MYTHIC HERO: What Do *You* Want To See?

[Steve Long]

 

 

Throw in some sample pages and I'll bet you could outperform the old KS by a good margin.

 

That is certainly my hope -- that, and the fact that Kickstarter is better known and more accepted now than it was a couple years ago. (Though who knows what the state of affairs will be when I'm done writing MH.) One of the benefits to having the manuscript done before I launch a KS will be the ability to provide some sample pages. I pick a couple of well-known gods, and a couple not as well known, get good art for them, and have Ruben do some sample layouts. Hopefully that will draw people's interest.

[Ndreare]

Perhaps you could even throw in a sample index of covered religions, people could see oh this book will be 60,000 pages and cover 72 religions or something.

 

 

PS: If you do fall short of 60,000 pages I understand.

 

 

PPS: I don't know if there is such as thing as PPS, but here goes. How many words are you looking at now Steve?

[Steve Long]

 

 

Perhaps you could even throw in a sample index of covered religions

 

Oh, trust me, the table of contents, or something of the sort, will definitely be part of any selection of sample pages.

 

 

 

How many words are you looking at now Steve?

 

It's been a couple of months since I got to spend any significant time working on MH, unfortunately -- I had to focus on the Odin book -- and I'm not likely to get much work done on it until around October due to having lots of other little deadlines (and GenCon) to deal with, but the manuscript currently stands at 400,000 words. My guess is that I'm somewhere around the halfway point of all the work involved, though I can't tell you if I've passed that point or not, and in any event half the work doesn't necessarily mean half the words.

[GhostDancer]

 

Thank you, Matt the Bruins, for post #33.

My request for The religions of Mongolia / Walther Heissig ; translated from the German edition by Geoffrey Samuel. was successful.

Item requested from Grand Valley State Univ

My request will be delivered to Roseville Public Library at Roseville Public Library when it is available.

 

I opted for the 2000 edition- there's also a 1980 edition.  

 

FYI, Steve Long, I no longer have good access to a Mongolian translator.

[Steve Long]

I have the Heissig book (1980 edition) and several others that delve into Mongolian/Turkic mythology to some degree. I plan to include a chapter on this subject in Mythic Hero if the amount of useful material permits; otherwise it will be a section in the Miscellaneous chapter.

[GhostDancer]

...Unfortunately, the probable most comprehensive English translation source on the subject, Walther Heissig's The Religions of Mongolia, is prohibitively expensive (the cheapest used copy I could turn up is about $110), but if it's in the library of a local university it could be a great reference.

That works out to $1 per small (8.5" x 5.5") page, discounting the end notes.  My favorite part is the ethnic map.  The book focuses largely on Shamanism and also it's local integration into Buddhism.

[Shanoa Ravendare]

I think that Legendary Hero should definitely exist but not just as a compilation of stats and info on legendary figures, you can go even further and include information on the storytelling form! Most of the storytelling done with the Hero system seems to me to be done in the style of comic books (which, since that is what a lot of it is desgined to emulate, makes sense) but adding that Legendary element to the storytelling can be a great asset.  Include info on the Hero's Journey and the many faces of the Hero.  A lot of legends deal with not just legendary people but places and things as well, how about information on how to represent that kind of power in game?

 

I know you were mostly asking about what we want to see in MH but I personally would love to see Legendary as well!

[Steve Long]

 

I think that Legendary Hero should definitely exist but not just as a compilation of stats and info on legendary figures, you can go even further and include information on the storytelling form! Most of the storytelling done with the Hero system seems to me to be done in the style of comic books (which, since that is what a lot of it is desgined to emulate, makes sense) but adding that Legendary element to the storytelling can be a great asset.  Include info on the Hero's Journey and the many faces of the Hero.  A lot of legends deal with not just legendary people but places and things as well, how about information on how to represent that kind of power in game?

 

I know you were mostly asking about what we want to see in MH but I personally would love to see Legendary as well!

 

 

Oh, I definitely want to see Legendary Hero as well. I suspect that, when I finally finish MH and ask the fans which big project they'd most like to see me work on next, that LH will be in contention for top vote-getter -- if for no other reason than a desire to see King Arthur, Robin Hood, and the 1001 Nights characters in Hero form.

 

While I expect to have some information on "legendary-style roleplaying," just like MH has some info on mythic-style roleplaying, the focus of the book is going to remain on writing up legendary characters, items, monsters, and the like in HERO System terms. Not only is that what interests me, but I think it's of greater use to the average gamer/customer.

[Christopher R Taylor]

I'm less interested in god builds like characters and more interested in them being forces the players interact with; more story-driven than numbers on a sheet.  I don't want a game where you fight Thor, I want a game where Thor fights with you or on your side, or simply causes trouble you have to deal with.

[Mzimwi]

Information about building religions that are believable. GURPS Religions tried, but it was too organic.

[Lucius]

Information about building religions that are believable. GURPS Religions tried, but it was too organic.

Have you tried RuneQuest?

 

And what do you mean by "too organic?" You want a religion grown with pesticides and fertilizers or prepared with artificial ingredients?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary wonders how one defines "believable." There is no religion so incredible you can't get someone to believe it. And obviously, no religion so credible you can get everyone to believe it.

[Steve Long]

 

 

Information about building religions that are believable. GURPS Religions tried, but it was too organic.

 

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "too organic," but in any event Mythic Hero isn't going to have information about building religions. That's simply not the purpose or nature of the book. I have in mind a supplementary volume that might cover that subject, but even then probably not to any significant extent.

[Mzimwi]

Hmm - a Deities and Demigods is just not what 'Mythic Roleplaying" means to me. I have a huge setting I've always called 'mythic fantasy' and there are no gods. Instead, there's a huge subtext of symbols and meanings underlying the structure of the setting. It's more fairy tale than Greek myth. I'm looking for an example, the best I can find is a best of history...

 

 

After the War of Sundering, some 15,000 years ago, the Fusulishi settled in the region of the Mistflower Jungles known as the Tepuin. At the time it was inhabited by neolithic tribesmen, Shifters, LittlePeople, Dryads, a local variety of Satyr known as a Chevrotain and a fairly advanced collective of Macaw species (minimacaws).

    For the Fusuliashi, this was prime pickings. They enslaved and zombified anyone they could catch. What followed was the true bloom of Savage civilization. Unfettered by the moral chain of the Centrality, surrounded by hapless native who knew no fear, the sky was their limit. Necrotech advanced by leaps and bounds, ultimately resulting in the Talking Heads, leading to something similar to an information age.

    During this time the local Shifter were reduced to slaves. When the slave reached a post-reproductive age, he was made undead to serve forever. The LittlePeople were left wild and hunted. When captured, their bodies were drained for their essential humours to make the disgusting Tisanes. The local animals were used mostly for experimentation. Some were very successful, especially the Drones created from ordinary beetles.

    However, during these ten thousand years, a revolution was brewing. Faerie races have no psychic abilities whatsoever, but this is not the case for the more intelligent animals. The Macaws in particular have always had minor gifts. By care selective breeding, they began to concentrate their powers into a few new lines. They created five new clans specializing in the battle skills: Necrokinesis, ESP, Ergokinesis, Telekinesis and Telecontrol, along with a sixth race to unite and lead them.

    Five thousand years ago, it was on. The Savages were taken completely by surprise. By means of Necrokinesis, the Macaws could usurp the Savages' control over their Zombi and Drone armies. It was more massacre than war and history records it as the Tepuin Genocide.

    The Savages fled, crossing the Great Escarpment, mostly in ill constructed rafts with slave porters. They crossed the Greenfalls, then began to settle and rebuild between the Yellowfalls and Lake Serenity.

    The Fusuliashi hit the Flowerfolk like a particularly tacky tsunami. Still in shock from the Tepuin Genocide and loaded for bear, they destroyed thousands of peaceful Floran villages merely in passing. Florans used Lorecraft, which is a lesser form of magic that is almost useless against the Necrotech of the Savages. The Rioflorans were exterpated from the Green and Gold rivers.

    Savage Elf culture is in a long, slow decline. They never rebuilt the granduer of the Tepuin cities and worse, there is a strong cultural malaise. Though they have their own strange and terrible Muses, the true zeitgeist of this age is Ennui.

    After recovering from the initial shock of the invasion, the Floran launched a guerilla warfare campaign against the Savages. In response, the Savages created Godzillas, 45m tall Inanimal lizard things whose only food source was Hometrees. The Godzillas were defeated at great cost, and the Florans retreated into the selva densa to lick their wounds.

    The one exception to this blitzkrieg was the city of Serenity. Long established on the north shore of Lake Serenity, trading ships from the Centrality were accustomed to docking there during the rainy season to take on cargoes of spices and drugs. Serenity has its own government and police force, and the Savages decided to assimilate and enjoy the fruits of trade.

    A few hundred years into the Occupation, a bioprospector discovered a new species of psuedofungus growing the the ruins of the Riofloran villages. The sap from this fungal flower (it appears to be a fusion between an orchid and a fungus) yielded a powerful drug. Unlike any other drug on Erywhone, Lotus dust is powerfully addictive. Thus began the second phase of the Occupation.

    The hedonistic Centrality pays top dollar for novel psychedelics. The channels were already there - the Floran export tons of local ethnobotanicals, but none of them compare with Lotus Dust. Soon money was pooring in and Serenity took on all the bad characteristics of a wild west boom town.

    The Florans have been regrouping with a will. Their technology is growing at a phenomenol pace (for Erywhone). They have founded new cities, developed new weapons and acquired new allies. Nevertheless, the Savages still raid their villages for slaves. The raids are infrequent and not a threat to Floran civilization.

    The Floran are excellent sociologists and their best predictions say that the Fusuliashi culture is doomed. While Lotus Dust brought in money, it is also eating away at their heart. Most of their Redoubt cities are abandoned or half-finished, and many of their vital technologies have been lost. By most estimates, within 10,000 years, the Savages will be extinct

[Steve Long]

 

 

Hmm - a Deities and Demigods is just not what 'Mythic Roleplaying" means to me.

 

That's perfectly all right, but "mythic roleplaying" isn't what Mythic Hero is about, and it never has been since the book was first announced nearly four years ago. (Yeesh, time flies! ) Aside, perhaps, from some bits of the introductory chapter, it focuses entirely on describing specific mythoi and the gods and other entities that are a part of them.

 

If that's not a book that interests you -- that's cool. Not everyone has to like every book. But that's the book I want to write, so that's what I'm writin'. After all, since no one's paying me to do the work, I might as well do work I truly enjoy. 

[Lord Liaden]

 I can practically guarantee I will also enjoy it. And I'm ready to put my money where my keyboard is the moment you give the go-ahead.

[Scott Baker]

It's been almost 3 years since the Kickstarter didn't fund. I'm with Lord Liaden, just let me know when you're ready to try funding this again (KS or other).

[Steve Long]

My hope is that in 2015 I will be able to spend a lot more time working on MH. I was making really good progress until I had to put it aside to focus on the Odin book, and one thing after another kept me from returning to it all year. In 2015 my plan is to avoid taking on so many little assignments, or things I don't really want to work on, so I can devote my time and efforts to several larger projects that interest me -- one of which is MH, of course. So hopefully 2015 will be a year of much mythic progress!

[kjandreano]

Excellent, I'm really interested in this book. I was in on the original Kickstarter for it, looking forward to supporting it again.

[Doctor Agenda]

I don't usually get 6th Edition books, but I will make an exception for this one: I must have it. I apologize for a lack of suggestions, but I'm so overwhelmed by how much your description is exactly what I've been wanting that my brain is frozen on that account. If you weren't already planning it, I would have asked for different power levels. I don't think pagans view/viewed gods of this or that as vastly more powerful in combat than a superhero would be. All it took for Ares to be wounded and driven off the battlefield was for the hero to have a magic item that allowed him to be able to see Ares. I think the comic books actually have a fairly reasonable take on the deities of polytheism.

 

Oh, I know: the gods in some pantheons need special food or drink to maintain their youth, some pantheons have a god of youth who would likely take care of that chore, some have both. I know Marduk and Ra are depicted as becoming elderly in time, as they were replaced by newer gods or other gods gaining the prominence that once went to them. So it seems that gods in many lands were conceived as beings that could get old, but not die of it. I would like to see some kind of treatment of that idea (maybe it's worshipers that keep a god young, so when they decline so does he or she; or worshipers entitle a god to more of the food of the gods), and something about ambrosia, nectar, amrita, soma, the peaches of immortality, and the apples of Idun; and their effects on gods and mortals. In some stories, a bite of ambrosia not only made you young, it could make a mortal into a god. Which brings me to wondering about apotheosis, and a hope you can explore that.

 

And what is the difference between ichor and regular blood, and do only the Greek gods have it? It seems ambrosia can turn a mortal's blood to ichor, which keeps them from bleeding, at least to some degree.

[Doctor Agenda]

You know, if you divided Mythic Hero into two books, like the Asian Beastiary books, I'd buy both of them. Especially if it meant the first one coming out sooner. Just sayin', 'cause it sounds like it's going to be pretty big, and the sooner it comes out the better. If the first half is good, the second half should sell well. And I can't remember a book by you that I didn't think was good.

[Steve Long]

 

 

You know, if you divided Mythic Hero into two books, like the Asian Beastiary books, I'd buy both of them. Especially if it meant the first one coming out sooner. Just sayin', 'cause it sounds like it's going to be pretty big, and the sooner it comes out the better. If the first half is good, the second half should sell well. And I can't remember a book by you that I didn't think was good.

 

Thanks.

 

I have considered the possibility of dividing MH into two books, simply because sheer size may require me to, but even if I do that I will wait to publish them both at the same time. I don't want to publish one, then get halfway through writing the other only to discover I forgot something or need to change something.

 

Plus, that way I can at least consider the possibilty of creating a slipcase for the books.

[Doctor Agenda]

It would by no means keep me from buying if it isn't in there, but 5E Conversions would be most welcome.

[Mister E]

"My Thick Hero."

[Joe Walsh]

I would definitely buy this/these. It sounds like a great take on DDG, with plenty of source material for campaigns.

[megaplayboy]

Maybe some notes on Deities in various settings--high fantasy, low fantasy, urban fantasy, pulp, superhero, cosmic superhero, e.g. One might want pointers on tweaking gods for different settings.