blydddreug
Apprentice Douchebag
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Posts: 69
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Post by blydddreug on Jan 9, 2018 18:11:06 GMT -8
I got a couple of the old school TSR trail maps for Christmas. For those who are unfamiliar, the trail maps are 36" x 57" paper maps. They are a hex layout and the scale is typically quite large (8 miles per hex or so). I got the Kara-Tur map, Krynn map and the two maps that make up the continent of Brun on Mystara - the "Known World" lands for the original BECMI Mentzner D&D boxed sets. Now that I have the maps I'm thinking about recreating a Mystara "sandbox". I only ever had the red and blue boxes (Basic and Expert) before heading onto the greener pastures of other "Advanced" game rules. Hence, I never really delved (heh!) into the world setting and background of 1980's D&D. I've done a bit of reading about Mystara and meta-plot that went along with BECMI here. I'm curious what the thoughts of Jackerfolk are on the Mystara setting and the BECMI goal of character progression towards Immortality.
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Post by akavidar on Jan 9, 2018 18:24:22 GMT -8
I always enjoyed that style of gaming, but some folks didn't like running domains when you get to name level. It could be a lot of bookwork. We never got past Companion level though. It started to get a little boring by then. A great resource is the GAZ series of Gazeteers of the Known World, which are available on DriveThru.
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blydddreug
Apprentice Douchebag
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Post by blydddreug on Jan 9, 2018 18:49:41 GMT -8
I always enjoyed that style of gaming, but some folks didn't like running domains when you get to name level. It could be a lot of bookwork. We never got past Companion level though. It started to get a little boring by then. A great resource is the GAZ series of Gazeteers of the Known World, which are available on DriveThru. Name level? Why did it get boring, too much bookkeeping?
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Post by akavidar on Jan 9, 2018 18:58:22 GMT -8
Name level is generally 9th, when the Fighter is rank "Fighter" and clerics rank is "Cleric". (Just checked, that must be AD&D, but 9th is when you get followers. It's actually Lord/Lady and Patriarch/Matriarch in D&D.) Boring partially because you are keeping track of your domain, but for us, I don't think our DM could think of interesting things for us to do. There was a lot of "A dragon is attacking a nearby village" that sort of thing.
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Post by ericfromnj on Jan 9, 2018 19:40:01 GMT -8
Now, domains are where it got fun for my players, but YMMV.
I second that the Gazateers help a lot when fleshing out the known world of Mystara.
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blydddreug
Apprentice Douchebag
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Posts: 69
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Post by blydddreug on Jan 9, 2018 20:15:08 GMT -8
Now, domains are where it got fun for my players, but YMMV. I second that the Gazateers help a lot when fleshing out the known world of Mystara. What's a domain?
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Post by ericfromnj on Jan 10, 2018 4:29:11 GMT -8
A domain is an area your PC rules either as a vassal for another lord or something independent for example he builds a castle in an area inhabited by monsters.
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blydddreug
Apprentice Douchebag
BAAAAD doggie!
Posts: 69
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Post by blydddreug on Jan 10, 2018 18:25:44 GMT -8
A domain is an area your PC rules either as a vassal for another lord or something independent for example he builds a castle in an area inhabited by monsters. I assume the domain system amounted to much bookkeeping? Actuarials & Accounting?!?!
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Post by ericfromnj on Jan 10, 2018 18:31:57 GMT -8
I wouldn’t call it a ton of book keeping but other may beg to differ. The worst part was making sure you were fully staffed but once you figured that out you just payed them every month.
The companion level book had interesting things happen to your domain.
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Jan 11, 2018 7:01:40 GMT -8
The Mystarra world was where we started at the castellan keep in ‘85 and basically stayed there for 10 years. Middle school through high school. Principalities of Glantri and the Northern Reaches were my favorite. The only thing you’ll find after playing in that world for a time is how “crowded” it is...I definitely began to create more blank spaces on the map so I could create.
If you get a hold of Nights Dark Terror it’s the single greatest sandbox module ever created for that world. It changed RPGs for me.
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Post by akavidar on Jan 11, 2018 18:33:36 GMT -8
Now, domains are where it got fun for my players, but YMMV. I second that the Gazateers help a lot when fleshing out the known world of Mystara. I always enjoyed playing at that level, but most of my friends did not. I had worked up to Count and had an Island as my domain, but everyone else was bored.
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Post by Probie Tim on Mar 4, 2018 9:01:34 GMT -8
One of my greatest D&D games took place in Mystara.
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