Although our campaign with it has just started, Mythic Bastionland has already proven itself to be one of the most innovative games in the Nu-OSR space. Titles utilizing this up-and-coming approach to TTRPG design are usually referred to as "Capsule Games". In this post, I'll point out some ways Mythic Bastionland deviates from other games of this design philosophy and how I think its success can affect the industry.
Mythic Bastionland is the latest title from the celebrated TTRPG designer, Chris McDowall of Into the Odd fame. The game's setting can most aptly be described as a cross between Greg Stafford's Pendragon, Hârn, Dolmenwood, and Cairn by Yochai Gal. While mechanically it resembles the established Mark of the Odd family. Such comparisons might make Mythic Bastionland seem uninspired or just another rehash of these systems. I can assure you however: It is anything but.
The part that makes it one of the most novel and unique games isn't its setting or the rule set. It's the content. Every player controls one of 72 Knights trying to solve randomly rolled Myths. This way both the Company and the referee are forced to navigate the wacky situations produced by the system's mechanical procedures. Even then, this wealth of material only works because of its superb quality that invites improvisation and active engagement with the fiction.
The encouragement of creative problem-solving was clearly an express goal in the game's design process. Both the referee and the players are frequently challenged in this respect. The ambiguity of much of the rulebook's writing and the vagueness of the implied setting keep the referee on their toes, while Knights are constantly encountering strange Omens to interact with. At the same time though, Mythic Bastionland is extremely easy to play and GM, because most of the heavy lifting is handled by the rule set's robust procedures.
This procedural nature of the rule system and the inclusion of premade adventure material makes it almost similar to a board game. Even though this blurring of lines between tabletop gaming mediums is not unprecedented, this particular style of TTRPGs has remained relatively unknown and underutilized.
This emerging TTRPG design space is sometimes referred to as "Capsule Gaming". The term is hard to pin down exactly. The following definition is taken from Rise Up Comus's blog, one of the first to discuss this movement in detail:
While Knight at the Opera gives these criteria for "cappiness":
This definition obviously makes for a very wide spectrum of "cappiness", which post factum, artificial circumscription can't describe perfectly, but the basic idea is apparent. Mythic Bastionland fulfills many of these principles, and although it isn't singular in its self-containedness, its execution is unique. Next, I'll look at some ways it deviates from other rule sets of this kind.
Apart from Starter Sets and other boxed TTRPGs, the most widespread, and also the least "cappy" systems, are those that include some form of premade settings with at least a minimal amount of adventuring material thrown in. Such games include Outcast Silver Raiders, Dolmenwood, and Wolves Upon the Coast (to a certain extent). Yet there's basically no guidance in the Mythic Bastionland Core Rulebook on worldbuilding. This noticeable lack of a default setting is possibly one of the only things that makes it "hard" to run directly out-of-the-box. Though it can be argued that deliberately leaving these questions open makes for a more folkloric feel.
Other, often GM-less or Narrative systems also center around prewritten adventures or scenario generation frameworks that result in an inherently more finite, and episodic playstyle. This approach too is very popular, especially in the Indie scene. Notable examples include Monster of the Week, FIST, and Carved from Brindlewood games like Public Access. These rule sets assume anthological campaigns, as opposed to Mythic Bastionland's longer sagas which focus on the interaction between the Realm's various coexisting Myths.
At the very end of the "cappiness" spectrum, we find TTRPGs such as Eat the Reich, The Dark Crystal Adventure Game, or Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast that provide a contained experience with a clear beginning and endpoint. The notion of fully-created characters is also common in such systems. Mythic Bastionland certainly follows this pattern. The roster of Knights provided is probably one of the most important elements of the whole game. Though the ending provided is highly cryptic and mostly left up to the GM, as the game only alludes to the mystical City Quest in passing, and never says anything concrete outright.
We can see that the distinction between "Capsule Games" and traditional TTRPGs is rather arbitrary. Certain aspects (e.g. setting) are missing from Mythic Bastionland while others are very much present. Chris McDowall has already revolutionised the TTRPG world once with Into the Odd, and with the sweeping success of his new game, he might just do it again.
For decades, the classic never-ending campaign style dominated the hobby. Now that more episodic and definite titles are maturing, it's only natural that this philosophy is being driven to its extremes. The popularity of Mythic Bastionland demonstartes that this new direction is worth pursuing. People want finite experiences in a market that revolves around the constant need for more splatbooks and unfinishable campaigns.
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