04-Thursday – Maps, layout, Extras

Thursdays we will focus on the extra details such as maps, additional information or details and the layout of the adventure that the party will go through.

Platara Ridge

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Tonight’s map isn’t overly complex, a series of rocky ridges capped in snow and ice line the carved path up the near-glacial slope of Platara Ridge. But a large cave has been discovered and it spells doom. The ledges now something that was seen as obstacles may be their worst enemy, or their best ally depending on how they are used. But let’s sit down, grab a coffee and look at tonight’s map!

Platara Ridge

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The ridges range between 5 and 10 feet wide enabling people to walk across them. Most are covered in snow which can make trekking across them dangerous as snow can hide a nasty fall. But overall they are sturdy and stable enough to have someone walk across them. For now that is.

The ice cave is relatively small, a bit over 5 feet in diameter but it poses a threat that the party may not be willing to ignore, or explore. The ropes leading up hold a reinforced wooden platform that can transport around a dozen people if required or about 6 if they each some some space on there. However despite it being reasonably large it is very slow to move so may not be the best mode of transport if speed is of the essence.

Platara Ridge Ice Cave – created in Inkarnate.

Thanks for joining me tonight for a glance at the Platara Ridge encounter map. Now to keep it brief and sharp don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Andrasa’s Tower

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Tonight brings a view of Andrasa’s Tower, but not what lies within. They say that no living soul today has ever stepped out of the tower that Andrasa built. Perhaps today will prove that statement wrong. But let’s sit down and look at tonight’s map!

Andrasa’s Tower

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The Map is nice an quick. A large portion of fallen cliff that has become wedged between the two parts of a narrow section of the chasm. This tower is made from dark stone and despite being ancient it looks to be relatively well kept. Debris from what could be the collapse of from chinks of the wall litter the area but the floor of the platform is stable-enough for now.

Andrasa’s Tower – created in Inkarnate.

Thanks for joining me tonight for a quick view of Andrasa’s tower. The effort of making the inside of a tower will have to wait for another night but what we have will suffice for now. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Rastabar Mercantile District

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This week sees out party running through the streets of the Rastabar Mercantile District as they try and make it back to their employer with long forgotten information. Whilst trying to make it look busy I also wanted to make sure that it felt spacious. A lot of people on the streets and amongst the houses gives a bit more of a ideal of scale and that may be enough for the party to use. But enough talking lets look at the partial city map!

Rastabar Mercantile District

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The mercantile district is caught between the general populace’s homes and the poorer district. In the middle lies the library and a few attractions around some shops and other merchant buildings however its also shadowed by a large fortified building that contains some of the guards to the city.

This makes the district very defensible and generally wrong doers or those who disturb the peace are dealt with quickly, if they don’t make it into the slums first or disappear amongst the winding streets between houses.

Rastabar Mercantile District- created in Inkarnate.

Thanks for joining me tonight for a quick city map. City maps are by far my least favourite to create as they never seem to fit right. But I guess this is something that will come with practice so I will continue to experiment with them. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Rastabar Floating Island

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This week sees out party sailing through the open… skies and towards the Rastabar Floating Islands. This encounter should be difficult enough to challenge the experienced players but rewarding for those who think out side of the box. So enough talking lets look at the island map!

Rastabar Floating Island

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The cloud cover is really what sells this encounter map. Partial cover or full when taking the uneven ground it will even cause an element of risk if fighting near the edge of the island as well as the fall could be deadly. However this is depending on how the party plan and deal with what they find in the skies.

Trees give cover and shelter whilst the ruins give something to explore that also hinders movement. There is a bit of everything for any party here and clever use of spells, magic items and abilities will see the day won.

Rastabar Floating Islands- created in Inkarnate.

Thanks for joining me tonight. A nice quick map that is relatively simple but despite its lack of complexity it contains many layered images and objects. This can really ad depth to a map which the players and DM can enjoy. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Trenchold Caves

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Like most of my adventures where I have multiple options or plots that are available I try to have a single point where they link up. I call this the “all roads lead to Rome” approach but really “all roads lead to Trenchold caves” is maybe more appropriate. Regardless of what I call it many DMs do this and it makes those early encounters feel less scripted, more free flowing and natural. However it also helps the DM funnel their efforts into a single map or encounter that they have planned. So enough talking lets get to some spelunking! So let’s sit back, grab a coffee and delve in!

Trenchold Caves

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Now Trenchold caves can be the house for bandits, goblins, ogres, orcs or just about anything you want to throw at the level 1 party. A secluded cave means that they have to use some non-combat skills to get there such as survival, nature and investigation. But it also opens us up to some random encounters OR the chance to use spells and abilities that we may not get much use out of (like Speak with Animals).

The cave isn’t that big but it has an area that is only 5ft wide. It could be blocked by a boulder that gives another skill check OR a mechanical barrier that could be a variety of skill checks or problem solving. Simple maps can lead to the most rich encounters.

Trenchold Caves – created in Inkarnate.

Thanks for joining me tonight. A short and quick one tonight to show that you don’t need hours if you use the right tools to create a rewarding map. Don’t forget to come back the next few nights to see my tournament results and updates, maybe a cheeky army family photo and more. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Mount Molwert Temple

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This week we look at a quick map for the encounter at Mount Molwert Temple. I plan for several encounters this adventure but the temple is where a main one will be. So let’s sit back, grab a coffee and delve in!

Mount Molwert Temple

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The temple itself has largely collapsed and the rocky foundation that used to sit at the edge of the crater has been eroded away by the water over the years. With the water now rising further the path and steps that used to lead to the temple have been swallowed up and its only partially visible now.

The temple itself is plain and primitive with two statues dedicated to the two forces of nature who clashed years ago. Water and fire are both held in equal reverence within the temple but there is something foul afoot here… But more on that tomorrow.

Mount Molwert Temple – created in Inkarnate.

Thanks for joining me tonight for a quick map. Inkarnate has added a new tool (or I am just slow to realise) where you can pain over the top of art assets enabling you to more seamlessly blend into the background. This quick map hoped to show that with the eroding walls and cliff edge of the temple. But this map isn’t revealing all and tomorrow we will look into what else is happening here. So don’t forget to come back tomorrow and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Just Reward

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This week we continue to look at the party collecting a boon from a kingdom or significant NPC. So what can the party get as their Just reward? Well the list is nearly endless but there are a few ones that we can get inspiration from. So this let’s sit back, grab a coffee and delve in!

Just Reward

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The types of boons that can be given to the players are wide and varied. From simple mundane items like, I don’t know, a fort and land with a title to magical trinkets that unlock the parties maximum ability score cap. The list and potential is endless.

So instead of a map tonight we will have a look at a few of them to help start giving ideas.

The Fort, Land or title

Streets of Narlowglen – created in Nightcafe.

Now the fort is something that has been on the table for ages and in Vox Machina we see the provision of a keep as some sort of Boon. Now there are a slew of issues with owning a place like this and it normally comes from things like upkeep, friendlies wanting in and enemies wanting to get in and get you out.

Similarly titles and lands come with their own responsibilities. You need people to work the lands to gain use out of them. Perhaps people live there so now you are responsible for not only the land but the people living there. This increase in responsibilities can provide interesting quests or just a driver to go and achieve more so they can manage the upkeep.

Lastly titles. Titles come with an element of coming with a catch. You may be Lord MacPuffin but as a lord you have to do activities or ceremonies or something to retain that title.

Magical items

Depending on the item they can make great boons. A few months back I produced the adventure the stones of deepgrove. This has a ring of wishes being offered as the reward for completing a quest. Now although the guild leader wasn’t a king or queen it was still can be seen as a representation of a boon.

The other magic item’s is as I mentioned earlier. A ring, totem or “macguffin” that grants the character a increase in the cap to one of the six ability scores they have. This can be more rewarding or seem underwhelming depending on the character and the skill.

So this was a few of the items that we could see as a boon. There are more and probably each one comes with pro’s and cons for bot the player and the DM. Don’t forget to come back for the next few days as we continue to look at boons. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Streets of Narlowglen

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Welcome to a Thursday night where we look at creating a darker map this week whilst fighting through the streets of Narlowglen. But this is not the only maps we are looking at for this week but more to come on that later. So have a look at the images, let your imagination run wild and picture the possibilities with a theatre of the mind adventure. So in order to do this let’s sit back, grab a coffee and delve in!

The Streets of Narlowglen

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The streets of Narlowglen late at night are shadowy dark places with a few lanterns here and there to shed light. However these Lanterns are easily broken and prone to being extinguished which will give pockets of shadow along the streets.

This gives us an atmospheric adventure with some interesting encounters that we can set up along the way. From random social encounters with drunks stumbling from a dark alleyway the possibilities are endless this week.

The roof tops for Narlowglen also provide the cunning hunter, or prey, another avenue of seeing the city. And for stalking prey. However despite this there is more than one alleyway that will lead he party to adventure and barrels, crates, rubbish and the people of the city may help or hinder them in their quest to save the city from the undead.

Streets of Narlowglen – created in Nightcafe.

This weeks Thursday update is a bit of a shorter one. But there will be more coming for where we find the nest of the creatures. So don’t forget to come back daily for next few days as we wrap up this weeks adventure. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Ruesford Manor

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Welcome to a Thursday night where we get to look at the top layers of Ruesford Manor. But what’s this? a secret staircase leading down. What lies in the dark under the manor? I guess that’s pretty easy to guess if you’ve been following along with the other posts this week. But instead of talking about it let’s sit back, grab a coffee and delve in!

Ruesford Manor

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This week we had a manor investigation, a secret room and what looks to be a house big enough for several people – but only one reported person lives there. Complete with a few locked wardrobes, a locked chest and a secret stairway hidden by a bookcase secret door.

The secret door is triggered by the statue, in this version, in the same room (top left of the map). There is obvious discoloration where the bookcase on the wall (next to stairs) swings to meet the vertical aligned bookcase to reveal stairs down.

The main entrance has a larger sitting room on the left with chairs and a fireplace. Opposite is a guest quarters with a bookcase, wardrobe, bed and a sitting desk. The kitchen is central to the house with a bedroom for a servant or maid. And a kids room nearby. Stairs lead to the main bedroom above the servants quarters too.

The kids room is accessible by the centre of the house but the door is locked. Toys and kids clothes populate this room but little else. The dining room leads to the study where the secret room can be found.

Ruesford Manor – created in Inkarnate

Thanks for dropping in to look at another map created in Inkarnate. I get unsure about creating houses and urban battle maps as they seem to be go one of two ways for me. In fact they either go poorly or “I guess this will do”. But this week I think I did well and so am pleased with how it turned out. Don’t forget to come back the next few days as we wrap up this weeks adventure. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Town of Dornsbury

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Welcome to a Thursday night where we get a glimpse of one of the maps coming this weekend, The Town of Dornsbury. As we prepare for another end of the week we need to be prepared for more adventure. So let’s instead sit back, grab a coffee and look at the town of Dornsbury!

The Town of Dornsbury

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The town itself is situated in a small island formed by river. This has given the town a natural defence against dangers for quite a long time however its not perfect.

Mainly humans live in Dornsbury village centre with many other smaller houses scattered to the North West and south west. To the southwest a large swath of the Safthold forest was initially cleared for farmland and housing but there has been a law against cutting down more of the forest for many years. This hasn’t abated the rage and anger of some of the denizens of the forest but there is rarely an incident between the people of the woods and of Dornsbury. Until now that is.

Dornsbury – created in Inkarnate

Another week and another map. I find myself enjoying these overworld maps as they give a perspective of scale. However I plan to bring some more maps for battle this weekend so keep an eye out for that. So don’t forget to come back the next few nights to see the adventure in full. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe