Mythras lite - Imperative, M-Space, Odd Soot or Comae

[Jae]

I am looking for a light version of Mythras to introduce to non-gaming friends, with a setting/campaign that is "ready to go".  My hope is that in time I will be able to expose them to more Mythras rules and expand upon the setting. To avoid complex Magic systems I was thinking of a pulp or modern setting or possibly scifi.

Odd Soot with Red Star interests me, as it combines an intriguing campaign with a less crunchy Mythras and looks to be beginner friendly.

Mythras Imperative and a pulp campaign on Monster Island also intrigues me, but I fear that may be more complex to run.

Are there any rules and campaign pairings that are beginner friendly?

[Raleel]

You can pretty easily run a modern game with just Imperative. It has everything you need. It removes quite a bit of complexity. The big thing with complexity is hit locations and special effects, as Imperative removes reach and has fixed action points. Ironically, I think firearms simplify things a bit in a modern setting - you don't get to dodge firearms, so there are few defensive special effects and fewer rolls.

You could also run a one shot of Shrine of the Traitor Gods, which is designed to be lighter for a convention game. It portrays the world in the Core Book, and there are follow on modules with Sariniya's Curse (starter module, with pregens), Meeros Falling (in the Gamesmaster's Pack, which is a free download), and Meeros Doomed (from DTRPG). The latter two are directly following the events of the Core Rulebook.

Here is a document I've put together outlining a campaign I'm working on. It has no player based magic at the start. It takes place on Monster Island, and is modern-ish (ww2). I've tweaked with the culture and career structure based on A Gift From Shamash which has military careers. It also has some new house rules about group luck and uses the pulp rules from the Mythras Companion. Because the players start with no magic, you can introduce that easily and slowly. Because they mostly have guns, they aren't dealing with reach. When they are, either they have it (with bayonets affixed) or not (just the ka-bar). Currently the only slightly troublesome thing there is full automatic rules, which are cumbersome in Mythras. You could easily fix that by giving strict orders against full auto fire.

Here is a Western one in a similar vein. Also uses Pulp rules. It is slightly less polished. I've deliberately left Native Americans/First Peoples out of that, as I don't feel qualified to add them to a game and portray them especially well. I was planning on running it using some of the free western adventures I could find on DTRPG.

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by Raleel

[Jae]

Those are great suggestions.

I shall look into the Meeros campaign as that may give the slow introduction to rules and Magic systems that my group will need.

Your use of Monster Island with pulp or modern characters is very close to an idea I had for the gradual introduction of Magics. I love your ranged weapons idea as a way of introducing combat and will be using that for sure.

I feel quite motivated. Thanks