Since posting about my first game session, I’ve gotten a number of questions about the game itself and the party and story, too. While I have done my best to answer people, I’m also going to post longer and more detailed answers here. This post will server as a little Q&A and I may do another down the line if I get more questions, you get how this works.

What version of D&D are you playing?

We are playing 3.5 edition. From the start I mentioned I have never played this game or any type of game like this so this decision was not in my hands and I didn’t really have an opinion on the matter. Hisui is the only experienced player in the group and as the DM we wanted to play something he was familiar with, therefore we arrived at 3.5 edition.

What type of character are you playing/what is your character like?

My character is an Elven ranger named Aranel. Aranel is an archer, information gatherer/broker, guide, tracker, listener, messenger, and runner. She is curious but anti-social; more likely to observe than to engage. Known to bite when pushed too far. She has a rather dubious reputation in the mercenary group.

Aranel stands just a hair below 4 feet 6 inches; petite from head to toe. Her face is rather plain for an elf, it is filled out by two large almond-shaped dark green eyes, a short nose, a pointed chin, and pointed ears that stick out just a bit. Surrounding her face is long, choppy blonde hair tied back with a leather band but chunks of hair have a tendency to come loose. She is seen perpetual with a green hood pulled close about the face.

I have worked a lot on my history/back story but it isn’t common knowledge to the group yet so you’ll find out about it later, maybe.

How big is the party/what are the other characters like?

We are a party of 5: me, Xin a Dwarven thief, Faramond a half-Human/half-Elf paladin, Crenshaw a Human fighter, and Sam a Mantis-man cleric. Yes, you read that right, a Mantis-man! All the other players are guys and they are all playing guy characters, too. We are all good friends in real life so we know each other well, but my character doesn’t know them well yet! The only one Aranel has worked with before is Xin and we had quite an escapade, but that story is for another time.

We are all part of a mercenary group named Skyfall. It is a 40-year-old organization that hovers around 50 members at any given time.

How did you make the map?

This map. Hisui used a map generator to create the basic land masses. I then took that and redrew it into what you see now. Then I scanned it, brought it into Illustrator to add textures, and finished it off with text, borders, cities, etc. in InDesign.

The map will be added to as the game goes on. It currently shows all the major places and things, but as we travel I’ll be updating it.