The Party You’ll Love to Hate: The Mighty Oaf

I needed a rival adventuring company for my campaign that wasn’t "evil," but was absolutely infuriating. Enter The Mighty Oaf.

Their vibe? “We get results... and bodybags.” They are a party of eight with collectively terrible judgment (average Wisdom is a 7, folks) led by a dwarf who is so charismatic you almost forget he’s leading you into a meat grinder.

The Leadership (The Disaster Trio)

Tormin Keg (The Face): A Dwarf Fighter with CHA 16 / WIS 4. He is bald, bearded, and catastrophically confident. He doesn't lie; he genuinely believes his terrible plans are genius. He was exiled from his clan for "creative interpretation of mining safety protocols."

Signature Move: Slams his enchanted, never-empty tankard down and shouts "I've spoken!"

Tirolas (The Manipulator): An Elf Bard who treats the world like a stage and hirelings like "narrative sacrifices." He’s the one who writes the ballads that make their disasters sound like heroic victories.

Ludwig Fallowfield (The Brain): The only one with common sense (WIS 14) and absolutely zero power to use it. He keeps a waterproof journal of "Lessons Learned (Ignored)." He’s the one you’ll want to rescue.

The Muscle & The Zealots

Pete the Butcher: A Half-orc who treats combat like meat processing. Practical, smells like rendered fat, and will explain the best way to cut a troll while he’s killing it.

Brother Gordon Fullbright: A Priest of Zeus with WIS 5. He performs mental gymnastics to prove that sending hirelings into trap-filled rooms is actually "holy martyrdom."

Hendricks the Bloody-Handed: A Priest of Ares who is actually very honest about his love for war. He views deaths as offerings. Simple. Honest. Terrifying.

The Wildcards

Sully (The Addict): A human Thief and former navy sailor with WIS 5 and CHA 6 who says “Watch this” right before doing something that should definitely kill him. He’s the group’s "trap finder" (mostly by walking into them).

Shine the Bold: A Wizard with INT 10 / WIS 4. He named himself "The Bold" and yells spell names like "SHINE’S SPECTRAL SPHERE OF SEARING SUPERIORITY" just to cast a single Magic Missile.

Why they’re the perfect rivals:

The Hireling Problem: They don’t murder people; they just have "high mortality rates" due to incompetence. It makes for incredible moral dilemmas when your PCs find an Oaf hireling abandoned in a dungeon.

The Success: Somehow, they still have more gold than the PCs. They spend it all at the Brazen Strumpet and brag about "prior discovery" on dungeons the PCs actually cleared.

The Damage: They aren't trying to destroy the world; they're just making all adventurers look like reckless idiots.

Melancholy | Reborn | Cleric of the Twilight domain

Edro Spotlight: Quagmire (The Rushmoors)

If your players are heading toward the Barrowmaze, they’ll likely need a stop in Quagmire. It’s a town defined by survival, loyal bonds, and the constant threat of the marshes.

Key NPCs for your party to meet:

Hudson Lockwood: Master of the Kennels. Perfect if your party needs a specialized guide or a loyal companion.

Ruby Tumblestone: The Halfling barkeep of the Whiskey Business who knows every secret. If the party needs a hook for a Fen Raider camp, she’s the one to talk to.

David Quigley: A perfect bridge to a more mystical/dungeon-crawling side quest. He lives at the top of the ancient Quagtower, convinced his "Pappy" built it, while the militia uses the bottom floor to hide from the undead of the Barrowmaze.

Everyone meet Gilbert, the self-proclaimed Prince of All Toads. 👑🐸

The party found him barely clinging to life in the back of a damp dungeon grotto. Apparently, "His Moist Eminence," is ruler of every toad along the fairy road Skipping-a-Derry, and we can call on him if we ever find ourselves in the NeverNever.

Is he a genuine Fae noble from the NeverNever? A very smart trickster? Or just a delusional common toad with a really high Charisma stat?

Firaday, 3rd of Lleonwald 886

The day started with a dead dog and ended with a vanishing act.

Katrina was heading to the Brazen Strumpet when Helda Crosswick intercepted her in the street, tired eyes and a leather collar clutched in her basket. Buck was dead. No struggle. Just a clean puncture behind the ear and foam at the lips.

One of the Fenwick orphans had suffered the same disturbing dreams as Erasmus. A coiling shadow. Three green eyes.

At Crosswick House, the party uncovered signs of careful surveillance. Someone had tested Crosswick House's defenses. And passed.

The party split. One group took samples to Healer Greenleaf and Janderson Stacks (an expensive poison, professional work), while others brought Erasmus to Four Buttons at his Tower.

The sorcerer didn't mince words. The amulet Erasmus wore? Not protection. A beacon. The Brotherhood always knew where its people were. And now they were coming to silence him. Not because he was special, but because he knew too much.

The party faced a choice: keep him and fight, or let the Violet Eyes spirit him away forever.

They chose his safety over sentiment.

Erasmus said his goodbyes at Crosswick House. Gave his childhood book to the Fenwick boys. Then the teleportation took him, and he was gone.

Now the trap is set. The residents are safely at Saint Cuthbert's shrine. The Crosswick House sits empty and waiting.

Also: We met Periwinkle, a halfling paladin of the Wildmother! And had a street scuffle with The Mighty Oaf. Adventurers with a reputation for poaching finds and sacrificing hirelings. Bad blood. That's not over.

I was at the community meeting not too long ago and talked to a woman I do not very much like. I think she is noisy and a bit selfish. But that is not important for the story I want to share, moreover, she is a regular at the meetings and had the chance to play a game of Barrowmaze ran by a friend of mine.

He runs it "westmarches style" with different people hanging out and about in the hamlet, so many people swim in this soup. Barrowmaze is a favourite of many and my friend' is very good with new players's laid back and slow style is good with new players. Like new new players, people who have never seen or heard of roleplaying games. And the ylove it. The old style. The run for the treasures and gold, the darkness in the tunnels and crypts.

Beforementioned woman also had the chance to play in Barrowmaze and she tells me about that experience. Very disappointed, she was. She loves runes and such and her interest was peaked when she heard that some grave featured the chiseled signs. She was expecting them to be real runes and when the gm told her they are "fantasy runes" the game broke for her.

I was quite baffled about her expectations, cause to my understanding - Barrowmaze is set in a fictional world with fictional gods. You play adventurers who travel hours through a swamp only to run into the walking undead. I would never look for runes to be the futhark-viking symbols we have in real life.

And strangely I assumed that she would understand, that the game presented would be not real real, since she plays board games- who also struggle that they have to find ways to emulate out of game reality in abstract concepts.