Fantasy Archives - Brazen Wolfe Tabletop

The Mad King’s Queen

March 26, 2023March 26, 2023thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Tonight and I have created another zine for this weeks adventure, The Mad King’s Queen. 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 Mad King’s Queen. If you like this format please let me know and I hope you enjoy.

The Mad King’s Queen

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The people of Rueven were ruled by a vicious tyrant and his elven queen for decades. When a young ambitious knight and his men assaulted the castle and finished this reign of terror the kingdom rejoiced. Within a week the knight was declared the new king of the city and he promised to always do the right thing by the people of the kingdom.

However not all were pleased. After the last and most brutal attempt on his life his demeanour changed and the stoic knight began to claim that he had a queen, one that had never been seen and one where there was no ceremony. The people thought his moment of madness would pass as he recovered from the assassination attempt but as the years passed it did not. Yet despite his madness he held true his oath and was still a just and gracious king who put the needs of his people first.

Every year he celebrates Celestes, his Queen’s, birthday with a feast that the kingdom is invited to partake in, funded by the king’s treasury. But There is a rumour that the king’s madness has grown and that the assassination attempt years ago has left him unfit to rule. A growing discontent has formed in pockets of the kingdom and there has been a more vicious rumour. That the king isn’t mad and that there is a hidden power behind the throne, a darkness that not even the once just knight can wrestle from.

PDF adventure – The Mad King’s Queen

The-Mad-Kings-Queen Download

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

The Golden Hourglass

March 25, 2023March 25, 2023thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Welcome to a surprise night where tonight we are looking at an offer, an exchange of goods, wealth or inspiration for the Golden Hourglass. To make a very exciting week for us D&D, and RPG aficionados I am going to have a shot at making a heist this week. That’s right, its heist week coming up and I wanted to double down on it before the sands of in the hourglass run out! Well in order for us to make it on time, let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!.

The Golden Hourglass

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The Setting – City Emago

Westley Parn is the biggest merchant, and black market dealer in the city. What ever you want to have, learn or have done he can sell it to you. So prominent is his influence and growing power that the city guard leave him alone, as they too are one of his customers.

However, sometimes the price he asks for is odd. A secret, a single ring, a name or a trinket. Something that almost no one would miss. But they all are part of his plan and a master of planning he is.

The Target – The Golden Hourglass

Westley Parn has requested that the bring him the Golden Hourglass. IT is a work of art from a dwarven glass blower, an elven carpenter and a gnome enchanter of some renown. Its the size of a tankard and its true purpose is unknown, but it’s said that who ever owns the hourglass fall to madness and paranoia before, eventual and preventable death. As such the hourglass is locked in a padded chest, guarded by several guards and never stays in the same place more than one night if they can help it.

The Path – Unknown…. for now

The Hourglass is on its way out of the city. Taking an unknown path but the people who are hired as guards for the escort of the artefact are the well known Brenthan Brothers. The city has somewhat wide streets and a sewer system that runs under the city itself.

The People – The Brenthan Brothers

The Brenthan Brothers are in fact, brothers. Mrs Brenthan had seven boys and two girls. While the girls followed in their parents footsteps to run a shop the brothers joined the military one after another. Eventually they left the military to start a mercenary group which grew past just the brothers. Their influence spread and soon they had many cities they worked out of.

Bryce, Kryn and their sellswords are the two who were approached to escort the golden hourglass out of the city.

Kryn is extremely professional and thorough and leaps to attention at the slightest sense of danger. Kryn is the second oldest Brenthen boy and as such constantly lives in the shadow of his older brother. Because of this he strives to be seen as better, and he is even if the others don’t see it. Yet.

Bryce on the other hand relaxed and calm to the point of being seen as lazy. He is the youngest and at times prefers to use his fame as a Archer and swordsman to win the hearts and affection of the public.

The Consequences and Twists

Rumour of the priceless artefact leaving the safety of the manor it resided in has spread wide. There are more parties than Westley Parn and the mercenaries with a vested interest in the golden hourglass. But will they be able to beat the parties to the punch line or will the artefact fall through their fingers like grains of sand.

Thoughts

Oh boy. The second surprise for this weekend. A double event! I hope I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew but we will have to see.

The heist format is a bit harder to plan for. Many blogs and other experienced DMs ask for a general “What, where, who, when and why” format which describes the scene and what can happen. But not to the same degree as what we create normally. This Means the success and enjoyment of the adventure is purely in their hands.

So in order for us to facilitate this adventure we need to look at three parts, traditionally two but hear me out.

The Planning and Execution of the plan. But if we want to double down there is two halves to the planning.

Scouting and mapping. Understanding the location, drawing a map, watching movements and the like. To know how to pull off a heist is to know the pattern of what you want to steal.

The preparations. Buying goods and equipment, the bribing of guards, innkeepers, peasants and merchants, infiltration of a party lost. What ever you need to do to pull it off.

The execution. The doing, game time. Following the plan as a team or group of individuals, it happens, to achieve the plan. This can be daunting to a DM as its nearly full improv. But if you can pull it off, its worth it.

Thanks for visiting and taking a sneak peak at the heist adventure. Tomorrow I hope to see you visit again for two adventures being published! Wish me luck! So don’t forge to visit tomorrow and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Guests of the Queen

March 21, 2023March 21, 2023thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Welcome to another night where we look at the potential NPCs of the week and this week we are meeting some guests of the queen. Well to be more exact we have a maid, the King, his guard captain and our devious assassin-come-thief. Now without getting too deep into the plot tonight and giving it away, let’s roll on with the adventure!

Guests of the Queen

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Now the queen had a cunning plan in coming up with the masked ball. This enabled the king, is guard and one of the maids to pose as each other. Park would pretend to be the King, a maid, Este, would be the queen and the king would pretend to be the guard. The kicker, the party are unaware of the ploy being undertaken as to ensure that its believable.

Maid – Este

Este has worked in the castle for some years now and attends the king and the empty bedroom where the queen is meant to reside. Despite looking young Este had elf blood in her ancestry and has seen more winters than many in the castle. Despite her station, the King and Park have grown to trust her and her ability to sense the intentions of people.

King Joseph Daroan

No one would dispute the kindness that King Daroan has shown the people of the kingdom. Elected king after he defeated the previous king, a tyrant, he fought for the people and is known as a capable warrior. However with the battle for his crown over many attempts at his life had been made and one such one a few years ago left him not quite the same. Since then he started to celebrate his wife’s birthday, and refer to her being present in all things. Despite this the people are fiercly loyal to the king.

Guard Captain Park

Present when Joseph Daroan defeated the tyrant and principally responsible for the prevention of the majority of the attempts on his life Captain park is the kings oldest friend and ally. Despite the apparent decline in his mental health and sanity Park remains loyal to his friend but has faced his anger a few times when he questions his wife’s existence.

Lark Grundfello

Little is known about Lark, however he is one of those attempting the both murder the king and queen as well as steal their greatest treasure during the queens birthday feast. Lark however would tell you that the King is not what he seems and that he is a freedom fighter coming to rid the kingdom from a ruler that is corrupt and twisted by the foul powers that once tried to kill him.

Thank you for joining me tonight and looking at the NPCs I have created for this week. With half the adventure tied to the mystery behind the queen and the assailants I needed to try and keep tonight’s content brief. However, you wont have to wait long as tomorrow night we will investigate the plot further.

I hope that you will join me for the next few nights here as I expand the adventure further. In fact I still plan to have a bit of a surprise this weekend so make sure to come back for that as well. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Kings Hidden Queen

March 20, 2023March 26, 2023thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Welcome to another week at my tabletop where this week we are looking at an adventure that features the kings hidden queen. Normally with a quest giver you have someone, something or somewhere to meet, retrieve or be. This week we have someone giving us a quest for someone who doesn’t exist, well sort of. Now here’s the kicker. The quest giver is a king, a queen-less king, but for years he has organising a great party, a feast for everyone in his kingdom to come and celebrate his queens birthday, yet his subjects believe he is mad as they have never seen this queen. However this year he has sent out a separate invite – one to heroes to protect his queen as he believes that there are those among his subjects who wish his queen ill.

