00-Roll with Advantage

Whilst not centered on creating elements of an adventure these posts are still part of my process.

30 Minute Challenge, Forgotten Guard

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So another Saturday has come and instead of following the trend of a Openlegend RPG character from the previous weeks I wanted a change. Tonight I wanted to go back an do a 30 minute challenge focusing on something randomly generated and expanding it to a one shot adventure within 30 minutes. Todays 30 minute challenge, Forgotten Guard is to looking at what a forgotten guard could entail using, mainly, my experience as a avid TTRPGer and DM.

The normal self-imposed restrictions are in place.

Rules of the challenge for me

  • Single word or theme
  • 30 minute timer
  • Must be a playable adventure
  • Must have at least one driver (Antagonist/protagonist)
  • Must be D&D centric and attempt to be of the fantasy variety.

Time started: 21:04 AEST

Overview: The party stumbles upon an ancient, overgrown temple deep within a mystical forest. Legends speak of a powerful artefact hidden within, guarded by the spirits of an ancient order of warriors known as the Forgotten Guard.

30 Minute Challenge, Forgotten Guard

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The party have heard rumours, tall tales of a temple within a dense, enchanted forest that holds unclaimed riches and an artefact of such power that a legion of knights thought it dangerous enough to seclude themselves away from the world to guard. The tales, mainly from drunken bards, go so far as to claim that the knights are still haunting the temple, forever cursed to guard the treasure that they swore their lives to defend.

It is all thought to be tall tales until the party are approached by one such bard, an older elf, while in the Half-moon tavern. Supposedly he had heard from a group of adventurers that they were chased out of the nearby forest by a host of spectral knights after the had discovered a vine and moss covered temple. Ancient and crumbling but still defended so keenly by these spectral soldiers.

The bard offers them a small sum of gold if they could accompany him to the temple in order to locate it. He wants to be the first to record the temple and tell the tale of the heroic adventurers who discovered what lay behind the phalanx of ghastly guardians. It’s riches would be split twenty – eighty with the bard claiming what they found most valuable but only after the party had the first sweep of what treasures lay within.

The trip to the temple was non-eventful and it was mid-afternoon by time they reached the forest where the bard had heard that the adventurers had ran from. He consulted a hand-drawn map (on the back of a napkin from the tavern) and moved them further along the road before pointing confidently deeper into the forest.

A few hours later and nearing dusk they came across the first evidence that they were nearing a building. Rocky pillars stretched through the trees, vines and other vegetation like ribs of a colossal creature. A discarded new shield with a large cut from a broad blade was discarded near the track they had travelled towards the temple a long with a pouch of what appeared to be spell components.

As they approached the rumours appeared to be true with several armoured spectres drifting from the building to create a barricade to the door. Behind them, resting against the door lay the skeletons of knights a rusty long sword, remains of a rotten shield and tarnished and pox-marked plate lay.

The confrontation was intense and vicious with the bard calling out to them with unhelpful suggestions. However the music that the bard played as she fumbled the lyrics to a song he was crafting on the fly gave pause to the knights who began to hesitate in their reckless attacks against the party. The last of the guards fell and the old temple doors lay closed and rotting.

As they pushed through the doors the skeletons from the fallen knights crumbled inwards causing the metal weapon, armour and bossing on the shield to clang loudly.

“Who disturbs the forgotten, who comes to claim which should not be” A voice rose from the ground at the end of the antechamber.

A voice from the back, the elven bard, strode forward “Sir Tamell…” he said with a shaky voice.

“It can not be. Ymrick?” An imposing figure manifested from the ground and stood in between the pews. “My friend, you have grown old.” the knight called back.

“It is not I who has grown old. Tamell, you must rest. You’re a shade of what you used to be and I can not bear to see you like this.” Ymrick, the elven bard, replied.

“I see you are not alone. Your companions have proven strong by besting my brothers. If their intentions are to take the artefact and use its power then I can not let them live, unless.” he said as he brought forth a spectral great sword. “Best me in fair combat and I will relinquish the artefact to you and consider my oath fulfilled.”

Objective

The party should aim to beat the knight or find another way to grab the wand on the alter behind the large spectral knight. If they beat him fairly in combat (all vs one is fine) then he will dissipate along with several other ghostly knights who came to watch.

If the party engage in non-honourable tactics then the knights on the sides of the room will open fire with spectral bolts from crossbows as they broke the code of honour.

Time finished: 21:32 AEST


Thanks for dropping by tonight for a quick adventure writeup. Let me know if you’d like to see more of these style quick-writeups in the future. Don’t forget that tomorrow is ZINE night so make sure you come back for that and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Wenton Humblewood

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Tonight I go back to working on my party of five for Openlegend RPG. Utilising the character creation flow that I started with Ci’ara Stormbringer, Vimbol Forgeblow and then Glendor Woodtusk I give present Wenton Humblewood tonight. Wenton Humblewood’s back story is similar to the others, a troubled past and haunted future but unlike the others he never quite bounced back. Paranoid that he is being hunted he retreated to the woods and there he met his life long companion, a large bat that he called Batty…

So let’s grab some bean water, sit back and meet Wenton Humblewood, the Tormented Tracker.

Wenton Humblewood

Wenton Humblewood – Created in Nightcafe.

Background

A young man by halfling standard, by any man’s standard really, Wenton has had a rough start to his journey. His family and home town was slaughtered by a cult of men who feared that halflings would overthrow the world. It was too late by time the guards of a neighbouring village arrived to defend the halflings and many had been slaughtered.

Wenton had fled. Ashamed at his cowardice and he had run into the woods and never looked back. He heard his mother calling after him “Don’t stop running! Don’t ever stop!” even after she was soo far behind that there was no way her voice could carry the distance. Wenton has never stopped fleeing from the now long-gone tallmen that had killed his village and his people out of fear.

Fear consumed him and in this fear he spent many years in the wilds relying on items he found or stole from others. He became quite adept at using a long hunting bow which he had liberated from his favourite target, hunters. It was one such expedition that he was reminded why he was safer in the woods away from people. They had slaughtered a giant bat, one so large it made horses look small and in a cage near by was a baby, an infant bat who was injured and huddled against the bars.

Whatever caused him to overcome his fear that day is still a mystery to him but he snuck through the camp and freed the bat, and to his amazement, the creature clung onto him even as he sped away from the camp. Tumbling over roots, rocks and down the grass into the deeper forest the creature huddled against him still.

Years later and the mistreatment of the bat, and the lack of solid food from its bat-mother the stunted, yet large, bat had formed a strong bond to Wenton and they often hunted together. That’s how Wenton and Batty met Glendor, Ci’ata and Vimbol as they were investigating claims of a band of thieves in the woods who were giving hunters a hard time.

Abilities

Wenton a complex man, he is an expert at tracking, hunting and going unseen. He also has a way with animals which some say borders on extraordinary.

Banes

  • Charmed
  • Dominated

Boons

  • Concealment

Feats:

Soon after joining the party, a compromise to being executed for stealing for several years, Wenton is never far from his companion Batty. He is otherwise untrackable when he does not want to be found and due to his exposure, and paranoia at being hunted again, he has learnt that the best way to avoid people is to know exactly where they are first.

  • Companion II
  • Master Tracker
  • Untrackable

    Perks and Flaws:

    Being alone in the forest for so long and having to survive over what he can find alone has made him a master at scavenging for just the thing he needs. However he has never had to really work with others before so when it comes to finding food he only really has had to look after himself for the longest of time.

    Perks:

    • Scavenger
    • Vagabond

    His isolation and extreme fear of being found and butchered like his family and village has left him, socially awkward to say the least. The trauma of his flight from his home village has left some deep wounds and these still haunt him to this day. If it wasn’t for the threat of being executed, cause who would look after Batty then?, he would never have agreed to joining the party

    Flaws:

    • Socially Awkward
    • Psychotic

    Attributes:

    Keen senses and even keener agility has kept him alive for years. However, his innate ability to bond with creatures, sooth the mind of beasts and even command them in times of need is something to admire.

    • Fortitude 2
    • Will 3
    • Influence 3
    • Perception 4
    • Agility 5

    Links and downloads

    Wenton

    Wenton Humblewood

    Wenton Humblewood Character Sheet_ Open Legend RPG _ HeroMusterDownload

    Batty

    Batty

    Batty Character Sheet_ Open Legend RPG _ HeroMusterDownload

    Thanks for dropping by tonight. Wenton Humblewood (and Batty) is the fourth in a party of 5 that is taking shape for an Open Legends experiment that I am looking at currently. Again I used my process to really hone in on what I want to achieve when creating a character and it continues to work well.

    Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for another end-of-week Zine and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
    The Brazen Wolfe

    Glendor Woodtusk

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    Tonight I wanted to go back to testing my Openlegend RPG character flow that I started with Ci’ara Stormbringer then I created Vimbol Forgeblow and tonight I continue to expand my Open Legends party with one more member, Glendor Woodtusk. Now there are some stereotypes here that may not gel well but despite her short comings Glendor is a devout and trusted member of the party.

    So let’s grab a coffee tankard, sit back and meet Glendor Woodtusk, the Bridge Breaker.

    Glendor Woodtusk

    Glendor Woodtusk – Created in Nightcafe.

    Background

    Glendor wasn’t always a righteous knight riding to the defence of others. No for a long time there she was set on pillaging and taking what she deserved, might makes right after all in her tribe and she served the mightiest warlord around. During one expedition to a human settlement her and the tribe attacked with such ferocity that the humans could put up nearly no resistance as the orcs swarmed through their streets.

    They had little in the way of wealth, weapons or equipment they could use but they had food and man younglings that would make excellent slaves. “Bring me those whelps, if they resist kill one to show them that we mean business” the chief had said as Glendor strode off with her axe in hand.

    As she kicked down the door to a church and she reached for the first kid to get them moving a thin wisp of a man ran at her and hit her in the face with a chair. “Leave those children alone. The light of the Morning lord protects them!” called the man, a monk by his attire. So shocked by the mans attack on her did she not realise what was happening until the chair smashed on her face, her tusk coming lose from her jaw.

    As she raised her axe in rage and prepared to split the mans torso in half the sight of this tiny man standing protectively in front of the children, and the children clinging to his weakling made her hesitate. A warmth spread across her shoulders as the morning light rose against her rough brigandine mail and she had a moment where did not wish to harm these humans. The weak were preyed upon for as long as she had known and even the humans she had encountered before today frequently let their fellow weaklings get butchered by her people.

    But today the sight of the weakest man she had seen protecting those weaker than himself gave her pause. As a shadow loomed in the doorway and a coldness crept along her back she turned and snarled at who dared take her warmth away. Blood trickling down her chin she spat the metallic taste from her mouth and looked at one of the raiders. “These humans are not to be touched.” she called.

    “You hit your head, the chief said get em’ so you grab the humans and bring them out. Or are you too stupid to do that?” said the larger male orc. He stopped grinning when the battle-axe she was carrying spun through the air and punctured his chest. As the orc fell to the ground the other raiders from the outside saw a female orc bathed in radiant sunlight standing over the corpse of her clan mate, blood dripping from the axe she wrenched from his chest.

    Glendor earned her name that day as she fought against her own people in the protection of the weak. The illiterate orc defended civilisation and weaklings because for once she saw that it was the right thing to do.

    Abilities

    Glendor is still and orc, that is plain and simple, and with the righteous fire that bellows within her and emboldens her own presence on the field she is a terrifying entity to see in combat. Her ability to invoke fear, demoralise and even provoke the most head strong of opponents is something truly mystical to watch before she brings her orcish strength to bear and separates limbs, cracks skulls and sends enemies flying.

    Banes

    • Demoralised
    • Fear
    • Provoke
    • Stunned
    • Nullify

    Boons

    • Bolster
    • Heal
    • Regeneration
    • Restoration
    • Aura (Bolster/Demoralised)

    Feats:

    Her allies cant help but be inspired by how she dives headfirst into combat in the service of the Morning Lord, protecting others with her bulk and determination. However she is also hard to kill due to her orcish nature and her swings will send enemies flying across the battlefield from the sheer force of her attacks.

    • Inspiring Champion I
    • Diehard
    • Overpowering Strike

    Perks and Flaws:

    Not the best with words she generally uses force to get what she needs in service of her objectives, which is normally Protecting those weaker than her (which is most people) or serving the patron that showed her the light. It is in these pursuit of these actions that she finds the inner strength to continue to fight on even when death has her in its grasp and she fights with renewed courage.

    Perks:

    • Brute
    • Courageous

    However she she doesn’t tend to think past “protect the weak” and “service the Morning Lord” and will charge headlong into battle calling out the name of her patron as she rushes ahead without a plan. Sometimes its not for lack of trying but simply that her comrades keep forgetting that she cant read or write and so when they write the plan down, leave her notes, or try and silently indicate what the plan is she loses patience.

    Flaws:

    • Brash
    • Illiterate

    Attributes:

    Strong and a force to be reckoned with her orcish nature comes out first and foremost followed by what the Morning Lord has helped her to harness.

    • Will 2
    • Creation 2
    • Protection 2
    • Fortitude 3
    • Presence 4
    • Might 5

    Links and downloads

    Glendor Woodtusk

    Glendor Woodtusk Character Sheet_ Open Legend RPG _ HeroMusterDownload

    Thanks for dropping by tonight. Glendor Woodtusk is the third in a party of 5 that is taking shape for an Open Legends experiment that I am looking at currently. Again I used my process to really hone in on what I want to achieve when creating a character and it seems to work well, able to create a character in a fraction of the time of when I used to when first experimenting with Openlegend RPG.

    Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for another end-of-week Zine and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
    The Brazen Wolfe

    Vimbol Forgeblow

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    Tonight I wanted to go back to testing my Openlegend RPG character flow that I started with Ci’ara Stormbringer a little while back and expand this Open Legends party with one more member, Vimbol Forgeblow. Now while other dwarves may prefer a more direct approach and leave the sneaking around for elves and halflings Vimbol is not above such behaviours as infiltration and stealth. In fact he is quite proficient at it!

    So let’s grab a coffee, sit back and meet Vimbol Forgeblow, the shifty stonecaller.

    Vimbol Forgeblow

    Vimbol Forgeblow – Created in Nightcafe.

    Background

    Vimbol trained as a mason despite his parents best wishes. The Forgeblow family were always smiths and while Vimbol showed prowess like the rest of his brothers and sisters he tired quickly of this work. It was by chance that while he was in a hurry to finish mending a pick that he damaged the stonework of the forge. Fear took over and as he frantically tried to conceal the damage he did to the forge the pressure, heat and adrenaline took over and he melded the stone back into shape.

    His father had seen him. Instead of being furious of the improper care given to his families craft he helped his son meet with some elders of the dwarven clan and these wise men and women confirmed the fathers suspicions. That Vimbol was stonecaller, a mage of some power who could meld stone more easily than a master smith could meld steel.

    The years of training, the rigorous lessons and then the menial work only proved one thing to Vimbol. His powers made him better than those he was serving. In his lamentation he dove into ale and after years of over drinking off and on the job he found himself in a bit of a pickle. Needing a lot of gold fast he used his powers to shift thin layers of stone onto his skin to form a cloak that blended him into the walls of the vault and he made out with the biggest heist that the clan had ever suffered.

    But in doing so he fled his family’s forge and his home, paying off his and their debts and he began to use his skill at melding stone to his body to get into places no respectable stonecaller would have considered before his time.

    Abilities

    Vimbol specialises in Alteration magic, generally specialising in stone but he has some small affinity for using it for camouflage. He is also lethal due to his ability to go largely undetected but doesn’t like seriously hurting any one and would rather silence one or two people instead of having to take out the entire barrack of guardsmen.

    Banes

    • Blinded
    • Silenced
    • Disarmed
    • Persistent Damage

    Boons

    • Transmutation
    • Absorb Object
    • Concealment
    • Aura* Concealment

    Feats:

    His strikes are lethal, accurate and over short distance he can out pace many other warriors. However his true skill lies with infiltration and the ability to go undetected.

    • Lethal Strike I
    • Silencing Strike

    Perks and Flaws:

    Being on the run from his clan for a number of years has left him with a few contacts that can help him get by. But he is always observant for people who may be watching, tracking of following him as a dwarf once burned is slow to forgive.

    Perks:

    • Fugitive
    • Observant

    Sadly his addiction to alcohol has left him a large drinker. He has built up a small tolerance to hit but its not often that you don’t see him without a drink. But his skill at what he does, ne’er-do-welling, seems to counter act the fact that he is frequently drunk whilst working. This has made him a very proud and even arrogant person who thinks that even while drunk he is more than a match for the sober rogues, thieves and cat burglars out there.

    Flaws:

    • Addiction
    • Proud

    Attributes:

    Born a natural stonecaller he had to work hard to train his hands and mind in more subtle and agile movements than the forge. He is not as strong as normal dwarves but he is still resilient and wilful.

    • Fortitude 1
    • Perception 1
    • Persuasion 1
    • Will 2
    • Deception 2
    • Logic 3
    • Alteration 4
    • Agility 5

    Links and downloads

    Vimbol Forgeblow

    Vimbol Forgeblow Character Sheet_ Open Legend RPG _ HeroMusterDownload

    Thanks for dropping by tonight. Vimbol Forgeblow is the second in a party of 5 that I am taking through this process to really solidify my ideas. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for another end-of-week Zine and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
    The Brazen Wolfe

    Ci’ara Stormbringer

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    Tonight I wanted to test a work flow of creating Ci’ara Stormbringer, a character in OpenLegend RPG without getting bogged down in the overwhelming options that are available in this system. So tonight I give you the, nearly finished results of Ci’ara, a bit about her and how I envision her being played as well as her character sheet!

    So let’s grab a coffee, sit back and meet Ci’ara Stormbringer, the natures wrath.

    Ci’ara Stormbringer

    Ci’ara Stormbringer – Created in Nightcafe.

    Background

    Ci’ara is an elf from the Syphare Forest tribe and was brought up like most elven children. She had a love for nature that would not be contained and would often be found talking to animals and amongst the woods, lakes and mountains near her home as opposed to being indoors. Although she spent most of her time out doors she quickly found her calling when studying basic magic.

    Taken in by the local sorceress she learnt to harness the weave around her by tapping into natures might and she gradually became more powerful. However, when she was still young in her study the gods of nature put forth a test to her village, or so the elders called it, and a massive storm threatened to destroy the village. But Ci’ara harnessed the storms power and controlled the fury of nature to redirect it to where it would cause no harm.

    Ci’ara was then given the name Stormbringer and has since harnessed the fury and power of the storms that she can summon.

    Abilities

    Ci’ara specialises in Lightning attacks and can summon gusts and gales to hamper her enemies movements and assist her allies in battle. Specialising in Barriers made from whirling wind and lightning she can also lash out to stun, slow and even deafen her enemies when they get to close.

    She can launch out a single jolt of electricity towards a foe or she can call down an entire storm of lightning bolts to everything within an area if she so chooses. Anything that feels the full strength of her lightnings touch is left stunned and wishing they never threatened the woods where she calls home.

    Banes

    • Stunned
    • Forced Move
    • Deafened
    • Slowed
    • Immobile

    Boons

    • Haste
    • Barrier
    • Light
    • Flight* (Future boon – needs a higher Movement attribute score)

    Feats:

    Her specialisation in lightning magic has left a lasting mark on those who have stood against her, and there has been many. These foes of nature and the elves find themselves left stunned on the battlefield as a bolt of lightning has arced through their ranks, leaving them breathless and their armour smouldering.

    • Attack specialisation 1 (Lightning)
    • Bane Focus (Stunned)

    Perks and Flaws:

    She sometimes does still talk to animals to get a feeling of what is on their mind. Although she isn’t as talented as other druids or rangers she still has an affinity for nature and can communicate with them when needed.

    Perks:

    • Natures Ally
    • Whisper of the wild

    However she does not know much of the real world and is hot tempered when defending nature, her people or animals. This has landed her in hot water more than once where her party; commonly dwarves, humans and halflings, have a strong need to hunt for their food when adventuring and she perceives this as a threat and disrespect to nature itself.

    Flaws:

    • Naive
    • Zealous (when dealing with nature and animals)

    Attributes:

    Highly willed and a force to be reckoned with due to her sense of self she is a powerful ally when she is in her element. Her elven graces and natural perception make her a useful ally when on the move and not just in combat when she needs to bring the storms wrath upon her foes.

    • Agility 2
    • Perception 2
    • Presence 2
    • Movement 3
    • Will 4
    • Energy 5

    You may notice that I have structured these a bit differently to normal. This is due to how I went through what I wanted in Ci’ara, before knowing she was an elven maiden, with the concept of a storm-mage. Focusing on the Boons; benefits she can bestow onto others, the Banes; the debuffs she could inflict upon enemies, and her fighting style; her feats – what potentially separated her from other mages, it left me with a strong sense of who she was.

    I then chose Perks that looked at who she was as a child due to her race (whisper of the wild) and then due to her calling or achievements as an adventurer (natures ally) and I was able to fill in the missing gaps.

    By knowing what I wanted her to do and how I wanted her to fight; battlefield control and lightning damage, I identified what attributes I needed, what was most important and what scores I needed for her to be effective. I think this worked out well and I didn’t feel overwhelmed by choice, which is a feeling I get when looking at Openlegend RPG.

    Ci’ara Stormbringer

    Ci’ara Stormbringer Character Sheet_ Open Legend RPG _ HeroMusterDownload

    Thanks for dropping by tonight. Ci’ara Stormbringer is the first in a party of 5 that I wish to take through this process to really solidify my ideas. If I can remove some of the potential apprehension in character creation I feel like OLRPG may become the dominant RPG I use moving forward. But we will see. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for another end-of-week Zine and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
    The Brazen Wolfe

    Loyal to Queen V

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    Those Loyal to Queen V are particularly hard to charm. She believes this is because they would do anything for her but as we have investigated already the Stained Cup is likely the cause of such devotion. However this does not make those enthralled by her any less dangerous in their pursuit to make her happy or obey her every command.

    So let’s take a knee and grab a coffee as we roll into another encounter!

    Loyal to Queen V.

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    The bandits loyal to Queen V, Vanessa Von Shchnaps, are near-zealous in the way they fight for the bandit queen and in their never ending attempt to meet her demands. These bandits are naturally harder to charm, as they are already charmed, but are not really anything more dangerous than the random highwayman or street thug.

    Von Shchnaps Bandit- created in Tetra-cube

    Vanessa has risen to a point, thanks to the Stained Cup, to a station where she can have many groups of followers undertaking her orders. Those that show a particular nastiness or those who demonstrate that they are more loyal to Queen V are made captains of these little brigands.

    Von Shchnaps Bandit Captain – created in Tetra-cube

    And the other re-skin for this week. The underlings who are truly loyal to Queen V, thanks to a certain cup. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow to complete this weekend and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
    The Brazen Wolfe

    Husk Zombies

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    Tonight we have a bit of a spin on the zombie. Husk Zombies are frail and unstable as the chaotic arcane energy that bore life to them. These creatures are hard to control but easy to kill if met with magic that disrupts the flow of their own arcane energy.

    So tonight there is no time to sit back as we need to run to avoid being eaten!

    Husk Zombies

    430SaHuZo

    Husk Zombies Rising – Created in Nightcafe.

    The first signs that something was wrong came when a body was pulled from the rubble of the inn. Its broken form tinged with a rainbow tapestry just beneath its skin as the evidence of magic shone through the cold flesh. As they watched and another one was dug from more rubble the body started to twitch and convulse as a pulsating light ran through the humans veins and along its muscles.

    The once-humans shaking stirred with their rescuers praising what ever deity had chosen to grant them the miracle of these people being alive. However the praises turned quickly to screams as the freshly risen dead attacked those around them. As the first few were quickly dealt with by the city guard more began to dig themselves out of the rubble.

    Husk Zombie – Created in tetra-cube.

    At first it was just those unfortunately crushed under the sudden collapse of the inn and temple but then a dishevelled, husk like zombie pulled itself from the walls of the temple. Its ancient form was dry and flaking dust as it moved slowly towards those alive around it. Not fresh and meaty like the freshly risen, these zombies were husks, empty apart from the chaotic rainbow of colours that bore their withered lifeless forms.

    As the husks engaged they were cut down quickly as their bodies were more frail than the freshly departed, however they were all still dangerous and as they were re-released to the void beyond a cloud of magical energy was released from the dry, empty vessels.

    Thanks for visiting tonight to explore gross zombies with me. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow night for more content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
    The Brazen Wolfe

    Distortions in Time

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    There are many times a year that I dream of a campaign that blends both sci-fi worlds and medieval settings into a single wonderful campaign. This distortions in time setting campaign is something that always tweaks my imagination and brings me no small amount of joy when imagining the setting, characters and possibilities. Tonight I want to cover it, an opening scene into this world so that maybe others can work out what I have not been able to get onto the table as such.

    So let’s sit back, grab a coffee and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!

    Distortions in Time

    429SaDiTi

    Time Distortion – Created in Nightcafe.

    The moment Tai stepped onto the street, closing the wooden door behind him the familiar sounds of the city reached out to him. The call of the merchants hawking their wares from the stalls by the side of the road, the march of armoured boots and radio chatter and the buzz of drones flying overhead, buying what the merchants had to offer.

    Tucking his pouch containing the gold pieces he would need to today into his leather jerkin he hurried off into the still-dark streets. It would be dawn soon and the streets would become more active as people started to ferry their wares around the River district. Large draft horses would hall parts that had been transported down river by barge onto the back of the large wagons, their greased up axels groaning in complaint as they were hauled off to which ever workshop or engineer needed the heavy parts.

    Since the distortion rift had opened up the city had evolved rapidly and many rushed to embrace the newest feats of engineering and science, or so his grandfather had told him. But there were still many that looked at the new technology with apprehension and they put their trust in the ways the city had done business for years. Animals, skilled artisans and man power is what kept the Aetho Empire moving forward, not the buildings made of man-made stone, glass and steel. Nor the guns that most of the city guard patrolled the streets with. Many still carried swords, spears and the like as there was no telling when another distortion would occur.

    The trickle of technology was only as frequent as the shimmering portals that would remain open. So anything that was finite just simply was rare, exotic and only occasionally used. This meant that many people had access to these new weapons, guns, but the ammunition for such weapons was rare, so rare in fact that many military units didn’t have ammunition for the weapons they carried and so they were resorting back to tried and trusted bows and blades.

    As Tai looked for the merchant he sought out he passed the many different vendors along River road; the commerce road that made its way along the river from east to west. Everything from new technology, to smiths products to food stuffs could be found and anything else in between. but Tai was looking for something specific, something rare that would help him and his party when they head to the north, into the Burgato woods.

    “Excuse me sir, fine morning for trading,” he said as he spied what he hoped would be a merchant that would have what he sought. “I’m looking for something for my grandfather as its his birthday you see. I was wondering if you had a certain bit of technological scrap.”

    The greying man smiled, a glint in his eye. “Well ye’ve come to the right place. What are you after? we have ancient gadgets and gizmos.” he said pointing at the broken watches, engine parts, capacitors and the like. All junk that would take a skilled hand to get working again. Tai looked over it until he saw what he was searching for. Not looking to be too excited he picked up the torch and gave it a small shake, trying the button. “My grandfather told me about these. He said he had one when he was in the guard.” he murmured taking in the gadget.

    “Ah you have a good eye. Much better than a lantern for the older folk. For five gold pieces you can have it to make your grandfather happy.” the merchant said. Tai looked at the torch examining it. The bulb, glass lens and most of it was broken. Noticing that Tai was becoming aware of the state of the torch. “Now I probably have a spare bulb around here somewhere. Just hold a minute.”

    Unscrewing the end the batteries fell out. Exactly what he was after. “I’ll give you five silver for the batteries.” he replied holding out the coins and pointing at them.

    “No, too cheap for fine working batteries. Three Gold pieces for them. Let me find the bulb and you can have it all for five.” the merchant replied as he started digging through a bag of scraps. Tai noticed that there was a small motor with two cables so it could be connected to power nearby and touched the batteries to the cable. When the motor barely whirred he sighed loudly.

    “These batteries are dead. They wouldn’t work with a new bulb even if you found one.” he gestured to the man. “I best be off there are several other merchants would would have these.” he said as he went to put them back.

    “Wait. Five silver for the batteries. Your grandfather will get some use out of them yet!” he smiled. “what do you say? Make your pop proud?”

    “Three silver.” Tai replied as he turned and looked back at the merchant.

    “No, five, that’s what they are worth for sentimental value for your grandfather alone surely.”

    Tai smiled as placed the batteries back in the merchants hand and started to walk away.

    “Wait. Four silvers.” he said.

    “Four silvers and I get that motor.” Tai retorted.

    “Deal”

    Walking down the street Tai looked at the batteries as he stuffed the motor into his pouch. Channelling the small amount of magic he had he created a pulse of electricity between his fingers and directed the lightning slowly and steadily through the batteries as he walked home. Entering to his single room flat he grabbed the motor and tested the batteries he had been directing electricity into, the Motor whirred to life.

    Satisfied Tai went to the chest at the end of his bed and brought out his adventuring pack.

    Retrieving the torch he had reconstructed over the years from his bag he unscrewed the cap and placed the batteries within. Tightening it up he clicked the button and marvelled as the room flooded with light. This would make the job his party had taken a lot easier, at least until the next series of Distortions in Time when they would get fresh technology into his world.

    Thanks for visiting tonight to explore this concept with me. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow night for more content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
    The Brazen Wolfe

    Some paths are best left forgotten

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    Any sensible person would turn back once they realised that the pools under Sylphare Quarry connected to a deeper river system when they realised that some paths are best left forgotten. Others are more foolhardy and mistake the glint of something in the darkness as evidence of treasure. That’s when the first of the thousands of teeth bite into them.

    So let’s sit back, grab a coffee and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!

    Some paths are best left forgotten

    428SaSoPaBeLeFo

    Ancient Piranha – Created in Nightcafe.

    The quipper, or Piranha by our standards, is a voracious eater and in a swarm they are known to be deadly. But when you are deep under ground in a pool with only the faint corrupted light from above to lead the way these fish become even more deadly.

    Swarm of Quippers – Created in Tetra-cube.

    They don’t have to explore the underwater passageways to encounter these little fish this week as they are attracted to the frantic thrashing that one could expect if you fall into deep water. While the stat block tonight doesn’t reveal these creatures to be undead it would make sense that they would be considering the other entity in the room.

    Not needing to breathe makes these swarming fish even more dangerous as they could, feasibly, have a decent threat range near the edge of the pool by jumping out and flapping about. I would imagine they would have a hard time biting any creature while doing so but a momentary distraction is sometimes all you need in order to take a standard fight up to the next level.

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

    Daughters of the Kilderken

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    After what would seem to be obvious this week has finished with the true nature of the daughters of the Kilderken. They are, in fact, all hags as part of a coven led by Jaeden who is a particularly strong leader of the coven of the Kilderken forest. These are likely the reason the knights are in this part of the forest in the first place.

    So let’s sit back, grab a coffee and let’s check it out!

    Daughters of the Kilderken

    427SaDaKi

    Green Hag – Created in Tetra-cube.

    The two ‘daughters’ that Jaeden spoke of are likely Green hags, perhaps something slightly different but I envision that they would be lower level hags in a near-permanent humanoid appearance. They would act friendly to the party and try and persuade them to free them from the wicked humans but if the party can detect fey or their true form or intent they would appear to be what they are.

    However the hags, “Cassandra” and “Taylor”, wont attack the party as they seem to be able to tell that Jaeden sent them.

    Night Hag – Created in Tetra-cube.

    I picture Jaeden as being a very powerful and ancient hag however maybe not the night hag. The abilities, however, make sense for how I see her and suite the level-power that we are going with if the party wish to fight her and the coven.

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