Return To The Fire Citadel

An amazing thing happened at the school club tonight: the kids agreed to play “The Fire Citadel of The Dragon Kings”. I am both stoked, excited, very happy… and slightly terrified.

When Carl Bussler asked me about the “Fire Citadel of The Dragon Kings” in the interview for The Megadungeon Podcast, I admitted that this was a project that I regretted shelving. Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is shelved no more.

Return To Fire Mountain

We’ve been successfully playing B/X Essentials using “The Caverns of Thracia” megadungeon at school for a whole term. Returning to the table today, after a two-week hiatus, six players rocked up and looked at me expectantly. While I offered to continue, I also broached an alternative that had arisen from events over the past few weeks.

Following a series of conversations with students, including about how a couple of the girls wanted to play the “advanced” Dungeons & Dragons game, I suggested that we play Castles & Crusades. Along with that suggestion came a rising sense that, after almost 3 years of gestating the idea of the Fire Citadel, it might be time to do it.

I told the tale of the Dragon Kings and briefly outlined how an alliance of Men, Dwarfs, Elves, and Bruxx has overthrown them. I told of the extinct volcano that was the sacred temple to the God of Fire, of how the Dragon Kings has made this their citadel dug deep into the mountain, and of how since their destruction the location of that Citadel had been forgotten. The pitch was that the characters will be provided a route to the Citadel and have the opportunity to search for its riches.

There was a resounding, “Yes!”

Somewhere deep inside of me the Dungeon Master stirred and awoke. This is the adventure I have been noodling with since I was 15 years old – it’s my own incarnation of the Draconians and the Dragon Lords of Krynn finding a new expression in my own world of Mystamyr.

That said, I need to up my game.

Upping My Game

I knew this was coming.

Yesterday I posted to MeWe a photo of me clutching the Castles & Crusades rulebook and commented on how tempted I was to play it at school. Following on from a great session with that game on Saturday night, deep in Stonehell megadungeon, I was feeling inspired.

I have been dreaming of the Fire Citadel and the Dragon Kings for several nights. My subconscious has been stirring. I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that something special was arising in my heart. When, today, I finally expressed the desire to write and run the adventure… well, I could feel the air crackle with energy.

Hyperbole? Maybe. But it feels real and powerful to me.

I need to dig out the original maps. Find the notes I scribbled down over the past few years. But I believe I can construct a playable level in a week.

The students have created a party of heroes ready for the challenge. You should have seen them, full of energy and excitement, joyful as they built new characters. They were positively delighted to choose both Race and Class. Oh, and the pouring over the equipment lists was hilarious to watch.

All I need to do is let my inspiration pour forth and give them a game to remember.

Game on!