Building Bastionland - A Career Retrospective

I’ve been making games professionally for long enough now that people sometimes ask me how I got here. 

I don’t really know the answer, but I know these things are true:

• I’d be designing games anyway, even if nobody bought them.
• The popularity of each game has opened up opportunities for the next game.
• I keep the business simple, do everything possible by myself, and get my part done well before it’s due. 

So I’m looking back over the forty years that led me to this point. Skip to chapter 2 to get to designing games, skip to chapter 3 to get to working full time. 

CHAPTER 1 - PLAY

1985: I’m born. I grow up in rural Staffordshire in the Midlands of England.

1995: I get my first White Dwarf and begin the descent into tabletop games. 

1996: I branch out from Warhammer Fantasy Battles into Warhammer Quest and Necromunda. These games are much more my kind of thing. 

1997: I already played the Fighting Fantasy books, but now I’ve borrowed a copy of Out of the Pit from a friend. It’s a book of monsters, and I’m slightly confused how you’re supposed to use it. Maybe to write your own Fighting Fantasy books?

1999: I go to the Games Day convention and stumble upon Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, the first RPG I've ever opened up. I buy it but feel a bit daunted by it, never getting it to the table. I love rolling characters and  reading all the bonkers tables. 

2000: I buy the brand new D&D 3e core books and starter set, getting my first set of polyhedral dice. I briefly play this with a friend but don’t get a group going. Around this point I stop playing Warhammer, teenage embarrassment finally catching up with me. 

2003: I move away to university. I'm embarrassed about my nerdy hobbies. I hide my D&D books behind my guitar amp. I play Ultima Online in a roleplay guild and even a little 3e on forums. 

2006: I'm spending a lot of time in RPG IRC channels and forums. Playing games there never quite feels satisfying. After finishing university I fail to qualify for teacher training. They give me some studying to do so that I can qualify next year.

CHAPTER 2 - DESIGN

2007: I’m working in a pub and after my shifts I start writing a fantasy setting for the free superhero game Powergame. I like the system, but change a few things here and there. I’m excited about the upcoming D&D 4th Edition, especially listening to the designers talk about the process. I branch out into writing other games like Blowing Stuff Up, a dumb action movie game. Later in the year I begin my teacher training.

2008: I’m reading game design blogs, including a few recognisable OSR blogs. I'm writing my wuxia game A Wanderer's Romance, my sort-of-board-game Teen Island, and an RPG called Robot World that never gets off the ground. They’re all just free google doc links, and I’m playing these over IRC and forum. It’s difficult to get much interest. 4th edition D&D has some cool ideas but by now I’ve drifted away from that level of crunch, and I find combat to be a slog. I fail my final term of teacher training, so I’ll be staying on for another term to complete the course. 

2009: I start my blog as soogagames, now thoroughly immersed in the blogosphere of the time. My post “100 Interesting Magic Items” is still my most viewed of all time. I submit Teen Island to the 2009 d6 Design Contest and it gets released as a print on demand compilation of entries. It’s incredible to see something I designed in print. I write more games: Five Star Chef, Skullados, Invisible Eyes, and I even start work on The Adventurer’s Tale, my begrudging attempt at a fantasy RPG. I complete my teacher training and begin supply work while looking for a job. This can be pretty unpleasant.

2010: I write a sci-fi game called Xenofringe. I’m still working away at A Wanderer’s Romance and The Adventurer’s Tale. I’m teaching in special education now. While there are parts of the job I enjoy, some of the grim practicalities of the job are starting to wear me down.

2011: I know Michael Wolf through IRC and he says I should put A Wanderer’s Romance up on drivethrurpg. He lays it out and puts it up, and of course it’s free. I don’t see selling my stuff as a real possibility. Google+ launches and hangouts makes playing with video chat much more accessible. I buy a webcam and play some B/X hacks by OSR people. I love this style of play, but I still find D&D an uncomfortable fit. Around this time I play Searchers of the Unknown and become very inspired by the extremes of rules-lite. I start blogging about Project Odd which is my D&D hack with a sci-fi/horror twist. Teaching is truly grinding away at me now. I don’t think I want to do this until I retire. My blog gets 1,000 monthly views for the first time. 

2012: I rename Xenofringe to Arkbound, still longing to write a sci-fi game. I keep working away on what’s now called Into the Odd. I lay it out in MS Word, add public domain art, and put the pdf out for free. Online play and collaboration are thriving on Google+. A small group of people are actually enjoying Into the Odd and it’s much easier to get players when I tell them it’s kind of a D&D hack. I move north to Manchester and I’m done with teaching, starting a career in wine retail, going to evening classes to get my knowledge up to scratch. 

2013: Into the Odd testing and iteration continues. Working in retail means I have some antisocial hours, which at least lets me spend time writing while my partner is at work. At this time I’m still embarrassed around playing and writing games. Digging into why would be a much longer post, but after three years together I tell my partner that I’ve been making this stuff in my spare time. She’s a bit baffled about my feelings of shame, but she’s very encouraging. We play a game of Teen Island together. 

2014: I’m messing around with a new take on my sci-fi idea, this time called DIE BONEHEAD DIE. Great name, but the game never really goes anywhere. I go to my first proper RPG convention, Dragonmeet, in London. I also start going to UK OSR Meetups arranged on Google+. Paolo from Lost Pages proposes a printed version of Into the Odd and we make it happen, selling it for actual money. I’m amazed when we sell 48 copies on the first day. It’s unbelievable to think of somebody having a book I wrote on their shelf. I’m now manager of a wine shop, so the antisocial hours continue. 

2015: People are still buying Into the Odd and it’s a nice bit of pocket money when I get the sales report through. I’ve got a vague idea for an ITO companion, something to flesh out the world. Maybe a city book then a wilderness book. I mash DIE BONEHEAD DIE and Arkbound together into Hellspace and continue to fail to get a sci-fi game moving. I start a Patreon for the blog. For the next five years this will hover around enough to buy a modest lunch each month. 

2016: The Into the Odd Supplement starts to take shape through blogposts. I figure I might as well include the original rules as they're so short. I joke about calling it Advanced Into the Odd. I’m working as Buying and Logistics Manager for the wine company now, so my hours are more standard 9-5. This makes writing more difficult, as it’s less appealing after a tiring day in the office. My blog gets 10,000 monthly views for the first time. 

2017: Into the Odd has been out for two years now and has sold around 300 printed copies. I release a playtest packet for what I’m now calling Bastionland. The Electric part comes shortly after in the second playtest version. These are becoming more recognisable now, with failed careers, scars, spark tables, and a focus on procedure and bullet points. I’d love to make this a big hardback book with loads of art, so maybe one day I’ll take it to crowdfunding. Free League hire me to write a dungeon for Forbidden Lands and my contact, Nils, mentions he’s a fan of Into the Odd! The word rate is good, but it takes me much longer to write than I anticipated. 

2018: My Patreon peeks just above £100 for a month, then drops back down to its typical amount. I’m still writing and testing Electric Bastionland. I begin to wonder if 100 Failed Careers was too many. Google Plus dies. I mostly move to Discord, but it’s definitely not the same. I try Twitter but even now the atmosphere is pretty awful. My day job is becoming more difficult. I’m making stupid mistakes and finding myself exhausted at the end of each day. It’s getting really hard to force myself to sit down to write game stuff in my spare time. 

2019: I start planning a Kickstarter for Electric Bastionland. The writing is almost complete, and I’ll use the funds to pay for art and printing. I’ve met the Rowan Rook & Decard team a couple of times at cons now, so I hire them to consult on the process, helping me with amateur questions about printing and distributing a book. I set up a limited company in preparation for this. The Kickstarter for Electric Bastionland finishes just above £50,000. With my day job becoming increasingly untenable, I decide to try a year working full time on RPGs. There’s enough profit left to pay myself an okay salary for a year even if I only make minimal sales. If it doesn’t work out I can look for another job. 

CHAPTER 3 - WORK

2020: Working from home, I keep supporting Electric Bastionland with blogposts, streams, and  podcasts. Print copies ship in May, and general sales open up, with around 500 extra books sold before the end of the year. My Patreon grows up to around £350 per month, where it still sits today. I do some more external work writing for stretch goals but soon discover this isn’t a great fit for me, and try to focus on writing my own stuff instead. In lockdown fever I buy my first miniatures and paints since my teenage years. Inevitably I start working on a skirmish game, calling it Grimlite. I don’t see this as something I’d ever release, but it’s fun getting excited about miniatures like I’m ten years old again. 

2021: I decide to release Into the Odd Remastered with luxury presentation and additional content through Free League. I ask Johan Nohr to do layout, thinking he’ll be too busy, but he’s excited by the game and finds time for it. The Kickstarter finishes just over £110,000, more than double what Electric Bastionland did. I speak with a couple of publishers about The Doomed, formerly known as Grimlite, and I decide to publish it with Osprey. 

2022: Into the Odd Remastered and Electric Bastionland both continue to sell well, but a year without a big Kickstarter usually ends in at least a small loss after paying myself. I complete writing on The Doomed and hand it over to Osprey, who will release it next year. I start work on Primeval Bastionland and do some initial testing before renaming it Mythic Bastionland. I’m also working on a new mech miniature game called Titanic Bastionmechs, later renamed MAC Attack. 

2023: After a few good years of business I decide to take the plunge and go to GenCon this year, probably as a “once in a lifetime” thing. I hope to drum up some good contacts for when it’s time to start marketing the Mythic Bastionland Kickstarter. It’s an expensive trip but a great time, and I meet people I would never have met in the UK. The Doomed is released by Osprey and sells around 4,000 print copies in the first six months, but even with that success the royalties are more like “here’s a good bonus” than “pay my salary”. The Mythic Bastionland Kickstarter finishes just under £270,000, more than double what Into the Odd Remastered did. 

2024: After the success of Mythic Bastionland I decide on another trip to GenCon. Even though I’m a regular convention-goer I usually don’t have my own trade stand, instead finding somebody happy to stock Electric Bastionland on their space, as ITOR and The Doomed are both stocked by their respective publishers already. This means I mostly use conventions for networking, though it doesn’t come naturally to me. Mythic Bastionland faces a big art delay, meaning it won’t release this year. I keep backers informed, so they’re incredibly understanding, and luckily the sales were good enough to weather what would end up being a full year delay. My blog gets 100,000 monthly views for the first time. 

2025: Mythic Bastionland is fulfilled and goes on general sale, and just two weeks later the Quinns’ Quest video review causes a surge in sales. Luckily, I’d been forewarned about this, so I’d ordered a truly colossal print run. The additional sales from this review were close to the initial Kickstarter sales. The book also wins three Ennies, and of course I’m at GenCon again so I get to collect them in person and meet Alec for the first time. I crowdfund MAC Attack on Backerkit, finishing on £24,000. While this is much lower than my RPGs, it’s higher than I’d expected for a niche miniature game. 

Conclusions

This is more about providing context than identifying universal lessons. The following things stand out to me as I look back over things.

• I designed games semi-seriously for 7 years before I sold anything
• I sold games for 6 years before I went full-time as a designer
• I’ve worked for 5 years as a full-time game designer and I’m still a company of one person with just five releases

Of course there’s a way to read that as gatekeeping. I don’t think you need to “pay your dues”, and the environment of creating games feels different now to when I started out, but looking back at my own journey I'm glad I didn't move faster.

This slowness extends to release schedules too. Five years into my career I’ve averaged one book a year, and the company is really built on just three of those. I released a couple of tiny adventures as pdf only, pay what you want, but it’s telling that I don’t even mention them in my retrospective. 

Slowly building an audience of people who like my stuff has made it possible for me to self publish the big art-filled hardbacks that pay the bills, and also indulge in my less profitable side projects. If I relied on royalties from other publishers I don’t think I could have made it work.

For all that my game design comes from a place of impatience, I appear to have taken the opposite approach with all this.

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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.

Mythic Feasts

What makes a Feast? Three things, as you’d expect.

Ceremony - How is the official purpose of the feast observed?
Spectacle - How is the host showing off how wealthy, powerful, or important they are?
Revelry - You think anyone would show up if you weren’t providing food and drink?

And, naturally, feasts in Mythic Bastionland fall into three broad categories: Great Feasts
Old Feasts/Masses, and Declared Feasts.

The Great Feasts
The three main feasts of the year that typically extend to the entire Realm. These are pretty loose, so each Realm and Holding will celebrate them in a different way. The below is just one example.

Feast of the Sun
(Sprouts, Early Spring)
Ceremony - A great toast is held at the first sight of the sun, offering thanks for the end to another winter. It’s customary not to mention those lost during the winter, lest spring feel ashamed for not coming sooner, but rulers will make a subtle tally of those absent.
Spectacle - A bloody tournament, in the belief that blood spilt on the ground will strengthen the land. This particularly attracts young knights hoping to make a name for themselves. Older, more established knights may know better than to risk their necks.
Revelry - The expectation is that this will be the biggest, most decadent feast of the year, but coming after a particularly difficult winter can leave the larders bare. Any lack of food is made up for in excessive drink, music, and dancing.

Feast of the Stars
(Bales, Early Harvest)
Ceremony - At the latest sunset of the year, honours are presented to those who have served the Realm well. Those receiving honours here are also permitted to have their union blessed by the ruler during the ceremony.
Spectacle - Before the ceremony, a great, impossible contest is declared and pursued with vigour. Examples are searching a hay field for a needle, climbing up an oiled castle wall, or making a mummified skeleton laugh with a joke. Although victory is impossible, it’s a chance to show off bravery and creativity.
Revelry - After the ceremony a highly formalised feast is laid out, with those receiving honours granted the seats closest to the ruler, though they are also expected to make a stirring speech or tell an inspirational story.

