The Corrupt Forest

A Tweedle & Dunh Adventure

I'm planning on alternating between miniature games and roleplaying. Last week was a minis game so this week I bring you another installment of the Tales of Tweedle & Dunh.

Introduction

After their adventure in the forest, Tweedle and Dunh report their experiences to their master Groombal. He seems very concerned.

He sends them back, but they are attacked by vine blights. Dunh kills one but Tweedle is seriously wounded. They retreat and return home.

A couple of weeks later Groombal tells them, "Prepare to return to the forest. You leave tomorrow."

The next morning, there is a knock on the door. A young warrior, armed with a mace and shield, stands there.

"Good, good!" Groombal says. He introduces the warrior as Jonuz.

"A little extra muscle never hurt. I need you to venture back into the forest and find out what is causing the corruption you found."

So our trio sets off.

The Adventure

The TL;DR version is in bold italics

They make it back to the hag's hut without incident, then venture deeper into the woods.

The party's path through the forest.

They battle a giant spider

They come to the site of their battle with the blights (1) but now pass without incident.

Turning right, they come to a clearing. As Dunh steps in, he puts his hand out to push back a branch. He feels something sticky. He pulls back.

"Wait." he whispers, then shows his comrades his hand. A sticky web hangs from it.

"Spiders!"

The look into the clearing (2) and see a giant arachnid. 

It spots them, and leaps at Jonuz. He dodges. The party all strike, and slay the creature.

The spider's lair is a dead end, so they reverse course. They come across a pool (3) with green, sludgy water. Dead animals lay scattered about.

They discover a dead pool

Tweedle investigates, then announces, "It appears that these animals were poisoned by this befouled water.. There is great corruption in these woods."

They begin to follow a stream that feeds the pool.

They run afoul of some traps

They continue on their way, following the polluted stream. At one point (4), they fall into a pit trap. They managed to pull themselves out, but escape with some bumps and bruises.

Later (5), a swinging log trap strikes Dunh. As he dusts himself off, he comments, "I get the feeling that someone doesn't want us here."

"Indeed," Tweedle agrees. "Let's step more carefully from now on."

They battle some cursed elves

Eventually, our heroes come to a clearing (6), where they spy 4 elves. However, there is something off with these elves. Their skin is a dull gray and their eyes are filled with an angry red glow.

Tweedle steps forward, "Good day, good people..."

He gets no further, for three of the elves draw their swords and rush at them. The fourth scampers away down a path that exits the clearing.

Tweedle is caught off guard and cannot get a spell off. However, Dunh reacts quickly. He steps forward, parries a blow, and buries his axe into the elf's chest. The elf collapses.

Jonuz manages to hit his opponent, but gets wounded in return. The combatants begin to circle, looking for an opening.

Seeing that Jonuz is holding his own, Dunh goes to Tweedle's aid. He stabs the elf. Tweedle follows up with a successful strike, but his staff skitters off the elf's armor. The elf turns and slashes Dunh. Dunh ignores the pain and counters, striking down the elf. He turns and sees that Jonuz has also dispatched his opponent.

Panting, Dunh asks, "Why did they attack us?"

"There is something strange about these elves," Tweedle agrees.

Ambush gone awry

Dunh then asks, "What should we do about the one that got away? Should we pursue him?"

"No," Tweedle commands. "I have a better idea."

They bind their wounds, then hide in the bushes surrounding the clearing. Tweedle then casts an illusion of the party sitting in the middle of the clearing.

"I bet that the elf went for help. When they return, we'll surprise them!"

They wait and wait, but no one shows.

"This is ridiculous," Dunh states. "They're not coming. I'm going for them."

He then steps out of the bushes and begins marching down the path. Frustrated, Tweedle just shakes his head and follows, with Jonuz in tow.

They suffer the drider's sting

As Dunh strides down the path, Tweedle then Jonuz race past him. Then another figure brushes by; it's Dunh!

Dunh stops, puzzled. He looks back and sees his comrades.

"Yes," Tweedle expounds, "let the fake us take the lead."

And it proves to be a good plan. As they approach a clearing, the escaped elf jumps out and hacks at the illusory Dunh.

Simultaneously, a hideous figure leaps upon the fake Tweedle. It is half spider and half human!

Dunh rushes the creature and strikes. His axe bites deep into its torso. It lashes with its sword, cutting into Dunh's arm. He begins to feel woozy.

"Poison!"

Meanwhile, Jonuz and Tweedle take down the elf, then turn on the drider.

Dunh and the creature exchange blows. Tweedle casts a protection spell on his pal.

Seeing Tweedle cast magic, the drider turns on him. It strikes, wounding and poisoning Tweedle.

Turning, the creature strike Dunh again. He is bleeding profusely and the poison slows him. The creature is also badly wounded, but Tweedle doesn't think they can take it down. Not in their weakened state.

"Dunh! Let's get out of here!"

Dunh nods his head and limps from the fight. Tweedle and Dunh cover him as they all retreat back down the path. The drider chooses not to pursue.

They retreat and return home

They make it back to the elves' clearing and take a moment to bind their wounds. But they are clearly too weak to continue. They head back. Fortunately, they do not have any encounters on their way home.

What happens to our heroic trio? Find out next time!

Some Game Notes

As I mentioned previously, I've come back to the idea of creating monster cards customized to my own RPG stats. I created some for this adventure.

I didn't actually use them. Instead, I had some unillustrated index cards. Nevertheless, I like the look and will continue to develop them. For example, I notice I don't have room to include special abilities. I also plan to add more monsters.

Ultimately, I'll get them printed at a local copy shop.

Tales from the Woods

A Tweedle and Dunh Adventure

One day, Groombal orders our heroes, Tweedle and Dunh, to go into the woods to find briar heart. They'll need to cut down a tree so Dunh brings an axe.

A little ways into the woods, 3 crazed wolves attack.

Before they know it, the wolves are upon them. Tweedle does not have time to cast a spell, so he sets to it with his staff. He manages to KO the attacking him. He turns to help Dunh, who is beset by two. Dunh chops one with his axe and Tweedle takes out the next.

Later, they discover a pool of befouled water. Its contents are seeping through the forest, spreading corruption.

"Something's just not right about these woods." declares Tweedle. Dunh agrees.

Our heroes are attacked by 2 scorpions.

Tweedle casts mirror image to confuse them. One attacks the mirror images, dispelling two before Tweedle offs it. 

Dunh is having problems with the other. It inflicts multiple wounds; fortunately it does not poison Dunh. Finally, Tweedle and Dunh gang up on the last and kill it.

They proceed deeper in the woods. A shambling mound attacks.

Tweedle tries to scare it away with a fire illusion, but the spell fails. Dunh charges, and strikes his axe deep into its side. The axe gets stuck.

The thing grapples Dunh, dragging him into its slimy mass. But Dunh manages to free his arm and grab his sword. He strikes, severing pieces of vegetation from the creature. The thing recoils in pain, allowing Dunh to get free. 

Enraged, Dunh charges, slicing several bits from the creature. Finally, Tweedle smashes it with his staff, and the thing crumples lifeless.

By this time, Dunh is seriously wounded. But they are deep in the forest with no safe place to rest. They press on.

Finally, they come to a hut. They knock and a lovely druidess answers. She invites them into her stone-floored home.

Seeing Dunh's wounds, she offers a healing potion. Dunh reaches for it.

"Wait!" warns Tweedle. "Something is just not right here."

Dunh hesitates. The druidess' appearance changes. She transforms into a hideous hag! With a cry of anger, she fires a magic missile at Tweedle. It just grazes him!

The hag attacks Tweedle, but only manages to dispel his last mirror image. Tweedle casts a protection spell. It fails to stop the hag and she rends him with her claws.

Dunh turns to his friend's defense, chopping into the hag with his axe.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this thing!"

The hag continues to press Tweedle, rending him again. But Tweedle lashes out, smashing in the hag's skull.

🎲🎲🎲

Our heroes spend the night in the hut. They bind their wounds and get some rest. They even find some briar heart.

"I didn't even need this thing," Dunh complains about his axe.

Their return trip home is uneventful. They tell Groombal about their adventures. Surprisingly, he is gravely concerned.

"I don't think the hag was the source of the corruption. There is more evil in that forest than you have seen so far."

GAME NOTES

Lately, I've been watching a YouTube channel called Dungeon Craft. The host talks about a lot of RPG topics, including crafting terrain for use with miniatures. This inspired me to do a little crafting.

I sifted through my 10mm fantasy miniatures for some suitable figures. The best I could find for Dunh was an axe-wielding barbarian. I decided to create an adventure to explain why he switched from sword and shield to axe. Hence the trip to the woods.

I then needed some forest terrain. I had some green felt for the floor. I whipped up some trees using cork, corrugated cardboard, and pot scrubbers. I think they do the job.

I made the stone floor earlier in the week. It is inspired by Dungeon Craft, but much simpler and less realistic. I used corrugated cardboard because I have a lot of it lying around, thanks to ordering pet supplies from Chewy for my 4 cats.

Finally, I started painting some fantasy figures I had lying around.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed some actual pictures of my RPG adventures.

Tweedle's Arachnaphobia

A Tweedle & Dunh Adventure

They Meet Groombal

Once they ensure that the goblins do not return, Tweedle and Dunh resume their journey to town. After an uneventful trip, they arrive. They quickly get lost in the winding streets of the thriving metropolis. At least it seemed thriving to two country bumpkins.

"Now where could Groombal be?" pondered Dunh.

"Groombal?" a passerby replies. "He lives just around the corner, third door down."

I rolled a D6 to see what happened in town. I was just free-forming it, with a 1 being something bad and 6 being good fortune. I rolled a 6.

Soon they are in Groombal's curiosity shop.

"Go away! I don't need help." the elderly, bearded sage complained.

"But my master told me to bring you this book," replied Tweedle as he pulls the golden tome from his backpack.

Groombal stops shooing them from his shop.

"What is this?" he asks, as he takes the book.

Tweedle explains how they found the book, how Doc considered it dangerous, and how he tasked them to bring the book here.

Once Tweedle finished his tale, Groombal replies "Very well. You can stay here with me. But you need to work. I'm sure I can find something appropriate for you.

Into the Sewers

A week later, Tweedle and Dunh find themselves climbing down into the town's sewers.

"This is not what I had in mind when that old bat said we'd have to work!" complained Dunh as the noxious odor of the sewer caused him to wrinkle his nose 

"I know, Dunh. But he needs those spider glands for his research. And, well, that's what research assistants do."

They descend a rusting iron ladder into a room (1). It is swarming with cockroaches the size of a shield. The roaches attack. Both Tweedle and Dunh take wounds, but they fail to hit the roaches.

"Let's get out of here!" yells Tweedle. "Run into the next room!" Dunh nods and they charge through the bugs and into another room (2). Dunh nearly stumbles into a bear trap. They notice other traps in the room, some with a variety of crushed creepy crawlies in their teeth.

The Sewers

Leaving the trap room, they arrive at an intersection (3) and get ambushed by two giant spiders. 

One sinks its fangs into Tweedle, but he pulls away before it injects its poison. Dunh battles the other, slashing upward and slicing open its abdomen. The creature sinks to the ground. By this time, the other spider has Tweedle in his grip, slashing him with dripping fangs. Dunh attacks, practically slashing it into two.

Both are wounded, so they retreat to the previous room to rest and bind their wounds. Refreshed, they continue. They jump across a crevice (4). Dunh stumbles and falls, taking damage. They fight a swarm of smaller spiders (5), pass through an empty room (6) to a large room filled with the bones of past victims. Tweedle shivers in fear.

Note - he fails a Fear test so is -1 for the rest of the adventure.

Backtracking, they fight through some wandering spiders and come to a large room (8), with a nest of eggs. A giant spider attacks them, but they quickly kill it and then destroy the eggs.

Next, they pass through an empty room (9) and a webbed corridor (10). As they struggle through the webs, small spiders bite them, further sapping their strength.

In the next room (11), they come face to face with the queen spider. While Dunh charges, Tweedle casts his mirror image illusion; three more Tweedles appear. The spider flings a web at Dunh. He dodges and set upon the queen. It sinks its fangs into him. He begins to feel woozy from the poison.

At this point, Tweedle considers retreat. He can't see how they can win.

Seriously, at this point, I considers a withdrawal. But I stuck it out.

Then he has an idea. Tweedle rushes up and begins prodding the creature's eyes. It turns on him.

"Tweedle, don't!" cries a shaken Dunh. "It'll get you!"

"I know what I'm doing! Just hit it!"

Tweedle keeps dodging and prodding, provoking the spider. It strikes, but merely dispels an illusory Tweedle. Dunh attacks from behind, but his attack bounces off the spider queen's thick carapace.

"You need to hit it from underneath." calls Tweedle.

"Can you get it to rear up?"

Tweedle smashes the beasts eyes. It rears, hissing in rage. Dunh stabs it. It lashes out, dispelling another fake Tweedle. Again, Tweedle provokes it into rearing. Again, Dunh stabs. This time his blade sinks deep into the spider's soft underbelly. Green ichor flows from it. It convulses and dies.

The retrieve the spider queen's venom sac, and find a few coins. They return victorious to their new master.

GAME NOTES

Once again, I used my MicroQuest rules with a Micro Chapbook adventure.

I experimented today with monster cards. I jotted the monster info on index cards, shuffled them, and then picked the encounter for each room. At one point, I defeated a somewhat difficult foe, and thought to myself, "I won't see that again." That event turned me against the cards; there was less uncertainty about what lay ahead because I could not roll up the same monster again. I think I'll stick with tables for future adventures.

Tweedle vs the Goblins

A Tweedle & Dunh Adventure

The Heroes Depart
Excitedly, Tweedle and Dunh prepared for their journey to town. Doc gave Tweedle some last-minute advice, including a few protection spells. The heroes packed their meager belongings, said goodbye to their loved ones, and headed out.

After a few days journey, they came to a small village. There, they learned that goblins had been raiding the town. When Dunh proclaimed that Tweedle was a powerful wizard, the villagers prevailed upon them to confront the goblins.

Into the Mine

Our heroes proceeded to a formerly abandoned mine, now the lair of the goblins.

When they enter the mine shaft (1), Dunh trips and falls. Tweedle thinks he's been attacked.

"Where are they?!" Tweedle exclaims.

"It's OK, I just tripped over something." Dunh feels around, and pulls out a rusty sword.

"Junk," says Tweedle.

"I don't know. Look at these runes. It may be a valuable antique." Dunh decides to keep the sword.

They enter a small room (2) and see three goblins. 

Tweedle casts a mirror image illusion, but it fails. Instead, an illusion of a target appears on his chest.

Taking an idea from Dungeon Craft, I roll to see if a spell succeeds and I apply a backfire to critical failures.

"That's not a good sign." Tweedle thinks. Fortunately, Dunh wades into battle and wipes out the goblins.

Next (3), they defeat rats, and then run into some more goblins (4). Tweedle uses an illusion of a fireball to scare them off.

Ambush!

One flees straight (5) and the other left (6). Our heroes head straight, running into two more goblins, which they defeat easily. Then they pursue the other goblin. Hiding around a corner (6), it sneak attacks the heroes with a javelin, striking Tweedle.

The ambusher flees again. The heroes pursue into a warren of rooms and shafts (7 - 12), but the goblin escapes.

"Must be a secret exit," Tweedle opines. They look, but cannot find any. They do find some gold rocks (8) and a potion in a storeroom (11).

They backtrack, finding the goblin camp (13). It is empty except for a trio of goblin slingers. Once again, our heroes wipe them out.

The Goblin Chief

Finally, they come to a room with a makeshift bone throne. Upon it sits a huge goblin, with two smaller goblins flanking it.

"Kill the wizard!" the chief shouts in guttural Common speech. The goblins charge.

Tweedle again tries his mirror image spell. This time, another Tweedle appears. One of the guards engages Dunh, while the others charge at Tweedle. They quickly dispatch his avatar.

Dunh easily kills his opponent, then turns on the chief. The two start trading blows. Dunh gets some hits, but the chief has metal armor that deflects the blows. Meanwhile, the chief's cleaver cuts through Dunh's padded armor. Soon Dunh is bleeding from multiple cuts.

By now, Tweedle smashes the last guard. He turns to help Dunh. They hammer away at the chief, knocking off bits of armor. But it refuses to flee, and stands tall against the heroes.

Yet it's time is up, Tweedle and Dunh begin connecting with their strikes. It weakens and then falls dead.

In the room, they find a secret exit. The dirt floor is well-trodden. It appears that most of the goblin clan escaped.

Aftermath

Tweedle and Dunh return to the village's acclamation. The village elders prevail upon our heroes to stick around for several days, just in case the goblins return. They don't. It seems that Tweedle and Dunh frightened them out of the area.

A week later, our heroes resume their trip to town.

What happens in town? Tune in next time to find out!

GAME NOTES

Once again, I used my MicroQuest rules. The adventure came from the second scenario in the Micro Chapbook. I used Dungeon Map Doodler to map out the mine. I figured out how to do rough caverns.

Tweedle Goes to Town

 Introduction to the next Tweedle & Dunh adventure

The morning after Tweedle tried to "borrow" the golden tome he found in the chasm of evil, his master approaches him.

The elderly figure declares "It is clear you cannot stay here any longer."

Tweedle is shocked. "Doc, no! I'm sorry, it won't happen again!"

"Hear me out, boy! It is clear that you have a thirst for knowledge. Knowledge that I cannot give you. Therefore, I'm sending you to town to continue your studies."

Tweedle's expression changed from a hang-dog look of despair to one of elation. He always wanted to go to town!"

"There, search for a sage named Groombal. You will offer your services to him as an apprentice."

"And the book?" queried Tweedle.

"Ah, the book. That must also go to Groombal."

A sly look crept on Tweedle's face. He could sneak a peek during the trip.

It seemed as if Doc read his mind. "But you will not take it. I'm sending Dunh with you. He will have strict orders to look after the book, and you will not be allowed to touch it.

What happens to our heroes on their journey to town? Find out next time.

Tweedle Returns

A Tweedle & Dunh Adventure

Some time after ignominiously fleeing from the Chasm of Evil, Tweedle cajoles his friend Dunh into a second attempt.

"After all, heroes don't give up," Tweedle declares.

🎲🎲🎲

They proceed through the catacomb, climb a rope down the pit, and once again enter the caverns. This time, they make a left turn.

Rats

They enter a room (1) with 5 putrid. zombified rats.

Tweedle immediately casts Mirror Image and 6 other Tweedles appear. Confused, the rats hesitate. Tweedle manages to take out 3 with one sweeping blow and Dunh mops up the rest.

Our heroes turn right and enter a room (2) with a sinister altar. A feeling of dread overwhelms Tweedle. Five winged zombie rats swoop at our heroes. They swarm on Dunh until he collapses of his wounds. Tweedle is about to run, but he cannot leave his friend behind. He slays a few of the rats; the rest flee.

Tweedle binds Dunh's wounds and gives him a restorative potion. Dunh recovers.

As Dunh recuperates, Tweedle suggests that they leave the caverns. But Dunh reminds him, "Heroes don't give up."

They search the altar room and find a gold-bound book. Tweedle puts it in his bag.

Dunh is reluctant. "I don't know about that," Dunh states. "It looks, um, it looks..."

"Sinister, corrupt, malevolent, nefarious?" Tweedle suggested.

"I guess. Is that the same as bad?"

"Don't worry," Tweedle lied. "I'll cast a protection on us."

This consoles his friend and they continue.

Skulls and Bones

They pass through some winding corridors (3-4) and enter a room (5) with 2 floating skulls. 

The skulls swoop at our heroes. Fortunately, they attack Tweedle's mirror images, dispelling two of them. Dunh steps up and with a mighty swing, shatters one skull. The duo manage to corner the second. Both hit simultaneously, crushing the skull.

Passing through a corridor (6) they come to a crypt (7). They feel a malevolent presence. Tweedle's mirror images suddenly scream in fright and flee from the room. Tweedle's primary defense is gone.

The Necromancer.

Proceeding forth, they handily defeat a skeletal archer (9), pass through an empty room (10), until they find another crypt (11). A robed figure holds a staff over a coffin muttering incantations. He turns to face our heroes.

Illustration from Micro Chapbook

"You are too late to stop me!" the figure cackles. Suddenly, two skeletal warrior rise from the coffins.

One rushes Tweedle and slashes him across the ribs with a rusty sword. Tweedle recoils in pain. Dunh, however, parries and with a mighty swing decapitates the other skeleton. It collapses with a rattle of bones.

Dunh turns to help Tweedle.

"Don't mind me!" Tweedle shouts. "Get the necromancer!"

Dunh rushes the robed figure, who is in the midst of more incantations. Dunh gets to him first. The necromancer raises his staff to parry. Dunh swings and slices the staff in half. His blade passes through and slashes the necromancer, who stumbles back.

The necromancer counters, using the shards of his staff as clubs. Dunh blocks with his shield and counters, but his foe dances out of the way.

Tweedle, hard pressed by the skeleton warrior, calls out, "Hurry, I can't hold him much longer!"

Dunh redoubles his attacks. Slice, stab, feint, lunge. But the necromancer avoids all the blows.

Dunh hears Tweedle cry out in pain. There is no time to lose!

Dunh decides on a desperate measure. He throws his shield at the necromancer. Confused, his foe sidesteps. At this very moment, Dunh grasps his sword with two hands, leaps forward, and cleaves downward. The blade strikes the necromancer on the head, and then splits him all the way to his heart. A fountain of blood sprays over Dunh. He hears a clatter of bones.

Note - I may have embellished some of the details :)

Turning, Dunh sees his wounded friend with a pile of skeletal remains at his feet.

Dunh binds Tweedle's wounds and then they search the room. They find a handful of gold pieces and a potion. However, Tweedle looks dejectedly at the splintered staff.

"Tsk, what a pity," Tweedle says. "It appears that it was magical."

"Wonderful! More treasure!" Dunh exclaims.

"I said 'was,'" Tweedle replies. Dunh looks sheepish.

🎲🎲🎲

Upon returning to their village, Tweedle shows the gold-bound book to "Doc," his master and mentor.

"I think I may be able to learn some new spells from it!" Tweedle declares excitedly.

"No!" Doc sternly pronounces as he grabs the tome. "It is not wise to dabble with dark arts beyond your ken. Let me examine it first."

Reluctantly, Tweedle agrees.

After many days, Tweedle becomes impatient. Since his return, Doc has said nothing about the book. That night, Tweedle sneaks into his master's room, intent on "borrowing" the book for a quick read. But as soon as he touches the gold cover, a voice begins calling out "Alarm! Alarm!"

Tweedle hears Doc clear his throat behind. Tweedle turns.

"As I suspected. Well, we will talk about this in the morning."

Stay tuned for the further adventures of Tweedle and Dunh

🎲🎲🎲

Game Notes

Today's adventure comes courtesy of Micro Chapbook.

I'm not using the rules themselves. I ran this adventure using my own fast-play dungeon crawl rules called MicroQuest. However, Micro Chapbook features 5 short, random dungeons. I used the first one. It gave quite an exciting adventure.

I made the map using Dungeon Map Doodler, a free, online dungeon mapper. I like how it looks, very old school, but I need to play with it more to grasp all the features. For example, I really wanted to make the rooms rough caverns, but haven't figured out how to do that yet.

Chasm of Evil

 A Tweedle & Dunh Adventure - Part 1

After their victory over the undead, Tweedle and his new friend Dunh returned to Tweedle's village. They were feted as conquering heroes, but when the novelty wore off Tweedle's life settled back into the monotonous routine of a healer's apprentice.

The duo tried to spice things up by wandering the region, providing adventuring services to the locals. But aside from defeating a "dragon," which turned out to be a rather ornery giant turkey, adventure remained elusive. At least until the day the stumbled upon a hidden cavern deep in the woods.

🎲🎲🎲

As they entered the cavern (1), they were greeted by the grotesque and malevolent-looking statue of some unknown deity. They felt a chill run down their spine, but they were determined to press forward.

They passed down a short corridor to another cavern (2). A fountain of black liquid was set in the middle of the room. When they approached to investigate, a huge boulder fell from the ceiling.

"Watch it!" yelled Tweedle as he pushed Dunh out of the way then leaped clear himself.

"Let's stay away from that." Dunh concluded as he skirted the fountain.

They passed through a corridor (3) filled with scrolls stuffed into alcoves carved into the rock.

Continuing along, the corridor abruptly ended, but a large pit (4) was set in the floor. A sinister glow emanated from the pit. Tweedle approached the edge and peered over. Deep in the pit a flame burned, providing a wan light to the corridor.

"Look!" Tweedle cried, pointing to the walls of the pit. About 30' down was a cave entrance (5). They decided to investigate. Tying a rope to a convenient rock outcropping, they lowered themselves down.

They entered a short corridor that ended in a cavern (6). Suddenly a flaming reptilian creature attacked.

"A fire demon!" exclaimed Tweedle.

As they fought, the intense heat from the demon burned their skin. Fortunately, they quickly cut down their enemy.

Next, they walked down a winding passage (7) and encountered two humans. Or so they thought.

Dunh called out to them. They turned and advanced. Their eyes were dead black and they moaned with an inhuman tone. 

They tried to grapple our heroes who struck and cut the foes down. The bodies then seemed to dissolve into nothingness. while a shrill shriek echoed through the caves.

"What were they?" asked Dunh.

"I don't know. Lost souls, perhaps? They sold their soul to the demon, leaving only a husk of a body."

Continuing down the passage, they came to a dead end (8). A form emerged from the blackness. It was some kind of monster that resembled a mantis but it was as big as a horse. Several tentacles extended from its gaping, tooth-filled maw.

They tried to fight it, but its tentacles and claws kept landing painful blows while their weapons seemed to glance harmlessly off its side.

"We can't beat it!" Tweedle cried out. "Run!"

The duo bolted, with the thing in close pursuit. As they ran through the passage, they saw 4 figures ahead. More lost souls! 

They barreled through, taking wounds as they passed. The thing then set upon the souls, devouring them with gusto. This gave our heroes time to escape!

They climbed up the rope to the first level. Dunh made a beeline for the exit, but Tweedle stopped him.

"Wait, we can't leave here empty handed. Help me carry some of these scrolls."

"Why? Its just paper."

"It may give some clue about the nature of this place."

So they duo gathered some of the scrolls and then returned home, perhaps not wealthier but a little wiser.

Tweedle Against the Undead

A Tweedle Adventure Using Swords & Six-Siders 

After his previous success the villagers piled gifts upon Tweedle - bags of farm produce and even a goat. It wasn't bags of gold like in the stories, but it was still treasure in Tweedle's eyes. Alas, they gave him more than he could carry! But there was one farm boy named Dunh who was quite impressed by Tweedle.

"I want to be a famous adventurer, just like him!" he was saying at Tweedle's feast. 

When Tweedle asked for help carrying his prizes, Dunh immediately volunteered. He armed himself with a rusty boar spear, a cheaply made wooden shield, and a padded vest. Picking up Tweedle's bags with ease (he was a well built youth), Dunh set off after his hero.

After a couple of days of travel they arrived at an isolated village. When Dunh went around telling everyone that Tweedle was a "famous hero," the whole village wanted to hear about his exploits. Tweedle briefly relayed the story of his rescue mission (conveniently skipping over his failure at the pirate cave), then claimed that he did not want to say more because he did not want to brag. Naturally, the villagers praised his humility.

Then the mayor spoke to Tweedle. "Perhaps you can help us. There have been reports of foul doings in the graveyard. Strange lights, and some of the graves have been opened!"

The rest of the village chimed in with their pleas for help. Reluctantly, Tweedle agreed. But he feared to go alone. Then an idea struck him.

"This sounds like a two-man job," Tweedle declared as he turned toward Dunh. "Perhaps you would like to accompany me, Dunh?"

Dunh's eyes shone with wonder and excitement. It was his dream come true!

🎲🎲🎲

As the two heroes enter the cemetery, they see the disturbed graves. At the far end is a lengthy barrow. Long ago, according to the villagers' legends, a great king lived in the area. He chose to make his burial tomb here. Now, the duo can see that the great stone that enclosed the barrow had been moved.

The Barrow

In the first chamber (1), they see a bloody corpse lying on the floor. Dunh rushes over to help, but the corpse animate and attacks. Dunh stabs it through the eye with his spear. It slumps to the ground.

"Foul doings indeed," intones Tweedle.

When they enter the next chamber (2), they hear growling. Out of nowhere, a ghoul leaps out. It claws Tweedle, who feels a sinister chill run down his spine. He steels himself and counterattacks, but the creature dodges. This brings the ghoul within Dunh's reach. He stabs, but the ghoul sidesteps the attack and countes. Now, Dunh feels the rake of the monster's claws. Dropping his spear, he tries to reach for his dagger, but the creature has a hold of him. Tweedle takes advantage, however, and clocks the ghoul over its head. The creature staggers, releasing its hold. Dunh grips his dagger and stabs, gutting the monster. It collapses.

"Thanks Tweedle," Dunh pants as he tries to recover his breath.

"No, thank you, Dunh. Or should I say Ghoul-slayer."

Dunh breaks into a big grin.

From this room, there are two side exits (3 and 4). They try the left (3). They trigger a trap, and two arrows whiz at them. Both manage to duck. Fortunately, the other (4) is empty, as are the next two chambers (5 and 6).

As they approach the next chamber (7), they hear the rattle of bones. Tweedle takes the opportunity to cast his Mirror Image spell. Three copies of Tweedle appear. Dunh gasps.

"You are a powerful wizard!" Dunh proclaims. Tweedle and his doubles just shake their heads.

Cautiously they enter the next room. A skeleton attacks, striking one of the doubles. It disappears in the blink of an eye. The skeleton then turns on Dunh, slashing his arm. Blood wells up. Enraged, Dunh smashes the skeleton's face with the butt of the spear. The skull splinters and the creature crumbles.

By this time, Dunh has taken some serious wounds. Fortunately, Tweedle has a healing poultice given to him by the village healer. He binds Dunh's wounds. Reinvigorated, Dunh is ready to continue the adventure.

The final room (8) is the burial chamber of the king. Alas, he has been turned into a wight. It attacks Dunh and inflicts a wound. Dunh retaliates with a stab then dodges the next attack. The thing whirls madly, slashing at our heroes. Deftly, they avoid its attacks. Finally, Tweedle smashes the creature's skull. It falls to the ground.

Tweedle and Dunh poke around the burial chamber. They find a small chest with an assortment of coppers and silver. "Great king, indeed," thought Tweedle. Probably just a minor chieftain. Still treasure was treasure.

Then Dunh spoke. "Is it right to rob a tomb, Tweedle?"

Tweedle thought about it. "I don't know. They do say that 'to the victor belong the spoils.' Besides, look at this!"

Amidst rotting finery, rusted iron, and moldy leather, Tweedle pulls a shiny item. Holding it aloft, Dunh sees that it is a majestic sword.

"Ooooooooo." Dunh says.

"For you." Tweedle states as he hands the precious sword to Dunh.

"Can I keep this?" Dunh replies, desire and guilt vying with each other on his face.

"Well," Tweedle declares, "let's return it to the village. They can decide."

🎲🎲🎲

Our heroes relate their tale to the mayor. He thinks about it for a moment, then declares:

"You have saved our village from great evil. For this, you deserve recompense. Keep the spoils you have retrieved. We shall bury the king properly, and we will repay him for his lost treasures."

The Fall and Rise of Tweedle

 Armed with the map to pirate treasure, Tweedle makes his way to the coast. He finds a cave mouth and enters. The old salt told Tweedle that the pirate captain who buried the treasure had a penchant for riddles. So it is no surprise that he found riddles scrawled upon the cave walls. He solves a few and misses a few (with his intelligence he probably could solve them all but he is too impatient). He finds a magical book that gives him a new spell. When he finds the mirror he expects more good luck. Alas, the image in the mirror strikes him in the face with its staff! Tweedle is out cold.

No combat, one shot from a cursed mirror, and Tweedle is dead. Well, the nice thing about being your own GM is that you can fudge!

A while later Tweedle awakens with a swollen eye and a bruised ego. He finds himself outside the cave mouth. He enters again, but he comes to a dead end! There are no passageways or riddles or anything! Stumped, he begins to trudge home.

The intro adventure appears to be mostly riddles and traps (I didn't read it all so I cannot say for certain). I wanted to test out combat so I decided to create my own introductory dungeon.

As Tweedle is heading back to the nearby fishing village, he happens upon a distraught young.

"Oh, help me sir!" she calls to him.

"What's the matter?" he replies.

"Goblins! From the sea! They stole my baby!" 

She points to another cave along the craggy coast. Tweedle is reluctant at first. His initial foray as an adventurer did not turn out too well. But when he sees the lady's tears, he decides to risk it.

He enters the cave and comes across an empty cavern (1). 

There is a winding cave (2) that leads out of the cavern. Tweedle follows the cave. As he rounds a corner, he runs smack into a sea goblin! 

Instinctively, Tweedle lashes out with his staff. There is a satisfying crunch as he flattens the goblin. Critical hit, yay!

Tweedle continues along the corridor until he comes to another corner (4). This time he encounters two fish-men. The first slashes him with a fishbone sword. 

Fear grows in Tweedle's mind. He could die! He decides to cast a spell - Mirror Image. Suddenly, five other Tweedles appear! This so startles the fish-men that one runs. The other attacks, but only manages to dispel an illusory Tweedle. Then with a single blow, Tweedle kills his enemy.

Tweedle follows the retreating foe to a cavern (5). Two sea goblins are on the far side; the fish-man has disappeared. Tweedle launches a stone with his sling, wounding a goblin. The two charge. Tweedle smacks the wounded goblin with his staff. It collapses. Tweedle manages to dodge the other's blows while landing occasional shots. Finally, the second falls.

Our hero then passes through an empty cavern (6) then comes to the lair of the enemy (7). Here, a sea devil has the baby on a bloody altar. 

It appears to be readying some demonic ritual. Tweedle lets loose with his sling. The rock wounds the sea devil. It charges and attacks, but its trident passes harmlessly through one of the mirror images. Tweedle winds up with his staff and swings. It smacks the sea devil in the head; the monster falls dead! I was expecting a more epic battle but Tweedle scored a max damage critical!

Tweedle picks up the baby and rushes from the caves. The lady is thrilled; she invites him to stay at her village. The villagers fete him as a legendary hero! Tweedle thinks "I could get used to this adventuring life."

What does the future hold in store for Tweedle? And will he discover his real name? Stay tuned to find out!

And what do I think of Swords & Six-Siders? I'll make a post later this week to discuss my impressions.

Tweedle's Tale

Beginning a Swords & Six-Siders Campaign

I previously mentioned that I wanted to try out Swords & Six-Siders. In this post, I will walk through the character creation process.

1. Choose a Race

The introductory adventure in the Expanded Edition of S&SS starts your character out as a farmer, so I figured that Human would be appropriate. Besides, humans get bonuses to their abilities.

2. Determine Ability Scores

Roll 3 D6s - I get 1, 3, and 6. I then get the complement, the score on the opposite side of the die, for each of my rolls. That gives me 6, 4, and 1. Two 1s - ugh.

Because my character is human, I can add 2 points to my scores. I'll raise the 1s to 2s so that I don't have any penalties.

I plan for my character to be a Myrmidon, a battle mage. I envision him as bright and dexterous, but not hulking. So I assign the stats as so:

ST 3, IN 6, DX 6, WI 2, CO 4, CH 2

He gets a +1 bonus for the 6s.

So bright and dexterous, but middling size. His wisdom is low; I interpret that as meaning he lacks a little common sense and tends to rash decisions. That fits with the adventure intro, as you will see below. With a charisma of 2, I also envision him as being the target of bullies. He'll show them!

3. Choose a Class

As I mentioned, I plan for him to be a Myrmidon. He can use up to medium armor and shields, and can use spells, starting with 1 spell at 1st level.

4. Choose an Alignment

He's basically good at heart, so I chose Lawful.

5. Determine Hit Points

I roll a 1. At first level, I can bump this up to 3.

6. Select Equipment

You don't have to buy equipment, just assign what is reasonable. He's a country bumpkin so I don't expect him to have much. He'll start with padded armor (light armor), a staff, sling, and dagger, plus a pack of miscellaneous gear. He'll top it off with a cook pot for a helmet.

7. Choose Spells

Myrmidons get 1 spell at first level. I decided to give him a bonus spell for variety. I rolled Grease and Magic Eyebeam. I decide to replace Magic Eyebeam (where would he learn that?) with Mirror Image.

8. Calculate Stats

He starts with an AC of 5 due to the "helmet" and a Damage Resistance of 1 due to the padded armor. He has a +1 ranged Attack because of his Dexterity).

9. Name Your Character

The rules encourage you to name your character "something cool." But my character is not cool (yet); he's a bumpkin. Tweedle seems bumpkin-y.

Backstory

I had already read the adventure intro so I had a sense of where my character would begin. As I developed him, his backstory began to take shape in my mind. So I present you with Tweedle's story.

He did not know his True Name, but everyone called him Tweedle. When he asked his Pa about his True Name, the old man would simply reply, "You will learn it in the proper time."

Tweedle lived in the sleepy village of Shepford. It's most prominent feature was, aptly enough, a ford used by shepherds. Tweedle's family, like most inhabitants of the village, were farmers. But when he was 8, the town physician approached his Pa and said that Tweedle would be his apprentice. So with that, Tweedle found a new occupation. Alas, this, and his sarcastic wit, led him to run afoul of some of the larger boys.

Like everyone else in Shepford, Tweedle called his master "Doc." Technically, he wasn't a doctor. He was a hedge mage of indifferent skill. Somehow he found a simple living by providing some basic services to the villagers. He even learned a little medicine along the way. Tweedle began to learn what little Doc knew.

It may have been a comfortable enough living for Doc, but Tweedle was bored. He wanted a life of adventure where he traversed the wide world. After nearly 10 years as an apprentice, he got his opportunity. By chance, he met a squinty-eyed sailor at the village tavern. The old salt claimed to have a map to hidden pirate treasure. For a few coppers, Tweedle was able to acquire it. Doc called him a fool and his Ma begged him to stay, but Tweedle was determined to go.

So now Tweedle is ready! Stay tuned for his first adventure!