Hello, and welcome to the Rusty Quill Gaming Podcast. I am your host and GM this week, Ben Meredith. And with me today, I have... Ben Meredith. Ben Meredith. Ben Meredith. And Ben Meredith. And who are you playing? Chris O'Neill. And Zolf Smith. Who's been smoking for ages and has gone north. Yeah, that's it. I can't do Somerset.
This is Zolf met in a Grimsby pub 30 years after the campaign has ended. As long as it's regional. It's not going to be. It's going to be all over the place. I can't do Zolf. But as you may have guessed, this is the fabled and much arseful BenQuest. But not as you might have imagined it. Because yes, us at the Rusty Quill don't want to give you anything truly nice. We have a very core company principle. Give people what they think they want in a way they won't enjoy. The monkey's paw. It's bingo. It curls.
But hopefully, hopefully you will enjoy this. But yeah, so this week we are going to be playing The Root RPG by Magpie Games. As of recording, they've successfully funded a Kickstarter, but it's not out yet. So I am using the pay what you want quick start rules, which you can get from their website or DriveThruRPG. It's pretty comprehensive. I'm running a recorded game off of it. So it's, you know, there's a lot you need there, but it looks like they're going to be adding a lot of stuff in the actual release. But it's a power play apocalypse game.
And also, as you may have noticed, oh, this isn't going to be set in the RQG universe. And the answer is no, I'm not getting involved because then we'd have to come up with justifications for why they're all here. And it's just too complicated. So I've decided to ignore the problem. Stop thinking about it. You're thinking about it. Don't think about it. It's an AU. It is. It is an AU. It's a piece of... We are writing our own AU fanfic, which is Woodlands Edition. Right. So...
The Root RPG is set in universe. It's based off the board game, but it's set in universe where the world we play in is the woodland and there are a number of clearings within that woodland. There's a lot of interesting rules in the back for creating your own woodland and the ongoing campaign of war between the Marquisites, which are a bunch of cats, and the eerie dynasties, who are a bunch of birds. But we're not going to really be worrying about any of that because it's a one shot. So just do what we want. So the way that I want to start this is mildly in media res and I'm going to give you an opening situation and just allow you to flow from there. So what has just happened is you stumble out of the woodland.
on the borders of the Forest Pass, into the clearing of Thornwall. So Thornwall is a clearing which is mainly controlled by rabbits, who are the dominant species in this clearing. There is a significant fox population, who is kind of the second most dominant species, and as well as, you know, just various individuals of various species. You know, there is always, you know, people immigrating, moving around the woodland. You are playing as vagabonds. So specifically, most denizens will stay in their clearing because it's the safe places. The woodland itself is very dangerous. You know, it's large and thick. What I'm saying is it's a himbo of a landscape.
But it's just very dangerous. The wooden itself is very dangerous. You are supposed to stick to the path and the clearings of the places where people live. And so they are very important, which is why the Eerie Dynasties and the Mark Crusades, which again, we're not worrying about, but I want to kind of introduce the world of Root as well, because it's a cool setting that I like quite a lot, are warring over. You four are, as I said, vagabonds. You live outside this kind of social structure. You move, you are very itinerant. You move from place to place, taking jobs where you will. The sort of title of vagabonds does not express immorality. You know, you can be horrible mercenaries, bandits, or vigilantes, people who fight for justice throughout. It just means you have no sort of fixed...
clearing fixed home. I'm a peripatetic headache. Yes. Because this is very much the animals of farthing wood, right? Or water shipped out. Oh no, it's going to be really sad. We're all going to die because of climate. Oh, well, I guess that's... Anyway, what does peripatetic mean? Travelling from place to place, especially in a working capacity. It's my job to go to places and be a headache for people. Then move on. Got it. Shooting them in the knees as I go. So an important aspect of this is that we do not have a tiefling, an orc, a goblin and a dwarf because these are the versions of the characters as they would exist in this universe. It also means this is a setting without magic. So, you know...
Don't expect wild barbarians or clerics or paladins, because obviously Telvar's whole thing was luck, which is not magic. But again, they don't have luck. Luck is literally a stat on this sheet. Telvar is probably the most accurate. What I'm hearing is that Leon Hans is now right out. Oh yeah, so don't expect any of the healing or anything like that. It's just, you know, we've taken the characters and the personalities and transplanted them into the closest equivalents that we could. So, you stumble out of the woodlands. You've just done a job. I'm not going to dictate the nature of this job, because we can kind of find out what kind of vagabonds you are through play.
But your pockets are heavy with gold, but not as much gold as you might have wanted. You were waylaid, something went wrong, and you had to escape into the deep woodlands. You have made it out, you are relatively safe, but you're very much in need of rest and recuperation and shelter, and Thornwall might just give that to you. So as you burst out of the woodland into the clearing, you're right on the outskirts. You're sort of in the areas where there are, you know, the felled trees where they've started to expand the clearing. And you can see ahead of you, given this is a rabbit, mainly rabbit clearing, there are a lot of warrens, which are semi-underground settlements. I'm thinking sort of hobbit holes. So they're like houses, but they're built into the sides of tree roots and stuff like that. So this clearing itself, there are a couple of large trees which have been saved and the clearings themselves are quite large. This is a town with probably about a thousand people, which is, you know, it's a decent sized settlement.
