Welcome to Mystara: Tying the World Together

Mystara is comprised of a lot of different settings. The Known World. The Serpent Peninsula. The Savage Coast. The Goode Kingdom. The Spirit World. Add in distant Blackmoor and the mythical Hollow World and you've got an expansive world but because the way it was written, not a well connected one.
So this video is an attempt to give examples of how five of the different settings would connect to one another. Traders and explorers from the Known Worlds seek out new markets and adventures across the Serpent Peninsula until they reach the trading port of Slagovich and the cursed Savage Coast. In the untamed wilds, you will find the realms of the sidhe and the spirits. In far-flung ports there will be sailors of countless cultures and races, while in the hidden groves and barren deserts reside wonders and horrors not of this world.

[@johnbalk6091]

I don’t think I ever listened to this video in it’s entirety before, and I’m not sure why. This video is definitely among your best, I hope that you do another one that buffs it out/ties it together. Never having read Tall Tales, I didn’t realize that there’s a whole other layer to this world just hiding in plain sight. Even though EVERY campaign I’ve ever run has been set in Mystara, you’ve given me yet ANOTHER reason to NEVER change settings. I know I butt heads with some of your ideas, especially with your alternate timeline, I truly love your passion and appreciate all the hard work you put into these videos. Stay gold Pony Boy!

[@ingridplata2411]

Every and each of your videos gets me deeper into Mystara. Thanks for all your hard work

[@juancholo7502]

I am going to have to find the time to go back to this video & transcribe these ideas into notes for the setting. I would love to see you, Thorfinn & Havard hammer out a version of Mystara that connects things better.

[@Mr_Welch]

We've had a conversation about this before. The problem is time zones don't match up. The three of us are located in Texas, Norway and Japan. No matter what time we would have a conversation it would be oh my God early for one of us

[@Titan360]

tehcnically, in Moana, the islanders were denying their own heritage because of blah blah blah supernatural movie plot stuff blah blah, and its a huge reveal when Moana discovers that she isn't just not alone, she's kind of got the heart of a REAL traditionalist...

[@murgel2006]

Well, I bought the red basic box back in 84, when I started roleplaying. I did not play D&D back then, I just wanted the ideas and the monsters to convert them to my chosen system. So I never got firm in my knowledge about Mystara, you are changing that. This video makes me long for a Mystara to become a system-agnostic setting.

[@MrNetWraith]

It never stops making me curious when I hear Mr. Welch suggest that half-elves could be retconned into Mystara as a creation of the Red Curse when the Voyages of the Princess Ark already did something similar by making them an Immortal-crafted race with their own nation, similar to the elf/ogre hybrid N'djatwa, whom he references repeatedly.

[@TobeWilsonNetwork]

Give me the Master Atlas please. I’ll start a PAC to lobby the relevant license holders. The passion you have and this setting overshadows every other aspect of D&D I’ve encountered, I want to embrace it in its entirety.

[@jasonitaliano8631]

Seconded

[@johnbalk6091]

Have you guys started the ball rolling on this yet,or was this all talk?

[@TobeWilsonNetwork]

@@johnbalk6091 The PAC has transformed into an NGO; currently in high level talks with Xi and Erdogan.

[@johnbalk6091]

@@TobeWilsonNetwork That’s awesome! Please try and keep the rest of us up to date on things as they move along. Your work is greatly appreciated!

[@larrylambert1220]

Let's get this master atlas idea going, with a print on demand option.

[@jasonitaliano8631]

I hope this gets to be a whole chapter in the theoretical Mystara DM's Guide Welch said he'd work on after the Players Handbook goes up on the DMsGuild

[@simonwilson9339]

You are

[@Hilti-rb6dp]

Have you ever thought of just doing a rant on 5e or forgotten realms setting? I appreciate how you slide those feeling in

[@Istari68]

Thanks, very interesting stuff!

[@aspektx]

Loved the fey and spirits options. I think the bottled approach was intentional for the purpose of sales.

[@RoDaGrier]

I wish I could get a transcript of this. It is good stuff. thank you so much.

[@Mr_Welch]

That would require me to stick to the script I wrote

[@ingridplata2411]

Agreed, I feel like I should be taking notes while listening

[@shawnwarswick8898]

R. Grier I agree. But if I could give Mr Welch any advice I’d say “slow down!” The narrative is often too fast.

[@johnbalk6091]

@@shawnwarswick8898 Agreed. I think that's why he stumbles over words and screws up the narrative.

[@johnbalk6091]

18:35 I used to own those books! They were awesome! Wish I knew what happened to them....🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[@vicentgalvan70]

Love your stuff man, you have a yuuuge knowloge and a great sense of humor! Do you plan on doing something on Wendar? Love from Brazil. :3

[@Mr_Welch]

I was going to mention them in a future video the problem with them is they are only mentioned briefly and Shadow of the problem with them is they are only mentioned briefly in Saga of the Shadow Lord. The nation really needs to be flushed out more along with its evil neighbor

[@vicentgalvan70]

@@Mr_Welch Thank you! I've noticed that there was some fan-made material, and thats fine too. I'm just curious to know your own personal take on them.

[@falkyrie5228]

Meu deus, a gente tá em todo lugar mesmo 😂

[@HavardBlackmoor]

Thanks for the shout-out towards the end! :)

[@Mr_Welch]

If the three of us ever got together for the purpose of making new books we would be dangerous

[@ThorfinnTait]

@@Mr_Welch I'm impressed that you pronounced my name correctly. :) Your videos always impress me, though.

[@ingridplata2411]

@@Mr_Welch I'm rooting for this

[@johnbalk6091]

Please make this happen.

[@ryderma1]

Damn! As predictable as a Cat dropping Acid🤣😂🤣😁🤣😹😹😹

[@ShadCorliss]

Please make the master atlas setting of Mystara linking every gazetteer together.

[@Mr_Welch]

It's already been done. Atlas of Mystara

[@dumoktheartist]

A lot of this info would actually be perfect for Chaosium’s Rune Quest. #justsayin

[@matta5498]

Anyone else at 4:25 thinking: 1... 2... 3... 4... I declare a thumb war

[@scottmcley5111]

Hey Mr. Welch, being a firearms enthusiast in games have you read the Guardians of the Flame series?

[@Mr_Welch]

I have not

[@scottmcley5111]

@@Mr_Welch Fun books. I highly recommend them!

[@ericsaxon5736]

A quick question, where do the Red Lands end? Is it just the Savage Baronies? Are the flying minotaurs affected by it? Is Orc's Head Penninsula still a part of it? The way I read it, if the guns destroy the stuff that prevents you from mutating and since Cimmarron is not full of mutants, then we could assume that Cimmarron is not part of the Red Lands, right? Or at least that's what I assumed.

[@Mr_Welch]

that's the hundred thousand gold piece question. It doesn't stretch that far, and apparently the Redlands aren't contiguous. But there's no map that I've been able to find showing exactly where they are. No nation is completely covered with them, but that's a bit of a continuity issue depending on whether you're reading read steel or the Savage baronies. Guns cars inheritors to use up a lot of their amulets with each shot. But it doesn't affect regular people as much

[@ericsaxon5736]

@@Mr_Welch If you have the Voyage of the Princess Ark Dragon Magazine, I think it might say where it ends. But I can't access my Dragon Magazines, since they're in my parents' garage, under a ton of boxes. That's why I was hoping you knew it off the top of your head. :D (Because you're the only other Mystara Trivia buff I know. )

[@Mr_Welch]

@@ericsaxon5736 the dragon magazine articles were retconned by the box set. So I don't know the actual boundaries

[@ericsaxon5736]

@@Mr_Welch Really? I wasn't aware of that. I thought all the articles, with the exception of a few borders, here and there were essentially core info. Then again, the Dragon articles probably made too much sense and Haldemar's adventures, followed too much of a logical path for TSR, which was trying to blow up the entire setting. Still, if I remember it correctly, all the Princess Ark maps had a reddish hue, for the territories that were affected and once the redish hue went away, that was considered outside of the Red Lands, which makes much more sense, than the nonsense TSR printed afterwards, anyways.

[@Mr_Welch]

@@ericsaxon5736 the first and most noticeable change was the added guns in the dragon magazine they use repeating crossbows

[@michaelanthony8394]

what the hell is "she" ? is that just another way of saying fey?

[@Mr_Welch]

It's a specific type of fey creature, the Sidhe. It is pronounced SHEE, which makes it a pain when dictating. Any faerie creature in Irish or Welsh folklore was a type of Sidhe, like the Bain Sidhe, which became the Banshee.

[@michaelanthony8394]

@@Mr_Welch cool.thank you for responding. was driving me crazy not knowing .

[@MrNetWraith]

...I'm sorry, I admit that 5e's lore for it, or at least what little we've seen so far, sucks, but still, calling the literally "Midsummer's Night's Dream with the serial numbers filed off served with a Generic Celtic Fae milkshake" Good Kingdoms of Tall Tales of the Wee Folk "more original" than the Feywild's Court of Stars, which is a byzantine conclave of multiple factions each with their own distinct goals that constantly shift individual and group allegiances depending on schemes, ploys, mystic events and pure whim, just makes me sigh.