I’ve been playing in Fellmyr since mid-September when I sketched out a quick map before Evil Jeff and I hopped online to play some BECMI D&D. It was conceived for the benefit of the school D&D Club but, in January, it expanded to include a new face-to-face group. That face-to-face group has (just about) reached a six-month milestone.
Fellmyr has shifted from being a classic D&D campaign world to becoming a Dungeon Fantasy RPG game world, powered by GURPS. It propelled the school students into playing and has sparked several spinoffs since September. As I continue to run the game based in Hargrave face-to-face, the Saturday Night online game has been playing at Stone Harrow.
The best thing about the realm of Fellmyr for me has been the slow yet steady development of the world from a lightly sketched hex map to being something that is coming alive in the minds of the players. The chaps today were enjoying investigations around Hargrave and it was mentioned that all the NPCs and threads are showing a deepening setting.
For me, it has been a long journey from a quickly sketched map through all the struggles of overcoming anxiety (nay, fear) about GMing an ongoing campaign. I’ve had to push myself to commit to the play, to learn to socialise in person all over again, and give myself permission to improvise at the table.
All it all, Fellmyr represents the rescue of my own fantasy gaming hobby from the depths of self-doubt and lost focus. The journey has been a long and arduous one but I am truly grateful to all the players in all the groups, plus those who cheer from the sidelines of the RPR community, for encouraging the play.
Here’s hoping that we will keep the game going. Each session is a milestone for me: bi-weekly face-to-face walks in tandem with bi-weekly Saturday nights to form a weekly gaming routine. It was unimaginable to me that I would play anywhere near this frequently back in 2020. Thanks, everyone!
Game on!
Roleplay Rescue’s Blog 
So glad to hear that this is going well, especially that you are overcoming your fear of running a full-blown campaign. It must be great hearing your players talking about NPCs as though they’re real people! Well done for pushing on, and sharing your journey with us.
All the best, cheering from my place of lurking on the sidelines,
Big Dave
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This is good news! So what do you feel is the secret to turning Fellmyr from a sketch map to the involved campaign it has now become? Random Tables ?
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I think the key for me has been to relax and prepare material as I have needed it. I began with the first group and designed a quick dungeon, using the materials in Basic D&D as a guide. Then, for the second group, I grabbed an old dungeon map from a resource I liked and wanted to reuse. This became the basis for more play. As the face-to-face group began, I wanted to try the Raid scenario (from So You Want To Be a GM) so I knocked out a location and mission for that session. I generally ask players for their intentions next session and then prep to meet those intentions. This leads me to create relevant material I will use at the table. Continuing to show up to run the game means that, over time, the world takes shape.
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