Saturday, It Begins...

In my last post I talked about running a Dungeons & Dragons campaign for the 1st time in over 10 years. My players are getting excited to start and I'm both excited and nervous. The players interact with the Dungeon Master (referee and creator for the game) to tell a story of sorts and each relies on the other to craft a fulfilling experience.

Almost 28 years have passed since I started playing this game. The game has gone full circle in a way going from a set of rules to use with miniature war games to a loose set of rules for role-playing games now to a hybrid of miniatures, role-playing, and structured character development like you find in most computer games. I've resisted each upgrade in the rules but in the end have changed over and enjoyed each new edition for what it is. Friends are really what make the game fun. A good bunch of players can make an afternoon or evening disappear in a moment and you wonder what has happened.

That's a little of where the nervous comes in. I've known all 3 of the players for 10+ years and I don't foresee any real problems with the game. But I've never been in a position of direction or leadership with these guys. One of the players likes to push the boundaries of the rules. Another of the players likes to have fun with his character at the expense of the other characters in play which can frustrate players. I hope I'm up to the task of maintaining order and keeping the players focused on what is important for the game to be successful.

Greyhawk is the original fantasy world created by Gary Gygax and The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is set along the south coast of Keoland in this world. For a decade or more, Greyhawk was the only commercial campaign world and all of the modules that were created for D&D were set in this world. I have been nostalgic for these adventures lately. Maybe this is my version of a midlife crisis, missing something I loved dearly when I was young. Or maybe the newer products just aren't as good. Either way, I'm excited to be exploring the lands and their adventures again.

I'm combining products from 3 editions of the game into 1 complete product. The original adventures were written for 1st edition and the town of Saltmarsh was fully detailed in 3rd edition. Characters are being created using 2nd edition rules which are mostly compatible with 1st edition and the framework for the game will be a 1st/2nd combination. A mix of editions and rules should help to give the game a unique feel, one I hope everyone enjoys.

My reading choices of late should also help flavor the action. I have been spending a lot of time reading stories by H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard and should be able to use some influences from the Cthulhu mythos and the tales of Conan and Solomon Kane to create a tone for the game that is both mysterious but adventurous. These classic stories are not the high fantasy of Tolkien but grittier stories that deal more with simple survival and overcoming adversaries as well as exploring the unknown. All of these elements should make for some fun adventures.

Hopefully my learning and experiences from the past 10 years will be of benefit for administering the game. I'm not the same person I was then and I like to think I have a greater insight into the game and how the story-telling should work. The reactions of my players by Saturday evening should begin to tell me if I'm on the right track.