MAC-27

 What’s the smallest possible game of MAC Attack?

By the book a force must have at least three MACs. The cheapest MAC you can build is a Class 1 (12pts) with the maximum of three Frame modules (each reducing its cost by 1pt) so 9pts in total. Three of those give us a minimum legal force of 27pts.

MAC-27. A force for the MAC Commander on a tight budget. 

But Why?

I dunno. Because we can? I want the game to be fun with the minimum financial investment of three miniatures each, and this extends that philosophy to the points cost. 

These MACs are going to be pretty limited, with only three module slots left after taking those Frames. They should also be simpler for new players to play with, but there’s a risk they just aren’t that fun. 

They’re sure to have bad heat management, but they probably won’t generate all that much heat either.

They won’t have much firepower, but they’re also pretty flimsy, and unlikely to have much in the way of defensive modules.

So is a 3v3 battle with shitty MACs actually fun? Let’s make some and I’ll try it out. 

Discount MACs

Okay, here are the forces.

I’m not doing a normal scenario, instead just bringing the MACs onto the board from the centre of opposite board edges and playing for a total wipeout of the other side. 24x24" board with a few patches of cover and rough.

Post Battle Analysis

The most obvious effect here is that the MACs were all super simple, even more so than I expected. There were half the normal number of modules to keep track of, mostly focused on a few weapons. This is sometimes good, but a frame being destroyed is just less interesting than blowing up a weapon or a radiator, which often alter the way a player needs to pilot that MAC. 

Cooldown went a lot more quickly too, as all of the MACs just cooled 1 Heat, with no extra modules to factor in. 

I tried to avoid building these MACs to some imagined meta, but with all these small MACs running around certain modules (Burst weapons, Mesh) felt more appealing than normal. In play, piercing weapons still felt good, as even small MACs tend to slow down once the firing starts, as Rushing restricts how much you can rotate, making it harder to keep the enemy in your sights. 

Final verdict? It was fun! Definitely something I’d keep in my pocket if I wanted to introduce the game to a particularly inexperienced wargame player.

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Mythic One-Shots

How do you run a Mythic Bastionland one shot?

There’s some guidance on the “Starts and Scopes” page at the front of the book, but it seems to be a recurring question. I figured I’d share my thoughts, since I’ve done quite a few at this point. 

Considerations

• You can just prepare a Realm as normal and run a one shot without changing anything in particular, but there are a few things to keep in mind:
• Character creation is quick, but there’s a bit of passing the book around, copying down property and abilities.
• Realm creation is good “lonely fun” for the Referee, but it can take a little while, and a one-shot is unlikely to span too much of the wider Realm.
• If you have the standard setup with six Myths revealing themselves at once then it's hit or miss whether you’ll resolve one in a single session.
• All Myths can work for one shots, but some feel better suited to a campaign. Maybe they benefit from the players knowing the Realm and its characters (the Glade), work better in a game that spans Seasons (the Wheel), or change the Realm in ways that are fun to have as lasting impact (the Sea).
• Starting the Knights on the edge of the map, arriving in the Realm for the first time, tends to see them make a beeline for the nearest Holding, reaching it toward the end of the session.
• Frankly, the ongoing nature of how Mythic works means that there’s always going to be some unresolved stuff at the end of a session.

So I think there are actually three ways you can go with a Mythic one shot, so take your pick from these equally valid methods.

The Teaser-Shot: Most authentic Mythic experience

• Make the full Realm as normal and populate it with the full spread of six Myths. Settle in and flesh out the holdings and landmarks as much as you care to.
• Prepare blank character sheets and roll up the Knights at the table.
• Start with the Knights arriving on the edge of the Realm as normal, having been sent here to seek Myths.
• Warn the players that things will probably end without a big climax.
• When the session ends, see if the players take the bait to come back for a second session. If they say yes then you’ve already got everything you need, otherwise your Realm is ready to serve a one-shot to a different group if needed.

