Session Index — Welcome to Hole 1887

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Campaign

Game: Monster of the Week
Setting: Hole, Nevada — 1887
Keeper: Kate

Sessions

Session Date Played Mystery Monster
Session 1 5th April 2026 Mystery 1, Part 1 Howlers
Session 2 12th April 2026 Mystery 1, Part 2 Howlers
Session 3 19th April 2026 Mystery 2, Part 1 Red Algae
Session 4 3rd May 2026 Mystery 2, Part 2 Red Algae
Session 5 10th May 2026 Mystery 3, Part 1 Hatchett Gang (+ ? mine entity)
Session 6 17th May 2026 Mystery 3, Part 2 Hatchett Gang (+ ? mine entity)
Session 7 31st May 2026 Mystery 3, Part 3 Hatchett Gang (+ ? mine entity)
Session 8 7th June 2026 Mystery 4, Part 1 Farmswatter's Cacti
Session 9 14th June 2026 Mystery 4, Part 2 Farmswatter's Cacti
Session 10 4th July 2026 Mystery 5, Part 1 (unidentified — a thousand antennae under a shack floor)
Session 11 26th July 2026 Mystery 5, Part 2 (unidentified — the hum; something under a woman's skin)

The Party

Hunter Full Name Player Playbook
Alfie Alfonso Achilles Bachmann Sean The Spooky
Cuthbert Cuthbert Lockton-Lloyd Duncan The Explorer
Doctor Webb Doctor Wilbur Webb Brendan The Healer
Ms March Ms June March Nat The Wronged

Characters Met

Name Role Status
Joseph Cranfield Homesteader, husband, father Alive
Cathy Cranfield Wife, mother Alive
Artemis Cranfield Their son, Ms March's pupil Alive
Lilybelle Cranfield Their 10-month-old daughter Alive
Hamish Durgin Durgin patriarch Alive
Luke Durgin Eldest Durgin son Alive
Richie Durgin Youngest Durgin son, 15 years old Alive
Dan Randy Randy Saloon owner Alive
Inkwell Girtle Mining company bookkeeper Alive
Sheriff Coot O'Dougal Narcoleptic sheriff Dead — shot by Jed Hatchett (Session 7)
Bart Fletchley Homesteader, widower Alive
Earl Stagecoach driver; Ms March's ex-husband Dead — found in barn (Session 7)
PJ Local child; Ms March's pupil Alive
Belinda Barnberry Madame at the Randy Saloon Alive
Ellie Mae Working girl at the Randy Saloon Alive
Jed Hatchett Outlaw; eldest Hatchett brother and leader Dead — found in barn (Session 7)
Cord Hatchett Outlaw; younger Hatchett brother Dead — found in barn (Session 7)
Crystal Hatchett Outlaw; Cord's wife Dead — found in barn (Session 7)
Maxine "Max" Hatchett Outlaw; youngest Hatchett sibling (~18) Dead — shot by Cuthbert (Session 7)
Doctor Curt Hatchett Former doctor of Hole; Hatchett gang uncle Dead
Retta Hatchett gang ringer; hired muscle Dead — killed by Ms March (Session 7)
Merv Hatchett Hatchett cousin; gang ringer Dead — shot by Max (Session 7)
Hired Hand Hatchett associate; older man; name unknown Dead — died in unison with Retta (Session 7)
Fine Fairweather Working girl at the Randy Saloon Alive
Colin Whipsmart Gun store proprietor Alive
H.G. Farmswatter Travelling snake-oil salesman Dead — killed by cactus spines to the eyes (Session 9)
Maude Webb Doctor Webb's mother Alive
Buck Webb Doctor Webb's brother (father role) Alive
Colt Webb Doctor Webb's brother Alive
Mr Wrigglesworth Acting Sheriff of Hole (a goat) Alive
Rudy Haines Orphaned boy from Goodspring Alive
Righteous Arminhanmer Mine owner (named, not yet met) Alive
Jacob Johnston Order warden sent to collect Cuthbert Alive
Darla Backsplash Order operative from 1983; trio leader Alive
Gina Caramonte Order operative from 1983 Alive
Walker Bueller Order operative from 1983 Alive
The mining village child Toddler found alone in the mining village Alive
The sick woman The child's mother; found in a boarded-up house Alive — something is inside her (Session 11)

Locations

Location First Seen Notes
Hole Session 1 Current location
The Randy Saloon Session 1 Local saloon; Alfie plays piano here
Cranfield Homestead Session 1 North of Hole; neat homestead; paw prints found circling the house
Durgin Homestead Session 1 Large and dilapidated; animal traps every ten feet
Grunewald Forest Backstory Alfie's birthplace
Fletchley Farm Session 3 South of Hole; red algae organism in the cornfield
Hot Springs Session 4 Near Fletchley Farm; red algae source; six algae destroyed here. Session 10: the party camped here after the ride north — Ms March shot Cuthbert in the water and Alfie swept everyone out with a tidal wave (the raw notes place these springs beyond the mine — see the note)
Sheriff's Tent Session 5 Pavilion tent; Earl held here; released after Ms March gaslighted O'Dougal
Assay Office Session 5 Inkwell's workplace; dynamite stored in the barn nearby
Schoolhouse Session 5 Ms March's school; closed for the day in Session 5
Goodspring Session 5 Town west of Hole; scene of the Hatchett gang's stagecoach ambush
Gun Store Session 6 Colin Whipsmart's store (building #13); Ms March has a standing deal here
Mines North of Hole Session 6 August March vanished here; pulsating hum heard; "EVERYWHERE" presence sensed in Hatchett brains (Session 7); 11 months ago the miners sickened and vanished (Session 8); Rudy Haines retrieved from the caves nearby (Session 8). Session 9–10: the hum Farmswatter heard at the cactus grove matches both the mine's hum and Doctor Webb's nightmare; Session 10 ended with Cuthbert and Ms March misteleported into somewhere wet, musty and dark. Session 11 played that out — cold damp stone, shallow water, echoes, a narrow crevice, and the hum — but the notes do not confirm the dark place was the mine; the party's countermeasure list refers to "the hum in the mines"
The Market Session 8 Tents in a rough circle; traders, a drinks tent; H.G. Farmswatter's waggon parked within (the cacti's lair). Session 9: site of the cactus battle — all cacti and the mother destroyed, H.G. Farmswatter killed, Doctor Webb ran mass triage here
Miners' Shantytown Session 8 Settlement near the mine; home to the families of the missing miners (named in rumour, not yet visited)
Arminhanmer Manor Session 10 A green oasis on the road north — huge manor house, grass and trees, its own road, signed 'Arminhanmer Mining Co'. Passed but not entered; the Arminhanmers host parties that draw people from other towns
The Mining Village Session 10 Uphill past the manor, half a day's waggon ride north of Hole; thirty minutes from the hot springs. Driven through in Session 10. Session 11: eerily silent, no activity, buildings collapsed or broken in half — something may be undermining the foundations. People still cough inside some of them. A toddler was found alone outside a boarded-up house
The Cactus Grove Session 10 Source of Farmswatter's cacti — a grove on a ledge on a mountainside near the mining village, described in Session 11 as a flattened overlook at the end of a dusty trail. Marked on a map by the reanimated Farmswatter; the hum was heard here. Visited in Session 11: fifteen cacti still standing; roots covered in the same red fibre as Bart's corn

Monsters & Mysteries

Mystery Session Outcome Notes
Mystery 1 — The Howlers Session 1–Session 2 Resolved Coyote-type beasts; long distended legs; mimic human voices; weak spot: knees. All three killed by the gang, the Durgins, and Joseph Cranfield
Mystery 2 — Red Algae Session 3–Session 4 Resolved Hallucinogenic spore organism with mobile algae bushes; caused Bart's deterioration and family apparitions. Defeated Session 4 — mounds collapsed, algae destroyed with alcohol and Alfie's voice magic
Backstory — Mongolian Death Worms Prior to Session 1 (recalled Session 5) Unknown Worms emerged from Alfie's piano one night; the whole party was present. Alfie believes it was his fault
Mystery 3 — The Hatchett Gang Session 5–Session 7 Resolved All gang members dead by end of Session 7. Coot O'Dougal and Earl also killed. A presence in the Hatchett brains said "EVERYWHERE" — revealed in Session 8 to be the Hollowed Ones
Overarching — The Hollowed Ones Session 7– Active The Order's name for the brain-controlling infection behind the Hatchetts ("stage one"); links to the vanished miners and August March; pulsating hum in the mine. Order ordered Cuthbert to stand down and is sending a warden. Session 9: Cuthbert now suspects the "stand down" order was forged by the Hollowed Ones (it appeared only after the first message faded, rather than printing from the watch). Session 11: Jacob has overheard the Hollowed Ones mentioned in relation to zombies and says they are tied to something big; the Order's upper echelons are split between Interventionists and Preservationists. Ms March states the Hollowed Ones killed her husband
Mystery 4 — Farmswatter's Miracle Cure Session 8–Session 9 Resolved H.G. Farmswatter's "Miracle Cure" was drawn from a mother cactus (8-ft, heart-flowered, kept in a vat of offal and fed his blood) plus four small mobile cacti, all from "the blessed desert". The tonic wicks the drinker's moisture (the town's thirst); damaged cacti release the same red mist as the red algae. Weakness: alcohol strips their fleshy armour. All cacti and the mother destroyed; H.G. Farmswatter dead; town saved. Session 10: the reanimated Farmswatter placed their origin at a grove on a mountainside ledge near the mining village, and revealed he fed the mother bodies dug from a cemetery. Session 11: the party reached the grove and found fifteen more cacti growing there — eight normal sized, seven medium with the familiar flower, plus three tiny ones that fired spines when Cuthbert's blood hit the soil. Webb dug up the roots: a plant hybrid infestation, roots covered in the red fibre from Bart's corn, attempting to take root and alter the environment. Left standing
Mystery 5 — Session 10– Unresolved Cold open: a young grimy man in a shack hears scratching and clicking inside the walls; a match over a four-millimetre hole in the dirt floor reveals a thousand pairs of antennae retreating. Session 11: the mining village is silent and half-collapsed, and Doctor Webb found a woman with something moving under the skin of her cheek — it emerged from her mouth and burrowed into her neck. She said "Get them out."
Overarching — The Hum Session 6– Active The pulsating hum first reported in the mine, heard at the grove by Farmswatter, and dreamt by Doctor Webb. Session 11: encountered directly. It calls to those who hear it and offers each listener what they most want; imposes −1 ongoing; and can take control of the body — it walked Cuthbert towards a narrow crevice. Broken by a gunshot loud enough to deafen. What makes it is unknown

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