Beyond Dragon Age is a series exploring using the AGE System for anything other than the Dragon Age RPG, whether it is differing styles of fantasy, or other genres altogether.

I admit it: from the moment I internalized enough of the Dragon Age rules to realize they had the just the right flavor of complexity I want in my games of late, I started thinking how to apply them to port over elements from that other fantasy roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons. Yes, D&D is a game in its own right, but it’s also its own genre almost, with its own tropes and conceits, settings and monsters that carry through editions in order to make the games “feel” like D&D. That is what I began to think about.

Frankly, the prospect seemed daunting the more I thought about it, and I simply filed it in the back of my mind. Checking out the Green Ronin Dragon Age forums quickly showed that many others had had the same thought as the “D&D via AGE” thread was one of the most popular. But where I, and others, simply gave up the task as being too onerous, one forum member by the name of Siroh tackled it with the zeal of a paladin in hell. The result: Mystara for AGE.

Download:

This is a 110-page, fully bookmarked sourcebook bringing in the Mystara setting into the AGE System. Many people will know Mystara by its other name, The Known World, the default setting for D&D during the days of the boxed sets (Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, Immortal). Considering how much I keep comparing Dragon Age to the original D&D Basic Red Box, it is just fitting that we now have The Known World made available for AGE.

Inside you will find a work worthy of many gaming companies. The sourcebook is well laid-out and well illustrated with reused artwork. It is a good introduction to the world of Mystara, presenting enough information about the various parts of the world for a newcomer to be able to find their way around, while veterans of the Known World will find the sections a good memory refresher for everything they already know about the setting. (For the veterans: the sourcebook draws most of its setting information from the later incarnation of Mystara that came in a boxed set and which was set after all the events depicted in the Gazetteer series.)

Siroh went ahead and brought D&D to AGE, which means the classes have been altered to fit the D&D tropes (mages do not get the Heal spell, for example) while new ones were added (hello there, Cleric). There are Backgrounds for the major nations of Mystara as well as for the standard races of D&D as represented in this world. There are new spells and a whole new magical system for Rituals that is very interesting indeed. In addition to the overview of the world, you also get some of the classic D&D monsters converted into AGE rules, and the promise that Siroh is working on a greater creature compendium porting over even more D&D critters to AGE. To all this I say, sweet.

I am now reading through the document and so far I’m loving it. It provides a solid foundation for anyone seeking to recreate the tropes of D&D using the AGE System, a feat that frankly deserves a medal or something. Honestly, this is the kind of work that you wish the legalities of copyright and trademarks could be set aside for so we could get a printed version distributed far and wide. Since that can’t happen, enjoy the download of this excellent fan-made labor of love and go stunt your way in the lands of Mystara: The Known World.