The Red Book, or the WORLD OF MYSTARA Campaign Setting
Shane Henry
Hi Jenni and friends,
I want to lay out a vision I have for Mystara.
I like the work the group has done so far. I do want to say that, in addition to making a Conversion Guide which mechanically converts each Mystaran element piece-by-piece, I'd like to see an enthusiast go ahead and make an entire WORLD OF MYSTARA worldbook, and to publish it as a professional-quality PDF book. Such an endeavor would be limited only by the time, skill, and willingness of the author (along with access to certain software). There would be a Conversion Guide as an appendix to the Worldbook, but it'd be just that - an appendix
- whereas the vast bulk of the book would be an entirely new presentation of the World of Mystara as a whole.
The aim would be for this coterie-produced book - the WORLD OF MYSTARA Campaign Setting - to be so wonderfully and skillfully made, that it would be good enough for WotC to send to the printer and sell in retail stores across the country. Not that that would necessarily happen, but that level of quality would be its aim, including its mastery of the setting, its rules tightness, writing, graphic design, and illustrations.
Though the rules would be in the latest iteration of the D&D rules*, the worldbook would focus on one of its special strengths...nostalgia. In a poll on ENWorld awhile back, the Red Box was
voted the most memorable D&D cover (or something like that), and Goodman Games have capitalized on this for their Gazetteer of the Known Realms: http://www.goodman-games.com/5034preview.php. Nostalgic elements would include:
- The cover of the worldbook, known informally as the "Red Book," would be in exactly the same style as the "Red Box" of yore, with the same colors and fonts, except it would be a shiny hardcover instead of a box.
- It would even have the text at the bottom saying: "This game requires no gameboard because the action takes place in the players imagination with dungeon adventures that include monsters, treasures, and magic.
- However, instead of the old white "DUNGEONS & DRAGONS" logo, there would be a "WORLD of MYSTARA” in the same font, with the "of" stylized into a dragon (like the old "dragon-ampersand").
- The line beneath the logo, stating "FANTASY ROLE-PLAYING GAME" would be replaced by a white version of the current D&D logo, and the line: "SET 1: BASIC RULES" would be replaced by "CAMPAIGN SETTING".
- The white TSR logo at the bottom would be replaced by a white WotC logo.
- For the Elmore red dragon and warrior art, the coterie publication would either:
- Simply use the TSR artwork without permission, as a publicity stunt; and then replace it if WotC complained.
- Or have a fan-artist paint a new version of the painting done in the same style, with the same two characters at a different stage in the battle. (If it were actually published by WotC, then a Todd Lockwood version of the Elmore red dragon and
warrior painting would be in order.) - The interior illustrations would either:
- Have reproductions of the the TSR Basic Set artwork; and then replace them if WotC complained.
- Or have fan-art mimicking the style of the classic OD&D artists, such as Elmore and Easley (my personal favorite style being that of the British artist Helen Bedford, who illustrated B10: Night's Dark Terror and the chapter intro pages of AC9: Creature Catalogue.)
Other features of the Red Book:
- The d20 Mystara Reality would explicitly be a separate reality from the OD&D
and 2E Mystara Realities - nothing that was published in the new line would
officially affect the continuity of the other realities. - All of the various Mystaran “sub-settings” would be presented as a unified WORLD OF MYSTARA Campaign Setting. So the Red Book would cover the Known
World of the Gazetteer line, the Savage Coast/Red Steel, and the Hollow World. Also the various semi-Mystaran mini-settings would be integrated into Mystara's Multiverse, including: Ghyr, Thunder Rift, Karawenn (in Norwold, based on the suggestion of Bruce Heard), Pelinore (on the flat planet of Mystara's solar system), the Desert of Desolation (in Ylaruam), and the Dream Lands (of the Hebrew OD&D modules). There would be a section describing how Blackmoor fits into Mystara. - There would be lots of maps, including:
- A hex map of both the outer world (not the style of the Hollow World boxed set).
- A hex map of the Hollow World. Unlike TSR's HW map, this map would show the country boundaries.
- Three regional hex maps: one for each of the main outer world regions:
- Known World
- Savage Coast (including the Arm of the Immortals), and
- Thyatis & Alphatia (Dawn of the Emperors was originally called the Thyatis & Alphatia Campaign Set: http://www.pandius.com/tome/tomevol4/allston.html )
- Since it would be d20 Mystara, it is fitting that the book be set in AC 1020. Bruce Heard's World in Flames timeline might be used as the default.
- There'd be a companion website containing:
- 1) Whatever articles from the Vaults of Pandius are official in the Red Book conception of Mystara.
- 2) A Product Guide with links to purchase the OD&D and 2e Mystaran downloads from Paizo and RPGNow, and with a PDF conversion guide for each product.
All the best,
Travis
"Bruce Heard's Talking 3e": http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=696104
"True20 Mystara": http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=659505
And here are some wild wishlists where I outlined some follow-up products to the Red Book I'd like to see:
"Tales of the Comeback Inn": http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=677341
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darth_borehd
conversions that were on the Yahoo board and would like to help get
them listed in the Red Book.
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