The Smiling Fox

Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf

Our intro music is "Medieval" by Ptibec https://openverse.org/audio/1f62fd74-2742-45de-b6eb-79f9dbbddb3a and is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Our outro music is "The New Age" by Jesse.

Mixed by Jesse from https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/.

Timings:
00:00 Intro
01:03 Teaching / games crossover
02:34 Getting to the good stuff
05:12 The bone magnet saga
06:46 Leveling up
08:52 Early game designs
10:58 🎲 A Wanderer's Romance
13:50 Wanderer's code, knight's oath
14:46 100 Burdens
16:55 Playtesting
18:25 Breaking the oath
21:30 Extending the oath
22:10 🎲 Into the Odd (and Google+)
25:59 Imagined versions of games
27:57 Hacks of Into the Odd and Mythic
33:10 Writing myths
36:26 Random or selected myths
37:39 Adding to the stew
40:55 🎲 Electric Bastionland
43:50 Classes in Mythic Bastionland
45:30 Spark tables
46:34 The hex crawl
50:55 Why twelve?
52:27 🎲 Ask the stars
53:46 The first attempt at Intergalactic
54:42 The living stars
57:46 What is a Bastionland game?
01:00:04 FKR
01:01:52 🎲 Blighters
01:03:56 Lonely space to the big ship
01:07:12 🎲 The Doomed and MAC Attack
01:11:43 Evolution of Gambits
01:17:58 Bonus dice
01:20:35 Future expansions?
01:21:48 Mythic blog posts
01:24:44 (Unanswered) FAQ
01:27:41 No Romans, no roads
01:30:47 🎲 Intergalactic Bastionland
01:37:45 Outro

Discussed on the show:

Into the Odd, Electric Bastionland, Mythic Bastionland: https://www.bastionland.com/
gg no re playing Deep Carbon Observatory (and killing the Giant): https://fountain.fm/episode/9y9VZark2TsSVUVrEy2V
Powergame by Mikko Kauppinen: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Eqrkqgulee5ntjwRcNnFByH3qu74uJ7A/view
A Wanderer’s Romance: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/92757/a-wanderer-s-romance
Eco Mofos: https://davidblandy.itch.io/eco-mofos
Maze Rats: https://questingbeast.itch.io/maze-rats
Cairn: https://cairnrpg.com/
Tunnel Goons: https://tunnelgoons.com/
The apple sniffing horse: https://bsky.app/profile/bastionland.bsky.social/post/3mcyzqa4kqs26
Ask the Stars: https://www.bastionland.com/2020/12/ask-stars-minimal-solo-rpg.html
2400: https://jasontocci.itch.io/2400
Arkbound / Xenofringe: https://www.bastionland.com/2012/07/
Die Bonehead Die https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ffZhkW9kWlOhaDQsbjCfrg-4_or3xALR9FYEXJ4VF3I/
Cornetto Trilogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Flavours_Cornetto
Blighters https://bit.ly/blightersrpg
The Doomed https://www.ospreypublishing.com/uk/doomed-9781472854254/
MAC Attack https://chrismcdee.itch.io/mac-attack
Impairing Impairing https://www.bastionland.com/2025/07/impairing-impairing.html
Between the Ages https://www.bastionland.com/2025/05/between-ages.html
Between Seasons https://www.bastionland.com/2025/05/between-seasons.html
Mythic Rivers ttps://www.bastionland.com/2025/08/mythic-rivers.html
A Mythic Calendar https://www.bastionland.com/2024/10/a-mythic-calendar.html

Find the hosts at:

William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/
Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/
Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/

Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf

Our intro music is "Medieval" by Ptibec https://openverse.org/audio/1f62fd74-2742-45de-b6eb-79f9dbbddb3a and is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Our outro music is "Harbinger" by Jesse.

Mixed by Jesse from https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/.

Timings:
00:00 Intro
00:49 Refereeing experience
15:38 Primacy of Action
22:33 Action Procedure
55:56 Generalizable GMing Advice
1:06:39 You be the Judge
1:30:17 The Tree Root Hunger
1:32:06 Outro

Discussed on the show:

Crossing the Line: https://mightyatom.blogspot.com/2010/10/apocalypse-world-crossing-line.html
Landmark information: https://diyanddragons.blogspot.com/2019/10/landmark-hidden-secret.html
Reputation table: https://lukegearing.blot.im/reputation-tables
Pondering Failure: https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/to-hit-or-no-to-hit-a-plea
ICI Doctrine: https://www.bastionland.com/2018/09/the-ici-doctrine-information-choice.html
Difficulty in Bastionland: https://www.bastionland.com/2020/03/difficulty-in-bastionland.html

Find the hosts at:

William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/
Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/
Jesse https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/

Show notes:
Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf

Our intro music is "Medieval" by Ptibec https://openverse.org/audio/1f62fd74-2742-45de-b6eb-79f9dbbddb3a and is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Our outro music is "The New Age" by Jesse.

Mixed by Jesse from https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/.

Timings:
00:00 The Intro
00:49 The Name
01:35 The Poem
03:21 The Illustration
06:54 The Table
11:10 The Cast
22:37 The Ruin
24:11 The Object
31:18 The Omens
42:34 The Checklist
59:22 The Resolution
1:06:32 The Failure
1:09:40 The Creation
1:14:44 The Holdings
1:22:00 The Judge
1:31:03 The Outro

Discussed on the show:

• Sticky Goblins https://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2021/02/sticky-goblins.html
• Holding Threads https://www.bastionland.com/2025/09/holding-threads.html?m=1
• Encounter Checklist https://www.prismaticwasteland.com/blog/encounter-checklist
• The Game of Three Truths in the campaign https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-thrice-ninth-kingdom-xii.html
• William's explanation on his mechanism for A Game of Three Truths https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/2026/07/a-game-of-three-truths.html

Find the hosts at:

• Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/
• William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/
• Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/
• Jesse https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/

Show notes:
Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf

Music: I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire (Benjamin, Durham, Marcus, Seiler: 1938)

Our intro music is "Medieval" by Ptibec https://openverse.org/audio/1f62fd74-2742-45de-b6eb-79f9dbbddb3a and is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Our outro music is "Medieval Victory Epic (Version 1)" by makesound https://openverse.org/audio/794859e7-c63c-466e-9f76-631e1e01e098 and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.

Mixed by Jesse from https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/.

Timings:
00:00 Intro
00:55 Example Spark Table results
03:47 Sparks for special contexts
04:52 Mixing and matching
06:49 The squire wager
07:40 Changing the purpose
08:12 Under time pressure
13:31 Rerolling
15:59 Elaborating later
17:39 Myth-like results
20:24 Chains of associations
22:06 Themes for interpretation
23:58 Woland - a collaborative mythic realm
34:16 Lasting effects
36:38 40+ sessions
37:25 Threads that aren't myths
44:12 Adding extra omens
45:10 More example Sparks
48:24 You be the Judge!
55:24 Q+A Branching omens
58:40 Q+A Environmental challenges
1:02:47 Q+A Non-interactive omens
1:07:17 Outro

Discussed on the show:

• Blorb principles https://idiomdrottning.org/blorb-principles
• Oddpocrypha on Landmarks (Mythic Bastionland page 199)
• Tale of the Manticore - season 3 using delayed interpretation of Mythic Game Master Emulator spark table results https://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-1-s3e01--62324279
• Woland project - launch and collection of all articles https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/2026/01/woland-collaborative-mythic-realm.html
• Beardmancer’s method for blending sparks for prep https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/one-method-to-prep-for-improvisation
• d4 Caltrops’s d100 – Absent Adventurer: Where Have You Been? https://blog.d4caltrops.com/2026/01/d100-absent-adventurer-where-have-you.html
• Bastionland Discord - source of questions for the Q+A section https://discord.com/invite/Y6sGBra

Find the hosts at:

• Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/
• William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/
• Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/

Show notes:
We're joined by Kieron Gillen from https://oldmenrunningtheworld.com/ and designer of DIE: The Roleplaying Game https://rowanrookanddecard.itch.io/die-rpg
This episode also features a previously-recorded segment from our episode 3 guest, Jesse from https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/.

Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf

Our intro music is "Medieval" by Ptibec https://openverse.org/audio/1f62fd74-2742-45de-b6eb-79f9dbbddb3a and is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Our outro music is "Medieval Victory Epic (Version 1)" by makesound https://openverse.org/audio/794859e7-c63c-466e-9f76-631e1e01e098 and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.

Timings:
00:00 Intro
03:21 Setting up the realm
06:10 Sparks when needed
09:31 Blorbiness and characters
14:17 Ageing and legacy
15:29 Narrative and story
18:00 Protecting the reality
21:09 Seers
22:15 A generational saga
27:48 Unresolved situations
32:23 Prepping myths and sites
35:57 Succession
37:26 Turning the wheels
38:58 Pursuits
41:27 Planning time jumps
43:59 The knights' reputations
44:54 Batman creating supervillains
47:30 Myths as problems
48:41 Domain-level play
50:58 Questing knights
52:47 Skipping travel
54:29 Feasts and Seers
57:21 Talking to stones
58:41 Sparks and improv
1:00:55 Ending the campaign
1:04:25 Jesse: Story Game / OSR
1:06:29 Kieron: Story Game / OSR
1:11:07 The Oath as GM principles
1:13:00 You be the Judge!
1:19:16 Outro

Discussed on the show:

• Kieron's comics https://bindings.app/shelf/1FLv6kLb
• Kieron's games https://kierongillen.itch.io/
• Amiga Power https://archive.org/details/amiga-power
• Speedball 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyX4BPU-Bao
• Blorb principles https://idiomdrottning.org/blorb-principles
• Stephen R Donaldson: Mordant's Need https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordant%27s_Need
• The Skim: Mythic Bastionland https://oldmenrunningtheworld.com/the-skim-mythic-bastionland/
• Pendragon https://www.chaosium.com/pendragon/

Find the hosts at:

• Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/
• William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/
• Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/

Show notes:
We're joined by Amanda P. from https://weirdwonder.bearblog.dev/ and https://weirdwonder.itch.io/

Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf

Our intro music is "Medieval" by Ptibec https://openverse.org/audio/1f62fd74-2742-45de-b6eb-79f9dbbddb3a and is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Our outro music is "Medieval Victory Epic (Version 1)" by makesound https://openverse.org/audio/794859e7-c63c-466e-9f76-631e1e01e098 and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.

Timings:
00:00 Intro
01:00 Amanda's writing
03:51 Horror
06:19 Pilgrimage of the Sun Guard
13:50 Capsule games
15:54 Mythical and Mundane
16:47 Preparing the realm
24:16 Campaign one-sheet
26:25 Player buy-in
28:03 Using OSR supplements
31:55 Two realms, many seasons
37:16 The next campaign?
42:46 The epilogue
45:14 The City Quest
50:58 You be the Judge!
57:45 Player theories
59:58 Outro

Discussed on the show:

• Amanda P's blogpost Arthurian Mysticism and Violence: a Mythic Bastionland Analysis: https://weirdwonder.bearblog.dev/mythic-bastionland/
• Pilgrimage of the Sun Guard: https://weirdwonder.itch.io/sunguard
• Chris Bissette's game jam https://itch.io/jam/wretched-jam
• d4 Caltrops blog https://blog.d4caltrops.com/
• Armanda Haller https://armandah.itch.io/
• Mythic GM Emulator https://www.wordmillgames.com/page/mythic-gme.html
• A procedure for playing group modules as solo adventures https://symbolic.city/misc/mastermind-solo
• John Harper: Lady Blackbird https://ladyblackbird.org/
• Michael E. Shea: The Lazy GM's Resource Document https://slyflourish.com/lazy_gm_resource_document.html
• Capsule games https://riseupcomus.blogspot.com/2024/01/capsule-games-part-i-what-are-capsule.html

Books mentioned:

• Louisa May Alcott: Little Women https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37106
• Sir James Knowles: The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12753
• Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte d'Arthur https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1251
• Chrétien de Troyes: Perceval, the Story of the Grail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceval%2C_the_Story_of_the_Grail

Find the hosts at:

• Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/
• William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/
• Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/

Show notes:
Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf

Our intro music is "Medieval" by Ptibec https://openverse.org/audio/1f62fd74-2742-45de-b6eb-79f9dbbddb3a and is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Our outro music is "Medieval Victory Epic (Version 1)" by makesound https://openverse.org/audio/794859e7-c63c-466e-9f76-631e1e01e098 and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.

The music "(Bossa Nova Loop) Thank You for Shopping!" by plasterbrain https://freesound.org/people/plasterbrain/sounds/464924/ is licensed under Creative Commons 0.

Timings:
00:00 Intro
01:00 Decisive combat
02:54 Combat rules and characters
04:33 Narrating combat
06:00 Bad rolls
08:28 Combat environments
11:15 Mortal wounds and scars
17:06 Leaving characters exposed
18:48 Impairing weapons
24:16 Creative gambits
27:30 Focus
29:24 Warband combat
32:36 Bonus attack dice
38:45 Memorable fights
46:14 You be the Judge!
54:44 Outro

Discussed on the show:

• Decisive combat https://www.bastionland.com/2017/05/decisive-combat.html
• Held Kinetic Energy in Old School Combat Arenas https://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2017/07/held-kinetic-energy-in-old-school.html
• Impairing Impairing https://www.bastionland.com/2025/07/impairing-impairing.html
• House rule idea: Giant creatures as Warbands (u/Jack_Shandy) https://www.reddit.com/r/MythicBastionland/comments/1oycio1/house_rule_idea_giant_creatures_as_warbands/

Find the hosts at:

• Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/
• William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/
• Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/

Show notes:
We're joined by Thomas Manuel to discuss his recent actual play. You can find Thomas at:

• Yes Indie'd Podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/1B1W6XzutFweJPW88L3Pxk
• Indie RPG Newsletter https://ttrpg.in/
• Rascal https://www.rascal.news/

His Mythic Bastionland games:

• First story arc: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNuXiEYyM4itTXztUsIXmD6JG4w_FGWXc
• Second story arc: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNuXiEYyM4isMPsTSspN-mdScWt2E9l2T

His referee, Judd Karlman https://githyankidiaspora.com/mythic-bastionland/
His liege, MadJay https://playfearless.substack.com/

Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf

Our intro music is "Medieval" by Ptibec https://openverse.org/audio/1f62fd74-2742-45de-b6eb-79f9dbbddb3a and is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Our outro music is "Medieval Victory Epic (Version 1)" by makesound https://openverse.org/audio/794859e7-c63c-466e-9f76-631e1e01e098 and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.

Timings:
00:00 Intro
01:52 Thomas' campaign
06:19 Connections and relationships
10:15 Rolling a knight
12:23 Being a good player
15:50 The Smiling Fox play by post
17:51 Play style
19:57 Improv
23:57 Myths for challenge and flavour
31:59 Combat!
37:19 Fostering player creativity
41:23 Sharing the map
44:09 Collaborative descriptions
47:21 First time GMs
51:36 Duelling as a highlight
52:30 Preferred number of players
54:41 You be the Judge!
1:02:58 Outro

Discussed on the show:

• Interview with Prismatic Wasteland https://open.spotify.com/episode/6hsUWciOWZ7MKivI0KWRsm
• Sticky encounters https://www.prismaticwasteland.com/blog/encounter-checklist

Find the hosts at:

• Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/
• William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/
• Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/

Show notes:
We're joined by Jesse from https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/. See the links below for his tools and magic system for Mythic Bastionland.

Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf

Our intro music is "Medieval" by Ptibec https://openverse.org/audio/1f62fd74-2742-45de-b6eb-79f9dbbddb3a and is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Our outro music is "Medieval Victory Epic (Version 1)" by makesound https://openverse.org/audio/794859e7-c63c-466e-9f76-631e1e01e098 and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.

Timings:
00:00 Intro
00:49 Seasonal events
13:20 Fruitful mistakes
16:42 The feel of the seasons
18:53 Hesitation for advancing time
27:18 Winter
36:02 Pursuits between seasons
43:26 Advancing to the next age
51:20 Running an open table
55:10 Summoning the seers
59:40 Runic Bastionquest
1:12:18 You be the Judge!
1:24:38 Changing the realm over time
1:33:53 Outro

Discussed on the show:

• Jesse's Visual Calendar https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i28AJO0uOawgDqserlWLfq-MTLdncXzMfvyEHdt1Ghs/edit?usp=sharing
• Mythic Calendar https://www.bastionland.com/2024/10/a-mythic-calendar.html
• Mythic Magic System https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/runic-bastionquest
• Speedrune https://erinking.itch.io/speedrune
• Pendragon https://www.chaosium.com/pendragon-rpg/
• The Winter Phase https://philgamer.wordpress.com/2024/06/20/lets-study-pendragon-6e-core-rulebook-part-7-the-winter-phase/

Find the hosts at:

• Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/
• William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/
• Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/

Show notes:
Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf

Our intro music is "Medieval" by Ptibec https://openverse.org/audio/1f62fd74-2742-45de-b6eb-79f9dbbddb3a and is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Our outro music is "Medieval Victory Epic (Version 1)" by makesound https://openverse.org/audio/794859e7-c63c-466e-9f76-631e1e01e098 and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.

Timings:
00:00 Intro
00:47 Mapping the realm
16:43 Populating the realm
24:23 Prepping for one shots and campaigns
30:04 Seek the Myths
40:40 Honour the Seers
46:06 Extra prep
1:02:24 You be the Judge!
1:12:14 Outro

Discussed on the show:

• Elmcat: Running Mythic Bastionland https://elmc.at/running-mythic-bastionland/
• Courtney Campbell: Quantum Ogre https://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/2011/09/on-how-illusion-can-rob-your-game-of.html
• A Knight discovers the “Wild Dome” (pbp) https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/2024/12/the-tournament-second-interlude.html

Find the hosts at:

• Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/
• William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/
• Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/