A transcript from the Twisted Tunnels design lab, featuring LetsDrawRyoko (Natalie) and John St. Gaptooth

Download the complete Twisted Tunnels playtest PDF to make your own characters for madcap dungeon demolition.

John

Hi, I’m John.

Natalie

And I’m Natalie.

John

Here we are in the Twisted Tunnels design lab where the tunnels get twisted. We’re here to make a Twisted Tunnels character, and let’s get down to business.

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Step 1: Roll Your Abilities

John

First things first, Natalie is going to roll her abilities.

Roll 3d6 for each of the six abilities: Charisma, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Luck, and Strength. Add all three dice together and assign the total to one ability. If all three dice show the same number—triples—mark that ability with an asterisk. Human characters can then add another 3d6 to any asterisked ability, repeating as long as triples keep coming.

John

Five, five, and one.

Natalie

Bruh. We’re going to add the 3d6s together, right?

John

Yes.

Natalie

Oh, okay. So that’s 11.

I’m going to put my 11 in Intelligence.

John

All right. Now we roll again. Okay—6, 3, and 1 is 10.

Natalie

10. I’m going to put that in my Dexterity.

John

All right. Okay—6, 4, and 3—yeah, 13.

Natalie

13. Oh, that goes in my Strength.

John

You already have an idea of what you’re going to play?

Natalie

Yes. A wizard!

John

All right.

Natalie

I’m sorry. Wizards are really cool.

John

All right. 3, 3, and 2.

Natalie

8. Oh, I’m going to put that in my Luck stat.… There you go.

John

All right. Okay, you have 1, 4, and 5.

Natalie

That’s 11.

John

What?

Natalie

That’s—wait, no. No, it’s not 11. That’s 10.

That’s gonna go in my Charisma.

John

All right. One left.

Natalie

And one more. All right—1, 1, and 5: 7.

7 is going to go in Constitution.

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Figure Adds

John

All right. So now we figure the Adds for each attribute, which is equal to the ability divided by five, rounded down. So for 10 ÷ 5 is 2 for your Charisma Adds.

Natalie

2.

John

For 7 [Constitution] that would be 1 [Adds].

Natalie

2 [for Dexterity Adds].

John

And then for Luck—or Intelligence Adds, that would be 2. Luck [Adds] would be 1, and Strength [Adds] would be 2.

Your Adds are what you [add to] your rolls when your abilities are tested.

Sudden death: Should any ability ever drop to zero during play, you face sudden death. See Casual Mode for a gentler alternative.

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Languages

Select languages equal to your INT Adds — that’s 2 for Natalie. Your native language comes first. Spoken and literate are separate picks. It’s fine to save undefined slots and discover them during play.

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Step 2: Pick a Type

John

Now, let’s go ahead and pick a specialty [skill]. Go ahead and roll two dice on this table and you’ll get to pick what order they go in.

Natalie

All right. [Rolls.] Yeet!

John

So you got a 2 and 2. So 2 and 2 is “Danger Sense”. Go ahead and write down “Danger Sense” under your specialty skill.

Specialty skills are an optional rule. They give you +1d on related Saving Rolls, and they also give you contacts, resources, rivals, and debts related to your background.

Natalie

All right.

John

And now you said you’re going to play a Magic-User?

Natalie

M’hm.

John

All right. So I’m going to go ahead and show what a Magic-User gets. The Magic-User survives by wits and magic in their bones. Trained by the mysterious Guild in spellcraft, Magic-Users can learn any spell just by paying the Guild. They start with all Apprentice spells. When you cast a spell while holding a wizard’s brand, subtract your level from the casting cost — that’s a minimum cost of 1. And you can use Light weapons with no penalty. You get only one die when using any other weapon, and no Adds.

The other Types are the Warrior — who can use any weapon without penalty, doubles armor protection, gets a named signature weapon, and gets +1d against any creature that has wounded them. And the Rogue, a jack-of-all-trades who can use any weapon and learn spells, but only from a Magic-User in the party, or by making an Intelligence Saving Roll when observing a spell being cast. Rogues can’t advance past level 7 unless they choose another path.

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Step 3: Gear Up

John

The next step is selecting your gear. Here’s the gear. You get one Rare item, two Uncommon items, and three Common items.

You also get a backpack, traveling clothes, 1d6 torches, and 1d6 rations — all for free.

Natalie

I’m going to choose a wizard’s brand and it’s going to be an hourglass.

John

Okay. The hourglass allows you to sustain your spells for longer.

All right, that’s your Rare item. Then you can pick two Uncommon items.

A wizard’s brand is what lets Magic-Users subtract their level from casting costs. Other brand options include an orb, ritual dagger, scroll, staff, or wand.

Natalie

Uncommon. I’m going to pick a disguise kit, and a silk rope.

John

And then you can pick any three Common items. For your Common items, don’t pick a backpack or traveling clothes because you get those for free.

Natalie

Chomp Dog!

John

The Chomp Dog has a Monster Rating of 15. It has a specialty in fighting and [is an] outstanding scent tracker — but it may go berserk whenever it smells a monster. So a Chomp Dog is not something you want to bring on a stealth mission.

Natalie

Uh-uh!

A big onion.

John

Big onion? It’s pretty much mandatory at this point. The big onion is good for your breath, or instant tears. And may have some nutritional value.

Natalie

I’m going to bring ritual candles.

John

Ritual candles. All right, you get 20. Are you planning any rituals in the dungeon?

Natalie

M’hm. [something something] Kesh.

John

All right. Okay, so you’re getting revenge for the last time.

John starts to move on to heirs, then catches himself:

John

Next up is, after gear, you choose an heir or _heiress_—oh wait.

You did not pick a weapon. So, you don’t want to be armed?

Natalie

Uh, I guess I’ll choose a sword. Wait, can I choose a sword?

John

You can choose [one]. Yes.

So all the Light weapons, Light ranged, martial weapons, and martial reach weapons are Common.

Heavy ranged weapons and Heavy reach weapons are Uncommon,

and Buster weapons are Rare.

Natalie

Oh! I’m going to choose a Common weapon. I already got my hourglass.

I’m going to use a war hammer!

John

Okay, so the war hammer is under martial weapons, so it gets two dice in combat.†

But now you have to sacrifice one of your Common items because you only pick three.

†As a Magic-User, Natalie’s character can’t benefit from 2d weapons! We noticed this right after the video ended, and she chose a bagh naka instead.

Natalie

I’m sacrificing the onion.

John

Oh man. So you don’t want to go into the dungeon with fresh breath.

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Torches, Rations & Personal Items

John

All right. Then you also get 2 personal items.

Wait, before that: you also get 1d6 torches, 1d6 rations…

Natalie

*Torches*—oh, I get 6!

John

All right.

Natalie

And then, how many rations am I getting? I get 2 rations.

John

Two rations?

Natalie

Going to starve.

John

Then, you also get a backpack and your traveling clothes. These items alone do not count towards weight.

Natalie

Okay.

John

And you get 2 personal items.

You get one Common item from your homeland and one mundane item found in the Twisted Tunnels on a previous failed expedition. They’re not valuable or magical, but they’re special to you.

Tell us why they matter—maybe your grandmother’s wooden spoon saved your life, or that bent copper coin reminds you never to trust a goblin’s smile.

Natalie

Um, magic amulet, and…

John

Was that a mundane personal item, or a mundane item from the Twisted Tunnels?

Natalie

A mundane item from the Twisted Tunnels.

Natalie

And then a mundane item [from my homeland] is going to be an alcohol mug.

John

Okay. All right. Like a flagon?

Natalie

Mhm.

John

Okay.

Natalie

A flagon, and the magical—I did say magical amulet, right?

John

Yeah. What does it look like?

Natalie

It’s round, and like this. It’s got a little stopwatch on top, and it’s got a ring around the stopwatch, and then it’s got a thing that goes around the neck.

John

Okay. Does it have anything on the face?

Natalie

Oh, it’s got a family heirloom crest on it. So it’s going to be a lion on the front.

John

Okay. Okay. All right! So, like your coat of arms—or somebody’s coat of arms [since] you said you found this in the Twisted Tunnels?

Natalie

Yeah.

John

Okay. All right.

Roll 3d6—that’s how many silver groats you start with. Gold gilders and copper farthings also circulate, but conversion varies by location (suggested: 1 gold = 50 silver, 1 silver = 10 copper). We skipped this by accident!

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Loadout

Count your items—that’s your Load. Your Load Limit is the sum of your Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength Adds (1 + 2 + 2 = 5 for Natalie’s character). Under your limit you’re Nimble; between your limit and double it you’re Steady; over double you’re Clumsy. You can only carry Heavy items up to your STR Adds — that’s 2 for Natalie.

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Step 4: Name Your Heir

John

And then the final thing is, you pick an heir or heiress, who will inherit all your junk if you die.

Natalie

My dog.

John

Your dog?

Natalie

Droolius Caesar.

John

If you leave it to your dog, then whoever owns your dog will pick it up.

Natalie

Yes.

John

All right. Okay. All right.

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We shot some more after this clip, including Natalie naming her character “Sabrina”, and swapping out her war hammer for bagh naka hooks. We even shot the beginning of a combat scene, but we decided to save that for another time!

Thanks for tuning in!

Download the complete Twisted Tunnels playtest PDF here.

See Natalie’s art at letsdrawryoko.com, will ya?