GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Karen Twelves, Dale Horstman, Matthew Klein
System: The Shadow of Yesterday
I was watching Matt Colville’s video on what makes a good villain, and his central point was that villains do villainous things. It isn’t enough to threaten terrible things, they need to do them. He referenced the first season of Stranger Things Season 4, so spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen it. Skip over the next paragraph if so.
Vecna does two terrible things. He kills Chrissy, a person who we care about, and he also does it in a way that makes everyone blame Eddie. She’s in his trailer when she dies and the town thinks Eddie is a problem child, so they are quick to blame him. I realized with Sorcerer Zedwick has an incredible opportunity to do something very similar. He can do violence with his shadows and make it look like they were done by the PCs. It’s their shadows doing it after all.
The other thing Villains do is gloat. So I thought of a few things Zedwick might say, but I also had an idea for a cut scene where Zediwck, via Command Priya, could gloat. Aphrita (remember Aphrita who calls Tamarin the Spear Breaker) had been taken prisoner when she tried to kill Commander Priya, and they now have her in bond. So instead of having the villains gloat in front of the players (at first), I made a short cut scene where they gloated in front of her. Good stuff.
Finally, I had a few taunts in mind that Zedwick could give to the players if they made contact.
I also made some props and maps for the game. Thanks Inkarnate for the awesome map tools and Erik at Games of Berkeley for giving me some starting tips on painting minis. He suggested I go for something simple and it worked really well. The Doomed Bloodbark in red, the Sea Serpent in blue, and the Raven’s Ghost with no (just dry brushed). Finally, I made a little wind direction tracker and planned to roll 3dF to see how many degrees it changed every turn (+3 to -3 in 45 degree increments). I printed it out and used a grommet to attach the spinner.
I was also thinking about ways for heroes to seek out certain secrets. Karen wants the Secret of Living Morph for Tamarin, but that means finding a sorcerer that can teach it to her, which isn’t obvious how to do. I’ve also been hinting at Aonghüs a connection to his ancestors, and I wanted to make that approachable as well, so I made a few paths they could follow to get there. Here’s the paths I made (only showing the steps they’ve revealed so far):
The players only get to see the next step in the path, so they don’t know where it ends. For Tamarin, there’s no surprises, but Aonghüs may be in for a surprise. Excited to get there!
That idea also converged with some thoughts I had about naval combat (as that seemed like it was happening soon) and other actions they could take during travel. I decided to use Errant travel turns (4 hours) for actions on board and exploration turns (10 minutes) for naval combat.
Here’s the actions I offered for travel turns (also presented on index cards):
- Support Captain Blackmane (Sail East towards Dead Dad Island)
- Support First Mate Evelina (Go to the Maw of Eternity, Fight if we must)
- Decode the signals (4-tick clock, ticked filled equal to successes, failure meant adding to the clock size).
- Find the Spy
- Recovery Scene
- Healing Scene
I found a lot of naval combat ideas, so I broke them up into actions by station:
Crew Actions (anyone can take)
- Lookout (alert for danger)
- Carpenter (repair damage)
- Rigging (aid helm maneuvers)
- Oars (add speed)
- Boarding (attack enemy crew, if side by side)
Gunner Actions (anyone at the cannons or harpoons)
- Prepare shot (round, chain, grape)
- Fire canons (broadside only)
- Load harpoons
- Fire harpoons (prow only)
Helm Actions (pilot only)
- Evasive Maneuvers (evade attacks)
- Full Sail (maximum speed)
- Bring to bear (supports gunners)
- Ram (attack)
- Close in (supports boarding and harpoons)
Command Actions (captain or others in charge)
- Rally the Crew (raise morale)
- Terrify your Foes (intimidate)
- Command the deck (aid the crew)
- On my mark (aid gunners)
Give a mouse a cookie…and he’ll ask for painted miniatures and maps and props and more. I got the bug to create and had some time between games so I kept making things!
Opening Scene
We recapped the events of last session and then I opened with a cut scene.
In a dark hold at the bottom of the Raven’s Ghost, a match is struck and a lantern lit. The light is so feeble that it does not reach the lantern bearer’s face, but on her shoulder lapels, medals of service to the Ammeni glint in the light. She holds the lantern a beaten and bound figure and gloats “You see Aphrita, all your resistance ahs been for naught. We allowed those bumbling pirates to “steal” our treasure and it lured out your leader just as we knew it would. Soon we’ll have your your leader Newlyn in this hold with you, or drowning at the bottom of the sea.”
From the shadows another figure spoke in a rough voice. “Don’t underestimate the wiles of the Bloodbark, Commander Priya. We still need to recover the artifact and the other prize on board.” From the shadows, only the figures steepled fingers were visible.
The commander’s expression turned sour “Do not mistake my lenience for your experiments as permission to alter our plans. You may seek the sky fire, but our orders are to win the war.”
“Of course commander Priya, I am at your service. The figure bowed forward and the bald and burned faced for Sorcerer Zedwick was briefly visible from the shadows.
We cut back to Captain Blackmane’s quarters as she felt Evelina tack the ship hard north. “By King Khale’s Fallen Oak, she came about too soon. They are out of range!” She stormed to the helm to correct the course and I asked the players what do you do?
[Travel Turn 1]
Tamarin, exhausted from running around constantly, went to the equally tired Kuzu and asked if he could also heal her burned hands. He was all out of salve (Tamarin had stolen and used it all) so he pulled out some alcohol to clean the wound (that hurt!) and then wrapped it in gauze. “I know that hurt like hell, but it will prevent infection.” [Level 2 Vigor Wound Healed]
Haka, with the captain’s codebook set upon decoding the signals. They had no facility with this, but one of the past lives did. They recalled a time when they were a smuggler who ferried goods and sent secret signals. They had codes of their own! With that knowledge (from a past life) and the captain’s codebook they made good progress with the etchings they made. They deciphered most of the message including the spy sharing the Bloodbark’s bearings as well as confirmation about the presence of some noun they were still to decipher (3/4 ticks).
Aonghüs worked with the crew and did all he could to help as the ship turned back to sail east and Captain Blackmane ordered full sails and sent people to the oars. He worked beside Deslin for a time and eventually Deslin asked if he had met Elsha yet. “Who’s Elsha?” Deslin nodded towards another crewmember at the rigging Aonghüs recognized someone who had been avoiding him the whole time he’d been on the Bloodbark. “I think she’s from your tribe.”
Later, at the oars (where Evelina was serving as coxswain and coordinating the crew to row) Aonghüs sat down next to her and noticed the marking on her cheek that he had as well. Elsha is shy, and had been avoiding Aonghüs but when he said the Crescent Tribe words “The fruit is sweet,” she responded with the second half “but the rinds holds the spirit.” Elsha eventually confessed she had been avoiding Aonghüs because she didn’t want to be tangled up in his father’s curse (she had avoided Eoghan as well). Once she opened up, they found they had a lot in common. They were both trying to figure out what tribe they were a part of and where they fit in the world. Though Elsha had avoided him up till now, they started becoming friends quickly and he learned her tribe name “New Moon.” [Step one of learning the Secret of Ancestors complete]
Sailing Status: Winds continued east (rolled 0 in 3dF). Captain Blackmane made full use of the winds and oars, but the Sea Serpent and Raven’s Ghost were still gaining in them!
[Travel Turn 2]
Tamarin’s burns were recovering but she hadn’t slept and she was still juggling too much (Level 3 Reason Harm “Stressed”). She found Aonghüs at the oars and asked for something to help her sleep. He opened his pouch and handed her six small cacao balls and advised her to use them judiciously. “Bowden should take two at most!” (Aonghüs’ way of warning Tamarin not to take too many herself).
She took the edibles down to Bowdyn and told him this wasn’t a time for talking, she needed a nap. Before nodding off she helped him rewrap his wounds and noticed some sharp, crystalline edges protruding from the burns. When she looked at her shadow she realized it was in the form of her wolkfin shape, her hands turned to claws. The were both disturbing but she was too tired to do anything about it. Tamarin took 1/4 of an edible (giving 1 and 3/4 to Bowdyn) and told him not to let anyone disturb her. Bowdyn closed the door and pulled a blanked over her so she could get better rest. [Level 3 Reason wound healed]
Haka continued working on the codes to decipher the last word. Meanwhile the Captain send Merna down to relieve Evelina so she could take the helm again. Captain Blackmain told her emphatically to stay on the course, and then headed to Haka to find out their progress on the codes. Haka showed her what they had accomplished so far and Blackmane looked at the elf with a new kind of respect. Haka seemed to know old codes and smuggling routes, the understood that certain symbols stood in for entire words or phrases. There was a second level to the decipher that required a sailors knowledge of terms and lingo…which Haka seemed to possess. She pulled out some old code books that were no longer in use, but might help with the final word and they finished the work together (4/4 ticks). The final noun they were missing was the “Stone of Stars”. The spy and the Khale ship were talking about the stone tablet. [Code Deciphered]
As Haka looked across the room toward it, they also saw their shadow, who had pulled a knife from the Captain’s table and was going to slit the Captain’s throat with it!
Aonghüs finished his shift at the oars and followed Evalina up to the helm with a bag of apples that he had hid a flaks of grog in. He offered the vittles to the first mate as she was grumbling about this only delaying the inevitable, being a fool’s errand, and how we needed to even the odds. Eventually, after she’d eaten a few apples (Aonghüs was tossing her cores over the railing), Aonghüs asked if she had any other ideas
“Yeah, I’ve got ideas. If we sail north towards the Maw, they will likely give up pursuit as it’s too dangerous. And if they don’t, it will be their funeral when the Maw sucks them in to its eternal grasp.” Aonghüs liked the idea, it appealed to his guerilla warfare tactics and seemed like a better option than just waiting to be overtaken. He went back to work with his fellow crew and without naming Evalina as the source, he floated the ideas of changing tack and won both Elsha and Deslin to the cause. [Winning them over to the First Mate’s side]
When Aonghüs attempted to report the news, Evelina, put the brace on the wheel to hold course and stepped to the railing so they could speak in confidence. She stood up on the railing and looked at him intently as he told her that other members of the crew also thought we should try something new. She looked at him with a newfound confidence and said “You are your father’s son.” Aonghüs wasn’t sure how to take that, but he didn’t have time to think, because just then his shadow shoved Evelina off the railing and into the roiling sea below!
Sailing Status: Winds continued east (rolled 0 in 3dF). First Made Evelina made full use of the winds and oars (before she was thrown into the sea), but as the sun set the Sea Serpent and Raven’s Ghost were closing further in. They were now at extreme canon range!
Bring Down the Pain
Tamarin woke from her much needed map with a bad feeling. Why was her shadow transforming. She ran to the captains quarters to warn Haka and burst in just as their shadow was about to kill the captain with her own knife. She yelled “Shadow Magic” just as Haka shoved the Captain out of the way and was cut by their own shadow, saw it take the form of the bald and burned Sorcerer Zedwick! “Shadow Magic!” The muttered.
There was a beat where everyone was assessing their situation and Haka could tell that while Blackmane could have never expected their shadow to animate and attack her, she noticed something was going on earlier and was beginning to put the pieces together.
Meanwhile Tamarin tried to lunge grab for the hilt of the knife, on sure if she’d find it floating in air or with a corporeal hand wrapped around it. She lunged, the shadow became immaterial and she flew threw it, crashing into the detritus of the captain’s quarters. The knife fell from it’s grip when it became immaterial, but the shadow caught it out of the air, solid once more and plunged it into the captain’s heart… OR IT WOULD HAVE IF TAMARIN DIDN’T BRING DOWN THE PAIN! [Sorry for the all caps, I just get excited when the players take this option].
We zoomed into moment to moment actions.
Haka pulled captain Blackmane behind the Stone of Stars (hoping it would afford them some protection). She was all for getting away from the shadow, but was far from trusting Haka in this moment “What foul magics have you brought into my home?”
Haka doubled down on the ruse “Captain Blackmane. Ever since I communed with that tablet, I feel that even shadow magics have haunted it. See, look at that creature even now.” Blackmane could see it’s features no longer resembled Haka, but that of fell sorcerer.
Tamarin once again leapt for the blade, but this time she caught it [using Sense Danger instead of Scrapping to time it just right]. The Shadow of Zedwick loomed over the table at Haka and Blackmane and gloated “You’ve already fallen into my trap. Soon all that I desire will be mine. But I do have an offer for you…hand over the giant and I’ll let you go free.”
Tamarin yelled. “Noooooo. You’ can’t have Bowdyn!” She used her divination magic “Know Capabilities” to learn the shadow’s weakness, which gave us a chance to learn a bit more about how Tamarin learned magic in the first place.
After her litter was killed, she felt a profound sense of guilt and wanted to make sure she was never unable to defend those she loves again. She sought out the most deadly wizard she could find. Not the wisest or the most powerful, the one renowned for her ferocity. She learned of a Shaman named Aly’ze who had a companion wolf that attacked bandits on the road. She found the shaman in the woods and soon learned the wolf and the shaman were the same. Tamarin studied under Aly’ze and one of her lessons was how each foci of Three Corner magic had a day and night. Creation and Destruction bound by the same foci. The Shadow of Zedwick could freely move between forms so long as it was in contact with other shadows, but if the other were banished by light, it would be vulnerable. She grabbed a lantern from the hook!
Haka and Blackmane circled the table, keeping the Stone of Stars between them and Zedwick’s Shadow. Since the sorcerer was keen to gloat, Haka tried to buy time for Tamarin and learn more of his plans. “What could the giant have to do with you Zedwick?”
A victim of his own hubris, Zedwick could not help but tell them of his plans to burn Bowdyn into a crystal golem, the one creature capable of holding the Sky Flame!
As they circled the table, Blackmane pulled her blunderbuss off the wall and began loading it.
Tamarin jumped on the table, holding the lantern aloft and banishing the shadows around Zedwick. Before he could get out of the light, Haka yelled “Now!” and Blackmane fired the Blunderbuss, creating creating a huge plume of smoke, shattering the windows, and knocking everyone back (the lantern in Tamarin’s hand only narrowly missing Haka’s head).
As Zedwick’s shadow faded he taunted them once more “I wonder if anyone will remember your deeds when you are drowned beneath the waves.”
Overboard
Aonghüs smiled as Evelina fell into the water, imagining this was some kind of daring plan of hers. When she looked at him with an expression of horror and disbelief and he heard Pwyll yell “Aonghüs just threw the first mate overboard!” it donned on him that something was very wrong. Evelina hit the water with a thud, the wind knocked out of her, and she went under.
Aonghüs, unsure what was going on, grabbed a large belaying pin and dove into the water after her. His dive (unlike Evelina’s) was intentional and he found her underwater trying to get her bearings. She was about to pop up right into the oars! He reached her, shoved the belaying pin in her harms and pushed her out of reach from the oars so that when she bobbed to the surface, she was not clobbered to death by the rest of the crew.
The crew threw a rope down and both Aonghüs and the sputtering but now cogent Evelina swam towards it. Aonghüs made it there first and tool Evelina’s hand so she could scamper up the rope (sometimes it’s good to be ratkin). When she got to the top and caught her breath, she looked down at Aonghüs, unsure what to think of him. Unsure if she should pull on the rope to rescue him or cut it with the dagger in her boot.
Tamarin, Blackmane, and Haka poured out of the captains quarters to see everyone running to the stern. As the approached the commotion the saw Evelina, clearly drenched, shaking her head, her eyes fixed ahead with purpose.
In the back, at the first mate’s reluctant orders, the rest of the crew was pulling Aonghüs back up. Despite the rough waters and dodging oars, he came up unscathed. When he was on deck, however the first thing he said was “put me in the bring.”
Captain Blackmane looked at Aonghüs, looked down at his shadow, and confirmed “You herd him, put this cursed man in the brig!”
Crossed Paths
Tamarin didn’t bother to check out the commotion. She scampered down to Bowdyn to tell him what was going on “There’s two boats about to catch us and the captain just fought an evil wizard who wants you for…things.” Bowdyn didn’t know what was going on, but he felt the vibration of the blunderbuss fire, knew that the crew had been at oars all day, and decided it was time he stopped feeling sorry for himself and got back to work. He sinched the bracer around his gauze and thanked Tamarin for all she did. He was going to to go help the crew. Tamarin followed right behind.
On the way down Aonghüs was being taken to the “brig” (which was just a storage room in the hold that happened to have a lock), being escorted by Merna and Pwyll who were arguing about whether he tossed Evelina off the boat, rescued her, or both. As the locked Aonghüs up he heard Merna turn the deadbolt on the door once, and then turn it again. “That should hold him” she said. When he checked however, it turned out that she turned it half way, then turned it back, and the door was left open.
What to do next
Haka, who Blackmane would talk to because he was now without a shadow, asked the captain of about using the signals to throw the Sea Serpent off their tail by giving a false destination (Crab Shell Cove, which was ahead south east of their current location). Haka also suggested changing course and throwing the Stone of Stars overboard, but only convinced the captain to send the false signals.
An hour after night had fallen, Haka sent the message:
[START]
NOT MUCH TIME [REST]
HEADING SOUTH [REST]
CRAB SHELL COVE [END]
After a few minutes lights began flashing back.
[START]
ACKNOLEDGED [REST]
THEY HAVE A-P-H-R-I-T-A [END]
Canon fire was heard in the distance. one of the trailing ships was firing on the other.
What Rocked
At the end of the session Matthew said “That was fucking awesome,” which you know, kind of made my day. I loved how the players scrambled to find solutions for problems I didn’t have answers for (like killing a shadow) and all the feelings of both camaraderie and betrayal that have built up in play. I didn’t flag any of these characters to be the good guys or bad buys (well, scratch that, Zedwick is a pure villain, but the rest are just people) but it’s been great to see how relationships develop.
Aonghüs needed to roll a natural +3 on 3DF to save both himself and Evelina and he did it (albiet by spending 3 dice from his vigor pool, but still!). I was ready for one of them to get picked up by another ship, but he pulled it together and saved the day.
I cannot fucking believe that Haka keeps convincing everyone he’s a wizard and knows about magic, meanwhile Tamarin is doing actual magic but hiding it. So good!
I had fun gloating. I’m not very practiced at it, but it still felt right to have Zedwick’s action be to tell everyone how inevitable their demise was. I’m not playing him as anything but a villain!
Lanterns are the primary source of light inside a ship (having open flames is too dangerous) and they don’t provide much light, so sometimes many of them are needed. Haka, having been badly bludgeoned by one, saw all lanterns as out to get them. I had so much fun every time I described a lantern swaying as the boat rocked as though it was menacing Haka directly.
Excited for some naval combat next session!
