On Tuesday of next week, I’ll be dungeon mastering for the first time in maybe six years. I’m terrified.

I know I can do it. I’ve been a dungeon master for a game before, but this time it’s a little more complicated. We’re using Roll20 to play the game since we’re all in different states, so I have a lot more to plan for and learn. When you play a game of Dungeons and Dragons live at a table, you have a lot of options of how to make things super fun and think on your feet a bit more. When you play with an online tool, you’re fairly restricted to how the tool works and what you have available there. I can draw all over a piece of paper to make a new area of a map or create a new village out of nowhere, but I’m pretty locked in with Roll20. Not to mention we’re even playing a version of this D20 game that I’ve never ran before called Pathfinder. That was my idea though, so I can blame myself if the ruleset gets confusing.

The great news about all of this is that I’ll be playing with friends who already know that most of this is new and we have a lot to learn together. They’ve already been very supportive regarding their expectations of what the game is going to be and they know this is the first time I’ve used this tool. I couldn’t start in a better position.

We’re doing a brand new boxed adventure from Paizo, the publishers of Pathfinder, called Crownfall. It’s kind of a political intrigue game where there’s a lot of roleplaying going on. I think it’s going to be super fun for all of us, especially considering the fun cast of characters playing. I have to study up on the history and the adventure though, because there is a lot for me to digest and understand regarding the lore. There’s also a ton of little “if this then that” moments where I’ll have to think on my feet to keep the game interesting. I love boxed adventures because they are a great way to get used to the game, but there isn’t a whole lot of room to improvise since there are specific moments we need to hit. In my own stories we can go whatever direction we want, but with these there are specific beats.

I’m really excited to give this a try and see how it goes. I think everyone else is pretty pumped as well, so regardless of how much we fumble around with the story or the tools, I know we’ll have a great time.

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