Welcome to another Friday night where tonight we are looking at the Denizens of Trenchold Woods. These are good creatures for level 1 or level 2 parties to encounter and can make for a fun and enriching adventure despite being cliche. But you can scale this to a larger encounter by adding more creatures or looking at higher CR creatures (such as trolls or hobgoblins) to be the aggressor in this weeks adventure. So sit back as tonight we investigate stat-blocks!
Denizens of Trenchold Woods
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‘The wild ones‘
A collection of creatures for random encounters that can be used either on the way to the cave, on the side of the road or even in the cave. Some of these you can set up as the main battle, like the ogre, who is a tough combatant (if you start adventures at level 2 for example).
The Goblins, orcs and such are all easy enough for a level 1 party of 4 to deal with but don’t forget that weight of numbers is also a great way to challenge a party.
Thanks for visiting tonight more low level stat blocks for the adventure. Come back tomorrow to get a look at the tournament progress, day 1 results and hopefully a picture of the army that I mentioned last week. Don’t forget to come back this weekend as we produce the end of the weeks writeup. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage The Brazen Wolfe
Like most of my adventures where I have multiple options or plots that are available I try to have a single point where they link up. I call this the “all roads lead to Rome” approach but really “all roads lead to Trenchold caves” is maybe more appropriate. Regardless of what I call it many DMs do this and it makes those early encounters feel less scripted, more free flowing and natural. However it also helps the DM funnel their efforts into a single map or encounter that they have planned. So enough talking lets get to some spelunking! So let’s sit back, grab a coffee and delve in!
Trenchold Caves
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Now Trenchold caves can be the house for bandits, goblins, ogres, orcs or just about anything you want to throw at the level 1 party. A secluded cave means that they have to use some non-combat skills to get there such as survival, nature and investigation. But it also opens us up to some random encounters OR the chance to use spells and abilities that we may not get much use out of (like Speak with Animals).
The cave isn’t that big but it has an area that is only 5ft wide. It could be blocked by a boulder that gives another skill check OR a mechanical barrier that could be a variety of skill checks or problem solving. Simple maps can lead to the most rich encounters.
Thanks for joining me tonight. A short and quick one tonight to show that you don’t need hours if you use the right tools to create a rewarding map. Don’t forget to come back the next few nights to see my tournament results and updates, maybe a cheeky army family photo and more. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Tonight finds us at the crossroads of this weeks adventure where we have a decision to make. Where is trouble brewing in Trenchold. Now this weeks a mixed back of random, going back to my original format, so we have a few twists jotted down below which are the common ones I have used in early games. So let’s sit back, grab a coffee and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure.
Trouble Brewing in Trenchold
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Untrustworthy
As the party walked towards the destination that their guide had provided them, a sudden noise from within the trees and rocks made them stop. Voices, and quite a few of them. Relieved that it was just humans, probably fellow travellers or those in search of the same thing that they were, they began to approach the noise. That’s when they heard it.
“Are you sure that’s what the boss said? That an easy target would just waltz into these woods? Are they stupid or something? Everyone knows that this is our turf and that no one gets through without being robbed.”
“Shut it! That’s what the boss said. Now no more talking, I heards something. The scouts will be here shortly and then we can make our move.”
The party stopped and looked around and sure enough there were a few people making their way towards them. They had three options now and not much time to make it. Flee, hide or fight.
No Place like home
Following the tracks from the road they found themselves heading towards a cave. However before they could set foot inside the yawning portal a rank stench wafted over them as the wind changed direction. Bodies, the same kind of humanoids that the footprints belonged to which they had been tracking. They glanced up towards the mouth of the cave just in time to see another body of one of these humanoids being thrown out from the cave mouth by something large and obviously strong.
This had complicated things. Perhaps the creatures plaguing Trenchold were not the vicious murders that they had come to believe. Either they were coerced or had been forced from their home and were robbing and stealing under threat of death. The bodies attested to a larger foe that didn’t hesitate to kill the smaller humanoids. Something had to be done or the attacks would not stop.
Thanks for joining me for tonight’s twists. Both options are something that is seen often – a betrayal from someone who gave the party information and a change in circumstance that perhaps paints the villains in a different light. Now don’t forget to come back for the last days of this week as we wrap up this weeks adventure. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
This week we are returning to the basic adventure for something a bit easier as I complete the final parts of my Warhammer army in preparation for the tournament this weekend. So this weeks NPCs are some of Trencholds Finest establishment owners. Whether you are staying at the Frisky Mare or the Dour Mule these two will be ready to serve you ale and food. So grab a coffee, sit down and let’s meet some NPCs.
Going by Tilly to her friends Taliah Winestring is a long standing owner of the Frisky Mare. Despite the name giving her unwanted attention she is quick of wit and even quicker with a fry-pan and wash cloth and those who are being inappropriate in her inn learn about it in a harsh way.
However despite being the innkeeper and head server of libations and food she is also somewhat of an information broker. For the right price or asked in the right way she has information on just about every rumour and a lead for almost everyone. But there are some people she just will never help or even serve. Tavern owners have to have their standards and Taliah is quick to judge peoples character even if she isn’t getting the full picture.
The owner of the Dour Mule Jake is a clever man. While his tavern isn’t upbeat or doing anything new it has some of the best food and the best rooms for people to stay in. Despite this not many people know about the Dour Mule and Jake does his best to promote it in odd ways.
Normally the first person to be out and about on any given morning he procures the best ingredients and brokers the best price on ale. He passes those savings onto those who visit his tavern and due to his prices and the quality of his food he is never in want of more customers. Sometimes he has to turn customers away but he does so in a manner that they want to come back and try to get a table with him at a different time.
Another week on the tabletop and this week we are looking at innkeepers. Most adventures start in an inn, or visiting them in some way and the humble innkeeper is a resourceful folk. If you want to follow along the rest of this easy adventure don’t forget to come back the next few days. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
With the next 2 day tournament around the corner I wanted to go back to the early days of Brazen Wolfe Tabletop where I produced multiple Plots per week and selected one to be the directive for the week. So this week I wanted to also go back to an early part in every parties adventure and to level one where all roads lead from home. So let’s sit down, grab a hot coffee and read about this weeks possibilities!
All roads lead from home
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The Cliche
The number of those who went missing on the roads climbed every day and the people of Trenchold grew more desperate for supplies and goods from the outside world. Trenchold was a large village that had been a beacon for adventure and people wanting to start new once upon a time. This was due to it being the furthest village to the east that was currently known of and that brought adventure, the unknown and danger to the lives of those who lived here. However this eventually changed as more settlements breached the wild-lands further east of Trenchold.
However those villagers had fallen silent and even the ones closer to the main pinnacle of society hadn’t been heard of in some time now. Occasionally a merchant wagon or a patrol would arrive and they would describe the nightmares they had come through. However, even those few survivors had stopped.
So when a wagon arrived in Trenchold bearing a group of adventurers the people began to whisper. Were these people the beacon of hope they had been asking for or were they the ones who had plunged them into darkness?
The Wildcard
Trenchold was an established village in the edges of civilisation. This had led it to be a beacon for adventure and excitement which for adventurers meant fame and riches. News had spread that there was a merchant offering a hefty sum of gold and silver for anyone who could brave the nearest mountain rangers and bring back a single Tufflewerker. What this was, no body knew but the reward of fifty gold pieces for an alive specimen was more than what most people could ask for.
However the Tufflewerker was not what it was lead to be and to hunt one and bring its corpse back was to invite death to dinner. The thought of capturing such a creature alive? Pure madness. But the volume of those willing to try for months worth of labour was enough to send group after group into the dense treeline.
The Classic
The first signs that there was danger came from the bells. A great tolling could be heard from two of the five guard towers that surrounded the village of Trenchold. Rushing out of the Frisky Mare the party were greeted with flaming arrows raining down upon some of the buildings closest to the gates as the villagers panicked and ran for shelter. The guards, few as there were, rushed towards the gate but little figures rushed past them and into the village true.
A group of goblins were attacking, each of them frantically setting fire to what ever buildings would take light. Some of them were carrying swords and other weapons but they didn’t seem to put up much of fight and turned tail and ran as soon as real competition met them. The bell tower to the south of them began to sound, all the guards were busy over this side of the village but a short sprint down two of the streets would get the party where the tower was tolling. It sounded like they would have to make a choice – Flee like the peasants or stand and fight for the defence of the village.
Thoughts
Now each of these three can be seen as fundamental ways to start any adventure. A mystery, a hunt and a defence style adventure. I believe each style of adventure can lend itself well to any party as long as people are willing to follow the plot along and see where it goes.
Thanks for joining me again for the start of another week. Don’t forget to come back daily as I work on my tournament prep for this weekend. It should be a big weekend and I will endeavour to have something on here for both days still. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Tonight and I have created a zine for this weeks adventure. Elemental Lineage. This adventure can be used system agnostic as we explore other RPGs out there other than D&D. So please adjust to what ever creatures you are using in your adventure! However as always Kobold fight club can be used to quickly balance an encounter for Dungeons and Dragons and Tetra-cube currently provides the stat-blocks for creatures in this adventure.
So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, Elemental Lineage. If you like this format please let me know and I hope you enjoy.
