Dungeons&Dragons

Frozen Predators

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The Platara Glacier is home to some hardy fauna, and flora for that matter but a recent incursion of creatures, the Frost Walker, poses a new threat. This week the Party meet the Frost Walker as it prepares to feast on the stolen tribespeople. So let’s sit back and meet this undead menace!

Frozen Predators

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The Frost walker is a new to the list of frozen predators that stalk the Platara Plains and glacier. These undead resemble gaunt undead with descending jaws. Much like Ghouls and ghasts but these creatures seem to permeate a frost that seeps through armour. Many of their kind have two long arms that end in vicious hooked claws and a secondary set of arms that are for gripping prey as they climb the icy cliffs.

Strong, fast and durable these creatures are excellent stalkers and silent. They grab prey and will drag them to their dens where they can let terror ‘soften the meat’.

Frost Walker – Created in tetra-cube.

Thanks for visiting tonight and sticking with the adventure this week. This weekend will finally be a quiet one at home so let’s see if I can push through a few Zines this weekend. So don’t forget to come back this weekend for more Tabletop Content and lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage
The Brazen Wolfe

Platara Glacier

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Tonight’s we get a look at the Platara glacier as well as the encounter for this week. While not as terrifying as a Remorhaz this weeks encounter is still not pleasant and the mood should reflect that. So without talking it up too much let’s sit down, grab a coffee and look at tonight’s map!

Platara Glacier

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Platara Glacier – created in Nightcafe.

The footprints lead into the glacier itself, in the distance the wind howling through the steep cliffs made from carved ice mixed with distant screams. Or was it the wind that was making it sound like someone in pain or scared?

Following the tracks deeper into the frozen hell scape the party came across a cave, nearly hidden in the endless walls of ice and sediment. The muffled sounds of activity could be heard from within but otherwise it was cold and quiet. That was until the sound of claws on ice from within the dark cave could be heard.

Platara Glacier Wanderer Cave – created in Inkarnate.

Thanks for joining me tonight for this weeks encounter map! Another cave, I know twice in a row, sort of, but this week is a bit different. We have a deeper ice cave, some new creatures and missing villagers to find. All in a days work for a DM! But don’t forget to still come back daily to continue this adventure with me as we explore the Platara plains, the glacier and eventually the spire together. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Echoes From The Glacier

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As the party rest and feast after what feels like days of hard travel through ice they are interrupted by echoes from the glacier. Before they can react though the tribe leader has an announcement. So without any more reveals let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!

Echoes From The Glacier

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The food that was piled upon the table consisted of meat from animals that lived in the frozen plains. However there were the occasional tough and fibrous vegetable that the tribe informed them grew near the mountain peaks. Goats, snow leopards and even seals were on the menu and everything was heavily salted.

According to the tribe the further north they travelled the land descended towards the sea where food was much more plentiful. However tribal law prevented them from staying there too long lest they consume all the food source. As the party were regaled with tales of a giant sea beast that the tribe had attempted to hunt once the tribal leader, Fenwick, stood suddenly.

The tent fell silent as all faces turned to him and he slowly turned to the east. “I fear,” he began as he closed his eyes and focused more, “I fear that the feast is now over. Something approaches across the ice towards us that threatens the safety of this tribe. Please ensure your belongings are packed and ready to move at a moment’s notice. We leave at dawn unless sooner for none shall rest tonight.” he spoke as he refocused his eyes towards his tribe’s people.

A shrill shriek resounded from outside and several warriors from the tribe rushed out. Following them the Party was greeted by the sight of the warriors searching around a watch tower where a series of foot prints and drag marks lead into the distance. It wasn’t long until the calls for lost loved ones echoed around the camp and as the first flecks of snow started to descend upon the plains the decision had to be made.

Abandon the lost tribesmen or follow the footprints before they were lost to the snow.

Thoughts

So this week is about the journey to the next step of the adventure. That is how do we get to the spire. I believe sometime the first place to start is to have a meaningful hook to propel them forward and the prospect of missing children or family members of a befriended people is a reliable way to get the party motivated.

Thanks for visiting tonight to get another glimpse at where this adventure is going this week. Don’t forget that I have more in store for you this week so make sure you come back daily. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Icewalker Tribe

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Tonight we meet the Icewalker Tribe who live on the Platara icefields before the great glacier. What appears to be just a meeting will quickly shift, but that may be something for tomorrow night. So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s meet the tribe leader!

The Icewalker Tribe

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The Icewalker tribe was a collection of small animal-skin and fur huts that surrounded a large communal tent in the middle. As Hisha and Jardi approached, people rushed out to grab the different boxes, bags and sacks from them as they brought them into the tribe’s camp.

People milled about and spoke in a rushed language that included clicks, pops and a few words in common. Soon the party were walking amongst the hunts and word had spread of their arrival, and of their success on the Ridge.

“These outsiders killed the Remorhaz?” one man said as he stared at them in awe as several children begged them to tell stories of their adventures. Hisha greeted an older looking human man as he walked out to greet them all.

“Welcome to The Icewalker Tribes camp. We hear that you have kept our Icespeaker, Jardi, and our Matriarch, Hisha, safe. We thank you for helping strangers and welcome you as heroes. Please come out of the cold and rest your feet.” The man spoke with a warm fatherly tone. “I am Fenwick the elected tribe leader and I both welcome and bless you on behalf of the frost titan.”

Matriarch Hisha Sethcardi

Hisha Sethcardi – Created in Artbreeder

Hisha has never wanted to be more than one of the tribe but her being a Drow has granted her an extremely long life. Her elven nature also blessed her with the ability to not sleep as others and it has thwarted many attempted attacks and raids against her people, the icewalker tribe.

Her adopted daughter Jardi was declared Icespeaker, a sacred title amongst the people of the Platara ice plains and as such she was granted the title Matriarch. Despite never wanting to be a leader she is a natural born leader and people listen to her above everyone, everyone except Fenwick that is.

Tribe Leader Fenwick Helder

Fenwick Helder – Created in Artbreeder

Fenwick was not born from the tribe but was chosen by them. A hunter from a distant land he came to the Platara plains to hunt the beasts of the land, however he discovered something much more. A Giant winter wolf. Their battle was legendary and as the howls and blasts of ice met with adamantine spear the people of the tribes flocked towards the commotion as no one had stood up against the giant wolf.

The Giant Winter wolf was a minor deity of the plains, an ancient beast and to challenge it was to challenge the plains themselves. However Fenwick was strongly determined to survive. For a full night and day the beast and the hunter fought and eventually the beast disarmed the man. However instead of devouring the attacker the great beast imbued Fenwick with a blessing of the ice. Fenwick became a legend and was adopted into the Icewalker tribe as their leader, the favoured tribe of the great wolf.

Content with his place and of the wisdom imbued into him from the wolf, and the tribe, he acts as a conduit between the tribe and the ice itself. Shifting as quickly as an avalanche to avoid threats to the tribe and settling like snow in the good times.

Thanks for joining me for another night of NPCs. Don’t forget to come back each day this week to follow along and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Lost Lore of Rastabar

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Tonight and I have created a zine for this weeks adventure. The Lost Lore of Rastabar. 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 Lost Lore of Rastabar. If you like this format please let me know and I hope you enjoy.

The Lost Lore of Rastabar

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Entering the city felt like a dream. The flying ship carefully lowered the carcass of the dragon and the statue, wrapped in cloth directly into a warehouse that their client, Lucile, owned. A group of tight-lipped people rushed out and moved both body and construct into a large warehouse and the party were ushered inside.

Inside of the warehouse were isles of boxes where people moved goods from one place to another. Guards watched from walkways above the isles as people went around moving stock and cargo from one place to the next. 

“Excuse me! Coming through!” a voice rang out as a Tabaxi pushed a wheelbarrow full of bags of spice as other workers followed with boxes, bags and crates. Turning to watch the precession the goods were taken to the ropes from the airshop they came from and hoisted up into its hold. No rest for the industrious it seems. 

Slowly they were being moved before a familiar young woman, Lucile, who stood watching the dragon and covered construct move into a secondary large room. “We have much to discuss. Come with me to my office if you will”.

Rastabar Library- Created in Nightcafe

PDF adventure – The Lost Lore of Rastabar

the-lost-lore-of-rastabarDownload

Thanks for joining me tonight for another Zine. 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. 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

Simpler D&D

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Welcome everyone to a bit of a slower paced weekend and maybe some simpler D&D. Tonight after some time spent with friends the prospect of playing Dungeons and Dragons with kids. The one thing that stands in our way is the age.

When looking at D&D it takes understanding of social queues, maths and tactics to play D&D at its core. These concepts may be to difficult for children under seven or so to understand. But there are some simple adjustments we can make that will reduce the complexity for kids.

The d20 System is relatively simple but the concept of “pass/fail” can be hard for kids. Open legends RPG and a few other systems have the concept of ‘yes, but’ or ‘no, however’ where success can grant an additional benefit and failure… Isn’t always a failure. These shades of grey make RPG games with kids a bit easier. The wrong choice strategically may have a positive outcome that rewards child-mind problem solving and can even teach us how to be better DMs.

So having a miss or fail, still do something that progresses the encounter or story, and hyping up those big successes can be all it takes. Take away the math and use a scale of easy, medium or hard and make easy dc10, medium dc14, and hard dc18. To make it easier again, instead of adding modifiers to their dice rolls modify the DC down. As DMs and guides on their story let us handle the complexity and let them just roll dice and have fun.

The other concept is death in RPGs… As the noble hero you destroy undead, kill bad guys and thwart evil. But what if your child, or a friends child is not ready for that situation make it a food quest. Fighting walking foods who want to make them food. That chicken nugget may look brown and crispy.. but it fights like a goblin. Or make it a non lethal encounter and the party the elite police who have to capture the baddies.

Tailoring the adventure for your audience is a key skill for DMs, and even more so when your party consists of children.

Thanks for exploring the tip of this thought bubble tonight, come back again tomorrow for a long over due adventure as I play a bit of catch-up.
The Brazen Wolfe

Glacial Terror

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The Platara Glacier and the frozen plains that surround it are all hunting grounds for the glacial terror. This creature is so brutal and deadly that people only see the aftermath of its attacks, but never the attack itself. The main calling card, a tunnel through the ice and stone. So let’s reveal the big, bad bug for this week and sit back as tonight we investigate what it could be!

Glacial Terror

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The creature is none other than the Remorhaz. Now this thing is renown for being a TPKer (Total Party Killer) but it will be moving slower on vertical surfaces doesn’t have ranged attacks and can only attack one creature at once. If fought and engaged carefully these creatures can be ridiculously rewarding encounters that your players will remember for years.

However, players that blindly jump into this encounter may and likely will regret it. So I would put a break in the adventure – such as snack or lunch – as this creature is revealed to give them some time to discuss what it is and maybe even look it up (I am not an evil DM, just a brutal one).

Remorhaz – Created in tetra-cube.

Come back this weekend for some more content as I write up some adventures and enjoy fathers day with the two kids. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage
The Brazen Wolfe

Platara Ridge

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Tonight’s map isn’t overly complex, a series of rocky ridges capped in snow and ice line the carved path up the near-glacial slope of Platara Ridge. But a large cave has been discovered and it spells doom. The ledges now something that was seen as obstacles may be their worst enemy, or their best ally depending on how they are used. But let’s sit down, grab a coffee and look at tonight’s map!

Platara Ridge

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The ridges range between 5 and 10 feet wide enabling people to walk across them. Most are covered in snow which can make trekking across them dangerous as snow can hide a nasty fall. But overall they are sturdy and stable enough to have someone walk across them. For now that is.

The ice cave is relatively small, a bit over 5 feet in diameter but it poses a threat that the party may not be willing to ignore, or explore. The ropes leading up hold a reinforced wooden platform that can transport around a dozen people if required or about 6 if they each some some space on there. However despite it being reasonably large it is very slow to move so may not be the best mode of transport if speed is of the essence.

Platara Ridge Ice Cave – created in Inkarnate.

Thanks for joining me tonight for a glance at the Platara Ridge encounter map. Now to keep it brief and sharp don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Holes in the Ice

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Tonight the party uncover something that sets their Drow travelling companions on edge, holes in the ice. not an uncommon thin in most places but the size and position of them are particularly unsettling. So before I give away too much about this weeks surprises let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!

Holes in the Ice

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Ice holes – created in Nightcafe.

As the party returned from the little hut, carved into the edge of the Platara ranges steep cliffside they wearily looked at the second platform and pulley. The younger Drow, Jardi, had gone off as she had seen something suspicious in the snow. Well that’s what they gathered as neither her nor Hisha had spoken a word since they had begun the ascent. They communicated with hand gestures and symbols primarily.

A few dozen minutes had passed and Hisha was looking distressed. She had pointed out the direction that she believed that Jardi had gone but was concerned about how long she was taking to return. As the party followed the track they noticed a darting figure coming back this way very quickly. Immediately they recognised Jardi.

As she got close she gestured for them to follow here, but for Hisha to stay. The next few hundred feet was slow going as the ledge was uneven and the fall, significant. But eventually she stopped in front of a cave entrance that was about five feet wide. Leaning in close she whispered.

“This isn’t normally here. We see these out on the ice but never on the wall and where they appear animals and people leave quickly.” she said, glancing at the sky as if she were to be struck by lightning. “Be alert and alarmed. These holes bring death.”

As she hurried back to Hisha the party noticed several inch deep claw marks into the frozen fragments of stone, the ice above and beyond appeared as though it had been carved through with expertise and ease. The height and constant chill wasn’t the only thing that was deadly on this mountain.

Thoughts

So I skip thoughts occasionally but this sets up nicely with a few options this week for the adventure, encounter and more. I believe its going to be relatively easily to work out what’s going on but let’s see what people think and if they can work it out form the limited information available.

Thanks for visiting tonight to get a look at this weeks twist and lead up to the adventure. To stay on top of this weeks adventure don’t forget to come back daily to see where we take it and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Ice Dwellers

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This week we have the party scaling a massive cliff through a rather mundane apparatus with the help of some rather interesting individuals, the ice dwellers. These nomads and tribal people make a living from the ice and trade with those who live in the deserts and arid dunes below. But will these ice dwellers be any good in a life or death moment when the commotion brings out something from the icy wall? Well we best get a move on with tonight’s content and this weeks adventure! So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s meet some ice dwellers!

Ice Dwellers

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The party had reached the edge of the Platara ranges. The steep cold stone surface was a stark comparison from the desert that they had travelled through that morning. However the shift in temperature wasn’t the thing that shocked them. The drow that stood there waiting for the platform to lower down was the most shocking appearance.

Both were female drow and despite their age difference, one much older and one appearing young, they both were dressed the same. Both were clad in thick furs and appeared as if they were heading back with a few backpacks filled with goods.

“Greetings travellers, do not mind us as we pose no threat. We are From the Jandari tribe. I am Hisha and this is Jardi” the older woman said as she gestured to each in turn. “We are traders primarily and are on our way back up the Ridge to return home.”

Jardi Icespeaker – Created in Artbreeder

The younger looked towards them and at the platform as she constantly pulled on a sturdy rope that rose far into the sky. “The only way up and down is through a pulley system. There is a crossover point half way where we move to another platform but this one takes us there” Jardi responded.

“We have a few rules, sacred oaths to grant our god’s blessing that we try to obey when on the trek up. We go at a constant speed and we don’t make noise. It will take a full day to get up to the top including a stopover for a short rest.”

The party watched as the platform neared the base. It was certainly big enough for them all but a full day of silence and the slow ascent would be difficult to say the least.

Setting the scene for this weeks adventure as we move towards tomorrows Twist. A fun adventure ahead with some real danger if there is not careful. But surely they won’t go against the sacred oaths of strangers they just met… Don’t forget to come back each day this week to follow along and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe