Synopsis
It is November 1940. London is under constant threat from German bombers: people have started calling it the Blitz. In spite of the many measures taken by the city folk of London, the planes can easily follow the course of the river Thames to find the British capitol. In their desperation, the people of London decide to evacuate their children to little rural villages.
A number of these children takes the 11:43 from Paddington station today, parents and guardians (what is left of them at least) waving them a tearful goodbye in the hope of a better and safer future. The steam engine slowly crawls its way to the village of Portwick, a sleepy little fishing town on the coast of Dorset. There, the children will be received in Trevalley Hall by the widow Lady Edgecombe – since the death of her only son she has already taken it upon herself to accommodate a number of children in her stately home. Equipped with the standard issue gas mask and a booklet full of ration dockets, the children are meeting an uncertain future. What do the townsfolk of Portwick know about how much their sleepy little village is about to be shaken up by the arrival of these newcomers…
Trevalley Hall
Trevalley Hall is the ancestral seat of the Trevalley family and is now inhabited by Lady Prudence Edgecombe, the widow of Capt. Geoffrey Edgecombe sr. who died in the Great War. After losing her only son, Lt. Geoffrey Edgecombe jr. in an airplane crash recently, she has taken it upon herself to welcome children from London to her home. You are not the first bunch of children to be accommodated at Trevalley Hall.
The village of Portwick
Portwick is a sleepy fishing village on the coast of Dorset, set by the estuary of the river Port. Its inhabitants are down to earth, no-nonsense folk. Hard-working and nowhere frivolous, but as in every other rural English village, keen to gossip, somewhat superstitious and loving a good old murder mystery. The village is set at the terminus of a little used side branch of the Great Southwestern Trunk Railway (GSTR) and is connected by a daily direct train to London's Paddington Station, a great source of pride for the inhabitants. Other important sites of the village include St. Wite's Parish Church and the local pub, the Queen's Head.
Setting notes
The campaign plays in historic 1940s England in a small rural village. The inhabitants of the village Portwick are unfamiliar with magic, although they are a superstitious bunch. Your character is a child, aged 8-12, and starts out at level 3 (your race is either human or human variant). The in game starting date will be Tuesday 5 November 1940. I will use a number of minor elements from the campaign book Ghosts of Saltmarsh, so spoiler alert.
One second is the time that elapses during 9,192,631,770 cycles of the radiation produced by the transition between two levels of the cesium 133 atom. There are 60 seconds in a minute. The currency in Portwick is the British Pound, which can be broken into 20 shilling (bob), which in turn can be broken into 12 pence.
For inspiration, think about the Chronicles of Narnia books, and especially the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. The campaign will be very role-play heavy and will feature some mystery and investigation.
Practically: you are invited to a session zero at my place in the evening of Friday 10 January 2020. We play the first session on Sunday 12 January 2020.
Please have your character concept ready by new year!
The pleasant coastal village of Portwick
The inhabitants of Portwick
Featured
