Local Dungeon Master Confirms Campaign Will Be “Player-Driven,” Has Already Written 187 Pages of Lore

Area Dungeon Master Kyle Merriweather confirmed Monday night that his new fantasy campaign will be “completely player-driven,” despite having already written 187 pages of setting lore, three branching political conflicts, and a fully mapped coastal trade empire that none of the players have expressed interest in visiting.

“I just want this to be their story,” said Merriweather, carefully sliding a leather-bound binder labeled The Shattered Concordance of Vael’Tir (Final Draft v6) under the table as players arrived. “They can go anywhere. Do anything. Absolute freedom.”

Sources confirm that “anywhere” includes the port city of Rimewatch, the desert kingdom of Khar-Veth, or the forest duchy of Elarion—all of which are thoroughly detailed. The small farming village one player mentioned wanting to explore remains described only as “uh… rustic?”

Players report that Merriweather opened Session Zero by asking for deep character backstories, personal motivations, and unresolved trauma. He nodded thoughtfully at each one before gently explaining how all of them would logically begin in a caravan heading toward Rimewatch.

“I told him I wanted to play a disgraced knight seeking redemption in my homeland,” said player Andrea Lopez. “He said that’s perfect, because Rimewatch is technically on the same continent.”

The campaign, pitched as “sandbox-style,” reportedly includes:

• A pre-scripted inciting incident

• A mysterious hooded figure who appears regardless of player choices

• A prophecy that suspiciously references the exact number of party members

• A dungeon that has been lovingly hand-drawn in colored pencil

When asked whether he would be disappointed if the players ignored the central political intrigue plotline involving the fractured Mage Council, Merriweather laughed for approximately seven seconds before responding, “Why would they ignore that?”

According to close friends, this is not the first time Merriweather has launched a “fully open” campaign.

In 2021, he began a nautical exploration arc after purchasing a ship miniature. In 2022, he introduced a vampire conspiracy shortly after watching a prestige television series. In 2023, he pivoted to planar travel after spending an entire weekend designing custom cosmology charts.

“He says he adapts to player choices,” said longtime group member Daniel Kim. “And he does. It’s just that somehow every choice we make accelerates the plot he already wrote.”

During Monday’s session, the party briefly discussed investigating a minor theft at a marketplace. Merriweather allowed the conversation to continue for nearly four minutes before introducing a sky-darkening magical anomaly that “demands your immediate attention.”

The theft was never mentioned again.

Despite this, players report they are genuinely excited.

“He puts so much effort into it,” Lopez admitted. “At one point he pulled out a family tree for an NPC baker we met once. It went back twelve generations.”

When pressed on whether he would ever consider running a truly improvised campaign, Merriweather appeared visibly shaken.

“Improvised?” he repeated. “Without knowing the tectonic history of the continent?”

At press time, Merriweather was reportedly adding footnotes to his pantheon document after a player casually asked whether clerics in the setting have regional accents.

The campaign is scheduled to run biweekly through 2028, or until someone has a scheduling conflict.