Author: thebrazenwolfe

Shallow Shadows

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Hi all and welcome to a ‘new month’ where we begin the next leg of our journey across to Ryokughan – the home continent of Kyoko Harimasu and her Red Fleet.

So, instead of delaying the writeup further I anticipate it may be bit of writeup tonight and I really do need to kick it off.

Shallows of Ryokughan

214MoSoR

As dawn greeted the Dancing Drake a week after they left Ophidian Island Kyoko and her crew stopped what they were doing so they could walk to the bow of the ship to witness what the dawn’s light revealed. The Captain, crew and passengers nearly breathed in deep collective breath as the salty air mixed with the jungles of their Red Fleets homeland came to view with dawn, Ryokughan they had made it at last. A few of the crew who insisted on wearing their masks came looked around cautiously before taking them off, revealing themselves to be Vanara, the simian race that the party had encountered back in Daye.

“We will be at the great docks in two days as we head west along the coast. This boat is built to fit down the shallowest parts of the marsh which we will be passing through tonight and with any luck we will be through it by dawn.” Kyoko said, clapping the party on the back as she walked up behind them. The injuries she had sustained during the fight with the pirates and then the snakes and Naga on Ophidian island had been healed finally, the crew and Lizbet insisting that she get her own wounds taken care of first.

The crew’s mood increased threefold as they began to sing songs of their homeland, music and laughter now the main sounds onboard the Dancing Drake and their mood and energy was infectious. Soon even the glum and brooding golden scaled Siu was singing as he climbed up the masts and helped where ever he could (whilst keeping an overly protective eye on Kyoko and Lizbet that is).

True to word and prediction the ship began to encroach upon the land as they headed towards a wide river through the marshes that broke up the coast between the border of east and west Ryokughan. The Party looked on as strange creatures grazed, stalked and drank near the waters edge until the boat passed at which point they looked on with interest or disdain at the ship spooking their prey. Each of the creatures had similarities to the ones back home in Faerun but there was distinct differences whether it was horns, tusks, colour, size, extra limbs, a long tail or any combination.

As dusk encroached the noises from the jungles started to echo and boom out, drowning out the scattered merriment and singing as sails were restricted, and oars came out from purpose built holes in the sides of the ship which would give the party more control over the ships speed and direction than the sails and rudder alone.

“Don’t follow lights in this jungle. Not during the night and definitely not during the day” Choi fang mentioned as he wound up a length of rope as he finished tying up one of the sails. “There are witches and fell spirits in these marshes that would love for nothing more than the easy meal of someone who doesn’t know the rule of these lands. ”

“What’s that?” Lizbet asked, shrugging over a hooded cloak to shield her from the evening chill.

“Don’t follow the lights..” Choi replied with a grin. “All light casts a shadow and the smaller the light the bigger the shadow” he said as he walked off below deck to get a meal in before a long night of navigating through the marsh.

Thanks for joining me tonight and sticking around for the next leg of this journey I am taking us on this year. Now I cant have a ship moving through a marshy/swampy patch of water next to a jungle without some form of drama – so make sure you come back for the next few days to see what I have in store for the party and the crew of the Dancing Drake.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the non-story posts too as I am attempting to ramp up my other hobbies and may have more than one post coming out per day in the future.

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

Open Sea’s & the Slithering Evil.

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Tonight we will look back at the parties first leg of their journey to Kyoko and Siu’s home country as well as their unexpected stopover on Ophidian Island.

So I will continue using this format which I don’t know if its easier but it certainly collates the adventure a bit more for ease of reading.

As with last time Pages 1, 2 and 3 are content pages, the description, flow, random tables, etc. and such that you’ve previously seen.
Page 4 contains all NPCs and portraits to help the DM describe them and a bit about them to help play them out.
Page 5 will be stat blocks and map(s) – all that D&D encounter goodness that you want.

Now I will assume you have read the entire post (although it is ~6700 words long..) and say thanks in advance for reading this – I have expanded, added and adjusted a few things to make sure the adventure flow better.
If you do like this format do let me know, if you don’t also let me know so I can see what I can tweak for next time. this probably was just about as much effort as writing it all from scratch the first time around but this way I think it makes sense.


Don’t forget to come back next week and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Part 1&2 – Searching for Reason and Facing the truth – 209MoSfR+210MoFT

The high priestess Lizbet and Katya were introduced at last, the party shepherding them into town to ensure the safety of Katya and that they completed their quest. People lined the streets to welcome the returning hero and to bear witness to the high priestess, Lizbet, and the newcomer, Katya, radiating divine magic which radiated the warmth of a spring after a dead cold winter.

Along the rooftops Siu scampered, a little dragonoid that was covered in fur as it watched Lizbet and Katya, praying to the ancestors (of whom he was enslaved to due to his past mistakes) that his plan to convince one of both of them to come with him back to his home country would succeed. There was a growing shadow across the sea which was slowly devouring the land and people of the place he called home many-many years ago, the Harimasu families lands and the villages that were within its borders.

But as he was watching from a safe distance he noticed something dark happening and when he investigated he was attacked by a shadow stitched – a creature that was killed and which is now inhabited by a Shadow-mist creeper. Calling upon his treasured blessing – returning to his humanoid form for 24 hours, something he could use but once a decade he dashed for the temple of Chauntea to try and get the attention of the priestesses, to get their help in healing his wounds.

Successful in his ploy he was unable to treasure and use his blessing to enjoy his human form but instead found himself organising the defence of the priestesses who the creatures would be drawn to hunting down due to the amount of divine (life) energy they radiated. The plan was afterwards, if successful, he would ask for one of them (Lizbet had already had whispers spoken to her whilst she was not aware of his presence, one of his talents) to board the Red Fleets Dancing Drake, Kyoko Harimasu’s ship and sail back to his home country. If they survived that is.

Areas and places of note

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

Daye Streets – The streets are no more than 30ft wide, enough for a wagon or two to pass comfortably with stalls either side of the road. The buildings that line the road are one or two story predominantly with the odd three story building here and there. Currently there are people from the city lining either side of the street paying respect (silent or otherwise) to the priestess and her procession. The raw energy that comes from Katya would also put people into a shocked state as they are used to the grace and touch from Chauntea (through the temple) but not in such a potent form.
*After the battle* the streets are empty early in the mornings and talk of the creatures and nightmarish sounds from the night before are the talk of the town. Soon though merchants bring their stalls, wagons and carts out and begin to advertise their wares – it truly is a market city where the streets, particularly around the docks, are a source of just about all mundane items and objects you could seek.

The Temple– A large, 50ft x 90 ft building with a large alter and statue to Chauntea being the centre piece of the large prayer room with several rooms off to the sides and a wing for where the priests and priestesses would sleep.
*After the battle* the temple has guest quarters where the party would have been encouraged to stay to rest and heal, as well as to have close in case more creatures appeared in the middle of the night. The people who call this place home, the priests and priestesses are kind, welcoming and excellent cooks believing that Chauntea’s bountiful blessings are meant to be shared to not just he devout but all.

The Docks – Quieter than when the party first stepped upon the docks they are still busy with people from the red fleet still selling the last of their wares. Many of the large red sailed ships have left and several other trading ships have also arrived and they have brought with them not just their normal wares but a small influx of magical items. Different to the lucky trinkets and lesser magical items of the Red fleet these merchants sell potions, scrolls and other wondrous items – if the gold is plentiful enough.
The docks, however, of late have begun to start selling magical items and as the Red fleet begin to head home back across the waves to restock on goods the demand on magical trinkets and items is at a new time high with supply being short and the patience of the customers being little.

Environment and running the adventure

Day1 & Night 1.

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

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

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

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

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

Day 2

Decision– The decision to leave would need to come from the party – Going to go see Siu at the docks wouldn’t be a hard decision (he looks just like a man after all) and Lizbet would ask the party to escort her just in case of a trap before deciding to walk off herself.

The party can tell that she is nervous, perhaps anxious about the decisions to be made and her nerves would be obvious to all (she isn’t one to hide behind a mask).

The boat– Once the party see the boat the decision needs to be made – follow the creature and Kyoko across the waves with Lizbet to help save their people or stay back and wait. Regardless of the decision initially Kyoko will ask that the party and priestess give her a week to give her time to get ready for the voyage back home. This gives the party some time to shop, if they are short of ropes/ arrows / etc. and to find out more bout where they are going from Kyoko, Siu or any of the Red Fleet.

If the party do stay behind then the adventure at the end of the month will come into affect (with the aim of still getting the party to travel across the sea)

Adventure Areas

1st night – Shadow Stitched.

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

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

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

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

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

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

2nd day – Decisions

The aim of day 2 is to get the party to consider shopping for things using the gold they have now as well as tying up any lose ends. They should see going over on the boat a desirable prospect and the right way to progress the story moving forward.

Notable NPC interactions.

Kyoko Harimasu – Interaction with Siu and the party when his true form is revealed, which upon him showing true selflessness he is gifted a more suitable draconic form. See – Twist of fate

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

Hobby update April

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So it has been a while since I updated on the progress of my hobbies and in particular painting. Whilst I have many painted models for each pained model i have two or three unpainted models and, to be honest, I struggle to dedicate time to that part of the hobby.

Painting models it generally the last thing I think of when I consider my options for what to do in my downtime. But, this weekend I made a shocking amount of progress. 80% done on 20% of my current Skaven army. Some grander details and basing is still yet to be done but I am happy at how the theme and look of these lowly clan rats is shaping up.

The kickstart for me is always seeing the progress in my fellow local gamers painted army and wanting them to have a more immersive have when playing against me. So I give you an unnamed clawleader (the leader of a unit of clanrats) and his clawpack, with a select few models I painted this weekend.

The clawpack

Unnamed clawleader

Banner bearer (design on banner pending)

Bell ringer

‘nearly trusted clanrat’

Well thats the small update I have for my painted Skaven so far. Hopefully I can ride this momentum out and produce a fully painted army this year.

If you have an idea for the name of the Clawleader let me know, I’d be keen to hear any and all suggestions and I’ll take my favourite from the suggested ones!

Don’t forget to look out for the end or month write-up that should be out tonight too and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Lord Shrilleck

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Hi all a brief note before I get stuck into it. This is the post game thematic view of the skaventide vs Fyreslayer game I had tonight with a mate of mine.

Army lists will be down below.

Lord Shrilleck mighty grey seer, second to only Thanquol (for now-now) swung atop his glorious clamouring-screaming bell.

Looking over the great hall of carved stone he screeched threats of a painful death at the clan rats that pushed and pulled his altar over the stone.

“Lord Shrilleck, we have found-found dwarf things. Not many but they have a monster of fire with them. They sound the horn-horns or war and march-march towards our forces.” Lord Verseks chittered from below the screaming bell.

Breathing in deep the warpstone from the brazer below he drew in power from the chaos stone before shrieking out “to war! Kill-kill, stab-stab. Leave none alive!!” He called as he beat the bound rat ogor that was chained to his altar driving him to ring the bell faster and harder.

The three clawpacks pushed forward whilst twitching manic plague monks pulled the plague furnace as the three plague priests chanted their prayers in the name of the great horned rat.

Giant rata darted around the screaming bell, nipping at clan rats and the tormented rat ogor excited to just be there as three plague claw catapults were moved to take up position overlooking the battlefield to gift these fyreslayers the gift the great horn rat felt them deserving; a bubbling, writhing miasma of filth.

The horns reverberates through the halls as lord Veseks skittered leapt around the battlefield throwing down a seed of power, a crystalline seed of dark power that could creat rifts in the warp, tunnels in reality which the clever skaven could use to move and shift around the battlefield.

The front lines could be seen now and the skaven forces moved into position before the clamoring of bells and screeching of bloodlust rippled forth and the battle began.

Grasping at the winds of magic Lord Shrilleck tried to pull arcane energy to form a wall of protection around him but the winds slipped from his grasp this far below the surface and the spell failed with an audible crack that splintered lengths of wood from the altars frame chasing him to fumble and lose his place in the spell.

The plague priests weren’t much better, their prayers of worship and evoking the horned rats power were met with disapproval as their dark lord tested their resolve by causing great sloughs of flesh to bubble and peal off them. Lord Veseks was the only one to snare power and drifted through the realm again with a skitterleap, appearing on top of an dias of some kind, a place of tactical advantage but as he tried to drain the life force from the massing fyreslayers the magic was whipped away from him. His loyal, well loyal enough, clawpack ran to form a protective ring around him trying to curry favour with the grey seer. As piles of filth rained down on the dwarves causing several to drop to the ground, recoiling as disease and bubbling toxic waste was launched at them from the plague claws.

The dwarves marched on, their priests calling out their own prayers and bright flashes lit up the dim light as runes of ur-gold burst aflame as their power was released. Then the dwarves charged forward, a wave of battle crying dwarves crossed the distance between the rats and them in a blink of an eye. As fire rained down towards Lord Shrilleck and the clawpack surrounding him he snarled ay the globes of magma as they missed and bubbled menacingly on the ground around him. Then they charged. Lord Veseks out as much distance between him and the charging dwarves as possible while a fyreslayer priest appeared from a tunnel.he carved from solid rock with.a detachment of warriors who charged at an exposed plague claw. Lord Shrilleck snarled in frustration at the poorly spent resources as he turned his back on the warmachine that surely wouldn’t survive the onslaught.

As the magmadroth, a beast of fire and lava charged over the dias and crashed into the clanrats ranks the onslaught that awaited those rats was swift and deadly, none survived. At the bottom of the dias plague monks screeched out challenges as prayers were read from scrolls and books. Turning towards the right flank lord Shrilleck was surprised to find the plague claw being defended bravely by its crew who appeared to be doing well against the veteran warriors.

The fyrelayers pressed their advantage, pushing further forwards crashing into the monks with a shattering downhill charge as magmadroth and fyreslayer dwarf cut their way through skaven. Seeing an opportunity Lord Shrilleck ordered his rat ogor to pull his altar away but the rats he left behind to defend him were quickly cut down to half their size. The plague monks threw themselves with reckless abandon as axes bit into their chest, leaving large wounds in magmadroth and dwarf alike. Still onwards did the plague claws crew fight and somehow their warmachine, and them, were stil alive.

Now the magic whipped through the air Lord Shrilleck turned just in time to see Lord Veseks skitterleap just as an axe cut down through the space he occupied a moment ago. Coward! Lord Shrilleck pulled ay the winds of magic, trying to use the chaotic energies to rip the earth under the dwarves apart and send them into the fire they worship so dearly, this time it was more successful and he managed to catch the runeson and cause a grievous wound. He then pushes forth a pestilent wave at a host of hearthguard beserkers causing diseases to infect their ranks but nome fell to the spell.

