03-Wednesday – Twists

Wednesdays we will be investigating what twists and turns we can include a twist in the adventure

A stranger in the tavern…

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Wednesday is here and we have a twist to write up. Tonight my wife rolled up the second twist from week 2 which is looking at another party testing the party to see if they are fit for the job.

Applying this twist was easier than anticipated, I guess luck was on my side this week. But as with yesterday if there is a particular twist that you want to see in this weeks mix-up I will add it in later. So with that in mind let’s get into it.

Final exam

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The cold ale was a mystery to her, how did the ale remain so cold when the tavern had permanent Infrastructure or visible cooling mechanism? Regardless, it wasn’t half bad ale, better that swill she was used to.

Looking up she noticed a rather odd dwarf have one such cold ale poured down his neck, what surprised her was the sheer magical force that seemed to radiate from the dwarf, centralised on his clenched fist that held a talisman or some kind. Or so her glass eye told him.
The three humans, no one was a half-elf, stood behind the men causing a scene and they had a similar aura about them. One of them reminded him of someone she met a long long time ago. She itched the scar around her left socket, a single blow took everything from her but also gave her so much, this was the result when mortals clashed with forged demigods.
Picking apart the selection of meats, vegetables and cheeses before her, she settled on a chunk of crumbly soft cheese, a portion of salted ham and a picked purple vegetable she hadn’t had before.
‘the elves can it dragon root, it’s really some kind of soft sweet tuber’ a friendly voice said to her left, glancing that way she noticed a reasonably plain man with large tan overalls.
‘the names Willid, friends call me Will’
She extended her hand and clasped the human’s hand tightly, still getting used to this form of strength ‘Chad, Chad Fyresteel. Smith by trade. Pleased to meet you Will’ she said, her voice sounding exactly like the Smith she shadowed briefly in Lothgar.

‘what do you make of them huh? That Dwarf looks to be quite the fighter, look at that Axe.’ Willid mentioned, inviting himself over to her table.
Recognition.
She looked more closely at the party of adventurers, she had met them before in the temple of Malar so long ago, well it was mere months, but that feels like a long time for someone in her business.
When they didn’t seek her out in the walled city she assumed they hadn’t made it out, especially considering that he was there too.
‘The two paladins are also lethal in their own right, the half-elf also had some tricks he is yet to reveal’ she mused, Willid looked perplexed for a moment.
Pointing to the adventures, she quickly tried to regain the persona of Chad. ‘the swords look enchanted and the half-elf looks to be capable of magic’ to punctuate her hypothesis the half-elf pulsed electricity through the temples of the four men.

Willid drank deep from his tankard before standing up. ‘Well, didn’t expect that. But you can’t really expect anything in this tavern anyway. See you around Chad’ he mumbled as he walked to the bar.

She didn’t give recognition to the men walking off as her glass eye detected another source of magic. A crystal the size of a chunk of cheese was in the pocket of a young man across the room, and it looked like it was pulsing in the same manner as the room was.
Interesting, Baxter had actually gone through with it. Now, with these adventurers and a room full of people in the middle of nowhere how was he going to get out to hand it over.
Stretching in her chair she felt her skin shift slightly, an involuntary shift that occasionally happened when her concentration waned, glancing around she made sure no one saw her guise shift before eating the food in front of her. It was going to be an interesting task for the young thief but if he could pull it off she may have found herself an apprentice.

That’s it for tonight, short and sweet but enough to really add a bit more depth and mystery into our adventure. Having versatile twists sure does make reusing them easier but identifying the cause or key element of even non generic twists can help to diversify your portfolio of ad-hoc, or impromptu twists that can help mix up your adventure if things derail slightly.

Tomorrow is maps, so if there is a certain map you like from a previous week then you know the drill, let me know which week and which map (D10 +D6) or the slug (09ThMa1 for example) and I’ll add it in, easy as that.

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

The Brazen Wolfe

The Dark, Magic, and Desire…

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Wednesday is here and with it brings a day of blue skies, crispy sunlight and the promise of change on the breeze. Today we are looking at the twists and turns that could alter or impact the little mining town of Newtbranch and how that can enrich the adventure for our players or completely shake it up. So let’s roll into it.

Trained in the dark arts

Whispers in the dark

09WeDa

Ash on one of the the many long lonely days in his mine shaft was chipping away at a wall, they had all started to look the same to him but he was employing what he had learnt from the dwarven brothers that had sold him the cursed mine. Following a vein of quarts deep through the muddy walls laden with basalt and when mining deeper in the mine, granite, Ash had had very little luck – picking up just enough gold to pay for his supplies and his tab at the tavern. As he struck again with his pickaxe the stone cracked and a section of the wall gave way revealing a small hollow pocket amongst the stone and dirt. The light from his lamp danced through the settling dust and stumbling rocks and in front of him lay a vein of gold set into the wall that would pay for the purchase of the mine, supplies for a year and then hiring help. Blinded by glee he pushed through the muddy wall and didn’t notice as the basalt boulder that was above the hole he made begin to give way.

As he broke through the wall the boulder fell, pushing him forward, his lamp tumbling out of his hands to lay on its side at the base of the wall – the basalt rock pinning his leg to the floor as dirt and smaller rocks assaulted him. As the dust cleared and his leg, although not broken as by some cursed good luck the fall of boulder had pinned his leg next to the rocks he had pushed through, he was left unable to move and his axe, torch and the gold a mere few feet out of reach.

As the lamp flickered and threatened to go out Ash cursed his luck, cursed the world that bore his misery and pleaded with the dark. And the dark answered. A shadow leapt upon the wall from his overturned lamp and whispered in his ear.

“I can free you, for a price. Give you what you so desire but for a favour. Give you power and fame for just the cost of a scribble on a parchment.” The shadow whispered to him.

Sorrow, greed and surprising to even him, Hate, welled inside him. He had suffered and gone without for too long. He nodded his head as the lamp stuttered threatening to go out and a quill was placed in his hand. In the terminal light he could see where he was intended to sign his name and he did with just a moment of hesitation. No one would look upon him now with pity and barely contained contempt any more. He would rule them all.

“good, first things first, let’s free you,” the shadow said as the pressure from the boulder was lifted from his leg, “and second let’s set you right.” and after a moment there was a rumble in the mine. Turning around support beams, light and new safe tunnels had been set up throughout the area he was in. He would be able to mine safely, in peace and in near luxury now.

“And lastly,” the shadow whispered, inhumanly large fingers on unnaturally broad arms gentle clasped his shoulders as the presence whispered in his ear. “I can give you power, but you first must go and help some friends of mine. You can find them in the cemetery. You will know what to do” the shadow said as power and understanding rushed through Ash’s strong and powerful body.

A daughters drive

09WeMa

The act of transmutation was relatively simple. For Henry it was like keeping a balanced ledger – all she had to do was make sure that the matter transforming from the original substance to the new substance would balance out. Turning Rock or mud to gold required a lot of mud. Changing bones to gold, also required a lot of bones as they are nearly worthless so what she could access in the marsh was not going to cut it.

She looked upon the dust covered shelves, despite cleaning them this morning the trudge of miners in and out of her store for pick axes, rope, lantern fuel, rations and the like meant that there was a constant stream of dirt being brought in. But Henry didn’t mind. With a flick of her wrist a incorporeal hand was summoned and the dusting began again. Sighing and looking over her book in front of her she was doing ok, she was making profits daily but she needed something more to really push her to where she wanted to be. It wasn’t that hard to make a profit here as all the older miners knew she was honest and her wares were second to none in this town. But that kind of reputation wasn’t seeing her earn enough to buy back her fathers shop.

Closing the ledger before her and placing it back in the lockbox she opened the door with the same cantrip and a gust of wind took the dust out the door. Being able to handle a few different cantrips at once was Childs-play for Henry but she wanted to make sure that she had the shop ready to go for the next day as tonight she was meeting a merchant at the Tavern.

A giddy energy swelled in Henry as she closed the shop, putting the lockbox away where it wouldn’t be found easily and locking the front door she almost skipped to Jolly Fandangles. Upon entering she saw that the merchant was at the bar eating a plate of what one would hope was rabbit and drinking from what seemed to be a bottomless tankard of ale. Giving a polite smile and greeting to Sally as she walked in she went straight up to the bulky man in a tattered coat.

“Corben, good to see you again. How was the road in?” Henry chirped as she ordered a glass of mulberry wine.

“Good Henry, except for the damn marsh, the flies and the mud. Almost got bogged a few times on the way in.” Corben replied as he chewed on what definitely wasn’t Rabbit.

“Did you bring the book?” Henry asked as she absentmindedly stared at the lustrous red liquid in the glass as she swirled it.

“Yeah, hard to find this one but I take it our ledger is even now?,” Corben said as he reached a bear like paw into his coat and pulled out a paper wrapped book, “the guy I bought it from gave some pretty weird instructions on what I could and couldn’t do with that book. You sure you know what you are getting into Henry?”

“The future Corben, the future.” Henry said as she could practically feel the tendrils of energy resonating within what she knew to be a book bound with the skin of the sacrificed.

It’s just business

09WeDe

It was just another night at the tavern. Ash was neck deep into his third tankard of hard ale, his last based on the amount of gold he had given Sally.

The familiar jingle of the bell strung above the door alerted Sally to a new arrival, turning her head to spot who came in she noticed the tall, broad imposing figures of her fathers men.

“Jess, I’m going to mingle for a bit. Mind the bar” she called out as her assistant Jess came from out back with a platter of rabbit-surprise stew.

“No worries boss” Jess said as she placed one of the two plates of food in front of James and another in front of Ash.

“Ash, that’s your last round until you bring in more gold. Let’s not get too deep into your tab today hey” Sally said more-so to Jess than Ash. Jess had a soft spot for the downtrodden, Sally had a soft spot for gold.

“Matt, Jaeden, what can I do for ye?” Sally said placing a tankard of ale in front of each of the men, one of them definitely had more than a little ogre or something in him.

“Sally, boss says that he has a specialist coming in to help ye. Be ‘ere on dusk tomorrow I reckon’,” said the half-ogre (or something),

“Jae, tell your boss I got it covered. He can shove off with his meddling. Look what happened to those nice dwarf boys. They drank more than the rest of these townsfolk combined and paid fairly for what they got,” Sally half-spat as she swiped a tankard from Jess as she moved on past to serve other patrons, ” I don’t need the help, all is going to be right and set soon, you wait and see.”

“The boss ain’ waiting no more Sal,” Matt spoke this time. Matt was like an uncle to Sally, one of her fathers longest ’employees’ and definitely someone you want to have on side, “Once the hired help comes in, you will know when it’s time to wrap up your affairs and come home.”

As Sally swigged the last of the ale from her tankard a feeling of dread welled up in her gut. She wasn’t done yet, she had more to do, more plans to see through and more gold to get.

“Well lads, Jae, Matt, good to see you both. I guess I better take care of loose ends.” Sally said as she stood up, chewing her bottom hip.

Matts hand shot out like a bolt from a cross bow. “Sal, don’t be thinking what you are. It won’t do you no good. You’ve been down that road before and we both know that its not best for ya’,” Matt said, genuine concern on his face.

“Oh, me. I was thinking of ordering some more Rabbit for the rabbit-surprise stew. You boys should get some before it’s all gone. I promise I won’t do anything I won’t regret”

Sally sauntered off from the table, talking to a few of the patrons as she went back behind the bar. Tapping Ash on the back to let him know his time and gold was up.

She couldn’t go against her father, she couldn’t not go against him. What she needed was a hero, or a few of them, for what ever scheme her father had cooked up this time.

Well that was a bunch of fun to write up. Please do let me know if you prefer the written up story approach to adventure components as I am considering moving more towards them in the future.

With any of the above there could be slight tweaks, or leave them as they are, to have either or both of the plot hooks from Mondays write up (The Marsh of Masks…) come to life. Either turning one, two or all three of the NPCs into key components of the story through the twists we weave can make it feel more alive, give a depth and a greater glimmer of character to the stories we lay before the players to tell.

Well that’s it for this Wednesday, if you like what you have read don’t hesitate and let us know. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for Maps (Not going to lie – this is the day I dread the most as it takes the most time (and I work full time and have two kids..) but there is some special about maps, terrain and the like that I just can’t shy away from.

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

As volatile as the sands of time…

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Wednesday and we have two official twists fort or adventure. One altering ,(or explaining) the nature of the coin and the other introducing a left hook to mix up the partysb quest where their employer, or one in under her employ, is not who they seem.

Tomorrow night if maps and I hope to explore a tool mentioned in the weekend and maybe a few pre-planned battlefields for the party. So make sure to join me tomorrow for that!

The Shruiabe Coin

The centre of the adventure must hold some mystery so lets look at what lies in wait for those who seek the Shruiabe Coin.

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The coin itself is said to grant its owner a measure of immortality. They will not age not will suffer the I’ll affects of old age. Their age will effectively be frozen in time from the point of acquiring the artefact and until it leaves their possession

What isn’t advertised is that in those with a weak will who have tasted the artefacts power are driven to seek the coin as their waking thoughts and motives become consumed neither in the thought of once again holding the coin and feeling it’s cold metal on their skin. They are also driven to feed on the life force of others as a way of sustaining their even more apparent life force.

It is whispered in the occult circles that the use of the Shruiabe Coin is what gave birth to the first vampires but nothing has been proven, yet.

The Whispersong family of elves is said to have been surprisingly resistant to the negative and positive energy of the coin and their ancestors were entrusted to watch over the coin and make sure that no one with ill will would come in contact with it.

If coin does unnaturally extend the life of the owner the party may find themselves unwilling to retrieve the coin from Kelsei or part from it once they have it. Either for their own benefit or to prevent others from using it.

08WePr

Long had the priest waited for their chance at the artefact again. Several bodies he had inhabited using dark rituals but this time he.. she.. it believed that they were in a position to finally retrieve the coin.

Either a servant of or the lady who hired the party to go after the artefact the priest is now closed to obtaining the coin, if the party delivers their end of the deal.

Once/if the priest gets the artefact perhaps they just disappear with it to live in out a solitary life of immortality, or perhaps the dark powers at play that have sponsored the priests powers for so long have tired of his/her schemes and the coin is the price of his/her freedom from the dark.

What ever the reason the presence of the priest should be hidden for as long as possible, even Kelsei shouldn’t reveal the true nature or the parties employer and it can be a puzzle and/or encounter for them to deal with.

Thanks for joining me tonight to look at some of the changes it twists we can make. The alternatives are simple. The coin doesn’t work or work exactly as it was foretold and the lady hiring the party is a collector of oddities and whether using the coin for a longer life, or just to own a priceless artefact, she is innocent. But where is the fun in that?

Not all adventures need twists but having something that changes they players view our understanding can enhance their in experience in the game so it is a valuable ingredient to add to the mix

As always don’t forget to follow or subscribe if you like what you read tonight so you can stay up to date on the content here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop and definitely don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The choices we make…

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Wednesday is here and with it brings something that I find hard to boil down into a yes or no response. What motivates characters (and their players) to do the weird things we want them to do. Why would they go into the dank hole filled with spiders, or wolves, or bears oh my! Why do they rescue the person who sold them bad healing potions not a week ago. Motivation and how we can use that to hook characters into sticking to the adventure at hand is something that takes a while to master – and I don’t truly think one can ever master it.

Let’s look at three motivations that we can use to bring our players into the session and keep their mind locked away until the final crossbow bolt pierces the witches heart.

Ask the Player

The title kind of gives it away. For the three options below to actually work we need one thing, communication between the Dungeon/Game Master and their players. The whole game is built around communication so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I bring it up eventually but here we go.

Ask your players at character creation to really think why and how they tie into this world. Ask them to weave a single NPC into their back story (not a novel, we all know how that goes…) and to tell you about themselves and their one NPC. A mother, boyfriend, old boss, someone they owe money or a favour to. Someone who you may want to weave into the game so that they become more connected to it

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Connection; This is where the player has a connection that you can use. Whether it’s an old flame or a new flame at that, a debt owed or perhaps the want of a favour from someone there should be something that each player has in mind for what motivates their characters when it comes to the NPCs or potentially other PCs.

Make sure your players are ok with you putting the man who they owe a great debt to at the centre of your plot. Remember this is tying their character into the adventure at a personal level – you want to make sure that they are ok with how it twists and alters their characters’ story.

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Greed; Now, I know what you are thinking. ‘BW – my player’s character is not greedy, they are a holy night who wants nothing of the mortal realm – their only motivation is to fulfill their oath and bring virtue to the land’. We have all had that player before, or presently, but what I want to touch on with Greed is looking at what motivates our characters, pure or otherwise, and how that can drive them to something.

Let’s look at the above example, The paladin who only wants vengeance for what happened to their innocent family and swore an oath to have it fulfilled. That desire, that conviction could in fact be an act of greed. I won’t get deep into it as it will take an entire night of writing but lets look at D&Ds alignment system. There is not just Good and Evil but there are degrees of it. A lot of greys between the black and white. Convictions, oaths, greed, desires can all be tilted slightly one way or another and the only thing that makes one good and not evil is the perception of the one wielding the sword.

Ok, best lay off the coffee.. Greed – use something the player wants and put it where they can see it. That artefact that they have been searching for – maybe the merchant has a map to where it is, but she wants a favour for it and she is cashing in now. Maybe the priestess is in good favour with the head of the church and the PC wants a blessing, or curse removed – Saving the girl may be the best outcome for your player.

To quote a dear friend of mine in his first ever DM session where I was his player. Greed is good.

07WeOs

Want; And now the very last one is rather simple. Your Party has agreed to just want to have a D&D session and they will say yes to just about anything. The past.. 20 something months have been rough, lets broach that topic for but a moment. I know that my usual band of 7 players has now become four and that they are almost always excited and ready for a game.

But that doesn’t guarantee that they will be ready to rumble come the urchin running towards them screaming for help as some nightmarish creature skitters up a wall and lunches at the boy. Talk to your party, I have set aside a rule of at least 24 hours before game time I ask the party what they are up for, regardless of planning a one shot or campaign. If it’s been a long week and they want to roll some dice I will tweak what I had planned to have some form of an encounter in, whether it’s a fight, infiltration or escape from certain death, I give them something that they want to do.

To be real – this used to be disheartening. I would spend maybe 4 hours (much like I am now) coming up with a plot, some NPCS, a map (where most of the time was spent – I have a potato for a computer…) and some stat blocks or DCs for the encounters or checks I wanted to give them, and when the group wanted something different I would feel a bit disheartened and disappointed that they didn’t want to explore the lost temple on the mountain – they would rather avoid being eaten by zombie gnolls. But now I honestly don’t mind. I think the turning point was experimenting with my current group, where no map, encounter or planning is wasted as I always find a way to use it for the players enjoyment.

This is it for the week – Not exactly twist heavy where we see the revelation of a hidden agenda, a personality shift, plot migration or something completely different but a twist in the preparationand planning that we put into these adventures.

Many DMs would agree with me, and players on that note (hence why there are always more players than DMs) that being a dungeon master is a lot of hard work and to be truly proficient in it takes dedication to one’s craft. This may be one or two weeks of non-stop Dungeoneering or it may be something that you build up to over the course of, say – I dunno. 24 years

Don’t forget to have fun, don’t forget to experiment and twist up how you navigate the twisted world roots of this game we play and lastly don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Swill and Thrills…

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Wednesday already? After last night I wasn’t sure how much writing I would be up to doing tonight, but we made it! Looking at the taverns still, I would believe that any of these could be used for a session 0, level 1 or even a level 7 party. Taverns are versatile and everywhere so this weeks adventure, and its twists as we will shortly find out, will be able to be used in any campaign and with some tweaking any setting as well!

Tonight is all original Brazen Wolfe Tabletop content – but no images this time (sorry!). If you want a refresher after the essay from last night I suggest you have check out the ”01-Monday – Plot’ and ’02 – Tuesday – Who/What” category (link in the main landing page) so you can check out the other posts for this week as well as prior weeks. But lets get on with tonight’s content!

One foot at Death’s Door

Contact poison.

A highly effective and rare contact poison has been placed on the red darts in the tavern. Only by extensive searching can the poison be located and it takes a week for the poison to take effect. A rival tavern, run by a previous party meme of Percy before they became famous, had laced the darts as a way to run the tavern’s reputation. The antidote is hard to find and expensive but the rival innkeeper, Toren, has a vial that he keeps.

Toren has many friends, one of them, Hugh, basically resides at the Death’s Door and once the poison has been detected then a ransom note for the antidote will arrive on the bar one morning. The poison makes people appear as if dead within d4+3 days and they stay that way until given the antidote.

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If the party picks up the darts or play them one night then there is a 50% chance they picked up the red darts (>51 on %dice) and they come into the effect of the poison.

If the poison isn’t discovered the party will wake to find their party member cold and stiff to touch.

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The poison is magical in nature and for each person that falls victim to it looks to reopen the Death’s door portal. Toren found a way to dig up the necromancer’s bones and bring him to unlife. They work together to ruin the good name of Percy and finish what the necromancer started

I thought of the contact poison adventure hook last week but didn’t really have a way to use it while sticking with the theme or random and easy. So this week we have two motives for poisoning the patrons at Deaths Door. Both would make for a good adventure and it could be resolved by something we haven’t explored yet. Social skills instead of violence. I know, crazy stuff.

I don’t think we’re in the forgotten realms any more…

The wandering Inn.

The inn has transported itself to a pocket dimension not too unlike the feywilds. Mysterious magical.constructs will approach the inn and scream “closing time!” At the occupant’s. Any one who leaves the inn and gets lost in the magical mists will find themselves stumbling into the vacant lot where the Inn used to be. (Roll a d% every hour exploring. Roll above 10% first roll to stay in the pocket dimension. Then second hour 30% until it hits 70% then the mist becomes aggressive and will hunt them down. The mist doesn’t go anywhere within 40 feet of the Inm and the constructs don’t go inside but will get within 5ft of any door or window and continue to screech.

If a fight occurs and the construct downs a creature is teleported out of the dimension and back into the vacant lot.
This continues for 6 nights.

06WeWt1

The original owner of the Inn has found a way to escape the pocket dimension he banished himself to. Now insane he wants his Inn back and managed to corrupt the magic of the Inn to do so. But he can’t cause harm to anything living in this dimension or his control on the Inn will break. On the 6th night he appears before the inn and the remaining patrons and party members and offers a deal. Give him the inn and he will send them back with riches. Merl refuses outright and asks the party for help

06WeWt2

The inn is controlled by a crystal from the feywilds. The inn has slowly become sentient and created this dimension for it to remain in and grow to understand who and what it is. On the 6th night a particularly large construct would appear and parley with the humanoids.

Either the original mad owner or sentient Inn both have social, puzzle and combat elements involved. The idea with these twists is to tell why its happening. To have a “Ahhhhh. Of course” moment that is 1, believeable and 2, rewarding to the players.

Goblins wanted, pay is competitive.

The Goblins Boss

While it’s true that the Gobin and Lute tavern causes people to get exceeding drunk, become coinless and lose their memory of the night, the goblins run a tight shop and no one is ever injured or had anything of real value taken. Unless you are a member of the guard or under their employ.

06WeGaL1

The goblins are employed to a sprite from the feywilds who feeds off happiness, not in a sick way. The happier the patrons the more magical power the fey has and the better the inn becomes. The fey creature, when not feeding, visits the people of the town and heals illness, increases growth in crops and ensures prosperity of the patrons of the tavern (firstly) and those around them.

06WeGaL2

The Goblins are mind slaves to a underdark creature who controls all goblins like puppets. He removes memories of the patrons to create mindless constructs in a cellar under the tavern which it plans to unleash upon the town when the time is right.

I have had a lot of fun roleplaying traditional minion monsters. Kobolds (my favourites), goblins, imps and quasits all can bring something comical and nom threatening to an adventure. Which is why it is even more hilarious when they turn on the party and the noble paladin, pious cleric and angry, angry barbarian all get knocked unconcious by a group of cr 1/8 filler creatures.

The idea here is a comic relief. Serious Adventure/session after serious session can be draining. Having an adventure that is just there for Stein’s and giggles is a great way to give an enjoyable night but takes the pressure of, 1, the party to fight something life threatening and 2, you the DM. Sure the players may want to cut a goblin in half with the serving dish their potato’s came on. But add in a bad guy controlling them, or a do-gooder guard capitan who hates goblins and doesn’t care if they are making the town and it’s people truely happy, and your party has a punching bag to take their d20s out and hit.

I had a bit of fun tonight writing up the twists for these adventures and I hope you had at least as much fun reading it. I started typing (on my mobile as I do every second night – short story for another time) with only the contact poison and old owner wanting it’s Inn back twists in mind. As I started writing it out it just developed and went into what it is and I’m pretty happy with what came out of it

Not all adventures need to be about fighting or combat. Social encounters are likely harder to beat ( I mean.. Charisma is a dump stat.. right…?) And violent may make things worse or not solve it at all.

Don’t forget that if you like what you read feel free to use it. If you do drop us a comment on how the game session/short story/thing.. went!

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

Pitchforks, hides, and holy symbols.

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Wednesday is here again and it brings today some plot twists to our quests or NPCs to add a depth to our games.

As with the previous two nights this week is about versatility and improvisation. Generic twists, any of the below have been written and thought up to be used with any NPC or any plot from this week or previous weeks adventures. The challenge is to like the path that a twist takes you back to the main road so that the party can still get closure with the adventure.

Disruption in the marketplace

The party arrives at the marketplace just as a fight breaks out. The city guard move to intervene but as more people’s join into the brawl it quickly gets out of hand.

05WeMa

The group of traders were approached by a official who demanded gold in exchange for the protection of their stall. The black ail was not taken well by the noble tribe of traders and they challenged the official to a duel. As the official began to lose the ritualistic dual he drew a blade and killed his opponent causing the other traders to demand retribution for this dishonor.

Any marketplace could host this scene. It opens up a few options for subplots or side quests for the party if they choose to intervene.

As the fight breaks down the traders explain their side of the story, perhaps assisted by other traders wronged my the official or perhaps not.

05WeTh

The words “Stop thief” seem yo reverberate around the stalls as everyone stands still. A darting figure in a tan coloured hood rushes towards the party as a stall owner shouts and points at the humanoid running away from the stall

A thief / chase twist can open up exciting plots or changes in the story. A patron wronged may be incorrectly held accountable as a thief if they take what is rightfully theirs, or people unaccustomed to a culture may not be aware what they are doing is stealing. Or perhaps, they just don’t care if it’s stealing if it furthers their goals or plans.

If the party catch up (see chases in the DM guide for dnd) then maybe a new twist on the quest happens, or a side quest that distracts them from the main issue.

I haven’t had a campaign or adventure on that matter where I mention a marketplace and the party are drawn to it. The proposition of games of chance, information or wealth (magic items, a new sword, reagents for spells) always draws people in and it’s a great way to further the plot or mix it up a bit.

The man who cried wyvern

Sometimes people get it wrong. But what happens if they aren’t wrong that one time and no one believes them..

05WeCw

The reported sighting of a wyvern flight taking a farmer’s sheep got the village into a flurry of activity. The local stores sold out of weapons very quickly and “wyvern” hunters appeared in quickly and self their services to the village to keep the beasts away. However no further sightings were made and the village quickly found themselves indebted to these hunters who made a home for themselves in the inn.

If the village couldn’t pay for their services they took what they want as payment for keeping the flying monsters away.

These types of village guests can be the hardest to get out. Taking what they want and refusing to leave, or making it feel like what they provide is essential can create the illusion of indenture.

Maybe the wyverns are there. Or maybe they are not. Having someone from the wyvern hunters crew pretend to see a beast then the crew coming to the towns rescue is a tale as old as time. But, maybe the presence of these mercenaries would bring about such a beast and just as they think they are safe they find out they are a beasts next meal.

05WePr

When the local priest exclaimed that his connection to Lathander (or any other deity) had failed as his holy symbol had gone missing the town searched high and low, and found the party. The offer of gold and a blessing from the morning lord was enough to entice them to look.. but what if they found more than the missing amulet.

A hook to treat lightly, perhaps a false priest or a corruption in the order is the cause, whatever the case if you have religious players maybe add a disclaimer as corruption of a faith, or falsehoods can be a sensitive subect.

If the party is fine with it then you can have a lot of fun working out if the priest or whole town has turned from the light in favour for the delights of the dark. The pretence of a missing symbol or idol could cause conflict or attract rumours of the foul kind to a village as words and rumours have power.

We investigate the darkness of people in need, or who pretend to be in need in order to progress their own motives with this twist. The lie, white or not can be a turning point in an adventure and when mixed with the right plot or another twist it can make for a complex and deep mystery for the party to solve.

That’s it for tonight, a visit at a marketplace and a lie, white or otherwise. Twists and turns make for an exciting moment mid adventure that can create a deciding movement for the party in which way to go.

Now I’ll get around to explaining it one day but for now… Don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Something Wyrd comes this way

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Wednesday, perhaps the deciding day to whether your week is overall great or overall a write off, can set the mood and tone and mood of your week. It’s no mistake that it’s the day for twists and changes in plots here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop.

I want to try something a bit different for this week’s twists, so let’s drive in as it will takes me a while to write. A reminder to all my readers out there, these come from the (sometimes dark) recesses off my mind and, for the most part, excluding inspirations that I note down, everything is a Brazen Wolfe Original.

Knights honor is more like guidelines

The flickering candlelight did nothing to dampen the focus of Fred. Her flashing orange eyes like pools of liquid Silver reflecting the dancing flame that she stared into.

A noise, perhaps from her scrying, perhaps not, barely registered past her focus as she stared at the image’s that she conjured up into the flame. 

Men and women in silvered armour danced within the flames, their banners and shields spotted as if passing under thick but miniature clouds that blotted the sun. A screeching, keening cry of predator, familiar but unrecognisable, pierced through her mind as she struggled to focus on the candle and the images it procured at her behest. A thudding now joined the sounds of the hunt, flashes of silver turning red, browns and greens liquifying before her eyes as the keening screech caused her eyes to water. 

The constant thumping now turned into the rythmic thumping and crunching of wood as more silver turned red and browns pooled on a mottled carpet.

‘Fred!,’ a familiar voice called as a strong but caring hand gripped her shoulder, ‘come quick, you need to see this’ Percy commanded as he wrapped a cloak around her shoulders.

‘I know… It’s escaped,’ Fred said with a sigh, the candle fluttering out as her conjuration ended. Wiping the trickling blood from her nose Fred stood up from the padded chair and noted the splintered remains of her door.

‘Three nights from now, the silvered will fall onto the mottled carpet, It’s hunt complete. The Wyrd dwells amongst a patchwork roof without defined walls’. 

‘So it’s in the Wyrdwood huh,’ Sir Percival mumbled as he ran his hand through his beard in thought, ‘I guess we better find a way to bring it back or put it down’ he mused before walking through the ruined door.

‘Next time it wouldn’t hurt to knock Percy’ , Winnifred remarked as she bundled the cloak over her shoulder and followed the man she served.

‘I did’ was all Percy said as he turned down the hall and headed off towards the arena.

04WeSc

Winnifred is the creator of the creature, as such she has an understanding of it’s motives and  nature. She created it to be a challenge, to learn and be something more than a puppet, however with no strings attached it began to wonder why it had to obey directions from it’s creator.

04WePlt

Sir Percival brought the beast in for a single purpose, the removal of certain knights from a rival court. What wasn’t planned was the captured beast escaping and beginning to hunt his citizens.

Chad

04WeCh

Chad, knowing about the hunt beforehand after seducing the right ladies at the court, worked his way into the holding pen and sabotaged the holding mechanisms to the pen to make sure the beast could escape.

Once notified of the beasts escape Chad volunteered to go after it himself so that he would be considered as the next knight to Sir Percival.

These variations on the beast can drastically change the course of the adventure and with little tweaks it increases the variety of encounters you can have in this adventure.

I wanted to keep the twists closely related to the plot of this adventure, stemming back to the original inspiration of this week there is very little shades between black and white.

The aim of these twists is to show that by keeping a single plot in focus you can spin up several alternative adventures. Having this flexibility or being able to improvise when something goes a bit off the trail can make the adventure feel natural and increase the immersion the players have for your session.

As always, if you like something in particular please let me know, and don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Sparrows Rest Keep

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Wednesday already. Today we are looking at expanding out plot, refining the core mission or quest to create that secondary hook or twist that leave the players wanting to stay up later or move your fortnightly session a week early just so they find out what’s behind the hidden door.

So without taking too much time.. a disclaimer.. I know what I want to happen and this week.. I’m also probably going to start on the map tonight too as I’m anticipating something a bit bigger for this weeks adventure. I am also working towards somthing that I hope to implement next month – so stay tuned for that announcement.

Not all that glitters is gold…

The aim of the setting this week is to get the party to the ruins. The party have come at a perilous time where darkness is coming under the chitter of a hundred paws. So this isn’t really a twist more a path that the adventure moves down one or the other.

The keep itself is mostly ruins. The outer walls that used to hold a courtyard have been ransacked for their well carved stone. There is little patches of grass that surround the ruined walls and archways, almost as if the grass itself was cut out.

The only sounds are the occasional gust of wind or the rattle of a stone falling from a long forgotten rampart.. The attempt to investigate such noises leaves the curious puzzled and as such the ruins are believed to be haunted.

03WeMa1

The keep is currently home to a group of thugs, they have sent some of their members to Sparrows Rest to scare the townsfolk into leaving so their presence is not known.

The thugs are currently excavating a long lost passageway looking for the treasures that may lie beneath Sparrows Rest Keep.

Main plot. The cause of a lot of issues for the Adventure

Hostile group discovered and main antagonists

03WeMa2

Investigating the keep at day finds it empty and devoid of life, even the grass and animals know better to dwell near the keep

At night the ruins are filled with Chittering humanoids with their red bulbous eyes almost glowing in the Torchlight.

They are almost endless in numbers and seem to burst forth from a hidden trap door among the stones.

If not thugs it’s these. Party either encounter them at night in the city or at the ruins.

Main antagonists

The party will either way venture into the tunnels beneath the ruined keep.

The weddings off

Kat Baker…

03WeKB1

Kat Baker is and still is heavily devoted to Percy, she found out that he had been sneaking upto the keep to practice dark magic with some dark master at night and challenged him about it, threatening to break off the engagement if he didn’t cease learning dark magic. Which he agreed to.

The next day he was dead, Kat went off to find Percys dark master for revenge.

To progress the story and not have Kat as the culprit. Have this during the day after the body was found (the party were approached during the following day and asked to investigate)

Party catch the investigate during the day and find Kat’s horse mostly devoured and Kat holed up a busted tower severely wounded. She mentions the thugs/humanoids that came from the ground.

03WeKB2

Kat Baker is and still is heavily devoted to Percy, she found out that he had been sneaking upto the keep to practice dark magic with some dark master at night and challenged him about it, threatening to break off the engagement if he didn’t cease learning dark magic. Which he agreed to.

The next day he was dead, Kat went off to find Percys dark master for revenge.

To progress the story and not have Kat as the culprit. Have the players enter the town at late afternoon and have them beseached to go after Kat now. This will land the Party there at night.

If the party get there at night they see a lone figure climbing stairs up the tower with a torch and sword drawn. Humanoid figures (thugs or otherwise) chase her up the steps.

A good blade is one in a million.

Timothy Carpens blade – he is revealed to be a coward.

03WeTC1

Tim Carpen fled and dropped hissword on the ground, his blade lays where it landed. It was said to be an enchanted sword given to his family to protect them against evil as a sign of appreciation from the king at that time.

This blade however is not that, it is a fake and anyone with a keen eye for smithing could reveal that (or a dwarf as there is well etched dwarven runes in the blade but they reveal that Tim was a fraud and coward.

If Tim approaches the party requesting aide to find his families sword then this is a possible choice

If hte party returns during the day then the Mayor may greet them (roll % and <50) he asks to see the blade and then reveals that it is very poorly made. A dwarf could also reveal this information.

If Tim’s mother finds out then it should be revealed that Tim lost the real blade in the ruins weeks ago when he went in search of treasure – he found a hidden trap door and something spooked him so he dropped it in the door. This time he didn’t even make it to the door when he was approached and he threw the sword and ran.

03WeTC2

The sword is indeed fine, and its burried in the chest of a man/humanoid thing with black fur.

The blade shines like bright daylight when revealed at night and during the day it gives of a soft humm that sets anything with an evil disposition upon edge.

Not needed but could drive the story forwards more

Party can retreave hte blade but the presence of the body should alert them to whats under the keep.

If no options are desired, but the quest is obtained then the blade is found on the grass, it is a fine blade but no trace of beast can be found. The party then either encounter thugs or the humanoids depending on 03WEMA1 or 03WEMA2.

People of Sparrows Rest

Twists for either Rose Longhammer or James Goodfellow.

03WeRLH1

Rose Longhammer is actually the mother of a daughter that went missing at the keep a few weeks back. Each day she goes looking for her daughter and finds nothing.

Rose would ask to employ the party to try and find what happened to her daughter. She says that she has had no luck thus far but she is rather poor at tracking or looking around ruins.

New quest for the party

03WeJG1

James is actually in league with the Thugs/humanoids. He has grown impatient at the villagers lack of respect and wishes to bring doom to the village so he can save it and earn enough glory to be given lands and a title at one of the three kingdoms he has been currying favour with.

The thugs leader or the “surprise NPC” reveal that James is the person they are working with.

The party has the choice to extort the mayor, reveal him or do nothing. But they know what the Mayor has done now

Well the plot thickens, and much like a good stew there is meat and hidden flavours to be found. With these additional twists or even additional quests there is more information to work and develope our adventure. There is a strong warhammer feel/vibe I am working on for this weeks adventure as I am quite passionate about many tabletop hobbies and warhammer is another one that I am yet to touch upon.. yet.

Don’t forget, if you like one of the twists above feel free to use it in your own adventure and as always don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

What in the Zel…

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Wednesday already – being at home sick (thankfully not COVID though, rolled a good con save there) and not working means that I have a lot of extra brain power these past few days so I am experimenting with new formats and templates for the different content I produce.

Today is Twist day – that isn’t to say that you need to have a twist in an adventure, just that they can add a little something to the session. Let’s have a look at what can go wrong in and around Zel.

Jeremiha Roost

Jeremiha (02TuSt2) is wanted for aggressive robbery and murder. He has been requested to be brought in dead or alive by the Zel City Watch (02MoSt2)… But what if all isn’t what it seems.

02WeJR1

Jeremiha is targeting shipments of supplies going outside the city of Zel. It turns out he is only stealing from the merchants who are sending out the limited supplies out of the city instead of helping the poor and starving.

The reported murder is where the father and son got into a heated arguement about handing the goods over – the son wanted to sell the goods to make more money for themselves but the father was happy to hand over the goods peacefully to Jeremiha. When the Father agreed the son pulled out a weapon and tried to kill the father, doing so just as Jeremihas blade separated the arm from the son. Applying a healing salve to the sons wound Jeremiha left after depositing a sum of money to the son so that he could ensure

If the party witness Jeremiha during a robbery/heist, and he is captured then this twist should be considered

Up to the players – Can hand him in or let him go and knowingly fail the quest. Hand him in and the goods will continue to be stolen and given back to the people

02WeJR2

Jeremiha is as bad as they come. He almost prefers people to put up a fight so he can inflict harm upon them – seemingly only feeling joy when he is on the hunt for new people to assault and rob.

However, he is not alone. The reason he has gone undetected for so long is because several of the watchmen and women are under his employ.

If Jeremiha is found several men/women of the watch appear at the same time and look to surround him and “back up” the players. But then they ambush the players.

Or

If the players request help from the guard then they turn on the players just after finding Jeremiha with the intent on killing them.

Players now have to try and fight off Jeremiha as well as the corrupt officials. Then they have to report this back to the head officer, Sam (02TuSt1)

Bonus twist(s)

Sam could have known that there was corruption in the watch and used this to get rid or reveal the traitors.

OR

Jeremiha was the corrupt previous captain of the watch and held a lot of power over her officers. Getting rid of him and some of those officers will solidify her position

Or you could just have him as a lone operator without a twist. The idea behind him is relatively flexible – not all bad guys need to have corrupted the system or have a deeper more ‘robin hood’ background story but these twists can enrich them further.

What lies behind the sheets

The idea for this twist is simple. What you are escorting is not all all what it seems. The caravan carrying refugees (02MoEs1) or the escort of goods from warehouse 1 to market (02MoEs2)

02WeEs1

The caravan that the refugees are in, led by one of the refugees who is a sort of nominated leader of the group, has gone through a long journey to the neighbouring settlement. Along the way however they changed course off the pre-plotted route to go down dangerous roads and it caused the party a few days of fighting.

The last few nights the party have also woken up to ambushes on the caravan which has caused the party a few restless nights of sleep.

The party arrive exhausted but safe at the settlement…

There is no particular trigger for this – either it happens or it doesn’t. I would think that this is the default adventure for this plot.

See 02WeEs3 or 02WeEs4

02WeEs2

What Brumblethatch didn’t tell the party is that the goods they are to escort are living specimens of a semi-hostile race.

The buyer is someone who plans to experiment on them so that they can better understand how they work and how to kill them.

Since they are hostile, relatively unknown creatures, despite it being a short distance the party members have to subdue the creatures as they try to escape their crate. For each creature not subdued (but slain) reduce the payout by 20%.

If you want to have the quest have more of a shock or moral delimma then introduce this twist.

Reduced income if the party kills any of the creatures. The party members have to decide if they want to hand over the things to be experimented on.

02WeEs3

Upon seeing the settlement walls a strange silence comes from the caravans holding the refugees. Approaching the walls of the settlement the guard of the settlement comes to greet the caravan and the escort.

Once within range of the Caravans the refugees burst out armoured and armed with a range of weapons. The refugees quickly overpower the guards at the settlement before rushing towards the gate separating the walls.

The party, exhausted, watches on as the first guards fall down injured, dead or dying as the self proclaimed leader apologises for their deceit and throws a bag or valuable goods towards the party member. Mentioning that this settlement invaded the settlement that they used to belong to and either killed or captured (into slavery) the people that didnt manage to escape.

Option for changing the storyline between the refugees quest..

The party has to decide whether to help the guards and fight the people they have travelled with for the past few days in their exhausted state.

Protecting the settlement may buy them an ally in the future and give more options of future missions and quests.

O2WeEs4

Some of the locals don’t like that the Party has brought more mouths to feed to the settlement and organise an ambush/attack on the party as they are resting that night.

Some of the refugees are killed in the attack.

If the refugees don’t attack the settlement then consider this the other side of the coin.

The refugees leave the settlement after the attackers are dealt with to take their chances in the wild instead of dealing with the settlement’s people who attacked them outright.

There are quite a few here, but really its 2 with different outcomes for the first. Either of these should be considered heavily if either of the parent plots are selected.

It’s a trap!

Suitable for any quest. It’s a trap is simple. Either the patron or a competing faction want what you have and have set you up. OR they are testing you see if you are truly worthy to be in their employ

02WeTrap1

As the party members are on the verge of completing their quest they are ambushed or stopped.

If you want to add danger, a sense of shock or to expand from a basic plot into something a bit more.

The party has to fight their way out to complete their quest/mission. Giving them more rewards (loot from the bodies of the fallen) or a bonus from their patron. Or if their patron is betraying them then it’s time for renegotiations of the contract to take place.

02WeTest1

Stealing the thingy, transporting the goods (that are actually not valuable or for sale at all) or apprehending the city watchmen disguised as a murderous thug are all ways that the patron is testing to see if they are suitable for a bigger task.

If you have ideas for a series of bigger quests revolving around a NPC or group then this could be a good way to start it off. A test that is disguised as a real mission/quest could lay the groundwork for future bigger or more dangerous work

Future work opens up and the party are trusted by the patron group further

Probably a good twist to open up a series of quests or “kick down the door” to bigger revelation or reward.

Hopefully the new layout helps in breaking up the twists we have at our disposal. Apart from the first two that focus around a specific NPC the other twists could be woven into any mission that it could be relevant to.

Twist it up

As with our Monday post, if you want to see a specific twist used in this week’s adventure lets see it below in a comment.

Don’t worry if it’s person specific or story specific as with all twists it shouldn’t be too hard to blend them together to throw in a curve ball. Like the idea of Jeremiha but want an escort quest – no worries, Jeremiha likes stealing stuff.

Like the idea of an escort gone wrong but want to be looking for something magical, Maybe the one goods that are on that convoy to be sold is particularly potent in magic.

So if you see one that you like, add in the tagline into a comment and we will add it to this week’s adventure – else, I will let the dice decide the twist for this week.

Twists, although fun, shouldn’t be over done. Some weeks it may be better to have no twists occur for the players and just let the plot and the players decisions speak for themselves. Not having a twist may keep the party on their toes more often than not.

Remember that the enjoyment of everyone in the session, Game Master, Player or even your observers is what is most important. If the rules or the structure of the adventure is getting in the way, scrap it or change it- move forward with what makes the party have the most enjoyment.

That’s it for today, and as always don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

A fork in the trail…

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Wednesday night – that means its time to look at twists, turns and surprises for the party.

01WeBe

The party wake up after their rest to find the door to the inn open slightly, swinging lightly in a breeze they didn’t realise was blowing. They could have sworn that they closed and locked it last night but their new patron, the man who offered them a job, had insisted on buying them ale and wine and lots of it so they could be mistaken.
The flash of moonlight on steel sends the party scurrying out of bed as they watch the window fly open and the shadow of a humanoid jumps out.
A metallic clang resonates through the enclosed room as the party hurriedly produces some light. 
On the ground in front of the window is a golden crown and a hastily scrawled note on strange parchment.

“By my thinking you stole the princesses crown, and I reckon the guard will be beating down the door any moment to drag you before the king to be hanged.”, At this moment the party can hear shouting from down stairs as a mailed gauntlet bangs demandingly on the inns door, “Meet my associate by the northern gate before dawn and do as he says or else I will make sure the king’s men find you.. oh and I wouldn’t leave the crown lying around to prove your guilt…” At that the parchment bursts into flames and not a trace is left behind.
The party, in this scenario, are blackmailed/betrayed into completing their quest for another agent. The associate at the gate tells them to instead complete the quest for another party, or for example instead of protecting something, they deliberately let their guard down, and so the game changes for the players. What they do, and for whom they complete the job for is up to them but don’t forget about consequences.

01WeDi

The party are on the verge of completing their quest whereupon nearing that final hurdle or last stretch something changes drastically.
The party has braved the dangers of Mant forest for a few days now with no sign of the healing spring. The map that the king gave to them indicates that they should be at it by now, or does that symbol mean danger. The longer they look at the map the more confused they become. Suddenly the party member taking lead through the forest indicates that they see something. Rushing ahead the princess leaves the safety of the pack and run, literally, into a tall slender hooded figure dressed in black silk and carrying a gnarled spiked staff.

“I was beginning to wonder when your father would send you to me, are the headaches getting worse Lirabeth?” 

The tall woman asks the princess, seemingly ignoring the group that has traveled with the princess these past days.
Nearly towering above the tallest of party members the woman appears to stand talker as she begins gesturing with her hands in shaky motions and making clicks and humming noises before the tall woman turns away from the group.

“Follow me, and stay on the path. The creatures of the first don’t trust man unless in my company. Come now” she commands as she stalks off through the forest. The party starts to become acutely aware of at least three very tall and broad creatures watching them from just off the path, drool dripping from their fanged maws”

01WePt

As the party approaches the banks of the Yooligo river a tangy, meaty aroma wafts steadily from the water’s surface. The river itself appears to have cut itself into the land as steep muddy embankments flank either side of its swift waters. 
As the last of the day’s light dims, the party begins to notice a shift in the muddy walls. Glowing worm like creatures emerge from the banks of the river, their long bodies, roughly the width of a man’s arm, twitch in the cooling night air and long strands of a milky substance drip from their skin.
As the milky goo hits the river’s surface the river itself seems to glow. With every heartbeat from the players the forest comes alive with noise and luminescent light. 

“Fascinating creatures are they not?” the witch asks from a nearby tree, watching the party as much as she watches the worms, “amazing predators too. Creatures are drawn to the waters in which their rich milk flows into and the creatures who drink find themselves healthy and strong. In return the worms pick one that drinks from the water and devour it – letting the offerings juices flow into the mud and water. Hence the smell.” The witch turns from the party and watches as a large deer begins to sip from the waters edge. A large glowing worm raises its head from the mud and sways in a dance-like motion in front of the deers eyes. The deer ceases to drink from the enriched waters as more worms rise up from the river banks and start to plunge their mouths into the deer, the dancing worm quickly follows suit biting the deer upon its head with the audible crunch of bone and flesh resonating from the worms and their meal. 

“The waters should be safe now that the worms are feeding, but they are known to take more than one when the mood takes them” the witch gives a final piece of advice before she walks onwards, talking to other animals that have appeared from the forest to come and drink deep from the magical waters. 
The party, in awe or horror (it’s too early to tell for now), decide they have seen enough and head off back to their camp in a nearby clearing.

Thanks for joining me today to look at a few possible twists for this week. One of them could be used across all plots, and 2 of them are quite specific to plots that we investigated on Monday.

Join me tomorrow to look at maps and, hopefully, I will have some maps to upload as potential areas of encounters, places of note, or a general lay of the land to get your and your players bearings.

Hopefully one of the above ‘twists’ can spice up your game and if you do use one please let me know how it goes.

…Oh and one more thing, don’t forget to roll with advantage!
The Brazen Wolfe