All Things Solo

What is Mythic GME?

The Mythic Game Master Emulator replaces a live Game Master with a set of rules that emulate a GM’s creative decision-making, allowing you to play any role-playing game solo or in a group without a designated person to run things.

Mythic becomes your GM, answering your questions and progressing the adventure one step at a time.

While the system is based in your expectations (of events) and interpretations, it’s designed to periodically subvert those expectations and introduce surprises to keep the narrative exciting with simple rolls.

This may sound complicated, but Mythic’s core mechanics are deceptively simple, and once you put them into practice it won’t be long before it all starts to click.

2nd edition tools are more streamlined, intuitive and easier to use than Mythic v1.

If you don't understand any part in the book, there are practical examples under each part within brown boxes, along with Big Examples in each section & THE Big Example that includes all mechanics in one playthrough, before the Summary of all content. It truly teaches the rules by plainly describing, exemplifying, and consolidating with summary blocks.

As oppose to my guide, it allows you to play in ANY Solo Style: Linear vs. Sandbox. Simulationist (Realistic) vs. Theatrical. Inspirational vs. Practical, or even Multi-approach.

WAY more professional

The difference from my guide is HUGE! Presentation is so pleasant. Explanations and examples are easy to understand.

Tana Pigeon wisely uses Mythic's 20+ years of experience and feedback from Soloists with all kinds of play styles to solve all kinds of in-game problems. Don't think it is just for Soloists but also for Group GMs who want to hone their improv game.

Usage

Usage vary to cater for all kinds of player needs.

Solo RP

You can even use it to emulate "Live Players". This might be useful if you want to learn about your role in group dynamics with a party. Or if you're a GM, you may use this to master your GMing skills by understanding different player roles. Such as in Bartle's Taxonomy of Player Types.

Group RP without GM

If you can't find a GM, the same rules that allow you to play solo can also be used by a group of Players referring to Mythic for answers instead of a GM.

Co-GM

Even if you are a Group GM, the tools that allow you to generate adventures on the fly also allow you to run a traditional role-playing group using Mythic behind the scenes. This gives you the freedom to decide how much you want to prepare beforehand and how much you want to improsive & discover in play.

i.e: You can keep track of Events & NPCs in your game with a simple list designed as a would-be rollable table: "Adventure List." You can even prestock this table for your custom settings. Or as you add Events and NPCs into the list, you can use them in a surprising way or even come up with Keyed Scenes by using methods from the book.

In Published Adventures

In my related blog entry, I could only fit enough info to say "Use an Oracle with Published Adventures." There is a whole part in the module that explains HOW. With some adjustments that have to be made in both how you normally play Mythic and how you would use a prepared adventure...

The author's way is having Mythic to take a step back from providing structure and detail, allowing the published adventure to do that.

Scaling & Determining Power Levels, Making Lists, Going one detail at a time, Getting the Context and Content from the adventure, Ways to end a scene and start a new one. Also, what NOT to use in Mythic tools. All of these allow you to play your favorite Adventure. You can also utilize my practical FGU usage methods with it.

There is even a section for Handling Complicated Campaigns. And the "Adventure List" (Threads/Goals & Characters) mechanic is a great tool for this mode, whether you want to rewrite the adventure or stay true to it without getting lost in it.

Writing Tool

Mythic can be used as a writing tool with or without a setting/dice to help you craft fictional stories with its scene progression techniques and random generators.

HOW?

1. A Yes/No question and answer mechanic based on your expectations.
2. Random Events that add surprises. With an infinitely better system than my makeshift oracle.
3. Expanded Meaning Tables (all 49 of them!) that offer inspirational prompts for all types of important details to interpret. But all you need is the 4 basic ones.
4. Lists tracking important goals and characters which are randomly selected when called for.
5. A Scene structure to give your adventure form and order.
6. A Chaos Factor that changes the tempo of the adventure as you play.

Everything above is guided by your expectations and interpretations based on the ongoing Context. This makes sure the adventure continues in a coherent fashion while still allowing for twists and subversions that keep things exciting.

Fate Questions and Random Events cover almost anything you could think to ask about in an adventure and anything unexpected that might be thrown your way. But the book also gives you tools to connect all these part with each other: Scene Structure as a science of combining all of the above.

Fate Questions

I don't think I did a good job in my guide to give you the methods regarding asking questions, other than saying, "ask a question about things that you don't know." But Fate Questions part in the module explains;

• HOW to ask questions with a simple chart
• WHEN to ask questions to resolve narrative tension or even give enemies Combat Goals & Considerations. Since this mechanics is so broad, it can also be utilized in Combat with the help of Meaning Tables & Random Events
• Explanations of Likelihood Odds with a pretty table
• Giving Yes, No, Exceptional Yes/No answers broad definitions
• And ways to replace RPG rules with these questions, etc.

Scene Progression

Instead of relying on my compact bullet points, you're in capable hands with this module. You can base your first scene with many kinds of methods instead of just one. These are:

• Inspired Idea
• Random Event
• Meaning Tables
• And 4Ws

It divides Scene Progression to 4 types:

1. The First Scene: There is another chart with broad terms to start your first scene. You're not limited to tavern meetings, anymore
2. Expected Scene: This is how you think the scene will work out
3. Altered Scene: To begin the scene in the next most expected way
4. Interrupted Scene: To spice your scenes with some healthy level of chaos

If you noticed, these are not set in stone like pre-planned story scenes that blow up in GM's face at first contact with players. They give room for improvisation. They can also be used WITH pre-planned scenes in case something goes south.

While Altered Scenes play off your expectations, Interrupt Scenes ignore them entirely; anything can happen!

But wait, there's more!

• Keyed Scene: To create special situations to trigger specific events in your adventure.
• Testing Scenes: To determine if a scene is altered or interrupted.
• Beginning and Ending Scenes

With additional topics;

• Playing Out The Scenes
• Pitfalls of asking questions to Oracle
• Tension building tools without being too complicated
• Generating NPC Behavior, this can include their Combat Style

Variations

The best part of the module is that it includes Variations from The Mythic Magazine that are not present in the previous book.

• What is a Mythic Session?
• Prepping to a Solo Adventure
• Determining NPC stats
• How to use sourcebooks more efficiently
• [Meta-Game/RP] Resolving Player vs. Character Knowledge with 4 ways
• How not to drift around aimlessly with Conclusive Conclusions, etc.
• And a summary of all rules at the end.

Module's Ease of Use

Normally, there are so many roll permutations for the Fate Chart with different Chaos Levels & Likelihood Odds. But the FGU module eases your burden.

• Fate Roll Tables by Chaos Factor are already prepared with pins to every single link for you.
• Odds (likeliness) are reduced to 4 types in v2; it'll only take 3 clicks to roll for your current Chaos Level, instead of searching for it in the pages.
• Fate Rolls also contain if a random event occured and if so what type is it. It also add 4 words to be used in Freeform Association automatically, IF an event occured.
• But if you want to make it even easier, "Fate Check" table only requires you to manually add a modifier to the simple Chart by knowing the Random Event rule. That's it. There is also Random Event table separately prepared for you.
• There are 400+ tables in it! Excellent hard work of Marmus made them super easy to navigate.

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Pinned version of the last pic is very handy. You can also use search function.

Link to the module: https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/1127/view