The plague priests chanted prayers to the great horned rat and a crippling curse was placed upon the Priest on Magmadroth, the clanrats, monks and plague priests themselves fighting with more fervour as eventually their cuts brought it down.

However a invocation made from living magma erupted from the battlefield and stated to splash molten rock at the skaven nearby. As the lines began to fold lord Shrilleck jumped from his altar and slipped through one of the nearby gnawholes watching just long enough to see his altar, the plague furnace and the remaining skaven rout – a solitary figure, one of thr plague priests darted towards another gnawhole but as lava was shot through the Sky towards Lord Shrilleck he dove into the chaotic energies and moved through the tunnels in reality swearing vengeance on the fyreslayers. Despite slaying the magmadroth more skaven was needed. Perhaps clan skrye or moulder would be able to spare him some of their creations so he can kill the dwarf things and rid them out of the tunnels the skaven have use for.

Armies.

Skaventide

– Army Faction: Skaven
– Grand Strategy: Dominating Presence
LEADERS
Plague Priest On Plague Furnace (235)**
– Artefacts of Power: The Fumigatous
– Prayers: Curse
Grey Seer (140)**
– Artefacts of Power: Suspicious Stone
– Spells: Skitterleap
Plague Priest (85)**
– Prayers: Heal
Grey Seer On Screaming Bell (265)***
– General
– Command Traits: Cunning
– Spells: Plague
Plague Priest (85)****
– Prayers: Heal
BATTLELINE
Clanrats (130)*
– Rusty Spear
Clanrats (130)*
– Rusty Spear
Clanrats (130)*
– Rusty Spear
ARTILLERY
Plagueclaw (135)***
Plagueclaw (135)****
Plagueclaw (135)****
OTHER
Plague Monks (170)***
– Pair of Foetid Blades
Plague Monks (170)***
– Pair of Foetid Blades
Giant Rats (40)***
TERRAIN
1 x Gnawhole (0)
CORE BATTALIONS
– *Hunters of the Heartlands
– **Command Entourage
– ***Battle Regiment
– ****Grand Battery
TOTAL POINTS: 1985/2000
Created with Warhammer Age of Sigmar: The App

Fyreslayers

Army Faction: Fyreslayers
– Army Subfaction: Greyfyrd
– Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
– Triumphs: Indomitable

LEADER

Auric Runefather (125)*
– General
– Command Traits: Fury of the Fyreslayers
– Artefacts: The Daemon Slayer

Auric Runesmiter on Magmadroth (340)*
– Forge Key
– Artefacts: Volatile Brazier
– Mount Traits: Flame-scale Youngblood
– Prayers: Ember Storm

Battlesmith (150)**
– Artefacts: Nulsidian Icon

Auric Runesmiter (135)**
– Forge Key
– Prayers: Prayer Of Ash

Auric Runeson (80)**
– Ancestral War-axe
– Artefacts: Axe of Grimnir

BATTLELINE

1 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (320)*
– Berzerker Broadaxe

1 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (320)*
– Flamestrike Poleaxe

Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)*

Vulkite Berzerkers with Bladed Slingshields (160)*

INVOCATION

Molten Infernoth (70)

TERRAIN

Magmic Battleforge (0)

OTHER

Auric Hearthguard (125)*

CORE BATTALIONS:

*Battle Regiment

**Command Entourage

TOTAL POINTS: (1995/2000)

Thanks for dropping by, if you liked this style of report, Albeit not as detailed as others done in the past let me know!

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the end of month writeup and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Skaven sighted in Soulbound

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Hi all and welcome to fight night where tonight I am getting ready for a warhammer game against an old friend and rival who has requested that I bring my Skaven once again to the front lines and do battle with his noble Fyreslayers.

But, tonight being fight night and I did say that I would bring some more Soulbound this week I wanted to explore combat and the “Creature Stat Blocks” for Soulbound.

So I will take you through some of my beloved Skaven models and do my best to explain the concept of these stat blocks (as I am still learning how the system works).

So without begging forgiveness for any mistakes I made, let’s roll on!

Skaven in Soulbound

213FrSS

The Clanrat

Second only to labourers and slaves, Clanrats are the most numerous and low ranking of the Skaven. Despite this, like
all Skaven, every Clanrat is convinced of its superiority and the inevitability of its ascension to greatness. They clutch rusted arms stolen from dead rivals and seek any
opportunity to advance their station.
Individually, a Clanrat is no match for a prepared hero, in fact, a lone Clanrat is just as likely to squirt the musk of fear and flee than stand and fight. Yet Clanrats rarely fight alone, instead swarming together in hordes of frenzied fighters that throw themselves at their foes in a smothering wall of stinking flesh and chittering savagery.

So first things first, it looks a bit different to a Dungeons and Dragons stat block but there are a few things to go through so we will go from top to bottom.

The Clanrat is classified as a minion, they are lowest fodder on the battlefield and really only strong in numbers, as true to Skaven on the tabletop as possible.

