What's Mystara's Hook?

[Jack Colby]

What difference does it make if Mystara has a hook or not? A 4E version would be 4E-ized anyhow, and become like the standard 4E stuff. It has a distinct hook as much as the FR or any other "D&D style" world does. If you want a real attempt at explaining the hook, well, it's that Mystara is a mish-mash of all the old Earth cultures in one setting. It allows you to play in whatever simulation of the ancient world you want. That said, it's a basic D&D setting, and should not have been carried out of those rules, if you ask me.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Mystara and Wilderlands of High Fantasy both show heavy influences of the fantasy writing which equated magic with science. Both settings have strong science fiction ties through advanced technologies, space ships, strange alien races, and so on.

 

[Starglyte]

So where were these? I'm itching to check them out!

/M

They are in Glantri, near the albino werewolves, French Wizards from Clark Ashton Smith short stories, and the Spanish Elves. That is just a little bit. Glantri could be its own campaign setting in itself.

 

[Ariosto]

Yeah, I guess the name falls flat if its first evocation is Trollhättan. I always took it as a pun on Manhattan, as in New York City.

Anyway, it was not the name in particular I had in mind but all the silliness in The Orcs of Thar -- and throughout the Gazetteers, if not always so concentrated.

 

[AllisterH]

I actually don't think the "real world cultures in a fantasy setting all together" is an actual hook.

Take a look at the similarly titled Realms thread and there are people mentioning the "there's renaissance europe, medieval europe, celts etc all in one place".

 

[Dragonhelm]

I actually don't think the "real world cultures in a fantasy setting all together" is an actual hook.

Take a look at the similarly titled Realms thread and there are people mentioning the "there's renaissance europe, medieval europe, celts etc all in one place".

IIRC, the Realms were created as a "fantasy Earth" anyway. In fact, this theme can be seen in any number of worlds out there. This isn't unique to Mystara by any means.

As an outsider looking in, it seems to me that Mystara could actually use a bit of a reboot. The setting comes across as kind of a hodgepodge of ideas. I think I would play up on a few things.

1. Hollow World. This is just a cool concept.
2. Red Steel/Cinnabar (sp?) - This comes across as Mystara's own cool power system, ala the spellplague or dragonmarks.
3. Skyships. The entire reason I bought the Champions of Mystara boxed set. It went right along with my Spelljammer stuff. In fact, I'd probably borrow heavily from Spelljammer to flesh this out.
4. "New" races. Rakasta, Lupins, Tortles, etc. New races help to flesh out a setting.
5. Futuristic technology of long ago. This can be a cool draw, and no other D&D setting seems to use it. I'd consider tying in Tale of the Comet.
6. Immortals. This just has coolness written all over it.
7. An event. I think Mystara could use some major event to move the timeline forward, and to help provide a unified setting.

Again, this is an outsider's point of view. I don't know the setting like some folks. I think that this sort of focus could help provide Mystara with that much-needed identity. It wouldn't necessarily be the Mystara of old, but maybe the time has come to really redefine the setting.

Or should the Realms "kill Mystara and take its stuff?"

*shrugs*

 

[jdrakeh]

5. Futuristic technology of long ago. This can be a cool draw, and no other D&D setting seems to use it. I'd consider tying in Tale of the Comet.

Most of that futuristic tech in Mystara comes from Blackmoor. . . which, of course, was the first D&D setting (although it was published second).

 

[Estlor]

They are in Glantri, near the albino werewolves, French Wizards from Clark Ashton Smith short stories, and the Spanish Elves. That is just a little bit. Glantri could be its own campaign setting in itself.

To be fair, though, there was only one Scottsman turned into a lich through exposure to nuclear radiation, but his nephew (IIRC) was forever stunted in the body of a small child due to the same kind of exposure!

You've got to dig the Radiance. Wizards absorb a bunch of nuclear radiation into their body, store it, and channel it into powerful magic. Occasionally, hey, a limb withers and dies. But it's all in the name of science!

 

[Orius]

As an outsider looking in, it seems to me that Mystara could actually use a bit of a reboot. The setting comes across as kind of a hodgepodge of ideas. I think I would play up on a few things.

1. Hollow World. This is just a cool concept.
2. Red Steel/Cinnabar (sp?) - This comes across as Mystara's own cool power system, ala the spellplague or dragonmarks.
3. Skyships. The entire reason I bought the Champions of Mystara boxed set. It went right along with my Spelljammer stuff. In fact, I'd probably borrow heavily from Spelljammer to flesh this out.
4. "New" races. Rakasta, Lupins, Tortles, etc. New races help to flesh out a setting.
5. Futuristic technology of long ago. This can be a cool draw, and no other D&D setting seems to use it. I'd consider tying in Tale of the Comet.
6. Immortals. This just has coolness written all over it.
7. An event. I think Mystara could use some major event to move the timeline forward, and to help provide a unified setting.

Again, this is an outsider's point of view. I don't know the setting like some folks. I think that this sort of focus could help provide Mystara with that much-needed identity. It wouldn't necessarily be the Mystara of old, but maybe the time has come to really redefine the setting.

That would probably be the best approach. Take the generic setting, add the Hollow World and Savage Coast (which are two of the most interesting ideas in the setting), instead of seperating them, and try to make things constant without throwing out too much of the stuff that gives the setting its charm.

Or should the Realms "kill Mystara and take its stuff?"

A lot of what's in Mystara can be easily stolen for a general campaign. I bought the MC back in 2e because it had a lot of cool monsters that could be yoinked into any campaign easily. In 3e, some of those monsters were ported into the core rules: the aranea, athach, choker, and nightshades in the MM, and the blackball and brain collector in the ELH. Some of the cool stuff from other settings were too strongly tied into the settings to easily port. Even the Realms suffered from this in places.

 

[CasvalRemDeikun]

5. Futuristic technology of long ago. This can be a cool draw, and no other D&D setting seems to use it. I'd consider tying in Tale of the Comet.

I know it is backwards (I really want to use a better term than that), but the whole idea of buried and resurfacing technology gave me a Turn A Gundam and Chrono Trigger vibe. I would so make Warforged old tech that are reawakening.

I could really have some fun with this.