D&D (2024) Mystara in new edition confirmed

[AnotherGuy]

It is a pity, because the creative fan base behind Mystara particularly in Europe (and more specific Italy) is itching to bring more earth-inspired settings to the fore, as there are plenty of areas (land masses) in that world that could be fleshed out.

And if I'm not mistaken there are a number of Italian fan-made Gazetteers that have not been translated. Opening Mystara up to the DMsGuild would likely change that

 

[TheGlen]

Mystara has a huge following outside the United States because the basic box set was translated into I think 17 different languages. If you wanted to play a D&D setting and you weren't an English speaker the default setting was Mystara. The Japanese books are quite the collector's item.

 

[cbwjm]

The other issue is that they expect all settings to be open to everything. Dark Sun is quite the opposite of that half of the races are extinct.

This isn't really true, the various mtg books limited races. There may have been a sidebar "talk to your DM if you want to play X race" but by default they were limited. I think they'd do the same for dark sun. Other settings are a little more kitchen sink so not surprising that you can find every race in FR, for instance.

 

[cbwjm]

It is a pity, because the creative fan base behind Mystara particularly in Europe (and more specific Italy) is itching to bring more earth-inspired settings to the fore, as there are plenty of areas (land masses) in that world that could be fleshed out.

And if I'm not mistaken there are a number of Italian fan-made Gazetteers that have not been translated. Opening Mystara up to the DMsGuild would likely change that

Isn't there that whole southern continent that is effectively uncharted?

 

[TheGlen]

Isn't there that whole southern continent that is effectively uncharted?

More like the Western continent. The princess art did map out huge chunks of the southern continent.

 

[CleverNickName]

It's not that having game elements that are inspired by real-world people is wrong. It's just harder and more expensive to do it well, and in a respectful manner.

 

[Vaalingrade]

It's not that having game elements that are inspired by real-world people is wrong. It's just harder and more expensive to do it well, and in a respectful manner.

And god help you if you try to be respectful and inclusive to people.

 

[pukunui]

Then you got the difficulty issue. 5e has a reputation of being pillow fisted. Dark Sun has the reputation of being the Dark souls of DnD. Nothing wrong with that, dark sun players brag about how their setting is by far the deadliest. But for people that are used to three death saves and a whole bunch of healing that's going to be a difficult sell.

I don’t think any of Dark Sun’s issues are insurmountable. There’s room for a “hard mode” setting.

Look at Tomb of Annihilation: no resurrections, can’t recover hp max drain, and an optional death saves only pass on a 15+ “meat grinder” rule. Stuff like that could work well for Dark Sun.

But given how WotC toyed with the idea of blowing up the setting (Doomspace in the Spelljammer book was originally going to be Athaspace), it really does feel like they’ve given up on trying to make it work, which is a shame.

 

[The Glen]

It's not that having game elements that are inspired by real-world people is wrong. It's just harder and more expensive to do it well, and in a respectful manner.

From working on the Mystara Player's Guide, the one thing that was hammered into me by the playtesters was people want their legends told. I would focus on that. Not everything has to have a counterpart, but keep the themes. Beowulf, Maui, Aladdin, King Arthur, keep those in mind when building the adventures. Gamers want to be samurai, gallowglass, toa, musketeers or bogatyrs. Change the names for fantasy, but keep the trappings. That's how I try to approach it.

 

[CleverNickName]

From working on the Mystara Player's Guide, the one thing that was hammered into me by the playtesters was people want their legends told. I would focus on that. Not everything has to have a counterpart, but keep the themes. Beowulf, Maui, Aladdin, King Arthur, keep those in mind when building the adventures. Gamers want to be samurai, gallowglass, toa, musketeers or bogatyrs. Change the names for fantasy, but keep the trappings. That's how I try to approach it.

And for the record, your Mystara's Player's Guide is one of the best fan-supported D&D books I've ever seen. Y'all know what you're doing.