TTRPG

Update to Brung Ironsoul

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Just a very small Update to Brung Ironsoul today to announce that Brungs Character sheet has been uploaded now.

Using the free-form character rules and trying to capture the character and personality of him from my head I used a mixture of resources. The Core Soulbound rules, Champions of orders and Steal and Steel books.

This enabled me to customise the character and create the Arkanaut Admiral archetype that is represents what I think the Warhammer Age of Sigmar model would be able to do.

To recreate the Character I think the below steps would be necessary.

To create this though I whipped up a template for the KO archetype. Font for the typed in content (equipment) was Arial size 16, seemed to blend well enough with the template – see below for the template!

Archetype-TemplateDownload

More content to come tonight as it’s a Monday so you can expect more than just the update to Brung Ironsoul.

Don’t forget to check out other TTRPGs out there (such as cubicle 7 – Age of Sigmar Soulbound) and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Curse of the Dark Woods

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Tonight and I have again decided to create a zine out of this weeks adventure, The Curse of the Dark Woods. This week, due to the confusion and ongoing concerns that are shared amongst the content creator community to make this zine, and potentially many future ones, system agnostic and remove any reference to D&D specific material from the content. 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 (but this may change).

So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, The Curse of the Dark Woods. If you like this format please let me know and I hope you enjoy.

The Curse of the Dark Woods

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The Dark Woods are no darker than the average woods. They are however a thick patch of forest that has resisted man’s desire to cultivate the land nearby for centuries which has led to the belief that they are guarded by a dark spirit. 

Beyond recent memory it was rumoured that men had once built citadels and temples to gods of progress and agriculture within the forest. But within a few years the population plummeted and these cities were lost to the woods, rumoured to have been destroyed by the forest itself.

The forest is also thought to be more than it seems. Over the course of many men’s lives they have recorded that the forest doesn’t grow. There is no expansion of trees past a point, no new saplings encroaching on the lands of men and the farms, roads and villages that line the edge of the forest are safe from the dark curse of the trees.

But this has lead the the forest being a ideal place for bandits and those with ill intentions to lie in wait for those unsuspecting of anyone ignoring the tales of these woods. Sooner or later the tales will be found out to be true but until then there is always a risk of danger or death when you travel near the dark woods.

PDF adventure – The Curse of the Dark Woods

The-Curse-of-the-Dark-WoodsDownload

That will be it for tonight but I hope that next weekend you can get a party together, or find a DM/GM, to run this adventure. Don’t forget that next week I will be bringing another adventure to the table so don’t miss a thing and come back daily. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Brung Ironsoul the Arkanaut Admiral

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Tonight I want to look at Kathes companion, the Soulbound, Brung Ironsoul the Arkanaut Admiral. I was hoping to provide a character sheet for him tonight as well but don’t have access to my normal setup so it will come later.

But tonight I want to give a bir of insight to Brung and his membership with the Soulbound.

Soulbound, Brung Ironsoul the Arkanaut Admiral

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As Brung strode across the battlefield he couldn’t help but agree with his ancestors who held grudges against the stormcast eternals. “Impossible creatures those stormcast. A flawed machine churning out warriors? Pah! You won’t see machines like that in my skyport” he grumbled as the positions on his aether rig kept him moving despite the heavy armour.

In the light of Hysh his bronze, gold and blue armour was a sight to behold. He carried himself like a captain would amongst his ship mates and this caused many to move out of the way of the grumbling duardin and his companions.

“She has been through so much, we must understand and give her space to be who she needs to be” Gwen said as she nearly bounced behind the Kharadon.

“What she needs is to treat us with more respect. We are the binding charged by the warden of Hammerhall themself to guard these dawners.” He said, the urge to voice his thoughts growing. He missed his ship and his Arkanaut company, they knew how to function as a well oiled machine. He looked back at Gwen, and saw the concern in her face. “All I’m saying is she should consider us her team and let us help her more.” He resigned to saying.

The Idonenth behind Gwen spoke deeply, very uncharacteristically which startled both Gwen and Brung. “Perhaps our first point of call would be to investigate the missing scouts. They could be cut off from a route back to camp”.

After thinking for a moment Brung nodded. “A great observation Ymran. We may be able to scout them from the sky. Chuni’s pride could use the test flight.

Both Ymran and Gwen collectively groaned. The little Kharadron ship was far from stable or suitable. But the Kharadon loved it like a child.

“Let’s talk to the Dawn crusade general. Perhaps there is another course of action?” Gwen spoke with a little too much hope. The idoneth nodded on agreement.

Arkanaut-Admiral-Achetype-1Download

Well that’s it for tonight content. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content and, as always don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Denizens of the Crypt

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Welcome to Friday night, also known as fight night, where we look at the encounters and meet the Denizens of the Crypt. There is a certain nostalgia that comes with fighting zombies and skeletons in a crypt. And what crypt isn’t complete without an unholy artefact that causes anything that dies in the crypt to come back as a zombie. Yep those bandits that died or are dying in those hallowed halls are about to join the fight once more.

Tonight’s stat-blocks were sourced from Tetra-cube and, as a bit of variety for content moving forward I have also include some Soulbound statblocks too as we may be seeing more souldbound content this year than originally planned.

Denizens of the Crypt

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D&D Stat blocks

The humble zombie and skeleton, no more iconic duo in crypts and tombs could there be found. Except for maybe gelatinous cubes and giant rats. The idea is to have between 2 and 3 per encounter block. The zombies will be where ever the bandits would fall in the halls or rooms of the crypt, skeletons behind locked doors or near chests, where they died defending or trying to fight over the cursed gold. For map reference we can look at yesterdays maps Dark Forest & Darker Crypts.

Sourced from tetra-cube.
Sourced from tetra-cube

Soulbound

The idea behind soulbound is you have 2-3 minions per player, 1 or 2 warriors per player and a single champion per encounter. If we want to set this up to be a more challenging encounter we may add in a Chosen but that increases the difficulty substantially.

For our Minions we have the Deadwalker Zombie – the fallen bandits. For those cursed souls once trapped here we have the death rattle skeletons and our warriors for this weekend are the Graveguard.

Minions

Warriors

Champions

Chosen

Environment

We have a few thigs here. Unstable walls, treasure chests, a secret door and traps.

Some doorways are blocked, as can be seen by rubble around the bottom of the door, which might need a moderate test of strength and some time to remove. Or another way can be found into the rooms on the other side.

Throughout the halls there may be traps and other hazards with darts being shot from the wall or spikes dropping from the ceiling if a pressure plate is triggered.

There is a little notch on the wall to the right of the secret room, this is a button that looks like a wide mouthed grinning skull. If they reach into its mouth there is a button there that releases the door and it opens – a bit of a test of faith than something terrifying here.

The breakable wall here will have a little crack in the stone that if people deliberately (and successfully) examine the damaged wall they can see through to the other side. This should hint to another room here.

The cursed altar is an easy one. Light the flames and the undead will stop rising in the crypts. If you use holy magic or something creative enough that would look at purifying it (prayers, spells, holy water, incense etc.) then that will keep the fires lit indefinitely rather than just a period of time.

Thoughts

Both the D&D and soulbound adventure for this map will be a lot of fun. You may notice I didn’t include anything for the forest map as I want to keep this more as a random encounter zone or if the party bring the fight out of the crypts and into the forest itself.

The same wild creatures as what would be from last weeks adventure – The trouble with birds can work here but you can also add other larger creatures like bears and such. Goblins (Gitz for soulbound) also can work treat in this zone as its already got a lot of juicy mushrooms.

This week has been a bit of a weird one. With the D&D OGL1.0a changing this week there is a bit of a large departure from the D&D 3rd party content creator community. Personally I will continue with what I am doing, so far its not resulting in any extra paperwork that I have to continue but you may find that I will reduce the D&D specific content (stat blocks) and move to a more system agnostic approach.

And with the closure of the week that see’s tonight’s content finish. I am looking forward to bringing more soulbound into the content here on the blog and into the local community where I live. I think its a great system and if you want to feel like a bad-ass hero then it may be right for you. There is also my old favourite, Openlegends.rpg that is a great system for versatility and customisation where which may sneak its way back into here. We will see.

As always with the weekend here don’t forget to plan some tabletop time and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Dark Forest & Darker Crypts

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Welcome back to Brazen Wolfe tabletop where tonight I spend a fair bit of time creating the adventure maps for Dark Forest & Darker Crypts. This week we look at a forest setting, I know cliché for me but I just love them soo much! But to make it up to you I have created a Crypt map as well. So don’t go away, sit down and have a coffee while we look at tonight’s maps.

Dark Forest & Darker Crypts

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Dark Forest

Shaded and wooded areas provide great places for ambush by bandits and animals alike. A dense wood with flickering shafts of lights from the canopy of trees above make this map rather interesting.

The Dark Woods – Created in Inkarnate

Darker Crypts

Complete with a secret room, a few walls that can easily be broken through, chests for all your loot purposes and bones of the dead! This map took a while to try and get the shading on the tiles to where I was happy with them. Even now I think there are some rooms for improvement but I like the dark gritty nature of it that promises that it once was more. Evidence of many previous cave ins and a hidden altar (the top of the map) that pays homage to my first DM’s plot twist of an adventure complete this room.

Dark Forest’s Crypt – Created in Inkarnate

Well that’s all that I have time for tonight. As always feel free to use these maps in your own adventure, click the links to inkarnate and if you have an account you can remix the images! If you are playing along at home let me know how you go but make sure to come back tomorrow for some traps, secrets and the encounter! With the weekend fast approaching make sure you don’t forget to plan some tabletop time and don’t forget to roll with advantage while you are at it,
The Brazen Wolfe

Hidden Graves

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Tonight the focus is on the Twists and Turns that happen in the adventure which expands and changes the journey ahead. Tonight we uncover the hidden graves that lie beneath the ruins. So sit back, grab a coffee lets roll on with tonight’s, albeit shorter, content.

Hidden Graves

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She had to give chase to the bandits that had threatened her parents life and stolen the goods they were transporting for a baron. She felt compelled to chase them through the broken walls, dodging arrows like Stephan had taught her and she had them within her sights now. As they turned and saw her they moved to a defensible circle in the middle of the room that they had found. As they huddled together she stalked forward like a predatory creature. Batting arrows as they flew at her the panic began to set into the bandits in front of her.

Then there was a crack. First subtle which caused the bandits to falter and look around worriedly. After a heart beat more they raised their weapons again and took a step forward towards her. Suddenly the ground beneath them gave way and the bandits disappeared in a cloud of dust.

Stepping up to the edge of the caved in floor a crypt was revealed down below. The broken bodies of the bandits were surrounded by the shattered remnants of her parents goods, crates and chests.

Tonight we looked at the expansion of this weeks adventure as we move deeper beneath the dark forest. The catacombs beneath the crypts gives us an interesting proposition. The creatures that generally live in crypts give us extra diversity of combat. But also traps. This week promises to be a fun so don’t forget to come back each day to follow along. And before I leave for another night don’t forget to roll it with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Pennywhistle Company

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Hello and welcome to another night where we look at the NPCs for this weeks adventure! Tonight we set out sights on the Pennywhistle company as they are in dire need of assistance after a fast attack from bandits, and a brash headed daughter giving chase. So sit back, enjoy the NPC art and let’s roll on with tonight’s content!

The Pennywhistle Company

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The Pennywhistle Company – Travelling Merchants and more

The Pennywhistle company specialises in getting the goods people want to the places they need it. Not a large company they specialise in boutique wares and the owner of the mercantile company, Ruthor, has a solid mind for business. His wife Eve is a half-elf who wanted a quiet life after being a member of the kings army. But having never quite fit nor finding acceptance for her heritage she fell in love with a travelling merchant who saw who she was besides her ears. While Eve is disciplined, strong and stoic Ruthor is emotional, empathetic and passionate. These traits were blended nearly perfectly in their daughter, Beau, who is both strong and emotional – a trait that sees her get the better over her father but clash with her mother.

The last piece in the puzzle is the oldest business partner and hired guardian of the caravan, Stephan. Stephan is the one who introduced Eve to Ruthor after Stephan overheard Eve’s desire to leave the army and knew that Ruthor needed an extra guard. What Stephan didn’t account for as the relationship that would blossom from there.

The Members

Ruthor Pennywhistle

Created in nightcafe.studio

Despite being susceptible to anyone who plays to his empathy and humanity Ruthor is a tactical and keen business man with a keen eye for not only profit, but lucrative business investments.

He values the success that his business brings second only to his family and oldest friend. Due to this he will risk it all to protect them and see that they have the best care that his money can buy. This frivolous behaviour is one of the things that Eve and he don’t see eye to eye on.

Eve Pennywhistle

Created in Artbreeder

Eve is swift and lethal with a blade or spear and knows how to repair just about anything with very limited resources. Assigned to the support core where she mended supply wagons and guarded them from attack she is used to defending and fighting near and with land vehicles. This makes her a perfect companion in the Pennywhistle Company.

Whilst business and bandits respond well to her discipline and cold stare her daughter does not. Eve and her daughter do not see eye to eye frequently but there is a mutual respect and adoration for each other that is undeniable.

Beau Pennywhistle

Created in Artbreeder

Wild and strong Beau has her mothers knack for battle and her fathers high emotions. She learnt how to defend herself early on from her mother and has attempted to learn the tricks of the trade from her father. But the wilds call to her and she would rather be riding a horse through the plains and forest than sitting on a wagon.

Despite being reckless and undisciplined she can take care of herself and not only does she and her mother make a lethal combination but Stephan and her are a sight to behold when fighting side by side.

Stephan

Created in Artbreeder

Stephan is the oldest friend of Ruthor and business partner of the Pennywhistle company. The closest thing to a confidant and uncle to Beau they have a strong bond and can be found sparring around the camp fire most nights. Stephan’s melee prowess is second only to Eve but he is just as calculating and tactical as Ruthor is in business but with battle.

Once a mercenary for hire he was hired many years ago and once the contract was over he joined the company as a partner so he could continue to travel whilst keeping his skills sharp.

Tonight I had a lot of fun when creating the NPC portraits. Utilising nigthtcafe.studio for Ruthor (and attempting to create one for Eve) I wanted something a bit more tailored for the NPCs tonight. So returning to trusty Artbreeder was the easiest step for me. With how the blend of a broader face of Ruthor and the fine elven features from Eve I am happy with the resemblance in Beau. Stephan gives me Jeremy Irons vibes and I am happy that it sparks memories of a few movies I enjoyed similar characters in.

Don’t forget that tonight is still the beginning of the week. Tomorrow we reveal the twists and turns of the woods so don’t forget to come back tomorrow. Thursday night I hope to have a few maps available (emphasis on few) for this weeks encounter and look forward to producing them. And lastly I hope that you spend a bit of time nurturing that creative spark or indulging in some Tabletop games this week and if it’s Dungeons and Dragons, don’t forget to roll it with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Beneath Dark Woods

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Welcome and good evening as this week we begin our stroll beneath dark woods. This week we are on our level 2 adventure and glorious one-shot which takes place in a rumoured haunted woods. Why are we there this week? Well you’d best grab a coffee, sit back and enjoy tonight’s write-up!

Beneath Dark Woods

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The Dark Forest

As the party travel along a road they come across an unsettling sight. A Caravan lays on its axle with two of its wheels broken, shattered beyond repair. A large rotund man sits on an overturned chest and sobs hysterically whilst dabbing at his red cheeks with a pocket handkerchief.

As the party draw closer a second figure walks into view from around the side of the wagon, a strong looking female half-elf. “That’s enough Ruthor. Sitting and sobbing like an infant wont get the caravan mended more quickly nor will it hasten the return of Stephan.” the woman snapped at the man. It was evident that despite her frustration there was a deep affection between the two.

“But Eve. Our Daughter. She is out there chasing those fiends!” the man said as he flourished towards the Dark Woods to the side of the road. “I worry what they will do to her. She is only sixteen!”

“I worry more what Beau will do to them.” the woman replied as she retrieved a box filled with tools. “Now go get me… a dozen sturdy looking branches. About as thick as my arm. I’m going to try and mend these spokes” the lady called Eve said as she looked to the broken wheels.

“She gets this brashness from your side” Ruthor muttered in a huff as he stood and walked to the forest.

“And she gets her unchecked emotions from you dear.” Eve rebutted which causes Ruthor to stomp faster away.

At that moment movement caught the eye of the party and the two travellers. A wounded, tired looking man stumbled forward from the thick trees and fell to the ground. “Stephan!” Ruthor called as he ran to the gruff looking mans side.

The Dark Forest – created in Artbreeder

Dark Ruins

“Master Ruthor. I.. I was unable to retrieve Beau. She chased those bandits into the woods and into some old building in a clearing. I tried to follow but a few of their buddies were waiting for me. I managed to escape and defeat them but they wounded me in the process. Sir. That building, it gave me the willies. There’s something evil there. I fear what they will do to Beau, what she will do to them and what that place will do to them all. We need to seek aid from the city. We don’t have the man power to go in there looking for trouble.” Stephan said between sharp breaths, clutching a wound on his side.

“The nearest city is a days ride from here. I hope she can wait and the city can spare aid..” Eve said as she moved towards the downed man with some bandages. As she started applying the gauss and cloth to the wounds, a cut from a sword, she looked towards the party. “I don’t suppose you lot are any good at exploring and fighting huh?” she asked as she poured a clear liquid on Stephans wound. “Ruthor, can you fetch some food and water for Stephan.. He will need it if he is to recover quickly.” she asked as both man and woman looked concerned at their downed friend.

“We can pay well, well… We could have. The bandits took what we have… If you retrieve our daughter you can have what ever other loot and goods you find with those filthy bandits.” Eve added with a thought. What say you? are you able to help us locate our daughter beneath dark woods?

Thoughts

The age old “Fetch” quest. Retrieving the daughter should be an easy task, emphasis on the should. Old buildings in forests always lead to fun encounters. A lot of variety and versatility can be found in such places. This makes them great places for adventures as we can utilise a lot of skill checks, creatures, hazards and the works this week.

With no time like the now to venture into the woods I want to say thanks for joining me tonight. Don’t forget that tonight is just the beginning of the weeks adventure and we have a lot in store this week. So don’t forget to come back each day this week and as always, don’t forget to roll it with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Trouble with Birds

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Tonight is the end of week write up for the first week of 2023! to mark this occasion I decided, admittedly too late, to produce a zine, The Trouble with Birds. This aims to be the first of a few adventures this year that I want to get into this condensed booklet format so I do hope you enjoy!

The Trouble with Birds

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As the party arrived into town the colours of the bunting, poles and decorations spoke of the celebrations that were yet to happen. People were rushing to get their work done quickly as the Cherpa Hen festival was only a day away. Looking at the note clutched in their hands the party was meant to look for Gerald, the halfling. 

This was more trouble than it appeared to be originally as the streets were full of halflings. 

A large group started to cause a ruckus near a fenced in pen nearby and the party were drawn to the conflict. 

“You can’t put that there. That’s for the Hens!” a voice called out. 

“Not that we have any bloody hens at the moment. They have all gone up and took off haven’t they?” a second, intoxicated man said from nearby. ‘What are we going to do huh? What is Gerald going to do ‘bout this?’

‘I have sent for aid. The finest adventurers will be arriving any moment now to relieve..’ the short man stopped as he spied the party. ‘Make way! Make way!’ he called as he pushed through the gathering of halflings and a few humans. ‘You got my advert! Here you go, fine people-adventurers in fact!. All is well!’ he called as he shooed the party into a nearby general store. 

‘I do hope that you can help…’ he muttered to himself as he sat on a nearby stool. The noise from outside seemed to have quietened down by now. ‘Our hens have gone missing’. 

Cherpa – sourced in nightcafe.Studio

PDF adventure – The Trouble with Birds

The-trouble-with-birdsDownload

A lot of time goes into making these Zines and I also elected to re-write some content from the week to make it flow a bit better. So if you do like these please give the adventure a go, It’s free and beginner friendly but meant as a guide to the adventure. These aren’t quite there yet as being beginnder DM friendly as many of the rules and interactions are deliberately left out. This is a starting point for the adventure, the rest is up to you!

Next week we move onto another one shot where I am hoping to explore some more and perhaps even fall into a crypt! So don’t forget to come back next week when you set aside some time aside for your own adventures and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Soulbound – Kathe the Knight Azyros

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Tonight being a bit of a free night for content I wanted to look at the RPG I promised would get a bit more attention this year. And tonight we have Soulbound – Kathe the Knight Azyros having flown onto pen and paper and digitally attached for everyone’s perusal. Now I originally looked at Soulbound’s character creation mechanics March last year (Soulbound – Warhammer Age of Sigmar TTRPG) and it was relatively easy to get back into the wing of it. I found myself wanting one or two more XP so I could add another skill and focus for Talent variety but it wouldn’t fit the roleplay I had in mind for Kathe.

So sit back, sip a coffee and let’s roll into some soulbound!

Soulbound – Kathe the Knight Azyros

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Her golden wings armour gleamed in the light brought upon by Hysh as she stared across the plains before her. It felt like it had been an age since she had been deployed and she was glad to be away from Azyr. But, that is the lie she told herself. Truthfully she could not remember when the last time she was deployed or the outcome of her sacred mission from the god-king Sigmar. She believed she had meet it with success but the reoccurring nightmares of hundreds of grabbing hands and terrible teeth couldn’t be stopped.

She unconsciously itched the ten scars that were on the right side of her head, visible through her golden hair. She had been told by other stormcast that they were her tell, the evidence of her being re-forged over and over by Sigmars’ faulty machine. However she believed that it was a test of her faith and devotion to the god-king And this one she would not fail.

As her allies slowly rose from their tents they gazed over the gathered humans, aelves and duardin as they condensed on the plain in front of them. A dawnbringer crusade they called themselves. Kathe just knew them as her ward, one that needed to be shown the beacon of light that Sigmar had entrusted to her and her alone.

The scouts had come back early in the morning announcing that a mass of green skinned orruks and Gits had been seen in the area. She had not woken the party as they had endured a long day the one before and the soulbound would need their strength, and hers, over the course of the next day.

“What’s news our stoic stormcast?” a gruff voice of Brung Ironsoul, a Kharadron Admiral who was too long from his ship spoke from behind her.

“Green skins, orruks and gitz supposedly. They are en masse in the area. I would expect a long day ahead with the promise of combat” she replied. The binding behind her sighed collectively. They could never understand the burden she carried. A vision of a previous battle flashed before her eyes, towering orruks with weapons the size of men were cleaving aelves in two. A bolt of lightning and she descended into the fray, sword and lantern glowing. Her presence bolstered the mortals and they fought harder with her and her fellow stormcast by their side but even the glow from her wings could not shine as the sun was blotted out by the tide of arrows that descended shortly.

Her wings unfurled and the crackle of lightning across them caused the binding to stand backwards. “Are you alright Lady Kate?” the human wizard softly asked, using the short name that many of her kind did for her. She was too kind and caring for this type of work but her voice did bring her out of her trance and silenced the vision of steel blades cutting into her plate.

“I am fine. Thanks Gwen. We best prepare ourselves for battle. I will go speak with the crusade and ensure they are also ready” Kathe said as she moved off, leaving the binding behind her to organise their breakfast.

Character Sheet

Kathe-Stormcast-Knight-AzyrosDownload

Although it’s something different than usual tonight was a lot of fun looking at what is possible in Soulbound. I may make Saturday night Soulbound a thing for a little while so let me know what you think of it. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow when we look at this weeks adventure write-up and, as always don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe