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'Dhum the dwarf, Hazzard the barbarian and Avariss the half-elf are great at fighting, but terrible at financial planning. No matter how many monsters they slay, somehow they always end up broke. In this hilarious collection of stories their endless quest for treasure takes them to a mysterious tower, a haunted tavern, a wild wilderness, a scheming city and a dark labyrinth. If you’ve ever gone down into a dungeon with some trusty friends and a ten-foot pole, you’ll know that sometimes high fantasy can get a bit stupid…'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Notes
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Derived from the common tropes of tabletop role-playing games, especially Dungeons & Dragons. Love notes in her acknowledgements that 'In the stories I've tried to capture the anarchy of tabletop roleplaying games, in which our characters think they're heroes, but are often klutzes' (p.231). She also acknowledges that 'The goblins in 'A Squabble of Goblins' are in affectionate homage to those found in the Caves of Chaos in the classic 1979 D&D adventure, Keep on the Borderlands, by Gary Gygax' (p.231).
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Contents:
1. A Nuisance of Kobolds
2. A Plague of Rats
3. A Cackle of Gnolls
4. A Conspiracy of Thieves
6. A Squabble of Goblins
Some of the stories were originally made available on the Campaign Coins website. Campaign Coins is a Melbourne-based company that makes and sells accessories for tabletop RPGs. The characters in this story are based on their original packaging.
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The short story 'The Unlawful Priest of Todesfall', which is less humorous in tone, is set in the same world as these stories.
