In this episode, I talk about GM controlled characters within a campaign and Loz pops in to provide us with an update. Welcome to Mythras Matters Season 1 Episode 36 - Essential updates and control that character.

**BONUS SEGMENT** Top 3 Tips for creating orders!

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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 May

Well, this is episode 36 which means I have been going for three years! wahoo! I never thought it would last a year let alone three!

A lot has changed during those three years, I've met loads of really fantastic creators and learnt so much. On the downside, I have bought such a lot of supplements due to being inspired by the chats I've had that haven't helped my bank account that much. Plus I think I need an extra 8 hours a day to fit all the games I want to play!

This would probably be the time that I talk about my favourite interview or episode but really, I have enjoyed so many I don't think I could choose one. They range from chats about supplements about time periods and settings, combat modules, adventures and new rulesets.

And talking about new rulesets, I must say that I have enjoyed talking to Mike and Brain the creators of Destined, and I am so excited to get my hands on a copy and start a campaign where the players are super-villains rather than the good people. Being a superhero must be everyone's dream!

We have Loz popping in later to provide some updates, but before then I have some topics I would like to discuss with you, so settle back and enjoy the content!

As a GM I rarely get the opportunity to play characters. I really enjoyed playing my character in Lyonesse when Loz GMed for the group but, apart from that, I rarely get the opportunity. I do, of course, get to play a range of NPCs. These I really like to create but I have to say that my limiting acting voice does mean that often the NPCs in the campaigns end up all saying the same! Does anyone else have that issue? Coupled with the fact that I sometimes forget the voice that I originally started with when I first introduced the character means that my own NPCs can have a range of different voices through the adventures.

When one of our group left we were left with the predicament of some of the main 'roles of the group missing. Within Mythras the group lost their main tank and in M-Space they lost their medic! In order to 'fill the gap', I created a character that I would be playing with the players in the group. So I wanted to share with you what I have learnt and my recommendation if I had to do it again.

1) Make them silent.

Obviously, I didn't want the GM character to be providing the answers to everything but at the same time, I wanted them to be there when the party was struggling. Because of this, I created two characters that would naturally be silent when the party were discussing things. Ulrich was naturally silent and sinister while Perdi can often be found recharging or maintaining her programming of staying silent until spoken to, Even though they were generally silent they were still realistic. I didn't want them actually only burst into action when needed. I am probably silent until requested to speak. Although Perdi often talks just to annoy the party!

2) Make their skills needed

This was initially why the additional characters were created, but they do need to have a role within the group. Perdi is an excellent medical robot and will often be ordered into action when things start to go badly. These skills are not actually covered by anyone else in the group and so she is often needed within the adventure. If these skills were not needed then the purpose of the additional character is removed. This has happened within the Mythras game. I really thought that the party needed a tank to support them in combat, but as the game has progressed the party has proved that Ulrich is not actually needed anymore which means that he has been retired. It's a shame because I really liked his background but maybe I will get him to play him again in the future.

3) New or existing rules

Often there are elements of the game that I want to try as a GM to see how the rules work. Having a GM controlled player in the game has really supported my understanding of the rules and especially with Ulrich, an understanding of combat and combat specials! I have learnt so much by playing him with his passive blocking and shield! What I have learnt will definitely be used in future combats, that really is one of the reasons I wanted to play Mythras since the fighters are really combat experts with their specials. But having a GM controlled character lets you really get a better understanding of a rule. You might get this by playing a one-off NPC but in the case of Ulrich I was able to experience it every session.

Before I share with you my final two recommendations I just wanted to remind you that if you would like to hear the rule guru explain all about passive blocking then you can find his explanation in episode 21 of this podcast

4) Promote new storylines

Having your own character allows you to promote a range of ideas. They can be a constant source of information for the group. This could be from the local fauna and floral to the local residents or even information about a legend or myth. This really allows you as the GM to share and promote new storylines or ideas. Often I found that the players would interact with the character that actually provided me with ideas for new adventures. I am also looking forward to the day that Perdi is in trouble or needs the party's help. Will they see her as a party member or just a robot that could be shut down or just ground down to metal dust? A situation like this will let me know what they think of Perdi and whether she is just a disposable lump of metal or something much more.

5) Helping the party

And finally. We know, as GMs, that there is a time that we might need to support the party to decide the next move there should be. the call of cthulhu game has a nice skill roll to deal with situations like this, the idea roll. Although this would be easily adapted and included in any game, having a character within the group really allowed me to provide with an opportunity to support the group or provide them with an additional nudge. As well as this it also allowed me to cast some fog over the current action or plan. What I mean by casting fog is that sometimes as a GM I might be feeling that I want to hinder the group by throwing a curveball or a red herring into the mix. You might be all thinking that this is a bit mean, but please don't judge me - I never lead them completely astray, sometimes it is just so I can have a smug smile behind the GM screen!

Although Ulrich is leaving the group I have really enjoyed playing him within the group and his back story was a pure joy to create. Perdi will continue to be a joy to play. Yes I know she often mimics C3PO from the star wars franchise she is still fun to play and develop as a character.

So if you are put into the position when you need an extra character within the party then do consider it and the positives I have shared here. There are some negatives, but I'll let you discover those yourself.

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 on inwils@gmail.com or send me a message on the various forums I frequent.

Next up we welcome back Loz to provide an update - over to you Loz!

<<No transcript for this segment>>

Thank you for that update, as always loads of really exciting and interesting developments on the horizon!

Next month we are going to have the rules guru revisiting us so that is something to look forward to. I always improve my GMing due to his insightfulness and I hope you do as well.

As well as contributing to the podcast remember you can also let us know what you would like to be featured in an episode. While making the Mythras Rules videos, there was always cries within the comments for an animist video, which I eventually got round to producing an episode 34 of this podcast also had an abundance of content relating to animists as Raleel and John supported my understanding of the spirits and the creation of orders associated with animists.

And it is with a segment of creating orders that I would like to talk about now before we end this month's episode.

This month I will be publishing a YouTube video about how I use the site, World Anvil to store and create my encounters and adventures. If you are still watching at the end of the video, you will see a glimpse of the sorcery orders that I have created for our Odes Campaign. When I moved from DnD to Mythras I was both excited and daunted by the creation of the orders but in the end, it is something that I really enjoyed doing and still does as players play characters who operate within the orders.

So in case you are just starting out or are about to create your own orders, I thought that I would share with you my top 3 tips for order creations!

Top tip #1 - Don't reinvent the wheel!

Whenever we mention Cyrus order within our actual plays, there is also the joke that it is not copyrighted! This is because when I created the sorcery orders of Odes I wanted to represent them via the colours, red, blue, white and black but when assigning animals I allocated the Phoenix to the red order and named it the Order of the Phoenix -Harry Potter fans will see the connection! Some of you listening might recognise that these were based on the three orders of mages in the Dragonlance world with the blue one being added. And this is definitely my first top tip. You don't have to recreate something completely new in fact, sometimes if the players are somewhat familiar with the organisation or the names, it can actually promote better immersion in the world. Each of the sorcery orders has specific domains in which they operate and again these were not created from new. I used the information provided in the core rule book on page 211. I think everyone recognises that GMs are just as busy as other people, so using what is already there can really support the creation of new aspects of your campaign world.

Top tip #2 - Less is more

Whenever I am creating something I always have the need to provide every ounce of detail about it. Whether this is a new weapon, spell, corporation, NPC or order. This need to provide the order in completion can actually mean that the sharing or the implementation of the order or the actual gaming session can be delayed. When I started to create the theist gods and their orders within the campaign world, I actually created them with various degrees of completion. When Mr Pickles decided to play a theist from the order of Amriel, I fleshed out that order more. With the other orders, I have left them in various degrees of completion. Some have only the gods name and nothing else. My reasoning behind this is that until someone wants to play a theist from the order or I want to provide encounters with the order I don't actually need to completely create them. Indeed, leaving them not complete actually allows me to add more detail when needed along with the help of the players. And this leads me to my final top tip.

Top tip #3 - Be a lazy GM

I am hoping that the creative people listening to this podcast episode are the same as me when it comes to dipping into their wells and reserves of creativity. I have to admit, that sometimes I go to my well or reserves and it is well and truly empty. At times like this, I have to do something completely different in order to let the creativity well restock! Please tell me I'm not the only one that this happens to!

When I created the sorcery orders for Odes, I did the best I could at the time but then, as I mentioned in the second top tip, I left them. The reason I left them was not only because my creativity well was empty, but also because I wanted the players to have some input with them. As the Order of the Kraken - Gully's order - developed, the player contributed to the order about the sort of spells that could be used. In a similar way, Cyrus's player - Captain Kangaroo has contributed to the development of the Red order and I have even grabbed some fantastic ideas from the discord and tapatalk forums that were provided in answer to some of my questions. Players and members of the excellent mythras community have really supported the development of the orders in our campaign and for this is am so grateful. Maybe it is because I am lazy, but the co-creation of content within any campaign definitely contributes positively to the feel of the campaign and the players can feel they have contributed to the world in which they adventure.

So those are my three top tips for creating orders within your Mythras campaign. If you have any tips to share or even how you have created your own orders then do let us know in the discord or the forums. And if you are really brave, you can also leave a recorded message for the show by using the link in the show notes - I will of course play any recorded message in the next episode of Mythras Matters...

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.

And remember if you have feedback or comments for the podcast then do use the link in the show notes to record these. I will play any audio clips at the end of the episode.

So, until next time have a great month of gaming and I will chat again to you all in June

Until then I hope that all our opposed rolls succeed and provide you with a well-deserved special.

Thanks for listening cya - Bye!

Mythras Matters

1.36 Essential Updates and Controlling that character

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