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/