It was originally released as a trilogy of novels that revolved around its discovery by an expedition of the Flaming Fist mercenary company from Amn, in a pastiche of the discovery of Mexico by the Conquistadors, before being released as a campaign boxed set for 2nd edition. This was followed by two adventures (Fires of Zatal and Endless Armies) and a setting supplement, City of Gold, which details a different culture far to the north of Nexal, as well as hinting at the existence of Anchôromé, the North America analogue that lies beyond there.
In 3rd edition, Maztica fell into obscurity, save for a single article in Dragon #315 that discussed the unique Pluma and Hishna magic of the setting.
In 4th edition, Maztica was physically removed from Toril and transported to its twin planet of Abeir, leaving in its wake the dragonborn-inhabited continent of Laerakond.
In 5th edition, Maztica was formally returned to Toril, sending Laerakond back to whence it came. A fan author named Jon Hild also took it upon himself in this edition to begin updating and revising Maztica, publishing his work on the DM's Guild website as the "Maztica Alive" project. This also extended into giving life to Anchôromé at long last.
This setting includes examples of:
- Bird People: 5th edition's quetzalduan, a race of humanoid eagles who inhabit the remote cliffs of the jungle interiors.
- Cat Folk: Tabaxi, a race resembling leopards or jaguars that walk on two legs, were introduced as part of Maztica's native life. In 5th edition, they are playable, and come in three distinct subraces; the leopard-like "common" tabaxi, the more warlike and aggressive jaguar folk, and the shy, reclusive ocelot folk.
- Fantasy Conflict Counterpart: The Church of Helm got a lot of bad press during 3E for leading an attempted conquest of Maztica and Lawful Stupidly reenacting the historical behavior of the European powers in the New World (briefly touched on in Faiths & Pantheons).
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Quite literally; the cultures of Maztica are all based to various degrees on real life Central and South American Pre-Columbian indigenous nations. In particular, the Nexalans are literally pre-Conquistador Mexica with the name changed.
- Hobbits: Far Payit is home to clans of dark-skinned halflings who have taken to using poisoned arrows and darts to hunt for food.
- Loads and Loads of Races: Zigzagged.
- Subverted in the original version of the setting; humans are the only playable native race, and are the only native sapients aside from small populations of Halflings in the jungles of Far Payit, tabaxi in jungles all over, and dwarves in the far northern deserts. Orcs, goblinoids and ogres are eventually added after the events of the prequel novel trilogy, when the minions of the evil god Zatal are transformed into inhuman shapes as a result of his powers going haywire.
- Zigzagged in the 5th edition revision. There are more races than humans available to players now—halflings, dwarves, quetzalduan and tabaxi—but that's still a very small list compared to the typical D&D setting. Slightly mitigated in that the player could always be a foreign visitor from the lands of Faerun, opening up the full racial list.
- Magic A Is Magic A: Maztica developed along distinctly different lines of magic to the Forgotten Realms. Instead, it's home to two unique styles that share a basic structure of gathering specific animal parts and fashioning them into talismans that serve as a focus for magical energy. Plumaweavers fashion their totems from bird feathers, and specialize in magics relating to wind, light and color. Hishnashaers fashion their totems from natural weapons—fangs, claws, stingers, spines—and specialize in magics relating to attack and poison. 5th edition adds a third form; the Teoatltamer, who fashions their talismans from shells, fishbones, kelp and other oceanic detritus, and specializes in magic relating to water and cold.
- Mayincatec: Zigzagged. On the one hand, it is a setting defined by its basis in South and Central American lore. On the other hand, it's surprisingly well researched, for its day, to the extent it could almost pass as Historical Fantasy were it not for the smattering of D&D tropes (such as realm magic). In particular, the cultures of Nexal are all very distinctly based on Mexica (Aztec) cultures and nation-states; there are canonically Incan analogues, but they presented as a very different and distinct culture that actually lives quite far away from the area covered by the setting books.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Maztica's dwarves are actually surface-dwelling desert residents, having been trapped there by disasters many centuries ago and adapting to survive.
- Unequal Rites: In the 2nd edition version, plumaweavers and hishnashapers were flat out inferior to the standard Faerunian wizard, with small spell lists that were restricted to low levels of magic—they were actually treated as rogues on the mechanical level. Averted in 5th edition, where pluma and hishna were deliberately empowered to stand on equal terms with anything Faerunian magic could do—this led to both the creation of the "Maztican Artisan" as a full caster class, as well as distinct pluma and hishna-based subclasses for the sorcerer and the wizard.
