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Silver Sparrows Guild Hall

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The Silver Sparrows Guild Hall started off as a back room in a tavern, now its a bustling place where messengers come to take a load off, rest their feat and stay a night, or two. It’s become a known establishment where people also will stay, if they are liked well enough by the guild, and rarely does anything go astray or wrong while within the walls.

For a while we have had encounter maps but this week I wanted to change it up a bit. This week we’re going back to theatre of the mind! So let’s sit back, grab a warm coffee (or something stronger) and rest up in the Silver Sparrows Guild Hall!

Silver Sparrows Guild Hall

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Silver Sparrows Guild Hall – Created in Nightcafe

The hall itself is more than 90 feet deep and sixty feet wide with several small rooms up stairs used for guild members, or guests, to rest for the night. Down stairs a small bar services dozens of tables who have the luxury of comfortable stools and chairs at well made tables.

It is well lit with expensively crafted windows that sing of the guilds prosperity and renown. There mezzanine above the general hall has smaller more intimate chairs where people could discuss business with clients or each other if they wanted to have a more private word.

However unlike the other rooms and seats on the raised section of the hall the guild masters office is located by itself. For a long time it was always open with no door to allow messengers and clients to directly approach the guild master with requests. Recently the door was reinstated and only those with appointments can see the guild master, a mean-eyed assistant stops people who are not on the list at a little desk and chair near the entrance to the guild master.

The guild masters room does however share a walkway that loops around to the other side of the building so its not hard to move around the second level. To get between the two layers, normally, you could take the stairs located at the sides of the long hall to the alternate layer.

Thanks for joining me for different map night this week with theatre of the mind really taking over for this weeks encounter. Don’t forget to join me again tomorrow for the encounter and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Guildmaster’s Journal

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This week is all about discovery of information and where else to find information than in a book, the guildmaster’s journal to be exact. However, finding the journal is the least of the parties worries – what to do with it and how is the hard part.

So let’s grab a coffee, grab our glasses and get ready to read our way into tonight’s adventure!

The Guildmaster’s Journal

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The Guildmasters Journal- created in Nightcafe.

Something about Bastions story didn’t make sense particularly around how the information of a dead man came to light years after it was buried. As they moved through the guild they could see Kilt talking with some members down stairs, drinking and laughing. It had been an impressive week for him and the guild as they had quickly expanded with some perfectly times contracts.

However as they moved up stairs something caught their eye, the door to the guild masters room was open. Inside the room was a large wooden desk, a well made chair, a cabinet that held a few glasses and half empty bottles of a alcohol. On the large desk was a journal, two lit candles that didn’t appear to expire and a handful of coins.

As they looked over the journal they watched as the words on the journal started to etch itself onto the page. On the page was information of all the other guilds, the nobility and the merchants and information that could be useful for someone in the guildmaster’s chair. Flicking through the pages the start of the journal told a terrifying picture, the story that Bastion had revealed to the party as the reason for him resigning as the guild.

The hallway started to get noisy as it appeared that Kilt and a few members of the guild were returning to their quarters in the guild building.

Thanks for joining me tonight for another night of adventure expansion. Don’t forget to come back each day this week as I continue to grow this adventure. As I continue to expand each night you don’t want to miss out on what’s being created. So don’t forget to come back night and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Bastion Sparrow

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The Silver Sparrows were formed by previous guild master Bastion Sparrow who spent most of his adult life in upholding the values of the guild. But what would cause such as devoted and driven man to give it up to someone who had only just joined the guild?

Let’s sit down at the bar, grab a coffee and ask the man himself!

Bastion Sparrow

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Bastion Sparrow – Created in Nightcafe.

As the party retired back to the Crispy Basilisk, their inn for the night, they walked though the gathered tables looking for a place to sit. Finding a table that looked mostly vacant they approached the table but before they reached it a familiar man sat down with a tankard of ale and a small book. Bastion Sparrow.

As bastion sat down he looked up. “You are the adventurers who were at the guild today so I won’t need to introduce myself. But I find myself at a loss which is not a good look for a guild master. Well a retired guild master that is.” he said looking mournful at his book.

After sitting down and talking to Bastion the party found out a bit more about him. He started the guild as a way of supporting his growing family. He was not a warrior but had some skill with a blade, he wasn’t quite skilled enough to work in the trades in the city and so he did what he had done as a child, delivered messages. Soon he was doing well enough for himself that his name, B.Sparrow, had grown a reputation behind it and more people were requesting for just him to deliver the messages of the city at the cost of a silver.

