Mythic Bastionland actual play

[pemerton]

I GMed a session of Mythic Bastionland this afternoon, with my regular group. I introduced it to them as a game of weird questing knights. We started with rolling PCs, young knights-errant.

We had 6 players roll PCs, although only 5 actually started play - one of us had to leave before play proper started, as he's travelling overseas tomorrow. Rolls for virtues were pretty bad, and it did make me wonder why this game uses random stat generation. But rolling for which knight are you was fun.

Here are our PCs:

The Willow Knight: Vig 4, Cla 10, Spi 9, 2 Gd - this Knight didn't actually get played, but was the first to be rolled and gave a sense of what characters in the game look like.

The Hive Knight: Vig 3, Cla 6, Spi 15, 4 Gd - his passion for Community (restore SPI when you leave a community better of than when you arrived) came into play; whereas, while there was a lot of discussion of and allusion to his Chrysalent Rebirth special ability (at night you may immerse yourself in a cocoon through means you do not fully understand - you must be buried in soil and require choking smoke; after a full day you emerge, your VIG restored, and any physical harm cured - this cannot cure death), it didn't come into play.

The Mirror Knight: Vig 5, Cla 8, Spi 10, 1 Gd - his passion for Egality (restore SPI when you give somebody else their fair share) came into play, although we probably interpreted it a bit liberally; so did his special ability (when you are Wounded, the attacker suffers the same amount of VIG loss as you; when you are Scarred the attacker gets the same Scar), and his special item, the Hushingbell (those who hear the bell hear nothing else).

The Lance Knight: Vig 11, Cla 6, Spi 13, 3 Gd - his passion for Adventure (restore SPI when you enter a Myth hex) was kept in mind, but he had no Spi loss when the PCs entered a Myth hex during play; his Mystic Sight - the ability to see regrets - did come into play.

The Free Knight: Vig 7, Cla 3, Spi 5, 5 Gd - his passion for Liberty (restore SPI when you release somebody from an unwanted bond) was discussed a fair bit, and was indulged at one point; and he made good use of his Tempest Chest (when empty, it can draw a storm within, restoring calm weather; if opened when full the storm is released), and his Hex Shield (its pattern pains Seers) also came into play.

And probably the weirdest, the Chain Knight: Vig 11, Cla 12, Spi 6, 2 Gd - he used his special ability, Will of the Irons (move a single chain that you hold as if it was a limb, using a single hand. You can lash out with both ends (d6 each), grasp opponents, and otherwise move it to your will), but the table consensus was that to use this with his Oubliette Mail (A1, wrapped in a long iron chain) he had to remove his armour; he also got to indulge his passion for the Abyss (restore SPI when sleeping underground in complete darkness.).​

As characters were being rolled up, and then as everyone was reviewing and comparing their PCs, I explained the basic rules, including combat and travel. The most important thing to explain about combat was that it is done by way of a dice pool, with multiple attackers vs the same target combining into a single pool - with extra dice being used to for Gambits, including Bolster to increase damage.

I showed the players the player map of the Realm <Mythic Bastionland - initial impressions, and making a Realm>, and asked for a vote on whether to start in a random hex, or at the castle - which is the Seat of Power. I found myself overruled when the majority vote was to start at a lesser holding, ie the island town, in a tavern.

We worked out some backstory. The Willow Knight had rolled for memories of home: a fire on a moor. The Mirror Knight had rolled for his memories with his steed: he had broken a siege, because his steed had spotted an ambush. The Chain Knight had rolled to determine how he had reached the surface: through smoke, from out of a tomb. The other three Knights don't come with any pre-built background. Here's what was settled on:

The Free Knight had been born in a castle (or town? I don't think we specified) under siege, and his birth had been the omen that gave them the will to hold out. They held out for nearly an entire Age, until the siege was finally broken by the Mirror Knight and his Faded Steed. The two of them had then ridden north across the burned-out moors.

Meanwhile, the Chain Knight had come to the surface through a tomb where the Hive Knight was being born from his chrysalis, buried in soil with choking smoke. For some reason, they formed a company.

These two groups then met the Lance Knight, who is the most conventional of all the knights (although he does have Mystic Sight).

The Company entered the Realm through the forest (bottom hex 8) and then crossed the marsh to arrive at the town.​

The Willow Knight didn't figure in our backstory, because our friend who had rolled him up already had to leave. And with the backstory sorted, I cut straight to the PCs in the tavern. I'll do the events of actual play in a new post.

 

[pemerton]

The players knew that their Knights had been knighted by Seers - though we did not pay any attention to the canonical knighting Seers set out in the rulebook - and that the Seers know secrets of the Myths. So in the tavern, they asked about Seers.

Given the game is meant to be procedural, at least to a significant degree, I decided to deploy some procedure: I rolled on both columns of the Appearance, Voice, Desire and Task tables, and got:

Short physique, drab dress; mumbled tone, rambling manner; ambition mastery, motivated by legacy; task to break a Seer​

A roll showed that this was a man, with Vig 11, Cla 11, Sp 5; and I decided that his legacy pertained to The Mountain (that being the nearest Myth) and the Seer was the Enthroned Seer (I can't remember how I decided this - maybe I rolled?).

I told the players that, at their mention of Seers, a short man wearing a drab cloak with his hood on indoors approached them, and started talking: but he was mumbling, and rambling, so only those who could pass a Clarity save could work out what he was talking about. The Free Knight and Mirror Knight both failed, and suffered d4 loss of SPI, being disheartened by their inability to converse with this man and learn about the Seers, and so instead having to chat to one another and drink.

The Lance Knight also failed, but he then used his Mystic Sight, and saw that this strange man regretted never having climbed The Mountain. So he didn't suffer any SPI loss.

The Hive Knight and the Chain Knight listened to the man, and learned that he wanted to climb The Mountain, and blamed the Enthroned Seer for his failure to have done so - and so wanted to break the Enthroned Seer. They learned that The Mountain is to the east. I think there was another roll here, for some reason I now can't remember - but the upshot of someone's failure was that the Enthroned Seer would know that the Hive Knight and Chain Knight had spoken with this man, and would be hostile to them as a result.

When the strange man was leaving, the Free Knight showed him his shield - with its pattern that pains Seers - and the man was very excited by it. But the Free Knight wouldn't give it to him.

The Knights slept the night in the tavern. For reasons that weren't clear to me even at the time, and are completely unclear to me now (it might have somehow been an attempt to indulge his passion, and so recover SPI?), the Mirror Knight tried to persuade the hosteller to provide drinks to everyone. But he failed, and so only ended up getting drunk with the hosteller, costing him 2 CLA loss.

The next morning, down some SPI and CLA, the Company set out. They looked at the mountains on their map, and decided to head along the eastern bank of the south-east flowing river.

 

[zakael19]

I told the players that, at their mention of Seers, a short man wearing a drab cloak with his hood on indoors approached them, and started talking: but he was mumbling, and rambling, so only those who could pass a Clarity save could work out what he was talking about. The Free Knight and Mirror Knight both failed, and suffered d4 loss of SPI, being disheartened by their inability to converse with this man and learn about the Seers, and so instead having to chat to one another and drink.

Interesting! What made you decide that this combination of sparks represented an obstacle to information where the Intent + Leverage + Risk meant that a roll was required?

 

[pemerton]

Here is a summary of their travel:

Day 1, morning: they entered the first river hex. I rolled a 1 on the Wilderness Roll, and the random Myth was The Troll. They encountered its severed arm in a marshy part of the river bank, crawling north-west (ie towards the lake). The Hive Knight approached it, and it attacked - I can't remember the details of how I handled surprise/initiative here - maybe a CLA save? - but the player didn't regard it as unfair. The arm leaped up and grabbed the Knight around the throat, delivering a Mortal Wound.

This triggered a swift response from everyone else. The Chain Knight used his chains to try and pull it off, and the Free Knight and Mirror Knight attacked it with their melee weapons. The pool was pretty big, and the players used a high roll as a Strong Gambit, to pull the arm off the Knight's throat with no save permitted, and an ordinary Gabmit to stop it (and the arm failed its VIG save against this one), and then also delivered enough damage to kill it.

The Lance Knight had used his Mystic Sight to discern the arm's regret, which was that it was separated from its pet chameleon.

The Hive Knight's bleeding was staunched, but he remained on Vig 1. The PCs burned the arm, judging it to be undead.

Day 1, afternoon: The PCs continued along the river. It was uneventful.

Day 1, night: The PCs slept. One of them, I think the Mirror Knight, kept watch. Nothing happened, but the lack of proper sleep cost him d6 CLA in the morning.

Day 2, morning: The PCs tried to continue along the river, but came to a barrier - a waterfall, between cliffs - I described it as a bit like the Argonath but minus the statutes, so I guess on reflection that's really just the falls of Rauros. One of the PCs - I think the Hive Knight - looked to see if there was anything behind the falls. I made a roll on the Water table, and got green surf - I said that green stone was visible behind the curtain of water. Further investigation revealed this to be jade.

Day 2, afternoon: The PCs dug out the jade, using the Lance Knight's spiked mace. A VIG save failed, and so the mace was blunted, dropping from d8 to d6 damage.

Day 2, night: The PCs slept, and again someone kept watch, nothing happened, and CLA was lost by that Knight for lack of proper sleep.

Day 3, morning: The PCs travelled uneventfully through the forest north of the falls.

*Day 3, afternoon:: The PCs climbed into the mountains (left 4, bottom 11), again without incident.

Day 3, night: The PCs slept. The Free Knight relieved the Hive Knight of his obligation to keep watch, which restored his SPI but cost him CLA for lack of sleep. There was also an Omen in the night - he could feel a faint heat from the ground on which he was sitting (the first Omen of The Inferno).

Day 4: I can't remember now exactly how all this was handled, but will do my best to set it out.

The players decided to dig, to try and work out the mystery of the heat. They were speculating about lava flows, among other possibilities. At one point the Wilderness Roll produced another Omen, from the nearest Myth. And I also introduced the second Omen from the Inferno, but I can't remember if that was based on a roll or rather was a fiat decision in response to the PCs' digging.

The Mountain Omen is monks in prayer. The player of the Mirror Knight has said that while others dug, he was ringing his bell. And I used this to narrate the Omen: when the peel of the bell stopped, the PCs could hear a chanting blown to them on the wind (in response to a question from the player of the Free Knight - is it early mediaeval, or Gregorian? - I answered "early mediaeval").

Meanwhile, they could see smoke in the forest below them, that they had trekked through - the second Omen of the Inferno, a forest fire.

They debated what to do - was the chanting to encourage the fire, or douse it, or something else? - and decided that they had to learn about the chanting before they could make any more decisions. And so they spent the second phase of the day finding the monks (on the basis that "it takes a whole Phase to carry out a surface level sweep of an entire hex") - I rolled a d6 and told them that 5 fur-clad monks were standing on the cliff, looking out across the high meadows, occasionally sprinkling water, scattering stones, and casting coals from their censers, over the edge.

The monks explained that they were praying toward the mountain, and that only the worthy can climb it. It became apparent to the PCs (and their players) that The Mountain wasn't "there" yet, given that the monks were looking out into the clear sky above the meadows below.

The PCs could also see the tents of the shepherds on the meadows below the cliff (D4 on the GM map <Mythic Bastionland - initial impressions, and making a Realm>).

Some of the Knights spent the night praying with the monks. I can't remember all of this, but I think SPI saves were made to try and avoid CLA loss. The Mirror Knight succeeded, from memory, and heard the sound of a brook carried to him from a great distance (a sign of the whispering brook Sanctum to the north). The Lance Knight kept watch.

Day 5, morning: The PCs travelled to the north-east, clambering down to the meadows. No event was rolled.

Day 5, afternoon: The PCs went to the shepherds, and spoke to them. A roll indicated the next Omen of the nearest Myth, and so The Mountain became visible. I also told the players that, as the lowering western sun shone on the side of The Mountain, they could see the sparkle of jewels. (I didn't tell them, yet, that this was bait set by the crag cats.)

Day 5, night: The players (and thus their PCs) were worried that The Mountain might fade out again (taking its jewels with it), and so decided to being climbing in the night. They took burning brands from the shepherds so that they could see, and promised them a jewel as a gift when they returned.

I used CLA saves to determine who got ambushed by the crag cats, and the way it worked out I ended up narrating it as:

A pair of crag cats showing themselves too soon against the Hive Knight and the Lance Knight at the front;

A pair of crag cats getting the drop on the Mirror Knight and the Free Knight;

The Chain Knight bringing up the rear, and so not being attacked (his player had done the best, on a Luck roll, of the three who had failed CLA saves).​

I suspect that I may not have properly applied the Exposed rule to the Mirror Knight, who - based on another Luck roll - was the victim of the ambush. He would have been Slain, except that the Hive Knight used the Deny Feat - he threw one of his daggers to distract the cats - to remove the cat's best die, and so the Mirror Knight was merely Mortally Wounded. But the Knight's Reflection of Blood special ability Wounded the crag cat, which failed a SPI save and fled.

The Hive Knight and Lance Knight used a bow-charge combo to wound one of their pair of cats, and it also failed a SPI save and fled. The other cat went for the Lance Knight's steed, and Wounded it.

Next round, the Chain Knight joined the Free Knight, and the Lance Knight charged their target also, and they mortally wounded one of the other two cats. The remaining cat continued to Wound the Lance Knight's steed. In the final round, that cat was also mortally wounded.

This was our one reasonably extended combat of the session. I wasn't sure how dangerous it would be going in, and I still don't have a good sense of how the maths of combat in this game works; but it felt like the PCs were in a degree of peril. Their virtue loss was making it hard for them to maintain the use of Feats.

The Chain Knight bound the Mirror Knight's wounds. And the Hive Knight did the same for the crag cats, with the idea of taming them. In the morning, as the sun rose, I asked for a SPI save from the Hive Knight. Because everyone had suffered -d6 SPI and CLA for travelling at night and not getting sleep, the save failed. So he could tell that the cats wanted their gems back. ("How?", the player asked. "A certain look in their eyes", I replied.) The player decided to try and trick them, and return only half the jewels. I made a CLA save for the cats, but the players insisted that they should also lose CLA for not having slept - and my roll, which would have succeeded if they were on full CLA, failed with the 2 CLA loss from no sleep. So the PCs got to keep half the jewels; and the two crag cats travelled with them.

As the PCs had also spent a Phase in the Myth Hex, the next Omen was triggered: the PCs could see the shadow of the Mountain extending out far across the Realm. As we went on, I mentioned that the shadow to the west was not shortening even as the sun rose, and travelled across the meridian to the west of the sky.

Day 6, morning: The PCs climbed The Mountain. I didn't apply VIG loss at this point, because I hadn't properly reviewed the Myth description. This triggered the next Omen, and I told the PCs they could see seven peacock riders flying up the side of The Mountain. (Earlier on, I think when the Knights were with the monks on the cliff, a NPC - presumably a monk - had mentioned riding a peacock as the only way to descend the cliff and/or ascend the mountain. The players were a bit surprised now to see that the reference to peacock riding was literal.) The PC knights hailed the riders.

This seemed to me to be a tricky Omen - here is the text:

Seven peacock riders approach the Mountain. They claim their peacocks are so magnificent that nature simply gives
way to them. They are mistaken.​

It wasn't immediately clear to me how this would involve the players/PCs. But I enjoyed narrating the magnificence of my riders (with their high helms, glamorous shields, and their pride in their peacocks). The Mirror Knight commenced a duel of poetry with Castian, the leader of the company. But he failed his SPI save, and suffered a loss of SPI (7 on a d8) as he realised he'd made a fool of himself with his doggerel poem, compared to the ancient rhyme that Castian recited.

Then the Chain Knight asked if the riders would carry the PC knights. he also failed his SPI save - and so Castian agreed (after all, he wishes to show off the magnificence of his company's peacocks), but on condition that the PC Knights swear that they will let the riders be the first to the peak. The PC Knights so swore; except for the Lance Knight. His player had had to leave somewhere around about here, and it was agreed that he would wait here on the Mountain-side to guard the horses and the cats.

And so the peacocks took off.

My worry about involving the PCs had been assuaged. And now I was ready to drive home the riders' mistake: I narrated the shadow darkening, and wind picking up, lifting snow off the side of The Mountain and flinging it at the peacocks and their riders. "A storm?" asked the Hive Knight's player. I had completely forgotten about the Tempest Chest, but now was reminded of it: the Free Knight opened his chest and sucked the storm into it, leaving calm skies; and so the peacocks were able to fly almost to the peak. They landed on the last viable ledge, and everyone dismounted.

Day 6, afternoon: The next Omen was triggered - the mourning squires. The PCs conversed with them, and learned the names of their dead Knights (Sir Kiren and Sir Donnellan). I described the squires as sad, and also angry. They had spent seasons climbing The Mountain, but had not reached the peak. The Free Knight spoke the most with them - I had thought that he might try and release them from what clearly seemed an unwanted bond, their sense of duty, but he tried (and failed - I imagine with a failed SPI save) to have them join the Company in the ascent, to prove their worth.

When the PCs came to the bodies of the dead Knights, they buried them as best they could in the snow, and performed rites. We didn't have the text of Egality in front of us, and so were treating as "giving another their due" rather than "giving another their fair share" - and thus we allowed that this was an indulging of that passion, and the Mirror Knight restored his lost SPI. I think there might have been SPI checks here for some sort of benefit - maybe to avoid CLA loss for travelling at night? - but I can't remember now.

Day 6, night: The time spent burying bodies meant that it was night when the PCs reached the peak. I made a roll for Winter weather, but the players got lucky. And at this point I did remember to apply the d6 VIG loss. I hadn't remembered to roll on the "Path to the Peak" table prior to this point, but did now, and got Mocking Goats, which I kept in my pocket for the moment.

When the voice asked, "Are you worthy" I got each player to make a blind declaration of their answer. The Hive Knight and the Mirror Knight both went for variants of "yes"; while the Free Knight and the Chain Knight both went for variants of "I am on a journey to become worthy". The two who said "yes" received their vision of the City. And then I played my Mocking Goats card.

The players had been asking if the peacock riders were here, and I told them that they couldn't see them; and that, rather, around an outcrop of stone just below them their came into view seven goats, with magnificent horns and coats. The two Knights who had said "yes" now had to make SPI saves: the Hive Knight did, but the Mirror Knight failed, and the mocking bleating of the goats was threatening to turn him into a goat also! I asked his player what he did: and he answered that he rang his bell, and thus could not hear the mocking of the goats.

The Chain Knight used his chain as a lead for the goats, as he thought it would be wrong to leave them on the mountain to the mercy of the crag cats. They led them down. When they got to the point where the peacocks had landed, the peacocks were gone - though whether they had been eaten by cats, or had flown away, was not clear. So it was a long trek down, to meet up again with the Lance Knight and then return to the meadows. (Again, the players got lucky on my roll for Winter weather.)

And then The Mountain faded away. And all the Knights got 1 Glory, for having resolved this Myth.

Ever since The Mountain had appeared, the players had been speculating about how its appearance or disappearance related to the passage of time. Their puzzlement about how the squires and knights had got onto The Mountain was part of what motivated me to have the squires refer to seasons of climbing. And so now I decided to do a slightly irregular thing.

Day 7, morning: The PCs travelled to the shepherd's tents. But they realised, from the sky and the grass and talking to the shepherds, that a season had passed as they had trekked up and then back down the mountain. The shepherds had thought them lost, and had taken their herd on the regular route across the meadows, and had only recently returned to this spot. (And they had seen the squires come down, ahead of the PCs.) Because this Season had passed while the PCs were trekking, I didn't treat it as a restoration of all virtues.

The Hive Knight gave them a jewel, as promised. And they were gifted the goats, but told not to eat them - just take their wool. When the PCs left, he restored his SPI, for having left the community better off than he had found it. But the PCs first spent a day with the shepherds, enjoying their warm hospitality, and thus restoring their lost VIG. And there were no events during this time.

The Chain Knight asked if they knew of any caves in the cliffs; but a Luck roll indicated that they did not. The only interesting thing they knew of was the brook to the north, which perhaps flows out of a cave.

Day 9, morning: The PCs travelled north, towards the brook - which the Mirror Knight had already had a vision of, and which the shepherds had told them of. A roll indicated a random Omen, and another roll indicated that this was the first Omen of The Wall. I got the narration of this slightly wrong - I missed that the labourers are taking a meal, and so I first narrated the crumbling outpost, on the edge of the forest, and then the labourers coming out of the forest and being alarmed to see the Knights.

The Knights spoke to the labourers, and learned that they had been sent by Sir Leon, ruler of the fortress in the mountains to the north, to repair this outpost to strengthen defences. The PCs were a bit unsure about the rationale for The Wall, and whether it is to protect the Realm, or to allow Sir Leon to carve out his own Realm. The Chain Knight inquired if any part of the outpost was underground, and I had him make a luck roll: he succeeded, and so found that there was an underground area that had once been a cistern. He offered to help the labourers rebuild it - so that they could then store water - and in the meantime he spent the night in it so as to restore his SPI.

This took a week. (I think there was a successful VIG roll in there somewhere.) And I told the players that as it had been the Feast of the Stars when they were with the shepherds, it was not heading towards the Eldermass - a secretive assembly of Seers and trusted associates. This made them keen to try and find a Seer, maybe at the whispering brook.

And we finished there.

 

[pemerton]

I think the players enjoyed the session. Certainly enough to agree that our next session (i) should be soon, and (ii) should be Mythic Bastionland.

Some of my concerns I posted in my previous thread, about uncertainty around framing, were borne out. There were points where I felt I had to work quite hard to work out what to say. I also didn't find consequences easy every time - especially because, once a virtue reaches zero, further loss to that virtue is no loss at all!

I think the player of the Free Knight might have noticed that I wasn't finding it easy at every point. I think I want to use some of the NPCs established in this session in the future, if I can: the squires, I think knighted by the Enthroned Seer; perhaps the monks; and maybe even the peacocks. (The shepherds had seen a rainbow in the sky after the storm, which might have been the peacocks leaving.)

And Sir Leon is going to need some development, I think.

 

[pemerton]

Interesting! What made you decide that this combination of sparks represented an obstacle to information where the Intent + Leverage + Risk meant that a roll was required?

This relates to some of what I posted in the other thread: what determines if there is a risk? Eg in a social situation, what creates a risk that the PC might be embarrassed or disheartened? I tend to default to Burning Wheel norms - if the situation is putting something the PC is invested in under pressure, then there is a risk and so a roll is required.

This was reinforced by the fact that the players wanted to start in a tavern, and I didn't want the tavern to just be an info-dump, without something happening that involved some sort of stakes.

So that was my general thinking, going into the scene. But I was also drawing heavily on the fact that this person was both rambling and mumbling, and had some sort of resentment of a Seer. That combination of elements crystallised my idea of what was at stake in the scene: only a patient and empathetic person could make sense of what this strange man was saying, the risk therefore being that a Knight lacks the requisite patience and empathy.

I was happy that the scene had worked when the Free Knight, who hadn't been able to follow the conversation - but whose player was paying attention - asked what the man thought of the pattern on his Hex shield, the pattern that pains Seers. The scene succeeded in (i) communicating some information about the Myth, (ii) establishing the Seers as mysterious but important figures, who leave "victims" as well as Knights, (iii) establishing this person and the Enthroned Seer as particular NPCs the players have some investment in, and (iv) showing that SPI can be at stake when a Knight is invested in a social situation.

 

[zakael19]

This relates to some of what I posted in the other thread: what determines if there is a risk? Eg in a social situation, what creates a risk that the PC might be embarrassed or disheartened? I tend to default to Burning Wheel norms - if the situation is putting something the PC is invested in under pressure, then there is a risk and so a roll is required.

Yeah, I've been reflecting on this thinking about how I'd run the game - and I think I'd probably fall back on the Virtues as the drivers of risk. Is there a risk to your virtue of Vigour? Clarity? Spirit?

But generally for Information that directs play, I think I'd err on the side of giving it without cost unless there was real obvious risk to getting it.

only a patient and empathetic person could make sense of what this strange man was saying, the risk therefore being that a Knight lacks the requisite patience and empathy.

This is super cool and definitely shows something inherent about the Knights at stake. The Risk is to your Knightly Virtue of Spirit, those unable to show forbearance and gentleness are instead displaying a lack of that Virtue that becomes evident to all around. Awesome stuff.

Edit:In fact I would probably have done what the book suggests regarding failing a save not meaning task failure; those that cannot demonstrate their Spirit capable lose the ability to do follow-up questions or forfeit the regard of the common folk due to their impetuousness - but the group would've together pieced together nuggets (as they did in your case).