GM of Rust's "Whims of Fate" Table 1 (Inactive)

Game Master Knight of Rust

What do you look forward to most in a campaign, roleplay, combat, or a healthy mix of both?

What makes a campaign great to you? What would absolutely ruin one for you?

What are your soft limits as a player? What about your hard limits?

There may be times when there’s a conflict of interest between characters. I don’t plan on facilitating PvP, but it may come up. How do you feel about rolling dice against other players?

Do you have any phobia or trauma-trigger that I should know and shy away from?

On a scale of 1-10, what difficulty level do you like to sit at? 1 being a new player friendly campaign, with 10 being the kind of games you hear tales of in hushed whispers in your FLGS (Tomb of Horrors, Slumbering Tsar, etc.)

How do you want me to handle mass dice rolls? For example, to expedite some events, would you like me to roll initiative/perception checks/saves for the group? Would you rather me only do so if a player needs to be botted?

Where would you like to see your character’s arc go as the campaign moves past the initial adventure?

How large would you like to see this campaign be geographically? Similar to the Pathfinder Society where you could be in Absalom one day, then all the way in Tian Xia the next? Or would you rather have a smaller, more compact campaign with more recurring characters and themes, with traveling outside of Taldor being an occasional treat?

I had planned on using Roll 20 for maps and handouts. How do you feel about that and, if you don’t care for R20, do you have a different preference?

How long has your character been with the House of Fate and Fire?

Name at least 3 people who your character would consider to be “close” whether it’s friends, family, or acquaintances. At least one should be outside of the House.

What are 4 rumors around the guild or around town about your character? Try to hit Good/True, Bad/True, Good/False, and Bad/False.

Adventuring is a dangerous profession, does your character have a will? What does it contain?

Competition is a big motivator for some adventurers. Who is your rival? It could be friendly, unfriendly, intense, one-sided, etc.

Does your character have any ranks in a Craft, Perform, or Profession skill? If so, which one and where did they learn their craft?

What are your character’s short term, mid-term, and long-term goals?

What phobia or trauma has happened in your character’s past to help them become who they are today?

How does your character view the Gods?

Looking at your team, how does your character feel about the others?

How does your character deal with failure? Success?

What do you look forward to most in a campaign, roleplay, combat, or a healthy mix of both?

I like a good mix, but leaning more towards RP than combat. I'd say 70% RP and 30% combat is ideal.

What makes a campaign great to you? What would absolutely ruin one for you?

Interesting, meaningful character interactions and development. I like feeling that my characer is part of a living, breathing world that reacts to their choices. A GM that is invested and intelligible who can keep things moving forward. What would ruin a game would be an adversarial relationship with other players or the GM, or having play slow to a crawl due to lack of posts.

What are your soft limits as a player? What about your hard limits?

I honestly don't have a lot of limits. Aside from violence against children, I'm okay with any subject matter.

There may be times when there’s a conflict of interest between characters. I don’t plan on facilitating PvP, but it may come up. How do you feel about rolling dice against other players?

I would rather try to avoid it, settling things in character or out of game without resorting to full-fledged PvP.

Do you have any phobia or trauma-trigger that I should know and shy away from?

No.

On a scale of 1-10, what difficulty level do you like to sit at? 1 being a new player friendly campaign, with 10 being the kind of games you hear tales of in hushed whispers in your FLGS (Tomb of Horrors, Slumbering Tsar, etc.)

Somewhere in the range of 6-8.

How do you want me to handle mass dice rolls? For example, to expedite some events, would you like me to roll initiative/perception checks/saves for the group? Would you rather me only do so if a player needs to be botted?

Please, make the mass dice rolls! It will keep the game running at a good pace. Things can slow down significantly waiing for everybody to make a single roll.

Where would you like to see your character’s arc go as the campaign moves past the initial adventure?

I'd like to explore the dichotomy between Hyacinth's human mind and plant body, and the conflict inherent in having memories of past lives that aren't hers. Perhaps she might be influenced into being less self-serving depending on her interactions and relationships with the other guild members.

How large would you like to see this campaign be geographically? Similar to the Pathfinder Society where you could be in Absalom one day, then all the way in Tian Xia the next? Or would you rather have a smaller, more compact campaign with more recurring characters and themes, with traveling outside of Taldor being an occasional treat?

Both types of campaign would be fun, but traveling the world might be neat! :D

I had planned on using Roll 20 for maps and handouts. How do you feel about that and, if you don’t care for R20, do you have a different preference?

I'm okay with R20, but I usually use Google Slides for my games and I find it a bit easier to access from mobile devices.

How long has your character been with the House of Fate and Fire?

Hyacinth is a relatively new member. She's likely been there for less than a year.

Name at least 3 people who your character would consider to be “close” whether it’s friends, family, or acquaintances. At least one should be outside of the House.

Kal, a local druid that tends to Hyacinth's pruning and other horticultural needs. Jacqueline, a former flame and partner in crime from when Hyacinth was still Ambros. Newt, a gnome fence and pawnbroker in Zimar.

What are 4 rumors around the guild or around town about your character? Try to hit Good/True, Bad/True, Good/False, and Bad/False.

Good/True: Magical fruits grow within Hyacinth's body which can heal the injured or sick and provide nourishment to those in need.
Bad/True: Sometimes it's hard to recall exactly what happens when you spend a lot of time with her. Sometimes your things go missing...
Good/False: Hyacinth is very friendly and ougoing. She's a great person to know!
Bad/False: Hyacinth can hear anything said within sight of a flower, so be careful with your secrets in the gardens!

Adventuring is a dangerous profession, does your character have a will? What does it contain?

Ha! No will. The thought would never even have crossed her mind.

Competition is a big motivator for some adventurers. Who is your rival? It could be friendly, unfriendly, intense, one-sided, etc.

Hyacinth has an unspoken one-sided rivaly with pretty much everybody. She wants to be the most important person in the guild!

Does your character have any ranks in a Craft, Perform, or Profession skill? If so, which one and where did they learn their craft?

No such ranks.

What are your character’s short term, mid-term, and long-term goals?

Short-term: Become an influential member of the guild. Mid-term: Accumulate fame and fortune! Long-term: Live a comfortable life, perhaps find a way to become human again.

What phobia or trauma has happened in your character’s past to help them become who they are today?

Well, dying and being reborn as a plant-woman was a pretty big trauma! :D

How does your character view the Gods?

They are a fickle lot who don't care much for individuals, so Hyacinth doesn't care much for them.

Looking at your team, how does your character feel about the others?

Drask: An ample meat shield. Easy to manipulate, if necessary.
Joanna: Noble to a fault. Naive and holier-than-thou, but useful in a fight.
Maggart: Creepy! Keep those rats away from me! I don't want them nibbling on my juicy bits!
Byron: The only one with a decent head on their shoulders. He's cool and not as weird as others claim.

How does your character deal with failure? Success?

Failure is met with lots of cursing and plotting how to spin things into some sort of advantage. Success is met with lots of self-congratulation and celebration!

Player Questions

What do you look forward to most in a campaign, roleplay, combat, or a healthy mix of both?

Healthy mix. Drask in particular would probably benefit from a greater volume of combat over roleplay, since his background and themes don't have much politics in them, but he definitely has opportunity for some critical flash points of roleplay.

What makes a campaign great to you? What would absolutely ruin one for you?

Great: Memorable moments, believable motives, immersive storytelling, impactful decisions.

Ruin: Overly vague objectives, lack of player autonomy.

What are your soft limits as a player? What about your hard limits?

My personal limits are set very high, I doubt you'll reach them without going well beyond what is appropriate for the boards or at any gaming table.

There may be times when there’s a conflict of interest between characters. I don’t plan on facilitating PvP, but it may come up. How do you feel about rolling dice against other players?

I strongly avoid it. The only case where I consider it acceptable is if both of the players talk to each other prior to combat and it is agreed upon for mutually enjoyable narrative reasons, in which case it can certainly be interesting.

Do you have any phobia or trauma-trigger that I should know and shy away from?

Nope.

On a scale of 1-10, what difficulty level do you like to sit at? 1 being a new player friendly campaign, with 10 being the kind of games you hear tales of in hushed whispers in your FLGS (Tomb of Horrors, Slumbering Tsar, etc.)

7-8. I build strong characters. But I can enjoy myself in a wider range, although if you're going to aim for 9 or 10 please let me know so I can appropriately power game in response :P

Meta Questions

How do you want me to handle mass dice rolls? For example, to expedite some events, would you like me to roll initiative/perception checks/saves for the group? Would you rather me only do so if a player needs to be botted?

Automate as many rolls as you can. Generally anything that would be an "automatic" check, i.e. anything reactive or that we have very little active control in influencing the outcome. Reactive perception, initiative, saves (except maybe if a failed save would kill us). When in doubt make the roll and keep the action moving.

Where would you like to see your character’s arc go as the campaign moves past the initial adventure?

Oh...oh boy, that's a big question.

Drask's biggest theme is survivor's guilt. Especially since he carries a supernatural manifestation of the twin brother who sacrificed himself. Understanding more about where his family came from, and coming to terms with what exactly is left of his brother and how he should process that.

And for a BSF type, Drask actually really enjoys having moral and philosophical conversations with people. To passing acquaintances he usually comes off as the strong and silent type, but those who bother to talk to him can find him quite a deep thinker.

How large would you like to see this campaign be geographically? Similar to the Pathfinder Society where you could be in Absalom one day, then all the way in Tian Xia the next? Or would you rather have a smaller, more compact campaign with more recurring characters and themes, with traveling outside of Taldor being an occasional treat?

I'm ambivalent, whichever you think will give you better tools to craft an engaging narrative.

I had planned on using Roll 20 for maps and handouts. How do you feel about that and, if you don’t care for R20, do you have a different preference?

I've used Roll20 quite a bit, no issue with it. I personally use google images for my campaigns but that's just because of the higher level of customization available, Roll20 works quite nicely.

Character Questions

How long has your character been with the House of Fate and Fire?

About 5 years.

Name at least 3 people who your character would consider to be “close” whether it’s friends, family, or acquaintances. At least one should be outside of the House.

Kuvar: His dead twin brother. Much detail about him in the background.

Magra the Mad: The chief torturer of his childhood from the Broken Spine tribe.

Samuel Riekelt: A teenage male human from a minor noble family. Drask is being paid to train him to fight.

Ovvian Riekelt: Samuel's father, the head of the minor nobility of the Riekelt family. A merchant who deals primarily with importing liquor and legal drugs. Drask saved him from bandits on the road a few years ago.

Mavus Krauselm: Female dwarf, veteran of the House of Fate and Fire. About as scarred and battle-torn as Drask himself. Casual lovers, they often use each other to decompress and as a form of informal therapy, talking about their battles and experiences.

Jasper Thalleus: A young male human who is rising through the House of Fate and Fire. A skilled fighter, but a legendary braggart. Sees Drask as a bar of skill to overcome and prove his own might, secretly in a somewhat racist way. Drask is somewhat amused by him and usually humors his duel requests, but has never gone easy and Jasper has yet to come close to beating him.

What are 4 rumors around the guild or around town about your character? Try to hit Good/True, Bad/True, Good/False, and Bad/False.

1. Drask is a surprisingly deep thinker for such a typical-looking half orc: True

2. Drask has a serious vice for liquor and drugs and knows how to get the good stuff: Partially true, he does enjoy a good drink but is far from an addict, and he can get some good stuff through his connection to Ovvian Riekelt.

3. Drask is from the most savage of places and secretly practices cannibalism, but nobody has been able to prove it: False. He does come from a pretty savage tribe, but has acclimated fairly well to civilized life.

4. Drask is a hell of a battle tutor, but he takes too much pleasure in beating up his students: Partially true, he does render his services as a tutor and he is rough with his students, but he takes no pleasure in cruelty and his viciousness is part of the lesson. He's not training school boys to fence, he's training warriors to fight for their life and limb, so they should know what it's like to have someone coming at you like they're going to kill you.

Adventuring is a dangerous profession, does your character have a will? What does it contain?

Drask has no will. When he goes back to the mud he will go back to the mud, and he will no longer care about what happens with his worldly possessions.

Competition is a big motivator for some adventurers. Who is your rival? It could be friendly, unfriendly, intense, one-sided, etc.

Drask is not the competitive type, but he humors those who see him as one. Jasper Thalleus is the most notable one, primarily as the most skilled contender and the most charismatic and well-known one, but he has a number of challengers from time to time.

Does your character have any ranks in a Craft, Perform, or Profession skill? If so, which one and where did they learn their craft?

Nope. Drask is good at making two things: corpses, and the people who make them. Longer term he may pick up something.

What are your character’s short term, mid-term, and long-term goals?

Short-Term: Stay alive, make money, have a good drink and a good poke and a good fight from time to time.

Mid-Term: Consume more of the local culture and start broadening his scope to other kinds of culture he hasn't experienced yet.

Long-Term: Understand his purpose in life, and how he can live with the guilt of his brother. Travel more of the wider world and see as much of it as he can.

What phobia or trauma has happened in your character’s past to help them become who they are today?

Trauma from survivor's guilt is the big one. He's also done a few dark deeds from time to time, "lesser of two evils" and such, which he's never happy about but frowns and gets the business done. Dark work that he wouldn't put off on others, like killing captives or swinging his axe at a child bandit who had a bow trained on his neck.

How does your character view the Gods?

They exist, that much is clear from the power of clerics, but they've done nothing for him and he owes them nothing in return. He gives a passing respect for their power if nothing else, but makes no offerings and says no prayers.

Looking at your team, how does your character feel about the others?

Hyacinth: A tricky bastard that Drask took a long time to trust. Once they reached a rough agreement of "You don't use your tricks on me", Drask grew more ambivalent of her. An ongoing development (i.e. I'm not entirely sure yet until I see some roleplay from Hyacinth)

Joanna Whitehall: Of the paladins that exist, one of Drask's favorites. He can butt heads with some of the more rigid ones, but her love of art and beauty inherited from Shelyn was a great jumping off point. On top of that she's usually the one furiously in the front lines with him. She brings out the most mirth in him.

Maggart Craft: Drask has a certain kinship with her since they were both raised in harrowing circumstances and are only alive from the sacrifice of others. Probably the closest party member he currently works with. Can talk with her in a very anthropological sense about how weird civilization is.

Byron Drake: Drask is likely his drug supplier, not taking pleasure in enabling a junkie but at least he knows the drugs he provides are clean of anything else. Drask isn't much of a talker if the other isn't, so for a long time he and Byron don't tend to converse much. However he ended up taking an interest in Byron's books and offers his own insights into them, which sparks some deep conversations from time to time. Drask respects his brilliant mind and likes to probe at it.

How does your character deal with failure? Success?

As long as the failure didn't end in death of his comrades, he shrugs it off and soldiers onward. If it did he tends to lose his temper and become reckless until he avenges them or properly processes.

Drask doesn't have much of an ego, he celebrates his success but doesn't let it go to his head.

What do you look forward to most in a campaign, roleplay, combat, or a healthy mix of both?
A healthy mix of both. I love fleshing out characters and telling a story, but I also love the tactical puzzle of combat.

What makes a campaign great to you? What would absolutely ruin one for you?
Having the characters be heroes who work as a team to overcome the evil. Having the party fall apart ruins campaigns for me.

What are your soft limits as a player? What about your hard limits?
Soft limits are anything that wouldn't appear on network television in the 90s. Hard limits are PCs attacking each other or things happening to my character which force fundamental and irrevocable changes (whammies). A polymorph that turns him into an elf can be fun while he tries to get it undone, but a magic potion that permanently turns him into a fighter class is not.

There may be times when there’s a conflict of interest between characters. I don’t plan on facilitating PvP, but it may come up. How do you feel about rolling dice against other players?
Ugh. I've been on the receiving end of this before, where one player decides that his PC is going to kill mine because it's "in character". Not enjoyable.

Do you have any phobia or trauma-trigger that I should know and shy away from? No

On a scale of 1-10, what difficulty level do you like to sit at? 1 being a new player friendly campaign, with 10 being the kind of games you hear tales of in hushed whispers in your FLGS (Tomb of Horrors, Slumbering Tsar, etc.) 8

How do you want me to handle mass dice rolls? For example, to expedite some events, would you like me to roll initiative/perception checks/saves for the group? Would you rather me only do so if a player needs to be botted? Please roll initiative, perception, sense motive and group saves, as it really saves time in PBP.

Where would you like to see your character’s arc go as the campaign moves past the initial adventure?
Powerful single-classed sorcerer.

How large would you like to see this campaign be geographically? Similar to the Pathfinder Society where you could be in Absalom one day, then all the way in Tian Xia the next? Or would you rather have a smaller, more compact campaign with more recurring characters and themes, with traveling outside of Taldor being an occasional treat?
I would prefer smaller scale around the rise and/or fall of this Adventurer's Guild. Edmund will be taking teleport as soon as he can, however, so a bit of travel is also okay.

I had planned on using Roll 20 for maps and handouts. How do you feel about that and, if you don’t care for R20, do you have a different preference?
I prefer Google Slides as I post from my iPhone 90% of the time and roll20's mobile interface is the worst. That said, I can deal with it.

How long has your character been with the House of Fate and Fire?
From level 2 to 8, so maybe two years now.

Name at least 3 people who your character would consider to be “close” whether it’s friends, family, or acquaintances. At least one should be outside of the House.
There's Mink Rizzletop, a gnome who operates Leatherback Books, a store of rare books in town.
Edna Jacklins, a widow in town who runs a flower shop, whom Edmund has been dating casually for almost a year now.
A halfling rogue known only as Zippo, a member of the House, who was on his son Kris' first team. Edmund finds him somewhat crude and distasteful, and the rogue insists he doesn't know anything about what happened to Kris, but he still enjoys hearing stories of their early jobs, though since he's now heard about more jobs than they could possibly have done in their limited time together, he's convinced the halfling is just making stuff up.

What are 4 rumors around the guild or around town about your character? Try to hit Good/True, Bad/True, Good/False, and Bad/False.
Good/True--Edmund is a kind, older gentleman with a love of learning and children.
Bad/True--Edmund was very myopic in the beginning about finding out about his son. He botched an early job because he got distracted by what he thought might turn out to be a clue.
Good/False--Edmund gives half his take from his jobs to various children's charities throughout town (he really only gives about 10%)
Bad/False--Edmund's love of children comes from a rather unsavoury perversion.

Adventuring is a dangerous profession, does your character have a will? What does it contain?
Edmund has left his estate to finance a small school for the town's orphan population. Mink is his executor.

Competition is a big motivator for some adventurers. Who is your rival? It could be friendly, unfriendly, intense, one-sided, etc.
Edmund shuns competition, preferring to work as well with others as possible. He is happy to share credit for successes and tends to take on blame for failures. He is quite willing to decrease if someone else worthy can increase in his stead. However, there is a young half-elf mage in the House named Scratton who feels that Edmund's "wizardry" is a sham and that the old man is a pretender. He's also quite jealous of Edmund's growing power eclipsing his own.

Does your character have any ranks in a Craft, Perform, or Profession skill? If so, which one and where did they learn their craft?
He has one rank in Profession: bookseller and one in Craft: Bookbinding, from his early days as a proprietor of a bookshop. Since coming to the House, he hasn't had much use for those skills.

What are your character’s short term, mid-term, and long-term goals?
Short-term: continue to survive his missions and determine if his relationship with Widow Jacklins is going anywhere.
Mid-term: Learn his son's fate
Long-term: Continue gaining power as a sorcerer, learning as many spells as he can. (These last two goals would have been flipped when he first started at the House, but lately he has begun to look beyond finding out what happened to his son)

What phobia or trauma has happened in your character’s past to help them become who they are today?
He wasn't there when his son went missing, and he blames himself. As such, he is now very protective of his teammates, and fears losing any of them.

How does your character view the Gods?
They're there. He's here. He wouldn't turn down a dinner invitation from Shelyn or a plug of pipe tobacco from Erastil, but he isn't going to fawn. Evil gods who hurt people for their own selfish gain, however, are scum.

Looking at your team, how does your character feel about the others?
The Doctor: admires the strange goblin's pursuit of pure knowledge, though wishes there were some boundaries he wasn't willing to cross
Crow: Gorum? Ugh. No finesse, all brute force. Still, the wounds the man has taken to spare Edmund many premature disembowelments are appreciated.
River: Edmund absolutely adores the child-like naiad, plying her with sweeties, and telling her unending stories he remembers from storybooks he read his son as a boy.
Dum: the strange wolf-headed warrior is the best match for Edmund personality-wise and the two would get along very well (they may even be roommates). Edmund has promised to learn teleportation magic someday so that he can take Dum to visit his home and family.

How does your character deal with failure? Success?
One of Edmund's favourite sayings is "The only proof against humiliation is humility". When he fails, he tries to learn from what went wrong, and when he succeeds, he tries to learn what went right so he can repeat it. Either way, he deals with the results through reading a good book, smoking some fine pipe weed, good ale at the pub (or gin if the success or failure were particularly potent), and throwing some dominos.

Player questions

What do you look forward to most in a campaign, roleplay, combat, or a healthy mix of both?

Both, honestly, but I lean more towards the RP here. You have always seemed leagues more interesting than most DMs I’ve had, who ran campaigns more focused on getting from one encounter to the next and not really knowing how to facilitate RP. I also know that I’m a much more skilled writer than speaker, so this will bring me a new opportunity to play in a way I’ve never really been able to before.

What makes a campaign great to you? What would absolutely ruin one for you?

I want every character to have a role--not so much just one thing they do, but a way to matter. My favorite campaign I’ve ever played in was also almost my least favorite: the DM allowed one of our players to abuse his extensive meta-knowledge, and he basically ended up being better at everything than everyone. It was awful, until the DM lost his patience with it and wrangled that guy into line. From then on, in a party where everyone felt necessary, it became awesome.

What are your soft limits as a player? What about your hard limits?

Hard limit: I won’t kill other player characters, mostly because I don’t want my character killed by a party member. For the purposes of RP I wouldn’t mind wounding in dramatic situations, but I’ll go as far as breaking character to avoid actually destroying a PC.

I also try not to make assumptions or decisions for or about other people’s characters when RPing without consulting them, but that’s more a common courtesy thing than a specific boundary. I can’t really think of anything else I’d pump the breaks on, but I’ll let the party know if anything comes up as we play.

There may be times when there’s a conflict of interest between characters. I don’t plan on facilitating PvP, but it may come up. How do you feel about rolling dice against other players?

My character is a good guy, and will try pretty hard to avoid that but he’s also got some surprisingly sharp limits and will serve himself over others in certain situations. To that end I’m willing to play out that part of his personality, but mostly because I don’t believe he’d kill an ally on purpose. As a player, I wouldn’t want to kill or permanently hurt another character either but I wouldn’t refuse to pursue conflict as long as there’s a kind of quiet understanding that we aren’t gonna off each other.

Do you have any phobia or trauma-trigger that I should know and shy away from?

No worries here.

On a scale of 1-10, what difficulty level do you like to sit at? 1 being a new player friendly campaign, with 10 being the kind of games you hear tales of in hushed whispers in your FLGS (Tomb of Horrors, Slumbering Tsar, etc.)

I’m a Soulsborne player. I like being in difficult situations that test my skills and problem solving abilities, especially when there’s a clear relationship between any failures I face and my own behaviors (IE, I can reflect and see how my actions brought about the failure, and how I can avoid similar failures in the future) but I dislike feeling totally helpless. So 6? 7? 8? Mid-high.

How do you want me to handle mass dice rolls? For example, to expedite some events, would you like me to roll initiative/perception checks/saves for the group? Would you rather me only do so if a player needs to be botted?

I hate doing this, but I’m gonna refrain from answering this one. I’ve never done a play-by-post before, so I have no idea how this is going to shake out in general, and am willing to bow to the experience of the other party members in terms of what will work best.

Where would you like to see your character’s arc go as the campaign moves past the initial adventure?

I want to have some kind of encounter with his family. When this conflict was the subject of a campaign I was writing I always saw Hayden as the sort of first boss, but if we can’t fit in something direct, Byron should at least have to make some kind of decision or take some kind of action that sees him being more direct with that conflict than he has been so far. For example, maybe him having to actually take big, visible actions instead of trying to be meek and passive, risking the attention and ire of the siblings he fears so much to find or protect the interests/wellbeing of his missing sister.

Oh! He’s also going to be pretty distant and deceptive at first. He needs to learn to trust some folks, even if they’re just the people he works with (aka the party) possibly even going as far as taking risks that contradict his typical internal logic for them.

How large would you like to see this campaign be geographically? Similar to the Pathfinder Society where you could be in Absalom one day, then all the way in Tian Xia the next? Or would you rather have a smaller, more compact campaign with more recurring characters and themes, with traveling outside of Taldor being an occasional treat?

I’ve played a lot of big, sweeping campaigns before. I think, if this goes on long enough, it might be cool for us to spend a lot of time in Taldor at first and then move into a sort of Act 2 where the world suddenly and excitingly broadens a bit.

I had planned on using Roll 20 for maps and handouts. How do you feel about that and, if you don’t care for R20, do you have a different preference?

That works. I’m mildly experienced with that system--I was in one 5e campaign that used it last year. We only met a few times before people started quitting though so I might be a touch rusty with the way it works at first.

Name at least 3 people who your character would consider to be “close” whether it’s friends, family, or acquaintances. At least one should be outside of the House.

Katriana (aka Kat) is the big one. She is his teenage sister he has become separated from, and finding her before the rest of his family does is one of his biggest priorities next to avoiding the notice of the rest of the Drake clan.

Geno Calrhigo A half-elf street-rat. Total scum, but weirdly fond of Byron, to whom he used to sell drugs. He’s served as a source of tips, and a few timely early-warnings, for the Occultist in the past.

Enyan Calhrigo The elven mother of Geno, and closest thing to a non-guild friend Byron has. Byron frequently acts as a go-between for the estranged mother and child. She runs Enyan’s, a hidden-gem type tavern in the city.

What are 4 rumours around the guild or around town about your character? Try to hit Good/True, Bad/True, Good/False, and Bad/False.

Good/True: He is extensively knowledgeable about history, religions, magic, and the like, and will serve pretty willingly as a consultant for anyone looking for information. If he likes you well enough he might not even expect anything in return.

Bad/True: He’s a bloodbrush addict. Barely a rumor, since everyone knows it’s true. Why the higher-ups tolerate it is anyone’s guess.

Good/False: He is, in fact, immune to all forms of drug addiction because of a secret ritual he conducted once, and is able to use bloodbrush the way sahir-afiyun use keif, gaining special powers and planar insights with each dose.

Bad/False: Some of the guild, especially the newer recruits, seem concerned that his drug use, obsession with ruins, history, and the planes, as well as his overt mysticism mean he is affiliated with darker forces, like devils or demons.

Adventuring is a dangerous profession, does your character have a will? What does it contain?

All of his possessions must be destroyed as completely as possible. He doesn’t want to leave any breadcrumbs behind that might betray Kat into their family’s hands. This isn’t a formal will though--just something he’ll express to people he believes will carry it out. Legal documents are dangerous for people with secrets.

Competition is a big motivator for some adventurers. Who is your rival? It could be friendly, unfriendly, intense, one-sided, etc.

He hates a guild adventurer named Roland DeMarque, a bladebound who Byron seems to hold responsible for some kind of personal affront.

Will/Does your character have any ranks in a Craft, Perform, or Profession skill? If so, where did they learn their craft?

He has a few ranks in profession (author) because of his secret second job as a writer of novels and textbooks. He is a self-taught writer, but received an excellent private education from his family before fleeing their estate. He is currently working on both a novel about an ancient eastern king, and a textbook about Orcish religious rituals.

What are your character’s short term, mid-term, and long-term goals?

Short-Term: Find Kat
Mid-Term: Discover some way to prevent his family from ever finding them
Long-Term: Decide on whether or not to engage and ideally destroy his family, or simply live out whatever kind of life he can in the presence of his little sister. He has vague notions of finding a way to get in contact with his mother, but views that the way most people view the afterlife, which is to say: only through a dreamy, idealized haze that has little to no bearing on his actual day-to-day existence.

What phobia or trauma has happened in your character’s past to help them become who they are today?

He was raised by a one-family cult of mystics and has witnessed all but one of his relatives doing horrifying things in the name of that cult’s ultimate goals. Because of this he has rather intense fits of anxiety, finds it difficult to open up to or embrace others, tends towards cynicism, and is often plagued by nightmares.

How does your character view the Gods?

Intellectually. In a world like this it’s pretty hard to deny the reality of gods. He just doesn’t worship them in particular. He is appropriately deferential when need be, but prefers to study them, their churches, and the rituals surrounding them as objects of academic fascination.

Looking at your team, how does your character feel about the others?

Joanna - Byron has complex feelings about overtly kind, sweet people. On one hand, they’re a breath of fresh air from literally his entire childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, but her sudden outbursts of ferocity when facing undead or evil outsiders reminds him uncomfortably of his younger twin sisters. He is also always just a bit suspicious of human kindness, and if nothing else finds himself worrying that it may cause him to drop his guard. Still though, as he found himself thinking once, Joanna’s kindness is at least genuine and has none of the alarming, stilted qualities some of his siblings display, so he tries his best to wrangle his anxieties and like her most of the time.

IF he knows anything about her upbringing he will feel sympathetic towards her, but also slightly envious: he’s been so self-centered, and so wrapped up in his father Cyrus’ machinations, for so long, court intrigue seems like a trivial problem to him.

Oh and the wolf? Whatever, why not, just keep it away from his antiques and scrolls and...everything.

Hyacinth - Something about her rubs Byron slightly wrong. He’s never met a ghoran before, but nothing the well-read mystic knows about them seems to line up quite perfectly with this one--particularly her materialism--so hee’s a bit suspicious that there’s more to her than she lets on, but he has never pressed the issue and never intends to. He’s no stranger to keeping secrets himself, and since he wants so badly to keep people out of his own business he figures she has a right to be a little weird and maybe keep some secrets of her own.

As a side note, he finds it amusing to tease her mildly by referring to her powers as "magi-stank" or threatening to try and smoke her.

Maggs - Ugh. What. Is she damp? This is a pathetic creature, but pathetic in the very literal sense of inspiring pity. He doesn’t at all enjoy being around her, but is also hesitant to fully alienate himself from her. Perhaps he is afraid this is how his sister is living, and thus his tolerance is born of guilt. Perhaps he senses the irritation other guild members have towards her, and doesn’t wish her to be fully ostracized. Perhaps he recognizes something familiar in the harsh truth of her personal history. Either way, it results in a kind of off-put neutrality in his feelings towards her, but at least her quirky(to put it kindly) personality lends her a certain sort of animal honesty, which allows Byron to relax a little more around her than some of the others.

Drask - Byron appreciates the big Half-Orc’s power and prowess, especially when things get violent. He was surprised by Drask’s inquisitive mind, and he in turn surprised Drask with his fluent (if slightly stilted) Orcish who then surprised Byron right back with a ready supply of blood brush. He wasn’t sure how he felt being dependent on what amounts to a co-worker, but it kept him clear of slimier elements who might sell him out if his relatives came looking for him. Despite their almost comical differences in appearance and behavior, and despite the fact that they only occasionally interact, he probably has a better bond with the Half-Orc than anyone else.

How does your character deal with failure? Success?

When he succeeds at a thing, he immediately looks for ways to maximize the advantage he gains from that success. When he fails, he meticulously, possibly obsessively, ponders damage control measures.

What do you look forward to most in a campaign, roleplay, combat, or a healthy mix of both?
Roughly an equal amount of both, with maybe a little bias towards roleplay. Pure combat becomes a numbers slog for me and I rapidly lose interest - pure RP can get dull if there’s little to no risk.

What makes a campaign great to you? What would absolutely ruin one for you?
A strong story and a good character arc. Neither has to be especially original, but a well told story of triumph, loss and sacrifice gets my old man blood stirring.
Unfair treatment and abusing a player are pretty much the only things that spoil a campaign for me.

What are your soft limits as a player? What about your hard limits?
I’m pretty good for most things, I think. On screen sexual assault is the main thing that upsets me, and that seems very unlikely to occur.

There may be times when there’s a conflict of interest between characters. I don’t plan on facilitating PvP, but it may come up. How do you feel about rolling dice against other players?
So long as it’s for the story, and not because someone’s being a jerk. I’m not a huge fan of PvP, but I especially dislike it when it’s used by one player to enforce their will on the party.

Do you have any phobia or trauma-trigger that I should know and shy away from?
Sexual assault. Mentioning it, having it as a backstory, etc is OK, so long as it’s for a reason and not extra dark and edgy points. Just don’t expect any perpetrators not to be immediately murdered on sight.

On a scale of 1-10, what difficulty level do you like to sit at? 1 being a new player friendly campaign, with 10 being the kind of games you hear tales of in hushed whispers in your FLGS (Tomb of Horrors, Slumbering Tsar, etc.)
I think 6-7 is about right. Challenging, with boss fights that can cause some serious damage, but no unfair ‘you touch the diamond and die, no save’ shenanigans.

How do you want me to handle mass dice rolls? For example, to expedite some events, would you like me to roll initiative/perception checks/saves for the group? Would you rather me only do so if a player needs to be botted?
Mass role away. There’s no need for us to spend two days posting perception checks if you can do it for us, is there?

Where would you like to see your character’s arc go as the campaign moves past the initial adventure?
Crow’s current relationship with Gorum’s church is rocky, at best, and he’s pretty much trying to force his own personality and views into doctrine - Gorum’s all about brute force and ignorance, whereas Crow isn’t, especially the ignorance. Crow either having some impact on the local faith of Gorum or finding a God that’s more insync with his views - Mrtyu the psychopomp might align better, for example - would be interesting. Of course, becoming a apostate will probably be a thing too...

How large would you like to see this campaign be geographically? Similar to the Pathfinder Society where you could be in Absalom one day, then all the way in Tian Xia the next? Or would you rather have a smaller, more compact campaign with more recurring characters and themes, with traveling outside of Taldor being an occasional treat?
A region would be good, maybe a nation. World spanning might be fun later, but a solid base with recurring NPC and a connection to the area feels better.

I had planned on using Roll 20 for maps and handouts. How do you feel about that and, if you don’t care for R20, do you have a different preference?
Roll20 works fine for me, used it plenty for such.

How long has your character been with the House of Fate and Fire?
A year or so, I think. Long enough to be comfortable and known.
Name at least 3 people who your character would consider to be “close” whether it’s friends, family, or acquaintances. At least one should be outside of the House.
Anacina Ironbreaker: A Dwarf smith, and someone who has done some of the work on Crow’s armour and weapons. He likes the woman, and enjoys the irony in there similar names, especially since some of his fellows don’t appreciate her skill due to her ‘blasphemous’ name.
The Thing in Rags and Tatters: Crow isn’t certain what, exactly, the Thing is - only that it doesn’t deserve the generally harsh treatment it gets. It’s strange, and possibly monstrous, nature and oddly formal manner reminded Crow of himself, and they struck up a friendship.
Vitus Vitary: An old Wizard that loves to lecture at the local university, largely because he knows he’s smarter than everyone else. Vitus treats Crow with something close to respect, thanks to his ability to reach tall shelves and shatter ribcages.

What are 4 rumors around the guild or around town about your character? Try to hit Good/True, Bad/True, Good/False, and Bad/False.
Good/True: Have you heard about that hooded healer? Everyone says it’s the giant from the House of Fire and Fate and he doesn’t want the Church knowing. It’s true, although only partially altruistic - if he’s in town and safe Crow sees no point in sitting on his spell slots. It’s a waste, so he heals those who need it. The waste is more an issue to him than the people suffering.
Bad/True: They say that Crow has killed people for money. Absolutely true. Crow was, and to a point still is, very mercenary - he can be hired to kill, and doesn’t especially feel bad about it. Indeed, in true Goromite fashion, he sees it as a blessed, holy act - so long as his opponent can fight back.
Good/False: Crow is really a kind and gentle giant. Crow kills things, professionally. He’ll help if it’s not a bother, or if he has a contract, but he won’t usually go out of his way to help someone unless he actually likes that person.
Bad/False: Crow kills for no reason. Utterly false. Crow always has a reason to kill someone, usually a legal bounty or other job, or to defend himself.

Adventuring is a dangerous profession, does your character have a will? What does it contain?
Crow wants his skin taken, the stories and tattoos on it preserved, so others can know and learn from his life. He’d also like to see someone else take up his armour, since he’s put a lot of work into it, and his sword returned to the Church, where it can be cared for.

Competition is a big motivator for some adventurers. Who is your rival? It could be friendly, unfriendly, intense, one-sided, etc.
Berserkers. Crow wants to prove to the ragers that a single, perfect, cut can be just as effective as their screaming frenzy of blood and bone and bits.

Does your character have any ranks in a Craft, Perform, or Profession skill? If so, which one and where did they learn their craft?
Craft: Food. He got tired of eating nothing but rations and burned meat in the field, so he taught himself how to cook.

What are your character’s short term, mid-term, and long-term goals?
Short Term: Continue to learn about the world, and how to apply Gorum’s teachings to less violent pursuits - the Sword of the Mind, as he thinks of it.
Medium Term: To apply his learning and Gorum’s teachings in a way that makes people re-think some of what they believe - especially the more traditional members of the Church.
Long Term: Possibly a family. Crow is not a pretty man. Most men and women do not find him attractive. He would like to find a lover, but somehow doubts it’ll happen. Instead and thinking back to his own, less than happy, childhood, he is considering settling down to run an orphanage. The main issue being that he has no idea how to convince people he isn’t planning to raise them as either sword fodder or lunch.

What phobia or trauma has happened in your character’s past to help them become who they are today?
Crow has been called a monster since he was born. Ogre blood is clear in his face, his distorted body, his size and his strength. As a result he refuses, absolutely, to be a monster. No berserker rages, no tearing into a carcass. His kills are clean, pure, with no wasted energy or suffering in his target. He hates having spells that remove that emotional control, like Rage, being cast on him - even though he understands the benefits.

How does your character view the Gods?
They are the Gods. Gorum is supreme - Our Lord in Iron is the deity of war, the ender of any being that offends him, who cannot be denied - but the other Gods all have their merits. They deserve respect if not adulation.

Looking at your team, how does your character feel about the others?
Edmund Gwenn: Powerful, useful and dedicated. They don’t really understand each other, but Crow respects the older man. He finds the man’s quest to find out what happened to his son worthy and just, and would lend his aid - if he had any idea how to help.
Dr. Jebediah Castle: Smart, fast and interesting. Crow appreciates the good Doctor’s healing abilities, and his pursuit of knowledge - something he is aware the Goblin is much better at than he is. He also likes that he is nothing like what one thinks of when they think of his race, and appreciates how he, too, has thrown off what he ‘should’ be and become what he wants to be. He also likes his straightforward ethics, even if that means his own treatment can get a little experimental.
River: Graceful, innocent, caring. River is as much Crow’s opposite as a being can be, and he appreciates the diversity her views brings. He likes her, although he suspects own, rather more violent nature will make her fearful or distrustful, and tries to give her space. Still, he fears someone will take advantage of her innocence, and has made sure that everyone who might is well aware he would be very...unhappy if such a thing occurred.
Tekaronhió:ken: Dangerous, good and trustworthy. Crow appreciates a spearfighter and a fellow who can fight on the front as well. He considers his quest noble and right, and occasionally asks questions among the seedier side of things where his more noble compatriots might not hear things.

How does your character deal with failure? Success?
A useful lesson, either way. Learning what works is always best. Learning what didn’t is a close second. Frustration and anger over failure is pointless, although if it was because of a lack of personal effort that would be more annoying.

What do you look forward to most in a campaign, roleplay, combat, or a healthy mix of both?

Absolutely both, that's the grand appeal of the game. Obviously I want a chance to drown people in a sea of my own right hand and I can only do that in combat, haha. Roleplay is ultimately what I'm here for and I don't need combat to be dynamic or unique challenges each time, I legitimately enjoy a strategy-less back and forth slog until one party wins, however combat looks, I want and enjoy it but RP is the star. 75/25 roleplay vs combat, or maybe 2/3 vs 1/3

What makes a campaign great to you? What would absolutely ruin one for you?

A great campaign moves at a steady regular pace that is easy to keep up with and is engaging and fun, with people posting once or twice every day but not feeling pressured to if their character has nothing to add. Ideally the DM will be able to read the room and if no one is taking initiative to shift the scene, cut in and place a hook or do a scene change when needed. One clear advantage of PbP is that people can always backpost lengthy roleplay in spoiler bubbles.

It's a tough line to walk but being too strict or too loose with plans are both bad. A full, total sandbox is often boring, a straight railroad is not boring but oft feels frustrating; for me good DMing is both reactive and planned.

What are your soft limits as a player? What about your hard limits?

I'm a lesbian and repeated disrespectful language around gender or sexuality will turn me off a game entirely, also rape is not something I want to see depicted, but I'm generally fine with things getting dark or even getting graphically violent or even sexual (separately or together (if it's consensual)) as long as it's in a bubble and like tagged so I know not to open it at work.

So Red Light: Rape, Unnecessary Homophobia/Transphobia (sometimes villains are gonna be scumbags sure, if it serves the story I'm not gonna be like "oh boohoo", but if it's a repeated element across many characters, bad), Yellow Light: Tag graphic sex should it occur. No issue with seeing it however (but likewise its inclusion is not necessary or expected haha)

There may be times when there’s a conflict of interest between characters. I don’t plan on facilitating PvP, but it may come up. How do you feel about rolling dice against other players?

Despite being the Token Evil Teammate, Maggs is a team player. Always there to lend a hand (as she got a whole heap of them), it is unlikely she will instigate conflict with others.

Maggart's Evil is practicality, selfishness, willing to sacrifice everything to make sure that she survives and lands on her feet. If she passes starving orphans, she doesn't feel pity or a want to help, it makes her feel secure in her existence, in the fact that she climbed out the gutter and is no longer that person. However, while Evil is an Ideological fact about Maggs, that does not mean she is hateful or unkind interpersonally.

From a practical standpoint, she has seen the people around her in combat and is not willing to come to blows with them. She will cow if threatened. There's safety in numbers and in the guild, and while Maggs is willing to adventure and fight and enter life threatening situations alongside her fellows, she will also take no further/individual unnecessary action to impose on her own safety, both physically and in her standing in the House of Fate and Fire.

Do you have any phobia or trauma-trigger that I should know and shy away from?

I'll speak up for myself if I see an issue but as of now, no.

On a scale of 1-10, what difficulty level do you like to sit at? 1 being a new player friendly campaign, with 10 being the kind of games you hear tales of in hushed whispers in your FLGS (Tomb of Horrors, Slumbering Tsar, etc.)

Since Maggs' whole build is spent around flavoring her swarm of rats as a swarm of hands, she is entirely unoptimized. Druids are strong on their own however so she should still be able to survive and help in higher level difficulty, and I am fine with fluctuations in challenge from fight to fight. Full gamut from 4-8.

How do you want me to handle mass dice rolls? For example, to expedite some events, would you like me to roll initiative/perception checks/saves for the group? Would you rather me only do so if a player needs to be botted?

Mass rolls on initiative and some saves absolutely yes, and another fun thing is to put the results of expected skill checks, e.g. perception, in a spoiler so people who pass their check can read and react without waiting.

Where would you like to see your character’s arc go as the campaign moves past the initial adventure?

I don't know where Maggs' arc will take her. I would like her to become close with people and to be loved and accepted by some but I also wouldn't terribly mind if she becomes entirely alone and bitter. For the legions of rat spirits possessing the mind of her removable hand to have some greater role or purpose or being evil or corrupted (or corrupting) in some way would also be f*!&ing radical.

How large would you like to see this campaign be geographically? Similar to the Pathfinder Society where you could be in Absalom one day, then all the way in Tian Xia the next? Or would you rather have a smaller, more compact campaign with more recurring characters and themes, with traveling outside of Taldor being an occasional treat?

I would love to get to know Zimar and the surrounding areas well, to feel invested and involved in the lives of the people we meet, but also would enjoy travel. Comfortable with a variety of options.

I had planned on using Roll 20 for maps and handouts. How do you feel about that and, if you don’t care for R20, do you have a different preference?

Similar to Hyacinth, I'm often writing on my phone so my preference is Google Slides but I do like R20 and have no compunctions against, it might just mean I will on rare occasions not be able to move my tokens when I make combat posts, but I will make my intentions known

How long has your character been with the House of Fate and Fire?

Twenty years, but she's only been adventuring the last eight, serving beforehand in a support role as an apprentice ringsmith and riding the coattails of Layla's love (or perhaps pity) for the decrepit creature she rescued from the basement.

Name at least 3 people who your character would consider to be “close” whether it’s friends, family, or acquaintances. At least one should be outside of the House.

Obviously Gulreesh is a major player in her life and still a weight at the back of her mind. She keeps abreast of his dealings with the House but refuses to deal with him personally, altho it is possible she may one day be called on or forced to. He is not a true villain, simply the villain of her story, having tried to do what an oytugh will do if you displease it, shove the offending thing in its mouth. From that, his genocide of the rats in Zimar might not be called an Evil action either even tho it's an act of retribution and vengeance, he's doing no worse than any cat, simply doing it on a much larger scale.

Cassida Keller is the senior ringsmith for the House of Fate and Fire, a Chelish tiefling of indiscriminate heritage with blue skin and only three fingers on each hand. An outcast and former street urchin like Maggs, the older woman saw so much of herself in the young girl and earnestly tried to make her feel accepted, welcome and loved, but despite their closeness, something about her apprentice has never sat easy in Cassida's strong stomach. Although Cassida does not shy from informality with others, she has only ever called Maggs by her proper name, Maggart. Maggs is intensely jealous of her replacement, missing when it was just the two of them.

Balthus Rime, gnome commoner. The two hardly interact on any significant level but this local café owner is one of the few people in town to always treat Maggart well or with kindness. Weekly, he will earnestly greet Maggart when she enters his store, and never minds her smell or wandering hand or her lingering to work on whatever mad thing she's writing, always allowing her to enter with a grateful smile and a peaceable "How are we today, miss?" Their quiet and brief interactions over his pouring tea or Qadiran coffee in her mug are sometimes the only kind words she hears in a given week. Maggs has been a regular customer for twenty years.

Scrambleman Advanced Dire Rat, one of the few remaining rodents in Zimar. Scrambleman is a bit of an urban legend, mean and scarred, the size of some dogs. As he has grown old he has also grown tumorous and increasingly feral, this five year old sewer rat has both a particular hate and adoration for Maggart. In their semi-frequent talks Scrambleman will commonly switch from a subservient worshipful stance to accusations and declarations of hate and violent retribution for her betrayal of the rats, a legend passed down thru generations of ratkind. Although this opinion is not constant, the legion of rat voices that sometimes echo from her hand have implied Scrambleman might be a supernatural entity, her guilt made manifest, and waiting for the right moment to eat her.

What are 4 rumors around the guild or around town about your character? Try to hit Good/True, Bad/True, Good/False, and Bad/False.

Good/True Miss Craft is a competent crafter who won't jilt a customer nor judge them for more illicit requests. She once offered me free poison when I told her I hated my cousin. S%@+ worked, too.

Good/False As a druid, Maggs (or her hand) has quite a green thumb and if your plants are in dire straits, you can head her way for practical, magical or alchemical solutions. Just mind the, uh, everything.

Bad/True On the palm of her right hand there is sometimes a strange mouth filled with dozens of needle sharp teeth. Once little Daisy saw her feed it a live snake, and my next door neighbor Harrington swears they once heard it speaking some strange language full of hissing and squeaks. This same hand can remove itself and multiply. She didn't used to have it. No. Then suddenly- BAM. Foul magics, I say.

Bad/False A woman walks among us birthed from the unholy union between man and animal! Raised by crocodiles to hunt and eat humanity, suckled at the teat of an owlbear, there is nothing human about Maggoty Craft. She is not a person, but a beast. The longer we let the guild pollute our city with her presence, the farther we have sunk into base desire and moral depravity!

Adventuring is a dangerous profession, does your character have a will? What does it contain?

Survival is the prime directive. Above all else, live. If Maggs has died, nothing she has owned will contain any value for her. There is no will for Maggart Craft, despite maintaining a burning and present fear of death.

Competition is a big motivator for some adventurers. Who is your rival? It could be friendly, unfriendly, intense, one-sided, etc.

Maggs openly dislikes most other guild crafters aside from her mentor as they have treated her with nothing but scoffs, leering looks, and insults about her appearance or the quality of her work these last twenty years. This is especially true for Cassida's new apprentice Kenan Basri, a handsome half-elven noble from Cassomir whose skill has quickly eclipsed her own.

Does your character have any ranks in a Craft, Perform, or Profession skill? If so, which one and where did they learn their craft?

Craft: Alchemy, Forge Ring and eventually Forge Rod. The latter two taught by Cassida, but the former is a relatively recent hobby gained thru a love of reading and experimentation. If it's necessary for her habit of preserving her old hands when they die, also Craft: Taxidermy, which she would be entirely self taught in and perhaps not good either.

What are your character’s short term, mid-term, and long-term goals?

-Live to see tomorrow. Learn, grow, succeed.

-Live to see a month, a year from now. Make a friend. Kiss someone for the first time. Make peace with the spirits of the hand.

-Live to an old age. Die at peace or achieve some form of immortality. Be respected and renowned as a craftsman and combatant. Display an artpiece made entirely of dead copies of her right hand. Earn the respect and loyalty of Gulreesh or, failing that, kill and eat him. Gain a position of leadership in the House of Fate and Fire.

What phobia or trauma has happened in your character’s past to help them become who they are today?

The sacrifices made to bring her to safety need to be made right. She must keep true to the code of the warren and survive at all costs. Thriving is not necessary.

Having been raised by rodents, Maggs is also fearful of cats the same way some are scared of mice, spiders and cockroaches.

How does your character view the Gods?

Not raised in society, Maggart's first real brush with divinity was finding the Green Faith and becoming a druid. She is not a typical voice for nature, revering vermin and urban wildlife above all else. As she grew into an adult here in Zimar she has come to respect all members of the Taldan Pantheon, offering equal but shallow supplications each to Abadar, Cayden Cailean, Norgorber and Shelyn. She fears local fan favorite deity Sarenrae, preferring to minimize time spent in direct sunlight. If she were more interested in religion she would find deep belonging in Urgathoan cults or heretical offshoots of the Pharasmin faith. However here in Taldor, Urgathoa's cult is widespread in secret not out of fear in mortality, but from the nobility's endless pursuit of glut and excess, and these same people would shun her on sight.

Looking at your team, how does your character feel about the others?

Byron: Maggs does not understand Byron. She doesn't understand most people but Byron especially confuses her. She knows he likes drugs and objects so like a raven trained to seek treasure, she will bring him intoxicants and trinkets in an attempt to get him to like and appreciate her, but with his high walls, all attempts to get to know each other are perfunctory and shallow.

Drask: Drask and Maggs genuinely enjoy each other's company- or at least she enjoys his. They have a lot in common in their upbringing and it is likely she has communicated with him the most. Together they will sometimes coexist in silence, like a cat and its human, content simply to not be alone.

Hyacinth: The ghoran is remarkable, beautiful, strange, unearthly, but is not to be trusted. She smells foul, of sweet lies and painful truths.

Joanna: Something about the paladin makes Maggs nervous and she's not sure what, although she worries the feeling to be mutual. Maggs would love to be friends with Jo, but finds her many of her interests boring and short sighted. Maggart fears there is not much common ground between the two women, but she wishes there could be and that together they could build a bridge to somewhere pleasant and easy.

How does your character deal with failure? Success?

Failure is dealt with quietly, but the end result varies. She might self harm or sink into creation or pick up a new book/hobby or delve into drinking or deprive herself sleep, food or water. Success will make Maggs smile and try to spread her cheer, which often ends in being refused by others and isolating, but while still alone she is less prone to self destructive behavior in these situations.

What do you look forward to most in a campaign, roleplay, combat, or a healthy mix of both? I’ve always been a fan of having a good mix. That doesn’t necessarily mean every session has to have RP and combat. As far as I’m concerned, it’s completely normal to have entire sessions that are just combat or go 2-3 sessions with nothing but roleplay. Granted, this being PbP, I think it opens up a lot of room for people to RP even in combat.

What makes a campaign great to you? What would absolutely ruin one for you? When everyone gets their moments to shine and excel, then I know it’s a great game. SOmething that can, and has, ruined a campaign for me is when one player is being heavily favored over the rest.

What are your soft limits as a player? What about your hard limits? Actually, I think my only limit is “fading to black” for romantic scenes. No one needs to hear the details of how the gnome and centaur go at it. I’m an adult and I’ve read books and watched shows/movies with adult scenarios. That being said, I’m fully onboard with everyone agreeing to leave certain subject matter off the table.

There may be times when there’s a conflict of interest between characters. I don’t plan on facilitating PvP, but it may come up. How do you feel about rolling dice against other players? I also try to avoid it but sometimes it makes sense for the story.

Do you have any phobia or trauma-trigger that I should know and shy away from? Nope.

On a scale of 1-10, what difficulty level do you like to sit at? 1 being a new player friendly campaign, with 10 being the kind of games you hear tales of in hushed whispers in your FLGS (Tomb of Horrors, Slumbering Tsar, etc.) I like a little bit of a challenge but I also tend to get really invested in my characters. I guess, a 7 or 8?

How do you want me to handle mass dice rolls? For example, to expedite some events, would you like me to roll initiative/perception checks/saves for the group? Would you rather me only do so if a player needs to be botted? From what I’ve seen in Pbp, initiative is the big one that makes sense for the GM to roll.

Where would you like to see your character’s arc go as the campaign moves past the initial adventure? I’d love to get a chance to track down The Chelishman. But. I also see an interesting angle where my character is coping with the idea that he will never find the man.

How large would you like to see this campaign be geographically? Similar to the Pathfinder Society where you could be in Absalom one day, then all the way in Tian Xia the next? Or would you rather have a smaller, more compact campaign with more recurring characters and themes, with traveling outside of Taldor being an occasional treat?That’s a hard one. I love recurring characters but globetrotting is fun. I suppose the notion of having a home base in the guild lends itself to the possibility of both. Get sent somewhere. Come back. Interact and catch up with npc’s. Go somewhere else.

I had planned on using Roll 20 for maps and handouts. How do you feel about that and, if you don’t care for R20, do you have a different preference? I’m fine with Roll20. But I have noticed that more people use Google Slides here and it seems to work well enough.

How long has your character been with the House of Fate and Fire? 2 - 3 years
Name at least 3 people who your character would consider to be “close” whether it’s friends, family, or acquaintances. At least one should be outside of the House.
-Ojistah: childhood sweetheart and another rougarou. Last seen just outside their village in Arcadia.
-Uruk: a half-orc guard for one of the wineries in the Fortress Estates. The two regularly meet up at the tavern to play dice for copper coins and argue over who is supposed to be purchasing the next round.
-Sanos: a human teenager living in the Adobe District. Sanos got caught trying to pick Düm’s pocket shortly after the rougarou arrived in Zimar. Out of a mixture of pity and kindness, Düm didn’t turn the girl in. The two have developed a game where Sanos will try to filch some of Düm’s coins. If she gets caught, Sanos has to return the coins. Every now and then, Düm will not notice and Sanos makes off with a few gold.
What are 4 rumors around the guild or around town about your character? Try to hit Good/True, Bad/True, Good/False, and Bad/False.
-Good/True: Some evenings, a large, wolf can be seen racing across rooftops in the Adobe District. That’s The Dümfloofer in his wolf form.
-Bad/True: Tekaronhió:ken is extremely untrusting of people from Cheliax. He’s been known to attack Chelish people after little provocation. Once, he chased some poor travelling merchant right out of town.
-Good/False: The Dümfloofer once challenged a hill giant to a foot race. He shifted into that wolf form of his and easily outpaced the giant. That’s how he came into possession of his ranseur.
-Bad/False: The Dümfloofer was once human but was cursed by a hag after killing and eating her familiar. Supposedly, he was lost in the forest for days without food or drink and thought the familiar (sometimes it’s a goat, sometimes a bird, usually it’s a cat) was a wild animal.
Adventuring is a dangerous profession, does your character have a will? What does it contain? Tekaronhió:ken does not have a will.
Competition is a big motivator for some adventurers. Who is your rival? It could be friendly, unfriendly, intense, one-sided, etc. There is a particularly rowdy human woman named Fylon Nettle. And she is just that. A thorn in Tekaronhió:ken’s side. If there the chance to make the rougarou look incompetent or weak arrises, Fylon will take it. She seems to place little stock in good sportsmanship or competition. She just wants to win.
Does your character have any ranks in a Craft, Perform, or Profession skill? If so, which one and where did they learn their craft? Tekaronhió:ken has a few ranks in Profession (fisherman). He grew up on an island, afterall.
What are your character’s short term, mid-term, and long-term goals?
Short term: complete the next challenge
Mid-term: help make a difference in the world, or, at least, in Zimar.
Long-term: Eiter find The Chelishman or return to Arcadia. Maybe even both.
What phobia or trauma has happened in your character’s past to help them become who they are today? Tekaronhió:ken watched through swollen eyes as the ship bound for Cheliax left with so many of Arcadia’s children. His battered, and broken limbs were not strong enough to help save the young girl who jumped into the sea. He was only able to show her family where she had washed up the next day.
How does your character view the Gods? They are there and their clerics offer good advice to the downtrodden. Tekaronhió:ken doesn’t worship any in particular but he would never offer insults either.
Looking at your team, how does your character feel about the others?
Edmund Gwenn: The two share a similar reason for having joined up with Fate and Fire so it’s probable that the two have spent time commiserating over their losses. And if so, it’s likely the two would have helped each other with leads for their respective investigations. Düm is always asking the older man to relay the information found in Edmund’s books.
Dr. Jebediah Castle: A rougarou and a goblin walk into a bar...no seriously. Jeb’s love of games and Düm’s competitive nature have led to many raucous evenings where the games become more and more elaborate. Knowing common prejudices against goblins, and already wary of taking his wolf form in the city, Düm makes it a special point to not take his wolf form when just he and Jeb are together.
Crow Irontouched: The warpriest is everything Düm refused to become on the battlefield: a lumbering warrior plodding forward to make painstakingly slow strikes with a massive piece of steel. At least, that’s how he viewed the man at first. Over time, Düm has come to appreciate Crow’s surgical movements. In truth, they make an impressive duo and regularly spar.
River: Another soul looking for someone. ”Does the House just attract us?” Much like with Edmund, if River ever asked for help looking for her friend, Tekaronhió:ken would gladly help. It didn’t take long for Tekaronhió:ken to to start calling River “Ohneka”. A word meaning water in his own language. Of all the team members, Ohneka is probably the one with whom Tekaronhió:ken feels the most comfortable simply relaxing along the Jalrune or simply resting under a tree.
How does your character deal with failure? Success? Winning and losing are two sides of the same coin, and both are worthy of acknowledgment. I treat champions with respect, but honor losers for their courage and willingness to challenge themselves.

What do you look forward to most in a campaign, roleplay, combat, or a healthy mix of both?
I’ve swung much more towards roleplaying over the last few years. Generally I build a character who has a nice obvious (and not overly complicated) role in combat so that I can contribute properly but still save my energy for roleplaying. So 80/20 for RP, although a tough fight against a dangerous foe is always exciting.

What makes a campaign great to you? What would absolutely ruin one for you?
Great – the chance to role-play and develop my character alongside people who want to do the same.
Ruin – an infinite string of “Fight, Sleep, Fight, Sleep” or people who try to treat the game that way.

What are your soft limits as a player? What about your hard limits?
Nothing specific. My hang-up is that I don’t like my PC’s being mind-controlled – losing agency is difficult for me. It’s fine if it happens, but at that point I’ll sit back, assume that my character is now an NPC and stop contributing until the mind-control has gone. So don’t avoid it, but if something like Dominate Person gets slung around then you’ll be the one playing River for a while.

There may be times when there’s a conflict of interest between characters. I don’t plan on facilitating PvP, but it may come up. How do you feel about rolling dice against other players?
As long as it’s a. fair, and b. discussed ooc first, I’m fine with it. One character turning on another with no warning is not fun though. River would hate it and absolutely try to stop it.

Do you have any phobia or trauma-trigger that I should know and shy away from?
Thankfully, no.

On a scale of 1-10, what difficulty level do you like to sit at? 1 being a new player friendly campaign, with 10 being the kind of games you hear tales of in hushed whispers in your FLGS (Tomb of Horrors, Slumbering Tsar, etc.)
4+. As long as I have the space/people to role-play with I don’t really mind about how hard combat is.

How do you want me to handle mass dice rolls? For example, to expedite some events, would you like me to roll initiative/perception checks/saves for the group? Would you rather me only do so if a player needs to be botted?
The more you roll the faster the game is, so roll away!

Where would you like to see your character’s arc go as the campaign moves past the initial adventure?
Hard one… River hasn’t thought about anything beyond finding Tak, her character growth up to this point has been incidental rather than anything else. Obviously in the end I’d like to find him, but whether that means she retires with him back to the willow tree or something else will depend on what happens along the way.

She’d do things like save the world, but just because the world is a nice place, not because she wants to be recognised or anything like that. So personal motivation will be her driving force.

How large would you like to see this campaign be geographically? Similar to the Pathfinder Society where you could be in Absalom one day, then all the way in Tian Xia the next? Or would you rather have a smaller, more compact campaign with more recurring characters and themes, with traveling outside of Taldor being an occasional treat?
As long as I can role-play about it! More specifically I think staying in one place for a while is good because it gives characters a chance to put down roots/find things to motivate them. So going to foreign lands becomes more meaningful. War for the Crown is a great example I think. Book 2 has a nice small scale and my party always went back there after every other book, because it was home and it mattered – so travelling to other planes was interesting and exciting because it wasn’t home, and there was still a place that mattered to the PC’s no matter how far away they went.

I had planned on using Roll 20 for maps and handouts. How do you feel about that and, if you don’t care for R20, do you have a different preference?
Strong preference for Google slides. R20 is one more thing I have to log into, the additional stuff like dynamic lighting just seems to make life harder. I find it just makes my life harder, not easier. That said, you’re the GM, you do you!

How long has your character been with the House of Fate and Fire?
A few weeks at most.

Name at least 3 people who your character would consider to be “close” whether it’s friends, family, or acquaintances. At least one should be outside of the House.
Safiya – a qadiran sorceress who has been at the Guild for many years. Safiya has taken River under her wing and is doing her best to teach the naiad about the ‘human world’. This has proved quite a task but at least River is taking to cooking…
Hemming – a gentle giant of a man and mercenary in the House. River accidentally ruined a very delicate sand sculpture that he was working on. After a week of her following him around apologising the hard-bitten warrior gave in and forgave her, mostly for some peace and quiet. Unfortunately for him River’s presence has acted much like water eroding a rock and, in a moment of weakness, the warrior agreed to teach her sand sculpting – which has led to a lot of wet sand and no real results thus far.
Tak – a half-elven bard who stumbled on River’s home some thirty years ago. The two became lovers in both the physical and emotional sense and his three year absence was the catalyst for River’s own adventure and finding him is her goal. The connection between them, forged of her magic, tells River that he is alive but little else, a cold reflection of their former closeness.

What are 4 rumors around the guild or around town about your character? Try to hit Good/True, Bad/True, Good/False, and Bad/False.
Good/True – If you can earn a kiss (or more) from River you will gain a supernatural skill with music and the ability to convince people to do what you want.
Bad/True – She is extremely naïve, some would say stupid, and will pay money for even the faintest lead about her missing lover.
Good/False – She can make water spring out of the ground at will and used this ability to help a Taldan general escape the qadiran desert.
Bad/False – anyone who learns her real name can command her to do anything they want and she’s currently under the control of the qadiran sultan having been tasked with infiltrating the Guild and destroying it from within.

Adventuring is a dangerous profession, does your character have a will? What does it contain?
River has no idea what a ‘will’ is, and wouldn’t consider one necessary since she’s not used to owning anything. Most of what she has got was collected from caves etc so if she dies in one she’d just assume someone will come along later and take them like she did.

Competition is a big motivator for some adventurers. Who is your rival? It could be friendly, unfriendly, intense, one-sided, etc.
Whoever took Tak is going to get a stern talking to! And possibly a thorough dunking in the nearest body of water!
Otherwise River really isn’t the kind for grudges, or competition really. If anyone came to complain about her beating them at something she’d probably just apologise.

Does your character have any ranks in a Craft, Perform, or Profession skill? If so, which one and where did they learn their craft?
Not statted yet so probably not, but she might get a rank or two in Profession Cook to represent what she’s learned at the House.

What are your character’s short term, mid-term, and long-term goals?
Find Tak.
She hasn’t thought about what happens after that. Probably go back to her willow? [See story-arc question in previous spoiler.]

What phobia or trauma has happened in your character’s past to help them become who they are today?
She’s had a relatively idyllic life in her tiny corner of the world, but losing Tak was painful enough that she left to go find him.
Her one, brief, trip on a ship was enough to give her an abiding fear of the ocean – it’s just so big and the thought of getting lost in it forever scares her.

How does your character view the Gods?
What are those?
River has a vague knowledge of the Eldest, but thinks that all the other gods are actual people who seem to be very helpful/angry/unpleasant depending on who you’re talking about.

Looking at your team, how does your character feel about the others?
Edmund – River loves Edmund as a father and understands the grief on an instinctive level. She dotes on the older man and regularly performs small tasks like washing and folding his clothes or bringing him her latest attempts at sand sculpture in an attempt to show her care for him.

Dr Castle – The doctor makes River uncomfortable because his worldview is completely at odds with her own and she knows that he is much smarter than she is. This means she avoids spending time alone with him and is generally very polite and formal with him, in an attempt to avoid giving offense.

Crow – River was very impressed by how tall Crow is when she first met him and still occasionally asks things like “Can you hear the birds talking properly from there? All I hear is twittering.” She appreciates his meticulous nature and pays no attention to his appearance with the breezy assurance that only those who are naturally beautiful can manage.
She very much wants to impress the half-ogre and all of her most spectacular culinary failures have been part of efforts to cook something he would like.

Tekaronhió:ken – River can’t say his name properly, but she keeps trying none-the-less on a semi-regular basis. She likes the wolf-man, seeing him as something of a kindred spirit in this strange world of humans and appreciates the fact that he is cheerful, unlike some of their other flatmates. She likes her new nickname and in return has started referring to him as 'Bian', which means 'furry' in the fey tongue but is definitely an endearment!

How does your character deal with failure? Success?
Rivers flow on regardless and River does much the same. When something goes wrong she picks herself up and either tries to do it better or finds something else to do. Success makes her happy for a little while and she might keep a momento of particularly important moments but otherwise they pass by without much fanfare.