A Campaign Complete
Nearly a year and a half ago I decided, for the first time, to try my hand at being a DM. Honestly, nothing had ever been quite so scary in any hobby I've ever had before.
I gathered a group of friends from work, most of whom had never played D&D in their lives, and one who was new to 5e. I figured a short introduction campaign would be the best to test the waters, both for me behind the screen and them as players. After some consideration, I landed on Hoard of the Dragon Queen as it was lengthy but not too long, and relatively linear in design.
As the saying goes, your plans rarely survive contact with your players. It was clear very early on that this was not going to be the straightforward introduction that I was hoping for... and it was definitely for the best.
After a few sessions it was obvious the campaign module just wasn't going to cut it and I found myself all of a sudden not only worrying about DMing and maintaining rules at the table, but having to write and build out plot threads (something I had hoped the book would have covered for me). I got thrown into the deep end and it was time to sink or swim.
This post is not meant to get into the details of that campaign (I will eventually get around to writing it all down and posting it here) but simply to reflect on the crazy, wonderful, exhausting experience my first campaign turned out to be.
This past Saturday, September 28th 2019 I brought my story to a close. My players had traveled a long and treacherous road full of missteps, triumphs, and betrayals to find themselves caught in the middle of a conflict between the forces of the material plane and the armies of hell. I won't spoil whether they were successful or not, I'll leave that to my future story posts, but I will say it was a "hell" of a time. 18 months of consistent adventure, 17 levels, multiple meaningful character deaths, all culminating in a day long, 9 hour epic conclusion session... What more could you ask for from your first campaign?
As I think back over my first campaign there are some things I would change, some I would keep the same, and some I would never do again... but all in all I couldn't be happier with where we ended up. For anyone who might be on the fence about DMing, or even trying out this hobby in general, I say just do it. Jump in heads first, throw yourself in the deep end and trust that those at the table will help you keep your head above water.
Thank you to my players, who went on this amazingly epic journey with me... 'Till next we roll.
-Wolfkinz
I gathered a group of friends from work, most of whom had never played D&D in their lives, and one who was new to 5e. I figured a short introduction campaign would be the best to test the waters, both for me behind the screen and them as players. After some consideration, I landed on Hoard of the Dragon Queen as it was lengthy but not too long, and relatively linear in design.
As the saying goes, your plans rarely survive contact with your players. It was clear very early on that this was not going to be the straightforward introduction that I was hoping for... and it was definitely for the best.
After a few sessions it was obvious the campaign module just wasn't going to cut it and I found myself all of a sudden not only worrying about DMing and maintaining rules at the table, but having to write and build out plot threads (something I had hoped the book would have covered for me). I got thrown into the deep end and it was time to sink or swim.
This post is not meant to get into the details of that campaign (I will eventually get around to writing it all down and posting it here) but simply to reflect on the crazy, wonderful, exhausting experience my first campaign turned out to be.
This past Saturday, September 28th 2019 I brought my story to a close. My players had traveled a long and treacherous road full of missteps, triumphs, and betrayals to find themselves caught in the middle of a conflict between the forces of the material plane and the armies of hell. I won't spoil whether they were successful or not, I'll leave that to my future story posts, but I will say it was a "hell" of a time. 18 months of consistent adventure, 17 levels, multiple meaningful character deaths, all culminating in a day long, 9 hour epic conclusion session... What more could you ask for from your first campaign?
As I think back over my first campaign there are some things I would change, some I would keep the same, and some I would never do again... but all in all I couldn't be happier with where we ended up. For anyone who might be on the fence about DMing, or even trying out this hobby in general, I say just do it. Jump in heads first, throw yourself in the deep end and trust that those at the table will help you keep your head above water.
Thank you to my players, who went on this amazingly epic journey with me... 'Till next we roll.
-Wolfkinz
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