I’m working on a D&D 4e conversion project based on the GAZ series. I’m making some modifications to suit my own tastes, explore some historical/cultural themes in each region, and integratinge the fantastic a bit more to a very human-dominated world.

I’m starting with GAZ1 the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, which I’ve been using in my online campaign for the past three months (only recently converted imperfectly to 4e). I believe the the crux of this setting is 1) the interplay of two distinct human cultures – Traladaran vs. Thyatian, and 2) the minor presence that humans present in a savage, dark, and even haunted land. True to the theme of the gazetteers, I’m relying on real world cultures and places to base the development of the fantasy kingdoms.

In looking at the rest of Mystara, I’m taking a liberal, canon-flex approach to how I develop these countries. Most of these match up exactly with the GAZ series, while some do not. The reason is that I’m conceptually opposed to mixing cultures in such a tight confine and drastically different time lines. In addition to being an IT phenom, I also got an undergraduate degree in European history, so it bothers me to put a culture at 1600 AD next to a 200 BC. The differences in technology are overwhelming.

Plus, some placement of cultures while convenient for game development, don’t make any sense whatsoever. Like the Atruaghin Clans. Take an area smaller than Virginia and then pack in North American and South American tribes and cultures along side early Renaissance Europe (Darokin)? As part Native American, I felt like this was a bit patronizing and superficially inclusive. Sames goes for Ethengar. A tiny Mongol plain in the middle of Vikings, Renaissance Europe, Iceland, and magical middle ages? I feel that the Mongol theme was completely and sufficiently explored in the Golden Horde FR series and you’ve got the world beater power in Hule already. Sorry for you purists out there, but it never completely jived for me.

The other thing is that I want to try to incorporate as much of the early D&D material as possible – Strongheart, War Duke, etc – while leaving out the made for kids feeling that pervaded a lot of the early products. I want to create a world that is complex and layered.

So the main focus of the first work will be the Traladarans with a slight mix of Thyatis. For Traladara, I’m focusing on the pre-Romanian states – Wallachia, Moldova, and Transylvania (circa 1200) and for Thyatis a more glorified version of Komnenian Byzantine (circa 1150). For the whole of Mystara, I intend to keep it within a 200 year window of about 1100 to 1300 AD with plenty of magical spice to make it genuinely unique.

I’ve got other things queued up for the other gazetteers, but they are subject to change as I go.