I was thinking of introducing my players to Mystara though my only experience with it is the capcom game shadows of mystara and binging on mr. welch's videos. Any recommended introductory module?

Also I was strongly considering either old school essentials ruleset or castles and crusades but i'm open to suggestions here. Just did not want to do 5e

I always started my players in Karameikos because we'd built so much history over the years the players could go to taverns they knew, see various merchants for good deals, knew who the local crime lords were etc.

The BECMI game (or one of the clones) might scratch the itch.



As for modules the B series to start them off but go with B1 instead of B2 as the Keep on the Borderlands can be unforgiving. That said it's like, four decades or so since I ran it so my memory may be foggy.

Quote from: APN on December 15, 2021, 06:55:02 PM
I always started my players in Karameikos because we'd built so much history over the years the players could go to taverns they knew, see various merchants for good deals, knew who the local crime lords were etc.

The BECMI game (or one of the clones) might scratch the itch.



As for modules the B series to start them off but go with B1 instead of B2 as the Keep on the Borderlands can be unforgiving. That said it's like, four decades or so since I ran it so my memory may be foggy.

Old school essentials is b/x, though i might be inclined to use the rules cyclopedia which i have...somewhere in pdf. My understanding is that b/x and RC are basically the same except RC stretched out class progression over like 30 something levels

Isn't B/X a clone of Moldvay/Cook and the RC takes the rules from the Mentzer revision? That's my understanding but I'm not an expert on which clone covers what these days.

Dark Dungeons is free (as far as I know) in PDF and at cost to print but there's so many clones out there I could dig up a list and it would probably be out of date.

I started with Moldvay whenever that was and when Mentzer (BECMI) came about that and AD&D (1e) more or less battled for the affections of the players for a fair while. My favoured game was BECMI but when we got a player character to Immortal status we soon stopped play as it seemed they'd 'won' and more fun to start afresh. Took years as well to get there.

B4 The Lost City is the best Basic starter module. It's only loosely Mystaran, though. It's completely stand alone, just a weird lost/buried world setting that could fit into any campaign. B2 Keep on the Borderlands is good, but again nothing specifically Mystaran, and it needs to be run (and played) correctly.

Another alternative is to get the BECMI Expert Rulebook. There's a map of a starting town (Threshold, in Karameikos), and another page of with set of plot seeds that can kick off a campaign. But it's a tiny part of the book. You'd be buying the PDF for about 2 pages of content.

The iconic Known World/Mystara modules that are really hooked into the setting just aren't for 1st level characters. B10 is one of the best and well integrated into the setting, but it's a Basic/Expert transition module. The others are mostly Expert level, like X1 Isle of Dread or X2 Castle Amber.

In any case, here's a good resource. (Free) re-creations of all the maps in all the modules and supplements, and then some:
http://mystara.thorf.co.uk/

Quote from: APN on December 15, 2021, 07:20:30 PM
Isn't B/X a clone of Moldvay/Cook and the RC takes the rules from the Mentzer revision? That's my understanding but I'm not an expert on which clone covers what these days.

Dark Dungeons is free (as far as I know) in PDF and at cost to print but there's so many clones out there I could dig up a list and it would probably be out of date.

I started with Moldvay whenever that was and when Mentzer (BECMI) came about that and AD&D (1e) more or less battled for the affections of the players for a fair while. My favoured game was BECMI but when we got a player character to Immortal status we soon stopped play as it seemed they'd 'won' and more fun to start afresh. Took years as well to get there.

B/X is the Moldvay/Cook/Marsh edition of D&D. Two box sets, Basic and Expert.

BECMI is the Mentzer version. Expands the two box sets to five, adding in the higher level Companion, Masters, and Immortals sets.

The Rules Cyclopedia is basically a compilation of the first 4 BECMI box sets.

There are differences between them all, but they're fundamentally all the same basic rule set. I think the best set of rules is B/X, which is tightly written. BECMI greatly expanded the rules, but some of the rules aren't that popular, and the attempt to standardize things over 36 levels led to subtle but important changes in things like level-based progressions or demihuman weapon lists (both bad) and fighter combat options (good). The Rules Cyclopedia introduced some editing gaffes. But overall, the biggest difference is presentation. B/X presents the rules in a very clear fashion, is aimed at new players, and the two box approach means players can learn the rules in bite-site pieces, but it isn't a tutorial. BECMI's Basic set is intended as a tutorial for players who never played before, and the later box sets add domain level play (the Companion set is amazing) and a weird cosmology. The main fault and virtue of the RC is that it's all-in-one, which means you have everything at your fingertips in a convenient package, but it's a lot rougher to learn the game since it's all thrown together.

Glenn Welsh has designed the Mystara Player's Handbook for 5e.

http://glen.stelio.net/

Quote from: Svenhelgrim on December 15, 2021, 07:44:25 PM
Glenn Welsh has designed the Mystara Player's Handbook for 5e.

http://glen.stelio.net/

Yeah i have it, great work but just in general i dont play 5e. Every time i look at wotc i am reminded as to why

Purple Assholes aka The Veiled Society is one of my long time favorite modules. It's a good introduction to Specularum, and opens the doors early on to potential intrigue in the campaign. At the very least, even if you don't want to go that route, this can be an introductory adventure to that connects the party with a patron.

The Gazetteer series for Mystara is pretty good overall if you're looking to do B/X and want the detailed setting.  As others have noted, I'd recommend starting with the Karameikos one.  Not sure if there's a POD out there as I have all my originals for the whole damn series.  The last two B modules, B11-12 can work there (Karameikos) if you don't want to use tired old B1-B2.  B6 is okay if you like urban intrigue.  B10 is definitely set in Karameikos and it's solid, though a bit of a railroad in my opinion.  The X series of modules were more explicitly tied to Mystara and several are quite good.  If you can find them on ebay or somewhere, the Poor Wizard's Almanacs have a ton of setting info on Mystara.  One of the forums (Vaults of Pandius) has some pretty good fan-made gazetteers too.

And OSE, the Rules Compendium, or Dark Dungeons all work fine if you don't have the old B/X books.  For me, Mystara needs to be B/X or BECMI.  Any other systems just feel wrong.

Quote from: Persimmon on December 16, 2021, 12:01:47 AM
The Gazetteer series for Mystara is pretty good overall if you're looking to do B/X and want the detailed setting.  As others have noted, I'd recommend starting with the Karameikos one.  Not sure if there's a POD out there ...

Currently $7.50 for POD + PDF:
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/16974/GAZ1-The-Grand-Duchy-of-Karameikos-Basic
No, that's not the normal price for a Gazetteer. But the print + electronic version of Alfheim is also under $10.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/16997/GAZ5-The-Elves-of-Alfheim-Basic

Just saw Pat's post.  Those are a steal at that price.  And if you want the free fan-made ones for the northern lands, see here:

https://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=192

Mystara is possibly my favorite official setting; certainly up there with Greyhawk and far better than Forgotten Realms in my opinion.  But if Mr. Welch sent you, you don't need any more conversion to the greatness of Mystara

GAZ1 Grand Duchy of Karameikos is the obvious starting point for Mystara. Choose a starter town & plunk down a starter dungeon nearby, then go from there.

If you have inexperienced players grab King's Festival which is a master class in intro adventures.  If they have played before Veiled Society is a refreshing break from dungeon crawls.  Horror on the Hill or Rahasia are good low level modules for people that want a challenge.

Quote from: TheGlen on December 16, 2021, 07:16:35 AM
If you have inexperienced players grab King's Festival which is a master class in intro adventures.  If they have played before Veiled Society is a refreshing break from dungeon crawls.  Horror on the Hill or Rahasia are good low level modules for people that want a challenge.

Good advice. I wouldn't recommend Horror on the Hill until PCs are 2nd-3rd level though. Rahasia is tough but playable at 1st.