Session Zero Heroes - A TTRPG Actual Play Podcast
Skylar: M welcome back, everybody, to another episode of the session Zero Heroes podcast. My name is Skylar, but today my name doesn't really matter that much, because today I get to play in a game of Monster of the week as we are narrated and led by special guest game master Nate vagart. I said it, right?
Cameron: Yes, you did.
Skylar: Nailed it. Awesome. And, he's gonna be leading this special Halloween special. I said special twice. Halloween special. One shot of Monster of the week.
Skylar: For us this Halloween season.
Skylar: So sit back and enjoy as we get into the spookier zone. I can't say the twilight zone. That's already been done. The spookier zone of the holiday season.
Skylar: Nate, take it away.
Cameron: Hey, everybody. glad m to be here. Glad to get to run stuff. M I've played with a few of you guys in our dino themed one shot and really enjoyed it. I'm a big fan of monster of the week and powered by the apocalypse in general, so I'm looking forward to it. so, as I told our characters, and as I'm just opening for any of you, the listeners, this, is gonna be a pretty pg podcast. our players are playing tweendheheheheheheheheheheheheheh. you know, tween agers, whatever. You interpret that as, out to trick or treat. so we're gonna let our characters introduce themselves. They were given pre, made character sheets, that were made using, the online resources of monster of the week, a really cool resource that I got from the evilhat.com dot. I don't know if I should plug or not, but they have all of the monster of the week resources. So if you do want to dabble in this, after listening to the. The various things, there's a whole bunch of resources to jump into. That's just the one I happen to use when I need my online stuff. so I'm gonna introduce our characters really briefly, and then I'll let their players take it away with, some of the more personal details they have. So our first character I'm gonna introduce is Alex. Alex is a religious youth, who embodies a heroic spirit. they believe that they have been chosen to protect the innocent, and champion the cause of good against any malevolent forces that they may threaten. They may threaten their friends. So, Alex, if you want to really quickly tell us what your trick or treating costume is.
Cameron: Yeah, I had one idea, and then you said it was really religious, and I'm like, okay, hold on. I was originally thinking, like, he's really into old, like, Sci-Fi stuff. I thought you were gonna say, like, he's gonna do Robocop, but now you.
Cameron: Say religion, it'd actually be funnier to see Pastor Robocop.
Skylar: I was gonna say.
Cameron: I swear.
Skylar: You were gonna say, like, bill Gaither, something like that. There's the most secure, lucky character from veggie tales.
Cameron: Wow.
Cameron: That would be.
Cameron: Oh, my gosh.
Skylar: Bible man. Just be Bible man.
Cameron: I was thinking a knight. So if I was Bible man, I.
Skylar: Put on the sword of the spirit.
Cameron: I actually love that idea. I'm Bible. No one knows who Bible man is.
Cameron: That. Is that because that's the only costume your parents would let you have? Yes.
Cameron: He wanted to be a superhero. Like, he. He likes comics, but, like, they never.
Skylar: Wanted him.
Cameron: But he has to, like, secretly read them because they only give him, like, the bible man comics. So that's what he reads, like when they're around, but when it's late at night under the sheets, he's reading, like, his spider man is Matt man. He really likes daredevil. Interesting. But devils would never.
Skylar: Which is the word devil in it.
Cameron: That's part of the reason that drew him to it was. It said devil in it. I was like, ooh. And I started reading. He's like, hey, this isn't that bad. It's like he was expecting, like, you know, like, hell. Right, racers?
Cameron: Yeah.
Cameron: Hellboy.
Cameron: Hellboy.
Cameron: Like. Like, when he saw it, he's expecting Hellboy. Yeah, but no, it's just a dude who's line. He's like, oh, this is sick.
Cameron: Right.
Cameron: So Bible man's basically daredevil, but with vision, so.
Cameron: Okay.
Cameron: And he can.
Skylar: He's Batman with a little lightsaber.
Cameron: You're right. He's.
Cameron: Just to be clear, your characters literally, your, all your weapons and such are literally going to be just Bible man stuff. So you.
Cameron: Yeah, I've got the plastic armor, the cheap plastic shield and everything, and the cheap Bible man lightsaber, which is basically, like, your typical toy lightsaber, but it's just. I think it's purple because this whole suits, like, a purplish blue yellow.
Skylar: I think it, like.
Cameron: It's like a purplish gold tone, I believe. But a lot of years,
00:05:00
Cameron: we're all looking up Bible man.
Skylar: It's like a yellow lights here. It's like a yellow glow lights. Yeah.
Cameron: He's got a purple and gold tone theme.
Skylar: Yeah. That's amazing.
Cameron: I mean, just to be clear, we've had Bible man and Bill Gaither mentioned.
Skylar: So far, so we got to know.
Cameron: There was an animated show.
Skylar: What is that, new?
Skylar: Gotta go check that out.
Cameron: I don't know.
Skylar: Everybody get on right now. Media. It's got to be on.
Cameron: Okay, well, that's enough about Bible man.
Cameron: We're really catering to a certain audience right now.
Cameron: You said pg, so I went full pg.
Skylar: My character guardian tells me that I'm only allowed to watch Bible.
Cameron: We're plugging into a new demographic.
Skylar: It's exactly what this podcast needs.
Cameron: All right, so when it comes to the crunchy part of this, if and when that happens, we'll just figure that out based on, like, what you're character, of course, like, the harm plus and whatever. Like, don't worry about that. I'll tell you, that's just gonna be one of your, like, one of the things that has. So don't worry about that part of it. But just any of that stuff. Just picture yourself as Bible man.
Cameron: Okay.
Cameron: All right, so we're gonna come next to our second character, and, that's gonna be Maya. Now, Maya is a quirky and surprisingly knowledgeable friend with an uncanny affinity for anything supernatural. Her mind is brimming with tales of strange occurrences, both legendary and bizarre, making her an essential guide through tonight's adventures. So, Maya, tell us about yourself.
Skylar: what's the intro to every time Mikayla talks on this podcast?
Mikayla: well, I had a different idea, but I don't know if it works.
Cameron: Well, we made Bible.
Skylar: I had my costume idea, like, a month, two months ago. Where have you guys all been?
Mikayla: well, I told you I had an idea, but the backstory I had for it, I don't think really fits with the character's description.
Skylar: Corset, like a puzzle piece that doesn't go together.
Mikayla: Okay, here's what I really wanted to do. Okay, so you know Kim possible?
Cameron: Yes.
Mikayla: I was gonna be Rufus.
Cameron: I knew you were going there. I knew you were going in there. Imagine Kim possible. Imagine the rag. What are you talking about?
Mikayla: This works.
Cameron: You're a quirky kid. Yeah, right.
Mikayla: But he said I'm gonna be, like, the main.
Cameron: Okay, yeah, Rufus is the main character.
Cameron: What are you talking about?
Skylar: What have you been watching?
Mikayla: Here's the thing. I am Rufus because my group of who I think are really great friends, they're all like, you know, Kim possible and Ron and Bible Manda, and I got wrapped into being the naked mole rat.
Skylar: Wait, so you didn't even want to be?
Mikayla: Well, that was just what was left over, and I think it's a cool option, but, like, you couldn't have done. I'm more naive. M I'm more naive to the fact.
Cameron: Wait, she go.
Skylar: She go. Sorry, you're right.
Mikayla: you know, I'm thinking, oh, I gotta be, like, the cool, you know, sidekick character. I think it's cool. My friends are laughing behind my back.
Cameron: What's your carrot costume? Just a naked.
Skylar: How did you put it together? Tell us what the makeup looks like.
Mikayla: I was gonna say, say I would get, like, a nude colored dress, you know, make it a little more, I don't know, more, preteen y, I guess. Preteen. And then I would probably wear bald cap just to commit in some fake.
Cameron: Just be clear. So you're basically in a potato sack and a swim cap.
Skylar: I was gonna swear.
Mikayla: Butt teeth. Basically.
Skylar: I'd be terrified if you tried to make it sexy and, you know, like.
Mikayla: The hillbilly buck teeth, you know?
Cameron: Yeah.
Cameron: Also, you have fake teeth on, too.
Cameron: Yeah.
Skylar: Oh, are you.
Skylar: Fair?
Mikayla: Rufus doesn't really talk that much, so.
Cameron: He talks like that in the show.
Cameron: So I'm fully expecting your character to just be in the back mumbling different monster facts through buck teeth. You're gonna have to consciously tell us if you're taking them off or something.
Skylar: And put them in your lips so that you have a retainer.
Cameron: Yeah.
Cameron: This is a great start.
Cameron: I'm excited.
Skylar: This is gonna be hilarious.
Cameron: Sorry.
Cameron: Really quick aside, monster Week is not about the person running monster of the week. It's about the characters and what they do. That's the beauty of it. Unlike D and D, where it's so DM centered, this. This game really just exists for the players, and the DM is everything they're not, like, just fills the other void. So, I don't know. The more fun you have with your character, the more fun I get to have with just random stuff that you run into. Oh, yeah. and again. And have to build around. It's very much more of, like, almost an improv comedy game versus, you know, a scheduled written out, you know.
Skylar: Yeah.
Cameron: Game, plan, which is the fun of it, the difference between that and d and d and stuff. So going to our next one. we're going to James. James is a dedicated horror movie buff, whose encyclopedic knowledge of folklore and monster hunting weapons him with useful insights and strategies for overcoming
00:10:00
Cameron: whatever challenges lie ahead. Now, you're gonna notice that's pretty similar to Maya in some ways. you know, maybe, you know, I'll be interested to see what differentiation you guys make from each other, because both of you are supposed to know stuff, but, like, why do you know stuff? What do you know? How do you know what's gonna probably come out pretty interesting?
Skylar: I think, just describing my character is probably gonna point out the major difference between the two of us. so James Rodriguez is a Malgoth, and he tugs like this. And his costume that he's wearing this Halloween is the crow from the movie the crow. And so, yeah, which is funny, because, honestly, his normal attire is obviously the classic black with, like, black eyeliner. Like, everything's black. He dyes his hair black. Sometimes he'll do, like, some. Some highlight bits in there that are, like, red or blue, but it's always kind of that dark, gothy theme. So the crow was kind of a no brainer. He really didn't even have to do, like, that much to his whole look as it is. just put on, like, a lot. An excess of white, like, makeup and stuff and. Yeah, that's, that's what he does. He loves horror. his parents, I like to think his parents don't know how much he watches. Like, when it says. Because you said you have, like, a. There's a home theater, which I think is his dad put in for, like, watching football and stuff. And then whenever his parents aren't home, he's popping a dvd that he got from a friend or some. Or, you know, got from blockbuster or something like that, and watching, some horror movie that he's technically not allowed to be watching. Same with the crow. You should not have watched the crow. That's. That's rated rhino. But he did.
Cameron: I don't. I don't think.
Cameron: This is into the two. This is a childhood you imagine either. So. Childhood, you imagine not the childhood you had.
Cameron: Okay.
Cameron: That works a lot better for us, cuz.
Skylar: Cuz James has a lot of punk songs he's gonna be referencing throughout this. So.
Cameron: So it's. You really heard nineties to 2000. 2000. Okay.
Skylar: Got the rest of the day listening to a nineties 2000 exclusive. Punk pop playlists.
Mikayla: To be honest, most of us remember the two thousands more than we would memorize.
Cameron: Yeah, that's really sad to hear. I remember nothing.
Mikayla: I mean, I was born in 95, so. But, I mean, there wasn't, like, that.
Skylar: Much to experience as an infant during the nineties, but the two thousands, definitely.
Mikayla: Yeah.
Cameron: Some of us were born in 90, so we were very little.
Skylar: You were a lot hunter were you.
Cameron: Even born in the nineties? That was more 98.
Skylar: I am this kid. 90s gibbon riz on the other end of the table here.
Cameron: See?
Mikayla: And Maya's knowledge probably comes more from, like, the fantasy books.
Skylar: See, Maya's the reaper jeans, the watchers.
Cameron: Yeah, mine's the Bible. You guys heard about that Samson guy? Pretty cool fella.
Skylar: What did he do? Did he kill a whole bunch of people?
Cameron: Oh, yeah. This dude sounds good.
Skylar: Metal.
Cameron: Hold the roof down on him.
Skylar: I don't know what that. Is that a metaphor?
Cameron: Literalism. Literal? Really? Yeah. I would not actually was thinking Samson. And then Skyler mentioned bible man. I was like, 100% bible man.
Cameron: Like, Samson brings a different vibe.
Cameron: I was thinking my character was nerdy, and so Samson is just like, it didn't feel right. I was thinking the first thing I thought of when I read this was a night, but I was like, okay, night. Yeah, but so when he said religious, he said bible man. Like, oh, done. That's like a knight. It's literally a night. So I was like, it fit me perfectly.
Skylar: Nate, I will say one thing that I was a little bit concerned about. You mentioned, that we have whatever our costume would realistically suggest. And, the crow carries a. 44 magnum revolver. I wasn't sure where he wanted to rule on that. It's probably a nerf guy.
Cameron: Parents wouldn't leave. Yeah, it's a nerf gun.
Cameron: It's a nerf guy, and he's.
Skylar: He personally spray painted it black.
Cameron: Yeah, but your dad actually got mad about it and made you put the orange tip back onto it. Yeah, exactly.
Skylar: Said you're not taking that to school. Absolutely not.
Cameron: We're not having a repeat.
Cameron: No.
Cameron: We're not having a repeat of 6th grade.
Skylar: No. It's funny you say that, because I did have this whole idea that James is actually pretty new in town. Whether it's an issue involving James himself or just, like, his dad had to move them, or whatever the case. Yeah. James is. James is fairly new in town.
Cameron: Okay. So there was actually some other characters that I. That I made that were built around some other different play sheets. They were a little bit more, like they're doing ones that people made. And I decided not to go with it because I just wanted to keep it really basic. But one of them is the troublemaker. Yeah. So the entire theme of was a prankster that. That just does weird stuff. And it would always kind of like a, like a bag of tricks kind of thing. Like, always has the thing he needs to, like, do something stupid.
Skylar: Yeah.
Cameron: but I didn't. But that character actually fits pretty well with some of that idea of, you know, this guy.
Skylar: This guy.
Cameron: And
00:15:00
Cameron: that brings us to our last character. Probably in some ways our least character. But I assume will be our most fun character. that's a joke about the character. Class of mundane. but this is Ella. So, Ella, introduce yourself.
Cameron: Oh, Ella doesn't get a backstory.
Cameron: Oh.
Cameron: Oh, sorry.
Skylar: I apologize.
Cameron: I was gonna let you do your.
Cameron: That's how mundane she is.
Cameron: Ella sucks.
Cameron: there's these three interesting characters, and then there's Ella.
Mikayla: You gotta have some ballads. Come on.
Cameron: Dear leaders, dear listeners. Please listen to this background. And you tell us in the comments wherever you so choose to comment. Does Ella actually suck? Ella is a self proclaimed skeptic. Who craves a typical Halloween filled with candy and fun. Her grounded nature might provide balance to the chaos. But she also finds herself questioning everything that happens around them.
Cameron: So she's the straight man of the group.
Cameron: Yeah, Ella definitely, just wants things to be normal. Why can't they be normal?
Cameron: Please let this be.
Skylar: Ella Holland is a solid balance to this situation. I'm excited for it. I agree with Nate. Ella does not suck. Ella is perfect for this situation. And Ella is an assessment.
Cameron: And in some ways, Ella's the friend you need. Right? you do like crazy weird stuff. And you're your average twelve year old. And you need a friend to be like, hey, I don't really want to get in trouble.
Skylar: Ella, get. Don't go for me.
Cameron: Spooky Halloween.
Cameron: So, Ella, tell us about yourself. What's your costume and etcetera?
Cameron: Well, I imagine Ella as now that you mentioned her very milquetoast backstory. I, imagine her as like a really kind of whiny sort of kind of like, what's his name? Arnold from magic school bus.
Cameron: That kind of kid.
Cameron: And on that same vein, I thought.
Mikayla: You were gonna say the train guy from Polar Express.
Cameron: Oh, no, no, no. He's nerdy. Arnold's like the whiny nerd.
Cameron: Ah.
Cameron: And in that same vein, she is in a Miss frizzle costume. Complete with Barbell and four olympic weights on each side. Cause Miss Frizzle very famously was benching 405 for reps in the magic school bus.
Cameron: Really?
Cameron: She is canonically yoked. So she's got this big Miss Frizzle wig. I would imagine that she's speaks in guys. I don't know, that kind of this sort of voice. Either that or valley girl. I can only do two, really voices for a girl. For a girl. Like, whatever. Guys like, I don't know.
Cameron: You're just gonna have to pick one lock.
Cameron: I feel like, as a skeptic, she's gonna be the valley girl. The skeptical valley girl.
Cameron: Okay.
Cameron: Do you have a toy lizard?
Skylar: Yes.
Cameron: Okay.
Skylar: Toy lizard.
Cameron: She's like Shelsie from fishhooks. Girl, you just dropped something. My jaw. That is going to be Ella Gray.
Skylar: I love that.
Cameron: All right, so just to get you some intro, because, you know, each of us has a character. Each of us has a costume. I was actually, I'm actually going to ad libbing this. So I'm going to go. If you guys flip over your sheets, you're going to find in there. There's a little section quickly, about history. so I realized here that each of you guys has a pretty cool story. something that you kind of came up with on the fly. One of the great things about monster of the week, but we haven't really established, like, why we're together. You know, I'm starting you together. You're about to start trick or treating. But, in the history section, monster week, there is a short little ability, to go around as a group. Now, on each of your turns. And we'll come back from the top, going from, Alex and I want you to pick one of these. So just really quickly, I'm going to read through them. Just give a quick overview of what these backgrounds can be. But one of them is your close blood relations. Ask them exactly how close. So the way this would work in play would be, Alex would say, all right, I'm cousins with, or I am related to you. And then the person that you, you say that to says, okay, and we're cousins. Like, so it's a two part, you know, a two part way of making a connection with each other. The next one would be, they're destined to be your mentor. Tell them how this was revealed. It seems kind of weird, but, you know, go with it if you need to. your best friend in the world who you trust. Totally. so, you know, you could. You get to say, now, the fun part about that is you get to say, they're your best friend. They don't have to agree. so if you're the one friend that maybe is a little more attached than the others, the next one is arrival at first, but you come to a working arrangement. romantic entanglement, maybe stay away. It's a PG, you know, it's a PG podcast. Just friends from school or work or something. Ask them what you know. How do you know each other? maybe you do karate together. I don't know. They could have been the chosen one instead of you, but they failed some trial. That seems a little heavy. Maybe we're not trying to find Halloween. Jesus. I don't know. I don't know. Bobbleman might be, You saved their life back when they didn't know monsters were real. Or are they? Tell them what you saved them from. So I will start off the top with Alex. Alex,
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Cameron: pick one of these and just establish a background quickly.
Cameron: One of the ones you named or one from my.
Cameron: Just one from your sheet. So I went through. Just real quick, I went through the sheet of the chosen. The chosen is obviously a pretty, you know, heavy one. each character is going to have a slightly different version of that with their own kind of background. I want you to follow what it says on the sheet.
Cameron: You want me to pick one for each member?
Cameron: No, just pick one person. Just, you know, you're gonna be interconnected.
Cameron: They're the person you go to for advice on mortal stuff. and so it gives me some examples of very adult theme stuff. But I'm gonna go with the comic book theme, and I'm gonna go with Skyler's character, James. James. Because, I can't get comic books. But how do I get these comic books? Well, the punk kid who's allowed to watch rated r movies also likes comic books and thinks it's really cool they giving daredevil comics to the christian kid.
Skylar: Let me slide it. Let me slide a couple.
Cameron: Just be clear. I'm pretty sure most semi religious middle schoolers probably have this friend.
Skylar: Yeah.
Cameron: Gives them access to stuff.
Cameron: Yeah, exactly. But on the flip, he also think he sees, James as, like, a little too edgy. And he's like, I need to save him because I'm clearly not a Christian. So, like, he needs me. Yeah, him the way, the truth. But I need him for comic books.
Cameron: He needs Jesus, but I need daredevil.
Cameron: Exactly.
Cameron: All right. I love it. so that takes us to our next character. Maya, pick, one of the ones from your sheet. read it and tell us who it is, how it applies, and as you're doing. Yeah. Make sure to make a little note of who that relationship is with just so you have an idea. Again, this doesn't have to fit everybody. It just has to fit one other person. The. The weird little things that bind you all together.
Skylar: These are pretty interpretive yeah, like, at the end of the day, it's like it can say one thing and you can kind of, like, adjust the interpretation of it.
Cameron: Guys, we're playing pretend on the radio with our. With.
Skylar: Yeah, exactly.
Cameron: Friends to acquaintances. It's okay. We can make other stuff.
Cameron: Yes.
Cameron: And we can make more stuff up.
Mikayla: I'm gonna say that I'm gonna go with the old friends who originally met through a long chain of coincidences.
Cameron: Okay.
Mikayla: I'm gonna say that with, Ella. Because I feel like our chain of coincidences were, you know, like my friends at school. There was no room at the table, so me and Ella sat next to each other. Cause Ella's kind of boring and people. You know what I mean?
Skylar: You're telling me.
Mikayla: We were kind of like the outcast together, you know?
Skylar: Okay.
Mikayla: Just different coincidences led us together of, you know, my friends were like, oh, sorry we didn't have room at the table for you today. Or, I don't know, meet up with. I don't think the library would work. Maybe it would, but I don't know. Just things like that.
Cameron: So who's actually the cooler? Like, who do you think is the cooler one between the two of you?
Skylar: Me, no question.
Cameron: Ella. Who does Ella think is the cooler between the two of you? Ella's the cooler one. She's so cool.
Cameron: someone else came to sit with her.
Mikayla: There you go.
Cameron: She didn't have to go chase him. And then we talked about, like, model trains and, you know, the perfect temperature to cook toast at. You know, everything is exciting as toast. And she kept coming back.
Mikayla: Yeah.
Cameron: Yeah, exactly.
Mikayla: I just like it.
Skylar: Yeah. Toast.
Cameron: Yeah.
Cameron: Oh, yeah. Butter. Oh, yeah.
Cameron: You know, like, butter fry is different on bread than, like, mayonnaise.
Skylar: Olive oil.
Cameron: Wow.
Cameron: Yeah, a lot, of interesting stuff.
Cameron: Okay. I'm really loving that little that you can do after everything. You should probably just keep.
Cameron: It's like you're unsure about what you just said. Like, if that's a conscious decision of.
Cameron: A character, I think you need to amp that up even more. I love it. so in interest, we'll keep moving. James, tell us about your random connection.
Skylar: All right, so I got mine picked out, but one at a time. One at a time. they once helped you get a singular item that is now part of your haven. Tell them what it is. So, first of all, I'm gonna pick Maya as the other kind of quirky, weird person. it was a my chemical romance cd that I couldn't get. Cause my parents were keeping a pretty close eye on me. But it had just come out, and it was a really big deal. Like, I'm not gonna not listen to the black parade for hours on end over and over and over again. Like every other mall goth that I'm hanging out with, which isn't any. I don't think there's any malgos in this group. But I go to the mall and I pretend that I'm hanging out with other malga. Set the hot topic there.
Skylar: I don't know.
Skylar: I probably just talk to the employees anyways, so. Yeah, so Maya made sure that I got ahold of that. My chemical romance cd. And so I really appreciate her for that. And, yeah, and I think on occasion we maybe bond a little bit over some pop punk
00:25:00
Skylar: music.
Mikayla: Yeah.
Cameron: And that brings us to, again, not least, but last, Ella, what's your connection to somebody else other than the pre existing lunch connection?
Cameron: Other than good friends with, Maya?
Cameron: Good, good friends. We're great friends.
Skylar: She's concerned.
Cameron: We're best friends.
Cameron: I don't grabbling and just.
Cameron: Yeah, I don't think that any of those would really actually work. So I would like to think that myself and Alex over here. Okay, we're just like. I think we're blood related. I'm just his super boring cousin that he has to be around. Otherwise, like, his mom is gonna just chew him out. It's like, if you're gonna go trick or treating, you better take Ella with you.
Mikayla: She doesn't have many friends.
Cameron: She doesn't have many friends. Just be nice. Just let her come with you. You'll survive. It's one night.
Cameron: That kind of deal.
Skylar: I love the idea that Alex sees her as, It's just like that girl from, arrested development. Which just completely forgets about, Ella's existence constantly.
Cameron: Oh, so I'm George Michael. You're George forgetting about his girlfriend, what's her name? I keep digging.
Cameron: Mayo egg.
Skylar: Like Elizabeth or something. I don't know. That's the funny thing about it. He's just like, who? And she's like, ella.
Cameron: Where's Ella? Oh. Which is funny because, I was thinking for Halloween as well, for the. What got me on the script is I really wanted to go to hollow trick or treating. But, like, this is the early two thousands. So this is when trick or treating with christians is, like, still, like, kind of iffy. Kind of iffy and stuff. But, like, my like, I think of him as my best friend. James really is. Like, he keeps every year tells me about trick or treat all the candy and stuff. And, like, the idea of dressing up as a superhero is, like, that's, like, the dream for Alex. And so come Halloween time, he's begging his parents. Begging his parents, please let me go trick training. Please let me go trick or treating. And they're like, fine, but only if you can represent God in some way. Be the light. And I'm like, I'll be Bible man. So I'm a win win. I'm a beacon in the darkness, so, no, whatever. And then they're like, and then bring Ella too. And I'm like, okay, fine. I got two stipulations.
Mikayla: I'm fine.
Cameron: I'll take both of them. So that's how I got in with James on Halloween. I had to take Ella. but I get to be Bible man. And then, I don't know how we insert.
Cameron: So is Maya just hanging out with Ella? So you just come along?
Mikayla: Yeah, basically.
Skylar: Yeah.
Cameron: Yeah.
Skylar: I was gonna say, either you're hanging out with Ella or else. Yeah. Might have had a connection or something. Just because, like I said, I feel like, to some extent, we're friends after the. My chemical romance CD situation. So.
Cameron: So really cool thing with this. And something that comes out of monster of the week when you do this is, without having to force it, everyone kind of builds these bonds. So you look at this, four people. Everyone has two bonds to another character. That just kind of happened organically. Right. There's a reason why these kids are together, and it's not forced, but it's not, you know, it's just.
Cameron: It might be forced for tool.
Cameron: Yeah, it's forced. It's narrative. It might be forced, you know, by character decision, but it's not narratively forced. Right. This is a completely normal group of pre teens that would be forced to go spend a few hours together on Halloween. so, you know, not to, you know, push it too hard. But that's one of the fun things with this game, right? Like, it sets itself up to breathe a little bit. so with all that being said, we've introduced our characters. You know, we know how they've been, you know, interconnected with each other. We kind of have an idea where their costumes are. Again, not getting too heavy with the crunchy stuff or, you know, any of the other stuff you can get into if you want to. But we are. And I'm going to read kind of the setting, introduction this.
Skylar: Oh, yeah.
Cameron: So, this is, you know, act one. You know, this whole one shot is called trick ah. Or treat fearfully. So the setting is, you know, you're a regular suburban town during Halloween night. you know, shadows loom larger than life, and every corner beckons with the promise of adventure. So as the sun dips below the horizon, the scent of fallen leaves mixes with the crisp, chill air of October that dances playfully along the streets of, the vibrant hues of Jack o lanterns flickering to life, painting the darkening world in glowing shades of orange and yellow. You and your friends glad in ghostly costumes, excitement bubbling within you, set out for your night of trick or treating. This year, however, feels peculiar. Is it that you are each a year older? finding yourself closer to being too cool for trick or treating? Is it the extra tales whispered among children and adults about a local legend of a haunted house? Is it the local troublemaker, the, local busybody, Miss Douglas, who is a not quite octogenarian, but you have no idea how old. She's just old that tells everyone that, you know, oh,
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Cameron: trick or treating is getting more dangerous. Every time you hear about it. She has a different story about something bad that happened to somebody and to her, you know, every time she talks to your parents, it seems like she's saying, well, maybe we should just tone it down this year.
Skylar: Thank you all for joining us for another episode of our 2024 Halloween season one shot continuing our annual tradition of our hunter's Haven Monster of the week series, we hope you're enjoying it. If you are, we encourage you to check out some of our other series, such as our avatar Legends long term campaign benders and bruise, which is set in the world of the Last Airbender, or our dungeons and dragons long term series criminals of Isla numis. If youre looking for more spooky Halloween fun, you can check out last years Hunter Haven series Music Mayhem, which was written and run by Cameron, whos playing our character Alex in this series. Whatever you listen to next, be sure to follow or subscribe to the Session Zero Heroes podcast on your preferred streaming platform. You can find us everywhere from Apple Podcasts to Spotify to YouTube. Following the show ensures you don't miss out on any of our other upcoming series and one shots. And if you're on a platform that allows you to comment, like or rate the show, it would mean a lot to us if you take the time to leave us that feedback as it helps us grow and produce better content. Another way to keep up with what we're doing is to follow us on social media, whether that be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or discord or all of the above. Its a great way to keep up on our upcoming episodes, as well as other fun news and content from us. We appreciate you taking a listen. Dont forget this series will be releasing a new episode weekly until the last one which will air on Halloween. So be sure to swing back to get the exciting conclusion to this Hunters haven series. See you next time.
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