Next Gen Party

So yesterday I took my life in my hands and run a D&D session for a pair of nine year olds, and surprisingly it went well.

I have a bit of experience DMing and I also have some experience keeping my daughter entertained (it's more art than science) so in theory I had the skill set to do this. I practice I had no idea how it would go. Both kids seemed keen to give it a try, my Sprog knows I play and often watches Critical Role with me (which did mean she was expecting Mercer level DM skills) Friend of Sprog knows a bit less about D&D but apparently has seen it on Big Bang Theory, so not completely unprepared.

Haaaave you met Spire?

So it’s been a while, how’ve you been? Me? Oh same old same old...

Ok awkward small talk out of the way. I thought as I’ve been randomly prattling on about it to anyone who’ll listen, I’d dig up the old blog and put all my ramblings about a game called Spire in one place.

To start let’s run through what Spire is: Spire is a tabletop role playing game using D10s. If you’ve ever seen nerds playing dungeons and dragons then this is a similar concept but with different nerds rolling different dice.

The actual mechanics of it I’ll get to later, before that I’ll share the best bit the world.

Spire is a city in a tower in a dark fantasy world. Imagine if you took London and instead of having all the different boroughs next to each other you stacked them up one atop the other and wrapped it all ancient angry walls.

D&D: the journey begins - a starting guide to D&D pt1

I've been super quiet about Malifaux recently. For various reasons getting a load of models to central London with a load of equipment is just too time consuming. When I started Malifaux it was an easy to access skirmish game. You could have a couple of crew boxes, a few supplemental boxes, cards, tape measure and maybe a few tokens.
Now though the game has ballooned in a huge range and I can't really keep up in a way that is enjoyable. I'll still do some painting and hopefully some casual play.
Luckily the group decided to do some D&D. I was a bit curious and so I decided to give it a try. I was almost instantly hooked. Here was a game without the limitations of the table top. A game that rewarded the effort of making a background, being imaginative and focused on a social gathering.
This is now my game of choice. I'd like to share my journey with you. In this series, I'll cover how to get started, a guide to getting a character to the table, the pros and cons of optimisation, why you might want to kick someone out of a group and a better way to handle it, the various accessories, podcast reviews and YouTube including the mighty Critical Role.
Let's get a couple of questions out of the way before we get started on getting started.

What is Dungeons and Dragons?

AbnormaliRoll - Monk

It had been a more interesting start to his time away from the monastery than Stei had expected. Despite the tales of adventure and other exotic races he had heard, he had been warned that the most likely experience would be to spend a year doing odd jobs and meeting other humans, rather than the variety which he had found himself among with this group.

AbnormaliRoll - Fighter

The keep door swung shut with a heavy thud, just as several arrows buried themselves in the thick oak planks. Reezka stopped. gasping a little for breath, and absentmindely swung the small child down to the ground. Strange, she thought, that the child had no fear of her. Most humans were at the very least wary of her. Despite the orcish blood not being the main component of her heritage, it certainly showed stongly in her features. The sloping brow, large frame and blunt tusks were more than enough to make most humans approach her with caution.
She glanced over at her newly acquired companions. How did they feel about the half orc? So far no-one had seemed hostile or attempted to injure her, but there was definitely some wariness there. The Druid had stared openly when they had first come across each other. He hadn't said much, which suited Reezka fine, but he didn't seem to be familiar with orcs. Maybe they didn't have them where he came from.

AbnormaliRoll - Druid

As the door of the keep slammed shut behind them, Machi Tako paused and rested his hands on his knees and took a deep breathe. He was not having a good day he decided. It had started well. He had travelling companions. That was good. They seemed able to fight, that was also good. Still, he was slightly worried. The northlanders were so different. They way they seemed to act and think was alien. He had grown up in a small village by the sea. He had dug the dust and fished with his father before his wanderlust had driven him to the mountains in the furthest south. He felt he understood the silver haired woman, Asla, best. She followed a goddess of the sea and nature. She liked the sea as he did. That was good. He could sense her nervousness, her feeling of being an outsider. That meant nothing to him; to be a druid was to be an outsider. She would learn in time to rejoice in the power such freedom gave. Outsiders didn’t have to dig the dust after all.

AbnormaliRoll - Cleric

Asla stared into the waves as the ship headed towards shore. She inhaled the salty air as she reflected about her new companion. She'd spent the last few days with a Druid from the distant South. Not one to make friends easily Asla still felt this Druid was different. Ever since her family had drowned and she'd discovered her powers the sailors had been nervous of her. They respected her, but held their distance.
While not warm, the Druid did not shudder at her presence and he seemed happy to discuss the world and the places he'd seen. So she'd agreed to join him on his travels. And while there she could spread the word of Umberlee.

AbnormaliRoll - Bunch of hordes

So as I briefly mentioned before the Abnormalifaux group have decided to take a stab at some RPG fun by running a D&D campaign.
I'm the poor soul who has to herd these fine examples of adventurers so I suppose it's also my job to inflict ... sorry inform you with what's happening as we go.

For those that want to know we're playing Dungeons and Dragons fifth edition and we're running through the Horde of the dragon queen adventure (with a few tweaks from me)

Hopefully the player will fill you in on the story as we go, from their view point as its their story. I'll try and stick to the more technical side of the adventure with my posts going forward.