The Speed-Shot: Getting straight to it

• Make a smaller Realm than normal. 6x6 Hexes with a single holding and one of each of the landmarks works, but go up to 9x9 with two Holdings if you want a bit more space.
• Generate a few more Knights than you have players, handing out fully completed character sheets and letting players swap around if they like the look of another Knight. Keep the spares for backups.
• Choose one Myth only for the Realm. Any time you would encounter an Omen, go to this Myth. You’ll hit the final Omen pretty quickly at this pace. Some Myths work better than others in this sense, but something like The Wyvern is ideal. 
• Start the Knights at one of the Holdings. The Ruler is busy but the inhabitants have told you some rumours about the Myth, urging you to go out and seek it, also hinting at the location of the nearby Seer.
• If the one-shot gives way to a campaign then you can always expand the map and populate it with a new batch of six Myths.

The Smart-Shot: For those blessed with Clarity 

• Make a full Realm, fully fleshed out, because it’s fun and you can re-use it for multiple one-shots.
• Generate the Knights ahead of time, as in a Speed-Shot, but leave their Virtue and Guard scores blank, players can roll for these so that they can’t blame you for low scores.
• Choose just two Myths for the Realm and place them far apart. Now you’ll still stand a decent chance of hitting the final Omen of one of them, but you’ll be mixing in a little bit of the other.
• Start the Knights in a Holding, having received an urgent message from a distant place, typically another Holding or a Sanctum, summoning them urgently. Now they have a clear goal of “get across the Realm” which will have them naturally encountering Omens and Landmarks on the way.

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How Did they Die?

Old characters in Mythic Bastionland stand a chance of just dying off-screen between Ages.

But what happened to that person?

Roll d66

11: The life was coughed out of their rattling lungs

12: Their body wasted away to bone and shadow

13: Gnawed on too much numbing bark for their pain

14: Strangled in wrath with little fight

15: Fell from a height and scattered their innards

16: Faded with their appetite, withered beside a full plate

21: Sank in a mire and not wholly found

22: Left to bleed on the roadside

23: A malady in their last meal turned their belly to rot

24: Trampled beneath horses

25: Spat out their blood in the night

26: Perished in weak murmurs, none heard or came

31: Burned in a fire brought by a neighbour

32: Torn apart by maddened hounds

33: Swollen to bursting by the old plagues' return

34: Smote by lightning atop a hill

35: Rode out with trembling hands, never found

36: Their mind was hot with raving till their soul slipped free

41: Slipped on the ground and cracked their skull

42: Lost their words, then their breath

43: Half-woke at dawn, still in their dream, dead by nightfall

44: Their body left clenched and contorted from wicked grain

45: Bitten by invisible mites, dying puffed and sputtering

46: Fell in a field, unable to drag themselves back

51: Wandered too far and grew cold, dying beneath their blanket

52: Found sitting stiff, watching the sky

53: Hollowed out by belly worms and left pale

54: Rendered silent by sun sickness

55: Bitten by a coughing wind, which spread deep

56: Dreamt too deeply, never to wake

61: Split open in a petty feud

62: Fed false herbs by will or chance, cold and blue

63: Hacked down by uncaring raiders

64: Choked on a bone at their evening meal

65: Screamed out their last breaths in the night

66: Drank deep of cursed water, leaving a yellowed corpse

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Between the Ages

Following on from last week, here are some events that might happen between Ages.

Other than the inevitable

Roll d66 for each Knight:

11. You suffered a great failure and must re-pledge your Oath in order to retain your Knighthood.

12. You have been in a nearby Realm on diplomatic duty. Roll a Spirit Save. On a pass, you are now well-esteemed there. On a fail you triggered a war with them.

13. You have become deathly ill. You that know you will die before the next Age without supernatural intervention.

14. You saved the life of a Seer, so they owe you a favour.

15. You have been named as heir to a Seat of Power.

16. You gain an especially loyal pet.

21. The most important non-player character to you dies suddenly. You are with them in their last moments.

22. You have spent years trapped in an Otherworld.

23. You brokered peace with raiders from beyond your borders, who have set up a Holding of their own in the Realm.

24. You won a great battle. Choose its location and roll a Vigour Save. On a pass you won, placing a Monument there. Otherwise you lost, placing a Curse there.

25. A distant or estranged relative has come to the Realm, finding a place in court.

26. An enemy or rival from your past has found a place in court.

31. You inherit a piece of armour (your choice) belonging to a Knight-Radiant, who has left to find the city. Old knights hold you in high regard when you wear it.

32. Roll a Clarity Save. On a pass you helped depose an unjust ruler, who seeks petty revenge against you. On a fail you unwittingly helped to make them a ruler.

33. A defeated foe has placed a sizeable bounty on your head.

34. You received prophetic dreams of a new Myth in the realm. The dreams relate to its final Omen.

35. You helped a new Seer find their sanctuary. Place it anywhere you wish.

36. A random visiting Knight gifts you their steed before they leave.

41. Justifiable or not, the vassals have taken to calling you "The Wicked"

42. Justifiable or not, the vassals have taken to calling you "The Great"

43. You are offered a new Knightly title. Roll a new Knight type and decide if you wish to exchange your gear and ability for the new one.

44. As a diplomatic gesture you have been barred from visiting the Seat of Power.

45. You fight in a battle that sees the destruction of a random holding. Decide which side you were on.

46. You set up a modest home for yourself that has grown into a dwelling. Place it wherever you choose.

51. Illness plagues those close to you. Choose three non-player characters close to you. They must each pass a Vigour Save or die.

52. A ghost from a previous encounter still haunts you. You cannot sleep alone.

53. You have been exiled from the Realm. If you stay you are doing so under a false identity.

54. You were sent to fight against a nearby Realm, earning a bloody reputation amongst its loyal Knights. They swore to come for you one day.

55. You helped a young protegee become a full Knight. Roll their Knight type at random, and they are now roaming the Realm on their own quest.

56. Time has been cruel to you. If you are Mature, immediately age to Old. If you are Old, lose d6 Vigour to a minimum of 2.

61. Time has been good to you. If you would age to Old, remain as Mature instead. If you would age to Mature you may increase any one Virtue by d6 to a maximum of 18.

62. You earn a reputation in tournaments. Gain d6 Maximum Guard to a maximum of 18.

63. You were embroiled in a blood feud with a ruler of the Realm. Decide somebody close to you who died in the conflict, and also somebody close to them.

64. A particularly harrowing battle leaves you with little appetite for combat Lose d6 Maximum Guard to a minimum of 1.

65. Another Knight bearing your title has entered the Realm, seeking to usurp your position.

66. A holding unexpectedly fell into your rule.

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Between the Seasons

Mythic Bastionland assumes that you’ll advance through the Seasons, and likely through the Ages, seeing your Knights grow old and maybe die a peaceful death. 

In terms of what happens between the end of a session and the start of a new Season or Age, it’s left quite loose. You get this table.

And of course there are Spark tables for the Referee to draw on. These ones in particular are handy.

And maybe this middle one when you become Old.

I turn 40 in a couple of weeks, so I’m studying this one carefully.

Knights also get to choose an activity between Seasons and Ages, but what if want to inject a slightly more concrete random event thing?

Let's go. We'll just do between Seasons today. These aren't really meant to be played out in full, you just discuss what happened as a group when you move to a new Season.

Some of these call for specific Spark Tables found in the book.

Between Season Events

Each Knight rolls d66:

11. An old Knight offers you their longsword (2d8) if you pledge to train their grandchild as a squire.

12. A random Seer of the Realm is dying and summoned to you ask them one last question.

13. You become ill, roll an ailment.

14. You are assigned an important role at a wedding.

15. The ruler of a nearby holding has openly spoken ill of you.

16. While camping, one of your weapons, shields, or pieces of armour was stolen.

21. A messenger from a distant realm brings news, with a loose connection to you.

22. Your steed suddenly dies.

23. Local farmers provide you with sustenance.

24. A merchant from a neighbouring realm provides you with stimulant.

25. A band of pilgrims offer you sacrament.

26. Somebody close to you becomes ill, roll an ailment.

31. You learn of a new Landmark in the Realm. Roll and place it randomly.

32. You witness a ghost from your past.

33. You meet a travelling part. Roll SPI. If you pass, they write a complimentary song about you, granting 1 Glory. If you fail they mock you, losing 1 Glory until you prove them wrong.

34. You meet a new successor, potentially more promising than your own if you have one.

35. You meet a potential romantic partner. Pass a SPI Save to see if the affection is mutual.

36. You indirectly cause a great fire, wiping out a hex of forest or other greenery.

41. A visiting Knight wishes to duel you.

42. You discover a raiding party from a neighbouring Realm.

43. You stumbled upon a wild beast. It gave you a Scar (d12) before leaving you for dead. Any Virtue loss caused by this is still active at the start of the next Season.

