Hello, Everyone!
Here’s the (really long-awaited) Q&A! Like the last one, it’s divided into two sections – questions answered by Yours Truly, and questions answered by our DM. This time, we’re adding a third section– questions answered by any of the people around our D&D table!
Thank you, @manoldonchev @oblivioncubed @hhayweaver @Grindan @wanderingmoon, for your thoughtful and interesting questions! We had a lot of fun answering them!
Also, there will be a second part of this Q&A down the line, where our DM answers MY questions about the world and constructing the Myth Adofhaer arc. I enjoy picking his brain about all the little details that only an experienced DM like him would be able to tell me :) So, you’ll get to read the answers, too! (maybe after a few more episodes of the actual story)
Hope you like this post! And hope it satiets your curiosity!
Take care and be well!
P.S. Here's a link to the previous Q&A, if you've missed it. It's mainly about the creation of Mary's Patron.
Do you record any of the session in audio format, or are you writing only by memory/notes afterwards? If you do record audio – would you consider recording a special episode – for a wider audience? :) (asked by Y.)
I’m pretty sure everyone (except perhaps me because I have a bit of experience) will freak out if we decide to introduce a recording device to our sessions! So, no, no such things in our game. We’re not ‘The Adventure Zone’ or any of the other D&D podcasts out there XD
For writing the story, I depend on memories (mine and the other player’s) and on my exceedingly detailed notes. Here’s an example of a page from my notebook. It’s in Bulgarian but you can see how much I write down.
Is one full chapter equal to one session? How many were there? (asked by manoldonchev)
More or less... The Myth Adofhaer arc had a lot of longer and not-very-action-y sessions, so I had to split some chapters/move scenes around.
So far we’ve had 47 sessions in our actual game. The story here, on Hive, is at session 25, so you know you have a lot in store for you!
What do you munch on during the game? (asked by manoldonchev)
We take turns cooking for the game. We usually have a big break in the middle of of every session, move all the D&D stuff aside and have dinner. During the rest of the time, it’s mainly junk food, fruit and some juice. And, of course, the obligatory latte our DM or Aurum’s player makes at the start.
On our first ever session we had sushi (hence the placeholder picture you all know and… um, love?) and it’s become kind of a signature food for special sessions.
Mary wanted to experience the world so that she’d be able to write about it better. Now, after all she’s been through, it she glad that she did? Or does she think that her previous ignorance was bliss? Is the grittiness of reality destroying her childlike desire for adventure? (asked by eneya)
She’s both scared and glad. On the one hand, she’s been having trouble accepting that there might be dangers and bad people in the world… but on the other, she and her friends have been able to help many of the victims, and so it seems worth it.
Right now, she’s struggling with the toll that adventuring is taking on her body. She’d somehow imagined that she’d remain intact after all the slashing and piercing and munching her body has endured.
Poor baby!
What's up with the Patron's trees/seeds? What is his end goal with those? (asked by oblivioncubed)
We know only what he’s told Mary – that he finds mortals fascinating and wants to be able to enter her plane. The trees are an extension of his powers and the more of them Mary plants, the more his power in her world grows.
Was there any chance Mary would accept Kloth's offer? Did you/she at least think about it? (asked by our DM)
Both me and her thought very hard about it. She even imagined a world where she got to know Halas and Dalia and she had two sets of parents. But our dear Mary is used to thinking about others before herself, and so, the elven maidens’ lives came first.
Although, it hasn’t escaped me that asking for the elven maidens’ lives would technically include resurrecting the dead parents as well. So, in a way, Mary was ready to take the offer.
Is Mary capable of murder? (asked by our DM)
My sweet baby? Hell no! Never!
Yes, she fights the bad guys, she helps her friends, but she’s never dealt the finishing blow to a thinking-and-feeling creature before. That would be devastating to her!
Mary got real close to dying in that last fight. If she had died during Kloth's "Night of the Dead", it would have been impossible to bring her back. What would have happened to this story then? If Mary dies, can we expect another character, or is this series Mary exclusive? What would that next character be? (asked by our DM)
Mary is the titular character of ‘Mary Windfiddle’s Grand Adventure’. It would have ended with her. Even if I got a new character, I don’t think that the story would continue from their point of view.
But I don’t think it’d stop, either. There are other ways of following the events of Bruno and Aurum’s journey. For example, something not-quite-reliable like ‘The Ember Island Players’ from ‘Avatar the Last Airbender’ (e.g. all the information being gathered by random witnesses and a ‘surprisingly knowledgeable cabbage merchant’).
We’ll see in the future :)
The Belfast arc was Bruno-oriented, Myth Adofhaer was Mary-oriented, is the next major arc going to be Aurum-oriented? (asked by Y.)
Not really. While we were playing the Myth Adofhaer arc, and I was planning and seeding the next one, Aurum's player was still unsure of her role-playing ability and her desire to be "in the spotlight". There is a certain Aurum-centric spin to the next arc, but not too much. The players' wishes come first when designing the game.
Where do you get inspiration for character names, especially Myth Adofhaer inhabitants? (asked by Y.)
Some names just come out of nowhere. Some names are outright taken from media I like - books, games, shows. Others still are taken from official D&D lore. Some names and their entire personalities are taken from people I know, mostly colleagues. The ones I love the most are characters from previous campaigns, who were prayer characters then - namely Elaria and Vizarius Naga.
I wanted a bit of a French feel to most elven names, so I leaned into that.
Do the people around the table have trouble pronouncing NPC names? (because I know I do!) (asked by Y.)
No trouble around the table with pronunciation - most of your trouble comes from translation barriers. We play the game speaking Bulgarian and therefore the names I use are suited for our own ease. But when you try to read a French-inspired name by using English language rules, which was spoken by Slavic speakers, things get messy.
Did you just make up a new language for Kloth and their undead army?? (asked by Y.)
Ain't nobody got time for that. I was inspired by(stole) Lovecraft. Using the language of his works (R'lyehian) as a guideline, I made the few sentences I needed for the game.
Do you do character voices (asked by Y.)
As the DM I do voices often, but not for every character. I use mannerisms, tone of voice, props and other such tools to manifest character.
Mary has a character voice, which is actually evolving, which is commendable. She started very shy and fidgety, but she's come a long way (the campaign is two arcs ahead of these posts). The rest of the crew don't really bother, which is fine. "Doing the voice" is not required, it's just flare.
(note from Mell: Aurum’s player does a character voice, too! I love how she says “Maryyyy” and I instantly know that Aurum has something sneaky on his mind!)
Do you guys have a world map that you use during play? If so could you share it? I would like to see where all these places are in relation to one another. For some reason a map always helps with immersion into the story. Does anyone else agree? (asked by hhayweaver)
The map was made with/on Photoshop, following advice by How to be a great GM (YouTube).
I've already started preparing our next campaign, which will have a completely unorthodox map. It will be a while until then though.
(Note from Mell: I’ve put the map on some of the first episodes, especially the one our characters actually got it. Here it is, in all its glory!)
What if the assassination attempt way back half a year ago had succeeded? Were there plans for what would have happened if the ruler of Pamagos had died? (asked by oblivioncubed)
I Didn't think that far ahead when it happened. The game was kinda meandering and I recall seeing Bruno's player look a bit disconnected. So I searched my brain for a solution and the answer was quick and obvious. Assassins! Great way to liven the mood.
I guess his wife would have inherited the estate. She's not really fit to rule, so perhaps a reagent would have been sent from Zerakas tol. From that point who knows really. Politics are a deadly beast.
When did you first start playing? Any other favourite games? (asked by Grindan)
The DM: I've been a gamer since childhood, but tabletop was really introduced to me by Critical Role back in 2017. I immediately knew I wanted to be a DM. My brother, sister-in-law and cousin suffered through my first campaign.
I really enjoy Gloomhaven. Haven't played video games in a looong time. Too busy.
Aurum’s Player: I started playing DnD about 4 years ago. This is my third character (I've already played a rogue called Elaria and a monk called Fortis). I've also played Gloomhaven and it's perfect if you are looking for something more casual. I also enjoy decision based video games like Detroit: become human and Life is strange.
Bruno’s Player: I first found out what TTRPG was around 20 years ago when I snuck into some nerd circles where many people played such games. It took me some time to start to play, though. My first character was a human alchemist in the world of Endyval - the first Bulgarian TTRPG. My first DnD character - many years later - was a cleric (almost sure he was a human :D) Ever since then, this is my favourite class. However, in our next campaigns I will certainly try out playing a monk. 🙂
Mell: I’ve been exposed to TTRPG ever since 2008. I was into LARP at the time and it came as the perfect tool to practice roleplaying between games. I don’t remember the systems we used since our GMs didn’t bother making us learn any rules XD Later, I got into D&D, played 3.5 (again, without bothering to learn the rules), then happened upon The Adventure Zone… and it opened the doors for all the D&D content to flood in. NADDPOD, Dimension 20, Critical Role, Dungeons And Daddies… it’s been a riot!
How would the group of adventurers chill if there were no adventures to do for a while? Apart from reading books, that is… (asked by manoldonchev)
Aurum’s Player: Probably travel the world (and spend a lot of money while doing it). Getting to know other cultures; making new friends. Also, learning how to play new instruments and picking up interesting hobbies.
Mell: Mary likes reading, yes, but lately she's been thinking more about writing. It wasn't fair that her Magnum Opus was published by someone else and under false pretenses. So, she'd like to go to Pamagos, study under Rafael di Pitoya and perfect her craft. After all, writing her book was what made her go out into the world!
Bruno's Player: During down-times Bruno is preferring to invent new toys and contraptions (or prosthetics).
What is going on with Mary and Aurum? Is there some sort of romantic entanglement being hinted at here? (asked by wanderingmoon)
Mell: I don’t know, man! 😅 It seems so right now, it’s fun playing that on the table, but we have no idea where it’ll lead :))
Aurum’s Player: It is definitely hinted, but we ourselves don't know how it would turn out 😅
I am still a little perplexed at Aurum's reaction to Mary when she ran off. Why do you think he got so angry? (asked by hhayweaver)
Aurum’s player: He was angry because that was yet another time that the group hadn’t met his expectations. He was considering them a family, and at this point he thought they didn’t share his feelings. He was disappointed by a few of their actions, for example back when they almost ratted him out to his parents (the Lara incident) and when Mary escaped instead of telling him what was bothering her. Also--this one Mary didn’t hear and so it isn’t in the story; but it happened on the table and added to his sourness--when he came back to Bruno and Tesaya after he’d been chasing Mary, he was invisible and so he heard them talking ill of him.
So, that's all, folks! This was a looong Q&A.
See ya in the next episode of Mary Windfiddle's story!
(also, here's a link to remember theprevious one)
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: These are my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum and Bruno) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.