[Mythras] DESTINED Superheroes RPG

[TristramEvans]

So, it's out. Who has it? Who has thoughts on it? What'd they do right? What'd they do wrong? Why is that cover so ugly?

 

[Necrozius]

GRAIN OF SALT: I'm not familiar with super hero RPGs. The only one that I own is the Super Powers Companion for Savage Worlds.

The book appears densely packed with great information for doing super hero campaigns. Or just modern campaigns with humans who have special abiities.

But I like the basic scalability (street level > epic > paragon) and the way powers have all sorts of interesting limitations or scope. Advice sidebars for all kinds of different themes. I like the broad categorization of powers based on Tropes (the speedster, the vigilante, the power armor etc..)

Waiting for the hardcopy to arrive before delving deeply. But from high-level, superficial flip throughs, I like what I see so far.

Context for you TristramEvans : I have a much better feeling about this on initial flip-through than I did with the Hellboy RPG that we both got scammed on. I went into THAT book with very high hopes and good faith, but came out feeling... MEEEEHHHH. This one (Destined) I went in a little wary that I'd jumped the gun and made an impulse buy. But I'm happy with the density and presentation (so far).

 

[Endless Flight]

My first impression is that it’s pretty nice. I could actually see running a game of G.I.Joe using that ruleset, so it seems to work for more than just supers.

 

[TristramEvans]

My first impression is that it’s pretty nice. I could actually see running a game of G.I.Joe using that ruleset, so it seems to work for more than just supers.

oooo...interesting, especially as that GI Joe RPG is ...out? Almost out? (I know folks who did preorders now have pdf access)

 

[Necrozius]

So for example, I'm trying to see if I can rebuild my first RPG super hero: Cheshire.

Basically an inept wannabee beatnik who can become invisible and incorporeal. The Powers section on Invisibility and Vaporous Form has lots of things to consider (how the power works, what limitations it can have). I'm very pleased with what I see here...

And because its Mythras, I can focus his skills on things besides Combat and feel useful anyway.

 

[Endless Flight]

oooo...interesting, especially as that GI Joe RPG is ...out? Almost out? (I know folks who did preorders now have pdf access)

I won’t even bother with that game. I can do a sourcebook for Mythras and have it be more to my style.

 

[Necrozius]

It also has rules for bases of operation (from a secret apartment to a volcano lair). The more that I flip through it the more it feels "complete" to me.

 

[Bunch]

I'm going to write a supplement for Mythras call Can Do That! (Additional examples and skills for Mythras)

 

[Spellslinging Sellsword]

I feel like TDM should make a Mythras Can Do That shirt. :-)

 

[TristramEvans]

Is there a system in place for Power Stunts?

 

[JAMUMU]

I'll be all over this once I can get it sourced in the UK.

 

[Endless Flight]

Is there a system in place for Power Stunts?

They are called Boosts. They are paid for with Power Points. For one Power Point, the effect is something like making a non-attack power a free action instead of a standard action. For two points, which is the usual cost for a boost, the effect is something like increasing the numerical effect. For three points, the effect is significant, like altering the power to something else, but within reason. They are written as part of the power but you have to pay the cost any time you use the Boost. I like it.

 

[Chris Brady]

You have my attention.

 

[Raleel]

I have it, obviously. I have already made up some tentative power templates for the Shadowrun races. I am mostly happy with them (elves I'm not sure I like).

The allotment system is a pretty snazzy way to handle resources. Sort of similar to BRP resources not somewhat nor. Essentially, you have a percentage for personal resources you can raise like a skill. You get allotment slots that represent capacity to buy, and there are restrictions on what you can buy (common, uncommon, restricted, highly restricted). You can get one or more organizational allotment scores as well, and those can get restricted and highly restricted items.

I’ve not had a good chance to read the whole thing thoroughly. Thus far, I’m pretty happy with it. I don’t think it covers every single damn power, but it gets most of them.
notably, it has a fairly heavily altered skill list and quite a bit of advice I’ve heard and said over the years, but haven’t read in detail. The Gemelos née Gemini City setting I’m familiar with from Agony and Ecstasy and I like. The xp point costs remind me strongly of cortex. It has a new special effect, and changes to combat that suit, with sidebars that you can use original full bore Mythras as well.

I'm going to write a supplement for Mythras call Can Do That! (Additional examples and skills for Mythras)

Bil and I are talking about doing a podcast episode like this, or at least what to consider when building your game.

