1×01: Mistaken Identity

• From Geissbach, the survivors set out for Bögenhafen. They spend several days on the road. In one inn, Sören is stared at with some confusion by men who make strange gestures toward him, then retreat to their rooms when engaged.
• The day before they reach the town, they encounter a feral mutant who charges the front wagon, resulting in the horses panicking and dragging the driver, Gunner, into the trees. Jörg recognizes the mutant as Rolf Hurtsis, a former soldier who disappeared a year or so ago. He puts his old friend down.
• From further down the road, they hear the sound of combat and move to investigate whereupon they are promptly attacked by what appears to be the survivors of an overturned coach. The bodies of mutants are scattered around.
• The fight is a fast one, with Coppertong narrowly being missed by foul sorceries hurled by the apparent leader of this band. Christoph buries an arrow in that man’s heart as the others drop the bodyguards, and then, to everyone’s horror, the guards who have not been outright slain become vomiting forth black beetles. Their bodies seem to deflate completely. It is a terrifying sight.
• The dead wizard is revealed to look almost exactly like Sören! And possibly more important, this man – Kastor Lieberung – is on his way to Bögenhafen to claim the titles and wealth of a Baronet, particularly the sum of twenty thousand crowns. Sören, an orphan, wonders if this man was his brother and Enfys jokingly begins addressing him as “Baronet Lieberung”. Coppertong disapproves of this, but holds her tongue.
• Late in the following day, they reach Bögenhafen…

GM Notes:

• Down Christoph’s player for the session.
• Nine fricking episodes in and we finally get to the adventure proper. Grognards will recognize the core elements from “Enemy in Shadows” or “Shadows Over Bögenhafen” (depending on which version of TEW you’ve played) but will also note that I made some big changes. That’s due to one of the players having gone through this before, so I wanted to change things up to ensure he’s still guessing.
• Almost got my first kill. Once again, it was Coppertong. My original intent was for “Kastor” to start revving up a spell so one or two of the PCs immediately target him with a ranged attack. He was at 1 hp, HT 9, with Easy to Kill 2 due to Chaos mutations. Instead, the PCs let me charge it up to max – 9D! – and then attack. Once again, Coppertong survived due to us realizing a modifier was missed (SM -1).
• Early part of this session was hot garbage. I need to figure out a way to make the “you travel, stop, and rest” stuff better.