Gaz3 The Principalities of Glantri - the third BECMI Gazetteer set in the Known World (Mystara)

Gaz3 The Principalities of Glantri was the third in a series of official TSR Gazetteers, written by Bruce Heard and published in 1987, and inspired by the idea of a Euro-centric magocracy. The cover art was by Clyde Caldwell.
The Gazetteers are set in the Known World, a collection of nations on a continent that first appeared in the X1 The Isle of Dread adventure module, becoming the official setting for BECMI Dungeons and Dragons, which later became known as Mystara from about 1994.
Gaz3 Credits:
Design : Bruce Heard
Editing : Aaron Allston, Karen S. Martin
Product Manager : Bruce Heard
Coordinators : Karen S. Martin , Bruce Heard
Cover Artist : Clyde Caldwell
Interior Artist : Stephen Fabian
Graphic Design : Dave Sutherland, Dennis Kauth, Ron Kauth
Cartography: Dave Sutherland, Dennis Kauth
Typography: Marilyn Favaro, Betty Elmore
Introduction to the Known World: • The Known World Gazett...
Link to my BECMI Dungeons and Dragons playlist: • BECMI Dungeon and Dragons
The Rules Cyclopedia: • The Rules Cyclopedia -...
If you like this video and want to support me further, please consider buying me a coffee at: www.buymeacoffee.com/becmiber... Your support is greatly appreciated.
Berserker image: www.pngall.com/viking-png/dow... (used under Creative Commons)
Many thanks to ITS A TRAPP for cleaning up the Berserker image for me. It’s a lot cleaner and sharper now.
Contact:
Instagram: D&D RPG fRe&k
Email: [e-mail]

[@becmiberserker]

I neglected to mention that Glantri City is a canal city and you get round it by gondola. Grrr…hope you enjoy regardless.

[@joshjames582]

So it's Fantasy Venice in a way?

[@becmiberserker]

@@joshjames582 Yup. I got so wrapped up in the detail that I neglected to just state this. Oh well. 🙂

[@batou1976]

@@becmiberserker welp that’s it everything’s ruined. Just delete your channel now. 😛😛😉

[@wanderinghistorian]

"Fundamentalism can be found as much in the denial of religion as it can within its practice." Fantastic quote.

[@newtpondskipper]

Still my favorite Gazetteer and it still inspires me for games to this day.

[@LoveProWrestling]

The finest Gazetteer and the richest setting of the Becmi materials. An entire campaign can happily take place within Glantri's borders, and clear paths to rulership and Immortality baked in from day one. Love it, great coverage.

[@johntuck77]

My favorite channel came out with another video. God I would love to play BECMI on Fantasy Grounds. Hope they release it one day.

[@spartaninvirginia]

I haven't had a chance to listen to your GAZ series until today, but let me tell you what, they're well made. Looking forward to the rest of them!

[@becmiberserker]

Thanks for this. It encourages me to continue.

[@earlkriewall7251]

I wish I could give this work multiple thumbs up! Thank you.

[@becmiberserker]

You’re more than welcome.

[@williammoore9794]

Great video on the Known World's equivalent of the Holy Roman Empire. When i first got this back in the early 90s i lapped up the French and Scots refugees from our world, plus the rules for the secret arts and magical research, but that just scratched the surface. Even now there's new stuff which i find on a re-read. Inspired by your video i had another flick through and found there's a Nightwing living in the Secret Police HQ in the middle of Glantri City. Never picked that up before! Looking forward to finding out what you make of Ierendi.

[@arch3ddraftsman]

I was expecting this one. So many memories.

[@becmiberserker]

You’re welcome.

[@JRChiossi]

Great video! A pleasure to watch, every time

[@becmiberserker]

You're welcome!

[@Akinohotarubi]

That book looks amazing, I need to get a POD copy soon.

[@seanb9292]

Many trees were sacrificed in the name of building our lairs. Definitely not alone. Appreciate the video.

[@Frolmaster]

A gold ducat.... Someone in the writing staff of StarTrek Deep Space Nine must have played D&D at some point in their life.

[@TheNiall666]

It's old Venetian money, as mentioned in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.

[@NefariousKoel]

Yep, a ducat (DUCK-uht) was a historical coin.

[@darthjoel6357]

Love your detailed descriptions of the gazetteers. Keep up the great work.

[@AntonioEstevez2toast]

Wow this video is so thorough and visual. I can only imagine how much time it took. Best one yet. Bravo!

[@becmiberserker]

Bloody ages! 🙂

[@Rashman101]

I love these gazetteers and the series you've produced. Thanks for the content. This one is the best of the series (though the Shadow Elves is a close second).

[@becmiberserker]

Glad you like them!

