Month: Nov 2023

Alternative traditional Magic Weapons

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Welcome to another Musings Saturday where tonight I want to look at two Alternative traditional Magic Weapons that use a underappreciated resource – the hit dice. A quick search revealed that this has been done before and at least several people have come to the “same” conclusions but I have a specific thing I am wanting to explore.

Alternative traditional Magic Weapons

The gap identified

The gap I have that really started me thinking about other alternative traditional magic weapons is the old roleplay story. Your player may have been gifted the bow from their teacher and asked to look after it just before they went to fight a dragon – of which they never returned. Since then the character has always used this bow and felt a strong connection to their mentor when they use it.

This roleplay aspect that drives elements of the story forward, and a times drives many decisions the PC would make is what has me focused tonight. This concept is similar to ancestral weapons where a weapon grows while you wield it and unlock its secret but the emphasis is on player grown and it fuelling the weapon.

For this purpose I have a ‘Parasitic’ and ‘Symbiotic’ alternative to an ancestral blade.

Parasitic

The parasitic alternative traditional magic weapons is as the name suggests. Probably found in weapons that consume ammo or ‘charges’ these items consume a hit dice from who its attuned to to return or generate either a random or a pre-determined number of charges for an item. This means that at level one the item may be quite weak and able to be used once per long rest (depending on the charge mechanic) but at higher levels it could be truly spectacular.

Take the Emberborn wand for example – created by a wizard that spend most of their time studying in volcanic lands.

The wand has three spell effects, Burning hands (1st level) , Scorching Ray (2nd level) and Stinking Cloud (3rd level). To cast Burning hands at 1st level its a single Charge, and then its 2 additional for 2nd level and a further 3 for 3rd level (and so forth.) the cost to increase the level of spell slot available it accumulative.

  • 1st level spell slot – 1 charge
  • 2nd level spell slot – 3 charges
  • 3rd level spell slot – 6 charges
  • 4th level spell slot – 10 charges
  • etc.

As an action you can spend 1 hit dice to generate d6 charges. (or 3 charges flat) which expire after a long rest. This means that a magical item like this will scale with player level and may find more use as the party progress onwards. The alternative is that it always starts with 7 charges but to ‘feed’ into it to keep it stated and charged it takes 1 hit dice from your pool and rolls that to regain spent charges.

Symbiotic

Now the symbiotic alternative to traditional magic weapons is a bit different but the same principle. Instead of fuelling charges you push the hit-dice into the weapon (or item) to ‘level it up’ for the day. The item then is powered at the level it absorbed hit dice from its attuned wielder which may get better every ‘rank up’ or, they will get better every odd number (which aligns with class features, normally…)

These effects would stack to ensure that there is a sense of worthwhile investment in the blade but they reset on dawn (end of long rest-esque period).

As an example the same wizard created the Emberborn Blade (a short sword).

  • Level 1 (Power: 1) – +1 to attack rolls
  • Level 2 (Power: 3) – Attacks deal an extra 1d6 fire damage, the blade also sheds light in the same manner as a torch
  • Level 3 (Power: 5) – +1 to attack
  • Level 4 (Power: 7) – Upon landing a successful hit the wielder can cause an eruption of ash and cinders in a 15ft cone starting at the point of impact. Creatures in this must make a DC 15 constitution saving throw or take an additional 2d6 fire damage and are blinded until the end of their next turn.

This blade was designed to be balanced, mostly, from 1 Hit dice = 1 charge and gives a strong advantage to the wielder if they are willing to live life a bit riskier by not having any hit-dice to heal during a short rest… Or fuel other magic items that is.

That’s it for me tonight. I will look at what this system could look like as it has promise and if I can work our how to balance it I may create a few items to share. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more D&D content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Larituron – Lord of the Pit

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Larituron – lord of the pit has finally been revealed and she may be a bit too strong… But we must soldier on and count on our parties, also being quite strong by this point, and their abilities and ideas to get them through this adventure. So don’t take my word for it and check out the stat blocks below!

