00-Roll with Advantage

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

Playing Catch!

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A few weeks back the party bet the boss and found a small horde of magic items including one that helps them in playing catch! But its not the kind of catch that people would want. Discovering other tools such as Card generator and merging that with some of my art on nightcafe I have a small horde of work to do for the party! Tonight I want to catch people up on the adventures we have had and showcase the Ring of Magnetism.

So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s find people who want to see a magic trick.

Playing Catch!

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So a common thing you see with magical thrown weapons is the ability to throw and have them return. This ring is that concept where the power level of it is based on it taking up an attunement slot if people want to harness the power of the ring. Considering nearly all thrown weapons have a range of 20/60 this isn’t overly strong as it just gives a dramatic flair to the attacks of a traditional melee character.

Ring of Magnetism – Created in Tetra-cube using my AI Generated Art.

However there are a bunch of niche uses that this could instil and I, for one, am excited to see what the party can do with it. I believe having a physical card that captured magical items or effects enhances the magic behind it. Being able to describe it and having a physical representation of what it looks like is another addition that I believe makes all the difference.

Stay tuned for a lot more to come as I ramp up the magical escapades that the party encounter. Don’t forget that tomorrow is Zine day and I will be releasing another PDF adventure. So don’t forget to come back and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

A Mixed bag on Saturday

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Last week we had a look at different initiative systems and while I have additional content to add this week I decided to have both which has led to a mixed bag on Saturday. So first lets propose another creature to potentially take to the field this week opposite our ensnared party before we look at some results of mixing up initiative this week.

So sit back and let’s explore how else we can roll initiative.

A Mixed bag on Saturday

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So before we look at some notes on last weeks update – A different Initiative I want to add another contender to the adventure. It’s not a strange occurrence of even for adventurers to have knowledge that black dragons spit acid and have a thick scaly hide. These adversaries are tough, smart and deadly let alone being trapped in an arena with one.

But as they are stronger than the average creature you wouldn’t want to fight these after a long day of fighting other creatures in the arena.

Young Black Dragon – Created in Tetra-cube.

Trying out Playing cards

Last weekend I had the opportunity to be able to try out the initiative system of using paying cards. By assigning everyone a playing card and then randomly drawing a card to determine order. For the party members who had a high modifier (feats or high dexterity) I gave an extra card and put it into the deck.

So for the four players I had 5 cards in total, 1 base card each (a suit card) and then an additional card that was for the higher dexterity of the character. For each creature I assigned a different colour suit and for minions I had just numbers (2-10) and for bosses I used a suit card. This meant that generally I had around 7 or 8 cards at play at any one time and every round I had a different initiative order that represented the chaos on the battlefield.

For lair actions or special actions from bosses I used the joker cards which meant something happened but it wasn’t the full suite of attacks that it could used. When a creature died, or when the lair action/special action could not be used any more then I removed the card.

The Pros.

The randomness was enjoyable for myself and the party. The concept was simple and there was no rolling of dice or punishing the strength based martial classes who may have a lower initiative than normal.

This flowed on into the lair actions which felt thematic in a chaotic battlefield and meant that the encounters felt more intense than when the party would just steam roll through the creatures. In this instance where the lair action was tremors in a slippery ice cavern and could (and did) result in half the party falling prone it meant that the party members who went last in the turn order weren’t getting prone-locked and would have chances to break out of being on the ground constantly.

Having a simple visual aid (and I know other initiative trackers like pegs and character portraits / names on the screen work too) helped people realise it was their turn – however not knowing what their turn would look like next round was one of the cons.

The Cons.

The Randomness made it hard to plan for and implement turn-to-turn strategy as the party couldn’t reliably work out if their next turn would appear early or late in the next turns order. This meant de-buffs could have less usefulness when they resulted in something ending on the start of the party members next turn. This could be mitigated by saying “for x number of cards” but this was discussed later.

The lack of guaranteed order also impacted what people decided to do during the round but it did have some great moments where the character got one or two turns off before the boss could retaliate.

