TTRPG

Obtaining Inspiration for Characters

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

Obtaining Inspiration for Characters

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

1. Anime, Movies and TV shows

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

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

2. Music

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

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

3. Books

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

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

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

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

Crusty Critters and Snowy Shifters

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

Crusty Critters and Snowy Shifters

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

Dire Crocodile- Created in tetra-cube.

The Deity of pure Snow

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

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

Giant Lynx – created in tetra-cube.

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

Salt and Smoke

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

Salt and Smoke

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Smoke by the Seaside

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Welcome to Wednesday where we are looking at the party coming up to the seaside town of Nigrun and a surprising amount of smoke by the seaside. This weeks twist isn’t so much of an earth shaking shift in the story but the decision point where we join the two points together. So to explore what this is let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!

Smoke by the Seaside

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The view from the sea was peaceful and the calm waves helped alleviate the tension from earlier. The spot of fishing earlier in the day had caused quite the commotion when one of the sailors had something take the bait bigger than what he had intended. However, the adventurers had stepped in and both the sailor and the crew were ecstatic at the result.

“We are approaching Nigrun, we will stay here overnight before heading to the last town a bit further along the coast two days’ travel from here. The next town is Ferklend port, the doorway into the Tulkore jungles. Not the most pleasant of holiday destinations due to the Carrion Swamp beyond that but it has its riches to be made in those dank waters.” Jon said from the helm of the ship towards the party standing nearby.

A few quiet moments went by as they moved closer to Nigrun before Jon broke the silence “That’s odd. I didn’t think it was the end of the season yet, they must have had an early harvest.” he said as he pointed to the amount of smoke along the shore. “The people of Nigrun mainly deal with trade but they have enough fertile land nearby that it makes a fair bit of wheat and straw. Once they have finished their season they burn off the refuse and spread the ash on next year’s crops to boost the soil. A clever bunch really.” he added as he turned the wheel to get ready to dock at Nigrun.

The cold journey hadn’t been as quiet as they had hoped but after they left the beast’s territory it left them alone. It had been a few days on the sled and the weird, giant ox-like creatures that pulled their sled seemed to have accepted the party’s presence. “We will stop for a day, or two at Nigrun. I have lodgings there for the beasts and then I swap to something that can cope with the warmth of the lands around Tulkore as we move towards Ferklend port.” Carmine called behind her. The weather was clear enough that she didn’t need to shout or call but her voice carried a directness that the party still wasn’t used to.

Standing up in the sled, Carmine pointed to the north east. “If you look there you can see Nigrun and its green hills about half a day away. We will be there at nightfall but not much later than dusk as I don’t want to push the animals to move at speed if we don’t need to.” she said as she turned to pull out a spyglass. “If we wanted to, we could get there in half the time.” she said as she turned her spyglass to the sea before a small smile crossed her face.

A few hours later Carmine checked on the party and her other passenger, Viktira before turning to check on the town of Nigrun with her spyglass. Standing upright as she checked she called back to everyone with urgency in her voice. “Hold on, something is not right at Nigrun. I am going to get as much as I can out of the beasts and get there as soon as I can.” she said as she passed the spyglass backwards. The party member grabbed it and looked through the device at the seaside town. A ship was docked in town but a few buildings were smoking and charred. A crude barricade had been formed from wagons and wood around the town with smoking sections standing between the town and the road heading east. Something was definitely not right in Nigrun and from the concern in Carmine’s voice the party were in for a bumpy ride.

Thoughts

Both modes of transport cross over in Nigrun for a bit of town defence. How the party continues on depends on them and the next day or so as they defend Nigrun from attackers. After that though its a pretty smooth shot to Ferklend port and beyond that. The Carrion swamp.

