Progress Journal, June 2, 2021
Added 2021-07-02 22:36:20 +0000 UTCOkay, this isn't so much a Progress Journal entry as it's me checking up on you. How is everyone doing out there? How are your games going?
I've been doing this Patreon for about 7 months now, and there are 7 Mythic Magazines out there. I don't know why, but it seems like this time has gone by quickly. I'm surprised at the volume of Mythic material out there now lol
I'm curious to your thoughts on what bits from the Magazine you find yourself going back to, and what bits aren't working for you. My intention with the articles was always to provide a scattershot approach to material, so there's something for everyone but also to prompt people to look at aspects of their solo games that they haven't considered.
I'd love to hear your thoughts :) Happy adventuring!
Comments
The consolidation thing sounds great, and looking forward to Mythic 2e! I haven't gotten around to all the magazines yet, but was currently revisiting the books first to get my notes together so that I have a central reference source (which again points to consolidation being a good move!) One thing I was thinking during this process was the idea of using TAC to replace scene generation in Mythic. I like the Plot Points Table, as the Plot Points have a lot of narrative richness and direction built into them that I want to make use of, as opposed to the Event Meaning table which at times can be difficult to interpret into a narrative flow. However, I feel that Turning Points feel a bit... railroady? It's like once a TP has been generated, we know how the scene will play out. The part why Random Events in Mythic feel so exciting is that you have a single prompt for an immediate moment, and there is the sense of suspense as to how events will play out. In an attempt to preserve that excitement, I was thinking of instead of generating an entire Turning Point, I will just randomly roll for a Theme and then a Plot Point, and use that as the Random Event/Interrupt Scene. This gives me the balance I want between Random Event Meanings Table, which is immediate but a bit vague, and a full blown Turning Point, which has narrative heft but maybe too much. One thing I haven't figured out how to solve yet, however, is how to incorporate Chaos Factor into this approach. If Chaos Factor is high, I want more chance of rolling for a more chaotic Plot Point. Do you have suggestions for this, or was this covered in one of the Magazines, or maybe for future material?
Ba Tran
2021-07-15 12:45:50 +0000 UTCThank you Alexandru, and ... I know, 7 months?!? It feels like just weeks ago someone suggested doing the magazine. I appreciate you pointing out the balance of articles, that's something I consciously set out to do so it's gratifying it's having that affect. By the way, a Witcher/Mythic game sounds awesome :) I need to play more.
Tana Pigeon
2021-07-07 00:28:31 +0000 UTCThank you for the praises, and I agree with the consolidation. This is why Mythic Complete turned into Mythic Second Edition. I realized as soon as I started that simply compiling all the various rules into one book wasn't enough. There is tweaking and updating and adjusting and, sometimes, removing, that needs to go on. The two Mythic core 2e books will do this, consolidating the most pertinent rules into the core books. After that, I plan to make my way through the rest of my line of books updating. All of these books, going back 18 years, had different reasons for being published. This is one reason why they look so scattered. As you noticed, it's also taken me some time to settle on a "look" for the books. The style found in Mythic Magazine will be THE style for 2e and future books. I'm kind of looking at this like how AD&D was back in the day. Rules everywhere presented in all kinds of books, modules, and Dragon magazine. Then 2e came out consolidating and focusing the game.
Tana Pigeon
2021-07-07 00:22:22 +0000 UTCI'll add that as a possible Mythic Magazine article idea. There hasn't been any superhero content in the magazine yet, this may be a good way to do it. I get it about troubles and stress sapping creativity. This has been a rough year for me too. I hope things are looking up for you, Tim.
Tana Pigeon
2021-07-06 16:27:47 +0000 UTCI second this comment, from the praise, to the need for some consolidation with mythic 2 as well.
Dasher
2021-07-06 16:27:41 +0000 UTCFirstly - thank you so much for sharing all this and continuing to produce. I have played so many RPGs that would never have got a sniff without your inspiration. But....I'll be honest Tana I'm getting to the point where there is almost too much (heresy I know). Perhaps too much is the worng way of phrasing it. Perhaps a better way is to desribe it is as too fragmented. I feel like a period of consolidation would really help me which is why I'm really excited about Mythic 2. I have all the Mythic books, all the magazines and TAC and TLC which means I've got bits of info all over the place and when I play a new game or try new things there are often long periods of AP where I try to figure out the best combination of Mythic resources to help. The various tables and notes are distributed fairly scattershot across all the products and despite my best attempts to organise them I do struggle to not get lost or remember where I have seen a particularly good bit of advice or a a good approach for something.I appreciate this is completely my problem but it would really help to have clearer alignment across all the products now. I see you are moving towards this with the flow charts and some of the sidebar structure you have been putting in. Aware this may come across as moaning. I would like to assure you it's not. I think what you produce is very valuabel and if this was all there ever was avilable then I would be more than happy. Just sharing my experience if you are thinking of refining/improving.
James McMillan
2021-07-06 13:04:28 +0000 UTCHello Tana ! I find the mix of one "practical" (charts, flows, guides) articles and "discussion" articles to be very well thought out. In my eyes it makes every issue relevant and useful. I go back on the issues when needed, but those that stand out are truly the simplified behaviour checks and the mythic flowcharts. Those are down-to-earth and always needed. The others are for me pretty situational but it feels good to know that they exist. After 7 months (already ?!) it begins to build up to a solid reference & ideas library (one that you could certainly bundle up in an annual volume and sell it :) that broadens my solo sessions. As for the games, i juggle between a Starforged Dark Heresy adventure and Mythic + Witcher one. Both are amazing in their own ways, but playing the Witcher with Mythic it has a very special and exciting flavour... Thank you for the amazing job and the dedication :)
Alexandru Popescu
2021-07-06 10:30:23 +0000 UTCI very much enjoyed all of the magazines, nice mix of content, I am always looking forward to the next issue. What I’d like to see more of is: (1) NPC dialogues and interactions, (2) using Mythic GME with publishes adventure modules, and (3) when getting started, how to find the right balance between creating a credible and engaging exposition and over-planning. Thanks for all your work!
Max Max
2021-07-04 13:31:06 +0000 UTCMy go-to system is Fudge by Stefan O'Sullivan. The Mythic ranks remind me quite a lot of that system. I wish I could say I'm playing anything right now. A lot has happened this year with me and that really affects (effects?) creativity. I just read some at the moment. I'd like to see some more Creature Crafter and Adventure Crafter. Maybe combine those with Location Crafter. Superhero and Science Fiction genres/subgenres might be fun to combine those in a Mythic Magazine. I liked the Seed in Mythic Magazine 7 and maybe that might inspire me to make it a cyberpunk adventure. Not sure how to make a supers seed, though. (Whew, what a miss this paragraph is.)
J.Tim
2021-07-04 10:21:12 +0000 UTCThat is very cool :) That idea, of someone experiencing RPGs for the first time and doing it with Mythic, I like a lot. Much of the push back solo role-playing gets is from people who are used to RPG's being a social experience, so the idea of playing without a GM is alien to them. That's also true when playing with a group. Someone new to the hobby, however, has no preconceived ideas how this all should be done. Role-playing games were always meant to be collaborative experiences when played with groups, and yet the traditional dynamic sets the GM apart from the players. If anything, using a solo oracle to replace the GM makes role-playing games more true to their original purpose in being fully collaborative without the need of creating an administrator role.
Tana Pigeon
2021-07-03 16:27:50 +0000 UTCI often hear of Savage Worlds paired with Mythic. I think SW hits that sweet spot of crunch vs. simplicity that makes it really nimble with solo play. I'm glad the simplified behavior check is working out for you. Being a little speedier is what I was hoping for. I don't think it lost much in the process.
Tana Pigeon
2021-07-03 16:17:27 +0000 UTCMaybe some of the next stuff we can look into is for the mythic RPG system maybe some additional character ideas or ways to use powers using the red book rules. Im currently running a campaign and am letting people make up their own powers, but im curious how you intend those mechanics to work and would appreciate your take on them as i know theres no hard and fast rules by design for that.
Dasher
2021-07-03 01:26:24 +0000 UTCI havent read all of the magazines yet but using a majority of them im getting so much out of them.
Dasher
2021-07-03 01:24:18 +0000 UTCI’ve thoroughly enjoyed mythic as a way of playing collaboratively with friends without needing to worry about a GM. I don’t think I’d ever want to go back to a traditional GM way of playing. We even had success with one of the group members of experiencing tabletop role playing for the first time ever via Mythic. He was hooked.
Nathaniel Husted
2021-07-02 23:54:15 +0000 UTCMy wife and I are playing a duo game (set in Elder Scrolls universe) in which neither of us prep and just use Mythic GM + TAC + Savage Worlds and we've had so much fun just us we don't wanna go back to playing with the regular group :) We're so excited for Mythic 2!! The simplified behavior check is so useful. I already liked the old one but the new one gives you enough of a suggestion without slowing down play and we can extrapolate from the simpler results pretty well. I want to use the randomized location rules but haven't had the chance yet. Now I secretly use the Fate Chart when I'm DMing DnD because I'm a very decision-averse person and the Extraordinary results always spark really good content. Rolling d100s periodically also keeps the players on edge and it's pretty funny.
Sam
2021-07-02 23:44:21 +0000 UTCI found myself actually using the adventure crafter to create characters. But, I didn’t use it for background stories I actually used it for skills and Psionic power selection. This worked really well with the system that I was using. D6xD6
James Pearson
2021-07-02 22:54:11 +0000 UTC
