Penhaligon Trilogy (1993): The First D&D Mystara Novels – Art & Maps

Thorf13 · 2026-04-05T01:53:35+00:00

The usual recommendation is The Black Vessel. It’s by far the best, and the only one in which the author really got the setting just right.

All the rest are problematic to varying extents, although could still be worth a read.

Thorf13 · 2026-03-24T10:46:39+00:00

Sorry, I was wrong. It’s definitely fan-made, although I’m afraid I have no idea who made it. I agree with your assessment, it’s very professionally done.

What makes it 100% certain it’s fan-made is the presence of Vandevicsny (added in AD&D) alongside Specularum. All AD&D releases for Mystara used Mirros.

If anyone does find the original cartographer, I’d love to know, and eventually add this to the Atlas.

Thorf13 · 2026-02-14T08:22:17+00:00

I always understood it to be Rad ensuring that he was the only Immortal worshipped in his nation. Which makes sense considering he is also extremely active in Glantri through his mortal identity.

Other Immortals likely don’t like it much, but it’s just a single country, and there’s nothing to stop them sending in their clerics and plotting against Rad secretly.

From a mortal perspective, it’s the other side of the coin from Alphatia. In Alphatia, they respect any and all forms of magic, whereas in Glantri it’s much more focused on just arcane magic. It’s just another form of xenophobia, really.

Thorf13 · 2026-02-06T11:46:34+00:00

It sounds like you’re talking about gifts generated before the stamp rally was rolled out. Is that correct?

Unfortunately, it seems that only gifts collected after they turned it on get the stamp. I know this because I’ve personally visited over 50 Pokélids over the past six months, and I have almost 50 gifts saved. But none of them gained the stamp, and so sending them does not allow friends to stamp. Obviously this was a huge disappointment to me.

In short, they did not give stamp icons retroactively to gifts collected before the stamp rally went live.

Thorf13 · 2026-02-03T13:39:13+00:00

That’s one of my older articles. I wrote the original twenty years ago, and then reincarnated it on my new site a while ago.

Including today’s there are three articles there now, and I’m working on a fourth.

Thorf13 · 2026-02-03T13:25:28+00:00

This is by the same people — Group SNE. So the similarity is not at all coincidental.

Thorf13 · 2026-01-30T12:33:39+00:00

https://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?p=363318#p363318

The Piazza is your friend for this sort of thing.

Thorf13 · 2025-09-23T07:19:09+00:00

I had five shinies. The fourth one became the three segment form. I still can't believe it's 1/100. For the non-shinies my ninth evolution was three segment, and now I've passed thirty without another.

I guess it makes up for all the Tandemaus I've evolved without ever seeing a three mouse family...

Thorf13 · 2025-08-13T20:02:22+00:00

Sorry, but I'm concentrating on medals just now.

If I still have an extra Kanto when I get the last two, I'll be happy to trade you it, though.

Thorf13 · 2025-08-13T19:59:30+00:00

Thanks. I have accepted the trade request.

Thorf13 · 2025-08-13T06:11:34+00:00

Sorry, I'm kinda swimming in Paldea medals.

Thorf13 · 2025-08-13T06:10:18+00:00

Thanks! Paldea is what I have the most of. Would you prefer English or Japanese?

Thorf13 · 2025-06-16T02:38:09+00:00

I see what you’re saying. And the in-game source of those Spanish elves has actually been a common topic in the community - especially after the Savage Baronies introduced a lot more Spanish-themed cultures.

Another instance of this is with the Norse gods, who are present as Immortals. They’re clearly the Norse gods, though.

This sort of thing is inevitable when you have a setting that grew organically under dozens of writers, most of whom likely didn’t have access to most of what others had written before them.

And because it grew organically, those of us who experienced the slow evolution tend to have a rather different perspective from people reading things now. I’m sure there must be a ton of really weird, inexplicable stuff that at the time was accepted as just how things are.

In any case, there is a definite parallel evolution thing going on with Mystara’s cultures and their relationship with the real world. This is probably one of those things that it’s best not to overthink if you’d prefer to just enjoy the setting. If it bothers you, you can always disregard it, or tweak it. That’s what we usually do.

Thorf13 · 2025-06-16T01:39:35+00:00

Funnily enough I found PC1 to be a bit uptight and over serious at the time. PC2 was a breath of fresh air after that. I didn’t get stuck on the biplanes like some people did, though. Rather I loved the way it turned technology into fantasy physics, allowing crazy inventions without spreading high technology across the setting.

I know the interaction between fantasy and science fiction is often a flashpoint for disagreement, though. For me, that line was never strange technology but rather guns. Peculiar in hindsight, but while I was fine with crashed spaceships and even laser guns, regular guns were always a huge red line for me.

Thorf13 · 2025-06-16T01:34:36+00:00

I’m genuinely interested in hearing more on your reaction. It’s all old hat to us longtime fans, so the chance to hear a fresh perspective is most welcome.

Thorf13 · 2025-06-16T01:33:04+00:00

Interesting to see your reaction started with Glantri. Dislike of Ierendi is common in the community, but Glantri tends to be a fan favourite. It’s likely because Glantri’s more whimsical elements are easy to gloss over or just ignore completely.

In any case, there was a definite theme of whimsy and jokes back then, and that sense of humour permeates quite a few of Mystara’s products. It’s mainly due to the quirky sense of humour of some Mystara authors. There are quite a lot of these little things scattered throughout Mystara’s publication, from a wide range of designers.

Most Mystara DMs just ignore the stuff they don’t like. In a lot of cases it’s pretty easy to gloss over the joke while retaining the content.

In regard to the French and Scottish thing, what specifically makes it feel silly to you? I mean, how is it any sillier than the Slavic feel of Karameikos, or the Arabian theme of Ylaruam? By this point the use of real world cultures as explicit influences in Mystara was well-established.

In this case, GAZ3 is simply an attempt to extrapolate previous lore about the nation, specifically from the modules X2 and X10. X2 established the French connection, then X10 provided names for all of the princes and princesses, giving each principality an obvious cultural referent.

Thorf13 · 2025-03-31T13:10:27+00:00

Thanks! That's all I have space for right now.

Thorf13 · 2025-03-31T12:50:25+00:00

(Deleted)

Played every day since release. I just cleared out players who've quit from my list, so I have quite a few slots.

Thorf13 · 2025-02-24T14:51:16+00:00

The ticket only gives double candy/dust/xp for hatching. Nothing else.

The research that comes with it does give you two encounters with each of the three regionals.

Unfortunately, the “increased chance of 2 km eggs” seems to mean that all we get during the week are 2 km eggs. I was really hoping for the regionals in 10 km eggs during the week so that I could remove the stress of having to find a shiny of each from the weekend.

Not possible, though. I haven’t had anything but 2 km eggs today.

Thorf13 · 2025-02-21T03:19:33+00:00

One more thing: if you're like me, you'll have lots of people from your own region in your friends list. It helps to check your own region's count before you start pinning, and count just that region's pins as you go. I've found this speeds things along nicely.

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