Episode 4 Play

[trevlix]

Went through Episode 4 last night. I'm really glad I read through Ep 5 so I knew what was coming up so I could be ready for how I knew my players were going to react.

Play started with the PCs ensuring security at the house was up to par, as they were really scared based on their previous Mi-Go encounters. (The players really were concerned, which was awesome. They grilled Morrison for hours on how security was set up, etc.)

The first night came and the morning brought the trap that had caught a Mi-Go, with only slime left. This freaked out the players even more.

On day 2 they went around town talking to everyone they had previously. This allowed them to get some more information they had missed in Ep 1 concerning the cult. A number of people pointed them to Cratchet and Cuzra, which they decided to follow up to the next day.

When they got back to the house, they all wanted to head toward "the caves" (e.g. Broken Hill) to hunt out the Mi-Go. Morrison convinced them to wait until the next day after they had scouted more and the PCs were able to talk to the farmers, then they would meet up at night and decide what to do.

That night the PCs took turns taking watches. The first saw shapes moving in the trees outside the farm area. The second saw nothing (missed Spot Hidden). The third, who had a cat with him, saw the cat's hair stand on end and it start to growl at the windows. They then heard buzzing sounds coming from outside. That PC woke the rest up; they searched the area but found nothing. No one slept the rest of the night.

Day 3 found the PCs first visiting Cratchet. While one PC ticked her off, the others were able to get on her good side. She told them about her husband and eventually gave them his journals. With this, they left to go visit Cuzra. At his farmhouse, he was initially adverse to them but after showing him Cratchet's journal and a great Charm role, he invited them in and told them about the striga, moroi, and the rituals behind the house. While one PC stayed to talk with him, the other two went back and explored the site. There they found the yo-yo, the Dark Young hoofprint, and the children's tracks. With this info they headed back to the farmhouse.

Morrison and his team didn't get back until dusk. After explaining what they found, they all agreed to stake out the ritual site that night, as they thought the Mi-Go would be present. They called over to the backup FOC team, who initially responded but then they heard commotion and shooting in the background, and the radio went dead. Thats when their alarm went off.

One player grabbed his gun and went to the back door, another grabbed some grenades and went onto the roof, while the third went to find his cat. They saw the Dark Young appear from the treeline and start to charge. Nekler and Morrison were out back and began shooting, while Drake and Matherson hid in the living room of the farmhouse. The player on the roof threw a few grenades that hit the Dark Young but did little to deter it*. The Dark Young made it to the house, started smashing it, and grabbed Nekler and Morrison while the rest ran out the front of the house to one of the trucks.

The 3 PCs jumped in and started the truck. Matherson and Drake were running toward it when two Mi-Go swooped down and grabbed them. One PC shot the Mi-Go holding Matherson with a tommy gun, killing it, but also hitting Matherson and causing her to drop to the ground. The rest of the PCs pulled her into the truck, performed first aid, and then sped off. They last saw the other three being taken back toward Broken Hill.

As they sped toward Cobbs Corners, their truck stalled and stopped. They tried to turn on a flashlight but it didn't work. (EMP affect from ch 5) It was then they saw smoke and fires coming from the town and the swirling clouds above. The session ended as they pondered what to do.

 

 

 

* This was that player's first time playing CoC in a long time; he's been playing more combat RPGs since (e.g. D&D). His look of confusion when he asked "the grenade didn't hurt it?" was awesome.

 

 

Edited August 26, 2016 by trevlix
cause

[trevlix]

Thoughts on ep 4:

Overall, I thought it was good. Half of episode 4 revolves around going to save their compatriots in the Mi-Go base. However, I did not see my players actually doing that...in fact, I suspect most groups won't. This is a shame, as that part of the scenario looks great. My players may surprise me next session, but I suspect they will just be going through town to try and escape. I'm glad ep 5 had come out so I could preview that in the end.

My players told me they were very anxious the entire time in this session. They knew the Mi-Go threat was out there watching them and they didn't know who to trust in town. This is great because they know the children are involved somehow, but they haven't guessed what the full truth of what is going on yet. Episode 5 is gonna be fun!

 

My one question is really concerning ep 6. Can we get a preview as to what ep 6 involves, how it starts, etc? I will be running ep 5 before ep 6 comes out, so I'm not sure if I will need to set anything up prior.

[logoi]

Yes, I have to admit that my group split at the mine entrance. And did not want to explore, only tried to locate the missing investigators and sneak out. There is little incentive to explore these mines, like there is little incentive to wander around a minfield looking for something unspecified.

Unless the players have an imperative to go head-on against anything that the GM throws at them, "8 out of 10" would not enter.

[Matt Ryan]

My group didn't follow the Dark Young either. I plopped episode five in the middle of episode four, running the Dark Young attack and capture of the FOC NPCs, then the Shub-Nig summoning in town, and then the exploration of Broken Hill.

I bet that if the Dark Young had taken a PC, the rest would have followed after to save their friend. Note to self if I run it for a different group in the future.

 

[morganhua]

My group didn't go into the caves either. I grabbed two NPCs.  Maybe if a PC was grabbed, they might go in.

[yinkincat]

I just ran episode 4 a couple of weeks ago and had the Dark Young take one of the NPC's and a PC. I hadn't intended it but he fumbled his dodge roll and kinda jumped into it's tentacles so that was that really. The rest of them went straight after it, after taking about 30 minutes packing up the truck and then realising it had gone across the fields through the trees and the truck couldn't follow. They're currently standing outside the mine entrance trying to pluck up the courage to go in and find their missing friend. The Dark Young will be back shortly so that should make the decision for them.

I felt bad for the one who got captured so I'm going to try and put in a little side adventure for him to give him a chance to escape by himself and meet up with the others. It'll be difficult to time it right but then he won't have to sit around most of the session waiting to be rescued.

The most commonly uttered phrase of the night was "I knew we should never have come back here.". They had all had to be blackmailed into joining up as they had no intention of ever going back.

All the players admitted that they would not have followed if a PC hadn't been taken.

Edited May 12, 2018 by yinkincat