Dungeons and Dragons

Dungeons&Dragons club meets at 1:00-1:300 every Tuesday in the Digital Learning Classroom. It is open to 3rd Form and above, though younger years are also welcome to attend.

D&D is a tabletop fantasy role-playing game where Players create characters and work together to tell a collaborative story guided by a Dungeon Master. While the DM guides the players through their campaign, it is the Players themselves that choose their actions and progression through their adventure.

Characters can die as easily as level-up, and shrewd teamwork will be needed in order to survive the dangers and emerge victorious!

A Group consists of a DM and 3-5 Players. Several groups will be created, depending on the popularity of the club. DM volunteers are very welcome! 

There are some very famous D&D groups out there... Critical Role is probably the best known. If you want to see how immersive a D&D campaign can get, watch some of their videos.

Creating your Character:

You character can be one of 4 Classes: Cleric, Fighter, Rogue or Wizard. A Character also has an Origin, consisting of a Background and Species. With these three things you can construct your character's history and backstory. Some characters may be bold and brash, weathered through years of fighting and drinking, while others may be shy and skittish due to years of struggle and hardship. How your character behaves and interacts with others in the Group is up to you!

Species List | Origin List | Character Sheet

Innar:

Innar is a world mostly covered by water. There are three known continents separated by vast oceans, only one of which, Hireth, is inhabited by the Human, Dwarf and Halfling races. The older Elven race also call Hireth their home, but their ancient libraries hint of a lineage that goes far beyond their current shores.

By the Third Age the creatures and monsters of Hireth had been subdued by the inexorable rise of the Four Races, with sightings of dragons, trolls, fae and the countless other beings of Magic and Gaia becoming increasingly rare. These creatures retreated beyond the borderlands as the city-states grew and the surrounding lands were tamed for agriculture and mining. Now, watchtowers in the border-lands keep vigil for any wild creatures foolish enough to be seen, and barely a sighting has been made in the past two hundred years. 

The island of Tír Draíochta, (tir dray-ok-tah) a long and perilous sea-voyage West from Hireth, has remained stubbornly untamed since time immemorial. The tales of dragons, magical beasts and savage humanoids that were told by the few scouts that returned home had piqued the interest of the Races for centuries, but attempts to establish beachheads by subsequent colonists proved disastrous; if the wild weather and ocean currents didn't dash their ships upon rocks while attempting to make landfall, terrifying creatures would emerge from the forests in the dead of night and devastate the early hastily-constructed encampments These early failures put off all exploration of the island for half a century.

Several years ago, in a rare show of co-operation, an expedition of Humans and Dwarves supported up by a conclave of powerful Elf wizards successfully landed and fortified a beach-head on a small peninsula. The fortification was named Gaesgail (gays-gail). Since then their survival has been a living hell, clearing the surrounding forest, maintaining the palisades to keep out the beasts and creatures that relentlessly attack, and scraping together enough supplies so that their tentative outpost can endure yet another night of onslaught.

The sporadic resupply ships that survive the journey from Hireth barely replace what is lost in the defense against the horde. No major attempts to explore deeper into the island have been yet been made, but the Races, keen to see a return on their investment lest it fail, now intend to comission a small group of explorers to sail to Gaesgail and discover the secrets of the savage lands of Tír Draíochta beyond...

...for the island surely must contain untold riches and power, and the presence of humanoid creatures might indicate an unknown sentient race? Whomever could complete the first expedition into the island and return alive would surely become legendary, but who is brave- or stupid enough- to sign up for such an endeavour?

Episode 1

At this point our characters split into two expeditions. This narrative follows one of these groups, composed of:

Asper Madlock, a human rogue, whose rough personality was forged in  the criminal underbelly of the city. She pulls no punches and keeps no prisoners.

Michael Jichael the Third, an Elf fighter whose regimented and clipped personality was honed through a past life of soldiery. She is forever reminded of her parent's peculiar naming choices.

Lorna, an Elf Fighter, she was brought up in rural poverty and relied on her wits, defences and the occasional guiding and guarding of tourists through her village for survival, before venturing to the city to make a name for herself.

Marvin Jones, a human cleric, who grew up on an isolated farm in the borderlands. His youth was one of quiet solitude, which brought a prohensity for spiritual wisdom.

Asper wakes up, with a foul headache and feeling of foreboding in their gut. Before they can open their eyes the tang of salt in their nostrils and the unmistakable rocking sensation of a boat brings them to their senses. They are not where they last remembered they were. In-fact, they can barely remember where they should be...

Asper staggers to their feet and accidentally-on-purpose kicks a second body lying on the floor. Michael wakes up with a start, a sore head and a quickly-swelling welt on his back. "Who are you?" Asper says through gritted teeth as they try not to throw up. "Michael Jichael the Third", says Michael, "And before you ask, please use my full name when you address me."

Asper's usually foul demeanour is not soothed by this curt reply, nor helped by the nausea welliong in their throat. "Michael Jichael the Third is a stupid name. How did you get it?" they demand. "My parents gave it me, as is usually the case. Who are you and where are we?" Michael asks.

Asper (rolls a nat 1) finds the events of the previous night have caused such a crust of gunk and mucus over theeir eyelids they can't seem to open their eyes. This makes their mood sour even more. "My name's Asper, and I don't know where we are. I don't remember anything about how I got here and I can't see anything!"

By this time Michael has risen to his feet and noticed 2 other bodies lying comatose on the floor. He moves over to a spindly-looking elf girl and prods her in the ribs. "Helloo, wake up, who are you?" 

The Elf frowns and grimmaces. It seems she too has been afflicted with a terrible hangover and she struggles to open her eyes and regain coherence. "Lorna", says Lorna, weakly.

Seeing that Lorna needed more time to fully awaken, Michael prodded the fourth and final body- a lean, tanned and muscly middle aged human male. "And who are you?", He asks. Like Lorna, it was clear the excesses of the night before had taken their toll on the fourth companion, exacerbated by the nauseating rocking of the ship.

In time, Lorna and the human male- who introduced himself as "Marvin, Marvin Jones" - were sitting up and taking in their surroundings. "Does anyone know how we got here?" asked Asper, curtly. Lorna (rolls a nat 20!) suddenly became alert, recollection flooding her brain...

"Yes", she said, piecing the memories together. "I remember last night I was in a tavern in Dunlaven. I was with friends, the band was playing and we were spending the coin we had earned during the week. I think I remember seeing you there too... I remember the tavern doors opening and 3 men entering... they were strong, with mean faces. They were wearing uniforms and wielding coshes. They blocked the door. The band fell silent and as one everyone slowly turned to look at them. The leader of the press gang said that they were there by orders of the King. They wanted volunteers for an expedition to a far-off land- they needed to return to the barracks with at least 4 volunteers and they wouldn't leave until they had them." Lorna paused her tale as she pieced together the final memories. "I remember everyone in the tavern turning away and looking down at their drinks. Conversation started again as the patrons returned to their drinks... we all hoped the men would go away, but as the night continued the men stood stubbornly at the door, seemingly waiting for something. I know I drank too much and I must have passed out. That's the last thing I remember before waking up here. Do you... do you think I was 'volunteered'?"

Marvin nodded slowly. "I remember the tavern, I remember seeing you there and I remember drinking a lot... I think you're right, Lorna, I think we were all 'volunteered'..."

Marvin looked around the dark hull of the boat and spied slivers of sunlight outlining what tooked to be a trapdoor leading up to the deck. He gingerly walked over to it and gave it a shove with his shoulders. It was heavy, but with his considerable strength it began to rise, and with a final heave it lifted open, flooding the hull of the ship with sunlight, the sounds of waves, sea birds and fresh, salty air. 

Episode 2...

Marvin, Lorna, Michael and Aspen gingerly peered over the rim of the trapdoor, squinting in the sunlight, as silent as could be to avoid disturbing any hostiles on deck. Suddenly a fifth head pushed up between them and they all screamed.

The fifth head screamed back at them. The four screamed back at her. The fifth head yelled "WHY ARE WE SCREAMING??", to which Aspen yelled "WHO ARE YOU??"

The fifth head belonged to a small, sharp elf girl with gimlet eyes and a wicked grin. "I'm Xyra" said Xyra, grinning. 

"You weren't here a second ago" said Lorna. "Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't" said Xyra. The grin seemed to widen. The four were becoming increasingly uncomfortable as they began to notice she hadn't yet blinked during the conversation.

"Well, let's get on deck" said Marvin, keen to look elsewhere. The five ascended the stairs and found themselves on the deck of a small boat. Despite it having no sail, it was slicing through the sea at a fair clip. Marvin scanned the horizon and saw, to his horror, a far-away but rapidly approaching island. At the edge of the island was small fortification, belieged by what looked like dragons and other airbourne creatures. Fire sputtered in the sky and on the wind could be heard faint screams and roars.

"Ooh, a party!" giggled Lorna.

The only other person on deck was a old grey man holding the ships wheel steady. "Aah, you're awake, I see!" said the man, cheerily. "Just in time to arrive at Gaesgail before nightfall!"

The cheeriness of the old man currently guiding the boat towards a living hell only served to foul Aspen's mood more, but it was Xyra who had fixated on him. "I really want to throw him overboard!"

Lorna sighed. "No, wait, let's ask him for information, we need to know what's happening". "And then throw him overboard?" repeated Xyra. The old man's grin began to droop as he wondered if they knew he could hear their conversations.

Marvin sighed and looked around the boat. There was barely enough space for the 6 of them and there was no sail, so must have been propelled by some magical force. There was no obvious way to turn the boat around, or any sign of wherelse they could go to, except for the island before them.

The 6 stood in silence, the old man increasingly uncomfortable, Xyra grinning, unblinking at the old man, Aspen in a foul temper, Lorna uncomfortable in the silence and Marvin questioning his life choices.

In time, the boat arrived at the little wharf that led up to the fortification of Gaesgail.  

The scene was one of chaos and carnage. Elven mages were frantically casting shields to protect guards, who were defending against the encroaching horde with a fevour that threatened to descend into panic and retreat. The air was clouded with the stench of brimstone, burning flesh and the sounds of screaming and the dull, wet thuds of bodies on wood, metal and stone. 

The small group of adventurers navigated through the chaos in search of someone who might allude to their next stepps...