Notes From Pavis

Here is a high level map of the Golden City of Akakor in Monster Island from my campaign in a Treemap format.

You can zoom the PDF.

The route to Akakor can be hard to find. Here are two routes – the Ant Route and Tower Route. The Ant Route takes you thru a territory of Giant Ants and you might encounter an outpost of High Folk at the edges of the Ant territory. There is a secret passage thru the jungle to arrive to the main gate. Tower route means having access to flying beasts.

The Akakor and its buildings and inhabitants are explained more fully in the Monster Island book. The Central Valley is the entryway to the city blocks – it is the level 0. Each of the blocks is a vast area built into the mountain side with multiple levels most of them containing cloud forest and gardens. From each level there is a ramp up to the next one. Housing and slave quarter areas contain large number of buildings – many of them empty. Named buildings might be scattered among the other housing. Not all the named buildings are marked on the map. The size of the area in the map roughly shows the size of the area of those buildings or landmarks in that level.

High Folk City Quarter Views can also be generated for smaller portions of each level by using the City Quarter Generator in a bit different format showing the streets.

City Quarter Generator at toolsfrompavis has now new option to generate High Folk City Quarters. It will create Lodges and Houses for the various Brotherhoods in the High Folk City and Chapters and Orders for the various Sorcery Orders.

For the Brotherhoods and Orders it will generate the appropriate numbers and ranks of adepts, masters, apprentices etc. For the affiliations it also provides affiliations more appropriate for High Folk city.

At the same time all non Mythic Constantinople events, features and disasters have been modified slightly to provide appropriate to them instead of only providing what MC had.

There will be additional modifications later to still fine-tune the High Folk cities a bit.

It seems that I am slowly approaching post #200 in this blog.

Here is something in a little bit of lighter vein inspired by a discussion in the forums and the movie Full Metal Jacket I saw many years ago. It was written after a particularly long day and meant to be harmless diversion telling about fictitious GM…

The creed, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this post are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), events, things, places, buildings, products or feelings and beliefs of any particular person is intended or should be inferred. No particular GM style is meant to be promoted by this. No animals, no monsters, intelligent or non intelligent species nor NPCs nor anything else were harmed in the making up of this post.

Mythras GM’s creed
This is my game system.

There are many like it, but this one is mine.

My game system is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.

Without me, my game system is useless. Without my game system, I am useless. I must use my game system true. I must play wiser than my players who are trying to kill my villains. I must hit them before they hit me. I will…

My game system and I know that what counts in game is not the rounds we fight, the noise of our battle shout, nor the fumbles we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit…

My game system is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its nuances.

I will keep my game system clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will…

Before the secret masters of RPG, I swear this creed. My game system and I are the defenders of my game. We are the masters of our world. We are the saviors of my life.So be it, until victory is ours and there is no enemy, until another campaign!

A bit later interaction with GM and the players
And the way I see it ladies, you owe me for ONE JELLY DOUGHNUT! NOW GET ON YOUR FACES!”

and the whole troop is doing pushups and chanting:

1-2-3-4 I love Mythras Core

Sorcery Calculator has a major upgrade. Sorcery spells from Fioricetta – both the ordinary and illusionist kind have been added. Sorandib spells have been added as well as Mythic Constantinople. After the Vampire wars had a few interesting spells that have been added.

You can now select which set of sorcery spells you are using: RAW, RAW + Monster Island, RAW and all the others or everything.

For those that are strong in the force – one can now add up to 18 sorcery spells to the list if your intelligence matches that.

Some small UI tweaks here and there.

 

More about sorcery tool here and here and even here and grimoires here and magical difficulty modifiers here

Sorcery Calculator has a major upgrade. Monster Island spells have been now added to spell list. You can select either to have them available or not. For those whose INT is weak the tool now states if they try to add a number of spells beyond their ability to memorise. It calculates also number of unique spells chosen. If you happen to choose a Monster Island sorcery spell the name of the spell is written in appropriate red.

For each of the spells chosen it also states the page you can find the description in the RAW or Monster Island book. Some small UI tweaks here and there.

The tool also now should work with Google Sheets and couple of earlier Excel versions as they do not work with recent concat function.

More about sorcery tool here and here and grimoires here and magical difficulty modifiers here

Sorcery Calculator has a major upgrade. You can now add ten of your favourite spells (a grimoire usually has seven or less) from a selector. For these spells the calculator calculates the effect of your skills and abilities according to RAW. It contains all the sorcery spells in Mythras Core Rulebook. For the description of spells you need to go to the book, all the calculations are here.

Other updates include calculating durations and ranges so you will have 65 minutes instead of only having POW * 5 minutes. Some UI tweaks here and there.

More about sorcery tool here and grimoires here and magical difficulty modifiers here

Bird in Hand is a must have scenario for Monster Island, the most useful sword and sorcery sandbox I have used in the past 40+ years of GM’ing (I have GM’d Monster Island since 2013). Monster Island setting and the scenario itself can be used almost anywhere and in many settings from sword & sorcery to pulp among others. In the Monster Island and in the scenario city people are humans and natives of the island are lizard people but that is easily changed to other kind of jungle dwelling natives. The scenario itself is easy to drop into any ongoing Monster Island campaign – adjusting or adding the hooks and NPCs accordingly. In my campaign it was sword and sorcery based setting, humans from the continent in the port city and headhunting human tribes in interior. We played with characters in mid level skills and long history of roleplaying.

The scenario starts in Grimsand – the only civilized town in Monster Island and the writing brings Grimsand to life. There are multiple interesting NPCs that you can interact with and get in trouble with. The actions your players can have an effect on the NPCs, plotlines on the scenario and also on your future in Grimsand. The first part of the scenario stays in the city and a session or two will be spent there with plenty of opportunities for roleplay, using variety of skills to figure out what is going on and dealing with the increasing number of forces interested in the maguffin. I liked that there were multiple options written out for the various paths players may take. As in great scenarios there are multiple paths thru the first part of the scenario. Eventually the party needs to brace themselves and head into the jungle for most likely a two or three session romp but it could be more. Monster Island interior is deadly so players better be prepared and they will be lost in the jungle if you push into the green interior without the right combination of skills and help. If you are quite lucky and resourceful you may be able to tackle the jungle part with one long session but I would not push it that way. 

Hex crawl rules at the end of the scenario are pure gold – making the island itself an adversary that needs to be tackled. They will be used extensively in my ongoing campaign on Monster Island and would be useful also in other jungle or difficult terrain based campaigns.

This is a scenario that melds with the tone and the spirit of Monster Island. It is a worthy addition to Monster Island, Mythras and a great sword and sorcery scenario – and that is high praise indeed.

Great work, John – highly impressed.

5 stars out of 5

You can find the scenario at least in DriveThruRPG and Amazon

Created combat style cards for all (hopefully) the missing ones from RangerDan’s wonderful collection for a Hyborean campaign. There are now 90+ Combat Style cards for those. They are of course readily usable in most sword and sorcery campaigns.

There are also most if not all of Mythic Constantinople combat styles as cards, 40+ of them.

I added also the Brotherhood of Chromatic Doom as an example of sorcerous combat style in Monster Island.

The format has changed a bit in trying to keep the content in one page.

You can find the description for combat style cards here and the combat style cards themselves are here. Altogether there should now be more than 330 of them. All of the weapons (including firearms from Mythic Constantinople are included in the cards). If you find that something important is missing that has been published, please inform.

Here is the list of new combat styles:

Desert Nomad

Iranistani City Militia

Ghulistan Hillman

Kozaki Freerider

Kushite Hunter

Kushite Impi Spearman

Kushite Champion

Darfari Cannibal

Pygmy Headshrinker

Kushite Witchdoctor

Whaler

Pirate

Hyborian Marine

Beggar

Guttersnipe

Shanker

Guardsman or Bodyguard

Judicial Champion

Marksman

Peasant or Herder

Bandit

Patrolman or Outrider

Bailiff or Magistrate

Borderer or Forester

Beast Hunter

Slave-Catcher

Hyborian Archer

Hyborian Crossbowman

Hyborian Spearman

Hyborian Pikeman

Hyborian Halberdier

Hyborian Knight

Hyborian Siege Arbalister

Bossonian Long Bowman

Gunderland Pikeman

Kothic Spahi

Hyperborean Gaunt

Hyperborean Knight of Poltain

Nemedian Adventurer

Turanian Soldier

Turanian Imperial Horseman

Mighty Archer of Turan

Turanian Miner

Hyrkanian Horse Archer

HyrkanianLancer,Cataphract

Stygian Conscript or Slave Army

Stygian Skirmisher

Stygian Slinger

Stygian Scout

Stygian Mamluk Spearman

Stygian Mamluk Bowman

Stygian Charioteer

Stygian Mamluk Highborn

Nordheimr or Cimmerian Thrall

Nordheimr or Cimmerian Hunter

Nordheimr or Cimmerian Freeman

Nordheimr or Cimmerian Jarl or Jarlsguard

Vendhyan Kshatriya

Vendhyan Mahout

Vendhyan Rakhsha

Khitan Conscript Infantry

Khitan Archer

Khitan Crossbowman

Khitan Cavalry

Khitan Charioteers

Khitan Martial Artist

Khitan Alchemist-Engineer

Pictish Hunter

Pictish Brave

Pictish Woad Warrior

Hyperborean Assassin

Hyperborean Spy or Agent

Hyperborean Cultist

Brotherhood of the Chromatic Doom

Kataphraktos

Trapezites

Skoutatoi

Mourtatoi

Toxotes

Cavalier

Arquebusier

Schiopettiere

Mercenary Halberdier

Cretan Light Infantry

Tzangratoroi Crossbowmen

Gasmoulai

Phylakes Crossbowmen

Phylakes civilian watch

Byzantine shipboard combat

Apelatikiaros

Yeniseri

Topcu

Sipahi

Sipahi oglan

Cebelu

Timarli Andolou

Akinci

Basi-Bazouks

Turkish navy

Code Duello

Griffin Hunter

Acephaloi Hunter

Astomatoi Concealable Weapons

Barking Raider

As usual you can find the list of charts to help Mythras GMs available here.

Mythras Combat Traits Encyclopedia has been updated to 2.0 with several more combat traits especially for Hyborean campaign. The sources for combat traits have also been mentioned among the new ones are.

• Longshot
• Crossbow Handling
• Reload Drill

The original encyclopedia article with link is here

Combat style layout has been updated and comments added. Many new combat styles are included. Fioracitta styles and weapons have been added. Saxon styles from Logres are now included. A few additional Monster Island styles have been invented for the weapons that are not in use in any combat style.

Among the new ones are the below. You can find the description for combat style cards here and the combat style cards themselves are here

Fioracitta Brawling

Fioracitta Citizen Levy

Fioracitta Concealable Weapons

Fioracitta Fencing

Fioracitta Fighting Mystic

Fioracitta Combat Illusionist

Pugilism

Fioracitta Shipboard Combat

Fioracitta Swashbuckling

Underwater Attack

Fioracitta Gentlemen’s Last Resort

Fioracitta Mylady’s Secret

Smilodon’s Teeth

Night’s Touch

Teeth of the Shark

Death Dealers

Brotherhood of Truths To Be Forgotten

Peasant Levy

Civilian Levy

Irregular Ronin

Brotherhood of  Silent Watch

Prize Fighter

Seahunter

Saxon Noble

Saxon Hunter

Saxon Fyrdman

Saxon Berserker

As usual you can find the list of charts to help Mythras GMs available here.

Sword and sorcery campaign needs bravos, barbarian berserkers, palace guards, corsairs, enforcers, thugs, and pit fighters as NPCs among others. Here is a set of sword and sorcery encounters that could work for sword and sorcery campaign.

They are designed from the RAW culture skillsets like pregenerated characters (see here) but they have their main combat style in the proficient range (60s) instead of novice.

Their combat styles are based on ranger dan material that is also included in my combat style encyclopedia and shown in the combat style cards. Each NPC gets one or sometimes two combat styles from the list, couple of main weapons, sidearm, shield and ranged weapon if defined there and a name. For most of them folk magic is also described but if your campaign does not use folk magic, you can just drop it. You can find them with tag “Swordandsorcery”.

So as individuals or even groups they are ready to use. Here are the links to MeG pages. For most of them – the basic link, link to a combat style card and a link to a strong one, a leader and group of them as a crew if applicable

• Barbarian Berserker
  • these are a bit bigger and stronger NPCs
  • and here’s a strong one
  • style
• Bravo
  • your quick fighter in the Grey Mouser style
  • style
• Cannibal Brute
  • to be a brute you may have to be a bit bigger and stronger
  • and here’s a strong one
  • style
• Caravaneer
  • caravan merchants and guards
  • style
• Corsair
  • a pirate or privateer by any other name
  • and here’s a strong one
  • and a captain
  • as a crew
  • style
• Duelist
  • your effete duelist
  • style
• Eastern Marine
  • style
• Enforcer
  • these tend to be bit bigger and stronger as well
  • and here’s a strong one
  • style
• Freebooter
  • a pirate or privateer by any other name
  • and here’s a strong one
  • and a captain
  • as a crew
  • style
• Palace Guard
  • and here’s a strong one
  • and a captain
  • as a troop
  • style
• Pit Fighter
  • give me a cage fight any day or a pit to fight in
  • and here’s a strong one
  • style
• Pugilist
  • specialising in fisticuffs
  • and here’s a strong one
  • style
• Reaver
  • a pirate or privateer by any other name
  • and here’s a strong one
  • and a captain
  • as a crew
  • style
• Sailor of the Seas
  • style
• Shemite Asshuri Raider
  • style
• Thug
  • your standard thug
  • and here’s a strong one
  • style
• Wrestler
  • a versatile oiled wrestler, some of them are just standard unarmed fighters
  • chooses one or two wrestling styles from 15 different unarmed combat styles
  • and here’s a strong one
  • style

More material about Encounter Generator can be found here and combat style cards here. The encyclopedia of Combat Styles can be found here. As usual the the useful charts for Mythras can be found here. If you are just beginning with Mythras go to starter resources.