What alignment are you, and what does that mean? Does it drive your behavior? Does your character’s alignment drive theirs? We look at one of D&D’s most durable sacred cows: alignment as personality test, moral framework, table tool, campaign problem, and cosmology. Somehow, we try not to come to blows.

We want to hear how alignment plays into your games.

00:00:22 What Alignment Are You?

00:07:45 Origins

00:20:40 Descriptive or Prescriptive

00:25:00 Character Dynamics

00:31:25 Ubiquitous Evil Campaign

00:43:00 In Other Games

00:52:20 Relativistic View

01:14:00 As Cosmology

01:35:50 Recap

01:50:15 Practical Approach

For more on the discussion of System and Style check out our written articles and Scott’s additional thoughts on specific systems on our YouTube channel.

ModernMythology.net

In Episode 25 of Modern Mythology, we take on the Cypher System, a well-known universal tabletop RPG system with a strong reputation for flexible, narrative-driven play. Because Cypher isn’t tied to a single core setting, it gives us a good way to look at how a system’s mechanics shape story across genre—and in this case, through a fantasy lens.

We’re joined by SJ McKeen—author, fellow pro GM, professional voice actor, and streamer—who brings both GMing experience and firsthand familiarity with Cypher to the discussion. Together, we look at what the system does well, how it supports narrative play, and what it offers groups who want a framework that can adapt to different kinds of stories rather than one fixed world.

As usual with most of our actual-play episodes, we wrap up with a discussion of what the session surfaced for us about system, story, and play more broadly.

Topics discussed:

00:00:35 Introducing the Cypher System

00:01:20 Special Guest SJ

00:03:35 Broad strokes of setting?

00:06:35 Meet our characters

00:11:20 Monster Hunting

00:12:40 Mountainside Temple

00:44:00 The Gateway

00:53:00 Miasmic Hallway

01:05:45 The Prison

01:10:45 The Inner Sanctum

01:27:30 Charge!

01:54:00 LTB!

01:58:45 Denouncement

02:02:00 Break it down

02:04:10 Combat Downward Spiral

02:12:00 Madness in RPGs

02:21:40 Arcs and XP

02:33:00 Learning Curves

02:37:20 Read Character

02:41:20 Functional Character Sheets

02:48:00 What's SJ Up To?

For more on the discussion of System and Style check out our written articles and Scott’s additional thoughts on specific systems on our YouTube channel.

ModernMythology.net

In Episode 24 of Modern Mythology, we dig into one of the biggest questions in tabletop RPG design: how setting and system actually interact at the table. This is a dense, nearly two-hour conversation about the ways mechanics shape player behavior, how they steer attention toward certain kinds of choices, and how that pressure can either reinforce the fiction or get in its way.

As always, we don't come away with a final conclusion so much as many opened avenues of discussion. We spend a lot of time teasing apart what happens when a game’s rules and its setting are working together, and what happens when they might be at cross-purposes. When does system push play forward? When does it create friction? When does a setting give players a strong sense of what matters, when do constraints help and when does they start to constrain the very story the table is trying to discover? How important is a fantasy map?

Along the way, we look at the interplay of structure and fiction from several angles, asking how games teach people to play through their mechanics, and how different approaches can produce very different narrative results even when the premise looks similar on paper.

One quick correction: during the episode, we say “rules agnostic” a few times when what we actually mean is “setting agnostic.” Apologies for any confusion there.

Topics discussed:

00:00:20 Framing the Conversation

BTRC

Phoenix Command

00:16:00 Simulationism

00:25:30 Setting Agnostic Systems

Daggerheart

00:53:40 Death in system and setting (more on this in an upcoming episode)

00:58:25 System Informs Setting

01:11:40 Ideas about Setting informing System

For more on the discussion of System and Style check out our written articles and Scott’s additional thoughts on specific systems on our YouTube channel.

ModernMythology.net

Burning Wheel has stayed Scott’s favorite RPG for a reason, and this two-hour episode digs into the specifics. We look at how the game’s tools reinforce each other at the table: lifepath character creation, goal-driven play, organic advancement, and combat with real risk. In combination, those systems tend to produce strong characterization and narrative momentum without forcing outcomes.

Burning Wheel is an fantasy RPG designed by Luke Crane that pretty consistently shows up in many of the top lists of Indie RPG’s. It uses a d6 dice-pool engine and centers play on character beliefs and consequential choices. The current core book, Burning Wheel Gold Revised, is presented by the publisher as the definitive revised edition.

Even in this short session, the interplay of these mechanics creates standout moments—scenes shaped by player intent, and tension that comes from pressure rather than pre-scripted plot. If you’re interested in how system and story lock together in practice, this episode works as a clear case study. Hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Topics discussed:

00:00:30 Introduce Characters

00:16:45 Scene One - The Arrival

00:28:10 Scene Two - The Prodigal Child Returns

00:37:00 Scene Three - The Race to the Throne

00:48:25 Scene Four - Slip Away

00:56:00 Scene Five - Involving the Etharch

01:05:00 Scene Six - The Receiving Room

01:08:50 Scene Seven - Sibling Reunion

01:23:00 Scene Eight- Gathering Storm

01:37:00 Scene Nine - Now We Hunt Orc

01:59:30 Debrief - Song of Unraveling

For more on the discussion of System and Style check out our written articles and Scott’s additional thoughts on specific systems on our YouTube channel.

ModernMythology.net

Modern Mythology Ep. 22 — Technology takes a reflective look at how changing technologies have shaped tabletop role-playing games over time. From physical tools at the table to digital spaces that bring groups together across distance, we talk about what stuck, what faded, and why.

Along the way, we explore how randomness, connectivity, and new creative tools altered player expectations and game culture. The discussion moves through technology adoption, miniatures, bringing technology to the table, and the question of what the “big jump” was. We also talk about RNG, online gaming, getting the party together, virtual tabletops (VTTs), streaming, and artificial intelligence and LLMs—then close by considering where technology helps the most, and where it’s best to step back. Throughout we ponder the pros and cons and implicit tradeoffs that always arise in the course of adopting technology into our lives.

Topics:

00:00:00 A Looming Threat

00:02:00 Jump right in

00:08:30 Technology adoption

00:13:45 Miniatures

00:19:15 Bringing technology to the table

00:25:15 What was the big technological jump?

00:36:40 RNG

00:40:44 Online gaming

00:55:20 Getting the party together

01:05:00 Virtual Tabletop (VTT)

01:13:45 Streaming

01:17:35 Artificial Intelligence and LLMs

01:31:30 Technological Sweet Spot

For more on the discussion of System and Style check out our written articles and Scott’s additional thoughts on specific systems on our YouTube channel.

ModernMythology.net

Episode 21 closes our sci-fi season with a debrief: what we learned when theory met the table. We revisit the systems we ran—Coriolis, Freemarket, CBR+PNK, Mothership, Twilight Imperium among others—and pull out the through-lines that surfaced across very different design priorities, moving between genre, system, and setting.

Across the season, certain levers kept showing up, including Dark Points and panic clocks. Downtime becomes a design layer, not just a breather. Tech and transportation aren’t just stylistic; they’re constraints you can plan around, exploit, or get trapped inside. Memory and transhumanism come into focus too: what happens to stakes when identity is modular.

One question kept circling throughout the season: what makes something science fiction at the table? Vibes matter, but so do the costs the rules make visible—risk, logistics, scarcity, and human limits. The boundary gets tested against fantasy: when is “sci-fi vs. fantasy” a productive restriction, and when is it an empty category you paint over with aesthetic? No single answer lands, but a few useful ways to frame the problem emerge.

If you’ve been with us all season, this is the after-action report. If you’re new, it’s a fast way to see how we read mechanics as part of story structure.

Topics Discussed:

00:00:45 Talk of Genre

00:29:00 What we played

00:45:00 Heroes and the Everyman

00:01:00 Media Touchpoints

01:05:00 Downtime and Resource Management

01:19:15 Games we didn't play

01:52:30 Season Favorites

For more on the discussion of System and Style check out our written articles and Scott’s additional thoughts on specific systems on our YouTube channel.

ModernMythology.net

This week is an interesting collision between board games and tabletop RPGs as we jump into Twilight Imperium: Ashes of Power, the Free RPG Day adventure built for the Genesys roleplaying system. Designed as an easy on-ramp, Ashes of Power comes with simplified Genesys rules and pre-made characters—so you can go from “what is Genesys?” to “roll initiative” fast.

In play, we focus on what makes Genesys narrative dice work: a roll doesn’t just hinge on success or failure. It also includes story-driving fallout like Advantage vs. Threat, plus swingy moments of Triumph and Despair that change the scene in surprising ways.

If you’re curious how a “board-game readable” resolution engine can still generate rich improvisation, this episode is a great sampler of Genesys in motion.

This is also our final sci-fi themed system for the time being in our actual play series. Next episode, we’ll look back on the sci-fi games we’ve played and what we learned along the way.

Topics Discussed:

00:00:30 Boardgame to RPG

00:03:40 Free RPG Day

https://www.edge-studio.net/shares/twilight-imperium/

00:11:35 Setting Info dump

00:17:45 Scene 1: Ashes of Power

00:22:15 Scene 2

00:41:40 Scene 3

00:48:40 Scene 4

01:05:25 Scene 5

01:11:25 Scene 6

01:18:30 Scene 7

01:40:30 Scene 8

01:44:10 Scene 9

01:48:00 Debrief

01:55:40 Let’s Roll Some Dice...

For more on the discussion of System and Style check out our written articles and Scott’s additional thoughts on specific systems on our YouTube channel.

ModernMythology.net

In this episode, Jamie and Scott dig into troupe-style play—campaigns where each player might run multiple characters over time instead of a single, fixed PC. We talk about what changes when you treat the cast as an ensemble instead of a party, and how that shift can affect spotlight, continuity, and the kinds of stories your table can tell.

Using games like Ars Magica, Pendragon, Blades in the Dark, Street Fighter, and Call of Cthulhu as examples—plus related play styles like West Marches, (featured in the newest Critical Role campaign), we trace how different designs handle rotating characters, support casts, and backup sheets. Some lean into covenants, households, or crews as the “real” protagonist; others quietly assume you’ll have replacement investigators or alternates waiting in the wings.

We also get practical. Why would you run a campaign in troupe mode? How do you build emotional investment when players are juggling multiple sheets? What are the pros and cons—the real pitfalls like prep overhead, continuity snarls, uneven buy-in—and what tools actually help you avoid them?

Topics discussed:

00:00:45 What is Troupe Style play

00:07:15 Why?

Philip José Farmer's The Dungeon Series

00:16:50 Pros and Cons

00:30:00 The Funnel/Attrition

Elder Goblin Games

00:39:00 Generational Play

00:42:00 Exploring the setting

00:49:40 The Hex Crawl

Legendary Kalmatta #61 OSE West Marches Hexcrawl Actual Play

00:57:00 Implementation

Ars Magica

For more on the discussion of System and Style check out our written articles and Scott’s additional thoughts on specific systems on our YouTube channel.

ModernMythology.net