Month: Jun 2023

The Dryads Raiders

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Welcome to another Fight-night where tonight we look at The Dryads Raiders. This week we look at quantity over Quality Satyrs march to Dornsbury. But that’s not all this week as like last weekend I will have a surprise. So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s look at some creatures!

The Dryads Raiders

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Satyr

Fast of foot, not very strong or durable the Satyr is an interesting enemy. Resistant to magical effects having a horde of these guys to contend with will make cutting them down a bit harder. However the volley of arrows will likely do the trick

Between 15 and 16 of these creatures will join the fray, All will loose a volley of arrows before a few go to engage in melee with the party to try and pin them down. Drawn to violence in their drunken states these creatures will be a bit slow to realise that the yare in danger before its too late. Being the core of the dryads raiders these creatures should be a fun component.

Satyr – created in Tetra-cube

Dryad – Willow

Now while we have the Satyr being the dryads raiders the dryad herself will be standing back and using her magical abilities to try and entangle the opponents. More importantly the ability to charm humanoids and beasts can protect her from some damage. Her Satyr allies will not attack a charmed creature but instead will call out to it for aid trying to sew confusion in the the party. This with the other surprises coming will make for a fun adventure.

Dryad (Willow) – created in Tetra-cube

Thanks for visiting tonight. Now that the weekend is here you can’t forget to set aside some time for your tabletop. Continuing and making progress on your hobby helps sustain the momentum behind it. This momentum will drive you to complete more and at a sustained pace. So don’t forget to keep setting time aside for it. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Town of Dornsbury

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Welcome to a Thursday night where we get a glimpse of one of the maps coming this weekend, The Town of Dornsbury. As we prepare for another end of the week we need to be prepared for more adventure. So let’s instead sit back, grab a coffee and look at the town of Dornsbury!

The Town of Dornsbury

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The town itself is situated in a small island formed by river. This has given the town a natural defence against dangers for quite a long time however its not perfect.

Mainly humans live in Dornsbury village centre with many other smaller houses scattered to the North West and south west. To the southwest a large swath of the Safthold forest was initially cleared for farmland and housing but there has been a law against cutting down more of the forest for many years. This hasn’t abated the rage and anger of some of the denizens of the forest but there is rarely an incident between the people of the woods and of Dornsbury. Until now that is.

Dornsbury – created in Inkarnate

Another week and another map. I find myself enjoying these overworld maps as they give a perspective of scale. However I plan to bring some more maps for battle this weekend so keep an eye out for that. So don’t forget to come back the next few nights to see the adventure in full. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Heart of Revelry

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For this weeks twisty Wednesday its not as much as twist as an expansion of the story as we uncover the Heart of Revelry. Yesterday we met some individuals that we were introduced to briefly and for the most part this continues on the adventure with one of them. But instead of hinting on it let’s look at part of the adventure that I have planned to reveal tonight. So sit down, grab a coffee and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure.

Heart of Revelry

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The party followed the shouts and whoops that echoes through the trunks of the trees and bounced from the canopy of leaves. The flickering light of a fire caused shadows to dance on the trunks of the trees and between the bushes. As they approached the source of the noise and the light a manic sight greeted them.

Dozens of Satyr were dancing around a fire in a clearing. Bottles, flasks and jugs of alcohol were being consumed in vast quantities as the Fae revelled wildly. Several of the Fae carried weapons, short swords, spears and short bows with quivers filled with arrows as their frenzied celebration escalated further.

Then a great hush fell across the revellers as groups of them fell silent. A solitary figure strode from a tree, another fae creature for sure but this one appeared to be a beautiful woman with flowers and leaves braided through her hair.

The Corruption of Willow

“Brothers and Sisters,” the woman began in common before her words drifted into a different tongue which, luckily, a party member spoke. “We have begun striking back at those that would harm our forest and our kind. The humans, the people of the village can not be trusted as their words are like poison that festers the roots of our forest. For many years we have aided them and kept them alive. But for what!? They still hunt the creatures we call friends, they still tear down our trees and our woods for their own selfish reason! No more!” As she spoke the flowers and leaves in her hair wilted and a darkness spread across her eyes.

“I say we finish what we started. We have taken their reason to celebrate. Their crops they grow their alcohol from were planted in what was once our land. Their food is our friends, the creatures of these woods and the bounty of our good will. Next we take back the first thing we gave them in friendship. Next we take their lives!”

As her speech came to a crescendo the satyr whooped and cheered, blowing into horns and practically bleating for bloodshed. As they rushed from the fire towards the village the party realised with sickening quickness. They were in the path between the marauders and the village.

Thanks for joining me for another as we witness the beginning of the final part of this adventure. The beginning of a bloody battle or a heroic tale of bravery and mercy. The party will need to decide how to handle it but for one it will be their end regardless. Don’t forget to come back daily for more tabletop content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Dornsburys Neighbours

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Tuesday night brings us to another NPC night where we meet Dornsburys Neighbours and a resident in trouble. Leading the charge into a happy ending Norias asks the party to investigate the happenings but also sings songs of the spirits of the forest that have helped Dornsbury for years. Will the party be able to seek the mercy of the Fae of the forest or will they find themselves at the end of the charge from a satyr? To find out we best sit down, grab a coffee and let’s roll into this nights NPC introduction!

Dornsburys Neighbours

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Jasmine & Willow

Jasmine – created in Nightcafe.
Willow – Created in Nightcafe.

Jasmine and Willow are two Fae that once angered a prince of the court. Their crime? Assisting the people of Dornsbury and preventing them from starvation, the punishment for the two twins was to be eternally bound to the trees of the Safthold forest.

The prince promised that they would, through their bindings to their home trees eventually be betrayed by the people they once helped. Humans are an industrious race and their memories of kindness are short so the betrayal would happen eventually as their greed for the woods grew. However Jasmine and Willow both thought that this would not happen and continued to subtly help the people of Dornsbury.

But as of late Willow has been silent. Her tree has begun to show signs of sickness and a darkness has also crept into Willow’s mind. A sickness grows and Jasmine can’t help her beloved sister and oldest friend.

Norias Redcheeks

Norias Redcheeks – Created in Artbreeder.

A resident of Dornsbury, Norias is a strange one. The unusual union of Satyr and a halfling he is a short and merry fellow with some traits of his Fae parent. He is a messenger for the city and a bard who sings the bawdiest songs with the most vigour. High on life and particular for alcohol he is at the centre of any and all celebrations in the village.

However due to his heritage and the recent events he is in a bit of a pickle and has approached the party to not only clear his name but find the culprits of the break ins. He believes the Satyrs of Safthold forest are the cause of it but knows not why.

Thanks for dropping by tonight for another NPC night. Some fun in both artbreeder and nightcafe tonight to produce the portraits and I ma quite happy with how they turned out. But there is much more to come this week so you not forget to come back daily to stay up to date. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Raiding Revellers

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Welcome to the start of another week at my tabletop where this weeks adventure features raiding revellers. A bit of a random one this week with enough availability to even work at low levels or very high levels. But enough talking about it and let’s sit down, grand a coffee and read about this weeks adventure!

Raiding Revellers

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Dornsbury Store for Stuff – Created in nightcafe

The sight was almost too much to bear for Kit as she looked at the remnants of the goods she had brought into the store just the day before. Smashed bottles, ripped up parchment and books and half eaten food that was smeared and thrown about the shop.

“The second one this week…” the guard said from behind her as she held back sobs. “Tell me do you have any reason to believe that someone in the village would have done this?” the young female guard, Piper, asked.

“No, no one. I’ve always gotten on well with the other villagers. You said it was the second one this week, was there another robbery like this?” she asked, wiping away a tear that broke past her barricade.

“Yeah, Finnegans Tavern was like this. Except worse. I doubt old Finn will ever get the spew fully off the walls and ceiling.” Piper replied with a shudder. “We will do what we can but without a lead the best we can do is offer to help clean up and be available if you find anything.” she added with a sympathetic pat on the shoulder

“Piper,” a second guard called from outside. “I found something,” he continued. Walking over both Piper and Kit gazed down at what appeared to be an apple sized hoofprint in the dirt outside. What made it more peculiar is that it had a bit of shredded paper from inside her shop pushed into the dirt.

“We best reach out to the rangers for this one Piper.” the young man said as he began to sketch the hoofprint.

Thoughts

A footprint in the mud, a general store and Tavern broken into I think weeks adventure could be fun! But now I have to pull it together which wont be an issue. I have a plan to bring the life of this party to our party. So get those spy glasses out and let’s see if we can catch these revellers before they go to far.

Thanks for joining me for the start of another week. While time continues to trickle away it doesn’t slow down for me to pause for these adventures. With a big week ahead and more adventures to be had you best not forget to come back daily. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Fox in the Snow

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Tonight and I have created another zine for this weeks adventure, The Fox in the Snow. 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 Fox in the Snow. If you like this format please let me know and I hope you enjoy.

The Fox in the Snow

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The Fox in the Snow

Kestra – created in Nightcafe.

While waiting for a patch of bad weather to pass the party is approached by Harry Panscythe. Harry is looking to move some goods and himself from Joanhaven to Foresithe and he offers good pay for an escort. 

However the party has also heard rumours of bandit attacks on the road far from normal. A pack of Lycanthropes have begun to target carriages and wagons on the road. The party may have to defend their employer from lycanthropes so they will need to ensure they are ready for anything.

The Seventh Swallow

The Seventh Swallow – Created in nightcafe

The Seventh Swallow, a drinking hall known for not only its hearty mead and ales but also its fresh game pies is where we find our party. Passing through Joanhaven they managed to secure lodgings in the town as a winter blizzard struck. With nothing else to do they have stayed warm, entertained and merry at the town’s famous tavern.

But as the weather has begun to clear a remarkably plain man enters and offers one hundred Gold pieces to people who could escort him and his goods safely to Foresithe, a city that is two days’ travel from here.

PDF adventure – The Fox in the Snow

The-Fox-in-the-SnowDownload

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.

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

Kestra the snow fox

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Welcome to a special Saturday update where I reveal Kestra the snow fox and another lycanthrope stat block. This week the motivation for our creatures is slightly different. Not to kill or spread lycanthropy; well maybe the wererats and werewolf’s may, but another force drives them. So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s meet the snow fox!

Kestra the snow fox

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Kestra the snow fox

Driven from her home town when her Lycanthropy was revealed Kestra lived a rough life. A wizard of some power she rarely used her magic but this didn’t stop the rumours spreading about her. Running a small business to bake bread for the village she was accused of using her magic to bewitch and spread illness through the village.

This came to a dramatic end when several young men began to fight over her affection, which she didn’t encourage or reciprocate and a coincidental illness spread through some of the other young women. Suspicious of this she was followed into the woods where she was caught shifting to her fox form. She was then run out of town and her home burnt to the ground.

She was taken in by a community of other lycanthropes which was led by an old werefox. With her prowess in magic she helped build a stronger community and eventually took the mantle of leadership. But the village started suffering from another illness and the cost of medicine was too much. This happened around the same time as reports of a band of lycanthropes plaguing the roads.

Using the stories to rattle the travellers Kestra began to also rob from the roads finding that people were more willing to hand over their riches if a wererat or werewolf appeared before them on the road.

Kestra – created in Tetra-cube.

Werefox

Werefox – created in Tetra-cube.

Thanks for visiting. I mentioned on Friday that more statblocks were coming and tonight I delivered! Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the end of week writeup and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Ambush in the Snow

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Welcome to another Fight-night where tonight we look at an ambush in the snow. This Friday, back to the normal pattern of for Friday creature nights. Tonight we have two types of Lycan’s bringing something a bit different to the party. But the driver for their attacks – well that’s something that we can wait for the weekend. So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s look at some creatures!

Ambush in the Snow

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Werewolf

Stronger than there verminous brethren in the cause the werewolves will launch a volley from their longbows during a surprise round before charging across the snow at the humans – shifting as they charge.

Werewolf – created in Tetra-cube

Wererat

The wererats are a bit more cowardly than the werewolves – likely to use their turn to move and launch a volley from their crossbows as opposed to charging into melee. When the battle turns against them they will shift into a giant rat and try to escape into the snow, digging if needed.

Were Rat – created in Tetra-cube

Thanks for visiting tonight. Now there is one more appearance in the form of a stat block that I will reveal this weekend. So don’t forget that this weekend I aim to produce the conclusion of this week, and last week as a matter of fact. Both of which you don’t want to miss. With the weekend here don’t forget to set aside some time for your own tabletop and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Shifting Snow

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Welcome to a Thursday night where we look at the encounter with the shifting drifters under the shifting snow. A bit of a tongue twister there but let’s not dwell on the shift/drift theme of this week for too long. So let’s instead sit back, grab a coffee and imagine the encounter ahead!

The Shifting Snow

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The encounter map of this week is a simple one. The carriage and wagons have their wheels caught in previously hidden ruts in the snow, first they think its only the carriage but the wagon then gets stuck in a separate rut-trap hidden by the snow and some spell placed branches over the top.

Around the road there are patches of rocks, boulders really, that span about five feet in width and around four feet tall. Enough for someone to stand up, see above and launch an arrow or crossbow bolt. Around these rocks are thick brambles and bracken. This hides dugouts that are perfect places for someone to sit and wait for a trap to be sprung.

A tree then falls over behind the wagon and carriages pinning them. The previously sawn through but bound tree had the bind hidden under the snow. This trap really isn’t designed to hurt or maim but to pin prey in place. But if a party member or NPC was at the back of the procession it could be fatal for them.

However keep eyes may see the signs of traps in advance. If the traps are sprung then the ambush happens with a surprise round, if not then there is no surprise round.

This encounter happens immediately after Harry reaches the carriage. In fact this also triggers a few other things that the party will have to deal with and assess. However that is for a different nights update.

Travel through to Foresithe – created in nightcafe

Thoughts

I like ambush encounters, there I said it. It doesn’t make me a bad DM or a one that focuses on TPKs. But it does give me opportunities to challenge my party. Generally unless they are the aggressors in an adventure which puts the party on the font foot. This leads to a one side fault where a well executed plan from your players can spell doom for your encounter. However by putting them on the backfoot they have to come up with a plan on the fly with what they have immediately.

This can lead to truly rememberable encounters where they have to MacGuiver a win from toothpicks, an orange and the catapult spell (maybe a lethal combination). This is far more rewarding than throwing several fireballs and mopping up the stragglers.

Thanks for visiting again tonight. While the weeks seem to go to fast I look forward to the weekend where I have a few large projects to move on. So don’t forget to come back the next few nights to see the full reveal and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Suspicions In The Snow

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Another Wednesday has come and as with nearly all wintery Wednesdays it has the chance to bring Suspicions in the snow. This week is about the redemption of a shifter, the potential threat of Lycanthropy on the roads, and the winter setting in around Foresithe. So sit down, grab a coffee and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure.

Suspicions In The Snow

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The snow had come in that evening and blanketed the roads, hills and valleys around Foresithe. Looking out from the carriage window Harry frowned as he noticed that the road and scenery was shifting and changing. The flat open lands from Joanhaven was now being replaced by the rocky and bracken rich scenery near the hills of Foresithe. A perfect place for an ambush.

Opening the door and stepping out the blast of cold was a welcome reprieve from the snoring from Mary. The young merchant-wife was insistent on nervous chatter and prone to flattery and flirtation. Things that Harry had once plied to get his wealth once upon a time but now he employed other means to manage and grow it. Stepping out smoothly he strode next to the slow moving carriage, the animals needing rest soon.

Footprints

Walking forward next to the hired guards he began to notice tracks in the snow. A skill that he could not escape from his younger days. A fox here, a rabbit there and the clumsy footprints of the guards who didn’t have horses to carry them on the two day journey to Foresithe. Drifting slightly from the road, but within a quick sprint if trouble occurred he haphazardly followed the footprints of a fox. Darting from bush to bush in pursuit of its prey he marvelled at his own keen senses at identifying the freshness of the tracks as he continued to walk.

“Everything alright Harry?” one of the adventurers he had hired called out.

“Yeah, just some fox prints. I couldn’t be stuck in the carriage for much longer the smell of perfume is only pleasant for the first encounter. Not a aroma I find particularly pleasant for a full day.” he replied with a grin back at the hired help. “Besides I enjoy the feeling of the snow on my boots. Reminds me of simpler times.”

Looking back down to look for the prints again he was alarmed to find human prints instead. “Interesting,” he said to himself, but loud enough that his pause didn’t go unnoticed. “Human foot prints. In fact, either someone is mightily lost in this snow storm or you may be earning your gold.” he said to the adventurers. “I think I’ll retire to the carriage. I left my sword behind” he mentioned as he walked away. Not caring to declare that he recognised lycanthrope footprints when he saw them…

Thoughts

Trying not to give away all the twists of this adventure I decided for a subdued approach. I believe there are enough clues here to reveal the true twist this week. However I don’t believe that it would be so obvious to someone not reading the weeks update.

I love a good redemption story. Personally I believe that there is the potential for great redemption in most villains. However for the sake of adventurers and the triumph of good over evil we like to believe that there is inexcusable evil in the world. In fact this is the premise of many D&D adventures I have read or written. But with this week I want to shift it a bit to the left and see what redemption can mean.

Thanks for joining me for another night at my tabletop. Don’t forget that this week we continue to expand the adventure with more content each night. Tomorrow we will have a map-less encounter where I have another sneaky surprise. But some of this will need to wait until Friday so make sure to keep coming back. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe