One of the biggest joys I’ve had throughout this pandemic was being able to re-approach D&D as a hobby ^⁠1. It’s put me back into regular contact with some old friends and given me an outlet which is both creative and social at a time when I had a desperate need for one. Yay for D&D. And yay for Serin Lithos, my half-elf noble-born Paladin who has taken an oath of vengeance and lets me play batman in plate armor.

And, as I’ve written about here over the last few months, I’ve also taken up the task of making my own campaign to run. I’ve taken the time to create a world map, write a basic history, develop the beginnings of a pantheon, set up rival factions, and explore political divisions. It’s the world Howlmark was set in, and I’m looking forward to shaping a campaign which has closer ties to the ideological struggle shaping the contient.

And as I’ve done all of this, I’ve acquired some stories to tell. Stories of my interactions with the two groups who are playing Howlmark, stories of the tools I used to form the game, and stories of interacting with other folks who play the game. I don’t claim to be an expert DM—there’s a lot of things I do wrong and I’m sure the rivers on my maps don’t work right—but I like telling stories. And if my stories can encourage some other start up DM somewhere, then that will make me happy.

To that end, I’ve created a YouTube channel called “DM Tales.” On it I’ll talk about the tools I’ve used, some of the stories which were born from gaming sessions, and perhaps have some conversations with other players and DM’s to afford them space to tell their stories. I hope to upload a video once a week, and plan for the first post to go up by this Friday. Come along for the ride!

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¹ In my mind I continue to differentiate between D&D and AD&D, and 5E is AD&D because non-human races aren’t classes. And the young kids who think otherwise can get off my lawn.