Never Fun to Destroy The Death Star Again

Okay. 

Yeah. 

I know, I know. 

I get it.

Totally understand.

Indecision is the death of us all.

But hear me out.

So I am super gung-ho to get the Exandria nautical campaign going. Like, I love sea-games and the idea of sailing into adventure & exploration really makes me kind of giddy (despite my real-life distaste for the ocean). Swashbuckling games like Sea of Thieves or Assassin's Creed IV mixed with orc and elves and shit? Sign me up. 

And Exandria is a fantastic setting! The continents/nations as written in Tal'dorei Reborn, Explorers Guide to Wildemount, and Call of the Netherdeep are just top notch. I dig the lore and history, The Legend of Vox Machina is super good, and there's enough stuff out there to get a good feel for how the world works.

...unfortunately, that's also sort of a problem for me. TLoVM is great, so I started to listen to Campaign One on Spotify. And it was super cool to hear all these "pros" that went from Pathfinder to 5e learn the rules & to hear how Mercer's DM style works. And my goal was to binge Critical Role to get more exposure beyond the sourcebooks as I'm not a Critter in general and only know the major beats of the campaigns. Given my... distaste... for Campaign Two (and Jester in particular, sorry), I added watching Campaign Three on YT to the listening of Campaign One and as I'm watching it... I realized I don't actually enjoy Critical Role that much.

HOLD UP BEFORE YOU COME AT ME WITH PITCHFORKS.

The cast is great, Matt is great, the stories are great, I just suck at enjoying watching other people play a game, for one, and for two... I started thinking about the -entire- CR arc, not just the individual campaigns. And it made me think of when I first started gaming back in the 90s. 

This is an aside, but it's relevant. HeroQuest was my original entry point into the nerdy gaming lifestyle but Magic the Gathering was definitely me jumping in face first. And because the internet wasn't a really big thing then (Win95 was still fairly new even), if we wanted to know about new sets and card value and stuff like that, we had to buy InQuest (later InQuest Gamer) magazines. I think it was made by the same company that did the Wizard magazines for comic book collectors. Anyway, I mostly got it because of Magic obv, and BattleTech which I was just starting to get into as a game (it had a section on new game releases and would talk about the sourcebooks, also the short-lived CCG which was awesome) but it also had a ton of articles about roleplaying games. In the late 90s, I got into Legend of the Five Rings (also because IQ) and went heavy into their RPG so I'd read these articles that were mostly fantasy oriented and try to apply them, like "Don't Fear the Reaper" on killing PCs as a GM and whatnot.

And an article is where this is heading. I read about how your player characters are the most important people in the story, but not necessarily the most important people in the world/universe. Over a series of articles, Star Wars was mentioned frequently. I guess because it's relatable? Luke, Han, and Leia are important for all of the plot purposes in the original trilogy, but in the grand scheme of things, Leia is the only one of the trio that is an important figure in the Rebellion. Sure, Luke is eventually revealed to -be- more important than at first glance as a Jedi, but overall, Luke is a level one player on a desert world in the ass-end of no where until the droids end up in his lap. Han is entirely replaceable by any other smuggler in the entire galaxy. But by the end of the campaign, these three & their supporting cast, have saved the whole entire universe (for now) from the evil Empire.

They blew up the Death Star. Not once, but twice. Woohoo. 

Now, how much fun will it be when your characters blow up the Death Star the third time? 

Episode VII and the "super weapon" thing aside (which, that's a whole 'nother discussion), it wouldn't really be much fun, make much narrative sense, or be a great way to end a campaign. Further, if you were to ignore the canon setting and have your PCs take down the original Death Star, it's again, less fun 'cause you know Han, Leia, and Luke done already did it.

That's where I'm at with an Exandria campaign. Based solely on Tal'dorei Reborn and Wildemount, we can probably ignore Campaign Two and Three entirely and find some other directions to go in. Could probably Downplay the Vox Machina accomplishments or move another decade or two up in the timeline so that it's more in the past than the sourcebook sets it. But, at the same time, delving into campaign recaps and knowing what is happening in Campaign Three right now, it just feels like literally any game in Exandria is going to be a retread of what Matt & crew are doing or have done. I'm struggling to find an angle or a way to visit established places/unlock certain lore that isn't just an internet search away, to say nothing of people that actually dedicate themselves to watching live. The Vestiges are awesome and fighting against dragons, a lich demigod, uncovering a plot of war, knowing what's going on with the red moon? All awesome. But have been done. Or are being done. I imgine Campaign Three will see the Gods being wiped out so the CR team can move Campaign Four into their own system and not 5e.

I can write original stories. And even if I'm adapting something else, like using Saltmarsh as our starting base of operations (whether I use anything else from the module or not), I still feel... I dunno. Like maybe any story I can write on a Critical Role world, has already been done or overshadowed by actual Critical Role. 

Note that I also had a subplot set for my last campaign involving some Mindflayers that really would have seemed like some Campaign One stuff now that I've actually listened to Campaign One so maybe it's just an overlap or parallel thought process...

Which leads me to think I can still do the same type of campaign I want to do (and hopefully that players wanna play in) by switching the setting over to Midgard instead of Exandria. In that case, as well, I have some other swashbuckling ideas that'd fit -really- spot on to the setting. But, and maybe it's just me, I've also really wanted to get into Exandria since I started reading a pdf of the old Tal'dorei sourcebook so...

Midgard offers most of the same perks, a suite of other PC ancestries to explore, and a LOT more support via being the flagship setting of Kobold Press so I very well might just shift gears a bit here. Plus, the Artisan Guild miniatures that I'm currently printing have an aesthetic feel that might actually work well here. Aaaaaaaand maybe I can place Ixalan....

No Retreat, No Surrender

There has been a bit of a huge delay (obviously) in kicking off the next DnD campaign - part of it is some real world issues with getting the right player group together & other assorted stuff, and part of it has been some corporate issues with the direction Wizards as been taking DnD causing us to look at other systems, or third party product, or going with something outside of fantasy altogether.

So the Exandrian Saltmarsh swashbuckling extravaganza has -not- gone away. I'm still plugging away at background information, handouts, and adventures within. But I'm also working on a Fallout 2d20 campaign, plus minis and terrain and that whole undertaking. I did pick up a couple of Starfinder books as well, and I'd really, really love to run a Dune 2d20 Master of Dune campaign, especially with Dune Pt II coming out soon-ish. The spice must flow, Corral. To say nothing at all about BattleTech/Alpha Strike and all of the non-RPG campaigns/pick-up games I constantly want to do of that, especially now that my kiddo is old enough to kind of get into it.

And my work situation hasn't dramatically changed, either. I guess I'm trying to do a lot more extraneous and "might be needed/might not be needed" prep work to have a healthy dose of backup material in case my workload goes back to the 50 hours a week mark 'fore I can move along to something else. 

Season two of Vox Machina is keeping me motivated to run something on Tal'dorei, for sure, and nothing is really 100% taking my focus off of DnD. Even though 5e is most likely my first/last edition, and all my future purchases will most likely be just 3P (raising the black flag with Kobold Press), I do still have a ton of love for the game.  Despite how things ended with the group, I have an incredible amount of fond memories from the last campaign and I talk about it constantly when the subject comes up. It's just that RPGs in general, as a DM/GM/ST, can be exhaustingly time consuming to keep running and I want to make sure I have the -right- ingredients to my stew before we all sit down to eat it. 

You feel me?

Iron Kingdoms, Exandria, Rokugan, and Midgard

Been a bit since I posted (versus drafting 15 things) and I'm in somewhat of a bind. Because I'm way behind. And looking to make a deal.

Wait, that's the Devil when He went down to Georgia, and we know how that turned out.

Itching to play more BattleTech campaigns, get a Fallout 2D20 campaign rolling, and then also to DM, all whilst working 50-60 hour work weeks. Who needs sleep when there are dice to roll?

I've made mention of wanting to run a heavy Magic the Gathering inspired campaign (I have notes elsewhere for that) but now my wandering eye (of Sauron) is out there, looking at third party releases that're out now or will be soon and big fucking ooooof do I wanna explore a lil bit.

Legend of the Five Rings is one of the first gaming IPs outside of Magic/BattleTech that I really went balls-deep heavy into. I have literally hundreds of miniatures from the Clan War game, as well as most of the 1st and 2nd edition L5R RPG books. Love the system, love the world, but never got more than a couple people interested in it. But now, looks like there's an Adventures in Rokugan book coming out soon that is 5e compatible. It appears they're going less social roleplaying in the sense that L5R is known for and a bit more dungeon delving ala 5e but that's totally fine! Tomb of Iuchiban? Shadowlands? Any number of forests or the Burning Sands, or the Ivory Kingdom? Heck yeah! Oni and undead and players rocking out Nezumi (I'm old school Ratkin and Skaven fanboy so obv)? Lesgo!!

How can I not mention Exandra? Even though I'm not a "Critter" by any means and have some good reasons to actively dislike CR (I mean, I don't, I just have good reasons to), the world building is pretty fantastic and with shows like Vox Machina making it easier to access than just via the actual plays, getting players with no knowledge of Critical Role hype for it isn't terribly hard. Two sourcebooks and an adventure book, plus dozens of comics and novels and other tie-ins mean that information on Exandria in general is super easy to collate and digest and with a minimal amount of legwork, other campaigns (like Saltmarsh) can be adapted to the world. Actually, Saltmarsh, and any other port-type campaigns would be -super- easy to set in Exandria and I have some thoughts on some things in that direction.

I'm going to loop both Iron Kingdoms and Midgard together because I don't know a ton about either, except that I've thumbed through some Midgard stuff and I know the minis for WarmaHorde. And, actually, it's the WarmaHorde minis that make me want to run something in the IK setting. Both have some ideas in common, like pew pew steampunk gun tech, but Iron Kingdoms also has warjack 'mecha stuff going on that is pretty sweet. Plus giant werewolf looking guys and trollkin that are as cool or cooler than orcs and ogres.

There's also a lot of mix and match situations that're possible. Like, I would -love- to run a traditional Forgotten Realms or Exandria game wherein a samurai or shugenja of Rokugan (Mantis Claaaaan) washes ashore and appeals to the party for aid. A naval campaign leads into a "fish out of water" campaign as the barbarian (or possibly even Barbarian) PCs arrive at the Mantis Isles and have to fight some kinda evil or something. I dunno. Bloodspeakers (mentioned Iuichiban above) or, depending on what part of the timeline the new RPG is in, fighting in the Clan Wars, or against Daigotsu, or even opposing the rise of Fu Leng. Who knows? Conversely, Iron Kingdoms or Midgard as explorers going into a brave new land, like Ixalan. Warjacks vs dinosaurs? Dude, how could you -not- like that idea.

But either way, time is fleeting and I need to address my work situation before I make any calls on a new DnD campaign. I just have lots and lots of ideas floating right now.

Lessons Learned and Experience Earned

Been a while since I've felt the need to post anything at all DnD related. I went ahead and unarchived all my older posts from the last campaign; not to reread them or even care one way or the other about that, but because it was a solid campaign up to that point and if nothing else, maybe people will still get a chuckle. Plus, going forward, I may want to revisit some of that information to make sure I'm not recycling plot, story, or character stuff.

Though, with that being said, maybe a one-off Besiljka continuation from the ruins of Phandalin could be in order...

At any rate, I still haven't watched any Critical Role, other than Legend of Vox Machina, but I have been digging reading about Wildemont and may get the Tal'Dorei Reborn sourcebook before Call of the Netherdeep releases. Some of the minis are looking great! Working on getting all of the 5e books released from 2014 to now, since it looks like 6e (or 5.5e) is coming between this year and 2024. Not sure how I feel about the changing to a "multiverse view" of different humanoid & monsters but it's the way the winds are blowing. Plus, I never really liked the Drow as a "totally evil race except this one dude" depiction. I love Drizzt, and the stories of the Companions of the Hall. It's very much a "nature versus nurture" concept. But in general, even just looking at FR campaigns, I swap the Drow for Golgari so I'm not entirely attached to the "but muh black Drow are teh evilzz!!!" that so many neckbeards seem to be up in arms over. I don't really like the concepts for the not-evil Drow either though, they just sound like Moon Elves with an extra step honestly.

Also kinda interesting that they retconned goblinoid races to be from the Feywild and enslaved by an evil god so that's why they're such a menace everywhere else. Again, totally get the identity politics that go into not depicting an entire classification of sentient beings as one thing or another, just seems kinda overkill on gobbos and orcs and the whatnots.

Goblin Slayer will be very disappointed.

That's all a bunch of digression. I think on a regular basis about the takeaways from my first campaign+ and ways to improve as a DM. I like minis a lot as a wargamer so having table top representation is important to me, but I also learned that it can detract from things if people focus too much of their attention on the way the mini looks or what gear it is equipped with. Ex; having a necromancer represented by a mini in bone armor when the necromancer isn't actually wearing bone armor or a minotaur armed with an axe and the miniature having a flail. Or, putting together some buildings to roughly resemble a town just for visual purposes and then having a player want to take their character to the magic shop because one of the buildings you put together has magic looking stuff in it even though the characters had just been in the actual magic shop like six "campaign days" prior & that particular player just didn't remember that entire interaction. Stuff like that.

Probably should get better about talking in the first person as well, instead of just relaying information. Maybe that'll make NPCs more memorable.

I'm not Mercer though. Just saying.

Writing tons of plot hooks and threads ahead of time has proven to be useful in world continuity. Conversely, I need to learn to let go of 100% of the background building and let players give input ahead of time. Probably should also ask players "what kind of campaign do YOU want to play in?" so that I'm tailoring more encounters to their preference. Some players want to smash stuff and some want to play the long con political game. It's easy to incorporate a ton of variety if it gets communicated up front.

More D&D novels set outside of the Realms would probably be cool, or more Magic novels, because every time I start rereading Drizzt books, it just further cements the Realms as being where my next campaign should be. Instead of where I'd really like more inspiration to play, like Innistrad or Zendikar or Theros or Ixalan or whatever else. Eberron even. Warforged Barbarians all around. Saltmarsh is mostly setting neutral or easy enough to adapt and I'd planned on incorporating it into the Realms but I'd just as easily place it in Ixalan as well. Basically any place I could run a nautical campaign. I dunno. But DMing is all about flexibility and I'm working on that the most.

So There I Was

The internet is a thing that exists and it has an amazing breadth of readable content, if you can stop looking at boobs for a few minutes.

I'm a forever DM, out of choice. I love running games for people more than I'd like to play a character in one, for the most part. And when that urge strikes, I usually look for DM-less games like Fallout WW where the system has an AI and we can all play co-op. My players can depend on me to put some effort into whatever I'm doing, whether it was the DnD campaign from here or the long-lost memories of Aeon/Trinity, or a Chronicles of Darkness one-shot or even turning a wargame like BattleTech into a more narrative experience, etc. True/non-neckbeard DMs do it out of love, not out of a power trip.

I assume. The internet is rife with DMs that seem like huge pricks and I do my best to avoid that, but that also usually means accommodating player requests that I might not really be gung ho about. And I assumed that's the diametrically opposed choices I have when setting up a campaign or a chronicle. Given that most of my friends, if not all, that game are players and not DMs, it seemed like a normal and logical "either/or" situation.

Then I met Ian, my sister-in-law's DM.

Couple of prefacing points here. I'm, sadly, not super BFF close with my SiL, so I don't know how long her DnD group has been together, though I'm fairly certain they've all been friends forever (at least judging by their elf), and I gotta imagine they've been spelunking in the darkest depths together for years. I also don't know how long Ian has been their DM or a DM in general. Also, this was at a last-shebang party party at a hotel as a going away brouhaha before the building was to be demolished (it was our con hotel) and, well, let's just say sobriety and I had split fairly quickly from one another that day.

So I might not have presented myself as the most eloquent version I can be. Fortunately, he was either really patient, or also mildly inebriated, or a combo thereof which seems the most likely. In any case, he seemed like a super good guy.

And since he was introduced to me as my SiL's DM, at a time when I was drinking and frustrated, boy did I have a conversation with him.

So there I was, meeting another DM in person, and immediately had to jump into "lemme -slur- ask you a question..."

It was about Tieflings, and how they've exploded in popularity thanks to Critical Role, and how we really wish they wouldn't have. Okay, maybe I was bitter that night, but we were in agreement on three things;

1) Not every party needs a Tiefling, please.
2) Fuck Matt Mercer.
3) Elves are cocksleeves.

OKAY SO I NEED TO ELABORATE.

1) I know that it's a personal issue with me at this point, but even before it became so, I was already swinging this way. As a DM, if you're going "by the book" in how they're written up, Tieflings should generally be treated like shit by everyone, instantly distrusted wherever they go, and for the most part, have a huge uphill battle to be accepted by anyone. And if writing fiction, that's perfect. Farideh from the Brimstone Angels series is a great Tiefling character and she goes from adversity to adversity over the course of the books. But, on the tabletop, I can't imagine a player would be comfortable with their character constantly being the DM's punching bag, so you gotta sorta... Show a bit of out-of-universe favoritism there. Which also limits character growth and definitely leads to some Mary Sue-isms. Just saying. So I made the call of "never again," and Ian totally agreed with my logic.Also with taking on a disability.

There's nothing wrong with being inspired by a character in pop culture. There's lots of "how to play as..." videos out there covering building DnD characters based on different archetypes and I would totally let someone play a Trevor Belmont type in an Innistrad campaign in a heartbeat. Hell, I'll let you build a dhampir and a soul sorceror & run Alucard and Sypha as well. Believe it! Just... Be creative instead of a straight reskin.

2) I love Matt Mercer. He's a great dude and an awesome voice actor. And Critical Role, along with other "actual plays" have done more to popularize DnD since 5e came out than... Well, the entire history of DnD before. Note - I've only -run- 5e, but I used to read the books and stuff from 3e/3.5e/4e and just didn't get into them like I did with 5e. So I have no beef with Matt as a human (but if I'm being honest and had to choose, Joe Manganiello is my pick for GOAT and not just because Alcide was my favorite character from True Blood) but as a DM that has people looking towards them expecting Matt Mercer-level DMing, oof, fuck that guy. Not sure how many times I have to preface it - Matt is an exceptional DM, and his group of friends are lucky to have him, but he's also made serious bank off of Critical Role and with his professional career, he can focus a LOT of time and effort into making CR the best it can be. And he has a large amount of player-driven narrative with his team. And scripts. I'm sorry, but yes, there are scripts. It's okay. Nothing wrong with it. Just saying. So the tl;dr here is that you CANNOT expect a guy who is doing this in his free time, with fifty other hobby endeavors and a full time 40+ a week job and a family life to produce Critical Role quality stuff. All I can do is my best and that's a lot of pressure to measure up against. 

3) Okay, I say this jokingly because elves in popular media are just so... Cocksleeve-y. And there are Goblin Slayer memes that reinforce this. Maybe it's all the anime, but other than Ryuu in the Picking Up Chicks in a Dungeon show, I've never been overly fond of any elf character. Legolas? Nah. Never heard of her. But it was really just joking back and forth, and even their elf player laughed. So good times.

Anyway, it's nice to have in person conversations with other DMs. I'm gonna try to do it more often.

The Pros of the Cons and the Cons of the Pros

I miss DnD. Not the group. At all (this is a lie, slightly). But the game. Despite the fact that it is basically like having a second full time job, I miss the hell out of running DnD. I love BattleTech, and I'd be down to run games of Fallout or any of the dozen RPGs on my bookshelves any time, yet nothing is as "DM-friendly" as DnD 5e w/the huge amount of current support and continuing product releases and whatnot.

Or maybe that's because I didn't do any older editions and fantasy isn't usually my genre of choice so compared to a World of/Chronicles of Darkness game or getting people into Legend of the Five Rings, A Time of War, or Fallout 2d20, 5e -seems- more friendly.

Either way. Not really my point here.

When I do run DnD again, with whatever group I end up building or finding, I very much want to run a magic-themed campaign world based upon one of the planes (though I wouldn't be opposed to returning to the Realms) and featuring NPCs that at least some of my players will likely recognize, or at least the ones that play MtG. So, I have the following as options in my head currently;

Dominaria
Innistrad
Ixalan
Theros
Ravnica
Whatever Plane Strixhaven is on
Zendikar

That's not an exhaustive list of planes, or even an exhaustive lists of ones that have art books and tons of information out there for, just the ones that I'm looking at for running games. Kamigawa I dismissed outright since L5R would scratch that itch. Mirrodin/New Phyrexia doesn't appeal to me for DnD. I don't know enough about Lorwyn or whatever plane Thrones of Eldraine was on, same with the plane that Conspiracy is on, which I can't be assed to just Google the answer for. Ikoria and Kaldheim both super appeal to me but they also feel much less established w/only one set for each. Homelands would almost have been a cool setting, and I'm pretty sure I have a couple full sets of it, for the all of $20 they're worth though I'm pretty sure Innistrad does the vampire stuff better. But that's all digression and the seven above are really only in contention (and even then, some not entirely all that much).

So pros and cons and whatnot of each, just to think aloud, and try to puzzle through which I'd like to run/which would be easiest for players to get into.

Miniatures are a big pro/con regardless of setting. If I don't have minis that I like that'd work, it's kind of a bummer. I like minis and terrain and maps and visual representation. It's my DM style.

Dominaria

As the "original" Magic plane, Big D has a LOT of background information so little scratch homebrew work is needed on that front. Plus, it's as close to a "normal DnD/Forgotten Realms-esque" setting as it comes, with most of the big popular character options easily presentable. Tieflings aren't there, I don't think, but I wouldn't allow one in my future games anyway, so that's moot. But most races/classes would work just fine with only a few tweaks here and there. There are multiple points of history that a campaign could be set in, from the Thran Empire to The Brother's War, to the Ice Age, to everything that came after up to and including the most recent set released there. But this is also kind of a con, as information that was totally valid for 4th edition MtG was later dashed during the Urza's Sage block/not to say anything of the later Phyrexian invasion and whatnot. Plus, a lot of the later content, I wasn't actively playing MtG for and there's a big disconnect for me from US to the latest set. But with the art book and the internet, anything is possible. Also, always found it weird that Urza "planeswalked" all over, but like Shiv and Tolaria are considered "on" Dominaria so... Yeah.

Innistrad

This is the current frontrunner in my head. I love Innistrad. It's my favorite MtG plane and the reason I came back to Magic after a long, lone hiatus (Urza's Destiny was the last set I bought boosters from until Dark Ascension). The gothic styling and preponderance of weird horror stuff just speaks to my soul. Werewolves, vampires, zombies galore, etc. Not only is there a current set coming out with another right behind that (Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow), making it "fresh" in the hearts and minds of people, but the last Innistrad block was heavily Lovecraftian with Emrakul the Eldrazi titan, and y'all know I love me some cosmic horror. Buuuut the downside is that Innistrad is also a very heavily human-oriented plane. It -might- be acceptable to squeeze in an Aasimar (or a Tiefling, but again, banned) and the "lineages" from Van Richten's would certainly fit the theme, but otherwise, we're looking at either variant human rules or the "regional" human rules from the Planeshift Innistrad article. There's a ton of lore information, an artbook, the planeshift article, and multiple full blocks to draw inspiration and stories from, as well as a wealth of fan stuff online like maps and adventures. It's just the "can my players just play humans from different areas instead of needing to be super extra rare one-off sparkly subtype of this one race made trendy due to popculture?" stumbling block, as well as limiting certain class options to be thematically on point. Bards are fairly uncommon and the "suggestions" for how they may be incorporated honestly work better for druids. Barbarians are kind of rarer, but at least certain provinces would make sense. Clerics, Fighters, and Paladins are all on point, with the various magic users either Church of Avacyn-related, or like heretical necromancer types. That's mostly easy to work around.

Ixalan

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a blog drafted as a rough outline for an Ixalan campaign already. Sure, there's the "natives versus colonizers" part you could focus on but let's be real, we know there's only one true campaign for me on Ixalan, and that's mother lovin' pirates. A Brazen Coalition campaign with plunder and adventure, whether Indiana Jones-ing it through lost cities or going toe-to-toe in shipboard combat with the Legion of Dusk, this plane is a-may-zing. Since only a handful of the plane has been "explored" in official releases, there isn't a lot to stop players from using most DnD character races, though classes are a bit rougher as rogues and fighters make the most sense from a Brazen Coalition standpoint. Everything else is more Legion or Empire or River Heralds and would take a bit more work. But orcs, goblins, humans, and sirens, under the captaincy of a medusa or a minotaur is pretty epic awesome.

Ravnica

 

Ravnica has a lot of merit for a bunch of reasons. It's a giant city, but that also has tons of unused or rundown or desolated areas, several novels, a bunch of card sets, an artbook, AND already has an official DnD sourcebook. It takes the races and classes of DnD & mixes them with the Guilds of Ravnica as well as kind of delves into colors and whatnot, I think. Honestly, I haven't read read the book cover to cover in a while, beyond snagging the Golgari and Izzet goblins for ToE. But there's a good intro adventure and a bunch of stuff on the DMs Guild for it, and there are enough race options straight out that it would be a good campaign setting. Actually, there aren't a lot of cons here, other than it's not a plane I am super passionate about. There's even extra miniature support from Wizkids here w/their prepainted GGtR releases. So it's definitely in consideration right now.

Strixhaven (Arcavios)

Had to Google what plane Strixhaven is on, hah. Now, this was a one-set plane and an incredibly recent one, so how does it even merit inclusion into consideration? Well, first off, it's effing Harry Potter in the Magic-verse. Magical school with "Houses" based on MtG color pairings that compete with each other. And it has a very "cross planar" feel so few character options would feel wholly out of place. Except martial classes. Since, you know, it's a magic school. I figure the best way around that would be if players started as third level characters w/magic-oriented subclasses for the martial stuff but that's nothing set in stone. Also, later this year, a Strixhaven book is coming out for DnD and whilst I'm disappointed there's no sourcebook for Innistrad instead (James Wyatt mostly just tacked it onto Ravenloft in his PS article so..), I imagine it'll be a worthy purchase regardless. And it has owlfolk. I'm... Not really into the "fursuiter" races but I guess owlfolk aren't much different then acrocockrocackra bird people and still less furry than rabbitfolk coming out in the feywild book soon. And there's an elephant NPC guy, like on Ravnica. I dunno what that race is called. Elephantfolk is most likely not right. Anyway, this is ranked probably #4 currently (tied with Dominaria maybe), but I feel like I'd be able to get players more easily if I say "Harry Potter DnD!" Wizkids is also dropping unpainted minis for the NPCs, including a dragon, next month.
 

Theros

You get a Grecian God, and -you- get a Grecian God, and YOU get a Grecian God, etc. Like Ravnica, Theros gets some bonus points for having a DnD book, and extra bonus points for having Polukranos, my favorite legendary hydra. And also like Ravnica, Wizkids has Theros minis as well. I think? I feel like I remember there being some. Maybe I'll have to double check. IN any case, Leonin are way cooler than Tabaxi, and there are some Nacatl minis coming out that'd be perfect for them as brawny warrior cats. Centaurs and satyrs and other Grecian tropes abound here. So for the "classical" kinda themes, Homeric epics and whatnot, it's hard to top. But also, out of the entire list of things here, Theros is at the bottom of my desire to run. Also, there're a lot of the PHB races that wouldn't make sense, and not sure about all of the classes either. Okay, I -have- this book, but mostly just skimmed it, and mostly just for Polukranos stats. Maybe after a read through or two, I can get more interest here.

Zendikar

Zendikar is right up there in my affection with Innistrad and Ixalan. So that'd rank it a solid #3 if I were doing this as a poll, or quite possibly tied at #2 with Ixalan. We have an artbook, several MtG sets, miniatures, a planeshift article, great character options in Kor, Mer, Vamps, etc, and the plane itself is just tailor-made for DnD, up to and including that the last set had a "party" mechanic that encouraged having warriors and rogues and whatnot team up. Imagining players line-slinging their way into ruins in the sky, avoiding mana-quakes, plumbing the depths of sunken cities, etc is pure unf. But there's also a lot of work involved here with really understanding back story or doing worldbuilding despite the above (also because I don't own the artbook yet). Zendikar also got pretty curbstomped by the Eldrazi and that leaves the temptation to do a campaign at an earlier point in history. Or even to run a campaign whilst the Gatewatch attempts to defeat Bobert and Dichard or whatever their names were. I have some specifically-Eldrazi minis from the short living MtG skirmish game so that helps, too. Considering who was on Zendikar, if I actually wanted PWs to be NPCs (and that's iffy), I already have minis for all of the important actors there as well.

So that's kinda that. Innistrad - Ixalan/Zendikar - Ravnica - Strixhaven/Dominaria - Theros is the current order I'm pondering. For someday. When I DnD again.

Final - Session Twelve: Calm Before The Sturm und Drang

Alt title - The End of All Things to Come

I designed this session to be a bridge, more about letting the party "relax" and kind of get to feel out the town of Phandalin more than they'd had a chance to do previously. So we jumped in with a recap and then a hand-waived "return to town" section;

"However, when the party finally felt far enough away to make camp in an easily-defended position (and even then, not much rest was had for anyone), Gundren made a disturbing discovery whilst attempting to show a dwarven technique to Besiljka. The map taken from the bugbear king was -not- his map. It was the same map to the Rockseeker excavation into the Wave Echo Cave, he could tell from having walked the path laid out. But his map, his -original- map had a faded clan crest that could be seen when held up to firelight. This map lacked that.

Mulling over pack rations in front of the fire, he and the party came to the only logical conclusion - that the Black Spider must have the original. That being the case, why would the bugbear have a copy? And what payment were then the bugbear and not-elf thing in heated discussion over? And what was that thing? Had the guard captain been an agent of the Black Spider from the start? Was the assault on Valeth Tower and the carnage within all part of the Black Spider's schemes? It seems as if every time the party comes close to answers, new questions spring up.

As early as possible, camp was broken to finish the last bit of journey back to Phandalin. By midmorning, the fork from the Triboar Trail appeared and the party could almost smell their destination. In the distance, a new sight greeted them - an impressive wooden watchtower had been built at the northern edge of town during their absence. As the party approached closer, a familiar Elven figure leaned over and waved a greeting. Daran Edermath, with longbow in hand, stood watch on the elevated position, with a commanding view of the area. Upon seeing Gundren in the party's care, he yelled down urging a report to Sildar with the utmost haste. Grimfang, wanting to check in with Sora and look into a few things on the side, made his temporary goodbyes from the party. "

Afterwards, the party got to add up their XP from the past couple sessions. Going from level 4 to 5 is a process with a ways to go yet.

We had a town square & series of Warlock Tiles buildings set up just to be representative of the town, which I stressed at least nine times, but my players still treated as "I'm in this building." Okay. We can work with it.

Besiljka escorted Gundren to the Townmaster Hall, where they found a group of dwarves, including Gundren's cousin Holstead. They were thrilled to see Gundren alive & showered Bessie with praise, as well as uncut gemstones. Then she made it inside to Sildar, who could not have been more overjoyed, both with Gundren and the return of his sword & chainmail. They talked a little bit before she moved on, eager to see Elspeth. Gabriel was "in" Karniv's, where the party had been before, but he didn't remember, so they mostly talked about weird stuff. Lenneth hung out with some horses and stuff for a bit. Grimfang was off with Sora, discussing new information.

So, again, goal here was just to chill, not necessarily move plot, etc. Bessie met up with Elspeth at the "militia barracks," really a barn that had been converted to train the 10ish person group. Elspeth was riding hard on the recruits to get them up to speed as quickly as possible, as less than a dozen fighters were expected to protect a town of 250ish. But when Bessie called out to her, she forgot anything except for her heart. Meanwhile, Gabe headed to the blacksmith to get himself some new gear. Trading in his dragon's blood infused axe for a warhammer and a trident, he left happy. Lenneth headed to the Shrine of the Moon (replacing the Shrine of Luck) and talked to Sister Garaele a bit. Wanting to not add more side quests just yet, I left it at that.

-seems like a bunch of my original text deleted itself-

Anyway, party met back up at the Stonehill to drink a bunch and interact with the dwarves more. Gabe got to talking to Gundren and eventually convinced him to open up more. Lenneth played music. Besiljka spent time with Elspeth. Grimfang and Sora hung out with Sora telling everyone how she built the watchtower. Lot of card games and gambling happened.. Eventually the night grew late and people started to filter out. Lenneth returned to the Shrine to seek guidance under the moonlight escorted by Grim. After, they decided to share a room. Bessie and Elspeth did the same. All Eventually settled in for a peaceful evening of rest as we ended the session. 

Alas, such was not to be. Under the cover of darkness, the hobgoblins of Cragmaw Castle stalked into the town. Positioning themselves around the inn and Townmaster Hall, they set both buildings ablaze. All inside received 10d10 fire damage and with the town's leadership and protectors dealt with, it didn't take long to pillage the stores and farms. In the coming weeks and months, those left would flee to Salmarsh or Neverwinter and Phandalin would return to the ruins from which it had lain for the previous 200 years. 

THAT'S HOW IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED, OR...

The Abyssal grimoire the party kept from Valeth Tower began humming with gathering darkness. Not knowing the bomb within their midst, the party enjoyed the evening in frivolity, celebrating their good fortunate. But, as a chill wind blew in and the moon bled crimson, the spell began in the tower blossomed to fruition, releasing an entity from beyond space and time, beyond colossal in size, beyond reality in appearance. 

Mother fucking Azathoth. 

End of campaign.