Mythic Bastionland First Session

Yesterday was my first open-table session of Mythic Bastionland for ATLRPG. For the first session I planned for only 4 players, but an extra one showed up so I let them join.

The Knights:

The Holdings:

Session Recap

The Company (which we still need to name) rode in from the east and made for the closest holding, Cragborough, to quickly get a pulse on the new realm they had entered. After a few days ride they arrived at the holding. During a few days exploring the holding, the Knights were able to learn:

The knights immediately began speculating that the ruler of the holding's illness was an omen for a myth. Deciding to act upon it they attended an open session of court. There they saw a group of farmers, led by Jon Juan Johan, petitioning the court of the recent damage to the crops from a drought. Seizing opportunity the knights offered to assist in determining the cause of the drought. Sir Croyle suggested they head south to the nearest Seer. During this conversation with Sir Croyle there were some awkward in-game moments (but hilarious to the table) about the Reliquary Knight's relic as it was two-headed swan who had been slain for causing a drought in a distant realm, and the Knight was parading the relic around describing its signifance while in a holding suffering from drought.

After another knight spent in Cragborough the Company journeyed south. After making camping in a glade, they awoke to the pleasant sounds of a washerman singing a tune while going about his business. This tune mentioned a "knight who had defeated death." Intrigued the Company questioned the man about his doings and the way to the Seer while making sure to remind him of his station.

Following the washerman's directions while making use of the Gazer Knight's lantern and the Pigeon Knight's homing ability they made their way towards the Sanctum of the Amber Brook. However their journey was interrupted when an ashen skinned knight atop a ghostly steed challenged each of them to solo combat. The Gazer Knight boldly took up this challenge, but was swiftly slain before realizing this was a vision of what would come to pass if stepped into the circle against this ghastly knight.

Disappointed with the lack of willing challengers the ashen knight rode on, and the Company continued to the Weeping Seer's sanctum. Here they came to understand that Sir Croyle was under the effects of a curse, and the curse had intertwined the land's fate and that of its ruler. They were then enlisted to accompany the Seer to Cragborough, but that night while sleeping a substantial section of heather caught fire near the Seer's hut. Geiss the Hooded Knight leapt up and led the Company in putting out the fire. Then the group headed back north to Cragborough.

Along the way they came upon a strange tunnel which the Seer seemed to imply a way of quickly reaching a destination of their choice, but knowing danger lies ahead. They rode through and arrived within sight of Cragborough in a third of the time taken a normal journey. But danger did lurk, but they swiftly slew a group of hound-shaped creatures formed from coils of worms.

With the Weeping Seer accompanying them, they returned to the ruler. There they discovered that the curse's origin was coming from Corvale, possibly from the ruler of that city himself. Determine to discover the truth they set out for Corvale. Along the way they stopped at Jouster's Field, a small set of dwellings in between the two holdings.

Before the field they came upon a curiously located tower. There they spoke to its lone guard who kept asking after the Cudgel, and declaring his need for it to protect the lady sleeping in the tower. But the knights would not relieve the man of his post. Instead they rode on to Jouster's Field and met Osric, a collector of knightly artifacts. The man begrudgingly doled on information on the tower and the Cudgel. He was quite upset that the Knights refused to part with any of their knightly possessions in exchange for his inforamtion.

Then the Company split in two to search for a vantage point and see if the Cudgel was nearby. They found little from the former, but in search for the latter they came across the ghastly knight from earlier, who rode away when he realized they found him.

The party rejoined then we ended it for the session. Nearly two weeks of travel, a duel that would have slain a knight averted, multiple omens encountered, and a quick destruction of a pack of strange beasts. When next we rejoin a few weeks will pass and the Knights will be partaking in the Feast of the Sun at Corvale, the Seat of Power.

Thoughts

I had read several suggestions of starting the knights out with a simple task to ensure they had something to do. I had one planned, and I even put it in the session pitch, but I forgot about it when we set down to play. Instead, I had them randomly determined the Company's starting location along the edge of the map by rolling a d4 for the map edge and a d12 for a hex. Luckily, I was saved by a player who had run the game previously as they insisted on the group heading to the nearby holding to gain information. For future GMs I would definitely recommend a simple task like find a named seer or present yourself to the ruler of the Seat of Power to start off with to avoid the flashes of hestitation in the players' eyes that I briefly encountered.

When they arrived at Cragborough I was able to do a mini time-skip as detailed in this post. I, however, chickened out at the end of the session on advancing to the next Season. I felt like I would be potentially robbing the players' of their momentum in seeking a resolution to the Cudgel or the conflict between Corvale and Cragborough. I called for a dice roll to determine the advancement of time, and settled for advancing time to the Feast of Sun in two weeks.

As for the mini time-skip at Cragborough, I felt I used it effectively to give them an overview of the holding. It also gave me a chance to offer them chances to gain information without playing multiple days. The first of those bits of information was the foreshadowing of a holding thread, while the other three came from pre-rolled conflicts sparks as discussed here and here. Those two pieces of prep really have made the world come alive and have sparked numerous conversations amongst the players about what they should do.

It is also helpful as it allowed me to push on two parts of their oath: "Honour the Seers" and "Protect the Realm." Who better to get to the bottom of a mysterious ailment than a Seer? How better to make the Knights question what is protecting the realm than to pit two holding against each other over devious actions?

One thing I would advise is to grab the tables from Chris McDowall's Into the Land post. It offers another set of spark tables for each terrain type. I'd also advise writing out more descriptions yourself. After revealing one of the Snail's omens I had to repeatedly detail an outcropping of rocks and I quickly ran out of ways of describing it.

As for the myths they were all a blast to describe and watch as the players interacted with them. Some of the early omens were shrugged off, while others were intermingled in their eyes. I would be curious to know how many omens and myths they think they've encountered so far. My only complaint is when I get a 2 or 3 and trying to figure out which Myth is closest. I'm very tempted to create a table so I can quit counting hexes. Okay, and I was a little disappointed that none of the Knights besides the Gazer Knight took up the challenge of the Wight. Yes, they would have likely died, but it would have been intriguing to see the outcome. Would the Knights have honored the duel? Would they have intervened?

This was also the first instance of the Gazer Knight's ability to undo one of their or another Knight of the Company's decisions each day. I thought it was a good use of the skill, but I must admit I am worried about it. I don't want to join the anti or limited Wish spell crowd, but I'm also not going to replay a substantianal part of the session. As for the other Knight's abilities they seem interesting, though I think the Pigeon Knight is going to drive me bonkers asking after the names of everyone's homes and if the current location is considered someone's home. I am debating adding a once per day limit on the ability just to limit the question.

I only got to reveal one Seer so far, and for me it felt like a dud. I'm not really sure how to play the Weeping Seer in person without being a complete time waste. The Seers were one part of the creation I did not curate, and I realize I should have. Well now I know at least which Seer will be the victim of the Mist if they ever encounter it.

In the end this was an incredibly easy first session to run. I'm looking forward to the next, but what in the world am I going to do for the Feast of the Sun.