The Smiling Fox

Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdfOur 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 Intro00:49 Refereeing experience15:38 Primacy of Action22:33 Action Procedure55:56 Generalizable GMing Advice1:06:39 You be the Judge1:30:17 The Tree Root Hunger1:32:06 OutroDiscussed on the show:Crossing the Line: https://mightyatom.blogspot.com/2010/10/apocalypse-world-crossing-line.htmlLandmark information: https://diyanddragons.blogspot.com/2019/10/landmark-hidden-secret.htmlReputation table: https://lukegearing.blot.im/reputation-tablesPondering Failure: https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/to-hit-or-no-to-hit-a-pleaICI Doctrine: https://www.bastionland.com/2018/09/the-ici-doctrine-information-choice.htmlDifficulty in Bastionland: https://www.bastionland.com/2020/03/difficulty-in-bastionland.htmlFind 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-pdfOur 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 Intro00:49 The Name01:35 The Poem03:21 The Illustration06:54 The Table11:10 The Cast22:37 The Ruin24:11 The Object31:18 The Omens42:34 The Checklist59:22 The Resolution1:06:32 The Failure1:09:40 The Creation1:14:44 The Holdings1:22:00 The Judge1:31:03 The OutroDiscussed on the show:Sticky Goblins https://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2021/02/sticky-goblins.htmlHolding Threads https://www.bastionland.com/2025/09/holding-threads.html?m=1Encounter Checklist https://www.prismaticwasteland.com/blog/encounter-checklistThe Game of Three Truths in the campaign https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-thrice-ninth-kingdom-xii.htmlWilliam's explanation on his mechanism for A Game of Three Truths https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/2026/07/a-game-of-three-truths.htmlFind 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-pdfMusic: 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 Intro00:55 Example Spark Table results03:47 Sparks for special contexts04:52 Mixing and matching06:49 The squire wager07:40 Changing the purpose08:12 Under time pressure13:31 Rerolling15:59 Elaborating later17:39 Myth-like results20:24 Chains of associations22:06 Themes for interpretation23:58 Woland - a collaborative mythic realm34:16 Lasting effects36:38 40+ sessions37:25 Threads that aren't myths44:12 Adding extra omens45:10 More example Sparks48:24 You be the Judge!55:24 Q+A Branching omens58:40 Q+A Environmental challenges1:02:47 Q+A Non-interactive omens1:07:17 OutroDiscussed on the show:Blorb principles https://idiomdrottning.org/blorb-principlesOddpocrypha 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--62324279Woland project - launch and collection of all articles https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/2026/01/woland-collaborative-mythic-realm.htmlBeardmancer’s method for blending sparks for prep https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/one-method-to-prep-for-improvisationd4 Caltrops’s d100 – Absent Adventurer: Where Have You Been? https://blog.d4caltrops.com/2026/01/d100-absent-adventurer-where-have-you.htmlBastionland Discord - source of questions for the Q+A section https://discord.com/invite/Y6sGBraFind 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-rpgThis 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-pdfOur 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 Intro03:21 Setting up the realm06:10 Sparks when needed09:31 Blorbiness and characters14:17 Ageing and legacy15:29 Narrative and story18:00 Protecting the reality21:09 Seers22:15 A generational saga27:48 Unresolved situations32:23 Prepping myths and sites35:57 Succession37:26 Turning the wheels38:58 Pursuits41:27 Planning time jumps43:59 The knights' reputations44:54 Batman creating supervillains47:30 Myths as problems48:41 Domain-level play50:58 Questing knights52:47 Skipping travel54:29 Feasts and Seers57:21 Talking to stones58:41 Sparks and improv1:00:55 Ending the campaign1:04:25 Jesse: Story Game / OSR1:06:29 Kieron: Story Game / OSR1:11:07 The Oath as GM principles1:13:00 You be the Judge!1:19:16 OutroDiscussed on the show:Kieron's comics https://bindings.app/shelf/1FLv6kLbKieron's games https://kierongillen.itch.io/Amiga Power https://archive.org/details/amiga-powerSpeedball 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyX4BPU-BaoBlorb principles https://idiomdrottning.org/blorb-principlesStephen R Donaldson: Mordant's Need https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordant%27s_NeedThe 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-pdfOur 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 Intro01:00 Amanda's writing03:51 Horror06:19 Pilgrimage of the Sun Guard13:50 Capsule games15:54 Mythical and Mundane16:47 Preparing the realm24:16 Campaign one-sheet26:25 Player buy-in28:03 Using OSR supplements31:55 Two realms, many seasons37:16 The next campaign?42:46 The epilogue45:14 The City Quest50:58 You be the Judge!57:45 Player theories59:58 OutroDiscussed 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/sunguardChris Bissette's game jam https://itch.io/jam/wretched-jamd4 Caltrops blog https://blog.d4caltrops.com/Armanda Haller https://armandah.itch.io/Mythic GM Emulator https://www.wordmillgames.com/page/mythic-gme.htmlA procedure for playing group modules as solo adventures https://symbolic.city/misc/mastermind-soloJohn Harper: Lady Blackbird https://ladyblackbird.org/Michael E. Shea: The Lazy GM's Resource Document https://slyflourish.com/lazy_gm_resource_document.htmlCapsule games https://riseupcomus.blogspot.com/2024/01/capsule-games-part-i-what-are-capsule.htmlBooks mentioned:Louisa May Alcott: Little Women https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37106Sir James Knowles: The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12753Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte d'Arthur https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1251Chrétien de Troyes: Perceval, the Story of the Grail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceval%2C_the_Story_of_the_GrailFind the hosts at:Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/