Tratyn Runewind
First Post
Hello!
Mystara fans in the house!
Yes, Alfheim, the main elven land of the Known World area, was conquered in the events of Wrath of the Immortals. A last Gazetteer, detailing the northern elven kingdom of Wendar (where four of Alfheim's seven major clans regrouped), was hinted at in Dragon, but was apparently dropped when Mystara was switched over to 2e. And the 2e Karameikos boxed set, covering the land to which Alfheim's other three clans migrated, barely notes them in passing, and doesn't include any NPCs from the Alfheim Gazetteer, or even mention the clans by name.
While I also loathed both the concept and the execution of the CD adventures in the 2e Mystara products, they seem more a symptom than a cause of the demise of Mystara, to me. By the time Mystara was converted to 2e, TSR was beginning to wise up to the fact that their D&D worlds were all really competing with each other to a large extent, and that some of them would have to go. Mystara, tied from its beginnings to a rule set that was also slated for the axe, would seem a prime candidate for the death list, and I suspect that the 2e boxed sets were a last-chance experiment for the world, to see if it could entice the fans into laying down $40+ a pop for rewritten Gazetteers with some post-Wrath notes and a CD.
Hm, never heard of that one myself, but I do seem to recall one or two D&D arcade video games that were set in Darokin, which is part of the Known World.
Wrath of the Immortals can definitely generate some spirited discussion among the Mystara fans
. It is certainly one of the more drastic sets of official, published changes I've seen in any game world. But foreshadowing of most of the big changes took place in products far older than Wrath itself. Alphatia's fate was hinted at in certain Companion-level modules, the war with the Master was the subject of three X-series modules (culminating in X10, Red Arrow, Black Shield), the consequences of Glantrian secret magics were spelled out in GAZ3, and the immediate lead-up to Wrath was in the "Voyages of the Princess Ark" article series in Dragon magazine. I was just surprised that they actually took these elements, and ran with them, and worked them into an appropriately cataclysmic storyline. And I do love it when players care enough about a world to be distressed at changes to things beyond their own bank accounts or magic item inventories. It gives them motivation...
Hope this helps!
Mystara fans in the house!
Yes, Alfheim, the main elven land of the Known World area, was conquered in the events of Wrath of the Immortals. A last Gazetteer, detailing the northern elven kingdom of Wendar (where four of Alfheim's seven major clans regrouped), was hinted at in Dragon, but was apparently dropped when Mystara was switched over to 2e. And the 2e Karameikos boxed set, covering the land to which Alfheim's other three clans migrated, barely notes them in passing, and doesn't include any NPCs from the Alfheim Gazetteer, or even mention the clans by name.
While I also loathed both the concept and the execution of the CD adventures in the 2e Mystara products, they seem more a symptom than a cause of the demise of Mystara, to me. By the time Mystara was converted to 2e, TSR was beginning to wise up to the fact that their D&D worlds were all really competing with each other to a large extent, and that some of them would have to go. Mystara, tied from its beginnings to a rule set that was also slated for the axe, would seem a prime candidate for the death list, and I suspect that the 2e boxed sets were a last-chance experiment for the world, to see if it could entice the fans into laying down $40+ a pop for rewritten Gazetteers with some post-Wrath notes and a CD.
Hm, never heard of that one myself, but I do seem to recall one or two D&D arcade video games that were set in Darokin, which is part of the Known World.
Wrath of the Immortals can definitely generate some spirited discussion among the Mystara fans
. It is certainly one of the more drastic sets of official, published changes I've seen in any game world. But foreshadowing of most of the big changes took place in products far older than Wrath itself. Alphatia's fate was hinted at in certain Companion-level modules, the war with the Master was the subject of three X-series modules (culminating in X10, Red Arrow, Black Shield), the consequences of Glantrian secret magics were spelled out in GAZ3, and the immediate lead-up to Wrath was in the "Voyages of the Princess Ark" article series in Dragon magazine. I was just surprised that they actually took these elements, and ran with them, and worked them into an appropriately cataclysmic storyline. And I do love it when players care enough about a world to be distressed at changes to things beyond their own bank accounts or magic item inventories. It gives them motivation... Hope this helps!
).
