[PnP] Powers And Perils And Mythus

[Phineas Cromwell]

I was wondering if anyone here who reads the list/plays P&P has any
familiarity or experience with Gary Gygax's post-TSR game Mythus. I think
both games share the same essential deep design philosophy; I remember
picking up the main rulebook in a gaming store in Pittsburgh and quicky
recognizing the fundamental common ground between the two games.
I also remember some genuine surprise that Gygax did a game like that,
because I always remembered a few passages he wrote in the AD&D 1st edition
Players Handbook about the issue of 'too much detail' and complexity in a
heroic fantasy game. My impression, in short, was that he felt anything that
resembled complexity didnt belong in his conception of a heroic fantasy
game, and quick-play was the big-time order of the day, with basic, big and
bold actions being of prime importance. And this was certainly reflected in
the 60-SECOND LONG combat round [!], where ONE WHOLE side of the action
rolls initiative, make all their attacks, and then the other side all goes.
Crazy! A mashed-together confused morass of the strategic and the tactical.
A minute might work in a mass-combat portrayal... Oh well, these were the
early days... Anyway, I thought it was a little strange because pretty much
after that statement of ideas he went into a combat subsystem for those who
might be interested that dealt with Weapon Speed Factors and relatively
minute sections of time called Segments. It was a sign that he maybe knew
how to portray a 'complex/realistic' combat system; but it wasnt until the
2nd edition Players Option stuff that it made any definite changes in this
direction, and still not quite satisfying to me. There was still the sappy
feel of PCs lining up on one side, and NPCs lining up across from them, and
taking even turns swinging at each other. And I never could reconcile a
60-second long combat turn that stipulated one or two 'attacks' with
historical research that revealed things like your average good Welsh archer
could churn out half a dozen or more aimed shots in 60-seconds.
Anyway, I picked up Mythus in the early 90s, and Gygax was redeemed in my
eyes. I actually remember thinking to myself: "He must have read and been
influenced by Powers And Perils." P&P already by then had been a personal,
'best-kept-secret' of mine, a game that was valued by 'those in the know', a
kind of paragon of a superlative RPG design philosophy. I felt like Gygax
had been 'converted' or something.
If anybody has any experience with Mythus, I'd be interested in hearing it,
especially if anyone drew any similarities between the two games.
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