The time between rounds shuffling the cards did also loose some of the time efficiencies that was gained by not rolling initiative and recording the order at the start of combat. So this would be seen as a Con in the long term.

Closing notes.

The party enjoyed the change up and spent the next day discussing other ways of tracking or managing initiative. This was overall healthy and led to some great discussions which all led to moving away from Dungeons and Dragons combat AND exploring what other RPGs did. OR, tantalisingly so, exploring the creation of a new RPG system.

Regardless of what system we use the party had fun and enjoyed the change of pace of initiative. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more tabletop content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

A Different Initiative

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As I continue to look at other game systems, experiment with one I have had on the side for years I find myself annoyed at the Initiative system and find myself looking for a different initiative system. Tonight I want to explore a just few of them and maybe see if I can spice not only my game up but others out there.

So put that d20 down, sit back and let’s explore how else we can roll initiative.

A Different Initiative

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So before we get too deep in let me explain he issue I have with Initiative. You can run it how ever you want but the issues still remain. The setup can take too long, horde based encounters either feel overwhelming or underwhelming – rarely an in between and the only way that bosses feel challenging is making them legendary creatures (having legendary actions) and setting the initiative to where you want them to be.

I’ve been asking players to roll initiative for a long time but it doesn’t seem to improve with the new additions of D&D and other games seem to have different, maybe better systems. So that’s the purpose of tonight – a few different ways to run it.

Pack of Cards

Every person draws a card, including the DM and the lowest number goes first. A player wins ties and Ace counts as 1. Each turn the party pick out a new card and we re-establish initiative during the event – this makes it a bit more interesting and dynamic as the fight can take un expected turns – however it can nearly guarantee that the readied actions will have a chance of being wasted.

For the Tank or front-line characters it means they can go and establish that line early – which is part of their job IF they draw well enough and for characters who have really specialised in initiative (or who depend on it) – they get either a re-draw or get to trade their card with another (including the DM.)

The DM can have either one card or more but it depends on the situation. It could be that when a player goes after them goes an enemy to create a back and forth flow to the game that may feel better.

OR

The other use is assign a Suite-Face card to each player and take them, shuffle them in with other cards that represent one or more creatures. Place them face down and when its time for combat flip over the top card and then turn over the first card to determine who is next to act. This can be useful as it varies initiative each turn. For players who have bonuses for Initiative (class feature or a feat) they can add a second card that represents their bonus to initiative.

Player to the left

Simple system really. The player to the left of the DM goes first and then they pass it to their left. The DM has NPCs and monsters/creatures activate when it gets back to them – they are the start of the round. IF the party is surprise then the DM acts immediately then goes at the end of everyone else’s turn.

However this creates a scenario where the DM, Me, will still run out of creatures and a well placed fireball will just obliterate the encounter you had planned.

Dex Score

Just order initiative based on Dex Score. Those who are fast will go first and those who have lower dexterity scores will go last. Means less dice rolling and trying to pencil in where people go so it can speed it up. But this may begin to feel stagnant and wont address some of the issues I have.

Action economy

Give actions a weight.

Movement goes first – same as reactions – they break the order and happen fluidly – but must be declared early. Like on a card, or note. It relies on the intent behind the action. “I intend to run over to the log, crouch behind it (sliding really cool like though) and then firing from my light crossbow at the orc watchmen.” – The DM can then understand the intent of the table and then interject the actions of the hostiles.

Ranged Attacking may weigh more than movement but less than a melee attack so it goes next followed by melee attacks and lastly by Magic. As spells require materials, somatic and verbal components (most of the time two of the list) they take longer. Cantrips though may just be as counted as a ranged attack.

This puts more emphasis on the narrative of battle rather than effort of keeping track of initiative.

A few of these will need to be investigated more but that’s something that can happen over a few games. Tomorrow we have not only a Zine but also Easter! If I can summon the energy I will have multiple Zines out tomorrow. So don’t forget to come back tomorrow and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

A Lethal Combo

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Now tonight we answer the question of how dozens of guards were slaughtered without anyone knowing, the answer? A lethal combo. Tonight we get introduced to the Hobgoblin Shade – a hobgoblin trained in magic who uses it to sew chaos on the battlefield and for certain, specific tasks – such as supporting their warlord in combat.

