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MYTHIC HERO is a licensed supplement for the HERO System covering the gods of world mythology, mythic roleplaying,and more.

Thanks for taking the time to watch my video and visit this page for my Mythic Hero Kickstarter!

I hope to raise enough money to write, produce, and print Mythic Hero and am asking for your support to make that happen. “MH” is a supplement for the HERO System produced by me under a license from Hero Games. The information in it is useful for any roleplaying game.

Mythic Hero is your guide to the mythologies of the world for gaming. It describes dozens of mythoi, with character sheets for gods, heroes, monsters, and other mythological beings, as well as information on their cosmologies, magical practices, and more. Right now the list of mythologies I plan to cover includes:

American Indian (split into six sub-chapters covering major cultural groups)
Armenian
Assyro-Babylonian
Aztec and Mayan
Canaanite*
Celtic
Chinese
Demonology (medieval Christian demons like Belial, Moloch, and so on; may also include some angels)
Egyptian
Etruscan*
Filipino*
Finnish
Greek and Roman
Hawaiian and Polynesian/Oceanic (possibly split into two chapters)
Hindu
Hittite*
Hungarian*
Inca
Japanese
Maori*
Masai*
Mongolian/Turkic*
Norse
Slavic/Russian
South American* (possibly combined with Inca)
Sumerian
Voodoo
Yoruban
Miscellaneous

(Entries with a * after them are subject to being demoted into the “Miscellaneous” chapter based on how my research goes.)

Additionally, Mythic Hero covers common divine abilities, how to incorporate gods into your campaign (including how characters interact with and even fight them), how to create your own pantheons for your games, and how to run Mythic Hero campaigns.

Other books have covered mythology for gaming to varying degrees, but many of them are out of print and I don’t believe any of them are nearly as comprehensive and thorough as Mythic Hero will be. Currently I estimate the book will be 300-400 pages long (it could easily exceed that), with a color soft cover and black-and-white interior art, and retail for approximately $59.99 (if I can produce enough to sell beyond the Kickstarter). All that’s subject to change as the project progresses and I get a better idea of what it will look like in the end, of course.



Where Your Money Goes
If you pledge to support this project, here’s what your money pays for:

—supporting me, the writer and designer:  I estimate MH will take a minimum of 3-5 full working months of my time to write and lay out. During that time I need to keep food in the pantry, gas in the tank, and the electricity turned on.

—paying for art for the book

—paying for the actual printing of the book

—covering shipping to me and/or my warehouse, fulfillment costs, and similar administrative expenses


Thanks for reading my proposal. I hope you’re as excited about this project as I am and will be able to help me bring Mythic Hero to life!

To learn more about the HERO System, please visit the Hero Games website. To learn more about me, please visit my personal website.


More Information About The Rewards

Major God:  Opportunities to help me create a sample god are on a first pledged, first served basis. Thus, if you want to help create the god of thunder but someone’s already chosen that particular god, you’ll have to choose something else. However, depending on the number of backers at this level I may have to create more than one pantheon. If so, those who’ve already made up a god will be given the chance to pick something else if they want (again on a first pledged, first served basis), provided I haven’t already written up their god.

Caveat:  based on the length of the book, I may have to turn the Appendix on “creating your own pantheon,” along with the sample characters, into a separate PDF. In that case I’ll arrange for all backers to get a copy of it for free, and will make it available for purchase along with the book when MH goes on sale.

Divine Dedications:  Each backer at the $1,000 and $2,000 levels gets to choose a divine title for him- or herself as part of his dedication, such as “God of the Sea” or “Lord of the Underworld.” The $2,000 backer, if any, gets preference if he chooses not to use the title “Leader of the Pantheon”; other names get taken on a first pledged, first chosen basis. These honorifics are subject to my veto on the basis of good taste, common or dramatic sense, game balance, dibs, or the name you want gives me the wiggins.


A Note On Signings

If you have a specific message or person you’d like your book signed to, please contact me and we’ll see if we can work something out. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll do what I can.


A Note On Shipping Costs And Multiple Copies

The shipping costs to Canada, Europe, and elsewhere listed in the rewards are based on information provided to me by the U.S. Post Office for shipping the book in a sufficiently sturdy box that’s large enough to allow me to wrap the book so that it arrives undamaged (such as a medium-sized Flat Rate Box). I dislike having to charge so much for shipping, but all cheaper methods entail a significant risk that your book will get beaten, battered, torn up, shredded, or otherwise mangled... and I’m not willing to take that risk.

If you're a retailer interested in buying multiple copies to sell in your store, or a gamer who wants multiple copies for his gaming group, please contact me directly and we'll see what we can work out.

FAQ

  • Hey Steve, who created that awesome MYTHIC HERO logo?

    The MH logo was created by my friend, artist and design engineer extraordinaire John Grigni. Thanx, John! He is the Alpha, Omega, and various other Greek letters of creativity and design, so you should hire him if you need stuff like that done:  http://www.argosdesigns.com/

    Last updated: Monday Feb 6, 10:49am EST
  • Is it possible to buy multiple copies of the PDF?

    I've had some inquiries about buying multiple copies of the Mythic Hero PDF from fans who want to give everyone in their gaming group a copy. If you'd like to do that, please add $25 per additional PDF to your pledge amount and send me a note indicating what you did so I can keep everything straight in my records.

    Last updated: Monday Feb 13, 7:14am EST
  • Will MYTHIC HERO include a bibliography?

    Absolutely! My mythology, legend, and folklore library currently contains 324 volumes, and it's growing nearly every week as I look for more research material for MH. Most of those books will find their way into the Bibliography at the end of MH, organized chapter by chapter so you can easily find all the books on, say, Egyptian mythology if that's what you're interested in.

    Last updated: Monday Feb 6, 6:08pm EST
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284
Backers
$25,784
pledged of $33,000 goal
0
seconds to go

Funding Unsuccessful This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on April 2, 2012.

Funding period
Feb 6, 2012 - Apr 2, 2012

  • Pledge $10 or more

    9 backers

    Hero: I’ll thank you on my website and in the credits of the book.

    Estimated delivery: Sep 2012
  • Pledge $25 or more

    126 backers

    Demigod: I’ll send you a PDF of the book, and I’ll thank you on my website and in the credits of the book.

    Estimated delivery: Sep 2012
  • Pledge $75 or more

    104 backers

    Lesser God: As “Demigod,” plus I’ll ship you a copy of the printed book when it’s done. (Price includes shipping within the continental United States; for shipping to Canada or Mexico add $30; for shipping to Europe, South America, or Australia add $50.)

    Estimated delivery: Oct 2012
  • Pledge $150 or more

    22 backers Limited (148 of 170 left)

    Minor God: As “Lesser God,” but you’ll receive a numbered (200-31 of 200) copy of the book with a bookplate signed by author Steven S. Long. (Price includes shipping within the continental United States; for shipping to Canada or Mexico add $30; for shipping to Europe, South America, or Australia add $50.)

    Estimated delivery: Oct 2012
  • Pledge $300 or more

    13 backers Limited (7 of 20 left)

    Major God: As “Minor God,” but you’ll receive a numbered (30-11 of 200) copy of the book with a bookplate signed by author Steven S. Long. (Price includes shipping within the continental United States; for shipping to Canada or Mexico add $30; for shipping to Europe, South America, or Australia add $50.) Additionally, you get to help Steve design one of the example gods for the chapter on creating your own pantheon! (See main text for more information.) You supply the basic idea, any other input you have in mind, and so on; Steve creates the god. You’ll be prominently identified as the one who provided the inspiration.

    Estimated delivery: Oct 2012
  • Pledge $1,000 or more

    3 backers Limited (6 of 9 left)

    Divine Power: As “Major God,” but you’ll receive a numbered (2-10 of 200) copy of the book with a bookplate signed by author Steven S. Long. (Price includes shipping anywhere in the world.) The book will be dedicated to you, and the dedication will include your choice of an appropriate divine title, such as “God of the Sky” (see main text for more information).

    Estimated delivery: Oct 2012
  • Pledge $2,000 or more

    1 backer All gone!

    Leader Of The Pantheon: You’ll receive the #1 copy of the book signed by author Steven S. Long. The book will be especially dedicated to you, and you’ll be specially thanked on Steve’s website. The dedicatory title “Leader of the Pantheon,” or similar title of your choice, will be reserved for you (see main text for more information). You’ll also receive two additional copies of the book (signed if you wish), and three copies of the PDF of the book.. (Price includes shipping anywhere in the world.) You’ll also get to help Steve create a sample god, as with the “Major God” reward — and if you want, this character will be illustrated, and the illustration will be based on a picture of you so everyone can see how god-like you are! Last but not least, the author of the book, Steven S. Long, will travel at his own expense anywhere in the US or Canada to run an adventure for you and up to four of your friends on a mutually agreed date. You decide what kind of adventure you want him to run, and you provide the friends and snacks.

    Estimated delivery: Oct 2012