Campaign Recap

after action report:
Dragon of Icespire Peak
Campaign Finale

 

               Today I DM’ed in the final session of my first ever TTRPG campaign. My friends and I, of which only one of us had really played RPGs before (I DM’ed one session of D&D 3.0 like ten or twelve years ago, but I don’t count that), just wrapped up our agreed upon end of the campaign included in the D&D 5E Essentials Kit.

               Our group actually made it to a good conclusion of a campaign on our first attempt! We played 14 sessions over 16 months, with many extended periods between sessions and most of those sessions occurring from 9pm-12am on Saturday nights because my wife and I have very young kiddos. We also dealt with multiple different variations of intra-group friction, absences, changes in employment or starting grad school, and a new DM (me) trying their best to keep everything moving forward while learning the craft and conducting fun sessions for their friends.

               In spite of these challenges, we managed to make it to level five and with all six original PCs present for the final confrontation with the eponymous Dragon of Icespire Peak, and by all accounts my players had a great time along the way. As a DM I feel like I learned several valuable lessons from this first campaign, with the most prominent being in regard to group compatibility and having a trial period to try out player dynamics along with their character choices, but I also learned a great deal about the kinds of adventures I like to run.

The party consisted of an Evocation Wizard, Crown-Oathed Paladin, Samurai Fighter, Assassin Rogue, Light Cleric, and Star Druid, all helmed by savvy players. The group strongly favored cautious and smart tactical play, always seeking to surprise their foes and get the upper hand with battlefield positioning. They all clearly loved this aspect of the gameplay! Which lead me to often feel hamstrung by the adventures and encounters as laid out in the book, because I knew nothing would challenge the players and their characters, so I learned along the way to crank up the difficulty and rewrite entire scenarios.

 

               With scheduling becoming more difficult for everyone and the group dynamic reaching a point of being strained, we decided to go ahead and fast forward to the big finale – the assault on Icespire Hold and battle against Cryovain the Young White Dragon. I wanted this to feel appropriately epic and challenging for this party of adventurers, so I leaned heavily into the narration and scene setting as the PCs made their approach along the narrow mountain trail and added to the encounter as prescribed in the book.  

               The final battle found the heroes facing off against a beefed up Cryovain, supported by six Kobolds (two Warriors and four Winged from the MM’25), and a pillar of ice that emanated a damaging aura and created difficult terrain for a 30ft radius. Once again, the players made my plans look like child’s play, I’m sure thanks in large part to the initiative order that had every PC but one acting before any of the monsters; however, they all reported (as they did after every session) that they felt scared for their characters and had a great time in the game. The players smartly took out the ice pillar right away, along with a kobold, in the blast of a well-placed fireball. Cryovain managed to survive two rounds, blasting the cluster of ranged characters with his icy breath and nearly downing them all with the first attack. The kobolds served their purpose of diverting some of the characters’ attacks and then fell quickly. The characters all got to shine with their class abilities and the players got to play the style that reinforced their individual fun in the game. In the end, the final blow was delivered by the Paladin of Torm and Bahamut with an epic Smite.

               Once the session was done, we celebrated with a toast of sparkling wine or non-alcoholic cider as preferred and an ice cream cake!

               During the post-game celebrations all the players with spare time to play said they very much want to continue playing. Either carrying on the story of the current characters, starting new D&D campaigns, or even playing new games! I’m already working on learning Shield Maidens, and one of the players asked if I’d be willing to learn and run the Cosmere RPG so they can play in the world of their favorite Brando Sando novels.

               I want to keep playing, too. I’ve discovered a great creative outlet with this hobby, and a real enjoyment of the systems and nuances of RPGs as games, not just story telling vehicles. The stories and role playing we create out of our play are awesome, but I think what I enjoy most is learning the mechanical bits of game design and using all the systems to build a great session for my players. I plan to keep developing my craft for many years to come.