A New Campaign – CBK

For a month now I have been working on a new Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Now I have made a couple in the past but this is technically my first in the fifth edition. Also this is my first campaign that solely runs off of Roll20. I have always liked Roll20 because of the convenience of it but there is a certain charm (nostalgia?) to be had playing with miniatures and pen and paper.

I did play with another group that used minis but because the group had a knack for not planning things out and meta gaming, my characters would quickly die and buying minis can add up. That group actually moved on to Fantasy Grounds. Which is another online source that is similar to Roll20 in the sense that you can play D&D online. Bur I have sense left this group because drama seems to follow every group I’ve been with. I wonder if that has something to do with me… Nah. At least I don’t think so.

This new group, The Cave Bear Killers, is my group with my friends. So what that means is we can make “your mama” jokes and everything will still be kosher. Until they decide to break my campaign with stupid decisions which are more brilliant than stupid. I just don’t like when that happens because I didn’t expect them to make such smart choices. Which is my fault because I tend to underestimate them.

The Player Characters are as followed:

• Dobby – High Elf Sorceress.

  

  (Left to right) Set – Dobby – Ralakas – Xander

• Xander – Human Cleric
• Set – Human Warrior
• Ralakas – Tiefling Rogue

I do have another friend of mine that might be interested in playing with the group as well but until I get a solid yes from him he has no character but I know he has one in the making.

The campaign is my first attempt at making a campaign that has multiple plot points. I’ve developed a world that has seen peace and chaos. Where heroes have risen in trying times to defend the weak and innocent. But has also seen those very heroes turn it all in for a taste of immense power. Needless to say I’m very excited to see the campaign in live action. I want to see where the group will take their characters’ personal stories in this world. Will the tempt fate, defend good, or turn it all in for power and riches. That’s the beauty of this game; anything can happen. From all that I have learned as Dungeon Master is that a good DM isn’t the bad guy, but is the one who creates a world for the player characters to both lose and find themselves.

Fantasy Time

I’m a big fan of Dungeon and Dragons. Huge fan really. Something about it has always made me feel a little, free. Over the years my love for the game and the work that makes a mighty campaign epic, epic has grown. It was’t always so though. I was a closeted nerd for some time. When I entered the world of fantasy where anything could happen I relished in it.  It’s safe to say that I don’t plan on going anywhere either.

I remember when I first started getting into the idea of fantasy based worlds. I was around the age of nine. I was a huge fan of history as a child and still am today. That love of history lead me to things like King Arthur and his knights, Robin Hood, and other medieval based lore. As a young boy seriously what’s better for the imagination then shields, swords, magic, and fire breathing dragons. It inspired me to think outside of the box. My imagination was broad and often at times kept me company when times were so-so. I remember making up stories in my head that would take place in expansive realms with detailed characters. I would keep these stories going in my head for days until they reached a natural stopping point or I just forgot where I left off. It wouldn’t stop me from starting a new story though.

By the time a the first “Lord of The Rings” movie came out I was already immersed into the fantasy world of Tolkien. Having to read “The Hobbit” in the fourth grade the idea of being able to see elves, dwarves, and hobbits come to life was a must see.

Fast forward to ten or so years and I no longer needed to make up these fantasy worlds in my head. Thanks to Bethesda and the magic of Todd Howard I was able to visit worlds that only drove me deeper into fantasy. Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim opened me up to a universe that I could never come up with but one that I’m more the grateful for having spent hours and hours in. Seriously, collectively I have at least over a thousand hours in Skyrim alone. I can’t remember how many hours I put in Oblivion but it was a lot. Those games like many people who call themselves “gamers” have a special place in my heart. It’s not just the game but it was the time  when I picked it up, the hours I spent playing it and the people I played it with.

That’s just a little insight to how I became such a fan of Dungeons and Dragons. I didn’t actually get a chance to play the game until I was about 20. The firs taste of D&D I ever had was the board game Called the Wrath of Ashardalon. It was a board game version of D&D that’s played with minis, in traditional D&D fashion, cards, a die, and map tiles. It’s a modified version of the true pen and paper game but still contained all the fun. That lead our little group of five guys to decide to try out the actual game. I got some PDF’s on the rules and characters and  away we went. I can’t explain how much fun I had being able to build my own world piece by piece. I felt like my adolescent self again creating worlds where anything and everything was possible. Of course however like many other Dungeon and Dragons groups before ours we disbanded because of drama/players weren’t showing up anymore. It happens.

Now two years apart that we haven’t played  we have decided to rekindle our group and give it a try again. The so called Cave Bear Killers dungeon and dragons group is back together and not at all stronger than ever. I think we are more willing now however. We have made the characters and my campaign is awaiting them. The only thing we need to wait on is the final touches of our group. Like dates and times. We’ll get there.

Until then I’ll just keep adding more and more details to my story.

The Holiday Break

Last week seemed to fly by, sort of. It was a productive week for meeting with family that I haven’t seen in well over ten years. So in that regard it was worth it and pleasant. But back to work this week.

On the eight hour road trip that it takes to get form here to the town in which my family lives in. I was able to do some good work on the D&D campaign. I developed NPC’s, a major hook, major plot, side plots, and other little things that will help me piece together an actual campaign worth playing. One of the major things that I’m really excited about is the Story Hook that will take them form point A to point B.

To get an idea of what I’m working,

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“You’re sitting in the town’s tavern, The Blue Flagon as patrons slowly begin to ween out in the night and retire to their homes. It’s been a long day for these people but you can’t seem to tell why and the people are reluctant to trust you. That is until you hear a loud crash come from outside the tavern. Something is happening. Something bad. You rush out of the tavern to see that the gates you only just walked through are engulfed in flames. Roll a dexterity check.”

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This is just a simple hook but what I hope will lead to so much more in the coming days. As far as the players characters are concerned they are finished and ready for the character sheets. And I have to say I’m a little excited to see how some of them play out.

We have

• Set the Half-Elf Warrior
• Xander the  Human Cleric for the Deity of Tyr
• Dobby a High Elf Sorcerer
• Ralakas a Tiefling Rouge

The interesting thing about this group is that their character profiles are all across the board. So I’m expecting that at some point in time they will clash when it comes to what is right and wrong in a very serious way that could alter my story which gives me a minor migraine but also keeps me on my toes when it comes to adapting my world to their decisions. I look forward to sharing more.

D&D Kind of Sunday

Today, if all goes well, will be the day that the group finally makes their characters so over the thanksgiving break I can really put some work into the campaign. I always look forward to the beginning over a new campaign because as the DM it’s exciting for me to see who and what will be running around in my world. Then again with this group creating characters could be really awesome or really frustrating, but so is the life of a DM. It’s always random characters who can’t do what they want because A.it’s not possible in the world of D&D or B. it’s some weird anime power that can’t scale into actual play. But I’m hoping for the best.

I will say that one of the guys that’s in the group, in our previous campaign  made a level one Necromancer that was completeness useless. I purposely sent everything after him to kill his character, which I was successful in, because he was bringing down the group in being useless. So killing that character was fun. He was mauled by bears, badly.