Encounter Map

The Risks with Research

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Tonight we look at the risks with research as the creatures that hunt, and haunt these lands make an appearance in tonight’s encounter. First off we have the Orruk warclans who have made an appearance but we also have something a bit more spooky. So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s roll on with tonight’s encounter.

The Risks with Research

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The encounter this week can be run in two parts. If the party decide to leave during the day they may be shot down (check involved to control the vehicle) or if they wait until the night then they are attacked by the Orruks on dusk. Regardless if they are still in the camp or in the hills at night the nighthaunt will come and attack them..

Encounter – The Orruks

With the content from Monday night and if any of you play Age of Sigmar it may be obvious that we have the Kruleboz in this weeks adventure. With our party being effectively 4 people strong and most able to down a single target, or two, a round let’s look at the below.

Two minions per person, One warrior per person, and an optional one champion or chosen per party.

For this encounter we will have eight Hobgrot Slitta’s, three Gnashtooths and one Man-skewer Boltboy.

Hobgrot Slitta (Minion)

Body: 1

Mind: 2

Soul: 1

Melee: Poor

Accuracy: Average

Defence: Poor

Armour: 0

Toughness: 1

Speed: Normal

Initiative: 3

Natural Awareness: 2

Skills: Awareness (+1d6), Ballistic Skill (+1d6), Guile (+1d6), Stealth (+2d6), Weapon skill (+1d6)

Traits

Swarm: 3+ Hobgrots in the same zone form a swarm, +1d6 to attacks and +1 Toughness per Hobgrot

Stab ‘Em Good: +2 attacks with their Slitta’s when they charge.

Attack

Slitta: Melee (Poor), 2d6, 1+S Damage, Slashing

Bangstikks: Ranged (Average), Blast (2), Medium Range, Loud. If damaged a creature makes DN6:1 Body (Fortitude) Test or become poisoned until end of next turn. Next blast weapon in same zone deals +2 damage and ignites gas, Zone becomes minor hazard for 1 minute.

Gnashtooth (warrior)

Body: 2

Mind: 2

Soul: 1

Melee: Average

Accuracy: Poor

Defence: Poor

Armour: 1

Toughness: 5

Speed: Fast

Initiative: 3

Natural Awareness: 2

Skills: Awareness (+1d6), Might (+1d6), Stealth (+1d6), Weapon skill (+1d6)

Traits

Pouncing Predator: On a charge action it adds +1d6 additional (a bonus 2d6 in total) to pool for attack. If deals damage target is knocked prone if Medium or smaller

Attack

Teeth and Claws: Melee (Average), 3d6, 1+S Damage, Slashing and Piercing

Man-Skewer Boltboy (warrior)

Body: 3

Mind: 2

Soul: 1

Melee: Average

Accuracy: Average

Defence: Average

Armour: 1

Toughness: 6

Speed: Normal

Initiative: 4

Natural Awareness: 2

Skills: Awareness (+1d6), Ballistics Skill (+1d6, +1), Reflexes (+1d6), Stealth (+2d6)

Traits

Pick ‘Em Off: If they done Move increase accuracy by 1 step and deal +1 damage for Ranged Attacks until start of next turn.

Attack

Man-Skewer Crossbow: Ranged Attack (Average), 3d6+1F, 1+sDamage, Long Range. Penetrating, Piercing, Reload, Two-handed.

Jaggedy Blade: Melee (Average), 3d6, 1+S Damage, Slashing

Encounter – Nightfall

At night the Ghostly forms of Nighthaunt rise from the tents in the Research base. Perhaps those who Nagash cursed during death as a way of obtaining the knowledge on the Amberbone, or preventing Sigmar from getting it, or just adding more ghostly forms to the army. Either way we have difficult to wound creatures attacking at night and it comes with the Risks with Research.

As these are all Warriors (no minions for nighthaunt) I will incrsease the warrior allowance to accomodate for this.

For this encounter I have two Myrmourn Basnshees and three Chainrasps and one Dreadwarden

Myrmourn Banshee (warrior)

Body: 1

Mind: 3

Soul: 1

Melee: Average

Accuracy: Average

Defence: Poor

Armour: 0

Toughness: 5

Speed: Normal (fly)

Initiative: 4

Natural Awareness: 2

Skills: Awareness (+1d6), Channelling (+2d6, +2), Stealth (+2d6), Weapon Skill (+2d6)

Traits

Ethereal: Takes half damage from non-magical and can pass through solid objects.

Lifeless: Immune to being Charmed and Frightened.

Mournful Cry: Action after consuming a spell (Spell-eater) All creatures within medium range that can hear it, DN5:2 Soul (determination) test or become Frightened

Spell-eater: Once per Turn, Unbind a spell as per Unbind Talent

Attack

Chill Dagger: Melee (Average), 3d6, + S Damage, Piercing. Damage from this weapon ignores Armour

Chainrasp (warrior)

Body: 2

Mind: 1

Soul: 1

Melee: Average

Accuracy: Poor

Defence: Poor

Armour: 0

Toughness: 4

Speed: Normal (fly)

Initiative: 1

Natural Awareness: 1

Skills: Weapon Skill (+1d6)

Traits

Ethereal: Takes half damage from non-magical and can pass through solid objects.

Lifeless: Immune to being Charmed and Frightened.

Chill of the Grave: 2+ Chainrasp’s are in same zone, zone gains a minor hazard. Damage from Hazard ignores Armour.

Attack

Malignant Weapon: Melee (Average), 3d6, + S Damage, Slashing

Chainrasp Dreadwarden (warrior)

Body: 3

Mind: 2

Soul: 2

Melee: Good

Accuracy: Poor

Defence: Good

Armour: 0

Toughness: 7

Speed: Normal (fly)

Initiative: 3

Natural Awareness: 2

Skills: Awareness (+1d6), Weapon Skill (+2d6, +1)

Traits

Dreadful Cold: If in same zone as 2+ Chainrasps their Hazard (Chill of the grave) becomes a Major Hazard. Damage from Hazard ignores armour.

Ethereal: Takes half damage from non-magical and can pass through solid objects.

Forlorn Light: Other Chainrasps in same zone have their defence increased by 1 step.

Lifeless: Immune to being Charmed and Frightened.

Attack

Great Malignant Weapon: Melee (Good), 5d6, 2+ S Damage, Slashing, Two-handed

Thanks

Well tonight was filled with some insight into encounter building for Soulbound as well as a few creatures from the core rulebook as well as Era of Beasts. So I would encourage you to check them out as they go into a lot more depth than I have covered here.

Don’t forget to come back this weekend as we explore our last story-line NPC for the adventure and as we continue with this Soulbound adventure. As with all dice rolls if something doesn’t look or feel right when you are generating your encounters I hope you take this advice and re-roll it. Random encounters and random elements of the game can hurt the narrative or enjoyment for your players. It’s important as the custodians of our players enjoyment to safeguard their experience against these resin, or plastic, RNG generators. So take this free re-roll and come back soon,
The Brazen Wolfe

Research Outpost

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Tonight we expand our game with a map that looks to capture parts of the Research outpost. Whether the party is flying in their Kharadron ship or waiting at night for the right moment to dash for it there will be blood spilt here. So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s roll on with tonight’s map overview.

Research Outpost

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The outpost itself is set in a grassy yet sandy part of Ghur. Surrounded by tall hills the normally rough and primal landscape of the realm of beasts is broken up by valleys where grass grows. However these plains make of excellent grazing grounds for herbivore herds. And, for the predators that prey on these creatures.

This however also led to the first discovering of a Amberbone deposit – the realmstone of Ghur and the reason that the Stormcast eternals guard and protect the people of Ghur in researching the stone. Perhaps Sigmar is trying to find a way to stabilise his anvil of apotheosis or find a way to combat the threat of Kragnos.

Research Outpost – Map

Created in Inkarnate

The Zones

The immediate area around the central tent is the primary zone, zone one. The distance between the central tent and the cliffy-hills in any direction is the second, third and fourth zone (in any order and then the bottom, top left and top right parts of the map and beyond can have a line drawn from the hill to the to either the tent of cloth covered boxes is an additional zone each. This gives range, requirements for movement and versatility in how we run our encounters.

Thanks

A bit of a shorter one tonight as there isn’t much more to update. Come back tomorrow for our encounter of the week and a further glimpse into the Soulbound adventure. As we move onwards with the adventure I am creating don’t hesitate to send through questions or comments. I would love to discuss the adventure as it can be the best way to drive discovery and creation of the world. Don’t forget to re-roll those dice and come back soon,
The Brazen Wolfe

Reused and Recycled

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Welcome to a night filled with maps that I’ve dragged back from previous adventures, Reused and Recycled if you will. Part laziness but part emphasising the key part of creating maps for TTRPGs is that you can have a lot of variety and diversity in your world. But you can also say that the forest you are walking through today is similar enough to the one you walked through last week or last month even. This doesn’t make us lazy as Game or Dungeon Masters it makes us efficient.

So tonight I am going back to a few maps used in the past to give them a new take on life and to show that all maps can reused and recycled.

Reused and Recycled

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Road-Ambush (Surveying the Battlefield)

Something that could work for either a forest encounter heading to the manor, moving away form the manor or as part of a dream scape. It’s also an re-use of an older map because diversity is extremely important as a DM.

Made with Inkarnate.com

Inn in a strange town (Doorich Cottage)

The feat of waking up in a strange and unfamiliar place can be quite crippling. But what if your mind told you that this isn’t new, what if your allies around you acted like nothing was wrong. Running out into an unfamiliar street where people greet you like an old friend can send someone into a mild, or severe, panic attack. This could be another dream scape for us and another great example of a may being reused and recycled for a new purpose.

Made with Inkarnate.com

Hidden Waterfall (Welcome Rest, Unwelcome Guests)

I adore this map. Out of all my maps I think that this one is probably one of my favourites. A soothing camp fire, soft noises that lull you into a sense of security then something goes wrong. The perfect recipe for a nightmare and yet again another example of a map being Reused and Recycled.

Made with Inkarnate.com

Well I want to say thank you for joining me tonight for my lazy-Map night. When I first imagined the content I would bring up for Brazen Wolfe Tabletop it was about having variety, versatility and promoting reuse. That’s why I have a tag under each blog (i.e. 303ThReRe) so I can go back and refer to content I liked and want to reuse. Tonight I looked through the 50 or so Thursdays I have created a map for this blog and selected but a handful. There is a lot already here and any of them will make excellent maps for a diverse set of adventures.

Now we have the weekend fast approaching so don’t forget to plan some tabletop time and let’s not forget to roll with advantage while you’re at it,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Curse of the Dark Woods

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Tonight and I have again decided to create a zine out of this weeks adventure, The Curse of the Dark Woods. This week, due to the confusion and ongoing concerns that are shared amongst the content creator community to make this zine, and potentially many future ones, system agnostic and remove any reference to D&D specific material from the content. 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 (but this may change).

So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, The Curse of the Dark Woods. If you like this format please let me know and I hope you enjoy.

The Curse of the Dark Woods

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The Dark Woods are no darker than the average woods. They are however a thick patch of forest that has resisted man’s desire to cultivate the land nearby for centuries which has led to the belief that they are guarded by a dark spirit. 

Beyond recent memory it was rumoured that men had once built citadels and temples to gods of progress and agriculture within the forest. But within a few years the population plummeted and these cities were lost to the woods, rumoured to have been destroyed by the forest itself.

The forest is also thought to be more than it seems. Over the course of many men’s lives they have recorded that the forest doesn’t grow. There is no expansion of trees past a point, no new saplings encroaching on the lands of men and the farms, roads and villages that line the edge of the forest are safe from the dark curse of the trees.

But this has lead the the forest being a ideal place for bandits and those with ill intentions to lie in wait for those unsuspecting of anyone ignoring the tales of these woods. Sooner or later the tales will be found out to be true but until then there is always a risk of danger or death when you travel near the dark woods.

PDF adventure – The Curse of the Dark Woods

The-Curse-of-the-Dark-WoodsDownload

That will be it for tonight but I hope that next weekend you can get a party together, or find a DM/GM, to run this adventure. Don’t forget that next week I will be bringing another adventure to the table so don’t miss a thing and come back daily. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Dark Forest & Darker Crypts

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Welcome back to Brazen Wolfe tabletop where tonight I spend a fair bit of time creating the adventure maps for Dark Forest & Darker Crypts. This week we look at a forest setting, I know cliché for me but I just love them soo much! But to make it up to you I have created a Crypt map as well. So don’t go away, sit down and have a coffee while we look at tonight’s maps.

Dark Forest & Darker Crypts

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Dark Forest

Shaded and wooded areas provide great places for ambush by bandits and animals alike. A dense wood with flickering shafts of lights from the canopy of trees above make this map rather interesting.

The Dark Woods – Created in Inkarnate

Darker Crypts

Complete with a secret room, a few walls that can easily be broken through, chests for all your loot purposes and bones of the dead! This map took a while to try and get the shading on the tiles to where I was happy with them. Even now I think there are some rooms for improvement but I like the dark gritty nature of it that promises that it once was more. Evidence of many previous cave ins and a hidden altar (the top of the map) that pays homage to my first DM’s plot twist of an adventure complete this room.

Dark Forest’s Crypt – Created in Inkarnate

Well that’s all that I have time for tonight. As always feel free to use these maps in your own adventure, click the links to inkarnate and if you have an account you can remix the images! If you are playing along at home let me know how you go but make sure to come back tomorrow for some traps, secrets and the encounter! With the weekend fast approaching make sure you don’t forget to plan some tabletop time and don’t forget to roll with advantage while you are at it,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Cherpa Mill

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Thursday night has come and with it brings the map for the Cherpa Mill at night. Fireflies flitter across the tall grass and amongst the trees from this long abandoned building and despite the light it does indeed look haunted as the people of Cherpa warned the party.

The Cherpa Mill

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As the cold mist of the evening starts to settle down upon the long grass flickering pinpoints of light can be seen from the large, old window of the Mill. As fireflies flitter through the sprint night sky the unmistakeable apprehension of the outcome of the little boy in the mill starts to weigh on the party.

The mill is old with many of the boards and planks of wood having come loose and fallen down over the years. The tattered vanes of the windmill lay motionless as their damage renders them unable to move. But despite this there is a soft noise coming from inside the mill which draws the party in closer.

Broken barrels and crates surround the walls of the mill and a broken stairway leads to a second story where goods would have once been stored. However both the goods, the flooring and the stairs are broken and unreliable making passage across them dangerous at best.

Cherpa Mill – created in Inkarnate

Thoughts on the Cherpa Mill

Normally beneath the Mezzanine lies empty space and the remnants of old hay and straw bales. However presently it hosts dozens of cherpa hens as they huddle around the muffled cries of a young boy. The torches that were lit to guide the children in their mischief send dancing lights across the lower story of the mill. But there is a scratching and movement in the shadows that unnerves the hens and humans alike.

Thanks for visiting tonight to join me in looking over the two storied mill. I had a lot of fun with the map tonight as there is something soothing and fun when playing with light orbs. The Fireflies and trees help breakup the stagnant and plain outside of the mill and add more depth for the party. I hope you enjoy the map as much as I enjoyed creating it. Don’t forget to let me know how you go using it and if you do tweak it in Inkarnate please share!

Don’t forget to come back and visit me tomorrow. I will have more exciting encounters and a non-standard creature to reveal. I hope to see you back for the encounter tomorrow and for this weekend when I wrap the first adventure of the year up. Also, don’t forget that this year will be primarily focusing on one shots. I hope to bring one or more oneshots a month so you will just have to come back to find your favourites. And as always I will leave you with wishing you the best luck in your endeavours and remind you to not forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Soulbound Zones

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Welcome to the first post of 2023 and I wanted to start off with some Soulbound content, exploring the concept of Zones. The concept of a Zone is in its simplest terms the different phases of range for movement, sight and ranged combat. So for tonight I created a desert style map with a little oasis in it to try and get down pat two things. 1, the zones in a typical map and 2, me creating them in Inkarnate.

Soulbound Zones

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Desert Map

The slope downhill towards the oasis is a welcome sight for sore eyes, however the step gaps in the craggy hills makes it difficult to move down to the refreshing water below. However as the Soulbound approach their destination the bestial cry of war sounds from down below and the screech of large birds fills the air. It looks like the party will have to fight for their right to fill their canteens today.

Desert with zones

Zones in Soulbound are generally areas that are broken up by natural formations in the land (as per this example), barricades, bar tables, walls, buildings and so on. This makes it quite easy with a transparent tool on Inkarnate to map out your zones to highlight where movement is possible quickly or when it takes longer.

This also can help stress the lay of the land a bit more. Perhaps its not distance as such and maybe to shoot from 3 zones away (blue to red) it is harder to be more accurate due to trees or weather. Maybe the steep descent and unstable footing makes it hard to move down to engage the Beastmen who have made this oasis’s their camp. What ever the reason the concept of zones helps control the flow and pace of the battle – two important things for us Game Masters.

As we move into the new year and a new set of challenges and adventures I wanted to start off with something simply just fun before we get back into the weekly adventures. Helping myself re-look at some of the basics of a RPG system that I will start to get more involved with this year is just the icing on this cake. If you are interested in trying a TTRPG this year I can recommend D&D (yes there is some changes going on this year), Openlegends RPG and, of course, Soulbound. Each one uses a different system for their mechanics and each is refreshing and rewarding to get involved with.

So come back to check in on this coming weeks content and lets roll into this year with a solid foundation. And with the start of a new year why don’t you look at rolling a luck check and don’t forget to roll it with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Frosted Forest

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Tonight I wanted to share some more maps for the dice-ember adventure where we look back at the snowmen within the Frosted Forest. Two maps were created, well one created and the second had the snowmen removed.

Frosted Forest

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Snowfields without Snowmen

The slope of the snowy fields from Snowtown heading towards the forest impedes movement. Small mounds of snow are littered with rocks that have rolled to near the surface. Some rocks have stayed there for longer than most of the townsfolk lives. Normally the forest is a cheerful place where birds and animals seek refuge from the day. But lately its been quiet and even the game that used to call the forest home have been found out in the snowy fields or further away from the town.

Created in Inkarnate

Snowman in the Forest Encounter

The same map but with snowmen hiding in wait. Although not hiding that well its hard to tell if they are the animated ones that have been seen in Snowtown or if someone has a sick sense of humour and has decided to create the festive creations amongst the shade of the trees.

Created in Inkarnate

Thanks for joining me tonight for some more snow maps. The Frosted Forest was a fun map to make and I think I managed to get the colouration of the snow pretty good this week. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow night for some statblock’s and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Descent under the Ice fields

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The twenty second day of Dice-ember we look at the maps that track our Descent under the Ice fields. These were once again created in Inkarnate!

Descent under the Ice fields

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The slippery steps and deep fall into the cave below lead for a harrowing adventure down. The Stalactites on the roof (and hidden creatures amongst them) also pose more threats that the party will have to face as they descend further down. This weeks adventure map(s) start with the stairs down where movement is considered difficult terrain so speed is halved. Over the rocky un-hewn icy-stone there lays the area for our party to rest or be ambushed. That parts up to us.

Frozen Quarry Steps – Created in Inkarnate

Workshop

Dark and gloomy with small motes of light that are left over from the enchantresses ritual the Ice cave where she conducts her rituals is far from welcoming. At the edges of the cavern is steep rocky walls that with small ledges that the athletic may be able to reach for a vantage point. Large slabs of ice-crystal litter the room and some of which glow with a light of their own. A large chair stands towards the back of the area whilst a small, flat slab of ice acts like a table near by.

In the centre of the room is a large alter table, old blood mottles the engravings that have been chiselled into the surface. The creation that could have been created here long gone, or perhaps just hiding.

Enchantress Ice Cave – made in Inkarnate

Thanks for joining me tonight for another night filled with maps as we track the descent under the Ice fields. These maps would suit many frozen caves (not just this adventure) and can be quite versatile. The stairs was definitely the hardest but its difficult to stress the steep drop either side of a narrow walkway. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the creature reveals and this weekend for the final adventure. So if you’ve joined me tonight, or have been reading along with me for some time now. I want to thank you for joining me for another year of Brazen Wolfe Tabletop. Don’t forget to rest up and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Snowtown Quarry

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The fifteenth day of Dice-ember I bring to you the Snowtown Quarry map. This is where we look to encounter some particularly nasty constructs and investigate further into where the constructs may be coming from. This map has a lot of layering work and the river was a bit of a harder one to do so it took quite a bit of time tonight. So I hope you enjoy and can find use of this snowy quarry map in your own games or this adventure!

Snowtown Quarry

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The rocky walls are extremely steep and over twenty feet tall. The ledge above the quarry itself is covered in trees that appear to be trying to take back the scarred land. In the middle of the quarry a large sinkhole or perhaps open mine has been left to be filled with the river that has cut its way through the land and into the quarry itself.

Bits of debris and the remnants of a ruined mine track and cart can be found in the quarry but the dark cave entrance lays next to the waterfall where a constant flow of frigid water flows down. The water itself is covered by a thin layer of ice and is reasonable deep above the quarry but shallow on the open rocky field.

Created in Inkarnate

Tonight I had another play around with Inkarnate. It was good to get back into more focused map making and spending more time and effort in trying to blend the chaotic elements of natural landscape together. Maps like these are quite versatile and this one can be used not only for D&D but also Soulbound, Openlengends RPG as well as other game systems, fantasy or otherwise. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the statblock of the creatures eluded to over the past weekAnd, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe