Month: Mar 2022

Island escape

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Hi all welcome to a Saturday special where tonight I tried my hand at.. well hand drawing an isometric map now that I have isometric graph paper on hand supplied by worksheetworks.com.

This is just the first iteration of the small little temple/dungeon that I came up with whilst fighting my brain in ignoring the desire to draw a ship in isometric style, which was not working out for me – not at my current experience of this hand-drawn style.

So hope you like the format, scanned in pdf format and I hope to expand a little bit more on it in the future when and if I decide to use it for the party at some stage!

Temple to the serpent

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The temple is located on an island a day or two off the coast of Daye heading due east. The Island itself contains the last readily available fresh water and fruit (which is plentiful) before the gruelling two week journey across the sea and as such as become a stop over point for the Red Fleet.

The island itself has a single large mountain that has a supply of freshwater that trickles down into pools at its base, naturally filtered by the porous rock and minerals that make up the mountain itself. Though citrus fruit and some vegetables can be found across the island in groups those who visit the island rarely sleep or stay on the island after sunset as many sailor or adventurer has gone missing in the darkness beyond the safety of their boats and ships. Those who have explored the island report statues covered in vegetable matter depicting great serpents coiled around a hand that is always found to be reaching upwards from the ground. Ruins and archways litter the island and those who have ventured towards the lowest point of the mountain have reported that there is a great archway there where the stone of it has been carved into giant snakes coiled around bound humans forming a large archway that leads to a large stone building a few hundred feet further into the mountains, carved into the rock itself. No one who has ventured towards the building has returned.

Temple to the SerpentDownload

The temple itself seems to be long forgotten, large cracks spread across the floor itself as you enter the first chamber and a large stone snake statue sits against the far wall where a dank breeze can be felt flowing from its back. The statue itself is twenty feet tall where the coils of the snake seem to have had steps carved into it approaching its face where two perfectly white fangs carved from a hard stone have been set into the mottled grey stone of the body.

The snake itself seems to be too heavy and too hard to move or damage and attempts to break the stone or chip away at the snake seem to only damage the weapons or tools of those foolhardy enough to try. The astute investigators or those perceptive and clever enough would notice a slow trickle of green ichor dripping from the white fangs and the ancient stains of blood have tarnished the white stone when viewed from up close.

Beyond the hidden doorway behind the “Subjugation to the serpent” test lies a simple temple that descends deeper into the mountain itself. Many rooms were constructed and the deeper the warmer and more humid the temple becomes, a perfect breeding grounds for the creatures the temple worships. Traps and some treasure can be found within its halls and the constant scrape of scales on stone can be heard for any who dare bare an arm to the snake god and descent into its temples moist depths…

Hope you liked the content tonight – a small glimpse and foreshadowing preview of a temple/dungeon that the party may have to encounter and test their resolve in hopes to earn themselves knowledge and treasure.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the end of month write up, and as always don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Leaving the docks

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Hi all and welcome to Friday night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop!

Tonight is fight-night which means that we explore anything and everything to do with encounters, puzzles or settings to test our parties problem solving, dungeoneering and combat capabilities.

Tonight, being the first step onboard the ship to adventure, I wanted to put a few ideas out there for a random encounter that could happen on the waves, either as the party leave the coast or any time after on their journey. So on with the stat-blocks!

Scouting party

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As the party look over the endless waves ahead the wind picks up the huge red sails and pushes the boat along at a surprising speed. Staring at the waves that are made of a medley of blue’s and greens the party notice three large figures swimming under the water a few hundred feet way and parallel to the boat.

After some time the three figures move closer, growing in size as well as the boldness of their approach before large fishlike bodies emerge from the water to next to the ship, the riders of the large coiled creatures each equipped with a spear and a shell crafted into a shield.

The classic Merfolk and Giant sea horse combo. Nothing strong but the conversation, messages, and potential for role play is something that cant be overlooked.

If the party say something that the peaceful sea dwellers don’t like then 3 steeds and 3 riders would be enough for a medium encounter – I would grant the rider advantage on their spear rolls if they attack as the result of the sea horse charging but they wouldn’t engage outside of the water.

The information that can come from the scouting party may be about what lies in the water, dark tiding from the western waters about whole underwater communities vanishing to the murky depths or sudden storms that come from no where. The limit here is really up to the imagination of you and how the party engage in the encounter.

Thanks for joining me tonight, don’t forget to come back on the weekend for more content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Tools of the trade

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Hi all and welcome back to another Thursday with Brazen Wolfe Tabletop.

Now, sadly, last night my blog failed to post before 12am, so that means you get two updates today!

Tonight I wanted to spend a bit of time testing out the capabilities of my new computer and I did some quick image manipulation to create something that I haven’t really touched upon but it may play a bigger role in the future of the adventure, I am honestly not sure yet and so will have to see how we go.

So, to add a smidge onto the content of this week let’s have a look at what I have come up with for tonight!

