A tiefling and an elf travel along a long, windy road toward the small town of Greenest. Issa, an orphan raised by druids, and Zelena, an alchemical wizard who trained in the High Moor. Upon cresting the final hill, the two see smoke billowing from buildings and a large dragon circling above. They approach with caution.

Kobolds stream out of an alley and surround a small family. Kobolds are small intelligent draconic creatures that stand on two legs, no more than two feet tall. The tiefling woman quickly transforms into a tiger and begins mauling the small kobolds. A witch bolt of lightning ricochets from the elf towards the remaining kobolds until only the family is left standing. After thanking the strangers for the rescue, Lilian Swift – mother of three – says the keep is the safest place in town.

The group quietly traverse through alleyways and smoky shadows, rescuing more townsfolk along the way. They enter the keep just as the doors are closing, lucky to be the last ones to make it to safety.

-This was the first session I ran for our campaign back in the summer of 2019. I had only done a couple one-shots before and was super nervous. I had only bought the book “Hoard of the Dragon Queen” that week and had barely read any of the story. Our group is called “Damsels and Dragons” and began as a group of 5 women who were living together in one big house. The housing situation dissolved and we went our separate ways, but the game was meant to force us to stay connected. For the most part it has worked, and the group has grown in size to 8 current members + several honorary and guest members. Before this first session, we had met as a group the previous week to create level 5 characters on printed-out sheets back when that was still a thing. A note for anyone thinking about becoming a DM – just do it! You don’t need to have a whole campaign ready or any lore, the players will write the story with you.

-Our campaign is based on the published Tyranny of Dragon’s setting using two books. Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat provide the backbone to a whole epic story. I did not have the second book until much later in the story.