Session One

WELL! I think that was a success!

For my birthday back in Feb., my kids got me the newest Dungeon Master's Manual AND a starter campaign module and they asked to start a family game. I was really pleased, NERVOUS! but pleased. I played pretty hardcore (level 37 dark elf thief, I still have her character sheet) at Red Dragon in Otisville back in the early '80s. Then various sets of friends tried to get a cohesive group together in college, but the availablity of booze and the lack of time, we kept rolling 4s.

When my boys were old enough they got into card games like YuGiOh and MAGIC and they would humor me playing a stand alone quest but those were all snowday one offs.  Then Izzy found "my brother, brother and me" the McElroy Boys  and we all fell in love.  Anna (aka my extra daughter) wrote us up a summer campaign but Pete was reluctant to say the least and then Anna moved to Grad School.

So off to Phandalin "The Cart Party" toddled. Nobody a.) left  b.) cried or c.) said they were busy next month so am pronouncing my first time as DM a B+.  I had two total n00bs,  two rookies and one actual gamer. (Z. really should be DM, but I think I managed.) I told them they had to handle food cuz I can't make Sunday dinner and DM so Izzy made spanokopita and apple pie bites, we had soda and beers (Matt and Fabi brought me special tiramisu stout... NICE! It is good to be DM! lol) cookies, chips&salsa, grapes and pretzels. Then at about 5:30 they got pizza delivered.

They rolled their characters before we started. It is so easy to do online! There are alignment quizzes! These kids... sheesh! Get off my lawn! So old lady grumbling aside, I hooked them in with personalized (wax sealed and everything) letters getting them all to the stables in Neverwinter. I had lego min figures for minatures. I made a votive candle "campfire" for when they made camp.  I made a Pandora playlist of HP/ Star Wars/LOTR movie tunes, Skyrim soundtrack etc.  That they enjoyed. The epic music was hilarious overkill sometimes but it was good ambiance everybody agreed. We busted out all the goofy SCA goblets and HAD A BLAST. Close to five hours of actual game play they made it past level one.

My first "oh gotta hustle here" was when they blew off the Goblin Hideout and delivered the wagon straight to their assigned target. I was ready for LOTS of Goblin combat and had to improv more townspeople than I was truly prepped for. I did have fun having townspeople scared of Pete's minataur/cleric! Izzy's ghost is gonna need some catering to as she just misted around alot.