Another night down and a few more to go this week as we move towards the Well of Souls. This week may push forward at a faster pace than the others as we have more adventures left in this humid environment. So don’t forget to come back this week and the next for more adventuring. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

In the Business of Travel

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The mode of transportation set, the next part of their adventure awaits as we meet two NPCs who are in the business of travel. A sailor who tames he seas and a land-based Merchant who battles he snow and ice. Who the party chooses to travel with doesn’t change the outcome but changes the experience, well mostly that is… So to meet these two NPCs let’s sit back with a coffee and roll into tonight’s update!

In the Business of Travel

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Bonjon Quiverwick

Bonjon Quiverwick – Created in Nightcafe

The ship known as Little Nymph was run by a rather rotund and wealthy merchant names Samuel Redeye. Sam however had trusted Bonjon, Jon to many, to run his ship up and down the coast between the Platara lands of ice and cold to the more humid shores of the Tulkore jungle and the endless swamp beyond.

Despite always being on the sea Jon hasn’t found wealth about the ship but has found a freedom that he craves. Being born into a life of servitude he and his parents served a lord far inland. As chance would have it Tymora smiled upon him and granted a release from his bond when he and his parents were given to a travelling merchant to settle a debt. This turned out for the best as the merchant quickly freed them and gave them employment.

Although not married, Jon has been in a long relationship with someone else in the trade. But despite being monogamous neither appear to want to settle down and continue their relationship in brief periods of respite from both their travels.

Carmine Cliffrunner

Carmine Cliffrunner – Created in Nightcafe

As brash and rough as the ice fields that Carmine travels along she is as merciless as the frigid lands she makes an income from. The owner of a series of sleds that transports goods along the land, far from the coast and the rumoured pirates there, Carmine is known for getting goods safely to where they need to get to.

Carmine ensures safety by utilising large Oxen like beasts that are twice as large, nearly impervious to the cold and about as ferocious as a blizzard. But despite their hostile nature Carmine’s own nature seems to have kept the beasts in line and surprising loyal and protective of her. However, despite her best efforts they tend to be a bit ornery with those who choose to travel with the goods that she generally transports.

Carmine doesn’t talk much about her family or relationships but she has been hard to find periodically as she takes time away from transporting goods and people through the cold ice fields every few months.

Viktira Bronlock

Vikira Bronlock – Created in Nightcafe

A young lady that appears to be excessively wealthy Viktira seems to be in a hurry to leave. Whether its to escape something or get somewhere she doesn’t explain. However, she is open to the party after questioning them and learning about their exploits and adventures and she wants to know all about their travels. If they travel together she is a source of near-endless questions and requests for more information on their adventures and tales.

Thanks for joining me for a NPC night which feels a bit more familiar than the past few. Don’t forget to come back each day this week as we expand on this weeks adventure and to follow along with the story as it unfolds. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Road to the Well of Souls

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Welcome to another night of adventure building and tonight we find our party on the road to the well of souls. This is the second part of 3* adventures that take place after the discovery of Andrasa’s tower. So to get on with the trip let’s carry and sit back grab a coffee and roll into this weeks adventure!

The Road to the Well of Souls

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The Ship from Platara Coast – Created in Nightcafe
The Sled from Platara ice fields – Created in Nightcafe

Saying goodbye to the snow, ice and cold was the easiest part of their departure from Platara. The last battle that they faced in the Ice Spire still caused their bodies to ache as they bumped along towards the Well of Souls. The information that they had gathered from Lucile and the map was that it was located in a sunken forest, well a swamp really. But like the Ice spire it was apparently a place of interest, and the phantom of Andrasa that they had seen in the aftermath of the battle led them to believe that the wards there were also failing.

But for now they smiled at the fresh air and the distinct lack of chaos or impressing doom that was waiting to drag them down. For now the sounds of other travellers coming along with them to the Port town of Jandarl was refreshing. In the town they would have a choice, travel by sea on a merchant boat that stops at a few port towns along the way or travel by land which is a direct route to their destination. The ship is just as fast as a Sled and wagon due to the stops but gets out of the cold a little bit quicker.

Entering Jandarl they were greeted by friendly faces of Jardi and Hisha, both were trading with some locals near the docks. “So you made it. When we left camp we believed that we would see you again.” Jardi said with a smile. “I had a winter wolf visiting me and let me know you all were safe.”

“We can’t thank you enough for rescuing our people from those creatures in the ice caves. They spoke highly of your bravery and determination to save them.” Hisha added with a bow, “but once you do know where you are heading please let us know. We would like to pay your way to your next destination, wherever that is. It’s the least we can do.” Both Jardi and Hisha smiled warmly at the adventurers before ushering them to a tavern nearby.

Warm ale and food was quickly brought out and it wasn’t long until everyone knew of the conquests and actions of the party as they sat down and enjoyed a moment to rest.

Another decision for the party to make that will help shape their experience of the next leg of the journey. But don’t fret young DM as we do have ways to cater for a moment of sandbox thinking. As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome, and I have implemented this approach many times. So don’t forget to come back each day this week and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Frozen Ridge

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

So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, The Frozen Ridge. If you like this format please let me know and I hope you enjoy.

The Frozen Ridge

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After the discoveries made at the tower of Andrasa the party uncovered something more. Three sites marked and labelled by the Arch mage herself in a language unknown to all. The closest being the Ice spire in the lands of Platara, a frigid region to the north.

These places could be a place of great opportunity, danger, or both but the adventurers will only find out once it’s too late.

After returning to Rastabar with the party spent a few days resting and seeing the sights. The markets were filled with local and exotic wares and they had access to almost any magical or mundane item they could wish for, the right amount of gold permitting of course. But the strange and exotic animals also drew them in. Wind cutters, hyenas, a fellgorger and something both chained, caged and contained in a giant wooden crate that occasionally rattled. All these weird and wonderful creatures are all up for sale. 

But despite their shopping and rest it wasn’t long until Lucile asked for them to join her at her warehouse.

“Now I don’t need to say thanks again, the payment should be enough for that, but I do have something else to offer. The land has changed since Andrasa drew her map but we believe we know where she was talking about. If they were placed Andrasa had pointed out or was drawn to they would certainly be placed of great interest. We have updated one of our modern maps with Andrasa’s key points and I want to give it to you. While Andrasa will always be my favourite subject it’s what she did with Rastabar that makes it special to me.”

Lucile Bendercuff – Created in Nightcafe

Although the ship had been paid for by Lucile the captain, Alex, seemed less sure of the job. “I don’t really fly up that part of the Desert. Tribes in the desert have been known to attack merchants given the chance, flying ship or otherwise.” he said as he looked over the helm and railing.

“There is a crate of supplies there, a gift from Lucile. You lot made that young woman’s dreams come true by uncovering stuff about that old mage. She hasn’t been this excited in years.” he said with a nod as the party opened the crate and looked at the rations, climbing gear, warm clothes and tent. Just don’t go do something stupid. These places were marked for a reason and it may not be the right one. The closest is the Spire, a spike of ice. I saw it once I did when I traded with some barbarian tribes of the ice plains. That was before I got the ship though. Magic plays up on the ice.”

PDF adventure – The Frozen Ridge

the-frozen-ridgeDownload

Thanks for joining me tonight for another Zine. Next time you get a party together consider running this adventure and I hope that you enjoy it.

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

Alternative Directions

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With this week leaving the decision on how to move forward up to the players I think its wise to touch on this weeks alternative directions. Now based on the encounter planned for this week it’s going to be a big one. But if they don’t want to fight the Frost Giant and a beefed up Winter Wolf then how do we wrap up this week. That’s where the alternative directions come into play. Something that is triggered from the players decision where the outcome helps drive the story forward in a different way. So sit back, grab a hot drink and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure.

Alternative Directions

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Disappointment and Fury. More fury than disappointment when the creatures watched the idiot mortals talk with the hulking giant. Who were they to think that they could stray from the plan and make peace with the dumb brute instead of kill it. As the rage began to take over the creature calmed itself. Never mind, the plan still had another option. The idiotic mortals still removed the first guardians, the dead wolves out front had kept his agents at bay for centuries and now the pack was diminished.

Steadying a breath it pushed out a command, a series of instructions to the fell beasts that dwelt within the frozen tundra. After a few moments of concentrating the horde answered the broken commands, the confines of the creatures prison hampered its magic. But then the horde answered. A screeching, seething horde of claws, teeth, fists and blades smashed through the ice. Claws from the foul undead creatures scampered over rocks and rushed towards the spires. Foul winged beasts swooped towards the spire at their masters commands and finally, hulking brutes pushed through the ice as they were driven by ancient oaths from their ancestors towards the spire.

If you can’t trust lesser beings to do your dirty work for you then you need to do it yourself. Soon the bindings will be removed and its powers will grow but first, revenge on those who betrayed it was a dish best served frozen.

So a bit of a glimpse what the alternative will be to ensure the story for this multi-part adventure continues… But even with that considered as one of the alternative directions the party has the final say in the end. So don’t forget to come back tomorrow for some more D&D content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage.
The Brazen Wolfe

Oskarg & Platara

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This weeks adventure finds the party coming face to face with Oskarg & Platara, the two demi-gods of Platara, or so the people of the ice plains call them. These two figureheads rule over the frozen lands like king and queen, but they hide a dark secret. But before I reveal their back story this weekend let’s sit back and meet the numbers behind the names.

Oskarg & Platara

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The giant known as Oskarg is a deity to the people who live on the ice fields of Platara. Some think him immortal, a demi-god but only he and one other knows the truth. Oskarg sided with an ancient evil in a battle with heroes from a lost age, and he was defeated. In his rage and his refusal to accept defeat the great mage Andrasa cursed him to reside within the frozen lands and to guard an unholy site until he was relieved of his duty, or until he defeated the evil master that he once served. This time is still yet to come.

Oskarg – Created in tetra-cube.

Platara

The Winter wolf known as Platara is a marvel of the ice fields. There is always one Platara, no more and no less. Those who have claimed to have slain the wolf are visited by the creature on the next morning and walk away from the encounter changed.

Thought to be blessed by the land itself Platara guards the people from evil and from danger in exchange for the winter wolves of the ice plains being considered sacred animals. If even as little as one winter wolf is slain Platara will hunt down and challenge the murders to prove their worth in battle.

Platara – created in tetra-cube.

Thanks for dropping by tonight and getting a glimpse at Oskarg and Platara, this weeks combatants. However as I have mentioned a few times this week there is a choice to be made by the players. Confront the giant and wolf or not. I do have something up my sleeve for the alternative to fighting this formidable duo so you better come back again this weekend for more Tabletop Content. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage
The Brazen Wolfe

Inside the Ice Spire

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Tonight’s we get a look Inside the Ice Spire where we have a statue, a giant and a wolf. This week looks a bit cold and menacing but as I mentioned in yesterdays post; Secrets of the Spire, how this plays out is up to the party. So before we reveal anything more let’s sit down, grab a coffee and look at tonight’s map!

Inside the Ice Spire

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The walls of the room are sharp and harsh by they look like they are chipped back at jagged angles. A raised platform of ice, maybe 10 feet above the flat floor holds a statue that is in the stages of cracking and healing from a small trickle of water that drops from the roof above.

A smoother section of the wall lays behind the statue which looks like its purposefully been kept smooth and flat. Two large braziers shed flickering blue light around the room from either side of the statues platform from magical flames. Despite the room itself being well looked after and worn in places the hallway in has several different bones thrown against the wall and partially buried from snow that made its way down the hall.

Inside the Ice Spire – Created in Inkarnate.

The final map for the Platara Ice shelf, ice plains and ridge journey that the party has gone through. This week caps off the journey with a decision from the players on how this adventure goes. Will they confront the giant, the demi-deity of the glacier or will they head its threats and leave this place. Don’t forget to come back the next few days to see the outcome of this and the encounter that we crave. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe