My first serious experience with TTRPGs was like so many others; my group of high school friends gathered around a table in the basement throwing dice at each other over plates of pizza. The fifth edition of the worlds most popular roll playing game had just released and our usual cast of video games didn't seem as appealing now that we all could drive and meetup. We certainly weren't going to go outside and its not like anyone had any dates to occupy their time. Someone proposed we try Dungeons and Dragons. I'd heard a few stories from my dad's days in the hobby and he'd even tried to teach my brothers and I once, but an eight year old only has so much attention span. My close friend bought the books and offered to DM a game and it started.
I rolled up a dwarven cleric. The kind with chainmail and a hammer, ready to smite the enemies of my people. He was the lost prince of the Dwarven kingdom (and absolutely not Thorin). I don't remember a lot of that game, we played for the summer until school returned in the fall and other fleeting interests took over. But I do remember his death; holding back the thirteen Balors who had come to destroy the kingdom. My DM had asked me to work with him on something to drive the narrative of the game and for the first time I had a chance to look behind the screen. My character's last act was to throw the crown of his people, a magical object that contained the souls of all the dwarven kings before him, to his adventuring companions and telling them to flee:
It was an act of desperation but also hope. Hope that they may one day return and save the people from oppression. My next character was a literal zombie who wore that crown, guided by the often disagreeing voices of dwarves within its head.
We never returned to save those dwarves. We tried a few times to setup other games and campaigns, but they never turned into anything significant. College came but luckily we still stayed in touch using at first Skype and then Discord to play League of Legends and other games, D&D forgotten for a time. But I hadn't forgotten what it felt like to dungeon master, even for a moment. After the usual college adjustment period, I proposed we try starting up a game virtually. I had planned for something simple, the characters were going to act as a group of monster hunters exploring a mysterious connection to the feywild that was spilling forth strange and powerful monsters. Five years later that game is still going in some form with many of the same characters. I've learned a lot in the hundreds of hours I have DMed (the notes I keep suggest we've played close to 300 ~3 hour sessions, often several a week) and I would be lying if I didn't say I feel incredibly burnt out. Many times I have wrapped up what seemed like a satisfying conclusion and taken a few weeks as a break, only to be drawn back by the magnetism that running and playing TTRPGs seems to have. At the start of this latest arc I gave myself an ultimatum: actually finish the game and this story by a set date: June 3rd 2023. The significance of the date was simple, it will be exactly five years to the day we started this online campaign.
Running a continuous game for a significant length of time is both a blessing and a curse. In a way, you start to understand something about the world and the people in it that is challenging to explain; they become almost real. On the other hand the burden of expectation also grows. My players know this world just as much as I do which can be hard to live up to when you run out of things to surprise and delight them with. I don't believe it is the DMs sole responsibility to manage this aspect of the game, but it seems to be the case with my group. Looking back on it, I miss the simple enjoyment of exploration, figuring out what lies behind the next hill together, and the tangibility of possibility. I can still remember their first encounter, a modified albino cave fisher on a shallow lake, its carapace attached by a gossamer thread to a full moon. I couldn't possible tell you anything but the highlights from years 2-5, most experiences blending into a bland soup. This isn't to say I haven't enjoyed this game, its been the highlight of my week for years. But the weight has become a heavy burden. For this final year, I wanted things to be different. I wanted to restore some of that sense of wonder and really push myself to give one last hurrah for this game and maybe fifth edition entirely.
This is where the OSR or Old School Renaissance comes in. I began to mine my notes for scraps and realized one villain was reoccurring and had never been dealt with: The Archlich Acererak. Everyone has heard the infamous stories of the Tomb of Horrors, I had even run the fifth edition version over winter break as a one shot during early college. I like Acererak, he is the right mix of powerful malevolence but also cartoon villainy: at least the way I play him. And I had used him occasionally as a mix of comedic relief or as a shadowy figure pulling the strings in a great many plots. He is dangerous, manipulative, and a total jackass, especially to adventurers. But I didn't know much about where he came from besides the Tomb of Horrors so I began to research. That's when I uncovered the OSR community and something totally unexpected happened; I fell in love with the game again. To save the space, some serious introspection suggested my general malaise was largely a function of a mismatch between the type of game I was running, and what I really wanted to experience: a role playing game about overcoming adversities using wit, courage, and a healthy dose of luck and not a character sheet simulator. I jived with the general vibes of the community and immediately began to implement some of their practices into my game. The focus went from how to provide a combat challenge to high level 5E characters, to serious character driven plot. It was exciting, the game felt more alive and I was starting to enjoy running the game again. Critically, I was inspired and enthusiastic again.
For this last arc I wanted to take some adventures from previous editions that seemed intriguing and adapt them to my game; a practice I had been doing for a while now. My research unearthed an interesting path: start with the Planescape adventure Dead Gods, the Rod of Seven Parts, and finally Return to the Tomb of Horrors (2e). I had a plan, we would split the characters into two groups, a lower level group and a higher level group that would each progress in parallel through Dead Gods and the Rod of Seven Parts (respectively) before meeting for the Return to the Tomb of Horrors. It would be an epic game, spanning the entire multiverse with a final threat that was commiserate; Acererak's plan to absorb the negative energy plane and thus dominate the multiverse. Of course I added my own spin, Acererak had a secondary goal that was a bit more... meta. Acererak's experience with the player characters over many years suggested something, that maybe they are somehow different from the other beings that inhabit the world as they had a greater level of agency over their fates than is reasonably possible. In other words, Acererak became aware of the fourth wall. Domination of the multiverses undead is great, but what if he could become like the players themselves? That would grant him a power that not even the Gods have and (for at least my Acererak) resolve his greatest fear: a true death consigned to a dead world, never to be rememberd. I figured yet another sinister plot was in order: use the player characters and their altruism to drive them into a trap. They would bring him powerful artifacts (the Rod of Seven Parts, the Wand of Orcus, etc.) and their souls so that he can complete one final ritual to become "real" as he might say. Its convoluted, ridiculous, and insane which means its a perfect plot for my players to interact with.
In one other diversion, I was also approached by my brother and his friends who all live nearby. They asked if I would be willing to run an in-person game. After little thought, I jumped at the opportunity. We have started at B/X game (which they and myself are having an absolute blast) which takes place within Acererak's demiplane with the goal of disrupting him in any way possible. They are after his phylactery and, their incredible luck withstanding, they may just find and destroy it before the final battle June 3rd. For now they have been preparing, every step of the way haunted by the knowledge they will need to descend into a low lying hill shaped like a skull with three dark entrances opening like maws to claim their lives. Part of that preparation has involved reclaiming something ancient, something nearly forgotten and only brought to light by an errant comment from the one dwarven player character: "Where are all the other Dwarves?" One trip through the Palace of the Vampire Queen later and he now wears the Crown of Swords, the last living head to have worn it casting it to his comrades in desperation. The Dwarves may get their salvation yet, but first, as they say, "They've got business with that bitch of a lich."
We have set off on this final adventure together. My online players have just entered The City That Waits, the final stepping stone before our ultimate conclusion. I have no idea how it is all going to go on June 3rd. Everyone is meeting back up in our hometown to play in person; pizza and dice throwing an essential component. The battle is going to test every ounce of their characters and themselves and certainly the limits of what fifth edition can tolerate. They will need to rely on total strangers to enact a plan years in the making. And certainly not least they will need to contend with their very relationship with this hobby and their roles within the shared story telling and this universe. Will they vanquish Acererak, stop his plans, and save the multiverse we have built over five human years and many of their character's lifetimes? Or will the Great Devourer swallow the multiverse and become something else, a permanent vestige and an indelible mark in the game we've spent so much time playing. What will come next? I honestly don't know. And that's the exciting part.
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