#RPGaDay2015 - Day 27, Favourite idea for merging two games into one

Would it be completely cheating to pick ShadowRun? Cyberpunk meets fantasy in a shiny pre-packaged format.

Or should I be thinking more along the lines of cross-over shows, where Jessica Fletcher ends up solving Magnum PI's crimes, or Sam and Dean save Mulder and Scully from fairy-aliens. Or something.

Hmmm.... If you wanted to combine two D&D games, you could always pitch both parties into the misted realm of Ravenloft. You'd need both sets of players to be willing and understanding of the setting in order to have real fun with it.

But there are so many more exciting games you could bring together.

I loved the World of Darkness game played at uni: same players, different characters in Werewolf, Vampire and Hunter. Different agendas, of course, but it meant we got a better look at the bigger picture as the world ended.

Actually, back to ShadowRun and the first time I played it the GM really wanted to run the Renraku Archology adventure. He ran it with us, his main group, and then after my character had escaped with an NPC, he used our desire to get back in to rescue the others as the method to get a group of his old uni friends in too - earning me xp in my absence, because the NPC & I were being so cautious and suspicious his other friends nearly killed us!

The game had many players and each session would be a run based on whoever was free. It gradually fell to a few key players, but the idea of multiple players not always present still appeals. I'd like to run my own ShadowRun or Hunter game that way: I have ideas for both. But I'd also like to take it even further: if there were two groups running in the same setting and the same time, with their GM's in contact with each other so the actions of one group could be seen by the other. I'd love for the players to not necessarily know the games are affecting each other, but I'd love to do one massive session where the two groups are sent on the same run by different fences. At least to begin with, they'd need to be in separate rooms but they might end up working together and then the GM's could combine forces...

I'd love to take part in that!

 

#RPGaDay2015 - Day 17, Favourite Fantasy RPG

I'm torn.

Fantasy games I've played include a couple of Homebrews that fit nicely elsewhere, D&D 3rd ed, 3.5 and 4th ed, Pathfinder and Warhammer Fantasy RolePlay. Oh, and fake D&D spoof game that Husbit was running when I met him (seeking out the secret herbs and spices that made Kobold Fried Chicken finger linkin' good). And D&D variants such as Midnight and Very Forgotten Realms (in which all sentient beings in the known world had woken some years previously with total amnesia). And our Exalted game is currently very fantasy-like, but I don't know if that's an Exalted thing or an our group thing.

I've played some very enjoyable D&D campaigns (the Midnight setting particularly stands out) and of course I adore our Pathfinder game. Meanwhile, I've yet to play a WFRP's campaign that has absorbed me as completely, yet I really, really like the system.

So I'm torn and going to break my answer down.

I think Midnight might be my favourite fantasy setting because it is a bit different and the game is inevitably lower level; darker and dirtier.

Our current Pathfinder game is my favourite fantasy campaign. I'm very much behind Svetlana and want things to work out for her. I'm (fairly) sure they will and want to see her story through.

But WFRP's is my favourite system. I prefer moving through jobs than levelling in a class. When you reach 20th level in D&D, it feels like that's it, you're done (like a level cap in a PC game) and that's a shame. In Wfrp's, you can move through another career path to conitnue improving, continue learning new skills. I also like the huge variety of careers you can follow and pick up valuable skills from - moving through peasant-type jobs isn't a penalty the way a level in commoner would be in D&D. Just a shame there's no Blood Bowl player career! (Yes, I know, it's an alternate reality in which the sport replaced war, but I'd still like to run a campaign where you start as members of a Blood Bowl team...)

I'm not sure though. There is so much variation and variety and home rules and personalisation available to fantasy that I'm sure there are many better systems and settings out there, and I look forward to discovering more of them.

 

#RPGaDay2015 - Day 11, Favourite RPG Writer

This year's RPGaDay is making me very aware of how little attention I pay to the individuals who put in so much effort to create the games I love... I don't know any names of any writers of RPG games or supplements I've played! That's a bit embarrassing...

But I have read a lot of roleplay fiction, predominantly for Ravenloft. One author stands out: P N Elrod. I, Strahd in particular is a wonderfully written gothic novel. You can see the path down which the tragic hero treads, and you cannot steer his steps away from the doom he brings on himself. Elrod writes with grace and empathy such that you cannot hate Strahd despite what he does. And you root for him as he tries to come to terms and make amends - as he tries to live with what he has created. I think that's part of the beauty, in fact: the character does terrible things and acknowledges them rather than seeking to hide behind petty justifications - there are petty justifications, but they are written such that the reader and character see them as hollow as they really are. Cleverly done.

 

#RPGaDay2015 - Day 8, Favourite Appearance of RPGs in the Media

I WON AT DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AND IT WAS ADVANCED!

http://community-sitcom.wikia.com/wiki/Advanced_Dungeons_%26_Dragons

I've been really looking forward to this one because I thought it would be really easy to find the clip of Pierce Hawthorne shouting that in Community... but I was wrong. So you'll just have to have me shout it instead.

My friend Mike (of Nazgob's Blog) introduced me to Community and I fell in love. I was watching The Big Bang Theory at the time, and starting to have issues with the way geeks and women were portrayed (this Tumblr post sums up a lot of my issues with the show: when I first stumbled across it, it was illuminating because it put into words a vague unease I was feeling), so to find another show that isn't about geeks, as such, but about real people that happens to include geeks - that was cool. And the characters are flawed but that's ok - you accept them and forgive them for their flaws because you see those flaws in yourself and your friends, and you become more accepting of your flaws, and your friends' flaws.

It's not a perfect show. It would be easy to pick many, many holes in it. But I love it. And I particularly love the two episodes devoted to Dungeons & Dragons: Season 2 ep 14, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, and Season 5 ep 10, Advanced Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Each episode follows the group as they play a game of D&D to try to help someone resolve a personal issue (not necessarily with that person's appreciation). To again briefly compare with TBBT, when D&D is played there, it is played by the rules but not the spirit of the game: the second episode adds occasional in-game sound effects, but otherwise each episode is entirely them, in the room, play a game. And it is engrossing and engaging even for non-gamers watching.

I think the handling of D&D is fantastic, and then there are the paintball episodes, and the floor-is-made-of-lava episode and, oh, the 8-bit computer game episode and so many others. And it's fun and funny and loving and I adore it.

Piotr Utkin - Pathfinder Fighter

Piotr Utkin - True Neutral Human Fighter (Level 1) (with lawful leanings)

Abilities: Str 14, Dex 11, Con 13, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 10

Skills: Profession (farmer) 1, Ride 1

Feats: Endurance, Toughness, Catch Off-Guard (fighter bonus feat: no penalty for improvised weapon; opponents flat-footed when using improvised weapon)

Trait: Freedom Fighter (+1 bonus with improvised weaponry)

Gear: Basic farmer stuff, scythe/pitchfork

Appearance/Personality: Like most in the area, Piotr is broad shouldered, fair skinned and fair haired, with blue eyes. He's not as smart as his friends, but his family don't worry - a middle child of several, there are others who can run the farm whilst his strength means he's invaluable in getting the physical work done. He particularly enjoys the calm and rhythmic nature of the reap.

Background: Piotr is a couple years older than Svetlana, Anya and Devin, and a few years older again than Misha. He was an important member of their group - his strength and steadiness assisting den building endeavours and, on one memorable occasion, rescuing them from a fight with a group of merciless older children on a trip to Restov.  Nonetheless, they didn't always treat him as well as they could, playing on his gullibility and his desire to fit in: Piotr often played the king in their games; he didn't notice that the king was usually an old, ugly, bumbling fool, instead was flattered that they saw him as a leader. Devin was perhaps particularly bad for this (not from malice, but because it was easy to cause humour at Piotr's expense) but Svetlana didn't stand up for him as often as she maybe should have done, and even Anya could be guilty of laughing with them. It was a family-like meanness, though: if anyone else tried to use him the same way, they would jump on them and defend him swiftly and precisely: Devin can leave deeper wounds with words than any punch Piotr could have thrown.

It's fair to say the half-elf fascinates him. Piotr remembers the tinker who came through on her birthday. He remembers the fuss she made afterwards - he knew she was wrong, there was no way the human tinker could be her elven father, but his loyalty to his friend meant he supported her silently, letting her rant at him in the days afterwards until she shut up and hid her hurt deep down and never mentioned the mystery of her father again. He enjoyed the feeling of closeness her rants gave him, even if he thought she was crazy.

His first kiss was with Svetlana, when they were teens. For her, it was just a kiss, another game. For him, though, it really mattered. Svetlana would have tried to let him down gently if she'd known he was falling in love with her (or at least thought he was), but somehow she never realised. They'd started to drift apart; now in his early 20s, Piotr's duties at the family farm were significant and he was starting to see his younger friends (particularly Devin and Svetlana) as childish in their inability to settle into traditional roles - even Anya frustrated him a bit, seeing her position as a hunter as wilder than respectable for an expectant mother. 

Svetlana, however, was as unaware of this as she was of his infatuation when she approached him for his company on her adventure, and he misinterpreted her need for adventure as simply a need for change. He suggested she might want to settle down with him, become a wife - after all, they were both too old to still be playing at adventurers. She backed off, startled, having thought his past talk of fighting and adventure was still current.

They argued until she ran off, angry to hide an uncomfortable undercurrent of fear at his reaction. He was her friend and she loved him dearly - but like a brother. And he couldn't expect her to give up who she was to stay here - he clearly didn't know her at all. And how come she hadn't realised how he felt? She kicked herself for her naivety... but the encounter was soon behind her as she followed the adventure to her new life and she didn't often think of it, assuming all was as well with him as with her. After all, he had the quiet life he'd wanted...

He stayed home, nursing his hurt, refusing to speak of her. His anger worsened on hearing just months later that she was not only engaged, but to a king - to the role he'd normally played. She'd told him she didn't want to settle down, but that had been a lie. He simply wasn't good enough for her...

I forget whether he's now engaged to another villager or not. If he is, how does Svetlana feel? Jealous, perhaps? She wouldn't admit to it, but maybe the strength of his attention flattered her.

Or maybe not. Maybe she'd just be relieved he'd forgiven her for unintentionally hurting him, relieved he'd moved on. 

(Edit to clarify: the latter is the case. Piotr may prefer to believe she's at least a little jealous his attention has shifted, but Svetlana never saw him in the same light and would be relieved not to have to worry about his feelings any more.)

Misha Volkov - Pathfinder Druid

Misha Volkov - Neutral Good Human Druid (Level 1) (with lawful/neutral leanings)

Abilities: Str 10, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 18, Cha 11

Skills: Diplomacy 1, Handle Animal 1, Heal 1, Knowledge (nature) 1, Perception 1, Spellcraft 1, Survival 1, Swim 1

Feats: Animal Affinity (bonus to Handle Animal and Ride), Nature Soul (bonus to Knowledge (nature) and Survival)

Traits: Erastil's Speaker (bonus to diplomacy; diplomacy a class skill)

Spells: Create Water (0), Discern Health (0), Divining Rod (0), Calm Animals (1), Commune with Birds (1)

Animal Companion: Barsuk, female badger

Languages: Common, Druidic, Gnomic, Sylvan

Gear: Basic survival gear, spell components, and a quarterstaff.

Appearance/Personality: Fair skin, white-blond hair and ice blue eyes common to the region. Maybe slightly shorter than average, but as broad-shouldered as most in the remote community. Misha is the youngest of three siblings, with brother Maksim the eldest and sister Marya in the middle. Often mistaken for shy, Misha's quietness comes more from an inner calm and strong sense of self that means he doesn't feel the need to compete for attention to know he's real. 

Background: Misha is the only vegetarian in the village, particularly odd in a family of hunters. It is not part of his druidic training but a personal decision he took when he was old enough to understand.

With Anya, Devin and Piotr, Misha is one of Svetlana's childhood friends; he's also Anya's brother-in-law. Whilst the youngest by a few years, his wisdom and intelligence have given him an emotional maturity that found him better suited to their company than to children his age. They were also the group whose games took them furthest into the forests, allowing him to indulge in his love of the wild.

It may be that Devin's fast talking got them out of most of the trouble his imagination had led them into, but sometimes it took Misha's calm to soothe things over. Adults often forgot he was part of the group until he spoke, and whenever he interceded forgot he was so young.

It surprised no one that the druids took an interest in him from an early age. In many ways, this was a blessing to the community: being so remote and with no dedicated cleric or healer locally, childhood mortality is high, but with regular visits from the druids, far more of this generation survived.

In the months before Svetlana left, the druids had found a place for him in their ranks. She regretted this meant he would not accompany her but could see he was on his own journey. He does miss his friends from time to time, but  is leading the life he was born for.

Anya Volkova - Pathfinder Ranger

Another of Svetlana's childhood gang, Anya's the only one who's cameoed in the game so far - she was Svetlana's bridesmaid and spent time in New Stetvon for the wedding. 

See also Svetlana, Devin, Misha and Piotr.

Anya Volkova (nee Kuznetsova) - Lawful Good Human Ranger (Level 1)

Abilities: Str 12, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 11

Skills:  Climb 1, Handle Animal 1, Heal 1, Knowledge (nature) 1, Perception 1, Profession (hunter) 1, Stealth 1, Survival 1, Swim 1

Feats: Athletic (bonus to climb and swim), Run 

Trait: Free Spirit (+2 DC to intimidate her; +1 saving throw against language dependent/sonic descriptor effects)

Ranger Abilities: Favoured enemy (animals +2)

Languages: Common, Gnomic

Equipment: Basic outdoor survival gear/hunter's pack, shortbow, dagger, leather armour, bottle of Chekhov family mead. 

Appearance/Personality: Anya has the fair skin, pale blue eyes and strawberry-blonde hair common in the village. Her build is sturdy; athletic: she hunts with the eye of an eagle, swims with the joy of an otter, climbs with the speed of a squirrel and runs like a leaping hare. She laughs easily and often and comes across as very laid back in comparison to her friends (except the calm Misha). She is hard to insult and quick to stand up for those she thinks are being picked on.

Background: Anya is very close in age to Svetlana, making her a little younger than Piotr and a little older than Devin and Misha, and is third cousin to Svetlana's mother. Her father, Ruslan Kuznetsov, is the village blacksmith, a role her brothers are likely to take on.  

Anya gravitated to her charismatic half-elf cousin and often acted as scout for the group when they played further from home than they ought - picking up a love of the wilderness that found her spending a lot of time with Misha's family, hunters and trappers who proudly traced their lineage back to the hunters saved by Erastil burning the oak that gave the name to the village pub. In an effort to tame the wild bunch, Devin's mother taught them tasks that required focus and patience - lockpicking and the like. Whilst Anya enjoyed these, she never dedicated the time to them she did to understanding the natural world.

She is bright and enjoyed school, but declined in surprise the suggestion by Olesya Chorkina that she move to Restov and continue her studies there. The teacher had expected Anya to attend university and pursue an academic career and put her decision not to down to the bad influence of her friends rather than the fact Anya genuinely preferred her more practical life.

It did not surprise anyone when Misha's elder brother Maksim asked Anya to marry him, nor how readily she agreed. The two had always been close and their wedding, in its elegance, had all the simplicity Svetlana had wanted in her own.

It was Anya who discovered the cellar of the Burning Tree was 'haunted' shortly before the fortuitous arrival of the ragged 'exorcist', Alexei Vassilev. She'd come to tell her cousins of her recently discovered pregnancy, and the shock of bottles flying round when she went to fetch supplies nearly caused her to fall. Alexei took the ghost with him and left the leaflet that drew Anya's best friend away, then Natasha (Svetlana's mother) left to be closer to her daughter in the Dawnlands (and opted to stay there rather than move again after Svetlana's relocation to New Stetvon). Natasha's parents were beginning to feel too old to run the pub themselves - had already handed the running of the orchard and brewery to younger family. Heavily pregnant, Anya was unable to hunt so it made sense for her to spend more time at the inn. Once the twins arrived, she was grateful for the extra space the inn offers, but ultimately she hopes to pass the pub to her sister-in-law, Marya, and return to hunting with Maksim. 

Devin Panesar - Pathfinder Bard

Been going through my roleplay folder and found the sketchy character sheets I made for Svetlana's friends - Devin, Piotr, Anya and Misha. I made them up as first level player characters because I really enjoy character creation - I find it strangely soothing - rather than to assist my GM, instead allowing him to flesh them out from the background I gave him as he sees fit (he received rather more pages than I shared here!). For a bit of info about the place they grew up, see here and for Svetlana's background, see here. (Update to add links for Anya, Misha and Piotr).

There's been a bit of talk again about how characters get their names: in Devin's case, I liked the name Devin. His surname is borrowed from a schoolfriend with the intention of invoking an image of Golarion-India for his father's family.

Devin Panesar - Chaotic Neutral Human Bard (level 1)

Abilities: Str9, Dex13, Con11, Int17, Wis14, Cha16

Skills: Appraise 1, Bluff 1, Diplomacy 1, Disguise 1, Knowledge (Geography) 1, Linguistics 1, Perception 1, Perform (Sing) 1, Sense Motive 1, Sleight of Hand 1, Spellcraft 1

Feats: Persuasive (bonus to diplomacy and intimidate), Deceitful (bonus to bluff and disguise)

Trait: Charming (+1 bonus to bluff/diplomacy and +1 bonus to DC on language dependent spells against those sexual attracted to him)
Special Abilities: Bardic knowledge, Bardic performance: Countersong, Distraction, Fascinate, Inspire Courage 1
Spells: Level 0 - Canny Effort (+2 bonus insight bonus to next skill check; 1001 Spells), Mage Hand, Message, Open/Close
Level 1 - Charm Person, Innocence (+10 bonus on bluff checks to convince others of your innocence; Advanced Players Guide)
Languages: Common, Elven, Dwarven, Gnomic, Vudrani

Appearance/Personality: Average height and scarwny build, Devin's dark hair, dark eyes and dusky skin mark him out in this village of very pale people. He would like to be described as "moving with a dancer's grace" or "smooth, lithe as a snake" or "flowing like water" or other such comparisons as are given to the master-thieves of mythology, but it isn't true. He moves quickly and fidgets without noticing - although if he's focused on a task, he can stay almost impossibly still, as if his internal energy simply needs grounding.

He laughs easily, as often at another's misfortune as at something the other villagers would deem appropriate. This is not malice and he does not lack empathy but he does, perhaps, feel the world is his to play with.

Background: Devin is unusual in not having been born in the village - his mother Katya had been, but left as soon as she could and her experiences are a novel in themselves (one I'd like to write, one day). After hardship, she joined a travelling merchant family from a southern continent, falling in love with Vivek, marrying him and starting a family on the road. She returned with her husband and eldest children when she heard her brothers had both died and her parents were unwell. Vivek and their daughter Timpani settled happily into the sedentary life, but her second child - Devin - had inherited her restlessness and always seemed out of place. It was possibly their shared wildness that drew him to Svetlana. The two are very close, their Chaotic nature at odds with the Lawful predominance of their home, something Devin struggled against more fiercely than Svetlana because he'd experienced other places.

Devin can sing beautifully and can talk his way out of most situations; Piotr may believe he's the leader of their group, but the others have always watched Devin pull his strings. Whilst he often led the quintet into trouble, his charmed tongue could usually get them out of it again.

It was Devin who taught Svetlana to speak Elven. When they first met, he greeted her in such and was surprised that the young half-elf merely cocked her head in curiosity. He'd arrived a year or so after she met her father, and once he'd taught her the language she trusted him enough to tell him of that meeting - and in doing so was delighted to earn an ally who believed her. He vowed to fiind her father for some arbitrary vengeance, but she didn't believe him and didn't really care; she's believes she's at peace with the situation, but struggled to express that to her hot-headed friend.

His family is much closer and much larger - as well as his elder sister, he has many younger siblings named for friends of his parents from around Golarion, and whilst he never sees his cousins any more, he has many and was close to them before coming to the village.

His first kiss was with Svetlana, although they were both just playing and their attraction has always been more the closeness of siblings.

As well as charming, he is incredibly smart and this accounts for some of his restlessness: there simply isn't enough to fill his interest in the small and sleepy community he grew up in. When Svetlana told him of the call to clear out the Stolen Lands, he filled with excitement and swore he'd be there, already dreaming of his adventures and the way history would speak of him.

His father, quiet and calm, tried to dissuade him gently. It was his mother - his mother who'd run away herself younger than he was - who forbade him to leave. Could he not understand that she was looking out for him? That she knew the dangers and was simply protecting him from the risks she'd been lucky to survive?

No. No, he could not.

He arranged to meet Svetlana at the pub her adventure started in - promised to be there before the coach left. She waited for the second coach (and who knows how that would have gone if she'd left with the first and never met Alexei?), but he still didn't show.

Spinning the game forward, it was not until her wedding anyone would hear from him again: he was working as a guard in the Osirion region. Svetlana received this with mixed feelings: relief that he was ok, disappointment that he wasn't at her wedding and a little jealousy at what he was seeing.

RPGaDay Days 20 to 23

#RPGaDay

Day Twenty – Will Still Play in 20 Years

Really difficult question, because it isn’t just about the games I love but about what the people around me want to play (hence my distinct lack of World of Darkness since uni :( ). Which probably means something D&D based, even though I’m not the biggest fan (I am loving Pathfinder but that’s down to the campaign; there are other systems and settings I prefer).

Hopefully, though, periodic Deadlands, something Cyberpunk’y (such as ShadowRun or Cyberpunk), something supernaturalish (like World of Darkness or Buffy). And also homebrew systems and settings.

Day Twenty One – Favourite Licenced RPG

I’ve played two – Buffy and Firefly (there’s a slight theme here…). I loved both, although I think Buffy was a simpler system (that could just be because I joined a pre-existing game so they’d had time to get their heads around any kinks or quirks, whereas I was in the pilot Firefly game with a brand new book so none of us knew how it worked until we started).

In a similar vein (although, as a homebrew, not strictly a licenced RPG), I did love the game my friend ran based on Final Fantasy 10.

Day Twenty Two – Best Second Hand RPG Purchase

Thank gods for Ebay! A lot of my books (that haven’t been inherited or donated by way of permanent loan) have come to me from Ebay. My favourite? Hmm… It’s hard to choose but I’m going to go for the Nuwisha sourcebook for old World of Darkness’s Werewolf.

There’s something about Tricksters that captivates me. I’ve said before that I’ve grown up on fairy tales and world mythologies and Trickster lore is a part of that – not maybe an area I am as knowledgeable as others (on developing a fear of vampires as a small child, my Dad explained they weren’t real – but then taught me how to defend against them. I slept with a stake by my bed and garlic on the window sill for years), but certainly an area that fascinates me.

I think it’s partly the moral relativity of Tricksters (I’m particularly thinking of the Norse god Loki and of fey Red Caps at the moment) – I’m incredibly, frustratingly, embarrassingly socially compliant in most ways, so the freedom that the Trickster’s code represents is something I crave and fear.

I really like the fluff. Gaia’s Tricksters showed up in the epic Apocalypse campaign I played at uni, and when I attempted to run a game after that I made sure they were around. Very pleased with the purchase.

Day Twenty Three – Coolest Looking Product

I think technically ‘product’ implies ‘item released for general sale’ – which would mean ploughing through my dice collection once more (it’s grown since I last mentioned it: Husbit picked up a ‘pound of dice’ and I carefully scavved the ones I liked best). So instead I’m going to show off again some of the shiny things my GM (Pathfinder and Aberrant) has made/bought for us.

For Aberrant: ALL THE QUANTUM!!! is represented by glass beads.

ALL THE QUANTUM!!!

In Pathfinder, as well as some lovely envelopes and scrolls complete with wax seals, we’ve got this wonderful book that slowly fills as we manage to translate more and more of it – and the accompanying runes (handmade, again). Some of the runes within the book actually come from the magic system a GURPS game my brother ran that my GM played in, which is a nice bit of crossover. I wasn’t in the game, but I know my brother was really pleased with the magic system. Something to do with building words. It sounded really clever and interesting.

Beneath the book and paper the runs are on, you can see our homemade battle board - plywood with a grid drawn on then plasti-coated. That's also pretty useful, but less cool.

With thanks again to Autocratik. 

Ursella Lazula

Ursella is a character I brought into a pre-existing game one of my friends was running. My first taste of 3^rd Ed D&D and one of my early games of D&D (I’d mostly played ShadowRun, World of Darkness and ‘Home Brew’ systems to this point).

I elected to play a druid, being a bit hippy-dippy by nature and wanting a break from the rogue variants I’d played in previous D&D games (it’s such a versatile class and I relish having so many skill points). The game was already high enough level I could jump in with a panther as my animal companion, and Tempest arrived as a mewling bundle of black fur, sharp claws and large fangs. The name ‘Ursella’ is a corruption of ‘Ursula’ so maybe the companion should have been a bear, but, y’know. Cats.

Ursella grew up in a remote Halfling village. A group of druids collected and trained her, seeing her potential. She joins the party after being sent out into the wide world alone for the first time. It is possible that this is closer to the history of the other Halfling in the party, actually, but it works well as a way for a new player to join an existing game in a world the other players take for granted – especially when the group has played many games in many worlds and know how the others think and build. Means your character has a reason not to always know things the other players do.

The other characters included the aforementioned other Halfling, Dru, a thievy-type rogue; Hextor whose race and class elude me (Human fighter?); Navek, a half (fire?) Giant whose class again I forget (also a fighter?); and someone else. I did ask my friends but this was a while ago and it’s all a bit vague – although Hextor does have more stuff about him…

Anyway, Dru converted Ursella to her faith in the great god Greg, who could be appeased and appealed to with supplications of tea, biscuits and other nibbles. This being, of course, the GM. It was fun – a nice in game excuse to bribe the ref when things were going badly.

Mostly I wanted to share Ursella because I found her character sheet and (considering I really can’t draw) was rather pleased with the doodles on it. They haven’t scanned very well, but I think you get the idea.