44. A wandering Seer from a distant Realm offers you cryptic guidance.

45. You learn the location of a legendarily powerful longsword (3d8 hefty), but it's in the most inconvenient place.

46. You encounter a Knight sworn to an enemy Realm, but they're pleading for sanctuary and passage to the Seat of Power.

51. You are called to adjudicate between a truthful but vindictive ruler and a dishonest but desperate vassal.

52. You learn of a secret Drama in court.

53. A Seer personally calls you for a Task.

54. You are at the centre of a new Conflict between two holdings.

55. You witness a Wonder in a hex near to your most significant holding.

56. You dream of an Otherworld.

61. You are accused of a crime you did not commit.

62. You are swept up within a peoples' revolt in the Realm.

63. You find a band of artisans from a distant Realm. You escort them to set up shop in a holding.

64. You offended a strange hermit and they swore a curse upon you. Seers predict grave things for you.

65. You are with a random ruler as they die suddenly.

66. A ruler abandons their holding, calling you to aid in establishing a new ruler.

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Background Mutations for Paranoia

After last week’s holiday I’m taking a little break from Mythic places, but I’ll return to that series at some point. 

Let’s go back to Alpha Complex. 

I mentioned previously that mutant powers have felt like an afterthought in the few sessions of Paranoia that I’ve run. 

So what if they weren’t a thing the player could actively use, but something that ticks along in the background? Some might be useful, but I also like the idea of them just being annoying and sparking more suspicious behaviour from players. 

Of course, that means it becomes a thing for the Referee to track, but I’m sure they can handle it.

Let’s make 12.

1. Hostile Emissions - If you are scanned for anything you always generate the worst possible result. 

2. Shocking Field - Any living thing you touch suffers a painful shock equivalent to a stun stick. 

3. Pressurised Blood - If you suffer even the smallest wound you spray blood everywhere. If you’re killed it’s extremely messy. 

4. Soft Gut - If you eat any solid food you regurgitate it instantly.

5. Rubberised Musculature - You are unarmed by falling, but bounce a lot upon landing. 

6. Inflation Bladder - If you enter a body of liquid you automatically inflate like a balloon, floating quite safely. It takes a moment of calm for you to deflate.

7. Facial Chameleosis - Each morning you wake up with a new face.

8. Bronchial Cryogenesis - When you sneeze, cough, or otherwise expel a large amount of air, it’s cold enough to freeze liquids or a bit of flesh.

9. Mortal Regeneration - When you die, as long as your body is mostly intact, you’ll regenerate in a few minutes without needing a new clone. You’re still messed up, but you’re back on your feet. This may cause multiple clones to be active at once.

10. Hyper Hearing - You can hear things happening in the next room as clear as day, but loud noises cause you physical harm. 

11. Bio Siren - When you are wounded you emit a scream so loud that it shatters glass in the nearby area.

12. Molecular Metallurgy  - Metal objects you hold gradually start to melt, without becoming hot.

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Accommodation in Bastion

Electric Bastionland puts you in debt, with a failed career, and generally assumes you've left home in order to pursue your get-out-of-debt-quick scheme.

But I've certainly had players ask about whether they have a home. I usually just handwave it with the above explanation, but what if the players really want to know?

Roll 6d6 in order.

Roll 1: What type of home?
1: A forgotten hovel. 
2-3: Borough-funded dormitory room above/below/amongst a place of business
4-6: A rented bedsit, but you're out at the end of the week

Roll 2: Where is it?
1: Embarrassingly, you can't find your way back.
2-3: One Borough over. 
4-6: Right here in this Borough.

Roll 3: Who do you share it with?
1: Vermin
2-3: Someone was already there, so now you share. You don't really get on. 
4-6: d6 family or friends, wanted or not. 

Roll 4: What's the first thing people notice?
1: Well, you'd never let outsiders in.
2-3: The shamefully outdated décor. 
4-6: The inconvenient way you need to access the property. 

Roll 5: Any neighbours?
1: You can hear them but you never see them. 
2-3: They vanished recently and their place got boarded up. 
4-6: Yeah, and they're always knocking-on. 

Roll 6: Wait, what's that noise?
1: Oh yeah, it got demolished. 
2-3: The electricity/water/heat is out and you're at the end of the waitlist for a repair. 
4-6: It's just an annoying hum/drip/clicking. You got used to it. 

