Our Down Darker Trails: Bag of Nails sessions continued via Discord in May of 2020. Not only did May have two sessions, it was the start of a new session style for the campaign; slower paced with multiple mysteries woven into an adventure. This would also mark the first adventure which directly tied to one of the player characters. I had thought the mini-plot would be wrapped up in a few sessions, so sat on my notes and write-ups, thinking to bundle it into one. As it’s (happily) turned into a more lengthy multi-session arc, I’m changing my overall format to accommodate.
Scenario: School Spirit
As the players had moved away from the current Virginia City plotline, School Spirit would introduce the characters to Miskatonic University and their primary contacts, should they decide to alter their professions to something more akin to paranormal hunters. The events I had planned for Virginia City would continue with or without the characters and they may find their original base of operations very changed when and if they should return.
In addition to setting up an alternate form of the campaign, School Spirit would set up two intertwined mysteries: a ghost and a missing (presumably dead) student who looked exactly like the player character of Arlene Hunnell. The scenario was written with no specific end state or exact goal and the session(s) would be based on player decisions and actions.
Two years ago, the Miskatonic University student Paulo Riva took his own life when his fellow student and girlfriend Samantha fell and disappeared in a river. Though her body was never recovered, witness accounts and police investigations indicated she was most likely dead. Samantha and Arlene Hunnell look exactly alike and Arlene’s presence will awaken the dormant ghost of Paulo. He’ll be affable, but slightly confused, not fully remembering his own past or his state. He is not a vengeful ghost, but has uncontrolled powers which heighten at night. The more agitated his state, the colder it will get.
The girl who seemingly drowned in an icy river, Samantha, looks almost exactly like Arlene. If investigated, it will turn out that Samantha is Arlene’s cousin. After a falling out with the Hunnell family in New York, her father moved to Cincinnati and his brother (Arlene’s uncle) moved to Salem, Massachusetts. As she was estranged from her less immediate family, Arlene had never known of her uncle.
Keeper’s Note: Yes, identical twins are a genetic impossibility unless two sets of twins happened to produce offspring, but if it can work for the Patty Duke Show, Bewitched, Full House, and other media it can work for a role-playing game with ghosts and monsters.
Miskatonic University: Paranormal Investigations
The M.U. Professor of Anthropology, Phineas Keane, will be happy to verify the delivery of dinosaur bones and confirm payment. This will keep the character’s high Credit Ratings intact (for the time being). Professor Keane is a tall, wirey man with a loud voice and unique patter; much like a radio announcer’s in the 1940’s. While affable, he will have little more to do with the Investigators unless they acquire more bones.
Far more interested in the the Investigators is Archibald Goldwin, the university’s Professor of Antiquities. The more rotund scholar is also very interested in the paranormal and is seeking enough information and proof of such activity to request a grant and possibly even form a new field of study. He’ll want to hear of any encounters the characters may wish to share and will listen with an open, but scientific, mind.
If the players choose, Archibald can provide leads to expeditions which could prove profitable. Profitable enough to at least keep the Investigators in their current state of finances.
The Investigators will also be introduced to the secretary of both professors: Deirdre Bradshaw. Where Professor Keane may be dismissive and skeptical of any cryptid artifacts and Professor Goldwin possibly too excitable and brimming with far-fetched notiones, Ms. Bradshaw will retain a cool, but open view and aid the Investigators in both securing resources and pointing them in a direction should they not know what to do next.
Sessions Recap
This recap is a compressed version of both sessions played in May of 2020.
Following the events on the train, the Investigators allowed themselves some time to rest and recuperate in Boston. Ellis Gentry was eager to oversee the transaction at Miskatonic University and ensure his financial gains, so despite his bandaged wounds, the team only stayed in the city for a few days. They had little issue hiring transport for themselves and the dinosaur bones from Boston to the university.
The campus was large, with little direction for the Investigators to find their contacts. And, as the winter term had ended, with the spring term yet to begin, only a handful of people were milling about on campus. Despite the scant amount of people present, they were still able to flag down a student to assist. Paulo Riva introduced himself as a budding journalist and was most interested in the party and their travels; he seemed to be quite taken with Arlene, possibly due to the fact that she was an accomplished reporter. The student led half the Investigators to the Sciences Hall, while half remained behind with the fossils.
Under the guidance of Deirdre Bradshaw, the Investigators and a few other students were able to transport the fossils from the university entrance to the Science Hall. Upon their return to the hall, the Investigators met Professors Keane and Goldwin. Keane was eager to review the bones in more detail and less traffics areas; he could not offer the party any commissions or assignments, but urged them to contact Miskatonic first should they uncover any additional deposits. Professor Goldwin had some duties to attend, but bade the Investigators to stay the night and meet with them in the morning. He had heard rumors of strange events at the dig site and wanted all the details.
Secretary Bradshaw brought the Investigators to a small guest house. It was still undergoing some construction, but should suit them for the night or a bit longer, if desired. The rounded building had an living quarters and would eventually have six available bedrooms but, due to the construction, only three bedrooms were available. They split the rooms between Arlene and Red, Ellis and Hiram, Levi and Corwin.
That night the building became impossibly cold, driving most of the sleepers into a torpor from which they had to be physically shaken to awake. The windows were frosted over and even the center room’s fire felt cold. Outside, the night air had the chillness of spring, but was far from freezing. Something unnatural was clearly at play.
The Investigators packed into the center room, taking watch in order to wake the others should the frost return. It did. Corwin noticed a figure outside the frosted window that looked like the young man who had aided them when they first arrived: Paulo. However, when the soldier ran outside to confront the student, he was not there at all. Sleep did not come easy for any of them that night.
The next morning the Investigators met with Professor Goldwin. They relayed some of the details regarding the events of the excavation, but were careful to not let anything too unusual or paranormal be mentioned. Even with the Professor seeming to be a believer, the party felt they needed to let their knowledge remain private, given the dangers of all they had seen. There was, however, the promise of payment for not just stories, but any proof they could provide to the Professor of the supernatural. He even shared with them his prized possession; it looked to be an over-sized pair of brass binoculars attached to a tripod, like some sort of weird surveying scope. Goldwin called it “auraum” and claimed it could see beyond the physical realm, seeing the supernatural. Sadly, he’d yet to actively use it in action.
The Investigators asked the professor about Paulo Riva; Goldwin remembered the boy committing suicide a few years past over some girl—a fellow student, if he recalled correctly. The party mentioned they had met the young man on campus and it was very possible the Paulo they had met was a ghost. The professor became excited and animated and begged for them to somehow lead the ghost outside his window so he might gaze upon the apparition with his auraum. The Investigators promised to do what they could, but needed to research the student and his fate more thoroughly.
As they knew Paulo had been involved in the school paper, they decided to head to the journalism and archives building. There, and through other investigatory methods, they were eventually able to find the real story of Paulo, a student who killed himself when his girlfriend died. A girl who bore the last name of and an extraordinary physical resemblance to Arlene; whose home address was in Salem, Massachusetts. Samantha Hunnell had reportedly drowned in the freezing Miskatonic River two years ago, her body carried away by the currents. There was, however, enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that she may actually still be alive. To add to the confusion, the head of the school paper suggested that she broke up with Paulo before her supposed death and added additional skepticism in the Investigators’ mind. If Samantha is alive her whereabouts remain unknown, but her family in Salem would be a good next step.
Keeper’s Note: This is a very truncated version of the full events, with the party separating and chasing down various investigation and strategies; this included some going to Arkham to speak with the police. This also included another night in the temporary home, forming a salt circle in the living room to ward off the ghost and the freezing air it brought with him.
While he may have been a ghost and did sometimes cause freezing around him, it seemed to be focused on Arlene’s presence. The spirit itself didn’t appear evil or even angry. The Investigators, knowing no way to bring the specter to peaceful rest decided to focus their investigation on Salem, and Arlene’s “twin.”
The Hunnell family in Salem were wealthy and very private, having moved there some thirty years prior. They were not able to meet with Dean or Mary Hunnell, but managed to secure an offsite meeting with their manservant, Lars. In order to avoid conflict, only Ellis and Hiram met with Lars directly, with Corwin, Red Dove, and Levi securing positions around the bar and Arlene in an upstairs room to avoid being seen and causing any undue drama.
Lars was faithful, but clearly scared to answer too many questions. His thoughts and advice were largely followed with the suggestion that the Investigators leave the Hunnells alone and, even better, leave town. The characters took this as evidence that even after two years, the Hunnells had either a) not gotten over the death of their only child or the more likely b) were hiding something about the missing girl. They decided to remain in Salem until they could determine exactly what, if anything, Dean and Mary Hunnell were doing.
Keeper’s Thoughts
One of the reasons I usually structure my campaigns in “episodes,” is to more easily accommodate for a player who could not attend due to “life.” If each session reaches a conclusion, there could be numerous reasons a character might not be around for the next adventure, even if they were still woven into the arc of a campaign. This marked the first time in a long time I completely dispensed with trying to tighten the pace or offer shorthand. I had intended to “let go” with session 7, but it’s a lot easier to give players the momentum with an open investigation than with the rigors of travel. This pacing also allowed the players the freedom to act on what mysteries they either found as most important or more likely solvable. As they weren’t sure of what to do with Paulo’s ghost, they could theoretically put a pause on that investigation to explore Arlene’s twin cousin.
Overall, this change of pace felt comfortable. However, this had a downside. Firstly, life events during the summer kept me from running any sessions. This meant that there was a lengthy pause between this session and its follow-up. As I had not completed any write-up, this meant using limited notes and memories that were less than fresh. Secondly, our first session after the hiatus would be missing critical players. After so long without gaming, I didn’t want to push for another month, so we were able to run a “flashback” adventure (see the next upcoming Bag of Nails write-up). Fortunately, our October session resumed with all players.
While moving to a more open format for the game and introducing multiple threads gives players more agency and decision, this can be a drawback if players are inconsistent in scheduling. And life does happen. As this is a monthly game, it’s rarer that the full group isn’t present, but it’s something I’ll have to consider more thoughtfully, should the group and I decide to continue this style of pacing.
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Also, this is a case where my notes shifted for narrative reasons when I actually ran the game. And I had waited too long between planning, running, and write-up so needed to correct a bit after showing my players.
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