Harimasu’s Blade

The swords that has passed down from heir to heir of the Harimasu family are said to commune directly with the spirt world, able to connect the wielder with their ancestors knowledge and martial prowess, or so the legends go. Not masterwork weapons by any mark they all share a similar style and colour despite the age of each blade.

The red on the leather sheath is a familiar colour amongst their family an people, their clothing, ships sails armour and some parts of their weapons each dyed red to tie the people to the blood and body of their ancestors. The blades, arrow heads and metal takes on a green appearance, sometimes appearing as if a soft green mist covers them but it is a trick of the light bouncing off the crystalline rich metal that they infuse with their blades that they believe connects them with the spirit world and their ancestors.

Regardless of the shape, style or age of the blade they are a status symbol amongst their people and those that carry the blades carry the future and fate of the family.

Now I couldn’t just leave you with that so I wanted to bring up some material from one of my favourite D&D settings in one of my older (not oldest) official D&D books I have in my collection.

All rights and credits go to WoTC, sourced from (my ancient) physical copy of Oriental Adventures, page 160.
All rights and credits go to WoTC, sourced from (my ancient) physical copy of Oriental Adventures, page 161.

And a little taste of some of the complexity behind it (not quite THAC0 but still a fair bit more complex than D&D 5e

As you can see the combat system has changed significantly since this book (Oriental adventures) was released. +25 attack bonus for a juvenile (well it does have a Challenge rating of 10…) and an AC of 27, these are number that unless you have a very niche character build we just don’t see any more these days.

Thanks for joining me, a short one tonight, was a very late night trying to work out what had happened with Wednesday’s post and fixing it, but here we are with a double special on the Thursday!

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow where I will come up with something to have for fight night (despite this week looking to have no outright combat I think I can come up with something). Does anyone else get nostalgic when looking through their old manuals and wish for those number crunching times or do you prefer the more streamlined and beginner friendly system that we have now with 5e? Let me know your thoughts in a comment!

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

Twist of fate

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Welcome to Wednesday night where we explore twists and turns that will happen this week in our dnd adventure.

Tonight I want to follow-on from Monday and last night’s adventure with expanding upon Siu, his plan and the fate of the Harimasu family. So without any more waiting let’s roll on with it.

The face of benevolence

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Siu watched anxiously as the adventurers and Priestess Lizbet approached the ship, seeing his cousins great granddaughter months ago when he left the shores of his homeland hadn’t been a shock since he had always tried to make sure that she was doing well but the having to confront her was something that still made him anxious, after all he never did get to make amends and reconcile with his cousin.

As they strode forward he could feel the magic leaving his body and the nails on his hands and feet started to darken and elongate into the dark and menacing claws that he had carried since the time he was transformed. Gulping and meditating to calm his nerves he looked up and smiled, trying to put on a brave face.

“I am glad that you decided to come, I believe you know Kyoko Harimasu and I have a request for both of you, for the good of our homeland.” he paused, feeling a surge of magic trickling through his body, sighing he stood slowly and outstretched his arms as a show of peace. “Unfortunately this body, as much as it is mine, is a deception. I was cursed quite some time ago by the dragon Huangdi to take a different form other than my normal due to me betraying my family.” as he spoke his body started to shift, his limbs elongating and growing a layer of dark fur. “Despite my curse I have been a servant to the dragon that changed my form and my only wish is to see their salvation from the darkness that encroaches upon their land.” A tail sprouted from the end of his spine and curled around his feet as he felt his bones shift in his face and torso – an painful and unpleasant process that dropped him to his knees.

After a few moments he stood up on his legs and felt the familiar prick of a blade on his neck. “An interesting tale. I can’t know how you know about my the issues beyond my families borders but I have heard tales of creatures of the shadows tricking my people” Kyoko said pushing the blade harder against the creatures neck and the sound of a metallic clink resonated forth.

As the sound came forth form the blade the hair on Siu’s body began to drive down off his form revealing a pale gold layer of metallic scales had covered his body, after a moment a few patches of fur remained around his joints, neck and the tip of his tale but a layer of draconic scales had taken up residence over his body. After a moment of shock Kyoko’s blade retreated from Siu’s neck and the scrape of it returning to its sheath could be heard. “Golden dragon scales. It is as you say, you are the servant of the gold dragon.” When Siu looked back at his cousins descendant he could see the wonder and confusion on her face.

“I am not sure why I look like this – but will you help me in pushing back the darkness?”

Thanks for joining tonight.

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

The Exiled and forgotten

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Hi all and welcome to a, maybe too short, Tuesday night where we look at NPCs and how they interact with the setting. Tonight I want to look at Jung Harimasu and his families guardian dragon, Huangdi.

So without too much stalling, delaying or waffling on let’s crack on with tonight’s writeup.

The Golden Dragon – Huangdi

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Huangdi curled around the large dais that was at the back of the temple that he resided in, his long scaled body curling around a statue that shared a lot of characteristics of himself. Clacking his claws on the stone floor he watched as the spirits, the ancestors of the Harimasu family, flittered around the room, sitting, talking or meditating as they attempted to guide a favourite of theirs to success, or at least prevent momentous failure. Sighing he cast his gaze the the bowl of scented oil that sat at the base of the statue and looked in it – willing the oil to show him his servant – the cursed one called Siu.

He had expected the man to be in the city looking for a way to redeem himself, in a foolish errand but one that the old dragon could not help but admire as he would do the same thing if he had been in the mans situation. What Huangdi had not expected to see was the man in his humanoid form, a gift that the gold dragon had blessed him when he had selfishly saved those who had once scorned him from an assassination attempt – the first true indication of the man’s willingness to repent. The gift however was something that he could activate very infrequently and the dragon new for sure that it was something the man treasured above all else so to see him in this form was a surprise.

What also surprised the dragon was how still and patiently he knelt in in front of a ship and one of the heiresses of the Harimasu ambition a girl called Kyoko. floating forward to wrap his long serpentine body around the oil to block the view from the others he looked more closely at what his servant was doing. It was evident that his body was shedding magic, his human form was about to expire but he seemed to be prepared to kneel there and reveal himself. Interestingly enough the man looked relieved as the vision on the viscous surface drifted up towards a group of eight humans walked forward, two blazed like the sun and, two looked ordinary enough and four walked with purpose and a surefootedness that even the dragon was impressed with. Smiling, his large golden whiskers crackling with energy he could see the plans and machinations of his servant.

Another selfless act it seemed, spending his most cherished gift to try and convince humans who owed him nothing, and more importantly those who he owned nothing to, for the sake of his family who still refuse to speak of him. It was beginning to be an interesting time, perhaps the large golden dragon wouldn’t have to fly out to meet the darkness, a sure forfeit of his life given what lay within the shadows.

Muttering a series of word, the taste of magic on his forked tongue as he willed the magic to drip through the sigil’s towards his servant a world away. Another blessing for the man, one easily taken away if the old dragon was mistaken in the true intentions of the once-mortal but just as easily extended for good behaviour.

Severing the connection to the oil his four large, clawed limbs effortlessly supporting his weight he slowly weaved his way out of the temple – he needed to think away from the noise, drama and feuding of the family he had looked over for centuries and wished, not for the first time this century, that his master had not gone to fight the darkness by herself.

Siu Harimasu

And a bonus picture of Siu in human form

And that’s it!

Thanks for joining me tonight, I do love writing about such fantastical creatures as dragons, their insight, power, forethought and general awesomeness makes it for an easy writeup that makes it hard to actually stop writing.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow where we pickup from Mondays writeup, but true to the nature of Wednesdays with a twist!

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

Revelation of ones nature

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Hi all and welcome to the Monday writeup for Brazen Wolfe Tabletop!

Tonight we are expanding on what we ran with last week and continue to push the agenda of going on a sea based adventure. So without much intro today let’s crack into it.

Facing the truth

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As the last of the healing magic coursed from her hands over the party, and Paul, Katya let go of the breath she didn’t realise she was holding thankful for Lizbet’s constant guidance on how to channel the innate connection she had with Chauntea and the divine magic that she granted her devout.

“Remember, you would have awakened to Chauntea’s blessings years earlier as she tends to pick maidens on the turn of their woman hood – something about being the goddess of fertility and bounty and selecting maidens that embody what she preaches.” Lizbet began, “She would have been granting you this power had you not had the connection clamped down upon by the dark magic those people who called themselves you family employed. All I do is teach you the word and show you the connection and you do the rest” she continued as she helped up a bewildered and amazed Katya.

Turning to the young man that called himself Siu they began to thank him but he shook his head and prostrated himself once more.

“Now I am convinced. I must be truthful to you both, I came to this land board one of the boards that sail with red flags,” Siu began.

“The Red fleet” Lizbet provided smiling and insisting the young man look upwards.

“The Red fleet, yes. I came here to save my people, my f-family.” he said, the word family being unfamiliar in his mouth – feeling like he was invoking their wrath by just speaking of them “We are in danger, a blight upon the land, a wave of darkness and rot spreads and weaves its way across the endless fields of grass and rice and along rolling hills where our livestock graze. I was sure that when I had seen you, Priestess Lizbet, that you could help me but now I am convinced that you and these heroes, warriors and mages,” he began nodding towards the party “can help if you would come back with me to my home land and help us push back the tide of darkness. We need a beacon of light to inspire the people, and the more I see your radiance the more I am convinced and so is my master.” Siu said, looking sheepishly at the last bold lie.

Confused Katya looked up at Lizbet who seemed to understand what was being asked. “You say a wave of darkness, how are you sure that I am this beacon?’ Lizbet asked lost in thought.

“I, can not say, it is a feeling. Something that I have learnt to listen to these past hundred years.” Siu said.

“You can not be more than twenty five at best!” Paul said, himself looking the same age as the man before him. “How can you be over a hundred if you aren’t an elf?”

Sighing Siu stood, feeling that their answer would come in a few hours time. “If you believe me, then you can seek me out nearest the largest of the Red fleets ships. Come at noon and I will reveal all to you – but I ask that you listen, truly listen to what I am asking before approaching further. You will have my families thanks if you can protect their northern and eastern lands. My family may not be as powerful as they were before a thief stole their source of power away, but I hope that with your aid we will stand a chance and keep our lands safe.” Siu bowed low and left, the murmurs of discussion and chatter reaching his back as he left the temple heading towards the next person he hoped to convince to assist him.

As Siu walked the streets he saw the faces of people he had watched these past weeks, and a few people that had caught a glimpse of him as he strode towards the ship with the largest sails, Captain Kyoko Harimasu’s ship and one of the last to depart to head back home. As he approached the gang plank he spotted her, and his very human heart sank in his chest. She looked like her great grandfather.

“She is a fine ship isn’t she?” Kyoko asked, looking up Siu could see that the question was directed at him.

“She is magnificent, a ship truly benefiting the Harimasu family.” he smiled, more than just a tinge of sadness crossing his face as he traced the wood with his fingers. Looking across the carving he noticed an all too familiar face carved into the bow of it – His master, Huangdi the Golden dragon.

“She is a fine ship and indeed a fitting one for my family. Maybe you can assist me young man, I know every sailor and merchant that came over with me and yet I am lost for words who you are.” She began.

“I am called Siu” Siu said factually, watching a wave of curiosity cross her face “A name that runs in my family and one that, to be honest, I am not worthy of” he concluded with a grim smile.

“Siu, an interesting name. Do you have a family name then Siu?” Kyoko asked as she walked down the plank towards him, her hand also resting on the wood of her ship as much as she could.

“Not one I am allowed to be part of, unfortunately my past discretions caused me to be disowned and exiled. But, I hope to amend that so I can join my family once more and right the wrongs I caused” he said looking up at Kyoko, the same blue eyes as her great grandfather.

“Who are you?” Kyoko asked, standing but a few feet from Siu, her hand on a short sword at her waist.

“I am just man unworthy to be standing in front of a daughter of the Harimasu family and about to ask for a favour.” he began, kneeling down before her and prostrating himself – it was his place to serve his family, dead or alive. “I have found people who can save your family, I ask that I be allowed to greet them at noon, with you, by your ship and request their aid. All will be revealed at noon if you have the patience to just let me sit near this ship and patiently wait for the decision I hope will benefit not just you or your family but also Huangdi.” He said staring at her feet as she shifted her weight.

“Noon. It is not two hours until noon. For one who utters the name of my families dragon, who knows of our plight and carries a familiar name of our family I have many questions that you will answer. Do I have your oath that you will answer all questions truthfully as the sun reaches its peak?” Kyoko asked, staring down at the man who had made her feel so uncertain and uneasy with just saying one name.

“You have my oath, for what that is worth.” Siu said fully intending on keeping his oath, this time. How could he betray his cousins great granddaughter.

Thanks for reading tonight! I hope you enjoyed a little nudge in the direction I hope to take this weeks adventure as its shaping out to be a rather insightful one. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow to read up on the NPCs that are present in this weeks adventure, maybe a bit more information on our exiled bestial companion as well as perhaps more…

Don’t forget to leave any feedback you have as I always like to hear where I can adjust, improve and grow with my craft, and, as always don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Daye and Knight

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Welcome to the end of week writeup! Tonight we look at the town of Daye and nightfall there where the party are called to defend the Priestess and Katya once again as mysterious dark spirits attack them whilst wearing the bodies of creatures they killed only hours ago!

But, what’s this, young Paul has visions of grandeur of him being some knight to protect Katya from what ever dangers lie ahead – can the party save him again before his quest to protect her becomes his last?

Let’s roll on and see what we can do this week when the Party return to Daye.

Return to Daye

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After returning to the road back to Daye and being ambushed on the road by a horde of undead which seemed to be drawn to the raw life energy that radiates from Katya it wasn’t long until the port city of Daye was seen. The large red sails had diminished since the party had last been here and only a few of the large elegant ships remained in the harbour, but there was many people wearing the red robes and white masks walking amongst the street opening which was a good indication for the relationship being built between the two peoples.

Soon Lizbet and Katya had met, the controlled divine magic of Lizbet seemed to harness and reel in the raw power of Katya and together they practically glowed, radiating warmth and life as they strode through the streets. As the priestess and the blessed walked through the streets the party kept a defensive distance from their quarry and their employer. The horde of undead still fresh in their minds as they walked down the street casting a wary eye amongst the crowd.

Movement amongst the crowd, lithe, sleek and deliberate caused the perceptive members to pause as cats and dogs pushed their way through the legs of those who had gathered to watch the procession – their eyes never leaving the two that glowed with the radiance of spring.

Areas and places of note

The Road to Daye – The road back to Daye is long but easy. Its general downhill slope makes travel easy and the road after the ambush site, where the undead attacked, cleared out to have a sight of all potential threats for miles. Random encounters could be possible but they would be wild beasts, more undead (or fiends) but not brigands and the like would have a rough job trying to get an ambush on the party and their wagon.

Daye Streets – The streets are no more than 30ft wide, enough for a wagon or two to pass comfortably with stalls either side of the road. The buildings that line the road are one or two story predominantly with the odd three story building here and there. Currently there are people from the city lining either side of the street paying respect (silent or otherwise) to the priestess and her procession. The raw energy that comes from Katya would also put people into a shocked state as they are used to the grace and touch from Chauntea (through the temple) but not in such a potent form.

The Temple– A large, 50ft x 90 ft building with a large alter and statue to Chauntea being the centre piece of the large prayer room with several rooms off to the sides and a wing for where the priests and priestesses would sleep.

People of Bracken Hollow (in this adventure)

Elizabeth “Lizbet” Scaulder

Lizbet having been aware of another powerful chosen of Chauntea for a while immediately starts to try and help Katya quell the divine power that floods her – having felt that presence and power before she quickly helps her sister reign in but not control Chauntea’s divine magic so that she wont burn herself out from over exposure.

Katya Poleski

Katya appears to be taking comfort and guidance from Lizbet, the moment they meet her rampart energy seems to calm and become more controlled around the priestess. As they walk through the streets Lizbet walks through some mental exercises to quell the energy and the connection to Chauntea in an attempt to help Katya stop the flow of divine through her.

Carline Winters (and villagers)

Having decided to follow Katya to not only see the world outside of the little village where she had been a prisoner behind a grand enchantment from the Family she also feels compelled to help Katya where possible and sticks by her to reassure her as one of the people that grew up in the same town – her memories returned to her revealing that they used to be good friends with the young heiress to the Poleski family cause her to be protective of the girl and want to be the company of her.

Paul Turp

Smitten with Katya Paul follows along and immediately looks as to how to stay in her life. Taking up the self imposed role of her protector he wears a chain vest, short sword and a shield and never strays too far from where Katya is.

Environment and running the adventure

Street –

No one would dare attack the party, not with the rumour spreading of what they fought in Bracken Hollow nor the spirit they fought in the city. Furthermore the presence of the city guard, the priestess and priests of Chauntea as well as the gathering of folk from the city would make it very difficult to get the drop on them. However once the party reach the Temple of Chauntea they would leave the priestess there and head into the streets.

On the streets they may become the target of the Shadow-mist creepers or the Shadow Stitched beasts – lunging at them n shadow in small violent bursts (up to 3 creatures at once, all mixed species). As night falls a dockworker would attack them – visible seems where the shadow-stuff that holds the flesh together glowing in the moonlight as it attacks them – the intelligence maliciousness would seek to attack the one who was last closest to Katya.

After the fight is over a bell would start ringing from the temple – the urgency and oddness of the hour should be alarming to the party and someone would likely step out from a building and state the obvious (a helpful nudge for the party).

Temple – The centre room once the party get to the temple is where the priests can be found praying to Chauntea, flooding the room around the alter with daylight. Katya, Lizbet, Carline and Paul with a young man who looks to be of the Red Fleets people are currently fighting back a few creatures that attacked the party. As the party fight their way through some of the shadow stitched creatures they notice a dog grab Katya’s robe and drag her from the room, rushing through the side door and into the outside beyond. Lizbet and the others rush after them and into the night beyond.

The dog carries Katya into the streets where the party who give chase encounter more creatures to come and push back at them – Lizbet, Paul, Carline and the young man (Sui) catch up to Katya and separate her from the dog but they are quickly surrounded.

Encounter area

As the party leave Katya if they move through a place with shadow that is too far from people (use DM discretion here) then its likely they will be attacked by the Shadow-stitched. The first attack would have one or two creatures attack but only as the party turn their back, an ambush as if carefully plotted. As one of the creatures dies the other would fall limp and the shadow-mist creeper would flee into the sky where it would dissipate (its energy spent). Examination of the body would reveal it being dead for hours and an arcana check would reveal that a dark magic (enchantment more so than necromancy but it has that tinge) held the corpse together as if possessed.

The second attack would be more feral – as if all control of their will power was gone – the astute party member would note that the creatures almost moved as if commanded or as if puppets to a greater powers will. These creatures would attack from the shadows but into the sunlight where they would flinch and a dark smoke would flow from their stitches – which glow black in the sunlight. As the creatures are killed (three, a cat, a dog and maybe a raven (use the owl block) then a dark mist would escape and bubble in the sunlight before dissipating.

The next encounter would be the temple after the bells start to ring (as the sun finally sets) – the temple would e filled with little creatures, cats, dogs, rats, birds who are in the shadows (away from the sunlight being produced by the priests) except for where Katya and Lizbet are – the creatures are braving the light to get to the princess.

1d4+1 creatures would actively block the path to Chauntea’s chosen and as the party slay the second last one then a large dog would grab a hold of Katya and quickly drag her from the safety of the temple.

In the streets every 60 feet another creature would appear, randomise what it is each time!

Once the party reach Katya and Lizbet + company they would start to get 3~5 creatures attack in waves (every 2 rounds) until an ogre wearing leathers of a dock worker (and looking like he works on the docks) steps forward to fight the party. Once the ogre falls then all of the creatures fall and the dark mist floats into the sky and disappears.

Thanks for joining me again here for the end of week writeup – most of this was new content (most of it) so it took me a bit longer to collate the weeks efforts into a single writeup. What that means is that you should go back to the previous weeks days to get extra info – what drives Lizbet (who is actually Elizabeth!), who is Siu, really, and what drives him to work for the dragon and what are the shadow-mist creepers and why do they create the Shadow stitched.

Don’t forget to come back this week for more content and if you like something you read here, or better yet, if you are playing through this adventure as I write it let me know! I am frim believer that feedback and critique is the best way to grow as a hobbyist and you are those best suited to provide that to me!

Oh, and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage!,
The Brazen Wolfe

30 minute challenge – Caravan

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Hello all, welcome to Saturday nights writeup where this week we are looking at another 30 minute adventure with a randomly generated word.

Just like last week I will have the same except for one additional set of restrictions or rules to make it a challenge for me – well attempt to.

  • Single word randomly generated
  • 30 minute timer, start time recorded.
  • Must be a playable adventure
  • Must have at least one driver (antagonist/protagonist)
  • Must be D&D centric and attempt to be of the fantasy variety.
  • Can finish the sentence I am writing when timer goes off (I dislike half-written sentences)

And that’s the rules, deciding to remove the first two thoughts that came/come into my mind should make it a bit more challenging. So the clocks set, the word is Caravan provided by https://www.shortstoryideas.co.uk/random.htm

Right lets get on with it,.

Time: 9:32:13

Caravan – Precious Cargo

Initial thoughts – Caravan is an interesting one, relatively easy and not too hard to implement a three stage approach. You have departure, conflict (mid way) and then the Coast (what happens at the end – the coast into town). So this was probably an easy one to write through tonight so let’s see how we go!

Ok tonight is inspired by the one of the first novels I read when I was probably eight or nine (will touch on it in the closing thoughts). The party has been approached by a well respected caravan company to help beef up their protection of a caravan train that is leaving two days from now. The man seems to be skittish and paranoid as if reaching out to bigger mercenary companies or even posting the job at the normal job boards would draw too much attention and the party seems to be just the right mixture of unknown but capable.

What the caravan owner doesn’t reveal to the party is that the luggage is a princess who has been put under an enchanted sleep as a method of getting her out of her home city without drawing attention or raising suspicion. The other caravans in the train, the more impressive ones, are filled with spices, silks and goods that will fetch a good price regardless of where they are sold.

The princess, err, Claire, is the last heir to the throne for the kingdom of Wellhurst, once a prominent family which has had a string of bad lack with keeping their heirs alive whether it was illness, accidents or assassinations and despite the kings best efforts in hiring the caravan (people that he would never associate with normally – people smugglers, illicit traders etc.) and hiring a mage to sedate his daughter the caravan still has still been marked and those who would wish the princess ill are close behind.

The Caravan is currently settled in a small town called Hensroost, a small town that is normally known for its agriculture and the mines to the north which supply them with a supply of wealth its lately been seeing roaming bands of gnolls on the horizon which has kept the city on high alert and as made the caravan owner anxious to get going.

The Princesses family, the uncle in fact, made a pact with a devil to wrest power from his older brother allowing the devil to take what ever price it deemed equal. When the deal was done the price was called, the uncles children (Princess Claire’s cousins) were found dead within a day and the curse spread to make it so the uncle, although currently the ruler, would be the last of the line to rule the city. Despite his greed he couldn’t watch more of is family die due to his curse so he abjugated to his younger brother (Claire’s father) and revealed the curse.

The Devil itself cares not for the power of the kingdom but doesn’t like being cheated out of a deal and to make a statement he is sending some of those who also owe him a debt to retrieve the princess alive.

The gnoll’s are also drawn to the curse but because their demon lord – Yeenoghu – holds a special hatred for the devil who seeks the princess and wants to cause the devil as much grief and upset as possible without a direct confrontation.

The party will need to manage vehicle movement (caravans), travel by horses as well as fatigue on the animals if they are to get to the safer city where a Cleric of Tyr will look at breaking the deal by exploiting how it was written and signed.

Part 1 – Flight

As they leave the city on their four day journey all is well, the horses are pushed but not over worked. The party would notice though on the dawn of the second day that there are horses approaching quickly from the city. They can either stand and fight or flee.

If they stand and fight 7 ‘bandits’ and 1 ‘bandit captain’ attack them targeting the fancy caravans and managing to torch 2 of the 3 decoy caravans and ripping open the caravans to search them while they burn – announcing loudly that “SHES NOT HERE”. Any party member near by would hear this with ease, the Princesses caravan takes off as soon as the bandit attacks leaving the burning wreckage and the decoy takes off after them.

If they flee instead of fight then they have to try and outpace the bandits, which wont happen, and will end up fighting on horse back – at which point the bandits wont set the caravans on fire but will try and board overpower the driver and guards to get in.

Part 2 – Contact! Gnolls!

After escaping the raiders they may find out that the real purpose is the Princess – this would take the form of the main caravan wheel breaking and having to move the princess to a new caravan. The horses would have a level of exhaustion and would be getting fatigued by now.

Sounds like a great time for a dusk ambush by gnolls on day 3 – 1 day out from the city but the horses pulling the caravans may not make the ride in with how fatigued they are. Which means they would need to carry the unconscious princess on horseback!

A pack of gnolls and hyenas, maybe one giant one -a hyenadon) would be enough. Just enough to make it feel urgent to leave quickly but not enough to stop them there dead in their tracks.

Part 3 – Betrayal in the Caravan

So as they reach viewing distance of the walled city they would have what ever caravaners (not the main guy) turn on them – demanding the princess be handed to them so they can claim a bounty on her head. The party, since she will likely be on one of their horses, can take off for the city or stand and fight – I’d have about 8 “guards” as the statistics.

Once into the city the party make it to the cleric who removes the enchantment and begins to research into how to remove the curse. The Cleric produces a chest of gold (1000gp) as payment from the king and thanks them – the wards of the church to Tyr, and the sheer volume of knights and paladins in the vicinity should be enough to protect her until the deal can be broken.

Time: _10:03:30_

Closing Thoughts

Close! ran out of time and I finished the sentence I was writing when my alarm went off. A few moments I was pausing to make sure that I was happy with the direction I was going but overall I am happy with what was here. I even managed to get a few stat blocks called out in the adventure to hopefully help with the encounter.

Now higher level parties are easy to adjust – instead of hired thugs (bandits) chasing them you could have lower level devils such as imps or spined devils attacking the caravan, Volo’s guide to monsters and mordenkainans tome of foes both being excellent sources for alternative fiends as well as some great options for gnolls for that second encounter.

Really that’s about it – I tried to not follow the story line of Master Wolf (The third book in the Greyhawk series by Rose Estes but there are a are few elements through most of my campaign that are inspired by this series – being the first novels I read (then I went onto such books as Deltora quest etc.)

Thanks – I hope you enjoyed tonight’s writeup!

Come back tomorrow for the end of week write-up and don’t forget to let me know what you thought of tonight’s adventure challenge so I can keep creating more Brazen Wolfe Tabletop content that you want to read.

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

On borrowed time

thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Hi all and welcome to Friday where we look at everything to do with the creatures, environment, obstacles and play through of the encounter for this week.

Tonight we use last nights creature template to create a few different stat blocks that we can use in this weekends adventure as well as the creature that starts it all, The Shadow Mist Creeper.

Mist that creeps through the shadows

209FrSCreeps

First on our list is the originating factor – the shadow Mist Creeper this creature is something that originates across the waves but has found its way over as only the incorporeal can.

The Shadow inside the puppet

The Shadow-mist creeper is a creature born from souls taken too early in life when was to young to make peace with what had happened to them. Commonly these are children who have not lived long enough and who truly believe that they have not had their due just yet. These spirits are generally playful and use their new undead misty form to create mischief and chaos rather than outright malevolence and death. However those who are created as a Shadow-mist creeper but who are old enough to understand the gravity of their situation but held on with their malice and hatred are truly terrifying when it comes to their anger and white hot hatred for life.

Regardless of the original creature that spawned a Shadow-mist creeper all of them share a few common features.

All shadow-mist creepers don’t have physical form or the power to interact with the physical world for long. Those who do so will need a dead body, or one close to death to inhabit until they can find a source of life energy to be able to leave the body they reside in.

Like Ghast’s they have a hierarchy, the most powerful malevolent spirits take take control of the actions of the others in the group and through force of will they can command the other generally mischievous spirits into a terrifying horde of malicious malevolent spiteful creatures.

This creature can inhabit the dead body and the creature functions as a zombie – however creatures killed by a Shadow-mist creeper become a Shadow Stitched skin – a body corrupted by the undead nature of the shadow-mist creeper and more suitable than just any other dead body. These creatures are faster, stronger but share the same aversion to the sun (despite not being as terrifying as they have a fresh new body suit to protect them!)

