Scene proposal: "After examining the greenhouse remains, Rinian heads down the the west passage." I've decided that my cardinal orientation will match the map as I've drawn it, with north being 'up'. I also now realize that I haven't actually proposed a new scene since Rinian left the room with his treasure and fought the kruthiks with that halfling. I'd say everything since that point has been reasonably calm, so I'll reduce my chaos to Chaos: - . . . and then I can roll for my scene. Unchanged scene. I want to focus more on using
Mythic this session, but I really do need to know what's down this hallway. I'll use the random dungeon generator, but ignore wandering monsters, using logic to help guide me (hopefully).
The passage
goes for 30' before
turning right and widens to 20'. Then the random dungeon generator instructs me that
there's a trap. Perhaps it's just best to let this generator do its job: traps, monsters, and all. It's not like
Mythic is going to send me into a dungeon all the time, and even if it does, dungeons aren't about plot . . . they're about grinding through monsters and gaining treasure and XP, right?
So . . . trap. Let's see. The compendium doesn't have traps and hazards still/yet, so I'll just work with the DMG. I'll roll a d4 between the lowest level possibilities there.
False-Floor Pit. Rinian's passive Perception of 9 is nowhere near the 20 needed to spot the trap, so he walks right into it. The pit rolls an
8 against his Reflex, which misses, and Rinian jumps back out of the way. That 100 XP was even easier than those kruthik minions! Up to 350 XP now.
Let's keep going. The passage goes for
another 30', which brings us almost to a collision to the hallway with the kruthiks. I'll roll again to see what it wants me to do, but if it doesn't make sense I'll have to fix it. I rolled for a
side passage that "X"s, but that doesn't fit the positioning. The only thing that fits is for the passage to turn right and connect with the rectangle room with four doors, ending in a secret door to/from that room. That also explains the secret door that Rinian couldn't find when in that room (but that we knew existed).
However, that means this passage has done nothing but loop around uselessly; it must have had some purpose. Does this passage have any apparent use? 50/50.
Yes. I'll roll on an
Instant Game table for help. The things table says
supers. Like super heroes? As in maybe super heroes of the society who built this place, as in kind of a hall of fame or hall of kings? 50/50.
Yes. Are they goblins? Unlikely.
No. Are they of various races? 50/50.
No. So all the 'heroes' are of the same race . . . is it a monstrous race? 50/50.
Yes. Are they related to the Dungeoneering skill [or Nature]? 50/50.
No (Nature). Does Rinian recognize the race? I'll roll a Nature check to determine the probability.
7. Very unlikely.
No. So, now we know that some strange monstrous race dwelled here and set up a 'hall of super heroes'.
Mythic says I should be able to resolve things with just a single question and logic . . . I don't know how that's supposed to happen.
Anyway, I think that's enough stuff for this scene. Here's what we want to have happen next (after the chaos lowers to
Chaos: --): "Rinian begins searching behind the portraits of the strange monstrous heroes, looking for secret doors or clues." The scene continues as planned, and I'll roll a Perception check for his search.
8. Does Rinian find anything? Very unlikely.
No. Let's head back through the greenhouse room and into the opposite passage.
Proposal: "Rinian backtracks through the greenhouse, exploring more of the dungeon."
Chaos: ---.
Mythic doesn't do much as the chaos gets lower, so I'm getting a little worried. The scene happens unchanged, so let's pull the dungeon generator back out. After
30' of a 20' wide passage, four side passages in an X shape branch off, and
the current passage continues for another 30'. Now I have to choose. It makes sense that Rinian would be able to see down these passages, so I'll take a few more minutes generating each passage until Rinian wouldn't be able to see down them anymore. The passage straight ahead seems to
branch left and right, while continuing another 30', where it dead-ends. The X passage heading northwest
goes 30' and ends at a door. The one to the northeast also goes 30' and ends at a door. The passage southwest
goes 30' and ends with stairs going up. The passage southeast goes
30' and ends at a door.
Now that I know what Rinian sees, I need to choose a direction . . . hm. My impulse is to go down the northwest hall to that door. Rinian will try to sneak down the hall. Stealth:
11. Now he'll listen at the door. Perception:
10. Does Rinian hear anything at the door? Very unlikely.
No.
Proposed scene: "Rinian opens the door to explore inside."
Chaos: --; up from the previous scene because of the overwhelming options (and just because I want to). Our roll indicates that the scene is slightly modified. I guess the door is locked. Thievery:
16. Is this successful? 50/50.
Yes. The door opens. Back to the dungeon generator!
A 30' x 30' square room. There are three exits: two on the opposite wall, and one on the right wall. This room is empty. Is there anything notable in this room? 50/50.
No, but a random event occurs! Yes!
Event focus:
Remote event. Action + Subject:
Abuse [of?]
dispute. Something far away happens (or has happened), and Rinian should somehow learn about it at this point. It has to do with 'abuse dispute' or 'abuse of dispute'. Also, the room is empty, but that can be defined as just lacking in monsters or treasure. Also, there's nothing notable in this room, because of my fate question . . . this is pretty hard.
Well, I think I'm spending too much time on this event, and I'm not getting anywhere . . . plus I don't even know that it'll help the story.
Mythic said it's okay for me to skip stuff like this when no answer presents itself, so that's what I'm going to do. Perhaps I'll later 'learn' of an event that occurred that could fit this category.
Let's go back to the northeast passage, and check out that door. Listen at the door:
12. Can Rinian hear anything? Unlikely.
No. Is this door locked? 50/50.
No. Open it. Let's generate the room. I rolled for a
40'x40' chamber, but that doesn't fit due to the passage to the left off the main hallway.
Ugh. I'm really kind of getting sick of this.
Semi-tangent: A couple weeks ago a friend and I played a one-shot using
Mythic, and it worked out great. We used
Instant Game to set up a setting and goal, just like I started this campaign. However, what we came up with involved a very clear path and goal for our adventurers. We followed those goals according to the setting we'd generated in just a few minutes,
Mythic threw in some awesome surprises, and we finished our whole story in just a few hours. It was super fun.
Now I'm wandering aimlessly in an endless labyrinth. Why? Because I didn't have a clear goal for Rinian to follow; I just keep jumping from random thing to random thing. Perhaps this dungeon generator is really pulling things too far out of my control. In the game with my friend, the story clearly presented us with foes, and we pulled enemies from the
Monster Manual accordingly, building encounters scaled for us.
So is there a way to recreate that kind of experience here for me in this campaign? If so, I'd need to start by setting a specific goal and deciding what obstacles Rinian would encounter in trying to achieve it. Preferably, these would be goals that Rinian would also know of, and surprise challenges could spring up along the way, by virtue of
Mythic. The problem here is that not knowing what Rinian was sent here for is part of the fun. I think the problem is that I mistakenly thought
Mythic would generate the plot for me, whereas what it actually does is guide the plot, and throw in twists and turns. Sometimes it may change the plot, but it doesn't actually generate it. That I have to do on my own. I got help from
Instant Game, but there's still work to do. Hopefully in the future, the plot can be created from the context and precedent of the previous story, but not right now.
Anyway, I think I'm done for tonight. Hopefully in the future I can come back at this with a fresh point of view . . . and a plan.
* * * * *
~ fissionessence
