Source
r/DnD•
taloff

Solved a problem by starting a D&D game inside another D&D game

Our party made it to Baldur's Gate in last night's FR game. We were supposed to meet up with a monk and book passage on a ship to Waterdeep, and from there find a dragon cult's stronghold. However, after letting the monk know of our plans via an animal messenger spell of his, we neglected to tell him how or where we were supposed to meet in one of Faerun's largest coastal cities. I (a half-elf bard) resigned to keeping a lookout for the monk by the eastern gates, maybe hiring some urchins to keep an eye out for him, but I was confident it was going to turn into a needle-in-haystack situation. We looked into getting rooms on that side of the city, and the DM listed a few inns we could patronize. One of them was the Purple Worm, which he described as the starting point of a lot of Forgotten Realms games.

Reversing my cloak and affecting a limp and accent, I approached a group of fresh adventurers looking to make a name for themselves. I subtly implied that a holy man from the east might be the key to saving the realms and offered them a pittance for finding the monk and escorting him back to me. I then sweetened the deal by including a dragon's talon said to unlock a great treasure far to the south (in reality a trinket I'd had in my inventory on a lark since character creation). With a 22 on Deception, they bought it. The group of level 1 adventurers - Regdar the fighter, Tordek the cleric, Lidda the rogue, and Mialee the wizard - were eager to go on this quest, and in the morning set out on their first adventure.

TL;DR: I was the dark stranger in the inn of a 1st-level game starting in the middle of our ongoing D&D game.

Posted Sep 25, 2015, 5:21 AM UTC

38054
DracomaxDM•

Here I thought you were going to say, my elf sits down at the table, and requests a set of dice, a sheet of vellum, and a pen. He then proceeds to roll 3 of the dice, in order, 6 times, writing the numbers down. He pulls out a set of oddly shaped dice, specially whittled, which can produce numbers such as 1-20, and says, "I shall play a human accountant, named Jack Roberts"

189
court12b•

obligatory xkcd

69
xkcd_transcriber•

Image

Title: Tabletop Roleplaying

Title-text: I may have also tossed one of a pair of teleportation rings into the ocean, with interesting results.

Comic Explanation

Stats: This comic has been referenced 50 times, representing 0.0601% of referenced xkcds.

^xkcd.com ^| ^xkcd sub ^| ^Problems/Bugs? ^| ^Statistics ^| ^Stop Replying ^| ^Delete

35
TimTravel•

Boardrooms and Bosses

20
qwertythreeight•

Dayjobs and drudgery

11
Thorbinator•

Humdrum and Humans.

6
ninjabard88•

Households & Humans

7
FrognosticatorDM•

Houses and Humans

4
one_comment_onlyDM•

From the 1st edition DMG

15
AlikontCleric•

Humans and Households

5
taloffOP•

I wasn't sure how many environments within environments roll20 could handle so I didn't push it.

5
ammcneil•

Elves don't roll 4 and drop the lowest? I knew there was a reason I never liked them all that much.

3
DracomaxDM•

When playing D&D, elves are old school grognards. It just follows.

4
SilkyZRogue•

I always carry a dice set in my inventory for this reason

1
TruckerSost•

They're going to die in the wilderness.

122
spyingwind•

I remember dying to a bolt that dropped me to 0 hp. I was also flying at the time. My character sheet got torn up. No more flying creatures, or at the very least no flying till a little bit higher level.

12
speaks_in_subreddits•

I imagine you were probably joking, but I just can't fathom tearing up a character sheet. I keep all my dead characters. This is someone you've invested time, intelligence, and affection into!

At the very least you can use them as future NPCs!

2
spyingwind•

It was an old method of making sure that we didn't reuse dead characters that we would never be able to rez later on. It's a saying now a days, not so much as the real act.

Now we have computers that can remember everything.

1
kotoandjuri•

Couldn't you do something more civilized, like use a hole punch? Or tear off a corner?

2
Booty_Bowl•

You need to pass this intro off to another group. Preferably run by a friend of your current DM so they can compare notes and keep the world consistent. Maybe somewhere down the road you'll meet the party again, now hardened and capable adventurers. You know, for some special, deluxe edition, super-sized, boss fight of a session before once more parting ways.

50
A_Wizzerd•

Make sure their introductory monologue fully captures their overwhelming sense of betrayal and contempt felt for the party. Make references to several supposed interactions with the party all of which seem to have brought disaster and misery to this poor band of helpful souls.

Strapped to the rails of a blunt hook, given their nonsense purpose by mere chance, these aspiring adventurers have found themselves charging ever onwards through the aftermath of your own party. Bearers of an invented destiny leading nowhere, they are cursed to find themselves getting caught by every mob of furious reinforcements, every exploding ziggurat, all the poorly planned forest fires and accidentally freed demons. No matter where their foolhardy quest seems to lead them, it seems your group has been and gone, leaving the usual devastation in it's wake.