So let’s check the corners of the room and maybe play at the tabletop with a few extra lights tonight. But first let’s sit back, grab a coffee and roll into tonight’s content.

A Lethal Combo

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Hobgoblin Shade – Created in tetra-cube.

A Shade by many names is something that generally means stealth, deception or the dead. The Hobgoblin shade embodies all three things with their magical prowess and ability to strike out of the shadows. But if there is no shadows and no way of stealthily executing their warlords plans the Hobgoblin Shade supports the battlefield by sewing subtle misdirection and complete silence into the plan.

These elite agents are not the strongest of fighters but they are lethal nevertheless and parties should, and do, fear the Hobgoblin Shade when they are rumoured to be embedded in a warlords army.

That’s it for this week. A short update with a new stat-block to bring to the hobgoblin arsenal. A few years back I made Hobgoblins, Oni, the main attack force of a big-bag and this week we have them front and centre again. But that’s not all for this weekend as we wrap it up with a Zine tomorrow which you wont want to miss. So don’t forget to come back for that tomorrow and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Dangerous Storage

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With this week’s map having a whole room filled with vials of alchemist fire its a good night to look at dangerous storage. Now this isn’t just barrels stacked with explosives, oil or in this case alchemist fire it’s also bandoliers with vials attached, pouches or bags filled with vials of acid and alchemist fire or poison.

So let’s explore this concept and some rules around it – but first let’s sit back, grab a coffee and roll into tonight’s content.

Dangerous Storage

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A thief’s worst nightmare would be to trip and have their poison, oil and alchemist’s fire shatter within their bag. We generally don’t have many rules for this assuming that the contents of ones bag is safe – however a sweep from a stone of frost giants club could cause the vials within a pouch to shatter.

On a similar note falling hard enough, from a roof, rope or something where fall damage is included will have a chance to shatter poorly stored vials and bottles. This is really what we have to think about is that if the vial isn’t secured such in a way – like a padded box or section in the bag that has more padding, then its risk of being shattered.

So the maths behind this one is simple. For each dice for an attack or falling damage a creature with un-protected vials that scores maximum damage on the dice roll then roll a d20 and on a 11+ the vial is shattered. If there are multiple vials then randomly pick one.

This could quickly get very messy for some characters but it will promote players thinking about some of the little things. But the same thing can be applied for this week for those pesky cultists who love their vials of alchemist fire.

A small one tonight as we look forward to wrapping up this weeks adventure tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back for that and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

A Sailors Tales

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Tonight we gather around the table and listen to a sailors tales. Sailors bring stories from across the seas which are a collation of their own experiences as well as those from their passengers. Most sailors stories are just that, stories, but some have more than a mote of truth.

So without any further waiting, let’s sit back, grab a hot coffee and roll into tonight’s content.

A Sailors Tales

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As they sat around the fire an old sailor took another deep swig from his flask and leaned across the table. “Nine men it took, nine and not any of them greenhorns or landlubbers. These were veteran sailors that brought the beast down so mark my words when I say it’s dangerous work to hunt these waters.” he said looking across at the adventurers listening to him.

“So there I was, the leader of this elite crew,” somewhere another sailor sniggered which earned him a powerful glare, “as I was saying, the elite crew had tracked this great beast for days, weeks even! As we moved onwards we found its nest. Between two islands the carcass of dozens of ships. Not wanting to add the Wave Splitter to its list we jumped into a rowboat and moved stealthily across the water.”

“So there we were, rowing across to this island where we could plant our feet and down this beast. Were were gravely mistaken in thinking it was that easy. The creature had made a fortress from the bones of the ships it had sunk before us and at the heart of its impenetrable walls was a mountain of treasure.” the sailor said as he stared into the space between them all. After ten seconds he coughed and continued, “so we fought with the beast for three days and for each day we lost another crew member until it was just me left. I hoisted my whale hunting harpoon and threw it with all I could and hit the beast in the eye where it fled to die in its nest. But the cost was great it dragged its treasure down to its lair and all I managed to retain was this fine blade.” the sailor said as he produced a finely crafted curved short sword. “I still remember my crew when I unsheath the blade…”

“Ah, the clouds are coming in from the west. I remember a night much like this one where we had some foulness on the winds out at sea, to the north of the continent.” he began even before he sat down, uninvited, next to the adventurers. Nearby fellow sailors groaned and started to muter about the mad old sailor.

“Enough of that. Ol’ Brigs tells the truth.” the captain said from nearby which quickly brought the crew to attention. “I was there this night. With the old crew.”

“Thanks captn’,” Frank Brigs began. “As I was saying the wind was foul that night but the moon helped show us the way to safer waters. However the sea’s didn’t want us to see land again,” he punctuated his sentence with a swig from his flask. “You see a storm hit us hard that night. We lost all sight of the stars and we had to wrestle the sails in so they wouldn’t be ripped to shreds. Despite our best efforts we lost most of our sails from the tearing winds. When the storm finally cleared and the crew, myself and the captn’ included, were exhausted we saw the damage that was done. One sail remained which was not enough to catch the breezes we needed. But Tymora was on our side.” he said, then paused for a dozen seconds.

“We had a visitor.” the Captain finished for him.

“Aye Captn’, we did. A white gull flew down to us and before one of the boys could skewer it for lunch it turned into a dragon, a large silver one. The beast offered us a deal, for the captains hat it would help us get to land where we would be able to find what we needed. So the captn’ bartered his head and the dragon practically picked up the ship and flew it to land. Aint’ that right captn’”’ Old Brigs said as he nodded towards the other man.

“It’s close enough to being right. That’s why we don’t eat white gulls any more in case they turn out to be dragons.”

That’s it for tonight’s update at my tabletop. I hope you enjoyed a few old sailors tails tonight. If you can make use of said stories to give the party a side adventure while out at sea, or to maybe not kill white sea birds, then let me know how you go! Don’t forget that tomorrow means another Zine so don’t forget to come back tomorrow and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Sand Queens Lair

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Tonight we wrap up one of the several encounter maps I have planned for this Zine with the Sand Queens Lair. Tonight is the, well, “last map” of the adventure this week. This gives us quite a few maps for a one-shot but that’s for a very good reason, we will see this in the Zine for this adventure.

So without any further waiting, let’s sit back, grab a hot coffee and roll into tonight’s content.

Sand Queens Lair

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The sand underfoot shifted as they walked through a mixture of tunnels dug through sandstone walls and ancient carved hallways. The latter is what they had just been exploring before they entered what could only be described as a cavern. The light flittered through holes in the roof that shifted as the sand above them gradually fell through these holes.

This created pockets of darkness and steep walls of sand against the rocky walls that reached dozens of feet to the cavern roof. The sand had been pushed against the wall, or flattened to the wall with a rough solid path in the middle of a few halls. The signs of the Ant-like humanoids were everywhere and as they moved deeper into the cavern it was revealed why.

In a pillar of light sat a huge monstrosity that watched them with eagre eyes. A giant antoid with a swollen egg sack that took up most of the back of this cavern. The queen regarded them with almost a regal presence, watching them with an intelligence that was not yet seen amongst all of the antoids that they had seen thus far.

Sand Queens Lair – Created in Inkarnate

That’s it for tonight. I hope you enjoyed the secondary map tonight. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Inns, Taverns and Stores

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After a busy afternoon and spending a bit too long adding more details to the Avermeet adventure I ended up settling on a few different concepts involving Inns, Taverns and Stores. These are the birthplace of adventures, hooks and sometimes plots so its only natural to have a few up ones sleeve. So in my journey to find the best kick-off point for this adventure I got lost amongst the art, the possibilities and so we will have to settle on what I discovered (and had AI create for me) for this weeks content.

So grab a coffee, sit back and let’s walk down a street that may be all too familiar.

Inns, Taverns and Stores

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Inns – created in Nightcafe.

The humble inn. A place where jobs are posted, party members can rest and thieves can attempt to steal special items from said parties. A place where the adventure can be born, escalate or conclude or all three and it’s found in nearly every single campaign.

They provide an opportunity for any number of NPCs to legitimately have a reason to bump into or simply be near the party at the right time and place of our choosing.

Stores – Created in Nightcafe.

The general store, or store in general can be host to any number of things which can provide our parties with a means to spend their gold. It also provides us, the DM, with a way to introduce a MacGuffin into the parties hands. A conveinent plot development, an item, a NPC, knowledge or tools can be gained from the general store – so its not just for rations, rope, 10ft poles and torches never mind… Everyone always has darkvision.

But Stores can provide points of plot too. An illegal storefront that is selling stolen wares (much like my first adventure-zine.) or it could be the focal point of the adventure where the suspect works at a store. Or knows who did it, or was a victim of the villain. There are nearly too many options here for us to investigate but that just shows how versatile these key buildings can be.

Taverns – Created in Nightcafe.

And lastly the Tavern. A place for food, drink, gambling, song, dance and murder. That’s right another building for stories to take flight, take a sudden unexpected twist or end with is Taverns. They can be blended with an Inn but I would expect the clientele of a tavern to be detrimental to a good nights sleep. Taverns can also have the most fun with their names too. Five Fat Ravens Tavern, The Fatty Pheasant, or my personal all-time favourite, the Frisky Mare. Taverns just need an adjective and a noun and you got yourself a tavern name. Nearly fool-proof and your parties will remember it for ages to come.

Thanks for visiting tonight. Not quite the zine I was hoping to get published tonight, or two of them in fact, but it was still a fun write-up and night of art discovery for myself. Don’t forget to come back next week as we continue on this path and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Hazards of Mountaineering

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As we prepare for another end of week write-up we look to the old 5e DMG where we can find some hazards of mountaineering within. We would all be well aware now that there are other things that we can throw at our party other than creatures to fight. Hazards can be rewarding to overcome just like an encounter with a particularly strong creature, or solving a hard puzzle. Tonight we look at some such things and how we can weave them into this weeks adventure.

So let’s sit back, grab a hot coffee and roll into tonight’s content.

Hazards of Mountaineering

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The hazards for the Dusty Crag mountains are quite common place across many mountains and other environments. The first being weather.

Strong Wind

Now a particularly strong wind in the right circumstance or situation can be deadly. Trying to climb a shale filled cliff for example could lead to a fatal slip if one is trying to climb in strong winds. A strong wind however also carries other hindrances such as imposing disadvantage on all ranged weapon attack rolls and also perception checks (wisdom) that rely on hearing as the sound is carried away. A strong wind will also extinguish open flames (camp fires or torches) and it will disperse gases (cloud kill, fog, etc.). It will also mean that flying, via non-magical means is now impossible – so I hope you have a wizard with fly or magic broomsticks. Flying creatures also must land at the end of its turn or it will fall out of the sky – not a good result for the aarakocra ranger.

Heavy precipitation (or dust)

Much like the strong wind, heavy precipitation, or dust storms, can impose disadvantage on perception checks, but in this case it’s for those requiring sight not hearing. It will also extinguish open flames if it’s raining (or dust if there is enough of it) and depending on how violent the wind is it will also carry the same penalties as that.

Shale or slippery cliffs

Walking on shale is a dangerous hobby and for many it results in a painful fall onto one’s rump. However when coupled with vertical movement it can be devastating. When a creature attempts to walk across or climb onto a section of loose shale or simply slippery cliffs for the first time in their turn they must make a DC10 dexterity (acrobatics) check or fall prone. If you’re on the ground this isn’t such a bad thing but if you’re forty feet in the air that’s 4d6 bludgeoning damage. Now having climbing tools, a mountaineering kit or simply spider climb would either completely negate this or provide a bonus (Advantage) on the skill check.

Razor sharp stones

Now instead of being loose shale what about shards of obsidian, or blade like shards of rock, shattered volcanic stone or even glass. For this we can simply look at the spell spike stones. This results in the area being difficult terrain and anyone through the terrain suffers 1d8 piercing damage for every 5 feet they move. Now for climbing I would also have them roll for Shale/slippery cliffs as the pain could cause them to slip and fall. However, this could simply block the party from moving forward. Rewarding creative thinking such as binding hands, feet or padding them or simply taking longer to progress through the area, plotting a safe course through could be enough.

Nesting ground for nasties

Now inspired from a variety of childhood movies this one is a fun one. Have the hand hold or foot hold be the home for a lizard, snake, spider, centipede or scorpion who doesn’t like being intruded against. Having them being poisonous may be good for higher level parties but just the bite, shock, slip and fall may be enough to warrant a challenging trek for other level parties.

Now there is a few hazards we can include in our mountaineering adventures. But don’t forget that tomorrow is the fated zine day so don’t forget to come back for that and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Kobold Lairs

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Tonight was meant to be two Zines but they are taking much longer and requiring more than I had hoped. So tonight I will touch on Kobold Lairs, what I include in them, how I use them and what can be expected from these low level humanoids.

So grab a coffee, sit back and let’s look at Kobolds!

Kobold Lairs

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The walls of the cavern passageways are crudely chiselled away, not neatly dug like a dwarf’s halls or other humanoids races. The passage floor was rough and uneven and at points the cut rock and dirt was sharp enough to slice through boot or pierce the skin. Not a problem for the scaled foot of a kobold but for humans, elves and other surface dwelling races it was a hazardous process.

The trek was not without other hazards though. Traps were laid out at an infuriatingly random nature where the trap itself was decided by rolling the dice. Pit fall traps littered the halls but not in a way where you couldn’t avoid them if you knew what to look for. Ceilings with trapdoors would randomly open with scorpions, spiders or snakes falling out of them and unto the people underneath, dart or arrow traps would shoot forth from what appeared to be normal cracks in the wall. But these were the easy ones, the worst where the rooms or pits with creatures within. Slimes, gelatinous cubes, or even a giant ant. Many different traps awaited those who sought out the kobolds lair.

But after he traps died down, and more random ones were found, the smell of the nest would waft from the passage. A mixture of dog and musky-reptilian would hit the adventurers exploring the cave and the sound of yipping and chattering in draconic could be heard. But the closer you get to the nest the more likely you are to be ambushed. Not just clever with concealing traps the Kobolds are clever with concealing themselves. Hidden ledges enable a lookout to watch for intruders so they can drop down onto creatures, or humanoids who invade.

Not strong in single numbers the Kobolds are quick to sound the alarm to warn the others and to seek aid. Although they appear cowardly they are distant half-cousins of dragons and so their cunning should not be ignored. The first thing with the kobolds lair defences is the traps, then its its guards. But these guards are not like the guards for a city, oh no. These have the keys to the cages that release captured beasts that have been teased and starved so they are hungry enough to attack just about anything.

These animals are generally medium or large and range from wolves and bears to giant frogs and giant insects; such as centipedes and scorpions. These creatures double as a source of food when time gets rough but they are never far from these animals when they want to get more.

The kobolds sleep in communal piles, nests if you will. These enable them to stay warm and conserve energy. It also makes them difficult to sneak up on take take out one by one. Having said that they are a fantastic target for an area of affect spell that would incinerate, enhance or enthral several of them at once. While not true dragons, or members of the family at all, they do have a fondness for gold and treasure. This may be due to their anticipation of a giving it as a bargaining chip to stronger humanoids (or a dragon) to spare their lives or, as payment for protection from something bigger with more teeth, scales and wings.

What ever the situation with these little creatures the kobold is a worthy adversary, cunning and tricky while being smart enough to know when they can not win but frightened enough to fight frantically in the hope of saving their own skin by luck.

Thanks for visiting tonight. A small update tonight one one of my favourite low-level encounters and a creature that doesn’t get enough love. The kobold should be in every Dungeon masters bestiary and should frequent many encounters of different levels. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for the zines coming and for the new adventure starting next week! So see you then and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe