Group Participation: New Technology

I'm going to try something new here. Using what we know about the background of the Divided States and the game, this will be the post for things that exist in 1899 that don't necessarily have a counterpart in our world. People who add in something that gets used in the game world (at my discretion, but I'm only likely to reject something that will break the fiction or make characters too powerful) will get a 100 XP bonus.

I'll get things rolling.

Cold Lamp / Cold Lantern:  A glass sphere with a golf ball sized spherical piece of wood inside. The wood has had the Continual Light spell cast on it and shines like full daylight (25' radius) permanently; the lantern's body is a thin opaque metal box. The cheaper models ($25 or so) are designed so that lifting the opaque metal box exposes the inner glowing wooden light source and serves as a source of illumiation. More expensive models ($50-$100) have hinged shutters on one or more sides so that the light can be directed like a lantern beam. They're commonly used in mines where open flames could be incredibly dangerous and in homes to avoid the risk of spilled oil and burning the place down. Useless for cooking and heating (they only radiate light, not heat).

Heating Stones:  A pair of pebble-sized stones with a single-use enchantment placed on them:  When submerged in water the stones magically heat up to a gallon of water to boiling in a matter of seconds. Used in cooking, cleaning, or in heating bathwater (among other uses). Popular among adventurers and militaries. Originally a single stone, but the binary system was developed after reports of injuries among people carrying them during inclement weather. $2 for a pack of seven stones (good for making coffee in the morning for a week).

Model Orrery:  A clockwork model of the solar system's Sun and inner planets; used in manually calculating ship navigation when necessary (usually with a slide rule, because using one means the Calculation Engine normally utilized for navigation is broken). Use of a model orrery by a trained navigator adds +5 to Navigation checks. Cheap models can be had for $100 or so; more elaborate ones that account for the larger asteroids and are measured more precisely can cost up to fifteen times as much.

Nutrition Block:  An alchemically improved bullion cube, this 1" cube of supercompressed powdered meat and vitamins can be mixed with a pint of water to make a cold soup that serves as a day's nutritional requirements for an adult under moderate to severe physical strain. Popular with militaries and Etheric transports (especially when used with Heating Stones). Available in several flavors, from the expected beef and chicken to Martian and Venusian domesticated and game meats. 50 cents apiece in stores; $5 for a dozen (either one flavor or a variety pack).

Shunned Circle Stake:  A single-use item; hammering one into the ground triggers a cantrip that repels insects and vermin for twelve hours out of a circle twenty feet across. Extremely popular with adventurers and militaries. Often used as a delousing agent Usually purchased in a bundle of 20 for $75, although remote outposts charge significantly more.

Background: 20 Answers (Tim)

Sooner or later you'll be meeting Nequimayana (the name is my approximation of "carnivore" in Nahuatl). I wrote up 20 answers for him as well, and here they are.

01)Where is your character from?

Nequimayana is an albino green lizardman originally hatched en route from Venus to Earth on an Etheric Transport, whose family came to Earth when his uncle Icuihatl became the ambassador to the United States of America prior to the Civil War (his father Tlamatini and mother Zacayo were also attached to the diplomatic mission; Nequimayana's egg hatched early during the transport before they could get to Earth). He has spent his early life on Earth and eventually traveled to other planets as an Etheric ship captain.

02)  Where did they get their training or learn their skills?
Nequimayana joined the U.S. Army as a specialist in 1862, serving as a combat magician (Evoker) with a rifleman corps. The fourteen years of the Civil War (where he was wounded dozens of times, twice nearly fatally) improved his marksmanship and gave him a taste for vengeance against the CSA; he served briefly with William Tecumseh Sherman and considers his lack of participation in the burning of Atlanta to be a missed opportunity in his life. After the war he became a salvage diver for the US Navy and eventually called in every favor he had stored up over thirteen years of combat to be trained as a navigator, helmsman and pilot in the US Etheric Navy. He retired from service with the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Army (the lowest possible officers' rank) as well as that of Captain in the Etheric Navy.

03)  What is / was their family background?
Nequimayana's parents have been dead for several years (and were given a burial at sea back on Venus); his uncle still serves as a diplomat and interpreter in the American consulate also on Venus. He has no children and has never married.

04)  What is their view of magic use and magic users?
As a magic user, Nequimayana views learned arcane magic as the most important aspect of his personality and life (he's a wizard first, then a lizardman, then an American veteran of the Etheric Navy, then a veteran of the Army, and finally a Venusian by heritage if not by personal history).

05)  What is their view of the six major powers occupying the continental United States (the USA, the CSA, the 500 Nations, Peachtree, La Republica de Tejas and Deseret?)
He is fascinated by the alchemical and technological wonders that Peachtree has developed, and views himself as a patriotic American-by-adoption (he was not the first lizardman to gain American citizenship, but he was among the first several hundred). Tejas is too sparse, dry and rural to keep his interest for a particularly long time, as is Deseret (which is a client state to the successfully treasonous nation of the CSA). He does like that Tejas was captured from the Confederacy and then formed its own nation; being something of a renegade among his own people he admires institutions that break away from other ones when they're embarrassing the CSA. He admires the 500 Nations' ability to work magic without the technological crutches of spellbooks and focus objects but much prefers town and city life to sleeping under the stars and wandering nomadically.

