Month: Apr 2023

To Take Wolf Ridge

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Welcome to another Monday where I am sadly too late for the full moon for this adventure. However I wanted to bring this adventure to life this week so let me issue a challenge to your party, to take Wolf Ridge. Tonight we will explore a bit of the setting and the main quest line for tonight. So to actually finish tonight’s blog before the next full moon I better roll on with it.

So let’s grab a cup of coffee, sit back and get into tonight’s adventure!

To Take Wolf Ridge

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Wolf Ridge
Wolf Ridge – Created in nightcafe.studio

The party watched the man, a veteran from some forgotten conflict, pace in front of a map. The plans were simple yet the man took a lot of pride in them and strutted like a bird trying to impress a mate. The mission was simple: support the soldiers and escort the transport from some barbarians from Wolf Ridge to town. The veteran began to explain to the other adventurers and sell swords the reason for the raid on the village. The party had heard it before.

The governor of the town of Berkshire was growing tired of the farms being raided for livestock by the barbaric tribe of Wolf Ridge. So he organised the guards of Berkshire, along with some mercenaries to raid the village to capture the tribal people a week before the full moon. The Governor had heard from a passing wise man that the tribe indulged in a week of peace before the full moon. With the soldiers gathered and bolstered by eager to sell swords, adventurers and mercenaries the Governor and his friend, the captain of the guard, planned to attack in the middle of the week.

The party had been approached separately, by the governor, and had been asked to keep the other non-guards in line. Word had reached him of the party’s previous successes and he was keen to have them employed differently than the others. Besides, he was worried about his friend, the captain, as he had left the army after being involved in a large battle but that battle had never really left him.

The Raid

The party approached the village, ready for anything but as predicted they were greeted by alarmed but passive people. A variety of races, ages and people made up this tribe and they dressed in wolf furs to fight off the chill of the alpine village. As the guards rounded up the tribe’s people they left the elderly and kids and escorted the others out of the village. The sell swords stood near the party and watched as the warriors marched, defeated, away from their homes.

“You can’t do this… Not during our sacred week.” a voice spoke from behind them. Turning they saw a middle aged halfling woman who dressed in a mixture of merchant and tribal gear. “We spend this week praying and seeking mercy from our gods. To break this cycle is to insight doom upon our people and yours as our gods are unrelenting and merciless.”

After a brief but concerning talk with the woman the guards called for the party to leave. Those that remained at Wolf Ridge cried but stood there, peacefully, as they watched their tribesmen and women be marched off. The party noticed the little halfling woman looking pleadingly at them but slowly lowered herself to her knees and began to pray. Cupping her hands in such a way that a large circle was made she held it to the sky and began a howling chant.

The chant carried them down the hill and sent a shiver down their spines.

Thoughts

Now this one, in my opinion, is a bit of a classic trope that I simply love to throw at parties. The idea behind this week is to seek signs, to question little ‘Easter eggs‘ and for me to tie multiple things together to have an “ah-hah!” moment. I believe that this adventure should be thrown at almost all parties as it can teach them a few things about themselves, the game and their characters.

I hope you enjoy the adventure this week. What I have planned is something that isn’t too difficult but to can still pose a challenge for the unprepared. So there will be a few things I reveal at the middle of the week as well as through the days as we explore this adventure. So don’t forget to join me as we explore the town of Berkshire later this week. And perhaps I may pay another visit to Wolf Ridge.

Little beginnings

Now for many of us, myself included this week is the first week of school holidays. For me I was about the age of my eldest when my father sat me down and opened the “Players Handbook” for me to read. What I found was a lifelong passion, a interest that has stuck with me all through my child and adulthood. It is also something that I remember fondly. The adventures as a child is something that I wont forget. From my first bandit riddled cave to the feat of stirges, that I still keep to this day, I still remember all those wet, wintery days. So for me this may be the first eater holidays that I introduce my kids to Dungeons and Dragons.

So consider sharing your tabletop hobbies with your family. I know that for me it was a great shaper of my life and my passions moving forward. So consider running one of my first one shots, like the trouble with birds, at your tabletop for those new players. I will continue to progress this story this week so don’t forget to check in as the week progresses. And, if you are taking time off, spend some time on your own tabletop too. And finally, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

A Palmful of Luck

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This week I wanted to put into practice the five point approach to create a one shot in a short time frame. Despite the map everything was thought up on the Monday night and the short brainstorm produced a Palmful of luck. So instead of creating a full zine for this week I wanted to put down a few summarising points and tie it in with the process. However don’t worry as we will be back to the normal Zine format next week.

This adventure can be used system agnostic as we explore other RPGs out there other than D&D. So please adjust to what ever creatures you are using in your adventure! However as always Kobold fight club can be used to quickly balance an encounter for Dungeons and Dragons and Tetra-cube currently provides the stat-blocks for creatures in this adventure.

So I hope you enjoy this weeks quick-adventure, A Palmful of Luck.

A Palmful of Luck

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Magical Dice – Created in nightcafe.studio

To Roll with Fate

The concept of this week really was the question. What if the act of rolling dice is more than just how the players explore this game but also the centre point of the mission. The dice we use can be simply magic in our hands, but what if they were actually magic. The concept of a magical dice that randomly does this can’t be a new one. But I wanted to add a twist that its cursed to be skewed towards the opposite luck of what its bearer has. So the outcome of the dice roll is better if someone is Inheritantly unlucky.

However this can cause trouble for people who are trying to utilise the dice to better themselves and this is where the Who comes into it.

The Gullible and the Gambler

The NPCs that take the stage is someone who believes that they are being swindled by someone with a magical item, a gambler of their own fortune. The other protagonist is someone who believes that they are safe, gullible due to innocence. However, this does not last long and their one lucky break in a long line of misfortune starts to swing to unlucky.

Both Simon and Raff could easily be the ones who approach the party. Raff’s greed and belief that he was swindled due to a lucky, magical trinket could push him to do the unthinkable. However Simons need for acceptance and desire for, what we all want – safety, could push him to reach out to stranger to help. This week we went with Raff’s greed as it opens up more possibilities. This leads us to the Why.

A Business Proposal

Why is normally the key component of bringing the party into the problem of others is our gig as a DM. I believe that by having Raff being our proposer of employment it means that we can have the party understand something for themselves. That is to not believe or trust everyone they encounter.

I believe that all parties will need to learn this at one point. In fact by having the bad guys of the adventures convince the party to do the wrong-doing it should develop not only the characters but also the players. However, it could go wrong if they do bring Simon back to Raff at which point we have a very different adventure on our hands. But in order to come to that conclusion we need to go to Where it all happens.

Though the Streets and the planes

Where, this is what we encounter next.

Another street chase, or simply back-tracking to where Simon was last found. We have a few ways to get the party to the astral plane. Firstly if they find Simon, if we want them to, then they could chase after him and through an active roll of the dice it gets interesting. However, they could simply find the magic dice by the barrels, hidden somewhere (but not for them).

By finding the dice the inherent bad luck causes them to drop it and open a portal to the astral plane. Once there they wake up on a floating island and can explore from there. Finding Simon being chased by a Githyanki Stalker, or, being the next mean for the gibbering mouther. But that’s in our Why the party have to care.

Ambush in the Astral Plane

Why the Githyanki or the Gibbering mouther encounter Simon or the party is the next question to answer. We have a bit of fun with these two stat blocks as they aren’t anything special. In fact I just wanted to have the Githyanki make an appearance. In fact the idea of a gibbering mouther being thrown in there as a plausible cause to why the Githyanki are there.

Thoughts

I want to thank you all for showing up this week to explore the concept of quick adventures in your palm. In fact this isn’t too far from the format that makes me come up with new adventures weekly. I have been DMing for a while, on and off, and by looking and refining my own process I believe it makes me improve my skills. Short, sharp and sweet concepts without lengthy setups or adventure hooks. This is the concept I have every week and despite it taking me about twelve hours to produce the weekly Zines. They are worth it. I think.

