Due to various scheduling issues and being down to two players, we haven’t really played an rpg since, oh, I think something like late May. Rachel, RJ, and I have been playing some Pathfinder Adventure Card Game which has been fun but it just isn’t the same as an rpg. This past weekend we had a couple of things align just right to start playing an rpg again…we were joined by a new player, Muse, and the D&D Start Set (plus Basic D&D pdf) had come out the week prior (Secret Headquarters is one of the stores that got the early release). I haven’t given this new edition as thorough of a read as I should but I liked what I saw when I skimmed through it. So we got together to start playing Lost Mine of Phandelver (the adventure included in the Starter Set) but, in true Fat Rat Games style, we’ve already jumped the rails so to speak.
There are potential spoilers below the break for the Starter Set adventure, Lost Mine of Phandelver, but they are very minor as we didn’t get too far into it. There are also spoilers for the old Dungeon Magazine (#28) adventure, Night of Fear, but we didn’t get too far into it either. This write-up is from yours truly as I didn’t make sure any of the players would be doing a write-up.
We started the session picking from the five pre-generated characters. Someone had posted some slight variations of these characters on the Wizards forums so I let folks pick from those as well. Muse, who was joining us for the first time, got to pick first. She picked the Elf Rogue with the Criminal background (same as the Starter Set Halfling Rogue but an Elf instead). Rachel and RJ split the remaining four characters, playing two each to give us the following party of characters.
- Valanthe Galanodel, Elf Wizard with an Acolyte background played by Rachel.
- Caelynn Amastacia, Elf Rogue with a Criminal background played by Muse.
- Baren of Clan Dankil, Dwarf Cleric with a Soldier background played by RJ.
- Feran Thisel, Human Fighter with a Folk Hero background played by RJ.
- Lord Chase Corlinn, Human Fighter with a Noble background played by Rachel.
Everyone picked pretty much blind outside of knowing race, class, and background.
Folks looked over their character sheets, we chatted a bit about the contents of the character sheets, the basic rules of the game, and then we got started.
Here’s one thing that I don’t particularly like that the Starter Set adventure uses…the artificial start. You know, the start where the PCs are all together already and have been for at least a bit and the start tells you what has already happened. I understand why this is used…and it makes complete sense to use this type of start…but I wanted something different. Plus, Muse is a relatively new player having only played some Pathfinder and that was with a group that could probably be characterized as more hack n’ slash and she wanted more of a roleplaying game. I didn’t want to disappoint…gotta make a good first impression and all that…and I felt that the start of the adventure, as written, would do just that…disappoint.
So, instead, we started a step or two back. Each of the characters still have their backgrounds and personal goals as in the Starter Set (all of which revolve around the small town of Phandalin or that areas). This meant that each character was already on their way to Phandalin (or the general area) and, wouldn’t you know it, there just happened to be a trading post, Crellar’s Trading Post, located where the Triboar Trail leads off from the High Road to Phandalin. And that, as you might have already guessed, is where we started the game. Hey, at least it wasn’t a tavern. 😀
Caelynn was the first to arrive at Crellar’s (Muse only had one PC to review instead of two so I jumped in with her while RJ and Rachel were still reviewing their characters). Muse decided, given Caelynn’s background, she had stayed here previously…about six months ago. Crellar still recognized her, welcomed her, and, as she sat at the bar, yelled for some food and drink for Caelynn. A few other folks were already at the trading post. A somewhat conversational halfling named Goddle had a short conversation with Caelynn about whether she was looking for a companion…a traveling companion and nothing more…before the two contemplated the value of a silent conversation together.
A dwarf and an older human sat at a table together sharing a meal in the same silence as Goddle and Caelynn. Two of the other four or five tables had lone occupants, a young woman at one and a priest at another (a priest of Ilmater although Caelynn didn’t recognize the holy symbol he wore as anything more than another human god). Crellar’s youngest son, Kelsey, brought out some food for Caelynn and peppered her with a few questions about the adventures she had recently had.
I believe that Feren was the next to arrive at the post. He joined the pair at the bar, sharing that he was looking for the ruined village of Thundertree. He had heard that a dragon was residing there and he planned on slaying said dragon in order to allow the village to be resettled. Goddle offered some very “helpful” advice as to the location of Thundertree, first pointing in one direction and stating that he thought it was that way but then pointing in the opposite direction and stating that maybe it was that way. He then proceeded to point in a third cardinal direction, stating that it might just be that way. Finally, he pointed in a fourth direction (towards the coast) and stated that he was pretty sure that it was NOT in that direction.
At some point in this conversation (or maybe it was later on), the older man who was sitting with the dwarf came over and introduced himself as Sildar and commented that Thundertree and dragons were no place for fledgling adventurers, especially with all the zombies about. This news about zombies was news to Feran but it didn’t seem to dampen his enthusiasm about his quest too much. Having done his good deed, Sildar returned to his dwarven companion.
Meanwhile, outside, Valanthe had reached the Triboar Trail and was turning on it towards the trading post. As she did, she noticed another individual traveling in her direction, about two-hundred yards away, from the southern portion of the High Road. As Valanthe turned onto the trail, this individual, a human with sword and armor, started jogging after her. Curious, she waited. As the man got closer, he shouted out something about rude elves and that he had waved at her. As he continued to approach, his comments and language became ruder and cruder. Before he shoved his way past Valanthe (even though they were both in a wide open space), she learned that his name was Brent and that he was some sort of mercenary who had recently had a bit of dispute as to fair shares of some treasure that he and his companions had come across. He shook his coin pouch (it sounded rather full) and implied that his companions were now dead for having been so disagreeable. A bit shocked at the encounter…as well as contemplating a possibly magical response…Valanthe watched as Brent entered the trading post.
You’ll have to forgive me but I might have the sequence of events slightly mixed up as I was running all of this off the cuff and no one took many notes for me to refer back to. But before Brent entered, I believe that Caelynn approached the woman sitting by herself at a table and introduced herself. Although quite quiet and shy, the young woman did introduce herself as Lyons and opened up a bit.
Lyons explained that she was from Candlekeep and as traveling to Neverwinter to continue her magical studies. Her father had arranged for some guards to accompany her but, a couple of days ago, they stole all of her possessions (including her spellbook), blindfolded her, and told her to count to 2,047 very slowly as they walked away or they would kill her. She had made it to the trading post and Crellar is letting her stay for free given the circumstances and that Neverwinter was only a day’s quick walk away (at which point, Lyons got up and walked around quickly, asking if that would be fast enough to get to Neverwinter). Caelynn immediately felt some pity for the incredibly young and naive woman.
When Brent entered, he made sure that all eyes were on him. Boisterous, rude, and crude, Crellar told the self-proclaimed sellsword that it would be 2 gold for a night’s stay and a meal. All the others had only paid a single gold but Brent didn’t know that. After grudgingly paying the fee, Brent immediately began to look for his conquest for the night and honed in on Lyons. This created a very tense situation as Lyons was clearly intimidated and cowed by the bullying braggart. Most everyone in the trading post got on their feet and it looked like violence was about to happen.
As Valanthe walked in just a couple of minutes after her encounter with Brent, she noticed Crellar standing behind the bar holding a loaded crossbow under the bar. Before violence began, however, Feran defused the situation by inviting Brent over for a drink. As Brent sat down to drink, Crellar hid the fact that he overcharged the merc by making up some story welcoming Valanthe back and that she had overpaid by a gold at her last visit.
Valanthe joined Lyons and Caelynn at their table and learned that not only is Lyons naive and innocent but also a hugger. Both received multiple hugs from Lyons for their help with Brent and offers for future help, including copying spells from Valanthe’s spellbook!
A couple of more guests arrived: Rudvarien a merchant and Mirapesh, a dashing and friendly Calishite. Mirapesh immediately bought everyone a round of drinks upon arriving and then joined the table with the three women. He quickly ingratiated himself and Lyons was completely smitten. Mirepesh even offered to escort the young woman to Neverwinter in the morning, much to the relief of Caelynn and Valanthe…one problem solved.
Feran continued to buy Brent beers and keep to oaf occupied at the bar. Goddle also stayed at the bar and continued to surreptitiously change the chalkboard bar tab such that his beers ended up on Faren’s tab. Eventually, some of the travelers retired to their rooms and the final two PCs arrived at the trading post, Baren and Lord Chase Corlinn. Both joined the others at the table and all discussed their past and future travels, learning that they all had Phandalin as a common destination. Eventually, Crellar called for last round and everyone retired upstairs to their rooms as Crellar let loose a large watchdog, Bone Breaker, downstairs.
Oh, I almost forgot, at one point the dwarf who had been dining with Sildar came over to Crellar behind the bar. The two had an argument about a wagon with supplies that had not yet arrived. The dwarf, Gundren Rockseeker, was upset as he had to catch up with his brothers who had already gone ahead before they did something, in his words, stupid. Crellar apologized about the delay but that there was nothing he could do about it and offered to cut down the price some due to the tardiness. This didn’t really appease Gundren but there really wasn’t anything he could do about it either.
Okay, that’s gotten long enough already. This was maybe our first couple of hours of actually playing. Lots of conversation, lots of roleplaying, and lots of the characters getting to know each other some. For my group, at least, this is much more satisfying than some boxed text telling them where they are and why they are there and jumping into some action. As far as the rules of the Starter Set go, there really isn’t much that we could say so far…other than some INT checks to see if a character recognized something or not, the rules never really came into play. To be honest, we probably could have been playing almost any system in the first half of this session.
Part II to follow soonish.