They have Poor Melee, Accuracy and Defence (but rated as average with a shield). This relates to the ladder I mentioned in my first glance of the system. If you have poor defence then the Clanrat will need to have a Difficulty Number (DN) of 4 Body (Weapon skill) where from the dice pool they create from both their Body attribute (down the bottom of the block) and the levels in training they have in their Weapon Skill skill they need to roll 4 or better to beat your defence of poor. But, if you have Average defence then they will have a DN of 5 which means from your dice pool you need to roll a 5 or better to hit. If the Clanrats target has good or better defence then only a 6 on the dice roll will hit.

Having an armour of – means that any damage that is dealt (the number of successful hits + any damage modifiers from the weapon) isn’t stopped by armour. Armor reduces the damage dealt to the creature by 1 for each point in armour.

Toughness is the stamina before the creature takes damage through to their wound. Having a toughness of 1 means that they can have 1 point of damage allocated to them before they stat suffering wounds. The neat thing about toughness is that it will recover outside of battle if you spend a few minutes (I think 10) having a short break before charging into the next throng of enemies.

A wounds of – means that they are truly weak creatures and that by reducing their toughness to 0 that they will suffer a mortal wound and die.

Mettle is a resource which Characters and strong enemies have that enables them to push past the normal barriers in ones physical or mental training and or one moment gain and advantage. Having no Mettle is common for creatures.

Now Speed. To understand speed we need to understand how the game field is laid out in what we call Zones. A zone is an area of space, generally seen as 15ft but its broken up by natural barriers like a wall, fence, trees, door, a incline or decline (trench or parapet). The area where your Character stands is called “Short Range“, the zone adjacent to your zone is “Medium Range” and the zone adjacent to that (2 zones from you) is called “Long Range”

So if your character is in a room and you hear skittering outside the zone you are in now (the room) is short range, the space outside the door, a small field where a fence divides the wheat field and mill from the yard around the building you are in is Medium range, the field is Long range and the mill within the Field is “Extreme Range“. This helps to imaging distance as something relative rather than having a grid to move your character along 6 squares at at time which represents “30ft”.

Now back to Speed. If you have a Slow speed you can move anywhere in your move action to move within their current zone (short range) and must use the run action to move into the zone adjacent (medium range). A Normal speed, such as our Clanrat, means it can use a free action to move within the current zone “Short range”, use a move action to move to the zone adjacent (Medium range) and the run action to move into the next adjacent zone (Long range). Most creatures have a Normal speed but you can encounter creatures with a Fast speed which can move as a free action within their current zone and use the move action to move up to the two zones adjacent (Long range). See simple right?

Ok maybe not simple, its a big change to D&D but I think it does make sense.

Initiative is your Mind attribute and your the levels in training in the Reflexes and Awareness skills. I love this. No longer is it just who is quickest of body strikes first but those who are aware and keen of mind also can think and react quickly to danger. So our little Clanrat has an initiative of two.

Natural Awareness is really Soulbound’s version of Passive Perception.

Skills are shown here in their training level. Training level is represented by xd6 where x is the level the creature is trained in. This little rat has awareness (+1d6), Stealth (+1d6,+1) and Weapon Skill (+1d6).
You may notice that out little Clanrat has a Stealth skill of (1d6, +1) which represents that he is trained in Stealth 1 level and that he has 1 point in Focus. Focus is really a floating 1 value that you can apply to any one dice roll made. An example is needed I feel.

This Clanrat is sneaking up through the wheat field and wants to make sure he is not found, mainly so one of the other Clanrat’s around him takes the first arrows and not him. he rolls DN4:1 Body (Stealth) he has 1 point in Body and 1 level of training in Stealth so he rolls 2 dice. He gets a 5 and a 3 but has 1 point in focus so he turns that 3 into a 4. This grants him 2 successes (nice!).

The next is traits. These are little things that the creature can do that make it.. it really. In this case this poor little Skaven Clanrat feels stronger and braver with friends and begins to fight as one horde of seething, chittering rat-men when he has friends! When he is joined by buddies they become a swarm of Clan rats where you attack as one when they are in the same Zone. This is reflected by gaining +1d6 to their attack pool and having +1 toughness (where each damage dealt kills 1 Clanrat per toughness decreased). However, area of affects (spells, weapons with a spread property, cleaving strikes and the like) deal double damage to a swarm.

Now attacks. This creature has two attacks and can pick one or the other. In this instance the rust blade or the rusty spear *(note it’s not trusty.. its definitely rusty) these attacks are both poor, have 2d6 in their dice pool (1 from body and 1 from weapon skill) and deal x+S damage.

The Rusty blade deals 1+S Damage which is 1 damage base + the number of successes. The Rusty blade is one handed so the Clanrat can wield a shield with the stabby-blade an bring his defence up to average from poor). The Spear deals more damage (2+S) but is just as bad as the rusty blade but is two handed – so no shield (watch out little rat!)

Finally we are down to attributes.

Attributes are simple in Soulbound – Body, Mind and Soul

Body represents your physical strength, your reflexes and coordination, and your overall body awareness. Characters with a high Body tend to be able to hold their own in a fight and rarely balk at manual labour.

Mind represents your intelligence, your awareness and perception, your deductive reasoning, and your ability to think on your feet. Characters with a high Mind are often inquisitive, quick witted, and studious, and are adept at thinking their way around a problem. Mind is also important for wizards and practitioners of the arcane arts.

Soul represents your inner being. It is your sense of self, your spirit and determination, and your ability to resist the influence of Chaos. Characters with high Soul are frequently spiritual leaders or champions, and are absolutely assured in their beliefs.

All attributes feed into Defence, Accuracy and Melee effectiveness as well as toughness, mettle, initiative, natural awareness and skill tests. Each test will be based off one of the three attributes and then a skill. The attribute may change from time to time (so Awareness may sometimes be related to a Soul (awareness) check instead of a Mind (awareness) check if something is trying to overcome your resistance to chaos.

These also form your basic pools in combat. Body for Melee dice pools, Mind for ranged pools and spell checks (Mind (Channelling) test).

Now, I wont go through it all again but lets look at the brutal muscle of the Skaven forces – the Rat Ogor

The Rat Ogor

Stitched, grown, and mutated under the claws of Clan Moulder’s most demented fleshcrafters, then sold to the highest bidder, Rat Ogors are the horrific fusion of Skaven and Ogor. Hulking masses of muscle and claw capable of ripping entire battalions to shreds, the Rat Ogors are singularly violent monsters, who’s only drive is to kill.
While effective in the right circumstances, Rat Ogors are brutally stupid beasts, incapable of comprehending even the simplest of orders or using any weapons aside from their own teeth and claws. Yet with the symbiotic grafting of a secondary, and always unwilling, brain into the proceedings, a Rat Ogor is somewhat elevated. While the creature will never gain true intelligence, the parasitic brain can enforce its will upon the Rat Ogor, allowing it to follow commands, and more Importantly, wield weapons.

As you can see the Rat Ogor is a champion with exponentially better in melee a whopping body of 6 with weapons training (+2d6), a bunch more toughness (with Armor!) and a few other traits and attacks that make it a lethal killing machine.

I could go on and on giving more examples but, frankly, I don’t have that much time left in me for tonight and this would turn into a book rather than a blog post.

I am excited to bring some adventures through to you for Soulbound and hope to have a few games to build up interest for my local gaming group (and maybe beyond).

Don’t forget to come back this weekend for more content including the end of March writeup (yes its April already.. but I will wrap up March first!). And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Snake Bite

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Hi all and welcome to another night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop. Tonight, being Thursday, tonight is reserved for things that enhance the encounter, adventure or weeks experiences for the party whether it’s maps, additional rules (such as weather effects), creature stat blocks or magic items (like what tonight will be).

So a small writeup tonight to glance at a few items we could throw amongst the temple from this months adventure, or,

Items of the Serpent

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Creeper Cloak

The Creeper cloak looks to be made from the skin of a large snake with circular pattern on the scales.

The circular patterns on the snake shift when danger approaches and if the wearer and the cloak are attuned the cloak will extend and move the wearer (and itself) move a short distance away.

Other item ideas

Serpent Tongue earing

This serpent earing pierces the earlobe before looping behind the ear to allow the head of the snake to point towards the ear canal. Anyone who wears this earing can activate the earing by spending 1hp (as the snakes head bites the users ear subtly to draw blood) to be able to detect any lies spoken within hearing distance for 1 hour. The snake would hiss when it detects a lie but otherwise lays inert against the ear occasionally moving slithers backwards and forth.

Serpent Arrow

These arrows appear to be carved from a rich black wood to look like snakes but as they fly they turn into black writhing snakes. These arrows require the creature struck by them to make a DC12 Constitution saving throw vs poison or take 1d6 extra poison damage.

Hissing Amulet

This amulet can be fed poison or live snakes to grant the user a shimmering aura of sound that deflects arrows, magic and sword strikes. By pouring a vial of poison or placing a snake (alive or dead) against the amulet the wearer can gain 1d4+1 temporary hp.

Thanks for joining me tonight for the short writeup to look at some additional items that we could weave into the adventure this week.

Don’t forget to come back the next few days to see the end of month writeup for this month as well as any additional things that come up over the next few days.

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

All light casts a shadow

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Hi all and welcome to another night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop where tonight we look at twists and turns that can shake up the fundamentals of our adventure.

Tonight, like Monday I want to take a step away again and develop the environment that our party is walking into and so, with that, let’s roll onto it.

Walking Shadow

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Running through the tall stalks of grain Rohun he called out to Ling who was lagging behind him “We’ve got to run, now! We will lose them!” he called, eagerness in his voice as he pushed the stalks and reeds away with his shield as the voice called out to them “Help” from somewhere up ahead.

As the voice came louder the more uncertain of its origin he became, eventually coming to a stop a few dozen feet from the wall that separated the next paddock and the mountains beyond. As Ling walked in front of him he was glad, not for the first time that he had her by his side when things by the fringe got weird or out of control. As the voices started to pickup, repeating words back to them Rohun was so focused on the noises and looking for a person speaking to them that he didn’t notice his own shadow elongate, slither up his body and wrap around his mouth.

The moment the shadow clamped down around his body, constricting him stronger than any creature he had encountered could, binding his arms to his sides, his spear to his arm and holding his mouth shut. It was impossible to move and when he felt a tug on his legs he fell forward on his face he was whipped back into the reeds with such speed that his only chance at survival and freedom was Ling noticing. As he stopped moving and he looked up through the reeds, blinking trying to clear the dirt that had been flicked into his eyes he stared with confusion then horror as he saw himself standing next to Ling in the patch of reeds he was just standing in.


“Run Ling. It’s all we can do now. Go now!” the imposter yelled as he took off, away from the reeds and shadows. Rohun strained against his bindings, moving and straining against the shadows themselves. That’s when he felt them moving him again, pulling him towards the wall and the mountains beyond. He cried out but the shadow around his mouth squeezed tighter, making sure to not hurt him or damage him but keep him quiet as his feet hit the stone of the wall. Then, after a moment of pressure on his feet he felt his legs lift and he started to move over the wall, turning around using what little control he had over his body he looked with terror filled fascination as short little creatures moved with the shadows to attack Ling, but not savagely enough to hurt or harm her seriously but enough to drive her away. He strained, pushed and shouted – praying to his ancestors to seek their assistance – just one noise, one movement enough to get Lings attention so she would turn around and see him.

He felt his feet flick over the top of the wall, then his calves, thighs, hips and lower back. The entire time straining so hard to try and get Lings attention. Pop! his efforts rewarded him with his right shoulder dislocating causing his cries to help to turn into cries of pain and shock. As he felt his shoulders reach the top of the wall he glanced once more at his friend as she stopped, paused and looked back at the wall just in time for him, engulfed in shadows to fall over the wall and land hard. Creatures, bald and naked with exaggerated features stood around him, their forms cloaking in shadows like cloth would be worn by humans. As they walked so did the shadows that bound him move as they headed off in the directions of the mountains – a strange garbled language being spoken but each of them holding a weapon, token, or something of the people of this land – victims from previous abductions no less. As he banged his head on a rock and his should smashed into something else hidden amongst the vegetation beyond the wall his mind wandered as he contemplated what his next move was – how does he escape to save Ling from the doppelganger and warn his people of the shadowy threat this close to their villages.

Thanks for joining tonight I hope that you are all doing well and that this update intrigues you as much as it helps drive my creative process to flesh out the happenings and plot for the party once they land on the new continent.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow night for more content where tomorrow is a bit of a free-formed night this week and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

NPC refinement

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Hi all and welcome to another night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop! Tonight I wanted to touch on how we can refine our important NPCs just that little bit more so that when a player asks us them a question like “Whats your family like?” we are prepared with a well thought out answer – whether or not the NPC chooses to disclose this answer is another story.

So taking a leaf out of the Soulbound core book I wanted to delve a bit more into the idea of refining those key NPCs. I wouldn’t suggest spending hours on these questions for all NPCs but maybe limiting it to a quick minute for each significant (not Key) NPC so we can look at having something prepared for for when our players do ask these questions (or similar ones).

Now instead of “What is your name?” “What is your quest?” and “What is your favourite colour” these questions are designed to prod and poke a bit further and to encourage character development.

“5” Questions

What was your childhood like?

This question really drives a few deeper thoughts, did they have present parents? A guardian? A community? No one.? Was there siblings or people they got along with? What was their social economic status like? Wealthy, poor, somewhere in between? Happy, sad, filled with fear or love or both?

This question poses a few bigger thoughts and can probably be enough to flesh out enough of a basic character that the party doesn’t spend a lot of time with.

Who do you least want to run into and why?

Old romantic interest and how did it end (if it did)? What’s their name? How did you meet? What did they do to you? What did you do to them? Where would be the most common place to meet them and why?

Establishing a connection can help drive narrative and quests or at least adventures for the party. Having a person responsible for grief, anxiety or fear means that there is a response when that person is encountered by the party which drives the story and character development.

What motivates you to do what you do?

What do you desire? What do you fear? What are you running from or towards? Why are you doing this?

This one is maybe a bit of a bigger more ambiguous question but it can help with an important question – what motivates the character to do what they are doing – plain and simple.

What do you think is overrated in this world?

A virtue? A freedom? Money? Food? What is it that they think the world could do without?

This one isn’t too difficult and I would maybe save this one for those really deep and importance characters that you just want to really develop and refine. This could help identify character flaws, their alignment (Evil-good), refine their motivations and potentially get a bigger glimpse at their personalities than what the other questions could reveal.

What can’t you live without?

A pet, item, trinket or other possession? A substance (addiction)? A person? A faith or belief? A talent or skill?

Short of the obvious (food, water, air, sunlight) this can introduce interesting little character flaws, dependencies or traits that make the character who they are. If they have an alcohol problem but believe in the guidance and forgiveness of Torm then this is also something that can be explored and used by a good DM to drive plots, stories and the Player character development by interacting with this individual.

