Fantasy

A Legacy of Hunger

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Tonight we begin our 11 month long campaign with the party entering the seaside town of Daye. This month we investigated a legacy of hunger and the darkness that trade can bring into a family.

As with usual Pages 1, 2 and 3 are content pages, the description, flow, random tables, etc. and such that you’ve previously seen.
Page 4 contains all NPCs and portraits to help the DM describe them and a bit about them to help play them out.
Page 5 will be stat blocks and map(s) – all that D&D encounter goodness that you want.

Now I will assume you have read the entire post which has had some bits modified over the months content. Now including the original content, and some bits added this is a smaller than normal length, only just making 8052! words long. I really do appreciate the time you take to read through these end of month adventures.

All Maps were made in Inkarnate using their Pro license, Art was created in Artbreeder and the statblocks were created in Tetra-cube AND the balancing of encounters is a mixture of experience and the guides found at Kobold Fight Club.

Don’t forget to come back next week and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Part 1 – Crimson flags on a pale shore. 201MoCrFl

As the rising sun touches the sails over the docks a shimmering sea of red greets those who rise with the sun. Long masts on beautiful ships sail into port with strange and terrifying creatures carved into the richly coloured wood.

The people seemed to flow across the decks as they tended to great rippling red sails, silken rope and barrels of good. Yet only the captain of a ship had their face not covered by a white mask. As they dock great planks were lowered to the piers below and crates, barrels and cages were taken off the shift and lowered to the docks as the masked sailors moved surefooted across the wooden planks to take their cargo into warehouses and storage.

As the people move across the streets their presence, odd mannerisms and appearance start to cause a commotion across the port town of Daye and soon enough word travels of the animals, items, goods and strange foods that the new ship has brought in. The people are welcoming of the excitement and the traders are accommodating despite never removing their masks or gloves.

After a few days reports of strange occurrences of things being moved in houses and shops as well as shadows drifting over roofs and walls. As more of these sightings occurred the people started look for something or someone to blame and curfews were places upon the masked traders to both protect them and rarely their movements through the night.

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Kyoko sighed as she looked across the table as the two men from the Daye city watch left her cabin through the ornamentally carved door. She had anticipated some resistance at first but being openly welcomed then having the proverbial doors slammed in her face was not expected.

“what do we do captain?” Hurane asked, his masked face distorting his normally smooth voice. “We came here to trade and establish new trade routes for the betterment of our people. If we can’t do that then we must find somewhere else.” He said with genuine concern.

Pressing her index fingers to her temples she pondered her next action. The city guard had come just after noon and placed restrictions and curfews on her people leaving the ships within an hour of dusk and dawn which is when many people are out and about on the streets wanting to experience new sights and delights. The curfew would not just make it hard to do business it would nearly make them staying here impossible. Looking over the papers that were left here, reports of sightings of figures in the night and items being moved or disappeared it sounded like the guards were accusing one of her people of being the culprit.

“find out what you can from our troupe. If we are responsible we will deal with it and clear our name. If we can’t handle this we will be left with no choice but to leave and I don’t think we can afford another endeavour like this again” Kyoko said looking through the papers again. Hurane saluted to her and went to leave the cabin to begin his questioning. “And Hurane, if no one talks, let’s get the Lotus involved, we can’t fail here.”

As Hurane left Kyoko sat back on her chair and had a look over the occurrences. It wasn’t just reports of a thief, it looked to be searching for something specific based on the reports. Maybe it wasn’t a person but a thing. She looked at the book her father had left her that contained stories of warriors from this continent that visited her home land years ago. Warriors that defied the Oni and fought against the spirits in the swamp to free entire villages. Perhaps she could find such warriors in their home land, maybe a party of adventurers is what she needs.

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Dark tendrils of mist crawled down the wall as the lantern light left the room and ascended the stairs of the two story house. As the tendrils touched the floor it rose to take the shape of a hunched humanoid. Glowing pits for eyes snapped up on a neck that twitched and  shook erratically as it watched the last of the light disappear up stairs.

Skitter-slinking across the floor it moved through the room picking up items, raising them to its face where it inhales their smell in deeply before putting them back not quite in the same space. The mist that clung to its form obscured its face and most of its details but it seemed unhindered by the dark cloak that clung to it.

As it picked up a trinket from a mantle place it inhaled deeply causing wafts of blue light to float from it. The creatures body shook uncontrollably in what could only be described as ecstasy  as the blue energy touched its face. Cupping the anchor medallion in both hands it inhaled deeply and grain by grain the talisman disintegrated in a trail of blue light and disappeared into the mouth of the creature.

“what in bloomin heck!” A loud voice said as the click of flint and tinder sounded from the stairs. As the spark of flame moved towards the lantern the creature whirled around and spotted the interloper. Jumping to the wall of the house it skittered up the wall at freakish speed. The sound of a man shrieking, a dropping lantern and shattering glass was the only sound as the creature climbed into the shadows of the the room. Slowly as it stared down at the man with its glowing pits for eyes it could smell the fear from the human as it stared at its eyes. Slowly its body turned to the same dark mist that surrounded its body and it drifted through the wall, two faint embers of its eyes the last thing to disappear.

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Kyoko watched as the hawk soared above the boat and and head out towards the city, she wondered what it would be like to be born with the gift of flight. Sighing she turned away and strolled down the plank to go check on the stalls where her peoples wares were being sold, regrettably a lot slower now that they had restrictions put upon them, she only could hope that the creature, or person that was the source of their restrictions.

Hurane walked up to her, clasping his forearms behind his back as he looked over ships and the people discussing price on food, craft and other items. “The morning Lotus has bloomed. If one of ours is responsible they will find out” he said leaning closer to her to ensure that the message was hard to intercept. The masks her people wore helped to also protect the words Hurane spoke to her. But also protect their identities, the people of this city were not ready yet to see who they were behind the masks.

“I noticed. Let us hope they can find what is causing the distress of the good people of Daye and we can begin to rebuild the relationship needed to establish this trade route. “Have you any leads yet?” Kyoko asked as she looked towards the masked man she had grown up with.

“Sadly no Kyoko, we don’t have a lead. Every trader, sailor and officer has been questioned and they all swear their loyalty and deny any involvement in the disturbance. Apologies Kyoko” Hurane spoke with a tinge of regret in his voice.

“Well let’s hope the lotus blooms and we find what’s causing our grief”

The wind filled the wings of the bird as it flew high in the sky its keen eyesight gazing down upon the blue waters, the red railed ships and the thatch covered houses that covered the ground like a maze. The houses were built as needed without much foresight into where the next would be built. This evidently caused the alleys and pathways between houses to be erratic and suddenly end, a maze of mudbrick walls and thatch covered roofs. Very different from where she is from.

Noticing something different from the sea of thatch, mudbrick and rough stone street she flew down in broad circles looking around her as he descended for any signs of danger. Seeing no danger she landed on the roof and picked up the object that was shining on the roof and held it in one claw so she could look at it closer. It appeared to be a medallion or talisman made from metal, or so what was left of it gave that appearance. Noticing the faint taint of magic from it and the way that it was damaged concerned her, in her experience magic items were very difficult to break and finding one damaged as such concerned her. Deciding that it was worth notifying Kyoko she flew off with the hook shaped metal trinket.

Environment and running the adventure

As the party enter the city they are greeted by the salty and fishy smelling docks that flank the single road into the town. The houses are made from sandstone and wooden roofs with thatching to weatherproof them or mud brick and a rough patchwork of straw for their thatching. The roads are erratically built and designed with no uniform height, width or length between one house, the next and ab dead end at the ends of the street. Only by following the crowd so they make it to where the street vendors and trade ships sell their wares.

The party would notice that a large number of elegantly dressed people wearing masks walk the streets and man stalls in front of large red sailed ships that are moored at the docks. Some city guard appear to be arguing with one such man who complies with their demands until they got to remove his mask. The man pleads loudly and sobs for the guard to not do so.

If the party step forward the guard would question their motives aggressively but a friendly unmasked woman quickly approaches and helps the masked person back to their feet and stall. She introduces herself as Kyoko Harimasu, the captain of the red fleet and she thanks then for stepping in explaining that her people wear masks based oaths they took before they survived in this land. She mentions the hungry gull is likely the best and most affordable tavern-come-inn around.

If the party doesn’t help the masked man Kyoko will intervene and then loudly introduce herself to passer-by

That night regardless of where the party stay they may (DC12 perception check or passive perception) to notice some one watching them closely from outside. If they investigate they find someone quickly disappearing into the roof and darting up into the roof. If they choose to chase then use the chase rules from Fridays encounter.

Encounter – The Chase

I want to entertain the feature of the dungeon master guide again, the chase.

When the chase begins you establish a few things. The distance between the pursued (quarry) and the pursuers, the position of them and the lead pursuer and any immediate hazards or obstacles

The lead pursuer is who ever is closest and may change per round depending on who is closest.

The position will be important for this adventure as we will have vertical distance as well as horizontal distance which affects sight amongst other things.

The actual encounter is simply the discovery of a suspicious person on a roof, a chase and then either questioning them or trying to work out who they were based on some queues given during the chase.

If the chase continues on the rooftops then a dexterity check(dc10) would need to be made per movement action taken, dash or otherwise, if failed then the roof collapses and the creature has their leg stuck (prone) until they can pull themselves free (dc10 strengths check).

Guards will be alerted if the party or their quarry is loud. They may try and intercept the party on the roof of they are discovered. On the roads the party will be encountered with intersections where every round roll a dice.

On a 1 there is an intersection where the path to the left is a dead end after 15 ft and the right continues 15ft to the right then turns forward again (left turn to head in the same direction of their quarry) 2-3 the path continues forward with no blockage and on a 4 the path to the right is blocked after 15ft but the left path is unblocks and after 15 ft the path turns right to follow the quarry.

On the road they may find drunken citizens, thugs/thieves, startled citizens who shriek for the guard when they see the party or a group of guards who try and stop the party.

The idea here is the classic Street chase to find information on a lead to the creature and the missing items.

After the encounter:

If /Or when captured the person is revealed to be a robed boy with a mask identical to the Red Fleet merchants. When questioned he will take them to Kyoko who will explain that the boy was one of her people who wanted to confirm that the adventures weren’t the cause of the mysterious sightings of ghostly figures in the town. She explains the situation with the town, how to the guards and their towns people have started to distrust the masked people and who they are. She explains that she believes it’s a creature to that seeks trinkets or things of little magical power and takes them. Kyoko and the party to help locate the culprit and stop further attacks and robberies, she would offer them something of their choosing from the traders private stash, gold or a trip with them when the party and the fleet is ready back to her home continent.

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A hunger that lasts

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Welcome to the end of the week write-up. Admittedly last nights post on preparation was me telling myself that I’d recover and feel better today to do a full day of writing but alas that didn’t come to pass.

But todays woes is just more work tomorrow but I wanted to leave a bit of something here to tie us adventure enthusiasts over for a bit longer. So let’s have a look at a monthly roundup.

Eternal Hunger

The quiet port town of Daye located about 60 miles southeast of Athkatla are greeted by a sight that stills the hearts of many. dozens of magnificent ships carried across the water by large sails the colour of the red dragons from the bards songs. As large boarding planks are lowered to the docks the town guard are greeted by many humans wearing red robes and white masks that hide all facial features. Soon a captain of the fleet emerges, Kyoko Harimasu, a mask-less fair human who Greets the town guard and the officials with genuine respect in a deep bow. Kyoko introduces her fleet as merchants from beyond the Moonshae Isles who wish to establish a trading post in Amn and Daye is their first stop.

After a few days people are charmed by the friendly merchants and sailors and amazed at the wares that they have brought, magic. Talismans, amulets, fetishes and all types of good luck charms that people start to swear have helped them in their lives.
The popularity of the magic talismans however brought about reports or strange figures on streets and rooftops of the thatch houses. One night a sailor came down stairs expecting a stray kat to have entered an open window to find a disembodied figure floating mid air clutching at an item he bought from one such stall. The creature spooked and floated off through the wall leaving the man’s good luck charm dissolved as if dipped in acid.

This is where the party arrives, just as things are heating up and as curfews and trading restrictions are placed upon the kind and well mannered people from across the waves.

This is an adventure tailored as an introduction to a year-long campaign which aims to expose the party to d&d content inspired by the Oriental Adventures (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement) from 2001.

The adventure will be broken up into three parts, Introduction, Exploration and investigation and then the final confrontation

I will add parts 1, 2 and 3 when I write them tonight and tomorrow but hope this will sate your reading hunger for now!

The Brazen Wolfe

A small change in plans

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Welcome to fight night where, not really having much more this week than a mild side quest for the party to go and retrieve something for the priestess (a possible replacement in the form of a budding priestess of Chauntea who is believed to be more powerful) this week is a bit light on in content.

But what this week does bring is the ability to look at something that I believe everyone should experience in their d&d adventures, travel and ‘roadside encounters’. These can take place in a few ways, not all of them are bad, some can be quite good… Some that is. So lets have a look at a handful of potential roadside encounters that could be used on the road to the encampment in the merchant state of Amn.

Roadside Riddles, Ruckus and Roast

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The party travel of half a day before the smell of roasting meat greets them from amongst a small copse of trees which has a faint tune rustling from within the trunks and branches. Approaching they find a small halfling with six bags placed in neat circle around a large spit which boasts the largest assortment of roasting meat that the party has seen in quite some time. Upon seeing the party the halfling smiles and begins to change his song to talk about how a lone halfling traveller ran into a party of travellers and invited them to come eat with him around his fire.

DC15 nature or survival check would reveal that something was odd about the cuts of meat – these appear to be too small for large game native to this area and too large for the game that would be there. Characters with high perception (passive or DC14) would notice that the bags strewn around the firepit all look to be well travelled and sized for creatures other than the halfling.
If questioned he replies that he is waiting for his travelling companions to return from a nearby town with supplies before they head off again and that the roast was a feast of good luck and bounty before they head off. An insight check (DC12) would reveal he is lying. Beating by 5 points or more the character would notice a hungry look in the halflings eyes as he looks at the party and become concerned for their wellbeing.

The halfling is actually cannibalistic and lures travellers to his grove where he poisons them with the roast meat (DC12 constitution saving throw or fall unconscious) where upon he leaps upon the unconscious people and starts to stab at them. The halfling has the stats of the spy from the monster manual.

The party have travelled for a number of days down the road after a dense and heavy fog suddenly appeared and it wasn’t the first time that the party had realised they were lost. After backtracking, trying a new direction and other methods when they become frustrated a merry chuckle can be heard from near by. A few moments pass before a small floating humanoid appears who reveals with a joyous squeak of a voice that its name is Barnelby and he has trapped the party in a fog for its own amusement. Threats and attempts at violence only cause the fey-creature to laugh more at the parties growing frustration before he offers them a deal. He will set them free if they can answer a riddle or three! answer two out of three riddles correctly means that they are free!

The riddles here should not be too difficult. The idea here is for a fun encounter rather than something that actually harms the players. I believe the middle riddle should be hardest to set the mood for the party. Best out of three it is so one wrong one and the party is fine. IF the party do lose then the fey creature returns again the following day with the same deal. If the party asks the creature a riddle it is over joyed with delight and will attempt its hardest to answer and if it gets one wrong it will laugh until it falls to the ground. If the answer 2 our of three riddles correctly or they ask a riddle it doesn’t understand then before the party realise that the mist has disappeared and they find themselves in front of their destination with nearly no time lost in the mists. The party will occasionally hear the laugher of the fey creature when the surrounding area is super quiet but it does not appear again.
Example Riddles:

“What lives in the forest but has no skin, no feathers nor brain but many limbs” – A tree/branch.

“I build castles, yet tear down mountains, make some men blind, and other see. What am I?” – Sand.

And in a sing-song voice “I am green as emeralds when placed below the sky. I do not breath any air but I never ask why. If you try and shelter me, I simply shrink and die. The answer to this riddle is simply who am I?” – A plant.

The party have set up camp in a camping grounds not too far from their destination amongst a slew of other caravans, wagons and tents that have a ready supply of guards and mercenaries mingling with music, food and dancing aplenty. During the night and merriment a dwarf storms over from a nearby wagon and sits down angrily next to the party. A moment later two other dwarves come up and an argument breaks out. The first dwarf swears he will never join their band again and that he now swears allegiance to the party!

The party soon realise that the dwarf, Rubael, is extremely clingy, needy and has not felt valued with his previous group of dwarves, his actual brothers. If the party talk to the dwarves brothers Bubael and John… they find out that he is always getting into trouble, he hates authority and frequently has their goods, possessions and sometimes hard earned coin taken by city guards due to the way he acts. They just want their brother to act like a mighty Bronzebeard (their clan name) and stop giving into his angry nature when working amongst humans and the like. They are worried that without their protection that no amount of bribery of gold, goods or possessions will prevent the guards from going easy on the firecracker next time.

The party have to work out what to do – could be an opportunity to have an ally, who may cause more trouble than he is worth, but he is a strong and dependable fighter if the party can see past his jagged razor like edges.

So many things can happen on the road, these are just examples. Looking at the Faerun map every major city is hundreds of miles apart, so days of travel and to break up that slow dredge or low narrative of moving between starting and end point of the adventure with one of these light hearted (or fatal if you don’t see past the cannibalistic halflings ruse) could help make the travelling aspect of D&D more enjoyable for all.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content, I am preparing for a Warhammer game on Sunday (in person.. I know!) to help a friend and local community member prepare for a tournament so I will try and post that battle report style writeup on Sunday. Tomorrow I hope to have some more content for you but until then, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The town of Daye

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So for a long time I have spent my d&d adventures in my own homebrew world’s complete with factions and city states fighting for power and big continent shattering bad guys. Its not since Neverwinter nights (fabulous pc game) that I ever ventured forth through Faerun until Daye.

Daye

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Daye is a small town situated on the river Esmel and being a direct river into Amn it gets a lot of traffic. This is where we see the party visiting. It gets almost all of its income from the river through fishing, farming or trade with people travelling further into Amn.

Being part of Amn they are well off and frequently a port of call for tired travellers bringing wealth into the state. A lot of inns and stout but comfortable houses can be found in Daye with the inns being more well built and suitable for travelling merchants.

Amn not allowing arcane magic outside of their brotherhood means that most forms of magic or supplies for magic may be harder to find but Daye’s priesthood to Chauntea seem to have an exception to the rule.

Map found at loremaps. Found here

To the south of Athkatla and to the west of Purskul the small port town is a blip in the scheme of things having a few thousand residents including those who spend their time working the fertile soils.

Well thats all we have today. Working with the Faerun map is strange but beneficial with thr established governments, history and geography of the lands already being well cemented.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and as always don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

A welcome distraction

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Welcome to Wednesday where we look ay plot twists, secondary hooks or bumps in the road where we may place a side path along the road to the end goal for our players.

Tonight I wanted to touch on last nights post, the Priestess having a problem that she wants the party to help with. This may be a simple quest or something that will take the party away for quite some time.

Errand for a Priestess

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Priestess Lizbet sat in the corner of the inn dressed plainly with none of the formality or elegance that she commonly wore when om official duty. She sighed in relief and swirled the ale around in the tankard almost reminiscing what life was like before she came into this position.

A group of people sat down at her table dressed much like her and familiar to her in some degree. “Hello adventures, I am relieved and gladdened that you came to meet me at such unexpected notice. I have a proposition for you. I have had ‘mother’, reveal to me another priestess of Chauntea that is more powerful than the current.” She stared at the adventures, so far they had played along and were pretending that she wasn’t the priestess. “This new priestess will be a great addition to the sisterhood here in Daye but she needs persuasion and I believe that you may be able to do such.”

“I believe she is about a day and a half north, there is a small community in the hills. She wouldn’t be too far out of adolescence but I don’t know much more than that.”

“If you can help me I may have another request of you that will undoubtedly be in both of our interests and I can provide some gold for this request upon completion” she says, unable to fully disguise who she is due to the way she speaks.

The party look amongst each other but there is a glint in their eyes that she finds promising to furthering the remedy to her predicament.

The idea of this one is straight forward, a side “retrieve / fetch” quest to keep the party busy but also work towards Lizbets goal. She, despite liking the luxury and opulence of her role, dislikes being in the spotlight and the focus from the town of Daye.

She believes if she can find someone else to fulfill the role then maybe she could go back to worshipping her deity and helping the community without the celebrity status.

Thanks for joining me to look at a side quest for the party.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content and as always don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Favoured of the city

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Welcome to Tuesday where the common theme is NPC and interactions with the party.

Tonight I want to touch on something that may have happened ‘off screen’ after the night where the party assisted the priestess of Chauntea escape the Gaki.

Of the cloth

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As the sun rose and Lizbet returned to her chambers at the temple she carried a large wooden box covered in foreign silver runes that meet to form a complex pattern at the seams where box meet lid.

Placing the box down she took off the charming necklace that she had been presented with and placed it in the box as instructed. She longingly touched the beautiful object which she could sense granted her additional power to help those who were stuck or needed help. With a sigh she closed the lid and strode off to the washing chambers to try and relax after her night turned into a nightmare.

As the warm water ran down her shoulders she remembered the kind adventures that had risked their life to get her to safety. Perhaps they could help this town once more.

Pondering the other predicament she was facing, she walked back to her chambers she didn’t notice skittering of claws on stone as something watched her move across the wooden flood and through the stone archway to her chambers. Closing the door behind her she didn’t care to check when it didn’t latch properly as she was that tired. Sitting down at the end of her bed she closed her eyes and began the mental exercises to pray to Chauntea to ask for guidance and replenish her allocation of divine spells.

The aura she gave off was enticing and the creature knew that she had some power but the locked silver box intrigued it more. Perhaps it could persuade the human to trade, perhaps not as the asking price would need to be much more. Thinking on what this human could possibly want it sat down in the corner of the wall and watched as a channel of energy flower between the weave and the girl. Humans of this continent were interesting things, he may grow to like it here afterall.

Thats it for tonight, a bit of a NPC write-up a bit of a plot write-up fot a future session. Needless to say there is content there for us to explore and expand upon while I work in the background to collate the Red Fleet and Gaki Adventure.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

At a stretch

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Welcome to the last full week of January and the last Monday for Januaries content, sort of, and the plan for the last week of January is to wrap up the last of the content for the Red Fleet adventure but this week I will take a step back and collect all the little bits that were posted during the Month and collate them into a cohesive adventure and put it up here at the end of the week.

So tonight will just be some musings around the plot so I can focus on writing up the adventure elsewhere for this weekend.

Red Fleet and the Gaki

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So the Gaki was something that I wanted to explore as something ethereal but not something that was driven not by hatred of the living but by out of a desire for itself to complete a goal, however greedy and selfish it would be.

The original thought process behind this adventure was to have a creature that was largely ‘passive’ to move around the city and being drawn to something that the fleet of merchants from across the waves brought to the little town of Daye – readily available magic. Through these minor magical charms I wanted the creature to seek out more and more of them to eventually lead them to the party which serves to purposes. The first is simply to get the party involved in the story but having the creature visit them and the second is to give the party a reason to hunt the creature. Magic items tend to be something that players seek out due to the power and awe that they give the player and having a creature that feeds of such items gives players the fear that their items, the things that sometimes define their character, is reason enough that I hope the party will be wanting to hunt down this creature.

Another driver to participate in this adventure I hope is the promise of travelling to an exotic new land where the Red Fleet are from. I will introduce you all, hopefully soon, to Ryokughan where the Red Fleet is originally from (where I hope to work on several adventures to form a series of them this year) which is a place of superstition, magic, spirits both good and bad, and nightmarish creatures that prey on the people of the land.

Having the Family and key NPC (Lee) being Vanara, a monkey type race, introduces something new that appears in a lot of Asian folk lore there are a few key races that stand out above others and one of them is the Vanara. Having the Vanara as a race for this adventure could be a good selling point for people into playing this adventure out.

That will have to do for tonight. Don’t forget to come back to check on the thoughts and extra content over the next few days and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Famished

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Welcome to the end of the week where I bring you the final version of that weeks adventure. This week we look at the final confrontation between the Party and the Gaki (…unless it was slain by a silvered weapon already in which case just look at the final writeup).

So let’s look into this week’s write up.

The hungry Ren

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_Part 3: The Rens ship_

Note. If the party managed to defeat the Gaki already with a silvered weapon then see conclusion and adjust slightly.

Once the party sit down with the priestess and Kyoko after being chased by the Gaki more information is revealed and Kyoko confirms that its a spirit creature from her home land and likely has inhabited one of the merchant families. She asks Hurane and Takeo to go find the family to report back to her. She advise the party to talk to Lee Ping, their alchemist come Priest, so that they can have their weapons blessed.

They find the way to Lee Ping easily enough and find his room, on a messy Ship, cluttered with no trace of him except the bubbling cauldron. Astute characters (DC 15 perception) would notice a man walking up behind them using his hands and legs to crawl over and around the stuff that is strewn across the ground. The figure will talk to them if they walk or approach the cauldron. Lee will talk in a shamanistic way, focusing on his task of creating a batch of blessed liquid silver for blessing their ships, doors, windows and the trinkets that they sell.

After leaving the party can do what they want but they are unable to find Kyoko, Takeo or Hurane. If they check Kyoko’s cabin they find a note about the Ren family probably being the family in question.

The party may also happen to stumble upon the ship and note that it looks run down and that there is shattered mirrors on the docs next to the ship.

Once entering the ships deck they are greeted by shambling crying women, Hana and Saki. Hana breaks out of her trance and tells the party to run and that her grandfather had grown to strong and that they were in danger and they must leave the ship.

The fight that commences should be straight forward with the lair actions and the Gaki engaging in combat as per its Stat-block.

After the combat is over the party can rescues Kyoko, takeo, Hurane and the Ren family.

The Ren family will explain that they were in financial trouble back home and that they were visitied by their grandfather’s spirit who offered to help in exchange for a favour. They agreed and when they realised what was going on he had grown to powerful and had taken over the ship and Hiro.

They thank the party and offer them a favour that is within their power. Its also revealed that they are Vanara, a monkey humanoid race from across the ocean.

Thats it for this week. Make sure to come back next week for some more content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

The Family home

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Welcome to Friday and that normally means Fight Night! here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop. Tonight I have something that I hope will spice up the encounter with the Gaki just that little bit more to make it feel like a true end of adventure encounter, it is also something I haven’t used before in a campaign of adventure but I believe it will become part of my homebrew toolbox moving forwards.

Last we saw Kyoko, Takeo and Hurane being knocked unconscious and thrown down below deck on the Ren families ship – not an ideal situation to be in with a angry and desperate Gaki spirit. Tonight we will investigate that final confrontation between the party, with their blessed silvered weapons as they go to investigate a mysterious note left on Captain Kyoko’s desk stating that the Gaki spirit must be at the Ren families boat. So without any more of a re-cap lets get on with the content for tonight’s encounter setup, also known as fightnight!

The possessed ship

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In addition to the normal stat-block that the Gaki has he will be accompanied by the unconcious, yet possessed bodies of his daughter and grand daughter, Hana and Saki. As they approach the party in a shuffling, disjointed manner the party can see a dark mist flickering about them as tears streak down their face and a look of anguish and confusion as one of them, Hana – the grand daughter, breaks the possession for a moment to scream for the party to run, to escape as her grandfather had full control of the ship now and it wasn’t safe. After the warning she would go limp, falling to the floor before slowly standing back up with a the same anguish filled face as her mother as they both stumble towards them.

Both Hana and Saki follow the commoner template below.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the Gaki spirit (Grandfather Ren) takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the Gaki can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

  • Waves of water that are within 5ft of the edge of the ship crash onto the deck before draining outwards under the railing. Any creature on the deck within 5 feet of the railing (edge of the boat) must succeed on a DC 12 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 20 feet into the water overboard and knocked prone.
  • A knife, hook, oar, shard of glass, bottle or other object on the ship flies towards each member of the party. Any creature on the deck of the ship must make on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw, taking 5 (2d4) piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
  • A wave of dark mist suddenly blows across the deck of the ship centred on the cabin and extending for 30ft on deck before dissipating. Any creature caught in the wave of mist must make a DC12 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned until the start of the creatures next turn as they retch and become overwhelmed with nausea and hunger. A creature that succeeds on their saving throw has advantage on the next constitution saving throw for the same dark mist next time and a subsequent success will grant them immunity to the third time they are affected.

The Gaki will be in the Cabin at the stern of the ship, for reference perhaps check out the ship map in my Ship Life post from November. Hana and Saki are meant really as a morale dilemma for the party. Knocking them out is what is preferred – hence why I have Hana waking up to warn the party to show that 1, they are possessed and 2, they can wake up from it. Their purpose isn’t to damage or attack the party but to try and grapple (likely unsuccessfully) and disarm the silver weapons where possible. Once unconscious, or you know, dead, the party will find Grandfather Ren – Gaki spirit in the cabin wearing his Hiro body and likely holding something valuable that maybe the perceptive party member may recognise from Takeo or Kyoko. Maybe a Short blade with an elegant long handle (wakatashi) that they have seen Kyoko wearing before in almost a ceremonial manner.

This is to trigger the party into knowing that Kyoko may have been here or is somewhere near by. The Gaki would likely be enraged and continue to use lair actions whilst dashing in to attack the party members who fall, slip or otherwise are hindered by the Gaki’s possessed ship lair actions. He would be aware of any remaining silvered weapons and avoid these characters at all cost unless there was no option. Once reduced to 0 HP by a silvered weapon the dark mist would shriek outwards from Hiro and fly into a urn that was the only non desecrated item in this room upon a mantle with a kind, smiling gentleman sitting above it in a painting. When Hiro wakes up (as he will be wounded by not dead – his grandfather wouldn’t let him die now would he) he would rush past the party wanting to check on his family and Kyoko, Takeo and Hurane.

That would conclude tonight’s adventure and the encounter with the Gaki spirit. What do you all think about lair actions? They are meant to be something that really threatens the party, that puts the party in a dangerous situation and can really put the adventure in the favour of the creature that is heavily out numbered. I hope to use these a lot this year as I have some bigger plans in the work for 2022 and am excited to bring them to you all for your enjoyment and hopefully your use in your own campaigns.

Don’t forget to come back this weekend for some, dare I hope for it, Warhammer content as well as the summary and conclusion of this part of the Red Fleet campaign! And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage!
The Brazen Wolfe

Dark promises, fulfilled oaths

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Welcome to Thursday, the day set aside for those extra bits that can make your adventure just that little bit more. Today is hopefully no exception with a bit of a insight to the current situation in the city of Daye and within the Ren family.

The idea of tonight is to create a story point within the linear quest line for this adventure sequence. The reason behind it is to give the DM some insight into what’s going on in the adventure behind what has been written – you cant expect the Ren family to wait in a room for the party to come knocking, they have their own agenda which may cause the party to encounter them sooner than the adventure plans for and hopefully tonight’s post will give a bit more of a background, if but a taste, into what this family is all about.

Grandfathers gift

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Hiro Ren smiled behind his white mask and bowed deeply to the man who purchased the horse pendant that would see the mans endurance increase, or so the talisman was meant to provide that blessing to him. Placing the gold pieces in a pouch tided within his robes he looked across his sister and mother who were also selling similar talismans to other people of Daye, “good”, he thought, “we are doing well. Grandfathers suggestion to sell talismans to ward of evil spirits is paying off well. We should be able to make enough gold after a couple weeks with days like today and leave back for home. As long as there aren’t any more setbacks.” He smiled to himself behind his mask as he greeted the next person to come to his little stall and enquire about the warding talismans. Producing a small silver dragon pendant, a dragon from his home country which had a long serpentine body unlike the dragons of this continent who were lesser winged lizards the dragons back home were like deities who flew above man.

Several hours passed and the Ren family packed up their stall. Hiro sat down as his exhaustion came over him and took a few large gulps of the briny air that surrounded the place they set up their stalls. “Brother you must look after yourself better. Are you still unable to sleep well? Is Grandfather keeping you awake with his requests?” His sister, Hana, asked concerned as she wrapped up the last few items in the silk sheets that they stored them within large heavy chests.

“He is just restless at night, ever since we made the ship more suitable for him he has become less agitated and disturbs me less. But I can go these last few weeks until we have achieved grandfathers and our goal with limited sleep. It will be worth it when our family can return and save our family home from the yakuza.” Hiro smiled sadly, his father having to stay home in order to keep the family business back home occupied and working so the yakuza didn’t move in and take possession of everything they had worked so hard for many years to achieve.

“Hiro, I picked this up from the Kuronami family. It should help you sleep better and get more rest. It’s some form of potion that you pour on a thin cloth and drape over your face as you go to sleep. I have been warned that it can be quite potent so we won’t use too much at once, just enough to help you get rest.” his mother, Saki, said as she handed him the small opaque bottle with a large cork stopper.

Smiling he took the bottle and stood, grabbing the chest that held their wares as his mother and sister walked in front of him, sharing favourite moments from the days sales and being otherwise in a good mood.

As they neared their ship they could see a disturbance on deck, objects were flying around and three figures were retreating off the ship and back onto the dock. Frowning he could make out who they were and he could feel grandfather stirring, a fear, unbridled and raw sprang from deep within him. Placing the chest down he ushered his mother to mind the goods as he and his sister crept forward.

“It looks like my teacher was correct. The family would have had to let the Gaki spirit take possession willingly. This whole ship seems to have been desecrated in order to allow the spirt free reign” the smallest of the figures said, as he nimbly moved across the deck towards the other two, Hurane and Kyoko, he could see Kyoko’s face and would recognise Hurane any where.

Sneaking closer to be at the end of the plank that connected his families ship to the dock he remembered the potion his mother had given him. Quickly uncorking it he risked letting his long dexterous tail coming out to quickly grab some rags he kept in a hip pouch for wrapping sold items at the stall. Coating two of the rags with the potent smelling liquid he gestured for his sister to do the same. An understanding, and fear, crossed her face but a sudden disturbance on deck pushed her fear away, grandfather was impatient and needed these people taken care of.

As they descended the gangplank they discussed his family and his keen hearing heard the word ‘gaki’. He was no fool and the gaki was a hunger spirit from his home continent, they could not be talking about his grandfather, he was a kind and generous ancestral spirit that had come to his family in their moment of need and only asked to be able to walk amongst them during the day to grand them fortune and luck when doing business. Bracing himself for what he was about to do he rushed forward, his sister behind him. Grappling Kyoko and forcing the towel over her face she struggled for a moment before going limp. His tail quickly wrapped around the throat of Hurane and held the last of the soaked Rags to his face too and after a moment all three people; the captain, vice captain and the small nimble one of the Red Fleet, were unconscious in their arms. A calm and soothing voice spoke to him “Take them below deck, I also believe that the mirrors left in the ship will bring a bad omen to us. Destroy them, discard the remains face down on the dock for now. Quickly go my son” his grandfather urged him into action. Moving quickly and using his Vanarian strength and dexterous limbs he quickly did as his grandfather had suggested, it was through his wisdom that they had come this close to their goal.

Well that will do us for tonight, not as small as a writeup as I had intended but I hope that it provides that extra insight into the Ren family, their goals current situation and what the party will need to deal with this week.

Don’t forget, like the Gaki spirit I am hungry to hear your thoughts, feedback and any report on playing through these adventures I think of. Maybe not as hungry as a gaki as the Japanese lore on them is quite, disturbing. But regardless do let me know!

And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe