Stories with Dice
Stories with Dice is an actual-play podcast where a fellowship of everyday gamers explores fantastical worlds, distant futures, and parallel realities through tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) from Free League Publishing, Chaosium, Modiphius Entertainment, and more.
Over the years, we’ve told stories around our virtual table in the worlds of Tales from the Loop, Pendragon, Mutant Year Zero, Star Trek Adventures, The One Ring, The Electric State, Forbidden Lands, Legend of the Five Rings, and Symbaroum. Going forward, we’re focusing on a smaller lineup of games, giving us more opportunities to return to each story sooner. As campaigns reach their natural conclusions, we’ll add new stories from the worlds of Twilight: 2000, Vampire: The Masquerade, The Walking Dead, and more.
We’re not voice actors, professional entertainers, or trained performers—just friends from around the globe sharing virtual dice, stories, and a laugh or two as the game unfolds.
Stories with Dice
The Sword Campaign S1 E11: A Pendragon Actual Play Podcast
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In this episode of the Sword Campaign, we learn the fate of Sir Caradoc. Alone in a dark wood, haunted by visions of his fallen comrade Sir Ian and his brother-in-arms Sir Hystalwyn, Caradoc must confront the Spriggan curse that has plagued his family for generations, testing his faith and courage as he seeks his way home.
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Welcome to Stories with Dice. This is the Sword Campaign, a Pen Dragon actual play podcast using the sixth edition starter set from
Welcome to Stories with Dice
SPEAKER_02Chaosium. If you're enjoying our actual plays, please subscribe to Stories with Dice so you'll never miss an episode. Don't forget to rate and review us, it really helps others discover the podcast. Follow us on social media to stay updated, share your thoughts, and join the conversation. You'll find the relevant links in the description of
Last Time on the Sword Campaign
SPEAKER_02each episode. Last time, on the Sword Campaign, on a diplomatic mission to secure military aid from King Nim, King Leo de Grantz, and Count Sanum, our Salisbury Knights only secured Leo de Grans' support and uncovered treachery in Count Sonom's court. With time running short, a mysterious woman offered them a way to reach the boy king with this news before it was too
The Journey Begins
SPEAKER_02late. But though all three accepted the woman's offer, only Sir Ian and Sir Histalwin arrived at King Arthur's encampment to fight in the Battle of Bedagrane, a battle that would claim the life of one of our knights. Okay, so we are back with the sword campaign episode eleven, I believe. We are joined as usual by Ed playing Sir Ian, perhaps the last time. And Pete playing Sir Histelwin. Hi. And we are rejoined by the sexy Spanish person Tony playing Sukaradoc. Hello. Hello? Okay, so let us begin. What happened to Sukarado? We are about to find out. We open on Sukaradoc, reaching down from his horse to take the strange woman's hand as he rides beneath an archway of ancient gnarled trees. The air glitters around him like sunlight reflected on water, bending and shimmering with each step of his mount. The shimmering light falters, dimming as if a cloud has passed over the sun. A blur of shifting shadows and shapes moves in a dream like haze. A woman's voice whispers What do you seek? Then we hear the haunting caw of a raven. The camera sharpens, and a raven perched on a tree branch comes into focus. The banners of Count Robert and Uther Pendragon hang from the branch, swaying in a breeze. The camera lingers on the banners for a beat, before pulling back, and we see Sir Caradoc astride his horse. Behind him his squire glances nervously around them.
Into the Dark Woods
SPEAKER_02They're in a clearing in a dark wood. Mist creeps along the ground. The woods are dense, a labyrinth of thick old growth and knotted roots. No paths are visible. In the distance the toll of a church bell carries through the woods. The woman's voice whispers again What do you seek? Is it daylight? It is daylight, yes. There is some sun slipping through the thick canopy ahead uh overhead.
SPEAKER_03I'm afraid Owen, something happened to us. Aye, sir. W and and where is that voice coming from? Sorcery. Should I have trusted her? Owen, look around. Just come bus and see if you can find a path nearby. Or stay here and and figure out where we are.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes, sir. He gets down off the horse and and he's you know he's looking around this this clearing trying to find a trying to find a path. And you know, he spends about maybe ten or fifteen minutes. It's not a very large clearing. And he he comes back to tell you that he's he's found no way through, that he's afraid you will ha you'll have to hack your way through all the thick undergrowth to get through. But where are we?
SPEAKER_03I don't know, I don't recognize this forest. Do you think the horse will be able to go through?
SPEAKER_02If we lead them, perhaps we will not be able to ride them.
SPEAKER_03Very well. Lead the horses. We'll take the I will take point. She's my sword. Did I hear did you hear also some bells? Or it wasn't me.
SPEAKER_02Uh no, I I I I do. Yeah, they're still ringing. I I it's echoing all around. I don't know which direction it is coming from. And then that raven perched on that tree branch where those two banners, the one of Count Robert and the other of Uther Pendragon.
A Vision of Sir Ian
SPEAKER_02That raven caws again. And then you hear that voice whispering again almost like you know, a breeze through the leaves. What do you seek?
SPEAKER_03To serve to serve. That's what they seek. Whom do you serve? Robert, Count Robert, and the rightful king of this country.
SPEAKER_02The path is like a tunnel of brambles and twisted branches. I'll go forward. You dismount, you take the reins of your horses, and you proceed down this path that is opened up before you, and the tolling of the church bell is growing louder, so you you believe you're moving nearer to this to this sound. And at last the oppressive canopy of the forest gives way and you emerge into the pale light of an open field. Amesbury Abbey stands before you, its palisades framed by the setting sun. At the gates you see Abys Beatrice. Her face is solemn, her hands clasped before her. She raises her voice to greet you. Sir Ian is this way. But before you can respond to her or follow her gaze, another voice calls out, and it's Sir Histalwyn, shouting from the great stones of Stonehenge, his voice ringing out, he's calling your name, and you can see him waving to you.
SPEAKER_03But is this sorcery? How did we arrive to this place? Hmm. I look at Sir Istalwyn, is it him?
SPEAKER_02You're too far away to really know if it's him or not.
SPEAKER_03But the voice him in danger.
SPEAKER_02No, not at all. But the voice is unmistakably his.
SPEAKER_03Excuse me, I guess Beatrice, she's closer, I guess. She is, yes. Yes. I must go to see my companion. Which one? Sister Wynn. Okay. Could you mind waiting here? Is is were you waiting for me? We were.
SPEAKER_02The gate will remain open for you. Sir Ian is this way. And then she walks in through the palisades toward the chapel.
SPEAKER_03I'm I'm torn here. I don't know. Which I mean at this moment Sir Carlook is very confused. Do you understand why you said Ian it's this way?
SPEAKER_02Do you want to Do you wanna make a dis do you want to leave it to the traits to try to make a decision?
SPEAKER_03Yes, actually I would.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Perhaps spiritual and worldly?
SPEAKER_03Okay. Clinical role. Spiritual role dice. Success on a spiritual.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so you're drawn to follow Abys Beatrice. So as you as you enter through the gates of the palisade, they close behind you with a heavy groan, sealing the outside world away. Abys Beatrice moves with quiet grace, leading you across the stone courtyard and through the heavy wooden doors of the chapel. The air inside is cool and still, and it carries the faint scent of incense and wax. The flickering light of candles are casting shadows across the stone walls, and at the altar a priest prays softly, his voice a low murmur. Before him lies Sir Ian, his body resting in a plain wooden coffin, his armors dented and bloodied, draped with a cloth bearing his heraldry. The priest sprinkles holy water over Sir Ian's body. Abbas Beatrice stops a few paces from the altar, her expression grave. A nun joins from a side door, and you recognize her from your time at the abbey the previous year when you were looking for Count Robert. She turns to you, her voice is low. Sir Ian fell, defending my son. He was a valiant knight to the last. May his soul find peace in the arms of the Lord. So give me a devotion deity role.
The Call to Action
SPEAKER_02Devotion deity My Bas so the candlelight flickers, and Sir Ian's body stirs, his eyes open with a gentle, peaceful light. He rises slowly from the coffin, his wounds gone, his armor immaculate.
SPEAKER_04My trial has ended. I now go to my eternal reward, to the great halls of my ancestors, warmed by the hearth fires of God's love. And you, Sir Caradoc, you will not walk this path alone. You will be guided by your faith, by your deeds, by your love, and by your fellowship. The prayers you offer, the courage you show, these will carry you through to the rest of your days and into the light. Do not fear the darkness, my friend, for it is not the end, but the beginning of the greatest quest a knight could have ever hoped to undertake.
SPEAKER_02The world may be broken, but there is healing beyond the veil. And then with a final, serene smile, Sir Ian gently lowers himself back into the coffin, his form settling peacefully. The candles flare brightly and the chapel falls away, replaced by that dense wood. Sir Ian's voice echoes faintly in the air. Do not lose your way.
SPEAKER_03You're back in the forest in that clearing. I will dismount. I'll go to my niece, I say. Sedien, I fail you. Fail you. I should have been there with you. And I put my the sword like if it was like it was a cross. And I will give a prayer for Sidian. And I'll cry. I'll cry for the loss of my friend, even though I haven't seen him, but I believe this view, this vision I just had something I miss. And I spent some time thinking about this. Crying for my friend.
SPEAKER_02And so your your squire is a little he's nervous that you're upset and crying, he's not quite sure how to respond. You know, you're always the the one in charge and he always follows your lead, and now he sees you without that strength, you know, and he's a little taken aback by it, and he's not what he's he's getting more nervous and and and he he hears voice behind you and he says, So Karadok, what what does this all mean? What do we what do we do? How do we how do we find our way?
SPEAKER_03Stand up, I seat my my sword, and he put a hand on top of Owen Owen's shoulder and say, Don't worry. I failed said the end, but I will not fail you. We'll get through this forest. I just need it to take some time to pray for his soul. He's in a better place now. But we must continue the fight. Fight for town robber, the rightful king of this country. Let's follow the light. This is the way. Where is the light? I look around. I trust my vision that it will show me the way.
SPEAKER_02A figure emerges, its form towering and wild, covered in rough bark like skin, vines twist around its limbs, and its face is a grotesque mask of nature's fury, half hidden by a tangle of moss and leaves. The jagged contours of its features resemble the gnarly face of an ancient tree, its hair, a mass of tendrils and creeping ivy, and from its throat comes a low guttural voice, as deep as the roots of the trees. So like your accursed father, you have hacked your way through the roots of the earth itself, intruder. But a power greater than mine has seen fit to release you from our curse. You are free to go, but know this the cost of your freedom remains unknown. Walk carefully, for the woods are fickle. Your path is yours once more, but not without a price.
The Cost of Freedom
SPEAKER_02And with that the air around it ripples, and then this creature, which you believe to be a spriggin, melts back into the shadows, the oppressive weight of the forest begins to lift, and a path opens up before you once again.
SPEAKER_03Path is clear.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so you take the path again, and once more it leads you to Amesbury Abbey and Stonehenge. And this time there's no one at the gates of the Palisades of Amesbury Abbey, it looks locked. And you see Sir Histowin again standing at the stones of Stonehenge, waving his arms at you and saying and calling your name. So you approach those massive stones and that mist is drifting across the ground again, and the air fills with the sounds of battle, just like the last time you were here a year ago, the clash of swords, you hear cries of wounded men, yet there are no soldiers around you, there's no battle, and ahead of you you can see yourself from the previous year driven back in fear, and a monk comes to your aid, and you watch that monk lead you back to the abbey, and you're you don't even know what to make of this moment. You're like reliving a moment that happened to you earlier. Give me a valorous test. That's right.
SPEAKER_03Uh ye actually pass.
SPEAKER_02Okay. So unlike the year before, this time you are able to step into the circle of towering standing stones, and the air feels different here, thick and charged, humming with an unseen power that seems to pulse through the earth. Shadows stretch across the tall grass.
A Sacred Task
SPEAKER_00I will do nothing else.
SPEAKER_03I fail you guys. I fail you, my friends. Somehow my path's blocked and I could not join you in this important task before. I'm not even sure how much time has passed, but it feels like it's been ages. I feel lost. I don't even know in which moment I live in now. But I promise the I'll follow through. I'll do what Marlene says, and I promise that the sacrifice that Sarayan did will not be in vain. I will give my life if necessary too. This I promise, and I take out my sword, and I just put it up.
SPEAKER_02Okay. So the air around you begins to shimmer. The sunlight grows brighter, warmer, until it becomes almost blinding. The standing stones, surhistal wind, the grass, even your own shadow dissolve into radiant light. The brilliance surrounds you, lifting you into a realm beyond sight, beyond sound, where everything feels infinite and serene. In the heart of the light, a profound presence makes itself known. It fills you with a sense of peace and purpose, as though the light itself is alive, guiding you. A voice or perhaps only a thought resonates within you. Trust the way forward, for it is yours
A New Beginning
SPEAKER_02to walk. When the light begins to recede, you find yourself standing in a different wood, this one lighter, the air fresher, the canopy above letting in shafts of soft golden sunlight. The undergrowth is no longer dense, and the forest floor is crisscrossed with trails and paths, but none are familiar to you, and you realize you are somewhere entirely new. Alright, Tony. Give me a D twenty roll, please. Twelve. Okay, so Owen believes he's found the way toward Sarum, your home. And so you the two of you make your way through the woods, but the trail leads nowhere. Give me a hunting test.
SPEAKER_03On a bus.
SPEAKER_02So now give me another D twenty. Sixteen. Okay, so your you and your your squire have been traveling through these woods now for you think days, perhaps weeks, you've lost track
Returning Home
SPEAKER_02of time. And you come upon a hunter in the woods. He he recognizes you as one of Salisbury's knights, and he very happily offers to guide you out of the woods. I've hunted in these woods all my life, my lord. I I know the way, if you if you would follow me. I would. So he he takes you just a few more days through the woods, and then you find yourself stepping. Into a clearing, the harsh green of the woods gives way to the familiar sights of the farmlands around the castle of the Rock and Serum. The wind is carrying the scent of the fields. It feels like it's fall, like you have been away for months. And as you approach the castle, one of the guards, you hear him shout, Sir Kenadock, Sir Kenadock has returned.
SPEAKER_01Oh my lord, open the gates, open the gates.
SPEAKER_02And so the gates open, and you you enter the castle, and you go into the great hall, where you see Count Robert and Sir Histelwyn, Lady Ellen, and several other knights that you're familiar with, that you've grown up with, that you've you've trained with, and Sir and Count Robert gets up from his chair and he says My lord, we thought we had lost you too, Sir Caradok. Where where have you been? Come sit, you must tell us of your of of your adventures.
SPEAKER_03Yes. I need something. We'll tell you everything with with please.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes, please. And he snaps his fingers. Get this man some wine. Sir Histalwyn, you see Sir Karadok for the first time in months. You know, he missed the funeral for Sir Ian. Sir Ian was buried at Bedigrade with everyone else who died there in the battle. Because to bring them all the way back, m you know, a weeks long journey would be would be dicey at best without refrigeration.
SPEAKER_03Mm smelly. Once they they bring me the wine, I'll go to my to Count Robert and say, Lord, I failed you. I was way late on on the way to to the battle, and I'm afraid I was not there to save to save Sir Ian from his demise. I just your forgiveness for for your forgiveness.
SPEAKER_02There's nothing to forgive, Sir Keradak.
SPEAKER_03Tell her he died. I was not there. What way led you? I'm afraid the course of my father, Sergeant. It was course a long time ago by Sprigand, that hateful Sprigand that has put stones, pines and anything since then in our way to make us fail our m when we are most needed. And I'm afraid this time put me away. For for me it has been days, for you have it months. I don't even know what it was. Perhaps it was in another world, in the spiritual world perhaps. I saw this happening, said Ian dead, Sir Is that when asking for my help, and I could not be there. I asked you to send me to a mission. I need to I need to do something to to to to erase this failure. I I'm not I'm not a c I'm a knight anymore.
SPEAKER_02Do you not do you not see do you not see, Sir Karadak? Your companions, your friends, they they reached out to you. In your wherever the Spriggan curse had sent you, you had a vision of them, and they helped you return to us. Do you not see this is not a failure? You are still a knight.
SPEAKER_03I do hope so. I promise you, and I I go to my knees, I my my my my heart I my fist on my on my on my on my heart, and I say, I promise my lord, I will not fail you again, and I will give my life to you and our rightful king of this country. The curse is lifted, and nothing will stop me to get what is right. This I promise you, and I put my head down.
SPEAKER_02And he he lifts your head up, kisses your forehead, and he says, Oh, Sir Keradak, this is a moment for celebration. You have lifted your family's curse. Your friends. Sir Ian from beyond the grave sends you a vision to show you the way. You do not you do not know what what might have what might have happened
The Weight of Guilt
SPEAKER_02if you were there. We cannot we cannot go down that path for that way lies madness.
SPEAKER_03You're probably right, but I must prove myself now. Whatever does you send me, I will go. There is no doubt anymore in my heart.
SPEAKER_02Very well. Sir Histoline, is there anything you wanna you wanna add to the scene here?
SPEAKER_00I'll just look at the empty chair at the side of the hall and then step up to s tear it up. It's good to see you, friend. Don't know what would have happened if I'd lost both of you.
SPEAKER_03Just show me the light, show me the way when it was lost in the forest, and this pretty guard had me in his veins. Show me the way. And I and I and I I grabbed you your your shoulders and I put my head against your head.
SPEAKER_00Brother, there is a destiny for us, and we will fulfil it together. But for now, let's celebrate the fact that we are still here.
SPEAKER_03Let's celebrate the life of Sirian, what she did, how
New Faces at Court
SPEAKER_03we enjoy the time with him. And we'll get drunk tonight.
SPEAKER_02And we can also add Sir Nigel to the scene, get a little introduction to this new knight that's gonna be joining us. Okay. We can say he's in the hall as well.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so Nigel trained with Sirian, so he is upset that Sian has passed. But as is all things that happen in nature, whether it's uh whether it's through uh combat or or just old age, these things happen. They've gone Surian has gone back to the ground, and therefore it is just the cycle of things. So he's not sad, and he's obviously grateful that Sir Caradoc has has arrived. So Nigel is in his 20, uh almost late 1920s. He is What's he known for? He's kind of known as as as a sturdy note in night. I mean, he he's not he doesn't really kind of he's not the best at sort of the martial abilities, but he makes up for that in, I guess, his passions for supporting Count Robert, his duty to the people that stay, or his hospitality, I should say, in regards to sort of knightly duties. And if he's got five minutes of anyone's time, he's happy to have a conversation around why people are going to this Christian religion when really they should just be following the old ways, because the old ways are the best ways. Otherwise, he is uh a relatively uh average looking person, which he he changes because he's got a very lovely beard, and that's sort of like he seems to be finding that he's always seems to be messing about with it. He's got this like beard comb that he plays with. I kind of get the sense that he looks a bit like a bit of a bit of a guy with a hair bun if he was probably in the uh in the 2020s. Uh man bun, huh? Um a man bun indeed. He doesn't have one, but he he would do if he if he could get away with it. Yeah. And he is followed around by Sir by Roger, his faithful squire. But he'll just he won't intrude on anyone's you know, you know, the the the the loss that are being shared with um with them unless he is invited in. He'll take a respectful sort of like step or two away from everyone.
SPEAKER_02Okay. So you spend the next couple of months n in court attending to your duties as household nights. Sir Caradoc, you spend some time at home. Your your mother was your poor mother was bereft thinking that you'd been lost. Your uncle, who's now also your stepfather, doesn't seem to be very happy that you're back. But uh everyone can give me a intrigue role to see what if if anything at all you learn while while spending time at court. I think I've got intrigues.
SPEAKER_04Yes. Cara does actually indeed have got some points in it. So I needed I've got an eighteen, so we'll carry on all that nonsense.
SPEAKER_03Is it intrigue and what they need to run?
SPEAKER_02Yes. Okay, so the year five hundred eleven draws to a close, and your time at Count Robert's court has brought little in the way of fresh news or insight. The air is thick with the same weary complaints that have circulated for months
The State of the Realm
SPEAKER_02now. The boy king was meant to bring change after pulling the sword from the stone, yet the realm remains mired in the same relentless cycle of war and more war. Twice Arthur marched an army against King Lot, and twice he's returned with little more than a trail of bloodied fields and the grim promise of further battles to come. Beyond this you are bereft of fresh gossip or tidings, only the echoes of the same old frustrations. It was, yes. No, not Seren. No, no, Sir Histowin, Sir Histoline, yes.
SPEAKER_03Ah, Sir Historine. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Did we give her a name? I forget if we gave her a name.
SPEAKER_03No, we did not.
SPEAKER_02Wife number one. Okay.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, I would probably trying to generate new knights. It's a winter phase that's coming up at some point, right? Yeah, I'm just preparing the way for for the new
Winter Approaches
SPEAKER_03nights.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so winter phases. And to procreate and yeah, okay, so you're spending you're spending you're spending time with your with your wife who is very happy that you're home and and alive. She thought she had become a widow very quickly. Sir Historine, have we named your children? Uh yeah, it's Dylan and Clay. Dyn Dylan and Clay, okay. I don't can't remember if we gave your wife a name or not. That's Keris. Karis, okay. Yeah, and so you spend the rest of or rest of the end of the year in in Salisbury with your families. Is there anything, Tony, that you want to do specifically when you visit your your mother and stepfather, who is also your uncle? I love saying that, I'm sorry.
A Mysterious Visitor
SPEAKER_03No, not really. I think I mean just let me see my passions. I love my family, but just with a nine. So yeah, I'm not so I mean, I'm yeah, I'm happy to see them and I will introduce if they didn't do before my wife. I probably did no. They probably came to the wedding.
SPEAKER_01Yep, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um so I'm probably just spending some time with them and just the time with the horses hunting and whatnot.
SPEAKER_02Okay. So the chill of winter settles over the land, snow blankets the ground, and one cold night as the castle lies in stillness, Sir Caradoc and Sir Histelwin and Sir Nigel are startled awake by a raven tapping at a window and a voice in the darkness that asks, What do you seek?