The Carnival

It's a working title. Last night we were two down for our usual World of the Lost game, so I decided instead to use the opportunity to play test a very loose scenario I'd been working on. I'm loathe to give too much away as the intention is to publish this one, but I'll post the introduction, along with a 'scene of the moment' - not the best scene, but a good stand alone one to share.

We ran it using +Chris McDowall's excellent Into the Odd, a light and easy rules system but one that worked so well with the scenario that I've decided to focus the scenario on being an ItO scenario. We had +Scott Dorward playing the town drunk and rat catcher, +Kathryn Jenkins as a sort of doctor role (complete with saw), and +Sarah Schiff as a whore and thief.

The Introduction

Moans of agony burbled into the night sky while the creatures of the woodland watched in silence at the procession crawling by. About twenty humans pulled themselves along the ground with a huge dome structure atop their backs; their legs had been chopped off at the knees and loosely bound, some leaving a trail of blood through the dirt as they hauled themselves forward.

Behind the group, several small caravans and wagons followed, also pulled by broken humans, their movements erratic. Atop the transport, kids laughed merrily and talked amongst themselves with barely a glance to the adults suffering ahead.

The carnival had come to town.

Scene of the Moment

Somehow, the kids were leaving the village and ending up in the carnival. Sarah ordered her dog (who she had a telepathic link with) to keep an eye on the kids while they explored the carnival at night. During the exploration, the dog told Sarah excitedly that it could see some of the kids leaving their homes, so Sarah ordered it to stop them.

A moment later, a yelp and a whimper sparked into Sarah's mind, and she could no longer telepathically speak to her mutt. The group rushed back towards the village to find two kids marching towards the direction of the carnival; both with blank expressions, but one covered in blood and holding bits of dog.

The group tried to stop the kids, but one stabbed Scott in the gut with a shiv, while the other beat Sarah with the bones of her own dog. Kat then shot both the kids as they marched onwards over her fallen comrades. The noise of course roused the villagers nearby as well as the folk in the carnival, causing the group to desperately try and hide the bodies of the children while they worked out what to do next.

Final Thoughts

First time running Into the Odd for me, and it was a delight. It's light, it's fast, but it still provides a good structure for resolution. The session itself went really well, and at the end we spent some time breaking it apart to find how to improve some of the scenes. I'm quite excited about this one, and look forward to getting it out to you all soon (hopefully with a better title).