In this episode, we have the rules guru make in the house as he tackles the evade rule I give you some tips about world-building as well as a cry for HELP! Welcome to Mythras Matters Season 1 Episode 33- Building worlds and evading trouble
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 February.
To start this episode I wanted to just quickly share with you how well the podcast did last year. 12 episodes were published with 498 minutes of content! And, thanks to you it had 2,434 downloads! I must admit when I offered to create this podcast I never thought it would get past the first couple of months, let alone a couple of years with so much support from the Mythras community!
The top episode was episode 21 which was on social skills and passive blocking. It has been downloaded 285. This was the episode that featured the first rules guru segment and I’m so pleased to have Matt back in this episode to talk about evading. More from him later.
And finally, thank you to you with you live in Minneapolis, Minnesota - you are officially the top city for the podcast last year! you downloaded the podcast 61 times! And before you say it, it wasn’t me, I’m in the UK - maybe my city will be top next year! (clicks the download button again!)
I hope you agree with me that those are great numbers and none of this would be happening if it wasn’t for the fantastic community downloading the podcast and listening to the episodes! So, as always - HUGE thanks to each and every one of you
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Before I pass over to the rules guru, I wanted to ask for some help. I’m not sure whether you will be able to help or how you will be able to help, but I desperately need some!
I am having a real problem with - Animists!
First, I have to say that I really love the idea and concept of the Animist, but as of yet have not managed to play one effectively. You might be aware that I actually play an NPC in our current campaign and really wanted to try an animist but in the end left that realm of magic and made Ulrich up instead.
So, why are they causing me so many issues and why do I need help? Well, first I have no idea what the end product is like. When you are a high powered Shaman what benefits do you have? What is your role in the party and how do they actually play?
Next, I’m floundering at the character generation stage when it comes to spirits! In most of the other realms of magic, you have a number of starting spells - but I can’t seem to find how many spirits animists actually start with.
And finally - am I correct to be worried about playing an Animist when trying to get new spirits. I have this feeling that as soon as a get into spirit combat, I’m going to get possessed and my character’s soul will be left floating around in the spirit world while a bane spirit inhabits my body. That might be a great idea for an adventure!
So, can you help? It would be fantastic to have an episode on Animists so if you are an animist expert please do get in touch with me!
And 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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I mentioned earlier that the most popular episode was the one that we had a rules guru on talking about passive blocking. So I immediately got back in touch with Matt to tempt him back. He agreed and I asked him to unravel the rule of Evading! Over to you Matt
Interview Section (no transcript available)
If there is any rule that you would like to see dissected and unpicked on the podcast, then do let us know and remember there is always space for a second rule guru so if you are interested get in touch.
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I have created a video recently about why I consider sci-fi setting more difficult to plan for and my top 5 recommended skills for any budding Gamemaster. The second video will be released sometime during February. By the way - this month’s Mythras video was all about crafting your own items so do check that one out.
But I wanted to share with you my three top tips for creating your own campaign world, no matter which rule system you are using.
My first tip is all about size. Too often I think we want to create as much of the world as possible. We want to look at tall the cities, rivers, mountain terrain as well as all the people and races, the classes and their orders and even notorious people, conflicts and events. However, I would suggest that you don’t start big at all. It is better to start small. Well, in my case, tiny. Unless you run a very restricted campaign world, players are generally free to go and do what they want. Because of this, I tend to start at a village or town and provide the bare minimum for the players. For example, for my current Odes Campaign, I created the basis of the town of Lindowe. I didn’t create it all, just an outline of the areas and the leader - Count Bastion. From there on in it was created on the fly or in between sessions. The same with Voltaris 4207 I just created the idea of Arid the first town the group would be deposited at. I do think that sometimes we can spend too long creating rather than playing. And it is while playing that the world can continue to be created along with the players - that is my next top tip
GMs are very busy people. I used to think that I was solely responsible for the creation of my campaign world but over the many many many years of GMing, I have learnt that I couldn’t have been so wrong. Although I have an overview of the world, I think it is players that provide the details and the direction. As we are playing the party always take the campaign in a different direction and start to add to the campaign. The start of the Odes Campaign was an utter disaster! I had this wild and wonderful idea that was based on the location of seeds that when put together would destroy the world. I introduced evil forces, holy divine support and even a great battle. However, the whole idea fell to bits because I hadn’t included the players in the creation of the campaign. Eventually, I had to draw a line under the whole idea and reset the campaign. Since that point, I have encouraged the players to lead the campaign. I listen and observe in every session and pick up ideas that the characters will hopefully be motivated to engage with.
But it doesn’t stop there. I think each player is an expert with their class. Because of this, I encourage discussions and creation with them. An example of this is a recent conversation that I was having with Mr Pickles about his character Bartleby. After his fantastic parrying and disarming a foe -the video link is in the show notes, we started to talk about parrying and how his order could engage with this. Through a discord conversation, we have developed Bartleby’s religious order even more and I’ve even asked Mr Pickles to come up with names for these new divisions. So my second tip is to remember you don’t have to do all the creation yourself, you can delegate and include your players in the world-building process.
And my final tip, don’t be afraid of familiarity. We often think that as GMs we need to create something that is totally unique. I actually don’t think that is true and there is nothing wrong with using an idea from a film or another world. If you have watched any of my M-space campaigns you might notice the similarities between the players current home base - Arid and the planet of Tatooine from the Star Wars franchise. I actually think that this supports the player's mental imagery when playing. It also allows them to act differently if your encounter is based on a similar situation from a film. I’ve often wondered what I would have done if I was Frodo stood on the edge of the volcano with the ring of power in my hand. don’t judge me but I think I would have gone for the power! Sorry, all you do-gooders but I’m not really suited to being a hero at all, just give me power and I’m happy.
If you have any other tips then please do post them below this post in the Tapatalk forums. The link is in the show notes below. Remember it's always good to share, plus I’m sometimes desperate for ideas! So thank you in advance.
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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 March
Until then I hope that all our opposed rolls succeed and provide you with a well-deserved special.
Thanks for listening cya - Bye!