A brief explanation of Mythpop, a new scenario for Hellsquad and a spicy rant
The Mythpop manifesto that fuels a good chunk of our products, a new perilous mission for your Hanks and Nicola's displeasure for pleasing the market.
Mythpop Manifesto
Mythpop is a natural, cultural phenomenon arising from the intersection of mythological and fantastic storytelling and contemporary popular culture. Humans have always had an innate need for stories, for belief in something greater than themselves, and mythological stories satisfy this thirst for imagination and connection to something transcendent.
Over time, however, the advent of rationality and science has led to a decrease in belief in traditional deities and myths. However, the need for myth and storytelling has not disappeared; it has slowly changed shape and transformed to fit the contemporary context. Mythological stories have emerged in popular culture, influencing literature, film, video games, and other forms of entertainment.
In this age overloaded with information and stimuli, Mythpop is almost an automatic response to the human desire to find a moral compass and a sense of belonging in a seemingly chaotic and unimaginative world. Through the intersection of mythology and popular culture, we create unique fictional universes that capture our imagination.
Mythpop could represent fertile ground for contemporary philosophical analysis. Through exploring literary works, film, video games, and other mediums, we can discover multiple philosophical themes such as identity, morality, faith, liberation, and authenticity manifested through various works that draw on different sources.
For example, Neil Gaiman’s works, such as “Sandman” and “American Gods,” are notable examples of how Mythpop appeared like a hazy vision in contemporary literature. These works combine classical mythology with modern popular culture, creating a unique fictional universe that innovatively addresses universal themes.
Similarly, Alan Moore has explored our relationship with fantasy, symbolism, and archetypes through works like “Promethea”, which tell us how they are a crucial part of our imaginations and, consequently, us.
What we like to call Mythpop also extends to the world of video games as evidenced by titles such as “Hades,” “God of War,” “Assassin’s Creed” and “Elden Ring” which draw on diverse mythological and magical traditions to create immersive and fascinating gaming experiences demonstrating how myth and pop are quietly foundational.
Even movies, TV series, comic books, and other media often take inspiration from myths and legends, such as the DC Comics and Marvel superhero universes full of characters and storylines rooted in mythology and epic storytelling. An excellent example is Mark Waid and Alex Ross’ “Kingdom Come” comic book, which explores mythic themes, with an overt reference to the Christian Apocalypse, through the lens of superheroes, presenting a conflict between the old and new generations of heroes, addressing ethical and moral issues with both gravitas and accessibility.
Mythpop also manifests itself in visual arts and music, where artists and musicians draw on mythological and fantastical elements to express their ideas, thus creating original works. An example? Street artist Banksy was inspired by mythological figures such as mermaids and angels to comment on social and political issues; for example, his work “Sirens of the Lamb” criticizes animal treatment in the food market.
And how can we not mention photographer David LaChapelle, whose provocative works related to biblical imagery were featured in the exhibition “I Believe in Miracles”?
In the music scene, bands such as Led Zeppelin and Florence + The Machine have incorporated mythological elements into their songs, creating a unique and evocative atmosphere that has contributed to their success, not to mention the metal world, which draws heavily on multiple forms of mythologies and stories, whether Norse, Arthurian, or tied to the world of fantasy writing, such as “Lord of the Rings” or the Dragonlance saga.
During the Olympics, many athletes showed an almost sacred devotion to the pop world. They made superstitious gestures, carried lucky charms related to pop culture, and even made real orations in honor of fictional figures that inspired them to overcome their limitations.
Once sacred paintings, votive statuettes, and other faith-related symbols were common sights in homes. Nowadays, we should not be surprised to find action figures, superhero movie posters, and entire collections of pop objects treated with almost the same sacredness in those same homes.
In the end, the term Mythpop is not a genre but a cultural phenomenon that celebrates the power of storytelling and its influence on contemporary society, blending elements of ancient mythology, contemporary fantastic imagery, and reflections on modern life. Through literary works, film, video games, and other mediums, Mythpop thus invites us to explore fantastic worlds, dream of a better future, and find wonder and beauty in everyday reality in a celebration of imagination, creativity, and the importance of stories in our lives.
Toybox: Gene-Stealing Club
A new scenario for Hellsquad
A group of rogue scientists devoted to the evolution of Humanity believes that Hank Brawn is the absolute apex of his species. Somehow, they managed to steal a few precious DNA samples of the greatest hero ever. Their plan? To create an even stronger, faster, cooler, Hanker Hank—an Alpha Hank, if you will.
Obviously, this is impossible and unacceptable, and they need to be stopped. It’s time for heroes—it’s time for Hank!
Gene-Stealing Club is a rank 2-3 mission for your trusted Hellsquad. This is an absolutely secret assignment, and the best Hanks in the world will have to penetrate a hostile base without the help of the mothership and its valuable drops.
What is the H-Virus? And why does it remind us of an umbrella even if it’s not raining?
We will answer this and many other questions badly in this new Scenario, free for all our readers.
Download it using the nice yellow button below.
In case you’re wondering, Hellsquad is our free OSR game, also available on itch.io and DriveThruRPG.
Consumer Pleasing
A gentleman’s rant by Nicola Santagostino
What is the problem an RPG author faces in a world where crowdfunding has become yet another move to charge as much money as possible at the expense of his role?
When I started designing Epigoni, I was at an ethical crossroads: on the one hand, my vision for the project; on the other hand, the need to make it as “sellable” as possible.
In the midst of all this, I witnessed the debacle of several authors forced to bend to the whims of market logic and the cowardice of publishers who constantly aimed to cut costs and sell as many copies as possible while trying to please “the masses” who lived only in their heads.
Can I not sell out this dream of mine, Mr. Uriah Heep?
I, with Epigoni, did not want to sell; I did not want to make money. With Epigoni, I didn’t even want to tell a story to the world; I just wanted to share the lenses through which I look at it.
For me, RPGs were never about making movie scripts that no one wished to produce; they were not about playing shoddy copycats of successful brands by demonstrating only my ability to use synonyms.
For me, RPGs are about sharing; they are allegories, a way to suggest a different point of view on pop culture. It also shows other new keys to interpretation, maybe even on successful brands (Hellsquad is a clear example, let’s be honest); it reveals to people that there are universal themes that can be declined a thousand ways.
RPGs give voice to those who, perhaps because of shyness and introversion, struggle to have it. No one is a life guru here, but at least let me give you a chance to walk a few miles in my boots and, who knows, maybe at the end of the journey, we realize together that no one is alone, at best we’re trapped in our own and others’ silence.
Instead? We were, and we are, flooded by heartless products, dozens of high-quality illustrations sold as window dressing for word salads, improvised rulesets full of mathematical errors because “the public doesn’t care anyway.”
Even good projects are distorted in the name of sales projections. At the same time, publishers constantly fear being unable to cover the costs of the previous crowdfunding product using the budget raised from the following one. This is a grotesque dance in which no one knows what they want for themselves as culture entrepreneurs, yet they presume to know the preferences of others.
My life, ideas, hopes, dreams, and way of seeing the world could not be sold as paperbacks; they are not products that can be bought for 1 euro per copy sold. We have shared this conviction as a collective since day one.
With no presumption of being enlightened beings, we want to share the things that make us laugh, the things that make us cry, the things that have made us and still make us think. We want to talk about pop culture, but we also want to talk about mythology (and mythopoiesis, to be a little bit pedantic).
That is why, with Oddplan, in our “Infinitalogue” (check our Instagram to know more!), we talk about Heart and Courage. We are not here to please you, and we are not here to tell you what you want to hear over and over again.
No, we want to share how we experience the world, have fun while doing it, and be ok with being sometimes unappreciated. It happens. Whatever.
Those who want to share the road with us are welcome, and it’s ok if you’re not one of them. We certainly don’t hold grudges, but that doesn’t change the fact that we won’t stand here and be satisfied by discounting ourselves. There are millions of players worldwide and millions of dreamers, and we won’t stand around begging for those that a cold algorithm told us are our audience. No. Screw the algorithm, screw pleasing those who don’t understand us but think they do, screw the market that imprisons us.
You are not consumers; we do not produce goods you’ll throw away once they have served their purpose.
If you like our ideas, please share this Substack and our social profiles to make us feel less alone as we try to be who we want to be.
We don’t want to please anyone. We want to amaze everyone.
Yeah, before we forget, we will release the next free game on August 17th, and subscribers will be the only ones able to access it for the first week.
What is it, exactly? Let’s say we affectionally call it “Pokémon for intoxicated Spellslingers.”
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