The D&D Game With No Name

[eveglass]

From the same players who brought you The Voice of Doom comes a brand-new D&D game... which currently has no campaign name. But it will! Oh, yes, precious, it will! Until then, I'm using a placeholder name that will undoubtedly change within a few sessions.

Speaking of sessions, we're off to a great start, with all-new characters, all-new settings, and all-new quotes! Yay!


The Cast of Characters:

- Baska (played by Julie), a grifter with a fast tongue and fast hands
- Ionas (played by Eric), a cleric of Eliath the Shield
- Agatha (played by Erin), a sorceress specializing in battle magic
- Bardo (played by Sabina), a dwarven fighter with a fascination for flying machinery
- Colt (played by Adam), an artificer from the Sagecrest Valley
- Gorka'munda (played by Andrew-the-no-longer-GM), an orog (half-orc/half-ogre) who speaks about himself in the third person
- Bob the GM


[Sabina's character Bardo is fascinated with the idea of airships, which do not yet exist in this game world.]
Sabina: "I never said I had very high wisdom."

[Gorka'munda is everything you'd expect from a half-orc/half-ogre: stubborn, not terribly bright, and incredibly determined.]
Bob the GM: "You've definitely seen other people run away."

[My character Baska is a master of disguise and has many stock personae for a variety of situations.]
Sabina (to Julie): "I'll just assume 75% of the people we meet are you."

[Before the game starts, we try to figure out why the various PCs are in the party.]
Baska: "What do you want?"
Agatha: "Adventure."
Baska: "...I can make that happen!"

[The PCs have arrived at the town of Messeney and just want to make sure all the contingency plans are in place.]
Andrew: "So you'll get us out of the city, right?"
Julie: "Well, I'll get me out of the city."

[We wonder whether Gorka'munda has any experience with the value of protecting the weak. We decide he does, in very narrow circumstances.]
Eric: "Someone has to protect the baby orogs until they're big enough to eat their enemies."

[Gorka'munda, as orcish nobility, believes that the strongest person should lead the war band.]
Julie: "I have no problem with making you think you're the leader."

[The thing about dealing with Gorka'munda is that he's not very smart and is incredibly gullible.]
Gorka'munda: "Who's the leader of this town?"
Adam: "That peasant in the field over there."

[While the rest of the PCs sleep in an inn, Gorka'munda sleeps on some rocks in an ally.]
Gorka'munda: "Bed make you soft. Soft like... bed."

[Bob the GM settles in to running his first session.]
Bob the GM: "Oh, man, GMing. I remember this."
Andrew the no-longer-GM: "Oh, man, being a player. I remember this."

[One of the major churches in the city is that of Eliath the Torch.]
Bob the GM: "The tavern you're staying in is called the Eternal Torch."
Adam: "Is it allied with the church?"
Eric: "No, it's just been set on fire multiple times."

[Usually it's Baska's job to explain why we're traveling with an orog. However, we're about to take to the road with a petitioner to Ionas' church and one of its monks.]
Baska (to Ionas): "These are your people. You get to explain."

[Of course, the flip side to any conversation is explaining what we're doing to Gorka'munda in such a way that he won't cause a scene.]
Gorka'munda: "Ionas, why you bring snacks?"
Ionas: "...Baska?"

[Naturally, traveling with an orog takes some getting used to.]
Mazl, monk of Eliath: "Have you had... success with these companions?"
Julie (as Ionas): "Justice is most needed where it doesn't exist!"

[The first day of travel starts remarkably smoothly.]
Bob the GM: "It's a beautiful day, no clouds..."
Eric: "Sounds suspicious."

[We make camp for the first night.]
Andrew: "I'm setting up a mismatched pile of stakes that don't do anything but make me feel better."

[Gorka'munda saw some goblins while out hunting for dinner. Sadly, also suspiciously-fast-moving rain clouds.]
Gorka'munda (to Ionas): "Gorka'munda handle gobbos. Evil gods, you handle."
Baska: "Actually, that sounds reasonable."

[Midway through the night, in the heavy rain, there is an orange light to the east that glows for a few minutes before turning blue and fading from sight.]
Julie: "You're thinking what I'm thinking, aren't you?"
Eric: "Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is a forest fire?"

[Colt sends one of his bird homunculi to investigate the light. It takes a very long time to come back.]
Andrew (to Adam): "Are you out a familiar in the first session? I'd laugh."
Bob the GM: "I might not kill your homunculus in the first session."

[We reach the village to discover large sections of buildings, land, and crops have been burned.]
Eric: "So there are crop circles."
Bob the GM: "Yes. Now."

[Our NPC companion follows the voice of one of his friends deeper into the village. The rest of the PCs hold back a minute.]
Andrew: "Using the squishy as bait."
Eric (less than compellingly): "He's not bait; he just started walking before I did. I'm not using him to spring a trap."

[We think on what might have caused the carnage in the village and decide it must have been a dragon. When we investigate further, we find a large crowd of people in a circle around... something. We push our way through.]
Bob the GM: "They're crowded around a dead angel."
Andrew: "[beat] Dragon would have been better."


And that's it for our very first session! A dead angel! Whatever killed it is probably still around and just waiting to get to our vulnerable, 4th-level heroes! The suspense! The drama! Join us next time to find out what happens!

Comments

Curious

[akitrom.livejournal.com]

1) Did you have any real-world / in-game twitches when dealing with likely forest fires?

2) What version of D&D?

3) Why start at 4th level?

Re: Curious

[eveglass.livejournal.com]

1. No.
2. 3.5.
3. High enough not to be immediately killed by a single goblin, low enough to keep things interesting.

Re: Curious

[hotspurre.livejournal.com]

I like that. I've been in a few campaigns that start at 4rth or 5th.