Though socially distant, we continued the Down Darker Trails: Bag of Nails sessions via Discord in April of 2020. As this was the first online ttprg experience for some of the players, the scenario was kept simple and used a classic Western trope: the train heist.
Scenario: Aches and Trains
Going the Distance
In the last session, the Investigators escaped the violence that had overtaken Red Lodge and taken their dinosaur bones to Billings, Montana with the intention of selling to a university. A minor bidding war ensued with some universities by telegraph; followed by a more personal discussions with nearby representatives who would examine the bones. In the end, the final buyers were Miskatonic University. Their offer of $5000 was enough to raise the Credit Rating of the characters; now they just had to transport the bones safely to Miskatonic to collect the money.
Billings was a major enough city to have a rail line, but it wasn’t connected to the main line that would take the Investigators to Massachusetts. For that they’d need to transfer trains in Rapid City, South Dakota; an overnight stop. That line would travel to Boston, with stops in Sioux Falls, Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland, and Albany along the way. From Boston, the characters would transfer from train to wagon for the last 25 miles from Boston to Arkham.
Keeper’s Note: I had a difficult time finding accurate railway maps for 1869 and as it wouldn’t impact the story overmuch, made up the route and stops the train would take for narrative convenience.
Warehoused Thieves
When stopping overnight in Rapid City, one of the porters will be especially curious about the crates the Investigators are transporting. If left unguarded or unattended, one of the smaller containers will be stolen; the lack of complete skeletons will lower the final fee paid to the characters and affect their credit rating.
The Great Train Robbery
Between Rapid City and Sioux Falls the train will be attacked by robbers, led by the bandit gunslinger Lola Muerto (an obvious pseudonym). The 9 would-be hijackers will split into two groups, with Lola and 3 others attempting to take over the engine and the other 5 attacking from the back. While they’re not specifically attacking the train to get the bones, it’s not a treasure they’ll pass up. And it’s also possible that the fossils will be damaged during the ensuing gunfight. The Investigators can help defend the train or specifically defend their possessions. The train’s workers will have weapons, but if any passengers die due to the selfishness of the characters then it will be on their conscience (SAN loss).
Boston at Last… Now What?
Depending on the outcomes of the events in Rapid City and during the robbery, the Investigators may have no need to continue to Miskatonic University. The next events will depend on what happened during the journey and what the characters decide to do.
Rewards and Retributions
Stolen or damaged dinosaur bones: credit rating reduced
Allowing passengers to die: -1d4 SAN per passenger
Session Recap
The Investigators made their final preparations for travel, deciding what animals to keep and what could be replaced. While most of the characters had not bonded with their horses, Levi could not bear to part with his donkey and he agreed to pay any additional transport fees. His dog, Earl, was an easier choice to keep as the hound could ride along in any cabin.
The train ride from Billings to River City was uneventful and short. The group had become distrustful of strangers and even without the overly curious porter, would have likely taken watch shifts on their “treasures” in the warehouse regardless. Being that “Dan,” the porter, was an equal mix of curiosity, unkempt, and shady, the travelers became extra cautious. The Investigators watched over the belongings in pairs through the night. They never saw the porter or any thieves–because Dan saw them guarding.
Dan was not part of the crew that helped load the crates onto the main train, but the Investigators’ wariness was high and they carefully watched their belonging being loaded into the train. The train consisted of multiple cars in the following layout: Caboose – Livestock – Cargo 2 – Cargo 1 (crates) – Dining Car – Sleeper 2 – Sleeper 1 (PCs) – Coach 2 – Coach 1-Coal – Engine. With everything loaded, they began to make their way eastward.
During the travel through South Dakota, some of the Investigators noticed the telltale signs of riders approaching fast. They rightly guessed that this was a nefarious gang coming to rob them. They quickly pointed out the oncoming horses to the valets. Thanks to Corwin’s military credentials, they were able to convince the valet to open the lockbox containing the group’s rifles.
As the bandits were approaching, there was some internal discussion regarding if Dan could be part of the gang and how he could have traveled so quickly without a train. The Rapid City porter had nothing to do with Lola’s bandits.
Ellis moved back to the cargo car that carried their crates. Arlene and Hiram helped calm the other passengers. Corwin, Levi, and Red Dove As soon as the bandits were in range, they began firing on the horses but the dust and the movement made it difficult. While the Investigators weren’t able to hit much, the same could not be said for Lola and her crew, who seemed to unerringly hit the train’s valets with as almost as many bullets as they fired, quickly dispatching much of the train’s hired security.
While the gunfight ensued up front, Ellis was swiftly moving various baggage (not the crates) around to create a wall of defense. As bandits came from the rear, the wall proved to be very helpful protection, allowing the gambler to dispatch two of the bandits.
The sounds of gunfire was erupting at both ends of the train. As Levi and Red Dove defended the engine firing upon the bandits and killing all but Lola, Corwin moved back through the cabins to assist Ellis.
Lola was able to hop onto the train’s engine and, due to the coal car, was not easily visible. Red Dove stealthed her way over the coals as Lola and the engineer fought. The engineer was dispatched and Lola began to pump the train’s brakes only to be confronted by the Shoshone scout. Thanks to Red Dove’s skill as a fighter, she was able to literally unhand then kill bandit leader via tomahawk.
Ellis, meanwhile was running out of bullets and, it seemed, luck. While he was able to dispatch one of the bandits, the last fired a fatal shot. The gambler’s body fell to the floor just as Corwin entered the car. Corwin dispatched the bandit but his skills were more suited to killing than healing. It was more through perseverance than prowess that the soldier was able to restore the gambler long enough to summon Doctor Blake. The doctor was able to fully stabilize Ellis. Though additional healing, ideally in a hospital, would be required. This would be the second time in the gambler’s adventures that he had died, only to be saved.
Though most of the train’s staff had died at the hands of the bandits, the lead valet had avoided the combat and had enough skill to get the train to Sioux Falls where Ellis could be better attended.
Even when there were no supernatural threats, it seems Arlene was always provided with a new story to submit to the papers.
Keeper’s Thoughts
To prep for die rolls in the game, I added Dice Maiden to my private discord channel. There was a minor learning curve for players who had little Discord or bot experience, but pretty soon everyone was rolling along.
While there were a few technical/connection difficulties, they were smoothed over quickly and I received comments like, “I was worried about playing online, but this was a lot of fun.” Which is always great to hear. Thankfully, CoC is largely theater of the mind, so avoids some of the hassles with more complex online systems like Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds. But it’s a good feeling to know the whole group was happy to continue our next sessions online.
For this initial session we had only the general text and voice channels. However, there were occasions where drawings or images were required. To better facilitate future sessions I added a “Props” channel so people could quickly examine/re-examine any references. I also created a “Roleplay” channel for any players that wanted to have in-character conversations between sessions. Finally, to keep any funny/non-game related distractions out of the primary channels, I added a “Memes” channel. Hopefully the channel separations will make things easier for players to remain organized.
Ellis died fighting serpent people four sessions prior (Issue 6: Ceremoanial) and was restored through supernatural means. Corwin’s initial stabilizing roll was a failure, dooming the gambler. Ellis’s player was prepared for his character to die, but the other players were not. Instead, Corwin pushed the roll, allowing for a re-roll and succeeding in helping to save the character. Despite the character being a pre-gen, the players were invested in the group and that’s always a joy for a GM to see. This is Call of Cthulhu, however, and death will not be staved off forever.
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