Dungeons and Dragons ("DnD"): First Adventure Review
Players: 3
Kenji (Human Fighter)
Menos (Dragon Born Paladin)
Kai - Tick (Half-ling Rogue)
Dungeon Master (DM): Me (First-Timer!)
My first time playing Dungeons & Dragons was around the beginning of March 2019. It wasn’t me as Dungeon Master or with the players above. It was with another group of adventurers, a friend from a Writer’s Group invited me to play because he knew I was interested.
Long story short, after one exciting session, I was hooked to Dungeons & Dragons. I played a Water Genasi Druid named Vin Kelsier to honor my intense love for the Mistborn series. Brandon Sanderson also plays DnD which makes his novels way more interesting to read. Anyway, I decided to continue onward, but my schedule to keep with the original group was near impossible as they met online.
So, I created an in-person group and became their Dungeon Master. Since I don’t have permission to use their real names, I will refer to them as their adventure names in all my blog reviews. After deciding to give the game a try, Kai-tick picked up the starter set, our first adventure, and we rolled…
Natural 1’s. When Nat 1 happens, the whole table cries or laughs. Or both.
Anyway, we played, and there were a lot of hiccups concerning the rules. Yes, there are a lot of rules. However, by session #3, I figured out a glaring issue. I was limiting myself to the pre-designed story detailed in the Starter Set. The players hated what I was throwing them because they didn’t consider themselves heroes… they’re criminals and misfits.
Legends of Tomorrow Season 1 comes to mind. A TV series centered around a team of B-class and C-class superheroes who screw the rules for the better. I was narrating limited, being careful not to ruin anything, but by doing so, I didn’t let my players be themselves in natural story progression.
This is the part where I started adding elements I knew my players would enjoy or at least it’d distract them until I came up with something better.
I made them wanted criminals for killing NPCs (they did this to themselves), robbing a general store for a potion of healing, burning a farmhouse, and when they pinned it all on a willing player, it was time to jump worlds. A DnD multiverse was created to set up the next adventure where I’ll get to play for a bit as Vin Kelsier, a dimensional traveler: Stranger Things.
I managed to keep the first adventure in the Forgotten Realms rolling in four sessions. A session per week for the entirety of April. I’ve known some DnD campaigns to last couple months, but since this was my first time DMing a Starter Set no less, I figured it was okay to end things early and start fresh somewhere else.
Playing DnD is a wonderful and inclusive experience, and I’m glad it’s beginning to become more accessible to everyone. Literally anyone can play Dungeons & Dragons.
I read an article on the game breaking language barriers, how it improves your business skills, and personally, how it affects my ability to write creatively. The main critique I got is a personal one: math. I do not like the math even though the angry math determines everything.
Overall, I will keep you all updated on our adventures. This post is more about the general experience, so the next review will likely center around the players and what they’re doing (personalities, backgrounds, and character goals), including my own Vin Kelsier once he returns to the game. Thanks for reading, y’all!