Expectations? Ha!

A new Call of Duty game comes out today! This being a gaming blog and all, I should probably talk about it, but screw that! I'm running a new D&D campaign!

Dungeons and Dragons is really fun, if you've never played it. I know I'll get a lot of flack for this, but my favorite version is 4th edition, because it has the most interesting and balanced combat engine of all the RPGs I've played, and I prefer to play D&D like its Fire Emblem. If you like tactics games, D&D is basically a tactics game with a story you write yourselves, and act out through improv.

I usually fill the role of DM, or Dungeon Master, the person who runs the game, and controls all of the monsters and NPCs. The last time I DM'd a campaign was years ago, and it was awesome until it resulted in week after week of me trying to kill and overpowered adventuring party. See, there are two ways to run a campaign, as a storyweaver and friend, who just wants to share in cool experiences with his party, or as a malevolent force, hell-bent on slaying the party and putting them in mortal danger as frequently as possible. As you can probably imagine, the second one is super fun, and it results in this DM vs party situation where the DMs job is to hit the party hard enough to kill them, but not so hard that they claim it's unfair. Your primary goal is to make them wallow in despair, and accept their fates. Victory for a slayer DM comes not when the party is dead, but when the players accept their fate, and blame themselves for their failure, instead of your brutal campaign.

That ended up sounding significantly more evil than I intended, but the point is the same. If you are the kind of person who likes developing challenges, traps, and encounters, and then watching your friends try to navigate them, then DM is the job for you. I bring all this up because I have been coerced into running a short campaign by some friends, and I'm really getting into it. Here's the campaign background for the first encounter:

It is a time of great turmoil on the Material Plane. It has been 200 standard years since knowledge of the multiverse became widespread as the result of the time wizard Amser’s devious plans, and gave rise to what is now called The Convergence. With travel and communications between planes now a common occurrence, beings with wealth, power, and knowledge seek to plunder and control areas of the multiverse once inaccessible to them. Many of the old gods and other greater beings have retreated, as this rapidly changing world is causing disturbances not even they can predict, and the resulting power vacuum has given rise to numerous emperors, gang leaders, and false prophets who seek power for themselves.

 Your group, [group name] is a small organization in the business of conducting, less than scrupulous missions for being who are willing to pay your fees. Your services aren’t cheap, but you have a reputation for silence, discretion, and honor. [Group name] is based in the undercity of Polis Agora, an ancient city of magic and power that was founded long before the convergence. The native Agorans are a peaceful, spiritual people, who have had trouble dealing with the influx of technology and power that their city has faced, and very few still live in the city itself. Since the convergence, this once great trade city has been overrun with gangsters, thieves, and con men, who have been trying to overthrow the local government and install their own puppet politicians. Due to the cities ancient laws, the title of Duke of Polis Agora has been passed down through named successors, and each Duke has picked a native Agoran replacement, and for the last 200 years their office has been as resistant to change and corruption as possible.

 The current Duke, Duke Torlief, is known in the public eye for being aloof and likeable, but behind closed doors he is a strong negotiator and a powerful ruler, who refuses to yield to the ruffians who would steal his city. He is also a man of honor, and refuses to turn to illegal or unscrupulous means to shut down his opponents. The Duke’s cabinet, however, is not so valiant, and is willing to do anything to maintain native Agoran control of the government. One such cabinet member has even gone so far as to hire [group name] under an alias, to assassinate notorious gang boss Baron Darost.