Landmark Sites - Hazard

The next two landmarks will be the overtly bad ones. No positive spin on this, a Hazard is just a place you want to avoid.

Unless...

Well, let’s make this one a place that you’ll want to avoid unless you’re looking for a very specific thing, which will be the Treasure point in our site map. 

EDIT: Looking back on this sentence above I can confirm that I abandoned this and just made it an awful place you wouldn’t want to go to. Enjoy!

Let’s take a prompt to get things moving. 

Hazard Prompt: Earsplitting Screams

Something leaps out at me here. We could break this prompt down into just “Ear Splitting” or “Splitting Screams”. We’ll make this place horrible one way or another. How about a weird hermit that wants to take the ears of anybody who passes through. Perhaps they’re pretending to be a seer, but they’re actually just an ear-collecting weirdo. Let’s run with that. 

We’ll roll on a few spark tables to give us a bank of ideas to pull from or discard:

Sky: Pale Streaks
Fauna: Placid Canines
Feature: Desecrated Waterfall
Wonder: Pleasure Water
Drama: Banishment Letters
Appearance: Sickly Crude
Voice: Strong Friendly
Desire: Knowledge Recognition

The description for hazards says “push through or turn back” so I’m taking that very literally here and trying out a completely linear site. 

Site - Grotto of the Ear Warlock

Key

Circle: Feature
Triangle: Danger
Diamond: Treasure
Line: Open path
Crossed Line: Closed path
Dotted Line: Hidden path
Arrow: Entrance
Dotted Arrow: Hidden entrance

Locations

Entrance: Amid slippery crags, crude wooden barriers shelter an opening behind a waterfall. This looks to be the only way ahead without turning back. 

1: Tunnels wind down to a tight squeeze. It’s tough to fit through but somehow impossible to return back through. Only the Warlock knows the Terric Mantra required to reopen the passageway. 

2: Steam rises from vents in this crooked cavern. Breathing in the steam causes a pleasing sensation at first, then intense muscle spasms (lose d6 VIG). Breathing through a damp cloth protects against this. 

3: Amidst stalactites and foul pools, the Ear Warlock bathes. Though he appears sickly, cloaked in rags, he booms with a welcoming voice. He won’t outright say that he’s a Seer, but does everything to suggest that to the Knights. In fact, he has no power beyond knowing the tricks of this grotto. If Knights ask for guidance he offers baseless predictions in return for an ear. Cutting off an ear causes d6 VIG loss and holds no power for the Warlock, simply adding it to his collection. 

4: Two matted old dogs sleep on a bed of slimy moss. They seem utterly content, occasionally stealing an ear from their master’s collection. 

5: The Warlock’s sleeping quarters, if you can call it that. A heap of rags for a bed, a small metal chest hidden within, containing the letter of banishment he received from the ruler of the Realm. The warlock has boarded up the passageway and warns the Knights that only the worthy should pass through. 

6: One tight squeeze after another, the rocks like sandpaper. An utter dead-end, though the Warlock insists that the worthy can find passage through. In fact, there is another Terric Mantra allowing passage out into the wider world, but he would only reveal it out of true desperation or a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the Realm.

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Landmark Sites - Monument

Described as places of inspiration. Spending a phase here restores Spirit, so they’re typically one of the most straightforwardly beneficial landmarks to come across.

But what if you already have full Spirit? Dwellings and Sanctums can restore Vigour and Clarity respectively, but beyond that they at least have somebody to talk to and get some information from. What else can a monument offer? Well... not much, really, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make it a nice little flavourful place to encounter. 

So let’s see what happens as we turn one into a site. We’ll start with a random monument prompt from the book. 

Monument Prompt: Buried library. 

Okay, neat, well this is already feeling like it could become a useful place for the Knights to get pointed toward in search of knowledge. 

We’ll mess around with the distribution of the points and routes in there, maybe removing dangers altogether, making it more of a welcoming exploration site.

I’ll roll on a few spark tables to get some extra juice:

Landscape: Dry Bog (!) Flora: Sturdy Brambles Wonder: Temptation Plants

Dry Bog is one of those combinations that doesn’t quite make sense, but I remember rolling it previously and using it as a sort of quicksand. Yeah, it’s not technically dry but remember the point of a spark table is to spark ideas, not give you a canonical answer straight out of the box.

Instead of quicksand here I’m imagining a riverland that’s dried up, now overrun by thick brambles. As the wind blows through them it sounds like whispering voices from within. Our library is “buried” beneath this strange flora, as well as the earth itself. 

Site - The Barrow of Words

Key

Circle: Feature

Triangle: Danger

Diamond: Treasure

Line: Open path

Crossed Line: Closed path

Dotted Line: Hidden path

Arrow: Entrance

Dotted Arrow: Hidden entrance

Overview

Amid the trenches of a dried-up riverland, thick-stemmed brambles block the way, a narrow trail cut through, but always at risk of being covered back up. Wind blowing through this tangle sounds like indistinct whispers. 

Deep within the brambles, a simple standing stone marks a mound. Those who can cut a path through find an open mound, but not for corpses. 

Locations

Entrance 1 (to 1): Requires cutting through a mass of thorns, then an open barrow entrance into the darkness. 

1: Hall of Dead Words - Vast stone tablets inscribed in a long forgotten script. Something about them is comforting, restoring the Spirit of those who look over them or touch them. 

2: The Library - Sprawling racks of tablets in stone, clay, marble, each in a different script, all completely illegible. Any Seer that learns about this urges the Knights to destroy this place. Beneath a collapsed rack a shaft leads down to 4. 

3: The Unlit Stairway - A seemingly endless spiral staircase. Only traveling in total darkness allows passage to the other side. 

4: Librarian Beetle Colony - A great nest of small blue beetles. They scutter harmlessly over any who enter here, investigating them thoroughly, before scurrying up to the Library to scratch cryptic symbols onto the tablets. 

5: Hall of Forbidden Words - A sealed sarcophagus. Opening it up reveals six tablets. Even attempting to read their forgotten script causes d10 Spirit loss. 

6: Muse Fountain - Statues of a child and a skeleton support each side of a great vase. The fountain isn’t working, and the water below sits stagnant.

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Landmark Sites - Sanctum

Each Sanctum is a sacred home to a seer. They are typically mysterious by nature, so by expanding this sanctum into a site we can make it difficult for the knights to find the seer, or perhaps not even realise that this is a sanctum at all. 

Let’s roll a seer and take the sanctum prompt for a different page.

The Drowned Seer
VIG 3, CLA 3, SPI 5, 2GD

• Said to be at the bottom of a small but impossibly deep pond. Soggy acolytes gather at the shore to speak her intent.
• Sees from every river and body of fresh water, but utterly blind to the sea. 
• Wants to protect knights. Occasionally floats useful items to the surface

Sanctum Prompt: Raven Roost

The prompt doesn’t immediately mesh with the seer, but that’s an opportunity to get creative. Instead of ravens let’s use a black heron, the site based around its nest. A good excuse to learn a bit about Herons’ nesting behaviours and put a twist on it. I’m learning now that these usually solitary birds come together to form a treetop colony, or heronry, while nesting. 

But who cares about real nature, let’s see what the Bodleian Bestiary has to say about Herons. In summary: 

• Hates rain, flying above clouds to avoid storms, so their flight is seen as a storm omen
• It’s flight symbolises those who raise their minds above earthly things to embrace the serenity of heaven
• Its nesting symbolises finding solace in the eternal (treetops) over the transitory (river)
• White and grey herons live alongside, representing innocence and penitence respectively

That last point is interesting if we’re making a black heron. We’ll lean into what that could represent. 

Site - The Black Heronry

Key

Circle: Feature
Triangle: Danger
Diamond: Treasure
Line: Open path
Crossed Line: Closed path
Dotted Line: Hidden path
Arrow: Entrance
Dotted Arrow: Hidden entrance

Overview
A copse of willow trees twist together, tangled in a canopy of matted branches. Water drips from above, forming winding streams that spread underfoot in all directions. 

Locations

Entrance 1 (to 2): Hanging branches form a climbable curtain of foliage. 

Entrance 2 (to 6, hidden): Beneath the roots a cramped chute is hollowed into a trunk, providing passage up to the canopy. 

1: Treetop Waterfall - Gnarled, slippery bark makes for a dangerous climb (to 1). Going up through the water (to 3) causes upsetting visions of famine and war in the Realm. 

2: Lower Branches - d6 great black herons (3gd, d8 beak) snap at intruders. In rain or thunder they’re off flying above the clouds. Clear climbable branches lead up (to 1). Squeezing through a gap in the bark leads to 5. 

3: The Heronry - A cluster of black heron nests, filled with young in spring, deserted at the rest of the year. They bow in reverence to knights who have drawn blood this season. They despise anyone else and peck and caw at them with little effect. Dangling branches shield walkways across the branches (to 1 and 6). Breaking through the thick wall of bark leads to 4.  

4: The Seer’s Pool - A pond contained with the canopy of a huge willow. See the Seer’s description. 

5: Abandoned Nest - A great nest hidden in a hollowed out trunk. Strewn with small clothes, a rag doll, a wooden spoon. Another Seer was raised here. 

6: Delicate Canopy Top - Can be crawled over only without carrying any heavy gear whatsoever, otherwise it breaks. It’s a dangerous leap down to the Seer’s Pool. A passage down to the Heronry can be broken through the branches. 

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Landmark Sites - Dwelling

Sites read like a bit of a side-dish in Mythic Bastionland. I wanted to include a simple little system to create more zoomed-in locations, but the game is generally more focused on the larger scale of hex crawling. 

Landmarks are a key part of that, so you could always pick a few in your realm to turn into sites in their own right.

I’d like to do one of each, but let’s start with the first.

Dwellings are described as “humble homes amid the wilds”, representing the people who choose to live outside of a holding. I typically place them at least a few hexes away from the nearest holding to make them feel a bit more isolated. 

Beyond that, it’s left pretty open. The intent is that these are places that, at the very least, contain a person you can probably convince to provide you with hospitality and a little local knowledge. It’s easy to imagine an isolated hut where the resident can live off the land, but the prompts in the book show that you can also make them a small settlement. Anything short of the walled towns or fortifications that typically define a holding. 

Let’s take one of the 72 prompts in the book and work from there. I landed on “Guard’s Outpost”, which I think could be interesting to expand up to a proper site. I’ll use the other prompts from that spread “The Barbed Knight & The Wurm” and spark tables to flesh it out as needed.

Remember that hexes are pretty large, so even with larger landmarks they're still just a small portion of the hex, so don't take the map as being to scale relative to the whole hex. 

I'll be taking liberties with what counts as a hazard, treasure etc. to fit the landmark type.

Limeweed Tor Dwelling Site

Key Circle: Feature Triangle: Danger Diamond: Treasure Line: Open path Crossed Line: Closed path Dotted Line: Hidden path

Overview A jagged hill juts out from the surrounding forest, the brown rock laced in bright green creeping foliage. A sturdy wooden tower sits atop, surrounded by a small village. Make a note of the nearest holding, as it sits under their domain. All in all there are around 20 inhabitants, half of which are out hunting or gathering in the day. 

Locations

1: Smokehall - A long hall filled with smoke, preserving poultry for winter. Four older villagers sit inside gossipping, pretending the smoke doesn’t bother them. Chider, the head smoker, wants outside news from any travellers. 

2: Rampart - An abandoned wooden fortification, boarded off. Locals know it’s the only part of an old attempt to properly wall the village, abandoned by the holding. You could climb around here to get to the barracks, but it’s dangerous. There are a few vegetable patches growing here too. 

3: Medicine hut - A middle-aged man believes he knows everything and loves to correct people. He mostly offers leeches and other animal-based remedies, but will at least offer a place to rest if injured. The sage knows not to let anybody up to the watchtower, and is entrusted with a key to its door. He also has a small chicken pen. 

4: Watchtower - A sturdy tower manned by two guards taking shifts, a brother and sister, the latter’s face mangled by service in war. The view from here is impressive, seeing up to two hexes away in broad strokes. The guards know the surrounding area well and are sworn to send a rider to the nearest Holding to warn of any incoming threats. They expect a Knight from the holding to visit every few weeks. 

5: Barracks: A simple wooden hut built onto the side of the watchtower. There are a few shields and spears and a small stable for a scruffy grey horse. 

6: Crypt: A spiral staircase leads down from the base of the tower into a sprawling crypt. This was dug out in anticipation of the village growing, but it only houses a few bodies at the moment.

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This post was originally sent as a reward to all Patreon supporters, and is released freely on this site the week after its original publication.

If you want to support my blog, podcasts, and video content then head over to my Patreon.

Lessons Learned from Paranoia

I recently ran Paranoia, my third time through a very loose scenario that I’d prepared, using my hacked version of the current edition. 

All three sessions went well, and I think the most recent attempt was the most successful. I thought it might be worth picking out a few lessons I should take from that.

Amnesia is Great

Yeah it can feel cliched to have the characters wake up in a room with no memory of how they got there, or even the world that they inhabit. Paranoia has the benefit of a setting where that sort of introduction is entirely fitting for a world full of cloning, mind control, and mandatory prescriptions.

A player realising two hours into the game “wait, the R in my name is for Red clearance!” is a much more effective way at delivering setting info than dumping it on them at the start of the session.

Of course there’s a bit of information dumping required, so I do it like this:

1. Wake up in Troubleshooter Holding Barracks. Voice on tannoy explains memory curation and congratulates you on being volunteered for Troubleshooting.

2. ID explains:

1. Name, hint at job, skills

2. Give char sheet, front side only

3. Pamphlet dispensed, explaining:

1. Computer

2. Service Groups

3. Secret Societies

4. Mutants

4. Go to the briefing room. Take a Mandatory Prescription to aid in memory recall. Make it dangerous so somebody might die, letting you explain how Clones and Wounds work. 

5. Briefing explains:

1. You can message the Computer secretly through your PocketBot

2. Test out Treason Flags (punish a volunteer)

3. Memory starts to fade back. Now peek at secret side of character sheet

4. Gear and R&D Prototype

5. Troubleshooter Task

6. MBDs 

7. Explain YOU CAN WIN THE GAME. Assessment will be based on TMSRR (TT,MBD,SM,RD,Redacted)

That looks like a lot of information, but it’s drip fed to the players as they are exploring their surroundings and interacting with NPCs and each other. 

Oh, and the pamphlet is a physical thing that the players can keep in front of them. 

Sometimes Too Much is Too Much

Paranoia is built on an iceberg of secrecy, a heap of things the player needs to keep in mind when trying to succeed, some more secret than others. 

Mutant Power sits at the bottom of this iceberg and I’ve noticed it’s generally the least utilised part of the character sheets. I think the Service Groups and Secret Societies are such evocative hooks that you almost don’t need the mutant element at all! Strange to say, because it feels like such a core part of the Paranoia concept, but maybe in future sessions I’ll rethink how they work, perhaps having them intrude on play even if the players aren’t actively using their power. 

Pregens Make it Work

I don’t think I’d ever play this game with randomly generated characters. The whole game just relies so heavily on that inter-player conflict, so it’s a lot more effective when you can fine-tune those tangled interests for maximum juice.

I keep the physical description down to a small hook. One character is “jacked with tiny delicate glasses”, another notes “sickly complexion, always  chewing gum” and I give them a gender neutral name. 

Failing... Forward?

Right, I get this is basic advice at this point, but Paranoia is a great game to play if you really want to hammer this point home. For those living under a rock, this is the idea that when the players fail at a task you should apply the impact of that failure in a way that keeps the gaming moving forward. Not pulling punches is especially important here. If it’s a deadly threat then apply deadly consequences and move on. 

The characters will face an unfair world full of challenges beyond their capabilities. Clever play can overcome them, but remember that you’ve also got other players working against you. Quite frankly, it’s impossible for the whole group to succeed. 

Of course, Paranoia’s famous clones soften the impact of character deaths (though I start my characters a few clones into their bank of 6), but also it’s just a fun world to fail in, and things like treason flags and XP gives a few more straightforward ways to apply failure beyond just damage. 

Tone is Everything

Yeah, this whole game is about tone. I prefer the cold, dark dystopia of “straight style” play, where the comedy comes through absurdity and satire rather than puns and slapstick. There were still some silly characters, of course, but then people are often kinda silly. 

I tweaked some of the starting skills to reflect this. Skill groups were given names like Management and Drills, with specific skills for Infrastructure, Flattery, Chores, and Wellness. This all helped with the oppressive feel of the world, and hinted at what’s expected of citizens in Alpha Complex. 

In my last game we probably used Chores and Wellness more than any other skills, with an especially funny sequence of failures related to trying to clean a corridor. Not many games where mops and bleach can lead to such a memorable encounter.

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This post was originally sent as a reward to all Patreon supporters, and is released freely on this site the week after its original publication.

If you want to support my blog, podcasts, and video content then head over to my Patreon.