Trial of the Gods: Welcome to Camp Despair

August 27 - August 29, 2021

Site was Sterling "The Hall @ 34 Ford Road" - Sterling, MA.

Event Holders were John Rescigno, Stephen Sanford, Crystal Welch.

Event Description
Welcome Campers!

I hope you are ready for some great activities here at Camp Despair at the lovely Redwater site! Make sure to pick up your introduction packet at the gate and leave all hope at home! Get ready to start your day with some Team Breaking Exercises. Are you excited to play some Deadly Dodgeball? How about going on an extra special scavenger hunt? And of course we have the best Arts and Crafts around. We will be singing songs around the pyre and enjoying delicious s’mores while bodies keep the fire going all night. The best part is you can earn super powerful merit badges to fill up your slightly used camp-issued sash. Badges will be awarded to those trying their best throughout the day or to whoever I want. I do make the rules after all!

I hope you are ready for an experience to remember! You never know what might happen. You could even become a demon if you play your cards right! Though if you aren’t a demon you will have something extra to worry about besides the bears. Just mind the myst when it rolls in and be back to your designated cabins for bunk time. We do have some strict policies and I would hate to lose any campers before the fun really gets going... like last time.

See you soon,
Camp Despair Head Counselor
Event Wrap-up
Trial of the Gods: Welcome to Camp Despair event wrap up.

First I want to personally say thank you to my wonderful Campers and Camp Counselors. This was the first official and legal event in the Trial of the Gods series. 

The event was a Social deduction game mixed with a camp theme based around powers from the gods of the Realms. The format of the event included team breaking exercises such as deadly dodge ball, never have I ever, and competitive tug of war.


On Sunday we hosted Legends of the Hidden Blah which was a Mad-libs style quest for the entertainment of the Campers who stayed the night. With such memorable moments like the very voluptuous loch ness monsters and the ritual of the macarena. 

I want to be frank that this event would not have been half as good without my staff and NPCs rolling with whatever the PCs had up their sleeves. 

I want to personally thank:

Crystal Welch who played Head Camp Counselor Despair and did an amazing job. She also played the narrator of Legends of the Hidden Blah.

John Resigno who helped work with me on the social deduction parts of the game and played the manifestation of Despair (and knows how to take a tackle from PCs twice in one weekend).

Eric Willisson who was my Magic Marshal and played the Arbiter. 

Becky Baron who was my Den Parent and helped keep the event organized and on time while even NPCing as needed.

Rhiannon Chiacchiaro who did the makeup for Despair and Seraphina and also ran the kitchen Saturday. 

Dani Lacasse who helped out in the kitchen and ran an amazing breakfast all by herself Sunday. She also helped NPC as needed.

Ryan Welch who was my head NPC and helped run Legends of the Hidden Blah.

Devon Power who played Seraphina and helped craft so many things and kept me sane.

Pat Bobell who played Des-Bear (formerly nameless bear NPC) who I thought was going to be a 5 minute encounter and rose to demi-godhood.

Sean Veale who helped NPC all weekend and played Blue when there was downtime.

David Rubenstein for helping out in the kitchen and helping NPC Saturday.

Charlie Pottow for NPCing all weekend and driving an injured player home.

Zack Koval for NPCing all weekend.

Cameron Huneke for NPCing all Saturday.

Steven Matulewicz for lending out so many props, including Saturday night's boss monster.

James Murphy for being a medic super star dealing with two separate medic calls almost consecutively.

Tim Suitor for staying to the very end to help clean up and throwing impromptu Camp Skits while there was downtime.

Leanne Micciche and Tom Gallagher for mentoring myself for this event.

If you attended this event in any capacity please take the time to fill out our Post Event Letter. We ran an extremely unique event and want to know how we did and how we can improve!
https://forms.gle/pxQ3dYWhvsAtSXy2A

We are also offering Story Shards, which is a way to interact with the plot between events. You can cast seer magic, interact with NPCs, and let us know where you might want the plot to go. In order to participate you must fill out the Post Event Letter.

I am extremely proud of what my staff has produced and I look forward to seeing my wonderful campers again in the near future at Camp Hope.

Stephen Sanford
Trial of the Gods Staff
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