Work Text
DM: We all good? Everyone’s ready?
Poppin’Party: Yup!
DM: Cool. Now, I haven’t seen everyone’s character sheets finished, and I don’t think you’ve shown each other either. Everyone knows not to play a bard, so I take it you followed that rule. Kasumi, care to go first?Kasumi: Actually, I did show Arisa, she helped me, ehehe~
Arisa: You weren’t supposed to say that!
Tae & Rimi: Awwwwww
Kasumi: So yeah! I’m playing a half-orc ranger-
Tae: What’s the other half?
Kasumi: I dunno, it just said half-orc!
Tae: Which half of the orc are you playing? The left, or the right?
Saya: I think the other half is usually human. Kinda like when you breed two different breeds of rabbits together, the resulting bunny is half one breed and half the other, yeah?
Arisa: Well duh.
Kasumi: Actually, does the other half have to be human?
DM: I mean, I guess not? Why, do you want to be half something else?
Kasumi: Ooh, I could be a half-halfling half-orc! A halfhalfhalf. Hehe. Oh, but I like my character the way she is…
Rimi: Maybe if she dies you can make a different one?
Kasumi: Good idea! I don’t want this character to die, though, so what if I never get to use my halfhalfhalf?
DM: I’m sure you can use your halfhalfhalf if I do a breather module or something?
Kasumi: What’s that?
Saya: It’s when you do something small in-between main campaign sessions. My siblings and I had Death House run for us a while ago and I got to play a tiefling for the first time! Ako liked that.
Rimi: Oh, I like those! I was considering one, but I wanted to be a halfling more…
Tae: Oh, the demon ones?
Arisa: Part demon, yesDM: Can we get back to Kasumi’s character now?
Kasumi: Oh yeah! Right, I was doing something! So yeah, I’m playing as myself like we agreed, but she’s a half-human half-orc ranger!
Arisa: Rangers are WIS-based when they cast spells, so we had to take some artistic liberties to make Kasumi playable
Saya: What are you implying, Arisa?
Arisa: You’ve. You’ve seen Kasumi, right,
Kasumi: And I picked the Outlander background! Oh yeah, and Arisa said that rangers were underpowered, so DM-san said we can use the Unearthed Arcana supplement to make her better! Wanna see my stats?
DM: Yup!STR 13 (+1)
DEX 14 (+2)
CON 12 (+1)
INT 11 0
WIS 16 (+3)
CHA 14 (+2)DM: Sweet! And you added all the race bonuses and stuff?
Arisa: Yeah. Also yes she insisted on CHA being one of her highest stats. That wasn’t me.
Kasumi: It’s for when we become bards!
Tae: Nice. I hadn’t thought of that.
DM: If anyone hasn’t added their racial bonuses, do that now, ok? More about Kasumi please!
Kasumi: Well my favoured enemy is Monstrosities, which means I’m better at fighting them. I’m also good at travelling in the wilderness, so when you come with me you get a bunch of bonuses like being able to track animals better and foraging more food!
Saya: Isn’t that just in your favoured terrain?
DM: Nah, they fixed that with Unearthed Arcana. Favoured terrain was really underpowered, so it’s all terrain types now
Saya: That would’ve been good to have when Jun played a ranger. Jun abandoned them to play a different character because the ranger just wasn’t as fun. It was really sad, but at least it wasn’t a character death.
DM: Oh damn. Gets like that with little kids though, huh? Is that everything, Kasumi?
Kasumi: I think so…
DM: Tae’s turn then. Go for it, Tae. As I said before you started, this isn’t Adventurer’s League, so you can really express yourself with Chaotic Neutral if you want.Tae: I’m playing a firbolg druid. Firbolgs are cute, and the book said that they’re good druids, so I looked at druids and they can turn into animals. I want to turn into animals!
Kasumi: Ooh, like a bunny?
DM: I don’t think bunnies are in the books, but I’ll allow it once you hit lvl 2 and can wildshape in the first place. Tae, if you want to be a bunny, find or make some custom stats for it. I don’t think they’re quite the same as weasels or anything like that. If you need a hand you can call me, but we’re not doing it right now, ok?
Tae: Ok.
Rimi: I must’ve skipped over them, can you show me what Firbolgs look like please?[The DM opens their copy of Volo’s Guide to Monsters to page 106]Rimi: O-oh… they are kinda cute!
Tae: Right?!? I was looking at D&D character art for inspiration and I saw this one firbolg with pink hair having a tea party. I wanted it.
Kasumi: Valid!
Tae: Also I’m a sailor! The rest of my clan was killed by invading humanoids, and I’m the only one who escaped. I think. I didn’t see anyone else. After that I decided to be a sailor and explore the oceans.
DM: So you’re leaving it open for me?
Tae: What?
DM: So that I can introduce other surviving members of your clan later in the story if I want to?
Tae: I was just saying that I didn’t see anyone else.
DM: Okay, cool. Stats?STR 14 (+2)
DEX 13 (+1)
CON 12 (+1)
INT 14 (+2)
WIS 17 (+3)
CHA 9 (-1)DM: That’s really impressive!
Tae: Arisa helped me as well.
Arisa: O-Tae!
Kasumi: Oh, she helped you too? Awww, Arisa’s being helpful! Assistant Arisa to the rescue![Arisa rolls her eyes. Loudly]Rimi: Saya-chan helped me… I think it’s nice that the experienced players are helping!
Saya: Yeah! Happy to help, Rimi-rin.
Tae: Helphelphelphelphelp. Help-help! Help help helphelp help.
Rimi: You’re right, O-Tae-chan, it’s starting to lose meaning. You kinda sounds like a Pokemon though… cute…
DM: Is that all? Can we see Rimi’s now?
Tae: Yup! Go for it, Rimi-rin!Rimi: Um… I’m playing a lightfoot halfling warlock…
Arisa: Why am I not surprised.
Rimi: I have a criminal background, I was a spy.
Arisa: So Rimi’s the edgy one then? I guess that fits. This is a fantasy game, and Kasumi AND Tae have a high WIS stat, so it works.
Kasumi: Everyone loves some edginess every now and then!
DM: So what patron did you go for?
Rimi: The Great Old One. I’ve been re-reading some Lovecraft recently, and I thought it would be interesting… Is that ok?
DM: Of course!
Kasumi: What’s a patron again?
Rimi: A-as a warlock, I get my magic from a more powerful being, like a demon or fairy, or in my case an eldritch alien!
Tae: Wait, what does “eldritch” mean?
Rimi: It means weird and sinister, sometimes ghostly
Arisa: Apparently it came from the old English or Scottish for "elf", which makes it weird that it's being applied to aliens when there are fey in the game already.
DM: Rimi, can we see your stats now?
Rimi: Sure! Um… let me bring them up for you… STR 14 (+2)
DEX 16 (+3)
CON 8 (-1)
INT 10 0
WIS 13 (+1)
CHA 17 (+3)DM: Awesome!
Kasumi: So why is she a spy?
Rimi: W-well, she longs for knowledge, which is also why she became a warlock, so stealing secrets for pay came pretty naturally to her… Yuri thinks she’s a librarian, and she’s probably worried because she ran away from home to become an adventurer after a really sad job…
Kasumi: So your sister’s canon as well?
Rimi: Yes! Is Aa-chan in your backstory as well?
Kasumi: Yeah, we grew up in a small wandering tribe together!
Saya: Jun and Sana are canon as well, and I’ve vowed to send them what I can spare once a month.
Tae: But they’re not players, why do they need money?
Saya: Because I said so, I feel like it makes it more real. It’s from personal funds, you don’t have to worry about losing your cut.
Tae: Actually that is admirable… Ok!
DM: Speaking of, I believe it’s your turn, Saya?Saya: Alright, so I’m playing a hill dwarf fighter with the guild artisan background. Like I said before, I have Jun and Sana in my backstory, they’re helping my parents run the bakery that’s part of me being a guild artisan.
Tae: Dwarf… do you have a beard?
Saya: Yup! I think it’s cute when lady dwarves have beards, so I have one!
Tae: Maybe I should bring in my Santa beard for you to wear one session…
Saya: Haha, maybe! Hang on, I’ll pull up my stats for you guys.STR 15 (+2)
DEX 14 (+2)
CON 11 0
INT 11 0
WIS 16 (+3)
CHA 13 (+1)DM: Rad! Anything else to add?
Saya: Not really, actually. You ready then, Arisa?Arisa: Yeah sure. I’m playing the cleric, because we need one. I asked Saya if she wanted to, and she said she’d “let me”, so here we are. I’m an aasimar-[giggling]-which means I’m part angel and am guided by a deva.
DM: I’m playing the deva, by the way. I get to control her dreams and send her messages. Oh yeah, Rimi, what’s your relationship with your patron? Do they send you orders and the like as well, or are they oblivious to you? I forgot to ask that earlier
Rimi: I-I think it’d be interesting if I had really weird orders, so if you want to give me those you can…
Arisa: Try not to make them conflict with the rest of the group too much though, ok? I don’t think any of us wants the party to split up.
DM: Yup! Of course. What domain are you?
Arisa: Nature domain.
Kasumi: Because of your bonsai? Wait, is there a god of bonsai??
DM: There is now!
Arisa: O-okay, I guess I’m a cleric to Bon Sai now. Whatever.
DM: Gimme a sec, I’m adding that to my notes now.
Arisa: Y-yeah. Ok.
DM: So what’ve you got in terms of stats?STR 12 (+1)
DEX 13 (+1)
CON 13 (+1)
INT 13 (+1)
WIS 18 (+4)
CHA 11 0DM: Nice nice.
Arisa: That makes ⅘ of us with a +3+ modifier to WIS. Somehow I feel like this isn’t going to be adequately represented, but whatever.
DM: You anticipate antics?
Arisa & Saya: Yup.
Tae: It’s gonna be fun.DM: So how do you guys want to start out?
Kasumi: Can I have recruited everyone to be in my band party?
DM: Sure! But where do you want to be getting your first quest from?
Saya: Well, I’ve done a lot of starting in pubs in small towns, so how about we start by doing tasks for the lord of a city?
Arisa: Actually, we could go with a quest that my deva presented to me if you want.
Saya: You know what? That sounds really neat! Does everyone like that?
Tae: Sounds pretty cool!
Rimi: I think that’s ok…
Kasumi: Yup!
DM: Ok cool, I’ll work on your first quest and get back to you when I can so that we can work out a time!