A burst of actual gameplay

Sorry to those who have been missing my previously regular posts about Mystara and B/X D&D. However, I have been distracted by an actual gaming group organised by my local games store (Thirsty Meeples in Bath, UK if anyone is interested). They all play 5E D&D so I decided to compromise and give 5E a go. It's a workable system though perhaps a little too crunchy for me. Secondly because it's 5E, I've decided to run the game in the Forgotten Realms, not Mystara. Back in the days of 3E (2000-2010) I made pages of notes about a possible campaign in the Wood of Sharp Teeth. Those notes are now the basis of this actual campaign. It's quite convenient that 3E has enough similarities with 5E that most of it requires only minimal conversion and adjustments.

This has been really good on a number of levels.

• Firstly it's been damn good fun and it seems the players are definitely enjoying it. The group contains some really entertaining characters and the players are good fun. 
  
  
• Secondly there is a military saying that "No plan survives contact with the enemy". Similarly no campaign structure survives contact with actual PCs who are teetering on the edge of murder-hoboing. I can make as many notes or blog posts about campaign settings as I like. I can write all the adventures I like. But I should always allow for the PCs to take things off in an unexpected direction. One of the characters plays a homebrew race called a Froblin (part frog, part goblin). Last night the PCs were fighting a giant toad and the froblin character wanted to tame it and make it his mount. He used acrobatics and grappling to get onto its back but no amount of animal handling was going to work in this situation. The froblin came away battered and bruised and somewhat sad. The giant toad did not walk (or hop) away from the encounter alive. But it was both a hilarious and heroic effort. Despite all of this, having some sort of idea where the PCs should investigate next is useful and eventually works, often with suggestions, nudges and occasional bribery from NPCs. Two of the PCs insist on trying to haggle up the rewards for any quest or mission the NPCs ask them to do. 
  
  
• Thirdly it's a really good way to learn how the rules actually work. Admittedly I'm not as familiar with 5E as with B/X or BECMI, so I have been asking the players about the rules. I think they have been honest with their answers. Unless something unusual happens (and it often does with this group) I now have a reasonable understanding of how combat should run. I know a lot of old-school grognards would grumble at the idea of running 5E, and I was a little apprehensive. But as I said, it is a good enough system. Much more importantly, it is a system that the players in my group know and are willing to play - The sheer popularity of 5E makes it the current default system. The fact that it is sold on the shelves of the games store we play in enhances this popularity or at least its prominence.
  
  
• Fourthly I've had to practice some group management, particularly when players cannot attend. We have had 4 sessions so far, and I and 2 players have attended all of them. One chap has attended the first two but unable to join for the second two (the group cleric!), one has dropped out (apparently permanently) after three sessions while another chap has joined for the third and fourth sessions, bringing much needed melee muscle in the form of a barbarian. Nonetheless I am starting to consider DM PCs or at least NPC allies as a way of filling in gaps in the party. Also the ones who have attended all 4 sessions are now 2nd level, while the ones who attended fewer are still 1st level. I hope this level gap does not widen. 
  
  
• Fifthly this has given me a whole new perspective on campaign settings. World creators such as Gary Gygax with Greyhawk, Ed Greenwood with the Forgotten Realms and Bruce Heard with Mystara can only do so much. During actual gameplay the DM will need to both prepare a lot before the session and also improvise during the session. Linking in to the second point above, this current campaign is intended to follow an adventure path. The players however will frequently treat it as a sandbox, or at least wander off the adventure path into the undergrowth. Before this game started I had this nice idea that most NPCs only needed a name, a brief description of appearance and their role in the adventure. Pretty soon the PCs were trying out Persuasion, Deception, Intimidation and picking pockets on NPCs they took a spontaneous and arbitary interest in. Some sort of stats are useful at the most unexpected of times. 

I hope to get back to blogging regularly here, but at the moment the actual game takes priority.