It’s the penultimate #RPGaDAY2019 post.

Here is the penultimate theme for the day…

For me this is all about the connection between a player and their character.

What is it about the character created that resonates with the player to form that connection?

For me with Dram the halfling wizard there were several connections I had with the character.

The first was the character’s name. Back in the late 80’s when I was at poly, studying for my HND, I played MERPS (Middle Earth Role Playing Game). In the campaign I played a halfling warrior (I think that was his class) called Dram. I have very fond memories of playing that RPG and Dram. So when it came to naming my new halfling character it could only be one name.

I’m also a big Tolkien fan, and within the Middle Earth universe the Hobbits are my favourite characters in the stories. So naturally when I create characters in a fantasy setting I create characters that are the equivalent race to Hobbits. In D&D that’s halflings.

I also like wizards, Gandalf is also another Middle Earth character I love. So combining my favourite class with my favourite race seemed natural.

When it came to playing Dram I had another connection/influence. Another fantasy series of books I enjoyed, and have fond memories of are the Dragonlance Chronicles. Unsurprisingly my favourite character from those books is Tasslehoff the kender so when it came to playing Dram I tried to use elements of Tasslehoff that I remembered. Particularly the always getting into trouble.

So I had a few connections to Dram all personal in some way or the other. And those connections made Dram fun to play. More importantly they made it easier to play Dram and decide what he would do in situations.