Playing through the Pre-constructed: Part 0 (The Cast)

About a month ago I began my first official D&D 4e campaign using WotC's H series of adventures.
I'll be using this blog for my own reference, and for the reading pleasure (hopefully) of the ENworld surfing populace in general.

The Cast

Dave: Playing Merric the Quick

Dave and I go pretty far back as far as general nerdery is concerned, but he has only played several games of D&D with me. He seems to enjoy toying around with rules-sets and creating optimal builds, but also likes his character to be generally heroic, and to do the "right thing."
I often don't have to worry about play slowing down because Dave will keep my other players in check for me.
Merric is a halfling rogue. Dave essentially got into 4e because of a desire to play the rogue class. As of this writing, Merric does not have much of a character separate from Dave.

Ryan: Playing Kharn of the Foot Clan

Despite not having much interest in other parts of gamer culture, Ryan has perhaps been a player in more of my 3e-and on games than anyone else.
He's a classic "good-times" player. He wants to bash face, get the loot, finish quests, and bully around "uppity" npcs. This is tempered by a taste for in-town intrigue, as long as it's "going somewhere."
Kharn is a Dragonborn Paladin of the Raven Queen. Ryan was drawn to the idea of a Paladin who battles the undead, as they are an affront to the natural cycle of birth and death, and also to the idea that his character considers himself a reaper, of sorts, of unworthy souls.

Wilson: Playing Gamble

Wilson hasn't played D&D since 2nd edition. He and I work together, and when I asked him if he was in for a campaign, his response was essentially "hell yes!"
He fits our play style pretty well; laid-back, dungeon romping, save-the-day adventuring.
He also has a definite tactical bent, likely from his MtG, Video-game, Board Game background.
Gamble is a Tiefling Wizard. Wilson suggested that he wanted his character to be a riverboat gambler (originally a halfling), and joked that he would throw cards at people as an attack. When I told him that we could simply flavor Magic Missile to be that, he was stoked. When he found out that Tiefling modern names followed a descriptive-word format, he was even more stoked.
Yes, his character is obviously Gambit from X-men, I'm okay with that level of silliness.

Jessica: Playing Sariel Stamos

Jessica is Wilson's girlfriend, and more importantly the friend of all of us for five years or so (or more in Dave's case.)
She plays board games with us all the time, including some that push into gamer territory (such as Settlers), but has never played a hobby game before.
She's still learning, and because of that her "glazed-over" hour hits much sooner than anyone else's, but she seems pretty into the game.
I've been brainstorming ideas to give her character some spotlight to try and draw her deeper into the game, but haven't acted on that thought just yet.
Sariel is an Eladrin Warlord. I helped Jessica decide on her character by describing the roles, and then describing the classes that filled those roles. I winced when she picked the Warlord, because I wasn't sure that the most tactically based character in the game was right for a newcomer to strategy games in general (aside from board games,) but Jessica's a smart gal, and I didn't want to seem patronizing, and she has been doing pretty well with her character thus far.
Rules are starting to set-in for Jessica, but character development isn't. I'll give her some nudges towards getting in character, but these days I don't really worry about that sort of thing. At the end of the day it's just a part of the game that the players themselves are missing out on, and if it's something they don't feel that they're missing, it's something they don't think is fun, and if they don't think it's fun... what's the friggin' point!?

Next time...
The kick-off session!