For the Realm, For Glory, for the Kids.

11/15/25

I've had a pretty big shift in my gaming system preferences lately. Last year, EZd6 was my primary game engine. Now, we're playing Mythic Bastionland and Nimble; Let's talk about it. 

If you've played with me recently, you know I refuse to play DnD5e for ethical reasons and rejected the system’s mechanical foundation in favor of leaner games with more intentional design. This saw me falling in love with EZd6 and running a campaign for almost two years in it. The pick up and play nature, the 5-minute character creation, and the ability to play with just 1 6-sided die were all selling points. 10/10, wonderful time. Combat was fast, skill checks were simple and universal, and I could blow through 2-3x more content per session than I could with DND/Dungeon Crawl Classics. 

Now, I need games to be even faster, I want stats back, and the little ones I'm running games for in the Maps, Math, Monsters program need levels and class abilities to fixate on. The solution is two-fold: Mythic Bastionland for the adults and home games, Nimble 2 for the babies and folks that need a little more crunch. 

Mythic Bastionland is a gem by Chris McDowall that features 72 knights you roll at random, 3 stats that you roll randomly, and a roll under system to perform skill checks/saves. Also, it's got the single best story generation engine I've ever seen. You generate a world, use a few of the 72 myths included in the book, and watch as characters slowly uncover myths by randomly encountering their 6 escalating Omens. The prompts and character blocks given for each myth are fast, evocative reads with just enough information for a game master to create gold on the fly with immaculate vibes. 

The hex crawl is the meat of the game and its elegant design makes it easy to run with minimal/no prep beyond initial world generation. Combat is quick, deadly, and meaningful. Chris removes attack rolls, introduces guard as a health buffer that regenerates between battles, and makes you regret every hit you take. I've been able to get first timers to the point of rolling dice within 10 minutes of sitting, and I love it. 

Nimble 2 is what I was hoping DnD 2024 would be: the dungeons and dragons fantasy/ideal experience distilled and rebuilt from the ground up. Without the legacy mechanics and holdovers from 50 years of iterative game design, it strikes a good balance of speed and detail. And coincidentally, Nimble also removes attack rolls. 

Expect more words about these two systems as I build out my Gaming Empire for 2026.