Origin story
05 Mar 2019A long time ago, in a country far away, there was a young boy. Things were different then: the Wizards of the Coast had not yet become the powerful organization that we know today, and those seeking initiation in the arts of exploring Dungeons & fighting Dragons visited a place called TSR. And so this is what the boy did, and soon, he knew all there was to learn from the books - The ways of magic, how the goblins fought, and much more. And yet, books do not an Adventure make, and he never got to play.
That boy, of course, was me. I didn’t manage to put together a group, and gave up, making my peace with the idea that playing a game of D&D was simply going to remain just one of these childhood dreams never to be realized.
Decades passed. And then, one day, the iconic discussion around mugs of mead in a smoke-filled tavern took place. One of the protagonists of the discussion was the boy, a grown-up at that point. The other was Palaxton, an elf wizard who would later on gain fame as a fearless champion of Oghma.
Palaxton had a simple proposition: gathering a band of merry adventurers, to go on a Dungeons & Dragons adventure together. And, lo and behold, a campaign began. The year was 2018, and I finally got to fulfill my childhood dream: I became the DM for a group of five adventurers searching the Lost Mine of Phandelver.
At the time I write this, we are 16 episodes in, and the location of that mine is still a mystery. But this campaign, arguably, is the best thing that happened to me that year. Characters are growing into heroes, challenging me to present them with an adventure worthy of their mettle, and to become the Dungeon Master they deserve. As a result, I have been doing a lot of work, reading and thinking, and observing masters of the craft, progressively incorporating some of their ideas, and developing some of my own.
Anyways - two things I learnt over time are that DMs tend to talk too much, and that keeping a brisk pace is important. So let’s get to my point. In an entirely different area of my life, I found blogs invaluable, both as a resource to learn from others, and as a process that forces me to clarify my own thoughts by writing them down. Becoming a DM has been an intense learning experience, so I figured I would try documenting my journey as I go. And, who knows? Perhaps some of it will end up being useful to some of you out there!
In the meanwhile, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank Palaxton, Jim, Mardnab, Shiggy and Sebastian Dumont III (you know who you are!), for making our campaign an incredible experience for me.