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Mythic Britain is finished!


Pete Nash

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It is the year 495.
 
Saxons control Britain's east. Aelle, Guercha and Cerdic vie for supremacy in the kingdoms of Ceint, Anglia and Mierce. To the west and north the fractious Britons struggle to unite, their previous attempts betrayed by Vortigern and Uther's personal follies. Now, a new warlord emerges, guided by a druid: Uther's bastard, Arthur, bearer of Caledfwlch, the sword forged by Gorfannon.
 
This is the Dark Ages. Blood soaked, treacherous, fraught. The new religion of Christianity bears down on the old pagan ways. New gods invade old lands. New warlords vie for new territories; old ones seek to even older scores. The war horns are sounding. Britain is rallying. Merlin collects the Thirteen Treasures and signals the start of the battle between the Red and White Dragons.
 
Fetch your spear. Heft your shield. Prepare for war!
 
Mythic Britain is a 360 page supplement for RuneQuest 6th edition set in Britain's Dark Ages. Taking a realistic approach to the period it is, nevertheless, a time of myth and magic as cultures clash and old ways are challenged. Play as a Celt or Saxon, spearman or druid, and help forge Britain's destiny. The book features a detailed setting and a seven scenario campaign involving Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere, Gawain and many others.
 
If you like Bernard Cornwell's Dark Ages tales, Robert Holdstock's Merlin Codex or even History Channel's Vikings, this is the RuneQuest supplement you've been waiting for.
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Got my PDF copy! It looks very good, albeit grim, gritty and not at all what you would expect from an Arthur book. In fact, I suspect that Arthur is a relatively minor character in the setting.

 

I suspect that a one thing PCs might get involved in is a sort of race over the Thirteen Treasures. The Druids want to collect them and put them to use. The Christians, who are building up temporal power even in the absence of Rome, want these blasphemies destroyed. Depending on what would actually happen when the treasured are assembled, the choice might not be as clear-cut as you would think....

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Oh man, just picked it up and this is a nice meaty tome, had to use a 1" comb to bind it. Sheesh, i havent even finished Land of Ice and Stone. I've been waiting for something like this for quite some time and can't wait to read it. (i finally have a place i can have a village based on a left over or stayed-behind Roman cohort).

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Oh man, just picked it up and this is a nice meaty tome, had to use a 1" comb to bind it. Sheesh, i havent even finished Land of Ice and Stone. I've been waiting for something like this for quite some time and can't wait to read it. (i finally have a place i can have a village based on a left over or stayed-behind Roman cohort).

Bind it? As in, you printed it out and did your own bookbinding? I've considered doing my own bookbinding before, and am quite interested in it if you did. Can you put up some photos of your custom bound RPG books?

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Okay, here's a picture of Mythic Britain with its 1" binding and i included another tome with a 1/2" binding. I bought a comb paper binder at an office sale for $10 and that's what i  use. You can get a good binder for about $50 on ebay or amazon(search for paper binder, mine's an ibico). I get my binding combs at any office supply store, wherever they're cheapest. Then i use a plastic sheet for the cover and thick stock for the back (the cover is folded back in this pic so it wouldnt reflect the flash).

 

I made this small investment after a 3 foot pile of printed books accumalated, and i've been doing it ever since. I buy alot of pdfs online so it works for me. Hope this helps. G

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I have this pdf and the setting looks great. Well worth the wait. Unfortunately I use pdfs as reference, and need the hardcopy to really ingest it, so I'm looking forward to the physical book release.

However, I'm really happy with this one has been released; its a good addition to the RQ6 library

" Sure it's fun, but it is also well known that a D20 roll and an AC is no match against a hefty swing of a D100% and a D20 Hit Location Table!"

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This sounds a bit like Pendragon Runequest 6 style.  The passion rules from the core book sound like they'd work really well with this setting.

 

It's nothing like Pendragon... :)

 

Pendragon is knights in shining armour riding through the cherry blossom to the strains of Orfe.

Mythic Britain is warriors crawling from the ruin of a shield-wall, caked in blood, to a soundtrack by Enya and Clannad...

 

But the Passions work brilliantly...

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The Design Mechanism: Publishers of Mythras

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From my limited reading it seems to look very little like Pendragon. Passions are important, but chivalry as such doesn't really exist. Merlin is much more important here than he was in Pendragon, and there's a lot more genuine turmoil. Arthur's feats are much less grandiose -- in Pendragon he somehow managed to attack and defeat Rome, while in Mythic Britain I don't think he even got as far as uniting the British Isles. The tone is much grittier, much darker, and a lot truer to the period.

 

But Passions are there, and they make things really interesting for PCs. Mixed parties of Pagans and Christians, united against something significant, could provide a lot of tension especially if the Christian displays typical evangelistic zeal.

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I like Clannad (Robin of Sherwood anybody) and Enya. I also really dig this time period, ie. the end of the Romans to the invasions from northern Europe, very mystical and evocative (to me at least). But for some reason whenever I think of Arthur and Merlin I always imagine Knights in shining armour, and yes I have watched the abysmal Clive Owen film. So, when I eventually buy this I may have to ditch the main protagonists. Having said that, Its a major step in the right direction for the Design Mechanism...so well done.

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and yes I have watched the abysmal Clive Owen film.

 

 

Terrible, terrible film...

 

When you read through it, you may change your mind. This isn't your typical Arthur and Merlin, and I don't think you'll picture the former in gleaming armour or the latter in a pointy hat (or sterling silver skull cap) :)

 

Thank you!

The Design Mechanism: Publishers of Mythras

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Ever since I saw the film 'Excalibur' as a child I have always wanted a gritty Arthurian period. This setting is not a dead ringer for the setting portrayed in the Excalibur film, but its closer than any other I've seen.

I just love how 'pagan' the world of Mythic Britain feels. Blood, mud, and dark rites abound. No room for chivalry here, its all about strong iron and auspicious omens. Great stuff.

This simply is a great sourcebook, I'm stoked with my pdf, and can't wat to hold a print edition in my hands. Well done again Design Mechanism

" Sure it's fun, but it is also well known that a D20 roll and an AC is no match against a hefty swing of a D100% and a D20 Hit Location Table!"

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Pendragon is knights in shining armour riding through the cherry blossom to the strains of Orfe.

Mythic Britain is warriors crawling from the ruin of a shield-wall, caked in blood, to a soundtrack by Enya and Clannad...

Bah!  For true grit, you need John Wayne in worn leather, soundtrack by Elmer Bernstein.  ;)

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In typical Arthurian legend, Lancelot was a French knight who came to England because he'd heard about Arthur's ambition and befriended him (and became very friendly with his wife....). Since these times don't really have France (not sure what was there at the time), I wonder what sort of exotic locale a Lancelot-style PC could emerge from.

 

There could be great play value in a fish-out-of-water PC who finds English ways (especially the "Old Ways") odd at best. But it's too late for the Romans and too soon for the Vikings/Norse. Who's available?

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