Mythic Marvels
This mythic plug-in clocks in at 22 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page inside of front cover, 1 page editorial, 2 pages of introduction, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page advertisement, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 13 pages of content – though, as always, it should be noted that there is quite a lot of content cramped inside of this pdf.
This review was requested to be moved up in my reviewing queue at the request of my patreons.
So, what is this? It is, in short, a book that provides the means for GMs to make mythic rules more than just a template to be added on top of characters and monsters; it is about mythic forces authoring the destiny of narratives; not being a tool of it. The idea is that the world is mutable and shaped by the deeds of mythic entities – resulting in the creation of marvels. If you remember, for example the difference of Witcher 3’s depiction of Toussaint in “Blood and Wine” and its radically different palette, or when thinking about Camelot, Eldorado, Xanadu (the inspiration of Xin-Shalast), etc., one can see how potent beings may alter the fabric of the world. The book supplements this concept with rules for incidental marvels, accompanying e.g. maximum damage rolls, crucial crits etc. – the hero falls, and blood rains; the crows all caw, etc. – the cosmetic concept of incidental marvels need not have rules repercussions.
Mythic trials, on the other hand, may create marvels beyond the capabilities of characters of the respective mythic tier.
Now, the pdf provides a smattering of concisely codified effects – like the alteration of terrain /difficult terrain that may knock you prone as earth quakes, withers or plan-like blooms, etc.) or areas of spellblight. At mid-to high-tiers, artifacts may be created, undead or haunts may be generated, curses unleashed (massive 2-page table with item categories by tier and suggested cursed items provided!), and if you’re playing with Ultimate Campaign’s fame-mechanics, there’s a tie-in-here as well. The awesome concept of fey impulses (see Forest Kingdom Compendium) may also be tied in this way, and occult adventures ley lines or locus spirits may be included. Structures may be ruined. Rumormongering may have the rumor take on a life of its own (extra kudos if you use this for an Adahn-situation…and kudos if you got this by now super-dated reference… ;P) and settlement qualities may be gained or lost.
The pdf also provides a bit of guidance about reversing marvels, and nets you a great tier-by-tier list of trial marvels and suggested effects, allowing you to judge their impact and presenting thus a great means to think about them in a streamlined manner, as opposed to just going by gut-feeling: A 10th tier character’s marvel may be a subcontinental-scale earthquake, while a 2nd tier’s marvel may awaken a dead creature as an undead, for example. Incidental marvels also get such a tier-by-tier breakdown that helps you think of them in a meaningful way. In case you need some inspiration for mythic trials, there are plenty of concepts provided there as well.
Beyond those, there also are quite a bunch of path abilities provided: We get 5 universal path abilities: Perhaps your presence unsettles the spirits, allowing you to cast mage hand, ghost sound, unseen servant (latter not italicized properly) at will; your healing can make plant-life bloom when you also spend mythic power; you can quickly sculpt as per expeditious excavation (at higher tiers stone shape, wall of stone), and what about sweeping strikes that clear difficult terrain or using your breath for mythic gust of wind or wind wall? I love these! They are not just numbers and boosts, they are the stuff of legends. 3 3rd tier universal path abilities allow for speed-increase, burrowing or ex nihilo creation, and the 3 6th tier abilities let you use earthquake or mythic move earth, with higher tiers allowing for nasty curses from Horror Adventures (one of those isn’t properly italicized). Move mountain allows you to move 30-foot cubes of earth in a single round, and wind rider lets you control the winds and ride whirlwinds!! Frickin’ awesome! This is what mythic gameplay should be about!
Conclusion:
Editing is exceedingly precise on a formal and rules-language level. Formatting missed a few italicizations, but otherwise remains precise. Layout adheres to the series’ two-column full-color standard, and the pdf sports nice full-color artworks, though fans of Legendary Games will be familiar with them. The pdf comes with a single bookmark for the ToC; while this is a short book, more would have been nice.
David N. Ross’ mythic marvels are AWESOME. I love how they help the GM think of mythic might as more than just an escalation of numbers. They help you make the mythic powers feel more like the powers of legend, wielded by truly legendary heroes and villains. Its main draw is how it helps you think of mythic power as something more – and in my book, as something more, something that really helps mythic characters feel like more than just super-powered versions of regular heroes. As such, this is a radiant success, and I’d warmly recommend this to just about any GM and group using mythic adventures – I’d consider this to be an EZG-essential book for mythic adventures, in fact. However, the few hiccups in formatting prevent me from rating this the full 5 stars, making my final verdict 4.5 stars + seal of approval, rounded up.
(As an aside: This material is included in the massive Mythic Character Codex as well – so f you’re looking for the big collection of mythic material, get that tome instead!)
You can get this amazing little gem here on OBS!
Want the full mythic experience – the Mythic Character Codex may be found here!
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Endzeitgeist out.
