Today I had my first Dungeons and Dragons session in about 10 years. It was also my first time ever as a Dungeon Master (DM). And boy, what a lot of fun!
I had prepared myself by making a framework for a story and the setting it takes place in. From that I essentially just filled in the details with import non-player characters (NPC’s), locations and a general back-story that was flexible enough for my needs.
Our party of adventurers consist of a dwarven barbarian named Draug, Varis the elven ranger, Christian the cleric and lastly Hilda the human wizard. A jolly bunch of people ranging from different backgrounds (Two outcasts, a hermit and an acolyte) hired by the Dwarf Baldur Snorrison to bring a wagon of provisions and equipment to a small village named Mastov. He didn’t tell them what it was for, only that it was very important and that he had to travel in advance, as he had to meet with a local woman.
The story so far
Our party had been hired by aforementioned dwarf and have been on the road for around 4 days. Half a days travel outside of Mastov they spot a figure lying on the road with several black-feathered arrows sticking out of the body. After a lengthy discussion (in which Draug suggested as the first thing, that we should drive over the body), Hilda poked the body with the spell mage hand. Only to discover that nothing happened.
Draug then took it in his own hands and went over to investigate the body. They discovered that the body belonged to a young black-haired woman, carrying a necklace with a feather-symbol in. After another lengthy discussion, in which they discussed whether they should bury the body (they got no shovel), bring it with them (no room on the wagon) or just leave it, they decided to drag the body to the side of the road and continue on their way. However Draug took the necklace and an arrow as a precaution.
Upon arrival in Mastov, they headed straight for the local inn called The Old Soldier. Once outside, they peeked into the wagon, to see what they actually were delivering, only to discover they actually had a shovel the whole time, along other stuff.
In front of the entrance they met an old man sweeping the ground outside. They asked him if they had seen a dwarf arriving in the last couple of days and if he knew anything about a young woman. The old man just smiled at them and continued sweeping – to the party it seemed he didn’t understand the question so they tried in various languages before giving up and went inside.
Once inside they ordered a round of beer and asked the innkeeper if he had any news. He responded by telling them a dwarf had passed through a couple of days ago. About the young woman, he seemed chocked when they showed him the necklace. He told them they could ask the owner of the general store in town, Vincent, as it might be his daughters.
At the general store, also called The Hippogrif, they inquired the owner about the corpse of the young woman they had found earlier in the day. He told them she had rode out some days ago, to meet up with someone. With who, she would not say, only that she would bring home a lot of money. Business had been rough lately, as the stream of travellers passing through had been steadily shrinking. The only highlight had been a dwarf named Baldur who had arrived earlier in the week and told him to expect a wagon with equipment and provisions. Baldur had asked Vincent of he could take care of payment to the persons bringing in the wagon, upon which he agreed.
When the party broke the news of the womans death and showed the necklace, Vincent broke down crying. He asked them to bring back the corpse. Actually he begged them. His old age and injuries meant he couldn’t do it by himself. The party pitied the man and told they would do it. However Draug wanted some money for bringing in the wagon. Right here and now! Vincent told them they would get the money, after they brought the corpse, after all what security did he have that they would do it? That didn’t suit well with Draug, he got in Vincents face and told him to find some money, otherwise he could forget everything about seeing his daughter again. Vincent grudgingly handed over the money, and told them to go get the corpse.
Before leaving The Hippogrif, they offloaded the wagon in the stores backyard and went on their way back to where they came from. They arrived in the evening, with some sun left. They searched the area for more clues and found a hidden trail near the road. As the sun was setting, they decided to make camp for the night, before heading back to Mastov. Varis went out to hunt some game and came back some time later with a deer. As Hilda is the only woman in the party, they decided that she was the one who should cook. However, as Hilda rolled a 1 on skinning and dismembering the deer, it went horrifically wrong with meat cuts flying around all over the place as she more or less butchered the poor animal.
The next day they arrived at Mastov (again) and went to The Hippogrif. A group of 10-15 people was standing and talking outside the store. The mood was sombre and people looked sceptically at the newcomers. After talking with Vincent, who asked them to find his daughters killers (and receiving their money) the mob asked them if they knew who the killer was. Draug flourished the arrow he had taken earlier, and they were pointed towards Finearean – the local ranger, living on the outskirts of the village. If anybody could recognize an arrow, it would be him.
At Finearean’s hut, they found him outside practising with his bow and arrow. He recognized the arrow as a goblin-arrow and told them they have had some problems with goblins lately. They had been attacking travellers and while they hadn’t attacked the village yet, they had been getting bolder and bolder and he had had to kill a goblin or two every now and again when they’ve gotten too close.
He told the party that there was a nest north-east of the village, but he didn’t know precisely where.
The party told them would get rid of the goblins, if they would get free food and lodgings at the inn. Finearean couldn’t promise them anything, as he would have to talk with the innkeeper first.
At the inn, Finearean had a lengthy discussion with the innkeeper. Finally the innkeeper gave in and they could have it their way. They would even get a nice party thrown at them, if they could get rid of the goblins. The party celebrated it by drinking heavily through the night.
Next day they all woke up. Christian and Hilda was feeling a bit under the weather, while Varis was fit as a fiddle. However Draug was nowhere to be found. Outside the inn they found the old man sweeping. After a lot of gesticulating, explanation and mimic, the old man’s smile broadened and he pointed down towards the farm fields.
Out in the farm fields Draug woke up. With a pig by his side. After his initial confusion, he tried to orientate himself however the grain was too high for him to look over. He then decided to take his quarterstaff and wave it in the air, in the hope of somebody spotting it. Luckily Varis spotted it and the party was soon reunited.
After deceiving the local stable boy that the horses they needed was already paid for, they arrived at the hidden trail some hours later (Draug carrying the pig from earlier under his arm). As the trail was small, the party had to follow it single-file. A couple of miles later, they were ambushed by 4 goblins. A quick and fierce battle ensued (With Draug fighting the goblins with his sword in one hand and a rope holding the pig in another) and after they had decimated 3 of the goblins, the 4th decided to flee. Varis went after the goblin in the heat of the moment, but soon gave up on the chase.
A short rest later (and Draug taking a goblin ear as a trophy), the party was on their way again. On their way, they found 2 traps. A snare (which they triggered using mage hand) and a hidden pit which they went around. Soon they arrived at a cave located in a big hill.
After some discussion (again), the sent Varis into the cave to scout. He essentially just went inside, looked around, found a set of stairs and went back again. Then he convinced Draug to follow him into the cave (who first tied his pig to a tree outside) again and they went up the stairs. They then spotted 3 wolves, chained to a stalagmite. As the wolves couldn’t reach them, they just went wide around and into the back of the cave room. They had spotted some loose dirt and gravel, which they for some reason decided to look through. Draug found a white mushroom, which he stuffed in his backpack. Varis however, spotted a hole high up the cave wall. They brought in the rest of the party, as the wolves was getting more and more agitated. Draug climbed up the cave wall to the hole, carrying a rope on his shoulder. Once up, he let down the rope, so the others could climb up. As he couldn’t tie the rope to anything, he had to hold it himself. As Varis was climbing up, Draug failed his strength check by rolling a 1 and Varis dropped around 4 meters down taking some light damage from the fall.
Varis then decided to climb the wall by himself, which went without any problems. With two people holding the rope, it was much easier getting people up. Christian went next, however as he was halfway up the rope, one of the wolves broke its chain and went straight for Hilda. After a frantic fight, involving a lot of fire bolts and Hilda narrowly dodging the wolf, it went down in flames. They then got themselves together and pulled up Christian and Hilda very fast.
Climbing through the tunnel, they emerged into another room. Varis was the first man in line, so he spotted a bugbear, a goblin and a wolf. He and Draug then decided to sneak out on either side of the room, while Christian, still inside the tunnel, tried to command the bugbear by using the command spell. Needless to say, it went badly. The bugbear resisted the spell and charged at Christian. Hilda for some reason, got the highest initiative score, but being stuck behind Christian in the tunnel, so couldn’t do much. Varis and Draug attacked from the shadows and quickly inflicted some damage on the bugbear, which was hitting on Christian. The goblin and wolf decided to pounce on Varis, who successfully melted back into the shadows. Draug was still swinging around with his longsword and Christian was on the receiving end of the bugbears weapon. Before succumbing to the bugbears beating, Christian set a wolf on fire with some sacred flames while Varis finished off a goblin. Hilda then sent another of her fire bolts into the face of the bugbear which finally went down.
Aftermath
And that’s where we stopped for today. Christian bleeding out on the cavern floor and the others are just getting their bearings after the fight.
Total kill count:
Christian: 1 goblin, 1 wolf.
Draug: 1 goblin
Hilda: 1 goblin, 1 bugbear, 1 wolf.
Varis: 1 goblin
All in all a very fun session. It took some time to get everybody started, as people had to create characters. We were really hindered by only having one players handbook, but overall it went pretty painless.
I think the most surprising thing, is the amount of discussion the party does for sometimes the seemingly most meaningless things. It is, however, also some of the most fun to witness as a DM. I still have a lot to learn regarding DM’ing and I mostly concentrated on just keeping the flow going instead of sticking strictly to the rules. Needless to say, I’m already looking forward to the next session, just to see what happens.