® A DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Campaign Setting TThhee KKnnooww nn WWoorrlldd Editing & Design : Roger Girtman Content Contributors : Giampaolo Agosta, Jamie Baty, Angelo Bertolli, Marco ‘DM’ Dalmonte, Håvard Faanes, ‘Estlor’, Vernon Geisz, Roger Girtman, Bruce Heard, and Andrew ‘Cthuludrew’ Theisen Cover Design : Shane Henry and Thorfinn Tait Cover Artist : Larry Elmore Interior Illustrators : Terry Dykstra, Larry Elmore, Jeff Easley, Timo Heikura Cartographer: Thorfinn Tait and Håvard Faanes Typesetting: ‘Kenshi’ Project Director : Roger Girtman Acknowledgements : The MYSTARA™ Campaign Setting is a derivative work based on the original DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and the Third Edition DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game designed by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter Adkison, and the Known World/MYSTARA campaign setting developed by Aaron Allston, Brian Blume, Ann Dupuis, Anne C. Gray, Bruce Heard, Frank Mentzer, Tom Moldvay, Steve Perrin, Garry Spiegle, Stephen D. Sullivan, Ralph Wagner, Jim Ward, and Jean Wells among others. Many additional thanks go to the various members of the MYSTARA Message Board and Mailing List as well as The Piazza Bulletin Board. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and D&D are registered trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. MYSTARA, HOLLOW WORLD, and SAVAGE COAST are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Wizards of the Coast is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the United States and other countries and is used with permission. The VAULTS OF PANDIUS: THE OFFICIAL MYSTARA HOMEPAGE has exclusive rights to distribute new fan material for the MYSTARA campaign setting on the World Wide Web. All trademarked material and proper nouns is designated as Product Identity belonging to Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product requires the use of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, Third Edition Core Books, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and utilizes updated material from the v.3.5 revision. This work is protected under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. This work may not be sold commercially in the US or abroad. It may be electronically replicated (“downloaded”) in its entirety for personal use. ©2009 Vaults of Pandius (pandius.com). All Rights Reserved. ©2009 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Compiled in the United States of America. Visit our website at http://www.pandius.com/. Introduction Sprawling across the boundaries of the Known World, like a Mystara is a world of constant surprises. Where else great, serpentine dragon, lies the bustling, ever-startling world would you expect to find a flying city, a magical mountain, a of Mystara™, a land where the only constant is change. floating continent, and invisible moon complete with Mystara has managed to survive through three disasters inhabitants, and entire region of the world with its population of cataclysmic proportions. The first such disaster, the Great held under the sinister, body-altering influence of a mysterious Rain of Fire, came about some four millennia ago. It was magical substance? What other land possesses and entire then that the ancient Blackmoors, master of magic and separate world inside its hollow core, with neither the world’s technology, loosed their powerful weapons on the land in an population aware of the existence of the other? Armageddon that forever changed the face of the world. In Mystara, you’ll discover brave adventurers, powerful Although the people of BLACKMOOR™ failed to survive mages, evil villains, majestic dragons, lurking monsters. An this self-inflicted calamity, they were nevertheless players in the entire civilization that has survived underground for hundreds second major disaster some thirteen hundred years later, when of years, a nation of halflings, an island kingdom of pirates. unsuspecting elves unwittingly detonated a powerful artifact Immortals who dabble in the affairs of mere mortals for their left behind by the men of BLACKMOOR. The resulting own amusement. An entire race that has migrated to explosion not only wiped out whole races but also brought Mystara from another world. about a change in climate that spawned a new ice age. Fire and air magic… In more modern times, vengeful gods and goddesses A blighted, magically enchanted forest… brought about a series of cataclysmic events known as the A sunken continent… Wrath of the Immortals. A great meteorite struck the land, It’s all here, and much, much more, when you dare to an entire continent sank beneath the ocean, and a deadly visit the magical world of Mystara! plague began to spread. iv Introduction About MYSTARA continuing the development of completely new So you're new to the MYSTARA campaign settings… material as well as deliberate expansions on original or at least you think you are. If you've come to source material. As a result, MYSTARA has remained D&D® fairly recently, perhaps with the release of alive and well to this day. the 3rd Edition rules or maybe even during the If you are interested in investigating this great 1990's, MYSTARA quite probably is a whole new wealth of fan developed material, the place to go is realm for you and your gaming buddies to explore. the VAULTS OF PANDIUS, which has the stamp of approval as the "Official Mystara Website" from However, if you're an old-time D&D player but ® don't think you've ever encountered MYSTARA Wizards of the Coast . before; you may be surprised by some of the Defining Mystara information that follows. Here you'll find a brief overview of the origin of Mystara is a high-magic, high-fantasy, high- MYSTARA and a discussion of the things that really adventure world; not unlike Wizards of the Coast's define the campaign and give it the flavor and other settings. So, one might ask, why bother with atmosphere we love and hope you'll enjoy too. MYSTARA when these other, settings are available? Long time gamers may already recognize Well, while MYSTARA may have its roots in fantastic MYSTARA by a different name: the Known World. magical adventure, it portrays this theme in its own This was the campaign setting created and exciting and unique ways. developed by TSR, Inc. for its original DUNGEONS A good campaign setting, as every role-player & DRAGONS® line, variously referred to as BD&D worth his or her salt knows, has a unique style and (for "Basic"), OD&D (for "original," or "old"), 0e theme to it. Pause a moment and think about a few D&D (for "zero edition"), or more recently as different campaign settings. Each setting has an aura CD&D (for “classic”). Developed to an incredible or "flavor" to it, which is what makes it stand out, level of detail through TSR's publication of 20+ worthy in its own right. regional campaign accessories, Mystara would So what makes Mystara different from other eventually include three complete campaign settings, "high magic, high fantasy, high adventure worlds", all located on the same planet yet having certain and what sort of adventure can you expect to find elements that made each distinct in its own right. there? These three settings are known as the Known World, RED STEEL™/SAVAGE COAST™, and the Diverse Culture ™ HOLLOW WORLD . Mystara comprises a richly detailed tapestry of Collectively, and in the humble opinion of the cultures that exist side-by-side. Want to play a fans, Mystara consists simply of the most well traditional knight in shining armor in a feudal developed, world-spanning fantasy campaign pseudo-European setting? Fancy trying your hand at settings that TSR ever produced. The MYSTARA line a Viking berserker or a Roman gladiator? Perhaps ® nd enjoyed a brief existence as an AD&D , 2 Ed. you'd prefer to be a renaissance swashbuckler, a Setting, but production was canceled in the mid horse-warrior Mongol from the arid steppes, or a 1990's. Despite no longer being actively produced, Native American shaman? Or perhaps you're fond MYSTARA has always maintained a strong presence of the culture of China, or India, or Egypt? in the online community. Many fans have spent In Mystara, there's somewhere with something copious amounts of spare time dedicated to for everyone, no matter what their tastes are. v Introduction Don't, however, think that this means Mystara is evil) in nature. It is also seen in certain elements just a world of copycat non-originality with within society: the factions of Glantri, the treachery incompatible settings forced to exist together. Magic in Thyatis, the civil unrest in Karameikos. The has a way of changing things, making the unlikely forces of anarchy are not always evil, and not even perfectly plausible and giving what may seems always "Chaotic" (in the 3e sense of the familiar on the surface enough twists to keep even alignment)—such as the Alfheim refugees who the most jaded players on their toes. The interaction flood the surrounding countries after their between these cultures is both natural and often homeland was magically laid to waste—but they are fraught with tension and conflict. always there. Order vs. Anarchy Good guys vs… Good guys? Unlike most other settings, in Mystara "Order" and In most major Mystaran conflicts, it's hard to "Anarchy" are far more often at odds with each separate the good from the bad—there is rarely one other than "Good" and "Evil" side that is unequivocally necessarily are—though that's "Right" and another that is not to say that Good and Evil unequivocally "Wrong". never clash. Sometimes one side is clearly MYSTARA focuses on the better, but that's more by clash between Order and accident than design: in a Anarchy rather than Good and world in conflict, it is bound Evil, though few wish evil to to happen sooner or later.