THE STATE OF THE UNION
Issue #000: An Introduction
Issue #000: An Introduction
The Game- This is a D&D 5e campaign, and for the majority of the players, and me (the DM), this is our first time with 5e, although we're (nearly) all veterans of previous iterations of the world's greatest yada yada... We play using Fantasy Grounds- the glorious DM (me) has an Ultimate account, so the free-loading players get to play, well... for free. For the first 50 or so sessions we used Skype for voice chat, but Discord has since taken over as our favourite. We play for 3-4 hours, most weeks- subject to the rough and tumble of family lives.
The opening scenario is WOTCs intro to the format, the Lost Mine of Phandelver, for levels 1-5 (-ish). We've actually been playing the campaign now (as I write this, 16th Oct 2017) for 2 3/4 years (or so), next Wednesday will be session 90-something. So, I've a lot to do to catch up, fear not I have excessive notes, be patient with me, we'll get there with this Story Hour.
Obviously we've finished the Lost Mine of Phandelver now, what we get up to next will becomes obvious later.
The Players- There are five players in-game, at least at the beginning- there are personnel changes (for a variety of reasons) as we go on, although three of the present players have been in action since the beginning (almost). The players are-
Pedja, a 30-something Serbian mechanical engineer- he makes the doors for the Space Shuttle, or was it for washing machines, I forget which. Pedja's a smart chap, he plays Hellwhip, although he's never played a Ranger before, and of all of the guys he has the least experience with pen & paper roleplaying games. Pedja however instigated this campaign, by e-mailing me and whining a lot, so he gets to go first in this list.
Zoki, another 30-something Serbian chap- Zoki has played in a couple of other D&D (4e) campaigns I've run- back in the day, and on Maptools previously. Zoki is in business- probably dodgy, but hey, who knows- he's always busy, that's for sure. Zoki is also a smart chap, he plays Grimm, and he does it ever-so well at times. He's certainly fond of the sound of his own voice, and has a mini-moral compass in his pocket at all times, which suits the Paladin just fine.
Bob, yet another 30-something Serb, they get everywhere. Note the three Serbs are somehow inter-related, or else firm friends- which is why in-game when one of them messes up the other two generally rip into him, with zeal. Over the years I have learnt some very graphic Serbian swear words. Bob's an entrepreneur, and an incredibly clever fellow (he paid me to write this), and the CEO of an ever-expanding company. Which means that he gets to game, sometimes, from far-flung places and at odd times of the day, very early morning, or in the middle of the night. Bob plays Ken Lee, the Wizard, he has a mean-streak a mile wide and all for setting people on fire, or else crushing them under tonnes of rock.
Christer, is a 30-something Swedish chap, he too is related by marriage to one or two of the Serbs above. Christer works as a computer programmer, I think, it's hard to understand what he's talking about when he starts up with his work-related tirades. Apologies but I believe computers to be magic boxes full of binary elves, and er... stuff. Christer, is a clever chap, and yet his accent, for some (possibly cultural- he reminds me of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets) reason makes him sound... what word to use here without insulting Christer, or else the Swedish nation as a whole. He sounds... slow, of course he's not at all- he just sounds it. I, of course, understand that all of the four guys above speak half-a-dozen more languages than me, and that their native tongue is not English. But Christer's pronunciation, and oft-times, chopped up sentences almost never fail to leave me grinning. Christer plays Zyler, the lug Battle Priest that shouts 'Tempus' a lot. He's great, every house should have one.
Lastly,
Simon, is a 30-something British fellow, no relation (oddly) to me or any of the other players. Simon, like Christer, works in IT (or so he says)- certainly he knows a lot about computers, like how to turn them 'off' and 'on' again. While the other four players are happy to expose their family, friends, and much of their real lives to the game (and our ridicule)- Simon, is a mystery. It is suspected that he does not sleep, only for a few hours each night he reboots and runs updates. In truth, Zalt- the Warlock (Simon's character) is equally mysterious in-game. At times it seems to me that he only suffers his fellow adventurers to be around so that they can carry things for him, and open the doors, and find traps. Zalt is an army of one.
The DM- I'm an British guy, nearly 50 years old- yeah, I should know better. A lecturer by trade, and therefore overly fond of the sound of my own voice. I eat a lot of biscuits, I used to be a soldier, I have foresworn alcohol and so need something to fill the void. D&D is my drug of choice.
This then is our game, and... oh, we call ourselves 'the Union', because we are united as one in our pursuit of... what was it again, oh that's right- 20th level.
A brief intro to the PCs follows.
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