The Spark

I have absolutely no recollection of what spark led to the development of this adventure, other than some pretty ordinary tropes associated with witchcraft. The adventure has a timeline in the background, which the bad guys aspire to keep—that’s always been true. The player characters have the opportunity to interfere with this timeline if they can. The timeline may be the only bit that has existed from start to finish, though minor changes happened in the last cycle.

As a concept, for me, a timeline works well as the basis for running a game, especially when you plan to improvise up from simple details. That’s always been a handy approach for me. I like to have a set of events, personalities and locations, along with endgame outcomes and goals that should never resolve if the PCs have anything to do with it.

Pacing

In a much earlier article, I referenced the possibility of using a countdown mechanic. However, I think it could be simpler to use a calendar and clarify that if you travel around London looking for vague clues, you can expect to spend a morning or afternoon doing just that.

It compares well with my current GMing of the Delta Green campaign Impossible Landscapes; to acquire some clues, you must invest a swathe of game time in the search. The outcome will be one piece of information. In that time, you will have sorted through ninety-nine pieces of dross to find that one thing. If you want a clue, your agents will need to work for it—what do you want to do?

That research approach also needs clarity on the who and the where, when, and why. For example, do you assign more than one Agent to a search of the docks? Is there any particular street or establishment that you include—or, indeed, anywhere that you exclude? Does the search occur at night when the neighbourhood clientele will be notably different to early morning or mid-afternoon?

Adventure Time

I’m enjoying the process of making the focus and approach of each adventure for The Dee Sanction a little different.

While Ex Libris has a linear path and a map, Window of the Soul had a map with events and no clear direction. Gong Scourer has a hidden course (the timeline) with a web of potential information sources that might be accessible depending on the who, where and when of activity. And, of course, Lost in Translation (in the Core Book) was a mystery site/escape room.

This has also always been true. We’ll see whether I translate other old playtest adventures into new published mysteries and investigations.

Release

This third stretch goal adventure, The Gong Scourer’s Baby, has been released to Kickstarter backers of The Dee Sanction.

It will release to Dweller and higher tier Patreon supporters in a week.

It will release to the public in a couple of weeks through the DriveThruRPG website.

Once all five stretch goal adventures have been gathered together, we’ll see release as a single volume (PDF) on All Rolled Up.

Never so much. If only my brain would be that silent in the midst of the shower, on the commute to work, or upon the trip to the shops to purchase chicken thighs.

I do have a piece of writing to complete by the end of January not related to 214, which must take priority. Or else.

However, that’s not to say that my mind has been laser-focussed on said task. By no means. Worryingly not so. Even though I wish I could switch all other thought processes off for a while.

No. I have been considering two things.

Firstly, introducing random tables into the core rules to allow for the simple creations of characters from scratch. I believe I have some sort of structure gathering form. Like the cards I have been using for playtesting, the tables used for this process would have thematic links. I believe that each element of a table would present skills or traits, and then point directly to another table for the next roll in the series. Each entry on a table would, potentially, lead to a different next step.

It would present a life path of sorts. Although, I believe that too grandiose a title for three or four tables loosely gathered. A series of unfortunate events.

Secondly, I have been ruminating on the possibility of pulling together a collection of these tables to test them. In that regard, the intent was to utilise them in facilitation of a game akin to Space: 1889. Well, not akin. It would be the Space: 1889 background and an adventure cobbled together from flicking through a few old supplements.

However, the work never really for off the ground – and I ended up seeking a different alternative. Specifically, Savage Worlds. This, alas, was an error of judgement. I have not found solace or common ground within the soft covers of Pinnacle Entertainment’s hallowed volume of fair repute. I think those who favour the system have other needs than my own.

Anyway. Busy. And yet, not entirely focussed on matters of 214.

On the other hand, I very well may find myself running one or more sessions of The Dee Sanction at Conception, end of January, on the southern shores of England. After Indiecon, where my efforts to run Paranoia didn’t quite go to plan, I believe that the better rendition of 214 lies with supernatural investigations in Elizabethan Europe, for the moment.

(And, yes. I do have a great deal of time and respect for the diminutive and screech voiced Icelandic alternative rock singer songwriter, Björk. Thanks for asking.)