New podcast episodes and general rambling

Here's a quick post with some rambling updates.

I released episode 8 of my solo actual play of Mythic Bastionland today. (You can find the links for subscribing here.) As I said on the episode, it's been several months since the last episode. I am making plans to get onto a more frequent schedule and I actually recorded episode 9 today. This game never goes where I expect it to. When things settle a bit (end of an in-game season maybe) I may write a longer post here about the state of the campaign and characters.

In other podcast news, we put out episode 8 of The Smiling Fox on Monday. This episode is all about spark tables and I really enjoyed this one. Pop on your headphones and immerse yourself in the hot fog. 

Recently, I've run two sessions of the playtest of Intergalactic Bastionland with the Smiling Fox guys. It is already a fun game and I look forward to seeing it develop further. We're planning a third session to round out the experience of life aboard the starship.

My Mythic Bastionland group game is still going strong. I mentioned a few interesting things that have happened in the Smiling Fox episode mentioned above. I have some prep to do to flesh out some of the weirder things that are simmering there. I have several half-baked sites that need a bit more detail.

I am interested in learning some layout stuff, and I'm planning to explore Typst. It may not look very suitable for RPG stuff at first glance, but someone has made a DND 5e template for it which looks quite nice, so I think plenty of other things should be possible. I plan to make a one- or two-page adventure site to learn how to use it. If it seems interesting to share, I'll write about it here.

In other tabletop news, I've been playing some board games recently: Concordia and Pax Pamir. They are complicated! There's plenty to learn from them, about rules giving rise to tactical depth, and about historical settings and themes being quite engaging. I backed the RPG Gallow's Corner recently and I could definitely see myself running a game like that which doesn't have fantasy elements.

Stonetop has been on my mind recently. There's a good interview with the creator here, and Quinns released his deep dive on it this week. This probably falls into the category of "Sounds great! Will I ever get time to play this??" for me. I am definitely drawn to long-form play, and digging into relationships and community. Though I probably do elements of that in any games that give space for it.

I'm not playing any solo game other than the podcast one at the moment. I'd like to change that soon. I'd like to try something loose and flexible, and I think Everspark might be a good one for that.

 

Mythic Bastionland - Knotte - Session 6

This is the sixth session of my Mythic Bastionland campaign. At the start of the episode I mention a second Mythic Bastionland podcast which I am co-hosting. It's called The Smiling Fox and you can subscribe here:

📡 RSS feed
🍎 Apple Podcasts
▶️ YouTube
🎵 Spotify

Meanwhile, Knotte, Maldita, and Dorka ascend Broken Peak in their hunt for the vulture. As in the previous epsiode, this takes place at the Site which I have shared here.

The recording is here and you can subscribe to the podcast feed through one of the links here.

Music credits:
'Echoes Of Home', 'The Distant Sun', 'Meanwhile', and 'The Fury' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. https://www.scottbuckley.com.au/
'Trauma' and 'City Quest'  by PrismaticNoiseProject, used with permission.
'Ancient Rite' and 'Drums of the Deep' by Kevin MacLeod - released under CC-BY 4.0. https://incompetech.com/
'Phantoms of War' by Brian Vaughan, used with permission.

Sound effects:
Wind (Artificial) by freesound_community https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/wind-artificial-18750/.

Timings:
00:00 Intro and The Smiling Fox
01:15 Recap
02:45 Ascending Broken Peak
14:38 A vision at camp
27:33 Lair in the mountain
33:08 Dorka's tale
38:58 To the monastery
48:44 A meeting
01:01:43 The hunt
01:23:00 Outro

Broken Peak: Episodes 4 and 5

Before getting into the episode notes, I'll just say something quick about actual plays in general. I've listened to a lot of them, and my main reason for doing so, is that I am trying to learn about a game I don't know. Sometimes (and it's quite pleasant when it happens) I'll also get drawn into the story and I'll stick with it to see what happens.

When I started making a Mythic Bastionland actual play, I tried to show something different in each episode. This is the kind of thing that would appeal to me as a listener.

• Episode 1 has character creation, wilderness travel (including omens from myths), and combat.
  
• Episode 2 has the creation of a holding and some character interaction in the holding. It ends with an encounter with a seer.
• Episode 3 has a duel.
• Episode 4 has the creation of a site (an adventure location).
• Episode 5 shows the rules for advancing time by a season, a return to the wilderness, and has exploration of the site from episode 4.

(You can subscribe in various ways here, to find those episodes.)

Direct downloads: episode 4 and episode 5.

I decided to release episodes 4 and 5 together, because episode 4 may not be satisfying for listeners who are looking for story progression.

I've also created an itch page for the adventure site. You can find that here. The main points of designing this are covered in episode 4, but I did tinker with it afterwards and made some more improvements.

I've included the latest map below, showing Knotte's progress through the realm.

Episode 6 probably won't be following that pattern of trying to show any particular feature of the game (though there is plenty more to dig into!). At this point I just want to see what happens to Knotte and Maldita for awhile 🙂

 

Mythic Bastionland - Knotte - Session 3

This is the third session of my Mythic Bastionland campaign.

After an order from the Rose Seer, Knotte challenges Maldita to a duel.

The recording is here and you can subscribe to the podcast feed through one of the links here.

Music credits:
06:20 'The Distant Sun' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
08:50 and 29:15 'The Things That Keep Us Here' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
14:35 'Phantoms of War' by Brian Vaughan, used with permission.
21:10 'Trauma' by PrismaticNoiseProject, used with permission.

Mythic Bastionland - Knotte - Session 2

This is the second session of my solo Mythic Bastionland campaign. The first session is here.

As before, the music has been kindly provided by PrismaticNoiseProject.

Recording: session 2

In this session, the Gilded Knight, Knotte, and his squire Maldita, arrive in the holding of Freetown, seeking aid against the undead threat.

 

 

Mythic Bastionland - Knotte - Session 1

I recorded my solo play of Mythic Bastionland, the game of knights and mythic quests by Chris McDowall.

The ambient music is kindly provided by PrismaticNoiseProject.
Recording: session 1
Solo tool: https://bit.ly/askthestars
 
Characters:
Knotte the Gilded Knight
VIG 12 CLA 9 SPI 15 GD 3
 
Maldita the squire
VIG 7 CLA 2 SPI 5 GD 1
 
Timings:
0:00 Prelude
2:32 Prep
19:43 Play
54:57 Combat
1:10:18 Wrap up
 
Map: The Realm Sheet from https://chrismcdee.itch.io/mythic-bastionland