A Modern Prometheus

Modern Prometheus is a beautifully laid out text, with evocative prompts and lovely minimalist artwork. I feel like it mostly uses the system well to create the specific experience it is trying to achieve, with only one of the games that felt like it was there more as 'classic firebrands game' rather than because it necessarily fit the narrative. The decision to make the characters have specific minigames associated with them is also a really interesting design choice i haven't seen before and enjoyed. If you are looking for a game that takes you through pretty precise story beats of the Frankenstein novel, this is definitely one to give a go.
 
Unfortunately based on the early intro text, we thought the game was more 'frankenstein inspired' with room to generate your own narrative on the themes, since a lot of firebrands games are more about the setting and vibes than a specific outcome; and consequently we deviated from the expected plot beats early on, found the games a struggle to fit with the characters we designed and had to retool several of them. I think if we had known the more specific expectations of the game experience upfront in the preamble before getting to the minigames (a la something like Our Travelling Home), I would have had a very different time with the game and if I were to play it again, I would definitely keep that in mind.

A Modern Prometheus by is a TTRPG inspired by the story of Frankenstein. It is a gothic horror game for two people, and you play to find out whether the creator or their creation is the real monster of the story.

A Modern Prometheus is an intense two-player (or very optionally three player) character study where you play as Frankenstein and Frankenstein's Monster.

It's 42 pages, with strong, consistent, and atmospheric layout. It's also quite easy to read, and the pages don't pack in a lot of text, so don't be intimidated by it looking like it's a novella in length.

Mechanically, Prometheus uses the Firebrands (ha-ha) engine, so dice are secondary to choices, and the major element that's gamified is coins. You earn coins by engaging with different kinds of scenes, called minigames, which you each take turns framing.

The back and forth of power, justification, suspicion, and dread between creator and created is the living, beating core of the game, and the fun of play is in discovering who these two characters are.

One thing that I think is missing, and that might be worthwhile to add as a player, is a city creation toolkit. As written, Modern Prometheus assumes the general context and milieu of Frankenstein, but you can do a *lot* more with it than that. The game's format is just as effective if your story is about a companion AI and a 23rd century investor, or a recently awakened vampire and their one tether to the mortal world, so you may want to thresh out the city and setting before beginning play if you want to steer in that kind of a direction.

Overall, if you live for drama and you've got at least one person you can pull into a game, you should get this. It's moody and gothic and nuanced and you get back twice what you put into it. However, it's not competitive. It's not about overcoming challenges and using your numbers to win, so if you like that part of gothic roleplaying, it may be less of a good match.

Still, if you liked Frankenstein, if you like stories where two brooding characters' values are in conflict, and if you don't mind doing potentially a bit of world-building at the start, you should also pick this up.

Minor Issues:

-Auto-hyphenation seems to be on. It breaks up some words in ways that don't feel very natural, and it sticks out more in paragraphs such as on page 5.

A Modern Prometheus does an excellent job of exploring the question 'who is the real monster here?' and what a monster is. There are some really poignant questions here, making great use of the Firebrands system. And the layout is super slick! Definitely recommend!