Emulation

I have decided to try my hand again at attempting to run another campaign. This one is intended to be short, but we'll see how things pan out. While this is my third major creation (though hardly a creation, hence the title,) it is my second major endeavor as a DM. So far only one session has passed, and it was a strong session. All things considered, it seems as if it will continue to go strong.

Character creation was an eclectic affair. Base classes were taken from The Black Company Campaign Setting handbook. However, because The Black Company utilized a different magic system, which was considered a bit cumbersome given time and resources available, the decision was made beforehand that spellcasting would be handled the old, familiar, 3.5 edition way. That said, any spellcasting class (Cleric, Druid, Wizard, Sorcerer) would be selected from the 3.5 Player's Handbook from the original Greyhawk setting. A dice-pool system was used for generating stats, and in addition to selecting the classes from The Black Company book, players were also expected to choose a Background. More on those later, perhaps.

Other than that, players were given two more conditions with which they were to make their characters. Their characters were to have known each other well. They have been an adventuring party for at least a couple years now, and furthermore they are something like the "last generation" of a general association of adventurers. This "association" was originally started by two brothers who took on the world by storm, and gained followers and friends. Even after the two brothers left, or retired (no one is really sure which,) the group persisted, and has been around since, changing in its composition of fellowship. The current PC party represents the current state of this fellowship. The second condition was that the party was required to know and remember the names of two former fellowship-members: Patrick and Jeremiah. Both are almost like living relics, as well as being known as stand-up guys

All this said, here's the party, and what they managed to produce:

Ross - "William Badass" - Dwarf Zealot geared towards taking copious amounts of damage.
JT - "Sadamamuel" - Human Noble who is knowledgeable in all bits of esoteric knowledge.
Ian - "Mad Jack" - Human Berserker that is not afraid to get his hands dirty.
Tyler - "Alexander Sebastian VonLichtenstein" - A literal and figurative Jack-of-all-Trades with an Aristocratic background.
Garrett - "Toledo Hanes" - One of two brothers; a veteran Ranger utilizing ranged attacks to fell foes.
Markham - "Cras Hanes" - The second of the two brothers who also uses ranged attacks, but, as a Scout, depends more on guile.

The beginning of the game starts off with the players coming across a cliche Den of Evil populated by Goblins, which they handedly slay. Once the cave is cleared out, and they beginning exploring and looting the corpses for treasure, they are approached by an inter-planar messenger who arrives via portal. The messenger brings a letter for the party regarding their friend Jeremiah; a frantic letter that makes little sense in its babble and has only one thing clear, he's in need of help back on his estate.

The messenger leaves through a portal, which the players manage to figure out and mimic - though they end up in Sigil, not their friend's estate as hoped. In Sigil, they manage to find a planeswalker who is able to figure out where the party has to go, and how to get there. They are informed, by the planeswalker, that where they are going isn't like other places.

The party travels through the portal, and finds themselves in a tomb, which ends up being a burial mound. When they find their way out, they are greeted by a servant of Jeremiah's. A problem is immediately apparent - they do not speak the same language. Thankfully, both sides find common ground in the understanding of the word "Jeremiah," and, after a brief respite, the servant escorts them towards Jeremiah's estate.

They arrive at the estate late at night. The previous servant takes his leave, and when the party knocks on the door they are greeted by another servant who shows them the way to Jeremiah's room. This is where the party first gets a taste of what is wrong. They encounter a ghost, in the form of a man who's flesh had been flayed off. He has chains and hooks hanging from him, and lunges at the party, only to disappear the instant before contact. This rattles the party, who quickly make it to Jeremiah's bedroom. Jeremiah is bedridden, sick and feeble from a terminal illness. They are barely able to greet eachother when a scream and a howl is heard from down the hallway. The party dashes to the rescue, finding a woman slain by some terrible beast, which attacks them. The beast was not like anything they have seen before. It ran on all fours, but could stand on its hind legs like a man. The claws of the beast were almost as long as a man's arm, and its own arms are longer still. The beast itself was the color of a cold gray, like death, with a dark mane that ran down its back. Hideously rows of sharp teeth filled its maw, and two horns projected rearward. With its tremendous jumping capability, it slashed at Garrett's character in retaliation for critically wounding arrow, almost killing Garrett's character in one blow. The rest of the party was quick to gang up on it, and it was Ian's character which put it down. Before the players could examine the body closely, it faded into thin air...

The players tend to their fallen comrade, and ask questions of Jeremiah. Jeremiah, after having a fit from the scare, is too weakened to make any proper response, mumbling something about a family curse. The party is forced out of Jeremiah's chambers by his personal nurse, and they rest after being shown their quarters.

The next day, the party is greeted in the morning, one by one, by Patrick, the other former NPC party member. He informs them all of a meeting that will take place shortly after breakfast. At this meeting, some things are made more clear. Jeremiah's estate is in dire straits; all of Jeremiah's family members have either died, or gone missing over the last several years. With their disappearance, rumors run rampant about strange sightings and happenings. With the death of Jeremiah's father while Jeremiah was off serving in the war, management of the estate has gone down hill, with most of the staff leaving and looting the estate as they went. Now only a portion, those who are most loyal to the family, remain. With these strange sightings and happening occurring more frequently, Jeremiah himself almost seems half convinced of a family curse. Jeremiah ends his part in the dialogue suggesting that the party, when fully recovered, question a gardener who claims he's seen something...

From there, Patrick takes over the dialogue, discussing things of the more arcane nature. He presents a wooden box with a small crystal in it. It looks something like a rough jade, or emerald, and fits into the palm of a man's hand. There is a hole near the top of the crystal, where Patrick ran a small rope through so it can be wore around the neck. No one quite new what it was, Patrick included, other than it was a stone that contained some sort of power. Aside the box was a scroll. This scroll contains "blueprints" for a ritual, judged to be potentially beneficial to whomever it was performed on. Ross volunteered to have this ritual performed on him, and gained an interesting ability which allowed him to see things other could not. It was further discovered that the stone could be used as a sort of beacon to help find these things that only Ross's character could see. After that, the party retires to full rest up from all the ability damage they had taken from the ghost just the day before.

During this period of rest, William Badass experimented more with his ability, discovering more how it worked and seeing some disturbing sights. Alexander Sebastian VonLichtenstein (Alex, I'll use for short from now on,) procured some high-proof alcohol to make Molotov cocktails from, and while doing so had another slight encounter with the Ghost. This time, it did not take the form of a skinned man, but rather a man in a suit, with bright red hair. He was reading a book, after which he placed it down and disappeared. The book remained, and ended up being the remaining bits of the Journal of Aaron - Jeremiah's missing brother. The journal was mostly gibberish, cursing his twin-sister's name, then mentioning taking a trip to a far away land...

When the party was fully rested, they ventured forth to try to find this gardener they were supposed to question. On their way there, they came across servants all in a fluster and cleaning. Apparently Lizbeth's room had been ransacked, with items strewn about and destroyed; claw marks along the walls and floors. Lizbeth, it turns out, was the youngest of Jeremiah's siblings. William Badass takes a closer look at the room with his new sight ability, and discovers a portrait of Lizbeth with her dogs. When he looks at this painting with his ability, the dogs transform into beasts, the same type which almost slain Toledo Hanes (Garrett's character.) As for Lizbeth herself, she transforms into something bestial, near-demonic, and seemingly filled with hate and rage. Alex finds a journal, though he can't understand it. The party decides to backtrack with this new information, and as they exit the room, a beast crashes through the window and slays one of the maids. It stands up to a fight for a bit, but then retreats, as if called. The archers in the fight slay it from afar, before it can get too out of range.

The session ends with finding Patrick again, and translating Lizbeth's journal. It ends up being mostly poetry, but also idle self-discussion about her own wasting disease and going out to the mausoleum, where she was to be buried, as if to conquer her fear. The party, plus Patrick, decide to question the Gardener together.

Session two awaits...