Actually, the scale of this civilization is not massively clear. But, you know, if we're doing animals of Farthingwood, it's very pastoral. It's very, you know, like, small rural kind of stuff. But you have these networks of warrens, and then amongst them are these large sort of brick factories, which are belching out smoke, which will be the work of probably the foxes. It says in the rulebook that each species kind of has certain sort of cultural touchstones, and, you know, there are professions which are passed down through family lineages. So it's absolutely not a case of, like, oh, every rabbit does X or Y or, you know, every whatever. But there are certain, like...
predispositions, especially due to the differing physiologies of the species. Like, for example, birds can fly. That's quite handy, and they tend to live in trees. You know, so the rabbits tend to be broadly bakers and bankers. They are good at administration, or they tend towards that kind of thing. And the foxes tend towards metalwork, which is where these factories are from. It's very much not a Princess Mononoke style of like, oh, no, industry's overtaken the peaceful forest. Although that is, to a certain extent, a theme in this game. This clearing itself seems quite well managed. You know, there is a good balance of industry to, you know...
care it seems like a reasonably sustainable place what i mean is from your character eyes as you burst through it's not like oh oh somebody's really screwed this place up it's like no this is this seems about reasonable so yeah do you have any other questions or do you just want to head into town to try and find somewhere to sleep no i think i'm good i think we're okay oh friends we have made it to safety this is such a relief there must be a inn or something similar nearby where we can rest we should immediately hit up a baker they get amazing rolls here really good delicious right should we uh should we split up then I can, you can go to a baker and I'll go look, I'll go look for an inn or something. I'm sure an inn would offer food as well as shelter. Yeah, but you know what Grisop's like. Well, why don't we just go to the nearest one, immediately go to that one, and then we'll see what happens there. I mean, I just think that there's a bit more to consider than dashing up and taking the first thing on offer. Well, yes, I know. If we'd done what I said, then we would still have those relics. We wouldn't have sold them off to the first buyer and we wouldn't be in this mess. But because we sold the relics, we've got the gold, so now we can go to the nearest inn. Yes. Right, I'm off to the pub. Zolf the Badger begins to walk away from his...
What a good thing that I should have asked you to do. Could you please describe your characters? Helen, you go first. You're the one who actually remembered this really critical piece of information that we should establish about the campaign. Okay, so we're in a world where everybody is woodland animals and Zolf is a badger and an arbiter, which is a powerful obstinate vagabond, somewhere between a mercenary and a protector. You haven't circled any of the looks on the sheet, so I'm going to go with man, scarred, repaired clothes.
brusque demeanour. Yeah, that all scans. Yeah. Yeah, so that is one thing. Obviously, the look is there as guidelines, but again, because you're playing characters who are previously established, feel free to just completely riff on whatever you want. Do you want to very quickly go through the moves that I've given Zolf? Oh, yeah. Yeah, these are interesting. This is PBTA, so I probably should actually have described the moves in general, but let's do this and then I'll continue to do my job. This is going very well. Good job, Ben. No, you're doing great. Don't you dare.
Right. So first off, you have to choose your nature. And Zolf the Badger's nature is defender, which means that when I defend someone who cannot defend themselves from a threat, I get to wipe out exhaustion. I have four exhaustions. I have drives of justice and honour.
And my moves are that I'm hardy, which means I can take an additional injury and then heal automatically whenever time passes or we go on a journey. I have weapon master, which means I can improvise a weapon. If I pick something up and attempt to hit someone with it, then I get to say this is the range of it and I get to give it one additional tag. So if I pick up a piece of wood with a nail in it, I'm saying this is short-ranged and piercing. Perhaps. Yeah. And I've made those decisions because Zolf has loads of hit points and has a habit of losing his equipment. It does. The other one, the major one really, is Guardian, which is when you defend someone or something from an immediate threat, roll with might. On a hit, I keep them safe and choose one of the options. On a seven to nine, then I expose myself to danger or escalate the situation in addition. Good stuff.
Actually, it's a good point. I should probably very quickly go over the systemic elements of this for the audience and also for you guys. But you'll have noticed on the top right-hand corner of the sort of business side of the character sheet, you have three tracks of injury, exhaustion, and decay. These are all types of harm that I can inflict on you. So the PBTA, just concept of harm, which is a bad thing occurring to the character. Injury is physical harm. Exhaustion is your, you know, will to go on. And just basically, I mean, it's exhaustion, right? You're not necessarily hurt, but you are very tired to the point where you may not be able to act anymore. And decay is your equipment. Because you are vagabonds, it's something you have to care about. And because you might be, you know, venturing into the woods.
If something breaks, this can be a big deal. The other things are, yes, the five stats that you have available to you is charm, cunning, finesse, luck and might. I think those are probably self-explanatory for what they do. There's nothing surprising in the descriptions of what they cover. And just for the audience, Helen, can you go over what is Zolf's highest and lowest stat? Zolf's highest stat is might and his lowest stat is luck.
Which does scan, yes. I considered fiddling around and making it charm, but I thought bad luck was probably just a little better. Who would like to go next? So Chilvar is a thief, which I think is appropriate because archaeologists are so named only because they have official papers. The privateers are digging things up. Yes, yes. So as a thief, they're a raccoon. I think that works. Pointy ears. Their look is, man, Chilvar. That's what a man sounds like. And they are...
