Preview #1 for Hopeless One-Shots: The Beast of Brisborough - an upcoming adventure for Dragon Age

I've alluded to it several times in the past couple of weeks, but I'm finally proud to announce that the first draft of my fan-made (re: free and not at all a product of Green Ronin) adventure for Dragon Age using the A.G.E. game system was finished up this morning. The adventure as it stands right now sits at 13,881 words and covers 30 pages in the plain, unformatted google doc in which it was written. I imagine the number of pages will quickly shrink as we begin fiddling with columns and the size of stat blocks, but overall, the thing became just a bit heftier than my original concept for it.

Still, the I think the thing is definitely able to be completed as a one-shot in the form of a four or five hour game session. I purposefully designed it to be modular, and both the GM and the players have a change of making the thing longer or shorter. As you can see by the roughly-drawn map above and to the right, I don't quite have the artistic talent that I'd like to see polish the thing off. No fear though! I know a couple of artists that I'll be asking for some small portraits and two or three much larger illustrations for to put a real finish on the product. On a completely unrelated note, if there are any artists out there who are looking to do some black and white sketches of medieval-based characters, shoot me an email at TheHopelessGamer@gmail.com to let me know if you're interested. Since the adventure is going to be free, I'm really looking for someone willing to just do the art for the experience of it all rather than any actual cash.

Anyway, this is just the first preview to whet your appetites over the impending Dragon Agey goodness that'll be coming down the line. There's still a little bit of work left to it, but I feel comfortable now talking about it that the real tough work - completing a full draft - of the adventure is done. Next time I'll give some more details about the adventure itself, but for today, I'll leave you with a preview of the one of the original NPC's you'll be seeing in the unfortunate town of Brisborough - Hunter Mage Nicholas Sutter

Hunter Mage Nicholas Sutter
Ability (Focuses)

1	Communication
1	Constitution
2	Cunning (Arcane Lore, Natural Lore)
3	Dexterity (Initiative, Light Blades)
4	Magic (Arcane Lance, Creation, Primal)
1	Perception
2	Strength
2	Willpower

Combat Ratings

Speed	Defense	Health	Armor
12	12	30	3

Attacks

Weapon	Attack	Damage
Arcane Lance	+6	1d6 + 4
Short Sword	+5	1d6 + 4

Powers
Favored Stunts: Mana Shield and Puissant Casting
Reflexive Mana Shield: Nicholas is often the target
of a charging boar or raging bear as the bait to draw
the beast out. As a result he will almost automatically
cast a mana shield over himself at the slightest sign
of danger. He may perform the Mana Shield Stunt for
2 SP instead of 3 and it grants a +3 bonus to defense
instead of 2.
Talents: Creation (Journeyman) - May summon a wisp
giving light in a 10-yard radius and cost in mana for
Creation spells is reduced by 1, to a minimum of 1.

Primal (Journeyman) - May cast a small flame in his 

hand without spending mana points and cost in mana

for Primal spells is reducted by 1, to a minimum of 1.

Equipment: Light Leather, Sutter Special (Short Sword

with a wand built into the hilt and gives the user
access to the spell stunt table regardless of the type of
attack used with this weapon.)
Spells: Nicholas has 30 Mana Points and a Casting
Strain of 1: Heal, Rock Armor, Winter’s Grasp

As the only member of Ser Robert Reese's Swornswords who is able to access the power of the Fade and manipulate the ways of magic, Nicholas Sutter has had to work to master spells that will assist him and his Swornsword brothers in their many hunts. He has worked tirelessly to combine martial and magical skills to the point where his custom weapon, nicknamed the "Sutter Special" symbolizes his uncanny ability to access his protective magic on an almost reflexive level.