06)  Have they been to another planet yet? Do they want to go some day?
After the Civil War, Nequimayana saved his salvage diving pay (including shares in recovered wrecks that had gold, silver and alchemically important metals) to purchase and refit a decomissioned USEN gunboat. It has been renamed the Gibbous Moon and he uses it as a freight hauler to deliver goods, mail, packages, diplomatic and military dispatches and books to Venus and Mars (and passengers from time to time, although he prefers to travel alone). Although he has traveled to the other planets (and has been to Mercury several times, disliking it intensely) as well as Ceres and other large asteroids, Nequimayana finds himself more comfortable and at ease traveling through the void rather than staying on a planet for longer than a couple of months.

07)  Your character finds $500 on the ground (a windfall equal to a three months' wages for a working class laborer). There's no way to tell who it belongs to. What do they do with the money? Does this answer change if they find it by themselves or in the group?
If he finds it by himself, it's probably going to be spent keeping the Gibbous Moon in spaceworthy shape. If he finds it with a group, he'd divide it up equally among everyone (and spend his share on the Gibbous Moon).

08)  What religion (if any) does your character follow, and how fervently?
Nequimayana has a small triptych icon of the Smith (in his guises of the Smith, the Alchemist and the Clockmaker) riveted to the bulkhead near the Etheric Propeller and one of the Crone on his instrument panel. Like all sailors, he's very superstitious about some things and keeps a model of the inner solar system in his cabin where he can monitor what the phases of the moons are on Mars and the sole moon on Earth.

09)  What's one of their bad habits? How about a good habit?
Nequimayana is extremely private and solitary, disdaining the company of others for the most part. He retains a simmering hatred for the CSA and considers everyone living there who was old enough to partake in the Civil War an unpunished traitor. As for the good habit, he keeps the Gibbous Moon extraordinarily well-maintained, not entirely because it's the only thing keeping him alive during the several-weeks-long trips to other planets.

10)  What does your character do with their leisure time?
Nequimayana enjoys cooking, reading and attending vaudeville performances in his free time, as well as Wild West shows, circuses, and other entertainment that's generally considered lowbrow. He refuses to attend ones that feature “blackface” comedy, stemming entirely from his distaste for the CSA (thankfully, that style of comedy is dying out in the USA because nobody likes the idea of Peachtree getting offended with them and witholding new miracles).

11)  What would your character order at a restaurant? Does this answer change if someone else is paying for the meal?
If he's buying, beef (or chicken) stew and a half loaf of bread with coffee, lemonade (he got a taste for both beverages while serving in the Etheric Navy) and cake or pie for dessert. If someone else is buying, he tends to upgrade the stew to beefsteak or fried chicken. If he's at a diplomatic function he just has whatever is being served, and knows enough etiquette to not humiliate himself or his hosts (another remnant of his officer training as well as his family's diplomatic service). He's fond of sweet liqueurs or wine after dinner.

12)  Does your character have any bias against the Skaven, the Red or Green Lizardmen, against Tripod Martians (or against humans, if they're a nonhuman character)? Does your character have any prejudices against other humans if they are a human?
Nequimayana has known humans extensively in his military service and is only prejudiced or biased against the Confederacy and Deseret; otherwise he likes humans perfectly well, though he has no close friendships with any of them. He's found the Skaven fascinating because they're a magically created race and has irritated and offended several of them by asking questions about their history. He finds the tripod Martians to be homebound to an extent he can't really understand but doesn't have a problem with that.

13)  Where do they live when not adventuring? Is it just a rented room somewhere or an actual home?
Nequimayana tends to live on the Gibbous Moon when that's an option and will rent a hotel room when it isn't. One thing he does not miss from his Army days is sleeping out in the open during bad weather but he can still do it if he needs to.

14)  How does your character tend to dress when out in the field having adventures? Are their "town clothes" different from this?
Nequimayana wears civilian clothes cut to resemble his old Etheric Navy service uniform without duplicating it, black trousers with a dark green stripe on the sides of the legs and a dark green tunic and cap.

15)  How does your character pack for travel or for going out into the field for adventuring?
Spellbooks, his flintlock pistol (focus weapon), powder horn and ammunition, officers' sword (rapier), spare suit of clothes, field kit (he still has his old mess kit from the Etheric Navy), possibles bag containing miscellaneous items, bedroll, the inevitable fifty feet of rope, spyglass, burning glass, and usually a Dime Novel or two.

16)  What is your character's education level? (It is presumed that all PCs will be literate in English without a reason for that in the back story.)
Nequimayana is an educated spellcaster who graduated from West Point's Arcane Studies program as well as a former officer in the US Army and US Etheric Navy. He reads Solar Geographic and several arcane and scientific journals to stay informed on developments but has not contributed any new research to any of them. He knows enough about Calculation Engines to use them but not to program anything new on them.

17)  What is your character afraid of?
The alternative to boredom is disaster when traveling between planets. He's not particularly worried about mechanical failure, but pirate raids or Etheric monster attacks are something he quietly dreads.

18)  Does your character owe a significant favor to anyone? Does anyone owe them a significant favor?
He used up all his earlier favors getting to a position where he could fly his own Etheric Transport, and doesn't currently owe anyone much of a favor past the occasional meal or deadhead flight. He has given cash contributions to veterans' hospitals and bills them at or slightly below cost to ship materials anywhere.

19)  What does your character want to get out of adventuring? What to they expect to get out if it? What are they afraid could happen while out on adventures?
Nequimayana doesn't adventure any more, but when he did he was focused on buying the Gibbous Moon and turning it into a profitable solo business venture.

20)  What, if anything, does your character consider to be a cause worth dying for? What would they see as a good death?
He viewed the saving of the Union as a cause worth fighting, killing, and dying for but did not die. He also did not succeed (and his knowledge of how the Native American populations were treated by the Americans has led him to view their secession and control of the Pacific Northwest and upper Northwest as a necessary evil; he reserves his ire almost entirely for the CSA / Deseret secessionists). When Nequimayana ponders his own death, he thinks that he will probably load up the Gibbous Moon with as much water and food as it can carry and fly out into the endless dark, past the asteroid belt and the other planets, and simply look at everything that he can in the void until his heart stops.

Bonus question #21:  What advice would you give your character if you could? 
You need to become part of the worlds again, not merely travel between them.

Background: Lizardmen

One of the prominent sapient races of the Solar system, lizardmen are found on both Venus and Mars. On Mars they're a nomadic, desert-roaming species that follows animals to hunt and plants to gather. While the tripod Martians tend agricultural settlements along the canals of the red planet or build cities at the pyramids where canals meet, the lizardmen rove over the deserts going from oasis to oasis in a cyclical pattern, each tribal band moving at its own pace and over its own pattern to keep from consuming all the resources of the barren desert world. The Bedouin tribes on Earth are a very rough parallel to the red lizardmen and their society. The Native Americans in the 500 Nations tend to accept lizardmen as plains nomads, hunters and gatherers with different skins, seeing the similarities more than the differences. In more settled areas, opinions differ from place to place--Tejas is known for having several enclaves of red lizardmen (the scrubland, harsh as it is, is still slightly more forgiving than the Martian desert). The USA and Peachtree offer full citizenship to lizardmen, just as they do to other immigrants. There are tiered civil rights in the CSA and lizardmen are allowed the second-highest selection of rights--they can own property but not vote, and are allowed to have children if they desire. In Deseret, they're viewed as soulless but not worth provoking (the one attempt to issue a bounty on lizardman skins resulted in the total loss of the raiding party sent out against them). Citizenship in the nation of Deseret is not available for lizardmen characters.

Skirmishes between tribes of lizardmen on Mars are relatively uncommon, but during drought years fights for resources are not unknown; similarly, the cities and farms the tripod Martians tend are generally left alone by the lizardmen although trade is frequent between the nomadic lizardmen (who tend domesticated livestock while roaming) and the tripods (who grow crops in the bands of fertile soil on the sides of the canals).

Although they currently do not have any spacefaring capabilities, there are genetically identical lizardmen on Venus, with green skins instead of red. Each type is capable of interbreeding with the other type of lizardman; the red or green females lay a single egg which hatches after four months or so. Half the time a green lizardman is born from a union between the two types, and half the time a red one is hatched. Because both types of lizardmen can interbreed and produce a fertile offspring, they don't consider the other color of lizardman to be a different species or race (possibly the part of their psychological makeup most confusing to human observers). Lizardmen born on Earth have been green or red; some Scientific Naturalists expect that a blue or brown skin tone will develop after enough generations on Earth but so far none have been observed. Occasionally (one in several hundred births) an albino lizardman is born--in game terms they are completely identical to red or green ones but have scales of a green so pale it's almost white and belly scales that are a pale yellow that's also nearly completely white.

Both the red and green lizardmen possess little in the way of advanced technology; the need to keep moving on the Martian deserts to keep from exhausting resources that replenish slowly kept them from making cities, and cities tend to lead to technological developments (the metalworkers that lizardmen do have tend to be seen as eccentric, choosing to stay at a trading post or caravan meeting place to work metal rather than walk the planet with their tribes). After making contact with humans from Earth, both red and green lizardmen have taken to gunpowder weapons enthusiastically; hunters used to bows, slings or atl-atls found the range, accuracy and power of a musket or rifle to be extremely desirable. A typical green lizardman of Venus can be seen here bearing a wood-and-stone weapon and bronze shield and here with a bronze axe and shield; lizardmen also have techniques to make shields out of the shells or bones of Martian animals and monsters; similar to the buffalo-skull shields used by Native Americans in the real world, there are some bone or shell shields capable of deflecting rifle bullets.

Magic use has meant the difference between survival and death for both individual lizardmen on Mars and their tribes; diviners capable of finding food and water in the desert and priests capable of purifying stagnant or contaminated water are respected members of the community and their input tends to be sought on important matters. War chiefs (fighters and rangers) are also valued for their ability to hunt and to protect the bands of lizardmen from the myriad dangers in the Martian desert.

On Venus, the different environment led to a different society developing. The green lizardmen also work with wood, stone, bronze and leathers to build cities (I'm using Aztecs as a rough template for their cities and society without the emphasis on hundreds of religious sacrifices). The lizardmen cities on Venus tend to have high stone walls surrounding them with entry and exit via stone bridges; frequent monster attacks in the past presumably led to this construction but generally now the lizardmen are left alone by the jungle-dwelling Jaguar Men and the cave-dwelling Chiropterans (bat people).

Just as it is with humans, occasionally a lizardman (from Venus or Mars or born on Earth) doesn't fit in with the usual expectations their society has for them and they

House rule: 20 Answers

If you've submitted your 20 answers, award your character 500 XP for participation.

If you haven't submitted your 20 answers yet, you will get 500 XP when you do.

Background: 20 Answers (Tom)

With Tom's permission, I'm posting the 20 answers he wrote to the 20 questions that I wrote, as well as his background for his character.

------

Backstory

Colin Dust never knew his parents, and was raised in the Boston Asylum for Orphans. He remembers very little about the day-to-day life, but was treated well by the staff, who tried hard but had very few resources. It was absolutely not a stereotypical “origin story” orphanage, there was no abuse, people were kind and well-meaning and competent, but they didn’t pay much attention to each individual child. Colin doesn’t have a dark past, or any anger about being an orphan, and has no interest in avenging anyone.

Colin was constantly reading when he was young, mostly because that was one of the only things to do in the orphanage. He found he was especially interested in nature, and by the age of 8 or 9 had read every book about nature available at the orphanage. After he spent several months pestering them, the orphanage staff let Colin start walking to the local branch library, where he spent hours reading and re-reading everything he could about nature.

The instant that began Colin’s career as a spacefaring adventurer was a small one. One day when he was 13, he noticed a flyer on the library’s message board. It advertised a special exhibition at the Natural History Museum including some of the amazing creatures recently found on Mars and Venus. Colin immediately grabbed the flyer and rushed home to begin making a case to be allowed to go to the exhibition. To this day, Colin keeps that flyer (now a bit burnt, held together mostly by tape) in a secret pocket in his hat.

It took several weeks of petitioning and a hunger strike, but Colin eventually managed to secure permission to go to the museum. His memory of the exhibition itself is a blur. He remembers wonder, and joy, and the animals themselves, but nothing more specific. But when he walked out the door, Colin distinctly remembers looking up at the sky and knowing where he wanted to be.

Colin returned to the orphanage and began planning, stealing extra food, clothes and anything else he could, and hiding it in the shelves of the library during his daily trips. Instead of reading about natural history in the library, he would scour the news of any ships leaving Boston, looking for a likely target. Within a few weeks, he was ready. He walked to the library as usual, took his bag out of its hiding space, and immediately ran to the docks, where he stowed away to leave his home planet.

He was of course caught, as stowaways generally are. He was allowed to stay and work on the ship, though he would be kicked off the second they landed on Mars. As a youth wandering space alone, though, Colin was sure to get into a scrape quickly, and he did during his first trip to Mars. Having initially seen a stuffed version of the Martian Desert Devil (a kind of lizard) at the museum on Earth, he was extremely anxious to see one in person—he was captivated by the similarities between Martian monitors and terran dinosaurs and wanted to know if there was some common origin, and how they moved. His curiosity led him to a severely ill-advised attempt—at 14 years of age—to wander from the spaceport alone into the deep Martian desert in search of Desert Devils. He was lost within hours and had begun to suffer from dehydration by the next morning. Being utterly lost and at wit’s end, he decided at least he’d see try to see a Desert Devil before he died, and began walking in widening circles, looking for their tracks. 

On the third day he found the Devils. Or rather, they found him, and they were not happy about him being there. They chased Colin up the nearest martian cactus, despite the spikes, and he spent a fair portion of the next day bleeding and dehydrating, sitting on top of a giant cactus surrounded by angry Desert Devils. 

Colin was eventually rescued by a Martian lizard man named Metzpil, who scared off the lizards and begin nursing the near-death teenager back to health. Watching Metzpil interact with the world around him was a revelation for Colin—Metzpil understood nature in a way the books he had read in childhood didn’t mention and likely couldn’t understand, and could make things happen by his relationship with the natural world. He seemed able to talk to animals and plants. After a few halting days, Colin began to pick up the rudiments of the Druidic language, and began asking Metzpil questions about everything. Eventually, he became a de-facto apprentice to Metzpil, and began learning the ways of the druid. 

Colin spent the next 5 years learning everything he could about nature on mars, and about druidic magic. After 5 years, Metzpil gave Colin a choice: He could stay and master the Martian desert, and become a student and guardian of Mars’ natural environment like Metzpil. Or he could leave Mars to see what the wider universe had to offer. Metzpil likely expected that to be a hard decision, but Colin hadn’t forgotten about his childhood interest in the animals of Venus, and leapt at the chance to get back on a spaceship and see them in person. He returned to the spaceport, and using his expertise with Martian wildlife, talked his way onto a ship heading to Venus. That transporter was carrying not only durable goods, but a small group tasked with attempting to photograph the Venusian jungles. 

Colin’s original intent was to simply leave the group as soon as they landed, and go off in search of another Druid to apprentice with. But during the voyage between Mars and Venus, Colin began talking with their photographer, and became interested in the science behind the camera’s optics. He decided to accompany the group on their ill-fated expedition into the deepest reaches of the Venusian jungle. The rest of the group did NOT last long—eyeball cobras killed the last of them 6 days after they left the spaceport. Colin survived, leaning on his druidic understanding of the natural world and his survival abilities. He took the camera from the now-eyeball-less photographer, figured out how to work it, and made his first near-honest paycheck by selling his shots of the Venusian jungle to various publications.

Colin spent the next 4 years on Venus, making a careful study of the plants and animals there and trying to find other druids he could learn from. He then once again felt the lure of space, and left Venus. He spent the next 5 years wandering between the planets, contacting the local druids in each place and working to understand their unique perspectives based on the natural world around them. This pattern would repeat over the next several years as he made his way around the solar system, working as a deckhand at times, and generally being raised by the crews of ships. He let the wind blow him, going from station to station, from ship to ship, talking to the crews, hearing their stories of amazing plants, creatures, and places, and then trying to go there to see them himself. He continued to randomly hop from planet to planet, seeking out the weirdest new animals and plants as they were discovered, and trying to take their pictures. He always stowed away, and is to this day proud of the fact that he has never had a ticket for any starship he has traveled on.

Now 28, Colin has seen more of the universe’s creatures than most people ever will, and has one of them for a best friend.

01)  Where is your character from?

        Originally from Boston, but with no real roots there. Colin considers himself a citizen of the galaxy and a spacer first, an earthling second, and human dead last. His home is on the various stations and ships traversing between the planets, and the wild places on the planets themselves.

02)  Where did they get their training or learn their skills?

        Colin started with book learning about nature, which led him into space. He was stranded on a trip to Mars, and was rescued by a Martian lizard druid named Metzpil, who trained him in the ways of nature and in druidic magic. He would eventually self-teach photography in the jungles of Venus.

03)  What is / was their family background?

        Colin is an orphan. He never knew his parents and doesn’t really care. He had a good upbringing in the orphanage.

04)  What is their view of magic use and magic users?

As a Druid/Scientific Naturalist, Colin believes there’s an underlying natural force of selection, which is both scientific and magical at the same time. There is an overt quasi-magical power of nature, and an underlying structure of natural law, that applies across all planets, organisms and ecosystems. Humans express and study that magic through the science they have developed by examining the natural law, but that just defines the window being looked through—the actual magic of nature is outside of scientific inquiry and rejects study, it simply is, and exists everywhere. Druidic study teaches one to recognize the natural order and the magic of living things, and allows a druid to tap into the magic of nature. A combination of scientific study and contemplation allow a druid to harness the power of nature itself to alter reality. 

Colin finds arcane magic fascinating. He is interested in how magic interacts with the natural forces of selection, especially how it manifests in animals, and how in some cases “natural" creatures have seemingly arcane magical powers.

Colin recognizes the existince of divine magic and recognizes that the way it is channelled is very similar to druidic magic. He finds the similarities between divine and druidic magic to be interesting but he finds divine magic too focused on “people” and too limited. He wonders if Divine power comes from Natural magic, or vice versa. 

05)  What is their view of the six major powers occupying the continental United States (the USA, the CSA, the 500 Nations, Peachtree, La Republica de Tejas and Deseret?)

Colin has very little interest in terrestrial events, and even less in the actions of governments. He cares more about what they do with nature than with people. He would be offended by large scale environmental damage or slavery (he finds the slavery of animals upsetting but knows he has to deal with it) and would fight to repair it, but otherwise pays almost no attention to politics.

06)  Have they been to another planet yet? Do they want to go some day?

Colin has been to Mars and Venus and is somewhat known at most space stations because he helps sailors write home, and takes their pictures. He knows the environments and the ecosystems of both planets very well, and is familiar with the culture of the space stations, having bounced around them for the past 15 years or so.

