Mythic Prestige Class Abilities
Mythic prestige class abilities are the same as mythic class abilities, but may only be taken by members of the respective prestige class.
Mythic Aeronaut Captain Class Features
Mythic Air of Command
Add half your tier (rounded down, minimum 1) to your aeronaut captain level when determining the benefits of air of command.
Mythic Siege Engineer
You gain two of the following feats: Siege CommanderUC (combat), Siege EngineerUC (combat), Siege GunnerUC (combat), or Master Siege EngineerUC (combat). If you already have the chosen feats, you may immediately retrain them for any other feats that you qualify for.
Mythic Veteran Sailor
Add half your tier (rounded down, minimum 1) to your aeronaut captain level when determining the benefits of vetrean sailor. In addition, you may expend one use of mythic power to gain a bonus equal to three times your mythic tier on any skill roll that benefits from veteran sailor.
Mythic Inspire Crew
Add your tier to your aeronaut captain level when determining the duration of your inspire crew ability. When you use inspire crew, you may expend one use of mythic power to let your inspire crew last for ten minutes per level.
Mythic Aura of Command
Add 10 feet per tier to the range of your aura of command. You may expend one use of mythic power as an immediate action to let creatures within your Aura of command reroll a saving throw against a charm or compulsion effect and take the higher result.
Mythic Advanced Inspire Crew
You may expend one use of mythic power to double the number of crews affected by your inspire crew ability when you activate it.
Mythic Master Commander
You may rally your crew with master commander one additional time per day, plus an extra time per day at 3rd and 6th tiers.
Mythic Bokor Class Features
Mythic Spherespell
When you use spherespell to recall a spent spell, you may pay one mythic power when you next cast the recalled spell to cast the mythic version of it, even if you do not know the mythic version of the spell. The list of spells you can cast the mythic versions of is reset each time you rest or regain spell points. You may cast mythic spells this day once for every odd tier you have.
Mythic Dissolve Spell
You may spend one mythic power to add half your tier to the enhancement bonus provided by dissolve spell.
Mythic Spell Synthesis
When you use spell synthesis, you may spend one mythic power to add the effects of any metamagic feat you know (except metamagic that changes casting times) without changing the casting time or spell point cost of your combined magical effect. The total spell point cost and/or level adjustment of the metamagic cannot exceed half your tier (rounded down, minimum 1).
Mythic Forest Lord Class Features
Mythic Cryptwood Connection
Add half your tier (rounded down, minimum 1) to your forest lord level when determining the benefits of cryptwood connection.
Mythic Favored Terrain
You gain a bonus to movement in your favored terrain, equal to +5 feet to all movement types for every +2 favored terrain bonus you gain in that terrain.
Mythic Master Leaper
Add half your tier (rounded down, minimum 1) to your forest lord level when determining the bonus to Acrobatics granted by master leaper. You can expend one mythic power to take 15 when attempting an Acrobatics check to jump. This is like taking 10, but treat the result as if you had rolled a 15.
Mythic Forest’s Strength
Increase your climb speed by 10 feet per tier. When you are in a cryptwood, you gain a +2 increase to your inherent bonus to Strength at 1st, 3rd, and 6th tiers.
Mythic Geomancer
You gain both effects of Mythic Sphere Mastery: Nature. If you already have either or both of these features, you may immediately retrain them.
Mythic Forest Heart
All wild animals within a cryptwood have a starting attitude of friendly towards you (unless it would already be better). Once per week, you may expend five mythic power to change the type of magic that infuses a cryptwood for one day per tier. For example, if the cryptwood has the fire manifestation, you could change that to the time manifestation. If the cryptwood has multiple manifestations, you may change all of them when you use this ability. This change also affects all native creatures, adjusting their abilities and templates as appropriate.
Mythic Tempestarii Class Features
Mythic Rapid Weather
You may change an additional type of weather whenever you use control weather.
Mythic Ship Smasher
You may ignore up to your tier in hardness when damaging objects with your Weather sphere effects. If you have ship killer, you may immediately swap this for mythic ship killer.
Mythic Grand Weather
You may exercise more precise control over your Weather sphere effects and choose whether or not each range (close, medium, long, or climate) is affected by each aspect of your control weather. For example, you may increase the severity of wind only at medium range, and also increase the severity of cold in both close and medium range.
Mythic Ship Killer
You may ignore up to twice your tier in hardness when damaging objects with your Weather sphere effects.
Mythic Deadly Weather
As a free action, you may expend one mythic power to increase the damage of a weather effect created by your control weather by 50%. This is functionally the same as the Empower Spell metamagic feat and does not stack with that feat. This increase happens to all damage caused by your weather effects for one full round, but does not persist beyond that unless activated again.
Mythic Instant Weather
When you use control weather to change the weather’s severity, you may expend one mythic power to immediately change as many types of weather as you want. You must be able to control those types of weather to change them in this way.
Mythic Waking Sleeper Class Features
Mythic Sleeper Training
Add half your tier (rounded down, minimum 1) to your waking sleeper level when determining the number of combat feats granted by your sleeper training pool. In addition, as a free action you may expend one mythic power to gain access to any two feats in your sleeper training pool for one minute per tier.
Mythic Second Self
You are aware of all attempts to scry upon both your typical and sleeper selves. If you succeed at a magic skill check against a scryer’s MSD, you may show the scryer whatever scene you wish instead of a blank result.
Mythic Recall
Add twice your tier to the number of rounds per day you may be in your state of recall each day. You also gain access to an additional feat from your sleeper training pool and are only fatigued for half as long after exiting your state of recall.
Mythic Catatonia
Whenever you complete a full night’s rest, full day of bed rest, or perform no activities for 24 hours (such as while petrified), you may attempt a magic skill check against the MSD of any creature that applied a permanent effect to you. On a success, you recover from that effect.
Mythic Deep Conditioning
Add half your tier (rounded down, minimum 1) to your morale bonus to Will saves while in a state of recall. Once per round, as a free action you may only take while in a state of recall, you may exchange any feat gained from your state of recall for any other feat available through your sleeper training.
Mythic Regimented Thought
When a creature uses a mind-affecting effect against you, you may spend one mythic power to force them to roll twice and take the lower result when attempting their magic skill check. If they fail, as a standard action on your next turn you may attempt to apply the same effect to them, regardless of distance, without spending any resources of your own. This cannot be used against effects the creature spent mythic power on.
Mythic Perfect Clarity
When in your state of recall, you gain access to an additional combat feat. This stacks with the bonus from mythic recall. In addition, you gain a +4 inherent bonus to Dexterity, Constitution, or Wisdom while in your state of recall. This must be chosen when you enter your state of recall and can only be changed by exiting this state, then resuming it later.
Mythic Feats
Note: All mythic feats with non-mythic versions require those non-mythic versions as a prerequisite.
Advanced Magic Training (Mythic)
Treat your levels in non-casting classes as mid-casting classes when determining your total caster level.
Advanced Tactics (Mythic)
When you spend skill leverage to change tactics, you may choose to roll your mythic surge die rather than 1d6 and gain a bonus to the roll equal to half your mythic tier. You may spend skill leverage to change tactics after you learn the consequences of your roll, allowing you to change the result.
Aerial Trip (Mythic)
When you trip a flying opponent, you may have them fall in any direction, including straight back. If they are moving up, they only move half as far.
Augmented Wit (Mythic)
When you successfully outwit a creature by tricking it when it has a disorientation condition, by embarrassing it when it has the impressed condition, or when using a special outwit option granted by an ability you possess, you may spend a use of mythic power instead of the cost to outwit, allowing you to outwit the creature one additional time. A creature cannot be outwitted by this ability more than once per round.
Basic Magic Training (Mythic)
You gain a second base sphere and gain a bonus mythic sphere mastery for a single base sphere you have. If you exchange Basic Magic Training for Extra Magic Talent, exchange this mythic feat for an additional mythic sphere mastery.
Cautious Incantation (Mythic)
If you fail an incantation for which you may use the Cautious Incantation feat, you may spend a number of points of mythic power equal to the level of the incantation (to a maximum of your mythic tier) to negate the failure effect upon yourself (other creatures are affected normally). You cannot negate the failure effect of an incantation greater than your mythic tier.
Combat Sphere Focus (Mythic)
Choose a sphere you have Combat Sphere Focus in. You gain an additional +1 to saving throw DCs for all abilities from that sphere; this stacks with all other increases to saving throw DCs. You may take this mythic feat more than once; each time you do, apply its effects to a different sphere you have Combat Sphere Focus in. The first time you take this mythic feat, you gain the mythic sphere mastery for the base sphere this mythic feat applies to.
Combat Sphere Specialization (Mythic)
Select one sphere you chose for combat sphere specialization. The effective base attack bonus for that sphere is no longer capped at your character level, and you add half your tier (rounded down, minimum 1) to your effective base attack bonus for that sphere. This does not allow you to make more attacks than you normally could.
Author’s Note: This improves your BAB when calculating effects of the chosen sphere. It does not count as increased BAB for prerequisites or other purposes.
Companion Trigger (Mythic)
As a free action they may take once per day per tier you have, your animal companion or mount may add your surge dice to a combat maneuver check they make. They may only activate this ability once per check they make.
Contingency (Mythic)
You may have 1 + half your tier (rounded down, minimum 1) contingencies cast on creatures at any given time. Each creature may only have one contingency from any given caster at a time. In addition, you may spend a point of mythic power to prepare a contingency in 1 round rather than in 10 minutes.
Customized Bond (Mythic)
Add your tier to your armorist level for determining the maximum enhancement bonus value of your bound equipment. If you possess the enhanced customization class feature, you may add your tier to your armiger level for determining the maximum enhancement bonus from enhanced customization. This ability cannot cause the enhancement bonuses from either ability to exceed your respective class level.
Dimensional Archer (Mythic)
Add half your tier (rounded down, minimum 1) to your MSD when foes attempt a magic skill check against you while under the effect of your anchoring shot. You may expend one use of mythic power to teleport and reload as a swift action when using retreating reload. When you use warp shot, you may expend one use of mythic power to reduce the miss chance against your target by 5% per tier.
Dispelling Attack (Mythic)
Add half your tier (rounded down, minimum 1) to your MSB for the purposes of counterspelling when you are using Dispelling Attack. This is applied after any other modifiers and can allow your MSB to exceed your Hit Dice.
Dragon’s Tattoos (Mythic)
By consuming one pound of any material that can be used to forge weapons, you may treat your unarmed strikes as if they were made from that material. For example, if you consume cold iron, you can bypass DR/cold iron. Consuming the material is always harmless to you and it disappears when consumed. Eating a new type of material replaces the old material.
Dual Wielding Mystic Fusion (Mythic)
You do not provoke attacks of opportunity for spellcasting when using Dual Wielding Mystic Fusion. Add your tier to your base attack bonus for determining the maximum caster level of effects you can use with Dual Wielding Mystic Fusion.
Dual Wielding Mystic Strike (Mythic)
When using Dual Wielding Mystic Strike, your sphere ability may use your weapon’s threat range (to a maximum of 18-20) instead of its own.
Expedited Incantation (Mythic)
You do not need to increase the DCs of an incantation to perform it in half the time. If you spend a number of points of mythic power equal to the level of the incantation, you may reduce the casting time to 1/10th of the original casting time (minimum 1 minute).
Extra Combat Talent (Mythic)
You gain a mythic sphere mastery for any base combat sphere you have.
Extra Skill Leverage (Mythic)
Your maximum skill leverage increases by your mythic tier. In addition, when you gain skill leverage you may spend a use of mythic power to gain a number of uses of skill leverage equal to your mythic tier.
Extra Skill Talent (Mythic)
You gain a mythic sphere mastery for any base skill sphere you have.
Focused Stamina (Mythic)
Once per round, you may expend your martial focus when using an ability that requires stamina. When you do so, reduce the stamina cost of that ability by your tier.
Great Focus (Mythic)
Once per day per tier, you may regain your martial focus twice in one round. Once per round, you may expend one use of mythic power to regain martial focus as a free action.
Heroic Resolve (Mythic)
Add your tier to your Constitution modifier for determining how long you may suppress conditions. In addition, you may suppress two applicable conditions with Heroic Resolve instead of one.
Improved Planning (Mythic)
You gain a number of additional plans at once equal to your mythic tier. In addition, you may spend a use of mythic power to reveal a plan without spending a plan.
Insinuating Incantation (Mythic)
When you use Insinuating Incantation, if you spend a use of mythic power, you do not need to spend 3 additional spell points when using the quip or may use the quip as a free action rather than a swift action. You may spend 2 uses of mythic power to gain both benefits.
Life Taker (Mythic)
Subtract your tier from the minimum CR of creatures when determining which creatures you can use Life Taker on.
Muscular Reflexes (Mythic)
You can make any number of additional attacks of opportunity per round. As a swift action, you can expend one use of mythic power to, until the start of your next turn, make attacks of opportunity against foes you have already made attacks of opportunity against this round if they provoke attacks of opportunity from you by moving. (This mythic feat does not allow you to make more than one attack of opportunity per triggering event.)
Mythic Crafting Expertise (Item Creation, Mythic)
Prerequisites: Any item creation feat.
Benefit: At the beginning of each day when you regain your uses of mythic power, you can expend one use of mythic power to accomplish eight hours of work on one magic item you are crafting. You can only do this once per day per item you are crafting, though you may also add an actual eight-hour work day toward the crafting of such an item. Unlike normal magic item crafting, work accomplished by expending a use of mythic power does not require any special work space or quiet (though the cost of making magic items created this way is normal). Additionally, by expending two uses of mythic power as a fullround action, you can change the magic properties of any item in your possession you are capable of crafting. For one hour the item loses one or more abilities of your choice and gains other magic properties of your choice. The total cost of the item with the new properties cannot exceed its total cost with its normal magic properties, and you must meet all the prerequisites of each magic property you temporarily grant the item.
Mythic Play (Mythic)
Prerequisites: Card Casting (mana pool, stagnant pool)
Benefit: as a free action, you may spend one point of mythic power to refund all spell points you have spent since the start of your turn. This free action may be taken outside of your turn. This does not cause Mana Point Cards you have spent to be turned to their original position, and they still no longer count towards the number of spell points you may spend.
Source: Card Casting Bonus Content
Mystic Focus (Mythic)
You may expend one use of mythic power to use Mystic Focus as a free action instead of a swift action. This does not allow you to regain martial focus more than once per round.
Oneiric Assault (Mythic)
Prerequisite: Dreamspace, Oneiric Assault, caster level 10th.
When you leave a dream as a result of using Oneiric Assault, you may move to another dreamscape whose location you know rather than returning to your own dreamscape. No time is elapsed in moving between dreams or using Oneiric Assault in each dream, allowing you to target any number of creatures so long as you know the locations of each of their dreamscapes.
Practiced Interruption (Mythic)
You gain a bonus equal to your tier on attack rolls made as part of using your Practiced Interruption feat. In addition, you may expend one use of mythic power to ignore any miss chance a foe is benefiting from (such as from concealment) when using Practiced Interruption.
Prepared Hacking (Mythic)
Once per round, you may spend a use of mythic power to use prepared hacking as a free action that can be taken outside of your turn rather than an immediate action.
Public Renown (Mythic)
When your influence over a creature would end due to the creature gaining a condition or you expending influence, you may spend a use of mythic power to immediately regain influence over the creature.
Single Strike Mastery (Mythic)
When you increase the damage dice from sneak attack using single strike mastery, you may spend a use of mythic power to increase the size of the dice by two additional sizes (to a maximum of d12).
Skill Sphere Focus (Mythic)
Choose a sphere you have Skill Sphere Focus in. You gain an additional +1 to saving throw DCs for all abilities from that sphere; this stacks with all other increases to saving throw DCs. You may take this mythic feat more than once; each time you do, apply its effects to a different sphere you have Skill Sphere Focus in. The first time you take this mythic feat, you gain the mythic sphere mastery for the base sphere this mythic feat applies to.
Solitary Incantation (Mythic)
Prerequisites: 5 ranks in any 1 skill, Solitary Incantation.
Benefit: Rather than increasing the DC of the incantation when using Solitary Incantation, you may spend 1 point of mythic power for every secondary caster omitted from the incantation.
Spell Attack (Mythic)
When you miss an enemy within the range of your weapon while using the Spell Attack feat, you may expend one use of mythic power to launch the magical energy off of your weapon and towards the enemy. Unless they succeed at a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 your Hit Dice + your casting ability modifier + your tier), they are struck by the magical effect as though you had struck them with your weapon. If the sphere effect would normally require a Reflex save, they automatically fail it, but may roll a Fortitude or Will saving throw against any other effects of the spell as normal. This mythic feat works with all magical effects that are compatible with the Spell Attack feat, including some talent-based abilities applied to weapons. (See the whip of command in Treasures of the Spheres for an example.)
Sphere Focus (Mythic)
Choose a sphere you have Sphere Focus in. You gain an additional +1 to saving throw DCs for all abilities from that sphere; this stacks with all other increases to saving throw DCs. You may take this mythic feat more than once; each time you do, apply its effects to a different sphere you have Sphere Focus in. The first time you take this mythic feat, you gain the mythic sphere mastery for the base sphere this mythic feat applies to.
Studied Scout (Mythic)
You do not take a -5 penalty on Perception checks when using your scout ability as a free action after using your studied target or studied combat class feature. In addition, you may expend one mythic power when using your scout ability to learn one piece of additional information for every odd tier you possess. You may request specific pieces of information when learning information in this way, although you cannot get exact numbers through this ability. For example, you may ask if a creature has a high or low bonus to saving throws of one particular type, but you may not ask for its exact Will save bonus. The exact information you can learn is up to the GM’s discretion.
Target Spotting (Mythic)
You add half your favored enemy bonus to your saving throws against spells and abilities from creatures you have scouted, and to your AC against attacks made by creatures you have scouted to confirm critical threats. This does not stack with the mythic favored enemy ability.
Theoretical Initiate (Mythic)
Double the number of hypothesis dice granted by Theoretical Initiate.
Transformation (Mythic)
You gain a second transformation, as if gaining the Transformation feat a second time. When you first gain this mythic feat, you may also change which form-granting talent you use for your regular Transformation. If you have Improved Transformation, you may select one trait that costs spell points for every three tiers you have (minimum 1).
Tug the Heartstrings (Mythic)
If the motivation chosen with this feat is a major motivation of an affected creature, they do not gain a +4 bonus to the saving throw against this effect but still increase the penalty on a failed save to -4. You may spend a use of mythic power as a standard action to force any affected creature who has succeeded on their saving throw to make another saving throw against the effect.
Unarmored Mastery (Mythic)
You no longer lose the benefits of Unarmored Training while carrying a medium or heavy load.
Utilitarian Dilettante (Mythic)
You gain two mythic path abilities with the [Utility] tag.
Zodiac Tattoos (Mythic)
By consuming one pound of any material that can be used to forge armor, you may treat your skin as if it were made from that material. For example, if you consume elysian bronzeUE, you are protected against strikes from certain types of creatures. Consuming the material is always harmless to you and it disappears when consumed. Eating a new type of material replaces the old material.
Outlined below are several mythic universal monster abilities designed to be used with Spheres of Power. It should be noted that mythic monsters can take mythic traditions in the same manner as PCs.
Wiki Note: These abilities are not intended for player characters. GMs should not allow players to take them, even if they are playing monstrous characters.
Flexible Sphere Mastery
Three times per day as a free action, the monster may gain the benefits of a mythic sphere mastery path ability which they do not have for 1 round.
Imbued Incantation
Select an incantation with a level no greater than the monster’s mythic rank - 1. The monster can perform that incantation in a process that takes 1 hour, treating all skill checks as if they had rolled the exact value needed to succeed. The monster must still provide any material or focus components for the incantation, although they may spend a point of mythic power to avoid the backlash.
This ability can be selected multiple times. If this ability is selected a second time and is used to select an incantation already chosen, the incantation’s effects constantly emanate out from the monster to the incantation’s normal range (not any escalated form).
Immunities
The monster becomes immune to two of the following: ability damage, ability drain, aging, banishment, death effects, disease, divinations (as the Mind Blank advanced talent), energy drain, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, petrification, poison, polymorph, sleep, and stunning. Alternatively, the monster can become immune to a single energy type. These immunities can be bypassed by talents or similar effects as normal. This ability can be selected multiple times.
Path Ability
The monster gains a single mythic path ability, be it a universal path ability or an ability from a specific path. The monster uses its mythic rank as its effective mythic tier for the purpose of effects and for meeting prerequisites. This ability can be selected multiple times.
Talent Progression
The monster gains a number of magic or combat talents equal to half their Hit Dice. If the monster does not already possess a caster level, they gain Advanced Magic Training as a bonus feat even if they do not meet the prerequisites. The monster also gains a casting tradition (if any of the selected talents are magic talents). This ability can be selected multiple times.
Mythic Spheres Solutions
The Challenges of Mythic Play
The mythic rules offer a rich toolbox of options for enhancing your Pathfinder campaign. That said, they are not without their challenges and pitfalls, some of which have become progressively more apparent in play during the time since the mythic rules were released. This section examines those problems and suggests remedies for them, either by amending the existing official mythic rules or by proposing new alternative rules to compensate for them. You may choose to implement some or all of these rule changes, and in some cases a number of alternatives are suggested for dealing with particular challenges. Remember, these rules are optional and should be tailored to the kind of mythic spheres game you want to run, though all alternative rules marked [HR] are highly recommended and should be treated as the base rules for a mythic spheres game. Some of these solutions were previously published in the Mythic Hero’s Handbook and Mythic Character Codex by Legendary Games and have been modified for mythic spheres games.
Action Economy
This issue is always in play in a Pathfinder game, and it becomes more pronounced in higher-level games. Unless the villain so far outclasses the heroes that almost nothing they do can even touch her, the simple fact that the PCs get to act 4-5 times as often as the villain means that there is no way the lone villain can keep up, especially as the consequences for failure continue to ratchet up. Those issues are, if anything, exaggerated in mythic play.
Problematic Rule: The amazing initiative basic mythic ability
This ability adds insult to injury by allowing PCs to go more often than the bad guys, and also to usually go first. This ability actually makes more sense as a villain-only ability, allowing them a lever to balance the imbalance in actions. In the hands of PCs, it makes the imbalance worse. The dual initiative universal monster rule fills a similar niche. The two abilities overlap and can be combined, but neither should remain an option for mythic PCs.
Alternative Rule #1: At 2nd tier, you gain a bonus on initiative checks equal to one-half your mythic tier. In addition, as a free action when rolling initiative you can expend one use of mythic power to add your surge die to your initiative roll.
[HR] Alternative Rule #2: Eliminate this ability entirely from mythic PCs and replace it with an additional mythic feat slot. This ability can be reserved for villains and creatures expected to fight alone against a group of PCs, helping them to get a first shot at PCs and to be able to take extra actions when they will be most impactful. Some monsters might also have the dual initiative ability; these abilities stack.
The Nova Problem
Mythic power is a limited resource, so clever players will often bank their uses of it in order to get close to a perceived objective before unleashing a storm of it all at once. Being able to “go nova” is sometimes a matter of extra actions, as described above, but it also represents the ability to stack mythic power onto single actions to make those individual actions ultra-effective.
There is some room for this in a mythic game, as on a certain level you want a mythic character to be able to knock out a giant with a single punch, for example, but what you do not want is the ability to blitz any major villain into oblivion by going all-in with what should be a day’s worth of mythic power in one shot.
Problematic Rule: Unlimited expenditure of mythic power
In the standard mythic rules, the only limits on spending mythic power are your daily uses and your actions. This does serve as something of a brake on these abilities when actions you could take use the same type of action (typically swift or immediate actions), but there are ways to circumvent this by stacking different types of abilities, legendary items, and more.
Alternative Rule #1: Player characters (and their allies) can use only one ability that requires the expenditure of mythic power per round. Characters can still use abilities that require spending more than one use of mythic power. Legendary power should be considered separately, but otherwise follows the same rule. That is, that no more than one ability using legendary power can be used per round.
[HR] Alternative Rule #2: As #1, but PCs and their allies can also use one mythic surge per round. Mythic surges, while useful, are a fairly straightforward effect that do not significantly contribute to the nova problem.
Problematic Rule: Retroactive and scaling mythic surges
Mythic surges are not inherently a problem; action points, hero points, fate points, luck points, and the like have been around the game for years, though typically they must be invoked before a die is rolled, resulting in some wasted uses on rolls too high or too low to reasonably be expected to have any chance of success. A mythic surge, on the other hand, can be used after the fact, when the chance of changing failure into success from adding a surge it is often fairly clear. Shifting surges into a realm of more uncertainty creates the opportunity to bleed more mythic power, but it also has the potential to simply discourage the use of surges in favor of other mythic abilities that are more reliable. This is not a major issue, but it is a small change that is easily made if you wish.
[HR] Alternative Rule: Mythic surges may be spent after a d20 has been rolled but before the success or failure of the die roll has been revealed.
Stacking Multipliers
In most cases, the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game uses a mathematical limiter when it comes to multiplication, adding multiples rather than multiplying them. Those who have played extensively with the mythic rules have discovered that it is entirely possible to stack multipliers in a way to deal over 1000 points of damage in a single blow that virtually automatically hits and ignores virtually all resistances.
Problematic Rule: Foe-biting legendary item ability
This ability doubles everything, the total amount after all modifiers and multipliers, including things that would not normally be doubled. This is the ur-example of stacking multipliers.
[HR] Alternative Rule: Banned.
Problematic Rule: Mythic Power Attack feat
Power Attack is already a very strong feat, one of the best in the core rules, and the improvements offered by the basic effects of this mythic feat are an escalation of those effects.
[HR] Alternative Rule: Delete the following text from the Mythic Power Attack feat: In addition, the bonus damage from this feat is doubled on a critical hit, before it is multiplied by the weapon’s critical multiplier.
Problematic Rule: Mythic Vital Strike feat
This feat is problematic because of its ambiguity. In some interpretations, it implies the possibility of multiplying effects literally dozens of times, to say nothing of its interactions with Spheres of Might.
[HR] Alternative Rule: Banned. (This ban includes all other mythic feats related to Vital Strike, such as Mythic Improved Vital Strike.)
Single Ability Focus
Many classes in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game are dependent on multiple ability scores, but others focus most of their abilities around a single ability score. There are advantages to being a well-rounded character, but the game also greatly rewards specialization, and this remains true in the mythic rules. Some of the corollary problems of exceptionally high attack rolls, save DCs, and the like are rooted in the ability to hyperspecialize ability scores.
Problematic Rule: Mythic ability score bonuses
Characters can presently stack up a +10 untyped ability increase to their primary attribute as a free bonus for advancing along their mythic tiers, which stacks with all other types of bonuses.
[HR] Alternative Rule: Instead of granting PCs a +2 mythic bonus to an ability score every 2 mythic tiers, grant a +1 inherent bonus to an ability score every tier. These bonuses are cumulative if an inherent bonus is applied to the same score more than once, with the restriction that a mythic character cannot apply this bonus to the same ability score at consecutive tiers.
Problematic Rules: Display of Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma universal path abilities and the adroit legendary item ability
Whether or not these abilities are truly overpowered is up for debate, but they certainly play into the issue of single issue hyper-focus. A +20 advantage is huge at low tiers, but as skills and ability checks in general become less relevant at high levels these abilities gradually shift from too much to too little.
[HR] Alternative Rule #1: Instead of granting a flat +20 bonus on the relevant ability check or related skill check, these path abilities grant a bonus equal to three times your mythic tier.
Alternative Rule #2: As #1, but with a minimum of a +10 bonus. This front-loads the ability and makes it more powerful at low tiers, but still permits growing in usefulness at higher tiers. This works better for games that want to be a bit more high-power from the start of mythic play.
Rapid Recovery
In some ways, this is the heart of the problem with the mythic rules: player characters have mythic abilities and they want to use them, and they have a lot of mythic power to use, which then makes them spend it profligately. There’s no sense of cost involved since their mythic power is just replenished the next day.
Problematic Rules: Daily uses of mythic power
Characters currently gain daily uses of mythic power equal to 3 plus twice their mythic tier. This allows them to use mythic power freely in many situations, which is not all bad, as you do not want players to only use their mythic power in big boss fights. However, you do want to make mythic power feel special and its use non-trivial, so that players feel that they are dipping into a well of finite power to bend the universe their way.
Note: If you use this alternative rule to reduce the uses of mythic power available to characters, you should consider carefully before applying other alternative rules that increase the mythic power cost of various abilities, either not using those alternative rules or reducing the increase.
[HR] Alternative Rule: Mythic PCs gain one use of mythic power per tier (before Mythic Traditions), and regain this power each day as normal unless limited by their mythic tradition. Mythic monsters with mythic ranks gain a number of uses of mythic power equal to 3 plus their mythic rank. Mythic opponents with mythic tiers gain a number of daily uses of mythic power equal to 3 plus twice their tier. This gives mythic opponents more of a chance to use their abilities during the few rounds of life they may have remaining to them when they encounter mythic PCs, allowing them to spend more freely while PCs are more cautious with their mythic power.
Problematic Rules: Recuperation base mythic ability
This ability is not actually a problem; in fact, its existence helps combat the dreaded “15-minute adventuring day” by allowing PCs to take a breather, refresh their non-mythic abilities, and continue playing instead of quitting for the day and coming back later. However, the benefits gained far outstrip the cost as characters continue advancing in level.
[HR] Alternative Rule: Using this ability costs one-half of each character’s remaining daily uses of mythic power (minimum 1). If you prefer a flatter scaling curve, increase the cost to one use of mythic power, plus one additional use per 4 character levels.
Bypassing Immunity And Resistance
Energy resistance and immunity, damage reduction, spell resistance, and similar abilities are key defensive abilities for creatures, but many of them are bypassed partially or completely by mythic talents, effects, and abilities. This has the twofold effect of making creatures generally more vulnerable but also of rewarding hyperspecialization. If a pyromaniac fire mage can blast through fire resistance or immunity, there is no need for the character to diversify his magical portfolio. A single tool can now serve for all purposes.
Problematic Rules: Any effect that bypasses immunity and resistance
These abilities invalidate the basic game’s assumptions about what monsters can and cannot do. This is not wholly bad, some of the point of the mythic rules are that players get to break the rules. However, these abilities are perhaps a step too far.
Alternative Rule: Any ability that allows you to ignore immunity or resistance allows you to ignore up to 5 points of resistance or immunity, plus 5 points per 2 mythic ranks or tiers you possess.
Problematic Rules: Attacks that ignore damage reduction
Damage reduction already has issues keeping up with the attacks available to PCs, as many forms of damage reduction are easily bypassed, and the sheer volume of damage dealt with each attack makes the relatively low cap on damage reduction, which almost never exceeds 15, little more than a speed bump.
The following alternative rules specifically apply to mythic creatures with damage reduction, but you could also apply them for non-mythic creatures with damage reduction.
[HR] Alternative Rule #1: Against a mythic creature with damage reduction, any ability that allows you to ignore or bypass damage reduction instead allows you to ignore 5 points of damage reduction, plus 1 point of damage reduction per mythic rank or tier you possess. This applies to mythic abilities like the fleet charge champion path feature as well as non-mythic effects like a paladin’s smite evil.
Alternative Rule #2: Unlike normal damage reduction, the damage reduction of a mythic creature applies against objects or weapons created by spells, spell-like abilities, supernatural abilities, and similar effects. It does not apply against acid, cold, electricity, fire, sonic, positive or negative energy, or other forms of energy damage. It applies against force effects that create objects or constructs made of force, but not against instantaneous force effects.
[HR] Alternative Rule #3: To make damage reduction more effective against critical hits use the following rule. You may incorporate this as a mythic monster ability that you may select when building a mythic monster, or you may choose to apply this universally to all mythic creatures with damage reduction.
Mythic Damage Reduction (Ex/Su): When a critical hit is confirmed against a mythic creature that has damage reduction and the attack does not ignore damage reduction, the creature has a percentage chance equal to twice its damage reduction to negate the critical hit and treat the hit as a normal hit. If the creature also has the fortification universal monster ability or a similar ability to negate critical hits, add these two percentage chances together and make a single roll.
Problematic Rules: Effects that inflict harmful conditions on a successful save
There are a modest number of such effects in the standard Pathfinder rules, so there is precedent for such effects, though usually such conditions are relatively minor (like shaken or dazzled) and last for only 1 round or a few rounds at most. There are many more such effects for mythic powers. Tactics that always work erode the sense of fun and challenge at the table, especially if they always work against foes stronger than the heroes.
[HR] Alternative Rule: Harmful conditions that occur even on a successful save are halved in duration (minimum 0 rounds) if the mythic rank or tier of an affected creature equals or exceeds that of the creature that created the effect. They are also halved (minimum 0 rounds) for a non-mythic creature whose CR equals or exceeds the caster level (or Hit Dice, for supernatural effects) of the creature that created the effect. This does not apply to effects with an instantaneous or permanent duration.
Alternative Rule: Three times per day, mythic characters (except player characters) can spend one use of mythic power when they would normally fail a saving throw to treat the result as if they had succeeded (regardless of the DC).
Rocket Tag, Or There Is No Kill Like Overkill
There are some elements in a mythic game where the numbers just stop mattering, and offense so far outstrips defense that there is almost no point in even rolling the dice. Many of these issues can be solved by applying the alternative rules in this section, but there is also a point at which ludicrous numbers can still happen. An encounter with a mythic foe should be special and awesome, and nothing says anticlimax like a onepunch knockout.
[HR] Defensive Surge (Su): A mythic creature can expend a mythic surge as a swift action to add a sacred (if good), profane (if evil), or luck (if neutral) bonus to its AC equal to the result of its surge die. If the creature has damage reduction or hardness, it also adds the result of its surge die to its damage reduction or hardness (as well as the hardness of any items it carries). If the creature has energy resistance, it adds twice the result of its surge die to each type of energy resistance it possesses. This bonus lasts until the beginning of the character’s next turn; if you expend two uses of mythic power, it lasts for a number of rounds equal to one-half your mythic rank or tier (minimum 1 round).
[HR] I Will Survive (Ex): When the actions taken by a creature during its turn would reduce you below 0 hit points, you can expend one or more uses of mythic power to survive with 10% of your current hit points (before that creature began its turn) for each use of mythic power you spend. All damage dealt as part of a full attack action is considered a single effect for this.
Too Few Mythic Feat Slots?
In the standard mythic rules, characters and creatures alike gain mythic feats only at every odd-numbered mythic rank or tier. With such a small number of feat slots, you might tend to see frequent repetition of common and effective mythic feats.
Seeing only the obvious feats repeated somewhat defeats the purpose of the great variety the game offers. The simple solution is allowing more mythic feat slots. This also helps balance out the loss of power from giving characters fewer points of mythic power to use, as recommended above.
[HR] Alternative Rule #1: Increase the number of mythic feats characters gain to one at every tier.
Alternative Rule #2: As above, but those concerned about power creep for mythic spellcasters could choose to limit this benefit to non-spellcasting characters and creatures.
Alternative Rule #3: You might also allow characters to swap one mythic feat they have learned for another mythic feat for which they already have the non-mythic version, perhaps by spending an hour training and expending one use of mythic power. This allows characters to explore different options of how to use their mythic feats without feeling forced to simply choose a handful of familiar feats that they are sure will be effective.
Excessively High Caster Level/Base Attack Bonus
Many options in the mythic rules can increase a character’s caster level or effective base attack bonus, but smart players might be able to stack permanent bonuses to unbalancing extremes. Fortunately, this is easy to address.
[HR] Alternative Rule: Mythic characters cannot gain more than a +6 bonus to caster level or base attack bonus from mythic sources (whether temporary or permanent increases). This is high enough to be noticeably stronger, but not overwhelmingly so for well-made enemies, and discourages focusing exclusively on number increases instead of flavorful and thematic options.
Perfectly Hidden Characters
The Undetectable ability for Legendary Items prevents invisible players from being detected “by any method”, and at-will invisibility is fairly easy to get. The wording of this ability is highly abusable.
[HR] Alternative Rule #1: Banned. Trust us and do not open this particular can of worms.
Alternative Rule #2: Replace the effects of Undetectable with the following: Creatures using unusual forms of sensory perception such as blindsight, greensight, or tremorsense cannot automatically foil your use of Stealth; such creatures must make a Perception check as normal to detect you when you make use of the Stealth skill. Against divination spells and Divination sphere sense abilities, including those from spell, sphere, spell-like, or supernatural abilities specifically used to uncover information about you rather than enhancing the user’s perception (such as when scrying or using the Divination sphere‘s divine abilities), creatures must succeed on a caster level check against a DC of 6 + your levels in casting classes + your tier.