From RuneQuest to Mythras
Over the coming weeks, as June becomes July, one of my favorite systems will be transforming once again. RuneQuest 6th Edition, the flexible and powerful iteration of this long-lived system by Pete Nash and Lawrence Whitaker of The Design Mechanism is casting off the name by which it has been known to re-emerge under the name Mythras.
The first step in this process is the release of Mythras Imperative, and it is available now.
I am glad to see this moving forward as smoothly as I have come to expect from The Design Mechanism, and the increased focus on the awesome new products it allows. From the Mythic Series to the time and space-spanning adventures in Luther Arkwright, the future and past are about to become very bright.
Imperative is lean. Billed as an introduction to D100 roleplaying, it is essentially a Quickstart (34 pages), but one that is capable of enabling play in multiple genres and time periods. For a curious group that wanted to take the system out for a test run, or for someone with a campaign setting such as Luther Arkwright or Mythic Britain, this would be a good way to make that happen.
It contains detailed character creation rules, how to apply the system, a simplified presentation of the core concepts of combat (from bronze age to firearms), and a small bestiary of creatures from fantasy, SF, and the natural world.
It is available as a PWYW on the Design Mechanism homepage, or for $9.99 on Lulu.
Designed to be immediately useful for both newcomers and existing players of other D100 games, it provides a pared-down version of Mythras with enough options and depth to handle what you throw at it.
Unlike the much larger, and soon-to-be-discontinued RuneQuest Essentials which focused solely on the Bronze Age and fantasy, Mythras Imperative is generic. Skills cover the ancient, modern and futuristic worlds, and the weapons include firearms. The core rules expand on things like magic, vehicles, campaign design, psychic powers, and so on. Setting specific supplements add in elements unique to those settings, such as systems for inventing your own technological terrors, or playing Druids in a past that could have been.
Mythras Imperative does not include the rules for magic; it is focused on the basics. Mythras itself contains no less than five different magic systems, each full of the flavor and flexibility The Design Mechanism is known for. With a campaign setting book like Luther Arkwright: Roleplaying Across the Parallels and a copy of Imperative, a group could have a nearly complete range of options for that setting and give themselves a very thorough introduction to what this system can do for their gaming. The Mythras core rules will then be waiting and ready for whatever adventures you dream up next.
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[…] The new release from the Design Mechanism for April was a scenario collection called Parallel Lines. Usually, when a new book from the Design Mechanism is released, I do some sort of overview and share my thoughts here, on my YouTube channel, or both. This time is a little different as I have had a small part to play in its creation. As one of the contributing authors, I do not feel comfortable doing a review, so I thought instead I would take a look at the supplement’s contents, features, and intended purpose, to put the book in context for new and established Mythras GMs. […]
Casting Shadows 
I may check it out.
Cool~
As you are less into fantasy, the Luther Arkwright stuff may appeal to you, as might the pending Constantinople setting.
Monster Island, though, is right up your alley~
It makes me sad that the RuneQuest world if further subdivided (more than D&D, how did that happen?). Yes each flavor is similar enough to be ported from one to another but it means newbies are less likely to jump in and market share numbers look smaller and smaller.
I find d100 players from BRP through Mythras are somewhat united on two things, YRQMV and usage/avoidance of Glorantha.
D100 certainly has a lot of forms now and representation for many genres. While that makes it hard to choose just one publisher, it increases chances to discover the approach and those who also like it. That is a pretty large gateway now.
I agree it is sad, and the confusion in name for RQ6/Mythras is doubly so, but with cool titles like Luther Arkwright, the Mythic Place series, and Classic Fantasy out there, the future is bright, I think.