Mythic Themes
Mythic adventures can gain their legendary powers in a variety of ways — a gift from the gods, the influence of ancient magic thought lost to the world, or traveling to a distant land filled with power. A theme describes the source of mythic power in a given campaign and provides guidelines about how it functions in the story.
Some campaigns focus on one theme to tell a mythic story; others include multiple themes. Be careful when combining themes — too many sources can muddle the narrative. In some cases, merging themes makes more dramatic sense than using one alone.
Each theme entry is structured with: Description (overview) ·
Scope (how widely mythic elements affect the campaign) ·
Ascension (sample ways PCs become mythic) ·
Story (adventure types that work well) ·
Challenges (mythic threats relating to the theme) ·
Ending (possible climaxes).
Eldritch Magic
An ancient artifact, forgotten spell, or fantastic magical event grants the PCs mythic powers. Regardless of its particular source, this power comes from the very fabric of magic itself — a power few dare to harness.
Scope
While this theme can be broad, the powers should be tied to their particular source.
Perhaps the ancients created a sacred seal to be broken if certain signs appeared —
a week of blood-red moon or three comets in the sky at once. The mythic rules affect
the entire setting, but their direct influence can be limited by the power's source.
Story
Adventures are always tied to the source of power — either by those who wield it or
those who seek to steal it. Ancient artifacts from distant planes carry secrets and
abilities rarely accessible today. Such items find their way into the collections of
long-living creatures or are buried in the most remote areas. Items may be part of a
set; collecting the pieces increases the PCs' powers.
Challenges
The PCs face foes who have harnessed the same power or seek to take it from them.
These enemies not only understand the PCs' power (possibly better than the PCs do),
but wield it themselves.
Ending
The heroes take on an ancient mythic creature that has been placing challenges before
them — not to defeat the PCs, but to force them to gain more power it then seeks to
rip away. This foe has designs on the power the PCs possess, and wishes either to
claim it all or remove the threat of that power from the world.
Sample Ascension Events
- An ancient seer possesses volumes that, once read, unlock potential hidden within the mind and body. She offers heroes a chance to read one — if they defeat a creature terrorizing the city.
- While exploring a forgotten valley, the PCs find a stone monument with an ancient spell granting mythic power. They aren't the only ones who've found it.
- Breaking the seal on a dungeon door releases a blast of arcane energy, knocking out the heroes and imbuing them with mythic powers — while releasing a monstrosity they are then implored to recapture.
- Each PC discovers they've inherited a curved piece of metal with symbols in archaic script. When assembled, the circle is complete, and mythic power pulses through them.
Legendary Encounter
After the heroes achieve a monumental task thought to be too much for them, the essence of the mythic world bows to their achievement and fills them. This could come from destroying a plane-shattering artifact, defeating a legendary monster, or surviving a deadly journey to a wondrous location.
Scope
The scope can be quite far-ranging — the experience that grants mythic powers could
occur anywhere in the campaign world (possibly one of many such moments happening
worldwide). Events could send heroes to distant lands: destroying an artifact leads
to learning of others hidden in dungeons around the world.
Story
Any sort of adventure could appeal to parties of legendary origin. The nature of their
mythic powers could inspire certain storylines. The heroes may realize their experience
could grant power to others — including those with sinister motives. The main campaign
arc may involve tracking down power sources and keeping them from becoming tools of evil.
Challenges
Since many different experiences, objects, and places can be sources of mythic power,
mythic villains and monsters may appear frequently. If the PCs destroyed an artifact or
killed an ancient beast, others may seek revenge for that act.
Ending
At the end of their journey, the heroes come full circle — possibly returning to where
they first gained their mythic power. They may face the villain who precipitated their
journey, or the source of their power itself. The end should feel like their legend has
closure, even if they keep their mythic power.
Sample Ascension Events
- An NPC begs the heroes to destroy an artifact corrupting the land. After a deadly adventure, they destroy it — releasing a wave of energy that grants them mythic power.
- Reports of an ancient dragon ravaging a valley reach the heroes' ears. They find themselves vastly outmatched, but through cunning and luck manage to slay it — and its blood washes over them.
- Traveling overland, the heroes become lost in a wild storm. When it lifts, they stand on the rim of an ancient, enchanted valley told of in many tales but few believed to truly exist.
Lost Inheritance
Mythic power comes from a lost age when mythic creatures and characters were common. That power has faded from this world, but once an age — when the time is right — mythic power returns for a short time.
Scope
Mythic power is a rarity, held only by a few who often hide from the world. To widen
the scope, mythic power might be returning to the world, heralded by some grand
conjunction of events.
Story
Mythic power itself is the story. These adventures contain a great deal of mystery —
there are few in the world who know about mythic power and what perils come with
wielding it. The PCs travel the world seeking knowledge of its origins, its downfall,
and how it can be used.
Challenges
The PCs aren't the only ones to gain power from this source. Others of this bloodline
may exist, or other creatures may discover a way to awaken power within them. Most
mysterious: creatures from the lost age, returned to the world to take back what they
see as rightfully theirs.
Ending
The PCs must choose whether this power remains in the world. Keeping it means the
power can be taken by villains, requiring constant vigil. Letting it fade means losing
a powerful tool against other threats. Villains seeking to abuse this power must be
stopped regardless.
Sample Ascension Events
- A celestial event marks the return of mythic power. The PCs happen to be standing in just the right place at the time of this omen — and they're not alone.
- The PCs learn their births had been carefully arranged over 100 years to recreate a powerful mythic lineage. They also find the means to unlocking their potential.
- Exploring a lost city, the PCs discover a ritual performed once every 1,000 years that grants mythic power — at a terrible price. The next ritual is approaching.
Planar Might
Upon traveling to another plane, the PCs acquire mythic power. These powers might last only as long as the PCs are on that plane, or the PCs may be forever transformed by the visit.
Scope
This might apply to one plane only, with power fading on departure and surging on
return. Or powers last beyond the visit but fade over time, requiring return trips to
renew them from the mythic wellspring. A broader campaign could involve multiple planes
somehow mythically connected.
Story
While some planes function like the Material Plane, others have truly alien environments.
Several of the latter augment those who enter just to allow survival. The augmentation
sometimes lasts only while a visitor is present; other times it's permanent. Special
items or rituals may grant powers during travel through specific planes.
Challenges
The planes are full of unpredictable oddities and surreal monsters. Many are incredibly
powerful without being mythic at all, making them more than a match for the PCs. Despite
their power, the PCs must tread lightly near archangels and demon princes — until
ultimately, they must face such beings.
Ending
The heroes must face some sort of gatekeeper that keeps them from going home. This
creature might literally be preventing their travel, or might be so great a threat that
it must be defeated before the heroes can return to their ordinary lives.
Sample Ascension Events
- A strange creature steps through a nearby mirror and steals a powerful wizard ally. The mirror portal remains open — the PCs follow and emerge onto an unknown plane where the physics of this place grant them unthinkable abilities.
- A messenger of the gods asks the PCs to deliver a relic to a plane where even the gods fear to tread, then gives each a blessing that provides protections through ascension upon entering.
- Convicted of high treason for a crime they didn't commit, the PCs are sentenced to wander the planes wearing "collars of judgment." The collars grant mythic powers and transport them to their next labor when they finish the current one.
Power of the Gods
A god grants the heroes mythic powers, either in response to deeds they have accomplished or in anticipation of deeds they have yet to perform. In this theme, mythic power is the provenance of the gods — only divine agents may wield such power.
Scope
The heroes' activities may occur in places where the deity is worshipped or challenged.
They could serve as champions protecting lands their god has deemed sacred, or as
emissaries traveling to lands where their god is unknown. The scope is defined by the
gods' wishes — for what they give, they can just as easily take away.
Story
The gods take a much more active role in the world. They may need heroes to carry out
their will, or there are simply too many threats for even the gods to face. Heroes
receive divine communications through dreams, omens, or visitations. The overall arc
is guided by their faith and culminates in a battle against an enemy of their patron.
Challenges
Rival gods can imbue their own champions with power, or create mythic monsters to
oppose the heroes. While not every adventure needs a mythic challenge, major villains
and the ultimate challenge should be mythic in nature and diametrically opposed to
the PCs' patrons.
Ending
The final stage centers on the patron deity's goals. A rival deity opposes them. The
PCs may face a powerful agent of that rival, some sort of avatar of the divine being,
or — at the loftiest heights of power — the angry god directly in its own realm. Their
heroism may become a religious story told down through the ages.
Sample Ascension Events
- The PCs are children of a god, the result of a pairing with a mortal, unknown to them until the appointed hour when their divine heritage manifests.
- During a vicious battle at a holy site, one of the heroes is slain. As companions use resurrection magic to bring her back, the spell expands in a glowing aura that imbues all the heroes with mythic powers.
- The heroes fight bravely to defend or restore a site of worship. When the last enemy is slain and the site is reconsecrated, they are filled with a sense of divine gratitude and blessed with mythic powers.
Stolen Might
The PCs gain mythic power by taking it from another mythic creature — by force, happenstance, or through some elaborate ritual. In this theme, the amount of mythic power is finite; to gain more, one must take it from another.
Scope
The amount of mythic power in the world is limited, but the actual amount can vary
by campaign need. Many mythic beings might be scattered throughout the world, some
secret and others overt. The PCs must decide how to handle their power, whether to
seek out more, and how to deal with those who come to take theirs away.
Story
Every encounter with a mythic creature or character is fraught with peril — these
rivals might seek to steal the PCs' power. The PCs must decide if taking power is
something they can morally accept. If gaining mythic power requires the death of
others who possess it, the power becomes a sort of curse.
Challenges
Mythic foes will be relatively uncommon because each successful encounter increases
the PCs' power. As they gain tiers, slaying a being of lesser tier may no longer be
enough to advance. The PCs must be constantly vigilant for mythic foes both above and
below them in power.
Ending
Ultimately the PCs reach 10th tier with no more to gain — and must defend themselves
from all mythic threats seeking to steal what they've earned. Or there may be one
final step: stealing power from a deity or other source of immense power. Or a grand
reward awaits those who capture all mythic power in the world.
Sample Ascension Events
- After the heroes defeat a particularly powerful foe, a storm of lightning emerges from his body and washes over the PCs, granting them mythic power. They quickly learn that gaining additional tiers requires defeating other mythic foes.
- The PCs are summoned to a lonely mountaintop where an ancient monk awaits. Before succumbing to old age, the monk grants them the mythic power he's held for many years, entrusting them to carry on his legacy.
- A mysterious cult offers the PCs membership. They're brought to a ritual and infused with mythic power stolen from a bound captive — and find themselves in the middle of a centuries-long war between rival cults.
- After some chance omen, the PCs wake up with mythic power — and discover it means they're now hunted by other mythic beings who want what they possess.