First map!

Still filling out a couple of the areas. Will have different versions - This one with the travel routes, there will be another with regions... Thoughts?

The best failed one shot.

My Question to DMs: How firm are you in the direction you create for a session.

TL;DR - really fun playing first D&D game!really cool running the one shot. Went far over time than expected. Didn’t complete session. Players leaned into characters really well. Levelling up mid game is a drag. Need to get a protective screen due to prying eyes. My puppy made a cameo!!!

Journal Entry:
HOST FIRST GAME!!!
The week leading up to the one shot I spent some time creating a little bit of background music and doing final checks. Replayed the primary scenes and figured ways to ensure players are included.
In my prep we would have completed the first session by 12:00, had a break for some lunch and then finished by 3/4pm… nope - we ran till almost 9pm🙈
My cousins gf was late so we began at 9:45.
Having learned from the previous test session I ensured this session was as slow as needed for the ‘tutorial’ to understands the basic.

I opened with an introduction similar to the message which was shared to all, covered in previous entry. And landed on a map where two groups were approaching a broken down wagon from opposite sides. My brother, the experienced game hid behind a rock whilst the rest of the, predominantly ranged fighters walked right up to the wagon. Ultimately 2 ooze blobs jumped out and the 3 corpses turned in zombies surrounding 4/5 of them. We went through how the different rolls work for them attacking and defending as well as working through their magic available on dnd beyond. This fight took almost 1.5hours🙈. They certainly got a full tutorial as almost all of them went down but when they managed to create distance controlled the situation well. There went my plan to be done with the first section by lunch time. No matter… no one knew and they seemed to be having fun😬
They then entered the castle just in time for the parade, briefly met one of the guards on entrance who was the NPC they ended up loving - more on that later.
As the parade was unfolding they truly took on the real form of their characters. AM and PLH were interested in the priestess so made their way through the crowd whilst LV followed them from afar. AM pulled up a cloak to hide his true form as the guard had already questioned his species. SA and IN stayed on the outskirts of the parade observing. Had them all roll perception and everyone except AM succeeded. An assassin struck from afar and struck AM unconscious. All characters ran toward AM and the assassin made an escape. What was really interesting is they had already tied the attack down to him being a Dragonborn - I had not really considered it from their angle, but it worked!
The great priestess had made strong eye contact with AM just before the attack and had then rushed to heal him after the attack. She was then rushed out by the guards. The players then noticed a strange black aura around AM. once again they connected it to the assassin’s attack. They made their way through the tavern where they had a downing competition with the barkeep to gain information about the assassin (barkeep rolled a 1 on the first round and didn’t manage to keep his beer down). They also visited a general store where there was an investigation quest, AM and SA took it on and really leaned into their characters. After solving the mystery (which was not at all what the store owner thought) AM suggested they try get a larger reward by exaggerating the issue which was solved. Needles to say their deception check failed horribly and they were found out.
They then stayed in a farm house to recover and set off to find ‘Nina’. The person they now had identified as the assassin. Nina was said to be deep in the forest so off they went.
During their first leg they successfully rolled a stealth check and observed a group of cultists performing a ritual to an ‘ominous’ (as described by SA)statue. Having rusidual trauma from the last time they just rushed in they were ultra cautious, to the point that the ritual completed and the cultists left. Just as the ritual completed they saw a spark of red energy blast into the sky and the statue had the same dark Aura as AM. They investigated the area and realised it the land was dead in a circle around the statue and there was a cultist robe. There was a lot of discussion about the aura.
They then pressed deeper into the forest and came across a seemingly deserted camp site. It was an assassin’s camp who snuck up on them. This was ready to be a fight should they direct it but they rather negotiated for information from this spy regarding Nina. They tried to bargain but failed completely. SA then thought he had ‘given the team the eyes’ to attack the spy and get their items back. This was hilarious as no one was on the same page and he really pushed into his ‘socially awkward’ character😂. The spy shared a secret with the group about getting to Nina which prepared them for the last section of the forest. It was regarding how to lure her out.
They had to fight a couple of Hobgoblins, which they dispatched with ease due to staggeringly phenomenal throws. They then enticed the giant spiders out of hiding, with the info from the spy, by using a smart ambush setting and mage hand.
Once the spiders were dispatched they called out for Nina as explained by the spy. Nina was aggressive and the player were all ready to fight, except LV. LV took control of the situation and got Nina to explain the attack. By the time she was finished the players were dumbfounded as she accused the high priestess of being the cult leader and the assassination was on her but had gone wrong. The players were conflicted and wanted to search for more clues. Nina had informed them of the knowledge keeper of the town and suggested they pick her brain.
On returning to the town they were caught off guard when the primary gatekeeper (a good, upstanding guard) questioned them. When realising they went after the assassin the group handled the interaction so badly that they convinced the guard that they were intruders assisting the assassin and ended up getting chucked into a prison cell (this was not even on the card from my end, it just seemed real as the events unfolded). This guards quirk was to make comments aloud of ‘noted’ or ‘suspicious’ when the PC said something which did not align 100%.
What was really cool was once they were in the cell the NPC left and they were actively role playing their next move which was exactly in line with their Characters. I did think the whole event was great in game but also for the players to realise their actions are important - I did notice them being more thoughtful with their interactions thereafter.
Ultimately the knowledge keeper met them in the dungeon and they navigated the interaction well which got them released under her name.
The players then made a couple stops around the town and ultimately stopped at the knowledge keeper and temple who both shed light on the high priestess potentially being part of this cult. The knowledge keeper also had insight to AM’s ‘father’ and shared how he had found the Dragonborn. Hints that the priestess was entangled with the goings on and also how she was then seen carrying a certain glowing blue pendant.
At this stage I saw PLH click and she could barely hold in her excitement.
The crew then made their way to the caves and had to figure out which entrance to use. They used some great creativity to figure out which cave the cult occupied.
They first, however, tested out one of the other caves and IN got a bit cocky - she ran straight at the tunnel and there was a trap which she fell in😂 they pulled her out and left immediately.
They then entered the correct cave which the cult occupied. LV then put on the cult uniform which allowed her to get past a Zombie Ogre and engage with cult members. The conversation went bad and the cultists became suspicious. The ogre did too as her character moved past it 5 times in the matter of minutes😂
Eventually they decided to take down the Ogre. Their rolls were very average but their plan was great. They took the ogre down and one of the cultists. The second cultist was terrified and escaped deeper into the cave.
That was where we left off as I could see engagement dropping and we had gone far longer than expected.
It was really great as a first introduction for me and it seems the players all had fun, albeit exhausted.
The party did level up a couple times during the session which took time but was probably also rushed for them due to the time requirements during the session.
I was using a laptop and heroes of the borderlands box to try block my preparations… it did not work well😂

Intent:
- host first session
- ensure all players buy-in to the story
- leave the characters interested in at least one NPC
- Let the players create the story
- have fun!

Reality:
- learning took longer than expected
- everyone leaned in to the game at one moment or another
- characters began creating their own stories
- characters began questioning whether their companions are all trustworthy🤣

DM Lesson: It is critical for the players to drive the direction of the session. My job is to create a general direction but not force engagements.

People Lesson: in sales I learned that when someone stops talking, push my tongue into the roof of my mouth and count to 5. This has helped me tremendously in business and was just as valuable in the setting as a DM. The characters really help create the story and direction.

Next Time:
1 - i will start the session no matter what if any player is late. Not to be full of nonsense but not disrespect everyone else who managed to keep to the agreed time. This will set the tone moving forward.
2 - level up through mile stones
3 - create a screen

Info I wish I had prior this session:
Levelling up mid session is a drag - rather do milestone levelling where the players can work on their characters out of game.

My Question to DMs: How do you see the split of Player/DM role when it comes to effort and contribution toward building the story?

TL;DR - did all the character and story prep for the one shot. Created a bit of lore and other elements which would be part of the one shot. Created 2 primary points which would encompass the session. Got players to create characters with a bit of background story and then shared a General and Personal message with each on the Sunday before the one shot (6days prior)

Journal Entry:
With one week to the Birthday One Shot and having played the test round I began planning. I had created a message to send players on WhatsApp with screen shots to take the them through Character Creation on DnD Beyond. I sent them the info on Monday with a deadline for Friday - this deadline to ensure I can plot out a bit of a story. With their character creation I asked they give a bit of a background to their character. At this point we were still just doing the Heroes of Borderlands - I ended up using it as the base of the story. Out of the 5 players 3 sent back their character creations by the deadline. Considering this was everyone’s first time I was really impressed by their characters. I’ll share a brief on them to not make it more long winded.
First one who came back - my brother. Like me, played games all his life but first time D&D. He created a Dragonborn Sorcerer who disposed humans as they had ruined his life (won’t go into all detail). He has a sage background and his name is Angus McDonald, AM moving forward. Since he was such a different character I moulded the world into a scarce Dragonborn realm where they were almost completely unknown.
Second was his wife, phenomenal young lady but never played games. It was cool to see she leaned in, HARD! She created an Elven rogue spy who was out to find more information of a powerful hidden network operating across multiple cities. Her character’s surname was know, to others, but name not (I messed that up later🤣🙈) - Lyra Vale, LV moving forward
Third was my beautiful wife who you met in my previous post. Absolutely new to anything games (I did have her ‘keep my character alive’ once when I was in a battlefield game one to find her crouching into a rock hiding and having no vision of the people trying to kill her). She came up with a really elaborate character. A Human cleric princess out to prove herself apart from her royalty family. She had a brother who was sent away for his own protection when they were young. Both siblings had pendant which glowed light blue. Her name was Princess Lightning Hammer (she was adamant we use the whole name🤣 - I will use PLH moving forward)
With this information I began working on a story to integrate into the one shot.
Creating the universe: I started creating a little bit of Lore on the universe Aethros. Specifics about the world, factions at play, basic backstory (sundering), 4memorable characters in the town (one was a smash hit). This probably took 3-4hours as it was really surface level.
I then turned my focus on their story. I created 2 critical points which needed to be achieved - first which would probably end in fighting and second the main villain which surely ends in fighting.
Then - how do I tie them together… after realising from my previous session with Wife I needed to have a ‘tutorial’. I decided this is where they would meet - on a path to the castle, which they each had their own reason to be at. Wagon broken down - upon investigation 2 ooze blobs would attack and the 3 bodies around the cart would turn into zombies.
They would then get to the town where there was a ceremony for a great Healer heading out on a pilgrimage, PLH idolised this healer. In the ceremony there would be an attack. The attack would strike down AM and the Great healer would save him. He would then be diseased and they would go after the assassin, who they learned about in the town, who had a hideout in the forest. This character would ultimately lead them to the priestess who was evil and had one of the pendants. She was also the person who destroyed AM’s adoptive father and stop the pendant from AM (PLH’s) brother who was transformed into a Dragonborn - they would need to figure this out. They would then chase down the Evil priestess and hunt her down. Plot done.
I then got the final 2 characters on Sunday evening (after planning).
My cousin created a Tiefling Druid Wizard who was also a sage. Not too much background details. Character’s name Sativa, SA moving forward.
His girlfriend character was an Elf Wizard who was 300 odd years old who was also a sage. Her name is Indica, IN moving forward. You might guess why theirs were late just through their character names.
In order to somehow give them some meaning in this story I tied SA and IN to a sage organisation (Astral Ledger) which AM wanted to join. These 2 characters were sent out to monitor and assess AM as to whether he was a suitable fit since he was a Dragonborn.
I realised that there was no warrior/fighter and was tempted to ask my cousin to change one of their characters but thought better of it and decided to ‘see’ what happens😬
On the Sunday evening I shared with everyone 2 messages. 1 - a common message which everyone got. 2 - a message which was aimed specifically to their character with some background and reason to their character. I will share those messages at the end of this post.
I also created quick images of their characters as they described and sent it to them to confirm that’s what they had in mind. After a couple iterations we were set (I know this community hates AI but since I am not artistic I find this is a valuable use of it especially where I lack skill. I’m full in on AI being a support tool and not a thought leader).

Intent:
- create a little lore
- give characters reason to link together and work toward a goal.
- create some interesting NPCs with understanding of which of them own what knowledge to assist the party (I created multiple point of information to ensure they can get to the answers they are looking for)
- create an outline for what the session would look like.
- create potential encounters.
- create an interaction where the first 3 characters have an opportunity to shine a little.

Reality:
- loved creating the lore - needed to stop myself to not go too in depth since it was just a one shot and the likelihood of them learning it was unreasonable.
- not everyone completed the ‘admin’ parts timeously
- character creation worked well!
- really enjoyed the story and the possible links. Realised it might be difficult to follow and I should create cues for myself.

DM Lesson: 2 lessons:
1 - You need buy-in. Creating a great story and just throwing characters in will probably end up interesting but un-engaging. The story does not have to be 100% how they made it but by taking specific details and tying it into the story they will be far more engaged.
IT NEEDS TO BE FUN FOR ALL INVOLVED😬
2 - be careful to not want to create every aspect of the session. Just create framework for the characters must paint the picture in-game.

People Lesson: Humans are Humans and not everyone will do what we want or expect - no problem and no need to get upset with them. Continue with what is in your control and don’t let it affect the people that put in the effort. Ultimately the people that put in an effort will get it out in the game.

Next Time: I will be more explicit on the timelines but ultimately I think this prep went as well as it could.

Info I wish I had prior this session: that there is something called a session 0. I don’t, however, know if it would apply to a one shot.

General Message:

Welcome to Aethros.

Before we begin the adventure, there are a few things your character would naturally know about the world.

The current year is 128 A.S. — After the Sundering.

Just over a century ago, the world suffered a catastrophe known only as the Sundering. Kingdoms fell, cities crumbled, alliances shattered, and much of the old world population was lost. During the chaos, countless living beings disappeared from the face of the earth and civilization nearly collapsed.

Then, the gods fell silent.

Temples still stand and some individuals still wield powers believed to be divine, but no god has answered the world since the old age ended.

Now civilization slowly rebuilds among the ruins.

Our adventure takes place in the frontier region known as the Vale Marches - a dangerous land of broken roads, ancient ruins, scattered settlements, forgotten watchtowers, dark forests, and hidden mysteries. Most people live simple lives and avoid the dangers beyond the safety of torchlight.

Magic is rare and feared throughout Aethros. Open displays of magic tend to make common folk nervous, especially in smaller settlements.

The world is currently shaped by three major alliances:
• The Luminara Concord: primarily Humans and Elves. Organized, political, and focused on rebuilding civilization.

• The Stonebound Kin: primarily Dwarves and Halflings. Practical, resilient, and deeply community-driven.

• The Ashen Pact: primarily Half-Elves, Half-Orcs and Tieflings. Survivors, wanderers, frontier folk, and outsiders.

Dragonborn are extremely rare within Aethros and are often viewed with suspicion simply due to how little is known about them. Most people have never met one.

Note: I will share with you some details about your character which will be shared with you alone and is for you to chose what you share or keep to yourself.

Personal Messages:
AM: Welcome Angus
You have suffered from strange episodes throughout your life which you have no control or understanding of.

At times you experience:
* sudden headaches,
* flashes of places and faces you do not recognize,
* fragments of unfamiliar memories,
* and dreams of fire, chanting, and darkness.

You are hopeful to become a member of The Astral Ledger (Sage Organisation) hoping knowledge and research might help explain what is happening to you. These 'fits' do not occur frequently.

You grew up in the Town of Thornwick - Hidden as you are a rare and unknown species. You felt a deep love for Collin who once spoke of a "Great Healer" named Ivlis residing in the town of Emberfall. 

You have no memories of your earlier years and have a natural dislike for Humans due to their treatment of you but still believe there are those like Collin who are Kind and Caring that you would sacrifice everything for - You are just uncertain as to whether he was the exception or the rule.

LV: Welcome Lyra Vale
You are familiar with the name Nina.

Though many know of her story as a dangerous criminal and assassin, you know she is precise, intelligent, and rarely makes mistakes.

Recent reports led you to Emberfall after whispers suggested Nina may be operating nearby.

Your intel points that Nina carries vital information linked to an emerging Cult in the Vale Marches(Nothing to do with your name - although other's might not believe that :-)).

You hale from the town of Vaelcrest. Living a tough, lonely life has forced you to become a sophisticated criminal who once used her skills to ensure she was fed, now demands a large sum to carry out precise operations for high-value clients.

You are an avid follower of The Veil of Crows - a spy organisation led by 'The Rooke'. Nina is part of this organisation, although you have no idea as to where she falls in.

No-one knows your full name "Lyra Vale" as you use "Lyra" as your alias when acting in the shadows - This is your best kept secret!

PLH: Welcome Princess Lightning Hammer
You have carried your pendant for as long as you can remember. Though beautiful, it has always felt strangely important - almost comforting.

At rare moments throughout your life, the pendant has reacted subtly:

Warmth, faint vibration or brief glowing.

You have never understood why.

As one of few Clerics you hold great admiration for Ivlis, one of the most well known Great Clerics to currently live, and have traveled to Emberfall partly to witness her ceremonial departure. You are hopeful to have a moment with her to expand your knowledge of both your deity and self.

You grew up loved and cared for. Your family are unaware of the trip you are on. You do not believe they would understand your adventure as they are non-magical and have always questioned your 'beliefs' but love and support you nonetheless.

The stories of your long lost Twin fade in and out of your memory. You are not sad but do find yourself pondering on this frequently.

SA: Welcome Sativa
You hail from the town of Lanternmere. You have had a focused upbringing and hunger for knowledge and magic since before you can remember.
You were an outcast of your family as none of them were Magic Users - their primary concern was that as Tieflings there was already a stigma and adding Magic to that presented negative connections for the family - With you choosing to follow the path of a Druid they had no choice but to give you the boot.

You found your real family at The Astral Ledger (Sage Organisation). You have come accross ancient references, pre-sundering, which talks about 'The Astral Ledger' containing a hidden meaning - you hope to learn more on your journey.
Your studies into forbidden and ancient magic have recently uncovered repeated references to:

soul division, ritual transformation and gateways tied to dark realms.

Most scholars dismiss these stories as myth. You believe there is truth to this but understand it comes from a powerful and evil line of magic.

Strange magical disturbances reported near Emberfall drew your attention.

You are travelling with Indica to Emberfall hoping to quietly investigate the growing rumors of one Angus McDonald, whose power has become a topic of interest among certain members of the Sage Organisation since he is a Dragonborn.

IN: Welcome Indica
You hail from the town of Vaelcrest - An Elvish Town. The folk in this town are truly in touch with Nature and whilst Magic is not common, those that hide their powers tend to use it for positive influence with nature.
Your family supported your abilities, albeit kept them quiet due to the negative views of magic in the current times. You left Vaelcrest in your late teens to join The Astral Ledger (Sage Organisation). You have built up a favorable reputation in The Ledger as someone dependable and focused. You have hopes to develop your magical skills further to possibly stake a claim within the organisation - though that is a distance away. You are naturally inclined to Nature but your passion in spellcasting is through a variety of elements.
The natural world speaks through balance - and recently that balance has felt wrong to you.

As you traveled toward Emberfall you notice:

* animals unusually aggressive,
* forests growing strangely quiet,
* and an unnatural feeling lingering in the air near certain places.

Something about the region feels 'corrupted'.

You are travelling with Sativa to Emberfall hoping to quietly investigate the growing rumors of one Angus McDonald, whose power has become a topic of interest among certain members of the Sage Organisation since he is a Dragonborn.