D&D 4E Anyone else play 4e in Mystara?

[DNH]

What books are ones to look for, Mystara-wise?

The Gazetteer series from the late 1980s are the definitive books on the setting. You can find more information on them at RPG.net here. The first one - GAZ1: The Grand Duchy of Karameikos - is widely held to be the best of the series and sets the benchmark. Lots of useful information in these and I reference them regularly.

I personally did not really discover Mystara until the mid-1990s however, when TSR brought out this box set. It is, in essence, the same information as GAZ1 but repacakged for the 90s and for 2e AD&D. I don't think it was a big seller but I can distinctly remember buying it from a small gaming shop in Scarborough!

Now, my favourite Mystara/Known World products was undoubtedly the Poor Wizard's Almanac series. Each volume in these series covers an entire year in the campaign world and is a true almanac. In these, you will find detailed information on the nations of the world, potted biographies of major figures, information on trade and economics, details of the movements of the world's armies and (my favourite part) details of events on every scale (local, regional and global), many that arc over several months or even years and most with ideas on how to involve your players. These books contain a wealth, several wealths, of game ideas and are a rich source of game world info. If you only get one book, get one of these.

You can get a taste of these last by looking at the community-authored versions for subsequent years. These carry the product line forward and are just as useful and interesting. You can find them here. This website - Vaults of Pandius - the Official Mystara Homepage - is another excellent resource for Mystara material. You can find everything here, from the demographics of turn-of-the-millennium Thyatis to the ethnography of all the languages of the Known World and everything in between. Well worth a browse.

 

[Dire Bare]

Here's a link to a rather complete product list, it even includes products that were announced but never released!

The Mystara Product Index Page

I recommend the entire Gazetter series (all 15, although some get goofy, and the weakest is the Ierendi book). I also recommend the Red Steel series, and the HWR source books for the Hollow World series. I also like the Creature Crucible series, but they get goofier than the goofiest Gazetteers.

I personally didn't care for the Almanacs, they are indicative of what ruined the line for me. Boring details of microevents, a great example of T.M.I when it comes to gaming settings.

 

[DNH]

Good exhaustive link there, Dire Bare.

I had the Hollow World box set too (*wonders what happened to all his old gaming stuff*) and I rather liked it. In fact, I have often thought that that whole set-up is ripe for a 4e campaign.

• Heroic Tier: the characters have various adventures that get them noticed.
• Paragon Tier: the Hollow World is discovered and the nations of the Known World begin a scramble for it, eager to exploit its riches. The characters are engaged by one nation or another to investigate, explore and protect that nation's interests in the Hollow World.
• Epic Tier: the intrusion of the outer world into the Hollow World is threatening to unbalance Mystara's fragile system and the Immortals are having to take a hand in things. The characters become emissaries or avatars (or pawns!) of one or other Immortal in their efforts to secure Mystara's future.

One day, I shall write that Adventure Path.

 

[Viking Bastard]

In fact, I have often thought that that whole set-up is ripe for a 4e campaign.

[...]

One day, I shall write that Adventure Path.

I would buy that.

 

[samursus]

Ahhh Mystara, how I have missed ye.

 

[Estlor]

If you're looking for a list of, "These are the must-have products for anyone wanting to make a collection of world products for Mystara," then my recommendations are the Gazetteers for Karameikos, Darokin, and Glantri and the Dawn of the Empires (Alphatia and Thyatis) boxed set. That gives you a lot of territory and plot space to operate within. If you care to set your campaign later than AC 1000, then the Poor Wizard's Almanac series is definitely what you want.

Back in '08 I DMed a short-lived campaign in Karameikos during the GAZ era. It was kind of a "get Bargle" theme that relied heavily on the In Search of Adventure compilation of the basic modules as the story driver. We didn't quite get to Bargle; the PCs fought and killed Zanzer Tem, who appeared to be the wizard causing all the problems, but discovered he was just one of Bargle's apprentices. We took a break and never really got back to it. The biggest problem was no one else in the group cut their teeth on BECMI so they didn't have much of a vested interest in the setting. I'm contemplating going back to it when the current campaign ends and doing a Essentials-only, old school campaign so they focus less on what feats and powers they want and more on learning about the setting.

 

[WotC_Huscarl]

I haven't used it for 4E, but whenever I run B/X, it's always in the Hollow World, with Milenia as the base.

Steve

 

[pemerton]

My 4e campaign started with Night's Dark Terror, which is ostensibly set in the Grand Duchy of Karameikos. I've incorporated the core 4e mythology (gods, Nerath etc) into the game, but so far - and into paragon tier - the party hasn't left the Night's Dark Terror map.

So I guess that's some version of a Mystara 4e game.