Afraid of the dark

Walther (cautious as always) doesn't need any encouragement and charges off,



straight out the front door.



Harold runs straight at Thomas, who's dropped the phone mid call, and got his pistol ready. Harold just hears the creature gaining, as the monsters got more legs than him. Thomas holds out his shotgun saying "take this!"

Harold does so, grabbing it on his way past,



and jumps straight out through the window!



Leaving Thomas to face it on it's own. (Cue memorable look on players face, and laughter from the other players!).

The creature comes round the corner and Thomas opens up.



The creatures body looks like a huge dense mucous with a consistancy of an over cooked pudding. It has bits of bone poking through it's flesh with three great vents aspirating, with coughing and wheezing sounds. It has 10 legs, all childrens, some different colours and fifteen chubby little arms grasping forwards. It appears to have a mouth on the underside. The creature gurgles and coos softly, stopping every now and then to scour the floor and makes wet sucking noises. (The player then states) "Do I have to make a San check?" (much other player laughter). Fails San, rolls D10 and gets a one (much derision from other players, cue Monty Python quote "You Lucky, lucky B******").

Thomas fires twice and the creature charges forward. Thomas decides to hightail it and exits via the window, very closely pursued by the creature. Harold has a lead on Thomas and Walther has made it to the front door. The Doc has just finished his autopsy, partly on the dining room table and partly in the kitchen, as he's holding a bloody hammer and chisel, he calls to John "Can you see to that, there's someone banging on the front door." John opens it to an exited Walther, who pushes past him (carefully not looking back) saying, "there's something interesting across the road."

John sees the creature, (makes a San check, fails San, rolls D10 and gets a one).

Thomas running across the road fires twice, blindly, behind him, missing.



Hearing shots Doc Thaddeus calls the Police on the phone. The creature moves faster than Thomas and catching up tries to punch him three times. (Keeper roll 97, 90 & 46). It only hits him once (D3 plus 2D6 damage and only gets 6). Thomas manages to stay on his feet, after the hefty blow (which nearly kills him outright).

Harold gets cover behind a car and open ups with the 12 gauge shotgun.

Thomas turns and also fires.

The creature slumps down with brown ooze coming out of it.



Thomas edges towards it slowly nursing cracked and broken ribs, but it doesn't move.

Doc Thaddeus goes out to look at the creature and just can't deal with it, after all the prior events. He just cannot handle it and terrified of absolutely everything, runs off back into the house. He curls up in a corner shaking.

Harold calls for Walther to come out and help. John actually goes out. Walther is reticent, upstairs in his bedroom with the door locked (Walthers player doesn't want him to go crazy, so is doing everything to stay sane and keep his character alive). John goes to get Walther and see the Doc cowering in the corner making odd noises. The Doc is armed and pulls out his .22 firearm. John decides to leave him alone and goes to speak to Walther, asking for help and telling him about the creature, and that it's dead. Walther is persuaded to come down and take a look. Walther takes one look and goes into catatonic shock.

The Police car pulls up, and two officers get out. They run over. On seeing the creature, one immediately drops his pistol, then collapses



and the other takes off, screaming. Thomas calls a few people. The local church and the local precinct to get something done.

Eventually another Police car drives up, with more officers, then shortly afterwards a more expensive car turns up and two well dressed men get out. One asks Thomas what happened here, then states he's from the US Bureau of Investigation. He motions a Police officer to get more uniform on the scene, "now!" The area is cordoned off, then a large van turns up.

Shots go off in the house and they can hear Doc Thaddeus shouting "Take that hatstand!" This raises eyebrows. Further calls are made and another van turns up, with two large men dressed all in white. They go into Walthers house.

Five officers then pull/drag/push the creature into the back of one of the vans.

The two men in white go back to their van and collect a straightjacket. The Doc, having run out of ammunition on a hatstand), is then put in the back of the van safely. Walther is easily picked up, frozen solid, and also put in the van.

Corbitts house is cordoned off, then officers walk in with 5 gallon petrol containers. The Bureau man then tells the player that they don't really know what they saw. The house is infected with some sort of contagious disease and the house is then burnt down, along with the greenhouse. Thomas is amazed that no questions are asked, doesn't believe what he's told, but can do nothing.

Later Thomas finds that Mr Corbitt was picked up, and taken to the local Sanitarium. Oddly, it's found out that he was picked up on an obscure driving charge, then disappears. Thomas asks questions of a few contacts, but only finds out that they were told by higher authority to assist, and did. Regards the matter, only an outbreak and a car accident is printed up in the local papers.

And that's the game!

All in all, the game went very well. The floorplans for me really made the game. It made a difference of who was where, and doing what. Who could see what and it also helped with the timings. As I tried to keep the time correct, as to who was where, when they would meet up, and what they'd do in between. As the players went off their separate ways continually. It helped prevent Keeper headache.

A few mistakes, and the firepower was from the Companion, where as it occurred to me that this may have been outweighed, as it's an earlier scenario, written prior to this additional firepower (I think). I should have checked how much damage the weapons did prior to starting, as 4D6 for thje shotgun seems really heavy, and the hollowpoint ammunition upgrade also added to it, but all in all for a first attempt, the game went well.

I tried to get things going with secret notes and also if a players character was not there, when information was received, then they would not be able top interact. As this would lead to more concentration on the details and a better game overall. Plus it would get more comunication and interaction between the players. Often someone wished to say something, or had an idea, but their character was not at that location, so could not. To me this made the game more real, as I didn't want to fudge anything, and wanted the scenario to run as it was written. In the latter, I don't mean as a set story, as in "this is going to happen, no matter what." but fairly, straight from the book, as the author wanted.

As I said, this is the first scenario I've "kept" and I thought it a brilliantly well written piece, taking into account all the eventualities that could occur, and having just enough "hook" for the players. All in all, for me, it was an enjoyable experience.

A substantial amount of work though, even for only a small scenario. Which wasn't apparent to me prior, but is very apparent now. What with reading it repeatedly, highlighting the photocopied pages with either red or yellow (for what can be said to the players, or not) painting the miniatures and other groundwork. Such as typing it all up and posting it here. I do wish to do a large scenario, a full campaign, but this has made me realise, just how much of a project that would be!

Of note, if anyone is wondering, the Doc went mental as Mr Corbitt put psychotropic fungus spores in the carpet to attack the player characters, hoping that one would fall into the trap. He was also particualrely happy to invite the Doc over the next night, to see the greenhouse. As he would have walked him in, and then left him there, making the excuse that he was going to make some coffee for them both. If the plant didn't kill him, or he left before it could,, then he'd have led him back and picked up the shoval. To do a proper job. If on seeing Mr Corbitt pick up the shoval, Doc Thaddeus remained in the greenhouse,... well he'd have deserved what he got. But I'm sure the tomatoes would have benefitted!