the difference is: Mystarra is much more bold about "here is magical Vikingland, here is magical Byzantium, here is magical Florence, here is magical Arabia" than the other settings are. More Conan-esque, in that respect. More light hearted, as a rule, which makes sense as it was part of the marketed to younger audiences Basic line.

The "Known World" started as a Homebrew in a D&D group at Kent State, of which three of the members got jobs at TSR: Dave "Zeb" Cook, Tom Moldvay and Lawrence Schick. Cook & Moldvay were tasked with writing stuff for the Basic game, but couldn't use Greyhawk like the AD&D line. So they used their College Homebrew. Schick wrote an article about this a few years back, and he has another essay about it in the Isle of Dread book from Goodman Games:

The “Known World” D&D Setting: A Secret History – Black Gate

The setting evolved over the years, but that was the start.

 

[not-so-newguy]

Someone tried to sell me on the Known World once.

He was all like, "Hey, Lowkey, how about you join me in Mystara?"

And I was all like, "Naw, man. Ya basic!"

There are regular contributors to the Mystara world that post regularly here; so it’s probably best to hear from them first.

I just want to mention pandius.com which is dedicated to all things Mystara. Also Threshold ezine which can be downloaded for free from that site. Some great content for any campaign.

Edit: Here’s a good link for anyone new to Mystara The Newbie's Guide to Mystara

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

My opinion is Mystara should be used for arcade beat'em videogames by Capcom, as a hook to get new fans.

Mystara is also the world of Red Steel/Savage Coast and the Hollow World.

I know nothing about its crystal sphere in the Spelljammer setting, and I am afraid it is not ready for the new races, monsters and classes from the last editions.

 

[Enrico Poli1]

Mystara is a "kitchen-sink" world, with a number of nations described by the Gazetteer series (for example "The Gran Duchy of Karameikos" corresponding to medieval Bohemia). Most often than not, each kingdom has a good strong ruler, but also a number of villains. In the case of Karameikos, the good Duke Stephen is opposed by his evil cousin, Baron Ludwig von Hendricks the Black Eagle, with his court mage Bargle the Infamous. Many problems are entrenched in the politics of the kingdom. In fact, the BECMI edition of the game supported high level play, so that Basic PCs (Level 1-3) started their career in dungeons or on local quests; Expert PCs (4-14) explored the wilderness, facing regional threats, and met important political figures; Companion PCs (15-25) became rulers, carving and menaging their own domains, interacting with other political leaders and waging wars; Master PCs (26-36) were leaders of nations, but they were so powerful that they started their own quest to ascend to Immortality (godhood). So, in the Expert and Companion phases of the game, politics became very important. You could meet the personalities of your kingdom (or of other nations), help or oppose them, and change the destiny of nations. The political nature of the setting is evident in many modules, for example X10 Red Arrow, Black Shield (a sort of World War in which the PCs, as ambassadors, must travel to many nations and forge an alliance against the Master of the Desert Nomads) or CM1 Test of the Warlords.

Many BECMI adventures set in Mystara became unforgettable classics: Keep on the Borderlands, Rahasia, The Lost City, Night's Dark Terror, Isle of Dread, Castle Amber, Master of the Desert Nomads... Plus many, many hidden gems.
The Gazetteer series is an high point in the history of the game, with such masterpieces as The Grand Duchy of Karameikos, the Principalities of Glantri, and The Shadow Elves.
Besides, the world was hollow, and you could travel to the centre of earth where lost civilizations dwelled...
Plus, there were many different over-arching metaplots: the hidden magical source known as the Radiance; the recurring machinations of the evil Immortals Thanatos, Alphaks, and Atzanteotl; the eternal Quest for the Blue Knife of the orcish race... It was really a rich and detailed world, on the same scale as Greyhawk and almost as the Realms.

 

[Doug McCrae]

It's a third vanilla fantasy world for people who thought two - Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms - weren't enough.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Mike Mearls calls it "pulp fantasy".

A few things that stand out to me:
-The map is an unusually ridiculous patchwork quilt of nations of completely unrelated Earth-inspired cultures plopped next to each other (cue Atruaghin Clans bordering medieval Europe, etc).
-The national borders are "hard" with each nation playable as it's own theme setting.
-Each nation is relatively small.
-The population is zany. In a time when primate-ish species (human, elf, orc) were the norm of civilized races in D&D, Mystara had playable dog people, cat people, gator people, tortles (now you know where they really come from and belong), and others.
-It has more magic. Maybe not Eberron level, but the prevalence of spellcasters outshone most other settings.

 

[Doug McCrae]

It's a third vanilla fantasy world for people who thought two - Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms - weren't enough.

And Dragonlance and Birthright are also kinda vanilla tbh. So, a fifth vanilla fantasy world for people who thought four weren't enough.

 

[Beleriphon]

My elevator pitch for Mystara: "Jules Verne/Late Victorian inspired pulp adventures meets D&D." Want to go have an adventure titled Curse of the Mummy Emperor, or Creatures from Hollow World, with plots to match a dime store adventure novel? If you do Mystara is your setting. It is more Jules Verne inspired indulgence and grandeur, and less R.E. Howard gritty, civilization is a corrupting influence vibe.