Hi all and welcome to another night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop where tonight is FIGHT NIGHT!
A little bit excited tonight to try and bring it home with this weeks final piece for the adventure, the encounter.
So, without giving away too much let’s step into the chaotic halls of Katyas family home.
Cult of the blessed one
207FrCoBo
The setting
The Family can be in any room but I would consider the Library or the large bedroom at the opposite end of the hall. These rooms are large enough for a confrontation and gives the family an advantage in a fight. Needless to say that warping the house to its current state the family is immune to the various environmental effects that occur within the walls and when utilising their legendary abilities and lair actions I would consider the walls and floors as non-existent as they are nearly one with the house by this stage. More on that in a moment.
The tactics
The family fight as one, each knows what they need to do and how to work as a team as they have been living and working together for many years now.
Aunt used her strength to bully those who stand in her way – using her abilities to throw people around or try and push them out windows as a way to control the engagement. Her ability to target one person and gain advantage would be her releasing her pent up rage, energy and fanatical faith in the blessed one to try and tap more into the demonic energy that courses through the family. Despite being kitted out for combat she is extremely defensive and wont stray too far from Father, Mother and especially Uncle as he is the frailest of them all.
Uncle will wait until the time is right to use his legendary action, looking to alter reality to make himself appear faster where the target of the initiative switch becomes that much slower. He will use this ability to try and better position himself away from combat by swapping with someone who is coming up next rather than just the highest person in the initiative order. His ability Spark is to be used as a way of launching an offensive spell after casting a defensive one or to try and provide suppressive fire against multiple targets that are getting too close to his family – particularly Aunt.
Father is the master mind of all – standing back and using his spells (which should have a demonic feel/ description such as green-black flames and the like) to harass the enemy backline. He will heal his family first and foremost but will also stand with Aunt if the front line begins to crumble using the ability to misty step into combat just as readily to step out. His legendary ability giving him the ability to re-heal (small caveat being put here) is intended to be used on damage suffered in that turn or at least most recently – this means that if he wont keep coming back to life but it should be used to make him appear as if he is truly blessed by his dark lord and perhaps bring him back to consciousness once in the fight IF IT MAKES SENSE TO DO SO. I would also rule that if his family is down, Mother, Uncle and Aunt then his legendary ability will also no longer trigger as the lore/theory behind it is his devotion to the Blessed one and his family keeps pushing him through the pain and suffering he encounters.
Mother slipping through shadows with the families lair ability to misty step through walls/floors and her own legendary action to disengage and hide. She would focus on those who can be caught unawares and may even ambush the party when they are exploring the home – utilising the misty step like ability or trying to fear the party from shifting out of her motherly appearance into the gaunt, nightmarish near-demonic appearance that they have warped into.
The stat-blocks (mind the little typos.. only realised AFTER I had finished them all)
Thanks for joining me for another night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop and I wish that this encounter gives you something to think about for your own games. Now this is designed to be an very challenging encounter where the party risk at dropping down – but the low AC and low health (relatively speaking) of the family means that victory is achievable if the party have a solid plan, or, work together as a team during the fight – much like the family does.
Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and to set aside some time for your own tabletop this weekend and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Welcome to Thursday nights post where we look at maps, rulesets and extras to make our adventure pop out of the page and engage not only our players but ourselves.
Tonight I wanted to look at something that I think could turn a relatively simple enough encounter into something that we would want to use again to spice things up on the table. So let’s crack on.
Warped reality
207ThWaRe
Warped reality is really the concept of Hunter and the other worshipers of the blessed having a constant spell over an entire village that reality started to warp around them, the manor now a constant shift between stability and unpredictability. For our purposes this would take form in the rooms shifting between whats in them, their state of disrepair and their contents as the party move through the house and as they, hopefully, fell the foul beings that the once humble servants to an esteemed household have degraded into.
Each room will have different effects and the nature should be random and unpredictable. For the sake of this look below.
1st floor
Entrance hall
As the party enter the entrance a long set of stairs leads up the left hand wall of what appears to be a small hall. As they look around a piece of the stairs railing crumbles and falls to the ground, disappearing into dust before it hits the ground. As the party enter the room they notice to the right through open doors is a large table with serving plates served with steaming hot food. To the left is a hall that looks to have once been used for entertaining guests and visitors. As they look back up the stairs to a small balcony the same piece of railing falls again and once more disintegrates before it touches the floor in a small cloud of dust that disappears as quickly as it formed.
Roll on the below table infrequently (if the party are in the room maybe roll every 2-3 minutes (20-30 rounds).
D6 result
Environmental Outcome
1-2
The room seems to shift, the wooden flooring that was once strong and pristine rots and and of the party standing on the floor must make a [DC12 dexterity saving throw] or fall partially through the floor, becoming prone and suffering 1d6 damage from the jagged shards of rotting wood.
3+
The room remains as it is, the single part of the railing from the stairs leading up will continue its cycle of rotting and falling
Dining
As the party enter the large dining area they are greeted by the smells of great cooked food and a table set for entertaining a great many people. Across from the doorway into the dining room lies a set of double doors and the sounds of sizzling meat, and frantic preparation can be heard within the room.
Roll on the table below each time someone moves to interact with the food.
D6 Result
Environmental Outcome
1-2
The room remains the same, the food smells great.
3+
The food fades out of existence, a think coating of grease and muck cover the table. The party find that the plates and serving platters are instantly gone and replaced with the bones of humanoids scattered across the table in a big heap.
Gathering hall
Opposite the kitchen and just before the stairs leading up the party find themselves in a large festive all. Grand curtains cover the windows and many sets of tables and chairs can be found surrounding a dance floor in the centre of the room. The party swear that they can still even hear the faint strums of a lute or lyre and someone striking a drum to a soft beat.
When the party move more than 10 feet on the dance floor roll on the able.
D6 Result
Environmental Outcome
1-2
The party member keeps walking, amazed at how spotless the floor is and how there seems to be a faint warmth in the room as if it were filled with eager dancers and mirth.
3+
As the party members on the dance floor takes another step they feel a sudden chill and presence as they swear a ghostly shape steps back into them. Looking around they see nothing else and if they had all imagined the same thing. Each person can make a [DC10 Charisma saving throw] or suffer disadvantage on their next ability check.
Kitchen
As the party cross the dining room into the kitchen and open the door the sounds of food preparation are quickly revealed to be an illusion or an echo of a time long since gone. Large cleavers lie embedded in the wooden bench in the centre of the room and a large cold hearth lies opposite them. Large chunks of questionable meat litter the room. [DC12 perception check] As the party get closer to the centre of the room a iridescent pair of wings can e seen discarded on the floor near two doors, one leading to what one would imagine would be the servants quarters and the other to the entrance hall. These wings appear to be from a large insect or perhaps a fey of some kind.
If the party approach the benches where the knives are embedded within the boards roll on the table.
d6 Result
Environmental Outcome
1-2
The room quickly becomes animated. Gone is the filth, grime and gore and a well maintained cooks kitchen is now presented before them. A great bout of flame gushes fourth from the stove flooding the room with warmth and the smell of baking bread. However those to close may get burned [DC 10 dexterity saving throw] or take 2d4 fire damage, half on a successful save to all within 5ft of the centre of the room. The knives also start swinging down and chopping at vegetables and fine cuts of meat – anyone touching the knives or the centre bench need to make the same saving throw or suffer 1d6 slashing damage.
3+
This place sucks.
Servants quarters
Moving onward through the bottom floor they find a small separate dining room and a small hallway that leads to six bedrooms that each look to be rather small, big enough for a bed, a little table and chair as well as a wardrobe for personal affects.
As the party walk down the hall roll on the table below.
D6 result
Environmental Outcome
1-2
Nothing occurs apart from the occasional creak above them and a small shower of dust.
3+
Part of the wall connecting the hallway to the Entrance hall (3-4) or the Gathering hall (5-6) suddenly ruptures outwards showing the party members closest in debris. In the plume of dust that follows they swear they see a figure darting through it at incredible speed moving towards the stairs and the sound of retreating footsteps can be heard.
Stairs way and overlooking balcony
As the party climb up the stairs the wood shifts slightly under their feet, turning solid and polished one moment and then being tired and worn the next. At the top of the stairs a small portion of railing keeps materialising in place before falling over the edge and disintegrating as it falls down towards the floor of the entrance hall.
Opposite them lies many windows overlooking the yards beyond and to their left lies a hall taking then to a bedroom to the left and a library at the end of the hall. To their right another hallway that leads to a larger bedroom at the end of the hall, a smaller room much like a study just before that on the right and what appears to be a bathroom adjoining the study.
As the party approach any windows in the hallway roll on the below table.
D6 Result
Environmental Outcome
1-2
A sudden image of one of the 4 tall, slender and impossibly gaunt residents (and former servants of Katya and her family) appear behind the party members who are looking into the windows. The image is so lifelike that when it suddenly reaches out and lunches at the party that they feel the hands of the person on them. As soon as the physical touch is made the phantom image disappears.
3+
Moving up towards the windows the party members can see that the glass appears to have nail like scratches on the edge of each pane of glass as if someone was desperately trying to claw their way through the glass and outside.
Halls
The halls are 20ft long with doors at 10ft leading back towards the front of the missing boards that form sort holes in the ground. If the party isn’t carefully watching their steps it would be very easy to fall down one of many of the missing planks and to the room below.
Each 5ft step the party make roll on the below table. The every 10 ft the party must make a [DC10 dexterity saving throw or fall in the hole,
D6 Result
Environmental Outcome
1-2
The sudden sound of rushing feet coming towards them from the nearest room can be heard, [DC12 wisdom saving throw] to recognise it as a phantom noise else the party member makes the saving throw to avoid falling down the missing planks at disadvantage.
3+
Nothing spooky, they either roll for falling down a hole or carry on.
Katya’s room
Katya’s room being next to the library and its relatively large, 10ft deep by 20ft wide. This room appears to be untouched by the rapid changes present in the rest of the house and contains of a well maintained room, bed with clean sheet and a wardrobe filled with nice clothes. There appears to have been no expenses spared to keep Katya well maintained and her needs met.
Library
The library is huge, 30ft deep and 20ft wide. There are several ruined tables littering the room with old armchairs which have very little padding left on them. Books, scrolls and pages litter every inch in this room and only the odd one stands out as being somewhat decently kept [DC15 perception check] to notice the only properly maintained and well kept book is a prayer book to Chauntea. On the wall overlooking the front of the house is what used to be a large stained glass window.
When the party examine or look closer at the stained glass window they noticed that the shattered glass across the room is slowly floating through the room toward the window, the grime and dirt from the glass seems to smoke and fade away as the image of a saintly man and large hawk wings stands in the centre of the stained glass window. After a few moments though the wings start to fade in colour and the man becomes gaunt, pale and fangs start to grow from his now sinister smile. As the image now staring back at he party is of a mostly naked, gaunt yet muscular rotting man the window implodes showering the room with its tainted glass, which, slowly, began to reform and re-do the process.
Bathroom
The bathroom contains a tub and a shattered basin the mirror has only a sliver of the actual mirror left and the resto f it can not be found.
If the party look at the mirror a faint waft of steam comes up from the shattered basin, which begins to reform. The shard of the mirror begins to melt and stretch across the rest of the frame before a fully constructed mirror lies in its place. As they look towards the mirror the words appear on it “All praise the blessed one, in his light we find peace and are sated with his love”
Study
The study contains a large desk and a few chairs around it. It appears almost completely untouched. [DC12 arcana or religion check]. The room has been warded against evil, that much is sure. On the wall is another family portrait much like in the crypt where they met Katya but this time the divine energy that can be felt radiating from the painting is formidable. [DC12~14 investigation check] Looking behind the painting they will find a collection of holy relics and a holy symbol of Chauntea that seems to shine faintly.
Master bedroom
The master bedroom is a disaster. The entire room has been smashed to rubble and it appears as though this is where the family members who kept Katya imprisoned here lived and spent most of their time. Four large windows overlook the front yard which are replicated to look out the back yard. clothes seem to be piled in the corner of the room, some of it appears to be salvageable and there is a stench of rot, decay and malice that floats through the air.
Well, hopefully that paints an okay picture for tomorrow nights content and then the weekends!
Thanks for joining me tonight, I had a lot of fun writing up what we could do for a house that was shifting erratically as the magic that controlled its form for soo many years was leaving it. I only had a limited number of options available for each room to keep it simple, not all are created equal but this is just an option to what could be a theme for an encounter. Greater variety with more significant effects could lead to a more rewarding and enriched game.
Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Welcome to another night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop where tonight we look at finalising the last little bits for this weeks plot hooks, twists etc.
This week we will be meeting with a a few familiar faces as they realise that they have been a part of the biggest lie in their sleepy villages history, so without further delay let’s get into tonight’s content.
Homecoming
207WeHoCo
Milly looked around the Broken Tankard dazed as if she had just woken up from a night of drinking their private reserve of Mountain bear stout – named because a single mug could cause a mountain bear to regret i’ts decision to drink the dark ale for a week. Looking from face to face she could tell that everyone felt the same, dazed, confused and as if waking from a dream. Well almost everyone, Carline just looked plain furious. As she began to wonder why Carline shrieked out a long painful cry – a long mournful shriek that was filled with loss, regret and most of all rage. “Hunter!!”
Immediately everyone in the room broke out from their daze, even as Carline dropped the lute that she was strumming but a few minutes ago and drew a long bladed sword people were standing up screaming out the same mournful, rage-filled cry of anguish and Milly knew why as she felt the same. Hunter had betrayed them all, had somehow affected all of their minds to think that he was the father of Katya, and that his fellow conspirators, Katya’s families trusted cooks and hirelings, were her real family. How could this have happened, everyone knew and loved Katya’s parents and Katya was the heart of the village, she had personally helped everyone in the village and was on her way to complete her parents wishes – to become a priestess of Chauntea.
As the village mobilised, an unspeakable agreement now that they had all had their mind cleared form what ever had put heavy fog around their memories, Milly instructed her brothers to stay behind and prepare for any wounded, they after all inherited their fathers battle lust that made them more as much as danger to the villagers as they were to Hunter and the traitors.
The march was harsh as the snow had deepened as they had moved on and the villagers were on edge. Despite their wish for vengeance and justice they had never been in a real fight before and there were rumours amongst those who marched that glittering eyes and razor sharp teeth could be seen just outside of torchlight.
It was about an hour until they passed the first toppled stone that looked like it could have been the grand gated entrance to the manor which was on the families estate, everyone remembered these gates being tall and splendid but what they passed looks like they had been destroyed a century ago. The metal bars rusted and brittle and the stone green with moss and crumbling in places. As they marched onwards they took a collective gasp as the same level of ruin could be seen on the once near-majestic manor that now appeared to be a decrepit pile of ruins and rocks. Four tall, impossibly thin figures could be seen at the windows watching the villagers approach and in the time it took Milly to blink the figures had gone – disappeared from eyesight and drifted off to the unknown. Others had seen it too by the nervous chatter and jittery movements from the villagers.
“Milly, Carline, there’s movement to the east!” A spooked logger shouted as the villagers backed up into a tight little ball, their makeshift weapons pointing outwards towards the dark. A nervous tune broke out, the same one from the previous nights around monsters on the hill. Carline lent her voice to the chorus and soon the song was being sung with bravado with all trace of nerves washed away by the bards energetic display of disgust towards those on the hill. A loud blood curdling shriek was their reward that seemed to resonate down from the old building as half a dozen or so figures approached from the east, their forms cloaked on th snow and wind.
Thanks for joining me tonight for this Wednesday plot and hook expansion. Let me know what your thought, don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content and as always don’t forget to roll with advantage,
Welcome to another Tuesday night at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop. Tonight we investigate NPCs and how they shape the adventure ahead.
Tonight we cast our minds back to a time before waking nightmares and wolves.
Family planning
207TuFPl
Hunter stared at the bodies as the lid to the sarcophogus was closed on the two people he had admired most in life. A pity it had come to this in order to hide the secret their daughter carried.
Katya was just fifteen but had already displayed acts of great magic so much so that her parents were considering sending her off yo become a priestess. Ridiculous her powers should be used by the family to make them stronger, better off and to make the town better. Just as the blessed one had prophesied. Thats when he knew he has to act and knowing that the masters trusted him fully it was easy to play the concerned cook and speed their affliction upon.
Now that Katya was orphaned he reached out with a few like minded worshippers of the blessed one and tried to help the girl. It was slow going at first but with reinforcement from the blessed one she slowly stopped fighting their help, care and love.
Using their combined faith they began to sooth her anguish and repair the unfortunate side affect of the blessed ones touch upon her mind. Soon she was smiling and happy again, content to spend time with them even going as far to call him father! What a relief it was to finally have her at peace, but it was not only Katya but the whole village were at peace, forgetting about the the folly of the two previous owners of the manor on the hill.
Soon everyone was calling him father, it was easier to help alleviate their pain this way he thought. Dolly was now mother and their helpers were uncle and aunt. All would be well and time would heal all wounds like the blessed one had told them
Some of the villagers started to become more, distrusting of them. They were slow and stubborn and resisted the blessed ones influence on their mind. Surely they could see that he only meant to sooth their worries and concerns. He himself had once been afflicted with hunger and pain. Eating his way through entire households larder before the blessed one had spoken to him. Yes the pain and fear was intense and what, well who, the blessed one had made him eat terrified him at first but it sated bis hunger and cured him of his sicknesses.
It was now outsiders that posed the most threat. The blessed one held power to alleviate the stress and burden that true sight would give them but more frequently people would approach the house asking after Katya. It pained him to do it but these people couldn’t leave, and he was growing hungry again.
Thanks for joining me tonight for a glimpse into who or what Father may be, or was. If you like the content feel free to let me know as we are on the home stretch for this months adventure.
Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
Welcome to Monday where we look at the main plot, story hook or adventure theme of the week and this week we have the final confrontation between Katya and her family.
If this is the first Monday you are reading of my content in February then I would recommend going back to look at the first Monday of the month to get an idea of how we came to this part of the adventure. Now that that is our of the way let’s kick off with tonights content!
Family ties
207MoFaTi
Katya was scared, confused and more than anything else she was angry. As she looked at the portrait hanging above the three sarcophagi there was o doubt that she was in the the young woman in the painting and there was an undeniable resemblance between her and the other two in the portrait.
She looked back towards the wolves at the door to the room, she had remembered them talking to her, her uncle and aunts voice coming from the outside the door and when she opened to usher them in the wolves had jumped in the door. Being startled she fell backwards and flung her hands up in defence only to feel this wave of energy wash out from within her as plants crawled up between the stones and wrapped around the wolves tightly, one had escaped breaking free from the vine around its ankle but she regretted not granting it a quick death.
She had felt that familiar pull again, that feeling of a heavy hand pointing her in a direction and something pulling on her conscious to come to it. This time there was no horrible faces or decay just power and the understanding how to control it. As the new people and Paul, yes she could remember his name being such from a faint dream like memory, tried to calm her down and understand what was going on understanding sank in to her core like a kick from a horse to her gut.
Those faces, those people in her house were not her family. The more she thought on it and the strangers explained what they had experienced or believed the more it made sense. Looking up at the group of people she asked them a favour. To come to her house for tea and help her confront her family.
Now to really cement it in things like a book, or scroll or magical wards around the mausoleum could be incorporated. The book and scrolls could be family history and heritage in with mini portraits painted within the pages. It should include the reasons they died too and their will for their daughter, Katya.
The wards would be to keep those who have ill will to the family or the contents of the mausoleum out whilst preserving the pristine memory of the family within so that they could be remembered.
The Poleski family was one or the founding families of Bracken Ridge, what the town used to be called and bridged the barriers between its human and mundane folk and they protective fey of the wilds. They brokered a peace between people and fey and even to this day, not knowing or remembering the real reason why the people honour the bargain between fey and people of Bracken Ridge.
If questioned, in the unlikely case, both Katya and Paul would state that “Father” had been seen disappearing to the woods to hunt game recently and would come back with food for the table. Not saying what it was just that it was the sweetest of meats.
(He had been hunting Fey).
Thanks for dropping in tonight for this brief glimpse at both the closure from last week and the beginning of this one. The extra notes are there to help run the session, give a glimpse or hint into what we can expect from this week.
If you like the content don’t forget to come back tomorrow and feel free to reply and let me know if you like it. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
This past week we were sent to find the missing brother of Colin Turp, Paul. Paul had taken a job from “Father” and with the promise of enough gold to feed them for months he darted off without a second thought for the volatile weather in the region.
I will follow the same format as last weeks writeup as my mind on the weekend needs structure. Soo let me know if you look like the format, or hate it and let’s roll on with the nights write-up.
Bracken Hollow part 2
205BrHo2
Upon reaching the town after investigating the woods for the cause in the bad weather, and encountering a half-ogre and his pet bear amongst other beasties, the party are greeted by a worried Carline.
She explains that she had just come from the Broken Tankard, Colin had come back from the north after a failed attempt to find his brother who became lost in the storm. Carline explains that he had been attacked by some wild animal, silent in the storm as it had hit him from behind.by luck it had latched onto his fur cloak and taken off with it instead of him. If the party notice that Colin in the tankard and see the wound it looks remarkably similar to the giant owl talons that they had encountered to the east.
Colin goes to get out of bed and almost passes out. He mumbles that he must find his brother, that he cant be trusted alone with the family on the hill, no one can. He begs the party to find his brother and bring him back. If they are too late and he is indeed dead he asks them a grisly favour, to bring back his body so it’s not left near the house.
The storm appears to be quieting down again but it’s still looks like it will begin to build once more. The snow and winds are extreme but manageable. On the way they may get lost (see below table) but regardless if they do as they pass the first check they run into troubles on their way to find Paul.
Paul was working on the fence between the McFasters and the family on-top of the hills property, the promise of more gold than he could make in a few seasons of farming outshining the risk of working alone in bad weather near the manor. Exhaustion and fatigue causes him to miss with hid hammer, shattering his left hand. As the weather worsened he blacked out from blood loss and the cold awakening to find himself miraculously healed but sealed in a crypt somewhere. As he tried to escape large powerful wolves attacked driving him back to the safety of the cold stone.
Areas and places of note
The Broken Tavern – The three dwarven owners, Milly, Billy and Ned offer hot food and drink before they leave for free as a favour for helping Colin, they also offer warm cloaks and supplies just in case.
The Road – A long thin road that snakes its way up north towards the manor on the hill. It passes along a fence line that separates the McFasters from the manors land. Scattered tools, blood and a tangled mess of footprints and drag marks litter the snow where the party find the site where the accident happened
The Graveyard – following the drag marks and many sets footprints the party find the graveyard to the east of the manor. A stream cuts the road in half and the trail seems to cut through the frozen stream instead of the bridge. Several tombstones can be seen when it’s not snowing with two buildings that look to be in decent repair.
People of Bracken Hollow (in this adventure)
Carline Winters
Despite her quick to flair dislike and crash tongue when around Father she genuinely appears to want to help Paul. Once the party have spoken to Colin she will approach the party to also ask them to help find Paul. She will offer them a tidy (50gp and a bag of gems worth 300gp) sum of coins and gems if they agree to help.
Colin Turp
Colin’s wounds are not life threatening but they do prevent him from searching for his brother.
Paul Turp
Because of how much Paul wants to impress and be like his big brother he drives himself too hard and doesn’t always think straight. In this case it cost him a broken hand. Or did it.
Environment and running the adventure
As the party leave colin, the dwarves offer them assistance. Warm food and drink with thick fur coats. If they take up this offer they will be protected from the extreme cold until the following morning, as long as they don’t get lost in the blizzard.
The weather will be lightly snowing but not a full blown blizzard until they find the site where Paul injured himself. Once there and the wind picks up roll on the random “lost” table and resolve effects.
Keep rolling decreasing the lower end of the success variable by 1 each time they fail until they succeed. Success wil trigger a wild wolf encounter (encounter 1) and the party will see a trail or blood amongst the drag marks towards a shadowy set of buildings on top of a short hill, the graveyard.
The party will notice a old wooden bridge over a frozen river, the drag marks (DC14 survival check or DC16 perception) will go over the river, not the bridge. If the party go over the bridge the first person will have a DC 12 dex saving throw or the wood will break and the character will suffer 2d6 damage from falling through the bridge, no damage on a success.
If they cross the frozen river its 10ft wide and is a thin ice and frigid water hazard. Play it as such.
Once the party are at the grave yard the drag marks are harder to see as the snow is thicker and there is a bunch of wolf paw prints around (DC12 survival to notice wolf paw prints, DC14 to follow drag marks). The drag marks go to a smaller building to the south west of the graveyard while a more frantic set of human footprints run towards the larger building to the north. The door is wedged closed, if they call out then Paul will open promptly and let them in before a grave wolf and three wolves appear suddenly as of waiting for the party to open the door. If they dont call out and try to break down the door its DC14 strength check however as they attempt or once the Wolves will rush to engage.
On the way out of the woods they are ambushed by giant snow owls (see stat blocks below) as the wind begins to pickup (blizzard begins). After the fight they travel for a few hours – the blizzard making it rough to move through and as the wind dies down (still extremely cold but no snow) they see a half-ogre and brown bear (If they didn’t encounter them in the cave that is) has followed them and then they are in combat.
Once the Wolves are dealt with the party will head towards the larger building finding it closed but not barred or locked. Upon entering two dead wolves are on the ground, vines having strangled them and bound them to the floor. Inside a large portrait of three raven haired people, two are standing proudly behind a young woman. A moment later a voice speaks from the corner of the room “I don’t know what this is…who are those people and why do I look like her”. Katya appears and she is the splitting image of the young woman in the portrait. There are three caskets in the room, two with lid on, one empty. The words underneath say “Kristoff Poleski” ,”Jessica Poleski”, and (you guessed it) “Katya Poleski”.
Encounter map
Encounter Balancing
Encounter stat-blocks
Random table
Lost in the blizzard.
Result
effect
1
Party end up going in a loop for half an hour – roll for an exposure check (as per extreme cold) and roll for random encounter.
2
Party go a little off track, roll for an random encounter (d20)
3-4
The party find tracks which leads them further north (+1 to next roll, roll on random encounter table)
5+
Party follow the trail of bloodspots and through the snow and wind they can see a few buildings on top of the hill. As they take a few more steps forward so do the beasts that have find their prey amongst the storm (Wolf encounter)
Random Encounter table
Result (d20)
Encounter
1-9
Nothing of significance is encountered – to build tension perhaps a deer or the like stumbles onto the track at the same time the party does
10-14
One Giant snowy owl appears just as it swoops down to attack the smallest party member in the group – attempting to fly off with them.
15-17
A giant lynx (Crag Cat) appears, it is currently feasting on a stag but looks up at the party daring them to approach it and its meal.
18-19
Two wolves appear, one is nursing a hurt leg that upon closer inspection has thorny vines wrapped around it, the wound looks recent and painful.
20
Three wolves appear
Well that’s it for the week. If you want to look into the sections in a bit deeper depth then I would suggest looking through the Monday-Friday content for last week where the topics above were explored in a bit more depth.
Don’t forget to come back next week for the continuation of the story and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Hello all and welcome to a weekend post where I wanted to talk briefly around my thoughts on that I, and maybe we, spend just that little bit too much time focusing on the tabletop.
Now, coming from someone who writes content for a TTRPG daily, pending when I fail to publish it correctly, who is surrounded by four Warhammer armies worth of models and has too many dice all together this may not be a surprise that I spend a lot of time on table top. I have friends who stay up until the early hours of the night, every night, painting miniatures that are beautiful, simply beautiful. I also have players (old and new) who have requested to have weekly TTRPG sessions instead of the normal fortnightly because they can’t quite get enough of the sweet table top, but I generally try and have a hour or two, outside of work and father & husband roles, that I set aside where I do not think about table top.
The reason is quite simple, I love this hobby and I don’t want to get burnt out on it. Now not every night is a dream when I am typing up content for that evening and sometimes what normally flows out of me like fire from a red dragon is more of a dribble, like a mage learning how to shape water for the first time. These nights probably show with content that is, perhaps not as thorough as what I may be used to but for me this project, the adventure a week (well every day there is parts of an adventure), is something that I put to myself to really hone these dungeon master skills that I have been building for many years and to test myself to see if I could write about my DMing approach.
Now, I don’t think saying to yourself ‘I don’t feel like it tonight’ or ‘I’ve got a block, I can’t think of anything’ is a bad thing, not in the tiniest bit but I want to stress that you should be able to say this to your players and peers too. Going to your party “I just need a break for this week/fortnight/month” isn’t a bad thing and your players will understand, like mine have in the past. They know its a lot of effort and a big commitment to play a TTRPG game and even more so if you are the Game Master as you have to prepare the adventure, create the NPCs, the encounters, the puzzles, traps, maps, twists, turns and what ever else goes into your adventure – they understand if you need time.
For some you may feel like you don’t need to pause, no breaks, no half time, nothing. And this is fine too but I would caution to look for the signs that you need to step away from your fantasy or Sci-fi world for a bit and just take a night off. Watch a movie, read a book, go out to dinner or drinks. Play a game tabletop or electronic (a different tabletop game still counts as time off!).
Lately I have been playing online with an old friend of mine, having a few beers and playing or a few hours to just reset the clock, or, exploring a game that my new PC can actually run (unlike my old PC that couldn’t run it…) and strangely enough, some elements of my table top are being influenced by these games, movies and TV shows that I use as my downtime from table top. For me, its just becoming part of the process.
So, after all that’s said and done – I am off to find some legendary Storm drake and build a castle or sit down with my wife and watch a movie we have been putting off for a few weeks now and who knows, if a future adventure involves the harvesting of raw materials to build a fort then you know what inspired that adventure.
So, don’t forget to look after yourself, watch for the signs of hobby fatigue and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Welcome to Friday (also known as fight night) what we look the encounter for the week whether it is combat, puzzle or a social encounter.
This week we fins ourselves in a snow covered graveyard, or on the road to such a place, where the party are ambushed by a group of creatures led by something hopefully the players will remember, perhaps not fondly though.
Howls amongst the gravestones
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Walking towards where Paul was thought to be working the party could find signs that he was there and in the fresh snow they may also find footprints indicating that he was dragged from where he fell.
There would also be paw prints following from where he was injured and dragged. A total of 6 sets of smaller prints and then a larger set of prints. A dc13 survival check would identify the smaller prints as wolves and a dc15 check (same check different info based on what the character rolled) would identify the prints as a dire wolf, but something was wrong with it as if it wasn’t well.
The dire wolf is actually a Grave Wolf, a creature that spent too long feasting on creatures and bodies imbued with necrotic energy that it warped its physiology and started to affect its body.
For this encounter I would assume a Party of 4 level 2 or higher players and we are looking for that tipping point of “hard but not deadly” for this kobold fight club was used, I can’t not use this tool, and we have the below result.
The stat blocks are as follows. On the way there the party would encounter three wolves that try and ambush the party on the road.
Then at the graveyard we would have three more wolves and a grave wolf, if the grave wolf doesn’t feel right kr natch your theme a dire wold would be a fine replacement.
The wolves would wait until the party reach Paul before springing their attack, waiting amongst the graves and tombstones (stealth check) before dashing out to ambush when they are distracted by Paul.
Thats what we have for tonight to wrap up this weeks content. Come back this weekend to see the finishing touches on the adventure and how it ties in with what we know already.
Don’t forget to let me know what you think about the creatures and if you use the grave wolf in your own adventure. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
Hello all and welcome to Thursdays Brazen Wolfe Tabletop post. Tonight I wanted to find something to include that I haven’t done for a little bit mainly due to personal preferences but also due the the amount of time it takes to locate and modify or produce them – A battle map.
With out adventure this week set in the village of Bracken Hollow and the recent tundra like weather system they are experiencing I wanted to find something that would fit in with what we have planned this week so let’s have a look at what was found.
Whilst not being exactly snowy it has the rough features we are after this week , a few buildings, a few old and decrepit walls and gravestones as well as one or two paths in, depending how flexible you define a path.
This will be ideal for what we have planned this week, a place for Paul to be holed up in, walls for players to scout around, areas to hide and sneak through for both the player and what is on the hunt. The idea behind this is that the players can gain a bit of understanding and knowledge about the family that resides in the hilltop manor whilst finding and rescuing Paul Turp who is relatively uninjured and in good health. The encounter, well we will cover that tomorrow, is designed to drive the players perhaps into the large of the two buildings after finding and rescuing Paul from the smaller of the two crypts. Once inside they can seek shelter form the storm and from the beasts that have taken to stalking the snow covered ground.
Once again this week exhaustion will be in effect, the extreme cold, wind and snow makes movement around the area difficult but that wont be the only thing. Perception checks that rely on sight and sound may also be hindered as with heavy snow and wind perception checks that rely on those senses are made at a disadvantage. This should give the players a sense of unknown, danger and suspense as they will be randomly walking into gravestones, perhaps exposed graves as well as fences, trees, bushes and maybe the odd skeleton.
A small river running through the road also gives us a chance to work in the “Frigid water’ and ‘Thin ice’ hazards for the players that don’t walk across the old bridge, something that I would wager would give them cause to seek shelter if they were to fall into the frigid waters below.
Thanks for stopping by and looking over something that will be inspiring the encounter this week, a family graveyard with a small crypt and a larger building amongst the heavy snow. If you like the concepts put in place here I would recommend having a look at Tehoxmaps.com as Matteo has some truly amazing maps for free use and even better ones available to patreons.
Don’t forget to set aside some time this week to enjoy your favourite TTRPG and also, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Welcome back to a Wednesday where in this post where we look at the twists, turns and changes to the known plot that we have for this week. So far we have young Paul Turp fumbling as he went to hammer in a plank of wood into a post which broke bones in his hand. We also saw that Katya was experiencing a twilight between her her day-terrors and the reality she has known for the longest time.
Tonight we are looking at it from a different point of view to get a better understanding of what the party may be up against this week.
Dizzy spells
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Paul’s eyes fluttered open to the sight of a dim room and the sound of howling wind outside the small stone room he was lying in. Sitting upright was a mistake and he barely had enough time to catch himself before he fell to the hard stone slab. Looking around the room he squinted trying to force his eyes to focus on the dim stone walls as his vision begins to focus in on the cracked stone, worn wood and small flurries of snow that come through a few gaps in the roof. Pushing himself up he winces as he leans on his left hand, looking down he notices a slightly grubby bandage had been woven around his hand. Slowly unravelling the bandage from around his hand he studied the bruised, blood covered skin beneath unable to see the broken bones and torn flesh where his hammer had shattered his hand yesterday.
“I must be dreaming” he muttered to himself as he stood up, now aware of the heavy coat that was wrapped around his shoulders. The coat was thick, a bit old and felt well worn as he began to move around the small room he found himself in what could only be described as crypt. moving towards the door he tried to open it but found it barred from the outside. Cursing he rattled the door further trying to push through or dislodge what was keeping the door closed before looking around the room for a way to pry open the door. Looking around the room he finds a torch bracket that hung limp from the wall where it would have been attached and after a few rough tugs on the torch it came loose. Jamming the torch bracket between the door and the wall he began to pry, hearing a snap from outside on the third heave which resulted on the door shifting inwards a bit. Sighing with relieve Paul only now realised that there are now that the howling wind had dissipated.
Reaching through the door to try and shift the shattered plank of wood that had held it closed he heard the crunching of snow moments before he withdrew his arm back inside the door as a wolf jumped at the door where his arm was there a moment ago. Slamming the door shut he pushed against the door as the wolf, joined by another or more by the sound of it, scrambling to get the door closed he managed to wedge the torch bracket into a crack in the floor and into the door, leaning against the door with the torch in place he sighed and felt through the pockets in his slightly damp cloak. Feeling the dry hard scrap of jerky he had left over from his lunch, stuffing it inside his mouth he chewed as the claws from the wolves scratched against the door causing it to shudder as he lay against the door and ate the jerky trying to calm his nerves.
Thanks for joining me tonight for another brief writeup for what we are looking to expand this weeks adventure with. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow night and if you like what you read then feel free to follow for future updates.
And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Brazen Wolfe Tabletop 