Last episode, I opened our first case in our City of Mist: Dead of Night campaign. I started us easy, with the intro adventure provided in the All-Seeing Eye Investigations Starter Box Set.
Although I often have a hard time retrofitting published adventures to a specific group of player characters, this time it turned out pretty easy. Because of the characters my players had created, i.e. pure chance, we had pretty good hooks for the scenario even though it’s based on a completely different crew. Since this introductory scenario is full of handholds for a new crew and MC, it was very reassuring to rely on it rather than second-guess myself. Episode recap after the cut to avoid spoilers.
The episode opened with Joe Lazar (Rift of the Peasant Knight) returning to his store after his daily errands, just before the evening rush. He found his employees looking a little nervous, whispering among themselves so he asked his assistant Haddad into the back office, who reluctantly related a visit by a couple of toughs in suits, asking why they weren’t giving his cut to Mr. Santorini. Joe reassured Haddad that everything was fine and he would look into it.
By the time Joe and Haddad walked out of the tiny office, dinner rush was in full swing. As he approached the cash register, Joe noticed a folded piece of paper among the receipts. Anna, the cashier, had not noticed who had left the note. Joe opened it and read:
He frowned and pocketed the note. With a few discreet phone calls and questions, he confirmed that small businesses in the area were getting similar visits from a new crime syndicate.
That evening when the rest of the crew showed up for the latest news after the deli had officially closed for the night, Joe showed them the curious note. Gail Duncan (Scáthach the Warrior-Teacher) was immediately convinced that it had been written by a child. Thanks to the intuition granted by her sword, Ronnie McBride (Lady Justice) felt that the threat of sharks was more than a simple metaphor. Detective 436 (Ghost Cop) knew that Police Precinct 23, charged with policing the Miller’s Square neighbourhood, was both underfunded and rife with corruption. And just the day before, a local store owner had reportedly killed himself in suspicious circumstances.
Joe decided that he needed to go check things out for himself, and the rest of the crew felt they had to help, especially since Ronnie could still feel darkness in the traces left by the thugs’ auras during their earlier visit.
The Reef 