Devilry Afoot - 13 game campaign (session 1)

With the completion of Devilry Afoot fast approaching, we set out to run through all 13 scenarios included in the rules as a single campaign, following the same party of hunters as they struggle against the forces of darkness.

The starting hunting party consisted of four characters:

• Fr. Hans, a devout but lustful religious;
• Goodman Gruber, a gallant goodman who's slovenly nature is tempered by his penitence;
• Dr Midnite, a lustful physician and astrologer;
• Colonel Clijsters, a retired soldier and skilled duellist, who's experiences on the Continent have left him doubting his faith.

Scenario 1) A discovery of witches

A coven of witches has been discovered, gathering just beyond the edge of a small hamlet for their witches’ sabbatt. As ominous storm clouds gather, a small party of witch hunters has been recruited to  root them out.

Our hunters had a rough time of their first supernatural encounter. Fr Hans managed to wake some sleeping innocents and herd them to safety; Dr Midnite, despite taking a wound, shot and killed one of the witches. However, Col Clijsters lost his nerve and fled from the field, and Goodman Gruber was taken out of action in a savage attack despite first killing several imps. By the time the storm broke, the witches were gaining the upper hand, and the hunting party withdrew in defeat.

The skilled hand of the physician ensured that Gruber recovered without any permanent impact. Clijsters may not have suffered any physical scarring, but he would need to do something dramatic in the next outing to recover his wounded pride.

Scenario 2) The dance macabre
When the dead walk again upon the earth it is a sign of great evil. For the local villagers, the shambling terrors that now haunt the night revive memories of ancestral wickedness, of curses laid, and of the perpetration of the most devilish deeds. Summoning a party of pious men of standing, they hope that the Word of God will settle the unquiet dead and leave their past firmly buried.

This scenario sounds simple on paper, but in the wrong circumstances, things can get quickly out of hand. In this case, things rapidly went from simple to chaotic. The religious, Hans, ran forward to start blessing the monument at the centre of the burial ground, but while Dr Midnite moved forwards to distract the single revenant, a roaming spectre kept Clijsters away from the fight. Gruber pushed on alone to defend Fr Hans from the other side, but everywhere, the restless dead were rising from their graves (I ran out of revenant models and had to substitute ghouls). 

Both Hans and Gruber were overcome by revenants while Midnite fell back. The monument was just one blessing away from being sanctified, and everything now hinged on the doubting (and up until now timid) Col Clijsters. He pulled himself together and, despite all the odds against him, leapt the cemetery wall, ducked under a tree and managed to quote scripture with enough sincerity to save the day. 

The good doctor again managed to keep all of his comrades from suffering any permanent injuries and, as a result of his growing renown, gained a devoted follower - young Betty. 

Scenario 3) Lost in the woods

They knew that they should not have been awake at such an hour, let alone out of doors, but neither child could sleep. It was as if something called to them through the woods. Woods which seemed, at this hour, so alive, so irresistible. When the children’s absence was noticed, the alarm was raised and a search party set out in their wake.

For the party's third adventure, they set off to save the children from their worst nightmares. The two boogeymen started in different parts of the table so, while Midnite and Betty set off after the furthest, Clijsters, Hans and Gruber turned their attention to the nearest. Before the doctor and his follower could reach the children, the far boogeyman was almost upon them. However, rather than attack, at the critical moment it squatted down and hid in the rough terrain, providing the children with the chance to escape. 

Both Gruber and Cljisters were wounded by their opponent, but between them, Midnite and Betty managed to kill their monster. The boogeymen are tough and unpredictable, and their ability to manifest the fear of the nearest hunter caused much distress, but in the end, the children survived and the party earned their reward.

As they sit counting their shillings in the public house the next afternoon they hear rumours of savage attacks on livestock and shepherds in the next parish. Sighing, they quaff their ale and prepare to move on ...