There's somewhere between inconspicuous and flamboyant, you know? Like the big black cape over the shoulder is cut well, but it blends into the shadow. Flamscipuous or incombloyant? Incombloyant. Incombloyant, definitely.
Absolutely. The cloak swishes very nicely and then it becomes the shadow. Their demeanour is friendly. They're friendly because you might fund their next exhibition. Their highest stat is finesse and their lowest run is might, so I will not be punching anyone. Their nature is kleptomaniac. Clear your exhaustion track when you selfishly steal something valuable or important. Oh, they love it. Definitely really putting the boot in an archaeologist when I was building this.
It's not really rebellious. That doesn't work, does it? That belongs in the museum. That belongs in my museum. Yeah, the museum is my backpack. Their drives are ambition, so I advance whenever my reputation increases, and thrills, so they just love thrills. Yeah, as a quick thing, actually, with those ones, those cover your advances. We're probably not going to be using them just because it's a one-shot, but they're useful for the whole. One thing I don't understand, I've got my weapon skills, and it says I've got tricks shot, but my equipment doesn't have a weapon.
Markdown. Do I have a weapon? Oh, no. You've got a dagger or a staff. Yeah. Okay. Oh, so I don't need to tick it. That's just what I have. I have a dagger. Sorry. So the equipment, that is, you can take damage to equipment instead of taking decay. Oh, okay. Cool. I get it. And when an equipment is fully ticked off, it breaks and you have to get it repaired. So my chain mail has three boxes and I could, for instance, take those rather than injury.
if I was being hit by stuff. Yes. Cool. I get it. I get it. My moves are breaking and entering, which I think is self-explanatory. Also Master Thief, which is pretty self-explanatory. And Robo-Dope, which is not self-explanatory. So when I evade my enemy, I roll with finesse, which is good. And I make them exhausted. So yes, I can tire an enemy out by wiggling. Wiggling. That's my preferred combat tactic. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, go away. I'm wiggling with style. Oh no, that's not how I do it at all.
Alright, yeah. That's cool. So that's what Chalva does. Wiggles with style in a black cape. Good stuff. One thing I am actually going to say, Lydia, is that I think we should swap the staff out for a bow because that kind of was Chalva's signature weapon and I neglected to do that. That's cool. So its range is far and its special move is trickshot. Cool, got it. And lose the blunted quality because it definitely deals harm, not exhaustion, or injury, not exhaustion. Okay.
Cool. Alex or Bryn? So I am playing Zoya. We have decided that Zoya is allowed to be a wolf, which is not commonly part of the species of creature allowed in this game. But much like Zoya was a lone tiefling in a world mostly without them, we've decided to make a little special exception. And much like Zoya's tiefling nature in the previous universe, the wolf has streaks of unnaturally red fur running through their normal fur and stands out as something pretty unusual.
Zoya is obviously a she, and is large, not large for a wolf, but just large compared to the other characters, and is repaired old clothes, but the demeanor is quite honest. Zoya is also an arbiter, the same as Zolf, but instead of being the defender nature of arbiter, she is the punisher nature of arbiter, which means she clears exhaustion when she punishes a villain for their grievous wrongdoing. Her drives are justice and honour, and her moves are brute, which simply increases her might, and might is plus three, her best skill, luck minus one being her worst. Other moves are carry a big stick, meaning she can basically threaten other characters to cease arguing or to stop fighting. And crash and smash, meaning she can break through environmental problems in order to reach a place she needs to. She's also equipped with a great sword and plate armour. Good stuff. Oh, and that's one thing, Helen. Obviously, because you're also an opter, you have a great sword. It's a glaive. Okay. It's a glaive. It's just a fantastic sword. Lovely. Good stuff. Wonderful.
And Alex? Grisopdrick at Amsterdam, extremely angry weasel, also ranger. Just very quickly, I'm going to need you to say Grisopdrick at Amsterdam in that voice because both times you said Amsterdam. So this is not the core story, so I am from Amsterdam. It is actually a camp on the river that is known for a particularly sad beaver. I am from Amsterdam.
That's absolutely unacceptable. You'll notice that I am uncharming, which sounds about right to Alex. I am very cunning. I am full of finesse, which mostly translates to causing trouble. My nature is loner in that I clear or I exhaust you whenever I enter a dangerous situation alone without backup or assistance in a way that begrudges Ben GMing. That's definitely written there specifically. My drives are freedom in that I advance whenever I free a group of denizens from oppression. Fair enough. Revenge, name your foe, Ben. You advance when you cause significant harm to them or their interests. My weapon skills are Harry. My moves are forager whenever I travel to or pass into a forest. You can clear one box of decay by foraging for supplies. Darken Blade.
If my target's unaware of my position, unlikely, because I don't intend to shut up. You may murder with weapons tagged for close range instead of your intimate range. Very quickly, murder is a specific special move that you can do in this game. Of course it is. It's called sheeted ease-off in my mind. Okay, that one very explicitly didn't murder that man. I don't know what you're talking about. That man was not murdered. I don't even know what a man is. I mostly spend my time with forest animals, Benjamin.
It's not my name. Ben, you've literally allowed Alex to be a goblin. I know. I know. No, no, no. Actually, no, no. You all allowed Alex to be a goblin because no one else took this off. Just hurrying things along. We've got Dirty Fighter. I take two of the following weapon skills. Murder, also known as Shoot Your Knees Off, and Vicious Strike, also known as Shoot Your Knees Off. And I'll be doing that with either my longsword, where I'll shoot your knees off with my longsword, my longbow, or chain armour. Thank you. Oh, actually, that's a good point. Lid. Longbow actually has an established thing. So, sorry. For your longbow, you have four boxes. Right. The range is far.
And the special move is Harry. In fact, I'm going to very quickly go through the moves as well, and then we'll take a break, I think, because we've done the intro setup. Right, so, notes on basic moves. So these are the general things that you can do. So you can persuade an NPC. So when you want to persuade an NPC with promises or threats, roll charm. On a 10+, they see things your way, provide you...
provide them with a strong motive or reasonable bribe, because people still need to, you know, get things to be convinced. It's not magic. On a 7-9, they aren't sure, and the GM will tell you what you need to sway them. You could figure something out. When you try to figure something out, roll with charm. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 1. Hold in PBTA means that you basically have these floating points that you can then spend in the future on stuff. It's usually defined in the move, which it is now, and that is, while interacting with them, spend your hold 1 for 1 to ask their player a question. Is your character telling the truth? What is your character really feeling? What does your character intend to do? What does your character wish I'd do? Or how can I get your character to X?
You can trick an NPC. When you do this, roll with cunning. On a 10+, they take the bait and do what you want. On a 7-9, they can instead choose one. They hesitate, but you shake their confidence or weaken their morale. They stumble, you gain a critical opportunity, or they overreact. Take a plus-one forward against them. What was that move? One more time, sorry? Trick an NPC. Thank you. Oh, dear. But a forward means that when you roll to act within the situation that the forward is on, you get plus-one to your dice pool.
You can read a tense situation. When you read a tense situation, roll with cunning. On a seven to nine, ask one. On a ten plus, ask three. And take a plus one forward when acting on the answers. What is my best way out in or through? Who or what is the biggest threat? Who or what is most vulnerable to me? What should I be on the lookout for? Or who is in control here?
You can attempt roguish feats. When you attempt roguish feats to steal something, secure, sneak somewhere, or otherwise slip past security or notice, roll with finesse. On a 10+, you pick one. On a 7-9, you pick two. You don't have a clear path of escape. You use up some resources in the attempt to mark decay, or you leave evidence of your roguery behind. So this is one of those moves where you do the thing you want to do, and then fewer bad side effects occur, the better you do, which is why you only pick one on a 10+, and you pick two on a 7-9. You can trust fate, so you roll with luck. On a hit, you scrape by, and the GM will tell you what it costs you. On a 10+, fortune favours the bold. Your panache earns you an easy escape or fleeting opportunity.
you can wreck something when you want to do that roll with might on a hit you seriously break it and it can't be used again until it's repaired on a seven to nine you're imprecise and dangerous you cause collateral damage attract attention or end up in a bad spot which is my choice or you can help or interfere when you help or interfere with another vagabond mark exhaustion to add plus one or minus two to their role after rolling so you can do this to somebody you like or somebody you don't like to influence their role mark exhaustion again to select one of the following you conceal your aid or interference or you create an opportunity or obstacle Yeah, and then we have weapon moves, which I'm not going to go into straight away, but since we've gone through the special moves, I'm just going to very quickly say, you've got the special to blind an opponent. So on a 10+, they have to take some time to clean out their eyes before they see clearly again. Or on a 79, you have just a few moments. You can cleave. So on a hit, smash with the defense and equipment, inflicting three decay. On a 79, you overextend your weapon or yourself, and you mark decay, or end up in a bad spot. Your choice. This is going to be relevant for, I assume, Zoya. The special of disarm. On a hit, they have to mark two exhaustion or drop their weapon. On a 10+, they have to mark three exhaustion instead of two. To harry a group, you roll with cunning. On a 10+, you get both of these effects. On a 79, choose one. They suffer morale harm.
which is a special NPC kind of harm, which is just a generic, like, I'm not important to have three tracks kind of harm, or they are pinned or blocked. So that is what Grizzop can do with the longbow and Telvar. Bow-based weapons. I liked them. It's almost like I play Telvar and then build Grizzop based on the experience of playing Telvar.
Special of improvised weapon. On a hit, you roll with cunning. On a hit, you make a weapon. And I'll give you some stats. The special murder. When you try to murder a vulnerable NPC at intimate range, roll with cunning. On a hit, your foe just dies. On a 10+, you remain hidden or clear a path of your allies, your choice. I'm going to stop going through these so detailed. But you can parry, which is pretty obvious. Quick shot, you get to snapshot. Trick shot, you can take advantage of the environment to give you a benefit. Or vicious strike, so they suffer serious harm, basically. It's just much more than your normal eye attack.
And on that note of me speeding for a bunch of moves, which I'm sure is very interesting. But hopefully people are now a little bit more clear on what they're able to do and the audience is a little bit clear on what we're able to do. We're going to take a break there. Hi everyone, Helen here, the voice of Azu, Enola and Laverne. Today I'm here to tell you about Malevolent, a podcast launched on the RQ Network. Malevolent is a weekly horror fiction podcast filled with dark, noir, eldritch horror. Arkham private investigator Arthur Lester wakes up with no memory of who he is or what has happened, only a nameless, eerie voice guiding him through the darkness. Blind, terrified and confused, his journey will lead him towards a series of mysteries in the hopes of understanding the truth of what has transpired. As cosmic horrors seep into the world, Arthur must ask himself whether this entity truly seeks to help him.
or are its intentions more malevolent? Search for Malevolent wherever you listen to your podcasts, or visit www.rustyquill.com or www.malevolent.ca for more information. Have fun, and see you later. And welcome back. So...
Everybody froze in time while we established what they looked like and what they could do in this world. And we're going to unfreeze as the group heads off to, I think, find a bakery slash pub. I'm pretty certain we were doing my thing because that's how I grizzop roll. That's very unfair. It sounded to me like three of us were finding an inn and one of us was going off alone to find a bakery. Okay. Since we now know that you are mechanically advantaged if you go off on your own. I'm fine with this. I curse this problem for myself. I am the clown in this situation. Goodbye forever.
Salter the Badger's Hill right now is to find a pub, so he's going to go and plant himself on that when he finds it. So if you're following, that's great. I just want to say that that pub over there has much more interesting carvings and, I think, historical interest, which I think usually translates to a better meal and bed. It's just, if you look at the decorations, it's cool. So we will get to Grizzop, but the pub that Tjelvar is pointing out is built into the root mound of a massive sort of twisted birch tree. And appropriately enough, the pub itself is called the Twisted Birch. It does look genuinely quite nice. And as they'd established the kind of carvings, there appears to be sort of, what are they called? Dioramas. But in art, there's another vignette, right? A frieze? Yeah, it's a frieze. Okay, yeah, different friezes of what appear to be sort of different generations of the same family. Sort of carved up. And effectively, it's a carving history of that pub.
What kind of family is it? Rabbits. Aww. Well, what you'll note here in these freezes is that you can't nick them because they're actually stuck into the wood. It's a very interesting technique that I've never had an opportunity to examine close up. I agree with Telva. It looks like an interesting pub and clearly there's a lot of history to it. It would be nice to learn about some of it. Let's go. Right, well, in we go. Cool. Solves the badger, marches up to the pub door and opens it and goes inside. Yeah.
As you stride, I was going to say confidently, but more just like grumpily, into the pub, you are greeted by a lovely sort of warmth rolls out towards you. There's a soft orange light. This is built into the earth. So it's very warm and cosy to the point where it could almost be cloying if you had to stay here for too long. You've gone for a walk in the Peak District and you found an old stone pub and this is the vibe that it gives off. That's a very universal experience that I'm sure everybody listening will understand. Yeah, I'm sure. And at that point, I think we'll quickly scoot over to Grizzop the Weasel.
What is Grisop up to? Grisop is going to the nearest bakery to get bakery things. Okay, yeah. So, again, this is a rabbit-dominated clearing. So there are an awful lot of food stalls, like, either established in Warren's or stalls that are set out. This is a thriving market town with a reasonably sized trading post as well. So if you want good pastries, you're definitely in the right place for it. Now, as you stride in, people are giving you weird looks. This is not something that you, like, is...
surprising to you as vagabonds you are vaguely mistrusted because again like this is like the whole society of the woodland is very much about staying put where it's safe and putting down roots and you are people who have refused to do that which is always a little bit you know concerning because they don't know what your deal is so you get some funny looks and you very quickly find yourself in a bustling market there are so many food stalls in front of you what kind of thing what's the nearest food stall the nearest food stall is selling a variety of vegetarian pies i want your best vegetarian pie please Yes, that'll be two gold, please. Great. The rabbit behind the counter is kind of like giving you a look that is saying, I want you to produce this before I give anything to you. Like, prove you're good for it. They're not outright saying it, but... We have a problem here. I'm pretty certain my money's as good as anyone else's money here, right? The stall owner kind of puts down the pie that they had in their hands, sighs and goes...
Yes, but I don't know you and that means I don't trust you. All I want to know is that when I hand this pie over to you, you're not going to scarper. I've never scarpered anywhere in my life. I scoot. I dump my money on the counter and go, but I hope this is a lesson in judging people before you know them. Thank you very much. Honestly, you need to realise that there is more to people than just your first impressions. The stall owner just has a completely perplexed and overwhelmed look of just like, this is a far more, this is a much more intense interaction than I expected. That exactly is what I was going for. And I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm going to take my pie now and I'm going to leave, but I want you to know that you're lucky I didn't murder you for not trusting me.
and then Grisop leaves. Goodness me. You gave me Grisop. I'm real sorry, but you gave me Grisop. Ben, quickly rewriting the plot to be okay. How are you driven out of town? Yeah, just quickly, quickly rewrite some stuff. Yeah, as you leave, you're like, the rabbit is talking to a mouse who is helping them out, being like, what on earth? What was that? What was that? Grisop's immediately now going to go rejoin the rest of the group because he's got his pie. Where's the rest of the group? I don't know, in the pub. Oh, I know where the rest of the group is. It's fine, I'll just check every pub.
Fine, fine. Okay. We're flicking back to. Wise. The collective, step into the pub. What is your... There's a little bit of the whole Western tavern. You walk in, everyone stops and looks at you. Hello, we are looking for beds for this night and potentially others. Do you have any beds? We would much appreciate a meal as well if we can purchase such a thing. Yeah, and there is this large, quite rotund white rabbit behind the bar.
And she sort of leans forward and goes, oh, yeah, no, I can help you out with some of that. Welcome to Twisted Birch. Hello. This is a fine and beautiful establishment. Beautiful history freezes. Oh, right. All right, then how much? How much? Oh, well, it's...
Five gold a night for each of you. And very quickly, I don't know what the economy is like in this game. That is a perfectly reasonable ask for a room. I was going to say, what a good and or terrible deal. Yeah, people are aware of how it works, but they'll be like, this is an exorbitant fee, you could buy an army for that. But I don't know, that's what five gold is in my version of Root. That sounds like a reasonable price. Reflecting the local economy. Well done, and thank you. Absolutely. Now, we are well known for our very good value sort of stuff. Of course, that's going to be room and board. Are you going to want to eat now, or are you going to get to your rooms and freshen up a bit? And she'll give you a bit of a look, because you do all look pretty dirty and beat up, because you've been running through the woodlands.
I would certainly appreciate the chance to freshen up before a meal. What do you think? Sure. Well, I think you probably... Oh, no, sorry. Sure, let's freshen up. Yeah, whatever. You were right, Zulf. You seem displeased. That's just his face. I'm not displeased. Got no real opinion. Good, good. I'm glad. Let's just get this over with and we'll be on with the next thing. Zulf, is it? Yep. I'd like to know the names of my customers. I'm Betty. You know, I'm proprietor of the Twisted Brooch.
Hello, Betty. I am Chelvar. What a lovely voice you have. Thank you. I got it from YouTube. Oh, right. I assume that's some kind of prestigious academy or something. Kind of. That's one way to put it.
It is a pleasure to meet you, Bethia. My name is Zoya. We are also expecting our last friend, Mr. Grizzop, to join us in the very near future. I will give a brief physical description of Grizzop. So if he comes in and we are in a room or in the bathing chamber, then please let him know that we are here. Here is the money for both myself and him. Zolf interrupts and he's like, look, you'll know him when you see him. You can't miss Grizzop. Very good. Fair enough. Well, thanks very much. If you go and have a chat to my daughter, she's just round the back, dropping some wood. She'll be able to show you to your rooms. Obviously, I can't leave the bar because people need drinks.
Anyway, enjoy your stay, and what do you want, about an hour before I get your food ready? That sounds ideal. Yes. Wonderful. Are you eating down here or in your rooms? Down here. It's lovely to absorb the atmosphere, don't you think? My friends. Yes. Just away from Matt Berry. I'm now into announcer. It's fine. I'm loving it. It's all over the place. It's all over the place. Let's go. I agree with each other. Okay. Do you want to head out back? Yes. Okay. So you head out back, and you find Betty's daughter, who is also a rabbit, chopping wood in the back. She's...
a lot skinnier and a lot taller than her mother and when you appear she sort of buries the axe in the chopping board and says hey uh can i help Yes, we've been sent here to get clean and rooms. Right, well, I ain't going to be bathing you. I assume my mum wants to... No, no, we know. Ignore, yep. Just show us our rooms, please. Right, right, right. And she kind of walks you around. And the way this pub is built is that the sort of main room is the majority of the mounds. And then out the back, there are a number of like other little doors, almost like small apartments, which are each individual rooms. She kind of then hands you each a key and you can each take one of the rooms. Oh, very nice. Thank you. Pleasure. Oh, do they have on suites? There's not a bathhouse that we...
Oh, cool. Fancy, fancy pub, I like it. Yeah, sure. I mean, yeah, there is a tub and a discreet bucket. Cool. Because this is a, well, this is an industrialising kind of place, but it's not fully industrial. So again, that's actually quite good. Better than the wilderness. Exactly, it's better than the woods. The rooms are warm, the rooms are pleasant. Actually, one thing that the daughter, because we didn't get a name, will provide you with some warm buckets of water to fill your bath with. This pub is great. Oh, thank you very much. Yeah, we pride ourselves on our service, so, you know. Good stuff. Enjoy your bath. Zolf says nothing and her goes inside his room.
Charming. See, now you're being solved, Ben. I can't help it. I'm sorry. Cheval catches the daughter bunny as they go off. Actually, that's a great reaction from him. We've got our gratitude. Really? Oh, yes. It's been great fun. I ain't judging you for the company you keep, but what a barrel of ours. He is a valued companion, even if sometimes he...
I get it. Find things a little hard to cope with. Sure, sure. Oh, Isabella, by the way. If you need anything, just yell and I'll be able to help you out. Thank you so much, Isabella. I'm Zoya and this is Tjelva. Oh, nice to meet you. Lovely. Yeah, and then you guys can just kind of get into your rooms, freshen yourselves up. If you had exhaustion and decay, I'd be like, oh, you can get some of it back. But I didn't bother, so it's fine. Slam cut to half an hour later and Grizzop burps through the door of the Twisted Birch, which is the 10th pub that he's been to. That does feel very Grizzop. I approve of that. It's almost like I know how the characters work. Hello, have any weirdos been in here yet?
Grizzop, is it? Yes, hello. I have met your weirdos. Yes, no, they've got rooms and they've paid for it. They've been here about half an hour. Oh, fantastic. Actually, I think Isabella left me the key and this is Betty and she pops the key on the front. Rooms are just round back. They're numbered. I think you've got number five. Oh, fantastic. Yeah, oh, they're going to be taking dinner in this room in about, I think you've got about half an hour. Half an hour? Oh, right, yeah, that's like six baths. Thank you very much, Betty. Yeah, thank you, Grizzop.
Cheerio. Grisop runs upstairs for a series of baths. Out back. Oh, out back, sorry. Yeah, otherwise that's going to make a bit of a mess. Fair point, fair point. Starts digging through the roof. There is just, you know, five minutes after Grisop heads out back to his room, you hear banging crashing. Hey! So, we'll move on to you are all sat at your table. You're as fresh and as clean as you wanted to get yourselves. Actually, yeah, that's a good point. How have you all brushed up? My armour is especially shiny.
That concludes my brushing up, so that was what the soap was for. Chelvar has picked all of the brambles that were in his fur and has brushed his fluffy raccoon tail to a gorgeous shine. Nice. Wield it, waxed it. I don't know what one does with a raccoon tail to make it.
Fluffy and good. So I have fully dunked into a warm tub of water several times and then shook off in the most extravagant and pleasurable way possible. And so it's now looking extra fluffy. And she spent the rest of the time carefully making repairs to clothing and equipment because it's important to look after. So it's not like polish, so it doesn't look great, but it will stand up to further wear and tear. Good stuff. So I've had a long soak and replatted.
Wait, it's a badger. Badger can have a beard. Yeah, we've had his little beard. Yes. And he's clean and functional. That's fine. Lovely. And you have sat down to a delicious meal of vegetables and meat has been provided for the carnivals. This is, you know, like one of the things is that although you have animals, there are also animals without, you know, human level sentience, which, you know, we're not dealing with the ethical ramifications of sentient animals. This is not Zootopia. Sounds like one of those things where people have started thinking about it, Ben, and that's not the goal here.
The goal is to mock you. A delicious meal of diet-appropriate food. Yeah, and so this is a good chance for you to kind of plan your next move. Like, around you, there are, you know, there's a group of rabbits at the bar who've obviously just got off work because it's moving on to later evening. There is a young pair, a fox and a rabbit, sort of ensconced in the corner, kind of whispering quietly to one another in a very intense kind of conversation. And, yeah, there's also another badger who's sat back by the fire on their own, very much not paying attention to anybody else. And this is the kind of scene you're in. It is very warm, it is very cosy, it's quite friendly, but there's that nice burble of talk in the pub. It's really nice here, eh? Yes!
Doesn't seem like the kind of place where there would be many quests. It's all very lovely. I'm sure that that's not just surface deep. There's always more to find just by exploring into the forest. We don't need a specific task, as it were, but obviously it may behoove us to ask around and see if anyone needs tasks completed out in the forest. Oh, yes. I mean, that was a lovely half-hour break, but I'm ready to get back out there now, yes.
I would appreciate a proper night's sleep in a real bed for once. Oh, well, to each their own. How about you head out this evening, and we'll have a lovely nap. I do think it would be better if we were to all stick together. We work well as a team. Oh, it's fine. I'll just, you know, play solitaire. Why play solitaire? Do you mean cause a ruckus? I promise not to try to cause a ruckus. You don't need to try hard. We've got no ruckus causing. Fine. In that case, then, we may as well get our cards in now, right? Angster, damn, hold them.
That is in and out of character. Grisop absolutely, unless Ben denies it, will break out a deck of cards to play with people while we're in the inn. Of course you can. I just don't appreciate angst to damn hold them. Here's the thing is, I'm always going to double down on any mistake you point out. So in a lot of ways, just tell me I'm perfect and we'll all be grand. Absolutely never. That's written on my soul. Yes, so Grisop busts out some cards. Are you playing amongst yourselves or are you trying to get other denizens involved? Going to invite...
other people because how else would you win money off people? If there's one thing that Grizzop likes more than betting, it's apparently losing at gambling and I still don't know why but that is an established Grizzop fact. Yeah, I think he played games with Sasha for a long time and did not realise she was cheating. I remember that. That was a good time. Everyone was happy back then. That's exactly what I'm going for.
It's a shame you can't keep nice things. Yeah, well, some people decide to go to Rome, even though it's a really bad idea. Very silly. That hurts me. Zoya will half-heartedly play the card game, but she's not really paying much attention, and she's certainly too sensible to lose very much money on it, because she'd like to pay attention to the chatter going on, and if Isabella or Betty have a quiet moment, she might steal a quick chat with either of them. Good stuff. And what's Zolf up to, Helen? I'm having a thing, because I can't just have him sulking all the time. I mean, I've done that for 200 episodes. I think that Zolf is not playing.
But he's keeping an eye on everyone who is to make sure that everyone is playing fair. Ooh. And he's specifically keeping an eye on Grisop to make sure that Grisop is not going to start fighting anybody anytime soon. Good stuff. Sort of doing a bit of a hover. Yeah. That motivation is what Telvar relies on in order to get away with cheating. Great. So it sounds like Telvar is attempting a roguish feat. Well, I thought that would I need to persuade an NPC to join before I get to... Oh.
Very good point. Yeah, so I'm not going to require a movie for that, but you kind of do a whip round. You get a couple of the bunnies at the bar and the badger. The bunny and the fox in the corner are very much involved with one another. They're busy. Are they on a date? They're busy. You kind of get, I don't know, they're on a very conspiratorial date.
You're getting date-ish vibes, but they're not obviously, like, you know, gazing lovingly into one another's eyes. They're planning something, you know. You know, we're vagabonds. We know that bonds are forged in high-stress situations. If you want to nail someone down, if you want to get that relationship moving, then what better to do than embark on a thievery quest? Really, that's how Chelfers put all their conquests. Look, the dummy-thick thicket hides all sins.
So, for Telvar then, I feel like, let's not bother with a move move, but you're trying to trick people, right? Yeah, over the course of the evening, I would not like this to be like dramatic, Telvar has piles of money up, but, you know, he just wants to make sure he's on the winning edge. Be ten or so gold up by the end, that'd be nice. Gustav, so please roll with cunning. Right.
So for people who are unfamiliar with PBTA, it usually runs off if you roll 2d6. On a 10+, that's a critical absolute success or hit, so it kind of goes off and it's as good as it could be. A 7 to 9 is a hit with consequences, and a 6 or lower is a failure, which usually means that I, as the GM, get to narrate something going wrong. I have rolled a 7. Okay, fine. So, yeah, over the course of the evening, you do manage to accrue a reasonable amount of gold. As you say, it's within, you know, you're not being extravagant about this. One of the bunnies is like, ah, this isn't working for me, and leaves. It's kind of lowering the potential pool. And by the end of the evening, the badger.
You don't know if they know you're cheating as such, but they seem very displeased. Now, that could just generally be they're annoyed with losing money, or it could be something else. You're not quite sure. I crushed the plot hook. I found the hook, saw the lovely shiny hook, and I went, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. Grissop is just cheerfully being part of this. As you said, he's not trying to win money. He's just enjoying being about. He's mostly trying to make sure that there's as many hands as possible. Sure, sure. Very much being the justicar of time. Yeah, and Zolf sitting back, it seems to be going reasonably pleasantly, or as pleasantly as it could do with a group of vagabonds in a new clearing.
And for Zoya, you're trying to get some stuff, aren't you? Yeah, so as I said, half-heartedly play the game, expect to lose one or two gold probably, but listening to the conversation and potentially trying to steal a chat with either Isabella or Betty, if possible. Yeah, sure. I mean, Isabella is well up... No, sorry, Betty is well up for a chat, being, you know, the barman. That's kind of her job. Yeah, I mean, just if it's busy, I don't want to sort of impose upon her if she's having to do huge amounts. No, no, the pub is full, but it's consistent. Yeah. So I'll chat a bit about the freeze and about maybe the history of the place, but I mean, fundamentally, I'm kind of going to get...
the message across that I think this clearing is very nice and pleasant and this is a lovely bar, but it is, you know, our fate to be wanderers and whether she knows of anyone in town who might, you know, need something doing out in the forest. Yeah, so Betty is, Thornwall in and of itself is actually quite a stable clearing. There are concerns because, you know, after they managed to take control away from the Erie dynasties when they had their civil war and leadership crisis, they managed to stay independent, but now the Marquess is closing in and the Erie dynasties kind of want what they want. There's nothing going wrong in the clearing, but everyone's just, there's a ramp up of tension because people know that it's going to break bad at some point and probably at some point soon, which means people are generally on edge. And also, there seems to be a bit of a rift forming between the older generations and the newer generations because the older generations very much want to keep what they had and the newer generations are trying to forge something new. This is not a new story, but because of the rising tensions in the air, it's starting, there are moments of boiling over, like family tension, stuff like that. So she says that some people might want some help with that, but they don't have any big crises that are on. Yeah, I'll just have them.
Pleasant conversation then about the town and its history a bit alongside that too. Good stuff. All right. And on that note, as you spend quite an actual pleasant evening, given your own flavours of shenanigans in the Twisted Birch, you head to bed and settle down, enjoying the fact that for once you're in a proper bed with a proper pillow. It's actually warm. And there isn't, as far as you know, the threat of being mauled by a bear in the night. And I think I'll end the episode there. It's so nice. Look, Owen Benjam, he gives us nice things. It's an anti-cliffhanger. It's like you've rolled to the bottom of a soft, warm, sandy slope.
Oh, I don't know. Helen played in the Monster of the Week game I ran and we all know how that ended. Oh, yeah. But, you know, Alex didn't really engage with the plot. He just kind of bounced around like a pinball asking for burgers. How I roll! Yeah. All right, everyone. Bye! Rusty Quill Gaming is a podcast distributed by Rusty Quill and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution non-commercial share like 4.0 international license. Today's episode was directed by Alexander J. Newell and produced by Hannah Preisinger. To subscribe, buy merchandise or join our Patreon, visit RustyQuill.com. Rate and review us online. Tweet us at TheRustyQuill. Visit us on Facebook or email us via mail at RustyQuill.com. Join our community on the Discord or via Reddit at r slash RustyQuill. Thanks for listening.
So keep your hands to yourself, Helen. That's what I'm saying. Just less of the laying on hands. Oh, right, right. I'm being filthy, Helen. I'm being filthy, don't mind me. No, that confuses me. Zolf doesn't have lay on hands, but Grizzop does, Alex. So that was both an inaccurate and unhelpful joke. Do you even know the rules to Pathfinder, Alex? I'm just enjoying being described as inaccurate and unhelpful. And I put that on my epitaph.