What Would a 4e Mystara Look Like?

[Hussar]

In the "Is Greyhawk Relavent" thread, I and a few others sidebarred on the idea of a 4e Mystara. I'll admit, while I didn't really play in Mystara all that much, I loved the setting. The Voyage of the Princess Ark stories in Dragon really brought the setting to life for me.

The problem is, I don't believe a generic (in the sense of kitchen sink) setting will really work anymore. Why would I get into another kitchen sink setting when I've already got things like Forgotten Realms with it's MASSIVE amount of material. I do think that a setting needs a hook, and "kitchen sink" is already taken.

So, what would set Mystara apart? The technological side of things is already sewn up in Eberron and Mystara was never a dark or a grim setting.

I'd love to see Mystara get a 4e treatment, but, really, I'm not sure if it would ever happen.

 

[Stormonu]

Glantri, Castle Amber and Red Steel were all aspects that stood out in Mystara as unique aspects of that world.

But really, why does it have to be unique? People still read and enjoy the Lord of the Rings books when you also have books on Shannara, Eragon, Dragonlance, FR, book of swords, wheel of time and a host of other western-European psuedo-Tolkien worlds.

People like different things, and I'm pretty sure if they brought back Mystara as-it-was, you'll still generate a good bit of sales despite it "being similar to Forgotten Realms" (or Nentir Vale).

 

[Dragonhelm]

I think I'd re-imagine it as swashbuckling skyship adventures. Of course, that would be a fairly drastic change and the setting would have to be more unified. The Hollow World is a good idea worth exploring, IMO.

 

[Hussar]

Glantri, Castle Amber and Red Steel were all aspects that stood out in Mystara as unique aspects of that world.

But really, why does it have to be unique? People still read and enjoy the Lord of the Rings books when you also have books on Shannara, Eragon, Dragonlance, FR, book of swords, wheel of time and a host of other western-European psuedo-Tolkien worlds.

People like different things, and I'm pretty sure if they brought back Mystara as-it-was, you'll still generate a good bit of sales despite it "being similar to Forgotten Realms" (or Nentir Vale).

Honestly it's because a setting is not a novel series. Banging out yet another 3 book fantasy trilogy doesn't require quite the same investment as trying a new gaming setting. Sure, a few manage to rise to the top, like the ones that you list, but, how many bajillion failure are there out there?

If there were as many settings out there as trilogy fantasy novels, we'd be hip deep in them.

Do you really think that yet another vanilla fantasy setting could compete? I don't. Other than yet another nostalgia product, a new fantasy setting needs more than aging fans to prop it up.

 

[Stormonu]

Do you really think that yet another vanilla fantasy setting could compete? I don't. Other than yet another nostalgia product, a new fantasy setting needs more than aging fans to prop it up.

Yes, I do think it could compete.

 

[Hussar]

Heh, being astonishingly bored right now, I surfed back into the archives and found This thread about what makes a setting great from 2006. Interesting stuff there.

Stormonu, I (obviously) disagree. I think for a setting to gain an audience in todays gaming circles, it has to stand out. It needs some essential hook or niche that will set it apart from the umpteen "been there, done that" settings that have come before.

Funny how Mouseferatu nailed it staight on the head four years ago - "A new setting has to be self-contained. While supplements are fine and dandy, it should be fully playable with a single core book--maybe two, if you really stretch it. More than that, you run into the problem Psion astutely mentioned regarding Scarred Lands: There's a large barrier to entry."

Looks like someone was listening back then.

Back in the dawn of gaming, you could get away with vanilla settings because there was so litte competition. In 1e, you had only a small hand full of settings- Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms (both of which were only very loosely sketched out), Dragonlance and Mystara. And Oriental Adventures. Even back then, settings were already starting to have hooks - Dragonlance and Oriental Adventures.

Thirty years later, yet another vanilla product just won't draw much of an audience. At least not easily. Gollarian I suppose, but, then again, Gollarian is being driven by the modules, not the other way around.

 

[Uder]

Do you really think that yet another vanilla fantasy setting could compete?

I do. The only major breakout setting since Eberron (itself fairly vanilla) has been Golarion, which is about as middle-of-the-road fantasy as you can get. The tough thing is for the campaign not to be labeled vanilla by the fanbase (Living Greyhawk) or worse, treated as vanilla by the publisher (Goodman's Known World Realms)

 

[havard]

Great thread!

Glantri, Castle Amber and Red Steel were all aspects that stood out in Mystara as unique aspects of that world.

Those are good points and I also like Dragonhelm's ideas of focusing on the Skyship aspect of Mystara as well as the Hollow World.

Something that has not been mentioned yet is the concept of Immortality and its implications for the setting. The fact that nearly every deity on Mystara has once been mortal and the fact that most high powered characters will aspire to such a status does affect the setting.

One idea could be to focus on Alphatia as the center of the 4E campaign. Turn the clock back to AC1000 or place the setting into a time in the future when Alphatia has returned. One of 4E's strengths is that it supposedly handles high level play well. Mystara could be a setting primarily for high level characters. In Alphatia you have Skyships used to travel between the kingdoms. Also, I would reopen the Aegos tunnel to the Hollow World so that we could connect the two settings through Alphatia. Campaigns would be set in the Heroic tier and focus on questing for Immortality, destroying artifacts, forging kingdoms and trying to get by without upsetting the Wizard-Kings of Alphatia too much...

Havard

 

[ExploderWizard]

I don't have to imagine it, because my 4E campaign that has been running for about a year now is set in Karameikos.

The gazeteer series is still full of great flavor and I don't see a need for an official 4E treatment to run great games there.

 

[havard]

I don't have to imagine it, because my 4E campaign that has been running for about a year now is set in Karameikos.

The gazeteer series is still full of great flavor and I don't see a need for an official 4E treatment to run great games there.

Cool Any stuff about your campaign available online?

Have you checked out the Mystara 4E Conversion project?

And the Mystara 4E Monsterous Compendium I?

-Havard