Tabletop

The missing scout

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The Missing Scout

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Steffani looked across the paperwork in front of her as she chewed on a unlit cigar. The pint that Marie had brought in with the meal from earlier grew warmer on the desk as she looked across the reports. The Lord of Warrensdeep had promised her enough gold to fund thirteen teams but had delivered just enough for four.

One team were off investigating the confirmed sightings for Abnormal creatures up north and weren’t due back for a few weeks based on the latest info. She didn’t believe in favourites but if she had a team that sprang to mind for the difficult jobs it was this one. A half-dragon, Elf, Dwarf and two humans made this this crew and they were the first ones she convinced to join forces with her. The proof they brought back was also enough to make the king force the lord of Warrensdeep into helping the cause.

The second team were currently cleaning up. Not a glamorous job the people in this team were not fighters nor skilled enough yet to see field work. Besides they all had a talent for magic and utilising that to clean, repair, mend and even dispose of evidence that would make the public uneasy. The disposal of body parts, creatures or even victims of the attacks was one of the conditions the lord of Warrensdeep had put upon her. “Do not let these things disturb the peace. The public can not know about what lies in the dark around their homes and this city.” So she assigned the promising mages this task and they did a good enough job with it.

The third team were a combination of ex military and renown hunters. These were her scouts and they submitted a report daily on rumours and sightings of the creatures. Anything that seemed amiss was what they reported back on and she left them on their own really. She had five people in this team and for the last month she had received nineteen reports. She was one short and she was anxiously waiting for the latest reports to come in.

Like clockwork Gwen walked in and placed a few small scrolls on her desk, four of them. Quickly opening them Steffani confirmed her suspicions. One of her scouts hadn’t reported in twice in a row. She sat back in her chair and mused on what to do. Team minë, were too far away to investigate in time, team atta were not fit for this type of work, the scouts, team neldë were all over the continent which left team canta. Team Canta consisted of the new recruits that she had sworn in today and out of all of the people under her command these were the most untested. But they had shown promise.

Writing up an order she scratched the names of the team down, Groku – a foolish but determined girl that showed grit and tenacity.

Tater was a dwarf – made of stronger tuff than most and showed a surprising resilience to the rumoured mind control ability of these creatures – perhaps the head injury had rendered him immune. Lastly she smiled at the duplicated name on the signed sheets in front of her.

That Goblin, Mordekai, may be a trouble maker but she had learnt a long time ago to not doubt someone determined to prove someone wrong.

These three will need a fourth member in their crew. She looked over the paper work in front of her and sighed. It may be best if she had them pick out their final member of the party themselves. After all these will be the people who they trust their lift and very survival to.

With that she quickly sealed the wax on the letter. Was she really sending the newcomers to Fustmach where one of her scouts was heading? She sighed and reached for the ale before clenching her fist. She nearly broke her oath as old habits started to take over. No, she will remain strong and sure headed. One wrong foot out of place from her and the dozens of people that relied on her would surely fail.

Now more on this tomorrow but it’s finally here! Another adventure weekend! So don’t forget to come back tomorrow for a double event and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage.
The Brazen Wolfe

A Variety of Undead

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This weeks Friday Fight-night brings forth with it a variety of undead. Last week we had something a bit different where as this week we have something more familiar, but varied. Zombies are great. Yup, as a DM I find the zombie template a great thing to add something more to something that was already interesting to deal with. But what if these things are not something typically dealt with? Well that’s something that I can get behind. So let’s sit back grab a relaxing brew and ease into another weekend.

A Variety of Undead

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Undead reptiles. The crocodile features in a few horror movies and as well as the zombie. What about zombie crocodiles? these tough creatures are even worse not that they are undead as they are a bit more difficult to kill.

The above images were created in tetracube

Reanimated snakes as well as the true denizens of the Carrion swamps, the lizardfolk are also a pest that the party will have to deal with. While not tough they can provide a threat to the party if they are not prepared to deal with these large snakes and even more ferocious humanoids.

The above images were created in tetracube

And lastly who can forget the classic Zombie. The bread and butter of many a dungeon or undead encounter. Sprinkle these amongst the other varied undead and you could have a flavour-filled adventure waiting the party.

Created in tetra-cube

Another week down and, weirdly, we only have two handfuls remaining until we roll into Dice-ember. So don’t forget to come back this weekend for more D&D content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Ferklends’ Palisade

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So this week we find the party arriving at Ferklend, finding out that there is trouble in town and that they are the possibly the heralds who will both doom and save the swamp. This tale really starts by the party being greeted by Ferklends’ Palisade and then it flows on from there. So to get a glimpse at what we are working with let’s sit down, grab a coffee and look at tonight’s map!

Ferklends’ Palisade

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Ferklends’ Palisade – Created in Inkarnate

The palisade is new, for reasons uncovered in a few tales spoken in yesterday’s update. But the forest and swamp beyond that is as ancient as they come. Some of the trees have been cut down to repair the few houses in the town and to build the wall and defences. A crudely dug moat that spans at its widest ten feet lays around the wall that slows down aggressors, to some degree.

A few parts of the wall open and close to allow people through before being braced back shut again. a few platforms have been constructed against the wall to give it strength and to provide a place to stand and watch the the outside of the walls. However, along the wall the faces the swamp there are several more of these platforms as the attacks from the undead has grown in frequency and number.

A quick map today that I believe gives off the grungy, swampy vibe that I was hoping for. Don’t forget to come back this weekend for more content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

From the Swamp they come

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Another week and another twisty-Wednesday where tonight we get a snapshot of this weeks hook which starts an encounter and from the swamp they come. As mentioned already the Carrion Swamp is filled with living residents, deadly plants and an unforgiving, oppressive heat. But that’s not all that lives in the swamp. So before I give too much away let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!

From the Swamp they come

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The room where the party had managed to bargain to stay in was a store room for the general store. The tavern had been refusing visitors after the last people to stay in Ferklend had burned down the previous tavern. But the merchant they were staying with seemed nice enough and had spare room until the stock from a delivery arrived in the coming days which would fill the room again.

While they were in the town the first thing that came to view was the large wooden walls and barricades that enclosed the town. The guards only let the party through because they recognised Carmine and Jon but warned the party against staying too long. The town itself was mainly houses, a single store that backed onto a similarly protected dock and pier, a tavern and a central hall that looked more barracks than council building.

The guards of the town were hardy, tough and unkind to say the least. But the people inside the city were just the same. Talking to a few, those willing to spend some time talking to the adventurers, it turns out the town is very old, or it was. Based on ruins that they repaired and modified to suit. However over the past few years the volume of undead has increased and they had to rebuild due to damage, fire and the like. The barricades were also recent as one of their own, a man called Rike, accidently set fire to them in his attempt to escape a particularly fast undead crocodile.

The same story was told by all the villagers. The undead attacks were getting more frequent with a sudden increase in volume happening about a week and a half ago. And the other thing that was clear was, most of them didn’t like the man called Rike.

At this point the voice carried over the crowd. The voice was strong and determined, spurred onwards by hope and desperation. Approaching the source of the voice a man was revealed to be standing on the steps to the town hall. “The undead are coming in a wave that none have seen before. This one the walls won’t hold. We must flee now. Flee! We are doomed if we stay as the salvation of Ferklend has not appeared. It’s all there in the ruins outside of the town in the swamp. Why can’t you see? The heralds of the end appear, the undead arise and only the power of the heralds can push back the undead tide…”

“Where are these heralds huh?” Called one rather butch looking woman who carried a basket of root vegetables. “Get out of here Rike. No one wants to hear your garbage any more!” she called, many others echoed her thoughts.

Rike looked around helplessly before his eyes fell upon the adventurers. “Warriors from afar, wielders of magic and steel. Just as the ruins foretold,” he began as his knees wobbled. “I was right.. The ruins .. Oh gods.. That means…” an unholy roar came from the south. Those gathered around Rike looked to the party and then to the south, where the swamp lay. “It’s too late to run…” Rike said as he crumbled to his knees, despair taking over. “The ruins foretold and the well is open…”

Thoughts

A bit of a fun one tonight. A fight at the gates, on the ramparts and outside of them if (when) they fall this week. But this is just part 1 as part 2 see’s the party venture forth to the well of souls. If they survive what I have planned that is.

Thanks for visiting tonight and looking over my little twist for this week. I do love an undead siege, for me its very thematic and I love the images it gives. But this one will be a bit different as it takes place in a swamp and the type of undead could be very different to what we are used to. So don’t forget to come back the last few days this week and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Swamp Folk

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This week we meet some Swamp Folk, the people who live in Ferklend and who, well, they are a bit tired of living next to unending undead hordes. So this week is about meeting some of the folk, learning their legends and pain-points and perhaps something a bit more. So let’s not keep these poor desperate folk waiting and sit down with a coffee and roll into tonight’s update!

Swamp Folk

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Rike Stogeze

Rike Stogeze – Created in Artbreeder

The tracker named Rike has spent all his youth and much of his adulthood trekking through the Carrion swamp and the lands around Ferklend. He has been a voice to the people voicing the concern on the rising number of undead and foretelling a devastating event that will lead to its destruction. But spouting these types of messages will generally get one ostracised from the community and seen as a bit crazy. But with the coming of the party and… other recent events people are starting to listen to Rike and they should really start to believe him as the dead don’t wait for the living.

Viktira Bronlock

Vikira Bronlock – Created in Nightcafe

After travelling with the party for over a week Vikira approaches the party and asks them for a favour. She is a noble who’s family lost all their gold in funding an expedition to explore the ruins in the Carrion Swamp. The expedition party came back with nothing but excuses and fewer men than they left with. Aiming to prove her parents theories about the ruins she needs someone to guide her through the swamp, or, she will go alone like she has to this point.

However despite her parents not having any money actually left, she doesn’t reveal this and merely explains her lineage and that those that will help her will be handsomely rewarded.

Another NPC night and a new face, and an old one too. This week sees the party travel into the swamps and beyond in search of the well of souls. But will their goals, the people of Ferklend and Vikira be aligned? Probably. But you will have to not forget come back daily to find out. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Into The Swamp

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Another week has come and this time it brings our party travelling over land, due to some unfortunate happenings with the ship which will be revealed in due course, and into the swamp. The Swamps of Tulkore are aptly named the Carrion swamps due to the unpleasant smell that wafts from the waters. Its more than just rotting vegetable matter in these dank places of the jungle as the undead seem to show up in great numbers at times. But… I will stop myself there before I get too far into the lore of this place, so let’s sit back grab a coffee and roll into this weeks adventure!

Into the Swamp

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The Tulkore Jungle – Created in Nightcafe

The smell of the swamp was pungent enough that when the wind blew from the east the smell travelled along the road that the Party was travelling along. Carmine and Jon had agreed to get the party to the port town of Ferklend. Ferklend found itself on the edge of a dense jungle that gave way very quickly to a large swamp. The volume of vegetation ensured that the waters were murky and unclean to drink from.

But that wasn’t the issue with Ferklend. The undead also frequently rose from the swamp and the people of Ferklend and the other denizens of the swamp also found their way to the gates and doors of the frontier town. Candice and Jon had agreed to take the party as far as the port town where Jon could also retrieve some materials to repair his ship. But once their business was concluded, about a week or so later, they would return with or without the party.

They had offered the party free travel as long as they acted as a guard for their single wagon. This wasn’t a hard job or something that was particularly far-fetched as they had already proven their worth to both Jon and Carmine on the road to Nigrun.

But by the time they were approaching Ferklend it was something that they had already had to put to test as dark skinned goblins had attacked them once during their trek to the jungle. But despite this the two merchants also shared tales of the lands of Ferklend. The swamp was rumoured to once have been a jungle paradise before some calamity swallowed it up by the putrid water. A city and temple like no other gone in a blinding flash of green light or so the ancient stories went. 

Whatever the cause, the heat was nearly as bad as the cold from a week ago and the smell was only growing stronger.

A change in temperature and a change in what we can expect for this weeks adventure. The hardest part is yet to come as getting to the port town of Ferklend is the easy part. After that the party have to listen to rumours and discover if ancient folklore is true or not. Perhaps they may also find the source of the towns problems in doing so.

Regardless don’t forget to come back each day this week for more content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Den of the Lost

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Tonight and I have created a zine for this weeks adventure. Den of the Lost. This adventure can be used system agnostic as we explore other RPGs out there other than D&D. So please adjust to what ever creatures you are using in your adventure! However as always Kobold fight club can be used to quickly balance an encounter for Dungeons and Dragons and Tetra-cube currently provides the stat-blocks for creatures in this adventure.

So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, Den of the Lost. If you like this format please let me know and I hope you enjoy.

Den of the Lost

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After their confrontation with the Remorhaz on the thin and fragile ledges of the Platara Ridge the party were relieved to make it to the top. 

The sun reflected the whites and blues of the frigid landscape and in the distance a large glacier lay between the peaks of some of the tallest places in the continent. But if creatures like the one they battled call this place home what other ordeals wait for them on the Platara Ice fields.

PDF adventure – Den of the Lost

den-of-the-lostDownload

Thanks for joining me tonight for another Zine. This one had more content added to the Zine but… not so much that I could reveal in the blog update. So you will just have to trust me on that and grab a copy of the Zine. Next time you get a party together consider running this adventure and I hope that you enjoy it.

I hope you don’t miss a thing so come back daily in the coming week. This is so you can experience the creation of the next adventure as it evolves and shapes out. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Obtaining Inspiration for Characters

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After spending a bit of time recovering from being unwell I managed to find some down time where I wondered about something critical for new and old players alike. Obtaining inspiration for characters is this weeks thought-filled Saturday post and being a forever DM I was able to look what what I could do if provided the opportunity to be a player. So tonight is a bit about that process, one that I have touched on in the past as well. So sit back, grab a hot drink and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure.

Obtaining Inspiration for Characters

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Now obtaining inspiration for characters isn’t that hard and its very similar to how I obtain inspiration for adventures when I am stuck. The world we interact with these days is so fast and filled with creativity that you don’t have to look too far to find something that could inspire. Movies, anime’s, TV shows, board games, books and comics, art, music, nature… the list goes on and on and for me inspiration for characters comes from three main sources.

1. Anime, Movies and TV shows

Ok you could argue that this is three things but hear me out. I don’t get a lot of time between work, my family and the blog so I generally have to choose one of the above three to indulge in one night a week. Yup. Once a week. So for me inspiration could strike from simply watching an anime and asking the question. “That was cool, how would that work in D&D?”. If you try and pin a class or move set against a anime character you can quickly find that you start identifying similar moves. For example, Sasuke or Kakashi using Chidori could simply be Shocking grasp. Their fast speed, stealth and ability to blink around the battlefield could be fey powers (Arch-fey warlock) but most likely is monk (way of the shadows), and their ability to do a few ninjitsu well, but not all of them while blending in complex fighting techniques and assassination style combat would fill in the other class to be fighter (eldritch knight) and rogue (assassin – I guess).

By identifying move sets from a favourite character you could build a D&D character that functions very much like them. Certain supplements out there already blend some of this together into a neat package by if you’re only using core rules then multiclassing becomes interesting.

2. Music

Now I have done 30 minute adventure challenges before where the adventure was prompted from a song that was randomly selected. Provocative music could give players the right imagery to create a character from nothing. One of my all time favourite songs, Shepherd of Fire, has inspired big bad, significant NPCs, demigods and even PCs for me. Strong emotional images in the song evokes a being cursed to serve a greater purpose or being.

Someone who could hold back an army if needed or be that army. This gives me cleric (as they are strong and backed by a deity) or even warlock (fiend or even undead patrons) who acts as a key piece in the game of chess that their patron or deity plays. More mainstream songs I find difficult to create these trigger points in which characters are born but even pop songs can generate enough of a creative spark to create a character. Bards who are pacifists who charm or enthral people, armies, a whole full tavern to make them forget their woes could sing “Happy” by Pharell Williams.

3. Books

Now a pretty obvious one. Dungeons and Dragons and most other TTRPGs are governed by books. So it only makes sense that inspiration for characters can come from fiction or even non-fictional places. Most Fictional books have a protagonist of the story in which you can gain inspiration from in a heart beat. They normally act a certain way using familiar move sets or patterns which you can identify and relate to D&D or a TTRPG rule system.

The secondary or support characters can provide this inspiration too and I find myself creating more, hypothetical, characters from support characters from novels I read compared to the main protagonist. I think this is because their story goes largely unwritten. There is elements you can take and fill in to create something that feels like its your own. The main character normally has entire story boards based on just them, let alone books, so they don’t feel like they can be played any other way.

Some of the most fun characters I have created were based off a hybrid of the main character and a support character, like Cheerwell maker in the Shadows of the Apt series when blended with other support character to have a tanky front line gnome who uses inventions to describe her battle manoeuvres and spell casting.

Opportunities for obtaining inspiration for characters is everywhere and can come from nearly anything. Movies, Books, music, artwork or nature can inspire a NPC, Villian, antagonist / protagonist or even adventure if you look for the key elements that make up that something and map it to the RPG framework you use. But enough on that for tonight. So don’t forget to come back tomorrow for a Zine, hopefully, and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage.
The Brazen Wolfe

Crusty Critters and Snowy Shifters

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Welcome to another end of week Friday Fight-night where tonight we look at Crusty Critters and Snowy Shifters. Tonight will reveal the two encounters I have in store for both the Boat trip and the sled ride, but not the main event – that can come in the Zine. But before I reveal a bit too much let’s sit back grab a relaxing brew and ease into the weekend.

Crusty Critters and Snowy Shifters

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The dire saltwater crocodile is a large, thick scaled creature that preys on fish, shark and even some small whales. Not afraid of boats or ships the creature will occasionally use its claws to dig in and climb onboard sea vessels. Strong and hardy these creatures are an imposing adversary on dry land but a nightmare if you find yourself in the water with them.

Dire Crocodile- Created in tetra-cube.

The Deity of pure Snow

Revered amongst the Platara people the Giant Lynx is the rarest of the ice fields deities. These majestic celestials only take an interest in the events that happen on the material plane when something of great significance is occurring. These creatures however are as playful and fickle as magic itself and are often through to be the manifestation of a whim from gods of magic.

This thought is given more credit by the magical effects that these creatures can summon at will which appear and function like spells.

Giant Lynx – created in tetra-cube.

Thanks for visiting tonight and looking at some of the encounters planned for this weeks adventure. Don’t forget to come back this weekend for more content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage
The Brazen Wolfe

Salt and Smoke

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Now with this weeks fight amongst salt and smoke we are taking a step back from map creation and going with good old Theatre of the mind. But let’s see if we can get enough of a description of what the battlefield looks like in order to drive the encounter regardless. So let’s sit down, grab a coffee and read on!

Salt and Smoke

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The seaside town of Nigrun consists of around three dozen small homes, two warehouses, a tavern-come-inn and a general store. Most of the buildings are built out of wooden planks that encase mudbrick walls. There are two main streets that create an intersection that split Nigrun into three sections with a warehouse, store and tavern being the smallest section that is fenced off.

The main street that flows from these central buildings passes houses and smaller buildings as it moves down towards the sea and the three piers that form the docks. The second warehouse is located here and stores non-Nigrun produced goods which they use as trade and barter with other seafaring people. However this leaves the warehouse quite open to all sides and so there is a thirty feet tall watch guard tower here.

Most homes are occupied by a family or people that live together. Most of the people in this town are either farmers who create the grain and straw or fishermen who take out small boats to the bay that they have found themselves in. A few larger houses are positioned along the pebble beach opposite the warehouse.

Currently there are some hastily made barricades that face outwards from the city protecting the warehouse, general store and tavern primarily but a ramshackle group of hastily made walls have been erected. Some parts of the wall lay smouldering where what looks to be a small tower was constructed but otherwise all is quiet in the city like the town before the storm.

The barricades are about eight feet tall with small holes periodically around the base for people to shoot arrows through or to jab with spears out. There are a few places that are open where there is no wall but the gap appears to be about as big as a wagon or cart and one lays nearby ready to be pushed into place to block it once more.

The land outside of the barricade is mostly flat with some hill scattered around but from the vantage of a roof, tower or taller perch you could see for a few thousand feet if there was something large approaching. The waters are clear except for the large merchant boat in the dock and none of the fishing boats are out on the water leaving it a very full dock presently.

That’s about it for now and this weeks town description. The encounter planned this week will be a bit of a surprise, I hope, so make sure to come back for that. Don’t forget this weekend should see more Tabletop content as we push through to the end of the year. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe