Back at head quarters Eoffram and Captain Murgeddin have news, by which I mean- not good news, which is a shame because the PCs are all smiles and positive energy.

Eoffram frets and paces- Murgeddin stands statue and sucks on his beard, eventually Troyas speaks-

“Yesterday morning a member of the Fallcrest Royal family was kidnapped. Kidnappings, while not commonplace, are a natural hazard for those with the money enough to pay the ransom- 90% of the time things go as planned, the ransom- which is never too high, is paid, and the loved ones reunited. More often than not the kidnappers are foolish enough to leave some sort of clue- more often than not, at a later date- and after much hard work by the Watch, they are captured and made to pay for their crimes.”

“Our initial thoughts were that this was just such a kidnapping, we prayed that the kidnappers were unaware of who they had in their grasp- as I say, a member of the royal personage. We set about discovering what we could- and quickly drew a blank, and so- in desperation, we perhaps foolishly, raided the lair of the Shadowmen, the Thieves’ Guild here in Fallcrest. Some say they a necessary evil, I have my doubts, but… Nevertheless, it quickly became clear that the Shadowmen were not behind this terrible act.”

“However the Shadowmen were… I think the word is generous, they provided us with the information that we needed, and just in time. A ransom note was sent, and received, the men who did this deed- or at least their leaders, are very aware of the prisoner’s status- they have not asked for money but for… well, for favours that are beyond our limits- their demands are in short impossible to meet. It is as if they want the child to die, and for the blood to be on our hands- in part.”

“This may be political- I can’t see it yet.”

And on that cliffhanger the first session draws to a close.

Note also during this session I asked the PCs to complete the following questionnaire-

Who do you know in Fallcrest?

I stated in the lead up to the game that each PC should have a friend or someone you go to for information in Fallcrest, hereafter known as your ‘source’, you each have one. Your source could be someone you have known all of your life, or someone from your past, or someone you have met recently. Your source may or may not be trustworthy- they could be telling you things because you have some hold over them- perhaps you know something about them, maybe you pay them, or exchange information, or… something else.

It’s time now to tell us about your source in Fallcrest- remember this game differs from other campaigns we have played in that you are going to help to craft the story along the way. I will take care of the big plot lines but your job is to provide me with some of the details. It’s your story as much as mine.

And so, answer the following questions, you may wish to consult the Fallcrest Map for ideas, and don’t be afraid to be creative, or to ask questions- although see below first.

Note this information can (if you wish) be shared with your fellow adventurers- this is your first questionnaire, feel free to help each other out- it’s about crafting a story, after all.

1) What’s your source’s name?

2) Where does your source hang out, or live, or work- in short where do you got to meet them to get info?

3) What Race, Sex, Class (perhaps) is your source?

4) What does your source look like, describe them in ten words or so?

5) How does your source come by their information- do they work for someone else or, are they a member of the watch, or the Shadowmen, or else… some other organisation? Remember to use your imagination- you have as much right to make something up, and be creative, as I do.

6) Why does your source share information with you (see above)?

That should do for now, although we may revisit this, and be warned there will be other questionnaires later, however remember that I’m trying to get a lot of this done at the start of the campaign.

Last point, looking around the map of Fallcrest- what’s missing- what places, establishments, services, shops, guilds or similar should exist in the city but do not appear on the map, and this is stuff you can (if you want) talk about amongst yourselves. Otherwise, if you want to keep some of your ideas secret, then write them in here-

I explained to the PCs, prior to the game, that I would be asking for this information- I want the game to have an exploratory/investigative element- basically I want a shed load of role-play from my players. I also needed this information for the next session.

Read on…

SESSION 2…