Well all relationships are complex but a mad king with an non-existent queen takes the birthday cake. Well, kind of, not really. Intrigued? Well let’s grab a cup of coffee, sit back and roll into tonight’s adventure!

The Kings Hidden Queen

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King of Rueven before subjects – Created in nightcafe.studio

The king stood in front of his subjects as they gathered in the square beneath him, his worn but strong hands gripping the railing to the balcony he stood at. “My beloved subjects of Rueven,” he stopped as the cheering erupted from his subjects. Gesturing for them to stop he continued, “as you know every year I throw a feast for the kingdom to celebrate the birthday of my queen, our queen. This year is no exception! Come, be merry for under the full moon we will feast, be merry and celebrate queen Celeste!” His voice bellowed forth across the people down beneath him. Another chorus of cheering and rejoicing erupted from the crowd.

“My queen has a request, this party will be a masked festival. There will be games, contests of strength, agility, wit and talent. Everyone will be masked and no one will be treated any different – everyone is equal for this day. You will be invited to dine at the same table as I and the queen and we shall enjoy the feast as one people, one kingdom.” he stopped as the murmuring began in the crowd. An awkward moment passed before somewhere, someone in the crowd began to clap. Soon the single sound of applause grew to a thunderous racket and his people were celebrating the idea of the festivities this year.

The Queens Request

As he stepped back from the applause he walked, alone, past his guards and attendants “Park, a moment.” he requested as his guard captain walked nearby.

“Yes sire, what can I do for you?” he asked, looking around for the queen out of habit, the one no one had seen.

“I believe that we may have some trouble with this event. The queen’s life has been targeted and we intend to catch them in the act. I need you to seek out adventurers. A group that can blend in with the crowd and act as castle staff to apprehend the would-be assassins. We can only trust you in this.” he said as he gripped the shorter man on the shoulder.

“Yes but sire,” he hesitated, apprehensive if his words would bring out his king’s rare but famous anger. “Will the queen be present this time? She hasn’t been present, ” he picked his words carefully “for some time now.”

The king smiled, “she is always present. Don’t play games now Park, you know how my queen likes them. You may end up playing her games and not having time for yourself if you keep it up. Now we have a party to prepare and you have adventurers to find.”

“Yes my king.” Park said, his face hiding his sadness at the state of his king’s sanity.

The king walked through the other housekeepers and guards, sighing as he rolled his huge, broad and muscular shoulders. “Are you sure of this, my queen?” he asked under his breath. “If you believe someone is after you, are you sure you want to make it easier for them to sneak amongst us?”

“Yes, I am. I do love these games.” his queen’s voice came in response, like a gust of wind in his ear.

Thoughts

Games. This week is about games that we play and none out-play the queen of Rueven. Just because someone is never seen or never heard doesn’t mean that they aren’t present. This week is about uncovering who the assassins are, if there are some, and working out what they are really after. After all, if the whole kingdom believe the king to be mad and queen-less then why would someone want to risk killing something that isn’t real.

This is just the beginning of a week. I may also have another surprise this week to come later this week so keep an eye out for perhaps a double-event weekend. So don’t forget to come back each day this week for the King of Rueven’s party and for this weekend. I hope you enjoy what’s in store for this week and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Pocket of NPCs – Tactile assistance concept

March 19, 2023March 19, 2023thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Welcome to a end of week wrap-up and tonight I drafted something up which is the Pocket of NPCs. This is a tactile DM/GM assistance concept that looks to fix a problem I have and I believe many DMs, new and old, would also have. So as a concept art I will see if I can get kick this off into something more as its just a template for now (its perhaps a bit dark) so we will see how I can refine it.

Pocket of NPCs – What is it?

Simply put its a Large format card (Tarot card for those who want to compare the size – think deck of many things…) that has a image, name, brief background, roleplay advice bond and flaw for any one NPC. The problem we have as DMs face on a session by session basis is that we can not predict or control what the players will do. Nor should we. But this leads to situations where they end up on a street, building or place where we didn’t plan for them to be and what’s worse, talking to someone we haven’t made up yet.

Enter the Pocket of NPCs. Slyly draw one card, rolling for sleight of hand and deception. Describe the face you see in more depth (redraw if you need a different gender or race) and then note down the how to roleplay this NPC part. The background, bond and flaw will come into it more as the conversation continues but a brief few lines of text can save you on the spot.

The party can then choose to invest more energy into this NPC interaction and you can expand from the introductory part in front.

Format of the Pocket of NPC cards

The first thing you will see is a colour image of the person you are describing. Then the name, background and more info is provided. The idea is short, sharp notes a brief history to bring up if the situation warrants and what they would be suited for.

The back is just a snappy logo, neat right!?

Where to next?

Pending if this would be seen as useful this can be expanded to have additional information on the card itself. Accents (if people want to have a go at that), nervous ticks, trinkets they have, notable characteristics or mannerisms and so on.

The next step of this is using the random NPCs to help facilitate one-shots. However, they would need to probably have a class, Villain, bystander, antagonist, quest giver or something like this. This may be something that’s identifiable oh the back of the card for quick reference and to save re-draws or hunting through the deck for a specific NPC. (But there is nothing wrong with that!)

This also opens up other tactile assistance concepts like cards for plot hooks, secondary hooks, location, item/macguffins etc. which means we could randomly generate a oneshot from cards alone. This is something I may look into.

Closing thoughts

Now… The ease of repetition for this is simple. Artbreeder and nightcafe.studio produce creator owned images that you can download, in decent resolution. In fact after doing this for years I have a library worth of portraits for. The best thing is that to create a new NPC it doesn’t take much time either, and it can be quite fun. However, it’s is still a lot of work to make sure that there is versatility. And the above mentioned software/UIs don’t handle non-human races that well. I have tried (the aarakocra still haunt me).

A bit of a fun one tonight. If you are looking at some one-shots check out the growing library I have of Zines – or have a look through the archives.

This week we will be looking at another Oneshot adventure so don’t forget to come back each day this approaching week. I hope you enjoy what I have in store for you this week. And finally, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Cult of the Forgotten

March 18, 2023March 18, 2023thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Tonight and I have created another zine for this weeks adventure, the Cult of the Forgotten. 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 Cult of the Forgotten. If you like this format please let me know and I hope you enjoy.

Cult of the Forgotten

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The warm sun and coastal breezes from the bay refreshed the party as they gazed at the city. The city of Shirkwall was a conundrum. Known as a city of progress and for its great universities and colleges it was contrasted by the ties to the old. Ancient ruins decorated the edges of the city and people of many religions swarmed around the multiple temples. While amongst the religious crowd and the peddlers that celebrated the city’s rich history lay people preaching discovery of truth and facts.

Science and the study of the world was cementing its influence in the city of progress. However while these studious folks preached their ideals another power was growing. New religious groups had begun to pop up and none more prolific than the Cult of the Lizard. Although peaceful they were seen as a fanatical religion that proclaimed the end of days was fast approaching.

The city of Shirkwall is a mystery that awaits the discovery of an age.

Shirkwall Market

The city of Shirkwall has just about everything that one could imagine. Colleges of lore and study, markets filled with exotic and common wares and items. Many temples dedicated to deities and gods to not discriminate against those with faith as well as many houses for both commoners and upper class families.

However as the city expanded more of its history, the ruins of a lost civilization got gobbled up and more of the relics, statues and items found amongst the ruins ended up on market street. With the city expanding from a compact core, centralised by an immense obelisk, the different parts and cultures of the city mesh and mix amongst themselves to create a sort of organised chaos. Overwhelming to those not used to civilization or even the city itself.

Taverns of Shirkwall

The greasy hog – from my Tavern collection created in nightcafe.studio

A collection of tavern images…

The Risen Behemoth

PDF adventure – Cult of the Forgotten

Cult-of-the-forgotten Download

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.

Influence enough for all

March 14, 2023March 18, 2023thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Welcome to another NPC night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop and tonight we are potentially touching on something thats a problem in the real world as well. Tonight we look at if we have Influence enough for all and what that means for the little town of Shirkwall. So without giving away anything for tonight I will have to stop here. In fact let’s grab a coffee, sit down, get ready to roll into tonight’s adventure!

Influence enough for all

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Now despite the cult of the lizard taking up residence at the base of lathanders steps this doesn’t mean that they are welcome. There are some people who want to see it removed from the progressive city of Shirkwall. However the people of this fine city know that its not logic, reason, magic or even science that holds power, it’s influence. It’s no surprise that many of the upper-class citizens of Shirkwall have connections in high places, or themselves are one. It also shouldn’t be a surprise that many religions, or in this case a cult, have very influential people within their ranks.

Tonight we meet three people. One cultist, one neutral party and someone vehemently against the cult of the lizards propaganda. Who’s who will be for another night soon.

Lady Jessica Vorr

Jessica was born into nobility, well pseudo nobility. Her mother and father had both been explorers of the older parts of the city and had uncovered some of the secrets of the society that lived here before. Her father had proven that they had been murderers obsessed with human sacrifice and driven mad with bloodlust. This had fuelled his argument and proposal to build over, rip down and replace the old forsaken ruins with new, modern buildings in the name of progress. While her father built a case to rip down the old, her mother had uncovered evidence of strange creatures that had lived with these forgotten people in harmony. A society that lived amongst giant beasts and acted as their servants and pets, not the other way around. She promoted the collection, study and cultivation of history of the city.

The two different viewpoints had put a strain on their relationship and this causes a bit of a disjointed upbringing for Jessica. However after some time they settled back down and doted on their daughter who had merged with high society perfectly and was the focus of a lot of attention. A beacon of influence for those who looked at the potential of science, study and cultural debate.

Ritley Tane

Now some say that Ritley is a bit of an extremist. At the age of twenty he had managed to become the sole provider of sacred artefacts from the culture lost to time. He proclaimed that the relics that he had obtained from the ruins of the city had granted him blessings. In fact longer life, better eyesight, a stronger drive for, well what most men hope for was just the tip of the list. Business was booming and any time another shop started to sell similar relics or talismans they were quickly absorbed into his growing empire.

Now this makes him a cunning businessman but when the city started to remove the past, destroy or build over the ruins. Well this was bad for business. He became a frequent debater on the importance of the past, that progression at the cost of the loss of history was for the benefit of the rich, not the poor. As his debates grew so did his influence with the common folk of the town. In fact this is attributed to the growth of the public debates and spreading of proper gander from several temple steps. As common folk, and those who didn’t have a means to influence the masses, gained confidence so did business grow for Ritley. Everyone wanted charms, relics and totems that bolstered ones confidence and believability. Almost everyone that is.

Elise – Captain of the Guard

From a young age Elise knew she wanted to be a guard. In the service to the city she loved and grew up in she felt at peace with her position. She earned her name by guarding the debate steps and stopping riots, assassinations and other plots to silence the right to free speech that the city had built up. After a few short years of proving her ingenuity, reflexes and her instincts she was put in charge of the district’s watch and was named captain.

However after a few years she got used to it. The job had no more surprises for her and she wanted to go where there was something to unravel, mysteries to solve. Her previous captain had moved to take on murders and robberies in the high districts and often boasted about his endeavours. However without something to cement her name in fame it would be unlikely that she would ever get to that position. She would need to either get lucky or orchestrate her own rise to fame and power.

Thoughts

Three different people tonight. Someone born into influence, someone who cunningly twisted their way into it and a third who worked hard to gain the limited influence they have, but with a hunger for more. This week each player will take part in the over all adventure in a different way. Tomorrow night we meet a few more people and look at what is really taking place in Shirkwall.

Thanks to all my regular readers, my new readers and everyone else. The amount of feedback I am receiving from these weekly adventures is truly encouraging and I have you all to thank for that. So stay tuned for more adventures this week! However, just because I know I am on the right track doesn’t make me want to be stagnant. I will constantly look to see how I can twist and shake up the formula.

I want to make Brazen Wolfe Tabletop the best it can be so be on the lookout for little changes. Don’t forget to visit each day this week to follow along with the journey and as always. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Cult of the Lizard…?

March 13, 2023March 18, 2023thebrazenwolfe1 Comment

Welcome to another start to an exciting week of adventure and this week we encounter a weird group of people who call themselves the cult of the lizard…? This week was actually inspired by my daughter that gave me a “once upon a time…” story and asked me to write about it. So this week I will bring you the story with the cult of the lizard…? So let’s sit down, grab a coffee and roll onto tonight’s adventure.

Cult of the Lizard…?

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Shirkwall temple plaza – created in nightcafe.studio

The town of Shirkwall was a town of progress. Known for its schools, colleges and people of science and learning it was the pinnacle of technology and discoveries. Situated upon the granite cliffs high above the churning bay below it was also one of the oldest cities in the land. In fact one of the reasons it was so famous was the ancient ruins that it built around and on top of – of which none were more impressive than a large, smooth, four sided obelisk.

When the party arrived there was a large gathering of people at the steps of one of the temples, this one to Lathander. Now a gathering on temple steps, especially to the morning lord wasn’t something that uncommon as to invoke curiosity but this was different. A large gathering of men and women from many races were gathered on the steps in green robes and were preaching at the gathering mass.

“Repent now for the time of false idols is over. The gods have left us, they have shunned us for we are the city of progress and discovery. Repent now for the time of the lizard is here. The great scaled one, the behemoth in the dark beckons for your sin to be swallowed whole. Long have you mocked the reptiles of this land, many even deem them nothing more than a poor-man’s food source. But fear my words children of iron. Children of steel and science. The days of blasphemy are at an end and the reign of the lizard will commence!” A tall, thin woman shouted at the growing crowd below her.

Bad for business

“Ah, get her off the steps! This Cult of the lizard..? It’s a joke.” someone heckled from the crowd. “Move on, your drying up business faster than a dwarf dries up tankards at Larry’s Tavern!” another called out, to the laughter of many in the crowd.

“Mark my words heathens. The time is right. The great lizard will consume you all for your sin!” another, this one an elf, called from the steps.

On the street corner near where the party was standing a few guards stood at the ready in case the preaching took a darker turn. “These nuts at it again. I swear we had one a few years back that spouted this nonsense now they have quite the following” one guard said, a captain by her attire.

“They don’t cause any trouble, they just say their piece, say a prayer and then leave. They don’t break our laws” the one on her right. “I guess we’re just here to make sure no one gets hurt again captain?” he asked.

“That’s right. And they aren’t the type to hurt people in any way… Their movement is a pacifist one. In fact it’s probably the most peaceful religion out there apart from the whole end of the world and death by giant lizard.” the captain spoke with a mild chuckle. “Looks like it’s about over.” she added.

Thoughts

An interesting start to the adventure this week. Obviously this is just the start and it should get the cogs turning. In fact I already know what each night of this week will entail, map and all. Hopefully my daughter will be pleased with what I make of her little paragraph story.

Inspiration comes from all sources and this week the.. sorry.. the cult of the Lizard…? is the actualisation of a paragraph. Now for those who have been around the block a few times may know there are a few creatures that may fit the bill for this week and trust me. This one will be a surprise for us all.

So don’t forget to come back each day this week. I hope you enjoy what I, we, have in store for you this week. And finally, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

In Defence of Heartsfern

March 12, 2023March 12, 2023thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Tonight and I have created another zine for this weeks adventure, In Defence of Heartsfern. 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, In Defence of Heartsfern. If you like this format please let me know and I hope you enjoy.

In Defence of Heartsfern

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Heartsfern – Created in Nightcafe.studio.

The party has heard of disturbing tales where a parade of the damned, a macabre march of performers travel the land to perform their gruesome play. The few people that report such tales report butchering of those who still live at the behest of someone who calls themselves, Arbiter Zed.

The party has also heard word that the town of Heartsfern may be at risk. As the murderous troop of performers left in that direction the party now must race against time to reach them before it’s too late.

Welcome to Heartsfern

Farmers of Heartsfern – created in Nightcafe.studio

The road to heartsfern was easy, calm even as they managed to find a wagon heading that way to a neighbouring village.

Dropped off an hour down the road from Heartsfern they proceeded on foot, crossing passed fenced off pastures they eventually saw the village in full.

A few dozen buildings, the largest being the mill or what looked to be an inn, it was rather quaint. However as they started to get closer several men from the village approached them with pitchforks, maddocks and other farming instruments.

“Who are you?” barked a man at the front, “Did Arbiter Zed send you?” he asked as the growing tenseness in the villagers could be felt.

After a few minutes of talking it was clear that the party were both not working for the man proclaimed to be Arbiter Zed or, not undead.

As they moved into town they could see many people looking at them from windows fearfully or busy hurrying around like it was the end of time itself.

“Forgive us” a warm female voice rang out, “Buck had to make sure you weren’t here to torment us. My name is Shelly and this is Heartsfern. Unfortunately we would normally welcome you a bit more warmly but we had one of the undead walk into the middle of our street and foretell the end of this village.” she continued. “It’s probably a story best told over a hot meal and some ale. I run the inn and general store if you want to follow me.” She said as she gave Buck a quick peck on the cheek.

PDF adventure – In Defence of Heartsfern

In-Defence-of-Heartsfern Download

Thanks for joining me tonight for another Zine. This week I got to enjoy a very old theme that I enjoy. However to make it flow and to make sense of the name of the big-baddie this week I have fleshed it out a bit more in the PDF. So enjoy! Next time you get a party together consider running this adventure and I hope that you enjoy it. If you do use it I hope you can let me know how it goes!

The heart of Heartsfern

March 7, 2023March 7, 2023thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Welcome to another NPC night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop and tonight we are being introduced to a few people that make up the heart of Heartsfern. While last week we focused on Cerberus Cole this week we are looking at two people that normally tend the fields and the folk of the town. The heart of Heartsfern is more the community, the people than a place and this weeks adventure is about them and their fight. So let’s grab a coffee, sit down, get comfy and roll into tonight’s adventure!

The heart of Heartsfern

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Now the beating heart of any small town isn’t a place or even a thing, it the people that call it home. The Town of Heartsfern is small and so the people within the fenced fields are close, more family than neighbours. However more than most there are a few who are staples of the town. These people, the heart of Heartsfern are tenacious, kind and resilient folk. The farmer, Trent and store owner, Shelly are two such people.

Trent Barrowrought

Trent’s earliest memories are working the farm with his pa and their trusty barrow. This soon became the norm as he moved here to live with his grandparent when he was a teenager. This was to avoid him being conscripted as his grandfather was getting older and needed help in the farm.

His grandpa lived for a few dozen more years before the reins of the old trusty farm-beast and the keys to the farm became his. Having spent most of his adult life on the farm he has helped many folk, his Pa always encouraging him to help his neighbours. This soon gave him a sense of belonging to the community and when he was suddenly, but not surprisingly found by himself in the old house the community banded around him.

He owes a lot to the people here, Shelly most of all for she was his childhood friend. In fact she was his only friend for a good number of years and despite it never growing into something more they are still very close. As he has made a name for himself for being reliable and helpful many of the town rely on him to help tend their own land. In return they share with him what he needs. But he never wants for more and believes that being in this community is enough reward.

Shelly Underbranch

Born and bred in Heartsfern her parents and their parents before them were the beating heart of Heartsfern. The small town is all she has even known except for when Trent visited. He would bring with him tales of cities, distant lands and people that she would dream about visiting. But she lost her parents quite early and with her grandparents stepping in to help run the general store she quickly fell into step.

Running the general store at the age of sixteen was difficult. But she always could rely on Trent to sort out have her back if she needed help. The two of them quickly became the centre of the town. Trent helping with the farms and Shelly helping with everything else that he couldn’t do.

This didn’t change when she met Buck, her now husband, and after a lengthy courtship they wed. Trent was both the best man of Shelly and Buck and the three of them formed a close bond.

Thoughts

Setting the scene for this weeks encounter is important. In fact a close knit community is what this weeks adventure is about. Shelly and Trent, with the unmet buck, will form the trifecta of plot hooks, twist and and the ones to drive the encounter towards the end.

So with the heart of Heartsfern exposed I want to thank you for dropping by. This last week has been the busiest that hte blog has been for some while and I owe that to you all. I can’t thank you enough.

However, the this doesn’t mean that we are stopping or slowing down. So don’t forget to visit each day this week to follow along with the journey and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe