Mythras Imperative

Introductory d100 Rules
Mythras, the Design Mechanism's new name changed and updated RuneQuest 6 is an essentials style core booklet up for free download now. I find the cover illustration by David Benzal fits the title nicely. The book is called Imperative and that kinda sums up my feelings regarding it. Convention season is here and living on I-70 between Columbus, Ohio where Origins is located and Indianapolis, Indiana where Gencon is located I am blessed to be able to usually attend both. I always have a shopping list and at the top this year is Mythras and Chaosium's new RuneQuest Classic reprint and Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition. Imperative is a nice pre-convention teaser and I hope there will be a full version of Mythras soon.
Conventions are magical places. Designers, vendors and hobbyists all gather to exchange ideas, see what's new, show off their work of the past year, play the games we love and which bring us together, meet new friends and get re-acquainted with old ones. It reminds me of the ancient idea of a fair, with all that entails. I think it a fair comparison.
Having downloaded and read through Mythras Imperative I see much that is familiar, as I expected. Mythras is obviously descended from RuneQuest 6. The d100 mechanic is carried on here as it has been since the very first edition of RuneQuest. There are some changes, however. The d100 system is a skill based system with no classes or levels. Mythras introduces some more modern skills in an effort to cover more periods than RuneQuest 6 did. Professional skills now include computers, demolitions, electronics and sensors.
Character generation is similar to RuneQuest 6 with an expanded career list (to accommodate more modern settings and cultures). There seems to be more emphasis on passions, which is a nod to indie story-games I believe. They made their first appearance in the RQ line in 6th Edition, but seem more fleshed out and integrated here. Combat is similar to RuneQuest 6 and is therefore on the crunchy side. Combat styles, weapon choice, combat actions and special effects all seem rather similar to previous Nash/Whitaker RQ, although I see no mention of strike ranks or weapon reach in Imperative and Mythras includes modern guns and ballistic armour (Canadian spelling!).
Noticeably absent from Imperative is any magic rules, although the Design Mechanism says the full Mythras rules will include five types of magic (same number as in Runequest 6). There is a very short bestiary (5 critters), just enough so the player/referee can see how they are done. The full rules will presumably include many more. Mythras Imperative is only 32 pages. By contrast RuneQuest Essentials (soon to be discontinued), the free intro version of RuneQuest 6, has 200 pages. Imperative seems to have enough here to play in just about any genre that a referee wishes to use it, however. Will there be a desire for more? I assume that is what the folks at Design Mechanism hope so they can sell the complete Mythras rules.
Now, back to that evocative cover illustration. There is a story to be told there and I definitely want to be a part of that story. Working on it now...