I’m in the middle of running a Monster of the Week mini campaign for a group of friends. As I prep this session, I took stock of all that I’m trying to accomplish and it’s quite a bit. First, I connect each adventure to the background of one of the player characters while also advancing a campaign arc. This adventure focuses on the player at our table who is least comfortable with roleplaying and generally stays quiet outside of combat. I need to make sure to provide lots of opportunity for that player to take the spotlight. Second, I came up with a new formula of story beats to try in our last post. I need to change how I design the adventure to implement the new formula. Third, the monster in this adventure is a vampire and two members of the group are veteran Vampire: the Masquerade players. They’ll have expectations and background knowledge that I can incorporate to make our adventure more engaging.

Am I prepping my trickiest session yet? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps, another way to look at it is that I’ve identified three elements that, properly executed, will make a truly great session. Want to chat about Monster of the Week? You can find me over at @[email protected]

Reviewing the Story Beats

In our last post we worked up a new formula of story beats to give the Monster a central place and make it more threatening. We’ll have an investigation period, a fight for which the party in unprepared, a second investigation period, and then a showdown. The monster for this hunt is a Vampire against whom one of the player characters holds a grudge. The players are after a McGuffin which they are told is the Monster’s weakness. However, the McGuffin will make the Vampire more powerful. When the party gets close to the McGuffin, the Vampire attacks and tries to take it. The party then must track down the Vampire and destroy it.

Adventure Elements and Background

Let’s start with our McGuffin. What is it? I’m going to steal an artifact name from Magic the Gathering and call our McGuffin the Immortal Sun. It sounds dangerous to vampires, but in that MtG set a bunch of vampires are searching for it. It’s a magical relic from the Olmec Civilization, studied by Mayan priests who hid it during the Spanish conquest of Mesoamerica. Our Vampire has been trying to get this artifact since he learned of it.

So, let’s move on to our Vampire. Our Vampire enters the story centuries after the Spanish conquest but before Mexican independence. We’ll make him a Spanish noble in the viceregal administration of New Spain. I want to make his name a nod to my Vampire the Masquerade players, so let’s call him the Marqués Salvadór Lanza de la Sombra–Lasombra being a clan of shadowy, power-seeking aristocratic vampires in VtM. He’ll be able to manipulate shadows–a characteristic of Lasombra clan members–which should make a fun nod to my VtM players without going overboard into pandering.

De la Sombra commissioned explorers in the late 18^th century to hunt for the Immortal Sun. A group led by famed husband and wife duo Bartolomé and Carmina Morillo found it on the Yucatan Peninsula. They were transporting it back to De la Sombra in Mexico City when they learned of his unholy nature. Carmina fled with the Immortal Sun while Bartolomé created a fake trail to distract De la Sombra. Eventually De la Sombra’s agents caught up with Carmina but by then she had disposed of the relic. She died before De la Sombra was able to interrogate her. The trail of the Immortal Sun went cold for over two centuries.

Flash forward to the present day. We need to answer two questions. How has the Immortal Sun’s trail gone live again? Why does De la Sombra involve the party?

De la Sombra never stopped looking for the Immortal Sun. Let’s pay off his dedication. Over the centuries he sponsored explorers of all stripes who like poking around holes in the ground. Along with every expedition he’d send a thrall to keep an eye out for the Immortal Sun. A recent expedition found it. More precisely, they got close.

A week ago, a group of spelunkers entered an abandoned mine accompanied by De la Sombra’s minion, Wren Greenfield. The lead spelunker saw a light source and instructed everyone to momentarily turn off their lamps. Sure enough, something ahead was glowing. As the spelunkers approached the leader stumbled over an alien corpse covered in fungus-like protrusions. A cloud of spores went up and the spelunkers’ hacking coughs quickly turned into screams as alien spores burned their skin. Wren and one spelunker managed to escape.

We’ll begin our session with Wren contacting a member of the party for help. She tries to enlist the party in retrieving the Immortal Sun. She tells them it’s De la Sombra’s weakness and that his thralls (the spore-ified spelunkers) guard it. She doesn’t go right to De la Sombra. Her motivation is to prove herself indispensable to De la Sombra and thus merit being turned into a vampire herself.

Wren’s story won’t totally make sense. Also, the party might find the other spelunker and learn the truth of what happened there. If they research the Immortal Sun, they can learn how it’ll make De la Sombra more powerful. In any event, the clock is ticking because the Vampire is about to collect the artifact in person. Even if they move quickly, they’ll encounter De la Sombra in the abandoned mine. If they move too slowly… Well, they’ll face a day-walking super vampire.

Roleplaying Handholds

I want to use this session to encourage one of my players to roleplay a bit more. I’ll direct questions from NPCs to that player and make those questions open ended. Instead of asking if the party can please go kill the infected spelunkers, Wrenn might ask, “What do you think a vampire’s thrall is like? What will it take to kill them?”

Additionally, I’ll give that player some choices that only their character gets to decide. One such choice will be the fate of Wren. I’m taking her from that character’s backstory, and so I’ll let the player decide what happens to her. Is she redeemed? Is she vampire-ized? Vaporized? It’s up to that player.

Adding to the Campaign Arc

The alien spores are part of our campaign arc. The extradimensional horror that is drawing towards our world secretes spores that control and consume living things in our world. Creatures infected by the spores are drawn towards power sources, including the Immortal Sun. I’m going to emphasize the alien appearance of the supposed “vampire thralls” to both give lie to Wren’s story and hint at the looming threat.

A Strong Start

This session should have a fair bit of combat, so I’m going to start with a tense roleplay encounter. I’m going to have another character, The Professional, hauled before a shadowy disciplinary board for drawing excessive public attention during the last session. I’ll have the disciplinary board tell her an investigative reporter is on the party’s case. I’ll end with a member of the board asking if the party’s memory wipe is holding. Uh-oh! The party had their memories wiped and they’re being directed by a secretive agency! With that tasty revelation fresh out of the oven, we’ll cut to The Wronged receiving a text from Wren. It’s been years, but she has something urgent that can only be said in person.

This feels like a solid place to leave my prep. We have a mystery background with lots of tidbits for me to gradually reveal to the players. We have a plan to support a player new to roleplaying for their turn in the spotlight. Want to chat about adventure craft? Reach me on Mastodon: @[email protected]

Prepping my Trickiest Session Yet

Reviewing the Story Beats

Adventure Elements and Background

Roleplaying Handholds

Adding to the Campaign Arc

A Strong Start