It's Good Friday today, which means I don't really have a lot of time to dive into posting. However, in the spirit of the day, let's talk about myth*.
The sense of the mythic is what first drew me to fantasy roleplaying. Even as a small child, watching Eric's campaign unfold and reveal new sides to itself, I got the feeling that here was something grand, some primal act of storytelling. It didn't have a plot or defined narrative the way 'story' is mostly interpreted today, but it had an internal consistency and sense of action and discovery that infuses the best of campaigns. In a phrase, myth brought me to roleplaying.
Personally I'd like to play in such a game again. A second-best would be to run it. However, if you're looking for advice on how to evoke such a feeling at the game table, you've come to the wrong place. I'm just as lost as you - maybe more so. I've seen that car, even ridden in it, but I don't even know how to change the oil, much less rebuild the engine.
*I use the word 'myth' not as a judgment about truth or untruth, as it is commonly used today, but rather as a description of the structure of the truths imparted.
When one starts talking about Myth in gaming, my thoughts always drift to Runequest, and the original default world for the game, Glorantha. That's a world that's so steeped in magic, and with such a rich history to it, and with a history of mechanics that assume not only that the characters will thrive, but will eventually become unto gods themselves that it's hard to avoid the mythic.
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