OD&D What is Mystara?

[doctorbadwolf]

Keep in mind that for him, those are positive descriptors. :S

I don't even know how to respond to that, tbh.

Sticks and stone may break my bones
But whips and chains excite me! are part of the necessary lore of the Shadar Kai.

I mean, sure. But BDSM ain't.

 

[Parmandur]

I don't even know how to respond to that, tbh.


I mean, sure. But BDSM ain't.

My preferred approach is to not engage on the point in question. Just thought I'd point out that for Gyor these are praises of the FR.

 

[gyor]

No- it's more like:

Greyhawk = Eggshell
Forgotten Realms = Snow
Mystara = Ivory
Dragonlance = Alabaster
Birthright = Ceramic
Spelljammer = Cake Batter
Planescape = Off white
Dark Sun = Chalk
Eberron = Paper

.... like that.

I think what people get hungup is when they hear terms like "generic" or "kitchen sink" or even "meta."

To me, there is an easy way to divide settings into three different main types.

Kitchen sink settings. Like Greyhawk, FR, and Mystara.

This doesn't mean that they are generic (although they are sometimes referred to as such), this doesn't mean that they aren't quirky, this doesn't mean that they aren't different from each other (more high fantasy, more swords and sorcery, etc.). Instead, it only means that it is a large, multi-purpose setting that can accommodate a diverse number and type of "standard" D&D adventures and tropes. In other words, if you choose this type of setting, it would be fairly simply to quickly adapt any standard D&D module or AP to fit somewhere within it.


POV settings. Like DL, DS, Eberron.

A POV setting is a setting that is the result of a particular POV; it usually has modest or severe departures from the standard races and classes of D&D, along with a distinctive milieu that is not just a fantasy sandbox. A campaign in this setting should be taking advantage of the unique features of the setting.


Meta settings. Planescape, Spelljammer.

PS and SJ are "settings," but they are also explanations for the interstitial space between campaigns. You can have a campaign set in any other particular setting that is also a part of a meta setting.


Any way, that's how I view it.

Multicultural Setting might be a better, more accurate term, because some of those settings more might not have kitchen sinks in them. Plus it sounds cooler.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Multicultural Setting might be a better, more accurate term, because some of those settings more might not have kitchen sinks in them. Plus it sounds cooler.

But they're all multicultural? Except for maybe Birthright.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Doug McCrae]

Eberron is a kitchen sink setting.

"If it exists in D&D, then it has a place in Eberron. A monster or spell or magic item from the core rulebooks might feature a twist or two to account for Eberron’s tone and attitude, but otherwise everything in the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual has a place somewhere in Eberron."​

But it manages to feel distinctively different from other kitchen sink settings such as Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms and Mystara by filtering D&D thru the lens of another kitchen sink genre - 1930s pulp. It's the only D&D setting ever published that does something genuinely new with default D&D imo. Dragonlance's "What if D&D but more Tolkien?" and Birthright's "What if D&D but all kings and queens?" are merely working with what's already there.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Another, similar, possibility that afaik no one has ever done would be twinning D&D and superhero, which, like pulp, is also a kitchen sink genre.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Another, similar, possibility that afaik no one has ever done would be twinning D&D and superhero, which, like pulp, is also a kitchen sink genre.

There isn't a "official" setting for this, but honestly high-level characters are essentially super-heroes. Change the setting to something more modern with firearms, play at level 10, you can be a team of superheroes.

 

[Doug McCrae]

POV settings. Like DL, DS, Eberron.

A POV setting is a setting that is the result of a particular POV; it usually has modest or severe departures from the standard races and classes of D&D, along with a distinctive milieu that is not just a fantasy sandbox. A campaign in this setting should be taking advantage of the unique features of the setting.

Perhaps another way of thinking about this would be settings that make major subtractions from default D&D, or that subtract significantly more than they add, vs those that don't.

 

[Staffan]

Another, similar, possibility that afaik no one has ever done would be twinning D&D and superhero, which, like pulp, is also a kitchen sink genre.

If someone could work out a way to do an RPG that matched Uncanny X-Men 190-191 (where a sorcerer transforms Manhattan, along with the Avengers, X-Men, and assorted other supers, into a facsimile of the Hyborian Age), that would make me a very happy camper.