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Rivertown Environment

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Now for a change of pace I present, something different. A zine for the environments around Rivertown which is a central hub for the settlers in my Rivertown bound adventure series (part 1, part 2, part 3), Rivertown Environments. The idea is to still provide GMs and DMs more freedom to tinker with the adventure, how they want to run it to make it feel more free formed and flowing than the larger zines – although there is another one coming.

There are no references to other content other than what’s within the Zine itself and this week is Daggerheart specific. However, with all my adventures it wouldn’t be hard to tweak it to work for other Tabletop Systems.

So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, Rivertown Environments, and that all your rolls are made with hope.

Rivertown Environments

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Rivertown Environments – Created in Co-pilot

Rivertown

As you step through the heavy wooden gates of Rivertown, the dirt streets stretch ahead, worn smooth by carts and boots. The smell of fresh bread and smoked fish drifts from the nearby market square, where stalls bustle with chatter and the clink of trade. To one side, narrow lanes wind between timber houses, while further ahead the street dips toward the docks, where the creak of moored ships and the shouts of workers carry over the river breeze.

Rivertown Market

The Rivertown Market is the bustling heart of the settlement, centred on a stout timber hall run by an ageing gnome whose sharp tongue and sharper eye keep trade fair. Around it, uneven stalls offer baskets of berries, bundles of herbs, smoked fish, and rough-forged goods, their mingled scents of sweet fruit, salt, leather, and spice filling the air. The square hums with life. Merchants haggling, children darting underfoot, guards barking orders, and crates shifting with every new wagon that arrives from the docks or nearby wilds. Bright cloths hang in the sunlight, traders call out their wares, and the din of barter and banter mixes with distant gull cries, giving the market an untidy energy that feels at once rough, hopeful, and vital to Rivertown’s survival.

Rivertown Docks

The docks of Rivertown are never still. Little boats sit moored along the timbers, their hulls heavy with nets, barrels, and crates stacked neatly or haphazardly depending on the crew. The sharp scent of river water mingles with dried fish and damp rope. Dock guards stand with watchful eyes, spears in hand, their gaze sweeping over every cart and passenger that passes. Near the centre, the Dock Master, a broad-shouldered feline humanoid with striped fur like a tiger, directs workers with a booming voice and a flick of his tail, his presence enough to keep the traffic flowing. Two long piers stretch into the water, where a few patient folk fish with hand lines, content to sit among the bustle. Along the riverbank, children and the odd daring adult dart and shout in play, laughter cutting across the steady rhythm of dock labourers, who grit their teeth as the games scatter sand and splash water dangerously close to the stacked wares.

PDF adventure – Rivertown Environments

Daggerheart Environment – Rivertown EnvironmentDownload

This Daggerheart adventure was created using guidelines and information from the Daggerheart System Reference Document 1.0 which is the copyright of DRP, Darrington Press, who are the creators of the system. This content was created, modified and/or inspired from content within the SRD and is licensed under the DRP Community Gaming License which can be found here: Darrington Press CGL.

Thanks for joining me today for another adventure. Please feel free to leave comments if you like what you see when you grab a copy of the PDF. Next time you get a party together consider running this adventure and I hope that you enjoy it. Don’t forget to come back daily so you don’t miss a thing in the coming weeks adventures. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Path of Forgotten Fortua

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So having a go at getting some notes down for Daggerheart’s Campaign frames and wanting to have something that feels like something I’d actually run. It’s no secret that I use a lot of inspiration from mainstream, or obscure, pop culture but I try to create everything from scratch where possible – to really immerse myself not only in the process but in the end product.

So while I work on a larger campaign frame for some of my adventures I wanted to get something out to help guide the last three Zines, Rivertown Bound – Part 1, Rivertown Bound – Part 2 and Rivertown Bound – Part 3. So I created some notes based on some analysis, and a lot of summarisation, with the attached document as a quick template to fill in to begin setting up the campaign frame, to trigger thoughts and begin that creative journey.

