Upcoming project: Myth Maker 1

I am beginning work on a new project with the intent of setting it free here for any and all who are interested. If I manage to pull it off it will be a full solo urban fantasy setting designed for play with resources from Mythic Magazine and other Word Mill products.

What I have in mind, to be exact, is a Techno-magical urban fantasy city. I am starting a work in progress diary here, so that my thoughts are kept in one place and because I think better when I am talking to someone, even if that someone is a theoretical reader.

Over the next couple of weeks I would like to put up a genre definition (so that every one is on the same page), a set of safety tools and trigger warnings, and an initial setting sketch. This will, ideally, be followed by game-y stuff like character creation guidelines, some faction guides, and a bit of setting history. (Not necessarily in that order).

The game engine driving the work will be the Mythic GME as a rules light RPG, but will probably incorporate conceptual ideas from other systems (shout-outs given when appropriate). The vast majority of the tools I will be using will be from Word Mill products, specifically the Mythic Magazine and the Mythic GME 2. 

(I still have a great affection for the Mythic RPG, and feel it has excellent design tips and is a solid system, but its functionality as a core rules system, at this point, has been matched if not exceeded by the magazine.)

I believe a clear set of design goals is useful for any campaign writing project, so here are a few things I wish to accomplish. 

• To develop a broad but contained region that is open to many different game styles, from exploration and treasure hunting, to slice of life and urban intrigue.
• A darker setting that offers chances to play the profit seeking anti-hero, vigilant hero who wants to improve the lot of those around him, or a postman that has to navigate some very weird neighborhoods to complete his work day.
• A plausible (for game fiction) history and current events timeline, to root the PC in the setting.
• Clear examples of game mechanics in action, where appropriate, with citation to the magazines or products used (and very useful links to purchase pages for those who want to dive deeper).
• Various entry points for players who wish to play anything from a wide eyed country bumpkin soaking in the vastness of the city, to a grizzled old politico, who can weave in and out of the layered intrigues of the byzantine heights of power. 
• A magic system that doesn't require years of training to advance inches, but keeps the mystique of magic while still allowing it to give solid game advantages and disadvantages.
• And lastly, room for the Player to take the setting and make it their own. By which I meaning, when I hit Finish on the last page of the document it will be in the hands of the player (whom I believe is highly capable) to carry the setting forward.  There will not be a dozen supplements, and rewrites, I am taking one shot on this then moving on to another genre. 

I suspect the design diary to be much larger than the finished project. Because this is a first attempt by an ambitious hobbyist, it will be a free project. As it is going to be a free project, art will be scant if present at all, and the only editors will be a couple close friends and Microsoft Word. 

This will not be to everyone's taste. I am specifically writing with one Player in mind, who has been my first reader for projects for years, but I believe the wideness of his interest will help me push the boundaries of my normal writing and will allow for an output that will be entertaining to a wide swath of gamers. Should I get a warm response I will be happy to take on the scribblers hat again and make further such works. 

I do believe this is good by way of introduction. I accept all well wishes (and most credit cards). Next post down the line: Genre: Techno-magic and Urban Fantasy Settings.

W.D.

Blog update: crunch time

 It is nearing my certification test time, so blogging has to go on hiatus for a while. All projects,  especially the Mythic Magazine summaries,  will be picked up again after my test. 

W.D.

Mythic Magazine Summarized Table of Contents 61-65 (Eventually)

 

Mythic Magazine (MM) Vol. 61

The City Crafter, pg. 3 -21 (18 pages)

• Worksheets, Charts, Tables,  (C,T,FC,WS)
• City Sheet worksheet
• City Identity chart
• City Identity Focus table
• City Descriptor table
• District chart
• District Focus table
• City Features chart
• Actions table
• No Side Bar References
• No Big Example
• Summary
• This is a systemic top down randomizer for producing cities using components: City Identity, Districts, City Map, City Events, and Landmarks. 
• The maps created in this article are abstractions rather than scale maps.
• Though there is no Big Example, each portion of the process is accompanied by an example making the process of learning the system much simpler. 

Degrees of Fate, pg. 22-29 (7 pages)

• Charts. No T, FC, WS 
• Degrees of Fate chart
• Interpreting Degrees  chart
• Degrees Compared to Standard Fate Questions chart
• No Side Bar References
• Big Example
• Snart's Retriever
• Summary
• This article adds various degrees of success to Fate roll to provide a greater degree of value across the spectrum, bringing it in line with other newer oracles.
• The new results are
• Yes/No, But
• Yes/No 
• Yes/No , And

Mythic Magazine Summarized Table of Contents 56-60

(Return to ToC)

Mythic Magazine (MM) Vol. 56

Solo Playing Styles, pg. 3 -13 (10 pages)

• No charts, tables, flow charts, or worksheets (C,T,FC,WS)
• Side bar References
• "Getting Prepared for a Solo Adventure", MM Vol.4
• "A Guide for New Solo Roleplayers", MM Vol 49
• "Writing Fiction with Mythic", MM Vol. 43
• "Mythic on the Move", MM Vol. 50
• No Big Example
• Summary: This article covers in broad strokes many solo playing styles and advantages they present. While not exhaustive (because it couldn't be), it paints a wide panorama of styles. This article is extremely entertaining as well, with plenty of gentle humor.
  Various styles included are: Shoot from the Hipster, The Journalist, The Novelist, The Frankengamer, The Inheritor, The Juggler, The Traveler, The Dimensional Shifter, The Serialist, The One Shoter, The Comforter, and the Omelet Maker.

Detail Check Revisited, pg. 14-25 (11 pages)

•     Tables. No C,FC,WS
• Detail Focus Table
• Chaos Factor Influence table
• No Sidebar References
• Big Example
• Fenog Needs a Gift
• Summary: As the name suggest this revisits an old optional rule found in Mythic Variations 2, which has been brought up to date with the Mythic GME 2. It is designed to add context to places or things found during sessions.
  These contextual details are found on the Detail Focus Table and are: Courage, Good, Calm, Reassured, PC Focus, Thread Focus, Describe, No Extra Content, Active, NPC Focus, Wary, Anxious, Bad, and Fear. 
• The Table is arranged so that the higher the number the more daunting the result, and the lower the number the more beneficent. The Overlap with Random Encounters is discussed in the article. 
• An example of each result is included. 

MM Vol. 57

"Evolve Adventure Settings With the Adventure Crafter", pg. 3-23 (20 pages)

• Tables, Worksheets, Charts. No FC
• Expanding Events Sheet
• Expanding Events Triggers
• Plot Points tables
• Sidebar References
• "Keyed Scenes", MM Vol. 10 AND MGE2 pg. 149
• "The Event Crafter", MM Vol. 24
• "News Feeds", MM Vol. 35
• "NPC Evolving Motivations", MM Vol. 39
• Big Example
• "Gods and Other Awkward Things"
• Summary
• Evolving Expanding Events takes procedures from "The Adventure Crafter" and uses it to generate background elements that continue to grow without the intervention of the PC.
• Included are procedures for starting the Event.
• Explanations of Turning Points
• Triggers for using Turning Points
• And a very long table of 100+plot points to inspire the shape of Turning Points
• Prior knowledge of The Adventure Crafter are not necessary to use this article.

"Mythic Chases", pg. 24-33 (9 pages)

• Tables and charts, No WS, FC, C.
• "Does the Chaser Win this Round" chart
• "Chaos Mayhem Focus" table
• "Foot Chase Mayhem" table
• "Vehicle Chase Mayhem" table
• No Sidebar References
• Big Example
• "Bastion Rises from the Lower Dark"
• Summary: 
• The intent of this article is to make vibrant cinematic chase scenes for RPGs. To accomplish this there is an outlined technique which includes the following.
• Chase Pace, which escalates the excitement potential for the chase.
• Chase Rounds during which time you can gain or lose ground.
• Chase Mayhem, which uses a combination of focus (themes), modified by a roll on specific meaning tables and is then interpreted to be the action that takes place during the Chase Round
• The mechanism for ending the chase is found on the Chase Mayhem Focus table.

MM Vol. 58

"Creating Dialogue With NPCs", pg. 3-13 (10 pages)

• Tables, Charts, Flow Charts. No Ws
• NPC Speech Prompt Points chart
• When to Roll for a Conversation Prompt flow chart
• Conversation Focus table
• Conversation table
• Conversation Words table
• Sidebar References
• "Character Conversations Table MGE2 pg. 204
• Big Example
• "There are Lights in the Sky" (after second article)
• Summary
• This article, as you would imagine from the title, focus on creating dialogue with NPCs. It offers three broad avenues for doing so.
• The first consideration is when do you need to generate dialogue, this is covered in the section Conversation Prompts. For when to use the mechanics for inspiration are laid out in the first three suggestions below. The fourth section "How they say something" Could be used at any time to indicate the manner of speech of the NPC.
• Initiating Conversation
• Answering a Question 
• Responding 
• How they say something 
• Expected Speech is exactly what it sounds like. After you know the tone and topic of the conversation, using what context you know about the NPC, to roleplay some amount of dialogue until you hit another Conversation Prompt.
• Discovering Meaning is used when you get to a point in the conversation where you can't predict what is coming up next.
• Conversation Words are the 100 most used words in the English language. These can be rolled to see in what manner the NPC conveys there ideas.

"Moonlight Radio", pg. 14-38 (24 pages)

• Charts, Tables, Worksheets. No FC
• Welcome to Moonlight Radio table
• Is this a Horror Game? chart
• Hello Focus table
• Caller's Voice table
• Moonlight Radio Conversation table
• Conversation table6
• Weird Caller Focus table
• Caller Log Sheet (worksheet)
• Scheduled Segment Focus table
• Revelation table
• Revelation Focus table
• No Sidebar References
• Big Example
• "There are Lights in the Sky" 
• Summary
•  Moonlight Radio is a dialog driven adventure in which you play a late night radio host that airs calls about strange goings on, which as the game progresses gets stranger and stranger. As it is very chart based it has a lot of replay value, and with a few tweaks can be played in genre ranging from horror, through weird fiction, and even cozy.

MM Vol. 59

"Rank Rules", pg. 3-7 (4 pages)

• Charts, Tables, No Ws. No FC.
• Ranks chart
• Rank Randomizer table
• Context Rank Shifts chart
• Contested Fate Questions Chart
• No Sidebar References
• No Big Example
• Summary
• This article revises the Ranks system first found in Mythic RPG to be more in line with the up coming Mythic RPG second edition. Additionally its rules are used in both of the following articles in this Volume.

"The Spell Crafter", pg. 8-27 (19 pages)

• Tables, Flow Charts. No WS. No C
• Spell Type table
• Random Spell Effect table
• Spell Effect: Conjure table
• Spell Effect: Control table
• Spell Effect: Damage table
• Spell Effect: Death table
• Spell Effect: Life table
• Spell Effect: Nature table
• Spell Effect: Travel table
• Spell Effect: Spectacular table
• Spell Creation Visual Guide flow chart
• Spell Requirements table
• Sidebar References
• "Magic Traditions", MM Vol. 45
• Big Example
• Dr. Marou Fiends a Wound
• Summary
• This article allows spontaneous generation of spells cast by NPCs, thus avoiding player meta knowledge. This done by way of the "Rank Rules" article in this volume, and a generous number of random effect tables.

"Mythic Cyber Dystopia", pg. 28-37 (9 pages)

• Tables. No C. No Ws. No FC.
• Cyber Dystopian World Focus table
• Cyber Dystopian  World table
• Cybernetic Character Focus table
• Cybernetic Character table
• Virtual World Elements table
• Cyber Dystopian Missions Seed table
• No Sidebar References
• No Big Example
• Summary
• This article provides all the tools needed to either spice up a pre-existing game with cyberpunk elements, or if you prefer build a full cyberpunk setting randomly or from the various suggestions, including elements such as setting origins, cybernetic NPC creation, Virtual reality elements, and adventure seeds. 
• This article uses the "Rank Rules", from the first article in this issue.

MM Vol. 60

"Fantasy World Crafter", pg. 3-22 (19 pages)

• Worksheets, Charts, Tables. No FC.
• Fantasy World Sheet
• Fantasy Sub-genre chart
• Fantasy Sub-genre Focus table
• Adventure Tone table
• Central Mythology chart
• Central Mythology Focus table
• Legends table
• Central Society chart
• Central Society Focus table
• Civilization Descriptors table
• City Descriptors table
• Name Sounds table
• Magic chart
• Magic Focus table
• Monsters chart
• Monster Focus table
• Threats and Tensions chart
• Threats and Tensions Focus table
• Plot Twists table
• No Sidebar References
• No Big Example
• Summary: By following the steps laid out throughout this article in order, you can build a fantasy world in a top down manner, which is the opposite of the typical manner of asking Fate Chart questions and deriving the answers in the moment. Each section leads to a whole, which gives you a unique table at the end: The World Meaning Table, derived from all the previous steps. This is used to add flavor to Discovery checks. 

"High Points Adventure", pg. 23-34 (11 pages)

• Tables. Flow Charts
• Gap Events table
• High Points Adventure Visual Guide flow chart
• No Sidebar References
• Big Example
• The Odyssey of Captain Estebanti
• Summary
• High Points Adventure introduces a new avenue in which to solo RP. The focus of the game is on the "High Points" which are defined as "... a handful of standout moments that you  remember with a smile", and thus could be different player to player or even game to game.
• Included in the article are means of generating the Hight Points, which are the Expected Scenes, though they are still subject to Random Events and Alterations, to keep the game from being too predictable.
• Between the High Points you consult the Gap Events table to find out what happened to the character between the High Points. 
• The flow chart High Points Adventures Visual Guide and the Big Example give the gist of the concept and make good reference material for High Point Adventures.

Mythic Musings 6(?): Summarized Table of Contents for Mythic Magazine.

[TL:DR; happy new year. I am making a table of contents for Mythic Magazine articles. Links below.]

Mythic Magazine Table of Contents with Summaries.

Vol. 56-60

Vol. 61

New Year, new project! 

I am overjoyed by the number of people who have gotten good use out of the Mythic Index, but it is just that, an index. 

I have tried to make it as useful as I can, and I feel I did pretty good job. With that said, it occurred to me sometime over the holiday break that that though if you look at the all the magazine covers you have something of a rough table of contents of what is inside of each magazine, but, as much as I love the covers, the art, and the tantalizing titles, its job is to be a pallet wetting hook, not an academic table of contents, and now that we are up to 61 issues, over five years of material, maybe such annotated ToC would help people understand what to expect from each issue, and track down the issues they want. This isn't to replace the Index (Though it is getting restructured. More about that below), but to complement it. 

Lets say you decide you need an article on world building, so you look up said topic in the Index. At this point there are a plethora of such articles. Which one would be right for your gaming needs? Do you have time to read 2, 3, 5 articles. I don't. So, I believe it would be useful if an article name with a very condensed explanation of the article was hyperlinked to the index, so you could read through the options available and pick out the right one for your circumstance.

Like the Compilations, each page of the ToC will come out in 5 issue chunks. I am also going to be running in reverse order, starting with 56-60 and climbing down the ladder to 1-5, because those are the issues with the freshest articles that show where Mythic and other World Mill products are going. 

The content of the annotation will cover the theme of the article, the presence of useful charts, worksheets, and tables, and a reference (and eventual link) to related materials. (Wizard Dad says go big or go home... which awkward since I work from home). This is a tall order I know, but (1), as I am not getting paid, I am not on a strict time table, and (2) I love herding words. (I think I maybe part corgi.)

As per usual, I am designing this more or less for my personal use, so how I describe the article may not be how you would describe the article. If you think I am really fouling the swing please let me know politely in the notes, and I will take your suggestions into consideration, and if I feel it is warranted I will modify the descriptive text accordingly. 

In other news, I feel the organization of the original Index has gotten a bit antiquated, so, while I am leaving it up as is, and will continue updating it, I am also going to start building Index 2.0. I am mostly going to work on that off the blog, and import it when it is done. At that point I will probably stop updating Index 1, but if there are enough people who are really loving the original categorizations, I will just run the two simultaneously. 

As I mentioned in my blog update, I am pretty busy with life stuff, so these will be slow burn projects, but that is how the Index started as well. 

Thank you for your time.

W.D.

 (If you enjoyed this article, check out the Blog Index for more content that may entertain or inspire)

Blog update: I'm still here, and still writing!

This blog is sadly collecting dust and cobwebs because the pace of my non-gamer life is a bit hectic right now. I imagine everyone's is to some degree. The Yule season holiday spree maybe fun, and on some level rejuvenate, but it is also a huge disruption. I have noticed in my 30 years of GMing more games die over between Thanksgiving and New Year than any other part of the year. 

But the blog is still alive I assure you. And though most of my writing is still sprawled in note books as extremely rough drafts, I am still writing.

The main focus of my writing has been rules for my home brew simplified travel game (which I am glad I got nailed down for the most part before Christmas, because simple is all I had time for over the holidays). This is a Fudge meets Mythic love affair that I am enjoying immensely and want to polish a little more before I spring it on you here. It is mostly analog with 1 roll resolution for most tasks. It scales from peasant rat catcher to demigod in range, without changing its complexity (much).  I think it will be a nice addition to anyone gaming on a tight time budget, as long as they enjoy narrative style play. 

I took on a totally fool hardy task of cataloging various solo gaming styles. That is going to be a slow burn project, but I am not backing out, just pushing it down the line a bit.

I am also making notes about re-vamping the Mythic Index. As the focus of the magazines has shifted some, a few of the categories need refreshing, and reorganizing. I also want to add a chronological publication index, (Edit, which I guess is a Table of Contents), with a brief description of every article. That is a bit ambitious for now because....

I am nearing a major encounter in my personal story arch, of completing another professional certification. As you can imagine this sort of takes precedence over game tinkering, no matter how much I love it. 

So I am going to wish you all a belated happy new year, and get back to you when I have another certification on my resume and a bit more time to write.

Thank your for your patients, readers.

Wizard Dad.


P.S.

The Mythic Index by Topic, while it does need a clean up, is still being updated every month, so no lag in the, hopeful, usefulness of that resource.
W.D.

If you want to have some Wizard Dad fun, check out my blog index (link below), and drop me a line to chat about what you like (or what you don't like, politely)

 (If you enjoyed this article, check out the Blog Index for more content that may entertain or inspire)

Wizard Dad's Works: The Improbable Task or A (Semi-)Comprehensive Catalog of Solo RPG Styles

The Improbable Task

An Introduction and Invitation

While I am a bad one for starting a task on my blog and never quite seeing it to the end, I do put my all into everything I post here. Most of what I post are things or ideas that have actually been very useful for me and it is my dearest hope that they will be of use to some of my fellow solo gamers. 

This project will be no different, saving in this it will not just be Wizard Dad's bright idea of the moment, but (hopefully) a catalog of games and styles in which everyone who follows it will get use some out of whether you are in line with my view or not. 

The goal is to offer as many solo play styles, starting with those most popular, moving into obscurity, and jumping on major variations. Where and when I cannot do justice to the concept, I will provide links to products, blog posts, videos, etc. that will demonstrate the concept with more clarity, joy, and keenness than my humble skills can provide; because at the end of the day there is no wrong way to have fun while solo gaming. 

(First Edit: This project is focused on GM-less one player solo gaming. I know there are many definitions of a solo game, so I think dropping that caveat at the beginning will prevent confusion later on. Ok, back to the show)

I would love for this to be a joint effort between me and the solo gaming community, so whether here in the comments, or on any shared social media in which you know where find me, please feel more than free, but  enthusiastically invited, to tell me of a style or style variation that has yet to be covered, or that you feel was covered incompletely. On the later note(because I have no interest in coving the same concept perpetually in infinite minor variations), if you can demonstrate to me that some subsection of a game has a merit I failed to capture I will either go back and edit (with credit to my source), or write a linked article about the style or variation. 

(Second edit: I am not looking just for the ideas of professional game designers, but also novel approaches by actual gamers. I will be adding a few my own and have no problem adding yours as long as they fit the criteria of offering another method of solo gaming that either hasn't been covered or isn't on the "soon to be covered" list.)

I call this the improbable task because, to be honest, it is well beyond my scope of time or skill to do completely, but I am willing to start at the bottom of the mountain and see how high I can climb. With that said, if you have a blog or a vlog or just feel like leaving a lengthy comment, you can join in the improbably task and collectively we can accomplish more.

Well, I do believe that introduces the project to the best of my ability. Topic 1 will be linked below as soon as it is written, and it will be about the Oracle and Prompts style of soloing (which I am sure will be of no shock to anyone that reads this blog) and then when that ground is covered fairly well I will move on to Journal style solo games. From there I will be striking out into new territory, and I will need assistance to make the map. 

If you have read this far, thank you for your time.

W.D.

 (If you enjoyed this article, check out the Blog Index for more content that may entertain or inspire)