DESCRIPTIONS
THE NEED TO DESCRIBE THINGS
Describing things in Myths is paramount. A thing not described is a thing not interacted with. Though players may ask if certain things are present or not they are more likely to just assume they are not if given a description that does not include them. Though describing everything in a shelf is tedious, when said shelf is just being glanced at, one should at least mention the presence of several art objects and books on it to give the players some idea what they may find there.
For example: Since this game does not include any game mechanics for discovering a trap that is not described, not describing a trap makes it impossible for the players to interact with it. If said trap is supposed to be hidden, the object behind which it is hidden should at least be described. If there is a mechanism for disarming the trap, that too should be described. Of course, sometimes traps are just death traps that cannot be discovered, but too many of those are likely to make the players wary of doing anything at all.
PLAYERS INVENTIONS
The game is supposed to be interactive the players can of course add things by describing them themselves as long as they fit in to the current scene. However such objects are by their very nature not essential to whatever plans the GM has laid out since they were conceived in her mind.
ZOOMING IN
As previously mentioned, describing everything on a shelf is tedious for both the GM and they players. Thus it is important to know when to zoom in and not. Basically, when looked at closer an object described sparingly at first should be described in more detail. When said object is then interacted with the object in question should be given even more description.
For Example: When describing a room the GM mentions a shelf with several books and some statues on it. When the PCs give it a closer look they are informed that it is three statues, two depicting a anthropomorphic cat and one showing a watchful temple dog, there are also ten books on the shelf. When the characters actually start to examine the shelf they are given the nature of the books, possibly with some mention of important titles. They are also given clues as to who is depicted in the statues from what they are wearing and if any symbology is used. Finally when one of the characters starts looking through the books, the secret sheet of paper hidden in it falls to the floor.
FOCUS, OR AVOIDING INFORMATION OVERLOAD
Describing everything in the setting all the time is too time consuming to ever be valid. Thus it is important, if not overly realistic, to focus on things that matter. There are three types of things that matter. Those that give a feeling of the flavor, those that are parts of the story and those that are very hard to miss. The flavor things might be tapestries covered in erotic art that gives one the feeling this is a temple to a god of lust. Not important to the current storyline about grabbing a thief that is hiding within the temple but giving the players some sort of context as to where they are and how to interact with said thing.
Also mentioned are the things valid to the story. In this case the two shoes sticking out from underneath an altar covered in incense in the back of the room. These of course belong to the thief that the characters are looking for.
Finally things that can’t be missed would in this case possibly be an enormous pillar at the center of the room, from which water spouts down into a small pool. This is important because if the players don’t hear this when the room is first described they will be very surprised when it seemingly magically appears out of nowhere due to the GM describing it in the middle of the scene. Other examples might include a dragon lounging in the back of the cavern or a mountain seemingly made of gold off in the distance. A good idea is to try to see most intelligent creatures as things that cannot be missed if nothing else, even if they do not interact with the plot directly. Thus if there are priests and worshippers inside the temple at the time when the PCs arrive then they should probably be mentioned in passing.
What is not mentioned is all the other details that are just assumed to be there. A temple might include benches for prayer, there are probably patterns covering the walls, there is a slight smell of sweat from the people performing some sort of Yoga, etc. These things are all available should the players ask for them or if the characters stick around for longer than a glance, but they should not be in the first description since this just leads to information overload.
HANDLING INFORMATION
Generally MYTHS is played in a group. It is also assumed that the players and their characters will not have a total overlap of knowledge about the situation. For example the character is probably intimately familiar with the prevalent religions of its homeland while the player has read a blurb about it from a book. In the same way the player is aware of how many HP the character has and how much anything in the items table is supposed to cost while the character has a feeling of being fine or being injured and still needs to appraise and haggle for some things and thus might get a price that is totally inaccurate in comparison to the one given in the equiptment tables of the game.
Thus players are already supposed to not act on all the information they have, instead immersing themselves in the campaign. This is why secrets that the characters keep from each others and information only available to one character will still most likely be available to all the players, since they are sitting right there while the information is handed out.
There is a tendency to act on information the character is not supposed to have when the player has it. This is of course very bad for immersion and should be avoided. The solution normally used in this game is to try to be more clear about how the information is handed out. Also it helps if they players are as descriptive of where they are and what their actions are as the GM is.
It is much easier to comprehend that one cannot see the demon behind the pillar in the lobby when standing inside a separate bedroom behind a wall according to ones own description. If a character goes to search for information, those that are with her should mention that they are when she goes out searching for it. That way it is easier to keep track of the fact that they did not talk to the old monk at the top of the cliff and don’t know about the demon hiding in the cracks of the nearby bridge.
MISUSE OF INFORMATION
Of course there are people that will still ignore that they are not supposed to be privy to certain pieces of information. There are several ways to handle them within the game. One is to simply force them to play characters with some sort of oracular ability. Another is to keep track of what they know and don’t know for them (a time consuming and rather boring way to do it). A third way is to start handing out information that isn’t supposed to be known by all characters by writing notes or leaving the room to speak privately. A fourth is to admit to oneself that it is just a game and not something worth getting angry over. A fifth idea is to try to talk to the offender/s out of game in a mature manner.
Mycket av det du skriver är sånt som jag tycker borde vara uppenbart men som ändå inte är det, så det är bra att någon kan peka ut det så man får sig en liten tankeställare!