Some called it a fool's errand but WOTC said that they were going to make the older settings available for 5th edition when it first got started. So I started just writing ideas down. Then the ideas started getting converted into a rough book that got hammered out into a workable format. Then playtesting got started and suddenly what was 20 pages became 60 pages. A friend I've worked with for years started telling me I needed to add art. I gave her some money and she gave me art. Old guard started asking me to address different aspects of the setting. Explain to newer players why they want to play Mystara. So went with a focus on exploration and world building, something Mystara did probably better than any of the other official settings. Sold a large amount of games to hire new artists, fired some and hired some more. Got messages of encouragement from the designers and artists that helped create Mystara which made me decide to go all in. Made the book 224 pages, full color and all the art was commissioned just for this book. Updated maps were donated by Thorfinn Tait. Marco Dalmonte made his expansive Codex Immortalis available for use (with minor editing). Mischa Cel Frumos did most of the interior art and Rubus added most of the larger pieces like this one below, "Ironwolf into Itheldown". Kept writing and editing for three years. I finally ran out of things to add and my playtesters and proofreaders finally stopped complaining. So now I'm showing it to the world. It's not available for sale until the DM's Guild opens up. They haven't done anything with Mystara, but it's been mentioned repeatedly before in the official books. Eberron didn't have official support until Keith Baker started writing his own sourcebook, and now it's official. So maybe I'm tilting at a windmill, but I figure I've done enough work on it, so I can just wait. I've waited for three years writing this, now I'm just getting the word out that's it's ready.
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