Author: thebrazenwolfe

Too close to home

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Welcome to another night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop where tonight we look at finalising the last little bits for this weeks plot hooks, twists etc.

This week we will be meeting with a a few familiar faces as they realise that they have been a part of the biggest lie in their sleepy villages history, so without further delay let’s get into tonight’s content.

Homecoming

207WeHoCo

Milly looked around the Broken Tankard dazed as if she had just woken up from a night of drinking their private reserve of Mountain bear stout – named because a single mug could cause a mountain bear to regret i’ts decision to drink the dark ale for a week. Looking from face to face she could tell that everyone felt the same, dazed, confused and as if waking from a dream. Well almost everyone, Carline just looked plain furious. As she began to wonder why Carline shrieked out a long painful cry – a long mournful shriek that was filled with loss, regret and most of all rage. “Hunter!!”

Immediately everyone in the room broke out from their daze, even as Carline dropped the lute that she was strumming but a few minutes ago and drew a long bladed sword people were standing up screaming out the same mournful, rage-filled cry of anguish and Milly knew why as she felt the same. Hunter had betrayed them all, had somehow affected all of their minds to think that he was the father of Katya, and that his fellow conspirators, Katya’s families trusted cooks and hirelings, were her real family. How could this have happened, everyone knew and loved Katya’s parents and Katya was the heart of the village, she had personally helped everyone in the village and was on her way to complete her parents wishes – to become a priestess of Chauntea.

As the village mobilised, an unspeakable agreement now that they had all had their mind cleared form what ever had put heavy fog around their memories, Milly instructed her brothers to stay behind and prepare for any wounded, they after all inherited their fathers battle lust that made them more as much as danger to the villagers as they were to Hunter and the traitors.

The march was harsh as the snow had deepened as they had moved on and the villagers were on edge. Despite their wish for vengeance and justice they had never been in a real fight before and there were rumours amongst those who marched that glittering eyes and razor sharp teeth could be seen just outside of torchlight.

It was about an hour until they passed the first toppled stone that looked like it could have been the grand gated entrance to the manor which was on the families estate, everyone remembered these gates being tall and splendid but what they passed looks like they had been destroyed a century ago. The metal bars rusted and brittle and the stone green with moss and crumbling in places. As they marched onwards they took a collective gasp as the same level of ruin could be seen on the once near-majestic manor that now appeared to be a decrepit pile of ruins and rocks. Four tall, impossibly thin figures could be seen at the windows watching the villagers approach and in the time it took Milly to blink the figures had gone – disappeared from eyesight and drifted off to the unknown. Others had seen it too by the nervous chatter and jittery movements from the villagers.

“Milly, Carline, there’s movement to the east!” A spooked logger shouted as the villagers backed up into a tight little ball, their makeshift weapons pointing outwards towards the dark. A nervous tune broke out, the same one from the previous nights around monsters on the hill. Carline lent her voice to the chorus and soon the song was being sung with bravado with all trace of nerves washed away by the bards energetic display of disgust towards those on the hill. A loud blood curdling shriek was their reward that seemed to resonate down from the old building as half a dozen or so figures approached from the east, their forms cloaked on th snow and wind.

Thanks for joining me tonight for this Wednesday plot and hook expansion. Let me know what your thought, don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content and as always don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Family matters

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Welcome to another Tuesday night at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop. Tonight we investigate NPCs and how they shape the adventure ahead.

Tonight we cast our minds back to a time before waking nightmares and wolves.

Family planning

207TuFPl

Hunter stared at the bodies as the lid to the sarcophogus was closed on the two people he had admired most in life. A pity it had come to this in order to hide the secret their daughter carried.

Katya was just fifteen but had already displayed acts of great magic so much so that her parents were considering sending her off yo become a priestess. Ridiculous her powers should be used by the family to make them stronger, better off and to make the town better. Just as the blessed one had prophesied. Thats when he knew he has to act and knowing that the masters trusted him fully it was easy to play the concerned cook and speed their affliction upon.

Now that Katya was orphaned he reached out with a few like minded worshippers of the blessed one and tried to help the girl. It was slow going at first but with reinforcement from the blessed one she slowly stopped fighting their help, care and love.

Using their combined faith they began to sooth her anguish and repair the unfortunate side affect of the blessed ones touch upon her mind. Soon she was smiling and happy again, content to spend time with them even going as far to call him father! What a relief it was to finally have her at peace, but it was not only Katya but the whole village were at peace, forgetting about the the folly of the two previous owners of the manor on the hill.

Soon everyone was calling him father, it was easier to help alleviate their pain this way he thought. Dolly was now mother and their helpers were uncle and aunt. All would be well and time would heal all wounds like the blessed one had told them

Some of the villagers started to become more, distrusting of them. They were slow and stubborn and resisted the blessed ones influence on their mind. Surely they could see that he only meant to sooth their worries and concerns. He himself had once been afflicted with hunger and pain. Eating his way through entire households larder before the blessed one had spoken to him. Yes the pain and fear was intense and what, well who, the blessed one had made him eat terrified him at first but it sated bis hunger and cured him of his sicknesses.

It was now outsiders that posed the most threat. The blessed one held power to alleviate the stress and burden that true sight would give them but more frequently people would approach the house asking after Katya. It pained him to do it but these people couldn’t leave, and he was growing hungry again.

Thanks for joining me tonight for a glimpse into who or what Father may be, or was. If you like the content feel free to let me know as we are on the home stretch for this months adventure.

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

The Brazen Wolfe

Inheritance

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Welcome to Monday where we look at the main plot, story hook or adventure theme of the week and this week we have the final confrontation between Katya and her family.

If this is the first Monday you are reading of my content in February then I would recommend going back to look at the first Monday of the month to get an idea of how we came to this part of the adventure. Now that that is our of the way let’s kick off with tonights content!

Family ties

207MoFaTi

Katya was scared, confused and more than anything else she was angry. As she looked at the portrait hanging above the three sarcophagi there was o doubt that she was in the the young woman in the painting and there was an undeniable resemblance between her and the other two in the portrait.

She looked back towards the wolves at the door to the room, she had remembered them talking to her, her uncle and aunts voice coming from the outside the door and when she opened to usher them in the wolves had jumped in the door. Being startled she fell backwards and flung her hands up in defence only to feel this wave of energy wash out from within her as plants crawled up between the stones and wrapped around the wolves tightly, one had escaped breaking free from the vine around its ankle but she regretted not granting it a quick death.

She had felt that familiar pull again, that feeling of a heavy hand pointing her in a direction and something pulling on her conscious to come to it. This time there was no horrible faces or decay just power and the understanding how to control it. As the new people and Paul, yes she could remember his name being such from a faint dream like memory, tried to calm her down and understand what was going on understanding sank in to her core like a kick from a horse to her gut.

Those faces, those people in her house were not her family. The more she thought on it and the strangers explained what they had experienced or believed the more it made sense. Looking up at the group of people she asked them a favour. To come to her house for tea and help her confront her family.

Now to really cement it in things like a book, or scroll or magical wards around the mausoleum could be incorporated. The book and scrolls could be family history and heritage in with mini portraits painted within the pages. It should include the reasons they died too and their will for their daughter, Katya.

The wards would be to keep those who have ill will to the family or the contents of the mausoleum out whilst preserving the pristine memory of the family within so that they could be remembered.

The Poleski family was one or the founding families of Bracken Ridge, what the town used to be called and bridged the barriers between its human and mundane folk and they protective fey of the wilds. They brokered a peace between people and fey and even to this day, not knowing or remembering the real reason why the people honour the bargain between fey and people of Bracken Ridge.

If questioned, in the unlikely case, both Katya and Paul would state that “Father” had been seen disappearing to the woods to hunt game recently and would come back with food for the table. Not saying what it was just that it was the sweetest of meats.

(He had been hunting Fey).

Thanks for dropping in tonight for this brief glimpse at both the closure from last week and the beginning of this one. The extra notes are there to help run the session, give a glimpse or hint into what we can expect from this week.

If you like the content don’t forget to come back tomorrow and feel free to reply and let me know if you like it. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Through the storm

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Hi all and welcome to the end of week writeup!

This past week we were sent to find the missing brother of Colin Turp, Paul. Paul had taken a job from “Father” and with the promise of enough gold to feed them for months he darted off without a second thought for the volatile weather in the region.

I will follow the same format as last weeks writeup as my mind on the weekend needs structure. Soo let me know if you look like the format, or hate it and let’s roll on with the nights write-up.

Bracken Hollow part 2

205BrHo2

Upon reaching the town after investigating the woods for the cause in the bad weather, and encountering a half-ogre and his pet bear amongst other beasties, the party are greeted by a worried Carline.

She explains that she had just come from the Broken Tankard, Colin had come back from the north after a failed attempt to find his brother who became lost in the storm. Carline explains that he had been attacked by some wild animal, silent in the storm as it had hit him from behind.by luck it had latched onto his fur cloak and taken off with it instead of him. If the party notice that Colin in the tankard and see the wound it looks remarkably similar to the giant owl talons that they had encountered to the east.

Colin goes to get out of bed and almost passes out. He mumbles that he must find his brother, that he cant be trusted alone with the family on the hill, no one can. He begs the party to find his brother and bring him back. If they are too late and he is indeed dead he asks them a grisly favour, to bring back his body so it’s not left near the house.

The storm appears to be quieting down again but it’s still looks like it will begin to build once more. The snow and winds are extreme but manageable. On the way they may get lost (see below table) but regardless if they do as they pass the first check they run into troubles on their way to find Paul.

Paul was working on the fence between the McFasters and the family on-top of the hills property, the promise of more gold than he could make in a few seasons of farming outshining the risk of working alone in bad weather near the manor. Exhaustion and fatigue causes him to miss with hid hammer, shattering his left hand. As the weather worsened he blacked out from blood loss and the cold awakening to find himself miraculously healed but sealed in a crypt somewhere. As he tried to escape large powerful wolves attacked driving him back to the safety of the cold stone.

Areas and places of note

The Broken Tavern – The three dwarven owners, Milly, Billy and Ned offer hot food and drink before they leave for free as a favour for helping Colin, they also offer warm cloaks and supplies just in case.

The Road – A long thin road that snakes its way up north towards the manor on the hill. It passes along a fence line that separates the McFasters from the manors land. Scattered tools, blood and a tangled mess of footprints and drag marks litter the snow where the party find the site where the accident happened

The Graveyard – following the drag marks and many sets footprints the party find the graveyard to the east of the manor. A stream cuts the road in half and the trail seems to cut through the frozen stream instead of the bridge. Several tombstones can be seen when it’s not snowing with two buildings that look to be in decent repair.

People of Bracken Hollow (in this adventure)

Carline Winters

Despite her quick to flair dislike and crash tongue when around Father she genuinely appears to want to help Paul. Once the party have spoken to Colin she will approach the party to also ask them to help find Paul. She will offer them a tidy (50gp and a bag of gems worth 300gp) sum of coins and gems if they agree to help.

Colin Turp

Colin’s wounds are not life threatening but they do prevent him from searching for his brother.

Paul Turp

Because of how much Paul wants to impress and be like his big brother he drives himself too hard and doesn’t always think straight. In this case it cost him a broken hand. Or did it.

Environment and running the adventure

As the party leave colin, the dwarves offer them assistance. Warm food and drink with thick fur coats. If they take up this offer they will be protected from the extreme cold until the following morning, as long as they don’t get lost in the blizzard.

The weather will be lightly snowing but not a full blown blizzard until they find the site where Paul injured himself. Once there and the wind picks up roll on the random “lost” table and resolve effects.

Keep rolling decreasing the lower end of the success variable by 1 each time they fail until they succeed. Success wil trigger a wild wolf encounter (encounter 1) and the party will see a trail or blood amongst the drag marks towards a shadowy set of buildings on top of a short hill, the graveyard.

The party will notice a old wooden bridge over a frozen river, the drag marks (DC14 survival check or DC16 perception) will go over the river, not the bridge. If the party go over the bridge the first person will have a DC 12 dex saving throw or the wood will break and the character will suffer 2d6 damage from falling through the bridge, no damage on a success.

If they cross the frozen river its 10ft wide and is a thin ice and frigid water hazard. Play it as such.

Once the party are at the grave yard the drag marks are harder to see as the snow is thicker and there is a bunch of wolf paw prints around (DC12 survival to notice wolf paw prints, DC14 to follow drag marks). The drag marks go to a smaller building to the south west of the graveyard while a more frantic set of human footprints run towards the larger building to the north. The door is wedged closed, if they call out then Paul will open promptly and let them in before a grave wolf and three wolves appear suddenly as of waiting for the party to open the door. If they dont call out and try to break down the door its DC14 strength check however as they attempt or once the Wolves will rush to engage.

On the way out of the woods they are ambushed by giant snow owls (see stat blocks below) as the wind begins to pickup (blizzard begins). After the fight they travel for a few hours – the blizzard making it rough to move through and as the wind dies down (still extremely cold but no snow) they see a half-ogre and brown bear (If they didn’t encounter them in the cave that is) has followed them and then they are in combat.

Once the Wolves are dealt with the party will head towards the larger building finding it closed but not barred or locked. Upon entering two dead wolves are on the ground, vines having strangled them and bound them to the floor. Inside a large portrait of three raven haired people, two are standing proudly behind a young woman. A moment later a voice speaks from the corner of the room “I don’t know what this is…who are those people and why do I look like her”. Katya appears and she is the splitting image of the young woman in the portrait. There are three caskets in the room, two with lid on, one empty. The words underneath say “Kristoff Poleski” ,”Jessica Poleski”, and (you guessed it) “Katya Poleski”.

Encounter map

Encounter Balancing

Encounter stat-blocks

Random table

Lost in the blizzard.

Resulteffect
1Party end up going in a loop for half an hour – roll for an exposure check (as per extreme cold) and roll for random encounter.
2Party go a little off track, roll for an random encounter (d20)
3-4The party find tracks which leads them further north (+1 to next roll, roll on random encounter table)
5+Party follow the trail of bloodspots and through the snow and wind they can see a few buildings on top of the hill. As they take a few more steps forward so do the beasts that have find their prey amongst the storm (Wolf encounter)

Random Encounter table

Result (d20)Encounter
1-9Nothing of significance is encountered – to build tension perhaps a deer or the like stumbles onto the track at the same time the party does
10-14One Giant snowy owl appears just as it swoops down to attack the smallest party member in the group – attempting to fly off with them.
15-17A giant lynx (Crag Cat) appears, it is currently feasting on a stag but looks up at the party daring them to approach it and its meal.
18-19Two wolves appear, one is nursing a hurt leg that upon closer inspection has thorny vines wrapped around it, the wound looks recent and painful.
20Three wolves appear

Well that’s it for the week. If you want to look into the sections in a bit deeper depth then I would suggest looking through the Monday-Friday content for last week where the topics above were explored in a bit more depth.

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

Taking time away from the table.

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Hello all and welcome to a weekend post where I wanted to talk briefly around my thoughts on that I, and maybe we, spend just that little bit too much time focusing on the tabletop.

Now, coming from someone who writes content for a TTRPG daily, pending when I fail to publish it correctly, who is surrounded by four Warhammer armies worth of models and has too many dice all together this may not be a surprise that I spend a lot of time on table top. I have friends who stay up until the early hours of the night, every night, painting miniatures that are beautiful, simply beautiful. I also have players (old and new) who have requested to have weekly TTRPG sessions instead of the normal fortnightly because they can’t quite get enough of the sweet table top, but I generally try and have a hour or two, outside of work and father & husband roles, that I set aside where I do not think about table top.

The reason is quite simple, I love this hobby and I don’t want to get burnt out on it. Now not every night is a dream when I am typing up content for that evening and sometimes what normally flows out of me like fire from a red dragon is more of a dribble, like a mage learning how to shape water for the first time. These nights probably show with content that is, perhaps not as thorough as what I may be used to but for me this project, the adventure a week (well every day there is parts of an adventure), is something that I put to myself to really hone these dungeon master skills that I have been building for many years and to test myself to see if I could write about my DMing approach.

Now, I don’t think saying to yourself ‘I don’t feel like it tonight’ or ‘I’ve got a block, I can’t think of anything’ is a bad thing, not in the tiniest bit but I want to stress that you should be able to say this to your players and peers too. Going to your party “I just need a break for this week/fortnight/month” isn’t a bad thing and your players will understand, like mine have in the past. They know its a lot of effort and a big commitment to play a TTRPG game and even more so if you are the Game Master as you have to prepare the adventure, create the NPCs, the encounters, the puzzles, traps, maps, twists, turns and what ever else goes into your adventure – they understand if you need time.

For some you may feel like you don’t need to pause, no breaks, no half time, nothing. And this is fine too but I would caution to look for the signs that you need to step away from your fantasy or Sci-fi world for a bit and just take a night off. Watch a movie, read a book, go out to dinner or drinks. Play a game tabletop or electronic (a different tabletop game still counts as time off!).

Lately I have been playing online with an old friend of mine, having a few beers and playing or a few hours to just reset the clock, or, exploring a game that my new PC can actually run (unlike my old PC that couldn’t run it…) and strangely enough, some elements of my table top are being influenced by these games, movies and TV shows that I use as my downtime from table top. For me, its just becoming part of the process.

So, after all that’s said and done – I am off to find some legendary Storm drake and build a castle or sit down with my wife and watch a movie we have been putting off for a few weeks now and who knows, if a future adventure involves the harvesting of raw materials to build a fort then you know what inspired that adventure.

So, don’t forget to look after yourself, watch for the signs of hobby fatigue and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Silent as the grave

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Welcome to Friday (also known as fight night) what we look the encounter for the week whether it is combat, puzzle or a social encounter.

This week we fins ourselves in a snow covered graveyard, or on the road to such a place, where the party are ambushed by a group of creatures led by something hopefully the players will remember, perhaps not fondly though.

Howls amongst the gravestones

206FrHatG

Walking towards where Paul was thought to be working the party could find signs that he was there and in the fresh snow they may also find footprints indicating that he was dragged from where he fell.

There would also be paw prints following from where he was injured and dragged. A total of 6 sets of smaller prints and then a larger set of prints. A dc13 survival check would identify the smaller prints as wolves and a dc15 check (same check different info based on what the character rolled) would identify the prints as a dire wolf, but something was wrong with it as if it wasn’t well.

The dire wolf is actually a Grave Wolf, a creature that spent too long feasting on creatures and bodies imbued with necrotic energy that it warped its physiology and started to affect its body.

For this encounter I would assume a Party of 4 level 2 or higher players and we are looking for that tipping point of “hard but not deadly” for this kobold fight club was used, I can’t not use this tool, and we have the below result.

The stat blocks are as follows. On the way there the party would encounter three wolves that try and ambush the party on the road.

Then at the graveyard we would have three more wolves and a grave wolf, if the grave wolf doesn’t feel right kr natch your theme a dire wold would be a fine replacement.

The wolves would wait until the party reach Paul before springing their attack, waiting amongst the graves and tombstones (stealth check) before dashing out to ambush when they are distracted by Paul.

Thats what we have for tonight to wrap up this weeks content. Come back this weekend to see the finishing touches on the adventure and how it ties in with what we know already.

Don’t forget to let me know what you think about the creatures and if you use the grave wolf in your own adventure. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Cold as death

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Hello all and welcome to Thursdays Brazen Wolfe Tabletop post. Tonight I wanted to find something to include that I haven’t done for a little bit mainly due to personal preferences but also due the the amount of time it takes to locate and modify or produce them – A battle map.

With out adventure this week set in the village of Bracken Hollow and the recent tundra like weather system they are experiencing I wanted to find something that would fit in with what we have planned this week so let’s have a look at what was found.

Snowy graveyard

206ThSnGr

All credit goes to Matteo at https://tehoxmaps.com/index.html – this map in particular was located here.

Whilst not being exactly snowy it has the rough features we are after this week , a few buildings, a few old and decrepit walls and gravestones as well as one or two paths in, depending how flexible you define a path.

This will be ideal for what we have planned this week, a place for Paul to be holed up in, walls for players to scout around, areas to hide and sneak through for both the player and what is on the hunt. The idea behind this is that the players can gain a bit of understanding and knowledge about the family that resides in the hilltop manor whilst finding and rescuing Paul Turp who is relatively uninjured and in good health. The encounter, well we will cover that tomorrow, is designed to drive the players perhaps into the large of the two buildings after finding and rescuing Paul from the smaller of the two crypts. Once inside they can seek shelter form the storm and from the beasts that have taken to stalking the snow covered ground.

Once again this week exhaustion will be in effect, the extreme cold, wind and snow makes movement around the area difficult but that wont be the only thing. Perception checks that rely on sight and sound may also be hindered as with heavy snow and wind perception checks that rely on those senses are made at a disadvantage. This should give the players a sense of unknown, danger and suspense as they will be randomly walking into gravestones, perhaps exposed graves as well as fences, trees, bushes and maybe the odd skeleton.

A small river running through the road also gives us a chance to work in the “Frigid water’ and ‘Thin ice’ hazards for the players that don’t walk across the old bridge, something that I would wager would give them cause to seek shelter if they were to fall into the frigid waters below.

Thanks for stopping by and looking over something that will be inspiring the encounter this week, a family graveyard with a small crypt and a larger building amongst the heavy snow. If you like the concepts put in place here I would recommend having a look at Tehoxmaps.com as Matteo has some truly amazing maps for free use and even better ones available to patreons.

Don’t forget to set aside some time this week to enjoy your favourite TTRPG and also, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Unfamiliar places

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Welcome back to a Wednesday where in this post where we look at the twists, turns and changes to the known plot that we have for this week. So far we have young Paul Turp fumbling as he went to hammer in a plank of wood into a post which broke bones in his hand. We also saw that Katya was experiencing a twilight between her her day-terrors and the reality she has known for the longest time.

Tonight we are looking at it from a different point of view to get a better understanding of what the party may be up against this week.

Dizzy spells

206WeDiSp

Paul’s eyes fluttered open to the sight of a dim room and the sound of howling wind outside the small stone room he was lying in. Sitting upright was a mistake and he barely had enough time to catch himself before he fell to the hard stone slab. Looking around the room he squinted trying to force his eyes to focus on the dim stone walls as his vision begins to focus in on the cracked stone, worn wood and small flurries of snow that come through a few gaps in the roof. Pushing himself up he winces as he leans on his left hand, looking down he notices a slightly grubby bandage had been woven around his hand. Slowly unravelling the bandage from around his hand he studied the bruised, blood covered skin beneath unable to see the broken bones and torn flesh where his hammer had shattered his hand yesterday.

“I must be dreaming” he muttered to himself as he stood up, now aware of the heavy coat that was wrapped around his shoulders. The coat was thick, a bit old and felt well worn as he began to move around the small room he found himself in what could only be described as crypt. moving towards the door he tried to open it but found it barred from the outside. Cursing he rattled the door further trying to push through or dislodge what was keeping the door closed before looking around the room for a way to pry open the door. Looking around the room he finds a torch bracket that hung limp from the wall where it would have been attached and after a few rough tugs on the torch it came loose. Jamming the torch bracket between the door and the wall he began to pry, hearing a snap from outside on the third heave which resulted on the door shifting inwards a bit. Sighing with relieve Paul only now realised that there are now that the howling wind had dissipated.

Reaching through the door to try and shift the shattered plank of wood that had held it closed he heard the crunching of snow moments before he withdrew his arm back inside the door as a wolf jumped at the door where his arm was there a moment ago. Slamming the door shut he pushed against the door as the wolf, joined by another or more by the sound of it, scrambling to get the door closed he managed to wedge the torch bracket into a crack in the floor and into the door, leaning against the door with the torch in place he sighed and felt through the pockets in his slightly damp cloak. Feeling the dry hard scrap of jerky he had left over from his lunch, stuffing it inside his mouth he chewed as the claws from the wolves scratched against the door causing it to shudder as he lay against the door and ate the jerky trying to calm his nerves.

Thanks for joining me tonight for another brief writeup for what we are looking to expand this weeks adventure with. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow night and if you like what you read then feel free to follow for future updates.

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

A glimmer of white

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Welcome to Tuesday where we look at what NPC or character we can bring to the tabletop this week. This week we have seen that young Paul Turp is in dire straits having his hand badly injured and he just passed on out from bloodloss and exhaustion as someone walked towards him.

Tonight I want to take a break there for a moment and look at what else is going on in the area to really paint a full picture. So let’s get on with it!

A time of action

206TuToA

Katya paced through the halls the chilled wind coming through the window in short bursts where the glass had fallen through some panes of glass. The wind carried a sense of further unease for Katya given that her day terrors had re-visited with a vengeance.

Her aunt crossed the hallway at the other end of the hall and paused for a moment as she looked towards Katya and smiled Katya smiled back at her aunt repressing a touch of nausea that came to her mouth. As her aunt walked out of the hallway Katya leant against the wall and clenched her eyes tightly trying to remove the vision of her aunts face being a nightmarish mix of sagging pale rotting flesh and her aunts normally smooth, if not a sickly pale, colour. Taking a few deep breaths she turned to looking out of the window, the bricks of their manor flickering between their normal worn but sturdy appearance and a crumbled dilapidated state. Looking up from the small courtyard at the front of the house she felt more than saw a presence, something calling to her, drawing her towards the fields beyond her house.

Squinting through the snow she could not see what was calling to her but the pull as nearly tangible. “What is it my dear” her father said to her, standing just behind her as she looked out towards the fields beyond.
“Oh, father”, she said startled by his sudden and silent appearance. Not wanting to turn around to see what she knew would be the horrible vision of her fathers twisted features she merely leant against the window and continued to look out the window. “The weather has gone quite cold father, what’s he village like? Are they also experiencing the same abnormal weather?’ she asked.

She could almost hear her father squint, despite his smile always being present his eyes always revealed his true feelings. “We have been over this before daughter, the village is not safe for people like you, like us. They are doing fine much like us. Do not worry they have made it clear that they do not need us like we do not need them” he said placing his hand on her shoulder, long slender fingers that were taught thin skin stretched over bones squeezed her shoulder gentle in an affectionate manner.

She nods “I know father, I will stay away from the village” she said gingerly nodding to emphasise her point. Her father squeezed her shoulder again before walking off, the click-clack of talons on the wooden floors growing fainter until her father disappeared down the hall. Turning her head slightly she looked around to make sure her family were not around before she darted down the hall and down the stairs. Slinking between the doors and halls Katya walked towards the kitchen pausing at the door to check if her mother was there, she could not be seen or heard. Dashing through the kitchen towards the side door she paused with her hand above a large fur cloak – her fathers, and as the pull got more urgent she shook her head and grabbed the cloak pushing through the door and into the white world beyond.

That’s where we are at today, Katya’s visions are getting worse and sensing something pull on her conscience towards the fields beyond the walls that she hadn’t left in years at the behest of her family – we will have to see where this goes during the week.

Don’t forget that if you do like this content to come back tomorrow, and each day this week for that matter. I am interested to hear about people using this to inspire their own campaigns or creative endeavours so let us know!

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

Can’t deny ones nature.

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Welcome back to a new week with Brazen Wolfe Tabletop and this week we are looking at picking up what we left up from the last week where the party may have gotten lost in the woods and encountered a half-ogre and his pet as well as a, err, parliament of owls (apparently flock isn’t sufficient here..)

So lets kick off and see where out players are at after the discovery that young Paul Turp had gone missing whilst heading towards the manor at the hill to do some work for “Father”.

Frostbite

206MoFb

As the final post drove deep into the rapidly cooling soil Paul dove his hands back under his coat trying to encourage them to get warm. Despite his brothers warnings and protest he had come out to mend the fence between the McFasters and “Fathers” properties a week early as “Father” had promised him a bag of gold to do it earlier.

‘A bag of gold will keep the farm going for another few seasons. Just got to finish this and Colin won’t have to work so hard.’ he thought as he stumbled nailing a plank back in place. The cold wind carried flakes of snow as a particularly foul wind blew in from the north and they chilled Pauls exposed skin and caused him to fumble. The old heavy hammer smashes into it hand with the sound of crunching bone as his grip waned from the cold.

Shrieking in pain he dropped his tools, the shards of bone poking through his skin causing blood to trickle down his forearm as he cradled his broken hand.

Paul stumbled through the snow having tumbled through the fence, if he could just make it to the village the dwarves at the broken tankard would be able to patch him up and fix his hand, mostly. As he trudged on, now having to push through snow as he walked such was the ferocity of in the elements, his vision began to blur as his body began to shake violently from blood loss and exhaustion.

Stumbling to the frozen ground he tried to stand again but his limbs wouldn’t respond. His eyes closing slowly he caught sight of a figure running through the snow towards him

“Colin…” He mumbled as his world faded to black.

Thats it for tonight, a bit of a taste of what this week will bring with Paul going missing in the fields. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content, perhaps a new NPC, and don’t forget to let me know your thoughts on where the adventure is going this week, or month!

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

The Brazen Wolfe