D&D5e Compatible

Not all Thieves

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Welcome to Wednesday night where we discovered that not all thieves are the ruthless cutthroats we know and love. Tonight we find out that the Feline Filcher steals and fights for a cause that is close to her heart. But will the party and the city guard see the cause behind her crime spree or will one of her nine lives come to an end. Let’s roll into tonight’s adventure and find out!

Not all Thieves

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As dawn started to peak its head over the edge of the buildings Sarline stood in the doorway to her room and sighed deeply. Tonight wasn’t without its hiccups but she did manage to get home with the item that was requested of her. Walking over to the loose board in the wall she pried it open to reveal the hidden chest that she kept there. “It will have to do for tonight” she told herself as she stashed the urn made from amber into the hidden chest.

The Feline Filcher – created in nightcafe.studio

Shrugging off her outer hooded cloak she lay it on the back of a wooden chair before moving to get some food and water. Her lodgings were humble but comfortable and she had a basin of water at least. Using a touch of the magic she had been blessed with she cleaned the marks from her clothes before turning her attention to her hooded cloak. Pushing the ears of her hood back into their pouches and once satisfied she turned to the rest of it. Calling on her magic again the pouches were sewn back shut and the dark soot she had forced into the the clothes were cleaned created a light red hood. Very different form the back it as last night.

No visitors welcome

“Welcome home Sarline,” a voice said from the doorway, “you continue to amaze the boss”.

Sighing Sarline turned around to the man in the doorway. “Well, this is an unwelcome surprise. Didn’t you read the sign out front. No visitors are welcome.” she snapped.

“Now now, the boss just wants the item and in return you get what we promised.” the man sneered as he knew he had her where he wanted her. “Unless you want to go back on the deal that is?” he goaded.

“Shut up Pike. I’ll meet you in the alleyway in two minutes.” she added as she stalked towards the man. Retreating he nodded and left leaving Sarline to retrieve the amber urn. A few moments later she had climbed down from her window to the alleyway and was prepared for the trade. “Alright. Here you are. But I need proof that the barter on your end is made” she said to the men in the alleyway.

Dirty business

“now, now Sarline. Your words offend me. To know that you think so little of me hurts deeply.” a man with a voice like cold steel said from a doorway. “If my word isn’t enough then,” he clicked to punctuate his sentence. Several children were produced at the end of the alleyway and released with a kick. The children ran off without a moments notice and disappeared from their captors. “surely that suffices?”

“You gave your word that you wouldn’t harm or kidnap any more children. This is the last job then I am done Seth.” Sarline snapped as she handed the urn to a lackey who took it straight to the thug-boss.

“I would hate to think you would abandon the other children. Alas I caught two of the little devils trying to steal from one of my shops and I had to avoid them being arrested by Captain Cole now didn’t I?” he smirked

“You bastard!” she screamed in response. “Release them!”

“One last job. You have my word and everything and anything is done. If the children are caught stealing again then the guard can handle them next time.” Seth said with a look that pleaded honesty.

“Whats the job you scum?” she sighed, clenching her fists to prevent her from laying into the man.

“I’ll send word to you. Two nights from now.” Seth said as he walked off, chuckling to himself and his crew.

Thoughts

So the cat burglar turns out to be working to save children. I normally try to avoid these common tropes but this week was just too easy to flow into and, I think it will be an exciting adventure. In fact I hope to be able to run this adventure this week or very soon.

Thanks for joining me tonight but don’t forget to come back this week as I continue expand our adventure. As we learn that not all thieves are evil. Tomorrow we look at the extra content, but I want this week to be a theatre of the mind event – so I will look at what I can organise. Don’t forget to visit to find out what I come up with and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Cerberus Cole

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Welcome to another NPC night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop and tonight we are being introduced to Cerberus Cole. The guard captain of the city of Drileah has his work cut out for him at the moment and unfortunately our party may have stumbled into more than they can handle. Intrigued? Well you should be as tonight we put Cerberus under the magnifying glass! So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!

Cerberus Cole

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As the party marches down the street, escorted by guard they can’t help but notice how busy this city is during the day. Merchants beckon potential customers from store fronts and stalls and the volume of customers is beyond what they were expecting. However due to the guard escort, something that they had received upon entering the city the party drew many looks.

Shopkeepers, customers and the upperclassmen and ladies of the city pointed and spoke in hushed tones as the party was ushered by no less than a dozen guards towards the guard quarters. “Not far now you lot” one guard said to them, an older man with a kind face. “If you’re just visitors to the city as you claim then you will be on your way and this little mess we have going on will be far behind ye” he continued.

The city guards building was a grand affair of ornate masonry and glass windows, but there were a number of lords, ladies and merchants standing out front. Those that called and tried to push past a row of guards were staggering. Each one of them called for the guards to be disbanded, to allow mercenaries and paid private guards to take over the protection of the city of Drileah.

Guard Captain Cerberus Cole

Cerberus Cole – created in Nightcafe.studio

The guards led the party past the complainant’s who called for the guard to do something about the current thefts. As soon as the party met the eyes of the victims of the theft they called of their guilt rained down upon them. The guard however protected the party and urged them through to the rooms beyond.

Down several halls they were led until they arrived at a door that hung slightly Ajar. “Captain Cole sir, I have a new group for questioning” the friendly guard called out, winking at the party.

The man on the other side of the door sighed deeply, and loudly. “Bring them through, let’s get it over with then” he answered. The door opened to reveal a relatively fit middle aged man with a well groomed beard. He sat around piles of paperwork and books and looked up at the party. “Well… This will be quick. These aren’t the Feline Filcher. Thank you for following the process Regi but we can declare this lot innocent. Unless they are the Feline Filcher and we can finally put this nightmare to rest. Imagine, this lot trusting dishonest mercenaries and thugs to guard the streets! Pah! These people are the same lot that let the burglar make off with their treasured possessions!”

Cole sat down and grabbed a corked bottle. “Well, while you’re here. Do you want to sit and make it appear as though we are treating you as actual suspects to this crime spree?”

Thoughts

Every cat burglar has to have someone trying to catch them. This is the unwritten rule. Cerebus Cole is our such fellow in this weeks adventure as we look through what this week has in store for our party. I think the art depicts Cole quite well, but I may look for a better portrait later this week, probably for the Zine!

Thanks for joining me tonight we we looked at this weeks hero. I have high hopes for Cole this week and, hopefully, with a little help from the party we will have the thief in our hands. But more on her tomorrow night.

So don’t forget to come back this week as I continue expand our adventure. This weeks sees our party catching a thief, with or without the guards involvement. However, the quarry isn’t without their own tricks so the party may learn a thing or two this week. So don’t forget to visit to find out and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Feline Filcher

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Welcome to the start of another night of adventure and this week we are introduced to the Feline Filcher. The City of Drileah has a problem, one they want kept under wraps and one that they wish to be dealt with discretely. So let’s crack it open, expose it to the light and while we’re at it, steal a moment to ourselves. So sit down, grab a coffee and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!

The Feline Filcher

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City of Drileah – Created in Nightcafe.studio

As the sun sets and dusk progresses to night the city of Drileah becomes rich with the sounds of parties, cat calls and other nightlife. But, the sound of guards mailed boots also ring across the cacophony of merriment and display of wealth as they are on the hunt this night.

Somewhere the softest of footfalls could be heard as a dark figure opened a latch on a window. The laughter from the owners and occupants, guests at the party, were loud from downstairs. The shadow stopped as it watched the flare of light from a pipe glow from a corner in the room, a trap. However this was not news for the burglar. Raising a fine hand it summoned the sound of a creaking board in the room over. Instantly the figure hiding in the corner of the room stood up and left the room, casting a great deal of light and noise in the room.

The Job

‘Good that will keep him busy for a moment‘ thought the thief as the window swung silently inwards. Soft soled shoes met intricate rugs and cloths strewn on the floor, but he moonlight illuminated the trip wires which allowed the shadow to dance around them. Within heartbeats the door to a cupboard was open and the near-silent clack of lock picks was the only thing that she could hear. A moment later and the lock was open and a gloved hand grabbed the object that it knew was there. In fact everything had gone so well to plan that the noise from outside the door was almost a welcome relief to the noise of the party.

“What the” was the only noise the mercenary made before a handful of dust was thrust into his face. Within a second the robust, well muscled man was falling towards the ground. The figure, a woman, dashed forward to catch the paid guard before his body hit the ground. The slightly bent nose a mark of pride for many, but for this man it gave him a distinct look. Not something one wants when they want to blend in and be forgotten.

With a flick of her wrist his purse was also in her hand, a bonus in addition to the gold she was getting paid to retrieve the object in her bag.

“G..Guards!” a voice called from the hall as they saw the unconscious man. The alert was of no worry though as the thief was already out the window and dashing, silently across the rooftops. A tiny black cat was left in the palm of the mercenary – the mark of the Feline Filcher.

Thoughts

I am quite excited to bring this adventure to life this week. I have a history of trying to add excitement and mystery to my adventures for my party. The theme of this week is the power of the bare minimum. In fact this could be a level 1 encounter and I plan to show my players just what you can do with some creativity.

The Feline Filcher is a cat burglar. However there is always a ulterior motive for key NPCs and this weeks no exception. In fact this old trope should bring nostalgia for my players and I am looking forward to the look of confusion on their faces.

Thanks for joining me tonight. I find the imagery helps sell the story and this week the moonlit streets tells a tale by itself. So I want to welcome you to a fun week, one that you may just learn something knew to add to your campaigns. However it does introduce something that is hard to pull off, so I will do my best to it justice. Don’t forget to join me each night this week as we expand this adventure. Don’t forget to set some time aside for your own tabletop and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Risk it all for Research

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Tonight and I have created another zine out of Januaries Soulbound adventure, Risk it all for Research. This adventure can be modified to be system agnostic if you don’t want to use it for soulbound. So please adjust to what ever creatures you are using in your adventure! However as always the monster statistics can be found in the Soulbound core rules and adjusted to quickly balance an encounter for if you wish to modify the adventure.

So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, Risk it all for Research. If you like this format please let me know and I hope you enjoy.

Risk it all for Research

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The Beastmire Plains – Created in nightcafe.studio

The Orruks gathered around the hills and rocky formations. Calling out to the Gork and Mork in their frenzied battle cries they feasted on the beasts they had hunted during the day. Despite the festivities and the humans that had camped nearby they held back from a fight as the cunning shamans had a plan, one most cunning.

The humans relied on their scouts to tell them the lay of the land, but the sudden appearance of Kruleboyz and the shamans that they brought with them gave them pause to think. And think they did. As the Kruleboyz pet sloggoths dragged the gargantuan bow to the peak of a hill they waited and continued to rally, gathering in force until their waaagh couldn’t sustain itself. Despite their frenzy they still managed to contain their urge to fight. Soon the trap would be sprung and then the humans would be ripe for the slaughter and the boyz would be ready.

The sloggoth placed the large crossbow on the hill and the lanky kruleboyz orruks strode up to its side. Placing a large cruel hand on its flank the sloggoth moved away to cower elsewhere as the boss looked at the fine machine. Bolts as large as a ship’s mast were brought up by hobgrots. These bolts were large enough to take down even stardrakes or their lesser kin the draconith, but their target was something else.

Rumours of flying wizards and the cursed soulbound had come to them through a source. This bow would be trained on the skies waiting for the elite warriors and leaders of the forces of order to rally forth, then it would be too late to turn back.

The Dawn-Keeper

The Dawn Keeper Concepts – Created in nightcafe.studio

PDF adventure – Risk it all for Research

Risk-it-all-for-Research-p1Download

Thanks for joining me tonight for the first part in the Soulbound Zines I am creating. I hope to get the other one out this week as I have worked out a format that I am happy with so we can have two Soulbound Zines out and only have one more to catch up on! I am left with wishing you re-rolls on your saving throws this week as we go through another week of the year. Don’t forget to come back this week for a new set of D&D adventures and I will maybe bring a bit more on my new campaign,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Dawning of a new campaign

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Hello and welcome to some pretty big news if I say so myself, the dawning of a new campaign. That’s right I have a new campaign to write, a new big baddie or event to orchestrate and a world to construct. To be honest it’s happening rather fast and I think it will be one of those campaigns that will teach me a lot more about my own craft.

I have also stumbled into D&D 5th ed wiki which has more of the content for new players. Whilst I have most of the books I need, and access to legitimate copies for the rest of it this will be invaluable for my party, especially the remote ones.

The Dawning of a new campaign

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In initial discussions with the players it sounds like the campaign will be hybrid traditional narrative and one-shot driven. A series of one shots like The Trouble with Birds and The Prince of Pine Ridge that interconnect with the overall story line. This means that for the players involved in the adventure that they could miss out on one adventure or the next as long as they have a central adventuring hub.

Since the One shots I create are easy enough to balance for a variety in experience as well as number of players this further helps the goal. But, I still need an overarching plot.

This will require more thought and I may potentially have one or more party members coming to read here I will have to keep them brief.

The Paths

The options I have before me are endless but wrapping high fantasy, flexibility and making it enjoyable for a variety of D&D experience is hard. But the below are basics for sparking that creative flame that will fuel my Campaign creating process.

  1. There is dissent in the lands as rumours of the kings knights pillaging and harming the people of the kingdom have reached the king. But there may be more at play here.
  2. Giant swaths of forest, hills, and even mountains have been carved out in perfectly straight, even and flat lines across the land. The direction and origin all differ to the discovery of a new one but one thing is clear. There are many such lines and they all appeared seemingly overnight.
  3. A vision haunts the party, a cloaked lady bathed in light lies behind shadowy chains and is pleading for help. Images flash of landmarks, some known some yet to be discovered. But each party member feels strongly connected to the woman in their vision and the urge to free her is all consuming.
  4. Rumours of strange creatures have been appearing from everywhere. Beings with multiple heads, distorted limbs (or no limbs) and all of them being highly aggressive have started to sprout up. These may have been brushed off as rumours and tales to fearmonger if such a creature wasn’t encountered by the party seemingly by accident.

Thoughts

Each of the above have something hidden, something obvious and something completely foreign to new and experienced players. They also lend themselves well to my style of campaign building, a hook, sub hook and mid-adventure-plot twist that all help in driving the player engagement.

The next step is picking one, or two (as we know by now there are multiple roads and pathways that lead to the end goal) and fleshing it out. I will also weave the overarching plot and story in with the party’s background and their story will help throw them further into the story.

A name, a map, key places and key NPCs will come later but for now the story and plot will get me started and I am looking forward to it. There is also the potential for me to create more unique creatures and cultures. I am a big fan of creating cultures from scratch.

I hope that you will come back tomorrow. If time permits I will create a Soulbound Zine including the first part and second part of the adventure so far. So wish me luck, I will need all re-rolls and advantages I can muster to get that done. to bring another Zine, and if time permits two. So don’t forget to come back for that and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Giant of Taloncrest

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Tonight and I have created another zine out of this weeks adventure, The Giant of Taloncrest. This adventure can be used system agnostic as we explore other RPGs out there other than D&D. So please adjust to what ever 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 currently provides the stat-blocks for creatures in this adventure.

So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, The Giant of Taloncrest. If you like this format please let me know and I hope you enjoy.

The Giant of Taloncrest

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Taloncrest Mountains – Created in nightcafe.studio.

After a long time on the road the party are relieved to not be travelling for another week. The City of Wurbek lays south west of the Taloncrest mountains, home to some of the oldest monuments this side of the great divide. However no human, elf or dwarf has ever seen their ancestors’ craftsmanship as they are fiercely guarded by the warrior-tribe of Aarakocra that guard the peaks from all threats. 

This uneasy peace with Taloncrest and the southern villages only exists as, embarrassingly, there is no finer warrior in the southlands as the Aarakocra. With them guarding the mountains and their passes the cities and towns live in peace.

However, the Aarakocra seem to be laxing in their watch as some of the towns south of the mountain range have come under attack of goblinkin and a rumours of a monstrous shadow amongst them, bellowing our war cries and stoking the fires of war spread through the cities population. 

The City of Wurbek

The City of Wurbek – Created in Nightcafe.studio.

A mercantile capital of the southlands, heavily fortified and defended, it is seen as a neutral citadel and beacon for humanity. However the acceptance of all races is only skin deep and there broils a hate of uncommon races here. Elves, Dwarves and even Halflings are barely tolerated let alone Gnomes, half-breeds and even more miscellaneous races may find it hard to come across good, honest and fair trade in the city known as Wurbek.

Taloncrest Cavern

Taloncrest Cavern – Created in Nightcafe.studio.

The Taloncrest mountains shares its name with Aarakocra city that’s been built into its rocky formation. A large series of wide caves and extremely well lit caverns house the Avian race who call these mountains home. Each entrance serves as a way deeper into the city and is guarded by ferocious beasts and warriors. 

A large deposit of crystal lies at the centre of each cavern, hoisted into the ceiling and fixed there so that when the sun hits the mountain a complex series of mirrors of fine polished metals reflects the light into the many crystal lit caverns. The crystal itself isn’t rare but its size and craftsmanship is something of wonder.

PDF adventure – The Giant of Taloncrest

The-Giant-of-TaloncrestDownload

I think that will have to be it for tonight. But I hope that the next time you can get a party together to run this adventure that you enjoy it. However if you do use it I hope you can let me know how it goes!

As with every weekend, next week I will be bringing another adventure to the table and this week we are back to Soulbound! I hope you don’t miss a thing so come back daily. This is so you can experience the creation of this adventure as it evolves and shapes out. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Free Talk – February

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Hello and welcome back to another night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop. Tonight I wanted to have a Free Talk – February edition where I look at something that I think we need to address in the Dungeon Master world. Tonight’s topic is perhaps getting a bit real, a bit idealist if you will but it involves a topic that was brought up by some other excellent DMs I had a discussion with tonight. Setting expectations.

Free Talk – February

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Setting expectations is crucial to a successful TTRPG group. For a new player this could be a simple as introducing yourself as the new DM and asking people to ‘bear with’ or have some patience as you may not know all the rules off by heart. This is pretty much a given one where you give yourself some buffer by providing an expectation to the kind of DM that you are or what you aspire to be.

But this is another expectation to set. What do you expect yourself to be? We all have a journey in the world of TTRPGs and they all start with a fundamental interest in the game system. Whether its, like me, a family spawned hobby or if its someone you idolise we normally have someone we look up to for advice when it comes to RPGs. For some of us we set our sights high and we look to the figureheads of RPGs.

But this is as much of a topic for new System Masters as it is experienced ones. We can’t be Matt Mercer. We cant be Mark Hulmes. If we aspire to be the exact DM/GM as some of these giants then we will always fail. We may be as great, we may be better in some aspects but what they bring to the table is different and uniquely theirs.

The limit

Understand what our limit is. One experienced awesome DM from tonight’s table doesn’t do voicing for NPCs. This is perfectly fine. Other DMs may love dark-grit fantasy and think that perhaps the current edition of D&D is a bit too PG for them. This is also perfectly fine. What I bring to my table is different to the other DMs I spoke to tonight, new and old. This means my style of Dungeon Mastering is different but I am still here to facilitate a great game which is not only entertaining but enriching for both the players and myself.

How we play our game, how we run our table has to have limits. We can’t be everyone and everything and the Dungeon master and players having that discussion around expectations of each other, the campaign and the general flow of things can make it better. However tonight’s Free Talk – February edition does have a message.

Aspire

As I do in my professional career. Find what you enjoy. Find something that you truly thing produces wonderment in yourself and others and aspire to do that. Whether its the phenomenal Narrative and storytelling of Mark, or the voices and energy of Matt. Or the ability to keep your players on track (like a few DMs from tonight) find something you aspire to do and set it as a goal. We can’t establish growth without a benchmark.

Thanks for joining me tonight after I have spoken about D&D for more than a few hours today with other fine DMs. If tonight’s encounter (where I failed my initiative check and rocked up late) has a closing message it would be, quite simply this.

Inspire yourself to be the best you. There is only one Dungeon mater you need to aspire to be like and they greet you in the mirror. There will be new DM’s out there, potentially your current players who admire what you bring to the table. You become their aspiration, what you bring to the table becomes their benchmark. So be proud of what you bring. This isn’t an easy gig, its quite challenging at times even for the most veteran of us. So for being willing to give this a shot, to continue to bring your best to the table I want to say thank you for inspiring others to pick up the mantle.

Tomorrow I hope to bring another Zine, and if time permits two. So don’t forget to come back for that and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Grut’s Warriors

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Friday night is and the bellows of rage and excitement echo through the halls from the Grut’s Warriors as they prepare for battle. Excited for another raid on the avian-folk, the Aarakocra they are not prepared for the ambush that comes their way, or maybe they are. So sit back, grab a coffee and enjoy tonight’s addition to the adventure of this week!

Grut’s Warriors

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Now the backbone of Grut’s Warriors are the bugbear. Hulking medium sized humanoids they are ferocious and don’t underhanded tactics despite their strength. A volley of javelins will whistle through the air before the sickening thud of them plunging into allies marks the charge of the bugbear. Despite being larger cousins of the Goblin and Orc this particular breed of Bugbear share some resemblance of giants.

Created in tetra-cube.
Created in tetra-cube.

Grut – The Giant King

No matter what Grut’s warriors say he is paranoid. Being mislead and tricked by his own kind he has vowed to let no-one trick him again. this has lead his mind to become fractured with an ultra paranoid inner voice driving his decisions and siding against good, solid Giant logic. Perhaps this was the Hags doing, perhaps not.

A big meaty foot and a large club greet any who encounter Grut. Ferocious and fearless in battle he isn’t afraid the lead the charge and his bolstered armour and constitution provided by the mutated hide he carries is a badge of honour more than a curse to him now.

Created in tetra-cube.

Thoughts

The encounter will be tough. 1-2 orcs per player OR 1 bugbear for the initial raiding of the camp. A mix of Orc and bugbear is probably ideal. When there is only one or two remaining they will call for aid from their king who will stomp forward. Balanced at a level 4 party this adventure is increasing the tempo once more – so I am calling some of the bigger shots with ferocious minions wearing the party down, and their resources, and even worse, the leader Grut himself.

Thanks for joining me tonight as we get a glimpse of Grut and Grut’s warriors. As we progress through the year its hard to process we are seven weeks into the year already. Time flies when you’re rolling dice it seems.

Tomorrow I hope to provide something more akin to a discussion topic based on the most common question I encounter in the DMs forum I am attending. So don’t forget to come back for that and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Lands of Taloncrest

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Welcome to another map night where tonight I have the first of two maps for this week, the lands of Taloncrest. First we have a regional map which looks at the hilly and mountainous land around Taloncrest. The second image is of the Giant Kings camp where he resides with his forces, or some of them if the party plan the attack right. So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure around Taloncrest!.

The Lands of Taloncrest

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The city to the bottom left of the map is where our adventure begins as we encounter the young prince Aarakocra and continue onwards. To the north of that we have a lake and a mountainous ridge, known as Taloncrest as within the cave systems and a sacred site to the Aarakocra’s lies Taloncrest itself. To the southeast of this, across a lake lies the hills where the king sits. This set of ruins amongst the hills speaks of a ill-fated human settlement that tried to conquer the area. After the land literally ate their settlement alive they headed further south out of the hills and colonised from there. Trading with the Aarakocra’s where it suited the avian folk.

Taloncrest and surrounds – Created in Inkarnate

The Giant Kings Camp

Hills, rocks and ruins await those who live or enter these hills. Fabric tents, not more than a scrap of cloth on posts provide some shade for the giant and his kin. The ruins from a long lost age him that there was once something more here, but that’s lost to time.

The hills provide an interesting challenge of height, being lower provides shadows for blending in and sneaking, but having a height advantage gives those with dark vision, like the giant and his followers, an advantage as well. This wont be easy unless there is a surprise install those investigating the lands of Taloncrest.

The Giant Kings Camp – created in Inkarnate.

Thanks for joining me tonight but don’t forget to come back the last few days. Tonight was another fun map creating night and tomorrow we look at wrapping it up with some creature stat blocks. Don’t forget that these maps can be used with other game systems so use and enjoy them as you will! With the weekend approaching fast I hope you don’t forget to set aside some time for your hobbies and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Giant King

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Welcome to another Wednesday and tonight I am introducing you to The Giant King. Not officially a king but the difference between a rightful ruler and one that is not is those who follow you. Now without giving much more away let’s sit down, grab a coffee and roll on with tonight’s adventure.

The Giant King

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As the Aarakocra prince brought back the heroes that had agreed to come help his people another power as rising. In the rocky hills below Taloncrest there was a tribe of bugbears and goblins. Not unusual for them to flock to suck remote areas but at the base of Taloncrest it was a dangerous place for any who were sensible. The Aarakocra were fierce warriors and magicians and to confront them or invade their lands meant death.

However, there was one amongst their horde, an outcast who feared nothing or no one. This being called himself the King under the crest and with his direction this giant had rallied the bugbears to raid the hatcheries of the Aarakocra. With their young being captured the Aarakocra were powerless to stop the giant and his followers as they ravaged the land, spreading chaos and destruction. Prince Sashik had flown out to remedy this.

The Giant and his followers hadn’t constructed a mighty fort. With the threat of the Aarakocra kept in check none dare to go against the will of the king. Instead they had several large tents, a pit for fighting and cages for prisoners lined with humans and the hatched chicks of the Aarakocra.

Foresight

When we said the King feared nothing we omitted a single detail. The King however did fear the wrath of his own people. Scorned as a young warrior and humiliated in a trial by combat he had been exiled. Alone in the world he had vowed for revenge. Upon uttering his quest for revenge a hag appeared and showed him a glimmer of a vision, his future.
The vision showed the hatching season for Aarakocra, their defences and a way in for the cunning to snatch a crown. All the King needed to do to cement his crown is wait for a golden moon and the hag would reappear, claim her price and he would rule.

The golden moon was close, approaching too fast for the wannabe King. He needed to retrieve the eggs now but the Aarakocra were on high alert now. A final push while their people lay trapped in cages would see the eggs, and his crown become his.

Thoughts

A rescue mission or frontal assault. A variation of the “fetch” quest this adventure will see our party pushed to make the tough decisions of all out combat or cunning to retrieve victory. The Giant King will bellow out demands at points where the party can determine whether the king is bluffing or not. Then using information gathered or gained they can make a plan.

Thanks for coming tonight and spending your evening with me. Tomorrow night we look at the maps, hopefully I can do some justice of Taloncrest and I get to create another camp. Exciting! So don’t forget to come back tomorrow night for more D&D Content. This weekend I will be attending a DM round-table event where I can share my experience with other DMs, new and old. Being able to share this passion of mine with others and to also get insight from other Masters of the craft I think will be extremely rewarding. Who knows, maybe they will become readers like yourself.

So look out for something different this Saturday night and lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe