Příběhy Impéria: How does the new edition differ from the old one?

This autumn, Mytago publishing house released a new, revised version of Příběhy Impéria. We asked the most qualified people – Jonáš and Kryštof Ferenc, the authors of Příběhy Impéria – to explain how it differs from the original rules, what's new, and what it offers to players.

What is Příběhy Impéria?

Příběhy Impéria is a Czech narrative role-playing game (RPG) with easy-to-grasp rules. Players can dive into breathtaking stories set in a mysterious and magical Victorian world of the 19th century. Specifically, a time when the mighty British Empire rules the seas and lands. London is covered in the suffocating smoke of factories and furnaces, and steam turns the wheels of the industrial revolution. However, ancient magic still flows through the land. Mages walk the cold, damp English streets at night, goblins perform their tricks, and orcs, fauns, and other creatures we know only from legends live their lives among humans in coats and top hats.

The road to the revised edition

The original Příběhy Impéria book was published in 2009, followed by two expansions: Rukověť mága in 2010 and Kniha dobrodružství in 2012, and later a boxed set for beginners in 2016.

Příběhy Impéria grew into a vast world that, in many ways, lives a life of its own. The same world inspired the comics Vzpoura automatonů and Morganina pomsta, the card game Příběhy Impéria: Mocnosti, and several short stories in various anthologies.

Even more than a decade after the first release, there was still interest in the book, and small reprints were occasionally made to meet demand. The problem was that the original print files were in a rather unsatisfactory state—split into several PDFs and scattered across different places… Preparing a reprint was always a challenge. We thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to look at those PDFs and prepare better source files.

Although we wanted to start lightly, as we planned what needed to be changed or expanded, we kept adding more notes, more illustrations, and more ideas. After all, a long time had passed since the release; we had learned a lot and played hundreds of games, and we wanted to incorporate that feedback into the book. In the end, we expanded the book with feedback from many players and our own gaming experience, and we optimized both the rules and the text. We added things to the world-building materials that players asked about most often and that are used most frequently during play.

And nearly 5 years later, we ended up with the book that is now being released as the Revised Edition.

New vs. old edition – the differences

Essentially, this is a completely new book; very little of the original text remains unchanged. But let's take it step by step:

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The new revised edition is useful even for owners of the original book, as it offers expanded rules, simplifications, examples, and generally easier access to the game. If you liked the original Příběhy, the old game can still be played very easily with the new book (we address this directly in the text), and nothing forces you to use the expanded rules. You can use the book simply as a source of inspiration, illustrations, and ideas.

Chat with the authors on the RPG Forum

If you have questions about the rules, gameplay, or just want to share your impressions of the manual, you can easily find us (shared username Ecthelion) on the RPG Forum in the Příběhy Impéria discussion. Don't be afraid to write to us, start a new topic about something that interests you, or just share something that made you happy in the game. We will be grateful for any feedback!

Jonáš and Kryštof Ferenc