Admit it. One of the coolest things about fantasy role-playing adventure games is playing a character with abilities beyond the norm. Playing a character powerful enough to take on a whole army can be a blast, but it takes some guidelines. Paizo Publishing has produced the "Mythic Adventures" hardback rule book to allow for playing characters of mythic proportions.
The concept behind mythic characters is not the typical level-by-level progression. A mythic character might have the same stats as a regular character, but the distinction is in the special abilities that character possesses. Just as a regular character in the game can choose a path of weapon mastery, a mythic character can choose a path into becoming a mythic character.
The book is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 begins with creating mythic heroes. Chapter 2 takes on mythic feats. Chapter 3 casts light on mythic spells. Chapter 4 gives rules for running a mythic game. Chapter 5 gives a bunch of examples for mythical magic items and Chapter 6 details mythic monsters. The book concludes with Chapter 7 and a mythic adventure called "Fire Over Blackcrag."
In Chapter 1, the book outlines the rules for creating a mythic character. Each character belongs to one of six mythic paths: Archmage, Champion, Guardian, Hierophant, Marshal and Trickster. Even at the first tier for a mythic character, a set of base abilities comes into play. For example, a first-tier mythic automatically stabilizes when hitpoints drop below zero without a constitution check.
Also in Chapter 1, mythic powers are outlined in detail for every tier of every mythic path. For example, a sixth-tier champion ability called "perfect strike" allows a character who hits in combat to double the damage of the attack and bypass any hardness or damage-reduction abilities of an opponent. Ouch! For a sixth-tier Archmage, the power "Sanctum" allows a character to escape to an extradimensional place of refuge. Cool!
Chapter 2 lists hundreds of mythic feats for mythic characters, including tables and charts for easy reference. Each path has unique and awe-inspiring powers that either bring new powers into play or enhance feats already possessed by normal heroes. But remember that these mythic feats are limited to characters who have mythic tiers. There have to be some restrictions to power!
Choosing mythic feats wisely can allow gamers to piece together an extremely powerful character. For example, the mythic acrobatic feat allows characters to expend a use of mythic power to treat a fly or acrobatics check as if a player rolled a natural 20. At crucial moments this power can really shine, but the book contains details on a bunch more.
Mythic spell-casters are in for a treat in Chapter 3. A whole library of spells exists, along with the rules necessary to wield them. The rules get into how mythic spells are learned and used and how they affect the game. Much of the gameplay centers on how regular spells can be augmented by mythic powers.
So when a mythic character goes to heal wounds, the spell heals more wounds than normal. The iconic burning-hands spell, for instance, increases its range to 20 feet and damage is increased by 1d6 per caster level.
Running a mythic game takes up 23 pages in Chapter 4. It covers story arcs, mythic story structure, themes, designing encounters and the power of the gods focused on characters that can literally change the world. It also covers how to reward mythic characters while adventuring.
A cool part of this chapter talks about mythic trials. If a person wants to play a mythic character, part of the fun of role-playing is putting together a mystic quest that has far-reaching consequences. And for every mystic hero, there must be a mystic villain to challenge him. Detailed rules are given to cover all the bases for adventures.
The contents of Chapter 5 deal with magic items, a personal favorite. Magic items are like spells in that there are some unique options, but also augmentation of the average. This chapter details not only cool magic items but also special abilities that can be added to normal magic items to make them mythic. Also, legendary mythic items can form bonds with their users that last a lifetime. Heroic heroes need heroic weapons.
The Bow of the Erastil is a mythic magic item explained on Page 143 that reminds me of a weapon used in a certain '80s cartoon. It produces a golden arrow when drawn and never runs out of ammunition. The Gun With No Name is also a personal favorite. It is valued at almost 100,000 gold pieces but it looks like an old pepperbox gun. The unique thing about this weapon is that it protects its user from location spells.
Monsters tear through Chapter 6, giving flavor and excitement to "Mythic Adventures." The book gives guidelines for creating mythic monsters but leaves things open for game masters to do what they feel is right for their own games. Mythic monsters can be common or unique. For example, a mythic green dragon might be the oldest or most powerful green dragon in the land and it alone is the only mythic green dragon. Or a gaming world might have a whole clan of mythic green dragons.
Rules are given about creating mythic monsters or expounding on regular monsters to make them epic. Mythic monsters are given ranks to determine their level and their stat blocks are a little different, so game masters should be sure to read this chapter thoroughly. The mythic lich on Pages 206-207 is truly terrifying.
The final chapter in the book is a mythic adventure called "Fire Over Blackcrag." The city of Blackcrag was built at the base of a volcano and a year before the player characters (PCs) arrive, the mayor's cousin was hanged because of his involvement in a fire-worshipping cult. At his death he pronounced a curse on the village, and the anniversary of his death is looming.
Shortly after the PCs arrive, the volcano begins to erupt. After fighting off some fire creatures, the characters begin to unravel the mystery behind the angry volcano. They must find out how to quench the fire of the volcano. Their investigation leads them to a remote island thrown back in time. The center of the island contains dinosaurs, mythic gargoyles and a magic item of great power. The adventure is not only fun to play but also gives gamers a good idea of what a mythic adventure should look like.
"Mythic Adventures" is a book for the experienced gamer who is looking for something new and fresh to enhance the Pathfinder role-playing game. The book is amazing. It contains so much information that game masters will be overwhelmed with exciting content. The book is designed with the same high quality as other Pathfinder books. It contains epic fantasy artwork, which may be of concern to some readers. This is a book that is not crucial to own to play the Pathfinder role-playing game but, wow, can it add a ton of flavor.