Introduction to Mystara?
- Thread starter Odhanan
- Start date
trancejeremy
Adventurer
The Poor Wizards Almanac. And then the other two.
Wik
First Post
Well, I don't know Mystara very well, but it would make sense for the Mystara Campaign Setting book to be the first choice.
Barring that, check out the Isle of Dread - I think that's where the "known world" was first introduced, and it has some basic information, at least... plus it's pretty easy to get your hands on for less than ten bucks.
Here is a free little resource, and links! (I apologize if you've already checked Wikipedia, but it never hurts to mention it, eh?)
This is if you like those "voyage of the princess ark" stories. I think it'd be worth checking out - I think I read parts of it, years ago, but I'm not entirely sure.
But I don't know a whole lot about the setting - the download shop doesn't even seem to suggest a basic campaign setting. I know the Gazeteer settings had some information - I had the Northlands Gazeteer, and it was AWESOME. So you might wanna check that out. Some BECMI books also had information, that could be put together piecemeal.
Barring that, check out the Isle of Dread - I think that's where the "known world" was first introduced, and it has some basic information, at least... plus it's pretty easy to get your hands on for less than ten bucks.
Here is a free little resource, and links! (I apologize if you've already checked Wikipedia, but it never hurts to mention it, eh?)
This is if you like those "voyage of the princess ark" stories. I think it'd be worth checking out - I think I read parts of it, years ago, but I'm not entirely sure.
But I don't know a whole lot about the setting - the download shop doesn't even seem to suggest a basic campaign setting. I know the Gazeteer settings had some information - I had the Northlands Gazeteer, and it was AWESOME. So you might wanna check that out. Some BECMI books also had information, that could be put together piecemeal.
Remathilis
Legend
The Karameiko's and Glantri Box Sets for 2e weren't bad, and they advanced the timeline a bit...
The RC is good, but it lacks the list of Immortals...
The RC is good, but it lacks the list of Immortals...
Inferno!
Explorer
There's a whole lot of Mystaran goodness at Vaults of Pandius
Cthulhudrew
First Post
Sadly, the Newbie Guide (fan product) has never been completed, so the best online resource at the moment is the Vaults of Pandius that Inferno! linked to. It can be a little disjointed, though.
If you have them, S'Mon's suggestions of X1 (with its brief overview of the Known World that, for many years, was the entirety of the setting) and Gaz1: Grandy Duchy of Karameikos would be the best choices.
The Poor Wizards' Almanacs give a good overview of the entirety of the world as it has been developed, but can be pretty dense reading and probably not for the uninitiated (especially given their combining of the Hollow and Known Worlds). A better newbie alternative would be Joshuan's Almanac, which excises the complexity of the Hollow World and provides more colorful and descriptive introductions to the various nations in lieu of the cold facts of the PWAs.
The Kingdom of Karameikos boxed set is actually a pretty good newbie product as well, because it provides a general overview of the world and setting, in addition to its extensive handling of Karameikos (the focus, as one might guess). (It's not quite as useful for experienced players, due to basically rehashing all the material from the Gaz, and for the half-hearted conversion to 2E, but all of that really had to do with the designer, Jeff Grubb, being handcuffed by TSR execs- he wanted to do a world book and advance the plots more in conjunction with what went on in the Wrath of the Immortals, but wasn't allowed to.)
So, to recap:
Also, you could do a lot worse than ask around on the Mystara message board at Wizards.
If you have them, S'Mon's suggestions of X1 (with its brief overview of the Known World that, for many years, was the entirety of the setting) and Gaz1: Grandy Duchy of Karameikos would be the best choices.
The Poor Wizards' Almanacs give a good overview of the entirety of the world as it has been developed, but can be pretty dense reading and probably not for the uninitiated (especially given their combining of the Hollow and Known Worlds). A better newbie alternative would be Joshuan's Almanac, which excises the complexity of the Hollow World and provides more colorful and descriptive introductions to the various nations in lieu of the cold facts of the PWAs.
The Kingdom of Karameikos boxed set is actually a pretty good newbie product as well, because it provides a general overview of the world and setting, in addition to its extensive handling of Karameikos (the focus, as one might guess). (It's not quite as useful for experienced players, due to basically rehashing all the material from the Gaz, and for the half-hearted conversion to 2E, but all of that really had to do with the designer, Jeff Grubb, being handcuffed by TSR execs- he wanted to do a world book and advance the plots more in conjunction with what went on in the Wrath of the Immortals, but wasn't allowed to.)
So, to recap:
- X1: Isle of Dread - Brief overview of Known World setting.
- Gaz1: Grand Duchy of Karameikos - In depth on one nation (main newbie setting), brief info on surrounding nations.
- PWAs - Atlas type overview of Known and Hollow Worlds, possibly too in depth for newbies.
- Joshuan's Almanac - Colorful in-character descriptions of Known World, along with NPC info, and select other flavor from the PWAs, and some description of the year's timeline (without the in depth and sometimes overly descriptive text of the PWA years' events)
- Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure - In depth on one nation, and a decent overview of the surrounding nations and world of Mystara.
Also, you could do a lot worse than ask around on the Mystara message board at Wizards.
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