Into the Odd is very loose, which is perfect for the type of game it is, but with Mythic I wanted clearer processes for things like designing your realm, travelling across the map, and uncovering Myths.
An interview with Chris McDowall, creator of Into the Odd, Electric Bastionland and Mythic Bastionland. Latest in the RPG interviews. (quote from this question).
Chat with Chris McDowall, Creator of Bastionland
Chris is the creator of Into the Odd, Electric Bastionland and Mythic Bastionland. The games can be found at www.bastionland.com. There are solo actual plays of Mythic Bastionland and Electric Bastionland on Rand Roll.
We have how into the odd came to be, onto electric, finding Alec, mythic myths, and solo considerations. Among other questions.
What was your gaming story before writing Into the Odd?
I grew up playing Games Workshop games, both miniature wargames and boardgames. In 1990s Britain it was easy to imagine that GW were the only people making these sorts of tabletop game, but I soon discovered RPGs through WHFRP (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay).
I fell in love with the idea of RPGs, but it took me a long time to find the sort of minimalist games that were a good fit for me. This drew me to the OSR (Old School Revival/Renaissance) and a bunch of other free indie games that people were sharing on blogs and message boards.
How did Into the Odd come to be?
Into the Odd grew out of wanting a game that focused on that OSR playstyle without sticking to D&D's mechanics.
This sounds very trite now, but there weren't as many options for this back in 2011 when I ran those first few playtests. Finding players for non-D&D games was always tricky, but this was close enough that I could tell players "it's my D&D hack", and nobody seemed to mind.
From there I ran the game a lot on Google+ and eventually Paolo Greco from Lost Pages suggested making a printed version. In 2014 Into the Odd got its first release.
What lead you in the direction of Electric Bastionland to follow from Into the Odd?
After Into the Odd I knew I wanted to make a bigger book that would explore the world that I'd implied through that game, and for a long time it was just an Into the Odd supplement, with the rules slotted in at the front of the book since they're so short.
As time went on, I moved the setting into a slightly new direction, with more of an early-20th-century feel, a little more levity, and a few tweaks to the rules.
Soon enough I realised this would be a standalone game, which I sort of figured would replace Into the Odd, but since then they've both lived on alongside each other.
How did you come to partner with Alec Sorenson for the look of Electric and Mythic Bastionland?
This was a real stroke of luck.
Close to the Kickstarter for Electric Bastionland the artist I had lined up could no longer work on the project, so I had to find somebody else extremely quickly.
I asked around with some other writers for artist recommendations and Patrick Stuart pointed me towards Alec's work.
It was totally different to what I'd pictured, but now it's hard to imagine that book with anybody else illustrating it.
How has your design process changed between creating Into the Odd and Mythic Bastionland?
I think I appreciate a little more structure in the procedure of games now.
Into the Odd is very loose, which is perfect for the type of game it is, but with Mythic I wanted clearer processes for things like designing your realm, travelling across the map, and uncovering Myths.
I try to pull some of that structure from boardgames and wargames without losing the infinite freedom that makes RPGs special.
How did the Myths idea of Mythic Bastionland develop?
It started as an experiment, where I considered a world where there was only one of each monster. So there aren't goblins, there's THE goblin.
This let me be a lot more specific about this one being, how they behave, and helped create the sort of fairytale reality of the setting.
Did you consider solo play at all when creating Mythic Bastionland?
I don't really play solo myself, but I knew a lot of the stuff in there would appeal to those who do.
I hope the spark tables, travel procedure, and realm creation all support that style of play. It's also a lot of fun playing with just a single knight and their squire.
If you had to be a Knight from Mythic Bastionland, which would you be?
They all feel a little cursed to me!
With some busy conventions coming up I feel like the Cosmic Knight's ability to warp off to a private sanctuary for a moment would be useful
What are your favourite games to play (that aren't yours)?
Paranoia is a one-shot favourite for sure, some of the most fun I've had with TTRPGs, but obviously I've hacked together my own version of the system and setting!
Beside that I really enjoyed playing a campaign of Traveller recently, and I've been playtesting a lot of games-in-progress with some other designers in my city.
What are your next big projects that you can talk about?
Intergalactic Bastionland has all my attention right now! It's going to be a standalone game in the same family as Electric and Mythic, but very much its own thing aiming for a different style of play.
Where can people find you online?
There are links to everything I do at www.bastionland.com
Is there anything else you would like to talk about?
Only to say thank you for playing Mythic Bastionland and I'm glad you've had so much fun with it.
Finishing Up
If you haven't looked at Bastionland, now's as good a time as any! There's an Intro to Mythic Bastionland and solo actual play on Rand Roll.
There are many more articles on Rand Roll. Plus a Rand Roll Discord and instagram of Random Tables. I also create Generators at Chaos Gen and have a monthly random tools Newsletter.
