3. See what follows
Once the PCs go their separate ways, frame a few more scenes and situations that play out over the next few days, before you transition to downtime. In particular, play out:
- Anything obvious, like a crisis to manage, a timely decision to make, or a conflict coming to a head
- At least one scene with each PC and their family, or whoever else is important to them
- Anything that you want to put on screen (in order to establish specific details, or make a GM move, etc.)
- Any other scenes that the players want to play out, with NPCs or with each other.
Some of these will intersect or overlap. If the Heavy had a big fight with her spouse before leaving on the expedition, then that's both an obvious scene to have and her "family" scene.
Actively manage the spotlight, hopping from PC to PC and scene to scene as you do this. Try to shift the spotlight every 15 minutes or so, to keep everyone engaged, even if that means shifting mid-scene. Try to do things roughly in order, but don't get hung up on it. Player engagement is more important than chronology.
Some of these situations will be full-on scenes: zoomed in, moment-to-moment, speaking in character. Others will be zoomed out, more loose play than actual scenes, with lots of Q&A and describing conversations rather than playing them out. Both are fine!
Everyone should get at least one scene with their family, or an NPC whom they value. These scenes help reinforce the PCs' ties to Stonetop. They create space for the PCs to process the adventure and to show how they've changed and grown. They don't need to be happy or affirming; they can be all sorts of fraught. If a "family" scene is especially painful, though, then maybe set up a bonus scene where
The other PCs leave Rhianna at the pavilion with Garet's body, and we zoom out and talk about what's next.
someone is actually supportive or at least
kind to that PC.
I say that Rhianna's crew and many villagers head to the public house, to tell stories and toast Garet. Blodwen and Caradoc join them. Vahid heads home.
Caradoc gets a scene with Morwenna as they leave the public house. I reveal simmering tensions; she's a bit reserved and eventually Caradoc notices. He gets her talking, and she unloads about how worried she was and how she doesn't know if she can handle never knowing if her husband will come home and he's like "husband?" and finally has the nerve to kiss her and she kisses him back and its sweet and all but they don't actually address the issue, actually.
Blodwen puts off going home as long as she can. She's expecting some badness with her mother, Tegwen (and rightly so, as she rolled a 4 to have her follower Persuade her to be less terrible). I think that conflict will wait until the morning, though, so I switch to Vahid.
Vahid went home. He gives us a quiet little scene of him unpacking, settling in, puttering around and talking to his cats. He hasn't established any close ties to local NPCs, so I introduce someone interesting. The widow Maire stops by with some stew, some scritches for the cats, and some not-so-subtle flirting.
We cut back to Rhianna keeping vigil. Cerys eventually returns with the kids, to say goodbye to the uncle who was like a father to them. The kids cry and ask why, want to see his face, don't really understand. As they go, Rhianna speaks up. "Cerys, I… I'm so sorry. We'll make sure y'all don't want for nothing. Cold comfort, I know. But Garet was one of us. You're family." Cerys acknowledges this numbly and leaves.
That was rough, so I have Eira (from Rhianna's crew) come by later, maudlin and drunk, to share a drink and assure Rhianna that Garet's death wasn't her fault. For all the good that does.
Before this next scene, I check our content guidelines and remind folks to call time out if needed. You'll see why.
Blodwen wakes late to the smell of stew, and finds her mother cooking and oddly civil. When Tegwen asks her to "clean up out back," Blodwen realizes that her favorite old goat has been butchered. When she confronts Tegwen, her mother wields guilt like a weapon. "Well, we need to bring something to poor Cerys, what with her brother dying under your care. And you seemed to need your rest. So I picked one of the goats that had stopped giving milk." She then leaves Blodwen, numb and horrified, to clean up the remains of her pet.
From there, we jump to Garet's funeral. We describe what it's like, riffing off each other's ideas to help paint the scene and say how everyone's involved.
Blodwen's feeling pretty raw, so I frame a scene after the funeral, a chance for her to vent to Gwendyl and Seren (the other Initiates of Danu). She does, and at the end, I offer an opportunity. Seren says she could use a hand around the house, what with her old bones, and there's plenty of room for the goats, too. A teary-eyed Blodwen promises to give it some real thought.