What New Games Would You Like To See In Mythic Europe?

Yes. More myth less historically accurate succession tables.

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That's an interesting fact, did you know that one of the leading theories for Romani origins is a migration from India? Based mostly on the fact that their language is part of the Indo-Aryan group (very clearly so, for example counting in Hindu - ek, do, tin, car, pak; counting in one dialect of Romani - ekh, duj, trin, štar, pandž). Genetic studies have also shown them to be related to certain groups in Northern India, although it's far from definitive.

Depending on which timeline you believe (there are versions where the Romani started migrating west as early as 400 AD and others where it is as late as 1100) this origin might be even more pronounced in 1220. Romani history at that point is almost completely unknown so you could insert them into pretty much any location without it being implausible.

This is giving me ideas...

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Cubicle 7 did a great job bringing The One Ring to D&D 5e through their Adventures in Middle-Earth books. They added Journey mechanics, Audience mechanics, and a number of innovations that change the focus from monster killing and dungeon crawling to exploration, forging alliances, and other "Middle-Earth" like endeavors. The One Ring RPG is very different from D&D 5e, but they did a good job translating their game vision of Middle-Earth to D&D. I'm confident that the spirit of Mythic Europe could be expressed in D&D 5e terms as well.

I don't see this working at all. Aragon is not a better fighter because he can take more hits (D&D) but because his skill is good (most other RPGs). At the end of the story Frodo is not a better fighter/thief than at the beginning but he is more mature. D&D is a game that really no world fits into other than D&D.

But then again, ArM is actually an ADD wizard set in Mythic Europe. Hermetic Magic is actually taken from Players Handbook rather than magic as it was imagined in the middle ages and before.

More accurately it was taken from modern fantasy concepts of magic, which are based on "can we manage this as a special effect in a movie" rather than medieval ideas of magic. Players handbook is just an arbitrary list of effects based on arbitrary levels and pulled out of a DM's posterior. Ars magic was, at most, inspired by players handbook, it certainly wasn't taken from it.

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There's D&D the game and then there are the various D&D campaign settings. I'm saying that D&D, the game, can be used with Mythic Europe, the campaign setting. The campaign setting will set the tone for the game (what's important, what players do during a session, etc.). The style of play that occurs in most D&D settings is not the same style of play suitable for Mythic Europe. It's also not the same style of play that one would expect in a Middle-Earth setting. Yes, I agree with you. It's the reason that Gygax said that the Middle-Earth setting could never work for AD&D (and he was right). But I'm talking about D&D 5e...

What I'm saying is Cubicle 7 essentially recast the D&D 5e game to fit the conventions that they set up for Middle-Earth in their RPG. If you try to adventure and fight like a normal D&D character in their version of Middle-Earth, you won't last very long. For example, they put a great amount of restrictions on short rests and long rests which really changes the pace of things. They also make it an option to eliminate the earning of XP (narrative leveling, when the time is right is suggested; even D&D gives methods for this). But they didn't just cut out the normal D&D way of doing things, they also added new mechanics so that the party can have adventures that fit the Middle-Earth aesthetic.

I'm saying that I believe the basic chassis and engine of D&D 5e is general enough to put a beautiful Mythic Europe body on it and have a whole new vehicle that you can use to drive where D&D doesn't normally go. I'd really like to see Mythic Europe as a D&D campaign setting with appropriate deletions and additions to the ruleset to reflect what's been presented in Ars Magica.

Hit points are not a measure of how tough you are. It is an abstract measure of your luck and fortune. And D&D is one of the best combat systems in gaming. And Cyberpunk. Anyway, Ars Magica was originally created an alternate magic system for D&D. Everything fits into D&D. If you cannot make it fit, that is your own shortcoming.

I have to disagree- GURPS is the best combat system in gaming.
I agree that Ars magica was originally created to be a better magic system for D&D, but it has become much more while D&D has more or less spun in place reinventing its own wheel. Actually in my opinion 5th ed D&D is a lesser system than 1st edition, but they are all more Tactical Strategies Research than roleplaying...

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Never was a fan of GURPS, but then I admit I haven't looked at it in decades. I'm also one of the people who feels that D&D has become a better system with every iteration, with some exceptions.

With all respect D&D is very much a game, not a role playing game. I have not read the 5th edition but I guess you kill some people, take their stuff and double your HP and get new spells, right? This is not a setting for a world... it is a setting for a game. In ArM (and most other rpgs) killing some people might make you figure out how to kill people next time. It will not increase your HP, make you a better violinist, and make you better at resisting poisons. No it won't! I am not saying that D&D is a bad game, I am not saying that is is no fun, I say that it is an inferior system for a world that strives toward some kind of realism. ArM, FATE, RQ, GURPS are not realistic... but they are more realistic than D&D.

No, it's not just a fantasy skirmish wargame. D&D 5e has three pillars of game play - exploration, social interaction, and combat. It also has a downtime system that could be easily modified to represent seasonal advancement. Adventures in Middle-Earth modified it and called it the Fellowship Phase; this is when the PCs advance. You could have your characters adventure for game years, not kill a single thing, and still advance.

downtime is essentially logistics and training, and while it claims to have social interaction as a "pillar it has absolutely no rules supporting that. exploration is easily a part of skirmishing as well, in terms of either setting or simply fog of war. And no, standard rules if you adventure for years without killing a single thing you will not advance, unless the GM gives experience for non lethal encounters as if they were lethal. There are alternate rules for advancement, but even those are based on the passage of time rather than any actual roleplaying. You can't even play a non-combat oriented character. Clerics are all about calling down divine magic for smiting enemies, protection and logistical support rather than dealing with spiritual crises and counseling the faithful, just as one of the most blatant examples. Arguably it is also an incredibly racist game in that "monstrous races" are stereotypes, conform to stereotypes, and basically exist to have a sub-human humanoid race that can be killed without creating moral or cognitive dissonance.

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It's always fun to debate our favorite rule system, and we all have very strong opinions about what games suck and what games are awesome. None of us here are going to persuade anyone else to change their mind on this topic.

I humbly ask we stay on the original question:

What games would you like to see in Mythic Europe?

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So your D&D 5e character does not kill a single thing but talkes his/herself out of every situation, still advance – and get more hit points? :open_mouth:

Hit points are about luck and fortune, not skill or stamina. Granted, I have not played AD&D since 2nd edition. I just know that most paper RPGs are essentially the same. It is really all about what you choose make out of it. I have had D&D games where characters get married, had children that grew up to be adventurers, players engage in nationwide political machinations, I had a halfling labor strike (which wound up slitting the party), and all that jazz.

Now, I do apologize for beating the horse here. But it was my first RPG and I get defensive. I also think it is a legitimate topic to discuss. Someone said they would like to see a mashup of Ars & D&D. I think that would be cool. It is a great combat system with a crappy magic system. It is a viable idea to use the OGL for d20 to publish such a book.

Which reminds me of something else. Another tangent. What if Atlas supported and empowered fan created material? Hear me out. White Wolf went under some time ago. Mostly. They were bought out by Onyx Path (and it seems that they do not hold any claim to the words "Order of Hermes" or Tremere". Can someone at Atlas confirm or clarify this?).

Anyways, WW still exists in name I guess. They are allowing anyone that wants to do so write and publish fan made material for the WoD line. It gets published as a PDF through the Storyteller's Vault line. You can get them on Drive Through RPG as well (they are a great site, that is where I scored PDF copies of ArM2 materials). It is wide open what you can do, and a ton of fan material available. They do maintain a moderate amount of oversite and reserve the right to withdraw the material, but they are pretty low key about it.

Atlas should consider something similar. It is a very low investment risk, they would of course get a cut, and projects could keep ringing the bell indefinitely. What's more, fans could generate material for any edition, which would support all those old books Atlas is still selling (as I mentioned, I recently scored a few ArM2 & 3 books as PDFs at a great price), there is still a market).

I agree that Atlas should consider a community content program, but it really needs to be very low maintenance on their side to be worth doing, as the expected level of income is not at all high. It might be something to consider, but then decide not to do.

This is not an accident. Just so you know.

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OK, this sounds completely awesome.

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The foundations of Mythic Europe for me are not the hermetic magic system or the Order of Hermes, but history and the acceptance that the imagined is real. Based on this, it's just a question of personal taste, where to focus. Ars Magica concentrated on mighty wizards in 1220 and expanded from there. Other games might focus on Holy Orders and/or the Crusades. Or you can advance the timeline and do a sea/ship-based Age of Exploration RPG. Even a dark 30 Years War RPG with infernal and divine dealings might be super interesting.

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