The Night of Bleeding Rivers
One-shot DM
I assisted in the worldbuilding for our D&D 5th Edition campaign, where the players played the part of a magical crime syndicate called the Crimson Arcana.
Aside from being a player, I was also a one-shot DM, which set the players as escaping from a tyrannical force known as the "Otterman Empire" (because they're comprised of otters).
Details
and Lessons Learned
This opportunity was met better than my previous attempt at DM-ing, as I knew more about general game design principles and how to account for player agency, while still getting players to interact with the mission and narrative in a way which felt fun. It had moments of quiet one-on-one character roleplay, larger combat encounters, and branching pathways with their own unique mission outcomes.
In this campaign's world, the Fae Wyld is intricately connected with a largely forested continent called the Eiderwyld, which is inhabited by bipedal forest creatures and is the home to a large circle of druids. However, the Night of the Bleeding Rivers (the one-shot's name) sees the rise of the Otterman Empire, a group of racially extreme otters who set about violently eliminating the non-otter races as well as exterminating the druids.
The one-shot sees the party as a group of Eiderwyld residents who have to work together to escape their home, scavenge materials and weapons, and ultimately choose whether they will flee with their lives, or risk fighting against a zealous fascist regime.
I'm especially proud of this one-shot because it was a way for me to help further expand the world of our D&D campaign, as well as practice acting and improv skills I have not exercised in years.