I was perusing the reviews on rpg.net and I saw this one: Review of Mythic Role Playing. I’ve never heard of the game myself till I saw the review. Besides the intriguing title (“Mythic” strikes a certain chord in relation to my pet RPG projects), the summary is fascinating:
A great buy is an understatement. No GM, multiple players; No GM, one player; One GM, any number of players; Mythic, stand-alone; Mythic with other RPGs. Mythic has many uses and executes them Mythicly well. You will not be disappointed.
A game that can be Universalis-like at one time or play it solo just as a player without a GM at all? What is this?
The review isn’t necessarily enlightening. Something about a big chart and rolling percentile dice to resolve… but not too clear on how you play without a GM. The review also states:
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.
This fate chart thing just sounds like some sort of dramatic “random encounter table” but the author of the review points out:
This is not a “choose-your-way” or “follow-the-paragraph” book; it is a full-fledged role-playing system.
Ok. What the fuck is it? Has anyone read it or played it that could give me a little more on it? Does it do everything the reviewer claims?
I’m dubious about the review. It’s not written clearly and it is his first and only review. And he does state that he’s doing the review to, essentially, promote it. (I guess that’s partially successful, because here I am writing about it).
Also, whats the link with “Mythic”? Is it based on mythology and folklore or the “art of telling mythic stories”? It is meant to be a “universal RPG”.
I’m very tempted to go and buy the PDF, just to see what it is. (BTW the website for Mythic Role Playing is here but I haven’t looked it in any depth yet).
Comments (4)
If you follow the links to the forum discussion about the rpg.net review under the actual review, and then other links leading out from that discussion to other forum threads, you will find several detailed descriptions of what it is like to play mythic.
I have played it solo and it is definitely worth the $7 that is the GM emulator. It is NOT Universalis or anything remotely similar to it; it actually replaces the GM, it doesn’t try to divide it among the players equally like Universalis or other of those type of games do.
After I posted I did do some reading around on the forums and web. I’m still not really getting it, but I probaly will buy it to see for myself.
Hi, this is the author of Mythic. I ran across your discussion and will throw my 2-cents in. Mythic is essentially two products in one, a universal rpg and what I call a “GM Emulator.” The emulator part is what gets the most attention. Essentially, it’s a system to create a virtual GM. You ask questions to Mythic, just like you would to a live GM, and it gives you back answers, moving the game along. All questions are yes/no, so a good deal of interpretation goes into it, but it all ties together quite well.
Hi Tom! Thanks for dropping by. The idea behind the system sounds certainly intriguing. By and by, I do plan to buy a copy of it and see it for myself.
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