Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-witch-of-wydfield.html

A while back I downloaded the adventure The Witch of Wydfield by Brave Halfling Publishing. It is a fun adventure and is designed for 0-level characters for Dungeon Crawl Classics. I used it as a "Session 0" with new B/X characters for the War of the Witch Queens. I'd love to put up a review of the adventure itself, but it is no longer available from DriveThruRPG. It is however still available if you download the Map Bundle.

The Witch of Wydfield (Adventure)

PDF. 10 pages, color cover, black & white interior.

By John Adams & Colin Chapman. Art by Steve Zieser & Mark Allen.

This is a Level 0 Adventure for the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, something they call "the funnel" it is a great idea but I used it for B/X, handing out copies of the Moldvay Basic red book to all the players.

The adventure is pretty strait forward. It is a classic Hammer Horror-style Witch Hunt. Honestly, put on Rush's Witch Hunt or The Necromancer and you have the vibe perfectly.

There is one location, the witch's cabin. The monsters are her minions. We ran it all on cold winter's afternoon and evening. Kill the witch, save the girl, and collect the treasure.

The adventure is gritty DCC RPG which is a great start for me and this campaign.

Disappointing to my players as the adventure was not dangerous enough S written to be used as a character funnel. No deaths until the last scene, and even then I had to double the boss' hit points. Triple all the enemies and you will have a funnel... But plot wise it's also really thin. Which is okay I guess as it works for a session. I do think some flavor text would have really helped, given this seems to style itself a pick up and play product. I'd run one of their games again, because they're simple, not over written, and seem good As low prep adventures, but I'd expect to have to do some prep to get it ready.

Originally published at: http://diehardgamefan.com/2013/04/08/tabletop-review-appendix-n-adventure-toolkit-4-the-witch-of-wydfield/

The Witch of Wydfield is the fourth release from Brave Halfling’s Appendix N Adventures line. These adventures are meant to be short one session pieces that use the Dungeon Crawl Classics rules set. Previous releases include The Ruins of Ramat, The Vile Worm and The Treacherous Cobtrabs. I’ve enjoyed all of the adventures so far, but I’m happy to say that The Witch of Wydfield is the best Appendix N release yet, as you still get a healthy dose of DCC hack and slash, but you also get a pretty interesting storyline that should keep your players on their toes from beginning to end.

What’s really nice about this particular Appendix N Adventure, is that you’re getting far more than just the DCC piece. You also get a separate black and white map, which, in true Dungeon Crawl Classics style, ends up being one of the artistic highlights of the piece. I can’t express enough how the maps for DCC products like these are reason enough to buy adventures for this system, especially when they cost as little as this one! You also get an art free version of the adventure and a system neutral one, in case you want to run the storyline with, say, Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder or Swords & Wizardry. Heck, you could even probably do it with something like Cthulhu Dark Ages. I just can’t believe the sheer amount of stuff you get with this adventure, and even if you’re brand new to Dungeon Crawl Classics, the Appendix N Adventures are a wonderful way to get sucked in to it.

The adventure itself is short but brilliant. It is designed for Level 0 characters, although how many is not mentioned anywhere. Level 0 characters a DCC staple, and can even be more fun than high powered god tier characters. Behold the fury of the cheesemaker! Anyway, Level 0 adventures are a great way for newcomers to see firsthand the lethalness of the Dungeon Crawl Classics system, and also decide what class they want to be once they have obtained enough experience. It’s also always fun to throw monsters and supernatural activity at characters that have no experience or training in this regard, one of the reasons I also love Call of Cthulhu so much.

The story of The Witch of Wydfield is that one morning, the townsfolk of Wydfield awaken to find their local Cleric, Sister Thara, horribly murdered with the letters Y U L spelt out in her blood. A young girl named Dela is also missing. The villagers put two and two together and realize the good Sister was trying to spell the name of who killed her – a witch named Yulna. Unfortunately, Yulna was killed by Sister Thara and her adventuring party some time ago. Could the witch have come back from the dead? Well, the players are determined to find out, and guided by a young man who knows where the witch once dwelled, the PCs form a town mob to root out the cause of this evil and destroy it.

The Witch of Wydfield is a short adventure, involving only four encounters and six locations on the map. There are also three ways the adventure can end, but only one of them is a happy ending. The other two are melancholic at best. I do like that the encounters are extremely interesting ones, that include an ensorcelled hunter, a living wall of ivy, a cauldron full of slime and even a demon. The big trap in the adventure is also a highly memorable one, and every aspect of The Witch of Wydfield should have players fondly reminiscing it weeks, months and possibly even years after playing it – it’s that well written. I even like that you can find Yulna’s magic broom in her belongings if you play your cards right. That’s a nice magic item for early adventurers to get their hands on.

As I said at the beginning of the adventure, The Witch of Wydfield is the best Appendix N Adventure to be released so far, and it’s one of my favorite Dungeon Crawl Classics experiences to boot. With a price tag of under two dollars for the PDF version, you should definitely pick this up, even if you’re new to DCC. The art and adventure itself should suck you in to considering a purchase of the core rulebook itself. I’m really impressed by what’s here, and can’t wait to see what’s coming next for Dungeon Crawl Classics from Brave Halfling Publishing