If you want actionable TTRPG content, check out Tuesday’s post. Today is a campaign recap — for the love of the game!
We just wrapped a major 5e campaign, and I am stoked! DM’d by Gabriel Watcher (WatcherDM illustrator, author, and chief) and borrowing from Blackmarsh, the Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor, and Dyson Maps, The Blackmarsh Rangers ran for twenty-six sessions. Nine of us (ten, after a mid-campaign substitution) met every two weeks for about fifteen months; we ran from level 1 to 10, and then time skipped forward to level 20 for a Tarrasque-fightin’ epilogue.
It was a blast! We originated from five (more?) different countries but still managed to meet in person every two weeks(-ish), despite rain, snow, and other chaos. Gabriel really went the extra mile, with a ton of minis and handouts to take advantage of the meatspace. It’s probably worth a long, more considered blog post at some point to go over the highs and lows, but in the meantime, just take a walk down memory lane with us!
Dramatis Personae
Edrien by Adriano, our resident Tiefling Rogue and party edgelord! Specialties include arson and impersonating goblin gods. Found his long-lost brother.
((Extraspecial thanks to Adriano, who did the two group illustrations included here (and probably took most of the battle photos too)))
Frank (AKA John Smith) played by Andrew, our dragon-obsessed ranger with a criminal past. Specialities are archery and pet endangerment. He went from an Int of 5 to 19 and later became a wizard to try and resurrect his lost dragon pets.
Gustavo by Makoto. Chef, Artificer, and Squad Leader. He saved his family’s restaurant and then went on to start a franchise.
Iasol by Mickey, warlock, sorceress, dead person, and resident spooky business provider. Originally a pawn of Atacyl (our Vampire Lich BBEG), she won her freedom… after some pretty consequential treacheries. Ended up running a circus after saving the world.
MARRRV by Chelsea, our wild magic barbarian, damage sponge, and frequent MVP. The quietest player with the loudest character. Ended up marrying the druid we met along the way, plus a series of ex-wives.
Akiysha, elven cleric! Typically found sitting on the shoulder opposite Edrien, Aikyasha was our second resident non-human (Iasol was human, albeit a dead one) and a moral counterweight to the Tiefling’s roguishness. Fought evil! Saved elves! Tolerated us humans!
Marcus, fighter, sentinel, and polearm master, played by Augusto. Fought nobly, but due to real-world considerations, left before the campaign finished. We missed you bud!
Scarlet, druid, Viking, and crowbear, was played by Madison. She joined us in the second half of the campaign. Specialties included bears, crowbars, and marrying MARRRV. I missed one session in the latter half and all anyone would talk about afterward was a tactically crucial moment where she combined Tidal Wave with Spike Growth.
Davenport Cavendish, played by me, your humble correspondent. Nobleman. Bard. Egocentric with an invincibility complex/deathwish. Eventually became king but was too busy seeking glory to do any ruling. Married a lake spirit.
Early Adventures
The early levels had all the hits: assassins, vampires, seiges, dark gods, and goblin mines. We met some halflings who became our touchstone for who we were trying to protect. The vibe was mostly ‘fantasy spec ops’.
Dungeoning
Past the pits of Pendar, we began dungeoneering. We became aware of the Vampire Lich Atacyl, his previous defeat, and impending apocalyptic return! We fought weird mutant slimes, scored some magical books, and found a really cool magical statue.
Trip to the Elves
The Elves were arguably our bosses. We went to go see them about the lich issue, but they had a demon thing happening. Iasol tricked them into giving her some magic stuff for Atacyl.
Viking Raid!
Davenport’s evil brothers tried to raid our halfling buddies! Desperate schemes and a brave beachhead defence saved the halflings, but Davenport was captured. He talked his way out of it by baiting his brother Amos into stealing a sword some kobold were worshipping; long story short, he became an avatar of a god of law which, given he was an asshole to start with, was non-ideal.
Post-Kobold Vampiric Alliances
We reached the great city of Blackmarsh. The twenty-level megadungeon below it held Atacyl; he was about to come back to life, partly due to Iasol. Fun!
Continuing our questionable choices, we partnered with one of Atacyl’s spawn to try and prevent his return. Davenport married a lake spirit, Edrien found his brother, and we cured Iasol’s problem with having evil in her brain. A bog came alive and tried to kill us; it failed. We realized that Amos was about to be a bigger problem when he invaded Blackmarsh.
See above, Davenport’s father-in-law. See below, Gabriel’s schemes for the campaign.
Into the Megadungeon!
The Megadungeon was big and bad, but we were bigger and badder. Atacyl was defeated!
The Greatest Heroes of the Realm!
Thank you brave heroes! Here’s to our Yesterdays! Here’s to our Tomorrows!
