Welcome to Valheim!

On Saturday I ran the first session of my new D&D 5th Edition campaign. It’s set into my own homebrew campaign, which focuses on the continent Valheim, which is being colonized by the people hailing from the Shattered Lands to the south.

Inspired by the Elder Scrolls computer game series, things started off with the whole party in chains and on their way to Valheim and an unknown fate. When the ship arrived at the port in the city called Threshold (my hommage to the D&D of old) they were escorted by the city guard to meet their Captain, a Khazad (dwarf) by the name of Torek Ironfist. He was examining an Imperial order while explaining them that they now were members of the Threshold City Guard and under his command.

From there the newly “drafted” recruits, a Dragonborn fighter (who wants to become eldritch knight later), a Human Cleric and former officer of the Imperial Army, and a Tiefling Sorceror and Folk Hero, started their first night shift. After having a cup of Khazad darkbrew (aka coffee) and a couple of tasty donuts they investigated the weird sounds citizens have reported hearing in the cemetery. They met the pale and somewht weird groundskeeper and heard the howling screams coming from all directions. Hearing these sounds instilled fear in them, so they sought a way to plug their ears. Using candlewax this was easily done, and they were able to investigate further.

Since the adventurers weren’t that easily scared off, the unknown powers at work here sent three skeletons after them. A short and quite dramatic fight ensued and eventually they noticed that the groundskeeper’s hut was abandoned. From the clues they gathered it was obvious that the groundskeeper had been dabbling with necromancy and has now fled his shack through an underground tunnel which led into the canalisation.

After reporting back to Torek the session was concluded. As I’ve noticed in other play sessions before, D&D 5th Edition is much easier to play and run than many editions before and especially the new background options make the characters much more interesting. My players seemed to enjoy themselves as well and were already making plans what they wanted to achive in our next session. My homework is now to creating a map of Threshold and the surrounding area, so that we can all visualize things more easily. A GM’s work is never done!