D&D BECMI - Hollow World Gazetteer - The Milenian Empire

Dungeons and Dragons BECMI Edition

D&D BECMI - Hollow World Gazetteer - The Milenian Empire

Dungeons and Dragons BECMI Edition

Product Description - D&D BECMI - Hollow World Gazetteer - The Milenian Empire

Imperial Intrigue!

Once a great people in the Known World, the Milenians now administer a mighty Empire in the Hollow World. Loosely inspired by classical Greece, this is a nation of philosophers, oracles, architects, and mighty pikemen in a strange land where Citizens elect their own leaders, and ultimately the Emperor himself.

A society as political as Milienia cannot avoid intrigue, and the land is rife with conspiracies. From the would-be Kings to the lowly slaves, to the dark, grasping servants of chaos. It seems everyone in Milenia belongs to one secret society or another.

But even on the surface, there’s plenty of drama: from the legendary Acropolis to the eccentric Academy of the Arcane in Corisa, adventure calls you to the Milenian Empire!

The Milenian Empire contains:

Product History

HWR3: “The Milenian Empire” (1992), by Anthony Herring, is the third Hollow World Resource. It was published in August 1992.

Origins (I): Concluding the Hollow Gazetteers. HWR3: “The Milenian Empire” (1992) is the third of the Gazetteer-style sourcebooks for the Hollow World. The formatting of these “HWR” books was constantly changing, but this one still uses the traditional division between a player’s book and a GM’s book, even if it calls them an “adventurer’s guide” and a “campaign book”.

“The Milenian Empire” was also the last of the “HWR” books, and the reason for the cancellation of the series may have been marked on the cover. All three “HWR” books featured the branding of the The New Easy To Master Dungeons & Dragons Game (1991), but “The Milenian Empire” was the first to also bear the “Challenger” seal, which marked it as one of Basic D&D’s more “advanced” offerings. It was the Known World’s last gasp, since by now Basic D&D was largely concentrating on the simpler “Thunder Rift” (1992-1993) releases. There would be just one more Hollow World release, the adventure HWQ1: “The Milenian Scepter” (1992).

Origins (II): After the Wrath. “The Milenian Empire” was also the first Hollow World book to postdate Basic D&D’s Wrath of the Immortals (1992) boxed set, which would be important for its setting information.

Expanding Basic D&D. The player’s book of “The Milenian Empire” is a mere 32 pages long, and it mostly repeats ideas from past books, including the inevitable skills and more kit-like specializations.

Metaplotting Along. Wrath of the Immortals was a massive event that was probably intended to begin the next big arc of Known World stories. The line didn’t run long enough for that to happen, but some repercussions are felt here: “The Milenian Empire” reveals that the Hollow World’s sun went out for a day during the event, and that there were riots in the Milenian Empire as a result. More repercussions would follow in “The Milenian Scepter”.

Exploring the Known World. This final resource book marks a major expansion of the Hollow World. The Milenian Empire had been mentioned in previous supplements, going back to the Hollow World Campaign Set (1990), but this was its first major focus. As was typical with Known World Gazetteers, this one details history, people, and places in the setting.

The Milenian Empire is an Iron Age civilization. Though some connect it to the Roman Empire, like Thyatis in the world above, the classic Greek world seems to have been a stronger influence.

About the Creators. Herring wrote extensively for TSR from 1990-1993. Most of his initial work was for the Marvel Super Heroes line, but he authored D&D supplements starting in 1991. He wrote a dipytch for the Known World, HWR3: “The Milenian Empire” (1992) and HWQ1: “The Milenian Scepter” (1992).

About the Product Historian

The history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, the editor-in-chief of RPGnet and the author of Designers & Dragons – a history of the roleplaying industry told one company at a time. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to shannon.appelcline@gmail.com.

Where it is used - D&D BECMI - Hollow World Gazetteer - The Milenian Empire

Wrath of the Immortals - Used in the hollow world of the setting.

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