The above questions, although maybe not as comprehensive as some that are out there like this one (The Ultimate Character Questionnaire) could be used to flesh out an important NPC or Character in general to help shape and drive their involvement in the stories you write or facilitate (as the players are the real story tellers in our games).

Thanks for joining tonight for a little refinement workshop on NPCs, I will practice the above and hopefully this week come back with a more full and refined character for our D&D campaign.

Don’t forget to come back again tomorrow to look at the midweek madness that is twists, turns and pivot night where we look at what else can shape the adventure we are working on and what can enhance the adventure we create.

And as I wish and remind you each and every night, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Shadows rising

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Hello all and welcome to the last week of March where I consolidate thoughts, take a bit of a breather and, collate a months worth of work into a single post that aims to be used as an adventure of its own.

Today I want to expand on some plot thats happening beyond the reach and sight of the party but something that helps drive understanding of the situation for the world we are steering into.

Shadows amongst the stalks

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Ling walked along the road using the haft of her spear as a walking stick as she and her patrol partner walked along the stone fence that was the border between the fields of wheat and other grains and where fields gave way to buildings and houses.

Pausing Ling watched over the tall stalks of crops, watching them sway in the light cold breeze that came down from the mountains to the north – the seemingly unending tide of crops eventually ending at another small wall that indicated another boundary between property under the Harimasu families land. Squinting, the setting sun to the west causing shadows to drive lazily amongst the stalks of grains she watched as a cloud caused rippling shadows to pour over the far wall giving them a writhing look briefly. Yawning and stretching she continued her patrol, her partner a few feet ahead now but within ear shot and a close enough distance if required to assist if anything went poorly quickly.

“hello” a soft voice carried from the paddock across the wind causing both Ling and her companion, Rohun to stop and look across the field for th owner of the voice. “Hello” it came again, this time Rohun and Ling climbed over the stone barrier and stood in th waist high stalks.

“Hello?” Called Ling,

“We are from the Harimasu family guard. Do you need help?” Rohun asked gripping his shield and spear tightly.

“help” The voice called back, a soft tone that sounded distant and muffled. Ling and Rohun walked through the crop sticking to each others flank and moving in the direction that they thought the voice was calling from. A few moments later the voice called again, this time stronger with more urgency “Help!”. Rohun and Ling began to jog in the direction.

“we’re coming to help. Hold on!,” Ling called out.

“Where are you, show yourself! Let us know where you are” Rohun called.

“Help! Where are you?!” The voice called back. Louder and more frantic which made Ling and Rohan run. “Help!” It called again once more closer. “HELP!” This time shockingly loud, close and desperate.

Then the other voices began. “Help”, “show yourself”, “coming.. we’re coming!” The voices rang in a chorus as the stalks of grain rattled and shook all around them. Stopping, their blood Freezing Ling and Rohun looked back towards the road, they were hundreds of feet away, near the next wall. The rustling continued, now aware of the situation they could pick out their own words and voice being spoken back at them.

“Run Ling. It’s all we can do now” Rohun said. Gripping his spear “Go now!” He yelled running towards the road and Ling running next to him, the stalks either. side of them bending and shaking as shadows moved between and through them.

The first attack came quickly, the shriek of rage inaudible through the cacophony of words, their words, being spoken back at them. Burning hot scratches appeared on Lings back and as she spun around she heard Rohun grunt as he was also attacked, their aggressors to quick for them to see or counter attack. This continued for what seemed like minutes then with a final high pitched “WE’RE COMING!” they stopped and Ling and Rohun jumped the wall as best they could, their backs, legs and arms a patchwork of cuts from talons.

Looking back over the field they sprinted through they noticed the same shadows cast by the clouds reversing over the wall towards the mountains.

Well, thats it for tonight. The threat that the party is coming to aid with has almost reached settlements and are becoming bolder to attack during daylight.

I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into what’s happening elsewhere and, like me are excited for whats to come.

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

The Brazen Wolfe

A Brazen Update

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As the COVID situation in Australia, well it’s doing something, but regardless of whats going on with it and the new variants out there I am finally able to return back into the office where I normally work (about 1.5 hours commute from home).
This is a great step moving forward to get out and mingle with the new team I joined in February 2021 (of which I have met them in person twice in the last year…) but it also means some potential changes to this blog.

I anticipate that the long hours, long commute and the other duties and activities I have outside of work will sometimes lead to delays in posting updates here, for BTW. But, don’t fear I will endeavour to post something daily but it some things may just be the following morning rather than the night of the day – so a small disclaimer if there I am a few hours later than anticipated.

Or I may be many many hours early and you may think that I have been sipping on some form of Abyssal Naga venom… Who knows what the new world will bring but I will still be here, just may be writing to a different schedule.

As always, find that spark of creativity, be good to your fellow humanoid and as always, roll with advantage – it’s a strange world out there and we can all use that extra little bit of luck.
The Brazen Wolfe