Author: thebrazenwolfe

Exhaustion

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Welcome to the random day of the weekend where I reflect, expand or digress on the content of the week. Now I touched on it Thursday and the encounter from last night would have had it occur, exhaustion.

Now it’s generally an uncommon status in many games that I have watched, listened to or ran and there is many reasons and excuses for it but exhaustion doesn’t have to be the forgotten step child of status conditions.

Firstly its gradual, its not a disease where you are instantly crippled but it builds over time without adequate rest. As a full time worker, dad and husband I understand how this feels, many of us would.

The effects in summary are:

  • Stage 1 Disadvantage on ability checks,
  • Stage 2 Speed halved,
  • Stage 3 Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws,
  • Stage 4 HP maximum reduced to half,
  • Stage 5 speed reduced to 0,
  • Stage 6 death.

Now stage 3+ is what generally scares players as it affects their combat prowess the most but stage 1 shouldn’t be uncommon. That rough night sleep on your kids floor, yup. Stage 1 exhaustion. Trying to work or function after one or two bad nights gets miserable. Those penalty to ability checks is big. No more diplomacy for you, you unfortunately said the wrong elven phrase and insulted the princess because you were so tired. Feeling sluggish after a hard week of work maybe thats stage 2. Feeling tired to the point of lethargy and it impacting how you move about isn’t just infuriating to you and comical to others it also means you now cant out halflings.. their little legs can now outpace you.

The next few additions or stages of exhaustion are pretty self explanatory but using them to add a element of danger or a challenge to an otherwise mundane adventure or session can give the players a change from mundane combat to something that is truly life threatening to their characters.

Its not just weather, lack of rest and certain activities such as barbarian rage or sleeping in your plate mail can exhaust your characters. Thinking of ways to normalise exhaustion could be the next step in adding that extra something to tour game table.

Well that’s it for tonight, a few thoughts as I look over the weeks content and plan for next week. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the end of week writeup and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Snow Stalkers

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Hello all and welcome to Friday night (fightnight as I like to think of it!). Tonight we have a few small encounters that I want to run as part of the sudden change in weather that we had in last nights part of the adventure.

As last months adventure components didn’t have much in the terms of combat out side of the gaki this week I want to delve into a bit more combat to highlight the oddity at the sudden change in the weather. So this week lets explore creatures that may call the sudden frigid temperatures home and look at how we can include them in our adventure.

Death delivered on white wings

205FrWW

As the wind and snow picked up and the party realised that they were becoming increasingly lost each moment they spent in the snowstorm. The snow and wind distorted noise and the area was blanketed in a dull roar of sound as the weather raged on. Such was the noise from the wind and snow and the bright white of the falling ice that no one noticed the flurry of white wings in the sky nor the whistle of wind through feathers or the cries of alarms as the beasts sank talons into shoulders, armour and bone.

Now not usually a pack hunter but a group of three or four of these for a part of 3-4 level 1 or level 2 players should be sufficient enough to pose a threat without being too overwhelming. Considering the white snow (heavy precipitation) strong wind and environment the owls will approach silently (+4 stealth, party has disadvantage on perception checks for sight and hearing) and with their surprising strength (13) they can carry an impressive 195lbs of weight. Many large birds of prey when they encounter something that is a bit too hard for their talons or beak to crack will carry it high into the air and drop it. This would be the same case for these owls. Grabbing a player and attempting to lift it off the ground (I’d roll it as a grapple attempt in addition to the talon attack) before flying as high as they can with the weight before dropping the creature.

They are wise, and intelligent enough to know to retreat if they take too much damage (dropping below 7hp considering their health pools) and with the ability to do hit and run tactics with flyby if they are unable to grapple and lift off with their prey they would fly off and attempt another swoop shortly.

Ok for the second creature lets write that up.

As the snow and wind died down the party stumbled out of the trees after the owls had ambushed them amongst the branches and canopy of snow and ice covered leaves. The smell of the owls tangy blood mixed with their own and travels along the remaining wind and stained the snow as they walked.

As they walked for some time and stopped for a break finding it difficult to continue walking through the deep snow on the ground the party became acutely aware that they were being followed. As they readied the stomp of heavy footfalls and loud breathing could be heard just as a ogre being led by a brown bear appeared following their tracks.

This one is another simple one, the half-ogre and bear are following their prey and have found them. This would be balanced for a level 2 party but if it was just level 1 party members I would just have the half-ogre appear. The Ogre would release his bear before charging in after it and then it would end up being a pretty straight forward fight.

Well thats all we have, this requires the party to be out in the wilderness or at least away from the town to be effective. The plan here would be the party leaving to go to somewhere nearby (perhaps ruins, a house, The Manor on the hill where Katya lives) and getting mildly lost in a blizzard. The rest is easy. Give the party enough time to have a short rest between the combats and everything should be balanced enough.

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

Weather in Bracken Hollow

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Hello all and welcome to another night of content here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop. Thursday is the night for additional content, extras and things that make the adventure just that little bit better.

Tonight I want to delve a bit deeper into something touched upon last night, the weather at Bracken Hollow and they are going through a bit of a cold snap at the moment. So lets have a look at the rules and guides around weather and then see how it applies to the adventure!

205ThWiBH

So the Dungeon master guide covers a few different weather conditions including extreme cold (fitting), extreme heat, strong winds and heavy precipitation.

