INTRODUCTION
I discovered this game while reading through a thread on RPG.net and decided
to check it out. In general, I like post-apocalyptic settings. I am interested
in mythology, tribal cultures and animistic worlds. So I poked through the wiki
(since this is an open source...well, everything from game project to setting)
and then downloaded the PDF.
Warning the First:
The document I am reviewing is a beta and is obviously not a complete game.
There are areas that need work, and I really haven't factored them into my evaluation
of the game other than to note that those areas are missing. I have seen indications
that the writers are working on a d20 version of their game, which may herald
that development on the Mythos engine has fallen by the wayside.
Warning the Second: This game is an overt attempt to indoctrinate its readers into the neo-tribalist
worldview and is affiliated with the Tribe
of Anthropik. The text lays exposition about this ideology on very, very
thick. It actually reminds me a lot of Aria: the Canticle of the Monomyth,
but that is probably because Jung and Joseph Campbell's works feature prominently
in the game (if anything, Mythos does it better than Aria
did). If this sort of thing is off-putting to you - I personally do not like
feeling as if my rulebooks are getting preachy with me - you won't like this
game. What possessed them to think a roleplaying game, of all things, would
be a good primer for their ideology I won't hazard to guess. Regardless, I am
reviewing this on its merits as a game and only note this tone when
I feel it adds to or detracts from the game.
The Fifth World is a post-apocalyptic setting detailing the survivors of the collapse of civilization. There are some vague references to the Mayan calendar (hence the "Fifth World" bit), but basically human civilization near spontaneously collapses in the span of 100 years due to global warming, overpopulation, warfare, and spiritual delinquency (for all of the talk of the Mayan calendar, I found nothing in the background information that really links it to the collapse of civilization). The survivors are, curiously, much better off than their civilized counterparts. Warfare is very rare and the only dealings that they have with the remnants of "The Fourth World" are to avoid them, deal with their consequences, or clean them up. The tens of millions left no longer suffer from the plagues and epidemics that befell the inhabitants of the Fourth World; they for the most part get along just peachy with nature and each other. There's the potential for a lot to be happening but the presentation leaves the impression that you'll be roleplaying picking berries and outwitting Trickster spirits for adventures.
The game itself does have an interesting concept behind it: it is open source, for use as not just a game setting but for fiction, art or whatever other media. Their website consists of a wiki which, theoretically, anyone can update in terms of rules or setting. In reality, I find little on their wiki (which could just be bad organization) than links to articles that do more pontificating about the project than actually adding to it. It might just be they haven't garnered enough attention yet to get contributors.
THE SYSTEM
The Mythos system uses standard d6s, implemented as a roll and keep system.
The number of dice rolled are either the trait or trait plus skill, and the
number of dice kept equal the trait. So a character with Strength 2 and skill
3 rolls 5 dice and keeps the 2 highest, adding them together. Sixes are rerolled
and added again (continuing as long as sixes are rolled). Any bonuses are added to that to obtain the final results,
which is compared to a target number. A chart is provided to determine these
target numbers. Rolls can also be extended tasks or contested rolls, which is how combat is handled (and the rules go out of their way to point out how combat isn't handle any differently than other skill roll, along with admonitions about how non-violent people in the Fifth World generally are).
Unfortunately, there is no indication anywhere of how high traits or skills
can go or what each rank represents. In the character creation summary it states
that all characters start with a 2 in all traits, and the mechanism for improving
traits (training points) is explained, but that's it. If we assume that a skill
of 4 and a trait of 4 are average, an average task (Target number 12) fails
somewhat less than half the time - which, depending on how you view the world might be too often or not often enough. Also conspiciously absent are any mechanics
for fumbles or botches, or outstanding successes. There is a raise mechanic,
where the player can opt to roll against the target number plus 6 to get a spectacular result,
but there is no real description of what effect that has in the game.
After a section entitled "Psychogenesis" that spends an inordinate
amount of time on Jungian psychology and introduces the novel idea of using
Myers-Brigs as a personality mechanic (seriously, MBTI is listed on the character
sheet and it has some mechanical effects in the game - it is described as being similar to alignment) we get to the description
of the traits themselves.
As I stated before, the traits are your standard d20 fare. Ostensibly drawing
more inspiration from psychoanalysis, the traits are categorized by their aspect
(physical or mental) and divided among one of three bases (Force, Grace and
Power). Each trait also has an analogue trait (like a complementary trait) and
an inverse trait. Fortunately, they provide a chart for this.
Training points are spent during character creation to buy up traits (and
do other things, which we'll examine in a minute). Additional training points
are gained whenever a successful roll using a trait or skill is made.
Curiously, since many rolls will be trait plus skill, whether that roll generates
one training point for each or just one that has to be allocated is not defined. Also,
and this is purely a personal observation, games that reward individual rolls
based on success always seem to be saying, "People who fail
never learn." In an interesting twist, the cost of increasing a trait depends
on the inverse trait. For example, Strength's inverse trait is Intelligence.
If your Intelligence is low, it's easy to buy up Strength - which consequently
makes it more difficult to buy up Wisdom.
Skills are likewise purchased with training points, although they have a flat cost per level (no funny playing around with inverse skills). Skills can also have an emphasis, which is basically a specialization that gives a bonus.
Purchasing a skill at rank 6 or higher the skill becomes a Religion, an Art or a Science depending
on the trait that skill is associated with. This allows the analogue of the skill's trait to be added to rolls as well and has special effects for different skills. This is also the first indication we have of the scale of skill ranks - 6 or higher is obviously pretty darned good. The skill list itself is fairly standard fare describing the skills, possible
emphases, effects when the skill is raised above rank 6.
Training points can also be spent on Blessings, or Curses can give them back. Once again, the list is pretty standard and is somewhat generic. The Blessings and Curses have various game effects but nothing really exciting.
Characters also choose an archetype: Shaman, Scout, Brave or Iconoclast. Shaman,
Scout and Brave are related to each of the three Forces. Each archetype gives mechanical
benefits including trait bonuses, free Blessings, and more trait points.
Finally, characters have three pools: Health, Spirit and Stamina. Wounds reduce
Health. As Health goes down, at certain points penalties are incurred on die
rolls. When Health goes to 0 the character falls unconscious, and at -12 they
die (note: this may indicate that 12 is the highest trait rank, who
knows?). Every time a physical skill is used it costs a Stamina point. When
Stamina points run out, rolls cost Health points instead. Mental rolls cost
Spirit points, with penalties to mental rolls at certain points. When Spirit
points reach zero, the character is catatonic and when they reach -12 the character
gains a Madness curse. The odd thing about this setup is twofold. First, each of these pools are rolled randomly - 1d6 for each rank in the appropriate trait. Next is the aforementioned spending of points to take actions. If the average person has Constitution 4, they will have an average Stamina of 14 - meaning they can make 14 physical rolls before needing to rest. My question isn't so much how realistic that is - it's what does it add to the game? It seems like a lot of bookkeeping, especially for a game that is supposed to be about creating mythological stories.
Magic, Spirits and Technology
Now we come to my real beef. It's not so much the neo-tribalist viewpoint - although it is annoying and in your face it's only one part of the problem. The real problem is the information is poorly organized. While the character creation system contains artifacts that one might expect to find in a much crunchier game, much of the text on Magic is quotes from authors talking about how shamanic magic is real and works and how screwed up the Fourth World (our world) is. Notice the nuance in my language here - not description of how screwed up the Fourth World was (i.e., setting background) but exposition on how screwed up the Fourth World is. Also, rules content is not clearly delineated and since the animistic magic in The Fifth World is definitely not of the flash-bang fireball variety it took me a couple readings to figure out exactly what shamans do. It turns out, they do pretty much what we'd expect shamans to do - communing with the spirit realm, shapeshifting, healing, etc. But even then there's very little indication of exactly how these things work; the game does nothing to support the prose. For example, we learn about what are known as "angels" and "demons", and that they mostly manifest as a presence but sometimes as a physical effect - but we get absolutely no indication of how they interface with the rest of the system. Really what we get in the Magic section is 18 pages of how "real magic" works and how the inhabitants of the Fourth World (i.e., us, the people reading the text) are stupid for not listening to trees (and that concludes my one and only instance of snideness I am allowing myself in this review).
The section on Spirits falls back into rather detailed lists for things. It starts with a kind of rambling description of different kinds of nature spirits (similar to elementals), featuring the rather odd placement of rules for what to do when a character is on fire and chart giving the extended Target Number for setting specific woods on fire with specific bowdrills (that made me do a double-take...really). Next it goes through an extensive list of plants and animals, cataloguing the various characteristics of each.
The section on Technology contains no equipment or weapons which, while it isn't something I particularly miss, does raise a good question: if I know how to hit somebody with a weapon and how to figure out the damage done, how do I know how much damage various weapons should do? I have no problems whatsoever with a Spirit of the Century-like approach where all weapons do the same damage - but in this case we don't even know what that does. And while there is some good information on foraging, toolmaking, shelters, and hunting it's nothing that I can't find out fairly easily on my own. Finally they simply dismiss outright the idea that these people who survived this collapse of civilization would even attempt to utilize materials left over from that civilization.
The World of Anayok
Finally we get to the World of the Anayok, which discusses one of the cultures in the game. This tribal culture takes on the characteristics of the Iriqouis that once inhabited the region - there are several places in the book where it is explained how people will return to a sort of natural state when removed from civilization, and the land, animals and spirits of a region shape this. There is a skeletal description of the Anayok government, loosely based on the Six Nations that inspired American democracy. There are sparse details on each tribe, with rites for each Tribe but really no other information. One interesting bit, which may get swiped for my Tribe 8 game, is the inclusion of a Jewish tribe. The clans are given a likewise skeletal breakdown, and a couple sample secret societies are given. The section is rounded out with an overview of religion, festivals, cuisine and tables for the effects of aging (which apparently link back to character generation, in determing training points - but this is never explained). Overall, the setting chapter is extremely flat - there's just nothing that jumps out and grabs me, and nothing that's really interesting.
CONCLUSION
Now, as I said in the beginning I realize that this is a beta game. I also get the feeling that the designers a) have never really delved into game design before and b) are letting their desire to use the game to indoctrinate people get in the way of what could be a good game. The base mechanics are nothing special, although I thought the way that the traits relate to one another was a charming touch. I also like the high level skills becoming Religion, Science or Art thing. I'd be willing to pass on the sparseness of the setting info if it was good. The biggest mark against this game is the pages and pages and pages devoted to spiritualism and neo-tribal dogma with no real payoff in terms of understanding the game or contributing to the game. Maybe through their playtest and in writing the final product they'll tighten that up - there's a lot of potential here and it is interesting subject matter when it's not being buried by what amounts to propaganda. Unfortunately if someone asked me if I knew about any tribal, post-apocalyptic games I'd point them to Tribe 8, which encompasses many (if not all) of the same themes as The Fifth World, but is also compelling and interesting.
Review Summary