Nostalghia* Is A Foreign Country.

 

 

 

 Nostalghia* Is A Foreign Country.

     (Do you have your passport stamped?)

  

  

File this under projects that took longer than I ever anticipated.  What am I 

talking about?  When I started my blog a DECADE ago, one of the goals I had was 

posting my campaign notes from the Year of the Goat Campaign that I began running 

in early 2015.  What prevented me from getting these game notes typed up and 

posted at the time?  Inertia, and an insecurity regarding running a one on one game, 

which felt weird to write about at the time.

This was primarily a one on one campaign I ran for my fiance (Vlasic and 

Brother Barton’s player), but I picked up 2 other players (Flavius and Bloodfart’s 

players) for a couple of sessions later in the campaign.  The campaign went on 

hiatus in 2020 as we both had a busy year, work on top of loss really slowed me 

down creatively.  Luckily we started a new campaign with a good friend over 

Thanksgiving weekend of 2021 (Flavius’ player) and that is the Ox—>Tiger—>Etc 

Campaign that I’ve posted the notes of the last several years.  It’s in the same 

campaign world, so I could reuse locations, NPCs, and lore.  And this current 

campaign has spawned two separate one-on-one games with a few of the players’ 

hirelings (Danika in the Ctyri Ctvrt Chronicles and Boy in Star Notch Stories).  It 

was satisfying to go back over the Year of the Goat Campaign notes to see how 

both my campaign world and my DM skills and style have evolved.  Starting the 

YotG Campaign in 2015, we were moving away from New World of Darkness 

(Chronicles of Darkness, after a rebrand) gameline Changeling: the Lost.  I was 

still adapting from our more story game style of gameplay, to Lamentations of the 

Flame Princess system.  This will be reflected in the more narrative presentation 

of YotG Campaign’s session notes.  I started worldbuilding quite slowly for sessions 

1-17, but after that I kicked into high gear for a few years.

The initial post is up and it is over on my Substack.  This series chronicling the 

original campaign will be exclusive to my Substack and free for everyone.  Look for 

an actual play session post of the Year of the Goat Campaign (original campaign) 

every Sunday morning (my time zone, USA Pacific).  For those of you who have 

been enjoying the Ox—>Tiger Campaign, Ctyri Ctvrt Chronicles, and Star Notch 

Stories, those will be posted to both here and the Substack.  Thank you to all of my 

readers over here!  I would love to see you over on Substack where there is some 

enhanced functionality for me as the “creator”.  And maybe more interactivity for 

you as well;-)  Either site you read on, I appreciate your time and energy in reading 

my blog, whether you be bot or human!  Catch you on the flipside.

*Every Andrei Tarkovsky movie is an influence on me.  I’m due for a rewatch 

of Nostalghia.

 

Ox ---> Tiger --->Rabbit Campaign Session #66

 

Session 66-  Wrapping Up In Werneck, Arriving Outside of Karlstadt

3/26/2023

• At the celebration feast, Fecus and Tim ask the Werneck 

  villagers about details surrounding the vampire attacks.

• Details of the events around the vampire attacks.

• Before the attacks started, some families in town received 

  pinkish red heart-shaped cookies, cakes, and tarts from an 

  unknown benefactor.

• After families received the pasties, a pair of shoes went 

  missing in the household.

• After the pastries and shoes, the first vampire killing happens.

• After the first vampire attack, the Skell family leave Werneck 

  for Wurzburg.

• After several more vampire attacks, the other 3 founding families 

  leave for Wurzburg.

• Rams go back to Skell Manor to talk to the bats.

• The bats confirm the timeline of the villagers, with the added 

  information that there was a weaker vampire that performed the 

  pastry delivery and shoe thefts.  A second vampire (X) was the 

  attacking vampire.  Both entered Werneck through the mirror in 

  Skell manor.

• Rams leave Werneck and encounter 2 groups of refugees.

• They encounter the first refugees east of Thungen.  These folks had 

  been victimized by the bandits in Thungen.  Rams give some material 

  assistance.

• Rams are not attacked as they drive through Thungen, they probably 

  present as too difficult for the bandits to bother.

• Rams encounter the second group of refugees and warn them to go 

  south to Wurzburg instead of going east to Thungen.

• Just outside of Karlstadt, Geoff and Robin do a flying reconnaissance.

• They see the crowded conditions in Karlstadt and outside in the 

  refugee camp.  They also see a figure leaving an abandoned farmhouse 

  outside of Karlstadt and start moving south, in the direction of Wurzburg.

• Rams decide to check out the farmhouse as the sun sets.

• They discover a tunnel in the basement of the abandoned farmhouse that 

  may lead to Karlstadt.

Ox ---> Tiger --->Rabbit Campaign Session #65

 

Session 65-  Kill the Vampire, Travel Through the Mirror

3/19/2023

• Tim and Gugula are in the attic.

• Baldwin guards the front door.

• Gerben guards the patio door.

• Kruluzax, Yaroj, and Gigurg are in room #13.

• Sigrun, Gunda, Geoff, and the Robin are in room #14.

• Shelby and Uwe are in room #15.

• Ornie and Tentacle guard the Warvette and Wagon.

• Ferika and Sasha are in the hallway outside of room #15.

• Fecus, Guimar, Ewald, Yuri, and the dogs Andrew and 

  Launchpad are the Search Party.

• The Search Party finds a badger in the master bedroom, 

  room #11, and gives it a ration to keep it somewhat docile.

• In room #12 The Search Party finds an unusual mirror and 

  Fecus touches it and feels a tingling as his fingers push through, 

  like it’s a portal.  He posts Kruluzax, Yaroj, and Gigurg in this 

  room while The Search Party continues their investigation.

• The Search Party proceeds to the ground floor and explores 

  rooms #4, #3, and #2 (scrolls found in room #2).

• Ferika and Sasha in the east wing hallway see a figure come 

  through the window in the west wing hallway and move towards 

  room #12 and enter.  They begin running towards room #12.

• Upon entering room #12, X the Vampire charms Gigurg and they 

  embrace.

• Yaroj and Kruluzax attack the figure embracing Gigurg, each 

  dealing 4 DMG.

• They attack again and both miss, then Ferika and Sasha burst 

  into the room and Ferika kills X the Vampire with her silver sword.

• Rams finish exploring Skell Manor, finding a few valuables.

• Rams send Screwie the puppy through the mirror and he comes 

  back unharmed. 

• They tie a rope around Sigrun’s waist and she explores through 

  the mirror.  She reports back a staircase leading up at least 

  several stories.

• Rams have Gugula and Sigrun remain in room #12 while the 

  rest of the group goes through the mirror, up the stairs, into a 

  scullery, and peek out into a courtyard that is bathed in sunlight 

  (it was still night in Skell Manor).

• Rams pick up a shoe in the scullery.

• Yuri is of the opinion that the architecture is Voivodjan.

• Rams come back through the mirror to Skell Manor, crate up the mirror, 

  burn the vampire outside, and go to the village to inform the villagers 

  of Werneck that they killed the vampire.

• The village of Werneck throws an impromptu early morning feast to 

  celebrate the Rams’ defeat of the vampire.

• X the Vampire killed = 10XP

• Onyx and Ivory Chess Set = 250GP = 250XP

• Flute = 100GP = 100XP

• Violin = 200GP = 200XP

• Cello = 300GP = 300XP

• XP Total = 860XP

• Tim and Fecus each receive 286XP

• Sasha and Gigurg each receive 143XP

Ox ---> Tiger --->Rabbit Campaign Session #64

 

Session 64-  Skell Manor

3/12/2023

• Shelby casts Turn Undead in the entrance hall of Skell Manor.

• A noise upstairs is heard, running and a window slamming.

• Rams search the upper floor east wing and discover a feather 

  on the windowsill of room #15.

• Guimar casts Detect Evil on the feather and determines that 

  it came from an evil creature.

• Rams decide to set an ambush for the creature and ask the 

  villagers to go back to the village and secure themselves.

• Rams place Uwe in room #15 with Shelby hiding in the wardrobe.

• Tim, Fecus, Ferika, Yuri, and Ewald search upstairs rooms 

  #14, #13, #16, #17, #18, and take the stairs #19 to the attic.

• Bats are disturbed in the attic, 3 are killed.

• Tim casts Speak With Animals and pacifies the bats by having 

  the 3 that were killed quickly healed with potions.

• Tim asks the main bat about the vampire’s movements 

  throughout the Skell Manor and the village of Werneck.

• Tim asks the bats to go scout the vampire and return with information.

• Tim and Gugula remain in the attic while Fecus, Yuri, and 

  Ewald go back to searching.

Ox ---> Tiger --->Rabbit Campaign Session #63

 

Session 63-  Press Gangs, Refugees, Vampires?  Oh My!?!

3/5/2023

• As Rams are exiting The Gazelle Shaft, the bouncer 

  Eslamassi warns them that a press gang has been 

  spotted in Dresden on the west side of town.

• Fecus purchases armor for a hireling.

• Each new hireling has a rumor.

• Gugula has heard about the Werneck vampire.

• Ewald has heard about the Thungen bandits.

• Sigrun has heard about a Glass Tiger in Karlstadt 

  and the surrounding area.

• Gunda has heard about the Rothenfels Tower Shadow.

• Rams skirt around the area the press gang is operating in as 

  they leave Dresden for Karlstadt.

• Day 1 and 2 of travel are uneventful.

• Day 3 they encounter refugees talking about a vampire in the 

  village Werneck and bandits in the village Thungen.

• Day 4 brings Rams to the village Werneck where they encounter 

  a mob of villagers hunting the vampire by going around harassing 

  marginal citizens.

• Rams offer to investigate (wondering if the vampire attacks are 

  related to the witches in Karlstadt).  The mob leads Rams to 

  Skell Manor.

• Ewald picks the lock to Skell Manor on the second try.

• Rams enter Skell Manor, while the villagers guard both entrances 

  of the building.

• The little orphan Uwe approaches Shelby and tells the story of the 

  vampire killing his mother in front of him and shapeshifting into a 

  bird known as a shrike.  HIs friend told him the vampire turned into 

  a centipede when it fought and killed her father.  She was killed the 

  next night.