Twilight Sword (Solo)

06 May, 2026

[I've backed Twilight Sword by Two Little Mice last year and just recently the beta PDF of the core rulebook was released. According to the rulebook, Twilight Sword is inspired by a number of classic videogames like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest as well as the Studio Ghibli movies, but first and foremost among the inspiration are obviously the Legend of Zelda games, and Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom chief among them.
You can find some more information about it here: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/two-little-mice/twilight-sword
I wanted to play it as soon as possible, and since my ad hoc try of running a one shot fell through I decided to do it solo. Now, the game is going to get official solo rules sometime later, but since those aren't out yet I made a few small changes to the existing rules to make the game better playable with a single character:

60 Points of Attributes to freely distribute

2 turns per combat round, 2 reactions

Double PC Health and +1 Stamina

Allow Foraging + Rest Roll

Armour increased to 2/3/4 (from 1/2/3) (Equipping Armour takes as many rounds as the armour value only)

These worked very well for me and the type of character I am playing, but will probably need changes and blanacing for other characters. Speaking of which, this is my character:

Equipped Slots 2/3

Inventory Slots Used: 0/18

Feats and Spells:

Physical Prowess: +1 Stamina (factored in) and can endure HOT +1. Counterattack: After successful parry or dodge, can immediately do an attack against that creature.

And now, on to the first quest I played!]

I woke up abruptly, violently. My arms flailing around, trying to protect myself from the oncoming onslaught of the horde of black bogoblins I'm fighting. But my arms feel no obstacle, and with the wild flaying of the arms I fall down from ... somewhere? ... onto a cold and dirty stone floor.

'What in the spirits name...?' I mutter to myself, get up in one fluid motion and look and feel up and down along my body. Red skin, check. Two horns on my head, check. But the rest? Somehow I've grown a full beard in the last five seconds and my armour has been exchanged with some strange looking, padded one piece garment. And my weapons have completely disappeared.
Something is seriously wrong and I have no idea what. Thirty seconds ago I was fighting on a battlefield in front of Radiosa Castle, trying to get in. Now I'm in a dark and dank cavern made of roughly hewn stone that is marked by both moss as well as painted, magical symbols everywhere. Walls, floor, ceiling.
There's a simple stone door, more like a slab, in one wall and a rack of weapons next to it. I look around in the dark anxiously, but nothing else seems to be moving. Slowly I move over to the weapons rack and start sorting through it. I've no idea what is going on or what's beyond the stone door, but I'm definitely not going to face it without a weapon. But of course most of the stuff is complete junk, but I can at least salvage a small, very rusty old hatchet as well as an old spear that is in surprisingly good condition, compared to the rest of the weapons.

I tuck the hatchet into a loop on my garment suit and take the spear in my left while I walk up to the stone slab. It doesn't LOOK particularly heavy or anchored into the stone in some way, except for some vines growing over it. With a grunt I start shoving at it.

Strenght Check vs 9: 3 -> Success

And with some tearing and snapping from the vines and finally a loud THUD as the stone slab falls to the floor, some small measure of daylight enters the chamber I'm in. But even with that, the purpose of it all doesn't become clearer, so I follow the tight, winding path of stone and after just a few minutes I can breath fresh air while being blinded by what I presume is the morning sun.

After my eyes adjust themselves to the light, I start looking around. I'm on a large hill, at the base of a mountain. Sheer cliffs behind and to the sides of me, but for the cave path I just left. Wilderness in front of me, but far, far in the distance I can see Radiosa Castle. Or what I think is Radiosa Castle, because last time I saw it (which SHOULD be about twenty minutes ago) it wasn't wreathed in flame and darkness. But at the same time, if that is the Castle, then I must be in Lumino Plains, and they certainly shouldn't look as wild and unruly either. But that snaking stream down there was the Dosa River no doubt.
Very confused, I shake my head violently to break the spell and grip my spear tightly in my right hand now. It doesn't matter. Just standing around here will not help me in any way. I have to find somebody - anybody - who can help me make heads or tails of this. I shield my eyes with my free hand and start looking around.

Perception Check to gain advantage on Travel roll; vs 8: 9 -> Failure

Nothing immediately jumps out to me, so I shake my head again and start moving down the hill, vaguely keeping northwestwards.

Travel Roll: 10

But it doesn't take long for the overgrown path I'm following to come to an abrupt end: A huge chasm has split the landscape into two at some point in the past. Jumping over it would be suicide without a glider or another helpful tool, but maybe I can create some kind of bridge, if I can find a thinner part of the chasm?

Perception Check vs 8: 2 -> Success!
Strength Check vs 9: 6 -> Success!
Agility Check vs 7: 8 -> Failed!

It doesn't take too long and I manage to find a spot that not only looks thin enough to get over, but that also has a tree standing close enough. A few minutes of hard work with the rusty hatchet later, the trunk is spanning the chasm. I get onto the trunk and slowly start walking over the tree, using the spear as an improvised balancing stick, but it only takes me a few steps to start gliding off the mossy trunk. Immediately I jump off again before falling into the chasm and clear off as much of the moss as I can before trying again...

Agility Check vs 7: 4 -> Success!

This time, going slowly and very carefully, I can make it across most of the chasm before I feel the tree start to roll. I immediately jump over to the other side, barely land on both of my feet and start swinging my arms wildly to regain balance before stabbing the butt of the spear into the soft earth to get a hold.
I'll definitely not come this way again without a proper bridge.

Travel Roll: 2 (Meet old friend)

Slowly, but surely I make my way down the hill towards what I am hoping is civilization, but only a few minutes go by before I finally stumble upon somebody else. And I mean literally stumble, because for some reason I didn't see the large Pengu before both of us knocked into each other and fell down into the grass. I get up again quickly and hold my hand out towards the Pengu to help him back up, but despite his old age, he was even faster than I. And he looks very, very old. A long, thin mustache going around his beak, his black plumage gone completely grey, and there are wrinkels beneath his eyes. His face is very weather marked, which fits the fact that he's carrying a large, double bitted lumber axe as well as the rough and durable worker's clothes he has on.
'Im sorry, friend, I didn't see you there, though with your skin colour I really should have!' the large Pengu starts up. 'I'm Jarven, and you look lost.'
'Oh, I am, and I'm sorry I've ran you over like that. I'm Keoki and somehow I just woke up back there in a cave, though the last thing I remember was fighting against the hordes of Vargas in front of Radiosa Castle. It's very weird, to say the least.'
Jarven nods his head repeatedly while he listens. 'Yes, I have heard of that phenomenon. Apparently once upon a time those cliffs were pockmarked with caves that made long forgotten warriors crawl out of them. I've never met one myself, though. And before you ask, the last big fight in front of Radiosa Castle was ages ago. What you remember is something that happened centuries ago. I'm sorry to shock you like this my friend, but you look like you need to know.'
Shocked is an understatement. Centuries ago? How long exactly did I lie in that cave? Why? Who put me there? And who else was up there and left the caves before me? Why didn't we all leave at the same time?
My confusion must be showing on my face, because Jarven puts one of his large arms around my shoulders and gently guides me over to a fallen log to sit down.
'I know this must be a lot to take in. I'm confused enough that the old wives' tales are true myself! Come, sit down, I'll see if I can whip up something to eat so we can talk a bit.' 'I... I'll help you look for something to put in the pot, so to say. It'll help get my mind off of ... everything.' I say and immediately get up to start scrounging around nearby for something edible.

Perception Check vs 8: 9 -> Failure!

I walk around for a bit without moving away too far from the little fire Jarven has started up, but I come up empty. Either I'm too distracted right now, or the flora around here has changed too much that I can't recognize anything anymore.
'It doesn't matter friend. Come, sit down. I have enough things with me for a little stew.' Jarven calls over, and sure enough, when I sit down he has already thrown in a number of ingredients he got from his backpack and hands me a bowl with a thin soup in it. It's nothing great, but it's warm and somehow helps me ground myself.
'Well, I hope you can find your way here soon, Keoki. If you go down the hill and keep heading northwest, you'll stumble on a small village. Well, more like a hamlet, it's still being built. It's not far. I'll have to leave you here. I'm missing a number of lumberjacks that came up here for wood and didn't come back yesterday.'
'That doesn't sound good. I'll help you look for them. It's the least I can do and if I know one thing, then it's that I am ... or was ... a fighter. Do you know where exactly they wanted to go?'
'No, I don't but they must be around here somewhere. Thank you for helping. I'll go that way' and he pointed along a small trail deeper into the woods 'maybe you can check around there?', again pointing, this time towards the east, along another trail.
I nod. 'Okay, I'll see if I can find them. I'll meet you back here at sundown, and if not you'll be at that hamlet you mentioned? I'll bring the lumberjacks there if I can find them.
'That sounds like a good plan my friend. Thank you very much!'
With that, Jarven empties the rest of his soup and starts packing up his things. I shake his hand before setting off down the trail he mentioned, keeping my eyes close to the ground, just in case I can make out any footprints, or broken off branches that prove that the lumberjacks went this way.

Perception Check vs 8: 5 -> Success!

I'm in luck, because there really are some small markings of people that walked this way, from the size of the bootprints, mostly Huma. I start following the trail immediately, just to stumble upon a worrisome sight. The remnants of what I presume is a small camp made by the lumberjacks, a cold fire, a few small tents and personal belongings. Clear signs of people working with wood here. But everything is scattered around, and the wood floor looks chaotic. More footprints, but barefoot, and showing only two large toes. Bogoblins. Annoying little pests. Good thing Jarven didn't find it first. He might still be strong, but for a Pengu his age, they might be deadly. I pick up my pace and follow the obvious dissaray and chaos. The Bogoblins probably kidnapped the lumberjacks to eat them, so I start hurrying until I can hear sounds. Maybe sneaking up on the pests would be a good idea...

Stealth Check vs 6: 8 -> Failure!

I try to slowly sneak up on the sounds, they're coming from another campsite as far as I can tell, but this time built under a rocky outcropping and smelling terribly, even against the wind. But before I can really reach the place, I stumble once again into ... somebody. Something. The small and ugly silhouette of one of the blue-skinned Bogoblin kidnappers. Well, at least he looks just as surprised as I do.

Battle against three Bogoblins, one starts at close (Bogoblin 1), the other two at far (Bogoblin 2 & 3); in the camp.
Initiative Keoki 1: 10
Initiative Keoki 2: 1
Initiative B1: 7
Initiaitve B2: 12
Initiative B3: 2
Combat Order: B2, Keoki, B1, B3, Keoki

One of the other two Bogoblins back in the camp wasn't as surprised, and as soon as it heard it's comrades cry of surprise, it dashed towards me and was on me in an instant. I tried to hit it with my spear while it was coming in, but the only thing I managed to do was hit the spear's head against a rock jutting out of the ground - I must be in really bad shape after lying on that stone for forever! (12 on attack roll; critical failure, weapon gets damaged). The Bogoblin I walked right into on the other hand tried to take the opportunity to trip me up by pulling my leg, but luckily I was fast enough to jump out of the way. Meanwhile, the third Bogoblin from back in the camp came running over as well, but this time I was fast - and my aim true enough - to immediately impale it with a strong thrust from my spear, making the fight at least slightly easier for myself. With a puff and dark smoke roiling upwards and dissipating, the Bogoblin dissapeared, leaving nothing but the stick in its hand behind.
New Combat Order: B2, Keoki, B1, Keoki
The other two Bogoblins didn't like that - at all. The other one that came running over from the camp charged me with its dagger and gave me a nasty cut on the leg, luckily the strange garment I'm wearing is more protective than it looks. As an answer to its attack I whacked it with the shaft of my spear to push it away a bit - it was too close to properly stab. The other Bogoblin tried attacking me with its dagger, but I swiftly turned around, parried its attack with my spear and stabbed it in the shoulder, nearly pinning it to the ground. I put all my weight into the attack and drive the spearhead deeper into it and with another poof and a lot of smoke, there was only one wounded Bogoblin left.
New Combat Order: B2, Keoki, Keoki
That last one shrieks again and jumps on my back, trying to stab me with its dagger, but luckily the garment is too thick for the dull weapon to break through. I wiggle around and try to reach it somehow with my arms and the spear, but the only thing I managed was to knock the spearshaft hard against a nearby tree (12 for Attack Roll, Critical Failure, Weapon gets damaged).
The Bogoblin continues its attack on my back and at least one of the pinprick stabs makes it through and draws blood. I finally manage to dislodge it and throw it down onto the ground, it tries grabbing my legs with both of its arms, but I can jump back out of the reach of its short arms. With a fast and hard thrust of my spear, I pin the Bogoblin to the ground and for the third and final time this fight, the Bogoblin dissapears in a puff of smoke, but it leaves behind one of its disgusting eyes. Normally one would leave that stuff behind, but there's a lot of alchemical potions to brew with it, so I quickly roll it up with a large leaf and hurry into the camp.

The poor lumberjacks had watched the fight in anticipation, jeering the whole time. Now that I was coming to open the crude wooden cages they were sitting in, they jeered even louder. All in all there were four of them crammed uncomfortably into two cages. Using my hatchet I quickly destroyed some of the sticks that were used as bars and freed the lumberjacks. All of them were Huma wearing the same kind of clothing the old Pengu did and were from the small hamlet Jarven had mentioned. One of them introduced herself as the forewoman, Terra. They were captured last night in their own camp while they were asleep, and only through sheer luck they weren't eaten immediately. I was a bit confused because I thought Jarven was their foreman, but when I mentioned him, they looked at me even more confused because they didn't know Jarven, at all.
Weird.
After shaking my hand another time, they hurried back to their own camp to pack, they were planning to leave for the hamlet as soon as possible. I decided to root around the Bogoblin camp a bit, and was lucky enough to find a small, crude chest with some useful stuff in there, health potions and an old, but still useable dagger as well as a small hoard of Zin. Which would be useful in getting something appropriate to wear soon. I close the lid with a quiet thud and get up from my knees again.

I sit down for a second to catch my breath before I go on. It's probably a good idea to visit that hamlet next, maybe I can get some more information there, or at the very least be of service to the people living there. And it definitely wouldn't hurt to accompany the lumberjacks there, like I told Jarven I would do.

Short Rest, heal health only; 2d12 = 15 HP
Gain 2 Hope for finished quest (1 Hope for First Quest; One Hope for helping someone)
Despair in Lumino Plains goes down to 2

[Thank you for reading! I had a lot of fun with Twilight Sword so far, especially since it was nice to just go on and roll some dice for solo playagain, instead of the simple journaling games I've been playing recently. The game system itself seems to work well enough as well, and it's fun to actually use the D12 properly for once. My biggest concern or critique of the game would be the closeness to DnD in terms of some mechanics (like resting) as well as terminology used, but I guess it's a way to garner interest, and using the unique art and systems like cooking to stand out among the crowd of fantasy TTRPGs. I'll definitely revisit Radia in the future, but it'll take a while until I can get back to it.]

#plays