Elemental Lineage
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A young Fire Genasi woman stands in the middle of the street and stares towards the volcano. “Worshippers of the false idol see your ruin. The time for this land to be cleaned by the fires of rebirth is upon us. He rises. He rises. He rises. The effort of your devout and faithful is in vain for He rises once again.”
As she finishes saying this a rumbling happens and an audible crack resonates from the mountain. A large jet of water erupts from the lake at the top of the crater with a great plume of steam.
Thanks for joining me tonight for another Zine. Next time you get a party together consider running this adventure and I hope that you enjoy it.
I hope you don’t miss a thing so come back daily in the coming week. This is so you can experience the creation of the next adventure as it evolves and shapes out. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Good evening all and welcome to a different type of update. This weekend has me painting the last of my army for next weekends Age of Sigmar tournament. I will be taking Hedonites of Slaanesh and because I like pain I don’t use the latest net lists or even, typically, the best units.
So let’ me walk through the list and the latest updates from the painting table – but I had some help with the painting.
The list
Heroes
Glutos being the absolute tank that he is with 18 wounds, a 3+ save and a 5+ ward make sense to be my precious pretenders general. The command trait is kind of discarded but in this list I don’t believe I need it. Keeping Glutos alive to issue 3 command abilities for the cost of one and granting an additional 2 command points at the start of each round makes sense. The -1 to hit aura that he puts out also makes him a defensible lynchpin that holds the army together.
The second part of my core is the Lord of Pain. A small foot hero that doesn’t really put out much hurt by himself is not much. But in this list with Crown of Dark secrets, a 4+ save and a 4+ ward makes him an obvious choice to hold my artefact. He also bounces wounds back when targeted in melee which has seen him kill things when they were the one attacking him. The only weakness with him is that against mortal wounds the contorted epitome shines brighter – but I have a response for that. He also gives a +1 to hit/wound aura for Hedonite mortals when contesting an objective.. This makes Glutos nearly 2+/2+ across the board…
The Contorted Epitome went up in points. It was going to happen and now its on the fence if she is worth the points. I probably need a few more games before I can say yes or not to that but we will have to wait for that. She is already a target for missile attacks and for being obliterated in melee but her 2+ ward against mortal wounds makes her a big threat to some armies. Her ability to shut off command abilities and the ability to retreat finds me charging the gunline with her first before Glutos goes in for the kill. With her already being such a big target I didn’t want to stack another reason to kill her on top of the other valid reasons and so the crown of dark secrets lives on the lord of pain now.
This leads me to the Shard Speaker. Her spell is useful in one or two choice circumstances but otherwise its nothing special. But giving her born of damnation can mean she can generate depravity whilst moving closer to use her mirror. Her mirror is useful but temperamental. A 50% chance to reduce the save rolls for a unit within 9. Can make Glutos rend 3 damage 3 on his claws or the 20 blissbarb archers rend 2!
The Masque, don’t leave home without her. She is constantly generating me 8~10 depravity turn 1 if you position her to charge into your opponents chaff. She is also able to reliably get me battle tactics in this season with my fast moving battleline.
Units
2×11 – Blissbarb archers. Shouldn’t be uncommon to see them now. Fast with run and shoot and with a threat range of 30 inches these lads and ladies bring some pain. But when paired with the hero who shares their love with pain, the lord of pain himself, they become 2+/3++. This makes them reliable for both removing units and also triggering the generation of depravity when your opponent has the choice to lose a key unit or save it by giving into temptation.
2×10 – Daemonettes. They are fast and can be a blender. With the Contorted Epitome able to make them a 3+ to wound with Overwhelming Acquescence for a few units and Glutos able to buff them to be 2+ to hit they can also be a contender for Eurphoric Killers in generating some sweet depravity.
2×5 Hellstriders (with claw spears) – an interesting one here. Durable and they get better when they are stuck in combat for a while. They have treated me both well and also let me down in the dozen or so games I have had with them. a 4+ save is easily buffed by Glutos and with the pairing of lord of Pain, Overwhelming Acquiescence, Shardspeaker mirror and Glutos’s -1 to hit Aura they are surprisingly punchy being effectively 16 attacks at 2+ to hit 3+ to wound rend -2 and 2 damage. They can chew through what is ever is foolish enough to leave them alive.
The last thing on my list is the Shards. Now there are a few endless spells floating around at 40 points or lower, and the argument to try and get a free re-roll charge triumph is there. But, being able to stop flanks, summons and teleports with shards as well as potentially being able to achieve battle tactics in the right situation by having a low casting value endless spell is valuable. Maybe more so than ensuring Glutos gets into combat.
The Hobby
Now finally some updates.
Joining me at the painting table today, and in the past frequently, is mum. A great eye for detail and someone who enjoys painting – which is a huge contrast from me – she helps keep the painting going and today she worked on the seekers of Slaanesh.
Now the Seekers. Boy oh boy. They are looking great! Have a look at two quick snaps below.
Now I also made some progress on the Masque and the contorted epitome. But the epitome I am surprised in a good way with. A dark purple (leviathan purple) with drybrushing Ironhands steel and Retributor gold over the top before adding in some Vallejo hetched lichen and Fluro purple to the mix. The concoction of paint on the drybrush gave the mirror a sooth transition between the metals but added a purple tinge to the mirror. Its a still a work in progress but I think its looking great!
Thanks for joining me for a glimpse at my hobby progress update today. Stay in touch for tomorrow I will wrap up lasts weeks adventure and hopefully the last of my painting. So don’t forget to come back for that and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Welcome to another Friday night where tonight we are looking at the Followers of Flame and Water. Now some of you may have realised what I was doing when I mentioned the creatures of the other night when I mentioned flying creatures. But tonight we reveal a bit more of what was to come. So sit back as tonight we investigate stat-blocks!
Followers of Flame and Water
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The Mephits
Mephits are elemental creatures that appear to be humanoids with wings. These creatures generally align themselves with an elemental plane but most comprise of one or two elemental natures.
The magma Mephit may be a bit strong so I would suggest using the Mud Mephit and Smoke Mephit in its place as they are a little less overwhelming.
The next stage up is the cultists. Now we got a glimpse of this the other night where we saw some of the village elders actively encouraging the water to rise – however its not just water we have to contend with. Cultists of fire Genasi and Magmin also either impede the approach to the mountain or are are the precipice. Only time will tell.
Now it wasn’t hard to work out that I would have elementals in this weeks adventure but the end combat will be something a bit challenging even for veteran players, I hope. So I hope these forces of nature are up to the task.
Thanks for visiting tonight as we looked at a bunch of stat blocks for this weeks adventure. Don’t forget to come back this weekend as we produce the end of the weeks writeup. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage The Brazen Wolfe
This week we look at a quick map for the encounter at Mount Molwert Temple. I plan for several encounters this adventure but the temple is where a main one will be. So let’s sit back, grab a coffee and delve in!
Mount Molwert Temple
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The temple itself has largely collapsed and the rocky foundation that used to sit at the edge of the crater has been eroded away by the water over the years. With the water now rising further the path and steps that used to lead to the temple have been swallowed up and its only partially visible now.
The temple itself is plain and primitive with two statues dedicated to the two forces of nature who clashed years ago. Water and fire are both held in equal reverence within the temple but there is something foul afoot here… But more on that tomorrow.
Thanks for joining me tonight for a quick map. Inkarnate has added a new tool (or I am just slow to realise) where you can pain over the top of art assets enabling you to more seamlessly blend into the background. This quick map hoped to show that with the eroding walls and cliff edge of the temple. But this map isn’t revealing all and tomorrow we will look into what else is happening here. So don’t forget to come back tomorrow and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Back to our normal format we find the party entering Molwert as the rising water threatens to swallow the village, not just its crops. Tonight we look at the cause of the deluge, but that spoils the surprise a little bit. But hopefully not enough to ruin the adventure. So let’s sit back, grab a coffee and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure.
Rising Water
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Slowly the faithful climbed the steps to the alter at the edge of the river. The signs that had been seen of the resumption of the war between the ancient forces that had lay dormant for centuries. However something had woken them up and they were called to serve the deities that had once saved them from the volcanos wrath.
As the elders from the village gathered, all of them water Genasi’s they marvelled at how quickly their prayers were heard. The rain hammered down upon the village, the river and the mountain and their connection to the water grew. However elsewhere something else was rising.
Beneath the crater at the peak of the mountain something was gathering. The surface of the lake occasionally bubbled as molten rock pushed closer to the surface causing the water to heat. Fish and other aquatic animals died in the hundreds as the water temperatures rose too high and yet this was just the beginning.
Drawn to the surface
The first signs that something was wrong, apart from the flooding of course, came when boiling rain started to pelt the village. The adventurers were first to the front lines as creatures comprised of smoke, steam and mud flew across the sky and the village was filled with screams.
Something was going wrong at the peak of the mountain as more of these creatures could be seen fighting above the peak like a giant cloud of flies. Drawn to the source of the trouble the adventurers marches forth, walking past the shrine by the water where the bodies of the villages elders lay beaten, torn and broken.
Thanks for joining me for tonight’s twist. Now bonus points for those who can guess the creatures in tonight’s sneak-peak. Extra points for those who can guess where this is leading to. Now don’t forget to come back daily this week as we expand upon this weeks adventure. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Brazen Wolfe Tabletop 