Adventuring with Duchess

Although I never played Dungeons and Dragons with my cousin, Jason, in the 80s, I was always intrigued by his wondrous stories of adventures, wizards, and such. When my husband, Donovan asked me to play shortly after we met, I was excited but also nervous. There seemed to be so many rules, choices, and decisions to make. The first character I made was a druid and I loved playing her so much that I made another druid to play in a different group. My favourite part was getting lost in the story, but at times I felt the mechanics of the game hindered the creativity of it.

When the beta version of Daggerheart was released by Darrington Press, we were excited to try it. It has been a great adventure. The format lends itself to be more narrative-driven, and allows for more freedom of creativity. There are rules, of course, but they are not as many, and more lenient. The Game Master, along with the players are able to stretch their improv muscles more. For someone like me, who loves telling and listening to stories, it has been a great exercise in creativity. With that, I introduce you to my beloved Duchess Biscuit.

Duchess Biscuit loves her “Tea and Crumpets!”

Duchess Biscuit was inspired by two of my favourite characters from books: Princess Donut from the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman, and Lady Whistledown from the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn. She also has a dash of my dear Speech and Drama Teacher, Elizabeth Hamilton, in her. She truly has been a delight to play; some of the things she does and says surprise even me, and make me laugh at our table.

In the few official Daggerheart Lore League sessions I’ve played her in, she has already met so many interesting characters who have protected her Sir Croak Nyxi (a Ribbet Faerie Warrior), Jean Jerr (a gingerbread Seraph Clank), Graelic (a Faerie Beetle), and Ulthak Stoneskin (a Giant Guardian). She has enjoyed riding on the shoulders of the larger of her new friends as they wander into the woods to find rare “puppy-eyed mushrooms” for a pompous chef in the city; rescue children who were charmed by an evil, old woman named “Granny”; and finding the very rare, and powerful Gnomish Harp of Gnome. If this all sounds rather ridiculous, you’re right, it is. But, hey it’s fantasy and all for fun.

We used the Story Engine’s Deck of World’s to build this world we called The Gi’Gabi Coast, and we’ve been adding to it weekly with each session.

Gi’Gabi Coast

If you’re wanting to stretch your creative muscle and enjoy role playing games, I highly recommend you look into Daggerheart. If you want to see how it works, check out Critical Role’s “Age of Umbra” on YouTube and watch them play. Demiplane is a great resource for character building, and I used HeroForge to design my Biscuit miniature.

Of course, dear readers, this article would not be complete if I didn’t share Duchess Biscuit’s backstory with you. So be a dear, get a cup of tea, relax, and enjoy her story:

Duchess Josephine Purrington Biscuit was born to a royal household, and was pampered her entire life.  Quite bored of that, she embarked on a secret life where she anonymously wrote for the papers.  She was often an informant in stories, you know… “a source close to the investigation”… but if confronted, she would deny, deny, deny.  No one could prove anything - she was very good at covering her tracks.

Being born of royalty, it was excepted of her to perform to gain favour with the gentle people courting her. She opted to do voice lessons but alas, she was not naturally talented in this regard, but no one dared tell her for fear of retribution. She just howls, and people tolerate it.

She “once had a love, and it was a gas”. He was a scoundrel named Phillip, and she caught him under the garments of the royal seamstress in a very embarrassing and compromising position.  She vowed off love after that, and spent her time writing sad, melancholic poetry until she met… the BARD… Shhh no one is to know of her dalliance with Willy Shake himself. That could not hit the society papers, they would be done for, after all, he was just a smidge above a commoner.

Duchess Biscuit plans to write the great world novel and is looking for fantastical stories about fantastical places, beasts, and people for her fabulous novel.