So I played a round of #dnd5e last night that was 6 months in the making.

Buckle up, kids, and let me tell you the tale of Drezzar...

My bestie DM Troy (who is a set designer) and my friend Peter have always loved visual extravaganzas. This is an example of a typical Wednesday night for our group

Well, Peter and Troy has the idea that you can stack sets and make a dungeon. They found an old dresser on the side of the road and got started. Six months of complete secrecy later, they rolled this out

They also built the bar area into an inn where we prepped our characters and read the message board of those who came before. After 20 min of prep, it was time to head in. The clock began, a 3.5 hour countdown. We were the 8th-ish group, and only two had succeeded before

We had two options: go up the stairs to the harpy song, or down the well, which may or may not have a gelatinous floor and a beholder at the bottom. We chose the well.

Turns out it was the right choice! As the rogue, I found a secret door one floor up from the beholder that allowed us to skip the first level of the dungeon, which I later learned looked like this:

In we went into the second level. We fought an animated Iron Maiden, a swarm of crows, avoided some terrible curses, solved a trap puzzle, gained a magic item, and found a cheese sandwich

The third level was for brute strength. It included a roper, a pool of piranhas, a big scary monster, and a mimic bridge. We were only like 1/3 clever enough but we made it through!

In the fourth level we got our groove back. We rolled like FIRE, made friends with a tiny goldfish in the pool that saved us from having to fight basilisks, and prepped us for Medusa and her stone creatures in the next room. We disengaged and BOOKED IT. We were on a deadline!

In the fifth level, our luck started to flag but we were still clever—we switched the levers on the right to open a portal in the door we just came through, avoiding a fire elemental, the sorcerer, and the demogorgon. WHEW. We forgot the charms, though. Oops.

And then, we arrived at the last level. We encounter a dragon skeleton, who if we pour liquid down it’s throat, gives us things like HP and stuff. Alas, it was not enough, for when we entered the next room....

We found this:

Note: the goal in all this is to slay the dragon.

If dragon+this scene looks familiar, you’re not wrong. We got meta for a second, and then it was time to fight

This is when our luck totally ran out. We needed a 19 to hit, and needed initiative to make a dent in this green dragon’s 207 HP. We didn’t get either. Slowly, we all went down, but like, super heroic and valiantly.

In the end, the curse placed on the land remained, tied to the dragon’s life. However, we players came out feeling like champions, because we had the privilege to experience this incredible labor of love. Now, I’m very happy to share it all with you! Good gaming, indeed.