Dicey Stories

Upon returning to the Parting Glass, Heppa delivers to Alric the message from his parents in Weldyn.

This arc contains spoilers for the Battle for Wesnoth campaigns Eastern Invasion and Liberty. There are also references to Dead Water.

Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here.

Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

Mariah’s reunion with his old friend Deirdre does not go as smoothly as Cleve’s reunion with Roze did.

When we describe Mariah’s view of the sunset-lit world as featuring diamonds, and an ocean of islands, and a forest deep and silent, we’re quoting there from Mariah’s theme song, which is “Rivers in the Light” by Tide Lines. Cleve’s player does not tend to associate songs with her characters, but when asked about one, she jokingly suggested “Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, a very apt song indeed for the fatalistic Cleve.

Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com.

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Tric and Heppa bid farewell to Terwaen’s household with several revealing conversations.

Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here.

Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

Marina takes Cleve and Mariah to the Stepdaughters of Chiron council building.

Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com.

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Tric duels Dame Merriver.

Note: This episode uses our Fight Night rules. Find them here.

The Battle for Wesnoth video game inspired a lot of specific events and NPCs in our tabletop campaign. I leaned heavily on the closing events of the Eastern Invasion campaign, even quoting from the epilogue where Gweddry and Owaec are granted their rewards. But one specific part of the video game’s lore that stood out to me was that the period after the war with Mal-Ravanal is considered Wesnoth’s Silver Age—but it only lasts the length of King Konrad II’s reign. Why did the Silver Age end? Why did Wesnoth fall to ruin again after that? Well, one outlandish theory from my players was that Konrad II had actually died long before history records it, and various nobles were keeping that a secret. That idea is what led to Merriver’s righteous rage about the treatment of her father in court.

Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here.

Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

Some among the Stepdaughters of Chiron prove less easy to get along with than craws are.

Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

Tric and Heppa talk with Dame Merriver about threats to the kingdom… and her illicit weapon shipments.

Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here.

Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

Mariah, Cleve, and Marina visit with some farmers on the outskirts of Stepdaughters of Chiron territory.

The description of the farm in this episode is actually inspired by alter eco chocolate bars. The inside of the packaging has a labeled graphic of regenerative agriculture in practice, which we thought fit very well with the ethos of the Stepdaughters of Chiron. Creative inspiration for TTRPGs can come from anywhere!

Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

Sir Anyc shows Tric and Heppa around and presents them to Dame Merriver.

Dame Merriver is a character we’ve had floating around our campaign from way, way back. All the rumors and theories about her is what inspired me to give her the special ability Ominous Reputation. She also has a theme song in my campaign playlist, which I would play on repeat while pondering what makes her tick. It’s Ye Jacobites, specifically as performed by the group Scocha. The energy it has—the feeling of righteous anger at a political situation—fits her quite nicely.

Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here.

Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!

The team debates how to handle the remaining demon craw.

In humans, hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, is a crucial treatment for situations like menopause or gender transition. Personally, HRT helped me become myself for the first time. For Checkerboard, the proposed HRT regimen might help her undo the Progenitor abuse.

Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com.

Need context? Jump to the start of the series!