Mythic Bastionland Solo with Juice Oracle

Seek the Myths. Honour the Seers. Protect the Realm.

Wrapping up Season Three of Rolling Solo with Mythic Bastionland and Juice Oracle. Sections for RPG, Tools, Characters and Chargen

Disclosure - I'm a DriveThru RPG affiliate

RPG Introduction - Mythic Bastionland

mythic bastionland intro | solo tools | chars | chargen

Mythic Bastionland by Chris McDowall follows on from and builds on systems built in Into the Odd and Electric Bastionland. I did an actual play with Electric Bastionland in Season 2.

In Mythic Bastionland you play Knights seeking glory and possibly enough glory to undertake the City Quest. The characters, guided by various Oracles, seek to resolve various Myths threatening / present in the Realm. The system usings a simple d20 mechanic for resolving situations where it's needed. Combat is similar to Into the Odd or Electric Bastionland, with more options and refinement. I'll cover these once I've actually had a chance to play them!

The Knights of Mythic Bastionland have three Virtues (Vigour, Clarity, Spirit), ranging from 2 to 18. They also have Guard to avoid wounds and most importantly a Knight type/profession, such as the Barbed Knight or Pigeon Knight. These give equipment, a special ability, a Passion and a lot of flavour. (There's a section on Character Generation below).

The introduction gives three options for Starting your game, with three levels of experience and power. There's also a Scope, ranging from a single session to and ongoing epic Saga. It's always good to see options laid out plainly for how to play an rpg. There's also an option to start with Squires for small groups (which I took)

The Basic Rules are a page long, with another page for Harm and Scars. There's another page for more Combat rules, then single pages covering Warfare, Arms & Goods and People & Realms. With the basics covered it also explores (in a page each) Creating a Realm, Sites (more detailed adventure locations), Refereeing, Time, Travel, Exploration, Dominion and Authority (last 2 covering ruling a holding).

That's all the rules. There are four pages dedicated to Spark Tables, and 144 pages of unique Knights and Myths (72 of each). These are presented in thematic, evocative double spreads, such as the War Knight paired with The Goblin myth or the Emerald Knight with the Legion myth. In addition these pages each have many prompts at the bottom of each page, including names, objects, dwellings and hazards, for running the game or playing Solo.

Lastly is the Oddpocrypha, with extra examples, thoughts and guidelines for all sorts of things in the game. Such as Character Creation, Exploration, Combat, Trade and Hospitality.

Overall it's an amazing package of presentation, layout and theme for an RPG! I look forward to taking it for a spin.

One big part is Creating the Realm, which I'll cover next time in the Start.

Solo Tools

mythic bastionland intro | solo tools | chars | chargen

Mythic Bastionland has lots of tools that help with running it solo. From the option to start with a Squire or two, to the Spark Tables and many prompts.

But there's an oracle I've been meaning to try for a long time, and that's Juice Oracle. It's lightweight (4 pages of tables), packed with tables and free.

The only oddity is the oracle requiring Fate Dice. I'll check to see if I still have some in my collection (I tried and failed to fully understand FATE Core some years ago). Otherwise these can be simulated with a pair of d6s.

It's designed as a pocketfold to be printed out and used physically.

Introducing Ser Litwitte and Ser Floria

mythic bastionland intro | solo tools | chars | chargen

Ser Litwitte, Willow Knight

male knight-errant, Memories of Home (Castle, Fire), Knighted by The Carved Seer. No-nonsense, wiry and lean, melodic voice with passionate manner. Cautious demeanour and interest in fashion.

VIGOUR 12, CLARITY 17, SPIRIT 16, GUARD 5

Youthful Energy (once, treat a Mortal Wound as a Normal Wound)
Bend with the Wind (when use Gambit to Move, Armour 4 until next turn, doesn't stack)
Passion: Doubt (restore SPI when defer to someone more senior, even tho disagree)

Equipment - old sword (d8 hefty), half shield (A1), gambeson (A1), dagger (d6), torches, rope, dry rations, camping gear, cautious steed (VIG 10, CLA 15, SPI 5, 2GD)

Ser Floria, Questing Knight

female knight errant, Knighted by The Buried Seer. Overly familiar, zealous, from somewhere cold. Delicate physique, decorated dress. Prying demeanour, ambition for knowledge.

VIGOUR 13, CLARITY 2, SPIRIT 15, GUARD 5

Cold Stone (can absorb ailment from wielder, vanishing in a burning light, restock each Season)
Pledge Quest (swear quest, until complete it cannot restore GD, but +d12 on attacks vs those stand in way. Lose d12 SPI if abandon quest.
Passion: Impetuosity (restore SPI when first to fight)

Equipment - massive ancient sword (d8 long, from a tomb), kite shield (d4, A1), 3 javelins (d6), dagger (d6), torches, rope, dry rations, camping gear, reckless charger (VIG 14, CLA 6, SPI 6, 1GD, d8 trample)

2 Squires -

Ursell, dour, righteous, VIG 3, CLA 6, SPI 6, GD 1, pony (VIG 7, CLA 7, SPI 2, 2 GD), 3 javelins (d6), dagger (d6)
Dorza, knows everyone, motivated by fear, VIG 7, CLA 4, SPI 3, GD 1, pony (VIG 7, CLA 7, SPI 2, 2 GD), shield (d4, A1), dagger (d6)

Character Generation for Mythic Bastionland

mythic bastionland intro | solo tools | chars | chargen

Some of the bits of your character depend on your Start. Wanderer gives you young knight errants (rolling d12+d6 for each Virtue), while Courtier and Ruler starts give you Mature Knights (with d12+6 for Virtues). These choices also affect your Guard (d6 vs 2d6 vs d6+6), which is how good you are at avoiding Wounds.

I chose Wanderer start, so my Knights used d12+d6 for each Virtue and d6 Guard (rolling really well with one exception).

Then you roll or choose your Knight for each character, from a choice of 72. Each Knight gives you Property (usually including a weapon and steed), an unique Ability and a Passion (a way to restore lost Spirit). Each also has a pair of d6 tables giving something unique about the Knight (such as a Loyal Bird for the Talon Knight). Last is details of the Seer who knighted the character.

Characters all start with basic equipment, know three Feats (options in combat) and have sworn the Oath.

There's also the option to flesh them out using prompts from the bottom of Knight / Omen pages and the Spark Tables. I used these for both characters and their Squires.

"Seek the Myths, Honour the Seers, Protect the Realm"