Modern Mythology | Story & Setting in RPGs and beyond – Details, episodes & analysis

Recorded just before Episode 13 (Echoes of the Veil), this session has Scott running Mind the Gap—Emanoel Melo’s compact introduction to CBR+PNK—for James and Sean. The pamphlet delivers a self-contained cyberpunk heist in the Forged-in-the-Dark lineage, offering both a crash course in the system’s flow and a taste of its sharp, high-pressure style. We used it as a baseline for comparison with Raffi’s expanded version in Episode 13, highlighting what the core rules do well, where questions remain, and how the system might evolve when stretched into longer form play.

Topics discussed:

00:01:15 Getting started with Characters

00:17:30 Getting started with Play

00:20:35 Car 18

00:21:38 Determine the package

00:23:32 The first thing that happens...

01:08:10 Entering Car 19

01:16:00 The lights turn red

01:19:00 Change direction!

01:23:00 Car 17

01:28:00 Car 16 -- turned around?

01:34:04 The Simulacrum

01:35:14 The bunny is a virus

01:47:46 Deliver to car 12

01:49:52 Denouement -- Crispr doesn't actually have a family, Diz has terminal cancer

01:55:08 Discussion on CBR+PNK and some comparisons with BitD

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Jamie and Scott dig into how we’re all wired to find creativity in different ways. This is a critical part of the process. Not only are we talking about how structure drives us all differently but communicating those expectations at the table. We circle back to some ideas we referenced early on and begin our exploration of OSR ideas and GNS.

For more on the discussion of System and Style check out James' article series, Rules in Practice and Scott’s additional thoughts on specific systems on our YouTube channel.

Topics discussed:

00:00 - Intro

03:54 - Structure vs tyranny of the blank page

05:55 - Fiction First

07:15 - the Social Contract. Matt Colville, Language Not Rules

11:15 - Game Design with Luke Crane & Thor Olavsrud

12:00 - GNS

13:45 - Save the Cat

14:40 - Structure generating creativity vs. restricting creativity

16:40 - Investment in story vs characters

17:35 - Kishōtenketsu

20:25 - Player agendas

21:20 - Verisimilitude in RPGs

25:35 - the fruitful void

25:25 - GM responsibility to contextualize

27:00 - Torchbearer

30:15 - Consequences to feed narrative

31:50 - Play by vibe

34:14 - Relationship of character to story

36:50 - What players bring to the table

42:45 - Not everybody is a creative writer

46:00 - Real life experience + playing well in a rpg

51:45 - LitRPG

The crew have a conversation about how to convey information at the table. The GMs responsibility and the roles players have to bring the fiction to the game. This is a big topic but we chat about props, failing forward, NPCs and other tools we employ to bring depth and color to our worlds. As usual, our conversation ranges far and wide.

Topics Discussed:

00:01:00 Introducing the ideas

00:07:50 No One Cares About Your Lore (until it becomes part of the story)

Enter the Dungeon

00:10:50 Show, Don't Tell

Thomas Flight

GM Paizo GameMastery Cards I don't think they produce this anymore but you may be able to find aftermarket versions

00:22:10 Bringing It Into the Fiction

00:27:00 Character Backstory

00:39:30 World Lore

00:58:10 More Out of Character Info

01:04:00 The Perception Check

01:11:10 Handouts & Learn from Teachers

01:18:20 Power of “Meta Knowledge"

Games we talk about: Dungeon World, Invisible Sun, Trail of Cthulhu, Burning Wheel, Apocalypse World.

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The gang has a discussion on structure in TTRPGs. How does structure make a good horror game? How does setting inform players what they can and can’t do? Some examples of story structure in World of Darkness, Invisible Sun, and Dogs in the Vineyard. Then the crew plays a short session of Whispering Vault, Mike Nystul’s 1993 story game inspired by the likes of Hellraiser and Nightbreed. We play it fast and loose but hope we hit in the key elements of play and this intriguing game’s explicit ritualistic structure.

Topics:

1:45 Weird forward games

2:25 Is Mark a god?

3:30 Where is the Weird in WoD, Invisible Sun, and Lovecraft Country

6:50 Where is the horror?

11:25 Setting Expectations as Structure: Implicit vs Explicit Structure

23:15 The Illusory World tropes

36:00 Whispering Vault Actual Play

36:30 Character Creation

48:40 System overview

51:10 The Call (game begins)

57:20 Navigation to the Realm

Of Flesh

60:00 Dismissing the Guardian

67:57 Creating Your Vessel

72:45 Healing the Enigma

115:38 Binding the Unbidden

116:15 Wrapping Up

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In episode 4, Jamie and Scott have a lot to say about agency at the table. Who controls what? Who drives the story? Who narrates die outcomes? Traditionally the GM handles a lot of this but we challenge groups to explore situations where you can hand over a lot of that responsibility. And we discuss over a dozen games that change how we think about agency.

Topics:

1:00 Seriousness

3:35 Ginni Di - https://youtu.be/DXUnEk4cuYI?si=M_5Dr4dv_b_E-1vH

4:50 Monte Cook - https://www.montecookgames.com

10:35 Characterization Agency

13:30 Combat

16:24 Losing control of PC

19:00 Blades in the Dark

22:30 metagame

23:40 Invisible Sun

28:00 "Action" Agency

35:00 Torchbearer

37:00 die rolling

42:30 Apocalypse World

44:35 Cypher System

45:35 Plot Agency

52:10 Proactive Roleplaying

How To Be a Great GM - https://youtube.com/@howtobeagreatgm?si=Fze0DEXg5gbr456E

54:20 Novel characterization

63:43 John Harper

65:15 Setting canon

66:18 Shock

70:00 Hero Wars & RuneQuest

75:40 Burning Wheel

79:35 "Push-Pull" Agency

90:00 Community & IT Crowd

92:29 Dice adjudicating conversations

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In Episode 3 of Modern Mythology, we continue our exploration of horror RPG systems with Chronicles of Darkness, the successor to White Wolf’s World of Darkness and the “new” World of Darkness. While the editions’ lineage may be complex, the system’s core mechanics remain intuitive and accessible. To demonstrate how it plays, we dive into an Actual Play with a simple yet evocative premise: “Your characters work at a 1990s convenience store.” From character creation to the gradual escalation of tension, the scenario unfolds, transforming the ordinary into something unsettlingly extraordinary. At the end we talk a bit about what we learned and the pros and cons of "traditional" RPGs.

5:20 Virtue and vice

7:25 Aspirations

16:00 Story begins

49:35 CoD Breaking Point

61:45 Wrap up the game

63:00 One Shots

64:22 Discussion about cultural appropriation

67:00 Where’s the horror?

69:00 The Big Lie

74:25 Health and recovery

76:00 System driving player behavior

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Welcome to modern mythology, a podcast that explores the many intersections of story and system in every episode. We will discuss some facet of how RPGs function as modern myths, providing a shared canvas for creativity and the collaborative discovery of new worlds.

Episode 2 Collective Stories. Getting on the same page with Session 0 by the end, and we begin our exploration of RPGs with Blades in the dark actual play.

Collision of Myth and roleplaying 0:26

Some of our favorite RPG moments 3:35

Film and media 6:25

Growing up gamers 9:05

What kinds of characters do you play? 11:40

Social Contract and games 15:08

Safety tools 18:30

Break 29:15

We’re back talking about horror games 29:40

Blades in the Dark Actual Play 30:00

Wrap up 1:40:00

Visit ModernMythology.net for more episodes, content, and links to our other podcasts.

In the first episode of Modern Mythology, hosts Scott and James have an introductory discussion about how RPGs function as modern myths, blending ancient storytelling structures with collaborative, character-driven gameplay. We explore how mythology and archetypes inform the way games are created and played, with RPGs often becoming shared narratives that draw from communal ideas and personal creativity. Highlighting the importance of player agency and story structure, they aim to inspire listeners to deepen their approach to games.

Future episodes will explore different genres, online versus in-person play, play styles and cultures of play, and how RPGs can evolve as a storytelling medium.

Writers or gamers 1:30

Processes 2:30

The Old Formula 3:12

Fantasy and beyond 7:15

Different story structures 8:25

Kishōtenketsu 

Save the Cat Beat Sheet

Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey

Gods and Monsters 12:00

A Pattern in RPG books 13:30

Format 16:00

What do we want to get out of this 18:00

What will we bring to the discussion 25:55

More about Modern Mythology RPG podcast.

Long‑time friend of the show and gamer Johnathan Lee drops in as we crack open Mothership, the d100 panic engine from Tuesday Knight Games. A brisk build phase shows how quickly you can assemble a potentially doomed crew. Then we plunge through a five‑scene drift where hull plates groan and heartbeat monitors spike. Note the scenes that kicked off TOMBS (Transgression, Omens, Manifestation, Banishment, Slumber).

Afterward we really begin to dig into some of the push and pull between mechanics and story and how we see different games engage with the material in a different manner, potentially creating very different results even between similar scenarios.

For more on the discussion of System and Style check out James' article series, Rules in Practice. More installments in this series to come.

Topics Discussed:

Mothership AP

00:01:00 Setting

00:07:00 Characters & System Briefing

00:16:40 So it begins - Transgression

00:28:45 Stasis Pods

00:38:00 The Cockpit

00:40:10 Check the Bounty

00:46:00 Waking the Captain - Omens

01:02:00 Run Ship Diagnostics

01:10:15 Enter the Chapel

01:17:15 Engine Room

01:26:00 Gear Up

01:30:15 Space Flames - Manifestation

01:34:50 Shut It Down!

01:46:10 “Perhaps Battle Dress is in order"

01:50:10 VacSuits

01:52:20 Freedom!

01:59:00 Solar Pilgrimage

02:10:00 Panic

02:14:45 Ultimatum - Banishment

02:15:00 Controlled Burn - Slumber

02:27:30 Wrap Up

Deconstructing Mothership and System/Style discussion

02:32:00 Execution

03:00:00 Exposition

03:07:00 Evolution

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On this special episode we bring fellow Philadelphia-based designer Raffi onboard to explore Echoes of the Veil, a new expansion that turns the

Forged in the Dark masterwork of design CBR+PNK into a quick-fire mini-campaign engine.

We jump straight into character creation, unpacking the new runner-growth track and “Weird" options, modular downtime boards, and other Veil-specific mechanics along the way—smart add-ons that deepen play without slowing the momentum that made CBR+PNK a cult favorite. Expect tight action, abrupt pivots, and a city that pushes back as hard as you lean in. After the session we dive into a far-ranging discussion of style, system, and all things RPG.

Listen now, grab free sample pages, and back Echoes of the Veil on Kickstarter to keep indie cyberpunk thriving.

Heartfelt thanks for joining us, Raffi. Go support this fantastic creator!

Topics Discussed:

Echoes of the Veil Actual Play

00:02:30 Character Creation

00:13:37 Safety and Guidelines

00:14:29 Background

00:24:00 The Drop

00:30:55 The Toll

00:39:40 Break & Entry

01:17:00 The Twist

01:28:10 The House of Po-Po

02:01:45 Epilogue

Interview Raffi

02:13:35 What have we been playing?

Traveler Character Generator

02:28:00 Digging into process with Raffi

02:38:30 Inspiration

02:49:14 Bringing The CBR to our PNK

02:53:15 Get your gamism on

Therapeutic approaches to RPGS

Intentionally Therapeutic TTRPG resources

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