TTRPG

Taking time away from the table.

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Hello all and welcome to a weekend post where I wanted to talk briefly around my thoughts on that I, and maybe we, spend just that little bit too much time focusing on the tabletop.

Now, coming from someone who writes content for a TTRPG daily, pending when I fail to publish it correctly, who is surrounded by four Warhammer armies worth of models and has too many dice all together this may not be a surprise that I spend a lot of time on table top. I have friends who stay up until the early hours of the night, every night, painting miniatures that are beautiful, simply beautiful. I also have players (old and new) who have requested to have weekly TTRPG sessions instead of the normal fortnightly because they can’t quite get enough of the sweet table top, but I generally try and have a hour or two, outside of work and father & husband roles, that I set aside where I do not think about table top.

The reason is quite simple, I love this hobby and I don’t want to get burnt out on it. Now not every night is a dream when I am typing up content for that evening and sometimes what normally flows out of me like fire from a red dragon is more of a dribble, like a mage learning how to shape water for the first time. These nights probably show with content that is, perhaps not as thorough as what I may be used to but for me this project, the adventure a week (well every day there is parts of an adventure), is something that I put to myself to really hone these dungeon master skills that I have been building for many years and to test myself to see if I could write about my DMing approach.

Now, I don’t think saying to yourself ‘I don’t feel like it tonight’ or ‘I’ve got a block, I can’t think of anything’ is a bad thing, not in the tiniest bit but I want to stress that you should be able to say this to your players and peers too. Going to your party “I just need a break for this week/fortnight/month” isn’t a bad thing and your players will understand, like mine have in the past. They know its a lot of effort and a big commitment to play a TTRPG game and even more so if you are the Game Master as you have to prepare the adventure, create the NPCs, the encounters, the puzzles, traps, maps, twists, turns and what ever else goes into your adventure – they understand if you need time.

For some you may feel like you don’t need to pause, no breaks, no half time, nothing. And this is fine too but I would caution to look for the signs that you need to step away from your fantasy or Sci-fi world for a bit and just take a night off. Watch a movie, read a book, go out to dinner or drinks. Play a game tabletop or electronic (a different tabletop game still counts as time off!).

Lately I have been playing online with an old friend of mine, having a few beers and playing or a few hours to just reset the clock, or, exploring a game that my new PC can actually run (unlike my old PC that couldn’t run it…) and strangely enough, some elements of my table top are being influenced by these games, movies and TV shows that I use as my downtime from table top. For me, its just becoming part of the process.

So, after all that’s said and done – I am off to find some legendary Storm drake and build a castle or sit down with my wife and watch a movie we have been putting off for a few weeks now and who knows, if a future adventure involves the harvesting of raw materials to build a fort then you know what inspired that adventure.

So, don’t forget to look after yourself, watch for the signs of hobby fatigue and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Silent as the grave

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Welcome to Friday (also known as fight night) what we look the encounter for the week whether it is combat, puzzle or a social encounter.

This week we fins ourselves in a snow covered graveyard, or on the road to such a place, where the party are ambushed by a group of creatures led by something hopefully the players will remember, perhaps not fondly though.

Howls amongst the gravestones

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Walking towards where Paul was thought to be working the party could find signs that he was there and in the fresh snow they may also find footprints indicating that he was dragged from where he fell.

There would also be paw prints following from where he was injured and dragged. A total of 6 sets of smaller prints and then a larger set of prints. A dc13 survival check would identify the smaller prints as wolves and a dc15 check (same check different info based on what the character rolled) would identify the prints as a dire wolf, but something was wrong with it as if it wasn’t well.

The dire wolf is actually a Grave Wolf, a creature that spent too long feasting on creatures and bodies imbued with necrotic energy that it warped its physiology and started to affect its body.

For this encounter I would assume a Party of 4 level 2 or higher players and we are looking for that tipping point of “hard but not deadly” for this kobold fight club was used, I can’t not use this tool, and we have the below result.

The stat blocks are as follows. On the way there the party would encounter three wolves that try and ambush the party on the road.

Then at the graveyard we would have three more wolves and a grave wolf, if the grave wolf doesn’t feel right kr natch your theme a dire wold would be a fine replacement.

The wolves would wait until the party reach Paul before springing their attack, waiting amongst the graves and tombstones (stealth check) before dashing out to ambush when they are distracted by Paul.

Thats what we have for tonight to wrap up this weeks content. Come back this weekend to see the finishing touches on the adventure and how it ties in with what we know already.

Don’t forget to let me know what you think about the creatures and if you use the grave wolf in your own adventure. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Cold as death

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Hello all and welcome to Thursdays Brazen Wolfe Tabletop post. Tonight I wanted to find something to include that I haven’t done for a little bit mainly due to personal preferences but also due the the amount of time it takes to locate and modify or produce them – A battle map.

With out adventure this week set in the village of Bracken Hollow and the recent tundra like weather system they are experiencing I wanted to find something that would fit in with what we have planned this week so let’s have a look at what was found.

Snowy graveyard

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All credit goes to Matteo at https://tehoxmaps.com/index.html – this map in particular was located here.

Whilst not being exactly snowy it has the rough features we are after this week , a few buildings, a few old and decrepit walls and gravestones as well as one or two paths in, depending how flexible you define a path.

This will be ideal for what we have planned this week, a place for Paul to be holed up in, walls for players to scout around, areas to hide and sneak through for both the player and what is on the hunt. The idea behind this is that the players can gain a bit of understanding and knowledge about the family that resides in the hilltop manor whilst finding and rescuing Paul Turp who is relatively uninjured and in good health. The encounter, well we will cover that tomorrow, is designed to drive the players perhaps into the large of the two buildings after finding and rescuing Paul from the smaller of the two crypts. Once inside they can seek shelter form the storm and from the beasts that have taken to stalking the snow covered ground.

Once again this week exhaustion will be in effect, the extreme cold, wind and snow makes movement around the area difficult but that wont be the only thing. Perception checks that rely on sight and sound may also be hindered as with heavy snow and wind perception checks that rely on those senses are made at a disadvantage. This should give the players a sense of unknown, danger and suspense as they will be randomly walking into gravestones, perhaps exposed graves as well as fences, trees, bushes and maybe the odd skeleton.

A small river running through the road also gives us a chance to work in the “Frigid water’ and ‘Thin ice’ hazards for the players that don’t walk across the old bridge, something that I would wager would give them cause to seek shelter if they were to fall into the frigid waters below.

Thanks for stopping by and looking over something that will be inspiring the encounter this week, a family graveyard with a small crypt and a larger building amongst the heavy snow. If you like the concepts put in place here I would recommend having a look at Tehoxmaps.com as Matteo has some truly amazing maps for free use and even better ones available to patreons.

Don’t forget to set aside some time this week to enjoy your favourite TTRPG and also, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Unfamiliar places

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Welcome back to a Wednesday where in this post where we look at the twists, turns and changes to the known plot that we have for this week. So far we have young Paul Turp fumbling as he went to hammer in a plank of wood into a post which broke bones in his hand. We also saw that Katya was experiencing a twilight between her her day-terrors and the reality she has known for the longest time.

Tonight we are looking at it from a different point of view to get a better understanding of what the party may be up against this week.

Dizzy spells

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Paul’s eyes fluttered open to the sight of a dim room and the sound of howling wind outside the small stone room he was lying in. Sitting upright was a mistake and he barely had enough time to catch himself before he fell to the hard stone slab. Looking around the room he squinted trying to force his eyes to focus on the dim stone walls as his vision begins to focus in on the cracked stone, worn wood and small flurries of snow that come through a few gaps in the roof. Pushing himself up he winces as he leans on his left hand, looking down he notices a slightly grubby bandage had been woven around his hand. Slowly unravelling the bandage from around his hand he studied the bruised, blood covered skin beneath unable to see the broken bones and torn flesh where his hammer had shattered his hand yesterday.

“I must be dreaming” he muttered to himself as he stood up, now aware of the heavy coat that was wrapped around his shoulders. The coat was thick, a bit old and felt well worn as he began to move around the small room he found himself in what could only be described as crypt. moving towards the door he tried to open it but found it barred from the outside. Cursing he rattled the door further trying to push through or dislodge what was keeping the door closed before looking around the room for a way to pry open the door. Looking around the room he finds a torch bracket that hung limp from the wall where it would have been attached and after a few rough tugs on the torch it came loose. Jamming the torch bracket between the door and the wall he began to pry, hearing a snap from outside on the third heave which resulted on the door shifting inwards a bit. Sighing with relieve Paul only now realised that there are now that the howling wind had dissipated.