 

[Raleel]

Power level of some powers is definitely contained. For example, while enhanced strength Is letting you lift a couple metric tons, teleportation and telepathy are limited to a dozen meters or so. It is noted in the power level section that a Spider-Man is around the high end, and that tracks. There is another section that discusses that.

Keep in mind that this system is not exhaustive, and Destined’s power system is not designed to create truly godlike paragons of heroism or villainy. However, future supplements will expand on the Core Powers and Power Levels presented in this book.

Thor is almost certainly out of scope, but maybe a wee Thor is not. Hulk definitely is. Hawkeye and black widow definitely in scope. Captain America probably is in scope. Iron man probably as well, at least mostly. Dr strange is probably not. Most of the X men are. Professor X is probably too strong of a telepath strictly without a fair amount of custom boosts. Wolverine is I think.

The different levels regain their power points at different rates, with paragon getting to use boosts 3x as fast as street. There are also different numbers of powers and limits at each level, generally scaling linearly. Street gets “normal” skills and stats from Mythras, while paragon gets 20 more points in characteristics and 100 more skill points. Also some boosts in hit points, etc.

it uses culture and career and has a decent list. It uses the much less problematic “urban, rural, archaic, and advanced” set of cultures and describes them well. There is a quick hero generation section with a skill pyramid. Intimidate skill exists and streetwise is a standard skill.

 

[Malakor]

I'm going to write a supplement for Mythras call Can Do That! (Additional examples and skills for Mythras)

I'd buy that in a hot minute

 

[Timejpckey]

Mythras can do anything, but I am biased.
I'm Mike, one of the authors, and glad to see the interest! If you have any questions about the game please ask and I will respond when I can.

 

[Raleel]

I'd buy that in a hot minute

Next someone is going to whine about raleel not doing a cult book. Also see latest episode of the podcast below for the answer to that.

 

[AsenRG]

So, it's out. Who has it? Who has thoughts on it? What'd they do right? What'd they do wrong? Why is that cover so ugly?

Surprisingly, I haven't got it...yet. I was going to wait for the payday to order the print!

However, I just got some "stimulus pay" today for some extra work, so I can devote a chunk of it to getting Destined...

 

[Jenx]

Mythras can do anything, but I am biased.
I'm Mike, one of the authors, and glad to see the interest! If you have any questions about the game please ask and I will respond when I can.

The game sounds like it is geared for street to *around* mid level Avengers/Justice League, is that right? The biggest hitters of those groups (Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Thor, Captain Marvel, Vision) might be beyond the remit of the game as is? Any plans to change/add to that with an expansion?

Any plans for adventures, splatbooks, settings, conversion notes from other games to Destined? The usual suspects (Marvel Superheroes - the good one not the new one), DC Heroes, Mutants and Masterminds, Icons etc may be reasonable conversion choices though two of them are very out of print...

When can I buy it in the UK in Hardback? Does the Hardback come with PDF? If so I'll hang on. I still proudly wear my 3 day ban medal from the big purple for posting what great value Mythras was in print+pdf on someones' thread about pricey PDF pricing.

Will I be able to read it? Where can I get my eyes lasered so that I'm still legally able to drive trains AND read any product with Mythras attached to it? Do you have microscopes for eyes? Enquiring minds want to know (well, mine does).

I tend to buy all Supers games, even ones I have to squint at

Might be nice to see a dedicated Destined thread with character conversions...

 

[AsenRG]

The game sounds like it is geared for street to *around* mid level Avengers/Justice League, is that right? The biggest hitters of those groups (Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Thor, Captain Marvel, Vision) might be beyond the remit of the game as is? Any plans to change/add to that with an expansion?

Any plans for adventures, splatbooks, settings, conversion notes from other games to Destined? The usual suspects (Marvel Superheroes - the good one not the new one), DC Heroes, Mutants and Masterminds, Icons etc may be reasonable conversion choices though two of them are very out of print...

When can I buy it in the UK in Hardback? Does the Hardback come with PDF? If so I'll hang on. I still proudly wear my 3 day ban medal from the big purple for posting what great value Mythras was in print+pdf on someones' thread about pricey PDF pricing.

Will I be able to read it? Where can I get my eyes lasered so that I'm still legally able to drive trains AND read any product with Mythras attached to it? Do you have microscopes for eyes? Enquiring minds want to know (well, mine does).

I tend to buy all Supers games, even ones I have to squint at

Might be nice to see a dedicated Destined thread with character conversions...

 

[Timejpckey]

The game sounds like it is geared for street to *around* mid level Avengers/Justice League, is that right? The biggest hitters of those groups (Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Thor, Captain Marvel, Vision) might be beyond the remit of the game as is? Any plans to change/add to that with an expansion?

Any plans for adventures, splatbooks, settings, conversion notes from other games to Destined? The usual suspects (Marvel Superheroes - the good one not the new one), DC Heroes, Mutants and Masterminds, Icons etc may be reasonable conversion choices though two of them are very out of print...

When can I buy it in the UK in Hardback? Does the Hardback come with PDF? If so I'll hang on. I still proudly wear my 3 day ban medal from the big purple for posting what great value Mythras was in print+pdf on someones' thread about pricey PDF pricing.

Will I be able to read it? Where can I get my eyes lasered so that I'm still legally able to drive trains AND read any product with Mythras attached to it? Do you have microscopes for eyes? Enquiring minds want to know (well, mine does).

I tend to buy all Supers games, even ones I have to squint at

Might be nice to see a dedicated Destined thread with character conversions...

Whoa... Lot of questions. LOL
It is geared for street level and mid tier superheroes. You can make any hero you want as long as you are not planning on tossing small moons around. I made a servicable version of Thor and one playtested made a Dr. Strange analog that worked quite well.
If people like it and it sells well there are plans to expand the game. I have a file of notes on more powers, higher power levels for Moon tossing, etc. I am currently writing the first adventure and we have notes for some more. There is an included setting so for the time being there will be our main focus. If Disney or Discovery would like us to do any Marvel or DC splatbooks I will gladly provide my contact information.
Not sure about shipping on the hardback copies but if you order it from Design Mechanism's we store you get a free PDF if you buy a print copy.
I can try to whip something up in my volcano lair we could use for your eyes and while I am not a licensed medical provider give me a satellite based laser and I will see what I can do.

 

[Bilharzia]

Readability - to my surprise I can read it ok on a Remarkable 1 tablet - 10 inch screen.

Below is a scan of a page, with a print copy of RuneQuest 6 Essentials behind it for a text size comparison. RQ6 is the gold standard for readability. You can see, the main body text is smaller, but I have found it ok to read, marginally better than the Mythras CRB.

What I would have *really* liked is if the book was entirely typeset using the box-out text font and size - all of that is perfectly sized (to my eyes) and a very easy read. That said, I have spent a few hours now reading the book and it's not torture. I don't know how my particular reader compares to a print copy, I would guess it is a fair bit smaller.

.

 

[Malakor]

Ordered the print copy. I've downloaded the pdf and printed myself a couple dozen character sheets to piddle with over the long weekend.
Wish me luck

 

[burbles]

Ordered the print copy. I've downloaded the pdf and printed myself a couple dozen character sheets to piddle with over the long weekend.
Wish me luck

See this is why I love RPGPub, its so educational!

I saw 'piddle' and only knew one meaning for it, but after looking it up on the internet I've found there's two.

I mentally had an image of you wandering around the house like an untrained puppy, so I was wondering if you had meant to type 'fiddle'. But no, I think you meant what you wrote!

 

[Malakor]

See this is why I love RPGPub, its so educational!

I saw 'piddle' and only knew one meaning for it, but after looking it up on the internet I've found there's two.

I mentally had an image of you wandering around the house like an untrained puppy, so I was wondering if you had meant to type 'fiddle'. But no, I think you meant what you wrote!

LOL,

Yes, around here (I'm in Georgia, US, not the former Soviet region ;) ), it is often used to mean 'messing around', 'wasting time' or the like. Probably originated as a bastardization of 'fiddle' and it is also used in the other context, but not quite as often around here.

And it is most likely a generational thing as well. I'm in my sixth decade currently.

 

[Raleel]

Readability - to my surprise I can read it ok on a Remarkable 1 tablet - 10 inch screen.

Below is a scan of a page, with a print copy of RuneQuest 6 Essentials behind it for a text size comparison. RQ6 is the gold standard for readability. You can see, the main body text is smaller, but I have found it ok to read, marginally better than the Mythras CRB.

What I would have *really* liked is if the book was entirely typeset using the box-out text font and size - all of that is perfectly sized (to my eyes) and a very easy read. That said, I have spent a few hours now reading the book and it's not torture. I don't know how my particular reader compares to a print copy, I would guess it is a fair bit smaller.

.

I'm not normally much to gripe about fonts, but the boxout text is very good.

 

[Rob Necronomicon]

Does this have the same crunch level of Mythras? Or have they toned it down a wee bit for the super's genre?

Thanks!

 

[Endless Flight]

Does this have the same crunch level of Mythras? Or have they toned it down a wee bit for the super's genre?

Thanks!

It’s about the same really.

 

[Rob Necronomicon]

It’s about the same really.

Thanks! I really like Mythras as a system but it's a little too crunchy for me. I tend to stick with Open Quest or Magic World level of crunch.

 

[Raleel]

Does this have the same crunch level of Mythras? Or have they toned it down a wee bit for the super's genre?

Thanks!

Wee bit less. Doesn’t have reach (well changes it), for example, which eliminates 2 special effects an a couple of actions. Fixed action points are the default. Several more special effects move to combat expert (bleed and impale, for example) so if you don’t have those you don’t deal with them. It still has hit locations, and those are used in several places. Range modifiers are optional, as with a good chunk of other more detailed Mythras rules. Major wounds are optional.

so…yes? Less, some. Still has hit locations, though I imagine careful restriction of powers would probably allow for removal and use of general hit points.

 

[Rob Necronomicon]

Still has hit locations, though I imagine careful restriction of powers would probably allow for removal and use of general hit points.

Thanks! That could work alright. I tend to prefer general hit points just because it's quicker.

 

[Raleel]

Thanks! That could work alright. I tend to prefer general hit points just because it's quicker.

• blast - armor piecing an ongoing make reference to locations, but I don't think it's important. Salvo would need a tweak, since it hits multiple locations. low penetration makes mention, unimportant
• combat expert - archery has shift location you can ignore, impaled weapons stay in locations (ignore, just apply general penalty). pinning attack would require some adjudication since it is "whatever location struck cannot be used"
• deflect - talks about shields. you can probably deal with that. Tower shield loses a small amount of benefit
• Duplication - the dups have locations, and are underlings. should be easy to deal with.
• durability - second wind lets you recover hit points to a location. probably just make it to main hit points and it'll be close. the glass jaw limit will go away entirely.
• elemental control - elemental vulnerability would be ignored for location
• energy field - energy flare you could ignore locations. selective field would go away or be adjudicated.
• entrap - you'd probably have to adjudicate which ones can't be used and how that works. a lot of this in this power
• inherent armor - you can shift armor around based on location. you'd ignore this. ablative would affect everything. partial coverage goes away
• material mimic - ignore reference to location
• artificial being - healing, which i'm sure you have rules for.
• precognition - ignore references, just do damage
• regeneration - divides healing among locations, probably just apply your healing rules. a few others are similar. single location healing goes away.
• shrinking - ignore references
• stretching - probably get rid of weakened limbs.

i think that's about it, honestly. most of these are "just apply to regular hit points". Entrap is probably the most complex.

 

[Bilharzia]

I'm not normally much to gripe about fonts, but the boxout text is very good.

I initially thought the boxout text was a larger font with larger line spacing, but from a closer look it is using the same font size and the same baseline grid as the main body text, but it is so much clearer.

 

[Bilharzia]

LOL,

Yes, around here (I'm in Georgia, US, not the former Soviet region ;) ), it is often used to mean 'messing around', 'wasting time' or the like. Probably originated as a bastardization of 'fiddle' and it is also used in the other context, but not quite as often around here.

And it is most likely a generational thing as well. I'm in my sixth decade currently.

The English do say "pissing around" to mean messing around. So the Georgia version might just be a more polite version of that...

 

[Bilharzia]

Does this have the same crunch level of Mythras? Or have they toned it down a wee bit for the super's genre?

Thanks!

It is about the same. I was wondering whether they might move towards a M-Space style of combat but it is more or less straight Mythras. The enormous number of powers though does introduce a new level of complexity to take account of what the powers are doing, some of which is very uncertain and requires the GM to use seat-of-the-pants ruling.

 

[lategamer]

.Not sure about shipping on the hardback copies but if you order it from Design Mechanism's we store you get a free PDF if you buy a print copy.
I can try to whip something up in my volcano lair we could use for your eyes and while I am not a licensed medical provider give me a satellite based laser and I will see what I can do.

Am I blind? I can't see Destined on http://thedesignmechanism.com/

 

[Malakor]

Am I blind? I can't see Destined on http://thedesignmechanism.com/

I had a hard time finding it too. Here's the link straight to their store

The Design Mechanism

the-design-mechanism.mybigcommerce.com

 

[Loz]

Am I blind? I can't see Destined on http://thedesignmechanism.com/

It's not officially on full public release until tomorrow, hence no full presence on the website just yet.

 

[lategamer]

It's not officially on full public release until tomorrow, hence no full presence on the website just yet.

Well, it's bought now. And it'll ship to my parents address ....which I'll have to visit specifically