Steve Long

There's just not enough in English. I'm not sure what the Hungarian sources are like. Some years ago a Hungarian fan offered to help me deal with the subject, and assuming I can still reach him at the same contact info when I'm ready to start on that chapter, I'll probably take him up on it. I've seen enough to know there's got to be something worth writing about out there.
 
And I'm always eager to find more European mythologies that gamers are generally unaware of. They resonate with us culturally on some level, and I want readers to know there's more out there than Greek and Norse.

That's a bit of a tricky question, since sometimes it's difficult to determine where one pantheon ends and another begins!  But that's part of the job, so here's what I've got currently:
 
--34 pantheons significant enough that I think they'll merit their own full chapter in the book. (Though some of these, like African, American Indian, and Oceanic, cover multiple pantheons that are culturally similar, since most of them on their own aren't big enough or well documented enough to merit a full chapter. Where they are, as with Yoruban Mythology, they get said chapter.) And in one case, Celtic, I only count that as one pantheon even though I'm going to split it into four separate chapters due to the breadth of the topic (so that'd make 37, if you count them separately).
 
--references to at least another 50 pantheons or gods worshipped by distinct peoples.
 
Of course, as my research progresses, some supposedly major pantheons may get demoted to the Miscellaneous chapter due to lack of sufficient information, either in general or just in English (I'm lookin' at you, Hungarian Mythology). Similarly, if I find enough info on a supposedly minor pantheon in the Miscellaneous category, I will upgrade it to its own full chapter.

Hey Steve, thanks for replying to my post.
 
Artifacts are covered...that's great. That'll be useful toward building games around the deities etc. Cool.
 
The books would cost too much to reprint eh?..I hear you. Shame. I guess people should have bought it more frequently when it was in print and it might still be. Oh well, not to worry. With pdfs and the high quality of tablets these days it ain't so bad.
 
I watched a youtube video earlier...an interview with yourself in which you talk about the Mythic Hero project. You sound like this is something you are passionate about and that you have researched extensively. Sounds like you are the right man for the job
 
Well...if and when you next Kickstart this...I will do my best to throw some money in the pot. All depends how my finances are going but for sure this sounds like a useful book that I would enjoy reading and using.
 
Good luck.

Leaving aside the latter two (since I'm not covering Christian Mythology in this book), the others you mention have already all been written up -- along with lots of others you didn't mention. 

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. 

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

 
Absolutely not, because in some settings and stories they can kill them. There'll certainly be some discussion of mortals fighting gods generally, with options and suggestions, but there aren't going to be any hard-and-fast rules that say what you can or can't do. That I'll leave up to the GM.

At last it can be revealed!
 
At last it can be revealed! I took advantage of some free time in ace artist Eric Lofgren's schedule earlier this year to get him to create a beautiful piece of art that I currently intend to use as the cover of Mythic Hero. He took my idea and executed it superbly.

I don't have a finished book. I don't have any specific idea for how I'll publish the book when it is finished. But man, do I have a kick-ass cover.
 

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!

For those of you who are on Facebook I'll put in another plug for my "Wanderings In The Fantastic World" page, which provides not only pics of real-world locations that should be Fantasy, but inspirational captions for them as well, each and every day!
 
https://www.facebook.com/WanderingsInTheFantasticWorld?fref=ts

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!

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!

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. 

At last it can be revealed!
 
At last it can be revealed! I took advantage of some free time in ace artist Eric Lofgren's schedule earlier this year to get him to create a beautiful piece of art that I currently intend to use as the cover of Mythic Hero. He took my idea and executed it superbly.

I don't have a finished book. I don't have any specific idea for how I'll publish the book when it is finished. But man, do I have a kick-ass cover.
 

At last it can be revealed!
 
At last it can be revealed! I took advantage of some free time in ace artist Eric Lofgren's schedule earlier this year to get him to create a beautiful piece of art that I currently intend to use as the cover of Mythic Hero. He took my idea and executed it superbly.

I don't have a finished book. I don't have any specific idea for how I'll publish the book when it is finished. But man, do I have a kick-ass cover.
 

At last it can be revealed!
 
At last it can be revealed! I took advantage of some free time in ace artist Eric Lofgren's schedule earlier this year to get him to create a beautiful piece of art that I currently intend to use as the cover of Mythic Hero. He took my idea and executed it superbly.

I don't have a finished book. I don't have any specific idea for how I'll publish the book when it is finished. But man, do I have a kick-ass cover.
 

At last it can be revealed!
 
At last it can be revealed! I took advantage of some free time in ace artist Eric Lofgren's schedule earlier this year to get him to create a beautiful piece of art that I currently intend to use as the cover of Mythic Hero. He took my idea and executed it superbly.

I don't have a finished book. I don't have any specific idea for how I'll publish the book when it is finished. But man, do I have a kick-ass cover.
 

At last it can be revealed!
 
At last it can be revealed! I took advantage of some free time in ace artist Eric Lofgren's schedule earlier this year to get him to create a beautiful piece of art that I currently intend to use as the cover of Mythic Hero. He took my idea and executed it superbly.

I don't have a finished book. I don't have any specific idea for how I'll publish the book when it is finished. But man, do I have a kick-ass cover.
 

At last it can be revealed!
 
At last it can be revealed! I took advantage of some free time in ace artist Eric Lofgren's schedule earlier this year to get him to create a beautiful piece of art that I currently intend to use as the cover of Mythic Hero. He took my idea and executed it superbly.

I don't have a finished book. I don't have any specific idea for how I'll publish the book when it is finished. But man, do I have a kick-ass cover.
 

At last it can be revealed!
 
At last it can be revealed! I took advantage of some free time in ace artist Eric Lofgren's schedule earlier this year to get him to create a beautiful piece of art that I currently intend to use as the cover of Mythic Hero. He took my idea and executed it superbly.

I don't have a finished book. I don't have any specific idea for how I'll publish the book when it is finished. But man, do I have a kick-ass cover.
 

At last it can be revealed!
 
At last it can be revealed! I took advantage of some free time in ace artist Eric Lofgren's schedule earlier this year to get him to create a beautiful piece of art that I currently intend to use as the cover of Mythic Hero. He took my idea and executed it superbly.

I don't have a finished book. I don't have any specific idea for how I'll publish the book when it is finished. But man, do I have a kick-ass cover.
 

At last it can be revealed!
 
At last it can be revealed! I took advantage of some free time in ace artist Eric Lofgren's schedule earlier this year to get him to create a beautiful piece of art that I currently intend to use as the cover of Mythic Hero. He took my idea and executed it superbly.

I don't have a finished book. I don't have any specific idea for how I'll publish the book when it is finished. But man, do I have a kick-ass cover.
 

At last it can be revealed!
 
At last it can be revealed! I took advantage of some free time in ace artist Eric Lofgren's schedule earlier this year to get him to create a beautiful piece of art that I currently intend to use as the cover of Mythic Hero. He took my idea and executed it superbly.

I don't have a finished book. I don't have any specific idea for how I'll publish the book when it is finished. But man, do I have a kick-ass cover.
 

Time for a quick "year in review" update.
 
I just finished the Etruscan Mythology chapter (a short one at only a little over 5,000 words) and have now begun the major task of the Hindu Mythology chapter. That'll keep me busy for quite some time.
 
Over the past year I've been able to devote a lot more time to Mythic Hero (though never as much as I'd like!), and in that time I added 162,000 words to the manuscript. That nearly doubled it from its length as of 01/01/2013. Currently it stands at approximately 338,000 words, with a long way yet to go. Unless I'm sadly mistaken I bet Hindu Mythology will add at least 40,000 words to the total. That will leave only one major mythology to go -- Celtic, which is so large I'm planning to split it into four chapters -- and about 20 smaller mythologies to research and write up. (Some of the latter may not support a whole chapter, in which case they'll get folded into another chapter or sent down to the "Miscellaneous" catch-all chapter at the end.)
 
So there's still a long way to go. I've been at this over two years so far, and it could easily be another two years. But now that I'm devoting more than just spare time to it (much to the chagrin of my bank account ), I'm making enough progress to stave off any despair I might otherwise feel when I look at the remaining mountain of work. I hope those of you who've been waiting patiently for the book won't mind continuing to wait so I can get MH Just Right. Eventually I'm going to have something pretty awesome to show you.
 
If anyone has any questions, comments, suggestions, or requests, as always feel free to post 'em.

Thanx, LL! I definitely appreciate the support that you and all the other backers (and people who would've been backers had circumstances allowed) gave me.
 
I am certainly considering a Kickstarter approach -- assuming KS is still around whenever I'm done writing. (In the unlikely event it isn't, I'm sure something similar will have taken its place.) I think greater knowledge of KS, and my having the vast majority of the work done, will count in my favor. OTOH I'll probably need to raise more money, unless I want to go for a low amount just to defray as many expenses as I can. I'll have to see how the odds balance out before deciding to roll the dice.

Generally speaking it's not my intention to cover things like that in any serious detail. If I come across a useful fact that I can easily squeeze into the manuscript, I do, but I don't go out of my way to track that sort of information down (in part because, as you note, it's often not available -- and even when it is, finding it might significantly increase my already hefty workload).
 
One thing I am considering vis-a-vis another MH Kickstarter, is offering as a stretch goal a second book called something like Mythic Hero:  Priesthoods And Temples. It'd basically be a PDF in which I'd give each god who gets a character sheet in MH a one-page write-up describing his priests, rituals, temples, etc. This would be entirely fantasized/made up (not researched), but where I already happen to know some useful historical details (e.g., Quetzalcoatl's temples are circular, not square), I'd include them. So, assuming the project gets that far, that would be another 200-300 page book backers would get for free.