In 1997, I moved in with my boyfriend, now husband, Art, after we met in a USEnet group that focused on “collaborative storytelling” in a fantasy setting. For years, Art had been playing D&D (1st edition, AD&D) and then White Wolf’s Vampire every Tuesday night with the same group of 5 of his friends.

After a few months, he convinced me to join the group. For the next ten years, we ran through a number of campaigns, with Art and his friend Nick serving as the primary DMs/storytellers. On occasion, a couple of the other players would try their hand, but the adventures would fizzle out after a few weeks. Last year, we urged another of the group, Mike, to try again—and he said that he would, but only if I agreed to go next. Even though I had tried to avoid learning the rules, and was known as one of those players who would ask several times a night “What dice do I roll? What does that mean? Did I hit it/disable the trap/survive the fireball?”

I told Mike I was game—he had to go at least 8 sessions, and I would do the same. Since then, I’ve run two sessions of 8 weeks each, both times going immediately after Mike. (We tend to rotate adventures frequently, to give the DM/storytellers time to recharge and plan, and the opportunity to play in someone else’s campaign without the pressure of having to plan each week.)

Art suggested we should start keeping campaign journals, just for our own entertainment, even if no one else reads them. This blog will serve as the on-line record of My First Campaign. It may, on occasion, serve as a journal of our Tuesday night sessions, regardless of who is running.

Next up: The players.