Wizard Dad's Workshop: The Villain's Turn: Power, Resources, Influence, Knowledge, and Personal Life

Good villains make good stories. Well perhaps it takes more than that, but a good villain can really help a story along. Just as your characters are not static so too your villains have lives in motion. I am in the camp of nothing is real till it happens in game, but that doesn't have to mean that nothing is going on behind the scenes. So, I suggest that you consider giving the bad guy a turn every now and again. I am not saying focus the lens on the antagonist like you would a PC, that would take the fun out of the discovery later on. Instead I suggest a broad view procedure that gives a sense of the type of action your nemesis is taking over a certain period of time. 

Let's say, your PC is a sword swinging, good natured, friend to the common man. Now, early in his career he encounters a manipulative lord who uses his aristocratic powers to oppress and exploit the very people your PC focuses on caring for. Sounds like you have a good foil to your actions, and a nice focus for your campaign. If your villain is doing so much for you, perhaps you, the Solo Player, should do him a nice turn as well. 

In this system (partially inspired by Mr. Kevin Crawford's very well detailed faction system in Stars Without Number) you can break the action of a powerful person into five categories: Power, Resources, Influence, Knowledge, and Personal. Each Villain Turn you will roll for the category, and roll if the action is focused on acquisition or exercise, then a second roll on for success or failure. Lastly make a check on your Oracle of choice on whether the action as an outward facing effect. In other words does it generate a rumor or news event. Even if it does, that outward facing effect probably won't exactly reflect what happened, it is just what was seen and talked about. It is important that the action only loosely be defined, because it remains an unknown to the PC, until either the PC investigates and uncovers the truth behind the rumor or the villain takes an action which reveals what is behind the scenes.

Lets meander through the list and discuss what each label constitutes, and show some examples that could come up in play.

Power is any action taken to enhance the personal power of the villain or its organization. This could be getting a new magic item it covets, increasing its magic or weapon prowess, or any other action that makes the villain itself greater in magnitude.

Resources is similar to power excepting it is outside of the villain's personal being. This could mean making an ally of a powerful creature, strengthening a lieutenant, gaining control of business, or laying hands on a large pile of money. 

Influence is social or political in nature. This could involve seducing a local lord to their side, gaining  a political appointment, insinuating a spy in an organization, or gaining blackmail material over an important individual. 

Knowledge is information that is useful to the goals of the villain. This maybe gained through books, sages, reports from spies, or personal investigation. The knowledge is rarely abstract, save for more esoteric villains, and will probably be used as an asset in the future to gain more of the advantages listed above.

Lastly, whether your villain be an ambitious business man or a demigod, all of them are people (with rare exceptions). Things of a private nature will effect the Personal Life of the villain as they do with the protagonist. Maybe they fall in love, find a long lost child, have a religious revelation, or fall off a horse and break there leg. This may sound like a skipped round, but personal experiences can change a villain (though rarely into a hero) in such a way that there goals may change, or there approach needs to be altered. Or maybe they just need to be personally benched while that leg heals. In any account a Personal Life experience will impact a villain as much as it does a PC and should be taken into account as goals grown and bloom.

Ok, that is enough philosophy.

Lets talk mechanics.

After encountering a Villain, a trusted lieutenant, or a demonstration of his power base, note them down on their own card (or word doc, etc.). Here you will add all the details that you think you know about them. These details will only solidify if they come up in game, but details you think you know will inform your decisions. (If you use a character list, such is found in Mythic GMU make sure note them down there as well, if there is a noteworthy outward display).

Next, continue playing your normal solo campaign and at the conclusion of an adventure (or after one game month has passed, which every is shorter), whether or not it involved the villain, roll for the type of action that the villain engages in during that time period. Just use a 10 sided die with 1-2 being Power, 3-4 being Resources, 5-6 being Influence, 7-8 being Power, and 9-0 being Personal Life. Note the result.  After that roll on your random word generator of choice roll the  first word (preferably from some Action table) and put it with the result. This is meta knowledge, but it will work in the back of your mind until such a time when a revelation in reasonable. 

The next step is to find out if the action had any public facing consequences. This is as simple as asking your Oracle "Did the Villain turn have public facing fall out?" Judge the likelihood based on what you know of the Villain's public persona, what type of action it was, and what the first of your word pair turned out to be.  If the answer is no, you just go on with your next phase of your adventure. If the answer is yes, take the first word and add a second or more words until you have an idea what shape that fall out took. From there build a rumor or plot hook from it, and then pick move on to your next adventure. (Though this is written for protagonist it could also be done for any non static element of your game, but I don't want to make this article 17 pages long)

Revelation 
Remember all Revelations should work within the context of the game. Merge both the context and the results to give the picture presented to the characters.

Rumor: Revelation can come in the way of an outward expression of the the action of the villain turn, in which case you build a rumor from the first word, adding as many as you need to solidify it. After you have the rumor throw away all the words save for the first rolled, as that clings to he character to be used in the second phase.

Investigation: Assuming the PC wants to take the time to dig deeper, and has the resources to do so, investigating what a rival is doing, could reveal some of the secret information, if they have the skills to do so and aren't to clumsy implementing them. If they are successful, they learn one aspect of the rival's endeavors. In that case take the cumulated words from one category and develop them into a plot device. Which very well may lead to ...

Confrontation: There will come a time when you will clash with a antagonist or some aspect of there organization. At that time take a moment and figure out which category or categories (Power, Resources, Influence, Knowledge, or Personal Life) will be on display. It will probably be obvious from the context of the confrontation, but if now just roll to see what aspect is displayed. 

At this point use the cumulated words in each category used to produce a picture of what comes to bear in the encounter. Lets toss out a few examples using the oppressive lord mentioned in the introduction.

Power: Truce: While the lord was always a smooth talker now his voice produces a calming lassitude that seeps the will to fight from you and your allies. You notice he wears a strange platinum pendent that, is that the source of his new ability?

Resources: Distrust: A well know champion of right and law is on the side of the lord. This cast doubt in the minds of your henchmen on whether they are on the right side of the fight.

Influence: A couple of the kings own knights are flanking the Duke acting as his body guards. To strike at them is the break Royal decree, is it worth it?

Knowledge: Free: Before the fight can commence the he calls for a parlay. He offers the location of your characters missing family member if you just stand aside this one time and let him have his way. He promises that if you don't that information will be lost to you forever.

Personal Life: Trust: The lord's own son, carefully kept away from fights in the past is armed and armored and standing next to his father. They look like a formidable team.

In actual play there will be several words to weave together to give you an idea of what is manifesting, but the point is to show, in a very gameable way, that your rival is in motion as much as your characters.

Blank Page to First Scene 4: Out of the Frying Pan; Into the Fire

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The last step to wrap up this little project is to jump into the first scene. Now, I could ask a series of Mythic questions narrowing it down to a final step, or I could use the method from MM38 Solo Setting & World Creation System, to sketch out a place with a little history. Instead I am going to pull another tool from my toolbox and use  The Adventure Crafter, which is a wonderful tool for inciting events. 

As a brief overview (I seriously suggest you pick this up and its deck version as well), TAC gives you a series of story elements that contrive to make up a scene. I wish to start in media res so the TAC results will be the thing that leads up to the moment I start, and set the conditions of my Fate Chart questions to determine what action is going on. 

A couple months ago I made a deck of adventure starters, and boost, for when things got slow. These are full Adventure Crafter result sets on standard index cards. They are agnostic with no context. Because a little context is needed to interpret them I am going to grab a multi genre bestiary I own and just randomly pick a monster from it to give some simple context I need. The result is futuristic and horror. Now, I am going to draw from the deck until a starting scene takes shape. To be more precise these are the events that will lead up to the starting scene, the immediate background of the adventure.

Meta: (I am holding meta results to just one, two many of these muddles a scene)

• Character Upgrade 

Mystery: 

• Something lost has been found.
• This isn't working
• The observer
• Beat you to it
• The Plot Thickens
• Hidden Agenda

Action

• Destroy the thing
• Confrontation
• Protector

Personal

• Untouchable
• Character Assistance
• Willing to talk

Social

• Injustice
• A rare or unique social gathering

I may not be able to fit all of these hooks into a coherent back scene, but lets see what we can do.

Social gives us a strong location in "A rare or unique social gathering". We know the setting is both horrific and futuristic. Social also tells us that someone or some group faces an injustice. In Personal we have untouchable, which suggest my own character is considered either to exalted to touch or to loathsome to interact with. Lets go with the later, and we are going to expand that to the others at the meeting as well. We, collectively, represent a group of lone-wolf pariah gathered for a purpose.

There are two factors that would make my character unique that I can think of off the top of my head. The first is that I am dimension hopper, but we know those are very rare. The second is that I am a wizard, but I mask it in the trappings of the local system, and sense this is sci-fi we will go with Psionics. This a world where both hyper science and psionic power are present, and those who practice the later are seen as unclean. 

I am just going to interject that psychics in this setting are lone-wolf types, with no over arching organization, which shows that meeting to discuss a problem (willing to talk) and banding together (Character Assistance) to face it is almost unheard of. As a persecutor minority they probably stay as far away from each other as possible, as not to draw attention.

If, the setting has hyper tech and the typical run of peace keepers and soldier, then this must be a scenario that only psionic power can handle, and it must be important enough to gather people from all parts of this space sector. 

Looking to the Mystery section we know that something, maybe an ancient psionic artifact, has been found, but we know that the group that has gathered think it is too dangerous and should be destroyed (Acton: Destroy the thing), which will lead to a confrontation with its guardian (Protector). 

Whatever it is even most psychic powers are bouncing off it (This isn't working). From seeming nowhere a character thought lost earlier in the adventure emerges from concealment, perhaps invisibility (The Observer) rushes past the combat and guardian, to seize the artifact for themselves (Beat you to it, Plot Thickens, Hidden Agenda). Upon seizing the object the power within it, that the guardian was trying to keep safe floods into our traitor, filling him with power (Meta: Character Upgraded). Which leads us to the opening scene...

A small group of psychic loners, along with Saul, are banded together, with the Protector joining them to face a seeming now much empowered psychic, who is a danger to this entire galactic sector.

Roll for initiative. 

Full Blog Table of Contents (a work in perpetual progress)

It has been brought to my attention that my blog isn't very user friendly, so now if you check the side bar you will see this ToC is the featured post.

It is going to take some doing to get all the project home pages up, but I am going to work from the most recent and work my way back. 

• Mythic RPG: Blank Page to First Scene (Brought to you by the Red Book and Mythic Magazine)
• This is a project showing how to both create and customize a Mythic RPG campaign. Work still in progress.
• Mythic Worksheet and Flowcharts Index
• This is a long term project tracking down all the flowcharts and worksheets across all Word Mill core and supplemental products.
• Mythic RPG Project 2; Ideas and Addendums
• This is a set of house rules for Mythic RPG. Each entry is a completed house rule. More will be added as created.
• The Mythic RPG Project
• This is a fairly comprehensive overview of the rules for Mythic RPG with examples.
• A Pocket Game with the Mythic GME Mobile (for Android)
• This is an ongoing project trying to make a full but simple on the go RPG with the Mythic GME2 app. When I started this project the app was still in development, so I put the breaks on it, but now that the features have seem to have stabilized, I will be coming back to it.
• Various Variations on Variations: Connecting the second half of Mythic GM Emulator 2e to supporting magazine articles
• This one is pretty self explanatory. I plan to revisit it soon and update for the newer MM articles. 
• A Mythic Magazine Index by Topic
• Far and away my most useful project, this charts where to find every Mythic Magazine Article by Vol. number, Page number, and Compellation number. This is a living document that sees some addition and revision monthly. It has an attached link to an alphabetical index and also links to specific topics.

There are a few non Mythic related project scatter hither and yon. When I figure a way to group them I will pop them in a ToC and link it here, but here is a competed project chain or two.

• The Moreau Bug, An Experiment in Solo Fate Game Design
• Here the title says it all. This turned out to a lot of fun and fairly popular
• A Simple d6 GME
• This was an experiment in re-inventing the wheel. But it does show that anyone at any price level can enter the solo RPG hobby.

There are a number of one off articles that I feel are pretty strong, but weren't part of a series. When I have the time I will build a miscellanea ToC and link them here.

 

I also have some legacy content from when this was an OSR blog, but I will leave off that unless someone expresses an interest.

Blank Page to First Scene 3: Let's Make Some Magic

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Looking back to character creation, you will see three magic related traits. Two Attributes Vis Pool Maximum and Current Vis Pool, and one skill Wizardry. Now lets give them some meaning. 

For the purposes of this game I picked the Latin word for power, vis, as a universal energy source. (I didn't want to use words that currently exist in actually spiritual believes of cultures I am not part of, so I picked a dead language). And though it is reasonable to think of it as a power pool, it really represents how much and how often a mortal mind can interact with an extra-mortal power source, the Universal Realty Engine. The complexity of channeling the very mechanics of the cosmos are exhausting, and can be exhausted. So, while it is easier in game terms to think of it as an actual pool of energy, the reality it is more a measure of mental/spiritual stress, thus it is derived by Smarts and Ego.

I don't what an over complicated system so it essentially has two elements. First, is casting spells using the Wizardry Skill. This is as simple as defining the spell effect you want, setting a difficulty to it, and rolling to see if you succeed. A Yes indicates a successful casting. An Exceptional yes, allows you to raise one aspect of the casting (say include more people or cause more damage). A No indicates that you failed to cast the spell successfully, but it isn't a catastrophic failure. If the spell should have been well be low your abilities, down grade the qualities of the spell and have it perform in a sup par manner (you may want to aske a Fate check to see if it is a simple Failure, but I think Wizard should waist a round casting for nothing). If it was at or even stretching your abilities then it is just a failure, but still may cause Drain. If the answer is an Exceptional No the magic gets out of hand and either backfires or produces some interesting random result (I suggest a Fate check with backfire as the probably outcome).

Whether the spell is a success, a failure or a backfire you have to roll for Drain. Drain is a roll set by the difficulty of the spell against your Current Vis Pool attribute. The question is Did I suffer Drain. If Yes lower the Current Vis Pool by one step. If it is an Exceptional Yes, lower the current Vis pool by two steps. If the answer is No then your Vis Pool remains the same. If your answer is an Exceptional No then your Vis Pool actually raises by one step indicating some insight into casting that particular spell. Make a note of that, as it may indicated a growing talent for that sort of spell (giving you a plausible reason to get a Gift easing the casting of such spells). 

(Remember when doing skill checks in Mythic RPG you set the CF to 5 for the skill check. Varying CF is to escalate role play scenes. Otherwise this magic system would get way out of hand very quickly.)

Current Vis Pool Refreshes over night to its maximum if the character gets a chance to rest in a safe environment. Once per day, the character can meditate using Wizardry skill against current Vis pool. A success raises the Current Vis pool by one rank. This can be attempted just once per day. An Exceptional Success raises it by two point. All failures simply result in no raise.

Modifiers of all sorts could be applied to this roll. A favorable environment, a failure to concentrate, some special "components" that boost magic in this dimension, etc. I will future out more about that in play. 

When I have a chance to play this system (the next installment should lead up to the opening scene) then I will drop back in here and add some examples from real play, and we will see if this system needs a bit of tweaking. 

Blank Page to First Scene 2: World Building 1, Paradise

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World Building with the Mythic RPG is both extremely easy and rather challenging. It is easy because, with the loose idea of what you want, and the Fate chart, you can ask simple yes/no questions and start filling in the details. It is challenging because it can and will subvert your expectations quickly, which can lead to a game that wasn't what you had in mind. When an actual GM does this to his players, and he sees it isn't quite working out they can intelligently course correct, getting back on track. Mythic RPG, for all it is a wonderful system, isn't a thinking one. We bring the thinking to it. Thus, it is better to nail down anything you want to be concrete as soon as it comes to mind and NOT to leave it all up to Mythic.

There are two starting places we need the Hub, a district of Paradise, and Shadow, the term that Paradisians call everywhere else. I want to start in media res. So, I will be jumping straight into action, so I don't need a lot of details on Paradise yet, and because exploring is the purpose of travel for Saul, I don't want to go over board with the starting location either.

If you were to follow this link Setting Creation Elements, you would find that Mythic Magazine has provided us with a plethora of tools for creating setting and parts there of, but lets first look at the suggestions from Mythic RPG.

Chapter 9, World Creation (starting on pg. 85) gives us gives us a number of tools for emergent world building, and we will put those to good use in the near future, but starting with the Hub we are going to nail down some details before we let randomness take the wheel.

Mythic Magazine 38, pg. 3 gives us the article  “Solo Setting & World Creation System” (This can be found in Compilation 7). This has several tools useful for us (bonus points for us as it mentions that this or a variation of it will be used in Setting Creation in MRPG2). First off, there are lists of  Adventure Genre to roll randomly or at least consider for inspirational purposes. I like Hybrid Fantastic Sc-fi. That gives us a broad base for our local district in Paradise. Next, and just as important, not just for this setting but for the campaign at large, is Adventure Tone. Epic and Strange match our needs, but I am going to add Whimsical as well, to remind myself that this is more of a light hearted game for fun than a dash to rescue the multiverse. The penultimate tool at hand is Context. Here we are going to lay down ground rules for play in Paradise.

"Context is what informs our expectations. Context

is everything we know about our adventure world,

from the genre and setting to important past

events and our Player Characters themselves." MM Vol. 38, pg.8

So, to describe the context of the campaign, and Paradise specifically I think "Madcap Genre-bending Multidimensional Adventure!" pretty much covers both the city of Paradise (or at least the hundred or so miles we are likely to explore) and gives us a good idea of the types of adventures and scenes to come.

Along with context we can set Context Rules.

"A Context Rule is adventure Context

that you elevate to a game rule. Treat it

like a mechanical element of your RPG

or adventure, like any other rule. It’s

an instruction you can refer to when

interpreting Mythic prompts and events." MM Vol. 38, pg. 10

Context Rules for Paradise and Beyond

1. In Paradise there is no death, and very little want. If a character from Paradise dies in a Shadow the reappear in Paradise, though worse for the wear (and possible naked).
2. If a setback can be interpreted in a humorous way in Paradise it is. Most Shadows will have more serious consequences.
3. As Paradise holds an aspect of anything in creation, nothing is out of place there, though somethings maybe pretty weird nonetheless.
4. Paradise is a safe haven (like a home base in a West Marches style campaign) which isn't to say adventure can't happen there, but if you put your loot in a bank or stow it with a powerful friend it will still be there when you get back. 
5. You can reach any time or world from Paradise, as it has it cast its Shadows all over creation, it is harder to get back to than to exit from (excepting through dying of course, but that tends to be unpleasant).
   

The last tool in “Solo Setting & World Creation System” is a history generator. As Paradise has always existed and (theoretically) always will this would be a bit daunting, even for one neighborhood, so lets just give it one go for a brief local immediate history.  You will find the grid for generating histories in MM 38, pg. 9. (As I don't own the compilations I can't narrow it down for you there, sorry). For, those who haven't picked up this gem of a magazine yet I will briefly explain. There is a 5 by 3 grid of boxes, with interconnections by way of random d10 rolls taking you to other boxes. 1-2 may lead down to a box while the next box may have 3-4 lead right. That isn't too important right now. I am just going to run through it quickly and give you the narrative outcome.

Start>Attack Depletion>Deposit Freedom>Indulge Elements>Deny Attention>End

When Saul first came to the more or less abandoned Transcorp industrial district of Paradise it was a pretty much a slum. It was a corner that reminded him largely of the old fossil factory towns on old Earth which had been totally abandoned as soon as there was a way out, but people did live here, natives that were pretty dang close to looking like humans, and so while desolate it looked a lot like home. 

Saul had already been doing some dimension hopping for a while and in his wild rush from Domain to Domain he hadn't spent a lot of the loot. So, he arranged for a few cheap fabricators from a richer district (and by doing a few favors) and flexed a bit of his "magical" muscles and started cleaning the place up and arranging the tools the locals would need to refurbish the neighborhood. There were some clashes with various gang types, and one mob syndicate, but honestly it wasn't like the place was churning out the cheddar, so a deal was cut that it would remain something of a safe haven for people who wouldn't hassle the locals, on the condition that the locals wouldn't ask too many questions. That and bit of the vig was expected should the place turn a profit. And with that they let it go. 

To make sure that it didn't draw too much in the way of speculators and gentrification, it outer edges were left pretty rough, though the inside became a homey safe haven for locals, your more good natured banditos, and weirdos from across paradise and beyond. Saul really pushed for it to be named Saulsburg, as it was his idea, but it ended up being name Haven, about the least interesting name they could come up with. 

With the next installment we will drop Saul into some hot water, and then generate an opening scene

Blank Page to First Scene 1: Character Creation

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One of the most charming aspects of Mythic RPG, is that the character summary starts the ball rolling. I said in my last post I wanted a character who was experienced in both magic and plane/genre hopping. The character could be a researcher constantly seeking the new, or someone a little less ivory tower and more self centered, though I know I don't want to play a real ne'er-do-well. A balance of practical and academic with a streak of heroism when the cards are down sounds like just the character for me. Flipping through a popular sci-fi name generator I have decided on Saul Tane. 

Pre summary rambling
(This isn't an official part of character creation, but a little free form writing just to toss ideas on to the white space. For me after a few paragraphs of this, I have a much clearer view of who the character is going to be. This step is optional in the extreme, but without I draw a blank when I try to build a character.)

Saul Tane comes from a backwater galaxy, and in a tiny corner of that, which has barely conquered space travel within there own galactic system, much less, grappled with all the possibilities of dimensional shifts along the Parallel Axis. 

About five hundred yeas ago a couple clever monkeys (sorry, scientist) realized that while the dimensions of space may be finite, there sure were a lot of them, and most of those finite dimensions are filled with, well nothing (which is a very silly place to travel to). Considerably less were filled with next to nothing, which is also a poor vacation destination. Even after much research could they find any mathematical dimension that very full of something.

Soon after, a very clever monkey, working with an equally clever monkey with a spanner developed an engine that could launch a small craft into one of those finite, but nearly empty spaces, and on account of their emptiness (and this is where it gets weird) they could travel great distances in less time because those same universes (the ones full of nothing, or to be more precise next to nothing) would have expanded at a much slower rate, yet still shared all the same points in space. What is more, extremely dense substances, like a large class three gas giant, or as star or black hole of any size, leave a gravitational shadow, which could, if your charts are right or you have an extremely clever monkey of your own, you can "Fall" out of those "higher" dimensions into a new spot within their own galaxy. It is true sometimes a ship would fail to reappear where it was planning to go, but it was assumed that just meant they had fed a black whole they mistook for a star, because their science monkey wasn't clever enough. And most of the time that was true, but some of the time....

If you stumble through space without a map looking for ultra dense materials that will leave a shadow in "hyper-space" (a term about as silly as the use of  phrase "AI" in the 21st century Earth) you can stumble upon a Transdimensional Beacon. Particularly altruistic beings, that have probably long since became transcendent or extinct, left these behind to help lost travelers get to a safe harbor. (Because the only reason they could conceive of that you would be in near null space is that they got lost). Once activated these beacons transmit the lost travelers location to The Universal Reality Engine, which then moves the ship to The Omni-dimensional location, the jewel at the center of it all: Paradise. So, far as anyone knows it is a one way trip.

Paradise is a city of infinite size that exist at the very center of all things on the Parallel Axis, and as a shadow in all dimensions and times, though it is bugger hard to get to from anywhere in particular. In fact, it is easier to get to the One Real Place accidentally, than to access it from its nigh infinite Shadows. Also the name Paradise is somewhat misleading. It is a city of infinite size, which means it also has some slums, blue light districts, and urban war zones (also of infinite size, but avoidable with a good map). In fact, it is thought that the name Paradise at one time was slang for an acronym, but at this point no one remembers it, and on the whole the name has stuck.

Summary
Saul Tane is hardly the first human to reach Paradise, but of all of those that have, he has the least desire to go back to Earth (though occasionally he visits an Earth, but more on that later). Saul Tane, was a combination, genius, adventurer, and pain in the arse. None of those things have changed in the ages he has spent in the timeless city of Paradise.

It can't be said he got to Paradise on purposes, but his studies, both conventional, mathematical, and "speculative" suggested it must be there. His mistake was thinking that the black hole in sector 1794, was Paradise. It turned out to be a Transdimensional Beacon, that transported him to Paradise.  Still it worked out all the same, and what is more he doesn't have to repay the $3 bet that the technically lost to his boss (or replace yet another ship come to think of it). He had made a second mistake as well. He thought the God Engine (more conventionally called the  Universal Reality Engine) would be in Paradise, but if it is he hasn't been able to find it. Which isn't to say he hasn't learned to access it. 

Tall, with wide shoulders that start a like a block of stone at his non existent neck, down to a near nonexistent waist, with inelegant tree trunk legs and hands like shovels, you can't say that Saul is a fashion plate in any humanoid dimension (well maybe a couple), but he is sturdy and strong, especially for an astrophysicist (most of which seem to be skinny fellows with thick glasses). Wizards come in all shapes and sizes, so he is doing fine on that front. A moody fellow (again common amid Wizard) he can be jovial or terse, and that can change on a whim, but the mood he has most of is curious, and that extends to nearly everything. Not given to fight unless there is no other option, he usually uses magic to cheat. On the whole he doesn't want to fight, but he hates to lose (though if forced to admit it, he does like the occasional tavern brawl). He is built like a brick cylinder, the moves about that well as you would expect for a brick cylinder, but he is very dexterous and steady of hand.  

What he lacks in grace of foot and common good looks he makes up for with a very keen mind and, of course, Magic.

Attributes 
Brawn:     High
Agility:    Below Average
Finesse:    Above Average
Smarts:     Exceptional 
Intuition:  Above Average
Ego:  Exceptional

Toughness: High
Vis Pool Maximum :  Exceptional

Current Vis Pool: Exceptional

(As you can see I have changed up the abilities some. To reflect that Strength is total body strength I picked a word that better reflected that to me. I switched IQ to Smarts to make it a bit more universal a term, Willpower became Ego, to reflect it is both a sense of self, thus potentially social, and a force of personality. I added Vis Pool Maximum, because a free form magic needs some limitations and Vis (Latin for energy) pool having a ceiling discourages using magic for everything. Like Toughness Vis Pool Maximum is a derived score made from Smarts and Ego. )

Abilities
Wizardry: Exceptional(The ability to tap into the power of the Universal Reality Engine. Usually effects are mapped to the paradigm of the particular setting/genre)

Brawl: Above Average (Fighting with fist, simple, and improvised weapons)

Skullduggery: Above Average (Sneaking and besting security measures)

Tech: High (All things gadgety or buttony)

Talk: Above Average (skill set ranging from haggling,  diplomacy through persuasion, but not lying)

Deception: High (Lies, disguise, and slight of hand)

Ride/Drive: Average (getting about without using your own feet)

Athletics: Average (Anything you could learn in PE)

Know: Exceptional (Knowledge of a lore variety)

Investigate: High (Detailed searches and analyzing physical evidence)

(There are plenty of other abilities, like Shoot, Melee, Heal, Acrobatics, etc. but even a well rounded man of action can't know them all)

Strengths/Weaknesses
Strengths and weaknesses can give Rank Shift (RF) bonus or penalties. I also use them as tricks or permissions similar to the Fate RPG. With an experienced character you can expect a lot of quirks so hidden Strengths and Weakness will probably come out in play (see pg. 19 Mythic RPG).

S-Instant acclamation: Having traveled to many dimension and worlds Saul orients to new paradigms very quickly. +2RS for acclimation checks 

S- Instant translator: Through a Low difficulty spell that takes but a moment to cast, Saul can talk to any being with an organized language, which is translated by the Universal Reality Engine (mind he may still have a terrible accent). This is usually an Average check for most casters, so the RS bonus has already been included. (Most planeswalkers use some variation on this trick be it spell or hardware.) 

S- Wizard: Rather than having a limited attachment to the URE through rotes or devices, Saul has learned some of the "programming language of reality" or "True Speech". This grants permission to use free form magic. The difficulty of the spells are determined in the magic section.  (forthcoming) (depending on your local idioms)

S- Planar Compass: With a small amount of concentration Saul can track down the closest "thin" spot that will take him back to Paradise. (There are many more of these than people think.)  (+2RS to sensing the closest Thinning. More on Thinnings in the World Building article) There are spells that can simply take one to Paradise, but you have to overcome to local "gravity", and this is much easier to do at a Thinning.

W- Weirdness attractor: If it can go wrong, it will go weird (roll Fate Check to see if PC Negative Random events have a Weirdness component.) 
 
W- Mood Swings- Saul is given to powerful emotions so any extremely good or bad situation could leave him giddy or morose or enraged. Exceptional Ego roll to resist. While in the grips of a powerful mood -1RS for all social interactions (like uses of Talk and Deceive Skills). (There are two kinds of wizards in the multiverse, those that are calm, serine, and centered in its harmonies. Saul is the other kind). 

W- Curious to a fault (or Poke it with a Stick)-  When encountering anything new and unknown Saul must "figure it out". Should he chose not to for what ever reason, this triggers a Mood Swing check.

Notes.
50 Favor Points

Mythic RPG: Blank Page to First Scene (Brought to you by the Red Book and Mythic Magazine)

As I am sure has become apparent by now, I am a nut for Mythic. It isn't the only free-form DYI RPG I love (Fudge, and FAE will never stop getting a share of my affections), but when it comes to tools to truly start from scratch, between the Red Book, and Mythic Magazine all the tools I could want are just a few pages away. (and yes I know a second edition of Mythic RPG is on the way, but why wait to have fun?)

When I was primarily a GM, I would poll my players before a new campaign and listen to their input about what sorts of characters they have in mind and what sorts of gaming experience they would like to play. Today I am asking myself the same question. I think I would like to play something with very wide open possibilities, probably with the ability to shift from genre to genre with the same core cast of characters. Magic has to be present, or technology that is so close to it as to match Arthur Clarks famous quote, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".  There are a lot of RPGs that offer that (and more than a few books, that I could use as primary sources), but I am in the mood to work from a blank slate. I also want lots of roleplaying and mystery or research. Action is welcome but needs to take a back seat to exploration.

I will not be making the character as humble apprentice, but as an experience reality warping and world walker. 

I do like the idea of a hub though. A place to launch and end adventures. 

I will start by cracking open Mythic RPG, which as a tool kit game can accommodate anything imaginable. Once I know the PC (at least a bit) I will know where it is he calls home, and then we can really get the ball rolling. 

So lets get started, building Characters and building Worlds.

ToC

Character Creation: In which We Meet Saul and hear about the Endless City
Setting Creation 1: Haven, A little slice of home in Paradise

Setting Creation 2: Lets make some Magic

Preparing the opening Scene: Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire

Wizard Dad Blog Update

After months of study I am on a short break between classes. I am truly sorry that I didn't have the bandwidth for both, but I am sure you folks understand that. I plan to pick up where I left off with some projects, and others will fall by the wayside, but there is also something new, and I hope fun and useful, on the horizon (check out the next blog post). 

What is certain is I will keep advancing the Mythic Magazine Index, and keep ferreting out the locations of all those precious worksheets and charts, until we can all grab the one we need as easy as flipping to the back of a book to find it. That is going to be a big project and long in completion, but useful for me, and I hope you as well, by the end. 

When the next class slides my way (probably pretty soon) I will have to balance the blog and the class work, but now that I have found my study hat I can hang it next to my wizard hat, and I believe switch back a forth between them more easily.

With that all said I plan to enjoy this free time to get back to my nerdy core, and blog it all so you can join in the fun, if you like.

W. D.

Mythic Worksheet, Essential Charts, and Flowcharts Index, Mythic Magazines 7 through 12

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Worksheets they are printed in bold type so they are easier to locate. Flowcharts will be italicized, and a few charts I find to be absolutely key to play (Like the Fate Chart) will be marked by underlining them

Volume 7

Customizing a Solo Adventure Before You Begin

• 20% Meaningful Event Focus Table, pg. 6.
• 25% Meaningful Event Focus Table, pg. 6.
• 33% Meaningful Event Focus Table, pg. 6.
• Meaningful Events List worksheet, pg. 7.

Random Starship Generator

• Starship Story Descriptors Table, pg. 15.
• Starship Region Descriptors Table, pg. 16. 
• Starship Connectors Table, pg. 17. 
• Known Elements Region Sheet worksheet, pg. 32.
• Area Elements Table, pg. 33.
• Special Elements Table, pg. 34.
• Random Element Descriptors Table, pg. 35.
• Meaning Tables: Descriptions table, pg. 36.
• Meaning Tables: Actions table, pg. 37.

Volume 8

Generating Compelling Backstories

• Backstory Focus Table 2, pg. 14
• Meaning Tables: Descriptions table, pg. 22.
• Meaning Tables: Actions table, pg. 23

Volume 9

Generating NPC Behaviors With Fate Questions

• Meaning Tables: Behavior, pg. 15.
• Resolving NPC Behavior flowchart, pg. 17.

Volume 10

Starting and Ending Scenes

• Simulationist Versus Theatrical chart, pg. 7.

Control your Adventure with Keyed Scenes

• Keyed Scenes Records Sheet worksheet, pg. 20.
• Meaning Tables: Action, pg. 21.
• Meaning Tables: Descriptions, pg. 22.

 

Volume 11

Solo Play Strategy: Focusing In

• Adventure Crafter Event Focus Table, pg. 8.

Volume 12

Getting the Most out of Source Books

• Nested Characters List Sheet worksheet, pg. 8.
• Location Crafter Pre-Filled Region Sheet worksheet, pg. 10.

RPG Social Skills With Mythic's Behavior Checks

• Successful Social Skill Outcomes table, pg. 23.
• Degrees Of Social Skill Success table, pg. 24.
• Simplified NPC Action Table, pg. 28.

Mythic Worksheet, Essential Charts, and Flowchart Index, Mythic Magazines 1 through 6

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Worksheets they are printed in bold type so they are easier to locate. Flowcharts will be italicized, and a few charts I find to be absolutely key to play (Like the Fate Chart) will be marked by underlining them

Volume 1

Removing The Ambiguity Of Ambiguous Events 

• Meaningful Standard Focus Table, pg. 6.

Behavior Checks Simplified

• Disposition Score Modifier Table, pg. 10.
• Simplified NPC Action Table, pg. 11.

Volume 2

Making The Most Of Altered Scenes

• Scene Adjustment Table, pg. 6.

Randomized Location Crafting

• Region Descriptors Table, pg. 11.
• Area Elements Table, pg. 14.
• Random Element Descriptors Table, pg. 16.
• Special Elements Table, pg. 18.
• Known Elements Region Sheet worksheet, pg. 25.
• Region Descriptors Table, pg. 26.
• Area Elements Table, pg. 27. 
• Meaning Tables: Descriptions, pg. 30.
• Meaning Tables: Actions, pg. 31.

Volume 3

Using Mythic With Published Adventures

• Published Adventure Focus Table, pg. 9.
• Published Adventure List Sheet worksheet, pg. 11.

Random Dungeon Crawl Generation

• Dungeon Story Descriptors Table, pg. 16.
• Dungeon Region Descriptors Table, pg. 17.
• Dungeon Connectors Table, pg. 18.
• Known Elements Region Sheet worksheet, pg. 27.
• Area Elements Table, pg. 28.
• Special Elements Table, pg. 29.
• Random Element Descriptors Table, pg. 30.
• Meaning Tables: Descriptions table, pg. 34.
• Meaning Tables: Actions table, pg. 35.

Volume 4

Mythic & Crafter Flowcharts

• Using the Fate Chart flowchart, pg. 15.
• Resolving Random Events flowchart, pg. 16.
• Resolving Scenes flowchart, pg. 17.
• Adventure Crafter Adventures flowchart, pg. 18.
• Fate Check flowchart, pg. 19.
• Detail Check flowchart, pg. 20.
• Detail Check Table, pg. 20.
• Behavior Check flowchart, pg. 21.
• Disposition Table, pg. 21.
• Meaning Tables: Descriptions, pg. 22.
• Meaning Tables: Actions, pg. 23.
• Mythic Adventures Sheet worksheet, pg. 25.
• Custom Theme Focus Table worksheet, pg. 26.
• The Adventure Crafter worksheet, pgs. 28-29.
• Plotlines worksheet, pg. 30.
• Character List worksheet, pg. 30.
• Character Sheet worksheet, pg. 31.
• NPC Worksheets, pg. 32.
• Scaling Boxes worksheet, pg. 33.
• Wounds worksheet, pg. 34.
• Mythic Questions worksheets, pg. 35.

Volume 5

Combining Mythic With Adventure Crafter

• Adventure Crafter Focus Table, pg. 8.

Generating Dark Woods and Wild Places

• Woods Story Description Table, pg. 15.
• Woods Region Description Table, pg. 16.
• Wood Connectors Table, pg. 17.
• Plotlines worksheet, pg. 27.
• Character List worksheet, pg. 27.
• Known Elements Region Sheet worksheet, pg. 31.
• Area Elements Table, pg. 32.
• Adventure Crafter Focus Table, pg. 32.
• Special Elements Table, pg. 33.
• Random Element Descriptors Table, pg. 34.
• Meaning Table: Descriptors, pg. 35.
• Meaning Table: Actions, pg. 36.

Volume 6

Creating Mystery Adventures

• Mystery Matrix worksheet, pg. 6.
• Mystery Elements Table, pg. 10.
• Mystery Special Table, pg. 12.
• Mystery Events Focus Table, pg. 13.
• Mystery Descriptors Table: Clues, pg. 16.

Mythic Worksheet, Essential Charts, and Flowcharts, Mythic GME2, part 2: Variations

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Mythic GME2 Charts and Worksheets Part 2

Worksheets they are printed in bold type so they are easier to locate. Flowcharts will be italicized, and a few charts I find to be absolutely key to play (Like the Fate Chart) will be marked by underlining them. 

Determining NPC Statistics

• NPC Statistics Table, pg. 127

The Thread Progress Track

• The Thread Progress Track 10 points worksheet, pg. 132
• The Thread Progress Track 15 points worksheet, pg. 132
• The Thread Progress Track 20 points worksheet, pg. 133
• Discovery Fate Questions table, pg. 136
• Thread Discovery Check table, pg. 137

Resolving Player Vs. Character Knowledge

• Player vs PC Knowledge chart, pg. 144

Choose Your Chaos Flavor

• Mid-Chaos Fate Chart, pg. 147
• Mid-Chaos Fate Check Modifiers, pg. 147
• Low-Chaos Fate Chart, pg. 148
• Low-Chaos Fate Check Modifiers, pg. 148
• No Chaos Fate Chart, pg. 148

Controlling Your Adventure with Keyed Scenes

• Keyed Scene example tables, pgs. 150-154
• Keyed Scene Record Sheet worksheet, pg. 153

Using Mythic With Prepared Adventures

• Scaling a Prepared Adventure flowchart, pg. 157
• Adventure Feature List worksheet, pg. 160
• Prepared Adventure Event Focus Table, pg. 164

Using the Adventure Crafter With Mythic

• Using the Adventure Crafter with Mythic table, pg. 175

Mythic Worksheet and Flowcharts Index, Mythic GME2, part 1

EDIT: This project started with me trying to index every significant chart, worksheet, table, flow chart in every Word Mill product. It is time to admit I bit off more than I can chew. Still better to fail heroically, etc. etc.

Rather than give up on the project I am narrowing the scope. I am going to focus on flowcharts, which are perfect for coming to understand procedures, and worksheets, which are the mainstay of organization.  I may make notes about specific charts or tables if they are essential and unique, but the focus will be on flowcharts and Worksheets (mostly because that is what I use the most). I am going to leave the material I have already written up, but I will be going through page by page and editing out the table and chart content that no longer fits the prime intent of the work.

I wrote my first index for Mythic Magazine articles, because I have a lousy memory. Turns out when it comes to the location of worksheets and flowcharts, I still have a lousy memory, so I am putting together a little tool to track down that missing worksheet that would be perfect for the moment at hand.

I will start with the Mythic GME 2 part 1 and 2,  but then go through the magazines in publication order, grouped in 6 issue blocks (including issue number and page number). (Edit: I am expanding out to Mythic RPG and Variations I an II as well) 

Though, many flowcharts and worksheets can be found in the backmatter of the MGME2, I am giving the original page numbers, because the pertinent rules will be close at hand as well. If there is demand I will list the backmatter in a small separate list, but I think just finding the right worksheet will probably be pretty good for my uses. 

On the note of Worksheets they are printed in bold type so they are easier to locate. Flowcharts will be italicized, and a few charts other essential charts, that I find to be absolutely key to play (Like the Fate Chart) will be marked by underlining them. 

This is going to be a living document, tinkered with and built upon. I will be attaching a Table of Contents to other works in this index at the bottom of the page. I hope this tool will be useful, and thanks for taking the time to read this. 

[Edit. Though this is a necessary first step to finding what is where, it is really just a part 1 project. The part two will be reorganizing this information in to related fields based on what parts of the game the pertain to, much like the Mythic Index by Topic, so you won't be searching ever single index page looking for one chart or worksheet, but you can jump right to related charts and worksheets in the topic of your choice]

Mythic GME2 Charts and Worksheets Part 1

Chapter 1: Mythic Adventures

• Mythic Adventure Elements table, pg. 11

Chapter 2: Fate Questions

• Fate Question flowchart, pg. 17
• Fate Chart, pg. 19
• Example Odds table pg. 20
• Chaos Factor Values flowchart, pg. 22
• Fate Questions Answers chart, pg. 24
• Fate Check Modifiers chart, pg. 26
• Fate Check Answers chart, pg. 26

Chapter 3: Random Events

• Generating Random Events flowchart, pg. 36
• Random Event Focus Table, pg. 37
• Adventure List worksheet, pg. 45
• Meaning Tables: Action (1&2), pg. 47
• Meaning Tables: Descriptions (1&2), pg. 48
• Meaning Tables: Elements (Location, Character, Object), pg. 49

Chapter 4: Scenes 

• Elements of a Scene table, pg. 60
• First Scene Strategies table, pg. 64
• First Scene 4W Strategy flowchart, pg. 65
• Testing Expected Scene table, pg. 67
• Altered Scenes Strategies table, pg. 68
• Scenes Adjustment Table, pg. 70
• Adventure Journal Worksheet, pg. 76
• Scene Start and End Strategies table, pg. 77
• Meaning Tables Elements charts pgs. 87-101
• Strategies for Generating NPC Actions flowchart, pg. 107
• NPC Behavior Table, pg. 109
• End of Scene Bookkeeping flowchart, pg. 112

Table of Contents

Mythic Worksheet and List Index, Mythic GME2, part 2: Variations

Mythic Magazine issues 1 through 6

Mythic Magazine issues 7 through 12

Mythic RPG: Ideas and Addendums 5a: Simplified Villain and Factional growth

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I have read a lot of factional systems, but they have been, on the whole, for GMs running games for player groups. Soloist need something that is quick, easy, and immediate.

I spent two hours this morning writing and rewriting a procedure to determine a way to track the growth of a villain or faction. Then it hit me that I had missed the very spirit of Mythic in my attempts to be overly thorough. So, here is the simplest villain and factional growth system I could devise and find satisfying.

First, how much do you really care? Is this villain important enough that you seek out rumors about them, or is it just a character in your list that is a thorn in your side when you happen to encounter them.

Lets assume the first situation: Rumors. 

You, and any underlings you drag around with you, have been in deep wilderness for a month. You make it back to town bruised, bloodied and with busticated equipment. You also come back either a little richer, a little wiser, or both. You hit the healers hut, rent a nice room, and go out for a beer. While you are there you seek out rumors about Boss Noggin, a particularly violent and successful bandit you have been hearing about. 

I would suggest asking the Oracle they simple binary question "Are there rumors about Boss Noggin?", and based the chances on his level of notoriety. If he is a big deal then it is almost certain there are. If he is small fry to everyone but you, the chances will be rather poor. In the case of a Yes, generate an inspirational word pair from the list of your choice and spin a rumor out from it. If the answer is No, then there is nothing to hear. If the you get a Exceptional Yes roll several times and create an outrageous rumor about him (don't worry about whether it is true or not). If the answer is an Extreme No then he seems to have fallen out of public attention for some reason, demands, perhaps, an investigation of its own (that is your call).

Now we move on to the more important part: Encounters.

Having heard Boss Noggin has been recruiting bandits, monsters, and nar'dowells to his camp you gather your forces to shut down this problem before it gets worse. You travel some days to his not so secret hide-away, and you are ready to cross words and swords with your nemesis. 

It is unlikely he has been doing nothing all the time you have been leveling up, gaining wealth, and acquiring magical do-dads.  There is no reason in the world he wouldn't be doing the same thing. 

So, as you square off with this would be bandit king ask your oracle "Has the villain gained any advantages?". Should he be known to be a successful bandit lord the probability is high. Should he just have gotten broken free from the gaol the chances are very low. 

In the case of a Yes, roll an inspirational word pair to account for his new advantage. Should it be Exceptionally Yes, give him several advantages. Should the answer be No, there is no change. Should the answer be and Exceptional No assume he has had a set back and let an inspirational word pair breath life into his loss. 

While, I had fun devising a complicated point based sliding scale of success and loss, it always depended too much on interpreting on the spot of the encounter specifics from vagaries that have been building up over time. This simpler system saves time and effort and asks much less complex improve mid scene. 

I believe I will keep working on a more evolving system, but this one keeps the ball rolling.

Mythic RPG: Ideas and Addendums 4: Mythic RPG and Archetypical Characters

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Mythic is a wonderful classless generic game. It has solid rules that are simple to use, and nearly any setting and character can be modeled from it. With that said though there are games in which certain character abilities really highlight a specific skill and talent set, and it maybe hard, even in a freeform (as opposed to point buy) game to cover them all with a few Abilities. It would be much easier to just keep up with one.

With a freeform character you can always have a look at the character summary and extrapolate out skills at a certain level, justified by the description, and as well you should. Now, I am going to offer below another system for developing a set of  Root Archetype Abilities that will suit a wide range of characters from the fantasy and cyberpunk genres. Use these as inspiration for developing your own Archetype Abilities.

The inspiration for this work came from Mythic RPG itself. The Toughness Attribute is an average of your Strength and Willpower. That got me thinking of what other Attribute combinations would lead to, but instead of more core Attributes it lead to the idea of Root Archetype Abilities. 

A quick refresher on the Attributes native to Mythic RPG: Strength, Agility, Reaction, IQ, Intuition, and Willpower. 

Fantasy
It has never been my attitude to save the best for last. Whether fantasy is the best or not is a matter of opinion, but it is certainly the most popular.  So, here are some Root Archetype Abilities for fantasy characters.

Classic Warrior. A Classic Warrior is a frontline fighter. There strengths lie in knowing a wide variety of weapons, armor, shields, and tactics (the last frequently neglected). Here I suggest combining Strength and Intuition into a Ability Prowess. This would be used for any melee or thrown weapon, all kinds of armors and shields, and any close quarters battlefield feats, as well as impressive acts of athletics. The use of equipment should be self explanatory, but if they wish to add a rider to the attack, such as a disarm, attacking a shield to damage it or pull wrench it out of a useful position, or sneak a trip attack into there flurry of quarterstaff blows, they should be able to attempt to do so, with a 0-3RS penalty. When setting the difficulty, think about the type of weapon and how they are suggesting employing it. The first time any feat is attempted, you will be playing it by ear, but as you get a list of them you could build a Scaling Box (Mythic RPG pg. 85) to better judge the difficulty of the task. 

Classic Thief. The roll of thief in fantasy precedes any RPG by years (thank you Fritz Lieber), but over time in RPGs they have come to represent a type of infiltration and exploration specialist. Here a combination of Agility and IQ will give you Larceny, which could have myriad uses. Stealth, acrobatics, picking pockets, a near sixth sense towards oncoming trouble, and a gift for opening locks and traps. Other key skills of the Thief may not fit exactly into the Larcenous Ability, but should still be available with a standard -2RS. Examples could be trying a little magic from a device (such as a scroll) deciphering a coded message from a familiarity with such codes, and speaking that unique patois of common and exotic phrases that allow the Larcenous to talk in the plain view of others in there own private Thieve's Cant. Putting all of that down on an Ability chart would take up so much space and there are so many skills they would never be able to improve them, under the umbrella term of Larceny, we know that the gestalt is greater than the individual skill. Let them shine.

Classic Wizard. the Classic Wizard goes back further than Gandalf or Ged. These are folk who understand the deeper, and some would say sinister, secrets of the world. Mythology and Folklore agree that these are persons of knowledge and power, so a combination of IQ and Willpower would serve well to grant Wizardry. Probably of all the Root Abilities this will require the most adjudication when it comes to the casting of magics, but it can also be a stand in for all kinds of esoteric knowledge, such as identifying monsters and there abilities, deciphering an ancient script, and knowledge of the belief systems of people all over the world. Let your wizards shine, don't leave them shackled to raising this skill or that at the expense of there role in the world. Maybe their magic is a subtle thing but there knowledge should be broad and expansive.

Cyberpunk
Lets flip over now to one of my other favorite genre: Cyberpunk. Through the decades, since games were designed for this genre a number of fan favorites have solidified into discernible archetypes through games such as Cyberpunk 2020, Cyberpunk Red, and Shadowrun (of the million incarnations). Some of the most popular of these archetypes have to do with combat, cyber space, and (my own favorite) drone control. 

Though there are infinite varieties of combatant available in a Cyberpunk game the quintessential Street Samurai  out shines them all. Whether she is a razor girl, a Ronin melee expert, or a master of gun-fu, the thing they all seem to have in common is lightening fast reflexes, that put them first into the fray and may well end it before it has truly begun. This Edge could well be quantified as an average of Reflex and Intuition. Though Edge would certainly put the Street Sammy first in combat the Intuition portion could give them a leg up in taking in the battlefield before the combat begins (allowing them to maximize the usefulness of cover, terrain, and hazardous obstacles), but also get a gut feeling about the capabilities of those they face. Edge should also default as a fighting score for nearly any source of damage, but as its true focus in speed and instinct it would suffer the typical -2RS penalty if used in place of a combat Ability.

From frontlines lets talk backup, and there is no better back up than a flying drone with a camera and a chain gun. This brings use to Drone Jockeys. While your cyber enhanced Street Samurai may be the first combatant you think of when you think cyberpunk, no one has more battlefield versatility, than a Drone Jockey with a high expense account. They also excel at recon, and if your team of infiltrators is very unlucky manually controlling a buildings automated defenses. This is also the team mate most likely able to fix a cyber arm or repair your armored troop transport, but those are secondary to the task of actually jumping into a the drone and using it as a second body. Reflex and Willpower are the necessary ingredients  for the Pilot ability. For all other listed purposes repair and design would be more useful but Pilot would work in a pinch at a -2RS.

Lastly, for navigating the world of data you can't beat the Console Cowboy(girl). With there trusted cyber deck, modified with brilliantly complex IC breakers, and data probes the C.C. can ferret out the deepest secrets of the best buried data-base, if the rest of the party can just get them close enough to interface. IQ is the Attribute that lets them customize their programs and hardware to the specifications of a particular run, and Reaction (along with some very advanced DNI (Direct Neuro Interface) technology) can make them masters of cyberspace, if they can fight, side step, or dupe the Black IC between them and the data they need. The average of those Attributes gives you Cyber Infiltration. This skill will also, with the standard -2RL shift allow them to code from scratch, modify electronics, and fix a busticated cyberdeck (at least long enough to hack an Amazon delivery for the newest Sony model). Good Luck Cowgirl, you are going to need it.

There are infinitely more popular archetypes for various high adventure games, but with the examples above you should be able to come up with the right parring to emulate the core talent of any Archetype adventurer.

Mythic RPG: Ideas and Addendums 3: Setting Designers and Tools that Love them

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Mythic RPG provides an emergent world building experience, that is fun and simple, but for long time GMs like myself, or anyone who is very much into setting design, putting a few set pieces in place can be of great value. 

Of course, if you are between scenes and decide to head to a pub, that can be generated on the spot, and all the details can flow from the moment you walk in the door. That is emergent game play at its best, but there are Soloist who enjoy the GM hat as much as the do the Player hat, and for such Soloist, this article may be of some help.

I still strongly suggest you start by making a character you want to play. In doing so you will have to make a number of decisions. You will pick a genre, for instance, decide the scope of the game (neighborhood to intergalactic), get a list of things you are good and bad at, and maybe as part of your Strengths and Weaknesses section generate a few NPCs that are needful for your character roll. 

(Actually, if you are so inclined you can make several characters, and let each additional one give you a few more setting chunks as long as they don't clash with the character that came before it. For me, exploring a few characters makes for a more well grounded game setting).

Now that you have your character(s), extrapolate them out. If they have special contacts (Strengths) or enemies (Weakness) you have a head start, but there is so much more on your character sheet you can pull off to make setting and character seeds.  Start with the character summary. It should explain who your character is and to some degree how they got to the point they are at as game begins.  For Spider Bella the genre is clearly cyberpunk, she has a grudge against the corporation she was born into (an entity and hook),  she has a fixer of some excellent connections (character and perhaps an organization(?)), she is fostered with a family (yet more characters all with potential connections of there own). Those are all good hooks, fleshing them out a little will get you well on your way to a setting, but hold off on finalizing their details while we explore a couple more tools, but there is yet more. If you have an exceptional ability how did you get it. If you re really awful at some sort of task what consequences has that had. I don't suggest cluttering our character sheet with a full character history, but in answering these questions (maybe on an attachment), you get to see the people, places and things that made your character who it is. Now, that we have mined the character for what it is worth, lets use some other tools.

I suggest starting with issue 49's article "The Society Crafter". Now this has a strong leaning towards creating societies randomly, but each section of it gives a categorization of a piece of information that can help ground the character's home district into a real place. Its broad topics are "Beginning, Productivity, Flourishing, Covenants (think of them as formal or informal treaties), Defenses, Culture, and Society Events. Every one of these things, besides making a very real feeling location, also are rich in game hooks. What is more, should you draw a blank on any of these, the random tables could well be useful.

The set of useful categories, combined with what I know about the character, gave me a nice little neighborhood with some light background and a lot of flavor. I started to get a feel where the known NPC come in, and I could see some necessary NPCs that would be needed to make the crafted society work. 

Now,  that I have a feel for the neighbor hood I want places in it. Using the context from the character and the society, I turn to MM16 "Location Crafting Random Cities".  My technique for using tools like this can be found in earlier blog articles, but in short I generate all the randomized categories, then do a character walk through to experience them. As I do, the world becomes populated with food vendors, little shops, gangs, policing agencies, other adventures, market places, and probably most importantly the characters home. 

This is enough details for a dozen games, but I suggest one more tool: MM38, "Solo Setting and World Creation System". This article gives you an opportunity to generate both micro and macro histories that build on one another. Before rolling for the history fill out the genre, tone, and context sections, to set in wet concrete (if not stone) the details you have already established, and the limits you wish to put on the setting.  Then jump in there and follow is history crafting procedures (you can find blank fillable PDFs of the World Building sheet here), it it will give you cornucopia of ideas for organizations, problems to solve, plot hooks of many kinds, and a feeling of history about your setting. 

That should be enough for you to launch a campaign.

Now, prepopulate your lists a bit and get to playing!

Mythic RPG: Ideas and Addendums 2: The Unexpected NPC, Using the One Page Character Crafter With Mythic RPG Ranks

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So, you have made a character (last blog post) and you have picked a setting (first blog post for this project). Now, you are ready to launch into play. Or maybe you want a little more of the world around you before you do your Adventure Setup (MRPG Chapter 8)  and First Scene (MRPG Chapter 7). Either way you are going to need NPCs.  If you are like me and want a little setting detail, maybe a few things on your list before you begin, your character summary probably mentions some individual or organizations that the character is familiar with. 

Fortunately you don't have to fly blind, there is a good resource for generating NPC's to be found  in Mythic Magazine (MM) Vol. 45 on pages 3-7, "The One-Page Character Crafter". 

For most NPCs, you probably won't need stats at all. The shop keeper or corner side rent-a-cop may have a couple of personality traits to improve the RP experience (which the 1-PCC provides), but unless that rent-a-cop or some entry level ganger, goes for a weapon, it is all just talk. 

For named NPCs that will be around longer, you will probably want and need more detail. 

The 1-PCC gives you an excellent idea who a person is. That is pretty much its job, but if you peek up into the right hand corner you will see there is a box for adjusting the power level of the NPC.

Here is a list of ranks for Mythic RPG Characters: Minuscule, Weak, Low, Below Average, Average, Above Average, High, Exceptional, Incredible, Awesome, and Superhuman. As one would expect most people will be Average, with a very large minority being Blow and Above Average. 

As you encounter an important NPC (or develop one that is needful for the setting), think of the NPCs primary life function. Not necessarily as it relates to your character, but as it relates to their life. Assign this Attribute or Ability a score of Above Average. Next roll on the NPC Statistics Chart in the top right corner. 

Next, pick something that someone maybe bad at. Set it to Below Average and again roll on the NPC Statistics Chart. 

Should the result be 4-7, "Use the value you Expect" well you already nailed it. Good job. Should it come up 2-3, "Weaken the value a little" lower the rating by -1RS. Should it come up 1, "Weaken the Value a lot", drop the value by -2RS. 

In the same vein should it come up 8-9 increase the value +1RS, and should it come up 10 increase the Value 2RS. 

Now you have two mechanical facts about the character. From there follow the procedures given in 1-PCC but keep in mind there strengths and weaknesses as you do. 

This will give you two facts about the NPCs Attributes or Abilities. Knowing just two things that are interesting or outstanding about the character you have a core to build around. 

So lets do a very quick example. Spider Bella, just Bell to her adopted family and few friends lives in a foster home, as she is very new to the sprawl. Her Fixer (to be established later), has arranged a kind and soothing environment (or as close as you can get in the Fringe) for his neurotic new talent. Most household around here have a matriarch, as violence amid men on the fringe can be appalling. 

Enter Jubilee Swanson, a kind woman who doesn't mind keeping an eye on a girl new to the neighborhood especially as it comes with a couple hundred cred a week. She is a known factor to the Fixer, but she isn't to us, so let pick up a couple characteristics. I would say we should start with Willpower, as she is keeping a family more or less (for the Fringe) on the straight and narrow. Our initial Assumption is that she will be Above Average.... roiling the die we get a 4 "As expected". She is a little more stick to her guns than most. But maybe old age and infirmity are catching up with her (MRPG Chapter 10) so we can assume Her toughness may have taken a blow... rolling the die we get an 8 "Slightly Higher than Expected", bring her up to Average. Not bad for an old woman.

From here we just fill in details from the article. Identity Descriptor: Science, so maybe she is a off researcher in one of the Black lab found in the fringe: Mind Descriptor: Professional, this will certainly help describe her attitude towards Bell; Body Descriptor: Endurance, so she take her fitness seriously; Talent Descriptor: Elite, this says to me she doesn't work for a black lab, but perhaps runs one. I would add some Ability set at High to reflect this, maybe cyberware? Or perhaps a High for IQ. 

And just like that we have a valuable and interesting NPC ready to interact with our nervous Ms. Bell.

Should anyone else want to contribute suggestions for NPC generation hit me up below, in the Mythic Patreon, or  the Mythic Discord, under Mythic RPG. 

Happy Gaming
Wizard Dad 


P.S.
There will of course be some NPCs whose power level you will not necessarily want to randomize, especially if it will wreck there point in the campaign. Spider Bella's adopting family can all be wild cards, but her fixer should at least be above average at Fixer related skill. Even then though I strongly suggest, though you affix some few abilities in stone, randomly roll for some of there Attributes or Abilities (maybe using the the technique in the last blog article) so you get a feeling of a person shaped by the bumps and scrapes of the world, rather than just a puppet that you have crafted. 

W.D.

Mythic RPG: Ideas and Addendums 1, an Alternative Character Creation

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When it comes to character creation, I am forced to admit, that I stink at coming up with a character Summary (the first step in the Mythic RPG character creation process) off the cuff. Oh I have a million ideas for characters, but when it comes down to the moment I draw a blank. This can be blamed directly on the fact that I played and ran various D&D style games for more than 30 years, and though there were other games scattered into that time frame, the habit of 3 decades is hard to buck, fortunately Ms. Pigeon, the author,  hasn't made that necessary. 

If you check out Chapter 11 in Mythic RPG there is a brief but wonderful set of rules for converting characters to Mythic. And one of the options there is a 3d6 to Mythic Ranks conversion. 

Putting the Cart before the Horse
I am sure you can see where this is going, but lets go through the steps and make a character. For years now I have started by rolling Abilities, taking a good hard look at them, and let the numbers inspire the kind of character that would have what trait, talents, and personality. The randomization process can make some scores very high and some very low, but low scores and high scores each suggest some kind of background that made them what they are. 

For example, I rolled up a perfectly enjoyable character that had a Below Average Willpower but an Incredible Intuition. Those two traits spoke to me, and I was inspired to make a Medium whom was constantly plagued by Ghosts to the point he was  nervous wreck. From there, I had further inspiration to make a specific plaguing spirit that would some times possess the Medium and his mental skills, and very difficult personality would be dominant for the rest of the scene. It was the combination of the flaw and the outstanding high score that suggested the character. 

Lets go through the process fresh and see what we come up with. 

This is not going to be a point buy character, though  the number of points that would have been used is useful scaling the type of game the character would be suited for.

Starting with the six basic Attributes we get the following set of starting stats.
Strength 12; Agility 17; Reaction 10; IQ 9; Intuition 11, Willpower 11. Checking against the Scaling Chart on page  99 of Chapter 11, it comes out like this

Strength Average
Agility Incredible
Reaction Average
IQ Below Average
Intuition Average
Willpower Average  
Toughness Average

Toughness is a derived stat falling between Strength and Willpower, but as they are both Average there wasn't much calculation to go on.

If we jump back to Chapter 2 Character creation on pg. 21 we see a Cost Per Word chart. Tallying everything up this would be a 54 point character, putting it in range between "gritty real world" and "action adventure" genre expectations. It also suggest around 35 points of Abilities would be reasonable for the character. As this is not a point buy character, we don't have to strictly stick to that number, but it does suggest a couple of strong skills or one skill that is truly over the top. 

Looking at the two outlier Attributes makes me thinking of a sports that require high degrees of agility, but at the expense of developing there mind. Perhaps someone who was in at special training program, perhaps even something like the Olympics (adjusted to the setting of course). With those bits of information I can write a Summary.

Summary
Spider Bella is an up and coming infiltration talent. She got her start as an athlete for a mega-corp propaganda division, but due to sabotage during her training she was left "unsuitable" for propaganda tridios. She was moved to train for more clandestine work. 

After an infiltration snafu for the parent (corp), in which she was left for dead, circumstances moved her into the Shadows. She is a bit insecure in her new social status as a non-entity Fringer, but her Fixer makes sure her talents go to profitable use, and the family that houses her is well paid to see to her well being. She is a gifted spider (physical infiltrator) with the skills for getting in and getting out of physical securities. Her Fixer makes sure she has the equipment needed of more technological obstacles. 

Putting the Horse back in Front.
Now that the summary is in place, lets have a look back at the character Attributes and see if anything needs changing, because the initial rolls were specifically for inspiration.

I want to leave the high Agility and low IQ alone. Those are basic building blocks for the character. I think an average Willpower is right for a former corporate operative. But her Intuition and Reactions are weak for her role. So, I will raise those to Above Average.

Attributes
Strength Average
Agility Incredible
Reaction Above Average
IQ Below Average
Intuition Above Average
Willpower Average
Toughness Average

Abilities (for this portion we just mine the summary for details, and keep a loose eye on the 35 point cap for an Action Adventure type game)

Acrobatics High (this is the same as her Agility -2RS, but it makes a good base to raise it higher)
Athletics Average (Some Athletic that are nearly pure agility, like pole-vaulting would default to her Agility -2RS making them High)  
Dance Average (This also could default to her Agility -2RS giving her a roll of High. It is here mainly as flavor)
Infiltration  Incredible (This is her primary skill and includes stealth, B&E, and other specialized mechanical infiltration skills)
Martial Arts Average (This could default to Agility and be High, but that wouldn't work for locks and holds, just for strikes and kicks)


(while this is more points than the suggestion allotted for they do make since for the character, and a number of them will be paid off in Weaknesses below)

Strengths and Weaknesses

• Secret Identity +1RS on remaining concealed when off the job, on the job she wears a mask that conceals her features from physical observation. She has no visible tattoos or scars. The bonus is for a changed affectation of cold professionalism when she is "working". This is a remnant from her corporate training.
• Foster family at a cost -1RS. On the Fringe nothing is free, but then again in the Corps nothing was either, so Bell feels both an emotional and financial debt to her foster family.
• Fear of Abandonment -1RS to mental actions when suddenly left alone.
• Gullible -1RS to resist subtle trickery or flattery
• Holds a Grudge -1RS when socially dealing directly with corporate representatives
• Enhanced visual memory and vision +2RS when recalling visual details (such as blueprints and floor plans). This is also a remnant of her corporate training and visual implants. One hour of recording and multi spectrum vision that allows for both night vision and seeing invisible laser and radio frequencies.
• Outside Life -1RS for dealing with pressures brought on by non work conflicts (typical teen superhero drama)
  
• Fixer- Bob the Guy +1RS - Bob can find work for Spider Bela when she requests it, but it tends to be easy low pay work that both he and his foster family get a cut of. 
• Debt to Bob the Guy -3RS Bell is a very moral young woman (burglary and corporate espionage is just a job). She feels an amazing debt to the Fixer that dragged her back from the brink. That impacts every interaction she has with him, and the Fixer is very good at reading character and knows it. 
• Facial scarring from a bent doctor taking a bribe to give her a faulty vaccine -1RS when beauty is a factor.

In the end we have a young adult woman, slightly stunted by the conflicts in her life. She can be a cold calculating infiltration specialist, but that is a mask over a vulnerable and sensitive fish out of water who feels a great debt of gratitude, and a large amount caring for her foster "family".  How long can she manage both "lives" before they lead to a breakdown. That is up to Mythic to decide. 

Mythic Musings 5: Mythic RPG Project 2; Ideas and Addendums

While I absolutely loved doing a deep dive into the Mythic RPG, and I very much appreciate the readers who checked in on it, the point of doing it was two fold. The first was to make sure I really knew what I was playing, and when I pontificated on it I wasn't giving people inaccurate information. The other reason though was to break it up into its constituent pieces to then start applying Mythic Variations, Magazine articles, and genre specific house rules to the corpus of the work. 

Ideas and Addendums will be just that. I am starting a Magic meets Machine dystopian game that is inspired by a very popular IP. I don't actually plan to convert that game into Mythic. In fact its dice system (a d6 dice pool) doesn't line up at all with the conversions given in Chapter 11 of Mythic RPG. The point on picking that game for inspiration is variety. It has room for fantasy stories, sci-fi stories, survival stories, different types dungeon crawl scenarios, horror story, and of course heists, which it is best known for. With that much variety, it can be a setting for all seasons. 

For this series of test scenarios, I am going to use one tiny bit of setting as a base point, but probably a wide variety of characters to highlight different aspects of the game. If the primary character of the day is a drone pilot, it will be very hard to test magic systems with them. 

As has become my normal procedure, I will link all articles to a table of contents below, and put return links on all the articles. I think this will be fun on a couple of levels. One we (I would love some input from you folks) we will be getting to do deep dives into various Mythic Magazine articles. Secondly we will get a chance flex our own brains with unique ideas. 

I hope you all will join me for this second ambitious project. 

W.D. 

Alternative Character Creation
Building Mythic RPG NPC with the One Page Character Crafter
Setting Designers and Tools that Love Them
Mythic RPG and Archetypical Characters
Simplified Villain and Factional Growth