The Lost Mine of Phandelver: Adventurers Assemble!

It begins.

Calling on old friends (some of whom I haven't rolled dice with since the early half of 4e) to answer the call for adventure, we set about crafting a party of young and eager adventurers. Yep, we started up our new D&D campaign last night. 

Originally designed as a Skype-only campaign, it quickly became a split between live at the table and Skype (not my preferred Google Hangouts but I never expect people to create accounts for anything and Skype is what they know). Dangnabbit if one of the players insisted on driving to my house every two weeks. While I normally dislike playing with this split, DMing is totally different - they have to stop talking and listen to me. So with one player live on stage and the others reporting from outlets across Ottawa, we rolled characters and killed goblins. 

And it was good. 

We have Ulthgar the dwarf cleric of Moradin, a stern and grizzled acolyte who dreams of rising to the ranks of power within his order. A dwarf of his word, he sees the signs left by the gods and those left by the wicked as guidance in how he will best serve his beliefs. 

Kazzarak is a half-elf barbarian from the frigid lands of Icewind Dale. Quick to step into danger and eager to right wrongs, his path lead him to Neverwinter in search of glory and riches in the dungeons of the Underdark and the battlefields of Faerun. 

Paiden, a human fighter, is the quiet member of the group but don't let his silence challenge your opinion of him. What he lacks in social skills he more than makes up for in a keen eye and quick reflexes, lashing out with his shield to protect those under his watch. 

Finally, we come to Rennik, a lightfoot halfling rogue whose early years spent at sea have now brought him to the shores of Neverwinter looking for work. Ever eager to return to the rolling waves of the ocean, he displays incredible deftness skulking about the forests and cities of the mainland. Perhaps there is more to this fellow than meets the eye.

After assembling their characters (using a mixture of players with the new PHB and those with only the Basic PDF), we went through a very basic introduction of how everyone came to know each other and was hired on by Gundren Rockseeker to deliver simple mining goods to Phandalin. Of course, they fought goblins and did a fine job of it too (only 4 points of damage was taken, thanks to the quick reaction of Paiden sparing Kazzarak the horrors of an arrow in the back). I won't go into any extended details of this prologue but things are already looking very promising. The group is quite eager to get started and I had a chance to go through my initial hiccups with any new system (even if it is something familiar like D&D). In two weeks, shit gets real.

If the news of a new edition of D&D (or you're just finding out that D&D is still alive and well), check out their website.