How to Build a Gaming Group

Inspiration

I was inspired to start a campaign after reading the book "Empire of Imagination," by Michael Witwer. It made me feel nostalgic for my old gaming sessions growing up in the seventies and eighties. Those were great evenings spent with a large collection of friends in the Yocom basement. I felt like my life lacked the creativity that I had as a youth and I was eager to recapture some of that.

The Challenges

My desire was to run a game with some of my old friends from my youth. Luckily I have stayed in touch with a good number of them, some more loosely than others. My first concern was that I was not sure how many of them would be interested in playing again and willing to put the time into it. Next, there was the issue of logistics. I currently live in the Bay Area, whereas the majority of my old gaming buddies still live in the Salt Lake City area. The final concern was what version of Dungeons & Dragons were we going to play. It had been 8+ years since the last time many of the prospective group members had played any form of D&D.

Virtual Tabletop

The first dilemma that needed solving was the logistics. No matter how much any of us wanted to play, if there wasn't a good solution to the proximity problem, then the whole thing was a no go. Luckily, a cool virtual tabletop gaming application had become mature while I was away from gaming: Fantasy Grounds by SmiteWorks USA, LLC. I had recalled seeing it when browsing around the steam library sometime in the past and so I went to investigate it. After watching a couple demo videos, reading user feedback and perusing what was available, I was impressed enough to think that this was the solution for us.

Dungeon & Dragons 5th Edition

Having played every prior version, I decided to spend a bit of time looking into the latest edition of Dungeons & Dragons. I wanted to see if it was a good choice or if we should go back to a previous edition. I felt after reading through the rules and getting feedback from people who had been using the 5e system that it was the right choice for our group. I felt like WOTC had done a good job of learning from the mistakes in prior versions and conceptualized a simpler, more elegant system that has the best class balance of D&D editions; while keeping each class compelling and unique. Is it a perfect system, no, but I think it's the best so far.

First Contact

I first broached the idea with my friend Callin. He was still in SLC and stayed in touch with a lot of the guys better than I did, plus I just wanted a quick early opinion. So I sent Callin a text, simply asking if he would be interested in trying to get a D&D gaming group back together and play it using Fantasy Grounds. I was excited when he responded so positively. We started frequent discussions of who we wanted in the group followed up by contacting the prospects to gauge their interest. The goal was to have a group of 5-7 people.

Conclusion

We had our share of prospective group members turn us down for various reasons, but still ended up with a great group of guys. I am thankful for each of them agreeing to participate and look forward to a fun a rewarding foray back into Dungeons & Dragons. Thanks Callin, Michael, Courtney, Grayson and Eugene!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter 3 - Session 1B: Exploring Port Nyanzaru

Session date: December 27, 2017 Day 1 - Time for Some Rest? As the wave of heat and humidity washed over the party members, they consider their course of action, while looking over the area. As they look over the dock area, where they arrived, they notice an imposing-looking gold Dragonborn in the distance that appears to be in charge of the docks. Others that catch their eyes are cat-like humanoids that travel amongst the locals and how lightly dressed everyone is. After some discussion, the party decides to acquire lodging at Kaya's House of Repose near the Red Bazaar. The party arrives at Kaya's without incident and notice a large board outside with announcements from working guides. They enter the house and are able to secure lodging. As they sit and enjoy a meal and some drinks they scan the common room, noting that most appear to be locals with the exception of an odd couple in one corner. Both appear to be seasoned adventurers. One is an attractive human man in st...
Read more

Chapter 2 - Session 3: Sometimes it's Better to be Lucky

Session date: October 11th, 2017 On Two Fronts At the end of the last session, the characters were in a bit of a pickle. Kalain was in the eastern tower of the main gate with three hobgoblins headed towards him; while Shudo,”Z” and Pork were on the second floor of a house and had three hobgoblins following them. There were also several goblins, from various areas of the town, moving towards the front gate to investigate the reason for the alarm horn. Two of the hobgoblins headed into the eastern tower to engage the elf Paladin Kalain, while the third, an apparent leader of some sort, moved into the western tower and out on the wall to examine the fire area and assess the situation. Kalain was in for the fight of his life, his foes were more challenging than his previous adversaries. He took a couple of blows from their glaive’s that made him consider flight. Instead he call upon the healing powers of his deity Sehanine Moonbow and was partially healed. His resolved strengthened, ...
Read more

Chapter 1 - Session 2 : Searching the House

The Ground Floor As the adventurers consider their options while standing near the open door to the house that the thug was trying to escape to, a couple of them notice a man trying to sneak up on them. After their last encounter they are on high alert and immediately draw their ranged weapons, while questioning the human. "I am Erzenei, a local, and only came down here because I heard the commotion of a fight. Are you the adventurers that are looking into the abduction of Rosie Emberhelm?". After introductions are completed, the party accepts Erzenai into the group. The door stands invitingly open and they can see what looks like a typical living room for the area: chairs around a dining room table; a large fireplace with seats nearby; and a welcoming rug at the entrance. The party decides to investigate the house, to look for any signs of Rosie. The party heads into the house, with the exception of Fosgrim, who took a bit of a beating from the thugs, so he decides to t...
Read more