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Mythic came along and changed my life. Not only did it allow me to start using all those books on my bookshelf it opened up a way for me to partake in the role-playing experience all by my self without a group to play with.
I am not a professional writer nor reviewer. I have done a few small reviews for some of PIG's (Precis Intermedia Gaming formerly know as Politically Incorrect Games) games on their product pages. I want to share my enjoyment of Mythic and let other people who have wanted to enjoy role-playing but could not for my reason or similar reasons.
This review is of Tom Pigeon's PDF core red book of Mythic. The cover reads, "Create dynamic role-playing adventures without preparation. For use as a stand-alone game or as a supplement for other systems."
THE APPEARANCE
Mythic is an 11.24 MB book-marked PDF. It has 146 pages: two pages of advertisements; a table of contents; an index; 6 pages of full length art; front and back cover; 15 pages of an extended example of play; and 22 pages of convenient charts/tables, sample characters, character sheets, NPC sheets, adventure work sheet, blank scaling boxes, blank question boxes, event meaning sheet, & a handy fate table. I believe that leaves 99 pages of rules with implementation examples and nice artwork sprinkled throughout.
A majority of the book is printer-friendly except for the front/back cover, the two advertisement pages, and the six pages of full-length art. Let me take a moment to mention the art work. Art in most books do one of two things in my opinion: one, catch a consumer into an impulse buy, or two, convey genre and setting feel. I like artwork but that does not come into play when I buy a product. Mythic's art is OK on some and great on others but it seems to be added haphazardly to fill in space for lack of content. I would have liked to have more content or examples.
CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
The typical "What is role-playing" is here. A small section on how Mythic is a universal RPG. There are key terms and definitions discussed here. Finally, a small section on what makes Mythic different from other role-playing games and notes on how to navigate the book.
CHAPTER 1
Here we are started on our journey to finding out what Mythic is all about. Mythic can be played: No GM, multiple players; No GM, one player (solo); One GM, any number of players; Mythic, stand-alone; Mythic with other RPGs; and use it as a writing tool. More ways to use Mythic are being discussed elsewhere on the Internet. Mythic is modular in that you can pick and choose what you want or add some spices from other games to make Mythic the game you have always wanted to play. The chapter goes into more detail and explanation of some essential ideas of using the book such as: logic & interpretation; details (important aspects of character or objects such as attributes and skills) & ranks (what the rating is of those details relative to the average character or object).
Mythic also requires little to no preparation and very little bookkeeping. Come to the game unprepared, brainstorm, for 5 or so minutes, create characters, come up with an opening scene, and start asking yes & no questions with the use of the Fate Chart to build your adventure and build your world as you play.
CHAPTER 2
This is Mythic's character creation section. You can create your character either as freeform or on a point-based system. The Mythic system (if not using another RPG's system) uses 6 attributes and a derived attribute. There is discussion about how you can change the attributes to suit your play style. There is discussion on abilities (skills) and strengths & weakness.
There are some samples of abilities and strengths & weakness but no long lists. That was disappointing at first. I have concluded that is good in that no list (no matter how big) will have what you envision your character to have. Also, a long list would dilute your creation-points in stuff your character does not need or no one wants to play with.
CHAPTER 3
This is the beating heart of Mythic, the Fate Chart. Most everything you do with Mythic uses a 2d10 dice (percentile dice), the fate chart, yes/no questions, logic and interpretation. The fate chart is a large grid with acting ranks along the side and difficulty ranks along the bottom. When you want to do something, like a task, you match your acting rank against difficulty rank and find the number at the intersection. You roll percentile dice and see if you succeeded. The Fate chart is used as a resolution mechanism and to propel your adventure forward.
CHAPTER 4
This chapter expands on using the Fate Chart but also on doing tasks and the use of the resolution tables (question boxes). There is discussion about the results you get from the Fate Chart but the important topic is the use of the blank resolution tables. How do you know if your character can pick a lock? These blank resolution tables are here to provide your world with the rules of resolving different situations. Come up with the situation question (such as "Does my character hear anything?"), a few notes about the situation, acting rank, the difficulty rank, some modifiers, and then the results that will come from rolling on the Fate Chart. From now on, you can quickly go to the resolution table for that situation to resolve it.
CHAPTER 5
I believe every RPG on the market has a chapter on combat. Mythic does also. With Mythic, combat is pretty fast and easy to understand. The typical initiative is discussed, as well as armor, success in hitting, modifiers, weapons, damage, recovery from said damage, and some examples of play.
As discussed above about chapter 4, combat makes use of the resolution tables. There are some already supplied to help you but you can add to your ever-growing library of resolution tables and make combat as simply fluid or detail crunchy as you want.
The same disappointment about abilities and strengths & weakness was seen here with the weapons list. There is a page of weapons ranging from melee weapons and guns to molotov cocktail to tank cannons but a very short list. Again, I come to realize that it is not feasible to list everything as some people want "this" while others want "that" and then the variable of genre gets thrown into the equation and becomes a mess of pages on pages of useful or unwanted gear. You are given a sampling of gear and you design what you need.
CHAPTER 6
This chapter is about randomness or surprise curve balls Mythic throws into your adventures. Randomness comes in two places: at the start of a scene or when a question is asked on the fate chart. Discussion on how to add random events, what they mean (interpreting the event), and how to resolve the event is here. There is even a "I don't know" rule for those times when a random event leaves you scratching your head. There is a table with unlimited possible events to be added to your adventure. In addition to all that, a page of random event examples is included to help you understand the process.
I had thoughts, from time to time, of changing some of what is listed on the event meaning table to make a more specific genre pop out a random event relating to that genre. However, I do not have to do that any longer. Tom Pigeon has made a new supplement, as of spring 2007, called Mythic Variations that allows you to spice up your adventures and set a tone toward a certain genre. Saved me the trouble.
CHAPTER 7
This chapter provides you with structuring your adventures. This includes guidelines for setting the scene; topic of discussion on cinematic versus simulation play; how to use and maintain the adventure summary sheet; the chaos factor explained (which fluctuates up or down to allow more or less random events to occur and let the adventure get settled down or out of control); how random events may modify the scene into altered or interrupted scenes; discussion on playing out the scene topics to run it smoothly. Also, there are more examples of the topics just learned.
CHAPTER 8
This is what Mythic calls the GM (Game Master) Emulation. It describes how to play an adventure without a GM or if the GM wants to take the night off and play a character. This chapter helps your adventure run smoothly in those cases. The discussion of the scaling box is here. Scaling boxes help you establish average ranks for common game phenomenon, from the damage caused by weapons to the range of a telepathy power. Knowing what is average makes it much easier to gauge greater, and lesser, power levels. Tips and hints abound to help you in developing your ideas into adventures. Lets not forget that Mythic is crammed full of examples to help you better understand the concepts learned and you will find more here.
CHAPTER 9
Here is the place to help you create your world as simple or complex as you want it. You (or your group) can come to a session unprepared but leave with a full adventure under your belt when the night is through. This section is also a world building tool. With the same tools mentioned above (your imagination, fate chart, resolution tables, and scaling boxes) you will be able to make a fleshed out world as you adventure. This section also helps you create more custom rules to suit "your "adventure and campaigns.
CHAPTER 10
"Nearly all role-playing games provide some mechanism for allowing characters to grow and change. This chapter provides guidelines for advancement for Mythic characters" as mentioned at the start of chapter 10. Discussions and topics cover gaining experience (both training and time) and what can be advanced.
There is something I have not seen hardly in any other RPG, character attrition over time. This covers effects of aging, health crisis, and the effects of disuse. Very nice and refreshing touch.
CHAPTER 11
This is the chapter on converting to Mythic from other RPGs. The system is designed so that you can take it as a stand-alone, in parts (modular), or use it in conjunction with your other games. Guidelines are provided to help you keep the language of Mythic and your favorite system in sync to allow you to use it in either direction. Some simple conversions have been done for you as examples.
CHAPTER 12
To finish up, the book concludes with tips, hints, and suggestions. Questions like: -Can this really be played without a GM? I do not see it happening. -There is not enough detail. Without a prepared adventure, how can you tell what’s in a particular room, etc.? -I like the games I play now. Why should I switch to Mythic? -You say Mythic is generic, but are there certain genres that fit the system better than others? -You mention at the beginning that Mythic can be used as a writing tool, but that isn’t addressed in the book. What’s up?
MY OPINION & COMMENTS
This is not a "choose-your-way" or "follow-the-paragraph" book; it is a full-fledged role-playing system. I have had this product for over 2 years now. This product should be given an award for its ingenuity.
Do not let the low cost of this book fool you. I have paid as much as $60 dollars for one RPG book and have been sorely disappointed. Mythic packs a powerful punch and has given me many entertaining years all for the cost of a movie theater admission price.
Mythic is a system that is universal and simple in execution. The system fills many roles as mentioned in this review and on the product page. Plus, fans are finding out it works well with miniature war gaming as well as other avenues.
Simply, Mythic provides players with the basics of rules to adventure with and the player(s) fill in the details of how they would like to proceed. In that respect, it is a basic system and a tool-kit to help you create your rules, your world, and your adventure. It works well as a stand alone universal system. The great thing about the universal system is that you can use it "As Is" or you can tinker with it and make it your own with ease and Mythic's guidance. You can even sit down to a session with Mythic without any rules and make up rules with the "Scale Forms" and the "Question Forms" as you play. I have taken the route of tinkering with the universal rules at times.
A mention about the universal system. It is not designed as only fantasy or sci-fi. You can use Mythic to play practicly any genre from fantasy, pulp, real world, and detective all the way to cyberpunk, sci-fi, low superhero, and high superhero and beyond. Mythic works fantastic along side your favorite RPG system. This is where Mythic is a shinning-star and this is what I use Mythic for the most. Mythic has a new product that does not have the universal rules called Mythic: Game Master Emulator which is an updated version of the Emulator portion and works flawlessly with your favorite system. Use your favorite system to handle the combat; task checks; social interactions; and whatnot; and let Mythic come up with the adventure, the surprises, and the NPCs. If there is no rule in your favorite system to handle something then you and your group can use the Scale and Question forums to make a rule or change one that you do not like from your system. I have used Mythic to adventure with Marvel RPG (by TSR), Two Fisted Tales (by PIG), Savage Worlds (by GWG/PEG), HardNova 2 (by PIG), Coyote Trail (by PIG), Vice Squad: Miami Nights (by PIG), and All Flesh Must Be Eaten (Eden Studios) to name a few. I had no problems playing any of those game systems while using Mythic.
Support; let me tell you about support. Tom Pigeon has answered every question I have emailed him. He has been polite, helpful, and intuitive. The support is great and goes above and beyond the call. He is even a member of our yahoo group and answers questions, gives advice, and keeps us informed of new projects he is working on.
Mythic is a game that is fun, quick, simple, customizable, modular, requires any number of players (or one player "Solo"), on-the-fly adventure generator, and allows you to turn any other RPG system into a supplement. I would recommend this to the novice and to the experienced role-player.
It is an excellent buy if you want to solo play, group play without a GM, and generate on the fly adventures. It takes a load of work off a GM, allows a GM to take a night off and participate in adventuring, and allows the GM and the players to concentrate on the story. You will not find anything better that lets you actually play pen-n-paper role playing games solo just like you were actually playing with a game master.
You can buy Mytic and Tom Pigeon's other products in PDF format at many online RPG vendors for a low cost. There is even a printed version if you do not like a PDF (145 pages, 8.5" x 11", perfect binding, black and white interior ink; illustrated) you can buy it from Lulu.com via Word Mill Games' website: Mythic
I am ecstatic with Mythic. I loved everything. It is filled with useful and insightful content rolled up into a nice little package. For me Mythic is a sanity saver.
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