The Dee Sanction #1, Between Session Moves

I’m currently running a mini-campaign of The Dee Sanction. I started with Lost in Translation (from the rulebook) and Ex Libris and followed that with a longer investigation of my own invention.

My well-thumbed copy

This is how I ran the game, including my thoughts on preparation and reflections on how each session went.

I had two players, Terry (playing gardener Samuel Hodgeson) and Jon (playing temple clerk Margaret Chatwyn). We played for about two hours a week using Facebook Messenger for chat and a Trello board as a virtual tabletop. We roll dice physically.

A base of operations

The Dee Sanction doesn’t provide any details about the organisation that the players work for, so we made that up.

We decided that the PCs’ friends and family believed that the PCs had been executed for witchcraft. That’s what the record shows—and the PCs are now full-time agents of Dee, living in a secure location in London.

The players chose the crypt of The Chapel of St Thomas on London Bridge to be their base of operations. The chapel was repossessed during the Reformation and while it is still used for services, the crypt is now Dee Sanction property. At low tide it has access to the river.

A vague plan

My original plan was to play through the published scenarios and maybe tie in something about the Spanish Armada in 1588 as a big finale, taking 12-13 sessions.

I also had an idea about some monstrosity under London with an appetite for sacrifices. (I was inspired by Scarlet Traces by Edginton and D’Israeli, with a horror that provides something good but at an awful cost.)

I had no idea if or how the two would link up; I was sure that something would come along and make it work.

Episodes #1 to #4

Session Zero and Lost in Translation took up the first two episodes. During episode #3 we explored the PC’s base of operations on London bridge and started Ex Libris.

At the end Ex Libris (in episode #4), the PCs encountered Kit Marlowe and the School of Night. When they reported back,  Dee instructed the Agents to learn more about the School of Night.

And that put things in motion.

End of session moves

When I run a campaign, I use end-of-session moves (as PbtA might put it) to prepare for the next session:

• I ask the players what they are planning for the next session: what are they interested in following up? Who do they want to talk to? Where do they want to go?
• I also now use Stars and Wishes to celebrate the good bits and influence the game’s direction.

At the end of session #4 my players said they planned to check the theatres (and the taverns where theatre-folk hang out) to see if they could track Marlowe down.

Between session moves

Between sessions, I think about what may happen, and make lists.

• Events: Events that may happen during the session—such as things the bad guys may do or the ticking of a countdown clock.
• Clues: Stuff the PCs may learn. I don’t decide where or how the PCs will find the clues, just draw from the clues when needed.
• NPCs and places: Ideas for NPCs that the players may encounter and places they may want to visit.

I create these as checklists within a card on another Trello board. I include previous list items if they are still relevant.

Even though I’ve gone through this exercise, my players will probably veer off in a different direction. But by prepping something, I have something to fall back on.

(I believe Michael Shea does something similar in The Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master, but I’ve yet to read that.)

Next time

Next time I will talk about how that worked in practice for Session #5.