Electric Bastionland (06-03-21)

 

This is another game I was led to by Ben Milton of Knave & Questing Beast fame and the last one I read (just for the record, right now I’m almost finished reading Knock a really impressive OSR zine and UVG will be up next). It’s an OSR ruleset but the setting is *much* more like Over The Edge than D&D, in fact it is OTE that it reminds me of the most. It's also a sequel to Chris McDowall's previous game Into the Odd which I have not read.

The system is very stripped down and all the rules are explained in 4 pages - the vast majority of the rest of the book being taken up with Failed Careers (character classes). So the rules - there are only 3 ability scores, Strength, Dexterity & Charisma, all rolled on 3d6. Saves are made on a d20 roll under basis. Combat is fairly radical - there is no roll to hit, you simply roll damage and deduct that from the opponent’s HP - Hit Protection, once you reach 0 HP you are wounded and further damage is removed from your Strength score. Each wound inflicted requires a Critical Damage save (against Strength!), failing this means you are incapacitated and will die within the hour if unattended. There's a Scar Table to roll on if you reach 0 HP, which interestingly is the only opportunity a character gets to improve their stats, there is otherwise no leveling system ("5 Bloody Mess - You need stitches. You are DEPRIVED until its done by a Specialist. Reroll your Maximum HP on 2d6 and keep the result if higher"). Disputed initiative is determined by Dexterity saves. 

The 300+ page book is laid out so that you can start playing immediately and learn what you need as you go. Most of the world flavour comes from the player characters Failed Careers, out of 100 or so: Cryptohistorian; Student of history that never was, or  Inseparable Twins; There are two of you, identical in most ways. Your career is determined from a look up table where you cross reference your lowest and highest ability scores. These give you some random piece of equipment and the answers to two questions specific to your background (“How are you messed up by experimenting with time?”, “What does the elder twin get?”), serving to balance out the roll of the dice with the power of starting equipment/abilities. And to make sure the game has direction from the outset, the failed career of the youngest player determines who the group as a whole owe £10,000 to (The Hot Slab, Morgue and Social Club:Take shared ownership of a case of 12 bottles of Highly Carbonated Formaldehyde. It can be drunk without harm for a mild buzz, but causes foul-smelling trapped wind).

A key difference between this and OTE is that where OTE gives you maybe hundreds of pages about the denizens, gangs and zones of its city, Bastionland just gives you some tables and rules for how to make up what the players will find there. There is something really engaging, vital and incredibly efficient about this. In the words of it's creator Chris McDowall; “This is a game to be played, not a textbook to be studied. It’s designed for the game table, not the library.” That's me told.

Physical and digital copies of Electric Bastionland can be ordered from the creator's website.