TTRPG

Pit Viper

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Hi all and welcome to another night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop where we create adventures weekly and we reserve Friday to all things fights (Fightnight!).

So this week we have found ourselves in a slithery situation where the party have come back to where their ship has set down anchor to repair and replenish supplies and the crew and captain Kyoko are missing. After some investigation, and a small wild looking girl pointing them in the right direction, the party came across a temple high in the mountains that appeared to be dedicated to snakes.

So tonight, lets look at some snakes.

Snakes in a Pit

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So without much waffle tonight lets look at the stat blocks for this weeks content!

Swarm of Poisonous Snakes

A pile of snakes, the idea behind these will be the people that abduct and grab the people from the beach (the crew members and Kyoko) will be a bunch of snakes shifted into a humanoid form and when they are back in their temple, their prey before the deity that they worship (seen below) they return to their serpentine form.

Being a more challenging foe I wouldn’t expect more than one or two of these for the temple.

Giant Poisonous Snake

Not as giant as the giant constrictor snake but still large and dangerous these creatures, like the snake swarm above, will take the form of a humanoid to abduct victims from the beech. I would anticipate these snakes will be the main one that is found in the temple and will support either a swarm of snakes, the giant constrictor snake or even the Naga.

Giant Constrictor Snake

Reserved forms of the larger and stronger (more faithful) serpents that serve the Naga these snakes will be seen to have a place of respect – grappling a creature whilst the swarm of poisonous snakes slither forth and bite the prey that is grappled.

These snakes are large, as and with the 10ft threat range on the bite (same as the poisonous snake) makes these creatures a large threat.

Abyssal Naga

The commander, the boss of the temple and being highly intelligent, immune to conditions and poison and being able to cast spells these creatures are impressive to behold.

This creature wont be alone and should have a few snakes outside its room/alter and should reveal itself from hiding (having a high stealth ability). It should try and convince the party to worship it, as it is arrogant and believes itself above all others but when it fights it will attempt to control the biggest threat (mage) and will then attack the others with spells.

Thanks for joining us tonight, I hope that you enjoyed what you have read and are looking forward to the end of week write-up as much as I am.

Don’t forget to come back this weekend for more work, and if you have a word for my “one word challenge” then feel free to propose one for me to write to this weekend!

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

Way of the Serpent

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Hi all and welcome to Thursday night where we look at extra’s, maps and other things that we can add to our adventure to give it that little bit more.

Tonight I wanted to expand upon something that I had drafted out in the Serpent temple in a previous post, but wanted to focus and do a deep dive on the “how” to get into the temple itself and what it requires.

So without getting too much into it before the hand-drawn diagrams of the contraption let’s roll on with tonight’s write-up!

Snakebite

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When the party enter the temple they are greeted by an imposing snake statue that is ten feet tall and the intricately carved serpent coils around a large dark stone that is positioned against the far wall. As the party approach the serpent statue a dank, warm draft comes from behind the statue where, upon investigating the party can see stairs leading into the darkness beyond and below.

Closer inspection into the serpent statue itself reveals deep, purposely crafted recessions into the statue itself leading up the carving of the snake towards the top where the gaping jaw of the hissing snake reveals two large white carved stone fangs that drip an ichor.

Looking around the room they are in they notice a scuff mark on the stone to the right of the statue that look as if a large, heavy stone object had recently and often prior moved across the roughly carved stone slabs that formed the floor of the room.

Large engravings in a foreign and abrasive language are carved into the door frame amongst images of slithering snakes and to read the words aloud gives the party a deeply unsettled feeling within. There is a single phrase that is readable in common “Serpents gift” that is repeated at different parts in the symbols.

The intention of this room is for the party to investigate the stone statue and uncover the puzzle – to be bitten by the serpent will bestow its gift and allow the worth to pass through.

The groves (as seen in the second drawing) are steps up towards the fang – investigation or high perception will reveal worn groves that looks like shoes, and blood in these recessions as if someone who was bleeding used them as a hand or foot hold.

The fangs themselves (the image of the serpents gaping jaw) are dripping an ichor that will inflict the poisoned status against any who take the poison into their blood stream. The statue itself just needs blood applied to the fangs which will absorb some of the blood and the snake will momentarily come alive and shift to the right, dragging the heavy black stone along with it and revealing the pathway down into the temple itself.

The language is abyssal and will read “the faithful, anointed by the serpents venom will be blessed by the serpents gift and will be welcomed as one of the faithful” – Serpents gift is also written in common beneath it as if translated once before.

Thanks for joining me tonight, to look at the additional content that we have to expand our adventure this week. If you like the content, or, like the hand drawn aspect of this weeks content please let me know so I can continue to work on my long forgotten drawing skills – it has been quite a while.

Don’t forget to come back the next few days for more Brazen Wolfe Tabletop content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Dark Cliffs

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Hello welcome to Brazen Wolfe tabletop where on Wednesday night where we look at twists, turns and speed bumps that we will throw at our party this week.

This week we find our party exploring a isolated island in hopes of making some repairs and getting materials food and water for their trip ahead across the sea. After finding a beached ship with a large breech in the side of it and the crew and the party said about salvaging materials from it and returning back to the ship. Little did they know that there was someone watching them from aboard the ship, a castaway, someone who had been lost on this beach long before and who saw their only way of Salvation in the form of the party at risk of being taken by the islands other inhabitants.

Tonight I tried out a little shortcut to help churn through the content of this blog so there may be a few imperfections below – I will

So without further waffle let’s get on with the write up.

That which nests in the dark

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As the last of the sail and the weathered but salvageable planks came down from the beached ship the party looked over their work from the last day. As they walked away from the ship and down the beach they couldn’t shake the feeling that had nestled within their heads that they were being watched. Shrugging as they helped the few crew that remained with them take hold of the bundles of planks, wrapped up sail and other bits and pieces the party continued down the beach, dragging and carrying their pilfered goods and materials down the beach towards the row of trees they had walked through initially. To intent on their task they did not notice the rustling in the grass or the long thin bodies moving in the underbrush nor the distant screams and cries for help that the wind whisked away and the trees muffled to the point of silence.

Moving towards their ship there was no movement from the crew that had remained behind to continue their search for food, fresh water and materials as they had left to investigate the broken ship. As they drew closer to where they had set up a temporary camp, the lack of movement and people moving about the canvas tents set off alarms in the party’s minds and they dropped their heavy burdens and looked around for their travelling companions.

The astute and observant members of the party looked around in the ground and noticed many signs of a struggle and several sets of large, deep drag marks that indicated people were dragged off towards the forest not far from the waters edge.

As the party followed the drag marks and disturbances in the sand towards the forest edge a short figure darted out and grabbed a hold of the lead Party members arm.
“Don’t go in there,” the little wild looking girl said, “you will end up like the others trapped… trapped in the dark waiting for your fate as the never ending hiss comes from the cavern below.” She spoke in hushed tones and looked around nervously as if expecting to see something more.

“The forest is too thick you won’t be able to find the way to where they’re keeping them. Anyway there’s to find the tracks and avoid avoid the scouts that will be keeping an eye out above the monolith, there is no way in or out not out of the dark not where the great beast nests.”

After a few moments and realising that the party would could not be decided from following their friends and trying to save them the little wild girl ran off into the forest disappearing amongst the trees and the bushes. As the party set foot leaving the crew members that help them with the salvage operation behind, they followed the drag marks and tracks as far as they could before the jungle Swallow the air tracks. After an hour of travel they eventually came to a large roughly hewn path in the side of the mountain leading up towards the spire.

The trees with sparse at the base of the mountain except for at the waters edge of the large freshwater lake that appeared to be fed from a stream coming down from the mountain.

The rough uneven ground of the path leading up the mountains enabled the parties to traverse it without much difficulty the bumps grooves and uneven rocks although creating trip hazards enabled enough footholds and they would not sleep further down the mountain. After further our of travel are they eventually came to a Plateau I’m high above the treetops of the jungle around the mountain and from this point they could clearly see several other wrecked ships positioned around the island each one of them nestled amongst the sand except for the Dancing Drake. Ahead of them lay more purposely carve out steps that lead to a large archway leading further towards the spire at the centre of the mountain.

Although vigilant in paying attention as they traverse through the jungle and the mountains and seeing no humans or humanoids on the journey the feeling of them being watched never left them and the further they climbed up the carved steps the more ghostly shed skins of snakes did they find.

As they passed passed underneath the intricately carved archway that depicted snakes coiled around bound humans that supported the large archway above. One hundred feet past the archway, at the base of the spire they could see the beginnings of a building much like a temple from back home carved into the side of the rocky face of the spire and from within its murky depths a penetrating cold feeling clutched at them greedily.

Ok thanks for joining me tonight I hope that you have enjoyed the write up this Wednesday around what happened to the crew when the party was salvaging materials to fix the Dancing Drake. Don’t fret though our little wild friend will be making a return visit in the near future perhaps assisting the party on their way through the temple.

Don’t forget to let me know if you do enjoy any of this content your comments and feedback is important and it helps me grow I craft as a dungeon master. Oh, and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

The Lost Ship

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Hi all and welcome to Tuesday where we look at NPCs and the development they can give our adventure.

This week the ship and crew the party was travelling with had to stop by an island to make emergency repairs after they ran into pirates and a storm. After setting down anchor in a deep cove on an island they sey about looking for materials yo repair their ship and some crew members returned to announce they had found a shipwreck that they could salvage from. However the crew were superstitious and captain Kyoko had warned them not to adventure to far onto the island as it had a bad reputation for sailors going missing.

Forgotten goods

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As the party leave the piles of wood, fibre, ropes and food that the ships crew had gathered already they looked ahead in the direction that the crew members were taking them outside the cove they were nestled within and towards a thick line of trees.

The sandy pebble ridden shore was picturesque, golden sand, smooth rounded pebbles and the gentle lapping of waves at their feet as they walked along the shore line. Marks littered the sand as they walk and the party identified them as some kind of snake slithering from waters edge towards the thick vegetation to their right, and the centre of the island.

Pushing their way onwards up a small embankment and up through the rows of trees they come across the remains of a ship, a large hole in its hull nestled against the sand in a similar beach. The large tattered but mostly intact sails hung and danced slightly in the breeze that washed across the party – making the leaves around them hiss as the wind caressed plant and person a like.

“See, the ship. That hole in the side, that breach. It’s not natural. No reef or pirate could have made that. But we should get the mast and check to see if we can salvage some parts of the hull and deck to make repairs to the Dancing Drake” the crew member they had met on board the ship and fought along side when the pirates attacked said.

“If you can get us there we can direct you to what we need from the ship, give you the tools – but we can’t go on board – its a bad omen for us to stumble upon a wreck like this and the signs aren’t good.” he continued. As the party moved forward they found bits and pieces of equipment, a broken shield, a snapped sword, a half of a spear but no head and scattered clothing, bags (mostly empty) and crates. It looks like the people may have made it some distance from the ship, or these items had washed up the shoreline quite a distance from a significant amount of water.

Nearing the ship they looked up at the deck, seeing a clear entrance to the beached ship through the breach in the side as they marvelled at the size of the large trading ship.

Out of sight a whisper of cloth moved as she moved over the wreckage of the ship, her hand gripping the blade tightly as she stared at the face of the new comers. She recognised sailors when she saw them but those in front, looking as if to board the ship were different. They had the appearance of people who were from the land, adventurers perhaps, none of them walked like the others, chanting under muttered breath or glided across the ground with unnatural movement to chill her blood.

As she looked through the hole in the hull, looking for signs of the beasts she almost sighed with relief that they had not found her hiding spot again, nor found the people that walked so naively across the sands. They never killed their prey immediately always took them back to their nest deeper into the island, but no one made it back once they had set their fangs into them, except for her as she was too small for them to notice as she slipped out when she saw her chance.

She let a bloom of hope flutter in her chest. Maybe she was able to leave this wreck, leave this island and perhaps return home to warn people.

Do not come to Ophidian Island.

Thanks for joining me tonight and thanks for sticking with me for the twelfth week of my journey through 2022. Don’t forget to come back again tomorrow to look at the twists and turns I have in store, those who read the introduction to the island and linked it with a previous post may already know where this is going. If not, then let us know what you think is happening on this island.

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

Rest and Repairs

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Welcome to Monday of the 4th week of the month, mostly, where this week I was going to wrap up our adventure and add in some bonus morsels but instead decided to look at the calendar and I realised something…

We have nearly another full week of March. So instead we will be exploring additional content for this months adventure!

So let’s get on my with the write-up!

A Welcome Site

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As the storm subsided the party and the crew made their way across the waves their ship having sustained damage from the fighter and the Storm. It was on the second day that the crew saw across the waves and island with tall trees scattered across the island surrounding a lone mountain. Jutting from this mountain was a tall steep spire which towered above the island and into the clouds above.

As the ship limped its way to the sandy shores Kyoko limped forward having sustained a crossbow bolt to her leg during the pirates attack. “Alright crew. We rest here for three days. Get some in wood to repair the ship, get some fresh water and food and we leave. Anyone late to the ship in on the sunrise of the third day gets left behind” she commands and the crew, most of them fully healed from Lizbet, rush off to complete their captains orders.

She beckons for the party. “My maps show this island but warn people to not set up camp, they believe this island to be cursed. Can you keep watch over the crew, Siu and Lizbet to make sure we all leave this island in one piece, or at least the same state we arrived in” she requested, grimacing as she lent the wrong way on her injured leg.

The party nod as Kyoko turns to head back towards her cabin and maps. She had insisted on Lizbet healing her crew before using magic to heal her leg, Lizbet had used all her magic on the crew and was yet to fully recover her magic to heal the captain.

A hour later a group of four crew members run towards where everyone was set up not far from where the ship was moored, the deep water of the cove perfect for a ship of this size.

“we’ve found another ship that looks untouched that would have all the gear we need to make repairs. The other crew are too spooked to enter it and we are finding it hard to get the materials from the trees to make repairs. What should we do?”

Thats it for tonight, thanks for joining me here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop!

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow as the party get to know the crew better and perhaps more when we explore more of the island.

Oh, and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

The Silverborn lining of Dark clouds

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Welcome to the end of the week writeup where we look at whats happening upon Kyoko’s ship – the Red Fleets Dancing Drake.

As the sea throws a Squall at them they also have black sails following them and no way to outrun them short of going through the storm itself.

Silverborn’s Storm

As the party settle into the Dancing Drake as it travels on the waves they encounter a large storm that is approaching them at fast rate. Not only that but they have also a pirate ship following them and gaining on them.

The storm hits hard and Siu is ordered to take Lizbet below deck by Kyoko who suggests to the party to tie ropes around their waist and then to the ship itself to prevent them from being lost to the waves.

Not long after the storm hits the Pirates make their move and attempt to board the ship.

Area of note

The boat – The Red Fleets Dancing Drake is where the party find themselves calling the ship home, for the time being at least.

NPCs in this adventure

Elizabeth “Lizbet” Scaulder

Lizbet is taken below deck when the storm hits and will heal those who are able to be healed after the fight happens – however she wont come to the top of the deck (as Siu wont let her).

Koyko Harimasu

Kyoko spends her time between the help, coordinating the crew and looking at her maps in her cabin. When the storm hits and the pirates board the ship she will not leave the helm and will stay there to keep it safe.

NPCs

Random NPCs. The Dancing Drakes Crewmates.

Environment and running the adventure

The Weather –

The weather affects on the ship come and go (see Wednesdays post for a full writeup)

When a particularly bad wave hits the boat, a skill check results in a failure that would cause the ship to lurch or shift a DC14 Dexterity check will be required for the party to avoid falling prone on the deck.

Helping the ship

Moving about the deck to tie or untie sails, tie down cargo or hatches and the like or assisting at the helm. This can be done by a DC14 or DC15 Water vehicle check.

Helping/Saving the Crew

To help save a overboard crew member, lift up a crate or barrel of a pinned crewmate or you can roll a DC 14 Athletics or Strength check.

Repelling invaders

To push boarding planks or invaders into the sea a DC12 (or 14 if particularly heavy) Athletic or Strength check will see them in the water. To cut boarding ropes it would be a attack roll with an attack that could destroy or cut the rope (AC 8, HP 10).

The Boat – See Map

Encounter

For this fight let’s assume that the party is Level 4. For this fight Milligan wont appear on deck unless his crew look to be having trouble, which they will with our party, and when he does fight he will bring 3 to 5 of his crew into the fray with him. He uses them much like a sailor uses knots, to hold things in place while he can make the most out of the situation at hand and control the flow of the battle. For this encounter I would have 2 to 3 pirates attacking every 2 rounds, roll a d6 and add the number of pirates that are left fighting the party on the Dancing Drake if the result is 4 or Less then another 2 or 3 pirates will also join the fray.

Once 10 pirates have been dispatched then Milligan and his crew will join. If Milligan drops below 20 HP he will retreat to his ship and if the party look like they will dispatch the rest of his crew easily he will cut the lines (if not already cut) and will flee with his remaining crew to not return. He will plead a parley if he cant escape and is injured.

Milligan Silverborn (Dragonborn Pirate captain)

Born on the seas and pledged to the lord of the waves Milligan grew up with a connection to the weather and to the pirates he called family. After several years he grew so used to the rough seas to the west of Faerun that his proficiency went from something inherent to something mystical and those who fought with him also became like water and wind across the decks of those they sought to plunder from.

Silverborns Crew

The crew that follow Milligan Silverborn are more accustomed to life on the waves and amongst the storms than others and believe that their captain and the sea itself will protect them. As such they rarely wear any armour so their movement can flow across their prey like waves spilling over a deck

Thanks for joining this week. This week there was trouble on the water which overflowed onto the deck and caused issues for the crew and the party. As Pirates boarded they were forced to not only defend the ship but also keep it afloat and on course.

Don’t forget to come back next week as we look to wrap up this months adventure and look at some bonus content for the final adventure.

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

One with the storm

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Hi all and welcome to fightnight!, well, Friday night which happens to be when I try to produce statistics for meaningful combat.

Tonight we are looking at the vicious pirates who are boarding the Red Fleets Dancing Drake, Kyoko’s ship. To save time and conserve my writing reserves I will kick it off without much pomp or fanfare.

Wave Walkers

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As the silver dragonborn strode across the gangplank he deflected arrows, bolts, blades and clubs that launched at him with not even the slight shimmer of his curved sword moving to intercept the weapons.

Those who ran around him seemed to dance across the planks, float effortlessly through the air on corded rope and glided around the waves that crashed around them. If they weren’t stabbing, cutting and swiping at the crew and party the way they moved across the ship and between them could almost be considered beautiful.

Milligan Silverborn

Born on the seas and pledged to the lord of the waves Milligan grew up with a connection to the weather and to the pirates he called family. After several years he grew so used to the rough seas to the west of Faerun that his proficiency went from something inherent to something mystical and those who fought with him also became like water and wind across the decks of those they sought to plunder from.

Silverborn’s Crew

The crew that follow Milligan Silverborn are more accustomed to life on the waves and amongst the storms than others and believe that their captain and the sea itself will protect them. As such they rarely wear any armour so their movement can flow across their prey like waves spilling over a deck

For this fight let’s assume that the party is Level 4. For this fight Milligan wont appear on deck unless his crew look to be having trouble, which they will with our party, and when he does fight he will bring 3 to 5 of his crew into the fray with him. He uses them much like a sailor uses knots, to hold things in place while he can make the most out of the situation at hand and control the flow of the battle. For this encounter I would have 2 to 3 pirates attacking every 2 rounds, roll a d6 and add the number of pirates that are left fighting the party on the Dancing Drake if the result is 4 or Less then another 2 or 3 pirates will also join the fray.

Once 10 pirates have been dispatched then Milligan and his crew will join. If Milligan drops below 20 HP he will retreat to his ship and if the party look like they will dispatch the rest of his crew easily he will cut the lines (if not already cut) and will flee with his remaining crew to not return. He will plead a parley if he cant escape and is injured.

Thanks for joining me tonight for a glimpse at the pirate Milligan Silverborn and his crew. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for a special Saturday writeup. Don’t forget if you have a submission for a 30 minute challenge please send it my way in the way of a single word and any restrictions (or mandatory elements) you wish to challenge me with and I will do my best to come up with a one shot adventure within 30 minutes (or a designated time frame..)

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

A voyage without a map isn’t a real voyage…

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Hi all and welcome to a Thursday write-up! Tonight I am trying my hand at something I truly need practice at but feel like its needed for this week more than ever…

So enjoy and let me know what you think!

The Dancing Drake

211ThDaDr

The imposing ship of the Harimasu family called the Dancing Drake is a large three sailed trading vessel with four levels.

The main deck supports two entrance points to below deck situated in the centre of the deck and towards the bow of the ship.

Two flights of two sets of stairs on the stern of the ship provide access the two layers of cabins. One to the crews quarters and the higher flight of stairs leading up to the helm which is situated on the captain’s (Kyoko Harimasu) quarters.

The crews quarters has a large mess hall situated on the starboard side and two rooms on the port side, a smaller quarter for passengers of note and a larger one where the bunks, cots and hammocks of the crew is situated.

The captains quarters contains desks littered with maps and papers mainly and a decently sized bed with a curtain hung from the wooden rafters to provide some amount of privacy.

The bow of the ship is raised but provides no real access to below deck.

Below deck is a large open area where several rows of benches and oars are lined up in case the winds are unfavourable. There is also a small (10ft by 10ft) cell for holding people with iron bars from roof to floor and a small lockable cell door.

To the stern and bow of the lower deck is storage for cargo, people or livestock with the bow of the ship having a secret compartment behind a small wall to hide the most valuable, or, vulnerable cargo.

Thanks, hope my mediocre napping skills provide some visuals for the size, shape and position of the ship for both descriptions and combat!

Speaking of which, don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content where we look at the pointy end of the stick and examine combat encounters for this week!

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

Soggy sails, shimmering swords

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Hi all and welcome to Wednesday night where we look at the twists and turns that the party have approaching like rain in a squall.

This week we find out party out to sea being persued by, most probably, pirates with a storm approaching them at the worst time.

So let’s look into what we can throw at the party to test their sea legs.

Trials at sea

211WeTaS

As the wind hit the sails the crew knew that they were in for a hard ride regardless of the ship that was now close enough that you could see the individual people running about the top of the deck, weapons and ropes in hand. As Kyoko barked an order ropes went taught, sails drifted across the deck and the ship turned abruptly as a large wave loomed on the side of the ship and Kyoko heaved on the wheel turning the ship at the right moment to use the wave to push them further away from their pursuer.

The party were less lucky as the sea water spilled freely across the deck, the crew moving rapidly across the deck dragging ropes, sails poles and other implements to keep the ship floating on the waves the right way up.

So the first test we have here is going to be the standard ability checks to see if they can remain on their feet and move around the deck of the ship. DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or to fall and hope they don’t fall pass the rail or at least have a rope tied to them. If the party member has a background that saw them on the sea previously then they would make the check at advantage and, DM discretion, if they had water vehicle proficiency then they would also make the roll at advantage.

With a yell a few of the crew fly overboard when they lose their grip on the ship. Within a moment several crew jump to grab the rope to pull up the crew members that flew off the edge.

“Somebody pull that sail, I need someone to help me with the wheel, get those men back on deck!” Kyoko bellows from the helm as she puts her weight behind the wheel trying to keep the ship on course as a wave threatens to push them aside.

Ok, so we have a Water vehicle check (to pull the sail), strength or athletics check to bring the overboard crewmen back on deck, and then a one of either check to help Kyoko with the helm. If the party don’t help with one of the three items then it may lead to negative affects.

  • Sail, Water Vehicle check DC 13 – If fail the party member is knocked prone and is pushed in a random direction 10ft.
  • Crew, Athletics check DC 12 Strength check DC 13 – if Fail the crew members are eventually dragged up but they have breathed in a lot of water and 1 or 2 crew members are effectively unconscious (not dead though) for the rest of the day. Any further checks to keep the ship going on course are made at +1 DC.
  • Helm, Base DC is 14. Water vehicle check at Base, Strength at base +2 and Athletics at base +1 – if Fail then the ship doesn’t turn in time and the the party need make a Dex check DC 14 or fall prone and if they fail by more than 10 they fall overboard.

If the party fail at 2 of the above three then they will be boarded by 1 or 2 members from the ship behind them that the party will need to fight..

As the ship rock and comes down from a swell it stops suddenly with a resounding crash as it connect with the pirate vessel who had come on the inside of the Red fleet Ship. As Kyoko starts to bark orders ropes, boarding planks and grappling hooks fly across the rail and go taught binding the ships together as men and women rush onboard from the other ship.

Crew members from the parties ship rush to meet them but the attackers have a manic crazed look across their face as a scarred dragonborn stands next to the helm loading a crossbow and barking orders at the people rushing across to take over the other ship.

Well – This is mainly combat but the party can remove the boarding planks, cut the ropes try to separate the ships.

To separate the ships it would require a series of successful Vehicle handling rolls. DC12, DC 13, DC14 and DC15 across 4 rounds.

To push the planks it would be a DC10 Athletics or strength check if there is no one on the plank or DC14 if there is one person, DC16 if there are two or more people on the plank as they go to remove it.

To sever or remove the ropes it would require a sharp weapon. The role has an AC of 8 and 10 HP (they are rather thick ropes). To remove them without cutting them then the party would need to make Strength or Athletics checks DC 14.

Thanks for joining tonight. So we had a few checks here to deal with keeping the ship on course and moving forward. The idea is to use the above as a base to structure the encounter and checks for the party but the idea is that we don’t want to drown them in ability and skill checks but we want to stress them the importance of certain ones.

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

The Crew

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Welcome one and all to a Tuesday night here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop. Tonight is generally reserved for NPCs, people or creatures that people run into during the weeks adventure and tonight is no different – except tonight instead of a single NPC I have a few options in play for us this week.

The idea behind tonight’s post is to look at a few frameworks that we can apply to a character, or several for the party to interact with while avoiding fleshing out thorough and compelling backstories for each person.

The Red Fleets crew

211TuRFC

How to use the below. Roll once on each table to establish a brief backstory on the person, or people, for who the party is interacting with. Assign Gender and appearance based on the portrait selected but the other characteristics can be chosen or rolled from the table to make it a quick NPC generator *(except the name.. I am poor with names..).

Visual characteristic

d6 resultCharacteristic
1The person walks with a slight limp, seeming to favour their right leg as they walk across the ship. Despite the obvious impairment they are still quick to move across the deck
2The person is exceptionally timid and will shy out of the way from all other crew members, passengers, the party and especially the captain. When the captain is around they seem to stutter, mumble and rush off to do what ever order is backed at the first chance that’s presented to them.
3The person is nimble, unnaturally so. They swing from one side of the ship to the other and climb ropes with effortless ease.
4The person is broad and strong. Able to move almost any crate, barrel, person or piece of cargo by themselves the other crew mates seem to rely on them to do the heavy lifting.
5The person is lazy. Plain and simple. They can be found laying down when the captain is not around napping or ignoring their duties. Despite being lazy they are extremely adept at the ship life and are first to fix something if there is trouble.
6There is nothing too obvious about this person, except their broken common. They barely speak and when they do its fractured sentences and very few words

Background before joining the ship

d6 resultBackground
1They are a third generation sailor and have spent most of their life on the waves.
2Joined the crew at the last port, they are very green to this type of life.
3Used to be a soldier back home but gave that up for a simpler life on the waves.
4Family member of the captain – seems to be treated the same if not more harshly than the other crew members.
5Farmer who is now seeking their fortune.
6Not much is revealed, they wont tell any one but they are jumping from ship to ship to avoid being sent to prison for a crime they committed.

Role

d6 resultRole
1Helmsman
2Deck hand
3Cook
4Medical officer
5First Mate
6Chief engineer

Otherwise notable thing

d6 resultNotable thing
1Has a tattoo of a wingless dragon curling up their shoulder onto their neck.
2Singles sea shanties almost any time they are working (or whistles/ hums if they don’t otherwise talk)
3During downtime they whittle wood with a small knife they keep at their belt. A small statue of a child (their son/daughter) can be seen on a string around their neck.
4Missing a hand of foot – a crude tool/replacement has been fashioned for them that they use deftly as if they have had the foreign appendage most of their life.
5Barely wears any clothes (just enough to be modest) – can be found praying to a deity and chanting prayers during their downtime.
6Nothing stands out in particular.

After the quick-rolls are made from the above pick a portrait from below (or any) to help describe the NPC to your party.

And that’s it, using the above and picking the more-blonde women from above we could have a NPC such as..

Visual-3-Strong, background-5-Strong, Role-2-Deckhand, Otherwise Notable – 4- Missing a Hand/Foot.

Kim

Kim is an impressive specimen, broad, strong and tall and able to carry and shift things around the boat with ease. The rest of the crew can be heard calling out her name when something is too heavy or bulky for regular people and she rushes over to help her crew. What makes it even more extraordinary is that she is missing her left hand and a set of short spikes are on a metal plate where her hand used to be. She uses these metal spiked nubs to help grip onto wood and other cargo and to also fend of those who are daft enough to want to brawl with her.

She hasn’t always been a sailor but when she lost her hand in her families farm she decided to try her luck elsewhere, the sea – using the first pouch of gold she earnt to pay for her spiky replacement she now considers the ship her home and being a deckhand her true calling.

I am relatively happy with how that panned out, I am a fan of random generators as a way of driving, steering or even assisting me in coming up with a new something for the table top and I find that, in a pinch, they are especially handy. Now all that is left to do is come up with a name….

Don’t forget to come back each day this week for the ship bound adventure, tomorrow we look at twists and turns that may affect our party out at sea (an obvious writeup this week I might add). If you do use the random tables above let me know how it goes! If you like what you create don’t forget to let me know in the comments below and I will look at creating a few more quick tables for NPC generation down the track.

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