What got you into MYFAROG?

[The Gardener]

What got you into MYFAROG? Is it the first RPG you have / will have played or have you played other RPGs in the past?

What is it exactly about MYFAROG that draws you to the game and what do you hope to obtain from gaming this system?

I first came across MYFAROG over two and a half years ago when I randomly stumbled across the ancestral-cult shop run by Varg and Marie, which was still during the first edition days. I then came across a couple of online MYFAROG games which really perked my interest, and from there I got a slot in one of Jeff Cape's campaigns which lasted a good while.

The connection to European mythology, religion, and roots is what really appeals to me. A different game designer might have taken the same concept with completely different game mechanics and it might not have worked at all. For me Varg has managed to blend the mythological & lore aspects of the game with a tough, no-nonsense, & gritty rule-set, which might prove to be a stumbling block for certain types of gamers.

[Bluddworth]

I’ve made no bones about it, negative press by someone on another (inferior) game’s forums made me first aware of MYFAROG.  I have to be honest, I’m a bit of an internet troll when it came to that forum, so when one of its better known members was say to boycott MYFAROG, I had to investigate it myself.  

When I purchased the core rule book (2.4) I read through much of it in my first sitting, and was ordering the rest of the supplements before my second cup of coffee.  Yes I know, a slight exaggeration, it was that same evening though.  

What was it about MYFAROG that grabbed my interest?  What I would call “Low Fantasy”, but the magic that does exist is folklorist, elemental and or Druidic in nature.  The lore and the setting I have always loved, although not being Scandinavian myself (I am a bit German and Irish) I’ve always had a fascination with the culture, mythology and folklore.  One of my best, and longest lasting internet friends was Danish and so Thule as a setting was a huge draw.

Finally, some of my favorite writers studied, wrote about and were greatly influenced by the folktales, and mythology of Northern Europe.  Robert E Howard being my favorite, followed by Tolkein, Lovecraft and Lord Dunsany.  

MYFAROG is truly a great game, in a great setting.

[Thulean Hamask]

I was a fan of Varg's writings and videos (and music), and saw him post about the game on Thulean Perspective. The idea of a hobby that allowed you to play games without a computer, delve in European myth and tradition, and develop/teach life skills with was very appealing.
I had never played RPGs before, due to lack of other players, although I had bought MERP years before.

I had 1E in my cart on the original website, was mulling it over, and finally decided I didn't want to spend that much money right then so i didn't checkout. I'm kicking myself now. Oh, the pain. 

Finally bought the second edition, got in a beginner's game, and haven't looked back since.

[The Gardener]

Mar 3, 2018 3:47:52 GMT Thulean Hamask said:

I was a fan of Varg's writings and videos (and music), and saw him post about the game on Thulean Perspective. The idea of a hobby that allowed you to play games without a computer, delve in European myth and tradition, and develop/teach life skills with was very appealing.
I had never played RPGs before, due to lack of other players, although I had bought MERP years before.

I had 1E in my cart on the original website, was mulling it over, and finally decided I didn't want to spend that much money right then so i didn't checkout. I'm kicking myself now. Oh, the pain. 

Finally bought the second edition, got in a beginner's game, and haven't looked back since.

I also had 1E in the check-out section several times over, and then I was told that a new version would soon be released, so I waited an extra two weeks. Regrettable indeed. I'd pay a decent but not crazy amount of money for a copy of 1E, should any become available again.

[sunutsu]

I'm a big of of Varg on youtube and saw a few of his videos on Myfarog and bought the book mainly to support him. I'm not European myself but I've been gaining an interest in European and Asian mythology and folklore the past few years. After reading the core rule book I fell in love with the setting and appreciated the amount of effort Varg put into making this game.

I played about four games last year but to decided to quit playing due too a busy schedule and a personal dislike for Facebook. Now that I know there is a forum now to discuss this game I hope to play more games in the future. I've never played any other table top games besides this one and I'd only be interested in playing games with in depth lore heavily based on European or Asian Mythology.

[The Gardener]

That's awesome, Sunstsu. There are some fairly strong connections between European and Asian Mythology if one looks hard enough. What part of the world are you from. I think all of us on this forum are pretty tired of using FaceBook for things like gaming, and a return to an old style forum is a good thing for many.

Hail the Gods!

[sunutsu]

I was born in America but my family is from the Carribean islands. I've also been noticing the connection between European/Asian mythologies as well thanks to many of the videos I've watched. Its nice to have forums like this since they attract people with interests in these subjects.

[fenriz]

I was a black metal kid back in the late 90's early 2000 so i already know about Varg and all the controversy surrounding him.

I stumbled across some reviews of myfarog and to be honest they all portrayed it in a very bad Light but that kind of spun my interest.

one day while looking for people to game with that didnt play DnD since i think DnD is a utter pile of steaming horseshit i got invited to join the myfarog fb page (which im no longer part of).

after talking with people there i orderd the books to see for myself if the criticism was justified or if it was utter bullshit from sjw snowflakes, also i was looking for something new that wasnt DnD

I like that the game puts emphasis on european folklore and traditions and takes place in a fictive europe.

This speaks to me being a european traditionalist myself.

[Scourge]

What got you into MYFAROG? Is it the first RPG you have / will have played or had you played other RPGs in the past?

I've been listening to Burzum for over half of my life. Easily one of my favorite black metal artists. I became aware of Myfarog early after its release due to the bad press it received. However, at the time I hadn't played RPGs since high school and just thought it was cool Varg wrote one up. After getting back into games the last few years, I checked back up on Myfarog to find that there was a lot of good press on it as well. I kept my eye on it but was too busy to actually buy and play it. I joined the group on FB to learn about it in the meantime. Eventually, The Coming came out and I jump on it and 2.6. Took me a while to gain the time to begin playing, but I'm really digging it so far. Still fairly new to it, but by the end of the year, I'll be trying to write some frostbitten Thule stories up. Possibly write up some one shots as PDFs for others to try out.

I've played a good handful of RPGs of various genres. I'm an avid fan of the 40k stuff by Fantasy Flight, Basic Fantasy, Kids on Bikes, Adventures in Middle Earth, DnD (although I am no longer playing anything past ADnD2e)... the list is endless. I dig anything that doesn't suck, and I've got a list of games I still want to try. DCC is at the top of that list.

What is it exactly about MYFAROG that draws you to the game and what do you hope to obtain from gaming this system?

The grit and focus on realistic damage at first. Now that I've read the book a few times and looked into the lore a bit, I'm beginning to really appreciate the world and bits of history thrown in. Without being try-hard Varg wrote up a game that doesn't pull punches and adds complexity to RPGs. Total black and white when compared to newer games like 5e.

[Victormeldrew]

I have been a fan of Burzum and Varg since I read a scurrilous article about Black metal. It accused Varg of being a "neo-nazi", which for a 14 year old me just sounded too cool (those were the guys with the jackboots, tanks and that symbol my teachers didn't like us doodling on things right?) so I began reading his articles.
Years earlier the Peter Jackson films sparked my love affair with Tolkein and while I was in love with the film's, books, Warhammer fantasy and Games Workshops LOTR battle game I saw an advert for a Dungeons and Dragons board game on kids TV and I was hooked. I played the DM for my friends and graduated onto third ed.
After my friends became more interested in girls I played little DnD, but I kept on reading Varg's articles on burzum.org and followed him over to YouTube.
I always liked how the man's mind works, similar to myself in some ways and his love of our traditions. His music and love of RPGs led me to be somewhat of a fanboy and I still am to extent. So when he announced his own RPG I was super excited and followed his videos where he researched combat and such.
When 1e was released, I had no money to buy it, but I did get Basic Fantasy on recommendation from Lindybeige and Varg and I got back into the scene. Played some 5e and enjoyed it, some Runequest 3 and I got myself Myfarog but haven't found anyone to play it with.
My main reasons for sticking with it despite my difficulty in finding players is the setting and the realism. I see it as a way to connect with my lost past.
The centuries and millennia of our existence dwells still in my subconscious and I want to reawaken some of those more distant memories.

[frostedflakes]

I had already been collecting various RPG books from GURPS, D&D, Palladium Fantasy/RIFTS, and Warhammer Fantasy Battle type stuff. I couldn't find anyone to really play with except one kid who really didnt like rules and we would just tell stories and improvise rolling conditions for the few times we would need to roll, to keep things semi random. Shit was boring and gay. So I went mainly back to wargaming with warhammer and my medieval minis, made up my own rulesets, about 6 different ones which all had some sort of flaw that I couldn't pin down. I couldnt make a ruleset where each opportunity was covered perfectly without feeling like rolling a d20 only had 2 choices, worked or it didnt.

Then I heard varg was making an rpg through an article on burzum dot awg, got a boner, waited a long time, forgot about it, flaccid, AND THEN IT WAS ON ANCESTRAL CULT, too expensive for broke ass me. Waited, forgot again, remembered, bought 2.4 and The Coming 2.4, studied it, couldnt seem to grasp it, set it aside for an entire year, peeking at it occasionally. Found the fb group run by William and Jeff at the time I think, played my first game (after my practice combat with the ever lovely Philip). I was hooked, it wasnt the best intro game, but the next ones were more involved, I was in love, the restrictions on the fantasy made it feel more like a Conan novel instead of some modern shit heap they like to call Fantasy. I literally cant enjoy any other combat system Ive tried now, Myfarog has a great flow.

Besides the whole Euro-Mytho-RacialPreservationalism that cements it as one of the most Important Lore Based Games for myself and crackers all around, it is probably the only system that treats European Warrior culture not as a Cliche but as a Lifestyle with so much more meaning and depth to it. When you forage for rations, fish, go whaling, create a raft, train a horse, battle, carve runes into a stone, climb a mountain as an endurance test. It never feels like its just going towards XP, it feels like you're really creating a truly alive character, maybe what you should be doing yourself. As this game becomes a mirror to yourself at times, as much as an experiment and a game.

[Deleted]

What got me into MYFAROG?

[points to the camera]

Let's find out!

[Gangland]

I've been a fan of Burzum since I was around 13 back in 03 give or take. Found Vargs youtube when he was doing his "guitar lesson" videos (Table amp FTW) but read on blabbermouth or something about Varg's rpg during 1st edition. I wasn't into table top rpgs at the time so I just thought it was funny and went about my life. Then about 2 or so years ago a friend of mine and I wanted to get into table amp... er top rpgs and, being Metalheads, who do we know with a youtube channel that talks about table top rpgs? Varg. Started with Basic Fantasy, on Varg's recommendation, and enjoyed it, but wanted something a little more... in depth. I figured that if Varg could make great music surely his game couldn't be all that bad so I joined the facebook group (since axed my facebook) and Frost was having an essay contest for a copy of the book so I threw my hat in the ring and the rest is history.

[Deleted]

I found out about the game through Thulean Perspective, which I found out about due to my fondness of Burzum.

[industrialchild]

I discovered Varg Vikernes in my teens when I was living in New Orleans and frequenting my local used CD store. The owner knew that I liked obscure/advant-grade music like black metal, noise, and industrial music. He introduced me to BURZUM and sold me for super cheap their album: Filosofem. After listening to the first track: Dunkelheit, I was immediately hooked and started seeking out anything I could listen to from this project and also any information I could learn about this Varg Vikernes. I learned about his past history and his crimes. However, this didn't stop me from celebrating the messages of the music nor the person I truly felt Varg was!

A few years ago, I stumbled upon his YouTube channel, TheThuelanPerspective, and it not only blew my mind but empowered my own beliefs that despite his crimes, he's a brilliant mind, philosopher and someone who should be celebrated. While I don't agree with all of his views all of the time, I always took something away and had my own thinking challenged. It was though binge watching his videos that I learned about his interest in table top games and RPGs. I had the same interest! His videos sold me not only on his wonderful RPG: MYFAROG, but also Basic Fantasy and The One Ring.

It's a shame that his old channel is no more. That's YouTube for you. Oh well. I will miss his videos, but I'm glad that through his RPG, I've found my way here! Everything comes full circle and that is wonderful!