Session Zero Heroes - A TTRPG Actual Play Podcast
Skylar: M last time on hunter's haven. Trick or treat, fight or flee.
Cameron: Is it the extra tales whispered among children and adults about a local legend of a haunted house? Is it the local troublemaker, Miss Douglas, that tells everyone that trick or treating is getting more dangerous? There are four houses, and then at the end of the street, you're going to see a weathered looking house.
Cameron: I'm going to walk up to this place and knock on the door.
Cameron: Tricker three, he's going to hold out the bucket. There's a limited amount of candy in there. And then at the bottom of it, you're going to see what looks like an old fishing net. Oh, score.
Cameron: Where are those originals?
Mikayla: I'm 100% taking it.
Skylar: I push open the fence, and I stride confidently up.
Skylar: do they by chance have a bucket of candy sitting out?
Cameron: They actually do. Have you ever seen those clear plastic travel bags? Actually just a collection of self care things. In each one, there's a little plastic toothbrush, travel toothpaste, little pack of sunscreen. And you have a disposable camera.
Cameron: Ella would be for sure the only reason she would go up to a house by herself is that she was forgotten by the rest of the group. Trick or treat.
Cameron: He just hands you the half box of popsicles you hear from the window, go away.
Skylar: And I knock on the door, and.
Skylar: Then I hide on the side.
Cameron: So the guy's just immediately weirded out. Todd, just call the police.
Cameron: Todd.
Cameron: I don't know what's going on.
Skylar: Oh, crap. The fan. We gotta get out of here. He's calling the police.
Cameron: It starts to get chilly, starts to get windier. And a gust of wind howls through the branches of the trees, carrying with it a faint sound of what appears to be frying. Just draws your attention to the last house in this cul de sac. You catch sight of a weathered, obviously old for sale sign swaying at the front of it. And this house linked to many urban legends, going as far back as to the infamous anti Halloween crusader that has been telling everyone to get rid of it.
Skylar: We gotta hide.
Skylar: I'm gonna just straight up because I'm confident that, you know, there's no person's gonna be here. I'm just gonna grab the knob.
Cameron: So I'm gonna have you roll. let's just roll.
Cameron: Roll. Cool.
Cameron: We're gonna show off. Hey, let's see how you do moderately.
Skylar: Good at cool seven.
Cameron: so seven. Is that seven with your modifier? Yes. Yeah. Okay. So it doesn't happen as dramatically as you want. It. Sure, yeah. You know, there's, We're not. We're not holding one, but you're not getting your full intent. It's the door opens, but it's almost like you grab, you open the door and you're gonna drag through this dramatic thing and it just kind of flops over. Door just kind of falls.
Cameron: Falls in.
Skylar: I like to think that it scares him a little bit. It spooks it, just like he wasn't expecting it to, like, just fall open.
Skylar: all right. That was easier than I thought. See, the problem is when they're locked, that's where it gets annoying.
Cameron: Are these themed Halloween houses typically locked?
Skylar: they shouldn't be, but, you know, everyone's.
Cameron: Do they typically do that? That's pretty cool.
Skylar: Oh, that was clever. Yeah, that was a little bit different.
Cameron: Was that animatronics or.
Skylar: I'm not sure. Let's go in and see.
Cameron: Okay, so if you want to investigate the door, you're welcome to investigate. Oh, I'm, sure.
Cameron: Why not? Let's do a.
Cameron: So you're gonna roll plus sharp, and you're gonna investigate a mystery.
Cameron: Seven.
Cameron: So a seven. really get it rolled. And just to be clear on traditional monster of the week, you would be probably dig into this and you'd get to pick certain things. I'm kind of, for the interest of time, just gonna tell you. Yeah.
Cameron: Ah, I just asked.
Cameron: Yeah, it's a door.
Cameron: Normal door.
Cameron: Okay. Yeah, there's. You could. If you had done a little better, you probably could have noticed some other stuff, like some more details about, you know, the door itself. Yeah, but, like, it's a door. It fell open. Like, you know, can I look it.
Cameron: Into why it fell open so specifically?
Cameron: Then you're trying to do what kind.
Cameron: Of investigate the cause of the door falling open? Because that seems like something.
Cameron: So you're trying to read a bad situation if you look at questions. So you're trying to be like, wait a second, this seems sketchy.
Cameron: Yeah.
Cameron: Why is it so sketchy?
Cameron: Oh, that nervous Nelly.
Cameron: The nervous Nelly who's a skeptic of ghosts.
Cameron: Yep. Okay, let's do it. Woo.
Cameron: that's a five.
Cameron: That's a five xp in a one shot. Then this is. You've failed. Like, this is definitely a, You're gonna. It's a door. Not only
00:05:00
Cameron: is it a door, but, like, getting close to it. You actually, like, get some dust. Like it, like, poof. Some dust on you, and you actually get dust in your eyes. Like, definitely, if you have some asthma. You're uncomfortable right now.
Cameron: Oh, Ella. Warren Warner brother. Next time.
Cameron: So are there any other door adjacent, you know, investigations we want to do?
Skylar: Oh, no, I'm just walking in.
Cameron: I'm following, like, wow, they really outdid themselves on this place. Look at these authentic coblips.
Cameron: so you're now inside of it. And the two of you that have not yet rolled, right? Because both of you guys, it was a failure and kind of a mixed success. Just you two, I would like you to investigate a mystery that's gonna be rolling plus sharp. Unless you have another character specific. like, I'm good at sharp, so.
Skylar: I'm all for it.
Cameron: So if there's a specific movie you wanna do instead, you can do that as well. That'd be a plus sharp. I got 1111, and you've got a seven. Seven. So you, We'll do this one first, and then we'll come to you. Cause you're gonna really be the. So you walk into this house and you are going to see, just a dilapidated old. What would probably be considered now a living room, a parlor, a sitting room, something like that. Right. It just. It's dusty. And what you see with your mixed success, is going to be, You see some, You see some footprints through the dust. And these are normal footprints. I'm going to emphasize this more. You see some normal footprints going from a door, further going up the stairs. So it's coming from a room that's further into the house than you are walking around and up a staircase.
Skylar: Got it.
Cameron: And these are. These are steps in the dust.
Skylar: Yeah.
Cameron: Yeah.
Cameron: So you can track that. So I want you to remember that. And you can decide what to do with that here in a second. That's one kind of a piece of success. Perfect. You can't tell anything else from them other than human feet through the dust. So, Maya, you see a book. Now, you. I'm assuming you kind of walked in a little bit in your investigations. And you kind of split up a little bit. Maya, in this book, it's almost. It looks like almost like a scrapbook. So in this scrapbook, as you go through it, as I'm assuming you're doing. Because, again, this is kind of your thing, right? You've leaned into your finding of things. You're gonna find, like clippings from the newspaper of scary things that have been happening in the community. And, all of them are centered around this house, the McGovern house. And inside of that, you find some information, you know, about who Mister McGovern was. McGovern house. You find that he owned the house. He was a famous, I guess, philanthropist in the community. Well, known for loving the holidays and loving, you know, doing nice things for the children around the community. until, as in the last article, the very first article says, you know, he dies in relatively. It's, you know, they, you know, newspapers, old time newspapers, they don't tell you what happened. They just. In, tragic circumstances. And then from there, you start to see these vaguely ominous things happening, always centered around this house. So you could probably infer that whatever this is, whatever's haunting this house is related to old Mister McGovern from, you know, call it 50 years ago.
Cameron: Like before your parents would have been born. That's your reference point? Like before your parents.
Skylar: Okay, guys.
Cameron: And you tell everybody about this and show them.
Mikayla: yeah, and I'm gonna keep it in my candy bag.
Skylar: Nice. Guys, do you see those footprints over there? Oh, they're in the dust. That means they had to have been recent.
Cameron: Yeah. Whoa. I mean, if this is a haunted house that all kids on Halloween go through, it's probably just previous attendance.
Skylar: Do I notice how big these feet are? Like, based on the shoe size, but.
Cameron: Not with what you roll?
Skylar: well, if anything, I compare my shoe size to this shoe.
Cameron: You actually muss it up bad enough you can't tell anymore.
Skylar: Dang it.
Cameron: But you, by you putting your foot in it, you've actually messed it up. Like you actually scuffed more dust into it. So how would you. How would you know the difference?
Skylar: Dang it. Oh, gosh. sorry. sorry.
Skylar: Anyway, they were going up the stairs. Oh, from that room right there.
Cameron: That must be the next location we go. Maybe that's where the,
Cameron: So, well, that's the question, though.
Cameron: Candy might be.
Cameron: Do you go to the room where the. Where the feet came from, or do you go up the stairs?
Skylar: I think we should go to the room the feet came from. Cause maybe it's like the pantry. Maybe the candy's in there. That's assuming there's candy in there. I mean, we're just hiding from the cops. That's the important thing.
Cameron: What? I thought we came into here because of the Halloween tweet.
Skylar: What? No, the guy was threatening to call the cops on us.
Cameron: But, you said that these houses aren't the end of every cul de sac and that it's a Halloween tradition.
Skylar: I mean, yeah, it is, but I'm just saying, like, we didn't have to come in here. We came in here because he was gonna call the cops.
Cameron: Wait, but you didn't want to come in here?
Skylar: Well, I didn't say I didn't want to come in here. I figured we'd end up in here at some point. Yeah, because the second I saw this house, I said we should go in there. Yeah, but I was gonna save it until after we had candy, and then you guys, you know, had your.
Cameron: As the grand finale for me and Ella's first Halloween.
Skylar: Exactly.
Cameron: As you're talking about this and arguing, a sharp breeze blows in through and opens the door to whatever this room is further into the house and slams a shinier. It's kind of that wind effect of slams, slam.
Cameron: Once again, these modern day animatronics, doing wonders.
Skylar: Yeah.
Mikayla: Where the footprints came from.
Cameron: Yes. From where the footprint, because the footprints are coming from inside the house, and then they go up the stairs.
Skylar: I like to think that there's, like, a slight fear growing inside of James.
Cameron: I am not scared.
Skylar: What's right, and that's the beauty of it, is that you've reassured yourself that this is just all, like, a bit reassured.
Cameron: You never even considered that this place. He's like, oh, the stuff he's heard about this place was just the Halloween lore.
Skylar: Right, right.
Cameron: Comes with this. For every Halloween, the child raised on.
Cameron: Predestination believes that he's fine.
Cameron: So it's like he's heard of haunted houses, right? Yeah. And he's heard a haunted houses are, like, fake things that people go to. To.
Cameron: Yeah.
Cameron: Scared. And so when you said it's a typical thing on ends of cul de stocks, he's like, oh, so it's just your typical haunted house. That's pretty cool. I'm gonna go check this place out. So, zero. He is not even scared at all.
Cameron: He's like, hey, guys, how about we go down there? I mean, it looks like it's just the pathway that. The route we're supposed to take to explore this, haunted house.
Skylar: Okay.
Skylar: And he lets you lead the way.
Cameron: Oh. Because he.
Skylar: James is just seeing way too many similarities to the horror movies he's watched. And now he's starting to get kind of what?
Cameron: I'm more than finding the lead away because I have a light.
Cameron: And he clicks a button, and his. His lightsaber starts glowing in front of him, and he starts waving it in front of.
Cameron: Actually called a lightsaber.
Cameron: No, it's called the.
Cameron: He says, I have my sword in the spirit.
Cameron: And he clicks the button and lights up. and he holds up his shield as well in front of him. And he's, like, standing and leading the way very dramatically.
Cameron: And he's like, right this way, my compatriots.
Skylar: Yeah, James definitely falls in behind him.
Cameron: Ella.
Skylar: Maybe even a little close, like, just cause he's starting to get kinda nervous.
Cameron: And right before he goes into the room, he turns around and he goes.
Cameron: Ella, stay close to me. I can't afford to lose you. Like last time. That zoo trip did not end well for me because you kept wandering off.
Cameron: I didn't wander off. You just forgot me. I went to the bathroom, and then everyone was gone.
Cameron: That's what you keep saying, but we.
Cameron: All know you wandered off.
Cameron: Anyways. Stay close to me. Follow my light.
Cameron: And he just leads the way into the room with his sword and shield in front of him.
Skylar: All the while, James is humming to himself, and occasionally you'll hear some lyrics.
Cameron: I'm not.
Cameron: Okay.
Cameron: So you're actually getting real scared.
Skylar: Yeah, he's getting pretty creeped out.
Cameron: How does Ella and Maya, feel about all this?
Cameron: well, Ella's just like, you know, the door. Door probably opened, a window probably cracked. I mean, it's just the dust that's kicking up is honestly the biggest of her concerns.
Cameron: She's got allergies.
Cameron: M so as you walk into this door, something weird's gonna happen. So as you cross over the threshold, because you're leading the way with your, you know, sort of, sort of God.
Cameron: Sort of the spirit, sort of the spirit and the shield of faith.
Cameron: Something flies at you out of the, out of the. And you hear that shrieking noise you heard, but it's a lot louder this time.
Skylar: Oh, gosh.
Cameron: And you see this just glowing, ghostly things flying at you.
Cameron: Two ones.
Cameron: Oh, no. I didn't even, I don't even know.
Cameron: What I'm rolling, but I failed.
Cameron: So I was actually gonna give you one of your, I was gonna ask you to roll. Cast out evil, because, you know, you have your sort of, sort of the spirit. so I was gonna allow you to potentially, you know, banish this unnatural creature from your presence. You know, by swinging a plastic lightsaber at it. You whiff, you have rolled the worst possible role.
Cameron: Be gone, Falvista.
Cameron: You made me start to yell that. It hits you. It hits you square in the face, and you're doing one of those.
Cameron: I feel like it hits me in the face of my helmet, pops off.
Cameron: And I go, oh, no, my helmet.
Cameron: Salvation I start just chasing it further.
Cameron: Into this room a little bit because it comes from the side and it hits you almost like, you know, and then it grabs you and it drags you a little bit. You actually get caught.
Cameron: Oh, no.
Cameron: And then shoot. So you're gonna take
00:15:00
Cameron: some harm. Oh, you're gonna take, jeez, one harm to gain an experience, but you gain a point of experience if this was a longer campaign. So it's gonna drag you a solid 3ft. You're gonna have some rash, you know, road rash on.
Cameron: Oh, my.
Cameron: Also, I get dragged on the ground.
Cameron: Yeah, like you're getting dragged.
Cameron: Like a trail of tracks. Bible tracks being lefty.
Cameron: Bible tracks flying everywhere. So just to paint the picture, you know, the picture of our minds, you walk in, everyone's behind you. You turn the doorway, start to say bagai. And then you get smoked by a screaming ghost looking thing that then just.
Cameron: Takes you with you.
Cameron: And there's tracks flying.
Cameron: There's tracks everywhere. Your lightsabers somewhere. You're clattered to a corner. It's still glowing somewhere. So all you. You don't really see what happens. None of you do because you. You see a slightly glowing something, grab him, hit him, drag him 6ft. You hear thunk, thong, thunk. And then it spins away. You are left, sitting there with your epic failure. What. What happens next?
Cameron: Talk about immersive.
Cameron: You have a bloody elbow. What was that? What? What was that?
Skylar: What was that?
Cameron: Had to be some sort of animatronic ghost or something. I think I got in the path of its, Ah, it's, animatronic ah line that. That was on me. Had to do this thing.
Cameron: I gotta ask as the keeper. just. That's the term for the leader of this is keeper. Do you think this is real or do you just think this is all,
Cameron: I don't.
Cameron: Alex does not believe in ghosts.
Cameron: Okay?
Cameron: So he is chalking everything up to just animatronics. So he thinks he just got in the way of an animatronic that moves through this room.
Cameron: Okay, so the true believer believes it's fake. The skeptic. Absolutely.
Skylar: I'm not the skeptic.
Cameron: You're the skeptic.
Cameron: So I would have probably think the same way. I. I think it's. There's got to be some sort of explanation. It's got to be like an animatronic or it's got to be.
Cameron: He just fell or for 6ft, I.
Cameron: Am a bit of a clutch.
Skylar: Best I'm the desensitized. But I'm also, like, the most knowledgeable, and therefore, I would assume the most influenced by something like this. I've seen so much stuff that. Yeah, like, in my mind. And also the goth thing, I think, registers as, this stuff is legit. I just have to find a way to tap in. And now I'm tapping into it, but it's against my control, and I'm freaking out.
Skylar: Okay.
Cameron: How are you feeling about it?
Mikayla: I'm very curious. So, I read a lot of, like, the r l stine books. I don't know if anybody knows what that is, but goosebumps, basically. Yeah. but they have a lot of murder mystery, whatever, teenage stuff. and so I am just very curious about the whole situation.
Skylar: Because you're Nancy drewing this, basically.
Mikayla: Basically.
Cameron: So you're coming alive. This is the best of you.
Cameron: Yes.
Mikayla: This is like, I'm getting excited. I'm kind of curious. Like, obviously, there's a part of me that's a little bit fearful because you're.
Cameron: In a haunted house.
Mikayla: I don't know.
Cameron: Yeah.
Mikayla: And I don't know exactly what's going on, but, like, that's part of the thrill, is to figure out what is going on.
Mikayla: Is it a monster? Is it fake? Is it like, what is it?
Cameron: That's funny how the one who is most interested in exploring this place is immediately like, I want to. Everyone else is like, this place is cool. Let's go.
Cameron: I want to find out more. Is there anything more childhood than being confronted by the things you want most?
Skylar: Exactly. And then being unable to handle it.
Mikayla: He came unprepared.
Cameron: I just gather my things. Does anyone see my, helmet of salvation?
Skylar: Where's your sword of the spirit?
Cameron: It's over there in the corner, glowing.
Skylar: I run over there and grab it, and I'm just, like, holding it in front of me.
Cameron: Excuse me, sir, but that's part of my accost.
Skylar: Just stay close.
Cameron: I was planning on it. I typically thought you go through haunted houses as a group.
Skylar: Yeah, yeah, I think that's a good idea.
Cameron: So, James, with being quote unquote the expert, what are your moves that are march for you?
Skylar: I have. So I have two things. First of all, there's the moves, and then there's my haven. And my haven kind of offers me some things, but I'll go through the moves. So my moves are often right. So when a hunter comes to me for advice, about a problem, I can give them my honest opinion, and then they get a plus one ongoing if they follow that advice. I have precise strike. So when I inflict harm on a monster, I can aim for a weak point. Because, you know, I've watched a lot of horror movies, so I know that zombies got to get shot in the head. I roll tough. And then there, like. So basically, I would do more damage, potentially, to the monster.
Cameron: Let's m add ah, that to dark past because I think I. Narratively your character is all about the things that he. That he understands, right? That he's seen and, like, his whole worldview. Is that right?
Skylar: Right.
Cameron: So I want you to
00:20:00
Cameron: roll plus weird.
Skylar: Okay.
Cameron: And I want you on a ten. Plus. You get to ask me two questions from the list below. And we'll go over that in a second. Seven to nine, you add one on a miss. You can ask it anyways, but that means you're complicit. It's your fault that you're there. You're now dealing with. So as you're kind of going around and doing this, I want you to. Yeah, roll and tell me what you got.
Skylar: I actually just rolled a ten.
Cameron: Pretty even.
Skylar: so I guess my first question, probably would immediately be, what black magic. Do I know that could help here?
Cameron: So you have watched a bunch of these movies. Yes, now and again. This is not narratively like the answer because we're not trying to do a monster mystery. We're just trying to do this. Kids getting scared. So your only frame of reference is, probably your generic, like, like horror movie. Like generic, like slasher movie. Like kids break into a house.
Skylar: Yep.
Cameron: so the number one thing, and you asked. Can you ask that question again? Yeah.
Skylar: So what black magic do I know that might help here?
Cameron: What you know is that you're immediately supposed to split up.
Skylar: Oh, yeah, that's kind of the rule.
Cameron: Yeah.
Skylar: The rule that I'm the guy that doesn't get killed?
Cameron: Yes.
Skylar: The one that's left.
Cameron: Exactly. So. And then you still have one other one.
Skylar: Yeah. what? Who do I know that could help us right now?
Cameron: well, you know that in most of these movies, they're too late, but usually the police break in.
Cameron: Oh, yeah.
Cameron: Save somebody, guys.
Skylar: I mean, if we think about it, the police are technically on their way.
Skylar: In the meantime, we gotta stay alive.
Cameron: Can we gotta stay alive or I.
Cameron: Have to stay alive?
Cameron: No, no.
Skylar: I say we have to stay alive. And I say, sorry, and I run off.
Cameron: Can I grab him?
Mikayla: Idiot. I mean, idiot. The first rule is to never split.
Cameron: Just to be clear, he still has the light source.
Skylar: No, no.
Cameron: Did you take my light source? did you ever give it back? You went and got it.
Skylar: I didn't. You said give it back and I just said let's stay close.
Cameron: That's true.
Cameron: So like, if he has to run.
Cameron: Off, can I try and grab him? Because I was seeing, he was starting to freak out and it narratively works with one of my abilities.
Cameron: Well, okay, well, first I need to catch him.
Cameron: So do you want me to roll? Catch him?
Cameron: so what is he, first off, what's he.
Cameron: My ability is called soothe, which is ability that lets me calm someone if they look like they're starting to freak out.
Cameron: So I'm gonna let's.
Cameron: What's happening?
Cameron: I'm gonna let you roll for that. And depending on like, just grab them and like slap him across the face, he's part of that. So you have to be able to get there before it's ah, twelve. Yeah, you stop. It.
Cameron: Says this works even if the thing that's currently present is freaking them out. As long as that my voice can be heard, they'll be sued. Okay, so I grab his arm as he's starting to run away and go.
Cameron: James, James, calm down, calm down. We're perfectly safe, okay? As long as we stick together, nothing can hurt us. Plus, like he said, the police are on their way. Wait, but why would we even have to worry? Okay, this place is a typical place that, people have gone through. And what's the worst thing that can be here? That probably was just them. If it.
Cameron: If I'm here, the screen as you say that you're.
Cameron: I hear that and I go, hey, calm down.
Cameron: Okay? If it's not animatronics, you know what? That probably was a bat. Bats are typical in these haunted houses. Right?
Skylar: Right.
Cameron: Okay, okay. Nothing wrong with a bat. Also, I know my, my bats. No, bats are dangerous, okay? Some might cate dangerous diseases, but I mean, I'm finding nothing that modern medicine can't take.
Skylar: Im fine.
Skylar: If I become a vampire, that's fine. I just don't want to get grabbed by a different kind of undead.
Cameron: Different kind of undead? Well, the only undead here is you killing the spirit of this room. Okay, so.
Cameron: Just.
Cameron: So how about we, you give me back my sword of the spirit of.
Cameron: And put, I put back on my helmet and I said, how.
Cameron: About you give me back my sword of spirit and we make our way upstairs and that's probably where the candy is. Okay?
Skylar: Okay.
Cameron: Okay.
Cameron: Okay.
Skylar: What, what?
Mikayla: can I use my move connected odds?
Cameron: Absolutely.
Mikayla: So, based on.
Cameron: So read. Tell us what that is. And.
Mikayla: Okay, so I'm listening. At the beginning of each mystery, if you look for the wider patterns that current events might be a part of, roll sharp on a ten plus hold three. On a seven and nine, hold one. Spend your hold during the mystery to ask the keeper any of the following questions. So, basically, with the door and the footprints and whatever, the glowing orb.
Cameron: So you have to.
Mikayla: That's what I want to connect the dots.
Cameron: You have to roll to tell me how many of these you get to ask. Right, so you need to roll two, d, six plus, what was it? Sharp. you need to roll plus sharp right now.
Mikayla: Ten.
Cameron: So you have. So you get to hold three questions, just for. So you at any time, get asked me any of these questions and all, you know, so you get three, three times. So mark that up, make a little tally somewhere on your sheet next to it, and just mark off one, two, three, and then circle or something every time you do it. So if you would like to ask me a question, any of these questions now, feel free. And if you want to, honestly, this is. Yes. And podcast. Like, if you want to tweak one of these a little bit, you would kind of start asking about connecting the dots between a couple different things. Ask away.
Mikayla: I think I'm gonna wait.
Cameron: Okay. so, because you ruled, I'm just gonna give you a recap. So you went to Gary House. You found. You have the scrapbook that has the information necessary, that talks to you about these events happening, and, you know, who owned the house. you know that he died in a mysterious circumstances. So going forward, I would assume you're gonna continue to look for other pieces of evidence throughout this house. and when you find a piece of evidence, that would be where it would be appropriate to ask any of these three questions, any of these questions, any of the three that you get to kind of narratively do it.
Skylar: Nice.
Cameron: So we are. You have one place you can go, left. this is kind of a, you know, front parlor through. Into the kitchen, through the dining room, into the kitchen kind of thing. You have kind of narratively gotten through anything you. Anything you can get to in this house. Maybe try an extra door. One of them is blocked up at the back. You know, there's another door, can't budge, you know, so really, narratively, the only way you can really go is going to be up, the stairs. Yep.
Cameron: All right, guys, well, as long as we stick together, we'll be safe. Okay?
Cameron: So don't worry about it.
Skylar: Just.
Cameron: Long as we stick. Where's Ella?
Cameron: You just turn around.
Cameron: She's been behind you this entire.
Cameron: I was, like, segueing for you to be gone.
Cameron: All right, so you, are heading upstairs. You, have, you know, led by your fearless protector, Bible man. Bible man? Is this. I gotta ask. I've been wondering this since the beginning. Is this, like, a legit Bible man costume, or is this, like, a knockoff your mom made?
Cameron: No, it's legit.
Cameron: So they actually went to the christian bookstore and bought. That's right, they did.
Skylar: And they also have one rack, and it's called the fall festive section. And it's just Bible man costumes? no, in biblical based costumes. Like, there's a Jesus costume.
Cameron: I could've been Moses.
Cameron: Okay. I feel like that you would. You would. It'd be risque in the community. I don't think you would think so.
Skylar: But it's not like they still would have back then.
Cameron: Yeah.
Skylar: Or maybe they set them aside for Moses when Christmas comes around.
Cameron: Yes.
Skylar: Or Easter.
Cameron: Yes. You would dress up as Jesus for, like, nativity scenes.
Cameron: They only, like. That's a historical recreation costume. Yeah. Ah.
Skylar: They only have Jesus adult costumes because that. That's all they would trust to represent Christ.
Cameron: They would not have kids. Kids dress up as Moses or David or, like, shepherds. Yeah.
Skylar: Or shepherds, the wise men.
Cameron: That's the baby. Yeah. so as you walk in, led by. I'm assuming led by Bible man. what order are you going up the stairs after Bible man?
Skylar: I'm following close behind Bible man. I am hiding behind his shield of faith.
Cameron: I'm just, like. I'm picking up the caboose.
Cameron: Just.
Cameron: No one remembers, Ella.
Cameron: Oh, Ella's gonna be abandoned in this place.
Cameron: Well, we're gonna. Ella's gonna have make a mark here. how's the sugar high doing? Is the sugar high still going strong?
Cameron: Oh, she's. She's doing good. She's. She's chilling.
Cameron: This is a kid that knows how to, like, ride the wave. Yeah.
Cameron: She is armed with her Miss frizzle. What is Miss Frizzle?
Cameron: Carry a lizard.
Cameron: She has a lizard, and she just has, like, dresses that pertain to whatever lesson she's teaching. She doesn't have, like, a bag or anything?
Cameron: No, I don't think so.
Cameron: But she's armed with the barbell and 405 actual pounds of olympic weights.
Skylar: She's got to have the bus keys.
Cameron: Oh, yeah.
Skylar: She's got to have that be the only other thing I can think of.
Cameron: So you get to the top of this landing and you're gonna find it going in a couple directions. You know, you've been in an older house. You know, you have the living area down below, and then you have the bedrooms upstairs. So you really have some choices where to go. These footprints end kind of ambiguously, right? they're kind of maybe sort of pointing towards one, but it's almost like a broom or some wind swept them away. So you don't really know which door you're supposed to go in. You have three options. and I'm going to let you guys decide what you do for from here.
Skylar: Okay?
Cameron: I don't wanna. You're upstairs. depending on where you go, and what you find will be there in front of you.
Cameron: Can I do an investigate a situation to see what might be the best option?
Cameron: Sure. so you're gonna try to investigate a mystery. My question to you. Do you have any moves that you would like to do? Cause I'm just looking at your sheet right now.
Cameron: I've
00:30:00
Cameron: come to find out that two of them are kind of useless. Cause they only pertain to ad experience. So I just have trust me and panic button. Because these are the only ones that, like, whenever monster captures you had experience or whenever you go off by yourself. Mark an experience.
Cameron: Okay, let's pick one of those to get.
Skylar: Yeah.
Cameron: Do you have. Don't worry. Do you have the bottom?
Cameron: Yeah.
Cameron: So that one will then mark experience. I. When I picked that for you, I thought that was, a little bit different. Get, rid of one of those and pick one of those of your choice to keep. if you have one you'd rather have just switch one out.
Cameron: I kind of like oops. If you want to stumble across something important, tell the keeper you will find something important and useful, although not necessarily related to your immediate problem.
Cameron: Okay. Then you will, let's say I'll take.
Cameron: Away always the victim, and I'll switch it with oops.
Cameron: Okay.
Mikayla: What? You'll switch it with what?
Skylar: Oops.
Mikayla: Okay.
Cameron: so I will use my oops, ability. Do I need to roll?
Cameron: No. that's the fun thing with the midnane, is you just kind of get to fall into things. so you're like scooter, you know, xander from Buffy. Like, you are. You literally fall into things. So you're literally going to trip and fall and you're gonna land face to face with a teddy bear. So you literally land on top of this teddy bear that, is remarkably less dusty than the rest of the landing around it. Oh, you can infer that it has been teddy bear far more recently than anything else.
Cameron: Small guy. Let me. Let me see this. So she picks up the teddy bear, and she, like, starts to examine it, kind of look around, see if there's anything weird with it. But she's the skeptic, so she's like, oh, it's just. Just a teddy bear. And she'll just kind of carry it along with her.
Cameron: All you notice on the bottom is the name, Rosie written across the bottom. So if you make a note of that somewhere, I'd appreciate it.
Cameron: Rosie the teddy bear.
Cameron: Rosie the teddy or rosies. Like, it's like a. Ah. Like you put your name on your toy, so either could be. Either. Yeah, exactly.
Cameron: You don't know.
Cameron: Yeah, I would infer it's more toy story style. Like it's the name of the person that owns it.
Skylar: Are you sure you want to be messing with that? Be some kind of Chucky situation?
Cameron: Messing with what?
Cameron: Who's Chucky? Touchet Finster from the rugrat.
Skylar: Oh, rugrats is a no, like, Chucky. Like the dollar that's haunted by the spirit of a serial killer guy.
Cameron: It's just a teddy bear.
Cameron: It's tasteful decor games.
Cameron: If you don't.
Cameron: You don't know what.
Skylar: Like, you don't know what spirit might reside in it, though.
Cameron: The whole spirit, spirit of fun.
Skylar: Maybe. Maybe you should exercise it there, Alex, just in case.
Cameron: I mean, he's a little fat, but.
Cameron: Some, like, jumping jacks or something.
Cameron: Make him do some, jumping jacks.
Cameron: I'm just moving the hands up and down very fast.
Cameron: There you go. Work it.
Cameron: Work it.
Cameron: All right. All of a sudden, you hear the windows start rattling in a scream louder than you have heard before. You can infer that's coming from what would be the front room of this house.
Cameron: M one of these three doors up here.
Cameron: Yes.
Skylar: whip out my.
Cameron: I want to run directly towards the door.
Cameron: Someone's in danger. I have to protect them.
Skylar: All right.
Skylar: Bible man calls, then I'm backing him up. I'm coming from a distance, but I'm backing him up. I got my nerf gun out at this point. Just makes me feel better.
Cameron: Loaded?
Skylar: Yeah, of course.
Cameron: Okay.
Cameron: But this time, when I run into. But I'm ready this time. Last time, surprise attack. This time, I'm coming in, shield up. And I go, evildoers, beware. It's like, open. Throw open the door and go running in with my shield up and my sword in front of me.
Cameron: All right. You find yourself in a child's playroom. You will be shocked and know, and hopefully notice that this room is, while not clean by the standards of, you know, your house, it's not dusty. It's not. There's no cobwebs. It looks like it has been taken care of. You know, someone's dusted someone. It looks like a, like an occupied room. Like, not like someone lives in it, but, like, someone spend. Someone goes in there and visits. So inside of this room, you're going to. You know what? I'm not going to tell you what's in here. You're going to have to decipher it. But I'm going to tell you that you see, children's toys. This teddy bear that you have found would definitely fit in this room. Right? one thing you do see, and I'll let you figure it out from there, is you do see some electronic candles sitting in each of the windows. And you realize these are the windows facing the outside. So this is the. If you're in, like, an old style house, it's like a long but shallow room.
Cameron: Yeah.
Cameron: The child's room or the playroom or something like that. Right. So there are like, what looks to be like those electric candles
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Cameron: that can be on a switch.
Skylar: Are they on?
Cameron: Not at the moment. There's no light. You have yet to be. You have yet to see any form of electricity in this house. And you're being whipped by the saber of God. Guys.
Cameron: Sort of the spirit.
Skylar: Guys, I think I think we should all take one of those. I think a little bit of extra light could do us a lot of good.
Cameron: Oh, you need, like, I can lighten the mood. Here. I got my popsicle sticks.
Cameron: This is an interesting addition to this content.
Cameron: We're actually gonna listen to a popsicle stick joke and just see how it. We'll see how it lands.
Cameron: Yeah, lighten the mood. Get it?
Cameron: What? What did the oregano's name? Their son?
Cameron: What did they.
Cameron: Herb.
Cameron: Oh, that's pretty good.
Cameron: See, it's lightening the moon. I got plenty. What's a computer's favorite snack?
Cameron: What is the computer's favorite snack? Probably like something like micro. Micro, chip. Microchips.
Cameron: Micro chips.
Cameron: Hey, look at that.
Cameron: See, the mood is lit.
Cameron: Are you sure it wasn't mega?
Cameron: The mood is lit.
Cameron: This room is getting so lit.
Cameron: One more. One more thing.
Cameron: One more.
Cameron: Take it home, Ella.
Cameron: why did the hipster burn himself on the coffee.
Cameron: Probably because, he's hip with it.
Cameron: He drank it before. It was cool.
Cameron: That's quite funny. That was pretty good.
Cameron: Yeah.
Cameron: Relates a little to you, James, huh?
Skylar: Yeah, I guess it makes me feel.
Mikayla: A little bit better.
Cameron: Yes, absolutely. so are you gonna. Are you looking to connect dots or are you looking to do an investigation? Like investigate a mystery or.
Mikayla: Okay, wait, time out. Yes, rewind a little bit. So this scrapbook that I found, you said I had shenanigans around the town. And this mister govern's death.
Cameron: Yep. It has an article about Mister McGovern, notable community philanthropist. you know, someone that would always put on a festival for kids. Doesn't say anything more than that.
Mikayla: but is it anything about what kind of family he would have?
Cameron: Nope.
Mikayla: In the house?
Cameron: Nope. It's not an obituary, it's an article about him dying. So yeah, there's definitely information missing from that document.
Mikayla: Well, one of the questions that I could ask with my connect the dots is, is this person connected to current events more than they are saying?
Cameron: Okay.
Mikayla: Which means, I mean, we can change it slightly too.
Cameron: Why the heck is there baby stuff?
Mikayla: Yeah, what? Does this room have meaning to him?
Cameron: I guess.
Cameron: Okay, so you can infer that in Mister McGovern's house, that there is a child's playroom. And an obviously still cared for room, more so than the rest of the house, including a child's doll that was out of place. So you can probably infer that there was, at the very least, kids in this family. And from there, someone's being more attentive to those areas than to the rest of the house.
Mikayla: Okay, so, like, looking at the walls.
Mikayla: Is there anything off about them? Like, I'm thinking trap doors. Like, are people living in the walls? That's what I'm trying to figure out.
Cameron: If you look, is this your second question? Your second connected odds? So the first one is, is there a connection to this person? Like, is it more connected to modern? I would say you should infer yes, there's something going on here that's connected to current events. So yes to your first one. And then you're asking specifically, do you want to do an investigation? Like investigate a mystery from there?
Mikayla: Yeah.
Cameron: Okay. Cause it really, none of those questions really fits what you're asking. Do I see anything in this room? Right?
Cameron: Anything hidden?
Cameron: Yeah. You've made a connection already to like, hey, there's kids here. And this is different. This is. So I'll let you roll for investigate a mystery. That's my place. You're sharp.
Mikayla: Seven.
Cameron: Okay, so on seven, you can see in the ceiling. let's say it's a normal. It's an upstairs room, so it's a little bit higher, more vaulted ceiling. But you can see in the middle of the room what would be kind of a crawl space going down the length of the house. You can see a trap door, like the outline of the trapdoor. But since you only got a seven, you can't see how to open it. You can just see that there's. There's a.
Mikayla: So it's not like one of those. Attic. Pull the string.
Cameron: It looks like that, but you don't. You can't see the string. So imagine that exact same thing where you pull it down. There's a little staircase, but there's no string.
Skylar: I. James looks up and sees the trapdoor, and he says, well, I pointed out. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I figured you pointed out.
Skylar: And he says, sometimes I get the feeling she's watching over me. And other times I feel like I should go.
Cameron: Okay, James, you're just creeping yourself out. Okay? You gotta go.
Cameron: Stop brooding. Yeah.
Cameron: so, guys, I have a couple questions.
Cameron: If this old man, McGovernor, or whatever his name was, Was an old man, why the heck does he have a children's crib, cribbage and all this stuff in here?
Cameron: You'll
00:40:00
Cameron: know he wasn't old when he died.
Cameron: I don't know that.
Cameron: But you would know that.
Cameron: I'm probably know he wasn't old when he died.
Cameron: The house is old. He wasn't.
Mikayla: Ditto. did that. I mean, the house is old. Did he still have old? He wasn't.
Cameron: Oh, he wasn't an old Mandev. How old was he when he died? How do you know all this stuff?
Cameron: You don't know that.
Mikayla: I told you I had a scrapbook earlier.
Cameron: Oh, you found the lore book. I didn't realize. I didn't realize they had a pamphlet at the front for us, to read about this haunted house.
Cameron: So you're still convinced that it's. Absolutely.
Cameron: Of course.
Skylar: Can I take a look at it?
Cameron: So.
Cameron: Okay, let him look at it. Ow.
Cameron: There's a dirty look at it for the listening.
Skylar: I don't know what that was.
Cameron: Pamphlet.
Mikayla: Okay, I'm good. Take out my teeth. So now I probably look more like Gollum for the week. I mean, I'm sure my hair is coming out of my wet wig cap. You know, it's pretty. It's pretty golden, you know? No, but you seem like you're kind of a little crazy. what are you gonna do with the book?
Skylar: I just wanna look, if it's the lore book, I don't like everything about horror movies. Maybe I can piece some things.
Mikayla: Well, you're gonna give it back to me?
Cameron: Yeah.
Skylar: I mean, yeah. Okay.
Skylar: I just started flipping through. I just kind of.
Cameron: Anyways, this guy, he, died. How old was he when he died?
Mikayla: To be determined.
Cameron: What do you mean? Didn't look. Not safe.
Mikayla: No, it wasn't that specific.
Cameron: It just said he died.
Mikayla: Yeah.
Cameron: How did that.
Mikayla: It didn't say that either. It was, mysterious. a mysterious death.
Cameron: It was basically under mysterious circumstances.
Mikayla: Yeah, under mysterious circumstances.
Cameron: Definitely wasn't house fire. Let me.
Mikayla: Does it say anything about, like, his funeral? Obituary?
Cameron: Nope. It is not an obituary. It's an article about his death. There's an article saying notable philanthropist dies under mystery. That's all it is. A short little blurb. First thing on there.
Mikayla: There's no proof of body. Okay, got it.
Cameron: No proof of. Did they say anything about his next of kin?
Cameron: Again, that's not information that's provided in this book. You can investigate around the house to see if.
Mikayla: Can you shine your little sword light up to this. This little hatch in this. In the ceiling.
Cameron: So we're gonna do an invest.
Cameron: So you step this man.
Cameron: I want you to look around like. Do you have a light? Yeah, of course.
Cameron: I don't think what this.
Cameron: I've got like a little school bus with headlights.
Cameron: What does this man do for a living?
Cameron: Packs that you got earlier.
Cameron: Oh, cameras with flashes.
Cameron: I don't know if that's enough light to see with, but you can.
Cameron: Well, for a split second.
Cameron: Yeah. Enough to illuminate to see if there's pictures. Right? Yeah.
Cameron: I guess we'd have to develop the film so we couldn't see what I took.
Cameron: Oh, man.
Skylar: What is this rear window? You're gonna sing and then it's gonna bright flash and then all of a sudden, black. And then you're quickly trying to.
Cameron: You could just grab one. Since we don't pay attention. You could grab one of those lights that's on. He said the light.
Cameron: No one pays me any attention, so.
Cameron: I just know where to. He's reading the book, and she's telling me to shine my light up on the track.
Cameron: Which narratively amazing piece with them. M with the mundane. And mundane does that. They just sneak off on their own and do stuff yeah, I rolled a.
Cameron: Seven to do it.
Cameron: Seven. Well, you're investigating. So you have plus shark.
Cameron: So eight, you can also be doing.
Cameron: Don't worry, I'll check it out.
Cameron: Like, I mean, yeah, it just says mark, experience.
Cameron: There you go. Mundane. The mundane, like farms experience. And then they just get, they can do.
Cameron: Well, he just leveled.
Cameron: So really, that's what the mundane gets is they just do weird. They do stuff and they get things. But that's not really the point of this game.
Cameron: Yeah.
Cameron: so when you're looking at this. So you're going out and you're investigating for family photos. Pictures. All right, so you're gonna see a picture of probably someone that looks like they're from the eardies. It's before you. Right? Like thirties, forties, fifties. You know, be the certain aesthetic.
Cameron: Right.
Cameron: and, you know, dad's in the suit, dressed up. We've got a big, nice mustache. You know, he's wearing, you know, just, just, you know, a gentleman, man of whatever, he is with him is a very unhappy woman. appears to be his wife. Just severe and, you know, looks like resting beef. It's not resting. It's an active, active face. This is by choice?
Skylar: Yes.
Cameron: and then there is a little girl standing next to the dad, very purposely away from the mom. Does not appear. Wants to be next to the mom holding a teddy bear.
Cameron: M so I kind of look down at the teddy bear that I'm holding.
Cameron: M this looks, this looks like.
Cameron: The teddy bear that she's got. And,
00:45:00
Cameron: so I'll pick up the picture. Do I see anything else before I hit head back?
Cameron: so looking at the picture. So, you have come off by yourself. Yes. you turn looking. Turn probably towards the rest of the room, and you see what appears to be a child, slightly glowing, looking back at you before a door closes.
Cameron: I'm gonna go try that door.
Skylar: I mean, I think we all jump too.
Cameron: Like, well. Cause again, you don't realize she's gone.
Cameron: Yeah, you're.
Cameron: You left the room in, kept talking.
Skylar: Just went over to the window sill.
Cameron: To get a no thing. Like in real life. You didn't even know that we're conversing about the.
Skylar: I was reading the book. In the book, I got a whole passage I found that I'm gonna share with you guys.
Cameron: I'm gonna go try opening that door because, you know, she's the sketch. She doesn't think it's a ghost. She just think, oh, it's. That was weird. I need to go check out what's going on.
Cameron: So jiggle, jiggle. There's. There's no rule for this. You get there, the doors are locked. Jiggle, jiggle. PG podcast.
Mikayla: It just sounded like the start of a don't stop.
Cameron: So you get there, you try to open the door. No dice. you can see a calm, almost like, to what seems to be the kid, almost comically oversized keyhole, like one of the old timey big keys that goes into it. And you still have one door left, so one more avenue to go to explore. You think there's something in this room, but you can't get to the room right now. M so.
Cameron: So I'll walk back up.
Cameron: and I'll back to the child's.
Cameron: Room or back to. Back to where everyone's at. I'm just like, okay, has anyone seen large, comically sized keys anywhere?
Cameron: Again, to you, it seems like that, but this is just, like a normal size. Like, you've never seen a key like that. But it's a skeleton key.
Cameron: Oh, I have the key and not the key hole.
Cameron: No, you have. You've seen the keyhole.
Cameron: Oh, but we need the big key.
Cameron: Yeah. So, to you, it just looks, like, way bigger than you're used to.
Cameron: Okay, so has anyone seen keys anywhere?
Skylar: No, but I did find a article about the guy that used to live here in the book.
Cameron: Is this gonna be more my chemical romance lyrics?
Skylar: What? No. Not everything about me is my chemical romance.
Cameron: Okay, no, definitely no panic. Definitely flip. Not.
Skylar: What. What is that I don't listen to.
Cameron: Definitely gonna be third eye blind.
Skylar: Look, it says right here. It says he woke up from dreaming and put on his shoes, started making his way past two in the morning. He hasn't been sober for days. Leaning.
Skylar: Okay, just be clear.
Cameron: There's no evidence, and it's a drinker.
Skylar: It's an all time low.
Cameron: All time.
Mikayla: Oh, yeah, I was gonna say, I did not read that in the book.
Cameron: I didn't think that was in the book.
Cameron: Anyways, I'm shining my light on the trap door.
Cameron: Okay.
Cameron: To, like, investigate a mystery. That's a ten.
Cameron: I was just gonna walk into the other room.
Cameron: If you try to get him. They didn't listen. Yeah. Is anyone going with Ella?
Cameron: No one knows.
Cameron: Well, I was going to get to.
Cameron: It, but I wanted to check out.
Skylar: This trap door first.
Cameron: Okay, so we're gonna do a quick roll on that, and then I want to follow along with this because. So, real quick, what do you want?
Cameron: I got ten.
Cameron: And you're investigating.
Cameron: Yeah, I just wanted to find out more about this trapdoor that she asked me to check.
Cameron: So you got a ten? I mean, to you. you can tell it opens. You can tell it's been opened. in that you can see that there's a nice, crisp holes. Maybe you can see a spot on the floor where the little legs from the trapdoor have come all the way to the ground and hit. Like, you can see that it comes down. You cannot see away from where you are to get it open. Ah.
Cameron: well, looks like this is a dead end, for us. Maya, where's Ella? Oh, she's gone again.
Cameron: Ella.
Cameron: I start walking out of the room.
Skylar: Wait for me. I just pushed the book back over to Maya.
Cameron: I'm done with this.
Mikayla: I said I'm gonna grab it. I guess I'll follow you.
Cameron: Okay.
Cameron: Okay.
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 m of the week series. We hope you are 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 you're looking for more spooky Halloween fun, you can check out last year's Hunter Haven series Music Mayhem, which was written and run by Cameron, who's 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
00:50:00
Skylar: 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'd 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. It's 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. Don't 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 hunter's haven series. See you next time.
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