Feast of the Moon
(Pyres, Early Winter)
Ceremony - The wisest elders of the Realm are gathered to speak of the glorious dead, those who built the world as we know it. The ruler may honour a few of the recently deceased to be named amongst these legendary figures.
Spectacle - Great bonfires are lit, believing the dead can see the living world if they burn bright enough. People are encouraged to shout messages to departed loved ones and to curse vanquished enemies.
Revelry - All are encouraged to act as if it were their last night alive, so no amount of decadence is off the table. Of all the feasts, this one is especially suited to the dark.

The Old Feasts
Also called “the Masses” due to their naming. These are much more rigid, and you can expect most to celebrate these in the same way, or at least stick to their own established traditions.

Sceptremass
(Petals, Midspring)
Ceremony - The ruler of the realm, their hall, and their council are dressed and decorated as extravagantly as possible. Rulers from smaller holdings must attend to re-pledge their loyalty, and no excuse would be enough to justify absence. Newly arrived knights may also be expected to attend to publicly restate their own oath.
Spectacle - The amount of finery and ritual on display during the ceremony is spectacular enough, but some sort of performance is usually arranged in honour of the Ruler. Common examples are horsemanship displays, mock battles, or elaborate puppet shows.
Revelry - Depending on the state of the realm, the feast itself can often be a tense affair, with rulers of each domain sat awkwardly apart. The host may use games and stimulant to encourage mingling, or use the cold atmosphere to reassert a distance from their vassals.

Eldermass
(Bushels, Midharvest)
Ceremony - Who knows? This is notable as the most secretive of all feasts, with only Seers known to attend. If a non-Seer were invited, they would certainly be encouraged to keep the events to themselves. Otherwise, knights would only expect to be involved by escorting a Seer to the location, or being summoned after the fact to hear their guidance.
Spectacle - Every vassal has a different story about how they know when Eldermass occurs. Some claim the stars move in certain ways, others report particularly vivid dreams, but whatever the sign there’s always a stir around this time of year.
Revelry - When a ruler suspects Eldermass is taking place there is a tradition of hosting a small feast, with a simple toast “to the Seers” made in their absence. Why isn’t it called Seermass? Well the festival is older than the Seers, but that’s a story for another day.

Kindlemass
(Hearths, Midwinter)
Ceremony - In the morning every fire in the home is lit, as the dull midday sees the doors theatrically cast open for any guests who wish to visit. The rest defies planning, and friends and enemies alike use this custom as a means to spring surprises.
Spectacle - Hosts are expected to provide gifts to visitors, with the most elaborate gifts strategically held back for the most important guests. Hosts are also expected to humble themselves with an embarrassing performance or game, with rulers often acting as servant to their own vassals! The wise know that there is a sweet spot with how much to play along with this custom.
Revelry - While quantity of food may be limited, presentation is key here, with even humble provisions dressed up to resemble mythical beasts or famous landmarks. Strong, hot drinks are the order of the day. While the doors are open to all, only a few are typically invited to stay the night.

Declared Feasts
Typically announced by a ruler with a specific purpose and list of guests. These could be in honour of a union or coming of age, in memorial of an important historical event, or simply as a show of wealth and influence. There are some spark tables at the end of this section to generate ideas for these.

Preparation and the Council
While the Ruler has final say, members of the Council are expected to play their part. The typical responsibilities are:

Steward - Most end up running the Feast while the Ruler enjoys themselves, monitoring the cost of the whole thing.

Marshal - Ensure that guests’ weapons and armour are stored safely, and that guards are on hand if needed.

Sheriff - Use whatever means to gather the gossip and scandal that inevitably occurs at the Feast, or is shared across the table. Deciding what intelligence to share with their liege is the true craft of a Sheriff.

Envoy - Charged with the Roll of Guests, making sure the right people are invited and, more importantly, excluded.

Circle - Knights in the Ruler’s Circle are encouraged to display their courtesy and glamour to the guests, for a great ruler must surely attract the greatest knights.

The Summons
Those extended a formal invite are usually expected to attend, and had better have a good reason if they need to refuse. Of course, those of higher standing are typically extended a less forceful invitation.

But How do I Actually Run a Feast?
I thought about making a new subsystem for attending a feast, but really it’s just like any other situation in the game. Flip to page 16 and remember the key points:

• Give your players enough information about what’s going on and answer their questions generously.
• Present them with situations that have real choices, even if it’s as simple as “who do you want to sit next to?”
• Even in the less dramatic moments of a feast you can use the “improvisation” guidance to evoke, indulge, and reinforce.
• As always, ask the players what they want to do and look to the Action Procedure.

However, a time may come when you want to zoom out for the remaining events of the feast, so here’s a little twist on the time-skip system already in the game.

Feast Pursuits
While the game may focus in on particular moments of the Feast, each knight may choose a general Pursuit from the list below, rolling a d6:

Mirth - Focusing on being a good, lively guest.
1: You take it a bit too far. Wake up with d12 loss of each Virtue, rolling separately for each.
2-3: You were a welcome presence at the feast, but make a VIG Save to avoid one minor embarrassment.
4-6: You feasted with gusto! Good word spreads through the Holding about you, and you can expect an invitation to the next feast.

Whispers - Focus on gathering information, risking a breach of etiquette.
1: You’re caught in a compromising position. Word gets around that you’re untrustworthy.
2-3: You got some mixed information. You can ask the GM a yes or no question that you could have plausibly investigated, but you only have hearsay to support it. Make a CLA Save to avoid appearing shifty throughout the feast.
4-6: You land some juicy gossip. Ask the GM a yes or no question, and you even have some evidence to back it up.

Charm - Make a strong impression with a particular person.
1: You really put your foot in it. Make a SPI Save. If you fail, it was your fault. If you pass, you were sabotaged by a rival.
2-3: You increase your standing with them a little, but somebody competing for their attention now sees you as a threat.
4-6: You increase your standing with the person, and you’ve managed to arrange another meeting with them. The Referee makes a SPI Save for you in secret. If you pass, they genuinely like you, otherwise they’re looking to exploit you for their own purposes.

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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.

Holding Threads

You’ll have noticed that if you stick around a holding in Mythic Bastionland then the land is, well, less mythic. In fact, Myths kind of pause when the Knights aren’t out exploring.

That’s the way of this mythic world. Go ask the Seers if you want to know why.

Still, perhaps you want to have a session where the Knights don’t leave the holding at all, but you want some surprises thrown in there beyond what you can get from a spark table.

Create a Thread for each Holding in the Realm, including the Seat of Power. These are just like Myths: six omens that will occur in order if left unchecked. They don’t need to be existential threats, just something interesting that could unfold, generally more mundane than Myths. They could even be shorter than 6 Omens if you want to keep things easy. There’s a set of examples at the end of this post.

As with Myths, remember the Primacy of Action and that locals will have variable levels of knowledge of these Threads.

You don’t typically get Glory when a Thread “resolves” but I could see the argument for it in certain cases.

While there’s no Wilderness Roll to make when you’re in a holding, make a Thread Roll at the end of the Morning Phase. This often lines up with open court, when the ruler (or one of their court) is expected to speak with visitors and vassals.

 


THREAD ROLL
1: News arrives of the next Omen from the Seat of Power’s Holding Thread having come to pass.
2-3: Trigger the next Omen from this Holding’s Thread.
4-6: Court is quiet enough, no big surprises.

Unlike Myths, Threads should sometimes progress even in the absence of a Knight to manifest them into reality. Make a Progress Roll when you return to a Holding where you’ve already witnessed an Omen from its Thread and you’ve been away for more than a few days.

PROGRESS ROLL
1: You are informed about the next two Omens that occurred in your absence.
2-3: You are informed about the next Omen that occurred in your absence.
4-6: No Omens have passed.

Okay let’s do some examples. Keeping this as broad strokes, as I’d generally want to note a cast much like the Myths have before taking it to play.

A Sickly Throne
1: The ruler coughs and sputters, finding themselves tired and weak. They pardon themselves from court today.
2: Farmers complain about plants faltering. A drought begins.
3: Ruler and land deteriorate further, their conditions now intertwined. Improvement or deterioration in one affects the other, but whichever is worse will drag the other back down with it.
4: A scholarly healer from a distant Realm arrives in Court, pledging to help the ruler. They secretly hope to poison them, weakening the realm further.
5: If the drought has not been broken then starvation sparks violent unrest amongst the vassals.
6: Unless the land has been restored to health the Ruler dies. The health of the land now depends on their successor.

A Voice of Doubt
1: The ruler, or another Knight, speaks of having not seen the City in their dreams lately, asking if the other Knights have.
2: The doubtful Knight has lost all faith that the City exists, renouncing their oath and allegiance to the Seers. They publicly pledge a new oath to only serve their holding.
3: The doubtful Knight calls a Feast. Over the modest feast they interrogate the other Knights, trying to get them to see that the City is a Lie.
4: The doubtful Knight pledges that all Knights arriving in the holding must renounce their oath to the City and the Seers, acknowledging that they are false.
5: A gathering of other Knights from the Realm arrives to challenge the doubtful Knight, laying siege if necessary.
6: The Seers declare that the doubtful Knight should be killed. The other Knights of the Realm move to carry this out.

A Rebuke from Nature
1: Farmers complain of green-faced “forest folk” attacking passers by and stealing their goods, though not causing serious harm. In reality these are youths being paid by the Marshall to stir up fear and increase their leverage.
2: A “forest folk” attack has killed part of a group of traders travelling up for the market. The Marshall secretly calls them off, knowing it’s gone too far.
3: The “forest folk” attacks have continued, this time with a more gruesome death, impaled on a sharpened branch. The Marshall’s lackeys had nothing to do with this.
4: The Marshall gathers a force to hunt down the forest folk, but they find nothing in the woods.
5: The Marshall is missing, their bed littered with leaves and dirt. Nobody wants to take on the position as Marshall now.
6: The Marshall returns, claiming they were lost in the woods. They resume their office with a new modesty, refusing to talk about their time in the woods.

A Feast Too Far
1: The most recent Knights to arrive at the Holding are invited to a three day welcoming Feast. Refusing the invite will insult the ruler.
2: Another great feast, this one less formal but significantly more rowdy than the last.
3: A representative of a local Seer arrives and orders a Season of modesty for the Holding. No more feasts!
4: The Ruler throws another feast, citing pressure from their court and other influential vassals.
5: The local Seer announces their withdrawal from the domain of this Holding, requesting Knights to escort them to a new Sanctuary on the other side of the Realm.
6: The Ruler calls all Knights of the Realm to a feast, calling upon any brave enough to find a new Seer to replace the previous one.

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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.

Mythic Rivers

Not The River, of course.

A typical Mythic Bastionland realm, following the procedure in the book, has a navigable river. It’s an extremely fast way to get around! You might put some barriers alongside it if you want to represent especially turbulent waters, but generally it assumes that the Knights can find a crossing without too much bother.

Here are some optional bits if you want to deal with more impactful rivers that pose more of a challenge to navigate and cross.

It’s more detail than I’d want all of the time, but another tool for the belt.



Creating a Realm

The book doesn’t explicitly say whether to put rivers through the centre of hexes or along their borders, but the movement rules certainly imply the former, by allowing Knights to travel along a river through hexes as normal.

Now, when you’ve placed your river(s), you should note which direction they’re flowing in. Again, the core game doesn’t care about this, but we’re going deeper here.

For most Realms you’ll want there to be a major crossing on the river, typically a bridge, ford, or small ferry.

If you want a stretch of river to be un-crossable, then draw a barrier right through the middle of the hex. Yeah, you can do that! Knights can enter the hex, but can’t go out the other side of the line.

Riding the River

Cruising on the river is a very fast way to get around, because you generally don’t need to beat your way through overgrown woodlands or scramble up and down hills.

Well, it really depends on the river. For wider, easily navigable rivers use the existing rules. For smaller or wilder rivers roll d6 whenever a group intends to cruise on the river. Normally this means travelling 3 Hexes in a single Phase.

River Travel
1: Roll d6 on the Boat Disaster table.
2-3: Roll d6 on the Boat Problem table.
4-6: The river is kind, Cruise as normal.

Boat Problem
1: The river is thoroughly overgrown or dried up. Move a single hex only.
2-3: It’s dangerous going. Either move a single hex or try to move the full distance but roll on the River Travel again. If you roll this result again, treat it as a 1.
4-6: It’s rough waters, but nothing serious. Move up to two hexes only.

Boat Disaster
1: The boat is destroyed before you even leave the hex. Passengers are treated as making a Rough Crossing (see below).
2-3: The boat is damaged before you leave the hex, requiring a phase to repair. If you carry on without repairing it then treat any future boat disaster or boat problem rolls of 2-3 as 1 instead.
4-6: The boat is stuck, requiring the rest of the phase to release it. No progress is made.

Crossing the River
Roll d6 when trying to cross a river in a place where you don’t already know there’s a crossing.

River Crossing
1: There’s no remotely safe way to cross in this hex. Even if you take time to prepare ropes or a raft, treat this as a Rough Crossing.
2-3: Either make a Rough Crossing (see below), or you spend an entire extra Phase to prepare a safe crossing with ropes or rafts.
4-6: You find a safe crossing, cross as normal. You still get wet. Note that this crossing may not be here when you return. Rivers are fickle things.

Rough crossings cause d6 Vigour loss to everybody making the crossing, including steeds. Anybody rolling a 6 for this rolls again (and again, if necessary).

Anybody who is reduced to Vigour 0 and therefore Exhausted during the crossing is swept away. Roll d6.

Swept Away
1: Wash up d6 hexes downstream and roll on the River's Mercy table below.
2-3: Wash up d6 hexes downstream.
4-6: Wash up in the next hex downstream.

River's Mercy
1: You wash up dead.
2-3: You wake up after d6 phases. Roll d6 for each significant piece of equipment, on a 1-3 it is lost to the river.
4-6: The river has mercy and washes you up with all of your possessions.



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The Knightly Grind

Just got back from GenCon, so this one is fuelled by jet lag. 

In triple Ennie award winning smash hit Mythic Bastionland there are a number of effects that can cause Virtue Loss, wearing the Knights down so that they often aren't functioning at 100% and gently nudged toward actions that would restore each Virtue individually, or even allowing a Season to pass to restore them all fully.

But what if we wanted more grind? Could we ramp up that feeling?

As usual these are mostly untested variants, so use them at your own risk.

Grinding Landmarks

This is basically how Hazards already work. In short: you run into an obstacle and you either have a smart way around (often from a local guide), you turn back the way you came, or you pay d6 VIG to just power through.

An easy part to miss is that Hazards usually affect Vigour, but can also target other Virtues. There was a time back in development when Hazards always affected Vigour, but Curses and Ruins reduced Clarity and Spirit respectively.

I won't go into why that changed, but you could easily slip it back in if you want your Realm to feel more hostile. Treat Curses and Ruins exactly as they are now, but add in the respective d6 CLA/SPI loss. 

Costly Actions

What about spending Virtue actively as a resource to get a little bonus?

Feats used to work this way, but the main example of this in the final rules is Galloping an extra Hex at the cost of d6 VIG loss to the steed. What ways could we offer for the Knights themselves to spend their Virtues?

Exert - Lose d6 VIG to treat a Gambit you perform as a Strong Gambit instead. 
Commune - Spend a phase sleeping and lose d6 CLA to receive a cryptic dream from a known Seer.
Rally - Spend an action and lose d6 SPI to remove Fatigue status from one Ally.

If the Virtue loss from any of these actions takes that Virtue to 0 then the attempt fails. 

I suspect these are broken but it's a fun idea to play with.

Bringing Back Burdens

Going without sleep and travelling at night are both "bad decisions" that cause CLA/SPI loss respectively. You could argue these sit in the same category as Galloping, paying a price to get more action, but they feel different to me and they affect the Knight directly, not their steed.

In this vain, I've been looking for an excuse to reuse the three Burdens that featured in an older version of the game, and their helpful SAD acronym.

Annoyingly they don't match up to the Virtues in that order, but let's roll with it.

Sorrow - Something bad happened.
Invoke when you're reminded of something awful that happened in the past.
Lose d6 SPI.
Examples: Visiting a Holding that they previously failed to protect.

Ache - Something bad is happening.
Invoke when the Knight is suffering a particularly hard time right now. 
Lose d6 VIG.
Examples: Being forced to linger in especially unpleasant living conditions.

Dread - Something bad is going to happen.
Invoke when dark times are ahead and it's hard to see the glimmer of hope. 
Lose d6 CLA. 
Examples: Failing to stop a monstrous enemy, knowing it's now headed to attack a nearby Holding before they can get there. 

Again, I think these have potential to go wrong, so use them carefully. 

Impairing Impairing

Much has been discussed about the ease or deadliness of combat in Mythic Bastionland and I think the following can all be true at the same time.

• Combat is fast and brutal and a well-prepared group of Knights can be pretty devastating. I like having a high damage output and it fits my pursuit of decisive combat.

• Using a Gambit to impair an enemy attack can lead to a sort of “stun lock” situation, where the fast combat also becomes quite a safe-feeling combat, which isn’t something I want to happen in every case.

• This problem is especially prevalent in groups of four or more Knights, as while damage has diminishing returns from multiple attackers, those larger groups will gain progressively more dice to spend on Gambits without any real restriction.

Of course some Knights will just pile it all into damage.

So if you’re playing with a larger group of Knights and want to avoid this situation, there are a few optional levers you can pull on in isolation or combination with each other.

I've tried to avoid big blunt rule changes, so these are intended to be a more gentle retooling of what's already there.

Lever 1 - No Gambit Stacking

For Gambits other than Bolster, each enemy may only be the target of a specific type of gambit once per turn.

In effect, if they pass their Save to resist a particular type of Gambit they cannot be the target of that gambit type again this turn. 

For example: Two Knights roll attack dice of 8, 5, 4, 1. They spend the 5 to attempt to Impair the enemy’s weapon, but the enemy passes their VIG Save. Now they cannot attempt another “impair their weapon” gambit against the target this turn, even if they wanted to use the 8 as a Strong Gambit.

Lever 2 - Resistant Natural Weapons

Natural weapons such as claws, tramples, and bites, cannot be Impaired by the “impair their weapon” gambit. A Strong Gambit can apply the “greater effect” option to attempt this, but the target receives a Save as normal.

Note that this goes against the example on the Gambit page of the Oddpocrypha.

Lever 3 - Secondary Attacks for Big Enemies

A lot of the “solo enemies” in the book have multiple attacks, so if you impair the Wyvern’s “Bite and Throw” attack then it can still use its “Sting” attack at full strength.

A few don’t, such as the Spider which only has a “bite” attack, so is left vulnerable if this is impaired.

If your Myth has a big monster like this that’s likely to be fighting a group of Knights on its own I’d recommend giving them a secondary attack of some sort. If in doubt then a classic d8 slam can represent them throwing their weight at the enemy. Just make sure this is weaker than their main attack. 

Lever 4 - Uncertain Initiative

Shift the “Surprise” rules slightly so that for a standard combat, where both sides start aware of each other, players must pass a CLA Save or miss the first turn. Those that pass then act first as normal. This means for an average group of Knights only half of them are going to act on the first turn, tempering the power of that first onslaught. 

If the players truly have the drop on their enemy then they all act first as normal. Likewise, if the players are ambushed then the enemy attack first.

Playtest Notes

I’m going to try applying all of these to my next game. 

I’ll add some notes here after I’ve tested these out a bit.

d72 Squires

By the book, Squires get a pony, a dagger, and an okay weapon from a d6 table.

Want to give your Squires a bit more flavour? Roll d6 and d12, reading them in that order. 

Remember you can combine these with the spark tables and prompts in the book.

ONE - They brought something with them.
1: A somewhat grand helm (A1) that’s a bit too big for them.
2: They’re always playing a shrill flute. 
3: They have fine clothes and a pouch of coins. 
4: A homemade shield (A1). 
5: A small barrel of low quality mead. 
6: Layers and layers of padded clothes (A1). 
7: Somehow, they got a crossbow (2d8 slow)
8: They somehow got hold of some mail (A1). Do they think they’re a Knight already??
9: A tiny, low quality mirror. 
10: Their parents loaded them up with Sustenance. 
11: They’ve foraged enough Stimulant to go around. 
12: A Seer provided them with Sacrament. 

TWO - They have an aptitude. 
1: They can sprint like a horse. 
2: They can climb like a squirrel. 
3: They can sing like a nightingale. 
4: They can swim like a fish.
5: They can eavesdrop like a bat. 
6: They’re a great judge of character. 
7: They’re a captivating storyteller. 
8: They have a perfect sense of direction. 
9: They were highly educated.
10: They’re great with horses.
11: They were an apprentice herbalist. 
12: They're a decent hunter. 

THREE - Their home is notable.
1: It’s far away. They only know a language that nobody in this Realm understands.
2: They’re a middling relative of the Ruler of the Realm. 
3: They’re heir to one of the Holdings. 
4: They’re already a successor to one of the Knights.
5: They were raised by a Seer of this Realm.
6: Their family sprawls all over this Realm.
7: They have a secret claim to the Seat of Power. 
8: Their family was wiped out for treason, so they use a false name. 
9: They grew up in the wilds, so their snarls are vaguely understood by animals. 
10: They come from the frozen peaks, ignoring any hardship of Winter. 
11: They come from a realm of darkness, ignoring any problems with night. 
12: They floated up from a body of water, not needing air to breathe. 

FOUR - They’re not alone.
1: They have an old but loyal hound (VIG 5, CLA 7, SPI 6, 4gd, d6 bite)
2: They have a pet rat that they think understands them. 
3: They’re accompanied by an overbearing parent (rolled as another Squire, but they do not get a weapon)
4: They’re a pair of twins, identical in every way. 
5: They have a kestrel (VIG 4, CLA 15, SPI 5, 3gd, d4 talons)
6: Their pony is especially violent (d6 trample).
7: They guard a younger sibling (roll as a Squire, but too young to fight or be useful at all)
8: They carry their mother’s ashes in a wooden urn.
9: They have an embarrassing cloth doll. 
10: They speak to their father’s skull, kept in secret. 
11: Their older sibling is a successful Knight, only occasionally coming by to check on them. 
12: They claim to have an invisible friend. 50% chance of whether this ever manifests into anything. 

FIVE - They’re not like the other Squires.
1: They’re old. 
2: They’re big. Increase VIG to 12. 
3: They’re smart. Increase CLA to 12. 
4: They’re bold. Increase SPI  to 12. 
5: They claim to be a Knight reborn. They can Smite. 
6: They fought from birth. They can Focus. 
7: They cheated death. They can Deny. 
8: They secretly hate the Seers. 
9: They will not eat meat. 
10: They cannot lie. 
11: They hate horses. 
12: They’ve already seen battle. Roll d12 on the Scar table.  

SIX - The Seers made a prophecy that must be honoured. 
1: This Squire must not fight until Knighted. 
2: This Squire must die so that another can rise. 
3: This Squire will find the City. 
4: This Squire must visit every Seer.
5: This Squire must kill a Knight to become a Knight.
6: This Squire will become a Seer.
7: This Squire must kill a Seer. 
8: This Squire will find the next ruler of the Realm.
9: This Squire must not ride a steed. 
10: This Squire must live in poverty.
11: This Squire must never be Knighted.
12:  This Squire will achieve nothing of worth.

 

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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.