Wandering Wednesday: Better Dead Reds

Greetings, fellow sinners! We’ve got a delightful tie-in to one of our homebrewed locations within the bustling city of Waterdeep. Just remember, there are always consequences to all that ale-guzzling and dice-throwing. Let’s go!

Today’s Wandering Monsters were a little tricky to categorize as either Dungeon Delve or Wilderness Trek because these holy soldiers could be interacted with anywhere, but likely in a city more than anywhere else. This type of flexibility really speaks to the quality of the sculpts, though.

Here’s the tie-in for today’s featured DnD 3D prints. We homebrewed the majority of our shops and NPCs in Waterdeep because it’s been so darn fun. That’s where M. Knight Holymon and his Church of Consequences come into play. DM Ben wanted to expand his storyline by making our Holymon the judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to committing righteous crimes.

We might do a crossover with Sister Eileen & her Soul Sisters, but she’s from a rival church (St. Francis Cabrini), and their mission is to rescue fallen souls before they cross over to the devil. DM Ben is still pondering what that TTRPG homebrew encounter might look like.

Today’s featured creator is the brilliant Brite Minis. Supportless, sturdy miniatures at a bargain monthly price that even novice painters can get their arms around. They call these mysterious masked men Trench Pilgrims, and they come in a variety of fun sculpts. Even better, a few other STLs were shared in a previous Patreon post.

DM Ben sucked up the courage to color these creepy soldiers using a simple paint scheme and steps.

• Prime Flat Black | Slapchop Base.
• Helmet: FAN Gun Metal + ASP Slaughter Red drybrush + Red Wash.
• Coat/Gloves/Shins: ASP Hardened Leather.
• Shoulder Armor: GSW Zombie Dip + ASP Slaughter Red
• Pants: ASP Holy White.
• Feet: FAN Barbarian Flesh
• Gun & Chains: FAN Gun Metal.
• Mace: ASP Hoplight Gold + ASP Dark Wood.
• Wash: Soft Tone.
• Base: Coblestone scheme.

We didn’t want the helmet to be fully red. Instead, we wanted that metal headgear to look a bit weathered thanks to previous tussles with unwilling captives. We fell in love with the blunderbuss weapon detail.

Here is the second soldier. The tattered cape is the star here, and the no boots show their loony fanaticism for the Church. We really like how these DnD miniatures came together. The variety of poses also really makes us happy. Reminds us a bit of GOT’s The Faith of the Seven.

Here’s the third pose: part flail and part rifle. The chains wrapped around their torso are also a nice fanaticism touch and remind us of those WWII soldiers who would be high on drugs so they could fight like unstoppable freaks.

Let’s talk about the homebrew hook here. So Waterdeep locals definitely know of these masked secret soldiers and their often excessive use of force. They never reveal their identities, and they operate outside the rule of law at the righteous whim of M. Knight Holymon. Freighten citizens often say, “Beware the Better Dead Reds and avoid them at all costs.”

That saying comes from the Church of Consequences, which says that most bad souls are better for society if they cease to exist. Citizens think anyone seized by these armed agents is almost certainly gone for good. No one dares cross them. Omen Dran tolerates them as long as they stay in their lane.

Our party of six adventurers is level six, so here’s what we’re thinking for DnD 5e stats. These were modeled after Stormwardens.

• AC: 17 | HP: 52 | Spd: 30 ft
• Melee: Mace +6/1d6+3 bludgeoning + 1d8 lightning damage
• Ranged: 15 ft cone/DC 13 Dex. 3d6 piercing + 2d6 thunder + push 5 ft. Save for half.
• Gale-Force Form: Advantage on saving throws for being moved/knocked prone.
• Thunderous Volley: Speed reduced by 10 ft if hit by a gun attack.
• Storm-Burst Rifle: Recharge 5-6. Heavy pressure waves.
• Wrath of the Storm: DC 12 Con save if the attacker hits it for 2d8 lightning.
• STR +3, Dex +1, Con +2, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha, +0.
• Damage Resistances: Lighning/Thunder. STR+5/WIS +4 saves.

Their use of electricity helps immobilize targets so they can be captured and taken back to The Church of Consequences to answer for their sins.

Now, all that’s left to do is update our free DnD table!

Until next time!