[@lordgoblyn]

Woo-hoo. One of my favorite nations of the Known World

[@becmiberserker]

It was a pleasure making this one.

[@pimc172]

Great quality review again! I love your narration skill and the editing. Definitely on board with you through the gazetteers!

[@Desirestolearn]

A really awesome video, I definitely would like to play a game set in Glantri someday. You have a fantastic channel, you deserve significantly more attention!

[@becmiberserker]

Thank you. Please spread the word! 🙂

[@larsbangjensen5332]

Excellent rendering! I can't wait to start my campaign in Glantri :)

[@0den]

Incredible content as always! looking forward to each of your videos as they are so well presented and always fun to watch. One comment though: you have mentioned several times during this video that you prefer not present/discuss some content from the gazetteer as it might be a spoiler. I think that so many years have passed since the release of those gazetteers and everyone here is so interested to get as much content as possible from these video summaries, that deciding to not discuss important content due to the need to avoid spoilers is hurting the actual purpose of these videos and at least in my opinion unnecessary. would be happy to hear what other people here think.

[@becmiberserker]

Thanks for this. I hope it isn’t affecting the content too much. You’re the first to say this, but I think it’s a point worth addressing. I’ll put it to the community for a vote.

[@ceranko]

This is a good idea for a Warlock city for 5th edition. The Radiance definitely seems like an offworld Patron, kinda like the green orb from heavy metal. Im making an Island adventure for this.

[@becmiberserker]

This is a great idea. It’s great to know older publications can inspire new editions of the game.

[@meatballwanger]

This is the best thing I ever saw.

[@becmiberserker]

I must be getting better every time. 🙂

[@jan0195]

I enjoy reading the gazetteers of Mystara and watching these videos about them, but man Mystara has so much content to get into that I prefer spends that time making my own setting(which is what I did)

[@johnstuartkeller5244]

37:00 Mate, not only was it not only you, it still isn't only you.

[@dartanionbrallk9805]

Absolutely, I still have a few binders full of notes and lists. I always assumed that every DM did this.

[@matthewesch8758]

Definitely need to track down a copy. Thanks for the preview!

[@thossi09]

A small thing that I thought was interesting was the inclusion of playing a child/teenager at the School of Magic. It didn't get a lot of space, of course, but there were some suggestions for that sort of campaign - but I don't have my book with me and it's been a very long time since I read it. I think that's the only Gazetteer that even suggested having children as PCs as an option, though.

[@pimc172]

Thanks!

[@becmiberserker]

Wow, thank you!

[@Eron_the_Relentless]

I had to go look up the secret of the Radiance due to how hush-hush you were about it. Without giving anything away, coincidentally one of the very few old module sets I have are DA1-3, though I'd never read them as I'd never intended to play them.

[@becmiberserker]

I never played them either. It was a bit of a curveball in terms of direction and flavour. A strange choice, in my opinion.

[@RB-sz9gv]

Love this channel

[@Axiie]

Cracking video. It really does seem they twist the thread of religious persecution on its head, whilst maintaining some, even vague or unintended, commentry on the dangerous zealotry can bring. I really do thing that when this series is complete, it'll be a masterpiece on the Gaz's. I am curious if you've seen the Atlas of Mystara hex maps? Its a fan made index of some really detailed maps from a bunch of resources.I usually have them open when watching your videos, to follow along on a clearer map.

[@becmiberserker]

Thanks for the kind feedback. I’m aware of a few attempts to re-map Mystara due to inconsistencies in publications. Thorfinn Tait’s maps are really good.

[@danacoleman4007]

Can we get some links to these map sites? I'm really enjoying your coverage of this series of books, by the way!

[@becmiberserker]

@@danacoleman4007 Here you go: mystara.thorf.co.uk/

[@danacoleman4007]

@@becmiberserker thank you!

[@Timberboar]

I would enjoy spoiler companion videos

[@becmiberserker]

As Doctor Emmet Brown once said: _I need more time!_ 🙂

[@henrycaltagirone3959]

Bravo!👏👏👏❤️ excellent review!

[@henrycaltagirone3959]

I'm running a Mystara campaign based around the ruins of Ardelphia just southwest of the broken lands, so I have 3 Glantrian characters in the party, each one from a different Principalitiy I haven't had this cause any problems politically yet, but I've had the 3 princes start to take an interest since the party is starting to get up in level . Lavish gifts are being offered to the players by their respective princes . Of course, these gifts have long tangled strings attached. Eventually, the 3 of them will find their goals at odds with one another and at odds with plans of competing Princes. The first gift was offered and accepted, 1st circle of Dracology from Prince Jagger VonDraconfels .

[@becmiberserker]

Sounds amazing! I hope it works out.

[@cragland94]

hell yeah dude let's go

[@davidbrennan660]

An interesting series. 37:00 it isn’t only you.... 🥺

[@An_RPG_Abstractionist]

I love this video. I wonder how much of the 1st d&d movie with Jeremy Irons was influenced by it?

[@anarionelendili8961]

Not enough, I would say. There would have been much, much more plot and story in the Gazetteer than what ended up in that movie.

[@MrRourk]

The problem is when running a campaign these days theplayers keep asking when is Danerys coming to marry the Kahn and lead the Ethengars to attack Glantri?

[@PhilKingstonByron]

Well done!

[@becmiberserker]

Thank you. 🙂

[@anarionelendili8961]

It definitely wasn't just you filling out notepaper with magic items.

[@JakDragonov]

Blackhill is an actual Czech town, Černá hora.

[@AnthonyEmmel]

Love it. Just sad we have to wait a while to get to the Shires. 😢 😂 And it wasnt just you. I'm 53 and I still buy composition books to fill with notes. Bonus since you can get comp books with graph paper too!

[@JohnnyBrewer68]

Okay, okay, okay! I'm off to DriveThruRPG to get it....

[@snailertheimpaler749]

I love you

[@becmiberserker]

🤣

[@philipmorris9928]

Great Video! Any hints on what Gazetteer will be next??

[@Qaephlym]

It seems we're going according to order of publication - so Ierendi should be next.

[@becmiberserker]

Indeed. Gaz4 will be next.

[@philipmorris9928]

@@becmiberserker just realized that you are doing them in chronological order 😂 looking forward for the next video!

[@StevetheNPC1337]

Wow, such a comprehensive review! Thank you. Is GAZ3 where the Blackmoor and Alphatian nonsense first makes an appearance?

[@becmiberserker]

I believe Alphatia first appears in CM1 Test of the Warlords. Happy to be corrected.

[@LangeloScuro]

Blackmoor predates BECMI.

[@becmiberserker]

@@LangeloScuro Indeed. It was Arneson’s campaign, although I’m not sure how much it reflects the representation in BECMI.

[@Mr_Welch]

@@becmiberserker Arneson wrote the first three DAL series modules, though how much of DAL3 he contributed is unclear, as he was being pushed out by that time.

[@becmiberserker]

Sad. Arneson was not built for corporate shenanigans. Nor was Gygax come to think of it. Now we have a company who own the game that completely understands corporate shenanigans, and not much is better. Go figure. 🙂

[@matthewesch8758]

Keep the same detail!

[@PvtSchlock]

The tragedy of Mystara is Blackmoore. That aside, the lack of any variety of weight to any D&D coinage has annoyed me since I was about 14. Magically shiny coins is about as silly as one can get. This is especially frustrating when we see the inclusion of earth parallel cultures and the Ducat. The shilling system is right there, but to use it would bring down the 1/10 per pound coin weight regime (yes, 1.6 oz coin makes a hefty "penny", there, I said it). X2 is still one of my favorite modules, but having those elements in the larger Mystara world is to ask something about tone. Blackmoore and Ashton Smith piled on top of silly crap like "the adventurers league" is how I define "train wreck". Yeah, let's add some Orcs of Thar to set it all off, maybe some "Top Ballista" to complete the air of "I don't give a toss". Herd is a fun guy who has some neat ideas for class updates and reworks on his blog, but I still want to know what they were smoking over at TSR back in the day.

[@becmiberserker]

You know what? I was replying to this (in agreement I hasten to add!) and it just got longer and longer. So instead, I'm going to use this post to do a short video on the issue. Thanks for the idea!

[@joeeager495]

Great review. My least favorite gazateer

[@becmiberserker]

Ooh controversial! 🙂 Can you say why? It’s many people’s favourite so I’d be interested in a counter view?

[@joeeager495]

Probably because I came to it late after the dawn of the emperor box set and wrath of the immortals. Thought Rad and glantri seem like giant jerks after those

[@becmiberserker]

@@joeeager495 Interesting. Thanks for letting me know.

[@pheralanpathfinder4897]

Glantri was my PC biggest enemy during the Campaign (Green) boxed set. I never conquered them but was able to force them to acknowledge my kingdoms independence. If not for all the infighting I would not have stood a chance against them.

[@josephbeckett2330]

I've always hated when adventures/settings want to just block a class, (always the Cleric), especially when it makes no sense or is just arbitrary/stupid. I mean, no family member just slaughtered all wizards when their religion/politics/society forced a child to suffer and die from a disease or cirse that could have easily been healed? Really?

[@josephbeckett2330]

I mean what about Basic Clerics that get powers from their Alignment? Or Druids/Paladins?