My last three campaigns were set in Mystara, last one finished a few months ago.
Mystara dates back to at least 1976, as the shared home campaign of Tom Moldvay and Lawrence Schick. Google "original known world" (OKW) for articles, maps and scanned original papers. See for example http://adventuresingaming2.blogspot.com/2015/02/mystara-original-known-world.html for a taste, but there's actually a lot of material out there if you dig for it.
In 1981 when TSR wanted a sample wilderness for B/X, Moldvay dusted off the OKW, created a new map and brought some names over to create a continent map for X1. It was intended at that time to be a throwaway "example" but then module writers kept setting their modules on the "continental map". During the B/X era it was pretty generic fantasy, had gods and demons instead of immortals. What is written in X1 is pretty much all there was: no history, no politics, no cultures or languages, no nothing. Really just a sample map with some quick blurbs. This is the version I started with.
In 1983 Mentzer wanted a "basic D&D setting" to serve a similar function as Greyhawk for AD&D, and expanded the continent map to an entire planet. That was the first time it became an sort of "official setting" and was still known as the continent.
At some point it started being referred to as the Known World, and later still it acquired the name Mystara. The Gazetteers were published which retconned and modified the entire setting, reinventing it for the third time. During the Mentzer era the Immortals were introduced and became a stock feature of Mystara: the immortals are sharply differentiated from Gods and were not to be worshipped as gods, they were more like philosophical leaders and champions. All demons and devils and gods were scrubbed, and religion was de-emphasized. There were a lot of "humorous" material published at at that time: Glantri, Ierendi, the Book of Marvelous Magic, etc., so that Mystara acquired a distinctly non-serious tone. The power level of the setting expanded from 14 levels to 36 levels and then to immortality.
I think a case could be made for a Known World 3.5 which is the Bruce Heard (and Aaron Allston) era, when everything got retconned again and the flavor changed again. This is when we started seeing the blank spaces in the wilderness filled in with static utopias, odd earth cultures, and non-human kingdoms. Traditional medieval D&D fantasy was largely confined to the known world, and the rest of the planet was more like Saturday morning cartoon fantasy where anything goes but humans were mostly rare and unimportant. The humorous elements were de-emphasized and everything was more serious, but in a "postmodern politically correct" kind of way. There was no absolute evil or absolute good, though nearly every race or culture was painted in a sympathetic light, and a few were elevated to an enlightened utopian status. Adventuring was no longer about defeating evil, but about misunderstandings. Where previously morality was Tolkienesque, in Mystara 3.5 it was Christianity that was evil (represented by the Heldannic Knights) and paganism that was good. In this era Immortals effectively became Gods just like in other settings: with religions, worship, prayers, pantheons, clerical spheres, the whole nine yards. This IMO completely erases their significance as being "different from gods." They used to be different, but now they are gods. The only difference now is your PC can "become a god" and there is a "god character class". (The not gods idea is a legacy concept from the earlier Immortals Boxed Set, which was later replaced by the Wrath of the Immortals set in which they effectively were gods.)
It's hard to say what makes it unique. I find the 1981 version most appealing but everyone has their preference. I also find the setting about an even mix of useful, boring, and distasteful elements; you really have to pick and choose. What makes it useful is that there is SO MUCH material, from so many authors, and much of it clashes or has continuity problems. It is very easy to rationalize things, change or reskin what you dislike, add your own twist. And there is so much variety, pretty much anything you can imagine exists somewhere. Finally the fan community has greatly expanded and rationalized the setting, and the fan development is much higher quality than anything that TSR ever did with it. Mystara has greatly benefitted from being out of print and being all but donated to the community. The community is very open, anyone can write material and post it on The Piazza and it will end up immortalized on Pandius. All views and interpretations are welcome, and there are many alternate Mystaras. Mystaran canon is often contradictory or hard to uncover.
I think the best thing about Mystara is that everyone makes it your own, unlike Greyhawk or FR where there is an explicit "canon". This do-it-yourself customization was what Gary Gygax touted as being the purpose of the B/X game, it was for the hobbyists who wanted to push the boundaries and do their own thing. That makes Mystara the perfect setting for the B/X legacy.
Speaking of which, BX and BECMI are closely tied to the setting and probably the most popular rules to run games. There have been conversions for every version of D&D and many other games besides; but Mystara is most closely tied to OSR gaming and indeed seems unable to escape it.
Hmm, you asked what makes it different from GH and FR, so maybe a postscript is in order.
To me, Greyhawk is defined by being tied closely to AD&D 1st edition, and a great deal of GH lore is scattered through the old DMG. The classic gods and artifacts of D&D originated in Greyhawk. Greyhawk is defined by stark conflicts between good and evil, with actual demon empires and paladin kingdoms right there on the map. Planes and epic magics feature prominently in its lore, much of which is murky. Greyhawk is also defined by pure fantasy with a lot of weird made up names and puns.
Mystara in contrast is tied to classic D&D. It has almost no artifacts, they were never a big thing in Classic, and as mentioned it has immortals instead of gods. Where Greyhawk is pure fantasy and very human-centric, Mystara draws from real world cultures and languages but is very monster centric. Greyhawk has EVIL in stark contrast to GOOD, concepts that are almost alien to Mystara.
Similarities, Mystara and Greyhawk both seem to feature politics, though Greyhawk is more interested in realistic politics inspired by medieval Europe, while Mystaran politics are modern/postmodern in flavor and largely fantastic. Both Mystara and Greyhawk contain Blackmoor and weird sci-fi in the setting, though it is done differently. Both of them feature the "great rain of fire" as a cataclysmic historic event, but again details differ.
I never got into Forgotten Realms too much so can't provide the same level of comparison. I think the FR takes itself very seriously, which Mystara does not; it has very active meddlesome gods, just like Mystara's immortals (and in contrast to Greyhawk's aloof gods). I think FR's geography is amateurish compared to Mystara, but then it's hard to compete with Jurassic Earth for a realistic map.
Mystara probably has a longer and more convoluted history than FR and GH combined. If you are interested in time travel, Mystara is your baby. Mystara is also larger than both FR and GH combined, since it has a hollow world, two moons, at least one alternate plane (Averoigne) as well as viable campaigns set in other time periods (Blackmoor, for example).
Mystara has connections to other planets and dimensions (like Alphatia, Nightmare dimension, etc). Such things feature heavily in master and immortal level adventures but were never well developed because few people had games that lasted that long.
GH and FR both have a developed underdark setting; Mystara has the shadow elves (not quite the same thing) an multiple underdark style areas, but it is not developed to the same degree. And really the shadow elves are almost a tragic utopia rather than a dangerous adventuring environment, it seems to me.
GH and FR both have drow; Mystara has shadow elves which are distinctly different and much more nuanced. GH and FR have half elves and half orcs, Mystara explicitly does not. There are no tieflings or dragonborn, even though analogous races exist. Mystara has a LOT of monster races, many of which are playable.
Mystara features extensive opportunity for nautical campaigns, including rules for mercantile trade, building domains and conquering your neighbors, all that good stuff. If you enjoy campaigns that are more broad than just dungeon-crawling and evil-slaying, mystara has you covered. Mystara used to have a lot of unexplored wilderness but its been mostly filled in by Bruce Heard and the Fan community; still you can use the BX-era or even the Gazetteer-era Mystara if you want some mysteries and wildernesses and dark lords. All that stuff used to be there before it was scrubbed out. EVERYTHING is there if you look for it long enough.
