Improving "Scritch Scratch"
Intending to run Scritch Scratch. I like the English folklore and the >!Green Man!< stuff. However I am still somewhat puzzled. I realize this is a sandbox and part of the fun is seeing what players do with it. But I have a few questions / objections. The answer to a lot of them probably is „just make something up, then“ and I will. But would like to know how other keepers ran this scenario.
Cleaning job: The Council wants >!to use Gurteen’s hospitalisation to get rid of the dangling rats!<. But they don’t tell that to the cleaners. Instead they say claim the clean-up is being done so the house can be renovated before the old man gets home. Why not tell the cleaners >!that the house is fine that it is about the stuff in the back? !<And would a contractor really turn a property upside down without the owner’s consent? Seems very unlikely. Also, it’s reasonable to assume that once things get weird, the investigators might want to get back to their client. Who are they exactly? Where do they reside?
Muscoby: How much of a ghost town is it? The pub and school are closed. But how many houses still occupied? What kind of people live there?
Appleford: The bigger village 20 miles away. Why should the players even think about going there? Their cleaning job is in Muscoby. >!The plaque on the closed pub is a hint, but it’s veery subtle.!< It is puzzling that a lot of the information the players can obtain (from the >!museum, the librarian, the pub owner, the rat catcher!<) isn’t even in the place where they are being sent. Usually sandbox adventures put all the clues and tools needed in the sandbox. Not this one.
Film crew: What exactly is the job of the film crew? Are they doing some kind of home improvement show? Or are they out for a supernatural angle?