Introduction
Mythweaver (revised) is the basic rules and setting introduction for Michael T. Dessing’s fantasy game “The Splintered Realm”. This game is being expanded and supported by additional PDF releases and a simi-regular PDF magazine. The magazines are free at the time of this review. You may know Mr. Dessing’s name from his Army Ants comics, graphic novel, and roleplaying game (currently in its 3rd edition.)
The PDF
This version of Mythweaver: The Splintered Realm is formatted for standard 8 1/2 by 11 inch printing with 86 pages including the cover page and a character sheet. Everything is black and white except for the cover/title page. The text is written in a smallish font and is usually formatted into two columns. The section headings, some tables, and small amounts of text do sometimes span the entire page. This very dense text could have been difficult to read if it had not been broken up by the section headers, tables, designer notes, and a small amount of art. The amateur looking art is competent but is a little ‘cartoonish’ and somehow makes me think of Lego miniatures. The designer notes are small boxes of text that explain why some rules are written as they are and how some rules apply to the default setting realm of “Del Anon”
The PDF is optimized well for printing. All of the tables and designer notes are in boxes with light, ink saving, gray headers. The character sheet is the only place with large sections of full black. The margins are very small and may not leave quite enough room for common binding methods (3-hole punched, comb, and spiral).
The book is laid out in 5 sections; Introduction, Book I: Heroic Characters, Book II: The Mythweaver (game master), Book III: Bestiary, and Book IV: Campaign. It also has a detailed Table of Contents but no index. The introduction section contains the basics of ‘what is a roleplaying game’, a one page primer on the history of The Splintered Realm, and details of the basic dice mechanic.
The Game System
The basic dice mechanic for this game is the standard Die Roll + Attribute + Modifiers vs. a set target number for un-opposed task or vs. an opposing roll. Characters start at level 1 and max out at level 20. Beginning 1st level characters use a single d6 for all rolls. As characters progress through the ranks they get to use a progressively larger die from d8 to d10 to d12, etc. up to the maximum player character die of a d16. Non player characters/monsters can continue to progress through two higher die types of d20 and d24. There are special rules given for rolling d16 and d24.
• Character Attributes
Characters are defined by 8 attributes; 4 Physical (Dexterity, Melee, Might, Stamina) and 4 Mental (Aspect, Intuition, Reason, Willpower). Most of these are used as you would expect. For example: dexterity helps with missile weapons, might helps to carry things, melee is used in hand to hand combat, and willpower is used for resistance. Aspect, on the other hand, is not a standard attribute. Instead it functions as the characters alignment. Having a negative aspect means you are evil, zero aspect is neutral, and a positive aspect is good. Each alignment has advantages and disadvantages. Good characters can not be hurt by good magic, evil characters can’t be hurt by evil magic, etc. Taking a negative aspect, if the game master allows mixed parties, gives your character extra character points equal to the negative value of Aspect. Characters start with 25 points to place into the 8 attributes but the first 20 must be spent on the racial minimums. The remaining 5 points (plus any gained from taking a negative aspect) are spent as the player wishes up to the maximum of a 10 in any attribute. Each level gained grants the player one additional point to spend on attributes.
It is interesting to note that all ‘attacks’ based on a given attribute are also defended with the same attribute. So, hand to hand attack rolls and defense rolls add the Melee score, Reason is added to magic attacks and magic defenses, etc.
• Character Classes
The character classes are Defender (Cleric, Holy Warrior), Hunter (Bounty Hunter, Ranger), Myrmidon (Knights, Warriors), Mystic (Magic Users), and Rake (Rogues).
Each character class is presented with a basic description, a special ability, required attribute minimums and an advancement scheme. The special ability is one situation where the character gets to use the next higher die type like a first level ‘hunter’ using a d8 for initiative instead of the standard d6 that other first level characters use. The attribute requirements are a level of 3 in three related attributes. The real specialization is in the advancement scheme.
All of the characters abilities, or talents, fall into the 3 categories of arms (combat), skills, and magic. Each class slowly advances in some or all of these areas as they rise in levels with an average of about one advance per level. While progressing from level 1 to level 20, characters will earn 18 advancement points. As an example, the Defender gets 6 gains in arms, 5 in magic, and 4 in skills while the Rake will gain 5 in arms, 10 in skills and none in magic. Each character will also gain 3 ‘bonus’ points that can be spent in any of the 3 areas. Although the number of advancement points seems low, that is offset by the fact that each advance is significant.
• Arms Talents
There are two types of talents in Mythweaver. The first type are talents that can be advance through 5 levels; Apprentice, Adept, Master, Grand Master, and Paragon each costing one advancement point. Each level grants the user a ‘Signature Move’ which is how characters become specialized in specific methods of combat (Axes, Blunt Weapons, Piercing Weapons, or Swords). This is because signature move learned with swords can not be used with axes or vice versa. The arms talents are Armor, Melee, Missile, and Shields. Note: It is unfortunate that Melee is used as a characteristic and a talent but it is not too hard to keep them straight. Each level in these talents allows the character to use larger/more effective equipment in that area. Where an apprentice in melee can only use a hand axe, dagger, short sword, etc. a true paragon of melee can use mauls and great swords, the most deadly weapons in the game. Damage is the characters default die + the level of the weapon.
As characters gain the higher levels of these talents, the 2nd type of talent becomes available. This 2nd talent type is talents that are either on or off. You know it or you don’t. Counter Attack, Parry, Quick Strike, and Two Weapons are the available on/off talents and cost one advancement point each.
All characters start with the apprentice level in Melee, Missile, and Armor.
• Skill Talents
The skill talents also use the standard 5 levels of apprentice through paragon with each giving a progressively larger bonus (+1, +3, +6, +10, +15). Each of the 6 skill talents (Athletics, Burglary, Influence, Lore, Nature, Stealth) can cover a very broad range of situations. Influence, for example, includes rules for influence, coerce, inspire, intimidate, gather information, and taunt. Stealth includes stealth and backstab. Lore is not subdivided but seems to cover things like history and heraldry. It is also used to identify magical items. There are no specialty or on/off talents in the skill section.
Note: There is no determent for attempting a skill that you have no training. However, without the bonus gained from training it will be very difficult to roll the required target number.
• Magic Talents
Arcanum (wizardry), Darkness (evil), Deeping (earth/ancient), Elemental (elements), Light (good), Psionics (mind), and Wilding (nature) are the 6 magic talents and are also measured on the standard scale. Unlike arms or skill talents, each level of magic talent has a required minimum level that the caster must attain before purchasing that level (1, 3, 6, 10, 15 should look familiar). There is also one on/off magic talent called ‘Quick Spell’ which allows the caster to cast all of his spells faster. Each level of each magic talent grants some kind of basic ‘power’.
Spells are free-form in this system. The caster uses one of his basic powers and can increase the range, duration, area of effect, damage/result, and/or effects of the spell. Each increase adds to the ‘rank’ of the spell. Higher rank spells generally take longer to cast and are more difficult to cast. The exception to this is the characters ‘repertoire’ spells. Repertoire spells are a limited number of spells that the caster knows and uses often. These spells can be cast more often and with greater ease but can not be changed in any way once learned. There are no limits on the number of spells that can be cast in a day and no penalty for failing spells, but, due to the way that initiative and the ‘turn’ structure are used, magic users will be required to vary the number and type of spells that they use in combat.
While I don’t really have a preference for or against free-form spell systems, this one could use a more clearly written set of rules and some more specific spell examples.
• Actions and Combat
Combat is fairly straight forward. On the correct initiative count, each character can attack, use a skill, or cast a spell. The target of these actions can roll to resist in some way. If an attack or spell hits then damage is rolled and applied to the target. Armor does not make a target harder to hit but reduces damage from melee and missile weapons. The part of combat that is not standard here is how initiative works.
In combat, each round last for 3 seconds and is divided into 30 (1/10th of a second) segments. Each action that a character can take requires a specific number of these segments to complete. Initiative is rolled using the base die + either dexterity or intuition and is limited to a maximum of 30. As the game master counts down from 30 each character acts on his initiative. After the required number of segments has passed, and the count has not reached 0, that same character can act again. So, if a character rolled 21 on his initiative, he could take three 10-segment actions in the turn; one at segment 21, one at segment 11, and the last one at segment 1. That last action, on segment 1, still happens even though it looks like there are not enough segments left to complete it. You resolve actions on the segment that they start.
• Running the Game
The Mythweaver section of the book has additional advice and examples on how to run combat using the countdown initiative. Even though it is one of the most complicated parts of this system, it is handled well. This section also covers most of the standard “game master” advice like how to handle Aspect (good and evil), special situations in combat (cover, charge, Surprise, Morale, etc.), advancement, and how to set the level of adventures and combats so that the characters stay challenged without being overwhelmed. There is also enough information on treasures, for rewards, and monsters, for challenges, in here to keep the game going without needing to rely on other sources. Each of these sections starts out with general rules and random tables and finish up with specific examples.
Advancement is handled by awarding ‘hero points’. Hero points are earned at the rate of 3-5 for winning a normal encounter (a few less for lesser encounter and a few more for greater encounters) with 10 bonus points for completing major quest. It cost 10 x the next level to advance (20 to go to from level 1 to level 2, 100 to go from level 9 to level 10, etc.) Unfortunately, hero points are also used like ‘bennies’ or ‘fate points’ in that they can be spent during play to add a die to any of your characters rolls. Most modern games have separated advancement points from hero points because having them combined can lead to some players hoarding them and not using them to help out in-game while the players who spend them in-game are not going up in levels as fast as the others.
Additional information for running the game is found in other sections. The rules for gathering followers and building a keep/tower/shrine etc. once characters reach ‘named’ level (10th) are found at the end of the Characters section and there is a small section in the magic talents section on how to “adjudicate spells”. That particular section should really be moved to the game master section and expanded upon.
The Setting
The Splintered Realm setting is introduced with a one page ‘brief history’ in the introduction section. It is a standard ‘the good deity created everything while her evil and jealous brother tried to destroy it all.’ The ‘realms’ are arranged in a Norse style with 5 plains where the higher plains are better the higher you go and the lower plains are worse the lower you go. Elves, Pixies, and Unicorns come from the higher realms; Giants, Trolls and Ogres come from the lower ones. Humans lived in the middle and were split on which side to serve. During what was to be the final battle between the realms, when the good queen was about to be taken out, she shattered the realms, mixing up pieces of them together so that every one would have a chance to go on.
The player races that came out of this shattering are 3 types of humans who were ‘chosen’, Brownie, Dwarf, Morning Elf, Shadow Elf, Ork, and Wood Troll. The Shadow Elf and Ork races start with negative Aspect and considered evil races. If the game master allows these races the players can increase Aspect so that the individual characters are neutral or good.
The specific realm that is the setting for this book is called Del Anon. It is unfortunate that the only things we learn about Del Anon are in a few sidebars throughout the character section that explain how certain characters and skills are used there.
The final section of the book is called a Campaign Guide and centers around a location called Gryphon Watch Keep. For the keep its self there is a location by location description along with a floor plan map. This if followed by three short adventures; one wilderness adventure, one in an above ground temple, and one dungeon adventure. All three adventures do a good job of showing off various features of the rules and include sample characters, floor plans, monsters, traps, etc. when needed. They are a good addition to this product but are generic and do not really give much specific information on the Del Anon setting.
Conclusions
Mythweaver: The Splintered Realms looks and feels like many other small press fantasy games. Could it use more artwork? Yes. Could it use more examples? Yes. Is it basically any better or worse than other games of this type? No, not really. So, for style I give it 3.
The setting is also fairly standard and probably would lead me to give this item an average rating in style as well. However, the setting is very thin here and I can’t really tell if it is as average as it sounds. Hopefully the expansion material will fill in the gaps. Given that and the problems I found with the freeform spell rules, I must say that the substance here needs work and give it a 2.
Review Summary