The Brotherhood Of The Camel

When a bunch of blokes rent a hotel room in the CBD on a Friday night, it's a safe bet they have drunken debauchery in mind. But not in this case. TC, LPO, SC, L. and myself chipped in for a serviced apartment to use as the venue for a "D&D" session that'd be easy for people to go straight to after work and travel home from at 1am or whenever. Its close proximity to several eateries and a Friendly Local Game Store (as they say in "Knights Of The Dinner Table") didn't hurt, either.

With TC behind the Dungeon Master's screen, my Deva priest - promoted to fifth level - was joined by a cynical, sweary human ranger (SC), a dwarf druid modelled on Pigsy from "Monkey Magic" (LPO) and a warforged* barbarian (L.). Our church-sponsored mission was to trek through the desert to a princess's tomb, then guard it from a necromancer with designs on an artefact buried with her royal deadness. Of course, the villain reached the crypt first, while we were busy arguing with the DM why our precious camels DIDN'T run away...and thereby forging a group indentity :-)

This - and SC's hilarious character sketch of a man poorly endowed and bitterly cognisant of the fact - was indicative of the levity that punctuated the adventure and added to this player's experience. Not just because I needed to unwind. It was a flashback to the joke-filled "D&D" of my youth, when the lack of a time limit meant we could concentrate on having fun. Why press on to the next chamber when you can practise your bird call for worshippers of the Raven Queen, hack apart harmless vines or devise a method for attaching a sun rod to your robotic bonce? And we did *eventually* foil the nefarious scheme, though I suspect a smidgeon of "NERF-ing" on the referee's part.

Anyway, because I know strangers' role-playing anecdotes can be as boring as strangers' dreams, I'll wrap this up with a piece of info that may be of general interest. TC adapted the scenario from "Tomb Of The Tiefling Empress" in the "Dungeon Delve" supplement, which is replete with three-encounter mini-modules for parties of levels 1-30. Perfect for a nerdy Friday night!


Listening: "Shadowheart" (2008) by Kivimetsan Druidi. Finnish symphonic metal (female operatic vocal, male growls) courtesy of my record reviewer pal LA.

Reading: "The Colditz Legacy" (2005) by Guy Walters. Cross a WW2 escape yarn with '70s espionage involving MI6 and you officially have my attention.

Watching: I'm still keen on the "Top 10" military docos on Discovery, but didn't enjoy "Fighting Ships" or "Submarines" quite as much as earlier instalments.


*A type of mechanical golem from the "Eberron" campaign.