But when other cities started to approach him asking for work he had to grow and expand and so the Silver Sparrows was created. “And that’s where I made a mistake.” he punctuated his confession with a sigh. “I ran into some trouble with a few guilds who wanted to cheat me out of the pay that the guild was earning, started roughing up my people and tarnishing my reputation. So I made a deal with someone I thought was a friend. Next thing I knew the threats, ambushes and issues disappeared. I thought it strange at first but then the bodies started to appear and my friend was caught as the cause behind it.”

“I had to do what was right for the Silver Sparrows, for my family and the families of the men and women who worked for me. So I let them take the fall for it. It turns out that someone else, somehow, knew about this and I got a letter threatening to expose me for it unless I resigned and appointed the newest, member to take my position. It turns out that a few people had resigned recently so the newest member was that Kilt Retcher. A mystery really.” he paused to take a long drink from his tankard.

Thanks for joining me tonight to find out more about Bastion and what is happening with the Silver Sparrows. Don’t forget to come back each day this week as I continue to expand the adventure here and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Peaceful Coup

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A bit of a simple one this week with the peaceful coup of the Silver Sparrows guild. If the guild founder stepping down as guild master and nearly the newest member of the guild stepping into the role sounded suspicious those present in the guild hall didn’t appear to think so. Well, that was after the new guild masters rousing speech that is.

So let’s grab a coffee, make a toast and let’s cheer on tonight’s adventure!

When the change of guild masters happens normally it’s the cause of death, age, illness or recognition of prowess. However, for the Silver Sparrows, a guild of primarily messengers and scouts the guilds master resigned and appointed one of the most unlikely guild members to take over.

The ripples of this decision cast spread wide and rapidly the suspicion that foul play was afoot spread. But the new guild master started to rapidly change how the guild was run. Within days the guild was more profitable and was getting more contracts and jobs than before. However, the young new guild master had shown the biggest change from being incompetent and unreliable not two weeks ago to being in charge of the fastest growing guild in the city.

The Peaceful Coup

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Addressing the guild – created in Nightcafe.

The guild master Bastion had called for all guild members to gather in the courtyard. As he stood in front of them he looked across all the members gathered. “My friends, visitors and clients. I have an announcement that I need to share with you.” he paused to look around. “Effective tonight I am stepping down as guild master. Kilt Retcher will be stepping into the office of guild master after careful consideration from me and he will take over tomorrow morning. It has been a good decade with the Silver Sparrows but I must step aside.”

As he moved away from the balcony the chatter, hushed conversations and loud calls of outrage echoed upwards as Kilt stepped forward in his normal attire, fancy gilded robes. “I wish.” he stopped, his voice commanding attention like it hadn’t before. “My first wish is for the very best for Bastion Sparrow. He has been the guiding light for many of us, myself included. But I can only wish him the best for his future now that he has chosen to step aside.”

“My second wish is that I can serve you like you will serve the guild. The Silver Sparrows is going to be the biggest guild in the city.” he stopped and looked down at everyone. “The next few months will be different times but with us all working together we will succeed. So follow me into the future where the Silver Sparrows truly rule the roost!”

After a moment the others clapped, cheered and toasted, their outrage of Bastion’s resignation lifted in an instant as if forgotten as if water under a bridge. However not everyone was convinced as the taint of magic, that familiar tingle as it touched on those in the room left a sliver of doubt in their minds.

A start to this weeks adventure that I promise wont be all talk and message delivery. I will be expanding this adventure daily as we continue onwards so don’t forget to come back each day and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Lost Vault

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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 Lost Vault, 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 Lost Vault, and that your rolls are made with advantage.

The Lost Vault

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Midfern Keep Ruins – Created in Nightcafe.

Midfern keep was a sight to see as the wagon that the party rode on with the others crossed over the crest of a hill. The keep was surrounded by sundered mountains that rose like jagged teeth from the earth itself. Several rivers ran through the ravine that these pillars of rock created. The keep was bustling as they approached and it looked like one building had been repaired and housed most of the workers currently. 

The keep would have been majestic in its prime and even now they could only wonder why the elves had left it in the first place. Surely the stories of the great evil being locked within its walls were just that, stories.

The wagon stopped in front of the restored hall and a rough looking mercenary strode towards them. “Weclome, you can call me Carben and I work for Marcell and run this operation here.” he spoke with a commanding voice that spoke of years in the military. “For those who are new, if you’re here as a mercenary you work under me. You do what I say and we all walk away richer and with all our limbs intact. For those who are here with no experience with a sword, you also take orders for me but Marcell will direct you where to go. Listen to us, follow the rules and we all walk away richer. Any questions?”

Marcell looked up from her book at the new recruits walking towards her. “Welcome to Midfern Keep. We have one job here, for those who can manage a blade you are in charge of ensuring the safety of every single person here. We have already encountered a few hostiles in the area who want to contest our claim and I have an inkling that there will be defences other than traps that guard the main vault.” She paused looking at the obvious non-warriors.

“Speaking of traps, for those who are proficient in locating and disarming traps you are up now. We have found the entrance to the next room and I suspect that like the last few rooms it is trapped.” she paused. “For everyone else, you move rubble and call out if you find anything. Work in teams with an assigned guard and expert. Work smart not hard ladies and gentlemen as beyond the gate to the final vault are riches that will make kings and queens blush. If you find something, send someone to get me, Marcell, and I will be there to decide the next step forward. Understood?” Carben saluted her which caused a ripple of salutes from several others amongst the party.

PDF adventure – The Lost Vault

The Lost VaultDownload

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

Vimbol Forgeblow

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

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

Vimbol Forgeblow

Vimbol Forgeblow – Created in Nightcafe.

Background

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

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

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

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

Abilities

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

Banes

  • Blinded
  • Silenced
  • Disarmed
  • Persistent Damage

Boons

  • Transmutation
  • Absorb Object
  • Concealment
  • Aura* Concealment

Feats:

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

  • Lethal Strike I
  • Silencing Strike

Perks and Flaws:

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

Perks:

  • Fugitive
  • Observant

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

Flaws:

  • Addiction
  • Proud

Attributes:

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

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

Links and downloads

Vimbol Forgeblow

Vimbol Forgeblow Character Sheet_ Open Legend RPG _ HeroMusterDownload

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

The Senkuku

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This week our fast, quadrupeds that have endangered our parties comrades is called the Senkuku. This creature has several features that resemble both a bat and a large cat and it likes to play with its prey. But these creatures are born from curses from jealous gods, those who seek to insight chaos in the domain of their fellow divine peers.

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

The Senkuku

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The body of a large, muscular cat with large ears, pushed in pig-like nose and large fangs the Senkuku isn’t exactly going to win any beauty contests. Its size, about that of a horse, will surprise people with how nimble it is and how quickly it can move to take down its prey. Malicious by nature it aims to curse its prey and over the cause of a few hours those who submit to the curse will transform, painfully, into one of its kind.

But while not a disease like Lycanthrope its believed that a malicious deity created these beings as a way of spreading their influence where it shouldn’t belong. It can’t be removed as a disease but it can however be removed by the remove curse spell as long as its used near a place of divine influence – such as a church or temple.

Senkuku – created in Tetra-cube

The Senkuku while not the most intelligent is wise enough to know when to get out before its too late and it rarely hunts alone. Preferring to use its allies as bait each Senkuku delights in the tourmented looks of its own kind as they realise that they are the ones being used as bait, and in turn knowing that it could just as easily be itself.

A bit of a short one tonight but a new creature with some borrowed inspiration from other stat-blocks was on the menu this week. Don’t forget to come back this weekend for the end of week Zine and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Entrance to the Church

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The entrance to the Church of Kelemvor is where we find this weeks encounter taking place as the same creatures that attacked the party have made their way to the sleepy village they stopped in. However, they are lot alone as the priests of Kelemvor put aside their differences to defend their flock, well what remains of it.

Last week we had an encounter above lava, this week we have it in the rain and darkness of pre-dawn. So let’s sit back, grab a warm coffee and roll through tonight’s map!

Entrance to the Church

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Entrance to Kelemvors Church – Created in Inkarnate

The church to Kelemvor sits a little bit away from the rest of the village. Some houses are near by the Church but for the most part the area around it is urban landscape. A few lanterns struggle in the wind and rain and the braziers near the church steps flicker. But beyond that the light if very poor quality and more difficult for anyone without darkvision to see what is happening in the village.

There is actually about seven layers of texture paints for the ground here. A stone undertone, dark ground, grass, cobblestone, dirt, darker dirt and a lighter shade of the ground (not to mention some shadow). The art assets are pretty standard this week with nothing shocking or new but the aim was to create something that was effective, semi-urban and still gave me room to play with natural settings which is what I enjoy the most.

Thanks for joining me for another map making night. Don’t forget to join me again tomorrow for the last piece of the puzzle and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Cornered

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This week, as we can probably tell by now is about the accidental breaking of vows, unknowingly healing where healing is seen as an affront to their lords wishes. However as something stalks the streets of the village they will need to make a decision. Pursue their witch hunt or protect their flock.

So let’s grab a coffee, grab our torches and rush into tonight’s adventure!

The Cornered

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As the rumours circulated around the high priest being the one who broke the orders rules the gathering crowd of clerics of Kelemvor muttered nervously. The High Priest was still dressed in his evening robes as stood in front of the other clerics and, shakily, addressed them.