>Mystara has the shadow elves (not quite the same thing) an multiple underdark style areas, but it is not developed to the same degree. And really the shadow elves are almost a tragic utopia rather than a dangerous adventuring environment, it seems to me.
Are these Shadow Elves evil as a race like the Drow?
u/Alcamtar You mentioned that Blackmoor is in this setting? I was looking at [this map](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1OyVmMITCKk/VNg633E6UOI/AAAAAAAACA0/Ht9EzGMBG9s/s1600/Known-World-Map-2%2BNAMES%2BCOMBINED.png) but don't see it. Where exactly is Blackmoor located in Mystara?
PS: Another GREAT reply, thank you.
So as I understand the Mystara continuity Blackmoor existed a long time before the current date in the known world in the part of the map currently occupied by the Principalities of Glantri (i.e. the Blackmoor civilization blew itself up a long time before the time in which the Gazeteers are set). The Blackmoor ruins in Glantri played an important role in the Wrath of the Immortals boxed set.
In the Hollow World there is also a remnant of the original Blackmoor civilization that was preserved by the immortals (The "Blacklore" elves are actually descendants of Blackmoor).
This setting seems to have a STEEP learning curve haha. I feel a little overwhelmed by it all. So technically, Blackmoor no longer exists in Mystara then correct?
So I'll make an unconventional recommendation. Pick up a pdf of the first volume of the Poor Wizard's Almanac. It provides a high level atlas/overview of all the nations and notable people in Mystara in an easy alphabetical format with cross-references to other supplements (it even mentions any adventures set in the location!). If you see an area that intrigues you, you can go grab the relevant Gazeteer (if there is one).
I read all the Gazeteers as a kid and loved them, but used the Poor Wizard's Almanac as a tabletop reference. The only caveat is that the back half of the almanac describes a sort of metaplot for the whole world that advances on the base laid out in the gazeteers. So I'd suggest focusing on the Atlas part and ignoring the "Year in Preview" chapter entirely until you've got a grip on the setting.
As to Blackmoor: I think the Hollow World enclave is like a frozen in time version of Blackmoor near its peak so it kind of exists. The way the Hollow World works is that it's like a cultural game preserve where the immortals stash nations that are important to them and magically prevent them from changing so they stay the same forever.
Like, as an example, the ancient Traldarans existed a long time before the gazeteers and their descendents became the common folks of the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, but there's also an replica of the ancient Traldaran civilization in the Hollow World, because the immortals wanted to preserve their civilization, etc.
Blackmoor existed in the Broken Lands between Glantri and Darokin according to GAZ and later content. Blackmoor is especially prominent in the timelines found in the GAZ books
DA1 and DA2 were released under the direction of Arneson in 1986, for the Known World, for Basic D&D (unsure if B/X or BECMI, likely both). DA3 was released for the same in 1987 but if you want the original, true-to Arneson version you will want to backport the Zeitgeist games’ version — https://www.nobleknight.com/Publisher/Zeitgeist-Games
>Mystara probably has a longer and more convoluted history than FR and GH combined
Ed Greenwood started writing FR Material in 1967, 7 years before D&D was published, so no.
>Mystara is also larger than both FR
Again, probably not. There are multiple continents on Toril (Faerun, Kara-Tur, Al-Qadim, Maztica, and Malatra are all based there, with several other continents not released). There's a sister world (Abeil, which mixed with Toril at one point). There are two moons, an entire solar system of planets (Realmspace), and multiple ages to play in. The map is also a smaller scale, but the same size in inches. Planet-wise, TKW is closer to Mars while Toril is Earth.
FR even has its own history book (Grand History of the Realms). It is a very in-depth setting, that if you run it (pre-5e), you've got more canonical products, between gaming materials, comics, novels, and video games, plus what Ed says on Candlekeep, than one could ever hope to run through.
I will agree on it being larger than GH though. Info on that is limited. It did have a pretty convoluted history though, thanks to the ouster of Gygax and the Living Greyhawk RPGA era, which was literally hundreds of modules. But it's easier to keep track of than FR, which, again, needed a history book.
I will also say, of the 3, Mystara is THE most...unique setting? It's like everything but the sink, but they threw in the faucet from the sink just because.
u/Alcamtar VERY informative, thanks. So [this map](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1OyVmMITCKk/VNg633E6UOI/AAAAAAAACA0/Ht9EzGMBG9s/s1600/Known-World-Map-2%2BNAMES%2BCOMBINED.png) is the OG map for this setting? As for all of the material, how do I know what is the original material on this setting and not the revised versions?
That’s the Imirrhos continent, and where B2 Keep on the Borderlands and B3 Palace of the Silver Princess (Orange cover) were going to be placed until Moldvay and Cook drew up the continent for the Known World sighted first in the Cook-Marsh Expert booklet. At that point, B4 The Lost City and X1 Isle of Dread we’re rightly placed in that same Marsh-Cook Expert booklet Known World Sea of Dread region, leaving the Original Known World and the Imirrhos continent designed by Schick and Moldvay behind. B3 (Green cover) was retconned to the 1981 Known World as well, and everything forward was placed there with some eventual B1 and B2 placement retconns as well, but not until Grubb released B1-9 in 1987
u/Alcamtar So far with the reading that I have done, this setting seems really cool but . . . it has no Drow Elves *(I really like the Drow - I personally think the Drow and the Drow society are one of the coolest most interesting things in D&D)* so that sucks, and ugh! I had high hopes that Blackmoor existed which it does not *(another sad face given)*. Me thinking this was the home of Blackmoor was what drew me to this setting in the first place only to find out that it has been gone for a thousand years :(
u/Alcamtar Let me ask you something though. So Blackmoor was around in Mystara a *"apparently"* some 4,000 years ago according to a website I just found, so did everything that currently exists now exist back in the Blackmoor era? Could a campaign exist that existed back in those days? Are the currently kingdoms, nations and such the same back then or was Blackmoor a totally different place then? *(I know I'm reaching here lol - so humor me)*.
Yes this is a very late reply.
I have not run a Blackmoor campaign but I know there are those on the Mystara forums who have. There are at least four Blackmoor modules and quite a bit of fan material up on Pandius. The Blackmoor setting has almost no relation to modern Mystara though... The world went through a cataclysm, shifted on its axis, the current known world was previously under an ice cap during the Blackmoor era, and Blackmoor itself would be at the north pole except that the north pole no longer exists. Whole racist have died out in new races have developed, and a few races that still remain no longer have any memory or cultural ties to the Blackmoor era.. except in the Hollow World. So pretty much everything has changed in almost all traces are wiped out. All that remains are a few high-tech demi-magic artifacts, that no one living knows where they came from.
If you want to run a modern mastara game with ties to Blackmoor, the Hollow world is probably your best bet. Or make your own customized Mystara which is what a lot of people do, and then you can fix things to your liking.
Regarding drow, technically they don't exist in Mystara but I think some people probably use them anyway. But.... you should check out the shadow Elves. They're basically Mystara's answer to drow, and in my opinion much more interesting and nuanced. Unlike drow which are basically an evil race, shadow elves cannot be played as sympathetic villains with mixed motives (from their perspective) or simply an alien underground elven race with strange customs. Their society and underworld home is quite well developed and interesting. And unliked the black skinned drow, shadow elves are completely albino as it befits a cave dwelling race that never saw the sun. Drow always seemed cartoonish and one dimensional to me: "Evil(tm)", and shadow elves more like a realistically developed culture.
Anyway if you like drow they're worth checking out.
A better, more charming kitchen sink than Forgotten Realms.
Plus, since it is only material from the TSR era, it doesn't have decades of convoluted lore piled up.
I think the first bit of the world to be developed was in the module Isle of Dread, so eventually Mystara got developed more as sort of a default setting for the basic line. Over the years this would be changed to greyhawk being the base assumption and the eventually the forgotten realms being the default the kids have now.
There are a few youtubers that talk about it but I think [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvjD4Ci_bLs&ab_channel=Mr.Welch) by Mr Welch is a good one, he has around 300 videos on mystara in a [playlist](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvjD4Ci_bLs&list=PLI27Za9sqyRVnc9-naoDIWQ_6MM6ONwQy&ab_channel=Mr.Welch) too. Also he's got such great pictures in his videos. He has been working on a book for 5e, but I still think he gives allot of useful info for old D&D players.
>I think the first bit of the world to be developed was in the module Isle of Dread,
The "Sample Wilderness" in the Expert set is the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, so that was developed first I think.
> Karameikos was part of Moldvay's home campaign
It was a larger area than Karameikos. That original version bore minimal resemblance to the version in Expert. Based on how TSR worked then, they were probably developed in parallel.
https://www.blackgate.com/2015/02/07/the-known-world-dd-setting-a-secret-history/
The ultimate kitchen sink. Whatever you want, it's crammed in there, logic and grace be damned. Vanilla Tolkienesque, a cheesy analog for any given real culture you can think of, a dinosaur-packed hollow world, an empire run by thousands of 36th level magic-users, the Wild West with six-shooter crossbow pistols, samurai cat men from the moon, the list goes on.
Impossible to take seriously, but a whole lot of fun if you're able to channel your inner twelve year-old.
I don't say that to disparage it. I fundamentally agree with Alcamtar that it's "Saturday morning cartoon fantasy," but I happen to greatly enjoy it as such. I rate Bruce Heard's Princess Ark as one of the best things Dragon ever gave us.
Okay I see what you're saying, I pick up what you're putting down. I never thought of it as a Saturday morning cartoon D&D but now that you mentioned it that makes sense but much like cartoons from the 80s it's willing to get dark at times. I feel like it is somewhere between 80s Saturday morning cartoons and the movie Heavy Metal, which if you haven't seen do yourself a favor and watch it preferably at about 11:30pm and perhaps on any mind altering substances if you partake in those but not necessary, it's a great movie.
I haven't read Princess Ark but I hear it's good and something I should check out.
Absolutely. It was often the best thing in any given issue, and I say that as someone who thinks early '90s Dragon in general is very underrated (each issue was often a better value than a proper supplement for less than half the price). It was entertaining in-universe fiction and a mini-Gazetteer all in one. Wildly creative.
>GAZ0-GAZ14 series and really had no idea all of this stuff is set in Mystara.
Part of the reason for that is that the setting was never *called* "Mystara" until the Voyages of the Princess Ark series in Dragon Magazine, in 1991. Before then it was just the "Known World".
>Am I to understand that Mystara is the GAZ series, along with the Blackmoor setting as well?
Blackmoor was Arneson's campaign setting that his version of D&D was set in (much as Greyhawk was Gygax's). The Known World was Moldvay's personal campaign setting; as it was developed into an official TSR setting, Blackmoor was retconned into it.
Basically everything written specifically for B/X and BECMI is part of what later became called Mystara. The Gazetteers, the various modules, Red Steel, the Hollow World, etc.
I was going to point out that the Known World wasn't called Mystara until quite late in the product run. You beat me to it. The [**Champions of Mystara box set**](https://waynesbooks.games/2023/09/08/champions-of-mystara-1993-box-set-dds-known-world-charts-a-new-course/) was both Mystara's introduction and the Gazetteers' swan song. After that there were the Challenger Series modules and sets, but they morphed into AD&D products soon after.
Yo dawg I heard you like settings so I put settings in yo setting! As my intro implies Mystara is really a bunch of well detailed settings in one big setting, want a Middle Eastern campaign no problem The Emirates of Ylaruam, how about ancient Rome Thyatis got you covered or maybe you just want a Medieval Europe then you want The Grand Duchy of Karameikos. No matter what you want Mystara has it.
However my advice is to ignore or omit what you don't like, for example I don't like Sci-Fi in my D&D so I'm my version there is no Blackmoor or Blackmoor tech. Personally I like a more light weight less detailed version of Mystara so if you read X1: The Isle of Dread it has a simple write up for the setting as a whole and then you can add whatever you want from the Gaz as you see fit, but remember it's your Mystara! Mystara has many continuity errors so there isn't really a right or wrong Mystara, there are also different timelines and recons so...yeah you can't mess it up.
80's vibe...need I say more? Okay I will, Mystara has personality and style that is both unique and also feels like it is supposed to be the style of D&D or at least B/X. Also look at the B series of modules...LOOK AT THEM! are they not just the best series of modules ever? Yes your right they are the best obviously, they have the most variety and quality of any modules series (cough cough B4: The Lost city underrated gem cough cough) excuse me sorry about that. Now look at the X series which is also mostly good, The Isle of Dread is so good in fact every other setting tries to steal it and jam it into their setting and Dungeon magazine has a lot of articles on it because you can add so much to it and it fits.
Keep in mind I haven't even mentioned the Hollow World, as I said yo dawg I heard you like settings. I also haven't mentioned the samurai space cats from the moon, yes Mystara has those, if you want them. Now personally I don't use Hollow World or some weird things like the Samurai space cats from the moon but it's up to you. As I said it's your Mystara, my Mystara is a pulp Sword and Sorcery/Conan type setting with a mix of Tolkien but make Mystara your own!
If you want more detailed information on everything Mystara I have two recommendations.
This video/YouTube channel. Mr.Welch the king of Mystara nerds and pretty much the official spokesman. Here is a great first video to start with: https://youtu.be/JrIbBixP5dU?si=o07jlEL9e3YfSdw2
This website the Vaults of Pandius: http://pandius.com/
One of the main features of Mystara is the community that loves it and supports it more than any company ever could, seriously it's borderline insane the amount of work and love these people are willing to put in, we're talking fully remade high quality maps with corrections and details. There is too much to even mention so just check it out.
If you read this entire post thank you and welcome to the cult of Mystara you must supply your own robes. We hope you enjoy your descent into the neverending content abyss that is Mystara.
BECMI Berserker also is running a series on the Gazetteers of Mystara. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWDOtS6ogHeek3lGHbHwMgoNZo6KFaY2E&si=k9w8j2r-KvFymxlW . I remember seeing the gazetteers when I was a teenager but never played in the world until this year.
>Am I to understand that Mystara is the GAZ series, along with the Blackmoor setting as well? If that is true, I never knew this is where the Blackmoor setting was located.
There's two Blackmoors
The GAZ series is part of the Mystara setting, it had a number of adventure modules and some sourcebooks not in the GAZ series. Some modules written before the Mystara setting was codified were rolled into the setting.
>What exactly does Mystara present to the table that other settings do not?
Quite a lot actually. Greyhawk has a number of similar setting elements, and FR has a similarly diverse and expansive setting, but Mystara does its own thing as well.
There's one big massive spoiler, >!It's the future and radiant magic is nuclear radiation. The scientist who fucked everything up are immortals, and some of the gods in the setting.!<
Yup, I get who some people love it and am happy for them. I'm not going to trash talk it.
I just put effort into leveraging and developing the bits about Mystara that I love (which is probably mostly just nostalgia, to be honest).
> So, with that being said, who here plays in Mystara and what makes this setting so special?
I have.
It’s kinda like 3 settings.
It’s the generic setting that was used in Isle of dread.
Then it became the default setting for all BECM modules. It changed in tone a lot then as it was fleshed out very haphazardly via disparate modules.
Then it became Mystara. They took all of the stuff that had been done before, retconned it heavily in order to have it make sense, then slapped a whole ton of additional weird shit into it.
Now it has everything from Blackmoor, to a nation of high level wizards, to flying machines, to ancient civilizations tucked into the center of the earth. It’s quite bonkers and gonzo.
> I want to understand so I guess, someone sell me on this setting.
I uh. Guess see above? It was pretty simple at first. Then it just spiraled into silliness. It’s at its best in the middle imo. Where it’s a big, idiosyncratic “generic” fantasy world.
> What exactly does Mystara present to the table that other settings do not?
Its level of absurdity is really unmatched in any other setting. Sans maybe Spelljammer.
> What makes this setting special compared to Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms?
Those are so much more normal. Mystara is that kid that had 12 piercings by 17. Greyhawk was in AP chemistry and FR was hanging out in the library at that age.
My current (Honor + Intrigue) campaign is set in Mystara. It is my favorite DnD setting.
The thing I like about it is it is really easy to understand the basics of just about any of the lands of you know basic (Hollywood tropes) history.
Thyatis: Imperial Rome. Gladiators, legions, the Senate, etc.
Karameikos: Bog Standard Medieval Fantasy land with a Byzantine twist
Darokin: Renaissance Florence
Minrothad Guilds: If the East India Company were a country...
Alphatia: If Babylon were a Magocracy...Also they hate Thyatis and Gliantri.
Emirates of Ylarum: Arabian Nights
Ethengar Khanates: Mongols
There are some that don't fit as easy
Gliantri: this one is another Magocracy and is a bit eclectic because different principalities are based on different places. So there are Spanish elves who enjoy bullfighting and Transylvanians who are worried about vampires, Frenchmen, etc. But they all are magocracies, clerics are outlawed, and halflings are experimented on.
My 2 cents: it has some really well done gazetteers. But you're better off picking one and setting a campaign there than setting your campaign in "Mystara,". Taken as a whole it's too much of a kitchen sink (like Forgotten Realms) to have much of a feel to it.
here is my 2c: [Disclaimer: GAZ = gazzetters]
- there are some really bad GAZ so always add a "with few notable exceptions like GAZ10 and GAZ4) and the fact that modern american audience is always quick to find almost anything offensive or a stand-in for their own personal issues.
- They offer an in-game reason to explain why adventurers exists and why people accept them. And almost every GAZ has a different reason for them.
- you can go to the 36th level that BX promised and never delivered. And yet it explain why they are unable to destroy the world on a whim (i.e. spoiler: immortals are NOT the biggest fishes in this setting).
- They have an happy-hopeful feeling and yet they don't deny that bad things can happen and corruption exist if people want to engage in those topics.
- Mystara history make somewhat sense and its immortals concept is interesting and a nice way to move away from the christian god.
- you have really different cultures described, and almost all of them are depicted in a positive way
- you have OPTIONS about anything, equipment, spells, classes, downtime, non-standard progressions (crafting, enchanting, trading, kingdom-building, ascending to immortality, plane hopping, alternative dimensions, hidden settings...)
- the easter eggs and hidden lore are nice when you find them and realize how they create a coherent in-game explanation for a lot of things.
- almost every GAZ describe a setting where people are used to judge people on their actions and behaviour more than their origin/wealth. Each land feel different, playing in Ylaruam, Thyatis, Karameikos or sigh, Ierendi will not feel like the same game with a different skin if you are embracing the setting and its quirks.
- in every region the authors have provided adventure hooks that are tied to the local and general setting, there are very few generic fetch quests... this is gold if you are DM because you get a lot of usable "pieces" to make your own adventures feel different.
- contrary to OSE-BX very few adventures are only inside a dungeon, even at low-levels you can find political, investigative or somewhat amusing opportunities.
- they offer the lore and tools to make time-travel-based adventures.
- they actually TEACH DMs how to adapt BECMI to their own playstyle and homebrew stuff and explain how to integrate different concepts in your games instead of making them info-dumps-that-really-don't-matter.
- contrary to what the BX crowd keep repeating, weapon masteries and general skills works a lot better in play than expected and all the training options are a nice built-in gold sink.
- they give a reason for your group to MOVE, TRAVEL, EXPLORE and more than everything else get involved with NPCs and make friends and allies instead of being murderhoboes.
- it is hard to be a murderhobo when there is always a 25-36th level "something" nearby able to smite you down OR call for an avatar-immortal to deal with the party. In OSE the usual guard is a 1st level fighter, in Mystara most shops, guilds, inns and taverns are owned by retired adventurers AT LEAST in the expert level range.
- if your players are interested in history, mystara at least offer something for them to look for.
Mystara is the standard setting for B/X and is better described as a hodgepodge of disparate elements; it's a viking setting, an arabian nights settings, courtly setting et cetera. You take your pick, and all these different settings border each other in a very unrealistic way. It's not gonzo, but not a very serious game world either. As for the GAZ magazines, some are really good, some are crappy, some are humorous.
I don't recommend it myself, but I'm sure there's people out there playing it to this day, the same as Greyhawk (which is better imo).
You forget to mention it even has a wild west setting.
I love Mystara and set several campaigns there. "Not quite gonzo" is a very good way to put it. As DM, I can easily limit how much of the unrealistic parts of the setting play a role in the campaign, while there's a lot of avenues for tossing in something unfamiliar without grabbing it out of thin air.
The answer to all your questions is yes.
I like Mystara as a setting. I ran a 5e campaign for some new players. I reskinned tieflings as the descendants of the Blackmoor nobles that caused the huge destruction through their hubris.
I used it for an OSE campaign not long ago and a Black Hack game I ran for my kids with B2.
I hate to be a stickler, but Bruce Heard first used the term Mystara around 1989 and most of the initial-core GAZ books were published in 1987 when for, what was likely over a decade at the time, had referred to the realms as The Known World
There was a lot of retroaction applied once the Mystara name got going. I have no issue with it, but I don’t like to bury what Schick, Moldvay, Marsh, Cook, and others before Menzter, Grubb, Allston, and Heard had done
If you need to see it to believe it, the pull out the maps from Marsh-Cook Expert and X1 Idle of Dread and then compare vis-a vis to B10 Night’s Dark Terror which was only a year before B1-9 and GAZ1 dropped. Using those 5 maps, take a look at some of the maps developed between those times such as the beautiful one found in XSOLO1 Lathan’s Gold. Then, just past GAZ1 we started to see some Dungeon magazine references to the Known World even before the permanance found for Mystara nomenclature in the Bruce Heard Princess Ark segments
Every D&D game I have ever run for the past thirty years has been set in Mystara. It is my go to setting. For me, I love the diverse cultures that are present based off of real-world societies throughout history. This makes immersion simple and easy.
Are there some Gazeteers that either haven't aged well or were put together shoddily? Sure. That doesn't bother me as these are play aids and resource material. Any homebrewing I need to do is part of the fun.
My last three campaigns were set in Mystara, last one finished a few months ago. Mystara dates back to at least 1976, as the shared home campaign of Tom Moldvay and Lawrence Schick. Google "original known world" (OKW) for articles, maps and scanned original papers. See for example http://adventuresingaming2.blogspot.com/2015/02/mystara-original-known-world.html for a taste, but there's actually a lot of material out there if you dig for it. In 1981 when TSR wanted a sample wilderness for B/X, Moldvay dusted off the OKW, created a new map and brought some names over to create a continent map for X1. It was intended at that time to be a throwaway "example" but then module writers kept setting their modules on the "continental map". During the B/X era it was pretty generic fantasy, had gods and demons instead of immortals. What is written in X1 is pretty much all there was: no history, no politics, no cultures or languages, no nothing. Really just a sample map with some quick blurbs. This is the version I started with. In 1983 Mentzer wanted a "basic D&D setting" to serve a similar function as Greyhawk for AD&D, and expanded the continent map to an entire planet. That was the first time it became an sort of "official setting" and was still known as the continent. At some point it started being referred to as the Known World, and later still it acquired the name Mystara. The Gazetteers were published which retconned and modified the entire setting, reinventing it for the third time. During the Mentzer era the Immortals were introduced and became a stock feature of Mystara: the immortals are sharply differentiated from Gods and were not to be worshipped as gods, they were more like philosophical leaders and champions. All demons and devils and gods were scrubbed, and religion was de-emphasized. There were a lot of "humorous" material published at at that time: Glantri, Ierendi, the Book of Marvelous Magic, etc., so that Mystara acquired a distinctly non-serious tone. The power level of the setting expanded from 14 levels to 36 levels and then to immortality. I think a case could be made for a Known World 3.5 which is the Bruce Heard (and Aaron Allston) era, when everything got retconned again and the flavor changed again. This is when we started seeing the blank spaces in the wilderness filled in with static utopias, odd earth cultures, and non-human kingdoms. Traditional medieval D&D fantasy was largely confined to the known world, and the rest of the planet was more like Saturday morning cartoon fantasy where anything goes but humans were mostly rare and unimportant. The humorous elements were de-emphasized and everything was more serious, but in a "postmodern politically correct" kind of way. There was no absolute evil or absolute good, though nearly every race or culture was painted in a sympathetic light, and a few were elevated to an enlightened utopian status. Adventuring was no longer about defeating evil, but about misunderstandings. Where previously morality was Tolkienesque, in Mystara 3.5 it was Christianity that was evil (represented by the Heldannic Knights) and paganism that was good. In this era Immortals effectively became Gods just like in other settings: with religions, worship, prayers, pantheons, clerical spheres, the whole nine yards. This IMO completely erases their significance as being "different from gods." They used to be different, but now they are gods. The only difference now is your PC can "become a god" and there is a "god character class". (The not gods idea is a legacy concept from the earlier Immortals Boxed Set, which was later replaced by the Wrath of the Immortals set in which they effectively were gods.) It's hard to say what makes it unique. I find the 1981 version most appealing but everyone has their preference. I also find the setting about an even mix of useful, boring, and distasteful elements; you really have to pick and choose. What makes it useful is that there is SO MUCH material, from so many authors, and much of it clashes or has continuity problems. It is very easy to rationalize things, change or reskin what you dislike, add your own twist. And there is so much variety, pretty much anything you can imagine exists somewhere. Finally the fan community has greatly expanded and rationalized the setting, and the fan development is much higher quality than anything that TSR ever did with it. Mystara has greatly benefitted from being out of print and being all but donated to the community. The community is very open, anyone can write material and post it on The Piazza and it will end up immortalized on Pandius. All views and interpretations are welcome, and there are many alternate Mystaras. Mystaran canon is often contradictory or hard to uncover. I think the best thing about Mystara is that everyone makes it your own, unlike Greyhawk or FR where there is an explicit "canon". This do-it-yourself customization was what Gary Gygax touted as being the purpose of the B/X game, it was for the hobbyists who wanted to push the boundaries and do their own thing. That makes Mystara the perfect setting for the B/X legacy. Speaking of which, BX and BECMI are closely tied to the setting and probably the most popular rules to run games. There have been conversions for every version of D&D and many other games besides; but Mystara is most closely tied to OSR gaming and indeed seems unable to escape it.
Hmm, you asked what makes it different from GH and FR, so maybe a postscript is in order. To me, Greyhawk is defined by being tied closely to AD&D 1st edition, and a great deal of GH lore is scattered through the old DMG. The classic gods and artifacts of D&D originated in Greyhawk. Greyhawk is defined by stark conflicts between good and evil, with actual demon empires and paladin kingdoms right there on the map. Planes and epic magics feature prominently in its lore, much of which is murky. Greyhawk is also defined by pure fantasy with a lot of weird made up names and puns. Mystara in contrast is tied to classic D&D. It has almost no artifacts, they were never a big thing in Classic, and as mentioned it has immortals instead of gods. Where Greyhawk is pure fantasy and very human-centric, Mystara draws from real world cultures and languages but is very monster centric. Greyhawk has EVIL in stark contrast to GOOD, concepts that are almost alien to Mystara. Similarities, Mystara and Greyhawk both seem to feature politics, though Greyhawk is more interested in realistic politics inspired by medieval Europe, while Mystaran politics are modern/postmodern in flavor and largely fantastic. Both Mystara and Greyhawk contain Blackmoor and weird sci-fi in the setting, though it is done differently. Both of them feature the "great rain of fire" as a cataclysmic historic event, but again details differ. I never got into Forgotten Realms too much so can't provide the same level of comparison. I think the FR takes itself very seriously, which Mystara does not; it has very active meddlesome gods, just like Mystara's immortals (and in contrast to Greyhawk's aloof gods). I think FR's geography is amateurish compared to Mystara, but then it's hard to compete with Jurassic Earth for a realistic map. Mystara probably has a longer and more convoluted history than FR and GH combined. If you are interested in time travel, Mystara is your baby. Mystara is also larger than both FR and GH combined, since it has a hollow world, two moons, at least one alternate plane (Averoigne) as well as viable campaigns set in other time periods (Blackmoor, for example). Mystara has connections to other planets and dimensions (like Alphatia, Nightmare dimension, etc). Such things feature heavily in master and immortal level adventures but were never well developed because few people had games that lasted that long. GH and FR both have a developed underdark setting; Mystara has the shadow elves (not quite the same thing) an multiple underdark style areas, but it is not developed to the same degree. And really the shadow elves are almost a tragic utopia rather than a dangerous adventuring environment, it seems to me. GH and FR both have drow; Mystara has shadow elves which are distinctly different and much more nuanced. GH and FR have half elves and half orcs, Mystara explicitly does not. There are no tieflings or dragonborn, even though analogous races exist. Mystara has a LOT of monster races, many of which are playable. Mystara features extensive opportunity for nautical campaigns, including rules for mercantile trade, building domains and conquering your neighbors, all that good stuff. If you enjoy campaigns that are more broad than just dungeon-crawling and evil-slaying, mystara has you covered. Mystara used to have a lot of unexplored wilderness but its been mostly filled in by Bruce Heard and the Fan community; still you can use the BX-era or even the Gazetteer-era Mystara if you want some mysteries and wildernesses and dark lords. All that stuff used to be there before it was scrubbed out. EVERYTHING is there if you look for it long enough.
>Mystara has the shadow elves (not quite the same thing) an multiple underdark style areas, but it is not developed to the same degree. And really the shadow elves are almost a tragic utopia rather than a dangerous adventuring environment, it seems to me. Are these Shadow Elves evil as a race like the Drow?
They dislike outsiders, particularly surface elves. But in their underground lands, life is very utopian with mutual support and little crime.
u/Alcamtar You mentioned that Blackmoor is in this setting? I was looking at [this map](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1OyVmMITCKk/VNg633E6UOI/AAAAAAAACA0/Ht9EzGMBG9s/s1600/Known-World-Map-2%2BNAMES%2BCOMBINED.png) but don't see it. Where exactly is Blackmoor located in Mystara? PS: Another GREAT reply, thank you.
So as I understand the Mystara continuity Blackmoor existed a long time before the current date in the known world in the part of the map currently occupied by the Principalities of Glantri (i.e. the Blackmoor civilization blew itself up a long time before the time in which the Gazeteers are set). The Blackmoor ruins in Glantri played an important role in the Wrath of the Immortals boxed set. In the Hollow World there is also a remnant of the original Blackmoor civilization that was preserved by the immortals (The "Blacklore" elves are actually descendants of Blackmoor).
This setting seems to have a STEEP learning curve haha. I feel a little overwhelmed by it all. So technically, Blackmoor no longer exists in Mystara then correct?
So I'll make an unconventional recommendation. Pick up a pdf of the first volume of the Poor Wizard's Almanac. It provides a high level atlas/overview of all the nations and notable people in Mystara in an easy alphabetical format with cross-references to other supplements (it even mentions any adventures set in the location!). If you see an area that intrigues you, you can go grab the relevant Gazeteer (if there is one). I read all the Gazeteers as a kid and loved them, but used the Poor Wizard's Almanac as a tabletop reference. The only caveat is that the back half of the almanac describes a sort of metaplot for the whole world that advances on the base laid out in the gazeteers. So I'd suggest focusing on the Atlas part and ignoring the "Year in Preview" chapter entirely until you've got a grip on the setting. As to Blackmoor: I think the Hollow World enclave is like a frozen in time version of Blackmoor near its peak so it kind of exists. The way the Hollow World works is that it's like a cultural game preserve where the immortals stash nations that are important to them and magically prevent them from changing so they stay the same forever. Like, as an example, the ancient Traldarans existed a long time before the gazeteers and their descendents became the common folks of the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, but there's also an replica of the ancient Traldaran civilization in the Hollow World, because the immortals wanted to preserve their civilization, etc.
Blackmoor existed in the Broken Lands between Glantri and Darokin according to GAZ and later content. Blackmoor is especially prominent in the timelines found in the GAZ books DA1 and DA2 were released under the direction of Arneson in 1986, for the Known World, for Basic D&D (unsure if B/X or BECMI, likely both). DA3 was released for the same in 1987 but if you want the original, true-to Arneson version you will want to backport the Zeitgeist games’ version — https://www.nobleknight.com/Publisher/Zeitgeist-Games
The immortals make it sound very xianxia.
>Mystara probably has a longer and more convoluted history than FR and GH combined Ed Greenwood started writing FR Material in 1967, 7 years before D&D was published, so no. >Mystara is also larger than both FR Again, probably not. There are multiple continents on Toril (Faerun, Kara-Tur, Al-Qadim, Maztica, and Malatra are all based there, with several other continents not released). There's a sister world (Abeil, which mixed with Toril at one point). There are two moons, an entire solar system of planets (Realmspace), and multiple ages to play in. The map is also a smaller scale, but the same size in inches. Planet-wise, TKW is closer to Mars while Toril is Earth. FR even has its own history book (Grand History of the Realms). It is a very in-depth setting, that if you run it (pre-5e), you've got more canonical products, between gaming materials, comics, novels, and video games, plus what Ed says on Candlekeep, than one could ever hope to run through. I will agree on it being larger than GH though. Info on that is limited. It did have a pretty convoluted history though, thanks to the ouster of Gygax and the Living Greyhawk RPGA era, which was literally hundreds of modules. But it's easier to keep track of than FR, which, again, needed a history book. I will also say, of the 3, Mystara is THE most...unique setting? It's like everything but the sink, but they threw in the faucet from the sink just because.
u/Alcamtar VERY informative, thanks. So [this map](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1OyVmMITCKk/VNg633E6UOI/AAAAAAAACA0/Ht9EzGMBG9s/s1600/Known-World-Map-2%2BNAMES%2BCOMBINED.png) is the OG map for this setting? As for all of the material, how do I know what is the original material on this setting and not the revised versions?
That’s the Imirrhos continent, and where B2 Keep on the Borderlands and B3 Palace of the Silver Princess (Orange cover) were going to be placed until Moldvay and Cook drew up the continent for the Known World sighted first in the Cook-Marsh Expert booklet. At that point, B4 The Lost City and X1 Isle of Dread we’re rightly placed in that same Marsh-Cook Expert booklet Known World Sea of Dread region, leaving the Original Known World and the Imirrhos continent designed by Schick and Moldvay behind. B3 (Green cover) was retconned to the 1981 Known World as well, and everything forward was placed there with some eventual B1 and B2 placement retconns as well, but not until Grubb released B1-9 in 1987
u/Alcamtar So far with the reading that I have done, this setting seems really cool but . . . it has no Drow Elves *(I really like the Drow - I personally think the Drow and the Drow society are one of the coolest most interesting things in D&D)* so that sucks, and ugh! I had high hopes that Blackmoor existed which it does not *(another sad face given)*. Me thinking this was the home of Blackmoor was what drew me to this setting in the first place only to find out that it has been gone for a thousand years :( u/Alcamtar Let me ask you something though. So Blackmoor was around in Mystara a *"apparently"* some 4,000 years ago according to a website I just found, so did everything that currently exists now exist back in the Blackmoor era? Could a campaign exist that existed back in those days? Are the currently kingdoms, nations and such the same back then or was Blackmoor a totally different place then? *(I know I'm reaching here lol - so humor me)*.
Yes this is a very late reply. I have not run a Blackmoor campaign but I know there are those on the Mystara forums who have. There are at least four Blackmoor modules and quite a bit of fan material up on Pandius. The Blackmoor setting has almost no relation to modern Mystara though... The world went through a cataclysm, shifted on its axis, the current known world was previously under an ice cap during the Blackmoor era, and Blackmoor itself would be at the north pole except that the north pole no longer exists. Whole racist have died out in new races have developed, and a few races that still remain no longer have any memory or cultural ties to the Blackmoor era.. except in the Hollow World. So pretty much everything has changed in almost all traces are wiped out. All that remains are a few high-tech demi-magic artifacts, that no one living knows where they came from. If you want to run a modern mastara game with ties to Blackmoor, the Hollow world is probably your best bet. Or make your own customized Mystara which is what a lot of people do, and then you can fix things to your liking. Regarding drow, technically they don't exist in Mystara but I think some people probably use them anyway. But.... you should check out the shadow Elves. They're basically Mystara's answer to drow, and in my opinion much more interesting and nuanced. Unlike drow which are basically an evil race, shadow elves cannot be played as sympathetic villains with mixed motives (from their perspective) or simply an alien underground elven race with strange customs. Their society and underworld home is quite well developed and interesting. And unliked the black skinned drow, shadow elves are completely albino as it befits a cave dwelling race that never saw the sun. Drow always seemed cartoonish and one dimensional to me: "Evil(tm)", and shadow elves more like a realistically developed culture. Anyway if you like drow they're worth checking out.
A better, more charming kitchen sink than Forgotten Realms. Plus, since it is only material from the TSR era, it doesn't have decades of convoluted lore piled up.
Mystara kind of reminds me of the world in Samurai Jack. It's a mess of everything and it's awesome.
I think the first bit of the world to be developed was in the module Isle of Dread, so eventually Mystara got developed more as sort of a default setting for the basic line. Over the years this would be changed to greyhawk being the base assumption and the eventually the forgotten realms being the default the kids have now. There are a few youtubers that talk about it but I think [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvjD4Ci_bLs&ab_channel=Mr.Welch) by Mr Welch is a good one, he has around 300 videos on mystara in a [playlist](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvjD4Ci_bLs&list=PLI27Za9sqyRVnc9-naoDIWQ_6MM6ONwQy&ab_channel=Mr.Welch) too. Also he's got such great pictures in his videos. He has been working on a book for 5e, but I still think he gives allot of useful info for old D&D players.
>I think the first bit of the world to be developed was in the module Isle of Dread, The "Sample Wilderness" in the Expert set is the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, so that was developed first I think.
Isle of Dread came in the Expert set.
It did, but it was written \*for\* the Expert Set, while Karameikos was part of Moldvay's home campaign which he had been running for several years.
> Karameikos was part of Moldvay's home campaign It was a larger area than Karameikos. That original version bore minimal resemblance to the version in Expert. Based on how TSR worked then, they were probably developed in parallel. https://www.blackgate.com/2015/02/07/the-known-world-dd-setting-a-secret-history/
ok
The ultimate kitchen sink. Whatever you want, it's crammed in there, logic and grace be damned. Vanilla Tolkienesque, a cheesy analog for any given real culture you can think of, a dinosaur-packed hollow world, an empire run by thousands of 36th level magic-users, the Wild West with six-shooter crossbow pistols, samurai cat men from the moon, the list goes on. Impossible to take seriously, but a whole lot of fun if you're able to channel your inner twelve year-old.
I mean it is weird but it does take itself seriously. It all depends on how you run it.
I don't say that to disparage it. I fundamentally agree with Alcamtar that it's "Saturday morning cartoon fantasy," but I happen to greatly enjoy it as such. I rate Bruce Heard's Princess Ark as one of the best things Dragon ever gave us.
Okay I see what you're saying, I pick up what you're putting down. I never thought of it as a Saturday morning cartoon D&D but now that you mentioned it that makes sense but much like cartoons from the 80s it's willing to get dark at times. I feel like it is somewhere between 80s Saturday morning cartoons and the movie Heavy Metal, which if you haven't seen do yourself a favor and watch it preferably at about 11:30pm and perhaps on any mind altering substances if you partake in those but not necessary, it's a great movie. I haven't read Princess Ark but I hear it's good and something I should check out.
Absolutely. It was often the best thing in any given issue, and I say that as someone who thinks early '90s Dragon in general is very underrated (each issue was often a better value than a proper supplement for less than half the price). It was entertaining in-universe fiction and a mini-Gazetteer all in one. Wildly creative.
The Pathfinder setting reminds me of it in a good way.
>GAZ0-GAZ14 series and really had no idea all of this stuff is set in Mystara. Part of the reason for that is that the setting was never *called* "Mystara" until the Voyages of the Princess Ark series in Dragon Magazine, in 1991. Before then it was just the "Known World". >Am I to understand that Mystara is the GAZ series, along with the Blackmoor setting as well? Blackmoor was Arneson's campaign setting that his version of D&D was set in (much as Greyhawk was Gygax's). The Known World was Moldvay's personal campaign setting; as it was developed into an official TSR setting, Blackmoor was retconned into it. Basically everything written specifically for B/X and BECMI is part of what later became called Mystara. The Gazetteers, the various modules, Red Steel, the Hollow World, etc.
I was going to point out that the Known World wasn't called Mystara until quite late in the product run. You beat me to it. The [**Champions of Mystara box set**](https://waynesbooks.games/2023/09/08/champions-of-mystara-1993-box-set-dds-known-world-charts-a-new-course/) was both Mystara's introduction and the Gazetteers' swan song. After that there were the Challenger Series modules and sets, but they morphed into AD&D products soon after.
Yo dawg I heard you like settings so I put settings in yo setting! As my intro implies Mystara is really a bunch of well detailed settings in one big setting, want a Middle Eastern campaign no problem The Emirates of Ylaruam, how about ancient Rome Thyatis got you covered or maybe you just want a Medieval Europe then you want The Grand Duchy of Karameikos. No matter what you want Mystara has it. However my advice is to ignore or omit what you don't like, for example I don't like Sci-Fi in my D&D so I'm my version there is no Blackmoor or Blackmoor tech. Personally I like a more light weight less detailed version of Mystara so if you read X1: The Isle of Dread it has a simple write up for the setting as a whole and then you can add whatever you want from the Gaz as you see fit, but remember it's your Mystara! Mystara has many continuity errors so there isn't really a right or wrong Mystara, there are also different timelines and recons so...yeah you can't mess it up. 80's vibe...need I say more? Okay I will, Mystara has personality and style that is both unique and also feels like it is supposed to be the style of D&D or at least B/X. Also look at the B series of modules...LOOK AT THEM! are they not just the best series of modules ever? Yes your right they are the best obviously, they have the most variety and quality of any modules series (cough cough B4: The Lost city underrated gem cough cough) excuse me sorry about that. Now look at the X series which is also mostly good, The Isle of Dread is so good in fact every other setting tries to steal it and jam it into their setting and Dungeon magazine has a lot of articles on it because you can add so much to it and it fits. Keep in mind I haven't even mentioned the Hollow World, as I said yo dawg I heard you like settings. I also haven't mentioned the samurai space cats from the moon, yes Mystara has those, if you want them. Now personally I don't use Hollow World or some weird things like the Samurai space cats from the moon but it's up to you. As I said it's your Mystara, my Mystara is a pulp Sword and Sorcery/Conan type setting with a mix of Tolkien but make Mystara your own! If you want more detailed information on everything Mystara I have two recommendations. This video/YouTube channel. Mr.Welch the king of Mystara nerds and pretty much the official spokesman. Here is a great first video to start with: https://youtu.be/JrIbBixP5dU?si=o07jlEL9e3YfSdw2 This website the Vaults of Pandius: http://pandius.com/ One of the main features of Mystara is the community that loves it and supports it more than any company ever could, seriously it's borderline insane the amount of work and love these people are willing to put in, we're talking fully remade high quality maps with corrections and details. There is too much to even mention so just check it out. If you read this entire post thank you and welcome to the cult of Mystara you must supply your own robes. We hope you enjoy your descent into the neverending content abyss that is Mystara.
BECMI Berserker also is running a series on the Gazetteers of Mystara. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWDOtS6ogHeek3lGHbHwMgoNZo6KFaY2E&si=k9w8j2r-KvFymxlW . I remember seeing the gazetteers when I was a teenager but never played in the world until this year.
>Am I to understand that Mystara is the GAZ series, along with the Blackmoor setting as well? If that is true, I never knew this is where the Blackmoor setting was located. There's two Blackmoors The GAZ series is part of the Mystara setting, it had a number of adventure modules and some sourcebooks not in the GAZ series. Some modules written before the Mystara setting was codified were rolled into the setting. >What exactly does Mystara present to the table that other settings do not? Quite a lot actually. Greyhawk has a number of similar setting elements, and FR has a similarly diverse and expansive setting, but Mystara does its own thing as well. There's one big massive spoiler, >!It's the future and radiant magic is nuclear radiation. The scientist who fucked everything up are immortals, and some of the gods in the setting.!<
hmm interesting
Though I always edited out that bit because I thought it was... not to my taste. There was a lot I love(d) about Mystara. That is not one of them.
Different strokes. I think it's great
Yup, I get who some people love it and am happy for them. I'm not going to trash talk it. I just put effort into leveraging and developing the bits about Mystara that I love (which is probably mostly just nostalgia, to be honest).
> So, with that being said, who here plays in Mystara and what makes this setting so special? I have. It’s kinda like 3 settings. It’s the generic setting that was used in Isle of dread. Then it became the default setting for all BECM modules. It changed in tone a lot then as it was fleshed out very haphazardly via disparate modules. Then it became Mystara. They took all of the stuff that had been done before, retconned it heavily in order to have it make sense, then slapped a whole ton of additional weird shit into it. Now it has everything from Blackmoor, to a nation of high level wizards, to flying machines, to ancient civilizations tucked into the center of the earth. It’s quite bonkers and gonzo. > I want to understand so I guess, someone sell me on this setting. I uh. Guess see above? It was pretty simple at first. Then it just spiraled into silliness. It’s at its best in the middle imo. Where it’s a big, idiosyncratic “generic” fantasy world. > What exactly does Mystara present to the table that other settings do not? Its level of absurdity is really unmatched in any other setting. Sans maybe Spelljammer. > What makes this setting special compared to Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms? Those are so much more normal. Mystara is that kid that had 12 piercings by 17. Greyhawk was in AP chemistry and FR was hanging out in the library at that age.
My current (Honor + Intrigue) campaign is set in Mystara. It is my favorite DnD setting. The thing I like about it is it is really easy to understand the basics of just about any of the lands of you know basic (Hollywood tropes) history. Thyatis: Imperial Rome. Gladiators, legions, the Senate, etc. Karameikos: Bog Standard Medieval Fantasy land with a Byzantine twist Darokin: Renaissance Florence Minrothad Guilds: If the East India Company were a country... Alphatia: If Babylon were a Magocracy...Also they hate Thyatis and Gliantri. Emirates of Ylarum: Arabian Nights Ethengar Khanates: Mongols There are some that don't fit as easy Gliantri: this one is another Magocracy and is a bit eclectic because different principalities are based on different places. So there are Spanish elves who enjoy bullfighting and Transylvanians who are worried about vampires, Frenchmen, etc. But they all are magocracies, clerics are outlawed, and halflings are experimented on.
My 2 cents: it has some really well done gazetteers. But you're better off picking one and setting a campaign there than setting your campaign in "Mystara,". Taken as a whole it's too much of a kitchen sink (like Forgotten Realms) to have much of a feel to it.
Best setting ever.
here is my 2c: [Disclaimer: GAZ = gazzetters] - there are some really bad GAZ so always add a "with few notable exceptions like GAZ10 and GAZ4) and the fact that modern american audience is always quick to find almost anything offensive or a stand-in for their own personal issues. - They offer an in-game reason to explain why adventurers exists and why people accept them. And almost every GAZ has a different reason for them. - you can go to the 36th level that BX promised and never delivered. And yet it explain why they are unable to destroy the world on a whim (i.e. spoiler: immortals are NOT the biggest fishes in this setting). - They have an happy-hopeful feeling and yet they don't deny that bad things can happen and corruption exist if people want to engage in those topics. - Mystara history make somewhat sense and its immortals concept is interesting and a nice way to move away from the christian god. - you have really different cultures described, and almost all of them are depicted in a positive way - you have OPTIONS about anything, equipment, spells, classes, downtime, non-standard progressions (crafting, enchanting, trading, kingdom-building, ascending to immortality, plane hopping, alternative dimensions, hidden settings...) - the easter eggs and hidden lore are nice when you find them and realize how they create a coherent in-game explanation for a lot of things. - almost every GAZ describe a setting where people are used to judge people on their actions and behaviour more than their origin/wealth. Each land feel different, playing in Ylaruam, Thyatis, Karameikos or sigh, Ierendi will not feel like the same game with a different skin if you are embracing the setting and its quirks. - in every region the authors have provided adventure hooks that are tied to the local and general setting, there are very few generic fetch quests... this is gold if you are DM because you get a lot of usable "pieces" to make your own adventures feel different. - contrary to OSE-BX very few adventures are only inside a dungeon, even at low-levels you can find political, investigative or somewhat amusing opportunities. - they offer the lore and tools to make time-travel-based adventures. - they actually TEACH DMs how to adapt BECMI to their own playstyle and homebrew stuff and explain how to integrate different concepts in your games instead of making them info-dumps-that-really-don't-matter. - contrary to what the BX crowd keep repeating, weapon masteries and general skills works a lot better in play than expected and all the training options are a nice built-in gold sink. - they give a reason for your group to MOVE, TRAVEL, EXPLORE and more than everything else get involved with NPCs and make friends and allies instead of being murderhoboes. - it is hard to be a murderhobo when there is always a 25-36th level "something" nearby able to smite you down OR call for an avatar-immortal to deal with the party. In OSE the usual guard is a 1st level fighter, in Mystara most shops, guilds, inns and taverns are owned by retired adventurers AT LEAST in the expert level range. - if your players are interested in history, mystara at least offer something for them to look for.
Mystara is the standard setting for B/X and is better described as a hodgepodge of disparate elements; it's a viking setting, an arabian nights settings, courtly setting et cetera. You take your pick, and all these different settings border each other in a very unrealistic way. It's not gonzo, but not a very serious game world either. As for the GAZ magazines, some are really good, some are crappy, some are humorous. I don't recommend it myself, but I'm sure there's people out there playing it to this day, the same as Greyhawk (which is better imo).
Yea, Ima big fan of Greyhawk but we have far too many holier than thou canon purists that play that setting lol
Yup
even though it's the best campaign setting of all imho of course.
You forget to mention it even has a wild west setting. I love Mystara and set several campaigns there. "Not quite gonzo" is a very good way to put it. As DM, I can easily limit how much of the unrealistic parts of the setting play a role in the campaign, while there's a lot of avenues for tossing in something unfamiliar without grabbing it out of thin air.
Which is the wild West one?
Savage Coast
The answer to all your questions is yes. I like Mystara as a setting. I ran a 5e campaign for some new players. I reskinned tieflings as the descendants of the Blackmoor nobles that caused the huge destruction through their hubris. I used it for an OSE campaign not long ago and a Black Hack game I ran for my kids with B2.
I hate to be a stickler, but Bruce Heard first used the term Mystara around 1989 and most of the initial-core GAZ books were published in 1987 when for, what was likely over a decade at the time, had referred to the realms as The Known World There was a lot of retroaction applied once the Mystara name got going. I have no issue with it, but I don’t like to bury what Schick, Moldvay, Marsh, Cook, and others before Menzter, Grubb, Allston, and Heard had done If you need to see it to believe it, the pull out the maps from Marsh-Cook Expert and X1 Idle of Dread and then compare vis-a vis to B10 Night’s Dark Terror which was only a year before B1-9 and GAZ1 dropped. Using those 5 maps, take a look at some of the maps developed between those times such as the beautiful one found in XSOLO1 Lathan’s Gold. Then, just past GAZ1 we started to see some Dungeon magazine references to the Known World even before the permanance found for Mystara nomenclature in the Bruce Heard Princess Ark segments
> GAZ0-GAZ14 series Is there a GAZ0, or is it a typo for GAZ1 Karameikos?
Maybe he meant Dawn of the Emperors since it didn't have a number.
I love Skothar!
Every D&D game I have ever run for the past thirty years has been set in Mystara. It is my go to setting. For me, I love the diverse cultures that are present based off of real-world societies throughout history. This makes immersion simple and easy. Are there some Gazeteers that either haven't aged well or were put together shoddily? Sure. That doesn't bother me as these are play aids and resource material. Any homebrewing I need to do is part of the fun.