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| Spooky... |
SUNDAY SERVICE Wow. I’m behind on these because the last time I checked in was around Session 17 and we are now up to Session 26! I won’t recant everything but in the last couple of sessions:
PC carousing resulted in fashionable villagers adopting dungeon gear as the season’s must-have items- price soar to 10x the amount
A strange person rides into the village on a shabby horse covered in white power, wearing livery similar to the Sword Brothers; the rider has bandaged hands and carries a bizarre square sword made of fine wood
The PCs descend into the dungeon to free Cunneke’s ancestor, but in this quest they are rebuffed repeatedly; first by having a major fighter killed by some sorta strange plant and then a second time they picked a fight with a cult of the Bloody Baroness, barely survived, and lost the gold skull in the process
While licking their wounds, another misplaced carousing roll resulted in the sun turning a pallid grey and the moon blood red and at the same time a distant rumble in the mountain was heard
Down again the player went into the Abbey’s maw searching for the way to the second level which they found, but to a different section of the Abbey- one with a garden from which strange herbs were harvested
In the subsequent days, the PCs plan a 3rd attempt to free Cunneke’s ancestor, this time suffering a beytrals by a hireling woodsman who was working for the forces of the pit and losing a second hireling to a fit of madness as they threw themselves into a burning pit where a demon was being summoned
In this last delve, the PC did understand the explosion has hearld changes in the Abbey and they found a route down to the second floor closer to Cunneke’s ancestor’s imprisonment before turning back
TENDING TO THE FLOCK
Adding Regional Events To Show the World Moves in the Absence of the Players: With the most recent sessions, I have incorporated yearly, monthly, and weekly events into the campaign structure. For example, the yearly result I’ve rolled has been “volcano”, a failed magical research carousing roll has provided a monthly event, and recently the weekly roll as produced “stranger”. I’ve used the volcanic activity to change the Abbey and the types of monsters in it. I also might change the cult composition as well. Currently, there are two cults in the Abbey, but perhaps a third emerges based on fire and demons from the pit. As for the change in the sun and moon, this has been blamed on magic users and caused Halfdan to sequester himself in his tower, taking the PC Kingsley with him.
Building Out New Factions In Nightwick Village To Provide PC Opportunities for Connection: A puzzling individual (Ambrose) who has drifted into Nightwick Village with bandaged hands and requested the manufacture of a “square sword” from the village blacksmith. Since rolling “stranger” for a weekly event, I’ve had Ambrose joined by another individual with similarly bandaged hands.
The 100-minute Megadungeon Campaign Format Still Serves Well: I’ve started to allow the sessions to run a little longer past the 2-hour mark. I think aiming toward a tight session that pushes action over long deliberation is good! However, I need to make sure to leave room for players to let their characters breathe, the group to discuss the world, and spontaneous opportunities that make games memorable. Being too strict to format can restrict that.
I Gave My Players A Corrected Map Of Rooms Triversed in the Abbey: I enjoy mapping and do it a lot in the Weeknights in Nightwick game I play in. My players in WHCtP, are mapping as well, but I noticed that in recent games their maps had become more a hindrance. So I gave them a corrected one for Session 26. Things ran more smoothly and they were able to move forward on a goal they’ve been working on the past three sessions. Perfect! The more I slept on it, the more I am happy with that decision.
I Started Experimenting with the Underclock: This is a new invention by Arnold K of Goblin Punch. Basically you start a counter at 20 and each round or when the player do something loud or something that takes time, roll a 1d6 roll and subtract that from the counter. At 0, you have a random encounter. I thought I would give this a shot because Nightwick Abbey’s haunted house vibe seems to be the correct environment to try out something that will ratchet up the tension. So far it's worked out pretty well.