Hungry Hollow Playtest #2
Where our band of Investigators continues to entangle themselves into the doom that has befallen our small town
We returned to Hungry Hollow. You can read about the first playtest here:
One shift in the intervening time was that Josh and I did some rewrites to the text after deciding to shift the format of this adventure to be a hardcover (with similar dimensions to the Deluxe Edition). The major difference between the two manuscripts is that in the revised manuscript the trailer park is now a much more complex location (with multiple homes and characters residing there). Overall, this session was a good one where Investigators hopped around the map, met characters, and began to draw threads between clues.
Our Characters:
Skittles: Rolled Final Girl - Tyler then decided to have this Investigator be his character from The Mall… the wrinkle being that she had been replaced in the climax of that adventure. If this were a tv series, that inconsistency would be emphasized but never explicitly addressed...her having the mycelium threads throughout her body, 20 years later, seemingly survived the events has left her very Sarah Connor in Terminator 2.
Ricardo: Rolled Relic Touched and ended up rolling for Resonant Artifacts - thumb tacks (enables necromancy). John rolled a background to give more flavor to his Investigator and got Artist. After determining that his medium was carving marble, we decided to shift the RA to being picks used in sculpting. As for previous adventures, they’ve always been successful, but not usually through anything he’s done.
Danny: Rolled Burned by The Bureau. His character wrote a song that became super popular but The Bureau psyoped it and claimed ownership. This ruined his life and career.
NPC Investigator- Bluebird. Rolled Indebted. Bluebird also rolled the background Bus Driver (LH Investigators p. 7). Went into massive debt after hitting a monster (vampire) and crashing a bus. The Bureau coverup had a fake family of the “victim” sue him. Archivist providing opportunities to get out of debt. He’s a pretty laid back and practice person.
Session
Henry and Don’s Fifth-Wheel Trailer
We returned to find our characters in the middle of dealing with Henry and Don (who’s association with The Bureau made them a direct danger to this specific party). The group examined the cameras to see where they had been spying on (Church, Animal Control, Sub-Rosa, cannery).
The Church: The Church of Hungry Hollow. Previously a space for worship. This wooden steepled church has faded white paint and dull stained glass. There is a newly constructed stone wall surrounding the church.
Abandoned Salmon Cannery: What once was a source of economic prosperity for the town has fallen into ruin. The large boxy structure built on the river was used to process the catches from throughout the region.
Animal Control: Multi-Building compound with front offices, back garage, furnace building, and bus parked out behind. The beige paint has been stained from years of black smoke from the furnaces.
Sub-Rosa (boarded up): A large boxy building, plywood has been used to board up the windows. Faded old police tape is bunched up under the signage that has fallen down.
Skittles spent a lot of time trying to figure out the Resonant Artifact they had found hidden in the trailer.
Bleeding Stone. The drops of blood from the stone turn into an object edible. The user can eat the object, injecting it with minimal difficulty. It does taste rancid but is not harmful.
Wrapped up in a cloth and placed in a plastic bag, the resulting blood gave a couple of our Investigators the unsettling sense that they could consume what it touched (Skittles ended up testing this theory with a stick).
In the end the group tranquilized the two and turned on the propane in the trailer. These weren’t the first Bureau agents they have had to kill before, but it still wasn’t an easy thing to do.
The Church
The gang promptly left the scene of the crime and drove to the church. It was the early service (a dozen cars parked in the gravel lot). They parked the car at the edge of the lot and slept for the night.
The Church
The Church of Hungry Hollow. Previously a space for worship. This wooden steepled church has faded white paint and dull stained glass. There is a newly constructed stone wall surrounding the church.
Gates remain open all day.
Large piles of dirt and stones are behind the church.
When they awoke the gang realized that Bluebird wasn’t there with them. It was midday (the second service had started), and they looked around the lot. They found Bluebird’s cigarette butts in some bushes. When they tried his phone, it went straight to voicemail. They decided to head into the church to see if he was there.
Chapel
Steps up to large double doors.
Wooden pews faded paint.
Father Paul (Apiarist) is the acting priest. Never without his black cassock, Father Paul has a striking face that is hard to forget. Paul will inquire about what the group is doing in town. If asked, he says his compatriot (Father Ramse) is under the weather. His shoes seem to be stained with mud.
Father Paul was in the middle of a heated sermon filled with themes of the messiah, rebirth, and bees. The gang looked around and noticed that Bluebird wasn’t there, and there seemed to only be a single priest today.
They went back outside. Skittles begins to distract the extremely disinterested (and not good at their job) groundskeeper as Ricardo snuck around back of the church.
Courtyard
Grounds are overgrown. Ali patrols at night.
Ali (Apiarist) is the church's gardener. While he is always outside the church, paying close attention shows he isn’t doing any work. Ali will direct Investigators to the priest inside the church.
Storage Sheds
Gardening equipment, other larger storage needs for the church.
Four empty plastic drums (rotten sludge inside).
Roll for Random Search: Invoice for motorcycle at Brody’s Mechanic (p. x)
Ricardo searched the shed and found what seemed to be meat-sludge (which is eerily similar to the dumpster of meat wrappers last session). He also found Father Ramsey’s receipt for his bike being fixed at Brody’s Mechanic Shop (it’s a fancy Akira style bike).
Heading Into Town
They regroup at the Winnebago and decide to head into town. They slowly drive by the trailer park and see that Henry and Don’s trailer has remained undisturbed.
As they pull onto the main road they see flashing reds and blues. They pull over and are greeted by Office Stafford.
Officer Stafford (citizen) is tall, lean, grizzled, and in his mid-fifties. His beige uniform hangs loose. Stafford strives to do as little work as possible. He takes immense pride in the low crime rate (which is a direct result of him avoiding paperwork whenever possible). He puts on an air of knowing what goes on about town (this is far from accurate).
If residents or Apiarists commit a crime: Stafford will go through the motions of arresting those involved, but be very dismissive. Will lock the perpetrator up for a short amount of time before “releasing” on their own recognizance. He tries to keep his numbers down to avoid oversight.
If Investigators commit a crime: Unless it was brazenly out in the open, Stafford will bungle the investigation and have little to no official response.
Officer Stafford greets the out of towners and brings up the altercation at the mechanic shop the day before. Skittles describes the events (self-defense) and says they won’t be pressing charges. Stafford is immensely relieved at that (he didn’t want to do the paperwork). After some back and forth he wishes the group a good day.
Rec Center
The group decides to head to the Rec Center as it is where the baby shower will be held.
Rec Center
Built in the 1970s using funds from the church, the Rec Center age of prosperity has long since passed. A nondescript windowless structure. Its massive front double doors have a flickering lamp overhead. A faded placard reads: “Hungry Hollow Recreation and Community Center”
Inside is large linoleum floor, stage, and folding chairs stacked against the wall.
There is a small kitchen area and bathroom off the main room.
Bev has a small office in back. It is crammed full of mundane supplies.
Bev (Apiarist) is of indeterminate middle age, her straight hair hanging down over a wardrobe of ill fitting, earth toned clothing. She plasters a perpetual smile that never touches the eyes. She’s always busily trying to be a nosy form of “Helpful.” Her primary focus is getting ready for the Hungry Hollow’s Baby Shower. Bev reminds everyone to bring their best meat and will happily assign baby shower tasks to anyone and everyone.
The gang continued to probe for the location of Brea. Mostly what they got from Bev was excitement for the big day, and a lot of talk about the future of the town.
Bakery
The gang was hungry and hoped that the Bakery would be a better quality of food than the dinner.
Bakery
A bakery built into the first floor of a two-story home.
The main floor converted into a small storefront and baking operation.
In the back there are two trailers set up for overflow.
A family of 10 lives here.
Nancy and her four adult children Paul, Christina, Duff, Mary (citizens). Nacy is perpetually covered in flour. Her and her family are friendly if somewhat suspicious. They’ll happily converse about generalities but take some time to open up. They’ve noticed the odd goings on at The Emerald Scale Bed and Breakfast (p. x), especially at night. They’re business has also been hurting as their orders from Rose’s General Store (p. x) and the Berry Patch Diner (p. x).
The exchange put the Investigators on wobbly footing as it was a fairly normal interaction. They got sandwiches and ingratiated themselves to Nancy and her family. Nancy revealed that their business is down (especially after the general store closed for a month when the Roses left town with no explanation), that she’s always avoided Brody (the mechanic), that she didn’t really know Brea despite the town being excited for her baby (Nancy thinks it would be likely Brea would be staying with her brother behind Animal Control). Eventually they get some time with Duff and Mary and find out a bit more about what the youth are up to (teens used to haunt the cannery as a place to drink, after Sub-Rosa closed down due to the owners and patrons disappearing one night).
Prosperous Farm
The gang heads to the futurist prosperous farm.
Prosperous Farm
Modernist structures that do not fit in with the rest of the community. The newer building has solar panels, floor to ceiling glass, and sleek white architecture.
A state of the art micro-farm.
Flourishing greenhouses boast cutting edge automation.
Nat and Shelly (citizens) are newer community members. They’re shrewd, resourceful, successful (husband wife 3 kids). They’ve noticed enough that has been going on that they won’t take chances letting strangers into their home. They’ll happily converse on their front porch. They’ve been so busy getting their farm up and running that they haven’t spent too much time getting to know their neighbors. They did notice that the family who runs the flower stand (p. x) left home one night and were gone for over a week. days.
They take note that the Flower family disappearing for a week. It is also during this conversation that the gang puts together there’s no animals in town (which is odd).
Animal Control
It was finally time to see if they could locate Brea (so they stopped by James’ work.
Animal Control
Multi Building compound with front offices, back garage, furnace building, and bus parked out behind. The beige paint has been stained from years of black smoke from the furnaces.
It was clear that no-one was around, so they left a note on the old-school bus (where they assume he lives) with their name and phone number. Since it was locked up they decided to get a room.
Outpost 13
Night approaches.
Outpost 13
A single story L shaped motel with a front office/bar. Neon vacancy sign flashes in a hypnotic rhythm .
Faded brick accented by dozens of black velvet paintings.
Dim lights, cheerful atmosphere. 2-8 customers typically at the bar. Chance of Apiarist spy.
Has some of the best wine ever made in a converted storage crate behind the motel.
Surf and psych rock play out of a modified jukebox.
Lares (citizen) is the owner, operator, and winemaker at Outpost 13. They have a short beard, close cropped hair, and sport unbuttoned floral shirts. Lares is affable and quite proud of the wine they make. Saddened by how the town has changed and is hoping that the baby shower that has so many excited will mark a return to normal.
As the gang settles in to their room, their phones bus. They finally got a ping from Bluebird (the lost NPC). The location indicates that Bluebird is in the Abandoned Salmon Cannery.
LIMINAL HORROR DISCORD SERVER
Server Link: https://discord.gg/ptHUNSVDrJ
Items in print
LIMINAL HORROR INVESTIGATORS Edition https://spacepenguin.ink/collections/liminal-horror/products/liminal-horror-investigators
This is uncoated and includes multiple character sheets, so it’s perfect for players at the table.
One Night At The Shelterwood Inn https://spacepenguin.ink/collections/liminal-horror/products/one-night-at-the-shelterwood-inn
The Bloom https://spacepenguin.ink/collections/liminal-horror/products/the-bloom
The Bureau https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/products/the-bureau?_pos=1&_psq=The+bureau&_ss=e&_v=1.0