Fantasy

Skargroth the Breaker

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Skargroth the Breaker is a red dragon, but with an exception. This red dragon is not just any one and the elves were right to fear her, and what she represents.

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

Skargroth the Breaker

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Legends say that Skargroth’s flames burned so hot that they scorched her scales to resemble smouldering coals. Other say that she is the unnatural union between a black and red dragon which explains the colour of her scales as well as how powerful her breath weapon is.

What ever the reason Skargroth fought many vicious and ferocious battles and delighted in destroying elven villages and even a city or two. Her power, cunning and ferocity was second to none and she brought many other foul creatures, and worshippers, to bear her flag of war against the elves. Then when the final clash between the forces of the scorched dragon and the final elven bastion both sides faced a devastating defeat.

Both the dragon and her hated enemy, the elves, were never seen or heard from again.

Skargroth the Breaker – Created in Tetra-cube.

Thanks for dropping by this themed red dragon stat-block. Not all reskins need to have extensive rule re-writing as sometimes a different appearance can give enough of a different vibe to change the encounter for the party. Don’t forget to come back over the weekend for additional content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Midfern Keep Vault

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Midfern Keep Vault – the place where treasure and wealth that many could only dream of has been uncovered. However it’s also a place of great danger and mystery. This week we investigate it and what lies in wait for those whose greed will get the best of them.

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

Midfern Keep Vault

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Midfern Vault Map – Created in Inkarnate

A few ruined pillars dot the room and dirt has come to hide most of the stone work that made up the base of the keep. The vault itself is a large, reinforced elven door that has become overgrown with vegetation that has crept in from the cliff face in which it was built into. Two large what appears to be golden statues guard the vault door and stare menacingly at any who approach it.

Multiple layered textures create this map, as usual, with some of the asset packs also being lightly transparent. Controlling opacity in these maps can create depth and add something a bit more of a softer appearance that I believe really lends itself to the immersion of the map. Different rocks (and the new art packs from Inkarnate – soo good!) created the rocky wall with some runes carved into it (for added magical protection) which I believe helps sell the feel of the map.

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

Midfern Vault

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The Midfern Vault, the centralised gate built into the mountain past the first few guarded, trapped, locked and magically sealed doors the final door to the vault was revealed. It was just a matter of time until it was also breached and then the real treasure could be revealed.

So let’s grab a coffee, ready ourselves and roll into tonight’s adventure!

Midfern Vault

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At last the door was revealed. A beam of sunlight from a broken part of the roof revealed the rubble, plants and growth that has set into the rune covered door. The journey to the central Vault door had been dangerous one with several traps; mundane and magical, having been built into the locking mechanism of several rooms which had seen them lose some of the less experienced would be adventurers who had heard the call to fame.

But those that remained stood ready and tested, the final hurdle in front of them

Midfern Vault – Created in Nightcafe

Marcell stood with Carben talking to the other hired help nearby, ready as always, as she read the runes from a distance. She was certain this was the door as no other door had been so heavily protected which made her giddy with excitement. This had to be it, where the elves of the Midfern keep had kept their knowledge of ancient magic and had stored it. There was no other explanation in her mind why it would be guarded as so – unless it was for gold and other wealth.

“I don’t like this.” Carben said next to her as he came back to stand closer by her side. “They are good people, mostly, and they seem to believe that the murals we found earlier in the ruins talk about this door. That the great evil that they defeated was sealed back here.” Carben said in a rushed whisper.

“Don’t be a fool. The elves only put that there to stop people from taking the secrets of their spells and their gold. From what I’ve read the ‘Great Darkness’ was a roving band of orcs that they killed out and then they took that as a sign to seal their strongest weapons, and greatest riches away. The story of the great evil is a myth, a legend that was created to stop people from doing what we are going to. Get our hands on the most powerful magic we have seen and get rich in doing so.” Marcell retorted as she stormed off toward the door. She had come this far that turning back now was simply being foolish.

Thanks for joining me tonight to continue on with the journey. I believe what comes next is pretty self-evident but we will have to wait and see what we have brewing over the next few days before we jump to any conclusions. So don’t forget to come each day this week and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Mercell and the Mercenary

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This week we have Mercell and the Mercenary that are behind the discovery of Midfern Keep as our primary NPCs. However there could be dozens more as this week is about the mingling of hundreds of people to find out the secrets of the ruins before the fame, and fortune, are all grabbed up by the others.

So let’s grab our explorers kits, double check our rope and stroll into tonight’s adventure!

Mercell and the Mercenary

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Mercell – Created in Nightcafe.

Mercell watched as people the hired help moved the last of the rubble from one of the outer buildings they had first discovered. As the people gathered across from her celebrated in clearing out another room she flicked through her notes once more. Retrieving the stick of charcoal from her sleeve she scratched out a sketch of what the remains of the building looked like now that she had a better view, and that centuries of plants had been removed.

“Marcell. We believe we have found it.” Carben, her original mercenary gruffly said from near her. She looked to where he had come from and confirmed it was as she had suspected.

Carben – Created in Nightcafe.

“So you’ve found it. Is the path…” she began

“Sealed, as you suspected Marcell.” Carben added for her.

Marcell nodded and thought as to what the next steps would be. She had worked with Carben for years now and the old mercenary had always proven to be annoyingly correct with his intuition. “We will need more people present if its as you suspect, the seal holds most of the lost treasure and the lore that you seek. But if that seal also binds the creature.” he paused eying his employer wearily.

“Yes. Yes, of course you’re right. Send word to the nearest three villages and cities to announce that Midfern keep has been found. We will get the man power behind us to open the door and, with any luck we will have enough strength to fight back the darkness for long enough so we can get what we came here for.”

That’s all for tonight! A bit of a shorter one for tonight but there is more coming up this week. So don’t forget to come back each night as we continue to grow this adventure and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Midfern Keep

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The trek to promised journey was a long and tiring but the message that came created a sense of urgency that had not been felt in quite some time. Midfern keep had been found again, the lost ancient keep that was sealed away to prevent a great evil from surfacing.

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

When the first of the elven forts fell to a dark power Midfern keep became the last bastion of defence against the rising dark power. But the conclusion of the elf’s ritual saw the bastion fall from knowledge, buried like the evil it dragged kicking and screaming into silence.

The fort has been found once more and scholars, adventurers and merchants all rush towards the building as the promise of treasure sways all. But their green will cause the downfall as the deeper they push the more they discover and unwillingly unravel. Now caught between a rock and a hard place the party must make a choice, stand against the darkness and try to reseal what was awoken. Or, flee and pray that the darkness doesn’t try and snuff out the light once more.

Midfern Keen

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Midfern Keep – created in Nightcafe.

“Midfern keep has been found,” the messenger at the tavern called out as she stood in the door. There was nearly no one who did not remember the stories of Midfern keep or the treasures that had been abandoned in the forts halls when it fell into silence. “We are seeking aid, scholars, warriors, scouts, everyone. We have secured the outer buildings but only the inner rooms of the fort remain yet to be breached.” the young girl read from a scroll now.

“Fame and fortune to all who come and aid the Scholars of Thombridge as they start to open the keep up by the night of the full moon,” she paused and looked up. “It’s two days away from here so I will take whoever wants to answer to the call to fame and legend.” She finished her speech and hurried to the bar to get a hot meal and drink.

“They say that the elves sealed their treasure in the fort,” one of the patrons said from nearby, whispering to his companions. “A treasure horde fit for a king!” he excitedly proclaimed before being shushed by the others on his table.

“The elves sealed a darkness in that keep. I heard that anyone who enters the fort is cursed and dies within a week. That’s why no one has ever reportedly found it before.” another said near the messenger, who looked up shocked and ate with a look of worry and concern on her face. “I wouldn’t go… But, if it was to give my kids a better life and get the name Pemberbrok in legends then I might as well sign up” the woman said as she sculled from a tankard.

The next morning found the party standing out front of the inn with horses ready, but they were not alone. Dozens of other adventurers, explorers, scholars and even commoners stood near them with possessions packed and ready to go. A man stood nearby counting coins as several people had bought a wagon and draft horses from him for a sum that would be several years worth of wages for most people.

The messenger appeared in riding gear, clad in light leathers and as she looked across those gathered she nodded and moved to retrieve her horse from the Inns stable hand. “Well this looks like a mighty crew. We rest at dusk, rise at dawn and will be there by tomorrow night if we are lucky.”

Thanks for joining me tonight for the start of yet another adventure, one that I hope offers something different to what I have done over the last three years. Each day this week I will continue to add more content to build this adventure up over several days. So don’t forget to come back each day to stay up to date with it and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

A Royal Request

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This week I continued with the creating a shortened Zine, something that fits on a single A4 sheet of paper with just enough information to set the scene, plot and hook with some NPCs sprinkled through that it could be used in any system.

I think it worked out well so without any further waiting I present, A Royal Request, in the short format, as a fun one-shot to assist GMs when they need a night out of the books whether you run pathfinder, Open Legends RPG, D&D or any other RPG System.

There is references to the blog nights which are D&D centric (regarding Friday night’s Stat-blocks) but this adventure can be used system agnostic more so than my regular Zines. As always Kobold fight club can be used to quickly balance an encounter for Dungeons and Dragons and Tetra-cube provides the stat-blocks for many of my D&D creatures.

So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, A Royal Request, and that your rolls are made with advantage.

A Royal Request

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The Generals Camp – Created in Nightcafe.

The party watches as the royals walk through the crowd of people as part of their birthday celebrations. The royal twins hand out a GP to each person they meet on the street until screams draw them away from their festivities. The shadow of a large creature crosses over the street as a set of dark green wings flash above them. A large wyvern with plates of armour lands on the side of a few buildings, the claws on its wings hooking onto the roof as its large clawed legs bite into the wooden wall. The wyvern whips its head around and snarls towards the royal twins and their processions, snapping at someone as they attempt to run away from the creature, gobbling them up whole as guard rush to get between the creature and the royals.

PDF adventure – A Royal Request

A Royal RequestDownload

Thanks for joining me today for another Zine this year. This is a condensed version of the Zine, but I hope the format works and is good to look at! Please feel free to leave comments if this format is appealing – so make sure to grab a copy of the PDF.

Next time you get a party together consider running this adventure and I hope that you enjoy it.
I hope you don’t miss a thing so come back daily in the coming week and year. This is so you can experience the creation of the next adventure as it evolves and shapes out. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Some paths are best left forgotten

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Any sensible person would turn back once they realised that the pools under Sylphare Quarry connected to a deeper river system when they realised that some paths are best left forgotten. Others are more foolhardy and mistake the glint of something in the darkness as evidence of treasure. That’s when the first of the thousands of teeth bite into them.

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

Some paths are best left forgotten

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Ancient Piranha – Created in Nightcafe.

The quipper, or Piranha by our standards, is a voracious eater and in a swarm they are known to be deadly. But when you are deep under ground in a pool with only the faint corrupted light from above to lead the way these fish become even more deadly.

Swarm of Quippers – Created in Tetra-cube.

They don’t have to explore the underwater passageways to encounter these little fish this week as they are attracted to the frantic thrashing that one could expect if you fall into deep water. While the stat block tonight doesn’t reveal these creatures to be undead it would make sense that they would be considering the other entity in the room.

Not needing to breathe makes these swarming fish even more dangerous as they could, feasibly, have a decent threat range near the edge of the pool by jumping out and flapping about. I would imagine they would have a hard time biting any creature while doing so but a momentary distraction is sometimes all you need in order to take a standard fight up to the next level.

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

The Deep Chill

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Deep underground where desecrated places of power mingle with cold, dark and damp environments sometimes it can give un-life to the creature known as the deep chill. These creatures are evil, huge and voracious in their search for life and, generally, tied to a single place. But their dominance over their own magical domain is nearly definite and they utilise the corrupted environment to bring in new energy for them to feast on.

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

The Deep Chill

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A dark and cold core that is nearly impossible to detect with far reaching claws made of shadow. The Deep Chill, an undead similar in the ways of ghosts, spectres and shades is something that few people know of and typically miners, adventurers and those who dwell in the deep places of the world will uncover. Born from a desecrated place of power these creatures seldom stray from it as they harness its latent magical energy to attract life.

The Deep chill then sucks the life out of these creatures in their insatiable appetite for warmth. But they rarely stop at one or two as their existence is cursed. The more life they drain the stronger the unholy core and the deeper the chill they experience. As the more they consume the larger they become and the greater the overwhelming sense of cold they experience.

Their life is a tortured one and only through complete destruction of their near-impervious shadowy body or the purification of the magic that created them will they ever be free.

Deep Chill – Created in Tetra-cube.

Thanks for dropping by this imagining of a standard D&D creature at scale and buffed up. Don’t forget to come back over the weekend for additional content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Sylphare Quarry Cavern

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Tonight’s map is of the Sylphare Quarry Cavern – the potential source of issues under the quarry that was unearthed. Not quite as pretty as a few of my other cavern maps but this ne has a few interesting things including where I have sunken in the little bonds of ice-cold water.

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

Sylphare Quarry Cavern

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Sylphare Quarry Cavern – Created in Inkarnate

Several deep ponds are within this cavern which only adds to the chill factor. At points they get very deep and a tunnel, big enough for a medium or smaller sized creature to swim and squeeze through can be found underneath. However this is not for the faint hearted.

A pile of ancient bones can be seen near a throne that radiates cold and power towards the centre of the cavern. The walls are rough and rocky with no visible way out of the cavern and beyond from here. However the under-water passages do lead deeper into the cavern system for those who can really, really hold their breath.

Multiple layered textures and the dig tool used this week to great a visible depth for the ponds. Using the craggy-rock asset method created a smoother transition to the water which worked mostly well. Otherwise the stone-skulls in the wall leading to this cavern had some over-texture brushed onto them to remove some of the asset that I wanted to hide – but it wasn’t the cleanest work but it gets the effect across.

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

Beneath the Cut Stone

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This week we progress into the party exploring into the caverns below Sylphare quarry and uncovering something beneath the cut stone. But this isn’t something naturally occurring, someone or something created this place and not it appears to be causing quarrymen to disappear.

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

Beneath the Cut Stone

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As the party followed the worn trail deeper into the caverns below the quarry they followed the path of disturbed dust. Eventually the passage began to get colder and the walls of the passage began to look as if a thin layer of disturbed rime had set in.

However the cavern wall gave way to the first of dozens of hunched shapes. Coming out of the wall was the humanoid sized statue of a skeletal man. hunched over he was shorter and the facial structure was more pronounced in stone than it would have been in life. An expression of pain mixed with joy gripped its face as it looked further into the cavern.

Beneath the Cut Stone – Created in Nightcafe

Dozens more quickly followed with their expressions changing as quickly as the layer of frost and cold under the parties feet. The skeletal-like appearance blended in with the stone to make these statues look closer to life like than one would dare think. Each of them stared outwardly down the hallway as a light, a cold glow radiated down the passage and tinged the sides of the figures in a blue hue.

Each figure looked expertly carved and the disturbed rime and dust led the a party past each of the faces as they moved deeper into what appeared to be a more worn and methodically chiselled part of the cavern.

Thanks for joining me tonight to get a glimpse of the future. Tomorrow we will reveal what is beyond the stone-like stare of the potentially-not-statues and Friday will complete the picture. But don’t forget to come back for the remaining days this week and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe