Dungeons & Despair

Chapter 1: how it began

   In the basement of his house, Folas had almost finished setting up the campaign he had been working on for the past few months. This was going to be the first campaign for his classmates and he wanted it to be perfect.

   He had already helped his friends make a character to play as, so they could immediately start playing. He had also prepared several maps and carefully planned out encounters.

   Right as he looked at the time, the doorbell rang. Folas smiled excitedly and ran upstairs to open the front door. Outside, his friends, Shin, Kaoru, Nova, and Takumi, were waiting for him.

   "Hey, everyone!" Folas exclaimed. 

   "Good morning, Fol," Shin and Kaoru said in unison as Nova and Takumi waved slightly.

   "Are you guys excited to play too?" Folas let them in and lead them to the basement.

   "You do realize that we have no idea how to play, right?" Nova asked, looking around the big house, impressed.

   "Yes, I know. I'm going to teach you as we play! That's the easiest way. You really don't have to learn all the rules before you start playing," Folas said and sat down at the head of the table. "Did you guys bring your character sheets?" The others nodded and sat down at the table too, giving their character sheets to Folas, so he would be able to track everything.

   "Great!" Folas smiled. "I'd like to start off by introducing our characters to each other. Please state your race and class. Takumi, would you like to start?"

   "Oh, uh.. sure," Takumi said. "I picked a Human Variant fighter."

   "Hm, I picked a Human rogue.." Nova said.

   "You guys are boring!" Shin exclaimed.

   "Don't say that, Shin..!" Folas said. "Everyone can pick the race and class they want. That doesn't mean it's boring. What did you and Kao pick?"

   "I picked a deep gnome bard," Shin said, "which means, I can do magic, unlike you guys who can only use weapons!"

   "I can use magic too..!" Kaoru said, smiling. "I am an Aarakocra Wizard."

   "Great!" Folas smiled. "Now we got the introductions out of the way, we can start! I want you all to close your eyes." He watched as his friends did so, then closed them himself too. "Imagine: you're standing in a forest. Tall trees are surrounding you. The sun is setting and it's noticeably getting colder. The sounds of nocturnal animals start to surround you. You know you have to either find a way out of the forest or find a safe place to sleep. What do you do?"