The fourth session of our Devilry Afoot campaign saw us play a further five scenarios, completing all 13 scenarios included in the rules. You can catch session 1 here, session 2 here, and session 3 here if you need to catch up.
We returned to the campaign with our usual party of four characters and a follower: Fr Hans and Goodman Gruber, both wolf-bitten and hoping to keep their secret hidden; Colonel Clijsters the doubting soldier, and Dr Midnite the lustful doctor along with his follower and assistant, Betty. All of the characters were pretty experienced monster-hunters at this stage and we were feeling confident.
Scenario 9) The Guardian of the Wilds
For generations the locals, living in their scattered hamlets and isolated steadings, had kept clear of this land. Old tales told by the hearth through long winters remembered the stories of the ancient guardian of the wild who kept to himself so long as he was left alone. Over the years, some had sought to disprove the stories, heading cocksure into the hills, never to return.Now, in the hard times, hungry eyes and greedy minds have started to wonder at what treasures may have been accumulated by this so-called guardian. Treasures enough to feed families, or to equip armies perhaps? The sickness of greed overcomes even the strongest of bonds as plans are established to send out a new expedition.
This scenario is oppositional and saw bickering within the hunting party. Setting out as a duo, Hans and Gruber trekked into the wild north looking to find and loot the troll hoard rumoured to be hidden far from prying eyes. However, Clijsters and Midnite, with Betty in tow, had the same idea. The two parties converged on the stash from different directions, only to disturb the local troll.
Gruber used his speed to great effect, getting in close to the standing stones where the treasure had been buried. While Fr Hans used the Word of God to keep the troll at bay, Gruber grubbed around in the dirt and quickly discovered the hoard.
All the while, the rival party were having much more trouble reaching the standing stones, their resolve faltering when it really need not. They finally reached the stones just as Gruber made a run for it with the loot. Dr Midnite, in a fit of outrage, fired a 'warning shot' (i.e. he missed) at close range, but to no avail and the duo escaped with the treasure, leaving the newcomers to deal with the troll.
Clijsters took the lead in the fight and was only saved from almost-certain-death multiple times thanks to his combination of cuirass and buff coat. A good shot fired by Betty, and some handy blade work from Col Clijsters, saw the troll eventually killed; its bounty actually amounted to far more than what turned out to be in the hoard.
Having mulled over the events of the evening the following day, the party made amends and decided they were more effective as a team and would remain so going forwards.
After a succession of incidents where the freshly buried were disinterred and their bodies seemingly taken by graverobbers, the parish council determined to hire watchmen to keep vigil over the latest burials – vile beings of the meanest sort, executed for their crimes and hastily buried. As the last of the crowds drifted away with the setting sun, the vigilists were left speaking quietly by the gravesides, alone for now, but with one eye turned towards the looming darkness, and another fixed on the freshly dug earth.
As the noises from the village settled into the depth of the night, the party maintained a watchful eye over the graveyard. Just as the Witching Hour approached, two ghouls came, glinting-eyed, towards the freshly dug earth. Luckily or the party, the monsters came in across the fields rather than through the sleeping settlement.
The first received a volley of pistol shots and was then finished off by a brutal attack from Col. Clijsters. The second, skirting one of the buildings, was headed off by Midnite and Gruber, before Fr Hans appeared quoting scripture and driving it from the area.
Following their great success, Gruber attracted a new follower, Rupert, to assist in future adventures.
On All Hallows’ Eve, the night before All Saints Day, the veil that protects the living from the dead is at its thinnest. Tears in the fabric of Christian society spill forth foul spirits and demons to wreak havoc on the God-fearing. Woe befall anyone foolish enough to be abroad on such a night.
The party were certainly foolish to venture out this night. As they surveyed a landscape littered with witches, werewolves and a barghest, the very first character activation of the game saw Fr Han's lycanthropy take hold. Having hidden his wolf-bitten secret since the events back in scenario 4, the priest now heeded the call of the other werewolves on the table and transfigured before his comrades eyes.
Wedged between Gruber and Clijsters, Hans the werewolf turned on the colonel, biting him savagely and transmitting the curse of the lycanthropes. Before the party had much of a chance to respond, the barghest charged towards them growling, causing Gruber, Clijsters and Betty all to flee the scene. With little reason to try to make it alone, it was all Midnite and Rupert could do to skulk away after their running friends.
What a disaster for the party, but such a delight to watch!
When the soldiers were first sighted, nobody in the village thought anything of it. They had little to do with the war, and life carried on in the community as it had for generations. But on that day, the soldiers entered the village and in their wake, came looting, death, and worse. Those who could, fled; following the well-trodden paths to seek refuge in other settlements. As they trudge on through the night, drained both physically and mentally, they hope and pray that a rescue party has been sent to find them. But the calls and noises echoing through the darkness make it clear that the ordeal is far from over.
Despite the absence of Fr Hans, the fallen father forever lost to the forces of evil, and Col Clijster's new wolf-bitten secret, the party were feeling confident as they set out the escort the fleeing innocents. Arriving at the scene between the refugees and a group of outaws, the party split, Gruber, Rupert and Betty trying to head off the barghest, while Clijsters and Midnite turned their attention to the outlaws.
Midnite took down one outlaw with a well-placed shot from his dragon. Some of the bandits returned fire, before the others closed in melee, surrounding the good doctor. The threats of one caused Clijsters to lose his nerve - a recuring problem for the doubting soldier - and he fled, straight into an evil tree which lashed out, badly injuring him.
The barghest charged straight towards the nearest human - the hapless Gruber - who fell before its savagery, his cuirass and buffcoat unable to stop the beast. As the great dog then leapt towards the innocents, Betty lined up a close range, well-illuminated shot, and missed the barghest, the stray shot killing one of the innocents standing nearby.
If things could get worse, they quickly did. The evil tree lashed out and wounded both Betty and Rupert, before killing another innocent. The barghest's intimidation then drove the rest of the civilians from the table. The last the party heard of them were their screams as the beast pursued them into the night.
Despite the horrendous events of the evening, the stories told afterwards obviously played fast and loose with the facts; both Gruber and Dr Midnite ended up with a second follower - young Oliver and Faustus, the apprentice physician, respectively.
On the frozen frontier, the winter is king. The season of scarcity has driven some to unmentionable acts of violence and cannibalism. The curse of the wendigo stalks the land, striking at outlying settlements, leaving nothing but devastation. A party of hunters heads out ahead of a raging storm, striving to reach their neighbours before the wendigo strikes again.
The braver sort, Gruber, and Oliver, supported by Clijsters, then went in for the kill. Sadly Oliver was killed almost immediately and as the wendigo feasted on his body, it recovered from its wounds and grew bolder and stronger.
But it was not enough to save the monster. It soon found itself cornered against a building and surrounded by swordsmen. The dancing blades of the hunters slew the beast, and the scenario was completed.
****
Over thirteen hunts, the party grew, both in number and in confidence. Despite some scenarios going their way, it was far from a straight run. Even in the final hunts the experienced team were overcome by circumstance and each of the hunter's secrets impacted on their ability to successfully complete their bounties.
The three hunters who were wolf-bitten over the course of the scenarios proved that the curse had its own benefits, becoming more powerful and faster, but in the end it was all too much for Hans.
The combination of buff coats and cuirasses worn by Gruber and Clisjters made them almost unstoppable, but sometimes even the most well armoured veteran hunter will expose a weak point to a monster as Gruber demonstrated against the barghest. Clijsters' doubtful faith repeatedly saw his resolve faulter before more intimidating monsters.
Midnite's lustful nature made him particularly susceptible to charms when fighting the witches and vampyre, but overall he proved a most useful member of the party, patching wounds and ensuring that few of the many potential kills and injuries suffered by the group had any lasting effect.
Now, with purses bulging with silver, the hunters eye up the seemingly abandoned lodges here on the frontier. With the wendigo dead, they can think about settling down with little else fear. Surely...
This looks really cool. I like how the weaknesses affect the characters. Would Devilry Afoot work as a Victorian gothic horror game?
ReplyDeleteCheers Toby. I would work as a Victorian game, but you might need to amend some of the weapons to bring them up to date.
DeleteTold you Fr Hans would be the next to fall.
ReplyDelete