Myth Maker 2.2 My Dearest Peg part 2 (DRAFT)

 To my Beloved Peg, June 19th (Come up with a local calendar)

Over  Breakfast. 
Boswell did a fine job provisioning the house, you know he is like my right hand, but I was in the mood to see the city, as I haven't been here in three years. 

Well three years has made a difference. I took a cab, pulled by a young country looking youth, to my favorite cafe'. I tipped him extra when we arrived, because I know he was losing out on haven taken me to the cafe' which would have paid him tuppence to direct me to their establishment. All of those places you are as likely to get rat as ham, so I stuck with what I knew. 

There were a number of changes to the city, but the biggest being the number of people, and the variety of Rune-Plate objects in use. When I first stated shipping to and from Five Towers though Rune-Plates were available in the private sector, it was rare to see them, save for on the carriages of the wealthy and, rarely, on the armor of their guards. Earlier than that they could only be afforded by the ultra wealthy and were used mostly by consortiums and aristos with deep pockets.  

I borrowed a considerable sum from Prince Tindal on my first visit and he arranged the first Rune-Plate on the Merriweather, and on the very ride home it paid for itself by repelling us off of a coral reef which would surly have holed the bow.

On the simple and very speedy ride to the cafe' I saw many small business men, including other cab pullers (those with company logos) using rune-plates. I suspect my porter did as well because he wasn't even breathless after the 10 block trip to the "Feathered Serpent" cafe', though I am sure the flatness of the street played some part as well. Unlike Nemia, Five Towers is almost as flat as a plane shaved stave.

The Feathered Serpent is much how I remembered it during my last visit, with its beautiful hard wood furniture, stained dark, contrasting with its pale green bamboo flooring. As soon as I stepped into the rather exclusive restaurant the long absent scent of coffee livened my step so much as you would think I already had two cups of the fabulous brew. It is of the greatest of shames that the coffee cherries or their pits are not exported from Five Towers. It is one of the true luxuries of the town.

As it is a lovely day I have taken my breakfast on there roof, a quaint if not unique custom of the city, and from here I can see Wizards Hill. From this angle the Tower of Augury is visible, with its careful masonry and branched turrets with there strange instruments pointed all around. I have naturally seen all five towers, and I think the Tower of Naming and Augury are the easiest on the eyes, as long as one doesn't dwell too long on what goes on within. It is not healthy to think long on Wizards, lest you draw their attention.

Early post noon
I concluded my business with the Esteemed Brotherhood of Metal Smiths and Smelters. These Five towers guilds set a store by long names. As one of the richest guilds in the city, and with me carrying a precious load, my pay was quite generous. I ended up hand a large amount back to them though as too add improvements to the Rune-Plates on the Merriweather. I am growing weary of so many trips across the turbulent Sea of the Tropics, with its unpredictable storms and equally unpredictable pirates, so I we are adding a Control Rod to the Thrusting Plate and I will be requesting the Captaincy to Boswell, who has certainly earned it. Should he do well I may sell the Merriweather too him after you and I are wed.

(time unspecified)
Peg it seems I am being followed. I have called several of our seasoned seamen to to come ashore and act as guards. Boswell, who was on well earned leave, was summoned back to take access of the control rod, so that it could safely be stored aboard the ship, but he never made it to the rented house. I am handing off this letter with a few gold marks to Seaman Craddly, to go out on the swift mail coaster with todays tide. I will contact you as soon as we make port in Nemia. I pray to Saint Neffer the Sailor that the letter reaches you safely and me not long behind.

Your loving fiancé
Captain Roger Grimly

Myth Maker 2.2: My Dearest Peg 1(DRAFT)

My Dearest Peg, June 18th (will be changed to local calendar in second draft)

Morning

I can't wait for this voyage to be concluded,  so that i can be back in Nemia with you. 

We are anchored in the Bay of Crystal. A long boat has been launched to seek docking permissions from the harbor master.  For all of the strangeness of Five Towers and it's outlying domains, Crystal Bay is one of the loveliest bodies of water one could ever see. Depending on the weather conditions and time of day it can be diamond bright, emerald green,  or at sunset a flashing ruby, Many praises to the Angels that they make it so. 

When the water  is still as glass, and the sun bares down from overhead you can see the spires of the ancient towers of the dawn men, which are so eerie in their dimension,  yet still perfect in their cupola of mother of pearl, tiles of emerald, and unsoiled gold. 

You would imagine with all the power in Five Towers that they would have been plundered by now, but the clarity of the water belies their true depth. 

Mid-morning

We have received docking permissions, so the anchor is set and besides a skeleton crew, we are heading into Port Town. Calling it a full town is a stretch of the imagination. It is mostly a cypress wood dock or series of docks extending over the shallows in which, with care, a fairly large ship can be docked. I am leaving that in the hands of the helmsmen, Sailor Rogers, while I and the bulk of the senior crewmen make for the shore.

Port Town is not really to my taste, and I hesitate to describe it to your sensitive ears. Lets just call it a sailor's town and have done with that portion. 

Beyond the docks which extend marvelously over the waters, there are warehouses, where goods like our shipments of iron ingots can be placed, for a fairly reasonable fee if you are part of a consortium, or a fairly outrageous fee if you are an independent merchant. As such large shipments, such as our own, tend to be handled by ships owned or tithing to the Merchant Princes of Five Towers, while smaller ships hold more specialized cargo, such as the gems it takes to power the Rune-Plate devices, or rare herbs for the many apothecaries that work from Five Towers. 

I promise you Peg I will not be tarrying here long. My plan, is to sign the short term leasing document at the Gold Coasters warehouse, owned by Prince Tindal whom I tithe to, and then to catch the first ferry up the Chanters Gate that doesn't look to be run by cut throat thieves. I will write again later tonight.

Evening. 
I have been invited by Prince Tindal to dine with him at his estate. This is an unexpected pleasure of course.  I sent my man Boswell to make arrangements to rent a house in the city, where we can stay for the duration of our business. 

I have never been to Prince Tindal's estate, but have passed by it when being poled into the city. I am both nervous and excited. 

Near Midnight
Peg, as you know in Nemia I am considered a wealthy ma, but just looking at the many delights and extravagances of the Tindal Estate (give the estate a proper name) make me feel a pauper. From this day forth, my view of what is true wealth has been transformed. I feel humbled.

I have just now arrived at the rented house. Boswell was waiting at the door with lantern with a Rune-Plate affixed to the base, that gave out a magnificent glow without fire within. It also had no heat, but this far south that is a blessing. It was an old lantern, by the standards of rune-plate lanterns, probably about 10 years old, as it had shutters to dim it rather than the ability to modulate the lights intensity. Those newer lamps require a bonded rod anyway, so they tend to be used by innkeepers or home owners, not in rental houses. My room is large, but smells a bit unlived in and musty. As long as the sheets re fresh though I will be content. 

I will write you more on the morrow. 
Best of love Peg

Cptn. Grimly

Myth Maker: Addendum 2 (Goals Reframed)

After consulting with other gamers,  both very creative: one an award winning writer and the other the single most dynamic solo player I have had the pleasure to talk to, this project is getting a pretty big overhaul to be written more in line with my talents as well as more in line with what soloist can get the most use from.

Essentially the Steampunk/Magi-tech guide book portion is being reduced to a set of genre traditions (though there will still be a lot of tropes, a ton of tech, and the game will certainly be centered in that genre). The second is very exciting. Turning the whole book (out side of the introduction) into a single in game artifact. 

This meta-frame will revolve around the leather attaché that has come into the Player Character's hands, through a number of possible avenues (with both random rolls or chart selectins or just to use as inspiration for how YOUR character found it). Each document inside will both describe the setting from the POV of an actual person, but not in so many details that the soloist can't make it their own, (thus making the content just as reliable as the narrator) and have some notes from they mysterious original owner of the attaché about follow ups that perhaps never happened. These marginalia will hint at, without defining, a larger mystery, which the PC has been pulled into by way of having the attaché. As some of these documents are of a very sensitive nature, someone will have went through a lot of trouble to put it together and any number of someone's  may be willing to go through a lot of effort to get it back. 

Neither this meta-frame, nor the interior document, are from a God's eye view, thus everything in it is only as certain as your choices or Oracle rolls indicate, but collectively they will give a view of the setting and peeks at what is over the next hill, because this city, though important, doesn't exist in a vacuum.

Included with the document will be marginalia, that could be investigated and/or used as inspirations for spinning the game into a direction the soloist finds more entertaining. Once the PDF is downloaded it is yours and you can use it as you please.

And for the players use is a future timeline of situations that happen at certain calendar dates that can be use to show some activity of a living setting, or ignored if you have enough going down the line. These will just be straight plot hooks that can be used when the time is right. They are more in the background things unless the player take a special interest, but will effect dynamics set up in the city (accessible to the player as information in the attaché).

The idea of this project is to give a lot of starting points, but the destinations will solidly be up to the soloist to hash out.

I am very excited for the direction this is taking and I am very grateful for readers and commenters with both questions and encouragements, here or directly.

That's all for now.

Wizard Dad.

Myth Maker 2.1: The raising of the Tower of Names part 2

When the sun was well out, and as it was a moonless night with no overcast sky, astrologers used their various devices while monitoring the sky for some sign. The valets and senior servants watched over the bargemen and woodsmen while the lesser mystics did their work. 

Some adjusted the places of torches, others gazed into crystals that shewn the night sky inverted, and other threw down piles of clean white sand, smoothed these flat, and drew arcane signs in there grooves. 

The sounds of night animals in a swampy jungle should have been acute and immediate, but instead they felt carried from a far on the most gentle of breezes, like the slow exhalations of the Earth  her self. 

As the night wore on to its pinnacle with the constellation of  the Ring hovering directly over head, the Nameless stood, and with a curt gesture, all of the torches were extinguished by one by the acolytes. 

The Nameless stood on the outer edge of the sanctified place, at the foot of the modest hill, and the select of his brother stood in positions around the hill corresponding to the constellation above. Then the Nameless intoned softly the first Word of Power. It drifted over the hill and was answered by a second Word by a more distant Chanter, which was taken up by a third in another space, until all seven, the number of the Stars in the constellation of the Ring had spoke some sacred word. 

Some say the intoned their Names, for that is ultimately what Chanters speak is Names. Others say they called the names of the Angels that have sway over the stars of that constellation, to bear witness to the deeds of the wizards. 

But when the last of the seven Words died away the collective of master chanters and the support of the senior acolytes some distant removed began a Great Chant: One that intertwines the Essence of the Doer with the Deed. 

All other sound died away and a whisper amid the bystanders would have been a shout in that silence. Only the voices of the Wizards was to be heard.

As their chanting continued it slowly grew louder and and with those chiming, ringing, hissing intonations a change came as well. The air rippled and the circle of wizards seemed to slide away from each other every so slowly. Many of even the most loyal lackeys looked away. The bargemen and porters, not used to this sort of magic, stared on it awe, until what was which what cannot be, over took them, and the retched or fled back to the barges. The Wizards took no notice.

The astronomers and neophytes were the next to flee when the dimensions of the sandy hill began to further warp as if centuries of erosion were being reversed. The hill drew too it sand and stone, and a wizard who faltered in his intonations. The new rising hill tried to pitch towards the break in the circle, but before the screams of the fallen had faded away another brave Chanter moved into his space and and the structure of the hill continued to build, every widening, every rising.

The Chanters chanted without reaction and soon what was a phantasmagoria was now a sand covered hillock nearly mountainous in size in this flat wet place. 

Now the chant sunk down to a murmur, and two chanters staggered backwards as two more moved in. Only the Nameless stood as a stone unmoved by the efforts. 

The Ring hovered over the heads of the Chanters, in a seeming moment of stopped time, if seeming it was. Braver acolytes and the body servants of the Chanters cast sacred herbs and ointments into the fires outside of the circle, and a steady gentle wind blew the thick smoke into the midst of the wizards and beyond them where it crept up the hill. Soon in that timeless minute the hill was obscured to all but those who stood close, and as they resumed chanting the sound felt to come from far away. Each syllable rung into the smoke shrouded circle and then revibrated back as if it had struck a solid object. 

In a lurch that discomforted all, the sounds of the night and the presence of wearying time swept back into the clearing. A strong wind blew down from the north and seemed to carry countless voices within it.

The smoke blew away and when it had passed, near the time of the blue grey predawn light, valet and other servants rushed up the hillside, now of firm packed earth covered in wiry grasses. 

There was a collective gasp amid these men and woman as the wonder that they had come to wrought was before them. An alabaster tower crowned the large hill, and splayed around it here and there were the bodies of the Chanters. Not dead, but overcome with a fatigue that was near death, Save for the Nameless. The leader of the Order was not to be seen at the foot of the hill, but in his place was a pure white standing stone, which all agree to this day is not of the stone of earth. It is the height of a man and  had no tool mark or blemish on its smoothness. 

From a step beyond that stone rose a path which you can see to this day, next the stone, winding up to the Tower of Names. The First of the Five. Already budding from that magical soil were small trees, which compose the grove surrounding the Tower of Names, with fruits both sweet and deadly. 

In the years to come other Orders would arrive, and four more towers would be built, but none matches the majesty of the Tower of Names, which is the first sight seen as visitors travel up the Chanters Gate to our city of marvels.

At the end of this tale, which has varied little I am told over hundreds of years, a satchel was passed on behalf of the storyteller, and he collected much silver and copper that morning. And even as he slipped back into the inn, for something as mundane as his breakfast, I turned an looked in rapture at the Ivory tower, on the hill, in the center, of what maybe the most magical city in the world. 

Myth Maker 2.1: The raising of the Tower of Names part 1 (Edited and updated.)

(Breaking this into two pieces, because walls of even well written exposition, get a bit tiresome.)

A story jotted down as it was being told by a street side performer, a storyteller, who was working for coins. I have noted a few variations on this tale, but this will suffice for the basic telling. Maybe we should do a series of short articles on town history from the bottom looking up?- Johann Blinks, Five Towers Reports

(Reporter notes: This storyteller I see around town a lot. He is doing well enough to have second hand nice robes of the sort that some Wizards and Wonder-Makers wear, and lives for days or weeks at inns, who's courtyards are his stages. Following a certain odd storyteller tradition he is swathed in pale cotton and doesn't show his face save for his eyes, which are a sort reddish brown. He also gives no name for himself, though his trinkets and robes are enough to tell him from others of his ilk. If you encounter such mendicant storytellers DO NOT call them beggars. Note: Ask professor of Minno of the Anthropology department if he has any insight into this practice of dress/namelessness/wandering.)

"There are those who would tell you that all old stories are lies. They are fools and we will waste no more time speaking of them. 

Then there are those that say that every old story is important for it speaks of the teller and the listener as much as it does of ancient matters. These are scholars of much learning,  but to listen to them speaking for too long makes the ear unable to hear. Who is the fool in that case, I will leave you to decide. 

But there are those who know more than fools and scholar who will say that the ancient word are true, if you know how to listen.  These are the wise..."

Called one of the Wonders of the World, the Five Towers School of Wizardry is the most famous educational edifice in the known world. It lies at the heart of the city of Five Towers, but there is much more going on in this city than the mere education of the daring, but you must understand, that the Towers are central to understanding the city.

According to the lore the Towers predate any other settlement in the Emerald Peninsula, a place of  inhospitable climate and terrain, not very conducive to every day life without a lot of effort.... or a lot of magic.

Half a millennium ago a flotilla of daring sea captains, at the urging of both filling of their coffers and the maintaining of their lives, made a perilous journey across the Gulf of Storms to the Bay of Crystal. The Gulf, always storm tossed and dangerous was, as it still is a domain for hurricanes and sea monsters, and the Bay of Crystal had no settlements worth visiting, so even the terrain of the shore line was somewhat a mystery tot he captains and helmsmen of the voyage.

The voyagers hailed forth from the southern point of what is now the Imperial Domain of World End, though at the time the reach of the Iron Empire didn't stretch so far.  Perhaps it was fear or at least a healthy caution of that growing power that inspired the voyage. If so that is lost to time, but was said to be in the age of the mythic first Emperor Geoff the Conqueror, who though a devoted man who venerated God, his Angels, and Saints, was no friend to wizards and wonderworkers.

Through magic and very fortunate timing, gleaned from many years of observation, the ships, containing a cabal of wizards, of the kind called Chanters, and their retinue arrived at the calm Bay of Crystal and dropped anchor within sight the many rivers that pours from the peninsula into that bay. The ships couldn't get closer because there were deep keeled vessels, but they had aboard barges to take the Chanters to their desired destination. 

After a consultation the Wizards reported a specific river, now known as the Chanters Gate, to carry them inland. The Bay was calm as glass that day, whether from magic or simple good fortune, and wizards, body guards, experienced woodsmen, and supplies were loaded on three barges rigged for crude sailing. Mage winds carried the barges to the silty mouth of the river, and then  the long hard work of poling up stream of the semi placid river began.

As soon as they entered the river the Chanters, the full number of which is unknown, began to Chant sonorous and sibilant words that seem to match the mood of the river well. The poling was long work, and many was the time some vegetation snagged a barge and skilled men had to hack and pole to keep the company in motion. All the while the Chanters chanted, some of the time their chant was as one unified chorus, and other like a group of babblers whose voices bounced off of each other and was displeasing to the ear. 

As the slow miles passed, one at a time the wizards ceased their chanting save for the leader of the Order, was and still is known only as the Nameless One. He continued to speak words of power that were so intense that they seemed to vibrate in the air for long moments after his mouth had moved on.

As the party reached sharp curve of the river accompanied by a slightly hilled clearing in the swamp the Nameless made a gesture with his hand which was the signal to ground the barges. As soon as he stepped foot on dry land he stopped his constant droning chant. Though the magics that were being performed had sapped all others of the Order the Nameless' soft spoken voice still carried strength.

As the barges were unloaded the wizards rested on the high ground, while well trained lackies removed ritual tools such as incense burners, wooden staves of great length, bundles of herbs, and shrouded idols from the barges and arranged them hither and thither around the clearing. As the sun was setting, a mass of dark clouds began to form from the west, but a single sharp word from the Nameless scattered those clouds. There would be no interference from nature or Angel in the work that was to be done that night.

Myth Maker 2.0: The Setting

Following the example of my inspiration book, We're All Mad Here by Monte Cook Games (though any of there genre books would do). I am interweaving two projects into one.

The "front of the book" project is giving a set of tools, that can be used with Mythic GME (in the roll of both GM Emulator and a rules light RPG) to create magi-tech tech revolutions. The second goal was to show an example of such a tech revolution on a mid European Renaissance type setting. So far I have failed at both goals.

As to the first goal, I just couldn't manage to create generic resources from a vacuum, but I probably can work backward from a model, so the back of the book is getting the front of the writing. The second failure is that the setting, like the real world in that era, isn't all on one epic timeline in which there is a big bucket of Ren is splashed  everywhere. As I started writing I set some boundaries. I thought about what I would like to play and what I would like to run, and what came out in my writing journals was pretty different than what I thought would happen, but surprises like that are what make writing so much fun.

So starting now, and extending over the next half a dozen or so journal posts, I am going set out in historic or essay style prose the epicenter of industrial explosion, but because people, places, things, and events don't happen in a vacuum, we will start with a little slice of history. Specifically the history of the rapidly growing city of Five Towers. I hope that you enjoy the first peek at this magical, feudal, and eventually industrial hub, and will continue to follow its development as it grows towards the finished product that I will then deconstruct into a generalized Tech Boom set of guidelines, and also clean up refine and put in the second half of the booklet, which will be published (on this blog) as a PDF for anyone who wants to take it up and make it their.

As with all RPGs, once you down load it, it will then belong to you. Tear it apart for pieces, hate in and be provoked to make something better, or play it as it is. Honestly, all of these things would make me happy.

Moving directly on to Myth Maker 2.1: The History of Five Towers.

Myth Maker: Addendum

I have very much been enjoying writing this larger solo project. Strictly sticking with fiction thus far, no custom game mechanics, or any discussion of rules at all. Chances are I am over writing for my intent, but I can edit down as I prepare the pdf.

Starting tomorrow I am going to type up my paper journal notes, wedge in my digital notes, and spackle it into a setting rough draft and paste it up here. So far details include...

• The City Origins of Five Towers
• The magi-tech device that is pushing this industrialization
• A simple cosmology.
  

Stinging them together will make for a blog post of reasonable size, if it is a bit scattershot. I hope seeing it laid out on a screen will help me see the holes, both in what is written, and what needs to be written.

I know so far this hasn't been the most interesting work journal, especially with the downer the last post was, but I think things will start ticking a long faster now that I have laid some groundwork.

EDIT: Decided instead of stringing the three bullet points together, instead to put each one in their own blog post and do some expansion from the rough draft. Still a rough draft, just more of it

Myth Maker 1.2: Generalities Surrounding an Industrial Revolution

Since our topic is a technological revolution, even if it is a magical one, we need to get a grips on the effects that has on a society. Some of these are great. Most of them are kind of awful. We are not looking to make a utopia. Bad times bring conflict and thus they bring work to your average mercenary adventure, they bring something to oppose to your moral crusader, and they bring opportunity to your clever innovator. For a proactive PC of any inclination there is a chance to make a difference, but first we have to know the why and the how.

The end goal of these various posts will be to stich them together to produce both a guide for the design of settings going through a magically powered industrial rise, and create an example setting with some attached adventures, locations to explore, and a generation system for further adventures. Also, knowing where a PC comes from (background/lifepath system) can help you jumpstart where they are going (character build and development).

(I will not set out to moralize, though there are certainly parts of this situation that I find personally repugnant, nor to aggrandize, though I find some of the achievements of the time impressive. In this brief article we are just laying down the facts.)

As our model we are going to use the British Industrial Revolution of the later 1700s. There were greater achievements in industry coming down the line, especially in the late 19th century, but in this earlier model we see the jump I want to take in the game from post Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment theoretical forms, to the realities of an Industrial Age, which didn't really play out as the high idealist would have wanted it to.

The other reason to use the British first Industrial Age as model is that until that point, functionally speaking technologies were advancements on the forms that had existed for centuries. The role of the average person was peasant, merchant, or soldier, and the powerhouse of British economy were the nobility and the crown. 

Ok, that lays down enough framework. I will only be covering each topic in broad strokes, so please excuse any missed details.

1. There was a rise in urban population caused by the displacement of rural peasants by the landed nobility so that they could use communal lands to grow cash crops, after agricultural innovations allowed for the growing of more crops or raising more cattle (sheep usually for wool). Because these laborers were not looking first to their own villages and secondly to sell surplus there less need for a large laboring agricultural peasantry. As the use of hard currency was on the rise most lords stopped taking labor out put for rents causing yet more eviction and displacement.
2. That surplus population came at the same time that an innovation, especially in steal production through the use of advanced steal making techniques and locally available fuel for the furnaces (in the form of coal) allowed for the construction of much safer steam powered engines, which freed factories from having to depend on the local restrictions of water power. A literal biproduct of this innovation was a general deterioration of environmental factors like clean air and water, but would take some time for this to become fully apparent.
3. An additional bioproduct was the growth of cities from towns and great labors of city expansion to house the additional population. The call for timber an stone had additional determinator effects on the environment that would take decades to fully show themselves. 
4. Steam and water powered factories removed the need for cottage labor for the production of things like textiles and horse shoes. These essentials could be produced much more cheaply in factories, further impoverishing and driving urban-ward more of the population, which gave rise to an even cheaper labor force. 
5. Finally the local governments favored business over traditional communal land rights and went so far as to create colonial outpost that would provide captivated markets for the industrial products (usually through military intervention) who would in turn produce more raw materials for the factories in the mother country.
6. Many of the early investors in new technology were forward looking bankers, who had primarily lent to the noble classes, but were at their whims when time came for repayments of loans. In the new factory driven landscape these early industrial investors, as well as the factory owners made gigantic strides in profit and thus social status and social influence. The service needed to provide for factories also saw a substantial improvement, leading to the rise of a wealthy stratum of the non aristocratic class, and the existence of a stable and fiscally healthy middle class (though after the initial successes of the factory system there were many nobles who followed the example of the bankers and became yet more rich and powerful.)
7. The income in taxes, frequently heavily laid on colonies, allowed the government to build a stronger military force and the need for bureaucrats,  which allowed for the control of colonies, the protection of trade routes, and frequently the dictation of the laws of trade.(Though forward thinking smugglers did assist in circumventing these prohibitions). 
8. Based on that improvements in steel and steam early in the next century we see the rise of the railway system, which revolutionized transportation in the island nation. This was used to carry everything from raw material and cattle, army regiments and economic refugees. It also changed the pace of life. There was a strict time based rail system which like time and tide waited for no man (though frequently was late itself). 

There are things that are mentioned above in brief that have darker implications. Mostly in the form of a perceived cheapness of human life and all the horrors that go with it. I by no means want to disregard that side of the story and the inhumanity in individuals and even codified governmental systems that this produced, but I will leave it to the reader to player to pick and chose between the greater moral decays of the Age which ones they wish to include, exclude, and perhaps crusade against in their games.

From this point on we will delve into fantasy and focus on the way magic could rapidly expediate the pace of change and perhaps spare a few of the darkest shadows that accompany great an age of great change.

Myth Maker 1.1 Goals

This morning I was reading my physical writing journal, and realize that the ideas in it are scatter shot touching on this or that subject.  So, rather than fight my brain, I am going to write a bit scatter shot. Then, I will put the ideas into a useful order and do the necessary editing to sew all of the pieces together.

Topics that have seized my interest are, in no particular order:

• The effects of an industrial revolution that keep it from becoming a eutopia.
• The order and fashion in which the germinal technological advances came upon the setting and the effects each new wave of resolution had.
• Relate to the last the speed of this advancement and its effects on the every day people.
• The balancing force between old aristocracies waning and rising robber barons, in the form of institutions of checks and balances. 
• The daily life of a peasant, a professional, a noble, and an adventurer.
• A few paragraphs of "What is known", maybe from the views of the points subjects.
• Both how magic tech can be expressed in many scenarios (really just sketches) and how it is specifically expressed in the sample game.
• A realistic discussion of darker elements of an industrial revolution and various ways to include them or not that don't cheapen the subject matter (This one is of chief importance)
• Practical applications of this technology from a gamers view.
• A "life path" system of some sort so that you don't' have to start each new adventure as a starry eyed youth of 16-25. This has to include various "why's" for a person enriched in years may be starting a life of adventure.
• Appropriate factions for a magi-punk city and their implication on PCs. (because if they don't impact PC's why bother having them.)

I am sure I could go on but those are what i pulled from my pen and ink journal and immediate inspirations. 

My primary source thus far has been Wikipedia.org.

My template for document development has been the various MCG genre books.

My body of tools will largely be from Mythic Magazine.

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.

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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)