Larituron – Lord of the Pit

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The fiend known as Larituron is the mistress of the deep dark. She serves the creature that the mage Andrasa bound using three points and has grown to some considerable strength since escaping the purge of the mage and the heroes that aided her in the final conflict that bound her master. Working diligently to build up her own strength and to siphon energy to her master she has claimed the deep dark, and some of its denizens, her own.

She fights in hit-and-run tactics (comical for a creature as big as this) and looks like a huge, fiendish drider. Thick chitinous plates cover her body and she uses her sharp legs to impale prey if they get too close.

She has called the cavern where she lives in home for centuries and knows how to read its latent magical properties as well as use what she has constructed here to her advantage.

Larituron – Created in Tetra-cube.

Phantasm Spiders

Now while the last ones were illusionary these ones are more physical manifestation of Larituron’s on magic. As each spider dies they disappear however, they can’t be ignored like the previous ones.

Phantasm Spider – Created in Tetra-cube.

Thanks for dropping by tonight and checking out our big-baddie, well the second in command. This weekend will hopefully see a continuation of catch up on some of the lost adventures and maybe some work on the final one, but that maybe done behind the scenes. Don’t forget to come back and check out the blog daily and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Source of the Webs

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Tonight we look at the source of the webs, the epicentre of where the webs are based and oh boy do we have a big one tonight. As the second last major encounter of the year, before December that is I wanted to make a massive encounter, something I hadn’t done in a while. So let’s sit down with a coffee and explore into tonight’s map!

Source of the Webs

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The map itself is 300 by 15- feet with the plan to have most of the map utilised. But more on that tomorrow. The edge of the formations have many hand and foot holds so falling over has a last ditch attempt to stop from themselves from falling. But it’s a very long way to fall if they don’t make those crucial rolls.

The web bridges aren’t the only way across the platforms with the distance being, in some cases, jumpable and others having a lower calcified web ledge that will enable the party to climb down and across.

Centre of the Pit – Created in Inkarnate

This map is meant to be fully explorable with the encounter going across all of it and with no where to go, and the Deep dark portal at the centre of it there is some options for the party to fight with a tactical advantage.

That’s it for us tonight with the party finding the source of the webs, both in place and creature. Tomorrow we have a look at the lord of the pit and what she brings to the table. So don’t forget to come back tomorrow and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Echoes of Fury

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This week the creature trapped by Andrasa has ordered its servant to kill the adventurers or will they best the creature despite the echoes of fury it screams out. Now Acknowledging that the party will be tired from a few encounters in the last day (of in-game time) the party may be in a bit of a hard fight. But there is a bit of a gimmicky option for that which we could explore if needed. So let’s sit back, grab a coffee and roll into tonight’s adventure!

Echoes of Fury

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The party had moved on from where they first stepped foot onto the monolithic cocoons to explore further and handle more captives, very aware of the thing that lurked in the shadows. Moving silently and quickly as possible they were abruptly stopped by a shriek of unbridled rage. The echoes of fury resounded around the cavern and caused several cocoons with listless captives, and some not-so listless, to become dislodged and roll over the edge and into the darkness of the pit below.

The sound of something large moving through the cavern is the only thing more terrifying than the cries of fury and rage, that and the sound of a thousand legs on the move below them. While the party watched for the skulking foe they moved from cocoon to cocoon completing the task at hand. As they freed one of the captives that were too far gone they felt a spark of power cross down their arms as the captive died at their feet. The spark of power, the energy that came from the contact of these ritual-bound souls revitalised them, making them feel as if they had been at rest for hours.

The magic user in the party felt a greater surge of power and they gained a greater control over the weave around them. The power surging from the cocoons and downwards into a pit of complete darkness was becoming to be visible with the more people they touched and the further they were in the process of the ritual the greater the surge of energy and power the party encountered. Silver strands of energy, of life force flowed into the pit and when the party came into contact with it they felt their own powers restored.

However, it was with a sickening realisation that they were absorbing the spiritual energy of those who were being treated like a power-food source. Like vessels for energy and every time they came in contact with this thread of power they were now supping from the cup – the same way that the creature in the cavern was.

