D&D5e Compatible

A Mixed bag on Saturday

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

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

A Mixed bag on Saturday

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

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

Young Black Dragon – Created in Tetra-cube.

Trying out Playing cards

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

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

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

The Pros.

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

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

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

The Cons.

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

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

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

Closing notes.

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

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

Stone Eaters

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Tonight we have something a bit different when we look at Stone eaters. This week we look at some creature variants where there is additional arcane influence at work. But before we get too excited we need to factor in a few things such as party level variance.

So let’s grab a coffee and let’s monster tonight’s adventure!

Stone Eaters

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Ankheg- created in tetra-cube

The Ankheg, a great little creature to throw at party members with its ability to burrow under the sand at attack from any angle. But these creatures may not be the strongest creatures to fight for a high level party – but several of them could be a challenge.

Virulent Umberhulk – Created in tetra-cube.

The Virulent Umberhulk uses acid to burrow through stone quicker but weakening it before attacking with its claws. These heavily armoured creatures strike fear into all that encounter them. These are stronger, deadlier denizens of the stone tunnels and could be used as the finisher of an larger encounter.

This week is about acid – but we have a few other creatures to introduce in the Zine. So make sure to come back this weekend for additional content updates and for more adventure and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Arkensol Arena

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Welcome back to another Map night but this week we have an actual map with the Arkensol Arena! This thing is probably the largest map I have tried in a while and for good reason. 40 squares (200feet) in diameter makes it a very large map and even the longest ranged weapons will struggle. But that’s something that we can investigate later.

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

Arkensol Arena

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Arkensol Arena – Created in Inkarnate

Various walls, barricades, crates and platforms make up this magically sealed arena. Towering walls sink into the ground where a sandy battlefield with battlements, trees and other obstacles make it easy to hide, but harder to stay hidden as the hunters become the prey.

A lot easier this week as there isn’t soo many overlapping layers and only a few asset packs involved. This means that is quick to get out and created without spending hours working on the map.

Not much of a description tonight as we have one more night left in which to explore. So don’t forget to come back tomorrow as we wrap up this adventure and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Monster is Revealed

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This week we have the party searching through the corridors and passageways under the arena until, at last the monster is revealed. But its not what they think it is. A frantic chase, a dark room and then darkness. A voice gloats from nearby as all is laid bare.

So let’s sit down, grab a coffee and try and catch a monster.

The Monster is Revealed

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The passageways looked the same. Chutes heading towards the arena above them and people moving about completing their business. The crates, boxes, weapon and armour racks as well as a few areas that looked reserved for the warriors were stationed near some of the chutes. As they moved through trying to find the same tracks that they saw near the cage they struggled to identify anything other than the occasional damage to the stonework on the edges of the corners.

Suddenly there was a cluster of people around the chutes “It’s no use. We will have to tell Seb that this entrance is not operational for now until we can work out why the platform won’t rise.” a man said from near as a female dwarf tinkered with a large metal cog that appeared pitted and deformed.

“If I get my hands on the idiot that dropped acid on the mechanism I will have Seb put them in the ring” she said as she threw her tools behind her. As the people around the chute moved backwards the same damage from the creature they were following could be seen at the edge of the stone work below the jammed chute’s platform.

As the party descended down the chute the grunt of the other members of the group could be heard from above as well as the discussions from the arena workers. When the party reached the bottom of the chute they could tell it was a small storage area where discarded sets of armour, boxes, crates and the like were set up against the walls. Several crates and boxes lay broken, splintered and smashed as their quarry had pushed past them in a hurry. The same scrape marks could be seen along some of the walls and a trail of pox marks could be seen on the ground as they followed deeper.

The passageway led for a few hundred feet until the sound of rushing water could be heard beyond an archway. As they stepped through the droning of the water rushing against steps, the bump of a boat and the hum of activity nearby assailed them. As they looked around the room dockhands moved to boats before both boat and worker disappeared in a spray of water. No one panicked or noticed the sudden disappearance but they moved past and around the party in their ongoing efforts to move stones, chunks of wood and discarded armour and gear into the boats.

The overwhelming sense of disorientation, of people disappearing, reappearing and the droning noise caused the party to fall down, barely aware of their surroundings until a pair of very real creatures stepped in front of their vision.

“So the famous adventuring party made it all the way here, how lucky am I.” a smooth yet oily voice spoke. “I am terribly sorry how we are meeting but you see I can’t have you interfering with my plans. For too long the people of this forsaken city have allowed the atrocities for too long. But no longer. It’s time for nature to win, for the animals to defeat the oppressive warriors and system.” the man said, bending down next to the party as a large, armoured creature crawled up next to him.

“You will be the ones to die. Sorry it had to be you but the warriors that Seb picks are the best. No creature could survive that party. But you lot? Not a chance.” he said before chanting an incantation before the world went black.

Thanks for joining me for the next part of this adventure. As we look forward to what lies ahead of the party as they wake, presumably from this spell they have a creature to face with some hints behind what lies there and, sadly, they are at the disadvantage. But more on that tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back the last few days of this week and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Seb Bastenwort

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The Arena master Seb Bastenwort who is not just smart but insidiously clever. An entrepreneur and arena master responsible for setting up the stage, the story and the headline acts at the arena.

So let’s grab a coffee, or something stronger, sit back and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!

Seb Bastenwort

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Seb Bastenwort – Created in nightcafe.

Heading through the tunnels beneath the arena Seb, as he was now known as, walked at a fast pace compared to the humans. “This whole place, the mechanisms, the cells, the arena itself is all designed to hold creatures and the heroes for the show. It’s a marvel, an absolute marvel.” Seb rattled on as he pointed at different mechanisms, cages and chains.

“Todays show was something that I didn’t even want to know about. So I had my chief handler organise a surprise asset for the main event.” He scratched his well maintained beard. “But that’s where it went wrong. I can find my handler and we’ve lost the creature. I wish I could tell you what it was but I wanted it to be a surprise for me as well.”

He stopped moving at one of the cages and stood there expectantly. “Well this is it. The cage where it’s meant to be but isn’t.” He pointed at the broken chain, the ajar door and the various bits of scrap, food and mess that lay around the cage.

One thing was clear. Something large was once in here and it was loose. The party would have their work cut out for them in tracking down this creature but also, finding out how it escaped.

Thanks for joining me tonight for this update to our adventure. Don’t forget to come back as we continue to ramp up this adventure and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

It’s Escaped

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There are few words that people fear more than it’s escaped, especially when its coming from the gladiatorial ring master. This week we investigate what that looks like and what the party are tasked to do in such a situation.

So order the arena special, grab a drink and a seat and let’s hunt down tonight’s adventure!

The Arena in Arkensol is famous for its magically enhanced ring, its warriors and the creatures that it brings to fight on the field. However when the party is approached by the beastmaster and offered a last minute job there is something more happening under the barriers and bulwarks of the arena. A creature has broken loose and this poses a risk to the arena’s business as it was the big ticket holder this week. However, that’s not all as the party discovered that it didn’t escape – it was freed.

Knowing what they were fighting would be easy but in this case nothing is what it seems. Will they be able to find the creature and make things right or will they find out that the rot in the arena runs deeper than the sand covered floor above them.

It’s Escaped

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The party watched from the sidelines of the arena keen to see what the fuss was about. It had been a few days since they were last adventuring and they had been told that the arena was a great place to see experienced fighters facing off against exotic creatures.

As they sat down and ordered wine, mead, beer and various food they kept an eye out for the creatures and warriors that would be performing today. These competitions hired only the best hunters and healers so that no one ended up too injured and the creatures were spared wherever possible so they could fight another day. As they watched the warriors be led out to the field they heard the ringmaster announce them all, their strengths and fighting style loudly for all to hear.

The crowd cheered for their favourites, booed for their least favourite and soon the excitement and rowdiness was nearly thick enough to be cut with a dagger. Sitting near one of the doors that led to the bowels of the arena they heard the door click open. A gnome was talking hurriedly with two assistants. “What do you mean it’s escaped? It’s one bloody cage each and they are due out any moment.” he snapped at the assistants that hurried alongside him. “How can you even lose those creatures? They are impossible to not notice”

After scanning the crowd the gnome locked eyes with the party and a flash of recognition lit up his face. “You there. I am looking for some adventurers of some renown in getting something done urgently. I have been given the description of you and your party and I was hoping that I could borrow you for a little excursion.” the gnome continued as he reached inside his jacket. “I pay very well…” he said as he produced a solid gold trade bar that was worth hundreds if not thousands of gold in the market.

Thanks for joining me tonight for the start to another week of adventuring. We will expand this adventure every day this week and unravel more of the mystery, the people and the creature each day. So don’t forget to come back daily and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Ironbound Druids

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Tonight and I have created a zine, the tenth of the new year. As I still continue to play catch-up on these zines you may find one or two of them pumped out in a weekend. But regardless of that I hope you are finding the current format of this Zine useful. So without any further waiting I present, The Ironbound Druids, in the same format, as a fun one-shot to assist GMs.

As always this adventure can be used system agnostic but focuses on D&D so please feel free to adjust to what ever system and the creatures you are using in your adventure! However 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 the creatures found in this adventure.

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

The Ironbound Druids

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The Ironwood Druids Meet – Made in nightcafe.

“The Ironwood forest is an ancient place ruled by a conclave of druids who have protected the lands for generations. The woods themselves have trees that grow into the sky and boast the strongest wood that you can find in the content. That’s the main reason why the Druid conclave protects these woods. 

They need to protect these lands from the people in the neighbouring kingdoms from harvesting the trees for their own use.”

The travelling bard that the party had met up with had not stopped talking since they met along the road heading towards Crakenburg to assist in carting grain out as part of a job from a few wealthy merchants. Despite the party liking company the bard had personally alerted bandits to their position, a pack of wolves had followed his noise and no game dared to stay nearby as they travelled through the woods.

But the party stopped him talking as up ahead the forest was silent and they could see a few humans standing perfectly still as if they were in trouble.

After the conflict with the woods themselves the party find themselves following Kevin in the direction of the druids enclave. The druids are the only ones who could deal with that many locusts and protect the job that the party were here for – escorting the caravan and its harvest of grain and straw back to the merchants. 

It’s not long until the party is walking towards a giant Ironwood tree. Where its roots and trunk meet has formed a hollow under its massive form and stairs have been shaped out of the earth leading upwards to the space in the tree. Stone carvings of animals line the pathway and the sense of them watching the party as they move upwards follow them even until they are stepping into the hollow. 

The area within is sparse with a single man kneeling at a short wooden table as he works a mortar and pestle.

PDF adventure – The Ironbound Druids

the-ironbound-druidsDownload

Thanks for joining me today for another Zine this year where this one is an interesting one which could be the hook for a future adventure. As usual there is a lot more in the Zine than there was in the daily updates on this blog – 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

A Different Initiative

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

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

A Different Initiative

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

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

Pack of Cards

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

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

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

OR

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

Player to the left

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

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

Dex Score

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

Action economy

Give actions a weight.

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

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

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

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

Kalen Turt

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Kalen Turt is a master assassin who thrives in hunting his prey in busy city streets. Keen of mind and eye Kalen rarely misses that first strike and those who find Tymora smiling down on upon them may wish the bolt killed them.

So let’s grab a coffee and stalk into tonight’s adventure!

Kalen Turt

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Assassin – created in tetra-cube

Kalen is a relentless hunter with a large ego and pride in his work. He won’t stop until a job is done and this makes him more lethal the longer the job takes. Preferring mid range combat with surprise hit and run tactics he rarely misses. However… If the target can catch him flat footed or surprise him then he rarely stays for a confrontation and will retreat at first chance.

Smart enough to our fox those hunting him but unwilling to lose finds him a tough opponent who is well renowned for being the best at his grisly task.

As we have a single creature this week we need to spice it up. A bit an encounter where I provide the framework and stage but the script and story belongs elsewhere. But don’t judge just yet.

Don’t forget to come back this weekend for more adventure and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

In the Buildings and Through the Streets

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A different approach this week as we focus mainly on what the party do which may result in the main encounter happening in the buildings and through the streets of the city. As we don’t know where the party will encounter the assassin it lends this weeks encounter to a theatre of the mind setting as opposed to one that is locked to a single map.

So jump start your imagination as this week will look over what we should consider on the streets and in the buildings. So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s roll into it.

In the Buildings and Through the Streets

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Streets

Streets are easy. They can either be cluttered or not. Cluttered streets have boxes, crates, barrels, wagons or stalls in the way that block line of sight. The other thing to consider is that you can have living things that block line of sight too – such as Horses, cows or people. An assassin may strike in broad daylight when they are getting desperate as a way of blending in with the crowd and in our case this may be the case.

Launching a bolt or arrow or poison coated needle from a higher vantage point may be a perfect way to attack, so we need to consider multiple levels. Is it just rooftop and ground level or is there multiple floors and roofs, windows or balconies to attack from. Is there cover, sheets, clothing, stalls, pot plants or a billboard to hide our assassin or does the shape of the roof enable them to be hidden?

The other consideration with streets, particularly packed ones is a stranger coming out from the pack and using knives, daggers or short blades to quickly cut, stab and even utilise poison to silence their target before blending in with the crowd.

Vacant streets are very much the same but with less places to hide. So ranged assassination will likely be the preferred method and from a greater distance away. However appearing around a street corner, using doorways or even the sewer system can be effective means to handle the situation.

Buildings

Buildings are either lived in (or occupied) or vacant again. Most of the time they are cluttered or have multiple ways in, out and places to hide. This gives the assassin an easier time of ambushing the target. However the inverse can also be true. If the party can lure the assassin into the building, or, enter the building then kite around it to surprise the assailant it can be an easy and sure-fire way for the party to ambush the assassin.

A shorter one tonight but some thoughts to help flesh out the encounter that takes place in the theatre of the mind this week. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow as we wrap up this weeks adventure and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe