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Mike Mearls tweet: Is the Known World of Mystara coming to 5e? (What's Cool About Mystara?)
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<blockquote data-quote="Dungeonosophy" data-source="post: 7387558" data-attributes="member: 6688049"><p><strong>Talking 5E for Mystara</strong></p><p></p><p>Edit: I added the Diaboli to the OP as a suggested "core Mystaran" subrace. (BTW, I made them a Human subrace!) <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>As for converting BECMI to 5E...</p><p></p><p>Guachi said:</p><p></p><p><em>"Mystara was very additive and only rarely subtractive."</em></p><p></p><p>Remathilis said:</p><p></p><p><em>"The world is generic enough that I could see dragonborn, tieflings, half-orcs, warlocks, sorcerers, and such fitting in with little problem."</em></p><p></p><p>The Glen said:</p><p></p><p><em>"I actual prefer Mystara with restrictions based on its history."</em></p><p></p><p>Havard said:</p><p></p><p><em>"Many things from the BECMI rules are closely woven into the setting. Removing all of those features would leave you with the rather bland version of the setting that appeared in its 2E form."</em></p><p></p><p>These are all good points. And good examples all around.</p><p></p><p>First of all, let's be conscious that when converting a world to another rules system, there is a <strong><em>spectrum</em></strong><em> of approaches.</em> Anyone who's converting Mystara to 5E (or any other rules set) has to choose exactly what spot on the spectrum feels right. Converting a setting is both an art and a science.</p><p></p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">One pole would model BECMI Mystara setting *exactly*, even to the extent of severely bending the 5E rules.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The other pole would stick to the 5E rules system *exactly*, even to the extent of severely bending the Mystara setting.</li> </ul><p></p><p>Though the "best" conversion surely wouldn't stick totally to either of those poles, the exact middle isn't necessarily the best...sometimes the middle is just a compromised wishy-washy mediocrity. To make a conversion that really captures the essential gesture of Mystara, while fully utilizing the 5E mechanics (and 5E customer expectations), would take a deep "scientific" knowledge of the setting and both rules sets, plus an equal amount of artistic sensibility or inspiration.</p><p></p><p>If WotC (or we) had all the time and resources in the world, ideally, WotC/we could release various versions of 5E Mystara, each with a slightly different gradation, suited to each customer's favorite spot on the spectrum. We'd release one version of 5E Mystara that respected the letter of every bit of fluff which justified the BECMI rules (e.g. Dwarves cannot cast arcane magic), and where there were no Dragonborn or Sorcerers or Warlocks at all (e.g. in-story fluff says you can't cast spells in Mystara without a spellbook!)...and this pole would even make 5E Mystara have 36 character levels, since there are in-story implications of having 36 levels instead of 20, since, IIRC the Plane of Mazakeen (sp?) has 36 levels which correspond to the 36 character levels!</p><p></p><p>And we'd also release another version of 5E Mystara where everything in 5E has a place, and the fluff is completely rewritten. And we'd release various other versions 5E Mystaras in between, which catered to all tastes on the spectrum.</p><p></p><p>But WotC (and we) do not have all the time in the world. Whoever does a 5E conversion has to make artistic/scientific decisions about what feels right, taking into account who are their audience/customers.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>The concept of rules edition-based Realities:</strong></em></p><p></p><p>One thing that frees up some design space in my mind is the concept of "game universes" (a.k.a. Realities) which Bruce Heard described in his "Up, Away, and Beyond" article in DRAGON mag. He says that the BECMI D&D "game universe" is in a completely different Reality than the AD&D "game universe". They are two totally different Realities...two totally different Multiverses. A character can only cross from one Reality to another by invoking a Reality Shift, granted by a Greater God of the AD&D Reality or a high-level Immortal of the BECMI Reality.</p><p></p><p>Bruce wrote this before Mystara 2E came out. But to take his thought further, surely the Mystara we saw in 2E products was a depiction of the other Mystara which dwells in the "Second Edition Reality". In that Reality, all AD&D worlds are part of the Great Wheel.</p><p></p><p>Presumably, the two Realities are nearly identical, but do have "as minimal as feasible" (but still significant) in-story fluff differences which are necessitated by the two different "game universes" (rules systems). For example, we found out that a few of the Thief NPCs from PWA were really Bards in the 2E PWA. And a few of the Fighter NPCs were really Rangers or Paladins. (This can help inform us about the BECMI version too...since the "bardic" Thief probably does play an instrument and have the musical skill in the BECMI Reality, even if they don't have Bard class abilities or Bardic spells in that Reality. And the "ranger" Fighter probably has the tracking and hunting skills in the BECMI Reality, and the "paladin" Fighter (even if they're less than Name-Level) is probably a knight-like follower of a Lawful Immortal, even if they don't have the Ranger or Paladin class abilities in that Reality.)</p><p></p><p>Anyway, just to say, in accordance with Bruce Heard's article, the 5E D&D Multiverse, too, must be an entirely different Reality than the BECMI Multiverse. And so, in this Reality, not only will the "rules system" be different, there will be a certain amount of fluff (in-story) changes. Without publishing an entire 5E conversion myself (thank you Glen!), I can't say exactly where I'd draw the line, but I offer that the Realities concept does provide a "canonical" explanation of why the 5E Mystara may actually have in-story differences. It gives the converter a bit of "design space". For example, there must be some in-story fluff about how Sorcerers and Warlocks fit into 5E Mystara (and presumably always have, since 5E Mystara has "always existed" in that Reality). And as for Dwarven arcane magic, the converter could say that the story about Dwarves survival of Blackmoor happened somewhat differently, and resulted only in a cultural aversion to magic, not a physical resistance to magic. (Or not. I kinda like the idea of giving the 5E Rockborn Dwarf magic resistance, but I'm just giving that as an example.)</p><p></p><p>Isn't the concept of "rules system" Realities helpful?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dungeonosophy, post: 7387558, member: 6688049"] [b]Talking 5E for Mystara[/b] Edit: I added the Diaboli to the OP as a suggested "core Mystaran" subrace. (BTW, I made them a Human subrace!) :) As for converting BECMI to 5E... Guachi said: [I]"Mystara was very additive and only rarely subtractive."[/I] Remathilis said: [I]"The world is generic enough that I could see dragonborn, tieflings, half-orcs, warlocks, sorcerers, and such fitting in with little problem."[/I] The Glen said: [I]"I actual prefer Mystara with restrictions based on its history."[/I] Havard said: [I]"Many things from the BECMI rules are closely woven into the setting. Removing all of those features would leave you with the rather bland version of the setting that appeared in its 2E form."[/I] These are all good points. And good examples all around. First of all, let's be conscious that when converting a world to another rules system, there is a [B][I]spectrum[/I][/B][I] of approaches.[/I] Anyone who's converting Mystara to 5E (or any other rules set) has to choose exactly what spot on the spectrum feels right. Converting a setting is both an art and a science. [LIST] [*]One pole would model BECMI Mystara setting *exactly*, even to the extent of severely bending the 5E rules. [*]The other pole would stick to the 5E rules system *exactly*, even to the extent of severely bending the Mystara setting. [/LIST] Though the "best" conversion surely wouldn't stick totally to either of those poles, the exact middle isn't necessarily the best...sometimes the middle is just a compromised wishy-washy mediocrity. To make a conversion that really captures the essential gesture of Mystara, while fully utilizing the 5E mechanics (and 5E customer expectations), would take a deep "scientific" knowledge of the setting and both rules sets, plus an equal amount of artistic sensibility or inspiration. If WotC (or we) had all the time and resources in the world, ideally, WotC/we could release various versions of 5E Mystara, each with a slightly different gradation, suited to each customer's favorite spot on the spectrum. We'd release one version of 5E Mystara that respected the letter of every bit of fluff which justified the BECMI rules (e.g. Dwarves cannot cast arcane magic), and where there were no Dragonborn or Sorcerers or Warlocks at all (e.g. in-story fluff says you can't cast spells in Mystara without a spellbook!)...and this pole would even make 5E Mystara have 36 character levels, since there are in-story implications of having 36 levels instead of 20, since, IIRC the Plane of Mazakeen (sp?) has 36 levels which correspond to the 36 character levels! And we'd also release another version of 5E Mystara where everything in 5E has a place, and the fluff is completely rewritten. And we'd release various other versions 5E Mystaras in between, which catered to all tastes on the spectrum. But WotC (and we) do not have all the time in the world. Whoever does a 5E conversion has to make artistic/scientific decisions about what feels right, taking into account who are their audience/customers. [I][B]The concept of rules edition-based Realities:[/B][/I] One thing that frees up some design space in my mind is the concept of "game universes" (a.k.a. Realities) which Bruce Heard described in his "Up, Away, and Beyond" article in DRAGON mag. He says that the BECMI D&D "game universe" is in a completely different Reality than the AD&D "game universe". They are two totally different Realities...two totally different Multiverses. A character can only cross from one Reality to another by invoking a Reality Shift, granted by a Greater God of the AD&D Reality or a high-level Immortal of the BECMI Reality. Bruce wrote this before Mystara 2E came out. But to take his thought further, surely the Mystara we saw in 2E products was a depiction of the other Mystara which dwells in the "Second Edition Reality". In that Reality, all AD&D worlds are part of the Great Wheel. Presumably, the two Realities are nearly identical, but do have "as minimal as feasible" (but still significant) in-story fluff differences which are necessitated by the two different "game universes" (rules systems). For example, we found out that a few of the Thief NPCs from PWA were really Bards in the 2E PWA. And a few of the Fighter NPCs were really Rangers or Paladins. (This can help inform us about the BECMI version too...since the "bardic" Thief probably does play an instrument and have the musical skill in the BECMI Reality, even if they don't have Bard class abilities or Bardic spells in that Reality. And the "ranger" Fighter probably has the tracking and hunting skills in the BECMI Reality, and the "paladin" Fighter (even if they're less than Name-Level) is probably a knight-like follower of a Lawful Immortal, even if they don't have the Ranger or Paladin class abilities in that Reality.) Anyway, just to say, in accordance with Bruce Heard's article, the 5E D&D Multiverse, too, must be an entirely different Reality than the BECMI Multiverse. And so, in this Reality, not only will the "rules system" be different, there will be a certain amount of fluff (in-story) changes. Without publishing an entire 5E conversion myself (thank you Glen!), I can't say exactly where I'd draw the line, but I offer that the Realities concept does provide a "canonical" explanation of why the 5E Mystara may actually have in-story differences. It gives the converter a bit of "design space". For example, there must be some in-story fluff about how Sorcerers and Warlocks fit into 5E Mystara (and presumably always have, since 5E Mystara has "always existed" in that Reality). And as for Dwarven arcane magic, the converter could say that the story about Dwarves survival of Blackmoor happened somewhat differently, and resulted only in a cultural aversion to magic, not a physical resistance to magic. (Or not. I kinda like the idea of giving the 5E Rockborn Dwarf magic resistance, but I'm just giving that as an example.) Isn't the concept of "rules system" Realities helpful? [/QUOTE]
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Mike Mearls tweet: Is the Known World of Mystara coming to 5e? (What's Cool About Mystara?)
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