D&D: Jaegers of Zielen. Homebrew 5E

Welcome to another post and this time its a little different... I'll be showing off some of my homebrew D&D content, the Jaegers of Zielen. This came about after chatting to a player who wanted to have a bit of a monster hunter feel but without being too 'The Witcher'. So I played around with some ideas and created the Jaegers of Zielen, a secretive organisation that operate around the Sowrd Coast (and sometimes beyond) under the guise of the Lords Alliance. I was a little hesitant to post this in case my players found something out I didn't want them to know yet but I think at this point most is common knowledge with them or its something that may have known out of game anyway.

Jaegers of Zielen.

Throughtout the history of Faerun many heroic deeds have been told by Bards, tales of slaying great beasts that threaten villages, songs sung of cults stopped by the actions of an adventuring party, but some go unnoticed by the larger world. The Jaegers of Zielen are an Order that was created by the Lords Alliance to undertake dangerous missions around the Sword Coast and sometimes beyond that are secretive or perhaps best not known to the general populace.

They are said to have been created by a Gold Dragon named Ornathex, and have existed for almost 300 years. Ornathex, who is the head of the Lords Alliance, needed undercover agents to infiltrate suspects of a cult, one of the suspects was a Harper. Unsure of how trustful the Harpers were, the dragon decided to create a small secretive order that would do deeds should a quiet approach be needed. His first recruit was a half orc ranger called Zielen. Zielen was known for his quiet approach to hunting a quarry, be they a beast, a criminal, or evidence regarding dangerous activities with which to incriminate suspects. Ornathex tasked him with recruiting a small number of operatives to infiltrate and watch not only the suspect in the Harpers but other suspects, and soon they had discovered Cult tendancies among those they watched. It turned out to be they were worshippers of Tiamat, and without anyone knowing all were assassinated before they gained much support.

Ornathex saw them as being a great asset going forward, and through his own wealth had a keep built in a secretive location said to be towards the top of a great mountain range. None who try to leave the keep have survived the great distance they have to travel, and the location is still shrouded in mystery. To start with, only orphans were recruited to the Jaegers, but after time anyone who could prove loyalty and showed great talent would be allowed to test to become a Jaeger. Those who fail are kept at the Keep, either serving those who bettered them in the tests, cultivating crops that fee the Jaegers or other more menial tasks. They are also trained to an extent, should the Keep ever be attacked it can be well defended from the Jaegers themselves and those who serve them.

The tests are a gruelling time for new recruits. Mountain top runs along snow capped mountains, climbing sheer cliff faces frought with danger, wild animals desperate for food in an inhospitable environment and the snow storms that frequent the area. Only several may attempt the initiation ritual, usually no more than 5 out of 8-10 will pass. Despite it being a harsh test only the absolute best of these orphans will advance and become initiates.

It was around 40 years after the founding that Zielen fell in battle. Jaegers had been tasked under the guise of Lords Alliance agents to help lead a military assault against an underground threat in Mirabar. Undead numbers surged to an epic number, several entrances to mines there fell to animated beings and large undead constructs before they were caved in to hold them off. The Jaegers proposed a frontal assault while they infiltrated to find the source of the undead. While a large battle erupted in a huge cavern, Zielen found a Necromancer overseeing the battle. He was able to get close enough to put a blade through the Necromancers skull, before a huge beast, flesh hanging from its body and part of its skull exposed, grabbed the Jaeger and ripped his heart out. Most of the undead force dropped, the magic once controlling them now dissipated with the death of their master, but the small number of creatures that had allied with the undead forces retreated into the depths. Zielens body was recovered, and the beast that killed him slayed by the remaining 3 Jaegers who had accompanied Zielen. While none would know of Zielens heroics, the Jaegers became known as the Jaegers of Zielen in his honour. Hid body was burnt in a pyre in the courtyard of the Keep, Ornathex himself setting the pyre alight.
Overtime the recruiting process included more tasks as well as the physical endurance tests established early on. Puzzles, war tactics, fights against other trainees all becoming part of the program. Once a recruit becomes an initiate, they now train for 5-6 years even more intensely than during the initiation rights. They build up a knowledge of certain environments, learn history of the world as well as their Orders deeds and how odds were overcame. They are taught to survive on the most basic of items and how different races might act or can be swayed to help them should they need allies. They learn of military tactics, how different forces around the Sword Coast may fight and can be used to their best against a variety of enemies. Weaknesses that different beasts may have and can be exploited be they dire bears or hydras, and which tools to use for each job.

The Jaegers are taught by four mentors, all of whom are great warriors in their own right and are sometimes called upon to go on operations around the Sword Coast. They are:

Bael the Bear is one of the first individuals trainess will meet as they undergo the Rites of Initiation. Named the 'Bear' on account of his often exposed hairy torso, Bael teaches recruits how they must be versatile in the field and is a master at melee combat. He once disdained ranged weaponry but has grown to appreciate its uses over his 120 or so years since coming to the Keep and becoming a Jaeger.

Menshu Togafoot, a middle aged halfling whose smile can disarm many before a shortsword is swung. Menshu is a master in enemy psychology, able to read body language by seeing patterns and twitches and calculate how an enemy will act often before the enemy knows themselves. He is also able to implant ideas into the minds of enemies through psychology, faking movements to raise an enemies guard before striking from a different position.

Klandora Trayvex is an elven ranger who specialises in the hunt. Her tracking skills and ability to lay traps are legendary amongst the Jaegers, and her ability with the bow and reading the body language of beasts and monsters has become a great resource of knowledge for aspirants. Many Jaegers life has been saved by her lessons on how to survive with little to nothing in wild environments by this friendly if often stern elf.

Groten is an orc whose stature is second only to the Grand Master. The dark skinned orc is a master tactician in the field of battle, and whose skill with unarmed combat a favoured lesson by many at the Jaegers Keep. Groten, while menacing to look at, is also one of the most friendly of the tutors. An advocate that 'a little fun in a lesson is good for the spirit' he is often the tutor that a lot of aspirants will go to if their spirit is low or an issue has arisen.

Grand Master Horun is a mysterious figure to all initiates at the Keep. He has a presence than none other at the Keep have, a stern look always upon his face, the Grand Master does not teach any aspirant. It is only when initiates become a Jaeger will they converse with the still quiet Horun. His skill at using monastic combat is legendary amongst the few that have seen him in combat and no Jaeger has ever landed a hit on him. Only a few have even come close, and those few have gone on to become sdome of the best hunters the Jaegers have had amongst their number. Standing around 7ft tall but whose dwarven appearence belies his speed and strength, the Grand Master operates often and is tasked with the most dangerous of missions. Jaegers will occasionally seek his wisdom when they cannot find answers or have question to things. It is quietly told that Ornathex, the Ancient Gold Dragon and head of the Lords Alliance once asked to spar with Horun and not even the great wyrm could land a hit upon the Grand Master.

And there we are! The class is based upon the fighter but with a little more specialisation and also a custom version of the 'Grit Point' system that suits their training a little. If theres interest I can try and present the first 6 levels of Jaeger for others to try but bear in mind its designed for a smaller sized party of no more than four, my group is of three and it seems reasonably well balanced thus far. Let me know your thoughts, theres always room for tweaking but I will be post more homebrew content in the future.

Guide to Roleplaying

Tabletop roleplaying has become one of my great passions in this hobby. Meeting up with friends to act out adventures that a dice (and sometimes a Dungeon Master) will determine is great fun and fantastic escapism. But what can you do to make yourself a better roleplayer?

First off, speak to the dungeon master and fellow players about what you want from the game. A bloodletting dungeon crawl can mean a lower amount of roleplaying and more fighting, whereas a grand campaign with a huge narrative arc allows a huge amount of scope for really delving into a character and backstory. This will help set the mood with your group at an early stage and put everyone one the same level.

When it comes to creating a character, think about how much you want to be involved with the roleplaying aspect. To keep it simple, choose a race and class that appeal to you and put a little of your own personality there. Humans are always a good start as we know how they act already, but Elves and Dwarves aren't too dissimilar to play either. If you're looking to push your skills then races like Tieflings, Dragonborn and Goliaths can really open up your perspective. A good DM will have the world react differently to differing races and this can be really interesting to play.

In terms of a backstory always converse with the DM. The first thing is to understand the setting, which will then spark some ideas as to where your character fits in. Talk to the DM about your idea and they may be able to link you into the story even more which will immerse you even more. The more immersion, the better the roleplaying.

When you begin playing theres some things to remember. Every player will, or at least should, get time to shine. This can be from triumph in a battle getting the last hit on a renowned enemy to being the focus of a story arc in which you'll do a lot of talking and roleplaying. These moments are great for your character so really try to lose yourself in these moments. Likewise, if its a fellow players time the best thing you can do is to give them the time to shine. If they are nervous about roleplaying then you can help them get immersed. If its in the heat of a battle, you can try to set them up for a finishing blow, either by an ability or spell that can buff them or by flanking or aiding them to give them advantage. If its more character based with conversations with NPCs then just help them with little questions the player may be unsure of to ask, ask them questions that will then inspire them to talk more with the NPC's. Being a great roleplayer isn't just about playing a good character but about helping the players around you be better roleplayers too.

There will also be many times when you know things as a player but your character may not. I usually mention to the DM 'I know how to do something but I'm unsure my character will, can I roll a check to see if he does?' to see if the character will know, or quite often not even mention it. Your character will have a different variety of knowledge compared to you and this works in the opposite way too. The DM mentions something you know nothing about but think your character will? Ask your DM and hopefully they'll ask you to make an ability check. You might learn something new!

 My final piece of advice is also to accept that you will make mistakes or bad decisions and have some truly terrible sessions where the dice rolls are incredibly bad. Yes its annoying, but don't get angry at such things as they will affect the rest of the players at your table. Remember TTRPG'ing is a game and a shared experience with a number of other players and a Dungeon Master. Player etiquette should always be a priority in a group, the happier each player is the more enjoyable the session will be for everyone. Someone roll a nat20? Give em a clap or a cheer! Someone roll a nat1? Have a collective groand but laugh too!

So there we have it! I'm learning all the time when I'm roleplaying so expect more thoughts on this tremendous aspect of gaming in the future, perhaps I'll be able to get other peoples thoughts too from fellow players and dungeon masters. If there are topics you'd like me to cover then please get in touch and I'll see what I can do, Don't forget my affiliate link with The Outpost above if you want to get some nice discounts from your tabletop gaming needs and I'll be back again soon with another blog post.

Saturday Salvo!

So what did I say? Satuday Salvo is back! This is just a little catch up post about what I'm upto, and anything that takes my interest in the world of tabletop. Before I carry on... behold... RESIN PORN!

This impressive individual, is Anacharis Scoria of the Dark Mechanicus soon to be available from Forge World. This guy is absolutely stunning, hes like a daddy defiler from which the defiler grew in numbers and size. Genuinely love this miniature and wondering about conversions! 

Tooth and Claw is released today, the new 40k boxed set that pits the Genestealer Cult vs Space Wolves in Primaris form. Some nice miniatures on both sides, and I may pick up the character pieces to knock up one day. In a painting kinda way obviously. 

Myself, I've been hurriedly painting away at the Chaos Chosen team for Blood Bowl and Questoris Knights for Adeptus Titanicus.

Chaos Chosen are almost done, transfers have been placed on and just finetuning some of the details before they get a coat of matt varnish, get shot (with a camera!) and then go up for sale. I've really enjoyed painting them, although I'm still learning to paint and get a contrast between areas of skin and fur. 

I've numbered the Chaos Warriors 1-4, Beastmen 5-12 and then the Minotaur (yes, theres a frenzy stoked minotaur being painted up too) number 16. I've got the Elven Union team still on sprues I may get built in the next week and started too, tempted with a brighter more outlandish colour scheme for those but shall see!

Another kit I've really enjoyed building and painting are the Questoris Knights. 

The detail on these guys are really good, even at the much smaller scale they pack a lot of bits in that make it look impressively close to its 40k scaled brethren. I'll ve very tempted to get some more of these and maybe even a Warlord to try building and paint up, but first these need some more work, transfers applied and to sell! 

Now excuse me for just a few moments, I need to swoon over this image. 

Isn't she just a beaut? Orktober is introducing not just a new Codex for the Orks but also a boxed game called Speed Freeks, which includes among another buggy, some bikes, and possibly some unknown other miniatures, the hopes and dreams of many more kits. There are so many things of the Orks that deserve an upgrade.... Deffkoptas, HQ choices, I'd absolutely love GW to release a box that literally just contains bitz. Armour panels, guns, rokkits, grot crew, wheels, just a box full of random orky wotnotz that can be glued onto existing kits (not just ork kits either) to make many kustom vehicles. Rules wise looted wagons need to come back, an invulnerable save option for a warboss would be lovely too! 

I've seen the rumour about the clan rules which seem cool, but I'll not wonder too much about that currently as its unsure if they are true or simply someone wishlisting. I can deffo see something like that though so who knows. Theres also been a lot of talk about a 'Prime-Ork'. Ghazgkull ascending to some sort of god hood? Who knows, it'd be nice to have something a bit mental like that, not just in terms of miniature or rules, but in the narrative. With a possible Armageddon encounter that could rebirth Angron its possible something awakens in the Ork world to help them combat the reappearence of Primarchs. Plus a huge Ork stomping around always looks good! 

Whats everyone else been working on? I've got a busy week coming up getting some D&D miniatures and a first session to get ready, as well as get the next batch of miniatures started. Hopefully this is just the first in a new batch of Saturday Salvo, where I'll have at least a once a week post to get written up. I should however be posting a couple of updates midweek too regarding news and my thoughts or updates on current projects. I'm also hoping I can rope in a couple of other contributers too!

Armoured Boxing Day

Ahoy there tabletoppers! Hope everyones Xmas was good, mine was alright but glad its over to get things back to normal. Feeling productive this morning after last night I watched the new Netflix original, Bright. Not a bad film and am hoping they can go somewhere with it as theres a lot of scope with the story! While watching the film, I put these together!

The armoured containers for 40k were good fun to stick together, nice and simple too! 

And todays progress has been to base them  along with some of the Necromunda terrain. I've gone for a mix of colours, all to be weathered and rusted up hopefully! I've got the Thermal Plasma Reactors to put together and get based too along with so many other things!

Have to give a shout out to my sister who as part of my present got me a new set of D&D dice, first roll was a 19! Now the eternal struggle to find somewhere to use them!

So thats the Boxing Day update, hoping tomorrow will mean these are starting to look a bit more weathered and make a start on some of the details. I'm really fancying some 40k again soon so may try get some painting done on the Genestealer Cult or Daemons too then throw some challenges down. 

So looking towards future posts, I've been tempted to scour the internet each week and perhaps put together a little highlight post about the best things I've seen to do with tabletop each week, would this be interest to you readers?  Let me know and I'll see what I can do!

The Glory of D&D

Welcome, to a somewhat rambling yet glorious honouring post dedicated to one of the most iconic tabletop games of all time. 

Dungeons and Dragons.

Over the last few years it has regained an incredibly popular following like much of the tabletop scene. Geek and Sundry has helped with its Critical Role series, a weekly show starring voice actors playing Dungeons and Dragons and putting on an entertaining 3-4 hour session. Stranger Things has also placed the game in the public eye after capturing the imaginations of millions on Netflix. Celebrities like Vin Diesel, the late Robin Williams and Kevin Smith also among those being fans.

Its popularity is also strong at our club, the Gwent Reavers. We've gained new members through it, after myself, Gav and Bam started the Mines of Phandelver around a year and a half ago. Its always been something I've personally been interested in, just didn't realise others were too. So we got together and now we have three different sessions run by three different Dungeon Masters going on currently. And thats with a variety of different players too. Some have come to the dark side of tabletop gaming, be it miniature games or board games, some are dedicated to the D20 and the roleplaying aspect. 

So what about Dungeons and Dragons is so captivating? The depth of narrative and background are certainly an aspect that draws people in. There is such a wealth of information out there, be it tips to playing, background to set your adventures in and even guides as to how to create your own world. 

This leads on to being able to create. Like open world videogames you have a lot more ability to do what you want, even more so in tabletop roleplay as it really is just your own imagination that limits you. Not only do your stories get told, but those of the players who create characters that are a huge part of the stories being told. In fact, when dm'ing my own campaign I try to let the players tell the story while guiding them through certain events. You can plan how a certain event will play out, for example how a battle will go with a great beast but the players will always come up with ways that surprise you as a DM and have those events change. Its incredibly fascinating to see how your friends will solve different problems and ace different creatures in battle. 

One other side of D&D that is probably its strongest appeal, is the social side of it. Getting together with your mates to act out these crazy adventures is something you will absolutely love. Running jokes, how you remember certain events and recall those moments is something you have to experience. From deceiving a huge amount of cultists into following us to get out of a Dragon Cult camp, to new interesting ways to pull a kobolds body apart like a christmas cracker its been an absolute joy to partake in the game. 

Being a sufferer of insomnia, creating and adapting stories and guiding players through them has been fantastic. Character development is interesting to watch and hopefully as we play through sessions each player will see their characters grow, and not just through stat building and gaining new skills and feats. Having the characters personalities develop in front of you is incredibly rewarding as a dungeon master. 

Even though many times things you write about and plan for a session may not always happen, its still rewarding to be able to come up with these ideas, even if they never come to light. I've written backgrounds for npc's that the players have hardly talked too, but its helped me to put myself into their shoes better and react and talk more as I feel they should, and hopefully that comes across to the players immersing them even more.

In the future I may share certain ideas about the stories I've created on this blog, things that happen during sessions with other DM's (possibly even their own accounts if I can bribe them with rations and gold) and even ideas for you to use in your adventures.

Dungeons and Dragons, and many other tabletop RPG's are a hugely enjoyable and engrossing thing to do with your mates, whether you play or run the session. Go and try your hand, and have some of the best fun you'll have while rolling dice with your friends.