What's Mystara's Hook?

[Dragonhelm]

Forked from: 2010: Is it Dragonlance? (hint)

Mystara I think is unlikely. As Perkins said, there's no hook. There's really nothing in Mystara that distinguishes it from Greyhawk or the Realms, and D&D doesn't need three generic setting that cover nearly the exact same ground. Yes, it's home to the B/X modules, the Savage Coast and Hollow World, and there's a good deal of stuff there upon which DM can build a campaign, but then again, Greyhawk and the Realms do just about the same thing. As a whole, the three settings differ only in the details.

Perkins makes a good point here in that Mystara doesn't seem to have much of a hook. He mentioned the Hollow World aspect as an interesting hook. I would also say that the Red Steel material would have some stuff to offer.

So what is Mystara's hook? What makes it different from other vanilla settings?

 

[rounser]

So what is Mystara's hook? What makes it different from other vanilla settings?

Bit of a weird answer, but the one I'd venture is...hex maps. They're hex map crazy over at The Vaults of Pandius.

No, it's not a hook you can hang a 4E product launch on, but it's a hook for the fans. No other "vanilla D&D" setting is so hexagonal as this. I'm not being facetious either; D&D fans generally love maps, and these hex maps are pretty.

 

[Doug McCrae]

So what is Mystara's hook? What makes it different from other vanilla settings?

Nothing, Perkins is right. I would add Dragonlance to the list of vanilla settings also.

 

[avin]

Mystara, Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance are the vanilla settings for me.

 

[rounser]

I would add Dragonlance to the list of vanilla settings also.

You could run the War of the Lance in the Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk, but the flavour would be quite different. I get the feeling that this might be one of those axiomatic generalisations that runs roughshod over the details a bit. Would an FR WotL have sold as many books?

I mean, I understand the principle that they're all variations on a theme, but it reminds me a bit of Bono complaining that the Edge's guitar sound he'd set up was sounding too "typical U2". The Edge just glared at him as if to say "we are U2, and this is what we do." Complaining that D&D has too many typically D&Desque worlds seems a bit similar to that.

 

[ExploderWizard]

For myself, the appeal of Mystara resides in the fact that it IS so vanilla. I love to customize and tinker with settings, and having one without a strong pre-defined theme is a huge plus.

I don't see Dragonlance as a vanilla setting. The DL setting was created specifically to tell a story. There were elements in the setting that made it very different from the standard D&D set of world assumptions. Outside of the story that this world was created to tell, the DL setting wasn't particularly special.

 

[JustKim]

Mystara is a hollow world with an internal sun. It has the Princess Ark, among other airships. It has the Red Curse, which can transform the unwarded into monsters. It's populated by creatures not seen anywhere else in D&D, and some that might be familiar, such as the nagpa. It has a metaplot advanced annually through the Poor Wizard's Almanac & Book of Facts. Its elves are from Alfheim, its dwarves are from Rockhome, its orcs are from Thar and its shadow elves are something else entirely from drow (a welcome change, if you ask me). Its distant past is shaped by the technology of our distant future, which still exists in places, silent and still.

It was the Isle of Dread and surrounding environs, and most importantly, it was what I played when I loved nothing greater than badwrongfun.

 

[Dragonblade]

I like Mystara for several reasons. Primarily because it was the D&D setting I grew up with in the 80's. I never played Greyhawk, and I didn't get into the Realms until later. Mystara will always have a fond place in my heart. I love the concept of the Immortals, the Hollow World, and just the way the world's different nations and continents are set up.

I also love hex maps and really miss them in gaming products. The new incarnation of the Realms just don't really grab me, although I do love the new FR Player's Guide and the 4e rules, its just something about the presentation of the Campaign Guide. The 3e FRCG is still one of the best campaign setting books ever and the 4e version falls short.

However, the opposite is true with Eberron. I never really was interested in Eberron in 3e, but now I find myself really interested in the setting and am looking forward to the new books. The 4e rules seem to fit the setting perfectly.

I'm not interested in Dragonlance at all. It seems like a setting designed around a story told for specific characters, and I'm just not interested in it because I don't see how my PCs fit into that story. Everything cool in the setting seems like it revolves around the Weis/Hickman characters.

Dark Sun sort of has a similar problem. It is good as long as you ignore everything that occurs in the Prism Pentad. But I definitely find myself interested in a 4e version of Dark Sun.

 

[rounser]

It was the Isle of Dread and surrounding environs, and most importantly, it was what I played when I loved nothing greater than badwrongfun.

Valuing a setting with perceived commercial redundancy != badwrongfun.

Some fans seem to confuse what will drive the most sales for WOTC with what is objectively better for everyone in other ways as well. It's obviously not true, but this obvious point seemingly needs to be spelled out, because there seems to be a tendency to imply the contrary.

 

[fba827]

I like the Mystra setting, for nastaliga and other factors. However, that's just my 'like' it's not a hook for the setting.
It boils down to being as generic as Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, and Dragon Lance (as far as I'm concerned, though, admitedly, I know very little about the later two and only a little more than that about FR). That's not to say they aren't interesting in their own unique history and details, but they are by and large generic as a whole.

Conversly, a setting like Planescape does have a marketable 'hook' but it does not appeal to me. (just a personal statement, i realize it is a good setting, just not my style)

So a marketable hook is not the only factor, but, yes Mystra doesn't really have one.