Runequest is the obvious answer. It was created from the get-go for this sort of purpose, and it is excellent, well known and well supported.

For my game, anyway:

How gonzo with gods and monsters do you want your game?  Not very. It will feel like Greek mythology. No Coke machines at the oracle.

For example, should there be PC sorcerers/magic users, or not?  No, it'll be like Pendragon where any wizards are in the hands of the ref.

Is "magic" purely the domain of gods and titans? Yes.

Does magic even exist?  Yes, see above.

What about magi of far of Persia, spirit shamans of the Scythian steppes, or death magic of the Pharaohs? If the PCs get out that way, sure.

My aborted attempt was with Hero System, using their Mythic Greece supplement.  (It's either 3rd ed. Champions based or 4th ed. Hero based.  I forget which.)  I don't think the supplement was our problem, as it did a fairly decent job of providing some appropriate power structures, motivations, and background material.  And Hero would seem to be at least a plausible way to go when playing just shy of the demi-god level.  Those are practically superhero fantasy characters already.  I think the problems we had was in our heads, not the system, but take the anecdote as you will.

Quote from: urbwar;978459Well there is Blood & Bronze, which is set in the time period. If I was going for the old Sword & Sandal movie feel, I'd likely use Pax Gladius from Deep 7's 1PG rpg line. For Jason & The Argonauts style, Heroes of Hellas.

Got links?

Are these D&D derivatives or original systems made for the setting?

Quote from: Raleel;978461I would do this.

Yes, clearly Mythras would be an excellent, probably the best, choice.  I am a little burned out on d100 at the moment, but I cannot, in good conscience, disagree.  Just me personally, but I'm searching for something a little lighter.

Quote...and Mythic Greece is on the way.

Is it?!? Really?!? I thought it was dead.  Where do I sign up?

QuoteThe freebie download adventure is a straight up inspiration from Harryhausen's Seven Voyages of Sinbad with it's multi-armed statue coming to life.

Actually that's "Golden Voyage" with the muti-armed Hindu god statue. Ahem...

Quote from: Madprofessor;978470Actually that's "Golden Voyage" with the muti-armed Hindu god statue. Ahem...

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But more importantly, it has Caroline Munro.

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There's an RQ6 Bronze Age supplement on DTRPG for about the price of a Happy Meal. But it's in Spanish.

Quote from: Madprofessor;978470Yes, clearly Mythras would be an excellent, probably the best, choice.  I am a little burned out on d100 at the moment, but I cannot, in good conscience, disagree.  Just me personally, but I'm searching for something a little lighter.



Is it?!? Really?!? I thought it was dead.  Where do I sign up?



Actually that's "Golden Voyage" with the muti-armed Hindu god statue. Ahem...

You can follow status on the TDM boards. And my apologies for getting the name wrong

In 1989-1990 I ran a Mythic Greece campaign. I used Mythic Greece: The Age of Heroes (Rolemaster Fantasy Hero) and adapted it for Runequest 2. There was very little PC magic use, but some of the heroes had very high stats (e.g. STR 30) in line with the supplement.

Quote from: Simlasa;978462I'd use some form of BRP/Mythras... but I'm currently in a campaign of Mazes & Minotaurs and that has been a lot of fun as well.

How do you like Mazes and Minotaurs? Would it handle the type of game we are discussing here?  The reviews I read made it out to be needlessly old school and purposefully outdated (I'll probably catch hell for that one), like it was some kind of weird thought experiment of "what if this was written in 1972 and it really was the first RPG?  What would that look like?" It seemed like making a functional rpg about mythic Greece was a secondary consideration... but I may be totally wrong.

Quote from: Madprofessor;978508How do you like Mazes and Minotaurs? Would it handle the type of game we are discussing here?  The reviews I read made it out to be needlessly old school and purposefully outdated (I'll probably catch hell for that one), like it was some kind of weird thought experiment of "what if this was written in 1972 and it really was the first RPG?  What would that look like?" It seemed like making a functional rpg about mythic Greece was a secondary consideration... but I may be totally wrong.

It's D&D with Greek mythology in place of Tolkien/medieval Europe. That pretty much is it.

Quote from: Dumarest;978467For my game, anyway:

How gonzo with gods and monsters do you want your game?  Not very. It will feel like Greek mythology. No Coke machines at the oracle.

For example, should there be PC sorcerers/magic users, or not?  No, it'll be like Pendragon where any wizards are in the hands of the ref.

Is "magic" purely the domain of gods and titans? Yes.

Does magic even exist?  Yes, see above.

What about magi of far of Persia, spirit shamans of the Scythian steppes, or death magic of the Pharaohs? If the PCs get out that way, sure.

So, I like this approach, it's about where I would be with it in terms of the scaling of magic and myth.  I'm just thinking out loud here:

- Monsters I think should be unique, terrifying, and like Tenbones said, have a story, flaw, or personality. No races of monsters.  There aren't krakens, or medusai rather there is the Kraken and Medusa. There might be 3 harpies, but they're sisters.  Maybe there are griffons (Herodotus talked about them all the time), but maybe they're animals not monsters - maybe.
- The most common, and the most important, foes should be human.  Gods and monsters get involved in mortal struggles, but its mortal struggles that matter.
 - Gods I think should be heavily involved in mortal affairs that they care about - that may or not be the PCs.
- Magic items should be legendary artifacts or gifts of the gods worthy of their own adventures.
- Human sorcerers exist.  I think.  Witches of Hecate (played by Caroline Monroe), Persian magi, enlightened Scholar/alchemists, Priests, oracles, and maybe even Idol worshiping Hittite necromancers, etc.  Sorcerers make good antagonists.  

Where I get stuck is whether to allow PC magic in some way.  It could ruin the flavor if not done carefully.  The problem is, I know some of my players will want to be magic using types.

QuoteGot links?

I bought Blood and Bronze a couple of moths ago.  It is focused on ancient Mesopotamia, the rules, I thought were both oversimplified and a little clunky for what they achieved, but some of the hooks and setting material stuff was quite good.  I've not played the game or even made a character so maybe I'm not giving it a fair shake - that's just my first impression.

Quote from: Madprofessor;978523- Monsters I think should be unique, terrifying, and like Tenbones said, have a story, flaw, or personality. No races of monsters.  There aren't krakens, or medusai rather there is the Kraken and Medusa. There might be 3 harpies, but they're sisters.  Maybe there are griffons (Herodotus talked about them all the time), but maybe they're animals not monsters - maybe.

Yeah, that is exactly what I like.

Quote from: Madprofessor;978523- The most common, and the most important, foes should be human.  Gods and monsters get involved in mortal struggles, but its mortal struggles that matter.

Again, this is my preference. Some the heroes may be the son of a god or a goddess, as Heroes of Olympus allows for this to happen with random rolls at character generation, but basically they are humans vying against other humans.

Quote from: Madprofessor;978523- Gods I think should be heavily involved in mortal affairs that they care about - that may or not be the PCs.

More often than not, they don't care unless it's a favored child in extreme circumstances. But fail to pay homage or make your hecatomb and you may get some punishment to teach you the error of your ways.

Quote from: Madprofessor;978523- Magic items should be legendary artifacts or gifts of the gods worthy of their own adventures.

Yes. Heroes of Olympus has rules for this, too, if I remember right. And sometimes you can get a special item or talent due to your divine parent (if you rolled that).

Quote from: Madprofessor;978523- Human sorcerers exist.  I think.  Witches of Hecate (played by Caroline Monroe), Persian magi, enlightened Scholar/alchemists, Priests, oracles, and maybe even Idol worshiping Hittite necromancers, etc.  Sorcerers make good antagonists.

They will be few and far between, and their magic will be generally time- and effort-consuming if it is powerful, and the heroes will probably need to go on a quest to get the knowledge or item needed to counteract them.

Quote from: Madprofessor;978523Where I get stuck is whether to allow PC magic in some way.  It could ruin the flavor if not done carefully.  The problem is, I know some of my players will want to be magic using types.

For me, the only access the heroes would have to magic would be acquiring some item, like Perseus's sword and shield in the Harryhausen Jason and the Argonauts film, or by consulting an oracle or finding a mad hermit or witch of Hecate and persuading him or her to help in some way (going on a quest, making a sacrifice, rescuing from harpies, whatever). I wouldn't allow PC wizards in my game as it would make magic no longer wonderful and frightening but instead rather ordinary and a common recourse to problem-solving. But I'm picturing a group of macho Greek heroes gallivanting about on quests and adventures in the Mediterranean and environs (which is pretty much what Heroes of Olympus was made for) and I don't see a place for D&D-style "magic is readily available for PCs" in that. But my players have always been good with accepting restrictions like "no PC wizards" or "no elves." All this talk is making me want to scrap my current game and play this instead.

Oh, and another cool thing about Heroes of Olympus is every PC will be unique in his talents and background due to the way characters are rolled up. There are no classes or types.

My favorite Bronze Age Fantasy RPG is MAZES & MINOTAURS!!!
http://storygame.free.fr/MAZES.htm

I have run several short campaigns and dozens of one-shots. I am looking forward to doing so again soon!

BTW, all the editions of M&M and all the supplements and adventures are FREE.

It's easily my favorite OSR game. I've gotten hundreds of hours of fun out of the PDFs.

Quote from: Pat;978431Wanderer would be perfect.

Tell us about Wanderer!

Have you played it?

Quote from: Madprofessor;978508How do you like Mazes and Minotaurs?

Freaking love it!

Quote from: Madprofessor;978508Would it handle the type of game we are discussing here?

If you like D20 / OSR / D&D as the base system with Greek Myth via Hollywood, then it works great.

You can alter the setting easily to add in more Greek culture elements. I add some things for flavor.

There are LOTS of fan made supplements & the Minotaurian magazine where people take the setting in various directions.

Quote from: Madprofessor;978508The reviews I read made it out to be needlessly old school and purposefully outdated (I'll probably catch hell for that one), like it was some kind of weird thought experiment of "what if this was written in 1972 and it really was the first RPG?  What would that look like?" It seemed like making a functional rpg about mythic Greece was a secondary consideration... but I may be totally wrong.

You are catching hell :mad: [virtual nut punch incoming]

Its actually the reverse. It's a fully functional mythic Greek RPG, but its written in the conceit of being the very first RPG written in 1972.
Which it was.

BTW, I prefer the Classic Original Edition (1972) because it does everything I need. However, there is a Revised Edition (1987) that gives you the "Advanced M&M" experience. Anything you would expect in a fully developed RPG line you will find in the M&M line. I think it even has a GM screen.

Quote from: Spinachcat;978541Tell us about Wanderer!

Read a little further in the thread.

(It doesn't exist.)