In the fall of 2017, I (Jenny) decided that 5e Dungeons & Dragons was a viable outlet for all of the stories and fantasy worlds that my writer's brain had been simmering in itself for the last 2 decades. I'd been rolling dice for just over a year and had binged a couple hundred hours of Critical Role, so I felt up to the challenge of taking a seat in the Dungeon Master's chair to run for a group of friends.
At around the same time, a local Irish Bred Pub had opened up their upper floor to tabletop RPG gamers on Wednesdays, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Our first session was in mid-October and over the course of a few weeks, our party grew to a regular team of 6:
Jessie Forrester as Bubbles the Mountain Dwarf Barbarian
Cedric Diggs as Sigphreid the Half-elf Bard
Sean Spain as Westin the Druid
Blake Mauldin as Fe'alin the Half-elf Ranger
Charlie Hamlin as Xeryn the Dragonborn Paladin
Amanda Gaddy as Sarris the Moon Elf Rogue
(You can read more about the PCs in the "Nature's Gambit" tab above.)
There have been some changes in the 16 months since then; three of us have moved from the Douglasville, GA area eastward (2 players joining a third in the Smyrna area fairly near the West Perimeter, and myself across Atlanta to Tucker). The pub was a fun environment for a while, but not ideal for longer term. We moved to a maker-space workshop owned by Jessie and then to Jessie's house completely, as it was much more central (about a half hour drive for half of us).
We streamed on Twitch for 6 months worth or so, but ultimately that was a lot of stress and work, so we decided to forego streaming/recording video and just play with audio recorded so that we could keep track of the session details. (Look for posts of audio clips on this blog in the near future!)
A couple of us went through personal relationship breakups, but then, some of us also found love and happiness whilst at the table! (Separate post(s)! But I'm SO EXCITED FOR 2 OF OUR PLAYERS THIS COMING SEPTEMBER, OMG!!!!)
In those 16 months, the Party has made it to level 5 without dying (so far). They've defeated a goblin king and his tribe, rescued townspeople from death at the hands of a power hungry lamia, charmed their way past a chimera, killed beasts, healed the wounded, cleared out an ancient tomb, and I don't know what all else. Wait. Yes, I do! Because we have recordings! And notes!
So if you want to be entertained by the adventures of a band of heroes fighting against the Shadows of Chaos with the roll of the dice, buckle in and read on!
