H1: Keep on the Shadowfell

I am going to give 4th ed D&D a shot - reading the rules, there's a lot I do like and a lot that I don't. But what the heck, might as well try it. And the best part is, it's with a new group of players who are all 30-somethings with some combination of mortgages, kids, careers, and drinking problems. They haven't played D&D since they were kids (1st ed AD&D!) and are super-excited.

It all started with a BBQ at M.'s, where I was outed as a D&D nerd and everyone made jokes at my expense. Then over the course of the afternoon it became apparent that almost every guy there had played D&D and in fact rather missed it. Conversation turns to the passing of Gary Gygax and next thing you know we're planning a campaign for old-time's sake. Here's the kick-off email:

So was it the booze talking? Perhaps it was the realization of one's own mortality and passing of innocence with the recent death of a childhood hero? Or maybe expressing a growing frustration with the moral ambiguity of a complex world and a need to return to a time when everything could be neatly plotted on law <-> chaos / good <-> evil axes? But I swore I heard you guys actually say you wanted to play D&D again.

The Keep on the Shadowfell module looks interesting, though I'll probably start with the mini-adventure in the back of the DMG, just so everyone (myself included) gets experience with the rules before the real deal.

I'm also going to attempt for the second time to make use of this blog. I've removed most of the old posts to get a clean start. The goal of the blog is to get stuff out of my email, make it easier for the players to find information, and perhaps even share useful hobbyist info with others. Maybe it'll kick me into painting miniatures again too. But the real reason I'm restarting the blog is the name "Bigby's Blogging Fist" is too awesome to be squandered on a dead blog.