Month: Feb 2022

A glimmer of white

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Welcome to Tuesday where we look at what NPC or character we can bring to the tabletop this week. This week we have seen that young Paul Turp is in dire straits having his hand badly injured and he just passed on out from bloodloss and exhaustion as someone walked towards him.

Tonight I want to take a break there for a moment and look at what else is going on in the area to really paint a full picture. So let’s get on with it!

A time of action

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Katya paced through the halls the chilled wind coming through the window in short bursts where the glass had fallen through some panes of glass. The wind carried a sense of further unease for Katya given that her day terrors had re-visited with a vengeance.

Her aunt crossed the hallway at the other end of the hall and paused for a moment as she looked towards Katya and smiled Katya smiled back at her aunt repressing a touch of nausea that came to her mouth. As her aunt walked out of the hallway Katya leant against the wall and clenched her eyes tightly trying to remove the vision of her aunts face being a nightmarish mix of sagging pale rotting flesh and her aunts normally smooth, if not a sickly pale, colour. Taking a few deep breaths she turned to looking out of the window, the bricks of their manor flickering between their normal worn but sturdy appearance and a crumbled dilapidated state. Looking up from the small courtyard at the front of the house she felt more than saw a presence, something calling to her, drawing her towards the fields beyond her house.

Squinting through the snow she could not see what was calling to her but the pull as nearly tangible. “What is it my dear” her father said to her, standing just behind her as she looked out towards the fields beyond.
“Oh, father”, she said startled by his sudden and silent appearance. Not wanting to turn around to see what she knew would be the horrible vision of her fathers twisted features she merely leant against the window and continued to look out the window. “The weather has gone quite cold father, what’s he village like? Are they also experiencing the same abnormal weather?’ she asked.

She could almost hear her father squint, despite his smile always being present his eyes always revealed his true feelings. “We have been over this before daughter, the village is not safe for people like you, like us. They are doing fine much like us. Do not worry they have made it clear that they do not need us like we do not need them” he said placing his hand on her shoulder, long slender fingers that were taught thin skin stretched over bones squeezed her shoulder gentle in an affectionate manner.

She nods “I know father, I will stay away from the village” she said gingerly nodding to emphasise her point. Her father squeezed her shoulder again before walking off, the click-clack of talons on the wooden floors growing fainter until her father disappeared down the hall. Turning her head slightly she looked around to make sure her family were not around before she darted down the hall and down the stairs. Slinking between the doors and halls Katya walked towards the kitchen pausing at the door to check if her mother was there, she could not be seen or heard. Dashing through the kitchen towards the side door she paused with her hand above a large fur cloak – her fathers, and as the pull got more urgent she shook her head and grabbed the cloak pushing through the door and into the white world beyond.

That’s where we are at today, Katya’s visions are getting worse and sensing something pull on her conscience towards the fields beyond the walls that she hadn’t left in years at the behest of her family – we will have to see where this goes during the week.

Don’t forget that if you do like this content to come back tomorrow, and each day this week for that matter. I am interested to hear about people using this to inspire their own campaigns or creative endeavours so let us know!

And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Can’t deny ones nature.

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Welcome back to a new week with Brazen Wolfe Tabletop and this week we are looking at picking up what we left up from the last week where the party may have gotten lost in the woods and encountered a half-ogre and his pet as well as a, err, parliament of owls (apparently flock isn’t sufficient here..)

So lets kick off and see where out players are at after the discovery that young Paul Turp had gone missing whilst heading towards the manor at the hill to do some work for “Father”.

Frostbite

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As the final post drove deep into the rapidly cooling soil Paul dove his hands back under his coat trying to encourage them to get warm. Despite his brothers warnings and protest he had come out to mend the fence between the McFasters and “Fathers” properties a week early as “Father” had promised him a bag of gold to do it earlier.

‘A bag of gold will keep the farm going for another few seasons. Just got to finish this and Colin won’t have to work so hard.’ he thought as he stumbled nailing a plank back in place. The cold wind carried flakes of snow as a particularly foul wind blew in from the north and they chilled Pauls exposed skin and caused him to fumble. The old heavy hammer smashes into it hand with the sound of crunching bone as his grip waned from the cold.

Shrieking in pain he dropped his tools, the shards of bone poking through his skin causing blood to trickle down his forearm as he cradled his broken hand.

Paul stumbled through the snow having tumbled through the fence, if he could just make it to the village the dwarves at the broken tankard would be able to patch him up and fix his hand, mostly. As he trudged on, now having to push through snow as he walked such was the ferocity of in the elements, his vision began to blur as his body began to shake violently from blood loss and exhaustion.

Stumbling to the frozen ground he tried to stand again but his limbs wouldn’t respond. His eyes closing slowly he caught sight of a figure running through the snow towards him

“Colin…” He mumbled as his world faded to black.

Thats it for tonight, a bit of a taste of what this week will bring with Paul going missing in the fields. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content, perhaps a new NPC, and don’t forget to let me know your thoughts on where the adventure is going this week, or month!

And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

The town amongst the snow

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Hi all and welcome to the end of week writeup!

This past week we investigated the request of the priestess from Daye and the party was requested to go seek out a powerful priestess in a small village about two days north called Bracken Hollow. This is the end of week summary and writeup of what

I will also try to group the content like many other simple d&d adventures out there – so if you like how its formatted let me know!

Bracken Hollow part 1

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The high priestess of Chauntea in Daye, Sister Lizbet, impressed with the party and what they had accomplished, rumoured to or not, requested that they go to Bracken Hollow, a town a few days travel to the north east of Daye in Amn and to search for another priestess of Chauntea who was rumoured to be more powerful than she and to bring her to Daye. During the travels into Bracken Hollow the party met with a few travellers who warned them of Bracken Hollow and its general dislike to strangers – particularly from the family who lived in an old manor atop a hill towards the north of the village, and warned the party to not outstay their welcome how ever long it is.

Walking upwards into the sleepy village of Daye the party are greeted by farmsteads overlooking paddocks filled with crops or beasts, two the north east as dense forest could be seen in the distance as the road crept steadily upwards.

Entering the town there was very little. A small stable with may hitching posts lay at the centre of the village, a large water trough and nearby well the only visible water source for horses and people alike. To the left (west of the stable) lay a tavern, The Broken Tankard, which in the dwindling light provided by the setting sun looked like the only place of warmth and hospitality. To the north, about mile away on a hill was a pinpoint of light and smoke amongst a sea of tall, slender pines who had shed their needles already – unusual for the season.

Areas and places of note

The Stables – A small set of covered areas in the centre of the town. Big enough to house about eight horses if some are hitched just outside of the small roof that provides cover from the elements. There is no stable boy but there is clean fresh water at least if sans-food for the beasts that would be spending the night there.

The Broken Tavern – A brightly lit two room, double storied building that boasts three rooms for rent, two singles and a double room. The meals are hearty and of the land but cost a bit more than what the party is used to ranging from 1 silver for basics to 10 silver for something that is likely to fill you up for half a day or more. Despite the price the quality cant be doubted and the three dwarven owners, Milly, Billy and Ned are ferociously proud of the food and drink they serve in their tavern.

People of the Broken Tankard

Carline Winters

A bard for the Broken Tankard she takes her artform very seriously and is well liked in the village. Despite her generally pleasant nature and mood she has a special kind of dislike for the man who calls himself “Father” who lives in the manor upon the hill. Carline boasts not three or even four but half a dozen songs and ballads that make fun of the man and even call him a monster that preys on the villagers. She is the only person to have reportedly seen “Father” angry after a particularly vulgar sonnet she sang about him and his wife. She wasn’t seen for a few weeks after that incident but returned to sing for the Tavern but that sonnet was never heard of again.

Colin Turp

Colin is well liked in the village and is the only full time farmer who spends more time on other peoples farms and property than his own. He is friendly, welcoming and knows how to calm a situation down without it getting out of hand. The biggest concern for Colin is his younger brother, Paul, who gets himself into trouble more times than not and is much to trusting of people.

Paul Turp

Paul idolises his older brother Colin and when he isnt looking after the family farm, which his now deceased parents gave to him and his big brother, he is chasing after his brother Colin trying to help with what ever job his brother has agreed to do. Paul tries to help his brother out by looking for work and taking almost any job offered, which has landed them both in hot water before when they accepted a job near the manor on top of the hill, mending a fence that the man who goes by “Father” believed was encroaching upon his property. Only by Colin’s quick wits and diplomacy were they able to avoid something that the villagers had only whispered about behind closed doors.

“Father”

Father’s actual name is, apparently, Greg but he insists everyone calls him father. Always present with an intense smile on his face that would make a Devil shy away he is almost too friendly to everyone he meets as he pries about their reasons for being in ‘his village’. He lives with his Wife, “Mother”, and daughter, Katya, in the mansion at the top of the hill to the north of Bracken Hollow.

The Bracken Hollow woods – rumoured to be the gathering place for fey and other creatures from the fey wild the Bracken Hollow woods are relatively small in size but deep with a few cave systems within its twisted roots and sudden drops. Those who adventure within will need to be on their toes as its not just the environment within that could kill a man.

Environment and running the adventure

As the party enter the village an unusual cold change in weather has swept through the village, many blame the fey that reportedly live in the forest to the East but there is growing whispers, hushed or otherwise, that the family who live on top of the hill are responsible.

This cold snap brings about changes in the weather conditions. When the party arrive it is cold, but not extremely so and they are offered a change of clothes (for 5 gold pieces each) if they are wearing clothes not suited to the cold climates. The following morning you should determine the weather affect in place (d6 roll on the below random table) and for each 1d4+3 hours after that roll the dice again. On a 3-6 the weather gets worse and on a 1 or 2 the weather lessens.

The party should attend the Tavern, the only place to stay for the night. Upon entering the tavern they are treated poorly by the villagers within, looked upon as if they were bandits until Milly, the Matron of the tavern comes and pretends to rough them up a bit. Afterwards the villagers get back to their jovial nature. The party find themselves at a large table with Colin and Paul when the doors open again and this time a crazed man walks in. The music from Carline changes from a merry jig to something that is brash, abrasive and seems to openly mock the newcomer who asks Milly for a bottle of wine to go. The man then seems very interested in the party and tries to pry all information from them about their reasons for visiting Bracken Hollow. Paul steps in and fumbles, revealing what the party has told them that they are here for but Colin tries to cover for his brother and the party explaining that they are heading through the town and staying for a night or two. After the man leaves with his wine the party hear about the strange weather patterns that are happening and the two reason that they believe its occurring. The strange man called “Father” and his family or the fey in the woods are upset about something and have turned spiteful.

If the party go into the woods then the weather should be snowing (stage 5). They find a cave after some while which looks like it was lived in recently, there are some dead strange looking deer within that have a fey-like quality. The weather begins to get worse. If the party stay in the cave they find themselves unwelcome visitors to an half-ogre and his pet brown bear (stats below).

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.

After getting back to the village they find that Paul has gone missing when going to help “Father” with a problem with his fences.

Encounter stat-blocks

Random table

Weather table.

ResultWeather affect
1Cold but not extremely so
1-2It’s begun to rain hard and its still cold, but nothing an additional coat can’t fix.
3-4It’s now dropped in temperature dangerously, its extremely cold and still raining.
5It’s now snowing and extremely cold.
6Blizzard (Extreme wind, snow and cold)

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 if you like this format let me know, I am still trying to work out what works best being both functional and aesthetically pleasing and if you like the content and use it I would love to hear how it goes!

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

Exhaustion

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Welcome to the random day of the weekend where I reflect, expand or digress on the content of the week. Now I touched on it Thursday and the encounter from last night would have had it occur, exhaustion.

Now it’s generally an uncommon status in many games that I have watched, listened to or ran and there is many reasons and excuses for it but exhaustion doesn’t have to be the forgotten step child of status conditions.

Firstly its gradual, its not a disease where you are instantly crippled but it builds over time without adequate rest. As a full time worker, dad and husband I understand how this feels, many of us would.

The effects in summary are:

  • Stage 1 Disadvantage on ability checks,
  • Stage 2 Speed halved,
  • Stage 3 Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws,
  • Stage 4 HP maximum reduced to half,
  • Stage 5 speed reduced to 0,
  • Stage 6 death.

Now stage 3+ is what generally scares players as it affects their combat prowess the most but stage 1 shouldn’t be uncommon. That rough night sleep on your kids floor, yup. Stage 1 exhaustion. Trying to work or function after one or two bad nights gets miserable. Those penalty to ability checks is big. No more diplomacy for you, you unfortunately said the wrong elven phrase and insulted the princess because you were so tired. Feeling sluggish after a hard week of work maybe thats stage 2. Feeling tired to the point of lethargy and it impacting how you move about isn’t just infuriating to you and comical to others it also means you now cant out halflings.. their little legs can now outpace you.

The next few additions or stages of exhaustion are pretty self explanatory but using them to add a element of danger or a challenge to an otherwise mundane adventure or session can give the players a change from mundane combat to something that is truly life threatening to their characters.

Its not just weather, lack of rest and certain activities such as barbarian rage or sleeping in your plate mail can exhaust your characters. Thinking of ways to normalise exhaustion could be the next step in adding that extra something to tour game table.

Well that’s it for tonight, a few thoughts as I look over the weeks content and plan for next week. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the end of week writeup and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Snow Stalkers

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Hello all and welcome to Friday night (fightnight as I like to think of it!). Tonight we have a few small encounters that I want to run as part of the sudden change in weather that we had in last nights part of the adventure.

As last months adventure components didn’t have much in the terms of combat out side of the gaki this week I want to delve into a bit more combat to highlight the oddity at the sudden change in the weather. So this week lets explore creatures that may call the sudden frigid temperatures home and look at how we can include them in our adventure.

Death delivered on white wings

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As the wind and snow picked up and the party realised that they were becoming increasingly lost each moment they spent in the snowstorm. The snow and wind distorted noise and the area was blanketed in a dull roar of sound as the weather raged on. Such was the noise from the wind and snow and the bright white of the falling ice that no one noticed the flurry of white wings in the sky nor the whistle of wind through feathers or the cries of alarms as the beasts sank talons into shoulders, armour and bone.

Now not usually a pack hunter but a group of three or four of these for a part of 3-4 level 1 or level 2 players should be sufficient enough to pose a threat without being too overwhelming. Considering the white snow (heavy precipitation) strong wind and environment the owls will approach silently (+4 stealth, party has disadvantage on perception checks for sight and hearing) and with their surprising strength (13) they can carry an impressive 195lbs of weight. Many large birds of prey when they encounter something that is a bit too hard for their talons or beak to crack will carry it high into the air and drop it. This would be the same case for these owls. Grabbing a player and attempting to lift it off the ground (I’d roll it as a grapple attempt in addition to the talon attack) before flying as high as they can with the weight before dropping the creature.

They are wise, and intelligent enough to know to retreat if they take too much damage (dropping below 7hp considering their health pools) and with the ability to do hit and run tactics with flyby if they are unable to grapple and lift off with their prey they would fly off and attempt another swoop shortly.

Ok for the second creature lets write that up.

As the snow and wind died down the party stumbled out of the trees after the owls had ambushed them amongst the branches and canopy of snow and ice covered leaves. The smell of the owls tangy blood mixed with their own and travels along the remaining wind and stained the snow as they walked.

As they walked for some time and stopped for a break finding it difficult to continue walking through the deep snow on the ground the party became acutely aware that they were being followed. As they readied the stomp of heavy footfalls and loud breathing could be heard just as a ogre being led by a brown bear appeared following their tracks.

This one is another simple one, the half-ogre and bear are following their prey and have found them. This would be balanced for a level 2 party but if it was just level 1 party members I would just have the half-ogre appear. The Ogre would release his bear before charging in after it and then it would end up being a pretty straight forward fight.

