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Sins of the Subconscious

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This week I continued with the creating a shortened Zine, something that fits on a single A4 sheet of paper with just enough information to set the scene, plot and hook with some NPCs sprinkled through that it could be used in any system.

I think its still working well so without any further waiting I present Sins of the Subconscious, in the short format, as a fun one-shot to assist GMs when they need a night out of the books whether you run Pathfinder, Open Legends RPG, D&D or any other RPG System.

There is references to the blog nights which are D&D centric (regarding Friday night’s Stat-blocks) but this adventure can be used system agnostic more so than my regular Zines. As always Kobold fight club can be used to quickly balance an encounter for Dungeons and Dragons and Tetra-cube provides the stat-blocks for many of my D&D creatures.

So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, Sins of the Subconscious, and that your rolls are made with advantage.

Sins of the Subconscious

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Church of Kelemvor – Created in Nightcafe.

The party had been travelling to a large city and were a few hours past the last village that they had seen for hours when the storm hit. Violent winds, rain and even hail struck at them and they were forced to seek shelter, an abandoned cottage nearby with a dried up well. Taking turns to watch as there had been signs of a large creature about they waited out the storm. However when the person on watch turned to wake up the next person to take watch a creature darted at them from outside, slamming open its door in its haste and dug a mouthful of fangs into the adventurer. 

The party roused and attacked the beast hoping to kill it but they only managed to scare it off. However the damage was already done and the party member fell unconscious. 

The nearest place they could take their ally was the village a few hours back and since no magic or potions seemed to be healing the wound they would need powerful magic, the magic of the gods.

The party made it to the village and into the church where they were disappointed to be rejected for healing, the doctrine of this clergy to Kelemvor forbade the prevention of a natural death. However room and protection from the storm was available and they were fed, the wounds were cleaned and they sat into a long night. 

PDF adventure – Sins of the Subconscious

Sins of the SubconsciousDownload

Thanks for joining me today for another Zine this year. This is a condensed version of the Zine, but I hope the format works and is good to look at! Please feel free to leave comments if this format is appealing – so make sure to grab a copy of the PDF.

Next time you get a party together consider running this adventure and I hope that you enjoy it.
I hope you don’t miss a thing so come back daily in the coming week and year. This is so you can experience the creation of the next adventure as it evolves and shapes out. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

30 Minute Challenge, Raiders Ravine

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So another Saturday has come and something that, after years writing adventures weekly on the blog and for my own Tabletop (which I don’t publish) it shouldn’t be surprising that I hit a creative block on occasion. That’s why I started the 30 minute challenges with tonight I focus once again on something randomly generated and expanding it to a one shot adventure within 30 minutes. Todays 30 minute challenge, Raiders Ravine is to looking the party find when they investigate a series of missing ships and disposed passengers.

As normal I have a few self-imposed restrictions are in place to keep it interesting for me.

Rules of the challenge for me

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

Time started: 20:36 AEST

Overview: 

In the Crimson Fjord, an unprecedented number of ships had gone missing. Unlike past incidents involving pirates, storms, or even a white dragon, this time was different. Survivors—passengers, crew, merchants, and guards—were found on the shore, dazed and certain they had been robbed. They all recounted hearing a soft song and seeing a rainbow of colours before waking up in rowboats.

The city, frustrated by the losses, called for adventurers to investigate, claiming a sea monster was to blame. The adventurers set sail with an old, experienced captain. On the second day, after encountering whales, a mist appeared, accompanied by a hypnotic song and shimmering colours. It was a spell, and soon sleek vessels attempted to board their ship. The adventurers fought them off and chased them to a hidden fjord filled with pirate ships and stolen vessels. Now, they had to decide whether to confront the pirates or escape.

30 Minute Challenge, Raiders Ravine

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Raiders Ravine – created in nightcafe.

There had never been a time in the Crimson Fjords history where as many ships had gone missing. There had certainly been times where pirates, storms or even a large aggressive white dragon had taken it upon themselves to destroy the ships leaving or entering the port but lately it had been different.

The passengers, crew, merchants and even guards had all appeared on the shoreline dazed, confused and positive that they had been robbed. Their ships all disappeared and their stories all the same. That they had heard a soft song coming across the waves and then a rainbow of colour before being jostled awake by the waves rocking their row-boats against the shore of the Crimson Fjord.

The city had grown tired of this, let alone the dozens of merchants who had lost merchandise aboard the lost ships. What was more infuriating was that when the it didn’t matter if it was merchants, passenger or military ships they all disappeared with the survivors, of which there were nearly no casualties or missing people sure that they were all innocent and something was hunting them.

The call had gone out for adventurers to investigate with, certain detailed omitted from the report. The city claimed that a sea monster was terrorising the ships, as it was the likely explanation, and that the adventurers would leave on a small ship and investigate what they were dealing with. Not finish the beast off but to merely investigate.

The party had agreed as it appeared that nearly the entire cities worth of merchants had chipped into the reward for the quest. The water in the fjord was calm and soon the chilly sea breeze was carrying the salty sea air to the party as they sailed outwards. Their captain appeared to be too old to care but they had been assured that they were in great company. The old salty sea-dog of a captain drank liquor strong enough to knock a dwarf over but managed to handle the craft like an extension of his own two arms.

On the second day they had seen a pod of large black and white whales that had rubbed against their ship, testing it before heading off to hunt for less wooden prey. However, not an hour after the last signs of the large creatures had head off did a mist appear on the sea spreading out from the land towards them. A mournful song came wafting across the water and the mist began to shimmer with a myriad of colours.

It was a spell. An attempt to put the party under hypnosis, and for some it did albeit temporary, but soon several rough looking sleek vessels had approached the ship and the occupants had attempted to board. After a few moments it was clear that the hired adventurers were not a group to be trifled with and the crafts retreated through the fog towards land.

Giving chase the party came across a second Fjord, a large inlet gave way to sea-side stone buildings and fortifications that swarmed with pirates who started to sound the alarm the moment the adventurers ship was spotted. Within the fjord dozens of ships sat moored sporting colours from just as many different merchant, a naval and mercenary companies. The party had found the source of the missing ships, now they had to either deal with the problem of fight escape.

Objective

The objective with this example is really two choices. The party can attempt to fight through the pirates (either subtly or directly) or they can return to the port city of the Crimson Fjord and provide information, being chased by pirates the entire way of course.

Time finished: 20:56 AEST


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

The Dark Priest

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The dark priest has been imbued by magic and power by its deity in order to fulfill the great task that has been set for it. In this case the breaking of a seal and the release of an evil upon the lands. However the price is rarely worth the power.

So let’s sit down, grab a coffee as we roll into tonight’s encounter!

The Dark Priest

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The path of the moving trees was difficult to follow, but not impossible despite the forest itself seemed reluctant to let the parties thought. However the source of animation seemed to have moved on, or simply had its eye cast on another location.

Garet had handed them a scroll with exceedingly poor handwriting indicating that there was rumoured to be a shrine deeper in the forest to one of the “winged ones” that he had mentioned before. The party now followed the directions and a rough map to where they believed this shrine was located and they believed that they were on the right path.

As they pushed further into the forest as the sun fully disappeared and the moon pushed forward, its radiant glow illuminating the path for them. Soon the sound of a lone voice chanting and branches cracking came from head and a red glow appeared between trees contrasting against the white of the full moon. They could see it now, a large winged creature atop a tall statue bathed in red light.

From their position they could see four bound human figures wrapped in cloth at the base of a small ziggurat and a man chanted at the base of statue. Green eyes glowed on the statue as it stared at a moving bundle of cloth that called out for help, Synthia, as energy pulsated around the area turning the trees half red and half blue as the moon and unholy magic battled to claim the area.

Sarghuls Altar – created in nightcafe.

The dark priest is a dangerous foe able to punish those to try to interrupt its duty with powerful magical backlash. Many of its spells require no concentration just a thought to summon into existence before it can continue to focus on the task at hand, summoning demons.

The Dark Priest – created in Tetra-cube

However the dark priest is not alone and its power over the forest shrine has given it some measurable power over the trees themselves. Those foolish enough to believe that the dark priest works alone will find branches slamming into their back before they know it, the animated trees unable to be distinguished from other trees in the forest.

Awakened Tree – created in Tetra-cube

Thanks for joining me tonight as we unravel a fun little encounter. I know that night time encounters are perhaps a little over-done but I just enjoy how they look and how well light can clash during the night. Don’t forget to come back over the weekend as we continue this adventure and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Walking Forest Shrine

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This week has two main encounters but only really one map, the Walking Forest Shrine, as the other one should be easy enough to describe. Although the map is coming tonight the description that ties in this this part, well that will be something a bit more and will come in the next few days.

So sit back, grab a coffee, and let’s explore tonight’s Map!

The Walking Forest Shrine

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The Walking Forest Shrine – Created in Inkarnate.

Dozens of ways to approach the series of raised stone blocks and steps before reaching the statue. The statue rests on a small stone ziggurat that is twenty feet tall with nine bundles wrapped in cloth on specially crafted sections. A large bat-winged creature sits at the centre of the raise platform with large emeralds for eyes which catch and reflect the light from the braziers that burn nearby.

The trees that surround the platform are large, ancient and twisted. Several types of trees call this forest home and it makes for a relatively sheltered approach towards the statue, if the trees can be trusted that is.

About five layers were used for the background today with a two new jungle-grass tones, a moss-green for highlights, two different shades of dirt blended in different ratios to give a worn effect. Three types of trees adds a depth to the map that I can appreciate as a forest typically wont consist of just one tree species.

The ziggurat is several wall sections combined and scaled down together to give variety of shape and purpose. The statue is purposefully larger for a reason, to be revealed later and other than that its the same technique with other asset stamps with colour modification, size and position tweaking a well as a night time filter to be put over the top.

Thanks for joining me for another map making night. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow to finish off the week strong and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Walking Trees

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Tonight we see the next part in this adventure where the party now have to deal with Walking Trees. However its more than just some Brothers Grimm fairy tale come to life, this week evokes imagery that drew me into the world of RPGs to begin with.

So let’s sit down, grab a coffee and walk down the lane of nostalgia!

Walking Trees

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The party were walking from the hermit, Garets, cottage when the sound of screaming reached their ears. Synthia was there in an instant as she looked around frantically. “Have you seen a little girl, about seven?” she asked the party immediately before the sound of shouts and screams came from the forest. Rushing towards the noise the party paused as they ran past buildings at the sight before them.

Large creatures made from trees were walking slowly back to the forest. One of them had a girl in a brown and green dress entangled in its vine-like fingers as it carried her towards the woods. Several villagers rushed at the creature with wood axe, scythe, spears and even a old sword in hand as they milled about the foot of one such creature. Six creatures towered above the villagers as they swatted at them, sending them flying or crunching into the dirt.

The brave militia quickly started to shrink backwards despite calling for aid to save the girl. “Millie!” Synthia called out as she raced forward towards the girl that was captured. The creatures moved surprisingly fast despite their large size and the way their feet, the trunk and roots of a tree, bonded with the soil when ever they stepped.

The party rushed forwards after Synthia but she had a head start and her fear and rage drove her faster. But before she could reach the little girl one of the towering tree creatures reached down and ensnared her in its grasp. As she was lifted screaming and flailing the creature followed the other into the treeline and deeper into the forest.

The party rushed forward but the trees themselves started to move, their trunks and roots shifting to allow the trees to move to form a wall of dense wood that was several trees which were each several feet deep. However the animated trees on this side of the barricade turned their attention to the buildings of the village and started to stride towards it.

“The trees walk once more! The winged ones approach and call the nine to the door, their home, where they will break free and rule the forest again!” called Garet as he hobbled towards the edge of the small field which separated the village and the trees. As he called out the trees stopped and looked towards the old man, pausing for a moment. Then with a sickening lurching motion the trees began to move towards the old man, the ground shuddering with each thunderous step as they moved to reach the hermit-come-lore keeper.

“They collect the tithe that was promised to them. The nine have been selected and now the deal has been brokered. Free from their binding the trees march for the elves once more, but this time for war. Sick of servitude their new masters, the winged ones, have promised their freedom!” called Garet as he brandished his oaken walking stick at the trees.

Thanks for joining me for another night of adventure expansion. Following on with this adventure there is one more part to come, a big one really, that will tie in the final piece in this puzzle. So don’t forget to come back over the next few days and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Folk Lore and Falsehoods

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There is sometimes no real difference between folk lore and falsehoods when it comes to stories about the local happenings or non-happenings. Tonight we look into such allegations of a mad hermit who is responsible for keeping the lore of the village. But when his mind is failing and the next generation is not ready to inherit the task there can only be trouble.

So let’s sit down, grab a coffee and let’s listen to some old-timey stories!

Folk Lore and Falsehoods

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Garet Solroot – Created in Artbreeder.

Garet shuffled across the dirt floor the hearth where a pot of water boiled. Using a worn wooden ladle he scooped out some water and poured it into a cup which had a sprinkling of leaves in it. Shuffling back, most of the boiling water ending up on the dirt, he handed the cup to the first in line for his hospitality.

“More tea…?” he asked looking to the others. The first cup looked to contain half an earth worm, a few pine needles and what appeared to be dog or cat hair; potentially even human beard hair. When the others gestured that they needed no tea he scooped out his own serving, sprinkling his own few leaves into it and sat down, gingerly, on a pile of furs near the hearth to stay warm. His thin frame looked tiny in comparison to the cloak of furs he held around his shoulders.

After sipping from the obviously too hot tea he smiled, nodded once as if satisfied with the brew before looking to the party. “The woods have ears did you know that?” he began. “When the elves first left the woods and headed south past the human lands they encountered the first settlers of this village. Back then the woods were said to come alive at the beck and call of the elves to build their houses and fight their enemies.” he paused to sip his scalding tea.

“But when the winged ones left the trees stopped. A Pity as I always wanted to talk to a tree.” he mused to himself.

Synthia Mullpeck – Created in Artbreeder.

Synthia walked into the room hastily putting down a basket that had dozens of root vegetables assorted in near piles. “Sorry Garet there was word that some hot shot adventurers had come to the village so I tried to find them.” she began before turning around and noticing the party. “Oh, I guess I found them. Hi I’m Synthia. I am Garet’s apprentice come household help.” she added with more than a bit of disdain.

“I am here to learn all I can from Garet so that he can retire while he still has some of his memories. I have started to try and write them down in books but,” she paused looking at the man who was scooping out the other half of the worm, “Some how I don’t think I’ll fill a book of actual history. All his stories he tells don’t make sense or are impossible.” she added with frustration.

“Synthia, dear girl. Did I tell you about the spell at the heart of the forest? The one that called the winged ones home and silenced the trees?” he added chewing still. “They say that nine are needed to bring back the trees but I don’t think we could find nine more winged ones. They all disappeared. Did I tell you about the time that a winged deer flew over my hut? It started to eat the thatching on my roof!” he continued looking visibly excited.

“See, wild stories.” Synthia added looking at them knowingly. “I do have some of the ones that made sense in this book if you want to take it and look over it. If there’s any questions I’m from Remale, the village one over. I will be here for a few more hours then leaving before dusk.”

Thanks for joining me tonight get to know Garet and Synthia. Taken from a few inspirations this week I hope to capture the essence of “all stories are based on a fact”. So don’t forget to come back daily this week so you can see how this adventure expands and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Whispers in the Roots

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This week we delve into the party being hired to investigate the reported whispers in the roots of Parsh Forest as the tensions of local villages and towns runs high. Something dark is mustering within the trees and the party are here to save the day, well night.

So let’s sit down, grab a coffee and torches and let’s investigate tonight’s adventure!

Something dark dwells within the Parsh Forest as reports of people going missing, cloaked figures disappearing in plain sight and hulking figures walking between the trunks of trees, watching those who dare travel through the roads. The local guard and militia are too scared to go into the forest due to the reports.

A call for aid has been issued for anyone brave enough to unravel what’s happening within the forest and to put a stop to it. But, there is more than mere sightings of strange creatures to contend with as the adventurers, nay heroes will soon discover.

Whispers in the Roots

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Parsh Forest – Created in Nightcafe.

The Parsh forest is a place that has fed and sustained the surrounding villagers for decades. However, lately only dark rumours and missing people have been coming out of the forest. As the party sat and listened to the rumours of the forest and what the villagers have seen at night the wilder the stories became.

“I saw it, I swears it. A creature with two heads as tall as a tree walked across the road in front of me. The horse screamed and before I could stop er’ she bolted past the creature and all the way here.” one merchant said between drawing on is pipe and filling the area with the pungent smoke. “I’ll tells you this for free. The forest is cursed. I’m planning on leaving, packing up shop and heading in the other direction.”

“My daughter went missing.” a woman broke her silence watching the man with disdain. “Gone. Her blue ribbon that she tied her hair up with was found snagged on a tree branch a few feet into the woods but that was the only sign the local hunters could find.” she said, emotion broiling just beneath the surface before she hurried herself away.

Seven children had been taken and one unlucky hunter hadn’t returned after searching the forest for his sister. The parents, grandparents or carers of the children had approached the party and described the children that had gone missing. No commonalities except they all lived in the forests near the woods. Boys, girls, young and older had all gone missing with the hunters having not found anything within the forest.

That was until the party asked the hunters who were getting more drunk as the night and conversations went on. “Go into the forest? You mad? You’ll die in there. That’s why I never,” one paused to hiccup, “I never went in. I just told them I did.” he blurted out. The other hunters near by gestured him to be quiet and shushed him but it was too late. All of them revealed that they were too scared to go deep into the forest for fear of their own lives.

There was one person that wasn’t present tonight, an old hermit who was rumoured to have elven blood in his veins. Older than many parents of those present he had kept a history of the forest and the villages but in his growing age his stories became more jumbled and the truth harder to separate from folk tales.

The whispers in the roots of Parsh forest call the party to action this week much like I call you back each night. Thanks for visiting tonight but don’t forget that this is just the beginning of the adventures ahead. Tomorrow I will be introducing the hermit and you wont want to forget what he has to tell the party. And finally, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Ember Games

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This week I continued with the creating a shortened Zine, something that fits on a single A4 sheet of paper with just enough information to set the scene, plot and hook with some NPCs sprinkled through that it could be used in any system.

I think its still working well so without any further waiting I present The Ember Games, in the short format, as a fun one-shot to assist GMs when they need a night out of the books whether you run Pathfinder, Open Legends RPG, D&D or any other RPG System.

There is references to the blog nights which are D&D centric (regarding Friday night’s Stat-blocks) but this adventure can be used system agnostic more so than my regular Zines. As always Kobold fight club can be used to quickly balance an encounter for Dungeons and Dragons and Tetra-cube provides the stat-blocks for many of my D&D creatures.

So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, The Ember Games, and that your rolls are made with advantage.

The Ember Games

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Ember Arena – Created in Nightcafe.

The party had made their way to Mylos for the ember games, a multi-day contest where the noble houses of Mylos pit their best warriors against each other at the hopes of receiving the prize at the end of the vault, an unlimited wish. 

At the Inn that they were staying at for the night, the Dusky Mule, the party entered in a game of chance with and by a stroke of luck they won prime seats to the Ember Games, near the front of the arena. The following day the chorus of celebration coming from the Arena reached their lodgings and they made their way to the arena for a full day of competition.  

PDF adventure – The Ember Games

The Ember GamesDownload

Thanks for joining me today for another Zine this year. This is a condensed version of the Zine, but I hope the format works and is good to look at! Please feel free to leave comments if this format is appealing – so make sure to grab a copy of the PDF.

Next time you get a party together consider running this adventure and I hope that you enjoy it.
I hope you don’t miss a thing so come back daily in the coming week and year. This is so you can experience the creation of the next adventure as it evolves and shapes out. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Manticores Galore

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This week we have manticores galore with Samsone being a juvenile manticore and the larger creature, you guessed it, being a adult one. But something much more than just a normal adult one as you’ll see shortly.

So let’s sit down, grab a coffee as we roll into tonight’s encounter!

Manticores Galore

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The juvenile manticore known as Samsone isn’t much of a fighter. Big enough to not be identified as anything other than a young manticore but not big enough for people to want to ride it. When threatened it will use its speedy flying speed to try and get away and failing that a quick volley of its tail spikes will see its pursuers retreating.

Juvenile Manticore – created in Tetra-cube

Then we have the big monster for the week, the Alpha Manticore. Not just a large manticore, oh no this is the biggest, strongest and oldest of their kind. So much that its scarred hide has become more resilient than it has any right being. Able to intimidate most creatures with a fearful roar and a wide range of attacks and legendary actions that will keep any hunters guessing.

Its well honed senses, particularly hearing and smell, enable it to hunt its preferred prey, sheep, to its hearts content.

Alpha Manticore – created in Tetra-cube

Thanks for joining me tonight as we looked at two variants of the normal manticore. I can’t wait to send the alpha manticore at my party and watch them take a few steps back in a panic when it starts to fight more ferociously than what they were perhaps expecting. Don’t forget to come back this weekend as we continue this adventure and some other content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Farmer’s Barn

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Back to the maps this week and we have a rather quick one whipped up with the Farmer’s Barn. This week we have a, rather large something flying around above the barn that the party are currently in so, its likely that this will be where the encounter is!

So sit back, grab a coffee, and let’s explore tonight’s Map!

Farmer’s Barn

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Farmer’s Barn – Created in Inkarnate.

Two ways in and out of the barn, one overtly being the front door and the other leads to where the windmill is. There is plenty of dry hay within the building perfect for being lit on fire which could cause problems depending on what the creature is that is outside the building. Outside the barn several tree’s that could provide a small amount of cover but be warned. The creature that hunts them is an expert predator.

Three dead sheep lie in the grass outside of the barn at the edge of some of the trees, the ground under them torn up from talon, tail or claw. What ever the cause of this those sheep could be a distraction or, lure something nasty towards them.

Not super complex this week with only three or four layers to the ground texture, one more to highlight the scratches in the ground. Simply highlighting with some transparency constructed the barn and the fence was exceedingly simple.

Thanks for joining me for another map making night. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow to finish off the week strong and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe