Epic Dungeons & Dragons Adventure: A Golden Dragon's Journey

I wrote a post about my being anointed Dungeon Master by my great-grandson. We played our first campaign, and I’m here to tell you the results.

Hand-drawn map of a fictional continent named Mystic Dale, featuring labeled areas such as farms, forests, and a castle, with various symbols illustrating terrain features.

The Golden Dragon

In my earlier post about preparing to take on the duties of a Dungeon Master, I explained how I got involved in this magical world of Dungeons and Dragons. Landon is on his third round of stage 4 fighting because of a very rare cancer. Since he was three years old, Landon has stood his ground against this monster nicknamed ARMS.

With the help of the Empress of Dungeon Masters, Suzanne Woolslayer, and Landon’s dad, Josh, I created a kingdom, characters, and a very unusual quest. I had everything ready for the first adventure…but that monster feared by all…the giant C had other plans. Landon, who had recently completed six weeks of daily radiation, had not only lost his appetite and half of his body weight, but was in severe pain. He was admitted to the hospital soon after my post was live. While the doctors decided on the next course of action in their own version of D & D vs fucking cancer (excuse the language, but that is my official name for all childhood cancers), Landon kept talking about playing D&D with the golden dragon his mother had bought for him.

A family gathered around a dining table with various snacks, looking engaged in a board game or role-playing session. The table features a green game mat, colorful dice, and notebooks, while a pendant light hangs above them.

When I went to visit him in the hospital, that baby was in so much pain that he refused to talk about the game or the Golden Dragon. After about a week in the hospital, the doctors did a few procedures that relieved the pain, and finally our Golden Dragon was home and ready to play.

Conclusion

I don’t know if it is because of all the medical stuff that he’s been dealing with the last three years, or if my great-grandson is an Old Soul, but this kid is wise for his age. He knows things…he understands life on a spiritual level…and he loves adventures.

My first game as DM with the guidance of my grandsons Nate and Josh went amazingly well, and I’ve already prepared for another adventure which involves a missing child, vampires, a witch, portals to the past and the future, and a group of players led by a Golden Dragon who, against all odds, is standing his ground against ‘Fucking Childhood Cancer’.