The Dee Sanction #2: Putting it into practice

Last time I talked about the things I do as a GM at the end of sessions and then between them, including making lists for the following session.

Our Agents are clerk Margaret Chatywn and gardener Samuel Hodgeson (played by Jon and Terry respectively). We’re playing The Dee Sanction online for no longer than two hours using a Trello board as our tabletop.

These are my lists for Session #5, with explanatory commentary in italics.

Part of our Trello board

Events

• Gilbert asks for help—he needs bodies to keep the blood goblin fed. Wants to move into better accommodation, wants help disposing of bodies. Proposes a deal. [Gilbert is from the previous adventure, Ex Libris. I changed the scenario so he could be an ongoing NPC. In the end, he didn’t reappear.]
• Gossip about the bodies washed up on the banks of the Thames. [These are the victims of the currently undefined monster/creature/thing. The bodies appear in session #7.]
• Bodies are being stolen. [Probably stolen by the School of Night and fed to the monster/creature/thing.]
• Report about the fight and the blue eyes [This is a link to Window of the Soul, another published adventure. I didn’t use this event we focussed on Marlowe.]

In the end I didn’t use any of the events, so they will carry over to the next session.

Secrets and Clues

• Children have been going missing
• Marlowe is a government spy
• Marlowe is a Spanish spy
• Bodies have all had their brains scooped out
• Bodies were found when a ship, the Golden Rose, foundered

I used the two about Marlowe but didn’t have a convenient opportunity to bring in the missing bodies so they will carry over. (It’s possible I will never use them—so much depends on what happens at the table. But I have them if I need them.)

NPCs and places

• Theatre – rowdy, bawdy, popular
• Run-down theatre – haunted
• Marlowe’s house – unoccupied
• Theatre pub Rat and Ferret – back street room, cockfights, prostitutes
• Sam Gosse – an actor
• Victor Smith (Viola de Lessops) – in disguise as a young boy actor
• Ralph Bashford – theatrical entrepreneur
• Sam Gosse – an actor
• The de Lessops house – rich merchant

Session #5: Marlowe’s play

We started this by talking about Marlowe, and Wikipedia told me his first play was Dido, Queen of Carthage, first performed in 1585-1587 (which was about the right time). It was performed by the Children of the Chapel (who hadn’t performed at court since 1584, for delightfully vague reasons).

The PCs learned that the Children of the Chapel favour the Rat and Ferret for their after-show refreshments. At the Rat and Ferret, the PCs asked about Marlowe and were directed to Victor (who Marlowe spent time with) and Ralph Bashford, impresario at the Rose theatre.

At the Rose, the Agents found Ralph and learnt that Victor (who has not been seen recently) worked at Lord Wessex’s residence and looked sickly when last seen. (As we played, I realised that Victor/Viola could be under the influence of whatever nastiness was at the centre of the mystery (whatever that is), and so I played it that way. The players worried about vampires as soon as they heard that Victor was sick.

We left it with the players planning to find more about Victor and Lord Wessex.

Session #6: Lord Wessex’s estate

Between sessions, I had that idea that the monster/creature/thing creates doppelgangers and the School’s ultimate aim is to clone Queen Elizabeth. (This isn’t where I ended up, but I mention it here to show that my ideas were changing as we played.)

My preparation for #6 was all about Victor (secretly Viola de Lessops). Where has she been? What has she become? Who else knows?

However, the players headed off in a different direction…

First Margaret went to the palace to find Margaret’s good friend Katheryne Lappage, maid of the queen’s chamber, to learn about Lord Wessex. Katherine told the PCs that Lord Wessex isn’t in favour with the queen as he nearly went bankrupt and married a rich merchant’s daughter (Viola) for the dowry. (Stolen shamelessly from Shakespeare in Love.)

Then the Agents went to Egham and Lord Wessex’s home, where they made friends with under-steward Martin Allington in the Queen’s Arms. Using witchcraft to make poor Martin ill (Samuel tainted Martin’s beer using magic), the PCs took him back to the house and ingratiated themselves with Mrs Brisket, the housekeeper. Mrs Brisket told the PCs that Viola hasn’t been herself recently, which worried them as they were still thinking about vampires.

I realised that my story about Viola was becoming muddled, and I needed to get it straight for the next session.

Viola’s backstory

Before session #7, I worked out Viola’s backstory and the overall plot.

Here’s what Jon and Terry said they wanted to explore:

• Research Blood Goblins. (They were concerned that Gilbert’s blood goblin had caused Viola’s illness. It hasn’t, but they don’t know that yet.)
• Ask Dee for the Book of Dead Names. (I have kept Dee at arm’s length, so the players are working on their own, but the book won’t hurt.)
• Samuel to research herbal medicine to help lady Viola. (They convinced Mrs Brisket they know herbal medicine and to let them look at Viola, when Lord Wessex is out of the house in three days.)
• Discover what Marlowe is doing or set someone to watch his movements. (Marlowe has gone to ground, so they will struggle with this.)
• Return after three days to Wessex’s estate and behest of Mrs Brisket to attend to sickly Lady Viola. 

Session #7: Bodies in the water

This session, I introduced the bodies of the monster’s victims, thrown overboard from the Golden Rose when it foundered and caught up in one of the water wheels on London bridge. I changed my mind about having their brains scooped out—the bodies are withered and shrivelled instead. 

This session involved them following that up. They found the Golden Rose but not its captain. The PCs also researched blood goblins (which I took from the rulebook), leaving them with more questions than answers.

House rule #1: I introduced a house rule to The Dee Sanction (agreed with Jon and Terry first). Any roll of 6+ is an extraordinary success. While 3-5 is successful, 6+ is a great success. And conversely, a roll of 1 is a bad failure indeed.

Before I ran The Dee Sanction, I had thought the PCs were relatively low-powered; ‘ordinary people with tainted history’ as the book says. However, most of the time, they are extremely competent. With a d6 in each resource (attribute), a ‘standard’ PC succeeds on a typical challenge 66% of the time.

Next time

Next time Margaret and Samuel visit the Wessex estate and meet Lady Viola.

Download Abaddon’s Puppet (the adventure that this campaign eventually became) on Itch.io.

And here I've chosen a few appropriate Tales of Terror.