A week or so ago I bought the Mythic Bastionland PDF, after a few people whose opinions I respect said good things about it. The publisher website <Mythic Bastionland Hardback Book (plus PDF)> gives a general overview:
My favourite knight errant RPG is Prince Valiant, which I think is an absolute masterpiece. And the game I've been playing the most recently is Torchbearer 2e, which is a member of the Burning Wheel family of games, but has quite a bit of classic D&D-ish stuff in it, including searching for loot, travelling across a map, and rules for building a stronghold, for economics, and so on.
My initial impression of Mythic Bastionland - given the RPGing experience that I'm bringing to it - is that it is a weird combo of those two RPGs. It has travel across a map - but much more hex crawl-y in resolution procedure than Torchbearer (but with much lighter weather rules!). It has quests and omens, which are generally a bit more surreal than the typically human situations that underlie Prince Valiant scenarios. It has more complex combat than either of those games, but simpler PC build (no skills, for instance).
The myths of the game unfold through Omens, that are triggered (sometimes randomly, sometimes automatically) by the PCs travelling across the map. Because each Myth has its 6 Omens, plus a picture and other details, placed on a single page, naturally the Omens are pretty brief. But they provide a solid starting point for presenting the players with interesting situations. Where I found the rulebook weakest was in describing some of the basic elements of play outside of the Omens: how to frame scenes (including the starting scene), and - related to that - how to establish unrevealed fiction for non-Omen contexts, which is pretty important for a hex crawl-y game.
And as another example, the rules talk about "sites" and the "treasure" they might contain:
But the rules have nothing more to say about when and why there would be the "need" to provide this sort of site-level treatment of a place of interest.
A lot of the referee advice is found in extensive examples of play and commentary on those, at the end of the book under the heading "Oddpocrypha". But this still left me unclear about a lot of this basic stuff.
Where the rules are clear is on the procedure for drawing the map of the "Realm", and so I decided to have a go at one.
In Mythic Bastionland you are a company of Knights sent to explore a Realm and seek out its Myths, which could be anything from a monster or a strange phenomena to an outright invasion. As you uncover these Myths you gain Glory which improves your reputation in the Realm. You might take up a place in court, be granted land, or even rule the Realm itself. As you play you’ll move through seasons and your Knight will mature, grow old, and eventually die, so you’ll want to find a good successor.
My favourite knight errant RPG is Prince Valiant, which I think is an absolute masterpiece. And the game I've been playing the most recently is Torchbearer 2e, which is a member of the Burning Wheel family of games, but has quite a bit of classic D&D-ish stuff in it, including searching for loot, travelling across a map, and rules for building a stronghold, for economics, and so on.
My initial impression of Mythic Bastionland - given the RPGing experience that I'm bringing to it - is that it is a weird combo of those two RPGs. It has travel across a map - but much more hex crawl-y in resolution procedure than Torchbearer (but with much lighter weather rules!). It has quests and omens, which are generally a bit more surreal than the typically human situations that underlie Prince Valiant scenarios. It has more complex combat than either of those games, but simpler PC build (no skills, for instance).
The myths of the game unfold through Omens, that are triggered (sometimes randomly, sometimes automatically) by the PCs travelling across the map. Because each Myth has its 6 Omens, plus a picture and other details, placed on a single page, naturally the Omens are pretty brief. But they provide a solid starting point for presenting the players with interesting situations. Where I found the rulebook weakest was in describing some of the basic elements of play outside of the Omens: how to frame scenes (including the starting scene), and - related to that - how to establish unrevealed fiction for non-Omen contexts, which is pretty important for a hex crawl-y game.
And as another example, the rules talk about "sites" and the "treasure" they might contain:
A Knight’s journey largely focuses on travelling great distances to seek the guidance of Seers and uncover Myths.
However, on occasion there may be the need to zoom in on a single Hex, or a specific site within a Hex, in more detail.
Sites can be created as areas that warrant more detailed exploration, whether ancient tombs, hostile castles, twisting caverns, or misty woods spanning the entire Hex.
However, on occasion there may be the need to zoom in on a single Hex, or a specific site within a Hex, in more detail.
Sites can be created as areas that warrant more detailed exploration, whether ancient tombs, hostile castles, twisting caverns, or misty woods spanning the entire Hex.
But the rules have nothing more to say about when and why there would be the "need" to provide this sort of site-level treatment of a place of interest.
A lot of the referee advice is found in extensive examples of play and commentary on those, at the end of the book under the heading "Oddpocrypha". But this still left me unclear about a lot of this basic stuff.
Where the rules are clear is on the procedure for drawing the map of the "Realm", and so I decided to have a go at one.
