RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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After playtesting through 3-4 sessions using the Mythic playtest rules, I have some general thoughts. The biggest is that while I really like the concept of mythic rules, and how mythic tiers stack on top of levels, but don't increase the level dependant advancement, in play, they don't live up to the goal and don't feel very mythic.
Most of the abilities you gain, either through Path powers or mythic feats are really more along the lines of character abilities, either through base class, magic items, achetypes, prestige classes, etc. Yes, there are exceptions, but taken as a whole, lots of what's there is stuff that grants additional bonuses, or stuff that could easily be a feat.
The core mythic rule of getting to add a die to a d20 roll is basically the same as a hero point system, which is a nice optional system, but again, doesn't feel very mythic.
As has been discussed elsewhere, with most mythic powers being tied to a swift action really hampers classes that already rely on swift actions such as inquisitors, or spellcasters who use quickened spells frequently, etc.
The one area that I think succeeds as intended is mythic spells. All of the example spells in the playtest take something from the core game, and lets it really do something cool beyond what it would normally do. However, even mythic spells have the problem of you get too few of them, and have a pretty limited use of them, when you have to use the same pool of mythic points that power most other mythic abilities.
What I'd really like to see is mythic abilities that let characters do mighty deeds - like a champion power that lets a PC rip a tree, ship mast, railing, etc from it's position, and sweep it across the battlefield, and getting to do damage and a trip CMB against all enemies in a cone or even 90 degree arc, heirophants calling heralds of their dieties as a standard action spell, tricksters causing a foe to target themselves or an ally with their next attack or spell, and marshalls allowing a large group of allies (potentially NPCs of much lower level, like a town militia) make an attack using the marshalls attack bonus and bypassing DR, etc.
Overall, I'd much rather see mythic play grant passive always on abilties like hard to kill more often, and have the abilities that use a mythic power point be really, REALLY big game changers when they're used, but have them be more limited. I don't need another system that give another half dozen or more small powers to choose from that really don't overall make the PCs feel all that different from how they could be if they were a level or two higher.
One thing my roommate and I noticed is that we could, mechanically speaking, more accurately replicate a couple of our favorite characters from 3.5. Problem was, these characters, while surprisingly good, were not epic or mythic at all; they were just good for their level.
They went on to feel legendary to us, because of the stories we could tell with them, so maybe that's the point, but super powers they had not.
I think an issue we're going to run into here has to do with the balance between the ability of the GM to hand-wave vs. the epic theorycrafting and character min/maxing that goes on.
Way back when, foes could do stuff "just because." They could have crazy powers, or castles floating in the air, or snap their fingers and raise islands just because it was cool.
Now, with everything having to have a well-defined mechanical effect, such impressive abilities are much harder to include due to the need to quantify them. Look at how many people are shredding Carrion Crown because one of the NPCs shouldn't be able to craft a golem, something which is pretty darn irrelevant to the story.
There is no (and can never be) a rule book for creating cool and unique villians, foes, and challenges. That's where creativity comes in. It's like the classic "where do you get your ideas?" question that authors are always asked.
On the other hand, we can get a toolbox. This toolbox can have all sorts of crazy powers and weird looking bits in it, and odds are pretty darn good some of them might not be completely defined and might need some GM adjudication, just like the current rules when it gets to creating intelligent magic items or answering the question of where artifacts come from or exactly what power might get interested when one is destroyed.
Personlly, I'm hoping the full mythic rule set has a lot more gray areas and a lot less of the +2 this and +4/tier that and 2 uses of mythic power to do some other thing. Because that's really just another fancy form of multiclassing, and what mythic really needs is actions and powers that truly are mythic.