Extreme cold requires the creature to roll a constitution saving throw (DC10) every hour they are exposed to it and if they fail they gain a level of exhaustion. However deadly this may be it can be mitigated by wearing suitable gear or having an innate ability to withstand and live in that environment (such as those accustomed to living at that temperature). Thick boots, a coat, thick shoes, a hat, scarf etc. all can prevent the affects of extreme cold as well as having cold resistance will prevent the exhaustion that those not prepared will experience.

Extreme heat requires the creature to go through their limited resources more often, water in this case, or be required to make, you guessed it, a constitution saving throw (DC5 +1 DC per hour spend out in the heat) or become gain 1 level of exhaustion after an hour of not drinking. Naturally creatures that have fire resistance can take the heat and those creatures who are acclimatised to the area will find it a walk in the part, not a walk in the desert. Wearing medium armour or heavy clothes or armour will make the creature take this saving throw at a disadvantage.

Extreme wind will impose disadvantage on ranged weapon attack rolls and Wisdom saving throws that require the creature to hear what is around them. Creatures that fly non-magically will have to land (they cant fly), gases and fog clouds will be dispersed and exposed flames and fires will be extinguished.

Extreme precipitation will hamper the vision of creatures making the area lightly obscured (disadvantage on perception checks that use sight) and heavy rain (as opposed to just snow) will also extinguish open flame and impose disadvantage on hearing checks. Ah the sound of rain on colour bond or tin roofs.

Extreme cold, wind and precipitation will be useful in this weeks adventure and I would roll for a shift in the weather every d4+3 hours, the reason why will be revealed next week, where 1 is cold but not extremely so, 2-3 is cold and rainy, 4 is rainy and extremely cold, 5 is extremely cold with snow and finally 6 is a blizzard (Extreme wind, cold and snow).

Hazards may also form under the right consequence and a selection of a few is what I would suggest at some points, to be expanded upon this weekend mind you.

Thin ice, Frigid water and slippery ice.

If the party were to find themselves crossing a lake, river or damn then all three would take affect.

Thin ice means that the ice has a weight limit per 10 ft square of 180lb (3d10*10lbs) and whenever the weight limit for an area of thin ice is met, the ice in that area breaks and all creatures on broken ice fall through. I would rule this as an immediate suffering from frigid water unless! they have resistance to cold.

Frigid water is the same as extreme cold but the creature wont have to make the saving throw until a number of minutes equal to their constitution score. Personally I would also add on disadvantage for any future extreme cold checks until they can dry themselves as it makes logical sense.

The last is slippery ice, nice, simple and comical. The creature who finds themselves on slippery ice must make a DC10 dexterity (acrobatics) check or fall prone.

All of these hazards and weather conditions will have an affect on how the party address the game. Would they spend gold on purchasing thicker clothing or gear or would they try and rough it out?

Thanks for joining me tonight for this small writeup. This weekend, and well tomorrow, I hope to expand upon these a bit more and really flesh out what it means to be caught in a small village during a snow storm looking for a deity favoured maiden.

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

The Broken tankard

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Welcome to Wednesday where we look at twists, turns and otherwise secondary plot hooks for the adventure. This week, coupled with the main driving plot from last week, we will expand the existing plot because, lets face it, the creepy family and daughter with nightmarish visions is probably plot enough.

So like most adventures we will find the party stopping over in a tavern, this weeks port of call for a drop of the good stuff is The Broken Tankard, a dwarven run tavern where the lads at the Broken tankard bring you a themed menu, drinks and service that’s almost as gruff as it is warm and inviting.

So let’s kick off our boots, loosen our bracers and visit what promises to be a great night and tale to write home about.

The three siblings

205WeTTS

Weary from their travels the party enter the quiet village known to travellers as Bracken Hollow they walked to the only building open and sporting any sign of life and warmth as the weather had turned cold on the steady climb up to the village.

Pushing on the door they entered the room to a near crushing silence where the eyes of twenty odd people stared at them. A stout, muscular dwarf in what appeared to be a leather breastplate walked backwards, careful to not spill what they carried, through the saloon style doors that separated the large warm dining hall to a kitchen where rich roasts could be smelt cooking.

As the dwarf turned around, a large platter of food on a tray nearly overflowing with roasted vegetables and some meat the party could now see that the stern, imposing and commanding figure was a young dwarf maiden, her long golden hair tied in a tight top-knot. Noticing the silence she slammed the food down on the table before grabbing a dented tankard from the bar and strode foward.

“Right, back to it ye’ sons of oxen. I’ll deal with this” the called out as she strode towards the party, placing a hand on her hip as she stood in front of the party before urging them to lean closer to her.

“Sorry for this, the villagers here don’t like strangers, well anyone ‘new’ really.” she then squared her shoulders and grabbed the first person in front of her and lifted them an easy six inches off the remarkably non-sticky tavern floor. “You create any trouble here you’ll ‘ave to deal with me. You hearing me?” she said, giving them a sly wink before setting them on the ground as she strode off toward the tavern bar. As the party watched the matriarchal dwarf stride through the room, a dull roar of merriment now coming from the room – content that the strangers had been thoroughly warned.

As the party moved forward, the grins, laughter and smell of good food lifted their spirits and eased their nerves. The few travellers they had passed on the road were either leaving Bracken Hollow or had nothing good or polite to say about the town or its people. Sitting down at a large table, occupied by a pair of farmers, brothers apparently, they quickly became acquainted with the pair before the plates of food and drink they ordered were set before them. A few minutes passed and as they enjoyed their meals and the company of the brothers a small cheer broke out and a rather attractive bard with golden hair appeared on a small barrel and stool with a lute. She strummed out a few chords before getting off into a merry jig about a crazed hermit who the whole village despised for good reason as it was though that the hermit cursed their crop and stalked their kids to eat. Despite the dark omens and shady character the jig was merry and full of humour where the hermit would always fail spectacularly and in the most publicly embarrassing way possible.

Two other dwarves, males and by their appearance identical twins, appeared from the amongst the crowd and they began do dance around the room picking up tankards, plates and taking money and orders from people. The family resemblance between them and the gruff matron of the tavern was uncanny. It was at such a moment where the tavern was roaring with laughter that the door opened again, letting in such a chill that it startled the room.

The man who entered seemed to slither-crawl across the ground, his sickly pale-yellow skin was met with an nearly insatiable grin that he carried as he nodded to each and every person in the room.

“Just a bottle of wine Milly,” the man spoke, his voice seemingly the only normal thing about him as the room was dead quite watching him. As the tavern hostess went to the back room to retrieve a bottle of wine the man turned to the party and the two brothers on the table. “Say, new faces. Pleased to meet you all, everyone calls me Father.” he said, his grin setting the nerves of the players on high alert.

“They just came in, here from Daye” the younger of the brothers said loudly, grinning as he sipped on his tankard. The older brother pushed the kicked his sibling under the table causing a confused look of pain to spread across his kin’s face.

“They are just passing through Greg,” the older brother began, “say, do you need help with your fences before this weather gets any worse? We would be glad to be of assistance again” he said as he turned around, a smile coming to his face but not his eyes.

“Yes, Colin, that would be appreciated. I will tell Mother, uncle and Aunty to expect you around the house as to not alarm them. Also please call me Father, it is my real name after all” Greg-father said, his grin never leaving his face. As he leaned in to begin more conversation a stomping began at the barrel and stool where the bard was singing. The party only now aware that the whole tavern was staring at the man called both Father and Greg. Turning his head to the bard she began to sing a tune about a monster in the woods and the villagers who grew tired of it preying on their stock, households and lives. The message clear to the party from the way the bard stared at the man next to them. The man simply smiled more, if possible and began to nod and sing along before turning to the party “I really do like this song, the beast in it is quite…” he was cut off by the thud of a bottle next to him.

“There ye are father. A bottle of the good stuff, I brought a second one out not sure if you were wanting more than one” Milly said dusting off her hands on her kilt.

“Thanks Milly dear, that’s very kind. Yes we will take two so we can celebrate with Katya when she recovers. Well I best be off before the weather turns worse” he said sliding over entirely too much gold for what the bottles were worth, instantly waving Milly off when she began to protest.

As the man left the room began to brighten up again and some people even began to sing along with the bard.

“The songs she sings,” the older brother said between mouthfuls of roasted potato, “they are about him and his family. They have a daughter but she is never seen outside and they do not take kindly to visitors. I really do fear for that girl. There is something.. Special about her” he said almost wistfully before realising what he said and returning back to his food.

There we are, a bit more of a glimpse, a tavern, a dwarven maiden who is maybe more than what she seems called Milly and an introduction to Father. What will the party do and make of this situation?

Don’t forget that if you use this in one of your games to let me know! I am curious to see how other parties work through these adventures and what you would/will and do change about them. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Scattered faces

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Welcome to Tuesday where we are looking at the NPCs that we may encounter in this weeks adventure, well normally.

Tonight I want to create a few different NPCs that we can draw from in the coming days in addition to the ones we are already introduced to.

Family Portraits

Mother
Father
Aunt Patrica
Uncle Bernard
Katya

The resemblance of the family is what drives people in the nearby village, well few houses, to distrust them. The father is always found with a near-manic smile on his face while the Uncle, Bernard, and Aunt, Patrica, can be found staring from the windows in the not-quite right building.

The most normal one out of the family is the mother who rarely can be seen by outsiders unless they greet the door. She is pleasant enough but never lets people inside the front door. When they do glimpse her through windows she is always standing near or around Katya, whom the family seen drawn to, many have speculated whether out of protection or control but the discussions always end up with sympathy and pity put upon the young woman who has not set a foot outside in years.

Chatty Villagers

The Village folk and those who could potentially be on the road are generally helpful townsfolk who are trusting enough, but not too much, and will seek to aid the party in their adventures. They speak well enough of the family at first, not being ones to spread rumours but there are a few rumour mills in the village.

Helpful Villager (Brother to the older brother Naïve Kid)
Naïve Kid

The Brothers who work on one of the farms in the town are polar opposites. The older one is cautious but helpful, always waiting to get a read on someone before helping them. His younger brother, inspired by his brothers helpfulness is overly kind and generous which has cost them before in the past. Despite their kindness and drive to help they both speak openly about their thoughts of what happens at the Manor on the hill, how they contemplate how they could break Katya out and let her live life in the village away from her controlling and, frankly, weird family.

Tavern Bard -Carline

Carline is perhaps the one person who has taken down “Fathers” smile, her quick tongue, brash manners and lack of tolerance for what she deems to be injustice has created many brawls and has even had the Katya’s father broil with rage. She knows when to back off from something she cant win and, she only spoke ill once to Katya’s father until she saw something that rattled her in his rage. She still speaks openly about her distrust and dislike for the family, overall, and perhaps will reveal more to people when she can trust their intentions.

Well that’s it for tonight! A longer one than a few in the past due to the amount of portraits I merged from existing ones I have created before in the past and, also, ones that I created newly tonight. A range of people to meet, perhaps more, will give the town and the family a bit more of a living feel and should immerse our players just that bit more.

Don’t forget that if you like what you see, the images that is, up above feel free to check out the created collection I have growing at Artbreeder (not a sponsor) where you can find all the NPC portraits I have created to date (and some I have saved to be used as a base image) under my profile, feel free to check it out here artbreeder.com/thebrazenwolfe.

Also if you like the direction this adventure is going, or don’t for that matter, feel free to leave a comment! And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The path untraveled

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Welcome to Monday and, what will be as of tomorrow, the first week of February (noting today is still January..) This marks the first day of a new week and month of content and I hope that the next few weeks make for good D&D adventure and story inspiration.

Tonight we will expand on what was touched on last week with the additional information of a new priestess, one that is potentially stronger than Lizbet, and of a creature that seeks to make a deal in exchange of the gifted item that the priestess received from a Red Fleet merchant family.

Uncertain familiarity

205MoUnFa

Katya walked through the halls of her family without a care in the world, except for one thing. Every now and again she would get a pull – a tug on her conscious that would make her see vivid images and nightmarish visions in place of her family. When she brought it up with her family one time it occurred they explained that it was linked to the spell a stranger put upon her when she was 10 which caused her to lose her memories and begin to have these reoccurring waking nightmares which would unsettle her for days if not weeks. After some time things would return to normal and she would move from room to room in her families manor at the top of a hill and go about her reading, studies and prayer to their families patron deity.

Unfortunately those pleasant days of bliss away from the waking nightmares were a month behind her and she could feel the tug on her conscious as she moved to the last room on the left of the long empty hall way, the library. Walking through the door the musty smell of knowledge warmed her mind and soothed her nerves. She had always found solace and peace in these walls amongst the mounds of books and scrolls on slightly dusted shelves. The pull came hard and fast, making her stumble and lean upon a shelf her hand clutching upon a book. “The Earth mother – Chauntea” the faded writing on the spine revealed to her as she opened her eyes. Frowning she placed the book down on the table and looked around the library. Gone was the bright clean library and in its stead was a decrepit filled with worn and dusty tomes. The large window at the end of the room that normally had an image of a saintly figure inlayed with stained glass was gone and a shattered, grime covered window replaced it where none of hte stained glass remained in the window sill. Looking around the room the tattered pages, mould covered books and layers of dust and debris made her heart begin to beat faster.

“It’s just the curse, its just the curse” she repeated to herself as she sat down on a tipped over table and massaged her head.

“Are you alright my dear” a horrible screech of a voice came from the doorway as she whipped her head up to stare at what she knew to be there already. A sunken faced, horned creature with two smaller arms twitching irritated grew from its rib cage. The face looked upon her hungrily but with devoted awe plastered across its bright yellow eyes. “Are you ok Katya?” the creature half scuttled forward, carefully approaching her.

“I am fine, its just.. The visions are back. They feel stronger than before. The Library.. It’s ruined. The books. All ruined.” She sobbed, her mind cracking at the state of her most cherished place.

Long strong sinewy arms wrapped around her and she felt rather than heard a soothing cooing from the creature that embraced her. The creature’s body twitched and she felt a puddle of warm liquid hitting her shoulder, she didn’t need to open her eyes to know it was drool.

“easy now Katya, its just the waking nightmare. Come back to me and feel the warmth of our lord” the creature said all the time cooing softly. Soon the long muscle bound arms disappeared and a warmth could be felt through her core. Opening her eyes, slowly and shakily she was created by her mother standing next to her, tears streaming down her face and pooling on Katya’s shoulder. “Their’s my little snack. Are you back with me now?” She asked, warmth flooding the face of the older woman.

“Yes Mum, it was like it always was but this time it felt more. The pull felt more urgent. I can’t explain it.” Katya half-sobbed as she cuddled her mother back.

“now now my child, lets go to the kitchen and Mary will fetch you something to eat. Pie always cheers you up, maybe with some tea this time? Father brought some back last time he went into town. Its dangerous out there you know, he came back in quite a state.” her mother said as they walked together down the hall. As they left the Library shard by painted shard the stained glass window started to fall back into itself as dirt and grime covered the image of the smiling saintly man. As the shards fell inwards the image of the man flickered, a sneering horned creature was left in its place holding a angelic figure in one hand and a bloodied sickle in the other. As the mother and daughter walked down the stairs the last of the shards of stained, grubby glass fell to the ground and turned to sand before it even touched the chipped, dirties and paper covered floor.

Boy do we have an adventure and a half this week. As you can probably pickup from the short narrative up above the priestess of Chauntea has lost he memories and finds herself in what she believes to be her families home, but curse from a stranger or not not everything is as it seems to be with these nightmarish visions wracking her brain periodically. Of late they have gotten stronger, perhaps building to a time in which she will be exposed to a group of adventurers searching for a child of prophecy?

Hopefully our adventurers can help this maiden be cured of her sickness and find out what’s really happening on Hollow Peak.

As you can tell, I had a bit of fun writing this one up tonight. I hope that this new weeks finds you well and excited for perhaps another week of dungeons and dragons or perhaps you are into another table top game this week. What ever you are looking forward to feel free to share it here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop.

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

A Legacy of Hunger

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Tonight we begin our 11 month long campaign with the party entering the seaside town of Daye. This month we investigated a legacy of hunger and the darkness that trade can bring into a family.

As with usual 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 which has had some bits modified over the months content. Now including the original content, and some bits added this is a smaller than normal length, only just making 8052! words long. I really do appreciate the time you take to read through these end of month adventures.

All Maps were made in Inkarnate using their Pro license, Art was created in Artbreeder and the statblocks were created in Tetra-cube AND the balancing of encounters is a mixture of experience and the guides found at Kobold Fight Club.

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

Part 1 – Crimson flags on a pale shore. 201MoCrFl

As the rising sun touches the sails over the docks a shimmering sea of red greets those who rise with the sun. Long masts on beautiful ships sail into port with strange and terrifying creatures carved into the richly coloured wood.

The people seemed to flow across the decks as they tended to great rippling red sails, silken rope and barrels of good. Yet only the captain of a ship had their face not covered by a white mask. As they dock great planks were lowered to the piers below and crates, barrels and cages were taken off the shift and lowered to the docks as the masked sailors moved surefooted across the wooden planks to take their cargo into warehouses and storage.

As the people move across the streets their presence, odd mannerisms and appearance start to cause a commotion across the port town of Daye and soon enough word travels of the animals, items, goods and strange foods that the new ship has brought in. The people are welcoming of the excitement and the traders are accommodating despite never removing their masks or gloves.

After a few days reports of strange occurrences of things being moved in houses and shops as well as shadows drifting over roofs and walls. As more of these sightings occurred the people started look for something or someone to blame and curfews were places upon the masked traders to both protect them and rarely their movements through the night.

201TuKyHa & 201TuHu

Kyoko sighed as she looked across the table as the two men from the Daye city watch left her cabin through the ornamentally carved door. She had anticipated some resistance at first but being openly welcomed then having the proverbial doors slammed in her face was not expected.

“what do we do captain?” Hurane asked, his masked face distorting his normally smooth voice. “We came here to trade and establish new trade routes for the betterment of our people. If we can’t do that then we must find somewhere else.” He said with genuine concern.

Pressing her index fingers to her temples she pondered her next action. The city guard had come just after noon and placed restrictions and curfews on her people leaving the ships within an hour of dusk and dawn which is when many people are out and about on the streets wanting to experience new sights and delights. The curfew would not just make it hard to do business it would nearly make them staying here impossible. Looking over the papers that were left here, reports of sightings of figures in the night and items being moved or disappeared it sounded like the guards were accusing one of her people of being the culprit.

“find out what you can from our troupe. If we are responsible we will deal with it and clear our name. If we can’t handle this we will be left with no choice but to leave and I don’t think we can afford another endeavour like this again” Kyoko said looking through the papers again. Hurane saluted to her and went to leave the cabin to begin his questioning. “And Hurane, if no one talks, let’s get the Lotus involved, we can’t fail here.”

As Hurane left Kyoko sat back on her chair and had a look over the occurrences. It wasn’t just reports of a thief, it looked to be searching for something specific based on the reports. Maybe it wasn’t a person but a thing. She looked at the book her father had left her that contained stories of warriors from this continent that visited her home land years ago. Warriors that defied the Oni and fought against the spirits in the swamp to free entire villages. Perhaps she could find such warriors in their home land, maybe a party of adventurers is what she needs.

201WeDaMiFa

Dark tendrils of mist crawled down the wall as the lantern light left the room and ascended the stairs of the two story house. As the tendrils touched the floor it rose to take the shape of a hunched humanoid. Glowing pits for eyes snapped up on a neck that twitched and  shook erratically as it watched the last of the light disappear up stairs.

Skitter-slinking across the floor it moved through the room picking up items, raising them to its face where it inhales their smell in deeply before putting them back not quite in the same space. The mist that clung to its form obscured its face and most of its details but it seemed unhindered by the dark cloak that clung to it.

As it picked up a trinket from a mantle place it inhaled deeply causing wafts of blue light to float from it. The creatures body shook uncontrollably in what could only be described as ecstasy  as the blue energy touched its face. Cupping the anchor medallion in both hands it inhaled deeply and grain by grain the talisman disintegrated in a trail of blue light and disappeared into the mouth of the creature.

“what in bloomin heck!” A loud voice said as the click of flint and tinder sounded from the stairs. As the spark of flame moved towards the lantern the creature whirled around and spotted the interloper. Jumping to the wall of the house it skittered up the wall at freakish speed. The sound of a man shrieking, a dropping lantern and shattering glass was the only sound as the creature climbed into the shadows of the the room. Slowly as it stared down at the man with its glowing pits for eyes it could smell the fear from the human as it stared at its eyes. Slowly its body turned to the same dark mist that surrounded its body and it drifted through the wall, two faint embers of its eyes the last thing to disappear.

