The world is connected, the villain has excellent posture, and six monsters are waiting politely in their own files. It is time to prepare something the players can actually interrupt.

This is part three of Bells Beneath Blackglass. Begin with the campaign foundation, continue through connected campaign prep, or download the complete tutorial vault.

Quest 1: Give the darkness a date

Open The Hollow Sun, choose Calendar, and let Moonvault create the world’s Calendar page. Rename it Gloam Reckoning. The setup dialog opens immediately; later you can return with Configure on the Calendar page.

Our calendar uses:

  • Six weekdays: Emberday, Bellday, Ashday, Saintday, Glassday, and Restday.
  • Four 24-day months: Firstlight, Highflame, Longshadow, and Lastlight.
  • Two moons: the 12-day Cinder Moon and the 20-day Pearl Moon.
  • Two seasons: Brightwane and Gloaming.

In Configure weekdays and months, rename or add weekday rows, add the four months, set each month to 24 days, and save. Moons and named seasons are Moonvault Pro calendar features; if you use Free, the weekday/month/date workflow still works and you can write moon or season flavor in Event prose.

The campaign begins on Lastlight 18, Year 1. Black Bell Eve falls on Lastlight 21. That leaves three in-world days for four Sessions, which means extra rests and retreats have a visible price.

On the selected calendar date, choose the action to create an Event, give it a title, and keep the fantasy date in its Properties. Create Event pages for:

  • The Sun Vanished on Lastlight 16.
  • The Market Toll on Lastlight 18.
  • Black Bell Eve on Lastlight 21.
  • The Ninth Toll on Lastlight 21 if the campaign clock reaches 6.

Session pages can also carry an in-world date. Set each Session’s fantasy date in Properties, then set the campaign’s current in-world date to Lastlight 20 before session three. Active Session Mode can show that current date beside the real session date; Pro calendars also derive the season and moon phases.

Gloam Reckoning calendar in Moonvault showing Lastlight events, four dated Sessions, and the campaign date
A fantasy calendar earns its torch oil when dates change travel, rituals, monsters, or player choices. Open the full-size view.

Quest 2: Create all four Session pages

Choose Session, select Bells Beneath Blackglass, add the real-world date, set the in-world date, and create the page. If you opened the tutorial vault, apply its custom Session Prep template; when building from scratch, add the same headings below or set your own reusable default under Templates.

Create these Sessions:

Session In-world date Strong start Main decision
The Bell That Rang Below Lastlight 18 Every market flame bends toward the well Save citizens or chase the stolen map
Nine Doors, One Breath Lastlight 19 The party’s reflections arrive first Confess a debt or enter without light
The Foundry Without Fire Lastlight 20 The furnace silently says a character’s name Bargain, promise, or wake the Bell Maw
A Dawn Worth Paying For Lastlight 21 Caldus offers to restore one lost person Restore dawn, seal the vault, or crown a vessel

For each Session, fill the same compact sections:

  • Create a strong start
  • Outline potential scenes
  • Define secrets and clues
  • Develop fantastic locations
  • Outline important NPCs
  • Choose relevant monsters
  • Select treasure and rewards

Use Hollow Sun Strong Start from the Block Library when the blank section stares back. The block asks for one image, one danger, and one character question. Three lines are enough to start a night of play; seventeen paragraphs are enough to make the party enter through the window.

The Foundry Without Fire Session page with a strong start, potential scenes, secrets, linked NPC, monster, and rewards
The Session page prepares choices and clues while linked pages hold reusable campaign detail. Open the full-size view.

Create these Encounter pages:

  • Market of Broken Lanterns
  • Nine-Door Guard
  • Bell Maw Pit
  • The Ninth Toll

On each Encounter page, use Add relationship to link its Session and Location. In the Encounter sidebar, search for an existing PC or Monster, choose the result, and add it as a participant. Moonvault copies a combat snapshot into the Encounter, so later HP, initiative, nicknames, and conditions stay separate from the reusable source page.

The Bell Maw Pit Encounter begins with the four PCs and one Bell Maw. The source monster has 24 HP. During our simulated session, the Encounter snapshot has 16 HP, one chain-pinned condition, and round 2 in progress. The source Monster remains clean for future reuse.

Write an alternate victory on the Encounter page:

Feed the Bell Maw a promise. It releases the key and sleeps, but breaking that promise later advances The Ninth Toll by 2.

An Encounter is more useful when it can end through play rather than only subtraction.

Quest 4: Put preparation in the checklist

Open the Campaign or Session Prep checklist and choose Add prep task. Give the task a specific title, choose its target Session, attach any page that supplies the answer, and leave it open until the work is actually complete. A task created from a Session is targeted there automatically; a campaign task can be aimed at any upcoming Session.

For this campaign:

  • Put one real torch timer on the table → target The Bell That Rang Below and link The Sun Debt.
  • Practice Caldus speaking without inhaling → target A Dawn Worth Paying For and link Rector Caldus.
  • Choose Iri’s minimum acceptable bargain → target The Foundry Without Fire and link Iri Ashhand.
  • Decide which final bell begins active → target A Dawn Worth Paying For and link The Ninth Toll.

Session-targeted tasks stay with the game they prepare. Mark one complete and reopen Briefing to see the readiness count change. Briefing gathers the previous recap, open tasks, party state, linked Encounters, recent pages, and missing pieces; it does not invent prep that was never linked.

Moonvault Session Briefing for The Foundry Without Fire showing previous recap, prep tasks, party state, and linked encounter
Briefing turns scattered campaign context into one pre-game readiness check. Open the full-size view.

Quest 5: Build a Session Board for table speed

Choose Run session, open Board, and choose Add card. Pick a card type, give it a table-facing title, fill the required value, and choose Add to board. Every card is stored with that Session.

For The Foundry Without Fire, add:

  • A Sticky note with Iri’s three bargain options.
  • A Counter for The Ninth Toll, currently 3.
  • A Page shortcut to Sunken Bell Foundry.
  • An Oracle / random table shortcut to Blackglass Omens.
  • A Quick roll for the Bell Maw’s 1d10 bite.
  • An Image card for the crater map.

For Page shortcut and Oracle / random table, choose an existing vault page. For Image, import the file you want pinned. For Quick roll, enter a valid formula such as 1d10; the card rolls without changing the Bell Maw page. The Counter changes only when you press its controls, so it is ideal for table-facing pressure but does not silently rewrite the durable Lore page.

The Board is deliberately session-local. Pin only what tonight needs. The NPC, Location, random table, and map remain normal vault pages rather than secret copies trapped in a dashboard.

Session Board for The Foundry Without Fire with a bargain note, toll counter, page shortcut, random table, quick roll, and map image
Session Board keeps tonight's reminders and shortcuts close while their source pages remain portable vault content. Open the full-size view.

Quest 6: Simulate consequences between sessions

Our demonstration vault treats the first two Sessions as complete:

  • After session one, the party saved Gloammarket, captured an Ashen Pilgrim, learned Iri stole the map, and raised Abbey Trust to 2 in the durable pressure notes.
  • After session two, the party crossed the causeway with one torch, confessed Mara’s abandoned post, recovered the first Bellmetal Key, and spared Brindle.

Those summaries feed the next Briefing. The campaign date moves to Lastlight 20. Update The Ninth Toll Lore page to 3 and match the next Session Board counter; Bell Wraiths become corporeal. If you are using the downloaded vault, edit its compatibility Campaign State source page instead. The third Session begins with a world changed by actual play.

This is the handoff we want: summary → durable campaign pressure → next briefing → new strong start.

Your four Sessions are ready

Before the table gathers, confirm that:

  • The Calendar has a current campaign date and meaningful deadline.
  • Every Session has a strong start, possible scenes, clues, and rewards.
  • Every Session links to its primary Encounter and Location.
  • Prep tasks target the Session where they matter.
  • Briefing has a previous recap and party state to show.
  • The current Session Board contains only tonight’s tools.

In part four, we will enter Active Session Mode, track exploration time and light, run the Bell Maw encounter, capture consequences, finish the summary, and carry the campaign into its final choice.