Bruce Heard's World of Calidar Comes to an End After 10 Years

Game designer Bruce Heard should be well known to fans of TSR era Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. In particular, he is known for his work on the Classic D&D (BECMI) game and the World of Mystara, including his role in creating the Gazetteer series and the Voyage of the Princess Ark. He was the Product Manager of the Classic D&D line and eventually became Product Manager of TSR before the company was acquired by WotC. 

When he returned to game design after a hiatus, Bruce attempted to gain permission from WotC to produce 3rd party content for Mystara, but when those negotiations failed, he decided to create his fantasy own world. That world is the World of Calidar. 

Sadly, fans learned yesterday that the Calidar series have come to an end. When asked about future Calidar books, Bruce Heard responded the following in the Calidar Facebook Chat Group:

Given the limited sales of the last series, I can't find the energy to launch another. These books represent a major amount of work, and I'm not getting any younger. It's a heartbreaking decision, but in the face of the apparent lack of activity after the latest Kickstarter and little or no ensuing feedback, I'm not comfortable pursuing the Calidar project.

The first Calidar Kickstarter was launched in 2013 and it has been an amazing ride since then. The World of Calidar is a unique fantasy universe spanning many worlds with their own unique atmosphere, brought to life by the writing of Bruce Heard with additional contribution from other collaborators, most notably Thorfinn Tait.

Following the adventures of the sky ship Star Phoenix in its exploration of the World of Calidar and its universe has been an amazing ride over the last decade. I am greatly thankful to Bruce Heard for the books and gaming material he has provided for us during 10 year run. You can follow Bruce Heard via his blog. If you want to show your thanks to Bruce, now is the time to buy Calidar books!

Get Your Calidar Books from DrivethruRPG (Not an Affiliated Link)

 -Havard

Awesome Fantasy Maps by Thorfinn Tait Cartography

Although we have never met in person, I have known Thorfinn Tait for decades now. He is one of several people from the Mystara fan community that I consider my friends after so many years of talking online about our favorite fantasy setting.

Over the years Thorfinn has developed amazing skills as a fantasy map maker. He started out making fan maps of Mystara, but in recent years he teamed up with D&D designer and former TSR product manager Bruce Heard in order to produce maps for the World of Calidar from Calidar Publishing.

You can get tons of free maps made by Thorfinn Tait Cartography over at http://thorf.co.uk/

Recently Thorfinn also joined Patreon so that you can now support his Calidar Maps through that program. Making maps for small fantasy RPG publishing companies is not something that typically makes you filthy rich, so it would be really cool if you went on to support Thorfinn Tait at Patreon. I hope to see many more maps from Thorfinn in the future so any small amount sent his way will probably help!


-Havard

Beyond the Skies: Bruce Heard Launching New World of Calidar Kickstarter

We all remember how TSR Product Manager Bruce Heard brought us the World of Calidar last year. This amazing fantasy world featured Sky and Space faring magical ships, epic heroes questing for Immortality and a wealth of fantastic races and cultures. I have been a fan of Bruce Heard's work since the 1980s when he gave us Dungeons & Dragons books like The Principalities of Glantri, The Orcs of Thar and of course the ongoing series The Voyage of the Princess Ark in the pages of Dragon Magazine.

I was a backer of the first Calidar Kickstarter: The World of Calidar: In Stranger Skies, so I was naturally excited when I heard that we will be getting more goodness for this setting. This new Kickstarter will give newcomers a chance to get the original book at a reduced price as well as new exclusive titles. The upcoming World of Calidar: Beyond the Skies will detail the Gods, Sprits, and other Planes of Existence in the Calidar Universe. I am also happy to see my good friend Thorfinn Tait returning as cartographer for this book as well. Thorfinn makes the most amazing RPG maps and in addition to Bruce Heard's writing, I find that the maps and floorplans he makes have really become a trademark of the World of Calidar. I can't wait to learn more about this project.



Take a sneak peak at the upcoming World of Calidar: Beyond the Skies here.


Visit the World of Calidar Forum on the Piazza.


-Havard

Gaz 3 The Principalities of Glantri is back!

In case you haven't heard it, Gaz3 The Principalities of Glantri is now available for sale through the DNDClassics store. Two weeks ago, I talked about how Gaz 1 Grand Duchy of Karameikos became the first of the classic D&D Gazetteer series to return in PDF format. Gaz 2 Emirates of Ylaruam has also been made available so it looks like they are uploading them on a weekly basis.


My friend Tim Brannan posted this news on the BECMI Facebook Group with the following comment: "My favorite Bruce Heard book of all time. I know the waterways and streets of Glantri well! LOVE this book and so happy to see it out on PDF."

Written by Bruce Heard, The Principalities of Glantri is generally considered one of the best of the series. While The Grand Duchy of Karameikos probably is the most popular. I personally like Gaz3  even better because it introduced so many new ideas and concepts. Also, the NPC gallery is incredibly fascinating! The style of Gaz3 is more light-hearted than Gaz1, but without taking the humorous elements to extremes such as in the Orcs of Thar. Glantri also interestly enough lends itself very well to a quite dark style of play.

Not taken from the gazetteer, but definitely Glantri!

Gaz 3 is the first in the Gazetteer Series to make strong connections to the Blackmoor modules (DA-series). The incredibly powerful artifact known as the Radience has ties back to the City of the Gods. One of the nobles, Prince Jaggar von Drachenfels claims Blackmoorian ancestry and carries a weapon of Blackmoor Era origins. The module even includes an adventure outline allowing PCs from Mystara to travel back in time to Blackmoor and excecute events that would permanently change the face of the Known World.

Although I only have the hard copy of this book myself, reports say that the quality of the scan is very good. With 3 gazetteers out and more around the corner I think we can truly say that Mystara is back! I heartily recommend this book for any D&D fan. Enjoy!

Image source

More discussion of this article



-Havard

Karameikos Gazetter ranked DND Classics Hottest Item!

Gaz 1: The Grand Duchy of Karameikos. Iconic cover by Clyde Caldwell. 

The most popular in the excellent D&D Gazetteer Series for BECMI D&D (aka Classic D&D), Gaz1 The Grand Duchy of Karameikos, by Aaron Allston, has returned for sale in PDF format. It is now available on the DND Classics Site, where it is listed as their "hottest item"! It is annoying that it cannot be found under the B/X Label, and that there is still no Mystara label there, but at least the book is available to new and old fans. I hope this means we will get to see the rest of the Gazeteer series there soon.

This is not the first time I mention the Gazetteer line on this blog. I consider it one of the best D&D product lines ever produced, and it formed the backbone of what would later become the World of Mystara. Coordinated by Bruce Heard and featuring iconic covers by Clyde Caldwell, the Gazetteer Line involved a great number of game designers who would gain fame through other works, including Aaron Allston (Star Wars), Bruce Heard, Ed Greenwood (Forgotten Realms), Ken Rollston (Kingdoms of Amalur), Steve Perrin (RuneQuest), Jenell Jaquays, Anne Gray McCready, Deborah Teramis Christian, Scott Haring, Jim Bambra, Carl Sargent (Greyhawk), Williamm Connors (Ravenloft) and many others.

Gaz1 Grand Duchy of Karameikos Map Replica by Thorfinn Tait

The Grand Duchy of Karameikos was Aaron Allston's first venture into Mystara, but not his last. An interview with Allston for the Tome of Mystara,
explains that "No other writer has developed Mystara as much as [him]", listing his Mystara credits as:

Skarda's Mirror
The Grand Duchy of Karameikos
The Dwarves of Rockhome
Dawn of the Emperors
The Hollow World
Wrath of the Immortals
Poor Wizard's Almanac (I)
Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure
Mark of Amber
D&D Rules Cyclopedia

The Grand Duchy is where it all began, and now it can be yours :)

 -Havard

Bruce Heard's Calidar: Are You Backing This?

I talked about Bruce Heard's World of Calidar when the kickstarter was launched back in December. Being a huge fan of Mystara, the Principalities of Glantri, The Voyage of the Princess Ark and Bruce Heard's work in general, I was already excited about it back then. Now, the project has not only been funded, but has reached 3 Stretch Goals, making it look even better! If I hadn't wanted it before, upgraded art, maps and Pathfinder Rules adaptation really makes me want to get this. More details Bruce Heard has revealed at the Piazza Calidar Forum also helps confirm my suspicion that this is going to be one of the best things to come out of 2014. I just upgraded my pledge to the top level.

There are only about 70 hours left of the Kickstarter, but I am really hoping more people will join in because the next stretch goal sounds like its going to be really cool too!



-Havard

Bruce Heard's Calidar Kickstarter

Former TSR author Bruce Heard is perhaps best known for his work on the world of Mystara, during the time when he was Product Manager for TSR's Classic D&D line. He is also the author of the Voyage of the Princess Ark series which ran in Dragon Magazine in the issues #153-188 as well as a final installment in #344.

Now, however, his own Fantasy Setting is about to become a reality. Featuring gorgeous maps by Thorfinn Tait, this world is now out on Kickstarter! I am a backer and I am really excited about this. Only up for 2 days, the project has almost reached its initial goal already and we have a good chance of seeing several stretch goals being met. Go over to the kickstarter page and join the fun now!




-Havard

Bruce Heard's New Fantasy Setting Revealed!

Back in April, I mentioned on this blog that former TSR designer, Mystara Guru and author of the Voyage of the Princess Ark, Bruce Heard had decided to create his own fantasy world for publishing. Bruce Heard has often been described as to Mystara what Ed Greenwood is to the Forgotten Realms. He originally intended to return to writing new stories for the ever popular Voyage of the Princess Ark series which were published in Dragon Magazine from #153-188, with a final installment in #344. However, since this option was not something WotC were interested in at this time, Bruce instead decided he would move towards creating a brand new world via kickstarter:

"Time has come for me to set sail across stranger skies. I think there's plenty of room out there for another ship, another crew, and new adventures unbound by darkness. Although stories would take place in another world, in spirit one might think this is the Princess Ark reborn. "

Although not much of this project remains a mystery, new clues appeared in the new Mystara fanzine, Threshold, discussed on this blog earlier this week. In the exclusive interview in Threshold #1 Bruce Heard revealed the name of the setting the first time: Calidar.

Threshold #1 reveals exclusive news on the new fantasy setting.

Fans of Mystara, BECMI D&D and the Voyage of the Princess Ark are already getting excited about this. A recent discussion at The Piazza seems to be the place to go for whatever other information on the World of Calidar may exist so far.

Stay tuned for more updates!

-Havard

Arneson Gameday: "Threshold": New Mystara Fan Magazine!

Arneson Gameday appears to be full of game related news this year!

Earlier today, the following was reported on The Piazza by my good friend Agathokles:

Dear all, I'm glad to announce the release of the first issue of Threshold, the new magazine for Mystara! I must say it has been a great time editing this issue, and I hope you'll enjoy our magazine, and I look forward to see your comments, as well as to Issue 2, Vaults of Pandius special, which will be shepherded by Cthulhudrew. Thanks to everybody who participated in this effort, which led to 180 pages of pure Mystara goodness! So, without further ado, here is the first issue of Threshold!

Within you will find a large collection of Mystara related articles as well as an exclusive interview with Bruce Heard. I will have to admit that I have also contributed to a couple of the articles. Blackmoor fans, keep an eye out for future issues of Threshold. I will not be surprised if Blackmoor related articles will appear in future installments!



-Havard

The New Adventures of Bruce Heard

Well, in case you havent heard it yet, there's bad news and there's good news. Bad news is WotC has given their thumbs down to Bruce Heard's request at writing new stories for the Voyage of the Princess Ark. Although not surprising given WotC's position on lisencing out their IP since 2008, I think Bruce really wanted to do this and I know it would have been great to read more stories about Prince Haldemar of Haaken and his Skyship flying over Mystara, just like in all of those installments back in TSR Era Dragon Magazine.

Good news is, Bruce Heard will be continuing writing Mystara material on his fantastic blog. Even more good news is, Bruce will go on to publish fiction. It will be set in a world of his own creation rather than Mystara, but this may actually be a good thing too. I know I am excited about it!


Image Source

More discussion on this article

-Havard

Mystara Chronicles for X-Box/PC/PS3

And just the other day I was writing about how 2013 was looking like it was going to be a great year for Mystara fans. Now it gets even better! Remember the classic arcade games Tower of Doom and Shadow over Mystara? Well they are back! Or will be in June, that is! Both games were set in the Known World of Mystara, focusing on a plotline to defeat Deimos the Lich and his master Synn. Synn should be familiar as she was also the nemesis of Prince Haldemar and his crew in Bruce Heard's Voyage of the Princess Ark series.

This is especially exciting since this is the first mention of Mystara from Wizards of the Coast in a very long time. I also really like the new logo, although it is not as nice as Thorf's logo found on The Piazza. Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara will be available for Xbox Live Arcade, PS3, Wii U and PC in June for $14.99.

I am wondering if this will be the end of it or if this could spawn more products? A comic book adaptation would be great, or perhaps even a third installment in the game series? Based on the Poor Wizards Almanac Series? Yes, as you can see I am already dreaming. I have posted some more thoughts in this thread at The Piazza. Here is the video teaser for the game:




-Havard

Mystara Marches On!

As I posted in Mystara Community History discussion at The Piazza yesterday, 2013 is significant to the Mystara community as the year when Mystara modules returned to PDF. In addition to that Bruce Heard is posting even more Alphatia material on his blog, giving us the full details on the Kingdom of Ar.

Yesterday I got news that the Vaults of Pandius just got a new update! This update includes many old articles, including material from Bruce Heard there as well. Click here to see whats new.

If you are on Facebook, make sure to join the Mystara Reborn group to socialize with other Mystara fans and authors from the Golden Age. Also 127 people now "like" Aleena the Cleric. Are you one of them? :)

-Havard

Mystara Tuesday!

Mystara Monday would have sounded better. Maybe that is a plan for next week?

Anyway, a lot of people assumed Mystara had disappeared back in 1996. However, locations and characters strongly associated with Mystara keep showing up in every edition. Most recently the Isle of Dread is revealed to be included in the latest installment of the D&D Next Playtest Package!

The Mystara fan community has always been a strong one of course, currently with its main base at The Piazza. If anything this fan community was strengthened by the return of Bruce Heard earlier this year. After a brief break, Bruce, who also is a member of the Comeback Inn, has now resumed posting Mystara material at his blog, where he just completed his article series on the Alphatian Kingdom of Bettelyn.

So if you are a Mystara fan like I am, this is a good time to be on the Internet!


-Havard

Busy Week for Arneson Fans

So much has happened over the course of this week I dont really know where to start. First there is the relevation that Arneson's personal library is to be sold on an auction. I am filled with a mix of joy that this material will be taken care of and a feeling of concern if these documents are to be locked into some vault, never to be seen again.

Then there is Aldarron's excellent analysis of another obscure Arneson document; the manuscript for  Beyond This Point Be Dragons. That Arneson had prepared a kind of alternate D&D that noone really knew about is pretty amazing. Aldarron has provided a great analysis of the work, but I am also wondering about the things not mentioned in that analysis. Could there be more lore about Blackmoor there?

Also from Aldarron, the Champions of ZED project is up on kickstarter with over 50 backers already. This "Zero edition" game will also incorporates elements from Beyond this Point Be Dragons. At the same time, poster RadagastTheBrown is working on another project for a system based on Arneson inspired combat.

On a less Blackmoor related note, Bruce Heard recently posted his long awaited treatsy on the Goatmen of Kavaja for the Mystara setting.

With all of this happening, I am so busy reading that I hardly have time to write! I promise you though, there will be more thoughts on all of these topics in the days to come!




Image source: http://www.thecollectorstrove.com/site-news/2012/4/29/the-big-announcement.html


-Havard

WotC to kill the Princess Ark?

Many Mystara fans were in distress earlier this week when WotC announced the destruction of the legendary Flying Ship from the classic Dragon Magazine article series Voyage of the Princess Ark:

Last Voyage of the Princess Ark
By Robert J. Schwalb
The Princess Ark, a legendary flying ship, has crashed! Explore the wreckage to find out what happened, and loot the bodies of the dead. A D&D adventure set in the world of Mystara for characters of levels 1–3.

Fortunately, it all turned out to be an April Fool's Joke.  The joke was not well recieved by the fan community however. "Imagine this in Star Trek terms to see just how unfunny it is: 'The Enterprise, the legendary Federation starship, has crashed! Explore the wreckage to find out what happened, and loot the bodies of the dead.' Try posting that in a Star Trek forum and see how much interest it generates." says one fan.

Mystara fans can take comfort in the fact that the last chapter in the Voyage of the Princess Ark has not yet been written. Bruce Heard, who recently rejoined the community stated:

"Well, yes, eventually I will write Princess Ark material. [...] If it were me, I'd just find a spot in the timeline where I could resume the exploration/adventures."

 Whenever you are ready, Bruce. We're here waiting :)





-Havard

Bruce A. Heard Podcast Interview

If you havent done so already, make sure to check out the latest Save or Die Podcast. It features an interview with Mystara guru and Voyage of the Princess Ark author Bruce A. Heard. For those of my readers who are strictly Blackmoor only affectionados, there are several interesting tidbits about Dave Arneson and the DA modules as well as the Egg of Coot in there as well. Bruce also touches upon the connection between Mystara and Blackmoor which I discussed here last month.

If you think like the "questions from fans" that Vince asks Bruce about in the podcast, several of them were submitted by me. If you dont like them, then I guess I will take the blame for that too ;) Several of Save or Die's podcasts have been mentioned on this blog in the past, including the Frank Mentzer interview, the Bill Owen podcast and the episode with Jean Wells.




-Havard

Ed Greewood on Mystara

Ed Greenwood is probably best known as the Guru/Creator of the Forgotten Realms and Elminster, but like most of the best TSR game designers, he also ventured into the Mystara setting. The book he wrote was Gaz8 the Five Shires, the book that introduced the term Hin to describe the setting's Halflings. Ed later brought this term into the Realms as well, perhaps a nod to his romance with Mystara?

I never really got into the Forgotten Realms much, but when I saw Ed Greenwood on Celebrity D&D from GenCon2010, I just decided this guy is awesome.

On Tuesday Ed showed up on the Mystara Reborn Facebook Group offering the following comment:

"I have fond memories of each Gaz release, but I think Bruce [Heard] really brought the setting to life. The standout Glantri product, the Princess Ark series, the superb DRAGON coverage of the dragons of the setting . . . wonderful stuff that stands the test of time. I'm raising a glass of very good wine to Bruce, as I type this!"

I already talked about Gaz3 the Principalities of Glantri the other day, mentioning how it was the first product to connect the Blackmoor DA modules with the Gazetteer line.

Ed Greenwood also added:

"[...] Bruce, you're the heart and soul of Mystara. I know you had to ride herd on a lot of projects for all of TSR's lines and settings, but the Known World was your baby and a delight to write in...because of you. Don't hide; you deserve public praise you all too seldom got. (And I think it's long overdue for a publisher to give you a fat contract for, say, a fantasy trilogy, so you can show the New York publishers what you can do, and give all of us fantasy fans a new setting to fall in love with!)
We must sit down somewhere and somehow for another nice long dinner and chat..."

Now this almost ruined my image of mr Greenwood as a recluse who almost never emerged from his house in Canada (not sure where I got that image from?), but as someone who enjoyed the Voyage of the Princess Ark series at least as much as Ed Greenwood, I sure hope publishers are listening to this. I almost managed to convince the Paizo guys to publish a Voyage of the Princess Ark collection back when they were still in partnering up with WotC, but even if that boat has sailed (flown?), more fiction from Bruce is something I am looking forward to seeing.




-Havard


Image source

Why Blackmoor ended up in Mystara

Mystara is a setting that grew out of the merging of various components such as the Known World, the Hollow World and Blackmoor. What these components had in common was that they were all linked to the Classic D&D rules instead of AD&D. But there was already a Blackmoor in the AD&D Greyhawk line. Why would TSR want to present another Blackmoor? In 2012 Frank Mentzer revealed the following:

"[...] We all remember the tussle between Gary and Dave :cry: and its effect on certain developments in the game, editions, etc. Once that was settled* (which was in the early '80s, during my time there), we discussed options. Since the World of Greyhawk included Blackmoor, should it go there (AD&D1e)? Or since I was drawing from OD&D & supplements, should Sup2 (Blackmoor) go there? Anyway, it ended up in BECM, as you know.


Once the executive decision for placement was made, tho, it was handled by others; I was too busy to do modules (except some RPGA tourneys on the side) or Gazetteers. Given the importance and nature of Blackmoor -- the first fantasy campaign, to some -- it got its own line, instead of being a 'mere' gazetteer.


* In actuality iirc 'settlements' were reached at 3 separate times -- late '70s, early '80s, and then later '80s with the PoG, post-Gary -- before Dave was finally happy with the whole shebang.


Time for my usual caveat, which I haven't offered for a while. All of these and other reminiscences are, and ever shall be, 'If I recall correctly', and I may be in error on various technical points, precise dates, and such.[...]

Apparently, Blackmoor's return was the result of Gary Gygax approaching Arneson. In spite of their differences, Gary must have realized the significance of Blackmoor and also likely believed it could have commerical value. The result were the DA modules.

The DA modules and later also the Gazetteers suggested that Blackmoor existed thousands of years ago. They were vague on its exact location, but seemed to suggest that it was located in the same region as the Known World would later appear. This was problematic from the beginning as locations didnt match up and was made further complicated when the Golden Khan of Ethengar suggested that the Steppes of Ethengar were the North Pole during the Blackmoor Era. Then the Hollow World Boxed Set came out and placed Blackmoor on Skothar, another continent. At the Piazza today, Bruce Heard explains why some of these decisions were made:

"I had to move it out of the Known World because of design contradictions and, basically, no good place to put it. It was relegated to Skothar which was essentially a blank area. Blackmoor was interesting but really not well integrated with Mystara. Management and marketing wanted to have Dave Arneson's material attached to Mystara because or their common connection to Basic and Expert rules, and so the non-negotiable "request" came down to accommodate Blackmoor. The whole thing was well-intentioned but terribly awkward. It should have been designed from day-one to fit Mystara and not pretty much slapped onto it."

Of course, us fans have been taking care of that last part. :)

-Havard

Gaz3 The Principalities of Glantri: Behind the Scenes

One of my highlights in gaming this month has been Bruce Heard's return to the Mystara community on the Piazza. For those who don't know it, Heard was product manager for the Classic D&D line (ie not AD&D) during the 1980s and also wrote several key products for the Mystara setting as well as authoring the Voyage of the Princess Ark, a long running series in Dragon Magazine supporting the setting/system.

As part of a Q&A session on the Facebook Group "Mystara Reborn" (are you a member yet?), Bruce Heard was telling us about how Gaz 3 the Prinicpalities of Glantri came to be. This has just been reposted at Bruce's Blog.

Personally I find it interesting how there was no real formula for what a gazetteer could contain. While many of them included a section on General Skills, Gaz3 dodged this section and instead provides so much excellent crunchy content on rules on magic (yet not a single boring new spell!) combined with rich setting atmosphere and possibly the most fascinating NPC gallery in RPG history. It is funny compared to how today's discussion about Crunch vs. Fluff was completely ignored in the Gazetteer series and the decision was simply made to have high quality bits of both.

More discussion on this topic may be found here.



-Havard

[Races] Gatormen

Also known as Broadgrin, the Gatormen are, as the name implies a cross between man and aligator. The Gatormen of Blackmoor make their home in the Barrier Swamp. This swamp marks the border between the Duchy of Ten and the Duchy of the Peaks. There have been many speculations to where this horrid race came from. One theory is that they were created by Lord Ran at the time when he controlled the Duchy of Ten. The Egg of Coot has been known to spawn a number of mosterous creatures, and Ran is reported to have stolen many of the Egg's secrets when he betrayed his former master. Although fellow swamp dwellers, Gatormen have no love for Froglin and are clearly not followers of the Frog God. Most likely they are followers of Demogorgon.

Behind the Curtain:
DA4 is the first recorded appearance of Gatormen, who later appeared in the D&D Creature Catalog. This means the race was invented by Dave Arneson or David Ritchie. They were later incorporated into the Red Steel Setting (Mystara) through Bruce Heard's excellent Voyage of the Princess Ark series. Red Steel offered no link to Blackmoor, but instead provided a much later creation date for when the race supposedly was created by a Wizard. It seems likely that this Wizard had discovered some old Blackmoorian scrolls which he used as a basis for his recreated race.


-Havard