Dungeons&Dragons

Kilderken Clearing Camp

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Tonight we look at the Kilderken Clearing Camp and I have to admit… I do really love making forest and natural looking encounter maps. Tonight is no exception!

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

Kilderken Clearing Camp

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Kilderken Clearing Camp – Created in Inkarnate

Forest clearings Trees house little green lights – fey, bug or magic is up to the host of it but it created a nice visual appeal. Several trees around the camp provide cover as well as depth to the map while the river doesn’t do much other than provide something to jump over if the party is feeling brave. Lastly using a hill texture asset to create the depression into the water adds another layer of depth. If I would change something I would add a half-transparent layer of water texture on the creek banks to make it look like the water was deeper. A simple map with two tents but it will get the job done.

Multiple layers of ground, grass and water layers created tonight’s visual. Some lower layers for logs and rocks in the water created depth without having to add too much effort. I am finding that many of the camp fire assets are too bright when I add my normal lighting effects over the tops however I reduced it a bit this week to still try and have the glow around the fire but not making it too bright to look at. A rather simple composition tonight but I think it worked nicely.

Thanks for joining me tonight with another map created. Don’t forget that as I continue this week I gear up for another Zine at the end of the week. So don’t forget to come back daily to stay on top of what’s happening here and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Kilderken Hunters Camp

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This week the twist isn’t so much about the Kilderken Hunters camp but what is in it. It’s not a large force and by the looks of it from the outside the people that move about the clearing aren’t what they first thought they would be. But looks are deceiving and that is the theme of this weeks adventure.

So let’s grab a coffee, prepare ourselves and stroll into tonight’s adventure!

Kilderken Hunters Camp

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As the party moved through the woods the sun began to dwindle and the tracks that they had been following for the better half of the day were showing signs of tiring. Earlier in the forest there were signs of something dark. Runes, fetishes and parts of dead animals were impaled upon trees and there was a feeling of desecration where ever the party stepped. That had finished when they had found the tracks of their quarry.

Several booted feet lead bare feet deeper into the woods, further east and where they walked the runes, fetishes and even gruesome displays of dark magic had been removed or cleansed. For some time now as they followed the footsteps the forest started to feel cleaner with more promise and the abundance of life was becoming clearer. But as dusk descended upon them the signs of their targets slowing also encroached.

Kilderken Hunters Camp – Created in Nightcafe

As night fell a camp fire could be seen between the trees. A small creek ran through some trees and into a clearing where two small tents had been erected in a hurry. One was more worn and appeared larger as if meant for more than just providing shelter for the night where as the other looked more typical, more military. Despite this the several men and women they could see around the camp gave them pause as none of them appeared cruel or malicious.

Several were knelt in prayer whilst the others burnt incense and sprinkled something around the camp as if warding from spirits. The party crept closer and began to overhear parts of conversation. “Be careful young Jarred. Don’t listen nor look at those witches as they will charm your senses and enslave you. I don’t want to have to do to you what we did to Armen.” one of the more armoured people called out, an older man.

“Yes Carn, I will ensure that they are fed and leave them be.” the younger boy, Jarred, responded as he entered the larger camp. The sounds of whimpering and softer voices came from the tent before Jarred returned. “I have re-placed the sacred wards as well. No evil shall become of this camp tonight.” he announced to the approval of the camps inhabitants.

A bit of a twist this week with the quarry and target being seemingly different to what one would normally assume. But don’t be fooled as with any adventure change is just around the corner. Don’t forget to come back for the remaining days this week and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Jaeden of Kilderken

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Jaeden of Kilderken has lived near the woods since she was young, or so she says, and with her daughters she harvests the plants and mushrooms of the woods to make a living. But there is something different about Jaeden as she looks upon the world with a darker, more critical light.

In order to get a glimpse into the foragers life we need to dig a bit deeper. So let’s grab a coffee, sit back and roll into tonight’s adventure!

Jaeden of Kilderken 

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Jaeden of Kilderken- Created in Nightcafe.

Watching the party step into the woods Jaeden, as she had called herself, watched with a mixture of apprehension and glee. It was not often that she sought out the assistance of adventurers, more often she spent her time trying to hide and cover her tracks when they entered the woods of stalked nearby. But today she was desperate and the thought of her kin being in danger overrode her normal caution.

They looked capable enough. Swords, axes, arrows and magic would be enough to protect them from the beasts of the woods but those men, those vile men that had captured her family may be more of a challenge. Especially if the adventurers let them talk. Stepping upon the grass she tried to quell the raging emotions she hid beneath the thin veil she had put up. As her feet sank into the damp vegetation Jaeden continued to watch the adventurers as they journeyed deeper into the forest.

She knew the woods better than all and if it wasn’t for those malicious men who had captured her kin she would’ve continued as she had for the last decade. But they had become more vigilant and ruthless and she knew that they were waiting for her to try and rescue the two women. She despised them, all of them. All these humans who came with thin veils of righteousness, these people who pretended to know what was best for the world.

She had heard the worlds song, she had seen the beauty in the wilds and these men knew nothing of it. Hopefully they would be dead soon, she reunited with her family and the deal she brokered honoured. However there was a sinking feeling in her bones as she watched the people, unlikely allies, as they trudged into the woods and out of sight. squatting down she drew out a small pouch.

A few small skulls of animals, feathers, bones with runes carved and stained into them and different stones and gems. She cast them upon the earth at the base of a tree where the grass was thinnest. As they landed she read the portents, flicking her eyes from bone to stone to feather to skull until she had the answers she sought. Her family were safe for now but a predator was stalking them, their cage of wood and rope and bands of iron held them fast but they waited and practiced what she had taught them years ago.

Don’t trust men, feed upon their conviction to save and to come to the rescue of others and finally, never, ever make a bargain that you can’t uphold.

That’s all for tonight! Thanks for joining me as we begin to dive deeper into the adventure this week. Don’t forget to come back each night as we continue to grow this adventure and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

A Plea for Help

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There are few people that would walk past someone calling out, a plea for help, let alone a mother who has lost her two daughters. This week we have Jaeden’s request seeing the party responding to a plea for help to find the lost daughters who are believed to have been taken by wicked men. The requestor, a young mother who is just trying to find her family.

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

The Kilderken woods are home to some of the most terrifying creatures known to man but a brave band of warriors call it their hunting ground. But not all heroes can protect everyone under their watch. When children go missing, suspected to have been taken by an evil group of murders, the party are thrust into a desperate hunt through the dark woods.

However there are signs of a darker power than just hunters in the woods. Signs upon the trees, the rocks and even the animals indicate that something foul has taken hold in these woods. Evil is everywhere, a power so palpable that it can basically be tasted upon the air. Will the party find the missing daughters or will something find them first?

A Plea for Help

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Jaedens Request – created in Nightcafe.

The party moved along side the Kilderken forest on the way to the port city of Palau. The sun peaked past the clouds high in the sky the wind snatched at the clothes and hair at the adventures. Soon the sounds of sobbing and a voice crying out from the left of them, towards the forest, carried down to them.

“Cassandra! Taylor!” the voice called out. “Come back to me!” The party moved towards the voice as the desperate cries were replaced with the sound of crying. A woman, middle aged with light blond hair streaked with grey greeted them as she leant against a tree and called out towards the woods. Startled she whirled around and drew a dagger from her boot.

“Here to take my like you did my daughters? What have you done with them!” she cried, the blade shaking in her hands. When the party confirmed that they weren’t the ones who had taken her daughter she dropped the blade and fell to her knees. “Please, my daughters have been taken I am sure of it. They would not be gone this long from the woods and something horrible must have happened.”

She paused as she looked towards the party. “You must help me, please. There have been men with wicked intensions entering the forest for some time now but we thought if we stick to the edges we would be fine. We are forages you see, mushrooms, berries, fruit and herbs. We don’t hunt from the woods as the animals within are sacred.” she paused looking as if she is considering telling the party something more.

“I don’t know what I can offer you to incentivise you to helping me except that a mother needs her children and the children their mother. They are young women having seen at least twenty winters and they go by Cassandra and Taylor. If you can find them, make sure they are safe I will find some way to repay your kindness.

Something a bit different this week with elements of horror and looking at the darkness in the hearts of creatures, NPCs and even the players themselves. If that makes you curious I would suggest coming back daily so you don’t miss out on what’s coming next. So don’t forget that I will be updating this adventure more over the next few days and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Haunting of Market Street

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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 it worked out well so without any further waiting I present, The Haunting of Market Street, 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 Haunting of Market Street, and that your rolls are made with advantage.

The Haunting of Market Street

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The Haunting of Market Stret – Created in Nightcafe.

Apparitions bay for justice as they hunt down the criminals of the City of Traves, however now all ghasts, ghouls and ghosts are evil. Something foul has happened to the champion of the city and the party are here to find out who and right the wrongs that were done .

PDF adventure – The Haunting of Market Street

The Haunting of Market StreetDownload

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

Festival of Ale

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After a similar excursion in my home city today I wanted to explore the concept as either a setting or a hook for an adventure. I don’t want to waffle on too much but tonight’s brief snipped has spurred on some ideas for future adventures.

So let’s sit back, grab a beer and let’s check it out!

Festival of Ale

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Festival of Ale – Created in Nightcafe.

Inhaling deeply the man looked around the audience beyond the stand, with a stamp of the foot and a flourish of his fingers across the lute he belted out the next chorus of the song. It was moments like these that made his craft feel more worth while. The sun shone down upon those who were partaking in the festivities as they danced, laughed, sang, drank and ate as the Festival of Malt went into full swing.

Some of the best brewers of beer and ale could be found on the streets of Warfehergen this time of year and for a bad like himself, it was the best paying gig of the year. Several people threw coppers and silvers into his hat as they passed by him playing on stage. As he finished his last song he took a bow before picking up his hat filled with coins. Pocketing them in a pouch within his coat he strolled through the other merrymakers out enjoying the sun.

Several ate and drank exclusively on these days but there were other stores making the most out of slightly inebriated customers. Several stores had fine clothing, jewellery and fancy trinkets where people with more coin than sense would potentially purchase things while enjoying the rest that the festival had to offer for them. However, this also meant that there was an increased number of guards.

Any large gathering of people, especially when alcohol is involved, is prone to having pick pockets, thieves and thugs roaming the streets. After the first year they were more common than actual patrons but the cities guards quickly learnt that their presence wasn’t just requested, it was needed. As the bard walked past a bar and paid for a meal consisting of smoked meat, a strange steamed grain-based bread like substance and some pickled vegetables. It was delicious, spicy and sweet which danced upon his taste buds and as he gobbled up the morsel the vendor handed him a mug of ale.

Drinking the cold liquid deeply he savoured the malty notes, the bitter under currents that swirled within the mug and as he continued the depth of flavour and complexity of the ale satisfied his cravings. Passing the vendor an additional silver piece he finished his food and drink before continuing further into the festivities. As he passed the colourful tents of other vendors and watched the next bard prepare for a song he wondered what else he could get away with on a day like today.

Thanks for visiting tonight. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow night for more content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Amber Guardian

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Now it is well known that mages employ all sorts of creatures as guardians for their lairs or most treasured possessions and what more fitting to guard the Amber Eye than the Amber Guardian. Garthunk as a master craftsman in addition to being a powerful mage and so it should be no surprise that his guardian be something else he created.

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

The Amber Guardian

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Now tonight’s encounter night will be free from the main stat-blocks but I will mention a few others that can take place earlier. Below we have the, pretty cool looking Amber Guardian – a creature that defends the lake and vault – but they also hold a key as the eye of the creature is the key for the lock to open the gate. Only those worthy of the eye were thought to be able to defeat this almighty construct.

The Amber Guardian – Created in nightcafe.

The other creatures that we may encounter range from woodland beasts, giant-boars, brown bears and the like to other more maliciously inclined creatures.

The more malicious ones come from my normal stat blocks – but my recommendation is to mix it up with shifting the intent of the creature a bit or simply adding an ability that the creature normally wouldn’t have.

The humanoid combatants would be there to try and take the key and research from Borfook. This isn’t a huge issue as our party will be strong enough for these ‘seemingly random encounters’ but its something to consider when balancing out the encounter.

A quick one tonight but not the least in the slightest! Don’t forget to come back over the weekend for additional content and lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Amber Vault

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The amber vault comes in two forms one where the roof that is visible from the moment it raises and then another that shows the bespoke interior of the small vault. But there is something that is missing, the amber eye!

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

Amber Vault

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Amber Vault – Created in Inkarnate

While the vault rising from the lake bed we have a lot of debris under water. However slippery stones have formed a bit of a path leading to the vault where the party are greeted by a great door.

Amber Vault roof off – Created in Inkarnate

Beyond this door there lies what could be a throne, and a lot of ruins. Centuries under water has done this building no favours which is evident from the damage internally. There is a bit of a door puzzle to get into the final, magically reinforced room but it’s not that difficult to work out.

Overlapping textures with different shades is the name of the game this week with blended watery hues, rubble, debris and earth creating the lake itself. The platform was made to make it look as ‘close to sitting at waters edge’ as possible with some water within the rooms itself on the floor – its not a perfect drainage system. Double walls for the central area help give it depth as well as making it look larger while we we have a pretty simple and sparse affair everywhere else.

Thanks for visiting tonight while I continue to add to this weeks content. If you find yourself using any of these maps in your own game (downloadable via the link) let me know! Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and this weekend as we continue on and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Wooded Lake

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The Wooded lake wasn’t always as wooded or rugged but centuries will do that to what was once still and peaceful lake. But beneath the surface a secret lies and a seemingly non-descript pedestal hides the secret entrance to the Amber eye, and something far more dangerous.

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

The Wooded Lake

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As Borfook pushed through the final bushes, still consulting his map he came across what he appeared to have been searching for. The journey around the lake had not been easy as the wilds had really crept into what was once a land maintained by the human settlement. However with the party present they had made good time and the encounters didn’t set them back more than an hour.

After a moment scouring the waters edge Borfook froze wobbled for a moment before jumping with elation. “I knew it, There it is!” he exclaimed as he rushed forward towards the waters edge. Following his rushed gait through the brush and to the waters edge a large pedestal stood out of the water.

The Wooded Lake – Created in Nightcafe

“That is Garthunk’s handiwork you can tell from the ay the chisel was used left handed and horizontally. This has got to be mechanism that was mentioned in the books!” he called as he looked for a way to reach the pedestal without having to touch the water. With a running jump he landed on the edge of the pedestal and searched the stone thoroughly. After a few minutes he scratched away some lichen and blew the dust and plant into the water below.

“Now it’s said that before anyone is allowed to enter the guardian will try and stop us and take the key so no one can have it. But that’s what you are here for to stop the guardian from getting the key. Besides, its been centuries, the guardian is likely dead by now.” he said confidently as he inserted the amber key deeper into the pedestal. The click that followed seemed to reverberate across the waters surface and as the ripples continued deeper into the lake the area became silent.

Heartbeats past before a vibrating rumble came from the ground. Suddenly birds flew up from the trees around the lake, an unknown creature on the other side of the lake bellowed out a warning call which was echoed by several more deeper in the woods. A pillar of stone broke the surface of the lake as a series of ruins materialised from the depths of the lake. A series of large stepping stones started to appear from the pedestal where Borfook stood watching with delight. The steps appeared, still slick with lake-scum and water as they created a bridge to the building that was not sitting just at the lakes surface a few hundred feet away.

“I give you the Amber vault” he said dramatically as he pointed to the building that appeared.

A few things covered here and more to come in the following days. So don’t forget to come back daily to remain in the know and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Borfook Hostletoof

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A gnome sorcerer is something to behold when fixated on something and Borfook Hostletoof is just mad enough to have studied the history surrounding the Amber Eye for decades. Now that he is so close to finding what he has been seeking for half his life he his enthusiasm is bordering mania.

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

Borfook Hostletoof

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Borfook Hostletoof – Created in Nightcafe.

The gnome checked his map as he stared at the map and folded out several bits of paper that he had added to the map since its construction. Looking up from the map the trees surrounding them looked very different from where you would find a dwarven stronghold, or a place that a dwarf would store a powerful artefact. But Borfook hurried forward through the trees as he seemed to be checking their height, girth and even type.

“You see Garthunk was a genius, a dwarf but a genius regardless. He knew that if he wanted to keep his artefact hidden he needed to hide it where people wouldn’t expect a dwarf to do so. So I have researched for such a place, poured through history books of the time and I found it. A lake near a forest ruled by the elves. For someone as powerful as him it would be easy for him to craft a spell to hide the eye while remaining hidden from all those who would search for him. However that was centuries ago!” the little gnome hopped over rather large roots before comparing his notes and staring at the tree.

Looking around he nearly hopped with excitement before hurrying towards a part of the woods with smaller trees. “From what I learnt he hid it far from the woods, near where there was a human settlement of no consequence. However you’d assume that humans being the greedy plague that they are for natural resources that the woods would shrink right?” he said as he touched a smaller, younger tree.

“Well you’re wrong! In fact the opposite has happened. The village that he hid the eye near was ransacked by raiders a few years after the eye was hidden and was raised to the ground. So what we are looking for is younger woods encroaching upon a lake near a ruined human village. Now we found the human village, we have found the old part of the woods now we just need to find a lake.” he said with a grin as he hurried off in a direction, his head buried in his map and notes more often than looking at where he was walking.

Thanks for joining me tonight for another part of this weeks adventure. I will expand this adventure piece by piece this week as I continue to grow this adventure. So don’t forget to come back each day this week to stay on top of what’s happening and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe