Hi Morri! Happy World-Building Wednesday! When you're writing about your D&D Characters in either pre-made campaigns or campaigns designed by a DM, how do you engage with the worlds in which they're set and to what extent do you do your own worldbuilding?
// @crypticpaths
Hi Quentin!!! Thank you for the ask!!!! Especially thank you for asking about my D&D stuff!!! (There is nothing in the world I love talking about more.)
This is going under the cut because I talk a LOT.
But the short answer is: It depends on the campaign, but in all of them I have at least some degree of a collaborative relationship with my DM. (I'm very lucky and have some awesome DMs in my life. Two of them are two of my best friends in the world!)
So, the answer is that it depends on the campaign!!!! Some of the campaigns are pre-written modules, and so they have some pretty strict worldbuilding.
Drakkenheim (Carrion's campaign) is an excellent example of this, because the worldbuilding is literally the entire foundation of the plot and the campaign. So for his game, I will ask my DM if I'm about to break the rules of that setting.
For example, I had originally said that when Carrion was a child he was stuck under the rubble of his home for a few hours before being rescued. However, she told me that anyone who didn't leave within ~2 hours post-meteor died. So, we changed it so that he had been under there about an hour before being found by a group of Silver Order members who were trying to fight their way out of the city, instead of coming in to look for survivors.
It ended up making some really cool ideas that I swear I will someday turn into a vignette thing.
Actually, fun fact about Carrion: Theodore is actually a major campaign NPC. He's the leader of the Silver Order, one of the 5 major factions in the campaign. The DM was kind enough to let me borrow him for my backstory.
However, I have other campaigns that are totally homebrew, and in that case, it's a bit different. A good example is Rook's game, where I have been responsible for creating a non-insignificant portion of the world lore.
When I first joined Rook's campaign, the rest of the party had already been playing for 6 months. As I was messaging the DM about potential characters, I mentioned Rook and a vague overview of his backstory (escaped after having been captured and tortured by a rival pirate captain). The DM excitedly messaged me back to tell me that he had already had the nebulous idea of a pirate villain for the second arc of the campaign.
So we essentially built Wolf (and her crew) together. Zara was entirely my creation. However, their shared backstory was the DM's creation, and was as much a surprise to me as it was to Rook.
I was able to create Rook's father, and the DM slotted him nicely into the ruling council of an already existing elven-majority country on the continent. (He also added a bunch of connections to Purity / the CoE which I didn't know about, but was thrilled about when I found out.)
Creating Val (my temporary character when Rook got kidnapped)'s backstory was similar. I pitched the idea of a tiefling gang in the town where they party would take Rook post-rescue, and the DM was like "Can you read my mind?" As it turns out, canonically that area of the continent had previously been under control of the Hells, so them having a poor opinion of tieflings made perfect sense.
I will say, Rook's game is honestly probably an exception, even among homebrew games, partly because the DM and I have uncannily similar thought processes when it comes to storytelling. The number of times I have accidentally read his mind is much higher than it should be.
Also, I will point out that I have a lot of creative free-reign in that campaign because I often will create homebrew monsters for the DM to use, and will also make combat or other maps for him sometimes. However, in general, that DM is rather collaborative, and enjoys letting us plan things with him. (There's pretty much always at least one thing planned for the future that someone in the group helped scheme up and is hiding from the rest of us.)
Oh. And not only did I name and design 3 different sailing ships (Wolf's, Zara's, and Val's), I also created my own ship combat mechanics from scratch, made stat blocks for all three ships, and made battle maps for each deck of all three ships. All of which took months of work, and is probably my all-time TTRPG magnum opus.
Cyra's game is also homebrew, but the DM is a lot more secretive. So while I did add things to the world, the process is a bit more similar to Carrion's game.
I came up with Cyra's parents, and the fact that they lead a Lighthouse in the wasteland. Cyra and another PC share a connection via Nelne, the leader of the Iron Maw Ravage who used Cyra as a living weapon. (She was the creation of the other player, though.)
I also created Cyra's ex-gf Eris, and gave the DM a few ideas about what her deal might be, but ultimately left it up to him.
I also came up with Cyra's little "mission trip" to Solarion where she met Eris, as well as Rin, the tavern/bar owner who let Cyra and Eris hang around despite her strict no-cultist policy.
Another player and I decided that their PC (a doctor) had been the one to help Cyra out after she arrived in Solarion.
Take some random pieces from a poem (or series of poems) that I've never quite been able to finish.
Ten or twenty years from now,
when someone says my name
Will you think of me the same?
Or have I changed?
***
I want to be remembered,
but I don't know what for.
I don't want to be famous,
but I'd hate to be forgotten.
***
Can someone speak of me fondly,
when I'm gone?
For whichever OC is on your mind right now, where is the place they feel most at home?
// @cryptid-s-wips (from my main)
Hi!!! Thanks for the ask, and Happy Blorbo Blursday!!
Kristopher felt most at home in the stables when he was in Oryn. Sometimes he would literally sleep there rather than go back to the castle. It's where his horse Phillip was, and he adores Phillip, and also, Phillip isn't going to bully him and be an ass, so that automatically makes him 10x better than 99% of the people in Kristopher's life at that point. (Not to mention he's a very pretty horse and just generally adorable.)
After the end of ATQH, he probably feels most at home in Anvia, tbh. Basically wherever Fallon is. <3
This is a semi-unconventional ask, since it’s not about the characters that you’re writing, but what is your favorite DND or ttrpg character to play and why?
// @cryptid-s-wips
NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR ASKING ME ABOUT D&D. This shit is my special interest, and has been for MONTHS.
Okay, okay, buckle your seatbelt. I have a lot to say about this. (Note: the only ttrpg I'm familair with atm is d&d 5e, so just assume everything I say is about that.)
This is going under the cut, because it's about 6 miles long.
My favorite class is rogues by far. They're just so awesome??? Like, not only do they have sneak attack (my beloved), but they also get so many amazing subclasses?? Like, swashbuckler, assassin, arcane trickster are all amazing. (I'm aware this is most definitely biased by my obsession with thief/pirate/etc. characters in writing, but idc. Let me live my dream.) I have at least 4 thief characters out of my 20 or so character concepts.
Aside from rogues I love fighters, because I love stabbing people (IN GAME, I SWEAR). I've yet to play a paladin, but that would also probably be up there because it's a good balance between fighting and magic. (Smite, my beloved.) Also, Oath of Vengeance is such a sexy concept.
I will say that Warlocks have some of the best concept possibilities, though. Just the number of possibilities. Did they sell their soul? Did they ask nicely? Did they have a choice at all? What is their relationship with their patron like? (For example, I have one warlock whose patron possesses them every so often, forcing them to do things they would never agree to do. When they come to, they've received new powers. It should be noted that they didn't ask for the pact at all. But I also have a warlock who has a decent relationship with their patron, and is very happy to have their gift, and uses it to help people.)
Also, it should be known that I have a tiefling obsession. Best race in-game, hands down. Idk, I just love them so much. The horns, the tails, the colored skin, I love it all. (It will come as no surprise that I have both tiefling rogue and tiefling warlock concepts.)
When it comes to my actual characters, I have WAY too many. (The current count for concepts is 20...) The one thing they all have in common is very complicated, always traumatic, backstories. I haven't played most of them (I've only played 3 in campaigns, and one more in a oneshot, but two of those campaigns got cut very short.)
Here's a pic of my character database that I made in notion:
My favorite characters on that list are Laverna (who I've had as a concept for 2 years), Zen (the warlock I mentioned, the one who gets possessed), Alarion (half-drow ranger who started out as a sorcerer concept, but I realized that was Not Right for him.), Avra (shadar-kai assassin rogue!!!), Asra (human fighter with so much shit in her background), Rook (half-elf pirate swashbuckler who makes his debut on Satuday!!!!), Sabe ("what life is there for a warforged with no war?"), Elira (aka Ellie, autistic former gifted kid abjuration wizard with a cat familiar), and the Feylost Bard (wandered out of the woods/feywild with no memories whatsoever. Has a very uncanny valley aura about them.)
Okay, I promise I'll shut up now, but if you want to read more about my characters, I made a post about them all here, which I just updated for this ask. <3
Are there any songs that you've been listening to lately that have particularly inspired your writing? What are they?
(Or, conversely: What are some songs that you will always associate with your WIPS?)
// @cryptid-s-wips
Hi Quentin!! Thanks for the ask!!!
As for songs I'll always associate with my WIP, Ya'aburnee and don't worry, you will will always be the top of that list as Fallon and Kristopher's theme songs.
As for songs that have been recent additions to my writing inspo, well, I recently added Save Me and Stupid Deep to Kristopher's playlist. And slightly less recent, but I added Paper Crown to Fallon's playlist.
Happy STS, Morri! Are there any genres that you absolutely will not write? Why?
// @cryptid-s-wips
Hi Quentin! Thanks for the ask!
I absolutely will not write drama, especially not teen/YA drama. I just find it so boring and annoying 99.9% of the time. Especially because I use writing and reading as an escape from the stress and boredom of real life, so why would I want to write about people being stressed and bored?
Also, in drama, a common trope is miscommunication for drama's sake, which gets old very quickly. And teen drama in particular is often centered around high school, which is a place I have few fond memories of.
So, for those reasons, I do not want to write any kind of real-life drama-based stories.
Probably any kind of hidden injury / whump-adjacent scene. I have a thing for characters almost dying. It just make me happy energetic.
(Speaking of, I keep getting great ideas for this kind of stuff and having nowhere to use it... sigh)
26. Standalone or series, and why?
Both? I'm not sure I have the foresight to write anything more than a duology, but I really admire people who can pull off a longer series and keep it good. (cause that's the hard part.) But at the same time, a book that can stand on it's own, remain self-enclosed, I really like that. A good number of my favorite books of all time have been stand-alones, but that I think about it.
51. Describe the aesthetic of your story _ in 5 sentences or words.
ATQH: A single rose on cold stone, surrounded by fallen petals. The sense of feeling not alone for the first time in... a while. A gentle squeeze of your lover's hand. A ballroom filled with dancers, bathed in gentle light. A big, empty castle that feels very, very lonely.
