Author: thebrazenwolfe

A voyage without a map isn’t a real voyage…

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Hi all and welcome to a Thursday write-up! Tonight I am trying my hand at something I truly need practice at but feel like its needed for this week more than ever…

So enjoy and let me know what you think!

The Dancing Drake

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The imposing ship of the Harimasu family called the Dancing Drake is a large three sailed trading vessel with four levels.

The main deck supports two entrance points to below deck situated in the centre of the deck and towards the bow of the ship.

Two flights of two sets of stairs on the stern of the ship provide access the two layers of cabins. One to the crews quarters and the higher flight of stairs leading up to the helm which is situated on the captain’s (Kyoko Harimasu) quarters.

The crews quarters has a large mess hall situated on the starboard side and two rooms on the port side, a smaller quarter for passengers of note and a larger one where the bunks, cots and hammocks of the crew is situated.

The captains quarters contains desks littered with maps and papers mainly and a decently sized bed with a curtain hung from the wooden rafters to provide some amount of privacy.

The bow of the ship is raised but provides no real access to below deck.

Below deck is a large open area where several rows of benches and oars are lined up in case the winds are unfavourable. There is also a small (10ft by 10ft) cell for holding people with iron bars from roof to floor and a small lockable cell door.

To the stern and bow of the lower deck is storage for cargo, people or livestock with the bow of the ship having a secret compartment behind a small wall to hide the most valuable, or, vulnerable cargo.

Thanks, hope my mediocre napping skills provide some visuals for the size, shape and position of the ship for both descriptions and combat!

Speaking of which, don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content where we look at the pointy end of the stick and examine combat encounters for this week!

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

Soggy sails, shimmering swords

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Hi all and welcome to Wednesday night where we look at the twists and turns that the party have approaching like rain in a squall.

This week we find out party out to sea being persued by, most probably, pirates with a storm approaching them at the worst time.

So let’s look into what we can throw at the party to test their sea legs.

Trials at sea

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As the wind hit the sails the crew knew that they were in for a hard ride regardless of the ship that was now close enough that you could see the individual people running about the top of the deck, weapons and ropes in hand. As Kyoko barked an order ropes went taught, sails drifted across the deck and the ship turned abruptly as a large wave loomed on the side of the ship and Kyoko heaved on the wheel turning the ship at the right moment to use the wave to push them further away from their pursuer.

The party were less lucky as the sea water spilled freely across the deck, the crew moving rapidly across the deck dragging ropes, sails poles and other implements to keep the ship floating on the waves the right way up.

So the first test we have here is going to be the standard ability checks to see if they can remain on their feet and move around the deck of the ship. DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or to fall and hope they don’t fall pass the rail or at least have a rope tied to them. If the party member has a background that saw them on the sea previously then they would make the check at advantage and, DM discretion, if they had water vehicle proficiency then they would also make the roll at advantage.

With a yell a few of the crew fly overboard when they lose their grip on the ship. Within a moment several crew jump to grab the rope to pull up the crew members that flew off the edge.

“Somebody pull that sail, I need someone to help me with the wheel, get those men back on deck!” Kyoko bellows from the helm as she puts her weight behind the wheel trying to keep the ship on course as a wave threatens to push them aside.

Ok, so we have a Water vehicle check (to pull the sail), strength or athletics check to bring the overboard crewmen back on deck, and then a one of either check to help Kyoko with the helm. If the party don’t help with one of the three items then it may lead to negative affects.

  • Sail, Water Vehicle check DC 13 – If fail the party member is knocked prone and is pushed in a random direction 10ft.
  • Crew, Athletics check DC 12 Strength check DC 13 – if Fail the crew members are eventually dragged up but they have breathed in a lot of water and 1 or 2 crew members are effectively unconscious (not dead though) for the rest of the day. Any further checks to keep the ship going on course are made at +1 DC.
  • Helm, Base DC is 14. Water vehicle check at Base, Strength at base +2 and Athletics at base +1 – if Fail then the ship doesn’t turn in time and the the party need make a Dex check DC 14 or fall prone and if they fail by more than 10 they fall overboard.

If the party fail at 2 of the above three then they will be boarded by 1 or 2 members from the ship behind them that the party will need to fight..

As the ship rock and comes down from a swell it stops suddenly with a resounding crash as it connect with the pirate vessel who had come on the inside of the Red fleet Ship. As Kyoko starts to bark orders ropes, boarding planks and grappling hooks fly across the rail and go taught binding the ships together as men and women rush onboard from the other ship.

Crew members from the parties ship rush to meet them but the attackers have a manic crazed look across their face as a scarred dragonborn stands next to the helm loading a crossbow and barking orders at the people rushing across to take over the other ship.

Well – This is mainly combat but the party can remove the boarding planks, cut the ropes try to separate the ships.

To separate the ships it would require a series of successful Vehicle handling rolls. DC12, DC 13, DC14 and DC15 across 4 rounds.

To push the planks it would be a DC10 Athletics or strength check if there is no one on the plank or DC14 if there is one person, DC16 if there are two or more people on the plank as they go to remove it.

To sever or remove the ropes it would require a sharp weapon. The role has an AC of 8 and 10 HP (they are rather thick ropes). To remove them without cutting them then the party would need to make Strength or Athletics checks DC 14.

Thanks for joining tonight. So we had a few checks here to deal with keeping the ship on course and moving forward. The idea is to use the above as a base to structure the encounter and checks for the party but the idea is that we don’t want to drown them in ability and skill checks but we want to stress them the importance of certain ones.

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

The Crew

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Welcome one and all to a Tuesday night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop. Tonight is generally reserved for NPCs, people or creatures that people run into during the weeks adventure and tonight is no different – except tonight instead of a single NPC I have a few options in play for us this week.

The idea behind tonight’s post is to look at a few frameworks that we can apply to a character, or several for the party to interact with while avoiding fleshing out thorough and compelling backstories for each person.

The Red Fleets crew

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How to use the below. Roll once on each table to establish a brief backstory on the person, or people, for who the party is interacting with. Assign Gender and appearance based on the portrait selected but the other characteristics can be chosen or rolled from the table to make it a quick NPC generator *(except the name.. I am poor with names..).

Visual characteristic

d6 resultCharacteristic
1The person walks with a slight limp, seeming to favour their right leg as they walk across the ship. Despite the obvious impairment they are still quick to move across the deck
2The person is exceptionally timid and will shy out of the way from all other crew members, passengers, the party and especially the captain. When the captain is around they seem to stutter, mumble and rush off to do what ever order is backed at the first chance that’s presented to them.
3The person is nimble, unnaturally so. They swing from one side of the ship to the other and climb ropes with effortless ease.
4The person is broad and strong. Able to move almost any crate, barrel, person or piece of cargo by themselves the other crew mates seem to rely on them to do the heavy lifting.
5The person is lazy. Plain and simple. They can be found laying down when the captain is not around napping or ignoring their duties. Despite being lazy they are extremely adept at the ship life and are first to fix something if there is trouble.
6There is nothing too obvious about this person, except their broken common. They barely speak and when they do its fractured sentences and very few words

Background before joining the ship

d6 resultBackground
1They are a third generation sailor and have spent most of their life on the waves.
2Joined the crew at the last port, they are very green to this type of life.
3Used to be a soldier back home but gave that up for a simpler life on the waves.
4Family member of the captain – seems to be treated the same if not more harshly than the other crew members.
5Farmer who is now seeking their fortune.
6Not much is revealed, they wont tell any one but they are jumping from ship to ship to avoid being sent to prison for a crime they committed.

Role

d6 resultRole
1Helmsman
2Deck hand
3Cook
4Medical officer
5First Mate
6Chief engineer

Otherwise notable thing

d6 resultNotable thing
1Has a tattoo of a wingless dragon curling up their shoulder onto their neck.
2Singles sea shanties almost any time they are working (or whistles/ hums if they don’t otherwise talk)
3During downtime they whittle wood with a small knife they keep at their belt. A small statue of a child (their son/daughter) can be seen on a string around their neck.
4Missing a hand of foot – a crude tool/replacement has been fashioned for them that they use deftly as if they have had the foreign appendage most of their life.
5Barely wears any clothes (just enough to be modest) – can be found praying to a deity and chanting prayers during their downtime.
6Nothing stands out in particular.

After the quick-rolls are made from the above pick a portrait from below (or any) to help describe the NPC to your party.

And that’s it, using the above and picking the more-blonde women from above we could have a NPC such as..

Visual-3-Strong, background-5-Strong, Role-2-Deckhand, Otherwise Notable – 4- Missing a Hand/Foot.

Kim

Kim is an impressive specimen, broad, strong and tall and able to carry and shift things around the boat with ease. The rest of the crew can be heard calling out her name when something is too heavy or bulky for regular people and she rushes over to help her crew. What makes it even more extraordinary is that she is missing her left hand and a set of short spikes are on a metal plate where her hand used to be. She uses these metal spiked nubs to help grip onto wood and other cargo and to also fend of those who are daft enough to want to brawl with her.

She hasn’t always been a sailor but when she lost her hand in her families farm she decided to try her luck elsewhere, the sea – using the first pouch of gold she earnt to pay for her spiky replacement she now considers the ship her home and being a deckhand her true calling.

I am relatively happy with how that panned out, I am a fan of random generators as a way of driving, steering or even assisting me in coming up with a new something for the table top and I find that, in a pinch, they are especially handy. Now all that is left to do is come up with a name….

Don’t forget to come back each day this week for the ship bound adventure, tomorrow we look at twists and turns that may affect our party out at sea (an obvious writeup this week I might add). If you do use the random tables above let me know how it goes! If you like what you create don’t forget to let me know in the comments below and I will look at creating a few more quick tables for NPC generation down the track.

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

Black sails

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Hi all welcome to Monday night where we look at the content for the weeks adventure and get an idea of what the party will be going through in this week.

This week we hope to see the party onboard Kyoko’s ship and heading off for her home continent with reinforcements to help fight against what assaults her people.

Upon dark water

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Kyoko frowned as she withdrew the spyglass from her eye and shimmied down the mast quickly, unhooking a section of the mast as she dropped allowing it to unfurl and catch more wind.

“We’ve got a ghost” she muttered to her crew as they watched her with a worried expression on their face “prepare to outrun them but don’t bet non it. Make sure you know where your weapons are and secure the valuables in the hidden hold.”

The crew burst into action, bumping into the party as they ran to grab weapons, coils or rope and disappear beneath the deck to hide their most precious and valuable of cargo.

Kyoko approached the party “A ghost is what we call pirates, those who sail black flags and who steal from those who use their time to earn their living honestly.” she explained as she drew her sword and thumbed the blade examining its sharpness.

“Captain Kyoko, there is a storm approaching!” called one of her crew as he ran from the helm. Kyoko swore as she turned towards the stormfront that was approaching from their port bow and then jogging up to the stern she looked back over the stern at the ship that was following them.

Jogging back to the party she handed them a rope. “tie this to a belt and then to the ship, if we hit bad weather you will wish you had listened to me as you sink beneath the waves.” She paused looking at the concern in Lizbets face “Siu, you’re in charge of making sure the priestess is safe – that is your only job. If, when the pirates board us I will count on you,” her focus drifted over the party, “to keep us safe. My crew are excellent at sailing the ship but when it comes to combat, they won’t stand a chance.”

With that she nodded at Siu who stood on the deck, his golden scales glimmering lightly as the sun started to sink behind the storm front approaching the ship. Walking off she turned back to the party and smiled “let’s have a bit of fun then.”

A small taste tonight of what the party will encounter this week with the coming of a storm and the approach of pirates from the stern. This week will have a few challenges for the party and its not just what dwells beneath the waves or in the ship behind them.

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

Siu’s Request

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Hi all and welcome to the end of the week writeup – a bit of a slower week I will note but one that I think was needed to ensure that the transition from land to sea was done adequately.

This week we looked at Siu and his request of not only the party but also Priestess Lizbet and Kyoko – his cousins great granddaughter to travel across the sea to help save his families land and homes from the darkness that stirs beyond their borders.

Honour bound request

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Believing that his time was short and that his treasured gift of his humanoid appearance was coming to an end he used his time to warn the priestess and priests of Chauntea of the attack that as coming for them. Using the last few precious hours of his gift he went to do something that he had dreaded for quite some time, approach his family and reveal his true nature in order to begin to make amends for the betrayal he had committed to his closest family members.

Areas and places of note

The Temple– 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.

Daye Streets – 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 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.

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.

People of Bracken Hollow (in this adventure)

Elizabeth “Lizbet” Scaulder

Being swayed by Siu’s plea for aid and her own predestined call to fight a wave of darkness Lizbet has organised for Katya to work with the other sons and daughters of Chauntea – having been instructed by them many years ago she believes that under their guidance Katya will surpass her one day. Having found someone to look after the town and its duties she is, somewhat anxious but resolved on going to help the wondrous merchants of the Red fleet defend their homeland if she is able to assist.

Kyoko Harimasu

Having heard stories of creatures from the mists and shadows able to look inside ones mind and deceive humans in order to devour them since she was little, Kyoko is still uncertain about Siu – but what he has said and a strange familiarity draws her to help him, and believe that he, the priestess and the party could really be able to help her family in the fight against the dark.

Siu

Using the last few hours of his human form he was sure that this was his final hours before a sword, arrow or axe would pierce his flesh the moment his true self was revealed. But to have the blow withheld and his mangy fur that he has hated for as long as he can remember shed to reveal a carpet of golden dragon scales covering his form was a shock. Not sure where the change came from or what spurred it to begin he is glad to be rid of the fur and thankful that he is still able to see his mission through.

The prospect of being free from his mater is beginning to take a back seat to wanting to see his family succeed and the foolhardy hope that they could beat back what lies in the shadow.

Environment and running the adventure

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)

Encounter

There is really only only social encounters this week – talking to Siu, Kyoko and Lizbet about the journey, the apprehension behind it as well as what to expect across the waves as well as any shopping that the party want to do.

Thanks for joining this week – the goal is to really get the party across the sea to Kyoko and Siu’s homeland to experience new adventure, meet new people and creatures as well as fight a dark threat that threatens the stability of the Harimasu family and the countries western boarder.

Don’t forget to come back every day this week to see more content, this week will, hopefully, be the first week of sea voyage and adventure with new twists, turns and encounters for the party to steer through.

Don’t forget to let me know if you are playing through the content here, how you find it as a game master (if you are one) and how your players find it! All critique is good critiques in my view.

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

Island escape

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

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

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

Temple to the serpent

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

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

Temple to the SerpentDownload

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

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

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

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

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

Leaving the docks

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

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

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

Scouting party

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tools of the trade

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

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

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

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

Harimasu’s Blade

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Twist of fate

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

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

The face of benevolence

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks for joining tonight.

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

The Exiled and forgotten

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

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

The Golden Dragon – Huangdi

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

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

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

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

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

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

Siu Harimasu

And a bonus picture of Siu in human form

And that’s it!

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

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

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