In reply to Kareth Melphis (msg # 35):

My Kung Fu is a little weak when it comes to Mystara.  Is there a good site I can use for reference?

Vaults of Pandius, google it.

To Mysterion:

  Are we using the Language Private groups? i.e. Are they setup?
This message was last edited by the player at 21:32, Wed 22 Jan 2014.

If the answer to Gierdon's question is "yes", then my languages are: Common, Elven, Harpy, Neutral, and Orc.

Kareth has probably heard whispers about the Radiance, but he'll know about the Day of Dread, also known as the Wrath of the Immortals. It was a day 44 years ago when all magic ceased to exist. It lasted for a week before the magic came back.

It caused a lot of upheaval, and nothing has quite been the same since.


I don't really know what the Language Private groups is, but I suppose we're using it.

I think it's private tags for characters who speak whichever language.  For example, when Rodrigo is speaking Elven, what he says would only be seen by players who speak Elven, so as to prevent meta-gaming from those non-Elven speakers.

In reply to Anneth Mage-Singer (msg # 41):

Mysterion, I love your Avatar, but I won't lie: having The Specter staring at me all the time makes me feel like I'm being judged. ;p

OK, so there are free dwarves in Glantri nowadays. And, it seems, halflings. And clerics.

If I recall, Alfheim has been destroyed in this timeframe?

Are any of the GAZ3 - era princes and principalities different in this campaign/timeframe?

And the Radiance is no longer a hidden secret that requires years of research to even get a hint of? I refer to the mention of the Radiance in relation to the magical necklace.

Thanks, just want a clear picture.

Whew! You know a lot more about Mystara than I do!


I was never a big fan of mass alterations to countries and borders. It kind of got back to the old Greyhawk map... in theory, your PCs could go out and conquer the Duchy of Urnst, but there was no way you could change the borders on the map or even the name. So what was the point of having this huge full color map if it stopped being accurate after a month of play?

I haven't read most of the GAZ in any detail, and when I did, it was 20 years ago!

I guess I'm stuck with Alfheim having been destroyed.

The whole point of Glantri getting besieged by the hordes is that everything changed afterwards. Some changes were big and obvious, some were small and subtle. Some lasted, some didn't. Some were good, some were bad.

The secret of the Radiance became less of a secret, particularly now that it was 'tainted'. Glantri discovered the hard way that it couldn't be so damn arrogant and survive. But just because Ember Rain is tossing around the term 'Radiance' rather cavalierly doesn't mean everyone knows about it.

Because there have always been heirs to the thrones, the principalities have remained, and were rebuilt when devastated. No matter what you take away from them, the land always remained.

There are now 13 principalities. Some have risen and fallen in prominence, and there are only 4 of the personalities that remain from the time before, and even they are getting old.

Belcadiz is the only one that has remained 'unscathed'. That's not to say they haven't had their share of troubles, but none of them were so devastating that they couldn't recover.

The one that suffered the worst was Averoigne.

I am a big fan of Mystara, and most especially of Glantri! But I don't go around memorizing gaming supplements. It just happens that in the game I'm running I'm planning on having the party go to Glantri soon, so I've read up on it recently.

You and I are somewhat kindred spirits, it seems. I see no reason to muck up a game setting that I've bloody-well paid for, and to change whatever it was that I liked about it in the first place. I want to use that setting for a good long time, and that means that I don't change the status quo in my campaigns. So my games use the GAZ series as-is, and while characters may become heroes, the Prince remains the Prince, and as with you, the borders don't change.

This is why I reject any changes to a campaign history that I don't create in my own games. Especially changes made by a publisher, "advancing" a timeline. I think Glantri rocks, and I wouldn't want to mess with it myself, because then it follows that it will rock less.

So, while I bought the products that changed Mystara, I breezed through them once and put them on the shelf (if I even still have them). So, you surprised me when I learned that this game was set after that whole explosion thing.

I may make some mistakes IC, so if I do I trust you'll allow me to go back and edit them.

I'm making it up as I go, so I'm not likely to notice any 'mistakes'. I tend to incorporate them into the game anyway.

I forgot Glantri has canals! So everybody is treading water now!

It's got some plazas and walkways. :) You said we were in a marketplace, so I assumed in 'the' marketplace, which is decidedly dry. And the second largest plaza in the city.

The laws I was quoting IC are in the GAZ, though. I wasn't making up something and trying to influence your campaign, I thought I was playing the setting. Glantri is described as a country by and for spellcasters, called "Arcaners." Anyone who isn't a caster is a "Mundaner," and is a 2nd-class citizen in a very real way. Those thugs who insulted Rodrigo were due for a stint in the Citadel of Sighs, getting tortured, just for insulting him. And the justice system uses ESP spells to verify what happened. They can't even argue in court unless they get a license for public speaking, in advance.

So, if clerics are no longer outlawed, but are still "unwanted and discouraged," have they been given the 1st-class citizenship of an "Arcaner?"

In reply to Rodrigo (msg # 47):

Geez.  That's a lot more detail than I was expecting.

The DM told me to whip up a character and choose a 1 or 2 lined back story.

I've been playing under the assumption that this was an old school fantasy adventure romp.

Oh, Glantri is and should be old school. And I know much, much less than most Mystara fans, and can't be bothered with trivia. But the points I brought up are the defining characteristics of Glantri. It's a mageocracy, in a microcosm of Europe. Otherwise you could set a game just anywhere... ;)

My pc only has a couple of lines of background, too, never fear. And there's nothing wrong with dungeon-romping from where I'm sitting! Truly, I'm having loads of fun, and happy to roll with our DM.

One of the reasons I set the timeline 50 years into the future was so I wouldn't have to worry too much about that kind of detail, figuring that enough time had passed that things could have changed to accommodate any inconsistencies.


But, yeah, Glantri is a mageocracy... their arrogance stemmed from their belief that all the magic of Mystara came from the Radiance, which was under Glantri City. When the hordes from the crater besieged the city, that arrogance was taken down a peg, since all their vaunted magical superiority didn't 'protect' them.

They were rescued by the Heldannic Knights, taking them down another peg.

Then, when the magic went away, that arrogance was taken down yet another peg or two. Clerics were suddenly 'the power'.


Anyway, things aren't always what they seem. Just because they were 'thugs' in appearance and demeanor doesn't mean they couldn't do magic, even it was only a tiny bit. Also, it wasn't them that were 'magic immune', it was a protection that the pub had because the owner was tired of having his placed trashed by magic.

Corruption still occurs, but in a bureaucracy, it often becomes SOP. There's no ethics, and there can never be enough rules and laws that cover every contingency.

So then, I have no idea of where to lead the IC conversation. Without any guidance, I was going to suggest that we return to that tavern and try a little investigation. Either to obtain the presumed anti-magic item (reward, reward!) or to spy on whatever was so secret. But if my character's assumptions were not in accord with the setting, then my thought is to sit with my new friends for a bit, eating and drinking, until something happens.

Anneth's fortune telling is part "legitimate business", and part "I'm going to do some cold-reading and see if I can't find out about adventure!".  While she is interested in funding her research in a steadier way, she's one of those ill-adjusted apples that decided adventure would be a good way to fund things, as well.  So, she's flexible!

Okay, sorry if I mislead you on anything.

This adventure/campaign isn't 'carved in stone'. I'm pretty much making it up as I go along. Just because I said something above doesn't mean that's what would happen. I ony mentioned the thugs and the anti-magic inn as an example of not everything is always as it appears.

Was your character wrong? Not necessarily. I was trying to point out that there are other ways to interpret events, and you shouldn't lock yourself into a single option.

If you want to go to the pub and investigate, that's perfectly reasonable.

Mystara was always my favorite D&D setting.  It has a rich history, but enough 'empty/open' space for characters to truly leave an imprint on the world.

Neat!  I like that approach.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:20, Tue 28 Jan 2014.

In reply to Anneth Mage-Singer (msg # 55):

Are we waiting on something?

In reply to Talis Aramorn (msg # 56):

Perhaps you're waiting for the three of us to get into a predicament, so you get the opportunity to join us?

Just waiting on me to get some free time to post (when I'm conscious). Had 3 strange days, thought today would be back to normal, but Plan A feel apart. And Plan B has expanded into tomorrow!

My friend's mom has daily doctor appointments even through the weekend and he works long overnight hours, so I've been roped into playing chauffer.

Unless something else goes wrong, things should be back to normal on Sunday.

In reply to Mysterion (msg # 58):

No worries.  I was just wondering if you might be waiting for us to say "We leave the house" or something like that.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:41, Sat 01 Feb 2014.

Sorry folks.  On a business trip to Johannesburg, very long days and hotel internet is rough.

Will post as soon as I am able but GM please NPC me if necessary to keep the game flowing.