This is spectacularly worthwhile, and I'm a huge mystara fan, so I thought I'd share this here: Right now, on DTRPG, you can get the Rules Cyclopedia and 14 Mystara Gazeteers for only $14.95 (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/211032/Known-World-Megabundle-BECMI-BUNDLE?src=salepage).
So this is pretty much the perfect way to get into Rules Cyclopedia or Mystara as a setting. To me, the GAZ series were some of the greatest D&D setting books ever made. I don't think there's any series that compared in TSR history.
That's a great deal.
Are the scans good quality? Nicely bookmarked?
That's awesome
Quote from: HorusArisen;964249That's awesome
Even the guy I know who normally pirates everything says he's getting it. :D
Bought it.
There's also two other bundles.
One is for 1st Edition AD&D--the core hardbacks in PDF (with the curious exception of Unearthed Arcana being absent)
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/211034/ADD-Core-Megabundle-1e-BUNDLE
The other one is for 2nd Edition "Planescape", get the core 2nd Ed D&D Rules, Planescape boxed set, and a few other supplements.
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/211037/Planescape-Megabundle-2e-BUNDLE
I'm actually glad for this, because (a) I'd like the old 1e in PDF and (b) I never got to check out a lot of the D&D stuff. There's some cool gems in the bundle, like Ed Greenwood writing about the Halfling Nation, etc.
Greenwood's Five Shires is one of the weaker Gazateers but YMMV. My favourites are Principalities of Glantri, The Shadow Elves, Elves of Alfheim and Dwarves of Rockhome. Darokin is also interesting. Looking forward to checking out them all out again though.
Yeah I have all these but I've wanted them in quality PDF for ages so how could I say no at that price :D
Quote from: RPGPundit;964237To me, the GAZ series were some of the greatest D&D setting books ever made. I don't think there's any series that compared in TSR history.
Going to pick it up when I get home.
I love the Gazatteer series and Known World/Mystara. There's something about how it just kind of grew organically that I find so much more enjoyable than Greenwood's hot mess or the designed-all-at-once-for-a-box-set feel of things like Ravenloft or Birthright.
It only makes sense to offer these at a discount. They've been available free (and illegal) for years online already. It seems the IP owners are wising up and realizing if you don't sell it, people will take it for free.
The GAZ series is one of the only major bodies of D&D material that I've never really checked out. What is the best thing about them?
Quote from: Larsdangly;964303The GAZ series is one of the only major bodies of D&D material that I've never really checked out. What is the best thing about them?
For me it was the covers. I only ever had the Karameikos one someone gave to me and, while it was interesting to see Threshold from the Basic books set in a larger context, I never used any of the material except the map. I didn't care for the setting but I have never been inclined to use someone else's background materials anyway.
Quote from: Willie the Duck;964274Going to pick it up when I get home.
I love the Gazatteer series and Known World/Mystara. There's something about how it just kind of grew organically that I find so much more enjoyable than Greenwood's hot mess or the designed-all-at-once-for-a-box-set feel of things like Ravenloft or Birthright.
It's a setting I would never run straight, but it is such a kitchen sink that there are lots of ideas to pull out and make your own. I think most people that run some kind of B/X or BECMI variant are going to get more than $13 worth of value out this collection.
It's ten bucks for the RC alone normally. This is a great deal.
Quote from: Dumarest;964300It only makes sense to offer these at a discount. They've been available free (and illegal) for years online already. It seems the IP owners are wising up and realizing if you don't sell it, people will take it for free.
I'm one of those who nabbed them all as freebies sometime ago. We'll see if conscience gets the better of me. I've always wanted to play out a nice campaign there. Maybe sometime this year...
Quote from: Larsdangly;964303The GAZ series is one of the only major bodies of D&D material that I've never really checked out. What is the best thing about them?
It presents an interesting setting thats very different from Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms. And its linked to the Blackmoor setting. The races are NOT unified and though yes they mingle alot, they also are in their own individual kingdoms. Theres also more variety to the setting in terms of cultures and they feel more intigrated into the world than other settings do in some places.
Cant say I like some of the elements. But it stands up well next to gold box Greyhawk in presentation via the gazeteers.
My only real complaint with it all is that it makes the setting feel way too crowded and populated. It very much removes the "make of it what you will" aspect of BX's Karameikos.
Quote from: DavetheLost;964358It's ten bucks for the RC alone normally. This is a great deal.
The other two bundles are arguably even better deals, depending on your interests--they amount to the core rules for either edition at half price plus a bunch of effectively
free extras.
The GAZ series presents a whole variety of very very different nations, each with their own sub-rules, areas, new spells/items, monsters, dungeons, and in some cases new classes or races. Some of them are not like any other nation you'll find in any D&D product.
Yes, it's a very content-rich series -- there's a lot to use there. I had a physical copy of the Darokin one years ago, and purchased the Karameikos supplement earlier this year from DTRPG just for nostalgia purposes. Either one of those could support a lot of gaming on their own, so I'm looking forward to the others, having just bought the bundle myself (I didn't realize they credited items you already bought too, so that saved me a couple bucks).
Quote from: Omega;964404It presents an interesting setting thats very different from Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms. And its linked to the Blackmoor setting. The races are NOT unified and though yes they mingle alot, they also are in their own individual kingdoms. Theres also more variety to the setting in terms of cultures and they feel more intigrated into the world than other settings do in some places.
Cant say I like some of the elements. But it stands up well next to gold box Greyhawk in presentation via the gazeteers.
My only real complaint with it all is that it makes the setting feel way too crowded and populated. It very much removes the "make of it what you will" aspect of BX's Karameikos.
That was my feeling about it after I found the free PDFs, but there's some stuff to rip off here and there. I prefer not to have so many corners of the canvas painted in for me.
Quote from: Dumarest;964663That was my feeling about it after I found the free PDFs, but there's some stuff to rip off here and there. I prefer not to have so many corners of the canvas painted in for me.
It's probably best not to use them all together. They are not 100% compatible and each makes its own realm the Hero of the Story. If your campaign is centred on the Northern Reaches you probably are looking for a Viking type setting and are not interested in having 1000+ MU 36 over to the east in Alphatia, or the cheesy holiday isles of Ierendi. I know in my current Karameikos campaign I tone down Thyatis & Alphatia and I'm not really using Ierendi & Glantri as depicted at all - eg I ran Castle Amber ca 1020 AC so no Averoigne, no Stephen as an Immortal. Ierendi as the adventurer's holiday isles feels too stupid to use ever. Same for the way the Broken Lands is depicted.
Mystara is the only TSR setting I have every setting book for. That is to say, all the GAZ series, Dawn of the Emperors, Hollow World, the Hollow World sourcebooks, the Blackmoor setting/adventures, Wrath of the Immortals, the Red Steel/Princess Ark stuff (which is some of the very best stuff in the setting!), and the Wizard Almanacs.
Red Steel was a pretty odd little setting. I had both boxes. Those came out during TSRs late CD craze so it had that CD with the introductions and some commentary.
Quote from: S'mon;964705It's probably best not to use them all together. They are not 100% compatible and each makes its own realm the Hero of the Story. If your campaign is centred on the Northern Reaches you probably are looking for a Viking type setting and are not interested in having 1000+ MU 36 over to the east in Alphatia, or the cheesy holiday isles of Ierendi. I know in my current Karameikos campaign I tone down Thyatis & Alphatia and I'm not really using Ierendi & Glantri as depicted at all - eg I ran Castle Amber ca 1020 AC so no Averoigne, no Stephen as an Immortal. Ierendi as the adventurer's holiday isles feels too stupid to use ever. Same for the way the Broken Lands is depicted.
Oh, yes, I know what you mean. Honestly there is so much material in all those gazetteers when combined I don't believe anyone could ever really use it all in one campaign even if you were inclined to do so. Karameikos was pretty good but there were only bits and pieces I would actually use as if I play a fantasy game it's more likely to be without elves and hobbits and a lot of the usual D&D fantasy world tropes. Plus I'd likely use The Fantasy Trip rather than any version of D&D due to personal preference.
Quote from: Omega;964404It presents an interesting setting thats very different from Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms. And its linked to the Blackmoor setting. The races are NOT unified and though yes they mingle alot, they also are in their own individual kingdoms. Theres also more variety to the setting in terms of cultures and they feel more intigrated into the world than other settings do in some places.
You just described Forgotten Realms and what little I know of Greyhawk... And I'm not being snarky. :confused:
Quote from: Omega;964404Cant say I like some of the elements. But it stands up well next to gold box Greyhawk in presentation via the gazeteers.
My only real complaint with it all is that it makes the setting feel way too crowded and populated. It very much removes the "make of it what you will" aspect of BX's Karameikos.
That was a major flaw I had with it, when I flipped through a friend's copy of Dawn Of The Emperors: Thyatis and Alphatia (https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/47949/dawn-emperors-thyatis-and-alphatia) last week.
Dawn of the Emperors was good in that it presented two enormous kingdoms as superpower nations of the setting, but otherwise it was not really as interesting as the rest of Mystara.
I'm getting a message that DTRPG is not secure. Anyone else have that problem?
I'm getting SSL on DTRPG. RPGnow is defaulting to non-secure, but I get secure when I manually put in https.
Hadn't they been hacked once? I wonder if it's happened again?
Quote from: RPGPundit;965978Hadn't they been hacked once? I wonder if it's happened again?
I don't know, and that's why I'm not making a one-time exception to allow content, etc.