TTRPG

Fall of the Sovereign

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As Lord Tyson Tearn’swallow scurried off with the handful of infantry and the calls of rage from Duke Vorn as he charged headlong into the melusai to by Tyson time the Ghast Courtier looked down at Krak who’s wounds were severe.

“You men. Stand here and hold off those cursed snakes. The rest of me on the king!” he shouted as two flying knights came into view. The two massive women nodded to the king and threw themselves into the khinerai as their shadow queen charged towards Vorn as he tore apart more melusai.

The attack on the daughters of the god of murder had been in vain. There was no glory here only death and two kings had died fighting valiantly as the snakes twisted and coiled around their dragons in their death throws.

The Shadow Queen and Morathi would claim the crown. The Sovereignty had fallen from Krak Crowncleaver and it would take some time until his forces would be strong enough to try and best such an intimidating foe.

Unwelcome Truth

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Welcome to a Thursday night where we look at the bonus content and things that help drive our adventure forward with some unwelcome truth. Tonight I wanted to touch on some rules that will be in play this week that rely on a bit of complexity for us, the DM and a lot of role play for the party. This is something I want to call as Unwelcome Turth but its really misdirection from something that appears trustworthy source. In fact it’s where the creature or thing giving the advice whole heartedly believes it to be true themselves.

Unwelcome Truth

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Now the thoughts on this are quite simple. The creature that is providing the advice or intelligence is providing miss advice believe what they are saying is true. They are either a secondary or first information provider and either believe what they have been told or believe what they saw or heard or experienced fully.

This means that under the effects of a Zone of truth, or highly insightful people (insight checks) that they appear to be telling the truth. They believe it to be true and so it is. Now this form of unwelcome Truth is something that the party can have issue with as it is pretty powerful. The player and the DM know that what is being said is a lie – but for all intents and purposes there is truth in what is being said. In fact they don’t just say its true they believe it completely.

This can make some tricky situations where the truth is farfetched. Like flying pigs. If someone believes that what they saw was definitely flying pigs and all attempts to detect lies, coerce the truth out of them or otherwise will result in the one result. Flying pigs. But the Party know there isn’t flying pigs but they cant convince the creature who believes in them is that they aren’t real.

In conclusion

This really comes down to belief. If the belief is strong enough then conventional methods of separating truth from lies becomes impossible. This leaves us, the DM, on a rocky road. How do we set up our encounter that there are situations where there is this moment of unwelcome Truth but it’s fair for our players?

Simply enough – make everyone’s version of the truth different from one another except for one element. Perhaps one person saw flying pigs, another saw flying cows and another flying sheep. All of them saw something flying but what else did they see. Perhaps they noticed that there was a particularly high pitched sound could be heard as the creatures flew by. Or that there was a smell of rotting eggs and ta trail of slime from a swamp could be found the following day where they saw the flying animals.

As long as we have a common element of truth we can always turn it into a logic puzzle or test to se how good of a detective our parties are. Then its up to us when we hand them a bone such as a “I didn’t see a pig. I saw a dragon covered in slime flying and grabbing animals from the farms below.”

Well thanks for dropping by for a bit of an update on what I have planned this month. Now to work out what the common element of truth is to help our party filter fact from fiction. Don’t forget to come back each night this week and, always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Spy Master

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Welcome to a night of twists and turns where tonight we throw a spanner into the mix. Many months ago you may remember where Takeo went to visit the Lotus clan, the spy master of the Harimasu family. Here he found only empty halls and more questions where he sought answers and advice. Tonight we spring a surprise for our party and the spy, Takeo, in the form of a reunion.

Spy Master

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“Now,” Takeo began as he walked down the halls of the castle, “the creature is likely posing as a servant, a guard or part of your family…” Takeo added as if almost an afterthought. “we must be careful of what we reveal here as to not give away us being aware of it.” He took a breath after checking around a corner for others. “Likely someone it has killed. I dare say that it wont risk being exposed by wearing the form of someone it may have the chance of being in the same room as.”

“But if it was able to so convincingly deceive you how will we tell it apart from the others?” Hana asked, her voice still sounding uncertain of itself.

“I was hoping our friends or Lady Liz would be of assistance there.” Takeo said smiling at the party as he approached a grand double door.

“Fathers through there isn’t he?” Kyoko said as she smiled and walked towards the door. “It’s been months since I have seen him.” she added as she pushed on the door.

“Remember what I said my lady.” Takeo said as he pushed the doors open for the princess.

The room on the other side of the doors was flooded in light, airy and had was almost serene. The dozen or so guards, members of court and family and the assistants at the castle all knelt in front of an kind faced man who sat at the top of a dais. As Kyoko entered the room the man looked up and his face broke out into an enormous smile. “Praise and thanks to the ancestors, you have returned safe and with companions I see. Takeo and Lady Lizbet have explained that you are the reason that I have my daughter safe at home.”

The emperor said to the party. “You have my sincerest thanks. If we were meeting upon better times I would have you dine with me for a week in celebration and you would want for nothing. But alas I have restricted the banquets until we can sort out our supply lines with the wall.” he emphasised the situation with a loud sigh. “We are having trouble sending supplies and food up there. When ever we do the caravans and their guards are ambushed and the brave men and women fighting back The Shadow go hungry.”

“Father I am sure that my new friends here would be able to assist us. They have bested a Laelóng, defended me from the Yuki-onna that has allied herself with the traitorous snakes the Toshio family. And they brought back my cousin safely home. I am sure that investigating the happenings with our supply lines is child’s play to them at this stage.” Kyoko said with a broad smile towards the party.

The emperor smiled. In fact he beamed. “Hana. It has been far too long.” he said as the quiet young woman moved from behind the party. “If I had known what was happening to you I would have sent troops to rescue you from your corrupt husband.”

“I dare say that she would have joined us sooner or later” a voice cut across the tender moment between family members as the rustling of feather and the slightest gust of wind sounded from outside an open door. A short, slightly hunched man stepped forward and guards rushed to intercept him.

“Halt!” The emperor called as he stood and moved down the steps to his dais. “I dare say that if you engage that man in combat you cant hope to win.” he said as he reached the bottom of the stairs. “It’s been some time Master Fukiyomo. What dark tidings do you bring?”

The old man smiled. “You know me too well it seems. Unfortunately armies of spirit-folk are ambushing your caravans, but it sounds like you have a plan for that.” the man said as he nodded to Kyoko, the party and Takeo. “But I also believe that we have more to worry about from our neighbours than what comes form the walls at this stage. A sizeable force is marching through the Kunagi ranges as we speak. Slowed down by the collapse of some of the large peaks I will add.” the man nodded respectfully to the group again. “But on this way none-the-less.”

The emperor moved down to a map of the lands as his war council positioned more wooden blocks on it to represent the new information. “Are you sure of this Master?” Takeo said as he stepped forward towards the table, noticing that there was a lot of dark coloured blocked near the wall, about two days ride from here.

“I saw them attempting to clear the rubble from your battle with the Laelóng myself,” he paused as he rested heavy on the hilt of a cane-sword. “As I chased down a Lóminau. One who is without Shadow. A demon of the shadow fell.” The court hummed with the panicked murmur from those who had attended the court. “But I lost it when I felt the presence of a Shadow born. And witnessed it being felled by a party of foreign heroes. So I went to pick up where I left off but could not find where the creature had gone to.” his statement causing a different type of murmur to spread through the room. One of disbelief and awe.

“It seems daughter, that we have much to catch up on. And I expect that Takeo also will want to have words with his master too.” the emperor gravely stated.

Well I am happy to finally get back into some creative writing. Thanks for joining me to witness the return of Master Fukiyomo. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow night where hopefully I have some additional content to help flesh out this weeks adventure. I also have the finals for my local Warhammer league tomorrow night so its going to be a big night! Don’t forget to come back each day for the rest of this week so you can stay up to date with the content and, always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Faces of the void

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Welcome to a Tuesday night where I return to something that I find, quite relaxing actually – creating NPC portraits. So tonight I have more than one face, several faces of the void to be exact to represent some of the different faces that the creature in the castle can take.

Faces of the void

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Tonight is a bit of a creative content night rather than one full of writing. This weeks baddie, the Faces of the void, can make anyone see what they want to see. The faces, the forms and even the environment around them is all one grand illusion for this creature. So the ability to make the party, the guards and even the Harimasu family heads believe what the creature wants them to is second nature.

As discussed in Forgotten treasure and the other adventures that week where we introduced, well part of the focus for this month – the Blades of radiance and Potion of Radiance the creature is quite the artist when it comes to illusion. However it is not infallible.

All images created in Artbreeder

Unlike Mugrave and the Quaigin who physically change shape of someone that they have met this creature can create unique faces or copy those of one they have seen. This makes them a potent threat for the party and, to be honest, a difficult thing to do right as a DM.

Thanks for visiting tonight to gain some insight into this weeks adventure. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and each day this week to see how we expand our adventure. Don’t forget that this is the third last monthly adventure as we move rapidly towards the conclusion of the year and a final confrontation… and, always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Shadow Within the Walls

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Welcome to a Monday night where we return to Ryokughan and the Harimasu families continued war against The Shadow. Tonight we meet up with Takeo and begin our hunt for the Shadow within the walls of the castle. This marks the start of our 3rd last adventure for the year and the countdown has officially begun.

Shadow Within the Walls

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The familiar sights of the city were a welcome blanket of comfort for Kyoko, Hana and, although he would never admit it Kuang. As the party moved down the streets the busy merchants, artisans, guards and farmers stopped and cheered for the return of Kyoko. At the intersection of a busy street where their was a five feet wide line of red bricks that ran the length of it, perpendicular to the one they were travelling on Kyoko turned with a bright smile and looked in the direction of a massive tree.

The tree was ancient. Easily taller than the majority of the buildings around the city and Kyoko searched for when she returned home. In fact it was the first thing she always checked. Amongst the branches of the tree was a strip of red cloth hanging from a branch, fluttering in the wind loosely. Kyoko turned to the party, still smiling and walked closer. “I feel like a drink in celebration of returning home.” and amongst the cheers of those on the streets around her she head down a road to a the Jade Cup.

The Jade Cup was a well known establishment in Heavens Reach providing good food and drinks to the public. As Kyoko ordered a round of drinks for the table a cloaked stranger sat down next to the party.

“I am sorry Lady Kyoko for interrupting your return to the capital but I hoped you had remembered the training.” the stranger spoke softly as he looked nervously around the room.

“I saw the warning.” she said looking around the room, mimicking the stranger. “So what news do you bring Takeo?”

Takeo leaned in, nodding with a smile to the party. “It’s been some time my friends,” he said before leaning in closer to the table. “I can’t confirm it but there is something in the castle that I can’t detect nor find. I spoke directly to it and discovered no taint, no malicious intent but it intercepted your letters to me and somehow got to the vault before I could. There is also something else in the castle, something that eludes me still.”

“So what do we do from here?” Kyoko asked as she drank from her cup.

“Trust only those you rode in with” Takeo said as he stood from the table and stumbled towards the door. The performance he put on as being drunk and being asked to leave was impressive, but perhaps not his most believable one.

“Well. It’s not quite the welcome I was anticipating, but it’s not the first time we have had this situation.” Kyoko said. “So are we up for a bit of a witch hunt?”

Bringing it back into the current final arc of the adventure we find ourselves finally at the capital, Heavens Reach. A few weeks ago we saw a glimpse of the creature that is lurking in the castle and interfering with the plans of the Harimasu family. This week we begin the hunt for it in the castle walls and get a bit of a view of the city.

Thanks for joining me tonight and the start of our 3rd last leg of our yearly journey. Don’t forget to come back each day this week to stay up to date with the content and, always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Hail to our Sovereign

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Hello and welcome to a small update for the end of my Warhammer dedicated week. Tonight I wanted to give a final hail to our Sovereign and post some photos of the painting I managed to get done this week for my Flesh eater courts.

Hail to our Sovereign

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The Journey to my darkly themed ghouls.

Primed in citadels Grey seer
Gryph charger congrast applied in two thinned coats
Wildwood contrast applied to hair
Model darkened with Basilicanum Grey
Skeleton horde and Volupus Pink contrast paints

While not step-by step guides I managed to push through and get two models that sat primed but not fully painted done over the weekend too. The Ghoulish pile of shame has shrunk by a few hundred points.

While I stress over cleaning up the ghouls a bit more over the next few weeks in preparation for the local tournament I wanted to capture some of the progress I made.

The other thing left to do is reveal the results of my matchup against Skaven from the other night – so let’s see if my memory can go through the results from the two armies posted Friday.

As Krak and Liss’s combined forced crested the hill the buildings around them rustled to life as the horde of Skaven had been uncovered. The infantry, the serfs of Krak’s court surged forward to create a defensive line between themselves and their king as dark magic whisked through the air and the Kings called their warriors to the field.

Another champion, some winged knights and more ghouls appeared on the far left flank, staking territory around a suspicious warp-filled hole that had appeared in the ground whilst Liss contemplated the battlefield. As her forces surged forward towards a cache of powerful realmstone so did the rats and soon the serfs, courtiers, knights and dragons were outnumbered and it thought the cache lost. That’s when the ground quaked and a great bridge forged from bone appeared. from across the bridge bounded rat ogors, whipped into a frenzy and their charge didn’t stop there as they bounded into the serfs that defended the kings. On the flank more rat ogors charged the reinforcements that had come to assist the kings and the impact alone saw the infantry torn down to a handful of survivors, the knights also lost a man. Defending Krak the infantry savaged the other rat ogors, cutting them down with fervour however in their death frenzy they fought back, killing the noble defenders and their supporting courtier. Alloren and her dragon didn’t take kindly to their invasion and struck back removing the ogors and suffering a few small scratches as payment.

A cheer broke out from somewhere amongst the masses but just as it commenced it died down again with the re-emergence of an equal number of rat ogors near their foul master.

It was time for the court to go on the offensive. After a phenomenal mustering the flanking serfs and courtier, a mighty Varghulf, positioned themselves to charge into the enemies flank and remove their pesky hero’s who could return the ogors to life. The dragon and terrorgheist moved forward supported by more ghouls as they prepared to charge through enemy lines and remove threats.

The terrorgheist swallowed a master moulder whole, devoured clan rats and removed half the rat ogors from their pack. The infantry and Lady Alloren removed more ghouls and pushed in deeper to stake a claim to the cache of realmstone. The counter charge was brutal with a verminlord warbringer declaring a vendetta against lady Alloren and after a ferocious duel Lady Alloren and her dragon were lost, but not without Thanquol almost being devoured whole by Duke Wicksplitter’s mount. But the cowardly rat fled from the conflict as the rat ogor’s pressed their advantage.

With the fall of the King the serfs were rattled and a charge from rat ogors nearby saw the end to the infantry threatening the skaven daemonlord. However, more infantry had appeared on the far Skaven flank and it was at this crucial turning point that Krak knew he had victory within grasp.

Weathering the counter charge of the rats Duke Will charged in ferociously. Removing rat ogors, killing the verminlord before making another push towards Thanquol and the pesky master moulder. However a counter push from the Rat ogors shortly after saw the terrorgheist flee the battlefield but not before feasting on the last of the rat ogors with no more to return to the field. The new reinforcements from the flank had engaged with more clan rats and victory in that skirmish was within the grasp of Kraks Forces. That was until the realmstone Cache ruptured sending shards across the battlefield. One into well defended Skaven territory and one to land at Kraks feet.

Thanquol made his presence felt removing all the serfs from the battlefield with his mounts terrifying warpfire – but, Krak and Liss sent out a call for aid and twice it was answered. With only the Master moulder to support him Thanquol and his puppet retreated from the battlefield and complete victory was claimed for the forces of Krak Crowncracker and Liss Lipsnatcher.

Thanks for joining me tonight for more Warhammer content. Don’t forget to come back this week as we resume out normal D&D content – apart from hobby updates over the next few weeks that is – as we see our party march towards the wall. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for the league results, I will post them this week and, always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Thanks for adventure

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Thanks for adventure. Like many people I started my RPG journey, and game journey in general from my parents. My love from collectable things stems from Pokemon whilst my thirst for adventure, story telling and world building comes from Dungeons and Dragons, in particular AD&D.

A long term DM and GM for other systems I have my Dad to thank for setting the right example when it comes to story telling. Having twists, challenges and not making things easy is something that I got from him and my experiences as a player, as infrequent and seldom as they are. The ongoing support and guidance (and supplies of the new books and goodies) comes from both of my parents but dad always showed me the way.

Dad was also willing to be one of my players as well, providing advice as well as just getting stuck into it. No prejudice, no back-seat-DMing (something I am prone to… oops) and full commitment to the role and the adventure at hand.

Really we all have a mentor figure who guides us through the expansive, I mean truly massive world of Dungeons and Dragons. Whether you are like me having your father teach you or whether you got into it because of a celebrity or influencer Dungeon Master (I guess that’s what I could categorise Critical role and High Rollers as?) it typically starts with one person. So today, tomorrow being fathers day in Australia, I wanted to say thanks to that special person who started it all for me.

If you’re reading this today Dad, thank you, you didn’t just welcome me into your world of Role play and dice. In fact you guided me into all the adventures I have had since opening those first few tomes (can’t really call them books now can we… they were thick..).

From hunting stirges in caves after being ambushed by bandits to having wizards rob me blind. To finding out about magical beings that you needed enchanted swords to best, to understanding that not all loot is gold and treasure. To my first adventure reset where I went down the obvious wrong path as I was curious what lay in the endless skies and to the first adventure closure, with the death of my Gnome tinkerer-Fighter, Tinkerbell. The first steps that you took me on, the first set of dice that I got in Melbourne from Mind-games (which I still have here with me, on my desk…) You helped to start me on this journey and, really, you made this blog and all of this possible.

So for the gift you gave me, like so many other fathers or father-figures out there, thank you now and for eternity for the gift of adventure.

Instead of my normal closing remarks I would like to extend my thanks to all those who started the journey to adventure. To fathers, step fathers, mothers and step mothers and everyone in between thanks for sharing your world with us, and enabling us to share our world with our own kids. As much as my 3 year old doesn’t understand proper roleplay etiquette and much prefers to roll the number-shapes I am sure that one day they will ask me the question. “Can I play Dungeons and Dragons with you?” and I will know that the journey has come full circle. So don’t forget to thank your adventure mentors when you next can and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Queen Reagent

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Welcome to a weird Wednesday where today we are looking at a twist of the list I brought to my qualifying match last week and presented yesterday. Tonight we look at an alternative list for me to take – adding another powerful Arch Reagent and a Terrorgheist for the mortal wound output.

The Queen Reagent

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First off in traditional Warhammer style I have the list.

Made in Warscroll builder

Now to explore the changes to Krak’s list let’s delve into it a bit.

Royalty

Name: Lissandra Lipsnatcher

Unit: Abhorrent Arch Reagent

A contender for Krak Crowncracker’s claim to the throne Liss is a powerful and rare queen amongst her kind. Ferocious and brutal she commands the more terrifying legions of the court when the goes to war. Not one to share she finds herself in a strange position where she wants Krak to both fail and succeed. Krak faces down the most terrifying of entities without fear but his fearlessness makes him reckless. This both intrigues and repulses Liss as recklessness is how the previous Arch Reagent lost his head, and crown.

Never seen too far away from her second in command, Duke Will Wicksplitter, she detests the boisterous knights of the courts of fellow rulers. Because of this she rarely allows them in her presence, except for the most feral of them that swoop from the skies to skewer her enemies.

Liss isn’t like the other Flesh Eater Courts abhorrent rulers – she is aware of her delusion and see’s herself for what she truly is – and revels in the carnage, bloodshed and putrescent gluttony that it enables. This makes gives pause to all those who would oppose her as she appears as a feral beast amongst their midst and rarely looks like the benevolent rulers they see themselves to be.

Name: Duke Will Wicksplitter

Unit: Abhorrent Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist

One of the reasons for the armies that Liss commands not containing Knights is Duke Will Wicksplitter and his mount. In the eyes of the court his mount is something akin to a glorious resplendent phoenix, its died and came back to life immeasurable times before the courts eyes. The Terrorgheist however has a nasty habit of feasting on the biggest of the courts minions – the knights – and their boisterous nature calls to it like a cat to a mouse.

For this reason, amongst others, Liss and Will don’t allow foot knights to be in their presence when they ride to war as it proves more deadly for their forces than that of their enemy.

Now being different to the other list I removed the knights, they pose a meaty punching bag, anvil and occasional brutal hammer to counter my opponents infantry. However I find that my Crypt Ghouls pose enough of a threat that I don’t have to rely on the less numerous knights to fill this role.

However my list lacks mortal wounds and the terrorgheist has it in spades. Pared with the supporting buffs from the three other spell casters as well as its own ward it can be a shredder when it comes to chewing through enemy lines. Rerolling hits and wounds from the overlapped spells makes it a great candidate with the average damage beating that of the Krondspine Incarnate. The ability to make it a 3+ ignoring 1 point of rend (Finest day and Mystic shield) as well as a 5+ ward make it nearly as durable as the Krondspine and when paired with the Chalice the wounds it does take are likely to nearly vanish at the end of the turn.

Adding two more expensive heroes does create a problem though – I also drop my 30 man ghoul unit into a block of 20. But in my experience the full 30 ghouls were never all getting into combat any way – so this way I have a smaller footprint to manage and get the same number of attacks per ghoul in combat.

Thanks for joining me tonight to look at a revised list that I will be testing out tomorrow night. I may swap around some of the spells (perhaps flaming weapon on Will and blood feast on Liss) but I will give it some thought tonight. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow as I hope to show off my army in its mostly painted glory and, always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Shadow Born’s Final Move

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Tonight as we head towards the conclusion of this yearly adventure meet Mugrave once again, but this time she is something more. This month is a level 7 adventure so our party of adventurers better be up for the task in dealing with the Shadow Born’s final move.

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

Now I will assume you have read the entire post which has had some bits modified over the months content. Now including the original content, and some bits added this is a smaller than normal length, only just making 7635! words long. I really do appreciate the time you take to read through these end of month adventures.

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

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

Part 1 – Those without Form – 231MoWaVi

After the party had found some horses that were in need of some new, living owners they continued north. The hope of a warm bed and hot meals quickly fades when they passed another village that was in the wake of violence left by the Shadows minions. As they passed through the village they noted that only some of the houses were destroyed whilst others looked like they had sustained minimal damage. But regardless of which of the villages along the northern road they travelled there were always bodies in some stage of mutilation or being devoured.

About three days travel from the Kunagi Ranges the party came across a village that was untouched. In fact as they asked around they quickly became aware that many of the people in this village were refugees from the previous village or some to the East.

“What’s east?” asked one of the players.

“The wall, our last defence from the shadow and the hordes of creatures that it commands in the mountains” Kyoko replied.

“We best make haste to your home Lady Kyoko, I fear that we spend too much time on these roads” Kuang said as he analyses the buildings and faces nearby.

Begging

As the party left the Village and headed north she watched from the side of the road. Posing as one of the refugees from an earlier village she had made it to this small town without any real issue. Now that she was seen as one of those who drifted, one of those in need it was easy to move from place to place without questions being asked which suited her purposes.

“Soon we will be rid of that princess. Once she leads me to the light.” Mugrave muttered quietly to herself as she moved to get some food. “Once I have taken care of the light then our plan wont fail” she said to the voice in her head. The Shadow was pleased with his servant and retreated back from the busy street.

“We won’t stay long in this village on our way to Heavens Reach.” Kyoko explained as she moved down the street, greeting villagers and guards like she was an old acquaintance of some. “I don’t like the idea of that spirit harming these innocent folk because we stayed a moment too long.”

“I agree. It’s best for your safety and the safety of others if we can return you home.” Kuang said as he uncharacteristically bent down and handed some food to a few small children who were begging for it.

Without warning one of the guards that had approached Kyoko drew their sword and lunged at the princess. The party sprang into action and within moments the guard lay at their feet. After a few moments of looking for other threats the body of the guard shuddered once and a gargling wheeze came forth from the body. As the shuddering stopped the body separated into finger length slugs that crawled into the ground leaving nothing behind.

Staring at the creature, the place where it was to be more exact, the party were unable to identify the creature. Kuang, Hana and Kyoko stared at some of the fleshy slug like creatures as they buried in the ground. Scooping one up and putting it in a glass bottle Kyoko examined the creature.

The skin of it appeared to take on the texture and colour of what body part, clothing or item it was imitating before it was reverted back to this fleshy slug form. After a few moments of it being captured in a bottle it slowed its twitching and writhing before stopping all together and appearing to be dead. “Gross little creature,” Kyoko muttered as she stared at it, “some of the studied men back home may know what it is.”

Walking down the road once more, this time more cautious they met with no difficulty or hostility for quite some time. The group even let their guard down as they approached a vendor selling breads and street food. As they went to hand over the bartered for coin a knife dashed out from behind the counter and after another intense fight another mass of fleshy slugs wormed their way into the ground.

“These attacks are not enough to get past us.” Kuang mused as he looked at one of the slugs he had impaled on his sword. “They die quickly, inflict little to no damage but its the same type of creature attacking us in different ways. There must be a plan or intent behind these attacks.”

Walking through the streets trailing the foreigners and the Harimasu princess was easy. Dressed as she was, with the skin she was wearing she could blend in any where. Mugrave moved through the streets, appearing hungry and confused, a look of fear and a touch of despair tugging at her voice helped to sell the act.

As she moves from door to door, vendor to vendor she asks for food, spare coin or clothes to keep her warm. Her comely appearance, soft voice and youthful skin draw more than one glance from the men but that doesn’t concern her. She watches as one of her agents moves closer to the party, glancing back knowingly towards the her and receiving a signal from Mugrave before lunging at Kyoko.

The panic that ensued was sheer bliss. Mugrave relished in watching the streets erupt into chaos as the adventurers and Kyokos guard erupted into action easily cutting down the would be assailant. As she pretended to scream and scramble to safety as the violent response came Mugrave studied them. She watched their moves and the assessing their capabilities as was her plan. She could not attack the group without knowing what she was up against and now she knew.

As the day went on more of her agents attacked the group and she learnt more about their strength. She would need to be careful with this lot.

Settling down in a refugee camp for the night she enjoyed the comforts of poverty. Free food, blankets and different faces, emotions and personalities to learn and perfect. For a skin walker such as herself having a supply of inspiration and a list of faces and voices to use was of most importance.

Areas and places of note

Refugee Camp– A collection of cloth, canvas, smoke and tent posts the refugee camp hosts dozens pof the displaced and unfortunate.

Environment and running the adventure

The panicked streets is an easy enough gimmick with people running around and looking for a place to hide. This means that for our party they now have to deal with this movement and shift of potential threats. As DMs we need to really sell this. Describe the moment that the panic sets in or just simply emphasise that these people, refugees or farmers are just trying to get away from the spark of violence.

These small details can help drive the narrative of the encounter and enrich it from just being “Combat” to being “roleplay”.

The actual encounter should be one or two Quaigin attacking at once. Trying a different approach or tactic each time as they test how the party react.

Notable NPC interactions.

Kyoko Harimasu – Kyoko is quick to help those in need but when she starts to get attacked by the Quaigin she is more hesitant to approach strangers.

Captain Kuang Ping – Kuang is un-normally kind to people, revealing a side of himself that isn’t often seen by the Captain. He is however the first to draw his sword and strike down those who attack Kyoko or Hana.

Sasha (Hana Toshio-Harimasu) – Hana is much like Kyokoas she helps where she can and people celebrate her passing along with Kyoko and Kuang. The three are well loved and despite the trauma the villagers and townsfolk have endured these past few weeks they try and protect and help the harimasu heir where they can.

Encounter

Shifters –

The panicked streets is an easy enough gimmick with people running around and looking for a place to hide. This means that for our party they now have to deal with this movement and shift of potential threats. As DMs we need to really sell this. Describe the moment that the panic sets in or just simply emphasise that these people, refugees or farmers are just trying to get away from the spark of violence.

These small details can help drive the narrative of the encounter and enrich it from just being “Combat” to being “roleplay”.

The actual encounter should be one or two Quaigin attacking at once. Trying a different approach or tactic each time as they test how the party react.

After the encounter:

The party can do what they please, but to head back into the village of Lanidaye will help drive the story forward. Whether it is to buy supplies or say farewell the village should be provided as the suggestion from Jason and the other NPCs.

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Subtlety and illusion

thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Welcome to a slightly changed up Friday. Tonight instead of fightnight I wanted to talk about something that I see used very infrequently and used successfully even less so. Subtlety and Illusion.

Subtlety and illusion

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Now the second adventure I ever had when playing D&D I will never forget. We had heard rumours of a group of bandits, well assumed bandits who were terrorising a nearby town and robbing them. Always near the village dump. When we got to town we met a helpful wizard who bought us a meal and offered to help us catch the culprits.

The next day we head out to the dump, weapons waiting and expecting an ambush. What we didn’t expect was a giant rat to run at us, shape shifting and growing in size as it ran. Soon the rat that was as large as a dog was now bigger than a house and our weapons seemed to do nothing to it. The wizard was calling out saying that the spell he was trying to cast on the rat wasn’t working. But he kept trying, always chanting and gesturing at the rat.

We passed out and next thing we knew we were robbed blind. Naked with no equipment, armour or weapons we started from scratch. Rigging a bull tug-o-war to win 5gp of prize money to start to rebuild our equipment and gear.

Now being a bit more experienced in DnD now I still fondly remembered when Hunter, my wizard-fighter was robbed without a weapon being drawn. It still inspires ideas of illusion winning the day and either the great Illusionist saving a city, or, enslaving them.

To get the illusion to work the player needs to believe it, or doubt that it could be anything other than real. Its got to be believable, realistic, plausible and without fault. Many of these qualities can be achieved by simply describing the scene and making the illusion sound real. The other part is mechanics of the illusion.

The mechanics are simple in dnd5e. If they think its an illusion they need to succeed on an investigation check vs the spell cast dc. Of they pass they know straight away. Of they don’t they don’t know – well… They shouldn’t know.

It tales a great deal of commitment from the player to have their character knowingly, from their end, believe an illusion. Even if the player knows the on character may not and. This is where the truly experienced and veteran players can flex their roleplaying muscles.

Thanks for dropping by tonight for a glimpse at what I want to cover next month. Sort of. Don’t forget to come back this weekend for the ene of month write-up and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe