In this episode, I call for more restrictions on those worshipping orders of theists, see whether the power of shadowing is worth investing time in and give you a freebie! Welcome to Mythras Matters Season 1 Episode 39 - Dedicated Theists and Waring Vampires
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Hello and welcome to Mythras Matters, a podcast dedicated to the Mythras ruleset and all its supplements. As always, I’m your host, inwils, and welcome to August!
I always consider that August is the month when everyone is off work and has more time for gaming in general. I must say this is because I was once a primary school teacher and today - as in the day I am writing this script - 27th July - is the last day of school for many children.
I'm currently on academic leave so have quite a few days, well week, when I am able to make content for my social media accounts including this podcast and dedicate some time on my campaigns. I guess some of you might be listening to this either already on holiday or actually basking on the beach in some tropical clime!
I might be the only one who feels this, but as a GM I actually enjoy spending time within my campaign world. Its pure escapism, creating and developing the world while the real world continues. It is probably because I am in control of my own campaign world.
As a GM, I think that August is probably the time when I make a start on all those elements of the campaign that I have always wanted to work on but never had the time
So what would be some good tasks to be getting on with while we have time away from work. Well definitely develop those NPCs that we just quickly jotted down their name during the playing sessions. I was going to say only if they are going to be an integral part of your campaign but we all know that players have a habit of remembering these, even if they don't. I'm working on a Gibbering GM video at the moment about NPCs so do look out for that being published.
Developing historical timelines, sites or individuals. Looking back through the history of your campaign world and identifying main events and how these impacted the world. This can also be a great source of new adventure material so keep a document open or a pen and paper, ready to jot ideas down!
Invest some time with some new plotlines. If your brain is like mine, as soon as the turmoil of everyday work is reduced, the creative side of your brain starts to spring to life. Remember to record these somewhere - I have learnt from experience that no matter how great an idea it was, often I just forget it unless I write it down.
And the final task you can get involved with is creating new elements within your campaign- for example, monsters and spells or reading and implementing new rules. I have quite a few that I need to brush up on and create easily accessible tables for - I always forget the parrying and damage rule - and so many rules I have to get to grips with from M-Space - for example, Q tech and hacking!
Just while I am saying what I will be up to - I need to sort out the religious order for the Church of Amriel , some history of the city of Lindowe and with a new player joining our campaign, the details of the thieves guild run by the infamous Sniffer and a new brotherhood for Rohan the new character.
Although we might have some time off work, it really provides us with some time to dedicate to our campaign worlds. If you have any summer tasks that you like to invest time in, then do let me know either on the Tappatalk forums or in the discord.
Later on, I want to talk about vampires and give you a freebie, but first up I'm going to have a complaint about theists and suggest further restrictions for them!
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Okay, before I get into trouble I do really like clerics in any game. I see them as classes that can combine both magic and combat and the supporters and healers of the group. This support reflects the role I like to play within MMO such as ESO and FF14 - for me being the healer is the best! Also throughout this segment, I might use the term god. If I do then please recognise that I use this term to refer to male, female or non-binary divine beings. If I remember I will use the more non-gender-specific term deity. Interesting thought though, are all deities non-gender specific? This would help to eliminate stereotypes - why should the deity of love be female and the deity of war be male? Some interesting thinking is to be done there.
Despite liking them a lot, I do think that as GMs we need to be very strict with them. Otherwise, they will appear to be getting a lot for nothing. I'm not changing anything from the core rule book during this segment, just reminding players and GM where their Theist's power comes from and how precious this is. I think theists are probably the class that the GM can influence the most and I want to share how we address some of these restrictions in our own campaign as a starting point for your own ideas. I think it is important to ensure that the theists are worthy of their diety's blessing.
Just as the starting point for Animists but be the spirits that they are allied with or opposed to - check out episode 34 for my animist talk - Theists have to start with their gods or divine beings. This is where the GM has to do the most work. There are some starting points in the CRB on pages 212-13 but developing your own can be very rewarding.
But creating your divine beings for the campaign is not just a matter of writing down names and what they are gods of. It is essential that you build a philosophy and ethos of the gods. What do they support, and what do they oppose? Which gods are they allied with or enemies off? and then how is this all manifested by their theists. What must they do to ensure that their god will still grant them their power? This is so important for Theists. I often think that you should be able to recognise clerics of a specific divine being by the way they dress, their actions and their beliefs. Some people might say that this is stereotyping theists to be the exact replicate of their gods but I think that is what theists should be. If they are anything else then they risk their god deserting them and then all their miracles will be gone! This also makes for an interesting storyline either with the party needing to track down and convince a rogue cleric of their god's requirements or even a player character moving from one god to another as their character and beliefs change either with them in control or their gods.
We are currently working on some roles within the theists of Amriel. After Bartleby did so well with his defending parrying, we have co-created the role of defenders. These theists protect the rest of the order in times of trouble. and attack. Their role is almost that of the ultimate sacrifice. Armed with staff their job is to bide time or to delay the attackers. They do this by parrying attacks for as long as they can. This protection role is also required to be followed within the campaign. Protect the innocent at all costs. Staffs for parrying, Aegis and Shield are the main spells and weapons of this role. And of course the white robes of Amriel the Goddess of the Moon!
Another reason for developing the deity and its order first is the access to spells. With no class levels, the spells of the theist are only accessible via their progression within the ranks of their order. Many might want to sit down as one of your holiday tasks and create these fully but I would suggest another approach. Flexibility and Co-creation. Although the GM has the ultimate responsibility for the campaign world, it is not their world. It belongs to all involved. Using this approach, I talk regularly with the players to see what they think and would want. I trust them that they are not going to suggest ridiculous ideas - for example, that acolytes should have access to the resurrection spell. They are a great source of knowledge and ideas. We tend to co-create aspects of all the orders and then try them out. I am of the opinion that if it is not working then we change it even if this means changing established aspects of the game. I'm not one to enforce elements of the campaign because I think it is or was the right idea!
We have now got the outlook of the theists sorted as well as their possible armour and weapons and their spells. We know who they are dedicated to and how they achieve this in order to maintain favour with their chosen deity. So next, how does the diety reward the theist - well that is where devotion pools come in.
I have to say at this point, that I feel that this is an element of the campaign that probably needs to most work with respect to theists. Essentially the theist transfers magic points into their devotion pool in order to cast miracles. The amount of points the theist can add to their devotion pools is linked to their level within their church - another reason to have those religions fully padded out! These miracles are powerful! - to start with their Magnitude and Intensity are one-tenth of their devotion skill. With theists who have increased their devotion pool to 90% and beyond, these spells are very difficult to dispel and have very powerful effects.
Side point - if you are not sure about the intensity and Magnitude of spells I have created a short rules video about these which I will link in the show notes.
So far you might not see much of a restriction on the theist but for me, the restriction comes in with the process of moving their magic points from their usual pool to their devotion pool. The CRB states that this process requires the theists to be present at a shrine, temple or holy place. This process could be through simple praying or might require some sacrifices. Within our campaign, you might be aware that Bartleby worships Amriel the goddess of the full moon. To maintain a connection to his goddess, I said that the transmission of point has to take place during a full moon. This initially seemed like a good idea, although I currently don't have a system to track the phases of the moon and how much Bartleby can transfer to his devotion pool through the other phases if any at all. The need to be at the required place for this transference is an important restriction on the theists. When travelling across the land or wilderness, the theist needs to be very careful with their devotion pool since once it is used up, they will not be performing any miracles!
This is a time when you need to have a good chat with our players to see what can be developed. We want it to provide some restrictions but not completely devastating for them and their miracles. Being devoted to a deity requires a lot of hard work and commitment and we need to remember that the power of the miracles comes straight from their deity alone.
Finally, within our campaign we call folk magic prays for the theists - this is still a separate skill but they form the basics of the spells used by the theists. We encourage the players to add their own slant to these spells naming them differently and investing time in how these manifest themselves when cast.
So theists are great and owe their greatness and power to the deity they worship. Do you think I have been too lenient with the theists in my campaign world? Do you impose more restrictions on your own theists either as players or as the GM?
It would be great to get a round table of theist specialists, either players or GMs, to discuss aspects of the class so if you are interested then do get in touch and do spend some time to ensure that your own theists are worthy of the blessings of their diety.
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Remember, if you would like to contribute to the podcast then why not just drop me an email or message and let me know what you would like to cover. I am always looking for reviews or interviews with people. So if you are interested, you can email me at inwils@gmail.com or send me a message on the various forums I frequent.
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Okay from one extreme to another. Let's look at vampires!
I have to confess to having a morbid curiosity about vampires. I really enjoyed the Blade and Underworld films and even have a vampire living in the city of Lindowe within our campaign - you can probably guess who that is!
As you can imagine I have a keen interest in any system that has the possibility of playing a vampire in it and that's why I am always mentioning 'After the Vampire Wars' in this podcast.
So far my request for players or GMs in this setting has been met with nothing - let's pause there for me to let out a little sob! So John Snead - where are you? If you are out there, I am hoping you or anyone else who plays or GMs the game to come and have a chat about the setting.
We haven't started this rule setting yet, although it's on my summer vacation list to read more about it and to start to think of a campaign idea for it.
In order to tempt you, After the Vampire wars is an urban fantasy setting set in the current modern-day world - well a few years ago, 2017. The creatures of myth and legends have been living alongside us for some time, although we have not seen or remembered seeing them due to the effects of the shadowing - there is a whole chapter dedicated to this in the rulebook so I am not going to even attempt to summarise it here.
However, after The War - a dispute between the supernatural and humans, the effectiveness of the shadowing has been reduced and everyone lives together in perfect ... okay, if only it was as simple as that! There are still disputes and people accept the existence of the supernatural to various degrees. With there also goblins and fae inhabiting the parallel Otherworld and being able to travel between the two, the stage is set for a wealth of campaign ideas from missing people to, supernatural leaders, political and corporate intrigue, street gangs raging werewolves and hidden plots to take over cities or bring down governments.
The character generation system allows players to start with a number of supernatural points depending on how magically rich you want the campaign world to be. These points allow the players to 'buy' supernatural powers or become supernatural beings. Being a seer - humans who can possess some impressive psychic and mental abilities costing zero points, to elder vampires with all their associated powers costing 10 points. This system allows the GM to establish the level of supernatural activity within their campaign as well as limit what the players become. Of course, once the campaign starts then the limits are changed!
The setting has everything we have in our current world but with the supernatural added. I can see myself playing a character that yearns to be a vampire who will possibly do anything in order to achieve his aim!
I have always enjoyed the combination of magic and tech and with the system based on the existing Mythras Rules, it would be easy for players to adapt to the system for the odd game or two?
If you do venture into the world of otherworld beings and vampires then do let me know, again it would be great to get a group of people together to discuss aspects of the setting and the associated rules.
Until then, I will dream about becoming a vampire - wait that might be misinterpreted - let's move on!
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Finally, for this episode, I want to give you a freebie! Yes, you heard that correctly a free gift. I know, you weren't expecting that, but hey, consider it a gift for all the support you have given the podcast.
This creature will be appearing in my RPG online shop where I upload digital versions of encounters for people to enjoy. If you are interested then you can find the link in the show notes.
So I would like to share with you the Dream Stalker! This is a new monster or entity for Mythras that I used in the adventure called Mists and Shadows. You can find the whole adventure on the YouTube channel if you want to see how the party approached the situation.
The dream stalker is an entity that lives off people's emotional dreams. Although people are able to have both positive and negative dreams, the dream stalker is responsible for all the nightmares that people have. The emotions associated with these nightmares are the most powerful emotions and can provide the dream stalker with enough energy to live for a significant number of years. They live underground and extend their mind through any substance to influence the dreams of people. They can make their victims fear sleep and even drive them to madness and death. When manifesting themselves they appear as a blob or jelly-like matter with tendrils that reach out in all directions constantly investigating and exploring. If approached the Dream Stalker evokes dreams in its opponents with the victims needing to resist with a WILLPOWER roll. Failing to do so plunges the character into a nightmare of their greatest fears.
You can make the dream stalker as big or as small as you want. When I used it I apologise for using the 'it's only a dream scenario when the players did not realise they were dreaming and they met up with Kristof and were defeated one by one! As they fell, I was able to message the players via discord outside of the game with the phrase - With a scream, you wake up, your body and bed drenched with sweat and your heart beating and adrenaline coursing through your body.
Of course, they said nothing as I killed the rest of the characters one by one. With Bartleby I did the thing that he feared the most - his goddess deserted him and he was left powerless.
This brings us in a complete circle back to where we started talking about theists.
Do enjoy using the dream stalker if you wish - I know that the players and myself both enjoyed the experience with them becoming aware of how blasé they were becoming with their prowess in combat!
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And that’s it, another episode of Mythras Matters completed.
Don't forget you can check out all my content by following my YouTube channel and the campaign areas on World Anvil. I really appreciate your support and do check out the TapaTalk forums, there are some great people there sharing their ideas within the discussions.
So, until next time have a great month of gaming and I will chat again to you all in September - for episode 40 - that must be a significant milestone!
Until then I hope that all our opposed rolls succeed and provide you with a well-deserved special.
Thanks for listening cya - Bye!