RPGaDay2019 Day 21 – Vast

Vast. That’s the inspiration for day 21 of #RPGaDay2019, following Noble yesterday.

I love the vastness of the world now called Mystara, particularly the Known World. It is so vast in both scope and extent, particularly once you add the later adventures such as X4/X5 Master of the Desert Nomads, the journeys of the Princess Ark and even the Hollow World.

It’s the Known World that has my heart, There is such a wide range of countries, custom, cultures, from the frontierland of Karameikos to the suave diplomacy of mercantile Darokin, from the steady Lawful nation of Rockhome to the corrupt glamour of Glantri, from the wild roamers of the Ethengar Khanate to the tourist-trap pleasure beaches of Ierendi.

I wanted to take my players on a grand tour of the Known World, and I had planned a campaign which required them to bring together the parts of an artefact – suitably scattered across the world.

However, I have come to the realisation that the very vastness of this scope prevents the players from getting attached to anywhere, and hence prevents them from getting attached to the world and their characters.

Thinking back to the start of my Threshold campaign, I now realise that part of what made it enticing and real was the network of contacts the group were building and the way they were starting to know their way about and encounter the same buildings and situations repeatedly. Since we have entered Castle Amber, all these ties have been lost.

The current group of characters consists of two of the original Threshold members, Reed and (as a ghost) Sergi, plus 3 new characters from Akorros in Darokin. However, while the Threshold players have played in and around Threshold, the players of the Akorros characters have never played in Akorros, so it really doesn’t figure in their consciousness.

Assuming they survive Castle Amber, my original plan had been to return them to near Kirkuk in Ylaruam (think Arabian nights) and build up the grand tour campaign with an Egyptian tomb/Raiders of the Lost ark style adventure which would give them more hints and one of the pieces.

But this doesn’t allow the new characters to put down roots. So I’m rethinking. The overarching adventure still holds, but I might keep it closer to home, or at least let the travel spread organically from their natural base rather than just sudden disconnect.

Anyone got a city map of Akorros?

Tomorrow we have “Lost”.