Mystara is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role playing game . It was the default setting for the "Basic" version of the game throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Most adventures published for the "Basic" edition of D&D take place in "The Known World", a central continent that includes a varied patchwork of both human and non-human realms. The human realms are based on various real-world historical cultures. In addition, unlike other D&D settings, Mystara had ascended immortal beings instead of gods.
108-628: The Mystara planet also has sub-settings. The older Blackmoor setting was retconned to exist in Mystara's distant past. The Hollow World refers to the inner surface contained within the world of Mystara, similar to the real world legends of the Hollow Earth , while some adventures take place on the Savage Coast , a 2,000 mile long frontier coastline about 2,000 miles to the west of the Known World. By
216-414: A Dragon, named Cerilian Dragon, Cerilia being the main continent in the setting. They resemble more the eastern-type dragons being long and serpentine with leathery wings. Their backs are protected by iron-hard scales, their bellies by layers of thick, leathery skin. Their color ranges from reddish rust-brown to iron gray, with their bellies usually of a paler tone than their scales. Cerilian dragons are among
324-680: A dragon reaches their maximum development. Many D&D dragons have some innate magical abilities, but they vary from race to race. Metallic dragons are often able to shapechange into small animals or human forms, and use this ability to secretly help or watch over humans. Dragons also have some innate powers over the element they are linked to. For example, a red dragon (fire) will have some control over fires. Like all other draconic powers, they gain more as they grow older. Lesser dragons (such as wyverns, halfdragons or dragonwrought kobolds) may lack innate magical abilities, while still counting as dragons for purpose of all other effects. A breath weapon
432-558: A fiction shared universe , Schick and Moldvay named their setting as the "Known World" so it could be expanded upon by other players. Schick then went to work at TSR Hobbies as a designer for D&D and other games. After being promoted to director of the Design Department he brought Moldvay in to join the company as a game designer, around the time when the D&;D Expert Set was under development. After being told that they could not use
540-413: A good red dragon (usually evil) is as common as an evil gold dragon (usually good). This rule might throw some players off-balance. Dragons also consider themselves superior, treating all other races as inferior. Furthermore, any half-dragon spotted by these dragons is vowed to be hunted, as they treat these half-breeds as a disgrace to their image. The Birthright campaign setting had its own version of
648-722: A greedy attitude to achieve such wealth by whatever means suit them. For good dragons this lust for treasure is tempered, although they are certainly not averse to earning such wealth, and still appreciate gifts (while being insulted if offered an obvious bribe). Being stronger, faster, generally smarter, and possessing longer life than humans and most other races, dragons tend to consider themselves superior creatures. For good-aligned dragons, this may only mean they often consider humanoid races as children, trying to take care of them and educate them; for evil-aligned dragons, they consider humanoids as mere animals, or as toys to play with; at best, they are minions and slaves, while at worst, they are
756-447: A group, D&D dragons are loosely based on dragons from a wide range of fictional and mythological sources. Dungeons & Dragons allows players to fight the fictional dragons in the game ( Tiamat being one of the most notable) and "slay their psychic dragons" as well. These dragons, specifically their "dungeon ecology", have implications for the literary theory of fantasy writing. D&D dragons also featured as targets of
864-490: A half-dragon. The most commonly heard of are in the humanoid races, particularly with human and elves. Nearly any combination is possible, even with devils or angels . While varying depending on species, dragon senses are often superior in most ways to other creatures; like any predator, they have exceptionally acute senses, which only increase with age. Like avian creatures, they have excellent depth perception and comparingly good peripheral vision, able to see twice as well as
972-472: A human in daylight; unlike avian, they have great night vision, and are able to see even when conditions have no light to offer, although in such conditions they cannot discern between colors. All true dragons in Dungeons & Dragons are depicted as intelligent beings, and most of them exceedingly so. A dragon's personality varies by individual, but dragons of the same subrace tend to have similar mindsets. This
1080-535: A major focus of the game. As demand for Blackmoor increased, Arneson fielded out refereeing duties to other players in his local circle. In the summer of 1972, Arneson famously wrote an article detailing "Facts about Black Moor" for Domesday Book #13, which brought his innovations to the attention of the rest of the Castle & Crusade Society . That fall, Arneson demonstrated the game for Gygax, and work on Dungeons & Dragons commenced. As rule development proceeded,
1188-469: A moral outlook derived from that temperament; these factors underlie the personality and behavior of individual dragons. While dragons typically are not portrayed with wide variances in appearance or personality within a species, exceptions are possible, especially in certain in-game settings, such as Eberron. Because dragons in D&;D are portrayed as monstrous creatures designed to antagonize player characters,
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#17328552781031296-449: A natural flair for magic, but they need to practice and hone their skills and come of age before they are able to use it to any meaningful effect. Dragons are inherently magical beings, and are, contrary to appearances, not reptilian in nature. All true dragons are endothermic, with its body temperature varying based on their age and species. However, unlike a most endothermic creatures, dragons have no way of shedding excess heat; instead,
1404-445: A non-damaging effect (paralysis, repulsion, confusion, etc.). Dragons are noted to be egg-layers, and most are described with sharp teeth, horns, and claws. A dragon in D&D is protected by its scaly hide, the color of which is determined by the dragon's species, and which offers a visual clue to the specific elemental nature of each species of dragon. Each species of dragon has a particular temperament associated with it, as well as
1512-626: A party of adventurers into Mystara's past to visit Blackmoor. The first of these, DA1 Adventures in Blackmoor , described in general the geography and politics of Blackmoor and the means by which the characters travel there. DA2 Temple of the Frog expanded the scenario that had appeared in the original Blackmoor supplement. DA3 City of the Gods explored the starship crashed near the Kingdom of Blackmoor, from which
1620-770: A process of being transformed into a dragon type being, unique to the Athas world, which took several long stages to complete, but became greatly powerful if achieved. In the Forgotten Realms campaign setting , dragons are very close to the ones in Dragonlance . A sect of cultists called the Cult of the Dragon believes that dragons, particularly undead ones, will rule the world, and are trying to persuade evil dragons to become dracoliches —undead lich -like dragons, which are partially bound to
1728-424: A sense of incredible patience, even in situations where all others feel they've not a second to lose. Similarly, evil-aligned dragons that are crossed by belligerent adventurers may plot for dozens of generations before exacting revenge on the trespasser's line—it is not uncommon for those descended from the mentioned adventurer to find themselves the target of a dragon based simply on their lineage. In many settings,
1836-585: A series of Gazetteers , many of which originally referred to the setting as "The D&D Game World". The first published use of the name "Mystara" came in 1991 from Bruce Heard in the Letters section of his Voyage of the Princess Ark series in Dragon magazine. While the name was used in official publications after this, it was not until the conversion to AD&D 2nd Edition in 1994 that products were produced under
1944-450: A supplement Savage Coast: Orc's Head , and a Monstrous Compendium Appendix. Even though most of the Known World civilizations historically originated from this part of the planet, it did not see much development while the Mystara product line was still in production. The only major appearance of the continent was in Dragon magazine, where parts of it were sketched out during the Voyage of
2052-482: A village priest, and then Bishop of Blackmoor. Others chose early in the campaign to side with the forces of evil, such as a wizard played by John Soukup. Early descriptions of the activities of the Blackmoor campaign circulated in a news sheet called the Blackmoor Gazette and Rumormonger . Players became increasingly drawn to the innovative dungeon exploration mechanic that Arneson invented; by 1972, that had become
2160-459: Is a moon much like our own, whose phases govern lycanthropy (werewolves, werebears, etc.). Only the Immortals inhabit Matera. They live in a city, Pandius, where they can meet and watch over Mystara. Patera, or Myoshima to its inhabitants, is an invisible moon that cannot be seen from Mystara. Patera's inhabitants have a culture similar to that of medieval Japan. Mystara (like Greyhawk ) incorporated
2268-468: Is a rich repository of pre- Dungeons & Dragons material which preserves original rules and campaign events. For example, it contains the entirety of the "Facts about Black Moor" article from Domesday Book #13. It also contains circa-1972 price lists as well as rules dating from the exile of the Blackmoor Bunch to Loch Gloomen in the late Spring of 1972. The 1977 first printing, including its cover,
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#17328552781032376-412: Is a special form of D&D magic; dragons can cast spells with just a few words, rather than a sometimes long and complex ritual involving words, gestures and preparations like other D&D wizards. In 3 and 3.5 editions dragons cast spells spontaneously like sorcerers do, sometimes having a wider choice of spells. Dragons also radiate a mystical fear aura around them. After a millennium or two,
2484-464: Is based around a society of dragons and their servitors and uses the standard D&D dragon races and dragon gods. It has detailed rules for creating and playing dragon PCs and NPCs, including various draconic character classes . In the Eberron campaign setting , three dragon gods have created the world: Siberys, Eberron and Khyber. Siberys and Eberron waged war against Khyber and imprisoned it within
2592-528: Is expressed as an affinity for some type of elemental power. Some dragon species are naturally able to cast magical spells as well. Most dragons in D&D have the ability to breathe or expel one or more types of energy associated with their elemental affinity, as well as to resist some damage or injury from other sources of such energy. Some dragons have two different kinds of breath weapons, usually one that can cause physical harm to player characters (fire, ice, acid, lightning, etc.) and another that typically has
2700-423: Is in black and white. The cover says "The First Fantasy Campaign Playing Aid" with "Playing Aid" as a subtitle. It shows a large mostly circular picture with trees in the foreground and a fire elemental in the background, below which it says "by Dave Arneson" and "Judges Guild". There is no other verbiage on the cover and the price does not appear on the cover. The back cover has a product list titled "Booty List" with
2808-639: Is not always true; several exceptions exist in official D&D material. Dragon subraces encompass all Dungeons & Dragons alignments , going from lawful good paladin-like gold dragons to the cruel and very greedy chaotic evil red dragons. All dragons share a common desire to collect treasure, be it precious, beautiful, magical or just shiny—indeed, the treasure in question needn't always be gold, and may sometimes be aesthetic in nature, ranging from popular artwork or sculptures or even rare books and tomes that might otherwise have an overwhelming monetary value. For evil-aligned dragons, this generally directs
2916-591: Is the cone or line shaped weapon exhaled by dragons in D&D . Each type of dragon has a different breath weapon. The chromatic dragons have one breath weapon and the metallic dragons have two. Other dragons and semi-dragons frequently have breath weapons. One example is the dragon turtle's cone of steam breath weapon. Breath weapons typically come in one of three forms. Breath weapons typically are composed of one of several materials (gem dragons may have breath weapons of other materials, such as psychic energy and thunderous bursts of sound). True dragons are born with
3024-616: The Monstrous Manual (1993). The onyx dragon, jade dragon, ruby dragon and amber dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Mystara Appendix (1994). The chromatic dragons (black, blue, green, red, and white), and the metallic dragons (brass, bronze, copper, gold, and silver) appeared in the third edition in the Monster Manual (2000), and in the revised 3.5 Monster Manual (2003). The Gem dragons appeared in
3132-751: The Spelljammer: AD&;D Adventures in Space boxed set (1989). The dragons of Krynn', the amphi dragon, the astral dragon, the kodragon, the othlorx dragon, and the sea dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix (1990) . The cloud dragon, the Greyhawk dragon, the mist dragon, and the shadow dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Appendix (1990). The adamantite dragon appeared in
3240-473: The World of Greyhawk campaign setting , later appearing in other settings like the Forgotten Realms . They have hair-like spines around their heads, cat-like bodies with vaguely human-like faces, and scales resembling steel armor. They are much like the other races of metallic dragon with one primary exception: they prefer to maintain the form of another sentient race in order to mingle with, infiltrate, and study
3348-678: The Age of Discovery than the fantasy middle-ages/renaissance tone of the Known World. The Savage Coast is complete with gunpowder ("smokepowder") weaponry. The first published information on the area was the module X9 The Savage Coast for Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set . The region was later expanded in Dungeon magazine issues #6 and 7 (1987) with the adventure "Tortles of the Purple Sage". Two series in Dragon Magazine, "The Princess Ark" and
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3456-525: The Basic Dungeons & Dragons game. For various reasons, TSR published two different versions of their flagship game line. Over the course of several supplements, the Basic Dungeons & Dragons developed its own campaign setting, referred to at first simply as the Known World and later as Mystara . When the history of Mystara was codified, it was established that Arneson's Blackmoor had existed in
3564-486: The Blackmoor setting by placing it in the world's distant past. Blackmoor evolved from a feudal kingdom into a highly advanced civilization, using more and more powerful – and destructive – technology. It ended itself in an apocalyptic explosion so devastating that it changed the climate and geography of the entire planet. Five video games were set in Mystara, spanning three different genres. Dungeons & Dragons: Order of
3672-513: The Hollow World , inspired by conceptions like that novelized by Jules Verne . This world is lit by an eternal red sun at the center of Mystara, and serves as a "cultural museum", preserving the societies that have become extinct in the outer world, "based on Native American , Aztec , Viking , and ancient Rome . The existence of the Hollow World is not, in general, known to the inhabitants of
3780-946: The Immortal Vanya; the Atruaghin Clans, which have an Amerindian feel; the nation of Sind, based on the Mughal Empire ; the Northern Reaches Kingdoms of Ostland, Vestland, and the Soderfjord Jarldoms, based on Scandinavia at various periods of history; the Dwarven nation of Rockhome; the elven Kingdom of Alfheim; the Halfling lands of the Five Shires; and the Alphatian Empire, ruled by wizards and other spellcasters. To
3888-919: The Monster Manual 2 and Draconomicon: Metallic Dragons . Catastrophe dragons are presented in Monster Manual 3 . Planar dragons have been presented in both Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons and Draconomicon: Metallic Dragons . The five basic chromatic dragons (red, blue, green, black, and white) and metallic dragons (copper, brass, silver, gold, and bronze) appeared in the fifth edition Monster Manual (2014) in wyrmling, young, adult, and ancient. Gem dragons and other new-to-fifth-edition dragons appeared in Fizban's Treasury of Dragons (2021). In D&D , true dragons continue to become more powerful as they mature and age; they grow bigger and stronger, become more resistant to damage and magic, their breath weapon become increasingly dangerous and their knowledge and magical abilities improves. Old dragons can cast draconic magic which
3996-559: The Monstrous Compendium Fiend Folio Appendix (1992). The chromatic dragons (black dragon, blue dragon, green dragon, red dragon, and white dragon), the gem dragons (amethyst dragon, crystal dragon, emerald dragon, sapphire dragon, and topaz dragon), metallic dragons (brass dragon, bronze dragon, copper dragon, gold dragon, and silver dragon), brown dragon, cloud dragon, deep dragon, mercury dragon, mist dragon, shadow dragon, steel dragon, and yellow dragon appeared in
4104-791: The Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix (1991). The moon dragon, the sun dragon, and the stellar dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix (1991). The deep dragon appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix II (1991). The gem dragons (the amethyst dragon, the crystal dragon, the emerald dragon, the sapphire dragon, and the topaz dragon) first appeared in The Dragon magazine #037 (May 1980), and then appeared again in
4212-622: The Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989). The faerie dragon, and the Oriental dragons—lung wang (sea dragon), pan lung (coiled dragon), shen lung (spirit dragon), t'ien lung (celestial dragon), tun mi lung (typhoon dragon), yu lung (carp dragon), chiang ling (river dragon), and li lung (earth dragon)—appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix (1989). The radiant dragon appeared in
4320-571: The god - king of the metallic dragons is Bahamut , the Platinum Dragon, and the goddess and queen of the chromatic dragons is Tiamat , the Five-Headed Dragon. She is based on the Tiamat from Babylonian mythology , who was considered the evil mother of dragons, though the appearances of the fictional deity differs greatly from its model. The progenitor and supreme deity of all dragons in
4428-477: The moral panic surrounding the game. In D&D , dragons are depicted as any of various species of large, intelligent, magical, reptilian beasts, each typically defined by a combination of their demeanor and either the color of their scales or their elemental affinity. For example, a commonly presented species of dragon is the red dragon, which is named for its red scales, and known for its evil and greedy nature, as well as its ability to breathe fire . In
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4536-551: The "Fifth Age", massive Chromatic Dragons who were not native to Krynn emerged and took over many of the humanoid-controlled nations of Krynn, as well as slaying many of the native dragons. They are known as Dragon Overlords. There was one from each race of Chromatic Dragons; red, green, black, white, and blue. In the world of Athas of the Dark Sun campaign setting , normal D&D dragons do not exist. Dragon-like drake races exist, one for each classical element , but for most people
4644-547: The "Known World Grimoire", described the Savage Coast in more detail. These articles were partially reprinted in the D&;D game accessory Champions of Mystara (1993). The Savage Coast in 1994 was spun off into a campaign setting for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (2nd Edition). This area was published in its own boxed set entitled Red Steel , and later republished online as the Savage Coast. An expansion, Savage Baronies ,
4752-413: The (fictional) metal cinnabryl is worn in contact with the body. The specifics of the "Red Curse" include mutilation of the body and extreme degeneration of physical and mental health. It also imprisons the region's inhabitants, as debilitating effects result if they leave the cursed area. Savage Coast's swashbuckling flavor is very different from that of the Known World, closer in atmosphere to that of
4860-583: The 2nd, 3rd, or 4th editions of D&D may be found in their respective editions of the Draconomicon , a supplement book designed to provide players with more information about dragons; fifth edition has the similarly-themed Fizban's Treasury of Dragons . No such book was published for the first edition, although the Basic game had a Bestiary of Dragons and Giants ( coded AC10). Medieval literature scholar Thomas Honegger considered it "no coincidence" that
4968-679: The 4th edition of D&D . There was also an ongoing massively multiplayer role playing game campaign organized by Zeitgeist games, which is similar in form to the Living Campaigns organized by the RPGA . The version of the campaign for D&D 3.5 ended in February 2009 at Megacon . Dragon (Dungeons %26 Dragons) In the Dungeons & Dragons ( D&D ) fantasy role-playing game , dragons are an iconic type of monstrous creature. As
5076-615: The Battle of Deismaar, the only verified alive and awake dragons right now are the dragon of Vstaive Peaks in Vosgaard, also known as Vore Lekiniskiy and Kappenkriaucheran who inhabits the Drachenward mountains and controls their magic. The most famous of the dragons is Tarazin the Grey who has not been seen for several decades when the official campaign begins. The only known Dracolich is Komassa who lives in
5184-464: The Blackmoor campaign continued, and began coordinating with a parallel campaign known as Greyhawk run out of Lake Geneva by Gygax and his circle. After the publication of Dungeons & Dragons , the Blackmoor campaign continued, but as a number of key participants (including Arneson) left Minneapolis to work in Lake Geneva, play of the campaign grew more sporadic. The original Blackmoor product
5292-522: The Blackmoor campaign, from Magic Swords (1971) up to the Blackmoor dungeons Arneson commonly ran at conventions in 1976. Only a relatively small amount of original material, primarily link text, was written specifically for the First Fantasy Campaign , though all maps and some connected illustrations were redrawn and relettered by the Judges Guild's Bob Bledsaw . Thus, the First Fantasy Campaign
5400-559: The Blackmoor campaign. Other than the "Temple of the Frog", Blackmoor did not include any information on the Blackmoor setting itself. Written by Dave Arneson and published by Judges Guild in 1977, The First Fantasy Campaign added information on the actual Blackmoor campaign setting. It included baronies, citadels, history of leaders and details on the Blackmoor dungeon. It also contained additional rules for creating lairs, character interests and vocations. The First Fantasy Campaign anthologizes material produced at various stages of
5508-472: The Dracorage, was invoked causing countless dragons to rampage throughout Faerûn. A novel trilogy, The Year of Rogue Dragons set ( The Rage , The Rite , and The Ruin ) by Richard Lee Byers , as well as a game accessory, Dragons of Faerûn , details the exploits and deeds of several dragons as the Dracorage swept the continent. Steel dragons , originally known as Greyhawk dragons, are those originating in
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#17328552781035616-618: The Great One, Ruler of All Dragonkind) in the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991). The five chaotic-aligned dragon types from the 1974 boxed set, as well as the gold dragon and the four new dragon types from the Greyhawk supplement (the copper dragon, brass dragon, bronze dragon, and silver dragon) appeared in first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the original Monster Manual (1977), along with Bahamut and Tiamat. The former five dragon types were given as evil-aligned, while
5724-581: The Griffon ( TurboGrafx-16 , 1992) and Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun ( Sega Genesis , 1992) are role-playing video games . Fantasy Empires (PC, 1993) is a strategy game. The plots and development teams of these games are unrelated. Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (1993) and its sequel Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara (1996) are two arcade beat 'em up with minimal role-playing elements. These two games are among
5832-734: The Immortals , an epic adventure which described a massive war involving both heaven and earth, climaxes with the discovery of the preserved control room from the starship that had crashed near Blackmoor millennia ago. After the Basic D&;D game and its Mystara setting were discontinued, Zeitgeist Games, where Arneson worked prior to his death, produced an updated d20 System version of Blackmoor titled Dave Arneson's Blackmoor Campaign Setting , published by Goodman Games in 2004. Goodman and Zeitgeist also produced Blackmoor adventure modules. In 2009 Code Monkey Publishing released Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The First Campaign , an updated campaign guide for
5940-413: The Mystara title with the official Mystara logo. Each part of the D&D Gazetteer series treats one nation or empire and has three basic elements: cultural and geographic background, features, and adventures. The cultural and geographic campaign background section offers a brief history and timeline for each nation; basic geography, climate, and ecology; and, fundamental social and political concepts of
6048-681: The Platinum Dragon is called Paladine, and the Dragon Queen is called Takhisis . Dragons are divided up into good and evil groups, known as the Metallic Dragons and the Chromatic Dragons, respectively. Paladine leads the Metallic Dragons and Takhisis the Chromatic. The Metallic Dragons rarely became involved in the world other than to oppose the actions of Chromatic Dragons, who often joined into war as their goddess Takhisis instructed. However, in
6156-426: The Princess Ark series, by Known World Product Manager Bruce Heard . Many Mystara fans have been turning their attention to Davania with fan-made material in recent years. Very little was officially developed for this part of Mystara. Since the Mystara product line was discontinued, fans have created their material for this part of Mystara. Mystara is a hollow planet, with a habitable surface on its interior called
6264-563: The Shadow World. Dragons in Birthright are meant to be rare and powerful beings and only rarely if ever appear in any adventure. Chromatic dragon is a classification of fictional dragon. Chromatic dragons are typically of evil alignment, in contrast to the metallic dragons, which are typically of good alignment. Chromatic dragons have played a large role in various D&D monster compilation books: white, black, green, blue and red dragons being
6372-422: The abilities of true dragons. Examples of lesser dragons include dragon turtles and wyverns . Other creatures with the dragon type include drakes, felldrakes, elemental drakes, landwyrms, linnorms and wurms. With D&D 4th edition , the classifications were changed: chromatic dragons turned not strictly evil, and metallic dragons proved not necessarily good. Also, there are several new categories (although
6480-484: The centerpiece of the game, and the various players attached to it (Greg Svenson, David Megarry , Dan Nicholson, Duane Jenkins ), initially represented the forces of good. Duane Jenkins, for example, ruled the Northern Marches, first as a bandit chief, later promoted to Baron as Sir Jenkins. As the game progressed, more of Arneson's Napoleonics players joined in increasingly diverse roles. Mike Carr, for example, became
6588-510: The classic chromatic dragons. Tiamat is the queen of chromatic dragons, based on the evil mother of all dragons from Babylonian mythology . The classification of "chromatic dragons" was used in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition Monstrous Manual (1993), although the dragons comprising the category had been in print since the original Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974). The term continued to be used in
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#17328552781036696-402: The co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons , as an early testing ground for what would become D&D . Blackmoor began as a development of David Wesely 's " Braunstein " games following Duane Jenkins' Brownstone (Old West) variant and Arneson's own wargaming sessions, into which he had begun to introduce fantasy elements. Initially inspired by Conan novels and gothic horror, Arneson expanded
6804-765: The cult by the rituals which grant them their undead status. Additionally, in the D&D supplement book The Draconomicon , several other undead varieties of the dragon – ghost, skeleton, vampire, and zombie dragons – are described. A series called Wyrms of the North ran in Dragon magazine issues #230 through #259 and was later updated to third edition rules on Wizards of the Coast's website (see external links). Each article detailed an individual dragon of significance in Faerûn . Lately an ancient affliction that attacks dragons, rendering them mad;
6912-563: The cultures of men and their ilk. Few people know when they are interacting with a Steel Dragon, but they always have a feature which betrays them by resembling their natural complexion. Within the Greyhawk setting, such dragons are known to have made journeys into other material planes where they have come to be called steel dragons. The Council of Wyrms campaign setting is the only one that allows for dragon player characters in its base rules. (The Draconomicon introduces rules for dragon PCs in standard Dungeons & Dragons .) The setting
7020-464: The depths of the earth. In the end, all three dragons merged with the land: Siberys becoming the sky, Eberron the continents and Khyber the underground world. Dragons are apart from civilization, which is mostly concentrated on the continent of Khorvaire. They live on the continent of Argonnessen, a rather unknown place, since dragons are very territorial, it makes exploration often hazardous. The dragons used to rule over Eberron many centuries ago, but at
7128-552: The distant Northwest of the "Known World", across the Great Waste, lies the mysterious lands of Hule, ruled by Hosadus, also known as "The Master". Also on the periphery of the Known World are the Kingdoms of Wendar and Denagoth, the first an elven-dominated nation and the latter a mountainous and dark realm of evil, with ill-intentions towards Wendar. The Adri Varma lies between Sind, Wendar, the Great Waste, and The Black Mountains, forming
7236-464: The dragon's next dinner. The longevity of dragons is evident in their often lackadaisical attitudes. Good-aligned dragons, while concerned with defeating evil, are able to see a much broader scope of the world, and although certain crises arise that may seem extremely important to good-aligned humans, their dragon counterparts are able to see the event as an unimportant hiccup that will pass in mere centuries; even those that adventure with others tend show
7344-411: The early 1980s, but Blackmoor remained a part of D&D lore and was referred to in many later supplements. In a subsequent re-release of the world of Greyhawk for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, an arctic region of mysterious black ice in the northwestern area of the map was called Blackmoor . However, Arneson's Blackmoor became integral to a different setting and rules system, those of
7452-509: The end of the Dragon-Fiend war, against the demons and devils of Khyber, they departed from Khorvaire to go to Argonnessen. Dragons are immersed in the Draconic Prophecy, a legend which all bits of information are scattered throughout the world and that the outcome is unknown. They see every event as an important event in the Prophecy, and they even form an organization called the Chamber, where they send their brethren in search of clues. They can be of any alignment, like any creature in Eberron, so
7560-459: The existing Greyhawk setting, as it was being reserved for only Advanced Dungeons & Dragons products, Schick and Moldvay got approval to instead use their "Known World" as the standard D&D campaign setting. Schick and Moldvay's "Known World" was used as a semi-generic setting in early adventure modules , first mentioned in Module X1, The Isle of Dread . It was then expanded upon in various D&D modules and sources, particularly
7668-461: The far northern reaches of the Great Kingdom, and it was there that he began to stage medieval games that led up to the Blackmoor setting. An announcement in Arneson's fanzine Corner of the Table describes the first game in the campaign, one built on the model of Dave Wesely 's " Braunstein " series of games: There will be a medieval "Braunstein" April 17, 1971, at the home of Dave Arneson from 1300 hrs to 2400 hrs with refreshments being available on
7776-472: The few D&D video games developed by a Japanese company, in this case by Capcom . These rulebooks are designed for the BECMI edition of Basic D&D by Frank Mentzer . Blackmoor (campaign setting) Blackmoor is a fantasy role-playing game campaign setting generally associated with the game Dungeons & Dragons . It originated in the early 1970s as the personal setting of Dave Arneson ,
7884-508: The film The Black Room , as inspiration for Blackmoor as it was aired twice before the first game, and it was mentioned by Dave Arneson as a film he was possibly watching while reading Conan. The origins of the Blackmoor setting lie in the Castle & Crusade Society , a subgroup of the International Federation of Wargaming specializing in medieval miniatures combat; the group was initially driven by Gary Gygax . Dave Arneson
7992-536: The fourth edition Monster Manual (2008). Chromatic dragons were again presented in the Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons . This supplement also included three more chromatic dragon types: the brown dragon (aka, sand dragon), the grey dragon (aka, fang dragon), and the purple dragon (aka, deep dragon). The adamantine dragon, copper dragon, gold dragon, iron dragon, and silver dragon appeared in the Monster Manual 2 (2009). Metallic dragons are presented in
8100-500: The future 3rd edition of Mystara, and Wizards of the Coast support was discontinued by the time the game's third edition was released in 2000. Mystara originated as a fantasy world developed by Lawrence Schick and Tom Moldvay for their own Dungeons & Dragons game sessions from 1974 to 1976. Their original setting consisted of a large continent with fictionalized nations that were based on real-world historical cultures. Inspired by author H. P. Lovecraft and his work in creating
8208-425: The game is known as Io. Other deities often included in the draconic pantheon of gods include Aasterinian , Chronepsis , and Faluzure . Other draconic gods may be present in different campaign settings. The Dragonlance novels and campaign setting , which had the idea of "a world were dragons dominated" as a core concept of its development, helped popularize the D&D -derived perspective on dragons. Here
8316-533: The game, dragons are usually adversaries of player characters , and less commonly, allies or helpers. Powerful and intelligent, the fictional dragons of Dungeons & Dragons are usually reptiles with magical abilities and breath weapons. The different sub-species, distinguished by their coloring, vary in power. Despite the variety of dragons in D&D , a number of traits are common to nearly all types of dragons. All species are portrayed as generally reptilian or serpentine in their natural form. Except for
8424-496: The gem dragons did not return): "planar dragons" which are defined as dragons that were warped by living on a plane of existence other than the Material Plane, "catastrophe dragons", which take on the aspects of natural disasters which are chaotic evil and cause chaos for its own sake, and "scourge dragons". The five chromatic dragon types (black, blue, green, red, and white) appeared in young, adult, elder, and ancient variants in
8532-419: The heat is extracted via an organ known as the draconis fundamentum, where it is transformed into energy for the creature. A dragon is also unaffected by a lack of external heat, without slowing their metabolism nor activity level. The number of eggs laid each time depends on the race of the dragon, but is usually low (between one and ten). Dragons can also cross-breed with virtually any other creature, creating
8640-483: The highest number being 35 and "New Non-Sub Items" listing product numbers 36–39. It comes with the first printing of the First Fantasy Campaign Maps. This book consists of 92 numbered pages plus the cover, inside cover, back cover and table of contents for a total of 96 total pages. The dark red cover was used for the reformatted later printings that used a smaller font and fewer pages. Arneson left TSR in
8748-516: The latter five dragon types were given as good-aligned. The ten dragon types were given pseudoscientific names as follows: black ( draco causticus sputem ), blue ( draco electricus ), brass ( draco impudentus gallus ), bronze ( draco gerus bronzo ), copper ( draco comes stabuli ), gold ( draco orientalus sino dux ), green ( draco chlorinous nauseous respiratorus ), red ( draco conflagratio horriblis ), silver ( draco nobilis argentum ), and white ( draco rigidus frigidus ). The Oriental dragons appeared in
8856-456: The majority of dragons in D&D are described as evil by default. This was more prominent in the original Dungeons & Dragons releases (such as the Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974) and Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set ) where only the gold dragon was specified to be lawful good while all other colors were noted to be chaotic evil (red, green, black) or neutral evil (blue, white). Detailed information about dragonkind in
8964-513: The mid-1990s, gamers' attention started to shift towards the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and its official campaigns. Some Mystara adventures for AD&D were published between 1994 and 1996. Eventually, official support of the Mystara setting was transitioned to the Official Fan Site system wherein the Vaults of Pandius fansite was selected to become the official site for
9072-683: The module X1, " The Isle of Dread ," plus Norwold, the Isle of Dawn, and (pre Wrath of the Immortals ) Alphatia. As the name implies, the "Known World" covers the most notable nations of Mystara, the ones most commonly used in Mystara-based campaigns and featured in fiction. It includes the Thyatian Empire, which could be compared to the Byzantine Empire ; the Grand Duchy of Karameikos (which includes
9180-560: The most ancient inhabitants of the continent, predating even elves and dwarves. Perhaps once there were many, but over the years, in-fighting and fighting the younger races have taken their toll. There are only a half dozen dragons known to be left. All living dragons are of the Old age or higher. Dragons are extremely intelligent and knowledgeable, conserving much lore that has been lost to the younger races. They speak their own language; some also speak Elven or Dwarven. Some of these dragons took part in
9288-544: The northern border of Glantri and defining the northwestern limits of the region. Mystara includes the Savage Coast, a coastal area located in the south-central part of the Brun continent, to the south and west of Hule. The area is a 2000-mile frontier coastline about 2000 miles west of the Known World. This part of Mystara is affected by the Red Curse. This sinister enchantment eventually kills its inhabitants through mutation unless
9396-446: The officially published material, the Known World concentrated on the eastern portion of Brun along with the islands of the Sea of Dawn. Nations of the Known World display a great range of government types. Some countries are populated entirely by demihumans and/or humanoids. By standard convention, the boundaries of the "Known World" are those covered in the world map as initially published in
9504-470: The officially published material, the Known World concentrated on the eastern portion of Brun and the lands of the Sea of Dawn. The continents of Mystara were designed to be similar in appearance to the continents of Laurasia and Gondwana on Earth approximately 135 million years ago. In addition to human races, several archetypal fantasy races were included on Mystara: these include elves , dwarves , halflings , orcs, and dragons . Nations created for
9612-552: The original Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974). The Greyhawk Campaign supplement (1975) added the copper dragon, brass dragon, bronze dragon, and silver dragon, along with the Platinum Dragon ( Bahamut ) and the Chromatic Dragon ( Tiamat ). "Dragon" was one of the protected terms from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien involved in a lawsuit between rights holder Saul Zaentz and TSR in 1977. The white dragon, black dragon, red dragon and brass dragon reappeared in
9720-763: The original Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977). The six dragons from the 1974 boxed set appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rulebook (1981), and again in the 1983 version of the Basic Set (1983). These six appeared along with the gemstone dragons (crystal dragon, onyx dragon, jade dragon, sapphire dragon, ruby dragon and amber dragon), and the dragon rulers (Pearl (the Moon Dragon), Ruler of all Chaotic Dragons; Diamond (the Star Dragon), Ruler of all Lawful Dragons; Opal (the Sun Dragon), Ruler of all Neutral Dragons; and
9828-566: The original Fiend Folio (1981), including the li lung (earth dragon), the lung wang (sea dragon), the pan lung (coiled dragon), the shen lung (spirit dragon), the t'ien lung (celestial dragon), and the yu lung (carp dragon). The cloud dragon, the faerie dragon, the mist dragon, and the shadow dragon appeared in the original Monster Manual II (1983). In the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ( AD&D ), dragons were altered heavily from their first edition equivalents and were made much more powerful with magic resistance, removing
9936-409: The outer world. The poles are actually huge, subtly curving holes that allow passage between the outer and inner world, although it is a long, hard trek through a cold, unlit, stormy and anti-magic area. The curvature of the holes is so subtle that explorers from either surface do not notice the transition until after it is already made, causing quite a shock for most. Two moons orbit the planet. Matera
10044-475: The region. Each Gazetteer also offers a list of scenario ideas appropriate to the campaign setting. Trenton Webb for the British Arcane RPG magazine described Mystara as "a traditional Tolkienesque world". Three principal land masses are described on Mystara's outer surface: the continent of Brun, the continent of Skothar, the continent of Davania, and the island continent of Alphatia (up to AC 1010). In
10152-428: The seminal role-playing game "features the dragon, a most formidable opponent, as the second element of its name" as the "recognition of the dragon as the most dangerous animal is traditional" in epic literature. Five evil-aligned dragons (white dragon, black dragon, green dragon, blue dragon, and red dragon), and the lawful-good aligned golden dragon (in ascending order of magic power and capabilities) first appeared in
10260-572: The setting around the eponymous town, castle, and multi-level dungeon using ideas borrowed from The Lord of the Rings and Dark Shadows and made use of the Fantasy Supplement rules from the Chainmail game. Blackmoor was a campaign centered on individual player characters capable of continuing progressions, which encouraged cooperative play to succeed. D. H. Boggs suggested a possible influence of
10368-445: The setting's intentional anachronisms derived. DA4 The Duchy of Ten dealt with a horde of invading barbarians, but was the only work not derived from Dave Arneson's original campaign notes. A fifth installment, DA5 City of Blackmoor , was announced but was never written or published. There were no further direct explorations of Blackmoor, although later Mystara products continued to make reference to it. For instance, The Wrath of
10476-435: The subdual rules, and now had more physical attack forms besides claws and bites. AD&D 2nd edition and D&D 3rd edition divided true dragons further into three main categories: chromatic dragons which are evil- aligned ; metallic dragons which are good; and neutral-aligned gem dragons , rare creatures that possess psionic abilities. In addition, there were other subspecies of true dragons that did not fit into
10584-498: The third edition in the Monster Manual II . The third edition of D&D classifies dragon as a type of creature, simply defined as "a reptilelike creature, usually winged, with magical or unusual abilities". The dragon type is broken down into several classifications. True dragons are dragons which increase in power by age categories (wyrmling to great wyrm). Lesser dragons do not improve in age categories and may lack all of
10692-629: The three main categories. For example, mercury and steel dragons would seem to be metallic dragons, but in the Dungeons & Dragons world they are considered to be outside of the main family of metallic dragons because of various biological differences (though the book Dragons of Faerûn did list them as metallic dragons). The "lung dragons" or spirit-dragons of Oriental Adventures are also true dragons. The black dragon, blue dragon, brass dragon, bronze dragon, copper dragon, gold dragon, green dragon, red dragon, silver dragon, and white dragon appeared in second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in
10800-712: The town of Threshold, the default setting of many classic D&D adventures); the Principalities of Glantri, ruled by wizard-princes; the Ethengar Khanate , a Mongol -like society; the merchant-run Republic of Darokin, which is based loosely on the mercantile states of medieval Italy; the Emirates of Ylaruam; the Heldannic Territories, ruled by an order of religious knights similar to the Teutonic Order devoted to
10908-600: The usual basis. ... It will feature mythical creatures and a Poker game under the Troll's bridge between sunup and sundown. The next issue of Corner of the Table promised "the start of the 'Black Moors' battle reports, a series dealing with the perils of living in Medieval Europe". Initially, The Northern Marches was set up to be an ongoing multiplayer wargame, with the potential for Braunstein games. The Barony of Blackmoor formed
11016-562: The word dragon refers to the Dragon of Tyr, who is a very powerful sorcerer-king (the tyrannic leaders of Athasian cities, who are both masters of magic and psi abilities) who transformed himself into a dragon-like creature using very powerful (and painful) magic. However, this dragon (Bors or Borys) was eventually killed in Troy Denning 's book The Cerulean Storm by his former master, the sorcerer Rajaat. Several other sorcerer kings had been rumored to be dragons, but all others were only in
11124-635: The world of Mystara include the Thyatian Empire , the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, the Principalities of Glantri , the merchant-run Republic of Darokin, the Emirates of Ylaruam, the Dwarven nation of Rockhome, the Elven Kingdom of Alfheim, Halfling lands of the Five Shires, and the chaotic Alphatian Empire. The most commonly known land mass on Mystara's outer surface is only a tiny portion of Brun. In
11232-465: The world's distant past, achieved a technologically advanced civilization, and then destroyed itself in a global catastrophe that shifted the planet's axis. Its influence was now central to at least one of TSR's published worlds, but the actual setting of Blackmoor as Arneson described it had yet to be presented. This was finally remedied in the mid-1980s through the DA series of adventure modules , which carried
11340-433: The youngest dragons, they are described as quite large—usually at least as big as a horse, and often much larger. Most species are depicted to have wings and be capable of flight, and nearly all are quadrupedal . Almost all species of dragon are depicted as highly intelligent (at least as intelligent as a human being) and are able to speak. All species of dragon are noted to be magical in nature, and in most species this nature
11448-560: Was among the first to join the Society in April 1970, and many other members of his Twin Cities gaming group followed, including Duane Jenkins, Bill Hoyt, Ed Werncke, Mike Carr , and Marshall Hoegfeldt. Within months, the leadership of the Society had decided to form a fictional "Great Kingdom", with parcels of land awarded to and contested by members of the organization. Arneson assumed responsibility for
11556-454: Was published by Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) in 1975, as the second supplement to D&D (the first being Greyhawk ). The booklet was named for the original role-playing campaign world by Dave Arneson, who also wrote this booklet. It added rules, monsters, treasure, and the first published role-playing game adventure, the "Temple of the Frog", a scenario from the Loch Gloomen section of
11664-470: Was released the following year. These supplements were for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition , as all the previous material had been for the "Classic" version of D&D . In 1996, the setting was revised and re-released under the AD&;D: Odyssey line as three fully online products available for free download. This range included the base Savage Coast Campaign Book by Tim Beach and Bruce Heard ,
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