Absolutely agree. I set a game in the real(ish) world once, so it was a setting where everyone knew the base “lore.” It was so nice! I could reference things, name-drop countries, and introduce old grudges without having to exposition it all. People just got things. We’ve since done enough games on the sword coast that that works too, now.

Gets back up, “also, his name is Jolam.” Lies back down.

“I hurt my friend because I took a dumb idea too far” is a very probable story. The part I can’t believe though is ending the game over a dire bite. We finally got the schedule together, we’re going to use the time, darn it!

Simply ignores it while regurgitating my personal opinion as if reiteration and intuition could trump the cold equations themselves 😎😎😎

I’m running my first module campaign ever after being in DnD since my teens. The idea used to seem so foreign to me, but trying it I find that it works well as inspiration. I end up adding a lot and chopping out huge pieces and doing substitutions.

Honestly, I think that’s all modules are good for. Maybe older ones were higher quality, but the one I’m using is mostly fluff and vagaries. Suits me fine though, I know how to tune an encounter, but I’ve burnt through a lot of my major campaign plots already. As this one goes and characters get more involved I may discard the thing altogether.