D&D Gaming Finally Rolling!
I'm finally playing D&D again! Well, GMing D&D again. It's always easier to find a few people willing to play than one willing to GM. And as hard as that was when I was younger, it's only gotten more challenging with age as people have kids, demanding jobs, and busy social calendars. But hey, D&D!
After holding a much-delayed Session Zero two weeks ago we started my "City of the Dead" game for real this past Friday night.
There are four players in the game. I created a set of 5 pre-gen PCs with the appropriate mix of skills and motivations to make the game fun. I didn't require players to select a pre-gen.... I expected that at least two players would want to modify one of the pre-gens to tailor it to suit their preferences, or even build a character from scratch. Instead all four players took to my pre-gens quickly in the Session Zero. And everyone seemed to get their first choice. Woot!
Friday night's session had the party leaving the safe(ish) environs of the fading city of Durendal, heading out to the curse, haunted city of Graymount, "City of the Dead", a few days away. The players agreed that the main goal driving them was to investigate the disappearance of a cleric's superior and hopefully rescue him. Each of the PCs has a personal motive to want to venture there. I carefully crafted those to overlap yet simultaneously create just a bit of dramatic tension.
Things that go CRASH in the night
Friday's night session was taken up by a midnight raid on the party's camp while they were traveling. Two trolls and a young winter wolf lived in the area.
One of the trolls and the wolf were out hunting. They spotted the party's camp and tried sneaking in. The sentry on watch heard their approach and woke everyone up. Having lost the element of surprise, the monsters backed off. Two hours later they tried again, also by then a bit wiser to the party's tactics. They gained the element of surprise and attacked. The PCs prevailed by fighting hard and making some wise choices. Everybody participated, everybody got to do something that only they can do.
In the morning after the nighttime raids the party decided to track where the monsters had come from. "We don't want a monster chasing after us," they reasoned. That was smart because there was another troll in the lair. Also, the treasure was in the lair. 😅
I was mindful as I wrote this nighttime raid into the story. This game is a short story: a single adventure I expect to span 5 sessions. Giving the entirety of session 1 over to a side plot requires... careful intentionality. My aims here were twofold. For one, this sub-adventure helps flesh out the setting. This is a dangerous area, an area the vast expanse between cities in a fallen realm, where things routinely go bump in the night. Second, and really more important, is that I gave the party a shakedown encounter. It was an opportunity to figure out their characters' powers and how to work together before they get embroiled in the more intense encounters ahead in... The City of the Dead.
After holding a much-delayed Session Zero two weeks ago we started my "City of the Dead" game for real this past Friday night.
There are four players in the game. I created a set of 5 pre-gen PCs with the appropriate mix of skills and motivations to make the game fun. I didn't require players to select a pre-gen.... I expected that at least two players would want to modify one of the pre-gens to tailor it to suit their preferences, or even build a character from scratch. Instead all four players took to my pre-gens quickly in the Session Zero. And everyone seemed to get their first choice. Woot!
Friday night's session had the party leaving the safe(ish) environs of the fading city of Durendal, heading out to the curse, haunted city of Graymount, "City of the Dead", a few days away. The players agreed that the main goal driving them was to investigate the disappearance of a cleric's superior and hopefully rescue him. Each of the PCs has a personal motive to want to venture there. I carefully crafted those to overlap yet simultaneously create just a bit of dramatic tension.
Things that go CRASH in the night
Friday's night session was taken up by a midnight raid on the party's camp while they were traveling. Two trolls and a young winter wolf lived in the area.
One of the trolls and the wolf were out hunting. They spotted the party's camp and tried sneaking in. The sentry on watch heard their approach and woke everyone up. Having lost the element of surprise, the monsters backed off. Two hours later they tried again, also by then a bit wiser to the party's tactics. They gained the element of surprise and attacked. The PCs prevailed by fighting hard and making some wise choices. Everybody participated, everybody got to do something that only they can do.
In the morning after the nighttime raids the party decided to track where the monsters had come from. "We don't want a monster chasing after us," they reasoned. That was smart because there was another troll in the lair. Also, the treasure was in the lair. 😅
I was mindful as I wrote this nighttime raid into the story. This game is a short story: a single adventure I expect to span 5 sessions. Giving the entirety of session 1 over to a side plot requires... careful intentionality. My aims here were twofold. For one, this sub-adventure helps flesh out the setting. This is a dangerous area, an area the vast expanse between cities in a fallen realm, where things routinely go bump in the night. Second, and really more important, is that I gave the party a shakedown encounter. It was an opportunity to figure out their characters' powers and how to work together before they get embroiled in the more intense encounters ahead in... The City of the Dead.