A New Campaign

Dice clattered on the table followed by a roar of victory.

“Critical hit!” Stefan cheered. The others began talking excitedly as damage was calculated. Didn’t really matter. The unholy monster they were fighting was close to ****, and this was going to seal the deal.

We had started Dungeons and Dragons as soon as summer started, with the original plan being just Mike, Emma, Emily, and I. We played at Emma’s, taking her kitchen table up Friday night. It had been going well until their dad started hanging around. At first it was just a quiet curiosity, hovering about as we played to see what we were up to. Then he started asking questions. It only took a single session for him to be sitting at the table, watching things play out. I asked him if he wanted to create a character, and Sigenoth Bergthorsson was born; a Viking warrior who was transported to this world after he died in his original one—only he didn’t know it was another world and was treating this as some sort of Valhalla.

I pretty much made him a barbarian character and changed it to Viking.

He loved it.

Mike was a dwarven cleric. Emma had dropped her seductive rouge now that her father was playing and took on an elvish sorceress. Her sister finished up the group as a human bard. It was a weird group, but it worked out well. The shocking thing was Stefan. The man loved his character and always happy to speak through his character.

It was a bit sad thinking about how this would come to an end once college started. The drive wasn’t that bad, but I figured eventually we would get to the point where our schedules and priorities would shift so that our Friday night games would end.

But that was a worry for the future. Right now, I would enjoy things as they were.

I grinned as Stefan and Mike celebrated the defeat of the creature. Poor fools.

That wasn’t its final form…

None of them had figured out how each fight tonight was designed to exhaust their precious resources. Emma was running low on spells and Emily still was still new so she wasn’t using her abilities to maximum effect.

Only at Emma’s glare I found I had cackled out loud. I rolled with it, launching into my planned villain monologue as the true villain of the campaign revealed himself. They wouldn’t win the fight that was coming. I made sure of that. After all, I had big plans for this guy, and ending it here wouldn’t be in anyone’s interest.

Mike looked glum as dice rolled for initiative.

Time to have some fun!