Arrival at South Portsmith

Lets see if I can finish the 1st session in this its 3rd post.

Arriving in the colony of South Portsmith the party immediately sets out to ignore another city as they decide that they are going to camp outside of town. Waking in the morning, and deciding that before tracking across the desert they should at least find some basic supplies they head into town. Namsuri, in addition to pickpocketing people,  here's a rumor about a haunted mansion north of the city. Raistlin also hears about the mansion, although as he hears it, it is the residence of the recently deceased ship's mage, Master Thomas, the white robed mage who died aboard ship during the pirate attack. Having the mages key, which he thought was simply the key to the mages chest aboard the ship, Raistlin now thinks he might be able to get into the mages former residence and perhaps discover something that will help him with his growing magical talent.

Never just give one party member a plot hook, give it to as many as you can. The more players who have the information, the more players you have to convince the party that the plot hook is a good idea, even if it takes them out of the way of the main quest.
[DM Hint #5]

So although Raistlin kept the secret of the mansion to himself, Namsuri told the entire party, and after a brief debate on the speed for which they should probably complete the main quest, they decided on the plot hook anyway. On the road north of the town they were ambushed by a party of Halfling rouges. They successfully drove the majority of them off, but in doing so allowed their horses to be stolen. With provisions only purchased in sufficient quantity for a wagon trip across the desert, and now horseless the "party" had to return to South Portsmith to "gear up" before continuing onward.

An ambush doesn't always have to be about killing the players. Remember that NPC's can have agenda's of their own. The Halflings knew that they had no chance at beating the party, but with a well placed distraction easily made off with the horses. To a group of bandits, a team of horses is one HUGE payoff. Why throw your life away attacking people when stealing is so much easier and doesn't threatening your own well being as much. Also, note that it was a great way to get the "party" to go back into town, and get them to interact with people. This is especially important if they skipped talking to any of your NPC's who you really like, and gave backstories too. It also is a great way to keep them in theme, as the horses they lost had to be replaced with Camels. Once again giving them another subtle reminder of where they are in the world.
[DM Hint #6]

Having resupplied, and now with a team of camels pulling their wagon the "party" once again headed out toward the mansion. Having no problems on this leg of the journey, everyone now expressly on the lookout for an ambush, they make it to the mage's mansion. A squat two story circular tower with but a single window, and a single door, the party goes about trying to find a way in. Namsuri shocks himself trying to pick the lock as The Machageer viewed the entire place with a "Detect Magic" seeing that the entire place was indeed magically.

It was at this point that I asked Raistlin why he didn't just use the key. Seeing that it was 1am, and that we had been gaming for going on five hours. He admitted to, resting his eyes, and forgetting he had the key on him. Alert enough now to remember he placed the key in the lock and turned. As the door opened on well greased hinges, he party had to wait until next week to see what was inside....

Always leave your players wanting more, even something as simple as not being able to see inside a door. About 5 minutes before the end of the session the players decided that they wanted to call it a night. But I strung them along long enough to get them to get the door open, and then ended it right as it did. Although it was the players who all wanted to call it for the night, as soon as they realized that I wasn't going to tell them what was inside the door they all immediately said that they wanted to keep going. Leave them on a cliffhanger and you give them something to look forward too, something they can think about until next session. It keeps them engaged even away from the table, and when they come back for the next session they will be all excited to see what they were unable to the week before.
[DM Hint #7]

Well that will do it for the 1st Session. Despite the make-up of the party, or maybe because of it, I have high hopes for this campaign.
If you have any questions about my world, which I will document here eventually, no worries, or about DM'ing, or about life in general, leave me a comment and I will try to answer it in my next post.

-Eraser