To preface this response, I should say that I don't really game anymore and have given all of the Wizardawn material to
& Magazine to carry on. I mainly have been playing games like Bard's Tale (the DOS version), working on a degree in network security, and tinkering with the Talisman board game where some of us play the game on my new website in a day-to-day, turn-based style. Now for your question...
I wouldn't call Magestykc a "world", but more of a "style" of playing T&T. The one thing I noticed when I got into T&T was the diverse nature in which people ran and created content for their games. It was more diverse than people running their version of D&D for sure. I couldn't really find a "one way" to do certain things so I made something up on my own. Giving this "way of mine" a label (Magestykc) was just a means to differentiate that my way isn't the "official way" or "only way" to play T&T. So if you wanted to play my way, the Magestykc supplements can help you out.
I didn't like the "MR System" of monsters all by itself. I wanted some monsters to be more than just the MR value. Although I think the MR value works for your simple bears, tigers, and goblins...I don't think it really gives me enough for a dragon, lich, or medusa. You can probably find posts here somewhere from when I first came onto the scene...where I asked about such subjects. I had received some good and somewhat consistent advice on monster creation. So with a database full of D&D monsters...I began converting them to something I would want to use in my games.
Here is the stone lizard I settled for...
Lizard, Stone
TYPE: Reptile
MR: 95
LVL: 4
DICE: 10 + 47
APP: 1-2
SIZE: M-L (5-12`)
MOVE: 60`
LANG: Saurian
DESC: There is only a 1 in 6 chance that these lizards will be noticed by those passing by, often giving this creature a surprise attack.
(STR:31 / DEX:26 / LCK:17 / SPD:21 / CON:95 / INT:1 / WIZ:0 / CHR:9)
With all of the monsters, I wanted them to fit neatly into a line of text that could easily fit on a generated adventure. I didn't want a "manual of monsters" that I had to lookup information. I wanted everything available about the monster right in front of me. I wanted each monster to have a TYPE because I had some magical objects that affected certain types of monsters...and I wanted it clear what category the monster fit into. The LEVEL I have listed is kind of a arbitrary number but does provide a bit of guidance for adventure design. I thought that noting the size and speed was important. Some approaches to T&T is that almost every creature speaks "something". I have read stories where wizards talk to chipmunks or fish (for example) and I wanted that mystical element in my games...so almost every monster has a language listed. Lastly, I wanted the attributes (abilities) listed out. I wanted these mainly because I was a huge "SR against any attribute" fan. I saw a thread here about "is WIZ a dump stat for fighters" where I thought to myself...not in the games I had. It was something worthwhile to put points in because some magic traps or spells (for example) would require an SR against your WIZ. Below is an imp...
Imp, Fire
Planar
Devlish/Common/Wizard Speech
Spells do not work against these creatures unless the caster has an INT score over 20. (STR:15 / DEX:25 / LCK:18 / SPD:22 / CON:65 / INT:31 / WIZ:23 / CHR:15)
...with this example, they speak 3 different languages and there is a special rule about using spells on them. I thought this one little rule made the imps stand out and memorable when the wizards would try and use magic on them and it doesn't work. Here is my description of the lich...
Lich
Undead
Undead/Wizard Speech/Common
Only magical weapons or spells can affect these undead wizards...which were once living wizards but their search for power and immortality brought them to this. They will unleash a magical spell if they roll a '6' at least 6x with their attack. This magic will take one of 6 forms on a single opponent. Each target that gets damaged from the attack rolls 1 die to determine which one is affected, where the lowest number suffers from the effects. To determine which spell, roll 1 die (1-Disintegrates and dies; 2-Scared and runs away for 3d6 combat rounds; 3-Turns to solid crystal and dies; 4-Sleep for 3d6 combat rounds; 5-Flamed for 3d6 points of damage; 6-Charms where they attack friends for 3d6 combat rounds). A L12SR vs. LCK can be made to avoid the effects. (STR:21 / DEX:38 / LCK:46 / SPD:29 / CON:170 / INT:77 / WIZ:57 / CHR:31)
...the one thing I didn't want to do was use the in-game list of spells for my spell casting monsters. I didn't want to have a need to even grab the book during play. So I decided on a random effect system for the magic they would unleash. Now you will notice that they need to roll a '6' at least 6 times when attacking in order for this magic to be cast from the lich. First of all, this "roll 6 so many times for special ability kick-in" was suggested on these forums and I liked it...so I went with it. Secondly, the chances are a bit slim to roll that many 6's on 18 dice (try the Wizardawn Combat Dice Sheets to see the spite damage and you'll see how rare), but look at the effects of the spells. 2 of them just outright kill the character. I also have a system of determining which character gets zapped...and almost always provide an SR of some type to escape the effects. The damage from some of their spells can be heavy as well...but again...it is something that does not occur too often.
So this is how I designed my monsters for the Magestykc supplement...and that is how/why I ran them in games.
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I already mentioned the languages and monsters, but I wanted to be sure that I had a complete list of languages from every monster in the Magestykc supplement. Since they are all in a database, it was easy enough to have the language list show "how many" monsters Magestykc has that speak that particular language. It was a tool to show a player which languages they might want to learn. Since 5th edition simply had a language list you rolled against...I wanted one that characters could learn doing an SR for INT. So I put a difficuly SR toward each language and some rules for learning them. I see this table was mimiced a bit on page 203 of dT&T...so maybe they got the idea from me...or maybe they got it from something made before Magestykc.
In the end I wanted a world where wizards could speak with the birds and the bees...or woodsman-type characters could talk to bears.
With the fantastical world of "speaking with everything", I wanted a diverse world of many humanoid creatures adventuring together. Where D&D is human-centric...I fell in love with the Peters-McAllister chart of having a way to play other races like goblins and pixies. I think this was one of these defining elements that absorbed me into T&T...it was embraced to make characters like this...not a big fantasy gaming no-no. The charts were limited on what humanoids it had listed...so I wanted to expand onto it. I see dT&T matches my quantity of choices...but 5th edition was quite small.
So I wanted players to have a ton of choices for race. I wanted a lizardman, minotaur, and human sitting at the same table in a tavern. It would be a neat story for a sprite, troll, and gremlin saving the world from from an evil wizard. I just love that style of play and I think it makes for some diverse role-playing.
I gave each race the multipliers like I seen in the official rules, but I also added some abilities to each race. Nothing major, just a small paragraph explaining what they look like and what they may be able to do that others cannot. I even try to set the tone for the default behavior of the race...to give a role-playing idea for the character.
Another thing about T&T is the diversity of weapons (hell, even the armor choices)...too diverse for me actually. I can't relate to over half of these listed. I just didn't know what they were without looking them up. My players didn't really get them either. We were just as content with daggers, swords, and clubs. We didn't need the fancy/exotic stuff. Hats off to Ken for making such an exhaustive list though...it was just too much for us. Since we came from D&D, we also wanted simpler armor. We are happy with leather armor, helmets, and shields. We didn't care to buy a breast plate and remember to get the back piece too. So I made a simpler list under the Magestykc label. It also helped for the random generation of dungeons, because you have options at Wizardawn to choose the Magestykc list...or the T&T list. We knew what we found when we found a silver dagger...not so much when we found a silver haladie.
I applaud dT&T because they combined the "simple name" in the first column...and put some of the "exotic names" in the last column. It gives you the best of both worlds so you can simply use "huge sword" in your games if you want.
I didn't have much help on magic items for T&T...there just wasn't any examples in the book. This part I had to wing it and rely on my D&D experience...but also try and think "what would a T&T character want?" So I set some parameters and below are 20 examples of magic items that I label under "Magestyk". Again...I have no clue how other game masters do their T&T items. I guess maybe I could have bought a published adventure and try to see what they did in there...but I didn't.
- Yitog`s Missing Gauntlets {these platinum gauntlets grants the wearer an additional 3 luck points while they are worn}
- Chiackukk`s Gauntlets {these gold gauntlets grants the wearer the ability to pass their hand and arm through about a foot of non-organic material 4 times a day...like a wall or door}
- Open-face helm {magical armor/head} (HITS:24 -- STR:1) {it is black in color}
- Waterskin of animal domination potion {reptiles} (lasts for 2 hours). This liquid looks syrupy in appearance. It also has a acidic taste and smell to it. It seems to be salmon (orange) in color.
- Leather jerkin {magical armor/chest} (HITS:7 -- STR:1 -- {shadow armor - wearer can turn invisible for 7 minutes but only 6 times a day}) {it is black in color...with a griffin symbol on it that is maroon in color}
- Staff of friendship {DICE:5+9 / STR:10 / DEX:8 / Wizards Ignore 2 Dice Penalty} (can make up to 9 enemies be friendly to the wielder for 6 minutes) {this has 17 charges and is made of yew wood}
- A strange scroll (written in a cryptic giant language) that protects one from magic (can be read only once...where it then turns to dust...to affect 9 individuals and magic cannot harm them for 2 hours)
- Ceramic jug of plant control potion (lasts for 4 hours). This liquid looks effervescent in appearance. It also has a fishy taste and smell to it. It seems to be emerald (brown) in color.
- Wine bottle of fire resistance liquid (lasts for 2 hours). This potion is layered {colors of dandelion, pink, and fern} in appearance. It also has a vinegary taste and smell to it. It seems to be fuchsia (violet) in color.
- Ring of water walking (allows the wearer to walk on water up to 30 feet per charge) {a copper ring with a citrine set in it}
- A small jar with blue powder that protects one from devils (can be sprinkled on 5 individuals and devils cannot harm them for 12 hours)
- Madeline`s Ornate Cloak {this green cloak is made from spider silk and grants the wearer an extra 3 combat dice when attacking spiders...as well as able to climb walls like them while also being immune to their webbing}
- A small wine bottle with red oil that protects one from spiders (can be poured on 7 individuals and spiders, along with their webbing, cannot harm them for 13 hours)
- Unknown Arming Doublet of Eloise - arming doublet {magical armor/chest} (HITS:6 -- STR:1) {it is white in color...with a hawk symbol on it that is indigo in color}
- Sacred Ring of Gavin the Rogue - ring of dexterity +4 {a copper ring with a smoky quartz set in it}
- Wand of conjuring (can summon any creature for the duration of a single combat...but no matter the creature...it will only have an MR of the wielder`s INTx10) {this has 100 charges and is made of demon bone and has a obsidian at the end of it. There is a command word carved on it in a cryptic centaur language that says `avenorag`}
- A mysterious scroll (written in a cryptic mermen language) that protects one from electricity (can be read only once...where it then vanishes...to affect 6 individuals and electricity cannot harm them for 15 hours)
- Extraordinary Ring of Cetys the Conquerer - ring of telekinesis (allows the wearer to move an object they can see, and that they can lift themselves, with their mind up to 10 feet) {a platinum ring...the command word to use this is `goge`, which can be learned by identifying the item}
- A small wine bottle with yellow oil of blessing (can be poured on 7 individuals where they will have a curse lifted)
- Wand of the puppet master (will cause one opponent to join the wielder and fight alongside for 2 combat rounds) {this has 64 charges and is made of wood and has a garnet at the end of it}
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So I managed to make a short story "long" with your question. "No", I will not be expanding on Magestykc as it really isn't a world...just a style of play. With many things I made at Wizardawn, I really just like trying to spark ideas in those that use the stuff I made...not totally define it. I was the kind of guy that would buy the Waterdeep city book, toss out the book, and just use the map for whatever I wanted. I didn't care to have my world pre-defined ahead of time.
I also like to think that I made enough things at Wizardawn that would help a D&D player get into T&T quickly and easily. They would just need to get in sync with the combat system and the SR's that go with it. These elements are highly different than how D&D handles conflicts so it takes some getting used to. Other than that, I tried to give relatable material for D&D players to use.
If you like the Magestykc supplement, I highly encourage anyone to check out the Millenniums & Mutations game I put together. I was rather proud of this...because thanks to the simplicity of T&T...this game was just as easy to make. It isn't really a game by itself...as you need the T&T rules to make it all work, but it would really turn a T&T game into one of those Dave Arneson or Jim Ward style games. Games where there is a robot buried in a pile of gold or a goblin with a shotgun. I included a world map for Millenniums & Mutations, as a future-ruined America...but this is another game without any real setting information, must adventure ideas.
If you use Millenniums & Mutations for dT&T, then download the 7th edition "World of Zendynn" file as it will work with dT&T just fine. This will give you 100 robots and 300 mutant creatures to mix up with the Magestykc stuff...or if you are doing some type of Thundarr or Gamma World style game...hell...use it all.
But using the Millenniums & Mutations rules allows players to make a bunch of different humanoid animals. You have a bunch of technology items to throw in your game where can have a Masters of the Universe or Herculoid type setting. Hell...remember Yor or even Krull?
As I told Ken a couple of years ago, I would support dT&T when it came out as I discussed a bit
HERE. I just didn't think it would take so long to finish and I would be done gaming by then. I have the hard cover book here on my desk, and I think that at least Ken put out one hell of a final edition to the game (face it...that group isn't getting any younger). All of this stuff can be found at
& Magazine's - Wizardawn site. My goal in making all of that stuff was to help gamers spend more time gaming and less time prepping to game. Over the years, one of the top excuses for "not playing" was because the game master "didn't have anything prepared".