But at last they have divined the true meaning behind their endless struggles! At last the conspiracy is undone! At long last they will defeat their dastardly foe and his minions!

Or at least that's their story. Because, in the grand tradition of all adventuring parties that survive long enough, they have no idea whats going on and they've completely lost the plot.

26
Thorbinator•

What continent are we on again?

1
LordUncleBob•

I forget the plot between sessions. Every couple days my character stops and goes "what are we doing again? Oh yeah, running for our lives from a Lich hunting our Magical Plot Item."

1
martinomhDM•

If i was your DM, I would make them meet you again sometime in the future. With the monk all along.

(elegantly played though, that's a brilliant idea)

17
TastyClown•

You solved a problem AND created a party of adversaries for you DM to throw at you later! Good job!

16
wafflelegionBard•

Wait a minute... Regdar, Mialee.....

Those are the names of the premade adventurers you get in the D&D Fantasy Adventure Boardgame!

14
egammaDM•

Yep. And the 3.x PHB.

11
Oshava•

All I can think of as a dm is making that party reappear long down the road with some item of amazing power that they got from a mysterious chest that could only be opened with a dragon talon key

13
troyunrauDM•

As DM, I do this on purpose. I call it the Alterparty. The real party sometimes finds them in their dungeon, arriving early or late, following the same clues the party got. It means they're sometimes racing them for the loot, or relying on each other for help in a pinch. Helps make the world feel alive and lived in.

11
Tales_of_EarthDM•

I was originally going to play with my group as a PC but our DM flaked so I took over as DM and I made my character a NPC that started in the same tavern but just ends up creating a different party they clash/join with once in awhile.

1
Geddian•

Huh. I expected something completely different.

10
xkcd_transcriber•

Image

Title: Tabletop Roleplaying

Title-text: I may have also tossed one of a pair of teleportation rings into the ocean, with interesting results.

Comic Explanation

Stats: This comic has been referenced 49 times, representing 0.0589% of referenced xkcds.

^xkcd.com ^| ^xkcd sub ^| ^Problems/Bugs? ^| ^Statistics ^| ^Stop Replying ^| ^Delete

4
Candeo90•

I thought Regdar, Tordek, Lidda, and Mialee were from Greyhawk. What are they doing in The Forgotten Realms?

8
IAmTehDave•

They took a left turn at Krynn.

13
Candeo90•

It happens to the best of us I guess.

5
taloffOP•

The DM started off describing them as the most generic D&D party ever and it kinda snowballed into them being named and patterned after the 3e iconics.

8
Candeo90•

They really are the most generic characters ever but I'll be damned if I don't love them for it.

3
Smitikus•

That is effing brilliant. Kuudos.

6
jrobharingDM•

I have done this before, where the party is looking for work, and one of the various tasks if a party member is in good standing with the guard/military is to basically be a questgiver for other adventurers, by giving them tasks that are from the city constible.

The people are always cliché player types thinly veiled in fantasy lore, like the powergamer who is always talking about how to maximize his carnage output, or a rules lawyer that might say He'll complete a job by 'turning a bag of holding inside out, and running through walls with it over his head, which must work because he read it somewhere one time' as an example.

Got this idea from a quest in World of Warcraft, which was poking fun at different types of unsavory MMO gamers. Makes a good first mission. They're characters migt decide to gobdo these jobs on their own, where the constible will say "No no, we need more seasoned adventurers to go do THIS task." giving them the opportunity to prove themselves.

5
vo0do0child•

Were they caravan escorts by any chance?

2
taloffOP•

No, that's how our group started. The druid has since bought a cart and horse, so in a way we've become the caravan.

1
PsiGuy60•

In a roundabout way, "might be the key to saving the realms" isn't even a lie.
Most PC parties do end up saving the universe at some point (usually the epic levels).

2
PaulMcGannsShoes•

that's spectacular. well done

1
underdabridgeDM•

I did something like that when I was a player last year too! We had to go to an Inn and just for shits and giggles I had my character go up to a party of adventurer looking types, spin them a yarn, and give them a useless treasure map. Got a lot of laughs at the table.

1
owenator1234•

relevant: https://xkcd.com/244/

1
xkcd_transcriber•

Image

Title: Tabletop Roleplaying

Title-text: I may have also tossed one of a pair of teleportation rings into the ocean, with interesting results.

Comic Explanation

Stats: This comic has been referenced 51 times, representing 0.0613% of referenced xkcds.

^xkcd.com ^| ^xkcd sub ^| ^Problems/Bugs? ^| ^Statistics ^| ^Stop Replying ^| ^Delete

3
TotesMessenger•

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1
mightydm•

Beware - those folks could feel bitter and return as villains later on, striking out to avenge your character's deception.

1
realpudding•

do you also get to play these level 1 adventures in an intermission?

1