Reaching through the door to try and shift the shattered plank of wood that had held it closed he heard the crunching of snow moments before he withdrew his arm back inside the door as a wolf jumped at the door where his arm was there a moment ago. Slamming the door shut he pushed against the door as the wolf, joined by another or more by the sound of it, scrambling to get the door closed he managed to wedge the torch bracket into a crack in the floor and into the door, leaning against the door with the torch in place he sighed and felt through the pockets in his slightly damp cloak. Feeling the dry hard scrap of jerky he had left over from his lunch, stuffing it inside his mouth he chewed as the claws from the wolves scratched against the door causing it to shudder as he lay against the door and ate the jerky trying to calm his nerves.

Thanks for joining me tonight for another brief writeup for what we are looking to expand this weeks adventure with. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow night and if you like what you read then feel free to follow for future updates.

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

A glimmer of white

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Welcome to Tuesday where we look at what NPC or character we can bring to the tabletop this week. This week we have seen that young Paul Turp is in dire straits having his hand badly injured and he just passed on out from bloodloss and exhaustion as someone walked towards him.

Tonight I want to take a break there for a moment and look at what else is going on in the area to really paint a full picture. So let’s get on with it!

A time of action

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Katya paced through the halls the chilled wind coming through the window in short bursts where the glass had fallen through some panes of glass. The wind carried a sense of further unease for Katya given that her day terrors had re-visited with a vengeance.

Her aunt crossed the hallway at the other end of the hall and paused for a moment as she looked towards Katya and smiled Katya smiled back at her aunt repressing a touch of nausea that came to her mouth. As her aunt walked out of the hallway Katya leant against the wall and clenched her eyes tightly trying to remove the vision of her aunts face being a nightmarish mix of sagging pale rotting flesh and her aunts normally smooth, if not a sickly pale, colour. Taking a few deep breaths she turned to looking out of the window, the bricks of their manor flickering between their normal worn but sturdy appearance and a crumbled dilapidated state. Looking up from the small courtyard at the front of the house she felt more than saw a presence, something calling to her, drawing her towards the fields beyond her house.

Squinting through the snow she could not see what was calling to her but the pull as nearly tangible. “What is it my dear” her father said to her, standing just behind her as she looked out towards the fields beyond.
“Oh, father”, she said startled by his sudden and silent appearance. Not wanting to turn around to see what she knew would be the horrible vision of her fathers twisted features she merely leant against the window and continued to look out the window. “The weather has gone quite cold father, what’s he village like? Are they also experiencing the same abnormal weather?’ she asked.

She could almost hear her father squint, despite his smile always being present his eyes always revealed his true feelings. “We have been over this before daughter, the village is not safe for people like you, like us. They are doing fine much like us. Do not worry they have made it clear that they do not need us like we do not need them” he said placing his hand on her shoulder, long slender fingers that were taught thin skin stretched over bones squeezed her shoulder gentle in an affectionate manner.

She nods “I know father, I will stay away from the village” she said gingerly nodding to emphasise her point. Her father squeezed her shoulder again before walking off, the click-clack of talons on the wooden floors growing fainter until her father disappeared down the hall. Turning her head slightly she looked around to make sure her family were not around before she darted down the hall and down the stairs. Slinking between the doors and halls Katya walked towards the kitchen pausing at the door to check if her mother was there, she could not be seen or heard. Dashing through the kitchen towards the side door she paused with her hand above a large fur cloak – her fathers, and as the pull got more urgent she shook her head and grabbed the cloak pushing through the door and into the white world beyond.

That’s where we are at today, Katya’s visions are getting worse and sensing something pull on her conscience towards the fields beyond the walls that she hadn’t left in years at the behest of her family – we will have to see where this goes during the week.

Don’t forget that if you do like this content to come back tomorrow, and each day this week for that matter. I am interested to hear about people using this to inspire their own campaigns or creative endeavours so let us know!

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

Can’t deny ones nature.

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Welcome back to a new week with Brazen Wolfe Tabletop and this week we are looking at picking up what we left up from the last week where the party may have gotten lost in the woods and encountered a half-ogre and his pet as well as a, err, parliament of owls (apparently flock isn’t sufficient here..)

So lets kick off and see where out players are at after the discovery that young Paul Turp had gone missing whilst heading towards the manor at the hill to do some work for “Father”.

Frostbite

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As the final post drove deep into the rapidly cooling soil Paul dove his hands back under his coat trying to encourage them to get warm. Despite his brothers warnings and protest he had come out to mend the fence between the McFasters and “Fathers” properties a week early as “Father” had promised him a bag of gold to do it earlier.

‘A bag of gold will keep the farm going for another few seasons. Just got to finish this and Colin won’t have to work so hard.’ he thought as he stumbled nailing a plank back in place. The cold wind carried flakes of snow as a particularly foul wind blew in from the north and they chilled Pauls exposed skin and caused him to fumble. The old heavy hammer smashes into it hand with the sound of crunching bone as his grip waned from the cold.

Shrieking in pain he dropped his tools, the shards of bone poking through his skin causing blood to trickle down his forearm as he cradled his broken hand.

Paul stumbled through the snow having tumbled through the fence, if he could just make it to the village the dwarves at the broken tankard would be able to patch him up and fix his hand, mostly. As he trudged on, now having to push through snow as he walked such was the ferocity of in the elements, his vision began to blur as his body began to shake violently from blood loss and exhaustion.

Stumbling to the frozen ground he tried to stand again but his limbs wouldn’t respond. His eyes closing slowly he caught sight of a figure running through the snow towards him

“Colin…” He mumbled as his world faded to black.

Thats it for tonight, a bit of a taste of what this week will bring with Paul going missing in the fields. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content, perhaps a new NPC, and don’t forget to let me know your thoughts on where the adventure is going this week, or month!

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

The Brazen Wolfe

The town amongst the snow

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Hi all and welcome to the end of week writeup!

This past week we investigated the request of the priestess from Daye and the party was requested to go seek out a powerful priestess in a small village about two days north called Bracken Hollow. This is the end of week summary and writeup of what

I will also try to group the content like many other simple d&d adventures out there – so if you like how its formatted let me know!

Bracken Hollow part 1

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The high priestess of Chauntea in Daye, Sister Lizbet, impressed with the party and what they had accomplished, rumoured to or not, requested that they go to Bracken Hollow, a town a few days travel to the north east of Daye in Amn and to search for another priestess of Chauntea who was rumoured to be more powerful than she and to bring her to Daye. During the travels into Bracken Hollow the party met with a few travellers who warned them of Bracken Hollow and its general dislike to strangers – particularly from the family who lived in an old manor atop a hill towards the north of the village, and warned the party to not outstay their welcome how ever long it is.

Walking upwards into the sleepy village of Daye the party are greeted by farmsteads overlooking paddocks filled with crops or beasts, two the north east as dense forest could be seen in the distance as the road crept steadily upwards.

Entering the town there was very little. A small stable with may hitching posts lay at the centre of the village, a large water trough and nearby well the only visible water source for horses and people alike. To the left (west of the stable) lay a tavern, The Broken Tankard, which in the dwindling light provided by the setting sun looked like the only place of warmth and hospitality. To the north, about mile away on a hill was a pinpoint of light and smoke amongst a sea of tall, slender pines who had shed their needles already – unusual for the season.

Areas and places of note

The Stables – A small set of covered areas in the centre of the town. Big enough to house about eight horses if some are hitched just outside of the small roof that provides cover from the elements. There is no stable boy but there is clean fresh water at least if sans-food for the beasts that would be spending the night there.

The Broken Tavern – A brightly lit two room, double storied building that boasts three rooms for rent, two singles and a double room. The meals are hearty and of the land but cost a bit more than what the party is used to ranging from 1 silver for basics to 10 silver for something that is likely to fill you up for half a day or more. Despite the price the quality cant be doubted and the three dwarven owners, Milly, Billy and Ned are ferociously proud of the food and drink they serve in their tavern.

People of the Broken Tankard

Carline Winters

A bard for the Broken Tankard she takes her artform very seriously and is well liked in the village. Despite her generally pleasant nature and mood she has a special kind of dislike for the man who calls himself “Father” who lives in the manor upon the hill. Carline boasts not three or even four but half a dozen songs and ballads that make fun of the man and even call him a monster that preys on the villagers. She is the only person to have reportedly seen “Father” angry after a particularly vulgar sonnet she sang about him and his wife. She wasn’t seen for a few weeks after that incident but returned to sing for the Tavern but that sonnet was never heard of again.

Colin Turp

Colin is well liked in the village and is the only full time farmer who spends more time on other peoples farms and property than his own. He is friendly, welcoming and knows how to calm a situation down without it getting out of hand. The biggest concern for Colin is his younger brother, Paul, who gets himself into trouble more times than not and is much to trusting of people.

Paul Turp

Paul idolises his older brother Colin and when he isnt looking after the family farm, which his now deceased parents gave to him and his big brother, he is chasing after his brother Colin trying to help with what ever job his brother has agreed to do. Paul tries to help his brother out by looking for work and taking almost any job offered, which has landed them both in hot water before when they accepted a job near the manor on top of the hill, mending a fence that the man who goes by “Father” believed was encroaching upon his property. Only by Colin’s quick wits and diplomacy were they able to avoid something that the villagers had only whispered about behind closed doors.

“Father”

Father’s actual name is, apparently, Greg but he insists everyone calls him father. Always present with an intense smile on his face that would make a Devil shy away he is almost too friendly to everyone he meets as he pries about their reasons for being in ‘his village’. He lives with his Wife, “Mother”, and daughter, Katya, in the mansion at the top of the hill to the north of Bracken Hollow.

The Bracken Hollow woods – rumoured to be the gathering place for fey and other creatures from the fey wild the Bracken Hollow woods are relatively small in size but deep with a few cave systems within its twisted roots and sudden drops. Those who adventure within will need to be on their toes as its not just the environment within that could kill a man.

Environment and running the adventure

As the party enter the village an unusual cold change in weather has swept through the village, many blame the fey that reportedly live in the forest to the East but there is growing whispers, hushed or otherwise, that the family who live on top of the hill are responsible.

This cold snap brings about changes in the weather conditions. When the party arrive it is cold, but not extremely so and they are offered a change of clothes (for 5 gold pieces each) if they are wearing clothes not suited to the cold climates. The following morning you should determine the weather affect in place (d6 roll on the below random table) and for each 1d4+3 hours after that roll the dice again. On a 3-6 the weather gets worse and on a 1 or 2 the weather lessens.

The party should attend the Tavern, the only place to stay for the night. Upon entering the tavern they are treated poorly by the villagers within, looked upon as if they were bandits until Milly, the Matron of the tavern comes and pretends to rough them up a bit. Afterwards the villagers get back to their jovial nature. The party find themselves at a large table with Colin and Paul when the doors open again and this time a crazed man walks in. The music from Carline changes from a merry jig to something that is brash, abrasive and seems to openly mock the newcomer who asks Milly for a bottle of wine to go. The man then seems very interested in the party and tries to pry all information from them about their reasons for visiting Bracken Hollow. Paul steps in and fumbles, revealing what the party has told them that they are here for but Colin tries to cover for his brother and the party explaining that they are heading through the town and staying for a night or two. After the man leaves with his wine the party hear about the strange weather patterns that are happening and the two reason that they believe its occurring. The strange man called “Father” and his family or the fey in the woods are upset about something and have turned spiteful.

If the party go into the woods then the weather should be snowing (stage 5). They find a cave after some while which looks like it was lived in recently, there are some dead strange looking deer within that have a fey-like quality. The weather begins to get worse. If the party stay in the cave they find themselves unwelcome visitors to an half-ogre and his pet brown bear (stats below).

On the way out of the woods they are ambushed by giant snow owls (see stat blocks below) as the wind begins to pickup (blizzard begins). After the fight they travel for a few hours – the blizzard making it rough to move through and as the wind dies down (still extremely cold but no snow) they see a half-ogre and brown bear (If they didn’t encounter them in the cave that is) has followed them and then they are in combat.

After getting back to the village they find that Paul has gone missing when going to help “Father” with a problem with his fences.

Encounter stat-blocks

Random table

Weather table.

ResultWeather affect
1Cold but not extremely so
1-2It’s begun to rain hard and its still cold, but nothing an additional coat can’t fix.
3-4It’s now dropped in temperature dangerously, its extremely cold and still raining.
5It’s now snowing and extremely cold.
6Blizzard (Extreme wind, snow and cold)

Well that’s it for the week. If you want to look into the sections in a bit deeper depth then I would suggest looking through the Monday-Friday content for last week where the topics above were explored in a bit more depth.

Don’t forget if you like this format let me know, I am still trying to work out what works best being both functional and aesthetically pleasing and if you like the content and use it I would love to hear how it goes!

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

Exhaustion

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Welcome to the random day of the weekend where I reflect, expand or digress on the content of the week. Now I touched on it Thursday and the encounter from last night would have had it occur, exhaustion.

Now it’s generally an uncommon status in many games that I have watched, listened to or ran and there is many reasons and excuses for it but exhaustion doesn’t have to be the forgotten step child of status conditions.

Firstly its gradual, its not a disease where you are instantly crippled but it builds over time without adequate rest. As a full time worker, dad and husband I understand how this feels, many of us would.

The effects in summary are:

  • Stage 1 Disadvantage on ability checks,
  • Stage 2 Speed halved,
  • Stage 3 Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws,
  • Stage 4 HP maximum reduced to half,
  • Stage 5 speed reduced to 0,
  • Stage 6 death.

Now stage 3+ is what generally scares players as it affects their combat prowess the most but stage 1 shouldn’t be uncommon. That rough night sleep on your kids floor, yup. Stage 1 exhaustion. Trying to work or function after one or two bad nights gets miserable. Those penalty to ability checks is big. No more diplomacy for you, you unfortunately said the wrong elven phrase and insulted the princess because you were so tired. Feeling sluggish after a hard week of work maybe thats stage 2. Feeling tired to the point of lethargy and it impacting how you move about isn’t just infuriating to you and comical to others it also means you now cant out halflings.. their little legs can now outpace you.

The next few additions or stages of exhaustion are pretty self explanatory but using them to add a element of danger or a challenge to an otherwise mundane adventure or session can give the players a change from mundane combat to something that is truly life threatening to their characters.

Its not just weather, lack of rest and certain activities such as barbarian rage or sleeping in your plate mail can exhaust your characters. Thinking of ways to normalise exhaustion could be the next step in adding that extra something to tour game table.

Well that’s it for tonight, a few thoughts as I look over the weeks content and plan for next week. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the end of week writeup and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Snow Stalkers

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Hello all and welcome to Friday night (fightnight as I like to think of it!). Tonight we have a few small encounters that I want to run as part of the sudden change in weather that we had in last nights part of the adventure.

As last months adventure components didn’t have much in the terms of combat out side of the gaki this week I want to delve into a bit more combat to highlight the oddity at the sudden change in the weather. So this week lets explore creatures that may call the sudden frigid temperatures home and look at how we can include them in our adventure.

Death delivered on white wings

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As the wind and snow picked up and the party realised that they were becoming increasingly lost each moment they spent in the snowstorm. The snow and wind distorted noise and the area was blanketed in a dull roar of sound as the weather raged on. Such was the noise from the wind and snow and the bright white of the falling ice that no one noticed the flurry of white wings in the sky nor the whistle of wind through feathers or the cries of alarms as the beasts sank talons into shoulders, armour and bone.

Now not usually a pack hunter but a group of three or four of these for a part of 3-4 level 1 or level 2 players should be sufficient enough to pose a threat without being too overwhelming. Considering the white snow (heavy precipitation) strong wind and environment the owls will approach silently (+4 stealth, party has disadvantage on perception checks for sight and hearing) and with their surprising strength (13) they can carry an impressive 195lbs of weight. Many large birds of prey when they encounter something that is a bit too hard for their talons or beak to crack will carry it high into the air and drop it. This would be the same case for these owls. Grabbing a player and attempting to lift it off the ground (I’d roll it as a grapple attempt in addition to the talon attack) before flying as high as they can with the weight before dropping the creature.

They are wise, and intelligent enough to know to retreat if they take too much damage (dropping below 7hp considering their health pools) and with the ability to do hit and run tactics with flyby if they are unable to grapple and lift off with their prey they would fly off and attempt another swoop shortly.

Ok for the second creature lets write that up.

As the snow and wind died down the party stumbled out of the trees after the owls had ambushed them amongst the branches and canopy of snow and ice covered leaves. The smell of the owls tangy blood mixed with their own and travels along the remaining wind and stained the snow as they walked.

As they walked for some time and stopped for a break finding it difficult to continue walking through the deep snow on the ground the party became acutely aware that they were being followed. As they readied the stomp of heavy footfalls and loud breathing could be heard just as a ogre being led by a brown bear appeared following their tracks.

This one is another simple one, the half-ogre and bear are following their prey and have found them. This would be balanced for a level 2 party but if it was just level 1 party members I would just have the half-ogre appear. The Ogre would release his bear before charging in after it and then it would end up being a pretty straight forward fight.

Well thats all we have, this requires the party to be out in the wilderness or at least away from the town to be effective. The plan here would be the party leaving to go to somewhere nearby (perhaps ruins, a house, The Manor on the hill where Katya lives) and getting mildly lost in a blizzard. The rest is easy. Give the party enough time to have a short rest between the combats and everything should be balanced enough.

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

Weather in Bracken Hollow

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Hello all and welcome to another night of content here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop. Thursday is the night for additional content, extras and things that make the adventure just that little bit better.

Tonight I want to delve a bit deeper into something touched upon last night, the weather at Bracken Hollow and they are going through a bit of a cold snap at the moment. So lets have a look at the rules and guides around weather and then see how it applies to the adventure!

205ThWiBH

So the Dungeon master guide covers a few different weather conditions including extreme cold (fitting), extreme heat, strong winds and heavy precipitation.

Extreme cold requires the creature to roll a constitution saving throw (DC10) every hour they are exposed to it and if they fail they gain a level of exhaustion. However deadly this may be it can be mitigated by wearing suitable gear or having an innate ability to withstand and live in that environment (such as those accustomed to living at that temperature). Thick boots, a coat, thick shoes, a hat, scarf etc. all can prevent the affects of extreme cold as well as having cold resistance will prevent the exhaustion that those not prepared will experience.

Extreme heat requires the creature to go through their limited resources more often, water in this case, or be required to make, you guessed it, a constitution saving throw (DC5 +1 DC per hour spend out in the heat) or become gain 1 level of exhaustion after an hour of not drinking. Naturally creatures that have fire resistance can take the heat and those creatures who are acclimatised to the area will find it a walk in the part, not a walk in the desert. Wearing medium armour or heavy clothes or armour will make the creature take this saving throw at a disadvantage.

Extreme wind will impose disadvantage on ranged weapon attack rolls and Wisdom saving throws that require the creature to hear what is around them. Creatures that fly non-magically will have to land (they cant fly), gases and fog clouds will be dispersed and exposed flames and fires will be extinguished.

Extreme precipitation will hamper the vision of creatures making the area lightly obscured (disadvantage on perception checks that use sight) and heavy rain (as opposed to just snow) will also extinguish open flame and impose disadvantage on hearing checks. Ah the sound of rain on colour bond or tin roofs.

Extreme cold, wind and precipitation will be useful in this weeks adventure and I would roll for a shift in the weather every d4+3 hours, the reason why will be revealed next week, where 1 is cold but not extremely so, 2-3 is cold and rainy, 4 is rainy and extremely cold, 5 is extremely cold with snow and finally 6 is a blizzard (Extreme wind, cold and snow).

Hazards may also form under the right consequence and a selection of a few is what I would suggest at some points, to be expanded upon this weekend mind you.

Thin ice, Frigid water and slippery ice.

If the party were to find themselves crossing a lake, river or damn then all three would take affect.

Thin ice means that the ice has a weight limit per 10 ft square of 180lb (3d10*10lbs) and whenever the weight limit for an area of thin ice is met, the ice in that area breaks and all creatures on broken ice fall through. I would rule this as an immediate suffering from frigid water unless! they have resistance to cold.

Frigid water is the same as extreme cold but the creature wont have to make the saving throw until a number of minutes equal to their constitution score. Personally I would also add on disadvantage for any future extreme cold checks until they can dry themselves as it makes logical sense.

The last is slippery ice, nice, simple and comical. The creature who finds themselves on slippery ice must make a DC10 dexterity (acrobatics) check or fall prone.

All of these hazards and weather conditions will have an affect on how the party address the game. Would they spend gold on purchasing thicker clothing or gear or would they try and rough it out?

Thanks for joining me tonight for this small writeup. This weekend, and well tomorrow, I hope to expand upon these a bit more and really flesh out what it means to be caught in a small village during a snow storm looking for a deity favoured maiden.

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