Hello and welcome to this podcast of mine. I’m Matt and I’m the host/Game Master of this show. I’d like to talk a bit about what this podcast is and what sort of things you can expect from the show.

First and foremost this is an unofficial Dungeons and Dragons actual play podcast. What does that mean? In short, this is a podcast where we will be telling a story with the help of the D&D 5th edition rules. I, the Game Master, set up the world and overarching themes of the game’s setting as well as represent and role play all of the non-player characters in that world. That is to say, anyone who isn’t the players and main characters of this story will be played by me.

Which brings us to the players. Each of the four people other than me involved are playing the main characters of this story. They play their role as they wish, interact with the world as they wish and tell their story as they wish. The only limitations are what their character can do with their stats, luck and with their knowledge. It’s just like a video game, but the only limit is our collective imagination.

This is unofficial D&D content insofar as the world and setting is mine, which has not been endorsed by Wizards of the Coast, but the game system we are using does belong to Wizards of the Coast. Some of the monsters will come from their official books, the classes and races that the players will be playing come from official books, and while the non-player characters that I roleplay may be races and classes from those books, the characters themselves are of my own creation.

Now, on to the important bits!

The Curse of Lords seeks to tell a story about life and it’s meaning when faced with the inevitable fact that it will end. Every person who has ever lived has, at one point, thought of their own demise. This is something that often will define a person. When confronted with our own mortality, we change as people. Some will recognize the great gift that was life and relish in it all the more. Some will spend their energy trying to prevent their death as much as possible. Some refuse to acknowledge their mortality will ignore the end until it is upon them.

Then there are those who refuse to accept death.

These ideas are central to the Curse of Lords podcast and their musing will construct the people, places and conflicts within the world.

This may sound all very dreary and sad but I assure you that this is not a 24/7 sad-fest nor am I attempting to become the lord of edges and show everyone how dark and moody I am. There are going to be laughs. Lots of them hopefully. While the world that the players explore and interact with might be miserable and dangerous, it is also a living world where happiness can still be found. I am also, admittedly, incapable of letting a good joke go to waste and have built some of the game’s setting to have some humor to it.

I hope that you’ll give us a listen and more importantly, I hope you enjoy what you hear. I’ve assembled a cast of people whom I genuinely like and I think you’re going to like them too.

Until next time!

-Matthew