[Coglio]

Hello all. I'm the author of Mythic, and will make an attempt to answer some of the questions.

From what I gather, there seem to be two questions/issues about the game itself: how does GM-free play work, and the issue of using a table.

If you don't like tables, then you may not like Mythic. I've never heard anyone complain about them, and it does work very simply. However, if you just don't like 'em, then you're out of luck. There is no mathematical formula you can reduce it to.

As for the GM-less play, it works like this: Mythic is designed to be a kind of pen-and-paper artificial intelligence, using simple logical rules to answer yes/no questions. So, it acts like a GM itself. That means a GM can use it, and generate an adventure completely off-the-cuff. Or, you can play without a GM and have players put questions to the system.

For instance, your characters might be searching a hotel room for a stolen microchip. They search under the bed and a player asks, "Do I find the chip under the bed?" The GM (or players, if no GM) assign odds to what they think the answer would be, consults the chart for a percentage, then rolls 1d100. There are 4 possible results to every questions: yes, no, exceptional yes and exceptional no. The GM or players roll for the answer then interpret the response.

The entire system hinges on using simple logic and interpretation to move everything along, with the chart throwing randomness into it and several mechanics that add unexpected events.

One of the advantages to this is that you can play other rpgs, besides Mythic, and use the GM-emulation rules to simulate a GM.

I hope that helps.

Tom