paizo.com Recent Reviews of Mythic Hero's Handbook (PFRPG)paizo.com Recent Reviews of Mythic Hero's Handbook (PFRPG)2023-09-28T21:21:21Z2023-09-28T21:21:21ZMythic Hero's Handbook (PFRPG) (5 stars)Brother Fenhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9dso?Mythic-Heros-Handbook2017-08-11T18:05:15Z...Brother Fen2017-08-11T18:05:15ZMythic Hero's Handbook (PFRPG): Worth the Price of Admission (5 stars)Fighttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9dso?Mythic-Heros-Handbook2015-07-04T19:36:40Z<p><b>Mythic Hero's Handbook (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Overall thoughts:</p>
<p>This book covers a •lot• of ground. All core and base classes through the "Ultimate" books are present along with another 11 from various third party publishers</p>
<p>Hyperlinked. I've not needed to use them, but anything that immediately brings up its reference is a good thing. As I recall, these link to the d20pfsrd pages.</p>
<p>Some typos. There are no horrendous issues on this front, but there were a few that stood out to me (p. 77, Mythic Scribe Scroll asks me to reference page XX, references to DR x/epic [which may be a mistake on my part]).</p>
<p>Mythic Misc. Chapter. This itself may be the selling point of the books, offering substantive re-workings of some perceived problems with the Mythic tool set along with a Mythic Skill system.</p>
<p>Mythic Versions of Class Abilities. This is another excellent innovation to the Mythic concept: Why not have a character of myth be amazing at a signature ability, such as the Rage of Achilles?</p>
<p>Expanded Mythic Paths. I'm partial to the Psionic Path (The Overmind, and the Carrie-like abilities) there seems to be nothing lacking or ridiculously off in any of the included new paths. </p>
<p>Feats. No, I'm talking something more FEATS. It seems like every feat in the PF hardbound line is in this book.</p>
<p>Finally, something I wouldn't hold against any publisher: no love for Words of Power.</p>
<p>Closing words: Awesome book. I would need to play the paths and abilities/feats some to get a better feel of the overall balance, but I am immensely happy with this text. I imagine any perceived issues are balanced by the other two books in this "series," and look forward sitting down with them eventually.</p><p><b>Mythic Hero's Handbook (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Overall thoughts:</p>
<p>This book covers a •lot• of ground. All core and base classes through the "Ultimate" books are present along with another 11 from various third party publishers</p>
<p>Hyperlinked. I've not needed to use them, but anything that immediately brings up its reference is a good thing. As I recall, these link to the d20pfsrd pages.</p>
<p>Some typos. There are no horrendous issues on this front, but there were a few that stood out to me (p. 77, Mythic Scribe Scroll asks me to reference page XX, references to DR x/epic [which may be a mistake on my part]).</p>
<p>Mythic Misc. Chapter. This itself may be the selling point of the books, offering substantive re-workings of some perceived problems with the Mythic tool set along with a Mythic Skill system.</p>
<p>Mythic Versions of Class Abilities. This is another excellent innovation to the Mythic concept: Why not have a character of myth be amazing at a signature ability, such as the Rage of Achilles?</p>
<p>Expanded Mythic Paths. I'm partial to the Psionic Path (The Overmind, and the Carrie-like abilities) there seems to be nothing lacking or ridiculously off in any of the included new paths. </p>
<p>Feats. No, I'm talking something more FEATS. It seems like every feat in the PF hardbound line is in this book.</p>
<p>Finally, something I wouldn't hold against any publisher: no love for Words of Power.</p>
<p>Closing words: Awesome book. I would need to play the paths and abilities/feats some to get a better feel of the overall balance, but I am immensely happy with this text. I imagine any perceived issues are balanced by the other two books in this "series," and look forward sitting down with them eventually.</p>Fig2015-07-04T19:36:40ZMythic Hero's Handbook (PFRPG): All the Feats. ALL of them. (5 stars)Rednalhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9dso?Mythic-Heros-Handbook2015-05-03T03:35:57Z<p><b>Mythic Hero's Handbook (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Unlike the Spell Compendium and the Monster Manual, the Hero's Handbook has many different sections, so let's go over each of them.</p>
<p><b>CHAPTER ONE: MYTHIC PATHS</b></p>
<p>This part of the book adds new abilities to the existing paths, and introduces three additional paths for characters:</p>
<p>The Genius path focuses on intellectual characters and using your mind instead of your muscle. It's a solid choice on its own, and while you CAN Dual Path, you probably don't need to - many excellent Archmage and Trickster abilities are available to the Genius.</p>
<p>The Living Saint path - originally from Deep Magic - focuses on characters who hold fast to a particular ideal and work to resist temptation while heading towards a specific goal. I do mean resisting temptation, by the way - that's an explicit part of the path, and dangling goodies in front of players to see what they're willing to do for power is a lot of fun. It's a great thing to give even characters who aren't following this path, especially if you like encouraging roleplay and forcing PCs to make tough decisions.</p>
<p>The Stranger path is ideal for gunslingers and anyone who feels like playing Batman - or the Man With No Name (and indeed, there's a list of suggested abilities for various themes). Honestly, I think this path is best suited to a roleplay-heavy game where you can really play up the flavor, though it would also work well in a superhero-themed game.</p>
<p><b>Chapter Two: Mythic Class Abilites:</b></p>
<p>This chapter offers another new set of abilities for many of the classes in the game, allowing you to get an improved version of your basic choices. For example, Mythic Channel Energy lets the cleric add their tier to the damage/healing that channeling does, while Paladins can use Mythic Divine Bond to get a Mythic (read: more survivable) steed.</p>
<p>Incidentally, this chapter also offers a new way to play mythic characters: Remove all path abilities and have them obtain the mythic versions of their class abilities instead. Unfortunately, this really only works with the basic versions of classes, as archetype abilities aren't covered. You'll have to write them on your own or wait for another book.</p>
<p><b>CHAPTER THREE: MYTHIC FEATS</b></p>
<p>When you get to this section, you're going to be like, "Ye gods, LOOK AT ALL THESE FEATS."</p>
<p>Anyway, this is one of the main draws of the book - allowing players to take the mythic versions of feats that match their build, without restricting them to the narrow list available in the basic mythic rulebook. As with the Spell Compendium, this draws from quite a few sources, from sinful feats (Lustful, anyone? Especially for succubi enemies...) to ki feats to all the popular choices that didn't make it into Mythic Adventures. Regardless of your build, you're probably going to find something here that you want to have.</p>
<p><b>CHAPTER FOUR: MYTHIC MAGIC ITEMS</b></p>
<p>New items are always nice - though whether or not they're needed is up to you. The Mythic Crafter path ability is a common requirement, and the expanded list of crafting choices makes that slightly more worthwhile as a choice now. On the other hand, given their nature, most of these may work better as rewards that the players complete quests to earn.</p>
<p>The book also gives new legendary item abilities. Sadly, it's not as long as I wanted - it was something of a late addition, put in after the original playtest draft that the Kickstarter backers got - and the limited selection here is my only real regret about the book. A good supplement for legendary items, really expanding what they could be (in a balanced and appropriate way, of course) would be a wonderful thing to have.</p>
<p><b>CHAPTER FIVE: MYTHIC PSIONICS</b></p>
<p>Oh, hey, another new path! Yes, Psionics now has a mythic path known as the 'Overmind', as well as many mythic powers to bring support for them into mythic games. All psionic stuff is contained in this chapter for ease of reference, rather than being spread out in the rest of the book, and I have to admit that this was a good design choice.</p>
<p><b>CHAPTER SIX: MYTHIC MISCELLANY</b></p>
<p>This section covers various other things, including house rule suggestions, mythic skills, mythic traps, and even mythic curses (for when you TRULY want to show someone the wrath of the gods). The section is relatively short, and the skills take up a lot of it, but they're worth considering as a way of surprising (and/or rewarding) players with an option they didn't expect.</p>
<p>Overall, this is the most player-friendly book (the Spell Compendium is limited to casters, whereas EVERY mythic character will find valuable choices in this book), and it adheres to the same formatting as the rest of the series - full color, two-column text, and frequent pictures to liven things up a little. This is the book most players will probably want to get their hands on, and along with the spell compendium, it's well worth the price for any group that loves using the mythic rules.</p><p><b>Mythic Hero's Handbook (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Unlike the Spell Compendium and the Monster Manual, the Hero's Handbook has many different sections, so let's go over each of them.</p>
<p><b>CHAPTER ONE: MYTHIC PATHS</b></p>
<p>This part of the book adds new abilities to the existing paths, and introduces three additional paths for characters:</p>
<p>The Genius path focuses on intellectual characters and using your mind instead of your muscle. It's a solid choice on its own, and while you CAN Dual Path, you probably don't need to - many excellent Archmage and Trickster abilities are available to the Genius.</p>
<p>The Living Saint path - originally from Deep Magic - focuses on characters who hold fast to a particular ideal and work to resist temptation while heading towards a specific goal. I do mean resisting temptation, by the way - that's an explicit part of the path, and dangling goodies in front of players to see what they're willing to do for power is a lot of fun. It's a great thing to give even characters who aren't following this path, especially if you like encouraging roleplay and forcing PCs to make tough decisions.</p>
<p>The Stranger path is ideal for gunslingers and anyone who feels like playing Batman - or the Man With No Name (and indeed, there's a list of suggested abilities for various themes). Honestly, I think this path is best suited to a roleplay-heavy game where you can really play up the flavor, though it would also work well in a superhero-themed game.</p>
<p><b>Chapter Two: Mythic Class Abilites:</b></p>
<p>This chapter offers another new set of abilities for many of the classes in the game, allowing you to get an improved version of your basic choices. For example, Mythic Channel Energy lets the cleric add their tier to the damage/healing that channeling does, while Paladins can use Mythic Divine Bond to get a Mythic (read: more survivable) steed.</p>
<p>Incidentally, this chapter also offers a new way to play mythic characters: Remove all path abilities and have them obtain the mythic versions of their class abilities instead. Unfortunately, this really only works with the basic versions of classes, as archetype abilities aren't covered. You'll have to write them on your own or wait for another book.</p>
<p><b>CHAPTER THREE: MYTHIC FEATS</b></p>
<p>When you get to this section, you're going to be like, "Ye gods, LOOK AT ALL THESE FEATS."</p>
<p>Anyway, this is one of the main draws of the book - allowing players to take the mythic versions of feats that match their build, without restricting them to the narrow list available in the basic mythic rulebook. As with the Spell Compendium, this draws from quite a few sources, from sinful feats (Lustful, anyone? Especially for succubi enemies...) to ki feats to all the popular choices that didn't make it into Mythic Adventures. Regardless of your build, you're probably going to find something here that you want to have.</p>
<p><b>CHAPTER FOUR: MYTHIC MAGIC ITEMS</b></p>
<p>New items are always nice - though whether or not they're needed is up to you. The Mythic Crafter path ability is a common requirement, and the expanded list of crafting choices makes that slightly more worthwhile as a choice now. On the other hand, given their nature, most of these may work better as rewards that the players complete quests to earn.</p>
<p>The book also gives new legendary item abilities. Sadly, it's not as long as I wanted - it was something of a late addition, put in after the original playtest draft that the Kickstarter backers got - and the limited selection here is my only real regret about the book. A good supplement for legendary items, really expanding what they could be (in a balanced and appropriate way, of course) would be a wonderful thing to have.</p>
<p><b>CHAPTER FIVE: MYTHIC PSIONICS</b></p>
<p>Oh, hey, another new path! Yes, Psionics now has a mythic path known as the 'Overmind', as well as many mythic powers to bring support for them into mythic games. All psionic stuff is contained in this chapter for ease of reference, rather than being spread out in the rest of the book, and I have to admit that this was a good design choice.</p>
<p><b>CHAPTER SIX: MYTHIC MISCELLANY</b></p>
<p>This section covers various other things, including house rule suggestions, mythic skills, mythic traps, and even mythic curses (for when you TRULY want to show someone the wrath of the gods). The section is relatively short, and the skills take up a lot of it, but they're worth considering as a way of surprising (and/or rewarding) players with an option they didn't expect.</p>
<p>Overall, this is the most player-friendly book (the Spell Compendium is limited to casters, whereas EVERY mythic character will find valuable choices in this book), and it adheres to the same formatting as the rest of the series - full color, two-column text, and frequent pictures to liven things up a little. This is the book most players will probably want to get their hands on, and along with the spell compendium, it's well worth the price for any group that loves using the mythic rules.</p>Rednal2015-05-03T03:35:57Z