My First Time as a Dungeon Master

Dungeons and Dragons has always been one of my favorite in the world. From studying the lore to watching live streams of others playing, even going as far as playing myself! I've created countless characters over the course of a couple years (thanks, quarantine!), each with their own backstory and unique features. If I were to place myself somewhere on the spectrum between newbie and a veteran player, I'd say I would be somewhere in the middle.

I've been a part of a lot of games, and as a storyteller, I add as much flavor as I can whenever I play a TTRPG. I realize that the best way to fulfill my passion was to become a DM.

A DM, or Dungeon Master (in some places, they say GM, or Grand Master. Both are fine) is the moderator of sorts that runs the game. They create the encounters, guide players through certain situations, and set the rules. I've met , both good and bad, but , I've had an itch to start my own campaign. I wanted to set the story in a fantastical world of my own creation, but I realize that's a bit over my head at the moment. , I've purchased a module book from the Dungeons and Dragons website called Mythic Odysseys of .

is a world inspired by Greek Mythology complete with , fantastical creatures, and a pantheon of fifteen gods and goddesses to worship. It also comes with new races, , backgrounds, and feats to choose from! Using this book, I planned on creating a fun campaign filled with chaos, fun, and drama.

The characters started off at Level 3. I had four players at my table:

My boyfriend, who played an Aaracroka Fighter (Eldrich Knight),

His friend, , who played a human Paladin (Oath of Glory)

And our other friends, a married couple named Jeffery (he played an Fallen Aasimar Wizard from the School of Necromancy) and Anna (a Triton Water Domain Cleric).

Each of them chose a god or goddess to worship (except my boyfriend, who took the Iconoclast feature and renounced all the gods), and we began in the city of . A festival to celebrate progression was being , and the characters were all doing their own thing. , they were together thanks to one of my .

After getting to know the NPC (an oracle named Cressida), weird began to happen, and a brainwashed priest began shouting about the end times being caused by a war among the gods, and summoned four Anvilwrought Raptors. The party took down the creatures one by one and confronted the priest. The priest told them that they would be at the center of it all, either ending the war or antagonizing it, and before he could give them any more information, an arrow strikes his head, killing him. Two out of the four players rolled high enough to see a figure with a bow and arrow dart away.

Then, my boyfriend said, "I fly after him."

And Payton said, "I grab his legs and fly with him! Can I do that?"

I was a bit shocked. I wasn't prepared for this to become an , but they rolled almost Nat 20s. had everyone take a I could roll up some stats for this assassin that I did not expect to be pursued. , I began to improvise. I began a rooftop chase scene where my boyfriend was flying after him with his friend's character holding on to his legs. a crazy scene.

As the figure gains some distance, my boyfriend asks if he could throw Payton's character so that he could tackle the assassin. I told them both to roll, him an Athletics check while Payton had to make an Acrobatics check. My boyfriend scored a high roll and passed his save while Payton got a lower roll. It resulted in me role-playing out how the aarakroca threw the paladin at the assassin, but they tumble to the edge of the roof and cling on.

The assassin manages to get away, but not before they chased him into an alley (that I also had to improvise , even going as far as erasing one of the maps I had laid out for the combat to draw this out). They managed to help the city guard arrest the assassin because of their lucky high rolls.

I can't say I wasn't pleased. It wasn't the route I was going, but everyone was having fun, so I rolled with it. If I'm honest, this turned out better than I imagined it would. Everyone is excited for the next session, which makes me excited, and even more eager to keep it going. At least next time, I'll be a bit more prepared!