Intro Two - D&D Boogaloo

The second focus of this blog will likely be D&D. I got into D&D around the time I fell out of Tabletop Wargaming funnily enough, and it wasn't via Critical Role, as many a current player can likely attest to. Instead for me it was a mix between Rollplay, another Youtube/Twitch show that predated CR, and one of the Penny Arcade live shows for Acquisitions Inc (I think it was Patrick Rothfuss' first showing).

Of course, I'd seen the D&D movie already, and read not only the original Dragonlance trilogy, but also the followup trilogy featuring the Majere brothers, and many of the spinoffs, prequels and sequels to the series. Without even realising it, I was well entrenched in the mythos of D&D, so when bored one night I started looking for how I could play myself.

I got incredibly lucky with Roll20. I joined exactly one game, and that lasted for over 3 years and led into multiple other games with much of the same group. I even ran a good few sessions myself. We played using the AD&D First Edition rules, with a few house-rulings, but for a new guy the group was welcoming, and the setting incredibly compelling. Mormon matriarchal space dwarves, trans-dimensional dragons, power armour and a tropical setting seem non-typical and "out-there" but the presentation made it all work and we were hooked and always ready for the next Wednesday night when we could play again.

It was such a great experience that I've immortalised my original character, a dwarven fighter called Axel, in model form. My other character from that campaign, a druid called Canis, got re-imagined into the new game we're playing (run by Follow Me and Die, see the link to his top-notch work in the sidebar!), a frontier spanning game with ancient temples sealing a powerful necromancer and Vikings with sand-ships!

Axel Rhom'khul - My Original Dwarf Fighter. Canis will be getting a model too.

So how will D&D appear on this blog? I will likely go through my experiences firstly, I've played a mix of 1e and 5e, enough that I have my own thoughts and even house-rulings for each. Perhaps few posts for fun sessions I play, and will likely do a series covering my own setting, Alenostr, in an effort to flesh it out and finish that project properly.

Alenostr is an ice-and-snowbound southern continent, with games set shortly after the fall of the Dwarven Empire, overthrown by their own Ogre vassals under the leadership of the mysterious Ogress known as the Enchantress. It features pervasive magic, fallen Orc civilisations, necromancer Vampires and school's for ghost-busting Paladins! I'm really looking forwards to returning to development for it.

That's where I'll leave this post. I hope it's entertaining for you all!