Session 10: First Month of Crooked Moon

So! We are now three sessions into the Crooked Moon. The players have kicked off the cobwebs and started leaning into their characters a bit more. How is it going? What kind of plans do I have cooking up? Have I been enjoying the module? Generally, everything has been really good but let me give some more details on each.

Warning: everyone. There will be likely spoilers of the campaign ahead.

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The Beginning of the Module

I've been really enjoying how it's set up. I think what I like the most about it is the amount of flexibility I have within it all. I think they did a great job setting up a campaign based more on a framework of a story but really allowed for the details of the story to flow freely within it.

I gave my players a very big heads up that this campaign was meant to be far more "investigate and puzzle" rather than "smash and grab". And man have they been delivering! The entire ghost train was an absolute breeze for them with the haint puzzles. Some, they stumbled into out of blind luck, some they solved because they can't bring themselves to leave a weird looking rock alone, but most they figured out with careful investigation and know-how. I was reading some of the Crooked Moon discord and saw that people were spending several sessions within the ghost train and felt a weird sense of pride that they'd managed within the first session.

The boss battle with the train was awesome. Honestly, it will be one of my top combats as my players both created and solved their own puzzle with the train that I think added far more of a layer to the fight than I would have expected. They had recognized that the train was run off of souls but also that the souls were regretful and unfulfilled. So, instead of just focusing on destroying the possessed train, they all worked to "un-possess it" by climbing into the train or casting healing magic to break and "free" the souls within the engine. I rewarded this by having each creative method either cracking or destroying a soul can. If they destroyed the can, they did far more "damage" to the train than straight hitting it. I do think some of these ideas was also spurred on by the physical train model as they were climbing all over it. I even had a moment of "crap, I can't do anything if everyone is on top of the train" and had to start adding in "shakes" and "charges" that didn't exist just to try and keep ahead of my own players.

I honestly can't wait until they come in front of the Fallen. I'm really excited to see if they try to continue going with this "save rather than destroy" method. It's going to be so wonderfully heartbreaking.

They've also already developed a healthy suspicion of the Druskenvalds. To be fair, though, I think that's a roll over of their opinions of any sort of "lord and lady" due to Curse of Strahd. I find it pretty fun because I get to just keep playing them as they are: dumb, happy, rich-as-hell, love birds with nothing to hide.

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The Players + Their Characters

1. Xichell the Azureborn Wizard, Occultist. This is my wife's character that found herself in Druskenvald after finding a suspicious, magic book and conducting a suspicious magic ritual. Did it kill her in the process? Who knows. She's quite the shrill creature and has unfortunately found herself in a group that take much of what she says off the chin. Harsh or not, they all seem to like her, and frequently think she's super cool. She would never admit it...but I think she likes it.

2. Phineas the Curseborn Barbarian, Path of the Experiment. This is my veteran character / other GM who typically plays the support magic characters but really wanted to take a run at a straight melee. He's technically a Harengon scientist that came to Druskenvald after being immensely ill and bedridden. When he isn't raging he's a very smart bunny but upon raging seems to turn into a completely different beast. We've built that concept into his character where his INT and STR modifiers flip depending on if he's raging or not.

3. Elias the Harvestborn Cleric, Harvest Domain. This is my typical puzzle solver player and the two of us decided on his character doing a fully amnesia playthrough. He doesn't remember why he arrived in Druskenvald or who he even was before. He doesn't even know his name, which has turned into an enjoyable bit at the table where each of us call him by a different name depending on what comes to us. We're currently up to: Norbert Percival Miriam Squash Rodriguez Bartholomew Maison John the First, Senior.

4. Tatterheart the Threadborn Warlock, Great Fool Patron. This is my heavy roleplay player and he came in swinging with this one. Tatterheart only remembers themselves as a guide for children that have died to ensure they make it to the next life safely. They have been turned into a Threadborn seemingly by request of their patron though they're not quite sure. They've already found interest in the Monster House of Wickermoor Hallow.

5. Lilith the Silkborn Rogue, Sinner. This is my Most Improved Player and Lilith is actually a return character from the one she played in Curse of Strahd. The Lilith in that world was a damphr with spider climb, so it only felt natural that she would be a silkborn in Druskenvald. Lilith found herself in Druskenvald after being attacked by a wild beast in the woods and since her arrival has been constantly seeing this horrific arachnid, insectoid beast hunting.

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My Plans

Some of these are still very much in their infancy but I have a mental "paragraph" of ideas for each character based on how they've been playing, their fateweaves and their dark bargains.

Warning: Wife. You will be spoiled, read at your own risk

Xichell: I've had this one since we started plotting her out together but the general premise is that she got set up by her mentor. Back on the Material Plane she was in search of magic that would extend her life. Her mentor told her of a ritual that she could find in a book that would do just that. Unfortunately for her, he lied and instead it was a ritual that he used to transfer her life essence to himself so that he could extend his own life. What my plans are is that she will make her way to the province of Astramar and meet with the Headmistress. From there I'm thinking they might discover that the reason Xichell is in Druskenvald and not just dead is because the spell was miscast and Xichell may find herself face-to-face with Sister Effigy and/or her mentor within the Stygian Depths.

Phineas: He chose the "Call of the Lonely" dark bargain (which gives him a shadowy and off-putting twin) as well as the "Thread of Duality" (which is that there is a physical double of him causing havoc in the world) and has been currently using his shadow twin as a way to go on about all of his scientific theories. My plans with him is that he will journey to the province of Edwardia where he will discover the Sparktech technology and some of it's more...odd intricacies. Generally, with all of his "doubling" that he's selected I've decided to try and thread in that he's been looping and that this isn't his first time to Druskenvald. The echoes of himself have all just been results of his experiments as he tries to search for a result of something. I'm thinking a battle atop Rex + Romula with an army of Phineases controlled by Sister Effigy would be awesome.

Elias: This one I have been still trying to work out in my head. I'm still trying to figure out where my player wants to take him. Generally, though, I'm coming from a perspective of "if you couldn't remember any of your past choices...would you make the same ones?" The province of Enoch with Sister Nightmare and Methuselah is an excellent place for him to be presented with more of that "black or white" mentality. I've been having Sister Nightmare more actively trying to influence him but perhaps he will start leaning more towards the good as we continue to progress. Still to be determined.

Tatterheart: My biggest goal with this one is to give my player the landscape to write the end to a story they think they left unfinished. Generally, the idea of Tatterheart is that they look like the type of doll that any child would find comforting at night. All of the kids they've interacted with so far like Tatterheart immediately and speak freely with them (like any child would speak to their stuffed animal). What I think I want to craft, using the Monster House in Wickermoor Hollow, is a tale about a family that lost a child and left town because of it. The child, Tatterheart will come to find, is one that they lead into the light, rather than leading them home to their family. To create that conundrum of "doing their job" and "doing what's right". I'm thinking of actually using Sister Antic and her, well, antics to actually help Tatterheart realize this fact. Whether they go to Picco or not is up to them.

Lilith: She has been running with two fateweaves, the "Thread of Rejuvenation" (which has to do with repairing nature to what it was) and the "Thread of Slaughter" (which has to do with the natural cycle of predator and prey). I've already tied the "Thread of Slaughter" to be represented by the ethereal monster that is being kept locked away within the Crawling Doom of Nerukhet. It has found a possible chance in convincing Lilith to break the last of the chains so that it may run free through Druskenvald to hunt and to eat. I'm thinking they will find Sister Hourglass at the center of this, creating the beast as an illusion to destroy the city of Nerukhet. The player of Lilith, though, frequently catches me off guard so I suspect this may have it's twists and turns and major changes.

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What's Current + Upcoming

Currently, my players have just entered the Crooked House. This will be the last of the chapters that keep them locked into Wickermoor but already they almost were TPK'd within the first room (basilisk fight). I think that was the first realization that they might need to have second characters ready (which is also why I haven't thought much further on the above plans).

But, I can't wait for my players to explore Memory's Rest as most of their fateweaves have been directing them there and I really just like the haunting story of Lethica. I also can't wait to see what they want to do with the other provinces. I've created a "traveling coin" that Philip carried around to call forth the Devil Rail (a Druskenvald, local but magical train). The coin conveniently is not working at the moment. He's given it to the players to hold onto just incase it has something to do with what's wrong with his magic. Generally, as soon as they leave the Crooked House the coin will begin to sing and they can use the Devil Rail to reach the other provinces. This felt like a good way to give them means of travel without also a means to leave Druskenvald.

All-in-all, I've been very happy with what my players have been doing while in this world. We're definitely playing this horror campaign with a far more silly tone but I have really enjoyed what they add to it. It really is keeping me on my toes and all of the NPCs of Wickermoor Hollow is forcing me to get better at paying attention to how I play NPCs and promises I have them make my players.

What about you all? Have any of you been playing Crooked Moon? Do you like it? Dislike it? Are there any fun ideas that you've had since playing?

Looking forward to your sentiments.

I'll see you next session.

Julia