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Paranormal Play by Play: Session Recap


Strange Beginnings
Session 1

Recap of session 1 with game design and module design notes in italics.

Bringing a party together is probably the biggest challenge in a present-day supernatural game. As a GM, you’re essentially introducing the supernatural element while at the same time dealing with the challenges of forming a party that would in reality form and stick together. The PCs did an excellent job with the individual pieces of the story they had from character creation and session zero, so that made the task much easier. This module needs a strong hook in order to get the buy-in necessary to serve as a session 1.

So, after receiving a text message from a missing co-worker asking for help, Riley (played by Erika) summoned two contacts and hit the road. In tow were Brian, a gun aficionado, and Dani, a paramedic. For his part, Brian, played by Austin, was happy to go along even if he didn’t quite understand what was at stake. Dani, on the other hand, looked a few times like she had had enough of this wild ride that threatened to progress late into the night, but her player (Victoria) stuck with it.

After discovering that the last ping on the phone from Laverne (Riley’s co-worker) came from a monument to a fallen deputy just off I-95, the party sprung into action. Checking the last known residence left the party with far more questions than answers. Where was Laverne? Why was her cellphone at the site of a deputy’s death? What was behind this death and a second deputy who had died in the county in the last five months?

The session ended with the party at a burger place, taking advantage of the wi-fi, and combing through coroner’s reports. On one hand, they’d discovered strange news: both deputies had apparently been strangled by someone with very small hands and little opportunity or inclination to fight back. On the other, they knew very little about Laverne except that she likely wasn’t who she had claimed to be.

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