07)  Your character finds $500 on the ground (a windfall equal to a three months' wages for a working class laborer). There's no way to tell who it belongs to. What do they do with the money? Does this answer change if they find it by themselves or in the group?

Money doesn’t have much use in the wild, and Colin generally doesn’t need it to get TO the wild either, so he has very little use for money. He generally has money because his photographs are valuable, but he spends it on impulse, tends to give it away, etc. Money just isn’t something he thinks about, he managed without it for most of his life, and now that he has it, he finds it amusing and useless and utterly unnatural. So in short, he’d probably waste it.

08)  What religion (if any) does your character follow, and how fervently?

See above for basic cosmology. 

I can see him explaining it like this: “When most people see a plant or animal, they see a thing, an object, not a subject. That’s their first mistake. Everything natural is part of the whole system, and none of it is senseless or static. It’s all connected, is all alive and aware, and it’s all part of the power that underlies everything. When you look at a tree, you look at it through science alone and you only see a tree. When I look at a tree, I see the evolutionary selection that made it, the ecosystem it lives in, and most importantly, and hardest to see, the power of nature flowing through it, flowing through its selection over the past billion years, flowing through the environment around it. It’s like I basically see one more color and it’s in everything. And because i can see in that color, I can draw in that color too"

09)  What's one of their bad habits? How about a good habit?

Colin tends to be detached and more interested in the overall span of the natural world than in worldly events. He can be oblivious, especially to politics and religion. Although normally pretty steady and considered, Colin will also follow his curiosity into dangerous situations when animals are involved, especially very weird ones.

Since Colin doesn’t consider himself “From anywhere” he tends to get along with most people, providing they’re kind to animals and nature in general. He has no reference for the big sociopolitical problems of the day, so he tends to stay out of the fray.

10)  What does your character do with their leisure time?

Colin draws avidly (mostly animals and plants). Taking pictures is extremely time consuming so he does that more rarely, but really enjoys it when he’s in a situation that works for photography. He’s lousy at cards, which his opponents love, especially since he’s also terrible with money. He also spends time with his lizard, teaching him tricks and basically hanging out.

11)  What would your character order at a restaurant? Does this answer change if someone else is paying for the meal?

Colin is a vegetarian whenever possible. He only kills animals for food if lives are in danger. But he feeds Link meat, and sees no conflict between those items—Link NEEDS meat but Colin does not.

12)  Does your character have any bias against the Skaven, the Red or Green Lizardmen, against Tripod Martians (or against humans, if they're a nonhuman character)? Does your character have any prejudices against other humans if they are a human?

Colin finds Skaven, Red and Green lizard men and Tripod martians to be interesting parts of the whole Natural order. He can be a bit curious, and may ask uncomfortable or socially inappropriate questions about their morphology and environment, but he really enjoys being around them and understanding their differences. He’s especially fond of Martian Red Lizardmen.

13)  Where do they live when not adventuring? Is it just a rented room somewhere or an actual home?

Colin is a drifter and a stowaway. On-planet, he’s always more comfortable out of doors, and ideally in a remote place outside of town. He generally won’t stay in an inn if he can avoid it. When he’s on a ship or station, he can usually be found with the low-level employees and semi-criminal types in whatever passes for Steerage or the crew quarters. There he tends to help others, taking pictures, reading and writing for them, etc., which facilitates his ability to stow away on nearly any vessel.

14)  How does your character tend to dress when out in the field having adventures? Are their "town clothes" different from this?

Colin doesn’t have separate town clothes, and doesn’t really understand why anyone would. He dresses utilitarian, with heavy-duty clothes with lots of pockets, almost always in planet-appropriate tones (I don’t want to say earth tones because I’m sure he’d wear reddish ones on Mars). He wears midnight blue hide armor made of the tough skin of the Venusian Hippopotamus over whatever else he’s wearing if he’s expecting a fight. And he always wears his lucky hat, beat up and badly damaged, but precious to him. He carries no obvious weapons, apart from a single hunk of Venusian Hickory he uses as a club—he has a walking stick but doesn’t generally use it as a weapon unless he has no other option.

15)  How does your character pack for travel or for going out into the field for adventuring?

Colin packs very light, because he knows the natural world will supply him with almost everything he needs. He has a handful of well-worn, well-traveled tools and a few durable pieces of clothing and storage equipment, but that’s basically all. He forages for food, uses magic, etc., and can be very self sufficient for a long time without many supplies.

16)  What is your character's education level? (It is presumed that all PCs will be literate in English without a reason for that in the back story.)

Colin is largely self-taught, but very knowledgeable about nature, photography, and spacefaring. He’s very dumb about culture, human history, current events and politics, though, since he has very little exposure. He could probably learn about those things but he finds them incredibly boring and superficial.

17)  What is your character afraid of?

His formative Cactus experience makes Colin afraid of being surrounded and stuck, unable to move. He always tries to position himself so he can’t be completely encircled and has a way out, which he learned by watching Link and other similar species.

18)  Does your character owe a significant favor to anyone? Does anyone owe them a significant favor?

Outsiders might think that Colin owes Metzpil for saving his life. But within the druidic mindset, that sort of act isn’t really about heroism, more about the natural order. So I wouldn’t think either Metzpil or Colin would consider that a debt. They’d consider something that happened within the arc of nature, and something to be acknowledged and then ignored. Instead, Colin believes he owes the denizens of the natural world his interest, understanding, and where necessary, protection. He actually thinks everyone owes that to nature, but they don’t know they do, and he doesn’t try to hold that against them unless they’re doing something awful to living things.

19)  What does your character want to get out of adventuring? What to they expect to get out if it? What are they afraid could happen while out on adventures?

Colin is interested in seeing and understanding the natural universe, the ecosystems of the planets, and the living things that make each place their home. He’s interested in how things get the way they are, and in why. He primarily acts out of curiosity, with a bit of altruism thrown in here and there. He doesn’t care much about people. Colin expects he’ll die somewhere off planet, and that he’ll feed whatever ecosystem he dies in. He’s not too bothered about that.

20)  What, if anything, does your character consider to be a cause worth dying for? What would they see as a good death?

Colin would die to protect an environment from large scale destruction. But he’s more likely to die accidentally while trying to learn something. Dying trying to learn isn’t a death at all to him, and of course death doesn’t end the natural world, only his vision of it. His detachment carries over to this, he understands that death is just part of the natural cycle. He really doesn’t care too much.

Bonus question #21:  What advice would you give your character if you could?

“May all your hits be crits”!

But seriously, I’d guess I’d say that while the detachment is _kinda_ good, it’s OK to attach a bit….

Background: 20 Answers (Alison)

Alison gave me permission to post her character background and the 20 answers she wrote to the 20 questions I wrote. If anyone else in the group wants me to post their answers, let me know and I will be happy to do that.

------

Ok, my character is a human cleric, devotee of the Skaven nest mother goddess. Her name is Nida Endicott (she changed it from her given name, Isabella, to Nida - from the Latin for 'nest'), and she was born and raised in Boston by a fairly wealthy, old family, pretty upper crust. She lived a privileged life and went to a good college (though she didn't get into Massachusetts Bay Colony Institute of Technological and Arcane Arts--didn't have the grades for it--she's not very good at arcane spellcasting, and she's certainly no natural sorcerer; what little magic she has comes only from the goddess). She wasn't raised by Skaven, didn't suffer some life-changing, traumatic event that caused her to reject her own upbringing and seek other society or a different faith. Her upper-class life was perfectly comfortable; but being in Boston, she was regularly exposed to Skaven culture and religion, and something about it just spoke to her, felt right.

She doesn't strike me as much of an adventurer; like the Skaven, she's curious, but essentially a homebody--always stay within range of the nest!--so I'm not quite sure how she's going to wind up on this campaign. Maybe a Skaven colony has been threatened?

She's not particularly exceptional--capable and educated, but not brilliant; active, fit, but no warrior; only a fair-to-middling cleric. I imagine her employing her most rat-like characteristics to help the party--short-range recon, securing our 'nest' whenever we make camp, charming new acquaintances, stashing potentially helpful items for later use, caring for the ill/injured in the party. Of course, she's not Skaven, but these are the the characteristics she loves about them (considering her emotionally distant upbringing, she especially loves how affectionate and demonstrative they are, always touching, hugging), so she's worked hard to develop these characteristics in herself and to utilize the goddess's magic for these purposes.

CONJECTURE--hopefully none of this violates what we already know about this world:

Among humans, even those in Boston where the Skaven originated, the idea of a human living among the Skaven is only just tolerated, certainly raises some eyebrows; elsewhere (especially in CSA and even more so in Deseret), it's looked on with disdain or outright disgust. Her own family is, of course, bitterly disappointed that she has 'thrown away' her education and opportunities to live a life of service and obscurity among 'those creatures'. The one exception is her eccentric, free-spirited Aunt Eliza Gardner, who paid for her seminary training. Even most Skaven--other than those who really know her, those with whom she trained as a novitiate and the congregants she serves--are skeptical about her allegiance; they tend to see her as a dilettante and assume her interest is fleeting, that she doesn't really serve the Skaven and will go run back to her privileged life at the slightest challenge. People of the 500 Nations are most tolerant of her unusual lifestyle; with their culture steeped in spirituality, a shaman in every community, they readily accept the idea that a deity called her into its service.

01)  Where is your character from?

Boston

02)  Where did they get their training or learn their skills?

Went to college on her parents' dime, then decided to devote her life to serving the Skaven nest mother goddess, probably spent a few years as a novitiate at some kind of Eight Paths seminary? I imagine it's like med school--a few years of general study, then a few years of 'residency' to a particular god/dess?

03)  What is / was their family background?

Wealthy, white, privileged. WASP-y.

04)  What is their view of magic use and magic users?

A little envious, actually--never had the natural skill of a sorcerer or the focus/smarts of an alchemist. She's a cleric but not really much of one--the power of the goddess may be less accessible to her because she's not Skaven?

05)  What is their view of the six major powers occupying the continental United States (the USA, the CSA, the 500 Nations, Peachtree, La Republica de Tejas and Deseret?)

USA - good, but not quite progressive enough

CSA - backward, ignorant

Peachtree - cool

Tejas - cool, though she wouldn't want to live there, except in a major city (she was raised in luxury, after all)

Deseret - monstrous a-holes (bounty on Skaven pelts?!?)

500 Nations - cool

06)  Have they been to another planet yet? Do they want to go some day?

Nope - she's curious, but essentially a homebody.

07)  Your character finds $500 on the ground (a windfall equal to a three months' wages for a working class laborer). There's no way to tell who it belongs to. What do they do with the money? Does this answer change if they find it by themselves or in the group?

If she's with others, use it to help the party. Buy everyone dinner? Stock up on supplies?

If she's alone when she finds it, probably uses it to buy some silk underthings and a bottle of really excellent wine (see answer #9). But then she'd feel terrible for not using it to help the party or donating it to the Eight Paths seminary where she trained.(Bostonians are big into philanthropy.) 

08)  What religion (if any) does your character follow, and how fervently?

She's a devotee of the Skaven nest mother goddess.

09)  What's one of their bad habits? How about a good habit?

Bad: She secretly misses the luxury in which she was raised--jumps at any opportunity for fine clothes, good food.

Good: Always fussing over everyone, making sure they're comfortable--refilling drinks and plates before they run out, overstocking on food and supplies.

10)  What does your character do with their leisure time?

Continuously redecorate her little apartment.

11)  What would your character order at a restaurant? Does this answer change if someone else is paying for the meal? 

If she or someone else in the party is paying, she'd stick with fresh fruits and veggies, nothing fancy.

If someone outside the party is paying, she'd get the lobster.

12)  Does your character have any bias against the Skaven, the Red or Green Lizardmen, against Tripod Martians (or against humans, if they're a nonhuman character)? Does your character have any prejudices against other humans if they are a human?

She despises people from Deseret.

Finds the Martians off-puttingly bizarre but hates herself for that reaction so she tamps down pretty hard on it.

13)  Where do they live when not adventuring? Is it just a rented room somewhere or an actual home?

Rented apartment in Boston; would love to own her own place but can't afford it.

14)  How does your character tend to dress when out in the field having adventures? Are their "town clothes" different from this?

Practical--fitted, comfortable clothes, nothing flowy or restrictive or revealing.

She probably has some fancy items left from her younger years, maybe busts out an actual gown if the occasion calls for it, cleans up quite well.

I'm guessing in her role as cleric she probably has some simple, ascetic robes or something?

15)  How does your character pack for travel or for going out into the field for adventuring?

Overpacks, hates the idea of anyone being hungry/uncomfortable because she ran out of something. Probably has a hidden vial of truffle oil or nice perfume hiding somewhere in her gear.

16)  What is your character's education level? (It is presumed that all PCs will be literate in English without a reason for that in the back story.)

Went to a good college, then trained at seminary. 

17)  What is your character afraid of?

Finds the tripod Martians creepy but tries not to show it. Winding up in Deseret is about the worst thing she can think of--they'd probably kill her.

18)  Does your character owe a significant favor to anyone? Does anyone owe them a significant favor?

She feels hugely indebted to her aunt Eliza, who paid for her seminary training after her parents cut her off, and the seminary itself. But Eliza has refused all attempts at repayment.

In her role as cleric, I'm sure she's done some healing, so there may be random folks who feel indebted to her, but she wouldn't consider them to be or even necessarily remember helping them. It's all just part of the job.

19)  What does your character want to get out of adventuring? What to they expect to get out if it? What are they afraid could happen while out on adventures?

Not a natural adventurer, she must be in it to help somebody, protect the Skaven somehow? She's terrified something will happen to her apartment, her...church? while she's not there. Hates being so far from her own 'nest'. Can't wait for this adventure to be over so she can go home.

20)  What, if anything, does your character consider to be a cause worth dying for? What would they see as a good death?

She'd be willing to die in defense of her own 'colony' (the party), the Skaven, Aunt Eliza. She should be willing to die for the nest mother goddess, but in all honesty, she feels more loyalty to real, living beings than to the deity.

21)  If your character was old enough to serve in the Civil War (1861-1874; game takes place 25 years after), what did they do and which army were they in? 

Born too late to participate in the war.

22)  Does your character prefer to keep their personal money as paper or coin (both are available and accepted everywhere)? 

Coins - paper is too easily damaged (especially by toothy rodents).

Bonus question:  What advice would you give your character if you could?

Don't be so trusting--be friendly, but embrace the Skaven trait of cautiousness, too.