Thug Life 4 reals, yo!
      Just kidding, I’m the least thuggy person ever. Today, I’m talking about how much I love back-up characters.
      In our gaming group, you always want to have a back-up character ready so that you don’t have to sit-around forever waiting in case you die at the table.
      And depending on who is running and how evil the other PCs are… you NEED to be prepared to die at any time.
      I have not gotten to play my back-ups very often, even though I sometimes end up loving them far more than my primary character.
      Now, when Paul ran, and I played Mim – I had a couple of thoughts for back-ups, but I don’t think I actually wrote him/her up at all. Just vague notes on a scrap paper somewhere.
      When Garth started Kingmaker, I was playing Ava. And I loved her. But, I had like, four potential back-ups to choose from (depending on which role needed filling). I had a spymaster-type Bard, a sorceress gnome, a male rogue, and a Mim-like fighter. None of them had long, detailed background stories written.
      Then, the Zombie game. I played Helen Poots, but I had several detailed back-ups ready: Lizzie Roth, Danny Rubicano, and Ezra Knight. I ended up playing Ezra briefly, though Helen hadn’t died yet, and she was fun.
      Let’s see? After that, I remember Ip. Mark’s evil campaign. I played Nyx. You may have read some stuff about her. Nyx was awesome. Totally fun to play, totally fun to write about, totally all around great PC. But, several times I *almost* gave her up to play a back-up character. Because for the evil game in Ip, I created “Joy”. Joy had a very sad history, as lots of evil PCs do, and she had risen from the ashes to a capable young woman with some very interesting talents. For instance… riding an armored gorilla and putting arrows in your face point-blank. *grin*
      I never posted her, apparently, but I quite loved her story. I also had “Fang”, a half-orc Ranger, who I may re-write one day because his background could really go either way – good or evil – depending on a few small factors.
      Who else? Oh! Mark started running the Worldwound and I started playing Rhiallis, who is so awesome she’s got a whole category on this new site (and is one of the main landing page spotlights!).
      But back-ups? Oh boy, do I have back-ups. First, there was Makoto Yu, but then there was a “good” version of Joy, who I didn’t finish writing, though I did find a wonderful portrait to use. Then, there was Nîda, who I did play briefly. And now… now there’s John Chandler of Fordham.
      I haven’t published his Character Sketch yet (still ruminating on some details, in truth) but I will. And anyway…
      The cool thing about having back-ups is that it gives me a chance to be creative. To write about new, fascinating characters.
To learn more about the rules and builds, sure, but also to develop my creative muscles. And to get excited about playing, even if the worst happens to a character I love.
      Not that I need more characters to write about, to dream up, and explore… because I have too many as it is. But I love them, anyway. So many stories, so many… ACK!
      But John Chandler is thrilling my imaginative brain cells right now, and who knows? Tomorrow I’ll ADHD my way into some new idea or concept, but I’m still psyched as FUCK about him and I hope to keep this flow going.
      This post lost all track of its point – again – and I apologize. I never really got good at blogging in that I hardly ever have much of a point. I just vomit onto the page, click post, and go about my day.
      C’est la vie.

Note: Image is “Shooting Dice 2” by (ArminH) from SXC.hu