My middle son just asked for a bday gift of running their Mystara campaign all day. They're all level 2, and looking at level 3. We ran a modified King's Festival. Hopefully, they grow up realizing Mystara's superiority too. Children who are fed high quality stories demand them as adults.
Mystara has been my "homebrew" campaign setting since the mid 80s. I own almost every Gazetteer they made. I love it for all the reasons you laid out and more. It is a sandbox world with the hard parts filled in for you. I would love to see it reborn in 5E
I clearly remember waiting impatiently for each installment of the "Gazeteer" series to hit my local Waldenbooks ^_^ True, it didn't make much sense that an 'Arabian Adventures' style desert kingdom was within 'walking distance' of a Viking inspired one, but they were all fun. The Pathfinder setting of 'Golarion' pretty much does the same thing, with several cultures based on real world counterparts, with a few unique ones thrown in. Something I have been planning to do for, well decades now: The Commerce/Trading system introduced in the Republic of Darokin was really inspired, and I have always intended to 're-write' the system for use in D&D 3.5/Pathfinder. Maybe I'll get to that before the next decade is up ^_^
Btw, wanted to tell a story: A while back I made a few posts on Reddit about incorporating Mystara material into Eberron, since Keith Baker always says "If it exists in D&D it has a place in Eberron." There were a surprising number of Eberron fans who insisted that BD&D didn't count as D&D, and Keith's statement only applied to D&D material in print at the time of Eberron's publication. O.O
You know, it's funny, when I was a kid, I loved D&D and basically lived in those second edition books. The newer settings and editions all seem sort of underwhelming to me in comparison. I'm really enjoying learning about Mystara as it reminds me when the game still held a real sense of enchantment- as fantasy role playing games really should imho.
Hey, thanks for all your work on doing this! I enyoy your videos and the memories your bring back to me, when you speak about the old modules (my favorites are Rahasia and Isle of dread). I will never forget Blizzad-Pass, my really first contact with RPG. My friends and me are playing a D&D-Campagne in Mystara (mostley based in Karameikos and Thyatis) since 1992! Because there wasn't much material in german (yes, I'm from Germany and only a few modules were been translated), we had to made thinks up: Over the years we added our own rules, mixed Mystara with new ideas and playing with PCs between Lvl 1 to 24. And all with the original maps, NPCs (Bargel!) and events. It's still a hell of a fun!
@@danielgoldberg5357 It's like your favorite TV show never ends. I did some (german) Videos about it on my other YT-Channel. For example ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-L4ypWuXo6C0.html And btw: München is one of the most beautiful cities in germany!
I recommend not to ask Wizards of the Coast to bring back Mystara too much, because lately they have developed a tendency to destroy every good setting D&D had in the past. And since this is the best it ever had, I'd like it to stay that way. Just convert what you need and use it as it is, it's far better than let them convert it for you. ;)
As I learn more about Mystara, my main hang up is that I'm not sure how high and low magic cultures could coexist in such a small space. The advantage of having a single airship in a ground war just seems too great. Maybe I'll figure it out as I learn more.
Back when my RPG "career" started, it did so not with D&D but with the German DSA (English TDE) and then I found a game called D&D existed. I looked at it and found it to be sub-par to "my system". I bought the red basic box (BECMI) and found the rule to be lacking. However, there was one thing I liked very much and that was the D&D world. Then I discovered that D&D had not only one. Back then I was just slightly interested in Mystara, did not really know about Greyhawk and eventually read the Drizzt books. But it was the world of Mystara that I liked most and stole heavily from for my homebrew worlds. So yes, it would be great to see new stuff for it, not just adventures but new regions etc. However, I would love to see it stay with the style, cliches and overall tone of what it was, not be updated to modern PCness, it is a fantasy world in a fantasy game, not an example of and for modern morals. My best hope would be met if someone could buy the rights because WotC is unlikely to care about Mystara, it is not mainstream enough. And as they already botched up Spelljammer, who knows how effectively they could ruin Mystara.
I played Advanced, but I bought and read many of the Gazetteers. I found them very helpful and inspirational. I never really was a DM much, but I had a world built using parts of Mystara in addition to other sources. Great stuff.
Im fine with other settings, and yes i am mainly a realms fan. I do feel like most of the complaints you mentioned of other settings (and yes i agree with you on them adding races from other settings into every setting now) should be aimed more at wotc than any certain setting.
Great summary and big time Mystara fan since the beginning. One thing I think you forgot to mention: the timeline. Not just what happened in the past going back to Blackmoor, but the future timeline of major events that happen in the Poor Wizards Almanacs. It gave this vibrant setting a dynamic momentum that allowed your PCs to be involved in big and small world events.
New to DnD. I bought a Rules Cyclopedia at a Good Will a few months ago and I am HOOKED. I have bought Gazeteers and a crap load of BECMI content online. I've been reading Threshold magazine after work each night and I love them. Mystara is amazing. I have no desire to play any other edition.
I'm somewhat near finishing running the 5th Edition conversion of Isle of Dread for my party, and although in my version of the Isle of Dread the Isle is sealed off from the world in the Plane of Water and people can travel there from nearly every world, I still want to run for this party once the adventure is done. I started doing research on Mystara thinking "eh, it's not that detailed, but I kind of like that. Means I get to design my own stuff." Now I'm thinking it's going to be a massive endeavor to find all the lore, but I can't wait.
Hey Mr. Welch, great video! Sorry I had to bow out of doing SoD with you, but your enthusiasm is infectious! Since I missed the show, i didn’t get to tell you how your series has helped me understand the known world a lot more as we do the Gaz Series. Looking forward to the episode when Carl puts it out - Chrispy form Save or Die
I remember really liking the dynamic between the original isle of dread and then the indivigual nation publications. for anyone whose not aware, i think the isle of dread was the first mystara publication, and in the very beginning it gives a quick 2ish paragraph rundown of each of the major nations with reference to a close real world culture as well as a map. (the adventure didnt even really need it since the adventure was essentially all on the island). This was great for a general introduction to get the jist of places without it being a slog. while if you wanted to know more about an individual place, you could get the setting book.
Mystara is that one setting I've always been very interested in, but the barrier for just learning about it always seemed kind of high. While the discovery of your channel might alleviate that for me, I feel like it also has a bit of an appeal. Like a gleaming gem, lost to time.
I've dropped Blackmoor into Mystara where Soderfjord was. Blackmoor is a nice little micro-sandbox for them to get the hang of things and then each subsequent campaign I will probably throw them somewhere else.
I rediscovered d&d during the lock down watching critical roll so I purchased 5e box set and a few of the books but it didn't feel the same to me like playing DC super heroes so I went back to my beginning with Mulvey basic then I decovered drive true rpg to get new reprints of my favorite mods best of all they take up less space
I dont understand why you refrer to the immortals as demi-gods. from my understanding, the immortals of mystara are actually more deserving of being considered gods than the AD&D gods are.
Excalibur, Knight of the White Serpent & his friend Tambo the Devastator both like Mystara and take jobs there sometimes (e.g. training the townguard of Threshold, in Karameikos) and adventure there when not adventuring in Trollworld.
Greyhawk had the most organic feel, the feel of a world developed from the inside out as the personal world of a single group. The original Realms back in the greybox day was actually quite nice, but its far too overdeveloped and munchkinised now. Mystara had a certain Joie de vivre to it, a world that was created for the players to truly go nuts in and explore. It was the kind of world created by a new DM who hasnt been jaded or locked in yet to the standard tropes of DnD. I always liked it, even if i never played in it.
You know, I read Courtney Campbell's hackslashmaster article on "Why Race as Class is awesome", where he talks about how races being typecast into a particular class is indicative of their cultures NOT adapting to the environment and the times like humans are. Mystara definitely follows that pattern with all the diverse human nations and the other PC races having a single major homeland and some distant branches in human kingdoms. (Also, after reading the RPG system known as "52 pages", I really do like the idea of Elves being Sorcerer-type inborn Magic users because they are in fact magical creatures -justifies them picking up other skills and be fighter/mage multiclassers- while Humans have to be Wizard-type Magic users who have to have special resources just for the opportunity to study and experiment and labor and toil to learn magic.)
Congratulations on reaching 100 😁 I agree with your statement that this is the best setting. When ever I start or go to a new group Mystara is the first setting I run in basic D&D. Looking forward to your books been released or available to use. Keep going see you at episode 200 😁
Hi, I just stumbled across this video and am definitely going to take a look at all your other Mystara content. I'm of two minds about your plan to raise awareness of the setting so more content will be published. What are the chances that Wizards of the Coast will produce content as good as or true to the spirit of the original material. And there was so much published material, do we really need more content watering it down. Also, one of the strengths of the setting is that no millennials have ever heard of it. They don't know any of the bizarre secrets in store for them to find. Raising awareness of the setting is kind of giving away the keys to our secret castle.
Someone has a nostalgic crush! I don’t even know what to say....um ok? I’ll look into liking something that probably won’t even affect me (we play AD&D 2nd edition ruleset and home brew world. The players don’t care which setting because WE ARE PLAYING OUR OWN SETTING (emphasis not yelling).
I would like to see a Mystara setting, but I do not want Wizards of the Woke to release it, at least under their current leadership. They would ruin it. A team that would release Spelljammer with very little info on ship combat cannot handle the depth of Myatara.
I like this and love your passion. Mystara is one of my favorites but I hesitate to push to bring it back. That's because I don't wanna give it to 5E or whatever new shiny edition comes along. I'm an old possessive Grognard who wants to keep Mystara (AKA My Precious) for Basic D&D. Let the newbies try the fun that is Basic D&D with Mystara, not some 5E reworking. I'd rather have new Basic D&D material published for it than have another edition take it away. Good thing there's the Vaults of Pandius (although I have seen a lot of 5E conversions there, which was inevitable).
I didn’t know there was a D&D settings war. I love the in depth lore this post has, but...I come from the era where TSR we’re idiots, and just OG AD&D, where we built our own world and most players don’t give a flying flipped finger, what the atmosphere is in a fortkeep of gnomes has. But I’m game, I had to turn from D&D because of...well...girls. Sophomore year high school I boxed up, put in a bag, and that in a box, and hid my d&d from the world....until I was 42. So basically 1982-whatever year I was at a party. I came back and tried 3.5 edition (bleh), fourth edition (meh), d&d next (ok, wtf they doing here, turning d&d into Wow?), and fifth (which was next). Our group agreed 1million percent: AD&D 2nd Edition Rules. That was2005, when we started playing. We tried 3.5, but found it lacked the depth of previous rules. The ability to depict a combat encounter as something more then just “we attack, use our best powers, victory, now we rest” rinse, repeat.
I’m sorry I know you’re trying to be a somewhat serious gaming and lore channel, but all I can think about is your RPG hijinks list. It’s like getting to know Adam Sandler from all his wacky puerile comedy movies and then suddenly getting shown Uncut Gems, or growing up only knowing of George Carlin as the Thomas the Tank Engine narrator and then hearing his standup.
What is great about Mystara is the realistic balance that appears despite wonky rules. No edition did justice to epic levels. Too many splatbooks ruin other editions and their campaign worlds. Magic is defined by two spell lists, divine and arcane and each fit on a page. Yes, a 36th level character is strong, but despite many people have wish it still somehow works. You can build a flying castle or submarine, go crazy! Even the immortals balance each other and generate plot hooks instead of just making mortals look weak and trivial.
"Murder-hobos". If I were not a fan of D&D, and knew nothing of it, and someone told me it's just a game where players run around like murder-hobos, getting into fights with strangers, murdering them for no reason, I'd think it was a dumb game not worth the time of looking deeper into it. I've heard that phrase before, and I picture the people using it as not understanding the finer points. I'm a football fan(American football anyway, I do like soccer too). When I was in the hospital early January, there was a basketball game on. The only things I know about it are long shots are 3 points, close dunks are 2 points, and a foul gives the victim a free throw for an extra point or two. With football, to me, there seems to be "battle plans", strategies that sometimes require the quarterback(team leader in control of the ball), to call an audible(strategic change of plans upon seeing the opposing team's defensive line-up). You have linebackers, halfbacks, fullbacks, running backs, kickers(even as a fan there is much in terminology I don't understand). My point is, I can see game plans, I know there are strategies written in playbooks. I watch basketball, all I see is two teams shooting hoops with nothing looking like planned out strategies. It all looks improvised on the spot. My brother who knows more about it than I, has told me they do have playbooks as well, and key positions. I just gotta know what to look for. But if I was only told it's just some guys running back and forth trying to put a bouncing ball through a hoop, I might not care to even watch it. "Murder-hobos", who'd want to sit for a few hours watching people murder strangers for now reason going from place to place? Just an observation and some thoughts on the phrase☺. But, I could be wrong.
A character from the mid-1980's "I am playing a Nantu Starseeker, a Gnome from Ethangar, whose family three generations ago, went there on vacation and to see prospects a new resource market, and decided to never leave. We never felt connected to Gnomish society though we sought to prosper in it. The problem was everything was already done and our influence could not really stand out. We came to a remote part of Ethangar to create a superior mount, with gnomish engineering and design. The results were interesting but never were able to be scaled to the size of the people there, and it never caught on. The night of my birth was likewise the rumour of the birth of a yellow star of nine points appeared in the sky, three times as large as the moon, but for an instant. Many doubt it was seen as much as rumours gained traction through peer pressure. By time, I was reaching adolescence I was twice as tall as my parents, and couldn't be picked out of a lineup of archers from Ethangar, except by the constructed steed that carried me made of wood, stone, and ceramic. Never feeling connected to my family, and not able to really find my place in their society, I left my birthname where I left my home. I earned the name Nantu from an odd person who said it means "a bucket that is not ready to be emptied." I don't know if they were serious, but I liked the sound and introducing myself as "Starseeker" had made it hard for people to take me seriously. In hope of belonging, I returned to my own Gnomish roots where my own appearance and height, as well as the ways I was raised made me stand out even more. Eventually, I found some peace in Mirothad, among the people where I come to grog my days away and hire on for any crew that could afford my hands. They'll hire anyone for something. I felt at peace on deck, and and repurposed the material from my steed to serve as part of the framework for a corsair, that I hope one day sail through the skies, but first I have make it worthy of anything greater than the bay where it is harboured." Maybe then one day, I can find out is there is any truth to that rumour of my birth... I used to dream one day of a skyward land, built for tallfolk, where we took to the sky with the same glory and grace as the horsemen in the stories of my youth. Luckily, I have a Guild patron interested in this future I see, and he has helped bring together others who search for adventure. Or so he says, I meet them tomorrow. Because of the limited scope of Immortals and the lack of "Gods with Profile" in which they are omnipotent and sovereign, no setting other than Mystara has the versatility to promote DnD as a place where anything is possible, and the flexibility to let any idea be part of the game. It does not have to remain cookie cutter and for me and my friends, it never did. i played a gnome who looked like Bruce Lee, dressed like a extra from a pirate movie, and had a ship, later an airship, that thought it was a horse.
The second Wizards lets me publish it on the dungeon Master's Guild it will go live. Looking at $15 for the first 30 days and then going $20 thereafter it's going to be one of the largest books ever published the site that's not a reprint of an existing product
Any chance of compiling all the optional rules for BECMI into a guidebook? (Dwarven Priest from Rockhome Gazetter, Merchant Prince from Minrothad Guilds, Storytelling from Ylaruam, etc?) or has that already been done?
@@SimonAshworthWood You're wrong! They let other subraces make the tunnels, then they swoop in and take them or they have their slaves chip away at the stone. You really think Drow (even males) have to get their hands dirty? LOL
@@Mr_Welch thanks. That's pretty funny. I played Savage Coast years ago, I dont remember that County. My daughters wanted to play D&D, so we are playing in Mystara, using a mix of BECMI and 5e rules. We are playing the Savage Coast next.
Hi Mr Welch. I noticed some typos in the Mysyara handbook. What email would I use to send in corrections? I sent you a facebook messenger message. Thanks!
if your standard is the comparability of D&D cultures to those of earth's history, then ravenloft and masque of the red death got that better, to say nothing of the connection between fantasy and gothic literature. however, mystara has much to offer all the same.
Honestly, WoTC probably can't bring back Mystara. When TSR was starting to fold, there was a huge debate within the company over who actually owned the copyrights to what. These copyright disputes were never resolved. WotC openly admitted a while back that they don't want to even try to revive any of the classic settings, because they don't want to get entangled in the unresolved copyright disputes surrounding them! Yes, there's demand for it, but its just too much of a risk for them. Obviously, they don't want to get caught up in copyright battles with the estates of Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson themselves!
This has actually been a running throughline in my thoughts throughout the video. The Age of Lost Omens has all of these things but with the added advantage that it already gripped my attention with its core pantheon of cool deities (something no other setting has managed) and dedication to diverse gaming and acceptance.
Honestly I think it's just boring to basically make everything resemble our own history. Sounds like the main ideas around this setting could be put together by a random number generator where every number means one specific culture.
Agrre - that is why i do not dig Mystara as much as DL or the Realms, so much is based on our world cultures. Sure there are shades of those in FR in particular, but not so much you think its our world fantasied up.
Dungeons & Dragons has really fallen in the last couple of decades. It is an anemic pretender to the epic gateways to fantasies numerous and untold, as it once was. Also, you really, really don't want current Wizards affecting this setting.