Wyrd of the Week: Goblin Brewmaster

Goblin Brewmaster (Goblin)
Defense: 16
Endurance: 12
Reduction Value: 3
Attack Modifier: +3
Attacks: Brew-Dipped Utensil (1d6)
Special: Ambush, Brew-Dipped Weapon, Secrets of the Brewmaster, Wicked Laughter 
Move: 5
Saving Throw: 15
Despair Rating: 6

Hags (see The Hero's Journey, Second Edition page 156) often bind lesser creatures to their service. Though it is commonly known that some bind cats, ravens, or snakes to serve as familiar in rare cases the children stolen by these wicked witches are not devoured, but instead corrupted by vile magic and turned into twisted into malicious little servants known as Goblin Brewmasters. Some even believe that the first goblins to walk the earth were the product of hag sorcery, though only the Brewmasters themselves speak of this openly and with any pride. They decry any claim that they were ever so innocent or pure as a child.

Goblin Brewmasters appear similar to Goblin Merchants, favoring long coats or robes as their mode of dress. They often have sickly green skin and long, beak-like noses that protrude out from beneath their beady green eyes. Most have wicked, wide grins filled with jagged teeth that cackle with malicious laughter, along with stringy black hair. Almost all of them wear broad-brimmed, conical black hats. If forces into combat, they forgo the use of traditional weapons and instead favor large wooden spoons of hardwood or wicked and rusted butcher's blades. 

These impish little beasties are rarely found far from the hags they serve because their power is bound up in that vile pact between servant and master. As long as a Goblin Brewmaster is within 120 feet of either a hag or a Hag's Cauldron (see below), they receive +2 to all attack rolls and Saving Throws. In addition, if they drink Goblin Brew (see below) from a Hag's Cauldron they are completely restored to their full Endurance and gain Advantage on all Initiative checks for one hour. 

Though cowardly, if a Goblin Brewmaster has time to prepare then they can be quite deadly. In either dark or natural environments, they are almost always able to ambush any prey and increase the chance to surprise an opponent by +6 as they meld with jagged shadows and twisted vines. Brewmasters also have a wicked cackle that can insight madness in those who hear it. Once per day they can spend an action to let out this evil laughter. Anyone within 120' of the Goblin Brewmaster who is not a goblin or hag hearing this laughter must make a Saving Throw or find themselves thrown to the ground as they join in the same twisted cacophony for the next 1d4 rounds. While they are laughing a victim of this wicked cackle cannot speak, move, or attack - though they can still defend themselves. More dangerous still is the fact anyone hearing the victim's laughter must make a new Saving Throw each round or they themselves will fall victim to this terrible effect. This means the laughter can easily spread and consume those who were previously able to resist it as their allies are driven to madness.

Though not inherently dangerous in direct battle, if a Goblin Brewmaster is able to dip their weapon into a Hag's Cauldron containing Goblin Brew, their weapon becomes soaked in that terrible concoction. The weapon remains so coated until the Goblin Brewmaster makes a successful melee attack, up to one hour. Anyone struck by a weapon coated in Goblin Brew must make a Saving Throw or suffer the effects as if they had actually consumed a dose of that horrid alchemy themselves as shown on Table 1-2: Goblin Brew Effects. 

Fortunately, Goblin Brewmasters are always solitary and most often found in the company of the hags to whom they are bound. A Goblin Brewmaster found on their own is likely either a spy for their master or has managed to escape from the service to which they were once bound. There are whispers that if anyone can free a Goblin Brewmaster from the service of the hag to which they are bound that the creature will give them the secrets of how to make Goblin Brew. Unfortunately, if there is truth to the legend that Goblin Brewmasters were once innocent children there is no known way to return their lost innocence.

Grigory Emberheart, Dwarf Yeoman, rushes to protect poor Bandoras
from the wicked Goblin Brewmaster and its vile master.

New Heirlooms

Presented below are two new Heirlooms for use in your legendarium that are strongly associated with hags and goblin brewmasters.

Hag's Cauldron

These large cauldrons are most often crafted of cast-iron and in spite of being called a Hag's Cauldron are most often made by Goblin Brewmasters under the command of their hag masters. They are massive, holding fifty or more gallons of liquid. They can be filled with any liquid from pure water, to muddy swamp muck, to blood. They are most often used to draw upon a hag's Cauldron's Brew ability as described on page 157 of The Hero's Journey, Second Edition core rule book. However, in special circumstances they can be empowered to accomplish even greater evils.

Once full, this liquid if set to a flame and brought to a boil under the absent light of a new moon, then at midnight on such an evening, a hag can cast the flesh and bones of any creature deemed to be pure of heart into these terrible waters. The victim must make a Resolve-based Attribute Saving Throw with Disadvantage or they become wracked with pain and overwhelmed with dark energies and unable to more or resist. Victims suffer 3d6 damage each round they are in this putrid liquid. At dawn anyone who has died by being boiled alive in a hag's cauldron rises to life as an evil creature in service of the hag. Roll on Table 1-1: Hag's Creature to determine what has become of these poor victims.

Table 1-1: Hag's Creature

Roll (1d6)	Creature Created
1	Black Dog
2	Fetch
3	Goblin Brewmaster
4	Redcap
5	Skeleton
6	Zombie

The leftover residue from the creation of such creatures produces 3d6 doses of a vile potion that restores any of the creature types noted on Table XX: Hag's Creature to their maximum Endurance once per day. Alternately that residue can be poured out in small vials and buried in the soil of a Blighted Land for one full lunar cycle to create 2d6 doses of Goblin Brew (see below).

Anyone can use a Hag's Cauldron for a few unique effects. If filled with simple water and a single round is spent concentrating, the user can make a Resolve-based Saving Throw to gaze into the future. This vision of the future is true and accurate, but is always presented to the viewer in the worst possible context or of some great and terrible calamity that will come to pass. Alternately, they can fill the Hag's Cauldron and toss in a either a mushroom or sprig of foxglove. Doing so will cause the waters to serve as a portal to Fairie which will remain open for 1d6 rounds. This portal is one-way and anyone stepping through cannot use the same means to return to the Mortal Realm. They have no means of determining exactly where in the vastness of Fairie they will arrive. The Hag's Cauldron is considered a Changeling Heirloom. Cost: 4 Myth Points.

Goblin Brew (Heirloom)

This vile potion is created by scraping the remnant liquid from a Hag's Cauldron which is stoppered in a container and buried beneath the soil of a Blighted Land for a full cycle of the moon. Once unearthed, it has strange and terrible properties that can be beneficial, dangerous, and even deadly. Anyone consuming Goblin Brew rolls on Table 1-2: Goblin Brew Effects to determine what happens to them. These effects are permanent, though legend holds that anyone who can perform some great and terrible deed for a hag can be restored or saved after a binding oath. The Goblin Brew is a Goblin Heirloom. Cost: 1 Myth Point.

Table 1-2: Goblin Brew Effect

Roll (1d10)	Effect
1	Imbiber becomes violently ill for the next hour, reducing their Movement by one-half and causing Disadvantage on all attack rolls and Saving Throws.
2	Horrid, muscular growths sprout all over the character’s body, increasing their Might by +2, but reducing their Bearing by -4.
3	The character’s mouth becomes impossibly wide and fills with jagged teeth, allowing them to make a melee bite attack (1d4 damage), but they now look obviously evil and gain a Despair Rating of 5 (or increases existing Despair by +1).
4	The character’s skin turns a sickly green color. Sunlight inflicts 1 damage for every round of exposure that cannot be mitigated by Reduction Value.
5	The character’s spine twists and contorts, causing them to walk with an inhuman loping slouch, but they become remarkably agile. The character can no longer run, but increases their Defense by +1.
6	The character’s hands grow to obviously inhuman size and nails develop into claws which can be used in combat to inflict damage as a dagger. Fine motor tasks are now done at Disadvantage.
7	The character now titters and laughs randomly and uncontrollably. All efforts to remain stealthy and silent are made with Disadvantage and any attempt to cast a spell or use other voice-based ability require a Resolve-based Attribute Saving Throw.
8	Normal food offers no further nourishment. The character must eat garbage and rotted meat to survive. They perpetually radiate a foul reek, reducing their Bearing by -2 and making efforts to ambush anyone within 30’ all but impossible to those who are capable of smelling them.
9	Character regenerates 1 Endurance per round, even exceeding their maximum. Once a character reaches double their maximum Endurance they explode in a bloody mess that is spread across a thirty foot radius.
10	Roll on Table 1-1: Hag’s Creature. The consumer is permanently transformed into the creature rolled unless they make a successful Resolve-based Saving Throw. Even with a successful Saving Throw, they still suffer 2d6 damage as their body twists, contorts, and bends briefly into unnatural and painful shapes before restoring itself.

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