Myfarog anyone?

[Fantôme]

Anyone playing Mr. Vikernes' game?
Got the book some time ago but still haven't started a game.
Still, it's a very interesting system.
Thoughts?

[kaptaincarbon]

What are the mechanics like? I have a pdf copy just out of sheer interest but never got into it since it seems like just a different way of playing AD&D

[Fantôme]

Feb 17, 2017 9:26:06 GMT -5 kaptaincarbon said:

What are the mechanics like? I have a pdf copy just out of sheer interest but never got into it since it seems like just a different way of playing AD&D

Well, since I haven't got to actually play it as for now I can't really put my finger on it.
But it really feels like a different ad&d or even merp so far
I'm trying to find some players and start a game soon, by then I'll probably have a better feel for it.
But I really like the setting and all the attention to details to the ancient European traditions.

[dungeonsnake]

i've been very curious about this game for some time, but have never taken the plunge and ordered a copy. I doubt I could find a group willing to play it, at least in real life. From what I've heard it's a very rules-heavy game, not dissimilar to AD&D or even MERP in terms of design philosophy. but, with an interesting setting that is heavily interwoven with the rules. I must admit, I'm more interested in the setting than anything else - it sounds really cool. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of elaborate, dense rules these days. but i would be interested to know what you guys think, if you do get around to playing.

[kaptaincarbon]

Well if you want to try and do a Play By Post here or atleast have people make characters and you have a digital copy available I would be willing to make a character.

[andrewwerdna]

I thought about buying the book, but it's pretty damn expensive, especially with shipping. Besides, it seems way too dense for me. I like to keep my gaming minimal as far as rules go.

[skirmisher]

Anyone played this one yet and care to share an opinion? I've been looking into it a bit but it looks like it's super rules heavy for no apparent reason. I enjoy the AD&D style of minimal rules, more DM control and imagination and get frustrated if everything is bound in detailed rules.

[dungeonsnake]

I ended up reading the rulebook, it is an interesting game although quite rules-dense. You would definitely need to find the right group to play.

You can tell that Varg went to prison around the time of 2nd Edition AD&D, and probably started playing around the transitional period between late 1st ed. and early 2nd ed. In a way, this ruleset is an artifact from another time. While the rest of the roleplaying world was adapting and streamlining systems, Varg was in prison. Largely cut off from the outside world, he had limitless time to work on his own roleplaying system which clearly derives its DNA from 2nd edition AD&D and MERP. It's like an artifact from an alternate timeline.

It would be very tough to find a group willing to play this game, at least for me. Possibly an internet group would be your only option. Players would have to be very invested to learn these rules, and the only people willing to become that invested would likely be D&D scholars, Burzum mega-fans, or someone like a prison inmate who has an excess of free time. In the late 80's, RPG's did tend to be extremely dense by modern standards. This was an era before cell phones and internet, where people were willing to spend far more time simply sitting around and looking up rules. If you're a lonely teenager in those days, more density for the sake of realism was often considered a good thing. Myfarog is very much of that mindset.

As far as the setting itself goes, it bears the clear imprint of Vikernes's ideology. This will certainly be a turn-off to some. The 3 races of the game are the fair-haired and noble Thuleans, the copper-skinned and conniving merchants known as Skraelingr, and the curly-haired Myrklings, who are destructive monsters only good at throwing spears. You can imagine which real-world ethnic groups these are meant to map onto. The Skraelingr and Myrklings aren't even meant to be playable races, just enemies to defeat. It's worth mentioning that Vikernes also intends Myfarog to be a teaching tool for his ideology. Make of that what you will.  There's also an expansive system of magic and religion, which will be familiar to anyone who has read Vikernes's "Sorcery & Religion in Ancient Scandinavia".

I do think there's potential for a cool game in here, a grim and gritty prehistoric tale of sorcery and survival, where you stalk a werewolf through the blinding snow. A few things that would help would be a better index and glossary - the rulebook is littered with charts and it would be a real chore to look them up in real-time, since EVERYTHING has an associated chart and often several charts.  Possibly something like a flowchart with different actions, and the charts they correspond to. Honestly, I have the same questions about MERP - I have a feeling many players back in the day were not playing "By the book", since doing so would seem to require an encyclopedic memory.  I would also like to see a published campaign or adventure, to give us a better idea of what gameplay is meant to look like. Right now, there's nothing like that - just a massive load of setting detail, with little example of how play is structured. There are some fan-published adventures, but I'd rather see how Vikernes himself imagines the game to be played.

[crystallogic13]

Great review dungeonsnake, pretty informative and a had a chuckle or two while reading it!! I wish we had a thank you button , well deserved post!!

Edit : It's fun to read good reviews for bad quality stuff.. I'd quote this  "....and the only people willing to become that invested would likely be D&D scholars, Burzum mega-fans, or someone like a prison inmate who has an excess of free time."

[dungeonsnake]

Thanks my friend

[skirmisher]

Thank you for the write up! It sounds exactly like I imagined it after a fast browse-through. It is probably not a game for me.