If you like this format let me know! Short, sharp and to the point with some notes to understand the reason why is something a bit easier to turn out. However, I do prefer the tangible zine that I produce weekly. I believe that that format will be the constant that I return to but let me know if there is something else. In order for me to grow and produce higher quality work I will push and explore more.

Next week we kick off with something a bit more Grim. With Warhammer also kicking off for me I want an excuse to use some of the miniatures I have. But, painting these ones are keeping me in a world of pain as finding little things to motivate me to paint more is a constant battle. So keep an eye out for more painted miniatures on here. If you like what I produce let me know, feedback is appreciated as I mentioned above it helps me grow. Don’t forget to take some time for your tabletop and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Easter eggs in TTRPGs

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Welcome to a weekend post where the theme is set and its something a bit more advance than what I normally talk about. Tonight I want to talk about the subtle art of Easter eggs in TTRPGs. Now, I can hear your thoughts, I’m not talking about randomly sprinkled treasure under bushes, near couches or on pillows – or maybe its someone else’s… never mind. So sit back, grab a coffee and me roll this concept over you and further into adventure.

The art of Easter eggs in TTRPGs

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Little treats

Now I am certain that we have seen many dungeon and game masters do this over campaigns but I need to say it. However, It is very difficult to do. What it is involves the GM/DM adding little bits of lore or a familiar face or symbol throughout the campaign. In fact the very idea behind this is that you set up and build up all these little things for a later big reveal. Whether this reveal is a twist midway through the campaign of the conclusion of the adventure it doesn’t matter. However, I find that the art of getting these just right is very difficult.

Now here lies the difficulty with it. If done correctly, subtle little hints, appearances or non-blatant pieces of information then you give control of the Easter egg to the player, not character. If they are not the type of person to note little things and make connections then this may not have the desired outcome or effect that you were hoping. However if your players that the type that like to play Cluedo and who will recognise the little Easter eggs along the way then this can be an enriching and powerful moment for them.

Laying the eggs

So now that we have explored it a little bit some suggestions and a scenario to try and get it to stick. If the adventure resolves around an order of knights for one of the main deities in the realm. However their new leader is over zealous and has initiated a purge of those who they deem to be going against the natural order. The party may begin to notice little things. Perhaps the bodies of thieves, murderers or monstrous humanoids are all found with wounds from similar weapons. Or, they are laid to rest in a particular way. On their back, arms folded but bound with red cloth and with a copper piece on top of their lips. This may be something that only priests of the religion would know it if they saw it.

If we get to the point where we want to reveal the Easter egg but the party are yet to put it together we can do some little things. Dropping the deities symbol, a book of their prayers or something like that could help hammer it in there. Particularly if the coins have the symbol on them (upon closer inspection) or if the book has a description of the ritual they found the previous victims in.

What ever the option, hint or Easter egg is it requires two things. The GM/DM to know how to implement it and link small things to larger plots. As well as the Players at the table to be able to pick up what we are putting down.

Thoughts

While not something I implement often, most of my players are new, the times I have done this the party have had that Eureka moment that just increases the wow moment. A key takeaway for me is that if they come up with something else, that isn’t farfetched OR is somehow akin to what I wanted them to realise, I normally give it to them anyway. Changing the plot for party enjoyment, changing the flow or even who the bad guy is, as long as it makes sense, can be even more enriching for the players at the table. And heck, I have fun watching them celebrate the their wins even when it wasn’t the one I had planned for them.

Thanks for visiting and having a look at my musings for this Saturday night. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the end of week adventure, our Gibbering heist, and for more tabletop content. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Ambush in the Astral Plane

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Welcome to a fight night that’s a bit different to what I have done in the past as we encounter an ambush in the astral plane. Now tonight’s content looks to add in some creatures for us to encounter that may wander the astral plane. But there may be encounters in the streets as well so that needs to be considered also. But instead of spoiling it let’s just roll into tonight’s content – Stat blocks!

Ambush in the Astral Plane

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The Githyanki

Why the Githyanki stalkers exist is an easy question to answer but where they may be found is a bit more difficult. The Githyaki are protectors of the astral plane so fixated on their duty that they see any and all races as threats to their society. But they can not always muster the great envoys of warriors that they pride themselves in for all encounters with aliens to their plane. Sometimes they need a subtler approach and this calls for the Githyank Stalkers. However the other members of their race may see them they are the rangers of the plane. Swift, stealthy and efficient in what they do.

A group of warriors who bear not the famed silver great swords but have been gifted with smaller, more nimble blades suited for more subtle operations. These warriors are no less deadly so those who enter the astral plane, willingly or otherwise best keep their wits about them.

Githyanki Stalker – created in tetra-cube

Feaster of the Astral Plane

While the passage of humanoids in the astral plane is not something uncommon creatures such as the gibbering mouther are things out of nightmares. These creatures may simply just be looking for a meal for its many mouths in the astral plane. However, it may have been caught up in an astral portal and whipped into this plane through some chaotic magic. Chaos is what best describes these creatures. In fact their very being may be what draws the Githyanki stalkers to the floating rocks. What we can say for certain is that they are always hungry and they will rarely pass up a meal.

Gibbering Mouther – Created in Tetra-cube.

Thanks for joining me tonight. Two creatures revealed with many more to be included this weekend. So don’t forget to come back and consider including this adventure as part of your tabletop. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Though the Streets and the planes

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Welcome to another Thursday night where we travel though the Streets and the planes. With a magical dice that transports people to another plane there is one place I have always wanted to visit. So sit back, meditate and join me this week as we get hurled through the astral plane!

Though the Streets and the planes

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Where the battles, chases or discoveries happen are controlled by us, the DMs. But no matter how we look at it the theatre of the mind is still the most iconic way of running Dungeons and Dragon adventures. But I find that even with years of experience the inspiration to describe a city, chase or otherwise can be a bit difficult. So I try and include images that can provoke inspiration for describing the scene.

City streets – created in nightcafe.

Astral Plane – the climb

Now a chase through the astral plane, or even hide and seek would be a bit nuts. But what this does give is a way to explore the rules for astral travel, albeit slightly restricted. The threat of infinite falling may create some tense moments but as long as the rules are explain it should be safe… enough.

The astral climb – created in Inkarnate

Thanks for joining me tonight for the map for this weeks game of hide and seek. Tomorrow we will look into some of the threats, again I believe bandits and thugs may be involved as well as… some more exotic encounters. So keep an eye out for that tomorrow. Don’t forget to keep aside some time for your tabletop this weekend and if that includes joining me here I am pleased to welcome you back.

Don’t forget to come back this weekend for the end of week writeup and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

A business proposal

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So for this weeks Wednesday we look to expand on our What and begin the Why. Now for the adventure this week we need to make a business proposal and have the party believe it. Ah yes as some of you may have realised this week is a bit of a tricky one. This week we have the party being hired by one of the NPCs to work against the other. But will the party go through with it or will they realise in time its a set up? Only one way to find out I guess. So you better sit back, grab a coffee and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!

A business proposal

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Why the party sat down in the Risky Mare again was a strange mystery. It was a familiar tavern with a different feel to the others of the same namesake. The looked at the man opposite them who smiled and stood to shake their hands. “Thanks for responding to my request, unfortunately this city doesn’t have many people of your calibre. Now I wont take up much of your time. Time is money and the longer we wait the further the thief may get away.” The man opposite them rubbed his hands and looked around as if checking for spies.

“About a week ago I was robbed at this very table. A coin purse of some meagre coinage, maybe fifty gold pieces in total was taken. However the thief also made off with a precious trinket of mine.” he paused as a tankard of ale was placed in front of him. “Now the thief must have been using a disguise. They appeared like a boy, not much older than ten winters. However they most certainly were not as they appeared.” he began, pausing to drink the thick ale.

The ploy

“When some of my men approached him the boy used some strange magic and slew one of my men. The body disappearing under a bolt of lightning. Now the guards won’t get involved. They laughed at me when I reported to murder and theft. What will I tell Will’s wife if I don’t find his murderer and work out some way to make amends for this situation.”

The party looked at the large dragonborn who was standing near by. An imposing figure by any meaning of the word. “I see you have noticed Gyx. Gyx is the one who was with Will when the thief murdered him using a cursed artefact. This artefact is the precious trinket of mine. You see I was on the way to deliver it to the harpers, they have a presence in this city, to ensure it was taken care of. But it like my gold was taken.” He continued with the supportive nod from Gyx.

“Are you able to assist me before the thief murders again? He does not know the power of what he wields. I need to get it to the Harpers so they can take care of it.” The man said with a convincing smile of concern. “I should introduce myself proper, I am Raff, Raff Tamale.” Raff said as he waited for their response.

Thoughts

Now we know what’s going on here as the spinners of this story. But I don’t believe that the parties will suspect something outright. However if they do then it will make for a very quick adventure but of a different kind. If the party follow up on a few leads they may unravel some of the story. The presence of the harpers is almost always secret or prone to being rumours. However the guards never being informed by Raff would give the deception away quickly. I hope that with a few key, pivotal moments I will see the party lead in the right direction.

Thanks for joining me tonight for another night of content. I hope you will join me again this week as we continue to expand our adventure onwards. But, again, don’t forget to set aside some time for your own tabletop. So as I welcome you to continue visiting this week I also wish you the best Easter holiday break. Don’t forget to spend time on the table, with family or friends and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Gullible and the Gambler

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So here we are at another Tuesday where we are introduced to the gullible and the gambler in more detail. Tonight we meet Simon and Raff, the two protagonists or antagonists depending on how you see them. But the party will learn something very important this week that those who they work for may not always be trustable. So with that in mind let’s grab a coffee, buckle up and roll into the adventure!

The Gullible and the Gambler

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Who do we have with us tonight? I wanted to focus on the who with tonight’s addition to the adventure and we have two very similar NPCs tonight. One on the beginning of their journey and one, I feel, who has been through it all.

Now this week we will have our party approached by one NPC to help them with the other one. Tomorrow night we will reveal who is who so let’s see how we go setting up tonight’s background information for the NPCs.

Simon Herds

Simon Herds- Created in Artbreeder

Born to an average household Simon had to learn the hard way that life doesn’t always go the way we want it to. By the age of nine he had support his ill mother to get the medicine to cure the sickness that claimed his father during the previous winter. However because of his age and upbringing he didn’t have the required skills, strength or stamina that was required for many of the jobs locally. So he did what he had to do in order to get by.

Small games of chance to win enough coin to buy food and put some aside for the medicine. When his luck came good when he was approached by a local businessman. The man learnt about Simons mother and his upbringing and offered to source the medicine. Simon jumped at the prospect and quickly came under their employ to earn enough to get the medicine. However Simons luck ran out when the business man was murdered in broad daylight, the money taken from the shop and Simon left to hide out in a crate of hazardous, defective merchandise that he was getting ready to turn over to the harpers guild.

The turn

But the funny thing with luck is, you always have it, it doesn’t always go in favour but sometimes it does. This is just the luck of the roll. One of the items that was to be turned over to the harpers was a curiosity. It was meant to be a lucky charm of sorts. An item that fed off someone’s fate, someone’s pool of luck and tipped it in the favour towards balance. In the hand of most people it meant that they packed a hooded cloak on a day it would rain. But for those who were already naturally lucky it brought their rampart luck into check.

So when Simon accidently fumbled when he was climbing out of the crate and rolled the lucky charm, his rampart bad luck caused the artefact, a dice, to cause a magical phenomenon. The thugs that had murdered his boss for a few coin appeared in the door way and his boss greeted them.

Quickly thinking he grabbed the knife he used to pry into boxes and crates and rushed into the front room, throwing the blade the exact moment they lashed out at his boss. Now he was a notorious poor shot. But with the lucky charm the thrown, mostly blunt blade connected with the outstretched hand, forcing the weapon the man was preparing to swing to fly from his hand. The thrown dull blade then lodged itself in the mans neck whilst his own weapon spun out of control and killed his partner. An impossibly lucky throw.

Luck ebbs and flows

But the charm was not done yet. To cement the balance of luck both assailants fell into the street where a guard, who knew these two to be assassins for a gang leader, saw them. Not only did the guard award the merchant with the bounty on the men, but Simon’s boss lived.

Joyous with the outcome of the day Simon ran home, medicine in hand. But, luck has a funny way of balancing out. His mother had passed during the time he was working for the merchant.

Raff Tamale

Raff Tamale – Created in Artbreeder

No amount of money, power or material possessions would satisfy Raff. A self made man he runs several businesses within the city. But the normally calm man has a jealous streak that is beyond famous. To make matters worse is his hunger for more. If there is something that he wants, or something someone else has that he wants he will do all within his power to balance out the hand he has been dealt.

Bribing, buying, blackmailing or worse. Nothing is off the table with Raff and he is famous for being a ruthless business man and for getting what he wants. But, he wasn’t always like this. After a difficult upbringing on the streets he owned a general store and eventually married and settled down. But, his wife wasn’t content with the lifestyle that he was able to provide and had an affair with a rival business man. Raff swore that he wouldn’t let someone else take anything of his again and built an empire to prove it.

Thoughts

Tonight is all about perspective and trust. Who the party believe, who is deemed to be gullible and who is a gambler, who will they end up assisting. I think these are things that we can gleam tonight but I also hold a small twist for tomorrow.

I believe that making both the NPCs in an adventure like this relatable or in some way admirable can make decisions that were clear hard for the party. There shouldn’t be someone who is wrong or someone who is right this week. I have made it as such so the party will need to make a call, and only after meeting them both will they find out who is who. I am looking forward to it!

Thanks for joining me tonight. I am liking how the adventure and palm technique is playing out so far. It aligns to how I normally organise and structure my adventures so its just fleshing it out this week. I hope to see you tomorrow night as we expand upon this weeks adventure.

Tomorrow I will introduce the twist, our NPCs engaging with the PCs. So I look forward to you joining me for that. Don’t forget that the eater break is approaching soon. Treat this as a time to sit down, spend time with friends and family and maybe share your tabletop with them. So don’t forget to pencil in some time for you and your tabletop this holiday period. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

To Roll with Fate

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Welcome to another Monday where I wanted to use my Adventure in hand approach with this weeks adventure where we start to roll with fate. This week is about dice, but not just any dice, dice where the cost of rolling poorly is more than what its worth. Well for anyone who is not exceedingly lucky that is. So in order to, roll on with it, let’s grab a cup of coffee, sit back and get into tonight’s adventure!

To Roll with Fate

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Magical Dice – Created in nightcafe.studio

What… that is the question on the players lips as they watched what was happening in front of their very eyes. As the pile of coins; silvers copper and golds, piled up in front of the youngster in front of them.

“You want another round? I can’t believe my luck at this. My older brothers showed me how to play once or twice but I never thought that it was this fun!” the youngster, a boy of maybe twelve years old, said with glee.

“No more. I’ve got nothing less to give up. You’re a natural at this my boy!” a large man said with a might grin and laugh. “Unless these other players wish to roll dice against you and loose all their coin I daresay you’ve out played us all!” he said with a chorus of laughter from the men near to him.

The boy grinned broadly, a very innocent smile. “Nah, just beginners luck sir.” he said with a smile as he grab fistfuls of coin and shoved them into a bag. “Here, thanks for teaching me sirs!” he said as he passed out a few silver pieces to all the people at the table, enough for a meal. “I better get home before mother worries!” he said with a skip as he hoisted himself down from the chair and bounced out the door.

“Follow him,” the large man said after the door closed behind the boy, “I want my coin.”

Dishonourable

The boy ran down the alley ways, the men who had followed him from the tavern were catching up and he was now frantically running. “Give us the gold boy. No questions just the gold and you can be free!” one of the goons shouted at him, a dragonborn with large rough scales. The boy ran faster.

As he turned a corner in the unfamiliar part of town he ran into a blocked alleyway. A large mountain of barrels had been stacked here to be unpacked and sorted in the morning. As he looked for way around the sounds of the men got closer and he took a risk. climbing over the barrels was risky but, he was lucky after all.

“There you are boy. Now we can do this the hard way or the easy way. Give us the coin and you can go back home to mother. Don’t and you go back to mother but limping. No one cheats the boss and the boss don’t lose at dice. So that means you cheated!” the other, a half-drow snarled at the boy. The boy didn’t respond and so with a snarl the half-drow jumped forward and grabbed the boy by the ankle. The boy shrieked and kicked out once, suddenly, his foot connecting with the eye of the half-drow.

“Ouch! You little dog. Well let’s say that you don’t even make it back to mother now!” the man roared as he wrenched hard on the boys foot. The boy grabbed onto the barrel with all his might but, he started to slip.

To roll with fate

As his grip faltered and the barrels started to tip his lucky dice fell from his jacket and bounced down the barrels. The boy let go of the barrels, determined to not let the dice finish falling. But as he fell, the man looked shocked as the boy fell on him and the dice clacked down the barrels.

Picking himself up he dove for the dice but it bounced off his finger tip as the man under him pulled him closer “Gotcha!” he snarled with a manic grin. But the dice stopped rolling just as the boy grasped it. With a sound like a bell being struck the dice resonated with power and with a sizzling snap the boy, the boy, the half-drow and half the barrels disappeared in a flash of deafening light and a thunderous Roar. When the dragonborn could see again all that remained was floating barrels and a single silver piece.

Thoughts

Oh boy, magic dice, a lucky lad and a missing henchmen. This adventure has all the things that a good “What” could want. The answer to what is simple. A magical artefact that is possessed by a lucky boy who has disappeared with a large sum of coins that a gang leader believes is his. Tomorrow we will look at the who, the part of the story that will drive the involvement for the party and the adventure.

Thanks for joining me tonight for another start to the adventuring week. This week is about the concept that all you need is an adventure in the hand and you can go just about anywhere. Now the Who, Why, Where and When are coming this week as we lead up to Easter. With the holidays coming up I hope you all have something set aside for your tabletop with friends and family. So don’t forget to set aside some time for tabletop as you come back each day this week. I hope you enjoy what’s in store for this week and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Eggs of the Gibbering Woods

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Tonight and I have created another zine for this weeks heist adventure, The Eggs of the Gibbering Woods. This adventure can be used system agnostic as we explore other RPGs out there other than D&D. So please adjust to what ever creatures you are using in your adventure! However as always Kobold fight club can be used to quickly balance an encounter for Dungeons and Dragons and Tetra-cube currently provides the stat-blocks for creatures in this adventure.

So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, The Eggs of the Gibbering Woods. If you like this format please let me know and I hope you enjoy.

The Eggs of the Gibbering Woods

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The Gibbering Woods – Created in Nightcafe.studio.

The Gibbering Woods lies at the edge of the city of Palis. For years the creatures and people of these lands have been at war for the forest and its bounty. However a recent movement has seen that the people want to see this endless hunt cease. 

The movement for peace and a recognition of the creatures who live in the Gibbering woods being part of what makes the woods what they are. However, this does not sit well for many people who used to profit from the endless cycle of death and conflict.

PDF adventure – The Eggs of the Gibbering Woods

The-Eggs-of-the-Gibbering-WoodsDownload

Thanks for joining me tonight for another Zine. Next time you get a party together consider running this adventure and I hope that you enjoy it. As with last week and The Golden Hourglass Heist these adventures contain both a lot of possibilities and also no structured adventure. The driving factor of these adventures is the possibility that the players have full control over what they create – the entire adventure is theirs for the taking.

I hope you don’t miss a thing so come back daily in the coming week. This is so you can experience the creation of the next adventure as it evolves and shapes out. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

An Adventure in the palm of your hand

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Welcome to a weekend post where I want to explore the art of improve with a simple concept. An adventure in the palm of your hand. This isn’t much different from the normal process I captured in my weekend adventure formula with Plot, NPC, Hook, Map/Extra and combat but it helps drive some of the unravelling for it. So tonight I will put down the formula and add will see how it works out. So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s roll into the adventure.

An Adventure in the palm of your hand

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The idea behind this is the five things to get the core of your adventure completed in a few moments, something that I pride myself on. The process is quite simple but it does involve some creativity and on the spot thinking so it can take some practice. For this we look at our hand and count down the key components to understand the concept of our adventure. Crossing off fingers as we count down can be a tactile way to keep track and can help cement it in – so I’ll list out them in order of importance.

Thumb – What

Start it off with the most important thing. Think of an item, creature, opponent, location or something that is the core of our adventure. Generally all adventures have a artefact, a wizard, a big baddie or something that drives the party forward to their goal. If we don’t know the what it can be hard but inspiration can come from anywhere.

I use songs, artwork, miniatures or random things my family or friends say. Books, movies and TV shows are also perfect for generating the what of our adventure but I don’t tend to have much time for these so less time exposed to them results in less time to be inspired.

What we have our What we lock that down as our core and use that to drive the other questions.

Index – Why

The Why. This points us (index finger – the pointer) in the direction of the adventure. Taking our what we ask why is it our core. Why would the party want to obtain, learn, prevent or stop or, protect this thing? The why is the second most important item as its driven from what, but it also acts as the catalyst for our adventure.

Why are the party wanting to retrieve the amulet of Frostmoor? Why do they need to stop the wizard Zoltan? and so forth. Why do they want to get involved with the what and why is it a driver for them. This really is driving motivator for the party to get motivated or inspired to get onboard the adventure train.

Middle – Who

Who drives the What and the Why. If the what is a person or creature, who are they. Who is working for or against them and who are they aligned with. A thief lord doesn’t get there over night, who are their backers? Who let them get as powerful as they are now?

Who can be consequential, so its less important. But it can be related to the what and why directly or it could simply be someone who gives you the quest. A farmer could be the who a they give you the quest to investigate the noises from the nearby barn. Or they could be the cause of the noises and not be a simple farmer.

The emphasis isn’t placed on Who, Where or When but they still can add to the story and only require a bit more thought.

Ring – Where

Do you have a map ready? Is there a town the party are in? Do you need a temple, castle, cave, crypt or cemetery that you want this to occur in? The where isn’t important most of the time and it doesn’t drive the adventure but it is fundamental to driving the mood.

The other thing that where can drive is hazards and other map driven obstacles that can help the adventure. Sink holes in a graveyard, boiling magma, spike traps near a goblin encampment, secret doors or passage ways, traps, acid pits and so on. All of these can add another level onto the adventure.

Pinky – When

Now the when isn’t important. It can emphasise a time limit for players or set the mood. The below example can give a limit, a time frame or hint at more to come.

“about three weeks ago, at the full moon I heard a blood curdling howl I did. Right by the city gate. In the morning young Harry was gone but the beast left these claw marks. I tells ya’ that my blood froze when I saw the size of them”.

The when isn’t important – but it can help flesh out the adventure more.

Thanks for visiting and having a look at my musings. I’ll put this to test tomorrow and whip up an adventure using the above and create something that could be used in an impromptu one shot or, to expand upon something monotonous like travel. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the end of week adventure, our Gibbering heist, and for more tabletop content. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe