The Isle Beyond the Mists (pirate hack of the Between)

[Rob Necronomicon]

I sent you the link with the current play test materials. Let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks, buddy. I'm just grabbing them now.

 

[Picaroon Jack]

Here are some updates to the campaign play testing. It's not been as easy for my group to get together once summer dropped, but here are the summaries of two sessions:

After sustaining some damage to the Hunter's Revenge in a storm while en route to Panama, the crew found themselves in a crescent bay of a small island. While getting timber to repair the ship, they find a marooned pirate named Dante. Through out the game we saw:

• The Vanguard hanging by a chain above a subterranean pit of writhing, human-sized eels.
• The Bosun trying to convince the crew that a whale sighting was not the return of the Leviathan.
• The Lorekeeper having debates/confessions about the life cycle of mermaids and how edible they are or are not with the marooned and slightly unhinged Dante. Here is a sketch the lorekeeper player made of the island:

We all got back together this week including this Captain this time for more of the Mermaid's Grotto threat. The players plan was to assist the marooned pirate, Dante, get his stolen items back from the grotto. It took us a good 15 to 20 minutes to piece together the details of the Answer a Question move since it had been 3 weeks since our last game, but we were able to get it all sorted out and start the Night Phase.

• The Bosun lead a small team of the ship's musicians into the cave beyond the waterfall above the grotto to both mesmerize the eel-like mermaids below and pull the treasure up in a basket. Later when Dante tried to abscond with the recovered items, the Bosun's shout of "Lay hands on that rascal!" reverberated through the tunnel.
• Once the Captain sorted out the crew's dangerous plans to help Dante, she joined them on the recovery mission and swam with the Vanguard and Lorekeeper down into the underwater entrance to the grotto. She was able to remove the parasitic brain eels and somewhat communicate/befriend one of the eel-like mermaid creatures.
• The Lorekeeper gathered the stolen items and searched the grotto for more clues regarding the Mermaid Idol, and after marking the Cosmic Passage, his memories of his past are becoming more clearer but at the detriment of his current state of reasoning.
• The Vanguard helped wrangle the mesmerized mermaids and squeamishly removed one of their mass of parasitic eels. He was then ordered to get the Lorekeeper back to the longboat and to the Hunter's Revenge as the Captain left with the mermaids.

We ended on a cliff hanger of the alarm bell frantically ringing back on the Hunter's Revenge as the rest of the mermaids (and a finback whale) attack the ship as all the hunters and about 10 crew members are back on the island.

A couple of feedback notes:

• The Lorekeeper's primary move Old Sailor's Tales is "once per threat" and that will be changed to "once per session."
• The custom move, Pierce the Veil, from the Mermaid's Idol is a bit vague on what that actually means to open a portal to another reality. So a note with some options the keeper and players have when using it will be added.

 

[Picaroon Jack]

In last night's continuing campaign play test:

1. the Bosun saved the topsails when the ship had a jarring halt due to sabotage during being pursued a British ship-of-the-line, and then arrested the crew member ("Monk" from the Jimmy Jangle Bones threat) who was being possessed by the spirit of Mutiny. He was able to convince other mutineers that arresting Monk was for the good of the ship.
2. The Lorekeeper in the crow's nest used his telescope that sees into the future to predict what was about to happen and then shot the helmsmen of the HMS Prescott forcing them to veer away and preventing them from broadsiding a dead in the water the Hunter's Revenge. Later as both ships were engulfed by fog, he had the crew extinguish and cover all light sources to go into stealth mode.
3. The Captain , after studying the ghost map for clues, she bolted into action to lead the fight against the British warship. She called for chain-shot to damage their sails, while the crew heated cannonballs to shoot at the HMS Prescott in the fog to ignite some fires as the Hunter's Revenge slipped away in the night's fog.

From a play test angle, this was the first time the crew engaged in a naval battle with another ship, that was real and not a ghost ship. The Between's mechanics made for a really fun naval battle, and I plan to include a section with some tips and terminology for keepers/players in the rules section.

Additionally, in lining up threats for the campaign play test, it's pretty obvious I need another ship born threat/mystery (or two) that can be dealt with only at sea if need be (like Jimmy Jangle Bones and the Beast Beneath). So, I've started working on the Curse of Neptune's Folly.

As established in the first threat, Neptune's Folly is the ghost ship that the Captain was suppose to report to in the after life, but stayed upon *the Hunter's Revenge* as a revenant. So in this threat, the Hunter's Revenge is slowly transforming into Neptune's Folly so it will be a race against time for the Captain to avoid their fate. Initially, I'm thinking only the Captain can see the ghostly changes, but I'll think a bit more on that angle.

Here is a sketch from last night by the player running the Lorekeeper:

 

[Picaroon Jack]

Here is the finished draft of the intro to the Curse of Neptune's Folly:

 

[Picaroon Jack]

I combined Skeleton Jack and the Creeping Rot Threats (ditching most of the Creeping Rot) to help get the Hunter's Revenge out to sea. In both playtests of the two Nassau starting threats, I don't think anything is gained from hanging out there. Once they get Skeleton Jack's piece of the map, I think it's time to split, not look for another piece.

 

[Voros]

Once this is complete I'll need a copy.

 

[Picaroon Jack]

Once this is complete I'll need a copy.

Can do.

I've not decided how I'll get it out there, yet. I doubt it will be affiliated with Gauntlet publishing this time around.

Worse case scenario it's a free PDF.

 

[Voros]

Can do.

I've not decided how I'll get it out there, yet. I doubt it will be affiliated with Gauntlet publishing this time around.

Worse case scenario it's a free PDF.

I'll pony up for a hardcopy if it's available!

 

[Picaroon Jack]

This week's play test was a Day Phase where we find the Hunter's Revenge slowly morphing into a ghost ship as they continue on looking for the wreck of the Barcelona.

• The Bosun spent time in the rigging discovering ropes transforming into seaweed and barnacle encrusted chains and then later at Seafarer's Outpost he traded a not-cursed diamond ring for some information (and new rope) about cursed ships.
• The Vanguard showed off new scrimshaw carved into the back of Skeleton Jack's head, and later made off like a bandit with an arm load of books that he got in a trade for a mermaid hide to be turned into a nautical book cover to an arcane book dealer.
• The Captain question the sailor possessed with by the mutinous spirit in the brig and found a rag doll of herself, which she took to Brother Abrams at the Seafarer's Outpost to confirm it's all tied to the curse of the ship.

Loads of Mastermind Clues activated the Fleet of the Damned tonight, so all threats are paused as the Mastermind unleashes a fleet of ghost ships to try and sink the Hunter's Revenge so that it will resurface as the Neptune's Folly.

Three active threats (The Barcelona, Mutiny!, and Curse of Neptune' sFolly) , a Lingering Misfortune (the mermaids), AND the Fleet of the Damned is just about throwing everything at the crew but the kitchen sink. We have 5 masks to go through when we meet again!

AND undead cabin boy skeleton, Benjamin Bones is also now in play.

Benjamin Bones, Skeleton Cabin Boy of Henry Morgan
A short, four foot tall skeleton with a few rags of his former clothes draped on his dry bones. His skull is missing one big front tooth, and for a skeleton he moves very quietly. Rarely speaks unless spoken to.
Quote: “You look wrong. . .all fleshy like. . .too much. . .skin.”

(Here is how Benjamin Bones was introduced in a Moment:

The Ghost of Henry Morgan appears with a small human skeleton walking behind him. “Ah, there you are. I have with me cabin boy Benjamin Bones reporting for duty. He was actually the last cabin boy that served aboard the Solidad. Treat him well and perhaps he won’t slit your throat in the middle of the night. Although, you never know for sure.”)​

 

[Picaroon Jack]

I am chomping at the bit to wrap up this playtest and finish up tweaking/editing this game. However, I do need to see how Morgan's endgame plays out and we're getting pretty close. Maybe only 4 or 5 sessions left.

 

[Picaroon Jack]

I do have one slot left for the next upcoming campaign play test of the Isle Beyond the Mists. We are hoping to start tentatively on September 12, 2023 9:00 AM EST with 10+ Tuesday sessions that last about 2 hours each. This is on Zoom and not recorded.

Let me know if any of you folks are interested.

 

[Picaroon Jack]

Using keynote, I made a cross section of the Hunter's Revenge:

 

[Picaroon Jack]

Quick Dusk/Night/Dawn session in tonight's play test where we:

• Ended the Mutiny threat by performing a ritual of tar, salt, and dirt on the possessed sailor, Monk.
• Most of the crew went to the tavern at Seafarer's Outpost to celebrate Monk's recovery. The Captain laid out the complete map for all to see.
• The Bosun felt the curse of Neptune's Folly full force as skeleton hands ripped through the floor of his quarters.
• Undead Captain Matilda Montegue confronted our dead Captain over the map and the Vanguard leaped into action against the wraith crew and a brawl ensued.
• The Fleet of the Damned have them boxed into Seafarer's Outpost with the ultimatum of turning over the map and Captain or else.

Currently talking to an artist about commissioning some art by March 2024.

 

[Picaroon Jack]

After a two month break, we wrapped up this campaign playtest with the big finale. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. The second campaign playtest is about halfway through.

I've made one big change with the Between's structure of change and moved away from the Day Cycle and installed an End of the Session phase for wrap up. I also added some additional support for recurring side characters.

 

[lategamer]

Very nice!

 

[Picaroon Jack]

Second campaign play test is wrapping up. I'm hoping to get this on DriveThru sometime this summer. I'll post it here when it is available.