Greetings Adventurers! An Introduction to my RPG Hobby Blog

Greetings Adventurers!

Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Ryan Couch and I will be your Dungeon Master for this here blog. In time, I hope for this blog to help notate my experiences playing Dungeons and Dragons and other TTRPG's as well. But first, a bit about me.

I am a middle school theatre arts teacher who is, generally speaking, still considerably new to Dungeons and Dragons. My first foray into D&D began in the spring of 2007 when having lunch with a college buddy of mine in the university center I noticed an interesting book in his backpack while he was looking for something or another. I asked him if that was a D&D book. His face quickly shifted into a large glowing grin. He pulled the 3.5 Player's Handbook out of his bag, let me look through it and asked me if I played. I explained to him that I was aware of its existence, having sometimes perused through them at local bookstores, but had never actually played. I didn't even own any dice! My friend then extended the olive branch and invited me over to his apartment for his home game.

That Saturday, I show up to his apartment where I am greeted by his table of players. They help me roll up a character (Keen Coldjaw, Dwarven Barbarian!) and the night began! I have to be completely honest, I had no idea what was going on but I loved it. I couldn't tell you all the specifics of the story even if I tried, but I do remember we were fighting goblins (as a group of low level adventurers do). I remember going home that night ecstatic about D&D. I could not WAIT to play more. I remember I sent him a text asking when the next session would be and he told me he would let me know soon.

That session never happened....

You see, him and one of the players at the table were dating, and some of the other players at that table were friends. When they broke up, so did the party. He told me if I could find some new players, we could pick up where we left off or start something new. The problem is that nobody in my social circle played D&D, much less knew what it was. I asked a few people but they politely declined the opportunity. Thus, my experience was D&D was at an end.

Fast forward to 2012. I am heavily invested in Warhammer 40k and playing every Friday night at the FLGS (Favorite Local Game Store) when I ask an Imperial Guard players if he wanted to play a game against my 40k Orks. He declined, but stated that it was because he was about to play D&D. At first I was perplexed why he would bring his Guard army to the store knowing he wasn't going to play but instead play D&D, but alas I let it go. Standing next to me was my buddy Jack who told me he would play me in a game of Warhammer. Thus we start playing when he asks me if I have every played D&D. I told him I played one session of 3.5 back in college but the group fell a part. At this point our game of 40k halted. He asked me if I was familiar with the game Pathfinder, to which I was not. At this moment, we left the game table, walked to the retail section where the RPG books were and he began showing me the Pathfinder books. He explained to me that Pathfinder was the spiritual successor to 3.5 and that he and his friends played every week. I must admit, I was intrigued. I asked him if he had room at his table, but he told me that his DM was very strict about how many player sit at his table. A few moments later, Jack picked up the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, walked to the counter, and purchased it. I asked him if he was replacing his old one when he handed it to me. It was a gift. I was stunned. He then told me that he had been wanting to DM one of the Pathfinder Adventure paths himself and that I would be his first player.

Needless to say, we never finished our game of Warhammer. We packed up our armies, found an empty table at the store and began designing my character (Luther the Paladin!) I took that book home and over the next week I read it cover to cover. I can honestly say I had no idea what I was reading half the time or if it even made sense, but I loved every moment of it. A few weeks after he gifted me the core rulebook, we had our first Pathfinder night planned. Jack had decided to play the newest Adventure Path Giantslayer.  He recruited a few more local Warhammer players and we were off and running! The story was fantastic, the characters were fantastic, the mechanics were... a lot. But I loved it!

A few months down the road. It is the summer and we're still meeting regularly!  We are getting close to finishing book 1(Battle of Bloodmarch Hill), when tragic news struck us. Jack was diagnosed with Leukemia. Our campaign was put on a sudden halt. We lost Jack that November and the campaign was the last thing on our minds. None of us would have even considered moving forward without him, though in hindsight, it might have been a great tribute to him. Alas, my Pathfinder CRB and my campaign binder was put on the shelf.

Fast forward to the fall of 2016. I am standing in the school cafeteria (I'm a teacher) and the P.E. Coach comes up to me and tells me about his D&D session the night before in which the party was almost TPK'd by hags. He extends an invite to me for the next week, I tell him maybe, and I think nothing of it. Spoiler alert: I didn't go.

I'm not sure why I didn't go. Perhaps it was the anxiety of meeting new people (a problem I have never had before), or the anxiety of learning a new edition of a game I hadn't played since college. I don't think I really knew why I didn't go then, but I do now. I missed Jack. I didn't want to participate in hobby that associated itself with memories of my passed friend. But that was ridiculous and incredibly hypocritical because I still played Warhammer... so what gives? Maybe I did know the reason, but I was too cowardly to admit it.

I shrugged off the invitation for another 4 weeks when my persistent friend finally had enough. He didn't ask me, he told me. I was going to ride with him to the store, play D&D, and enjoy it. So, I did and I did. I had a blast. My new Human Fighter, Corswain, joined the adventuring party in the mystical lands of Barovia. Striving for heroism, Corswain attempted to scale a giant walking hut manned by an infamous Night Hag by the name Baba Lysaga. When I failed my athletics check, I began to fall back into the muddy marsh where I was then crushed to death by the hag's walking tree house. My character died. Corswain was dead. My first time playing a TTRPG in 4 years and my character died. To be honest, I loved it. I was hooked. These players didn't know me, they didn't know my character, but Corswain gave his life trying to help complete strangers.

I never knew what I missed until I  had it in front of me again. I was absolutely, 100% hooked on D&D.

Fast foward 2020.

It has been 4 years of weekly 5e D&D for me (and a small stint of Starfinder) and it has honestly brought me so much joy. Since that night in Barovia, I have played in Curse of Strahd and Storm King's Thunder and have run Hoard of the Dragon Queen, Tomb of Annihilation, and currently Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus. In addition, I help run the after school D&D club at my middle school with the P.E. teacher! Needless to say, I love D&D!

So what will be the ultimate purpose of this blog? Well, I'm not entirely sure. My home group has been dubbed The Ornery Mongoose, so I figured that was a good name for the blog. As for content, I think I will post DM notes from sessions, campaign concepts, interesting tales from my players, character designs, etc. General D&D goodness.

So take a seat, stay a while and listen!

-Ryan