#glantri

[niksrpgs]

#Mystara #Glantri #KingdomOfMagic boxed set for #DungeonsAndDragons, in pristine condition, now available with FREE SHIPPING! #ttrpg #dnd #TSR #SecondEdition #outofprint #originalprint #NiksRPGs

[vintagerpg]

The idea, I think, was to put out a Mystara box for every region previously detailed in the D&D Gazeteer series. To that end, Karamiekos was followed up by the Glantri: Kingdom of Magic box (1995). But it was not meant to be. This was the last setting box for Mystara. Too soon!

This one is by Monte Cook and follows the same format as its predecessor – big setting book, little adventure book, a bunch of handouts and pre-gens and maps. And the audio CD (shudder).

Glantri is cooool though. It doesn’t quite feel like a Monte Cook idea-fest, but there is a lot more going on here than in Karamiekos. Glantri is a kingdom built around magic and a robust feudal system – there are lots of noble families and the accompanying politics and subterfuge. There are canals. There is a new race oh tiefling-like humans that benefits from monstrous ancestry somewhere in their family tree called the Progeny. An assortment of odd spells (like Remove the Instrument of Death, which basically makes an opponent drop their weapon), rules for seven secret crafts (like alchemy, dream magic and necromancy) and the Radiance, a sort of nuclear powered meta-magic, rounds things out. I enjoy Glantri because it thinks about what a magical society might actually be like, but it doesn’t think too hard about it.

Another sweet Jaquays cover. Walter Velez also returns with some absolutely bonkers paintings. The ridiculous one of Prince Jaggar von Drachenfels, the fellow on the pegasus, is in the running for being my favorite piece of 2E art. Why are those goblins running through the air? Also really dig the Frankenstein golem. Points off for reusing that Dragonlance art for the one book cover though.

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[oldschoolfrp]

Mage and imp (Stephen Fabian, Gazetteer 3: The Principalities of Glantri, TSR, 1987)

[vintagerpg]

Mark of Amber (1995) is the first, and last, adventure for the Glantri campaign box. It is also the last adventure for the Mystara line.

It is a sequel to one of my favorite modules, X2 - Castle Amber (1982). In that module, inspired by some of the stories of Clark Ashton Smith, the Amber family comes to Glantri from France, the players uncover the family’s curse and, in lifting it, destroy the castle and everyone inside. Its pretty psychedelic, too.

This box assumes that the Amber family, now using their real French name, D’Ambreville, somehow came back, along with their castle, and now are a full principality of Glantri rather than a spooky secluded house in the wilds of the country. Stephen Amber (who was central to the curse in the original mod) is now the ruler of the principality and also an immortal who is central to the nuclear meta-magic available in Glantri.

Like Night of the Vampire, the adventure is laid out as a sandbox punctuated by special events. There are a number of dream sequences that are done very well, featuring difficult decisions that impact the resolution of the adventure. There is a wedding instead of a masquerade. There are golems. There are nice call-backs to the original scenario and lots of family skullduggery and a serial murderer. The climax is a bit crap, though, being a big brawl that pretty much requires the help of an NPC to win. Never a great way to go out.

Like X2, this adventure is a stand-out for me because, ending aside, it doesn’t feel like a D&D adventure. Its a lot of intrigue, really, and the surreal, narcotic atmosphere (a lingering influence of Clark Ashton Smith) is tasty as hell. It’s a shame it is pretty much the end of the line.

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