I began my AD&D arc tonight with Bloodfall on the LivingUrf club server. I've played quite a bit of AD&D over the years but I've never DM'd it. Now is the time. The club is attempting to mix several parties of players in one setting and Bloodfall in conjunction with Crom's Brozer Aftermath are the first steps being taken towards eventual competing parties in the shared milieu of Urf Prime. I've experienced this on a limited basis in the Sojenka campaign and it has potential for top tier fun.
We have several club members who are new to AD&D as well, so we can get ourselves trained up together. The roster tonight included:
Hollyfelled as Vigi the Dwarven Fighter
J. LeTourneau as Gunnbjorn, Squad Leader of 10 mercs
Joshinyu as Rollo the Human Fighter
AngrySteak as Kirk, Acolyte of Forseti
Matthew as Thorgal the Ranger, Scout, and Caller
WeatherReport as Ævarr, Acolyte of Tyr
One town, one hex, one dungeon. You've heard it a hundred times and there's a reason. If you're gonna do the unfamiliar, start simple. I prepped a declining Viking settlement with a nearby dungeon, the surrounding wilderness, and a few important NPCs to act as trainers, hooks, and generate tension. I've done the zero-prep thing enough to know that it is an invaluable skill to have in your quiver but there's nothing wrong with having a few answers to likely questions ahead of time. Use all the tools you have.
The players were mostly on top of things, with several taking the initiative to get organized prior to the session starting. This allowed them to hit the ground running once we began. Some recon around town got them a feel for the environment and some information to utilize during session, most notably directions and landmarks from locals to aid in their getting lost checks. I ruled this would reduce the severity of getting lost, which helped when they set out and immediately got lost.
The dungeon was underneath a giant stone arm, hidden by a plastered over passage, and obscured by magical mist falling from the clenched fist of the arm. Despite all this, the group found the entrance eventually and cut their way in. Dungeon delving is dungeon delving and I won't go into the play by play much here as you generally have to be there to appreciate it. The highlights were intelligent calling and scouting from Thorgal keeping the momentum going, some unfortunate rolls with traps costing most of the resources expended in terms of spells, and a very large party costing them their ranger bonus to surprise during an ambush by giant rats.
What went well:
- Players were organized, with only a few dead air moments. First session, new group, dynamics have to be settled into. All within normal limits and I think these guys are gonna stack rubies.
- I had a good handle on the town, the travel to the dungeon, and the pacing once inside. I was nervous in that I just haven't interacted with the DM facing mechanics of AD&D much at all. These pieces went well and eased some of my tension.
- Party engaged with the town more than I anticipated. Pleasant surprise and is going to yield dividends. Hell, it already saved them 5% on taxes on the haul they recovered and scored them some holy water to aid in evil altar cleansing goals.
What needs work:
- Book control. Chart control. Practice practice practice. Not a surprise, just a reality. Random encounters, morale checks and mods, traps. I'll improve.
- I did some dungeon prep but for some reason stopped at "here's a trap". Not the end of the world, but trying to be considered based on uncle Gary's suggestion that traps and tricks match the difficulty of the environment.
- Party engaged with the town more than I anticipated. I've DM'd for a long time, with a focus on action over dialogue and story setting. These have always been weaknesses of mine and I need to get stronger at improvisation with NPCs.
We ran for just under 4 hours. The boys cleared 7 rooms with several traps and 2 fights, after solid intel gathering in town. A good session IME. I want to capitalize on the momentum they've got. I'm already getting downtime pings. This is gonna be fun.
Grading:
Vigi the Dwarven Fighter: Excellent. Utilized dwarven abilities underground, bold in the face of danger.
Gunnbjorn, Squad Leader of 10 mercs: Excellent. Maintained unit cohesion, saw to his casualties in a responsible manner, bold in the face of danger.
Rollo the Human Fighter: Excellent. Shared temporary responsibility of mercs. Bold in the face of danger.
Kirk, Cleric of Forseti: Excellent. Engaged with religious threads of session, aided party with spells fitting of his alignment.
Thorgal the Ranger: Excellent. Filled scout and Caller role effectively. Bold in the face of challenges.
Ævarr, Cleric of Tyr: Superior. Only aberration of role was an attempt to memorize Curse rather than Bless as a good aligned cleric. Engaged well with religious threads of the session and aided the party with (other) spells fitting of his alignment.
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