Campaign Frame: The Path of Forgotten Fortua

Campaign Frame WorksheetDownload

Previously, the Fortua civilisation called these lands its own, but their fall has been lost to time and memory. What was once built with stone, steel and will has long since been swallowed by moss, root and ruin. The wild has taken back the bones of their world, twisting them into something new and feral. Now the ruins stand like broken teeth against the horizon, reminders that even greatness can be devoured.

You arrive in a fragile moment, when hope and ruin wrestle for dominance. The new settlements cling to life, precariously perched on the river’s edge or nestled in valleys that the wild eyes hungrily. Places like Rivertown promise fresh starts and better tomorrows, but they are surrounded by dangers that whisper of Fortua’s mistakes. Raiders prowl the waterways, marauders stalk the ruins, and in the depths of the Wraith Woods, the very forest seems alive with malice.

Whispers speak of the Taint, a lingering corruption that warps flesh, mind and nature itself. No one knows if it is curse, contagion or vengeance, only that it spreads and festers in the shadows of Fortua’s fallen towers. Yet even here, secrets remain. Forgotten knowledge lies in stone vaults, relics wait beneath the roots, and maps may lead to salvation—or to truths better left buried.

This is a story of discovery and survival, where civilisation pushes into a world that does not want it, and where the past gnaws at the edges of the present. Will your group protect these fragile settlements, carve their own path through the wilds, or be swallowed by the same forces that destroyed Fortua? The ruins are waiting, and they remember.

Core Concept

This is a story about discovering a new world, its dangerous populace, the fragile settlements that civilisation struggles to anchor, and the forgotten past that shows this land was not so different to where they came from.

Tone: tense and brutal, mythical and wondrous, history-deep, survival at all costs.

The World and Its Wounds

The untouched wilds are feral, overflowing with untamed magic and twisted tribes.
Cursed ruins, warped creatures, and the lingering echo of wild magic scar the land.
Yet something is worth saving here — the growing settlements like Rivertown, fragile sparks of hope in a hostile world.

The Central Tension

  • Will the new settlements survive, or fall like Fortua before them?
  • What drives peaceful people and creatures to madness, rage, and corruption?
  • Can civilisation persist here, or is the land itself cursed against it?
  • What happened to Fortua, and what warning lies in its fall?

Factions and Forces

The River Raiders — settlers who turned to piracy and plunder.

  • Want: control of trade, power through raiding.
  • Dangerous: ruthless, organised waterborne hunters.
  • Temptation: bargains for survival or wealth.

The Taint — a living corruption.

  • Want: hunger, corruption, to consume the living.
  • Dangerous: twisted beasts, silence, warped minds.
  • Temptation: forbidden knowledge and Fortua’s secret.

The Marauder Clans — corrupted humanoid hunters.

  • Want: dominance, control of ruins and passages.
  • Dangerous: cunning, relentless, savage.
  • Temptation: power in joining or bargaining with them.

Settlers Council (future faction)

  • Want: survival, stability, expansion.
  • Dangerous: demanding, ambitious, self-serving.
  • Temptation: a place to belong, but at a cost.

The Places of Play

  • Rivertown (Hub): vibrant, hopeful, fragile. The safest place, for now.
  • The Wilds (Frontier): shifting, tainted, alive with danger and change.
  • The Ruins of Fortua (Mystery): broken spires and relics. Knowledge and power, but heavily contested.

Player Hooks and Themes

  • Who in Rivertown depends on you to succeed?
  • What fear keeps you from trusting the woods?
  • What secret do you hope Fortua’s ruins might reveal?
  • How have you faced the raiders before?
  • What have you seen of the taint?
  • What vow drives you to survive?
  • Why did you come here — choice or decree?

Arc of Play

  • Stage One: Discovery — Raiders, the Taint, the ruins of Fortua. First glimpses of a larger world.
  • Stage Two: Escalation — The Taint spreads, marauders grow bold, raiders vanish. Pressure builds.
  • Stage Three: Reckoning — Will the players defend Rivertown, evacuate the settlers, or carve a new fate elsewhere?

Tone and Safety

  • Tone: mythic, foreboding, survivalist with hope.
  • Boundaries: avoid graphic cruelty. Focus on tension, not torture.
  • Spotlight: resilience, sacrifice, haunted history.

Recurring Motifs

  • Fireflies glowing in darkness, hope in fragile lights.
  • Broken stone swallowed by moss, civilisation consumed.
  • Horns and hunting cries echoing over silence, the sound of predators.

Flexibility Check

  • If Rivertown is ignored: players may join raiders, carve their own haven, or venture deeper into the woods.
  • Every faction can evolve — ally, escalate, collapse.
  • Failure pushes the story forward, never halts it.

Thanks for joining me for another night here at my blog. Don’t forget to check in from time to time to see what I am up to as I plan to still publish RPG Zines as often as I can. Stay tuned for more regarding the Path of Forgotten Fortua and the adventures that lay within its forgotten and feral lands.
The Brazen Wolfe

Rivertown Bound – Part 3

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Now for a change of pace I present, in new format zine, River Bound – Part 3. The idea is to still provide GMs and DMs more freedom to tinker with the adventure, how they want to run it to make it feel more free formed and flowing than the larger zines – although there is another one coming.

There are no references to other content other than what’s within the Zine itself and this week is Daggerheart specific. However, with all my adventures it wouldn’t be hard to tweak it to work for other Tabletop Systems.

So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, River Bound – Part 3, and that all your rolls are made with hope.

Rivertown Bound – Part 3

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Rivertown Bound – Fortua Ruins – Created in ChatGPT

The adventurers make it at last into the ruins of Fortua, a place spoken of in whispers but never seen so closely until now. The forest canopy broke to reveal crumbling walls and shattered towers, their jagged stones rising from the undergrowth like the tombstones of a long-forgotten people. At the centre of it all, piercing the canopy itself, stood the spire, cracked and weathered, yet still defiantly tall. From the first steps inside, it was clear these ruins remembered their fall, and the air hung heavy with the weight of forgotten history.

The adventurers took their time, gathering themselves after the ordeal of the Wraith Woods. This was no safe place, but even here they sought a moment to breathe, to dry their boots, and to steady their resolve. In the silence of the ruins, their conversations revealed new insights. Tales of old battles, half-remembered maps, and beliefs about what the people of Fortua once stood for. Every adventurer that made it this far shared what they knew like weaving a tapestry to reflect the story of this fallen fortress, retelling its history together.

Exploring deeper, the ruins became a patchwork of discovery. Broken statues hinted at forgotten gods, murals etched in crumbling stone told fragments of war, and ivy-bound halls revealed relics half-buried in moss and dust. Each discovery felt like peeling back layers of a mystery, with the adventurers’ voices weaving Fortua’s story into something alive again. They found knowledge of Rivertown’s path, relics that might yet serve them, and glimpses of the world that was lost when Fortua fell.

But peace never lasts long. The silence fractured with the harsh sounds of horns and guttural calls, the signal of hunters entering the ruins. The marauders were closing in, their whistles and cries echoing between the broken walls like wolves on the hunt. Whether the party slipped into shadow or prepared to stand against them, the tension of being stalked through the ruins was palpable.

From the top of the spire, Rivertown finally came into view; distant yet certain, a beacon of hope after so much peril. The path forward lay clear at last, though reaching it would not be without risk. The hunters pressed closer with every heartbeat, forcing the adventurers into a desperate choice: flee before they were cornered, or draw their weapons and fight in the shadow of Fortua’s fall.

When the adventurers departed the ruins, they carried with them more than just a direction. They bore fragments of Fortua’s story, the weight of its memory, and the gnawing sense that they were being watched, not only by marauders, but perhaps by something older that still lingered within those stones. The road to Rivertown had revealed itself, but the shadows of Fortua clung to them like moss on forgotten stone.

PDF adventure -Rivertown Bound – Part 3

Daggerheart – Rivertown Bound part 3Download

This Daggerheart adventure was created using guidelines and information from the Daggerheart System Reference Document 1.0 which is the copyright of DRP, Darrington Press, who are the creators of the system. This content was created and/or modified from content within the SRD and is licensed under the DRP Community Gaming License which can be found here: Darrington Press CGL.

Thanks for joining me today for another adventure. Please feel free to leave comments if you like what you see when you grab a copy of the PDF. Next time you get a party together consider running this adventure and I hope that you enjoy it. Don’t forget to come back daily so you don’t miss a thing in the coming weeks adventures. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Blog update – August

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Blog Update – August

The Blog so far:

  • 27 August 2021 – First blog post published: “Why Brazen Wolfe.” The official launch of the blog.
  • 2021–2022 – Early posts begin exploring tabletop RPGs, storytelling, and the “Brazen Wolfe” identity.
  • 27 August 2022 – 1st year anniversary post.
  • May 8, 2022 – Post titled “The Shadows First Move” published, one of the early story-driven campaign pieces.
  • 2023 – Expansion into more campaign blogs, reflective essays, and narrative world-building. Focusing on Zines rather than campaign style.
  • 2024 – Continued progressive Zine writing (could be used as a series of One-shots for a broader campaign), refining of voice and style, broader thematic explorations.
  • August 2025 – Blog approaches its fourth anniversary (27 August 2025).

After another busy week where work all but consumed every waking moment I had a chance to reflect on what really matters and what is going on in this space.

Firstly – I still intend to create weekly adventures and to chase the dream of 52 Zines in a year (its a lot… I know…) but currently the format of posting every night is becoming more taxing than I would have imagined at the start of the week.

So this adventure just gone marks the week I have posted consistently this year alone and with this blog update its around the… 1327th…? night posting in a row – which is a big deal really as its over three years I have been writing adventures on here.

However, I think I’ve reached the limit of posting nights in a row for now. There is just too many things I need to focus on and spend my time on to post updates every night. But that doesn’t mean I’ll stop – more that I get to focus on other more exciting things in my spare time.

Thanks for stopping by, I am excited to see where the blog goes from here with less demand on a daily basis which hopefully will let me focus on bigger things over all. So don’t forget to come and check on where the blog takes me as I continue to reflect, refine and evolve what I do here. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Reflective Update: The Aftermath of The Familiar’s Favour

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Reflective Update: The Aftermath of The Familiar’s Favour

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After another wild week where things don’t seem to be getting easier I wanted to reflect on what this weeks blog was trying to do.

When I first outlined The Familiar’s Favour, I intended a simple mystery: a missing talisman, a nervous clerk, a missing assistant and a party tasked with recovery. But as the days unfolded, the narrative took on a different texture. What emerged was less a heist to be solved and more a question of trust, between mage and familiar, master and servant, city and the creatures that keep it alive. The Eyeless Spire and Ashford-on-Weir became the backdrop for something larger: the unsettling possibility that the bonds we consider unbreakable may in fact be brittle.

This resonated pretty hard with me this week as certain truths began to surface about a few things to do with work and assumptions that I had about quite a few things. While understanding ones truths is essential for any line of work when these truths are questioned or even completely unravelled before you it becomes a frantic climb to get back on top of the wall as it starts to topple. Maybe that concept is good material for the next D&D zine…

The reveal that it was the familiars themselves who had stolen the Charm of Concord recast the entire adventure. Until then, the clues could be explained away as sabotage, negligence, or a rival’s plot. But to see the beasts act with purpose, to coordinate and protect one another, transformed the theft into something more profound. It was no longer about recovering an object, but confronting the unsettling truth that those who were “bound” might have been waiting for the chance to act freely all along.

As I wrote each day’s entry, I found myself layering in these subtle questions almost unconsciously. The nervous tapping of Aleris Quall’s foot, the growing unease among market beasts, the strange footprints leading nowhere, each detail was less about pointing toward the missing talisman and more about creating that dawning realisation of autonomy. The adventure’s structure mirrors discovery itself: a slow peeling back of assumptions until the courtyard scene forces both characters and players to ask, what do we do now?

What struck me most, in hindsight, was the moral weight of that question. The party hold all the power, strength, spells, and steel, yet the familiars hold the truth of the matter. Do you subdue them and reassert the bond? Do you negotiate, recognising that the creatures have a will of their own? Or do you accept that something fundamental has shifted, and that Ashford-on-Weir may never return to what it was? In that tension lies the heart of the story: not the theft, but the choice of what balance between freedom and control should look like.

This gives the party that moment where they control the story, the fate of an entire city of people they will never meet in real life. That sense of accountability and responsibility of all those involved is what helped to drive this adventure further along the path to where it landed this week.

That is why I write adventures like this: not only to provide a framework for encounters and discoveries, but to offer space for deeper connection to the world in which we, the DMs and GMs, spin these tales for our players.

The Familiar’s Favour was never just about a stolen charm. It was about the fragility of trust, the unseen loyalties that shape a world, and the uncomfortable reminder that the “lesser” voices in our stories often have the most to say. I am curious to hear how others choose to resolve this tension at their own tables, and whether Ashford-on-Weir emerges safer, stranger, or perhaps forever changed.

Tonight I continued on the trend of last weekend instead of stretching myself to think of new content I wanted to take another moment to reflect and analyse – something I’ve been doing a lot of lately.

Thanks for dropping by, don’t forget that every week is an adventure if we just look deeper at what we do, who are the actors in our life and as we focus on “what would I do next” let’s take a moment to pause, think and if time permits it, Roll the dice to determine the outcome we follow. With another week just around the corner don’t forget to come back for more of what the future may hold and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Familiar’s Favour

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Now for the next Zine of the year I present, in single page zine format, The Familiar’s Favour. I still believe that these provide DMs a lot more freedom to tinker with it how they want and open up the adventures to be more free formed and flowing than the larger booklet zines.

There is references to the blog nights which are D&D centric but it can easily use the adversary stat-blocks highlighted in Friday nights post if you’re running Daggerheart. 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, The Familiar’s Favour, and that all your rolls are made with advantage.

The Familiar’s Favour

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The Familiar’s Favour – Created in ChatGPT

In the bustling market town of Ashford-on-Weir, where the arcane arts blend seamlessly with daily life, something has gone terribly wrong. Familiars and trained magical beasts; normally loyal and dependable, have begun to act strangely. Cats vanish only to return drenched in river water, owls deliver messages to the wrong people and stare at the moon in broad daylight, and draybeasts that haul goods refuse to move, lashing out at handlers before abruptly resuming their tasks. Whispers ripple through the streets as unease spreads, and soon the adventurers find themselves swept into a mystery far greater than they imagined.

Their first true encounter comes in the form of a raven named Sable. Burdened with a strange compulsion, it forces out broken words: “The Charm of Concord… stolen… trail fresh.” This talisman, they soon learn, binds master and familiar in harmony. Without it, the delicate magical balance between beast and mage begins to collapse. Drawn to the Eyeless Spire; the arcane heart of the city, the adventurers are brought before Aleris Quall, a half-elven clerk whose calm demeanour belies her deep worry. She confirms their suspicions: the Charm of Concord is gone, and her own apprentice, Yasil, vanished on his watch. Though suspicion falls squarely on him, Aleris admits something feels wrong. Yasil was no thief, yet the evidence points to betrayal.

Armed with a writ from the Spire, the adventurers begin their investigation. What they discover only deepens the mystery. Market beasts have run amok, their behaviour disturbingly purposeful rather than random. Entire flocks of ravens descend to snatch valuables in plain sight, while warding crystals, supposedly tamper-proof, lie shattered in courtyards where pawprints simply end as if the creatures disappeared into thin air. Rumours surface of Yasil walking calmly through the east gate with a fox at his side, one with three tails, its pale fur glowing faintly in the dawn light. Whatever has taken the Charm is no longer the work of a single apprentice. This is a theft carried out with precision, by creatures that should not be working together at all.

The trail leads to a forgotten courtyard, moss-clad and hushed, hidden between the looming Eyeless Spire and the old city wall. Here, among broken wards and a ruined reliquary, the truth is revealed. Familiars; creatures once thought bound to their masters’ wills, gather with uncanny coordination. A two-headed monkey clutches the Charm of Concord with delicate precision, while the pale fox and a murder of ravens guard its position with eerie purpose. Their eyes meet the adventurers’, not with animal instinct, but with intent. These creatures are no longer acting under human command; they are the orchestrators. The heist was theirs.

The implications are staggering. The magical bonds that have defined mage and familiar are breaking, or perhaps reshaping into something entirely new. Ashford-on-Weir teeters on the edge of chaos, for if familiars across the realm awaken to such independence, what role will their former masters play and who will hold the true power? The adventurers are faced not only with recovering the talisman but with confronting an unsettling truth: the creatures they once trusted as allies may no longer be willing to remain in that role.

What began as a simple theft is now a test of loyalty, a question of control, and a glimpse into a future where bonds of magic and trust may never be the same. The party must decide whether to reclaim the Charm, restore the old order, or risk allowing something altogether wilder and more dangerous to take root.

PDF adventure – The Familiar’s Favour

The Familiar’s FavourDownload

Thanks for joining me today for another adventure. Please feel free to leave comments if you like what you see when you grab a copy of the PDF. Next time you get a party together consider running this adventure and I hope that you enjoy it. Don’t forget to come back daily so you don’t miss a thing in the coming weeks adventures. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Ashford-on-weir Courtyard

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Tonight we look at the scene of chaos in the Ashford-on-weir Courtyard where the party find the gang of familiars who have stolen the Charm of Concord.

So grab a coffee, maybe a few bladders of jugs of water, as we check out tonight’s map!

Ashford-on-weir Courtyard

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Ashford-on-weir Courtyard – Created in Inkarnate.

As the party enters the courtyard they are greeted a forgotten, quiet, moss-covered space nestled between the city’s stone wall and the Eyeless Spire’s looming façade. As they look in the cacophony of sounds stills and the air shifts. The midday suns glare warms the stone and makes the hidden courtyard, shattered fountain and shaded trees look very enticing. The little courtyard forgotten between walls and the houses of Ashford-on-weir lay still except for the smallest breeze that made the palms dance above and against the ten feet tall walls.

Tucked behind a glimmering golden statue of a coiled snake lay the ruined reliquary; its ward-crystals fractured and faint hums fading into uneasy silence.

Familiar cries echo from above, and suddenly the courtyard stirs. A murmuration of ravens circles overhead, wings slicing through pale light before settling on the charred edges of the reliquary and among shattered crystals. At first, the party suspects they’re dealing with a clever thieving gang that used the ravens, but this felt different.

Then the familiars reveal themselves. Not merely mindless minions, but agents of a singular purpose. A two-headed monkey swings in from a darkened corner, its fingers delicately wrapped around the Charm of Concord. Near it, the three-tailed fox; whose pale fur seems to glow even under the sun, stances protectively beside the amulet, snarling softly at any who draws near. A sleek owl, limp trays of parchment clutched in its talons, flutters into view, cooing gently as if urging calm.

The creatures’ eyes meet the party’s, and in that moment, the truth becomes chillingly clear: these familiars have orchestrated this heist. No panic flares as the party have strength, skill and size on their side but soon there is a tense, uncanny stillness, as if watching what the adventurers decide to do next. And its then that the party realise that there are more eyes on them than they originally thought.

Thanks for joining for another map night this week. Don’t forget that we have a few more nights left this week so make sure to come back each day to see what I add to this adventure. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Catch up – a wild week and the river serpent

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Catch up – a wild week and the river serpent

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It’s been a wild week and while I take some time to reflect on what a whirl wind it’s been.

First the river spirit is meant to be something that holds grudges. Like its currents, the memories it holds run deep and cut into stone cementing in the the wrongs, the loss and the broken promises of those who rely on its good will. Much like a busy week, or year in fact, a The river doesn’t really forget and neither does it always forgive. This week is a bit like that, I can feel it watching silently and waiting for another chance to drag me away from what really matters as I hold onto the loss of motivation, the broken promises to myself and the frantic need to catch up with what I missed out on.

Sometimes its just the stress that bursts its bank and then it feels like there is a hungry serpent ready to devour you, take what it feels like its owed without any bargaining of mercy.

The children kind of represent the unfinished stories, the blog that I have. Starting this week a few days late (not being able to post the pre-written blog updates due to transit and work) and then trying to catch up to maintain the pace was a bit of a stress. This sense of loss, a voice silenced and the crushing need to complete what I promised myself that threatens to drag me under kind of drove the inspiration for the twins this week.

The end of the week saw the Spirit revealing itself, a realisation and confrontation of what I had left on my plate, what I wanted to achieve and also what I had waiting for me in this week. I am a man that can not juggle but I am quickly finding that the eggs that I have been frantically trying to keep airborne are hatching into chickens – something that is confronting and a bit of an emotional reckoning of perhaps I don’t have all my hens in a row.

This post marks the end of a week that is finishing, the beginning of a new one where I am still behind. But, some ground has been made and its not as dire as the week before. But its probably a call out to look after myself and take it a bit slower when I can – the week or year even is not over.

The last notes for this weeks adventure of turbulence, the feeling of overwhelmed drive to complete a promise to myself to post a blog entry every day of the year this year as well as maintain work and personal relationships. It’s realising that I, at my centre, am a creature of routine, habit and trust that things will work out. This week like the silver key is kind of reflecting that my routine was smashed and lost for a bit there beneath the rapids.

Something that I am very proud of is the nights that I write in a row and rarely, if ever, do I post something in the past. But with the problems trying to upload this week while travelling with bad data connection I found myself stuck. The format had broken, the routine dashed and work was piling up. So to give myself a break I stopped for a few days and resigned myself to fixing it once home. And so the frantic week has come to the end with me returning to some kind of routine.

Tonight was a bit of a different pace. Reflecting on what made me write this adventure, re-write parts and expand it to what it is now I can see how my own work-week and life is reflected in the adventures I create on here. There is potentially something to say when I look at the more grim-dark adventures that I post occasionally. If you like this reflecting addition to the end of the week, let me know as it was actually a bit of fun as a very reflective individual at work it’s not that much of a stretch to do it at my table either. So thanks for dropping by, don’t forget that we have another week of adventure just around the corner and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Where the River Watches

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Now for the next Zine of the year I present, in single page zine format, Where the River Watches. I still believe that these provide DMs a lot more freedom to tinker with it how they want and open up the adventures to be more free formed and flowing than the larger booklet zines.

There is references to the blog nights which are D&D centric but it can easily use the adversary stat-blocks highlighted in Friday nights post if you’re running Daggerheart. 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, Where the River Watches, and that all your rolls are made with advantage.

Where the River Watches

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Where the River Watches – Created in copilot.

The Riverfall Harvest Festival began as it always had, with villagers gathering along the banks to paint lanterns with symbols of luck and abundance. The air was warm with autumn’s breath, and the sky bloomed with light as glowing orbs drifted upward like stars born of celebration. But this year, something went wrong. As the party stood beside Mayor Talia Reed and Elder Rinn, honoured guests for past deeds, a gasp rippled through the crowd. A sacred silver lantern, central to the ceremony, was struck mid-air by a blazing orb that tore across the sky like a falling star. It collided with a flash and plummeted into the river’s rapids, its light vanishing downstream. The festival ended not in joy but in silence. A search party scoured the river’s edge through the night, but by morning, the lantern was gone. Mayor Reed, pragmatic and concerned, summoned the adventurers again, this time with a promise of gold. Elder Rinn, heavy with old knowledge, warned that the lantern was no mere decoration. It carried a key bound to the river spirit itself, and if not recovered, the balance between tradition and nature could unravel.

Later, Elder Rinn stood over a recovered lantern, its frame still bound to the totem strings that had guided it home. His hands trembled as he traced its surface, revealing a silver feather that shimmered with moonlight. This relic, unlike the one lost to the river, held a feather rather than a key. Rinn explained that it was a tangible piece of the village’s pact with the river spirit, a bond outsiders could not fully grasp. Though the party had come to help, Rinn remained skeptical, warning that the river does not forget and that the fallen lantern was a sign of imbalance. As tensions rose, two children, Amal and Jessa, were seen eavesdropping before fleeing into the village. Mayor Reed revealed their tragic connection to the river, having lost their parents to its depths. She believed they still remembered, even if they could not understand the full truth. Rinn’s tone softened as he urged the party to recover the key before it fell into the wrong hands. The spirit, he warned, could restore what was lost, but at a terrible cost. Wishes twisted into shadows, and the river’s gifts came with a price. If the party truly wished to help, they must act not for reward but for the village’s survival.

At dawn, the party set out to investigate the lantern’s disappearance, beginning with Mayor Reed’s suggestion to find Amal and Jessa. Their search through Riverfall yielded nothing, and only after leaving the village did they encounter Jessa, battered and breathless, pointing silently toward the lake. She led them through treacherous terrain along the river, where villagers placed offerings into the water in solemn ritual. At the lake’s edge, Jessa collapsed from exhaustion but indicated a raft that had been dragged ashore. She gestured that something had gone wrong while she and Amal were on the lake. The party searched the area and found only one of Amal’s shoes, but just as they prepared to deliver the grim news, Amal emerged from the water, soaked and silent, holding a silver key wrapped in a reed. His voice was not his own, but something ancient and echoing. He repeated a chilling phrase about tribute and debt, and the river’s current began to reverse, flowing in the direction of his steps.

As Amal walked toward the village, nature itself seemed to recoil. Birds fell silent, a bear fled in fear, and the river followed him like a tide drawn to the moon. The party remembered Elder Rinn’s warning—the key was meant to seal a lock, not release it. When Amal entered Riverfall, the villagers froze. Rinn collapsed, pale and shaken, confirming what none dared speak. The river spirit had broken free and now walked among them. Word spread quickly as Amal wandered the outskirts of the village, the key clutched to his chest and moonlight glinting off his soaked clothes. The townsfolk began to fracture. Some whispered of sacrifices, others spoke of fleeing. And through the eyes of a lost boy, the river watched everything unfold.

Amal stood at the river’s edge, staring into its turbulent surface before turning to the party and his sister. He spoke only once, ‘The river awakes’, and the water fell silent. Moonlight shimmered across the surface like silver thread, and then the river bulged outward as if something immense stirred beneath. A low hum vibrated through the stones, resonating in the bones of those nearby like a primal warning. From the depths, a serpentine creature emerged, its snout rising ten feet above the surface, its body flowing like a living current. Scales shimmered in blues and silvers, casting shifting light across the riverbank. Its head was smooth and eyeless, reflecting the moonlight in swirling patterns, while glowing runes pulsed along its spine in rhythm with the night sky.

Water streamed from its form as it rose, towering above the party, cloaked in a sheen like sacred vestments. Mist curled from its breath, thick with the scent of stone and ancient offerings. The river followed its movements, drawn to it like a tide to the moon. In its presence, the world seemed to shrink, hushed beneath its gaze. It spoke not with words but with echoes and rumblings that filled the minds of nearby villagers, who began to repeat strange phrases. Amal echoed his earlier warning, but the message darkened. He spoke of tribute, of a debt to be paid in flesh and spirit, of the river’s hunger and freedom. It was not a threat but a promise, a force awakened by broken tradition. And as it loomed behind Amal, it watched the party, waiting.

PDF adventure – Where the River Watches

Where the River WatchesDownload

Thanks for joining me today for another adventure. Please feel free to leave comments if you like what you see when you grab a copy of the PDF. Next time you get a party together consider running this adventure and I hope that you enjoy it. Don’t forget to come back daily so you don’t miss a thing in the coming weeks adventures. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Riverfall Crossing

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Tonight we have the encounter being set up around the Riverfall Crossing where we have something rather ancient and dangerous crawling out of the water. But that’s giving away something for tomorrow nights blog.

So grab a coffee, maybe an umbrella as we check out tonight’s map!

Riverfall Crossing

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Riverfall Crossing – Created in Inkarnate.

The village of Riverfall is split in two by the rapid river which will swiftly whisk away anything that falls within. The south of the river is where the fruit orchards grows with several buildings purpose built to house those that tend to them, or, to store the harvest from the trees.

To the north there are more buildings consisting of logs, mud and reeds that come from the river bank which house more of the villagers that make use of the rivers themselves.

Several large rocks are scattered in the river which are spaced close enough to hop across for the daring or foolish. However, they are slippery and many people have had to be rescued from the river after slipping on a slimy rock.

Thanks for joining for another map night this week. Don’t forget that we have a few more nights left this week so make sure to come back each day to see what I add to this adventure. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe