My wife's first game of D&D (Part 4)

The campaign continues. The party copied down the crude map found in the structure, then ventured outside. Hogel, the orc tracker, noticed a lightly worn trail that lead toward the shores. There was enough foot traffic that suggested more than one trip was made on it by a group of people.

Following the trail they noticed an islander fishing village, still active. They were met with no hostility, only looks of suspicion, and sometimes derision. Attempts at communication were met with shuns and gibberish none recognized. Luckily they noticed a ship off shore, with a small rowboat. The ship was definitely more of the civilized sort, and so was the owner. A gaudily dressed seafaring man named Ferrus. He spoke common, and the native Bu'atu langage as well. He was a trader, and this village was one of many on his route he comes for fish and other island delicacies. He agreed to translate for the party in exchange for something. Luckily Galazbryn, the dwarf warrior, picked up an unknown trinket in the structure, it looked interesting enough to Ferrus that he agreed to help. They were lead to the village's leader, a larger tent and guarded by able bodied tribal men. Inside they were met with a welcome, and after some coaxing, they got the village elder to tell the story of this place, and the structure.

About a year ago, a giant ball of fire fell from the sky, and landed. After the fires cooled, all that remained was the strange structure. Inside were the strange mutated creatures. They were bothersome to the village, but only a nuisance. Thievery mostly. Then came a tribe of warrior woman from far away, they came seeking signs which they believed were the structure. The women emerged from it with a great orb of power. Then the warriors turned on the Bu'atu village and stole supplies and some men, and left to the caves to the north, there they remained. The elder was able to notice the features of Maevik and believed she was of them.

The group wished to go to the marauders and perhaps free the men slaves, and retrieve the golden orb. The elder was kind enough to impart one man who would guide them.

The next day began a 2 day long journey north through the thick jungles. Avoiding dangers along the way thanks to their guide. Once they arrived at the ravine which housed the caves, they noticed the activity. It was definitely inhabited. Their Bu'atu guide refused to go further. The group waited for nightfall before proceeding. Hogel of course scouted it out, gathering intelligence. There were tents outside the cave entrance, and they seemed to be mostly empty. The group decided it would be the best time to attack, so they assaulted the warriors. Maevik recognized some, but there was something off about them. They were paler of skin, slightly rotted flesh similar to the creatures in the structure, and a strange look behind their eyes, almost as if they were mad. The survivors refused to talk. Having silenced them, they cautiously approached the cave entrance, hearing the chanting and pyres inside. Nobody seemed to be alerted to what just happened.

As they got in deeper, they found themselves snuck up on by an entire hunting party that came back, a dozen arrows trained in on them. They dropped there weapons and were lead deep into the caves, into the source of the chanting. Verital, the tiefling warlock, could feel a power emanating from within, one he has only felt since starting this quest, but stronger now than ever. Then in the room there were many more women chanting around a pedestal which carried the golden orb, the one they seeked, and Khyos.

Khyos laughed at the sight of Maevik. Gloating to her younger sister of the new power their tribe achieved. Soon after Maevik was banished, and took the widowmaker, the sign of the right to rule, Khyos had a vision of a new source of power, a new heirloom. Following signs and portents, they were lead here to this place, and this orb. They have been worshiping it and it has granted them power.

Seeing her friends under the spears of the tribeswomen, Maevik saw and opportunity. She challenged her sister for combat over the right to rule. If this new power was true, it would further testify why she was queen. Khyos could not ignore such a challenge, and the 2 were given a rink.

A brave fight ensued. Verital thought of a way to incite fear on the side of Maevik. He subtly ignited her sword in flames. It garnered gasps from the audience, but Maevik was still struggling in her fight. Khyos indeed had a new power. Sometimes her strikes would generate a shock, at times it seemed to be arcing from her. Luckily her cloak given to her by Hogel helped in protection.

Fearing the loss of Maevik, the rest of the group decided to fight against their captors while they were distracted by the melee. The tribeswomen too were gifted with this electric power.

Maevik was still holding out against Khyos, but barely. She tried to speak to her tribeswoman that the sword was still the rightful symbol of power, not the evil corrupting energies of the orb. The women seemed to contemplate it a little, but Khyos reminded them again why she ruled, and her sister ran.

In the fight Maevik was knocked down and hurt terribly. Khyos gloated. But in a last ditch hit, which was sapping the life from Maevik, she delivered a fatal blow. The sword still aflame and brighter than ever shone throughout the room like a beacon. Maevik continued to plead with her tribe that this wasn't the way. Taking unknown and little understood power only worked to damage the pure ways of the amazon warriors. That they needed to return to their homeland, and leave the slaves. The tribeswoman were beginning to see reason as soon as Verital took the orb and covered it up. Like a cloud has been lifted from their minds. They began chanting for Maevik, their queen.

This was where the group parted. Maevik had found her calling with her tribe, to lead them back to their traditional ways, and the path to healing. She said her goodbyes to Galazbryn, who was undoubtedly brave throughout the entire adventure. To Hogel who time and time again proved his skills, and that full-blooded orcs were more than mindless brutes. And to Verital, the extremely handsome, and powerful adept, who had saved them on many occasions.

Having the orb now, they waved goodbye, and activated their homing rings given to them by Sydrick, and found themselves back in the room they once left.

But this was different. All furniture, tapestries, and books were gone. It was empty. In the center was merely a pedestal and a pillow on top, and Sydrick standing beside it. He asked them if they now had the orb, greedily. Verital asked for proof of the reward. With the wave of his hand a chest appeared in the corner, full of gold and shiny trinkets. Sydrick seemed anxious, and impatient, asking abruptly to place the orb on the pedestal. Verital could sense that something was off. Hogel didn't smell Sydrick either, it seemed like there was nothing there.

Verital cautiously set it down, ready for anything. Sydrick laughed, a raucous cackle. Then he disappeared. It was an illusion. The chest of gold was an illusion as well. The group may never know what they had just done, or what may transpire because of it, but things would be set in motion that may change the land of Adyan forever.

The End

My wife's first game of D&D (Part 3)

So we gathered around the table, and their adventure began... in a tavern. (Hey, I did say I wanted my wife to experience D&D.)

The party finds themselves in a tavern looking for work. Verital, the tiefling warlock, goes about asking the barkeep for any leads. He points them to a skittish gnome drinking alone. Maevik, the amazoness, immediately put to work some of her seductive appeal, but the gnome was all too willing to talk about a job by his great and powerful and illustrious master, Sydrick the wizard. Galazbryn, the dwarf warrior maiden, had heard the name before, but couldn't put her finger on what exactly. Something bothered her about it.

Having no other lead for work, they followed the excited gnome to a wizard's tower, where they were lead into the lobby and met with Sydrick the wizard. He looked all the part. He explained to them that he needed a powerful artifact recovered for him. It was lost in the jungles in the tropical regions of the continent. A golden orb. Sydrick had use of it as any wizard would have of any such trinket. He promised ample rewards to the heroes. There wasn't much more convincing needed.

He gave them each magic rings that would teleport them back to the tower, but warned them to only ever use them once they had possession of the orb. As he left the room, a circle in the floor lit up and they found themselves amidst a teleportation ritual. It was meant to bring them close to where the orb should be.

In a brilliant flash, the party suddenly found themselves surrounded by humidity, heat, and jungle noises. Hogel, the orc tracker, immediately began to take stock of his surroundings. Silently he disappeared into the woods. It didn't take him long to find the obvious out of place. A large structure was planted in the forest. It had left a long deep groove in the dirt, as if it had moved. The whole thing seemed eschewed with strange markings painted on the sides. No other entrance seemed apparent but the glass dome that was shattered and half buried. By the look of the vegetation growing up the side of it, it appears to have been here for only about a year.

The party explored the structure. Strange indeed. No craftsmanship or materials were recognizable. Verital the warlock could sense some energies, but no strange magics. Within they explored and found many unsettling things. Half rotten, and half eaten corpses laid about. All wearing strange gray clothing. Crude daemonic shrines and strange shaped artifacts laid about. Once they found a giant electrical shocker lizard nesting in what could closest be described as an alchemist's lab. Maevik made quick work of the beast with her tribal sword. Hogel had skinned the corpse and made small cloaks for him and Maevik. Assuming it's electric properties may prove useful later.

It was a standard dungeon crawl, encountering mutated ugly 'humans' who were mad beyond interrogation. Hogel continued to keep trophies of his kills in the manner of scalping their rotted heads. Verital came in use finding some manner of fire traps which he was able to control with his mysterious tome, the Fire Lord's Edict, and in dispatching the final mutant lord of the place.

Alas they believe they had found it, or at least the pedestal. Verital could sense the residual power that had once existed there, and there was no doubt that this once held the golden orb. Painted among the walls it chronicled the arrival of a people who raided the place, and took the orb, and left to a cave not far off, as illustrated on a map. But Maevik was enraged. She recognized the style of drawings. And the lead figure who had claimed the orb as it's own was wearing the signature headdress of queen of her tribe, the amazons: Khyos, her sister. The one who defeated Maevik, and the one she had stolen the sword from. This had suddenly become very personal for her.

To be continued...

My wife's first game of D&D (Part 2)

Last week I touched on the first RPG I ran for my wife. So the first big step was creating her character. Naturally I didn't want to bore her with different feats, the nuances of character creation, or all the different classes, so I wanted to keep it simple. I asked her what type of character she would like to play. Thinking of all the books you've read, the movies you've seen, what type of heroin would you like to be?

After bouncing some ideas back and forth, she fixated on a strong female warrior type reminiscent of some of the girls in Frank Frazetta's artwork. An artist we are both fans of. She also had the idea of an amazoness type warrior woman. So I figured the best character archetype would be a barbarian.

Now, True20 doesn't have character classes, which is what I like about it. Basically you can choose either the Expert, Adept, or Warrior character types. Warrior was the obvious one, but the choice of gear, skills, and feats are what separates her from a soldier. Giving her the quintessential 'Rage' feat, which would temporarily boost her stats seemed appropriate.

There was another key thing about RPG's that I wanted to drive home with my wife, and that was the RP part of RPG. I wanted her to create a backstory for her character that helped define her actions and decisions. One that gave her character a goal and demeanor instead of a sheet full of numbers you roll on. After some more lively brainstorming, we settled on the following:

Maevik was the daughter of the tribal queen of the Amazon forest tribe. This matriarchal society believes in strength and prowess of their leader. The tribal queen is required to have several daughters to determine who will be the next queen. There was Khyos, the first daughter, and then there was Maevik, the second. Khyos and Maevik never quite got along, mainly because they both knew that they would have to fight one day for the crowning headress. It didn't matter who was born first, it only mattered who would win in mortal combat.

Then came the fight for succession, and Maevik was beaten by her older sister. Unwilling to accept defeat, but having no choice, she ran away from her tribe, and absconded with the queen's sword, the Widowmaker, which was the symbol of the queen's power and authority. She also took one of the tribe's young dire wolves with her.

Maevik has been an outcast and hunted by her tribe for a year. She took work where she could get it, and has been living as an adventurer since. For a few months she has been traveling with the others of the party: the orc, Hogel Leftshooter, the dwarf Galazbryn, and the leader of the group, the tiefling named Verital.

You could imagine my pride when we came up with an actual interesting female character, one with flaws, strengths, and an interesting past that may provide an issue in her future. Beth seemed excited about the concept of Maevik, and her animal companion, the young dire wolf named Fang.

Soon we gathered around the table to start her first adventure. More on that next week.

My wife's first game of D&D (Part 1)

When my wife, Beth, first learned that I played super nerdy role-playing games like D&D, she had to rationalize dating me a little bit. It turned to one of those things where she didn't have to embrace it, or act on it, just support me loving it. I would occasionally regale her with tales on how awesome it is, but her eyes would glaze over like mine when she talked about shoes.

She is also an avid book reader, and we struck a deal that I would read one of her favorite books if she would read one of mine. So I couldn't think of a better book to get her to understand RPGs than this one. In case you are not familiar with this book, here is a brief synopsis:

Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress is a smart, humorous examination of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game from a female gamer's point of view. The book delves into the myths and realities of gamer stereotypes. It explains how to build a character for a D&D game, how to shop for gear, how to play, and how to find the perfect gaming group, all the while exploring the things that make the D&D game a rewarding and recurring social experience for both men and women.

It's a great intro to D&D book for non-nerds because it is written by one who knew nothing of it going in. It was written for people exactly like my wife. She enjoyed the book, and then when she was done, she surprised me with the following words:

"You know, I would be up for the notion of trying a game of D&D."

I was excited and anxious. I had the opportunity give someone their first RPG experience. I haven't had that thrill since my first game ever. So I immediately began working on the game.

There were so many options for what game to play, but I decided to try something traditional. A fantasy game with some crawls and mystery. Standard fare. Also for the game system, I wanted to go with a simple lighter version of D&D. I found True20. Beth had a small fascination with the d20, so finding a simple d20 system worked great for that. I'm really not a fan of the d20 games and systems, but I find True20 to be the more tolerable. It's open ended enough to not be rigidly class-based and I like the narrative aspect of it. I wanted to avoid a game that focused on miniatures use. Luckily too the book came with an adventure module, one which would be the perfect little standalone adventure. I did want to make sure it was more than just a dungeon crawl grind-fest.

With that, we made characters. I got my brothers and sister in on the game. People that Beth would be comfortable playing with.

The party list consisted of the following:

Hogel Leftshooter
Jarom Swenson
Orc Scout - Male
A reclusive orc tracker who has definitely spent more time outside of civilization than within. He wields his bow with deadly precision, as well as a skinning knife which saw much use scalping the heads of his kills. He's also missing several fingers on his right hand. Nobody knows how.

Galazbryn
Julia Swenson
Dwarf Warrior - Female
A headstrong but thoughtful dwarf fed-up with life amidst the hearth, seeking some thrill. She wields dual-swords and is always found on the front line protecting her companions.

Verital
James Swenson
Tiefling Fire Adept - Male
The manipulative and disgustingly handsome tiefling has been seeking to increase his power through experience. He has on himself some very rare tomes, of which no one knows how he came upon them. Fera te Fatar (Flame Lord's Edict - in demonic) and Anat DuForal (Anatomy of Us and Others - in elven)

Maevik
Beth Swenson
Human Barbarian - Female
Then there's my wife's first character ever made. I will get more into her in next week's post, but for now here is a beautiful art piece Jarom made for her to commemorate this significant event in Beth's life.