The Fell

Dead creatures killed then inhabited by a Shadow-mist creeper become known as the fell, but their true names are Shadow Stitched Skins.

These creatures are weak, relatively fast (when compared to a zombie) but highly intelligent as they seek out sources of life to restore their energy so they can continue to exist.

Occasionally many Shadow Stitched creatures act as one living organism to try and overpower any resistances they encounter. This phenomena is almost always as the behest of a particularly strong Shadow stitched and are seldom recorded by those who the heaving, twitching mass of shadow and recently killed flesh have targeted as their prey.

The encounter can take place any where and should be a mixture of Guards, Mastiffs and cats (more animals than not) who rush at the party from random directions, not enough to pose a real threat (1d4+1). Every two rounds (12 seconds) another wave should come and on the fourth wave replace one mastiff or cat with the ogre – the ogre being the particularly strong Shadow-mist creeper. Once the ogre is killed then any remaining creatures will have the mist escape and float into the sky slowly evaporating their energy and focus (being directed by the ogre) gone.

If the creatures are killed and the Ogre remains as the last creature then it will leave its big fleshy body (Roll 1d4 and pick a direction, if there is a character there they need to make a Dex saving throw DC14 or they end up under the ogre) and will try to escape in its Shadow-mist creeper form.

Thanks for joining me tonight to explore and test out the template. I think for me the biggest issue wasn’t using Tetra cube (which made it easy!) it was me remembering to update all the little details (I think I missed out on some of the penalties to damage.. apologies!)

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and this post is the last one to nominate a word if you want to see a Random word 30 minute challenge this weekend!

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

Shadow Stitched

thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Hi all and welcome to Thursday where we look at the additional content such as maps, stats, plots, hooks, and generally anything in between that makes the adventure that little bit more adventure-y.

Tonight I wanted to make it a shorter night so I will post one half of tomorrows Fight-Night encounter as a sampler as this week is pretty straight forward. So lets roll into it!

Shadow Stitched Skin

209ThSSS

Shadow stitched skin (5e Template)

Shadow Stitched Skin

Shadow stitched Skins, or “The Fell ones” as they have been called are a terrifying sight to see. Generally taking the form of animals, children or sometimes humanoids these creatures appear to be normal at first but when they move in for the kill they move with a sickly fast puppetry that betrays the creature controlling the Fell ones body. Occasionally a particularly strong stitched one will appear where the process of their creation was orchestrated by a group, rather than the individual – these are generally a creature that was full of life or had a strong connection to the powers that governed, created and controlled life force. 

Prerequisite: Any aberration, beast, dragon, fey, giant, humanoid or monstrosity

Statistics:

  • AC. -2 from base creature, accounting for their modified Dexterity score.
  • HP. 1 Dice lower than base creature, accounting for their modified Constitution score.
  • Abilities.
    • The Shadow Stitched Skin’s Strength score is decreased by 6 (to a minimum of 6),
    • its Constitution and Dexterity score is decreased by 2 (to a Minimum of 8),
    • and its Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores become 13, 8, and 5, respectively (unless the base creature’s Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores are lower).

Senses. The Shadow Stitched Skin gains darkvision out to a range of 60 feet, unless the base creature had superior darkvision.

Damage Immunities. The Shadow Stitched Skin is immune to poison damage.

Damage Resistance. The Shadow Stitched Skin is resistant to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons

Damage Vulnerability. The The Shadow Stitched Skin is vulnerable to Radiant damage 

Condition Immunities. The Shadow Stitched Skin is immune to the poisoned condition.

Saving Throws. The Shadow Stitched Skin loses all saving throw proficiencies. 

Speed. The Shadow Stitched Skin’s speed is decreased by 5 feet.

Languages. The Shadow Stitched Skin understands common, but can’t speak.

Skills. The Shadow Stitched Skin loses all its skill proficiencies.

Alignment. The Shadow Stitched Skin’s alignment changes to neutral evil.

Traits:

  • Hunger for life. While in dim light or darkness, the Shadow Stitched Skin can take the Dash action as a bonus action.
  • Sunlight Weakness: While in sunlight, the Shadow Stitched Skin has disadvantage on attack rolls. It also becomes vulnerable to non-magical weapons as if exposed to radiant energy. 

Other Traits. The Shadow Stitched Skin loses any trait, such as Amphibious, that assumes a living physiology. The Shadow Stitched Skin cannot cast spells and loses all spell slots. At the GM’s discretion, traits that would be harmful to undead no longer affect undead.

Undead Nature. A Shadow Stitched Skin doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.

Thanks for joining tonight and taking some time out of your busy days, I hope the Shadow stitched skin gives a good prelude to what’s coming tomorrow.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the next part of this write up and also don’t forget that if you’d like to submit a single word for the weekend challenge feel free to do so! Otherwise it may be a nice easy going weekend for me!

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