I knew one day my RPG club would gain more members and that I would have to become a GM. I had written up an adventure that I would run for such an occasion. I even play-tested it with my brother to see how it would go. (And if you recognized the miniatures from the picture, I used Hero scape and used the hexagonal tiles to build the land, but did not use the dragon)
Eventually we had enough kids for 2 groups, so I asked the head GM if he needed me to GM and he said yes. The only thing was I didn’t bring any of my papers . . . . AAAHHHHH ! ! ! PANIC Mode ! ! ! The head GM turned to me and said, “It’s ok just wing it.” Now this was my first time GMing I did not have the skill to improvise just like that. So before the game started I just wrote as fast as I could of as much stuff I could remember from the adventure. I know that I re-named all the people and locations, and they were some pretty funky, weird names (Zanzadune, what?).
I think I had 5 players at my game, a barbarian, druid, Paladin, cleric, and a bard. They had all received letters from a king saying that he needed their help and to meet up with his knight. They met the knight who escorted them to the Castle. The King then tells them of an enemy kingdom who has been greedy and conquered many lands. The evil King has slain many men to get what he wants. The King that hires them wants to end the evil kings tyranny by killing him and taking over his castle, restoring the lands to the rightful people. he will give the adventures 100 gold each to do so, the adventurers agree.
In honor of his guests, the King and Queen put on a big banquet for them. It becomes late at night and the adventurers are going to bed. One of them is stopped by a cloaked old man who tells them the story of a temple of a certain goddess that now lays in ruins underneath the castle of the evil King. He also says if you ever enter it’s magical pool you will be healed or brought back from the land of the dead. (Now I randomly rolled to see which player would be chosen, it was the Paladin, but since the temple’s goddess was not of his faith he ignores the old man and doesn’t tell the rest of the party).
They set off on a long journey (the Knight was suppose to tag along, but that will be explained in a different, later post). Eventually they arrived in the land of the evil King, a lake with a bridge standing before them. As they walk across the bridge a troll climbs up from underneath it. A fight with the troll ensues (the troll was hired by the evil King to watch and protect the bridge from intruders.) The barbarian chops his arm off, the druid turns into a spider which freaks the troll out screaming “spider,spider”. She climbed up the troll and bit him and spread venom through his body. Another person then gouges his eyes out!
Now I thought only one troll would be fine, actually tough for them, but they killed it so darn quickly, mostly due to their strong barbarian. So I had to bring out another one. Out from the forest on the other side of the bridge Mrs. Troll comes out in her apron and frying pan Calling out to Mr. Troll saying, “Lunch is ready Sweetiekins!” but sees the 5 adventurers standing over her dead bloody husband. Going into a fit of rage, she charges them swinging her frying pan. Now she puts up more of a fight then Mr. Troll, but still comes to the same fate as her husband (except she got her head cut off). As they reach the other side they can see the castle in the distance.
The 5 of them make it to the castle. 2 people climb the wall and knock the guards out all sneakily, but the barbarian has other plans and knocks down the door. A big fight breaks out in he court yard. Surprisingly they can handle themselves even when they are outnumbered (5 against 20) especially the barbarian. The Druid who is in human form changes back into a spider and crawls underneath the door entering the castle. Her idea is to go and poison the king, but then she gets partially stepped on and paralyzed for several rounds.
After taking care of the soldiers in the courtyard the rest of the party entered the castle and 10 more knights greet them. This adventure was kind of a hack and slash fest. The druid finally gets to the king and bites him. When there are a small amount of soldiers remaining the King and his son join the battle. Eventually the King starts slowing down due to the poison and he and his son die. The adventurers claim the castle in the other kings name and are rewarded.
So that was it, I was very nervous. I wanted to entertain with my theatrics and provide a fun filled adventure for the players. Afterwards I asked them how it was and if they liked it. They said yes it was fun, but I couldn’t really tell if they liked it or not. So I would ask if they were sure and if they really had fun . It was my first time and I think I did a good job for it just being my first. I know I definitely made some mistakes, but over all they had fun. I know I was asked by one of the players if they could raid a castle again, so I must have done something right. “Hold on wait a minute!” some of you might be saying “well what about the temple underneath the castle” I will leave this for my next post, so tune in.
Let us know in the comments what your first time GMing was like! Did you forget all your notes and it nearly end in disaster?