F&F: First Arc Q&A - Player Edition

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    Friends foul and fair, we welcome you to the first ever Freaks & Facades Question & Answer Session - Player Edition!  

    Our journey through the First Arc has come with many ups, downs, critical rolls good and bad; and now we get to hear from our amazing Players!  We compiled some great questions that our loyal readers want to know about our Cast and their Player Creators!

    So let us dive right in, starting with Player Questions!


Player Questions

Would you like to share a bit about yourself for our readers?  Any social media handles people can find more of you?  Feel free to share as little or as much as you like!  

  • Aurelia (who plays Channa):  
    • Not much to share, I'm a pretty simple person.  My name is Aurelia, you can usually find me places as @AureliaGaming.  I don't have a youtube channel just yet but I'm working on it, so you'll be able to find me there, and then I'm also on tumblr.  I use she/he pronouns.
  • Ember (who plays Pryrrish):  
    • I'm not particularly great at sharing things about myself.   Anyone interested in me despite that can find me at @moonstruck-vixen on tumblr, though I don't post often.  I use she/her pronouns.
  • Kai (who plays Solange):  
    • Hi, I'm Kai and I play Solange!  I use they/them pronouns and you can find me on Tumblr @owldork1998 (and Twitter).  This was my first 3.5 game and my first time actually playing instead of DMing!
  • Lafayette (who plays Schrödinger):  
    • Hello! I’m Lafayette, and I’m a medical student from Norway.  In my (unfortunately limited) spare time I do HEMA longsword fighting, and make my own clothing.  I particularly enjoy historical clothing, but there isn’t a historical subject I wouldn’t want to learn more about if given the chance.  I have also recently been setting up my garden in preparation for winter ending in the next few months.  I’ll be growing chili peppers for the first time so wish me luck!  
    • As for social media I don’t have any public accounts, but if you wander into the woods on a given foggy night chances are I’ll find you.
  • Ryan/Redbrown (who plays Fenri):  
    • Hello, my name is Ryan (he/him).  I’ve been playing D&D for 13 years now.  I’ve mostly played D&D 3.5 and 5e.  I’ve played the edition that shall not be named [4th Edition], as well as Pathfinder.  My favorite is definitely 5e.  
    • I like Fire Emblem and have created a TTRPG of it as well.  It isn’t totally finished yet, but it is getting there.  I also write in my spare time, as fleeting as that is.  I also create homebrew for D&D.  Kinda newer to Ravenloft and all its horrors, but I’m loving it so far.


Going into this campaign, knowing just that it was set in Dementlieu within Ravenloft; what did you expect to face?  

  • Aurelia: 
    • I'm gonna be honest, I didn't really know much about Ravenloft before this campaign, so I didn't have many expectations.
  • Ember: 
    • I'm not actually all that familiar with Ravenloft, so I didn't expect much aside from The Horrors™.
  • Kai: 
    • I didn't expect much, I was only familiar with 5e Barovia in passing and that was the extent of my knowledge, so I had very few preconceived notions.  I was expecting more poison and that's about it. 
  • Lafayette:  
    • I intentionally did very little research into Ravenloft and Dementlieu in order to enjoy the surprises that come with such a unique setting.  All I really knew going in was that it's a domain inspired by pre-revolution France with a gothic horror twist.  I was definitely expecting duplicity, monsters in the nobility hiding in plain sight, and the social sphere to be as much of a battlefield as any combat.  So far we’ve gotten it all, to my delight!
  • Ryan: 
    • I expected to face a lot of undead and social interactions.  My only experience with Ravenloft was a one-shot of Curse of Strahd.  Was certainly not expecting a serial killer, and trauma of the most innocent of cinnamon rolls. 


Are there any specific monsters or canon characters from Ravenloft you hope to meet?  

  • Aurelia:  
    • Wolfweres.  They're such a funny concept to me.
  • Ember:  
    • (See answer above.)  I'm just kinda going with the flow and if anyone else gets excited about something, they can explain it :3 
  • Kai:  
    • Again I'm not familiar with Ravenloft beyond Barovia by choice so I have no clue what or who we could encounter!  Keeps things exciting. 
  • Lafayette:  
    • Not particularly, as I don’t know any canon characters or monsters from Ravenloft.  However, I do hope we learn what Dominic d'Honaires' deal is, if he happens to be a canon character and not a work of our DM's devious mind.
  • Ryan: 
    • Honestly, I’m okay running into almost anything.  Ravenloft is a large expanse of craze and wonder, that it would be too hard to narrow down just one or two things to run into.  That being said - Ghosts.  See the memes. 


If you had to describe your character in a short phrase (three to four words max) what would you say?

