lawrence.whitaker

Aeon have told me that the 'Free UK and Europe Delivery' was a mistake. I tested it out to see what the delivery charge to Canada would be, and they offered that free, too. Shipping anything overseas, whether by sea or air, is becoming hideously expensive, and obviously Aeon don't want to lose money on such a new venture. I know it'll be disappointing, but they tell me the European delivery charge will be as reasonable as they can make it. And it will still be far cheaper and faster than buying direct from us and our US warehouse.

It's completing playtesting, has been through editorial, is (as we speak) having the artwork and cover prepared, but won't be ready until 2017 I'm afraid. There is enough in the Mythic Britain core book to make use of the Saxons though - and historical sources are easy enough to find to help flesh out the gaps.

I designed the Mongoose editions of the Elric game to be patron-focused with cult options, because that's how things work in Moorcock's novels. Individual pacts are common, and Elric himself refers to Arioch as his 'patron'. The cults can be used as traditional religions if you wish, but equally they can be shorthand for a bunch of patrons. The rules are highly flexible and, because they were written for Mythras's predecessor, you won't have any problems integrating the two.

If you can find a copy of 'Elric of Melnibone', published by Mongoose using the MRQ2/Legend system (and thus 95% compatible with Mythras), you'll find just such a patron system described in detail. Furthermore, the Cults of the Young Kingdoms supplement expanded on it considerably.

No, Pete does that and uses it to torture and horrify any surviving PCs.

Don't bother. You can only cry so much.

Correct. Aeon print and warehouse our books in the UK and Europe. They're not print on demand, they're an experienced publisher who has the rights to reproduce all our works for sale. I believe Mythic Britain and Luther Arkwright will be going to press as soon as Mythras and Classic Fantasy are ready. Just keep an eye on their website.

Aeon has already gone to press with the same print file we use. They do get the updated PDF version though. So the print version is consistent with ours, as is the PDF version.

Yes, this is correct. Aeon are preparing all files for printing and getting their PDFs ready for download when customers place an order. We do much the same thing. Mythras and Classic Fantasy are the first two Aeon releases, and I believe they should have PDF files for downloads ready this week. Printing takes several additional weeks.

Not yet. Not much. The book focuses on the Saxon settlement of Britain.

There's an errata thread on our own Forum - do post things like this there, so we have everything in one place.

It might be, although players might prefer to have their own deck. Depends very much on the way you play and how comfortable players are choosing an effect. Some people don't need to consult anything, whereas others prefer to weigh-up options. Entirely up to the GM and the way you play.

That, I don't know. If you drop a line to Oliver Rathbone via the Help and Contact Us link on their website, he'll explain how it will be working. But you will get the free PDF as well as the print copy. That is a condition of our agreement with them. On Mythic Britain, not sure yet. I think it, and Arkwright, will be the two titles released quite quickly.

Well, it is the end of the chapter... As I've said earlier, you shouldn't find much at all has changed from RQ6, so hopefully you won't have too much adjustment work ahead of you.

Thanks Shawn. It obviously got truncated in the paste. And double thanks for buying, too.

Mythras Revealed! Mythras is now available. The PDF is available immediately, and the print edition can be preordered from the Design Mechanism store. The print edition should ship in approximately 3-4 weeks. Now, obviously, everyone should buy a copy of Mythras because it’s our flagship book, but of course there is the question that everyone who owns its direct predecessor, RQ6, will ask: ‘Do I need to buy Mythras too?’ The game engine is unchanged; aside from a few tweaks here and there, and the inclusion of a range of new Special Effects (including effects for Spirit Combat), the main changes are to layout, organization and page count. Mythras is 304 pages compared with 456 for RQ6, but as an edition of the game, you can quite happily continue using your old set of rules with all our new Mythras supplements, without worrying too much about missing out on anything that’s fundamentally changed. So, we hope you will buy Mythras, but we understand if you don’t want to. To try to encourage you though, we are offering all our RQ6 customers a $5.00 discount on the PDF edition of the game. It’s usual price is $15.00, but our loyal customers can buy it for just $10.00 – and there’s a discount code being sent by separate email to everyone who ordered the PDF directly from us. If you bought through Drivethru, you'll get a similar email. If you purchased through Moon Design, please send me a PM so I can send the code separately. So it’s welcome to Mythras – we’re delighted to bring it to you. http://www.thedesignmechanism.com/products Price Print: $39.95 (includes PDF free of charge when bought from us) PDF Only: $15.00 ($10.00 for RQ6 customers) Mythras Combat Cards Available exclusively from DrivethruRPG and other OneBookShelf sites, this play aid for Mythras presents each Combat Special Effect as a poker-deck sized playing card, featuring artwork on one side, and the effect’s description on the reverse. No more hunting through lists of effects, you can keep your favoured effects in its own hand, ready to consult or play as needed. The deck also includes cards representing Action Points and Luck Points, Fatigue and markers for various combat conditions. All the new Special Effects found in Mythras are here, so if you don’t want to upgrade from RQ6, you can still get all the effects by buying the Combat Cards deck. Plus, the set comes with the deck in PDF form, so you can print off additional copies as needed – although the quality of these cards is beautiful, and far more desirable to use in play. The set has a guide book that describes different ways for using the cards, and explains the icons and colour coding used to differentiate between effect types. This is a must-have accessory for all discerning Mythras players and GMs! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/185 ... mbat-Cards Price Physical Card deck (55 poker sized cards, full colour): $15.00 (includes PDF guide booklet and card sheet) Card deck PDF only: $10.00 (includes the PDF guide booklet) Mythic Rome Pete Nash’s Ennie Award winning book is back in print for Mythras! Updated for the Mythras engine, with new artwork and layout design, Mythic Rome is an exhaustive sourcebook for the Roman Empire during the Republic. Mythic Rome encapsulates the dark and gritty past, allowing players to take part in the founding of Rome as a bandit on the Tiber; to overthrow the tyrant Tarquinius, the last of the 7 kings; conquer the rival Etruscan city states; watch the city be sacked by Gauls; battle Hannibal during the Punic Wars; take part in the malevolent Bacchanalian conspiracy; fight alongside Spartacus or against him; or choose sides during the civil war between Caesar and Pompey. This invaluable book contains rules for everything from political standing to chariot racing, along with comprehensive Roman careers and guides for the weapons, armour and combat styles of Rome's legions and her enemies. Also included are obscure supernatural creatures and new magic systems to reflect the way magic works from the perspective of the Roman's themselves. Continuing the quality and historical depth of the Design Mechanism's Mythic series, Mythic Rome stands as one of the best historical roleplaying supplements of all time, describing in intricate detail every aspect of everyday Roman life. Indeed, this book is packed with quotations written during the last days of the Republic, revealing shocking details of Rome the eternal city... a shining pinnacle of civilisation built upon a grisly foundation of crime, superstition, war and treachery. Mythic Rome will be made available for preorders in early September. More details to follow. Price Print: $44.95 (includes free PDF when bought from us)

I know you've been waiting patiently for the news promised for this weekend on the Mythras release. I'm going to delay the announcement by one day, because there are a few things on the website and store Pete and I have had to take care of. I intend providing all promised details tomorrow evening, which while a little later than planned, also happens to coincide with my birthday. Watch this space...

Actually, super secret project isn't overly super secret if you look at our own forum. There's a reasonably hefty hint contained in the Cards thread (http://designmechanism.freeforums.org/cards-t1658.html) and this image:http://imageshack.com/i/poDMVcNPj. But more details will be available over the weekend.

There'll be some news on a whole bunch of things this weekend, including super secret thing.

Listen, if I need 'em at most font sizes, it's only fair everyone else needs 'em too...

Evade.

Yes - it's available right now. PM me with your email address for a copy.

When he's in Bastard GM Mode, that is quite an apt description.

On Heroic Abilities We left them out of Mythras for a number of reasons. First, I don't especially like them, but that wasn't the main reason for their omission. One of the issues people had with Heroic Abilities was the whole Hero Point economy, and why you had to spend your heroism to earn a feat. As we did away with Hero Points and introduced Luck Points (which work in a fundamentally different way), we'd have had to introduce yet another point tally if Heroic Abilities were to be retained - and we didn't want to do that. Thirdly, we introduced Mysticism, which we think does a far more elegant job of the kind of heroics the HAs set out to achieve. Fourthly, about half the Heroic Abilities are combat-focused, and we wanted to try to get away from the notion that combat is the be-all and end-all of the system. Fifthly, Pete didn't like 'em either. That said, if HAs suit your style of play, they're a doddle to add to Mythras, as long as you find a way of awarding them without a reliance on Hero Points. I like the HeroQuest reward idea mentioned earlier - a good way of providing an individual reward to something that should be a life changing event.

Actually, we don't! Legend is slightly simpler than Mythras, but I think it also includes a few elements that while simpler, clunk a bit. Its part of the reason why we always viewed Mythras as an opportunity to fine tune the engine.