Missive from Mystamyr

For anyone who plays Mythras Classic Fantasy, this post is an update on what I’ve been doing over recent weeks in the realm of Mystamyr.

Writing Adventures

These have been a fun and exciting few months for me, ever since being invited to write an adventure. That adventure was completed and submitted over the Christmas break, no small achievement given my job and other commitments. It felt good to press “Send”, I can tell you.

One of the developments from the adventure was the decision to incorporate Mystamyr into the official setting for Classic Fantasy, Greymoor. In an act of massive generosity, author Rodney Leary allocated an area on the map to be renamed “Mystamyr and the Borderlands”. Although I can’t show you the map, it’s great to see this come to pass behind the scenes… and, eventually, I hope that you’ll be able to see the map of Greymoor with Mystamyr right there too.

This week, following the submission of the adventure, Rodney also asked me to polish up one of the parts of the original adventure manuscript that I had to pull out due to space restrictions. It was a lot of fun to go back and develop what is in effect a side adventure into a finished manuscript. Although “Moonspike Tower” is not planned for publication, it’s nice to at least provide it to the playtest team as a fun adventure to run at home. And all that work has had some unexpected side-effects too…

A Mystamyr Primer

Because I am running more than one game in Mystamyr, it has become important to codify more stuff for my own reference. A couple of weeks ago, following a desire to run the “Lost Tomb” adventure on Roll20, I found myself pulling together the first inklings of what is essentially a primer for the setting.

The document contains a rough timeline of events from history, some notes on culture and social class, and a few details about tribal cultures that were at risk of getting lost. Over time, I aim to expand it into a workable document that players would find useful if they join my game. An early version is already in use with the Roll20 players and my home group.

Having done that work, I feel the tug to tidy up the existing notes for locations on the map. Places like Woodfell and Griffinwatch all need porting over to Classic Fantasy. And then we can start on the big project…

The Fire Citadel of the Dragon Kings

If you recall, some months ago I decided to design my own mega-dungeon: The Fire Citadel of the Dragon Kings. Those ideas got parked while I wrote the adventure for Rod, but now I am ready to return to those hallowed dark halls.

Following the work I did on the Brass Dragonman, I’ve worked up notes for all the types of Dragonmen inspired by the classic Dragonlance adventures. I’ve also added my very own Red Dragonman for the mega-dungeon… a skeletal version of which turned up in the “Lost Tomb” adventure.

This, together with the hints and clues that turn up in the adventures I’ve been writing, all helped to clarify the themes and ideas I want to include in the dungeon. If the heroes can deal with the Orcs at Griffinwatch, they’ll be able to move further north and enter the Fire Citadel by way of the mountain tunnels…

Game on!