Here is Peter's take on our first experience of the DnD unlocking the imagination of our characters. Any problems in perspective are caused by PJ and PJ alone:
A Paladin’s Perspective
Last night kicked off the first campaign of our Gentlemen’s Gaming Club. Oh let me tell you the tale of our adventure towards RPG adventure.
At first it looked like we were not going to get a thing done again and sit around trying to decipher the plethora of rules in the Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook alone again. Until last night our progress in towards adventure had stalled out due to the confusion about the assigning of skill points and how that translates into abilities, hit points blah, blah, blah. We had posted an ad on Craigslist about a week ago looking for a skilled DM (Dungeon Master) to help our group crack these codes. To our surprise we got a great many replies from people eager to help us ‘newbies’ out in our quest for RPG adventure. From the ten or so candidates we selected Don Webb.
I know you are all thinking, “No way! There is no way that THE Don Webb is going to waste his time with these nobodies.” Yes, we really had Don Webb. (For those of you not aware of Don Webb’s D&D cred check him out on the Internet, you can use the google on your computer.)
Unfortunately Don Webb was tired last night and we lost him.
Luckily I received an email from another potential DM just at that moment and gave him a call. His name was Sean and he had two questions, “Could he bring his girlfriend and would there be free ice cream and cookies?” I gladly agreed to both of his needs.
So at 8:30 P.M. on October 17, 2007 our Gentlemen’s Gaming Club assembled for the first time under the tutelage of a skilled Dungeon Master. (Of course we were missing the 4th member of the group, JonathanMarshall, due to his fledgling art career…something about an art opening on Saturday that I suppose you should all go to.)
The action kicked off with a lot of math and paper work, much of which was expedited by our new DM’s thorough knowledge of the race, class and how the skill points breakdown for each member of our group.
Maybe at this point I should just lay this out there flat. The core members of our Gentlemen’s Gaming Club are Dan Boehl, Kurt Mueller, myself, Peter Johansen and Jonathan Marshall. The race/class breakdown looks like this…
Dan Boehl Halfling Ranger 1st level
Kurt Mueller Half Elf Wizard 1st level
Peter Johansen Elf Paladin 1st level
Jonathan Marshall∗ Human Druid
∗Remember Jonathan Marshall hasn’t been toiling with our group for weeks and his ‘core member’ status is in jeopardy as it is. In short I don’t feel comfortable calling him 1st level until he has completed the paper work that we all had to complete.
Campaign .01 began with the Halfling Ranger, Cibo/Dan Boehl finding an unconscious naked elf in a ditch. After reviving the elf/Peter it soon became clear that this being had no memory of his identity, yes…amnesia. Cibo then supplied his naked amnesiac friend with a chicken (I will explain later why he has a chicken) to cover his privates with and they headed off to the nearest town with the hope of maybe finding someone who knew something about the elf/Peter.
Once the duo hit town they quickly ran into an aspiring young wizard named Russell Stover/Kurt. The Halfling and wizard had some brief prior dealings and it occurred to Cibo that Russell maybe able to help with the amnesiac elf problem.
Russell was on his way to a local pub to find an older wizard named Molotov in hopes of becoming his apprentice, but he agreed to help the duo upon completion of this task. Now forming a beautiful trio they all headed towards the pub. On the way Russell took pity on the naked elf and gave him enough money to purchase a tunic.
The three entered the pub and inquired with the bartender as to the where they might find Moldy. The bartender pointed the back corner of the bar. Russell decided he should approach the elder wizard alone so the the confident Paladin decided to try get involved with some betting that was going on around an arm wrestling table in hopes of getting enough money to arm and further clothe himself. He had 2 coppers to gamble with and lost them both in quick, if not embarresing succession. The elf although unusually strong for his race was not in good form and although he could not remember for certain he assumed it was due to lack of a recent meal.
In a turn of luck at that moment he caught the glint of a gold piece that had fallen under the bar and quickly retrieved it. Stealing a bar tip, is not in the usual moral reprotoire of a Paladin, but then again this fellow didn’t remember that. This afforded him one more opportunity to try to gain some supplies. He bet and this time was the victor in a match of wrestling arms. He acquired a short sword and used part of the gold piece to get a basic set of clothing. Engorded again with confidence, he made another unnecessary display of reckless judgement, betting once more and, for the third time in almost as many tries, proved himself lacking.
Meanwhile Russell Stover, the aspiring half elf wizard, was asking Moldolf if he would take on Russell as an apprentice. The elder wizard agreed to take on the young wizard as an apprentice for one year at the cost of 75 gold pieces. (Russell had to “borrow” 15 GP from Cibo the halfing ranger.) In addition Russell was instructed to acquire a spell book and given a mission that he was advised to take his two acquaintances on.
It seems a gang of 5 goblins had infiltrated a village to the north and were terrorizing the peasants there as well as stealing the grain that fed the village. In fact most of the inhabitants had left the region due the goblin problem. The three agreed to the mission and set out North after filling there bellies with fine Indian delicacies and getting a good night’s rest.
It did not take them as long as they thought to get near the village. They soon ran into a family of villagers who claimed to be the last to leave. The peasants were asked if they knew the location of said goblins. Although they weren’t certain the peasants suspected that the goblins were residing in a cave behind the village since they were seen there after the last grain raid. The peasants were eager to move on so they said their good byes and left.
Let me take a moment here to let you know that the mysterious elf was having a lot of ‘feelings’, like unspecific flashes of memory and it came to him that his name was Roger. He was not certain how he knew this, he just did. He also thought it might be pronounced, “Row-jay,” as to suggest Frankish origins.
Our band of would be goblin gutters headed fearlessly towards the entrance of the cave.
Arriving at the cave entrance the group made the wise decision was foolish to head into such a dark cave that was possibly inhabited by 5 goblins. I guess I have failed to make clear that the group still have that trusty chicken. See Cibo comes from a family of Halfling chicken farmers/racers, so he really never goes anywhere without being followed by or bringing a chicken. On this journey that novelty has proven to be useful once and now the wizard, Russell decided to cast a spell that turned the chicken in to a source of blinding light. They then followed the two-legged lantern into the darkness of the cave.
Before long they came to a large chamber and stopped. The eyes of the goblins reflected in the light of the chicken. Immediately---whoa, whoa, whoa, what really happened next was Stover cast “hypnotize,” immobilizing all but one of the gobs. Taking advantage of this situation, as well as the next four or five turns in a row, the elf Roger attacked and with seven or eight quick swipes, which translated into three three dead goblins (again, he wasn’t sure if he hadn’t eaten in a long time and whether or not this was affecting his form). The fourth counter attacked and slices a large gash in Roger’s arm. Luckily, Cibo was ready with his trusty bow and shot the goblin dead directly through eye. Boo-yah! Russell wanted to get in on the action (or realzing it was his tuen) and quickly cast a magical acid splash on the final goblin, staining the floor of the cave with its entrails and dangling it within in an inch of his life. Roger finished the wounded goblin off with his short sword and that was it. The group had come out the victors in their first battle. And you know what? They made a pretty good team. Yes, a pretty good team indeed, richer not only in gold pieces, and goblin trinkets, but yes, character, team sprirt, and gentlemanly respecting. Roger got the feeling that maybe the meeting of the three had not been a mistake at all.
They found the grain and headed back to town the let the peasants know it was safe to return to the village. What about the hobgoblin over yonder?
Stay tuned people. This is the real deal. There will be weekly adventures and this is going to be better that dancing with the stars. I promise.
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