Hidiho,
yesterday I met a friend from university and while we drank some beer we also talked about some pen&paper games and I felt the urge to work on a little campaign for DnD. Well, I have the feeling that it won't be a "little" campaign but for now, I will just gather some cool ideas and form a new world.

So let's start with the

1. Question

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Which edition shall it be?

As I played DnD 3.5 some years ago I have some books laying around, to be precise I think they are not laying at my house but somebody of my friends should have them. Buuuut should I use 3.5 or test the fifth edition? I think I will start reading the fifth edition and have a look. The biggest differences I noticed at the moment are that you don't have to spend skill points for skills like athletics (you just chose skills in which you are proficient?) and that magic users can cast minor spells without using spell slots (and that is awesome). It looks a bit more like a video game but I will have to read it to be sure if the changes make it better or worse.

2. Question

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What kind of setting will it be?

I am planning to have it as a little side game when the main rpg group is missing some people (which happens very often because of family+children, vacations or illness) so that we can switch to DnD and have some fun in there.

And because it's a little side campaign I am thinking of letting them play evil characters. So instead of rescuing the princess, they are kidnapping her, instead of saving the village from the evil orc tribe they are the ones suppressing the people in the village.

I am planning to let them do what they want and just give them a big goal to achieve but how they achieve it is totally free. So, for example, the main goal could be to suppress a whole country and rule it with fear and brutality.

It should be fun to be the evil villains instead of the shiny heroes. And because an evil mage who is only level 1 is not that frightening I would say that every character starts at a higher level, at least level 5 so that they have the power to be the bullies of a little village. The exact level has to be determined after reading the full rules again so that I have a better feeling for the characters.

Because I love to have some strategic elements in my games I would create a new world map and give the characters an evil hideout from where they can operate, hire new men, start their raids and of course defend their reign of evil against shiny heroes who will try to stop them. I am not sure if the players are the leaders of this evil group or if they start as a kind of henchmen for a big evil being. I think it depends on how powerful the characters are at the beginning - if they start with level 5 or even lower I think I would let them be the small henchmen and let them execute the orders of their master. If they start with a higher level I think then it's better to let them be the head of the evil cult/organization.

Uh, I think it would be more fun if I try to include a system that gives each one of them a part of the power of the cult (let's just stay with cult I think that fits better) and that the power can shift. Maybe they will also start to plan their little intrigues to get more power or even get rid of one of the other players.

So I have to think of a cool but simple system to simulate this kind of actions. I definitely will have some 1 on 1 chat with each of them to have the opportunity to give them some small information about the other characters xD.

Ok, this sounds like a lot of fun for me and I think I will work on these ideas in future postings.

So my to do's atm are:

• read 5th edition rules
• ask my friends if they are interested in playing evil DnD chars
• work on the world of the campaign
• work on the cult and the simulation part

We will see how that will work out. So until next time, bye

Image source

Found this pic here
https://pixabay.com/de/kerze-buch-alte-licht-bibliothek-1646765/