My First Session DMing

The first time running a game is certainly a learning experience. My first experience was when my group transitioned from my first time playing through a Forge of Fury campaign to a Ghosts of Saltmarsh game I ran. Mild spoilers for the adventure will follow...

I remember being very concerned about making sure the monster's worked in Roll20, and that the maps were built with darkness effects and line of sight barriers. The adventure hooks were perhaps wanting, but I had a veteran group of players that had mostly started in 3rd Edition and were particularly starved for playtime. They were very kind to me and I will always be thankful for them playing with me as I learned and made mistakes.

The group heard about the haunted house near the town of Saltmarsh with strange lights in a tavern called the Wicker Goat. They all met there in that tavern (I know, clique). One player kept their character from the previous campaign, a Circle of Wildfire Druid. Then there was a Battle Smith Artificer, a Tempest Cleric, and an Arcane Archer Fighter. I'll always love those characters and the players. I saved copies of their sheets at the end of the campaign before I moved, hoping that if we ever are in closer time zones we'll be able to play again.

The first combat I ever ran was an owlbear out front of the house. The players seemed to enjoy it, but they were all fairly optimized level 5 characters. The party totally annihilated that poor owlbear. I also discovered that hallways only one square wide don't make for very good combat encounters. The quarters were just too tight to let them really use abilities and all get involved. It wasn't as fun as I wanted it to be, even if it made it a little more "challenging." In the bandit hideout under the house I ended up throwing at least 12 bandits at them, including some bugbears from Nord Games Ultimate Bestiary: Revenge of the Horde. I didn't understand stealth rules that well, so I may have unfairly penalized them, but they handled pretty much anything I threw at them. 

It was hard to know what and how to prepare for the first time running. I think that practice and hours of time running the game helps you as a GM, but everyone starts somewhere. I am still experimenting with new adventures, scenario structures, and mechanics, but I think that's part of the fun of becoming a GM. Each session is a little different as you learn and explore new aspects of running the game. 

My First Character

When I got into Dungeons & Dragons (and the table top RPG hobby by extension), I'd already decided I wanted to be a GM. Basically I decided to be a forever GM from day one. So being a player the first time was more to form a group and get to see the rules in action than anything else. I can still count the number of characters and campaigns I've played in on one hand!

The first campaign was a largely by the book dungeon delve of Forge of Fury, found in the 5e anthology Tales From the Yawning Portal. The large amount of combat and exploration was helpful in teaching me how 5e combat runs, and giving me experience with a rather classic, abet simple, adventure default goal: clear the dungeon.

However, I think I came into the game with expectations of more roleplay than combat. My inexperience with the system meant my character ended up being a quirky (read insane) and memorable (at least in my mind) fellow, who was atrocious in combat.

I picked the warlock class, because the idea of a fiendish patron destined to return and reap the character's soul in a Faustian bargain struck me as dramatic. My own love (obsession) for books lead me to select the pact of the tome. I imagined a large book with shifting infernal symbols attached to my character by a chain. 

I also decided to roll my stats in the Roll20 Charactermancer we were using. 3d6 for each, arranged however I chose. They turned out pretty crummy. The Charactermancer, or perhaps another online name generator also gifted me my characters name: Kasdal Farseeker. 

Kasdal's Recreated Character Sheet in Foundry VTT

So I decided Kasdal was a tall, thin man, with sunken eyes and a thousand yard stare (read weak and sickly). I made him lawful neutral, but in practice probably played him more towards chaotic evil. Based on the traits of the sage background, I came up with the idea that Kasdal had made his pact seeking greater knowledge about the nature of the universe. His ultimate goal was to achieve perfect knowledge and perhaps then ascend as deific-like creature. Of course his pact had largely driven him insane, and he needed to escape its bonds while using its power to find the hidden knowledge he craved. Sadly we didn't get to explore these possibilities while exploring the Forge of Fury. Instead we had a nasty fight with a Roper, kicked a number of Duergar, and faced off with a Black Dragon in the depths of the caves. The monk who joined our party late in the campaign dropped at least twice and hilariously popped up (with help from the Wildfire druid) to punch the dragon in the face again and again. Kasdal, due to his lack of optimization, hung out in the back and slung largely ineffectual Eldritch Blasts.

While I was often disappointed in my character’s abilities, I think the campaign proved extremely valuable in teaching me how to use a relatively complex spellcaster class. I also learned some tactical combat and valuable GM skills. Plus it was a blast with my group. My favorite part remains our first session in which Kasdal used his Thaumaturgy abilities to create sparks as magical light effects to enhance the druid's performance on her oud for the inn and tavern goers in the town of Blazingdale. It felt like we were really putting on a concert and set my imagination racing, visualizing the scene. We made a ton of money too, in true adventurer fashion. Maybe we could have started a concert tour instead of a dungeon delve and totally derailed the campaign.

What I do know is that those experiences made me love the game, but even more showed me how amazing the hobby is for bringing people together and getting their imaginations going. Getting them to laugh and forget about all the garbage that we have to face the rest of the time in life. I knew even more that I wanted to help make that possible by GMing great games.

Introduction

Welcome, I’m Faxfire. A relative newcomer to TTRPGs. I think that gives me a unique perspective and opportunity to see the hobby with fresh eyes. I find it all intriguing and my thoughts and opinions are less entrenched than many veteran players or GMs. 

With this blog and my published products I hope to share my perspective with other members of the community. I also hope to be able to expand my horizons by exploring new RPGs and materials. Highlighting and celebrating the great work of so many dedicated creators, homebrewers, and hobbyists is also important to me. It’s the creativity of the people playing and writing for our games that makes them so special.

I hope that you enjoy your time on the site. Please feel free to leave a comment or reach out with questions, comments, or suggestions. Thanks for being here.