The Smiling Fox

Ep 8 - Bonfires from Sparks

Show notes: Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf [https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf] Music: 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 [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 [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/ [https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/]. Timings: 00:00 Intro 00:55 Example Spark Table results 03:47 Sparks for special contexts 04:52 Mixing and matching 06:49 The squire wager 07:40 Changing the purpose 08:12 Under time pressure 13:31 Rerolling 15:59 Elaborating later 17:39 Myth-like results 20:24 Chains of associations 22:06 Themes for interpretation 23:58 Woland - a collaborative mythic realm 34:16 Lasting effects 36:38 40+ sessions 37:25 Threads that aren't myths 44:12 Adding extra omens 45:10 More example Sparks 48:24 You be the Judge! 55:24 Q+A Branching omens 58:40 Q+A Environmental challenges 1:02:47 Q+A Non-interactive omens 1:07:17 Outro Discussed on the show: * Blorb principles https://idiomdrottning.org/blorb-principles [https://idiomdrottning.org/blorb-principles] * Oddpocrypha 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--62324279 [https://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-1-s3e01--62324279] * Woland project - launch and collection of all articles https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/2026/01/woland-collaborative-mythic-realm.html [https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/2026/01/woland-collaborative-mythic-realm.html] * Beardmancer’s method for blending sparks for prep https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/one-method-to-prep-for-improvisation [https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/one-method-to-prep-for-improvisation] * d4 Caltrops’s d100 – Absent Adventurer: Where Have You Been? https://blog.d4caltrops.com/2026/01/d100-absent-adventurer-where-have-you.html [https://blog.d4caltrops.com/2026/01/d100-absent-adventurer-where-have-you.html] * Bastionland Discord - source of questions for the Q+A section https://discord.com/invite/Y6sGBra [https://discord.com/invite/Y6sGBra] Find the hosts at: * Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/ [https://luckroll.blogspot.com/] * William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/ [https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/] * Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/ [https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/]

Ep 7 - The Mythical and the Mundane

Show notes: We're joined by Kieron Gillen from https://oldmenrunningtheworld.com/ [https://oldmenrunningtheworld.com/] and designer of DIE: The Roleplaying Game https://rowanrookanddecard.itch.io/die-rpg [https://rowanrookanddecard.itch.io/die-rpg] This episode also features a previously-recorded segment from our episode 3 guest, Jesse from https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/ [https://beardmancerbungalow.blot.im/]. Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf [https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf] Our intro music is "Medieval" by Ptibec https://openverse.org/audio/1f62fd74-2742-45de-b6eb-79f9dbbddb3a [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 [https://openverse.org/audio/794859e7-c63c-466e-9f76-631e1e01e098] and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Timings: 00:00 Intro 03:21 Setting up the realm 06:10 Sparks when needed 09:31 Blorbiness and characters 14:17 Ageing and legacy 15:29 Narrative and story 18:00 Protecting the reality 21:09 Seers 22:15 A generational saga 27:48 Unresolved situations 32:23 Prepping myths and sites 35:57 Succession 37:26 Turning the wheels 38:58 Pursuits 41:27 Planning time jumps 43:59 The knights' reputations 44:54 Batman creating supervillains 47:30 Myths as problems 48:41 Domain-level play 50:58 Questing knights 52:47 Skipping travel 54:29 Feasts and Seers 57:21 Talking to stones 58:41 Sparks and improv 1:00:55 Ending the campaign 1:04:25 Jesse: Story Game / OSR 1:06:29 Kieron: Story Game / OSR 1:11:07 The Oath as GM principles 1:13:00 You be the Judge! 1:19:16 Outro Discussed on the show: * Kieron's comics https://bindings.app/shelf/1FLv6kLb [https://bindings.app/shelf/1FLv6kLb] * Kieron's games https://kierongillen.itch.io/ [https://kierongillen.itch.io/] * Amiga Power https://archive.org/details/amiga-power [https://archive.org/details/amiga-power] * Speedball 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyX4BPU-Bao [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyX4BPU-Bao] * Blorb principles https://idiomdrottning.org/blorb-principles [https://idiomdrottning.org/blorb-principles] * Stephen R Donaldson: Mordant's Need https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordant%27s_Need [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordant%27s_Need] * The Skim: Mythic Bastionland https://oldmenrunningtheworld.com/the-skim-mythic-bastionland/ [https://oldmenrunningtheworld.com/the-skim-mythic-bastionland/] * Pendragon https://www.chaosium.com/pendragon/ [https://www.chaosium.com/pendragon/] Find the hosts at: * Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/ [https://luckroll.blogspot.com/] * William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/ [https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/] * Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/ [https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/]

Ep 6 - To Stick the Landing

Show notes: We're joined by Amanda P. from https://weirdwonder.bearblog.dev/ [https://weirdwonder.bearblog.dev/] and https://weirdwonder.itch.io/ [https://weirdwonder.itch.io/] Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf [https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf] Our intro music is "Medieval" by Ptibec https://openverse.org/audio/1f62fd74-2742-45de-b6eb-79f9dbbddb3a [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 [https://openverse.org/audio/794859e7-c63c-466e-9f76-631e1e01e098] and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Timings: 00:00 Intro 01:00 Amanda's writing 03:51 Horror 06:19 Pilgrimage of the Sun Guard 13:50 Capsule games 15:54 Mythical and Mundane 16:47 Preparing the realm 24:16 Campaign one-sheet 26:25 Player buy-in 28:03 Using OSR supplements 31:55 Two realms, many seasons 37:16 The next campaign? 42:46 The epilogue 45:14 The City Quest 50:58 You be the Judge! 57:45 Player theories 59:58 Outro Discussed on the show: * Amanda P's blogpost Arthurian Mysticism and Violence: a Mythic Bastionland Analysis: https://weirdwonder.bearblog.dev/mythic-bastionland/ [https://weirdwonder.bearblog.dev/mythic-bastionland/] * Pilgrimage of the Sun Guard: https://weirdwonder.itch.io/sunguard [https://weirdwonder.itch.io/sunguard] * Chris Bissette's game jam https://itch.io/jam/wretched-jam [https://itch.io/jam/wretched-jam] * d4 Caltrops blog https://blog.d4caltrops.com/ [https://blog.d4caltrops.com/] * Armanda Haller https://armandah.itch.io/ [https://armandah.itch.io/] * Mythic GM Emulator https://www.wordmillgames.com/page/mythic-gme.html [https://www.wordmillgames.com/page/mythic-gme.html] * A procedure for playing group modules as solo adventures https://symbolic.city/misc/mastermind-solo [https://symbolic.city/misc/mastermind-solo] * John Harper: Lady Blackbird https://ladyblackbird.org/ [https://ladyblackbird.org/] * Michael E. Shea: The Lazy GM's Resource Document https://slyflourish.com/lazy_gm_resource_document.html [https://slyflourish.com/lazy_gm_resource_document.html] * Capsule games https://riseupcomus.blogspot.com/2024/01/capsule-games-part-i-what-are-capsule.html [https://riseupcomus.blogspot.com/2024/01/capsule-games-part-i-what-are-capsule.html] Books mentioned: * Louisa May Alcott: Little Women https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37106 [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37106] * Sir James Knowles: The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12753 [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12753] * Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte d'Arthur https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1251 [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1251] * Chrétien de Troyes: Perceval, the Story of the Grail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceval%2C_the_Story_of_the_Grail [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceval%2C_the_Story_of_the_Grail] Find the hosts at: * Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/ [https://luckroll.blogspot.com/] * William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/ [https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/] * Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/ [https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/]

Ep 5 - The Art of War

Show notes: Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf [https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf] Our intro music is "Medieval" by Ptibec https://openverse.org/audio/1f62fd74-2742-45de-b6eb-79f9dbbddb3a [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 [https://openverse.org/audio/794859e7-c63c-466e-9f76-631e1e01e098] and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. The music "(Bossa Nova Loop) Thank You for Shopping!" by plasterbrain https://freesound.org/people/plasterbrain/sounds/464924/ [https://freesound.org/people/plasterbrain/sounds/464924/] is licensed under Creative Commons 0. Timings: 00:00 Intro 01:00 Decisive combat 02:54 Combat rules and characters 04:33 Narrating combat 06:00 Bad rolls 08:28 Combat environments 11:15 Mortal wounds and scars 17:06 Leaving characters exposed 18:48 Impairing weapons 24:16 Creative gambits 27:30 Focus 29:24 Warband combat 32:36 Bonus attack dice 38:45 Memorable fights 46:14 You be the Judge! 54:44 Outro Discussed on the show: * Decisive combat https://www.bastionland.com/2017/05/decisive-combat.html [https://www.bastionland.com/2017/05/decisive-combat.html] * Held Kinetic Energy in Old School Combat Arenas https://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2017/07/held-kinetic-energy-in-old-school.html [https://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2017/07/held-kinetic-energy-in-old-school.html] * Impairing Impairing https://www.bastionland.com/2025/07/impairing-impairing.html [https://www.bastionland.com/2025/07/impairing-impairing.html] * House rule idea: Giant creatures as Warbands (u/Jack_Shandy) https://www.reddit.com/r/MythicBastionland/comments/1oycio1/house_rule_idea_giant_creatures_as_warbands/ [https://www.reddit.com/r/MythicBastionland/comments/1oycio1/house_rule_idea_giant_creatures_as_warbands/] Find the hosts at: * Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/ [https://luckroll.blogspot.com/] * William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/ [https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/] * Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/ [https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/]

Ep 4 - Storytelling

Show notes: We're joined by Thomas Manuel to discuss his recent actual play. You can find Thomas at: * Yes Indie'd Podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/1B1W6XzutFweJPW88L3Pxk [https://open.spotify.com/show/1B1W6XzutFweJPW88L3Pxk] * Indie RPG Newsletter https://ttrpg.in/ [https://ttrpg.in/] * Rascal https://www.rascal.news/ [https://www.rascal.news/] His Mythic Bastionland games: * First story arc: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNuXiEYyM4itTXztUsIXmD6JG4w_FGWXc [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNuXiEYyM4itTXztUsIXmD6JG4w_FGWXc] * Second story arc: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNuXiEYyM4isMPsTSspN-mdScWt2E9l2T [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNuXiEYyM4isMPsTSspN-mdScWt2E9l2T] His referee, Judd Karlman https://githyankidiaspora.com/mythic-bastionland/ [https://githyankidiaspora.com/mythic-bastionland/] His liege, MadJay https://playfearless.substack.com/ [https://playfearless.substack.com/] Mythic Bastionland was created by Chris McDowall https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf [https://bastionlandpress.com/products/mythic-bastionland-hardback-book-plus-pdf] Our intro music is "Medieval" by Ptibec https://openverse.org/audio/1f62fd74-2742-45de-b6eb-79f9dbbddb3a [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 [https://openverse.org/audio/794859e7-c63c-466e-9f76-631e1e01e098] and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Timings: 00:00 Intro 01:52 Thomas' campaign 06:19 Connections and relationships 10:15 Rolling a knight 12:23 Being a good player 15:50 The Smiling Fox play by post 17:51 Play style 19:57 Improv 23:57 Myths for challenge and flavour 31:59 Combat! 37:19 Fostering player creativity 41:23 Sharing the map 44:09 Collaborative descriptions 47:21 First time GMs 51:36 Duelling as a highlight 52:30 Preferred number of players 54:41 You be the Judge! 1:02:58 Outro Discussed on the show: * Interview with Prismatic Wasteland https://open.spotify.com/episode/6hsUWciOWZ7MKivI0KWRsm [https://open.spotify.com/episode/6hsUWciOWZ7MKivI0KWRsm] * Sticky encounters https://www.prismaticwasteland.com/blog/encounter-checklist [https://www.prismaticwasteland.com/blog/encounter-checklist] Find the hosts at: * Brian https://luckroll.blogspot.com/ [https://luckroll.blogspot.com/] * William https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/ [https://halfawormandabittenapple.blogspot.com/] * Horst https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/ [https://blackcitygauntlet.blogspot.com/]