Pal Pool - A Character Creation. (First Campaign Character!) Part 2

So my beloved Mawu (I loved her, she was brill!) was all set to begin adventuring in the great world of DnD 4th.

The group I was in were friends of the DM (who is my boyfriend and yes we were together at the time, and no I did not get favoritism because that is wrong :-p) so at least I did know them a bit and we got on well and they were people I pretty much knew. I think we had a ranger in our group but I don't remember anyone other than our Warforged called Clockworks. Played by a lovely guy who is now a friend, we had great fun as those characters as Clockworks and Mawu became friends and worked great together. He was a character that healed so between us we worked well as he healed mostly with me supplementing.

I remember when a few of the group met my character who was out near a town collecting herbs helping the village with their sick. We all met a second time in the village when Mawu was rushing passed on the way to help people and these people were in her way! But they all proved helpful and we all set off to find the source of the problem and fix it. We found a sore ridden area and lake, which was the water source for the town as well. We had issues killing these creatures (oh Mawu also had a bit of elemental magic under her belt, something she learnt on her travels) but then I wanted to try to clean this lake of the spores. We performed a ritual, a few times in fact, but it didn't do enough for the area and the spores/disease just continued. Sad times not being able to help the village much other than telling them it's the water source that is the issue.

We continued on our travels, think a couple of other friends joined us and one or two left and we had a new dynamic to contend with. For Clockworks this meant a Paladin who was very strong with heals and after a visit to a sewers place, we got split up and Clockworks was no more (he left basically, no death). The player didn't want to retire his guy but felt he had to as he didn't feel happy due to his 'role' in the group having been taken over so he felt useless (something that became a theme later on or at least something that was taken note of so as not to cause any further group issues). In came a Tengu merchant called Tick. Mawu got on well with him as well and found a sort of replacement friend after the sad leaving of her friend Clcokworks. Games were okay after that, wasn't quite the same with the Paladin in our team but was still good.

Then one day we were visiting a castle/keep type place. There were guards about but they were sleeping. The room was barred and we were able to question someone in a nearby room. We thought they might have been a guard but realised they could be a prisoner due to the locking of the door (wrong side basically). So I knew we had to talk to him to find out what's going on.
Now as players, some people were a bit gun-ho but we were okay, I was all set to be diplomatic (as it was something I was good at, both player and character).
Then our Paladin decides to walk in (okay the guy has an Orcish appearance, more Half-Orc who was also 'asleep' in bed) and plonks his hammer on top of the guys chest so he can't move. Our Tengu friend backs him up and stands at the foot of the bed in case he's needed, but more to follow the Paladin's actions (assuming they were good ones). Paladin starts threatening this guy asking for information, who doesn't really give it (can't blame him really to be fair). Mawu steps into the room and thinking this is wrong and tries to be rational, calm and basically actually nice to this Half-Orc to find out what he knows.

I, as a player, know that generally if you speak to someone in their native language, it's a higher form of respect (not the typical, lets shout to be understood rubbish).

So I tell our DM I want to talk to this Half-Orc in Orcish (she knew it!) to gain his respect and apologise about my friends etc etc <insert nice things to say here>. Well, the Paladin player and the one that barred the door to the guards area started loudly piping up, in player words along the line of, "Don't do that you'll provoke him". Now, considering he's already had a hammer to the chest whilst resting, I doubt speaking nicely in a language he potentially knows will make him any more angry, right? Well I was not impressed by the attitude but my DM was okay with it and I tried. Turned out the guy didn't know Orcish, but he did at least speak nicely and was a bit calmer after that. I as a player, however, absolutely hated that moment as not only did I come up with what I thought was a sensible idea and something my character would have done (not just doing something because it was 'cool') but I was gunned down rather loudly by a couple of arsehole (sorry but they were) players like that.

After that it put me right off of the game. I went really quiet after this (I'm a quiet person as it is, esp. in a group, this made things worse just as I was coming outta my shell effectively) and fun was gone.

The attitudes of the players got worse as games went on, and it soon dissolved.

Campaign over Mawu went on to do no more and has entered the ranks of the DMs pets apparently (as he as just informed me!). Very sad as she was a great character to have and suited me very well.

My last DnD 4th character was a short lived one, which I'll brief you on below

After this I had a Warden called K-Tah (Ker-TA not Ker-TaR), big brutish lady (Orc I think) and the name came from a Klingon name generating site as it was very appropriate for the character to be that style of person. As the elemental magics of Mawu interested me, I ventured at other classes so got drawn to the Warden. She was protective and quite 'tanky' which I enjoyed trying out and bring quite strong too I quite enjoyed this change.

This was only ever a one game with K-Tah and the previous Paladin was DMing it. It was awful, as for one thing, 2 of the players weren't available, so it was just my boyfriend and me. Secondly, the enemy count were not reduced for us two, so it as a pain in the backside to play as it was near impossible to clear just one room of this dungeon and it took AGES. Hideous! Thirdly, and the worst bit for me, was his insistence on taking the piss out of my characters name, pronouncing it basically 'Catarrh'. It really urked me and was not appreciated after the shit he'd already given me as a player.

But, after this point the group no longer played TTRPGs anymore.

But now we move on to the next chapter where things get sooo much better!

See you next post, folks!

Lady RPP x

Pal Pool - A Character Creation. (First Campaign Character!) Part 1

So my next character to create was going to last me a lot longer. So it had to be something I could play well, who possibly was more like me (mentally) therefore being easier to play, but still enjoyable a concept to enjoy. I knew the game would involve actual role-play, rather than being more combat focused like before, so I wanted to 'play it safe' with something more similar in personality to me, to make my life easier (still early days of TTRPGs after all!).

For many years I've had an interest in Druids/Pagans/New Age (my gemstone collection is verging on the obsessive) and similar things so I took a look at the Druid class that DnD 4th presented to me. I liked it quite a lot and instantly became intrigued with the Wild Shape feature and it's possibilities. I got onto the idea of a wolf theme with the druid, and someone who might have been a 'wolf shaman' style concept. I designed her to be a herbalist as well, someone who could heal others and the land as well as have this feral side too. She also had a companion wolf. As you'd have guessed, yes I went with a female character! Mawu the Nomadic Herbalist, Mawu being my Tauren Druid on World of Warcraft that I named her after. When Mawu was in beast form, she was named Aja. Her companion was called Maisha.

Then the idea of having a back-story came into play. So I wrote one, one which came out as an actual written story rather than a description of what the character was like. I was even inspired at one point to continue the story as the character developed from childhood to adulthood. The back-story begins even before her birth... Oh and P.S, sorry for it being badly written!

Backstory

Mother – Mirabella (Druid)

Father – Sam (Shaman)

Grandmother (Mother's side) – Daisy (Druid)

Grandfather (Mother's side) – Posco (Bard)

Grandmother (Father's side) – Eida (Shaman)

Grandfather (Father's side) – Corrin (Shaman)

“Moma... Popa, I have some news...”

Mirabella sat on the bench outside her home, watching her mother Daisy collect herbs from the side of the river. Sam, her husband, sat beside her, holding her hand. Posco, her father, who was sat by his wife and playing his flute, stopped and looked up at his daughter. 

“What news, Mira? Do tell! Don't keep us in suspense!” Posco said, smiling. 

Mira grinned, feeling suddenly calmer at telling her parents the great news. 

“I've... I've been blessed by The Green Sister at last... For I am with child!” She looked up at her husband, both grinning at each other. 

Daisy jumped up and cheered joyfully, “Oh! Praise The Wise Woman, for this blessing upon our family!” and ran to her daughter, embracing her in a rib crushing hug. Posco laughed and cheered, and started playing merrily on his flute, dancing a little jig, until his his family turned towards him as he fell into the river. As Posco got out of the river, there was a sudden rustling noise nearby; coming from the forest edge on the other side of the river. Out came a family of wolves who had come out to drink at the river. 

“That female looks to be with child too, Mira” Sam said, pointing to one of the wolves. “Isn't it funny how she is also blessed at the same time as you!” Mira looked across the water and gazed at the female wolf. The wolf looked up at her and for a moment, they shared eye contact. The wolf stared at Mira, then seemed to look at Mira's midriff, as if she too knew that Mira was with child. “Let's get inside and have some peppermint tea and some apple cake, leave the wolves in peace” Daisy said, leading her family inside. No one gave the wolves a second look as they entered the house; too full of joy of the news of the new addition to the family. The wolf family stayed for a while, drinking and playing in the water. The female, however, was still looking towards the house. After some time, she bowed her head, then turned and wondered back into the forest, with the rest of her family following behind.

Mira often found herself sitting on that bench a lot during her pregnancy; staring across the river, watching the wolves coming to drink and play. She would often find herself reminiscing back to when her husband and father, along with many of the men folk in the village, built the house a few years previously. 

She remembered walking along the river with her mother, a path well trod over the years by the villagers, to find that, while they stopped to drink, a group of wolves had come out of the forest. Every being stopped to look at each other, yet knowing that neither was to cause no harm. Daisy communed with the nature spirits to communicate with the wolf pack, to tell them that they meant them no harm and wished to live in harmony. The wolves in unison bowed their heads before coming forward to also drink at the river. One of the pups of the group decided to swim across the river, curious at this new friendship with this new species suddenly near them yet so friendly. Unfortunately, he found he got his foot stuck in some reeds half way across the river. He started panicking, thrashing about wildly and yelping. Before any of the wolves could react, Mira rushed forward jumped into the river to free the pup. She untangle his paw without much difficulty and he turned and licked Mira in the face before swimming back to his mother and family. Mira looked up to see a young female looking straight at her. They looked at each other for a long time before she moved away, to tend to her now sodden pup. Mira swam back to her own mother and, with her aid, got out of the river. Grinning knowingly, Daisy winked at Mira and they began a rather slow walk to the village, arm in arm. Daisy glancing back and giving the wolves a little wave as they went. Mira often wondered what happened that day; what it meant, how it would shape her future. She knew instantly that the wolf with child was the very same mother wolf they met all those years ago...

On a glorious sunny day, in the middle of Spring, Mirabella gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She sat up in bed with her husband, cradling their newborn baby in her arms, both of them gazing lovingly at their new daughter. Daisy slowly opened the door to their room and peeked her head around the door. 

“Is it safe to come in my dear?”.

“Of course, Moma”. 

Daisy and Posco entered the room and stood at the foot of the bed, smiling at the new arrival. 

“Have you thought of a name Mira?” Posco asked.

“We'd like to name her after my Great GrandMoma; we're calling her Mawu” Mirabella said, looking up at her mother and smiling. Daisy beamed, “My GrandMoma was a lovely woman, that name will do her proud! Though if she turns out anything like her, she will be quite the trouble maker! You should also get your rest Mira, put Mawu in her cot and we'll leave you to sleep". 

“Yes Moma, sounds like a good idea” Mira replied, trying to mask a yawn. “Please can someone open a window?”. 

“I will” Sam said, taking Mawu and putting her in her cot. “Thank you again Posco for making this beautiful cot, it is truly wonderful” he said, opening the window. 

“Oh! You're welcome my lad! Was nothing... really!” Posco beamed, blushing slightly.  

 “My my, well look at that! The wolves are out by the river and... Yes! It looks like they have a new pup with them now! Isn't that a wonder?” Sam said, gazing out the window. Daisy smiled. 

“Right ,we'd better leave you to sleep Mira, love”. Daisy said, walking over and kissing her daughter on the forehead. She tucked Mira in and shooed Sam and Posco out of the room. 

“We'll only be in the next room if you need us dear”.

“Thanks, Moma”. Daisy left the room and pulled the door slightly ajar.

Mira fell asleep to the sounds of the wolves playing in the water. The new mother wolf looked over to the house. She grabbed her new pup and took her across the river. She put her on the bench outside the open window, jumped up and looked inside the room. Looking down, she saw the newborn child. This one was the one. She lifted her pup and gently placed her on the window sill. The pup looked at her mother before jumping down into the cot. She stood and sniffed at the child, who was sleeping soundly, before curling up next to Mawu and soon falling asleep. The mother wolf outside curled up on the bench and fell asleep too.

Hours later, Daisy went into the room to check on her daughter. As she tip-toed into the room, she looked over at Mawu and gasped. She couldn't believe the sight she saw. Mawu was laid awake looking at the wolf pup, who in turn was looking at Mawu, with her little tail wagging. As Daisy drew close to the cot, The pup looked up and let out a little bark. Daisy jumped as the head of the pup's mother suddenly appeared in the window. Looking from the mother to the pup, she wasn't sure quite what to make of the situation. She thought it may be true, her dearly awaited Granddaughter was the child she'd heard the elders discussing when she was a child. She dearly wished she remembered more of the tales she was told. Time and impatience had all but eradicated the old tales or prophecies from long ago. Knowing how her daughter would react to seeing this, she gentle lifted the pup into her arms and passed her to the mother. She gave them both a stroke on the head and smiled. The mother took her pup and with one last look down at Mawu; left and returned to the forest. Daisy wasn't sure what this would mean for her family, but knew that it meant something special. Looking down at Mawu, who was starting to fall asleep again, she smiled and softly stroked Mawu's head. 

“May The Green Sister help guide you on your path, my child.” she whispered, before walking out of the room to tell her husband what she had just witnessed.

_______________________

So yeah... backstory not as an adult! I had some ideas for her as a toddler, where she was given a drum by her grandfather and they played together. This caused her to go into this odd trance and her eyes changed, looking more wolf-like. 

She'd later start being able to change into a wolf cub and going out with the wolf pup from her birth. As she got older, she got into arguments with her father over what she did, so she did it more, spending more time with her wolf family. This was how she was given the name Aja whilst in wolf form. 

I think as she reached adulthood, a sickness affected the village and her mother passed away and grandmother got sick. She was about to learn some herbalism tricks and tips from the wolf pack and was able to help the village, sadly too late for her mother. 

So she was this nomadic druid who would later travel around with her wolf companion and able to treat ills of peoples and the land. She did also make a pilgrimage to the original forest to meet back at the pack where he wolf companion would find a mate, with Mawu eventually traveling with the cub. So it was quite a strong generational thing happening which seemed kinda cool. 

I believe that covers her background, I shall do a separate post for my playing her and how that went! 

See you in Part 2

Lady RPP x

Pal Pool - A Character Creation (My First One Ever)

My first character I ever created was for DnD 4th Edition, way back in January 2013 (nearly 2 years ago now, eeep!!). He was an Eladrin Rogue called Filou Coquin or Quin for a nickname. As a female player, I wasn't really fussed about genders for my characters; I had a concept, an idea that I liked, and went with whatever suited. I don't remember a great deal about him as playing him, but he was the sort of rogue that was stealthy, nimble, pick-pocking and used a lot of the shadow abilities that the class had access to. The Eladrin ability to Fey Step suited this greatly and I kind of went along with it for building that idea into a character. In recent months I have been playing League of Legends and now I can liken the character to Zed, with his ability to move through the shadows. At the time I didn't play LoL so goodness knows where the character came from!

I did enjoyed playing him with the group I was part of then, but whenever roleplay kicked it (sadly not often with DnD 4th, but that's another post!) there was a mild difficulty with thinking as an evil male (totally not either of those things in real life).

I have found his character background and wanted to share it here:

 Character Background

 First Name: Filou

Surname: Coquin

Nickname (known on the streets as): Quin

Favoured Weaponry: Scimitar and/or Dagger

Quin never knew his parents. He was the second of unexpected twins. His sister, the first born, was beautiful and bright; he on the other hand, was dark haired and had an evil air about him. Their mother only ever expected one child to be born that day, she recoiled in horror at the sight of him, fearing the worst for his future.

Being a poor family she could not afford to keep both twins, so her husband took him away and sold him on the streets to a traveling gypsy.

Under the guidance of his new family, Quin learnt many tricks and was found to be quite adept at being light fingered and nimble on his feet, he was quite popular in fact at being able to pocket a few extra silver while folks were being entertained and distracted by the gypsies.

One day, as a young man of 12, he had an unfortunate incident where he pick-pocketed the wrong man.

This man turned out to be a Nobleman, at least he was in the public eye. In fact, he was actually one of the highest order of Bleak Disciple Assassins there was, and he had come to investigate the Gypsies as some of his Disciples had visited for some light entertainment and returned with a lot less money than they should have done; he was far from impressed.

He caught this young scamp red handed that day. Turning swiftly on his foot, he grabbed Quin by the wrist and gave him such a glare, Quin should have been scared. However, the Nobleman was quite taken aback by the steely look he received in return and promptly let go of Quin. The Nobleman let the lad run off, but was intrigued by him. He soon realised what was taken from him – a special coin from his Guild, identifying him for what and who he truly was, with a grin he walked off...

Later that night, Quin awoke to find chaos in camp; there was screaming comign from all directions. As he wondered about the camp, he saw why – there were a few dead bodies about. He ran back to his tent and found a bloody dagger beside his bed, pinning a note down on top of a bloodied piece of white cloth. The note simply read “You are one of us now, we will contact you again in due course”. Dagger in hand, he turned to be greeted by 2 burly guards. Seeing him with the dagger in his hand they could only assume one thing. He was prompted taken away and thrown into the dungeons.

He spent 2 years in prison, mulling over the mysterious coin. Until one day he received a package. It contained a feather inside a cloth – the same style of cloth he found that day back at the Gypsy camp. Upon inspection, he realised the feather actually contained a long thin metal pin, ideal for lock picking...

That night, whilst the night was at it's darkest, he broke out of prison and skulked off into the night. As he got passed the gateway, he heard a voice and then it went black – he'd been knocked out.

Hours later he awoke to find himself in a dark room, with muttering voices around him. He knew it was them, The Bleak Disciples, the ones that ransacked the Gypsy camp and killed those people. As he stood, a dagger was thrown on the floor at his feet. He remembered this weapon. The simple curved blade with the leather strapped handle. Light, nimble and swift – much like himself. A man stepped forward out of the darkness and spoke “You are my apprentice now. You will learn our ways and learn quickly. If you fail, you will die. Make me proud and I can see you going far in our Guild”.

Quin then spent 10 years learning their ways, discovering his strengths in his abilities originally learnt with the Gypsies – his ability to steal but remain unseen, unheard, unknown. He also learnt to manipulate the shadows to cause death to his victims in a swift and silent manner. He became a deadly opponent. He became ever brooding and relished in the dark shadows with his new found abilities. His Master favoured a Scimitar, so along with the Dagger given as an initiation token, Quin also favoured the Scimitar to deadly effect.

The guild favoured his skills and used him as an Infiltrator – sending him out to gather information from their enemies and often collecting items to sell on the black market.

One of the members of the Guild was jealous of this new, young man that had joined their ranks. He started a rumour about a particularly difficult task to collect some information from one of their biggest enemies. Quin jumped at the chance to prove how good he was.

Unfortunately Quin was caught, yet he was suspicious at how easy it was to get in and collect the goods. He knew he was set up, but never knew who from.

He was immediately thrown into jail. Yet he soon found himself one of the better off. He got fresh clothing, good food and given space with a decent bed – or at least a bed, rather than a cloth on the floor. After a few weeks, he soon found out why – he overheard guards gossiping one night and they discussed how they only wanted to keep him healthy and well because of what he found out and what he could ultimately do for them – they too wanted information about The Merchant Navy he infiltrated. He could also give information about the Guild but he vowed never to tell – even if one of them had back-stabbed him.

After a few months he was released under one condition – to collect more information about the group on his travels. He also vowed to himself to discover the truth about who betrayed him. Hoping one day to meet the unfortunate Guild member so he could take his revenge.

_______

The game started out where the group had all been taken and were part of a prison, where they would eventually get a chance to escape... but only after combat in an arena. Quin stayed in the shadows, choosing to stay up high to watch what was going on from the shadows. The group eventually got talking and events lead to them fighting and there being a breakout. So we had to run for it. A chase scene followed where we were on dinosaurs (yes really!). It was a lot of fun though and really well done by our DM! I don't remember much after that scene, only a room with a chasm in it which I believe Quin managed to get across fairly easily with his shadowy nimbleness.

My times with Quin were short however, as a new campaign idea came in and another character was to be created. One that had quite an impact on my TTRPG times since...

But that's for the next post ;)

Lady RPP x

Roll For Initiative - An Introduction

Your group walk into the tavern. It is late at night, but it should be full of people drinking and having a good time. It is empty. Except for the barkeep who is stood behind the bar, cleaning a glass. He looks like a plump man (human), with cropped dark hair and his clothes are stained from what's clearly wine. beer and possibly food. He looks up as you enter and smiles warmly.

"Hello and welcome to my tavern, friend! I see there is a group of you, I'm guessing you're here about the beast that roams the village at night. Many have tried to rid us of our burden, but alas so many have failed. So you think you can do better? Well, you see, the beast looks like a human in the daytime. So it's been rather tricky working out what to do with the beast. But, unfortunately for you, you've rather walked into my trap...".

The man starts to grow larger, his body covers in a thick black fur, his teeth elongate and saliva drips from his new fangs. He looks at you and smiles, only now it looks more sinister than before...

Roll for Initiative.

_________________________________________

Or...
Actually...
Don't...
I am not writing the start of a Play-By-Post game!

But, many of us that play TableTop RPGs (either in person or online) know this scenario all too well.

The familiarity of the tavern beginning...
Or being led into a false sense of security...

Anyway, I digress.

I am a "Roll/Role Player" of such games as Pathfinder, DND 5th and WoD (mostly). I have decided to start a wee blog about my experiences, characters and generally my perspective as a player, rather than from that of a D/GM (I am hoping to dip into this world soon, but otherwise I am firmly in the players camp).

This post is generally just an intro, I will start writing my experiences from when I first started TTRPGs way back when I played in DND 4th Ed (yes, really, I know I know). Hopefully anyone reading these will find them interesting! Not used to writing blogs so apologies for that!

Anyway, I shall start a new post for the beginnings of my TTRPG adventures with all the characters I have played and their stories (and mine for that matter)!

Lady RPP x