lawrence.whitaker

They are very fine people indeed. 

We at The Design Mechanism wholeheartedly agree that BRP can handle superheroes, which is why we released 'Agony & Ecstasy', a full-on superhero scenario. We're now taking things a step further and have initiated Project X which aims at producing a full book, complete with its own city setting.

There'll be more on the Mythras section of these boards in due course.

I don't think I've seen a community roleplaying event quite like this one before. All gamers know of the large conventions, but to see something that's focused on the community outside of the industry and general roleplaying population is quite different and refreshing. Port Hope, for those who don't know the place, is a small town on the northern shore of Lake Ontario, about an hour and twenty east of Toronto. Just along the lake is Cobourg, another small town, and a little further along the lake is Grafton, where The Design Mechanism lives. I'm really looking forward to Critical Massive Adventure; I hope the people of Port Hope, Cobourg, Clarington, Trenton, and places further afield visit, appreciate, and enjoy the hobby. I'm hoping it's going to be a magical day. I'll be reporting here on how it goes. Oh, and if there's anyone local to me who'd like to help out with our stall, please drop me a PM!

The book won't be out until next year. It will be a supplement, as all our Mythics books are. 

37 minutes ago, Ian Absentia said:

And I am.  And with my copy of RQ6 here, how easy of a transition will it be to play Luther Arkwright?  Pretty straight-forward, I imagine, yeah?  No substantive changes to the mechanics to Mythras that aren't covered in the LA book?

!i!

None whatsoever. Arkwright was written while we still had the RQ license.

We have the cover art ready and will be releasing a preview on our Newsletter in the next couple of weeks.

Mythras Matters 1.4 out now! Terrific interview with Chris Gilmore & Paul Mitchener about Mythic Babylon

http://www.buzzsprout.com/266482/1479823-1-4-by-the-mythras-of-babylon

1 hour ago, StanTheMan said:

Maybe! Except I would have to own it...

Your life won't be complete until you do...

And in answer to Joerg's question, as this is an SF setting, I would let every character have a trait - chosen or rolled randomly. They're not game breaking, and ensure that there's parity across the party.

Or you could go simpler, and use the traits system from Luther Arkwright, allowing each character to have a trait. These are low level abilities that can easily be explained as genetic or cybernetic modifications. 

https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/shows/show/tabletop-gaming-live

Our good friends Aeon Games are exhibiting at Tabletop Gaming Live this year, and would love to have some demonstration games of Mythras available. As a GM you get free entry to the event, and we will happily supply you with any resources you may need. So, if you're intending on going to Tabletop Gaming Live, and would like to help spread the Mythras Love, please drop me a PM here and I'll connect you with Aeon Games for further details.

Let's Make Mythras Matter!

Casting the Runes: Occult Investigation in the World of M.R. James

The Design Mechanism & Quills Media Team Up. Casting the Runes brings classic supernatural stories to roleplaying games: RPG recreates the ghostly Edwardian world of M.R. James

Toronto and London, July 26th, 2019. 

The Design Mechanism Inc, publishers of acclaimed roleplaying game Mythras, and Quills Media Ltd. are delighted to announce that The Design Mechanism will be acting as publisher for Casting the Runes: Occult Investigation in the World of M.R. James, a roleplaying game written and developed by Quills Media, based on the classic tales of the supernatural by British scholar and author, M.R James.

Using the GUMSHOE  investigative roleplaying system developed by Robin D. Laws and Kenneth Hite, and published by Pelgrane Press, players in Casting the Runes take on the roles of investigators at the turn of the 20th century, researching antiquarian mysteries and occult practices, and unearthing (as M.R James himself describes it): “malevolence and terror, the glare of evil faces, ‘the stony grin of unearthly malice,’ pursuing forms in darkness, and ‘long-drawn, distant screams’.”

Paul StJohn Mackintosh, the game’s author, said: “M.R. James wrote some of the most powerful, enduring, horror stories in the English  language. These tales have been crying out for a game to embody them and recreate the kind of horror that M.R. James excelled at; the  chill, atmospheric, measured, often quiet escalation towards something genuinely horrifying.”

“As huge fans of M.R. James’s work, the opportunity to publish a game based on these outstanding tales was one we couldn’t resist,” said Lawrence Whitaker, Director of The Design Mechanism. “Paul and the Quills Media team have done a wonderful job of representing James’s stories, both in terms of interpretation and presentation. We are thrilled to be able to help bring Casting the Runes to publication.”

A Kickstarter campaign to launch Casting the Runes will be forthcoming, and will focus on funding artwork and print options for the rulebook. “All the work, including the layout, is complete,” Whitaker said. “But we want to run a crowdfunding campaign to source the kind of art that truly conveys the unique atmosphere of M.R. James's stories, and produce a print version that will look quite at home on the bookshelves of antiquarians, James aficionados, and discerning gamers alike.”

Updates on the progress of Casting the Runes: Occult Investigation in the World of M.R. James will be made via The Design Mechanism’s website, forums, newsletter, and facebook page.

Casting the Runes Press Release 260719.pdf

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/browser/publisher/4057

25% off many things - so now is a good time to plug that hole in your collection, or introduce curious friends, relatives, colleagues, loved ones and, indeed, complete strangers, to the Joy of Mythras.

A capsule review over at RPGpub.

https://www.rpgpub.com/threads/mythras-lyonesse-coddefuts-stipule-now-available.3233/post-111294

8 hours ago, Nick J. said:

The adventure really seems like it'll be fun to play. Also, kudos on the cantrap names, you nailed the Vancian aesthetics perfectly!

Thank you Nick.

There's over a hundred fairy cantraps (sic) in the full game , including Lugwiler's Dismal Itch, Pamenne's Loose Reception, and (my favourite) Kleese's Broad Bass. Sandestin magic is no less inventive, and can be quite extraordinarily powerful in the wrong hands.

The Design Mechanism is delighted to bring you our inaugural release for Lyonesse: 'Coddefut's Stipule'. This self-contained scenario introduces you to the Elder Isles, and concerns the distressing disappearance of fishermen while plying their trade off Dahaut's eastern coast. Press-ganged by a peevish burghermeister, the pre-generated characters must sail out to the disused tower of Coddefut the Magician to investigate. It may not end well; and for some, it may not end at all.

Fully playable with the Mythras rules, 'Coddefut's Stipule' contains 6 pre-generated characters representing the kinds of personalities encountered in Jack Vance's Lyonesse stories: a preening nobleman; a wily trickster; a cunning thief; a feisty huntress; a weary hedge witch; and a priest who may not be all he seems. But that is not all: special rules taken from the Lyonesse RPG (due in 2020) help everyone bring the flavour (quite literally: food figures highly in the scenario) of a Vancian story to the gaming table. A little taste of the magic system is also on offer, with two of the characters possessing fairy cantraps.

So, for the modest sum of $9.99 for the POD & PDF (or $4.99 if you wish to avoid the death of trees), you can take your first steps into the marvellously irreverent world of Jack Vance's Lyonesse saga. Available from DrivethruRPG and The Design Mechanism store at the below links:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/280201/Coddefuts-Stipule--TDM700

http://thedesignmechanism.com/store.php#!/Lyonesse/c/36165487

The Lyonesse RPG, coming next year, has some incredibly fiendish ways of imprisoning powerful magicians - assuming you are a powerful magician yourself, and command the right sandestins. If you're familiar with the Lyonesse stories, then the fate of Twitten of Twitten's Corner, or Sartzanek, who killed several wizards, can be easily replicated within the game (assuming you're a magician of course. And on the right side of Murgen).

Nope. Been working fine. 

Working for me too. 

Drugs.

Soporifics to keep the magician sedated or too woozy/spaced-out to cast effectively, coupled with effective restraints for hands and tongue. 

Mythic Babylon is set in Sumer, Akkad and Subartu, at the end of the year 1765 BC.

8 minutes ago, threedeesix said:

Is this Mythic Babylon 5? OMG This is Awesome!!! Mythic Babylon 5. I can't believe it. OMG. My favorite Scifi comes to my favorite game!!! OMG... OMG. 😉

Rod

OMG

Silly person.

Quote

Hm, you'd prefer an accessibility limitation over a general downtuning of the Mythic Britain Christian God's direct involvement? I'll have to think about that..

Yes, because miracles worked through invoking a saint and invoking God are more or less the same: it's all God's power; it merely flows differently. 

We took delivery of the Mythic Babylon manuscript this week.

1 hour ago, Thot said:

Thanks!

Hm, I see. Personally, I prefer a bit more mechanical support for that, so I'll probably just drop the rate of direct godly intervention to basically "roll 01 on D100, and you succeed".

You can certainly do that - it won't break anything - but it might be more effective to perhaps use the Christian Passion %, and rule that unless the priest has Christian Passion of at least 80%, only saints can be called upon.

Personally though, I prefer to use roleplaying and character to regulate these sorts of circumstances, rather than game mechanics.