Well thats all we have, this requires the party to be out in the wilderness or at least away from the town to be effective. The plan here would be the party leaving to go to somewhere nearby (perhaps ruins, a house, The Manor on the hill where Katya lives) and getting mildly lost in a blizzard. The rest is easy. Give the party enough time to have a short rest between the combats and everything should be balanced enough.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for some more content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Weather in Bracken Hollow

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Hello all and welcome to another night of content here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop. Thursday is the night for additional content, extras and things that make the adventure just that little bit better.

Tonight I want to delve a bit deeper into something touched upon last night, the weather at Bracken Hollow and they are going through a bit of a cold snap at the moment. So lets have a look at the rules and guides around weather and then see how it applies to the adventure!

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So the Dungeon master guide covers a few different weather conditions including extreme cold (fitting), extreme heat, strong winds and heavy precipitation.

Extreme cold requires the creature to roll a constitution saving throw (DC10) every hour they are exposed to it and if they fail they gain a level of exhaustion. However deadly this may be it can be mitigated by wearing suitable gear or having an innate ability to withstand and live in that environment (such as those accustomed to living at that temperature). Thick boots, a coat, thick shoes, a hat, scarf etc. all can prevent the affects of extreme cold as well as having cold resistance will prevent the exhaustion that those not prepared will experience.

Extreme heat requires the creature to go through their limited resources more often, water in this case, or be required to make, you guessed it, a constitution saving throw (DC5 +1 DC per hour spend out in the heat) or become gain 1 level of exhaustion after an hour of not drinking. Naturally creatures that have fire resistance can take the heat and those creatures who are acclimatised to the area will find it a walk in the part, not a walk in the desert. Wearing medium armour or heavy clothes or armour will make the creature take this saving throw at a disadvantage.

Extreme wind will impose disadvantage on ranged weapon attack rolls and Wisdom saving throws that require the creature to hear what is around them. Creatures that fly non-magically will have to land (they cant fly), gases and fog clouds will be dispersed and exposed flames and fires will be extinguished.

Extreme precipitation will hamper the vision of creatures making the area lightly obscured (disadvantage on perception checks that use sight) and heavy rain (as opposed to just snow) will also extinguish open flame and impose disadvantage on hearing checks. Ah the sound of rain on colour bond or tin roofs.

Extreme cold, wind and precipitation will be useful in this weeks adventure and I would roll for a shift in the weather every d4+3 hours, the reason why will be revealed next week, where 1 is cold but not extremely so, 2-3 is cold and rainy, 4 is rainy and extremely cold, 5 is extremely cold with snow and finally 6 is a blizzard (Extreme wind, cold and snow).

Hazards may also form under the right consequence and a selection of a few is what I would suggest at some points, to be expanded upon this weekend mind you.

Thin ice, Frigid water and slippery ice.

If the party were to find themselves crossing a lake, river or damn then all three would take affect.

Thin ice means that the ice has a weight limit per 10 ft square of 180lb (3d10*10lbs) and whenever the weight limit for an area of thin ice is met, the ice in that area breaks and all creatures on broken ice fall through. I would rule this as an immediate suffering from frigid water unless! they have resistance to cold.

Frigid water is the same as extreme cold but the creature wont have to make the saving throw until a number of minutes equal to their constitution score. Personally I would also add on disadvantage for any future extreme cold checks until they can dry themselves as it makes logical sense.

The last is slippery ice, nice, simple and comical. The creature who finds themselves on slippery ice must make a DC10 dexterity (acrobatics) check or fall prone.

All of these hazards and weather conditions will have an affect on how the party address the game. Would they spend gold on purchasing thicker clothing or gear or would they try and rough it out?

Thanks for joining me tonight for this small writeup. This weekend, and well tomorrow, I hope to expand upon these a bit more and really flesh out what it means to be caught in a small village during a snow storm looking for a deity favoured maiden.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content and as always! Don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Broken tankard

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Welcome to Wednesday where we look at twists, turns and otherwise secondary plot hooks for the adventure. This week, coupled with the main driving plot from last week, we will expand the existing plot because, lets face it, the creepy family and daughter with nightmarish visions is probably plot enough.

So like most adventures we will find the party stopping over in a tavern, this weeks port of call for a drop of the good stuff is The Broken Tankard, a dwarven run tavern where the lads at the Broken tankard bring you a themed menu, drinks and service that’s almost as gruff as it is warm and inviting.

So let’s kick off our boots, loosen our bracers and visit what promises to be a great night and tale to write home about.

The three siblings

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Weary from their travels the party enter the quiet village known to travellers as Bracken Hollow they walked to the only building open and sporting any sign of life and warmth as the weather had turned cold on the steady climb up to the village.

Pushing on the door they entered the room to a near crushing silence where the eyes of twenty odd people stared at them. A stout, muscular dwarf in what appeared to be a leather breastplate walked backwards, careful to not spill what they carried, through the saloon style doors that separated the large warm dining hall to a kitchen where rich roasts could be smelt cooking.

As the dwarf turned around, a large platter of food on a tray nearly overflowing with roasted vegetables and some meat the party could now see that the stern, imposing and commanding figure was a young dwarf maiden, her long golden hair tied in a tight top-knot. Noticing the silence she slammed the food down on the table before grabbing a dented tankard from the bar and strode foward.

“Right, back to it ye’ sons of oxen. I’ll deal with this” the called out as she strode towards the party, placing a hand on her hip as she stood in front of the party before urging them to lean closer to her.

“Sorry for this, the villagers here don’t like strangers, well anyone ‘new’ really.” she then squared her shoulders and grabbed the first person in front of her and lifted them an easy six inches off the remarkably non-sticky tavern floor. “You create any trouble here you’ll ‘ave to deal with me. You hearing me?” she said, giving them a sly wink before setting them on the ground as she strode off toward the tavern bar. As the party watched the matriarchal dwarf stride through the room, a dull roar of merriment now coming from the room – content that the strangers had been thoroughly warned.

As the party moved forward, the grins, laughter and smell of good food lifted their spirits and eased their nerves. The few travellers they had passed on the road were either leaving Bracken Hollow or had nothing good or polite to say about the town or its people. Sitting down at a large table, occupied by a pair of farmers, brothers apparently, they quickly became acquainted with the pair before the plates of food and drink they ordered were set before them. A few minutes passed and as they enjoyed their meals and the company of the brothers a small cheer broke out and a rather attractive bard with golden hair appeared on a small barrel and stool with a lute. She strummed out a few chords before getting off into a merry jig about a crazed hermit who the whole village despised for good reason as it was though that the hermit cursed their crop and stalked their kids to eat. Despite the dark omens and shady character the jig was merry and full of humour where the hermit would always fail spectacularly and in the most publicly embarrassing way possible.

Two other dwarves, males and by their appearance identical twins, appeared from the amongst the crowd and they began do dance around the room picking up tankards, plates and taking money and orders from people. The family resemblance between them and the gruff matron of the tavern was uncanny. It was at such a moment where the tavern was roaring with laughter that the door opened again, letting in such a chill that it startled the room.

The man who entered seemed to slither-crawl across the ground, his sickly pale-yellow skin was met with an nearly insatiable grin that he carried as he nodded to each and every person in the room.

“Just a bottle of wine Milly,” the man spoke, his voice seemingly the only normal thing about him as the room was dead quite watching him. As the tavern hostess went to the back room to retrieve a bottle of wine the man turned to the party and the two brothers on the table. “Say, new faces. Pleased to meet you all, everyone calls me Father.” he said, his grin setting the nerves of the players on high alert.

“They just came in, here from Daye” the younger of the brothers said loudly, grinning as he sipped on his tankard. The older brother pushed the kicked his sibling under the table causing a confused look of pain to spread across his kin’s face.

“They are just passing through Greg,” the older brother began, “say, do you need help with your fences before this weather gets any worse? We would be glad to be of assistance again” he said as he turned around, a smile coming to his face but not his eyes.

“Yes, Colin, that would be appreciated. I will tell Mother, uncle and Aunty to expect you around the house as to not alarm them. Also please call me Father, it is my real name after all” Greg-father said, his grin never leaving his face. As he leaned in to begin more conversation a stomping began at the barrel and stool where the bard was singing. The party only now aware that the whole tavern was staring at the man called both Father and Greg. Turning his head to the bard she began to sing a tune about a monster in the woods and the villagers who grew tired of it preying on their stock, households and lives. The message clear to the party from the way the bard stared at the man next to them. The man simply smiled more, if possible and began to nod and sing along before turning to the party “I really do like this song, the beast in it is quite…” he was cut off by the thud of a bottle next to him.

“There ye are father. A bottle of the good stuff, I brought a second one out not sure if you were wanting more than one” Milly said dusting off her hands on her kilt.

“Thanks Milly dear, that’s very kind. Yes we will take two so we can celebrate with Katya when she recovers. Well I best be off before the weather turns worse” he said sliding over entirely too much gold for what the bottles were worth, instantly waving Milly off when she began to protest.

As the man left the room began to brighten up again and some people even began to sing along with the bard.

“The songs she sings,” the older brother said between mouthfuls of roasted potato, “they are about him and his family. They have a daughter but she is never seen outside and they do not take kindly to visitors. I really do fear for that girl. There is something.. Special about her” he said almost wistfully before realising what he said and returning back to his food.

There we are, a bit more of a glimpse, a tavern, a dwarven maiden who is maybe more than what she seems called Milly and an introduction to Father. What will the party do and make of this situation?

Don’t forget that if you use this in one of your games to let me know! I am curious to see how other parties work through these adventures and what you would/will and do change about them. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Scattered faces

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Welcome to Tuesday where we are looking at the NPCs that we may encounter in this weeks adventure, well normally.

Tonight I want to create a few different NPCs that we can draw from in the coming days in addition to the ones we are already introduced to.

Family Portraits

Mother
Father
Aunt Patrica
Uncle Bernard
Katya

The resemblance of the family is what drives people in the nearby village, well few houses, to distrust them. The father is always found with a near-manic smile on his face while the Uncle, Bernard, and Aunt, Patrica, can be found staring from the windows in the not-quite right building.

The most normal one out of the family is the mother who rarely can be seen by outsiders unless they greet the door. She is pleasant enough but never lets people inside the front door. When they do glimpse her through windows she is always standing near or around Katya, whom the family seen drawn to, many have speculated whether out of protection or control but the discussions always end up with sympathy and pity put upon the young woman who has not set a foot outside in years.

Chatty Villagers

The Village folk and those who could potentially be on the road are generally helpful townsfolk who are trusting enough, but not too much, and will seek to aid the party in their adventures. They speak well enough of the family at first, not being ones to spread rumours but there are a few rumour mills in the village.

Helpful Villager (Brother to the older brother Naïve Kid)
Naïve Kid

The Brothers who work on one of the farms in the town are polar opposites. The older one is cautious but helpful, always waiting to get a read on someone before helping them. His younger brother, inspired by his brothers helpfulness is overly kind and generous which has cost them before in the past. Despite their kindness and drive to help they both speak openly about their thoughts of what happens at the Manor on the hill, how they contemplate how they could break Katya out and let her live life in the village away from her controlling and, frankly, weird family.

Tavern Bard -Carline

Carline is perhaps the one person who has taken down “Fathers” smile, her quick tongue, brash manners and lack of tolerance for what she deems to be injustice has created many brawls and has even had the Katya’s father broil with rage. She knows when to back off from something she cant win and, she only spoke ill once to Katya’s father until she saw something that rattled her in his rage. She still speaks openly about her distrust and dislike for the family, overall, and perhaps will reveal more to people when she can trust their intentions.

Well that’s it for tonight! A longer one than a few in the past due to the amount of portraits I merged from existing ones I have created before in the past and, also, ones that I created newly tonight. A range of people to meet, perhaps more, will give the town and the family a bit more of a living feel and should immerse our players just that bit more.

Don’t forget that if you like what you see, the images that is, up above feel free to check out the created collection I have growing at Artbreeder (not a sponsor) where you can find all the NPC portraits I have created to date (and some I have saved to be used as a base image) under my profile, feel free to check it out here artbreeder.com/thebrazenwolfe.

Also if you like the direction this adventure is going, or don’t for that matter, feel free to leave a comment! And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe