Saturday 7 March 2015

Mythoard Beta and January reviews

Mythoard (their website HERE) is a RPG subscription box service, where you get a packet of RPG stuff at your door, every month! This is a review of beta package from 2014 and first official release of January 2015.

You might want to check the post where I interviewed +Jarrod Shaw before continuing to read the reviews. The interview can be found HERE.

BETA
Monster post card (Aenglum), Blue dungeon tile sampler (Red Kobold), Baby Bestiary poster and proof (Metal Weave Games), Newsletter with a map by: +Dyson Logos, 10+ Treasures (Awful Good Games), Stone Fields of Azoroth (GM Games), Dice (Chessex and Red Kobold)
Monster Card. There were two options of monster cards what were randomly selected for each pack. I got "tri pod". Art is damn cool and this is like a post card. But you can also use it for your game! No stats, but you could stat it up to address field of post cards for any system. Really net!

Blue Dungeon Tile Sampler. The tiles look good but there is a problem. There are only three of them so basically these are useless. If there was four, you could make small 2x2 grid for small battles. I know that it is a sampler, what explains everything. There's also a card with instructions how to use the map explaining you can use different kinds of markers. The back of the card is a "legend" of most common dungeon symbols.
These tiles are very cool and I could consider buying more. I knew these exist but didn't think about them before. Marketing trick? Success. Legend card is useful anyways.
There's also a business card for Red Kobold what is very neat.

Baby Bestiary Poster. Cute baby monsters! Quality artwork. Nice extra.

Newsletter. Dyson's map is Great Hall of the Ur-Goblin, what is great. There is also a QR Code for free pdf copy of 10+ Treasures included in this package. There is also a nice introduction section of the suppliers for Mythoard, where small information about them like first and last game systems and favorite monsters are told.

10+ Treasures. I am not a Dungeon World guy, so the title of this product was confusing. There are 10 and more magic items in this, okay, but isn't that boring title? Then I think I figured out that rolling stuff or treasures or something result of 10+ is that it's a magic item (correct me if I am wrong!). Still, boring title!

The content is pretty good. I am not familiar with DW system but for OSR these are easy to stat. It's mostly the fluff and writing what magic items do so I can see this used in many different systems. Nice touch is that many of these items have some tweaks and variations. Neat idea, that same item with minor changes can be totally different.

In the end some topics like who can make magic items, what tools are needed, where it can be made. There are only few DW specific rules so this is also good inspiration for various systems.

I think this is highly OSR-D&D compatible if you spend some time to stat stuff. I like this small book.

Stone Fields Of Azoroth. Cover is loose hiding three little booklets. Inside of the cover is a full color map. This is a mini-sandbox for experienced adventurers containing the village with plenty of npcs and interesting adventuring possibilities. Last Temple of Praxus and The Prison of Azoroth are nicely tied to each other still being different to play.

Dice. You can never have enough dice. And these dice happen to be cool. Nice d20, super great colored orange d6 I fell in love with and a black d6 where number (pip) 1 is replaced with Red Kobold logo. These two d6s I've used when creating random content for Hulks & Horrors.

JANUARY
Custom folder (art: Randy Musseau, map: +MonkeyBlood Design), Creature deck (Inkwell Design), The Guns of Brimostone & The Brimstone Epitaph (Stormlord), Newesletter #2, miniatyre and pin (Lesser Gnome), The Power That Be (Bryan Stewart), Chessex dice, Mythoard business card, card sleeves
Folder. Art and map are both neat and folders are something you always need. I got two of these, maybe it was a mistake. Sorry, Mythoard crew! Good for me though. As I said, folders are always needed. The map is titled The Slime Chambers of Gebbellurd.

Creature Deck. There were three randomly selected options and I got "Fey Constructs & Wildlife". Normal poker card size, 54 in total. Other side of the card is artwork, other information. There are no stats so these are compatible with several systems. The information contains things like usual attitude, favored locations, favored prey, organization, strengths and so on.

These cards can be easily used as random encounters or for planning areas. On the box there is an index of the monsters, too.

Only complaint I have is that almost in every card the monster art is a little too dark. Otherwise pretty cool product.

The Guns Of Brimstone and The Brimostone Epitaph and The Real Story. Preview of alternative Dungeon Crawl Classics gun rules, and adventure ideas and setting details.

I am not familiar with DCCRPG rules, so I have to view the gun rules through OSR D&D (S&W, LL, LotFP, you know) glasses and I have to say I could easily use these rules and guns in wild west OSR game. Mighty Deed Of Arms introduces a rule for "fanning" where you hold down the trigger and quickly pull the hammer back. Cool idea, don't know how it works in table because I am not familiar with rules.

Overall this DCCRPG wild west teaser is nice and you can actually already use it. The layout is also nice representing old newspaper.

Newsletter #2. Map by +matt jackson, Tenkar's Tomb, with a description, included. Matt is also one of the greatest mappers I know. Similar introduction of contributors, too.

Gnome mini and Lesser Gnome pin. Cool little mini! When was the last time I painted minis? 15 years ago? I want to start painting minis again. The pin has Lesser Gnome text and a gnome portrait on it.

The Power That Be. A Pits & Perils supplement of pantheon by Black Paperclip Games. I usually find pantheons boring but this is well written. The text is not a burden to read and there's many gods. Also alignments have their own gods. Very mythos inspired. Rules are minimal so this can easily be used with your favorite game. Excellent stuff!

Dice. Four and eight sided orange dice from the same series the six-sided orange die from the beta. The newsletter promises you'll get a full set of these with Mythoard. I really like these dice!

Business Card And Card Sleeves. Card sleeves have one clear side, one colored. Perfect for aforementioned monster cards. You can slip a card in one of this kind of sleeves and hand it for the players to see the illustration of the monster but hide the information on the other side. Great idea!

Special thanks to +Jarrod Shaw and +Mythoard for making it possible to me to get these two packages! Good stuff!

CONCLUSION

Jarred is a great guy and Mythoard is a brilliant idea! The content is solid and it is a nice surprise to open the package. Like a monthly Christmas! Even though there's material for games I don't own or play in these two packages they have been something easy to use and convert with my favorite systems.

The RPG material is good and small trinkets and dice are a nice addition of surprise. I really dig the concept of Mythoard but also the content has been very good in my opinion. I have enjoyed these two Mythoard packages a lot!

Special thanks to Jarrod for making it possible for me getting these two packages to far-away Finland. You rock man and I wish you all the best with continuing Mythoard.

Thank you, Mythoard rocks!
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Interested in what Mythoard has offered this far? Check their archive.

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