The clerics were all in their robes but many were still waking up as it had not been long since the party had discovered the high priest in the hall casting magic. A heartbeat later he had been seen by three other clerics who were on their way to retiring for the night.

“My brothers and sisters. As you may have heard the culprit for healing within our halls, preventing the worthy souls to be judged by our lord Kelemvor has been found. Unwillingly so or not, with knowledge of what I was doing our creed, our doctrine has been broken and there is but one punishment. Excommunication and execution.” he looked them all in the eyes before he turned his eyes to the door of the church.

There was a growing volume of noise coming from the village. As the room looked towards the sound of the noise the large barred door shook as someone pounded on the door. “Help! Monsters!”.

The party raced out of the church in time to see one of the same creatures that attacked them sink its teeth into one of the villagers and drag them between two houses. Except there was more than one and several villagers were twitching and frothing on the ground nearby with the same gruesome bite that their companion had been inflicted with.

The Clerics rushed forth with the party to meet the creatures on the streets. The creatures shied away from the clerics when confronted outright before circling back to attack when their guard was lowered. The fight was gruesome with casualties on both sides however as the silence of the aftermath was replaced by the quiet sobs of the survivors, and the twitching and whining of those afflicted by the bite the full scale of the attack was revealed.

More than half the cities villagers were bitten, a dozen of the clerics joined their number and all of them were fighting back the magical curse that the creatures bites induced.

The decision had to be made, heal them now or wait and see what would happen to these people. Many looked like they would not survive the night from their wounds alone and the clerics looked to the high priest Matihas to make a decision.”

Thanks for joining me for another night where I changed the direction tonight. Deciding that I wanted to explore these creatures some more in this adventure I wanted to change it from being a relatively straight forward “who dunnit” to something where a decision needed to be made, a test of morality. As normal the week is not done quite yet and I will continue to update this adventure over the next few days. So don’t forget to come back each day this week and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Clerics of Kelemvor

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The hunt is on, a dangerous game of hide and seek as the party are roped into the clerics of Kelemvor’s game search for the one that betrayed the orders doctrine. But there is something else at play here, something that is not just black and white.

So let’s sit down, grab a coffee and dive into tonight’s adventure!

The Clerics of Kelemvor

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The Clerics of Kelemvor – Created in Nightcafe.

As the party started their search for the person who healed their companion the clerics were gathering in the main hall. The door had been closed with two of the younger, more pious looking members of the clergy standing watch over the congregation of the clerics of Kelemvor. As they all gave worship to their god, the lord of the dead, they were silent in the room.

The unnerving silence finally ended when a crow cawed form one of the open windows in the wall behind the altar and slowly the head of the progression, the kinder older human, stood up and slowly walked through the others who rose when he passed.

“High priest Matihas has not been sleeping properly again. I do hope that his energy sustains him for the search for the one that broke their vow.” one of the nearby priests muttered as they walked on passed.

“I have seen him in the halls at night, head bent in prayer to Kelemvor as if he is seeking his guidance. I do hope our lord helps him rest soon” the sister with the man replied as they walked past.

Over the course of the day the party looked for clues, overheard many conversations but no one had any solid leads on who was the person that had healed against the wishes of their clergy. A single cleric in the order, a young initiate, had managed to pray for the power to detect lies. But it was only as powerful as the wielder and so far he was not able to pinpoint who among them was the culprit.

As the day passed the party were excused from the rest of the search and were invited to the meagre meals that they had that night. A small portion of bread, some cheese and wine was produced tonight and many ate in silence. High Priest Matihas rose and left earliest, retreating to his room to rest before the others followed suit. Soon it was just the party members who were in the hall and eventually even they needed to return to their rooms for rest.

“Do not worry, tomorrow you will be free to leave. We will find who is responsible tomorrow and all will be well again” one of the older clerics muttered as he passed them heading to his own chamber.

The party had just turned into the hallway towards their room when they saw the High Priest in the hallway in front of their rooms. They knew that he had a room not far from them so it wasn’t unusual to see him. However, when he was addressed he did not respond and he stood there, swaying lightly as if in a trance of prayer. When they got closer they could see that he was in fact asleep and was mid-sleep walk.

The High priest began to walk down the halls, muttering prayers that manifested around them. Cantrips caused the lights to change colour, shadows to swell or lessen and the party even felt bolstered as he moved through the hall back towards his room.

Thanks for joining me tonight to get a glimpse at the next part of this adventure. As you can tell there is likely little to no combat this week so I will have something else on Friday. For the remaining days this week I will be continuing this adventure so don’t forget to come back daily to stay up to date. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe