Hats off to Brian Barlow, who has taken the time to write up and publish their homebrew D&D setting and do it for free.
For zero cost, you can download over 200 pages and the Realm of Myztros Player’s Guide.
It’s called the Player’s Guide as it is essentially a gazetteer into the Realm of Myztros, although it does introduce the homebrew house rules early on. I want to talk about one of those, “No DM Inspiration”, in just a bit.
However, only a DM will read 200+ pages of paragraphs, no illustrations save a basic map, on a fantasy world they know very little about. Ironically, the original homebrew is played under a “No DM Inspiration” house rule as the contribution to the D&D community is primarily the inspiration for DMs.
I recommend Realm of Myztros Player’s Guide for that. You are a DM. You want to see how someone else has picked up D&D and crafted it, how they’ve made changes to make it better for their friends, and the world they’ve made with it.
A Fantasy World
The Realm of Myztros is a fantasy world. It’s many diverse peoples and cultures do draw direct inspiration from the very real peoples across the history of the real world, but are not those people. The various races of Myztros are not the direct translation of the ethnicities of the real world. The regions of Myztros are not the exact mirror of countries and cultures of the real world. The people of the Realm of Myztros are not real people and cannot hope to fully encompass the character of any of the individuals they might hope to allude to. The main draw for many people to the pages of fantasy novels is an escape from the real world. Myztros is made to be just that, an escape. Do not force your fellow players to face their real struggles through this false reality. Allow them the chance to fall away from themselves for a brief time and enter a fantastical world that stands in contradiction to reality. Yes, the people of Myztros face struggles, but do keep in mind that this is a false reality and should not be tainted by forcing in the politics of the real.
I’ve highlighted the final half of the last sentence in this early part of the Guide’s introduction. I thought the word “tainted” was a powerful one at my first read. Brian, I worried, was not happy with real-life politics and, well, many would have sympathy with that.
What is the Realm of Myztros?
The Realm of Myztros setting is somewhere between the wild arcane high fantasy or epic fantasy settings that exhibit magic in every home, flying cities, and people using magic much in the same way technology is used today and low fantasy setting that are simply an altered reality that features some small magical elements but is mostly grounded in truth. Myztros is almost a middle fantasy setting.
Yes, it is set in a realm within the Dungeons and Dragons multiverse, alongside the likes of the Forgotten Realm in the wider reality, but is a watered down version that has become too muddled by politics and war to flourish into an arcane paradise. Most of the people of Myztros only witness the use of magic a dozen times over the course of their entire lives, living in societies that too closely resemble the dysfunctions of the peoples throughout history in the real world too truly feel too fantastical. Just as in the real world, the lands of Myztros don’t follow a linear upward flow of progress, but violently spike up and down with the rise and fall of civilizations. Currently, the lands of Ecumene, the continent this document concerns, is beginning a new upward spike following the rediscovery of the ancient works of the Dwarves, but the process is slow and ongoing, yet to bear the fruit of a new age.
I’ve picked this sample to share as I think it’s a good indicator of the writing in the 200 pages, it brings to life Myztros and once again echoes the author’s real-life world views. Those world views aren’t wrong, but you do feel them very strongly throughout the writing and the world here, and (let’s not use the word ‘tainted’) these convictions flavour the world.
Realm of Myztros house rules
You get all the Realm of Myztros house rules in the same single-column and small paragraph presentation.
I think it’s great. I think this shows how easily and effectively DMs can tweak rules to make changes to the feel and vibe of the world.
It’s got me thinking about D&D’s rules for “DM Inspiration.” Here’s what Brian Barlow rules;
No DM Inspiration. The DM cannot offer players inspiration. The idea behind inspiration is neat, but punishes players for not being comfortable putting themselves out in front of people they might not know too well, punishes players who are just having a down day, and is altogether too influenced by a DM’s prejudices.
Firstly, Barlow didn’t need to justify why there’s no DM Inspiration in their games.
Secondly, I’ve highlighted the word “prejudices” as it’s clearly a pejorative.
In the basic D&D rules (which are free) it says;
Inspiration is a rule the Dungeon Master can use to reward you for playing your character in a way that’s true to his or her personality traits, ideal, bond, and flaw.
Your DM can choose to give you inspiration for a variety of reasons. Typically, DMs award it when you play out your personality traits, give in to the drawbacks presented by a flaw or bond, and otherwise portray your character in a compelling way. Your DM will tell you how you can earn inspiration in the game.
Then, further down and after an example, it says;
Additionally, if you have inspiration, you can reward another player for good roleplaying, clever thinking, or simply doing something exciting in the game. When another player character does something that really contributes to the story in a fun and interesting way, you can give up your inspiration to give that character inspiration.
Mechanically, DM Inspiration is essentially a token to spend later and get a roll with advantage. I like rewarding players who accept their characters might make mistakes and willingly roleplay that, so I like the “DMs Inspiration” as a rule to encourage it. But each to their own.
Overall
This isn’t a review, but I thought it was worth summing up this freebie. You get a lot for free, and if you’re in the right mood, you might well find it fascinating.
Even a “that’s not how I’d do it” moment is a helpful experience, and there are lots of “that’s a good idea!” in here with no risk at all since it’s entirely free.
Quick Links
- Download Realm of Myztros Player’s Guide.
Find out what Geek Native readers say about this in the comments below. You're welcome to add your own.
Thank you for taking some time to look at and give some notes on my homebrew! Rereading my past works years later, I have realized that despite my whinging about the intrusion of real world ideals onto pieces of fiction, I have always leaned heavily on my own… well, prejudices, to craft something counter to the pieces created by more established authors. I have absolutely no delusions that my writing is “better” than any other amateur fantasy works, I just hope it’s different enough to matter. The Realm of Myztros Player’s Guide is by no means a completed piece and… Read more »
I hugely appreciate that you wrote up such a detailed world and gave it to us all. It’s not just different; it’s rare. Sorry to say, I’m very familiar with the dreaded time crunch.