  • Aurelia:  
    • Channa:  Street Urchin Arcanist
  • Ember:  
    • Pryrrish:  Trauma Girl Happiness Arc
  • Kai:  
    • Solange:  Something Dead, Something Alive
  • Lafayette:  
    • Schrödinger:  Eccentric, Dangerous Mad Scientist - that seems to sum it up!
  • Ryan:  
    • Fenri: Naive Cinnamon Roll-slash-Foodie


When you conceived your initial character, what was your personal process to establish them (skills, backstory and personality)?  

  • Aurelia: 
    • So, like I do with a lot of characters, I started with a class I wanted to play then worked backwards.  Initially, she didn't even have a backstory, until I listened to a RWBY song over and over and got inspired.  Not saying which one though.
  • Ember: 
    • As with most characters I make, I looked around for interesting mechanics or flavor in a class and worked backward.  With Pryrrish, it started with an invocation that had to do with one's eyeball being used as a scrying device.  From there, I asked the DM for help with other eye- or blindness-related themes, and he nudged me in the direction of Tharizdun, and I just sort of took off from there.  
    • A year later, the rest of the process is a bit fuzzy, but it resulted in one of my favorite characters I've made.
  • Kai: 
    • So I knew from the start I wanted to play a Ravenloft specific race, given my status as a Forever DM at the time and I wasn't sure I'd ever have the opportunity to do so again.  I narrowed it down to a Caliban, torn between Banshee and Witchspawn.  I then went to my trusty Dress Up Game and made a few designs.  
    • With a vague idea of what I wanted in place I then started looking at classes.  None of the standard classes really fit what I wanted, since I wanted something intrinsically tied to death or the Mists, so I turned to Mistipedia and  Aboleth's homebrew!  I felt the gravedigger fit a banshee caliban.  Though I did have a concept for a Witch-class Witchspawn Caliban.  I liked the designs for the Gravedigger Banshee Caliban more.
    • Class and Race established I then turned to music, making a playlist based on the vibes I wanted the character to have.  It was in that Rotation Phase where I decided Solange was adopted and had been abandoned as a baby, given Calibans are often outcast.  I then continued to ferment those ideas and that's how I got Solange. :)  
    • Aboleth helped me a lot with brainstorming as well!  I believe Maman was his idea and I think it's one of my favorite things about Solange.
  • Lafayette:  
    • I always like starting with a very basic concept for my characters, and in Schrödinger's case that was a man willingly undergoing a monstrous transformation.  From there I got to answer the ever important “why would he do that”, and the idea of a mad scientist was born. I took a lot of inspiration from the original Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (in which Hyde is only a physical transformation, used by Jekyll to behave without social consequences, and Jekyll uses himself as a test subject for his own theories), Bloodborne, and of course Frankenstein. Putting him in Lamordia came naturally after that, as did making him a noble when I started to question how he would get the resources for his research.
    • From there I had a good basis to decide what kinds of skills a nobleman and scientist might have, and that I should look for a class to reflect a physical, horrifying transformation. 
    • Schrödinger's personality was the easiest to determine after that, as it takes a certain kind of pride to be convinced of your own research to the point of becoming a monster. Adding in his deep loyalty and care towards his family felt important to act as a counterweight to his monstrosity, while being useful for potentially redeeming him or dragging him deeper into darkness.
  • Ryan:  
    • I was the last to bring my character into the world.  Aboleth Eye reached out to me and let me know the basics of what the other characters were (role wise) and I said, “Sounds like they need a healer.”  So I knew fairly quickly that I was either playing a Cleric or a Healer.  The Healer class, although amazing, isn’t really too suited for the horrors of Ravenloft on their own, so the tankiness that Cleric brought to the table made the choice fairly easy. 
    • Next, I thought about the kind of character that I would be playing.  Since I was newer to Ravenloft, I thought it would be interesting to play a character that was newer to the horrors of the world as well.  Making them naive and more on the cheerful side added to the flavor of the character. The race of the character was interesting. I couldn’t decide, but Aboleth Eye told me the basics of the Fear/Horror Saves of Ravenloft, and I thought it would be interesting to splice that into the character that they may be newer to the horrors of the world, but they would be steadfast in their beliefs. The Halfling race offers a moderate bonus to saves against fear, along with Cleric’s naturally high Will saves, making Fenri fairly hard to make afraid. 
    • When picking the skills of Fenri, I thought more about how I wanted her to play. I knew that Fenri would be a healer and trusting to a fault. Thankfully, Cleric doesn’t give a lot of Skill Points, and not getting Sense Motive as a Class Skill made throwing almost everything into Heal pretty easy. 
    • Even though Halflings are naturally stealthy, Fenri actually has no other ranks/bonuses into Hide or Move Silently, when you read about her succeeding on those… It was pure luck.
    • Picking out a backstory can be pretty difficult to me, and I always like to add things on the fly after playing as the character for a while, seeing what fits both into the narrative, and into the character as well. I think the question Aboleth Eye posed that really started everything was about each character’s fears. I ended up choosing failure and being alone. Off of those fears, the rest of the backstory fell into place. 


Did you have a specific goal in mind for this character to accomplish, or did you want there to be a mystery you could solve as they experienced it?

  • Aurelia: 
    • Nothing in particular, really.  I'm interested to see her struggle with her self-esteem issues, figure out her personal history.
  • Ember:  
    • Initially I think I wanted there to be a mystery regarding why she was brought to Ravenloft, and what it had to do with the bidding of her patron.  That want sort of shifted though, and now I'd like to see her freed from his dark influence.
  • Kai: 
    • I wanted Solange's past to be a mystery even I didn't know so I could solve it!  I adore mysteries--though I do regret my decision a bit now given certain…developments.  I am having the time of my life.  
    • As for goals, I wanted Solange to find acceptance and relationships with the rest of the group! 
      • [mission accomplished then? lol]
  • Lafayette: 
    • I would love to have Schrödinger start to discover his own way of interacting with the social spheres of Dementlieu.  He will never be particularly diplomatic but that doesn’t mean he can’t be frightening enough to make an impact.  
    • **(Spoilers for Campaign Two)**  
      • As for a mystery--maybe this doesn’t count because it’s not directly tied to Schrödinger--I want the characters to dig deeper into the mysteries surrounding Solange's haunting (upcoming). What’s going on with the Comtesse, DM? What’s her deal?
  • Ryan: 
    • I would love for Fenri to bring everyone back to Greyhawk and shelter them from the horrible things that they have experienced. Fenri very much does not want to be in Ravenloft and it is clear the more she stays stuck there. I feel like getting out of Ravenloft is Fenri’s biggest goal.  
    • Throughout the story and interacting with others, as well as developing Fenri as a character, her motives have changed. She is on the older side in comparison to the other characters and wants to find love.  Additionally, the more she learns about Schrödinger, the more she wants to help him.  To be fair, Fenri wants to help everyone, but Fenri and Schrödinger have… an interesting relationship.



Do you believe your character is capable of getting a happy ending in this dark setting?  Or are you as a player more interested in watching them stumble and fall?  Possibly embracing the Darkness?

  • Aurelia: 
    • Is she capable?  Sure, yeah.  Do I plan to give her one?  Hahaha, no.
  • Ember: 
    • I'd like her to get a happy ending.  I do worry a bit about how inclined toward the latter options others are, but I don't think it'll cause any sort of conflict.
  • Kai: 
    • The thing with Solange is an ending that would make her happy is NOT necessarily the same thing as a happy ending.  She just wants someone to see her in all her monstrosity and love her anyway, and that means she is vulnerable to corruption.  As a player I am feeling she's a bit too, mentally stable, right now- she should be Worse :}
  • Lafayette:  
    • I think Schrödinger would be capable of a happy ending, if he can put his pride aside long enough to let himself have one.  As of right now I would be equally thrilled if Schrödinger ended up happy, or if he succumbed to darkness; and our DM has certainly heard some ideas of mine on what might happen either way.  Right now I’m letting events unfold as they will, and Schrödinger's ultimate fate will be whatever feels appropriate for the story.
  • Ryan: 
    • I believe Fenri is absolutely capable of getting a happy ending.  I’m not interested in watching them stumble or succeeding, and more going with the dice and their whims.  We’ve all theorized a dark Fenri and have concluded that it would not be a good idea for anyone, let alone Schrödinger. 



What D&D setting/plane/etc would you personally want to live in?  What class or class combo would you want to be in real life?

  • Aurelia: 
    • Maybe Eberron?  There's not really anywhere I'd rather be than where I'm at, universe-wise.  This is where all my friends and family are, after all.  As for class, I've literally thought out a Fighter/Sorcerer multiclass build path for myself (with levels in Abjurant Champion, of course).  So...  That one.
  • Ember:  
    • I'm not intimately familiar with many canon D&D settings, so I'll give the easy answer of Faerun I suppose.  As for class, my thoughts on what fits changes often, but right now I like the idea of a cleric of the Moon and Healing domains, with some heavy usage of Alternate Class Features and likely taking a Prestige Class or two.
  • Kai: 
    • Whichever one has queer rights and free healthcare I'm not picky.  (This is because I am not familiar with D&D lore--most of my stuff is pure homebrew).  I guess not a hell dimension? 
  • Lafayette:  
    • Definitely not Ravenloft!  A more classic high fantasy setting seems a safer, or at least less traumatizing, bet for longevity and a peaceful life.  As for a class as much as I love sword fighting I would have to choose being a Wizard.  Studying has defined my life so far, and the utility of magic even in everyday life would be unmatched.
  • Ryan: 
    • Faerun sounds very interesting so I’d probably start off there.  I’ve been told many times that in real life I’m a Bard and/or a Necromancer.  I also really love the Spellthief class.  Off the top of my head, I can’t think of an exact class or class combo to list; but as Aboleth Eye can attest, I am pretty good at coming up with strange and hilarious combos.


Having experienced Ravenloft in our campaign and through your own personal research (if any), what is a domain of Ravenloft you would love to journey in?  

  • Aurelia: 
    • Mostly I wanna see Lamordia, and that's 100% because of Schrödinger's family being there.
  • Ember: 
    • Dementlieu is really the only domain I'm super familiar with, but I'm a sucker for vampires, so Barovia naturally sounds interesting.
  • Kai: 
    • I want to see Solange in Lamordia for Reasons :) 
    • I have also just learned about Souragne and I think it’d be very cool to see Solange there--she has a certain southern gothic inspiration and in some of my modern au fanfic she’s actually from New Orleans!  
    • I am also very fond of Barovia- as evidenced by my running of several Curse of Strahd games.
  • Lafayette:  
    • On a purely personal-interest basis I would really like to see Necropolis. A  domain for only the dead has so much potential, and getting to unravel the mystery of how Necropolis came to be and what strange society the dead might have made intrigues me.  
    • But for these characters I have to say I would love to see them in Lamordia.  Schrödinger has his home there, of course, but there's also something to be said for seeing a cleric and arcane magic users interacting with a godless, skeptical land.
  • Ryan:  
    • To journey into in real life?  None of them.  Hard pass.  Too much bad stuff happens to people in Ravenloft.  As Fenri?  Going to Barovia would be hilarious with all the undead as a Cleric with the Sun Domain.  
    • Additionally, Schrödinger's home land [Lamordia] would be a hoot to go through, especially meeting his parents. 



What kinds of media (books, movies/tv shows, video games, etc.) do you like?

  • Aurelia: I'm a huge gamer, most of the time.  I play a lot of roguelikes and strategy games, and Zelda is a personal favorite of mine.
  • Ember: 
    • I tend to enjoy many genres of anime and video games.  In the realm of anime and shows, I can enjoy just about anything from mysteries to action to slice of life stories.  Most of the games I enjoy are either story driven single player experiences (Night in the Woods, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective), roguelike/lites, and soulslikes.  There's also a few outliers from these genres, typically high-skill-expression titles like Guilty Gear or Ultrakill.
  • Kai:  
    • I love historical and fantasy romance!  The way to my heart is extensive worldbuilding and compelling characters.  Bonus points if they're queer.  
    • I was big into D&D Real Play podcasts before "the Depression" hit me hard, and now I'm too busy writing my own campaigns to listen to others.  I'd love some recommendations!
  • Lafayette:  
    • I have a weakness for basically any gothic or Lovecraftian media, from Bloodborne to Bram Stoker's "Dracula".  I also enjoy sci-fi that features speculative biology (Dune, for instance), and nonfiction featuring medicine, sewing, or the everyday lives of historical peoples.  
    • There is a video series on YouTube called "The Tudor Farm" featuring three historians recreating a Tudor era monastic farm I highly recommend!
    • But honestly I’ll try anything once, and I rarely find a book I won’t finish.
  • Ryan:  
    • I enjoy Strategy games the most, as well as turn-based.  I’ve also gotten into survival games, like Ark and Palworld.  I like Final Fantasy, Heroes of Might and Magic (can’t wait for my copy of the board game), Fire Emblem, Pillars of Eternity, the Pathfinder video games, Wasteland 3, Baldur’s Gate 3 (as well as the old Dark Alliance games), and I’ve starting reading The Witcher series.  I love it a lot. 



What is your favorite gothic genre or gothic-inspired piece of media?  

  • Aurelia: 
    • I don't really have a lot of gothic media I've partaken in, really. Bloodborne? Does that count?  I haven't even played much of it, I just think it looks cool.
  • Ember: 
    • There's a lovely little indie games titled Pseudoregalia that I think qualifies as a bit gothic. Otherwise, easy answers are Hollow Knight and the Dark Souls series. 
  • Kai: 
    • Dracula. Specifically the novel.  I took a class in college on Vampires and Werewolves in Slavic Folklore and it gave me a deeper appreciation for vampires!  And the novel is just such a cool format that is shockingly suspenseful.  I highly recommend reading it!  Dracula Daily is incredible fun; and if you prefer audio I recommend Re: Dracula! 
  • Lafayette:  
    • That's not an easy question!  Gothic media tends to be my favorite, but I have a certain love for classic gothic literature. "Carmilla" by Sheridan Le Fanu and "The Telltale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe stand out to me as some of the first works to really get me into the genre, and both have special places in my heart.
  • Ryan:  
    • There is this game called Darkest Dungeon.  It is probably more horror based than gothic, but I stand by it.  It has a real nitty-gritty tone to it and every step counts when you leave town.



Do you have any favorite memories or roleplaying moments from the First Arc you’d like to share?

  • Aurelia: 
    • My memory is a little bit Bad, but Channa just refusing to get out of the way of a nobleman who expected her to bow to his every whim was pretty great.
  • Ember: 
    • Pryrrish spilling her trauma to the group was a moment that left me notably choked up as I was voicing it.  I also enjoyed the moment at the end where she tried consoling Isaac, even though it bit her in the face a little bit.
  • Kai: 
    • The final fight lives in my head rent free, especially Solange finally making the decision to face her Fear and help her friends rather than stay alive and get home :) 
  • Lafayette:  
    • I particularly enjoyed all the characters meeting for the first time in the Ravens Loft Inn, everyone established their characters so well and the relationships being formed was so cool to see.  
    • I also have a fondness for when Schrödinger and Fenri had a conversation post the disaster at the horse race.  The two of them sitting together in the cart, Schrödinger offering Fenri the sunflower lollipop he bought for her; and the two finally having a heart to heart and admitting they had come to appreciate each other was sweet and I think an excellent bit of character development.
  • Ryan:  
    • There was this scene, where Schrödinger and Fenri went to the horse races.   Fenri doesn’t know it, but Schrödinger bought a sunflower candy and it would mean the literal world to Fenri… but he has yet to give it to her and I’m excited to see when he springs that on her.  
    • The spider fight was rough.  We got through the first few zombie-spider things, and when Aboleth Eye told us of the (I believe) Gargantuan Spider out from the cliffside, Fenri barely passed that Fear save.  It was hell getting all of us out of there.  The spider’s poisons had already obliterated Channa and Schrödinger, and Solange was not in a good spot to flee.  I was nervous about having Fenri leave the area, but there was no way for her to outrun the spider.  (Darn Halfling 20 foot movement speed!)
    • The interaction with the Councilor [d'Honaire] at the races was terrifying after Fenri got caught.  I rolled a 22 or 23 Will save and we all cheered until Aboleth Eye said that it wasn’t enough.  I thought for sure that Fenri was done. 

What did you expect when going into the Second Arc?

  • Aurelia:  
    • I honestly didn't have many expectations going in, other than "fun playing D&D with my friends."  I don't think that far ahead, really.
  • Ember:  
    • I didn't have many expectations.  Pryrrish getting out of her pact is one of my top priorities, but otherwise I am happily going with the flow.  Our DM tells great stories, and I'm glad to be along for the ride.
  • Kai: 
    • I wanted to meet Solange's parents [in-game] and explore Dementlieu!  I'm really excited to learn more about the Gravediggers as well though we haven't gotten there yet.  Mostly I was expecting the gang to have more moments together. 
  • Lafayette:  
    • Probably another riot, because Fenri.  Aside from that I was definitely expecting a raising of the stakes.  The Baron was intimidating, to be sure, but he didn’t hold the power people like the Councilors [of Port-a-Lucine] do now.  I’m also expecting to get a bit more into the secret societies that seem to be operating in the capital city--particularly whatever society Claudine seems to be a part of.
  • Ryan:  
    • Going into the Second Arc, I was hoping Fenri got a little reprieve from the killing of the Baron.  Also with the holiday [Primeur] in full swing, Fenri definitely wanted to party.  Fenri also wanted to get to know more about the other characters in the group and slowly begin to trust others--since her last adventuring party didn’t turn out so well. 


    What great answers from our Players!  There seems to be quite a variety among our styles and perspectives on tabletop roleplaying games.  I especially enjoy getting this beneath the hood insight into how my players engage with the story.  

    And it's good to know what the Players goals are going into this Second Arc (as well as the corruptions tempting them currently).

    Now let's take a look at what their Characters think and feel about the First Arc!  

Click here for the First Arc Q&A - Character Edition!


Aboleth Eye