This is the second part of the Article A Year of Running D&D and Deadlands Part 1. It continues the story of my first year as a dungeon master, covering the last six month’s of it. This is a story about friends, and being inspired to do more.
D&D Campaign Two: The Broken Lands
After the failure of Fair Isle, I took what world-building i didn’t use in it and created the Broken Lands. It was created with a spattering of influence from Exandria and Matt Colville’s videos, on top of a multitude of other minor influences and my own ideas. I gave my players multiple campaign options, but they settled on an evil campaign. The premise, the Betrayer God’s and Dragon’s where locked up thousands of years ago, and during the battle the main continent was sundered into three and many different islands. The church of Pelor now controlled the world, and because of them Dragonborn are heavily discriminated against and considered inherently evil.
It’s only the second D&D setting I’ve ever made but a lot of work was put into it, and I really like how it came out. The players had fun making characters as well: Drago chose a Dragonborn paladin, Lost Writer an elven Monk, Pagano a human Illrigger; and CaremalCam, our player who joined around the same time as the problem player, chose a tiefling Sorcerer. Along the way another player joined, her name was Nightwalker, and she chose an Elven Druid. I slowly introduced followers and combat was different, more engaging for me. The players seemed to like it as well. They seemed to enjoy having followers, and the benefits of having more help.
An Ever Changing Dynamic
A new player joined the campaign for two sessions. He was a nice enough guy who tried to incorporate his character in the game quickly. But he left and then returned out of nowhere two months later. He complained everyone had ignored him and made him feel left out. The rest of the group and I noticed the warning signs promptly kicked him. I did try talking to him beforehand, but he wasn’t an adult about it
Due to changing circumstances Pagano left the group. He is to this day a great friend of mine but he had real life issues that pulled him away from the game. I don’t look back at this with the same hate that I do with the situation involving the problem player as there is really nothing i could off done to change that and keep him in the game.
The Finale of the Broken Lands
Unlike Fair Isle this campaign had a definitive end, collect the seven magic items that work as keys to the prison and unlock it. Along the way, the group learned whoever opened the prison forfeited their life. My players reached level 12 before they collected them all. The final battle was a proud moment of mine as well, a collection of NPC’s and armies they united against the Church stormed its stronghold and slew the Silver Dragon’s protecting it. The Final Battle was against the High Priest of Pelor who had the magic crown that allowed him to turn into a Dragon. It was in this fight combat kicked in for me, as I made it difficult and fun, and CaramelCams follower was the one who dealt the final blow. Hitting the Dragon with an Ice Storm that made him fall 30 feet to his death.
Whoever used all the magic items to open the gate would forfeit their body and soul to Baranax the Betrayer leader of the Betrayer Gods, and become his host. Drago took this upon his Dragonborn Paladin and he died. It is the first player death in my campaign, and it was a good thematic end. The rest of the players were given the option of becoming immortal. Most took it and lived happily ever after, resting in areas they ruled or traveling and enjoying the power that they earned.
An Actual Evil Campaign?
Looking back at what the party did, I don’t think it was exactly an evil campaign. More a grey D&D campaign about a group of people united the world against a power that had to much influence. They made a friend’s along the way and reversed the power of the world, dethroning the humans and making elves and Dragonborn the dominant species.
D&D Campaign Three: Rule of Dragon’s
The next and current D&D campaign takes place 260 years after the previous one, all-new characters and a new adventure. The adventure started off in a region far in the southern continent ruled by a Red Dragon, with the best player character names I’ve ever heard. Such as Barry McCockner and Tent Bungalow. We also picked up three new players, Deception, Healter, and Freefall, bringing the group up to seven. With this many players, sessions started feeling disorganized, or just plain chaotic. But over time I got used to the new group and used to running for so many.
A Problem here was scheduling. With so many players some of them can’t make it every night. I run twice a week, and this allows me a schedule where all the players can play at least once a week, and on rare occasions’s all seven when the schedule finally works. I deal with missing player characters by having other player characters run them, and it has worked for my group so far.
The Big Things I’ve Learned
Don’t get married to a group dynamic. Yeah, it’s great and all having the same three or four players, but I decided to take the risk and run for more. That lead to me meeting more people who I consider my closest friends. Now I’m not saying run for 10 people, you need to stay near your comfort level and seven is the limit for me. My point is don’t say no to someone who wants to play. Even now when people ask me I just have them jump in for one or two games. I want to introduce as many people to this hobby I can after all.
Improvising is expected but always prepare something. Even if it’s just a combat encounter or a handful of characters. Something to fall back on. Always’s talk to players about issues you have with them. If they act like adults then you can easily solve most disputes, and if they don’t maybe they’re not just fit for your group.
The Beginning of A Long Journey
Running D&D has its highs and lows, but every step of the journey was worth it. The growth it has caused in my skills and as a person has been amazing to experience. The friends I have gotten, the memories I’ve made, and the motivation to become better have made me who I am today. Please consider subscribing to email notifications below or following me on twitter to be notified of new posts!
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[…] It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since I took the plunge into this strange yet amazing hobby of mine. Running D&D is a lot of fun, and It’s hard to believe how much it has changed my life. Recently I’ve been driven to be better, and do so much more in my personal life. I can thank D&D for most of that. With 2020 being what it is, D&D has helped sustain me through all of it. So, I will be giving you a summary of my life and my group, catching you up on year two.… Read more »