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Old 12-15-2011, 05:20 PM   #1
Kromm
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Default Pyramid #3/38: The Power of Myth

In the Before Times
When the whole world was a dream
The story begins
— Some hack
No, it isn't just hearsay: e23 released Pyramid #3/38: The Power of Myth on the same day as GURPS Low-Tech: Instant Armor. This legendary issue brings much to marvel at . . .
  • What separates myth from fact? Fact is objective, but there are as many versions of myth as there are storytellers. The Golden Geniza of Ezkali, an adventure for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy or any classic fantasy game, explores this idea. A story well-known to the heroes provides the solutions to traps and puzzles . . . unfortunately, each of them heard the tale a little differently as a kid.

  • If the Age of Myth gave us anything, it's heaps of artifacts. Objects like the Aegis and Kali's necklace of skulls are iconic representations of power beyond mortal capacity. Seven Mythical Artifacts takes the best of these items and presents them in the format established in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 6: 40 Artifacts. But make no mistake – these wonders are suitable for any game in which the gods' possessions sometimes find their way into the world.

  • How do we know that David Pulver is a mad genius? Because he didn't just add Baba Yaga to his games – he made her into an exiled extraterrestrial who experiments on children to measure psychic energy, and it makes sense. Yes, you read that right! Baba Yaga not only includes stats for the witch and some of her gear, but also a full GURPS Spaceships write-up of her extradimensional flying hut.

  • Is death really the end? Not in myth, so why stop the game just because some (or all!) of the characters happened to kick the bucket? The Journey of the Dead offers all the details you need to travel into the underworld, whether you're doing so as a fresh spirit or because you hope to rescue a friend from the Land of the Dead.

  • Some of the greatest deities of mythology have prosaic roots. The Bear Myth looks at one of man's earliest gods, first explaining why a "mere" bear was considered worthy of sincere worship, and then showing how to use this in your games. With plenty of adventure seeds and thematic advice, this is sure to bring any GM's creative mind out of hibernation.

  • As if there weren't enough mundane consequences to the Iraq War, Babylon Rising considers the esoteric impact. Think about it: Mesopotamia is at war, and Babylonian artifacts are being destroyed left and right. Did you really think that Marduk and his pantheon wouldn't notice? Now the old gods are back in this brilliant campaign setting that dovetails nicely with (though doesn't require) The New Kingdom from Pyramid #3/7: Urban Fantasy.

  • Cryptic prophecies are integral to myth. In fact, the connection is such a common trope that it can be hard to deliver yet another glimpse of the future to the PCs without things getting stale. Art of Prophecy gives the GM a vision of how it can be done. It explore a wealth of classic prophet archetypes, and advises the GM on delivery and follow-through. Think of it as Soothsaying 101.

  • And you get the standard features that everyone loves, including a Random Thought Table that looks at how "obvious" myths can be extrapolated to unexpected results; an Odds and Ends that offers simple ways to look beyond the focal elements of a myth; and a Murphy's Rules that may explain why there's so much violence in today's society.
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Old 12-15-2011, 07:10 PM   #2
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Default Re: Pyramid #3/38: The Power of Myth

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Originally Posted by Kromm View Post
[*]How do we know that David Pulver is a mad genius? Because he didn't just add Baba Yaga to his games – he made her into an exiled extraterrestrial who experiments on children to measure psychic energy, and it makes sense. Yes, you read that right! Baba Yaga not only includes stats for the witch and some of her gear, but also a full GURPS Spaceships write-up of her extradimensional flying hut.
I own up I picked up Pyramid for the adventure (which is short, but does have four well-done traps), but this take on Baba Yaga was trippy.

I do gather she speaks Russian or somesuch as her tongue, right? If it matters, but that was lacking.
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Old 12-15-2011, 08:39 PM   #3
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Default Re: Pyramid #3/38: The Power of Myth

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Originally Posted by Kromm View Post
No, it isn't just hearsay: e23 released Pyramid #3/38: The Power of Myth on the same day as GURPS Low-Tech: Instant Armor. This legendary issue brings much to marvel at . . .
Wow. Two great releases in the same day!
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Old 12-16-2011, 02:00 AM   #4
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Default Re: Pyramid #3/38: The Power of Myth

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Originally Posted by Rasputin View Post
I own up I picked up Pyramid for the adventure (which is short, but does have four well-done traps), but this take on Baba Yaga was trippy.

I do gather she speaks Russian or somesuch as her tongue, right? If it matters, but that was lacking.
Oops, left out the native language by accident.
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Old 12-16-2011, 02:03 AM   #5
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Default Re: Pyramid #3/38: The Power of Myth

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  • Is death really the end? Not in myth, so why stop the game just because some (or all!) of the characters happened to kick the bucket? The Journey of the Dead offers all the details you need to travel into the underworld, whether you're doing so as a fresh spirit or because you hope to rescue a friend from the Land of the Dead.
The mention of this article (The Journey of the Dead) is missing at the e23 entry of this Pyramid issue. The same happens in the New Releases section.
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Old 12-16-2011, 07:40 AM   #6
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Default Re: Pyramid #3/38: The Power of Myth

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The mention of this article (The Journey of the Dead) is missing at the e23 entry of this Pyramid issue. The same happens in the New Releases section.
Well, the duplicate info isn't surprising, since it's all drawn from the same database. :-)

Missing that article in the blurb was an oversight, and I'll get that corrected as soon as I can. Unfortunately, it'll be a couple of weeks, since the office is closed for the holidays now. (The perils of trying to get everything done the day before the holiday break...)
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Old 12-16-2011, 07:59 AM   #7
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Default Re: Pyramid #3/38: The Power of Myth

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Missing that article in the blurb was an oversight, and I'll get that corrected as soon as I can. (. . .)
Sure, that is fine to me. I just posted about the missing article for your information.
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Old 12-16-2011, 12:10 PM   #8
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Default Re: Pyramid #3/38: The Power of Myth

So far I have only read the articles for Dungeon Fantasy but these are the types of stuff that are useful to me for my DF campaign. I liked the adventure and it had an interesting treasure with a mythical feel. It gave me a lot of ideas to use in my adventures. I wish there were more adventures like this.

The article with DF stats for items of myths was very cool. The only problem is that I want to have even more mythical items statted out for DF. And maybe some ideas for how too drop these unique items into the DF realm and what would guard them.

The article about the medusa and the hydra provided a lot of cool ideas like maybe the snakes in the hair fall out just like the hair on humans except that the snakes stay alive and could wriggle around and cause trouble. I would even take it further and say that maybe the snakes that fall out of medusas "hair" could eventually grow into medusas themselves and maybe that is why there are other medusas in the DF realm besides the original Gorgon Medusa.

Anyway, this was really a good issue. Hope there will be more like it in the future.
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Old 12-16-2011, 01:00 PM   #9
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Default Re: Pyramid #3/38: The Power of Myth

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The mention of this article (The Journey of the Dead) is missing at the e23 entry of this Pyramid issue. The same happens in the New Releases section.
Thanks for posting about that - it's one of the cooler-sounding articles. If I ever get around to running a DF campaign, I'll certainly pick up this issue; that article's the tipping point for me.
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Old 12-16-2011, 05:20 PM   #10
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Default Re: Pyramid #3/38: The Power of Myth

I use "myth" primary to mean "Cosmic level tales told in an epic style" rather then "untruth". Anyone who has the talent can rewrite the latest theory of physics that way and then it would be a "myth" even if it is true. Often a "myth" will have some figurative truth in it.

For instance, the story of the two first Klingons sacking the heavens told at Jadzia and Worf's wedding was a myth and not all that bad a myth at that. It does not particularly matter whether they did or not from the point of view of the story because no power in the universe can stop the beating of two Klingon hearts, not even curmudgeonly mothers-in-law.
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