Each time a campaign ends, I try to learn from it. This will be about my Princes of the Apocalypse campaign.
About the Group and Selection of the Campaign
Note: this campaign was played with the same group of players who played in the Waterdeep Dragon Heist campaign, featured in this Post-Mortem:
D&D 5E - Waterdeep: Dragon Heist Post-Mortem (Spoilers)
One exception to the roster is that one of the players brought his teenage son along to play several sessions.
This campaign took place before that one and in-person.
I think this was the introduction to 5e for all the players, except me.
This was a very unusual campaign for us, as we hadn’t started playing online yet. We would get together for “gaming weekends” a few times a year. One of us would host, and we’d play all weekend, eat unhealthy food, etc. - just like in college. This time we thought it would be fun to do a “campaign” over the course of a year’s worth of gaming weekends.
I picked out Princes of the Apocalypse because it seemed relatively straightforward and would be “beer and pretzels” enough for the mood of the weekends.
Preparation
My preparation for these games was literally looking over the chapter in the book while the players made their characters. Then we were ready to jump in.
Format
Each session we’d handwave things like story, background, exploration, etc. and start them at the “dungeon of the session.” This allowed for quick, bite-sized highlights of the campaign.
The Climactic Showdown
I put it up to a vote for the last part of the dungeon about which of the Elemental Princes they wanted to fight. They chose Imix. We had a high-power, epic climactic battle that ended in a thrilling encounter.
Lessons Learned
There’s not a lot to say about this one. It was straightforward to run without a lot of prep outside the game. It had a classic D&D "beer and pretzels" feel.
What Came Next?
For our next series of Guys' Gaming Weekends, one of the other guys tried a Viking/"Game of Thrones" inspired 5e game with gritty rest rules. (It didn't match the same kind of casual game feel.)
About the Group and Selection of the Campaign
Note: this campaign was played with the same group of players who played in the Waterdeep Dragon Heist campaign, featured in this Post-Mortem:
D&D 5E - Waterdeep: Dragon Heist Post-Mortem (Spoilers)
One exception to the roster is that one of the players brought his teenage son along to play several sessions.
This campaign took place before that one and in-person.
I think this was the introduction to 5e for all the players, except me.
This was a very unusual campaign for us, as we hadn’t started playing online yet. We would get together for “gaming weekends” a few times a year. One of us would host, and we’d play all weekend, eat unhealthy food, etc. - just like in college. This time we thought it would be fun to do a “campaign” over the course of a year’s worth of gaming weekends.
I picked out Princes of the Apocalypse because it seemed relatively straightforward and would be “beer and pretzels” enough for the mood of the weekends.
Preparation
My preparation for these games was literally looking over the chapter in the book while the players made their characters. Then we were ready to jump in.
Format
Each session we’d handwave things like story, background, exploration, etc. and start them at the “dungeon of the session.” This allowed for quick, bite-sized highlights of the campaign.
The Climactic Showdown
I put it up to a vote for the last part of the dungeon about which of the Elemental Princes they wanted to fight. They chose Imix. We had a high-power, epic climactic battle that ended in a thrilling encounter.
Lessons Learned
There’s not a lot to say about this one. It was straightforward to run without a lot of prep outside the game. It had a classic D&D "beer and pretzels" feel.
What Came Next?
For our next series of Guys' Gaming Weekends, one of the other guys tried a Viking/"Game of Thrones" inspired 5e game with gritty rest rules. (It didn't match the same kind of casual game feel.)