WotC Bargle's Guide to Mystara

Marc_C · Mar 3, 2021

No idea why people want a 5e Mystara setting.

You have B/X, BECMI and the Rules Cyclodpedia that are a perfect fit for the setting. The Gazetteers and modules are on Drivethru rpg. You can also use Old School Essentials with the Advanced add-on if you want more classes. You probably have a large collection of dead wood original rule books, gazetteers and modules.

If you insist on playing 5e you can do the conversion very easily from B/X. Goodman games did a good job with the first B modules. There is a 5e Mystara Bestiary in PDF for free. All you need to do is convert a few setting NPCs the party might meet before a game. Really not an insurmountable mountain.

If I was WoTC I wouldn't touch Mystara with a 100' pole. Too many things can go wrong and the grognard hate would be epic and infinity. Probably why WoTC they won't do it either.

(p.s: I love Mystara. Bought all the Gazetteers in the 90s.)

Zardnaar · Mar 3, 2021

Marc_C said:
No idea why people want a 5e Mystara setting.

You have B/X, BECMI and the Rules Cyclodpedia that are a perfect fit for the setting. The Gazetteers and modules are on Drivethru rpg. You can also use Old School Essentials with the Advanced add-on if you want more classes. You probably have a large collection of dead wood original rule books, gazetteers and modules.

If you insist on playing 5e you can do the conversion very easily from B/X. Goodman games did a good job with the first B modules. There is a 5e Mystara Bestiary in PDF for free. All you need to do is convert a few setting NPCs the party might meet before a game. Really not an insurmountable mountain.

If I was WoTC I wouldn't touch Mystara with a 100' pole. Too many things can go wrong and the grognard hate would be epic and infinity. Probably why WoTC they won't do it either.

There's some bits and pieces that can be converted. Monsters, potential feats, archetypes.

Easier if someone else does it.

WotC won't do Mystara though for a variety of reasons.

AdmundfortGeographer · Mar 3, 2021

Marc_C said:
No idea why people want a 5e Mystara setting.

You have B/X, BECMI and the Rules Cyclodpedia that are a perfect fit for the setting. The Gazetteers and modules are on Drivethru rpg. You can also use Old School Essentials with the Advanced add-on if you want more classes. You probably have a large collection of dead wood original rule books, gazetteers and modules.

If you insist on playing 5e you can do the conversion very easily from B/X. Goodman games did a good job with the first B modules. There is a 5e Mystara Bestiary in PDF for free. All you need to do is convert a few setting NPCs the party might meet before a game. Really not an insurmountable mountain.

Ah yes, the inevitable thread crapping by “all you need to do is…”

Alzrius · Mar 3, 2021

Marc_C said:
You have B/X, BECMI and the Rules Cyclodpedia that are a perfect fit for the setting.

Not all of it. The Red Steel boxed set isn't available on DriveThruRPG as of yet, though oddly the Savage Baronies expansion set is (and, I suppose, X9 The Savage Coast). Likewise, while you can hunt down the three PDF-only books that WotC put out after the line folded (the Savage Coast Campaign Book, Savage Coast: Orc's Head, and the Savage Coast Monstrous Compendium), that still limits their potential visibility.

Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.

Marc_C · Mar 3, 2021

AdmundfortGeographer said:
Ah yes, the inevitable thread crapping by “all you need to do is…”

LOL!
Your threshold to "crapping thread" is extremely low.
I convert Mystara to 5e regularly and very easily.

Stormonu · Mar 3, 2021

I won’t say no to 5E versions of any of the D&D worlds (except maybe Maztica & Horde). However, I think in this day and age, Mystara may run afoul of the movement against cultural appropriation (Autraugin Clans being an obvious point) and the Orcs of Thar would have to be completely revised.

The Glen · Mar 3, 2021

Is WOTC going to make Mystara? Doubtful. More than likely they will just take the cool parts they lile and borg them into the realms like they've always done. Now if they open up the Guild then you will see a resurgence.

Mystara can use some cleaning up. The older fans make jokes about how bad the continuity is from book to book. They've got two separate rules for the rake class in the Thyatis modules which are two parts of the same story.

We don't want the ols stuff rehashed. Yes a campaign guide would be fantastic, but new materials in the setting would be even better. Then we could get an actual monster manual because the 5e conversions were rough drafts at best. I know. I wrote all 300 of them.

If WOTC wants to do the setting right get a grognard who plays 5e. We do exist. I'm mostly free on weekends. My rates go up substantially on weekdays. I'm also available for children's parties, mitzvahs both bar and bat and can provide expert testimony on a variety of subjects.

The Glen · Mar 3, 2021

Stormonu said:
I won’t say no to 5E versions of any of the D&D worlds (except maybe Maztica & Horde). However, I think in this day and age, Mystara may run afoul of the movement against cultural appropriation (Autraugin Clans being an obvious point) and the Orcs of Thar would have to be completely revised.

The Clans would have to be completely redone because their book was more like a bunch of incomplete notes. Judging by the incredulous amount of padding in the book it was obvious that it was a very rushed job

LuisCarlos17f · Mar 3, 2021

We should remember the Capcom's arcades helped very much to this setting to be more known. My suggestion is an intercompany crossover, for example action figures of wuxia/medieval fantasy version of Street Fighters, Darkstalkers and other titles by the company. Why not? I can't be worse than these in Fortnite.

Shades of Eternity · Mar 3, 2021

Alzrius said:
Maybe we could also get The Egg of Coot's Guide to Blackmoor while we're at it?

I would seriously want to see a blackmoor Adventure based on the model in curse of strahd.

Make stephan play the strahd role.

Use time travel instead of the mists.

Means of having a sci-fi ish world separated, but connected enough for crossovers.