The cocoon that they were standing on shuddered as something large moved across it. The sound of frantic breathing and rage came from all around them as a giant shape reared up in front of them.

“Found you little insects. The Master has bid that I end your life instead of feeding your power to him. I was going to make it quick but you have undone so much of my work. Those captives were mine to feed from and so now your death will be anything but quick. You will wish you never stumbled into my webs”.

And that’s it this weeks plot twist. A confrontation with the lord of the pit and revelation into what they have been achieving. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for a battlemap and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Beyond the veil

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Catching up from yesterday where I had the opportunity to continue on with the D&D campaign, today I bring to you a glimpse beyond the veil. Now this is the 3rd major adventure that looks into the creature beyond the veil and with what’s been going on with the places of power that Andrasa had mentioned… I think its fair to say that we may be in a bit of a predicament at the moment. So let’s get our second last glimpse that what this is and get back to the adventure!

Beyond the veil

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The creature marvelled at its minions ability to siphon souls to it through the binding that the witch Andrasa had placed upon it. The energy that was coming through was enough to sate its appetite and help regain its strength. Being tracked in a pocket dimension wasn’t such a big deal for a being of kind. But the binding, the three separate places of power that were guarded by champion, civilization and location had bound its power.

But with the fall of the giant, the betrayer, the gradual destruction of the well of souls (aided by a vampire that was foolish enough to believe it could control the necromantic energies) and now, its servant siphoning energies through the deep dark… The time of the creature’s emergence was nearly here. However, these adventurers have proven difficult to manipulate and they keep showing up. The first instance they helped with the frozen seal, in a way. At the jungle they nearly stopped its plan, but it was too far gone. But here they may actually stop it.

It was not powerful enough to push through and be in a state to fight. No he needed more time and more souls. His servant had better kill these adventurers before it was too late, or they could ruin everything.

The creature in the darkness stirred as thoughts, projections from beyond the veil came to her. As she hung from the webs and ceiling she looked over the cocoons that she had provided to the deep dark as an offering. Satisfied that her servants had captured the intruders and had dealt with them she had left them alone for some time now.

But the voice, her master, came crashing like a cacophony of sound through her mind as the urgency in killing them turned from a suggestion to a demand. It was useless arguing with her master, it was too powerful and despite her own strength she learnt a millennia ago that to go against the one that watches was something not done, or possible.

Moving slowly through the cavern she measured the souls she had provided, a talent she had and she lamented. The interlopers were strong enough to count for several souls and their death would not feet through to the deep dark and onto where her master was. She would need to raid another town to get enough energy to sate her master’s demands and needs. Whatever… The hunt and the planning was exciting to her and watching her brood do her bidding was fine. Her master would have to wait longer but that was something she was fine with.

Besides, she needed to get more servants after these adventurers had killed so many.

Thanks for stopping by to catch up on our normal Tuesday blog update. Tonight I will update it with our regular scheduled content so make sure to come back for that. We are getting closer to the final confrontation and I have to make a decision on where it will take place. The realm beyond, or the deep dark. So stick around and come back daily to make sure you follow along. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

2023 Campaign Adventure 7

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Good evening all and welcome to a short Seventh day of adventuring. Whilst not giving away the campaign, adventure or plot moving forward I will attempt to write up each adventure this year continuing with my 2023 campaign adventure 7. Today was a bit longer than the last session we had and we progressed further.

This is a continuation from 2023 Campaign adventure 6 as the party continues on their first mission as members of the investigation of the strange creatures in these lands.

2023 Campaign Adventure 7

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Plot:

Suncrest

Having decided to leave the crossroads to make for Suncrest before darkness fell the party made good time. Having unburdened animals to take them across the roads was a lot easier than moving with the wagons by foot from a few days ago. However the signs of what they encountered all to recently were still visible.

The deep ruts where the wagon got stuck which revealed a kobold-fashioned scimitar, the camp site where they were attacked by the lizards in the middle of the night. All was familiar yet different from their last foray through this part of the countryside.

However something else new was waiting for them as they rose over the crest and looked at the village of Suncrest. A plume of smoke was visible from above the towns and sending Armaeth to scout it was revealed to belong to a single man who was frantically looking through the ruins of the town. The Fairy also reported that there were several gaping holes in the ground in Suncrest. Cave ins to tunnels below which looked like it was somewhat recently made.

Making the decision to approach the town they made for the town and found a suitable barn to keep their, rather expensive, horses safe. However as they were leaving the barn they were spotted by the man walking through the town.

Enter Henrey.

After, somehow, Kai had convinced the man to come into the barn (and that he was someone called Lucky Barry) they quickly disarmed him and began questioning him. It turns out his life was worth more than his loyalty to his boss, Boss Barry, who had threatened to kill him if he didn’t find something of value in the town.

After a brief discussion it turned out that Henrey was part of a bandit gang who had stumbled across Suncrest and was subsequently attacked by kobolds who spilled out of their tunnels. Many bandits died but they killed twice as many Kobolds who then fled from the tunnels. Henrey then explained that the boss, Barry, had taken Lucky… Barry (two Barry’s was a bad idea) and the other bandits to investigate a manor near by whilst Henrey continued to look for a ‘hidden treasure’ that Lucky Barry could feel was in the town. The party promised Henrey that he would be safe if they left town. But Henrey mentioned a farmhouse on the way out of the town where they had stashed some plunder – this drew the attention of the party.

The Farmstead

Ruined Farmhouse Roof – Created in Inkarnate (see base below)
Ruined Farmhouse – Created in Inkarnate (see above for roof)

The farmhouse was small and in ruins. But they managed to find a sack of swords (about 20 useable blades within), some passable vegetables (maybe for animals that is) and some tools that could fetch a few gold.

They also found a locked wardrobe that had some fine clothes, a hunting longbow and some arrows stashed in there. But they failed to notice the bandits approaching.

Closure

Fleeing wasn’t an option but bluffing was. Convincing half the bandits that they had reinforcements meant they only had to deal with half of them now, the others ran off towards town. However the first five bandits were just the beginning as another five returned with Boss Barry.

After a long and tense fight the party succeeded and managed to wrest a worn looking short sword from the death grip of Barry. However upon closer inspection the blade had a name in dwarvern, Frost Thorn. The blade was not made by a dwarvern hand but it had a lot of characteristics as if it was constructed in the dwarvern ways. But there was a something odd about the blade. A permanent chill could be felt from it and they felt lucky that the blade had not caressed their skin when wielded by the bandit leader.

Main NPCs:

Armaeth
Groku

Thanks for joining me tonight and for continuing on this campaign with me. We just managed to get through what I wanted to today but there is always the sense of wanting more. But the party were excited to play and are looking forward to the next session – which is always the goal.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow as we catch up on this weeks adventure. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Strands in a Web

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Back to the deep dark and the cocoon covered cavern we find the party stuck in strands in a web. This Monday night is more discussing the multiple options to get to the same path – a final confrontation between the heroes and the Lord of the Pit . Employing the ‘all roads lead to Rome’ approach we can see a few options leading us to where we want to be. But there is a warning with this as it can feel like the power is taken away from the players and replaced with strings. So let’s sit back grab a coffee and let’s roll into this weeks adventure!

Strands in a Web

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Avoiding the Ambush

The party looked down at the twitching bodies of the ettercaps and driders as they scraped off the webs from their skin and gear. Luckily they had heard the creatures coming down the path around the same time that they realised that the spiders weren’t real. But the wounds and pain that they had caused definitely were.

Leaving the pile of corpses they moved towards the entrance to the cavern. Something in here must have sent the creatures to ambush them and orchestrated the phantasmic spiders to attack them. Something powerful. A Thrum of power could be felt coming from below much like at the Ice Spire and well of souls. Somewhere here they may find the answer to what Andrasa had investigated. A seal for a great calamity if what they have learnt so far was to be believed. But unlike the Spire where the giant defended a crumbling statue and the undead were drawn to the out of control Well of Souls. Here the energy was under control and it was growing, thriving in the dark.

Something was amiss here. A puppeteer worked the strings of fate and they were dangerously close to being caught in the web. But they could tell that the Pit of infinite darkness that lay at the bottom of the cavern was being fed energy, souls from the captives in the cocoons and they had to stop it by any means.

The cavern before them was still impossibly dark but they could make out what was near them. Bridges made from webs led to cocoons where the captives were calling from. They had seen some of the spiders using them and they were certain they had seen something larger, bigger lurking around these platforms. Moving forward they looked at how they could make it across and after a tense moment the web-bridges were proven to support their weight, at least for now.

As they scouted the bases of the giant cocoon-like structures they found human sized cocoons stuck to the base and familiar faces of the drow, duergar and svirfneblin, deep gnomes, staring back at them. Some of the captives were alert and pleaded to be let out but some were not so. Some were barely holding on to consciousness and upon further inspection, barely holding onto life. Something was draining their life essence here and as they moved across the captives the familiar faces of Viktira, Morali and Qistra all appeared. Viktira, Morali and Qistra all appeared. Viktira was barely conscious and she looked gaunt however Morali and Qistra had a lot of fight left in them.

Something moved in the dark. A presence like a thousand silent bats moving through the cavern in a swarm. Something that made the vampire form the carrion swamp feel like a stubborn teenager stomping its foot in impatience. This was ancient and dark and without a doubt – the one pulling the strings and the caller of the shots here. But it watched and waited. A presence that dwarfed what they had faced so far hovered just outside of their vision, something made of smoke and shadow itself.

Dragged away in silken bonds

The party were conscious throughout the entire ordeal. Their weapons and a few items were bound to their sides but their backpacks were left somewhere where they were captured. The ettercaps were ruthless ambushers and almost like a trained squad of assassins they had lunged forward and garrotted the party with a silken rope. A drider hung near by and watched the ettercaps bind each of the party, but it looked down at them like they were subjects of interest rather than threats. Like its eyes were not its own. Clearly the ambush and the illusionary spiders were party of a plan by a more powerful entity. One that was calling all the shots and pulling all the strings.

The party were conscious throughout the entire ordeal. Their weapons and a few items were bound to their sides but their backpacks were left somewhere where they were captured. The ettercaps were ruthless ambushers and almost like a trained squad of assassins they had lunged forward and garrotted the party with a silken rope. A drider hung nearby and watched the ettercaps bind each of the party, but it looked down at them like they were subjects of interest rather than threats. Like its eyes were not its own. Clearly the ambush and the illusionary spiders were part of a plan by a more powerful entity. One that was calling all the shots and pulling all the strings.

As they moved across the silken walkways the ettercaps hauled the party members one by one, dumping them on jagged rocks at the edge of one of the web-bridges. As the party lay there in the dark a rock or discarded blade jabbed into their side painfully, deep enough to hit armour and cut skin. But it also cuts at their web bindings.

A potential opportunity for an escape, a glimmer of hope but when was the right moment to use it. As the party member was then picked up and carried across the web bridge the cocoon came into better sight. Rows of people; drow, duergar, deep gnome (or svirfneblin), and some surface races were bound and lined up against what appeared to be giant cocoons suspended by webs throughout the cavern.

Each person was conscious, some were in pain and making noise but others were listless, barely holding onto whatever drove them to fight. But the party didn’t have long to notice Viktira, Morali and Qistra all appeared before them lined up against the wall before they were unceremoniously discarded a few cocoons down from them.

A presence hung about them like the sensation of a thousand cicadas buzzing in a muggy evening, the presence was almost over bearing and a shape. A large mass of darkness given a monstrous form moved somewhere nearby. Something that dwarfed driders and made Ettercaps look like mice. The puppet master had revealed itself and it studied them for a moment before disappearing back into the voice beyond.

A fun one tonight. Regardless of the outcome there is always room for moving the story forward and this week is evident in that. So don’t forget to come back for more content as we move forward with this adventure and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Well of Souls

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Tonight and I have created a zine for a long over due adventure, The Well of Souls. 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 Well of Souls. There is a lot more content within the Zine, again, this week so if you want to get the full experience then download the pdf!

If you like this format please let me know and I hope you enjoy.

The Well of Souls

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Well of souls – created in nightcafe

Battling undead and repairing barricades may not be the favourite way for the party to get to know the people of a new town, but it was how the people of Ferklend got to know them, and began to respect them. 

However during the night after the fighting and repairing was done Viktira left and disappeared into the swamps seeking out the ruins. What’s worse is that Rike, the only one who has been to the ruins, allegedly, believes that she may be in danger, and a danger to everyone as the well of souls may react to her bloodline.

After the encounter with the undead at the gates of Ferklend the party recovered and helped with some of the repairs. The party managed to secure another night where they were staying and the people of Ferklend were more accommodating after they helped defend the town. 

However in the morning the party woke to find Rike frantically looking around the town. Upon spying the party he rushed to them. 

“Thank the gods I found you! It’s Viktira, we were talking about her family last night and I think she may be descended from the tribe of people that once called the jungles home. She was super curious about the ruins so I told her where to find them. I didn’t think of it more than someone being interested in the history of the swamp I swear. But when I went to warn her about the ruins this morning she was gone. One of the guards said he saw her leave the town by the main gate and then head towards the ruins. 

If she is the descendent of the original custodians of the well of souls the inscriptions at the ruins say that she may make the ruins more unstable. You’ve got to stop her.”

PDF adventure – The Well of Souls

the-well-of-soulsDownload

Thanks for joining me tonight for another Zine. This one had more content added to the Zine but like a few of my other ones I kept that in the Zine, not the blog. So you will just have to trust me on that and grab a copy of the Zine to check it out.

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

Cold determination

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Welcome to another Musings Saturday where I do something a bit different tonight. But as I intend this could be a bit of a write-up I will leave the introduction here and power onwards with cold determination.

Cold Determination

The heat from the forge was a sharp comparison from the icy wind that blew outside. The constant tine of hammer on anvil rang through the workshop as she and her fellow apprentice smiths gave life to the iron.

One by one the dwarves around her quenched their blades in the barrels nearby but she toiled onwards. There was something she would do differently, a theory that she knew would work. But in order to do so she needed the forge to be hotter. Jumping at the gallows she pulled down with all her strength on the large chain to force air into the forge she was working on. The other Apprentices stopped sharpening their blades and watched as she worked hers hotter than many of them dared to, hotter than their instructors had told them to.

Darting back to her iron she pulled it out and hammered the last few bits of her blade to get a sharp, thin edge naturally from way she folded the steel. Then she made for the window. Climbing over some boxes she had set up earlier the other apprentices all but stopped working on their blades as the small gnome hurtled over the boxes and out the window that drew cold, fresh mountain air into the smithy. Dragging her white-hot blade behind her she threw herself onto the ground, picked herself off the frozen earth after a heartbeat and dove blade first into the snow.

The ‘tink’ of shocked steel could be heard loud and clear but she pushed on. Packing the loose snow tighter on top of the blade that had already started to melt the metal she had shoved in there. After the snow stopped melting and the laughter from the room died down to nothing she pulled out her blade, praying that her theory had worked. The shattered blade she held in her tongs revealed the truth. It had not.

This was not the first time she had tried to quench a blade with snow. The theory was the sudden shock of cold would force the metal to shrink and harden far harder than any oil or water could. But the dwarvern master smiths could not see eye to eye with the little gnome who had some skill at forging blades. The hiding she received that night for wasting good steel and going against the norm would not be the last either.

The years of toiling away in the forges had eventually seen her graduate to become a smith in her own right. But her fascination with snow and ice-tempered steel saw her get requests for tools rather than blades and her reputation kept her from getting the best jobs.

She continued her experiments though and she made some progress. The closest she had gotten to was a blade that was sharper and harder than steel that could cut through rocks itself. The dwarven masters had been impressed for a moment until the blade had hit a solid object side on and it was revealed to be as brittle as glass. The fragments had exploded and looked like falling ice – which she had thought beautiful. The elders and other smiths no so much.

To avoid the ridicule of the others she had slowly constructed her own forge outside of the main city. Here she worked in secret and amongst the nature that she cherished – her gnome traits driving her to be amongst the wilds. It was only after a chance encounter with a wolf that she made a discovery.

The wolf had approached her forge sensing the heat and smelling a pie that had been cooked. It had startled the gnome smith so much that she had thrown the still white-hot blade at the wolf who darted out the door with pie-in mouth. The blade however had flew into a pile of snow that was piled up next to the door.

The sudden hiss as the blade melted through snow told her all she needed to know. The blade needed to be hotter when it hit the ice. So she constructed a gnomish contraption to dump ice directly from the roof of her smith into a trough that was next to the forge itself. Directing cold ice directly onto the blade itself.

However despite bringing the cold, frozen snow closer to her forge she still couldn’t get the blade hot enough. Not until she purchased a ruby that was mined in the elemental plane of fire, one that was even too hot to hold without her smithing gloves on. With this she could mould it into the blade and get it to be hotter, remain hotter and then quench much faster through harnessing the fire plane itself.

As the near molten blade came from the forge, the fire-ruby burning bright red with elemental magic she shoved the blade into the trough and then pulled a lever. The roof opened and the trough was filled with snow and ice. The snow continued to pile down just as fast as the blade melted through it, but the steam that was produced forced the gnome to move away lest she get burnt from the gas.

After the steam had stopped and the last few ‘plops’ of snow fell from the chute in the roof she looked at the blade. Her savings and years dedicated to her theory all waiting on this moment.

Before her a perfect blade lay. The blade itself was as keen as a vorpal blade, harder than mithril and perfect. However the ruby was now the colour of ice and a permanent chill came from the blade.

“I best think of a name for such a file blade” she said as she tested it on a thick section of cured hide – which is sliced through like parchment…

That’s it for me tonight and this little delay from adventure. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more D&D content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Phantasm Spiders

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Another weeks end see’s more spiders join us on the battlemap and the star of the show is the Phantasm Spider. There are a few other encounters that could be listed here but these little, weak and (actually not there) spiders love to swarm on living prey. But don’t let them tie you down as there are other more dangerous things lurking around the corner. So in order to not get distracted too heavily let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!

Phantasm Spiders

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The area that the party are fighting within is next to where all the prisoners are kept. They can be heard calling out for aid or, simply calling out continuously. This really increases the difficulty of paying attention to what’s going on around them with the noise generated from the captives. The DC to detect the illusionary Phantasm spiders is high because of that, but I would also remove passive perception checks to detect the stealth attempts of the creatures sneaking up on them. They are distracted quite heavily so active vigilance will be required here.

The phantasm Spider is created by the Lord of the Pit. These creatures are not-quite illusions but are treated much the same. Convincing enough as they all die and the mind makes the party believe that they are lethal enough to convince the players they are real through physical stimulus.

However a successful investigation check (DC 18) will reveal them as illusions and they will cease to inflict any damage or, even hamper the party member when moving through the illusionary spiders. True sight will also see this and Witch sight (or detect magic) will detect them as being entirely magical – but not if they are illusions as such.

Because of their low HP and lack of damage they are best in swarms, Dozens of spiders attacking at once to make the party feel godlike when a single attack kills several spiders at once. It aids to the feeling of a standoff against a hoard of creatures.

Phantasm Spider – Created in Tetra-cube.

And some old friends, the drider and Ettercap. Back again for another adventure this week these stealthy creatures will aim to try and capture the party while they are distracted fighting the Phantasm Spiders.

Drider created in tetra-cube.
Ettercap – created in tetra-cube.

Now the other creature that may make an appearance in the tunnels is a great stalker of the underdark – the displacer beast. Now this creature needs no real introduction other than to say its can be a mean piece of work.

Displacer beast – created in tetra-cube.

Thanks for coming back tonight for another fun night in the spiders web. Don’t forget to come back this weekend for some D&D content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe