Threshold Issue #6
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#13 The Mystara Magazine The thirteenth isue of the Mystara magazine, featuring a collection of humanoids and monstrous species pandius.com thepiazza.org.uk Previous Issues Previous Issues Previous issues of THRESHOLD - the Mystara Also available at the same location are higher Magazine, are available for download from the resolution versions of the maps that were Vaults of Pandius website. included in the issue’s PDF, allowing greater detail to be viewed. #1 #2 #3 #4 Karameikos Vaults of Pandius The Sea of Dread Return to Dread #5 #6 #7 #8 Exploring The Northlands Exploring Warlords Davania Norwold of Norwold #9 #10 #11 #12 Hollow World Elven Realms Thyatis & Alphatia Ages Past THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #13#11 Issue Contents ISSUE #13 Editorial.................................................................................3 This Issue s Contributors......................................................4 Call for Contributors.............................................................5 Sentient Races of Mystara.....................................................6 The Bhut of Sind..................................................................80 Undead of Elegy Island.......................................................92 Treatise on the History of Lycanthropy............................123 Nations of the Duskward Rim...........................................138 The Unknown World Trail map - part I.............................156 Koskatep Level 11: Kalasah, The Black Hearth.................200 Hesperia - the Dungeon master’s Guide...........................219 Using Blackmoor in Your Mystara Campaign...................250 BSolo: The Guildhouse......................................................258 Time’s Travels....................................................................261 Artwork Sources and Credits............................................263 Next Issue..........................................................................270 Threshold: The Mystara Magazine is a non-commercial, fan-produced magazine. There is no intention to infringe on anyone's rights, and in particular not on those of Wizards of the Coast, which holds all rights to the original material on which the magazine is based. THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #12 Editorial Editorial Credits Threshold Editorial Team: Editor-in-Chief, Issue 13: Giampaolo Agosta (Agathokles) Allan Palmer (AllanP) Francesco Defferrari (Sturm) Layout: Giampaolo Agosta (Agathokles) Allan Palmer (AllanP) Håvard John Calvin (Chimpman) Art: Joseph Setorius (Julius Cleaver) I. Calvin Robert Nuttman (RobJN) John Calvin (Chimpman) Simone Neri (Zendrolion) William McAusland Cartography: Editors Emeriti Francesco Defferrari (Sturm) John Calvin (Chimpman) Andrew Theisen (Cthulhudrew) Angel Tarragon Jesper Andersen (Spellweaver) Additional Reviewers & Proofreaders: Thorfinn Tait (Thorf) Brian O'Carroll Troy Terrell (CmdrCorsiken) Harri Mäki (hihama) Nicola Valpiani Robin D THRESHOLD logo designed by Thorf Shawn Stanley (stanles) William Belben Thanks To: The Mystara Community, for your support, hard work, and dedication to Mystara. The aims of Threshold magazine: ▪ to provide a venue for community members to present material ▪ to promote the Vaults of Pandius and the material there ▪ to increase the exposure of existing and new articles ▪ to encourage authors to revisit and revitalise existing articles ▪ to motivate interest in Mystara in general 2 THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #13 Editorial Whether weird or traditional, monsters are a series, which introduced dozens of new staple of Dungeons & Dragons, and playable creatures in BECMI and Mystara, therefore naturally of Mystara. Like many and to the Orcs of Thar Gazetteer, a other "general" settings, Mystara provides a precursor of sort to that series. bewildering range of different creatures. In this sense, D&D takes omnivorous Our treatment of the many creatures that inspiration from literature, mythology, and populate Mystara begins with a long overdue art -- which we have chosen to honor by revision and completion of the sentient featuring a detail from the right panel of beings list, initiated by Matthew Levy some Hieronymus Bosch's triptych masterwork, the two decades ago. The issue then delves into Garden of Earthly Delights. In turn, D&D specific beings with articles on Bhut, the provides inspiration to modern literature and peculiar quasi-undead shapechangers which art -- as can be seen, for example, in the originally appeared in module X4 Master of range of inhabitants of China Mieville's the Desert Nomads, lycanthropes, and fantastic city of New Crobuzon in Perdido undead. The issue's theme concludes with a Street Station. guide to the wilderness areas on the Known World map, and their inhabitants. We then While all of this could be said for most D&D return to Blackmoor, analyzing its campaign settings, Mystara has the distinction of being uses and different versions, and complete the one of the first to allow a wide range of non- overview of Hesperia. Finally, a short standard character races, ranging from adventure for a single Thief character, and goblins to werewolves, from pooka to our recurring columns, Koskatep, the Hollow gremlins, and from sea giants to sphinxes. Moon series, and the Mogreth Lego Comic, Such a selection remained unparalleled until round out the issue. at least 3E's Savage Species, and can be considered a distinguishing point when comparing Mystara with the settings originating from AD&D. Thus, this issue can Giampaolo Agosta (Agathokles) be seen as a homage to the Creature Crucible Issue 13 Editor-in-Chief 3 THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #13 This Issue s Contributors This Issue’s Contributors Giampaolo Agosta (a.k.a. Agathokles) Even though Sturm (a.k.a. Francesco agrees with Schiller that "man is only Defferrari) loves any alternate world, he completely a man when he plays". Therefore, believes Mystara is incomparably the best for he makes a point of taking gaming seriously, its vibrant community endlessly delving into and real life casually. Besides Mystara, his ethnography, linguistics and history just to gaming interests include (among others) make a little sense of it. Something like the Dark Sun, Planescape, Ravenloft, Birthright, real world, but with dragons. Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars and Witchcraft RPG. Håvard (aka Håvard Blackmoor) does not, I. "Meandrathel" Calvin enjoys drawing contrary to popular theory, have six arms. fantasy, and animals that can kill. Namely When he is not writing about Mystara at The wolves, dragons, horses, and most large Piazza or is working on his Blackmoor Blog, felines. Human animal hybrids are not he goes out raiding neighbouring villages excluded either; she often draws human like any true Norwegian. He also runs The versions of her favorite animals. She does, Comeback Inn, a forum dedicated to Dave however, despise drawing things that are Arneson's Blackmoor. unbearingly cute. It's a pretty awful thing to do. "What was that? Did you see that?" Gregor stopped and stared at his companion. The John Calvin is fascinated by the depth of frantic Hin was obviously hallucinating. Mystaran history, and has always wanted to "You drank from the fountain didn't you." share that more fully with players. To that - Sean Robert Meaney end he has been developing sub-settings like The Hollow Moon and Mystara 2300 BC. Giulio Caroletti started playing in Mystara with the old red box in 1992, and hasn't stopped since. He went "internet" on the MML as Captain Iulius Sergius Scaevola in 1999, and has since written mostly about Thyatis and Dwarves. When not busy pretending to be a Thyatian officer, he lives a boring life as an atmospheric physicist from Rome, Italy. His main interests are light-eyed girls, soccer (he's an AS Roma fan) and rock music (especially 70s progressive rock). 4 THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #13 Call for Contributors The Threshold editorial team invites all fans Articles about other topics are still of the Mystara setting to submit welcome and the editorial team will contributions to the magazine's next issue. evaluate their publication for any We are especially looking for contributions upcoming issue, taking into account fitting the following themes: available space and the issue's theme. Issue 14 - The Shadowdeep Threshold accepts and invites submissions What lies beneath your feet? Whether of extended or revised versions of works standing on Mystara's surface, or the Land having appeared on The Piazza or Vaults of the Red Sun, the answer remains the of Pandius. same… The Shadowdeep! The editorial Contributions may include, but are not team is accepting proposals detailing limited to: Articles-- short stories, short underground labyrinths, degenerate adventure modules, NPCs, historical civilizations, and anything else you might treatises and timelines, geographical find between the surface of Mystara and entries, new monsters and monster the Hollow World. ecologies, etc.; and Illustrations-- portraits, maps, heraldry, illustrations, etc. Proposal Deadline: September 30th 2016 Manuscript Deadline: October 31th, 2016 The Threshold editorial team strives for Issue Published: By January 15th, 2017 edition neutrality, but edition specific articles (e.g., conversions) are also accepted. Statistics for new monsters and Call for proposals for main themes of NPCs may be included in articles (e.g., forthcoming issues (2017): adventure modules, new monsters or NPCs) in any version of Dungeons & Issue 15 -