Last night was the kick off for my campaign and I was pretty pleased with how things went, though I had forgotten that although I may put in hours of preparation it is quite possible that the players won’t make it to the first decision junction. That is quite alright with me as it will give me the much needed time for fine tuning and polishing, as well as expanding the NPCs and their relationships to the overall narrative arc. Plus, with this group, I have the luxury of letting them write the plot as they are a willful and playful bunch that romp about the game world like so many frat boys drifting on nitrous-oxide.

On my to-do list for this week is to flesh out the next sets of possible adventures as well as clarify some of the plot for myself. As an extremely fuzzy thinker–you wouldn’t know that by my anal-retentive habits of color coding maps and keeping my game notes in a three-ring binder with labeled tabs– I find it necessary to codify the story arc to some degree, if I don’t my overactive imagination will keep adding and expanding it until it collapses under its own weight.

Encounters are the next thing I want to look at as either my CR selection is off or my rolling is atrocious–likely both– because I was left with the feeling that the party went through my monsters like a chainsaw through butter on a hot August afternoon. I’m going to take the time to get familiar with leveling up the templates and ponder some new combat tactics such as multiple ambushes and intra-combat traps. I would like to make the party sweat.