Sing to me, O Muse, of BECMI!

[cavalier973]

I love Mystara. Some of my favorite products of all time lie in the Gazetteer series, especially the ones with rule expansions and options. I also dearly love the Isle of Dread adventure and I plan on reskinning that one for a future game in my own setting.

Instead of a T-Rex, have a 75 foot tall rogue elephant

 

[AMP]

Instead of a T-Rex, have a 75 foot tall rogue elephant

I like the way you think!

 

[SPECTRE666]

I'm thinking about doing a deep dive into BECMI. I bought the Boxsets(B,E,C,M,I) in PDF form from drivethru a couple of months ago after watching some BECMI Berserker vids on YouTube. Guess it's time to get the GAZ Series, and the Adventures and really get to know the material.

 

[AnotherGuy]

I love Mystara. Some of my favorite products of all time lie in the Gazetteer series, especially the ones with rule expansions and options. I also dearly love the Isle of Dread adventure and I plan on reskinning that one for a future game in my own setting.

True.

For me it is the

• Thematical tie-in to our own world which inspires me to do research into our own world's history and bring it through to the table;
• FR seems to have just over half a dozen factions which compete and feel rather bland IMO, while each nation in the Known World has in-built racial, religious, ethnic, commercial (think Houses in Darokin) and guild (arcane or otherwise) tensions which exist which inspires interesting plot twists and dilemmas for PCs. I mean Selenica alone is a melting pot for friction;
• The unique elements within the Gazetteers, like you said, are an incredible inspiration. I'm talking about

Learning of the Nucleus of Spheres;​

Accessing the power of the Radiance;​

Gaining an Immortal patron;​

Seeking to fulfil the Dream of the Desert Garden;​

Discovering the localised Hin power of the Five Shires (No);​

Striving to becoming a Merchant Prince;​

Exploration beyond the Known World (land via the Darokin merchant train or the sea from via Minrothad Guilds);​

Graduating from the Great School of Magic;​

Attaining Mastery within a Secret Craft in Glantri;​

Questing for the legendary Blue Knife;​

Uncovering the truth about Nithia;​

It is endless really...​

​

I ran a historical campaign around 946 AC where a group of Soderfjord teenagers were responsible for setting the events in motion at the Thing which saw Soderfjord eventually gain its independence from Ostland some few years later.​

​

Spoiler: The Reformation of Soderfjord

The village of Hrutmark was attacked and razed to the ground by an army of gnolls led by a warrior, presumed to be a foreigner judging by his armour, accent and non-northman haircut. Accompanying them was Hauk Buison. They appeared to be looking for something within the chieftain's longhall, presumably the Treaty (later called the Treaty of Allied Dominions).

​

Hauk Buison served the Jarl of Castellan directly, Solvi Hardhand, and acted like an emissary between the chieftains and the Jarl. He performed duties of mediation between the chieftains over disputed grazing lands, requesting debts to be honoured, collection of taxes for the Jarl and ensuring the laws within the Jarldom were adhered to. So why was he doing this?

​

The only survivors of Hrutmark were the chieftain's son, Rolo, no more than 16 years of age, who was tied to the ramparts of the village wall, a young dog named Horsa as well as a few of Rollo's friends who happened to be out in the woods during the time of the attack.

​

The 5 kids found themselves on the run from the gnolls, their own people, the Brotherhood of Loki, the Godar of Hel, traitorous Jarls, far-reaching blood oaths and the political machinations of Ostland.
Their only hope - ally themselves with an ex-Jarl, Grunnar the Fallen, who hasn't been seen in years, and to find a way to bring the last remaining copy of the Treaty safely to the Thing and possibly change the course of Soderfjord forever.

​

 

[AMP]

True.

For me it is the

• Thematical tie-in to our own world which inspires me to do research into our own world's history and bring it through to the table;
• FR seems to have just over half a dozen factions which compete and feel rather bland IMO, while each nation in the Known World has in-built racial, religious, ethnic, commercial (think Houses in Darokin) and guild (arcane or otherwise) tensions which exist which inspires interesting plot twists and dilemmas for PCs. I mean Selenica alone is a melting pot for friction;
• The unique elements within the Gazetteers, like you said, are an incredible inspiration. I'm talking about

Learning of the Nucleus of Spheres;​

Accessing the power of the Radiance;​

Gaining an Immortal patron;​

Seeking to fulfil the Dream of the Desert Garden;​

Discovering the localised Hin power of the Five Shires (No);​

Striving to becoming a Merchant Prince;​

Exploration beyond the Known World (land via the Darokin merchant train or the sea from via Minrothad Guilds);​

Graduating from the Great School of Magic;​

Attaining Mastery within a Secret Craft in Glantri;​

Questing for the legendary Blue Knife;​

Uncovering the truth about Nithia;​

It is endless really...​

​

I ran a historical campaign around 946 AC where a group of Soderfjord teenagers were responsible for setting the events in motion at the Thing which saw Soderfjord eventually gain its independence from Ostland some few years later.​

​

Spoiler: The Reformation of Soderfjord

The village of Hrutmark was attacked and razed to the ground by an army of gnolls led by a warrior, presumed to be a foreigner judging by his armour, accent and non-northman haircut. Accompanying them was Hauk Buison. They appeared to be looking for something within the chieftain's longhall, presumably the Treaty (later called the Treaty of Allied Dominions).

​

Hauk Buison served the Jarl of Castellan directly, Solvi Hardhand, and acted like an emissary between the chieftains and the Jarl. He performed duties of mediation between the chieftains over disputed grazing lands, requesting debts to be honoured, collection of taxes for the Jarl and ensuring the laws within the Jarldom were adhered to. So why was he doing this?

​

The only survivors of Hrutmark were the chieftain's son, Rolo, no more than 16 years of age, who was tied to the ramparts of the village wall, a young dog named Horsa as well as a few of Rollo's friends who happened to be out in the woods during the time of the attack.

​

The 5 kids found themselves on the run from the gnolls, their own people, the Brotherhood of Loki, the Godar of Hel, traitorous Jarls, far-reaching blood oaths and the political machinations of Ostland.
Their only hope - ally themselves with an ex-Jarl, Grunnar the Fallen, who hasn't been seen in years, and to find a way to bring the last remaining copy of the Treaty safely to the Thing and possibly change the course of Soderfjord forever.

​

And then there is the Hollow World where things get even crazier! That one, since it occurred at the end of the D&D BECMI line, didn't get the same development, but it left like 2 thirds of the HW open for DM development. I read that book all the time (I replaced my old boxed set with the POD book). Mystara as a whole is a wonderful setting for sure. I love all the same things about it that you do, across the board.

 

[cavalier973]

BECMI Berserker recommends an adventure path that consists of B2 (Keep on the Borderlands), B10 (Night’s Dark Terror), X4 (Master of the Desert), X5 (The Temple of Death), X7 (The War Rafts of Kron), CM1 (Test of the Warlords), CM2 (Death’s Ride), CM6 (Where Chaos Reigns), CM3 (Saber River), and ending up with M1 (Into the Maelstrom).

 

[cavalier973]

I always plan to do this, but wind up wasting time doing other things; I want to run the “adventure path” that The Sigil recommended, except start with Castle Mistamere from the Red Box.

The Sigil: how sandbox-y are the modules in your adventure path? Does one start with King’s Harvest, then do In Search of Adventure, in order, then wind up with Night’s Dark Terror, or does the DM run the adventures based on decisions made by the players?

 

[AnotherGuy]

BECMI Berserker recommends an adventure path that consists of B2 (Keep on the Borderlands), B10 (Night’s Dark Terror), X4 (Master of the Desert), X5 (The Temple of Death), X7 (The War Rafts of Kron), CM1 (Test of the Warlords), CM2 (Death’s Ride), CM6 (Where Chaos Reigns), CM3 (Saber River), and ending up with M1 (Into the Maelstrom).

I haven't read all of them but is there a strong campaign theme that intersects or can intersect these?

 

[cavalier973]

My impression is that this was something that he did, and it worked out for his players, so he recommended these adventures to others.

I would need to watch the video, again.

The theme that I took from his list was “adventuring in Mystara”, from crawling through a dungeon to gaining Immortal status.

I am curious how the Companion Level and higher level adventures worked out for party based play. Building a dominion seems like something that is only interesting to the player building it.

 

[rabindranath72]

I haven't read all of them but is there a strong campaign theme that intersects or can intersect these?

No theme, but they are perhaps the best of the crop of BECM. B10, X4, X5, CM1, M1 in particular are golden and showcase the tiers of play. I ran close to that campaign years ago but using AD&D 2e (we liked the added flexibility of races and classes and extra spells), with Dominion and War machine rules bolted on, and it was excellent.