Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Dungeons, Dragons, and Draughts

"To all ye wandering outcasts, brave warriors, and would-be heroes: Welcome home."

These are the words inscribed above the entrance way of the sturdy granite keep that houses the Victus Adventurers Union. Rising high upon the cliffs overseeing the harbor in the trade city of Blackbridge, it is within these great halls that eager young adventurers from far and wide congregate to embark upon journeys to dangerous and exotic lands; righting wrongs and slaying foul beasts and corrupt warriors alike - all for the right price, of course. It is also within these halls that we'll be beginning our D&D campaign this coming Wednesday at the inaugural Cleveland Game Night.

And I, your humble Dungeon-Master-to-be, wanted to take this opportunity to outline just what kind of game I'll be running so that you can come to the table with an idea of just what those lucky dice of yours will be rolling for.

Since we're only meeting once a month, at this point, this campaign will be episodic in nature. What I mean by that is that on a typical game night we'll start an adventure and hopefully finish it by the end of the play session. This might not always happen, but at least that is the goal. This way it is easy for players to hop in and out of the game from session to session. And what better setting to allow for something like this than that of the contracted adventurer's guild? As members of the Victus Adventurers Union, your characters will be assigned all manner of missions from the simple "go kill some stuff" quests to more complex investigative, rescue, or even diplomatic missions.

We're going to use the 3.5 edition rule set for now, as (in case you haven't yet heard) 4th edition is crazy and I wouldn't feel comfortable running a campaign without a better grasp of the rules than I have right now. I'm sure we'll jump to that at some point, but for now we're going to stick with what we all know. I am fine with any kind of character and class from any official D&D product, with the exception of all of that Unearthed Arcana bullshit. Gestalt characters? Really? Beyond that, again, anything is fine. Beguilers, Goliaths, Peerless Archers.. it's all fine by me.

We're going to start things off at 2nd level, because first level is for suckers; so think about what kind of character you want to run, so that we can get started as soon as possible! We'll be rolling characters at the bar, so no need to do that ahead of time. But it would be a good idea to at least know what you'd like to make in advance! In fact, if anyone out who is planning on showing up has an idea of what they'll be playing, leave a comment on this post so that your fellow players and I have an idea of what the group will be like!

My campaigns are a pretty good blend of action and role playing. Oh yeah, role playing. Since this is the original RPG, after all, actually getting in character is a requirement! I mean, you don't have to use a voice or wear a hat or anything; but character interactions will be played out for the most part.

As for myself, I've been running campaigns for about six years now and I like to think I do a pretty good job of it. It's my favorite hobby and pastime, and I hope to run a great game that everyone can enjoy playing! So bring those dice and books and get ready for some sweet, sweet dungeon delving this Wednesday night!

Oh, and in case no one heard.. there's a rumor (and it is just a rumor): Word is that Bar Cento just might be tapping their last keg of Christmas Ale that night. That is a critical hit, right there, ladies and gents.

Until then, as the elves say: Sweet water and light laughter until next we meet!


Jim Bradford is a dad and a secretary and a huge dork. Just don't tell the ladies that. Seriously.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm planning on coming but I'm going to be running late. I'd like to create my own character. I'm working on it right now. I'll have most of it done except for the dice rolling obviously by the time I get there. Hopefully, you'll see this, and even if you don't, I'd imagine you'd let me join a few minutes late. Heck, I may even make it by 6:30pm.
-Dave

Unknown said...

Nevermind, something came up and I'm not going to be able to make it.

Story of my life.