I be a DM

So, last night I ran my first-ever d20 game. It is a campaign I’ve been planning to run for my housemates and unofficial household members for awhile now.

I think it went well. I framed it around a small trade caravan – as it seemed a good way of keeping the PCs together and forming a bond between them. I had a few pacing issues, but I don’t think that they were apparent to the players until I admitted to them – mostly the issues were in my own head. The game was moving at a decent pace, but when planning the game I hadn’t really expected to focus on several scenes that the players seemed interested in… so we didn’t get nearly as far as I expected.

PCs:

Wolfgang, the scout, who is leading the expedition. He’s utterly broke and none too happy about it. He likes to swear in Goblin – it is a language made for expletives.

Alexis, the half-elven tinker, who is under orders from her guild to take some strange objects (including what looks like a full plate armored boot for a giant) to a small town.

Hezkhe, the druidic savant, who joined the caravan because it would cross the Giant’s Stairway, a series of 50′ high steps carved all the way up a mountain – a sight that she was excited to witness.

Isaac, the fighter/barbarian who left the big city for the frontier. He killed a tree. With a greatsword. That he threw. (He was aiming for a hobgoblin bandit, but the tree was in the way.) He came along because he heard Hezkhe talking excitedly about the stairs, and thought that they might be neat to climb. or something.

NPC-wise, so far, we have one NPC who could (and almost certainly will) turn into a recurring villain and an NPC merchant with whom I think the PCs are in a love-to-hate relationship. I’m curious to see if they heal him of his crossbow wound. We also have another merchant and her… boy. The relationship between the two seems curious and, maybe, a bit disturbing.

Next Session: Stairway to Heaven