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Author Topic: The Campaign World Of Mystera!  (Read 4401 times)

SHARK

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Re: The Campaign World Of Mystera!
« Reply #30 on: January 10, 2021, 03:52:52 AM »
It was cool when it was introduced in the B/X rule books and with Isle of Dread... sorta hit a sweet spot for me.

Later, with all the expansions and books and stuff... especially with Mentzer's fucked up BECMI... it came off as someone's Ren Faire wank fantasy.

Greetings!

*Laughing* Interesting, Semaj Khan. How in your view did the Mystara world come off as someone's Ren Faire wank fantasy?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
"It is the Marine Corps that will strip away the façade so easily confused with self. It is the Corps that will offer the pain needed to buy the truth. And at last, each will own the privilege of looking inside himself  to discover what truly resides there. Comfort is an illusion. A false security b

BronzeDragon

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Re: The Campaign World Of Mystera!
« Reply #31 on: January 12, 2021, 10:54:18 PM »
Glantri is awesome, the high-fantasy realm of the wizards...but:
- landlocked Venice? come on!;

Glantri isn't Venice.

Darokin is.
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"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Boris Grushenko

Semaj Khan

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Re: The Campaign World Of Mystera!
« Reply #32 on: January 12, 2021, 11:13:34 PM »
It was cool when it was introduced in the B/X rule books and with Isle of Dread... sorta hit a sweet spot for me.

Later, with all the expansions and books and stuff... especially with Mentzer's fucked up BECMI... it came off as someone's Ren Faire wank fantasy.

Greetings!

*Laughing* Interesting, Semaj Khan. How in your view did the Mystara world come off as someone's Ren Faire wank fantasy?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Mainly from the artwork.
Walk amongst the natives by day, but in your heart be Superman.

Murphy78

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Re: The Campaign World Of Mystera!
« Reply #33 on: January 13, 2021, 02:47:37 AM »
Glantri is awesome, the high-fantasy realm of the wizards...but:
- landlocked Venice? come on!;

Glantri isn't Venice.

Darokin is.

Darokin's governement is based on Venice (even if it was an aristocracy and not a plutocracy), but Glantri City is based on the town of Venice, with canals and gondolas. And Venice being in a laguna in the sea, formerly being a naval power and ruling a mainly  seaside empire (with islands, coastlines, ports) it sounds quite strange to imagine a Venice-like city ruling a landlocked country.

BronzeDragon

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Re: The Campaign World Of Mystera!
« Reply #34 on: January 13, 2021, 01:40:27 PM »
Darokin's governement is based on Venice (even if it was an aristocracy and not a plutocracy), but Glantri City is based on the town of Venice, with canals and gondolas. And Venice being in a laguna in the sea, formerly being a naval power and ruling a mainly  seaside empire (with islands, coastlines, ports) it sounds quite strange to imagine a Venice-like city ruling a landlocked country.

It's more than just government.

Darokin actually behaves like Venice, putting trade above all other things, and as you say employing navigation to project that trading power.

Sure, Glantri city itself is reminiscent of the actual Venice, but the Principalities of Glantri are far larger and more varied than the Venetian Republic ever was. There's a fair bit of France, Spain and Germany in the Principalities, as well as the occasional Italian flavor.

As has been said before, Mystara is a huge mish-mash of Earth cultures spanning the Roman Empire to Renaissance Europe, with stops in Turkic Arabia, pre-medieval Congo and magical Atlantis, among others.
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Pat
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Re: The Campaign World Of Mystera!
« Reply #35 on: January 13, 2021, 02:32:14 PM »
Glantri isn't Venice.
Glantri City is modeled after Venice, except it's sitting on the leaky nuclear reactor of a spaceship, and there's a magical school and flying gondolas that shoot magic missiles. The rest of Glantri includes provinces that are inspired by various periods of Italy, Germany, Flanders, Hungary, Scotland, India, and Spain. All live in a set of high valleys surrounded by mountains, and are ruled by a nobility composed solely of mages. It makes no sense, and it's glorious.

BronzeDragon

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Re: The Campaign World Of Mystera!
« Reply #36 on: January 14, 2021, 01:03:25 AM »
Glantri City is modeled after Venice, except it's sitting on the leaky nuclear reactor of a spaceship, and there's a magical school and flying gondolas that shoot magic missiles. The rest of Glantri includes provinces that are inspired by various periods of Italy, Germany, Flanders, Hungary, Scotland, India, and Spain. All live in a set of high valleys surrounded by mountains, and are ruled by a nobility composed solely of mages.

I should have made it clear I was talking about the Principalities and not just the city.

It makes no sense, and it's glorious.

QFT.
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Murphy78

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Re: The Campaign World Of Mystera!
« Reply #37 on: January 14, 2021, 05:40:40 AM »
Darokin's governement is based on Venice (even if it was an aristocracy and not a plutocracy), but Glantri City is based on the town of Venice, with canals and gondolas. And Venice being in a laguna in the sea, formerly being a naval power and ruling a mainly  seaside empire (with islands, coastlines, ports) it sounds quite strange to imagine a Venice-like city ruling a landlocked country.

It's more than just government.

Darokin actually behaves like Venice, putting trade above all other things, and as you say employing navigation to project that trading power.

Somewhat, but the ruling class was land-owning nobles, not merchants. And Darokin is mainly a land power, not naval.

Quote
Sure, Glantri city itself is reminiscent of the actual Venice, but the Principalities of Glantri are far larger and more varied than the Venetian Republic ever was. There's a fair bit of France, Spain and Germany in the Principalities, as well as the occasional Italian flavor.

As has been said before, Mystara is a huge mish-mash of Earth cultures spanning the Roman Empire to Renaissance Europe, with stops in Turkic Arabia, pre-medieval Congo and magical Atlantis, among others.

Also, there's an event in Glantri that mirrors venetian history: the disenfranchising of non-spellcasters, which mirrors the Great Council Lockout of 1296, that excluded commoners from the Great Council of Venice (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serrata_del_Maggior_Consiglio).
It is a described in Gaz3 as an actual session of the Parliament, with mundanes being outvoted and thrown out of the House.
Sure, both countries have taken something from Venice and many mores sources.