Emergent Mundane Bullshit

Randomness Blogwagon: June 14th, 5 = 2d6 paragraphs, King of Clubs = Goblin Punch

After they followed the realm creation procedure in Mythic Bastionland referees might look at the map and find it pretty empty (unless you think that traditional hexcrawls kinda suck [1] and need to be stripped down to its bare bones). Aren't you supposed to populate it with interesting things like dungeons and wandering monsters [2]? Where are the factions and encounter tables? How are the knights to fulfil their oath of protecting the realm if nothing is threatening its security apart from the Myths, that they have to seek anyway? The promise of a sandbox – emergent stories through the intersection of random encounters, faction play and player actions – seems to be undercut by the absence of traditional hexcrawling ingredients and the linearity of following Omens in chronological order to their conclusion.[3] 

2d6 = 2 paragraphs

I am cooking my Mythic Bastionland campaign with just three ingredients: Truths about the Realm I put in by hand, randomized realm creation and Spark Tables. Everything that emerges in play is the result of initial conditions, PCs reacting to the world, the world reacting to the PCs actions and random rolls to insert surprises into the experiment. The three truths [4] are:

• The King invaded the realm not long ago
• Holdings changed sides during the war.
• The wounds of war have not been healed.

There are no wise NPC to tell them what to do. The Seers are cryptic at best, often utterly opaque and annoying, and homicidal psychopaths at worst. There are no paths (or - oh the horror! - roads) to guide them through the sandbox, no quests to send them on their way [5]. So where does the complexity of a living world come from in Mythic Bastionland? Where do relationships, themes, moral dilemmas and stories emerge from? My answer is: The beautiful randomness of 2d12 Spark Table results [6]! For the relationship between two council members of different holdings I rolled on the drama table: Betrayal (theme) and Blackmail (detail) and I learned something important about the war: a Marshall betrayed the positions of her troops to prevent further bloodshed. For the son of another council member who became the squire to a PC I rolled his desire: Mastery (ambition) and Revenge (motive) and I learned that he lost someone in the war and his wounds have not been healed either. For the goods merchants were transporting to another holding I rolled Military (theme) and Pottery (type) and now they are transporting Greek fire in earthen jars to a keep and I guess another war is brewing. Do the PCs reveal the betrayal or punish the blackmail? Do they allow their squire to enact the revenge or teach them forgiveness? Do they try to prevent the war or throw their weight behind a warring faction? The randomness of spark tables gave me the permission to shape the history of the realm and to present them with moral dilemmas without putting in quests or hooks or stories by hand. I watch the experiment unfold and I am as surprised as the players by the complications the oracle of the dice conjures up.

[1] Hexcrawls kinda suck: https://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2024/01/hexcrawls-kinda-suck.html

[2] Hex based campaign design https://welshpiper.com/hex-based-campaign-design-part-2/

[3] Although to be fair there is the Primacy of Action and the PCs might find ways to leverage one Myth against the other or other means to prevent the story from mindlessly marching towards the last Omen. 

[4] It's a Chris McDowall game of course there aren't two or five of them. 

[5] As you see I am a mad dog gardener Referee, let the seeds fall where they may: blown in by the wind or carried by bird droppings, growing tall in the sun or withering in the shadows.

[6] For more on the beauty of Spark Tables listen to The Smiling Fox episode with yours truly: https://podcastaddict.com/the-smiling-fox/episode/223082576