Against Damned Swine Solo Play Report #1

Kicking the tires on an upcoming DCC adventure module

Inspired by Sean Richer of Orbital Intelligence fame, I’m running my own DCC funnel-in-progress. I’m on record for not seeing the necessity of playtesting most TTRPG things - the variance between groups is always going to end up with far too many variables to ever really control, and that’s a good thing - but I did want to see how potentially lethal it was, and also see how many zeroes I could kill. So far: more than a third of the party. And we’re halfway in!

Some background: I rolled sixteen entirely random level-0 PCs under the standard DCC rules, and divided them up into four groups of four to make handling them a little easier. I didn’t use their trade goods/miscellaneous tools as much as I probably could have - although they do come up once or twice - and mostly brute forced my way through encounters to stress test them. Some of my rolls were very good. Some were very poor! I’m not tracking XP gained per encounter (they’ll get it at the end of the module) and for the purposes of enemies attacking PCs, they are targeting PCs with the lowest Luck (which I find works very well if a target of opportunity isn’t obvious. DCC Luck is the best stat ever).

This module makes heavy use of weather, foraging and travel rules, as well as hunger and starvation. There IS a ticking clock of events happening “off-screen” that the PCs are unaware of (which I ended up underestimating and will have to tinker). The module is a pointcrawl with three possible “paths” to choose from, on which there are between 5-6 encounters. I rolled and randomly determined the “forest” path - which, hilariously, has the most encounters.

Somewhat annoyingly, I don’t have a “clean” version of the PCs at the beginning of the module. Alas.

PLAYER START

The last thing you remember is dying in battle. No; the last thing you remember is seeing Bann Osgar wheel and flee back to Tyne as fast as his horse could carry him while his hornblower futilely sounded the retreat, Orcs howling and squealing as they gleefully drove spears and shot arrows into your friends and neighbors. THEN you remember dying. Gods be praised, it didn’t seem to stick. When your eyes open, it is not to green fields with the sun on your face, but a cold and muddy ditch, half-buried by the bodies of almost everyone you’ve ever known. Life begins to tingle and creep through your leaden limbs. A weak sun filters through an overcast sky above, flashing dimly on broken spears and sundered shields. The air is filled with the buzzing of bloodflies and the shrill caw of ravens. A gutteral squeal pierces the air. Grey-skinned porcine shapes lurch into view; hunched figures in tattered maille, clutching spears. The Orcs go about impaling the dead with a businesslike brutality, grunting to each other in Latin as they work.

Weather: Storm!! +1d12 hours to next location.

The PCs awake from their disastrous battle to four orcs moving about the battlefield, stabbing dead bodies to make sure they're dead. All four groups attempt to play dead and avoid notice. Group 1 fails. Group 2 fails. Group 3 plays dead. Group 4 plays dead. The orcs immediately attack the failed groups.

Orc init: 6, 5, 2, 19.

PC init: 23, 11, 21, 9.

Group 1, caught, stands up and rushes the orcs. Mabon misses. Fachtna misses. Oissine hits orc 3 with his sling (3 damage). Modred Crits and kills orc 3 with his cleaver (4 damage). 

Group 3 stops playing dead and helps; the surprise attack grants them +1 to attack. Aedelwulf fumbles, taking -2 to his next attack roll. Wulfrun misses. Winfrith misses. Eadric misses.

Orc 4 misses Fachtna.

Group 2 attacks the orcs. Arianrhod, Eigyr, Ethne and Neas all miss.

Group 4 stops playing dead and helps; the surprise attack grants them +1 to attack. Leofsige misses. Hereward misses. Aethelred kills orc 4 with her pick (4 damage). Aelfswi misses.

Orc 1 misses Aethelred.

Orc 2 kills Eigyr with a spear (7 damage).

Group 2 attacks the remaining orcs. Mabon misses. Fachtna hits orc 2 with his hand ax (4 damage). Oissine and Modred miss.

Group 3 attacks the remaining orcs. Aedelwulf misses. Wulfrun kills orc 2 with her dagger (2 damage). Winfrith and Eadric miss.

Group 2 attacks the remaining orc. Arianrhod, Ethne and Neas miss.

Group 4 attacks the remaining orc. Leofsige fumbles; her sword hilt falls off. Hereward stabs the orc with his spear (4 damage). Aethelred misses. Aelfswi kills the orc with her dagger (2 damage).

The PCs bury Eigyr, with Neas taking her staff and herbs. Aelfswi, Wulfrun, Arianrhod and Oissine take orc spears. The PCs attempt to salvage the orc studded armor; Oissine, Arianrhod, Eadric, and Hereward spend a Luck. They recover 4 studded armors; Modred, Arianrhod, Neas and Wulfrun all take one. The PCs recover 70 sp in silver denarii. The PCs agree to journey through the forest.

LOCATION A

The PCs journey for 28 hours (3 days). 

The first day they forage for 14 meal-days' of rations, which are all eaten day 1. Oissine doesn't eat the first day and loses 2 stamina. The weather is mist and fog.

The second day they forage for 15 meal-days' worth of rations. Everyone eats and Oissine recovers his lost stamina. The weather is overcast and cool.

The third day they forage for 7 meal-days' worth of rations. Mabon loses 3 stamina. Oissine loses 2 stamina. Arianrhod loses 1 stamina. Ethne loses 1 stamina. Aedelwulf loses 3 stamina. Eadric loses 1 stamina. Aethelred loses 1 stamina. Aelfswi loses 3 stamina. The weather is light rain. It adds 3 hours to the journey.

Having entered the tenebrous canopy of trees, you’ve spent days of stumbling, clawing and in some cases hacking through the dense tangle when you are alerted to a young woman shouting in Pictish for what sounds like aid. A few hundred feet ahead, you spot a beautiful red-haired woman in a long green gown sprinting towards you, the terror on her paintstreaked face plain even from afar. Crashing through the trees behind her is a war-party of Orcs, their leader’s piggish black eyes dead and lifeless as she raises her spear to throw.

The woman runs to Aedelwulf, who passes his Ref save. The orcs attack!

Orc init: 11, 4, 3, 11

PC init: 21, 7, 9, 10

Group 1 attacks! Mabon misses. Fachtna misses. Oissine Crits and kills orc 4 with his spear (8 damage). Modred misses.

Orc 1 misses.

Group 4 attacks! Leofsige misses. Hereward misses. Aethelred hits orc 3 with her pick (2 damage). Aelfswi kills orc 3 with her spear (2 damage).

Group 3 attacks! Aedelwulf and Wulfrun miss. Winfrith fumbles and fails her Ref save, tripping. Eadric misses.

Group 2 attacks! Arianrhod hits orc 1 with her spear (3 damage). Ethne kills orc 4 with her spear (7 damage).

Orc 2 fumbles! She breaks her spear on a rock.

Group 1 attacks! Mabon hits orc 1 with his razor (1 damage). Fachtna misses. Oissine hits orc 2 with his spear (2 damage). Modred misses.

Orc 1 kills Aedelwulf with her spear (5 damage).

Group 4 attacks! Leofsige, Hereward, Aethelred and Aelfswi all miss.

Group 3 attacks! Wulfrun kills orc 1 with her spear (5 damage). Winfrith kills orc 2 with her mace (5 damage).

The PCs bury Aedelwulf with his own trowel. Mabon, Neas and Aethelred take orc spears. The PCs attempt to salvage the orc studded armor; Modred, Arianrhod, Ethne and Neas spend a Luck. They recover 2 studded armors; Winfrith and Aethelred each take one. The PCs recover 24 sp in silver denarii.

Oissine, Modred, Arianrhod, Ethne, and Leofsige all notice Rathnat's hoofs. They opt not to allow her to accompany them and depart, her curses echoing in their ears.

LOCATION D

The PCs journey for 3 days (24 hours).

The first day the PCs forage for 24 meal-days' worth of rations. The weather storms. It adds 2 hours to the total travel time.

The second day the PCs forage for 15 meal-days' worth of rations. The weather is light rain, adding 3 hours to the total travel time.

The third day the PCs forage for 6 meal-days' worth of rations. The weather is light rain, adding 3 hours to the journey.

A misty pall hangs over these woods, obscuring vision beyond a few dozen feet and blanketing tree and underbrush with a dream-like haze. Hooded ravens observe your progress from the upper boughs, punctuating the silence with sudden caws. The deeper in you go, the more frequent the cawing becomes. Their eerily-echoing chorus begins to dull the senses - so much so that you almost miss entirely the strangled Orc bodies swaying from the creaking and groaning trees.

Oissine fails his save and falls asleep. Modred and Arianrhod fall into a supernatural sleep for 4 and 2 hours. Neas falls into a supernatural sleep for 3 hours. Wulfrun and Winfrith fall asleep. Eadric falls into a supernatural sleep for 3 hours. Hereward falls asleep.

The still-awake PCs wake the slumbering PCs but cannot wake the supernatural sleepers. The hanging trees rouse!

Hanging tree init: 21, 7

PC init: 23,19, 9, 22

Group 1 attacks! Mabon, Fachtna, and Oissine all fail to harm the trees.

Group 4 attacks! Leofsige and Hereward miss. Aelfswi fumbles! She takes a -2 penalty on her next roll. Aethelred throws her lantern! She burns tree 2 (6 damage). Tree 2 makes its save to put out the flames.

Tree 1 attacks! It misses Fachtna. It hits Oissine (4 damage).

Group 2 attacks! Arianrhod misses. Ethne kills tree 2 with her spear (4 damage). Neas hits tree 1 with her spear (6 damage).

Group 3 attacks! Wulfrun hits tree 1 with her spear (4 damage). Winfrith kills tree 1 with her mace (4 damage).

The PCs bandage Oissine's wounds and camp for 4 hours, until the rest of the party awakens.

LOCATION F

The PCs journey for 26 hours (3.5 days).

The first day, the PCs forage for 16 meal-days' worth of rations. Oissine recovers 1 hp. The weather is heavy rain, adding 4 hours to the journey.

The second day, the PCs forage for 14 meal-days' worth of rations. Oissine recovers 1 hp. The weather is light rain, adding 3 hours to the journey.

The third day, the PCs forage for 31 meal-days' worth of rations. The weather storms, adding 3 hours to the journey.

After some days of travel you draw near the swift-flowing Rharne river, marking the halfway point of your journey. Wide and deep, the Rharne has few enough spots where one can safely ford - like this stony embankment here.

The muted sky seems brighter here, the air cleaner, and mingling with the sound of rushing waters is the melodic lilting of women’s voices. Pictish, Brythonic, Goidelic, Old Norse, even Latin - the voices speak whatever tongue you can understand, their indistinct words unknotting the muscles in your shoulder and lightening your spiritual and emotional burdens.

The PCs refuse to offer one of themselves as a sacrifice to the mari-morgans. The mari-morgans cast Charm Person (15, 20, 1, 17) against Fachtna, Oissine, Neas, and Eadric. All four fail their save and come under the mari-morgans power. Teles loses her voice and suffers 1 damage from misfire.

Leucosia init 3

Raidne init 10

Teles init 9

Ligeia init 11

PC init: 21, 11, 19, 18

Group 1 attacks! Fachtna (18) grapples Mabon (17). Oissine (1) tries to grapple Modred and fumbles! He trips. Modred (6) grapples Oissine (5).

Group 3 attacks! Wulfrun misses. Winfrith Crits Raidne with her mace (3 damage). Eadric walks to the water.

Group 4 attacks! Leofsige misses. Hereward hits Ligeia with his spear (6 damage). Aethelred hits Raidne with her spear (3 damage). Aelfswi (7) tries to grapple Oissine (15) and fails.

Ligeia (10) grabs Eidric and drags him 40' under. Eidric loses 4 Stamina.

Group 2 attacks! Arianrhod (12) tries to grapple Neas (12) and fails. Ethne (14) grapples Neas (8). Neas attempts to break the grapple and fails.

Raidne (18) grabs Wulfrun and drags him 40' under. Wulfrun loses 6 Stamina. Wulfrun drowns.

Teles (12) grabs Leofsige and drags her 40' under. Leofsige loses 4 Stamina.

Leucosia (16) grabs Hereward and drags him 40' under. Hereward loses 5 Stamina.

The mari-morgans retreat.

Fachtna and Oissine burns Luck but fail. They remain by the riverbank, waiting for the mari-morgans to return.

Neas burns Luck to snap out of the Charm enough to accompany the PCs. She takes a -2 die penalty from the Charm effects.

Eadric breaks the grapple and swims to the surface. He burns Luck to snap out of the Charm enough to accompany the PCs. He takes a -2 die penalty from the Charm effects.

Leofsige breaks the grapple and swims to the surface, recovering all Stamina.

Hereward fails to break the grapple and loses 1 Stamina. He fails to break the grapple again (1) and loses 9 Stamina. Hereward drowns.

---

The river encounter is one of two (three counting player start) encounters that always happens*** and I’m honestly very pleased with the sheer terror of four sirens casting Charm Person on a group of level-0 PCs at once, then proceeding to drown half of them. Especially RIP to Oissine, who was becoming somewhat of the first group’s MVP.

Some thoughts so far:

• I forgot the -1d to init for using 2h weapons, but oh well

• You would think four orcs versus sixteen zeroes would be less of a fair fight than it is, but both times the PCs had to fight orcs, there was a PC death.

• I’m going to have to tinker the rhiannon raven encounter, I think? It was a little underwhelming. Maybe a third hanging tree, or the ravens themselves attack in a swarm. Also I think this encounter needs more treasure - this would be a good place to put a spellbook, I think.

• the PCs haven’t seen the last of Rathnat.

• I cannot decide if the foraging rules as-is are too punishing or not punishing enough? It’s sufficiently hard to feed a group this large without lucky rolls, but the consequences for not eating could possibly be upgraded to damage, I think. I wrote that PCs could also hunt instead of forage, which has a triple yield for food, but there’s a percentage chance of encountering an orc patrol. I might add that to foraging, as well.

• Most DCC funnels I’ve run make extensive use of trade goods (usually livestock) to problem solve difficult encounters. I think the encounters are difficult* numerically, but could be more challenging from an intellectual perspective. Or at least more rewarding if a PC comes up with a fun way to use a sheep, an empty barrel, or etc.

THE PARTY:

GROUP 1

Mabon
Strength 7 (-1), Agility 17 (+2), Stamina 16 (+2), Personality 17 (+2), Intelligence 12 (+0), Luck 4 (-2)
5 hp
AC 12
Path of the bear: Melee damage rolls
Barber
Spear, Razor (as dagger), Scissors, Candle

Fachtna
Strength 18 (+3), Agility 18 (+3), Stamina 13 (+1), Personality 5 (-2), Intelligence 14 (+1), Luck 4 (-2)
4 hp
AC 13
Harsh winter: All attack rolls
Halfling chicken butcher
Hand axe, Chicken meat, 5 lbs, Lantern

Oissine
Strength 15 (+1), Agility 16 (+2), Stamina 17 (+2), Personality 9 (+0), Intelligence 9 (+0), Luck 15 (+1)
4/6 hp
AC 12
Path of the bear: Melee damage rolls
Guild beggar
Spear, Sling, Crutches, Grappling hook, Rope 50'

Modred
Strength 7 (-1), Agility 15 (+1), Stamina 12 (+0), Personality 10 (+0), Intelligence 10 (+0), Luck 12 (+0)
1 hp
AC 11 + 3 (Studded Leather)
The Broken Star: Fumbles
Butcher
Cleaver (as axe), Side of beef, Thieves' tools

GROUP 2

Arianrhod
Strength 16 (+2), Agility 7 (-1), Stamina 14 (+1), Personality 4 (-2), Intelligence 10 (+0), Luck 16 (+2)
2 hp
AC 11 + 3 (Studded Leather)
Charmed house: Armor Class
Locksmith
Spear, Dagger, Fine tools, Large sack

Eigyr
Strength 10 (+0), Agility 16 (+2), Stamina 10 (+0), Personality 14 (+1), Intelligence 7 (-1), Luck 10 (+0)
4 hp
Raised by wolves: Unarmed attack rolls
Elven forester
Staff, Herbs, 1 lb, Small hammer

Ethne
Strength 7 (-1), Agility 11 (+0), Stamina 16 (+2), Personality 14 (+1), Intelligence 18 (+3), Luck 16 (+2)
4 hp
AC 10
Conceived on horseback: Mounted attack rolls
Farmer
Pitchfork (as spear), Goose, Small sack

Neas
Strength 16 (+2), Agility 13 (+1), Stamina 11 (+0), Personality 6 (-1), Intelligence 18 (+3), Luck 13 (+1)
2 hp
AC 11 + 3 (Studded Leather)
Four-leafed clover: Find secret doors
Elven sage
Spear, Staff, Dagger, Parchment and quill pen, herbs 1lbs, Empty flask

GROUP 3

Aedelwulf
Strength 6 (-1), Agility 3 (-3), Stamina 14 (+1), Personality 18 (+3), Intelligence 3 (-3), Luck 8 (-1)
5 hp
AC 7
Guardian angel: Savings throws to escape traps
Grave digger
Shovel (as staff), Trowel, hand-sized mirror

Wulfrun
Strength 11 (+0), Agility 13 (+1), Stamina 4 (-2), Personality 12 (+0), Intelligence 15 (+1), Luck 9 (+0)
1 hp
AC 11 + 3 (Studded Leather)
Path of the bear: Melee damage rolls
Jeweler
Spear, Dagger, Gem worth 20 sp, empty chest

Winfrith
Strength 8 (-1), Agility 11 (+0), Stamina 8 (-1), Personality 6 (-1), Intelligence 10 (+0), Luck 7 (-1)
2 hp
AC 10 + 3 (Studded Leather)
Four-leafed clover: Find secret doors
Shaman
Mace, Herbs, 1 lb, ration

Eadric
Strength 10 (+0), Agility 12 (+0), Stamina 16 (+2), Personality 13 (+1), Intelligence 8 (-1), Luck 11 (+0)
3 hp
AC 10
Speed of the cobra: Initiative
Elven artisan
Staff, Clay, 1 lb, small hammer

GROUP 4

Leofsige
Strength 10 (+0), Agility 11 (+0), Stamina 12 (+0), Personality 6 (-1), Intelligence 9 (+0), Luck 8 (-1)
3 hp
AC 10
Conceived on horseback: Mounted attack rolls
Halfling moneylender
Short sword, 5 sp, 200 cp, flask of oil

Hereward
Strength 5 (-2), Agility 17 (+2), Stamina 11 (+0), Personality 9 (+0), Intelligence 7 (-1), Luck 14 (+1)
3 hp
AC 12
The raging storm: Spell damage
Farmer*
Pitchfork (as spear), Sheep, flint & steel

Aethelred
Strength 9 (+0), Agility 11 (+0), Stamina 13 (+1), Personality 10 (+0), Intelligence 14 (+1), Luck 14 (+1)
3 hp
AC 10 + 3 (Studded Leather)
Birdsong: Number of languages
Dwarven miner
Spear, Pick (as club), Lantern, iron spike

Aelfswi
Strength 14 (+1), Agility 9 (+0), Stamina 17 (+2), Personality 12 (+0), Intelligence 17 (+2), Luck 10 (+0)
6 hp
AC 10
Born under the loom: Skill checks (including thief skills)
Minstrel
Spear, Dagger, Ukulele, crowbar