Nightbane Campain(Updated Session 8)

[Incriptus]

Thoughts, mostly on the "balance" of the advancement options, or other options that may be worth adding?



Nightbane Campaign Notes.

My intention is to run a Nightbane game where the characters are teenage Nightbane based on the players themselves. As such there will be certain changes to both character creation and advancement.

1: The characters are Teenagers, 18 to be precise, in their senior year of high school. As such they will have a limited skill selection. The characters will begin with the following skills; Basic Math, Language, Literacy, Pilot automobile, Computer Operation, Bicycling. In addition the character can choose 2 skills, that representing a personal interest (of the player). The character begins with very limited skills, however will get additional skills as they advance.

2: The characters will be based on the players as such we will not being rolling for attributes. However this is one of the areas where it will be obvious that the character is not the player. As such we’ll have slightly more idealized versions of our capabilities, and diminished versions of our flaws. As such we will begin with the following attribute scores: 16,16,15,14,13,12,11,10.

3: Again with the characters being based on the players; the Nightbane characteristics will not be completely random. The players will choose 2 traits. One will be something they see as a positive in their lives; the other will be a negative. Then there will be 1 random roll on the Nightbane characteristics table. (Finally the player may elect to have an additional random roll)

4: The game will begin shortly prior to Dark Day. The first set of runs will be without a faction, with the (completely advertised) intent of being picked up by a faction shortly afterwards.

5: While the characters will level up and gain experience in the traditional sense there will also have separate advancement options. They will be able to learn skill sets, which will be composed of “parts” of other OCC skills / abilities. During each of these advancement events we will be able to add 1d6 to an attribute of choice.


Advancement Options: At certain times in the campaign the characters will have an opportunity to improve themselves. This will most likely be long term training sessions between actual missions. Some options include

1: Nightbane Training – The character focuses and improving their supernatural abilities: They gain 1 Free Nightbane Talent and are considered 2 levels higher in its use

2: Martial Art Training I – The character goes through an intensive martial art training with a master: The character learns an Non-Exclusive Martial Arts form, however does not get any of the Martial Arts Powers

3: Martial Art Training II – The character furthers his mastery of the martial arts: The character learns the Martial Arts Powers appropriate for his Form.

4: Technical Training – The character studies Lore and/or the Sciences: The character learns a skill program from Ninja’s and Superspies from the Gizmoteer, Medical, or Basic Skill Programs.

5: Field Craft - The character spends time with undercover or espionage officers: The character learns a skill program from Ninja’s and Superspies Espionage Programs

6: Mysticism I – The character is tutored by a magician in the ways of magic: The character does not know magic (yet) however understands the principles of magic, can sense ley lines, and learns Lore:Magic(+20) and 1 additional lore of choice (+10)

7: Mysticism II – The character is on his way to becoming a magician: Gains the starting spell knowledge of a magical class of choice.

8: Weapons Training A/Sharpshooting – The character is mentored by a sharpshooter or sniper: He gains W.P. Revolvers, Auto Pistol, Bolt-Action Rifle, Semi-automatic Rifle and W.P. Sharpshooting.

9: Weapons Training B/Heavy Weapons – The character gains access to 6 Weapon proficiencies of choice including (especially) military ones. In addition the Nightbane has learned to leverage his supernatural strength allowing him to “fire from the hip”.

As an example:

Incriptus is a teenager inspired by the adult me. My attributes would be IQ 16, ME 16, MA 14, PS 10, PP 13, PE 15, PB 11, SPD 12. My 2 skills are computer programing and advanced mathematics. My “positive” Nightbane characteristic is a computer brain (as you can see from my skill choice), my negative characteristic is gut tentacles (that time I had my intestines cut out). My random roll was undead, walking corpse (I certainly did look like one for a while). Since I decided I already hate my form I might as well go all out, and rolled Branded with Magical Symbols (Well I was lucky to make it out alive).

So with all that in mind, I guess I could go either way. Either my Morpheus is a representation of my near untimely death and self-loathing; or as a representation of my ability to overcome great pain and be stronger for it. In either case my first advancement opportunity would see me increase my IQ. If I rejected my Morpheus I would focus on my skill set, likely Gizmoteer:Computer Hacking. If I accepted my Morpheus I would likely study magic.

[Marcethus]

Sounds intriguing but I have had bad experiences with games where players are playing 'themselves'

[Incriptus]

Ashley: Mermaid (she's a swimmer with a mermaid love), Child (resents being treated like "the little girl" all the time), Propellers (Random Roll)

Erick: Pet Dragon (has a collection of dragon memorability/Rifter Table), Religious Icon (resents his religious upbringing), Stuffed Animal/Fox (Random Roll), Physical Perfection (Random Roll)

Chris: Ogre (Enjoys being "the big guy"), Brute (Resents that it makes people see him as stupid), Face Worms (Random Roll), Bark Skin (Random Roll)

Jeremy: Shadow Demon (known for his "grim reaper" motif), Hollow Eyes (shunned for his apparent disconnect with other people), Scarecrow w/scythe (Random Roll),

Jason: Computer Brain (known for his computer skills), Gut Tentacles (His near death experience with his intestines being cut out), Corpse like (Random Roll), Mystic Symbols (random roll).

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In the 2000-2001 school year, a special cross district after school class is created. Some 25 students from different backgrounds are selected to participate in the experiment. The school appears to be going all out to recruit people for this offering high school, college and even cash incentives to participants!

During the school year a particular councilor takes special interest in the player characters. Often grouping them together in activities. As time continues (around January 2001) it starts to become "creepy", the councilor starts peaking in on them during standard classes and even interacting with the characters siblings and parents. By May the characters get suspicious, being the antisocial group we are, we begin investigating, prodding and generally harassing the councilor back.

However it turns out this man is very worldly, very cleaver, and practically psychic in the way he is able to out maneuver us. Of course this practically infuriates half the group, who redouble their efforts to be undermine this fellow. However it was March 6th before any serious efforts could be put into play.

On Dark Day the characters woke up to the news that the sun had not come out today. Obviously school was canceled. Since the characters lived on the west coast, the freak global darkness had already been in effect for several hours before they even woke up. Each character had a different reaction.

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Ashley began getting prepared to go to her early morning swim practice when her parents told her school was canceled ... and she did the only reasonable thing and went back to sleep, never bothering to figure out "why".

Chris never watched the news, he walked to school just like he would every other school day. He didn't notice dark day because his facade's night vision had already kicked in. Upon reaching the school he was greeted by other students and staff who came to school before learning of the event. Some of the kids wandered off to cause mischief, others joined in a prayer group, and others just wandered the immediate area aimlessly.

Jason's television was his alarm clock, he came on to the emergency broadcast and news broadcasts regarding the event. He was glued to his TV, his parents worked nights and were gone.

Erick saw the opportunity to cause mischief, and decided to leave. His parents put up only a token resistance to him leaving, and he simply slipped out through the window and snuck out anyways. Before he did so he called everyone offering to pick them up. Jeremy agreed to join him, Jason did not. Ashley slept through it, and Chris was already gone.

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However Erick and Jeremy did not get far. Erick was the first one to experience the becoming. It turns out his stuffed fox body was ill suited to drive, especially when he first transformed. Fortunately there was no one else on the roads and merely put the SUV in the ditch. Between good dice rolls, poor role playing, the fact that Erick's Morpheus has a Horror Factor of 5 and the dash of the players upbringing on supernatural role playing games (important note the Nightbane RPG does not exist in the game) they take it quite well.

After testing the capabilities of Erick's new body for a while they feel an instinctual need to gather the rest of the group. First stop was Ashley's. Jeremy drives while Erick hides in the back. On their way to her house, they find her climbing out of her back window with a man arguing with her father. It turns out the school councilor had shown up at her home! Having already declared this man a borderline stalker, she decided to take off. Next the pick up Jason and finally find Chris.

Feeling that something legitimately supernatural was going on (given what happened to Erick), and that our stalker school councilor we decided we would hide out for a little while. On our way out to a wooded area nearby, suddenly the vehicle shifted as if a great deal of weight had fallen on the side of the vehicle. Chris had transformed (his morpheus weighing in at nearly 1000 pounds).

We pulled over and everyone got out of the vehicle. Chris wandered off and started to vent his frustration on the trees. Time passed, the remaining three would try to figure out who would be next, and what could be causing it. The next to experience the becoming was Jason. His transformation was hugely shocking and scared him nearly to death. After panicking and vomiting a little, he sat down and closed his eyes and tried meditating the monster away.

Finally Ashley and Jeremy transformed. Ashley completely lost it, turning into little more than a giggling fool, unable to cope with the change, while Jeremy was utterly fascinated in his "true" form, almost immediately going to test its capabilities. Jason, rejecting the idea of being a "monster" was the first to return to his facade.

After a combination of disbelief, morbid curiosity, wish fulfillment, and wild bewilderment, existential questions began to creep up. Was everyone going to change? Was there something special about us? Was this some sort of experiment from the school? What was up with that councilor? Were the rest of them going to be able to change back? ... and what to do next?

[Marcethus]

Sounds like it was a good session.

[Incriptus]

SESSION 2

A new player joined the game
Matt: Football Quarterback (homebrew), Were Spider, Squidface.
For ease of play we assumed that Matt was with us the whole time.

After a short amount of time the group decided it was time to decide what to do now. Jason who had returned to human was still in shock and disbelief and decided that he needed to go home, and simply walked away.

Chris decided that this must be a plot from the school and decided to return to school to investigate and get answers

Jeremy, Ashley, Erick, & Matt decided that they were going to the Mall. Still not sure if they just wanted to scare people with their new form, or they were going to just start straight up looting.

Chris made it back to the school, where he found that not much had changed. Several of the kids had wandered off or returned home. There was still a prayer vigil. Since he hadn't been able to return to his Facade he stayed on the out skirts of the school, where he was flagged down by the District Councilor who had been so interested in them previously.

Jeremy, Ashley, Erick, & Matt made it half way to their destination when they saw a large police presence around the local shopping center. Not wanting to be seen in their Morpheuses they hid out a bit, when they were flagged down by the District Councilor who had been so interested in them previously!

Both groups were being spoken to by what appeared to be the same man several miles away from each other. The councilor informed them that he was assigned to watch them because he knew they were going to change and that he had the answers that they needed, and that they needed to get somewhere private.

Chris accepted the information and the two of them headed off to a tiny house on the lake. After a short altercation (Jeremy through his scythe and missed) the larger group also accepted the invitation and were taken to a mid-sized suburban home.

The tiny house Chris was lead to was very poorly furnished, an old tattered couch and a large heavy box tv in the front room. The councilor said he needed to get something from the other room. He also told Chris if he managed to relax he should be able to return to human form. Chris turned on the TV and began to catch up on the news, hoping to turn back.

The House the other group was lead to was normally furnished, however in the living room there was a cork board. On the Cork board there were photos and notes regarding each member of the group. The councilor told them he needed to go to the other room to make a phone call, he knew a Nightbane who was going to help them with their abilities.

Chris found that watching the news on Dark Day was a poor way to relax and still had difficulty turning back to normal. Which turned out to be a good thing, the councilor apparently grew impatient and decided to attack anyways. Chris was struck from behind by an axe! At the same time same time the door was kicked in by men with assault rifles.

The councilor returned to the other group, he couldn't get the Nightbane he was waiting for on the phone. In the meanwhile he would explain what he could to them. He informed them that the group he worked with had felt that the Nightlords were going to make a move soon but they had no idea it would be at this scale. He was able to give them the basic information about what they were.

Chris began to fight with the councilor and found that the man was also supernaturally strong, However Chris was still much strong and was winning that fight. However three men with assault rifles shooting him in the back was taking it's toll, it looked like Chris was going to lose, one of the men suddenly was jerked out of the home by a giant were-wolf hand. With the sudden introduction of another nightbane the councilor snuck out while the men with guns were put down. The other Nightbane was a Were-Wolf with Large Nails poking through his flesh. He told Chris that they needed to get out of their before more reinforcements arrived. The two of them snuck out.

During the discussion of the other group Chris and the mystery Nightbane arrived. The Mystery Nightbane then turned into his facade, the Vice Principle of their school. He informed them that he was the one who assigned the councilor to them sensing that they were latent nightbane. It turned out that the Councilor had a Doppelganger on the loose and that he needed to be on the lookout. The final piece of bad news ... Jason didn't make it. Jason was ambushed and killed at the local shopping center, it was his murder that had all the police at the local shopping center.

Having established that the Minions of the Nightlords were well aware that there was a group of young inexperience nightbane in the area, one of which had already been killed, and another nearly so, the Vice-Principle suggested that they leave for somewhere safe. As a member of a group known as the Underground Railroad he could get them somewhere far away where they could further explore their nature without fear.

Without saying goodbye to their families the group was spirited off to a Native American reservation in North Dakota. There they would learn to control their form and explore their talents. They would also find unique mentors who would teach them how to survive in this new world ... END OF SESSION 2

[Incriptus]

SESSION 3

Two years and passed since the Dark Days. Yes, Dark DayS, In my continuity Dark Day lasted 2 days. The first day people reacted poorly but were able to hold on to hope that the sun would come out tomorrow. However when the sun didn't come up for a second day, that's when the panic really set in. The damage was greater and more wide spread than the normal continuity, but other than that life continued as usual.

At the Reservation each member of the group found a mentor, someone who they really got along with and were able to learn quite a bit from. As a matter of fact each of the characters were unusually quick learners of their subject, as if they were born to it.

Matt was trained in the art of Wet Work by a man name Sal Winter. Sal was a CIA spook. He had just returned from a job in Afghanistan, safe and sound in his safe house, reporting to his handler when he transformed into a Nightbane. Being outed as a supernatural monster he decided to go into hiding. He was picked up by the Underground Railroad and placed into hiding on the reservation

Ashley became friends with a Native American shaman Rayne Eaglesong. Despite appearing to be in her 30's Rayne was actually in her 90's. She was what they called an Astral Knight. She had spent most of her life searching for the lost tribe. She ended up teach Ashley about the Astral Plane and the Dream Stream. Ashley had developed the talents of Astral Self and Dreamer

Erick really needed a drink. The reservation didn't have any liquor on it. However he did find a man was allowed to have Alcohol. Luenn Chen, an Chinese man living on the Indian reservation. It turned out that despite his family being Chinese they were so appalled by the internment of the Japanese that his family moved to the reservation as protest. There they maintained their tradition of Drunken Style Kung Fu, and Erick soon learned the Martial Art.

Jeremy became fascinated by a reclusive Nightbane name (I forget). He turned out to be over 500 years old, and he was a sorcerer. The Elder Nightbane had retired to the Reservation in 1918. Despite Jeremy's best attempts; He refused to share anything of his past before that point. Impressed by Jeremy's determination, he began to teach Jeremy the basics of magic, and knowledge of the Nightlands.

Chris was fascinated by the white guy with the big guns. Ronald Clarkson, a self-styled anti-government militia man survivalist had settled on the reservation. Despite being universally disliked it was decided that it would be more effort to kick him out than it would be leave him alone. Turns out he had a disagreement with his brothers over the legitimacy of the reservation and moved there to protect it from the militia group. Chris was given a collection of heavy weapons and taught how to use and maintain them. Given his incredibly supernatural strength and increased mass, Chris also managed to be accurate with a machine gun ... while shooting from the hip.

However in late may 2003, their life on the reservation would come to an end.

It all started with an explosion on the outskirts of the reservation. Upon investigation it turned out that a natural gas pipeline had blown. They managed to get to a shut off valve and cut the flow of gas.

At the site of the explosion evidence was discovered of an explosive device. Sal's investigation came to the conclusion that it was sabotage. A well-made improvised explosive was set. This was going to bring federal scrutiny to the reservation.

As sticking with the Underground Railroad's policy of hiding, the tribal council decided to send the Nightbane to the next town over until the heat died down. As such the character were set up in a small motel and given a bit of cash to get by. They figured it would take about a week to get over the worse of the situation.

The characters having their first "vacation" in two years hit the small town. Jeremy was placed in charge of the money, as the rest of the characters decided they couldn't trust themselves. They enjoyed their time, going to restaurants hitting up a few movies for the first few days.

Then on the night of the 4th day, the night sky lit up again. There had been another explosion at the Natural Gas pipeline. This time two federal investigators were found dead. The NSB was being called in to investigate.

Uncertainty set in. The group was going to be out on their own for much longer than a week, that was certain. When the contacted the reservation leadership, they gave the group 2 options. Option 1: Leave. With the NSB coming in this was not a safe place for nightbane. If the group did decide to investigate and were identified things would go from bad to worse. Option 2: Investigate. If the group found out who was responsible, and thus redirect NSB efforts towards whoever was really responsible it would be better for everyone.

The group decided that they still had some loyalty to their adoptive home and started investigating the bombing. Chris's mentor Ronald was certain it was a government plot to seize the land. Other investigation pointed towards the militia group who were currently being investigated by the FBI (note NSB exists but did not fully absorb all the other agencies) for smuggling explosives.

However it turns out that the group was not going to have time to investigate the explosion, because the NSB was not wasting any time. When the NSB came they assumed control of the operation. The FBI agents and Local Police was placed under NSB jurisdiction and were being out fitted with military style gear.

A nighttime raid was imminent. They decided that they would warn the reservation and then make a run for it. In order to cover their tracks Matt who had the power of Shroud and Espionage Training, snuck into the police station to make the call. Figuring if the call was traced it would appear than someone inside the PD or FBI had tipped off the reservation.

What he didn't know was that amongst the NSB agents were a group of Namtar Hollowmen. Being able to see through all Illusions the Hollowmen clearly saw the Nightbane and decided to track him back to his base, Along with a pair of hounds. While the group discussed their next move, the power to the building was cut.

The Hollowmen, Hounds, and Nightbane all have night vision so having no light wasn't a problem for any of them. Cutting the power was a move to (excuse the pun) keep the rest of the civilians in the dark as to what was going on.

Three NSB agents remained outside firing M16's into the building, while two hounds busted in with Dark Blades. During the fight Matt was nearly killed, Ashley took moderate damage, the rest of the group came out with minor damage or unscathed. However the Hounds were destroyed and the NSB agents were killed. When they investigated the bodies they found the NSB agents to be but shells. However the only character with the appropriate lore skill failed his roll, so the secret of the Namtar will remain for the time being.

They took the NSB officers weapons, IDs and Credit Cards, as well as the two darkblade axes. Then they tossed the bodies into the hotel and lit them on fire. Attempts to call the Reservation failed as the lines had been cut. Deciding the Reservation had been lost, the group bought supplies on the NSB Credit Cards (and then diched them) and took off.

The next day's news told them the rest of the story. The NSB had discovered an Eco-Terrorist plot that been brewing on a number of Native American reservation. The North Dakota cell was just the first to act this violently. As such the NSB was launching investigation into a number of reservations from the Dakotas to the Pacific Coast.

Given this new development the group decided it was time to strike out on their own and decided to travel east. . . END OF SESSION 3

[Marcethus]

A very entertaining tale.

[Incriptus]

Session 4:

The characters started traveling east, traveling from town to town. Getting by through a combination of grifting and taking odd day jobs. After a short amount of time they finally reach a metropolitan area in Minneapolis.

As they were driving through town looking for some place to hole up, they sensed the presence of another nightbane. They began to look around and made eye contact with another young man, who was also looking around as if he sensed something. Much to their surprise he reacted very negatively to their presence. The man, who had been repairing the window to a business, began cursing at them and violently waving his hammer as if he intended to throw it. Uncertain how to react the group drove off. As it began to grow late in the evening they found a cheap motel to stop off at.

In the morning when they awoke, they all sensed the presence of several nightbane. Looking out the window they saw a gang of about 10 people, sensing at least 6 bane between them. One member of the gang walked to the door. Sensing the possibility of a conflict the group transformed to their Morpheus. However the one man who walked to the door simply knocked.

Cautious but curious the group allowed the man in. He came in with 2 six packs of beer. He explained to them that he was a member of a group known as the Warlords, and that they sensed the new Banes in town. He gave them their recruitment pitch, that while a small group of Nightbane are vulnerable to an attack from the agents of the Nightlords, that a large group would be safer. He could offer them a brotherhood, protection, and some action. At that point he added "You won't be spending your nights in a sleazy motel with only 1 scrawny white B'".

At that point the group became hostile, and Erick fired a Dark Blast at the man, clearly injuring him. The man wincing in pain, was visibly trying to suppress his Morpheus. He apologized and told them they had the rest of the day to make up their minds, they could either join the Warlords or get out of town.

Having been provoked the group decided that they were going to investigate what these Warlord Nightbane were all about. Figuring the individual who had reacted negatively to them earlier had mistaken their presence for that of the Warlords, they decided to get the locals understanding of the situation. Still early in the morning they decided to walk to the business.

Upon getting their they could sense his presence inside. It turns out the business was a small nightclub. Again the young man came to the door, this time weapon in hand. However upon getting a look at the group, he came to the conclusion that they were not Warlords. He apologized and offered them a seat at the bar. He informed them that he had been harassed to join the Warlords as well, pointing to the broken window that they've been come violent.

He didn't want to be involved in the Warlords. He also informed them that he'd been approached by the Underground Railroad, offering to relocate him. Another faction of the Underground Railroad who wanted him to form a resistance. He had heard of another couple of factions recruiting as well. However he didn't want any of it, he just wanted to live in peace, and run his little club. However recently the Warlords had become more agitated than usual.

A transplant from Chicago had come to take over this branch. It seemed like they were gearing up for some major action against the Golden Posse. It was due to this brewing gang war that the Warlords recruitment had become more aggressive. Having been insulted and threatened by the Warlords, the group decided that they were going to stick it to them before leaving town.

[Incriptus]

Session 5

The team begins to make their plans on how to hurt the Warlords before they leave town. They discover that the Warlord’s Operations have three main targets for attack. The first being where they spend their down time, a biker bar called “Twisted Spirits”, where they spend their down time. The second being a warehouse near the train junction, it appears the Warlord’s main income comes from illegal goods traveling by rail. The third being a machine shop on the edge of a car graveyard.

Chris’s Weapons training included knowledge of explosives, and more importantly incendiaries. Working together with the club owner they were able to gather the necessary industrial cleaning chemicals to create a volatile mixture in large enough quantities to do significant damage. They spend much of their remaining wealth and end up with three large bombs.

It is decided that they would place one of the bombs outside of the Biker Bar. That bomb would be used to injure the Warlord’s personnel and draw the “soldiers” from other locations to investigate and to launch a counter attack. The second bomb would be placed in the Warlords Warehouse, simply to cause a financial loss of whatever was in there. Finally they would raid the Machine Shop to loot whatever they could get their hands on.

The team splits into three groups. Chris is set up to watch the machine shop. Ashley, Jeremy, and Ashley are assigned to the Biker Bar, and Matt is to infiltrate the Warehouse. Using his Espionage training Matt is able to break into the warehouse and plant his bomb without gathering the attention of any of the guards. Once Matt’s bomb is in place and ready he contacts the other group.

Erick uses his super to speed to zip by and place his bomb on the outside of the bar. With the Warlords more concerned about the Golden Posse, and already having a number of Nightbane amongst them, the presence of the extra bane doesn’t raise any flags.

With both bombs in place they are detonated. Erick uses his super speed to zip to the machine shop to join Chris. The rest of the group keeps an eye on their locations. At the machine shop the Warlord Soldiers are quickly alerted to the attack and gear up to ride. This is the signal for the rest of the group to flee the scene.

Chris still able to sense a Nightbane in the building waits for Erick’s back up to arrive, then the two of them head in. On the inside they discover that the machine shop has a number of vehicles in various state of repair. A single Nightbane is in the second story office. He appears to be in crisis control mode talking to people on several different phones. They overhear that he’s primarily concerned with keeping the policy and emergency response from getting to the Bar and Warehouse. Chris unloads a full belt from his heavy machine gun into the floor of the office, causing everything in the room to collapse to the floor below.

The nightbane on the phone never had a chance as he was in his façade at the time. Not only did he take a couple of stray machine gun bullets and fall 20 feet to the ground, the office safe landed on his leg. The man appeared to be dead. Not wanting to take any chances Erick crushed the man’s skull.

Before setting up the final bomb they searched the machine shop for other valuables to loot. Other than the gang’s personal items they found a great deal of ammo inside of some foot lockers. Beside the foot lockers there was a reinforced metal cabinet. Much to Erick’s surprise it took a significant amount of effort to pry open even with his supernatural strength. Inside he finds what looks like a variety of museum pieces. He unloads them into one of the foot lockers along with the ammo. He takes the foot locker.

Chris searches the vehicles and finds 8 kilos of white powder being smuggled inside of them. After a short debate, they decide to leave the drugs behind and just take the safe, and stuffed foot locker. Finally they make their way out and detonate the final bomb.

The group is able to reconvene. They crack the safe to find it contains a 80 grand in cash and the financial information for this local warlord group. They decide to take drop off the financials and 10 grand to the nightbane nightclub owner who helped them earlier and they take off.

Happy with their new found money the group decides that it is time to skip town. Since the Warlords powerbase is further east in the Chicago and Detriot areas the group decides to head south,

Having significant amounts of cash the group decides to treat themselves. For the first time since being on the road they are able to get their own rooms and actual quality hotels instead of sharing rooms in small motels. However odd events being happening around the footlocker that Erick brought back from the Machine Shop. Erick mysteriously finds the foot locker moved a few feet from where he placed it. Later he finds it has opened itself.

While going through the artifacts Jeremy is able to identify one of them as appearing to be legitimately magical. It is a curved stone tablet with a rectangular outcropping from the top of it. There is writing on the tablet in a language that is vaguely German like, and looks similar to something Jeremy found during his magic training. Unable to contact Jeremy’s Former mentor they decide that if they want to know more they’ll need to find someone else. They figure the best destination to find legitimate mystic scholars on their path is New Orleans. On their way the footlocker continues to act strangely, occasionally they’ll hear banging noises, like something is trying to get out.

In New Orleans they find that after Dark Day the occult is a bigger fad than in reality. There are so many places with pseudo-mystic themes that it would be virtually impossible to find a legitimate establishment without knowing what to look for. Fortunately Jeremy does know what to look for and settles in on a used book store.
Jeremy takes a rubbing off the tablet into the building and shares his find with the proprietor. They are able to identify the writing as an obscure eastern European dialect that hasn’t been used in hundreds of years. The book store owner translates parts of it, leading them to believe that the artifact is based on vampire magic. He tells them that he is able to set up a meeting between the characters and the local Nocturnes branch and to contact him in a few hours.

During the time Jeremy is discussing the legacy of this Vampire Artifact, Erick and Chris are supposed to be keeping an eye on the foot locker to make sure it doesn’t continue to act up. They decide that the best way to do this is to sit on the locker to make sure it doesn’t open or go anywhere. It seems to be working until Chris feels like one of his feet are wet. Looking down he sees what appears to be tendrils of blood climbing up his leg. Upon being discovered he feels the sensation as if something is biting him. The blood disappears leaving only small marks on his leg as the only evidence that something had happened.

Later that evening the group calls the book store and find that a meeting has been set up for midnight that night. However not only will the Nocturnes be there a representative from the Seekers will be present as well. He gives them an address and the group is off.

They end up in an old southern manor, where they are invited in by a portly man who looks like Ortho from Beetlejuice. The more keen eyed members of the group note that he is sporting bite marks on the side of his neck. On the inside they are greeted by three vampires who look like they came straight off an Underworld Movie set. They waste little time thanking the group for bringing them the “Heart of Yosef” and that they are willing to purchase it.

However it is at that time that the representative from the seekers shows up. He has the appearance of a stereotypical college professor with the exception of him wearing a cross around his neck. He quickly admonishes them for trying to start negotiations without him being present. The group informs both potential buyers that they want to know more about the Heart of Yosef before they part with it.

It is explained that the Heart of Yosef is an old legend amongst vampires. A powerful vampire lord back in the 10th century was concerned about his vulnerabilities as a vampire and wanted to do something about it. This tablet was supposed to make him invulnerable. The Nocturnes want the Heart believing that if they can tap the items power it will be a powerful weapon in the fight against the nightlords. They offer the group the most in exchange for the item.

The seekers want the heart for study. Despite the Heart being used for Vampire Magic they think that they can repurpose it as a power source. While they can’t offer as much as the Nocturnes, he points out that vampires are blood sucking monsters in their own right. Yosef the vampire of legend had a 200 year reign of terror that stretched from norther Ukraine to Egypt. The Nocturnes counter that they shouldn’t believe everything they see on TV and that Vampires are no more evil than men.
The group is offered to take another day before deciding what to do. They retire to a hotel at about 3 am. However Jeremy (who is keeping watch of the artifact now) is awoken just before dawn by a strangely bright light. Opening his eyes he sees a small humanoid form shrouded in light. It informs him that he is a guardian and that the Vampire spawned artifact should be destroyed and he has the power to do so. It will give Jeremy the rest of the day to think it over and disappears.

The group is left to ponder their options. Do they trade the Artifact to the Nocturnes? They are offering the greatest reward, but can they trust the Vampires? Do they hand it over to the guardians to destroy a potentially dangerous vampire weapon, forgoing the opportunity to get anything in return? Or do they take the middle road with the seekers?

[Incriptus]

So my session 6 write up didn't happen ... I thought I had saved it but apparently I did not.

Long story short, the group decided to put aside their distrust of the vampires for greater personal gain ... and it turned out to be the right decision, this Nocturn Cell is actually one of the good guys. However it turns out that the Heart of Yosef had it's magic sealed. Before any deal could be finalized they'd have to see if it could be freed.

When the vampires got their own mage to work on unsealing it, the magician responsible for the seal was summoned ... and it was none other than Jeremy's former mentor! The magic that sealed the Artifact for all these years had ultimately weakened the object so the deal was off. However the meeting between the Nightbane and the Noctures lead to a discussion.

Ultimately the discussion lead to an alliance between this Nocturn Cell and the new Resistance cell, with the group acting as the intermediaries for each group.

----

With the end of session 6 we reach the end of "Chapter 1" of our story.

Since I have ADD for AD&D we are now taking a break (likely 3 months) to play D&D (3.5ish) ... but we will return with chapter 2.

[Incriptus]

Chapter 2: The Nocturne Alliance
Issue 1: Blood Rites
Issue 2: Blood Writes
Issue 3: Bloodwrights
Issue 4: Blood Rights

The next chapter of my Nightbane game began last Friday. It is intended for 6 to 8 sessions, broken into 4 individual adventures. Our First session was basically reminding the players of who their characters are and the narative for the year+ time lapse for their latest training and leveling up escapades

SESSION 7.1

After throwing in their lot with the Nocturnes of New Orleans the group undergoes another round of advanced training, which take them to February of 2005.

Ashley spends time with Matron An’de of the Nocturnes while exploring their library. She seems to pick up history like a sponge gaining the following skills: Lore:Nightbane, Lore:Vampires, Lore:Nightlands, Lore:Demons & Monsters, Lore:Geomancy, Lore:Religon

Jeremy spends his time with Norab Ord a vampire magician. Ord was a magician in life who had focused on fighting off necromancers. It was in this capacity that he was defeated and turned into a vampire. Jeremy has finished his study of sorcery learning a score of spells to add to his repertoire of abilities.

Erick joins up with Jean-Luc Etienne, a human thief who had once successfully broke into the vampires manor. Impressed by the human’s skill they allowed him to escape. After tracking him down he was offered membership of the Nocturnes. He has trained Erick in the skills of a Professional Thief

Chris apprenticed under James Sandin, a young vampire who was an engineer before being turned. James had begun marketing elaborate security systems after Dark Day. He was chosen by a band of unscrupulous vampires to sun-proof their lair. The New Orleans coven was too late to prevent Sandin’s transformation, however he choose to stay on as their security expert. Under James’s Tutelage Chris has become accomplished at lock picking and security systems.

Matt continues his education in the art of espionage with a Wampyre named Abraham Summers. Abraham was CIA infiltrating a group of Serbian Rebels. It turned out these Serbians were vampires. Once a human proved themselves they were turned. However there was something different about Abraham. He didn’t have to follow the commands of the vampire who changed him. The problem was he was too deep in enemy territory to do anything about it. So he faked it. He ended up destroying the Serbian Coven from the inside. Upon his return to the states he joined the New Orleans Nocturnes. Matt has learned the art of being a deep cover operative.

[Incriptus]

Apologies friends, my inner writer hasn't wanted to come out and play for the last several weeks. As a matter of fact I still don't find myself having the motivation/energy to go too indepth, so instead I'm going to share the outline for sessions 7 & 8.


Blood Rites: People are disappearing and being drained of their blood in a small college town. Due to the victims being drained of blood there is some suspicion that vampires are involved. The characters are sent to investigate. Turns out a college student in an “occult club” finds an ancient magic scroll. When the scroll is copied in blood and activated something magical is supposed to happen. He used his own blood and it summoned a demonic beast that feeds off of blood. This college student’s fragile mind snapped at the realization and began kidnapping people to sacrifice to the beast so it wouldn’t run wild. The group catches up with the kid, and makes him the final sacrifice. They summon the beast and kill it … however the original scroll is still out there.

Blood Writes: Further investigated the Kids life the group are able to discover that he kid had assistance translating the scroll from a Chinese Mystic who lived in the bayou. The Chinese Man, Bai Lee, was known to the Nocturnes. He was a Chinese national, who was reportedly in exile from his coven. He had bought a patch of land and had become a hermit. It turns out he had purchased the originals not knowing the kid had kept a copy. The team found that Bai Lee was fortifying his compound, but still offered a peaceful negotiation for the scroll, Bai Lee refused. With this refusal they managed an unorthodox assault on the compound. In the main manner they found dozens of Chinese scrolls hanging from the ceiling, many of them written in blood. During the fight a fire broke out and several of the scrolls ignited. With Chinese magic one burns the paper to release the magic. With an exception of the neighboring ley lines swelling nothing major happened, and the Bai Lee and his Mercenaries were defeated. The Nocturnes and the group remained vigilant for the next month, however nothing seemed to come of this event … for now.