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Yeah it's so funny I didn't really have to make up a fantasy name in the fantasy retelling cause it's dramatic enough. It looks like a tooth as you'll see. I did think it was funny that the staffers were just having fun while we're all stressing about water and food and endurance. Their camps...

Day 6 began with a truly magical, if challenging, experience. A staff member, dressed fittingly in wizard robes, led us in the morning up a scramble of rugged rocks to see the sunrise. She easily scaled the rocks while the rest of us huffed and puffed (me in particular), struggling with the...

It's hard to imagine this being the name of an adventure. It's like "into Greyhawk." Now it seems a rather boring way to title it, but back then FG wasn't an established setting, so that was meant to evoke mystery, I suspect. Now it's all "Forgotten Realms? I remember them, I was there yesterday!"

Jon Peterson's Playing at the World makes it clear Gygax wasn't using Tolkien as a base when he started out, but Tolkien was massively influential (in the way Star Wars would later be) at the time he was writing D&D and so he wisely made those connections in Chainmail, etc. The problem was he...

Dun dun DUNNNNN!

Day 5 began beautifully for us. I, along with another adult leader, awoke early just to enjoy the gorgeous sunrise. The wind had whipped our tents quite a bit that night, but blessedly, there was no rain. Instead, warm gusts of wind kept blowing through our campsite, a truly welcome reprieve...

I would love to see them if you're willing to share!

It's a different experience that, as I hopefully have made clear, is analagous to an adventuring party. This hike absolutely changed my life, and my perspective on adventures in general. I highly recommend any kind of hiking to any DM for that reason alone.

Thank you so much. Seven days nearly killed me. 10 days seems a fantasy; 10 days to Mt. Baldy (now something you can only do if you 10 or 12 days, 7 days no longer an option due to altitude sickness issues) seems impossible. Perhaps for younger folks in any case. I imagine doing this stuff as a...

Part of the Philmont experience, I've learned, is making it sound like there's "monsters" everywhere. There was a pretty big gap between what our Ranger told us, and what staff at the camps told us, who rolled their eyes when we mentioned the mountain lion procedures. The example our Ranger used...

Day 4 marked the midway point of the hike. It's often considered the hardest day too, as this is when our Ranger said his farewells and left us. It was a bittersweet moment; while we were ready to prove we could do it (and frankly, were eager to get on with the hike without him), he was the last...

The next day of the hike we have a man down due to stomach issues. Speaking of gratitude, I was so grateful that the Scout tapped out while we were at a staffed camp; being stuck with a him ill in the middle of a mountain trail would have been absolutely miserable. Sorry that happened to you...

The irony is on all our practic hikes my left (non-dominant) knee hurt, so I brought a strap along just in case. That was the ONE issue I didn't have the entire trip. My knees were totally fine, go figure!

I cannot overstate how much the suffering I endured changed the tone of the trip. I was miserable but mostly light-hearted about it (and clearly wasn't taking it seriously, there's a good argument that my mental state was in fact due to the beginnings of hypothermia). But the entire crew was...

Thank you. They were hard earned. I have one video of the hailstorm that I chose not to share because it's me laughing hysterically about how the hail hurts when it hits my face. I stopped laughing about 15 minutes after that video...

After a good night's sleep and breakfast at our starting camp, Day 3 was meant to be the second leg of our trek with our Ranger still guiding us. They were there to help us sharpen our camping skills, and the plan was for them to eventually leave us on our own, likely by early Day 4. Our...

The AD&D Birthright campaign setting really tried to do this just before AD&D transitioned: Birthright (campaign setting) - Wikipedia I LOVE the idea of this, but it actually took so much for me to adapt my current PCs to it that we didn't get far. Ironically, I feel like D&D has come full...

Oh gods this was so my early games as a kid. I had a guy who wanted to play "Leather Armor." We had no idea what we were doing back then and didn't care because we were having a blast! At least until I misread how many XP you get for fighting in a war and gave the PCs the entire collective XP...

I love the Bonnacon and it's hilarious that Gygax most def knew what it was but chose not to include it (and yet, we got the catoblepas). However... Clearly the author and I have seen very different versions of the Lion King!

After a good night's rest at Base Camp/Headquarters, our Day 2 began bright and early. We had to check out of tent city no later than 8:30 a.m. and report to the Welcome Center at our scheduled departure time. This was it – the real beginning of our trek! We hopped on a Philmont bus that took...