Mythcraft

A storytelling game for 2-6 players

by Jared Mason
Mythcraft
Every human culture has stories. We’ve told stories to explain how the world was created, stories to
explain why some things are celebrated and some are abhorred, stories to entertain and create
community and closeness, even stories to explain why we have stories.

Mythcraft is a tabletop roleplaying game to create myths for fantasy worlds.

Materials Needed

- A deck of cards
- Dice; at least 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, and 1d10, multiples are helpful
- Writing utensil and paper for notes
- A token; a small item to signify which player is telling the story.

Instructions

1. Roll dice to create a pool of story elements to use.

2. Choose a role or roll 1d6 to determine each player’s role and share with the other players. Each
player should have a different role.
3. Collect your role’s bonuses.
4. Answer your role’s “Before story begins” prompt to yourself. Do not share this information with
the other players.
5. Begin the story by saying the Invocation (page 2) in unison with all players.
6. The player with the lowest role number begins telling the story by taking the token and using the
elements found in the Base Story dice pool.
7. Players can pass the storytelling to another player, or players take over the storytelling by picking
up the token. Players can also spend a bonus to add a story element or exchange a matching die
type from the dice pool.
8. When the story ends, each player reads their “After story ends…” prompt and finishes the sentence
in Role Priority order.

Roles

Each player should have a different role while telling the story. Each role has a unique title, Before story
prompt, Role Bonus, and After story prompt. More information on Roles can be found on page 5.

Role Bonuses

Each role gets a bonus of some combination of dice and/or cards. During the story, a player can roll a
bonus die or reveal their card to change a previously established element of the story or add a new
element based on what they roll or the card they reveal. Players can use one or both Bonuses at the same
time when they take over the story.
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Invocation

After rolling the pool of dice for the base story elements, players should all speak the Invocation together
before beginning the story. Fill in the blanks with the base story elements from the dice pool.

“Hear, hear this tale of Gods, Spirits, Monsters and Heroes. Hear how the ____________ God and
the Spirits of ________ faced the _________Montsers through the Heroic __________.”

Playing the game

The player with the lowest number role begins the story (from Witness to Parent). As the story is being
told, any player can interrupt to take over the story from their perspective by picking up the token from
in front of the current storyteller. When a player does so, the current storyteller can finish their sentence,
then allows the next player to take over. The current storyteller can also pass the story along to another
player at any time.

When a player takes up the story, they can also spend one of their role bonuses to add or replace an
existing story element. The player should pick up the story as if they were already telling it the whole
time.

Ending the story

When all of the role bonuses have been used, the final storyteller will conclude the story on their last
turn. Once they have finished, each player, in role order, reads their After story ends prompt and finishes
the sentence. After the last player has finished their prompt, take a breath and a moment to let the story
exist without comment.

Safety Tools

Real mythology is often violent, the stories created by people to explain the world around them reflect
their lived experiences. Players should discuss their level of comfort with possibly sensitive topics such as
violence before beginning the game.

One method is to use lines and veils. A line is a boundary across which the players agree not to cross. If
any player declares that a specific topic is one of their lines, these should not be brought up in play. A veil
is a topic that is okay to appear in play, but players would rather not go into specific description. For
instance, if kidnapping is a veil, a character might be kidnapped, but the scene in which it happens is
done “off stage”. If at any time, a player is uncomfortable with something added to the story, they should
be welcome to pause the game so the group can discuss what element is unwelcome, and continue the
story.

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Dice

Before the game begins, roll a pool of dice to determine the basic elements that will appear in the myth
you will be creating. Depending on the type of story you want to tell, you might roll more elements from
one category or another. For a creation myth, you roll additional gods, for a myth on the founding of a
kingdom, you may roll a couple heroes and a monster. Regardless of the pool of dice you begin with,
players should still take their role bonuses at the beginning of the game.

d4 - Gods d8 - Monsters d10 - Heroes

1. Father/Mother 1. Air 1. Royalty

2. Hunter/Farmer 2. Earth 2. Archer

3. Knowledge/Craft 3. Fire 3. Wizard

4. Death/Life 4. Water 4. Healer

d6 - Spirits 5. Dead 5. Bard

1. Messages 6. Giant 6. Soldier

2. Healing 7. Otherworldly 7. Traveler

3. Prosperity 8. Lightning 8. Inventor

4, Trickery 9. Fool

5. Home 10. Merchant

6. Trade

Cards

Before playing, build a deck of cards consisting of only the face cards and aces from a single deck of
cards. The Successor, Troubadour, and Parent roles all receive cards as their bonus to change the story
during play. Each card represents a specific element outlined on the table below. If no cards are handy,
roll 1d4 to determine the suit (column) and 1d4 to determine the value (row).

2d4 1 2 3 4

A tool for… Help in the form of… A weapon to… A treasure that's value is…

1 J♠ - protection. J♥ - a trusty steed. J♣ - crush. J♦ - widely recognized.

2 Q♠ - healing. Q♥ - a reformed monster. Q♣ - pierce. Q♦ - deeply personal.

3 K♠ - art. K♥ - a loyal criminal. K♣ - bind. K♦ - coveted by many.

4 A♠ - building. A♥ - a protege. A♣ - slash. A♦ - in its obscurity.

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Roles

Each player in Mythcraft needs to take on a role. These roles represent different ways to interact with a
story. You might be the Witness and have been present for the actual events, or the Lorekeeper from the
society that originated the myth. Each role has a Before story begins prompt to guide your telling of the
story. This information is kept private from the other players during the game, but can be shared
afterwards. Each role also receives different bonuses to be used throughout the game. When the story
ends, each player will read their “After story ends” prompt and finish that sentence as a kind of epilogue
from each player.

1. Witness: You were there when this story occurred. 2. Lorekeeper: You are a member of the culture of
Before story begins: origin for this myth
Who are/were you to see these events unfold? Before story begins:
a. The place where the hero or monster fell. Choose a character trait your culture values:
b. A magical being cursed or blessed with long life. a. Honor
c. An impression of spirit left by the events of the b. Understanding
story. c. Might
d. An active but unnamed participant. d. Skill
Role Bonus: d4, d8 Role Bonus: d4, d6
After story ends: After story ends:
- “And the part people always get wrong is…” - “And so, we shall always remember…”

3. Successor: You are from the people that came after 4. Scholar: You study the originators of this story.
the original culture. Before story begins:
Before story begins: What kind of evidence of their culture’s existence is
What is your interaction with the originators? there?
a. You conquered them. a. A few varied texts
b. You overthrew them. b. Still- functional artifacts
c. You joined them. c. Whole preserved cities
d. You discovered their ruins. d. Misspelled place names and graveyards
Role Bonus: 2 cards Role Bonus: d8, d10
After story ends: After story ends:
- “And so, we raise our glasses to toast…” - “And it’s still hotly debated whether…”

5. Troubadour: You tell the story to entertain kings and 6. Parent: You tell the story to your kids.
commoners alike. Before story begins:
Before story begins: Why are you telling this story?
Your audience is craving a story of_____. a. To inspire greatness
a. Political Intrigue b. To warn of folly
b. Bloody Fighting c. To ease them to bed
c. Raucous Comedy d. To connect through surprise
d. Epic Adventure Role Bonus: d10, 1 card
Role Bonus: d6, 1 card After story ends:
After story ends: - “And next time I’ll tell you the story of…”
- “And that’s why they say…”

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Helpful Hints

Table Manners

Throughout the game, players will interrupt each other to take up the story. This should be done politely.
Remember, unless specifically using a role bonus, what has been established by other players should be
maintained and added to by other players. This is a cooperative game.

Mythology Patterns

Mythologies usually follow a cycle of Creation, Establishing Society, The End/Renewal. If your group
wants to establish what era the myth comes from, feel free to change the starting dice pool. For instance,
if you are creating a story about how a kingdom was established, your group might roll additional heroes.
For a myth about the End of the World, you might roll additional monsters to include.

Real-world Influence

With the treasure trove of recorded mythology from around the world, it is easy to be inspired by the
stories we’ve heard growing up. Remember that some of these stories are still held as religious beliefs to
those cultures that tell them and hold them sacred. A tale might be entertainment for you, but realize
that it might hold heavy importance to others. Tread lightly and respectfully when allowing yourself to be
influenced by mythologies from the real world. It is a good practice to be self-critical when borrowing
anything from a culture that you are not a member of.

Record Keeping

Try playing this without taking any notes. Most of human history was passed down by oral tradition.
Your myths will be winding and changing just like the myths of the real world. After playing, try having
each player write or recount the myth created and see what details emerge as the most remembered.

Playing In-Universe

You can use Mythcraft as a way to world build for your other games. If your players go to investigate a
new city or new area of the map, try playing Mythcraft to establish information. You can also play your
Mythcraft role along with character from another game. There’s no reason the Scholar couldn’t also be a
high elf wizard, or the Parent couldn’t be a gnome technomancer.

Publishing Information

The font in this document is Georgia

Special Thanks to: Jason Bowers and Garrett Douglas
Find this and other games by Jared Mason at https://jthewolfmanm.itch.io/