201ThSeBr

Kyoko watched as the hawk soared above the boat and and head out towards the city, she wondered what it would be like to be born with the gift of flight. Sighing she turned away and strolled down the plank to go check on the stalls where her peoples wares were being sold, regrettably a lot slower now that they had restrictions put upon them, she only could hope that the creature, or person that was the source of their restrictions.

Hurane walked up to her, clasping his forearms behind his back as he looked over ships and the people discussing price on food, craft and other items. “The morning Lotus has bloomed. If one of ours is responsible they will find out” he said leaning closer to her to ensure that the message was hard to intercept. The masks her people wore helped to also protect the words Hurane spoke to her. But also protect their identities, the people of this city were not ready yet to see who they were behind the masks.

“I noticed. Let us hope they can find what is causing the distress of the good people of Daye and we can begin to rebuild the relationship needed to establish this trade route. “Have you any leads yet?” Kyoko asked as she looked towards the masked man she had grown up with.

“Sadly no Kyoko, we don’t have a lead. Every trader, sailor and officer has been questioned and they all swear their loyalty and deny any involvement in the disturbance. Apologies Kyoko” Hurane spoke with a tinge of regret in his voice.

“Well let’s hope the lotus blooms and we find what’s causing our grief”

The wind filled the wings of the bird as it flew high in the sky its keen eyesight gazing down upon the blue waters, the red railed ships and the thatch covered houses that covered the ground like a maze. The houses were built as needed without much foresight into where the next would be built. This evidently caused the alleys and pathways between houses to be erratic and suddenly end, a maze of mudbrick walls and thatch covered roofs. Very different from where she is from.

Noticing something different from the sea of thatch, mudbrick and rough stone street she flew down in broad circles looking around her as he descended for any signs of danger. Seeing no danger she landed on the roof and picked up the object that was shining on the roof and held it in one claw so she could look at it closer. It appeared to be a medallion or talisman made from metal, or so what was left of it gave that appearance. Noticing the faint taint of magic from it and the way that it was damaged concerned her, in her experience magic items were very difficult to break and finding one damaged as such concerned her. Deciding that it was worth notifying Kyoko she flew off with the hook shaped metal trinket.

Environment and running the adventure

As the party enter the city they are greeted by the salty and fishy smelling docks that flank the single road into the town. The houses are made from sandstone and wooden roofs with thatching to weatherproof them or mud brick and a rough patchwork of straw for their thatching. The roads are erratically built and designed with no uniform height, width or length between one house, the next and ab dead end at the ends of the street. Only by following the crowd so they make it to where the street vendors and trade ships sell their wares.

The party would notice that a large number of elegantly dressed people wearing masks walk the streets and man stalls in front of large red sailed ships that are moored at the docks. Some city guard appear to be arguing with one such man who complies with their demands until they got to remove his mask. The man pleads loudly and sobs for the guard to not do so.

If the party step forward the guard would question their motives aggressively but a friendly unmasked woman quickly approaches and helps the masked person back to their feet and stall. She introduces herself as Kyoko Harimasu, the captain of the red fleet and she thanks then for stepping in explaining that her people wear masks based oaths they took before they survived in this land. She mentions the hungry gull is likely the best and most affordable tavern-come-inn around.

If the party doesn’t help the masked man Kyoko will intervene and then loudly introduce herself to passer-by

That night regardless of where the party stay they may (DC12 perception check or passive perception) to notice some one watching them closely from outside. If they investigate they find someone quickly disappearing into the roof and darting up into the roof. If they choose to chase then use the chase rules from Fridays encounter.

Encounter – The Chase

I want to entertain the feature of the dungeon master guide again, the chase.

When the chase begins you establish a few things. The distance between the pursued (quarry) and the pursuers, the position of them and the lead pursuer and any immediate hazards or obstacles

The lead pursuer is who ever is closest and may change per round depending on who is closest.

The position will be important for this adventure as we will have vertical distance as well as horizontal distance which affects sight amongst other things.

The actual encounter is simply the discovery of a suspicious person on a roof, a chase and then either questioning them or trying to work out who they were based on some queues given during the chase.

If the chase continues on the rooftops then a dexterity check(dc10) would need to be made per movement action taken, dash or otherwise, if failed then the roof collapses and the creature has their leg stuck (prone) until they can pull themselves free (dc10 strengths check).

Guards will be alerted if the party or their quarry is loud. They may try and intercept the party on the roof of they are discovered. On the roads the party will be encountered with intersections where every round roll a dice.

On a 1 there is an intersection where the path to the left is a dead end after 15 ft and the right continues 15ft to the right then turns forward again (left turn to head in the same direction of their quarry) 2-3 the path continues forward with no blockage and on a 4 the path to the right is blocked after 15ft but the left path is unblocks and after 15 ft the path turns right to follow the quarry.

On the road they may find drunken citizens, thugs/thieves, startled citizens who shriek for the guard when they see the party or a group of guards who try and stop the party.

The idea here is the classic Street chase to find information on a lead to the creature and the missing items.

After the encounter:

If /Or when captured the person is revealed to be a robed boy with a mask identical to the Red Fleet merchants. When questioned he will take them to Kyoko who will explain that the boy was one of her people who wanted to confirm that the adventures weren’t the cause of the mysterious sightings of ghostly figures in the town. She explains the situation with the town, how to the guards and their towns people have started to distrust the masked people and who they are. She explains that she believes it’s a creature to that seeks trinkets or things of little magical power and takes them. Kyoko and the party to help locate the culprit and stop further attacks and robberies, she would offer them something of their choosing from the traders private stash, gold or a trip with them when the party and the fleet is ready back to her home continent.

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A hunger that lasts

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Welcome to the end of the week write-up. Admittedly last nights post on preparation was me telling myself that I’d recover and feel better today to do a full day of writing but alas that didn’t come to pass.

But todays woes is just more work tomorrow but I wanted to leave a bit of something here to tie us adventure enthusiasts over for a bit longer. So let’s have a look at a monthly roundup.

Eternal Hunger

The quiet port town of Daye located about 60 miles southeast of Athkatla are greeted by a sight that stills the hearts of many. dozens of magnificent ships carried across the water by large sails the colour of the red dragons from the bards songs. As large boarding planks are lowered to the docks the town guard are greeted by many humans wearing red robes and white masks that hide all facial features. Soon a captain of the fleet emerges, Kyoko Harimasu, a mask-less fair human who Greets the town guard and the officials with genuine respect in a deep bow. Kyoko introduces her fleet as merchants from beyond the Moonshae Isles who wish to establish a trading post in Amn and Daye is their first stop.

After a few days people are charmed by the friendly merchants and sailors and amazed at the wares that they have brought, magic. Talismans, amulets, fetishes and all types of good luck charms that people start to swear have helped them in their lives.
The popularity of the magic talismans however brought about reports or strange figures on streets and rooftops of the thatch houses. One night a sailor came down stairs expecting a stray kat to have entered an open window to find a disembodied figure floating mid air clutching at an item he bought from one such stall. The creature spooked and floated off through the wall leaving the man’s good luck charm dissolved as if dipped in acid.

This is where the party arrives, just as things are heating up and as curfews and trading restrictions are placed upon the kind and well mannered people from across the waves.

This is an adventure tailored as an introduction to a year-long campaign which aims to expose the party to d&d content inspired by the Oriental Adventures (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement) from 2001.

The adventure will be broken up into three parts, Introduction, Exploration and investigation and then the final confrontation

I will add parts 1, 2 and 3 when I write them tonight and tomorrow but hope this will sate your reading hunger for now!

The Brazen Wolfe

Preparation

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So something that I am (generally) good at and whether it is tactical gameplay walkthrough through scenarios played out in my mind or study I find that preparation helps my wargaming just as much as it helps my TTRPG sessions.

Some weeks though the cards are stacked against you and they either prevent you from being able to prepare for your next session or your next big match or no matter how many times or how much you prepared you are ill prepared for what lies ahead and you find yourself at a disadvantage.

This being as true for wargaming tabletop as role playing games (or even writing that next blog post or chapter in the story you are working on) doesn’t mean that the way around it is the same.

For wargaming repetition is key. Playing the same ‘list’ repeatedly and learning the ins and outs of a army through repetition can help with those moments your opponent does something unexpected or you’re against a faction you are not familiar with. It wont fully prepare you but knowing what you are against will make a difference.

This is hitting home for me tonight as I prepare an army to face off against a friend and local wargamer tomorrow. Returning to an army I have played for many releases now and have a lot of reps done with, Flesh eater courts.

The same prep and approach can be done for TTRPGs. Once you have used the ruleset enough and had enough sessions the random creative approaches your players spring on you don’t seem as random or you atleast have the understanding and foundation in place for you to to respond and adapt to the new information or change in what was planned.

Even if you have hundreds hours, yup.. hundreds if not close to a thousand hours by now, in the one setting (running d&d adventures and campaigns since advanced dnd), if you don’t spend time to sit down and plan your adventure and do a bit of preparation before the session then you may find yourself struggling with having to wing and adlib every interaction, conversation, puzzle or encounter which can leave yourself and your party feeling underwhelmed.

Hobbies such as what we find ourselves partaking in as part of Brazen Wolfe Tabletop are time consuming to say the least and without that practice and preparation you may quickly become overwhelmed.

So when I look to what I want to experience and experiment with this year before I bring some of those experiments here I will be getting some practice in so I can produce content that is not only valuable but also usable.

Oh yeah, the list!

  • Army Faction: Flesh-eater Courts
  • Subfaction: Blisterskin
  • Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
  • Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS

Abhorrant Archregent (245)*

  • General
  • Command trait: Hellish Orator
  • Spells: Spectral Host

Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Zombie Dragon (430)*

  • Artefacts of Power: Eye of Hysh
  • Spells: Deranged Transformation

Crypt Infernal Courtier (130)*

BATTLELINE

6 x Crypt Flayers (360)*
6 x Crypt Flayers (360)*
20 x Crypt Ghouls (170)*

BEHEMOTH

1 x Royal Terrorgheist (305)*

CORE BATTALIONS

*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000

This should be a very fast list with large mortal would potential (hopefully) and good rend on the Zombie Dragon. The idea here is high alpha strike potential to take the fight to them without losing too much ground and the objectives.

Well thats thr Saturday night musings, come back tomorrow for some more content and then on Monday I hope to give a battle report on tomorrow night’s game.

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

The Brazen Wolfe

A small change in plans

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Welcome to fight night where, not really having much more this week than a mild side quest for the party to go and retrieve something for the priestess (a possible replacement in the form of a budding priestess of Chauntea who is believed to be more powerful) this week is a bit light on in content.

But what this week does bring is the ability to look at something that I believe everyone should experience in their d&d adventures, travel and ‘roadside encounters’. These can take place in a few ways, not all of them are bad, some can be quite good… Some that is. So lets have a look at a handful of potential roadside encounters that could be used on the road to the encampment in the merchant state of Amn.

Roadside Riddles, Ruckus and Roast

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The party travel of half a day before the smell of roasting meat greets them from amongst a small copse of trees which has a faint tune rustling from within the trunks and branches. Approaching they find a small halfling with six bags placed in neat circle around a large spit which boasts the largest assortment of roasting meat that the party has seen in quite some time. Upon seeing the party the halfling smiles and begins to change his song to talk about how a lone halfling traveller ran into a party of travellers and invited them to come eat with him around his fire.

DC15 nature or survival check would reveal that something was odd about the cuts of meat – these appear to be too small for large game native to this area and too large for the game that would be there. Characters with high perception (passive or DC14) would notice that the bags strewn around the firepit all look to be well travelled and sized for creatures other than the halfling.
If questioned he replies that he is waiting for his travelling companions to return from a nearby town with supplies before they head off again and that the roast was a feast of good luck and bounty before they head off. An insight check (DC12) would reveal he is lying. Beating by 5 points or more the character would notice a hungry look in the halflings eyes as he looks at the party and become concerned for their wellbeing.

The halfling is actually cannibalistic and lures travellers to his grove where he poisons them with the roast meat (DC12 constitution saving throw or fall unconscious) where upon he leaps upon the unconscious people and starts to stab at them. The halfling has the stats of the spy from the monster manual.

The party have travelled for a number of days down the road after a dense and heavy fog suddenly appeared and it wasn’t the first time that the party had realised they were lost. After backtracking, trying a new direction and other methods when they become frustrated a merry chuckle can be heard from near by. A few moments pass before a small floating humanoid appears who reveals with a joyous squeak of a voice that its name is Barnelby and he has trapped the party in a fog for its own amusement. Threats and attempts at violence only cause the fey-creature to laugh more at the parties growing frustration before he offers them a deal. He will set them free if they can answer a riddle or three! answer two out of three riddles correctly means that they are free!

The riddles here should not be too difficult. The idea here is for a fun encounter rather than something that actually harms the players. I believe the middle riddle should be hardest to set the mood for the party. Best out of three it is so one wrong one and the party is fine. IF the party do lose then the fey creature returns again the following day with the same deal. If the party asks the creature a riddle it is over joyed with delight and will attempt its hardest to answer and if it gets one wrong it will laugh until it falls to the ground. If the answer 2 our of three riddles correctly or they ask a riddle it doesn’t understand then before the party realise that the mist has disappeared and they find themselves in front of their destination with nearly no time lost in the mists. The party will occasionally hear the laugher of the fey creature when the surrounding area is super quiet but it does not appear again.
Example Riddles:

“What lives in the forest but has no skin, no feathers nor brain but many limbs” – A tree/branch.

“I build castles, yet tear down mountains, make some men blind, and other see. What am I?” – Sand.

And in a sing-song voice “I am green as emeralds when placed below the sky. I do not breath any air but I never ask why. If you try and shelter me, I simply shrink and die. The answer to this riddle is simply who am I?” – A plant.

The party have set up camp in a camping grounds not too far from their destination amongst a slew of other caravans, wagons and tents that have a ready supply of guards and mercenaries mingling with music, food and dancing aplenty. During the night and merriment a dwarf storms over from a nearby wagon and sits down angrily next to the party. A moment later two other dwarves come up and an argument breaks out. The first dwarf swears he will never join their band again and that he now swears allegiance to the party!

The party soon realise that the dwarf, Rubael, is extremely clingy, needy and has not felt valued with his previous group of dwarves, his actual brothers. If the party talk to the dwarves brothers Bubael and John… they find out that he is always getting into trouble, he hates authority and frequently has their goods, possessions and sometimes hard earned coin taken by city guards due to the way he acts. They just want their brother to act like a mighty Bronzebeard (their clan name) and stop giving into his angry nature when working amongst humans and the like. They are worried that without their protection that no amount of bribery of gold, goods or possessions will prevent the guards from going easy on the firecracker next time.

The party have to work out what to do – could be an opportunity to have an ally, who may cause more trouble than he is worth, but he is a strong and dependable fighter if the party can see past his jagged razor like edges.

So many things can happen on the road, these are just examples. Looking at the Faerun map every major city is hundreds of miles apart, so days of travel and to break up that slow dredge or low narrative of moving between starting and end point of the adventure with one of these light hearted (or fatal if you don’t see past the cannibalistic halflings ruse) could help make the travelling aspect of D&D more enjoyable for all.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content, I am preparing for a Warhammer game on Sunday (in person.. I know!) to help a friend and local community member prepare for a tournament so I will try and post that battle report style writeup on Sunday. Tomorrow I hope to have some more content for you but until then, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe