Mythtakes Happen

A continuation of last month's BLADES IN THE DARK foray as Aaron desperately tries to convince me that it's the right TTRPG framework for Season 2 of Mythtakes Happen. Spoiler so you don't have to listen to this drivel: I agreed.

Also featuring: Sage, a son I LITERALLY created without help from anyone.

I tried my best on this one, but as I said last month, this isn't an Actual Play podcast and so this is very rough. Rough like what I imagine the inside of a cat feels like. Warm, though. It's a pretty warm...

Part of our limited, open-ended series Letters to Space Caesar, which we will add to at our own pace.

As always, please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE and REVIEW.

If you were a PATREON, you could have listened to this a full month ahead. Consider supporting us: patreon.com/MythtakesHappenPodcast

Looking for a Game Master in Adelaide? Check out: https://metalphoenixstudio.com

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Bluesky:

mythtakeshappen.bsky.social

Threads and Insta:

@mythtakeshappen

Today we look at the shifting fortunes of the Strom Trading Fleet, the strange but perfectly explainable powers of the Deep's Surgesayers as well as the mysterious and perpetually cold Endarkened Fellowship of the Fridgerati. What secrets are they hiding?

We also visit several planets of the Coreward Pact and explore the tradition of mask wearing in the Celestial Deep.

Join us, won’t you? Some Mythtakes Happen, but these ones are on purpose.

Episode 03: Strom Drains Supplementary Material:

insert here

Consider supporting us: patreon.com/MythtakesHappenPodcast

Lo...

A BONUS EPISODE where Aaron tries to convince me and my son Sage that Blades in the Dark is the correct system to use as a basis for the Celestial Deep. We present this bonus episode as a bit of a peek behind the proverbial curtain (from the curtain proverb) of how character creation works in Blades in the Dark and how decision-making works in a creative space.

This one is rough, folks. The podcast was never meant to handle actual play content, and it shows. I have done my best to clean up the audio here.<...

Part of our limited, open-ended series Letters to Space Caesar, which we will add to at our own pace.

As always, please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE and REVIEW.

If you were a PATREON, you could have listened to this a full month ahead. Consider supporting us: patreon.com/MythtakesHappenPodcast

Looking for a Game Master in Adelaide? Check out: https://metalphoenixstudio.com

Find us on these dystopian socials:

Bluesky:

mythtakeshappen.bsky.social

Threads and Insta:

@mythtakeshappen

S02E02 Mythtakes Happen - Amphibious Antagonism

We present the many vessels which traverse the Celestial Deep, including the highly modular Hadopelus. We discuss the societies which may have created the great Outlier Stations and their exotic materials, as well as the Pirates of the Lightless Duchies. We zoom in on Opal Jing, who is definitely not a pirate or an adventurer, as well as talk through the curious and disturbing presence of Ants in the waters of our drowned solar system.

Join us, won’t you? Some Mythtakes Happen, but these ones are on pu...

S02 Bonus Episode - Monstrous Mythtakes - Silly Snailor on the Seas of Fate

A Bonus Episode where each host gives the name of a monster to the other, who has to ON THE FLY come up with a suitable background for it, fitting it into the world of the Celestial Deep. Today we look at the great iron-carapaced and fast-evolving Sparsharks that were a great menace in the early days of Deep exploration. We also talk about the poop-loving Preposterous Clown Snails who make the waste tanks of our vessels swell in delight (and danger).

A new season and a new universe!

We dive right in and immediately discover more points of conflict and discussion than ever before as we investigate the crucial Slurrbrine, the mysterious nature of the Leviathans, one of the stranger religions and the worlds of Mantarym & Orago.

Join us, won’t you? Some Mythtakes Happen, but these ones are on purpose.

Episode 01: Fathoms for Favours Supplementary Material:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fuKQUKtY6xLSyXj49jPgdOdqg5aTqOwP5B5SHVQUQog/edit?usp=drive_link

Consider supporting us: patreon.com/MythtakesHappenPodcast

...

It’s Season 2! Welcome to the wet and dangerous world of the Celestial Deep. In this setup episode, we discuss our inspirations, how we got to drowning an entire solar system as well as where on Earth this is heading.

We decide on some important aspects of our Season 2 setting and set down some vital foundations for this year’s gaming narrative.

Join us, won’t you? Some Mythtakes Happen, but these ones are on purpose.

Consider supporting us: patreon.com/MythtakesHappenPodcast

Looking for a Game Master in Adelaide? Check out: https...

Mythtakes Happen is a worldbuilding podcast in its second season.

This is a teaser for our set-up episode, coming January 1st.

Here we lay the foundations for the glorious, drowned and fading solar system of the Celestial Deep and spend 12 scrumptious episodes adding depth to a setting YOU can use for free in your everyday TTRPG gaming.

Ever wondered how the professionals go about making an adventure from scratch? We wish we knew too! We gave it a crack anyway in our final Episode of Season 1. Chris and Aaron sit down with zero planning before the session (if you don't count all the previous episodes) to write the first playable adventure in Heliakon.

We hit all (some) of your favourite places we detailed earlier;

The final episode of Monstrous Mythtakes for this season.

We start off strong with the monumentally colossal Renkian Hellgoat, an animal so large and so volatile and also so mysterious as to render any description of it within the episode notes insufficiently detailed. I suppose you'll have to listen to the podcast after all. That's how we get 'em. Hehehe.

We also explore the curious ecology and symbolism of the Glassblower Stork, an animal that wades through lava, inconveniences farmers and also happens to be a protected species.

This podcast does endorse sexy...

We talk about revolutionary movements in Heliakon and the Illegitimate Children of Foolish Empires and the way that people organise in the face of terrible things. Our world becomes more fleshed out with the addition of further ways we stand against imperialism and colonialism. Definitely no parallels with the real world here.

We examine the Great Consociate Empire's Upright Doctrine and its support of the pseudo-scientific practice of psychomageiatism, a nonsense theory created to oppress the poor and justify the social standing of the wealthy.

And we delve into Weftenfray, the knot magic of the...

A brand new Bonus Episode of Monumental Mythtakes.

Today we mix it up and talk about The Artful Dance of the Slime-Bellied Administrator Eagle in Watercolour, a painting of some renown. Who created this sublime art, and what does it mean to the people of Old Helidia?

We also touch upon the Cobblestone Tower of Merit and its importance to the culture of the Unfettered League. Can a mere building such as this really stand for something more than the sum of its bricks? Let's find out.

Join us, won’t you? Some My...

Gods and godlings galore! A plethora of pagan powers are introduced in The Celestial Pantheon; twelve definitely gods and two maybe-kinda-sorta-nearly gods are all briefly described and discussed. From the Father of the Great Consociate, Gruvold to Gengolof the Great Scaletipper. From baker gods to bro gods.

We then take a deep dive into the highest reaches of society as we examine the Consociate Nobility. Their titles and duties and how the gamut from the very top down to those barely above the common-folk all fit into society.

Switching focus from the broad to the...

This is an older episode we have clawed from the archives, chronologically many months old at this point. We talk about Courson's Cunning Clawtig as well as the Bloody Bureaucrat Beetle. What do these creatures look like, where do they live and why would any loving creator allow them to exist? Well, you're in Heliakon now, baby and all bets are off.

I'm sorry if that sounded a little bit pushy. We love and respect you as a podcast listener, a human being and a well rounded person who has no doubt gone through several satisfying character...

Have a proper gander at some of the way our fantasy societies distribute and formulate propaganda and disinformation aimed at keeping their citizens in line and angry at someone else.

Marvel at the Society of Glass Vultures and their sneaky pursuit of distilled truth. Learn about the systems of education and art which propagate the philosophies of our imperial powers. Tremble at the oversize influence of the Bureau for the Propagation of Virtuous Principles!

We explore the changes the printing press and its publication of the very popular serzeyns are making to how news and...

Sometimes the creative process hits a snag, and we don't mean the delicious kind. In this very special Bonus Episode, Chris and Aaron discuss what it means when the ideas in our heads do not well translate into commissioned art. What do we do when the wonderful artists we pay to make our vision come true create something wonderful, but at odds with our own concept?

Today we set aside the Greater Trench Eagle and talk about a new creature born from our attempt to visualise him. Meet the Eagle-Headed Swamp Basilisk and marvel at how we...

We completely forget to do the episode on propaganda as we discussed last episode...did we mention that some mythtakes might be made? After goofing around for probably a little too long, we eventually get to the Mythtakes at hand, beginning with an extended digression on the Undead of our world; The Winnowed.

After discussing the mechanism behind the magic we zoom in on the Zombie before studying the Skeleton and then worrying about the Wight.

The Southern half of Heliakon gets its' Districts Delineated and described before we leave the great city for the...

Guest starring: Leo?

The handsome Leo, inspired by our genius, has spilled his seed into the fertile plains of Heliakon and added more depth to the rich tapestry of Vaesta practice in our world.

What if friendship was real? What if the walls were not closing in and we all worked together to forge a better world? What if Chris and Aaron invited another bearded man to the podcast? Is this intersectionality?

Await the answers to these Mysteries no longer than necessary! All is revealed in this episode.

Warning: the audio...

Today we talk about the Gods. They're real in the world of Heliakon, and it is well known that great heroes of the age can one day ascend to those heavenly realms. But how exactly does that work, and what happens on the journey from Zero to Zeus? A conversational episode where we explore the metaphysical mechanics of divinity and more.

We talk about the realities of living in a partitioned city, touch on the use of wraithquartz by both sides of the conflict as well as how each faction feels about war which culminated in Heliakon's...

In this Bonus Episode we really discover something about ourselves. We absolutely cannot make one of these without talking about strong, pulsating monsters and the peasants who fear them. Each host brings a name and a description to the other and FORCES them under duress to create a monster based on this limited data set.

Today we talk about the Dire Roblin, a provincial faery gone wrong, as well as the Stainglass Rattler (winged) - a verminous lizard that makes its romantic life YOUR problem. We also have a brief discussion about the proud order of individuals...

There's something wrong the gnomes. Learn all about it and how to protect yourself from the scourge of the Gnome Plague. Also featuring Shatterfolk, crossbows and the dreams of small things and big things, young things and old... so very old... things.

Learn how Gnomes and Goblins are held together by dreams of different sorts. Learn why you should just 'trust the process' and why priests of Gruvold dislike crossbows.

As a fun little bonus, we ask each other a personal question each in Ready, Setting, Go!

Not THAT personal. We're not that...

Another Bonus Episode with a new format. Short and sweet, we talk Monumental Mythtakes.

Each host comes up with someone from the history of our fictional world and something they left behind. The other host contextualises it for us.

Together, we make art so sublime the greatest philosophers in the world cannot hold a candle to it. They try, but it just makes incomprehensible and ultimately unknowable shadows on the cave walls.

Join us, won’t you? Some Mythtakes Happen, but these ones are on purpose.

This is not the official Mi...

We meet the Chods, the Hobbs and the Tomeworms as we take a deep dive into the Gangs of South Heliakon. But let's not forget the slippery and dangerous Butternut Boys! We celebrate Fettersval, Gruvolly and talk about the mournful day of Catacord. A bit of a theme today, and well worth tuning in for this extra-long, action-packed episode.

We also explore the many Districts of North Heliakon, get into the interesting world of finance with the Bank Building of Benson, Benson and Byrde and take a peek into the inner-workings of these economic powerhouses. And for...

For the first ever in all the worlds, both real and fictional, Chris and Aaron present a whole new format of exciting Bonus Episode. No longer satisfied with making Small Mythtakes, today they are making Monstrous Mythtakes!

Each host provides the other with a name, an extremely brief and frankly mysterious description of a monster and it becomes the other host's unenviable task to flesh that creature out! Give it an appearance, behaviour, history, habitat, threats and possible rewards for slaying or surviving it.

In our fist episode, we really dig deep into a pair...

Today's episode explores the cutthroat world of a 'Lodge of Snakes', as well as the infamous 'Meatgrinder Lodge'. We talk about the secrets of magic, the methodologies and ways of various will-workers in our fantasy world and the linguistic sentence spells of the Vaesta. What does this mean for the continent of Delmarin and what toll do these magical paradigms take on the casters?

Likewise, we take a sneak-peek at the elusive Stygiad Council, their faceless goddess and a history of mystery stretching back to time immemorial. There is also the patriotic Heliadog. A deliciously scrumptious episode...

Another beautiful, gorgeous, sexy and virile Bonus Episode just throbbing with content. Chris and Aaron take a break from real episodes and the day to day drudgery of the world to continue our quick format where each host presents the other with an Artefact, a Place and a Person and the other must to come up with how these things fit into our world on the fly.

We talk about pale figures, Chris gets confused about a sword and the hits keep coming with a Slimy location and even a soldier with a heart. Let's see what...

We return to the glorious city of Heliakon and imagineer Orcs, but here we come to an impasse. Do we stay with the depressed and pessimistic orcs wrought by Chris or do we instead make a place in the world for Aaron's all-singing, all-dancing magical bard orcs? Listen to find out.

We learn about the famous Stratomaach Serfé Mirakore; Queen of the Golden River and her contributions during the great war which tore our city asunder. We define a God important both to Orcs and the Great Consociate Empire, talk about the military ranks of the Unfettered L...

Chris and Aaron are back at it with a True Seer, dirty socialist mathematics, an amulet of fun and a cat religion. In Small Mythtakes we continue our quick format for quick thinkers (not Chris) where each host presents the other with an Artefact, a Place and a Person and the other host has to come up with how these things fit into our world on the fly. And we do a good job this time.

Are some of the setting references not making sense? Good. Keep listening. They are from the future.

Join us...

Episode 2. Recording in person, but from a fish tank. We learn about the ghouls of Heliakon, and meet Liman Jorush, a very nice man with nothing to hide. There are secrets hiding in these undead creatures which could spell the end of the city. We zoom out of Heliakon itself and take a look at the great continent of Delmarin and the nations and city-states which still fiercely cling to independence despite the presence of our two hungry imperial powers. What can they do in the face of such cultural and military behemoths?

We take a look...

Chris and Aaron play a dangerous game with teleportation and cults. In Small Mythtakes we try out a quick format for quick thinkers (not Chris) where each host presents the other with an Artefact, a Place and a Person and the other host has to come up with how these things fit into our world on the fly. There's a well, a staff, a cult leader, a peace sceptic and the best Joker™ themed weapon that money can buy.

Are some of the setting references not making sense? Good. Keep listening. They are from the future.

...

In the first episode of Mythtakes Happen, we begin to create and define a fantasy world centred on the partitioned city of Heliakon. It is an ancient metropolis carved up by two great powers who once fought to a standstill before signing the armistice which led to its partition.

Who are the Unfettered League and the Great Consociate Empire? What do they want and what will they do to get it? We visit Brightmarket and the mysterious Brazen Dome as well as the district of Melodwynn. We meet the Interbellum Guard of the Serpentine Wall, talk about...

Before we begin the episodes proper, we need some structure. This is where the core concept for Heliakon came from, edited to remove the long, sad silences which punctuated this historic recording.

The creative process requires a base from which to build, foundations which can be expanded, altered and negotiated in order to formulate a setting. Enjoy this recording of two middle aged men talking about a fictional setting as we prepare for our journey to Heliakon.

Join us, won’t you? Some Mythtakes Happen, but these ones are on purpose.

Consider supporting us...

Something rotten rests at the heart of Yaranga, an Australian town with dark secrets. In this ‘proof of concept’ pilot episode of Mythtakes Happen, we create a fictional town with eldritch problems, a self-contained setting you can use in your games of Call of Cthulhu or any other modern horror roleplaying game.

Join us, won't you? Some Mythtakes Happen, but these ones are on purpose.

Consider supporting us: patreon.com/MythtakesHappenPodcast

Shadows Over Yaranga Setting Document:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10umMgbOmLh4hDM6sicPZ1LkwIJkHYIyf/view?usp=sharing

Find...

Mythtakes Happen is a worldbuilding podcast with the pilot episode coming January 2025.

This is a teaser for Episode 1, coming February 1st. We will lay the foundations for the vibrant, partitioned city of Heliakon and spend 12 delicious episodes adding depth to the setting.

Mythtakes Happen is a worldbuilding podcast with the pilot episode coming January 2025. This is a teaser for the self-contained cosmic horror setting in our episode 0.