Mystara: most recent edition

[Herobizkit]

I remember the old Gazetteers from way back when, and remember reading that they were all clumped together into the Mystara campaign setting. I am interested in picking up this book, but I don't know what it is I am looking for.

I want to find the most recent Mystara campaing setting. What does it look like? What is its ISBN number? How much is it? What should I be using as eBay search criteria?

 

[Angel Tarragon]

These are the products to be on the lookout for:
Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure
Glantri: Kingdom of Magic
Red Steel Campaign Setting
Red Steel: Savage Baronies
Night of the Vampire Box Set

I'm not sure of any others.

 

[trancejeremy]

There was no setting product for Mystara. The whole thing was done very haphazzardly.
Some of the old gazzeters (one of the words I cannot spell) were updated, but that fizzled out after Glantri (or at least after 2 of them, I forget which was last)

Originally, the basic setting info was contained in the same book as the rules - the D&D Cyclopedia. But when they converted to 2E a few years later, they never bothered to put out a proper setting. (Which is perhaps one reason it flopped)

Probably the best overview product to get is Joshuan's Almanac (or Joshun's), though it omits the Hollow World bit (which I personally liked a lot)

 

[Cthulhudrew]

There is no one Mystara campaign setting product, just the gazetteers and a myriad assortment of accessories and boxed sets that TSR put out years ago. Most of the Mystara products are for the D&D setting (basic, expert, companions, masters, and immortals boxed sets), though there were several 2nd edition AD&D products put out for the setting.

A nearly complete list of Mystara products can be found here on the Vaults of Pandius. There are also several articles that have appeared in Dragon magazine recently that are either explicitly set in Mystara or Mystara related- a couple of articles in #315 explicitly for Mystara, as well as articles on two Mystara races, the Lupin and the Diabolus, in Dragons #325 and #327. There is also supposed to be something in the upcoming "Campaign Classics" issue that is due out in January.

The setting itself is still very much alive and well, if only in the hands of its fans, who maintain an active mailing list and "official" webpage at the Vaults of Pandius. The Mystara Message Board at the Wizards of the Coast site is also very active, and recently passed up the Ravenloft board to take the 5th most active board on the Other Worlds page! (Yay, us! Watch your back, Planescape!)

There are several threads on that board pertaining to 3.5 edition updates of the Mystara campaign setting, as well, so come check it out!

 

[Shadowslayer]

I owned the Karameikos box and the Glantri Box. Don't know anything about the Red Steel sets.

One thing you may want to keep in mind is this: Much of the Mystara 2e stuff was aimed at first timers. It seemes that the TSR brass decided they needed a "beginner" campaign setting, and decided to revamp the Known World as such. (was it even called Mystara before then?) They were full of stuff like "How to use NPCs in your campaign" "the role of the church in your campaign"...that kind of thing. As well, the Karameikos one came with a pretty lame CD adventure where, once you get to room 3...play track 3 etc. My group played it for some yuks one night...it was so lame it was funny.

It was a pretty set...fairly nice nice maps. pregen characters and a fair number of handouts like Wanted posters and such. Great for raw rookies, but kind of laughable for experienced gamers.

I say, if you want the good stuff, go for those old gazzeteers.

My 2 cents

Trev

 

[BiggusGeekus]

If you're not adverse to PDFs you can find a lot of stuff here:



http://www.rpgnow.com/default.php?cPath=1_297_318&

You'll have to page through a bit though.

I also reccomend the original Galantri to the boxed set, though the boxed set had a better introductory adventure.

 

[trancejeremy]

I think they started calling it "Mystara" when they came out with the Hollow World. Because they needed a name for the planet and setting as a whole. (Since the "Known World" was the outside of the planet, and also Mystara works better as a trademark)

 

[Grover Cleaveland]

I remember the old Gazetteers from way back when, and remember reading that they were all clumped together into the Mystara campaign setting.

As others have said, this never happened. The "Poor Wizards Almanac" and "Joshuan's Almanac" books dealt with Mystara in a more comprehensive way than had ever been done before, and is probably the closest thing to what you're looking for, even though it's still not really what you're looking for.

The Karameikos and Glantri boxes (along with the Mystara Monstrous Compendium) were the last, 2nd edition AD&D incarnation of Mystara, but they were really just updates of two gazetteers (and the Creature Catalog) rather than an attempt to update the setting as a whole.

The Vaults of Pandius website is really your best source for things Mystaran. If you're at all interested in the world, you must look at it.

 

[Dragonhelm]

Rules-wise, you'd probably want to pick up the Rules Cyclopedia.

I was also a big fan of the Champions of Mystara boxed set. That may be due to the flying ships, though.

 

[Grover Cleaveland]

Rules-wise, you'd probably want to pick up the Rules Cyclopedia.

Which is, it should be emphasized, more a compilation of the basic D&D rules (Basic through Masters sets, with additions from the Gazetteer series) than any kind of overview of the Mystara setting (though there was a little of that).