WHEN NIGHTMARES COME - Balkans Case 1920s Game 1

 Colin and I have embarked on a new case using When Nightmares Come, again set in the 1920s, this time centred around the Balkans.

First of all to introduce the cast:

THE HUNTERS

 Roberto Gatti: Warden (Fighter)

A former Captain in the Italian Army and a veteran of the Battle of Monte Grappa in November 1917 and the Battle of the Piave River in May 1918. Whilst patrolling on the mountains in the final months of the war, Roberto and his unit were attacked by strange creatures that, quite literally, ripped his men apart. At the end of the war Roberto left the army and began his new crusade, monster hunting. He started by tracking the creatures that killed his men to their lair in the Italian Alps and destroying them. He met Sophia Richardson when they were both pursuing a demonic cult based in the sewers of Milan.

 

Sophia Richardson: Weaver (Magician)

Amongst the first women to receive a degree from Oxford University, Sophia was set for a career in medicine until the mysterious disappearance of her father, a renowned Egyptologist. Searching her father’s papers for a clue to his whereabouts she discovered his journal, which read like something from Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. The journal led her to a group of her father’s “associates” in Egypt and a terrifying encounter with a resurrected mummy. Since then, her hunt for clues to her father’s fate have led her deeper into the world of paranormal and bizarre investigations, which is how she encountered Roberto.

 

Pip Kingsway: Warden (Fighter)

The black sheep scion of a minor aristocratic family, Pip was expelled from Eton after a prank involving a goat and the headmasters wife went horribly wrong. Sent out to Africa to redeem himself on the family’s newly acquired farm he became a keen hunter.

He immersed himself in the local culture and was particularly fascinated by his dealings with the local witch doctor. Logic told him that the man had no supernatural powers but he saw many things that seemed impossible.

The outbreak of the Great war found him caught up in the fighting in East Africa. He raised a small troop to help in the pursuit of Von Lettow-Vorbeck and his German and Askari army. His belief in the supernatural was confirmed when he witnessed the disappearance of a platoon of Kings African Rifles at the hands of a German supporting witch doctor. The Witch did not survive long but he swore to root out practitioners of the dark arts.

 

Penfold Byron: Wright (Researcher/Artificer)

Penfold came from a family of engineers. Many of Victorian Britain’s engineering marvels had involved a Byron. As he grew up he heard the story of the the Tay Bridge Disaster. His grandfather had not only designed the bridge but was one of the 90 people killed that day. As reported by William McGonagall the deaths were the work of the devil Boreas. All his life he intended to use his scientific and engineering skills to seek out and destroy Boreas and similar creatures of darkness.

Aware of his own physical limitations he sought out a man of action to provide the muscular Christianity that he lacked. He met Pip Kingsway through a personal advertisement in the Times, liked the cut of his jib and they agreed to work together. An article in The Journal of the Society for Psychical Research led them to Gatti and Richardson.

 

The Dark Spawn

 

Cultists - Vermin class

Actions: Free Move + 1d6

Move 6”

Armour 4+ on 1d6

Traits:

Melee weapon=Savage – the first time DS moves into contact with a Hunter, they get a free melee attack.

Missile weapon=Count as pistol armed

 

Undead Wolves - Vermin class

Actions: Free Move + 1d6

Move 6”

Armour 4+ on 1d6

Traits: Savage – the first time DS moves into contact with a Hunter, they get a free melee attack.

 

Reanimated Corpse - Horde class

Actions: Free Move + 2d8

Move 6”

Armour 4+ on 1d8

Traits: Repulsive – all Hunters must make a Terror roll the first time they come within 6” and LO, Tenacious – Any hits except aimed or Natural Crits just knock the DS prone (-3 to Dodge Defend rolls)

 

Werewolf - Terror class

Actions: Free Move + 3d10

Move 6”

Armour 4+ on 1d10

Traits: Dreadful – Blows from this adversary count double against Hunters Resolve

Frenzied – When it attacks, target must pass two Dodge Defend rolls

 

No Atrocity as yet, we are going to how the first few games go and decide what the BIG BAD is going to be once we see what direction the campaign is heading in.

Campaign Background

 

In previous investigations the team have uncovered rumours of a mysterious cult that based it’s teachings on the research of Victor Frankenstein, who’s original work was thought to have been lost a century before. More recently the cult has been connected to reports of missing people and the sightings of strange creatures in the mountains of Croatia, which has prompted the team to travel to the region and investigate.

 

Scenario One: The Gypsy Camp

Travelling to the site of the most recent sightings, the team come upon a gypsy encampment.

 Location: A small clearing in the forest. In the centre is an open space with a scattering of tents, carts and wooden crates etc, proving areas of cover. Several gypsies can be seen around the camp, who react abruptly to the team’s arrival.

 Time: Mid-morning – Lighting conditions are Well Lit

Deployment: As the party have arrived together, deploy all Hunters on same edge.

 

DARK SPAWN DEPLOYMENT

Turn 1: randomly convert three gypsies to Cultists.

Turn 2: 2 Cultists

Turn 3: 4 Cultists

Turn 4: 4 Cultists

Turn 5 2 Reanimated Corpses

Turn 6 2 Reanimated Corpses

  

The initial set up, with the hunters closest to the camera.

Gypsies clustered around the caravan, but how many were as innocent as they seemed?

Turn 1: Sophia Richardson rushes to the nearest portal and shuts it down, having harvested some  Arcana first. Roberto Gatti races past her to search the first POI, finding a clue. Three cultists reveal themselves and two rush towards Pip Kinsway and Penfold Byron. The first fires at Penfold with his shotgun, but misses.

Turn 2: Pip fells his first opponent, then fires at the next with his pistol, but the vermin dodges the shot, while Penfold searches the nearby POI, but finds nothing. From the far side of the camp, Roberto takes careful aim and drops the shotgun wielder with a well placed rifle bullet. Sophia moves on to the next POI and finds a second clue, which triggers the Nexus appearing, fortunately close to Sophia and away from the majority of the cultists.

Turn 3: Sophia runs to the Nexus and harvests some much-needed Arcana. Roberto intercepts the only cultist threatening Sophia and dispatches him with his rifle butt, then joins Sophia at the Nexus, pausing to shoot another cultist advancing on Pip and Penfold. As most of the newly arrived cultists were on their side of the table, the pair have their work cut out fighting their foes off, which distracts them away from Sophia working on the Nexus. Even more Cultist appear close to the unfortunate Penfold, who is now wounded

Turn 4: Now Surrounded by foes, Penfold uses one of his Repellants to force them back, allowing Pip to thin their numbers with his revolver. Roberto frantically harvests Arcana from the Nexus, before Sophia uses her arcane knowledge to shut it down.

Turn 5: With the Nexus closed and the portal dispersed the hunters easily dispatch the three surviving cultists.

In the end this scenario went quite well for the hunters and seemed easy, apart from a rather hairy few moments for Pip and Penfold. Undoubtedly we were helped that so few of the Dark Spawn entered closer to the Nexus, which allowed Sophia to work uninterrupted. If the Nexus had remained open for longer and some Reanimated Corpses entered the fray, things might have been very different indeed.

The clues the hunters found lead the way to an ancient circle of standing stones, deep in the forest.