Riffing off of this post, a few local gamers got together and made their characters for some surface crawling.

The party (so far):

Zuul, the Quaggoth/Folk Hero/Ranger CG

Saav, the Drow/Acolyte/Monk CG

Gorgolog, the Orc/Gladiator/Fighter CE

Vistra, the Dwarf/Acolyte/Cleric LG or NG? (DM’s NOTE: I kinda like that we aren’t sure just yet)

Playing:

I gave them a hand-drawn hex map of the area, as it was known to a dwarven general during the war, over 1000 years ago. This rag-tag group was brought together because they pooled their money and purchased a charter that allowed them to have sole access to this portal to the surface.

I asked us all to gather around the map in character to decide which direction they would head into next week. So, they huddled around a bio-luminescent mushroom growing out of a table in a lean-to at the bottom of the pit that they’ve chartered the rights to. This will be their town, their home base, growing with them.

“Would you like to name your little charter corporation?”

“We can’t name it yet. Naming it gives it power over us.”

Nice, Dev.

Gorgolog made a roll to see where the orcs were in the area…but I had the area made up and there were no orcs. 😦 He rolled a 10 on his history check and found out that the elves, when they established their fort, exterminated any and all orcs that were in the mountains. Gorgolog’s hero, Bogg Skullsplitter, used to spin a dagger when he was unsure of where to go (unless it pointed to where he had been, then he would spin again). Using that bit of orcish game design, we spun a pencil.

The group will head off into the northeast.

GM’s Chores:

Re-read the races with an eye towards hacking. I have to do a full write-up for the Quaggoth, Githyanki and maybe some underground Backgrounds. Bret is already hard at work on his write-up for full-blooded orc as a PC.

Get some maps printed out for what awaits them to the northeast.

Read up on Inspiration, relevant Monsters, Combat.