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In Short
Mythic Russia presents the wonder of 14th Century Russia, from mythical animals and gods to real Russian history, in glorious fashion. The author does an amazing job of educating the reader about Russia while providing an interesting and well crafted game. Making use of the HeroQuest RPG system, Mythic Russia allows for player created Abilities, along with a host of suggested Abilities, and focuses on creating characters that are limited only by the player’s imagination. If an expertly created mesh of fantasy and history sounds like fun to you then read on!
The Good: The book makes use of significant detail without being boring. The production values result in a very evocative product that keeps the reader’s mind in the setting. The HeroQuest system works very well with the product, supporting the history and mythology with appropriate keywords that easily incorporate the broader setting into the mechanics. Compartmentalized sections reduce the amount of reading a player needs to do to really get the setting.
The Bad: It’s not always clear what a given keyword can do, and a lot is left up to the individual group’s interpretation.
The Physical Thing
This 320 page black and white softcover showcases below average production values for its $55 price tag. Which isn’t to say the book looks bad – on the contrary, the mixture of formatting and artwork leads to a very evocative book that keeps the reader’s mind firmly within the setting. At $55, however, it’s very expensive for what the reader gets.
While the editing, especially in the early portion of the product, could be better the book is otherwise well done. A table of contents and index make navigation easy, which is important since a lot of mechanical game support is spread throughout the book.
The Ideas
History and mythology come together to create a world that borrows heavily from both. While exactly how much of each is present is up to an individual group, the default allows for powerful magic, talking animals, and watchful spirits. Both Christianity and Paganism are very real and have real power behind them, placing importance on religious faith. A huge variety of cultures each go about things in their own way, with myths and legends all their own, and Mythic Russia brings all of this to the forefront resulting in a land filled with diversity.
Under the Cover
Chapter 1 Welcome to Mythic Russia! - 4 pages.
Chapter 2 Voices of Mythic Russia - 2 pages.
This inspiring, well-written introduction foretells things to come with the rest of the product. After just a few pages of reading I was hooked, thanks to the author’s description of the peoples and cultures of Mythic Russia. Chapter 2, while tiny, provides different viewpoints on the land from different social classes and further pulls the reader into the world.
Chapter 3 Your Hero - 12 pages.
Mythic Russia wastes no time, diving straight into character creation! Because of the nature of the HeroQuest rules system the entire book has things that can be brought into character creation, but this chapter explains the core concepts and how it’s done.
Before we delve too far in, you should be aware of how tasks are resolved using this system. At a basic level 1d20 is rolled with the goal of getting under the character’s Ability. Abilities are typically rated somewhere between 10 and 10M or so for starting characters, but may go significantly higher. By the time a character is at around 5M5 little is beyond their capability. What does the ‘M’ mean? It stands for Mastery, and the number after tells what level of Mastery. So 5M2 reads as 5 Mastery Level 2. On the one hand you could think of it as simply saying “add twenty” because every value of 20 results in a another level of Mastery. 5M2 could be read as 45. When 19M2 gains 5 points it becomes 24M3. For character creation purposes high numbers are good, similar Abilities may give one another a bonus, and a clever player can bring an unusual Ability into a wide variety of situations.
There are three different ways to create a character present – narrative, list, and ongoing – and each one is excellent in its own way. Narrative involves writing a 100 word character biography and then looking through that biography for words that say where the character is from and what Abilities he has. With List a player simply creates a list of Abilities for the character. The ongoing method allows for characters to be built during play.
Let’s build a character!
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Example: I want to play Yegor Snow-Cold, an assassin well known for striking during frigid night with his magical icicle. I’m going to use the List method to create this character. I begin by choosing a few Keywords. These are like other Abilities, but they’re very broad and represent the character’s Homeland, Occupation, and Faith. Yegor is from Novgorod, so that becomes a homeland Keyword. His occupation is Warrior, which becomes another Keyword. Finally, his faith is Christian but specifically he is a worshipper of St. Mikhail the Archangel – another Keyword.
Using the List method I now have 10 Abilities to create. These are completely user defined, and some games will allow broader Abilities than others. I take Frostcicle to represent my magical dagger, Assassin, Dark, Foreboding Eyes, Immune to Cold, Rasputin (Yegor’s loyal talking dog), Quick, Loves His Vodka, Become the North Wind, Deceiver, and Proud. |
Each Keyword and Ability begins at a rating of 17, which is significantly higher than the default rating of 6. Players receive 20 points to spend to raise their Keywords and Abilities, no more of 10 of which can be spent on any given item.
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Example: I decide to keep it simple and just add 5 points to my four preferred Abilities. I increase Assassin, Dark, Foreboding Eyes, Become the North Wind, and Deceiver all to 2M1.
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That’s it, nice and simple! There are a few other mechanics. Followers, like the talking dog above, get further defined with their own Abilities. Magic Keywords, such as Worshipper of St. Mikhail, can allow for magical powers. Flaws can be taken to add more character depth. For the most part, however, the work comes in just deciding what an Ability actually does. Does “Become the North Wind” above allow Yegor to travel great distances? To freeze his enemies? To move insubstantially through a home? Different groups will tolerate different levels of generality among all Abilities.
Chapter 4 Keywords - 22 pages.
This chapter provides a broad list of suggestions as to what Keywords include. Each culture has entries for allowed Occupations, Typical Personality Traits, Native Abilities, Typical Relationships, Magic, Common Names, Reasons to have left home, a historical background, and a general overview of the culture. It’s impressive, easy to work with, and results in the character’s home culture really shining through during character creation. Russia is a very broad land, filled with different peoples, and this chapter does an excellent job of presenting them in a concise manner.
Chapter 5 Personality Traits & Relationships - 11 pages.
Personality traits are one of the most fun parts of the system because they can be just as effective at resolving situations as a powerful sword arm or glib tongue. Not only does this chapter provide excellent discussion of their use in play, but it also incorporates communities by allowing them to have an important support role. A group so inclined could run games focusing heavily around specific towns or countries and see direct mechanical benefits through being allied with those communities and seeking their support. This occurs through a simple Community Support Bonus, which adds to the Ability a character is using based on the size of the community and the character’s relationship with it.
Flaws and other ways to further flesh out a character also receive additional discussion here.
Chapter 6 Hero Points - 6 pages.
Hero Points serve a dual function in Mythic Russia as both a meta mechanic and the game’s XP system. On the one hand they allow players to scene edit (change a fundamental aspect of the scene) for varying numbers of points, and they also make success easier. On the other hand, they allow for character advancement. Hero Points may typically be expended on a 1 for 1 basis to increase Abilities, though magical Abilities require more.
I’m a little disappointed with this, because the scene editing aspect of the Hero Points is so expensive a character may be sacrificing 5 or 8 points in an Ability in order to alter one scene. When these types of points are mixed with XP in other games I’ve often noticed that it leads to hoarding of points, but it does tend to keep things simpler.
Chapter 7 Core Rules - 22 pages.
Simple Contests, perhaps the most common type, pit a character’s Ability against a difficulty called the Resistance. The goal is for each party, the player and GM, to roll under the relevant number. The player rolls 1d20 and tries to get under the Ability while the GM rolls 1d20 and tries to get under the Resistance. Each side either Succeeds or Fails, Bumps from Masteries can increase the success or failure in either direction, and lowest roll wins a tie. What’s important in Mythic Russia is the degree of success or failure. There are eight levels of success and failure including Marginal, Minor, Major, and Complete for each result. This is the difference between an arrow that grazes the ear and one that plants itself firmly between the eyes.
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Example: Yegor is attempting to brew a poison without inadvertently poisoning himself. Yeager is using his Assassin Ability for this task, which is rated at 2M1. The GM determines the difficulty for this task is 15. Yegor’s player and the GM both roll 1d20. Yegor’s player gets a 5 while the GM gets a 10. Yegor has failed (he did not get a 2 or less) while the GM has succeeded (he rolled under 15). However, Yegor’s 1 level of Mastery bumps up the result to a Marginal Success. Since this is a tie, the lowest roll wins. Yegor just barely manages to avoid poisoning himself.
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An entire combat can be resolved using a Simple Contest, but many folk will prefer to use Extended Contests and Group Extended Contests. Here the players still perform Simple Contests, but they do so within a bidding system where each side is bidding a certain number of Advantage Points. In order to win the contest one side wants to drain another’s Advantage Points. At the end of the contest the number of advantage points lost determines the fate of the character. If they lost quite a few they could be seriously injured or even dying, while just a few represents scrapes and bruises (whether they’re physical bruises or bruises to the ego). Many different modifiers, such as bonuses for surprise, higher ground, and other circumstances, also come into play here.
While the task resolution system here is abstract, I think it looks like a lot of fun. There’s still a definite tactical element, but participants have a lot of room to describe the conflict as they wish.
Chapter 8 Magic - 16 pages.
In Mythic Russia magic is everywhere. It’s often glowy and flashy, and everyone comes into contact with it throughout their lives. A lot of magic comes from faith and worship of God, Christian Saints, pagan gods, or some combination of all of them, but there’s still just natural magic. At a basic level magic works like any other Ability in the game, with the Ability rolled against a Resistance roll. Many people have specific, unique powers such as my example character’s “Become the North Wind,” but much of the magic in the world is derived from faith.
When magic is used it receives modifiers based on range, number of targets, and duration which helps keep it balanced with other Abilities. Sometimes the Resistance check will also be different if magic is used rather than another Ability, and an excellent example of how this applies using a “Shatter Tree” spell to fell a tree is provided. Rituals, Summoning, Heromorphing, and a few other variations on standard magic are provided but ultimately if you understand the core resolution system of the game you will very easily be able to use the magic system.
Fun, descriptive, limited only by imagination and skill, and well balanced? Yep, this is my kind of magic system.
Chapter 9 Sons of Ryurik - 12 pages.
This chapter provides a general background on Russian life, covering everything from the history of the Rus’ to their family structure and general beliefs. Like the rest of the setting information in this product, it’s very well written and does an excellent job of painting an image of life in Russia for the reader. More than just a dry history, this chapter often relates concepts back to roleplaying and integrates character concepts into its discussion of Russian life.
Chapter 10 Lands of the Rus’ - 10 pages.
This geographical chapter is broadly split into three sections – Northern, Central, and Southern Russia – and it both retains an organic feel and manages to cover an incredible amount of information in a small amount of space. Geography is always tied back to roleplaying concepts. Who lives there? What do the people believe? Example plot hooks are sprinkled throughout, and a detailed map allows the reader to actually place all of the described city-states. While no one place receives extensive detail, and the GM is largely on their own for fleshing things out, considering the scope of this product I couldn’t have asked for more than this excellent description of Russia.
Chapter 11 Russian Ways - 11 pages.
Most Russians fall into one of three groups. Some worship Christianity through the Orthodox Church exclusively. Some are pagans and worship the same gods and spirits they have for generations. Others, however, do both. Saints and important figures from Christianity are integrated into the already complex pantheon of gods and spirits and become worshipped just like everything else. Each group is a little different and practices magic in different ways.
Think of this section as the setting version of the magic chapter. Religion is discussed in some detail, the political structure of religious bodies is examined, and even small details like how churches and shrines are constructed are included. Where the magic chapter explains how magic works in the game system, this chapter provides a real sense of how magic interacts with the people.
Chapter 12 The Gods of the Rus’ - 15 pages.
Chapter 13 The Saints of the Rus’ - 16 pages.
Chapters 12 and 13 provide lengthy lists of gods and saints worshipped by the Rus’. Each individual god and saint receives about a half a page of discussion including information on its names, history, granted powers, rites, worshippers, and still other information. These chapters perform two functions well. First, they continue to flesh out the setting with their portrayal of Russian gods and Christian saints as reinterpreted through the eyes of the Rus’. Second, each of these entries provides character and adventure inspiration.
The gods and saints are very diverse, covering every concept imaginable, and players are sure to find several that interest them.
Chapter 14 East of the Sun & West of the Moon - 13 pages.
Mythic Russia can be as realistic or fairytale like as you want, but this chapter provides a lot of assistance for playing up the fairytale aspect. The cosmology of Mythic Russia is discussed, which includes the Mortal, Ideal, Representational, Boundary, and Transcendent Worlds. The number of alternate worlds just a sidestep away is limited only by the group’s imagination, and having classic fairy-tale adventures is very easy to do.
Not only are there rules for journeying to other levels of reality, but Chapter 14 provides an extremely entertaining list of magical places to visit and adventure in. Tombs, dark forests, magical mountains, and even more incredible places are here to provide the GM and players with tons of ideas for things to do. If you’ve ever looked at an RPG and thought “Ok, now what do I *do* with this game” then this is an example of the game answering back. By this point in reading the book I was hooked and wanted to adventure to these locations as soon as I could find a willing group.
Chapter 15 The Mongols - 21 pages.
Chapter 16 Sibiryaks - 19 pages.
Chapter 17 Lithuania - 19 pages.
Chapter 18 The Teutonic Ordenstaat - 16 pages.
Chapter 19 Friends & Foes from the West - 12 pages.
Chapter 20 Tsargrad - 17 pages.
Each of these chapters is like a small expansion to the core book. A history of the people, maps, cultural information, story hooks, and other worthwhile information is all provided in an easy to read manner. Magical options are expanded with more spirits, gods, and saints from each of the cultures. Covering the Mongols, Siberians, Lithuanians, Teutons, Western Europeans, and Greeks, these chapters complement and expand the core of Russia to include the surrounding lands and peoples who spend a great deal of their time here. Since the modern idea of Russia as a single state hasn’t developed yet and it’s more of a collection of city-states than anything else, it’s not surprising that various other groups are covered in additional detail.
Whether you want to use one of these geopolitical regions as an adversary, ally, or just a homeland for your character these chapters do an excellent job of providing all you need to know along with interesting story hooks and historical information.
Chapter 21 Narrating - 11 pages.
While the Narrating advice here is pretty straightforward, this chapter does do a good job of assisting the Narrator with game mechanics by providing more examples of mechanics in play. In addition to this, the chapter does a good job of describing how to run Mythic Russia in different ways in order to create different gameplay. Mythic Russia, while clearly focused on a highly magical fantasy Russia, certainly has the potential to be run as a straight historic game or even as a fairytale game that barely corresponds to reality.
Chapter 22 Beasts, Heroes & Spirits - 11 pages.
The normal beasts are sufficient and only take up about two pages. The rest of this chapter focuses on magical animals, nature spirits, and other strange things the characters may find themselves opposing. It’s extremely flavorful and the ideas are clearly derived from Russian mythology just as you would expect. Fear Spirits, Ghosts, Baba Yaga, The Wolf Queen, and all manner of other creatures can be found here.
Chapter 23 Wood, Blood & Snow - 11 pages.
This short introductory adventure comes complete with pregenerated PCs and stat blocks for all the NPCs, allowing a group to start playing immediately. While there’s not much to it, it’s a fine way to introduce players to the flavor and mechanics of the game.
My Take
I really like this game and enjoyed reading it. The HeroQuest mechanics work very well here, and I think this is an example of a specific game system really complementing a setting and bringing it to the forefront of play. My only problems are the spotty editing and high price tag. If price is no object or you otherwise would prefer that reviews not take it into account, then please consider this to be a 5/5.
Mythic Russia provides a truly unique experience, combining history and mythology to create a fantasy world unlike any other. Whether you want to play it as a fairy tale game or a historical game with a bit of fantasy added in the rules will support you all the way. Cultural upbringing and personality are at the forefront of play, entertaining history lessons are sprinkled throughout the book, and an incredible amount of information is packed into this product. If you like fantasy but want something different than a traditional sword and sorcery game then pick this one up.
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